Pacino vs. DeNiro

[Dementia]

I voted Pacino for both, but gave it a few seconds of thought.

[Jeff W]

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I think you guys need to weigh in the number of crap projects they've undertaken. DeNiro in the last ten years has made a huge amount of absolutely worthless movies which he sleepwalked through for the paycheck.

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Meh, I don't hold bad movies against actors unless I somehow get roped into watching them(and I rarely do).

[cbloom]

Meh, I think they're both super over-rated. Sure they're sort of funny Italian stereotypes, but going "lil bit" or "hoo ah" isn't acting.

OTOH Scorcese is a freaking genius and DeNiro's been lucky enough to star in a lot of great great Scorcese movies.

[troymclur]

I should add that i think Pacino has more talent, but a smaller pool to showcase it. Plus, the last decade of Deniro has left a really bad taste in my mouth. He's just different degrees of the same guy in every movie.

[scotchnrocks]

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Pacino on the other hand has consistently picked good movies ...his biggest fault is probably that S1mone movie or maybe that one where he recruits Colin Farrel for the CIA or Two for the Money.

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[Dementia]

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Meh, I think they're both super over-rated. Sure they're sort of funny Italian stereotypes, but going "lil bit" or "hoo ah" isn't acting.

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Wow.

[graydot]

[ QUOTE ]
Meh, I think they're both super over-rated. Sure they're sort of funny Italian stereotypes, but going "lil bit" or "hoo ah" isn't acting.

OTOH Scorcese is a freaking genius and DeNiro's been lucky enough to star in a lot of great great Scorcese movies.

[/ QUOTE ]

attention whore

[Jeff W]

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One of these things just doesn't belong here, one of these things just isn't the same.

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Meh, whatever, MTP is a tier below Casino/Brazil but it's still solid, as I said.

[Blarg]

I think people are seriously underrating Dog Day Afternoon and Serpico. I also think they seriously overrate Scarface and Carlito's Way.

Also, there are really wonderful out of character things DeNiro has done, like Midnight Run, a really great comedy.

If you have to criticize an actor for doing it by rote, Pacino is one of the worst examples in the whole industry. He started hamming it up enormously starting with Scarface, and that's a LONG time to be a huge, huge ham. He has still kept it together sometimes, as in Glengarry Glenross, but he's in constant danger of being a parody of himself or just outright nutty over the top. His ability to give a fine, nuanced performance is never a guarantee. With DeNiro, it's a guarantee.

We also forget DeNiro in great flicks like Once Upon a Time in America. He was fantastic there. Then there's The Deerhunter ...

Both these guys put out some crap, both did more good movies than they're credited for. But it's Pacino whose embrace of cartoonishness and overbroad, asleep at the switch acting that makes his every new movie a question as to whether it will suck and just turn into a clown show.

[argybargy2002]

I think you guys are seriously underrating Pacino's performance in Scent of a Woman. I thought he played the character flawlessly with all his faults and qualities. His speech at the end was pretty good too. Deniro is good too, but I can't remember him ever playing such a complicated and multi faceted role. I stand to be corrected.