Actors which you used to think were cool

[Zwinmar]

Charleton Heston: granted his movies had been out a while, several decades even, before I was old enough to watch them.

[TheFeniX]

That has always been a dubious move by Lucasfilm that no one likes to talk about, and which may have contributed to Mark Hamill going into voice acting. I'm sure Guinness was glad to have avoided that bit of exploitation.

I thought Hamill always loved voice acting over performing. I also remember an interview years ago where he had problems dealing with the success of Star Wars and the attention he was getting for it. Not the fan reaction, he loved that. Such as, producers offering him millions to do roles and him believing he wasn't a good enough actor to justify this. I don't think Hamill would've been a very good action star, but I also didn't think Michael Keaton could play Batman, so you just never know.

From what I know of it all, Mark Hamill is the reason he wasn't doing other big budget action movies. I think it worked out anyways. I always loved the Joker in the original Batman animated series and, at that time, I didn't even realize it was Hamill.

It reminds me of Pamela Adlon from Californication. She's just an attractive and funny actor I recalled being in ER years back, except she's also a voice-acting savant with credits from Fallout (the original) to Rugrats.

[HeavensThunderHammer]

I thought Steven Segall was cool when I was 8.

[Crake]

Seagal and Van Damme totally fit this bill. As a child of the 80's there was a sweet spot late 80's/early 90's where these guys seemed legitimately badass. I mean, there was a time when I actually went to see their movies in the theater...Under Siege(the first one), Universal Soldier, Timecop. And now, for the life of me, I can't really see what i saw in these guys. Their movies suck and their skills as actors...ugh! I'll also throw in Schwarzenegger. I mean, yes, even in my youth I realized he wasn't a great actor, but dammit, he was Conan! And he was in Predator, and dammit if Terminator 2 wasn't just all kinds of awesome. And then...Last Action hero...Collateral Damage...the 6th Day. Also, a bunch of comedic greats from the 80's...Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, etc.

[fgalkin]

Last Action Hero was pretty awesome. Just sayin'

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Broomstick]

A lot of people just didn't get the self-referential humor in The Last Action Hero

"You know, tar sticks to some people..."

[Elfdart]

it's just a good adventure movie with some novel special effects.

It changed the face of cinematic history...I think being part of something that turned out to be historic should have been good enough for him.

You do realise he'd done that before, right? Multiple times, in fact. Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge on the River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago, the old Ealing comedies. Alec Guinness had been involved in quite a lot of cinematic history by that point... (That's why he was able to negotiate for a percentage of the gross, Star Wars made him quite wealthy)

His problem isn't with the movie though, it's with how fans reacted to it and him because of it. Which is not unreasonable, because the kind of dedicated hardcore fans who think that Star Wars, in itself as a movie is anything other than a silly adventure movie which happens to be quite fun to watch, and take it all rather too seriously, really are sad specimens of humanity. I'm talking about the kind of fat people who list their religion as "Jedi" and are being completely serious.

Alec Guinness wasn't the only member of the cast freaked out by some of the fans. Harrison Ford often looks annoyed when he's shilling his latest movie and all anyone wants to talk about is Star Wars. At the AFI ceremony for George Lucas, Carrie Fisher thanked Lucas for giving her and Hamill and Ford such iconic roles and their own "merry band of stalkers" to go with it. Compare Alec Guinness' 1977 take on the movie to his opinion of the whole thing twenty years later:





I have to say at this point I'm pretty much put off of Star Wars thanks to the lunacy and obnoxiousness of a number of the "fans" who are the dork equivalent of the loudmouthed, drunken, racist hooligans who make going to a ballgame an ordeal I can do without.

[Elfdart]

Sean Connery.

He used to be James Bond/Captain Ramius, but then I heard his views the "appropriate" way to strike one's wife.

Especially after his ex-wife, the late Diane Cilento, claimed he beat her to the point where she had to crawl out of the room. I still watch his movies, though.


John Wayne was a racist, McCarthyist, chickenhawk asshole who helped get people like Carl Foreman blacklisted. I still watch The Searchers and El Dorado though.

Mel Gibson and Mickey Rourke are abusive, alcoholic bigots. I still think The Road Warrior is one of the greatest films ever made and in large part because of Gibson's performance. Ditto for Rourke in Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man.

So being a total fuckhead in real life doesn't make me any less likely to watch an actor's movies. Yes, I think less of them but that's the extent of my scorn for them.

Steven Seagal is a special case because the reason I don't watch more recent movies is NOT because of his real-life douchebag behavior, but because from 1997 on, he kept trying to be in real movies. Seagal's charm in his earlier films (esp. the ones made by the very underrated Andrew Davis) is that he was so bad it was comical, but so were the actors he appeared with. Either because they were hamming it up in the most shameless manner (Michael Caine, John C. McGinley, Tommy Lee Jones, Henry Silva) or they were crap actors too (everyone else). Seagal's films had that special kind of badness that made them classics of unintentional comedy:



Then they tried to make a real movie (Fire Down Below) with a real actor as the villain who played it kinda straight (Kris Kristofferson). Boring as hell. Nobody wants to see Seagal in a well-made movie!

[TheFeniX]

Last Action Hero was pretty awesome. Just sayin'

Charles Dance ate that movie up. I remember him from The Golden Child, but Last Action Hero was when I became a fan. "I've just shot somebody, I did it on purpose." The only thing that would have made that better was for them to get their one "fuck" in there when he's told to shut up by some random guy. As much shit as that movie gets, it's always worth a watch.

Also, a bunch of comedic greats from the 80's...Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, etc.

They got old. Have you seen Chase or Akroyd? And Akroyd is still hilarious, he just hasn't been doing much aside from trying to resurrect Ghostbusters with Bill Murray doing everything he can to stop it, or so it would seem.

Martin tried to do a more "serious" comedy bit that started with Parenthood and he got fucking mauled by Hollywood and other comedians. By the time he went back to being Steve Martin, I think people had moved on. I remember watching a special on him years back and it was a bunch of comedians of the time all pissed off because "You're Steve Martin, how dare you try to do something different?" Still, "A Simple Twist of Fate" stands as one of my favorite movies of all time and I generally hate feel-good movies.

WRT Eddie Murphy.... fuck man, I just don't know. You guys remember Raw, right? I remember Raw and I even liked Pluto Nash. But.... man, when Shrek is your best role in like 10 years.... and you're Eddie Murphy... Daddy Day Care... why? It doesn't make sense!

[Broomstick]

Steve Martin seems to be concentrating more on his music career these days. Damn, that boy can play banjo! And no, that's not meant to be humorous, he's been jamming with the greats of bluegrass.

[Elfdart]

Eddie Murphy's routine in Delirious about the family cookout is probably the funniest thing I've ever seen a comedian perform. My brother and I know it word for word -especially when we have everyone over for a barbecue. My nephews had no idea what their dad and I were going on about since they only knew about Murphy from the Shrek movies, but thanks to YouTube they watched it and laughed so hard they couldn't breathe.



When they finally caught their breath, my older nephew said to his brother: "Eddie Murphy was funny --way back then!"

[Darth Yan]

I have to say at this point I'm pretty much put off of Star Wars thanks to the lunacy and obnoxiousness of a number of the "fans" who are the dork equivalent of the loudmouthed, drunken, racist hooligans who make going to a ballgame an ordeal I can do without.

With respect, the original trilogy is still classic regardless of how often the fans can be dips hits. I wouldn't let the insanity of the fans ruin a good movie. Though I can honestly see where Guiness is coming from. In his original diary he wrote that it was

"It's a pretty staggering film as spectacle and technically brilliant. Exciting, very noisy and warm-hearted. The battle scenes at the end go on for five minutes too long, I feel, and some of the dialogue is excruciating and much of it is lost in noise, but it remains a vivid experience."

I'd be bitter if I was constantly remembered for some thing I did late in my career for money. I can understand being bitter, but hating the film and seeing it as banal is a little much. He seemed to view at enjoyable fun, if silly and stupid at times. Peter Cushing loved it (though in his case he wasn't constantly reminded of it.) All in all I don't agree with guiness but get where he's coming from.

Personally, I'd have to say Chuck Norris and Sean Connery. I kind of liked Connery as Bond. Then I saw that whole comment. Sam Jackson temporarily lost my respect when I learned he was in Rules of Engagement, but then I saw the movie and……it wasn't quite as bad as I'd heard.

PS: Elfdart, how is Rourke a bigot exactly? I know next to nothing about the guy but that is new.

[Napoleon the Clown]

A brief glance at Wikipedia indicates he liked Bush (not inherently bigoted) and indicated surprise at Islamic fundamentalists being allowed to "continue their activities" after the shit that went down in London in 2005. Just what Islamic fundamentalist means to him could answer that. Dunno if there's other stuff he's said. I honestly pay little attention to the opinions of celebrities.

[Elfdart]

I can't find the quote, but it was back when tried boxing. As for the abuse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK7U1QXgI_s

[Darth Yan]

I have to add john rhys davies. He buys into the "muslims will overwhelm european demographics horses hit." He has made clear that he dislikes islamic fundamentalism and doesn't hate muslims as people but it's still disappointing. Still, given that he mentions that he doesn't like the new generation of muslims being "influenced by anti american stuff" I am able to tolerate him somewhat, even if some of his views are repugnant.

And Elfdart, it is a little surprising that you've "put off star wars". Yes the fans suck, but that shouldn't detract from the films enjoyment (though for me that's a guilty pleasure for the prequels)

[NeoGoomba]

And Elfdart, it is a little surprising that you've "put off star wars". Yes the fans suck, but that shouldn't detract from the films enjoyment (though for me that's a guilty pleasure for the prequels)

I can understand where he's coming from, since I have the same feelings towards Firefly. The sheer frothing loudness of its fans kind of killed it for me.

[Ralin]

And Elfdart, it is a little surprising that you've "put off star wars". Yes the fans suck, but that shouldn't detract from the films enjoyment (though for me that's a guilty pleasure for the prequels)

I can understand where he's coming from, since I have the same feelings towards Firefly. The sheer frothing loudness of its fans kind of killed it for me.

I've been meaning to watch Firefly for a decade now and I know I'm going to be horribly disappointed for just that reason.

"This is it? This is what you people have been orgasming over my entire adult life?"

[Thanas]

It is a quirky, good show with typical Whedon dialogue. Great? No. It doesn't reach the level of The wire, The west wing or other great shows in execution and dialogue.

I would say that it does not even match up well when pitted against other modern Sci-fi shows. It doesn't have the overarching theme of Terminator:TSCC, it does not have the acting, execution, directing and CGI of BSG. It does not have the quirkiness and acting of the first two seasons of NuWho, nor does it have a great setting and overall plot of B5 or DS9 (and first 1.5 seasons of Andromeda), nor the overall insanity of Farscape. All those are series I would rate above Firefly.

Is it a good one? Yes. Go watch the series, watch the movie. Keep the above in mind and you will not be disappointed.

[Darth Yan]

My dad loved firefly, and the continuation online (swayback machine) is actually pretty good (some of the stuff they come up with about book's past is genuinely compelling, and there really is a more overarching story).

[Thanas]

what continuation online?

[Darth Yan]

some fan season on swayback machine. It basically tried to fill in the rest of the season and a potential season 2 based on plot points whedon hinted at.