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  August '08

   
The Ten Most Promising Young Actors Today
 
By Bob 1/24/2008
 
In the wake of Heath Ledger’s tragic death, I contend that he was the most promising young actor working today. While we are all eagerly awaiting his portrayal of The Joker in this summer's The Dark Knight, his performances in Brokeback Mountain, Candy, I'm Not There, and Monster's Ball spoke for themselves.  Now that he has died, we will never see what he was capable of, but it makes us wonder where he would have fit in. Because of this, here are the most promising actors under the age of 30. You can decide where Heath would have fit into this list, but if he was still living, I would have put him right at the top. He will be missed, but these men will continue on in his absence. 
 
10) Jason Segel (28 years old) and Seth Rogen (25)
Both Segel and Rogen first made it big as stars of Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks. I first became aware of Segel as Marshall on How I Met Your Mother, and he has gotten a lot of mainstream attention for his hilarious role as Rogen’s friend in Knocked Up. While Rogen has most of the buzz right now, I think Segel has more promise, which will be demonstrated in the forthcoming Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which he also wrote).
 
9) Michael Cera (19) and Jonah Hill (24)
The Superbad stars have had a quick rise to stardom over the past couple years with Cera emerging from Arrested Development and Hill starring in several comedies. I don’t know if either of these guys will be able to shake off their early screen personas, but if they can they certainly both have promise.
 
8) Adam Brody (28) and Benjamin McKenzie (29)
The guys from The OC definitely have the talent to make it big, but thus far they each only really have one big screen role that stands out (Thank You for Smoking and Junebug respectively). However, their time on the FOX teen soap opera proves that they are capable of great dramatic performances.
 
7) Taylor Kitsch (26) and the men of Friday Night Lights
Each of the performers in this show rightly deserves to be included on this list, and I personally believe I could have made half the list just by the show’s credits. Zach Gilford (who portrays Matt Saracen), Gaius Charles (Smash), Jesse Plemons (Landry), and Scott Porter (Jason Street) are all excellent in their roles, and have a ton of promise, but I believe that Taylor Kitsch is most likely to emerge from this excellent show. He brilliantly portrays misunderstood fullback Tim Riggins who must deal with a drinking problem, the paralysis of his best friend, and the absence of his parents, all while leading the team. While each of these guys has fully demonstrated his dramatic ability throughout the course of the show, I believe Kitsch is the one to watch in years to come.
 
From his early films such as October Sky and Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal has continued to develop towards a promising career. Recently, he has seemingly taken the next step with his roles in Jarhead, Zodiac, and of course his role opposite Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain. With some more supporting roles, he could develop to be great.
 
5) Shia LaBeouf (21)
Who would have thought eight years ago that Louis Stevens would become a talented star of all genres? LaBeouf has become just that. He showed us in Transformers that he has a way about him that makes a great action star, who can bring humor to his roles. His role in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints proves that he has the dramatic prowess to do great things really soon. 
 
4) Paul Dano (23)
It only took two films to skyrocket Dano up this list, but his performances in Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood are so good that his talent can not be denied now. While previous entries are merely promising, Dano has already arrived with these two awesome performances. 
 
3) Emile Hirsch (22)
It’s hard not to love The Girl Next Door (I mean, she is Elisha Cuthbert), but since Hirsch broke out with that film (also starring Dano), he has successfully tackled more dramatic fare in Lords of Dogtown (with Heath Ledger) and Into The Wild. Many believe he was snubbed for awards this year, but his time will come, albeit not for next year’s Speed Racer.
 
2) James McAvoy (28)
Like Dano, it didn’t take much for McAvoy to make this list. Not only is he the star of this years Oscar contending Atonement, but he more than held his own opposite Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. I personally thought he was better than Forest in that film (which is saying quite a lot), and really look forward to his future work.
 
1) Ryan Gosling (27)
While he is probably most known for starring in every girl’s sleepover (a.k.a. his role in The Notebook), he has proved his worth through his Oscar nominated role in Half Nelson and his golden globe nominated performance in Lars and the Real Girl. Gosling, like others on this list doesn’t just have potential, but he has already displayed it. Like Heath Ledger, he has become selective with the roles he chooses, and is even more promising because of it. 

Who do you think is today's most promising young actor?  Strike back with your thoughts below, or e-mail us at saltystix@gmail.com and we'll post the best responses. 

 

   

Could “Avatar” Win Best Picture?

By Brett Hogan

 

Last week, the trailer for James Cameron’s sci-fi experiment “Avatar” debuted. While initially unimpressed with the teaser, I began to wonder: Could this film win best picture? 

 

Buzz has been generating for this movie for years. Years. The technology to make this movie didn’t exist when Cameron conceived it, so he invented it. When is the last time you heard of a director spearheading the invention of anything? The casting started in 2005. Most movies these days, even epics, are done in half that time. I could go on. 

 

The most important thing to take away from all of this is that people are saying this will be the future of movies. Now, I don’t agree with the idea that CGI will become more prevalent than it already is. But I do believe that this will set the bar miles higher for sci-fi. I mean, that is what Titanic did. And that won some awards if memory serves.

 

I’ll bet you’re asking yourself, how can you even suggest that a film like this will win Best Picture when the initial trailer was nothing better than visual stimulation? Well, there are a couple of reasons. First, the Academy has expanded Best Picture to ten films. This doesn’t guarantee anything other than improved chances for most films on the cusp.

 

Second, after last year’s Oscars debacle, which saw the best film of the year, “The Dark Knight,” not only get shafted in awards but nominations as well, the Academy is pulling out all the stops to appease those with the loudest voices in the film industry, the fanboys. Now, the Academy probably didn’t lose anything because of that other than some viewers of the award show. Perhaps if people are again outraged with the winners or nominees, the heads of the Academy would lose their jobs. So this is all about the Academy protecting itself, which is not so outrageous.  

 

 

Third, there is an economic motive here. I’ve heard this film will cost $190 million, not counting the R&D costs associated with Cameron’s inventions or the cost of getting 3-D cameras into every theater in the country. The Academy will do everything in its power to get people into the seats and make this the next “Titanic” or “The Dark Knight.” But the Academy doesn’t have much power, besides nominating and awarding, so they will slap the “Nominated for Best Picture” moniker onto every commercial and print ad to get the people who didn’t believe the critics to relent and see this movie.

 

Of course, all of this is pure conjecture, and no revolutionary film (Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, etc.) has ever won the Best Picture category because it changed the game. Except maybe Titanic. But still, could this movie actually win? My answer is no but a nomination is certain and who knows what could happen from there. We’ll know more come February 2010.

   

   


   


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