Actors Who Will Be Known By Name Soon

Between 2011 and 2012, there are a few great actors that will be coming out of there shell and be in several films. This list of actors is actors who are in several films in the next two years. Also, this list is also for actors who had their breakout year this past year and may not be signed on for much, but definitely will do great things soon.



Andrew Garfield: Mr. Garfield has been in several things these previous two years and has not given a bad performance. He was in the Red Riding Trilogy, Never Let Me Go, Lions for Lambs (not two years ago, but still worth mentioning), and most recently The Social Network (where he was snubbed for an Oscar nom). He is British (like all GREAT actors) and can hide his accent well. He will be seen soon in the new Spiderman reboot. I do not agree that we need to see a new Spiderman so soon after the last three, but with the casting of him as PP and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey, I think the acting could be better than the other three.

Jennifer Lawrence: Ms. Lawrence is of Winter’s Bone fame. If you haven’t heard of this movie, I think you should check it out. I have not yet seen the film (purely because I’m not going to spend $20 to buy it; I’ll wait until it goes down in price). But I have heard that she does very well and she is nominated for Best Actress this year for the Oscars. Next year we will see her playing a younger Mystique in the film X-Men: First Class. Great new things will be coming from her.

Tom Hiddleston: Mr. Hiddleston is not very well know as of yet. The only way you will have known this man is if you watch the BBC/Masterpiece shows Return to Cranford, Miss Austen Regrets, and Wallander. But after this summer, you will all know him as Loki. He has been cast in the Kenneth Branagh directed film Thor as the villain, Loki, god of mischief. Other films that he will be in are the films War Horse (one of Steven Spielberg’s next films) and Midnight in Paris (a rom-com by Woody Allen).

Olivia Wilde: She is already famous. Most of you have seen this beautiful woman. Have you seen House (or the last three seasons? Then you have seen her. Have you seen Tron: Legacy yet? Then you have seen her. She plays Thirteen and played Quorra, respectively. She was in The Next Three Days, but that really wasn’t big. She is not just a pretty face. Her acting ability trumps almost every other young and gorgeous actress working today (move over Megan Fox).

Michael Fassbender: Another name that I know no one knows. The only two major films he has been in are Inglourious Basterds and Centurion. He was better in Basterds than Centurion (played Lieutenant Archie Hicox, the British-undercover-as-a-German). But this next year he is in four films this year, all of them major films: Jane Eyre (Mr. Rochester), X-Men: First Class (the younger Magneto), A dangerous Mind (A David Cronenberg film about Sigmund Freud), and Haywire (an action flick directed by Steven Soderbergh, director of Ocean’s Trilogy).

Hailee Steinfeld: Not signed onto anything just yet, Ms. Steinfeld was in True Grit as the lead Mattie Ross. Her portrayal gave her an Oscar nomination this year (her first film and at age 14 too). I believe we can all see great things from her in the years to come.

Aaron Johnson: Mr. Johnson was in two films this year: (Sorry language sensitive readers) Kick Ass and Nowhere Boy, playing the leads in both films (the second being about John Lennon and his start to music fame). Though he has only one main stream film next year (Albert Nobbs with Glenn Close and Brendan Gleeson), he too isn’t going to be seen much next year, but this isn’t the end of this tremendously brilliant, British actor.

Chloe Grace Moretz: Also of Kick Ass fame, she got her big break this year. After beating up adults as Hit Girl and she then fed on humans as the vampire in Let Me In. She has signed onto many low budget films next year, except for the new Martin Scorsese film Hugo Cabret.

Tom Hardy: Mr. Hardy is most famous now for his role as Eames in Inception, but he wasn’t always Eames. He was Heathcliff and Bill Sykes in the newest Masterpiece Classic shows Wuthering Heights and Oliver Twist (in which he should have been nominated for Emmys and Golden Globes), Bronson as the title role Charles Bronson, and he was in the Guy Ritchie film RockNRolla (great movie). And these next few years is going to be many big budget films like the reboot of Mad Max, a great spy thriller called Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and a film called This Means War (another spy thriller with Chris Pine), and he will be playing the main villain in the third and final Nolan Batman film as Bane. Of all of these actors, I would say he is my favorite.

Noomi Rapace: Right out of the famous Millennium Trilogy films, Noomi Rapace is going to be a star that will forever embedded into moviegoers’ and film critics’ minds as one of the greatest actresses of all time. That may be a giant leap for those who haven’t seen these films, but I have and she is AMAZING and I very rarely like to watch foreign language films. This next year she is in one major film. You might have heard of it: a little sequel of a film called Sherlock Holmes 2 (at least that is the title for now). We will not see the end of her after that. Trust me.

I’m tired so now is time where I leave you. I will try to get that review up for The Way Back by the end of the week (and a little surprise review too). Look for my fourth installment of this series soon: Actors Who Until Recently I Have Disliked.

