January 17, 2002

2:23 PM

Oh how the mighty have fallen. He went from this to this. There's nothing like watching the "downward spiral" segment of an E! True Hollyword Story unfold before your very eyes. Any other favorite falls from grace?
posted by lawtalkinguy (77 comments total)

I remember when Nic Cage used to be an actor...
posted by ColdChef at 2:28 PM on January 17, 2002

P.S. Watch the trailer for Snow Dogs and you'll find out that it stars not one, but TWO Academy Award winners.
posted by lawtalkinguy at 2:28 PM on January 17, 2002

James Coburn. Damn....
James Coburn is in a movie that also stars .... Sisqo?
posted by grabbingsand at 2:32 PM on January 17, 2002

I've always thought Cuba Gooding Jr was like his character in Jerry McGuire:

He really wants to be great, but no one thinks he has it in him. I'm not sure there's going to be a happy ending to this one.

I'm bracing myself for his Crest commercial.
posted by jragon at 2:33 PM on January 17, 2002

william shatner.

wait....
posted by rebeccablood at 2:33 PM on January 17, 2002

Funny, I was thinking the same thing when I first saw the ads for "Snow Dogs." The next thing I wondered is whether it was drugs, women, or impending bankruptcy that drove him to it.
In any case, it's a drag as I really loved him in "Boyz in the Hood"
posted by jonmc at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2002

My vote is for MC Hammer solely because everyone could see this coming from the start.

Now he has a show on TBN and I just saw him in a commercial for a Check'n'Go place.

I actually think that Snow Dogs would be good if all the dogs had personalities similar Triumph, the insult-comic dog or the Ani-Pals from TV Funhouse. That would be a movie I'd pay to see.
posted by ttrendel at 2:35 PM on January 17, 2002

oh my favorite downfall is Jan-Michael Vincent, star of Airwolf, now a more or less permanent resident of the LA drunk tank.
posted by jonmc at 2:37 PM on January 17, 2002

Kevin Costner.

From the heights of The Untouchables, Bull Durham, JFK and Field of Dreams he navigated a base declivity to Waterworld, The Postman, Tin Cup and 3000 Miles to Graceland.

Pretty soon he'll be starring in straight to video action/softcore flicks with Frank Stallone, Micheal Madsen and, my personal fave, C. Thomas Howell.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:40 PM on January 17, 2002

What makes you think the recession isn't affecting all sectors of the economy? At least Cuba Gooding has a job.
posted by jessamyn at 2:44 PM on January 17, 2002

patrick stewart. shakespearian actor turns innocently to David Lynch's "Dune", only to be sucked into Star Trek: TNG and freefalling until he hits rock bottom with Masterminds, Safe House, and little else not science fiction.
posted by moz at 2:45 PM on January 17, 2002

I saw Cuba at a Petco in Studio City. Not more to add, just one of my few brushes with celebrity here in La-La Land.
posted by owillis at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2002

What makes you think the recession isn't affecting all sectors of the economy?

Historically, one of the few industries in the US that doesn't suffer during recession. Hollywood built some of it's biggest legacies during the depression.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:50 PM on January 17, 2002

That should read "Historically the entertainment industry..."
posted by eyeballkid at 2:51 PM on January 17, 2002

Has anyone even seen Snow Dogs? It could have that cute kid's comedy thing going for it. Just playing Devils Advocate.
posted by Mark at 2:55 PM on January 17, 2002

Pretty soon he'll be starring in straight to video action/softcore flicks with Frank Stallone, Micheal Madsen and, my personal fave, C. Thomas Howell.

i'd watch softcore porn flicks starring C. Thomas Howell. grr!
posted by tolkhan at 2:57 PM on January 17, 2002

i thought patrick stewart was perfect as professor x in x-men! and i don't think snow dogs is really any different than the air up there. like AFAIK kevin bacon's career is still intact :)
posted by kliuless at 2:57 PM on January 17, 2002

patrick stewart is far richer than he ever would have been without star trek, though....

what I want to know is how carrot top fell so far *up*.
posted by rebeccablood at 2:58 PM on January 17, 2002

mariah carey.

it almost brings me to tears... of joy.
posted by jerseygirl at 2:58 PM on January 17, 2002

what I want to know is how carrot top fell so far *up*.

three words, rebecca.Deal with Satan.
posted by jonmc at 3:12 PM on January 17, 2002

Tin Cup is a good movie.
posted by NortonDC at 3:19 PM on January 17, 2002

Mark: Snow dogs comes out tomorrow, so please go watch it and tell us how it is.

