Favorite Acting Performances of the 90's, 00's, and 10's
by moviebuff-19249 | created - 24 Feb 2016 | updated - 24 Feb 2016 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Constant Gardener (2005)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A widower's transcontinental quest to find answers about his wife's death leads him to explosive secrets.
Director: Fernando Meirelles | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Hubert Koundé
Votes: 148,451 | Gross: $33.58M
Ralph Fiennes as Justin Quayle
2. Spider (2002)
R | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A mentally disturbed man takes residence in a halfway house. His mind gradually slips back into the realm created by his illness, where he replays a key part of his childhood.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, Lynn Redgrave
Votes: 41,123 | Gross: $1.64M
Ralph Fiennes as Spider
3. Moon (2009)
R | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw
Votes: 376,658 | Gross: $5.01M
Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell
4. Little Children (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Romance
The lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations in suburban Massachusetts.
Director: Todd Field | Stars: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley
Votes: 116,734 | Gross: $5.46M
Jackie Earle Haley as Ronnie McGurvy
5. Treacle Jr. (2010)
82 min | Drama
Tom is forty. He walks out one day, rather abruptly, on his wife and baby boy and his seemingly happy life. He finds himself living on the streets of London. One night alone in a park he is... See full summary »
Director: Jamie Thraves | Stars: Thomas Murray-Leslie, Elizabeth Murray-Leslie, Tom Fisher, Jonathan Thomas
Votes: 647
Aidan Gillen as Aidan Murphy
6. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Peter Parker is beset with troubles in his failing personal life as he battles a former brilliant scientist named Otto Octavius.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco
Votes: 708,389 | Gross: $373.59M
Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus
7. Babel (I) (2006)
R | 143 min | Drama
Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, which jump starts an interlocking story involving four different families.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Mohamed Akhzam
Votes: 317,111 | Gross: $34.30M
Rinku Kikuchi as Cheiko
8. Blue Ruin (2013)
R | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A mysterious outsider's quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.
Director: Jeremy Saulnier | Stars: Macon Blair, Devin Ratray, Amy Hargreaves, Kevin Kolack
Votes: 78,858 | Gross: $0.26M
Macon Blair as Dwight Evans
9. The Lovely Bones (2009)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon
Votes: 179,903 | Gross: $43.82M
Stanley Tucci as George Harvey
10. Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
Not Rated | 90 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A disaffected soldier returns to his hometown to get even with the thugs who brutalized his mentally-challenged brother years ago.
Director: Shane Meadows | Stars: Paddy Considine, Gary Stretch, Toby Kebbell, Stuart Wolfenden
Votes: 58,358 | Gross: $0.01M
Paddy Considine as Richard
Toby Kebbell as Anthony
11. Tyrannosaur (2011)
Not Rated | 92 min | Drama
Joseph, a man plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, earns a chance of redemption that appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker.
Director: Paddy Considine | Stars: Peter Mullan, Archie Lal, Jag Sanghera, Mike Fearnley
Votes: 33,763 | Gross: $0.02M
Peter Mullan as Joseph
Olivia Colman as Hannah
12. The Babadook (2014)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.
Director: Jennifer Kent | Stars: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Daniel Henshall, Hayley McElhinney
Votes: 247,190 | Gross: $0.92M
Essie Davis as Amelia
13. Pariah (I) (2011)
R | 86 min | Drama
A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
Director: Dee Rees | Stars: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Aasha Davis, Pernell Walker
Votes: 7,555 | Gross: $0.76M
Adepero Oduye as Alike
14. Breaking the Waves (1996)
R | 159 min | Drama
Oilman Jan is paralyzed in an accident. His wife, who prayed for his return, feels guilty; even more, when Jan urges her to have sex with another.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr
Votes: 71,548 | Gross: $4.04M
Emily Watson as Bess McNeil
15. Mommy (I) (2014)
R | 139 min | Drama
A widowed single mother, raising her violent son alone, finds new hope when a mysterious neighbor inserts herself into their household.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Anne Dorval, Antoine Olivier Pilon, Suzanne Clément, Patrick Huard
Votes: 61,818 | Gross: $3.49M
Anne Dorval as Diane 'Die' Du Pres
16. Clean, Shaven (1993)
Not Rated | 79 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After a man suffering from schizophrenia is released from a mental institution, he attempts to get his daughter back from her adoptive family.
Director: Lodge Kerrigan | Stars: Peter Greene, Alice Levitt, Megan Owen, Jennifer MacDonald
Votes: 6,022
Peter Greene as Peter Winters
17. A Single Man (2009)
R | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
An English professor, one year after the sudden death of his boyfriend, is unable to cope with his typical days in 1960s Los Angeles.
Director: Tom Ford | Stars: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 117,748 | Gross: $9.17M
Colin Firth as George
18. Funny Games (1997)
Not Rated | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Two violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch, Frank Giering
Votes: 84,056
Susanna Lothar as Anne
19. Boys Don't Cry (1999)
R | 118 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A young man named Brandon Teena navigates love, life, and being transgender in rural Nebraska.
Director: Kimberly Peirce | Stars: Hilary Swank, Chloë Sevigny, Peter Sarsgaard, Brendan Sexton III
Votes: 103,277 | Gross: $11.53M
Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena/Teena Brandon
20. The Imitation Game (2014)
PG-13 | 114 min | Biography, Drama, Thriller
During World War II, the English mathematical genius Alan Turing tries to crack the German Enigma code with help from fellow mathematicians while attempting to come to terms with his troubled private life.
Director: Morten Tyldum | Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Allen Leech
Votes: 824,852 | Gross: $91.13M
Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing
21. Winter's Bone (2010)
R | 100 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An unflinching Ozark Mountain girl hacks through dangerous social terrain as she hunts down her drug-dealing father while trying to keep her family intact.
