Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren in Clue

Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Denholm Elliott, Christopher Reeve and John Ritter in Noises Off

Daniel Day-Louis in Phantom Thread (which absolutely broke my heart because I wanted so much to love that movie)

Oh! Edited to add:

Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel and a whole bunch of others (including director John Huston) in In This Our Life. What a piece of crap.

[Edited 8/24/21 11:23am]

Michael Caine, yes, in Jaws 4 as well.

Kristin Scott Thomas = Under the Cherry Moon

Anthony Hopkins in a Transformers movie.

Morgan Freeman in Chain Reaction.

[Edited 8/24/21 12:57pm]

natalie portman, sam l jackson .. phantom menace

JoeTyler said:

Michael Caine, yes, in Jaws 4 as well.

Kristin Scott Thomas = Under the Cherry Moon

Anthony Hopkins in a Transformers movie.

Morgan Freeman in Chain Reaction.

To be fair, UTCM was Kristin Scott Thomas's first film. No one knew whether she was any good at that point.

I was an extra in Chain Reaction. In fact, one of the scenes faded up on the navy blue suit I was wearing, walking away from the camera.

Genesia said:

JoeTyler said:

Michael Caine, yes, in Jaws 4 as well.

Kristin Scott Thomas = Under the Cherry Moon

Anthony Hopkins in a Transformers movie.

Morgan Freeman in Chain Reaction.

To be fair, UTCM was Kristin Scott Thomas's first film. No one knew whether she was any good at that point.

I was an extra in Chain Reaction. In fact, one of the scenes faded up on the navy blue suit I was wearing, walking away from the camera.

Woah, I'll check that out!

JoeTyler said:

Tiptoes (2003)

This movie features a favorite actor, Gary Oldman - except in this he's playing a dwarf.

Not sure how it was made or who paid for it but it had a few familiar actors...


Gary Oldman

Matthew McConaughey

Kate Beckinsale

Patricia Arquette

EmmaMcG said:

JoeTyler said:

EmmaMcG said:

JoeTyler said:

John Travolta comes to mind. Too many to pick.....Throw Eddie Murphy in there too.

Genesia said:

Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren in Clue

Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Denholm Elliott, Christopher Reeve and John Ritter in Noises Off

Daniel Day-Louis in Phantom Thread (which absolutely broke my heart because I wanted so much to love that movie)

Oh! Edited to add:

Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel and a whole bunch of others (including director John Huston) in In This Our Life. What a piece of crap.

[Edited 8/24/21 11:23am]

Hey, that movies a classic, STOP THAT!!!

onlyforaminute said:

It probably would be easier to list great actors who were never in any turds. Nature of the business and all.

John Cazale

Fredo in the Godfather is what he's most commonly known for. Every movie he was in was nominated for Best Picture.

Godfather 1 and 2, Deer Hunter, The Conversation and Dog Day Afternoon.

That's a great resume

...

On topic off the top of my head:

Dustin Hoffman: Ishtar
Marlon Brando: The Island of Dr. Moreau
Faye Dunaway: Mommie Dearest
Jon Voight: Anaconda
Joe Pesci: The Super
Kristen Scott Thomas: Under the Cherry Moon

I'm a fan of so bad they're good movies and listen to this funny podcast called We Hate Movies if anyone's interested:

https://www.whmpodcast.com/whmprime

[Edited 8/26/21 14:02pm]

Genesia said:

Can we change this thread to "good enough" actors in awful movies

peedub said:

Genesia said:

Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean, Martin Mull and Lesley Ann Warren in Clue

Michael Caine, Carol Burnett, Denholm Elliott, Christopher Reeve and John Ritter in Noises Off

Daniel Day-Louis in Phantom Thread (which absolutely broke my heart because I wanted so much to love that movie)

Oh! Edited to add:

Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Hattie McDaniel and a whole bunch of others (including director John Huston) in In This Our Life. What a piece of crap.

Have you seen/enjoyed Magnolia? I kind of feel that Phantom Thread is a sort of continuation of the theme of the storm of frogs...but where the storm of frogs is sprinkled on top of Magnolia, it's kind thoroughly in the mix of Phantom Thread. You're absolutely right about This Our Life... I've been watching the collection of Huston's films on the Criterion channel, and while some might be tedious, it's the only one I actively disliked and turned off.

That "pin a murder on a black man" theme may have played in the 40s, but I just can't - even if it ends well.

William Hurt, Gary Oldman - Lost in Space

Billy Drago - Convict 762

Dennis Hopper in numerous 90s vehicles

Brando in Dr. Moreau (tho debatable if he was even great at this point)

PJMcGee said:

I believe Michael Caine said he took Jaws 4 because they were filming in the Caribbean.

I think he also said that he bought a house with the money he got.

Robert De Niro in Dirty Grandpa.

.

The critics ripped it to shreds. It has an approval rating of 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.

