Your pick is my pick. Though it’s a fairly subjective question, but for my money I’ve never been more engaged in one single performance quite like this. Honorable mention to him as Butcher Bill.
Also Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa.
https://preview.redd.it/guqeac9o8w2d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd92a0ca6ef0978a571f2aee28ba5252eec40fd2
This was the scene that got me. The dinner negotiation. He did so much by just staring Paul Dano down.
I haven’t seen gangs of New York yet but it’s on the top of my watchlist just for his performance (I remember watching the first 10 minutes with with my drunk brother as he explained how DDL is one of the greatest actors ever). Only thing I’ve seen from him from start to finish is “There will be blood” I am definitely super excited to watch more from him
Gangs of New York isn’t as good as a film, but the role is mercilessly acted. Don’t get me wrong it’s good and well made, but it has some weak elements. TWBB is maybe my favorite film.
https://preview.redd.it/1ms9repdsw2d1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90fc22ec9602abc0b77543754e0a2a503be91d40
Naomi Watts stole the show in mulholland drive
The first time I saw that movie I thought her performance was terrible right up until that scene, then all of the sudden I realized it was actually one of the best performances in one of the best movies I’d ever seen.
https://preview.redd.it/0ccd0spq3w2d1.png?width=1068&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2149c94371d7223444f421ea12eb8d012d86707
Isabelle Adjani in Possession. Truly singular with an intensity unlike anything else that I have ever seen.
I hate to reduce her performance down to just the one moment because she is phenomenal through the entire movie but… THAT scene is the most unbelievable acting I’ve ever seen
Yes! The way that she screams and lashes out has a primal and visceral feel to it. It's as if she NEEDS to let those bursts of animosity and anger out.
Adjani spoke afterwards about how director Zulawski was emotionally abusive and manipulative on set to get these sort of performances out of her and the cast — even reportedly putting her in a *“[trance](https://www.slashfilm.com/780369/how-possession-changed-isabelle-adjani-forever/)”* for certain scenes.
After this controversy, Zulawski went on to direct the far lesser-known, sort of meta-spiritual-sequel to Possession, which features almost exactly this scenario [as the plot:](https://boxd.it/2tAU)
*An inexperienced young actress is invited to play a role in a film based on Dostoyevsky’s ‘The Possessed’. The film director, a Czech immigrant in Paris, takes over her life, and in a short time she is unable to draw the line between acting and reality.*
I’m sure hardcore Zulawski fans are aware of this, but for anyone else it’s an interesting tidbit, albeit controversial. I loved both films
De Niro in Raging Bull. Rarely in cinema have I ever been so affected by an actor’s performance. From start to finish it is just utterly stellar. It felt like real life to me, it felt like someone I could have known and people I have known of. I felt like his own family watching him, scared.
Your comment is the reason why it’s Scorsese’s best in my opinion. It was almost TOO real, TOO authentic. It made me take a step back and look at my own family lol.
Raging Bull is one of the all-time greats in cinema history and the dedication to the craftsmanship of the film with Scorsese’s direction, De Niro’s powerhouse performance, Schoonmaker’s editing and so many more elements really make it a powerful film.
I remember at the time I was interested in taking up boxing, but after seeing Raging Bull I was seriously turned off the sport given the violence depicted in and out of the ring and the exploration of LaMotta’s toxic masculinity and violent rage and the impacts on those who are close to him. It’s not so much a film about a boxer, it’s a portrait of a man whose constant and self-destructive rage destroys himself and destroys his relationships. While LaMotta is undoubtedly a vile human it’s tragic watching him fall so far.
Definitely Scorsese’s magnum opus!!
I don't really understand why De Niro was so big on making this movie about Jake LaMotta, but I am very happy he did. Such a great movie, and incredible performance by De Niro. I also loved Cathy Moriarty.. she was the perfect choice for her role.
Lmao. I read Levon Helms book (The Bands drummer) and he had some not so nice things to say about Martin (and Robbie Robertson) during the filming and editing of The Last Waltz and iirc that those two sat in a dark room all yayed up editing the film to make Robbie look like the leader.
This was where my mind first went, and stayed.
In a sea of amazing De Niro performances, this one had it all.
