DVD Draft Creating Buzz

Friends, Romans, Countrymen of Sully's World,

The Sullivan-Gooley DVD Draft is approaching, and the buzz is already heating up. Dozens of readers have already expressed great anticipation of the draft, and many list-makers have sent me their own Top 10 via email, Facebook, and late-night phone calls. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, you can read the "Previewing the Next Project" article posted a couple weeks ago or follow the rules and guidelines listed below.

(First, I must give credit where credit's due, I thank The Sports Guy, Bill Simmons, for inspiring this draft. Many spin-off's are sure to follow (directors, producers, screenwriters, etc.), so I thank him for sparking the idea.)

The main purpose: choose an actor, and you receive his or her entire DVD collection. Who are your top 10, and why?

Disclaimers:
1. Cameos/appearances don't count. The actor must have at least a minor part in the film. Examples of what don't count: Alfred Hitchcock appearing in all of his films; Samuel L. Jackson after the credits in Iron Man; the guy who shows up as Annikan Skywalker at the end of the original Return of the Jedi.
2. While cameos/appearances don't count; minor roles DO count. There's a difference. Examples of minor roles that fit the bill: John C. Reilly in Gangs of New York; Matt Damon at the end of Finding Forrester; and Clive Owen as the assassin in The Bourne Supremacy.

Other than those disclaimers, it's fair game. You pick your 10, then be prepared to defend your answers. By taking in all roles of a movie career - not necessarily starring roles - this draft opens up the doors to so many actors who got the chance to play supporting roles in a ton of good movies; however not got the chance to carry a movie on their own. The best example of this: John Cazale. He was only in five films, so he probably won't make my list for an entire body of work; however, the five films he was in would make for a sick DVD collection (The Godfather, The Godfather Part 2, The Conversation, The Deer Hunter, and Dog Day Afternoon). While he may not make my Top 10, he's a solid top-30 pick ... not bad for five films.

To give you a model of a solid Top Ten, look no further than Aaron Wallace. Aaron's movie knowledge is legit, and he currently writes DVD reviews while attending Law School at Wake Forest. Listed below is a message he sent me through Facebook. What I love about his top ten is that he doesn't hesitate to take risks. Not every person in his top 10 is a blockbuster; and while Aaron admits a present-day bias for having grown up in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, he also includes a few actors with 40-year track records who have made an impact on 5 decades. So far this is the best list I've seen that I can use as a preview to the Sullivan-Gooley DVD Draft. Stay tuned!

#1 Tom Cruise

He's up first because, if you read Mike's earlier post announcing this draft, you know he's in high demand. I need only two words to make my case for Cruise: Top Gun. But while his Gen-X roles made him a star, it's his more recent work that makes him such an important draft choice. In between jumping on Oprah's couch and brainwashing Katie Holmes, he's found time to make some of this decade's best films, from the latter (and better) two entries in the Mission: Impossible saga to his persona-redefining turn in Tropic Thunder. He's been in two of Cameron Crowe's best movies (Jerry Maguire, Vanilla Sky) and one of Spielberg's best (Minority Report), and even one of Spielberg's weaker films that I STILL want on my shelf (War of the Worlds).

#2 Tom Hanks

Is there any DVD collection of 15 or more that doesn't have at least one Tom Hanks movie in it? There shouldn't be. In fact, you could have a collection of 15 DVDs, each of them starring Tom Hanks, and have a pretty strong roster. I'll name those 15 now: Splash, Big, A League of Their Own, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, Toy Story, That Thing You Do!, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story 2, The Green Mile, Catch Me If You Can, The Terminal, The Polar Express, and Charlie Wilson's War. And that's just scratching the surface. Granted, I might think it's a little weird if the only movies you own all star Tom Hanks, but you'd earn mandatory respect nonetheless.

#3 Will Smith

I can't begin to appraise the worth of a Will Smith DVD collection without first noting that it would include all six seasons (once they're released) of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", which makes him a pretty essential draft pick in and of itself. We needn't turn to TV (or rap) to find Smith's real value, though. Men in Black, Independence Day, and Bad Boys are staples of any movie library, the titles that made him the King of the 1990s Action/Comedy. Those films' sequels (well, there's no ID4-2 yet) are pretty worthwhile too. And I don't care how bad it supposedly is, I love watching Wild, Wild West. Will Smith has got to be the only rapping comedy star whose biggest crowd pleasers are sci-fi flicks. I, Robot is probably the best contemporary "Frankenstein" film and while I Am Legend is kind of narratively muddled, you've got to have the Blu-ray disc if you've gone hi-def because the transfer is out of this world. One of my favorite Will Smith movies finds the young actor going for nothing but laughs in the oft-forgotten Made in America. I want to be sure I own that one so I can loan it out to others who'll be seeing it for the first time.

#4 Johnny Depp

Steven Spielberg is probably the greatest director to ever live, and Orson Welles or Billy Wilder might have been the best, but Tim Burton is my favorite. Naturally, then, I'll be needing Johnny Depp's complete filmography. Edward Scissorhands. Ed Wood. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. These unforgettably showcase the considerable talent of both men, and then there is arguably their mutual career best: Sweeney Todd. Unlike Burton, though, Depp hasn't been so relentlessly dark. His versatility shines through in his movie collection, from the quirky (Benny & Joon) to the charming (Chocolat) to the imaginative (Finding Neverland) to the badass (Jack Sparrow, savvy?). In addition to all these, drafting Johnny gets you a whole host of crazy little film ventures on the side for your diversifying pleasure.

#5 Humphrey Bogart

He played Rick in Casablanca. I don't feel the least bit compelled to justify this pick with anything else. Just for fun, though, I will. While most stars of the classic era have only one or two enduring films to their credit, at least a third of Bogart's work ranks among the indisputably greatest movies ever made. The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and The African Queen are but a few, and each among my favorites. Casablanca aside, though, I'd be most excited about bringing home his extensive film noir work, classics like The Big Sleep and In a Lonely Place included.

#6 Morgan Freeman

I think an all-day Morgan Freeman marathon would be some sort of inspiration overdose. Listening to that voice all day long, the one that makes you believe him even when he's the bad guy, would have me jacked up on enough purpose and good intentions to qualify me for a Nobel Peace Prize. His career is essentially comprised of variations on "the magic negro," but nobody plays the part like him. Driving Miss Daisy, Unforgiven, The Shawshank Redemption, Bruce Almighty, The Dark Knight... the man can drive you out of prison in a Batmobile he made from scratch, speaking with the voice of God along the way. What more could you ask for?

#7 Jack Nicholson

Heath Ledger gave one of the most celebrated performances of all time as The Joker and still the best that can be said is that Ledger's Joker is "different" from -- not better than -- Jack Nicholson's. No actor has intrigued me or freaked me out as consistently as Nicholson, in all-time greats like Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Witches of Eastwick, The Departed, and perhaps my favorite (but certainly not the best) Kubrick film, The Shining. I also give major props to Anger Management, in which Nicholson explores the funny side of crazy for a change.

#8 Dustin Hoffman

With Dustin Hoffman, you get at least two defining films from each of the last five decades. From the '60s: Midnight Cowboy and The Graduate. From the '70s: All the President's Men and Kramer vs. Kramer. From the '80s: Tootsie and Rain Man. From the '90s: Dick Tracy and Hook. From this decade: Finding Neverland and I Heart Huckabees (which may not be altogether definitive but it is nevertheless excellent). The greatest of these is, of course, The Graduate, a movie you are simply required to have in your collection -- so, case closed. Hoffman also gets you fun, if less prestigious, movies like Agatha and Sphere.

#9 Leonardo DiCaprio

Now before you roll your eyes, let me remind you that he graduated from his "teen heartthrob" stigma ten years ago -- and even when he was in the middle of it, he was acting with more skill than any other in his ilk (not to mention headlining the most successful movie of all time). From the "Leo" era, The Basketball Diaries, Romeo + Juliet, Marvin's Room, and The Man in the Iron Mask are all strong films in their own right. From grown-up DiCaprio, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs of New York, The Aviator, Blood Diamond, The Departed, and Revolutionary Road have each been heralded with tremendous acclaim. And then, of course, there's Titanic. Added bonus: "Growing Pains".

#10 Ben Stiller - I really only needed to see four Ben Stiller movies to know that I'd want to draft him: Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Night at the Museum, and Tropic Thunder. He has so many others to supplement that hilarious line-up, though: Heavyweights, Mystery Men, There's Something About Mary, Starsky & Hutch, Keeping the Faith, and the list goes on. If it counts as more than a cameo, I get Happy Gilmore too, which makes me feel a lot better about choosing Stiller over Sandler.