The 411 Top 5 04.11.08: Week 108

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 04.11.2008

The Top 5 Collaborations We'd Like To See

Next week sees the release of The Forbidden Kingdom, the long-awaited first collaboration of martial arts legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li. For a certain segment of the movie-going population, this is a pretty big deal. And not even the fact that the team-up probably comes about 10 years too late – or that the movie looks like a fairly lame family film – is going to rain on our parade (well, OK, maybe it will a little).

If nothing else, even if the film stinks, it still got me thinking about how fans of these two actors waited to see them finally work together, and that it turn led me to ponder which other entertainment heavyweights I'd like to see finally come together (both in terms of fantasy match-ups, and those are still entirely plausible). I submitted this question to my fellow 411-ers, and the result is this week's column, a look at:

THE TOP 5 MOVIE COLLABORATIONS WE'D LIKE TO SEE


Trevor Snyder

HONORABLE MENTION

Tom Hanks and Johnny Depp – I'll admit, I have no real basis for this team-up other than the fact that these are my two favorite actors. Well, actually, Christian Bale has probably slipped past Hanks on my list, but he's already making a movie with Depp. I'm not sure what kind of movie I'd put these two in, but I'd love for it to be a Tim Burton film, if only to see how Hanks would do in such a strange world.

THE TOP 5

5. Bruce Campbell and Jeffrey Combs

There's really no denying that Campbell is the ultimate B-movie star, as no actor has ever enjoyed such a large cult following while never seeming to fully break into the mainstream. Meanwhile, it's my opinion that, in the eyes of a lot of horror-movie fans, Re-Animator star Jeffrey Combs is probably the one actor who comes closest to Campbell's level of coolness and reliability. Like Campbell, Combs' movies aren't always great (actually, that's probably an understatement), but he is always entertaining in them. Given that these two are both known for appearing in schlockly, B-level horror and sci-fi flicks, I can't believe these two haven't worked together yet. Isn't it about time we remedied that? You'd think the Sci-Fi Channel would be all over this one.

4. Milla Jovovich and Kate Beckinsale

Whether you like the Resident Evil movies or not (I do, plenty of people don't), they were successful enough that you can make a pretty good argument that Jovovich is perhaps the most marketable female action star working in Hollywood today. Whether that has to do with her actual talents, or the fact that people just like watching her kick ass in tight close is irrelevant. Beckinsale, meanwhile, seemed to be making a pretty good go at taking the title away from Jovovich with the Underworld series (and, I suppose, Van Helsing…although the less said about that the better). A recent Entertainment Weekly profile on Beckinsale suggested that she is ready to leave her action career behind and focus on more character-driven dramas. That's all well and good, but I think it would be a shame if she didn't first make a movie where her and Jovovich team up and take on some bad guys. Or, maybe one of them is the hero and the other is the villain. It doesn't really matter, I guess…as long as they both wear tight clothes and kick ass.

3. Jim Carrey and the Judd Apatow gang

Jim Carrey used to be funny. No, really, it's true. The guy was once on top of the comedy world, but it seems like things started to fall apart once he jumped onto the drama bandwagon. Now, that's not really a knock on Carrey, because as we all know, it turns out that the guy is actually a pretty damn good actor. The problem is, he never seemed to figure out how to successfully balance the two facets of his career, and now he seems stuck in a sort of limbo, unable to find either a comedy as hilarious as her early films, or a dramatic role worthy of the promise he showed in The Truman Show and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Maybe what he needs is a role in one of Judd Apatow's flicks. Working alongside Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, and the rest of the gang might just rekindle the comedic fire that Carrey used to have, and since it's an Apatow film he'd probably be able to put some of his dramatic chops to work, as well. I have a feeling this collaboration, if it happens, could actually resurrect the guy's career.

2. William Shatner and Adam West

Have you seen that trailer for Righteous Kill, the new detective flick starring Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro? Yeah? Looks pretty bland and unappealing, doesn't it? Now, imagine if, instead of Pacino and DeNiro, it was Shatner and West in those roles. Suddenly, that's a movie I want to see. Don't get me wrong, I'm not insinuating that these two are better actors than Pacino and DeNiro, but the fact is that it's unlikely Righteous Kill will come close to the perfection of Heat, so their team-up in the upcoming movie doesn't really feel like the big deal that the filmmakers want you to think it is. Meanwhile, I've always wanted to see Shatner and West together onscreen. The great thing about both of these guys is that they're actually aware of their reputations, and have no problem mocking the perceptions people have of them. If they were in a movie like Righteous Kill - but obviously skewered more towards a comedic angle – it would probably be a blast to watch.

