Which film, in your opinion, showcases an actor at their best?

Nicholas Cage in Raising Arizona. I dislike Cage's acting and I don't like any of his other films that I've seen, but Raising Arizona is one of my top five favorite movies and that's largely because of Cage.

Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. Just a few minutes of screentime, legendary delivery of his lines.

In Bruges really made me change how i thought of Colin Ferrell. Before watching it I didn’t really care for him, he always seemed to have a hammy role in hammy action movies. In Bruges definitely showed he had some real comedic chops and dramatic range. 

I think Leonardo DiCaprio was phenomenal in Blood Diamond.

Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems. Brilliant performance in an amazing movie… even if watching it is like having a 2 hour panic attack.

Raul Julia as M.Bison in “Street Fighter”. And I’m not stating this out of pity because he passed, no one could’ve carried that movie like he did.

I usually cannot stand Tom Cruise as an actor or generally as a person, but absolutely thought he was brilliant in Tropic Thunder and (I’m probably one in only a handful of people with this next one) as Lestat in Interview With A Vampire

"Spotlight" is probably the best acting performance for a handful of people in that movie, but specifically I'm thinking Rachel McAdams'

Ben Kingsley in Gandhi (1982)

Christian Bale in the Machinist

Gary Oldman in Leon the Professional Natalie Portman in V is for Vandetta Heath Ledger in Dark Knight

Charlize Theron in Monster

Stallone in Copland.

- Sally Field in Lincoln [The scene where she begs that her son not be permitted to enlist - wow] - Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln [Absolutely riveting throughout the whole movie] - Liam Neeson - Schindler's List [that end of war leaving scene made me cry] - Clint Eastwood - Unforgiven - Gene Hackman - Unforgiven - Denzel Washington - Man on Fire

Not a movie, but shows. But Bryan Cranston going from Malcom in the middle to breaking bad was crazy to me! He played both characters which were total opposites really well!

Anthony Hopkins in The Father

O Brother Where Art Thou is peak George Clooney. He’s the handsome hero but also (and mostly) a buffoon and weasel who thinks he’s brilliant. It’s such a great part and the whole ensemble is perfection

Hugh Jackman in The Prestige. Robert Angier is a tragic character, often thought of as the villain, but really he's just a broken man whom only has his tricks left, but giving what he has over to true magic is a deal with death and sooner or later, it ruins him. Jackman's portrayal is a powerful depiction of a man who loses everything and then comes face to face with his own mortality, and with his own demons. You can see it in his eyes that somewhere along the line, has a very sobering, very gradual revelation that he has truly lost himself and the man he was.

Tom Green in Freddy Got Fingered

Tom Cruise - Magnolia

Forest Whitaker in the last king of Scotland 

Gena Rowlands in A Woman Under the Influence (1974). Cassavetes basically built the film around watching her fall apart and reassemble in real time. There's a dinner table scene where she's trying so hard to hold it together for her husband's coworkers and you can see every single thing happening behind her eyes simultaneously. No other performance has made me feel like I was intruding on something private the way that one does.

Robin Williams one hour photo

Tom Cruise in Collateral.

Bruce campbell in bubba ho teph. He is my favourite actor of all time , and the idea of this movie is soooo out there that most people probably haven't watched it but his acting and dialogue is brilliant.

Hugh Jackman - Prisoners Samuel Jackson - Pulp Fiction Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds Toni Collette - Hereditary Val Kilmer - Tombstone Ian McKellen - LotR FotR Everyone in Boogie Nights

Al Pacino - Dog Day Afternoon Al has so many brilliant performances, but everything I love about him is wrapped up in Sonny. He’s electric, a live wire. …yet also vulnerable, decent, and funny.  It’s one of the greatest performances ever  I’ll also mention Scarecrow, which is a completely different role for him.  Al’s character, Lion, is this gentle, goofy, naive soul who worms his way into gruff Max’s (Gene Hackman ) heart - and he suffers a trauma that is unbelievably harrowing.   Afterwards, something in him had died, that bouncy, silly guy wasn’t really there anymore…the light had completely gone out of his eyes.  It’s then compounded on later, and it’s just beyond devastating. Al’s portrayal of a men who is completely broken is shattering and soul-crushing 

Humphrey Bogart in The Caine Mutiny Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits John Wayne in Red River Elvis Presley in King Creole

I was impressed with Leto in Dallas Buyers Club The movie was fantastic overall but it came to life with him.

Bruce Almighty

Jeff Bridges in the Big Lebowski

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Some of the best acting in history in my opinion.

Honestly, for me its robert pattinson in the lighthouse… its kinda raw and unsettling but also weirdly human. like u can see every little crack in how he feels without him saying much makes me wonder if its easier to notice these things when the role forces actors to be that exposed or if some people just carry that intensity naturally..

