The actors and actresses listed here have one thing in common: they have never been given the recognition they deserve. None have ever been nominated for or won any of the major awards (i.e. Academy Awards, Golden Globes, etc.), and most of them are considered by critics to be actors that "float" from role to role. I, however, consider them some of the best actors out there, worthy of a place next to the legends of the field. I put these in order (sort of) based on how many performances they've had that they should have won something for.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: (In alphabetical order)
Ben Affleck
I'd like to point out some things about each real quick.
Affleck, Dogma and Chasing Amy are amazing performances, as are his recent takes in Changing Lanes and Daredevil.
Jovovich gets shit on by almost every critic I've read, and I think she is extremely talented, she just plays her characters differently than most actresses. She does a lot with her eyes, and doesn't use techniques the 'classically-trained' actresses do. In The Messenger, I don't care if you got Nicole Kidman or Julianne Moore, no one could've played that part the way she did, and it's what drove that movie.
Ledger, one of the best young actors out there, was fucking brilliant in The Four Feathers, one of those great films that slipped throught the cracks this year because there were so many other good movies out. He has the intensity of Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe, and I hope that one day people will pay attention to his films, and not blow them off as "teen Movies" like people did to A Knight's Tale (which was written and directed by the same guy that did L.A. Confidential, by the way. Go back and watch it again, it's a really good movie).
Liotta, the only person who has ever turned in a brilliant performance in a Scorsese film and had his career kind of level out instead of sky-rocket. Maybe Narc will get him some kind of award, it counts on next year's Oscars, as long as they remember it (yeah right, they forgot about Blow and it came out about this time... speaking of which, guess who was really good in that as Depp's father?).
McConaughey was great in Lone Star, and in A Time to Kill, and in Amistad, and in Contact, and most recently in Frailty. Luckily, good directors recognize his talent, and one day he'll see his Oscar.
Reeves, ok... I admit that he plays the 'duh' guy alot, but I started thinking, did the characters in those movies require him to do more? Now I don't mean Johnny Mnemonic, that has alot more flaws than just his acting, I mean in The Matrix, was Neo supposed to be the kind of person that would speak intelligently? No, he was a geek, and just because a person can do wonders on a computer, doesn't mean they have great social skills. He trained for the role, and learned all the physical stuff, isn't that acting? Ok, to get off of 'those Reeves movies,' lets move on to The Gift, he stole that movie away from 1 Oscar winner, 2 Oscar nominees, and a naked Katie Holmes... ok, he didn't steal it from her, but he was fucking awesome in that. As he was in The Watcher (except for the last ten minutes, the ending sucked), and The Devil's Advocate (say what you will about his accent, but he fit right in there with all the other southern 'drawls,' and most of the other's were real), and let us not forget his should-have-been-acclaimed performance in My Own Private Idaho. He can be a VERY good actor when he needs to be. I was even surprised at how good he was in Hardball and Sweet November... and I didn't think either of 'em looked any good at first.
And last but not least, Elijah Wood, who it seems will never get nominated for playing Frodo Baggins, but he's still REALLY REALLY good. He was great way back in Radio Flyer (I love this movie!) and The Good Son (showed just how much Culkin couldn't really act), and then in his pre-teen years in The Ice Storm and Deep Impact (one of the only good performances out of that movie... lots of good actors, horrible acting, except for Freeman, he's a God). Hell, he was even good in The Faculty.
NOW, FOR THE TOP TEN:
1. Johnny Depp
2. Danny DeVito
3. John Cusack
4. Bruce Willis
5. Tim Curry
6. Christain Bale
7. John Leguizamo
8. Don Cheadle
9. Ben Stiller
10. Kirsten Dunst
You'll notice that Dunst is the only female in the top 10, and there are only 2 actresses that I've acknowledged on this page. That's because for some reason, the awards comitees and the critics love most actresses, except these two. Critics like Dunst, I just think she's still considered a "teen" star, kind of like John Cusack. Maybe there are just more actors, or maybe actressea are generally better and don't have to prove themselves as much. Maybe the roles and scripts written for women are a hell of a lot better. I don't know. All I knwo id that when I was thinking of this list, almost every actress that cam eot mind was a highly respected actress and most had won or been nominated for stuff. Ok, I think I've rambled on long enough. That's all.
