JefCostello

I'd do any movie that would pair me with Audrey Hepburn If I had to pick a specific character that I'd want to play, it'd be Sidney Falco from Sweet Smell of Success. Probably my favorite film character ever.

I don't want to reign on anyone's parade, because I don't have anything against Gigi, but it's very amusing that this film won the Oscar over Vertigo, which was recently voted by critics as being 2nd only to Citizen Kane in the great films lists. I don't think it was the last great Hollywood musical, though. What about My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music? Oops, nevermind, you guys were talking about MGM. Edited by: JefCostello on Mar 27, 2010 12:33 PM

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure! "It's Your Mom, Dude"

It is a great film, but that was the last true great year for cinema. There were many options. I'd have given it to Pulp Fiction. Also, I think "Red" of the Three Colors trilogy came out that year, which was arguably the best of that series. I don't think it was nominated, though, because it was a foreign film. I think it's funny how so many critics deride both the Shawshank Redemption and Forrest Gump, but to me they were both terrific movies.

You forgot Once Upon a Time in America for 1984. That was the best movie in 1984, and imo the best film of the 1980's. It was butchered heavily in its American release, but the long version of that movie was and is an underlooked masterpiece. Agree with you on Fanny and Alexander being screwed, and also the Verdict should have gotten more votes than Gandhi in 1982.

I think it's the best musical ever made and one of the 5 best movies ever! For real. I just hope you analyze it in terms of a musical, meaning that you'll have to let some things slide that you wouldn't allow in a drama for instance.

I've always thought his acting and screen presence were underrated. His timing was always great. It's a shame that most young people today don't know who McQueen was and what a terrific, cool screen image he projected. In today's movie world, I wouldn't even dare call someone "cool". Star power just isn't what it used to be with the rise of CGI and the dirt the paparazzi digs up on people. Oh as for me, I've always loved his work in "Love with the Proper Stranger", but for some reason the critics hate it.

I love Baby, and she's one of my favorite stars, but I've never thought of this as a Harlow movie, and personally feel that she was miscast. Not that she couldn't play a tough gangster's tough girlfriend, because she could, but I've never felt that she gets enough attention in this movie for me to remember her in it much. I know she was just on the verge of becoming a big star at the time, so maybe that's why she gets minimal attention. As for her delivery and way of speaking, that was something critics always bashed about her, but I've never had a problem with it. She had her own style and did it well.

I'll take a day full of Antonioni movies over any of those directors. Actually, I wasn't kidding.

That's Machiko Kyo. If you watch enough Japanese films, she pops up all the time and was a very good star. She was especially great in Mizoguchi's Ugetsu and Street of Shame. Ozu also used her in Floating Weeds if I'm not mistaken. Just trying to fuel your obsession I guess.

Top 10 all-time film for me. It's also one of the most influential films ever made.

I get what you guys are saying, but Casablanca is a film that makes me laugh throghout, and seems to be that way with many people. It generates a lot more laughs than a film like Double Indemnity, which is very clever, but not funny. I guess I may be reading too much into it, which is why I have a problem with genres in the first place.

I've never seen Stray Dog, so I can't wait to watch it. I also want to watch Seven Samurai again, but it's a very long film to invest into. Don't know if I'm up for it right now.

I just hope your mind isn't already made up, because your OP seems to lean that way to me. I've always felt that the less you know about a film going into it, the better off it'll be, because there are no expectations heading in.

Really? I thought Stromboli was a gorgeous film. She was good in it, but I admittedly spent most of the movie ogling over Rossellini's photography and location shooting. She was good in Europa '51 as well.

I guess that's why I hate classifying movies into genres, because not everything fits in neatly. I think Casablanca is romantic, and I think it's funny as hell, with the clever one-liners being thrown in all around the movie. So based on that, it should be a romantic comedy. Or is the fact that it's also considered a good drama holding it back from receiving that title of romantic comedy?

I guess that's why I hate classifying movies into genres, because not everything fits in neatly. I think Casablanca is romantic, and I think it's funny as hell, with the clever one-liners being thrown in all around the movie. So based on that, it should be a romantic comedy. Or is the fact that it's also considered a good drama holding it back from receiving that title of romantic comedy?

In all honesty, stars are never the best judges of their own work. I don't think she hated the film, she just didn't want to *only* be remembered for it. Also, I've seen tons of Ingrid movies, so Casablanca is not the only thing I'm going to remember her for, but to me it is the role of hers I'll remember the most. It's just natural and I don't think that it gives me less appreciation for her work as a whole. She has lots of performances and films that I like. Any other kind of thinking only applies to people who don't watch classic films in general, and will only know Bogie and Bergman for Casablanca, and Gable for Gone with the Wind, and Brando for the Godfather. This should not be the reason to hold you back from watching Casablanca. If you watch lots of classic films, than there's nothing to worry about in that regard.

I guess I have a tendency (not always) to think that an actor's best performance is one where they play a character unlike any other in their career. A role that really challenged them as opposed to one that they excelled in from doing it over and over. For instance, Kirk Douglas excelled at playing assholes like the one in Ace In the Hole (my favorite of his) and The Bad and the Beautiful. However, I chose Lust For Life as his best work, because he totally transformed himself into that character, and I can't think of any other performance where he was so committed to the role, especially that of a famous actual person like Van Gogh. It's his most haunting portrayal and unlike anything else I've seen him do. Also, Stewart was great in the Capra films, but in Vertigo he plays one of his darkest characters, different than the image everyone has of Jimmy Stewart. Same with Bogie in the African Queen and DeNiro in Taxi Driver.

Damn, I forgot to mention Annie Hall and It Happened One Night. Also, Some Like it Hot is a romantic comedy which the AFI omitted for some reason. And what about CASABLANCA????? Now I'm confused as to what counts as a romantic comedy. The AFI has no clue I think. While those are all probably better films, I'd still have to go with Breakfast at Tiffany's as my favorite.

It's not really an unusual Bogart choice. The Caine Mutiny is certainly one of his 3 or 4 best performances. In a Lonely Place was another film no one has mentioned that I considered as possibly being his best. However, I've always heard that it was the closest he ever came to playing himself, so that makes me wonder how much he had to try to play that part.

Casablanca is a favorite, because upon repeated viewings you tend to love and appreciate the witty dialogue more and more. Same with the characters. There's nothing that's unsaid in that movie. Hence, I don't know if you'll love it the first time you watch it. It needs to be watched repeatedly.

Not a bad list. Only one I'd have to disagree with is William Holden in Stalag 17. I think his best performance came in his last great hit, Network. That was a more mature, weathered character who had already lived life, and I thought he played it better than anything else he ever did. As for Lancaster being too hammy in Elmer Gantry, I think that was what the role called for. He was playing a fake evangelist preacher, so the role called for all the theatrics and over the top bravado. I think he was an atheist in real life, so it was an interesting role for him to take.

Lancaster was a hard one to choose from. I thought of others like The Swimmer, Sweet Smell of Success and The Birdman of Alcatraz. I should also confess that I've never seen The Leopard, and I've heard great things about his peformance in that film as well. But out of the ones I've seen, I just ultimately decided on Elmer Gantry because I thought he was fantastic in it.

Paul Newman - Cool Hand Luke Henry Fonda - The Grapes of Wrath Jimmy Stewart - Vertigo Humphrey Bogart - The African Queen Robert DeNiro - Taxi Driver Kirk Douglas - Lust for Life Burt Lancaster - Elmer Gantry This is just my opinion on the best work these actors ever gave. Feel free to disagree. I can think of a lot more actors to list to generate good debate, but this is a decent start, and I'm sure people will be split on many of these.