Best actors (of your generation) - Page 8

Samuel jackson is awful, just embarrasing. Every movie he makes is like a charicature.

I counter with Al Pacino and Denzel Washington.

I love Al Pacino, I don't like Denzel. Pacino has done a lot of cop/crime movies, but he's enough great things that depart from that. His roles like Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Scent of a Woman, Godfather 1 he was different than the Pacino "brand". Frankie and Johnny I liked... he has a lot of different, excellent roles. His Richard III is aparently excellent, and he was great in Merchant of Venice. Whenever denzel washington is in a movie, I either feel like they said ok let's makea movie, denzel will be in it, so let's write the movie around him, OR I am just seeing the same movie over and over. Pacino's characters were always very different, and played very well.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. The characters are different, but the way he plays them is usually the same. Same with Denzel, same with SamJax. Oh, I'm a calm and rational individual... I'm your buddy... I'm in charge... BAM! I'm Al/Denzel/Sam and now I'm angry/freaking out/putting people in their place/etc. There are maybe a handful of movies where the character doesn't follow this formula. Denzel has a few, Sam has four or five, and Pacino has like ten... but only because he's been around for a long time. Most of his recent work is the standard Pacino formula. I'm not saying I don't like the guy, I actually like all of them. I'm just saying that their stereotypical roles are all based on the one (over)acting style Pacino has defined through the course of his career.

Overacting, I don't agree with that. Ben Affleck overacts... Pacino was like the new Brando.

He's also considered one of the greatest actors ever. Denzel and certainly not Samuel L Jackson don't even come close. I see a lot of nuance and preparation in Pacino's films. I find a big difference in Serpico and Donnie Brasco. There's also a world of difference between Panic in Needle Park and many of the roles you describe. Also, watch the Godfather. In 1, he's quite soft spoken a great deal of the time. Most of the acting there is internal. Contrast that with #3 ("....they pull me back in"), and the scene on the steps at the opera house.

There's more to it man...

So basically, you are denying that since... oh... Scarface, he has been hamming it up as a caricature of semi-repressed volatility with occasional outbursts of rage? I can point out that there is a world of difference in nuance and preparation between Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction and Samuel L. Jackson in The Caveman's Valentine; and Denzel's roles in John Q , The Hurricane, and He Got Game. I really don't think you are giving anyone a fair shake here. Pacino may be a great actor, but the roles he chooses to perform, and the way he performs them all have a distinct similarity. As someone who has done his fair share of stage acting, I'll tell you right now, that while I haven't seen every Al Pacino movie he's ever made, I've seen most of the "popular" ones, as well as many of his earlier and independant works, - and he is almost ALWAYS "Al Pacino".

The distinction I make is that I don't find anything remotely interesting or artful about Denzel and especially not Samuel L. Jackson. The latter is not even an actor. I have definately seen some of the best actors of our generation declare that his range is very good (clearly you haven't seen any of his Shakespeare)?

I don't see it your way, and that's fine.

and it all started with "Say what again!"

The distinction is that the fact that you don't LIKE them biases you against them as actors. There's nothing wrong with liking Pacino. As I said before, I'm a big fan. I agree that he's a very good actor when he wants to be. Its just that in the bulk of his movies since Scarface, its VERY OBVIOUS that it's Pacino acting a role. He pulls out his signature facial expressions and rage, hams it up, and delivers what people expect him to deliver. There's nothing wrong with it, it's great! What does Pacino do? He chews scenery and tries to out bombast even the most bombastic roles. He dances around, on stage or screen, buggy and full of energy, and you wait for him to explode... and then BAM! It happens. To deny that it happens is to deny that you can even recognize Al Pacino in a movie. He's done it in more movies than many actors have even made. And even under a beard, as Shylock in the Merchant Of Venice, which yes, I have seen, he was still unquestionably Al Pacino playing Shylock. Denzel and Sam Jackson are literally following that exact formula for success. The fact that you don't like or appreciate them as actors has nothing to do with the fact that they are fairly transparently aping the Pacino-esque method in the vast majority of their roles. I can only think of a handful movies since the 80's that Pacino has been in where he was relatively subtle and/or understated. Simone, Donnie Brasco, Insomnia, and Glengarry Glenross to some extent. IMO, the best actors can disappear inside a role. You can forget that the person is acting. Hell, you can watch an entire movie starring the guy and never realize it's him until you watch the end credits. Someone like Gary Oldman is capable of doing that. Pacino may be capable of doing it, but he hasn't made his recent living that way. Have you SEEN The Caveman's Valentine or Resurrecting The Champ? If not, I would like you to make an effort to watch them open-mindedly sometime, and then come back and tell me that Samuel L. Jackson isn't an actor.

i really like Johnny Depp. Maybe because I like his characters moreso though.

Pacino in "Revolution" - "Da British are comin', da british are comin'!"

The topic was best actors of your generation. These are choices from MY generation relating to my age, gender, culture, etc. Denzel has A Soldier's Story, Glory, Malcolm X, Mo Betta Blues, Philadelphia, The Hurricane, John Q, Antwone Fisher, Inside Man, etc. So we have a soldier, civil rights activist, jazz musician, lawyer, naval officer, detective, a boxer, etc. Hardly the same character. Jackson's body of work includes Pulp Fiction, Jungle Fever, A Time to Kill, Jackie Brown, Fresh, Eve's Bayou, etc. Sure both have made stinkers, but overall they are great actors in my opinion.

I will also add that this isn't about what actor is better than another, we will be here all day debating. It's a thread of preference. No one here is going to name Jean Claude Van Damme or Dolph Lundgren as great actors so let someone have their choice and you can have yours. Agreed.

Okay, but Samuel L. Jackson still sucks. Really.

I also like Dennis Haysbert and Delroy Lindo. Edward Norton is pretty good.