Someone fire their agents!
Oct. 1st, 2008 09:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
syndyfrella26 actors who deserve better careers
by AVclub.com
26. Tony Todd
25. Thora Birch
24. Tony Hale
23. Andy Richter
22. Jonathan Silverman
21. Justine Bateman
20. Steve Zahn
19. John Lithgow
18. Anna Faris
If Oscars were handed out to actors who give good performances in spite of ineffectual direction, terrible writing, and absolutely no support from the supporting cast, Anna Faris would be the new Katharine Hepburn. A cute blonde whose good looks belie an endearing, anything-for-a-laugh fearlessness, Faris has thus far eked out roles in a long series of lame, brain-dead comedies: The Hot Chick, Waiting…, Mama's Boy, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and all four Scary Movie films. (To be fair, she also had small roles in Lost In Translation and Brokeback Mountain). Still, Faris has emerged as an unlikely darling among critics frantically looking for something good while sitting through some of the worst films of the past several years. Will Faris look as good when her surroundings aren't so repulsive? It would be nice to find out.
17. Dave Foley
16. Andre Braugher
15. Mädchen Amick
14. Mos Def
13. Michael Badalucco
12. Lochlyn Munro
11. Clifton Collins Jr.
10. Timothy Olyphant
Back in 1997, those who saw Scream 2 probably didn't have exorbitantly high expectations of Timothy Olyphant, but in the dozen years since, he's put together too many excellent supporting roles to be ignored. After making an impression among the ensemble cast of Go in 1999, he mostly opted for roles in dude-flicks (though he stood out again in another group-cast indie fave, The Safety Of Objects) but to his credit, at least they were good ones. Aside from wasting time in Gone In 60 Seconds and The Girl Next Door, Olyphant added something to Rock Star and Live Free Or Die Hard. Perhaps that guy-geared résumé is what landed him his first cinematic lead, in last year's entertaining shoot-'em-up Hitman (and a role in Stop-Loss this year), but now he seems to be trying to bank a career on television. A Sex And The City appearance was his only TV experience before he took the lead role in Deadwood, a sharp contrast from recent screen time in the dumb comedy My Name Is Earl. In fact, Olyphant's versatility might just be what's holding him back: How do you brand yourself after showing up both on Christina Applegate's Samantha Who? and on Glenn Close's Damages?
9. Rick Moranis
8. Rory Cochrane
7. Rachel Dratch
6. Geena Davis
Generally speaking, unless you're a Hollywood veteran taking your last bows, it may be better not to win a Best Supporting Actor or Actress Oscar. Just ask Geena Davis, who won for her quirky-but-deep performance in the 1988 melodrama The Accidental Tourist — after nearly a decade of bright turns in well-liked TV and movie comedies—and has seen her star gradually dim in the two decades since. Davis scored in Thelma & Louise and A League Of Their Own, and won a Golden Globe playing the first female president in the legendarily mismanaged TV drama Commander In Chief, but the sprightly, gangly, slightly skewed girl-next-door type that was her stock in trade in the '80s has been all but replaced by something borderline cartoonish. Perhaps the Davis of old is gone for good, or perhaps people have forgotten how to write roles for the kind of woman she used to play: smart, capable, somewhat flustered, but easy to like.
5. Judy Davis
4. Robert Forster
3. Bob Odenkirk
2. Michael Keaton
It's hard to say whether Michael Keaton's negligible presence in show business lately has been a matter of bad luck, bad management, or personal choice. He's always been mercurial, jumping from broad comic turns in movies like Night Shift and Johnny Dangerously to more dramatic work in Clean And Sober and One Good Cop. And of course he probably made enough money in his two rounds as Batman that he never needs to work again. Still, Keaton has such a unique onscreen presence, simultaneously quick-witted and weathered, that he's nearly an always an asset, even when he agrees to star in crap like Multiplicity and Jack Frost. Keaton's recent starring role in the offbeat indie drama Game 6 — and his work in the '90s as Elmore Leonard's Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown and Out Of Sight — shows that he can still captivate an audience when he wants to. He'd be perfect as the lead in an FX-style drama like Rescue Me or Sons Of Anarchy, playing a semi-desperate character with a sharp edge and an unexplored tender side. Why not give him a call, TV producers?
