I really respect your opinion. But I disagree. Gosling in Drive is one of the absolute greatest acting performances of 21st century in my opinion. It was really impactful. Remember that Gosling was incredibly subtle in Drive and his expressions and nuances were exceptional despite the fact that The Driver talked less as he was a sociopath.

Could definitely make an argument for that (and I love Gosling with Refn), but I think the four above are more impactful

I mean… NO!! If those three are overpraised, then so is DDL as well. Ledger, Bardem and Waltz were equally as spectacular, special and legendary. I say neither of them were overpraised.

What about Ryan Gosling in Drive.

I, too, very much liked Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland (not to mention The Crying Game, Ghost Dog and The Color of Money) and I agree that Denzel Washington’s performance in Training Day is substandard (he’s electrifying in Malcolm X).

Daniel Day-Lewis delivers much more than simply “a clever performance” in There Will Be Blood…much more than just an “impersonation of Walter and John Huston.” Day-Lewis may have used the Hustons as a vocal model (as I alluded to in a previous post) but that’s where the similarities end. Not only is the character of Daniel Plainview equal parts Ahab from Moby Dick and Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane but Day-Lewis and director Paul Thomas Anderson have imbued the character (and film) with an unnatural weirdness that makes this extraordinary film a timeless classic that will live on for decades to come.

In an early sequence of There Will Be Blood, Plainview and H.W. are driving around California buying up land from farmers and ranchers and Plainview addresses a group of them, his eyes flashing, his dialogue delivered in strange cadences with unusually articulated vowels and syllables…it’s a remarkable performance that only becomes more nuanced and textured as the film goes on. There is nothing in the films of Walter and John Huston to compare with the role of Daniel Plainview; not Dodsworth or Daniel Webster or Cardinal Glennon or Jake Hannaford or even Noah Cross. Daniel Plainview, as portrayed by Day-Lewis, is a force of nature and Anderson’s film – with its complex score and sound mix, bizarre linguistics and striking production design – is an almost otherworldly artwork of the highest quality.

The movie There Will Be Blood, with Day-Lewis’s dynamic presence, is like nothing else in cinema.

I love Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood where he seems to be channeling John Huston (see also Clint Eastwood’s performance in White Hunter, Black Heart).

Shame got an honourable mention at the start, otherwise yeah this would be fucking outrageous