cranly
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Post by cranly on Oct 25, 2018 19:01:44 GMT
In no particular order, except Pacino is very much at the top and Pacino, De Niro and Hackman are the top three. Chosen according to the strength of their overall body of work (for me, "greatest" and "most accomplished" are more or less interchangeable terms). There are other actors who I consider equally or more talented than some names on the list but who haven't established as strong an output for various reasons (such as due to the color barrier, in cases like Benicio Del Toro or Jeffrey Wright - who I otherwise consider the Pacino/De Niro of their generation, for instance). Curious to see other people's lists as well!
Al Pacino Robert De Niro Gene Hackman Jack Nicholson Christopher Walken Sean Penn Nick Nolte Harvey Keitel Robert Duvall Joaquin Phoenix
Honorable mentions: Dustin Hoffman, Denzel Washington, Ed Harris, Tommy Lee Jones, Jeff Bridges, Willem Dafoe, Michael Shannon.
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Post by Mattsby on Oct 25, 2018 23:58:30 GMT
Al Pacino Jack Nicholson Dustin Hoffman Robert De Niro Nicolas Cage
Sean Penn Gene Hackman Joaquin Phoenix Warren Beatty James Woods
hm: Denzel, Depp, Jeff Bridges, Billy Bob, Dafoe, Walken
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Post by Johnny_Hellzapoppin on Oct 26, 2018 11:28:31 GMT
I guess something like this in the alphabetical...
Jeff Bridges
Nicolas Cage
Robert De Niro Gene Hackman John Lithgow Jack Nicholson Al Pacino Joaquin Phoenix Sam Rockwell Denzel Washington
I was tempted to not include Nicholson and Hackman, as they seem done for good. If I did remove them, I would definitely put in Michael Shannon, and after that it would probably be Robert Duvall.
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cherry68
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Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
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Post by cherry68 on Oct 26, 2018 12:40:19 GMT
I'd like to see Edward Norton in the list.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 31, 2018 4:12:48 GMT
Some names that haven't been mentioned...
Chris Cooper Billy Crudup Tom Hanks Steve Martin Viggo Mortensen
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Post by thomasjerome on Oct 31, 2018 12:15:04 GMT
Alphabetical order:
Nicolas Cage Willem Dafoe Robert De Niro Gene Hackman Dustin Hoffman Jack Nicholson John Lithgow Al Pacino Mickey Rourke Christopher Walken
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Post by Mattsby on Nov 1, 2018 0:24:05 GMT
Sidney Poitier, anybody? Certainly one of the most important actors <ever?> and from the little I've seen actually talented. Love him in Edge of the City and Defiant Ones. Powerful in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Smooth in Duel at Diablo. Solid in In the Heat of the Night. Umm.... pacinoyes and anybody else - other must performances from Poitier I should've seen by now??
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Post by pacinoyes on Nov 1, 2018 8:18:02 GMT
I'd majorly recommend 1962's flop (you always learn more from the flops!) Pressure Point with a very fine Poitier and a Brando-ish Bobby Darin (wildly against type playing a truly disturbing racist character). That film, directed by Hubert Cornfield of Night Of The Following Day fame is a classic example of the use of psychological themes in movies which had exploded in the 60s.
A fascinating "good for you" film but tougher, with a young Peter Falk too (!) - here Poitier who is always better in 2 person pieces directly playing off someone else - gets to walk in some pretty complex terrain.
I like him in No Way Out (similar film but more formulaic in design) opposite (a great) Widmark, A Raisin in the Sun still holds up and shows much of his fire and of course his more famous "decent man" work (Lilies of the Field, Patch of Blue - films are a bit shaky, but he's quite good)
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Post by Leo_The_Last on Dec 19, 2018 20:59:12 GMT
That's a tricky thing, doing such lists. You have to choose a set of conditions. So mine are talent, of course, and overall body of work, which is also the reason some younger ones aren't (yet) part of my top 10.
1. Robert De Niro 2. Al Pacino 3. Jack Nicholson
The rest are more or less in that order, but not as clear as the first three:
Dustin Hoffman Gene Hackman Robert Duvall Harvey Keitel Christopher Walken Nick Nolte Jeff Bridges
Some more in no particular order: Willem Dafoe Jon Voight Denzel Washington Tommy Lee Jones Ed Harris Sean Penn James Caan James Woods Bruce Dern Nicolas Cage Tom Hanks Steve Martin Viggo Mortensen Johnny Depp Kirk Douglas Samuel L. Jackson Warren Beatty Clint Eastwood (THE american film icon perhaps) etc.
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Post by futuretrunks on Jan 18, 2020 21:49:01 GMT
Al Pacino Denzel Washington Leonardo DiCaprio
After that it's too tricky.
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Post by eyebrowmorroco on Jan 19, 2020 2:42:23 GMT
Gene Hackman Dustin Hoffman Al Pacino William Hurt Jack Nicholson Sidney Poitier John Turturro Willem Dafoe Harvey Keitel Joe Pesci
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 19, 2020 14:47:11 GMT
Pacino De Niro Nicholson D. Hoffman Hanks -------------------------
Rest in no order:
Dafoe Spacey Denzel Hackman J. Bridges
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 19, 2020 14:49:50 GMT
Pacino De Niro Nicholson D. Hoffman Hopkins------------------------- Rest in no order: Hanks DDLDenzel Hackman J. Bridges ? Americans to consider : Duvall, Phoenix, DiCap, Dafoe, Keitel
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Post by TerryMontana on Jan 19, 2020 15:01:18 GMT
Pacino De Niro Nicholson D. Hoffman Hopkins------------------------- Rest in no order: Hanks DDLDenzel Hackman J. Bridges ? Americans to consider : Duvall, Phoenix, DiCap, Dafoe, Keitel Fixed it! Didn't even noticed it tbh.
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Post by fiosnasiob on Jan 19, 2020 18:29:53 GMT
1/Denzel 2/Pacino 3/Hackman
After that, it's a lot harder. Despite his weakness as an actor, a list without Bobby D. would be weird, Kirk is still alive so he's there, Jack too. James Earl Jones is a force of the nature that deserves more love, he gets mine. Duvall and Hoffman may (or not) be replace by Leo and Joaquin in a decade or more but the livings legends still make it. Last spot, could be a lot of people (if only PSH was still alive...), I rewatched Salvador recently so let's go with James Woods but it could have been 15 others great actors.
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Post by jimmalone on Jan 19, 2020 19:00:16 GMT
1. Al Pacino 2. Robert DeNiro 3. Gene Hackman 4. Jack Nicholson 5. Tom Hanks 6. Morgan Freeman (did he die and I didn't notice or why am I the first to name him?) 7. Robert Duvall 8. Dustin Hoffman 9. Sean Penn 10. Denzel Washington
HM: Sidney Poitier
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Post by fiosnasiob on Jan 19, 2020 19:17:25 GMT
1. Al Pacino 2. Robert DeNiro 3. Gene Hackman 4. Jack Nicholson 5. Tom Hanks 6. Morgan Freeman (did he die and I didn't notice or why am I the first to name him?)7. Robert Duvall 8. Dustin Hoffman 9. Sean Penn 10. Denzel Washington HM: Sidney Poitier I looooooove his work from 1987 to 1995 but after that, to me, he almost stopped being interesting as an actor. He always have that charisma and screen presence but he so rarely challenged himself (his already advanced age has probably played in it but still...), great, iconic actor but not enough to be among the very best in my eyes.
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Post by Mattsby on Oct 22, 2021 18:54:53 GMT
Update for me bc I can't not have JEJ in there.
Al Pacino Jack Nicholson Dustin Hoffman Robert De Niro Nicolas Cage
James Earl Jones Gene Hackman James Woods Warren Beatty Sean Penn
Close behind: Walken, Eric Roberts, Depp, Hanks, Nolte, Bridges, Billy bob, Denzel, Leo, Joaquin
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Post by jakesully on Oct 24, 2021 2:57:17 GMT
My favorites (in no particular order)
Jack Nicholson Denzel Washington Leonardo Dicaprio Robert Duvall Willem Dafoe Jeff Bridges Viggo Mortensen Clint Eastwood Nicolas Cage Joaquin Phoenix
Honorable mentions : John Goodman, Bill Murray, Billy Bob Thornton , Chris Pine, Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and 90s Depp
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Post by jakesully on Oct 25, 2021 6:10:53 GMT
Oh shit I forgot to mention Al Pacino. Forgive me pacinoyes for I have sinned. Pacino is a top 5 all time American actor
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 6, 2024 19:58:20 GMT
Revisiting this thread because my irl movie club brought this up last night: In 2024 - these 6 iconic dudes will turn these scary numbers and are getting older than fnck so a shout out to the group I like to call "the kids" De Niro will be 81, Pacino 84, Nicholson 87 (retired), Duvall was 93 yesterday, Hackman 94 (retired) end of month, Dustin Hoffman 87 - arguably the top 6 living in whatever order you want to put them in .......I don't quite rank Duvall with those other 5 but you know........ those last 5 spots are kind of really tough af: DiCaprio, Phoenix, Dafoe, Washington, Cage, Walken, Keitel, Pesci (?), Bridges, Penn, Nolte, Hanks, Beatty, Redford, Freeman (turns 87) and many more..............A lot of guys great across all mediums - Kline, James Earl Jones (turns 93 this month), Jeffrey Wright, Spacey
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