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Contemporary Talentsby Erik, Greg, and Scott
Robert De Niro - Next to Marlon Brando, he is the most influential actor of all time, giving new meaning to the term method acting. De Niro doesn’t just act; he becomes his character. Known widely for his portrayals of evil or psychotic men, and rightly so (you could legitimately argue that the five strongest performances of his career are the best of all time and you’d have a strong case). The world is a better place because he met Martin Scorsese, and the two became partners for the better of two decades. Imagine what we all would have missed if they never knew each other. De Niro is the actor to which all others should be judged. BEST PERFORMANCES: Mean Streets, The Godfather part 2, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, the King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino, Heat.
Bill Murray - Murray is my favorite comedic actor just ahead of Peter Sellers, Jim Carrey and early Eddie Murphy. He has given so much joy and laughter over the years that it would be a disservice to not include him on this list. And in saying he is a great comedic actor; let us not forget that the man has true acting chops, as evident from his recent career surge beginning with Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. “So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.” Brilliant. BEST PERFORMANCES: Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghost Busters, Little Shop of Horrors, What About Bob, Groundhog Day, Kingpin, Rushmore, Lost in Translation, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
Leonardo DiCaprio -
DiCaprio is on the list not only for his acting skills, which are legit, but also for his uncanny ability to choose fantastic films. It doesn’t hurt that he’s Scorsese’s “new De Niro,” but he is also the best young actor who’s also a massive star. I can’t deny his talent and screen presence. Can’t wait to see him as the title character in Scorsese’s upcoming The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. BEST PERFORMANCES: What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Quick and the Dead, Romeo + Juliet, The Beach, Gangs of New York, Catch Me if you Can, The Aviator, The Departed
Clive Owen - This Englishman has got it all: cool screen presence, star quality, raw acting skills, and the looks. Thing is, nothing about him is traditional, he just gives his best performance with every role. Even with a misstep like King Arthur (in which he was the best thing about the film of course), Owen’s career looks solidified. He will no doubt be around for a long time, redefining the tough guy character for a new generation of filmgoers. BEST PERFORMANCES: Croupier, Gosford Park, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Closer, Sin City, Inside Man, Children of Men
Jack Nicholson - Unforgettable is usually the word that comes to mind when I think about Jack Nicholson. The man has done it all, and even though his acting today often leans toward caricaturist self-parody, he still is one of the best actors working right now. Coming to prominence in the seventies thanks to working with some of the best directors of that era, and selecting numerous great roles from the time - one thing’s for sure: nobody has ever been bored from watching him on screen. BEST PERFORMANCES: Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining, Batman, A Few Good Men, As Good as it Gets, About Schmidt, The Departed
Guy Pearce - Guy Pearce is an actor who sinks his teeth into every role, and gives a powerful performance in every film. He also has great taste when it comes to his role selection, never doing the same thing twice. Of all the Australian actors who have invaded American cinema, he is the most talented, but of course the least popular. Go figure. Nonetheless, he is amazing at captivating an audience into believing he is his character. Can’t wait to see him play Harry Houdini in Gillian Armstrong’s Death Defying Acts. BEST PERFORMANCES: L.A Confidential, Ravenous, Memento, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Proposition
Christian Bale - One of the best young actors working today, Christian Bale is also on the verge of becoming a huge star. Never going the easy way with his acting choices, nor settling for accessible characters or film, he likes to challenge himself and the audience. Often this results in fantastic performances for the UK-born actor. Can’t wait to see him in The Dark Knight. BEST PERFORMANCES: Empire of the Sun, Velvet Goldmine, American Psycho, Reign of Fire, The Machinist, Batman Begins, The New World, Harsh Times, The Prestige
Julianne Moore -
Earning her way through small film and TV roles in the late 80’s and early 90’s, Julianne Moore was given a shot to break out by Robert Altman in Short Cuts, and she hasn’t looked back since. From character actor to lead roles, she’s consistently brilliant and unafraid to shed it all if it’s important for the role. Can’t wait to see her in Todd Hayne’s experimental Bob Dylan film I’m Not There. BEST PERFORMANCES: Short Cuts, Nine Months, Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski, Magnolia, Hannibal, Far From Heaven, The Hours, Children of Men
Ellen Burstyn - Burstyn’s frail voice doesn’t hide the fact that she is a ferocious actress, unafraid to take on dark roles and make a lasting impression on the audience. And if Hollywood didn’t feel obligated to give an Oscar to Julia Roberts, she would’ve won her second statue for her haunting performance in Requiem for a Dream. BEST PERFORMANCES: The Last Picture Show, The Exorcist, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Requiem for a Dream, The Foutain
Uma Thurman - My personal love affair with Uma continues to this day ever since her amazing performance in Pulp Fiction. It is safe to say that while I hate most of her movies, I’m crazy about her. She’s one of those actresses that needs a great director to provide guidance with the character, but when this happens (most often with Tarantino) she is marvelous. She hasn’t had that many great performances, but when she’s great I dare you to not fall in love with her. BEST PERFORMANCES: Dangerous Liaisons, Pulp Fiction, Beautiful Girls, Gattaca, Tape, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2
Morgan Freeman - There have been a lot of famous voices over the years in Hollywood, but there are two that are legendary: Orson Welles' and Morgan Freeman's. If you watched a movie in the past decade with narration, chances are you were hearing Morgan's voice. Any time the man speaks, you can't help but feel comforted and drawn in to whatever he has to say. And it doesn't even matter if the rest of the film is any good or not. Sure it's easy to praise The Shawshank Redemption and Se7en, but tell me that his call to arms in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves didn't have you ready to grab your sword and join the battle.
