Russell Crowe

[foxfair]

I think 'The Sum of Us' might be the rom-com I'm referring to - I'm not sure of the title and am only going on a vague remembering of what others have posted here. I found him very...intense (ha ha) in the The Insider. I just don't think he has a lot of range, and the people I think in H-Wood who can really act are rarely A-Listers (I think being an A-lister is about much more than acting skillz alone).

I don't intend any disrespect, though, Snacktastic - I'm getting paranoid about my H-Wood opinions being interpreted as personal.

[snacktastic]

Oh, I don't take them as personal. I like to argue, admittedly. I mean, it's Russell Crowe. If you call my mom a bitch, well, then it's personal. (cue Arnuld)

[catfrog]

Mingaling, I think I can speak on behalf of all New Zealander's when I say, keep him. Please? We'll throw in a set of steak knives.

The only performance of his I've ever enjoyed was when I saw him live in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now, he's just a giant potato head with anger management issues.

Seriously, what an over inflated, self righteous dick.

[Deleted]

I suppose you could list "The Sum of Us" as a comedy.

I also liked "Mystery, Alaska" which I think can also qualify as a comedy, although the movie is pretty unknown. That has a low key, amusing tone. And it's clearly an ensemble picture, rather than any grand starring role. Most people have never heard of it and as it predates "The Insider", it's usually never mentioned.

[dool]

In the Sum of Us, he played like a surprisingly nice gay man.

And you can be sure he went out every night whilst making that movie to swill kegs of beer and beat up midgets, waitresses and disabled monkeys in an attempt to restore the balance.

I think 'The Sum of Us' might be the rom-com I'm referring to

Actually Fox, he's done a rom-com with Salma Hayek called Breaking Up. The Sum of Us was a comedy but more about father/son relationships.

I'll concede 'intense' but not, imo, 'wide-ranging'.

Yeah, I agree with that. Whatever range he had in his lesser known but varied film roles, has disappeared. His intensity is so mechanical, and delivered at the same pitch every single time. He can be stabbing at CGI tigers, or pouncing around a boat in jodhpurs and I'm still bored.

[Karen]

Has Mr Theater Is Anachronistic really never appeared in a commercial?

[Deleted]

Has Russell ever appeared in a commercial?

Well, I know when he was starting out, he says he was paid to appear in a film for some religious organization recruiting missionaries, etc. Sorry, but I don't know the name of the church/organization. I don't think that's the same as an ad.

Also, he did a film called "The Silver Brumby" (that's the US title) which was based on an Australian book about a wild horse. He played a horseman in the movie and he was wearing shirts, pants, boots, hat, etc. - all the gear for the role. Pictures of him in that gear which I think were from the film were used in ads for the maker of the apparel. I've think perhaps that was a tie-in for the film as the photos I've seen with the advertisements on them all look like pictures directly from the film. People show those pictures to bolster their claim that he's done ads. I suppose you could argue the point either way. In any case, "The Silver Brumby" was done long before he came to the US. - 1992, I think.

Here's a link to one of his fan website's page on the film where you can see the photo from the film which was used . Apparently the apparel company outfitted the actors for the film.

The Silver Brumby page

There was also a photo spread in one of the US magazines (Vanity Fair, perhaps) of him and Guy Pierce wearing great menswear when L.A. Confidential came out. But that was more in line with photos of women stars wearing designer wear in Vogue, etc. Not ads.

I don't think these are the same as shilling for United Airlines, or some other merchandise. I don't recall ever hearing his voice doing voiceovers for products and I would have noticed as I'm pretty good at recognizing voices like Julia Roberts doing AOL and Gene Hackman doing Lowes.

I remember when he won the Oscar he remarked that he hadn't done ads because he didn't think he would be taken seriously as an actor by people like Scorcese if he'd done a lot of commercials.

[dool]

On FT someone posted a couple of print advertisments FuckBucket had been involved in. One of which was for some Austraaylyun clothing company and involved the obligatory stubble, sheep, flannel and sepia toning.

Which makes him even more of an arse clown for making disparaging comments in GQ about actors who 'shill'.

[Deleted]

I had to look up how to do a link and find one of the pictures in question, but there's a link to a page about "The Silver Brumby" in my previous post. (I finally got the link to work, so here it is as I need the practice.)

The Silver Brumby page

Included on the page linked to is the photo from the movie and the corresponding ad. The ad mentions that the company outfitted the actors for the movie, which makes it look like a movie tie in. And, yes, the photo is from the movie itself. I bought a copy for a horse loving kid in my family and I've seen the film. Beautiful country, beautiful horses, really a kid's film. Not much acting involved, but the kid loved it.

[foxfair]

Oh, it's an ad linked to a movie? OH! Well then, that's OK then.

Actually, I have no problem whatsoever with actors doing ads. I have more of a problem with pretentious, fat monkeys like Russell Crowe implying that accepting payment for advertising a product (rather than, say, accepting payment from Ron Howard for, erm...adverti - I mean *acting* - in his project) somehow detracts from your skills as an actor.

De Niro kicked ass in Taxi Driver. If he wants to put on a pink tutu and hawk bubble gum to tweens, that doesn't take away from his performance in Taxi Driver, imo. Fat Boy is just not anywhere near the status of someone like De Niro, not right now, and it goes against basic rules of decency and civility to criticize the way Crowe does. It assumes that his opinion matters, when it doesn't.

You're an actor. So get in front of a camera and act. And shut the fuck up about everything else.

*passes Dool a kruller* Will you say 'fuckbucket' again please?