Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson performances in The Lighthouse were really something else...

Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in Der Untergang. Also knowns as Downfall, about the final days of Hitler and the fall of Berlin.

His performance is scary good, as if you’re looking at the real man.

In a more mainstream series; Andy Serkis as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. It’s hard to believe he was really on set interacting like that and using his voice like that. Especially the scenes later on when the character has his inner conflicts and split personality. It also helps that the CG is still as good as anything, even if the movies are two decades old by now.

robert de niro. he had the greatest performances. basically anything he does is a 10/10 performance. he is very impressive.

I loved his performance in Angel Heart, although his role was a relatively minor one.

Some of the ones that impressed me the most are:

Ralph Fiennes, Schindler's List - The way he captures such a monstrous character is so convincing it is downright chilling

Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream - Absolutely heart-breaking in how raw her portrayal is

Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight - It's a cliché perhaps but the way he just completely disappears into the character to the point where the man himself is invisible is mind blowing stuff.

Anthony Hopkins, The Silence of the Lambs - An instant classic for bringing such a charismatic psycho to live so vividly

I will say that Ledger's Joker is much more impressive than Nicholson's Joker.  His Joker was campy and cartoony.

Whereas Ledger's Joker was twisted and just pure evil.

"Watch me make this pencil disappear"  LOL!

Al Pacino in The Godfather I/II

James Gandolfini in The Sopranos

Denzel Washington in Malcolm X

I'll second Kathy Bates in Misery

Jared Leto as the Joker in Sui... Nah, I joke. Reiley Reid in that one...nah. Seriously though, Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers club. Matthew McConaughey also but the two play off each other greatly, not sure either would have performed aswell without the other.

Never heard anyone shit on it, infact all ive heard is praise. DDLewis is top 5 great.

Some of my favorites:

• Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men
• Leonardo DiCaprio in What's eating Gilbert Grape
• Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada
• Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest 
• Ed Harris in The Truman Show
• Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting 
• Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone