Saturday, April 12, 2008

I'd do anything/for you dear anything

EW put out a list of the “50 actors we’d watch in anything.” Hmph, if ever there was a list worth commenting on THIS would be one of them. Here’s the list with my usual snarky/lame commentary. I’ll be breaking these up into two easily digestible posts. Here are the first twenty-five.

1. Kate Winslet-Ok so we start off fairly strong. Even her silly looking outré sexy performance in the non-seen Romance and Cigarettes looks interesting.
2. Alec Baldwin-I wouldn’t say I’d watch him in anything, but when Jack Donaghy barges into a room I sit up and smile. Let me say though as much as I like this Baldwin I ain’t watching Cat in the Hat without getting paid…a lot.
3. Jude Law-I go back and forth on Jude. For every Gigolo Joe or Dickie Greenleaf level performance there is some suck-ass dull as dishwater nonsense like The Holiday or All the King’s Men.
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman-Like Baldwin he’s dependable good but I certainly don’t enjoy everything he’s in (especially the tiny, dour stuff). That being said he had a flawless 2007 (I am not referring to Flawaless though, that was ass).
5. Edie Falco-Like her but won’t go out of my way to see her. I will say that I was incredibly impressed with her work in Sopranos (obviously) and in 30 Rock (surprisingly funny).
6. Morgan Freeman-Categorically no. Freeman’s resume has been bogged down with absolute tripe and he’s dipped into the magical black-man/narrator well so much so that he’s become a joke. Come back Red, we miss you.
7. Meryl Streep-Perfect. The consummate actress and I will in fact watch her in anything. I may mock the Mama Mia trailer loudly and often but damn if I won’t be in the theater that weekend (right after Dark Knight).
8. Johnny Depp-He’s always dependable but he’s not so good as to make me want to see him in dreck (sorry Secret Window, or am I?).
9. Daniel Day-Lewis-I won’t say that line (because that joke is beyond dead) but I will say that a Daniel Day-Lewis movie isn’t just a pleasure, it’s an event.
10. Simon Pegg-I’d watch anything he’s in, eventually. Sorry box-office returns of Run Fatboy Run. It’s on my q, I swear.
11. Ryan Gosling-Eh, I’m yet to be impressed. Or to paraphrase Neil Diamond “I’m NOT a believer” Get it? Get it? I’ll stop now.
12. Rosario Dawson-A hottie who can act? I’m there, I’ve even seen Pluto Nash. Rosario is a good sport and TENDS to make good choices, it makes watching her in films much easier.
13. Don Cheadle-He has impeccable taste in directors (and he’s also worked with Paul Haggis-BURN) so it makes him a very accessible actor for me. I don’t seek him out, we just sort of find each other.
14. Kristen Bell-I suffered through season two of Heroes for you Kristen. Now that IS love.
15. Tony Leung-Haven’t seen enough of him (In the Mood for Love is the only one if you were wondering) to get excited about him. Nate over at filmexperience sings his praises almost daily and he’s almost never wrong.
16. Nathan Fillion-I’ve followed ole Captain Tight Pants into a lot of crummy TV shows and movies but I refuse to follow him to Wisteria Lane. Do you hear me FIllion? I won’t GO!
17. Emma Thompson-Yes, 100% Emma Thompson is to quote LPieks, “flawless.” I even watched Nanny McPhee when it was on HBO.
18. Denzel Washington-I will say that Washington is an exceptional leading man who commands attention and can carry a film and audiences will follow him anywhere. I won’t though, I think he pulls into the same dramatic bag of tricks too often. He did mention on “The Treatement” that he’d be interested in playing Superman and that is absolute favorite movie is Wizard of Oz, so can you please do movies in that vein Denzel? Please?
19. Cherry Jones- Easier to see on stage then film, plus you really have to look for her in most films. I will say that having her ina movie is like having SOMETHING on the top of a sundae, I can’t think of what is is though.
20. Brendan Gleeson-This guys representation/script acceptance is perfect. I don’t seek him out but I can’t think of ANYTHING I’ve seen him in that I didn’t like (except Troy). Also he gets killed in virtually every movie he’s been in.
21. Will Ferrell-Before Kicking and Screaming (the non-Baumbach one) I would’ve said yes, but since then it’s been way too many sports comedies.
22. Catherine Keener-Yes, yes, yes. I first laid eyes on this extraordinary lady in Being John Malkovich and since then exploring her older films and seeing her in new stuff is always a breeze and never a chore.
23. Tom Selleck-The man has the mustache of a titan. He does a lot of dreck though, so I stumble into Selleck material more then I look for it.
24. Patricia Clarkson-She’s never been bad in anything but damn Patty, if Nick Naylor can’t get me into No Reservations you sure as hell can’t either.
25. Paul Rudd-If I didn’t have a giant man-crush on Rudd would I have I Could Never Be Your Woman, the Oh in Ohio and the Chateau in my q? Hell no. No chance.

3 comments:

Chris Henry said...

Is this list supposed to be in any particular order? And for the record, Paul Rudd is one of the funniest actors out there. The Ten is an absolute perfect example of why he belongs on this list.

El Gigante said...

Nope, completely random. I 100% agree on Rudd who forever earned my adoration when he throws a tantrum in the cafeteria in Wet Hot American Summer.

neonspecs said...

I don't know how I feel about The Ten, but The Chateau was horrible. Nevertheless, I have loved Paul Rudd since I saw Clueless when I was eight. haha. And, as I saw him at Sondre Lerche show, I can add to the list of his fantastic qualities his perfect music tastes (since they are the same as mine ;-) )