Year 14 Wrap-Up / Year 15 Preview

It's been a quiet week, here at the closing of the year.  We didn't go anywhere for Christmas, just stayed in and made lasagna, like we did the last two years. I guess we got used to that during the pandemic, it's a bit hard to go back to the family celebration, especially when my parents aren't living in their house any more, and my Mom's been in the hospital since Thanksgiving.  This way my wife and I avoided all the fuss and the driving and just spent time at home, and just yesterday we drove out to an outlet mall on Long Island and shopped together for each other's gifts.  The mall was much quieter, and this way we don't buy each other something we don't want or don't need, it's very progressive. And lazy. 

The movie theater where I work part-time is closed for the mid-semester holiday break, which meant I've only been working one job - but I need a lot of free time at the end of the year just to count up my stats and do the prep work for Movie Year 15.  I don't know anyone else who plans out their movie watching three months in advance, sure, you might say, "Hey, that new Marvel movie is coming out in 3 months, I should definitely go and see it..." but it's doubtful that you'd plan that trip down to the DAY so far in advance, unless you're planning to see it on opening night.  But more about my upcoming plans at the end of this post. First I've got to count up my format stats, give out some year-end awards and then post the name of every actor, actress and documentary subject who appeared in more than three of my movies this time around. 

First, December's stats: 

4 Movies watched on cable (saved to DVD): Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, The War with Grandpa, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, Last Christmas

0 Movies watched on cable (not saved): 

1 watched on Netflix: True Memoirs of an International Assassin

1 watched on iTunes: Lassiter
2 watched on Amazon Prime: An Accidental Studio, The Hundred-Foot Journey

2 watched on HBO MAX: Mona Lisa, Withnail & I

10 TOTAL

And here's how all the movies I watched in 2022 were watched: 

103 Movies watched on cable (saved to DVD)

59 Movies watched on cable (not saved)

51 watched on Netflix

3 watched on Academy screeners (OK, the Academy web-site, same thing)
8 watched on iTunes
18 watched on Amazon Prime
15 watched on Hulu
4 watched on YouTube
14 watched on Disney+
4 watched on Tubi:

2 watched on Pluto TV

6 watched on HBO MAX
8 watched in theaters

1 watched on Apple + TV (just sign up, watch what you want and then CANCEL immediately!!)
1 watched on Peacock

1 watched on Roku TV

0 watched on commercial DVD
2 watched on random sites
300 TOTAL

Hey, shout out to Hulu, because they showed me last year's Oscar Winner, plus the weirdest Nic Cage movies, "Cryptozoo" and the documentary about the Amazing Johnathan. I don't think I could have completed this wacky year without the Hulu account. YouTube had the doc about "The Automat", which was almost as important.

But half of my movies are still coming in via cable, that's what I needed to know to justify THAT expense.  And 1/6 of my movies were on the Netflix, that's significant. The formats in the next tier down - Amazon, Hulu and Disney - are holding their own, and the rest are the platforms I use when a movie has scrolled off the main services, and I pick it up on the iTunes or YouTube out of necessity - so if I take too long to watch a film on Netflix, I'll end up paying for it, unless it just goes to Tubi or Pluto or Peacock.  

OK, let's get to some awards.  I'll start with the same categories as last year, and then I'll alter them as I see fit.  This year I don't have a "BEST PICTURE" winner because there was NO clear favorite. So instead I'll be trendy like Obama and list my top films of the year, in NO particular order, except alphabetical:

"The Batman", "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", "The King's Man", "Love and Monsters", "Red Notice" and "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story".  Yeah, so SPOILER ALERT, these films will probably be winning most of my awards, they all scored an "8" on my non-sliding scale.

Well, then, this should be easy - first category is BEST SUPERHERO OR COMIC BOOK MOVIE.  It's a large field, though, the contenders are: 

'Spider-Man: No Way Home" - Marvel, from January

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" - Marvel, from January

"The Batman" - DC, from April

"Encanto" - from April (everybody in the family has super-powers, prove me wrong...)

"The King's Man" - based on the "Kingsman" Icon Comics, from May

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage" - Marvel, from June

"Eternals" - Marvel, from June

"Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" - Marvel, from June

"Thor: Love and Thunder" - Marvel, from August

"Fast Color" - from September

"Minions: The Rise of Gru" - (OK, supervillains count...) from September

"Morbius" - Marvel, from September

And the WINNERS are "The Batman" and "Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", which both scored 8s.  Yeah, I'd watch both of those again, so the system WORKS!

Next up is BEST TIME TRAVEL MOVIE.  Not a lot of contenders this year, I watched EIGHT movies on this topic in 2021.  This year there's:

"The Tomorrow War"

"Boss Level" (a riff on "Groundhog Day")

"The Adam Project"

"Freejack"

"Lightyear" (because at some point, space travel becomes time travel...)

"Last Night in Soho"

"Don't Let Go" (a riff on "Frequency")

Damn, another tie, between "The Adam Project" and "Lightyear", which both scored 7's. 

Then there's BEST SCI-FI/FANTASY MOVIE (NON-SUPERHERO, NON-TIME TRAVEL), we've got:

"Cosmic Sin"

"Dune" (2021)

'How to Talk to Girls at Parties" (I know, the title is misleading, I thought it was a romance film.)

"Free Guy"

"Geostorm"

"Gamer"

"Voyagers"

"Jupiter Ascending"

"Jurassic World Dominion"

ANOTHER tie for First Place, between "Dune" and "Free Guy" - who knew?

BEST FANTASY FILM: 

"Cryptozoo"

"Artemis Fowl"

"The Nutcracker and the Four Realms"

NOPE, no winners here.  Not gonna do it. Game called on account of suckage. 

BEST ALIEN INVASION, ROBOT TAKEOVER or APOCALYPTIC FILM: 

"The Tomorrow Man"

"The Humanity Bureau"

"Robot & Frank"

"Greenland"

"How It Ends"

"The Mitchells vs. the Machines"

"Ron's Gone Wrong"

"Reminiscence"

"A Quiet Place Part II"

"Freejack"

"Love and Monsters"

"The Matrix Resurrections"

"Don't Look Up"

WINNER: "Love and Monsters", if I allow this one in every category, it's going to just win...

BEST CLONE/DOPPELGANGER TAKE-OVER (or not) film:

WINNER: "Swan Song"

RUNNER-UPS: "Never Let Me Go", "Us"

BEST MONSTER MOVIE: 

WINNER: "Love and Monsters"

RUNNER-UPS: "Hotel Transylvania 4", "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie", "The Witches" (2020), "Colossal", "Underwater", 

BEST ANIMATED FILM: 
WINNERS: "Encanto", "Luca", "The Bad Guys", "Lightyear", "Sing 2", "The Bob's Burgers Movie"

RUNNER-UPS: "The Croods: A New Age", "Vivo", "The MItchells vs. the Machines", "Ron's Gone Wrong", 

ALSO-RANS: "My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea", "Cryptozoo", "Raya and the Last Dragon", "Tom & Jerry", "The Addams Family 2", "Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania"

BEST REMAKE or REBOOT:
WINNER: "The Batman", duh

RUNNER-UPS: "Mulan" (2019), "Dune" (2021), "Walking Tall" (2004), "West Side Story" (2021), "Death on the Nile" (2022), "Carrie" (2013), "The Amityville Horror" (2005), "The Witches" (2020), "The Invisible Man" (2020), "Candyman" (2021)

BEST PREQUEL or SEQUEL:
WINNERS: "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", "The King's Man"

RUNNER-UPS: "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny", "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", "A Quiet Place Part II", "Cruella", "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", "Jurassic World: Dominion", "Thor: Love and Thunder", "The Many Saints of Newark", "Sing 2", "Death on the Nile", "Minions: The Rise of Gru", "The First Purge", "The Purge: Anarchy", "The Purge: Election Year"

ALSO-RANS: "Escape Plan 2: Hades", "Escape Plan: The Extractors", "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "Hotel Transylvania 4", "The Addams Family 2", "The Matrix Resurrections"

BEST ADAPTATION OF A DISNEY THEME PARK ATTRACTION: 

WINNER: "Jungle Cruise"

RUNNER-UP: "Muppets Haunted Mansion"

BEST MOVIE ABOUT SPIES, ASSASSINS OR GOVERNMENT AGENTS: 

WINNERS: "Red Notice", "The King's Man"

RUNNER-UPS: "A Most Wanted Man", "Extraction", "The Cold Light of Day", "My Spy", "Colombiana", "Ava", "Judas and the Black Messiah", "The Mauritanian", "The Courier", "The Gunman"

ALSO-RANS: "Red Joan", "True Memoirs of an International Assassin"

BEST MOVIE ABOUT SERIAL KILLERS, VIGILANTES OR HIT-MEN:

WINNERS: "The Boondock Saints", "Promising Young Woman"

RUNNER-UPS: "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day", "The Replacement Killers", "Gunpowder Milkshake", "The Frozen Ground", "A Score to Settle", "Bangkok Dangerous", "Eye for an Eye", "The Little Things", "Term Life", "Charlie Says", "Last Night in Soho", "Sweet Girl", "Disturbia

