A sincere welcome to Beyond the Big Screen. We are very excited to start this project and see just how far this community can grow.
Our core message is that this blog/site is about sharing an appreciation of film with friends. Sure, we may disagree, trash a few films, or actors. Those things are part of the discussion. The true heart of this blog though is all about sharing your love of films with friends and strangers. We hope that by finding common likes and dislikes in movies a community of film fans will find each other here.
Be patient with us though. This is a site in flux. We hope to make things look more appealing of course, but the true reason you should want to visit this spot daily will be the content.
Our plans for the content originate with you the user. In most cases, the latest post will be a discussion question. We'll present a topic, post our own opinions in the COMMENTS section, and then expect you to follow suit. Where the discussion goes from there is entirely up to you.
The discussion questions are not the only feature planned though. Jeremy and I do plan on doing some reviews every now and then. You can expect some current and new theatrical release reviews from Jeremy. I will focus more on DVD and older title reviews. To be honest with you, the reviews may not be a regular thing, but when we do get them up we hope you enjoy them.
As I said, this entire project is in flux. We'll push out some content, hope you'll respond, and take it from there. In the end, this space can only grow together or not at all.
Ok. No more blathering. Let's get the discussion started with our very first topic:
Who do you put in your Top 5 all-time actor/actress list?
Please site the name and your 3 favorite films of said actor/actress.
Enjoy and thanks again for stopping by. We hope you find this to be a fun and interactive beginning.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1. Robert De Niro - "Heat", "Godfather Pt. 2", and "Taxi Driver"
ReplyDelete2. Marlon Brando - "Godfather", "On the Waterfront", and "Streetcar Named Desire"
3. Matt Damon - "Bourne Trilogy", "Good Will Hunting", and "Dogma"
4. Tom Cruise - "Jerry Maguire", "Collateral", and "Top Gun"
5. Tom Hanks - "Saving Private Ryan", "Toy Story Trilogy", and "Forrest Gump"
Once we get a few more comments I'll post my actress list.
Are we just doing actors here? I'm following Felder's lead...and these are in no particular order:
ReplyDeleteMichael Caine - Peachy Carnehan in "The Man Who Would Be King"
Tom Hanks - Chuck Noland in "Castaway"
Peter O'Toole - King Henry II in "Becket"
Russell Crowe - John Nash in "A Beautiful Mind"
Jack Nicholson - Jack Torrance in "The Shining"
This was a tough list to put together...tougher than it looked anyway. I had two on here that I later removed in favor of others.
I'm terrible at these lists. As soon as I'd narrow it down to 5 I'd hit post and then remember somebody I forgot and be mad at myself. I used to try to keep a list of my top 100 movies but at this point I'd need a top 200 to be satisfied.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't still put DeNiro on my list after that hilarious comedy Righteous Kill.
Well George, I'm not limiting it to just actors right now. That's just the first part I did. Once we get a few more comments, then I'll throw in my actress list to further the discussion.
ReplyDeleteJohn Cusack - High Fidelity, Serendipity, Must Love Dogs (and several, several others)
ReplyDeleteTom Hanks - Forrest Gump, Da Vinci Code, Charlie Wilson's War (and, once again, several others)
Matt Damon - The Bourne Trilogy, Dogma, The Oceans Trilogy
Kate Beckinsdale - Serendipity, Underworld, Van Helsing
Matthew Lillard - SLC Punk, Hackers, Without a Paddle (this one is a stretch, but I -really- like his roles in the other two)
Guess I'll be the first to tackle the actress list.
ReplyDeleteActresses:
Sandra Bullock- Crash, The Lake House, Murder By Numbers
Gwyneth Paltrow- Sliding Doors, Bounce, Shakespeare In Love
Ashley Judd- Double Jeopardy, High Crimes, Where The Heart Is
Jennifer Aniston- The Good Girl, Office Space, He's Just Not That Into You
Rachel McAdams- The Notebook, Wedding Crashers, Mean Girls
Actors:
Matt Damon: Dogma, The Departed, Bourne Trilogy
Josh Hartnett: Lucky Number Slevin, The Faculty, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down (I cheated and put 4 movies, but I couldn't leave any of them out.)
