Ten Deep 10.01.08: Top Ten Pretty Boys Who Can Actually Act!

Posted by Lucas Huddleston on 10.01.2008

We all hate the pretty boy, so who's gonna give them their fair due? Why, 411's Lucas Huddleston, of course! Come inside as he tosses all his manhood to the side to give those darn pretty boys some love! Oh, wait a minute...

Hellooooo! I'm back for week 2, with sanity in tow…

…or IS it?

Heh, I'm just kidding, and I assure you I'm a sane man. Though thinking that a list on comic-book movies would be easily received? Silly me. Well, all things considering, the debut edition of Ten Deep was a success. More than a handful of people read it, which was a bit of a shock to me. And most of those who read it had good things to say, so that makes it even more rewarding for me.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge mistakes that I made. If anything, you'll come to know that I'm a bit of a pessimist whose focus tends to linger on the negative, and that when I make mistakes (and that I will, I assure you), I obsess over them. And I will always acknowledge when I'm wrong. Fragile ego? NONE TO BE FOUND HERE.

As Lame (nice!) pointed out, the character of April O'Neill was indeed in the original Eastman/Laird comics, contrary to what I claimed. Embarrassing? Of course, but what's even more stupefyingly disheartening is the fact that, for most of my life, I've believed that April had been created solely for the purposes of the cartoon show. Now then, I collected most of the Turtles' run in Archie Comics, and I had one issue of the other Turtles' comics. I couldn't find it, but I don't recall April being in that issue I had, which no doubt led to me erroneously believing that she existed only in the cartoon and the comics that spawned from the show. For whatever reason, the original line of comics just didn't appeal to me as kid…probably because there was no Cuddly the Cowlick. Unless he WAS in those originals too, in which case tune in next week for this same paragraph as I replace the words April O'Neill with Cuddly the Cowlick. But I do sincerely apologize for the misinformation.

Also, AOD corrected me on my history, specifically on Roman Emperors entering the Coliseum to do battle with gladiators, as in the movie Gladiator. I always thought that the notion was too outlandish, and that the Roman's would never allow a Caesar to do such a thing…but they did! That bit's not so much embarrassing as it is intriguing. I mean, allowing Caesar to put in such a position? You'd think his aides, advisors, and what-not must have been clamoring for him to be killed. Is there any wonder on why Rome collapsed? Those crazy Ancient Romans, just when you think they couldn't get any dumber, they go and do something like this…AND TOTALLY REDEEM THEMSELVES! Now, if only we can somehow get George W. into a UFC octagon…

Guest #0043 called me out on the first part of The Dark Knight being slow. No, the first ten minutes (or the bank heist part) was NOT slow; in fact, it was a great opening sequence. However, the next twenty to thirty minutes, that which dealt with the Chinese business man, his ties to the various criminal organizations within Gotham City, and their subsequent downfall was a bit slow I thought. Was it bad in any way? No, as it served the purpose of introducing the Harvey Dent character and building him up since he was absent from the first film. So it had to be slow.

Owain J. Brimfield questioned if you guys now had a Top 5 and a Top 10 column…uh, I guess? I'm doing what I was asked to do…and its fun. Give me a chance, you might like me.

JLAJRC brought up the Daredevil Director's Cut, and, while I have heard that it is a better movie than the original cut, I've never seen that particular version. Someday I probably will since I love the character.

Talon was surprised that Batman Returns wasn't on my list, seeing as how I'm a huge lover of Batman and all. I hadn't forgotten about that movie, but I wasn't lying when I said that it wouldn't do to have too many Batman films mentioned. I had it as an Honorable Mention, and I decided to cut either that one or The Mask of the Phantasm…and I went with the latter. Maybe I should have left it. Either way, yes, Christopher Walken is awesome, and, yes, Joker's fifty-foot pistol was stupid…but so was Penguin's duck mobile. He looks like King Boo in the Quacker on Mario Kart Wii…if King Boo could ride in the Qaucker.

