[General Discussion] Favorites (Actor/Actress, Director, Composer...) in Film and Television Productions

I am curious on whom the GFF population is partial to in the movie/TV entertainment industry? Not every individual gets the recognition that they deserve, early on or throughout their careers, while consistently proving their skill. On the other hand, others (e.g Ben Affleck, Owen Wilson, Keanu Reeves) seemingly get so much attention it is mind boggling.

Who are you fond of? and why? What movies and roles without question portray their amazing talent?, regardless of being overrated or underrated by the public. These are the type of individuals that will often be the deciding factor on whether or not you watch a movie or tv show.

Personally for me,

Actor

1. Tom Hanks
2. Kiefer Sutherland
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
on the bubble....Christoper Walken, Christian Bale, Denzel

-I have seen almost all of the works of Hank's, and Sutherland's and while they have been involved in some clunker movies, with Hanks early on, and a lot of Sutherlands, acting-wise both are stellar. For me Hanks started with Big, jumped to A League of their Own, and from then had stunning performances in Philadelphia, Forest Gump, Toy Story, Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, Cast Away, Road to Perdition, and Catch Me if You Can. His ability to portray so many different characters is unbelievable.


**If you can only see a few see the ones underlined.

- Sutherland has had more minor roles and been in shittier movies than Hanks, but nevertheless even in the bad ones he was not at fault. The Lost Boys, Freeway, Dark City, To End All Wars, and Phone Booth portray not only his ability, but are also great movies in their own right. Obviously, 24 is the best thing he has ever done, and portrays his best acting over six seasons.

Actress-wise, I don't really have one in particular. Helena Bonham Carter and Reese Witherspoon stands out in my mind, but I have not seen enough of their movies to really say such for sure.

Director

1. James Cameron (Terminator 1,2, Aliens, Titanic)
- Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down)
- Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige)
- Steven Speilberg

Composer (no favorite)
- James Newton Howard (Unbreakable, Signs, Batman Begins, Blood Diamond)
- James Horner (Titanic, Braveheart, A Beautiful Mind)
- Thomas Newman
- Michael Giacchino


Please don't list an individual on the basis of just one performance. And give some explanation as well to one of the categories (actor, director, composer) at least. If you want to discuss your favorite screenwriter or whatever, feel free too do that if you desire. Oh and criticize all you want of others...respectively.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Yeah, dead or alive, it doesn't matter. Personally, seeing as I am quite young, I have only really dipped as far as the 1970's, but that probably will change. Good to know some individuals earlier than that, which are given recognition in the event that I or someone else does.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I only really heard and remember through and through the Omen scores by Goldsmith and while they are great for the movie, I do not enjoy the soundtracks outside of the movie too much. Sure there are some tracks (the main themes) that I enjoy, but otherwise they just don't work.

ARNOOLDD!. lol. I don't remember the Commando score, but damn what a bad and sweet movie. Besides Titanic, which is brilliant, Braveheart, Apocalypto, and A Beautiful Mind are also recommended. Apocalypto may be hard to get into without seeing the movie mind you. I am looking forward to his Avatar score with Cameron. Avatar (2009)

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Servilonus

Actors.

Christian Bale.

Bale is hands down my favorite actor. He's just simply in so many good movies I don't even feel like listing/explaining all of them. I feel like he brings so much to a film, and just the transition from The Machinist to Batman Begins alone shows his utter fucking dedication to his craft.

Edward Norton.

Much like Bale, Norton is in a large number of quality films, and unlike some actors like Nicolas Cage, who I feel is great in good movies and terrible in bad movies, Norton is just always on, such as in Primal Fear, where I feel like he's the only worthwhile thing in the whole film. I feel as if he's got a real sense of what is and isn't a good film, and is extremely serious concerning what his body of work will end up being in the long run.

Kevin Spacey.

Like Bale and Norton, Spacey is in so many phenomenal pictures, as either the center of the film or just in a supporting role. Some of my favorite performances by him are in quite understated films like The Life of David Gale, Ordinary Decent Criminal, Swimming with Sharks, The Big Kahuna and the United States of Leland, even though his more well known roles in films like American Beauty are just as powerful. He is in shitty movies from time to time (no matter how big they are, Superman was just god awful, or small...supporting cast of LL Cool J and Justin Timberlake...ugh...). But it goes on and on with Se7en, and The Usual Suspects, LA Confidential, so on and so forth.

Brad Pitt.

Despite all the bullshit following him, and whatever his reputation may be, is always just the fucking MAN in movies to me. He always plays stellar roles and knocks the performance out of the park, whatever the subject matter may be. Looking forward to Burn after Reading and Benjamin Button quite a bit.

Jack Nicholson.

He's always amazed me as an actor. He's been able to fit perfectly into a role given to him from his thirties into his seventies. From Cuckoo's Nest all the way to the Departed, Nicholson has rarely let me down.

Robin Williams.

A brilliant comedic actor who also works wonderfully as a dramatic actor (One Hour Photo and Insomnia). I'd honestly love to see him in more serious roles because he does them unexpectedly well.

God a great actor list I agree. I would rate these right near the top under my top actor list.

Totally agree with most of what you said. Specifically, Spacey's ingenious , and at the same time, his clunker of a Lex Luthor. I liked the movie overall, but his performance was nothing after watching Rosenbaum on Smallville for so long. Should of took a play out of his book. A great Luthor could have really escalated the film.

God he was good in Seven and the Usual Suspects.

And Williams in Good will hunting =

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?