The Top 100 Movie Stars Countdown

I completely agree with you. I"m sure there are tons of people that missed a lot of their favourites and I also think there was a pretty small pool of voters in the first one and that a larger pool with more accurate votes could change the results quite a bit. I screwed up my criteria and if I had to do it again my entire list would change.

Wait a minute... did I seriously leave off Burt Reynolds?

I had him at #8

Oh, god. I DID leave off Burt Reynolds. *GASP*

He would be #99. Which already had 11 people. So now it has 12 people.

I'll add his name to everything. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I know you had been, but I kept thinking he just didn't make it and you were joking.

I don't joke about Hooper

Oh! I'm also going to add Tim Robbins to the list, too. He should have been #100. I'll add him in with Morgan Freeman.

I think he'd prefer the dollars than the points.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

The fact that Fonda is behind so many brainless actors (Van Damme, Stallone, Schwarzeneger, etc...) makes me sooo mad!!!

For me, my sexiest actor is Zac Efron. i am a diehard fan of his style and especially his eyes

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no Ed Norton ?? This list is irrelevant.

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Very impressive list...I was pleased to see Nicholson as #1. I think most of my list made the cut. I have to admit there were a few surprises though...Jean Claude Van Damm? Alain Delon? Klaus Kinski? I'm not sure why, but they're just three names I didn't expect to see on the list, but that's just me. Solid list, though, I'm impressed.

I was hoping SC would hold off until the weekend or at least the day after Thanksgiving, since I know many of us were too preoccupied with family and turkey and football and Black Friday and everything else associated with the holiday to get a chance to follow along and comment. I know gbgoodies is campaigning to re-do the countdown, but that seems completely pointless to me. I agree that the countdown was far from perfect. I wish SC would've waited until he had more lists so we wouldn't have had so many ridiculous ties. I also wish he had taken longer than one night to unveil the list. Even 10-20 entries a day would've been enough to keep a fast pace while also allowing for more discussion. But just because the countdown is over doesn't mean the discussion can't continue and people can't comment on why they chose certain actors/actresses or b!tch about which actors/actresses placed too low or too high.

Anyways, here are my cold leftovers:


1.) Johnny Depp -- I have a man crush on Johnny Depp. He has a magnetism about him -- an aura -- that few actors possess. He's the coolest person on the planet. He carries himself more like a rock star than an actor, which is perhaps why so many icons --- Keith Richards, Marlon Brando, Hunter S. Thompson, etc.--- have developed close friendships with him in the past. Depp seems aloof about his success; he marches to the beat of his own drum; he has his own unique style; he chooses very eccentric roles. All those things appeal to me. When trying to decide who to put on my list, I thought of actors whose mere presence in a film makes me interested in watching it, regardless of how disinterested I am in the subject matter. A movie about Johnny Depp watching paint dry? I'm there opening weekend. My favorite Johnny Depp movies are: Edward Scissorhands, Dead Man, Ed Wood, Blow, POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? He's also the one guy, other than Sexy Celebrity, who I would sleep with in a heartbeat.


2.) James Stewart -- If I made a list of my 200 favorite movies, James Stewart would appear more often than any other actor. There's Rear Window, Harvey, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Winchester '73, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Anatomy of a Murder, Vertigo . . . the list goes on and and on. It seems like he appeared in more great movies than any other actor. I saw Miss Vicky comment that she hated his voice, and she's not the first person I've heard say that, but I love his voice. I find it very soothing and comforting, much like many of his on-screen personas. Stewart had a very down-to-earth quality that appeals to me. He's the greatest everyman in the history of cinema. Anytime I'm browsing the TCM schedule and I see a movie with James Stewart, I immediately set it to record. I've yet to see anything from him that wasn't worth watching.


3.) Humphrey Bogart -- Like many actors on this list, I'll watch anything starring Bogey. This guy invented cool. There's something about his face, his voice, his presence and the way he carried himself that is still unrivaled by any other actor. He's the definition of a movie star. Nobody has ever rocked a fedora harder. Nobody has ever smoked more stylishly. Nobody has ever delivered so many iconic lines. If I could have a voice transplant, this is the voice I would choose. Everything about Bogart screamed class. When I think of noir, I think of Bogart. When I think of classic cinema, I think of Bogart. Some of my favorite movies with Bogart are: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, In a Lonely Place and Casablanca.


