I just love these categories. You get to be your self-indulgent best, play tyrant adjudicator and award your very own Oscars! These are the men who’ve rocked for me…
Robert De Niro – clichéd, did I hear? cliché or not, De Niro’s the finest actor to have walked the earth. Period. he’s a tornado of controlled emotion and I am always in the edge of the seat when I watch him on the act. It almost makes me want to be characters he portrays. The most famed exponent of “method acting”, he “becomes” the character he plays. If you don’t get the goosies after watching Jake La Motta in “the raging bull” or Travis Bickle in “taxi driver”; either you’re rather daft or you’re Mr. Spock!
Al Pacino – there’s 2 kinds of people in the world, De Niro people and Pacino people. I have to say De Niro scores for me, but Pacino’s a close, close second (just that of late, he may be slicing the ham a lil thick). A powerhouse of raw, seething energy, it’s impossible to be not knocked off your feet by his performances. I think Michael Corleone is THE best hollywood characterization ever, and I cannot imagine anyone else other than Pacino in his shoes (it is said however, that Coppola initially considered Robert Redford for the role. Now, would that have been a disaster or what?!) Another Pacino performance, a little known but a personal favourite, is his Brooklyn gangster role in “dog day afternoon”. His Oscar winning role in ‘scent of a woman’ was perhaps the least deserving of the myriad roles he has played, but who can deny the power that the ‘hoo-haw’ing, blind colonel packed?
Morgan Freeman – Give this man any role and he’ll do it. Also, he’s the kind of guy who seems to want to have none of the limelight. Look at the movies he’s worked in – Shawshank redemption, se7en, unforgiven, amistad. There’s always someone else in the lead role and someone else walking away with the accolades with freeman almost blending with the furniture. Yet, what would say - Shawshank redemption be without that magnificent voice-over?
Christopher Walken – Unusual choice? Just watch the award winning performance of his in “deer hunter”, if you haven’t. It’s a performance that shook me like none other. Walken plays an emotionally deranged Vietnam GI alongside the more acclaimed De Niro. Most un-rewarded in my opinion, he hasn’t had such an opportunity ever since. But wherever he’s got them, he’s still done full justice. He’s done a couple of minor roles that are quite mind blowing. He’s captain Koons in “pulp fiction” (the amazing scene when he tells young Butch about how he hid the watch); and the Sicilian mafia don in another Tarantino movie “true romance”.
Robert Carlyle – In fact, our own Manoj Bajpai reminds me of this guy. He’s a totally different character in each movie he’s acted, and he makes you laugh, cry or tingles your spine accordingly. Have a look. In “the full monty” (his most successful movie to date) you laugh and cry with him as “Gaz”, the leader of the strip band. Begbie in trainspotting, was irritating, fearsome and hilarious rolled in one. His cameo in “the beach” as a drugged psycho was nothing short of brilliant either. It isn’t far long before this guy wins his own Oscar.
So, that’s that.. Wasn’t an easy choice with a whole lot of also rans –
Robert Duvall – most memorable as Tom Hagen in Godfather
Philip Seymour Hoffman – another personal favorite scoring in great roles in “almost famous” and “magnolia”
Sam Jackson – truly memorable in “pulp fiction”, also in “unbreakable”, “Jackie brown” and “negotiator”
Kevin spacey – Loved him in “usual suspects” and “american beauty”
Johnny Depp – This guy is going to go places. Check “blow”, “Donnie brasco” and “Edward scissorhands”
Looking forward to your opinions and comments….