yeah, yeah, I said it. And I totally believe it. And as proof I wont even mention his most notable roles (Glory, Malcolm X, Training Day, American Gangster)

I'll mention two of his most run of the mill flicks.

Have yall seen the movie "Deja Vu"? its a pretty pedestrian, run of the mill sci fi thriller, about time travel, with ANYBODY else in the lead role it would have been totally mediocre.... Denzel single handedly elevates some mediocre material and gives a gotdamn tour de force performance, with so much damn charisma and personality that he and HE ALONE compells you to care about that damn movie!

"Out of Time" is EXACTLY the same, mediocre material that is elevated just because Denzel is in it. Nobody has as much on screen charisma, NOBODY.

this is gonna get good.

interesting.. I think hes definitely up there but GREATEST? iono.

mere parodies of their former selves.

nah those two definitely fell off. umm.. Is the criteria on this that they need to have been in the game for at least 20+ years? Theres a TON of cats that I like a lot but I cant seemed to put one on top for some reason.

but body of work does count

I'd put Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Don Cheadle, PSH, and Juliette Binoche over Denzel.


edit: Benecio, too.

fuckin role? the emotionally "slightly disturbed douchebag" foh... he's Jack Black with more credibility.

and Don Cheadle? dude got that chiwetel "lack of good material for a black man problem" doing shit like Traitor.

Juliette Binoche... can't speak on it really, she was great in Breaking and Entering but I aint familair with French movies

>fuckin role?


*shrug*

I could say the same about Denzel really.

One thing I'd like to also point out is that I think PSH or Cheadle could do comedic (or lighthearted) roles easily. I really can't see Denzel doing that quite as well as those two.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082138/

or

HEART CONDITION!!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099750/



foh.... Denzel coulda been Tom Hanks if he wanted too.

well, when cheadle was in 'devil in a blue dress' with denzel, he did steal some scenes from D.

watch it again, i think it will impress you.

cheadle is one of the most gifted actors today. even 'traitor' was tolerable because of him.

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>fuckin role? the emotionally "slightly disturbed douchebag"
> foh... he's Jack Black with more credibility.



**************************************
"I'm sick of followin' my dreams. I'm just gonna ask where they goin', and hook with them later." - Mitch Hedberg

"I don't think muthafuckas went to the moon either, but that's just me."-Mos

that isn't uber-masculine, or a hero, and we can go back and forth on this one.

i was thinking the other day that denzel never really played a vulnerable role.

like, the stereotype to win an oscar is do the gay role or the mentally challenged role. and i've never seen him do either. not to say 'hey he needs to do one' but i've never seen him do a role where he was pretty much a loser. he's always an asskicker even in jon q (with no money etc.) he still found a way to be kick ass.

it would be cool to find him in a depressing role where he just struggles with who/how he is. you can argue that malcolm or even mo' betta blues had moments of that, but i don't think i've seen emotionally challenging roles like that by him since.
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**********
"See he's organized, and he's on the ball. Never miss a day of school,and he's a underdog. Wanna learn more and more, cuz his mama taught him good. He's about to change the face of yo ghetto neighborhood." (c) Badu

right there

An insecure, weak-minded former slave.

he completely smashed that role.



----------------------------


O_E: Your Super-Ego's Favorite Poster.



"I ORBITs the solar system, listenin..."

(C)Keith Murray, "Cosmic Slop"

One. LAST 20 YEARS. I'm not taking away from Denzel's greatness. Dude's filmography is damn near invincible. But versatility hasn't been his thing for a while now. Sure, Training Day was a switch, and one that impressed the shit outta me, but he was still a badass. He's either the hero or a badass. Gimme something more to win that Best Actor Alive title. Otherwise, Hanks Better.

>Gimme something more to win that Best Actor Alive
>title. Otherwise, Hanks Better.

Hanks always plays a troubled, meek, emasculated
male character. Almost always.

Hell, he was even emasculated as a MAJOR in Saving
Private Ryan....in the goddamn military. He's even
meek, troubled, and thoughtful when he plays supposed
toughguys.

Tom Hanks is just as guilty, if not FAR MORE for imposing
himself on roles than Denzel is.

He just does it on the opposite pole.

And you're missing the real reason why Denzel takes
all these commanding roles:

Women LOVE him and it makes fucking money.

Women don't want to see Denzel acting meek and bitchlike.

They want him commanding some shit, which is why he makes
20 milly plus.

But the real reason you're wrong about Denzel is this;

Just because he's commanding in his roles doesn't mean he
doesn't exhibit GREAT range.

Hell, go from the 'The Hurricane' to 'Training Day'. You don't
get much different. The fact that both were "badass" is not
enough so please, STFU.

He's seriously great, as great as there is.