Be aware that is does contain "mild crude humor."
posted by lawtalkinguy at 3:21 PM on January 17, 2002

Let's not forget some other choice films he recently starred in, like Rat Race and Chill Factor. Then again, maybe Snow Dogs was pitched as "Rat Race meets Chill Factor"
posted by O9scar at 3:29 PM on January 17, 2002

I love those new movie warnings where they list why it got the rating. "Strong Sexual Content, Sophomoric Toilet Humor" - I'm there.
posted by owillis at 3:32 PM on January 17, 2002

Come on, it's Disney, right? Every actor has to do at least one bad comedy for the kids, or kids-at-heart. Heck, even legendary oscar-winning actors have to slum now and then. I have faith in Cuba.
posted by drinkcoffee at 3:40 PM on January 17, 2002

Did someone say Robert Downey, Jr? No links necessary...just smirk quietly.
posted by davidmsc at 3:52 PM on January 17, 2002

Has anyone even seen Snow Dogs? It could have that cute kid's comedy thing going for it.

Have you seen the ads? I can't imagine how it could come out okay.

And every actor needn't do a bad comedy for the kids - there are plenty of decent kid's movies. I've been told by at least a couple friends (without kids) to see Monsters, Inc., for instance.
posted by mdn at 3:57 PM on January 17, 2002

I have faith in Cuba.

drinkcoffee-what a weird sentence that would be out of context.
posted by jonmc at 4:03 PM on January 17, 2002

Cuba obviously is doing someone a favor, or being blackmailed, or lost a bet, or is about to fire his agent, or is about to see how how little value that award is {cough} marisa tomei {cough}.

at least the director knows about dogs, having directed "Beethoven," which stars a dog, and the "Flintstones" movies.. which were both dogs.
posted by tsarfan at 4:11 PM on January 17, 2002

As the great Michael Caine once said:
"I haven't seen 'Jaws: The Revenge,' but I hear it's terrible. I have, however, seen the house that it bought, and it's terrific!"
posted by Ty Webb at 4:12 PM on January 17, 2002

of course patrick stewart was perfect for professor x. i'm pretty sure that there was no way that people would have accepted the movie if he didn't play him..... really, he's probably the first person who comes to mind 98% of the time when people thought of who should play the prof (pre-movie).

and i'm sad that Books of Magic fell the hell off (new writers/artists). as did the last Tupac cd (though his other posthumous albums have been quality). common sense, who was once every psuedo-indie rap fan's favorite rapper, also got wack all of the sudden with his last album. and oh, rebecca gayheart... she was my childhood love. (now i hear that she's facing charges for running over and killing a kid.). that 70s show (not really, but the introduction of that 80s show just makes me cringe.) other people/things that have fallen from grace: lucifer, GI JOE when it was revealed that cobra commander was actually a snake, and my love life.
posted by lotsofno at 4:21 PM on January 17, 2002

{cough} marisa tomei {cough}

has a golden globe nom this year, btw.
posted by eyeballkid at 4:22 PM on January 17, 2002

Maybe I should add that: A) Michael Caine starred in 'Jaws: The Revenge' and B) he took the paycheck and bought a terrific house and C) no amount of bad movies will ever change the fact that he is one of the greatest geniuses ever to grace celluloid.
posted by Ty Webb at 4:26 PM on January 17, 2002

Well, hey, Cuba was at least in Men of Honor and Pearl Harbor (playing, uh, similar characters) and ... well, you may be right, his next movie is with Horatio Sanz. Ouch. Not Ready for Prime Time, indeed.