4.) Jack Nicholson -- I don't necessarily think Jack is the greatest actor of all-time, but I certainly think he's the most entertaining. I've seen a few of his very early roles in super low-budget films like Hell's Angels on Wheels and Psych-Out, and even though the films are very poor, it was evident even then that Jack possessed a star quality rarely seen. He's one of those actors you can't take your eyes off every time he's on screen. He steals the show in the greatest road movie ever made: Easy Rider. He's responsible for several of the greatest performances of the 70's in all-time great films like Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. His deliciously over-the-top performance in The Shining is one of the most iconic roles of all-time. Plus he's still my favorite Joker. I think what appeals to me most about Jack, besides those crazy eyebrows and his enormous talent, is that he's always maintained a certain outsider feel. He's a rebel that conquered the system without ever buying into it.


5.) Jean-Claude Van Damme -- I've mentioned a few times before that I have a huge soft spot for Van Damme. I very much enjoy old-school action films, but what separated Van Damme from Arnold and Sly and some of his other counterparts was his feet. Those guys could punch a hole in a guy or blow up a building with a bazooka, but they couldn't deliver a perfect roundhouse kick to the face or dodge an attack by doing a full split. I used to beg my mom to let me take karate lessons because I wanted to be able to do the things that Van Damme did. Unfortunately she never let me, so I had to make do with my trampoline, where I'd fight off invisible bad guys with a flurry of kicks. Van Damme was never as popular as Arnold or Sly, and I hate that his career has been relegated mostly to direct-to-video titles over the last decade and a half. The guy has improved so much as an actor over the years. His performance in JCVD was especially excellent and should silence any haters. I'll keep crossing my fingers and hoping for a career renaissance, but even if it never comes, I'll always have my VHS copies of Hard Target, Bloodsport, Universal Soldier, Street Fighter, Lionheart and all the rest to quench my thirst for testosterone-fueled, feet-flying action.


6.) Robert DeNiro -- I worry that DeNiro has tarnished his legacy a bit over the last decade and a half by appearing in so many crappy films. Obviously the man loves to work, you can't fault him for that, but I wish it didn't feel like he was coasting in almost every movie he appears in nowadays. Regardless of his recent work, however, the guy will always rank near the very top thanks to his amazing work in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. I think DeNiro is responsible for more all-time great performances than any other actor, in large part due to his collaborations with Martin Scorsese. People often point to Raging Bull as the single greatest performance of all-time, but you also have Taxi Driver (my personal favorite), Mean Streets, The King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, The Godfather Part II and his heartbreaking performance in Awakenings, among many, many others. With his trademark scowl, he's also one of the toughest, most badass, don't-mess-with-me motherf**kers to ever grace the screen.


7.) Clint Eastwood -- With his steely-eyed glare and no-nonsense attitude, Eastwood was the perfect fit for the darker, more brooding westerns that I love so much. And as an older actor, he's better than anybody at playing a tough-as-nails curmudgeon. He's also one of the greatest American directors. Eastwood is a man's man. At 80+ and still going strong, I'm beginning to suspect that he'll outlive us all. My favorite movies with Eastwood as an actor include: The Man with No Name Trilogy, Unforgiven, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and the hugely underrated White Hunter, Black Heart.


8.) Jack Lemmon -- I don't think there's ever been an actor more inherently likable than Jack Lemmon. Charming, charismatic, hilarious, and extremely talented, Lemmon is the type of actor who brings a smile to my face every time he's on screen. His role in Some Like It Hot is, in my opinion, the single greatest comedic performance in the history of cinema. All of his collaborations with Billy Wilder are gold, with The Apartment being my personal favorite.


9.) Nicolas Cage – The Cage catches a lot of flak for the abundance of poor-to-mediocre movies he takes on, but I think he’s one of the most entertaining actors I’ve ever seen. First of all, he’s much more talented than people give him credit for. As evidence of his talent, watch Leaving Las Vegas, Adaptation, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Raising Arizona, and Moonstruck. He possesses a little bit of Kinski-like insanity, which directors like Lynch (Wild at Heart) and Scorsese (Bringing Out the Dead) have successfully tapped into. He’s responsible for a few of my favorite cheesy action movies, like Con Air, The Rock, and Face/Off. He’s starred in several underrated gems, like Family Man and the awesome grindhouse-style Drive Angry. And even though he appears in a lot of bad movies nowadays, he almost always manages to make them entertaining, whether it’s through his over-acting or his crazy facial expressions or his bursts of rage.


