The Actors' Canon - A Game!

stormwarning · Post by **stormwarning** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:12 am

I can't believe Dead Man was left out of the Johnny Depp list.
Anyway...

Keanu Reaves

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
The Replacements ("Falco, Falco, Falco")
My Own Private Idaho
Speed
The Matrix

Post by **BlueChair** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:25 am

oh my god

Well, at least you included Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:43 am

Warren Oates-

1. Two Lane Blacktop
2. Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia
3. The Wild Bunch
4. Dillinger
5. Cockfight

PlaythingOrPet · Post by **PlaythingOrPet** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:48 am

pip_52 wrote:Elvis Costello

Too bad I dont think Ive seen Spice World. Am I missing an important part of the EC filmography?

Yeah, "No Surrender" from 1985, I think. Better that the rest put together (can't say about Americathon or Prison Song 'cos I ain't seem them), but he's still crap.

Jeff Bridges

1. The Big Lebowski
2. Fabulous Baker Boys
3. The Fisher King
4. The Last Picture Show
5. Arlington Road

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:53 am

....and now for the Caine-Hackman theorem from the movie PCU.

Michael Caine-

1. Educating Rita
2. The Quiet American
3. Sleuth
4. Hannah & Her Sisters
5. A Shock To The System

Gene Hackman-

1. The Conversation
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. Bonnie & Clyde
4. The French Connection
5. Unforgiven

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 8:15 am

Elfslut said:

4. Planet of the Apes

err...the movie, or the planet?

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 8:39 am

Katharine Hepburn--dangerous territory, because there are so many movies and some I haven't seem, but what the hell.

1. Bringing Up Baby
2. The Philadelphia Story
3. Lion In Winter
4. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner
5. Desk Set

Those are my favorites. What about The African Queen, you say. Well, sadly, I don't like it. Two of my favorite actors in what many consider a great movie, but I just don't like it. Maybe it's the leech scene....

Elfslut · Post by **Elfslut** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 8:53 am

laughingcrow wrote:Elfslut said:
4. Planet of the Apes
err...the movie, or the planet?

The movie...

The Tim Burton version...since I was listing the movies that his then girlfriend Lisa Marie (not Presley) made cameos in..

She's the ape the does the monkey love dance towards the beginning..

I love Tim Burton films.......

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:19 am

Denzel Washington

1. Glory
2. Malcolm X
3. Mo Better Blues
4. The Hurricane
5. He Got Game

Honorable Mention: Cry Freedom

girl out of time · Post by **girl out of time** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 1:15 pm

ok....i´ll pick two of my favourite actors......

robert deniro

-raging bull
-taxi driver
-the night and the city
-king of comedy
-mean streets

al pacino

-and justice for all
-dogday afternoon
-serpico
-the godfather (particulary the godfather II)
-scarface

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 11:12 pm

Since we did Caine and Hackman, we kinda gotta do Sean Connery, don't we?

Goldfinger
The Man Who Would be King
Robin and Marian
The Rock (yes, you heard me, Bobster's gotta something nice to say about a movie directed by the uber-evil Michael Bay!)
Marnie (if only Tippi Hedren were good too, it might have been, well, good)

Barbara Stanwyck

Ball of Fire
The Lady Eve
Double Indemnity
40 Guns
Executive Sweet

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Mon Oct 27, 2003 11:57 pm

Girl Out of Time -

Nice choices on Pacino - I'm glad you avoided Scent of a Woman - but how could you give him the nod in Godfather II and not list it as one of Deniro's best? And while I liked Night And City more than most, it still came across as lame compared to the original. (although it does have my second favorite Regis Philbin cameo after Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Sex.)

I probably would have included Scarecrow for both Pacino and Hackman.

Bobster started on character actors, so here's my contibution:

Alex Rocco

The Godfather
The Friends Of Eddie Coyle
The Stunt Man
That Thing You Do!
Motor Psycho

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 9:05 am

Didn't Alex Rocco also play the warm, loving dad in Lady In White? That remains one of my favorite "sleeper" films from the 80's.

Harry Dean Stanton-

1. Repo Man
2. Paris, Texas
3. She's So Lovely (a small part that he played the living beejaysus out of)
4. Alien
5. Pretty In Pink (Casting Coup of The Century)

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 9:45 am

Peter O'Toole -

1. The Ruling Class (one of the 10 greatest comedies ever made, imho)
2. My Favorite Year (Not a "great" film, but it is great fun. Regardless, O'Toole was magnificent)
3. Lawrence of Arabia
4. The Lion In Winter
5. Becket

Richard Burton -

1. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2. 1984
3. Becket
4. Absolution
5. The Night of The Iguana

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 2:58 pm

Gravel voice, round of body...when it came to loveable gruffness, no one did it better (or more gruffly) than Eugene Palette

1. Heaven Can Wait (1943)
2. The Mark of Zorro (basically improving upon his performance as Frair Tuck a couple of years previously, in....)
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood
4. The Lady Eve
5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (which I really need to see again...can barely remember Palette in it, but I'm willing to take it on faith he was great. He was also in "My Man Godfrey" which I can't remember ever seeing...how the #$@$# did I miss that???)

Blythe Danner (Gwynetth Paltrow's mom--and the start of the realization that I am now old enough to have crushes on two generations of movie stars, though my crush on Blythe started at age 8 or 9 or so)

1. 1776 (see earlier posts on my odd obsession with this movie)
2. Adam's Rib (TV series -- but the pilot was a remake of the movie, so I'm counting it!)
3. Futureworld (Geek alert!!! now forgotten sequel to Westworld -- Blythe and Peter Fonda are crusading reporters who discover a sinister cloning conspiracy -- plot strangely similar to Ben Bova's now also forgotten SF/Political thriller, "The Multiple Man". The bad guy, Arthur Hill of course, who maybe gets his own list)
4. The Great Santini
5. Meet the Parents

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 11:19 pm

A couple of really cool performances by Harry Dean Stanton and Warren Oates -

Harry Dean Stanton in Wise Blood. It's sort of a cult film, even though it was directed by John Houston and based on a Flannery O'Connor novel. Brad Dourif (Billy Bibbit from Cuckoo's Nest) is also great.

And Warren Oates was very real (creepy) in In The Heat of The Night.

Jackson Doofster · Post by **Jackson Doofster** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 3:50 am

El Vez - I'd put 'Look Back in Anger' in for Burton.

James Stewart

Rear Window
It's a Wonderful Life
Rope
Mr Smith Goes to Washington
Philadelphia Story

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 6:48 am

I really liked Burton in Taming of the Shrew - I was just watching it yesterday, although you guys might not actually put it in his top few movies.

And I love Look Back in Anger - saw a university theatre production of it a couple of years ago in a room with about one hundred seats - very powerful.

Good choice, Jackson.

Post by **BlueChair** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 8:33 am

Jackson Doofster wrote:James Stewart

Rear Window
It's a Wonderful Life
Rope
Mr Smith Goes to Washington
Philadelphia Story

What about Vertigo???

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 4:42 pm

Here's a couple for Halloween --

Shelley Winters --

1. What's the Matter with Helen? (A truly great, heartbreaking performance in a surprisingly scary/bloody thriller directed by Curtis Harrington -- not to be confused with Curtis Hanson -- also starring Debbie Reynolds....that's right, Debbie Reynolds.)
2. Lolita
3. Night of the Hunter
4. A Place in the Sun
5. Wild in the Streets

Christopher Lee

1. The Wicker Man
2. Lord of the Rings
3. The Devil Rides Out
4. The Man with the Golden Gun
5. The Battle of the River Plate aka Pursuit of the Graf Spree (a now completely obscure 1956 WWII naval picture made by the amazing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger on their way down -- probably the most under-known -- in the U.S. anyhow -- great classic era filmmakers. This film, though, was losing me rapidly despite a nifty performance by Peter Finch -- until shore lleave, when C. Lee shows up as a suspicious Bolivian. From this moment on, the movie became dandy, largely because of Lee's small, but strangely vital role. Even then, the guy just reeked of showmanship and his presences just somehow goosed the whole thing up.)

Boy With A Problem · Post by **Boy With A Problem** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 9:24 pm

bobster -

I'm sure you're thinking of A Place In The Sun, which was based entirely on An American Tragedy. I don't point this out to be persnickety, it's just that I think folks who haven't seen it should seriously seek it out. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor arguably give career performances as well, but you're right in that Winters nearly steals the picture from them. Seek out the novel too, it's a big one but well worth the time (Dreiser).

El Vez · Post by **El Vez** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 10:05 pm

Robert Duvall -

1. The Apostle
2. The Godfather I-II
3. The Seven Percent Solution
4. True Confessions
5. Apocalypse Now

Ellen Burstyn -

1. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
2. Requiem For A Dream
3. The King of Marvin Gardens
4. The Exorcist
5. Resurrection (It's been years and I need to see it again, but she was amazing)

girl out of time · Post by **girl out of time** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 11:58 pm

El Vez....Robert Duvall is one of my favourite actors.....I loved your choices..... i would add two other great films:

-Network
-The Great Santini

.....also here are my top 5 Tim Roth´s movies.....

-The Legend of the 1900
-Reservoir Dogs
-Vincent & Theo
-Little Odessa
-Animals

Jackson Doofster · Post by **Jackson Doofster** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 7:30 am

BC

yeah...Vertigo was great, but I couldn't leave out the others. It was between Vertigo and Rope and I really love Rope.

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 4:44 pm

Boy With A Problem wrote:bobster -

I'm sure you're thinking of A Place In The Sun, which was based entirely on An American Tragedy.....Seek out the novel too, it's a big one but well worth the time (Dreiser).

Yup. I fixed it. I have a mental block of sorts about those two titles.

Re: the book -- well, as I just finally picked up Sister Carrie again, which is long enough, who knows when I'll get to it. Still, it's a helluva story. There's a sort of sort of tragic purity to it, he said sounding really pretentious.