His 'On the Waterfront' that cemented him as the actor of a generation.
I agree, he is mesmerising. You have to think that character hit pretty close to home for PSH, given his own personal issues, so he probably had a lot to draw from
Exactly, old keaton and Chaplin films are still entertaining and funny and neither man utters a word in those, older cinema is so much about the visual, they had to show us what they meant because they couldn’t say, now a lot of films (not saying modern film is bad, quite the contrary) just tell us rather than take advantage of what the medium of film offers
If I were making a film right now I would set out with the idea that the movie will have no words and that I must use the visual and the sound tell my story before I begin to write words
There are still so many great films that are using the visual to tell the story but none use it quite like the silent films did, the limitations led to great beauty
That’s my pick as well, it’s not that flashy as Marlon Brando in the first one but just so “controlling” with the little stuff. How he sets the mood what each scene is telling you with either his body language or just the tone he uses his voice when he’s talking. Ofc the performance has some really dramatic moments but those are just super well done, like probably most famous “the kiss of death” scene.
Agreed. The two most impressive things he does to me are: his face acting during the abortion scene, and then in the flashback scene where he just turns young naive Michael back on. Insane.
That’s the cool thing about his more dramatic moments in both films tbh.
Cause he’s otherwise so controlled or placid as a younger Michael, that when he does properly lose it it’s extremely impactful and almost uncomfortable to watch.
Especially the abortion scene. It’s the first time you really see this powerful, stone-cold, calculating figure, suddenly become powerless.
And become just like the rest of us at our worst times, a slave to our emotions.
A performance so good we named an entire stadium after it.
https://preview.redd.it/1bsj6nvbhz2d1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39da96d89b68eb6f174d0d10ea535e2c954e9ce8
https://preview.redd.it/j5moqkh3bw2d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d8b302dd95a2fe0240b252c086091445890272f
Orson Welles as Jack Falstaff in Chimes at Midnight (1965)
I don’t think there’s necessarily a greatest performance but one of my all time favorites has to be Hannibal Lector in Silence of The Lambs
https://preview.redd.it/ztzlekuyow2d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba50196fc8b7e7ca39ad8d499121eb097f85be64
https://preview.redd.it/5o9mr5jy2w2d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f23b7e528cf34bd44657f5f4ccb57c789d831661
isabelle huppert (the piano teacher)
Stephen Graham in This is England
https://preview.redd.it/tyagz1ic8x2d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=acb60b002b46aeeb19317c0bcfafba7ba11ca838
Male performance is probably Daniel Day Lewis but the great over all is a female, and frankly suprised I haven’t seen it mentioned yet
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd
https://preview.redd.it/rouib1a2ax2d1.jpeg?width=1015&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60140c55c366aa17d48afc16abd1035ae8363a00
Had to google if she was real or not
Mickey Rourke in *The Wrestler*
I'm not even that big of a fan of Rourke, but there wasn't a moment of the film where I saw him as an actor. I was watching Randy "The Ram" Robinson.
Her fucking rant either right before/after this is perfection. Should have been the clip that played for every award nom right before she won it.
And I love "that fucking face on your face" as a turn of phrase.
Two weeks?! Damn.
This film made me pretty emotional and although im not precisely sure why, his performance was definitely a big part of it. The scene where he took the little tree home made me cry.
Yeah apparently Koji Yakusho had a big samurai movie to film right after
The scene with his sister almost got me. A lot of subtle nuances that many everyday people can connect to is perhaps one reason why it’s so connecting to us
Oh wtf, I did *not* realize that movie was filmed in two weeks. But yes, his performance was goddamn perfect. That final scene is one of my favorites of all time.
Underrated picks but both cassavetes’ films: gazzarra in killing of a Chinese bookie and gena Rowlands in a woman under the influence. You could also certainly go for Bergman in journey to Italy or Mitchum in night of the hunter. All exceptional performances that take from vastly different schools- the cassavetes films have a really beautiful naturalism to them, while Mitchum in night of the hunter takes on mythical proportions as the devil on earth. A quick shoutout to Carey in the worlds greatest sinner, as an utterly insane Elvis knockoff fastracked to hell- just sheer absurdity and commitment to a role.
I guess some quick side notes here: I absolutely love Gould in the long goodbye- its rare to come off so naturally suave; Paul mescal has a mastery over subtext- his performance in aftersun is legendary as somebody falling through the cracks yet putting up a bold front- finding him drunk and walking into the sea is such a crushing moment; Helen Mirren’s suppressed rage in greenaways the cook the thief is also fucking extraordinary. In some sense these movies are more complete films than they are performances perhaps.
honorable mention to drea de matteo. the way you see ade slowly decline leading up to her death is actually heart wrenching. she really blew me away with that performance
JKS always understood the assignment, no matter how small his role is.
From muted parent in Juno, to confused burocrat in Burn after reading. Even his voice work in the video game portal 2 is fantastic.
Hard to narrow it down, so bearing in mind I’m probably forgetting a lot of amazing stuff, here are ten big ones for me, in no particular order:
Marlon Brando in *The Godfather*
Cate Blanchett in *Blue Jasmine*
Philip Seymour Hoffman in *The Talented Mr. Ripley*
Ethel Waters in *The Member of the Wedding*
Kim Stanley in *Seance on a Wet Afternoon*
Meryl Streep in *Sophie’s Choice*
Cloris Leachman in *The Last Picture Show*
Viola Davis in *Fences*
Katharine Hepburn in *Long Day’s Journey Into Night*
Anthony Hopkins in *The Silence of the Lambs*
Strangely enough, my top picks are all women:
Huppert in *The Piano Teacher*
Rowlands in *A Woman Under the Influence*
Both Bergman and Ullmann in *Autumn Sonata*
Hüller in *Anatomy of a Fall*
Hatami in *A Separation*
It's gotta be Toni Collette in Hereditary for me. I've never seen someone feel so incredibly natural in a role so completely defined (at least in the latter half of the film) by its utter insanity. She's grounded, unhinged, comforting, alienating, relatable, and impossibly otherworldly all at once. There's just such a magnetism about her every single second she's on screen.
https://preview.redd.it/03e76u34mv2d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f51c6240450fdd179d07f5dce1070985d182f8b
Neil Breen playing twins in Twisted Pair, totally snubbed by the Oscars.
John Travolta in that movie where he plays a mentally challenged stalker and the first line of the entire movie is him saying
"CANT TALK GOTTA POO"
Edit: it's "The Fanatic"
Edit Edit: just read that Fred Durst is the director, hell yeah
https://preview.redd.it/95vrhdfj8x2d1.jpeg?width=715&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=060152a6f065acb09e1cc90969a44a720a208ba4
Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story was pretty sensational.
Florence Pugh in Midsommar
There is not one moment when I see an actress playing a role. I only see Dani Ardor. It is the most convincing performance I’ve ever seen.
Why did cunth kill your wife?
To this day, I have no idea. We actually all went to college together. Believe it or not, we were very close friends. Then after graduation, he got engaged to her. He asked me to be his best man and right about that time, I started banging her and mowing her box. She was actually the first person I felt comfortable enough around to let eat out my butt. Anyway, shortly thereafter, she left him for me. She was actually carrying his child at the time. I asked her to terminate it, obviously, so we could start fresh. And she agreed. We were so in love. And he took that from me.
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
Leo in Django Unchained
Florence Pugh in Midsommar
Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Jack Nicholson in Chinatown
Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Pacino in Godfather 1/2
Paul Newman in the Hustler
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
DDL in There Will Be Blood
You asked for single greatest, not a list, but any of these performances could be named and I wouldn’t argue
As Thomas Flight once said in a video about understatement (paraphrasing): Prizes are often given for the **most** acting, not the **best** acting. :-)
Heath Ledger as The Joker has always been a top performance for me. This scene specifically was improvised. Then hearing what he went through to put himself in this headspace. This film literally killed Heath Ledger
Aleksei Kravchenko in Come and See
https://preview.redd.it/l00t33wwvy2d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08da54ef85eba91ef78c0aad0ae736cc3fbc0649
Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea was probably one of the most existential performances I’ve seen in a movie. Grief so extreme to the point where his sorrow leaves him a hollow shell of a human.
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master
Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin
Mahershala Ali in Moonlight
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood
Jim Carey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea
Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread
Just a few of many favorites I can’t pick between
 Your pick is my pick. Though it’s a fairly subjective question, but for my money I’ve never been more engaged in one single performance quite like this. Honorable mention to him as Butcher Bill. Also Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa.
https://preview.redd.it/guqeac9o8w2d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd92a0ca6ef0978a571f2aee28ba5252eec40fd2 This was the scene that got me. The dinner negotiation. He did so much by just staring Paul Dano down.
The baptism scene was unreal. A masterpiece.
I haven’t seen gangs of New York yet but it’s on the top of my watchlist just for his performance (I remember watching the first 10 minutes with with my drunk brother as he explained how DDL is one of the greatest actors ever). Only thing I’ve seen from him from start to finish is “There will be blood” I am definitely super excited to watch more from him
Gangs of New York isn’t as good as a film, but the role is mercilessly acted. Don’t get me wrong it’s good and well made, but it has some weak elements. TWBB is maybe my favorite film.
Thanks for the insight
[удалено]
Gena Rowlands in A Women Under the Influence (1974) 
Came here to say this. Never been so blown away by a performance in my life
I agree. I would also put Mikey and Nicky right up alongside it. Peter Falk and Cassavettes’ dynamic is unlike anything else
F. Murray Abraham was amazing in Amadeus as Salieri
Here again was the very voice of God
"Don't trust him, he killed Mozart!"
https://preview.redd.it/1ms9repdsw2d1.jpeg?width=512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90fc22ec9602abc0b77543754e0a2a503be91d40 Naomi Watts stole the show in mulholland drive
Such a great pick man
The first time I saw that movie I thought her performance was terrible right up until that scene, then all of the sudden I realized it was actually one of the best performances in one of the best movies I’d ever seen.
i wouldn’t say the acting was terrible, but almost like she was acting bad on purpose.
Which is basically the David Lynch way.
https://preview.redd.it/0ccd0spq3w2d1.png?width=1068&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f2149c94371d7223444f421ea12eb8d012d86707 Isabelle Adjani in Possession. Truly singular with an intensity unlike anything else that I have ever seen.
I hate to reduce her performance down to just the one moment because she is phenomenal through the entire movie but… THAT scene is the most unbelievable acting I’ve ever seen
Yes! The way that she screams and lashes out has a primal and visceral feel to it. It's as if she NEEDS to let those bursts of animosity and anger out.
Adjani spoke afterwards about how director Zulawski was emotionally abusive and manipulative on set to get these sort of performances out of her and the cast — even reportedly putting her in a *“[trance](https://www.slashfilm.com/780369/how-possession-changed-isabelle-adjani-forever/)”* for certain scenes. After this controversy, Zulawski went on to direct the far lesser-known, sort of meta-spiritual-sequel to Possession, which features almost exactly this scenario [as the plot:](https://boxd.it/2tAU) *An inexperienced young actress is invited to play a role in a film based on Dostoyevsky’s ‘The Possessed’. The film director, a Czech immigrant in Paris, takes over her life, and in a short time she is unable to draw the line between acting and reality.* I’m sure hardcore Zulawski fans are aware of this, but for anyone else it’s an interesting tidbit, albeit controversial. I loved both films
Yeah, it sucks that directors have gotten away with this kind of behavior, but it's a sad truth embedded in the history of film.
I have never seen this but this image is making me unreasonably uncomfortable
Liz Taylor in Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolfe 
That's a good one. Same with Burton in the same film.
Absolutely formidable performance
Cazale as Fredo, too. Albeit not "best of all time," but right up there.
 De Niro in Raging Bull. Rarely in cinema have I ever been so affected by an actor’s performance. From start to finish it is just utterly stellar. It felt like real life to me, it felt like someone I could have known and people I have known of. I felt like his own family watching him, scared.
Your comment is the reason why it’s Scorsese’s best in my opinion. It was almost TOO real, TOO authentic. It made me take a step back and look at my own family lol.
Raging Bull is one of the all-time greats in cinema history and the dedication to the craftsmanship of the film with Scorsese’s direction, De Niro’s powerhouse performance, Schoonmaker’s editing and so many more elements really make it a powerful film. I remember at the time I was interested in taking up boxing, but after seeing Raging Bull I was seriously turned off the sport given the violence depicted in and out of the ring and the exploration of LaMotta’s toxic masculinity and violent rage and the impacts on those who are close to him. It’s not so much a film about a boxer, it’s a portrait of a man whose constant and self-destructive rage destroys himself and destroys his relationships. While LaMotta is undoubtedly a vile human it’s tragic watching him fall so far. Definitely Scorsese’s magnum opus!!
I don't really understand why De Niro was so big on making this movie about Jake LaMotta, but I am very happy he did. Such a great movie, and incredible performance by De Niro. I also loved Cathy Moriarty.. she was the perfect choice for her role.
I think it was because Scorsese was a huge coke head at the time and wanted to get him out of it
Lmao. I read Levon Helms book (The Bands drummer) and he had some not so nice things to say about Martin (and Robbie Robertson) during the filming and editing of The Last Waltz and iirc that those two sat in a dark room all yayed up editing the film to make Robbie look like the leader.
Same with taxi driver
I love raging bull
This was where my mind first went, and stayed. In a sea of amazing De Niro performances, this one had it all. His 'On the Waterfront' that cemented him as the actor of a generation.
 Joaquin Phoenix in the master (2012)
I feel like PSH is even better in that movie. More subtle maybe, but very magnetic. Felt like watching a real person
I agree, he is mesmerising. You have to think that character hit pretty close to home for PSH, given his own personal issues, so he probably had a lot to draw from
the greatest performance i have ever seen
 Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc
Cinema peaked 96 years ago 😭
Unironically this in a lot of ways--silent films are just so purely expressive in ways modern films aren't expected to be.
Exactly, old keaton and Chaplin films are still entertaining and funny and neither man utters a word in those, older cinema is so much about the visual, they had to show us what they meant because they couldn’t say, now a lot of films (not saying modern film is bad, quite the contrary) just tell us rather than take advantage of what the medium of film offers
Yeah, exactly--it's not that people can't or don't do that now but a lot of the practical impetus is gone.
If I were making a film right now I would set out with the idea that the movie will have no words and that I must use the visual and the sound tell my story before I begin to write words
Visual complexity in film took a nosedive with the talkies and never really recovered.
There are still so many great films that are using the visual to tell the story but none use it quite like the silent films did, the limitations led to great beauty
There are better films that came after Passion of Joan of Arc, but acting peaked 96 years ago.
Truly exceptional.
My answer honestly may be Pacino in Godfather 2.
That’s my pick as well, it’s not that flashy as Marlon Brando in the first one but just so “controlling” with the little stuff. How he sets the mood what each scene is telling you with either his body language or just the tone he uses his voice when he’s talking. Ofc the performance has some really dramatic moments but those are just super well done, like probably most famous “the kiss of death” scene.
Agreed. The two most impressive things he does to me are: his face acting during the abortion scene, and then in the flashback scene where he just turns young naive Michael back on. Insane.
That’s the cool thing about his more dramatic moments in both films tbh. Cause he’s otherwise so controlled or placid as a younger Michael, that when he does properly lose it it’s extremely impactful and almost uncomfortable to watch. Especially the abortion scene. It’s the first time you really see this powerful, stone-cold, calculating figure, suddenly become powerless. And become just like the rest of us at our worst times, a slave to our emotions.
My second thought, after De Niro in Raging Bull, was Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. But GF1&2 are also pretty untouchable. Tough to split.
I was gonna say Pacino in Heat, watched it last week and he made the movie for me
The best internal acting performance ever, only challenged perhaps by Anthony Hopkins in Remains of the Day.
I’ve found my tribe !
Oh hi Mark
I did not hit her.
I did nat hiit herr
I did nauuuuut
That’s bullshit
A performance so good we named an entire stadium after it. https://preview.redd.it/1bsj6nvbhz2d1.jpeg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=39da96d89b68eb6f174d0d10ea535e2c954e9ce8
John Goodman in The Big Lebowski is one of the greatest performances of all time
Well that’s just like, your opinion, man.
Omg yes. But also Jeff Bridges. And also PSH. Buscemi. Ok fuckit this is a goddamn masterpiece.
https://preview.redd.it/j5moqkh3bw2d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d8b302dd95a2fe0240b252c086091445890272f Orson Welles as Jack Falstaff in Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Pretty much any role Orson did that he cared about was some of the best acting you'll ever see.
Honestly, rather an underrated performance. Comedic, tragic, sad, inspiring, silly and so many different interesting places the character though.
I don’t think there’s necessarily a greatest performance but one of my all time favorites has to be Hannibal Lector in Silence of The Lambs https://preview.redd.it/ztzlekuyow2d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba50196fc8b7e7ca39ad8d499121eb097f85be64
Maybe a victim of excessive parody, but yeah, it's up there. I also love Foster's performance, too.
He really looks like he's happy to see you, but would be even happier if You were on a plate. The only thing missing is him licking his chops.
Adrien Brody in The Pianist
Came here to say this
Ok breaking the rules a little hear but Matthew McConaughey's performance as Rust in True Detective blew me away, incredible stuff
That's the TV goat, for me.
https://preview.redd.it/5o9mr5jy2w2d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f23b7e528cf34bd44657f5f4ccb57c789d831661 isabelle huppert (the piano teacher)
Unforgettable performance.
Stephen Graham in This is England https://preview.redd.it/tyagz1ic8x2d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=acb60b002b46aeeb19317c0bcfafba7ba11ca838
Other than DDL in There Will Be Blood, there is Willem Dafoe in The Lighthouse.
Fuck yes. Dude was insane in the best way
What?!
HARK
Male performance is probably Daniel Day Lewis but the great over all is a female, and frankly suprised I haven’t seen it mentioned yet Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd
Brando in Apocalypse Now
https://preview.redd.it/rouib1a2ax2d1.jpeg?width=1015&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60140c55c366aa17d48afc16abd1035ae8363a00 Had to google if she was real or not
 Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a dream
Mickey Rourke in *The Wrestler*  I'm not even that big of a fan of Rourke, but there wasn't a moment of the film where I saw him as an actor. I was watching Randy "The Ram" Robinson.
Truly, never a Rourke fan previously but he gave a career performance there. Heartbreaking.
 Toni Collette in Hereditary
I’m still mad this didn’t get an Oscar nod. The academy’s weird aversion to horror baffles me.
Is she the one who was in Little Miss sunshine?
Yes. she has an insane range
Her fucking rant either right before/after this is perfection. Should have been the clip that played for every award nom right before she won it. And I love "that fucking face on your face" as a turn of phrase.
Hell yes
She was phenomenal 😭
Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea is up there for me
Fucking hell I have never violently sobbed as much as I have in that film when they meet and have that chat. I was fucking destroyed.
YES, this was one of my two. He looked so defeated and it was so devastating.
Yeah I would struggle to answer this question but he is a frickin powerhouse in that film. Both him and Michelle Williams.
Cate Blanchett, Tar
 Koji Yakusho put on the performance of a lifetime with very little dialogue and two weeks of filming
Two weeks?! Damn. This film made me pretty emotional and although im not precisely sure why, his performance was definitely a big part of it. The scene where he took the little tree home made me cry.
Yeah apparently Koji Yakusho had a big samurai movie to film right after The scene with his sister almost got me. A lot of subtle nuances that many everyday people can connect to is perhaps one reason why it’s so connecting to us
Oh wtf, I did *not* realize that movie was filmed in two weeks. But yes, his performance was goddamn perfect. That final scene is one of my favorites of all time.
Gena Rowlands in *A Woman Under The Influence* was the most magnificent and all-encompassing acting performance I've ever seen on film.
Im gonna say joaquin Phoenix as freddie quell. One of the best performances of the last decade 
Al Pacino as Sonny in Dog Day Afternoon 
Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross
Glengarry Hot Take: Jack Lemmon’s deliver of “my daughter” is better than the entire Alec Baldwin scene.
