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In Reply to: Where have all... posted by tinear on May 05, 2002 at 07:51:34:
Are you forgetting the latest generation of "A" list actors like Russell Crow, George Clooney and Kevin Spacey, or are they still too mature by your standards for leading men. Well, how about Vin Diesel, Tobey McGuire or Brendon Fraser (yes, Mr. Fraser can seriously act; if you've ever seen "Gods and Monsters" you'ld know it!). BTW, I couldn't help but notice that you've left out ethnic/international artists of note; I'm sure it's just an oversight, but there are many talented actors coming from every race and culture. Strong ethnic leading men include Jet Li, Antonio Banderas and Denzel Washington among many others.As for Tom Cruise. yes, his acting is a mixed bag, but it looks like you want it both ways when you criticize his youthful appearance (i.e., he looks like a little boy) after unceremoniously blasting "pentagenarians/sexagenarians" as leading men for courting women of their granddaughters' ages. Besides, let's face it, older men dating voluptuous younger women is a male fantasy (i.e., unless you're a teenager ...grin), that isn't likely to go away anytime soon? And that, my friend, is the very thing which sells tickets at the box-office [Well, it sells tickets to us old farts, anyway! ;^)]!
Cheers,
Audiophilander
Follow Ups:
Now, now, AuPh, you put George Clooney in the same sentence with Kevin Spacey on perpose - didn't you?Hoe cruel of you!
Harrison is dating Calista (180 degrees from "voluptuous"!).
Clooney, Spacey, and Crow..."A list?" C'mon. I said "leading men." Clooney ain't got that star...something. Reminds me of Tom Selleck. Great on small screen: good looking, self-deprecating which makes the looks palatable to guys---but missing a key ingredient: star quality. Same problem with Matthew McConnaughey (jesus, what a name to spell).
Russell C: he can act. He can also chew up scenery better than anyone, even Robin Williams.
Kevin Spacey: don't think he quite qualifies as a leading man in the traditional sense. Too quirky. American Beauty and Seven and Usual Suspects prove he's one of our best actors, but that ain't what I meant by leading man.
Denzel. Overacts waaaaaay too much. What Halle did at the Oscars, he does on screen way too much. That being said, he can be spectacular when he's muted (maybe by the director?) as in Devil in a Blue Dress (damn these senior moments; it was something like that...).
Morgan Freeman and Samuel L. Jackson I think are Spacey's equals. But, like Kevin, they don't have the leading man thang.
Antonio "Material Girl Playtoy" Banderas? Oh, c'mon!
Jet Li? A passable actor, for a martial artist.
Hey, at least you didn't list Nicholas Cage!
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What does age have to do with appreciating film ?
Hi,
this happens with every generation. As you get older, you are less easily impressed. You think you're the same, but you're not. You older, wiser(hopefully) and the adventures (and adventurers) that thrilled you as a kid no longer send the heart racing. There are always exceptions, but that's just the way it is.
Thanks for letting me know what's wrong with me.
your statement has many exceptions. It may be true that many of my my my generation (the same as Roger Daltry) have lost their critical faculties, but not necessarily have I.
Question Mr. Late: seen any Marlon Brandos lately? How about Elizabeth Taylors? OK, how about Lawrence Oliviers? Pacinos? De Niros?
By the way, many of the same things that floated my boat as a young man still do: women; sailboats; film, etc.
Yeah, you can say every generation disrespects the art or cultural offerings of the ones that follow, but sometimes such negativity has merit. Painting after Jackson Pollock. "Serious" music composition post-Stravinsky, Mahler. Strauss. Film, post-Kubrick, Bertollucci; Altman. Rock, post-70's (pick your poison there...). Ballet post Balanchine, Martha Stewart, Nureyev, Baryshnikov..well, you get the idea. The idea that the productivity of all generations is somehow equal is interesting, but not borne out.
Hi,
my gut would agree with you. Seriously. But each generation has it's own muse, it's own path to follow. I have a bit of envy that life has blessed them so generoulsy; and pity for them for the challenges they won't face. What a strange world we give to them. You know, I also remember my grandfather and his friends having this sort of conversation. And men of the Korean War era, and so it goes.
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