Thursday, October 28, 2010

50 best film casts, part 2

The cast listing continues with the second half. Here are my top 25 best casts in film - not by quantity alone but quantity of quality!

25. The English Patient (1996)
Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliette Binoche, Colin Firth,
Naveen Andrews, Willem Defoe

24. For Your Consideration (2006)
Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, John Michael Higgins,
Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Ricky Gervais, Eugene Levy,
Fred Willard, Jane Lynch, Ed Begley, Jr., Jennifer Coolidge, Larry Miller

23. The Hours (2002)
Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Julianne Moore, Ed Harris,
Toni Collette, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Dillane,
John C. Reilly, Margo Martindale

22. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Cary Grant, Josephine Hull, Jean Adair, Raymond Massey,
Peter Lorre, Priscilla Lane, John Alexander

21. Ghostbusters (1984)
Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis,
Rick Moranis, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, Alice Drummond

20. Fargo (1996)
Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare,
Kristin Rudrud, Harve Presnell, Larissa Kokernot, Melissa Peterman

19. The First Wives Club (1996)
Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, Dan Hedaya,
Eileen Heckart, Marcia Gay Harden, Stephen Collins, Victor Garber,
Sarah Jessica Parker, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth Berkley

18. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Wilkinson,
Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, Jane Adams, David Cross

17. L.A. Confidential (1997)
Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, Kevin Spacey,
Danny DeVito, James Cromwell, David Strathairn

16. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, Abigail Breslin,
Steve Carell, Beth Grant, Bryan Cranston

15. Best in Show (2000)
Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest, Parker Posey,
Michael Hitchcock, Michael McKean, John Michael Higgins,
Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, Larry Miller, Fred Willard

14. All About Eve (1950)
Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders, Celeste Holm,
Gary Merrill, Thelma Ritter, Marilyn Monroe

13. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway,
Randy Quaid, Roberta Maxwell, Anna Faris, Linda Cardellini,
Kate Mara, David Harbour

12. Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O'Connor, Jean Hagen,
Millard Mitchell, Cyd Charisse

11. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Mia Farrow, Michael Caine, Barbara Hershey, Dianne Wiest,
Woody Allen, Max von Sydow, Maureen O'Sullivan, Carrie Fisher

10. Marvin's Room (1996)
Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gwen Verdon,
Hume Cronyn, Margo Martindale, Dan Hedaya, Robert de Niro,
Hal Scardino, Cynthia Nixon, Kelly Ripa

9. Closer (2004)
Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen

8. Junebug (2005)
Embeth Davidtz, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Adams, Celia Weston,
Scott Wilson, Benjamin McKenzie, Frank Hoyt Taylor

7. Young Frankenstein (1974)
Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman,
Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Kenneth Mars

6. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
Christopher Guest, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara,
Fred Willard, Michael Hitchcock, Deborah Theaker, Don Lake,
Larry Miller, Linda Kash, Paul Benedict

5. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis

4. The Godfather (1972)
Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Diane Keaton,
John Cazale, Talia Shire, Robert Duvall, Abe Vigoda,
Gianni Russo, Sterling Hayden

3. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Vivien Leigh, Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden

2. Clue (1985)
Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean,
Lesley Ann Warren, Martin Mull, Madeline Kahn, Colleen Camp

1. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey,
John Howard, Roland Young, Virginia Weidler

3 comments:

Robert said...

I was worried when I didn't see any Christopher Guest movies in the last set, but you made up for it here (and you didn't even forget FYC)! :D Great, great and unique choices for sure. Little Miss Sunshine is great. Enough said.

Dan said...

Great choices. You could make a case for every Christopher Guest film having a perfect cast (even though they are pretty much the same in each film) but I do think it comes together most perfectly in Waiting For Guffman.

Great to see the Clue cast so high up.

Simon said...

Does the movie have to be, technically speaking, good to have the best cast?

If not, I nominate Masked and Anonymous.