Best perfomance by these actors?

[johnnyboy]

Hey!

I think these are all great actors, but my question is what do you guys think has been the best perfomance they have given and why.

Peter Sellers
Marlon Brando
Robert De Niro
Tim Roth
Clint Eastwood
Gary Oldman
Steve Buscemi
Robert Carlyle
Sean Penn
Christopher Walken
Samuel L. Jackson
Morgan Freeman

Thanks to anyone who finds the time to do this:)

[Doctor Stamen]

One of Robert Carlyle's best performances was as a football hooligan in the TV programme Cracker. Basically, he was in the Hillsborough disaster, and he went off the rails when his dad died of cancer several years later. He then tries to murder 96 people, the same number as those who died at Hillsborough. You have to watch the programme to fully appreciate how frightening he was.

[Aimer, Northend Diva]

Originally posted by johnnyboy

Steve Buscemi
Morgan Freeman

Thanks to anyone who finds the time to do this:)

Buscemi....his greatest performance wasn't as an actor, but as a NYC firefighter.

Freeman....Shawshank Redemption

[sanariot]

Originally posted by Doctor Stamen
One of Robert Carlyle's best performances was as a football hooligan in the TV programme Cracker. Basically, he was in the Hillsborough disaster, and he went off the rails when his dad died of cancer several years later. He then tries to murder 96 people, the same number as those who died at Hillsborough. You have to watch the programme to fully appreciate how frightening he was.

I agree. He was even more psychotic in this role than he was when he played Begbie in Trainspotting.

[sanariot]

Originally posted by johnnyboy

Peter Sellers

I think Sellers was best in Dr. Strangelove because he played something like five different characters in the film and each one of the characters he played was utterly hilarious.

Robert De Niro

De Niro was best imo as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver because of the way that he conveyed the state of a person with a tenuous grasp on reality making that final leap over the edge.

Gary Oldman

As Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy. He WAS Sid Vicious.


Sean Penn

I would probably say Dead Man Walking was Sean Penn's best picture. He was a terrible human being who stubbornly resists the efforts that Susan Sarandon's Sister Helen character made to try to first save his life and then his soul. His character holds out almost until the end, and you really feel sorry for him once he gives in.

Christopher Walken

One of my favorite actors, I'd say he was probably best in The Deer Hunter. What can I say? This was just another one of the psychologically unstable characters that he plays so well.

Samuel L. Jackson

I can't decide between The Negotiator, Unbreakable or The Caveman's Valentine.

Morgan Freeman

I second The Shawshank Redemption. Morgan Freeman gave a solid, understated performance.

[Soccerik]

Buscemi - Trees Lounge

[DolemiteFuthaMucka]

sam jackson- pulp fiction, without a doubt
sellers- i'd say dr. strangelove as well
sean penn- my favorite of his was Sweet and Lowdown
tim roth- reservior dogs
gary oldman- he was great in Sid and Nancy, i also liked him in the professional
buscemi- fargo, among others
freeman- shawshank again, he was also great in Glory

[Michael K.]

Originally posted by Soccerik
Buscemi - Trees Lounge


Seconded.
I saw this with friends from the Midwest and England and, having family in suburban L.I., tried to explain that yes, people really do live like that there. I'm related to some like them.

[dfb547490]

Brando--Apocalypse Now


Alex

[Belgian guy]

Originally posted by johnnyboy
Hey!

I think these are all great actors, but my question is what do you guys think has been the best perfomance they have given and why.

Peter Sellers
Marlon Brando
Robert De Niro
Tim Roth
Clint Eastwood
Gary Oldman
Steve Buscemi
Robert Carlyle
Sean Penn
Christopher Walken
Samuel L. Jackson
Morgan Freeman

Thanks to anyone who finds the time to do this:)

Peter Sellers : Dr. Strangelove
Marlon Brando : On the Waterfront
Robert De Niro : Taxi Driver / The Deer Hunter
Tim Roth : Reservoir Dogs
Clint Eastwood : Unforgiven
Gary Oldman : JFK
Steve Buscemi : Fargo / The Big Lebowski (really can't choose here either)
Robert Carlyle : Trainspotting
Sean Penn : Dead man Walking
Christopher Walken : The Deer Hunter
Samuel L. Jackson : Unbreakable
Morgan Freeman : The Shawshank redemption

By the way, very good little list of actors...

[dawgpound2]

Tim Roth was also very good in The Legend of 1900. Beautiful film, beautiful performance.

DeNiro is always good, so I can't decide.

I love the call of Sean Penn in Sweet and Lowdown. Brilliant.

Brando was unbelievable in The Godfather.

[art]

Sellers' best IMO was by far "Being There".

Penn's best, of course, was Spicoli in "Fast Times as Ridgemont High".

(what? don't be a snob, he was great). :D

[bungadiri]

Spicoli has to be one of the most remembered performances in recent American films. (There was a funny reference to it on the PBS radio show This American Life last week.)

Morgan Freeman: Never having seen Driving Miss Daisy, I can honestly say that I've never watched a Freeman film where he didn't fascinate me every second he was on the screen. So it's hard to pick a favorite film-length performance. My favorite Freeman moment, however, comes in Unforgiven, when he realizes he can't kill the cowboy--it's an almost wordless scene for him but he brings so many emotions into play during the course of a brief close-up that it makes his character more solidly than any of his other scenes in the film.

I liked Buscemi in Ghost World.

[DoctorJones24]

I was wondering where you came up with this list. Seems like an odd assortment of leading men and character types. It also spans generations in an odd way, and of course has strange omissions (Day Lewis, Hoffman, Pacino, Nicholson...) as well as inclusions (Buscemi, Roth, and Walken, seriously?).

Don't get me wrong, it's a fine list; I just thought your introduction of it was a bit cryptic.

[DoctorJones24]

Originally posted by dawgpound2
DeNiro is always good, so I can't decide.


Even in Backdraft?
He's only ever as good as the words on the page...that goes for all these guys.

(Unless they're working with directors who encourage improv, I suppose, like say, Christopher Guest)

[peledre]

Robert De Niro - Casino or Goodfellas, take you're pick
Clint Eastwood - Dirty Harry
Gary Oldman - JFK
Steve Buscemi - Fargo
Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking
Christopher Walken - The Continental skits from SNL
Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction
Morgan Freeman - Shawshank

[GringoTex]

Brando - Last Tango in Paris

[ToddP25]

These are my picks for best individual performance...not saying whether or not it was their best 'movie'

Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront
Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver
Tim Roth - Reservoir Dogs
Clint Eastwood - The Unforgiven
Gary Oldman - Sid and Nancy
Steve Buscemi - Fargo
Sean Penn - Dead Man Walking
Christopher Walken - At Close Range
Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction
Morgan Freeman - Seven

[CHICO13]

How Samuel L. Jackson didn't get the Oscar for Pulp Fiction is beyond me.