I don't think it's a talent problem; he's just reached a stage where he's got enough name recognition to be a star, but still doesn't bring in the box office. I don't think he's washed out yet; John Travolta has had this problem two or three times already.

Downey, despite public problems, always seems to get good gigs (and deliver, too). If he'd just stay on the wagon he could do so much more, but for a druggie, with all his negatives, you couldn't ask for a better career so far.

As for Stewart, he seems to be perfectly happy with his little gig doing A Christmas Carol on stage year after year. And he still gets to do Shakespeare, you know.

And Marisa Tomei? Yeah, she's following a career path involving "quietly doing good work" despite having a pretty face.
posted by dhartung at 4:32 PM on January 17, 2002

I still can't get over Robert De Niro doing The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle.
posted by aprilgem at 4:41 PM on January 17, 2002

davidsmc: Really. I automatically assumed this was a Downey thread. I mean, E! doesn't do just any Hollywood failure. They have standards. You have to be a special kind of Hollywood failure. Crime, drugs, and/or kinky sex has to figure into it at some point after you lose the edge. Downey is almost a crude stereotupe of it- he's a gifted actor, he's on tape admitting how weak and pathetic he is, and he just keeps coming back for more- both ways. E! isn't just going to make a True Hollywood Story about him; they're going to make a True Hollywood Epic Mini-Series. Sure, Kevin Costner has made a ton of bad movies, but until he's turning tricks on a street corner for smack he's just not that special kind of story I've come to expect from E! Good for them for sticking to their guns ;)
posted by louie at 4:45 PM on January 17, 2002

"Snow Dogs" might be good with a two cases of cheap beer and three of your closest drunkard friends. Can't wait for the video release!
posted by mmesker at 5:00 PM on January 17, 2002

Raul Julia. Street Fighter. 'Nuff said.
posted by littleyellowdifferent at 5:00 PM on January 17, 2002

I'm sure Raul Julia's next film will be much better than Street Fighter.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:28 PM on January 17, 2002

Scott Schwartz (photo link, kid in bottom of photo giving Richard Pyror a hot foot). Began child stardom as the spoiled brat in the Gleason/Pryor comedy The Toy. Went on to play Flick, the boy who stuck his tongue to the frozen flagpole in the holiday classic, A Christmas Story.

Recently seen in Dirty Bob's Xcellent Adventures 35, Dirty Bob's Xcellent Adventures 36, Scotty's X-Rated Adventures, and New Wave Hookers 5.
posted by tpoh.org at 5:31 PM on January 17, 2002

you're suggesting that porn is a bad career choice for someone who played second banana in the 80's films they did?

i betcha willie aames would kill for a gig like porn - even if he is on the god squad...
posted by boogah at 5:40 PM on January 17, 2002

I'm sure Raul Julia's next film will be much better than Street Fighter.

If Raul does another film it'll be better than anything. Even better than what the Sopranos did.

And whenever I hear "Robert Downey Jr." I keep thinking of that guy with the mouth.
posted by jason at 5:52 PM on January 17, 2002

Patrick Stewart is still a good actor and appears on Broadway. That he makes crappy movies to pay the rent concerns me not.

Tin Cup was not a good movie.
posted by Slagman at 5:54 PM on January 17, 2002

P.S. And Raul Julia is dead. So I guess that would be an interesting movie indeed.
posted by Slagman at 5:54 PM on January 17, 2002

jason-hey, I used to love Morton Downey, Jr. As right-wing psychos went he was pretty cool. He at least seemed sincere about his anger, whereas Limbaugh is so calculated it's creepy.
posted by jonmc at 5:57 PM on January 17, 2002

I don't know. Sure, it looks lame, but I'll give Gooding the benefit of the doubt. I think every top star or award winner has made either bad or "not up to par" films in their career, even after hitting it big.
posted by braun_richard at 6:17 PM on January 17, 2002

Has anybody mentioned that Sean Penn is doing the retard? A friend of mine is still broiling over this one.
posted by kremb at 6:22 PM on January 17, 2002

(Tin Cup was pretty decent. A sports movie where the guy not only blows it, but blows it huge and is happy with his failure? Great...)
posted by ColdChef at 6:40 PM on January 17, 2002

My roommate saw MC Hammer on the street a few weeks ago. While she was walking by, his cell phone rang. He answered it, "Hammer time!"

I swear to God.
posted by Doug at 6:41 PM on January 17, 2002

Have you all seen Hammer's latest cd?

Active Duty.

I saw it in Best Buy and cringed.
posted by ewwgene at 7:02 PM on January 17, 2002

That Sean Penn movie could be pretty good. He's a great actor and it's an interesting premise. Of course, it could veer off into cliched cheesiness, but I don't think we can immediately assume that.
posted by mdn at 7:06 PM on January 17, 2002

I agree, actors don't have to do at least one bad comedy, and Spencer Tracy in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World isn't a good example. That's a decent comedy.
posted by obfusciatrist at 7:19 PM on January 17, 2002

Whoopi Goldberg + Bruce Villanche = Oscar-Caliber Hijinks!
posted by Optamystic at 7:28 PM on January 17, 2002

Poor Raul. Nothing can be as bad as Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, which was subsequently featured in an episode of MST3K.
posted by mattee at 7:31 PM on January 17, 2002

mdn, I recently saw that Sean Penn movie. It veered (quickly) off into cliched cheesiness. Make no mistake, it Was Not Good.

The soundtrack isn't bad though, come nice Beatles covers by some of my favorite artists.
posted by Fofer at 7:37 PM on January 17, 2002

Kevin Costner.

From the heights of The Untouchables, Bull Durham, JFK and Field of Dreams he navigated a base declivity to Waterworld, The Postman, Tin Cup and 3000 Miles to Graceland.

Did anyone end up seeing 3000 Miles to Graceland apart from my ex-boyfriend? (he was rather obsessed with it, BTW. this was long after we broke up.)
posted by dagnyscott at 7:45 PM on January 17, 2002

Did anyone end up seeing 3000 Miles to Graceland apart from my ex-boyfriend?

I saw a press screening. Have you ever heard a room full of people who are watching a free movie BOO? It was, without a doubt, one of the worst movies I have ever, ever seen. Good thing you dumped that guy.
posted by ColdChef at 8:22 PM on January 17, 2002

one of the worst movies I have ever, ever seen

That's such a weird thing. The movie had a great premise, and Costner is often excellent playing ne'er-do-wells (Bull Durham, A Perfect World, even his second-banana role in Silverado). 3000 miles to Graceland also had Kurt Russell, who I like. And yet ColdChef's reaction to the movie is typical and, judging from what I've read, completely accurate. Too bad.
posted by diddlegnome at 8:35 PM on January 17, 2002

"Did anyone end up seeing 3000 Miles to Graceland apart from my ex-boyfriend?"

I did, and I even liked it. So there.

...at least I think I liked it, I saw it at the drive-in and was drinking heavily at the time. I don't remember hating it, so I must have liked it.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:36 PM on January 17, 2002

mr_crash_davis ...

... who, I'm gonna guess, also liked Bull Durham.
posted by diddlegnome at 8:38 PM on January 17, 2002

I like the fact that crashy gets liquored up at the drive-in. Trying to live up to his moniker, perhaps?
posted by Optamystic at 8:55 PM on January 17, 2002

Optamystic, that's why I married a good Mormon girl. Built-in designated driver.

Seriously, though, I did enjoy 3KMTG. It was a couple of hours of mindless crap, which I knew going in, so I was prepared for it.

