FAVORITE ACTORS

[shawnbm]

Since I started a thread last month about actresses, I guess it is time to give us guys our due. Actors--want your favorites for whatever reason, not who you think was the best or finest of actors. It can be--as some of the ladies were for me--as much about their acting, their roles or their looks!

My list is as follows:

Paul Newman (liked everything about him and especially his roles with Redford in the late Sixties and early Seventies, along with Cool Hand Luke)

Robert Redford (Jeremiah Johnson is one of my all time favs and Redford really looked and appeared to live the part, and then there is All the President's Men and others)

William Hurt (one of my favorites from the Eighties--Altered States, The Doctor and The Big Chill)

Gregory Peck (any one who can portray Atticus Finch and General MacArthur like he did gets my vote)

Robert Mitchum (the most underrated and possibly one of the finest of the bunch; his portrayal of Max Cady in Cape Fear was so him and so good that De Niro's redo looks like that of an amateur, then there is Captain Wade Honeycutt from Home From The Hill--a masterpiece)

Lord Laurence Olivier (simply magnificent in so many, but I personally loved him in Marathon Man, A Little Romance and his stealing every scene in Spartacus ... yet could be less of a force in films like Rebeca so Joan Fontaine could shine)

Javier Bardem (quickly becoming one of the best character actors of his generation--he is marvelous in everything he does)

Daniel Day Lewis (like Bardem, one of the very best in any role and loved him in Age of Innocence and Gangs of New York)

Burt Reynolds (always made me laugh (especially with Dom Deluise) and his films back in the Seventies and early Eighties always entertained me)

 

[Front242]

Nice thread and nice choices. I like all of those. Also a big fan of Clint Eastwood, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino back when both made good stuff but sadly they're both in nothing but tripe most of the time these days. Eventhough he's done pretty much nothing but b-movies since Bladerunner I also really like Rutger Hauer and his b-movies are great mindless stuff to pass the time. Can't beat the late Leslie Nielsen for laughs as well. He was great.

 

[shawnbm]

Thank you, front 242. I very much like Cling Eastwood too. I was going to put De Niro and believe his work in the Seventies through Raging Bull stands up to anything any other actor did, but then he became a bit to typecast for my taste (with the exception of Casino). Upon further reflection, though, the overall impression is great of De Niro. Pacino has really never been one of my favorites, and I can't really put a finger on as to why.

 

[Kieran]

Al Pacino shouts a lot. Especially since he win the Oscar for shouting in Scent of a Womam, it's like he feels, "more volume = more power!"

I liked him in a few flicks, most notably Scarface and Dog Day Afternoon. He used to have real power back then, before he discovered clamorous shortcuts.

Kevin Spacey, Joaquin Phoenix, Mickey Rourke, Clint (The Man With No Name doesn't need his second name), Gene Hackman. Loads more, great giants of American cinema. Brando was the god of all these things, for me. Outside the states, there have been many greats, too many to mention, but some have made the crossover, and the best of that bunch - for me - is Gerard Depardieu, although he suffers from a similar ailment to Robert De Niro: he played so fast and intense in his youth, he's reduced his commitment to making froth and parodies of himself, where he gets away with pulling faces for the camera.

The Ones I Avoid:

Johnny Depp
Ben Stiller
Tom Cruise
Most modern "comedy actors"

 

[TsarMatt]

Chaplin
Keaton
Fonda
von Sydow
Mifune
Chishu Ryu
Shishido
De Niro
Cooper
Billy Bob Thornton
Casey Affleck
Chris Cooper
Shimura

I am forgetting heaps probably.

 

[britbox]

Like shawnbm, I always like Newman and Redford too. Also liked Steve McQueen, the "King of Cool".

Mitchum (agree, he's underrated), Peck, Hurt and Peter O'Toole - legends of the silver screen.

Gene Hackman... Love him. He had the consistent knack of turning an average film into a good film. Good screen presence.

De Niro used to top my list but he's made a few turkeys in recent times. I still think he's good... and despite being typecast a little, I also enjoyed comedies like "Meet the Parents", "Meet the Fockers" etc...
I disagree that De Niro looked amateur in Cape Fear - I thought he pulled it off superbly.

