Monotreme
06-01-2006, 09:10 AM
At a time when Marlon Brando and Laurence Olivier were after their peaks but before Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp showed up, there were four actors who totally dominated the 1970's, 1980's and early-mid 1990's - four actors whose bodies of work are arguably the best of any actor, living or dead. They are the legends Robert De Niro, Dustn Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Al Pacino.
The poll question is simple: Which is your favourite? For me, it is a particularly hard choice. Looking at the bodies of work of all four of these actors, it is really, really hard to choose just one and single him out as the best! But if I really must choose, I've got to go with Dustin Hoffman. He has shown the widest range of acting ability among all four actors, although De Niro is hot on his tail, followed by Al Pacino and finally Jack Nicholson who, while brilliant in all his movies, always seems to play a similar character.
But another question arises when discussing these four super-actors. It is no secret that with the takeover of younger actors (Tom Hanks, Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, Kevin Spacey, etc), these four heavyweights were shoved out of the spotlight, and in recent years have reall thrown their careers down the drain and either done movies that aren't nearly as good or acted as good as their movies from the 70's and 80's, or just down-right crap. The question is: which one of these actors managed to LEAST fuck up his career? Let's take a look:
http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/allposters/54/039_38505_rt.jpg
Jack Nicholson - I think that good ol' Jack takes the cake as the single actor of these four that managed to least fuck up his career as of late. Thing is that he severely lowered his work frequency, and has been doing a lot less work lately. Still, his work as of late was pretty good. He delivered some of the best performances of his career in As Good as it Gets and About Schmidt, and Something's Gotta Give was cute. In fact, the only bad movie he's done lately was Anger Management - just one!
Best performance of his career: Chinatown (1974).
Last good performance: About Schmidt (2002).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: The Departed.
http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/bigpicture/images/dustinhoffman.jpg
Dustin Hoffman - Alright, I'll admit, Dustin Hoffman hasn't been doing too good lately, and hasn't delivered a truly good performance in a truly good movie in a while. But that's not to say that he's been doing BAD movies necessarily - he just hasn't been doing movies or playing roles quite as good as his roles from the late 60's, 70's, and 80's. The main problem is that his acting work has been pretty uninspired as of late. I haven't seen The Lost City yet but I hear Dustin is great in it. While his work in such recent films as Moonlight Mile, Confidence, Runaway Jury and Finding Neverland isn't BAD, it is indeed lackluster. I Heart Huckabees and Lemony Snicket were just silly, and the only really bad movie and role he's done lately is Meet The Fockers. Sphere also stank pretty much.
Best performance of his career: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).
Last good performance: Wag the Dog (1997).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: The Berkeley Connection.
http://www.film-erlebnis.com/images/pacino_al.jpg
Al Pacino - The final slot is a toss-up between Pacino and De Niro for the position of the actor who most fucked up his own career. I'll give Pacino the advantage since he has done SOME good work lately. His performance in Angels in America was one of the best of his entire career, I felt, and his performance in The Mercheant of Venice wasn't half bad either. His work in Insomnia and S1m0ne wasn't particularly bad, but it wasn't particularly good - classic examples of directors who can't restrain the man, so he goes around overacting and chewing up the scenery. Of course, he's also done some total shit lately, such as People I Know, The Recruit, Gigli (what the hell?!?!?), Two for the Money, etc.
Best performance of his career: Scent of a Woman (1992).
Last good performance: Angels in America (2003), and if that doesn't count since it isn't exactly a movie, The Insider (1999).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: Unfortuantely... nothing.
http://img.stopklatka.pl/filmowcy/00200/00230/0.jpg
Robert De Niro - De Niro gets the prize from me as the single actor out of these four that went the furthest downhill from the peak of his career in the 70's, 80's and early 90's until now. Back then he delivered legendary performances in The Godfather pt. II, Taxi Driver, Awakenings, Once Upon a Time in America, Goodfellas... his role in Raging Bull is probably one if the single best acting jobs ever. But now, look at the shit he is swimming in: Hide and Seek, Meet the Fockers, Shark Tale, Godsend, Analyze That, City by the Sea, Showtime, The Score, 15 Minutes, Meet the Parents, Rocky & Bullwinkle... need I say more? De Niro took his brilliant career and just flushed it down the toilet as of late. Is it just hard for these guys to get good work? Haven't they earned the right to pick quality projects? Does nobody want to work with them or what?