ALSO-RANS: "Hard Kill", "Hitman's WIfe's Bodyguard", "Identity"

BEST MOVIE ABOUT BANK ROBBERS, SMUGGLERS, KIDNAPPERS, or MOBSTERS:

WINNERS: "The Bad Guys", "Hit and Run"

RUNNER-UPS: "Setup", "Pig", "Man on a Ledge", "Message from the King", "Snitch", "Walking Tall" (2004), "Welcome to the Punch", "Windfall", "Dirty Pretty Things", "The Many Saints of Newark"

ALSO-RANS: "Reprisal", "First Kill", "Acts of Violence", "Cellular", "Running With the Devil", "Empire State", "After the Sunset"

BEST MOVIE ABOUT CON ARTISTS, HUSTLERS or SEX WORKERS: 

WINNER: "For a Good Time, Call..."

RUNNER-UPS: "Memoirs of a Geisha", 'Breaking News in Yuba County", "Eating Raoul", "Mona Lisa"

ALSO-RANS: "Kajillionaire"

BEST MURDER MYSTERY: 

WINNER: "The Batman"

RUNNER-UPS: "The Frozen Ground", "Child 44", "Dirty Pretty Things", "Adrienne", "The LIttle Things", "Death on the Nile", "Last Night in Soho", "Don't Let Go", "Lizzie"

BEST MOVIE ABOUT NAZIS and/or WORLD WAR II:

WINNERS: "The Gathering Storm", "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells"

RUNNER-UPS: "Jungle Cruise", "Resistance", "Zoo", "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", "Into the Storm", "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day", "Their Finest", "Operation Mincemeat", "The Aftermath", "Six Minutes to Midnight", 

ALSO-RANS: "The Good German", "Lassiter"

BEST ASIAN ACTION MOVIE: 

WINNER: "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings"

RUNNER-UPS: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny", "Mulan" (2020), "The Replacement Killers", "The Man with the Iron Fists", 

ALSO-RANS: "Raya and the Last Dragon", "Bangkok Dangerous", 

BEST WESTERN: 

WINNERS: "The Power of the Dog", "The Harder They Fall"

BEST SPORTS MOVIE: 

WINNER: "King Richard" (tennis)

RUNNER-UPS: "Shall We Dance?" (ballroom dancing, it's a sport), "The Turkey Bowl" (football), "The Game of Their Lives" (soccer), "The Phenom" (baseball), 

ALSO RANS: "Gamer" (video-games with live convicts)

BEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MUSICIANS or RADIO STATIONS:

WINNERS: "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", 

RUNNER-UPS: "Neil Young: Heart of Gold", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "The Velvet Underground", "Bitchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road", "Summer of Soul", "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "Listening to Kenny G", "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Count Me In", 

ALSO-RANS: "The Sparks Brothers", "Jagged", 

BEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ACTORS or COMEDIANS or FILM MAKERS:

WINNERS: "George Carlin's American Dream", "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "An Accidental Studio"

RUNNER-UPS: "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Becoming Cousteau", "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "Lucy and Desi", "Adrienne", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop", "Mr. Saturday Night", 

ALSO-RANS: "Can We Take a Joke?" "Mel Brooks: Unwrapped"

BEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT MEMBERS OF "THE RAT PACK" or JERRY LEWIS:

WINNER: "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

RUNNER-UPS: "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown", 

ALSO-RAN: "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road"

BEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT POLITICIANS: 

WINNERS: "Running With Beto", "Mayor Pete"

BEST DOCUMENTARY ABOUT CHEFS OR RESTAURANTS:

WINNER: "We Feed People"

RUNNER-UPS: "The Automat", "Julia", "Wolfgang", "Roadrunner: A Film about Anthony Bourdain"

BEST COMPLETELY FICTIONAL BIO-PIC ABOUT A MUSICIAN and/or COMEDIAN:

WINNER: "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story". '

BEST SLACKER ADVENTURE: 

WINNER: "Hit and Run"

RUNNER-UPS: "Nomadland", "The Farewell", "In the Heights", "Happy-Go-Lucky", "Tick, Tick...Boom!", "Concrete Cowboy"

BEST MOVIE ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL OR COLLEGE: 

WINNERS: "Not Another Teen Movie", "Ma"

RUNNER-UPS: "An Education", "Legally Blonde", "Carrie" (2013), "Down to You"

ALSO-RANS: "A Rainy Day in New York", "Take Me Home Tonight", "She's All That", "Get Over It", "The Rules of Attraction", "My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea", "Igby Goes Down", "Rock 'n' Roll High School"

