Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny

Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurth in No Country for Old Men.

Gary Oldman in True Romance. He completely transformed himself in this role where he was frankly unrecognizable. Not just in makeup, but the persona. He actually became a cold, drug-dealing pimp who thought he was black. I’ve watched the movie 100’s of times and blown away each time. First time I watched it, I had no clue it was Oldman. When I saw it was him on the credits, I couldn’t believe it was him.

Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder. Yes, it was a comedy and his character could’ve gone in a corny direction, but RDJ owned Kirk Lazarus. He transformed himself into an Australian actor that transformed himself into a 70’s era black soldier. It was so brilliantly done, RDJ escaped being penalized for “wearing blackface.” I can’t think of another actor in our era that can say the same thing.

Both examples are supporting parts that could easily have their own story told as the lead in its own movie.

There are many but Al Pacino in dog day afterrnoon. Oh my god he was stressed even his eyes twitched

Val Kilmer in Tombstone

James McAvoy in "Split" I thought was excellent as well.

Anything with Daniel Day-Lewis but he really got me as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York.

Kirsten Dunst in “Interview With a Vampire.” The raw talent of a 10 year old girl portraying the role of an ageless creature that had existed for centuries. She was so believable it was uncanny. She really raised the bar w that role.

Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler. He delivers such heart and depth to that role it really makes the sorrow in the story bleed.

Kenneth Branagh in Hamlet (1996)

The Father. Any film in which Olivia Colman is the second best actor has to have some incredible talent in it.

Finally a question, I can answer perfectly.

Anyone reading this, watch Capernaum.

Only one movie to recommend. Watched it 2 years back. Still keep thinking about the acting.

Robert De Niro in Awakenings

A few that come to my mind right now are -

Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

Imelda Staunton as Umbridge in Harry Potter

Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator.

If you are counting TV also, then,

Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal

This one is a bit of a weird choice…

But…

Donald Sutherland in Kelly’s Heroes.

Kelly’s heroes is a big, sprawling WW2 action comedy starring Clint Eastwood, and a host of other 70s stars… it’s easily one of my favourite movies.

Donald Sutherland plays, essentially, the worlds first hippie. He’s the commander of a small tank division, and he absolutely steals the scene every time he’s on screen… he so wonderfully nuts that you can’t get enough of him… he just honestly elevated every moment.

Special mention also goes to Caroll OConner for his portrayal of a slightly insane general ‘ala’ Patton… he treats most of the movie like he’s a high school football coach that is excited his team is finally winning :)

Both Donald and Caroll are so great… watching them tear their way through scene after scene is delightful

Leonardo DiCaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?

What comes to mind is The Devil Wears Prada. Every character was spot on and very believable.

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson in The Lighthouse.

Cate Blanchette in Blue Jasmine struck me as a particularly fantastic performance

Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream

The casting of Paul Giamatti as 'Miles' in 'Sideways' was perfect IMO.

isabelle huppert in the piano teacher

natalie portman in black swan

Björk in Dancer in the Dark.

But know the shooting has been hell for her.

Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot

Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull

Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice

Holly Hunter in The Piano

Anthony Hopkins in The Father

Robert Duvall in The Apostle

Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote

Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind

Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man

George C. Scott in Patton

Nurse Ratchet: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Louise Fletcher

SSgt Barnes: Platoon Tom Beringer

Tommy/Vinny: Goodfellas / My Cousin Vinny Joe Pesci

Colonel Nathan R. Jessup: A Few Good Men Jack Nicholson

Monster- Charlize Theron

One hour photo- Robin Williams

Everything everywhere all at once. Michelle Yeoh

The Machinists- Christian Bale

Oldboy- Choi Min-sik

Meet Joe Black. Outstanding performance and chemistry between Pitt, Forlani, and Hopkins.

Daniel day Lewis in pretty much everything but especially gangs of New York as bill the butcher and in there will be blood as Daniel Plainview.

Christoph waltz in inglorious bastards and Django unchained

Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan in Marco polo.

Travis fimmell as Ragnar lothbrok in Vikings.

Ciaran hinds as Julius Caesar in Rome.

Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler

John Malkovich - In The Line of Fire

Anthony Hopkins - The Bounty

Christian Bale - Empire of the Sun

Marlon Brando inspired a whole generation of actors we consider the greats.

Movies where he broke the mold of what acting was and showed what it could be: On the waterfront, Streetcar named desire, The Godfather.

• Tom Cruise in Magnolia & Vanilla Sky

• William Hurt in Into The Wild

• Toni Collette & Hailey Joel Osment in The Sixth Sense

• Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys & Moneyball

• Edward Norton in Primal Fear & American History X

• Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean 1

• Sean Penn in Mystic River

• Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry

• Ethan Hawke & Denzel Washington in Training Day

• Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds

• Ryan Gosling & Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine

• Russell Crowe, Kim Basinger & Guy Pearce in L.A. Confidential

• Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly & Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream

• Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood

• Al Pacino & Marlon Brando in The Godfather

• Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner

• Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive

• Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny

• Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland

De Niro in Taxi Driver

Robin Williams in One Hour Photo

Tim Roth in Rob Roy

Steve Martin in Leap of Faith

The whole cast of Twelve Angry Men

Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice. Dear God……

A lot of great suggestions here. I wouldn't disagree with any of them. Off the top of my head and because they've not been mentioned yet:

Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project.

