Quote from: SiL on Apr 21, 2017, 03:06:36 PM
I see what you mean with it as a success, but it really was one of a string. It's more fondly remembered now than the others, but at the time, they were all hitting about the same marks financially and critically.
Sure - but only some still hit the mark today, critically.
Predator is one of the big ones.
QuoteHe's not about to starve if he doesn't act, you know?
Certainly not, which is why I admired him for taking on, say,
Maggie, which I still haven't seen but which seemed like a smaller genre picture where he could just act. That said he's still clearly focused on being the lead when and where he can, and I just don't think that's the be-all end-all. When he's taken recent studio pictures where he's leading, they've mostly all turned out bad or mediocre since he stopped being Governator. His best options for that right now are several pipe dreams - like
Crusade or
Wings for Eagles, neither of which is likely to ever happen, or
King Conan which will never be the same without the unfortunately-incapacitated John Milius - or a future Shane Black
Predator sequel, which definitely can and probably will happen, IMO.
We're in a significant age of both mega-franchising and micro-targeted nostalgia. I think Arnold's cameo in
The Predator ticks all the hottest boxes in that formula right now, and would poise him to do what Sly has begun to wisely do by hitching his star to Marvel as well as to key supporting roles in important new films. A lot of people think Sly was robbed of an Oscar for
Creed and I think they're right. You can't buy that with a leading role in a studio action picture today, at least not a standalone one like the ones he's been trying to do. I'm not saying that sort of
Creed prestige could ever be Arnold's, but I do think he would catch more heat - if that is what he wants - with the right material, even if it's not center spotlight. And I think that spotlight would still be on him in the eyes of audiences leaving the theater after this movie. Every question would be 'is Dutch starring in the sequel?'
QuoteDo you follow him on social media?
I don't, but I'm aware of his recent commentary on the Special Olympics and the POTUS, both of which made me very proud to be a fan. Arnold is not a saint, anyone who knows his history knows that, but I think he's a profoundly decent (if imperfect) man and a true American on many levels.