George Clooney was a journeyman TV actor until he became the initial breakout star from one of the best dramas in TV history: ER. The first five years of ER can stand against any drama, and Clooney’s departure signaled an end to the show’s best creative period. Despite nearly breaking Batman, Clooney quickly transitioned from standard box office fare to more cerebral dramas over which he has exerted more and more control as his career has progressed. Despite a slump over the last few years, Clooney’s resume has more than its share of outstanding films like Michael Clayton, Up in the Air, Goodnight and Good Luck, The Ocean’s Trilogy, The Ides of March, Syriana, and more. Clooney’s acting has improved enormously from his initial days on ER (during which he seemed to rely primarily on head bobbing and smiling) to powerful performances that have justly earned him critical acclaim. Half of his award nominations, though, are for his work behind the camera either as producer, director, or screenwriter. He’s at his best when dealing with complex, intelligent material and in control of as much of the process as possible, which can’t be said for many talents.
George Clooney’s 10 Best Movies
1. ER (1994-2009, NBC) Dr. Doug Ross
2. Michael Clayton (2007) Michael Clayton
3. Goodnight, and Good Luck (2005) Fred Friendly
4. Up in the Air (2009) Ryan Bingam
5. Gravity (2013) Matt Kowalski
6. The Ocean’s Trilogy (2001-2007) Danny Ocean
7. Out of Sight (1998) Jack Foley
8. The Ides of March (2011) Gov. Mike Morris
9. The Descendants (2013) Mike King
10. Syriana (2005) Bob Barnes
Honorable Mention: Burn After Reading (2008) Harry Pfarrer
Oscars, Golden Globes & Emmys
Oscar Wins (2): Syriana (2006), Argo (2013 – Producer)
Oscar Nominations (8): Goodnight and Good Luck (2006 – Screenplay, Director), Syriana (2006), Michael Clayton (2008), Up in the Air (2010), The Ides of March (2012 – Screenplay), The Descendants (2012), Argo (2013 – Producer)
Golden Globe Wins (4): O, Brother Where Art Thou (2001), Syriana (2006), The Descendants (2012), Cecil B. DeMille Award (2015)
Golden Globe Nominations (13): ER (1996-1998), O Brother Where Art Thou (2001), Good Night and Good Luck (2006 – Screenplay, Director), Syriana (2006), Michael Clayton (2008), Up in the Air (2010), The Ides of March (2012 – Screenplay, Director), The Descendants (2012), Cecil B. DeMille Award (2015)
Emmy Wins (1): Bob Hope Humanitarian Award (2010)
Emmy Nominations (4): ER (1995, 1996), Hope for Haiti (2010 – Producer), Bob Hope Humanitarian Award (2010)
My Favorite Clooney Scene:
“Michael Clayton vs. Karen Crowder” Michael Clayton (2007)
Next Film: Clooney is returning to his TV roots, starring and directing in an adaptation of Joseph Heller’s classic Catch-22 for Hulu that is scheduled to air sometime in 2019.
It has not been the most easiest of rides career-wise for this guy, but he made it happen. I always view Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and him as this perpetual trio of wannabes who made it happen with the effort. I am really happy to see ER as your number one. The film which probably made me look differently at Clooney was “Up in the Air”. The role just fitted him so well.
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Up in the Air, Michael Clayton and Goodnight and Good Luck are pretty much perfect so they are almost interchangeable on the list, but if you do 5 years, 109 episodes of work on what is still one of the best TV shows of all-time, that’s got to go to the head of the list. I love that he came back twice, though I really wish he’d been able to when Dr. Greene finally was allowed to die from the brain cancer he had for literally three seasons.
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My favourite Clooney performance was from Burn After Reading, the honourable mention. I’m not a big Clooney fan, but I loved him in that role.
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That was a great great character.
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O Brother Where Art Thou belongs on your list. The Coens have never matched (or even attempted) its painterly compositions in any of thier other movies, they took one of the cornerstones of western culture and used it to mythologize about the modern west in a highly inspired way, and they placed it all on a razor’s edge between ridiculousness and darkness, more effectively than in any of thier other movies. Plus one of the great soundtracks of all time.
Clooney is a class act, he says Batman taught him to only focus on scripts, and that’s what he’s done, he’s taken the high road and kudos to him.
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I meant, only focus on scripts when choosing roles. Gotta Lice him.
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Gotta love him. This is getting weird.
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I really liked it when you liced him long time lol.
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Aww, c’mon, the nips and crotch shots were the best part of his Batman! 😀
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Do not make me relive that experience. It was a dark knight. See what I did with that?
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Very suave! 🙂
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I am in many respects a fuzzy ginger Clooney. His natural coolness must be emanating from the article.
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i’m with Peter B- I haven’t seen a lot of his films, but O Brother Where Art Thou?, but has got to be my favourite performance of Clooney’s! always enjoy these lists though regardless- keep it up man 🙂
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Appreciate the kind words, and I shall indeed keep them coming (half of them will likely have to be updated next week after Infinity War), but as Peter knows I have a love/hate thing with the Coens and O Brother is not one of the ones I love, but I know people do, so I love that people comment with other films for the subject so I can backdoor even more than the 11 I already include for actors with a resume as good as Clooney’s.
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I think if there are two people on earth who love the work of the Coens across the board, and that’s a big if, those people must be George Clooney and Francis McDormand. The rest of us watch, say, A Serious Man, and wonder what exactly the Coens have against their fictional character, and their audience. But they never make bad films, it feels like sometimes they just set out to studiously alienate, and no one is immune. There is a Coen film to annoy everyone.
Thankfully the Coens are geniuses and a great many of thier films are crowd pleasing masterpieces.
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