Film Question

[istewart]

This went unsettled in a friendly debate so I figured I'd pick OOT's brain... although this might be really easy, not sure.

Who are the three greatest actors of the past 15 years? Pretty much excluding foreign films.

[diebitter]

Brad Pitt
Morgan Freeman

Third is hard: Eric Bana? Paul Bettany?

Foreign: Vincent Cassel

[Dynasty]

The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[Shajen]

Denzel Washington
Kevin Spacey
Tom Hanks


Feel free to disagree. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[istewart]

[ QUOTE ]
The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't see how these are the standard answers... I'm too lazy to open IMDB but I don't see how you can put Pacino on this list. Or Hoffman, really.

Myself, I thought the list looked like:

Hanks
Spacey
Crowe

The question certainly has a correlation to Oscars/Oscar nominations but that is not the sole factor.

[samjjones]

Tom Hanks
Denzel Washington
Ed Norton

[istewart]

Norton is cool.

[pryor15]

[ QUOTE ]
The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

except they all did their best work more than 15 years ago.

don't forget about P. Seymour Hoffman

foreign: Gael Garcia Bernal

[samjjones]

PSH was RIGHT there for me, but I had to take Hanks and Denzel over him, assuming the upper range of the time frame was 15 years.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Ed Norton
Kevin Spacey
Russell Crowe

Honorable mention to William H. Macy and James Cromwell

[IggyWH]

[ QUOTE ]
Denzel Washington
Kevin Spacey
Tom Hanks

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not a Hanks fan, but this is hard to disagree with. I might switch him with Norton or Freeman, but that's just because I like them better.

[Dominic]

Russell Crowe
Phillip Seymore Hoffman
Chris Cooper

Tom Hanks
John Cusack
Edit: Johnny Depp

[Vavavoom]

[ QUOTE ]
Who are the three greatest actors of the past 15 years?

[/ QUOTE ]

Greatest Actors by films appeared in or roles played...

A lot of "great" actors play similar roles (typecast)....

Tom Hanks is definitely up there though...

[xorbie]

by greatest do you mean in terms of generally accepted? or just my opinion?

if the latter:

norton
cusack
crowe

[ChipWrecked]

Ed Norton
Denzel Washington
Kevin Spacey

[CallMeIshmael]

Hanks is the only one that isnt debatable.

[CrazyEyez]

Johnny Depp should be in the mix.
I agree with Hanks for sure.

[xorbie]

[ QUOTE ]
Hanks is the only one that isnt debatable.

[/ QUOTE ]

if we are talking generally, then yes. i just prefer those other guys to him, but he's been in so many great movies:

saving private ryan
green mile
apollo 13
forrest gump
road to perdition
catch me if you can

hard to argue against.

This begs for a poll.

[IggyWH]

[ QUOTE ]
This begs for a poll.

[/ QUOTE ]

No

[samjjones]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hanks is the only one that isnt debatable.

[/ QUOTE ]

if we are talking generally, then yes. i just prefer those other guys to him, but he's been in so many great movies:

saving private ryan
green mile
apollo 13
forrest gump
road to perdition
catch me if you can

hard to argue against.

[/ QUOTE ]
Your forgot "Philadelphia", "Cast Away", "Toy Story", "A League of Their Own", and "Sleepless in Seattle", which were certainly fine performances that fit in the time range given.

[xorbie]

yeah i was just listing the ones ive seen. toy story doesnt count... wasnt even a great voice performence or anything.

[samjjones]

[ QUOTE ]
yeah i was just listing the ones ive seen. toy story doesnt count... wasnt even a great voice performence or anything.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm sure a lot of OOTers will disagree with this claim.

Both Hanks and Tim Allen (and pretty much all the voice actors, including Wallace Shawn, etc.) were great in this.

[istewart]

By "greatest" I do not mean "best in your opinion." Greatest as in popularity, influence, highly regarded by critics, etc. Not some amazing Brazilian actor who does Super 8 films that nobody has heard about.

[pryor15]

[ QUOTE ]
By "greatest" I do not mean "best in your opinion." Greatest as in popularity, influence, highly regarded by critics, etc. Not some amazing Brazilian actor who does Super 8 films that nobody has heard about.

