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tjb2 wins! tjb2 beat double_agent 8 to 6
Daniel Day-Lewis is the best actor of all time, over even Marlon Brando.
double_agent said
The facts and opinions are against everyone else: he has starred in eight major roles, was nominated for an Academy Award four of those times, and won twice. Those stats are unequable. He was a shoo-in this year at the Oscars, and George Clooney even said that the entire acting world looked up to him as a "brilliiant mad scientist." His career hasn't ended yet, but I'm sure he's got a ways to go and even higher heights to reach.
tjb2 said
There is no denying the fact that Daniel Day-Lewis is a magnificent actor, and his brilliant performance in "There Will Be Blood" will be remembered for years to come. However, I don't think you can definitively say that he is the best actor of all time. In order for that to be true, he would have to be better than Pacino, Brando, DeNiro, Nicholson, Washington, Poitier, O'Toole, Freeman, and Penn, and I do not think that is the case. Another thing going against Day-Lewis being the greatest of all time is the fact that he only appears in a movie once every five years. Granted, I don't think he has ever given a poor performance, but there are other great actors who give great performances on a more consistent basis because they star in movies more frequently.
Clooney is right: Daniel Day-Lewis is indeed a brilliant mad scientist. I just don't think he is the best we have ever seen.
double_agent said
True; the actors you listed are among the very greatest, but many have had their hits and misses (i.e. Sean Penn, All the King's Men: Morgan Freeman, The Sum of All Fears, etc.). The great thing about Daniel Day-Lewis is that he's so particularly careful about choosing his roles, and he never wastes one of them. The fault in starring in more movies is that the roles the actors sometimes choose are mediocre. I don't think we can doubt that Daniel Day-Lewis is far beyond most, if not all actors, and his performances, though so little in number, are among the best this world has ever seen. Consistently.
tjb2 said
True, but I don't think you could say that he has been more consistent than the likes of Pacino, DeNiro, and Brando. The reason Day-Lewis has never given a below-average performance is because he makes movies so infrequently. I agree that the actors I listed have occasionally appeared in mediocre films, but the mark of a great actor is being able to give a great performance in a sub-par film. "All the King's Men" and "The Sum of All Fears" are easily forgettable, but Sean Penn and Morgan Freeman are
double_agent said
It's because he's so choosy that makes him so extraordinary: he takes the best roles rather than giving into something like Insomnia (Pacino) or Man of La Mancha (O'Toole) so he can get paid. He is beyond that. He treats acting as it is: a priviledge that should be used for art and for the benefit of others rather than for him, or a studio. For art, he steps into a character's shoes and becomes that person completely. I agree that Brando was an exceptional actor, but if you take him out of the equation, Day-Lewis wins. Even if you don't, it's a great debate for the masses: Brando or Day-Lewis? In my book, Daniel Day-Lewis trumps them all.
tjb2 said
I'll close by saying this: Being choosy isn't always a good thing. I think it's more impressive when great actors give great performances in great movies yearly, rather than every five or six years. For example, in the 70's, Al Pacino turned in amazing work in classic films such as "The Godfather", "The Godfather: Part II", "Serpico", and "Dog Day Afternoon". That's four great films in one decade. Day-Lewis is brilliant, and when all is said and done he will go down as one of the best actors ever. The best ever, however, is an exaggeration.
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Comments
jet88 03/09/08
Day-Lewis is truly an awe inspiring actor, but truthfully I think that he really hasnt done that many movies to prove that he is the best of all time. While in his few he has made he is phenominal in them, I really think ne needs to do more. But without a doubt he is one of the best actors ever, just not the singular greatest of all time.
HoneyBunny 03/10/08
Are you kidding me?
Brando was the greatest in his prime! Streetcar Named Desire, Guys & Dolls, Mutiny On The Bounty, Apocalypse Now, One Eyed Jacks, Sayonara, The Godfather..
Brando did westerns, comedies,dramas, and musicals. He was versatile and sexy and cool. He even did Shakespeare.
I do love Daniel Day-Lewis. But this year he did a great performance
(I guess, I didn't see the movie) in a movie year that was weak. He didn't seem to have that much competition up there. Actually Daniel suffers because he is acting during an era of decline in the film industry. Watching Daniel act against Leonardo DiCaprio was painful in Gangs of New York.
Brando acted during film's heyday with some of the greats- Nicholson, Pacino, Redford- all other Oscar winners themselves
The Counteragent 03/10/08
I'd venture to say that in his short life James Dean was better than Daniel Day Lewis. However, double_agent, you really just lost my vote with bringing Brando into it. Brando trumps all.
demetrithegreek 03/11/08
Sorry, Brando doesn't trump anything because after Godfather 2 he just started playing Brando in everything. Daniel Day Lewis is the only guy that has never played the same character twice or resorted to just playing himself.
dchilaw 03/11/08
I think Day-Lewis definitely needs to be in the conversation as best actors ever, but the fact that he is so selective actually hurts him. He has really only made 8 movies, and there has been a big gap between each one. What we do know is that when given great material, he rises to the occasion. However, how much of his greatness is based on the material, and how much is just based on the fact that he works so rarely? One of the best ever? Definitely. Best of all time? I don't think so.
Gob316 03/12/08
Are you sure, demetrithegreek? Because I could have sworn that Bill "The Butcher" was the leading role in "There Will Be Blood" for the first 15 minutes until he announced that he had changed his name to Daniel Planview...
RobGrizzly 03/15/08
One very important element to making an actor great is his ability to Open a movie. Day-Lewis can't do that. No one saw There Will Be Blood, or The Boxer, or In the Name of the Father, etc etc.
It's not just about skill, it's about appeal.
People will go see DeNiro, Pacino, Washington and the like, based on name alone. they are all gonna be legends, and they can all bring in an audinece
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