83rd Academy Awards

Honestly, what must Christopher Nolan do in order for him to get an Oscar nomination for Best Director? His fist major theatrical film, Memento, got him and Oscar nom for best Adapted Screenplay, but he did not win. The a few years down the road there came this little ity-bity movie called The Dark Knight that was the highest grossing film of the year, one of the best reviewed of the year, and considered by many the greatest comic book movie ever made, and he didn't get nominated for screenplay, picture, or director. Then came this past year another little movie called Inception. And this morning the Oscar nominations were announced and once again Mr. Nolan was snubbed out of Best Director. This is just a slap in the face from the Academy. "Yes Mr. Nolan, your movie might possibly be one of the greatest movies of the year, and yes, we might let you receive your own statuette for Best Original Screenplay (only because Aaron Sorkin's The Social Network is Adapted), but you aren't a good enough director to be in the same class as Mr. Aronofsky or Mr. Hooper or Mr. Fincher. But luck next time sport."

But here I am, editorializing. That's not the point of this blog. Here are the nominations and tomorrow I will have my next review and addition to my serial.


Best Motion Picture of the Year


■Black Swan

■The Fighter

■Inception

■The Kids are All Right

■The King's Speech

■127 Hours

■The Social Network

■Toy Story 3

■True Grit

■Winter's Bone


Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

■Annette Bening (The Kids are All Right)

■Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)

■Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)

■Natalie Portman (Black Swan)

■Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)


Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

■Javier Bardem (Biutiful)

■Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)

■Colin Firth (The King's Speech)

■James Franco (127 Hours)

■Jeff Bridges (True Grit)


Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

■Christian Bale (The Fighter)

■John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)

■Jeremy Renner (The Town)

■Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)

■Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)


Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

■Amy Adams (The Fighter)

■Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)

■Melissa Leo (The Fighter)

■Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

■Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)


Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

■How to Train Your Dragon

■The Illusionist

■Toy Story 3


Best Documentary Short Subject

■Killing in the Name

■Poster Girl

■Strangers No More

■Sun Come Up

■The Warriors of Qiugang


Best Short Film (Animated)

■Day & Night Teddy Newton

■The Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max Lang

■Let's Pollute Geefwee Boedoe

■The Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann

■Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois


Best Short Film (Live Action)

■The Confession Tanel Toom

■The Crush Michael Creagh

■God of Love Luke Matheny

■Na Wewe Ivan Goldschmidt

■Wish 143 Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite


Achievement in Art Direction
■Alice in Wonderland

■Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

■Inception

■The King's Speech

■True Grit


Achievement in Cinematography

■Black Swan (Matthew Libatique)

■Inception (Wally Pfister)

■The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)

■The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)

■True Grit (Roger Deakins)


Achievement in Costume Design

■Alice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)

■I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)

■The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)

■The Tempest (Sandy Powell)

■True Grit (Mary Zophres)


Achievement in Directing

■Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)

■David O. Russell (The Fighter)

■Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)

■David Fincher (The Social Network)

■Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)


Best Documentary Feature

■Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)

■Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)

■Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)

■Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)

■Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)


Achievement in Makeup

■Barney's Version

■The Way Back

■The Wolfman


Achievement in Film Editing

■Black Swan (Andrew Weisblum)

■The Fighter (Pamela Martin)

■The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)

■127 Hours (Jon Harris)

■The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)


Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

■Biutiful (Mexico)

■Dogtooth (Greece)

■In a Better World (Denmark)

■Incendies (Canada)

■Hors la Loi (Algeria)


Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

■How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)

■Inception (Hans Zimmer)

■The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)

■127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)

■The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)


Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)

■"Coming Home" from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey

■"I See the Light" from Tangled Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater

■"If I Rise" from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong

■"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman


Achievement in Sound Editing

■Inception

■Toy Story 3

■TRON: Legacy

■True Grit

■Unstoppable


Achievement in Sound Mixing

■Inception

■The King's Speech

■Salt

■The Social Network

■True Grit


Achievement in Visual Effects

■Alice in Wonderland

■Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

■Hereafter

■Inception

■Iron Man 2


Adapted Screenplay

■127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)

■The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)

■Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)

■True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)

■Winter's Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)


Original Screenplay

■Another Year (Mike Leigh)

■The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)

■Inception (Christopher Nolan)

■The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)

■The King's Speech (David Seidler)

Actors Who Must Stay Away From Films

There is a basic rule of thumb for me: if an actor was a singer or a model before they went into acting, then they are bad. Another rule of thumb: if you are better known for your comedic skill, you are not a good actor. I’m not listing these actors in terms of their entertainment skill (I am very entertained at laughing at these actors). I am stating these actors in terms of their acting ability. And the common reader may not agree, and that’s fine, I just pity you. And some of these actors may have already stopped acting, or are going back and forth between jobs. And I say, please, stay away from these films. Models, stay in modeling; and singers, keep singing. Thank you.


