Anyway, my good friend Russell at 1:37 Exactly has passed along the baton to me (I don't have a pass to choice just yet) in a blog relay about the Ten Best Actors. I'm late with this post so I hope he forgives me. But, hey, I am short and chubby so the words relay and race are concepts my brain does not process very well. It's like I'm allergic.
I digress.
So I am to check out the current list of Best All Time Actors chosen by the various participants, then agree to either leave the names as is or elect to remove someone, then add my own choice. Here's the list so far...
My Film Views (created the original list: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Daniel Day-Lewis, Samuel L. Jackson, Charlie Chaplin, Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall)
The Focused Filmographer (Removed Hopkins, added Christian Bale)
Front Room Cinema (Removed Pacino, added Paul Giammati)
I Love That Film (Removed Jackson, added Edward Norton)
Flixchatter (Removed Giammati, added Gregory Peck)
All Eyes on Screen (Removed Norton, added Tom Hanks)
Time Well Spent (Removed Hoffman, added Leonardo DiCaprio)
The Warning Sign (Removed Hanks, added Paul Newman)
Movies and Songs 365 (Removed Duvall, re-added Anthony Hopkins)
And So It Begins (Removed DiCaprio, added Max von Sydow)
Cinematic Corner (Removed Bale, added Ralph Fiennes)
The Film Emporium (Re-removed Hopkins, added Jack Nicholson)
Duke & the Movies (Removed Oldman, added Humphrey Bogart)
Southern Vision (Removed Fiennes, added Harry Dean Stanton)
Defiant Success (Removed Stanton, added Jack Lemmon)
Cinematic Paradox (Removed von Sydow, re-added Ralph Fiennes)
Encore’s World of TV & Film (Removed Peck, added Richard Burton)
Okinawa Assault (Removed Lemmon, added Bruce Greenwood)
Amiresque (Removed Greenwood, added Peter Sellers)
Flickers (Removed Chaplin, added Jeff Bridges)
Aziza’s Picks (Removed Sellers, re-added Gary Oldman)
…let’s be splendid about this… (Removed Burton, added James Stewart)
Being Norma Jeane (Removed Bridges, added Johnny Depp)
U, Me, and Films (Re-removed Fiennes, re-added Tom Hanks)
Eternity of Dream (Re-removed Hanks, re-added Leonardo DiCaprio)
Lime Reviews and Strawberry Confessions (Re-removed Oldman, added Amitabh Bachchan)
Surrender to the Void (Removed Bachchan, added Gene Hackman)
Taste of Cinema (Removed Depp, added Marcello Mastroianni)
1001 Plus (Removed Brando, added Cary Grant)
Public Transportation Snob (Removed DiCaprio, re-added Charlie Chaplin)
1:37 Exactly (Removed Peter O'Toole and added Kevin Spacey
I passed the baton to Matt at FilmMattic, who removed Kevin Spacey and added Montgomery Clift. Go read his post, it is incredible.
So who am I removing from this list? Well, there are lots of great choices on here, but I'm going to have to take down Marcello Mastroianni as I am not too familiar with many of his performances and therefore cannot judge.
*UPDATE Apparently choosing Meryl Streep was in violation of the list rules so she had to go and I have to make another choice. So here HE is...
I'm adding John Cazale, the actor whom Pacino has said "All I ever wanted to do for the rest of my life was act with John." Meryl Streep, my original choice, said she learned "a great deal from John." He only made five films, but all five were nominated for Best Picture by the Academy. He even appeared in archival footage in The Godfather, Part III, which also was nominated for Best Picture, which technically makes a sixth film. Best known as Fredo in The Godfather films, John had a knack for finding the pain of each character and bringing it out, layer by layer, through humor, anger, resignation and a multitude of other emotions. He played the loser, the down and out guy trying to prove himself. I can't imagine anyone else playing Fredo, no one would understand Fredo to the degree that John did. I did a post last August in honor of what would have been John's 76th birthday. You can read it here.
Writeress! Sounds like royalty.
ReplyDeleteThat list has been around the blogging block.
LOL Royalty...Writeress does sound strange , doesn't it? I always wondered why there were feminine forms of words of words. I used to drive my English teachers nuts.
DeleteThere have been a lot of people doing that list. I wonder how much longer the list will get.
Mel, we will NEVER check you off our friends list. You're a VIP on mine and will remain as such. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat choice! Meryl is an actor indeed...an amazing one!
Aww.. Thank, sweetie. You're VIP on mine, too.
DeleteI just love Meryl. It fascinates me how she just disappears into a role.
Thanks, Mel for soliciting me for this awesome blog-a-thon. I'm privileged to be in your company. By the way, I just finished my little piece. Check it out when you get a chance :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not at all surprised by your selection of Meryl Streep. She is one of cinema's greatest living actors. Her performance in Sophie's Choice is one of the greatest ever. While that film did not impact me the way its subject matter would portend, I was absolutely spellbound by Streep's gut-wrenching portrayal. Few actors can pierce the depths of despair as honestly as Meryl. Few, too, can embody the quiet optimism necessary in a character so seeped in inner-tumult. Nuance is hard to project on screen. But Meryl is the master. And she proved it unflinchingly in Sophie's Choice.
Great job, Melissa :)
you really have been missing in action a lot recently, have you been making babies somewhere that we not know? :)
ReplyDeleteMel, Meryll Streep is one of the most versatile actors out there. Nice to see you back in action!
ReplyDelete- Maurice Mitchell
The Geek Twins | Film Sketchr
@thegeektwins | @mauricem1972
Nice to see you back! :)
ReplyDeleteThrilled you're back! Huzzahs all around the Blogosphere! Great choice in Meryl Streep!
ReplyDeleteThanks for updating this, but this an actor relay race, there is a seperate one for actresses that started as well a while ago: http://myfilmviews.com/2012/05/01/the-ten-best-actresses-of-all-time-relay-race/
ReplyDeleteSo I will have to ask you to add an actor and after that assign it to another blogger.
Read the comments and saw you gave it to Matthew, but please change your entry. I understand your reasoning, but within the movie industry there are awards for both actors and actresses and adding Streep, who is in the factresses list, it dilutes the actors one.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a huge challenge! I will never delete you from my buddy list, lol!
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
Hey Mel, it's been way too long! Your disappearance had me wondering, but now I'm thrilled to see your blog relay. You always 'UsePromos' in such creative ways, and it's great to have you back in the blogging world. Looking forward to more awesome content from you!
ReplyDelete