Rama’s SCREEN

I remember a line said by Heath Ledger’s character THE JOKER in one of the greatest sequel movies of all time, The Dark Knight. He said “A year ago, these cops and lawyers wouldn’t dare cross any of you, I mean.. what happened?”
That goes the same for these 4 actors who at one point had the potential to be great at what they do, but what happened? What went terribly wrong and could they have a second chance to get back and go out with a bang instead of their heads held low?

Right after 10 Things I Hate About You, it was said that Heath Ledger made a decision to do better in choosing his next projects, the rest was history (The Patriot, Monster’s Ball, Brokeback Mountain)
Sure he made some bumps along the way like Casanova and The Brothers Grimm… but he went out in a blaze of glory with the performance of a lifetime as THE JOKER. Heath Ledger will forever be remembered as a great actor.
But for these following people… I mean… what happened?

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY

Dude! And I start with that word because it symbolizes what Matthew McConaughey’s all about. The dude was in Amistad for pete’s sake! He worked alongside director Steven Spielberg and great performers like Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman and Djimon Honsou. You would think that McConaughey would become a well respected actor from then on, but what happened?

He could’ve been great but now he’s considered to be one of those actors who are not versatile, some even say he’s not that good an actor.
Because in recent years his choices in movie projects were less than significant, if you will. Sure he’s got some okay stuff from time to time like Two for the Money and We Are Marshall.. but now, anytime people hear the name Matthew McConaughey, all they can remember are his string of weak flicks: How to Lose a guy in 10 Days, Failure to Launch, Sahara.
His recent cameo in Tropic Thunder wasn’t a show stopper, it certainly was not as memorable as Robert Downey Jr. or Tom Cruise. As a matter of fact, the character initially intended for Owen Wilson to play but poor Owen had to go through some tough times last year.

Matthew McConaughey’s next movies will be SURFER DUDE about Longboarding soul-surfer who returns to Malibu for the summer to find his cool hometown vibe corrupted and also THE GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST which is another romantic comedy about a bachelor who is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends at his younger brother’s wedding.
Not quite the Oscar worthy titles but who knows… maybe these two will shape up his reputation a little bit.
Except….I think the SURFER DUDE didn’t require much acting skills, because in my opinion he’s just practically being Matthew McConaughey in that movie (Check out the hilarious video: 3 Matthew McConaugheys and a Baby)

ADAM SANDLER

The people who picketed at the premiere of Tropic Thunder to protest against the ‘retard’ remarks are attacking the wrong movie,… what about most of the retarded characters that Adam Sandler has played in the past, they should speak up about that!

When I went to the MTV screening of the crappy movie YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN. I asked Adam Sandler a serious question. MTV chose not to include that question in the clip and that’s understandable, MTV is all about anything but quality, anyway.

I asked Sandler why he chose to keep making movies like Zohan. I told him that he was excellent in Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, and Reign Over Me, I even thought he should’ve gotten at least a nomination for his performance as a former Dentist who couldn’t get up from the 9/11 tragedy that took the lives of his family…. I mean, what happened?

Seriously, Adam Sandler’s got talent… that is if he doesn’t waste it on going back to making movies that feature all his friends. I wasn’t too impressed with Click either. The fact that hottie Kate Beckinsale was in that movie was what got me through the whole damn thing.

His next movies will be BEDTIME STORIES which is a family movie about hotel handyman (Sandler) whose life changes when the lavish bedtime stories he tells his niece and nephew start to magically come true. And then he’s got FUNNY PEOPLE with Judd Apatow gang.
Let’s just hope these two movies are going to be actually funny this time.

DWAYNE “THE ROCK” JOHNSON

Okay, The Rock is not a talented actor, in fact, I don’t think we’ll ever see him holding a golden statuette anytime soon, but the reason why I include him in this list is because of this…
Years ago, action genre has three prominent names, the three amigos: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis.
well, last two names still think got some ammo left in them but I’m sure we can all agree when I say that their glory days are behind them.

So now we wonder who will carry the torch and take on the responsibility of being the next great action movie star.
Fate seems to be showing the name Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and all was well at first.
Scorpion King, Walking tall, The Rundown. Seems like the world has found its new Arnold.
Doom was a terrible movie but it’s still action. Gridiron Gang was a sports movie so we can make an exception.
But then there were Southland Tales, Be Cool, The Game Plan, and his role in Get Smart was barely visible… what happened?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome and good that an actor tries to tackle different genre in order to be considered versatile.
But… once again, The Rock is not that talented. He could put on different characters or play the remake of Rain Man or something… and he will still be The Rock. Sorry to break it to you, Dwayne, but that’s how it is.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was supposed to be the awesome action movie star but his next projects will put that dream on halt once again. He’s got Disney’s RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN which is about a UFO expert who enlists the help of a cabbie to protect two siblings with paranormal powers from the clutches of an organization that wants to use the kids for their nefarious plans
And then there’s the CG Animated movie PLANET 51 which is about the inhabitants of Planet 51 who live in fear of alien invasion. Their paranoia is realized when an astronaut arrives from Earth. Befriended by a young resident, he has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and try to return home

Luckily we have Jason Statham as our action guy… so for now, The Rock could just continue doing the not-so-cool stuff he’s been doing. he’s on a roll anyway.

WINONA RYDER

If I told you that Winona Ryder was nominated for 2 Oscars years ago, would you believe me?
She really did. It was for The Age of Innocence (1993) and Little Women (1994)
Her name used to be plastered big on the posters of her movies because the studio marketing believed that it could actually draw audiences everywhere… just for the fact that she’s in the movie.

She got to work a few times with Daniel Day Lewis (The Crucibles) and she was in the cool group with Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey and director Al Pacino (Looking for Richards)
That’s not the case with her anymore these days…What happened?

And then she started to choose roles that didn’t allow her to be the headline anymore, like Alien: Resurrection… that’s Sigourney Weaver’s movie! And Winona was also outplayed and overshadowed by Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted.
Now the world will remember her as Winona Ryder the Shoplifter or the actress who star in movies people don’t generally care about (S1M0Ne, The Darwin Awards, Sex and Death 101)

Winona Ryder’s next movie might be worth something if she can make it memorable. She will play Amanda Grayson, the Human mother of Spock and wife of Vulcan Ambassador Sarek in the upcoming big budget Paramount prequel movie STAR TREK, directed by J.J. Abrams.

There might be hope for Winona Ryder, after all.