Your Top 5 Favourite Acting Performances

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A system of cells interlinked
Not my all-time favorites, but favorites, nonetheless.

Jack Nicholson - The Shining
Naomi Watts - Mulholland Drive
Brad Douriff - The Exorcist III
Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
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“It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ― Thomas Sowell



Hmm, I feel like I should rethink my top five from a page back.

Might be that I'm still high off Phoenix's work on The Master from yesterday's watch.

Maybe I ought to give that "Top 50 performances of the 2010s" countdown a serious go.
Both him and PSH would have cases for the upper end of recent performances IMHO.

I think even moreso than favourite films performances is something that's likely to change with time but I'll try a top 20 of....

Anatoly Solonitsyn - Andrei Rublev
Rutger Hauer - Blade Runner
Kinuyo Tanaka - The Life of Oharu
Juliette Binoche - Three Colours Blue
Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver
Joaquin Phoenix & Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Bibi Andersson - Persona
Jack Nicholson - Chinatown
Michael Williams - Wendy and Lucy
Mickey Rourke - Angel Heart
Al Pacino - The Godfather pt 2
Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Colour
Toshiro Mifune - Yojimbo
Richard E Grant - Withnail and I
Daniel Day Lewis - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Gabriel Byrne - Millers Crossing
Sigourney Weaver - Alien
Brendan Gleeson - Calvary
James Woods - Once Upon A Time In America
Helen Mirren - The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover



  • Jack Nicholson - “Jack Torrance”
  • Christoph Waltz - “Hans Landa”
  • Leonardo DiCaprio - “Jordan Belfort”
  • Anthony Hopkins - “Hannibal Lecter”
  • Marlon Brando - “Stanley Kowalski”



Hmmmm..These might change the very next minute but for the time being:

01. Tabu - Chandni Bar
02. John Hurt - The Elephant Man
03. F. Murray Abraham - Amadeus
04. Robert Walker - Strangers on A Train
05. Naomi Watts - Mulholland Dr.



My top 5 (if pushed to choose) would probably be,
Male
1. Michael Redgrave - Dead of Night
2. Bruno Ganz - Downfall
3. Denzel Washington - Fences
4. Christopher Reeve - Above Suspicion
5. Joe Pantoliano - Bound

Female
1. Naomi Watts - Mulholland drive
2. Ingrid Bergman - Autumn Sonata
3. Ginger Rogers - Kitty Foyle
4. Angela Lansbury - Company of Wolves
5. Celia Johnson - Brief Encounter



Too many to list, and I could probably list twenty five;
but off the top of my head:

Jack Nicholson - Five Easy Pieces

Robert Duvall - The Apostle

Gregory Peck - To Kill A Mockingbird

Harrison Ford - Witness

Jack Lemmon - The China Symdrome

Judi Dench - Philomena

That's six, but I never was that good with math.



Gene Hackman - The French Connection
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast
Gloria Swanson - Sunset Boulevard
Marlon Brando - The Godfather

Honorable Mentions
Ralph Fiennes, - The Grand Budapest Hotel, Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront, Joe Pesci - Goodfellas, Alan Rickman - Die Hard, Walter Matthau - The Odd Couple, Kevin Kline - A Fish called Wanda, Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction, Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds



1.Leonardo Dicaprio -Whats eating Gilbert Grape
2.Ellen Burstyn-Requiem for a dream
3.Anthony Perkins-Psyco
4.Leonardo Dicaprio-Basketball Diaries
5.Michael Fassbender-shame

(special mention: jennifer lopez-u turn,Angelina jolie-gia/changeling,elin dahlstrøm-****ing åmål)
Love that DiCaprio is on your list...severely underrated performance



Too many to list, and I could probably list twenty five;
but off the top of my head:



Robert Duvall - The Apostle


Jack Lemmon - The China Symdrome

That's six, but I never was that good with math.
Loved that you included these two...I recently saw The Apostle for the first time and I think he was WAY better than Nicholson in As Good As It Gets



Both him and PSH would have cases for the upper end of recent performances IMHO.

I think even moreso than favourite films performances is something that's likely to change with time but I'll try a top 20 of....

Anatoly Solonitsyn - Andrei Rublev
Rutger Hauer - Blade Runner
Kinuyo Tanaka - The Life of Oharu
Juliette Binoche - Three Colours Blue
Robert De Niro - Taxi Driver
Joaquin Phoenix & Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master
Bibi Andersson - Persona
Jack Nicholson - Chinatown
Michael Williams - Wendy and Lucy
Mickey Rourke - Angel Heart
Al Pacino - The Godfather pt 2
Adele Exarchopoulos - Blue is the Warmest Colour
Toshiro Mifune - Yojimbo
Richard E Grant - Withnail and I
Daniel Day Lewis - The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Gabriel Byrne - Millers Crossing
Sigourney Weaver - Alien
Brendan Gleeson - Calvary
James Woods - Once Upon A Time In America
Helen Mirren - The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover
Nice to see some love for Michelle Williams in wendy and Lucy



1. Tarjei Sandvik Moe in Skam
2. Toshiro Mifune in Rashomon
3. Faye Wong in Chungking Express
4. Noemi Steuer in Die zweite Heimat - Chronik einer Jugend
5. Max Schreck in Nosferatu



Female
  1. Kim Novak, Vertigo
  2. Barbara Stanwyck, Double Indemnity
  3. Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
  4. Bette Davis, All About Eve
  5. Emma Thompson, The Remains of the Day

Honorable mentions:
  • Marlene Dietrich, Witness for the Prosecution
  • Jane Greer, Out of the Past
  • Judith Anderson, Rebecca
  • Grace Kelly, Rear Window
    -
  • Robin Wright, House of Cards
  • Eva Green, Penny Dreadful, Casino Royal
  • Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Male






5 is not enough



Too many to list, and I could probably list twenty five;
but off the top of my head:



Robert Duvall - The Apostle



That's six, but I never was that good with math.
Big second to this incredible performance that people rarely talk about