Name an actors best film?

Deadwood ( 2019) was a film.

 

Fenderesq, I didn't mean to imply that you were focusing only on the great actors in well-known parts. In one particular post, you indicated difficulty naming the best film/performance of some Hollywood legend. I agree it's tough to choose the best work of Meryl Streep, Jack Nicholson, Katherine Hepburn, Bogie, etc. I was just trying to ease your pain(!), by suggesting another avenue of inquiry.

I find it delightful when I come across a surprisingly strong performance by some actor I don't care for, or don't respect too much. See post #105 in this thread, where I listed a few such examples which struck me. They're not obscure actors, just ones I don't really care for! (Probably shouldn't have included Jennifer Lawrence on the list. I like her as an actor, but not so sure about her off-screen personality. But I wanted to plug Winter's Bone, which put her on the map, but may be lost in the past as she became an A-List star.)

 

I'm with you on these two.

 

I've got a hunch that High Fidelity is quite popular on a forum like this which draws a lot of music obsessives.....

 

I actually haven't seen that film. But in response, I just wanted to plug A History of Violence. (It might also be Maria Bello's best performance.)

 

Bill Murray - Caddyshack

Kurt Russell - The Hateful Eight

 

That's actually a good idea for a thread. Either worst role, or worst performance for the actor of your choice.....

 

Fair enough. I've seen the entire series, but haven't caught the follow-up film yet.

 

Bruce Willis - The Sixth Sense
Richard Gere - Primal Fear
Mark Ruffalo - You Can Count on Me
Kevin Costner - Field of Dreams

 

Disappointing.

 

He was brilliant in A History Of Violence, Even better in Eastern Promises. But “Green Book “he should have got a Oscar.

 

Sigourney Weaver - Aliens
Cher - Moonstruck
Winona Ryder - Heathers
Jennifer Grey - Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Sissy Spacek - Coal Miner's Daughter

 

I guess I'll have to catch Green Book. Yeah, I really liked Eastern Promises as well.

 

Johnny Depp - Whats eating Gilbert Grape
Leonardo di Caprio - Basketball Diaries
Bill Murray - Broken Flowers
Ewan Mcgregor - Trainspotting

 

I didn't like it at all.

 

Absolutely, 100%. That's nearly a lost film, and Beatty is fantastic in it.

 

Ewan? T2 he looked ancient.

Liked him in Young Adam.

 

He is also great in Bulworth.

 

Exceptional in that.

 

Yeah .. overrated imo, sadly.

 

You're telling me, bud! I recently went searching for a copy on Blu Ray, and apparently none exist. There's just some off-brand Japanese DVDs of dubious sourcing available as far as I can find.

Alan J. Pakula's one of the most underrated directors of his era. Three stone cold classics in Klute, Parallax and President's, but you never hear about him these days.

Criterion needs to get on the ball and give us a Parallax Blu Ray. At least Amazon Prime has the film available for streaming, even for free on occasion.

 

I'm going to have to check out CBtt5&DJDJD soon. Huge Karen Black fan here, and I need to see more of her films. I recently sprung for the Criterion America: Lost and Found set of BBS productions and wound up re-watching Five Easy Pieces last night, and she was great in that of course. I never realized anyone had problems with her looks; I actually find her to be quite attractive.

Would definitely recommend Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? to anyone who enjoys quirky slice-of-life romantic comedies. Of course Jaglom borrows liberally from Annie Hall-- right down to the vanity lounge singing-- but Black and Michael Emil are both unforgettable, and there's great cameos from Orson Wells (sort of) and an almost unrecognizable Larry David. I watched it with my girlfriend and we both enjoyed the hell out of it.

 

Yeah, I like her, too. Not saying that’s how I feel, just telling it like it is. She got a lot of comments back in the day about her slightly crossed eyes, and, as a result, she was often cast in dim-witted roles. She had a long career, though, and played some great parts, so we shouldn’t feel too badly for her.

The Welles footage comes from Henry Jaglom’s earlier film A Safe Place. The two directors were great friends. Welles’s last ever live action film appearance was in Jaglom’s Someone to Love. I have that one on DVD, but haven’t seen it in years; I should dig it out again.

But yeah, Cherry Pie owes an obvious debt to Woody Allen. IIRC, there’s a Woody film that gets a namecheck via a theatre marquee sign. A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, maybe?

The film also reminds me of the kind of thing Eric Rohmer did all the time: people sitting around, talking very naturally about their relationships and inner anxieties, not much forward momentum in terms of plot. I love Rohmer for that style, which is more difficult to pull off than it seems, but it drives a lot of people crazy.

 

Only one ?
Either Ironweed or Five Easy Pieces.