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What actors do you think are any good?

I could go on about how great dustin hoffman and al pacino were back in the day, but I think there are plenty of other actors who could've pulled off a part in a film like the graduate or the godfather. when it comes to some of the people who've starred in lesser-known films, the part they play can become more personal. my all-time favorite independent film actor, john amplas, starred in only one film: george romero's martin. he co-starred in day of the dead and knightrider later on, but martin was his first and most precious role. I don't think anyone else could've pulled off a vampire like he did. he fit the story so perfectly. in an interview, romero said that he wasn't a real vampire, just a confused kid who had grown up watching too many horror movies and being told by his family that his soul was damned. the subtle touch of having him use razors and hypodermic needles instead of fangs makes it hard to believe otherwise, but in the end I think you will see him how you want to see him. his performance is a gem.

martin26mc.jpg
 
Funny you should mention Hoffman and Pacino. I think of them as whining, schlumpy method actors, not much better than Kevin Costner, but with real person blood instead of Gatorade. I'm sure their mommies are proud of them.

I'm thinking shining stars. I want to say Connery, but he's always cramming his performance up with cheesy gruffness and eye twinkles. I'd love to say Hackman, but he such a hack. Ha.

I've never heard of john amplas; maybe someone to look up.

Just fishing around here. No mission. Thought I'd just get a feel for what people consider a decent performance.

Tom Wilkinson, the late Alec Guinness, Kenneth Branagh in Henry V (when he's not actually spitting at the camera), Ian Richardson . . . obvious anglophilic choices.
 
Milla Jovovich!

I think she's beautiful, and I like her acting style. She's been in movies like "The Fifth Element", "No Good Deed", "Resident Evil" (1 & 2), "Night Train to Kathmandu" (she did that when she was much younger, but I thought it was a nice film).
 
Of recent generations I'm especially fond of Edward Norton and (surprise!) Brad Pitt. I like Tom Cruise, too, but that's mainly due to his good choices in films, and not to his astounding talent.

Cheers
 
i really like joaquin phoenix. i will watch anything with him in it. i thought he was great as the emperor in gladiator but it is some of his independant work that i love, clay pigeons, to die for. also there was a great movie called return to paradise that i couldn't get over it was so sad. inventing the abbots i loved and it had a great cast, with kathy baker as his mother. i love her.
and julianne moore. she is wonderful. her character in big lebowski was hilarious and i just think she is beautiful and honest and brave in her roles.
 
Martin said:
Of recent generations I'm especially fond of Edward Norton and (surprise!) Brad Pitt. I like Tom Cruise, too, but that's mainly due to his good choices in films, and not to his astounding talent.

Cheers
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I'm not a Tom Cruise person, but one role that really suited him was in Magnolia--have you seen it? He plays an evangelistic misogynist with a grudge against his estranged father (Jason Robards).
 
Actors I think are great include Ian Richardson and Ian McKellan (love his voice too!).

Actresses include Natalie Portman (surprised you didn't mention her Martin), Jennifer Garner and Drew Barrymore.
 
Martin said:
I loved Magnolia - the acting was top-notch!

But .. but .. but .. frogs?!

Cheers
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I took that as a Biblical reference to the plague of frogs in Exodus.

When I was a child I had a picture-book catechism that showed an Egyptian pharoah in a bathtub with blood coming out of the faucet and frogs bouncing all around the tub and black flies in his eyeballs. Fun, huh? I immediately remembered that while watching Magnolia.

The religious message obviously did not sink in, as I am a total aetheist and have been ever since I can remember. But the frogs and blood were scary.
 
Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean was absolutely freakin' fantastic.

My whole family watched it at least 3 times in a row (rented it).

Captain Jack Sparrow...that movie was way worth the rental fee.
 
I think Johnny Depp is finally getting the recognition he deserves. He's an actor who inhabits the role rather than allow his own persona to take it over.

I like Gary Oldman for the same reason. He's different every time out. He chooses quirky, not necessarily likeable characters and becomes them.

The problem I find with some of the older, more established stars I like and have liked in the past is that their own personalities and quirks start to take over every role. As much as I like Denzel, I'd like to see him take a lesser role in a film, so he isn't the 'go to' guy chewing up the scenery all the time. Same with Tom Hanks - loved his earlier work, but finding he's doing too much of the same thing. Maybe he's taking the comparison of him being today's 'Jimmy Stewart-everyman' too seriously.
 
Martin mentioned Brad Pitt. I'm not sure how much was him, or if it was just the movie but I really thought Meet Mr. Black was a super, super cool movie.

Another rental I watched a few times in a row.
 
Ell said:
Same with Tom Hanks - loved his earlier work, but finding he's doing too much of the same thing. Maybe he's taking the comparison of him being today's 'Jimmy Stewart-everman' too seriously.
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Yeah, I saw The Terminal last night. I just felt like the filmmaker should've backed off about 10 yards. How many close ups do you need of Hanks acting like a Russian? You have to look at every nook and cranny about a million times while he squints into the camera.

Maybe this is just an American thing. Europeans (including the English) somehow realize that you can make a great moving film without having star power in your face all the time.

It really does Hanks a disservice. If he was filmed like an actor instead of like a star, his movies would be much better.
 
Regarding Hanks - agreed.

I really love Tom Hanks, and especially all his collaborations with Steven Spielberg, but (and yes there's a but) he has, as Novella said, become a star as opposed to an actor. Which is a pity, but it doesn't stop me from watching (and enjoying) his (their) films.

You know what I find odd - if someone asks me to name a favourite actor, I can name three without even thinking; when someone asks me to name a favourite actress, I have to think hard to be able to name one.

Cheers
 
Martin said:
Of recent generations I'm especially fond of Edward Norton and (surprise!) Brad Pitt. I like Tom Cruise, too, but that's mainly due to his good choices in films, and not to his astounding talent.

Cheers
Click to expand...

i go with all of them!! i really like INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE!! good choice!! :D
 
Kevin costner irritated me considerably in his performance in Dance with Wolf, yet, I thought I was reasonable enough to attribute his unforgivable flaw in that moive to the screenwriter. :p


To be fair, Brad Pitt played quite well in The Seven, and Kavin Spacey as well.

Had once thought Nicholas Cage was a great actor, but he just turned to be common somehow, and seemed to be faking.

I agreed with Ell about Tom Hanks. well, I still liked his play in Green Miles though.

Actors I thought are of some good are Al Pacino, and the one who played in Leon. Denzel (?) Washington played well too.


**a very opinionated comment: I thought many European actors and Russian actors did have absorbing performance. Sorry that I could not come up with any of their names at the moment.

Best wishes to you guys and girls/ladies.! *grin, grin, grin....*
 
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