This is a list of SOME of my favorite actors. The
list is always growing as I'm discovering more all the time!
Check back often, but in the meantime, check who's already here!
There will be a lot more to this feature in the future, including bios
and recommended films lists.
Tim Allen I'm not too into his stand-up comedy, and I kind of like his
claim-to-fame, the long-running "Home Improvement" TV sitcom, but it's
the movies where he's really evolved as an actor. I greatly look
forward to any movie Tim Allen is in. He's been cool in all of
them that I've seen so far. Some movies I like better than
others, but they've all been good. "For Richer or Poorer,"
"Galaxy Quest," "Santa Clause 2," and "The Shaggy Dog" are his absolute
best. Those are absolute must-sees. But basically, you
can't go wrong with a Tim Allen film.
Recommended Films: The
Santa Clause (1994); Jungle 2 Jungle (1997); For Richer or Poorer
(1997); Galaxy Quest (1999); Who Is Cletis Tout? (2001); Joe Somebody
(2001); Santa Clause 2 (2002); Christmas With the Kranks (2004); The
Shaggy Dog (2006)
Billy Blanks
Recommended Films: Tough & Deadly; Back in Action
John
Candy
Recommended Films: Who's Harry Crumb? [my favorite of his!]; The
Great Outdoors; Uncle Buck; Wagons East; Canadian Bacon
Jackie
Chan
Recommended Films: Rumble in the Bronx; Rush Hour; Rush Hour 2;
The Tuxedo; The Medallion
Sean Connery
Recommended Films: Dr. No (1962); From Russia With Love (1963);
Goldfinger (1964); Thunderball (1965); You Only Live Twice (1967);
Diamonds Are Forever (1971); Never Say Never Again (1983); Rising Sun;
Just Cause; The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Paul
Hogan
Recommended Films: Crocodile Dundee; Crocodile Dundee II; Almost
an Angel; Lightnin' Jack; Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles
C. Thomas Howell
Recommended Films: Kid (1991) [aka "Back for Revenge"]
Hugh Jackman
Arthur Lake
Martin Lawrence
I'm not at all a fan of his stand-up or the "Martin" television show,
but somehow almost all of his movies turn out to be really cool and
well-suited for him. He's one of those actors that, if you see
his name in the movie, you can be pretty sure it will be good.
"Bad Boys" is flatout the first great thing he ever did. The
trend continued into other movies where I actually could find him very
funny. But he can do action movies, comedy movies, even family
type comedies like "Rebound" that I think is one of his best movies
ever!
For all of you who haven't seen many of his shows, here's some quick
information to go by. "Bad Boys" is better than "Bad Boys II,"
although the sequel is still well worth watching. "Big Momma's
House 2" is better than "Big Momma's House" because it gets wilder and
a lot more silly. "Blue Streak," "Black Knight," and "Rebound"
are absolute must sees for ANYONE. You'll love them!
Recommended Films: Bad Boys (1995); Nothing to Lose
(1997); Blue Streak (1999); Big Momma's House (2000); What's the Worst
That Could Happen? (2001); Black Knight (2001); National Security
(2003); Bad Boys II (2003);
Rebound (2005); Big Momma's House 2 (2006)
Brandon
Lee
He was even better than his father Bruce. Brandon Lee had
the looks and the charm of a classic matinee idol. On the verge
of superstardom his life ended tragically. I always liked him and
will continue to enjoy his movies. He's one of the few "pretty
boy" actors I've ever liked, because he was in a class all by himself.