10.) John Wayne -- Whereas Eastwood was a perfect fit for the spaghetti and revisionist westerns, The Duke was the perfect leading man for the long era of traditional westerns. Tough, rugged, and 100% American, The Duke embodied everything that a Cowboy should be. Nobody has ever looked cooler or more badass while riding a horse. I admit that his acting range is limited and that he's pretty much always John Wayne, but there are several roles that probed a little deeper, hinting at a repressed darkness (The Searchers) or displaying surprising vulnerability (The Shootist). And when you compare his earlier roles with his later work, it's obvious that his acting ability improved with age. His work with John Ford and Howard Hawks is legendary. My favorite John Wayne movies are: Rio Bravo, Stagecoach, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Red River, and The Searchers.


11.) Klaus Kinski -- I've seen fewer Kinski films than any other actor to make my list, but his amazing collaborations with Herzog are enough to warrant his inclusion. I'm drawn to movies that deal with madness, insanity, obsession, and Kinski embodies those traits better than anyone I've seen. Apparently he was a lunatic in real life, too, and difficult to be around, but that only makes him all the more fascinating to me. When I watch him in movies like Fitzcarraldo (a top-ten favorite of mine), Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Cobra Verde and Woyzeck, I forget I'm watching an actor because he completely loses himself in each role. He's also responsible for cinema's creepiest and most frightening portrayal of a vampire. He has one of the most magnetic presences on film of any actor I've seen. And despite his odd looks, he also produced one of the finest looking women I've ever seen in Nastassja Kinski, so bonus points for that.


12.) Arnold Schwarzenegger -- Proof that you don't have to be a great actor to be a great movie star. Ah-nuld is the John Wayne of the action genre. Amazing physique, great screen presence, good sense of humor, and he kicks ass and blows ***** up better than any other actor. For pure machismo, you can't beat the muscle-bound behemoth that gave us Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Predator, True Lies and many more staples of the genre. I'm glad he's back to doing his thing.


13.) Woody Harrelson -- I'm pretty sure Woody is the only actor I voted for who didn't make the countdown. That doesn't surprise me, since I think he's very underrated as an actor. I've always been a fan of his goofiness and laid-back stoner vibe. I'm very fond of White Men Can't Jump. Kingpin is one of my favorite comedies. Zombieland is hugely entertaining. But Woody is capable turning that goofy charm and inherent likability into something much more menacing, like in Natural Born Killers, No Country for Old Men and Rampart. Everyone was too caught up in the McConaissance to realize that Harrelson's simmering intensity in True Detective was just as impressive. Woody is one of those actors who never fails to entertain me.


14.) Leonardo DiCaprio -- I was in fifth grade when Titanic became the biggest movie in history. It seemed like every girl in the world was smitten by Leo, which made every guy automatically hate him. Now everyone seems to love him and look forward to his movies, although a select few maintain that he's overrated. Even before Titanic, Leo had proven to be a very talented actor in What's Eating Gilbert Grape? and The Basketball Diaries. He also has a knack for choosing great roles, although it doesn't hurt that he's become Scorsese's new go-to guy. Almost every movie DiCaprio appears in nowadays is must-see, and he continues to deliver excellent performance on top of excellent performance.


15.) Samuel L. Jackson -- I saw BlueLion or someone say that being a badass doesn't necessarily mean you're cool, but I've always thought the two go hand-in-hand, and there are few actors more badass than Samuel L(egend) Jackson. He appears in a ton of movies, but even if the quality of the film isn't always great, Jackson is often the best part and boosts the entertainment value of every scene in which he appears. Nobody enunciates Tarantino's dialogue better than Jackson. He's iconic in Pulp Fiction (my favorite movie of all-time) and responsible for many of the film's most memorable lines. He steals the show and often outshines the leads in nearly ever movie he appears. He can be funny, he can be menacing. I love his attitude, his voice, his presence. And nobody on the planet says the word "motherf**ker" with more relish.


