Best actors/actresses of our time...

[Pete Hanlin]

Well, we've established we all think Tom Cruise is certifiable... but who do we actually like to watch?

1.) The top of my list is an odd one, but Nicolas Cage has proven to be a very capable actor in a number of roles over the years- Face Off, National Treasure, Lord of War, the movie where he's a con man, ConAir, etc.
2.) As much as I despise his politics, Tom Hanks would be up there.
3.) The actor I wish made more movies is Val Kilmer- his Doc Holiday in Tombstone was one of the best acting jobs- ever, and The Saint is perhaps one of the most underappreciated movies of our time!
4.) Johnny Depp pulls off roles that perhaps no one else can...
5.) Meg Ryan is one of the better actresses- French Kiss comes to mind.
6.) George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou was inspired (and the fella who co-stars with him in the Ocean's 11 & 12 is really good too- forget his name but he was in the Bourne Identity movies as well).

Overblown actors/actresses?
1.) Julia "I always play the same role" Roberts- ugh!
2.) Tom "haven't made a great movie in 10 years" Cruise
3.) Angela "I wonder why people watch my body- er movies" Jolie
4.) Carrie Ann Moss... easily the worst acting job in the Matrix movies (but tight vinyl pants go a long way into making it bearable ;^)

[shanbaum]

Ronald Reagan.

[Spexvet]

Johnny Depp, Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Hanks, Robert DeNiro.

Believe or not, Brad Pitt can act - check out twelve Monkeys and Fight Club.

I agree with your assessments of Cruise and Roberts. I'll add Meryl Streep into that mix.

He may not be a great actor, but Bruce Willis picks some great roles/movies.

[Judy Canty]

Sean Connery
Anthony Hopkins
Nicholas Cage
Tom Hanks
Ed Harris
Gene Hackman
Susan Sarandon
Geena Davis
Goldie Hawn
Sandra Bullock

[Framebender]

Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall. I also like Gene Kelly, an amazingly athletic dancer!

[Spexvet]

Almost forgot Gary Oldman. He's exceptionally versatile. Played the drugged out cop in The Professional, Sid Vicious in Sid & Nancy, the elder senator in The Contender, and The evil Mr. Zorg, in The Fifth Element ("I know this tune, let's change the beat")

[Pete Hanlin]

Totally forgot about Anthony Hopkins- he's awesome (maybe top of the list, if not top of the mind)!

Also forgot Robert Duvall...

[Night Train]

I would add Jack Nicholson, Kevin Spacey, Micheal Cane and Al Pacino.
On another note, I just watched Apocolypse Now for the umpteenth time. It makes me sick that none of the actors in that movie won academy awards.
Kramer vs Kramer stole the oscars that year. I have never seen that movie out of spite.

[chip anderson]

Robert Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor
John Garfield
Robert Mitchum
Ida Lupino
Marlon Brando
Glen Ford
Charlton Heston
John Wayne (Marion Morrison) and Yes, he could act watch the Wake of the Red
Witch.
Lee Marvin
Edward G. Robinson
John Derrick
Frank Sinatra
Peter Lorie
Claude Rains
Humphey Bogart

Kind of makes the earlier lists pale a little don't it.

[chm2023]

Philip Seymour Hoffman
Ed Harris
Kenneth Branagh
Colin Firth
Ralph Fiennes
Ed Norton
Richard Gere
Julianna Moore
Judy Dench (sp?)
Scarlett Johannson
Laura Dern
Diana Lane
Diane Keaton
Jodie Foster

Overrated: IMO of course!!!

Jack Nicholson (playing the same role of lovable curmudgeon since the Reagan administration); Tom Hanks (same as Jack, since Bush 1, with exception of Forrest Gump which to my mind was a darn good job of mimickry, but hardly acting); Charlton Heston (when someone's best known roles all require period costume and beefcake shots.....); agree re Angelina J, except Girl Interrupted was excellent, and Julia Roberts--she always seems to get raves whenever she dresses and acts cheap, which perhaps says more about us than her!!!

[Night Train]

Jack Nicholson (playing the same role of lovable curmudgeon since the Reagan administration);

Watch The Shining, Terms of Endearment, The Pledge, One flew over the cukoos Nest, Easy Rider and A Few Good Men.....all the same role????????

[Pete Hanlin]

Richard Gere
Julianna Moore
Diane Keaton
Jodie Foster

Jodie Foster should have been on my original list of favorites- from "Silence of the Lambs," to "Contact," to (my favorite) "Maverick-" she always brings something to her roles. If Julianna Moore was the lady who starred alongside Pierce Brosnan in "Laws of Attraction," I'd have to say she belongs on the list as well. Diane Keaton is another who I probably wouldn't want to have dinner with (as is pretty much anyone who has ever starred in a "Lifetime Original" movie ;^), but in "Somthing's Gotta Give" she really shined (Nicholson was good too- but, as you point out, it was the same old role).

If you want to see Nicholson in another kind of horrible, make you cringe role- watch "The Pledge." I suppose the acting was good, but the movie was just plain creepy and depressing!

[ziggy]

I have never seen a bad Robert Duval movie.

[chm2023]

Watch The Shining, Terms of Endearment, The Pledge, One flew over the cukoos Nest, Easy Rider and A Few Good Men.....all the same role????????

Point taken,though 4 of the 6 are 1980's or earlier. I'm thinking the Terms of Endearment character redux: The Schmidts, As Good as it Gets, Somethings Gotta Give. Now that I think about it though, he was awfully good in Chinatown.

[Night Train]

Richard Gere

Are you kidding? This is a joke right?


Right? C'mon. Really......

[optigrrl]

Kevin Spacey in the Usual Suspects. Charlize Theron - Monster. Johnny Depp - Fear and Loathing...Clive Owen - well, :D he's just HOTTT.

[Diane]

Sean Connery
Anthony Hopkins
Nicholas Cage
Tom Hanks
Ed Harris
Gene Hackman
Susan Sarandon
Geena Davis
Goldie Hawn
Sandra Bullock

Didn't know that we had this much in common. You go girl...

Diane

[cinders831]

Well, we've established we all think Tom Cruise is certifiable... but who do we actually like to watch?

1.) The top of my list is an odd one, but Nicolas Cage has proven to be a very capable actor in a number of roles over the years- Face Off, National Treasure, Lord of War, the movie where he's a con man, ConAir, etc.
2.) As much as I despise his politics, Tom Hanks would be up there.
3.) The actor I wish made more movies is Val Kilmer- his Doc Holiday in Tombstone was one of the best acting jobs- ever, and The Saint is perhaps one of the most underappreciated movies of our time!
4.) Johnny Depp pulls off roles that perhaps no one else can...
5.) Meg Ryan is one of the better actresses- French Kiss comes to mind.
6.) George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou was inspired (and the fella who co-stars with him in the Ocean's 11 & 12 is really good too- forget his name but he was in the Bourne Identity movies as well).

Overblown actors/actresses?
1.) Julia "I always play the same role" Roberts- ugh!
2.) Tom "haven't made a great movie in 10 years" Cruise
3.) Angela "I wonder why people watch my body- er movies" Jolie
4.) Carrie Ann Moss... easily the worst acting job in the Matrix movies (but tight vinyl pants go a long way into making it bearable ;^)

His costar is Matt Damon, he was in the Bourne Identity, Oceans 11 and 12 and wow my favorite movie....Good Will Hunting. Matt and ben Affleck wrote that movie and they were brilliant. It was excellent.

[cinders831]

Ok, so clearly Matt Damon, I am also a fan of
Denzel Washington
Ben Stiller (dodgeball was freakin hystarical)
Minnie Driver
Jack Nicholsan
Edward Norton is so super fantastic
my head is hurting now...

[Rich R]

James Cagney

James Stewart

John Wayne

[cinders831]

Robin Williams
Tom Hanks
Renee Zelwigger (sp?)
Nicole Kidman

[TJHolmes]

Spencer Tracy-classy
Alan Ladd-Shane didn't need special effects
Gary Cooper-timeless
Montgomery Cliff-tortured and talented
Clint Eastwood-underrated
Cary Grant-his face belongs on Mount Rushmore
Paul Newman-how did he slip underneath everyone's radar?

And NO I'm not over 60...just a very old soul

[chm2023]

Are you kidding? This is a joke right?


Right? C'mon. Really......

Check him out in "Unfaithful", also "Fatal something or other" the one where he defends Ed Norton of killing a Cardinal. Also thought he was good, if somewhat over the top and handicapped by a tired script, in "An Officer and a Gentleman"

[Pete Hanlin]

Most of the good ones are gone...
I wouldn't argue with you there- but that is why I was looking for suggestions on best actors in our era. That is, when my grandkids are watching some (scary to even think about it) "new" celeb in 2036, what actor/actress am I going to hearken back to and say- "Well, s/he's no xxxxxxxx!"

I think special effects and sorry plots have really robbed my generation of truly good acting on the big screen. If I look at some of the old movies ("Splendor in the Grass" comes to mind), the acting was just really well executed.

Actually, has anyone even mentioned Harrison Ford yet?! From Star Wars to Indiana Jones to The Fugitive, he may have been one of the premier actors of my lifetime (we just watched the original Indiana Jones with the kids last night- we have the original movie poster in our media room, and the top of the banner reads "The return of the action movie!")! Hard to believe everyone's missed him on their lists...

[chip anderson]

William Jefferson Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton