Saturday, December 10, 2011

Top 5 Movies Starring Leading Actors Who are Otherwise Awful

Anybody who has read this blog knows that I have a few actors that drive me crazy.  Chief among them is Nicholas Cage, who can make some of the best movies, but then makes a bunch of duds.  And, generally, Cage is really bad except for a few specific roles.  Other actors in this category include Brendan Frazier, Keanu Reeves and Mark Wahlberg.  Nuke would put Ed Harris in this category too I think.

Since I do not have any Mark Wahlberg movies in this list, I suggest you go watch the SNL Skit:  Mark Wahlberg Talks to Animals.  I've seen it several times and it's always funny.

Brendan Frazier doesn't make the list below, and is frankly the worst actor of the bunch listed above.  His only passable movies are The Mummy movies, and that's only because there is some really good CG monster action.

Anyway, here are the top 5 movies starring some of these otherwise awful actors:

5 - National Treasure 2:  The first Nicholas Cage movie in this list.  He doesn't carry the movie, but he doesn't ruin it either.  Really, this movie is just a lot of fun and Cage doesn't wreck the funness.

4 - Constantine:  This movie is so underrated.  It's actually really good, and this movie has the best type of roll for Keanu Reeves...one where he is not required to talk to much and participates in a lot of cool action scenes. 

3 - Sorcerer's Apprentice:  Another Nicholas Cage movie.  As with #5 on our list, Cage is not required to carry this movie, Jay Baruchel does that as the title character.  But, Cage has his moments in this recent movie that was my favorite movie of last year.

2 - The RockThis movie is why Nicholas Cage confounds me so much, and why he has been one of main subjects of another top 5 list already.  In The Rock, I think Cage really carries the movie, and it's a really good movie.  Of course, having Sean Connery never hurts, but I still think Cage carried it.

1 - The MatrixThe best possible role for Keanu Reeves.  Spend the entire movie looking bewildered, not saying much, and participating in a lot of fight scenes.  The first of the Matrix Trilogy is the best, in my opinion, and Keanu Reeves doesn't destroy this movie, in fact, he actually works well in the role of Neo.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Golden!!!

I now have Gold Status on American Airlines (Yes, that's the airline that just filed for bankruptcy protection!  Don't ruin this for me!).  In fact, I just got my "Gold Card" in the mail.  This little card entitles me to many perks, including bonus miles, so I will get richer in terms of miles...yes, the rich get richer.  I wonder how liberals feel about airline mileage programs.

It's weird, but getting the gold card in the mail actually made me feel good!  I didn't do anything to earn these miles.  All of them were earned while flying for work.  In fact, while I was earning these miles, I got to sit and watch movies, eat good food, and sleep.  Essentially, I was a lazy bum and I got rewarded for it.  Now I'm wondering what conservatives think about airline mileage programs.

All I know for sure is that I'm Gold for the next 14 months.  I'll probably have a few more trips to Brazil in my future.  I'm thinking Platinum comes after Gold, and I'm sure that will be even better.