Al Pacino - Many people don't realize that there's two Al Pacinos: the pre-Scarface Al Pacino who was soft spoken and often played subtle, introspective roles and the post-Scarface Al Pacino whose gruff shouting frequently has you questioning if this guy is all there. And you know what? I love them both. When Michael Corleone slips his hand into his jacket while standing outside the hospital in The Godfather, I get chills. When Lt. Vincent Hannah screams "Because she's got a great ass!" in Heat I laugh with cinematic glee. So which Al Pacino do I like better? Well, that's a tough choice and luckily I don't have to use two of my entries for them.
John Cusack - Usually when people try to come up with the male equivalent of someone like Julia Roberts, the icon that nearly all women can identify with and relate to, we get names like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vin Diesel thrown at us. Well, I hate to spoil this long held secret, but guys like to watch romances too. The only problem is that the men in romantic comedies (because I guess somewhere in the past 20 years or so the studios decided that all romances had to be funny) are usually paper-thin. In films like Say Anything and High Fidelity however, Cusack has portrayed some of the most relatable male characters to come out of Hollywood in decades. He often comes off as overly sensitive, bitter, and kind of a jerk once you get past his charming and witty exterior. In other words, someone most of us can completely see ourselves in.
Dustin Hoffman - Looking at the last decade or so of Dustin Hoffman's resume, it might be easy to forget that he is one of the premiere actors to come out of the 60's and 70's. But just to jog your memory, consider this list: The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Lenny, Straw Dogs, All the President's Men, Rain Man, Tootsie, and Marathon Man. Hoffman may be frequently overlooked when people start namedropping Pacino, De Niro, and Nicholson, but for my money he absolutely belongs on that very exclusive list.
Samuel L Jackson -
Simply put, Samuel L. Jackson is the coolest man alive. That doesn't necessarily make a person a good actor, but it at least means that it's always nice to see them pop up in a movie. Luckily for us though Sam is a great actor. He might not always get the best material (a friend of mine has suggested that he doesn't know how to say "no" to a script), but even in the worst films, he lends a gravitas that elevates everything around him. It would be nice to see more Pulp Fiction's and less Snakes on a Plane's, but hey I'll take Sam however I can get him.
Kate Winslet -
She may not have an Oscar, but Kate Winslet is well on her way to becoming the most nominated person this side of Meryl Streep. Like most people, my first exposure to Kate was Titanic. Being a teenage male when that came out, pretty much everyone in that movie had a sudden air of "uncool" about them as far as I was concerned. Cameron and DiCaprio have since reversed my opinion, but neither has won me over quite the way that Miss Winslet has. I've seen a lot of films featuring female characters I'd love to date. Kate's character in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not one of those characters, but she is someone I could absolutely see myself falling in love with. It's not a pretty role, but it's raw and it's real. And with that one performance I swiftly realized that I was watching one of the greatest performers of a generation.
Cate Blanchett - Funny thing about Cate Blanchett. The first movies I saw her in, she always annoyed me at the beginning of said film. Yes, every time. Not sure why, but each time there was some aspect to her character that grated on me. The reason she's on this list though is because in each of those performances she quickly won me over and turned initially irritating characters into ones that I could sympathize with and care for. I've since gotten over that pattern, because I now know that her name in the credits of a movie is always going to be a plus and she hasn't disappointed me yet.
Catherine Keener - I can tell you two things about Catherine Keener: I don't think I've ever seen her play the same part twice and I haven't ever seen a performance from her that I didn't love. She could be a sex goddess (Being John Malkovich), the mom next door (The 40 Year Old Virgin), or a refined and mousy novelist (Capote) and each part comes off just as believable and natural. Looking at her IMDB page, it appears that her next project will be Malkovich writer Charlie Kaufman's (a favorite of mine) directorial debut. I have no idea what her role will be, but I have little doubt that it will be something I've never seen her do before.