Pacino - some of his early work was excellent. The Godfather films are right up there with the best. Also thought Scarface was good. Agree he's gone a bit "shouty" as Kieran mentioned. He got away with it in Carlito's Way (good movie) but it's become a bit a recurring theme.

Javier Bardem - Like him. Although I think he gets typecast a little as the "thinking" Latin American.

Antonio Banderas - Ditto above.

Jack Nicholson - Really enjoyed a lot of his movies. "The Shining" is still my favourite horror flick.

Daniel Day Lewis - This guy is superb. Massive screen presence. "My Left Foot" and "The Gangs of New York" are two of my favourite movies. He was immense in both.

Clint - Liked the westerns, Dirty Harry movies, but also love his later work as a dual director/star. Thought Million Dollar Baby and Grand Turismo were quality flicks.

Joaquin Phoenix - One of my favourite current actors still in his prime.

Russell Crowe - Versatile and underrated.

Tom Cruise - This guy is seriously underrated IMO. OK, he's mainstream and a bit of a "Mr Hollywood" but I love his work and think he's versatile. Top Gun was cheesy but good, but Cruise was exceptional in "The Rainman" and "Born on the fourth of July". I think he's good.

Ben Stiller - I like his comedy stuff to be honest. Quite like Adam Sandler in that respect too. Maybe one-dimensional but he's good at what he does.

Samuel L. Jackson - This guy has massive screen presence. He dominated "Pulp Fiction". Maybe guilty of appearing in a few turkies, but as an actor I think he's one of the best.

Leonardo DeCaprio - Liking all his work really. Loved "Shutter Island", "The Great Gatsby", "Wolf of Wall Street" and more...

Other notable mentions... Michael Douglas, Donald Sutherland, Morgan Freeman...

 

[shawnbm]

Chaplin
Keaton
Fonda
von Sydow
Mifune
Chishu Ryu
Shishido
De Niro
Cooper
Billy Bob Thornton
Casey Affleck
Chris Cooper
Shimura

I am forgetting heaps probably.

Keaton, Chaplin and von Sydow--most excellent choices IMHO. Oh how I love old Buster Keaton films--he was really something. von Sydow is almost always top notch too.

 

[kskate2]

Third icon this week has passed. Bid farewell to Ralph Waite better known as "Pa Walton". He was 85.

I used to watch The Waltons every week with my family. I absolutely loved that show, and Pa was a big reason why. A show that embraced teaching good values to younger folks. Can anyone tell me where such a show is now? (To be candid, I don't watch much network television any more).

Doesn't exist Shawn. They tried reinventing the wheel w/ Everwood, but it jumped the shark after Season 2 and was ultimately cancelled in the mid 2000s.

 

[TsarMatt]

Chaplin
Keaton
Fonda
von Sydow
Mifune
Chishu Ryu
Shishido
De Niro
Cooper
Billy Bob Thornton
Casey Affleck
Chris Cooper
Shimura

I am forgetting heaps probably.

Keaton, Chaplin and von Sydow--most excellent choices IMHO. Oh how I love old Buster Keaton films--he was really something. von Sydow is almost always top notch too.

Yep, Buster Keaton is excellent. Seen most of his films and love them - rivals Chaplin as the best American silent star.

 

[nehmeth]

John Wayne - my favorite all time actor, best known for westerns but did some wonderful war movies.

Cary Grant - smooth, great comedic timing, always a joy to watch.

Spencer Tracy - probably one of the true greats of all time.

Jimmy Stewart - Pennsylvania born and bred, always enjoyed him.

Alan Ladd - wish he would have done more.

Mel Gibson - in real life he's nuts, but from action movie, to drama to comedy, the guy can act.

Johnny Depp - quirky no, weird yes, but his part in Finding Neverland - incredible.

Tom Cruise - forgetting MI3 where he ran for 2/3's of the movie, I loved the Last Samurai; he was really good in Minority Report, and I enjoyed the "over-acting" in A Few Good Men.

Jack Nicholson - At whatever age incredible. Again not a fan of the guy, but he can act.

Michael Fassbender, Jeremy Renner, Toby McGuire, Christian Bale, James McAvoy are some of my present favorites.

 

[nehmeth]

Bid farewell to Harold Ramis who died from an autoimmune disease. He was 69.

