Easy Come Easy Gaughin

Every so often I like to stand back and look at the insignificance of what I am doing. Now seems as good as a time as any. I am attempting to categorize every working film actor, in terms of their accomplishments in film acting. I am working through the alphabet, for lack of any more rational way to do it. There’s a post somewhere in this blog that sort of explains the process; if you search the blog for “Robert Forster”, I think you’ll find it, but really, just read the whole blog. It’s THAT important.

Here’s the current top 100. At this pace, I hope to have the whole list in place no later than my retirement.

1) Robert DeNiro 2) Woody Allen 3) Dustin Hoffman 4) Clint Eastwood 5) Catherine Deneuve

6) Gene Hackman 7) Robert Duvall 8) Harrison Ford 9) Gerard Depardieu 10) Julie Christie

11) Sean Connery 12) Johnny Depp 13) Richard Dreyfuss 14) Nicolas Cage 15) Jeff Bridges

16) John Cusack 17) Tom Hanks 18) Anthony Hopkins 19) Mel Gibson 20) Albert Finney

21) William Hurt 22) George Clooney 23) Bruno Ganz 24) Michael Caine 25) Michael Douglas

26) Kevin Costner 27) Tom Cruise 28) Isabelle Huppert 29) Mia Farrow 30) Jane Fonda

31) Daniel Auteuil 32) Ellen Burstyn 33) Ralph Fiennes 34) Bob Hoskins 35) Judy Davis

36) Dennis Hopper 37) Alan Bates 38) Emmanuelle Beart 39) Maggie Cheung 40) Matt Dillon

41) Richard Gere 42) Faye Dunaway 43) Juliette Binoche 44) Matthew Broderick 45) Isabelle Adjani

46) Glenn Close 47) Anjelica Huston 48) Russell Crowe 49) John Hurt 50) Leonardo DiCaprio

51) Leslie Caron 52) Holly Hunter 53) Albert Brooks 54) Ethan Hawke 55) Peter Fonda

56) Jodie Foster 57) Jim Carrey 58) Jackie Chan 59) Ian Holm 60) Sandrine Bonnaire

61) Willem Dafoe 62) Antonio Banderas 63) Morgan Freeman 64) Gabriel Byrne 65) James Caan

66) Keith Carradine 67) Helena Bonham Carter 68) Julie Andrews 69) James Garner 70) Laruen Bacall

71) Kevin Bacon 72) Elliott Gould 73) Bruce Dern 74) Colin FIrth 75) Anne Bancroft

76) Ed Harris 77) Cameron Diaz 78) Michel Bouquet 79) Kirsten Dunst 80) Hugh Grant

81) Alan Arkin 82) Jacqueline Bissett 83) Woody Harrelson 84) Anouk Aimee 85) John Goodman

86) Steve Buscemi 87) Giancarlo Giannini 88) Matt Damon 89) Angela Bassett 90) Peter Boyle

91) Danny Devito 92) Annette Bening 93) Alan Alda 94) Jim Broadbent 95) Danny Glover

96) Richard Benjamin 97) Harriet Andersson 98) Laurence Fishburne 99) Jennifer Connolly 100) Jake Gylenhall

I am aware that a few of these folks have passed on (James Garner most recently, bless his heart), but the qualification for getting on the list is that at the time I get to them, they have appeared in a theatrical release within the last 3 years. When I complete the list, theoretically it will be much quicker to update the entries, and that is when the recently departed will be moved over to the former actors list.

Please feel free to discuss these ratings; it won’t change them (after all, this is science) but it will be fun.

Timothy Hutton

When I was 12, I was taking golf lessons in a public park program in Nashville. My dad was a solid working class golfer; he was never going to join a country club, but on the public courses he was pretty solid, generally shooting 8-10 overpar for 18 holes. He was very encouraging, and even though we were not rolling in dough, he and Mom scraped together the cash for me to take these lessons, 3 days a week throughout the summer.

One perk of taking these lessons was automatic entry into a city-wide tournament. I can’t remember what it was called, but it was played on “Little Shelby”, a par 29 course shoe-horned in between a longstanding rowhouse neighborhood and the Cumberland River. It was something like Nashville Junior Golfers Open, and was open to golfers between the ages (I think) of 8 and 15.

At the end of the first of a two-day tournament, I had somehow shot a 1 under par 28, and was in second place, only 1 shot back. My name was in the paper, and I could not sleep that night, worrying about round 2. Although I was not yet a teenager, I was filled with the terrifying thought that I may have just experienced the greatest day of my life, and that I was facing 60-80 years filled with days that could never ever be that good again. The next day I shot a 40, and finished about 50th.

All of that to say, when Ordinary People shows on TV, I immediately think of that day, and of how fond I am of Timothy Hutton, and how, although his best role probably occurred in his first theatrical feature, even when it’s that good early, it’s just a single good experience, and not the end of all of the good things in life.

I also LOVE Iceman, another 80’s film that hasn’t dated that well, but I don’t care. And for any FOT who might be tuned in…..Turk-182 it.

Ten best roles

10) Deliberate Intent 9) Deterrence 8) Stephanie Daley 7) Iceman 6) Daniel 5) Beautiful Girls 4) Taps 3) Q&A 2) Ordinary People 1) The Falcon and the Snowman

Percentile rating

89.70

Anjelica Huston

It can’t be easy for an aspiring actress to grow up in the shadow of one of the greatest American directors. Huston started slow with bit parts and cameos. She’s got a very distinctive look that serves her better now as a middle-aged woman than it did as an awkward young woman. Her acting style has always projected confidence. She’s always in high demand, and her recurring role as the anchoring matriarch in Wes Anderson’s recent films has exposed her to a younger audience than she might otherwise enjoy. She’s also acquitted herself ably as a director in her own right, most recently with the Irish family comedy/drama Agnes Brown. By restricting herself to smaller film roles, she’s been able to appear in a dozen productions in the last 5 years, making her our new female Brian Dennehy.

Ten best roles

10) The Addams Family 9) Crimes and Misdemeanors 8) The Witches 7) Agnes Browne 6) Addams Family Values 5) The Royal Tenenbaums 4) Prizzi’s Honor 3) Enemies: A Love Story 2) The Dead 1) The Grifters

Percentile rating

96.64