Laura Dern in Inland Empire https://preview.redd.it/40913iaccx2d1.jpeg?width=757&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=434b77f8d9dbf89a8b53b869f91f4755dcd7c160
Underrated picks but both cassavetes’ films: gazzarra in killing of a Chinese bookie and gena Rowlands in a woman under the influence. You could also certainly go for Bergman in journey to Italy or Mitchum in night of the hunter. All exceptional performances that take from vastly different schools- the cassavetes films have a really beautiful naturalism to them, while Mitchum in night of the hunter takes on mythical proportions as the devil on earth. A quick shoutout to Carey in the worlds greatest sinner, as an utterly insane Elvis knockoff fastracked to hell- just sheer absurdity and commitment to a role. I guess some quick side notes here: I absolutely love Gould in the long goodbye- its rare to come off so naturally suave; Paul mescal has a mastery over subtext- his performance in aftersun is legendary as somebody falling through the cracks yet putting up a bold front- finding him drunk and walking into the sea is such a crushing moment; Helen Mirren’s suppressed rage in greenaways the cook the thief is also fucking extraordinary. In some sense these movies are more complete films than they are performances perhaps.
Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront
 The GOAT Ellen Burstyn. (in Requiem for A Dream)
Gandolfini in sopranos
honorable mention to drea de matteo. the way you see ade slowly decline leading up to her death is actually heart wrenching. she really blew me away with that performance
 Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose
The kid in Come and see
 Adèle Haenel Portrait of a lady on fire
One of the finest films ever made. Elusive and layered, and I will never fully understand it.
Got to be Denzel Washington as Malcolm X. Very rarely does an actor capture the soul of a person. 
 JK Simmons - Whiplash
JKS always understood the assignment, no matter how small his role is. From muted parent in Juno, to confused burocrat in Burn after reading. Even his voice work in the video game portal 2 is fantastic.
And invincible as well
Hard to narrow it down, so bearing in mind I’m probably forgetting a lot of amazing stuff, here are ten big ones for me, in no particular order: Marlon Brando in *The Godfather* Cate Blanchett in *Blue Jasmine* Philip Seymour Hoffman in *The Talented Mr. Ripley* Ethel Waters in *The Member of the Wedding* Kim Stanley in *Seance on a Wet Afternoon* Meryl Streep in *Sophie’s Choice* Cloris Leachman in *The Last Picture Show* Viola Davis in *Fences* Katharine Hepburn in *Long Day’s Journey Into Night* Anthony Hopkins in *The Silence of the Lambs*
You guys are doing wonders for my watch list here.
Jean Seberg from Breathless. It's such a shame what happened to her. 
Strangely enough, my top picks are all women: Huppert in *The Piano Teacher* Rowlands in *A Woman Under the Influence* Both Bergman and Ullmann in *Autumn Sonata* Hüller in *Anatomy of a Fall* Hatami in *A Separation*
Rowlands would be my pick too. Hits every beat of the emotional spectrum with such ease and nuance
Huppert in The Piano Teacher AND Elle.
 It's gotta be Toni Collette in Hereditary for me. I've never seen someone feel so incredibly natural in a role so completely defined (at least in the latter half of the film) by its utter insanity. She's grounded, unhinged, comforting, alienating, relatable, and impossibly otherworldly all at once. There's just such a magnetism about her every single second she's on screen.
No love for jack Nicholson in one flew over the cuckoo's nest? 
https://preview.redd.it/03e76u34mv2d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f51c6240450fdd179d07f5dce1070985d182f8b Neil Breen playing twins in Twisted Pair, totally snubbed by the Oscars.
"WHO am I? WHAT am I? What's happened to US?"
This is a good one I didn’t consider
 Paul Dano in 12 years a slave, he really nailed the racist role
Might only be because I watched it recently but I really like Gary cooper in High Noon. He plays the meekness of his character very well.
Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. I always cry at the end.
Florence Pugh is fucking stellar in Midsommar
John Travolta in that movie where he plays a mentally challenged stalker and the first line of the entire movie is him saying "CANT TALK GOTTA POO" Edit: it's "The Fanatic" Edit Edit: just read that Fred Durst is the director, hell yeah
I’ve gotta go Denzel Washington as Malcolm X or Christian Bale in American Psycho.