Questions, comments, etc. email me.
Milla Jovovich
Heath Ledger
Ray Liotta
Matthew McConaughey
Keanu Reeves
Elijah Wood
Okay, this guy started out as a teen pop icon, then suddenly he starts turning in performances that the word 'brilliant' doesn't even begin to describe. Here's a list of things that were Award-worthy: Blow, The Man Who Cried, The Ninth Gate, Fear and Motherfuckin Loathing In Las Vegas (hello, Oscar people, anybody home?), Donnie Brasco, Dead Man, Don Juan DeMarco (The Academy's minds have left the building), ED WOOD (What the hell???!!! I'm starting to get angry... you wouldn't like me when I'm angry), Benny and Joon, Edward Scissorhands (Ok, so they can nominate Tom Hanks for his semi-breakout of comedy in Big, (which was great, don't get me wrong) but when Depp goes from TV teen dramas to this, it goes unnoticed). I watched the Inside the Actor's Studio with him, and you know, he gave better advice to the audience than anybody else I've ever seen. I love that show, at least they can comprehend the quality of Johnny Depp's work. He is, in my mind, one of the best actor's to grace the screen, and one day he will be remembered for it. If I have to start kicking some ass and taking some names, he will be remembered for it. Anyway, back to this list thing.
Do I even have to go into this one. I mean, Jeepers Christ, DeVito's a legend, yet he's never won anything. Everybody else and their mothers won something for Cookoo's Nest, but DeVito. Other People's Money, Throw Momma From the Train, Ruthless People (hey, a film about the Academy), Hoffa, Batman Returns, Jack the Bear, The Big Kahuna, and on and on and on. What the @%#$! do these @$#%@&*! think are good performances? I mean, come on. Danny DeVito is one of the greats, whether he has an Award or gets critical acclaim. He really doesn't need it, cause when you see his name on somethig, you remember all of these great films he's already turned in and you know he's gonna be good. I mean, he's DeVito.
Here's someone that got labeled as a teen actor, and now that he's probably close to forty, critics still consider him that. It doesn't make any sense, because critics loved High Fidelity, and rightfully so. They loved Being John Malkovich, and Grosse Pointe Blank, and Pushing Tin, and Bullets Over Broadway, and The Grifters, and they even loved Say Anything.... So what's the deal? They loved the movies, but didn't stop to think that him being absolute perfection in these movies might have had something to do with why the movies rocked. His preformances get passed over while the movie as a whole takes credit. I know it's wrong, that's why I'm writing this.
Hello, I'm a comedian. Now I'm an action hero. Now I'm a serious actor... hey why aren't you paying attenton to me anymore? Death Becomes Her is to me his breakout, then you've got Pulp Fiction and Nobody's Fool right about the same time. The comes 12 Monkeys (it wasn't just Pitt), Breakfast of Champions, The Sixth Sense, and recently I thought he was great in Bandits. He'll forever be known as John McClane from Die Hard, but Willis is a good actor, and I'm glad he gets a chance to show it, at least.
Ok, when I found out he'd never won anything I seriously got mad. The only reason he's not higher up on my list is that he doesn't make that many movies, and most of his recent roles have been almost like cameos. But this is the guy that brought us Rocky Horror Picture Show, ok, so O'Brien actually brought it to us, but it would've been nothing without Curry. He was great in Annie, and then comes (drumrole) one of the coolest characters ever put on screen, Darkness. Just listen to that name... Darkness. Legend, an incredible movie, but nothing without Curry (granted the make-up effects helped alot, but no one else could have played that role). An in Clue, again, no one could have played it. In fact, I'm not so sure I'd even like Clue half as much if Curry hadn't been in it. Top it all off with smaller but equally as memorable roles in It, Hunt For Red October, The Three Musketeers, The Shadow, and even Home Alone 2 and Scary Movie 2, and you've got yourself an incredible body of work.
