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Great Acting Performances in Movies

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Mieko Harada as Lady Kaede in Kurosawa's Ran. The scene(s) in which she
confronts Jiro about killing her husband (his brother) is amazing. She starts the scene as a subservient widow in front of her lord and as she presents her dead husband's helmet she pulls a knife, swings, and moves into a dominant position over Jiro (holding the knife to his neck). After she finishes her monologue she seduces him (starting by licking the wounds she's made on his neck with the knife). In the next scene (post-coitus) she manipulates him (through fake tears and reasoning) to marry her and have his current wife murdered and does it while slowly trapping and killing a bug near her in the room.
The movie is full of great performances but hers is my favorite.
 
I find the almost utter lack of anything pre-80's to be disturbing. As a retort, I wont post anything after 1980.

Some of my favorites:

Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange
Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo
Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Al Pacino in Serpico
Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront
Eli Wallach in The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
Christopher Walken in The Deer Hunter
Peter Finch in Network
George C. Scott in Patton
Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window
Paul Newman AND Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Toshiro Mifune in Yojimbo
Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Anthony Perkins in Psycho
Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon
 
Bill Paxton - Twister

Nah, but Edward Norton is a gem in jut about everything he is in. Death To Smoochy was shit though.

I'll throw in Eric Bana in Troy and Munich. I really dig him as an actor.

Oh shit, I forgot. Kenneth Brannagh in Hamlet. I'm sick as hell of Shakespeare, but what a great performance.
 
Can't believe I forgot this one
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Solo said:
I find the almost utter lack of anything pre-80's to be disturbing. As a retort, I wont post anything after 1980.

Some of my favorites:

Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange
Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Anthony Perkins in Psycho

Awesome..
I'm finding it hard to think of any standout Pre 80s films all the ones I've thought of are post 80s

Stand By Me - All the kids
Mississippi Burning - Gene Hackman
On a Golden Pond - Henry Fonda,Katharine Hepburn
 
ShadyMilkman said:
Oh shit, I forgot. Kenneth Brannagh in Hamlet. I'm sick as hell of Shakespeare, but what a great performance.

I forgot this one. The whole movie was great, but he was amazing.

smarties00 said:
Huh? Why was Spike Lee such an Ass?

What I mean is, the guy has some serious talent. 25th hour IMO is his best film. From the shots, to the colors, and the whole tone of the movie. Nortons "fuck you" speech is absolutely incredible. Outside of directing though the guy is a racist asshole.
 
Daniel Craig, Geoffrey Rush, Michael Lonsdale and Mathieu Amalric in Munich.

Ben Kingsley in Schindler's List.

Sigourney Weaver in Aliens.

Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving in Priscilla.
 
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Johnny Depp in The Libertine.

Mediocre movie, but a fucking awesome performance by Johnny Depp (and Samantha Morton, too).
 
I've been on a pretty big Asian cinema shtick of late so I'm going to add some Eastern flair to this thread and list some very worthwhile mentions that some people wouldn't know of.


Tony Leung - Happy Together

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Still his best performance yet.


Cho Seung-woo - Marathon

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A huge up-and-coming Korean actor, performed as an autistic runner that's slightly based on a true story.


Ken Watanabe - Memories of Tomorrow

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Watanabe in this was so brilliant, made my partner cry half a dozen times and even had me at one point reaching for the tissues.


Moon So-ri & Sol Kyung-gu - Oasis

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The greatest love story that will never be told. A woman with cerebral palsy falls in love with a man who is slightly mentally disabled. Both actors went out of their skins for this film.


Song Kang-ho - Memories of Murder

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I love Song to bits and he is just so brilliant in this film. There is no other actor like him on this planet.


Takeshi Kaneshiro - Fallen Angels

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Kaneshiro played as a mute in this film and it was superb. Whenever he was in the scene, he commanded it every single time.


Naoto Takenaka - Shall We Dance?

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Possibly the greatest Japanese actor around. His role in this film though is his highlight.


Tadanobu Asano - Shark Skin Man & Peach Hip Girl

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Asano kicks arse, and he's done some excellent roles in the past but I added this one because he just rocked in every scene he was in.
 
Recent
Leo - The Beach, Departed
Matt - GWH, Bourne, Departed
Denzel - Training Day, Fallen
Pacino - Devil's Advocate
Brad - Legends of the Fall
Russell - Gladiator, Insider, Beautiful Mind
Tom - SPR, Forrest Gump
 
In no particular order, that come to mind:

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"ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!?"

