ShareThisThere's good Clooney and there's bad Clooney. George Clooney is often the very definition of cool -- he can speak volumes with a raised eyebrow or sideways glance -- but sometimes can be so cloyingly self-aware. Where his newest film, "Leatherheads," fits in remains to be seen.Good Clooney"Michael Clayton" (2007)The final shot of this film, with Clooney's frazzled corporate-fixer character sitting in the back of the cab looking on after a long, hard go-round, is already approaching legendary status. Clooney picked up a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar nomination for a dynamic performance."Syriana" (2005)Clooney picked up a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this near-comprehensive look at the relationship among terrorism, oil and American foreign policy. He put on weight and wore some facial hair, showing some real range."From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996)Some deride this vampire/crime film mash-up as schlock, but it's one of my favorite movies. Clooney plays a slick shyster who kidnaps a family, takes it to Mexico and finds himself joining with it in an all-out battle against creatures of the night."Good Night, and Good Luck" (2005)Clooney co-wrote and directed this superb black-and-white look at Edward R. Murrow's standoff with Sen. Joseph McCarthy. Clooney plays a small but effective supporting role as news exec Fred Friendly."Three Kings" (1999)In one of the few movies based on the Gulf War, Clooney plays one of four soldiers on the hunt for stolen gold that was taken from Kuwait. It was one of the first performances that showed Clooney had vast potential as a serious actor.Bad Clooney"Batman & Robin" (1997)Clooney's campy Batman made Adam West's rendition of the Caped Crusader look like Laurence Olivier by comparison. This unwatchable movie is a blight not only on moviedom, but on mankind as a whole."Ocean's Twelve" (2004)"Just stop." It's a phrase I mentally blasted at the screen throughout the awful caper film, willing it to halt in its self-obsessed tracks, but my hatred only made the experience take longer. "Ocean's Thirteen" was at least blandly disappointing, an infinite improvement over this mess."The Perfect Storm" (2000)It's not that the movie was awful, just mediocre. The real problem with the film is how it introduced an overused catchall phrase into the lexicon. Now everything is "the perfect storm of this" and "the perfect storm of that.""The Peacemaker" (1997)There's a reason Clooney and Nicole Kidman aren't about to make "The Peacemaker 5" together right now. There's little chemistry between Clooney as an Army colonel and Kidman as a civilian who's looking after him."Return of the Killer Tomatoes!" (1988)Sure, it's sort of a cheap shot to knock a brother for what he does early on in his career when he's just trying to get by, but c'mon, George. Wouldn't it have been better to munch on Ramen rather than resort to this?(Phil Villarreal is the author of the novel "Stormin' Mormon" (Publish America, $19.95). Contact him at pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
George Clooney's performances through the years
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