HBK was saddened by the fact that I didn't include Conan the Barbarian, and I would have loved to...except that he was originally created by Robert E. Howard in a series of short stories, so that was the major holdback there. Don't get me wrong, Conan has a long and storied history in the realm of comics (and anyone who's even intrigued by the character should definitely pick up copies of his latest iteration on the Dark Horse comics line)…so I don't know. What does everyone else think? Would it have been against the rules to include Conan?

D-Steak wants to convert me to a Royals fan…HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! As if! I'm kidding. No, I pick a team and stick with them forever. But I'm not opposed to rooting for them if/when they make the playoffs again…just as long as they don't play the Cards. Oh, and 1985? Blown call!

DANIEL BALDWIN (of the famous Baldwin Brothers?) felt that if The Dark Knight was on the list in all its newness, then Iron Man should have qualified as well. Trust me, Daniel, the hypocrisy of the act was not lost on me…however, I'm one of those (and probably one of the few anymore) who feels that accolades and success, especially when as overwhelmingly received as The Dark Knight, stands for something. Plus, I've seen it more than one time, unlike Iron Man. But in the future, it will probably make the list.

huh? asked how I could call a film notable if I've never seen it. Only because I've heard great things about it from pretty much everbody, and so I felt it was at least checking out. I probably shouldn't have posted it, and more than likely won't in the future.

M:-X brought up From Hell, which was there when I originally compiled a list of around thirty or so at the beginning of it all. However, it was lost amidst the shuffle as the process continued to carry out. My fault. Good movie, though. Anything that speculates on Jack the Ripper intrigues me.

Thanks to Blueoyster for sticking up for me.

And Toddo rings in as the voice of reason. I will do that, sir. Unfortunately, you see, when certain bad things arise, it tends to draw out the scrappy hillbilly in me. Which is a shame since I've tried to repress him for so long. And, yes, I am one of those that thinks of super-heroes when I think of comics, probably because that's the major genre of comics that appeals to me. Perhaps my list should have been called Top Ten Super-Hero Comic-Movies. But then I wouldn't have been able to use Dick Tracy, and I love that movie so.

Finally, J.J.T. gave me kudos on not going against the grain and keeping The Dark Knight in first. Of course, it seems that a few would disagree with you and me, but rest assured that I will never put anything in a spot (or take it away from one) just for shock value or controversy. I hate controversy; I just try and look at them closely enough, and ultimately put them where I feel they should be after weighing the pros and cons of the films in my head. The most controversial thing that I thought I did (and I didn't do it for controversy sake) was putting the Spider-man films back-to-back in the top 3. But then again, I thought they deserved to be there…by the by, why do so many people hate those movies? I mean, I can understand how many felt the CGI of the first was invasive, but why #2 so bad? Also, I'm surprised I didn't catch the ire of anime fans with the exclusion of Akira, which is the only thing anime I can honestly say I liked. Same goes for Heavy Metal for the hardcore fantasy crowd. And I think I should have had some mention of Toxie in the Notable section…

I had planned to comment on everyone who posted last week, but this has taken up more room than I had thought. So, thanks to everybody else who commented last week, especially those who were positive, as it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Real quick…

Looks like the Cards won't make the post-season, but you know what? I ain't mad at them. Most experts picked them to dwell in or around the cellar of the NL Central, but they held their own for much of the season, with the emergence of players like Ludwick. Oh well, there's always next year.

Yeah, the Chiefs look pretty abysmal at times this year…but give it two or three years and that defense should be a top ten defense. And hey, if they suck like this all year (losing to the Raiders, come on) maybe with a high draft pick, they can get Tebow!

And since NOBODY wondered about the title Ten Deep…it's from Pearl Jam's first album, Ten, which has a song on there titled (can you guess it?) Deep. YES!! Well, I thought it was cool, at any rate.

