My favorite actor

I'm trying to figure out who my favorite actor or actress is.  I'm working it out as I write this blog entry.  My basic approach is to figure out which actor has the most movies I liked.  Let's look at these actors in no particular order.

1. Bruce Willis
   
2. Leonardo DiCaprio
   
3. Bill Murray
   
4. John Cuscak
   
5. Tom Cruise
   
6. Philip Seymour Hoffman
   
7. Mel Gibson
   
8. Harrison Ford
   
9. Jim Carrey
   
10. Jennifer Aniston
    
11. Will Ferrell
    
12. Jack Black
    
13. Kevin Spacey
    
14. Tom Hanks
    
15. Scarlett Johansson
    
16. Jake Gyllenhaal
    
17. Tobey Maguire
    
18. Steve Martin
19. Christina Ricci
    
20. Seth Green
21. Mike Myers
22. Kevin Bacon
23. Matthew Broderick
    
24. Kevin Costner
    
25. Chevy Chase
26. John Candy
27. Will Smith
28. Denzel Washington

This list was derived from my favorite movies.  What I'm going to do is list every movie I've seen for each of these actors and rate from 1 to 10 how much I liked them in each movie, then come up with two scores.  A total of the ratings and an average and see who has the highest scores.  I am not listing any animated movies where actors did the voice.  I will list TV show appearances for example I would give the movie Office Space a rating of 10 but I would give Jennifer Aniston's performance in Office Space a rating of 7.  There are some movies I've seen where I don't remember seeing that actor perhaps because they had a bit part like Tobey Maguire playing a hitchhiker in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  I've seen the movie and remember it quite vividly but for some reason, I don't remember Tobey Maguire being in it.

• Bruce Willis - Die Hard 4 (10), Die Hard 3 (10), Die Hard 2 (10), Die Hard (10), Sin City (10), Hostage (8), Tears of the Sun (8), Hart's War (9), Unbreakable (10), The Sixth Sense (10), The Fifth Element (10), Armageddon (10), Mercury Rising (10), Twelve Monkeys (10), Death Becomes Her (10), The Last Boyscount (10), The Bonfire of the Vanities (10), Moonlighting (TV) (10), Blind Date (10)
  
• Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road (9), Blood Diamond (7), The Departed (10), The Aviator (9), Catch Me If You Can (8), Gangs of New York (7), The Beach (10), The Man in the Iron Mask (6), Titanic (10), The Basketball Diaries (8), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (7)
  
• Bill Murray - The Darjeeling Limited (7), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (8), Lost in Translation (10), The Royal Tenenbaums (10), Rushmore (10), Kingpin (7), Ed Wood (7), Groundhog Day (10), What About Bob (8), Quick Change (10), Ghost Busters II (7), Scrooged (6), Little Shop of Horrors (7), The Razor's Edge (8), Ghost Buster's (10), Tootsie (10), Stripes (7), Caddyshack (10), Mr. Mike's Mondo Video (7), Meatballs (10)
  
• John Cuscak - Martian Child (8), Runaway Jury (9), High Fidelity (10), Being John Malcovich (10), Pushing Tin (10), The Thin Red Line (8), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (8), Con Air (6), Grosse Point Blank (9), The Grifters (5), Fat Man and Little Boy (8), Say Anything (10), Better Off Dead (8), Sixteen Candles (7)
  
• Tom Cruise - Mission: Impossible III (10), Mission Impossible II (8), Mission Impossible (9), War of the Worlds (10), The Last Samurai (9), Minority Report (9), Vanilla Sky (10), Magnolia (10), Eyes Wide Shut (9), Interview With the Vampire (10), The Firm (8), A Few Good Men (10), Far and Away (7), Days of Thunder (8), Born on the Fourth of July (9), Rain Man (10), The Color of Money (8), Top Gun (10), Legend (7), Risky Business (10), Taps (10)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt (10), Synecdoche, New York (10), Mission: Impossible III (10), Owning Mahony (10), Magnolia (10), Happiness (10), Boogie Nights (10), Twister (7)
  
