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, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.

Today, we continue with the 5 actors that have starred in 18 movies that I have seen.

Jennifer Aniston

18 is the high level mark for actresses, and Aniston is one of 4 that are tied for this lead.  My first movie experience with the former Friends star came in 1997, with a double feature of She’s The One and Leprechaun.  In the 14 years since, she has been a pretty steady contributor.  Even when she would miss a year, there would be a multi-entry year to make up for it.  The high water mark was 1998, when I saw her in 3 starring roles.  Her most recent entries, Wanderlust and Just Go With It, are from last year.

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock burst on the scene in 1994’s Speed, but Dennis Hopper took home the second starring slot in that one, so her starring role the following year in The Net was likely her first entry on this list.  That kicked off a 9 year run where I saw a movie where she had a starring role.  The only “franchise” in her list, other than the Speed sequel, are the Miss Congeniality films, which only make up 2 of her total.  2010 was the last time I watched one of her films, but, as of this writing, I have Gravity home from Netflix, so she should be moving in to the lead for actresses relatively soon.

John Cusack

The one male to be at 18 first entered my movie-watching consciousness in 1988 when he portrayed disgraced White Sox thirdbaseman Buck Weaver in Eight Men Out.  After a 9 year dry spell, Cusack came back with a vengeance with 3 films in 1997 which started a run of 8 films in 4 years.  His most recent film that I’ve seen was 2003’s Runaway Jury, which I watched in 2012.

Julia Roberts Continue reading →