The Best Performances of All Time Thread

[Mandon Knight]

For you guys, which actors (male or female) have given their best performances that simply blew you away, which films were they in and why do you think they've stood the test of time. Can be CBM or not.

 

[antonydelfini]

For you guys, which actors (male or female) have given their best performances that simply blew you away, which films were they in and why do you think they've stood the test of time. Can be CBM or not.

My top 5 favorite:

1. Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
2. Robin Williams - Good Will Hunting
3. Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
4. Daniel Day-Lewis - My Left Foot
5. Dustin Hoffman - Kramer vs Kramer

 

[MadderMaximus]

Going off of my current favorites, and limiting myself to one performance per actor

Male:

1. Robert DeNiro - Raging Bull (To me, the gold standard of method acting, and never becomes boring, nor feels like someone's just showing off their physical transformation)
2. Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood (Was trying to limit myself to just one per actor, and it was tough to narrow it to just one DDL performance, but I come to this one. Next week it could be a different one.)
3. Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (the iconic Jack performance for me, never gets old, plays to his strengths, and even though I shouldn't, he makes me love the rascal)
4. Donald Pleasance - Halloween (It's hard to picture it without him, and often overlooked because it's not really showy, but the way he monologues about pure evil, even in the lesser sequels, he's just magnetic. Plus, it was his idea to have an "I knew it" expression at the end of the film.)
5. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight (totally forget that it's even Heath in the role, still riveting to watch on screen after 10 years. Just watching his eyes dart around, commanding a room that doesn't want to take him serious, but does anyway...it's just perfect.)

Female:

1. Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs (I'm not sure why i go to this as my #1 actress performance, but I always do. Maybe it's because she seems so effortless in the role, it deceptively easy. She's excellent, and iconic.)
2. Ingrid Bergman - Notorious (I pretty much love Ingrid in anything, kinda like DDL, but Notorious is my favorite movie she's in, so I'm probably bias towards it. I feel like I fall in love with her every time in this one.)
3. Hillary Swank - Boys Don't Cry (blew me away how well she nailed a cocky southern boy, and like Jodie, made it look effortless. I had seen her on 90210, and The Next Karate Kid, and didn't care, but I became a fan of hers with this.)
4. Michelle Pheiffer - Batman Returns (Underrated I think. She's superb, and the amount of desperation, sadness, rage, and love all rolled into those watery eyes at the end, it's rare I find it convincing someone can pull all those off at the same time. Plus, she does just the right amount of camp to keep it fun.)
5. Viola Davis - Fences (goes toe to toe to what I think is also Denzil's best performance, and chews him up and spits him out.)

 

[Spider-Fan]

My favorite film performance of all-time is Danial Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Just, wow. It's silly how good he is in that film. Daniel Plainview is one of the most interesting characters ever in cinema, IMO.

I would say my 5 favorite performance would be (in no particular order):

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
Russell Crowe as Maximus (Gladiator)
Rutger Hauer as Roy (Blade Runner)
Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa (Rocky)
John Hurt as John Merrick (The Elephant Man)

These are also some of my favorite films

 

[Schlosser85]

Not sure about rankings, and not sure if I'd necessarily say they're all among the "best ever" but some performances I think are pretty damn good:



Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs


Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York


Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (easily his best performance IMO)


Tom Hardy in Bronson


Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight


Christian Bale in American Psycho


Denzel Washington in Glory


Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting


Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile


Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club, and McConaughey in Interstellar


Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour


Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List


Liam Neeson in Michael Collins


Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator, and Crowe in Master and Commander


Taraji P. Henson in Hidden Figures


Viola Davis in The Help



Robert Shaw in Jaws


Anne Hathaway in 2012 Les Mis


Alicia Vikander in The Danish Girl


Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn


George C. Scott in Patton


Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo



I also think the acting in Warrior (from Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte), Good Will Hunting (Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgard), Brokeback Mountain (Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway), and I Tonya (Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Alison Janney) is solid all the way around.

 

[CJ]

Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump)
Robin Wright (Forrest Gump)
Alan Rickman (Harry Potter series)
Jack Nicholson (The Shining)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Gary Oldman (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight)
Denzel Washington (Man on Fire)


Can we list TV performances too? Because Michael McKean did a fantastic job as Chuck on 'Better Call Saul' and of course, Bryan Cranston on 'Breaking Bad'

 

[Schlosser85]

If we’re including TV I’d agree with Cranston and throw in Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal Lecter.

And Hugo Weaving is chilling on the second episode of Patrick Melrose.

