On that note,
@Fawlty @PolishHeadlock , what do you think are the best acting performances you've seen?
I'd go:
Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
Benicio Del Torro - 21 Grams / Che
Paul Giamatti - Sideways
Jennifer Lawrence - Mother! (a tour de force in an otherwise frustrating film)
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
Stevel Carell - Foxcatcher (and basically everything he does)
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Woody Harrelson - Out of the Furnace
Forest Whitaker - Last King of Scotland
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Tim Robbins - Jacob's Ladder
Robert DeNiro - Taxi Driver
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Joaquin Phoenix - Gladiator (stole the screen in an otherwise overrated movie)
Sean Penn - Mystic River
Naomi Watts - 21 Grams
Michael Clarke Duncan - The Green Mile
Robin Williams - One Hour Photo
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Capoti
Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal