You Ought To Be In (18) 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 three actors that have starred in exactly 18 movies that I have seen, down one from 3 years ago.

Kirsten Dunst

The first Kirsten Dunst starring vehicle that I saw was Small Soldiers, which I saw in 1999.  That started a four-year run where I saw nine of her films, including four in 2000 alone.  After a one-year break, I returned to her films in 2004 with both Mona Lisa Smile and Spider-Man 2.  Besides 2000, there are five other years where I’ve seen multiple Dunst films, most recently in 2007.  Things have slowed down considerably for Dunst in my world, with her last appearance coming in 2015, when I saw her in the surprisingly good Bachelorette.

Meg Ryan

My introduction to Meg Ryan was most likely in 1990, when I saw the previous year’s hit When Harry Met Sally.  She put together a nice six-year run starting in 1994 which accounted for ten movies.  Things have been quiet of late and the most recent film of hers I’ve seen remains 2009’s Serious Moonlight back in 2010.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

My initial introduction to the future governor of California was most likely 1987’s The Running Man.  2008 was my biggest collection of his films, with three, and was one of four years where I saw multiples.  The most such year was 2020, where I saw both The Last Stand and Terminator: Dark Fate.

You Ought To Be In (18) 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 4 actors that has starred in 18 movies that I have seen, one additional from what was seen 3 years ago.

Robert DeNiro

My first experience with Robert DeNiro was back in 1988, when I saw Angel Heart.  He then went quiet to me for 8 years, coming back in 1996 with Sleepers.  2000 was my high water mark with his work when I saw 3 of his films, while he showed up twice in 2004, 2011, and 2016.  My most recent experience with him was last fall, when he was in Joker.

Kirsten Dunst

The first Kirsten Dunst starring vehicle that I saw was Small Soldiers, which I saw in 1999.  That started a 4 year run where I saw 9 of her films, including 4 in 2000 alone.  After a one year break, I returned to her films in 2004 with both Mona Lisa Smile and the first Spider-Man.  Besides 2000, there are 5 other years where I’ve seen multiple Dunst films, most recently in 2007.  After putting up 15 films in 8 years, things have slowed down considerably for Dunst in my world, with her last appearance coming in 2015, when I saw her in the surprisingly good Bachelorette.

Meg Ryan

My introduction to Meg Ryan was most likely in 1990, when I saw the previous year’s hit When Harry Met Sally.  She put together a nice 6 year run starting in 1994 which accounted for 10 movies.  Things have been quiet of late and the most recent film of hers I’ve seen remains 2009’s Serious Moonlight back in 2010.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

My initial introduction to the future governor of California was most likely 1987’s The Running Man.  2008 was my biggest collection of his films, with 3, and one of 4 years where I saw multiples.  The most recent being 2020, where I saw The Last Stand and Terminator: Dark Fate earlier this year.

You Ought To Be In (18) 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 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 →