May 17, 2012

The Ten: Best Actors of All Time Relay

Nostra from the very entertaining blog myfilmviews.com started a great series/blogathon called "The Ten: Best Actors of All Time Relay". The idea is

 I’ve created a list of what I think are the best actors. At the end I, just like in a real relay race, hand over the baton to another blogger who will write his own post. The blogger will have to remove one actor (that is an obligation) and add his own choice and describe why he/she did this. At the end the blogger chooses another blogger to do the same. The idea is to make this a long race, so that each blogger gets a chance to remove and add an actor. We will end up with a list (not ranked in order) which represents a common agreement of the best actors.

The Previous Entries:
The actors

Humphrey Bogart


Marlon Brando


Daniel-Day Lewis


Robert De Niro


Ralph Fiennes


Paul Newman


Jack Nicholson


Richard Burton


Peter Sellers


Jeff Bridges




After mulling over the top ten, I have decided to remove Peter Sellers just for the slightly embarrassing reason of not seeing a lot of his work. 


OUT                                                                           


When I was asked to add my pick, I had 4 or 5 choices that stuck into my head for a couple of days: Gary Oldman, Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Viggo Mortensen. I settled on one- I may change my mind and decide I was wrong, but it would be too late by then. So I have decided to go with 


IN                                                 

Gary Oldman is my choice for one simple reason: DIVERSITY. The man has been everything from Sid Vicious (Sid and Nancy-1986), to an Irish American Gangster (State of Grace- 1990), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1991), to Dracula (1992) and had the part of the dreaded villain more than once in his lifetime (Leon, The Fifth Element, Air Force One). Now he is known and loved for portraying universally loved characters such as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film series, James Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Only one Oscar nomination under his belt, but I think you all agree that it is too little for this man. Diversity for me is one of the crucial things that an actor should have in order to survive and stand out from the rest of the film world and I believe Gary Oldman proves it in the roles he chooses. Oh, and he is damn fine at what he does. If he weren't, he wouldn't be here, right? 


I hope you agree! I'm always rooting for the underdog, so here is one for your list :)

I now officially pass the torch to the lovely Ruth from "...let's be splendid about this"

18 comments:

  1. I take this torch with pride :) Will try and have my entry done in the next couple of days (it is going to be a tough decision!)

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    1. It was very hard for me, too! I can't wait to see your pick!

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  2. I really like this replacement! I love Oldman's work in Sid and Nancy and Leon.

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    1. He is a great actor, I'd like to see him on the list for at least a couple more weeks!

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  3. Ah, too bad that Sellers didn't last long, but it's fun to see Oldman make another appearance. Nice pick!

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    1. Thanks for dropping by, glad to see you approve of Oldman!

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  4. I love Oldman and I think he was in the earlier list, glad to see him back!

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    1. I didn't check all of the posts, but I am glad to hear I wasn't the first to put him there! Hope he lasts a couple more days/weeks/posts

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  5. Fair switch, really glad to see Oldman back in the mix here.

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    1. Yeah, he deserves one more shot! Curious to see how the list evolves, some names have been untouched so far!

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  6. Nice work, Diana! You cannot contest the awesomeness that is Mr. Oldman. He deserves to be on this list as often as we will allow it!

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    1. Thanks for passing the torch and for commenting :)

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  7. Another GREAT selection. Always sad to see anyone go but I'm in the same camp as you with Sellers... only seen Dr Strangelove and Pink Panther. Oldman deserves a place here. Hope he stays on for awhile!

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  8. I'm very happy to see Oldman back as I did put him in the list originally. Great to see everyone participating in this series, thanks!

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