The top (and worst) actors per dollar in 2009

In Hollywood it is often said that

you are only as good as your last film.

While still somewhat true, there are those that are worth the money they make on each film and then there are those that are not. Generally, the quality of the actor often matches the box office bucks they generate.

But every year the best and worst actors per dollar they bring to the box office is figured out. Still Hollywood doesn't always pay attention.

So here are the very worst actors that money can buy

Will Ferrell - he was great in Elf. Then he kept doing the same character in every subsequent film - most recently in the bomb Land of the Lost revisioning. At this point his films are just really long, and bad, Saturday Night live skits. Of course he keeps getting paid too well not to be stuck in the mud. He generated $3.29 for every dollar he made.

Ewan McGregor - was a decent Obi Wan. Too bad he hasn't used the force to read any of the scripts of the films he has done since. He brought in $3.75 per dollar to him.

Billy Bob Thornton - been a while since that name was attached to something anyone saw. It's also been a while since his movies brought in a profit. I guess the mojo of Angelina Jolie's blood has worn off. $4 per dollar he made.

Eddie Murphy - was a superstar when he was young. Now, if you are under 15 you probably still think he is great. But his box office numbers look like somebody's allowance. His $4.43 per dollar he earned almost pays for a DVD of Meet Dave.

Ice Cube - not really an actor, but getting there. He's still earning his chops but it seems that his rap fans won't stick around in theaters to watch the lessons. I can't say I blame them. He made $4.77 in the box office for what he got paid.

Tom Cruise - yep, believe it or not he is overpaid. Thank goodness he has his own studio. Of course if he keeps making films like Lions for Lambs he will earn a permanent place on the overpaid list. But MI:4 might help him out. $7.18 per dolloar he got overpaid.

Drew Barrymore - there had to be at least one girl on the list. Yes she is pretty, and seems like a nice person. But none of that seems to matter when she is in a film like Lucky You. Too bad producing a film is not counted otherwise she might have brought in more than $7.43

Leonardo DiCaprio - overpaid and overhyped. You don't have to agree but more do than don't. The proof is in the $7.52 he brought to the box office versus what he got.

Samuel L. Jackson - it hurts me to have him on this list. Still my personal like of the actor and some of his work does not prevent Snakes on a Plane and Soul Man from happening. He made $8.59 in box office for every dollar paid to him. Not good.

And the final top 10 overpaid actor is Jim Carrey. He just made it to the list, but with good reason. Either his movies are huge hits, like The Grinch, or they are bombs like Number 23. Considering how much he gets paid per film I'm sure Hollywood execs were hoping for better than $8.62 at the box office.

Ok, now that you have suffered the pain and if you are still with me, here are the best actors per dolloar. But again, don't assume quality with earnings.

Shai LeBeouf - proof that ability has little to do with anything. He was in all the right films and tops the list with $160 brought in for every dollar he earned. Expect this to go way down since there's only so many Transformer movies that can be made - I pray.

James McAvoy - Not familiar with the name? Well he filled theaters when WANTED came out - or was that because of the scene with a bare backed Jolie? Either way he brought studios $114 for every dollar they brought him.

Michael Cera - not one of the leading male actors in looks, but he brings home the bacon at the box office. Even with films like Year One, he still pulled off $102 per dollar he got paid. But can he do it 2 years in a row?

Daniel Radcliffe - is still riding high off of Harry Potter. That franchise alone put him almost at the top with $93 in the box office for what he earned. Considering he's almost all grown now, will he keep the young girls swooning in his roles after Hogwarts? Maybe.

Robert Downey Jr - Probably the best actor on the list. He is phenomenal when he is sober, and better than most when he isn't. Possibly the only actor to be stuck in a proverbial can and still out earn most any film where you can see the acting. He brought in $78 at the box office for every dollar, and would have done better if he didn't get roped into Tropic Thunder. Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes can't come out fast enough.

Javier Bardem - don't know his name? Well like Cera you went to see him, over and over again. To the tune of making $73 at the box office for what he was paid. Maybe you'll remember his name next time since he will likely get a lot more films.