Director: Debra Granik | Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Garret Dillahunt, Isaiah Stone
Votes: 150,539 | Gross: $6.53M
Jennifer Lawrence as Ree Dolly
22. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
R | 102 min | Drama
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans
Votes: 898,566 | Gross: $3.64M
Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb
23. Red White & Blue (2010)
Not Rated | 103 min | Drama, Thriller
A woman attracts the attention of a psychopathic former Army interrogator and an emotionally fragile young man caring for his depressed mother.
Director: Simon Rumley | Stars: Amanda Fuller, Marc Senter, Jon Michael Davis, Nick Holden
Votes: 6,148
Noah Taylor as Nate
24. Buddy Boy (1999)
R | 105 min | Drama, Thriller
An introvert relieves the tedium of caring for his invalid mother by spying on his neighbor.
Director: Mark Hanlon | Stars: Aidan Gillen, Emmanuelle Seigner, Susan Tyrrell, Mark Boone Junior
Votes: 1,140 | Gross: $0.01M
Aidan Gillen as Francis
25. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011)
Not Rated | 91 min | Horror
Inspired by the fictional Dr. Heiter, disturbed loner Martin dreams of creating a 12-person centipede and sets out to realize his sick fantasy.
Director: Tom Six | Stars: Laurence R. Harvey, Ashlynn Yennie, Maddi Black, Kandace Caine
Votes: 42,945 | Gross: $0.12M
Laurence R. Harvey as Martin Lomax
26. L.I.E. (2001)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama
A 15-year-old Long Island boy loses everything and everyone he knows, soon becoming involved in a relationship with a much older man.
Director: Michael Cuesta | Stars: Brian Cox, Paul Dano, Bruce Altman, Billy Kay
Votes: 10,446 | Gross: $1.14M
Brian Cox as Big John Harrigan
27. The Skeleton Twins (2014)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Having both coincidentally cheated death on the same day, estranged twins reunite with the possibility of mending their relationship.
Director: Craig Johnson | Stars: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Luke Wilson, Ty Burrell
Votes: 44,852 | Gross: $5.28M
Bill Hader as Milo
28. Hilary and Jackie (1998)
R | 121 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The tragic story of world renowned classic cellist Jacqueline du Pré, as told from the point of view of her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré-Finzi.
Director: Anand Tucker | Stars: Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, James Frain, David Morrissey
Votes: 10,738 | Gross: $4.87M
Emily Watson as Jackie
29. What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
PG-13 | 118 min | Drama
A young man in a small Midwestern town struggles to care for his mentally-disabled younger brother and morbidly obese mother while attempting to pursue his own happiness.
Director: Lasse Hallström | Stars: Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen
Votes: 254,024 | Gross: $9.17M
Leonardo DiCaprio as Arnie
Darlene Cates as Mama
30. The Martian (2015)
PG-13 | 144 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive and can survive until a potential rescue.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Kate Mara
Votes: 924,973 | Gross: $228.43M
Matt Damon as Mark Watney
31. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
R | 112 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller, Jasper Newell
Votes: 167,709 | Gross: $1.74M
Tilda Swinton as Eva
32. The Piano Teacher (2001)
R | 131 min | Drama, Music
A young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel, Susanne Lothar
Votes: 71,769 | Gross: $1.90M
Isabelle Huppert as Erika Kohut
33. Temple Grandin (2010 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 107 min | Biography, Drama
A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of the top scientists in the humane livestock handling industry.
Director: Mick Jackson | Stars: Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, David Strathairn, Catherine O'Hara
Votes: 32,568
Claire Danes as Temple Grandin
34. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
R | 140 min | Crime, Drama, Musical
An Eastern European US immigrant with a love for musicals has to cope with the gradual loss of her vision.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare
Votes: 116,789 | Gross: $4.18M
Bjork as Selma Jezkova
35. Michael Clayton (2007)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.
Director: Tony Gilroy | Stars: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe
Votes: 174,045 | Gross: $49.03M
Tom Wilkinson as Arthur Edens
36. American History X (1998)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama
Living a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.
Director: Tony Kaye | Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien
Votes: 1,185,999 | Gross: $6.72M
Edward Norton as Derek Vinyard
37. This Is England (2006)
Not Rated | 101 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy becomes friends with a gang of skinheads. Friends soon become like family, and relationships will be pushed to the very limit.
Director: Shane Meadows | Stars: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim
Votes: 128,713 | Gross: $0.33M
Stephen Graham as Combo
38. The Drop (2014)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Bob Saginowski finds himself at the center of a robbery gone awry and entwined in an investigation that digs deeply into the neighborhood's past where friends, families, and foes all work together to make a living--no matter the cost.
Director: Michaël R. Roskam | Stars: Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, James Gandolfini, Matthias Schoenaerts
Votes: 162,030 | Gross: $10.72M
Tom Hardy as Bob
39. Fargo (1996)
R | 98 min | Crime, Thriller
Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare
Votes: 726,497 | Gross: $24.61M
Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson
40. Vera Drake (2004)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama
Abortionist Vera Drake finds her beliefs and practices clash with the mores of 1950s Britain--a conflict that leads to tragedy for her family.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, Richard Graham
Votes: 26,850 | Gross: $3.75M
Imelda Stanton as Vera Drake
41. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
TV-MA | 137 min | Drama, War
A drama based on the experiences of Agu, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African country.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Abraham Attah, Emmanuel Affadzi, Ricky Adelayitor, Andrew Adote
Votes: 86,816 | Gross: $0.08M
Abraham Attah as Agu
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