Recommended Films: Showdown in Little Tokyo; Rapid Fire; The Crow
Bruce
Lee
You can sometimes tell things about an actor's true personality just
from the way they carry themselves on film. Bruce Lee is one of
those people. He's a decent enough actor (his son Brandon was
much better in that regard), but his advanced martial arts mastery is
what makes Bruce a real spectacle. Bruce, as a fighter, was
better on film than Brandon. But as fierce as he fought, he
seemed like a genuinely nice fellow. He seemed like a real nice
guy in interviews. I'm not surprised, though, that he had an
occasional temper. He had a lot of frustrating challenges in his
life to deal with. It's sad that he died so young, because he was
on the verge of superstardom. When the mainstream movie "Enter
the Dragon" was released (after his death) and became a huge hit, it
secured his place in film history as the first real martial arts
star. His earlier Chinese films are not very good movies, but his
fighting sequences are outstanding. And, of course, his role as
Kato in "The Green Hornet" TV series will be eternally cool. He
fought like a demon and played a cool character. Recommended TV: The Green
Hornet (1966-67) Recommended Films: Enter
the Dragon
Jason Scott Lee
Dolph
Lundgren
Dolph is probably my favorite action star. It's a pretty close
call between him and Roddy Piper. And, of course, Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Steven Seagal. I like Dolph because he looks
like he can kick a** and he can! He's played villains in a few
films, which he is exceptional at, but I like him best as heroes.
I like his good guys. They keep to their own and don't bother
anybody, but when they're pushed WATCH OUT!
Recommended Films:
Masters of the Universe (1987); The Punisher (1989); I Come in Peace
(1990); Cover Up (1991); Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991); Universal
Soldier (1992); Army of One [aka "The Joshua Tree"] (1993); Pentathlon
(1994); Men of War (1994); Johnny Mnemonic (1995); Hidden Assassin
(1995); The Peacekeeper (1997); Blackjack [Made for TV] (1998); The
Minion (1998); Bridge of Dragons (1999); Stormcatcher (1999)
Patrick Macnee
Eddie Murphy
Make no mistake, Eddie Murphy IS the funniest black man in
movies. I like his standup, too, and certainly his Saturday Night
Live work, but the movies is where he shines. He's great at
playing different roles. Most black comedians have one
characterization that they use for every movie role. Eddie Murphy
can play different people. Things really started getting
interesting when "The Nutty Professor" came out. In many movies
since, he plays more than one character. As with the Klumps, you
could swear every one was a different person, but no...it's
Eddie. He can do action, too, as in the Beverly Hills Cop films,
and very convincingly. Eddie's a bit more of an actor than most
of his contemporaries. But I like him because he gives such
delivery, and it's usually a realistic reaction to abnormal
situations. He does in movies what we'd like to see a guy do in
movies. He doesn't try to play off strange stuff like
everything's everything. If something is whack, he says it.
His characters usually have attitude, but basically they're good guys,
not a**holes. He's just really talented and I hope his movies
start coming out more regular again. The world needs funny. Recommended Films: 48 HRS
(1982); Trading Places (1983); Best Defense (1984); Beverly Hills Cop
(1984); The Golden Child (1986); Beverly Hills Cop II (1987); Coming to
America (1988); Harlem Nights (1989); Another 48 HRS (1990); The
Distinguished Gentleman (1992); Beverly Hills Cop III (1994); The Nutty
Professor (1996); Metro (1997); Doctor Dolittle (1998); Bowfinger
(1999); Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000); Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001);
Showtime (2002); The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002); I Spy (2002);
Daddy Day Care (2003); The Haunted Mansion (2003).
Roddy
Piper
When I was little I always liked this guy as a character on WWF
Wrestling, the Hot Rod Rowdy Roddy Piper who somehow managed to
incorporate car T-shirts, Scottish kilts, and bagpipes into one
persona. But who the *%$# ever would've suspected he could
act? He usually plays the soft-spoken, studly types in
movies. In wrestling, he was NEVER soft-spoken. In movies,
he goes by just Roddy Piper, dropping the Hot Rod Rowdy from the
moniker. He's been in many, many movies over the years and I must
admit he's been cool in every single one of them, even if sometimes the
movies were duds. Even if you hated his wrestling character, I
guarantee you'll like something about him or the movies he's in.
As a legitimate actor, he has a bit more depth than you'd ever believe
if you've only seen him in wrestling. Try him out. He's one
of my top, top favorite action movie actors.
