list-making for the new year

[Johnny Marr]

On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 6:54 PM, Elaine M.M. Bell <elainemmbell at gmail.com>wrote:

> *The airwaves are filled at this season with bests of (recent REAL TV
> offerings included "Cutest Cats of 2010") and various chart-toppers, so
> here's mine--DEFINITIVE PERFORMANCES OF ALL TIME   Who agrees?*
>
> Some controversial selections - nothing to get too heated about, but in my
opinion there are superior performances in the same role as those you've
chosen as 'definitive'


> DEFINITIVE PERFORMANCES OF ALL TIME (as in “nobody else comes close”)
>
>
>
>
>
> 1)     Humbert Humbert—Jeremy Irons
>

James Mason


> 2)     James Bond—Sean Connery
>
> 3)     Richard Nixon—Frank Langella
>
Anthony Hopkins

> 4)     Abraham Lincoln—Henry Fonda
>
> 5)     Howard Hughes—Leonardo DiCaprio
>
> 6)     Philip Marlowe—Robert Mitchum
>
> 7)     Juliet—Olivia Hussey
>
> 8)     The Faun—Nijinsky
>
> 9)     Sherlock Holmes—Basil Rathbone
>
> 10) Heathcliff—Laurence Olivier
>
> 11) Jay Gatsby—Robert Redford
>
> 12) Olivia—Helena Bonham Carter
>
> 13) Superman—Christopher Reeves
>
> 14) Count Dracula—Bela Lugosi
>
> 15) Anna Karenina—Greta Garbo
>
> 16) Lily Bart—Gillian Anderson
>
> 17) Lady Dedlock—Gillian Anderson
>
> 18) Queen Elizabeth I—Bette Davis
>
Cate Blanchett


> 19) Queen Elizabeth II—Helen Mirren
>
> 20) Robin Hood—Errol Flynn
>
> 21) Errol Flynn—Jude Law
>
> 22) Elvis Presley—Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Rhys Meyers is also good as the
> pseudo-Bowie character in Velvet Goldmine, in contrast to Ewan MacGregor who
> is abysmal in the Iggy Pop slot)
>
> 23) Marc Antony—Richard Burton
>
> 24) Helen of Troy—Elizabeth Taylor
>
> 25) Achilles—Brad Pitt
>
> 26) Richard III—Ian McKellan
>
> 27) Hamlet—Kenneth Branaugh
>
I do like Branagh's Hamlet, but it's a crowded field and hard to choose a
definitive performance



> 28) James Kirk—William Shatner
>
> 29) Moses—Charlton Heston
>
> 31) Satan—Al Pacino
>
Peter Cook

> 32) Jesus Christ—James Caviezel
>
The actor in Ordet by CT Dreyer (I've just googled him, he's called Preben
Lerdoff Rye - apologies to any Danes for my ignorance, as his filmography
suggests he's one of your country's greatest film actors). I'd love to
acknowledge Max von Sydow in this role, but it's one of the few roles where
he disappoints.

>  33)God—tie!  Morgan Freeman and Alanis Morrisette (sorry George Burns)
>
> 34) Jenny Lerner—Tia Leone
>


I'll add Renee Falconetti as Joan of Arc, Peter O'Toole as TE Lawrence, Sam
Riley as Ian Curtis and Michael Fassbinder as Bobby Sands while I'm at it.


>
>
> --
> Elaine M.M. Bell
> 860.833.2625
> Have Laptop/Will Travel
> (but wicked good to be back in Massachusetts)
>
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