50. Ed Norton as
"Worm" in Rounders
He plays a great degenerate. Why I picked this supporting
role over his role in a movie like Primal
Fear? If you could watch Rounders or Primal Fear, who the hell would chose Primal Fear? Don't answer
that ladies.
49. Robert DeNiro as
"Jimmy Conway" in Goodfellas
This is one of DeNiro's most fun and imitated roles, but it
has also become one of those caricature type roles for him due to so much
imitation. There's a reason DeNiro
doesn't really play gangsters any more.
48. Josh Brolin as
"Llewlyn Moss" in No Country
For Old Men
There's nothing like the older kid from The Goonies becoming a great actor as an adult. This role was perfect for him.
47. Russell Crowe as
"Bud White" in L.A.
Russell Crowe, like many forms of art, was fantastic until
he became popular.
46. Joaquin Phoenix
as "Commodus" in Gladiator
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevil.
45. James Woods as
"Max" in Once Upon a Time in America
I'm a little disappointed with the way his film career has
dissipated. I've never seen him in any
role where he didn't make a film better, and that's saying something for
someone who usually plays characters you're supposed to hate.
44. Benecio Del Toro
as "Dr. Gonzo" in Fear and
Loathing in Las Vegas
When you make Hunter S. Thompson look like the rational
sober guy, you're pretty fucked up.
43. John Turturro as
"Pete" in O Brother, Where Art
Thou?
If I was to create a supporting actor Hall of Fame, Turturro
may be my first nomination. This is the
only time he'll appear on this list, but he also deserves credit for being
Jesus in The Big Lebowski (not big
enough of a part to be a supporting actor); Pino in Do the Right Thing; Bernie in Miller's
Crossing; Knish in Rounders; and
of course the special agent in the Transformer
series … okay, maybe not the last one.
42. Tim Robbins as
"Nick Laloosh" in Bull Durham
I've never done a fun-loving douchebag list, but this
character would be tops. What strikes me
as strange is that Tiger Woods cheats on his wife and the world crucifies him
but baseball players do it all the time and it's part of the persona.
41. Michael V. Gazzo
as "Frank Pantangeli" in The
Godfather Part II
It's probably not much of a stretch for an old Italian to
play the role of an old Italian, but it's impossible not to love Frankie and
his naturally hoarse voice.
40. Steven Bauer as
"Manny" in Scarface
He's acting is better than Pacino in this movie, but he's obviously
not as fun. If there was ever a
competition as to who could say "mang" the best, he'd probably
win.
39. John Cazale as
"Stan" in The Deer Hunter
As if this movie wasn’t depressing enough, Cazale was dying
of cancer while shooting this film. He
also deserves credit for "Fredo" in the Godfather movies, but I seriously have something like 5 characters
on this list from those two movies so I don't want them to dominate too
much.
38. Vince Vaughn as
"Trent
I'm pretty sure most men my age, and hell, even most women
have quoted Trent
37. Tom Cruise as
"TJ Mackey" in Magnolia
Cruise should team up with Paul Anderson more often. Cruise always plays roles that are supposed
to be cocky but likable characters, here he plays a cocky detestable character
that you sort of end up having an emotional attachment to. I don't think I've ever had an emotional attachment
to Cruise in a movie, in fact, I'm usually cheer against him.
36. Steve Buscemi as
"Carl Showalter" in Fargo
Here's another nominee for my Supporting Actor Hall of
Fame. Every time he has a conversation
with William H. Macy in this film it's immaculate.
35. Brad Pitt as
"Mickey" in Snatch
This may have been the Brad Pitt role that converted me from
being a hater. The difference between he
and say, Tom Cruise, is that he actually plays characters whereas Cruise plays
himself.
34. Harvey Kietel as
"The Wolf" in Pulp Fiction
His role may not have been that big, but when he's on this
screen it's a lot of fun. Of course,
almost this entire movie is a lot of fun.
33. Burt Reynolds as
"Jack Horner" in Boogie Nights
Before this film, Reynolds' career was pretty stagnant. Gone was the moustached guy from fast car
movies of the late 70s and early 80s. I
can't think of a better way for him to make a comeback than an adult movie
director, especially a classy one.
32. Mark Whalberg as
"Dingman" in The Departed
It's crazy that Markie Mark has found at least two great
roles (the other being Dirk Diggler) in his career.
31. James Caan as
"Sonny" in The Godfather
Caan isn't the greatest actor but he came to play in this
film. If he wasn't outshined by some of
the greatest actors ever here, he may have won an award and probably not had to
do that Rollerball movie.
30. Robert DeNiro as
"Johnny Boy" in Mean Streets
DeNiro played a punk better than any of his mafia roles
(aside from The Godfather Part 2). Of course, he was much younger then.
29. Paul Dano as
"Eli Sunday" in There Will Be
Blood
For someone who barely spoke a word and had a little bit of
a "Punch Him the Face Factor" going on in Little Miss Sunshine, he turned in a fantastic performance as the
evil preacher here.
28. Robin Williams as
"Sean Maguire" in Good Will
Hunting
For a film that's aged pretty poorly, Robin Williams'
performance is the only thing keeping it relevant, well, that and the funny
chowder accents.
27. Tommy Lee Jones
as "Deputy Garrard" in The
Fugitive
This is an example of a great movie that wouldn't be good at
all without his performance. After all,
who hasn't cornered someone over a huge dam and when they declared their
innocence you've stared them right in the face and said, "I don't
care!"
26. Pat Morita as
"Mr. Miyagi" in The Karate Kid
It's too bad the series never reached a point where LaRusso
turned evil and had to square off against Miyagi who proceeded to whoop his ass
and give a round of high fives to the Cobra Kai.
25. Lee J. Cobb as
"Juror #3" in 12 Angry Men
If you ever want to see my view of today's Republican, watch
his performance in this film.
24. William H. Macy
as "Jerry Lundergaard" in Fargo
Here's my third nomination for the Supporting Actor Hall of
Fame (in fact, I'll stop this Hall of Fame game now and just make a list at the
end of this list). Macy can play many
roles, but playing a weasel always seems to suit him best.
23. Burgess Meredith
as "Mickey" in Rocky
Whenever I picture a boxing trainer, I will always picture
Burgess Meredith. That's how iconic his
role in the Rocky films was.
22. Robert Downey Jr.
as "Kirk Lazarus" in Tropic
Thunder
When I was a kid, I saw an episode of Gimme a Break in which Joey Lawrence painted himself black at some
kind of talent show to try to fit in and the response on the show was as if
he'd killed the Ronald Reagan (not funny in front of Nel). Years later, in a much different context, the
idea of a white person making their skin black to play a character is
hysterical. You gotta love father
time. Hmm, time is a dad and nature is a
mother (cue sparkling sounds).
21. Ian McKellan as
"Gandolf" in The Lord of The
Rings
He deserves a high ranking simply for "YOU SHALL NOT
PASS!" Without Gandolf, we'd all be
living under the harsh conditions of that evil eye right now.
20. Alec Guiness as
"OB1-Kenobi" in Star Wars
If I ever wanted someone to give me an inspirational speech
as I prepare for the after-life, it's either OB1 or Gandolf.
19. Christoph Waltz
as "The Jew Hunter" in Inglorious
Basterds
Never have I been so impressed with a man's pipe (ha – ha –
ha – ha). Well, aside from the glass
ones some of my Phish-head friends may have carried in the 90s. Remember that hippie that had that glass
blown pipe shaped like a dragon? Did
everyone know someone like that?
18. Benicio Del Toro
as "Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez" in Traffic
This makes two for Del Toro and I didn't include his roll as
Freddy Four Fingers from Snatch. I was pissed when he died because he wouldn’t
be in that movie anymore. It's like, say
they killed Bill the Butcher in the opening scene of Gangs of New York and we were left with Liam Neeson the whole
time. That would suck.
17. Danny Aiello as
"Sal" in Do the Right Thing
He's incredible in the role of the pizzeria owner. It's his right to put whoever he wants on his
walls, but he learned as many have, that white people should just never ever
say the "N" word. It's really
not that hard, and would it have killed him to put Mookie Wilson on the wall?
