Best Actor of the Decade Tournament

I have been neglecting this blog but NO MORE! First, I plan to do an end of the summer post after Labor Day and after that weekly reviews. But for now, every Wednesday and Sunday I am going to do an end of the year actor tournament (actresses next). Only their work from 2000 - 2009 counts (and if the film isn't released by the time I write a particular entry, it doesn't count)and I will objectively find the best actor (and actress) of the decade. This plan was hatched on a very boring shift at work!
Criteria = Quantity of films, Quality of films, Oscar nominations, Shared Screen (who stole who's thunder), Extra Curriculars (is someone in a kick ass band or stealing scenes on TV), and, if needed, a Tie Breaker which will basically be who I like more.
The actors were picked and paired at random so, I guess, let's begin.

Round 1 - Top 64

Mark Wahlberg vs. Morgan Freeman
Quantity: Wahlberg has done 15 films in the last ten years which is unfortunately (for him) no match for Freeman, who has got to be one of the busiest men in Hollywood. He's done 28 films and that's not even counting a few others where he just served as narrator. Round - Freeman.
Quality: Wahlberg found himself stealing scenes in one of the best films of the decade, Martin Scorsese's The Departed along with appearing in the wonderfully smart I Heart Huckabees. Freeman has done a lot of work and a lot of work in great movies including The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, Million Dollar Baby and Gone Baby Gone. Round - Freeman.
Oscar Nods: Wahlberg was nominated for The Departed but Freeman won for Million Dollar Baby. Round - Freeman.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Wahlberg helped create 'Entourage.' Round - Wahlberg.
Winner = Freeman.

Johnny Depp vs. Clive Owen
Quantity: Both Depp and Owen have done 16 films in the past ten years although Depp has 15 (FIFTEEN!) projects in development. Unfortunately, they don't count here. TIE.
Quality: Owen was awesome in Closer, Inside Man and Children of Men but Depp has been on fire this year with great performances in the Pirate trilogy as well as Sweeney Todd, Finding Neverland and Public Enemies. Round - Depp.
Oscar Nods: Owen was nominated for Closer but Depp's been nominated three times for the first Pirate film, Finding Neverland and Sweeney Todd. Round - Depp.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Depp has done voice work on King of the Hill and Spongebob which is cute because he has kids. Round - Depp.
Winner = Depp.

Jackie Earle Haley vs. Clint Eastwood
Quantity: Haley, the former child star who had difficulty trasfering to an adult career, only made five films in the last ten years. However, Eastwood has been so busy directing that he's only appeared in four. Round - Haley.
Quality: Eastwood's best work this decade, acting wise, has been in Million Dollar Baby and he was hardly the best performance in the film. Meanwhile, Haley was amazing in Little Children and the only good thing about Watchmen. Round - Haley.
Oscar Nods: Haley was nominated for Little Children and while Eastwood has been nominated for 7 Oscars this decade, only one of them was for acting (Million Dollar Baby). TIE.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Well, Eastwood has directed some of the best movies of this decade including a personal favorite Mystic River. He also directed TWO films in both 2006 (Flags of our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima) and 2008 (Changeling and Gran Torino). Round - Eastwood.
Winner = Haley.

Viggo Mortensen vs. Paul Rudd
Quantity: Viggo doesn't work much so he's only done 9 films in the last 10 years. Meanwhile, Rudd works A LOT and he's been in 31 films in the last decade. Round - Rudd.
Quality: Even Rudd's best work in comedies like Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin and I Love You, Man can't even come close to Mortensen's turns in The History of Violence, Eastern Promises and Appaloosa. Round - Mortensen.
Oscar Nods: Rudd's never been nominated while Mortensen has been for Eastern Promises. Round - Mortensen.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Viggo is apparently a poet and artist. Meanwhile, Rudd does a lot of work for his friends and has appeared in tons of TV shows including Veronica Mars, Reno 911 and Friends. Round - Rudd.
Tie Breaker: I like Paul Rudd just fine but he is NOT on my top 5 sexiest men alive list. Round - Mortensen.
Winner = Mortensen.

