So if an actor takes a lot of the same roles for a huge amount of money, they are sell-outs, because they don't respect their artistic vision.

But if an actor takes roles to produce a good body of work (from the article)...

"George has made a series of bad decisions as a movie star," says a top producer. "Not as an actor, not as an artist, but as a movie star." Clooney has given a nod to fans with the Ocean's series, he continues, but he doesn't give them a lot of gratification. "George has made calculated decisions about what he wants, not what the audience wants," this producer concludes.

...well, then he is not a movie start but merely an actor and artist. Gee, I didn't know it was a bad thing to take your insanely well-paying job seriously so you could look at yourself in the mirror in the morning.

I admit that as a woman, I find that George Clooney is always fun to look at :D I don't think he's the most nuanced actor of our time, but I like that he picks roles that aren't necessarily about how pretty he can look, and more about how he can use his more subtle tools. Sure, the "Ocean's" movies are fun, but I love "Intolerable Cruelty", where he makes fun of his own good looks and slick persona. "O Brother Where Art Thou" is also fun and interesting. And "Good Night and Good Luck" was simply an excellent movie.

Actually, I can say the same about Brad Pitt. I love him in movies where his character is a little off center. In "Twelve Monkeys" (which got him the Academy Award nod, remember?), "Fight Club", and "Snatch", he's probably the best part of those movies. And I still love him in "Legends of the Fall" - he slid into that persona and totally inhabited the character (which is not necessarily "movie star" behaviour).

These are things I *can't* say about Tom Cruise, a supposed box-office draw (and this was well before the whole Scientology thing). Most of his roles are the same, and I feel like he peaked years ago ("A Few Good Men" is probably his best movie), AND that he now takes roles that are trolling for an Academy Award nod.

Give me a little variety and the occasional surprise, and I'll go see the actor (if I can drag my husband to the movies, that is). To me, box office draws are actors I enjoy watching because you never know quite what you're going to get. Why do you think people enjoyed Daniel Craig as the new James Bond? Bond had unexpected depth because he was played by someone who took some time to think about his craft, instead of only showing up, being suave and filling out a tuxedo well...

I think Hollywood underestimates the viewing public. We like to see well told tales. If an actor or actress we like (and is easy on the eyes) plays a part in it, more the better. But first it's gotta be about how well the story is told. ("Catwoman" anyone?) Because with the way movies are getting more and more expensive, we want to know we're going to be spending our money on a movie we'll actually enjoy watching. If we simply want to look at our favorite pretty faces, well, we've got magazines and the Internet for that.

I really don't care if an actor "sells out" or "stays true to his or her artistic vision". I just want to enjoy the movie. I started watching either "Oceans 11" or "Oceans 12" and lasted about 20 minutes into the movie before nearly becoming comatose. George Clooney is just not that good an actor.

I also don't care much about an actor's politics. George or anyone else is entitled to their opinion on anything. Just don't make "message" pictures that have the subtlety of a concrete block dropping form 5 stories up. I can almost hear a still, small voice at the beginning of such movies saying.."And now folks, since you're all so $#*&^$ dumb and impervious to the righteousness of my opinons, I'm going to hit you on the head with the message over and over."

Which is also why I don't much care for Kirk Cameron and his string of "Left Behind" religious pictures either.

One thing I'd like to mention about the "Ocean's" movies:

The first one ("11," loosely based on an old Rat Pack movie) was pretty fun, particularly with its assemblage of stars (Clooney, Pitt, Damon, and the biggest of the group, Julia Roberts) and reliance on the Vegas caper vibe of the original.

The second, "12," was a rather disastrous "star party" -- the kind of self-referential movie that sunk the careers of Sinatra in his Rat Pack days, Burt Reynolds and Arnold Schwarzenegger (remember when Arnold's fictional character met the "real" Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Last Action Hero," with Maria by his side?)

In "12," you never felt that Clooney or Pitt or anyone was "in character" in a narrative. They were slumming. Julia Roberts' fictional character impersonated JULIA ROBERTS. Worst: Clooney set numerous scenes at his palatial Italian castle, as if to say, "Nice place I got here. You like?"

"13" was a good comeback: back to Vegas, back to a caper, Julia out, Al Pacino in, etc. But it rather seemed like it was going through the motions, as if Clooney were NOW saying: "Here, here's my entertainment toss-off. See you next fall with my serious movie, Michael Clayton." At at the film's end Clooney and Pitt "broke character" to trade jabs on Clooney's weight gain for "Syrianna" and all of Brad's kids.

My point: Clooney really wants to make the serious stuff. His heart's not in "entertainment." Much. His "Ocean's" movies are in-jokes. Like Sinatra's original was, frankly.

I agree with those who have said that Mr. Clooney's political activism gets in the way of enjoying his movies, even if they were otherwise OK, which they may or may not be; I haven't seen this one. An actor is supposed to be playing a part, not just appearing on the screen as himself. A friend of mine pointed out once that an outstanding example is Sean Connery in the Indiana Jones / Holy Grail movie, and about the same time in the Hunt for Red October; he plays two very different people in those two movies, and in each one we see the character, not the actor, even though everyone knows Mr. Connery as soon as we see his face or hear his voice.

Mr. Clooney, OTOH, has chosen to be known as one of the liberal activists, the "blame America first" faction who can find all kinds of excuses for the people who want to murder us, but all kinds of reasons to hate America and everything we might try to do to defend ourselves. When we see Mr. Clooney's face, we are reminded of extremism such as the proposed UN resolution to put us all on notice that neither people nor nations have any right to defend themselves at all. As the old saying goes, his actions speak so loudly that we can't hear what he is saying, when we see him in a movie. When it takes a lot of hard work and time and money to go to a movie, let's not waste all that on an actor whose presence will just remind us of the nasty reality that we were hoping to escape for a while.