Ryan Reynolds - I'm glad he made the list. He's just a funny guy, that can do action at least as well as anyone on this list. And who didn't want to see him in X-Men Origins: Wolverine after watching the movie trailer (too bad the film was a waste of time). Expect higher numbers than the $61 in the box office for his pay once Green Lantern and Deadpool hit screens in 20011-12.

Christian Bale - he terminated the competition as a Dark Knight. The franchises have been good to him and to the box office of Hollywood. $55 for his every dollar. And more sequels are coming.

Aaron Eckhart - he doesn't make big bucks himself, but compared to what his movies bring in... Suffice to say that even with PC Hollywood he made smoking interesting again. $45 to the box office for ever dollar getting him on-screen.

Dennis Quaid is the old man of the list. He brought in $43 for every wrinkled dollar he earned. Lucky for him The Day After Tomorrow was not part of the calculations.

Well that's the lists. Love it or hate it, there you are. I'm glad Forbes made the list because figuring it all out just takes too long.

Racism in America

Recently some of my readers may have noticed a bit of a back and forth I had with Christy in Utah. Christy is a racist, which it only took 3 back and forth comments for her to admit. Christy initially responded to my post The most dangerous people in America - 11.4.2007.1, seen at Black & White Blog – where I am a co-author.

You can read the commentary there or look at my post Reader comment: Christy in Utah to see what was said.

I want to point out Christy for a reason. It’s not to embarrass her, or to point out her lack of reading skills, illogical thought, repressed thought processes, or her complete lack of knowledge on history and historical fact. At the same time my comments are not to claim that all Whites are equivalent to the pitiful life that Christy lives. But there are bigger issues to be seen.

Christy, and those like her, live in a small world. They avoid fact or events present around them. They feed off of negative stereotypes kept alive by the news and major media. They cling to half-truths and misconceived ideas like manna from heaven. Their insistence on anyone not like them being inferior and subordinated is cult-like.

I have read how many believe that racism does not exist anymore in America or the world. I recall how Nick, the son in Ice Cube’s groundbreaking television show Black.White., states that racism is a problem of the past – something he believes wholeheartedly. I can remember too many discussions with 20-somethings across America that share his view, and believe that the use of 1 hateful word can be changed because they have no understanding of the actual meaning of the word.

But the comments of the bile spewing Christy prove my case more than anything I can say. It is people like her who will not see the lack of existence of people of color on television programs, in movies. It is these people that strive to create problems or allow other problems to fester.

Christy believes that what one group of Americans does have no effect on her. Imagine that. Imagine if the 60% of the military that is non-White just stopped protecting the nation. Imagine if AIDS was never investigated because some thought it only killed gays or the non-religious. Imagine if the over 1/3 of the nation that is non-White just stopped working or buying goods – as racists like to believe. The effect on Christy, other racists, and every single person in America would be enough to destroy this nation in days.

Christy has issues, and I’m sure she would be loved by the KKK – except that she is Jewish and they believe her to be as vile and non-White as she believes Blacks to be. But what can be done about such stupidity? What can we do to help backwards individuals that think in the 17th Century but live in the 21st?

I touch on difficult topics in my blogs and posts. I address the realities in America that the media and daily social interaction try to shield some Americans from. Sometimes that means placing the sordid past of America in front of my readers so that we can see that the old wounds have never healed. Sometimes it means I take to task the Black community for glorifying base behavior. And more often it means that I will highlight the venom in the actions and inactions of the media, whether that is in movies, video games, music videos, books, television shows, the news, the internet and/or other blogs and blog posts.

Why am I mentioning this? Because I made a mistake. I allowed myself to succumb to the pestilence that Christy represents and delve into the slime she habitats. It’s one thing to correctly put a stupid petulant racist in their place, providing them knowledge and facts that they must either deal with or consciously avoid. It is another to devolve that conversation into a personal commentary that is anything but the purpose of this blog.

You my readers are accustomed to better. I strive to provide better, even in the face of racists – Black, White, American, international, religious or whatever.

I am not ashamed or repentant of what I said about Christy and any racist like her. I stand by my words and their meanings, even if those kinds of minds are incapable of comprehending them. But I’m not here to commit flame wars.

And there is a lesson to he had in all of this. Read the comments I wrote and the response by Christy. Note the lack of comprehension, the refusal to understand fact (actually the direct statement by Christy that she throws out facts that dispute her thoughts). See the real enemy of America, racism in its less obvious face. Because it is this kind of undercurrent of thought that permeates our society and poisons our future.

Christy is weak, like most racists. They hide themselves in shadows and corners, only brave in large numbers or when they are protected by the ambiguity of the internet. They cannot fathom a world shared with anyone but themselves and those that look like themselves. They are cowards, afraid of the world filled with people that aren’t like them at all.

Racists are not that far from radical fanatics. They too live in a world they cannot fathom. They to would destroy anything not akin to their beliefs. They too poison the very ground they stand on.

So if my comments and posts dealing with Christy say anything I hope it points out that. Racism, and all forms of irrational hate, not only exists in America it festers. It has not died but waits for a time when we are distracted, seeking to attack us like vultures and carrion feeders. Like a parasitic mold they hold onto society, weakening it, decaying its life essence.

Knowledge and patience are the keys to defeating such stupidity and fanaticism. Great men like Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi had both. I am merely a man and my reserves of both are far more limited. But I can hope that my blogs and posts can help. That is the intent.

But I want to ask you my readers, what do you think? What is the best way to deal with a racist and/or fanatic? What words would you choose what course of action? And how might we Americans use moments like this to unify in greatness, rather than the scum that is the breathe of Christy and her ilk?

The 3 articles in AsianWeek - 2.28.2007.1

OK, I had the unmitigated displeasure to hear about kenneth eng on Fox News this evening. It took some time but I have found his articles, the latest of which was removed from the AsianWeek site. If you have not heard about this be prepared to be angered. On the 23rd of this month eng [not a typo, I have no respect for this individual and will not address him as Mr. or capitalize his name again] wrote an article titled Why I Hate Blacks which was published.

To call eng insane is to belittle his hate and absurdity. I will not dismiss him as those that could agree with him would find that a rallying call to defend him. I will rather address the issue at hand. Racism. It’s blatant and in this case seemingly universal. When I hear, or read, such ravings I am sorry that such small minds cannot comprehend the obvious attributes and abilities of people in front of them. It is even worse when such an individual has had the opportunity to educate themselves and failed to take the fruit of the tree.

What may be worse than the comments of eng, is the fact that editors, including editor-at-large Mr. Ted Fang, allowed these comments to reach print. This is not the first racial assault that eng has made in AsianWeek. On November 24th Proof That Whites Inherently Hate Us was run, and then the apparently self-loathing Why I Hate Asians was run on Jan 12, 2007. I have difficulty accepting that no editor was able to see this material before it was published, or that after seeing it published a retraction could not be made. It seemed inevitable that Blacks would follow and I have no doubt that Latino/Hispanics would be next.

Why would any editor allow such hate to be printed in a relatively mainstream publication (as I understand AsianWeek to be, though I am not a reader)? Why was there not a retraction after the first article? Perhaps the first could have been seen as humor, of a very ill-conceived nature, but I doubt it. Even now both of the prior articles are still online as the links show at this time. What explanation is there for this?

If it is the opinion of Mr. Fang that comments I feel are small-minded are the stuff of comedy then he should stand by it and say that. IF Mr. Fang is actually as remorseful as he claims, then all the publications of offense should be removed and appropriate retractions made. To do less is to imply that the articles have substance and that Mr. Fang and AsianWeek support the views written. I single out Mr. Fang because as editor-at-large he is directly responsible for everything that is in the publication.

I have heard from time to time, notably in Ice Cube’s exceptional program Black.White. via Nick and Bruno, that racism is dead. That it was a thing of the past. That society has grown beyond such things. Sadly it is moments like this, that despicable and reprehensible comments are not only made but allowed to flourish, that directly state racism, discrimination, and other ills born of, I believe, small-mindedness, exist today. Perhaps they won’t tomorrow but that takes active involvement.

I call on Mr. Ted Fang to remove the other 2 articles by eng, to make a retraction in AsianWeek as well as a national media outlet (as this has gotten national attention) for all 3 articles, to fire the editors that approved the publication of each of the articles, and lastly that Mr. Fang donate the equivalent of his pay for each of the months that an article appeared in AsianWeek to an appropriate charity.

This is what I think, what do you think?