 

[Boom]

Villain Edition:

Al Pacino as Michael Corleone (The Godfather: Part II)
Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs)
Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates (Psycho)
Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa (Inglourious Basterds)
Heath Ledger as The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance (The Shining)
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men)
Kevin Spacey as John Doe (Se7en)
John Huston as Noah Cross (Chinatown)
Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil (The Exorcist)
Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
Marlon Brando as Walter E. Kurtz (Apocalypse Now!)

 

[MadderMaximus]

I'd definitely have Cranston in Breaking Bad as my #1 TV performance.

 

[Mandon Knight]

Not a massive fan of the film (wee bit gruesome) but Paul Bettany in Gangster Number 1, for your first major role, was an incredible performance, I thought, for all the malice shown and inert tendencies of the darkness that was inside the character.

I always thought he would make a bang up job of The Joker based on this performance and wanted him for TDK so badly.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Jared Leto as the Joker

 

[Mandon Knight]

Gyllenhaal in most films he's been in but in particular Nightcrawler & Donnie Darko.

 

[The Shape]

Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II.



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[OutOfBoose]

Man, there are too many... To name a few:

Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance (The Shining). Somehow both campy and haunting, it never fails to entertain me. No matter how many times I watch the film.

Isabelle Adjani as Anna/Helen (Possession). I can't really put why I love it. Perhaps it's a rare occasion where not only I wasn't put off but rather spellbound by on-the-edge hysteria-like performance. Adjani is incredibly intense here.

Kirsten Dunst as Justine (Melancholia). It's the best portrayal of creeping depression I've ever seen. As someone who suffered from it at one period of my life, the role really spoke to me.

Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Batman Returns). MadderMaximus described it well above.

Bill Murray as Bob Harris (Lost in Translation).
James Caan as Frank (Thief).
Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers/The Swan Queen (Black Swan).
Edward Norton as Derek Vinyard (American History X).
Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham (American Beauty).

 

[Finarfiniel]

My list is all female. Just because. t: Some of my absolute favourite actresses and their best performances.

• Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine (my favourite tour de force performance of all time, she leaves me breathless and exhausted every time I rewatch this film), Elizabeth and I'm Not There
• Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose and Rust and Bone
• Katharine Hepburn in Long Day's Journey Into Night
• Viola Davis in Prisoners and Fences
• Isabelle Huppert in The Piano Teacher and Elle
• Karine Vanasse in Polytechnique
• Toni Colette in Japanese Story (it's looking like Hereditary may soon be added to this list)

 

[Schlosser85]

Edward Norton in Primal Fear. Tour de force film debut.

 

[Frankeh]

Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

 

[LvtLeeTDK]

I have to see Silence of The Lambs again to see what's so special about Jodie Foster's performance. While Sir Hopkins was god-tier, I actually think Jodie didn't do much in that movie.

My favorite performances (keep in mind that I haven't seen a lot of classics):

Tom Hanks (Forrest Gump)
Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men)
Anthony Hopkins (Silence of The Lambs)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting)
Brad Pitt and Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)
Ed Harris (The Truman Show)

 

[AverageMan]

Just a few off the top of my head, not all CBM related:

Christopher Reeve - Superman
Heath Ledger - Dark Knight
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean (Black Pearl)
Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Terminator
Denzel Washington - Training Day

 

[kevork89]

Elizabeth Taylor - Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?
Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty
Viola Davis - The Help and Fences
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Amy Adams - Arrival
Nicole Kidman - The Others
Jodie Foster - The Accused
Renee Zellweger - Bridget Jones’s Diary
Meryl Streep - Sophie’s Choice
Kate Winslet - The Reader

James McAvoy - Split and Days of Future Past
Michael Fassbender - Shame
Hugh Jackman - Logan and Prisoners
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Leonardo DiCaprio - What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Colin Firth - The King’s Speech
Denzel Washington - Fences
Tom Hardy - Warrior
Paul Newman - Cat on A Hot Tin Roof
Chris Pine - Hell or High Water

 

[Lasirius]

Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream

 

[Mandon Knight]

Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting.

 

[Breogan]

Some random favorites:

Christian Bale - The Fighter
Javier Bardem- The Sea Inside
Michael Keaton - Birdman
Catalina Sandino Moreno - Maria Full of Grace
Charlize Theron - Monster
Denzel Washington - Malcom X
Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon
Marlon Brando - On the Waterfront
Elizabeth Taylor - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Humphrey Bogart -Casablanca

 

[stlblues84]

In no particular order:

Tom Hanks - Philadelphia
Nick Nolte - Warrior
Al Pacino - The Godfather: Part II
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Jimmy Stewart - Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

 

[lime]

Performances that blew me away:

Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
Daniel-Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Daniel-Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Charlize Theron - Monster
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Joaquin Phoenix - The Master
Leonardo DiCaprio - What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator

Surely there are more...