Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Boogie Nights
(I'm a fucking idiot...I'm a fucking idiot...I'M A FUCKING IDIOT!)
William McNamara - Copy Cat
(his role as the psycho Peter Foley is over-the-top and quite memorable as the nerd who has an ax to grind. The scene in the gay bar, with David Bowie's Fame playing, as Foley walking with two drinks in his hand, and someone knocks in to him. Foley pulls a grimace, then composes himself. Whenever I hear that song, I think of the scene.)
Gary Sinise - Ransom
(his level-headedness at being evil while keeping a mask of sensibility up all the time was interesting to watch. And he was evil, to be sure: Anything goes wrong, you're gonna turn around and I'll be gone. Okay. And if that happens, from this day on, any time your kid leaves this house to go to school, go play, see a friend, to buy a fuckin' comic book, you're gonna have to ask yourself: Is today... Jimmy Shaker day? ...chilling.
There'll be more from me when they come. Who'er yours?
Filmmaker
10-22-06, 01:34 PM
Jack Nicholson in THE SHINING is the bar by which all other film performances are measured and come up lacking. I also give extremely high marks to Al Pacino in SCARFACE. Some dismiss both roles as nothing more than scenery chewing, but I think there's a lot of truth and commendable conviction, not to mention sheer ballsiness, in taking a performance all the way.
Buttmunker
10-22-06, 06:00 PM
Victor Garber - Titanic (1997)
his role as Shipbuilder Thomas Andrews was MADE for Victor Garber. He WAS Andrews. Nice job, Vic.
Victor Garber could play anything - and has - including the new TV show Justice (he was the reason why I tuned in to see this show), but I'll always see him as Thomas Andrews.
TallGuyMe
10-22-06, 06:13 PM
Patrick Stewart as Prof X... tought to see anyone else in the role...
freshticles
10-22-06, 06:27 PM
I thought phillip seymour hoffman said 'i'm such a fucking idiot' over and over again...i'm going to have to rewatch...
mdc3000
10-22-06, 07:41 PM
It was 'fucking idiot' and Hoffman was brilliant in that role.
MATT
Robert
10-22-06, 10:49 PM
<b>Al Pacino</b> as coach Tony D'mato in <b>Any Given Sunday</b>. If I'm an NFL team owner, I want a man with that kind of ferocity to inspire or put the fear of God into the players.
UAIOE
10-23-06, 05:48 AM
Patrick Stewart as Prof X... tought to see anyone else in the role...
Very true.
I remember a magazine about 13 years ago talking about a possible X-men movie and the one person they suggested as a possible Professor X was Patrick Stewart.
There were miss on every other role though.
Meglos
10-23-06, 10:00 AM
John Goodman as Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski.
woofman
10-23-06, 10:52 AM
Anthony Hopkins: Hannibal Lecter in SOTL
Jodie Foster: Clarice Starling in SOTL
lisadoris
10-23-06, 11:41 AM
Denzel Washington: Malcolm X (even though it's a toss up with Glory)
sundog
10-23-06, 12:14 PM
Malcolm McDowell in Clockwork Orange
edited to add:
Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey and Vincent D'Onofrio in Full Metal Jacket
d2cheer
10-23-06, 12:21 PM
Kurt Russel as Snake Plissken
james2025a
10-23-06, 12:46 PM
Kurt Russel as Snake Plissken
He is perfect in this role. I think a lot of the others mentioned are great as well (Al Pacino - Tony Montana, Patrick Stewart - Prof. X). I am surprised that no one has said Jeff Bridges as the Dude in the Big Lebowski....he was born to play that role. There are so many others for people to choose from, Clint Eastwood as the man with no name, Christopher Reeves as Superman, Malcom McDowell as Alex in a Clockwork Orange, Rutger Hauer as Roy Batty in Blade Runner...the list goes on.
Buttmunker
10-23-06, 01:06 PM
I am surprised that no one has said Jeff Bridges as the Dude in the Big Lebowski....he was born to play that role. .
