in recent times mine are:
Bridget Jones(Colin Firth/Rene Zeweilger-cant spell it)
Shakespeare in Love(Colin Firth,Joseph Fiennes)
Sliding Doors(Gwyneth Paltrow(also in S-i-L).
Old films:
Lion in Winter(O'toole&Kate Hepburn-wonderful acting-you wont see better!)
Elmer Gantry&Birdman of Alcatraz(wonderful Burt Lancaster)
Dr Zhivago(Omar Sharif/Julie Christie)
But for absolute fav.actor it has to be the .late great Laurence Olivier-he could play anything.But there again,who could touch Brando when he was in his "heyday"?
But I think Richard Burton had the best voice and I was priviledged to see/hear him at the Old Vic alongside Claire Bloom in"Twelfth Night."
my daughters fav.is Bette Davis--and my younger sons is the late wonderful actor Gregory Peck.
My older son -as a "bit part" actor has been lucky enough to work alongside & meet many great ones,icluding the late Alec Guiness-Peter O'Toole--Derek Jacobi--Chuck Heston--and was also in "Harry Potter2"-with one of his favourites --but who sadlypassed away, Richard Harris.
Which film video/DVD would you choose to be in your Xmas stocking and whos your favourite actress/actor?
Did you enjoy "Love Actually" Maddi?

Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean has to be my favourite this year. He was great in 'Chocolat' too - one of my favourite films. Orlando Bloom beside him - 2 for the price of 1 - what a bargain And for once I wasnt trying to talk the kids out of watching it - thank God they've grown out of Pokemon movies

Hugh Jackman is another gr8 actor and think he is going to be the next James Bond?

Actors who don't do it for me; Tom Permagrin Cruise, Russell big belly Crowe and Ben Oily Affleck in the L'Oreal hair ad? You are not worth it!

Agree with you on the film"Chocolat" Guest--liked our Judi Dench in that one too---
Afraid I dont know Hugh Jackman-can you tell me of him and what hes been in please?
You have a "fan" here in Hub--he agrees with you entirely about Cruise--and Crowe-----by way --H likes all Stephen King books films--Favourite is "The Green Mile"--but likes "Arnie" films for fun!
Havent seen Affleck in much except "Skakespeare in Love" where he played Christopher Marlowe>
Can anyone help me with this one--Ive forgotten the actor in "The amazing Mr Ripley"--another paltrow film(im fan of hers!)know Jude Law was in it but cant remember the American guy!
D'you think Ill like "Pirates"? Isnt an english girl in that?Wonder when The next Bridget Jones movie will be released-hope its good as first

I'ed have to go with Tom Hanks in "Shaving Ryan's Privates"

It was Matt Damon in Mr. Ripley - another film I enjoyed.
That was me before - forgot to log in and trying to keep up with homework and pre Christmas jobs.

Hugh Jackman was in X men and saw him on 'Parky' Does stage acting too, laughs at himself and has the eyes - you know what I mean!!!!! Another actor with the eyes has to be Paul Newman - one of the all time greats!
Ending quickly - youngest is thinking the Christmas tree box is a wmd and the tree is ready to rock & roll

Charles Bronson, Yul Brynner, James Coburn, Horst Buchholtz, Steve McQueen and Robert Vaughn in The Magnificent Seven

Hi everyone but Ellie mainly as she asked . . . I really enjoyed Love Actually and fell madly in love with Andrew Lincoln (the white guy in the "best friend love triangle"). He used to play the role of Egg in This Life and has also starred in teachers, in this film I found him gorgeous.

The film is both very funny and very sad and I found myself both crying and laughing at different scenes. It is a bit of a romp, terribly cliched, masses going on and not unlike "Four Weddings . . ." in style but having said all that I thought it was great and even Pete enjoyed it and said he could see it again. (The very sad bits are VERY sad and terribly thought provoking)

Maddi

I discovered 'Johnny Depp bit late in the day in Pirates.
Yes Ellie you will love it, a bit overlong but worth it for the eye candy.
Also I used to love the young Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Tricky

I discovered 'Johnny Depp bit late in the day in Pirates.
Yes Ellie you will love it, a bit overlong but worth it for the eye candy.
Also I used to love the young Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones

Tricky

i liked Indiana Jones films too with Harrison Ford Tricky--i remember "wearing him on my chest"! of course I mean his image on a t-shirt! What else?
Ill ask for a dvd of "pirates" as my stocking filler

favourite actors, there is a tough one - Pacino and de Niro aside - a lot depends on the genre and every dog has his day, but I would have to say one of the most consistently good actors of my time is Kevin Spacey (LA Confidential, The Usual Suspects, Pay it Forward, American Beauty)
- I am surprised this topic has not brought forward endless ramblings about the "gorgeous" Brad Pitt - guess I liked him most in Fight Club (no, not just because they turned his face to mush every second scene ) where he paired up with Edward Norton - now this guy has managed to keep me on the edge of my seat for endless movie hours (American History X, The Score and more recently the Italian Job remake - albeit a bit weaker role than the previous - next to Charlize - no wonder really )
Which brings me to the ladies - Ms. Theron in Sweet November or in one of my all time favourites - The Devils Advocate has always been a sight for sore ears and an extremely versatile actress too.
Angelina Jolie (OK, now you may hit me with the male chauvinistic pig comments) TR, TR 2, Original Sin - just because she's got it all (nuff sed )

Favourite Movies - I will go for entertainment value, and although seeing Leo sink into the depths of the freezing north Atlantic ranked highly in that category, it does not bump that 3-hour bum-number up very far in that category.
I will have to go with Bad Boys II and The Emperors New Groove.

Hi G and everyone

I like Kevin Spacey too and funnily enough I liked him best in a film you haven't mentioned which is K-Pax. And Ellie, I loved Gwyneth Paltrow in Sliding Doors but could take her or leave her in other films. Really liked Angelina Jolie in The Bone Collector perhaps because that part isn't being played exclusively for the boys. I guess that I am saying that I can be captivated by an actor or actress within the confines of certain roles but not necessarily with the individual per se.

And on that note, the reason I for one hasn't mentioned Brad Pitt is because the question seemed to be a touch above which pretty boy/girl actor would you like to have sex with (and if it had been phrased like that - even then I doubt it would be Brad Pitt - there is no point is spending that sort of quality time with someone who you believe to be egocentric!!).

Maddi

Hi Maddi,

I have considered the acting value of the pretty boy and came to the conclusion, that Se7en reveals some acting qualities when paired up with Morgan Freeman and pitched against Kevin Spacey, this storyline does not give much leadway for "the beau" and demands a lot more than just a smile and a hairdo - contrasting drastically is Meet Joe Black, where his looks give an attractive and suave touch to "death".

I have walked past K-Pax several times in the video store - after having seen the trailer, the whole alien supernatural sci-fi did not really incite me to rent it - maybe I was afraid to be dissapointed. I will grab it next time.

Im with you G--regarding De Niro and Al Pacino(he was over here fairly recently to do Shakespeare--which Dustin Hoffman has too as Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice")----
Think it was Pammie mentioned"eyes"/Paul Newman--well I like the "naughty" ones of Jack Nicolson--coupled with his acting qualities(One flew over the cuckoos Nest/ The shining etc)makes him quite a favourite of mine!
Favourite actresses of stage& film for me are Dame Peggy Ashcroft(along with Tim Piggot-Smith was unforgettable in the fabulous"Jewel in the Crown") Dame Maggie Smith("Jean Brodie"&"Room with a View").
I like American actress Uma Thurman as well--she was in TV film called "A month by the Lake" withVanessa Redgrave&Edward Fox and was excellent-think she would be very good in maybe comedy roles.
But as someone who went to dance school for years--my great love as youngster was the musicals--and boy could those girls dance in those big Hollywood movies! I love to watch these on TCM --especially those with Gene Kelly--with Leslie Caron/Cyd Charisse& others.
One of my late fathers favourites was the beautiful Rita Hayworth/also very talented dancer--does anything today stand up to those wonderful dancers I wonder? I havent yet seen "Chicago" --is it any good? Im looking for it today in library--Im a fan of Renee Zelweiger /she got the oscar for her part
I mustn't leave out my late Mama--her number one was "Cary Grant"--not only for his looks but she enjoyed his own unique comedy talents.
I mourned the passing this year of that wonderful brit actor Nigel Hawthorne--superb in tvs "Yes Minister"& unforgettable in "The Madness of King George"--a truly terrible loss to the acting world

Hi G

Please do grab K-Pax next time and let me know what you think of it, I was surprised it wasn't a "bigger" film, but in many ways it is very gentle, intelligent with a clever (ish) twist and I do not think the ads really show that - put it this way, the ads seemed to focus on it being a sci-fi alien thing and the film isn't really about that. Anyway let me know what you think.

Now you have mentioned Se7en, I can see that you are right about the film relying on Brad's acting and it not being a vehicle for portaying his good looks and captivating an audience of women and that ties in exactly with how I feel about Angelina Jolie in The Bone Collector (as opposed to the TR films).

Maddi