What's THE best movie performance of all time?- Page 2

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 11:39am

This is of course totally subjective. I wouldn't want to say that any performance is the BEST of all time. The one that sticks in the mind is Holly Hunter in The Piano.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 11:40am

I'm gonna say Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:12pm

Streep in Sophie's Choice -- absolutely mesmerizing.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:16pm

Why thank you for agreeing with me, Margo. At least SOMEONE here has good taste.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:24pm

I don't think I've seen it. I'll have to check it out.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 12:24pm

Yikes. Don't have any sharp objects around while you're watching that film.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:01pm

Per many sources, the reason Judy Garland lost the Oscar to Grace Kelly in 1954 is because:

1) Warner Brothers did not do a very good job of "promoting" her for the Award; and

2) A STAR IS BORN was "hacked up" after its premeire so it could play more shows a day--and in the process, some of Garland's "best moments" in the film were lost and NOT VIEWED by the Academy voters.

[Thank Goodness the film HAS been restored so we can appreciate her FULL performance.]


BTW, my vote for best movie performance is Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND. I could post paragraphs on why I think so, but I'll just leave it at that.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:36pm

It's a tough choice, but I'd have to go with Sissy Spacek in Crimes of the Heart. Not only was her acting both sympathetic and humorous, but just the little things she did, such as continuing to pop the popcorn while chasing Lenny around the house, made it stand out as the most memorable performance I can think of. My second choice would be Keisha Castle-Hughes who delivered what I consider one of the most moving and realistic performances I've ever seen in Whale Rider.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 1:38pm

Have you ever seen CRIMES OF THE HEART on stage, Matt?

I think it plays MUCH better--its more intimate and seems to make the relationships between the sisters more intimate as well.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 2:02pm

I have seen Crimes of the Heart on stage a few times, but never a good production. The film strays from the script a little, but the casting was absolutely brilliant (all four women were flawless) and in my opinion, the flashback scenes worked better than the original script.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 3:04pm

Marlon Brando in ON THE WATERFRONT--yes, it's an obvious choice but have you seen this?????
Jane Fonda in KLUTE
Gulietta Massina (sp?) in NIGHTS OF CABIRIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lillian Gish in BROKEN BLOSSOMS
Robert Duvall in THE APOSTLE (Amazing movie no one has seen)
Sean Penn in DEAD MAN WALKING
Dustin Hoffman in TOOTSIE
Anna Magnani in THE ROSE TATTOO

[Matt_G]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 3:12pm

I think we must also put Hilary Swank's BOYS DON'T CRY performance on this list.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 3:12pm

Borstalboy,

How do you compare NIGHTS OF THE CABIRIA with the Americanized version, SWEET CHARITY?

Do you think both make the same impact?

[broadway86]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 3:20pm

Bette Davis, Now, Voyager & All About Eve
Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice
Gregory Peck, To Kill a Mockingbird
Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream
Vivien Leigh, Gone with the Wind & Streetcar Named Desire
Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs
Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca
Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven
Samuel L. Jackson, Pulp Fiction
Jimmy Stewart, It's a Wonderful Life Updated On: 11/29/04 at 03:20 PM

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 3:24pm

bdwy86, how LOVELY to see another Vivien Leigh fan!

She could say more with those emerald eyes that many performers can with fifty pages of dialogue.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 3:26pm

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA and SWEET CHARITY?? Hmmm. While they have more or less the same plots, they're really apples and oranges. SWEET CHARITY is more of a musical comedy and NIGHTS OF CABIRIA is a bit deeper and more philosophical and grittier. Masina's performance ranges from inspired Chaplin-like comedy bits (I love her little dance at the nightclub) to heartbreaking pathos that go as deep as any dramatic performance...the ending kills me, just kills me.

[Marquise]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 4:23pm

NIGHTS OF CABIRIA is a beautiful movie Bortsal. That was a good choice on your part.

I don't actually think there is one "Best Performance of All Time" but there are several that have impressed me.

NATALIE WOOD in "Love with the Proper Stranger"
SIDNEY POITIER in "A Raisin in the Sun"
CHARLIZE THERON in "Monster"

[Unknown User]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 4:43pm

i would definitely go for Charlize in "monster"

[broadway86]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 5:50pm

In addition to the ones I posted before...

In no part. order...

Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Timothy Hutton, Ordinary People
Anne Bancroft, The Graduate
Spencer Tracey, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Dustin Hoffman, Tootsie
Anthony Perkins, Psycho
Mira Sorvino, Mighty Aphrodite
Bette Davis, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Uma Thurman, Kill Bill
Angela Lansbury, The Manchurian Candidate
Marisa Tomei, In the Bedroom
Glenn Close, Fatal Attraction
Russell Crowe, The Insider
David Carradine, Kill Bill: Vol. 2
Jamie Foxx, Ray
Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York
Charlize Theron, Monster
Diane Keaton, Annie Hall
Matt Damon, The Talented Mr. Ripley
Katharine Hepburn, Bringing Up Baby
Thelma Ritter, Rear Window
Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby
Olivia deHavilland, The Snake Pit
Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Shirley MacLaine, The Apartment
Julie Delpy, Before Sunset
Ethan Hawke, Before Sunrise
Debra Winger, Terms of Endearment
Jean Hagen, Singin' in the Rain
Richard Dreyfuss, Mr. Holland's Opus
Nicole Kidman, The Others & To Die For
Jennifer Connelly, Requiem for a Dream
Henry Fonda, On Golden Pond
Dennis Hopper, Blue Velvet Updated On: 11/29/04 at 05:50 PM

[The Grovers Corners Yenta]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 6:20pm

I would have to say my Oscar winning performance in a home movie brilliantly portraying a toddler waddling around in a moist and droopy diaper.{the cloth kind......it was 1957} Ok, now seriously..........Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca.

Updated On: 11/29/04 at 06:20 PM

[Jess1483]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 6:32pm

Thanks BorstalBoy, I was just going to post Sean Penn in DEAD MAN WALKING. I was totally impressed and completely enthralled. I'm not one to cry at films, and I was watching it in my school library, but I definitely started crying. He was really powerful. Now if only I didn't have to write a paper about it...

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 7:22pm

I agree with Matt and Margo. I've always said that Meryl Streep's performance in Sophie's Choice in the greatest performance by any actress in the history of cinema. And I'm not kidding. Sophie's Choice is also my all time most favorite movie.

Updated On: 11/29/04 at 07:22 PM

[Matt_G]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 7:28pm

It's a movie I only saw once, also. I can't imagine myself ever even wanting to see it again. Every scene is so burned into my memory there really would be no need, anyways.

[Mary_Ethel]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 7:35pm

I never saw SOPHIE'S CHOICE.

Who did the music?

Any hit songs I would know?

Is the choreography and good?

Can I get an OBC on ebay?

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 11/29/04 at 7:40pm

It's a very emotional film. I can understand someone not wanting to sit through it more than once. But, like I said, it's my favorite movie of all time, so of course I own the DVD (and the LaserDisc before that, and the VHS tape before that). I've probably seen it close to 25 times. I watch it every couple of years or so. And everytime I do, I cry like a baby, and am upset for at least an hour afterward. But there's just something about it. The performances, the setting, the story, even the music. The CD soundtrack alone can make me weep. It's heartbreaking, but I just love everything about it. What can I say? I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment.

Updated On: 11/29/04 at 07:40 PM