The 10 Best Performances of the Last Decade

[Anderson]

1) Jackie Earle Haley "Little Children"
2) Clive Owen "Closer"
3) Tom Green "Freddy got Fingered"
4) Heath Ledger "The Dark Knight"
5) Alec Baldwin "The Departed"
6) Abigail Breslin "Little Miss Sunshine"
7) Daniel Day-Lewis "There Will Be Blood"
8) Tommy Lee Jones "No Country for Old Men"
9) Heath Ledger "Brokeback Mountain"
10) Leonardo DiCaprio "The Aviator"


That is all.

[BillyG]

Haven't seen 5 of those, the other 5 I think are pretty good choices.

[Abraham Smashington]

Fuck yeah to Tom Green. That whole movie is misunderstood.

[Jan]

Yay! Lists!

Love that Haley call. Truly a revelation.

But let me indulge in an alternative list in no particular order on top of my head:

Tom Hardy - Bronson
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds
Monica Bellucci - Irreversible
George Clooney - The American
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Brad Pitt - The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man
Michael Fassbender - Hunger
Tahar Rahim - A Prophet
Hye ja Kim - Mother

[Abraham Smashington]

I'll be taking this thread in a different direction later.

[Anderson]

Mine was a little more Oscar themed, since I was using the remnants of a list that didn't go up at GoldDerby.

But, the gist is there.

[Bobby Bear]

As great as 2, 4, 5, and 6 are, I don't know if I'd have them on the overall best list. Haven't seen 3 or 10, so I can't comment on those.

Agree on the Haley and Fassbender shouts, by the way.

I'd definitely have Hal Holbrook in there for Into the Wild though. And Thomas Turgoose for This is England.

[Lisa]

Motherfucking fucking board ate my fucking post. Fuck.

[Anderson]

As great as 2, 4, 5, and 6 are, I don't know if I'd have them on the overall best list. Haven't seen 3 or 10, so I can't comment on those.

Agree on the Haley and Fassbender shouts, by the way.

I'd definitely have Hal Holbrook in there for Into the Wild though. And Thomas Turgoose for This is England.

Holbrook was on the 2007 list, but it didn't really fit with what I was doing.

This is more of a me getting rid of shit that either didn't get published, finished or left out in limbo.

I've got a 37 gig folder full of this.

[Ben Thomas]

Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood

Sebastian Koch - The Lives of Others

Colin Farrell - In Bruges

Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream

Casey Affleck - Assassination of Jesse James

Meryl Streep - take your pick, really. Shout out to Manchurian Candidate and Doubt as standouts, but there's plenty to choose from.

Alfred Molina - An Education

Charlize Theron - Monster

Benicio del Toro - Che

Ed Harris - Gone Baby Gone

No particular order after Day-Lewis, but these are the ones that really moved and impressed me.

[PHEDG]

Saoirse Ronan - Atonement
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Casey Affleck - TAOJJBTCRF
Philip Seymour Hoffmann - Charlie Wilsons War
Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Tom Hanks - Cast Away
Daniel Day-Lewis - Gangs of New York
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Matt Damon - The Informant

[Bobby Bear]

Holbrook was on the 2007 list, but it didn't really fit with what I was doing....

I've got a 37 gig folder full of this.

Ah, gotcha. Well, this has been a great conversation-starter so far so I'd definitely be up for more threads in this sort of vein, if you're willing to keep 'em coming.

Just for the sake of clarity, I absolutely love Baldwin's performance in The Departed. Thinking about that alone is enough to make me want stick the Blu-ray on. I was just hung up on making a case for such a comparatively small role.

Really like that Harris inclusion, Ben. He's just so quietly brilliant while still delivering in a big way every time he's on screen.

The more I think about this, the more I want to throw Kevin Bacon's hat into the ring for Mystic River. Again, a performance with that "effortless" feel despite the obvious craft at work. And speaking of Clint-related matters, possibly Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby, too.

I'd love to read your thoughts on this Lisa, if you don't mind trying to re-post.

[Captain Russ]

And Thomas Turgoose for This is England.

That was devastating.

[Lisa]

I'd love to read your thoughts on this Lisa, if you don't mind trying to re-post.

Yeah, I'll try later, buddy. Right now I'm still so pissed that the post disappeared that I don't feel like it. But I probably will later!

[Ben Thomas]

Really like that Harris inclusion, Ben. He's just so quietly brilliant while still delivering in a big way every time he's on screen.

The more I think about this, the more I want to throw Kevin Bacon's hat into the ring for Mystic River

Harris has a lot of lifting to do in that film to make some of the ideas work and he hits every note perfectly.

Bacon is the best thing in Mystic River by a long shot, good shout.

And Thomas Turgoose for This is England.

Throw in Paddy Considine in Dead Man's Shoes while you're at it.