RAMBLINGS

Originally, I had wrote a piece here that was an unbiased, bi-partisan take on the upcoming election, all focused on the central idea to encourage whoever may read this to vote in this upcoming election, no matter who it was for. Just vote. However, as of today (which is Tuesday), I decided to ax that and do something else here. As many of you know, Monday was pretty much a horrible day in the history of the United States of America, and though I'm sure many people in the country may have been totally oblivious to the potentially dire turn of events that happened Monday, I myself went through a mix of emotions: despair, anger, confusion…I pretty much ran the gamut of feelings.

Now, let me preface this by saying that I am not a Republican, nor am I a Democrat. I'm about as Independent as they come. Why? Well, I don't put much stock into the parties of today's politics, mainly for the reason that I'm convinced that the main priority for these people are doing what's good for their respective parties, NOT the people. My parents and all of my extended family are hardcore, true blue Republicans, but not because they have money or anything like that…they're all Christians (my father is an ordained minister), and they all are convinced that all Republicans are pious people – which is not the case for most of them, in my honest opinion.

On Monday, the House of Representatives shot down the proposed bail-out bill that give 700 billion dollars in relief to mortgage and credit agencies in light of the plummeting of the US economy. The bill would have effectively cost American taxpayers a little over two-thousand dollars in taxes per person. Now, my thoughts on the thing are this: yes, it is (pardon my language) pure bullshit to have the average American shoulder the consequences for shady business doings of those who pretty much put themselves in this position. However, if the choices we're left with is either pay more taxes or slip into a Depression? The answer, to me at least, is clear…we must pay the taxes, and then the government – despite allusions to socialism – must step in and regulate these POS's who got us in this mess and hold them responsible, from the fat cats on Wall Street right on up to George W. Bush and Henry Paulson.

What made me sick at my stomach about the whole thing was the reasons WHY House Republicans (and over 90 Democrats) voted it down. The media seems set on the fact that these people took a stand with the American public, to whom the bill was particularly unpopular as most of them (including my dad, stout Republican, and my friends dad, hardcore Democrat) agreed that those people who got us into this mess should eat the cost. However, I seen only a handful of politicians who voted on the thing actually state that that was the reason. We heard Roy Blunt, the moron, say that Pelosi hurt their feelings with her speech before the vote, that essentially placed all blame on the Republican Party. While her actions were very ill-timed (and, in my opinion, more than half-true, as the Republicans HAVE been the party in power during the years that led up to this, though the Dems have some blame in this as well), it's particularly sickening that these jack-asses would allow disaster to strike the country merely because their feelings were hurt. I heard others state that the reason they voted no on it was because their ‘constituents' opposed it. Who are these constituents? Are they the basic public, or business men? Lobbyists? Unions? I don't know, but it had better be the American public.

ALL of our elected officials have failed us these past few years. I kind of get the feeling that no matter who may be the best choice for our next president, that NEITHER McCain nor Obama will be able to do much, as they're being handed a lame duck country on a platter and inheriting one hell of a mess. And, what's worse, is that in light of Monday's vote, McCain (who I voted for in the primaries and supported up until his pick of Palin, as it should have been either Huckabee or Leiberman) felt the need to play politics and point the finger at "Obama and his allies bringing partisanship into it" (Obama through in a little jab as well, but not like McCain did). John McCain needs to get it, as this isn't about this party's fault or that party's fault. It's ALL the fault of all of you, John. Republicans, Democrats…if anything, now is not the time to play politics. Tell us how you would fix it, McCain and Obama. Then just fucking do it.

Now then, let's do it to it…

TOP TEN…PRETTY BOYS WHO CAN ACTUALLY ACT!

