Tag / Jason Bateman

by admin

You Ought To Be In (14) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We continue today with the nine actors that have starred in exactly 14 movies that I have seen, down one from 3 years ago.

Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman first appeared on my radar with 1987’s Teen Wolf Too.  After another film in 1992, he took the rest of the century off and didn’t reappear on my screen until 2010, when he started a streak of five films in three years, followed by another streak of seven films in five years, culminating in 2018 Game Night, the last time I saw one of his films.

Morgan Freeman

The first film I saw starring Morgan Freeman was the Kevin Costner vehicle Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  Starting in 2000, he put together a six-year streak that covered eight films.  My biggest Freeman years were 2000, 2005, and 2008, when I saw him in two films each.  After a five-year layoff, he returned in 2020, starring in 2019’s Angel Has Fallen.

Jennifer Lawrence

The delightful Jennifer Lawrence first appeared on my screen in 2011, thanks to 2010’s Winter’s Bone.  Since then, I have seen her in at least one movie every year, tripling up in 2013, for an active streak of twelve straight years.  My most recent film of hers was 2022’s Causeway.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds first appeared on my movie radar in 2006, when I saw him in both The Amityville Horror and Just Friends, which started a streak of five films in four years.  He had double shots in 2006, 2011, 2017, and 2019.  2021’s Free Guy, which I saw last year, was the last I saw of him.

Paul Rudd

1998’s The Object Of My Affection was my first exposure (in a starring role) to Paul Rudd.  He then put together a run of five films in four years from 2008-2011 and, after taking a year off, had another four in the following three years.  I last saw him earlier this year, starring in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.

Winona Ryder

The last films of hers that I saw is still 2002’s Mr. Deeds, which I finally got around to watching in 2011.

Adam Sandler

2011’s Just Go With It, which I saw in 2013, is still my most current exposure to Sandler’s work.

Christian Slater

The last film of Slater’s that I saw was Alone In The Dark, all the way back in 2006.

John Travolta

The last starring role of Travolta’s that I saw was the 2009 remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123, which I saw in 2010.

by admin

You Ought To Be In (14) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, and thanks to a corona virus inspired uptick to my movie watching this year, it is time to look at the 100 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

Today, we continue with the 10 actors that have starred in 14 movies that I have seen, an increase of 3 at this level from 3 years ago.

Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman probably first appeared on my radar with 1987’s Teen Wolf Too.  After another film in 1992, he took the rest of the century off and didn’t reappear on my screen until 2010, when he started a streak of 5 films in 3 years, followed by another streak of 7 films in 5 years, culminating in 2018 Game Night.

Will Ferrell

The SNL alum first streaked on to the list of film actors I’ve seen in 2003 with Old School.  Since then, his appearances have been pretty consistent, with 2012-2013 being the longest streak of him not appearing on my screen.  The most recent film of his I’ve seen was 2005’s Bewitched, which I saw earlier this year.

Morgan Freeman

The first film I saw starring Morgan Freeman was the Kevin Costner vehicle Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.  Starting in 2000, he put together a 6 year streak that covered 8 films.  My biggest Freeman years were 2000, 2005, and 2008, when I saw him in 2 films.  After a 5 year layoff, he returned this year in 2019’s Angel Has Fallen.

Winona Ryder

The last films of hers that I saw is still 2002’s Mr. Deeds, which I finally got around to watching in 2011.

Adam Sandler

2011’s Just Go With It, which I saw in 2013, is still my most current exposure to Sandler’s work.

Christian Slater

Continue reading →

by admin

Midseason Review – Sundays

With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.

7:00

Batwoman – The Arrowverse expands once again, with this entry coming out of last year’s crossover event.  Ruby Rose puts on the cowl to protect the streets of Gotham.

Outside of the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover episode, I haven’t actually gotten around to watching this yet, though the episodes are piling up on the DVR.

7:30

God Friended Me – The latest “do-gooder has a direct line from God” returns for a second season after being surprisingly entertaining.

I’m still enjoying this, but I am a little concerned that they’ve already leaned hard into the “keep the obvious couple apart for dubious reasons” trope.

8:00

Supergirl – The fifth season sees the return of Jeremy Jordan and the exit of Mehcad Brooks.

We’ll see how the outcome of the Crisis crossover impacts the show moving forward, as it looks to have a completely new status quo.

9:00

Silicon Valley – The Pied Piper gang returns for their final season.

The show got an honorable wrap up, with the crew finally succeeding, but forced to kill their own creation for the good of the world.

Shameless – Season 10, the first without Emmy Rossum, may be a bit of a stretch.  But, I guess if I’ve watched this long, why stop now?

I am slowly working through the season, which is turning out to be a bit of a slog without Emmy Rossum.  It’s been renewed for an eleventh, and final, season, so I may as well keep going with the finish line in sight.

New entries hitting the screen this winter include:

Doctor Who – Jodie Whitaker returns for her second go-around as the Doctor.

Homeland – The Showtime drama returns for its final season.

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist – Jane Levy returns as a coder who starts to hear people’s inner musical dialogue.

