The bad actors thread - Page 2

I've never liked Cage. It's not that he's a terrible actor, it's his personality. Some people just have annoying personalities and I can't stand his.

I hate many of his movies, but I've never understood why everyone on the planet is so positive Ben Affleck is a bad actor. It seems to me he's managed to pull off enough good roles to delete his less then good work. He was without a doubt in my mind the least of the problems in his worst films.

"[Cage] sucked all along" cannot be true, because of Adaptation.

I'm starting to believe that Madsen really is bad, though. Maybe Tarantino just knows how to harness the badness in a good way, because I liked him in Kill Bill, too.

I can't believe this thread started with David Morse.

I am going to say I've never been a fan of Scarlett. LOST IN TRANSLATION is pretty much the only thing I'll give her. Beautiful yet bland. I always see her "acting".

Nicholas Cage is only good when playing a loser or weirdo. Unfortunately he picks mostly action hero roles as of late.

Hate her. Terrible "actress". She must be a great fuck though, 'cause Woody Allen swears by her.

Nicolas Cage and Brad Pitt are both fantastic character actors, but they're often miscast as dramatic actors. It's not that I think they suck at drama, but it's really just not their thing.

That's because he is a weirdo. Gotta love The Rock, though.

I have to disagree on Pitt. I think he's an extremely underrated actor. He was great in Jesse James and I can't wait to see Benjamin Button.

Nicholas Cage's action movies seem like a conscious nod to Elvis' stagnation in Las Vegas. Bad Lieutenant sounds like his character will be at least consciously odd. It might not be good acting, but it will still be strange. Herzog can get some good performances out of people (I agree that Mendes, who's also in it, needs a director who knows how to use her or else she's flat). See Steve Zahn.

Imdb claims Cage is working/he might work with Vaughn, Polanski and Pellington after that. And then a Amarillo Slim biopic, and then an inspirational story about teaching inmates how to box. But he's definitely working with Vaughn, so that's a positive.

Johansson didn't distract in The Man Who Wasn't There, Ghost World, and she could have been worse in Match Point.

Angel was just fucking good at playing to his strengths, which are staring and standing around looking like a piece of wood.

I forgot about Jesse James. I was thinking more Meet Joe Black and Legends of the Fall. I stand corrected.

Pitt's also got Kalifornia, Seven, and Twelve Monkeys to his credit. Calling him a bad actor is outing yourself as someone who doesn't like movies much.

Also, Johannson is pretty damn good in Girl With the Pearl Earring and Love Song for Bobby Long. She's not this generation's Meryl Streep but she's got conviction and a good presence. I think her looks gets her a lot of assumption and dismissing of being a Lohan/Britney type, when she actually puts forth the effort to earn her spot in Hollywood.

I think Randy Quaid has only ever been over the top and irritating in what I've seen him in. Thandie Newton I struggle a bit to qualify my pain with her. I'll get back to you Elvis.

Mendes is a black hole of talent.

Pitt is underrated, as Clark points out the list of great roles is pretty damn long and far outweighs his infamous failings like Meet Joe Black.

I'm not a huge fan of Angel or Boreanz. I like Season Two of Buffy but other than that I was often more interested in what was going on around Boreanz than what he was doing, hence why I never got into Angel. Just not a fan.

Pitt isn't a bad actor - just a one trick pony. Although I will say, he can't cry for shit. "What's in the box!"

Scarlett also stole every scene she was in in Ghost World.

Scarlett Johanson doesn't really do many "flashy" roles, but she's almost always good in the role, whether it's Match Point or Ghost World or Vicky Christina Barcelona. Which are all very different characters, by the way.

Pitt gets alot of hate, mostly from men, because he's really really good looking.

And I don't get the "what's in the box!" hate...how else is he supposed to respond? Any other actor would've also looked ridiculous screaming and losing it like that.

I don't HATE David Koechner, but he's never gotten anything more than a "heh" out of me in anything he's done outside of Anchorman. He's not as big as someone like Pitt or others mentioned, but he keeps showing up in comedies and I have to sit there and feel bad for him as no one laughs at his jokes.

This. Right here. Never understood that. I thought Pitt did a great job in that film, and especially that scene. Hell, that's the movie that turned me around on the guy.

He's not a one trick pony at all.

Fight Club
Burn After Reading
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Jesse James
Oceans 11-13
Seven
12 Monkeys

He can play both funny and dramatic very well as far as I'm concerned.

It's not what he's saying, it's his attempt to cry. It's pretty awful as he's standing there willing himself to tear up.

Re: Ambler - He does look ridiculous. That's why people make fun of the scene.

I fail to see the variation in any of these. He's a charming, goofball or he's quietly understated. That's all he's got.

The Nicolas Cage hate is getting out of hand, and doesn't make any sense. Sure he's had a streak of clunky duds & stupid action movies, but he's hardly a bad actor. Not even counting his classic 80's period, he's had as many interesting movies as almost any star this decade. (BRINGING OUT THE DEAD, ADAPTATION, MATCHSTICK MEN, NATIONAL TREASURE, LORD OF WAR, THE WEATHER MAN)

Maybe he's at times lazy, and his eccentric-ness is bordering on becoming cliche, but at least he's never boring. Even in a debacle like WICKER MAN, there's something going on in his performance.

Call me crazy, but I'll be first in line to see BAD LIEUTENANT.

Diva & David Thomson against the world!

D&D bitches!






(I have no idea who David Thompson is.)

