quote:

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Originally posted by Nickel-Z:
extremely pathetic.

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Be carefull what you say.

You just might be looking in a mirror.

I'm laughing pretty hard at Nickel-Z. Down, boy!

Okay, HMPH, I think that Ben Stiller does the same guy in every movie. Pretty much.

Brad Pitt always seems the same to me, despite the varied roles he's played.

About Adam Sandler, I agree he plays the same sort of charater in nearly all his movies, (Any excuse to yell a lot), but I think he gave a really good performance in Punch-Drunk Love, where his character had depth and wide varity of emotion.

Harrison Ford. From Han Solo to Indiana Jones, he's always Harrison Ford. The most I'm seen him stretch was growing a beard for "The Fugitive".

Ford got to go pretty wild in The Mosquito Coast, and he even "became" Amish in Witness.

Thinking about it, Harrison Ford plays a lot of doctors.

Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. in the Indiana Jones movies.
Dr. Jack Ryan in the Clancy movies.
Dr. Richard Kimble in The Fugitive.
Dr. Norman Spencer in What Lies Beneath
Dr. Richard Walker in Frantic.

As to Keifer Sutherland playing evil, his role is more ambigious in Dark City (1997).

One of the most great but limited actors was Yul Brynner.

Tom Cruise. File under: cocky, wet-behind the ears, irresponsible punk until confronted with internal/external conflict; overcomes said conflict and personality flaws, roll credits.

I disagree about the Tom Cruise comment. I wouldn't say his roles in "Collateral", "Jerry MacGuire" and "Magnolia" were the same at all. Some of himself always shines through, but I think he makes a conscious effort to tackle different types of characters. He also gets kudos for being one of the top tier Hollywood actors who won't be in whatever movie can afford his salary (like Travolta). He always makes great, or at least ambitious films.

quote:

ericg75 posted:

I disagree about the Tom Cruise comment. I wouldn't say his roles in "Collateral", "Jerry MacGuire" and "Magnolia" were the same at all. Some of himself always shines through, but I think he makes a conscious effort to tackle different types of characters. He also gets kudos for being one of the top tier Hollywood actors who won't be in whatever movie can afford his salary (like Travolta). He always makes great, or at least ambitious films.

I agree with this statement and I would add his portrayal in Born on the Fourth of July (1989) where he won the Golden Globes Best Actor.

Tom Cruise is one of those actors a lot of people “love” to hate. Why? Because he is really good at acting… certain roles. He is not as versatile as his film choices might lead you to believe. In all his roles… “his true self” does show. Oh, how to describe Tom and the majority of his roles… how about “cocky / intense”? Pick one of the two adjectives (or both) and you just might see a trend.

I have enjoyed quite a few of the movies he’s been in, but he is not a stellar actor by any stretch.

Edit: http://www.tomcruiseisnuts.com/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Echolocating,

I think Tom Cruise is a highly underrated actor and I can't see why he is often put in the same bag as, say, Brad Pitt who, in my opinion, is the most overrated actor of all time. At least Tom Cruise's performances are always perfect, even if he plays the same kind of roles (which I don't think he does but whatever).
And what happened to Randy Quaid, lol, what's with playing the gross hillbilly character over and over and over? Ever since stealing the show in the National Lampoon films he's never been the same again...

quote:

Originally posted by Edward Nygma:
At least Tom Cruise's performances are always perfect…

Since when did he become Mary Poppins? ;-)

quote:

Edward Nygma posted:

I think Tom Cruise is a highly underrated actor and I can't see why he is often put in the same bag as, say, Brad Pitt who, in my opinion, is the most overrated actor of all time. At least Tom Cruise's performances are always perfect, even if he plays the same kind of roles (which I don't think he does but whatever).

When I saw Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black (1998), this one movie was a defining moment in my assessment of Mr. Pitt as an actor but I will get back to this movie later. I think that Mr. Pitt's performances in the following major movies permit some audience members to rate Mr. Pitt among the more solid and respected actors of our time:

A River Runs Through It (1992)
Kalifornia (1993)
Legends of the Fall (1994)
Interview with a Vampire (1994)
12 Monkeys (1995)
Seven (1995)
Snatch (2000)
Spy Game (2001)
Troy (2004)

His roles in Spy Game and 12 Monkeys are serious and diverse, both accomplished with sincerity and little of the brash, cocky temperment of Tom Cruise. Even his performance in Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005) is one of the most deliciously served up duet male/female espionage comedy thrillers.

Yet is its in Meet Joe Black that I saw a fantastic refinement in Mr. Pitt's incredible performance from his previous engagement in An Interview with a Vampire. In Meet Joe Black, Mr. Pitt's performance as death is so hauntingly well done that few other actors I feel could have pulled off such a delicately, subtle, underplayed role. This one performance in this role demonstrated to me that Mr. Pitt's accolades as an actor are well deserved.

I don't know, for me there are only 2 good Brad Pitt performances: Fight Club and Twelve Monkeys. He was ok in Meet Joe Black (incredible? I'm sorry but I can't agree to that), a film which had a lot of potential and which was good in parts but was way too long in my opinion. It did have one of the funniest scenes ever though, you know what I'm talking about.
I think if you look at Interview With a Vampire you can clearly see the difference between a very good actor, Cruise, who's performance is simply brilliant. And an average actor, Pitt, who zombies his way through most of it and whose every line is delivered in a somnambulistic, dull tone.
As for Mr and Mrs Smith, I haven't seen it and to be honest I'm not really interested.
I do think there are far worse actors than Pitt but I do think there are far better ones out there and for me Tom Cruise is one of them.
As for that Mary Poppins remark, I can only say: lol.

Even though I wasn't a fan of the film, Pitt was awesome in "Snatch". An underrated comic actor, he was also hilarious as Floyd the Stoner in "True Romance", and as the title character in the infinitely underrated "Johnny Suede".

And what happened to Randy Quaid, lol, what's with playing the gross hillbilly character over and over and over? Ever since stealing the show in the National Lampoon films he's never been the same again...[/QUOTE]

He has made somewhat of a comeback in Ice Harvest. Though the part is small, he still walks in and dominates the scene. Entertainment Weekly has an article on his return to dramatic parts.