Usually in crime thrillers or action epics, Crowe can occasionally surprise us, but only in terms of genre not the performance.
With a few Oscar nominations and one win, the New Zealand born Australian has quite a strong portfolio to rival any other active actor and picking my top 10 was difficult.
However, I have managed to produce a list that is impressive, but can also be altered between now and the day he retires which I hope will be not announced anytime soon.
Just missing out on my top 10 but getting an honorable mention, is A Good Year. Even with this simple plot, the enjoyable factor is what gets my high praise.
I do not usually go for rom-coms, but I felt this to have a warm glow to it with nice performances and beautifully shot cinematography. You would never have thought Ridley Scott was the director.
Out of his 46 films, I have seen 22 of them. I will rank all of the ones I have seen and give a short review of each of my top 10:
22) The Man With The Iron Fists
21) The Mummy
20) Broken City
19) The Pope's Exorcist
18) Robin Hood
17) State Of Play
16) Noah
15) The Next Three Days
14) Man Of Steel
13) Body Of Lies
12) The Nice Guys
11) A Good Year
10) Boy Erased - A rather impactful and moving drama that covers conversionism.
It sees the son of a baptist teacher being forced into a conversion programme after being outed by his parents.
Crowe plays the baptist teacher and along with Nicole Kidman and Lucas Hedges gives a soldi contribution to this feature.
9) Cinderella Man - When Boxing films are done right, it will be liked for generations to come.
This one is definitely one of them, but I do not think a lot of mainstream audiences have yet to encounter this feature by director Ron Howard.
Crowe's performance as a washed-up boxer coming back to be champion in the 1930's gives us a helpful view on times during the Great Depression.
8) American Gangster - Ridley Scott and Crowe return, but this time in a thrilling crime drama set in the 1970's.
With a kingpin drug smuggler running Manhattan, Crowe's character is determined to bring him to justice.
Scott gives us a steady flowing, well-scripted and a beautifully gritty presented film that also has a memorable performance from Denzel Washington.
7) The Insider - Nominated for seven Oscars, this complex and compelling drama about the tobacco industry really does not sit on the fence about how this business is determined to mask the truth from the public about cigarettes.
The chemistry between Crowe and Al Pacino really sucks you in and gives you multiple amounts of high tense set-pieces.
6) 3:10 To Yuma - A wonderful re-make of the brilliant 1957 Western involving a small-town rancher who agrees to escort a dangerous wanted outlaw to a train on its way to Yuma prison.
Crowe plays outlaw Ben Wade, and along with Christian Bale it definitely matches the success of the original and will appeal to many mainstream audiences.
I enjoy this every time I watch it.
5) L.A. Confidential - Set in 1950's Los Angeles, this terrific modern look on vintage film-noir mystery brings out many great performances as well as Crowe.
With three policeman investigating a series of murders, each one has their own brand of justice and we get to see a gripping tale of the brutal, the sleazy and the straight-laced.
4) Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World - Remember this being a big hit on its release in 2003, Crowe plays a brash British captain who pursues a French vessel during the Napoleonic wars.
It has a great blend of action and character development in a setting that is pleasing to the eye.
Winner of two Oscars, it is certainly deserving of it awards.
3) A Beautiful Mind - Best Picture Winner in 2001, director Ron Howard has created quite an original, intelligent and entertaining film.
Crowe plays a brilliant mathematician who accepts in doing work to break Soviet codes.
His performance as well as the film is incredibly touching and has great philosophy that everyone can discuss for a long time.
2) Les Miserables - One of his more recent successes. Director Tom Hooper has brought the worldwide musical success to the big screen and such an epic way that only Hooper can.
The impressive singing to the grand scale of the scenery makes this an absolute tour-de-force. Crowe's singing may not be best part of the film, but he is certainly a big contributor.
1) Gladiator - Crowe's most well-known role in another Best Picture Winner, this time in 2000.
Director Ridley Scott brings back the swords-and-sandals to the big screen and to the major awards.
From the amazing battle scenes, to the touching moments, mainly involving the late great Oliver Reed which this movie is dedicated to him after he sadly died three weeks before the end of filming.
18) Robin Hood
17) State Of Play
16) Noah
15) The Next Three Days
14) Man Of Steel
13) Body Of Lies
12) The Nice Guys
11) A Good Year
It sees the son of a baptist teacher being forced into a conversion programme after being outed by his parents.
Crowe plays the baptist teacher and along with Nicole Kidman and Lucas Hedges gives a soldi contribution to this feature.
This one is definitely one of them, but I do not think a lot of mainstream audiences have yet to encounter this feature by director Ron Howard.
Crowe's performance as a washed-up boxer coming back to be champion in the 1930's gives us a helpful view on times during the Great Depression.
With a kingpin drug smuggler running Manhattan, Crowe's character is determined to bring him to justice.
Scott gives us a steady flowing, well-scripted and a beautifully gritty presented film that also has a memorable performance from Denzel Washington.
The chemistry between Crowe and Al Pacino really sucks you in and gives you multiple amounts of high tense set-pieces.
Crowe plays outlaw Ben Wade, and along with Christian Bale it definitely matches the success of the original and will appeal to many mainstream audiences.
I enjoy this every time I watch it.
With three policeman investigating a series of murders, each one has their own brand of justice and we get to see a gripping tale of the brutal, the sleazy and the straight-laced.
It has a great blend of action and character development in a setting that is pleasing to the eye.
Winner of two Oscars, it is certainly deserving of it awards.
Crowe plays a brilliant mathematician who accepts in doing work to break Soviet codes.
His performance as well as the film is incredibly touching and has great philosophy that everyone can discuss for a long time.
The impressive singing to the grand scale of the scenery makes this an absolute tour-de-force. Crowe's singing may not be best part of the film, but he is certainly a big contributor.
Director Ridley Scott brings back the swords-and-sandals to the big screen and to the major awards.
From the amazing battle scenes, to the touching moments, mainly involving the late great Oliver Reed which this movie is dedicated to him after he sadly died three weeks before the end of filming.
No comments:
Post a Comment