The greatest actor of the post baby boom generation
First Poll Results and accompanying thoughts
The results are in and Art Carney is the winner. How you people voted for a character from a television show from the 1950’s is beyond me, but… Oh wait. THAT Ed Norton, okay I got it. The guy from Primal Fear and Rounders, okay. Anyway, he is a valid choice. His performances in American History X and Primal Fear alone may garner him the nod as Best Actor of his generation. I am certain that he was not even considered for the Oscar for American History X simply because the old farts at the Academy think that he is young enough that he will have another chance. That seems to be the kind of twisted logic that they have used in the past. Instead they give it to Roberto Benigni for Life is Beautiful which about three people saw. I don’t want the Academy Awards to turn into an All American lovefest but there are clearly performances which merit attention and Norton’s in that movie is one of them. Come on, Nolte in Affliction, maybe, but Hanks, Benigni and McKellen weren’t in the same class as Norton last year. However, I suspect that he will be around for a long time simply because it seems that he is not afraid to take chances. Those are the performers who last.
Nicolas Cage finished runner up and I agree that he has given some good performances in his career (Raising Arizona comes immediately to mind). He just seems to have let the money go to his head recently and, as a result, does crap like 8MM. Just a personal opinion but that accent in Con Air was like Freddy Krueger on a chalkboard.
If Downey Jr. could get his head out of his ass and the spoon out of his nose he could be the greatest of them all. Sometimes when I watch his best performance, I actually believe he was channeling Chaplin. I am afraid that we will not see too many of those types of performances in the future until he can decide that the house in which he is sleeping is actually his own.
Some of the guys who did not receive very many votes which surprised me were Don Cheadle, Ben Stiller, and Vince Vaughn. There wasn’t a man in America in his twenties who didn’t go around saying "You’re so money baby!" after seeing Swingers. If you say you didn’t, you’re lying. Does everyone except me know that Guy Pearce is British? I like him more since I know that. He is suddenly better in L.A. Confidential now that I know that. There just seems to be something about a Brit doing an American accent that is good in an acting kind of way.
I think this poll thing can provide everyone with good fodder for arguments with their pals (work or otherwise) and just stimulate some thought. Our goal in these polls is for you to struggle with your decision. "Do I pick Matt Damon or Ben Affleck? They both kicked ass in Good Will Hunting and Dogma!" That kind of thing. I don’t pretend that this will be some incredible journey of self-discovery. It’s just a freaking diversion. So hop on and we’ll at least try to make it a fun ride. If you have suggestions for polls or just want to tell me what an idiot I am, email me at lawdogusc@hotmail.com and I will take all suggestions and answer all comments.
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