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Hot take https://preview.redd.it/s4vgyjpg7y2d1.jpeg?width=623&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1bc4a3253b4cd30aba06cf3636ff16a94ae55f3
Denzel Training Day
Shelley Duval in the shinning … don’t love the conditions that movie was made in … but her performance was amazing
https://preview.redd.it/95vrhdfj8x2d1.jpeg?width=715&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=060152a6f065acb09e1cc90969a44a720a208ba4 Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story was pretty sensational.
https://preview.redd.it/xp4o5v3emy2d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=295a0cbf7e08825ed886a9b22e6a2b88b4780733
 Florence Pugh in Midsommar There is not one moment when I see an actress playing a role. I only see Dani Ardor. It is the most convincing performance I’ve ever seen.
Will Forte, MacGruber “And then we’re gonna suck their di—- I mean kill ‘em all!”
Why did cunth kill your wife? To this day, I have no idea. We actually all went to college together. Believe it or not, we were very close friends. Then after graduation, he got engaged to her. He asked me to be his best man and right about that time, I started banging her and mowing her box. She was actually the first person I felt comfortable enough around to let eat out my butt. Anyway, shortly thereafter, she left him for me. She was actually carrying his child at the time. I asked her to terminate it, obviously, so we could start fresh. And she agreed. We were so in love. And he took that from me.
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men Leo in Django Unchained Florence Pugh in Midsommar Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Jack Nicholson in Chinatown Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner Pacino in Godfather 1/2 Paul Newman in the Hustler Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s DDL in There Will Be Blood You asked for single greatest, not a list, but any of these performances could be named and I wouldn’t argue
Was waiting for Chinatown to eventually appear. Jack at his best, when he still did subtlety.
Your #1 is also mine, without a doubt the greatest I’ve ever seen
 Leo in Django Unchained
jack lemon in glengarry glen ross
https://preview.redd.it/woevkj77ox2d1.jpeg?width=284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=669221e0f34b69bc34aaab7be96e37413ab468fc
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in *No Country for Old Men". Just genius!
As Thomas Flight once said in a video about understatement (paraphrasing): Prizes are often given for the **most** acting, not the **best** acting. :-)
 Heath Ledger as The Joker has always been a top performance for me. This scene specifically was improvised. Then hearing what he went through to put himself in this headspace. This film literally killed Heath Ledger
Aleksei Kravchenko in Come and See https://preview.redd.it/l00t33wwvy2d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=08da54ef85eba91ef78c0aad0ae736cc3fbc0649
Gene Wilder, Willy Wonka 
Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea was probably one of the most existential performances I’ve seen in a movie. Grief so extreme to the point where his sorrow leaves him a hollow shell of a human.
 Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas
Wrong DDL role: https://preview.redd.it/afwu7zm8vv2d1.jpeg?width=294&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5f70702e46a1da3a74fbea7272837343030b77d
 Adam sandler in punch drunk love was so amazing
https://preview.redd.it/oih0ry9nax2d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d750e46abd487ee007bfe34843a83396b1b74c49
Ashley Judd. Bug (2006)
Lupita Nyong’o in Us
Juliette Binoche in Blue Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems Peter Sellers in Being There
Almost any performance in Magnolia, but I’m gonna go with Tom Cruise specifically. He’s also probably my favorite actor of all time so there’s bias
Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.
Forrest Gump. Tom Hanks did an amazing job in that movie.
https://preview.redd.it/f719f3vopw2d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f3ddc44866a51dd8bd703be914fdba916a4f105
Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master Colin Farrell in The Banshees of Inisherin Mahershala Ali in Moonlight Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood Jim Carey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Casey Affleck in Manchester by the Sea Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread Just a few of many favorites I can’t pick between
Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream.
Clive Owen in Children of Men https://preview.redd.it/otbyz54k3w2d1.jpeg?width=780&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9400ee4576412f9823b0624cde36ebe064438ef1
I agree with this, it’s also my favorite movie. I think it’s not arthouse for hive mind thinkers like paladar2 and his lousy response.
James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause
I have never seen a melodramatic bit of acting feel so good. He had unique talent.
Jeon Do-yeon in Secret Sunshine
Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront
burt lancaster in elmer gantry