We have 24 movie stars

This is an offshoot of Grantland, but I thought it interesting enough to generate some discussion.

Bill Simmons' column today was basically a treatise on why Ryan Reynolds was NOT a movie star. And at one point, he presented a list of the 24 people who ARE movie stars right now.

Take note that he has no females on this list, which I think makes it a flawed effort to begin with. But here goes.

[table][tr][td]1. Will Smith
2. Leo DiCaprio
3. Johnny Depp
4. Tom Cruise
5. George Clooney
6. Matt Damon
7. Brad Pitt
8. Robert Downey Jr.[/td]
[td]9. Christian Bale
10. Tom Hanks
11. Denzel Washington
12. Ben Stiller
13. Adam Sandler
14. Russell Crowe
15. Jeff Bridges
16. Steve Carell[/td]
[td]17. Seth Rogen
18. Will Ferrell
19. Zac Galafianakis
20. Mark Wahlberg
21. Ben Affleck
22. Jake Gylenhaal
23. Justin Timberlake
24. Kevin James[/td][/tr][/table]

In the same breath, he points out that these people, in addition to Ryan Reynolds, are NOT movie stars: Jeremy Renner, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Paul Rudd.

 

Women who MUST be on that list:
Angelina Jolie
Julia Roberts
Maybe Halle Berry (though she hasn't done much of note recently)

Among men, I'd probably add Jim Carrey, but for the most part, I'd actually cut his list down further.
1-11 are solid. 12 and 13 are iffy, but I'll give them to him. Get rid of 15, 16, 17, 19, 22 and 24.

Jeff Bridges is a great actor, but I don't really think of him as a STAR, as in someone who you would be more than mildly excited to meet.

Mark Wahlberg, on the other hand, is a horrific actor, but for reasons unbeknownst to me, people love him and I'd say he has star quality.

Timberlake is a star, but I don't think he's a MOVIE star. He's never carried an opening and, multi-talented though he is, I don't think anyone has excitedly awaited the next Timberlake movie. He's a great performer, he's funny, he's a good singer and a pretty decent actor. But I think he's still known more for his voice than his acting. Frankly, Vin Diesel is probably a bigger movie star.

Kevin James? Funny guy, but not a star. Same with Galifianakis, Rogen and Carell (he's Michael Scott).

 

Replace Kevin James and Jake G and Steve Carell and Jeff Bridges and JT with Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon and Kate Winslet and Angelina Jolie, you'd be spot on.

 

I should add Simmons' definition of what made a movie star to him:

"All of them can open any movie in their wheelhouse that's half-decent; if it's a well-reviewed movie, even better."

 

Just read the story. Found the stuff on Will Smith's career pretty interesting. Dude mapped out his career from the beginning, knew which kind of movies made cash, stayed the course, and is now worth $92,982,783,746,348,393,292,736,463,483.

 

As good as he is on SNL, please don't lump Justin Timberlake in with movie stars. From what Mrs. Gator tells me, he's awful in Bad Teacher.

Jake G is a very, very good actor.

 

You can be an awful actor and be a movie star.

 

Natalie Portman was a big omission from my additions of ladies. She has to be on there too. I say no to Kate Winslet. I could be talked into Reese Witherspoon, but I didn't miss her from the list either.

 

What I found most fascinating in the piece was the Body of Lies (with two legit stars, Leo D and Crowe) made only $39 million TOTAL. Bad Teacher (with Diaz and Timberlake) made $31 million on opening weekend.

Of course, there are several reasons for that, but on the surface....damn. That's kinda nuts.

 

Also, if we're adding women to the list, can we add Kirsten Dunst's hoo-ha to the list? Mmmm. Beefy.

 

I thought Julianne Moore had this list for a little while and let it get away.

My female additions to this list: Jolie, Witherspoon, Portman, maybe Zellweger.

 

Jeff Bridges is a movie star. Bill is right on that one. Box office grosses are a very important but not all-encompassing definition of star quality. Meryl Streep isn't a movie star. Don't forget that Katherine Hepburn was voted Box Office Poison of the Year by theater owners several times in the 1930s. If she's not a star, there's no such thing.