As long as we’re just shouting people out now regardless of age range: Gary Oldman
Of that aging Nicholson and friends generation, I will just echo that Anthony Hopkins blows all 5 names in the OP out of the water. Hopkins is able to enthrall me in vastly different roles, and just about the only thing I can imagine him having difficulty playing is stupid (though I haven’t really seen him try).
For the next generation, Johnny Depp is the clear stand-out for me. From Ed Wood to Edward Scissorhands to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the man is a bona fide acting genius.
Agreed, definitely. And if you’re used to Hopkins as an old man, watch “Magic,” one of his earlier movies in which he plays a ventriloquist possessed by a psychotic dummy. It’s one of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen and his acting in it is amazing.
From that generation, my top 5 would be:
Robert DeNiro
Gene Hackman
Robert Duvall
Alan Arkin
Morgan Freeman (even though he was late to the party)
Nicholson and Pacino, in particular, are overrated. They always just play themselves.
[QUOTE=Windwalker]
For the next generation, Johnny Depp is the clear stand-out for me. From Ed Wood to Edward Scissorhands to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the man is a bona fide acting genius.
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Please add Sweeney Todd to that list. When Burton & Depp get together, a very dark type of magic happens.
What difference does when they started making movies make?
Let’s look at Unforgiven
Clint Eastwood
Morgan Freeman
Richard Harris
Gene Hackman
Throw in Peter O’Toole and you’ll have a fine top five.
But I would also include Robert Duvall
The 40s - 70s and the movies that “did it” for me:
Cary Grant (Father Goose)
Gregory Peck (To Kill A Mockingbird)
Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke)
Grace Kelly (the country girl)
Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy - The Gin Game)
Current generation of actors and the movies that “did it” for me:
Denzel Washington (Inside Man, He Got Game)
Sean Penn (Mystic River, She’s So Lovely)
Kenneth Brannagh (Much Ado About Nothing, Warm Springs)
Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty)
Tom Hanks (Road To Perdition)
John Cusak (Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil, Natty Gan)
Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas)
Robin Wright Penn (State of Grace, She’s So Lovely)
Halle Berry (Do The Right Thing - amazing as a crack head)
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas]
Please add Sweeney Todd to that list. When Burton & Depp get together, a very dark type of magic happens.
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Except for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was a very lame type of magic and an insult to the original, musically and cinematically. The shittiest songs ever to come from the mind of Danny Elfman, and horrible over-used CGI. And nobody will ever top Wilder as Wonka. (In my opinion.) And I don’t care if it was more true to the book - it was a bad movie.
Good to see another Alan Arkin fan. He was amazing in Catch-22.
Ben Kingsley. Watch Schindler’s List followed by Sexy Beast. Hard to believe it’s the same guy. He does need a little quality control in his choices though.
I also think Depp is the best currently working.
Busemi
Depp
Hanks
DeNero
Pacino
Hackman suffers from George Kennedy disease. He will do anything for money.
Richard Burton too far back ?
Oldman
Why do actresses call themselves actors now?
Brando
Newman
I will watch any crappy movie with Dennis Hopper or Christopher Walken in it.
[QUOTE=GuanoLad]
The big five are all male and all shouty?
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My reaction to the thread title: Why does greatness = tough-guy roles in movies about organized crime?
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
Why do actresses call themselves actors now?
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Because it is gender neutral, historically correct and most of them are members of The Screen Actors Guild.
Except than when it is in common usage ,it becomes the rule. We all know the difference between actors and actresses. Why does it now become a problem.?
[QUOTE=don’t ask]
But if it had to be one replacement then Newman for some of my favourite roles:
The Sting
Cool Hand Luke
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Hustler
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Hud
The Verdict
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Hombre
The Long, Hot Summer
Sweet Bird of Youth
Slap Shot
Sometimes a Great Notion
Absence of Malice
The Color of Money
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
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If you haven’t seen Nobody’s Fool, run to the nearest video store and rent it; I think it’s his best role.
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
We all know the difference between actors and actresses. Why does it now become a problem.?
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What’s “now?” I’ve been hearing it for years, going back to high school, and the people who were using it then must have gotten it from professionals.
[QUOTE=gonzomax]
Except than when it is in common usage ,it becomes the rule. We all know the difference between actors and actresses. Why does it now become a problem.?
[/QUOTE]
Because actors and actresses are prissy prima donnas who find negative meaning where there is none.
[QUOTE=Omniscient]
(Snippetina)
Morgan Freeman should probably round out the group.
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I love watching Morgan Freeman work, but doesn’t he always play Morgan Freeman?
With the exception of Hackman, I’d be tempted to say those are four of the worst actors in Hollywood.