100 Greatest Performances of All Time

The April 2006 issue of Premiere Magazine rated the 100 Greatest Performances of all time. I've been meaning to discuss this for the past month and keep forgetting.

I agreed with many of their responses, disagreed with others. Some thoughts...

I disagree with MANY of their picks:
* Very much DISagree with their #1 pick - Peter O'Toole as Laurence of Arabia. What an overly exaggerated performance in an utterly boring movie.
* Marlon in Waterfront (#2). Liked the movie, but it was in spite of Marlon.
* Bette Davis in All About Eve (35). Exaggerated performance.
* Humphrey Bogart in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (#24). Bogie was a terrible actor who made some good movies (sort of like Nicolas Cage today).
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote (#35). No way. NOT an all-time performance.
* James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause (#43). Nah. He sucked.

I agree with many of their picks:
* Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon (#4). I wouldn't have put it in the top 10, but he is certainly deserving.
* Tom Hanks in Big (#15). Great performance - his best, imo.
* Cary Grant in Notorious (#16). Great choice. Ingrid, too.
* Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands (#22). I wouldn't have placed it this high, but he was fantastic.
* Russell Crowe in The Insider (#23). Such a Terrific role - but not as great as Russell in A Beautiful Mind (which is my #2).
* Peter Sellers in Being There (#29). This makes my top 10.
* Buster Keaton in The General (#34). Absolutely yes. Hysterical.
* Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (#36). Definitely, and she was even better in Network.
* Nicole Kidman in To Die For (#40). Absolutely agree - the only extremely good thing she's done.
* Robert DeNiro in Taxi Driver (#42). You talkin' to me??
* Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (#47). Completely agree.
* Bill Murray in Groundhog Day (#48 ). Yay!
* Sidney Poitier in In The Heat Of The Night (#55). Yep. Steiger got the Oscar (and deserved it), but both performances were outstanding.
* Sigourney Weaver in Aliens (#58 ). Yay!
* Ralph Fiennes in Schindler's List (#61). The ultimate bad guy. In this role, only.
* Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (#69). I can't believe this is so low - it's a top 20 performance.
* Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs (#70). Obviously.
* Anjelica Huston in The Grifters (#84). I'm proud of myself. This is my #1 all-time favorite performance, and I thought it was too obscure to make any list. Even though it's low on their list, I was pleased that I picked one that is generally seen as a quality performance.
* Christopher Walken in Deer Hunter (#88 ). Oh my word, YES. YIKES.

I've spent hours gathering my top 100, and this is a very difficult list to create. Many times, I respect the performance a ton, but don't really care for the movie (e.g., Godfather I & II). Others, I realize I love the movie in spite of the performances (e.g., Ladyhawke). Here's the list...

100. Michelle Pfeiffer (The Fabulous Baker Boys)
99. Sam Rockwell (Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind)
98. Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption)
97. Tom Hanks (Castaway)
96. John Travolta (Pulp Fiction)
95. William Holden (Bridge On The River Kwai)
94. Aaron Eckhart (Thank You For Smoking)
93. Katherine Hepburn (On Golden Pond)
92. Jim Carrey (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective)
91. Al Pacino (Godfather II)
90. Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction)
89. Mark Wahlburg (Boogie Nights)
88. Mandy Patinkin (The Princess Bride)
87. Forest Whitaker (Last King of Scotland, The)
86. Bruce Willis (Die Hard)
85. Jack Nicholson (Batman)
84. Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange)
83. Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry)
82. Richard Dreyfus (Close Encounters Of The Third Kind)
81. Al Pacino (Dog Day Afternoon)
80. Tea Leoni (Deep Impact)
79. Melanie Griffith (Working Girl)
78. Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid)
77. Goldie Hawn (Overboard)
76. Ed Norton (Primal Fear)
75. Al Pacino (Serpico)
74. Meryl Streep (Sophie's Choice)
73. Robert DeNiro (Godfather II)
72. Ralph Fiennes (Schindler's List)
71. Gene Hackman (The French Connection)
70. Donald Sutherland (M*A*S*H)
69. Gregory Peck (To Kill A Mockingbird)
68. Marlene Dietrich (Witness for the Prosecution)
67. Cary Grant (Notorious)
66. Diane Lane (Unfaithful)
65. Johnny Depp (Edward Scissorhands)
64. Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets)
63. Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking)
62. Jimmy Stewart (Harvey)
61. Faye Dunaway (Chinatown)
60. Meg Ryan (When Harry Met Sally)
59. William Holden (Sunset Boulevard)
58. Nick Nolte (Lorenzo's Oil)
57. Sandy Dennis (Out of Towners)
56. Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade)
55. Andy Garcia (Night Falls On Manhattan)
54. Patricia Clarkson (The Station Agent)
53. Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption)
52. Kathleen Turner (Body Heat)
51. Kevin Spacey (Usual Suspects)
50. Jack Nicholson (The Shining)
49. Gene Wilder (Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory)
48. Robert DeNiro (Awakenings)
47. Rod Steiger (In The Heat Of The Night)
46. Harrison Ford (Raiders Of The Lost Ark)
45. Michelle Pfeifer (Frankie & Johnny)
44. Peter Finch (Network)
43. Bette Davis (What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?)
42. Alec Guiness (Bridge On The River Kwai)
41. Elizabeth Taylor (Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?)
40. Sigourney Weaver (Aliens)
39. Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid)
38. Russell Crowe (The Insider)
37. Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men)
36. Will Farrell (Elf)
35. Julie Haggerty (Lost In America)
34. Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs)
33. Hillary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
32. Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man)
31. Annette Bening (The American President)
30. Sidney Poitier (In The Heat Of The Night)
29. Angela Lansbury (The Manchurian Candidate)
28. Matthew Broderick (Ferris Beuller)
27. Ruth Gordon (Harold & Maude)
26. Jack Nicholson (Chinatown)
25. Joan Crawford (What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?)
24. Charlize Theron (Monster)
23. Peter Sellers (Dr. Strangelove)
22. Faye Dunaway (Network)
21. Nicole Kidman (To Die For)
20. Bill Murray (Groundhog Day)
19. Buster Keaton (The General)
18. Robert DeNiro (Taxi Driver)
17. Ingrid Bergman (Notorious)
16. Jack Nicholson (One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest)
15. Tom Hanks (Big)
14. Gloria Swanson (Sunset Boulevard)
13. Christopher Walken (Deer Hunter)
12. Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman)
11. Andy Garcia (When A Man Loves A Woman)
10. Joan Cusack (Toys)
9. Paul Newman (Cool Hand Luke)
8. Mary Tyler Moore (Ordinary People)
7. Frances McDormand (Fargo)
6. Denzel Washington (Glory)
5. Peter Sellers (Being There)
4. Meryl Streep (Kramer vs. Kramer)
3. Paul Scofield (A Man For All Seasons)
2. Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind)

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... and the best performance of all time...
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1. Anjelica Huston (The Grifters)