Of course, I also enjoy this movie and this movie on occasion, so you can certainly take my opinion with a huge grain of salt.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:05 PM on January 17, 2002

Well, neither of those is the worst movie I've ever seen. But then again, I've seen Dog Park *and* Sweet November.
posted by diddlegnome at 9:17 PM on January 17, 2002

Make no mistake, it Was Not Good.

ah well. I have these strange bursts of optimism every now and then, but they pass - it should be obvious that if it can fall into cheesy feel-good land, it nearly always will...
posted by mdn at 9:46 PM on January 17, 2002

what I want to know is how carrot top fell so far *up*

I'm with you Rebecca. Those AT&T commercials are sooo unpleasant...he looks like he just walked off the set of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.
posted by kittyloop at 10:37 PM on January 17, 2002

My vote for biggest decline would have to be Jackie Chan. "Rumble in the Bronx" was a lot of fun but lately his movies have been nothing but rehashes of the original concept to combine kung-fu with comedic stunts.
posted by msposner at 12:40 AM on January 18, 2002

I was going to suggest Robin Williams, for obvious reasons, but then I remembered that his first movie was that really execrable live-action version of Popeye. So I guess he hasn't slid downhill as much he's just been all over the map from the start.

And I mean all. Over. The. Map.

BTW, mr_crash_davis, not only did I also enjoy The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, but I loved Hudson Hawk! (Catholic girls are) Scary, huh?
posted by verdezza at 2:10 AM on January 18, 2002

He answered it, "Hammer time!"

Can anyone point me to a sound clip of "Hammer Time!" - I need this to annoy my cube-mates.

Thanks!
posted by Irontom at 6:01 AM on January 18, 2002

doug - That's the MeFi comment of the day right there. :-)

Sure, make fun of Raul Julia, but no one's even mentioned Orson Welles and Transformers: The Movie. How about that, going from Citizen Kane to having your last acting gig big enough to have a name be in a Transformers cartoon?
posted by NortonDC at 6:33 AM on January 18, 2002

He answered it, "Hammer time!"

Well that's how I'm going to answer my phone from now on!
posted by briank at 6:36 AM on January 18, 2002

Orson Welles said: "The enemy of art is the absence of limitations" but that didn't stop him appearing in this.
posted by niceness at 8:23 AM on January 18, 2002

Robin Williams appears to be trying to redeem himself by going down indie route. He does, however, have quite a bit to make up for.
posted by haqspan at 9:29 AM on January 18, 2002

Seriously, has anyone taken a good look at Carrot Top lately? I know it's hard to do without wanting to gouge out your eyeballs, but I'm thinking the 'Top has had some work done. See Exhibit A and Exhibit B.
I'm warning you, Exhibit B includes one of the Coreys. You will want to gouge out your eyes.
posted by likorish at 10:17 AM on January 18, 2002

All I gotta say is, Denis Leary did Operation Dumbo Drop seven years ago, and I still think he's one of the funniest bastards around.
posted by evixir at 10:57 PM on January 18, 2002

Let's not count Cuba out just yet. He's now got his own star on the Walk of Fame.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:52 AM on January 19, 2002

evixir,

If you think Denis Leary is funny, you should check out the work of Bill Hicks. Leary stole practically his entire act from Hicks. Literally. Bill gave Denis a tape of his act when Bill was an unknown. Few months later, Leary was using Hick's "Angry Smoking Guy" routine for the MTV spots that launched his "acting" career, preventing him from having to steal the work of any more young comics. Here's a more detailed version of the story, as told by Kevin Booth, Bill's longtime friend and producer. (Actually, the entire interview is excellent, and it makes for a good introduction to Hick's work.)

I'm not bagging on you for liking Leary. I used to think he was pretty funny, too. But if you like his stuff, go straight to the source. You'll be glad you did.
posted by Optamystic at 5:57 PM on January 19, 2002

In more Cuba news, today's box office report:

"Opening in second place over the weekend was "Snow Dogs," a comedy starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as a Miami dentist who inherits a pesky team of snow dogs in Alaska. It took in $17.5 million. "

Snow Dogs took in more then LOTR:FOTR, FYI.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:05 PM on January 20, 2002