The Outsider – Based on a Stephen King book, the new HBO drama stars Jason Bateman.

Avenue 5 – A sci-fi comedy from the creators of Veep.

by jim

The Decade In Movies

The 2010s have drawn to a close and its time to take a look back at the previous decade.  Today, we are continuing with movies, specifically the 836 films I saw between 2010 and 2019.  Those 836 were released across 40 different years, with the earliest (Breakfast At Tiffany’s) released in 1961 and at least one film released every year of this century.  2010 was the most popular year, with 87 (10.4%) of the films I saw released that year.

929 actors starred in at least 1 movie that I saw over the past 10 years.  Only 283 of those starred in at least 2.  If you had told me that Jason Bateman would have led the field, I would not have believed it, but that does seem to be the case.  Not a single person starred in a film that I saw every year of the decade, with Jennifer Lawrence coming the closest, with a streak of 9 years starting in 2011.

2010s Films Per Actor
Actor Name Films
Jason Bateman 12
Anna Kendrick 11
Jennifer Lawrence 11
Amy Adams 10
Tom Cruise 10
Robert Downey Jr. 10
Mila Kunis 10
Matt Damon 9
Tom Hanks 9
Liam Neeson 9

The first movie I saw this decade was District 9 and the last was The Oath.  Comedy was the most popular genre, with 217 films, while Westerns was the least popular, with a grand total of 2.  2011 was my most prolific year, with 131 movies seen.  2018 was my lowest total, for numerous reasons.  Continue reading →

by admin

You Ought To Be In (12) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1st.

Today, we look at the 9 actors that have starred in 12 movies that I have seen, an increase of 1 from 3 years ago.

Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman probably first appeared on my radar with 1987’s Teen Wolf Too.  After another film in 1992, he took the rest of the century off and didn’t reappear on my screen until 2010, when he started a streak of 5 films in 3 years, followed by another streak of 5 films in 3 years, culminating last year in both The Gift and The Longest Week.

Jamie Lee Curtis

My last experience with the former teenage scream queen remains 2011, when I saw 2010’s You Again.

Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas moves up one spot, thanks to the addition of 2015’s Ant-Man.

Will Ferrell

The SNL vet moves up two spots, with films in 2015 and 2017, when I saw Get Hard.

Gene Hackman

Hackman has mostly retired at this point, so the odds are that the last film I saw of his, Runaway Jury in 2012, will continue to be his last.

Corey Haim

My final Haim film was 1993’s Just One Of The Girls, which I saw in 2004.  Haim passed away in 2010, so he is not likely to be moving up this list anytime soon.

Tommy Lee Jones

The most recent entry in the Jason Bourne series enables Tommy Lee Jones to move up one spot.

Gwyneth Paltrow Continue reading →

by admin

2016: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_22142 different people starred in the movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide which populated the early days of my database), and a whopping 18 of them were in more than 1 film.  Those 18 thespians are:

Name Films
Rupert Grint 7
Daniel Radcliffe 7
Anna Kendrick 4
Jason Bateman 2
Sandra Bullock 2
Brooke Butler 2
Benedict Cumberbatch 2
Robert DeNiro 2
Carla Gugino 2
Tom Hanks 2
Tom Hardy 2
Michael B. Jordan 2
Melissa McCarthy 2
Chloë Grace Moretz 2
Sam Rockwell 2
Miles Teller 2
Christoph Waltz 2
Olivia Wilde 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2016, following up on Tuesday’s post.

The Sand (2015)
Things go awry at a beach when the sand starts eating people.

Creed (2015)
The Rocky series returns with the focus now on the illegitimate son of Apollo Creed.

The Boy (2016)
A young woman is hired to watch over a doll, but all is not as it seems.

London Has Fallen (2016)
A terrorist attack at a state funeral in London leaves one Secret Service agent to protect the president on the run.

Cas & Dylan (2013)
A dying doctor takes a new acquaintance on a cross country road trip.

Spy (2015)
Melissa McCarthy goes in to the field as a CIA agent to avenge the death of her crush.

Joy (2015)
A woman invents a new mop and bets on herself to beat the longest of odds.

The Intern (2015)
Continue reading →

by admin

Most Watched Actors – The Early 2010s

Movie_Reel_22Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime. The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since. So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at the most prolific actors that have starred in the movies that I have seen in the first half of this decade.

2011

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Natalie Portman 4

2011 was a big year for Natalie Portman films, as I took in nearly a quarter of her starring roles that I’ve seen overall thanks to The Other Woman, Black Swan, Thor, and No Strings Attached.

2012

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Jonah Hill 3

Jonah Hill scored the top spot with starring roles in Moneyball, The Sitter, and 21 Jump Street.

2013

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
James Franco 3
Joseph Gordon-Levitt 3
Jennifer Lawrence 3

A 3 way tie for 2013 thanks to the stunning work of James Franco, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jennifer Lawrence.  Franco hit with roles in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Spring Breakers, and This Is The End.  Gordon-Levitt made a splash with Looper, Premium Rush, and 50/50.  Lawrence more than doubled her starring roles to date in Silver Linings Playbook, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and House at the End of the Street.