When I think of Jeff Bridges, I think of King Kong (1976, obviously). Sorry, but that was my first glimpse of Bridges, and for many years as a kid I've enjoyed his bearded logic in the face of blatent ignorance and arrogance (this brings to mind Charles Groden).
devilshalo
10-23-06, 01:08 PM
Brandon Lee - Eric Draven
Alan Rickman - Hans Gruber
Gary Oldman - Stansfield
John Malkovich - KGB
leacha
10-23-06, 01:24 PM
Crispin Glover....George McFly
Tom Cruise....Frank T.J. Mackey/Ron Kovic (Tie)
George C. Scott....Gen. George S. Patton Jr. (can't see anyone else)
girlnextdoor
10-23-06, 02:32 PM
Samuel L. Jackson - Pulp Fiction - I just can't picture anyone else playing Jules.
Meglos
10-23-06, 03:28 PM
Michael Douglas as D-FENS.
GuessWho
10-23-06, 03:30 PM
Kenny Baker as R2-D2
It's not like they could've stuffed just any midget in there.
No--Kenny was special.
starman9000
10-23-06, 03:37 PM
I am surprised that no one has said Jeff Bridges as the Dude in the Big Lebowski.
That would be my pick.
Giles
10-23-06, 03:38 PM
Victor Garber - Titanic (1997)
his role as Shipbuilder Thomas Andrews was MADE for Victor Garber. He WAS Andrews. Nice job, Vic.
Victor Garber could play anything - and has - including the new TV show Justice (he was the reason why I tuned in to see this show), but I'll always see him as Thomas Andrews.
I thought he was great as Jesus in 'Godspell'
Kudama
10-23-06, 04:04 PM
John Hurt in Nineteen Eighty Four (He's always at the top of his game, but casting him as Winston was inspired.)
Bruce Willis in 12 Monkeys
Ben Affleck in Phantoms
There were miss on every other role though.
:whofart: Ian McKellan more than matched Stewart's Professor X. He was my favorite character in all 3 films.
Palaver
10-23-06, 04:37 PM
:whofart: Ian McKellan more than matched Stewart's Professor X. He was my favorite character in all 3 films.
I think he was saying that the magazine's predictions were wrong for all the other characters except for Patrick Stewart.
HN
10-23-06, 05:27 PM
Arnold as Conan or Terminator (leaning towards Terminator as it has fewer lines)
Ford as Han Solo (can't see anyone else playing that role; except maybe Spacey)
Apone
10-23-06, 06:03 PM
Gary Oldman in Leon
Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath
A simple character yet they delivered it very strongly.
JIF
10-23-06, 06:20 PM
Sean Connery in The Untouchables
Michael Douglas in Wallstreet
Denzel Washington in Malcolm X
Brad Pitt in True Romance
Vince Vaughn in Swingers
Julia Roberts in Erin Brockavich
Al Pacino in Glengarry Glen Ross
Kevin Spacey in L.A. Confidential
Matt Damon in The Bourne Identity
Ewan McGregor in Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Buttmunker
10-24-06, 09:07 AM
John Getz ....he may best be remembered for his one-handed role in 1986's The Fly, but to me, he will always be Jack Tripper's Brother from Three's Company.
Miguel Ferrer .... his great role in DeepStar Six as the underhanded Snyder. I love the fact that, in facing one kind of death below seas, he opted for another kind of death in the Pod that rises to the surface of the ocean. Nice! One of my favorite deaths - it was practically a suicide because Snyder knew better, but fear got the best of him. He succumbed.
matome
10-24-06, 09:32 AM
Ben Affleck in Phantoms
Phantoms was the bomb, yo!
cleaver
10-24-06, 09:34 AM
Billy Bob Thornton as *James Carville* in Primary Colors
Peter Sellers as half the cast of Dr. Strangelove
Sigourney Weaver as Ripley in Alien(s)
Mickey Rourke as Marv in Sin City
Bil Murray as Carl Spackler in Caddyshack, Dr. Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters
TallGuyMe
10-24-06, 10:11 AM
James Earl Jones for the voice of Darth Vader.
