Robert DeNiro edged Marlon Brando by just a single vote to become the champion of out Best Actor Oscar Bracket Game! According to our readers’ votes in this game, his performance in Raging Bull is the greatest one ever awarded with a Best Actor Oscar in the ceremony’s history.
As his reward, I will be posting a series of pictures from his career after the break. Enjoy!
I tried to include mostly his best films, but added a picture from Meet the Fockers and a big recent gap to reflect the general downturn in his output over the past 15 years.
I hope everybody enjoyed the Bracket Game!
Next up: ROBOTS!!
He was great in the Fockers as he was with everything! There weren’t any wrong answers here, from day 1, but I’m so jazzed that DeNiro prevailed. Peck is forever amazing, but DeNiro is forever amazing. If you think Last Vegas is just mindless fluff, check it out. It’s not about phoning it in for a paycheck. And there are little twists interwoven for all the leads.
I like the actors involved in Last Vegas, so I’m sure I’ll take a look at it sometime.
You have mentioned Last Vegas a lot and I have to admit it has elicited an eye roll every time. My recollection was that it got terrible reviews and was considered an embarrassment for everyone in its talented cast. So I finally decided to check my recollection against Rotten Tomatoes. And the reviews weren’t good. But not as bad as I remembered either. The consensus seems to be that the talented cast makes the movie watchable if not actually good. I have passed up on the opportunity to watch the movie several times largely because I don’t want to see… Read more »
I think the critics were disdainful because it’s older guys going to Vegas, instead of the Hangover crowd.
I don’t see why critics would be biased against a cast of very respected actors. I can’t imagine ageism being a factor among movie critics. They aren’t known for loving movies like The Hangover outside of the original Hangover. The reviews were actually more positive than I was expecting, so I really don’t see a bias on the part of critics being a factor here.
I’ll have to check it out some time.
What’s your take on ‘The Hangover’? I think it’s an AWFUL film. I laughed – and I counted – 3 times. All of which were car jokes.
I liked it ok, but based on some of the love I’ve seen thrown its way, I’d have to say The Hangover is wildly overrated. The concept for a guys’ comedy is great, but I just didn’t laugh nearly as much as I’d expected to. Maybe my expectations were too high.
Errr … other than ‘Bridesmaids’, which comedies these days AREN’T aimed at guys?
(NB: this may be my bias against bodily function & -ist gags coming out. There’s so many LCD jokes in films these days without any leavening wit that I despair.)
I’m saying that the concept of the guys tracing their steps back from a night out drinking is a really good comedic concept. I don’t think they took full advantage of it, though.
Gotcha. Duh.
I think it’s an unconscious bias. I could be wrong. You’re right these are well respected actors. I did see one review where someone said… this is just Hangover for the geriatric set. With most Vegas movies, you almost get the idea that Vegas is strictly the province of twentysomethings. Greybeards aren’t supposed to run off to Vegas right? Yet in real life you will see an awful lot of gray hair and wrinkles there. Which could explain the amazing box office numbers – 100 million over budget. I’ve probably said more than you want to hear on this topic… Read more »
First ever de Niro experience: ‘Brazil’. 2nd ever: ‘Angel Heart’. Still two of my favourite of his performances, tho’ it helps that I’m a sucker for both films anyway.
I finally saw ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ for the first time last week, and thought he blew away the two leads by some degree. I really don’t get Bradley Cooper’s appeal, and I can’t buy the repetitive pairing of him & Jennifer Lawrence.
Cooper is a good actor, but he’s not in my particular wheelhouse either. Lawrence, on the other hand, I will tend to be pretty forgiving of. Although I have no interest in the Hunger Games movies, I’m always glad when she shows up in something else.
I’ve only liked Cooper in ‘American Hustle’, in which I thought his dead-eyed self-absorption worked brilliantly. 😀 Lawrence is perfectly watchable, but I’m missing something in terms of the global obsession with her – e.g. the same film, where I thought she wasn’t a patch on Amy Adams. Saw the first ‘Hunger Games’ on TV recently, and you’re not missing a lot. I’m showing my age here, but it struck me as nothing more than a contemporary mash-up of ‘Lord of the Flies’ and (the book of) ‘The Running Man’ with added social awareness*. I think its particular genius for… Read more »