Greatest movie actor ever

Very good (in a depressing way) in American Splendor.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Splendor_(film)

 

Oh, also Forest Whitaker.

 

Mark Wahlberg

 

Best movie actors to not win an Oscar (yet)

Jeffrey Wright
Michael Sheen
Michael Fassbender
Gary Oldman
Don Cheadle

 

Mike Stuhlbarg will win a Best Actor Oscar.

 

I don't get why Leo is dinged for "only choosing great roles." Is he supposed to take shitty ones instead? That makes no sense. I agree, though, Leo is at or near the top of the list, though.

 

Ed Harris is a great pick. Very good in everything I've seen.
Same with Rod Steiger....always portrayed characters that you thought could come unglued and go crazy at any moment. (No Way to Treat a Lady).

 

My somewhat-thought-through list:

1. Humphrey Bogart
Bogart runs laps around guys like Clark Gable and Cary Grant. His acting stands up in an era from when no one's acting stands up. It's not just the historically important successes such as Casablanca, The African Queen, The Treasure of Sierra Madre and The Maltese Falcon, either. One of my favorite Bogart movies is They Drive By Night. He's amazing in The Harder They Fall, which gets omitted from too many modern lists of the best sports movies and best journalism movies.

2. Marlon Brando
I wish he hadn't taken the 1980s off. It's not that I don't respect the decision; a man deserves a shot at retirement. But I think it really derailed his momentum from Apocalypse Now. Admittedly, he came back to The Freshman, which is awesome. But I have to think he could have made four or five more amazing movies had he stayed active. That said, when he took a great role, he owned it completely and fully. That's what you ask from actors.

3. Robert De Niro
From 1973 through 1984, De Niro had what has to be the best stretch of acting ever: Bang the Drum Slowly, Mean Streets, The Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, True Confessions, The King of Comedy and Once Upon A Time In America. De Niro could handle gangster and police roles as deftly as Al Pacino, but he handled every other type of role better. He's hurt himself with a lot of really bad movies in the past 15 years, but hopefully Silver Linings Playbook is the start of a new era.

4. Daniel Day-Lewis
His first two roles, both tiny, were in Sunday, Bloody Sunday and Gandhi. Everything Day-Lewis touches is at least very good, and his acting always outshines the script (exception: Last of the Mohicans). That said, I do think he takes roles he knows will fit his bombastic style. And I don't think he thrives on realism, which is one reason he goes for so many period pieces. These are small, nitpicky flaws that only explain why I put an actor with a much more consistent resume below De Niro.

5. Dustin Hoffman
I think he defines his generation better than any other actor, maybe any other person. From The Graduate to All the President's Men to Stranger than Fiction, Dustin Hoffman is The baby boomer (albeit he was born in 1937; everyone in Hollywood plays someone a few years younger than themselves). He also is tremendously versatile. You start talking about best roles for most of the greatest actors, even those above him on this list, and you come back to two or three character types. Hoffman had it all. I also love that he may be the most critically acclaimed version of Willy Loman ever.

6. Jack Nicholson
7. Paul Newman
8. Gary Cooper
9. Al Pacino
10. Spencer Tracy

 

Supporting actors, both. Not even whiffing the discussion for best actor ever.

 

Who dinged him for it?

 

The discussion veered into Supporting Actors for a moment. That's why I posted Harris.

 

No one I guess. It sounded like you held that against him, but you don't.