Since this decade is over, what performances do you think will be remembered either for their greatness, originality, or the pop culture references that it will receive.
Of course in the past we have: - Vivien Leigh [Gone with the Wind] - Sissy Spacek [Carrie] - Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster [Silence of the Lambs] - Diane Keaton [Annie Hall] - Marlon Brando [The Godfather] - Janet Leigh [Psycho] - Dustin Hoffman [The Graduate] - Jack Nicholson [The Shining] - Hilary Swank [Boys Don't Cry] - Meryl Streep [Sophie's Choice]
I am currently making up my top 15 list and I'll post them as soon as I get them finished. How about you, who do you think must be included?
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I hope The Office wins as Best Comedy Series for this year's Emmy Awards.
Posts: 13057 | Location: Manila | Registered: August 19, 2006
Heath Ledger- The Dark Knight Helen Mirren- The Queen Daniel Day-Lewis- Gangs of New York and There Will Be Blood Charlize Theron- Monster Ellen Burstyn- Requiem for a Dream Javier Bardem- No Country for Old Men Meryl Streep- The Devil Wears Prada Kate Winslet- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
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Posts: 1496 | Location: Irony Circle, IN | Registered: March 08, 2003
Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada" Penelope Cruz as Raimunda in "Volver" Adrien Brody as Szpilman in "The Pianist" Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly in "Chicago" Andy Serkis as Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" Heath Ledger as The Joker in "The Dark Knight"
I think it's a mix of performance, character, qoutable lines, and star power.
- Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men - Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose - Daniel Day Lewis, There Will be Blood - Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean - Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls - Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge - Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain - Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight - Sean Penn, Milk - Rachel McAdams, Mean Girls - Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada - Charlize Theron, Monster - Uma Thurman, Kill Bill - Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive - Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
If I'll give five more - Adrien Brody, The Pianist - Sasha Baron Cohen, Borat - Helen Mirren, The Queen - Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde - Catherine Zeta Jones, Chicago
I know there's a lot but I guess I still have to trim down most of them. Not necessarily a fan of Cohen and Hudson's performance but it will definitely gain some notices that will be difficult to forget.
I hope The Office wins as Best Comedy Series for this year's Emmy Awards.
Posts: 13057 | Location: Manila | Registered: August 19, 2006
Hmmmmmm, I had trouble deciding whether or not to include Kidman for "Moulin Rouge". I honestly think it depends on her legacy and whether she is remembered as an actress or not that will determine if that performance will become iconic. For iconic performances, I think the character and the performance does it, but for others its the remembrance and immortalization of an important actor that helps to sustain a performances as "iconic" in my opinion.
Regarding Kidman, I think it helped that the movie was what was considered as something that launched back the genre of musicals for this decade, and she gets the movie star role and she delivered. She was sexy, sassy, and every inch a movie star with that performance. She, being Nicole Kidman, helped but only minimally. I think that's a performance that's for keeps.
I hope The Office wins as Best Comedy Series for this year's Emmy Awards.
Posts: 13057 | Location: Manila | Registered: August 19, 2006
The ones that I believe will be widely known as "classic performances" are: Charlize Theron - Monster Marion Cotillard - La Vie en Rose Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood Sean Penn - Milk Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
"Notorious was nice, but it’s not in the color purple range" "Angels and Demons may get nominated for cinematography the imagery was profound" "District Nine will definitely win for best foreign film it made money and everyone loved it" ~ 8movies
Posts: 2714 | Location: nz | Registered: January 12, 2009
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose" Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood" Charlize Theron, "Monster" Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight" Sean Penn, "Milk" Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" Uma Thurman, "Kill Bill" (Vol. 1 & 2) Nicole Kidman, "Moulin Rouge!" Jamie Foxx, "Ray" Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky" Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds" Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men" Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada" Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball" Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" Julia Roberts, "Erin Brockovich" Heath Ledger, "Brokeback Mountain" Bill Murray, "Lost in Translation" Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls" Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
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Posts: 24723 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: April 11, 2005
Daniel day Lewis- there will Be Blood Marion Cotillard- La Vie En Rose
nothing close to those 2
Ellen Burstyn- Requiem for a dream Sean Penn- milk
the next 2
Meryl Streep- The Devil wears prada Philip Seymour Hoffman- Capote Russell Crowe- A beautiful Mind Helen Mirren- The Queen Kate Winslet- Little Children/ Revolutionary Road Mickey Rourke- The Wrestler Marcia Gay Harden- Pollack Nicole Kidman- The Hours
Posts: 254 | Location: long island NY | Registered: October 30, 2008
I think the two most enduring performances of the decade will turn out to be Charlize Theron in "Monster" and Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood."
