Ever lived would take some time to reflect and really dig into my over abundance of cinema viewing experience so I'm going to just answer the alive part of the question. I'd say it's close call between David Caruso and Nicholas Cage. Tom Cruise and John Travolta deserve a Dishonorable mention for trying damn hard to win this award as well. That's excluding people like Will Farrel and other professional morons who make movies. Being bad actors is kinda what they are hired to do, so we'll exclude them.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 19, 2017 6:01 PM MDT
It was our discussion about Farrell that got me to thinking about who was as bad, or worse. You're right, fools like him (how about Jim Varney) were intended as such, so in a perverse way, they hit the mark.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 19, 2017 6:01 PM MDT
I kinda gathered as much and felt it was worth mentioning. I think Jim Varney is light years better than Farrell though. Not my cup of tea since childhood, but he did his own corny thing. Farrell, Sandler, Farley, Seth Rogan, etc... Those types can't even create a real character type. It's just being dumb instead of playing dumb. My opinion anyway. They confuse being annoying and obnoxious with a gag or joke.
If you like Southern Gothic style thriller movies check out a movie called 100 Proof. Varney plasy a radically different role than anything he ever did in anything else and he actually nails it as a violent, drug addicted, incestuous, psychopath
Maybe he could evolve as an actor, like Will Smith eventually did. Smith will likely never win an oscar, but at least he grew past playing his preening self in all his roles.
To be fair the current stock of A-list actors isn't churning out much worth watching. In my honest opinion it's the smaller name film makers that aren't often shown in theaters and films from other countries that are where the gems are found these days. Most often those have actors and actresses that aren't all that well known.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 19, 2017 6:02 PM MDT
There are so many of them that it's hard to choose. I agree with all that Glis has listed along with his reasoning. I would like to add Brad Pitt, Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson, Sam Worthington, William Shatner, Steven Seagal, Chris Klein and, the latest flavor of the month, Tom Hiddleston, to that pile of garbage.
As far as worse actor(s) who are no longer with us - I always thought John Barrymore was a terrible actor. And, Robert Stack was the original Mr. Stone Face.
A few honorable (or should that be dishonorable lol) mentions for possible candidates for runner up: Keanu Reeves, Ben Affleck, and Toby Maguire.
But the winner is: Nicolas Cage.
Probably the worst A-lister of all-time. How did he even make it? Maybe it was because his uncle was the legendary film directer, Francis-Ford Coppola.
I haven't seen that one. Gone in 60 was the most over-hyped thing ever, The Rock was ok, and Next was enjoyable, but not because of him, but because it was a unique movie in itself.
IMHO he had three roles right in a row that he was good in and then he just checked out. Raising Arizona, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Moonstruck were all good movies and he did a good job in them.
Peggy Sue was a decent movie too. I guess he some redeeming mehtods when still young and wasn't full of himself. He wasn't all robotic and seemingly soulless. He turned to chit around Leaving Las Vegas. He almost makes me believe Invasion of the Body Snatchers might have been attempted by real aliens.
Good selections, all. Not counting the movie clowns who aren't really actors, I would submit Shia Labeouf. No less than Harrison Ford called him "a dumb*ss". Honorable mention: Kate Hudson, who gets sporadic movie roles because of her parentage, not any semblance of acting skill.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at April 19, 2017 6:03 PM MDT
The ladies didn't miss my attention. I just thought they weren't allowed on this particular chopping block. It's another toss up for me. Paris Hilton, Tori Spelling, Pam Anderson, Kristen Stewart, Madonna,....gee, I could be here all night.
Benedict Arnold 