Morgan Freeman: The Sum Of All Fears, The Dark Knight, Deep Impact
Alan Rickman: Love Actually, Dogma, The Harry Potter Series
Brad Pitt: Se7en, Fight Club, Troy
Congrats on the new site. This should be fun. I’m sure a podcast should not be far behind. Here’s my fives (not in order). I could easily go a lot deeper but will save it for another time.
ReplyDeleteActors
Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean (one), Blow, Donnie Brasco and about 15 more.
Robert DeNiro – Goodfellas, Casino, Taxi Driver and a bunch more
Anthony Hopkins – Lecter Trilogy, Fracture, World’s Fastest Indiam and many more
Leonardo DiCaprio – What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Aviator, The Departed and more
Emile Hirsch – Into The Wild, Lords of Dogtown, Alpha Dog, Milk and more
Hon Mentions – Nick Cage, Brad Pitt, Jack Nicholson, Tommy Lee Jones, George Clooney, Russell Crowe, Clint Eastwood, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves
Actresses
Kate Winslet – Finding Neverland, Titanic, Revolutionary Road
Sandra Bullock – Miss Congeniality 1-2, Speed, The Lake House
Julianne Moore – Freedomland, Hannibal, Boogie Nights, The Shipping News
Winona Ryder – Beetle Juice, Heathers, Edward Scissorhands
Juliette Lewis - What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Daultry Calhoun, Natural Born Killers
Hon Mentions - Sharon Stone, Hillary Swank, Uma Thurman, Rene Zellweger, Judi Dench, Angelina Jolie, , Jodie Foster, Diane Lane
Actors with some of my favorites movies (not necessarily their best work)
ReplyDeleteTom Hanks - Gump, Bachelor Party, Apollo 13
Nicolas Cage - National Treasure(s), trapped in paradise,
Tom Cruise - Top Gun, Risky Business, Far & Away
Burt Reynolds - Smokey & Bandit, Hooper, Boogie Nights, ect ect ect
Harrison Ford - Star Wars trilogy, Indiana Jones, Witness, ect ect ect
For actresses.. I will have to come back to that one. I am not sure I could name three movies I enjoyed that had the same actress.
Diane Lane, Kate Winselt, and a few others.
ACTORS
ReplyDelete1. Tom Hanks - "Forrest Gump", "Apollo 13" and "Road to Perdition"
2. John Malkovich - "In the Line of Fire", "Burn After Reading" and "Con Air"
3. Johnny Depp - "Public Enemies", "Pirates of the Carribean" and "Benny & Joon"
3. Tom Cruise - "Mission: Impossible", "A Few Good Men" and "The Last Samurai"
4. Jack Nicholson - "A Few Good Men", "The Shining", and "Chinatown"
5. Leo DiCaprio - "Titanic", "The Departed" and "Body of Lies"
1. Jimmy Stewart: It's A Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Harvey
ReplyDelete2. Michael J Fox: Secret of My Success and Back to the Future trilogy
3. John Cusack: Must Love Dogs, Serendipity, High Fidelity
4. John Candy: Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck, Canadian Bacon
5. Robert Redford: The Natural, The Sting, Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid, Spy Game
Several of the ones mentioned are in my top 10 (DeNiro, Pacino, Damon, Hanks)thought the board needed some difference of opinion though.
Wow. I'm thinking I posted my top 5 a little quickly. That's what I get for doing it late night.
ReplyDeleteCouple of notes: I am tracking the answers of everyone and will post the collective top 5 before a new discussion goes up.
For those that post as anonymous. We appreciate the comments. I just ask that you add some sort of "user name" to the end of the post. For instance, it says posted by Anonymous still. Then you post your top 5 and at the bottom put your user name as a signature. So i would write:
actor
actress
etc.
