Poll: Four 'New Hollywood' Icons and 18 stellar performances ...

Which of these 18 Oscar-nominated performances from the Big 4 of Acting : Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Jack Nicholson, all between 1967 and 1980, is your favorite? Discuss here The term 'New Hollywood' refers to the equivalent of the French 'New Wave' in America, a period during which directors took some distance from the Golden Age heritage and could express their personal artistic vision on the screen, like true authors, making movies of gripping realism and thought-provoking social commentaries. It all started in 1967 with the groundbreaking "Bonnie and Clyde", "The Graduate" and "In the Heat of the Night" and ended at the eve of the Blockbuster era with such successes as "Jaws" and "Star Wars" ... the last notable films from the New Hollywood era were "Apocalypse Now", "Raging Bull" before the commercial failure of "Heaven's Gate" would put the final nail in the coffin. Between 1967 and 1980, four actors emerged as the most defining of their generations, grabbing the most oscar nominations from any actor : Al Pacino and Jack Nicholson (5 nominations each), Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro (4) for playing such iconic characters as Ben Braddock or Ratso, Michael Corleone or Sonny Wortzik, J.J. Gittes or R.P. McMurphy, Travis Bickle or Jake La Motta. They would all be nominated in 1974. Which of these 18 Oscar-nominated performances is your favorite? Discuss here