My Top 10 Greatest Living Actors

In my opinion, These are the 10 best living actors...

Honorable Mentions: Kevin Spacey, Clint Eastwood, Edward Norton, Johnny Depp, Don Cheadle.

10. Tim Robbins- Actor 2nd, Director/Writer/Producer 1st. Tim Robbins star of the 1994 movie Shawshank Redemption(my favorite movie of all time) has played some great characters in his life. He co-starred in the hit movie "Bull Durham" and even won a best supporting Oscar for his captivating role in Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River".

9. Will Smith- The "Bad Boy" of this list(no pun intended) is an actor who can literally play any role. He started off in the hit show "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" and was known as a comedic actor. But in the last 10 years we have all seen the serious side of him. He gave an Oscar worthy performance in "Ali" and was outstanding in "The Legend of Bagger Vance" and "I am Legend".

8. Robert Deniro: This legendary Actor to say the least has played his fair share of memorable characters. A veteran of the sport, Deniro has won 2 acting Oscars. The first was a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in The Godfather Part II and the 2nd a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of "Jake La Motta" in the 1980, Martin Scorscese film "Raging Bull". If that wasn't enough, Robert Deniro has also been nominated 4 other times for his roles in "Taxi Driver", "The Deer Hunter", "Awakenings", and "Cape Fear".

7. Russell Crowe: The "Gladiator of movies". He dices up the acting competition with his amazing indulgence in his roles and his love for the characters he portrays. Russell Crowe in 2000 received his first nomination from The Academy for his role in the suspenseful movie "The Insider"(also nominated for best picture, also starring Al Pacino), The next year, Crowe won the best acting Oscar for his role of Maximus in the 2001 best picture winning movie "Gladiator". And if that wasn't enough, Crowe was once again recognized in 2002 for his performance in the best picture winning movie movie "A Beautiful Mind".

6. Leonardo DiCaprio: Though he has never won any acting Oscars, Leonardo Dicaprio has not gone without his glory. One of the greatest leading men in film today, set to star in Martin Scorsese's upcoming film "Shutter Island", to me has been in the most memorable movies in the last 15 years than anyone else on this list. He was nominated for best supporting actor, in one of his earliest roles, in "Whats Eating Gilbert Grape" and was nominated twice more this time for best actor. "The Aviator" and "Blood Diamond", Dicaprio gave amazing, spellbinding performances. And you might have recognized him in the highest grossing movie of all time "Titanic".

5. Tom Hanks: No stranger to being called one of film's best actor's. Tom Hanks, the last person to win back to back best acting Oscars(1994-Philadelphia,1995-Forrest Gump), has been in many monumental movies as well as gave top notch performances. In 1989 he was nominated for his performance in "Big" and in 1999 and 2001 was nominated for his roles in "Saving Private Ryan", and "Cast Away".

4. Morgan Freeman: The underrated and under appreciated Morgan Freeman has slipped through the cracks when it comes to being recognized by the Academy but doesn't do the same when being recognized by me. He finally won an Oscar for his role in 2005's best picture winner "Million Dollar Baby". and was nominated for his role in "Shawshank Redemption", and "Driving Miss Daisy". But to me, he has had many more Oscar-worthy performances. His performance in "Gone Baby Gone", "Se7en", and "Unforgiven" all deserved at least some sort of stir.

3. Brad Pitt: There isn't much you can knock about Brad Pitt. He has good looks, fantastic presence and a sense for picking the right movie to show off his talent. Another actor who deserves more recognition by the academy, but it doesn't seem to matter to him because most movie-goers are in love with his acting. He was nominated for his role in last years "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"(my 2nd favorite movie of the year), and for his role in "12 monkeys". You have also seen him in "Burn after Reading", "The Oceans Trilogy", "Troy", "Snatch"(deserved nomination), Se7en, and Fight Club(deserved nomination).

2. Sean Penn- Sean Penn, who I feel purposely takes roles that challenge him and entertain the possibility of Oscar nomination, is an actor that plays very diverse characters. He won the Best Actor Oscar last year for his portrayal of a gay politician in "Milk" and has also played a mentally challenged man in "I Am Sam"(nominated for best actor). He also won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" and was also nominated for his performance in "Dead Man Walking". He is an incredible actor with an abundance of raw emotion and feelings and deserves to be number 2 on my list.

1. Al Pacino- Anyone that knows me, knows that Al Pacino is my favorite Actor. This man is a legend in the game and is definitely the most charismatic, sensitive, hard-ass, intelligent actors of our time. I have never watched a bad movie with him in it and every time I watch him, I am totally and completely in tune with his performance. To me, he gave the most memorable performance ever in any movie when he played Tony Montana in "Scarface". Controversial at the time, Scarface has become a cult phenomena and a movie where memorable quotes fly off of. He finally broke his streak of Oscar snub after Oscar snub when he won best actor for his role in "Scent of A Woman". Here he played a blind, retired, army Sergeant who was going down a path of no return, but with the help of his new aid, found happiness. He was also nominated for his acting roles in "The Godfather", "Serpico", "The Godfather Part II", "Dog Day Afternoon", "And Justice For All", "Dick Tracy", and "Glengarry Glen Ross". Other roles he deserved a nomination in were, "Scarface", "The Godfather Part III", "Donnie Brasco", "Carlito's Way", "Any Given Sunday" and "The Insider". In my eyes no one alive today has accomplished the things Mr.Pacino has and therefore is my pick for The Greatest Living Actor.

Inglourious Basterds Preview...My Early Pick For Movie of The Summer

To me the most anticipated movie of the summer. Legendary Director Quintin Tarintino is up to his controversial antics once again in his upcoming movie Inglourious Basterds.

Starring Brad Pitt, Inglourious Basterds takes place During World War II. A group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers.

What I hear from early screenings of this movie is that it is sure to blow you right out of the water. It is said to be of "beautiful cinematic achievements" and will strike you speechless. Quentin Tarintino is known for his outlandish and "wow" moments in filmamking and I'm sure that this movie will not disappoint. If all else fails I'm sure 2 hrs of Nazi's dying will not disappoint.

Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred Nazi scalps... and I want my scalps!

First Review...G.I Joe: Rise of The Cobra

So my first review is going to be a tricky one because as I left the theatre I couldn't help feeling perplexed by what I just saw. G.I Joe, In a summer filled with over the top blockbusters and movies that didn't quite hit the mark, had it's moments and in all was a good movie. It was filled with adrenaline pumping, fast action from start to finish. The fight scenes were very well choreographed(yet a little over the top) and the plot was well structured from start to finish. Now lets get to some of the bad. The acting performances were sub par, Channing Tatum(Duke), the star of the movie's acting was fairly atrocious and I almost never believed he was right to fit the lead role in this film. At times the acting by all seemed overly cheesy and was layed on in thick amounts. But I most say a strong supporting cast of Dennis Quaid, Sienna Miller, and Marlon Wayans(Who I feel gave the funniest and most under-appreciated performance of the film) did not hurt. Another beef I had with this film was the terrible CGI effects. With a budget of $170 million dollars, I often wondered what the money was spent on. They were to say the least, glossy and overdone and is to me compared to a cheap version of Transformers 2. Some other things I liked about this movie was that there were no loose ends left untied and the character development was very well done. It seemed like every character was in the movie for a reason and in some way was detrimental to the plot development. In all, I feel that if you can get over the cheesy acting and sub par special effects your in for a real treat here. I left the cinema with a smile on my face. And when it comes to summer flicks like this, that's all that really matters.

A Zach O'Donnell Recommendation


3.5 out of 5 stars