-BF (or other chosen user name)
I ask this so that we know who we are discussing with in case someone wants to directly reply to what you've said, but you still remain anonymous.
Females:
ReplyDelete1. Diane Lane
2. Charlize Theron
3. Kate Hudson
4. Julia Roberts
5. Susan Sarandon
I posted the anonymous post of off the beaten path list. Honorably mention to Kevin Costner and Sean Connery
No way can I pick a list that small. I'll just throw out titles and/or actor names randomly and occasionally.
ReplyDeleteScorcese's "Mean Streets" w/DeNiro & Keitel
"Patton" w/Scott & Maldin.
Kubrick's "Dr Strangelove" & "A Clockwork Orange" w/great performances from everyone on top of outstanding scripts and dialog.
Pretty much anything directed by John Ford or Howard Hawks.
Kurosawa's Rashomon, Yojimbo & others.
Nicholas Ray's "Rebel Without A Cause and "Johnny Guitar". Sterling Hayden!
Slap Shot, Trainspotting, Taxi Driver, Touch of Evil, The Third Man.No Country for Old Men, Schindler's List, Short Cuts, films from John Waters, Tarantino, Hitchcock - I could do this for hours and you're gonna kick me off for not following the rules.
Fun site Brandon and Jeremy. Crank it up!
ReplyDeleteWell Brandon...great to see that all of us cracking on you on twitter about doing something with all your movie watching worked out :)
ReplyDeleteTop 5
Tom Hanks
Kevin Spacey
Philip Seymore Hoffman
Meryl Streep (dont love most of her films but she is amazing)
Kate Winslet
here's quick list a some of my favorite actors/actresses (sorry, more than 5). Too many to list...
ReplyDeleteJeff Bridges—The Big Lebowski, Simpatico, The Vanishing
Kevin Spacey—The Big Kahuna, American Beauty, Glengarry Glen Ross, Swimming With Sharks, The Usual Suspects….
Kate Winslet—Little Children, Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, Life of David Gale
Naomi Watts—21 Grams, Inland Empire, Mulholland Dr, We Don’t Live Here Anymore, Eastern Promises…
Mark Ruffalo—You Can Count On Me, Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, Blindness,
Laura Linnie—You Can Count On Me, The Mothman Prophecies, The Squid and the Whale
Jennifer Jason Leigh—eXistenZ, Synechdoche, New York, Margot at the Wedding
Jimmy Stewart--It's a Wonderful Life, Firecreek, Rear Window, Rope...
Noticing a trend here. A lot more votes for Actors than we have actresses. People seem to struggle to come up with 5 women. Has the film business become male dominated? Or are there that few of quality actresses out there?
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the the leading ladies (for the most part) get a "memorable" role only once in a while. Like I posted before there are some great actresses, but I can't name three-four great movies for her that I like.
ReplyDelete*Julia Roberts- Pretty Woman, anything else
*Kate Hudson - fun actress to watch but most of the movies are just so-so
*Diane Lane - one maybe two worth watching
*Jennifer Anniston - I really like Office Space but she was minimal in the movie
*Laura Linney, other than the HDO John Adams and maybe Kinsey, I didn't care for most of her other roles
*Naomi Watts - Who? oh the King Kong girl. (just kidding but really anything else there)
*Hillary Swank - the cross dressing movie and the gal boxer... anything else? Oh yeah, she was a Karate Kid
*Rachel Weisz - Mummy movies... and lets not forget the classic Fred Claus (which did have its moments)
I could go on.. but you get my drift.
So true brisco61. Last night, I could only come up with one name where at first. Still, having seen other names today, I'm not convinced I can come up with 5 just yet. It's odd that they rarely get leading roles in films that appeal to the general masses. I think this discussion has awakened me to the fact that the industry rarely gives them strong roles. The source of that problem may be the fact that I would bet most screenwriters are male. Other than say, Diablo Cody, what well known female screenwriters are there?
ReplyDeleteOk. I think I came up with a list I might stay happy with for a few minutes....
ReplyDeleteThe all time list....
