- Browsed through this thread...surprisingly little love for Paul Newman. He might be my personal #1.
- I honestly feel like some of the Old, classic "greats" could only hit one note. It was a great, great note, but played over and over. Modern actors (good ones, mind you, not all) have more versatility than many classics.
- The AFI list (quoted below) is as close to definitive as we'll get, though I think it's overly harsh to modern actors.
- Shout-outs that I love: Kenneth Branagh, Bill Murray, Charlie Chaplin. Along with Newman, each of these actors is responsible for a top 5 favorite performance of all-time from me, and I generally enjoy all of their work.
- Nicholas Cage takes too much heat. He's got a very distinctive style. Just because it's not for everyone doesn't mean he's bad. I'm not the biggest fan of his, but I can't deny a certain air about him that's hard to define. He's original if nothing else.
Wow he's on top. In regards to the list it seems a bit ehhhhhhh. DeNiro as third? wow.
I saw Anthony Quinn in an episode of Hercules today. Even in his later years he was impressive playing Zeus.
Honestly making such a list or choosing a best actor of all time is personal and circumstantial. You have your extreme outward actors and your stoic inner actors. I reckon range is a major factor. And many of these classics don't have range. Jim Carrey for instance grew up with deaf parents and learned to express himself through extreme facial gestures and body movements.
A genius. Yet he won't achieve such acclaim because he's a funny man. Though Gene Wilder is there. Also a genius of emotion expressionism.
Boris Karloff is there on the list. A more inner actor in the same vein.
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Last edited by the ninjak on Jan 22nd, 2012 at 07:05 PM
Depp is there also. Because of his Hunter S Thompson and pirate role. I would love to see a film with Carrey and him. Two lunatics escaping the asylum and running amok in the American landscape.
Agreed. And yeah, DeNiro being that high up is a bit strange to me, too. Brad Pitt should really be on that list.
I've always thought that Johnny Depp from Fear and Loathing looked like Jim Carry. And hells yeah, they should do a movie together. That would be epic!
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Yeah, James Dean had tons of potential, and we can see it in "East of Eden," "The Giant," and "Rebel Without a Cause." I just wished he would've lived... can you imagine all the movies he would've played in - all the quality movies he would've made? Paul Newman really came into being because of James Dean's death - Hollywood was rolling on with a need for a James Dean-type, and that's how Newman got his entrance.
So I often find myself wondering what would have happened had Dean played Newman's roles... and nothing but good comes out of it. Except, of course, that then there would've been no Paul Newman.
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well we can't say that he would have stolen all his roles but it would I could see that for his movie hustler and sweet bird of youth. My favourite, "cool hand luke". It's to bad none of the actors today dont messure up to the old ones. (please log in to view the image)
I said the AFI list was as close to definitive as we're going to get. But "as close as we're going to get" is still going to be incomplete, and everyone who looks at it will have potentially legitimate gripes with it. We're dealing with an incredibly inexact science here.
Also, I am a bit ashamed I forgot add this guy in here: Nick Nolte. His Oscar nom reminded of his existence, and also how much I enjoy his acting. Probably doesn't belong on any real list, but he's on mine.
Grammar aside, that's a near-indefensibly general statement.
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Jan 21st, 2012 06:05 PM
