Page 1 of All-time favourite performances (even if the films had a few faults)

Mine are:

1. Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)
Bale`s hilarious turn owes more to Alan Partridge than Hannibal Lecter. He skilfully reveals the idiocy of Bateman`s narcissistic delusions without ever descending into all-out clowning.

2. Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle (The Wicker Man)
A thoroughly decent, good-humoured chap. Lee`s amiable `villain` steals the show from Woodward`s over-zealous, God-bothering copper.

3. Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb (Requiem for a Dream)
One of the most soul-destroying performances that you`re ever likely to see. Burstyn captures the desperation and confusion of drug addiction far better than any gaunt model with "a bit of a cold" ever could.

4. Gary Oldman as Norman Stansfield (Leon)
A fantastic bit of scenery-chewing excess from Gary. It`s always nice to see such a skilled actor enjoying his work.

5. Tim Curry as Frank N. Furter (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
The unfunny script-shouting drones at RHPS showings often overlook the utter magnificence of Curry`s performance (probably because they`re too busy trying to remember their next unfunny line). Curry`s Furter manages to be ultra-feminine, ultra-masculine, invulnerable and vulnerable. Lovely stuff!

Highly agreeable.

Ricardo Montalban as Khan, Star Trek II. There`s no scenery left by the time he`s finished. Christopher Plummer does a similar performance in, what, VIII?

Michael Caine, Zulu, Man who would be King.

There`s too many.

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Gruntboy
Absolute B*stard

Alan Rickman - Die Hard

Jon Polito - Miller`s Crossing
Jeff Goldblum - The Fly

Lena Olin as Mona Demarkov in Romeo is Bleeding- the sexiest psychopath on celluloid


Al Pacino in Scarface:- nuff said


Charles Grodin in Midnight Run:- his facial expression is priceless when robert de nero is trying to buy two train or i think coach tickets.


Christopher Walken in Prophecy:- I`m an angel. I kill newborns while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt. And occasionally, when I feel like it, I tear little girls apart. And from now till kingdom come... the only thing you can count on... in your existence... is never understanding why.


Chrisopher Walken and dennis Hopper in True Romance:- that classic scene


floyd
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Bring `em on, I`d prefer a straight fight

Steve Buscemi - Reservoir Dogs & Big Lebowski

the spooky little boy (haly joel osment?) in 6th Sense

Harrison Ford - pretty much everything he`s ever done.

River Phoenix - My Own Private Idaho

Keanu Reeves - Point Break, Speed.....ok I`m extracting urine now.

Floyd - great scene, I know what yew meen geeza. "Sicilians".

Speaking of Christopher Walken - As the cookie genetic bloke with a lavvy-cleaner name in "A View to a Kill". There was ham AND cheese in that brilliant performance!

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Gruntboy
Absolute B*stard

Bruce Cambell as Ash in Evil Dead 2 - Quite simply the best performance of a rational sane man being driven crazy by his surroundings and then coming to terms with it all.

Jack Nicholson in Batman - "Winged freak... terrorises? Wait till they get a load of me!" sums it up better than I could.

And a load of previously mentioned ones too. :)

Editor
DVD REVIEWER

Loads of good ones mentioned already, but another personal favourite is Nicolas Cage in `Vampire`s Kiss`.

An absolutely hilarious, off the wall, over the top performance which takes method acting to another level when Cage eats a live cockroach on screen (and apparently they did more than one take!!!)

Yummy!

I agree with most of the ones already said (esp. Rickman in Die Hard), but gotta add:
Brandon Lee in The Crow, perfect for the character
Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting
Wesley Snipes in Blade 1/2

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