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    Actors who entice you to watch.

    As an antidote to the shitshow ongoing elsewhere, here's a thread about actors (M/F/NS) who you rate so much, you would watch them in (almost) anything.

    I'll start:

    Allison Janney. Because she was so good in The West Wing, I had a look at her back catalogue, and she doesn't make many bad choices. A lot of smallish parts, but she brings utter class to everything she does. Even Mom. And especially Juno.

    #2
    She was excellent in Masters of Sex too, in what in many ways was quite a demanding part.

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      #3
      Chris Pratt. He's just likeable on-screen.

      Hanks Azaria. Watch him as Gargamel in the first Smurfs movie. He is the greatest comic actor currently working.

      Christian Bale. Beautiful cheek bones. Mrs Thistle knows I have a man crush on him. Equilibrium is the best film to watch him in as eye candy. That white suit...

      A while back I'd have said Natalie Portman but she's somehow stopped acting along the way and just does expressions now.

      I loved Daisy Ridley in The Force Awakens but haven't sought out any of her other stuff.

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        #4
        I confess to watching movies - or at least giving them a chance - just because I fancy the lead actress. That’s not very grown-up, I suppose.

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          #5
          I'll add Zoe Saldana to my list as well. She was Uhura in the new Star Trek movies and Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy. She has the amazing ability to communicate with just her eyes and can deliver really lame dialogue and make it believable.

          I used to really like Ewan Macgregor as an actor as well but not seem anything with him in for a while.

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            #6
            Patrick, I agree with Chris Pratt, and Ewan McGregor.

            (I whisper Colin Farrell, but that's because I really like him, in almost every way.)

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              #7
              On the above, I would recommend:

              Allison Janney in VEEP, only one episode but great

              Hank Azaria in Ray Donovan

              Hugh Laurie is watchable in most of the things he does.

              James Woods, despite his loony politics, is still a compelling actor.

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                #8
                Tom Hardy is usually good and tends to pick decent projects

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                  #9
                  Tom Hanks is usually good, especially if it’s directed by Ron Howard or Spielberg. Rarely ground-breaking and often transparently Oscar-baity usually, but it’s usually solid.

                  Christian Bale always gives it everything he has. Tom Hardy too.

                  Meryl Streep is usually good and picks good movies.

                  I really like John Cusack but he often appears in crap.

                  Anything with Jason Segal or any of the guys from Undeclared or Freaks & Geeks is worth a look, but not always good.

                  Likewise, I’ll always give a chance to anything with Will Farrel, Amy Pohler, and/or Tina Fey, but comedy is tricky and doesn’t always work. In comedy, Katherine O’Hara is always good. Same with Maya Rudolf. Both are underrated.

                  As for the women I will go see almost regardless - Amy Adams, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone, Amanda Seyfried, Cate Blanchett, Amber Heard and a few others.

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                    #10
                    I'd definitely agree with Amy Adams and Cate Blanchett off that list, and I'd add Tilda Swinton, she is incredible in everything she does.
                    Male actors I would go with Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, and I really like Stephen Graham.
                    Leo di Caprio has grown on me as his career has developed, and Matthew McConaughey.

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                      #11
                      I really like Tilda Swindon, but she does some artsy stuff that I haven’t got around to seeing.

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                        #12
                        Julianne Moore for me. She was brilliant in some films I really loved around/just after the turn of the millenium, mainly The End of the Affair, Magnolia, Far From Heaven and The Hours. Hannibal was utter drivel, but she was watchable even in that.

                        Matthew McConaughey is the opposite ; an actor whose presence would put me off seeing something that would otherwise appeal.

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                          #13
                          Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                          I really like John Cusack but he often appears in crap.
                          This. Although I'll forgive him anything because of Grosse Point Blank.

                          Paul Rudd is hugely likeable.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Toby Gymshorts View Post
                            This. Although I'll forgive him anything because of Grosse Point Blank.

                            Paul Rudd is hugely likeable.
                            Indeed

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                              #15
                              I'm totally on board with Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and John Cusack.

                              I hate to say this, but I almost always enjoy things George Clooney is in.

                              On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are a couple of very well regarded actors whose presence is almost enough to prevent me from watching a film. Daniel Day Lewis and (very controversially) Meryl Streep.

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                                #16
                                Oh yes. Day Lewis, were you supposed to laugh during There Will Be Blood? Hopkins is the touchstone of repellent ham for me. Bryan Cox is usually good but he tends to be in any old shite. John C Reilly, though again, lots of drek.

                                Another vote for Julianne Moore.

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                                  #17
                                  Jessica Raine was fantastic in a Machiavellian support role in Wolf Hall. And now I can't get enough of her in The Last Post with an excellent portrayal of a desperate, dissolute, devastating officer's wife in Aden. Cush Jumbo, in The Good Wife and now The Good Fight is amazing and I keep having to remind myself it's the same person who was DC Whelan in Vera. Just as watchable there but not as impactful.

                                  Colin Farrell is very watchable (won me over on In Bruges although I will never watch his sword-and-sandal disaster. Many of the Coen Brothers' regulars: Frances McDormand, John Turturro, John Goodman, Peter Stromare I would always watch. And Big Jack has still got that something. Alan Arkin too.
                                  Last edited by Sits; 14-11-2017, 07:26. Reason: After some thought, it reflected very badly on me and was quite probably demeaning. Very un-OTF. Sorry

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                                    #18
                                    Steve Buscemi always improves films, I find.

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                                      #19
                                      Oh yeah, Buscemi’s Trees Lounge just a perfect study in creepy despair.

                                      Kelly McDonald is often the best thing in woeciousness (like that proto Downton run through meets Cluedo Gosford Park Altman directed). I have a reverse catnip reaction to Ewan McGregor though compared to other contributors on here. Not Aiden Gillen pish on the accents, but getting close to it. Blaast! As he might have said in the Star Wars prequels.
                                      Last edited by Lang Spoon; 12-11-2017, 03:40.

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                                        #20
                                        Kelly McDonald is great. She's not in enough.

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                                          #21
                                          Buscemi is a good call. As is Clooney, whose media profile rather gets in the way of his versatility. He's a lot like today's Humphrey Bogart in the way his public persona tends to colour whatever characxter he plays. And like Bogart -- and more than him -- Clooney manages to transcend that.

                                          Nicole Kidman is also watchable, and I'd be happy to watch anything starring Don Cheadle.

                                          I like Hot Pepsi's Freaks & Geeks/Undeclared reference. I'm not sure that Seth Rogin's discernment in choosing roles qualifies him for this thread, but I'd give anything with Linda Cardellini a go. She was superb in Mad Men and Bloodlines.

                                          Felicity Huffman is a bit like the TV version of Meryl Streep. She is a phenomenal actress.

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                                            #22
                                            I agree with 95% of the above nominations. Except Hanks, who I loathe, the smug fucker. He was quite good in Big but since then I haven't seen a single film that the replacement of Hanks by A. N. Other wouldn't have improved.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                                              Steve Buscemi always improves films, I find.
                                              Endorsed. But no one's mentioned Jennifer Lawrence. What's wrong with you all? (Or has she done/said something bad I don't know about?) I used to have a similar thing for films starring Michelle Pfeiffer.

                                              I might once have said Susan Sarandon, but watching her last night selling her soul to Bad Moms 2 reflects the kind of thing that can happen to a fading career. You wonder why they wouldn't chose the option of retiring because there's no way they need the fucking cash.

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by ad hoc View Post
                                                I agree with 95% of the above nominations. Except Hanks, who I loathe, the smug fucker. He was quite good in Big but since then I haven't seen a single film that the replacement of Hanks by A. N. Other wouldn't have improved.
                                                Heh. Yeah, I can see that. He really has that smug thing going on. At the same time, he seems a very good guy in person, so I want to like him. But when he's on the bill, I tend to wonder whether he'll annoy me in his particular role.

                                                Jennifer Lawrence... meh.

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                                                  #25
                                                  I'll chuck in the name of Michael Shannon here. He's very much cornered the market in searingly intense characters, but he does it in such a way that I can't take my eyes off him - he has an underlying simmering feel of threat to him (plus, he's damn good at what he does).

                                                  Yep, I'll add my name to the Hank Azaria Admiration Society, but I'd also add the late Jeremy Brett, who made the character of Sherlock Holmes a completely compelling creation. Then there's Ian Holm, for his quietly-conveyed style of acting (never overdoing it, never underselling it and always watchable).

                                                  Paul Scofield had a power about him - catch A Man For All Seasons when you've got the chance.

                                                  Steve Buscemi, yep, a good choice.

                                                  Of actresses, well, I can't argue with Julianna Moore and Cate Blanchette. Excellent value and rarely off form. I like Sigourney Weaver, too.

                                                  Ooh, there's loads, aren't there?

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