Favourite Actors

An impeccable list, colly.

an enjoyable read and a few more movies I hadn't heard of to seek out

thanks Collie

Mine are :

Gene Hackman
Karl Malden (RIP)
Steve McQueen
Robert De Niro
Dustin Hoffman
Peter Weller

Gene Hackman is just about my favorite living actor.

There was a time when I would watch anything with Kenneth Branagh in it. Up until Wild Wild West. Then I learned my lesson.

Still, I love his Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing (despite Keanu Reeves). Even Love's Labour's Lost was okay.

Robert Downey Jnr has a gift for making even a bad film look good.

Johnny Depp - well, he's had great days and crap ones. From Hell was awful, but that wasn't necessarily his fault. Although his Abberline sucked like a Dyson. And I haven't been able to watch his Mad Hatter. But Benny and Joon is still fantastic.

I love Clint Eastwood's ability to use silence. I think it's a talent much underrated by actors.

Jim Carrey - I think he's actually better than people give him credit for. There's more to him that pulling faces and farce. After all, it takes real talent to be able to create characters like that, to pull Ace Ventura out of a bag and make it actually plausible.

Bruce Willis is another actor I think can be missed. He gives some powerful performances in the background.

Sylvester Stallone has pretty good comic timing, which gets missed.

Favourite Actors?

Marlon Brando (Favourite: A Streetcar Named Desire)
Humphrey Bogart (Favourite: Casablanca/The Big Sleep)
Sean Connery (Doctor No/From Russia With Love/Thunderball)
James Cagney (The Roaring Twenties)
Leonardo Di Caprio (Revolutionary Road)
Cary Grant (North By Northwest)

CASINOROYALE

Quote :

Sylvester Stallone has pretty good comic timing, which gets missed.

People have largely forgotten this now, but after the release of Rocky, some critics were calling him the new Marlon Brando. Which seems quite absurd now. Stallone himself blames the fact that he never again got taken seriously as an actor on how First Blood was misinterpreted - or at least how the underlying message was missed by most of the audience. After that people were only interested in seeing him in action roles.

And of the two muscle-bound action stars of the 80s, I always thought that Arnold did comedy far better than Stallone.
;)

Arnold's comedy has always been more fun to me than his action - I've long loved both KINDERGARTEN COP and JINGLE ALL THE WAY.

I am probably the only person in the world who actually enjoyed Oscar.

And Avenging Angelo.

I always find Arnie annoying in a vaguely unspecific fashion.

Stallone's earlier work was interesting. F.I.S.T. and Nighthawks were two underrated movies with the latter being a take on The French Connection with a terrorist (Rutger Hauer in his Hollywood debut) coming to NYC, not aware that cops Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are being trained to eliminate him.

To be honest, I much prefer Sly as an action man although he's got the chops for character roles as he showed in Copland.

May I add that Walter Matthau in his day was a very good serious actor. Check him out in Charley Varrick, The Laughing Policeman and The Taking Of Pelham 123 where he has some great lines.

JohnDrake wrote:

May I add that Walter Matthau in his day was a very good serious actor. Check him out in Charley Varrick, The Laughing Policeman and The Taking Of Pelham 123 where he has some great lines.

That said, Matthau's best moments in many of those fall down to his deadpan wit. PELHAM 123 in particular.

No, it's PELHAM ONE TWO THREE. PELHAM 1 2 3 is the fucktard version! :)

I like Matthau, and I think he was a terrific actor. Lemmon. He was a really terrific actor. In a film like THE APARTMENT his comedy was grounded in good, solid acting ability. That seems to be a big problem with a lot of major comedic performances these days. They're just not grounded in anything. I'd say RDJ in a film like KISS KISS BANG BANG is a notable exception.

JohnDrake wrote:

Stallone's earlier work was interesting. Nighthawks being a take on The French Connection with a terrorist (Rutger Hauer in his Hollywood debut) coming to NYC, not aware that cops Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are being trained to eliminate him.

Nighthawks was a bit of a cracker back in the day, and still holds up fairly well now. Very unfairly overlooked fim IMO, with a good Stallone performance and a cracking major break for Hauer, who is at the very least to Nighthawks what Andy Robinson was to Dirty Harry, and it's no wonder Ridley Scott had the great sense to cast Hauer in Blade Runner probably on the back of his Nighthawks performance. It's arguably the closest we got to a French Connection for the 1980s, and I'd take it anyday over the 80s Dirty Harry flicks. Fine score from Keith Emerson as well, very effective.

I'm going to discuss some more left field choices for varieties sake

my favourite film stars aren't necessarily great actors, they are more likely to be people who have a charisma or aura that appeals to me
they generally the type who play themselves in different situations, rather than the type who immerse themselves in a role and become a different character
they usually project a cool image that I can only aspire to

Humphrey Bogart - Casablanca, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Passage To Marseilles, To Have & Have Not, Dead Reckoning, All Through The Night, Dark Passage, Across The Pacific, In A Lonely Place
I guess the original anti-heroes were in the gangster movies of the 30s, glamorous villains who had to lose in the end, who were frowned upon by the powers that be and as a result were morphed into the noirish shamus characters of the 40s
in that hard boiled world it was hard to top Humphrey Bogart in a raincoat, scheming against the odds, using his fast talking cynical façade to disguise his sentimental heart
I just got "Sierra Madre" but I haven't seen it yet
however number one has to be "Casablanca"

Alan Ladd - This Gun For Hire, The Glass Key, The Blue Dahlia, The Great Gatsby, Whispering Smith, Shane, Boy On A Dolphin
I first saw him in what became my favourite western, "Shane", but it's only in the last couple of years I've got to see him in his raincoat pictures
he was tiny and bald with a somewhat receding chin but somehow makes up for it with a blond toupee and a great deep voice and that indefinable quality we call charisma
I had assumed his extravagantly broad shoulders of his raincoat were mostly padding until I saw him swimming in "The Great Gatsby", in fact they're mostly real
I think "Shane" is his finest hour, of course, with "The Blue Dahlia" being my favourite among his raincoat movies

Robert Mitchum - Out Of The Past, The Big Steal, Macao, Blood On The Moon, Man With The Gun, Thunder Road, Night Of The Hunter, Cape Fear, The Enemy Below, El Dorado
a man ahead of his time? he brought the kind of hip anti hero feel to the 40s which didn't really become mainstream until the mid 50s
learning that he actually rode the rails as a hobo in the late 30s and that he recorded a couple of Calypso albums in the 50s only adds to his left field mystique in my eyes
I watched "The Big Steal" again last night, possibly the first car chase movie? too light in mood to be classed a "noir" it's the kind of action / comedy adventure I love
I have also recently acquired "Bandito" but have yet to watch it
I'd nominate "Out Of The Past" as his best, in which he wears the most rumpled raincoat of them all

Charles Bronson - Rider On The Rain, Red Sun, Once Upon A Time In The West, Death Wish, Mr Majestyk, The Mechanic, Hard Times, The Evil That Men Do
it seems to me the 60s was the decade when the ugly, I mean unconventional looking, actors finally had their day, with Lee Marvin leading the way
Bronson was not at all good looking, but the moustache helped immeasurably, giving him a touch of Clark Gable
I first saw him in "Rider On The Rain" and, in terms of his acting, I don't think I've seen him in anything better since
he hasn't taken (or perhaps been offered?) many roles that allowed him to show the charm or complexity that this role did
and most of his action films seem to contain some glaring short comings in plot or execution that makes me think they would make great material for a film school "Action Movie 101 - How Not To" paper
I just got the "Valachi Papers" but have yet to watch it
I have to say "OUATITW" was his finest hour

James Coburn - The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Our Man Flint, A Fist Full Of Dynamite, A Reason To Live - A Reason To Die (European version with American soundtrack, which doesn't yet exist), Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, Cross Of Iron, Firepower
with his fantastic deep voice and million megawatt smile, Coburn was a classic 60s womanising anti hero
he rode in on the coat tails of his pal Steve McQueen, but never seemed to quite have the luck (or perhaps he just wasn't a good judge of a project)
after great bit parts in "M7" and "The Great Escape" he attained a level of stardom in "Our Man Flint" but wasn't really able to capitalise further
the second "Flint" movie went to far over the top in the end, "The Presidents Analyst" started promisingly before turning into just another wackie 60s spy spoof in which Coburn was little more than a passenger
he also followed other trends making sub "Thomas Crown" heist movies like "Dead Heat On A Merry-Go-Round" clever but cold espionage movies like "The Internecine Project" and solid but unexceptional action movies like "Firepower" but nothing that ever really 'caught on'
he was in two westerns that are now considered classic "Pat Garret…" and "Fist Full Of Dynamite" but back then they were commercial failures, having been hacked up by the studios, so they didn't do anything to help his career at the time
and his comedy western "Waterhole #3" is marred by a running joke about rape that only becomes more cringworthy with the passing of time
another movie with Peckenpah, "Cross Of Iron" has also become more respected over time
in his prime years his career became a series of near misses and not quites
I've just obtained the TV miniseries "The Daine Curse" but have yet to watch it
IMO the Irish explosive expert he plays in "Duck You Sucker" is his best role, despite the dodgy accent

