POLL: Are You Sick of George Clooney?
Filed under: Fandom
George Clooney is an actor who has traversed the worlds of mainstream moviegoers and critical viewers well. While he is not considered to be the best actor out there, nor the best director, solid performances, a number of enjoyable films, and his ever-present charm have made him one of the good guys. It also doesn't hurt that he has some stinkers (Batman and Robin), and some terrible cult favorites in him as well (Return of the Killer Tomatoes).Maybe it's a sense of humility that keeps him so entrenched in the spotlight. Reuters reports that George Clooney is looking to become more of a director in the next decade, and not just due to his interest in the craft. "Ten years from now, I imagine people will be fairly sick of seeing a lot of us who are on camera now. My hope is I'll be directing more. That is my goal." Personally, I sort of hope that he sticks to both. It's nice to have some mainstream stars out there who are not lead the tabloid pages, and who have the chops to back up their notoriety. He's got his share of buzz, but there has always been a sense of balance to it -- enough to keep him familiar, but not enough to make him annoying. But that's just me.
Are you getting sick of Clooney, or think you will be sick of him in the next 10 years?
*Interesting side note: Did you know that he first read a screenplay for Leatherheads back in his ER days?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-02-2008 @ 5:12PM
Christian Toto said...
I think Clooney's politics are predictable, but he's done very well for himself despite having limited acting chops. And he has good taste in the projects he chooses. He's also willing to stretch both in front of and behind the camera.
I admire anyone who hooks his star to a talented director (Soderbergh) ... Ah-nold did just that with Ivan Reitman and James Cameron, and it sure served him well.
Michael Keaton is twice the actor Clooney is ... but he wasn't able to parlay his "Bat" fame into a great career.
Reply
4-02-2008 @ 5:46PM
eugene said...
I like his work, I'm annoyed by his grandstanding.
Reply
4-02-2008 @ 6:45PM
Joseph said...
Cary Gr......George Clooney is the awesome.
Reply
4-02-2008 @ 7:33PM
KateGee said...
As much as I could get sick of chocolate and rainbows...
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 5:20AM
Lisa said...
I think George Clooney has a great eye as a director...Good Night, Good Luck was terrific so if that's any indication of the next 10 yrs of his filmmaking career I say "Kudos" to Clooney! Good acting parts are few and far between as the years go by so actors like George Clooney need to constantly reinvent themselves...If that means he does it more behind the camera instead of in front of it? I say why not? Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson have had enormous success now for years so George certainly can have more of a go at it if he so chooses.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 9:07AM
Kevin said...
I would think it would be fairly difficult to get sick of Clooney, either as an actor/director or as a hollywood personality. I'm sure some people don't really give him a chance because of his politics, but the fact remains that he makes solid films and is unbelievably charming in interviews. Furthermore, his movies don't tend to be blockbusters, so you don't feel overloaded on Clooney through advertising and hype. Instead his movies come out with a solid but subtle campaign to back them up, and without any personal issues to fuel the paparazzi you never feel bombarded by Clooney news (unlike certain actors/actresses, which is why we get sick of hearing about them). I'm not a huge Clooney fan, but I definitely couldn't understand people saying they've had enough of him.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 1:23PM
JG said...
Define "stinkers." Attack of th Killer Tomatoes rates 4 stars out of 5 from Amazon.com. Even on imdb.com it has a 4.1 rating - hardly among the worst films rated. Don't criticize what you have not seen or do not understand.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 11:40AM
MosquitoControl said...
Actually, in that recent (and hysterical) Time article, he points out that his politics are likely predictable, tiring, and accomplish absolutely nothing. He said he's rethinking the whole thing and will likely tone it down.
Not that it ever bothered me. His politics are easy to ignore and not crazy. Only crazy politics bother me. Sean Penn flying to Iraq to promote world peace bothered me. I can't think of anything Clooney has done on that level. Hell, though, Alec Baldwin is pretty crazy yet I'll never really tire of him. Of course, I tire of him quickly when he's not playing a character. I guess I don't tire of Clooney when he's just himself.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 12:03PM
John said...