I watched it because of the bad reviews but I must admit I didn´t find it THAT bad.

And after watching it I read some of the negative reviews and started looking for positive reviews, and the few critics who wrote a positive review did make some valuable points.

EmmaMcG said:

Gene Hackman - Superman IV Robert De Niro - Rocky & Bullwinkle Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen - X-Men 3 Halle Berry - Catwoman Jack Nicholson - Man Trouble Willem Dafoe - Body Of Evidence

I wonder what prompted Halle Berry to sign up for Catwoman, I mean she must´ve read the script and she could´ve known it was going to be bad but hey, anybody can make a mistake or two in a long career but what I don´t understand is why Robert De Niro has made such terrible choices since the early 2000s. He was such a serious actor and now people differentiate between pre 2000s and new millenum De Niro.

Does he really need the money?

I quite like some of his less than stellar movies and find them entertaining on TV or DVD, for example Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That, or those Fockers movies with Ben Stiller but it´s still strange to see such a class actor in such odd movies. I watched Dirty Grandpa the other day and was very surprised to see how much money it generated.

KoolEaze said:

EmmaMcG said:

Gene Hackman - Superman IV Robert De Niro - Rocky & Bullwinkle Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen - X-Men 3 Halle Berry - Catwoman Jack Nicholson - Man Trouble Willem Dafoe - Body Of Evidence

I wonder what prompted Halle Berry to sign up for Catwoman, I mean she must´ve read the script and she could´ve known it was going to be bad but hey, anybody can make a mistake or two in a long career but what I don´t understand is why Robert De Niro has made such terrible choices since the early 2000s. He was such a serious actor and now people differentiate between pre 2000s and new millenum De Niro.

Does he really need the money?

I quite like some of his less than stellar movies and find them entertaining on TV or DVD, for example Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That, or those Fockers movies with Ben Stiller but it´s still strange to see such a class actor in such odd movies. I watched Dirty Grandpa the other day and was very surprised to see how much money it generated.

Money

The answer is always money.

KoolEaze said:

herb4 said:

KoolEaze said:

I wonder what prompted Halle Berry to sign up for Catwoman, I mean she must´ve read the script and she could´ve known it was going to be bad but hey, anybody can make a mistake or two in a long career but what I don´t understand is why Robert De Niro has made such terrible choices since the early 2000s. He was such a serious actor and now people differentiate between pre 2000s and new millenum De Niro.

Does he really need the money?

I quite like some of his less than stellar movies and find them entertaining on TV or DVD, for example Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That, or those Fockers movies with Ben Stiller but it´s still strange to see such a class actor in such odd movies. I watched Dirty Grandpa the other day and was very surprised to see how much money it generated.

Money

The answer is always money.

I thought so, but still.....his choices are tarnishing his reputation. Can someone really be that desperate?

EmmaMcG said:

KoolEaze said:

I wonder what prompted Halle Berry to sign up for Catwoman, I mean she must´ve read the script and she could´ve known it was going to be bad but hey, anybody can make a mistake or two in a long career but what I don´t understand is why Robert De Niro has made such terrible choices since the early 2000s. He was such a serious actor and now people differentiate between pre 2000s and new millenum De Niro.

Does he really need the money?

I quite like some of his less than stellar movies and find them entertaining on TV or DVD, for example Analyze This and its sequel Analyze That, or those Fockers movies with Ben Stiller but it´s still strange to see such a class actor in such odd movies. I watched Dirty Grandpa the other day and was very surprised to see how much money it generated.

He does a lot of crap now to pay for his divorce, according to his lawyer. He obviously knows these movies are crap but they're a means to an end. Besides, there's not a lot of great roles going for actors in their late 70s. He doesn't really have many options these days. Jack Nicholson chose to retire. As did Gene Hackman and Joe Pesci (though he claims he's not fully retired). Unfortunately for De Niro, he doesn't have that luxury. As for Halle Berry, Catwoman came around a time that Superhero movies were beginning to take over. The X-Men movies were showing that just because it's superheroes it doesn't mean they can't deal with serious subject matter and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man was breaking box office records so studios were rushing new superhero movies into production and every young actor in Hollywood wanted the guaranteed payday of multiple sequels. Halle Berry got sick of playing third fiddle in the X-Men movies and wanted to be the star. I'm sure at some point Catwoman must have seemed like an attractive prospect. Unfortunately, and this is especially the case with superhero movies, a lot of times actors are cast before the final draft of the screenplay has been written. And by the time they realise they've signed on to a dud it's too late to back out. Look at Ben Affleck's Daredevil, for another example.

Thanks a lot for the in-depth reply Emma. I immensely enjoy your presence and your posts here on the org, you are one of the main reasons why I still enjoy coming back to this place, and I like your writing style and admire your general knowledge of all pop-cultural things, be it music, movies, TV shows or games.

Very much appreciated.

KoolEaze said: