September/October 2009

FILM COMMENT’S TRIVIAL TOP 20® (expanded to 50): Best Acting Performance by a Musical Performer

Votes cast by Thom Andersen, Melissa Anderson, Margaret Barton-Fumo, Michael Chaiken, Chris Chang, David Cox, Gary Giddins, J. Hoberman, Laura Kern, Nathan Lee, Olaf Möller, Mark Olsen, Nicolas Rapold, Jonathan Romney, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Regina Schlagnitweit, Gavin Smith, Chuck Stephens, Amy Taubin, and Brynn White.

1. Mick Jagger Performance, 1970
2. Charles Aznavour Shoot the Piano Player, 1960
3. David Bowie The Man Who Fell to Earth, 1976
4. Deborah Harry Videodrome, 1983
5. John Lurie Stranger Than Paradise, 1984
6. Dean Martin Some Came Running, 1958
7. Faye Wong Chungking Express, 1994
8. Dennis Wilson Two-Lane Blacktop, 1971
9. Jacques Dutronc Van Gogh, 1991
10. Frank Sinatra Some Came Running, 1958
11. Tom Waits Down by Law, 1986
12. Burl Ives Wind Across the Everglades, 1958
13. Björk Dancer in the Dark, 2000
14. Frank Sinatra The Manchurian Candidate, 1962
15. Art Garfunkel Bad Timing, 1980
16. James Taylor Two-Lane Blacktop, 1971
17. Dolly Parton 9 to 5, 1980
18. Maria Callas Medea, 1969
19. Doris Day Love Me or Leave Me, 1955
20. Sammy Davis Jr. Porgy and Bess, 1959
21. Gustav Leonhardt Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, 1968
22. Dexter Gordon ’Round Midnight, 1986
23. Ice Cube Boyz n the Hood, 1992
24. Will Oldham Old Joy, 2006
25. Frank Sinatra The Man with the Golden Arm, 1953
26. Willie Nelson Thief, 1981
27. Kris Kristofferson Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, 1975
28. Al Jolson The Jazz Singer, 1927
29. Doris Day Teacher’s Pet, 1958
30. Justin Timberlake Southland Tales, 2006
31. Burl Ives Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , 1958
32. David Bowie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, 1983
33. Ryuichi Sakamoto Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, 1983
34. Ricky Nelson Rio Bravo, 1958
35. Bing Crosby Going My Way, 1944
36. Harry Belafonte Carmen Jones, 1954
37. Isaac Hayes Escape from New York, 1981
38. Mariah Carey Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire , 2009
39. Adriano Celentano Yuppi du, 1975
40. Michael Hutchence Dogs in Space, 1986
41. Billy Ray Cyrus Mulholland Drive, 2001
42. Iggy Pop Cry-Baby, 1990
43. Benjamin Biolay Stella, 2008
44. Queen Latifah Set It Off, 1996
45. Peggy Lee Pete Kelly’s Blues, 1955
46. Miles Davis Dingo, 1991
47. Cher Moonstruck, 1987
48. Lyle Lovett The Player, 1991
49. Tupac Shakur Gridlock’d, 1997
50. Kris Kristofferson Cisco Pike, 1972

© 2009 by The Film Society of Lincoln Center