A Poll for Cinematic Fanatics...

[amicus]

So, like while recuperating, over the past few months, with little inspiration or motivation to tide me over, I watched a lot of movies on television...and the thought came to me...compared to the giant stars of the past; John Wayne, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Kathryn Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Jean Simmons...and many, many more...

...I, in my idle time, began to make a list of the actors and actresses I had seen and thought to create a poll amongst the denizens of AH, as to whom would occupy the top spaces...

It turned out to be a longer pastime than I had considered...

Ben Affleck
Kevin Bacon
Alex Baldwin
Stephen Baldwin
Antonio Banderas
Beau Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Charles Bronson
Pierce Brosnan
Nicolas Cage
Michael Caine
David Carradine
Jim Carrey
Chevy Chase
Sean Connery
Tom Cruise
Willem Dafoe
Matt Damon
Leonardo De Caprio
Bruce Dern
Michael Douglas
Robert Duvall
Richard Dreyfus
Clint Eastwood
Sam Elliot
Harrison Ford
Michael J. Fox
Morgan Freeman
Mel Gibson
Danny Glover
Hugh Grant
Jake Gyllenhaal
Tom Hanks
Ed Harris
Samuel L. Jackson
James Earl Jones
Tommy Lee Jones
Val Kilmer
Kevin Costner
Matthew Modine
Bill Murray
Jack Nickolsen
Nick Nolte
Peter O'Toole
Sean Penn
Brad Pitt
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Bill Pullman
Dennis Quaid
Robert Redford
Keanu Reeves
Jean Reno
Kurt Russel
George C. Scott
Stephen Seagal
Tom Selleck
Charlie Sheen
Martin Sheen
Gary Sinese
Tom Skerrit
Will Smith
Wesley Snipes
Sylvester Stallone
Arnold Swartzenhegger
Patrick Swazey
John Travolta
Billy Bob Thornton
Denzel Washington
Robin Williams
Bruce Willis


...I am certain I left many out of the list and may even have spelled some wrong...sue me....but at the top of the list...


Sean Connery
Kevin Costner
Clint Eastwood
Harrison Ford
Tom Hanks
Tommy Lee Jones
Robert Redford
Tom Selleck
Robin Williams


It was and is an impossible and possibly irrational task as my choices left out many younger actors and those with 'serial' films to their credit.

I left Woody Allen off the list because I hate the little shit.

Alphabetical order and there are only nine, I know.

The ladies will have a list when I get around to it...

Not quite sure how the poll will look, intent was to have you pick your favorites from one through nine...

Amicus...

 

[Liar]

Not sure what your criteria for the top picks are, but Tom Selleck seems awfully out of place. What has he done, other than Magnum P.I, a handful of so-so action comedies and a guest spot on Friends?

Throw in, I dunno, George Clooney instead or by all means Tom Cruise (even though he's batshit insane), and you have something comparable to the others there, in terms of stardom and big screen merits.

I left Woody Allen off the list because I hate the little shit.

He's not much of an actor anyway. He only gets cast in his own movies.

 

[starrkers]

I voted my top 5 from those on offer, but there's several I'd put in ahead of Kevin Kostner (just about anyone, actually), and I agree with Liar's appraisal of Selleck.

 

[cloudy]

Johnny Depp is a better actor than all of those on your "top" list. Ditto Al Pacino.

(welcome back )

 

[oggbashan]

Many of the stars of the past were theatre trained professionals and knew how to act.

It is difficult to compare moderns with them because they have different skills and training like comparing chalk and cheese - both useful in their own way.

And why no women?

I like the acting skills of Judi Dench and Julie Walters...

Og

 

[bunnylicker]

yeah, i refuse simply because you put tom selleck on the list.

also, you took woody allen off because you "hate the little shit" yet you're asking for others' opinions....? or are you asking for others' opinions on YOUR opinions?

My opinion is that woody allen is AMAZING. not only as an actor, but also as a writer, director & philosopher. i can understand someone disliking his acting, & the characters he plays, but he is a very talented man in other areas too. ^-^

pff.........tom selleck?

 

[jomar]

Good to see you, Ami...

Yeah, the poll list is a bit quirky since the criteria isn't clear.

It's hard for me to look at your long list without starting to categorize them by decade, generation, lead, character, blockbuster, gross, etc...

Don't forget Laura Dern when you make your female list.

 

[Liar]

Trying to figure out what the top list is supposed to represent.

Acting skills? Hmm, no. Missing some far better actors. Al pacino was mentioned. Anthony Hopkins could be there too. Depp, de Niro...

Box office success? Not without Ahnold and Mel Gibson.

Star power? Not on a list that has Tommy Lee Jones (who is a great actor but too humble to be a top celeb, does he ever even headline a movie?) and Tom Selleck, but no Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson.

So eh, I dunno. I voted on those that I like out of those that for some reason are in the poll. Do with it as you wish, ami.

 

[wafflemtl]

Johnny Depp is a better actor than all of those on your "top" list. Ditto Al Pacino.

(welcome back )

Seconded

 

[lesbiaphrodite]

Marlon Brando was the best there ever was and he didn't make the list. Pfffff. I don't get that at all.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Here are a few that weren't on the list that I really like:
Gary Oldman
Viggo Mortensen
Christian Bale
Jamie Foxx

 

[Liar]

Marlon Brando was the best there ever was and he didn't make the list. Pfffff. I don't get that at all.