Ah, the pretty boy…we all know him, and more than likely we all HATE that sumbitch (unless you're a pretty boy, too). However, even though we may be loathe to admit it, these useless piles of good hair and perfect teeth actually do bring something good to the table. This list was inspired by the late Heath Ledger, and, since I'm always one to give credit where credit is due, let's all grit our teeth and concede that some pretty boys actually know what they're doing…

Basically for this one, since almost ALL male actors in Hollywood could be considered as pretty boys, I tried to focus on actors who had spent considerable time as either a teen heart-throb or as a romantic lead in numerable romance films.

NOTABLES: As usual, this bracket is for guys who break the rules of the list, but I feel should be mentioned at least.

Bruce Campbell: What, he's not a pretty boy? Scope out this pic…



Ain't that a handsome devil! What's that? He's not that great of an actor? Well, it's all relative, but haven't you seen Bubba Ho-Tep? Best Elvis impersonation EVER. Yes, even better than Jack White's in Walk Hard. Eh, what you say? BIAS?!? Probably, but it's my list, and I want Bruce on there, so he here is!

Denzel Washington and/or Russell Crowe: Most, if not all, women gush over both of these fellows, and both are good-looking guys to be sure, as well as accomplished actors. However, I don't *think* either guy has spent an exorbitant amount of time as romantic leads, nor were they ever teen heart-throbs. If they had been, then Washington would probably top this list, as he's arguably the best actor around today.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

David Bowie: Bowie was definitely a teen (as in teens loved him) sex symbol in the late 60's and on into the 70's. Bowie has also showcased some decent acting chops over the years, delivering on a handful of memorable performances (my favorite role of his is Jareth the Goblin King, of course). I don't know if I'd go so far as to say that he's a great actor or anything, but I do think that he's good enough to be mentioned in honor. True story: I went to a Halloween concert outside of KC called Freakers Ball a few years back. I went dressed up as Ziggy Stardust, with the shiny shirt, knee-high boots, tight pants, EVERYTHING. NOBODY recognized me (one guy even asked if I was Xena, Warrior Princess)…except for one guy – a dwarf dressed up as Wee Man from Jackass. I told him that it would have been much cooler if he had dressed up as Vohnkar, from Willow. He didn't know who that was. Geek – 1, Dwarf – NOTHING, BABY!

Patrick Swayze: One of my mom's favorite actors, Swayze was a bit of a teen icon after films like The Outsiders and Red Dawn. But, of course, it was that most wonderful of all movies (note sarcasm) Dirty Dancing, and later Ghost, that caused him to blow up in popularity and the eyes of ladies everywhere. I have nothing against the guy, but I've seen those two particular movies more times than any man should be allowed to, mostly in my childhood when my mom forced my father and I to watch them. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that he might be tad bit underrated as an actor. I think it's extremely sad that Swayze has been diagnosed with cancer, but he shall always be remembered by me for Road House, which was the very first film that had shots of topless women that I was allowed to watch. Thanks for the memories, Mr. Swayze.

Matt Damon: I'm a fan of Damon's, and have been ever since I first watched Good Will Hunting. He's a fairly dynamic actor, moreso than his ‘life-partner', Ben Affleck (just kidding). However, while he's obviously a pretty boy, I don't feel he ever was fully ensconced in the pretty-boy role like those in my Top Ten. Maybe it's just me.

Richard Gere: Gere is probably the king of romance films; in fact, just this past week he had another romantic escapade released to theatres. Another one of my mom's favorites from back in the day, I've never really been a fan of his acting. He's accomplished and by no means a bad actor…I've just always found him to be a bit wooden and monotone, like Kevin Costner. Regardless of that, I think he's good enough to be mentioned here.

Orlando Bloom: Now, here's one pretty boy actor that I like. Why? Well, it could be that he was in a successful adaptation of my all-time favorite novel (you know what that is…), but I'd like to think it goes a bit deeper than all that. As a fan of all the old time swashbuckling flicks, I kind of see Bloom as carrying on the torch that was lit by guys like Douglas Fairbanks and Errol Flynn, as most of the films he's been in he's had sword in hand. I think that's a very cool thing, though his absence in films since the third Pirates movie makes me think that he's taking time off to distance himself from that. But I hope not, as a new swashbuckling icon would be wonderful in today's world. As far as his acting goes, I think we have yet to really see him as a true leading man, as he's always been a part of a larger cast…and one usually filled with accomplished actors, at that. That alone pretty much keeps him out of the Top Ten, despite my liking for him.

The Top Ten

10. Matthew McConaughey



My girlfriend loves this guy. So when I told her what I would be ranking this week, she told me that Matthew WILL be number one. Is that a threat? Probably. Did he get number one? Obviously not, but she'll just have to be happy with this spot. Initially (even before my girlfriend threatened me), I didn't plan on having him on the list itself, but perhaps giving him an Honorable Mention, due to his long stretch of romance films. I've always viewed this guy as being a bit of a lunatic and Mr. Intensity (though Josh Lucas is coming up on him fast in that department), and though he may be given into over-acting (you ever seen him act like he's thinking? It's like a really, really dumb guy thinking really, REALLY hard…), for me it all came down to his more serious roles, most notably A Time to Kill, which earned him a spot in the Top Ten. When he's not playing his usual role of ‘hyper-active go-getter', McConaughey can pull the well-done performance out of his you-know-what when called upon (maybe even when he's allowed to), and that's more than I can say for other pretty boy actors. Will McConaughey ever win any kind of major award for his abilities? It's probably unlikely, but who knows? After a bit more variety in his roles, and taking on characters in the vein of Brigance from A Time to Kill (which remains my favorite film of his, a powerful movie with him turning in a great performance), he just might get recognized as more than just a pretty face.

9. Tom Cruise



I might catch some flak for this one, as I know a lot of people out there can no longer stand this guy. A veritable icon in the 80's and on through the mid 90's, his star rose among the ladies after they seen him dancing around in his underwear in Risky Business (obviously those women never watched a Jean Claude Van-Damme film, as he's ALWAYS in his Huggies), and he starred in a number of other roles in big-time movies that carry weight even into this day, such as Top Gun and Days of Thunder. A few years back, I read an article about Tom Cruise (I forget where and whom it was by), and in it the writer damned Cruise for being a movie star, not an actor. Now, I understand what the author was implying by that statement: that Cruise is essentially in films because his face will make the movie money, not because he earned any particular role due to his acting talents. However, if people can put aside their prejudices against his apparent madness and their general dislike for him, I'm sure they would recognize the great portrayals he has given over the years. For example, anyone who claims that he's a horrible actor has probably never seen Magnolia, which I think is his best performance ever, in which he plays a guru of sorts for men who is also a deeply tormented character. In fact, a number of Cruise's better roles come as characters who have some torment in their souls, which leads me to think that perhaps Cruise is so good at playing the emotionally scarred (i.e. The Last Samurai, Rain Man, and Vanilla Sky to name a few) because maybe he himself is a tormented soul. It should also be noted that he starred in Far and Away, which is one of the few romance films that I have truly enjoyed watching. Though his star may be falling, I believe that, even despite his lunacy in recent years, he should be given his just due as being more than what he could have been.

8. George Clooney



Mr. Clooney makes this list, and probably not as high as some would expect. Originally, I had Matt Damon in this spot. I'm a fan of Damon's and I like his work, but I found it to be quite a bit harder at ranking good-looking dudes who are good actors, for the reason that…well, it's hard for me to judge men based on their looks, honestly. As I said, Damon was here, but I yanked him at the last moment. Why? Well, even though Clooney may be older than Damon, I believe that Clooney has had the bigger splash as a sex symbol than Damon. And, like Damon, Clooney has proven himself to be a veritable triple threat as a force in Hollywood, being not only a noted and successful actor, but writer and director as well. Even though his career essentially started in the mid-80's or so, Clooney really didn't attain much of a career at all until his star-making turn on ER, which led to his grand film career that he enjoys now (and got the ladies to take notice of him). Also, he has taken on acting roles in a fairly colorful variety, from Southern hillbilly to doing voice work as a dog, and has pretty amazingly done well in all of them (well, except as Batman, naturally). To me, Clooney has always seemed like the quintessential Hollywood leading man, even if Charlton Heston accused him of being classless. He's a handsome guy, and he carries with him not only the aura of star-power but the sense that he's somebody important. I'll always view him as a throwback to the days of guys like Clark Gable or Cary Grant: noble, intriguing, and somebody every man wishes he was. Of course, it should hardly be unexpected or surprising – nothing like that at all – as, due to his descending from Rosemary Clooney (his aunt), he comes from a good pedigree.

7. Kevin Bacon



Bacon, unfortunately, has been one of the most underrated actors of his generation, in my opinion. He became a teen heart-throb in the mid-80's due to a little film called Footloose *shudder*. Hey, not that I hate the film…I just hate dancing movies in general. Luckily for him (as far as I'm concerned), he went the route of eschewing his teen idol ways, and reinvented himself as a more than capable character actor in a veritable plethora of films, causing many people to stand up and take notice of his talents and abilites (though he'll NEVER be able to cause anybody to forget the fact that Footloose still exists, and that he's the man in it). He's really done well for himself, all things considering, as he could have became just another faded teenage star from the 80's, living today on their lives from yesterday. I truly have the utmost respect for the guy. However, even though I'd like to, I don't feel as though I can put him any higher on the list, as nearly all of his best roles and performances since his transformation have been by way of supporting roles, not leading roles (think JFK, A Few Good Men, and Murder in the First, which is his personal best). He may have since successfully shed his heart-throb appeal, probably causing many to forget him; I, however, will not. I'll always remember him for three things: Tremors (the first flick of his that I actually seen…and loved); his awesome death scene in the original Friday the 13th (damn near traumatized me as a kid); and for that damn Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game (I hate games I can't win at). While I'm SURE those three things make him happy (sarcasm), I'm sure it makes him feel a little bit better to know that he's on this list (sure).

6. Heath Ledger




He inspired this list, so didn't you think that he'd be on it? I'll go ahead and come clean right now…when I was in high school, I hated this guy. As a freshman in Mrs. Webb's English class, we watched 10 Things I Hate About You as just one of those things that teacher's do when they have nothing else to do I suppose, and I was forced to watch not only all the girls in the movie fall for him, but ALL the girls in the class just swoon over the guy as well. When A Knight's Tale came out (which I kind of tolerated due the medieval stuff), all the fawning over the man seemed to be just too much, and I actually really disliked the guy there for a while. Guys like me hate guys like him. Unfortunately for me, I was completely wrong about the guy. Hell, I was even one of the many who threw up my arms in anger when he was announce to be the Joker in The Dark Knight; he was just too much of a pretty boy to play that character, I thought. As usual, I was wrong, and perhaps if I had even bothered to watch more than just those two movies before he was announced, perhaps my fears would have been alleviated. I won't say too much about his performance in The Dark Knight, as I pretty well covered my thoughts on that particular subject last week. I will say again, however, that his transformation that he delivered in the role was outstanding…but not his best transformation. His best? Easy enough to answer, as I believe that it's Brokeback Mountain. Think about it: how big does your balls have to be to go from super-hunky teen-beefcake to homosexual cowboy? Answer: two great big (probably shaved) balls. Like Kevin Bacon, Ledger's drive to shed his teen idol image grants him tons of respect from me. Sadly, as we all know, he was taken at far too young an age. Who knows what greatness could have followed after he let us all know just how deep his talents were?

5. John Travolta



Travolta is a bit unique on this list, as he was a big-time heart-throb in the 70's, but for about a fifteen year period or so in the 80's and 90's, some people wondered just where the hell he was it. Only some people wondered that though; the rest of the world really didn't give a crap. And so it is, that whenever I think of John Travolta, I think of Spinal Tap. Sounds weird, right, considering that Travolta had nothing to do with that masterpiece? Allow me to explain: the part that reminds me of Travolta is the part where Tap is hanging out in their hotel room listening to one of their ‘classics' on the radio, and after the song is finished the DJ says, "Spinal Tap, currently residing in the ‘Where Are They Now?' column…" I always, ALWAYS, think of Travolta there. Everybody knows the story, right? He was a big time star in the 70's with films like Saturday Night Fever and Grease (anybody who plays Danny Zuko is a pretty boy, by the way). However, in the 80's, after his hit film Urban Cowboy, Travolta just fell off the map. It's not like he stopped acting or anything like that…but when, in a fifteen year span, your only hit is something like Look Who's Talking, you got to know something's wrong. Perhaps it was the roles who chose during that time that sucked or something, I really don't know. Of course, then came Pulp Fiction, and the rest is history. Following that particular film, Travolta reestablished himself as a star, and through the subsequent roles he took on following Pulp Fiction, cemented himself as an icon that will probably never go away…again, at least.

4. Brad Pitt



Brad Pitt is a Missouri boy, so you knew that he was going to make an appearance on this list at some point, didn't you? It's always nice to see somebody from MO make it big somewhere. Pitt, being the mega-star that he is, has the public's eye centered on him and all that he does almost all the time. Unlike some of the other guys on this list, I haven't ever gotten the feeling that Pitt has ever really tried to shy away from his pretty boy image. I think that he's come to embrace it and revel in it, but has that in any way affected his abilities? No, I don't think so. While, in my opinion, Pitt (like McConaughey) still takes on parts that are tailor-made for the pretty boys of the world (the Oceans films, for example), he delivers the goods exceedingly well in the other, not-so-pretty boy roles that he takes on (think Twelve Monkeys here). In fact, Pitt (like DiCaprio) is one of these guys who's just so damn good-looking that sometimes we tend to get down on him, and forget (refuse?) to take note of the good work that he does (I know I do sometimes, at any rate). Now, I'm not saying that he's underrated or anything, more that he's under-appreciated. From playing crazy Jeffrey in Twelve Monkeys to an unintelligible Irishman in Snatch to probably his most iconic role as Tyler Durden in Fight Club, Pitt has showcased a rather large and varied talent range. He can be a bad-ass, hilarious, dramatic, or just be disgustingly good-looking with his disgustingly good-looking wife…whatever he does, he usually does it quite well.

3. Leonardo Di Caprio



I hate Leonardo Di Caprio. Let it be known now that out of all these guys on the list, this guy is the one guy that I really can't stand to look at. Not that he's a bad actor; quite the contrary, as he proved himself even from a young age that he's a more than capable actor, perhaps even a great actor. I'm not talking about his short stint on TV's Growing Pains either (which was actually the first time that I ever seen him)…I'm talking more about his roles as a young boy in films like This Boy's Life (in which he did an amazing job), The Basketball Diaries, and as a mentally handicapped boy in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Then, of course, like many men, I was subjected to things like Titanic and Romeo + Juliet, at which point I grew to hate the mofo, mainly for the reason that he was EVERYWHERE. He was truly inescapable during this period of time. However, I can't deny that ever since that period of time in the late 90's and early 2000's, nearly all of his work that he has done in films like Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and Blood Diamond has been golden, and, at the very least, he hasn't subjected me to more pretty boy roles since then. Argh, I hate saying that, but it's true. Not bad for a pretty boy whose first starring role was in a Critters movie…hehe. Smug bastard. It pains me to glow on the man for too long, so let's move on and never speak of this again…


2. James Dean



Much like Heath Ledger, I was first introduced to James Dean when I was in high school, in Mrs. Blackwell's US History class to be exact. In what was another instance of seemingly having nothing better to do, this one particular day in class we watched Rebel Without a Cause, as it dealt with the 1950's (which was the period we studying at the time). Much like the case with Ledger, nearly all of the girls in the class immediately became infatuated with the guy, which is something to be said since this was around forty years after the film was made. However, my reaction towards Dean was a little bit different than my reaction towards Ledger; whereas in 10 Things I Hate About You, Ledger was your basic pretty boy in a basic pretty boy role, Dean brought something greater to the table in this film, proving that he was much more than just a pretty face mugging for the camera. His performance in the film was nothing short of powerful, a role destined to ring true not only of teenagers in the 50's, but even in today. I became an instant fan of Dean, and it wasn't too much later that I hunted down and watched the remainder of his films, of which there was only two: East of Eden and Giant. Dean was batting-a-thousand when it came to great performances in his movies, as in all three of his films he delivered stellar performances belying his pretty-boy image. He pretty much is the ultimate pretty-boy, whose appeal has transcended five decades. So why isn't he Number One? Well, while he may have been perfect on awesome portrayals in his three movies, he still was in only three, so I'd feel a bit guilty in putting him over a certain someone else who is also a great actor AND been in quite a bit more movies. Had he lived longer, had a career that spanned even unto this day, who knows what more great things he could have done? More than likely, he would have been one of the most celebrated actors of all time…moreso than he is today. And he would have been Number One on this list, no question.

1. Johnny Depp



Really, could there be any other? Some may question as to whether or not Depp would actually be considered a pretty boy. I think yes, yes he is. After all, his first noticeable gig, on TV's 21 Jump Street, led to him being quite the teen heart-throb back in the mid-late 80's, and then his star was ensured yet again years later after the release of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film (though not so much as a teen idol and more of a sex symbol). However, during that decade in between the television show and Depp's biggest film, Depp did as a few others on this list had done in the past – he shied away from his pretty boy image, which led him to take on roles in such movies as Edward Scissorhands and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (just to name two of my favorites). The many roles (and films) that he starred in were far more quirky and eccentric than most anybody else who has graced this has ever been in…and a lot of them were, unfortunately, box-office busts. However, while some of them were bombs, many of the films that Depp starred in during the 90's and into the early 2000's have attained a certain cult status among some people. For me, personally? I think Depp is unquestionably one the best actors of the past two decades, which I'm sure many would agree with me, and one of the reasons that I believe he is one of the greatest is that the roles and characters that he takes on are so varied and different – not just from the roles of other actors, but from each and every other role that Depp takes on. A lot of his roles (such as his portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and even his Ichabod Crane to me at least) hold a special place in most peoples minds as being cult icons. I honestly believe that there is no role out there that this guy cannot do…even if he had to play Arnold Schwarzenegger in a biopic on the Governator. Wouldn't THAT be cool?

That's it for this week. Man, that was a bit tougher than I thought…good thing I had a brain-trust of women behind me to feed me info on this subject. Anyway, I hoped you liked it, as it's all in good fun anyway.

Now then, here's the plan for the next few weeks…since Halloween is my second favorite holiday (the first is Christmas, because who doesn't like getting gifts?) and that I love horror films, I plan on doing a series of lists based on horror films. Don't worry, as I will NOT be counting down my Top Ten Horror Films, as 411's own Joseph Lee is set to start his Top 100 horror films any minute now, and, really, what's a top 10 compared to a top 100? He's already kicked off the celebration with his top horrible horror films ever last week. So here's what I want to do: a list on top fictional icons of horror; a list on top icons of horror who are real (i.e. actors, directors, whatnot); a list on top influential horror films (not the greatest horror films, just most inspirational); and finally, a list on my personal favorite films to watch on Halloween, as it'll give me a chance to talk on films I'd have no reason to otherwise…though I might decide not to do that one since I was skulking around comments for other columns and noticed a particular backlash against one of my faves. Oh well, what can I say?

As always, please leave any comments you have below, or email me. Thanks for reading my stuff.

See you next week.