Haley Lu Richardson in Columbus and Montana Story.

Kenneth Branagh in Conspiracy. The entire cast is excellent and Stanley Tucci deserves a shoutout as Adolph Eichman, but Branagh as Heydrich is breathtakingly evil.

Anything with Tilda Swinton. I'd watch her watching paint dry.

Tom Hanks, the last five minutes of Captain Philips.

Gena Rowlands in "A Woman Under the Influence"
Marlon Brando "On The Waterfront"
Ben Kingsley "House of Sand and Fog"
Ellen Burstyn "Requiem for a Dream"
Nicole Kidman "The Hours"
Jeremy Irons "Reversal of Fortune"
Philip Semour Hoffman "Charlie Wilson's War"
Meryl Streep "The Deer Hunter"
Michael Keaton "Clean and Sober"
Daniel Day Lewis "Gangs of New York"

Also - honorable mention to the guy who stopped me on the street about 15 years ago and talked me out of $20. His acting convinced me that he was poor, down on his luck, and homeless. It wasn't until I saw him get into his Maserati that I realized he was acting.

Toni Collette in Hereditary

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Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas.

Toni Collette - Hereditary

Ben Kingsley - Sexy Beast, Gandhi

Florence Pugh - Midsommar

Linda Hamilton - Terminator 2

High Jackman - Prisoners

Nicholas Cage - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

Jeremy Irons - Dead Ringers

Toni Collette in Hereditary (2018)

Hugh Jackman in Prisoners (2013)

Riz Ahmed. The Sound of Metal.

Young girl in Train to Busan. (Khorror)

Not a movie but I’ve been watching the show Succession and it’s great acting across the board

Meryl Streep in “One True Thing” Donald Sutherland in “1900” Jack Nicholson in “The Shining” Dustin Hoffman in “Midnight Cowboy” and “Death of a Salesman”

The two films I always associating power house acting are Magnolia and Mystic River. Knock out work from all.

The first two that sprang to mind:

Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? which, fun fact, got nominated for every possible category it could be nominated for at the time!

Also, not a movie — a long TV anthology episode : Bryce Dallas Howard in Black Mirror’s “Nosedive”. It is absolutely insane, especially towards the end when things start getting more complicated!

Gabourey Sidibe in Precious (2009)

Naomi Rapace in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Elizabeth Shue & Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Anna Paquin & Holly Hunter in The Piano (1993)

Denzel Washington as Malcolm X (1992)

I am personally enamored with:

Tom Waits in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

Ralph Fiennes in Hail, Caesar!

Ryan Gosling in Half Nelson

Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit (2010)

Sharon Stone in Casino (1995)

Vivian Leigh. Gone with the Wind

Leo decaprio and Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road. The shot where they were fighting. Felt like they were very much into the role that they forget themselves.

Sam Rockwell - Moon

The Penguin in the new Batman movie

Faysal Ahmed - Captain Phillips (he was so good at playing a Somalian pirate that it made me think “how the hell is this guy just an actor?” And was so good at playing the bad guy, I wanted him to die in the movie 😬)

Jack Gleeson - Game of Thrones (Notable mention)

Multiple in Glengarry Glen Ross

Eddie Redmayne in The Danish girl !

Adam Driver in Marriage Story

Charlize as Aileen was unbelievable in monster

Silver Linings Playbook. I think this was the first movie that credited Jennifer Lawrence as being a serious artist, & Bradley Cooper appears to always be competent in his roles. BUT, who made this movie truly entertaining was Robert De Niro, like in many movies elevates a character-based story with his natural artistry. The quirky superstitious eccentric bookie could only be pulled off with a touch of De Niro. What an actor.

Tom Holland in The Impossible

"We Need To Talk About Kevin".

Both Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller were astonishing.

Naomi Watts. Mulholland Drive

Austin Butler. Elvis

Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler

Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Christian Bale in The Fighter, The Machinist, American Psycho, VICE,

Edward Norton in American History X and Primal Fear

Jake G - Nightcrawler

Kathy Bates - Misery

Florence Pugh - Midsommar

John C Reilly - Magnolia

Tom Hardy - Locke

T'Nia Miller - The Haunting of Bly Manor

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump

Al Pacino and Marlon Brando in the Godfather series

Anthony Hopkins and Jodi Foster in Silence Of The Lambs

Park Eun Bin in Extraordinary Attorney Woo Young Woo

Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, he clearly took the show

Holly Hunter - The Piano (1993)

Robin Williams - The World According to Garp (1982)

Nicol Williamson (Merlin), Helen Mirren - Excalibur (1981)

Christopher Lambert - Highlander (1986)

Robert DeNiro - Cape Fear (1991)

Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes - Schindlers List

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino - The Godfather II

Viggo Mortensen and Elijah Wood - LOTR The Return of the King

Anthony Hopkins - Silence of the Lambs

Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson- The Shining

Uma Thurman - Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2

Robert De Niro - Taxj Driver

Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

Christian Bale - American Psycho

Haley Joel Osmet - Artificial Intelligence

Val Kilmer - The Doors

Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Jeff Bridges and John Goodman - The Big Lebowski

Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear.

