Thank you, that's my point, but you made it better. Rave--whom I respect tremendously--seems to feel we should just read the facts of the report, but not comment or critique what those facts mean and portend, or how we feel about them. In that case it's just a throwaway news article that should be ignored. It'd be like reading news articles the last eight years that said "Most Americans support Bush and his policies", then saying "Meh", and accepting it, instead of commenting and working to change things by opening peoples' eyes. (Okay, a bit of a stretch in that comparison, but I just spent all morning with the political talk shows!)
You summed up my feelings better: it's great Smith does well, I like and respect him, but it scares me if he's the only actor seen as viable. And I'm sorry: I do think there's a great deal of laziness in culture where everyone--the purveyors of entertainment as well as the partakers of it--just stays with the same old same old. A big thing my wife has said for years is that she tires of seeing the same old faces in movies, even great actors. After a while, no matter how good that person is, she can't shake the knowledge that "I'm watching so-and-so do a great job". It's one reason we love small, indie, or foreign films with lesser-known or completely unknown actors. It's why I'm excited to see the buzzed-about French film "The Class": I have no clue who one single person in the flick is. It's why I remember "Mongul" so fondly: I didn't know a single actor in the movie, was able to lose myself. It's why movies like "The Visitor", "Frozen River", and "Waitress" stay with me long after I've forgotten the overhyped and overblown flicks like "Hancock" and "I Am Legend". They are solid acting efforts with men and women who are equal to--if not better than--the so-called A-listers. It also means that we get to see nuances of acting that simply can't be provided by Smith, Jolie, Pitt, Washington, etc., all the time ----- Original Message ----- From: "Daryle Lockhart" <dar...@darylelockhart.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2009 12:48:18 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Will Smith -- The Only Sure Thing At The Box Office Rap grammy is not a ghetto category. It is an acknowledgment of hip-hop's main musical outlet as a stand alone art form. Before the Rap category All Black artists who weren't doing jazz were competing in the same category. The Grammies still have a way to go, as there aren't a lot of DJ's who vote and so you don't have any categories for musical genres that have really pushed the creative boundaries, like drum n bass or progressive electronic. There have been more progressions made in so called "Dance music" than in any thing pop's done since the 70s. But anyway, about Will Smith and this Forbes chart. When you read the original Forbes piece, you see what factors went into giving him the perfect 10. It's not just filling seats. It's many factors. Will Smith is a brand like Cary Grant, Clark Gable, or Elvis. This is actually really scary news for the business, mainly because Will Smith is signed exclusively to Sony. If there's only one actor in the world who can consistently get a picture made and sell through to home video/downloads, it's probably time to revamp the system before we have another Tom Cruise on our hands. Nothing against Will Smith, I'm personally proud of a former rapper being the biggest movie star in the world, but this is one of the reasons I'd like to see Robert Downey Jr win an Oscar this year. People are growing up not knowing what acting is. Will Smith is totally NOT our Clint Eastwood. Clint Eastwood is. There is no other actor who has mastered his craft and then gone on to master the craft of directing. He is not our Robert Redford, Don Cheadle is. Look at Cheadle's body of work and look at Redford's. Cheadle can and does carry movies, and has done so for about 12 years now. Will Smith is the new Tom Cruise, and Samuel L Jackson is the new Harrison Ford. And that's great. But there are about 20 Black actors and actresses who can act circles around them both. This chart should be a wake-up call to the studio system to bring things back to the "Golden era". Every studio should have a "Will Smith". On Feb 15, 2009, at 10:00 AM, ravenadal wrote: I'm just saying don't hate on Big Willie for being successful. Lil Wayne doesn't float my boat (I am touting Raphael Saddiq's excellent but poor selling "The Way I See It") but I don't hate on him for selling more CDs than anybody else (rap, rock, r&b, country, et al) in 2008. My point is your commentary is not germane to this discussion. That Mr. Smith fills seats is a indisputable fact - it is not a matter of opinion of conjecture - and filling seats is what the theater owners touted him for. Get this - the theater owners ONLY care about who fills their seats and sells their popcorn. Me, personally, I would love to see Chiwetel Ejiofor work more because Mr. Ejiofor is an amazing actor who is able to shed and assume many different skins. I daydream about creating roles for Mr. Ejiofor. But, like Lil Wayne's "snub" at the Grammies (eight nominations, 2 wins in the rap "ghetto"), the Oscars is the place to spank Big Willie and to award the likes of Dame Dench (go Taraji P.! and, while we are on the subject, does Taraji P. Henson go by Taraji P. to distinguish herself from that OTHER Taraji Henson?). That said, I continue to have nothing but admiration for how Mr. Smith handles his business. He is our Paul Newman, our Robert Redford, our Clint Eastwood, heck, our Brad Pitt, and, too often, we not only fail to see it - we fail to admire it. And, to honor both Mr. Smith recent accomplishment and Mr. Saddiq's late great band, let me say one mo' time....Money! Mone! Moni! Big Willie Does It Again! ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > Well, like I said, Smith may get others in the seats, but I'm not one of them. I don't see the problem. The list was of stars who seem to bring a lot of people in, i'm simply saying Smith doesn't bring *me* in, and then listed the stars that do. I could care less about whether Judi Dench headlined a movie, I go to see good actors do good work in good films. If more people quit focusing on superstars and actually supported talent in all its forms, then more actors and actresses would be seen for the talent they have. > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "ravenadal" <ravena...@...> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 9:42:31 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Will Smith -- The Only Sure Thing At The Box Office > > > > > > > Clive Owen is one actor on your list below whose films are > consistently watchable but, for whatever reason, they are seldom box > office successes. Viggo Mortensen's "The History of Violence" is one > of my all-time favorites but it did diddly-squat at the box office. > > Your list of female movie stars makes me doubt you as a reliable > narrator. When was the last time Dame Judi Dench headlined a movie? > Heck, when was the last time Angela Bassett headlined a movie? Both > Kimberly Elise and Taraji P. Henson are fine actresses but neither can > open a movie. > > Will Smith's accolade was for his ability to consistently fill theater > seats. Let's not compare apples and oranges. > > ~rave! > > --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Keith Johnson <KeithBJohnson@> > wrote: > > > > > > Funny. He isn't a guaranteed big draw for me. Among male actors, I'm > much more likely to see a flick with Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor, > Clive Owen, Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall. Maybe De Niro if it's not > Meet the Parents or Righteous Kill type crap. And I'd actually place > Clooney higher up on my list than Smith. In fact, I can't remember the > last time I saw a movie because Smith was in it. I saw "Hancock" and > "I Am Legend" because they were scifi, and "Hitch" because it was a > romantic comedy I could share with my wife. The other males below, > I'll certainly consider--especially Damon and Di Caprio--but depends > on the type of movie they're in. I will say, I do wish Christian > Slater were still doing good work, for he'd certainly be on my list. > > > > For female actors, my list would have to include Judi Dench, Angela > Bassett (keep hoping she finally finds the roles that utilize her > massive talent), Meryl Streep (who's really impressed me with her > continually good work as she gets older), Kimberly Elise (woefully > underappreciated actress), Taraji P. Henson (hard not to be engaged > with, even with unintentionally funny stuff like "He don't love me no > 'mo'!" in "Baby Boy"), Cate Blanchett, Jodi Foster, Queen Latifah > (good dramatic and comedic actress), Sanaa Lathan. > > > > They ought to list the actors guaranteed to kill a movie, to drive > people away. For me, that would include Adam Sandler (don't get his > humour), Pauly Shore (how does he get work?), Jim Carey (most of his > stuff is too manic for me), David Spade (loved him on TV, can't abide > his film work), Mila Jovovich (horrible movie choices), Kate Hudson > (she's sure to star in wretched romantic comedies that make you gag). > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Tracey de Morsella" <tdlists@> > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , "CINQUE" <cinque3000@> > > Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2009 5:53:22 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada > Eastern > > Subject: [scifinoir2] Will Smith -- The Only Sure Thing At The Box > Office > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Will Smith -- The Only Sure Thing At The Box Office > > > > > > 12 February 2009 1:27 AM, PST > > > > Will Smith has again emerged as the film star whose name on the > marquee guarantees a movie's success, according to most analysts. In > Forbes magazine's Star Currency survey, Smith was the only film star > to receive a perfect score of 10. Others in the top ten included: > Leonardo DiCaprio , Angelina Jolie , Brad Pitt , Tom Hanks , George > Clooney , Denzel Washington , Matt Damon , Jack Nicholson , and Julia > Roberts . > > >
