Nominations for Robert DeNiro

That's your opinion, dude.   I didn't think he was win worthy.  Nom worthy sure.  And the category is weak, not sure anyone really is win worthy.

Mean Streets (support), The Godfather Part II (support), Taxi Driver, Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, King of Comedy, Goodfellas (support), Awakenings, Heat, The Irishman.

.........so something like ~10 nods, 4 wins

He is a legit rival to Pacino and not many are that....... De Niro doesn't have Pacino's overall numbers to me.... but he's got strong numbers anyway and his best work stands with any GOAT rival regardless of era or country of origin. Those 2 men are boringly referred to as the "co-GOATS" because well there's a whole lot of truth in every cliche.

I think he actually is quite off in Cape Fear and Casino which I think are Scorsese's low points too. 

I go back and forth on '83 - Depardieu, Finney, Duvall could win on any given day - DePac is rounding out the field for me.

On some level the need to respond to the "other 3 rivals (Nicholson/Hoffman/De Niro)" - and vice versa - defines every argument between the 4 actors.  Scarface/American Buffalo maybe were "like" Raging Bull/King of Comedy ......so what do you get: De Niro going on stage in '86 AND playing a Cuban (!) and then all hell breaks loose in their "who has the bigger wang" competition.

That's why I don't see Hackman on their level (not quite, I love him though) because they didn't see Hackman as a rival then themselves. You see this petty rivalry go on for 50 years - Hoffman takes a crack at the movie version of American Buffalo, Pacino "steals" Merchant of Venice from Hoffman, Jack plays the Joker, Pacino pays Big Boy Caprice the next year and gets an Oscar nod for it (?)........Pacino does HBO, here comes Hoffman to cash in .......Pacino plays Hoffa ......30 years after Jack did (?), Pacino bombs with Simone which was an attempt to do a De Niro/Nicholson mainstream comic hit and this goes on and on.......

Those 4 guys should all be on psychiatrists couches tbh

Those are really kinda superficial things you're linking.  Ok so Pacino took Shylock from Hoffman.  Pacino did Dick Tracy after Jack did Joker a year before.  Pacino played Hoffa 27 years after Nicholson in a more ambitious production overall.  So for those kinda extraneous linkages, you're gonna cast Hackman out of that club? 

If you ask me, the guy who doesn't belong in that club is Nicholson.  I don't see Nicholson as a 70s actor.  Only film with definitive 70sism in his 70s catalogue to me is Five Easy Pieces, but I could see Hoffman in that role too.  As for Chinatown, I can see some other actors.... actually DeNiro would be the best fit for that movie imo, from that 5 club.  I don't see that role as Nicholson or bust tho.  As far as Cuckoo's Nest goes, that is Nicholson or bust but that's the only one.   I can actually kinda see Nicholson in Hackman's role in The French Connection too, but not The Conversation - I think that one belongs to Hackman any way you slice it.

Maybe Hackman doesn't care to be part of that club?  Woody Allen probably doesn't associate himself with the New Hollywood guys.  Bill Murray probably doesn't associate himself with the myriad of comedy men post-80s.   I'm just saying..... from my perspective, if Nicholson's career started in the 80s I think he'd be just fine whereas I see Hackman, Hoffman, Pacino, or DeNiro as definitive 70s actors who probably wouldn't do as well if they started any other decade.   

My favorite performances from most of those are actually outside of the 70s, but since we're on this argument.... I think evaluating it like that makes more sense because I'm not seeing how Hackman isn't part of that club.  I could be even more extraneous and say that Hoffman could be cast out because he's the only one never in a Coppola, Scorsese, Altman, or Polanski.  In my opinion the main 4 New Hollywood dudes.  Maybe Woody Allen too, but like I said.... he probably doesn't think of himself as the likes of those.

The King of Comedy
Cape Fear
Silver Linings Playbook

3 nominations, 0 wins

1978: Best Actor, Taxi Driver
1983: Best Actor, The King of Comedy
1990: Best Supporting Actor, Goodfellas

1973: Best Supporting Actor, Mean Streets (WIN)
1974: Best Supporting Actor, The Godfather: Part II
1976: Best Actor, Taxi Driver
1978: Best Actor, The Deer Hunter
1980: Best Actor, Raging Bull (WIN)
1983: Best Actor, The King of Comedy
1995: Best Actor, Heat
2019: Best Actor, The Irishman (He's my #5 and I havent explored the year that much yet.)

8 noms, 2 wins.

1973 - Supporting Actor, Mean Streets
1973 - Supporting Actor, The Godfather: Part II
1976 - Lead Actor, Taxi Driver
1978 - Lead Actor, The Deer Hunter
1980 - Lead Actor, Raging Bull
1983 - Lead Actor, King of Comedy
1995 - Lead Actor, Heat
2019 - Lead Actor, The Irishman

Right, that's a fantastic synopsis and I agree.   I also agree with Bridges.  I don't see him as a 70s actor.  By 2016 he was still doing great work where the others were pretty much done.  I don't see The Irishman as a comeback for Pacino and DeNiro.  I think it's just a one time thing from a director trying to recapture the old glory days.

Yes, Nicholson was very with the current of the times for sure.   It was the youth vs the system, the sexual revolution, the disillusioned American wanderer ala the type of stuff in beat culture.   But my point is, were he 10 years younger he likely wouldn't be cast in those films and would've started in the 80s.... I think he is a more timeless actor whereas the others owe their career to those 70s films.  Pacino clearly to The Godfather and DeNiro clearly to Scorsese.  Hoffman to The Graduate/Midnight Cowboy.  Hackman to The French Connection/The Conversation.

Well... I've seen roughly half of his 70s output and I don't really think there's any relevance to any of them apart from The Last Picture Show.  I don't think he went down in the 80s at all.  Cutter's Way, Starman, Jagged Edge, Tucker: Man and His Dream, and The Fabulous Baker Boys are all more seen and ring a bell more than most of his 70s movies.  Would you consider Robert Downey Jr. an 80s actor?  He did lots of those teenish films in the 80s but little is said about them today.  I think to some people he's a 90s guy (Chaplin/Ally McBeal) but to the majority these days he's a post-2008 guy with Iron Man and Tropic Thunder, and then The Avengers.

I'm not disagreeing about Bridges' persistence.  That just goes to the point that I was making earlier that he's more timeless compared to the 70s guys who I think would've had a much different career make-up had they started in the 80s.

All I'm trying to say is when I think of Bridges... I don't think 70s.  I think The Dude, and a little bit The Last Picture Show/Texasville....and that whole story of that little town.  I know one of those was from the 70s but still.  That does not mean his 70s doesn't exist.  I think you're getting a little pedantic here.

And yes, Bridges was already a good actor in the 70s... I agree.  I think a better comparison to Bridges is Michael Caine.  What decade does he belong to?  The answer is... none.  I see him as a dude of every decade, he manages to find roles and adapt to new trends.  That's what I'm trying to say. 

With certain actors.... you think of them primarily as one decade.  For instance... Ed Norton.  Despite the fact that people know he's still around, most people in the future are gonna remember him as a late 90s guy after it's all said and done and won't pay much mind to his post Fight Club career.  I'm not saying Bridges is comparable to Norton.  I'm just giving a spectrum overview here.   

I think Bridges/Caine occupies one spectrum and Norton the opposite.  Bridges is an every decade guy with standouts like The Big Lebowski and True Grit.  Caine is an every decade guy but is not defined by 1 or 2 films.  But yes, Bridges was definitely around in the 70s although probably wasn't as big as Pacino or DeNiro.