- #31
bassplayer142
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Danial Day Lewis is an excellent actor!
Is Jeff Goldblum's Acting Quality Measured by His Expressive Eyes?
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The discussion centers on the acting quality of Jeff Goldblum, with participants questioning whether he is a skilled actor or simply a charismatic presence. Many agree that Goldblum tends to portray a similar character across his films, lacking significant range, which leads to the perception that he doesn't truly "act." Comparisons are made to other actors like Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, who also exhibit limited versatility in their roles. Some participants argue that excelling in a specific type of role does not necessarily equate to poor acting, while others emphasize the rarity of actors with genuine range. Overall, the thread highlights a broader conversation about typecasting and the nature of acting in Hollywood.
Danial Day Lewis is an excellent actor!
- #32
Huckleberry
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DaveC426913 said:Jeez. Seen a movie this decade??
See Snatch, Burn After Reading, Benjamin Button.
Hey, it's not easy keeping up with all the SF. There's only so many hours in a day a guy can watch movies.
I've seen Snatch. Brad's character was hardly an average schmoe. That was some crazy trailer park boxer with a bad accent. I did enjoy the movie though. I like Guy Ritchie films.
I haven't seen the other two. I'll check them out after I'm finished with the old Battlestar Galactica series.
- #33
n!kofeyn
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Cyrus said:
Hahahahaha! You're joking right? Maybe I'm being harsh as I've never seen his other movies, but he seriously almost ruined The Dark Knight for me (which would have been better for me if it went more realistic as a crime and drama movie). He's way too pretentious for me to take him seriously. Heath Ledger was definitely on the rise to becoming an extremely varied and capable actor, which he really already was.
I second Dustin Hoffman. He is great. I really liked him in Stranger than Fiction, a movie that really flew under the radar.
I agree with DaveC426913, as Brad Pitt is a fantastic actor in my opinion. His best movie may have been Legends of the Fall. He was also good in Meet Joe Black, Fight Club, and Burn After Reading. Benjamin Button was amazing and boring at the same time. It could have used more story, but I respected it as a visual and ambience film. It definitely let your imagination go.
This leads to Anthony Hopkins as well, as he appeared in two of Brad Pitt's best as well as his own greats. A wonderfully talented and smart guy. I've heard his research is impeccable before he starts filming. Matt Damon is an actor that seems to get lumped in with the hunk crowd, but is actually capable of doing some deep stuff.
I also enjoy Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York), Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, About Schmidt), Bill Murray (The Life Aquatic, in which I thought Goldblum couldn't have been replaced), and Robin Williams (Good Will Hunting). I've always been amazed at how good Robin Williams is at acting in his serious movies.
Johnny Depp is much better when he goes dark instead of quirky. I hated him in Willy Wonka. Gene Wilder tore that movie up. I agree with bassplayer142 on Daniel Day-Lewis. It would be great to see if the rumors are true and he picks up the Joker character. I just wish Nolan would have picked a different Batman.
- #34
Cyrus
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n!kofeyn said:
Rent American Psycho.
- #35
n!kofeyn
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Cyrus said:
I've heard of it, but like I said, he's just way to pretentious. I mean the way he plays Batman is just silly with the voice, puckered lips when playing Wayne, and everything else, and I can't get that out of my head. He's just not for me, so I don't think I'll like him in any movie because I don't like his personality. Although I should view it within a personal context, listening to that leaked tape of his rant just shows he is kind of a prick, and I don't like watching people I don't like.
- #36
Cyrus
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n!kofeyn said:
That's why he was so damn good in American Psycho. He plated the role perfectly. The problem is that you saw him in Batman first. I think he did a good job in Batman playing Bruce Wayne as well. Dark Night was overboard, but Batman Begins was very good. Go rent American Psycho.
Another good movie is American Gigolo with Richard Gere.
matt damon is also very good (I'm excluding the whole Bourne Trilogy when I say this. They were OK, not good).
- #37
TheStatutoryApe
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Burn After Reading is a great satire on the cia agent thriller movie (not at all a thriller though). It has John Malkovich in it aswell. Pitt plays a ditzy blonde physical trainer, really over the top ditzy, but its about the closest thing to an average joe I have ever seen him play. As a warning though its a dry witted artistic sort of satire, not so much a haha slapstick. Sort of an acquired taste. When the movie was over I had a hard time deciding if I liked it myself. I just picked it up and watched it so I had no idea what I was in for.Huckleberry said:Hey, it's not easy keeping up with all the SF. There's only so many hours in a day a guy can watch movies.Dave said:
I've seen Snatch. Brad's character was hardly an average schmoe. That was some crazy trailer park boxer with a bad accent. I did enjoy the movie though. I like Guy Ritchie films.
I haven't seen the other two. I'll check them out after I'm finished with the old Battlestar Galactica series.
Bruce Wayne being a playboy millionaire it kind of fits. But I know what you mean. I thought he was a bit 'weak chinned' for a batman.n!kofeyn said:
- #38
Hootenanny
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Some of my favourite actors:
Anthony Hopkins, Michael Gambon, Ian McKellen, Tom Hanks, Richard Harris, Ben Kingsley, Hugo Weaving, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush.
All outstanding actors in my opinion, capable of playing varied roles.
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- #39
Math Is Hard
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I've been an big fan of Alan Rickman since I saw him in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Closet_Land" in the early '90s.
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- #40
Hootenanny
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I can't believe that I left him out! I absolute love the way he plays Snape in the Harry Potters.Math Is Hard said:
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- #41
Math Is Hard
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Hootenanny said:
Ditto.
Check out "Bottle Shock" if you haven't seen it. That was another excellent role for him.
- #42
Huckleberry
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Where are the actresses? Do we judge their ability on a different scale or are female roles more limited? There must have been 20 men mentioned already and I haven't seen a single woman. (Did I miss one?) What's up with that?
- #43
DaveC426913
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Feel free. No waiting...Huckleberry said:
- #44
DaveC426913
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Love him in everything. Stole the show from Costner in Robin Hood.Math Is Hard said:
Ever see 'Truly Madly Deeply'? If you liked Swayze in Ghost ... you'll hate T-M-D.
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- #45
turbo
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Matt Damon has had some good roles with some range, as has Russell Crowe. Cruise is definitely 2-dimensional in most roles, and even worse is his former wife, Nicole Kidman. In "Far and Away", she could manage only two expressions, the most commonly used of which was petulant. Horrible. That could have been a pretty good movie with competent actors, but the couple was cast for their "star power" and lots of folks got taken in. My wife rented it on the recommendation of a co-worker - but even a cheap gallery rental was a rip-off.
- #46
Borek
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n!kofeyn said:
with his best performance in Gilbert Grape
- #47
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Huckleberry said:
Not one that I would rank as great, but Cher really surprised me. She is pretty good. As for Nicole Kidman [mentioned earlier], I could watch her all day, but I don't know that her acting skills have ever impressed me. It seems that I liked her in Moulin Rouge.
- #48
n!kofeyn
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Math Is Hard said:
He's playing the Caterpillar in the new Alice in Wonderland movie. I like him as well.
Cyrus said:
Well I might check it out then. Sorry I laughed at first, as I just have to sort of giggle when I think of Bale because of his ridiculous growling in Batman.
Matt Damon can really make a character. I liked his comedy in Ocean's 12. I looked him up on imbd and had forgotten about The Legend of Bagger Vance, which was very good. Will Smith is also a great actor. He has good comedic timing, but can get very emotional. I Am Legend was impressive, as he was all by himself basically.
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- #49
fuzzyfelt
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Adding Cate Blanchett to the good actors list.
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- #50
leroyjenkens
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Will Smith has become a really good actor in my opinion. I remember when he started off on Fresh Prince of Bel Air, he was terrible.
I don't understand the Tom Cruise hate. His characters may not vary much, but he can definitely act.
- #51
Cyrus
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leroyjenkens said:
He's a nut job scientologist.
- #52
DaveC426913
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Batman, are you wearing vampire teeth?n!kofeyn said:
You like them? They're haunted.
- #53
DaveC426913
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Just today I was minding my own business here in front of the TV when I looked up to see a commercial for Scientology.Cyrus said:
- #54
turbo
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At least you don't have Cruise and Travolta in white shirts and ties knocking on your door handing out L. Ron Hubbard pamphlets.DaveC426913 said:Just today I was minding my own business here in front of the TV when I looked up to see a commercial for Scientology.
- #55
TheStatutoryApe
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I have the problem with actresses that I generally am far more taken by how attractive they are then their acting skills. Oddly I can't think of many actresses that I have seen in several different roles that I would really consider great actresses. I think that Angelina Jolie is the only one I have seen several times (and not for trying... no really). I can't say that I think she is a very amazing actress.
I've seen Uma Thurman in a number of films but don't care for her much.
Meg Ryan I have seen in a few films but can't say I am very impressed by her acting either.
I like Rosario Dawson but have only seen her in Clerks 2 and Sin City. The fact that I think she's amazingly gorgeous probably plays a big role in my liking her.
Zooey Deschanel I have liked in the movies I have seen her in.
I liked pretty much the entire female cast of West Wing. I have never seen any of them in anything else though. Kristen Chenowith sounded like a familiar name so I looked her up and was rather impressed. She does film and theatre. She also sings both broadway and opera. I was disappointed that she does not normally wear glasses though.
- #56
Borek
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Cyrus said:
Does it make his transformation in Rain Man less convincing?
- #57
Huckleberry
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Ivan Seeking said:
I haven't seen many films with Cher in major roles. The one I remember, 'Mask', was a terrific movie and she was very good.
Kathy Bates' performance in 'Misery' was top notch. I looked at her filmography and it is 93 lines long. Of the ones I've seen only a handful do I remember her role in.
I like Julia Roberts. I haven't seen much range from her, but like many of the male actors listed so far, she excels in playing one role. Erin Brokovich was an exceptional role for her, and I've always liked Notting Hill and Pretty Woman.
(Dave, don't bust on me about last milleniums movies )
- #58
turbo
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I hated that performance. She hadn't smoothly made the transition from stage to screen and she was making facial expressions that you could have seen from the 50th row. Really chewing up the scenery.Huckleberry said:
- #59
stevo101
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I'm suprised that no one has mentioned Kevin Spacey he's an excellent actor, and from what I hear he is one of the few people from hollywood this is also just as good on stage as he is on screen. Ohh and I like daniel craig he's pretty good and I like that even though he's James Bond he's not getting stuck in the role and is doing other stuff. And as far as vin diesel goes watch "find me guilty", I think its a pretty good movie and it shows he has the ability to act outside of action movies. It would suck to be an actor or musician pigeonholed into only one sort of role or style because I'm sure a lot of them became actors because they really wanted to act.
- #60
marlon
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leroyjenkens said:
On the contrary, Will was good in the fresh prince because, err, that's Will Smith playing Will Smith. I don't like him when he tries to be serious or intellectual. It's just not his style.
Tom Cruise sucks at acting on the whole.
I prefer actors like Marlon Brando, Vincent Cassel, Christian Bale, Jack Nicholson. Although the latter tends to over do it in his latest movies.
marlon