EWB's Favourite Actors 2010 - Voting Thread

[EddieG]

1. Colin Farrell

2. Jason Statham

3. Cameron Diaz

4. Jim Carrey

5. Sam L. Jackson

6. Will Smith

7. Al Pacino

8. Josh Duhamel

9. The Rock

10. Nicolas Cage

[Pesci]

A mixture of guys I just love in most of the films (or hours of television) I've seen them in. I had a few big names in my 15 but had to cut them out of my 10 because they're not really my favourites. Now putting them in order is a bitch.

10. Natalie Portman

9. Harvey Keitel

8. Tim Roth

7. Jack Nicholson

6. Christopher Walken

5. Terry O'Quinn

4. Hugh Laurie

3. Morgan Freeman

2. Kevin Spacey

1. Leonardo DiCaprio

Leo can just do anything at this point. And I even fucking love The Titanic.

[TKz]

10. Michael Sheen

9. Mickey Rourke

8. Christian Bale

7. Jack Nicholsan

6. Robert Downey Jr.

5. Michael Caine

4. Jeff Bridges

3. Tim Roth

2. Ian McKellen

1. Gary Oldman

[TGC]

I'm still in shock that TGC didn't choose John Barrowman.

If we'd had 15 I would have. He was 11.

[TKz]

Yeah, 10 is just not enough.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Living. Primarily movies.

Sheesh, we have to fill in all the rules ourselves here.

I'm also leaving out my favourites who clearly aren't excellent actors - like Jason Statham for example.

1. (10pts) Cillian Murphy

2. Gary Oldman

3. Ben Kingsley

4. Takeshi Kitano

5. Christian Bale

6. Ewan McGregor

7. Mark Strong

8. Joseph Gordon-Levitt

9. Hiroyuki Sanada

10. Liam Neeson

Up yours RK.

[Liam]

I watch a fair bit of TV, and a decent amount of films, but I've always been pretty poor at putting down which actors/actresses I like, so this is going to be about as cobbled together as it gets.

1. Gary Oldman

2. Morgan Freeman

3. Russell Crowe

4. Samuel L. Jackson

5. Robert De Niro

6. Christopher Walken

7. Ewan McGregor

8. Sean Bean

9. Paul Bettany (I don't know why, but yeah....)

10. Jim Carrey (fuck, I like his comedy stuff on the whole)

The bottom half was a bit of a struggle. Plus, I missed out people like Pacino because I haven't seen a hell of a lot of his stuff. De Niro gets in more for stuff like Raging Bull then for the gangsta movies, as I'm not that fussed by them.

[ClaRK! Kent]

Living. Primarily movies.

Sheesh, we have to fill in all the rules ourselves here.

I'm also leaving out my favourites who clearly aren't excellent actors - like Jason Statham for example.

1. Cillian Murphy

2. Gary Oldman

3. Ben Kingsley

4. Takeshi Kitano

5. Christian Bale

6. Ewan McGregor

7. Mark Strong

8. Joseph Gordon-Levitt

9. Hiroyuki Sanada

10. Liam Neeson

Up yours RK.

Neeson aside, that's a good list.

[TKz]

Neeson is fine. He's a good actor when he wants to be, he just seems to be taking the Robert De Niro approach to what scripts to take lately. I actually liked him in Batman, I thought he and Bale played well off one another. You can't really blame the guy for trying to branch out from being in nothing but super serious roles. And honestly, awful movie or not, don't act like accepting a role in a prequel to Star Wars was a bad idea. Any actor short of guys like Pacino and Pitt who're already famous enough would have killed to be in a film that big.

[VerbalPuke]

1. Robert Deniro

2. Daniel Day Lewis

3. Liam Neeson

4. Al Pacino

5. Harvey Keitel

6. Tim Roth

7. Christopher Walken

8. Leonardo Dicaprio

9. Woody Harrelson

10. Joe Pesci

I will edit in reasons and omissions later.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

1. Leonardo DiCaprio

2. Will Smith

3. Kristen Stewart

4. Denziel Washington

5. Brad Pitt

6. Samuel L Jackson

7. Patricia Arquette

8. Nicolas Cage

9. Arnold Schwarzenegger

10. Paul Rudd

Very hard and I've left out numerous people. Leo is a dead set for number one, don't think there's ever been a better actor in my opinion. Shocked Denziel hasn't recieved a few more votes too. And Arnie is there because this is 'favourite' actors and seriously, I love almost every film he's ever been in. Running Man, Total Recall, Terminator and Predator...I mean seriously, how can you not love the guy? And Arquette has to be there even if just for True Romance.

