P.S. His favorite film is The Wizard Of Oz which is why I have this gift for him in this clip here. A poem that I wrote for him is underneath the clip at the website.
Just want to say that ranking a performance like Theron's Monster is particularly tough. If the ranking were based solely on the actor/actresses' hyper-realistic effort and total immersion into a performance, than it probably deserves a higher spot and (regardless) is among the peaks of the "method-style" craft, through Brando, DeNiro, to Rowlands, to Adjani's Possession, to Dern's Inland Empire (plus many others along the way) and one could argue began, or showed major signs of (at least in American acting) with Welles' Citizen Kane (and in a less multi-dimensional sense, way earlier with Falconetti of Passion of Joan of Arc). Or even if these last two aren't technically "method acting" they strongly allude to this art of acting in more ways than they don't. Perhaps the singular difference with Welles' landmark portrayal is that it is not just a performance (and among the most varied in film history; virtually every scene he is a different character or facet of being, a "chaos" of personalities) but also seems to simultaneously reflect and reveal the actor himself in his own personality, in profound ambiguities between acting and the real self, a profound metaphor of acting itself (what explains one's life? what is the true self? Which is the real Kane? The real Welles? Where does the magic trick begin and where does it end? Etc). What has eventually occurred decades later with Theron is among the greatest intensities and transformations of physical and psychological immersion any actor has ever undertaken, "the method" personified, and while I am tempted to rank it higher (and may still do so), I have some hesitancy because there is also the difficult to separate aspect to this (and, to some degree, all performances are reliant upon) that the character herself isn't as endlessly fascinating as many of the higher selections. This is (dishearteningly, in this case) where the director and writer and the themes of a film come into play as key factors in shaping or improving an already great performance (think of how key it is, for instance in Taxi Driver, that actor and director are so in concert with each other down to the way he is shot, the way the scenes are composed, the cinematography, the writing, and so on, that the "performance" is unavoidably enhanced by these facts; and all those other factors are likewise unavoidably enhanced by the fact DeNiro is playing the part and so in concert with them). Theron's is in the unfortunate position of being the overwhelming qualitative bulk of an otherwise very mediocre film. And it is a dilemma to try and rank with precision with these things under consideration, and one can only go so far (because they can't really be separated entirely, so by "performance" one is in essence quantifying the totality of a multitude of interdependent factors, even while the "performance" alone is the main one).
Just want to throw that out there ... some musings on the matter after trying to determine Theron's place. If anyone has any of their own thoughts on the matter or similar factors, I would be interested. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Found a Top 500 on RYM that was voted for by members, and I think is more interesting than most, and definitely among the best "best acting performances" list I've come across on the internet. Makes a great source of ideas
Found a Top 500 on RYM that was voted for by members, and I think is more interesting than most, and definitely among the best "best acting performances" list I've come across on the internet. Makes a great source of ideas
Neat. They did a stellar job with this. Haven't combed through the second half yet, but the first is great. I appreciate the nod for Driver in Paterson. It was never an Oscar-y performance, but it remains one of my favourites of the last decade.
EDIT: Hmm... Thewlis should be a bit higher for Naked. Same with Phoenix (Her). And Isabelle Adjani is about 350 spots too low for Possession (and I'm not being dramatic). Otherwise though.
Found a Top 500 on RYM that was voted for by members, and I think is more interesting than most, and definitely among the best "best acting performances" list I've come across on the internet. Makes a great source of ideas
Neat. They did a stellar job with this. Haven't combed through the second half yet, but the first is great. I appreciate the nod for Driver in Paterson. It was never an Oscar-y performance, but it remains one of my favourites of the last decade.
EDIT: Hmm... Thewlis should be a bit higher for Naked. Same with Phoenix (Her). And Isabelle Adjani is about 350 spots too low for Possession (and I'm not being dramatic). Otherwise though.
Agreed, I was surprised how much of it I aligned with pretty closely, especially because it looks like it was such a wide-cast vote with several rounds.
And I'm with ya on Thewlis, Pheonix and especially Adjani (my #1, though I'll need to revisit during this current acting-evaluation-kick just to double check, but either way should not be that low). _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
Going through RYM's list and I think 12 Angry Men and Bicycle Thieves/Ladri di biciclette were the biggest ones that I haven't seen on any other lists. And quite frankly in each of these movies there's a few actors who could be thrown in. Both of these I believe are films that could have been of absolutely no interest to me if it weren't for the quality of acting talent.