2014

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Emily Blunt 3
Scarlett Johansson 3
Liam Neeson 3
Shailene Woodley 3

For the first time in a decade, we have more than a 3-way tie for the top spot.  Emily Blunt leads things off with her roles in Edge of Tomorrow, Your Sister’s Sister, and The Five-Year Engagement.  Scarlett Johansson makes the list thanks to Don Jon, Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Under The Skin.  Liam Neeson utilized his particular set of skills in Unknown, Non-Stop, and Taken 2.  Shailene Woodley finishes things off Divergent, The Spectacular Now, and The Fault in our Stars.

2015

Films Per Actor Per Year
Name Films
Jason Bateman 2
Ashley Bell 2
Tom Cruise 2
Karen Gillan 2
Kevin Hart 2
Leslie Mann 2
Paul Rudd 2
Sharon Stone 2
Aaron Taylor-Johnson 2
Shailene Woodley 2

A 10-way tie for the top spot as nobody managed to star in more than 2 films that I saw last year.

by admin

2015: The Year In Movies Part 2

Movie_Reel_22128 different people starred in the movies I saw last year (starring in being the first two named stars, a tradition dating back to the old Chicago Tribune TV guide which populated the early days of my database), and a whopping 10 of them were in more than 1.  Those 10 thespians are:

Name Films
Jason Bateman 2
Ashley Bell 2
Tom Cruise 2
Karen Gillan 2
Kevin Hart 2
Leslie Mann 2
Paul Rudd 2
Emma Stone 2
Aaron Taylor-Johnson 2
Shailene Woodley 2

Now let’s take a look at the remaining movies that I saw in 2015, following up on Tuesday’s post.

Not Another Happy Ending (2014)
Karen Gillan’s first project post-Doctor Who.

Nice Guys Finish Last (2011)
A short where Danielle Harris tries to date a normal guy but misses the excitement of the bad boys.

Idiocracy (2006)
An army slacker and a prostitute wake up in a future populated by stupid people.

Three Fugitives (1989)
Martin Short and Nick Nolte avoid the police.

Interstellar (2014)
In a near future where the Earth can no longer sustain human life, a group of astronauts look for a new home for the human race.

Aloha (2015)
A military consultant falls in love and turns on his boss in this mess of a film.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Michael Keaton’s comeback performance that earned him a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination.

Get Hard (2015)
Continue reading →

by admin

2015: The Year In Movies

Movie_Reel_22

2015 was a bit of a letdown after last year’s improvement in movie watching for me, with the vacation over the past 3 weeks of December helping to greatly boost my total.  I managed to watch 69 movies last year, 9 less than last year and my fourth consecutive year under 100.  Again, many things contributed to this, chiefly the insane amount of TV I’ve been watching, the greater effort made towards going out for walks, and the awful amount of time I spend either at work or getting to and from work.

Here’s a look back at the first 50 movies I did manage to watch last year and what recollection, if any, I have of them. The films are listed in the order I saw them.

Labor Day (2014)
A bit of a dud of a film and a poor way to start the year.

Bachelorette (2012)
This received nowhere near as much publicity as the similar themed Bridesmaids, but I enjoyed it much more.

The Last Exorcism Part II (2013)
Turns out I never saw the first one, which could explain why this made little sense to me.

The Factory (2012)
John Cusack and Jennifer Carpenter team up to do cop stuff.

Godzilla (2014)
A much better remake attempt than the Matthew Broderick endeavor in 1998.

Drinking Buddies (2013)
An interesting indie film about a Chicago brewery and the people that work there.

Life After Beth (2014)
The latest zombie rom-com.

Butter (2011)
Who knew butter carving could be so entertaining?

Devil’s Due (2014)
A newlywed becomes impregnated with a hellspawn.

Tusk (2014)
Kevin Smith’s latest makes me think it may be time for me to stop watching Kevin Smith films. Continue reading →

by admin

2013 Emmy Awards – Comedy

With the Emmy Awards scheduled for Sunday night, here’s my predictions for the awards for Comedy shows.  I most likely have seen most of these shows, so, unlike my annual Oscar predictions, I will not mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth, but will have a somewhat informed decision.

Outstanding Comedy

30 Rock

The Big Bang Theory

Girls

Louie

Modern Family

Veep

The sentimental favorite would be the final season of 30 Rock, but my feeling is it will end up being one of the two critical darlings, Louie or Girls.  I’m going to go with Louie, as there may be a backlash against Girls and Lena Dunham.

Outstanding Actress In A Comedy

Laura Dern, Enlightened

Lena Dunham, Girls

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

I think this category is where 30 Rock gets celebrated and creator, writer, and star Tina Fey will take home the statue.

Outstanding Actor In A Comedy

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Jason Bateman, Arrested Development

Louis CK, Louie

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

While I can see Jason Bateman pulling an upset, I think the Netflix-based release of Arrested Development will work against him here.  My guess is Jim Parsons takes home the hardware for his role on the top rated comedy on television.

Continue reading →