Edited August 12, 2010 by JohnnyPerfect

[the machine]

1. Jack Nicholson

2. Leo DiCaprio

3. Julianne Moore

4. Johnny Depp

5. Cate Blanchett

6. Colin Ferrell

7. Daniel Day-Lewis

8. Robin Williams

9. Sean Penn

10. Maggie Gyllenhaal

Honorable Mentions: Catherine Keener, Steve Buscemi, John Malkovich, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Guy Pearce, Kate Winslet, Sam Rockwell, Alec Guinness.

I'm baffled by the love for Morgan Freeman. Are we talking "favorite actors" or "favorite narration/voiceover guy"?

Edited August 12, 2010 by the machine

[Liam]

I'm baffled by the love for Morgan Freeman. Are we talking "favorite actors" or "favorite narration/voiceover guy"?

The guy has been in a load of films....a load of good films....where he acts good in them. It's not that hard to fathom people voting for him.

[TKz]

...I'm pretty sure the only film Freeman has narrated and not acted in is March of the Penguins, isn't it? I know he narrates Shawshank, but obviously he's in that film as well.

[the machine]

I'm baffled by the love for Morgan Freeman. Are we talking "favorite actors" or "favorite narration/voiceover guy"?

The guy has been in a load of films....a load of good films....where he acts good in them. It's not that hard to fathom people voting for him.

I guess it wouldn't be if that were true, but it's not. If by "acts good" you mean turns in the same performance a dozen times? It's a little like saying post-retirement Michael Caine is your favorite actor. I mean yes, he was in Dark Knight and Prestige and Inception, but would anyone argue he "acts good" in them, or did he just turn in the same standard performance he'd done dozens of times already?

Oh, but you know who's Freeman's age and still acts? Robert Duvall. That dude's awesome.

[the machine]

...I'm pretty sure the only film Freeman has narrated and not acted in is March of the Penguins, isn't it? I know he narrates Shawshank, but obviously he's in that film as well.

From the Corner (2008)

A Raisin in the Sun (2008)

Slavery and the Making of America (2005)

A Remarkable Promise (2004)

The Hunting of The President (2004)

The Long Way Home (1997)

And that's not including the dozen or so TV shows, IMAX movies, and children's bar mitzvah's narrated by Freeman over the past 15 years.

[livid]

Jesus, we just had this discussion yesterday. Just because he's not on your favorites list doesn't make it unfathomable that somebody might include him on their's.

And do you really want to get into an argument on acting merits when you have Colin Farrell on your list, whose only really good role was in In Bruges?

[TKz]

I'd point you to his filmography for about a billion more films that he acted it. And seriously? You're going to have a go about Michael Caine after Harry Brown?

Heck, if we're having a go at actors who only play one decent role, let's chuck in Anthony Hopkins, Christopher Lee, Sam Jackson, Al Pacino and so on and so forth?

[the machine]

Jesus, we just had this discussion yesterday. Just because he's not on your favorites list doesn't make it unfathomable that somebody might include him on their's.

And do you really want to get into an argument on acting merits when you have Colin Farrell on your list, whose only really good role was in In Bruges?

Yes, Ferrell was great in In Bruges, but he was also great in the New World and solid in Crazy Heart. He's young, he has charisma, and he's improving: so what if he's not the best, at least he hasn't thrown in the towel. I don't feel like it's that hard to defend an actor that actually acts. If it were a narration contest or a "who do you wish your grandfather was" contest, everybody's love of Freeman would make a little more sense.

You know who else is better than Freeman? Tim Robbins. That guy never gets a lot of attention but he was a solid leading man who could also do great work in smaller parts, particularly as pretentious jerks.

Mr. TKzorrance, my point was that your statement was regrettably incorrect. So I corrected you. No doubt Caine was the man in the 60's and 70's, but there's also no doubt he took a lot of checks to make an appearance in the 80's and 90's and even into the 00's. More power to him if he wants to start acting again, but my point is lauding Freeman for anything post-Shawshank is up there with lauding Caine's role in Jaws: The Revenge. I only included living actors on my list but Alec Guinness is another great actor that I haven't seen on these lists.

Also let's just move on: I made an off-hand comment that I don't get why everybody loves their fake grand-dad, and yes, it's a position I can defend, but there's really no need to get anything in a twist over it. And by name-dropping other people hopefully somebody reads this and picks someone who's not Morgan Freeman, like Caine or Guinness or Duvall.

Edited August 12, 2010 by the machine

[Meacon Keaton]

He is right, though. Robert Duvall kicks ass.