Actually my topic was “is there anyone worse than Jack Black who still gets big roles?”
Same here. Tenacious D was genius. Anytime I’m feeling down I throw in The Complete Masterworks and it turns my mood around. I never get tired of it. The only problem is that the songs get stuck in my head for a week after watching, lol.
God. There are movies now that make over $150,000,000 that I’ve never even heard of? How did I get so out of touch? I’m only 29! I have young friends!
It’s not that big a deal nowadays to make back your budget. The trick is to make back triple your budget to account for advertising costs.
This is his best work.
Will Ferrell immediately leaps to mind … playing the same idiot character over and over again. As Shallow Hal was Jack Black’s high water mark, Will Ferrell had Elf.
I think his persona does better in a ensemble cast. It’s also possible that Zach whathisfacenakis has gotten roles that would have been made for Black.
I just noticed him in a bit part in Bob Roberts with Tim Robbins., Evidently he studied in Tim Robbins acting group.
I had no idea he was such a romantic.
Jack Black’s ability to pick roles in movies fell apart when he chose to be in the 2008 “Be Kind Rewind” with Mos Def. That was a horrible movie.
I think Be Kind - Rewind (quite apart from being a decent Jack Black vehicle) is a lovely film in its own right. But then, I love Michel Gondry’s work in general and his nostalgic make-believe aesthetic in particular.
How is that related to what I said?
And just since you brought it up, it’s never been a big deal for a movie to make back its budget, or else there wouldn’t be much of a movie industry.
It means making back your budget still means the film lost money. Making back double your budget means you broke even. Making back triple means you made a profit.
I did not enjoy Be Kind, Rewind, I found it pretty disappointing.
Still, I would never say it was a bad choice as an actor. It was an opportunity to work with a respected and exciting director. This particular film was, IMHO, a misfire- but it was a misfire from a great director.
Even if upon reading the script there is the thought, “Hmmm, this doesn’t seem good. I don’t know what the director sees in this”, creative people like opportunities to work with other creative people whom they respect.
I have been so enjoying this continuing and protracted dearth of Stephen Baldwin/Pauly shore movies, I failed to notice Jack Blacks career starting to crumble.
Thanx for the heads up!
I heard that he is hosting the Nickelodeon awards again. And by again, I mean for the third time…
One thing to bear in mind is that even before he had kids, he did a fair number of non-raunchy projects, like Shark Tale and Kung Fu Panda. And now that he does have kids, he’s probably even more inclined to choose projects he’d think were okay for them to watch.
I don’t know why people here and elsewhere are so hung up on superstardom, like there’s no gray area between “A-list” and “tanked”. Do you know how hard it is just to be a working actor? JB has not failed by any means.
Like a lot of funny performers (Carrey, Robin Williams) the thing he needs most of all is a great director who knows how to reign him in and shape his skills.
And like a lot of funny performers, the bigger he gets the less likely that is to happen.
You probably are out of touch 
but not about Jack Black. Gulliver’s Travels only made $41 million and was more or less a bust.
He should hook up with Peter Weir then. He has a great record of making me think differently about actors. Getting Linda Hunt to play a man and win best supporting actress in The Year of Living Dangerously. Turning Harrison Ford into Harrison Ford in Witness. Toning down Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Turning Gérard Depardieu into a sex symbol in Green Card. Making Jim Carrey sympathetic in The Truman Show. I am looking forward to seeing what he pulls from Colin Farrell in The Way Back.
Too bad Weir works so little.