scene/movie ruiners
Submitted by taryn on Tue, 02/20/2001 - 09:13
Tags:
- alyssa milano
- ben stiller (exceptions: royal tenenbaums/zoolander)
- cameron diaz (exception: being j. malkovich)
- chris o'donnell
- courtney love (exception: sid and nancy bc she basically played herself)
- denise richards
- drew barrymore
- ed norton
- liv tyler
- joey lauren adams
- juliette lewis
- keanu reeves (exception: when he's playing himself)
- michelle pfeiffer
- renee zellweger
- sandra bullock
- sean penn
- selma blair
- woody harrelson
- used to be on the list:
- uma thurman
- nicole kidman
- reese witherspoon
Author Comments:
i'd like to emphasize that this list is purely MY opinion. they ruin scenes and movies *for me*--that is, seeing these people in a preview basically turns me off from the movie entirely. (combinations of them make it worse--see: Keeping the Faith, Speed, Feeling Minnesota, In Love & War, Practical Magic, Batman Forever, Mad Love, etc.)
i'm sure there are a ton i'm forgetting...
Cool. The only one I'd question would be Nicole Kidman, however. Did you ever see To Die For? She was great.
actually i did see To Die For, but i hated it--i think she's one of those people you see in a slimy role and that's all you ever associate them with. it suppose it's a kind of a testament to how convincing she is (so i'll concede that she's on a higher level than the rest ability-wise) but that doesn't make me want to see anything she's in again. i guess accepting creepy roles is a 2-edged sword...
I hated that movie as well, but did like her in Flirting.
Seeing that Moulin Rouge is your second favorite film of 2001, may we assume that your feelings about Nicole Kidman films have softened slightly?
:)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
you are absolutely right! i forgot she was even listed here... i think it's safe to take her off the list, because although i don't think i'll be re-viewing any of the roles i've seen her play in the past, i won't avoid anything because she's in it. thanks for pointing this out lbangs--and here's to personal growth!
Personal growth - always a good thing!
I used to make lists like this quite often, but I swear, every time I added somebody, they would surprise me and do a great job starring in a good flick in 1-2 years' time. I remember going about all my friends and forswearing any Sharon Stone film ever - about one year before Casino arrived. I am such a liar! ;)
I'm glad you liked Moulin Rouge. Given the nominees, I'm personally (and perhaps hopelessly) cheering for it on Oscar night.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
EDWARD NORTON????? EDWARD NORTON????? The hottest most intelligent funniest best everything actor working today?????? BEN STILLER????? Funny as hell can make any line funny?
AND NICOLE KIDMAN????? Not only the most beautiful woman in Hollywood, but immensely intelligent and a great actress!!!!????!!!
I guess you and I could never go to the movies.
My movie ruiner - Gwyneth Paltrow. Or David Schwimmer. EWWW.
i knew that would get a bit of reaction, with the new flick "Keeping the Faith" coming out and all... all i can say is that i didn't put Edward Norton on this list because he can't act--i've heard great things about his "American X" performance in particular--he does, however, give me the heeby-jeebies. (it's similar to the way some people feel aout Christopher Walken--i happen to love Christopher Walken...)
Ben Stiller just doesn't do it for me. Flirting with Disaster was my first taste of him and after that i'd had enough. (however, i did see--and like--Mystery Men despite him.) and Nicole Kidman, well, i just don't have much respect for her, not to mention she's married to Tom Cruise & i'm a wee bit jealous... (catty, i know.)
to each his own though. i'm sure we can agree about plenty of other things.
If you're avoiding AMERICAN HISTORY X, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT and FIGHT CLUB, how can you claim to hate Edward Norton so much? You've only seen one maybe two of his pictures, and not his better ones at that? I think you need to give Edward another chance.
JENHOWELL
Matthew Perry in any love scene. He just doesn't do it for me.
Doesn't Keanu Reeves always play himself? :)
LOL! very amusing... but i'm thinking especially of his parts in "Much Ado About Nothing," "Dangerous Liaisons" & "Bram Stoker's Dracula"--period pieces i guess. (there's just something wrong with his voice coming out of someone with a ruffled collar and knee breeches.)
to be fair, though, i loved him in "Point Break," "Permanent Record" & "The Matrix."
While it does contain a double-whammy for you, did you see Speed? You might be pleasantly surprised. Might. I'm not a big fan of Reeves or Bullock (he's worse than her, I must say), but I did enjoy that movie, much to my surprise.
How can you be so right and then be Oh, So wrong?
I agree with you for the most part as far as movie spoilers, but come on. I ACTIVELY seek out movies with Ben Stiller or joey lauren adams (she's so cute in that way that Jewel just aint!)
C'mon expand yer horizons. get some taste. gimme a break. what's your deal. What, joey and Ben aint good enough fer ya? Sheesh.
Mark Martin!! :)
Element K Krew!!!!!!!!1
I hesitate to recommend a double-whammy movie to you, but I think you should brace yourself and rent Keeping the Faith (Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman). While it might not turn you around on Ben Stiller (who I happen to enjoy, but can see where tastes would vary wildly), it might break the pigeonhole you have Norton in. He was endearing, and he has one bit of truly inspired physical comedy in there. And he's tremendously gifted, so you're not going to get away from him forever. :-)
alright, jim--i promise if the opportunity arises, i'll give it a chance. however, i can't say i'm gonna go outta my way. :)
I've always respected your opinion and nothing changes here. I'm just wondering if sean Penn being on here is a misprint. He's one of the two or three best actors working in film today.
i know this comment has been here for a while, but i've been thinking about this. i think it's not so much that i think sean penn is a poor actor, like some of the others on this list--but he's someone whose presence makes me uncomfortable. this could even be testament to the quality of acting i suppose--but when i see him on screen i get the creepy-crawlies, so therefore he belongs to the list. does that make sense?