[/ QUOTE ]

then i'm confused. why are we eliminating foreign actors who are just as highly regarded by your criteria? russell crowe comes to mind, as does antonio banderas, gerard depardeu, bernal, cassell, etc...

hell, didn't the original post even eliminate the brits?

[istewart]

I'm not eliminating foreign actors in American films. I'm eliminating acting roles in foreign films.

[bisonbison]

Hanks
Crowe

no one else is really close as far as I can tell, though Denzel was good in Manch. Candidate, so maybe he'll end up avoiding a decade of Harrison Ford-esque 'I AM JUSTIFIABLY ANGRY IN THIS MOVIE' crap.

Most fun to watch? George Clooney.

On the horizon? I'm rooting for Matt Damon, but I can't tell what he'll be acting in in 15 years cause he still looks so young.

Best character actor? PS Hoffman. Watch Lebowski, Talented Mr. Ripley and Boogie Nights. I don't understand how that's the same guy.

[pokerdirty]

I feel like 15 years is too long of a time period, if I were to ask a question like this, I would do it over 5 years, 10 max. That being said, I would have to go with

Tom Hanks
Michael Caine
Russell Crowe

I feel like Paul Giamatti belongs on this list, but hasn't been around long enough with leading roles.

John C. Reilly would be best supporting actor IMO.

[SheetWise]

Robert Downey Jr.
Johnny Depp
Robert Duvall
Jack Nicholson
Robert DeNiro

I assume "act" doesn't include people who simply play themselves in serial roles -- even if they're very likable, like Morgan Freeman, Harrison Ford, or Sean Connery.

[jba]

anythony hopkins hasn't been listed and he put out some good work.

i don't care if jack nicholson's best work was before this period: About Schmidt, As Good as it Gets, A Few Good Men, Hoffa, this is a helluva catalog for anyone.

[bisonbison]

I love Johnny Depp, but how many good movies has he made, ever?

I love Robert DeNiro, but the man never turns down a script.

Nicholson isn't phoning it in to the degree that DeNiro is, but that's only cause he can't play cops/criminals. Romantic comedies? Ick.

Robert Duvall straight rocks.

Also, where's the Gene Hackman love?

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]
Best character actor? PS Hoffman. Watch Lebowski, Talented Mr. Ripley and Boogie Nights. I don't understand how that's the same guy.

[/ QUOTE ]

oh man you have to see the one where he huffs gas the whole time. damn..

edit: Love Liza is the name. don't watch it when you're depressed

also Owning Mahowny he plays a degenerate gambler and is just unfreaking believable

[CrazyEyez]

[ QUOTE ]
also Owning Mahowny he plays a degenerate gambler and is just unfreaking believable

[/ QUOTE ]

[Paluka]

Ed Norton and William Macey stand out for me. Deniro has high peaks but he is in so many random bad movies.

[ChipWrecked]

He was also great as the founder of Creem magazine in 'Almost Famous'.

[Uston]

[ QUOTE ]
I love Johnny Depp, but how many good movies has he made, ever?

[/ QUOTE ]

It took me 15 seconds to think of five great movies he's been in.

[istewart]

[ QUOTE ]
He was also great as the founder of Creem magazine in 'Almost Famous'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah this movie rules.

[istewart]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I love Johnny Depp, but how many good movies has he made, ever?

[/ QUOTE ]

It took me 15 seconds to think of five great movies he's been in.

[/ QUOTE ]

List them then.

[Uston]

Finding Neverland
Dead Man
Ed Wood
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

[shadow29]

[ QUOTE ]
He was also great as the founder of Creem magazine in 'Almost Famous'.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lester Bangs. His performance was spot on to the real dude, too. Doesn't hurt that Cameron gave him actual lines spoken by Lester, either.

[bisonbison]

Fear and Loathing. Donnie Brasco. Gilbert Grape?

I'll admit to not having seen some of his stuff, but I did see Chocolat. I did see Secret Window.

[istewart]

Gilbert Grape no way.

Dead Man gets the nod, not totally because of him though.

The rest I guess, hard to believe Finding Neverland is "great," however.

