Screen God Top 5 - Gene Hackman

1. The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

2. Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

3. The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971)

4. Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)

5. The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

Screen God Top 5 - Gene Kelly

1. Singin' in the Rain (Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen, 1952)
2. The Pirate (Vincente Minnelli, 1948)
3. Anchors Aweigh (George Sidney, 1945)
4. On the Town (Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen, 1949)
5. An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951)

Screen God Top 5 - Viggo Mortensen

1. Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)
2. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, 2005)
3. The Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003)
4. Psycho (Gus Van Sant, 1998)
5. A Perfect Murder (Andrew Davis, 1998)

Screen God Top 5 - Marlon Brando

1. A Streetcar Named Desire (Elia Kazan, 1951)

2. On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)

3. Last Tango in Paris (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1973)

4. The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

5. Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

Screen God Top 5 - Jude Law

1. The Talented Mr. Ripley (Anthony Minghella, 1999)

2. I Heart Huckabees (David O. Russell, 2004)

3. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Steven Spielberg, 2001)

4. Gattaca (Andrew Niccol, 1997)

5. Closer (Mike Nichols, 2004)

Screen God Top 5 - Paul Newman

1. Hud (Martin Ritt, 1963)
2. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Richard Brooks, 1958)
3. The Verdict (Sidney Lumet, 1982)
4. The Hustler (Robert Rossen, 1961)
5. Sweet Bird of Youth (Richard Brooks, 1962)

Screen God Top 5 - Ewan McGregor

1. Moulin Rouge! (Baz Luhrmann, 2001)

2. Velvet Goldmine (Todd Haynes, 1998)

3. Trainspotting (Danny Boyle, 1996)

4. Down with Love (Peyton Reed, 2003)

5. Young Adam (David Mackenzie, 2003)

Screen God Top 5 - Cary Grant

1. His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)

2. Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)

3. The Philadelphia Story (George Cukor, 1940)

4. Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938)

5. North By Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)

Screen God Top 5 - Ralph Fiennes

1. Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

2. Quiz Show (Robert Redford, 1994)

3. The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996)

4. The Constant Gardener (Fernando Meirelles, 2005)

5. Strange Days (Kathryn Bigelow, 1995)

Screen God Top 5 - Warren Beatty

1. Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967)

2. Reds (Warren Beatty, 1981)

3. McCabe & Mrs. Miller (Robert Altman, 1971)

4. Shampoo (Hal Ashby and Warren Beatty, 1975)

5. Splendor in the Grass (Elia Kazan, 1961)

Screen God Top 5 - Daniel Day-Lewis

Usually on Mondays I post Screen Goddess Top 5, but I though I'd change it up a bit, and post a Screen God Top 5 for the next few weeks. It's the same structure - my five favorite performances by the actor, ranked. I'm going to star things off today, with my favorite living actor, Daniel Day-Lewis.

1. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

2. My Beautiful Laundrette (Stephen Frears, 1985)

3. My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 1989)
4. The Age of Innocence (Martin Scorsese, 1993)

5. Gangs of New York (Martin Scorses, 2002)

Happy Belated Birthday to Warren Beatty

Shame on me! I completely forgot it was Warren Beatty's birthday yesterday. How could I have forgotten the birthday of one of the most beautiful creatures to grace silver screen? Seriously, was there ever a more attractive screen actor? Well... maybe Paul Newman, or Cary Grant, or Montgomery Clift, or Gary Cooper, or Ewan McGregor. Ok, Beatty's definitely in the top ten at least! Yesterday was his 72nd birthday, but he's still got it going on. He's actually still attractive, not like those other actors who are past their prime but still labeled sexy. I'm sorry but Sean Connery and Clint Eastwood haven't been sexy since the early seventies. Don't try to tell me otherwise. Anyway, speaking of Eastwood, I wish Beatty would follow his path, and start directing a bunch of movies again. Recently he's only been playing the part of Mr. Annette Bening, which I think is cute, considering how long Annette played the part of Mrs. Warren Beatty, but I still think he has a great movie in him. C'mon Warren, we need another Reds, Bugsy, or Bulworth!

RIP Paul Newman

Paul Newman passed away today at the age of 83, and I have to admit I'm actually sad about it. I only recently started delving into Newman's films, having watched Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Hud, The Verdict, The Sting, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid within the past year, and it's quite easy to fall in love with him, while watching his filmography. There's of course the obvious beauty, the piercing blue eyes, the sly grin and the slender, in-shape body, which was often on display, but there's also the tenderness he brought into the roles of his flawed male characters. He was part of the group of method actors who came out of the fifties, along with Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Montgomery Clift, and these actors explored roles that allowed them to express a fragility and an inner turmoil. Most leading men weren't given this opportunity, as they were seen as protagonists meant to further the plot and act as the hero, which is probably the reason why I don't have as much of a connection to film actors as I do to actresses. Because they weren't meant to be the heroes of their stories, actresses were given roles that served as the emotional core of their films; they were to react emotionally to the events that took place. The method actors were allowed to do the same in their roles, and its why I have such an adoration for them. Going back to Paul Newman, my favorite performance of his is probably Hud, with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof of The Verdict being second, though there are still a number of films of his I have to see, including The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Absence of Malice, and his Oscar role in The Color of Money. It's hard to believe it took until 1986 for the Academy to finally honor Newman with an Oscar, after several previous nominations. My heart goes out to his widow Joanne Woodward, a great actress in her own, and the rest of his family. He will surely be missed but his performances will live on forever.