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[Kevyt]

Jared Leto <3 as Rayon in Dallas Buyer's Club

 

[Daniel B·]

Geoffrey Rush's towering portrayal of the pianist David Helfgott, in Shine, for which he totally deserved the Oscar win. That scene where he plays The Flight of the Bumblebee, which was actually performed by the maestro himself (Helfgott), remains a sheer joy .

 

[RayMaker]

Jared Leto <3 as Rayon in Dallas Buyer's Club

yeah he and matt blew me away

 

[Dommo]

What is 'great acting'?

We see this term thrown around so often. Every day by critics, on the news, from your friends/acquaintances etc, and yet you so rarely see anyone say anything more than 'He was great' or 'He really disappeared into that role.' It's so under-discussed that I'm not even sure most people know what great acting is. I certainly didn't for the longest time, even when I was trying to understand.

Great acting isn't being able to make yourself look unrecognizable ("Whoa! That's Steve Carrell? I didn't even recognize him. Now that's acting!"). It's not doing things for real ("Leo actually cut his hand while filming Django and he kept going! That's acting!"). It's not doing things spontaneously ("The Joker clapping in the police station? Heath's idea. That's acting!"). Now, these are all great actors, and all of these things may be a byproduct or a method by which an actor produces 'good acting,' but in and of themselves, these are not the makings of a good actor.

A good actor is doing the same thing everyone else on a filmset is doing: telling story. But instead of doing it with action and drama (scriptwriter) or lighting and camera (DOP), or through cuts and pace (editor), they're telling story through their facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. With those tools, they're breaking each and every moment of the story into digestible beats.

I've posted this in a previous SkyFall thread that details one of my favourite little acting moments in recent times. It's not a big moment by any means, but I think it speaks to the heart at what I'm getting at.

But look at Craig here. He's able to so effortlessly make the slightest adjustment to his face and it communicates his entire switch in motivation. At the start of the scene, he's lost, aimless, unmotivated. When he sees on a news report that Mi6 is under attack his life suddenly has new purpose. Look at the subtle change in his eyes and you can see a man go from a detached wreck to a switched on, purposeful assassin - someone who has a deep care for his profession. All in the span of about 3 seconds. Pure acting - the ability to communicate story to the audience via subtle and natural cues in face and voice.

Daniel Craig is a great actor because he understands how to perfectly control the subtle expressions in his face and body to tell story.

 

[Union Carbine]

A good actor is doing the same thing everyone else on a filmset is doing: telling story... through their facial expressions, body language and tone of voice. With those tools, they're breaking each and every moment of the story into digestible beats.

Nicely put. I think also that people get pulled in by over-the-top or flamboyant performances and proclaim them great acting when the reality is that's, more often than not, the subtleties conveyed by a performance that mark it out as great.

And onto The Master, which I adore and agree is terribly underrated. Here's PSH (RIP!) and Joaquin Phoenix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du16oP0DPao

 

[Nev]

Naomi Watts in everything, but especially in Funny Games and The Impossible.

 

[Frodo]

Naomi Watts in everything, but especially in Funny Games and The Impossible. Muholland Drive

There. Fixed.

 

[kruis]

There. Fixed.

Nope. Watts was better in The Impossible. The most impressive bit of acting was surprisingly by Ewan McGregor. That scene when he calls home and breaks down was heartrendingly realistic. You can see part of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrnJqvhfvqI (You need to see the full scene, and really, the complete movie, for that scene to have the greatest impact)

 

[Death Metalist]

There are many but this one comes to mind right now. What do you get when you cram 12 personalities in one room for the entire movie? You get this movie.

Fantastic performances by pretty much everyone.

 

[Turin]

Daniel Craig is a great actor because he understands how to perfectly control the subtle expressions in his face and body to tell story.

One of his best was in Road to Perdition. Not many people can play a sociopath the way he did.

 

[Burt]

I've said this before, but you literally could not get someone to do a better job of making a terminator attempt to smile. That's masterwork right there.

 

[Kozak]

Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind

 

[Ayumi]

The fact that she looks horrified cause someone just smeared ACTUAL blood on her face makes that scene so much more amazing after the fact. Dude is a fuckin PRO.

Also - his african accent in blood diamonds was amazing and had me saying "bru" to my friends for months afterwards.

Even though the glass was an accident, I'm pretty sure they stitched him up and used fake blood on her face. Obviously it wasn't in the original script, so it's still cool to know that it was improvised.

 

[Ecotic]

The fact that she looks horrified cause someone just smeared ACTUAL blood on her face makes that scene so much more amazing after the fact. Dude is a fuckin PRO.

Also - his african accent in blood diamonds was amazing and had me saying "bru" to my friends for months afterwards.

This comes across as disturbing to me, not professional. I wouldn't want someone to unexpectedly smear their blood on my face just cause they thought it'd make for a good take. What if he had HIV, any one of the dozens of types of herpes, or some other virus and a drop of blood dripped into her eye?