Christian Bale (American Psycho, Harsh Times, The Machinist...oh...and some superhero thing)
Jimmy Stewart (Rope, Rear Window, Vertigo)
George Sanders (All About Eve, The Saint movies, The Falcon movies)
Jospeh Cotten (Citizen Kane, Shadow of a Doubt, The Third Man)
Henry Fonda (Once Upon a Time in the West, Grapes of Wrath, 12 Angry Men)
With a bonus nod to Buster Keaton. (The General, Sherlock Jr, Steamboat Bill Jr)
I can't really put many modern actors in an all time list yet. If it was top ten there'd be more. Heath Ledger barely missed my top five but his resume isn't as long as those others unfortunately. But I don't think there has ever been a better acting job than what he did in Brokeback Mountain. Until his death he was my second favorite current actor behind Bale.
These days I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt has become my seond favorite. That stupid kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun has grown up and has become a guy I will watch no matter what he's in. I was really hoping GI Joe would make him a star but he didn't get much to work with there. But that kid does the best job in the best movies people don't see. If they decide to recast the Joker in Batman 3, Gordon-Levitt would be my choice and I think he'd knock it out of the park.
Now to try to think of ladies....
Crap. I'm already starting a argument.
ReplyDeleteI get what Brisco is saying about woman not getting as many great roles as men, but I disagree with the reasoning behind it. It's like you're only listing their most famous role and acting like they did nothing else. Just because something wasn't a hit, or you don't personally like it, doesn't mean the part wasn't good or they didn't excel in it.
And many actresses, like Hudson and Lane, have suffered from making horrible career choices. Good roles are available, some people would just rather go for money and make crap like Fool's Gold or Must Love Dogs.
Here's my actressesssessss....
ReplyDeleteMyrna Loy (Thin Man movies and getting John Dillinger killed)
Meryl Streep (A few minutes of Mamma Mia almost made me change my mind but there's just way too many great performances to let that one ruin them all.)
Barbara Stanwyck (The Lady Eve, Meet John Doe, Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 7 billion other movies)
Charlize Theron (Monster, North Country, Children of the Corn 3: Urban Harvest!!!!)
Jennifer Connelly (Dark City, Requiem for a Dream, The Rocketeer, riding that toy horse in Career Opportunities.)
I definitely agree with lethargic's take on many women making bad career choices. Specifically citing Kate Hudson. Aside from How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, I don't like most of her movies. They're bad roles, and stories that have been done and driven into the ground. When I made my actress list, I basically thought of movies I like certain women in. I don't necessarily seek out their movies every time I see that they're in something. On the other hand, oftentimes I do see a movie because an actor I like has a role in it.
ReplyDeleteFinally getting to post my Top 5's. It's been a busy couple of days.
ReplyDeleteThese are all in no particular order, especially since I had a hard enough time narrowing the Actors down to 5.
Actors
Russel Crowe - Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, LA Confidential
Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting, The Departed, The Bourne Trilogy
Jack Nicholson - A Few Good Men, Batman, The Departed
Edward Norton - Fight Club, American History X, The Illusionist
Kevin Spacey - LA Confidential, The Ususal Suspects, American Beauty
Honarble Mentions - Denzel Washington, Sean Connery, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, Daniel Craig, Liam Neeson
Actresses
Julia Roberts - Notting Hill, Erin Brockovich, Mona Lisa Smile
Gwyneth Paltrow - Shakespere in Love, Sliding Doors, The Royal Tenenbaums
Winona Ryder - Beatlejuice, Heathers, Edward Scissorhands
Kate Winslet - Titanic, Finding Neverland, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Charlize Theron - Monster, The Legend of Bagger Vance, The Italian Job
Now for an answer about the male dominance in the industry. I think it is. I Know it took me a very long time to think of 5 actresses who had three movies that I felt were worthy of including them on my list. Where with the Actors, I had a even harder time trying to figure out who couldn't be in the Top 5. I don't pretent to understand why that would be, but it seems to be evident in most of the lists.