Doughboy
10-24-06, 11:47 AM
James Earl Jones for the voice of Darth Vader.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" :)
William Fuld
10-24-06, 11:54 AM
Miguel Ferrer .... his great role in DeepStar Six as the underhanded Snyder. I love the fact that, in facing one kind of death below seas, he opted for another kind of death in the Pod that rises to the surface of the ocean. Nice! One of my favorite deaths - it was practically a suicide because Snyder knew better, but fear got the best of him. He succumbed.
Crazy talk. Ferrer's signature, "optimum" role is and always shall be Albert Rosenfield from Twin Peaks.
Buttmunker
10-24-06, 11:57 AM
Crazy talk. Ferrer's signature, "optimum" role is and always shall be Albert Rosenfield from Twin Peaks.
Can't incorporate that, as I've never experienced Twin Peaks.
Jack Straw
10-24-06, 03:46 PM
Michael Keaton in "Night Shift". Didn't care for Beatlejuice.
Jack Straw
10-24-06, 03:47 PM
Michael Douglas in Wallstreet Big agreement here!
Patrick G
10-24-06, 04:00 PM
1. K-Fed - worthless punk in CSI
2. Tom Cruise - Top Gun
3. James Spader - Sex, Lies & Videotape
4. Ed Harris - Apollo 13
5. Nic Cage - Leaving Las Vegas
Patrick G
10-24-06, 04:02 PM
Although if there were 1 role in history in which I could imagine no other actor but the original, it would be Stallone in Rocky.
UAIOE
10-24-06, 04:15 PM
1. K-Fed - worthless punk in CSI
He played himself on TV?
Kudama
10-24-06, 05:13 PM
Crazy talk. Ferrer's signature, "optimum" role is and always shall be Albert Rosenfield from Twin Peaks.
FIDDLESTICKS!!! He will always be known as the ambitious wannabe corporate playa, Bob Morton in Robocop.
Buttmunker
10-24-06, 05:20 PM
Bob Gunton .... as the sadistic Warden Samuel Norton from The Shawshank Redemption. Loved it when he was whistling the theme to Davey and Golaith.
Filmmaker
10-24-06, 09:25 PM
FIDDLESTICKS!!! He will always be known as the ambitious wannabe corporate playa, Bob Morton in Robocop.
Uh, nope--TWIN PEAKS still wins.
Buttmunker
10-24-06, 09:53 PM
He's mastered every role he's ever played, but he is still undeniably Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times At Ridgemont High.
You know of who I speak!
That was my skull! I'm so wasted!
Canuck21
10-25-06, 02:20 AM
Ford as Han Solo (can't see anyone else playing that role; except maybe Spacey)
I can see Christopher Walken as Han Solo ;).
Charlie Goose
10-25-06, 10:29 AM
James Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces - Brutal thug, but still human.
Bud & Lou in A&C Meet Frankenstein - Their best movie.
Edward Norton in American History X - Unbelievable performance, and not over the top.
Wilford Brimley in The Firm - No one else could convey such menace through a walrus mustache.
Leslie Nielsen in Airplane! - Sent his career on a whole new trajectory, which he is still enjoying to this day.
Fred Macmurray in Double Indemnity - Before he spent 42 years on My Three Sons, he was great here.
UAIOE
10-25-06, 04:36 PM
Wilford Brimley in The Firm - No one else could convey such menace through a walrus mustache.
Leslie Nielsen in Airplane! - Sent his career on a whole new trajectory, which he is still <strike>enjoying</strike> restricted to to this day.
Fixed.
GoldenJCJ
10-25-06, 10:17 PM
Denzel Washington: Malcolm X (even though it's a toss up with Glory)
I thought he was great in Malcolm X, but Id have to go with The hurricane as his optimum role.