My brother had just bought his first house, a tiny little place in Schellsburg, PA. We went there to spend Christmas with his family in 1984. He had HBO and they had advertised that there would be a special Christmas gift - a feature presentation. It turned out they premiered Ghostbusters! Back then it was HUGE to have a top grossing movie to come out that soon on cable. One of the best Christmas's ever that year.

When I read that Ramis had died, I wrote to my brother about that Christmas. He said that was his very first thought when he'd learned of his passing. Funny how the event of watching a movie together can capture a moment in time and encapsulate the memory.

 

[britbox]

^ Funny how we associate things like music tracks, films etc. with life events. I liked Ghostbusters and always associate it with a happy period around that Christmas too. I think Gremlins came out around the same time - even though I thought the latter wasn't a particularly great film, it always puts a smile on my face with the "linking back" factor.

I always considered Ramis as more of a writer than an actor, and might be wrong but vaguely recall he wasn't supposed to be in Ghostbusters originally - I think somebody else dropped out.

By the way, your list of Favourite Actors - The Duke should have been on mine too.

 

[kskate2]

^^I think you're right Baron. He wrote Ghostbusters w/ Aykroyd and then had to step in when John Candy pulled out.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/movies/367092/10-things-you-might-not-have-known-about-GHOSTBUSTERS

 

[Kieran]

Watched the Hitchcock film, North by Northwest the other day, and it had James Mason in it, playing a villain (of course). Now, I always liked James Mason, since I saw him in Salem's Lot. His voice alone would be worth listening to, if the picture goes on the telly...

 

[nehmeth]

^^I think you're right Baron. He wrote Ghostbusters w/ Aykroyd and then had to step in when John Candy pulled out.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/movies/367092/10-things-you-might-not-have-known-about-GHOSTBUSTERS

HUH?? :wow:

I thought Candy had a cameo role...

 

[bobvance]

Chaplin
Keaton
Fonda
von Sydow
Mifune
Chishu Ryu
Shishido
De Niro
Cooper
Billy Bob Thornton
Casey Affleck
Chris Cooper
Shimura

I am forgetting heaps probably.

Keaton, Chaplin and von Sydow--most excellent choices IMHO. Oh how I love old Buster Keaton films--he was really something. von Sydow is almost always top notch too.

The first time I saw Buster Keaton was in a film class in college. Ever since I've been a big fan. He could express a lot with just his eyes, which is a nice contrast to some actors who feel like they have to do a lot. Interestingly, my grandma was once watching The General on a Spanish channel and Keaton was billed as 'Cara de Palo' which means something like 'Face of Wood.' I always thought that was funny.

Nehmeth mentioned a couple of my new favorites as well. My gf and I have been watching some Hitchcock films and Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant were pretty fantastic.

Two other actors I like very much who don't get enough credit are Benicio del Toro and Terrence Howard. Both guys are great but don't make the best movies.

 

[shawnbm]

I am familiar with Keaton being called "Cara de Palo" and he certainly had a remarkable face. He really was a fabulous actor and learned his craft in Kansas (if memory serves) doing vaudeville and a lot of physical comedy. He was one of a kind.

 

[shawnbm]

Watched the Hitchcock film, North by Northwest the other day, and it had James Mason in it, playing a villain (of course). Now, I always liked James Mason, since I saw him in Salem's Lot. His voice alone would be worth listening to, if the picture goes on the telly...

Great minds thinking alike! I watched the same with the entire family unit ten days ago. Everybody really liked it and James Mason is so good at being bad (recall Lolita?). I loved him in Journey to the Center of the Earth with Pat Boone too.

 

[Kieran]

Yeah, and as captain Nemo in 20,000 Leagues under The Sea, with Kirk Douglas and Peter Lorre. Something graceful about him too, for all his badness. Never once seen him play a goodie, though I'm sure he must have...

 

[tented]

Watched the Hitchcock film, North by Northwest the other day, and it had James Mason in it, playing a villain (of course). Now, I always liked James Mason, since I saw him in Salem's Lot. His voice alone would be worth listening to, if the picture goes on the telly...

Great minds thinking alike! I watched the same with the entire family unit ten days ago. Everybody really liked it and James Mason is so good at being bad (recall Lolita?).

Yep, North by Northwest is exceptional. Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll, a very young Martin Landau -- incredible cast, with a brilliant director. Hitchcock made many, many great films, but this has to be one of his best.