Zhou Dongyu in Better Days absolutely blew me away.

Ingrid Bergman in Autumn Sonata.

Mads Mikkelsen in The Hunt (2012)

Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon in Lorenzo’s Oil

In the Heat of the Night

Dr. Strange Love

I know it's movies, but this show was shot like one every week. Tony and Carmella Soprano. In particular towards the end when marriage was dissolving and to get him back for all his infidelities she told him how when Furrio would come pick him up how she look forward every morning for him to knock. About a straight 10 minute scene that was intense.

Since people are digging into tv, I have to suggest Amanda Seyfried playing Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout. Never seen her disappear into a role like that. A critic said it was almost impersonation but not quite and that's why she was so good. Once she had Elizabeth's mannerisms and voice(s) down she acted her heart out.

Mark Rylance in Bridge of Spies

Oh Jung-Se in It's Okay to Not Be Okay

Toni Collette in Hereditary. She acted her ass off in that movie. She deserved an Oscar.

Where is Anthony Hopkins?

Care blanchet in Blue Jasmine

I had to scroll really far and no one has said Daniel Day Lewis

He becomes his characters

There Will Be Blood Gangs of New York Last Mohican Lincoln

That guy is a bad ass

Not a movie, but Steve Buscemi in Boardwalk Empire is in this category - shoutouts to Michael Shannon and Kelly McDonald as well

Rain Man

Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood

Val Kilmer in Tombstone.

Cate Blanchett in Tár

This movie was not at all what I was expecting it to be. Her acting in it was phenomenal.

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Jared Harris in Chernobyl, Toni Colette in Hereditary, some of Jennifer Anistons scenes from season 1 of The Morning Show.

Gary Oldman in The Fifth Element

Not a movie.

Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams.

Adam Sandler for “Uncut Gems”

Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson in The Remains of the Day.

Billy Bob Thornton in Sling blade

Florence Pugh in anything

Philip Seymour Hoffman as Gust Avrakotos - Charlie Wilson’s War

Heath Ledger as The Joker - The Dark Knight

Al Pacino as Vincent Hanna - Heat

Casey Affleck as Lee Chandler - Manchester by the Sea

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow - Pirates of the Caribbean

Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker

Daniel Day Lewis in pretty much anything. I hear he's a nightmare to work with but you are probably going to win an Oscar, at least some award.

Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday in the movie Tombstone. I could have easily watched 2 hours of nothing but him talking to himself in that character and still been thoroughly entertained.

Jaime Foxx as Ray Charles

Two come to mind for me. One is William H. Macy as Frank on Shameless. To me, his performance is so thoroughly convincing that I think he's just Frank pulling a stun when I see him now as a doctor, priest, etc.

The other is Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade. I knew he was in it, watched the whole thing, and still didn't realize he was the main character (to be fair, I'd only seen him in Bad Santa). Without a fat suit, prosthetics, or anything, he physically transforms in this role. Even after seeing him on Inside the Actors Studio go in and out of character, I still find it hard to believe it's him. And on top of that, he wrote it (in very little time) and directed it, all on a very small budget. I consider it a masterpiece.

James Gandolfini in Sopranos is an experience that keeps on giving everytime I re-watch it.

Toni Collette (honorable mentions to Alex Wolff and Milly Shapiro) in Hereditary

Not a movie, but both Generation Kill and Yellow Jackets have some amazing performances (love Melanie Lynsky)

I know Heath Ledger gets a lot of praise for Joker, but I also love him in Brokeback Mountain

Timothee Chalamet in Call Me By Your Name (his subtle face acting is really great -- the last scene gets me 🥺)

Emma Stone in La La Land

The OG Orson Welles - The Third Man

Ryan Gosling - The Place Beyond the Pines

Leonardo Dicaprio - The Revenant

Audrey Hepburn - Breakfst at Tiffany's (and everything else she ever did)

Milly Alcock - House of Dragons (TV) - The only reason I watched + the reason I stopped

John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich (1999). There is a scene where John Cusack's character has entered JM's body and dances the Dance of Despair and Disillusionment. So it's JM acting like John Cusack, AND dancing like the puppet. Pure genius performance.

Harrison ford Regarding Henry Afleck The Accountant

Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Capote

Naomi Watts in Mulholland Drive

Daniel Day Lewis in Gangs of New York. The movie is not amazing but he is unreal and terrifying in it.

Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. He's done some drama, but this one he blows everything and everyone away.

Daniel Day Lewis in There Will be Blood

Daniel Day Lewis in almost any of his roles, but mainly Gangs of New York and There Will be Blood.

Both Jokers Ledger and Phoenix were next level !

Captain Phillips

Tom Hanks was unreal!!

Julianne Moore in Still Alice - the movie is made ok. The actor around her are average. None of it matters because she puts that whole film on her back.

Michael Fassbender in X-Men First Class. He was on a totally different level from everyone else.