Steve McQueen - The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Bullitt, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Getaway, The Hunter
in the 60s and 70s his name was synonymous with the word cool
the man from the Boys Republic didn't make that many films but in the decades I grew up in he lived the lifestyle, he was the movie star I wanted to be above all others
once he became a star his insisted on his movies being all about him, which on the one hand may seem vain and selfish, but also showed his desire to see that his values and personality were expressed in film
which is why he has become an icon
he wasn't tall or muscular, although he was always resilient and resourceful, he wasn't outstandingly handsome, but pleasant enough
he could be tough and ruthless when he had to, and McQueen's screen persona was about being tough when you have to be, not for it's own sake
during the car chase in "Bullit" he stops when a motorcyclist falls off and only continues when he sees that others have come to help
in "The Getaway" he can't bring himself to execute the unconscious villain and later he implores the last bad guy not to try and pull his gun and to just run, because he's doesn't want to have to kill him
and he was perhaps the first movie star to embody his lifestyle though his movies to such an extent (?)
not fighting or killing or shooting guns, but an expres​sion(or illusion?) of freedom symbolised by speed and activity involving horses, motorcycles and cars
from the moment he rode the motorcycle in "The Great Escape" he embodied the relationship between man and machine in a way no movie star really had before
and machines continued to feature prominently, from the mustang in "Bullit", to the beach buggy sequences in "Thomas Crown" and the racing cars of "Le Mans"
car chase and car crash movies became a genre of their own through the seventies, until the fashion eventually died off again in the late 80s, and Steve McQueen helped kick it off
at the moment I'm liking "The Getaway" but it's hard to go past "The Great Escape" being the ultimate expression of what Steve McQueen was all about

Arnold Schwarzenegger - Pumping Iron, The Terminator, Predator, Commando, Total Recall, Red Heat, Judgement Day, True Lies, The Sixth Day
few people would have believed that a steroid enhanced Austrian who couldn't speak English clearly could make it beyond a handful of swords and sandals B movies and a one off part as a cyborg assassin, which uniquely suited to his non acting
but Arnold was smarter than he looks, a fine judge of projects to be involved in and a true force of nature as a person, so he made it happen
cometh the man cometh the hour, the 80s was the golden age of action and Arnold was it's king
I'm tempted to say "Commando" would be my "desert island disc" (I like you Solly, you're a funny guy, that's why I'm going to kill you last") but common sense demands "The Terminator"
Arnie was a bit like Roger Moore in that he used knowing humour to cover for his debatable acting skills

Jean Reno - La Femme Nikita, Leon, Wasabe, Tais Toi, Crimson Rivers, Empire Of The Wolves, Mission Impossible, Ronin, The Da Vinci Code, Godzilla…(only kidding)
the man from Morocco with the hang dog looks generally doesn't get the opportunities he deserves
I guess I really need to see "The Big Blue" (and 48 Bullets)
but so far it's "Leon"

Michael Madsen - Thelma & Louise, Donny Brasco, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill
when I watch him in the above I think there could have been something great there, but in pretty much everything else he seems lost
come in "Mr Blond"

Five favorites who are still breathing.


The Hack Man.


Coop.


Ed "No Hair" Harris.


Chtwodgegeiaiyer Edhoduuegrhherfor.


Jack Bauer Sr.

Lazenby. wrote:

JohnDrake wrote:

Stallone's earlier work was interesting. Nighthawks being a take on The French Connection with a terrorist (Rutger Hauer in his Hollywood debut) coming to NYC, not aware that cops Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams are being trained to eliminate him.

Nighthawks was a bit of a cracker back in the day, and still holds up fairly well now. Very unfairly overlooked fim IMO, with a good Stallone performance and a cracking major break for Hauer, who is at the very least to Nighthawks what Andy Robinson was to Dirty Harry, and it's no wonder Ridley Scott had the great sense to cast Hauer in Blade Runner probably on the back of his Nighthawks performance. It's arguably the closest we got to a French Connection for the 1980s, and I'd take it anyday over the 80s Dirty Harry flicks. Fine score from Keith Emerson as well, very effective.

You're right about that - it was the closest thing to The French Connection that we had in the 1980s, although another contender for that accolade was To Live And Die In LA, another violent and gritty crime thriller directed by William Friedkin, but this was set in Los Angeles and had a more metaphysical style due to the contrast between the hero (a reckless, obsessed misogynist & narcissist) and the villain (he genuinely loves his girlfriend, but hates himself). Like TFC, this too had a great car chase and was based on the atmosphere of Miami Vice.

Hauer's other classic '80s flick was The Hitcher.

Richard Harris RIP

It seems every actor has a stock B&W photo with a cigarette.

I always loved Mickey Rourke. Fantastic actor with great charisma.

Favourite films and performances: the Sin City films, Angel Heart and Rumble Fish.

He has not aged well. Boxing was perhaps not the best idea for an actor.

Angel Heart is a great film. One of the best supernatural horror films of all time, and arguably the most underrated.

JohnDrake wrote:

May I add that Walter Matthau in his day was a very good serious actor.  Check him out in Charley Varrick, The Laughing Policeman and The Taking Of Pelham 123 where he has some great lines.

He's quite good in FAIL-SAFE as well, in a totally serious role, a sort of Kissinger.

trevanian wrote:

JohnDrake wrote:

May I add that Walter Matthau in his day was a very good serious actor.  Check him out in Charley Varrick, The Laughing Policeman and The Taking Of Pelham 123 where he has some great lines.

He's quite good in FAIL-SAFE as well, in a totally serious role, a sort of Kissinger.

Well, there's a funny coincidence--I just mentioned Failsafe in another thread.

And speaking of favorite actors--and Failsafe--Fritz Weaver is certainly one of mine. He was the master of playing the high-strung man on the edge of cracking up.