Best Actor of the Decade Tournament

Top 8



Johnny Depp vs. Russell Crowe

Quantity: Crowe has only done 11 movies in the past 10 years while Depp has done 16. Round - Depp.
Quality: Depp's best work has been in Finding Neverland, Sweeney Todd, Public Enemies and the Pirates trilogy. Meanwhile, Crowe has been great in Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, 3:10 to Yuma, American Gangster, Body of Lies and State of Play. Round - Tie.
Oscar Nominations: Depp has been nominated three times for the first Pirate film, Finding Neverland, and Sweeney Todd. Crowe has only been nominated twice for Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind... but he won for Gladiator. Round - Crowe.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Depp does voice work in films including the Corpse Bride. Round - Depp.
Winner = Depp.



Javier Bardem vs. Sean Penn
Quantity: Penn hasn't done many films in the last ten years... only 12. Bardem works even less though and has done only 9. Round - Penn.
Quality: Penn has been nothing short of amazing in I Am Sam, Mystic River, 21 Grams, The Assassination of Richard Nixon and Milk. Bardem has been stellar in Goya's Ghost, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and especially No Country For Old Men. His No Country role pulls a lot of weight... unfortunately it loses out against Penn's amazing transformation in Milk. Round - Penn.
Oscar Nominations: Bardem was nominated for Before Night Falls and won for No Country for Old Men. Penn was nominated for I Am Sam and won for both Mystic River and Milk. Round - Penn.
Shared Screen: They both appeared in Before Night Falls. Bardem was Oscar nominated for his role so I guess he was better. Unfortunately I didn't see the film so I can't really decide.
Extra Curriculars: Penn directed the amazing film Into the Wild. Round - Penn.
Winner = Penn.



Philip Seymour Hoffman vs. Heath Ledger
Quantity: Ledger's 13 films loses out to Hoffman's 18. Round - Hoffman.
Quality: Both actors did their best work in the later part of the decade. Hoffman killed it in Almost Famous, Capote, The Savages, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Synecdoche New York and Doubt. Meanwhile, Ledger was great in Lords of Dogtown, Monsters Ball, Brokeback Mountain, Candy, I'm Not There and especially The Dark Knight. Six great performances each. I'm giving Ledger the edge for his Joker performance. Round - Ledger.
Oscar Nominations: Ledger and Hoffman were nominated against each other for their roles in Brokeback Mountain and Capote, respectively. Hoffman won. A few years later they were nominated against each other again for their roles in The Dark Knight and Doubt, respectively. Ledger won. Hoffman also picked up a third nod for Charlie Wilson's War. Round - Hoffman.
Shared Screen: They have not shared the screen.
Extra Curriculars: Hoffman appeared in Empire Falls. Ledger was lost far too soon. Round - Tie.
Winner = Hoffman.



Matt Damon vs. George Clooney
Quantity: Damon's 19 films just barely beats out Clooney's 17. Round - Damon.
Quality: Damon was best in All the Pretty Horses, Gerry, The Departed, Syriana and the Bourne trilogy. Clooney was great in Syriana, Michael Clayton and Burn After Reading. Round - Damon.
Oscar Nominations: Damon hasn't been nominated this decade (WHAT!?). Clooney won for Syriana and was nominated a second time for Michael Clayton. Round - Clooney.
Shared Screen: Okay. These guys are total besties and work with each other A LOT. They both appeared in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (Clooney was better because Damon was only in it for three seconds), Syriana (Clooney was better because he was amazing in it), and the Ocean's trilogy (Damon was better because, frankly, he was the only thing I could stand about Ocean's 12 and 13). Round - Damon.
Extra Curriculars: Clooney wrote and directed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night, and Good Luck, the latter of which earned him Oscar nominations. Damon is a Red Sox fan. Round - Clooney.
Winner = Damon.

On Wednesday, we'll carry on with the final four - Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Matt Damon.