Brad Pitt and other actors I wish would get out of movies

Ocean's movies great...Pitt so weak almost killed them

Jessie James movie....Im still recovering from that one

Benjamin Button.....Oh, yeah good idea surround yourself with every aspect of movie making talent from directing to cinematography and oh guess what all that was great (and awarded) but with all that great stuff something made that movie suck...lets see....hmmm....oh yeah...Brad Pitt

True Romance is my favorite of all time and yes hes great as the high guy on the couch but if we could limit him to that amount of screen time that would be great.

Others we need to eliminate to make movies worth watching again:

Brendan Fraiser

John Trivolta

Mark Walberg (boogie nights-great-couldve left it at that)

Ben Affleck (hes pretty much on his way out..keep walking Ben)

Julia Roberts (her range is so weak Im tired seeing one of her movies and thinking "oh hey there's the same character from pretty woman"

On a positive note, those we need in as many movies as possible:

Morgan Freeman
Tommy Lee Jones
Tom Cruise
Russell Crowe
Frances McDormand

Well you just killed your whole argument there by stating we need more Tom Cruise.

By the way, their names are spelt: Brendan Fraser, John Travolta, and Mark Wahlberg. At least you got Pitt's right, eh?

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

I completely disagree about Pitt. While he's certainly not my favorite actor (not even top ten), he has been a part of and his presence has enhanced some really good movies, including:

Fight Club
Kalifornia
Interview With the Vampire
Se7en
12 Monkeys
Troy
Burn After Reading
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

As for the other actors you've listed, I'll give you four out of five, but I firmly believe that Brendan Fraser is a perfectly capable dramatic (see School Ties, Gods and Monsters) and comedic (see Encino Man, Airheads) actor who has unfortunately pigeon-holed himself into sci-fi/fantasy/action-adventure crap like The Mummy, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Inkheart.

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Ok maybe, I mean kind of maybe 12 Monkeys. But man he wastes a spot that a good actor could be filling. And yes I did probably did spell their names wrong and that is because....well you know. And Tom Cruise, really. Born on the 4th of July, Vanilla Sky, etc. etc. etc.

Tom Cruise is a very inconsistent actor. Every now and then, he'll turn in a performance that impresses me (The Last Samurai, Tropic Thunder) but then he'll do something really awful like Mission Impossible or War of the Worlds. He's not all bad, but he's nothing special.

Whilst I appreciate your opinion there's no denying that Brad Pitt stars in a lot of great movies. He's certainly been in more brilliant movies than he has poor ones.

Pitt was hilarious in Burn After Reading and his performances as Tyler Durden and Mickey in Snatch are two of my favourites.

I'll admit, of that "good" list, he is the weakest. But I like the fact that he is willing to take chances and take on a large range of scripts. I tend to favor actors that can fit in almost any genre. He can pull it off unlike most other actors. And the fact that some of the best in the business (directing, writing, etc.) (i.e. Tony Scott, Cameron Crowe, Stanley Kubrick, etc.) have chose to work with him proves he is an exceptional talent.

Well, we all know I want to see more Tom Cruise! Especially when he's making an ass out of himself.

I have nothing against Brendan Fraser, John Travolta, Mark Wahlberg (check the underwear scene thread!), Brad Pitt (Although I've never seen why so many women flip for him/his looks. Sure, he isn't ugly, but . . . I dunno! I just didn't flip!), or Ben Affleck. From what I've heard/read, Ben Affleck was showing some signs of improvement last year. I honestly haven't seen any of his recent films, so I can't add anymore than that, except that I wasn't exactly bothered by him to begin with. That doesn't mean I actually took the time to watch Gigli. I'm just saying that he/his acting never bothered me . . . What few films of his I've seen.

Julia Roberts ~ I can live without Mrs. Ed!

I love Morgan Freeman, Tommy Lee Jones, and Frances McDormand.

Hmmm, Russell Crowe . . . If he's in something that looks good, I'll watch it, but I don't keep an eye out for the films that he's in.

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Yeah John Trivolta..when he was at his peak i heard he was a shoe-in for the part of the three headed guard in monty python's the holy grail, but he went off the rails a bit got into drugs and married that chick with the three breasts from total recall. Now i think hes in a circus riding tricycles for dollars in vegas. I agree......no more movies from him.

Brad Pitt is probably one of the most versatile and best actors there is right now. Like most actors he has been in some crap. For example:

Ed Norton: The Incredible Hulk.
Chris Walken: The Addiction
Robert De Niro: well, pretty much every movie he's been in the last ten years.
... And I could go on and on.
My point is, you can't judge an actor solely on the bad movies he's been in. All the actors listed above are great.

But let's look in-wards for a moment. Fight Club is on 98 top ten lists here on MoFo. You think that doesn't have anything to do with Pitt.

You saw him in Snatch?
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You saw him in Twelve Monkeys?


You saw him in Meet Joe Black when he speaks Jamaican Patois?
Oh and what's that one movie called... Oh yeah ! (Link will show the ending of Se7en. Spoiler of course).

I think these clips alone shows just how versatile he really is. I probably can't change your opinion, but I damn sure can illustrate how wrong you are.

(And of all the actors you could've picked, you went with Tom Cruise to illustrate that Brad Pitt is a bad actor. I mean seriously.
To me it seems like Tom Cruise pretty much lived on Mickey Rourke in the beginning. Rain Man was supposed to have been Rourke. Same was Topgun. I'm not saying that's Cruise's fault but he was the second choice - a much less talented second choice).

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The Freedom Roads

He was real good in Se7en. However, that movie is too disturbing for me to ever watch again. I still need to see Twelve Monkeys.

Also, yes, every actor/actress has had a few flops. Even Meryl Streep, as near perfect as she is, has had a few.

Sorry, but I really really like brad pitt, he's great actor. that's all I can say. The only thing I agree on in your post is more morgan freeman, but he's gettin old, so I don't know how long he plans on stayin in the moviebusiness.

Greetz
El Prezident Spikez

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Interesting, the only name that was listed in Blue Lou's list that got me genuinely annoyed was Brendan's. I'm rather tired of all the people that rag on this guy. I adore him. I love the Mummy movies. But I do agree that he has pigeon-holed himself into some crappy family films (I wish I knew why, maybe it is his agent?), I still think he's an amazing actor who can do both drama and comedy. Besides Gods and Monsters, my other favorite dramatic film he was in was called The Quiet American, a rather underrated film based on a novel by Graham Greene about the beginnings of the Vietnam War (takes place in the 1950s).

My only problem with Brendan is that he's not being used to his potential. His next film is a drama with Harrison Ford. Sounds like a tearjerker type. We'll see how that one goes, but he also has another family comedy coming up although I like the idea--sounds cute--and it co-stars Dick Van Dyke, which is always a good thing, imo.

As to Blue Lou's list:

I have no opinion on Brad Pitt, because he has never touched me emotionally, ever. But I respect him for his desire to make all types of films and not be pigeon-holed as the romantic lead. Good for him.

John Travolta and Julia Roberts -- eh, but that doesn't mean they haven't done some great work and can again.

Mark Wahlberg -- can't wait to see him in The Lovely Bones where he plays the father. I happen to think this is one interesting actor.

Ben Affleck was pretty good in Hollywoodland and State of Play. He does nothing for me, but hey, they were good performances.

Your positive list -- well, I'm a huge Crowe fan so I'll see anything he does. Love Freeman. Tommy, and McDormand. And Cruise has entertained me from time to time even if I think he's crazy as a bedbug.

I think the title of this thread is rather harsh.

Has Tom Cruise ever changed his characters? You take a random Tom Cruise movie, you take out Cruise's character, then you put it in another random Tom Cruise movie and you wouldn't know the freakin' difference! I'm not counting tropic thunder since it's not a 'Tom Cruise movie'. Although that might be his best performance.
Like Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Christian Bale and Mathew Perry, Tom Cruise pulls off one character. He might do it well but he only masters one non the less.

That's highly subjective. What does make a good actor then? If he plays the part well enough to make the audience believe that he is in fact a 'crazy person' or an Irish hillbilly, isn't that good acting? So far I think you're the only one who doesn't believe it.

I quite like Pitt myself, and he's had quite a few good movies: Fight Club, Se7en, Snatch, True Romance, Burn After Reading, and the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I'm really looking foward to seeing him in Inglourious Basterds later this month, though it's probably because it's a Quentin Tarantino film.

As far as Mark Wahlberg goes, too, I like him. I haven't had a chance to see Boogie Nights yet, which most people consider to be his best movie. I have seen some good stuff from Wahlberg like Four Brothers or the Departed. I liked him in the Italian Job and the Happening as well, even though he wasn't exactly the greatest in either of those.

Tropic Thunder is probably the only role that I've seen Cruise was really great in, and it's only becaue his character was so insane. I did think he was pretty good in Minority Report and War of the Worlds, though.

I find Cruise to be just...weird. But I enjoyed his performances in A Few Good Men and The Firm

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Two movies off the top of my head that you couldnt replace Cruise in:

Born on the 4th of July

Jerry Maguire

There are more. Im not trying to be condesending because Im no expert, just a movie fan. But I have done a little acting here and there. And, in my humble opinion, it is the subtlety in acting that takes genuine skill. Its fairly easy to be an off the wall character or wear makeup. In these cases, the character kind of does the work for you. But to take on the role of an average joe/jane and create someone the viewer can identify with on some sort of emotional level is real skill. I dont have anything aganist Pitt. I just like to see good actors/actresses in good movies. Unfortunately, these instances are few and far between. Sure, I enjoy the occassional movie that is mildly entertaining but I wish there were more out there that I can walk away from saying "wow, that was a really great movie".

Haven't seen Born on the 4th of July so I can't discuss that one. I have seen Jerry Maguire thought and Cruise had very little to do with the succes of that movie. Cuba Gooding Jr. carried it all the way and was rightfully awarded an Oscar for it. Gooding, not Cruise.
I wasn't saying you could replace Cruise (even though you probably can), I was saying that each of his characters could swip'swap between movies and it would still be the same flick. with the exception of Tropic Thunder. Which means that he plays one character quite well. It's just not enough. An actor has to be versatile, otherwise you get tired of watching them.

All of Cruise's movies are mildly entertaining. Nothing more. Pitt's movies are more often than not great, or at least entertaining.

- Se7en, Fight Club, Snatch, Twelve Monkeys, Meet Joe Black.
- War of the Worlds, Mission Impossible, Cocktail, Collateral, Valkyrie.

Any reasonable person would know which list had the better movies in it. And the Cruise movies that in fact where good had little to do with Cruise. Rain Man - credit goes to Dustin Hoffman. Jerry Maguire - credit goes to Cuba Gooding Jr, and frankly I thought the girl actor in War of the Worlds was way more believable than Cruise.

Interview With the Vampire is ideal to display the two actors capabilities. Even when Cruise plays a blood-sucking and evil vampire he still only good ol' Tom.