I've made a preliminary list which I may be editing in the future. I should note that I'm not as much of a film buff as many others on this site, I've probably seen fewer movies overall, and I think I'll probably give more of a preference to comedic performances and/or iconic characters (e.g. Captain Jack Sparrow or Indiana Jones) than other people who know more about film. I'm also unfortunately lacking in foreign cinema, of a particular crime is that Star Wars is among my favorite movies and I've never seen the Japanese samurai movies that George Lucas drew so much inspiration from.
Here's a tentative list, may be meddling with this a bit in the future:
Actor / Character / Movie / Year
To start, some honorable mentions (because what is acting?):
Andy Serkis / Gollum / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers / 2002 (motion capture/voice role)
James Earl Jones / Darth Vader / The Empire Strikes Back / 1980 (voice role)
Bo Burnham / Bo Burnham / Bo Burnham: Inside / 2021 (sort of documentary?)
Now the ranked list:
Leandro Firmino da Hora / Zé Pequeno (Li'l Zé) / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Henry Fonda / Juror 8 (Davis) / 12 Angry Men / 1957
Vincent D'Onfrio / Private Pyle (Leonard Lawrence) / Full Metal Jacket / 1987
Daniel Brühl / Alex Kerner / Good Bye Lenin! / 2003
Lamberto Maggiorani / Antonio Ricci / Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) / 1948
Al Pacino / Michael Corleone / The Godfather, Part II / 1974
Omar Sy / Driss Bassari / The Intouchables / 2011
Haley Lu Richardson / Casey / Columbus / 2017
Christian Bale / Ken Miles / Ford v Ferrari / 2019
Oscar Isaac / Llewyn Davis / Inside Llewyn Davis / 2013
Song Kang-ho / Kim Ki-taek (Mr. Kim) / Parasite / 2019
Gregory Peck / Atticus Finch / To Kill a Mockingbird / 1962
Jim Carrey / Truman Burbank / The Truman Show / 1998
Tom Hanks / Forrest Gump / Forrest Gump / 1994
Susan Sarandon / Sister Helen Prejean / Dead Man Walking / 1995
Cate Blanchett / Jude Quinn (Bob Dylan) / I'm Not There / 2007
Daniel Brühl / Niki Lauda / Rush / 2013
F. Murray Abraham / Antonio Salieri / Amadeus / 1984
Robert De Niro / Jake LaMotta / Raging Bull / 1980
Lakeith Stanfield / Bill O'Neal / Judas and the Black Messiah / 2021
Alexandre Rodrigues / Buscapé (Rocket) / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Jim Carrey / Joel Barish / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / 2004
Will Ferrell / Buddy the Elf (Buddy Hobbs) / Elf / 2003
Kate Winslet / Clementine Kruczynski / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / 2004
Enzo Staiola / Bruno Ricci / Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) / 1948
John Cazale / Fredo Corleone / The Godfather, Part II / 1974
Viggo Mortenssen / Aragorn / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers / 2002
Bradley Cooper / Pat Solitano Jr. / Silver Linings Playbook / 2012
Kingsley Ben-Adir / Malcolm X / One Night in Miami... / 2020
Peter Sellers / Dr. Strangelove, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb / 1964
Katrin Sass / Christiane Kerner / Good Bye Lenin! / 2003
Ian McKellen / Gandalf the Grey / The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring / 2001
Park So-dam / Kim Ki-jung (Jessica) / Parasite / 2019
Edward Norton / Narrator ("Jack") / Fight Club / 1999
Michael B. Jordan / Bryan Stevenson / Just Mercy / 2019
Alice Braga / Angélica / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Emma Stone / Mia Dolan / La La Land / 2016
E.G. Marshall / Juror 4 / 12 Angry Men / 1957
Humphrey Bogart / Sam Spade / The Maltese Falcon / 1941
Jamie Foxx / Walter McMillian / Just Mercy / 2019
Harrison Ford / Han Solo / Star Wars / 1977
Max von Sydow / Antonius Block / Det Sjunde Inseglet (The Seventh Seal) / 1957
Elsie Fisher / Kayla Day / Eighth Grade / 2018
Ralph Fiennes / Monsieur Gustave H. / The Grand Budapest Hotel / 2014
Jennifer Lawrence / Tiffany Maxwell / Silver Linings Playbook / 2012
Sean Astin / Samwise Gamgee / The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King / 2003
Joe Pesci / Vinny Gambini / My Cousin Vinny / 1992
Jack Nicholson / Jake Gittes / Chinatown / 1974
Sean Penn / Jeff Spicoli / Fast Times at Ridgemont High / 1982
Louise Fletcher / Nurse Ratched / One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest / 1975
James Stewart / George Bailey / It's a Wonderful Life / 1946
Ralph Fiennes / Amon Göth / Schindler's List / 1993
Tom Hulce / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Amadeus / 1984
Liam Neeson / Oskar Schindler / Schindler's List / 1993
