Brooks was seriously robbed of an Oscar nomination for ‘Drive’. And holy shit is Angela Lansbury still chilling in ‘Candidate’. Good Lord.

We haven’t seen it yet, of course— and the weekend can’t get here soon enough— but here’s an incredibly safe bet for #24 (Foreplay!).

What about Robert Redford in Captain America: Winter Soldier?   Him shooting his maid in cold blood is the modern equivalent of Fonda killing the boy.

Waiting to see it but Topher Grace as David Duke should be interesting.   

JK Simmons, “Whiplash” needs to be on this list.

I don’t know if he necessarily had a “type” to play against, but Anthony Hopkins certainly had nothing in his resume remotely like Hannibal Lecter. 

I grew up watching Andy Griffith in his titular aw-shucks show in syndication, and sometimes Matlock. (What can I say, we didn’t have cable.)

J.K. Simmons in Whiplash.

How about Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd?

National treasure John Goodman in 10 Cloverfield Lane. Holy shit.

Kylo is almost everything that Vader should have been. Just goes to show what a great director Johnson is. I mean in Awakens everyone was bleh, it was all very serviceable but nobody gave absolutely stunning performances.

Not sure if this counts since it wasn’t a movie but Kristen Dunst’s role as Peggy Blumquist was brilliant.

Um, Paul Rudd... Mute. I’d say that should actually be the biggest on this list - he’s Paul Rudd. Cuddly, lovable Paul Rudd (or Crap Bag, to reference Friends)... and his performance in Mute was incredible for being both truly excellent, and completely at odds with his usual image.

More recent but Hugh Grant going from rom-com guy to hilarious, narcissistic pantomime villain in Paddington 2 was a brilliant example of going against type working perfectly.

Javier Bardem’s vertical launch into the bad-guy pantheon in No Country for Old Men definitely deserves a nod here...

Yeah, but Kurtwood Smith has always played assholes. 

Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane in Iron Man really threw me off. 

I just watched Man of Tai Chi and was thinking this about Keanu’s character. He almost always plays heroes or at least likable anti-heroes, but casting himself as a truly darkly evil, lucifer-esque bad guy was a surprising choice. I thought the movie was better than it’s reputation and I really dug him in that role.

Villains offer a better acting challenge.

James Stewart. Vertigo. Not a classic villain, but in terms of doing a 180º from his previous personae, I can’t think of one that is better.