>One. LAST 20 YEARS. I'm not taking away from Denzel's
>greatness. Dude's filmography is damn near invincible. But
>versatility hasn't been his thing for a while now. Sure,
>Training Day was a switch, and one that impressed the shit
>outta me, but he was still a badass. He's either the hero or a
>badass. Gimme something more to win that Best Actor Alive
>title. Otherwise, Hanks Better.
Bone Collector. dude was a quadriplegic. does that count or are we now calling severely handicapped folks badasses now?

Bleek Gilliam.

Jake Shuttlesworth.

Philadelphia.

That shit with the indian chick.

That shit with Angelina Jolie where he's a quadriplegic.

I still don't put him as the goat for some reason, though. Top three.

________________________________________________________________________
Your battleship has sunk
I wish Grandma could see us...

.

still doing good movies, been in the game since forever?

and I'ma huge Denzel fan...


http://sayitwitme.blogspot.com/
www.myspace.com/spathegod

>and I'ma huge Denzel fan...
>
>
i am a huge denzel fan too, but equal? Nah he is above that nest, shining, departed, batman and too many to name but he is almost never the same character and plays the hell out of the roll

denzel plays the same character in every movie. i was discussing this with someone. exact same person - mannerisms, "alright alright", the walk, etc.

I'm referring of course to his performance in Malcolm X.

Black actor, snubbed in favor of Al Pacino in a showy role...it all makes sense.

But every time I watch that movie, I'm stunned again that he got snubbed. He was unbelievable.

Then I get all angry again that Pacino got fucked over for Godfather II and won with a performance that paled and didn't deserve it.

(I agree too, by the way, that Denzel isn't the best actor working. I don't think his range is all that impressive. However, that doesn't make him any less riveting a performer to me. Some guys you wanna see disappear into roles, and some guys you just wanna see be a variation of themselves and take over the screen.)

------------------------------------------------------------------
LOOCH


2006-07 Zeno Memorial League Champion

I don't even know what it is about Malcolm, but just his name, his legacy, evokes more strong and inexplicable reaction from people than most recent historical figures. Shit -- I've met Mexican dudes that hate his ass more than Nixon or Kissinger or any of them, you know?

I just think the Academy didn't want to invite debate or controversy, so they just gave the cupcake, lollipop, sweet little award to Pacino for giving a memorable speech, then waited 10+ to give Denzel the make-up award. At least he finally got it, is all I really think about that.

Plus it gives Spike another totally appropriate thing to be salty about being overlooked for, which probably helps his art in the end.

Because Pacino's gone down fucking hill since then. They knew Denzel's run was just starting so they gave Pacino the lifetime achievement Oscar when they had the chance.

Is that a good reason? Does it need to be, we're talking about the Oscars.

"too black, too strong, and fuck the rest of y'all", which means they completely miss the point.

I know his recent stuff has been embarrassing, and while I definitely consider Denzel's performance in Malcolm X to be one of the greatest individual performances I've seen, I would probably *still* say De Niro as Travis Bickle trumps it.

I mean, does Meet the Parents dumb its audience down so much they can't even remember the '70s?

and while De Niro sorta turned away from the "serious drama" lately, by acting in comedies and other cheesy flicks (wait, shit, wasn't he in fucking Bullwinkle?) he's at least shown a versatility. I hate Meet the Parents, but I'd be lying if I didn't say Bobby was kinda funny as the dad.

...just as long as the check's in the mail...

I can't fault him though, his resume speaks for itself (even with the aforementioned stinkers he's done lately.)
**************************************
"I'm sick of followin' my dreams. I'm just gonna ask where they goin', and hook with them later." - Mitch Hedberg

"I don't think muthafuckas went to the moon either, but that's just me."-Mos

But yeah, he good.

because obviously Lamotta is powerful even without the physical conditioning aspect thrown into it, but Travis Bickle powerful?

I mean one of the MOST FAMOUS SCENES IN ALL OF CINEMA is just Robert De Niro talking to the camera. Travis Bickle is BEYOND iconic, and the character goes between the over-eager charmer on the date, to the bizarre racist trying to fit in with the cabbies, to the full on psycho about to assassinate a political candidate.

Looking back at Raging Bull, I'd say it's more about the camera work and the thematic content. Lamotta is obviously intriguing, but that character doesn't quite carry the narrative the way Travis Bickle IS the Taxi Driver.

but

you're right, I didn't even think of Raging Bull when I typed my post. Denzel -- I LOVE Denzel -- he doesn't have anything touching either of those De Niro roles.

I'm with you, Taxi Driver is the best performance of Deniro's career. Bickle's character is way more nuanced than LaMotta, who is a....raging bull.

hiiiiooooooooooooooooo

i'll take daniel day-lewis and forrest whitaker over him

Denzel, minus maybe a couple roles....(like Deniro), doesn't "act" in the sense where your acting like someone else. He basically plays Denzel acting like this person.

The same stares, the same looks, same physical nuances, same attitude. He doesn't play characters, he makes characters act like Denzel. I love him to death, but...

With that said, I really think Sean Penn has it. He can actually convince you that he's different people that just happen to look like Sean Penn.