(That is to say, Kurt Russell is never the reason a bad or mediocre movie is bad or mediocre; it’s that way for some other reason.)
Breakdown was much better than I expected. But Tango & Cash is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.
Kirk Russell… I thought he’d be taller…
Who?
Hey, don’t forgetTequila Sunrise!
Note that in Equipoise’s list of his good movies, the newest one is ten years old.
And that’s a good thing?
Sorry, I didn’t realize Kurt Russel was a close personal friend of yours . . .
:rolleyes:
Between Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York, and The Thing, Kurt Russel doesn’t need to make good movies any more. He’s got enough good movie karma for the next three life times.
Come to think of it, Kurt’s problem isn’t that he sucks now, it’s that John Carpenter sucks now.
Thanks for the Lil’ Kurt link, SadTomato.
Aww, he sure was a cutie back then as the Jungle Boy!
His new movie, “Dark Blue”, started this weekend. He stars in it with Ving Rhames. Roger Ebert gives it 3 stars.
I thought Russell did a great comedic turn in “Cap’n Ron.” Unfortunately, Martin Short was in it, too, and did his usual job of sucking all the comedy and fun out of every scene he was in.
Do you guys realize that Kurt Russel’s breakout “adult” role was playing the lead role in the “Elvis” 1979 TV movie? He was nominated for an Emmy!!
Silkwood, Overboard and Carpenter’s The Thing are favorites here too.
I think he’s a good actor. He doesn’t get the really dramatic roles that would give him a “dramatic actor reputation”, like Pacino and de Niro et al., but he is extremely natural. He’s never “bad”. He does what the part calls for. What could be wrong with that?
TheeGrumpy has it right, IMHO.
Again, it’s not so much that Russell is bad, but that he isn’t really that great. As has been said, there are three types of people in the world - people who bring something to the table, people who don’t, and people who take things off the table. Martin Short takes things off the table. Tom Hanks brings things to the table. Russell just sort of sits there and passes the peas.
He was in “Executive Decision” in 1996 as well, which did pretty well at the box office (about $70 million in the U.S., according to IMDB).
Plus, “The Thing” and “Big Trouble in Little China” are two of my favorite movies of all time. I think Kurt Russel is awesome.
I think Kurt Russell is great. A very under-rated actor.
I loved that line in Executive Decisions - “These things almost land themselves, don’t they?”
His performance as Elvis is still the gold standard.
He was awesome in Big Trouble in Little China, Escape From New York, Used Cars, and Tombstone.
The thing about Russell is that he’s very versatile. He can play heavy drama, he can play action heros, and he’s a great comedic actor. I hear his performance in “Deep Blue” is Oscar-worthy.
His achilles heel is that he doesn’t discriminate enough in the movies he chooses. That’s probably because he never really had that breakthrough into the ‘A’ list, so he probably doesn’t get the best scripts, and without those megabuck paydays he has to be less choosy about the films he does.
But I predict he’ll get better scripts, and as he ages he’s going to be even better as an actor.
Exactly. As long as I can watch The Thing and Little China, Kurt Russell will never be forgotten.
I get the distinct feeling from reading these responses that The Thing and Big Trouble In Little China are the Best. Movies. Ever. I for one will not argue with the sagacity of such a pronouncement. Aside from the Elvis performance, which I haven’t seen, I’d say those two performances are Kurt Russell’s best. While in The Thing Wilford Brimley gives perhaps the best performace of the ensemble, I think Russell’s job as MacReady was easily more than passable. And who the hell else could have played Jack Burton? No one.