I've reached 400 posts! In honor of that milestone, here's a mildly ambitious list, which would probably look a lot different if I did it again. I tried to balance my picks between male and female performances, and I ended up with 55 male ones and 45 female ones. Also, I did nominate some actors for multiple performances, but I limited it to 3 performances per actor.
100. Marilyn Monroe, The Seven Year Itch
99. Bruce Willis, Die Hard
98. Peter Lorre, M
97. Irene Dunne, The Awful Truth
96. Ethan Hawke, Before Sunset
95. Emily Browning, Sleeping Beauty
94. Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
93. Lara Belmont, The War Zone
92. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Departed
91. Mia Farrow, Rosemary's Baby
90. Richard Burton, The Night of the Iguana
89. Daniel Day-Lewis, My Left Foot
88. Irene Jacob, The Double Life of Veronique
87. Roy Scheider, All That Jazz
86. James Cagney, Man of a Thousand Faces
85. Juliette Binoche, The Lovers on the Bridge
84. Holly Hunter, The Piano
83. Jude Law, Gattaca
82. Elisabeth Shue, Leaving Las Vegas
81. Marcello Mastroianni, 8 1/2
80. Nicole Kidman, To Die For
79. Giulietta Masina, Nights of Cabiria
78. Meryl Streep, Sophie's Choice
77. Marlon Brando, A Streetcar Named Desire
76. Montgomery Clift, A Place in the Sun
75. Gloria Swanson, Sunset Blvd.
74. Brenda Blethyn, Secrets & Lies
73. Tony Curtis, Sweet Smell of Success
72. Faye Dunaway, Network
71. Julie Delpy, Before Sunset
70. Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
69. Faye Dunaway, Bonnie and Clyde
68. Ray Milland, Dial M for Murder
67. Bette Davis, All About Eve
66. Anthony Hopkins, The Remains of the Day
65. Audrey Hepburn, Love in the Afternoon
64. Barbara Stanwyck, The Lady Eve
63. Robert De Niro, Raging Bull
62. Gene Hackman, The French Connection
62. Gene Hackman, The French Connection
61. Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive
60. Helena Bonham Carter, The Wings of the Dove
59. Ingrid Thulin, Winter Light
58. Denzel Washington, Malcolm X
57. Shelley Winters, A Place in the Sun
56. Natalie Portman, Closer
55. Jack Nicholson, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
54. Peter O'Toole, Lawrence of Arabia
53. Rutger Hauer, Blade Runner
52. Robert Mitchum, The Night of the Hunter
51. Ingrid Bergman, Casablanca
50. Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter
49. Dustin Hoffman, Midnight Cowboy
48. Catherine Deneuve, Belle de Jour
47. Jack Nicholson, Easy Rider
46. Rod Steiger, Across the Bridge
45. Max von Sydow, The Seventh Seal
44. James Stewart, Vertigo
43. Vivien Leigh, A Streetcar Named Desire
42. Ralph Fiennes, Schindler's List
41. Orson Welles, The Third Man
40. Bob Hoskins, Mona Lisa
39. Gary Oldman, State of Grace
38. Katharine Hepburn, Bringing Up Baby
37. Gunnar Bjornstrand, The Seventh Seal
36. Kevin Kline, A Fish Called Wanda
35. Kirk Douglas, Ace in the Hole
34. Orson Welles, Citizen Kane
33. James Stewart, It's a Wonderful Life
32. Ingrid Bergman, Notorious
31. Robert De Niro, Taxi Driver
30. Jack Nicholson, Chinatown
29. Gary Oldman, Sid & Nancy
28. Ruth Hussey, The Philadelphia Story
27. Al Pacino, The Godfather Part II
26. Russell Crowe, Romper Stomper
25. Cary Grant, His Girl Friday
24. Juliette Binoche, Certified Copy
23. Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut
22. Charles Chaplin, City Lights
21. Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon
20. Russell Crowe, L.A. Confidential
19. Jack Lemmon, The Apartment
18. Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
17. Robert De Niro, The Deer Hunter
16. Liv Ullmann, Face to Face
15. Al Pacino, Dog Day Afternoon
14. Irene Jacob, Three Colors: Red
13. Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
12. Marlon Brando, On the Waterfront
11. Liv Ullmann, Scenes from a Marriage
10. Mathieu Amalric, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
9. Gena Rowlands, A Woman Under the Influence
8. Denis Lavant, Holy Motors
7. Gunnar Bjornstrand, Winter Light
6. Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves
5. David Thewlis, Naked
4. Harriet Andersson, Through a Glass Darkly
3. Richard Burton, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2. Bibi Andersson, Persona
1. Juliette Binoche, Three Colors: Blue
Great list! I don't know where to begin. I would probably have Daniel Day-Lewis a little higher, but nice to see Gena Rowlands from A Woman Under the Influence and Kirk Douglas from Ace in the Hole on there, amazing performances.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, 89 is kind of low for DDL, but placement was SO hard. :) Glad you love those performances too.