• Mel Gibson - Signs (10), What Women Want (10), The Patriot (8), Lethal Weapon 4 (6), Lethal Weapon 3 (7), Lethal Weapon 2 (8), Lethal Weapon (9), Payback (8), Ransom (9), Braveheart (8), Maverick (7), The Man Without a Face (8), Forever Young (8), Air America (10), Bird on a Wire (7), Mad Max 3 (7), Mad Max 2 (10), Mad Max (10), The Year of Living Dangerously (10)
• Harrison Ford - Indian Jones 4 (10), Indiana Jones 3 (10), Indiana Jones 2 (10), Indiana Jones (10), The Fugitive (10), Patriot Games (10), The Mosquito Coast (10), Witness (10), Blade Runner (10), Star Wars: Episode VI (10), Star Wars: Episode V (10), Star Wars: Episode IV (10), Apocalypse Now (10)
• Jim Carrey - Yes Man (8), The Number 23 (7), Fun With Dick and Jane (10), Lemony Snicket's (7), Bruce Almighty (10), The Majestic (8), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (8), Me, Myself and Irene (10), Man on the Moon (10), The Truman Show (10), Liar Liar (7), The Cable Guy (10), Ace Ventura 2 (7), Ace Ventura (9), Batman Forever (8), Dumb & Dumber (10), The Mask (10), In Living Color (TV) (10)
• Jennifer Aniston - Friends (TV) (10), Office Space (7), Bruce Almighty (8), The Good Girl (10)
• Will Ferrell - Semi-Pro (10), Blades of Glory (10), Talladega Nights (10), Bewitched (8), Anchorman (10), Elf (10), Old School (10), Zoolander (10)
• Jack Black - Be Kind Rewind (10), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (10), Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny (10), Nacho Libre (10), King Kong (8), The School of Rock (10), Orange County (10), Shallow Hal (9), Saving Silverman (10), Mars Attacks (7), X-Files (TV) (10)
• Kevin Spacey - 21 (8), Superman Returns (6), The Life of David Gale (10), Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (8), Se7en (10), The Usual Suspects (10)
• Tom Hanks - The Da Vinci Code (8), The Terminal (10), Catch Me If You Can (10), The Green Mile (10), Road to Perdition (10), Cast Away (10), You've Got Mail (10), Saving Private Ryan (10), Apollo 13 (10), Philadelphia (9), Sleepless in Seattle (9), A League of Their Own (10), The Bonfire of the Vanities (10), Turner & Hooch (8), The 'burbs' (9), Punchline (10), Big (10), Dragnet (9), The Money Pit (10), Volunteers (8), The Man With One Red Shoe (10), Bachelor Party (10), Splash (9), Bosom Buddies (TV) (9)
• Scarlett Johansson - The Other Boleyn Girl (8), The Prestige (8), The Island (8), In Good Company (10), Girl with a Pearl Earring (10), Lost in Translation (10), Ghost World (10)
  
• Jake Gyllenhaal - Zodiac (10), Brokeback Mountain (10), The Day After Tomorrow (10), The Good Girl (10), Donnie Darko (10), October Sky (10)
  
• Tobey Maguire - Spiderman 3 (9), Spiderman 2 (9), Spiderman (10), Seabuiscuit (10), Wonder Boys (10), The Cider House Rules (8), Pleasantville (7), The Ice Storm (10)
  
• Steve Martin - Cheaper By the Dozen 2 (8), Cheaper By the Dozen (9), L.A. Story (7), Parenthood (10), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (7), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (10), Roxanne (8), Little Shop of Horrors (10), Three Amigos! (9), The Jerk (7), Father of the Bride (10), Father of the Bride 2 (10)
• Christina Ricci - Speed Racer (6), Grey's Anatomy (TV) (10), Monster (10), Prozac Nation (9), Sleepy Hollow (6), 200 Cigarettes (9), Pecker (8), The Opposite of Sex (7), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (8), Buffalo '66 (8), The Ice Storm (10), Casper (6), Addams Family Values (9), The Addams Family (9), Mermaids (6)
  
