5. Joaquin Phoenix, 2012-2014
The Streak: The Master, The Immigrant, Her, Inherent Vice. Another contemporary actor currently on the back of a great streak is Joaquin Phoenix, whose run could've realistically started in 2008, with James Gray's Two Lovers and the faux-documentary of his supposed conversion from actor to rap-star, I'm Not Here (2010). Great as those two performances are, though, it's best to start his streak with 2012's The Master, the first of four instant classics he would lead in succession. Phoenix's is an erratic nature, and his performance technique throughout the streak ranges from the subtle to the sedated to the downright insane: he's electric in The Master, seedy in The Immigrant, weird in Her, and lackadaisically compelling in Inherent Vice - all four films showcasing Phoenix's unique talent and suggesting him as perhaps the greatest actor alive and currently working. A performer who chooses his roles carefully and sparingly, Phoenix rarely appears in anything that could be deemed as fluff, and his filmography is testament to an actor who takes his work seriously. A true directors' actor, it's no surprise that two of his four films in the run are from Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master and Inherent Vice), while one other, The Immigrant, is from James Gray, who Phoenix also worked with on the aforementioned Two Lovers as well on The Yards, some eight years earlier. These are commonly the directors who bring the best out of Joaquin Phoenix, and their presence in his streak is a key component of what makes it so great.