[CrazyEyez]

[ QUOTE ]
Finding Neverland
Dead Man
Ed Wood
What's Eating Gilbert Grape?
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

[/ QUOTE ]
Blow

[istewart]

Blow is awesome but it is far from a great movie. Terrific soundtrack though.

[ChipWrecked]

From Hell.

[istewart]

Worst movie ever. Sleepy Hollow was probably better.

[Uston]

[ QUOTE ]
Gilbert Grape no way.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fair enough. I loved it.

[ QUOTE ]
Dead Man gets the nod, not totally because of him though.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. Jim Jarmusch is amazing and Neil Young did a great job with the soundtrack.

[ QUOTE ]
The rest I guess, hard to believe Finding Neverland is "great," however.

[/ QUOTE ]

I expected to not like it. Turned out to be one of my three favorite movies of the year.

[ChipWrecked]

Finding Neverland was one of the rare movies I actually stayed awake on a plane for. Also, I have a huge crush on what's-her-name.

[kenberman]

Sean Penn

[istewart]

[ QUOTE ]
Jeff Spicoli

[/ QUOTE ]

FYP

[Georgia Avenue]

This question kinda depends on whether you think it's better to be a Character Actor or a Movie Star.

Humphrey Bogart: Movie Star
Dustin Hoffman: Character Actor

I think they're both hard to do. The problem with Movie Stars is that they can get miscast or just phone it in (Secret Window anyone? Terminal? Man on Fire? Bleh.)

The problem with Character Actors is that they make bad choices and end up in Ishtar 2. Or I AM SAM Re-Loaded: The Revenge.

One personal favorite of mine is Ol' Marky Mark himself, (sans funky Bunch)--Mark Wahlberg. He's just so consitent and watchable, even in poopoo like Truth About Charlie.

Tough Call,

--GA

[YourFoxyGrandma]

Will Smith
Steve Buscemi
Bruce Willis

[WillMagic]

Ralph Fiennes
Liam Neeson
Tom Hanks

Will

[limon]

x

[MrMon]

There are two locks for the list, both already mentioned.

Tom Hanks - The list over the last 15 years is just too good too ignore. He's the modern day Jimmy Stewart and the only modern actor I can see even having a chance at remaking something like It's A Wonderful Life, which they better never do.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman - One of the great character actors of all time, he thoroughly disappears into each role. I haven't seen Capote yet, other than the trailers and interviews shows, but this better be his year.

Everyone else is fighting for the last spot. I'll toss in one nominee that hasn't been mentioned - Vincent D'Onofrio.

[WDC]

Sean Penn
Kevin Bacon
Kevin Spacey

[KaneKungFu123]

i cant believe how many people think russel crowe is the best actor in the last 15 years. you really suck.

ps: training day and man on fire = Great.
practically everything else he has made makes me vommit.

[KaneKungFu123]

Sam Jackson
Kevin Spacy
Pacino

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]
i cant believe how many people think russel crowe is the best actor in the last 15 years. you really suck.

ps: training day and man on fire = Great.
practically everything else he has made makes me vommit.

[/ QUOTE ]

you sure make some awesomely dumb posts

[Paluka]

[ QUOTE ]
Gilbert Grape no way.

Dead Man gets the nod, not totally because of him though.

The rest I guess, hard to believe Finding Neverland is "great," however.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think Finding Neverland was an exceptional film. I enjoyed it very much. I don't understand why you would find it "hard to believe" that a movie with 2 highly acclaimed leads with many many awards between them and a director who was coming off a successful film (Monster's Ball) could be great.

[bisonbison]

LA Confidential
The Insider
A Beautiful Mind
Master and Commander
Cinderella Man

I didn't like Gladiator much, but the man has mad chops and is almost always entirely convincing as whoever he's playing.

Hell, I even liked Mystery, Alaska.

[rgreenm90]

Hanks and Crowe are the easy answers. If you ask the question again in ten years, Norton will be on there also. I'd say the third spot goes to Liam Neeson, Kevin Spacey, Denzel, or maybe Depp. Interesting that no women have been mentioned.

[jba]

bison,

KKF is apparently talking about Denzel.