• Seth Green - Grey's Anatomy (TV) (10), Without a Paddle (10), The Italian Job (8), Rat Race (10), Austin Powers (10), Can't Hardly Wait (10)
• Mike Myers - Love Guru (6), The Cat in the Hat (5), Austin Powers 3 (6), Austin Powers 2 (6), Austin Powers (7), Wayne's World (8)
• Kevin Bacon - Mystic River (7), Hollow Man (10), Stir of Echoes (9), Apollo 13 (10), The River Wild (10), A Few Good Men (10), Flatliners (10), Tremors (10), The Big Picture (7), She's Having a Baby (9), Quicksilver (10), Footloose (10), Diner (10), Animal House (10)
• Matthew Broderick - Inspector Gadget (6), Election (10), Godzilla (7), The Cable Guy (10), The Road to Wellville (8), Biloxi Blues (8), Project X (7), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (10)
  
• Kevin Costner - The Postman (10), Tin Cup (10), Waterworld (10), A Perfect World (10), The Body Guard (10), Dances With Wolves (10), Field of Dreams (7), Bull Durham (8), Fandango (9)
  
• Chevy Chase - Snow Day (7), Vegas Vacation (9), Christmas Vacation (9), European Vacation (9), Vacation (10), Caddyshack II (8), Caddyshack (10), Three Amigos (8), Fletch (8), Deal of the Century (7), Modern Problems (8), The Groove Tube (10)
• John Candy - Canadian Bacon (10), Cool Runnings (9), Home Alone (9), Uncle Buck (9), Who's Harry Crumb (7), The Great Outdoors (10), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (10), Spaceballs (10), Brewster's Millions (10), Vacation (10), Summer Rental (10)
• Will Smith - Seven Pounds (10), Hancock (10), I Am Legend (10), The Pursuit of Happyness (10), Hitch (10), I, Robot (10), Men in Black 2 (10), Men in Black (10), Wild Wild West (10), Ali (10), The Legend of Bagger Vance (10), Enemy of the State (10), Independence Day (10), Bad Boys (10), Six Degrees of Separation (10), The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (10)
• Denzel Washington - Dejavu (10), Out of Time (10), The Manchurian Candidate (10), Antwone Fisher (10), John Q (10), Training Day (10), The Bone Collector (10), Virtuosity (10), Philadelphia (10), The Pelican Brief (10), Much Ado About Nothing (10), Ricochet (10), Mo' Better Blues (10)

The scores are below in the format: Total / Count = Average

• Bruce Willis - 185 / 19 = 9.73
  
• Leonardo DiCaprio - 91 / 11 = 8.27
  
• Bill Murray - 169 / 20 = 8.45
  
• John Cuscak - 116 / 14 = 8.29
  
• Tom Cruise - 191 / 21 = 9.1
  
• Philip Seymour Hoffman - 77 / 8 = 9.6
  
• Mel Gibson - 160 / 19 = 8.42
  
• Harrison Ford - 130 / 13 = 10
  
• Jim Carrey - 159 / 18 = 8.83
  
• Jennifer Aniston - 35 / 4 = 8.75
  
• Will Ferrell - 78 / 8 = 9.75
  
• Jack Black - 104 / 11 = 9.45
  
• Kevin Spacey - 52 / 6 = 8.67
  
• Tom Hanks - 228 / 24 = 9.5
  
• Scarlett Johansson - 64 / 7 = 9.14
  
• Jake Gyllenhaal - 60 / 6 = 10
  
• Tobey Maguire - 73 / 8 = 9.13
  
• Steve Martin - 105 / 12 = 8.75
  
• Christina Ricci - 121 / 15 = 8.06
  
• Seth Green - 58 / 6 = 9.67
  
• Mike Myers - 38 / 6 = 6.33
  
• Kevin Bacon - 132 / 14 = 9.43
  
• Matthew Broderick - 66 / 8 = 8.25
  
• Kevin Costner - 84 / 9 = 9.33
  
• Chevy Chase - 76 / 12 = 6.33
  
• John Candy - 104 / 11 = 9.45
  
• Will Smith - 160 / 16 = 10
• Denzel Washington - 130 / 13 = 10

Top 3 Total Scores

1. Tom Hanks = 228
   
2. Tom Cruise = 191
   
3. Bruce Willis = 185
   

Top 3 Number of Movies Seen (Count)

1. Tom Hanks = 24
   
2. Tom Cruise = 21
   
3. Bill Murray = 20

Actors with perfect scores

1. Will Smith = 10
   
2. Harrison Ford = 10
   
3. Denzel Washington = 10
   
4. Jake Gyllenhaal = 10
   

No actor shows up in all three "Top 3" lists so let me break it down by some genres using only the list of actors above.

