So a couple months ago there was a conversation that started about who was our favorite/best actor(ress). I decided to take this to the next level, and through a series of values given to people votes, we established a unified list of the top 20 actors alive. Now understand, you will disagree with this list. But I DISAGREE with this list!! This isn't MY list!! My list would be very different and I would love to know what YOUR list would look like. Hell, I would totally be willing to make a new, modified list. Anyway, this is a consensus list of friends and family that were around when this was made. It took us like 5 hours to establish this and a lot of heated conversations to convince others of why Clooney is so great and who cares if Denzel only has one good film! I'm going to post 5 of these a week for the next 5 weeks in the form of a grand countdown. So without anymore blabbering, here is 20-16.
20. Brad Pitt
Brad ALMOST didn't make this list, but Brad is one of those actors who you can't help but love. He has some of the more memorable roles in film history with bold characters like Tyler Durden in Fight Club opposite (spoiler alert, he didn't make the list, despite some bloodletting) Ed Norton as essentially the same person. Or in the NASTY 90s when he was awesome in 94 and 95 roles in Interview with a Vampire, Legends of the Fall, Se7en and Twelve Monkeys. if those weren't enough to seal him into the list, he topped off his spot in the fun to watch Ocean's 11,12 and 13. Although he was awesome in all of these roles, my first and still favorite character of all was detective Frank Harris in 1992's Cool World where he battled between the seduction of reality and cartoon. Cool cool world without a doubt.
19. Adam Sandler
Ok so I can't lie... I had no part in voting Adam into this list at all and I STILL can't deny his comedic impression he placed upon the late 90s. When i was younger, my brothers and I would fall asleep(or even worse, not fall asleep) to Billy Madison ever night for 2 years. we could quote that movie and for the most part i still can, top to bottom. Adam's best movies by far are his comedies. We all chuckling to ourselves when we think about Bob Barker beating the crap out of him in Happy Gilmore, or the debate over tongue or no tongue for the first kiss on your wedding day before settling with "church tongue" with Drew Barrymore in The Wedding Singer. I remember literally falling to the ground in laughter when he first sacked the quarterback in The Waterboy or getting my clues of what not to do as a father in Big Daddy. But that's kind of where it ends. I mean, I still enjoyed airheads, Anger Management and Punch-Drunk Love... but it was much different than Bill and Happy... But so happy Madison stands at 19 in our list.
18. Don Cheadle
NOBODY wants to listen to me when I said Don Cheadle might be Top 10! And so he sits here at #18. It's hard to convince someone how great an actor some is if they haven't seen his awesome roles in TRAFFIC, CRASH, HOTEL RWANDA and TRAITOR. I freaking LOVE those movies!!! Like seriously, he was awesome. But the downside is that is kind of it. Sure he was good in Family Man, Boogie Nights and the ocean's series... but that's about it. Seriously, how good is traffic? Whew... Plus, Don Cheadle is very very cool.
17. Jim Carey
Ahhhh, here's a sleeper. You NEVER think of Jim Carey as a "Great Actor" because the first roles you think of(and there's a lot) are great but simpler parts from Ace Ventura, The Mask, Dumb & Dumber, The Cable Guy, Batman and Robin, Liar Liar and more recently in Yes man and Bruce Almighty. But Jim has worked very hard to not be limited as "The Funny Guy". Jim Carey was fabulous in the very deep, convincing role in man on the Moon as he played Andy Kaufman to a T. He also pulled away in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which along with The Cable Guy is a battle for my favorite Jim Carey movies. Jim Carey is a VERY VERY good actor and if you haven't picked up one of his movies in a while I would highly recommend hitting up some netflix and checking a couple out as you'll laugh and probably find a spot to cry as well.... or worst case scenario, cry from laughing! A couple others to think about would be The truman Show, The Number 23 and The Majestic.
16. Morgan Freeman
What!?!? 16?!?!/ Ae you kidding me?!?! Morgan Freeman... The Voice... is showing up this early in the list at #16?!?!? Yes, he's 16, so get over it! Alright, I'm gonna rattle off a couple gems for ya. Million Dollar Baby, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Gone Baby Gone, Glory, Driving Miss Daisy, Outbreak, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, Se7en, and playing Nelson Mandela in Invictus. No, I haven't seen all these movies... But not all of these movies are great!!! There are some very good, very memorable roles, but honesty... I think Morgan Freeman will do any movie willing to pay him enough money because according to the list I'm looking at... he hasn't done THAT many really great ones. But that's why this is my blog and I get to write what I want. Shawshank is probably one of MY top...what..?.. 10 favorite movies of all time. That's a different list for a different day.
Come check back next week when I give you our 15-11 that I think you'll be pretty happy with as a whole. OH, can't forget!
Beer of the Week: Oskar Blue's GUBNA. It's a 10% abv Imperial India Pale Ale and it is SO delicious. It's like the Shawshank Redeption of beers!!
Music of the Week but probably more likely "of the Day": Vendetta Red: White Knuckled Substance
And finally my Netflix recomendations 20-16:
Brad Pitt: Cool World
Adam Sandler: Anger Management, but only if you've seen Billy Madison a thousand times.
Don Cheadle: Traffic
Jim Carey: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Morgan Freeman: Shawshank? The Dark Knight? Either one is a good idea, whatever your mood prefers.
15. Dustin Hoffman
Ok, so maybe I'm the under educated one who kind of slept on Dustin Hoffman. I definitely didn't give him the film respect that maybe I should have. Had I added a little more value to Dustin he might be a top 10er... Maybe. Needless to say, I did spit some anti-Hoffman haterade and I was probably in the wrong. As I am IMDBing him I am seeing a LOT of quality. I mean, you think about The Graduate, Lenny, Kramer vs. Kramer and his amazing portrayal of Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man were all awesome. One of my Father's favorites of all time and for good reason is Tootsie. He played the role awesome and we super funny on top of it! I think part of the reason I sleep on him is that a lot of his best work was pre-2000s and therefore isn't in my generational wheelhouse. He will always be memorable for me in Sphere, Hook and everybody loved him in Meet The Fockers! He deserves a spot on this list, but I don't know if we every really know where to place him.
14. Tom Cruise
14? Maybe #1? Who knows, but I LOVE Tom Cruise!!! He is always entertaining to watch. He's like Brad Pitt like that. They don't usually have the deepest characters or the most complex roles but they do a damn good job at entertaining you! Get this: Risky Business, Top Gun, Rain Man, Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men, and The Firm. That is only the first 10 or so years!!! Those are Hall of Famers!! Minus Days of Thunder but I put that there because it's a sleeper favorite of mine. Than he gets kicking AGAIN over the next 10 years with these blockbusters: Interview with a Vampire, The Mission: Impossible Series, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut, Vanilla Sky, Minority Report, The Last Samurai, Collateral and War of the Worlds!! I think I've seen every freaking Tom Cruise movie, maybe a thousand times!! He's awesome!!! No, those aren't all great roles or even great movies, but you enjoyed them and leave with a smile on your face. Top it off with Tom playing Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder and you've got a nice little resume there. And ya know what? I wanna go see Knight and Day. Cause it looks entertaining. I still believe he was at his best in Jerry Maguire but my family insists he was the coolest in Collateral. Hats of Tom, hats of you crazy alien loving movie magic, money making machine!
13. Robert De Niro
Ok, so at this point I get it. People have their rankings and we never believe it until we see the people ranked better than them and take a second to think about it. I get it. 40 years. Thats how long Rebert De Niro has been cranking out HITS. Like straight up gold plated glory! Godfather part II!!!! Yeah! What about Taxi Driver!?!?! Or The Deer Hunter!?!!? Raging Bull! Goodfellas!?!?!? Awmagawd I love Goodfellas. Backdraft! Heat!! Casino!?!? That's like a top 10 all time great movie! And then this is where Robert really shines. He has these roles that he treats special and individual but continues to throw you a wrench like in the Meet the Parents series. Robert De Niro is an all time great. He really is a class act and his great movies are some of the greatest ever.
12. Denzel Washington
This one was tough for me. Denzel plays one of my favorite roles of all time as Detective Alonzo Harris in Training Day. But aside from 1 or 2 epic roles, I can't think of a LOAD of movies that make me jump in excitement to put him really high in this list. Others must have felt similar to me for him to settle at 12. Despite acting a lot for 10 years he never really had a standout role except for pvt Trip in Glory until he came into the lead in Malcolm X. I'm not gonna lie... I haven't seen it. It's on my to-see list but I just haven't gotten to it yet. I'm not here to convince you that Denzel isn't some epic actor... I am just having trouble mentioning a lot of roles that blew me away. Sure, Pelican Brief, Philadelphia, Crimson Tide and Courage Under Fire were all good movies, but worthy of placing him at 12? No. But I am going to stand on the fact that Training Day IS Denzel Washington! NO OTHER actor could have played that character. None! Sure, Remember the Titans was a feel good and Man on Fire was AWESOME... but I will always compare Denzel to Alonzo... can't help it.
11. Vince Vaughn
I know. You're freaking out. How is Vince Vaughn even on your list!?!? I know. I thought the same thing at first. I JUST LOVE HIM!!! I can't help it!! And evidently I am not alone. Is he a better actor than denzel Washington? I don't know and I'm not here to debate that. I am here to tell you why he is holding down the #11 spot on my list and just consider yourself lucky he didn't jump to 9 or 8! Vince is only the 3rd and the 2nd to the last "funny guy" on our list. Vince's humor is a little differant. he's like the cool college buddy who says some off the wall stuff that he cmpletely believes in and convinces you to believe the same. I could go a couple different ways with Vince but he really is just a one dimensional actor. he has one card to play but plays it better than any other. Each of his characters carry a bit of all his characters before it. I mean, how many times do you quote Vince from Swingers, Wedding Crashers or Old School on a daily basis? I do, constantly!! But those are them. Those are the good movies. It's a short list. There are a couple more I really like, such as Made, The Break-Up, Dodgeball(which others like way more than me but... whatev)Fred Claus, Four Christmases(which I was pleasantly surprised with) and Couples Retreat.
Next week we get to break into the Top 10. For the most part I think it'll you'll be pretty pleased but there are a couple surprises, I won't lie!
Beer of the Week: I tried a couple more Oskar Blues. I snagged some Scotch Ale and Dale's Pale Ale. The Scotch Ale was absolutely delicious and was very affordable at 9.99 for a 6 pack. The Dale's was pleasantly hoppier than anticipated and finished very nicely. I also went to Lure's Beer Club yesterday and enjoy 6 limited release, keg only beers from Bear Republic. They were all really really good, especially the Racer X, a play on their flagship Racer 5 IPA.
Music of the Week: A little bit of a throwback: Further Seems Forever: The Moon is Down
And finally my Netflix recomendations 15-11:
Dustin Hoffman: Tootsie
Tom Cruise: Jerry Maguire
Robert De Niro: Goodfellas
Denzel Washington: Training Day
Vince Vaughn: Swingers... Or Old School
I know... I suck. I would have liked to be done with this list today rather than continuing it and drawing it out. I have a lot of other blogs to bring up, so I'm gonna post the next list in 3 days.... hopefully...
10. Will Ferrell
Will is the last of our comedic snipers on the list. And for good reason, he was able to crack the top 10. Make no mistake, Will Ferrell is awesome!!! He's a SNL alumn who is known for his awkward humor. Ferrell's first big chance on the silver screen was in the cult-favorite, Night at the Roxbury, in a return to another SNL skit brought to the big screen in 1998. Then 2001 came around and Ferrell was off to the races as Mugatu in Zoolander and Frank the Tank in one of my all time favorite movies, Old School. The subtle nuances in both of these characters in which he isn't the star and yet HE is the character you remember most and are left quoting for weeks. I mean... there are a LOT of really really funny movies from Will Ferrell. Elf is a Christmas classic that if it's ever on, I have to watch it. I quote Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy on a daily basis. He also delivered quite the memories as the funeral crashing ladies man, Chazz Reinhold in Wedding Crashers. If you haven't seen these next movies, than you need to tap your redbox and get on it: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Stranger than Fiction, The Producers, Semi-Pro and Blades of Glory. But to top this off, I need to plead with you. There are 2 movies that Will has done in the last 3 years that nobody EVER thinks of when they think of very funny movies. I don't believe either of these movies pulled the money people thought they would and maybe people were just done with Ferrell's style of humor. The first is Step Brothers. The story is SO unlikely and out there but the comedic battle and constant hillarious lines that go back and forth between Will Ferrell and John C. Riley really is epic. Step Brothers is SO freaking good. Next, and the last Ferrell movie I'll comment on is Land of the Lost. This came out last summer and I was very sceptical of what the story lines would be. I watched Land of the Lost when I was younger, so this series is very near to my heart. But they did it. A different story altogether, but one that is full of laughs. Go Get This Movie!
9. Eric Roberts
Um... I don't know how Eric Roberts made this list... I mean, I love the Best of the Best series... He was also good in The Dark Knight, I guess... did you know that he is one of the only actors whos name automatically becomes cool when you say his whole name rather than shorten it. Like seriously, his dearest friends and family, only refer to him as Eric Roberts. No Lie! But seriously, how did this happen?? Who put Eric Roberts on this list!?!?!? Is this a joke?? Hold on... Wait... Oh, its not Eric Roberts? His sister?? Who the heck is Eric Roberts sister? Oh, dang, Julia? I didn't know Julia was Eric Roberts sister. Thats crazy... ok, so I guess the...#9 spot is saved for Julia Roberts, not her brother Eric Roberts. Julia is the ONLY woman on our entire list. I'm sorry, we did kind of whore out Meryl Streep. But we did that to quite a few people. She should probably be taking the next spot, but for now we're talking about Julia... and not Meryl. It's kind of crazy... she hasn't done a thousand movies. She's been very choosy when it comes to her films. Obviously we remember our personal faves, Pretty Woman, Steel Magnolias, My Best Friend's Wedding, Erin Brochovich, The Ocean's series... Actually that's it. I mean, I loved her in Charlie Wilson's War, but... I mean, she must be one of Americas most beloved actresses. I mean... you've seen em all, so I don't really have any never before seens to recommend.
8. Christian Bale
Seriously. Christian Bale? I mean, I like him and all, but hey, I guess the voting goes how the voting goes and thus Christian Bale (and not Bradley Cooper, who would be on MY list) is #8. For real, Christian Bale single handedly saved the Batman series. Yeah, I know, I hate his "Batman" voice also, but he really does play a really good Bruce Wayne, like, he totally gets the whole swagger, rich kid vibe and rocks it to the max. Some people think that it was Heath Ledger who saved the series, but Ledger was only in the second one, and it was awesome, but there wouldn't even be a second one if Bale hadn't owned the first. Now before I delve into the NEW Christian Bale, I want to touch on the OLD, hella cool Christian Bale. The one who did Treasure Island, Swing Kids and Newsies!! ALL 3 OF THOSE MOVIES WERE AWESOME!!! You cant even buy Swing Kids anymore. Its the story of best friends in the Nazi era that to get away from the Nazi regime would go to late night swing clubs until one day Bale decides to build himself a better life and join the Nazis and thus begins the battle with all his "Swing Kids" friends. Really a good one. I mention it because it is one of my total faves. Bale was also in another one I go back to alot, A Midsummer Nights Dream, the Shakespeare play with Michelle Pfiffer. You know what, Christian Bale is awesome and maybe should be in the Top 5! He was excellent in American Psycho and everything I've heard says that The Machinist is great too, but I just haven't found the time to make that happen. What? He's a voice in Howl's Moving Castle.. hmmm... That's cool. To finish off the Christian Bale list I would like to talk about: The Prestige. Its a film about 2 best friend magicians that become rivals to find the ultimate trick and to struggle with passion, integrity and the lines between a trick and reality. This is a very very good film that keeps you watching and hating yourself each time you blink because you don't want to miss half a second.
7. George Clooney
George is maybe my personal number 1. If the other people who helped established this list had seen more of his good work, he would be much much higher. But they hadn't, and so he isn't any higher than #7. George first became visible to us in the TV show ER, which I watch for years every Thursday night on NBC. But this is a movie list. And George Clooney first started off a bit rocky with a three movie run of From Dusk Till Dawn, One Fine Day and Batman & Robin. There was a reason they stopped making Batman movies after his... Cause it kinda sucked. But than something seemed to click with Clooney as he started to put out some absolute gems. The first of which being Oh! Brother Where Art Thou, which was a different view than we're generally used to. This began a trend for Mr. Clooney who would put out a couple blockbusters that made a TON of money, only so he could fund his desire to make GREAT movies that nobody would ever see. Blockbusters: The lead character Danny Ocean in the Ocean's Series, Spy Kids 3-D and Leatherheads. But the movies he has made that I am forever in love with are Three Kings, Syriana and Michael Clayton. I wish I could talk about Up In the Air or The Men Who Stare at Goats, but I haven't seen them, Apparently, Up In the Air is a great one. If you ever see a nondescript movie that goes under the radar that has Clooney, its probably awesome. I would compare him to or even call him, the white Don Cheadle.
6. Johnny Depp
Ahhh, our generation's Brando?? Dean?? All I know is if he is on the screen, the theater will be full of men and women alike. Because despite being quite the heartthrob, he is also one of the more fascinating and acclaimed actors in Hollywood. Platoon!!!! Awesome! Edward Scissorhands, I cried harder at that movie than any other movie prior. Then he goes on quite the run: Benny & Joon, Whats Eating Gilbert Grape, Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco(you know me and Mob movies), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Sleepy Hallow all in like a 5 year run of very very high quality films. Then comes the Pirates of the Caribean series in which we all love the first one and each one to follow a little less than the one prior. Johnny has done a couple great ones and than he's done a couple duds. Do I blame him or his boyfriend Tim Burton, the director that seems essential connected to Depp at the hip. I blame em both! I'll rattle off a couple they've done and you can decide for yourself and I'll also give you mine own simple good or bad as well: Edwad Scissorhands (Good), Corpse Bride (Good), Alice in Wonderland (Dunno), Sweeney Todd (Good), Charlie and the Chocolate factory ( Bad), Ed Wood (Good). Much like Clooney, the less of a big deal the movie is, the more I like Depp and the movie as a whole. Sweeney Todd is a great example as he WAS the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Blow was also way good although I am overdue for another viewing of it as it has been too long. The Astronaught's Wife was deep and my family all loved Secret Window but my favorite of all time was What's Eating Gilbert Grape as a small town brother to a mentalling challenged kid (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the son to a morbidly obese mother in just an awesome movie you will never forget. Fabulous... Makes me wanna go put it in the vcr right now !!!
Until the next one, here are my recommendations.
Beer of the Week: I went on a no drinking for 30 days run ( for the sake of my health, wallet, and just to challange myself a bit) and I stopped at 11 days on July 4th realizing that July 4th weekend, summer as a whole, fall because of Oktoberfest and winter because of all the epic holiday beers, just aren't the right times to NOT drink. So, I may try again come march 18th ;) But I just had quite a refreshing 21st Amendment: Hell or High Watermelon Wheat beer. Really subtle watermelon flavor goes great with the crispness of this wheat beer. This might just be my beer of the summer! Well done 21st Amendment.
Music of the Week: Been rockin a lot of ACDC lately, so go download some!!
And finally my Netflix recomendations 10-6:
Will Ferrell: Step Brothers and Land of the Lost
Eric Roberts: Best of the Best
Julia Roberts: Charlie Wilson's War
Christian Bale: The Prestige
George Clooney: Syriana
Johnny Depp: What's Eating Gilbert Grap
Ok, so 3 days turned into to 3 months, but I lost my account password and I was on vacation and... ya know what..?.. I was lazy. And thus we end now: I don't care what you think, Mel Gibson is awesome!! The finally, 5 thru 1 !!!
5. Christopher Walken
Not only a great actor, but a top notch favorite actor. if it has Walken in it, I want to see it. He's done everything from plucky, to scary, from fun loving to evil. Walken has and continues to put out "all-time film" after "all-time film". In 1978, Walken blew everyone away with Robert Di Niro in The Deer Hunter... The Russian roulette scene is just too good. As far as I see it, he didn't really put out another crusher until King of New York in 1990. He quickly followed that up in Pulp Fiction as captain Koons and my favorite Walken flick ever, playing Gabriel in The Prophecy. the premise of The Prophecy is the spirit of the most evil man in the world inhabits the body of a young Indian girl and Gabriel comes down from heaven in hopes of killing the girl and setting free this spirit which would open up a heavenly war and dismantle God's reign. All of this because Gabriel is jealous of God's love for humans. REALLY freaking AWESOME movie! There's a Prophecy 2 and 3, I just haven't seen them because I didn't want to ruin the initial performance... but I may just have to break down and check em out. He finished of the 90s with Blast From the Past and Sleepy Hollow where he was just scary... I don't even know if he had any lines...But most of his most memorable performances have been in the 2000s in films like: Catch Me If You Can, Man on Fire, Click and Wedding Crashers. Christopher Walken's wild, individual style of acting will always have him bring drama and humor to the big screen and maybe a couple small ones on the occasional SNL hosting. Keep it up Chris!
4. Clint Eastwood
Clint is a different one. because despite what he has done acting, it's hard to not also look at his mammoth directing and producing credits as well. As far as the acting goes, he seems to be settling down after a very full career. As Blondie in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, he quickly became the new star of the Western streets, essential taking the role from John Wayne. He would also continue to own the western market as the Outlaw Josey Wales, Rawhide, Hang Em' High and even the country musical, Paint Your Wagon. He ended it more recently with Unforgiven. How many great ones are there?? The Dirty Harry series, In the Line of Fire, Million Dollar Baby, Escape From Alcatraz, and Gran Torrino. Did you know he Directed Invictus, Letters From Iwo Jimo, Changling, Unforgiven, and we all knew about Mystic River. Clint really has established himself as a Hall of Famer.
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
I just want to put it out there... If we remade this list, it would more than likely have a couple changes. One of those changes would be Leo DiCap to #1. Im gonna drop a couple bombs on you and we'll see how you handle it. Shutter Island! Blood Diamond! Basketball Diaries! Titanic! Romeo + Juliet! Gangs of New York! The Beach! The Departed! Catch Me if You Can! The Aviator! And most recently, Inception. That is a pretty nasty list of movies right there. Oh, and I forgot: what's Eating Gilbert Grape. People bash Inception and say all sorts of crazy stuff about it. I walked away from it astonished. I was so pleased with it as a film and overall movie enjoyment. Leo has matured better than most players could ever wish. He had a bunch of big strong roles at a very young age with Titanic, Romeo and Gilbert Grape. It would be expected that his best work was behind him... But NO, he just changes with time and maturity. I mean, if you look at the big recent ones like Blood Diamond, Shutter Island and Gangs of New York... what more could you ask for? And what is it about him doing films over 2 hours in length?? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy them, but in this gotta have it fast society, it becomes so rare to have a good film.On top of that, once a movie goes past 2 hours we cant seem to handle it... but I can really watch these over and over. Keep up the good work Leo!
2. Mel Gibson
Yes, Mel Gibson may be a bigot nut job. But he has starred in and directed some of the best movies I've ever seen. Well, maybe not movie(s) but at least movie. During our countdown process so many months ago we just kept coming back to Braveheart. I mean, if I did this list over, and I may in a couple years, Mel might not even make the list. He also might still be a Top 10er to though. His body of work is so strong its hard to deny, no matter how much of a douche he may be in real life. Lets start at the top. Who didn't love MadMax??? Those are absolute man's man type of movies. Good strong action flick with a really BA lead. Then he busted out with all 4 of the Lethal Weapon movies which were all action pack, funny and an all around joy to watch. Especially when their on tbs all in a row!! Can't turn em off to save my life! This is where Mel took a turn and decided to be Mr. Loverboy to all the ladies and ran off an 8 year run of chick flicks. He didn't forget the guys during this period but definitely dedicated more time to the hunnies, with films like: Forever Young, The Man Without a Face, Maverick(comedy, but the chicks still loved it) and What Women Want in which he receive the super powers of being able to hear what women were thinking and thus used to to his benefit and then turned into a weak piece of weepy jello and grew emotions or some garbage. I never saw the whole thing so... Like I said, he didn't forget the fellas at this point, while in that same time span rocked the screen with some GREAT movies. Sir William Wallace in Braveheart... need I say more? Oh, you want me to, ok. "YOU CAN TAKE MY LIFE, BUT YOU CAN NEVER TAKE MY FREEDOM!!!!!!" Queue goosebumps. Followed all to closely with Ransom, Payback(sleeper good one) and the movie by which I hear quoted every time I shoot my bow with my brothers and Dad: Aim small, miss small: The Patriot. I never saw We Were Soldiers so I can't really talk about that... Or Apocalypto for that matter, but I didn't hear to many good things. But what is the opinion of someone else in my blog really worth? Anyway. This brings me to the last 2 for me to make my Mel Gibson case. I have to mention what may stand as the benchmark and maybe best "real life" case for an alien movie in Signs. I still watch it all the time. It connects the spiritual struggles of a Pastor who has left God because his wife died and the connections of that, with his family and the whole alien debacle. Maybe the last good Jacqueen Pheonix movie as well. And finally, you can't mention Mel without bringing up his Director and Producer role in his film: The Passion of the Christ. I am still moved by that movie. Not by the gross scenes or the argued accuracies to inaccuracies of the adaptation of Christ's crucifixion. But I am moved by the humanity of it. Mel managed to capture the inner battle of Jesus and his spiritual calling that had to be intertwined with his own humanity. I will still cry uncontrollably whenever I see the scene when Jesus is carrying the cross and he falls again and his Mother Mary who has been trying to see him, finally reaches him and he just looks to her and says "See, mother, I make all things new". That is almost the basis of my entire love relationship with God. WOW, KIND OF GOT AWAY AND GOT ON A BIT OF A TANGENT, I APOLOGIZE...KIND OF. ANYWAY, GOOD ACTOR, GOOD DIRECTOR, GOOD PRODUCER AND NUMBER 2.
1. Tom Hanks
Hmmm, Tom Hanks. What can I say that others before me haven't. I got it: All Killer No Filler!!! Tom has done a lot of acting so I am going to do my best to keep it tight and condensed. I always thought Tom was a big hit in the 80s and just continued, but if you look at it, he didn't even really get going until the 90s. Sure, we loved Big, Turner and Hooch, Joe Versus the Volcano and even Bachelor Party, but that's about it for the 80s. The decade turned and with it did Tom Hanks as well. None of those goofy fun loving characters here, well maybe a couple. A League of their Own about a 1940s female baseball league... Okay, So I was gonna rattle them off, but I realized just how big each of these movies actually are. Philadelphia! Not viewed the same way as society has changed in the whole gay/lesbian landscape, but this film was paramount. Forrest Gump! Maybe a top 5 movie of all time, encompassing ever angle of emotions possible but with a joyful twist around each corner. Apollo 13! If you don't know what that is, than go cut your wrist right now as you don't serve a purpose in society. Toy Story 1, 2 and 3!!! I mean, really!?!?! Woody is the best!!! The musical comedy: That Thing You Do, about a 1950s do-wop band. Really fun movie altogether. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN! The military movie by which all other military movies are judge. So great, just so great. The Green Mile! Another big time award winner. Just top to bottom great. Are we starting to see a trend that could lead to you being the best actor in Hollywood??? Cast Away: Essentially a one man movie about a guy that survives a plane crash onto a deserted island and lives out his days there trying to find a way off while befriending a volleyball... Band of Brothers, Road to Perdition, Catch Me if You Can, The Ladykillers, The Terminal (my favorite map in CoD4MW2), Cars, The DaVinci Code 1 and 2, and Charlie Wilson's War. How funny that we end that with Charlie Wilson's war as that is going to be my recommendation. I think it's a very insightful movie about a Congressman's dealings in Afghanistan to help rebels defeat the soviets with loads of hilarious tidbits along the way. Its a drama, but a very smart and funny drama. Tom Hanks is it. Every young actor only dreams of being in a handle full of the dozens of movie he has.
I'll have music and beer recommendation on my next blog but I had to get all of this out of the way first.
And finally my Netflix recomendations 5-1:
Christopher Walken: The Prophecy
Clint Eastwood: Escape from Alcatraz
Leonardo DiCaprio: The Departed
Mel Gibson: Payback
Tom Hanks: Charlie Wilson's War
Thanks again for sticking around. Sorry for holding you hostage for 3 months.
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