1. Jamie Lee Curtis
The daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh automatically has the breeding of a star, but more to the point, she displayed the charisma of one in her scintillating turn in A Fish Called Wanda. So why has she had such a limited career? Her early performance as Laurie Strode in the first Halloween may have prevented directors from taking her seriously enough—it's certainly mired her in Halloween sequels, up to 2002's Halloween: Resurrection, and it no doubt led directly to her casting in the likes of The Fog, Terror Train, and Prom Night. Post-Wanda, she "upgraded" to forgettable mainstream fare like the My Girl movies and Forever Young, with a memorable turn in the unmemorable Freaky Friday remake. But her highest-profile moment came from her depressingly exploitative role in the popular but brainless actioner True Lies. Wanda showed she had the chops to be classy, funny, and sexy, yet her roles since then rarely allowed her to be any of the above, let alone all three. She's just one of many talented people who really deserve better than what Hollywood's handed them—specifically in her case, Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
by AVclub.com
26. Tony Todd
25. Thora Birch
24. Tony Hale
23. Andy Richter
22. Jonathan Silverman
21. Justine Bateman
20. Steve Zahn
19. John Lithgow
18. Anna Faris
If Oscars were handed out to actors who give good performances in spite of ineffectual direction, terrible writing, and absolutely no support from the supporting cast, Anna Faris would be the new Katharine Hepburn. A cute blonde whose good looks belie an endearing, anything-for-a-laugh fearlessness, Faris has thus far eked out roles in a long series of lame, brain-dead comedies: The Hot Chick, Waiting…, Mama's Boy, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, and all four Scary Movie films. (To be fair, she also had small roles in Lost In Translation and Brokeback Mountain). Still, Faris has emerged as an unlikely darling among critics frantically looking for something good while sitting through some of the worst films of the past several years. Will Faris look as good when her surroundings aren't so repulsive? It would be nice to find out.
17. Dave Foley
16. Andre Braugher
15. Mädchen Amick
14. Mos Def
13. Michael Badalucco
12. Lochlyn Munro
11. Clifton Collins Jr.
10. Timothy Olyphant
Back in 1997, those who saw Scream 2 probably didn't have exorbitantly high expectations of Timothy Olyphant, but in the dozen years since, he's put together too many excellent supporting roles to be ignored. After making an impression among the ensemble cast of Go in 1999, he mostly opted for roles in dude-flicks (though he stood out again in another group-cast indie fave, The Safety Of Objects) but to his credit, at least they were good ones. Aside from wasting time in Gone In 60 Seconds and The Girl Next Door, Olyphant added something to Rock Star and Live Free Or Die Hard. Perhaps that guy-geared résumé is what landed him his first cinematic lead, in last year's entertaining shoot-'em-up Hitman (and a role in Stop-Loss this year), but now he seems to be trying to bank a career on television. A Sex And The City appearance was his only TV experience before he took the lead role in Deadwood, a sharp contrast from recent screen time in the dumb comedy My Name Is Earl. In fact, Olyphant's versatility might just be what's holding him back: How do you brand yourself after showing up both on Christina Applegate's Samantha Who? and on Glenn Close's Damages?
9. Rick Moranis
8. Rory Cochrane
7. Rachel Dratch
6. Geena Davis
Generally speaking, unless you're a Hollywood veteran taking your last bows, it may be better not to win a Best Supporting Actor or Actress Oscar. Just ask Geena Davis, who won for her quirky-but-deep performance in the 1988 melodrama The Accidental Tourist — after nearly a decade of bright turns in well-liked TV and movie comedies—and has seen her star gradually dim in the two decades since. Davis scored in Thelma & Louise and A League Of Their Own, and won a Golden Globe playing the first female president in the legendarily mismanaged TV drama Commander In Chief, but the sprightly, gangly, slightly skewed girl-next-door type that was her stock in trade in the '80s has been all but replaced by something borderline cartoonish. Perhaps the Davis of old is gone for good, or perhaps people have forgotten how to write roles for the kind of woman she used to play: smart, capable, somewhat flustered, but easy to like.
5. Judy Davis
4. Robert Forster
3. Bob Odenkirk
2. Michael Keaton
It's hard to say whether Michael Keaton's negligible presence in show business lately has been a matter of bad luck, bad management, or personal choice. He's always been mercurial, jumping from broad comic turns in movies like Night Shift and Johnny Dangerously to more dramatic work in Clean And Sober and One Good Cop. And of course he probably made enough money in his two rounds as Batman that he never needs to work again. Still, Keaton has such a unique onscreen presence, simultaneously quick-witted and weathered, that he's nearly an always an asset, even when he agrees to star in crap like Multiplicity and Jack Frost. Keaton's recent starring role in the offbeat indie drama Game 6 — and his work in the '90s as Elmore Leonard's Ray Nicolette in Jackie Brown and Out Of Sight — shows that he can still captivate an audience when he wants to. He'd be perfect as the lead in an FX-style drama like Rescue Me or Sons Of Anarchy, playing a semi-desperate character with a sharp edge and an unexplored tender side. Why not give him a call, TV producers?
1. Jamie Lee Curtis
The daughter of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh automatically has the breeding of a star, but more to the point, she displayed the charisma of one in her scintillating turn in A Fish Called Wanda. So why has she had such a limited career? Her early performance as Laurie Strode in the first Halloween may have prevented directors from taking her seriously enough—it's certainly mired her in Halloween sequels, up to 2002's Halloween: Resurrection, and it no doubt led directly to her casting in the likes of The Fog, Terror Train, and Prom Night. Post-Wanda, she "upgraded" to forgettable mainstream fare like the My Girl movies and Forever Young, with a memorable turn in the unmemorable Freaky Friday remake. But her highest-profile moment came from her depressingly exploitative role in the popular but brainless actioner True Lies. Wanda showed she had the chops to be classy, funny, and sexy, yet her roles since then rarely allowed her to be any of the above, let alone all three. She's just one of many talented people who really deserve better than what Hollywood's handed them—specifically in her case, Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