16.) Paul Newman -- Newman has always reminded me a lot of Clint Eastwood, just a little less rough around the edges. Even though he's always a very cool guy and often a little bit mysterious, there's a playfulness behind his trademark blue eyes. He's also great at balancing calm and toughness with a hint of sensitivity, like he has a tough exterior but is a bit wounded beneath the surface. Cool Hand Luke is a top-fifteen favorite of mine, and I'm also a huge fan of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, and Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. I still need to see a lot of Newman's earlier roles, so it's likely he'll continue to rise higher among my favorites.


17.) Dustin Hoffman -- Hoffman lacks the "cool" factor of most of the other actors on my list, but the guy is as talented as they come. His streak of amazing movies/performances in the late 60's all the way into the 80's is even better than Nicholson's streak. There's The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy (his best performance, imo), Straw Dogs (my favorite Hoffman-starring film), All the President's Men, Marathon Man, Tootsie, Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man, and several others I neglected to mention. For a long time I was only familiar with his later work, but over the last few years my appreciation for Hoffman has grown tenfold.


18.) Cary Grant – If Bogart invented cool, Cary Grant invented suave. He’s like 007 before there was a 007. An amazing leading man gifted with ridiculous levels of talent, charisma, charm, and movie-star good looks. What I love him about him most, however, is that he wasn't afraid to act silly or look ridiculous. He could provide stoicism and bravery in suspense films like Notorious and North by Northwest, but also act goofy in films like Bringing Up Baby and Monkey Business. It's rare to see an actor capable of excelling so magnificently in both comedies and dramas. He has one hell of a filmography, too. My favorite Cary Grant film is His Girl Friday.


19.) Morgan Freeman -- In my opinion, Freeman is the best, most consistent supporting actor of all-time. I don't know why he's rarely cast as the leading man, but he always brings out the best in those around him, providing a sense of calm reverence and sophistication. Even when the idea of a black president seemed unlikely, I had no problem buying him as the president in Deep Impact, because who wouldn't vote for Morgan Freeman? I love the boyish twinkle in his eyes. I love his voice, which is exactly how I imagine God would sound. Every movie feels more genuine when Freeman appears on the screen. I especially love his work with Clint Eastwood.


20.) Adam Sandler -- As I approached my teenage years, Adam Sandler replaced Jim Carrey as my favorite comedic actor. Raunchy, crude, stupid, juvenile, a heavy reliance on sex and bathroom humor – those are generally seen as insults, but as a young teenage boy, those are the exact attributes I wanted from my comedies. I was already a fan of Sandler from his stint on Saturday Night Live, and movies like Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, and The Waterboy quickly became favorites of mine. Sandler seems to be trolling studios and audiences nowadays, using films as an excuse to go on vacation and spend time with his friends. The guy doesn’t even try anymore, yet I continue to watch every sh!tty movie he makes, hoping that I’ll finally get a glimpse of the old Sandman I used to love. I wish he would explore more challenging roles, since Sandler has shown glimpses of being a very good actor in movies like Punch-Drunk Love and Spanglish. Twelve years ago or so I would’ve put Sandler near the top of this list, but I expect he’ll only continue to plummet farther and farther down from here on out.


21.) Phillip Seymour Hoffman -- Knowing that Hoffman will never grace the screen again feels like an enormous loss, because he might be the most talented actor of his generation. He didn't have typical movie-star looks, and he often found himself cast as losers and addicts and lowlifes, but he shined in every film. The man was always on top of his game, providing a master class on acting. Big part, small part, it didn't matter. I think his best performance is in Capote, but I love many movies in which he has appeared, including: The Master, Doubt, Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love and Synecdoche, New York.


22.) Tom Hanks -- A modern day James Stewart in many ways. Hanks is excellent at portraying the everyman; he's likable, good-natured, has decent comic chops, and can play a litany of roles. I like his earlier work in films like Big and The Burbs, as well as his meatier, more iconic roles in films like Forrest Gump and Philadelphia. You've Got Mail is my mom's favorite movie, so I've seen it many times. His voicework as Woody is one of the main reasons why Toy Story is my favorite animated film. I think it's a crime that he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Captain Phillips. There's something about Hanks when he pours his heart out on film or breaks down or suffers turmoil that triggers a strong emotional reaction inside of me. I fight back tears every time he reads the letter to Jenny's grave in Forrest Gump.