Gwyneth Paltrow - She may not have one of the most impressive post-Oscar runs, but you would be a fool to dismiss Miss Paltrow just yet. When she's on, she carries one of the warmest on-screen presences I've come across and I just find myself falling in love with any character she plays. I'm speaking in particular of her work in Se7en. Sure, it's a relatively small and not-too-showy role, but when you get down to it the entire film hinges on it. If you don't fall for her character, the film loses all of its emotional impact. That's quite a lot of pressure to put on such a small part, but Gwyneth absolutely nailed it. And I also need to mention her role in The Royal Tenenbaums. Again, it's a pretty small part, but there is a scene following Richie's suicide attempt that Gwyneth killed me with. The scene had a tremendous personal relevance for me and in my opinion Gwyneth perfectly handled the emotion of that scene in a way that it's hard to imagine anyone doing without living through it.
Lorraine Bracco - Lorraine Bracco hasn't exactly been in a ton of notable films, but she certainly has a resume to be envious of. She played the female lead in one of the greatest crime films of all time and a major character in inarguably the greatest crime show ever (and one of the greatest shows period). Interestingly enough though the works she's known for are very similar as a whole, her performances in them couldn't be more different. She's an emotional wreck in Goodfellas and the steely moral center in "The Sopranos". Most people love the latter for it's ongoing mob politics, but personally my favorite part has always been the introspective conversations between Tony Soprano and Lorraine's Dr. Jennifer Melfi.
Robert Downey, Jr. – Perusing his filmography on IMDB shows that he has appeared in a LOT of films over the past couple of decades. Many of them I haven’t even heard of, and more than a handful are probably no good at all. Of course, his personal battles with drug addiction off screen probably kept him from living up to his on-screen potential for many years. Now that he seems to have left that behind him, it’s almost as if the experiences have left him as an even better actor than before. And it’s great to see his resurgence. Even though he’s slightly older now and sort of missed out on that key moment of one’s career that people like Damon and DiCaprio are going through now, he’s still getting some fantastic roles in a wide variety of films. I can only hope that there is plenty more to come. He also gets my vote for best line deliveries of any actor out there right now.
Tony Leung –
From everything I’ve seen of his work, he’s brilliant. Here’s a guy that just has that unexplainable presence. He can just stand there, seemingly doing nothing for a few minutes (and he does in a few Wong Kar-Wai films), yet still conveying so much. Any film he’s in seems worth checking out.
Ryan Gosling – Though he’s still very much coming into his own, Gosling has tons of potential and has a certain authenticity to him that I like. Even in sappy stuff like The Notebook, he’s able to be engaging and believable. His performance in last year’s Half Nelson (which earned him his first Oscar nomination) is so raw and believable it’s as if you’re not even watching someone act, but getting an intimate view into the world of a complex man. One of the best young actors out there and very much worth keeping an eye on.
Matt Damon – By this point, Damon has proved that he’s the real deal, fully delivering on the promise of Good Will Hunting all those years ago (has it really already been a decade?). I hope he gets back to writing at some point, and in interviews he’s even tossed around some hints that he might be looking to direct some day. We’re lucky to have people like Damon and DiCaprio, actors that elevate mainstream cinema with complex performances and the creation of intriguing personalities on a consistent basis.
Gael Garcia Bernal – One of the best multilingual performers, offering excellent performances in English and Spanish language films (and even a combination of the two with French). Again, some people just have a natural charisma and presence that when paired with great material creates some sort of magic, making them a joy to watch in whatever they do. Bernal has that ability to move between serious and playful in a split second, while always maintaining a great deal of authenticity.
Naomi Watts – Maybe I’m just biased as a result of being disarmingly attracted to her, but Watts seems to be brilliant in everything she’s done since Mulholland Drive (except for the Ring movies, but that’s not really her fault…right?). I still say that she deserved to win Best Actress for 21 Grams over Charlize Theron’s overrated performance a few years ago. In that film, she gave one of the best female performances I think I’ve ever seen. But again, that could just be me.
Diane Keaton – Her collaborations with Woody Allen (please work together again! – one last time at least!) are enough to make her one of my favorites. In fact, I haven’t even really seen much else that she’s been in, other than the Godfather films. I mean, she was Annie Hall! Do I really need another reason?
Eva Green – I guess it’s easier to like someone when they’ve only played about three or four roles and just haven’t had the chance to screw up yet. But from her performances in The Dreamers and Casino Royale, I think it’s safe to say that Green will be around for a while.
Laura Dern –
Just watch anything that she’s appeared in directed by David Lynch. That’s all I have to say.
Laura Linney – Though she seems to be taking a few too many pointless roles lately (Exorcism of Emily Rose anyone?), Linney is still one of the best actresses working today. She seems to shine more in her work in independent films, but it seems like only a matter of time before she finds that one role that elevates her to the upper echelon of modern female performers.
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