...it's a website with random top 10s/100s/15s. Here is their list of the top 15 contemporary actors and actresses, with what they chose as their best performance (for some reason, they only included the best performances for the top 10):
Actors
1. Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
2. Edward Norton (Fight Club)
3. Sean Penn (The Falcon and the Snowman)
4. Christian Bale (The Machinist)
5. Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond)
6. Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco)
7. Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind)
8. Denzel Washington (Training Day)
9. Jack Nicholson (The Shining)
10. Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)
11. Kevin Spacey
12. Ralph Fiennes
13. Tom Hanks
14. Geoffrey Rush
15. Paul Giamatti
Actresses
1. Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth)
2. Nicole Kidman (The Hours)
3. Kate Winslet (Jude)
4. Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby)
5. Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)
6. Renee Zellweger (Cold Mountain)
7. Juliette Binoche (Three Colors: Blue)
8. Jennifer Connelly (Requiem for a Dream)
9. Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)
10. Maggie Gyllenhaal (Secretary)
11. Charlize Theron
12. Rachel McAdams
13. Julianne Moore
14. Toni Collette
15. Naomi Watts
I'm not sure if Philip Seymour Hoffman is the #1 contemporary actor, but I can't deny that he has a great body of work and I like him a great deal. I just rewatched Boogie Nights and damned if he doesn't break my heart into a gajillion pieces in that film. Edward Norton has been amazing since his debut (Death to Smoochy and such excepted); my only problem with his placement on this list is the fact that they say Fight Club is his best performance. He's great and I nominate him for 1999, but it's like, his fifth or sixth best.
I've never really gotten Sean Penn, though I won't deny he's a really good actor. I think it's ridiculous that people say he "overacted" in Mystic River. It's been set up that he's a pretty volatile man, and he JUST LOST HIS DAUGHTER. How would you react? I've never heard of The Falcon and the Snowman, though. Maybe I should check it out. I would like to add, though, that he was awful in I Am Sam and his Oscar nomination was embarassing. Christian Bale is so fantastic and I'm still amused and delighted by the fact that he was in Newsies, but his best performance isn't The Machinist, it's obviously American Psycho.
Leonardo DiCaprio can be very hit or miss. As he gets older, though, he's definitely tipping more toward "hit." And holy shit, he hot. It's really easy to root for him, because he seems incredibly intelligent and, especially as of late, classy. His best performance is definitely The Departed, though. Johnny Depp. ALL SHOULD KNOW OF MY HATRED FOR JOHNNY DEPP. I hate his wackiness, I hate the fact that he works with Tim Burton all the freaking time (I love Ed Wood and Corpse Bride though. I can admit it), I hate the fact that people think he's the most gorgeous man to ever walk the earth, I hate the fact that he seems to never think any award shows are worth changing out of flannel for, and I HATE ("the fact" should be here somewhere...) CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW AND THE ENTIRE PIRATES FRANCHISE (perhaps I shouldn't judge...I still haven't seen the third one...but I doubt it is SO GOOD that it will erase the horrible-ness of the other two). He has talent, but the last time he used it was 2000 in his great cameo in Before Night Falls; said talent is certainly not present in Pirates. So, I clearly don't like his inclusion on this list. His best performance (and best movie by a mile) is Ed Wood.
It's not popular to, but I adore both Denzel and Russell. Yay American Gangster! They are both totally brilliant at the best of times, which is often. Denzel slums in crap too much and Russell is obnoxious, but I think they're both great. The performances chosen for them are only their second-best, however: Denzel's best is Malcolm X and Russell's, The Insider. All four performances, however, are amazing.
It's really unfair for Jack to be competing with these young upstarts (hee, I used a funny word) when he was already a legend by the beginning of the '90s. Still, at least he's trying in movies, which is more than can really be said for DeNiro or Pacino. I like him a lot in The Shining, but his best performance is eeeeasily One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, no contest. Much like Sean Penn, I can recognize Joaquin's talent (though I don't think he has as much talent as Sean...), but he doesn't really do it for me... I also wasn't very fond of him in Gladiator, unlike, uh, the rest of the world. He was much better in Quills that same year. He was also great in Walk the Line but Reese Witherspoon was better. YOU HEARD ME BITCHES.
Kevin Spacey deserves a spot in the pantheon for his '90s run. Henry & June, The Ref, Swimming with Sharks, The Usual Suspects, L.A. Confidential, Hurlyburly, American Beauty, and I'm assuming Se7en but I've never seen it. Unfortunately, since 1999 his resume has looked like: crap, crap, crap, self-indulgent crap, crap, crap he directed, crap, crap. That said, it might not be as crappy as I once thought: I enjoyed him in Superman Returns and thought he was actually great in The Life of David Gale, though that movie was a disaster. Ralph Fiennes is godly. If he doesn't win an Oscar someday, there's no justice at all anywhere.