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone

The great action team-up that never happened. These two were undeniably the kings of the American action scene during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and were obviously on good terms in real life – they were partners in the Planet Hollywood venture, and were friendly enough to take playful digs at each other in Demolition Man and Last Action Hero. And yet, surprisingly enough, the two never made a movie together. I would imagine this probably had to do with studios not liking the budget that would resulted from having to pay both of these guys, but I'm pretty sure it would have been a huge hit, so who knows? Whatever the case, it seems like a real shame that we never got the big-ass, all-out action extravaganza that these two would have delivered. Instead, we had to settle with Stallone teaming up with Kurt Russell, and Schwarzenegger teaming up with…Jim Belushi??



Owain J. Brimfield

HONORABLE MENTIONS

- Jackie Chan and Let Li... oh wait... er... Jet Li and Tony Jaa?

- Matt Groening and Seth McFarlane - these two have obviously taken enough cues off each other in recent years that it would be interesting to see what they could do in the same room.

- Sean Connery and Harrison Ford (again) - you know which roles I'm talking about.

THE TOP 5

5. Ridley Scott and Will Smith

Will Smith undoubtedly has a lot of experience anchoring large-scale science fiction movies, but has never really nailed anything epic in the genre. Independence Day, as much as I love the movie, is little more than glossy bombast; Men in Black was fluff, if highly enjoyable fluff; I, Robot was essentially soulless; and I am Legend, for all its efforts, didn't quite live up to its own ambitions. So why not pair Smith with a director who has a proven track record in knocking SF movies out of the park? Alien and Blade Runner are both certifiable cinematic classics, and I'd love to see Smith as the centerpiece of a similarly grand work. He has both the acting chops and the box-office clout to make such a collaboration worthwhile, and Scott has yet to direct anything truly up to his own high standards since the turn of the decade (and for nearly another ten years prior to that if you're on of those Gladiator-haters. Oooh, I made a rhyme!).

4. David Fincher and Adam Roberts

If anyone is going to do Roberts' material justice on the big screen, it's got to be Fincher. Well, maybe David Cronenberg would be a better fit for the biomorphic tendencies of Stone, but since this purely speculative I'd prefer to see an adaptation of Polystom done by Fincher. Although the novel is absent some of the darker edges that permeate both Roberts' and Fincher's other work, I think it could stretch some cinematic boundaries. The idea of biplanes flying between planets has a certain style that needs to be retained, and I think the director would do a decent job of quelling the book's Matrix-esque leanings and turning the ideas into something more inherently philosophical.

3. Alex Proyas and Cillian Murphy

Although Proyas has shown oodles of promise as a director with cult legend The Crow and sci-fi masterpiece Dark City, he's also been guilty of slipping into "mainstream" mode too often for a man of his potential (think Garage Days and the moving billboard that was I, Robot). Although his upcoming Knowing sounds decent, in working with Nicolas Cage he's teaming with a leading man who has a 50/50 chance of sending the movie into genuinely interesting territory, or turning it into another mediocre Next-alike. A pairing with an actor as consistently idiosyncratic and compelling as Murphy (yeah, okay, apart from Red Eye) could help Proyas rediscover his roots and turn out a truly different motion picture experience more along the lines of his earlier work.

2. Christian Bale and Robert Downey Jr.

For my money, these guys are the two most talented and entertaining actors working today, so why not have them together in the same picture? And I'm not talking about a Batman / Iron Man crossover, although that would undoubtedly kick major ass. I'm thinking something more along the lines of The Prestige that would require the two actors to go head-to-head in a display of acting onus - hell, I suppose throw Chris Nolan in the mix and you've got yourself a pretty heady cocktail of filmmaking talent right there. Although Downey is undeniably talented, he still hasn't quite racked up the body of work that means critics first associate his name with movies rather than drugs, and working with someone of Bale's reputation could help him finally (and deservedly) cross that line.

1. Tom Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson

Probably the two highest-grossing box-office draws in the history of show-business (yeah, it's debatable, but I'm standing by my bold claim) - who wouldn't want to see them in the same movie? The two may be, arguably, slightly past their prime, but you know they can pull the A-game out of the bag when they want to, and it'd be a match made in cinema heaven, one I don't think needs any justification. I'll leave the ideas to you, good readers (I toyed with Gump on a Plane, but soon realized that was neither funny nor clever), but there's no doubt a Hanks/Jackson vehicle would steamroller the box-office competition.



Bryan Kristopowitz

HONORABLE MENTIONS

- Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris – Two of the biggest bad butts to ever grace the silver screen (well, at least in the action movie world), mostly because they both could probably kill a person in real life via the martial arts. So, obviously, any movie where they team up would have to include a showdown between the two. It doesn't really matter if Seagal is a bad guy and Chuck is a good guy and that's why they fight or Seagal is an ex-CIA hitman sent to Houston to wipe out a businessman or something, but Chuck stops the assassination and then they fight. That's really the most important thing. They have to fight. When was the last great movie showdown?

- Kurt Russell and Natasha Henstridge – The great John Carpenter has worked with Kurt Russell five times, so it's obvious that he has a great affinity for the actor. On the Ghosts of Mars DVD commentary, Carpenter told Henstridge that she reminds him of Russell. And with the way Carpenter gushed over Henstridge I think it's safe to say that if the opportunity presented itself he'd work with her again. So why not kill two birds with one stone, with Carpenter bringing together two of his favorite actors, Russell and Henstridge? Sounds pretty cool to me. And it really doesn't matter what kind of movie it is. They've both shown they can act in anything. So, again, why not put these two together with John Carpenter directing them? I'm sure it would kick butt.

- Kerry Washington and Gary Busey – Washington is a pretty decent actress, sort of waiting for that one break out role to make her name known to more people. Now imagine a movie where she ends up having a weird beard relationship with Gary Busey. And I don't mean Gary Busey, master thespian creating a character here, I mean Gary Busey playing Gary Busey. Gary Busey at the Oscars Gary Busey. It could be a weird sort of romantic comedy where Washington slowly comes around to liking Busey for some reason. It'd be hilarious. At some point during the movie, someone would have to call Busey "That crazy white man!" Hey, that sounds like a title that just might work.

THE TOP 5

5. John Seda and Fred Willard

Seda is one of those character actors who could easily be a reliable mid budget B-movie star if there was still such a thing (like back in the 1980's). He was great on Homicide: Life on the Street as Detective Falsone, and he has a great look and good enough charisma to get by. Now, imagine him in a B-movie/cop action flick going up against the great Fred Willard, but in this particular movie Fred is a serial killer/hitman type character. I think Fred, who always looks kind of wacky, could end up oozing creepiness in the right kind of role. Just shut off the irony and the whimsy and let him cut a guy's throat with a kitchen knife and then hold the guy's head back as the blood gushes from his neck. I think it would scare the crap out of the audience.

4. John Candy and Robert Englund

It's kind of hard to believe that John Candy has been dead for almost fifteen years. It just doesn't seem like it's been that long. He was, and still is, one of my favorite actors. I think he would have made for a better neighbor to William Katt than George Wendt in House. Of course, we all know Robert Englund's reputation. He is Freddy Krueger. He's also a pretty decent character actor and, when he has to be, he can be funny. Now, imagine a whacked out comedy where Candy and Englund are friends, or neighbors, and they get wrapped up in some crazy scheme. Or maybe a Harry Crumb sequel, where Englund is the bad guy?

3. Carl Weathers and Ernie Hudson

Remember when Carl Weathers was Apollo Creed, Dillon, even freaking Action Jackson? You know, when he had a career and was an actor and wasn't relegated to making Old Spice commercials? Yeah, that guy. For whatever reason, Weathers lost all of his juice as an actor. And then there's Ernie "Winston Zedmore" Hudson, professional "the black guy" in countless movies and TV shows, usually doing a bang up job regardless of the quality of the movie or the show. Ernie is better than most are willing to give him credit for. He, also, gets very little respect. Now, this cinematic team up could go a bunch of different ways. They could be a couple of badd butt cops or bounty hunters taking on scumbag Nazi bikers or something, or they could be rival fast food restaurant managers trying to outdo one another, or they could do some kind of hip and edgy self aware pseudo documentary comedy where we watch them try to get back into "big" movies.