Yeah, fucking thanks Leo. I'd have been so pissed if I was her.

 

[The Main Event]

 

[Omega Ultimus]

This comes across as disturbing to me, not professional. I wouldn't want someone to unexpectedly smear their blood on my face just cause they thought it'd make for a good take. What if he had HIV, any one of the dozens of types of herpes, or some other virus and a drop of blood dripped into her eye?

Yeah, fucking thanks Leo. I'd have been so pissed if I was her.

He didn't smear blood on anyone, and it was an accident where he slammed his palm into some glass on the table. Dude's hungry for an Oscar, but not that hungry.

 

[potam]

Joaquin Phoenix in I'm Still Here. Fucking amazing performance art.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Philip Seymour Hoffman master class:

Boogie Nights - "I'm a fucking idiot" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTMYcSU_HCc

Almost Famous - "You. Are not cool!" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzY2pWrXB_0

Capote - "I did everything I could" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdBxXQmvc0s

Charlie Wilson's War - "You fucking child!" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066BFGk6QvA

Mission Impossible 3 - "Do you think I'm playing?" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNUIU7AzTg

Synedoche, New York - "I've been thinking a lot about dying lately" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpZ6wgvvVE8

Doubt - "I never liked to say goodbye" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEivQpTiXnE

Ides of March - "There's only one thing I value in this world" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5LHALGus5Q

RIP

 

[BrassDragon]

Philip Seymour Hoffman master class:

Cheers for that. And amen.

 

[T-0800]

Bill Cosby as lovable well educated family man.

 

[Monochromaticx]

Al Pacino
The Godfather 1: Restaurant scene

He captured what Micheal was going through perfectly: nervous, scared and angry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppjyB2MpxBU

 

[dmshaposv]

This year there were multiple absurdly good male performances.

J.K Simmons in Whiplash


Michael Keaton in Birdman

While i liked keaton, ed norton stole the show for me in birdman.

 

[bomma_man]

Emmanuelle Riva in Amour

Fucking criminal that she lost to j law

 

[The Sarcastic Dude]

Jamie Foxx in Ray. He BECAME Ray Charles.

 

[Cudder]

From an underrated masterpiece, casey affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

I feel like he nailed every single face, subtlety, action, etc...

Everyone in this movie was absolutely outstanding. One of my favourite films.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Yeah I double Gene Wilder's Wonka. Manages to capture the childlike nature, the insane nature, and the businessman nature of the character.

Also I like it if the character acts naturally. I kinda hate it when they talk philosophically or have some long musings out of the blue.

 

[SolidChamp]

I actually said, "Daniel Day-Lewis acted the shit out of this movie" out loud once the credits began to roll, that's just how shocked I was with his performance. It's is so big that I almost feel like TWBB was a stage-play that somehow accidentally ended up as a film.



He and Sam Rockwell both killed it in Jesse James (no pun intended), heck the whole cast did. The scene where they have to lie to Jesse why Charley climbed out onto the roof was nail-biting.

Both masterpieces of their time, the latter of which went under the radar for some baffling reason.

The scene from Jesse James that you mention is both tense and awkwardly hilarious (thanks largely to Sam Rockwell's amazing performance).

 

[Wabba]

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
Tom Cruise in Colleteral
Joaquin Phoenix in Her
Edward Norton in Primal Fear
Mads Mikkelsen in The Hunt

 

[TheWorthyEdge]

Tom Hanks in Captain Philips: Last couple of minutes was some of the est acting I've ever seen.

Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained: One of the most hilarious and best performances I've ever seen.

Edit: DiCaprio in Django Unchained: The dining room table scene where he starts yelling and slamming his hand down, and he said one of my most quoted lines ever. "You had my curiosity, but now you've gotten my attention"

 

[Dilly]

I thought Waltz was better in Inglorious Basterds than in Django Unchained. His performance certainly felt fresher.

 

[Panzon]

Saw Bronson last night for the first time. Holy shit Tom Hardy blew me away. I was mesmerized by his character and just kept thinking how scared I'd be if that dude was in my face. From his physique, to his mannerisms, to his facial expressions, I was in awe throughout the entire film. When I think great acting these are the type of performances I think of which rarely happen.

Two other of my favorite examples is Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds and Daniel Day Lewis in both There Will Be Blood and Gangs of New York. I was so deep into those roles that I wanted to be an actor myself

Of course there's a few other great examples like most posted in this thread but the 3 from Waltz, DDL and Tom Hardy are standouts to me

 

[Nyx]

I know the title says ''movies'', but as I have been deeply impressed by these two in the past weeks...

They both really nailed their characters in The Killing.

 

[FreshCakes]

Sean Penn in Mystic River:

Michael Fassbender in Inglourious Basterds:

 

[MikeOxbig]

This is a performance like nothing I've ever seen. And to realize that he performed it all day every day, on set and off. A truly dazzling achievement.

 

[PhantomHound]

No one has mentioned the master?

Serious answer: Christoph Waltz was amazing in inglorious bastards.