I actually like his stop/start/stop/start crying. It's different, and not all that unrealistic.

Sometimes I ask myself in Samuel L. Jackson is a good actor or if I just think he's a cool actor (a la Statham, for example).

Then I call myself a dumb modafucka' and realize he's GREAT.

P.S. Quick BTSMGL Trivia: I have more Sam Jackson movies than any other actor (30 flicks).

Two pages and no Van Damme mention.

My work on these message boards is finished. *fades into the shadows*

Sam Jackson isn't a good actor, but personality goes a long way!

What defines a bad actor? Cuz Samuel L. Jackson is outstanding in both Pulp Fiction and Jungle Fever in very very different roles. He's had many other roles (as recent as Black Snake Moan) that he's also done a very good job with. I think he, like Pacino, De Niro, and Cage, is more of a lazy actor than a bad actor. A bad actor CAN'T act, a lazy actor can, but prefers to bathe themselves in money for roles they can sleepwalk through.

Sam Jackson's a good actor, it's just that he's played the same character way too often. Then, every once in a while, Unbreakable or Caveman's Valentine happens.

Fair enough.

I think it's worse. Clint Howard's a bad actor. But he's not boring or bland.

Orlando Bloom. God bless him, he tries, and he seems like a nice enough guy in real life, but his acting chops simply do not cut it.

After worshipping her early on in her career, I now find Natalie Portman difficult to watch. I suspect that's baggage though. It's the same with Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise - some actors just can't be bothered once they're big.

I can grant Jolie and Berry. But wrong on all other counts.

Natalie? Really? She brings her A-game to everything. I remember her hosting SNL and she'd put so much energy into making a character come alive and then Horatio Sanz would fart or something and that was the punchline of the skit. I felt bad that she had to finish out the show.

Like I said, it may be my baggage, I just find Pitt and Cruise self-indulgent. I'm one of these crazy Kiwis who finds the excess of Hollwood movie-making non-conducive to good acting performances. And I'm probably jealous.

Something we don't see down my way -actors taking the piss out of themselves. It would probably change my opinion.

I'll throw another one out: Uma Thurman.

I think people missed the part where I called Brad Pitt a great character actor. I'd even favorably compare him to acclaimed character actors like Johnny Depp. I actually enjoy character actors more then 'dramatic' actors, because so much of acting is about the choices an actor makes. I thinkg a lot of people misunderstand acting in general, and assume that ham or understatement make for 'bad' acting. Like I said, it's only 'bad' if it's unconvincing, and it's annoying when it's the only thing an actor can do.

The recent JCVD may change some minds (or so I hear)...

This is also known as Christopher Walken/Jack Nicholson syndrome.

Well you said "one trick pony" and that's three things. I don't know. I must be crazy.

Two things. Charming goofball is one character. :P

Although the crazy Brad and quiet Brad are just opposite spectrums of the same emotions.

ok Morris is awesome, Cambell is a god

Alba, Berry, Tara Reid, Mary Steenburgen, Andi Mcdowell are all awful.

I thought Hartnett had potential but it would appear I was wrong. Cage seems to have gotten his award used his name to make some fun action films and ever since about 98 I'd say is just collecting a check.

Walker I'd say the word is still out on until I saw Running Scared I'd totally agree but I'm willing to give him another chance now.

Hayden..is not an actor at all.

Megan Fox it is too early to say.

OH and saying Jackson is a bad actor is like saying Walken is a bad actor simply because they have played to the audience for the past decade. (sorry Ed didn't see you had said this already)

Pitt is more awful than not. Especially in 12 MONKEYS. High school play-level acting. Clooney is pretty awful as well, but you just don't notice it that much because he's so charming.

Other bad actors:

Danny Glover
Prince
Sean Connery
Kim Basinger

Come on, Samuel L Jackson is the WORST.
Invoking Pulp Fiction wont change that.


and

Vincent Cassel
Timothy Olyphant
Kirsten Dunst

I agree with the 12 Monkeys observation. I had no problem with him in it, thought it was an over-the-top role that needed an over-the-top performance. I think he was nominated for an Oscar for it. But I read a review where the reviewer called him out and as an aside noted that as a portrayal of schizophrenia it had very little relation to real life. Watching it a second time the constant hand flicking, eye blinking and stuttering came across as empty mannerisms. Again, it may be unfair because Gilliam has different goals than realism, but it's easy to think of other actors bringing more humanity to the role, or Ewen Bremer in Julien Donkey Boy taking the same illness and imitating it perfectly.

But I just watched Pitt in Assassination and he's really good. As said above, both he and Clooney have improved over time. Soderbergh apparently made Clooney stop the head-bob thing he used to do for Out of Sight, and every since then he's been pretty reliable.

I'm pretty suggestible and don't usually notice bad acting, but if I'm told to look out for it, it sticks out. Portman I've always considered a decent actress who picks sucky projects, but my contrarian friend claimed she was a bad actress just before I watched Darjeeling and Hotel Chevalier, and it broke the goddamn mood for me. Her character seemed a little forced.

I don't even know how to argue with someone whose seen Fight Club, Kalifornia, True Romance, the Ocean's movies, 12 Monkeys, Seven, and Snatch (can't comment on Jesse James, but have heard nothing but good things about that one too) and writes Pitt off as a "one trick pony". That's at least 5 tricks, which is 2-3 more than a lot of really good actors have.

Jesse James is magic. It's everyone-in-it's best performance ever.