16. Gary
I don't like Gary Sinise because he's really not that good
of an actor but was fortunate enough to get this role, and nail it. I do love Lt. Dan … but you ain't go no legs Lt. Dan!
15. Christopher
Walken as "Nick" in The Deer
Hunter
He may have turned into a comedian in his later years, but
in the late 70s, he was one hell of an actor.
Two people from this film make this list which means I probably should watch
it again. I'm not even counting Meryl
Streep. In fact, there are no women on
my list which is probably either really sexist or because I'm doing a different
list for actresses in the future. You
decide.
14. Robert Duvall as
"Tom Haggen" in The Godfather
Parts 1 & 2
It's too bad he wasn't blood because he really would've made
the best Don after Vito died because it was all business with him and never
personal, but he never was a war time consigliere though, and that was my first
time ever spelling "consigliere" correctly even though Microsoft Word
is telling me otherwise. +3 for me for
using three conjunctions in one sentence whether that sentence is good or
not.
13. Joe Pesci as
"Joey" in Raging Bull
A perfect recipe for a movie is Scorsese directing a buddy
picture with Pesci and DeNiro. I can't
believe one hasn't been made since 1995 with the way movies are today (wow,
what a grumpy old man moment that was).
How about a new movie with this combination and make a rival villain
Daniel Day-Lewis? It'd probably suck
somehow but would be loads of fun.
12. John Goodman as
"Walter Sobchak" in The Big
Lebowski
Granted everyone in this movie is a character of some sorts,
but it's Walter that keeps this story rolling along, or however you’d deem the
pace of this movie going forward.
11. Al Pacino as
"Michael Corleone" in The
Godfather
Pacino is fantastic in this one, especially when he's still
innocent and peaks when he gives his "I'll kill'em both" speech. He may be lead here though, and someone may
not like that.
10. Karl Malden as
"Father Barry" in On the
Waterfront
He's my first "favorite supporting actor" with his
roles in this one and of course, A
Streetcar Named Desire.
9. Alec Guiness as
”Prince Faisel" in Lawrence of Arabia
Yes, it's slow, but the highlights of this movie include
every time he's on screen.
8. Javier Bardem as
"Anton Chighur" in No Country
For Old Men
He barely talks but when he does he spouts a beautiful
psychotic wisdom. I've never seen him in
any other movie though, which I find strange because when I see him, all I see
is this psychotic character. It's kind
of like when I see Jason Alexander all I see is "Costanza."
7. Steve Buscemi as
"Mr. Pink" in Reservoir Dogs
I didn't know who any of these actors were when I saw this
movie. As much as I love Harvey Kietel,
who's more of a lead actor in this one, and Mr. Blonde, who's the comic relief,
Mr. Pink is the biggest bright spot in a movie full of them.
6. R. Lee Ermey as
"Sgt. Hartman" in Full Metal
Jacket
It's true to a degree that the training camp portion of this
film is an A+, whereas the rest of the movie pales in comparison. I love the second half, but Ermey's
performance is so wonderful it'd be hard for just about any film to reach that
peak. How many drill sergeants in other
stories are modeled after this guy?
5. Heath Ledger as
"The Joker" in The Dark Knight
Two people I've talked about way too much on my blog or
maybe just in real life are this character and those famous two played by
Daniel Day-Lewis. What's left to say? How about … Top 5 Lines said by The Joker in The Dark Knight
5.
Scar Story #2: "Come here. Hey! Look at me. So I had a wife,
beautiful, like you, who tells me I worry too much. Who tells me I ought to smile
more. Who gambles and gets in deep with the sharks... Look at me! One day, they
carve her face. And we have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just
want to see her smile again, hm? I just want her to know that I don't care
about the scars. So... I stick a razor in my mouth and do this to myself. And
you know what? She can't stand the sight of me! She leaves. Now I see the funny
side. Now I'm always smiling!"
4. " If, tomorrow, I tell the
press that, like, a gang banger will get shot, or a truckload of soldiers will
be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all "part of the plan." But
when I say that one little old mayor will die, well then everyone loses their
minds!"
3.
"You see, madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a
little push!"
2.
"Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
1.
Scar Story #1: "Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was...
a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy
gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn't like that. Not-one-bit. So
- me watching - he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it! Turns to
me, and he says, "why so serious, son?" Comes at me with the knife...
"Why so serious?" He sticks the blade in my mouth... "Let's put
a smile on that face!""
4. Robert DeNiro as
"Vito Corleone" in The
Godfather Part II
Instead of The
Godfather Part III, something that would've been great, maybe in the late
70s or early 80s would've been a Godfather
prequel. Pick up DeNiro's
"Vito" character as he rises to power and let him dominate for a
movie, rather than get shot several times in the back and lay in a bed most of
the film. Obviously if this was done today
it'd be pretty bad.
3. Marlon Brando as
"General Kurtz" in Apocalypse
Now
Though I usually fall asleep before he appears in the movie,
it's a new level of fun when he does, well, except the cow slaughtering. It's funny, of all the violent stuff that
happens in this film, it's the cow slaughtering that's too much for me. By the late 70s though, "supporting
actor" was the best way to use a suddenly aging Brando.
2. Joe Pesci as
"Tommy" in Goodfellas
Obviously, the clown speech is the highlight so …
Henry: You're a pistol!
You're really funny. You're really funny!
Tommy: What do you
mean I'm funny?
Henry: It's funny,
you know. It's a good story, it's funny, you're a funny guy!
Tommy: [dangerously]
What do you mean? You mean the way I talk?
[Everyone becomes quiet]
Henry: It's just, you
know, you're just funny. It's funny, the way you tell the story and everything.
Tommy: Funny how?
What's funny about it?
Anthony: Tommy, no,
you got it all wrong —
Tommy: Oh, no,
Anthony. He's a big boy, he knows what he said. [to Henry] What did ya
say? Funny how?
Henry: Just —
Tommy: What?
Henry: Just, ya know,
you're funny.
Tommy: You mean, let
me understand this, 'cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up
maybe, but I'm funny how? I mean funny like I'm a clown? I amuse you? I
make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny? Funny
how? How am I funny?
Henry: Just... you
know, how you tell the story, y'know —
Tommy: No, no, I don't
know. You said it! How do I know? You said I'm funny. How the fuck am I
funny? What the fuck is so funny about me?! Tell me, tell
me what's funny!
[Long pause]
Henry: Get the fuck
out of here, Tommy!
[Everyone laughs]
Tommy: Ya
motherfucker! I almost had him, I almost had him! You stuttering prick,
you! Frankie, was he shaking? I wonder about you sometimes, Henry. You may fold
under questioning.
1. Robert Duvall as "Lt. Col.
Bill Kilgore" in Apocalypse Now
The four things that need to come into place for a great supporting
acting performance are great acting, fun characters, phenomenal lines, and it
really helps to appear in a classic movie.
If you review this list, pretty much every character adheres to this
formula. The Granddaddy of them all is
Duvall. Though he's been great sometimes
as a lead actor, (that one movie where he killed that guy with a baseball bat …
The Apostle … was pretty good for
instance) he's better when someone else is taking the lead, even if he's a much
better actor than that person, as he is much better than Martin Sheen in this,
hell, he's even better than Brando in this one.
If there indeed was a "Best Supporting Actor Hall of Fame",
he'd be the best nominee and it may as well named after him.
Here's the first 10 people I'd put in order of their relevance:
Lee J. Cobb
Karl Malden
Alec Guiness
Robert Duvall
Joe Pesci
John Turturro
Steve Buscemi
Philip Seymour Hoffman (even though he didn't qualify for
this list)
William H. Macy
Benicio Del Toro
The absence of Thomas Mitchell in multiple choice roles is indefensible.
ReplyDeleteAs is Charles Laughton as Quasimodo
ReplyDeleteAs is Charles Laughton as Quasimodo
ReplyDelete