DeleteLOVE THIS! Even contemplating trying to put a list like this together stresses me out. Doing my top ten in each category gave me nightmares. LOL. I love that I've seen all but two of these.
ReplyDeleteThanks man! You should totally do one! :) Which two haven't you seen?
DeleteHappy 400! Fantastic list (and that Brad Pitt gif is priceless) I'm glad you included Emily Browning on this list. Even though Sleeping Beauty was flawed, she still gave one hell of a performance. I always look forward to seeing her in films.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Glad to see you're a fan of Browning's performance too. She blew me away in that film.
DeleteOooo nice. I don't think I will be able to make this list but kudos to you! Lots of my favourites in here, including your number 1. Favourite inclusion- Oldman in Sid and Nancy :)
ReplyDeleteThanks! It was a daunting task, but it was fun. Yay! More love for Binoche and Oldman. :)
DeleteSoooo many good performances! And I probably haven't seen half of them.
ReplyDeleteCongrats as well! :D
Thanks! :) I recommend any of them that you haven't seen. ;)
DeleteNice choices. I particularly love that you have Pacino's Dog Day Afternoon performance so high.
ReplyDeleteThanks man. Pacino is phenomenal in DDA.
DeleteWoah! That is a massive - and excellent - list! So glad to see Emily Browning here, that is such an underrated and misunderstood performance and movie.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! Dig the Browning appreciation on here. Thought I was alone on her performance. Also, the film is in my top 15 of 2011, so I'm a fan of it as well.
DeleteWow, what an impressive undertaking here. Seriously, great work. Love your top pick, and also love that most all of my personal favorites are here. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks man! Glad you found stuff to love on here. My picks and rankings are all over the place. :)
DeleteHey congrats on your milestone! Lot of great choices here though I still have lots of catching up to do. But no Cate Blanchett?? If I were to make my list she's probably going to be listed at least twice :D
ReplyDeleteP.S. This is a GREAT idea btw, I just might steal it again like I did w/ your Five Movies Five Words series :D
Thanks Ruth! Cate Blanchett's performance in Elizabeth was one of the last contenders I cut. It was *this* close. :)
DeleteThanks again! Hope you steal it! ;)
Congrats on 400.... where would you put Brad Pitt's performance as Chad? I think it's his greatest performance ever.
ReplyDeleteThanks man. His performance is great, but he didn't even make my top 5 supporting picks in 2008. I'd rank his performances in The Tree of Life and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as his best, so his performance as Chad would definitely be outside of my top 200. Probably outside of my top 300 as well, but I'm not sure.
DeleteWow! What a fabulous post. There are so many great choices here -- too many to comment on. In your top 10, I really like #1 and #6 (I haven't seen the others). Congratulations on reaching 400 posts.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! :) Ooh, I think there are some you'd love in my top 10, especially Gena Rowlands.
DeleteA Woman Under the Influence? I'll check it out.
DeleteYay! Hope you love it.
DeleteGreat post! Happy to see a lot of Classic Hollywood performances on here - they're forgotten a lot sadly. I'm inspired to check out a lot of films on here that I haven't seen yet. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, classic Hollywood performances are often left out, but I love 'em. Hope you discover a few films/performances that you like. :)
DeleteEpic list! I love that you have David Thewliss ranked so high. I watched Naked for the first time last month, and he blew me away. Amazing performance.
ReplyDeleteThanks man! Same here. I've seen Naked a few times, and Thewlis has blown me away on each viewing. So glad that you dig that performance as well.
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