Recommended Films: They Live; Tough & Deadly; Back in Action
Basil Rathbone
The Rock (Dwayne Johnson)
The Rock being good in movies is the shock of a lifetime. I
absolutely HATED his wrestling persona. The "smell what The Rock
is cooking" and all that crap. Who cares!?! So when he
started getting into movies I was less than excited. I fully
anticipated him to act the same way in movies as he did in WWF
Wrestling. Boy was I surprised! He's actually a great
actor, and in the short time he's been in movies he's already had such
a diversity in roles. I wasn't too impressed by the performance
in "The Mummy Returns" because he didn't speak and it was mostly
computer generated. Still, the movie was cool so I include it in
the list below. When "The Scorpion King" came out I didn't at all
want to see it, but my brother watched it on video (he is a major fan
of The Rock in wrestling. Go figure!) and kept telling me "It's
good! It's good! You'll like it!" Okay, I'll watch
it. Then I found out, "Hey, this guy really is likable in this
movie!" The Scorpion King rocked! So I was jazzed about
seeing "The Rundown" and "Walking Tall" which are great, straight
action movies where he plays interesting, likable, everyman
heroes. "Be Cool" is interesting because he plays such a weird
character; a gay thug that's into singing and dancing. You
wouldn't expect that from The Rock. Still, it was interesting to
see. "Doom" was really interesting, because you think he's going
to be the main hero until he mentally snaps and becomes a bad guy...a
REALLY bad guy. I like The Rock in movies and hope he continues
to make many more. He's already becoming quite distinguished in
films. Recommended Films: The
Mummy Returns (2001); The Scorpion King (2002); The Rundown (2003);
Walking Tall (2004); Be Cool (2005); Doom (2005)
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Recommended Films: Hercules in New York (1970); Conan the
Barbarian; Conan the Destroyer; The Terminator; Commando; Raw Deal; The
Running Man; Red Heat; Predator; Twins; Total Recall; Kindergarten Cop;
Terminator 2: Judgment Day; Last Action Hero; True Lies; Junior;
Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines
Steven
Seagal
Recommended Films: Above the Law; Out for Justice; Hard to Kill;
Marked for Death;
Jeff
Silver
Sylvester
Stallone
Recommended Films: First Blood; Rambo: First Blood Part II;
Cobra; Rambo
III; Tango & Cash; Judge Dredd; Daylight
John Travolta
This is another guy I never thought I'd like in films. Pretty
much everything he was involved with before in TV and movies I found
lame. Then he made Pulp Fiction in 1994, which was his big
comeback. I hated that movie. Boring, make-no-sense,
tripe. Even if you put all the scenes in order there's no
intelligence or enjoyment to the viewing. But after that he
started making movies that were cool. "Get Shorty" I first
watched basically because it had Danny DeVito in it. I was
surprised how much I liked John Travolta in it. "Broken Arrow"
was awesome because he played a really sinister bad guy, but one that
you wanted to root for. "Phenomenon" is an interesting movie and
watchable. I don't much like dramas, but this was good. It
had enough of a sci-fi tinge to it to be intriguing. "Michael" is
another good comedy/drama where he played an angel. "The
General's Daughter," though, is by far one of his all-time best.
It's an action-thriller and pretty clever. "Battlefield Earth"
I'm a little mixed on. It's not one of my favorite movies, but I
thought John played a great alien villain. Parts of it were
cool. A lot of it, though, was just too strange and dragged
out. "Swordfish" is another cool action movie where he plays kind
of a good guy/bad guy cross. "Domestic Disturbance" is a good
movie, but a bit typical. Lots of movies like that have been
made. Watch it and see what I mean. "Basic" is an
intelligent, who's-screwing-who kind of action movie. Another one
of his best! "The Punisher" is an awesome movie, and John plays a
cool bad guy. Nothing too original, but a great
performance. "Be Cool," the sequel to "Get Shorty," is not as
good as the first, but it lets us see his Chili Palmer character again,
who is really smooth. Sometimes Travolta comes out with a movie
that's a dud, but most of the time he's in really cool projects and I
can now respect him as an actor. He's come a long, long way from
his Sweathogs and Grease days! Recommended Films: Get
Shorty (1995); Broken Arrow (1996); Phenomenon (1996); Michael (1996);
The General's Daughter (1999); Battlefield Earth (2000); Swordfish
(2001); Domestic Disturbance (2001); Basic (2003); The Punisher (2004);
Be Cool (2005)
Frank Zagarino
Recommended Films: Night Siege: Project Shadowchaser II