Action: Bruce Willis

Comedy: Bill Murray

Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio

SciFi: Kevin Costner

Crime: Denzel Washington

Still no conclusion so let's see how movies each actor has in my all time favorites list.

• Bruce Willis - 4 (Die Hard, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, Twelve Monkeys)
• Leonardo DiCaprio - 1 (The Beach)
• Bill Murray - 4 (The Darjeeling Limited, Lost in Translation, Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, Meatballs)
  
• John Cuscak - 4 (High Fidelity, Being John Malcovich, Pushing Tin, Say Anything)
  
• Tom Cruise - 3 (Vanilla Sky, Magnolia, Risky Business)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman - 5 (Synecdoche, New York, Owning Mahony, Magnolia, Happiness, Boogie Nights)
  
• Mel Gibson - 1 (Mad Max 2)
• Harrison Ford - 5 (Indiana Jones, Witness, Blade Runner, Star Wars: Episode IV, Apocalypse Now)
• Jim Carrey - 1 (The Truman Show)
• Jennifer Aniston - 2 (Office Space, The Good Girl)
• Will Ferrell - 2 (Elf, Old School)
• Jack Black - 1 (The School of Rock)
• Kevin Spacey - 2 (Se7en, The Usual Suspects)
• Tom Hanks - 5 (Cast Away, Apollo 13, A League of Their Own, Big, Bachelor Party)
• Scarlett Johansson - 3 (The Prestige, Lost in Translation, Ghost World)
  
• Jake Gyllenhaal - 3 (Brokeback Mountain, The Good Girl, Donnie Darko)
  
• Tobey Maguire - 3 (Spiderman, Wonder Boys, The Ice Storm)
  
• Steve Martin - 0
• Christina Ricci - 2 (Monster, The Ice Storm)
• Seth Green - 0
• Mike Myers - 0
• Kevin Bacon - 4 (Apollo 13, Footloose, Diner, Animal House)
• Matthew Broderick - 2 (Election, Ferris Bueller's Day Off)
  
• Kevin Costner - 3 (The Postman, Tin Cup, Dances With Wolves)
  
• Chevy Chase - 2 (Vacation, Caddyshack)
• John Candy - 2 (Vacation, Summer Rental)
• Will Smith - 3 (The Legend of Bagger Vance, Independence Day, Six Degrees of Separation)
• Denzel Washington - 0

Top 7 Actors on my favorite movie list

1. Tom Hanks - 5 (Cast Away, Apollo 13, A League of Their Own, Big, Bachelor Party)
   
2. Harrison Ford - 5 (Indiana Jones, Witness, Blade Runner, Star Wars: Episode IV, Apocalypse Now)
   
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman - 5 (Synecdoche, New York, Owning Mahony, Magnolia, Happiness, Boogie Nights)
   
4. Bruce Willis - 4 (Die Hard, Unbreakable, The Sixth Sense, Twelve Monkeys)
   
5. Bill Murray - 4 (The Darjeeling Limited, Lost in Translation, Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, Meatballs)
   
6. John Cuscak - 4 (High Fidelity, Being John Malcovich, Pushing Tin, Say Anything)
   
7. Kevin Bacon - 4 (Apollo 13, Footloose, Diner, Animal House)
   

When I started this exercise, I thought my conclusion would be Leonardo DiCaprio because a large number of his movies really connected with me.

• The Beach: A big influence on me encouraging my interest in traveling to Asia.
  
• Revolutionary Road: Could relate to the message of pursuing your dream.
  
• The Basketball Diaries: Was really impressed with the intensity.
  
• Titantic: The idea of the unsinkable ship has always held my imagination.
  
• The Aviator: Howard Hughes has always held a fascination for me.
  
• Catch Me If You Can: True story of Frank Abagnale is fascinating.
  

But based on the analysis I did, all indications point to Tom Hanks as being my favorite actor.  But these totals and averages are just crude indicators as to who my favorite star is.  In the end, I need to go with my heart.  I started with Leonardo DiCaprio and after putting my opinion through the ringer, I still feel that Leonardo DiCaprio is my favorite actor currently because the roles he has played have really spoken to me on an emotional and personal level.

Revolutionary Road

Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio both starred in Titanic and now start in this film pursuing your dreams to be happy in life. Do you conform and do what everyone else is doing or do have the bravery to be different and pursue what makes you happy?

The movie reverberated with my life. There have been many times when my friends and family tried desperately to talk me out of doing what I wanted saying things like it was foolish or too risky.

Examples

1. I left Prodigy Online services to move to Seattle to be with my girlfriend and find a job there. My boss and co-workers said I shouldn't leave because I was in a position to take on more responsibility and continue to learn Windows programming. They knew that my C++ skills were not good enough to find a job doing C++ programming. Why should I throw away a good career where deeply ingrained and valuable? I moved to Seattle to be with the woman I loved.

2. When I left Phoenix Arizona to move to Malaysia, once again friends were trying to talk me out of it. They warned me about the dangers of being an American in a Muslim based country. They warned me about women who use you to get a Visa to come to the US then divorce you and you must support them. My friends and co-workers in Phoenix wanted me to stay. I moved to Malaysia to be with the woman I loved (and marry her).

3. When I got laid off from my job in New York city in 2008, co-workers, friends and family all wanted me to stay living in New Jersey to be close to them. But I had a dream of moving to California so Kelly and I packed up our things and drove to California. They warned that the economy is bad and it will be hard to find a job. They warned that our money is limited and we may run out of money before I find a job. They wanted us to stay for selfish reasons and tried to scare us into staying but we went anyway.

To be fair, most of the time, life has its way with me.  But I do have my moments where I take control and do exactly what I want even if everyone is telling me that I shouldn't.  Even if I make a mistake or my decision turns out bad, at least I'm control and they are my mistakes.  I believe it is better to be in control and making mistakes than simply following what comes your way.

In the movie, the risk they want to take is to break from following the traditional lifestyle and move to Paris.  At that point April and Frank had two kids, a boy and girl but they were at the age where they could move them easily.  They had enough money for six months plus after they sold the house and car, they would have even more money.  Plus the cost of living would be cheaper and they would live their dram.  April would get a good paying secretarial job and Frank would stay at home and figure out what he wants to do with his life.

Two things happen.  April gets pregnant with a third child and Frank job suddenly turns from extremely boring to interesting as he lucks into an opportunity to advance in the company to a much more interesting job getting paid a lot more money.

On top of that, they get questioned from co-workers, family and friends why they would do such a thing.  Nobody understands except for a mentally disturbed visitor.   He understands the "hopeless oblivion" of modern life in the US.  When he learns that they are not going to Paris, he gets angry and exposes all the un-said truths everyone is hiding.  This guy defines the term "keeping it real".

April wants an abortion and wants to continue with their plan to move to Paris but in that time period of the 1950s it is not so easy or safe to get an abortion.  April would be risking her health and even her life with a "do it yourself" abortion kit.

I won't spoil the ending but I will say that I was disappointed that movie does not have several scenes from the trailer.  I kept wondering when I would see those scenes at some point the movie was chronologically past the point of seeing them so I figured we'd see them in flash backs but never did.  I understand that trailers are cut before the movie is finished being cut.  I get the feeling that the original cuts were too long and they had to trim it down.

The acting is superb.  As I mentioned above, this movie touched me on a very personal level.  Do we have the bravery to overcome our fears about taking great risks to accomplish our dreams?  April did and Frank did not and it tore apart their marriage.

The break-out performance was by the mentally disturbed man played by Michael Shannon.  This guy was incapable of being polite.  He spoke his mind and could read April and Frank's body language like a book and they knew it.  He spoke the things they did not dare to say.

The message of the film: Don't let the conformity, fears and insecurities of others stop you from pursuing your dreams.