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"Teach me how to clean..."

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"I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.""

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"Fool of a Took!"

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But my favourites:

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and

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Morgan Freeman in Shawshank. His voice made that movie.
 
i'm not really known for getting behind actors exclusively, as its a case by case basis, but i like Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, and Arnold Schwarzenegger in almost every movie they're in. Denzel Washington, too.


But as far as particular acting performances, i have to agree with many in this thread:


Darko said:
Daniel Day Lewis - Gangs of New York
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this man...so good.




afternoon delight said:
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Jack Nicholson in Chinatown

I think its Jack Nicholson's best role.


and since i just saw it:


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Some of the greatest acting in cinema... of recent memory. The older ones don't stick out as much anymore. Can't remember too far back.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (Favorite acting duo of all time!)
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Casey Afflek and Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
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Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, and Mark Wahlberg in The Departed
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George Clooney and Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton
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Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men
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Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and Rinko Kikuchi in Babel
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Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood
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fistfulofmetal said:

The confession scene is amazing.

You should check out his performance in his latest film, In Bruges. Did an exceptional job. Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson also were very good. Phenomenal. Don't know why I didn't include them above. Better make it official...

Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, and Ralph Fiennes in In Bruges
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Jim Carrey - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Jack Nicholson - As Good as it Gets

Michael Douglas - Falling Down

John Cusack - High Fidelity

Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction

and not to jump on the bandwagon or anything like that but Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight...the movie is nothing without the performance he put on. He stole the show.
 
Anthony Hopkins in The Silence Of The Lambs

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Kurt Russell in The Thing - Not the greatest but I think it's an underrated performance. He commanded the screen and he had a strong presence.
 
why did collateral ( tom cruise jamie foxx) have to be so damn good. micheal mann has talent when he wants too.

i dont know if anyone else will but the guy mentioned for Memories of Murder is fucking fantastic.

Daniel day lewis has yet to dissapoint in any role, Dicaprio will be a huge power hitter when he ages just a little bit more with aviator, catch me if you can, blood diamond, departed all being great movies. im not going to mention voice actors but ill give props to the animators at pixar, and disney.

also there is a werid line between a really good actor playing a part and a really good part for an actor. like Simon pegg in Shaun of the Dead isnt the best acting ever, but it couldnt have been done any other way or pulled off so elegently. BUT, there is daniel day lewis who forces the parts to be good for him. Jhonny depp is getting there but he needs more variety or to get out from under Tim Burton.
 
Shinz Kicker said:
Jhonny depp is getting there but he needs more variety .

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Finding Neverland
Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Blow
Chocolat
Sleepy Hollow
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Donnie Brasco
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
Edward Scissorhands
Platoon
A Nightmare on Elm Street

He doesn't exactly play the same character in all his movies
 
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Vincent Cassel in La Haine: They should just keep giving him awards for this one.

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Robert DeNiro in Heat: Although i'm still not sure if i like the character more than the performance.

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That one dude in American Psycho: His delivery of the Huey Lewis & The News monologue, so awesome.

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George Clooney as Michael Clayton: Easily my favorite film of last year. Surrounded by a cast of amazing actors Clooney's portrayal of the main character is so mesmerizing it feels like the script was written for him personally. Probably his finest hour.

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Robert Downey Jr. in Zodiac: He's finally getting the love from Hollywood he deserves. This man is a simply astounding actor, and he proves it time and time again.
 
Toshiro Mifune - Kikuchiyo...

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as TajĂ´maru...

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and as Sanjuro among many.

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Kevin Kline - Otto

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Eli Wallach - Tuco

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Christopher Walken - Nick

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Rutger Hauer - Roy Batty

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Pretty much the entire cast in Casablanca.
Marlon Brando in Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront and The Godfather.
Pretty much any Klaus Kinski role, but especially in Aguirre, the Wrath of God.
Jonathan Pryce in Brazil.
 
David Strathairn- Good night and Good luck
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His performance is the key to this film and he totally owns the role of Edward Murrow. Has some of the best monologues since Network.

PowderedToast said:
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Nicholas Cage in Adaptation.

I mentioned that already :) The scene where he's telling his brother about his horror script always has me in stiches :lol
 
master15 said:
I mentioned that already :) The scene where he's telling his brother about his horror script always has me in stiches :lol
Oh right, I shoulda really checked the first page. And yeah, that's a great scene. The whole cast in that film gives really good performances.
 
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