No matter what else he does, Bruce Willis will always be John McClane to me.
Mark Wahlberg as Dirk Diggler
movielib
10-25-06, 11:04 PM
FIDDLESTICKS!!! He will always be known as the ambitious wannabe corporate playa, Bob Morton in Robocop.
Bingo! Finally someone got it right. I was going to say that.
And you can add Kurtwood Smith and Ronny Cox for their roles in that film too.
Buttmunker
10-28-06, 12:07 PM
Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!
Nice fuckin' model!
starry
10-28-06, 06:40 PM
Mel Gibson as Martin Riggs. He owned those movies, at least the first two.
wewantflair
10-29-06, 06:51 AM
Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glenross
TallGuyMe
10-29-06, 08:04 AM
Brando in The Godfather...
Ron Pearlman as Hellboy...
Kate Beckinsale in... my pants...
Nichol Williamson as Merlin in Excalibur...
Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets"...
Filmmaker
10-29-06, 12:12 PM
Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glenross
AWESOME pick!
astrochimp
10-29-06, 12:23 PM
Matthew Lillard-Scooby Doo 1 & 2
Buttmunker
10-29-06, 06:08 PM
Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glenross
Before I even knew who Alec Baldwin was, I was watching and re-watching Beetlejuice on an old videotape. He'll always be that young-looking ghost with his wife (then-unknown and rising star Geena Davis), trying to scare Lydia and her family out of the house.
Brent L
10-29-06, 07:21 PM
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:
Al Pacino, The Devil's Advocate
Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting
Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump
Billy Bob Thornton, Sling Blade
Bruce Willis, Die Hard
Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Terminator
Numanoid
10-29-06, 11:46 PM
Douglas Rain as HAL 9000.
Simpson Purist
10-30-06, 08:20 AM
Samuel L. Jackson, Pulp Fiction - This is the reason why he keeps getting typecast as a loud, potty-mouthed badass. It still remains his signature role. The same can be said for John Travolta and Uma Thurman (though some would argue Uma's best role was the Kill Bill duology).
Wesley Snipes, Blade Trilogy - Say what you will about his tax woes and DTV crap. These dang Blade movies are the reason why he keeps getting shoehorned into these cheap martial arts action movies (none of which have come close to the first two Blade flicks). Honorable mentions would go to Major League and White Men Can't Jump, he had great comedic timing.
Kiefer Sutherland, 24 - I know it's a bit of cheat given that it's a TV show, but it's hard to imagine that Kiefer had been in the movie business for two decades prior to finding his optimum role on a FOX TV series. Here's hoping that Kiefer avoids the pitfall of being cast as a Federal agent in subsequent roles *cough*The Sentinel*cough*. If you wanna go strictly by his movie roles, then I'd say his optimum role would either be The Lost Boys (as the charismatically evil vampire David) or Phone Booth (which is amazing considering that you only hear his voice for the majority of the movie).
Palpadious
10-31-06, 10:22 AM
Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption
jeffkjoe
11-01-06, 08:02 PM
De Niro in Taxi Driver.
Tenacious D
11-02-06, 11:19 AM
Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho
DrRingDing
11-02-06, 07:07 PM
Mark Wahlberg in <i>I Heart Huckabees</i> - although his role in <i>The Departed</i> is almost at the same level.
-ringding-
Buttmunker
11-03-06, 09:02 AM
Anthony Perkins always as Norman Bates.
This role, although not nominated for an Oscar, overshadows his actual Oscar nomination two years before.
FaustBos
11-03-06, 06:19 PM
Roles of a lifetime tend to come in groups.
Every performance in 12 monkeys.
Including the directing.
Robert shaw in jaws.
Roy Shreider in jaws.
Bette Davis in All About Eve.
But how could her performance shine without the supporting performances of the cast. I think each member was in the role of a life time.
Supported by Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm, Gary Merrill
kms_md
11-03-06, 07:07 PM
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:
Buy: