Hollywood A-List
I'm doing some organizing and found this unfinished work in my Hotmail drafts folder. I have a few half written ideas floating around. I feel the need to purge....spring cleaning for my brain. This one is as close to being finished as I'll get. Here it is, as-is. I may cross post some version of this to 40-something.
Hollywood is a guilty pleasure of mine. I don't care about the gossip or the personal lives of movie stars. I enjoy the art and the filmmaking product. I don't consider myself a movie buff. I just know what I like, and I appreciate the work of talented artists.
I'm picky with movies. There are film genres I don't like. I find Slasher films boring and predictable. Most action movies are the same. I feel much of what Hollywood produces is mediocre at best, targeted toward audiences that will watch anything. If you put a car chase in the first few minutes, they're hooked. Add some flesh, gratuitous sex, and over-the-top violence, and you'll make enough money on opening weekend to cover production costs.
My short list of favorite movie celebs is not so short but it could be longer. I had to stop somewhere.
My Hollywood A-list would include Kevin Spacey, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt, Humphrey Bogart, Diane Lane, Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Tom Hanks, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Downey Jr, Forest Whitaker, Fay Dunaway, Anthony Hopkins, Samuel L. Jackson, Paul Newman, Michele Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, William Hurt, Diane Keaton, John Malkovich and directors Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino. I may be forgetting a couple. I'll watch almost any film these artists are affiliated with. There are many other stars I appreciate, but you can't have everyone on your A-list.
I have my favorite movie genres but a good screenplay, dialogue, and acting, works for me regardless of genre. Like good writing, a great movie can be about anything. The quality of the performance will hold my interest.
A perfect example is the 1988 film, Dangerous Liaisons, starring Glenn Close, Michele Pheiffer and John Malkovich. I'm not usually a period-piece fan but Liaisons is so deliciously decadent, debaucherous, deceitful and lustfully diabolical.....I can't help but love it. The fact that a some of my favorite stars are in this movie is a bonus. This may be Malkovich's greatest performance on film.
Romantic comedy (chick flicks) is not my favorite genre but there are some that stand out as great movies. As Good As It Gets, Shakespeare in Love and Something's Gotta Give, are is as good as it gets in that category.
I'm not an action movie aficionado but there are some that stand above the crowded pack of copy cat blockbusters. The first Die Hard, True Lies, Iron man and Gladiator stand out for me.
I like drama, suspense, comedy and political intrigue. I'm drawn to movies set in the mid-20th century, from the 1920's-1950's
I don't collect DVD's but I have a couple dozen of my all time favorite movies. These are films I can watch over and over. That's a list for another day, a different blog entry. Only one of the films mentioned in this post are on that list, but many of the actors named here are in my favorite flicks.
Some actors are extremely popular, talented, but I wonder if their high profile gives them an edge over their peers. They have access to the best scripts and right-of-first-refusal on top projects. Maybe their blockbuster movies provide a deceptive appearance. Are they really as talented as their success would indicate?
There's one class of artist I really appreciate. Some men and women started in comedy, doing less-than-great movies made for wide audiences. As they become popular and gain the luxury of first rights, they ply their talent in better roles proving they're more than a slapstick artist. Robin Williams, Will Smith & Jim Carrey have made the transition from comedic actors to serious drama with great success.
Carrey is especially noteworthy. I mostly disliked his movies prior to The Truman Show. Since that film, Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, I've come to realize Carrey is talented far beyond what his average movie would indicate. There are other actors I would suggest do the same before they get old, and typecast. Based on his performance in King Kong, I suspect Jack Black has more talent than his sophmoric humor displays.
I'm not claiming the players on my list are the greatest talents in Hollywood. They're merely my personal favorites. There are many mega-stars I haven't named, not because I don't like them, but because they're not necessarily my favorites. They may be on your A-list.