2. Sigourney Weaver and Geena Davis

We all know Weaver's reputation in the action movie world as Ripley the female hero of the Alien movies, and Geena Davis has been known to hold her own in the action arena (The Last Kiss Goodnight and Cutthroat Island come to mind). So why not do a team up action movie where we get to see both of them in, well, action? Sort of like an older woman spy action movie, or maybe some kind of butt kicking futuristic action movie where the gals kick the butt? I think they'd work well together, either as a team or as good guy and bad guy. It would certainly be something different from what we've seen lately.

1. Nick Nolte and Jessica Alba

I don't think I'm speaking out of turn in saying that Nick Nolte is one creepy dude. Every time I see him on TV I get the willies. He's gaunt, thin, seemingly wacked out all of the time. But he can still act. And since he seems to have given up on the "serious artist" crap for the time being (he's in Tropic Thunder and, according to imdb, some kind of kickboxing horror movie called Death Warrior. Not exactly pining for that IFC Independent Spirit Award anytime soon), why not have Nolte play a mass murdering psycho serial killer and have hot babe of the moment Jessica Alba be his next target? Alba may not be much of an actor, but in a role like this, all she'd have to do is scream and not come off as a jerk as creepy old killer Nolte tries to hunt her down. I think it'd be interesting. I can see Nolte showing up at a Fangoria "killers" panel with Kane Hodder and Andrew Brynarski. It'd be hilarious.



Jeremy Thomas

HONORABLE MENTION:

- Bruce Willis and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - I think both men's style would play well off each other, whether in an action franchise, a comedy, or a dramatic film.

= James Marsters and Christian Bale - With a major, major role in the upcoming DragonBall Z, Marsters seems to be on the cusp of real stardom, and putting him up against someone worthy of his talents like Bale would make for some intriguing scenes, whatever they were in.

THE TOP 5:

5. Scarlett Johansson & Ryan Phillippe

Ryan Phillippe is building himself some dramatic credibility from his last two films, and I love him as a bad guy (see: Cruel Intentions). Put him in a thriller where he's a killer, and cast the always-stunning Johansson as his wife/potential victim. This pairing would have some definite potential in terms of both dramatic skill and box-office draw, and I bet you'd get a nice little Hitchcock-esque flick with the potential for Disturbia-style numbers.

4. Johnny Depp & John Cusack

Depp and Cusack are my two all-time favorite actors, and I think that they could light up the screen playing off of each other. Their acting styles are very different...while Cusack has a very dry sort of style, Depp's is a little more varied. Place these two in any film, whether facing off against each other or working with each other, and you've got something that's absolutely golden. Besides, who wouldn't want to see Lloyd Dobler and Officer Hanson in the same movie?

3. Clive Owen & Jason Statham

I can see the studio heads selling it to their bosses now...they'd call it Shoot-Out vs. The Transporter. But let's face is, Statham needs a role to invigorate his once-promising career, and while The Bank Job is turning out to be surprisingly profitable, it's not a turning point, nor will be Death Race, Transporter 3, or Crank 2: High Voltage. Statham is a very good go-to man when it comes to action scenes, with tolerable acting chops as well. Meanwhile, Owen's another good man for action, with better dramatic skills then Statham. Watching these two Brits face off against each other would make for a highly satisfying film.

2. Al Pacino & Christopher Walken

There would be enough reason in pairing these two together just to erase from people's minds that the only film they've done together has been Gigli. But that aside, imagine Pacino and Walken in a movie about dueling crime lords. The scenes they could have playing off each other would be absolute, 100% gold. Get Scorsese directing them, and you've got a guaranteed winner on your hands.

1. Tony Jaa and Daniel Craig

I'm saying it right now...Tony Jaa needs to be cast as a major villain in one of the next few Bond films. Does everyone remember the scene in Casino Royale where Bond chased down the bomb-maker played free-running founder Sébastien Foucan? One of the most amazing movie scenes that year. The Bond we have now is a more physical, ass-kicking Bond then the old days. Imagine, if the film-makers can do the free-running scene, what they could do with Jaa, who is without a doubt the greatest martial artist in film today. That's right, you heard me. Screw Chan, screw Li. Tony Jaa is where it's at when you want martial arts mastery; anyone who's seen Ong-Bak or The Protector knows what I'm talking about And he's not so huge of a name yet that he would seem out of place in a Bond film. MGM, make it happen, and you'll have one damn happy camper.

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Next week, Our Top 5 Favorite Kung-Fu Flicks.