Recently, I caught the film ‘Rock Of Ages’ on cable, having never seen it in theatres due to mockery and mixed reviews. Surprisingly to me, I found it to be a fun, light-weight movie filled with interesting performances and (probably importantly) the music of my childhood. Most impressive of all was the fact that I even enjoyed Tom Cruise’s scenery chewing portrayal of Stacey Jaxxx, a snake-skin clad, tattooed rock god frontman whose only concerns are groupies, alcohol and other groupies. Given that even his most iconic movie moments tend to leave me cold (To this day, I root for Iceman), it was an impressive performance and the film’s creators used the character brilliantly. Interestingly, afterwards, I found myself looking up the female lead, Julianne Hough, and have discovered that I have no use for HER other work as well, making this movie a rare Double-Play of People I Don’t Care For In A Movie I Enjoyed,
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) has never found anything that he liked David Duchovny in, other than his role as Agent Mulder, either, asking: Are their actors that you can only take in certain roles? Which ones?
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Tom Hanks. I liked him in “That Thing You Do” in which he plays a sleazy record promotor who is rather stuck on himself. I liked him in Apollo 13 where he plays an astronaut who is rather stuck on himself. I liked him in the Dan Brown movies, where he plays a symbologist who is rather stuck on himself. Which is odd when you consider that I hate everything else he’s ever done because, as an actor, Tom Hanks is always seems so stuck on himself…
Arnold Schwarzenneger as Conan or the Terminator. Where the producerd/directors realised less is more when it comes to Arnie’s dialogue.
You should see Arnie in “The Villain” – a rather terrible western where they retread all of the Wile E Coyote gags in live action. He plays the dimwitted good guy vs. Kirk Douglas’ incompetent villain.
…an interesting side note on the role of Stacey Jaxxx is that the first person to portray him on stage was Chris Hardwick, The Nerdist, himself. If I were casting the movie/play I don’t know if he would be on the top of my list either…
Jack Nicholson: Has to play somebody nuts. (Batman, Shining, Anger Management, none of those roles are really straight.)