LA Confidential is the [censored], and crowe's best movie by far.

peace,
jba

[nyc999]

[ QUOTE ]
Sean Penn

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't believe I had to get to the fifth page to see his name. I'd go...

Hanks
Penn
Crowe

[bisonbison]

Norton's good in Fight Club and Red Dragon. I understand a lot of people liked him in American History X (which I thought sucked) and Primal Fear (haven't seen it in years).

But beyond that? I dunno. Red Dragon's the only good movie he's made this century.

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]
Norton's good in Fight Club and Red Dragon. I understand a lot of people liked him in American History X (which I thought sucked) and Primal Fear (haven't seen it in years).

But beyond that? I dunno. Red Dragon's the only good movie he's made this century.

[/ QUOTE ]

Two words: 25th hour

[kyro]

[ QUOTE ]
Norton's good in Fight Club and Red Dragon. I understand a lot of people liked him in American History X (which I thought sucked) and Primal Fear (haven't seen it in years).

But beyond that? I dunno. Red Dragon's the only good movie he's made this century.

[/ QUOTE ]

He was very good in "The Score." Not a very good movie, but he was excellent in it.

[Paluka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Norton's good in Fight Club and Red Dragon. I understand a lot of people liked him in American History X (which I thought sucked) and Primal Fear (haven't seen it in years).

But beyond that? I dunno. Red Dragon's the only good movie he's made this century.

[/ QUOTE ]

He was very good in "The Score." Not a very good movie, but he was excellent in it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is also true for Death To Smoochy and Rounders. Not great films, but he stood out in both.

[bisonbison]

I've never seen. Added to netflix.

[Nicholasp27]

christopher walken
steve buscemi
william h macy

[MyTurn2Raise]

Robin Williams
Ed Norton
Denzel Washington

I'm gonna throw in a new name: Don Cheadle.

He has done some aweseome roles.

Crash
Hotel Rwanda
Ocean's 11
The Family Man
Traffic
Boogie Nights
Colors

To me, it doesn't feel like he is acting, it's like he is just living the character. If he isn't top 3 right now, give it a couple more years.

[jba]

"Don Cheadle"

he's awesome

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]
"Don Cheadle"

he's awesome

[/ QUOTE ]

He inflicted unbelievable cruelty to the cockney accent in Ocean's 11 though. Made Dick Van Dyke look positively method.

[xorbie]

norton is great, he just chooses some questionable roles (death to smoochy, the score, italian job). i haven't seen a single role of his that isn't really convincing, and he does a lot of really different characters.

[The Yugoslavian]

Depends on what you mean by 'greatest.' I think the actor that most embodies (with his work and roles and such) 1990ish until now is Tom Cruise. Is he the best actor? No way, not even close....but he could be one of the three 'greatest.' Oh, I just read your subsequent post....I'd say Tom Cruise should be on the list.

As for best I think Denzel needs to be up there. Hanks needs to as well. As for the third I'd toss it up between Norton, Depp, Crowe and Spacey.

Yugoslav

[diebitter]

no love for Pitt huh? After seven, snatch, true romance, legends of the fall, Fight Club, 12 monkeys...

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dustin Hoffman and especially Tom Hanks aren't worth spit compared to Jack Nicholson. And I'm a guy who likes Hoffman. Hanks isn't even on the radar.

[rudedog78]

It's very hard to do a list like this because alot of people have different opinions, but if you could ask x people you would get the most known actors show up, probably something like Hanks, Crowe and Depp...

It's a preety good list, but it will differ from people to people, especially Crowe and Depp.

[Paluka]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dustin Hoffman and especially Tom Hanks aren't worth spit compared to Jack Nicholson. And I'm a guy who likes Hoffman. Hanks isn't even on the radar.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't really understand the Hanks thing. I don't even like any movies he is in.

[samjjones]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dustin Hoffman and especially Tom Hanks aren't worth spit compared to Jack Nicholson. And I'm a guy who likes Hoffman. Hanks isn't even on the radar.

[/ QUOTE ]
Please name the great Nicholson performances in the past 10-15 years. Thanks.