Kevin Spacey vs. Tim Robbins
Quantity: Neither of these actors have been very visible this decade but Robbins has done 15 films while Spacey has only done 13. Round - Robbins.
Quality: Unfortunately Spacey's best work was in the 90's, however, he was still great in The United States of Leland and The Life of David Gale. Meanwhile, Robbins was amazing in Mystic River. Round - Spacey.
Oscar Nods: Spacey hasn't been nominated for a film this decade but Robbins won for Mystic River. Round - Robbins.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Spacey was in the cable series Recount. Round - Spacey.
Tie Breaker: Robbins was amazing in one of my fave films of the decade but I simple like Spacey better. Even if he's not doing his best work this decade, I still want him to get to the top 32 at least. Round - Spacey.
Winner = Spacey.

Russell Crowe vs. Terrence Howard
Quantity: Crowe definitely believes in quality over quantity because he's only done 11 films this decade (although at least half of them have been GOOD). Meanwhile, Howard has done 28 or so films. Round - Howard.
Quality: Like I said, Crowe does GOOD films including Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, Body of Lies and State of Play. Meanwhile, Howard was in Glitter. Well, he was also in Hustle and Flow, Crash and Iron Man. But he was in Glitter. Round - Crowe.
Oscar Nods: Howard was nominated (in a very tough year) for Hustle and Flow but Crowe was nominated for A Beautiful Mind and Gladiator (for which he won). Round - Crowe.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Howard was in a really great TV movie called Their Eyes Were Watching God. Round - Howard.
Tie Breaker: Neither of these guys are particularly likeable but if we're talking about the best actor of the decade, I think Crowe has got to at least move on in the tournament. Round - Crowe.
Winner = Crowe.

Jack Nicholson vs. Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Quantity: Nicholson has only done a handful of films this decade (6) and when you're a living legend you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Meanwhile, Gordon-Levitt has been working hard in the indie world and has done 15 films. Round - Gordon-Levitt.
Quality: While Gordon-Levitt (my favorite actor under 30) has been nothing short of amazing in films like Manic, Brick, Mysterious Skin, The Lookout and 500 Days of Summer, very little can compare to Jack Nicholson when he's on and boy was he ever on in The Departed. Round - Nicholson.
Oscar Nods: Gordon-Levitt hasn't been nominated yet (don't worry, he will be) and Nicholson has been nominated a million times, but only once this decade for About Schmidt. It's enough to win this round. Round - Nicholson.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Gordon-Levitt also sings and runs a website that encourages it's viewers to make art. He also was on Third Rock from the Sun for quite a few years before becoming a movie star. Round - Gordon-Levitt.
Tie Breaker: Not a decision I wanted to make. My favorite actor of all time vs. my favorite actor under 30. If we are talking best actor of the decade, then I guess we are talking future. Nicholson is mostly the past. He's mostly a legend who will best be remembered for his work in early films like Chinatown and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The best is probably yet to come with Gordon-Levitt. So, although it kills me... Round - Gordon-Levitt.
Winner = Gordon-Levitt.

Samuel L. Jackson vs. Brad Pitt
Quantity: Pitt's done 15 films which is nothing compared to Jackson who gives Freeman a run for his money by appearing in 34 films and that's not even counting all his voice work. Round - Jackson.
Quality: They've both done their good films and their bad films. If you put up Pitt's The Assassination of Jesse James, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Inglourious Basterds against Jackson's Black Snake Moan and Star Wars trilogy, I guess I'd have to go with Pitt. Round - Pitt.
Oscar Nods: Jackson hasn't been nominated this decade while Pitt has been nominated once for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Round - Pitt.
Shared Screen: If you want to count narration then they've "shared the screen" in Inglourious Basterds. But Jackson's smooth narration hardly compares to Pitt's hilarious Italian accent. Round - Pitt.
Extra Curriculars: They've both done television and voice work but Pitt is something like Father Teresa these days, helping New Orleans rebuild and adopting kids from war torn countries. Round - Pitt.
Winner = Pitt.

That does it for today. Sunday's round will feature Tom Cruise, Javier Bardem, two Ben's (Affleck and Kingsley) and a monumental showdown that should NOT be taking place this early in the tournament.