Robin Williams / John Keating / Dead Poets Society / 1989
Douglas Silva / Dadinho (Lil Dice) / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Javier Bardem / Anton Chigurh / No Country for Old Men / 2007
Octavia Spencer / Zelda Delilah Fuller / The Shape of Water / 2017
Ryan Gosling / The Driver / Drive / 2011
Stanley Tucci / Nigel Kipling / The Devil Wars Prada / 2006
Alan Kim / David Yi / Minari / 2020
Joaquin Phoenix / Arthur Fleck (Joker) / Joker / 2019
Colin Farrell / Ray / In Bruges / 2008
Guy Pearce / Ed Exley / L.A. Confidential / 1997
Mary Badham / Scout Finch / To Kill a Mockingbird / 1962
Robert Downey Jr. / Tony Stark (Iron Man) / Iron Man / 2008
Joe Pesci / Tommy DeVito / Goodfellas / 1990
Alec Guinness / Obi-Wan Kenobi / Star Wars / 1977
Ivana Baquero / Ofelia / Pan's Labyrinth / 2006
I originally made a "short" list expecting to have a hard time getting to 50, and it ended up being close to 200 roles. So I ranked them to 100. I ended up surprising myself a lot with my top few, especially my #1. I really thought Daniel Brühl would be #1 but I hard a hard time placing him above my top 3. I also ended up disappointing myself with the lack of female representation. Really goes to show how it is actually important to have separate categories for Actor and Actress at award ceremonies. For curiosity's sake, here are my top movies and actors/actresses from my list of 200ish:
Films:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy - 7 roles considered, 3 made my top 100 (and 1 made honorable mentions)
Cidade de Deus (City of God) - 5 roles considered, 4 made my top 100
The Godfather trilogy - 5 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - 5 roles considered, 1 made my top 100 (and 1 changed to The Two Towers)
Jojo Rabbit - 5 roles considered, none made my top 100
Minari - 4 roles considered, 3 made my top 100
Parasite - 4 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
12 Angry Men - 4 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
Det Sjunde Inseglet (The Seventh Seal) - 4 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Dances with Wolves - 4 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Gangs of New York - 4 roles considered, none made my top 100
Actors & Actresses:
Ryan Gosling - 4 roles considered, 3 made my top 100
Tom Hanks - 4 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Edward Norton - 3 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
Christian Bale - 3 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Robert De Niro - 3 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Jennifer Lawrence - 3 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Russell Crowe - 3 roles considered, none made my top 100
Scarlett Johansson - 3 roles considered, none made my top 100
Leonardo DiCaprio - 3 roles considered, none made my top 100
Movies I need to revisit because I know there was good acting but I have a hard time remembering specifics:
- Catch Me If You Can
- Heat
- Ingluorious Basterds
- Once Upon a Time in the West
- Reservoir Dogs
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Going through RYM's list and I think 12 Angry Men and Bicycle Thieves/Ladri di biciclette were the biggest ones that I haven't seen on any other lists. And quite frankly in each of these movies there's a few actors who could be thrown in. Both of these I believe are films that could have been of absolutely no interest to me if it weren't for the quality of acting talent.
I've made a preliminary list which I may be editing in the future. I should note that I'm not as much of a film buff as many others on this site, I've probably seen fewer movies overall, and I think I'll probably give more of a preference to comedic performances and/or iconic characters (e.g. Captain Jack Sparrow or Indiana Jones) than other people who know more about film. I'm also unfortunately lacking in foreign cinema, of a particular crime is that Star Wars is among my favorite movies and I've never seen the Japanese samurai movies that George Lucas drew so much inspiration from.
Here's a tentative list, may be meddling with this a bit in the future:
Actor / Character / Movie / Year
To start, some honorable mentions (because what is acting?):
Andy Serkis / Gollum / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers / 2002 (motion capture/voice role)
James Earl Jones / Darth Vader / The Empire Strikes Back / 1980 (voice role)
Bo Burnham / Bo Burnham / Bo Burnham: Inside / 2021 (sort of documentary?)