It's no secret that I thought he should have won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2000 for American Psycho, but even without that incredible performance, Bale's got an impressive film history. Empire of the Sun, one of the best child performances ever, then goes on to make Newsies and Swing Kids, both great. Then he graduates to more adult themes with Metroland, Velvet Goldmine, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Then comes THE role, American Psycho, followed by a scene stealing role in Captain Corelli's Mandolin. He even gave stand out performances in Shaft and recently Reign of Fire. He'll get his Oscar alright, but he should have gotten for American Psycho.
I'm not sure how he got where he is today, but I'm glad he made it there. Personally, I think he's the best Latino actor out there. He was great in To Wong Foo (who'd have thought back then that Luigi from Mario Bros. could've made the leap from small crappy roles to this), then his POWERFUL AND BRILLIANT take in Romeo + Juilet, in which he was fucking amazing! (Powerful, brilliant, amazing, you get the point yet?), and then his even more peorful and brilliant and amazing starring role in Summer of Sam. (The Oscars suck, they really really do). And most recently he was scene stealig in Moulin Rouge! in which he sings, he dances, and he drinks lots of Absynthe... all while being a midget. I'm also going to point out one of his best roles, and one that was left off another top ten list, the Top 10 Performances By an Actor in a Comic Book Movie... (I just remembered this one Matt)... and even though the movie pretty much blew big donkey balls, he was perfect as The Clown in Spawn. He played it like he was reading from the comics instead of the script (actually, the movie would've been better if they'd really done it this way).
See, this one pisses me off. Most people don't even recognize his name. When I say, "Yeah, Don Cheadle was great in that," I then have to follow-up with a description of who he was in the film, what he looks like, what else he's been in, etc. Dammit! He's a great actor, and he's always in big movies, and he's usually a main character. Rosewood, damn what a great performance. Rebound, if you haven't seen this, do, this is his best role. Out of Sight, Bulworth, Boogie Nights, Ocean's Eleven, Traffic, Swordfish. He's just awesome, and he always gets overlooked in favor of the other actors he's working with. I wish he'd star in more where he is THE star.
The trend is, if you're a comedian and you start doing serious work, TOO DAMN BAD! If the Oscars are gonna snub Jim Carrey for both Truman Show and Man On the Moon, then Ben Stiller doesn't have a chance. Sucks too, cause he's a great serious actor. Royal Tenenbaums was probably his first commercially successful film where most people saw him not being funny, but he's made plenty before it. Black and White, he plays one of the most unlikable characters I've ever watched, and he does it so well. Your Friends and Neighbors, he brought the perfect sense of uncomfortable feelings to the scenes, and in Permanent Midnight, he was just downright haunting. You want to laugh at some of the things in the movie, you think because it's Ben Stiller that it's funny, but it's not. It's disturbing. Permanent Midnight was a disturbing film, and Ben Stiller was perfect for it. He was wacky old Ben, but this time he was wacky because of his heroin addiction. Great stuff, and coincedentally, all of these movies are highly underrated too. Maybe it's because people expected There's Soemthing about Mary and they get things more like Requiem For a Dream.
If you've only seen her in Bring It On and Spider-Man, you're in for a big surprise. First surprise is be kicking the shit out of you, cuase you should remember that she was in Interview With the Vampire, and if you haven't seen that then get the fuck off of my website and never come back! She wasn't just awesome in that, she stole scenes away from seasoned actor Tom Cruise (in a gret role for him), and soon-to-be-on-top-of-the-world-actor Brad Pitt. This goes up there with Bale's performance in Empire of the Sun as one of the best by a child actor. She was also very very good in Little Women, whcih came out a year before Interview. Then she goes on to make a name for herself with box-office money makers, and when she's old enough to handle more adult thems she returns with The Virgin Suicides, and her performance in that is hands down her ebst to date, and it's just phenomenal. Kathleen Turner and James Woods are outstanding, and so's the rest of the cast, but Dunst should have fucking been nominated for this. If she had, she'd have had a good chance of winning. More recently, she's brought in great performances in Crazy/Beautiful (see it, if nothing else just for the acting, it's a really good movie though), and The Cat's Meow where she almost proves herself as a timeless actress, portraying a classic Hollywood actress in the film.
Garth.
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