I think it's supposed to be a list of actors more-or-less active right now.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Good to see you up and around Ami!

I picked my top five from your list...

Sean Connery
Clint Eastwood
Harrison Ford
Tom Hanks
Robert Redford

I went mostly on feeling... rather than roles they've played. These are men I, for the most part, like and respect.

Based on that criteria, I think Will Smith should be up there. And Kevin Spacey.

 

[amicus]

Well, hello all and thank you...

It was subjective, of course, opinion and feelings only, not scientific and not all inclusive, just those films and actors that flashed across the screen over the past several weeks.

One the Tom Selleck criticism....perhaps, but I recall, "High Road to China", "Quigley Down Under", and "Her Alibi", just to name those that come to mind, all major films that I enjoyed and I suggest that Selleck has a very personal way of dealing with humor in his efforts.

I thought perhaps Robert Redford would do better with his, "Horse Whisperer", "Three Days of the Condor" (I think that is title), and a few more that escape me at the moment.

Same with Robin Williams with, "BiCentennial Man" "What Dreams May Come" and several more outside his usual comedy offerings.

No surprise with Sean Connery leading the list thus far, so many fine films from him, including, "First Knight" "The Rock", not to even mention his 'Indiana Jones' contributions.

Harrison Ford also, outside the Starwars genera, his "Random Hearts", "Witness" "The Fugitive" and again, many, many more.

Sorry about Marlon Brando...although I was never a fan of his method and he pretty much got cut off in the quandry between generations. I soon realized, after taking notes for weeks just on whim when I saw a film, that deciding whom to include and who not, became less a rational affair and more of a personal choice...but I did try to include most I was familiar with.

Rather like Peter O'Toole, in "What's New Pussycat" and "High Spirits", with Darryl Hannah, over whom I salivated long ago.

Also, to me, it was a test of memory, a pleasant journey back through the many years of film watching and I thought perhaps others might enjoy the reminiscences of your favorite films and actors.

And yes, I forgot Al Pacino and Robert Dinero, neither of which are favorites of mine, so, subjective yet again, and add Anthony Hopkins to that thought.

The era of Johnny Depp and Leonardo De Caprio represents a different view of films and generational concerns. I had added Keanu Reeves, or Reaves, as the tenth nomination, but withdrew him at the last moment.

"...It's hard for me to look at your long list without starting to categorize them by decade, generation, lead, character, blockbuster, gross, etc..."

Yes, Jomar, all thoughts that entered my mind...and for several weeks I just left the notebook sit, thinking that it was a bad idea. But, try to make your own list and pick the top five or ten and see how it works out for you.

And yep, George Clooney, again subjective and personal, just never appreciated his efforts, thus the memory lapse, and again, did not intend on a college term paper, just a little mosey through memories.

"...Gary Oldman
Viggo Mortensen
Christian Bale
Jamie Foxx..."

Vaguely familiar will all, but not one seems to be candidates for the top rung and we do all have our own favorites, I think?

Hi, Selena...because of you I now have six books in print instead of three, much appreciated....yes, Kevin Spacey should have been on the long list, but again, not up there at the top, at least in my opinion.

Have a notebook with three pages of Actresses...began this post with both, in columns opposite each other but it proved too much of a task as alphabetization was required and the columns kept jumping all over the place, so the actresses will appear at a later date and that is even more difficult.

Again, just a post to enjoy, not to argue over, I do enough of that...and may again sometime...



Amicus...

 

[Liar]

The era of Johnny Depp and Leonardo De Caprio represents a different view of films and generational concerns. I had added Keanu Reeves, or Reaves, as the tenth nomination, but withdrew him at the last moment.

Good. Keanu pretty much sucks.

 

[DesertPirate]

Johnny Depp is a better actor than all of those on your "top" list. Ditto Al Pacino.

(welcome back )

Agreed

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Good. Keanu pretty much sucks.

Shut up, he was amazing in Bill and Ted's Excellant Adventure.

 

[midwestyankee]

Shut up, he was amazing in Bill and Ted's Excellant Adventure.

Indeed: this was the alpha and the omega of his range.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Oh, and welcome back, Ami.
Glad you're doing better.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Indeed: this was the alpha and the omega of his range.

Everyone's a great actor until people realize you can only play one character. I sorta feel the same way about Nick Cage and Costner, they always play the same guy. This is fine, if you like that guy.

 

[Liar]

Shut up, he was amazing in Bill and Ted's Excellant Adventure.

I thought that was a documentary.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

I thought that was a documentary.

Dude.

 

[midwestyankee]

Everyone's a great actor until people realize you can only play one character. I sorta feel the same way about Nick Cage and Costner, they always play the same guy. This is fine, if you like that guy.

Exactly. Contrast these examples with someone like Tom Hanks, Sean Penn, Kevin Kline, or Phillip Seymour Hoffman among contemporaries.

 

[cloudy]

Shut up, he was amazing in Bill and Ted's Excellant Adventure.

Jay and Silent Bob was better, if only for the Boo-boo Kitty Fuck thing.

 

[NoJo]

David Thewliss