"A movie is not good because it arrives at conclusions you share, or bad because it does not. A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it: about the way it considers its subject matter, and about how its real subject may be quite different from the one it seems to provide." - Roger Ebert, from the introduction to "Awake in the Dark" (2006)
Sean Penn (Milk) Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) Charlize Theron (Monster) Adrian Brody (The Pianist) Russell Crowe (as much as this pains me) (Gladiator) Helen Mirren (The Queen) Forrest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) Daniel Day Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
Posts: 3790 | Location: Earth | Registered: April 11, 2005
Can someone enlighten me and explain what's so great about Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in "There Will Be Blood?" Seriously, I don't understand what is so great about it. I've tried watching the film several times and can't get through it.
One of the greatest, if not, the greatest performance all-time by an actor in a leading role!!!
The accent first.. the depth of his pain and greed is in his eyes. his interaction with everyone in the film..eli, HG, his asst, his phony brother...his scenes with mary.. the climatic 2 scenes...with his grown son..and with paul dano as Eli..are beyond breathtaking!! his physicality in the 2 opening scenes..in the wells.. His walk...the limp... the passion in his eyes for this role is evident in every word he speaks. Have i gone on enough?>? LOL
Posts: 254 | Location: long island NY | Registered: October 30, 2008
Originally posted by oscarnutlen: One of the greatest, if not, the greatest performance all-time by an actor in a leading role!!!
The accent first.. the depth of his pain and greed is in his eyes. his interaction with everyone in the film..eli, HG, his asst, his phony brother...his scenes with mary.. the climatic 2 scenes...with his grown son..and with paul dano as Eli..are beyond breathtaking!! his physicality in the 2 opening scenes..in the wells.. His walk...the limp... the passion in his eyes for this role is evident in every word he speaks. Have i gone on enough?>? LOL
I'm not sure. I'll have to consider those elements the next time it airs.
Don't worry Blacktie, I feel the same way about Streep in Prada. Love her. Liked the movie. But thought her performance was good, but not "classic" by any stretch.
Originally posted by Blacktie: Can someone enlighten me and explain what's so great about Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in "There Will Be Blood?" Seriously, I don't understand what is so great about it. I've tried watching the film several times and can't get through it.
An important element is quotability. "Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you" "la-di-da" "Here's Johnny" "I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night" "Here's lookin at you kid"
I really think that with regards to both Streep and Day-Lewis, their performances will live on not only because they are larger than life characters, great performances, and extremely memorable oscar-nommed performances, but because they are really quotable in a very easy way. It's impossible to forget: "That's all" "I drink your milkshake"
That's the key ingredient that will make these performances live on forever that other great or larger than life performances don't have.
In terms of Streep, I also think her performance in "Prada" helped to redefine her. In addition to opening her up to a younger generation, she also went from being just an actress to a huge movie star. I actually think that in Streep's obituary the two performances that will be mentioned specifically as must see and defining will be "Sophie's Choice" and "Prada". They're both very different both in terms of comedy/drama, and serious/crowd pleaser types of films, and they'll be her lasting impression of film history because it shows her versatility.
Streep's performance in "Prada" helps us to understand the two Streeps. Day-Lewis's performance in "Blood" does this a bit for him as well when you pair it with his Christy Brown, but not as much as Streep.
Nicole Kidman as SATINE in Moulin Rouge ! Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose Meryl Streep in the Devil Wears Prada Bjork as Selma in Dancer in the Dark Kate Winslet for Eternal Sunshine Sean Penn in Milk Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a dream Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones Diary Adrien Brody in The Pianist Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality Daniel Craig in Casino Royale Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft in Tomb Raider Ian McKellen - Lord of the Rings Jhonny Depp- Pirates of the Caribean Charlize Theron in Monster Rinko Kikuchi in Babel Heath Ledger in The Dark Knigth Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllehal in Brokeback Mountain Hilary Swank- Million Dollar Baby Jennifer Hudson- Dreamgirls Uma Thurman- Kill Bill
