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Linda Hunt's role as the male Kwan in "The Year of Living Dangerously."
Peter O'Toole as Henry II in "The Lion In Winter" (less so in the earlier film "Becket").
Ralph Fiennes as the mad Harry in "In Bruges." (And wasn't he wonderful as Count Laszlo de Almásy in "The English Patient"?)
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Kev: Elsewhere, in a post about watching "The Road To Perdition" last night, I neglected to cite Hanks. But I was reminded last night of how good he was in that film, and near the end, where he has to shoot the man who raised him as as more of a son than his real son, the pain in his eyes is heartbreaking!!!
And Daniel Craig as the horrible son of Paul Newman in "Perdition," no matter how much we hate him, is sooooooooooo good!
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Ralph Fiennes ALWAYS gives a great performance!
I've often laughed over the years at the mispronunciation of his name. He merely goes by RAFE instead of Ralph, with the L silent, which was a tradition in Britain. But many Americans thought it was Ray (as in Ray Fiennes) when in fact it was Rafe Fiennes (or maybe they just slur it as Rayfiennes). Too many Fs there for some people!
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Kev: Which is why I bought it as soon as it was released on Blu-ray despite having it on DVD. It looked and sounded gorgeous when I watched it last night! Now I want to go back and re-listen to director Mendes' audio commentary, which I don't think I've played since I heard it on the original DVD. Incidentally, in the wonderful extra on the career of cinematographer Conrad Hall, director Mendes talks about that scene in the rain, and how overjoyed he was at how well Hall filmed it -- excellent scene!
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Not quite sure what the question actually means, neo, nor how it differs from the "Great Individual Performances" (or something) thread, but any time is a good time to mention yet again the wonderful integrity, dignity and humanity behind almost anything from -
James Stewart - (Possible favourite: IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE).
Henry Fonda - (Possible Favourite: TWELVE ANGRY MEN).
Gregory Peck - (Possible Favourite: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD).
Spencer Tracy - (Possible Favourite: BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK).
Sorry if I'm a bit off-topic.
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Graham: I was about to write that those were mostly very good choices, especially Henry Fonda in "12 Angry Men" and Gregory Peck in "To Kill A Mockingbird," but think that by asking "What Role Made U Appreciate an Actor's Artistry" the writer here (neotrinity) wanted us to dig a bit deeper than just actors doing great work. Which of those maybe startled you about their acting ability? I know that I was startled by the ones I cited -- Linda Hunt, Peter O'Toole, Ralph Fiennes. And, over and beyond "Gump" and "Philadelphia" and even "The Green Mile," I think that Tom Hanks really became an actor with "The Road To Perdition." At least for me he did.
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Graham: I was about to write that those were mostly very good choices, especially Henry Fonda in "12 Angry Men" and Gregory Peck in "To Kill A Mockingbird," but think that by asking "What Role Made U Appreciate an Actor's Artistry" the writer here (neotrinity) wanted us to dig a bit deeper than just actors doing great work. Which of those maybe startled you about their acting ability? I know that I was startled by the ones I cited -- Linda Hunt, Peter O'Toole, Ralph Fiennes.
If that's the case, Ron, then one actor who immediately springs to mind is Nick Nolte. I'd never considered him as a great actor until I saw the admittedly uneven AFTERGLOW. I'm always devastated by the ending, due to the heartrending performances of Nolte, Julie Christie, and the use of Tom Waits growling of the Sondheim/ Bernstein song "Somewhere"...
Then I thought that maybe that was just a one-off piece, a lucky combination of factors hitting the right tone at the right time. But I was genuinely surprised at the sustained brilliance of Nolte's performance in AFFLICTION. That's a great film, and a lot of it is down to Nolte's angst-ridden performance, teetering on the edge of madness, always on the verge of going off the rails - and blaming it all on his toothache!
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Sorry, Mick, his perf in the vignette above and sequence below are, for us, all aces (with no Vee for vigilante anywhar in sight  )
[ And mucho obligo, Ron II, as that's egg-zactly what our original intentions were re, as Jacob Needleman always advocates, "Deepening the Questions".  And let's belay the formality from here on, shall oui? Make it neo, Pally.  ]
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Could choose better perfomances by same people but these were the ones that struck me at time of viewing.
eli wallach - GBU
laurence olivier and charles laughton - spartacus
peter o toole - orrence of arabia
al pacino - the godfather
lee strasberg - godfather II
michael caine - get carter.
in more recent years joe pesci in Goodfellas.
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Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive. I don't want to go into detail as to why and how this is such a tricky, multi-layered performance (in case anyone here hasn't seen this film yet), but wow! Stunning brilliance.
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Graham: Re: "If that's the case, Ron, then one actor who immediately springs to mind is Nick Nolte. I'd never considered him as a great actor until I saw the admittedly uneven AFTERGLOW. I'm always devastated by the ending, due to the heartrending performances of Nolte, Julie Christie, and the use of Tom Waits growling of the Sondheim/ Bernstein song "Somewhere"...
Then I thought that maybe that was just a one-off piece, a lucky combination of factors hitting the right tone at the right time. But I was genuinely surprised at the sustained brilliance of Nolte's performance in AFFLICTION. That's a great film, and a lot of it is down to Nolte's angst-ridden performance, teetering on the edge of madness, always on the verge of going off the rails - and blaming it all on his toothache!"
Funny, but when I think of "Afterglow," actors who come to mind are Julie Christie and Jonny Lee Miller, and I bought the DVD because of Miller. I'll have to pull it out and watch it again and pay closer attention to Nolte. But he was also pretty good in "The Prince of Tides," although Streisand as director let him go a bit too far over the top! (But what a gorgeous James Newton Howard score!)
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There's one brief performance that seems to have been buried and long forgotten, except by me. The underrated Brian Keith gave a marvelously understated performance as Teddy Roosevelt in 1975's The Wind And The Lion. In a film chocked full of wildly whacked-out scene chewing, Keith delivers a quietly thoughtful take on one of our most colorful Presidents. I especially loved the fact that he waits until his final moment onscreen to flash that iconic Roosevelt smile.
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There's one brief performance that seems to have been buried and long forgotten, except by me. The underrated Brian Keith gave a marvelously understated performance as Teddy Roosevelt in 1975's The Wind And The Lion. In a film chocked full of wildly whacked-out scene chewing, Keith delivers a quietly thoughtful take on one of our most colorful Presidents. I especially loved the fact that he waits until his final moment onscreen to flash that iconic Roosevelt smile.
Christopher -- try to find one of the threads on "The Wind And The Lion" as well as John Barry love themes -- 1 or 2 of them single out Brian Keith's performance as Teddy Roosevelt. I'm looking forward to seeing him in several episodes of my DVD collection of "Centennial." Remember him as Hayley Mill's father (and Maureen O'Hara's ex-husband) in Disney's "Parent Trap"?
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gone, re your: Gary Oldman : Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
I always liked Oldman anyway, but I thought he really delivered in this tremendously under-stated role.
I first became aware of Gary Oldman when he played playwright Joe Orton in the 1987 "Prick Up Your Ears," and he was very good. But he has played so many villains since then that it's sometimes hard to separate him from all those baddies. But he was sooooooooooooooo good as the vile villain in "The Contender," and he was one of the producers on that fine film. As for "T,T,S,S" remake, not one of my favorite films.
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