Why so serIOuS?

So I just came from watching The Dark Knight and as much as it was amazing, nothing truly comes to describe how amazing Heath was as the Joker. His portrayal of the maniacally comedic and very much insane villain was a performance for the ages. I was left nothing short of being in complete awe at how he transformed himself into this evil character. With that, I feel compelled to harken back into my memory bank and recall other such performances that have also left me speechless.

1. Johnny Depp in the Libertine - He blew me away with this very dark and disturbed character, portraying the Earl of Rochester. Simply his best work to date.

2. Christian Bale in American Psycho - Truly a career making role, he owned this role, you truly felt his evil.

3. Al Pacino in The Insider - His captivating role of CBS 60 minutes producer Lowell Bergman was so powerful, it had me on pins and needles from 10 minutes in to the end.

4. Leonardo DiCaprio in the Aviator - His intensity as an actor shone brightly as he became Howard Hughes effortlessly in this immensely complicated film. I believe I watched this movie everyday for a week after I bought it on DVD.

5. Gary Oldman in True Romance - The best villain role I've ever seen, I loved how he really disappeared in this role. It is however, unfortunate that his screen time was limited to a mere 10 minutes.

6. Johnny Depp in Ed Wood - My favorite movie and my sixth favorite performance. Depp was fucking funny in this role, pure comedic genius. The man can act.

7. Tom Cruise in Magnolia - For once in his illustrious career, Tom decided to throw away his greedy sense of making predictable movies with very predictable characters and play someone truly alive. This was Tom at his very best, a true career defining role.

8. Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley - Fucking creepy, Damon excelled in this beautifully shot film.

9. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight - Amazing!!! He brought life and pureness to this lunatic character. Sadness can only be felt at the tragic loss we've all been dealt with his recent death.

10. Brad Pitt in Twelve Monkeys - My second favorite comedic role, Pitt was purely sensational and funny. Excellent character piece.

so many more, but I'll stop for now.

later