Performances I never get tired of watching

[The Burgomaster]

These aren't necessarily "starring" roles, but the are some of my favorites.  In no particular order:

George Kennedy in Cool Hand Luke - Despite some bad decisions and bad performances later in his career, Kennedy is a talented actor.  Honorable mentions go to his performances in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot and the original Airport.

Robert Shaw in Jaws and The Sting - Damn, if you can't almost smell the salt water and sweat every time he appears on screen as Quint.  His performance as Doyle Lonnegan doesn't get mentioned enough, probably because Newman and Redford were in the same movie.

Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver - Playing opposite DeNiro must be tough, but she pulled it off with great results.

Oliver Reed in Oliver! - The ultimate Bill Sykes.  No other actor has or ever will be better in this role.

Eric Roberts in The Pope of Greenwich Village - Roberts is a talented actor whose career has gone astray.  Honorable mention goes to his wacko performance in Star 80.

Sam Elliott in Mask - Elliott has turned in many good performances, but his performance as Gar is his most memorable for me.

Harvey Keitel in Mean Streets - Still one of my favorite Scorsese films and Keitel turns in a great performance.

EDIT:  How could I forget Lee J. Cobb in The Exorcist?  Kinderman is one of the most memorable supporting characters of all time.



I may add a few more later.  Feel free to post your own!

[indianasmith]

Mel Gibson in THE PATRIOT
Kenneth Branagh in HENRY V
Joseph Fiennes in LUTHER
The entire cast in SUCKER PUNCH

[ChaosTheory]

Edward Norton in MOONRISE KINGDOM - I love everything about MK so much, and seeing the always-great Norton in a rare comedic/dorky performance and totally nailing it never gets old. The Oscar voters are morons for not at least giving him a nomination for this.

Joseph Cotten in CITIZEN KANE - His performance doesn't get talked about much when people discuss KANE, but this was the movie that made me totally infatuated with Cotten. He holds his own against a powerhouse like Orson Welles, and I suppose it helps that he's playing the one sympathetic character.

Alan Rickman in GALAXY QUEST - The whole cast was great, but Rickman stole the show.
What a Savings


Val Kilmer in TOMBSTONE - Is anyone better qualified to play a slick bastard than Val Kilmer?

Sam Rockwell in MOON - Rockwell is always wonderful but he's the centerpiece here, with material that - for once - is worthy of him.

Richard Dreyfus in WHAT ABOUT BOB?
What About Bob - GET OUT OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!
Best. Line. Delivery. EVER.

[akiratubo]

Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie in Of Mice and Men.  He was BORN to play that role.

[Dr. Whom]

Alan Rickman in GALAXY QUEST - The whole cast was great, but Rickman stole the show.
What a Savings

By Gravthar's hammer, I agree

[Newt]

Alan Rickman in GALAXY QUEST - The whole cast was great, but Rickman stole the show.
What a Savings

By Gravthar's hammer, I agree

YES!   

[Rev. Powell]

Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka
Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name/Blondie
Boris Karloff's Cabman Gray
Orson Welles' Capt. Quinlan
James Stewart's Scottie Ferguson
Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle
Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth
Malcolm McDowell's Alex de Large
Tom Hardy's Bronson

Anything Nic Cage does where he gets that look in his eye and starts going off script

Robert Mitchum's Rev. Powell (duh)

[Josso]

Tom Hardy's Bronson

yep, yep. So much yep, I forgot about this flick I'll have to get it.

[zombie no.one]

Ray Liotta in Goodfellas (for the voice overs as much as the on-screen stuff)

Roger Sloman and Alison Steadman in Nuts In May

Paul Reub...erm, I mean Pee Wee Herman in Pee Wee's Big Adventure

William Thomas in Twin Town

Randy Quaid in Parents

Gregory Peck in The Omen

Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun (all 3 to be honest)

[RCMerchant]

.Lugosi as DRACULA-I mean-hes Hungarian,hes creepy-he IS Dracula!
.Karloff as the Frankenstein Monster-he had pathos as well as the look-something no other actor gave to the role as well as he did.
.Gotta agree with Rev about DeNiro and Travis...you feel DeNiro IS Travis!
.Tony Perkins in PSYCHO.
.Lon Chaney as the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Many actors have tried to top his performance. Are you kiddin? Not even the fantastic Claude Rains could do it!
.Bogie as Sam Spade-I mean-cmon!
.Robert Blossums in DERANGED-an Ed Gein kinda guy-he IS Ed Gein!

http://youtu.be/fYhceVkQGUk

[bob]

The entire cast of Pulp Fiction
The entire cast of Ben-Hur
The entire cast of the Star Wars original trilogy

Bela Lugosi as Dracula
Clint Eastwood as The Man With No Name
Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia
Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley
Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne
Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance
Jeff Bridges as The Dude

[claws]

Ruth Gordon in Rosemary's Baby
Christopher Walken in The Dead Zone
Angie Dickinson in Dressed to Kill
Zoe Saldana in The Skeptic
Jack Nicholson in The Shining
Kathy Bates in Misery
Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice
Tom Cruise in Interview with the Vampire

[A_Dubya]

One of my favorite performances is Bobby Deniro in the Cape Fear remake as Max Cady.

I also have to add Denzel's performance as Malcolm X.

[The Burgomaster]

Ruth Gordon in Rosemary's Baby

Yes.  I also really like Ralph Bellamy's performance in this movie.

[Trevor]

Al Pacino as Walter Burke in The Recruit: an amazing performance as you like, hate, like, hate and then fully understand the character. Brilliant.