23.) Jim Carrey -- I started to leave him off my list, since I haven't enjoyed any of his movies in a long time, but the eight-year-old inside of me felt it necessary to include him for old time's sake. Carrey was huge in the mid-90's, and his physical brand of humor and non-stop energy really appealed to me as a kid. I used to quote Ace Ventura constantly in elementary school ("Alllllll-righty then!”). The Ace Ventura movies, Dumb and Dumber, The Mask, Liar Liar, even Batman Forever before I realized it sucked, I used to watch all of those movies over and over as a kid. Carrey has also proven over the years that he can pull off more dramatic roles. I'm still stunned that he wasn't nominated for an Academy Award for Man on the Moon. Most comedic actors nowadays rely solely on dialogue and raunchy humor, so part of me misses Carrey's cartoonish, over-the-top style. He's still one of a kind, even if he’s lost his way.


24.) Sylvester Stallone -- Even though I enjoyed many of Sly's movies as a kid -- Cliffhanger, Assassins, Demolition Man, among others -- I never realized just how multi-talented he is. Nobody's going to confuse him with Kubrick or Woody Allen, but Sly has proven to be a competent writer and director. Neiba made the asinine comment that Stallone is brain-dead, but I think Sly has proven that big muscles and low IQ aren't always exclusive to one another. Sly is responsible for two of the most iconic movie characters in history: Rocky and Rambo. I'm not a big fan of the former, but I love Rambo--- First Blood, especially. I also credit Sly for doing his best to keep the dying art of old-school action alive and well.


25.) Matthew McConaughey -- It wasn't that long ago that I hated McConaughey. He had a memorable part in Dazed and Confused, which is one of my all-time favorite movies. Lone Star and Frailty were also very good movies. But those were anomalies. Everything else the guy was in pretty much sucked, and I started avoiding his movies. Then came the McConaissance. Killer Joe was one of my favorite movies of 2012. Dallas Buyers Club and Mud were two of my favorites from last year. True Detective is one of the best first seasons of a show I've ever seen. I don't know what happened to McConaughey, but he suddenly stopped coasting on lazy rom-coms and transformed into one of the best, bravest and most unpredictable actors working today. In hindsight, I probably should have left him off my list in favor of an actor I’ve admired for a longer period of time, but I’m very excited to see what future roles McConaughey takes on, and I trust that this unprecedented transformation will continue for at least a few more years. Alright, alright, alright.

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I feel a little bit bad for not including a single actress. I started to throw Winona Ryder on my list since she's my favorite actress and my biggest celebrity crush, but the truth is I'd have to expand my list to 40 entries or more before I started including my favorite actresses. Honestly, I'm more pained that I had to leave off people like Bruce Willis, Christian Bale, Billy Bob Thornton, Anthony Quinn and others.

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Thank you, Captain Spaulding. Fantastic list and that was probably the best post of the entire thread. Sorry I ruined your Movie Stars countdown experience.

Captain, good choices on your list....but no actresses? Not even one?

Even I had actresses on my list.

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Yeah, thanks a lot for that. My jaw's not fitting back on my head right again ever since you made me drop it. I'm sitting here with duct tape over my face.

I'm either a sexist or a closet homosexual. Or both. Maybe that explains why I get an erection every time SC bathes me. Or why I allow SC to bathe me at all.

There are many actresses whom I admire -- Winona Ryder, Natalie Wood, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, etc. -- but unlike the people who made my list, I won't seek out a movie solely for their involvement.

If we're talking nude scenes, however, that's a different story. Amy Adams does full-frontal in her next film? Rachel McAdams performs a NC-17-rated sex scene? Emma Watson re-enacts the upskirt scene from Basic Instinct? I'm buying movie tickets months in advance.

Yeah, I think that's clearly sexist rather than homosexual.

lol

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Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

But without any females your list full of sweaty, big macho-men freaked me out.

Not saying I have something against those kinds of chaps but it's kind of terrifying when packed together in one place as small as my laptop screen.