Now the ranked list:
Leandro Firmino da Hora / Zé Pequeno (Li'l Zé) / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Henry Fonda / Juror 8 (Davis) / 12 Angry Men / 1957
Vincent D'Onfrio / Private Pyle (Leonard Lawrence) / Full Metal Jacket / 1987
Daniel Brühl / Alex Kerner / Good Bye Lenin! / 2003
Lamberto Maggiorani / Antonio Ricci / Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) / 1948
Al Pacino / Michael Corleone / The Godfather, Part II / 1974
Omar Sy / Driss Bassari / The Intouchables / 2011
Haley Lu Richardson / Casey / Columbus / 2017
Christian Bale / Ken Miles / Ford v Ferrari / 2019
Oscar Isaac / Llewyn Davis / Inside Llewyn Davis / 2013
Song Kang-ho / Kim Ki-taek (Mr. Kim) / Parasite / 2019
Gregory Peck / Atticus Finch / To Kill a Mockingbird / 1962
Jim Carrey / Truman Burbank / The Truman Show / 1998
Tom Hanks / Forrest Gump / Forrest Gump / 1994
Susan Sarandon / Sister Helen Prejean / Dead Man Walking / 1995
Cate Blanchett / Jude Quinn (Bob Dylan) / I'm Not There / 2007
Daniel Brühl / Niki Lauda / Rush / 2013
F. Murray Abraham / Antonio Salieri / Amadeus / 1984
Robert De Niro / Jake LaMotta / Raging Bull / 1980
Lakeith Stanfield / Bill O'Neal / Judas and the Black Messiah / 2021
Alexandre Rodrigues / Buscapé (Rocket) / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Jim Carrey / Joel Barish / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / 2004
Will Ferrell / Buddy the Elf (Buddy Hobbs) / Elf / 2003
Kate Winslet / Clementine Kruczynski / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / 2004
Enzo Staiola / Bruno Ricci / Ladri di Biciclette (Bicycle Thieves) / 1948
John Cazale / Fredo Corleone / The Godfather, Part II / 1974
Viggo Mortenssen / Aragorn / The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers / 2002
Bradley Cooper / Pat Solitano Jr. / Silver Linings Playbook / 2012
Kingsley Ben-Adir / Malcolm X / One Night in Miami... / 2020
Peter Sellers / Dr. Strangelove, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley / Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb / 1964
Katrin Sass / Christiane Kerner / Good Bye Lenin! / 2003
Ian McKellen / Gandalf the Grey / The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring / 2001
Park So-dam / Kim Ki-jung (Jessica) / Parasite / 2019
Edward Norton / Narrator ("Jack") / Fight Club / 1999
Michael B. Jordan / Bryan Stevenson / Just Mercy / 2019
Alice Braga / Angélica / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Emma Stone / Mia Dolan / La La Land / 2016
E.G. Marshall / Juror 4 / 12 Angry Men / 1957
Humphrey Bogart / Sam Spade / The Maltese Falcon / 1941
Jamie Foxx / Walter McMillian / Just Mercy / 2019
Harrison Ford / Han Solo / Star Wars / 1977
Max von Sydow / Antonius Block / Det Sjunde Inseglet (The Seventh Seal) / 1957
Elsie Fisher / Kayla Day / Eighth Grade / 2018
Ralph Fiennes / Monsieur Gustave H. / The Grand Budapest Hotel / 2014
Jennifer Lawrence / Tiffany Maxwell / Silver Linings Playbook / 2012
Sean Astin / Samwise Gamgee / The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King / 2003
Joe Pesci / Vinny Gambini / My Cousin Vinny / 1992
Jack Nicholson / Jake Gittes / Chinatown / 1974
Sean Penn / Jeff Spicoli / Fast Times at Ridgemont High / 1982
Louise Fletcher / Nurse Ratched / One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest / 1975
James Stewart / George Bailey / It's a Wonderful Life / 1946
Ralph Fiennes / Amon Göth / Schindler's List / 1993
Tom Hulce / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / Amadeus / 1984
Liam Neeson / Oskar Schindler / Schindler's List / 1993
Robin Williams / John Keating / Dead Poets Society / 1989
Douglas Silva / Dadinho (Lil Dice) / Cidade de Deus (City of God) / 2002
Javier Bardem / Anton Chigurh / No Country for Old Men / 2007
Octavia Spencer / Zelda Delilah Fuller / The Shape of Water / 2017
Ryan Gosling / The Driver / Drive / 2011
Stanley Tucci / Nigel Kipling / The Devil Wars Prada / 2006
Alan Kim / David Yi / Minari / 2020
Joaquin Phoenix / Arthur Fleck (Joker) / Joker / 2019
Colin Farrell / Ray / In Bruges / 2008
Guy Pearce / Ed Exley / L.A. Confidential / 1997
Mary Badham / Scout Finch / To Kill a Mockingbird / 1962
Robert Downey Jr. / Tony Stark (Iron Man) / Iron Man / 2008
Joe Pesci / Tommy DeVito / Goodfellas / 1990
Alec Guinness / Obi-Wan Kenobi / Star Wars / 1977
Ivana Baquero / Ofelia / Pan's Labyrinth / 2006
