10 Favorite Folks in the Motion Picture Industry

This is an odd segment for me, a person who regularly mocks and pesters my wife when she watches E! and reads People Magazine.  Even though I’m not into all the fashion and gossip news that keeps our TMZ culture afloat, there are people in Hollywood that I very much enjoy being entertained by.  So here goes my list as we delve into another segment of “10’s”.

1.  George Clooney - My likeness (you may even call it a man-crush) for this guy is beyond any other.  I love almost all his movies.  He always seems to pick interesting roles in well-produced movies (no one does this better).  His greatness goes beyond the bigscreen as he just seems like a great person to be around.  As the ultimate host in Hollywood, he’s the epitome of a guy’s guy that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to bring around.  On top of all that, no one else seems to be having more fun.  Favorite movie: Out of Sight

2.  Matt Damon – From the moment I first watched Good Will Hunting (still a fascinating movie over a decade later), I hope this guy would become who he is today – who’s that?  He, much like Clooney, does a great job at picking movies that are well-written, interesting, and most importantly avoid wussification…so many actors started off great and then lost their edge in exchange for winning the hearts of young girls (see Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, etc.).  Favorite movie: Rounders

3.  Brad Pitt- His name doesn’t make me want to see a movie (like the guys above), but he has played so many diverse roles it’s difficult not to recognize the man’s skill.  Beyond that, the man is so good looking even the most stubborn of men couldn’t disagree.  His choice in roles has improved greatly in the last 10 years and it has lended me the ability to slowly dismantle every arguement that ever existed against him.  Favorite movie: Fight Club.

4.  Edward Norton – Speaking of Fight Club, this guy is just an incredible actor.  Most of his roles feature characters of incredble depth and intense conflict.  Although he lacks exceptional good looks, it is rare that that I find myself not engrossed in the storylines of his roles.  Favorite movie: American History X

5.  Tina Fey – Her greatest strength is her writing.  Mean Girls is hilarious and I find myself watching it every time I come across it on TV.  Her intelligence and wit combined with her underplayed attractiveness make her not only entertaining, but also help you take her seriously…it’s always about the writing with her.  Her comedy writing skills have landed her on top of all the other women Hollywood has to offer.  Favorite movie (show): 30 Rock

6.  Jack NIcholson – Perhaps the greatest actor and without question the premiere womanizer of Tinseltown of our generation.  I’ll admit he has mailed in way too many of his roles over the past 10 years, but he’s still intriguingly entertaining just being Jack.  His name commands you to pay attention to the movie.  Favorite movie: A Few Good Men

7.  Will Smith- Watching this guy just makes me feel good about life.  He’s funny, good looking, and seems like he would make a fine family friend.  Even in his most wussifying role, Hitch, he’s terrific…my wife and I love the movie!  Besides being funny and possessing the ability to (kinda) rap, he is incredible at playing roles to perfection.  Favorite movie: The Pursuit of Happyness

8.  Leonardo DiCaprio- He started out soft as a teen bop cover boy proclaiming he was “king of the world”.  After so many great performances in movies worthy of male viewership, how could you exclude him from any top 10 list of this nature.  He has gone from being the punch line in the locker room to the guy living the bachelor’s dream (he must be hoping to top Clooney one day).  Favorite movie: The Departed

9.  Morgan Freeman – He just picks great roles and is the prototypical wise old sage on the silverscreen.  There’s not much to say other than I love his acting. Favorite movie: The Shawshank Redemption

10.  Owen Wilson – Of the newbies to the “Hollywood Elite” (Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, etc.), Owen is the only one that I can take seriously…the others guys are too concerned with being the “(fill in the blank)” guy.  Maybe he will turn out to be the biggest train wreck of all these guys, but as of now he can be humorous, but not to the point where it marks his identity.  Favorite movie: Wedding Crashers

 

10’s

We here at daedal jocosity (and when I say we, I mean I) are installing a new segment to this blog that will simply be know as “10’s”.  These will be an ongoing piece that will surface every so often to reflect on the best, worst, ugliest, funniest, loveliest, holiest, craziest…or anything else with an “est” suffix.

So without further ado, I present the innagural “10’s” which will focus on the 10 best Super Bowl commercials of my current memory at the time of “publish”.

1.  Tabasco Mosquito – My favorite Super Bowl commercial of all-time meets all the criteria necessary in an excellent commercial.  It’s suble, yet funny with an element of conceivable truth and above all simple.  The unexpected expolosion of the mosquito is forever ingrained in my memory.

2.   McDonald’s Jordan vs. Bird – The cameras were rolling for the greatest game of H-O-R-S-E ever played as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird square off for a Big Mac.  As absurd as it is, I remember thinking “I bet they could make those shots if they tried”.  Just awesome.

3.  Budwieser Frogs – “Bud” “Weissss” “Errrrr”.  My friends and I used these words in our conversation for at least 2 years after it aired.  The commerical bohemoth was at it best with 3 beer-obsessed frogs.

4.  Snicker Kiss - Albeit contreversial at the time, my favorite part wasn’t the kiss, but the reaction afterwards of “Quick!  Do something manly!”

5.  Office Linebacker – The visualization of how you would love to deal with employees who repeatedly mess up.

6.  Fed Ex Caveman – Very creative, very funny.  I love the final scene where he kicks the small dino and gets crushed by the foot of another.

7.  Pepsi Cindy Crawford – As a young adolescent boy, this was the best you could ask for in 1992.

8.  Monster.com When I Grow Up – Features kids saying things such as “…I want to be a yes-man”, “…claw my way up middle managment”, and “…be forced into early retirement”.  Monster could not have made a better first commercial.

9.  EDS Herding Cats – This was a great metaphor for the product EDS was selling and it was hilarious hearing about the family of cat herders.

10.  Outpost.com Wolves – There was a series of odd comercials they put out, but this was the best.  My favorite part was the man sitting in the chair at the end saying, “That’s good stuff!” 

I’m going to insert a #11 with my favorite commercial from this year’s Super Bowl…I present Bud Light featuring Jackie Moon.