top 5 greatest performances

[Bub the Zombie]

Originally Posted by neverending

I can't pick out performances I think stand above all others- there's just too much amazing work on film. I can. however, pick out some moments I remember just impressing the hell out of me when I saw them. Each time the performers bowled me over with tiny moments in which I thought with just a slight gesture or series of looks on their face clearly showed me an entire range of emotions and thoughts.

There was a moment in Forest Gump where Gump is trying to figure out what Jenny means about who the father of her child is. You can clearly read Gump's thought process even though he never says a word.

Same thing in A Few Good Men when Nicholson breaks down on the stand.

For Bogart I'm always bowled over by the "play it Sam" scene. Also there's a scene in the terribly underappreciated "Dead End" where Bogart, as a hoodlum of minor reknown goes to visit his mother (played witrh heart wrenching pathos by Ma Kettle herself, Marjorie Main). You ain't no son of mine, she tells him, and the pain of abandonment on Bogart's face is more powerful than anything else he ever did.

And believe it or not, Woody Allen even impressed me with his acting once. I attended a double feature of Casablanca, followed by Allen's Play It Again Sam. As I sat there in the darkness, awash wih the mixture of awe and astonishment at just how GOOD that film is, as happens every time I see that film, and Play it Again Sam starts. In the film Woody is watching the end of Casablanca in a movie theatre, and a shot lingers on his face as HE is amazed at the film he just saw- it was the SAME look I still had on my face. Great job.

Nicholson was really awesome in those final moments of A Few Good Men. Very memorable, and quite excellent.

And I have to agree about Woody Allen. He has done some really good work in his early movies. I don't like his later works though - most of his 90s and post-2000 stuff is borrowed heavily from his 70s flicks.

[neverending]

And of course I meant Hiroshima, not Pearl Harbor. Original post edited for accuracy.

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by neverending

It's the quiet moments that are truly impressive when done well.

Well-said, NE. I agree whole-heartedly.

[Lord Voldemort]

James Dean-Rebel Without A Cause
Johnny Depp-Black Mass
Michael Fasbender-First Class and Shame
Dustin Hoffman-Straw Dogs
Bill Murray-Lost In Translation
Heath Ledger-Dark Knight
AL Pacino-Scarface
Any role Daniel Day -Lewis has ever done.

[Lord Voldemort]

My top favorite actresses prformance:
Jennifer Lawrence-Hunger Games
Sigourney Weaver-Aliens
Uma Thurman-Kill Bill
Susan George-Straw Dogs
Angelina Jolie-Gia
Jessica Lange-AHS:Coven
Daisey Ridley- The Force Awakens
Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra-Bend It Like Beckham

[Morningriser]

5. Malcolm MacDowell - A Clockwork Orange
4. Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
3. Jack Nicholson - The Shining
2. Johnny Depp - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
1. Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood