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Best Actors Around

Discussion in 'Sensorium' started by Barmy Army, Jul 2, 2006.

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  1. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    Remove all ads!
    I should make a special mention for Phillip Seymore Hoffman for being an outstanding character actor. Whilst doing so I should mention the WORST character actors. They might be good actors, but just don't ask them to do an accent or play a character.

    3)Robert Mitchum
    2)Sean Connery. He can play a scottish Russian sub captain no prob.
    1) The all time worst by miles is John Wayne. He might play a part, but is ALWAYS John Wayne.
     
    Takara, Aug 5, 2006
    #21

  2. nior Gems: 24/31
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    In no particular order:

    Morgan Freeman
    Gary Oldman
    Sean Penn
    Tom Hanks
    Sean Bean
    Dustin Hoffman
    Tony Leung (HK)
    Ahn Sung-Ki (S.Korean)
    Daniel Day-Lewis
     
    nior, Aug 8, 2006
    #22

  3. Faraaz Gems: 26/31
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    Again, no particular order:
    Al Pacino
    Ian McKellen
    Johnny Depp
    Amitabh Bacchan
    Abhishek Bacchan

    The last two are Indian actors, so I'm not sure if you guys have heard of them...but they're both brilliant...
     
    Faraaz, Aug 8, 2006
    #23
  4. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Yeah, I'm a tool for excluding Phillip Seymoure Hoffman. If you haven't seen Capote yet, do so - he's haunting.

    @ TrueBlue,

    I like Crowe for his depth, and certainly range. He can be courageous and heroic like in 'Master & Commander,' or vulnerable and modest like in "The Insider,' or sinister and cool like in 'Virtuosity.' He can believably wear so many hats, which to me is the mark of a great actor. I personally don't find him boring at all, but again - we each have different taste in actors.

    It's exactly that lack of versatility that makes me think actors like Pacino and DeNiro are overrated - because they play essentially the same guy in every movie they're in. They're type-cast as themselves. Which isn't to say I don't admire and appreciate them as actors, I do - it's just that I find claims of their greatness as 'actors' to be wanting.
     
    Death Rabbit, Aug 8, 2006
    #24

  5. Faraaz Gems: 26/31
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    @DR: How is Pacino playing the same guy in all his movies? Agreed, he plays a mob boss ala Scarface, or the cool mafia don in Godfather...but those are similar only on paper! If you've seen the movies, you will notice that the two roles are vastly different.

    And did you see the Devil's Own?? He was brilliant in that also, I thought. Then there's so many more movies I can't remember off the top of my head...oh though there was this one particular movie where he plays a blind guy...I think it was called Scent of a Woman. Not sure...but yeah, I really disagree with you there..
     
    Faraaz, Aug 8, 2006
    #25
  6. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    Yeah, it was Scent of a woman, great film. And I think you mean Devil's advocate. :p
     
    Takara, Aug 8, 2006
    #26
  7. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Hmm, let's see....

    Scent of a Woman: Blind tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    Devil's Advocate: Lawyer tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    Scarface: Cuban tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    The Recruit: CIA tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    Heat: Police tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    The Insider: CBS Producer tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    Dog Day Afternoon: Bank robber tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    Frankie & Johnie: Short-order cook tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    2 for the Money: Sports-bookie tough guy who hoots and hollars key dialogue...

    Etcetera forever.

    The Godfather I'll give you; his acting style changed quite a bit with his voice during the early 80's, but beyond that - to me, he's more or less Al Pacino each and every time. I never forget for a second that I'm watching Al Pacino and instead the character he's playing - which is the mark of a great actor. His outrageous personal characteristics are so interwoven with his acting style that the two are impossible not to distinguish.

    He's never played a British man (never seen the Devil's Own, so, that may cancel out), or a positive hero, or a person with a disability (blindness is pretty easy acting), or a happy-go-lucky, etc. When an actor steps out of his type-element to play something radically different than his specialty - and pulls it off - THAT'S depth. Either Pacino can't do that, or he's never asked to. Why would he want to? He makes plenty of money being himself.

    And no, I don't think he's a bad actor - I love the guy. He's just no great actor, and generally over-rated. I think people too often confuse quality of the character he plays with the quality of the acting that brings that character to life. So you might be thinking "DR, how can you say Scarface was bad acting?!" To which I reply, "No, Tony Montana (aka Scarface) was fine - it was Pacino who could have done better."

    ;)

    [ August 08, 2006, 10:53: Message edited by: Death Rabbit ]
     
    Death Rabbit, Aug 8, 2006
    #27
  8. Takara

    Takara My goodness! I see turnips everywhere

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    A reasonable and well thought out opinion DR. As for not seeing the Devils own.. don't worry. Personally I felt it kind of gave some alright factor to the awful IRA. And the film had Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford, no Al Pacino.
     
    Takara, Aug 8, 2006
    #28
  9. Death Rabbit

    Death Rabbit Straight, no chaser Adored Veteran Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Yeah - that's what I thought. I never saw it, but I never remembered Pacino sharing top billing with Ford and Pitt, which seems impossible if he were really in it.
     
    Death Rabbit, Aug 8, 2006
    #29
  10. T2Bruno

    T2Bruno The only source of knowledge is experience Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Pacino does not have much depth, the most varied roles he's played are probably:

    Author! Author!
    Insomnia
    Sea of Love
    And Justice of All

    They're not much different that his other roles.
     
    T2Bruno, Aug 8, 2006
    #30
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