Over on Spoutblog, Cinematicalite and Spoutster Christopher Campbell has a couple of entertaining posts up detailing the five best and worst directorial sellouts of all time. From Francis Ford Coppolla's The Godfather and The Godfather 2 (Best) to Alien Resurrection (Worst), Campbell breaks down the whys and wherefores of his thoughts on these directorial missteps. Go take a look at what he has to say about the worst of the best and the best of the worst, and then let us know what you agree with -- or don't.

As a coda to these best and worst directorial sellouts lists, it would be interesting to see Christopher do the obvious follow-up -- the best and worst sellouts by otherwise respectable actors and actresses.


Robin Williams in Patch Adams (lordy, how I do despise that film) comes to mind, and I'm still not sold on Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk (mainly because I'm just not convinced that it will ever be possible to do a good film about that character). Then we have Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks! and, some might say, the ultra sap-fest The Bucket List. Johnny Depp, whether he goes for the indie magic or the box office bang, seems to do no wrong -- his career certainly hasn't been slayed by playing a pirate with bad personal hygiene habits in the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

On the female side of the equation, I can think of a few dips into the box office pool that ended up not being career-killers: Keira Knightley in the Pirates franchise, Glenn Close taking a turn as Cruella DeVil in the live version of 101 Dalmatians, and Meryl Streep's delicous take on the super-bitch in The Devil Wears Prada. Natalie Portman's role in the Star Wars franchise, in my book, is a career low for her (Oh, that dreadfully wooden dialog! -- Let's not forget, she was in Mars Attacks! too), but then I still consider The Professional to be her best role ever. And am I the only one who finds her and Keira Knightley almost interchangeable? I have a theory that they're really the same person ... or twins separated at birth.

What do you think are the best and worst sellout performances ever? Discuss away, I know you have plenty of opinions to share ...