I think the credit for her performance in that movie is owed entirely to the director.

Imo, she is not a good actress, but somehow they managed to convert her natural stony ineffectualness into some kind of quiet perverted madness.

She had a recurring role in Star Trek Deep Space Nine, in which she was a standout bad actress among a cast of actors who are not stellar (no pun intended).

Heh, this seems dead on.

omfg saw someone else throw it out there.....

robert deniro in the king of **** comedy. incredible performance esp if you know someone like him

haha i thought it was good acting. I was of the opinion that she couldn't possibly be this much of a bitch in real life, she had to be one great actress.

I just watched Inglorious Basterds and have to say Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa just blew me away. I really wasn't expecting anything that good. Jumped right into my top 5 (though I've yet to narrow down what the other 4 are ).

Watched the movie a while ago, but iirc he was good

Tuco; Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

Humphrey Bogart in In A Lonely Place. easily one of the top 3 performances i've ever seen

I think this is generous, as the part was a supporting role, but yeah, I loved Harvey Keitel as Sport ("Matthew," I think).

The scene where he and Travis first interact is great.

Let us not forget the Wizard, Peter Boyle. So good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGFr0k92EnI

But, of course, who could notice, with DeNiro on the freakin screen, channeling Travis Bickle?

I saw Paul Shrader talking somewhere about how there was a LOT more racism in the original script than the final. You can see a bit of what made the clip above. Anyone who remembers stumbling around Manhattan in 1975 can attest to the incredible recklessness and general, uh, sort of unpleasantness on the streets at that time.

This movie grabs it better than any I've seen, with the possible exception of Mean Streets, which is an inferior film in other regards.

1. Brad Pitt in Snatch
2. Edward Norton in Fight Club
3. Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds
4. Will Ferrell in A night at the Roxbury
5. Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa

My faves in no order:
Jim Carrey in The Truman Show
Denzel Washington in Glory
Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption
Brad Pitt in Fight Club
Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men

Brad Pitt - Kalifornia

Billy Bob T. - Slingblade

Some of my favorites:

Tim Robbins: Shawshank Redemption
Al Pacino: Heat
Tom Hanks: Forrest Gump
Robert Deniro: Casino
Christian Bale: American Pyscho

how about sean penn in everything he has ever done?

His role as Madonna's husband wasn't convincing.

The only performances in film that have ever made me weepy are William H. Macy in Fargo and Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild.

The only one that has ever literally made me sit catatonic in my chair with my mouth open is DDL in There Will Be Blood.

I spent the past summer acting in a company with a bunch of super-serious NYU conservatory actors, and we spent a lot of time sitting around and talking about how much we wanted to kill DDL for making every other actor lose all faith in his own ability. In my mind, his performance is easily the best of the last 20 years of film.

james gandolfini @ sopranos, steven van zandt as well

nicolas cage in national treasure 1+2


brad pitt in ocean's

DDL is pretty clearly the best main actor of this generation.

I'm guessing he joins Nicholson and DeNiro as top 3 in "our lifetime". Meaning people born basically in the 70s or later.

Although he's not as big a star as Nicholson, I probably give DeNiro the nod as the best actor of my lifetime.

You could make a case for DDL as the best film actor of all time.
Most of the big names play variations on the same character in almost everything they do, but not him.

DDL is the greatest actor ever iyam. Just look at his resume. Its not like he occasionally makes a movie with an outstanding performance which everyone talks about. He only makes a movie once every 3 or 4 years and is brilliant in all of them, and like BigPoppa says, usually very different characters.

also Ben Kingsley as Don Logan in Sexy Beast

An interesting subcategory for these discussions is comedy films, because while a great actor can carry a drama, the writing is always the emphasis in a comedy, and the actors are secondary. A performance might have been great, but if the movie overall isn't considered great, it merits no recognition. Moreover, comedic characters are usually described less deeply than dramatic ones, and that lack of depth makes it hard for an actor to deliver a truly classic role. But when brilliant writing and acting come together, it's truly a special performance.

The primary example I can think of is Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The character is just so magical, creepy, charming, and downright strange at the same time, but it's all completely believable. I might be biased, because I love the movie so much (and it was helped quite a bit by the performances of the kids and parents besides Charlie and Grandpa Joe), but I never once thought "wow is this a great acting performance." I actually thought of him as Willy Wonka during the movie, which is the hallmark of any great actor: to make the audience forget he is acting.

I totally agree....he was also superb in Gangs of New York.

Brad Pitt in Snatch was crazy man

Do DeNiro or Nicholson have an edge in comedy roles? I'm not sure if DDL has done comedy but Nicholson (Anger Management) and DeNiro (Meet the Parents) have played comedy roles very well.

Also I realize most people probably do not care about this when discussing best actor. Maybe it should be considered, though.

I think BAD performances and decisions have to be considered. I mean, DeNiro is an awesome, awesome talent, but he keeps tarnishing it by doing dreck from time to time. I mean, nothing he does is going to make me believe he is not the greatest actor ever, but there is the tiniest of tiny asterisks due to the following:

Flawless
Righteous Kill
What Just Happened
Night and the City
Stardust
The Good Sheperd
Arther and the Invisibles
Hide and Seek
Meet the Fockers
Shark Tale
Godsend
Analyze That
City by the Sea
Showtime
The Score
15 Minutes
Meet the Parents
Men of Honor
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle

I mean, these are bad movies, and he doesn't do a great job in any of them.

But it really doesn't matter, because he was Travis Bickle, Vito Corleone, Rupert Pupkin, and freaking Jake Goddamned LaMotta.

He could have just retired right then and there.