The Best Actor

[Stewball]

Men are better than women. Women be all focused on emotional shit like love and babies, while men perfect their egotistical crafts. It's science.

Well.....I didn't know men weren't emotional or concerned with love, though I did realize men and women are different. And looking at Adams' exemplary roles, only one, Her, dealt seriously with romantic love (though it was a quasi-secondary theme in American Hustle). In any case, when it comes to versatility, she's the pinnacle.

As for babies, yeah, pregnancy is a bitch. But, lest we forget, sex is the carrot that goes with that stick. And men can be uber-macho about passing on their genes. Do you include family in the emotional shit with love and babies?

[Paxton]

What has Cate done, Blue Jasmine? Oscar or no, hardly a calling card.

I think she established herself pretty well with Elizabeth. Life Aquatic is when I really started following her more closely. Her turn as Hepburn in Aviator was fantastic, and I think she stole The Fellowship of the Rings with her short but very memorable scene with Frodo. She's always solid, whether she's trying to kill Hanna or understand Benjamin Button.

Plus, his range just wasn't that great.

Come on, man. Do you think the character he played in Punch Drunk Love resembles the character he played in The Big Lebowski resembles the character he played in The Master resembles the character he played in Boogie Nights resembles the character he played in Capote...?

[Stewball]

Come on, man. Do you think the character he played in Punch Drunk Love resembles the character he played in The Big Lebowski resembles the character he played in The Master resembles the character he played in Boogie Nights resembles the character he played in Capote...?

His only role that didn't look and sound and think like PSH was Capote, which is one of my all time favorite male performances. This was my mini-review of The Master: "It was like they were shooting it without a script. While they were thinking of what to do next, they just pulled in for a head shot. And then when they thought of what to do, it was all over the place when it wasn't slow and plodding and as neurotic as its characters, particularly Phoenix and Hoffman--neither of which generated any sympathy or offered something with which to identity. Amy Adams was the sole voice of sanity, but she was kept on the periphery. Completely pointless." 2/10

Yeah, we can say he wasn't responsible for that performance since he wasn't the director, but he tended to seek out such pointless roles.

[VinegarBob]

I have to say that were he still alive I'd definitely be mentioning Philip Seymour Hoffman. The notion that he had a limited range is frankly preposterous. He could play villains (Punch Drunk Love, Mission Impossible III), comedy (Along Came Polly), sensitive (Magnolia, Happiness), intense (Owning Mahowny), aswell as dramatic (take your pick). He could hold the screen like very few others in the history of the medium, and when he was in a film his performance was usually the one you remembered, no matter the quality of the film or the other performances. The sheer number of amazing performances he gave in all different types of films, not to mention his stage work, is staggering.

[mattorama12]

His only role that didn't look and sound and think like PSH was Capote, which is one of my all time favorite male performances.

The notion that he had a limited range is frankly preposterous.

If I may...I think there is some talking past each other. I think both these statements are mostly true, and that there is no paradox here. PSH was an insanely good actor (I only didn't mention him because I presumed we were talking only living actors, though that limitation was never specifically mentioned). But, it's true that he didn't disappear into his roles the way a chameleon like DDL does. I never forgot that I was watching PSH act. But, I think that's different than somebody who lacks range. As Rumplesink correctly points out, he was able to play a range of different characters in completely different types of movies. Some great actors (like PSH, Clark Gable, or Tom Hanks) don't disappear, but rather make the character their own. Other great actors (like DDL or Gary Oldman) are more like blank canvases that can disappear behind a character. My point is that the disappearing act is distinct from the notion of range (at least by my definition). Thoughts?

[hellboy76]

His only role that didn't look and sound and think like PSH was Capote, which is one of my all time favorite male performances.

The notion that he had a limited range is frankly preposterous.

If I may...I think there is some talking past each other. I think both these statements are mostly true, and that there is no paradox here. PSH was an insanely good actor (I only didn't mention him because I presumed we were talking only living actors, though that limitation was never specifically mentioned). But, it's true that he didn't disappear into his roles the way a chameleon like DDL does. I never forgot that I was watching PSH act. But, I think that's different than somebody who lacks range. As Rumplesink correctly points out, he was able to play a range of different characters in completely different types of movies. Some great actors (like PSH, Clark Gable, or Tom Hanks) don't disappear, but rather make the character their own. Other great actors (like DDL or Gary Oldman) are more like blank canvases that can disappear behind a character. My point is that the disappearing act is distinct from the notion of range (at least by my definition). Thoughts?

I agree. Hanks is a master of this. I think Nicholson and Denzel Washington (to a lesser extent) do this as well. They however, all have multiple head turning roles that made some of the movies they have been in.

I am also glad Bojangles mentioned Chris Cooper. He is far more subtle, but if you look at his turns in things like Lonestar or Adaptation, they are pretty brilliant.

I would throw Frances McDormand out there as well, although she also is probably along the same line as a PSH rather than a DDL.

[Stewball]

My point is that the disappearing act is distinct from the notion of range (at least by my definition). Thoughts?

Don't they both actually mean, essentially, versatility--to the point that they can inhabit numerous characters that are alien to their own personality?

[Paxton]

It was like they were shooting it without a script.

I happen to agree you wholly on this aspect of the movie. I thought it was a tedious waste of time, but even then, I still found the performances to be interesting.

Some great actors (like PSH, Clark Gable, or Tom Hanks) don't disappear, but rather make the character their own.

This is an extremely valid point. I was toying with a favorite vs. best sort of angle to play, but this says it much better. Even though Dick Miller is always going to be Dick Miller, there's nothing better than watching a movie and suddenly seeing Dick Miller! Being a worker isn't a bad thing, especially if you're good, and PSH was certainly good.

I agree. Hanks is a master of this. I think Nicholson and Denzel Washington (to a lesser extent) do this as well.

I actually think Nicholson is a perfect example of the style and talent that PSH had. A lot of times he simply gave a powerful performance irregardless of the role.

[LyleChipason]

For me, Amy Adams and Scarlett Johansson are the two best actors, of either gender, working today. Johansson has the raw talent to project emotion from the tip of her little finger, while Adams is the most versatile, bringing something fresh to a throwaway role like the fairy tale princess in Enchanted, to playing a nun, a hustler, the only non-idiot in The Master, and the incredibly subtle Amy in Her. Yeah, they've both had their duds, and lucrative dalliances as superhero molls, but who hasn't. I think Emma Stone and Meryl Streep are close, but just don't quite make it to the pinnacle.

I'm surprised that I couldn't think of a comparable male. Daniel Day-Lewis and Geoffrey Rush come to mind but still fall short IMNTBHO. Heath Ledger might have hit the apex, if he'd lived--he came close as it was. The biggest flash-in-the-pan disappointment is Johnny Depp--talk about crash and burn, he's become about as one-dimensional as they get, but he made a lot of money on the way down. Defending my gender, I think guys rule as directors, with only one top-quality female D., Kathryn Bigelow, after 50 years of women having a reasonable expectation of finding work there.

There, I said it and I'm glad.

cant forget Natalie dormer! did you even see the counselor??

and cameron diaz

[Dunder74]

Stewball has a serious case of cinematic infatuation.

Comparing anyone to DDL, from any era, is ludicrous.