I still love Tom Hanks, fuck all the haters. He's very guilty of coasting on his charisma and reputation at times, but I still think he's great, and it's always a treat when he's in films. He's just very easy to watch and connect to (though he did suck in The Da Vinci Code, I'm not denying it). Geoffrey Rush is another one that does nothing for me. Paul Giamatti needs to clean himself up, fer chrissakes, but he's a really good actor. He's totally amazing in Sideways.
As for the women: Cate, you make me go "meh." Yes, you are a really good actress. But, you need to stop being in every movie, and you need to start engaging me emotionally at some point. She got bashed for her appearance in Babel, but I actually thought she was great. I don't know if it was her role, but I actually felt for her. Also, people need to stop cumming all over her in The Aviator, she was only okay at best. I'd comment that she always plays (incredibly various) variations on "strong, smart woman," but then I'd remember that I'm obsessed with Kate Winslet, who always plays (incredibly various) variations on "bohemian free spirit." I wouldn't put Cate atop this list, but I can't deny that she belongs there, and Elizabeth is indeed her best work. Nicole, on the other hand, is fantastic. Oh, she has burned me so many times, but I keep coming back. Why? Because I have To Die For, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge!, The Others, The Hours, Dogville, Birth, and many others. She is fantastic in The Hours (the performance isn't really worthy of the OMG BEST EVER hosannahs it gets or the ridiculous backlash that almost all Oscar winners get), but her best performance is definitely in Dogville.
As I mentioned before, I am obsessed with Kate Winslet. She's both technically proficient and totally obviously in love with her craft. While she is fantastic in Jude, it is nowhere near her best work. That is clearly Eternal Sunshine. Hilary Swank is unfairly bashed (OMG! an actress that doesn't fit our standards of beauty. LET'S BASH HER), but she doesn't belong at #4. She's much better in Boys Don't Cry than Million Dollar Baby, though. I adore Reese Witherspoon, and I think people who say she can't act haven't seen any of her movies. At all. The Man in the Moon, Freeway, Pleasantville, Election (!!!), Legally Blonde, Vanity Fair, Walk the Line. I think Election's her best work, but she is fantastic in Walk the Line too. And yeah...you bet your ass she deserved that Oscar over Charlize and Felicity's ACTING!!! and Judi Dench's sleepwalking (Keira Knightley was good, but not as good). You go, girl.
I'm so glad some people still like Renee Zellweger. It's like, once she won her Oscar, people forgot everything that came before it (I really liked her in Cold Mountain but that's besides the point...). Dude, Bridget Jones' Diary! I don't even care that it would have been the PERFECT role for Kate Winslet, because Renee was absolutely fantastic. Nurse Betty! Down with Love! Jerry Maguire! Chicago! One True Thing! Even Cold Mountain itself! Yay Renee! I'm also glad to see some love for the extremely underrated Juliette Binoche on this list. She's fantastic.
Jennifer Connelly can be awesome, and she can be horrible (see: her Oscar-winning performance). I'm incredibly glad they chose Requiem for a Dream as her best work; as I've mentioned before, I think it's the best performance of the new millennium. It's stunning, heart-SHATTERING work. But, besides that and House of Sand and Fog, she makes me shrug. Rachel Weisz gave one of the best performances I've ever seen (for serious!) in The Constant Gardener, but I'm not sure just that and The Fountain, plus a whole hell-load of CRAP, mean she should be on the list over several other options. I heart Maggie, maybe for this picture (how drunk is Kate? So drunk) alone. Seriously, though: she gives off this weird vibe but it really works for her. She is like Zooey Deschanel, though with a better body of work (nothing she's done is as singularly good as Zooey's performance in All the Real Girls, though, but Maggie's worth is almost always really good) and she's easier to like.
I'm lazy and it's late so I'm going to run through the rest. Charlize was amazing in Monster, but other than that, she doesn't really deserve to be on the list. I like Rachel McAdams and all, but she annoys me. Rachel! EVERYONE likes you. You're really talented. You could be a total star (a star like, a Reese or maybe even a Cate, not a Lindsay for godssake's), but you only deign to star in like one movie a year. And it's usually not a very good movie. AT LEAST SCARLETT JOHANSSON IS TRYING!!! From like 94-02, Julianne Moore is uhhhmazing; after that, save for Children of Men, she's terrible. I hope she reverses that with her 2007 movies very much. Though, like Kevin Spacey, she deserves a place on the list for her '90s (and early '00s) choices. Toni Collette is amazing and could only be more amazing by being in every movie ever made and thus increasing their fantastic-ness. Naomi Watts is unbelievable in Mulholland Dr., quite great in The Painted Veil, deliciously amusing in I Heart Huckabees, and then really meh beyond that. Don't even get me started on her performance in 21 Grams.
So, there you have it. What have I gotten from this list? I like some, I don't like some, LAURA LINNEY IS UNDERRATED BY EVERYONE. Thank you, and good night. Despite what the timestamp here says, it is 2:41 AM and I require sleep.
