Monday, February 23, 2009

Who's on First

Most of the time when I watch TV or Movies I'm on the look out for actors I've seen in other things. This may seem odd, or maybe everyone does it and I'm just odd for writing about it. This came to mind when I went to see The International. The previews I saw looked somewhat generic but it had Clive Owen. On him alone, from Children of Men and King Arthur, I wanted to see it. Sometimes my plan backfires, like in this movie, but other times I just enjoy seeing an actor doing something else. Case in point is Summer Glau in Terminator: TSSC.

Why do I do this? I think of it as building up "Geek-Cred". The more roles I see an actor in the more I want to see him/her do other things, for example, Harrison Ford. He's got more "Geek-Cred" as Han Solo and Indiana Jones than anybody else, but I'll add in Jack Ryan and Richard Kimball FTW. So who are the pantheon of actors and actresses I follow? Here's a list, with some descriptions of who I like:

Any of the main actors from the five Star Trek TV series. William Shatner is on par with Harrison Ford just for being Kirk, but I'll add in Twilight Zone, TJ Hooker, Airplane 2, Dodgeball and Boston Leagal. George Takei as Hiro's father in Heroes. Walter Koenig in Babylon 5. Patrick Stewart did Excalibur and Dune before TNG, but then we can add X-Men, Eleventh Hour and Robin Hood: Men in Tights; as well as voice work for Anime movies Steamboy and Nausicaa (ironic since Picard is stabbed by a Nausicaan in TNG episode "Tapestry"). Brent Spiner shows up in Independence Day, Phenomenon and an episode of Leverage; as well as voice work in the South Park movie and Gargoyles. And the list goes on. Connor Trinner even showed up last week on Terminator. As you can see Star Trek is a no-brainer when it comes to following actors.

Star Wars is another good one, Carrie Fisher stands out in The Blues Brothers, Austin Powers, and Fanboys. Warwick Davis shows up in everything from Time Bandits and Willow to newer fare like Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Hitchiker's Guide. These are cult actors I like to see pop up elsewhere. Billy D. Williams could have been Two-Face from the 1989 Batman but I also liked him in The Ladies' Man. Liam Neeson is worth seeing in just about everything, but he does an awesome version of Jason Bourne in Taken.

From other shows I love seeing anyone from Firefly, like the afore-mentioned Summer Glau. Adam Baldwin is now in Chuck, but he gets points for being a presidential bodyguard in Independence Day. Jewel Staite does some Stargate: Atlantis (as well as The X-Files), and Gina Torres can do no wrong in Xena, Hercules, Cleopatra 2525, 24, and The Matrix sequels, among others (she's even married to Mr. Fishburne).

The show John Doe is an odd one, but I became a fan of both Dominic Purcell (who went on to be in Blade: Trinity and Prison Break) and Sprague Grayden (who pops up in Jericho and this year's season of 24). The X-Files of course has Gillian Anderson (who did voice work for Princess Mononoke and as Data Nully in ReBoot) and the awesome David Duchovny, who was already known for Twin Peaks but gets to add Evolution and Zoolander to his geek-cred. Both MacGyver and Quantum Leap gave us leading actors to follow; Richard Dean Anderson (Stagate SG-1) and Scott Bakula (Enterprise).

In movies everyone from TRON gets points, but especially Bruce Boxleitner for showing up in Babylon 5. The whole cast of any sci-fi movie made by James Cameron or John Carpenter. Kurt Russel gets high marks for Escape from New York/LA and The Thing, then you can add Death Proof, Soldier, and Stargate. Ed Harris just dominates his roles from movies like The Abyss, Apollo 13, The Rock, The Truman Show, and A History of Violence. Michael Biehn gets lots of geek-cred from his roles in The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, The Rock, and Planet Terror. I can't forget the cast of any of the Matrix movies. Ifyou like Keanu Reeves or not he ranks way up there with movies like Bill & Ted, Point Break, Speed, Constantine, A Scanner Darkly, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. Oh, and Bill Paxton should never be forgotten in The Terminator, Weird Science, Aliens, Predator 2, True Lies, Twister, Apollo 13, and U-571. In fact he's the only actor to play a character killed by a Terminator, an Alien, and a Predator.

Some are just individual actors whose careers add up to lots of geek movies. Vin Diesel stands out with Pitch Black (which also gave us Claudia Black in Farscape) and The Chronicles of Riddick, but adds to it with The Fast & The Furious and xXx. Hugh Jackman gets it from X-Men, Swordfish and Van Hellsing. The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson) gets it for just being himself in The Rundown, Doom, The Scorpion King, and a quick episode of Star Trek: Voyager. Any of the 80's action stars get it for nostalgia's sake, but I like to give Arnold lots of credit for the two Conan movies, The Terminator franchise, Red Sonja, Predator, The Running Man, Total Recall, and True Lies. Brad Pitt for Se7en, Twelve Monkeys, Fight Club and Troy. Wesley Snipes primarily gets my vote from the Blade movies but I'll add Major League and Demolition Man. Sean Connery gets all the points he needs from James Bond, being Indy's dad, and The Rock, but I'm subtracting a couple for being in Zardoz. Shia LaBeouf gets some well deserved credit for I, Robot, Constantine, Indy 4, and Transformers, as well as an appearence in The X-Files. I'll let you figure out on your own why I like Keith David.

I'm giving Will Smith his own paragraph here. He gets Bad Boys I & II, Independence Day, Men in Black I & II, Enemy of the State, Wild Wild West, I, Robot, I Am Legend, and Hancock; not to mention a little TV show he did. I would like to see him do something in space next.

It's sort of like a game I play. Where have I seen this actor before? But, it is also a kind of barometer I can measure an unknown quantity of TV or Movie time. This may seem an exhuastive list but there are many more I'm leaving out. I could spend a week adding up Star Trek alone. I want to show you how I approach new shows and movies. Last example will be Dollhouse. Created by Joss Whedon who gets huge points for creating Buffy/Angel, and Firefly/Serenity. The star is Eliza Dushku who was in True Lies, Bring It On, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Buffy/Angel. Guest starring Harry Lennix from The Matrix sequels and 24; Tahmoh Penikett comes from the new Battlestar Galactica and Smallville; Olivia Williams has done The Postman, The Sixth Sense, and X-Men 3; Amy Acker did some Alias, Justice League, Supernatural, Angel, and Special Unit 2. This all adds up to a pretty good sounding show. Logging out.

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