Here is a list of actors that I will try to avoid at all costs (in no particular order):

Ashton Kutcher, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner (stop now, the both of you, just stop), Tom Welling, Keanu Reeves, Gerard Butler, Jack Black, Sylvester Stallone, Ben Affleck, Jason Statham, Owen Wilson, Hayden Christensen, Danny Glover, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Jeremy Piven, Kevin Costner, Bruce Willis, Cuba Gooding Jr., Richard Gere, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson, Quentin Tarantino, Chris Brown, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristopherson, Wesley Snipes, Chris Klein, Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, Stephen Segal, Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Matthew Marsden, Ray Liotta, Tom Welling, Tom Cruise, and Bradley Cooper.

Here is a list of bad actresses that I will try to avoid at all costs:

Jessica Alba, Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes, Pamela Anderson, Penelope Cruz, Katie Holmes, Kate Beckinsale, Paris Hilton, Hilary Swank, Jessica Simpson, Kristen Stewart, Drew Barrymore, Megan Fox, Barbra Streisand, Brooke Shields, Madonna, Sharon Stone, Gemma Arterton, Demi Moore, Uma Thurman, Kim Basinger, Julia Roberts, Alicia Silverstone, Jenifer Lopez, Winona Ryder, Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry, Hillary Duff, Lindsay Lohan (the only good role of hers is in The Parent Trap, period.), Kate Hudson, Diane Keaton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Beyoncé, Mary Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Katherine Heigl, Hayden Panettiere, Miley Cyrus, Venessa Hudgens, Ali Larter, Jennifer Garner, Rachel McAdams, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman (if you don’t believe me, watch Far and Away), Milla Jovovich, Cher, Christina Aguilera, Kristen Bell, Denise Richards, Melanie Griffith, and Jennifer Love Hewit.

Now when you look at the size of this list, you may ask, are there any actors that you do like? But like I have stated before, there are so many actors out there that I absolutely love, but all of the actors that I dislike are the ones that most people have heard of. This is just a comprehensive list, a list that I came up with in a few minutes. Agree or disagree with me in the comments, if you please. I like to know my viewers opinions.

Next time: Two reviews on The Way Back, The Rite, and Actors Who Will Be Big In the Years to Come

Updated Top 10 of '10

I watched a few more movies from this year and so here is an updated version. There are new addition to my top ten categories too. More reviews coming within the week.

Best Movies of '10


10. The A-Team
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
8. 127 Hours
7. Shutter Island
6. The Ghost Writer
5. Toy Story 3
4. The Social Network
3. True Grit
2. The King's Speech
1. Inception
Best Actors of '10

10. Will Poulter for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
9. Tom Hardy for Inception
8. Matt Damon for True Grit
7. Jeff Bridges for True Grit
6. Leonardo DiCaprio for Shutter Island
5. James Franco for 127 Hours
4. Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network
3. Andrew Garfield for The Social Network
2. Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech
1. Colin Firth for The King's Speech
Best Actresses of '10 (Not a top ten list. Haven't seen very many good actresses this year)

5. Chloe Grace Moretz for Kick-Ass
4. Noomi Rapace for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
3. Olivia Williams for The Ghost Writer
2. Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech
1. Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit

Best Scores of '10

10. The Ghost Writer by Alexandre Desplat
9. Alice in Wonderland by Danny Elfman
8. Tron: Legacy by Daft Punk
7. The King's Speech by Alexandre Desplat
6. Black Swan by Clint Mansell
5. Inception by Hans Zimmer
4. How To Train Your Dragon by John Powell
2. The Social Network by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
2. True Grit by Carter Burwell
1. Never Let Me Go

Best Screenplay (Both Adapted and Original)

10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I- Written by Steve Kloves (A)
9. Toy Story 3- Written by Michael Arndt (O)
8. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World- Written by Michael Bicall and Edgar Wright (A)
7. 127 Hours- Written by Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy (A)
6. Shutter Island- Written by Laeta Kalogridis (A)
5. True Grit- Written by Joel and Ethan Coen (A)
4. The Ghost Writer- Written by Robert Harris and Roman Polanski (A)
3. The King's Speech- Written by David Seidler (O I think, not based on a book, but based on true story)
2. The Social Network- Written by Aaron Sorkin (O Again, I think)
1. Inception (O)

Actors Who Steal The Show

This will be the start of a new series of reviews of actors called “Actors Who…”. They may be actors who are terrible that continue do bad work, actors who have not done well until recent years, actors who do all genres and do them well, and today’s list, actors who class every movie they are in.