[jba]

[ QUOTE ]
Please name the great Nicholson performances in the past 10-15 years. Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

About Schmidt, As Good as it Gets, A Few Good Men, Hoffa

[/ QUOTE ]

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
Ed Norton
Kevin Spacey
Russell Crowe

Honorable mention to William H. Macy and James Cromwell

[/ QUOTE ]

This is an excellent answer. Though I don't know who James Cromwell is, and I don't think Russell Crowe is anywhere near as good as Ed Norton or Kevin Spacey.

I'm very tempted to boot Crowe out and put in Philip Seymour Hoffman. I've been much more impressed by Hoffman, but haven't seen him as often, though he's been busy. I bet if I saw Capote, he'd definitely be in and Crowe would be out.

I was even thinking Willem Dafoe. But I don't know if the last 15 years is really Dafoe's best stuff, and it's definitely not the very start of his career, which I think this question is all about. (That's why guys who started in the 60's and 70's like DeNiro et al. are out.) He appears so sporadically that I don't really know what time frame to put him in. But he's a phenomenal actor. Seeing Auto Focus reminded me how effortlessly powerful he is.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dustin Hoffman and especially Tom Hanks aren't worth spit compared to Jack Nicholson. And I'm a guy who likes Hoffman. Hanks isn't even on the radar.

[/ QUOTE ]
Please name the great Nicholson performances in the past 10-15 years. Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't watch the chick movies Nicholson does now. Apparently he is great in them though, but I'll never find out. I don't watch the kind of movies that have Shirley MacLaine in them.

Anyway I was agreeing on choice of top actors more than time frame.

[samjjones]

Oh, OK. Because the OP specifically mentioned 10-15 years, so I was going by that. Nicholson doesn't sniff this list if that criteria is kept to. But Jack definitely makes my top 5 of all-time.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The standard answer will be Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, and either Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, or Tom Hanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dustin Hoffman and especially Tom Hanks aren't worth spit compared to Jack Nicholson. And I'm a guy who likes Hoffman. Hanks isn't even on the radar.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't really understand the Hanks thing. I don't even like any movies he is in.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think he's likeable, and American movies will always plenty of room for a likeable everyman, like Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, or Tom Hanks. But an easy, down to earth persona doesn't make Hanks a particularly interesting actor to me, just a character type that's good for many standard American movie roles.

I can't imagine ever watching him be particularly compelling or interesting. No DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Pacino, Hoffman, etc. momemts seem ever likely to come out of him. Nothing that's going to blow you away -- or anyway blow me away. I can't seem him deciding to play a character with dangerous quirks or much evil, or even conflict, in his heart. Nobody interesting, in other words. He's there like an amorphous blob easy enough for anybody at all to identify with, because he's so reliably flat and plain, in stories that will never really stretch his range.

Maybe someone will think that's unfair, because Hanks is so easy to like. He's just not a particularly interesting screen presence to me, and I don't expect any surprises from him for the rest of his career.

[Army Eye]

Daniel Day-Lewis
Sean Penn
Russell Crowe

[bisonbison]

If only Daniel Day-Lewis would do more movies... but yeah. He's awesome.

[MyTurn2Raise]

wow...I'm the only one with Robin Williams (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000245/) love

I also think Pitt is better than he gets credit for. He's in my top 10.

[Blarg]

I pretty much can't stand Robin Williams, but I thought he did well in Good Will Hunting and especially well in what I believe was his first dramatic role, a t.v. version of Saul Bellow's story Seize the Day. Very Robin Williamsy title eh? Very good though, and I'd happily watch it again. For a while, I actually had a lot of respect for Williams because of this one.

[diebitter]

[ QUOTE ]
I pretty much can't stand Robin Williams, but I thought he did well in Good Will Hunting and especially well in what I believe was his first dramatic role, a t.v. version of Saul Bellow's story Seize the Day. Very Robin Williamsy title eh? Very good though, and I'd happily watch it again. For a while, I actually had a lot of respect for Williams because of this one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good in Garp too. bad in almost everything else.

[Rod Jr]

billy bob thorton

[RED FACE]

AM I NOT MERCIFULL!?!?

He is a great actor. Who cares what the Hollywood salesmen are trying to sell(Hanks, Pitt, Ford, Cruise).