Best performance of his career: Raging Bull (1980).
Last good performance: Casino and Heat (both 1995).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: The Good Shepherd.
The poll question is simple: Which is your favourite? For me, it is a particularly hard choice. Looking at the bodies of work of all four of these actors, it is really, really hard to choose just one and single him out as the best! But if I really must choose, I've got to go with Dustin Hoffman. He has shown the widest range of acting ability among all four actors, although De Niro is hot on his tail, followed by Al Pacino and finally Jack Nicholson who, while brilliant in all his movies, always seems to play a similar character.
But another question arises when discussing these four super-actors. It is no secret that with the takeover of younger actors (Tom Hanks, Russell Crowe, Johnny Depp, Kevin Spacey, etc), these four heavyweights were shoved out of the spotlight, and in recent years have reall thrown their careers down the drain and either done movies that aren't nearly as good or acted as good as their movies from the 70's and 80's, or just down-right crap. The question is: which one of these actors managed to LEAST fuck up his career? Let's take a look:
http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/allposters/54/039_38505_rt.jpg
Jack Nicholson - I think that good ol' Jack takes the cake as the single actor of these four that managed to least fuck up his career as of late. Thing is that he severely lowered his work frequency, and has been doing a lot less work lately. Still, his work as of late was pretty good. He delivered some of the best performances of his career in As Good as it Gets and About Schmidt, and Something's Gotta Give was cute. In fact, the only bad movie he's done lately was Anger Management - just one!
Best performance of his career: Chinatown (1974).
Last good performance: About Schmidt (2002).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: The Departed.
http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/bigpicture/images/dustinhoffman.jpg
Dustin Hoffman - Alright, I'll admit, Dustin Hoffman hasn't been doing too good lately, and hasn't delivered a truly good performance in a truly good movie in a while. But that's not to say that he's been doing BAD movies necessarily - he just hasn't been doing movies or playing roles quite as good as his roles from the late 60's, 70's, and 80's. The main problem is that his acting work has been pretty uninspired as of late. I haven't seen The Lost City yet but I hear Dustin is great in it. While his work in such recent films as Moonlight Mile, Confidence, Runaway Jury and Finding Neverland isn't BAD, it is indeed lackluster. I Heart Huckabees and Lemony Snicket were just silly, and the only really bad movie and role he's done lately is Meet The Fockers. Sphere also stank pretty much.
Best performance of his career: Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).
Last good performance: Wag the Dog (1997).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: The Berkeley Connection.
http://www.film-erlebnis.com/images/pacino_al.jpg
Al Pacino - The final slot is a toss-up between Pacino and De Niro for the position of the actor who most fucked up his own career. I'll give Pacino the advantage since he has done SOME good work lately. His performance in Angels in America was one of the best of his entire career, I felt, and his performance in The Mercheant of Venice wasn't half bad either. His work in Insomnia and S1m0ne wasn't particularly bad, but it wasn't particularly good - classic examples of directors who can't restrain the man, so he goes around overacting and chewing up the scenery. Of course, he's also done some total shit lately, such as People I Know, The Recruit, Gigli (what the hell?!?!?), Two for the Money, etc.
Best performance of his career: Scent of a Woman (1992).
Last good performance: Angels in America (2003), and if that doesn't count since it isn't exactly a movie, The Insider (1999).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: Unfortuantely... nothing.
http://img.stopklatka.pl/filmowcy/00200/00230/0.jpg
Robert De Niro - De Niro gets the prize from me as the single actor out of these four that went the furthest downhill from the peak of his career in the 70's, 80's and early 90's until now. Back then he delivered legendary performances in The Godfather pt. II, Taxi Driver, Awakenings, Once Upon a Time in America, Goodfellas... his role in Raging Bull is probably one if the single best acting jobs ever. But now, look at the shit he is swimming in: Hide and Seek, Meet the Fockers, Shark Tale, Godsend, Analyze That, City by the Sea, Showtime, The Score, 15 Minutes, Meet the Parents, Rocky & Bullwinkle... need I say more? De Niro took his brilliant career and just flushed it down the toilet as of late. Is it just hard for these guys to get good work? Haven't they earned the right to pick quality projects? Does nobody want to work with them or what?
Best performance of his career: Raging Bull (1980).
Last good performance: Casino and Heat (both 1995).
Upcoming film that might redeem him: The Good Shepherd.