Absolutely SICK TO DEATH of George Clooney. He hates his fans which is why he has little left.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 1:45PM
weinberg said...
Absolutely not. I love the Clooney. Old-school movie-star class mixed with a welcome dose of self-deprecation. Plus he's a damn good actor and he keeps getting better as a director. Shit, we need MORE movie stars like GC.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 1:45PM
weinberg said...
And to JG: Monika said RETURN, not ATTACK. And yes, both are massive stinkers. That's hardly debatable.
Reply
4-03-2008 @ 2:00PM
Astin said...
JG - Wipe off the glasses. Nobody said anything about ATTACK of the Killer Tomatoes. Monika was talking about RETURN of the Killer Tomatoes. Which actually rates 4.5 stars on Amazon.com and a 4.7 on IMDB.
And please don't try and say a 4.7/10 on a cult film on IMDB rates it as anything but a bad movie. It's a terrible film... and I love it. It's so bad that it's great. The whole thing is cheap, tongue-in-cheek, self-satirizing, horribly acted, and funny as hell. It's a so-bad-it's-good film done for a so-bad-it's-good loving crowd.
Plus, only 1700 votes on imdb. Let's randomly take an acknowledged good film that might have a small audience... My Left Foot - 9500 votes. Or go the opposite end - Titanic - over 180,000 votes. Star Wars - over 230,000. The Matrix - over 260,000 votes. Or something equally cultish - The Return of the Living Dead - 8850 votes.
So you're taking a mediocre rating from a small sample size that obviously knows exactly what they're watching. It would be like asking a bunch of horror fans what they think of a Japanese horror film vs asking your grandparents - the rating will be biased. So with a small, biased crowd, it still ranks below a 5/10.
As for amazon - 24 reviews. Same deal, anyone rating it knows exactly what they're getting and already liked it for it's sheer badness.
It's amazing how ratings and stats seem far less authoritative when you actually spend 20 seconds digging into the data. Maybe you shouldn't speak about things you don't understand.
Sorry for the rant - as for what the post is actually about. Clooney is a throwback to old-time Hollywood stars. He's charming, witty, well-spoken, and has enough talent to not embarass himself. He seems to know his limitations and sticks to them. Plus, no matter what he's doing, he seems to be having fun, which makes it hard to hate him.
Still, that American Dad episode was great.
Reply
4-04-2008 @ 5:55PM
XYZ said...
Cinematical are a bunch of Clooney kiss asses. Clooney's career is so over and he has no fans left.
Reply
4-16-2008 @ 12:08PM
geirgina pratt said...
I HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF GEORGE CLOONEY AS ANYONE SPECIAL---JUST ANOTHER HOLLYWEIRD PERSON, WHOSE MOVIES I DO NOT WASTE MY MONEY ON. I WAS DEFINITELY CONFIRMED OF HIS LOW CHARACTER WHEN HE HAD THE AUDACITY TO SAY THAT CHARLTON HESTON DESERVED TO CONTACT ALZHEIMER'S BECAUSE OF HIS NRA AFFILIATION. LIKE A COLUMNIST SAID---THE WORDS OF A NITWIT AND SHOWS NO CLASS. I HAVE ENJOYED HIS AUNT ROSEMARY CLOONEY'S MUSICAL TALENTS FOR MANY YEARS. SHE AND C.HESTON WERE BOTH RESPECTED AND HONORABLE PEOPLE IN HOLLYWOOD. WAS HER SELF-INFLICTED OBESITY THAT LEAD TO HER DEMISE ALSO DESERVED? WHETHER OR NOT IT DID, I WOULD NEVER EVEN THINK OF SAYING SUCH A THING. MANY DISEASES IN FAMILIES ARE INHERITED, SO MR. CLOONEY OUGHT TO THINK BEFORE HE TALKS SENSELESSLY. NO ONE CAN LIVE FOREVER. IT WILL ONLY DEPEND ON THEIR LIFESTYLE AND/OR GENES.
Reply