So the cast for the new Star Wars movies has been finalized. All that talk about “fresh faces” and “unknowns” turned out to be bunk. The big nationwide casting call was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Am I excited about another spate of Star Wars movies? No. Absolutely not. See my blog on Knowing When to Quit.

On the other hand, I’m delighted to see Oscar Isaac breaking out. I first noticed Oscar Isaac in the movie Drive, with Ryan Gosling. Ryan is one of those interesting actors who makes interesting decisions in interesting movies. I’ll see anything that Ryan Gosling is in. Hell, I sat through Only God Forgives and The Slaughter Rule, both of which were train wrecks. In that same vein, Drive is a divider of people. You love it or you hate it. I love it, but then again I caught onto the fact that it was the Scorpion and the Frog allegory early. I think a lot of people missed that.

And the minute Oscar Isaac showed up in Drive, he was mesmerizing. Dangerous. A pressurized can of Whup Ass that had been placed in a paint shaker as a joke; a joke that was no longer funny.

Similarly so as his turn as a baddy in The Bourne Legacy.

He could not have been more NOT that character in Inside Llewyn Davis. Not a fan of the movie as a whole, but Oscar Issac kept me watching. He did the best he could with the atmospheric script the Coen brothers gave him. Again, an interesting guy making interesting choices in interesting films.

And besides that, he looks like a human G.I. Joe.

My list of actors whom inspire me to see any film they are in is short.

• Gene Hackman (retired).
• Bradley Cooper
• Ryan Gosling
• Carey Mulligan
• Oscar Isaac
• RDJr
• Gemma Arterton
• Joseph Gordon-Levit
• Jennifer Lawrence

Aaaaand… Go ahead and laugh. Mark Wahlberg. Marky Mark. I don’t know why, but I’m marginally queer for that tough-dumb guy personae of his. He cracks me up. I want to be that guy. I’m sure my wife would not object, if only for the first forty minutes. After that, the conversational lulls might get tedious.

Who is on your short list of “Actors I’ll Watch, Even if I Know It’s a Bad Movie?”

Weigh in. Not sure why you guys will talk to me on Facebook, but not here. Show my agent that I’m not really a loner. Use the comments section. Who is your go-to celeb?

Word to ya muthah.