Makes sense to *me*, at least. But, then again, that's why I love him in The Game--he plays that edgy "I'm gonna snap at any moment" role so well...
I have so many problems with this list, I don't know where to start. I guess that, fundamentally, many of these actors/actresses have some movies that they don't ruin, and in fact even contribute a great deal toward. These may just be exceptions, however, but since you listed the exceptions for three of them, I assume that the others don't have exceptions...?
(You DO know that this is Scott J/Novac, don't you, Taryn?)
First, I guess I'll mention that I first saw Joey Lauren Adams in The Pros & Cons of Breathing, in which she did a pretty good job.
Diaz - There's Something About Mary was fun, and unruined. Her brief appearance in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas wasn't horrible. I remember her being quite good in Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her.
Barrymore - Hmm, all I have to say is E.T. Or, I could also mention Irreconcilable Differences.
Norton - ACK! Everyone Says I Love You, American History X, and Fight Club to name a few.
Penn - The Game and Dead Man Walking
All in all, as I go through this list, it's not really the *list* that rubs me the wrong way, it's the *title*. I don't think that many of these people ruin or spoil movies. Many of them *have* ruined/spoiled movies, but not as a general rule of thumb. I think a better list title/name would be "Annoying Actors" or something along those lines, as I can see what you're getting at...at least, with the Barrymore/Adams/Reeves/Lewis/Tyler/Penn/Harrelson/Love/Milano lineup...
Hey, I hadn't noticed that Uma Thurman, Reese Witherspoon, and Nicole Kidman got dropped! I'm indifferent towards Thurman, but I'm happy to see Witherspoon and Kidman escape from the hall of shame, as I've always liked them. What prompted the change?
Now if only I could break Ed Norton out of this prison... :-)
I'm almost the opposite. Uma works for me, but Reese Witherspoon might just be the lone entry on my list if I were to clone this.
But then I couldn't stand Pleasantville... ;)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
How about Kidman?
And "I couldn't stand Pleasantville"?! Pray tell. I figure at worst it's innocuous.
Kidman certainly isn't a spoiler for me. I thought I had said so above, but now I see I didn't exactly say that.
Pleasantville. Hmmmm.... I loved the *extremely* subversive idea of the comedy, but the cheese is simply entirely too over-powering and the hand too heavy for the last, oh, half or so. Elements such as the "No Colored" sign either strike one as amusing or stupid and forced, and, well, you can guess which side I fell on.A huge mess that just didn't deliver enough for me to forgive. I know I'm in the minority here, though.
Plus, they are certainly more confused than consistent about the color issue in the film.
Oh, boy. Don't get me started - I really did not like Pleasantville.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
"Don't get me started"? Well heck, if the comments above were just a taste I have to hear the full rant. :-)
I can't really disagree with you, I just liked it in spite of all that. Sometimes cheese is one of my favorite foods.
I was thinking about Witherspoon being perhaps the only "scene/movie ruiner" that you'd keep if you cloned this list. That prompted me to check her filmography, and of the few movies of hers I've seen, I only really liked Pleasantville. I thought she was very good in Election, I just didn't care for the movie. Looking at her career, it seems to me like many of her movies are pre-ruined. So I'm more inclined to question her role selection than her acting chops.
yes, jim, some folks are making progress with me... the very first thread on this list *sort of* details my evolution with kidman, whose downfall for me was "to die for." i felt like she finally took a leap with "moulin rouge" and when i saw her in "the others" and "birthday girl" i knew there was more to her than i'd first suspected. and maybe the divorce with tom gave her a little more humanity too--i'm not above allowing celebrities personal lives to enter into this. :)
as for thurman, there are still roles i despise her in, like "a month by the lake" and "truth about cats & dogs" because i just don't think she's all that, but she started getting better in "gattaca" and i loved her in "the avengers" (i know i'm one of the only people who enjoyed that flick)... she does pretty well in period pieces too, like "vatel" and "the golden bowl" although i'd like to see her do something to knock the ball out of the park... but i no longer avoid her and that, after all, is the point of this list.
lastly reese witherspoon was very much on the edge for me to begin with... the only part of "cruel intentions" where i like her is when she's making goofy faces, and i wasn't impressed with either "election" or "pleasantville" (which i don't think i've seen in full--just enough chunks to decide it sucked). however, then i found that i truly enjoyed her in "sweet home alabama" and commended her excellent taste and capable handling of "the importance of being earnest." so she's been released on condition, as it were--so i agree jim, her choices will likely determine where she falls.
hey maybe the library carries "keeping the faith" in their video selection, jim--i'll give you ed norton a fair shake one of these days. ;)
Uma Thurman nails the bail out of the court in Dangerous Liaisons and Pulp Fiction, in my book. She was also quite good in Mad Dog and Glory.
I thought she was fine in The Truth, but then, the truth is, I *do* think she is all that. ;)
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Pleasantville sucked.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I put in a vote for putting Nicole back on the list. That woman annoys me and I think she is very overrated. She does a have a real good PR person that has helped her land some very plum roles but I can not think of one role where I did not think someone else could have done the job better. This includes Moulin Rouge. I have not seen The Hours yet but I will try to go in with an open mind.
Can we trade? I say take Michelle Pfeiffer off and put Nicole back on.
I think Uma is very, very good. I think Reese Witherspoon can be good if she stops trying to follow in the Doris Day/Goldie Hawn American Sweeheart roles
LOL at the trading thing... sorry, but i think the only things i could tolerate Pfeiffer in were Batman Returns, and Age of Innocence and even those were a stretch.