There are just many actors out there that are so good that they are the redeeming factor in a horribly made picture. Most of these actors that I will state choose their movies carefully and don’t just do a movie for the pay check, but some don’t, but are still masters of their art. Here they are in alphabetical order:

Cate Blanchette: Anything that Miss Blanchette has done in her life is spot on. I have not been disappointed with her huge resumé of works. Elizabeth I, Maid Marion, Katherine Hepburn, Bob Dylan, and Lady Galadriel are all amazing roles in which she shows her class. Many other roles of hers are just perfect for her in not so perfect movies like Notes on a Scandal, Indiana Jones 4, or The Missing.

Anthony Hopkins: I don’t need to say much. Every movie Mr. Hopkins is in, he gives it certain flair. Remains of the Day, Shadowlands, The Silence of the Lambs, Nixon, Legends of the Fall, Amistad, Fracture, and the future Thor are all his best performances to date. He also did a decent job in All The King’s Men, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Beowulf, and The Wolfman, but all of those films weren’t nearly as good as they could have been.

Jeremy Irons: Mr. Irons is one of the greats. Most would not know him by name, but then I say names like Scar from The Lion King, or Brom from the atrocious Eragon, or Aramis in The Man in the Iron Mask. He has done his fair share of great movies, and bad ones as well. His most notable in my mind are his performances in The Mission (with Robert de Niro), Kingdom of Heaven (the Orlando Bloom/Ridley Scott team up), and Antonio the Merchant in the film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice (starring Al Pacino as Shylock the Jew). Good or bad films, Irons is always great.

Jason Isaacs: There aren’t very many bad movies that Mr. Isaacs has been a part of in his career. I just thought that I should mention him because of his extraordinary talent. The only movie that I can say is bad in which he was a part of would be the newer Peter Pan (he plays Captain Hook and George Darling, the father). Green Zone, Black Hawk Down, Harry Potter, and The Patriot are all of the movies I have seen him and he does not disappoint.

Alfred Molina: If this year was any proof of how great Alfred Molina is, then I don’t know what else could. He is the redeeming factor in every one of his terrible films. And in his great films, he still steals the show. This year he was in three films in which he did his natural scene-stealing magic: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Prince of Persia, and The Tempest. Other films that he has done that are bad are Dudley Do-right (funny, but bad), Spiderman 2, The Da Vinci Code, and Pink Panther 2. His great films consist of An Education, As You Like It, Chocolat, Luther, and Frida.

Gary Oldman: Most of my friends know that Gary Oldman is my favorite actor. He hardly does any bad films and when he does, he brings his best to make up for the badness of the film. The three most blaringly obvious bad films are The Fifth Element, JFK, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula. His great performances are too many to say, but I’ll try to give most of them: Air Force One, Harry Potter, Christopher Nolan’s Batman franchise, The Book of Eli, Immortal Beloved, Sid and Nancy, and The Professional.

Ryan Reynolds: This man hasn’t made a good movie yet that I have seen. Blade: Trinity, Smokin’ Aces, The Proposal, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are he only four movies I have seen him in and he is fantastic in all of them, but the movies SUCKED! This is why I am so looking forward to Green Lantern because if it is good, then it will be his first great film I have seen him in. But no matter how bad the films are, if you see Ryan Reynolds, you know that he will be good.

Michael Sheen: Like Gary Oldman or Jason Isaacs, I have not seen Mr. Sheen in any bad films. He is on the top of his game in every film he is in, whether it be competing against Helen Mirren in the Queen, or only hearing his voice as the White Rabbit in the latest Alice in Wonderland film, or only seeing him in a few scenes in the latest Tron escapade, he is always acting his butt off. Every time I see Michael Sheen’s name on a movie credit, I have to see it because I know how great this actor is. If you want more movies to see Michael Sheen in, watch The Damned United (greatest sports film ever), Unthinkable, The Special Relationship, Frost/Nixon, Underworld franchise, and Laws of Attraction (a not so great movie, but he and Parker Posey steal the whole movie).


Next time: Actors Who Need To Leave Acting

My Top 10 of '10

It seems like you aren't a real movie critic without your own top ten list. I have an unusual top ten list for most critics, but I am not like most film critics. And this also has the best performances by both actors and actresses.

Best Movies of '10

10. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
8. 127 Hours
7. Toy Story 3
6. Green Zone
5. Shutter Island
4. The Ghost Writer
3. True Grit
2. The King's Speech
1. Inception

Best Performances of '10

10. Joseph Gordon-Levitt/Tom Hardy for Inception
9. Matt Damon for True Grit
8. Leonardo DiCaprio for Shutter Island
7. Noomi Rapace for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
6. Olivia Williams for The Ghost Writer
5. James Franco for 127 Hours
4. Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech
3. Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech
2. Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit
1. Colin Firth for The King's Speech