Emma Thompson’s crying scene in Love Actually is the most realistic 'heartbreak' ever filmed.

Frances McDormand in Three Billboards Jeremy Renner in Wind river Josh Brolin in No Country for Old Men

You motherfuckers will be playing basketball in Pelican Bay when I get finished with you. SHU program, nigga. 23 hour lockdown. I'm the man up in this piece. You'll never see the light of... who the f*** do you think you're f****** with? I'm the police, I run shit around here

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker. He was great in it, and he seems to be terrible in everything else.

Morgan Freeman in Invictus, his appereance as Madiba made me forget how Nelson Madela look like. In fact, he has very similiar face with Nelson Mandela NB : Yeah, there was an incident about this [https://atlantablackstar.com/2013/12/20/morgan-freeman-mistaken-nelson-mandela-public-tribute-sign-india/](https://atlantablackstar.com/2013/12/20/morgan-freeman-mistaken-nelson-mandela-public-tribute-sign-india/)

Al Pacino in Scarface and the Carlitos Way, and in so many other movies. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunter ,Dead Poets Society, Mrs. Doubtfire, Moscow on the Hudson. Daniel Day-Lewis in The last of the Mohicans, in the name of the Father, My beautiful Laundrette, Gangs of New York. Michael Douglas in the Game, Falling Down, Basic Instinct.

Terry Crews in Idiocracy

Jack Nicholson in As Good as it Gets. He’s a proven actor, but his portrayal of the OCD guy filled with animosity to the world was delightful. And when he was delighted by the dog who shared (or mimicked) his OCD, you could feel his soul opening up just a bit to let the sun in.

A lot of people saying Jack Nicholson but it's gotta be The Departed.

- Nicholas Cage : Pig - John C. Reilly : Terri - Tom Cruise : Born the 4th of July - Toni Colette : Hereditary - Jim Cummings : Thunder Road - Adam Sandler : Uncut Gems Not movies but in my opinion their best work: - Tim Heidecker in his stand up special "An evening with Tim Heidecker" - Colin Firth in the "Pride and prejudice" miniseries - All the main cast of Better Call Saul in Better Call Saul, especially Reah Seehorn

J. Lo in Out of Sight. I might actually go Clooney in that movie as well.

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea. I'll be honest, when he won the Oscar I didn't fully get it. He seemed almost too understated, too flat. So I rewatched it. Then it hit me. That casual hospital corridor scene, where he's just existing in the worst moment of his life, no big speech, no dramatic breakdown. And by the time you get to that final confrontation with his wife on the street, you realize he hasn't been underacting this whole time but he's been playing a man who genuinely has nothing left inside. The performance doesn't ask you to feel sorry for him. It just shows you someone who's already accepted that he's beyond saving. That's not acting, that's disappearing into a person.

I don't think this is the right sublistnook to ask

Hate on Tom Cruise all you want, but the dude rode a motorcycle off a cliff and parachuted down to a ravine below in Mission Impossible. That’s objectively badass in the absence of green screens and stunt actors.

James Cromwell in Babe

Sleuth - starring Michael Caine and Sir Lawrence Olivier, the only two actors in the movie. Absolute epic acting from both. The movie was released in 1972 so it's old. Like fine wine, it ages well.

Into The Wild - Emile Hirsch

A Simple Plan Billy Bob Thornton AND Bill Paxton at their best An outstanding film also

Mia Goth in Pearl. The movie itself is great, but her monologue towards the end next level amazing.

I have a happy one: How about Ellen Burstyn in Requiem For A Dream? A powerful and tragic performance.

Keanu in The Matrix.

Midnight Cowboy. Hoffman is such a presence, and the complete lack of Voight's acting chops makes it oh-so more evident that it's incredible to watch. V for Vendetta. The fact Hugo Weaving gave such a performance under a mask, with just his voice, it's absolutely insane and a testament to his talent.

Ben Affleck - The Accountant.

I was introduced to Viggo Mortensen in Lord of The Rings. He seemed to have similar characteristics through Hidalgo and History of Violence. It wasn’t until Green Book where my appreciation for him went beyond. It was so lively and entertaining from the quiet personality.

I would say almost every actor in The Departed was at their peak. 

Cary Elwes in **Princess Bride**. Master swordsman, wrestler, tactician, a Man in Black becomes the Hero in the blink of an eye. The movie would have completely failed if he was bad for even a second. He has a great movie career, but he played one of the all-time great characters and made the impossible believable.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout: Henry Cavill

Say hello to my little friend!

Dicaprio: In Shutter Island and Wolf of Wall Street...pretty much most his roles. Depp: Blow Phoenix: Joker Chalomet: A Complete Unknown and Beautiful Boy Phillip Seymour Hoffman: Before the Devil Knows you're Dead and Owning Mahoney Casey Affleck: Manchester By The Sea

Emma Watson in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.