I originally made a "short" list expecting to have a hard time getting to 50, and it ended up being close to 200 roles. So I ranked them to 100. I ended up surprising myself a lot with my top few, especially my #1. I really thought Daniel Brühl would be #1 but I hard a hard time placing him above my top 3. I also ended up disappointing myself with the lack of female representation. Really goes to show how it is actually important to have separate categories for Actor and Actress at award ceremonies. For curiosity's sake, here are my top movies and actors/actresses from my list of 200ish:
Films:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy - 7 roles considered, 3 made my top 100 (and 1 made honorable mentions)
Cidade de Deus (City of God) - 5 roles considered, 4 made my top 100
The Godfather trilogy - 5 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - 5 roles considered, 1 made my top 100 (and 1 changed to The Two Towers)
Jojo Rabbit - 5 roles considered, none made my top 100
Minari - 4 roles considered, 3 made my top 100
Parasite - 4 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
12 Angry Men - 4 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
Det Sjunde Inseglet (The Seventh Seal) - 4 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Dances with Wolves - 4 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Gangs of New York - 4 roles considered, none made my top 100
Actors & Actresses:
Ryan Gosling - 4 roles considered, 3 made my top 100
Tom Hanks - 4 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Edward Norton - 3 roles considered, 2 made my top 100
Christian Bale - 3 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Robert De Niro - 3 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Jennifer Lawrence - 3 roles considered, 1 made my top 100
Russell Crowe - 3 roles considered, none made my top 100
Scarlett Johansson - 3 roles considered, none made my top 100
Leonardo DiCaprio - 3 roles considered, none made my top 100
Movies I need to revisit because I know there was good acting but I have a hard time remembering specifics:
- Catch Me If You Can
- Heat
- Ingluorious Basterds
- Once Upon a Time in the West
- Reservoir Dogs
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Wow - thank you for your picks - you obviously put a lot of work into this!
For my own list, I find there is lots to consider from these selections -- lots of alternative selections -- that I hadn't thought of recently and in a few cases just haven't seen. I like the fact that you put your own stamp on it so to speak, and included such a wide variety, even though (as you put it) not being as much of a film buff as some others on this site. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
I didn't catch it before, but how in the world did Theron's performance for Monster miss that RYM top 500?
I am totally fine with it ranking lower, or even much lower than I have it (I go back and forth on its ultimate merits beyond the obvious fact of its impressive physical and expressive transformation) ... but isn't it -- undoubtedly -- at least among the 500 greatest? As much as I feel that RYM list is a fine collection, mostly pretty well-ordered, and among the better lists I've come across on the internet, there are several in its lower half especially, that are hard to imagine out-performing Theron's Monster, whether by personal selection or by consensus. I've only seen Monster twice, and years apart, so I am curious if over time has it lost its luster in the eyes of many film buffs? Or is it maybe the case of being unfortunately a part of a so-so film that has lost its initial impression over the years causing the voters just forget about it? I noticed it's also missing from the earlier filmsite top 100 I posted as well (though that can also be chalked up to the fact that list seems more geared towards "most iconic" performances, and maybe not as evaluative of other factors).
Any thoughts? I'm in the process of tinkering with my own list, including still determining how Theron's Monster places, as I've been revisiting and checking out various films, so am curious if there are any takes on this performance and how it lines up, and/or if it has fallen in critical estimation, and if so, why?, etc. _________________ Best Classical Best Films Best Paintings
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