BEST BIO-PIC (Pre-WW2):

WINNER: "Einstein and Eddington"

RUNNER-UPS: "Effie Gray". "Tesla", "Carrington", "Mank", "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain", "Lizzie"

BEST BIO-PIC (Post-WW2):

WINNERS: "Being the Ricardos", "Resistance"

RUNNER-UPS: "House of Gucci", "The Two Popes", "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"

BEST ROMANCE (OLD PERSON EDITION):

WINNER: "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells"

RUNNER-UPS: "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "Robot & Frank", "The Tomorrow Man", "Iris", "The Love Letter"

BEST ROMANCE (LGBTQ EDITION):

WINNERS: "The Power of the Dog", Withnail and I", "Mona Lisa"

RUNNER-UPS: "Carrington", "The Normal Heart", "Ammonite", "Lizzie", "Friendsgiving", 

BEST ROMANCE (CLASSIC LIT EDITION): 

WINNER: "Mansfield Park"

RUNNER-UPS: "An Ideal Husband", "Wuthering Heights" (1992), 

BEST ROMANCE (ENSEMBLE EDITION): 

WINNER: "Shall We Dance?"

RUNNER-UPS: "Berlin, I Love You", "A Rainy Day in New York", "Romance & Cigarettes"

BEST ROMANCE (IT'S COMPLICATED EDITION): 

WINNERS: "Last Christmas", "Thor: Love and Thunder", "Hit and Run", "A.C.O.D."

RUNNER-UPS: "Nomadland", "West SIde Story" (2021), "The Diary of a Teenage Girl", "Carrie Pilby", "Feast of Love", "The Starling", "A Walk on the Moon", "The Aftermath", "You Again", ALSO-RANS: "Infinitely Polar Bear", "Walk of Shame", "Some Kind of Beautiful", "Miss Julie"

BEST BLACK HISTORY FILM:

WINNERS: "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

RUNNER-UPS: "Judas and the Black Messiah", "Bitchin: The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Summer of Soul", "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom", "Cry Freedom", 

BEST FILM WHERE REALITY DOESN'T MATTER (OR DOES IT?)

WINNER: "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"

RUNNER-UPS: "Free Guy", "Last Christmas", "Last Night in Soho", "Sweet Girl", "The Father", 

ALSO-RANS: "Identity", "The Matrix Resurrections", "Cryptozoo", "Reminiscence", "Between Worlds"

BEST MOVIE WATCHED THAT'S BEEN ON MY LIST FOR YEARS:

WINNER: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"

RUNNER-UPS: "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie", "Eye for an Eye", "Lassiter", "The Love Letter", "Freejack"

Um, yeah, so I think maybe 2022 was just an excuse to get THOSE 6 movies off my list.  I stand accused of that, but I'll own it. Anyway, I'm exhausted from going through my list over and over and giving out awards, so let's get to the list of the people who had the most appearances. 

By now you should know how this works, I include all people who are actors and all people who appeared as themselves in documentaries, even if that was in archive footage (not filmed or interviewed specifically for that film).  And I include VOICE appearances too, because of animated films, so that means archive sound counts too, only I don't count singers who only appeared vocally in music.  In other words, if a film licenses an Elton John song, that doesn't count as an "appearance" by Elton John.  My rules, OK?  Otherwise the Beatles and Rolling Stones would win this every year, and they're often at the top of my charts anyway.  

What type of person does well on this list?  Well, the Beatles and Stones do well when I watch a lot of rockumentaries, because you just can't make a rock doc without name-checking them.  But talk-show hosts and newscasters also tend to do well, because so many docs use footage of their subjects being interviewed by Johnny Carson, Dave Letterman, Kimmel, Fallon, even Dick Cavett or Ed Sullivan if they go back that far.  U.S. Presidents also tend to do very well, because using footage of them immediately sets the stage in a documentary or fiction film - plus, you know, they did all that notable stuff.  

Character actors also seem to do quite well - while this year Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and George Clooney failed to chart.  Not my problem.  Seven cast members from "The French Dispatch" made the list, so you guys should have made better choices.  Humphrey Bogart and Harpo Marx made the list, and they're quite dead. Just saying.  It only takes THREE appearances to make the list, so really, that's not a lot. Anybody in a franchise like "The Purge" has a clear shot if they just come back for another movie.  Frances McDormand was the first one to make the list this year, and Rob Delaney was the last, with an appearance in my final film, "Last Christmas". Anyone I use as a link is already 2/3 of the way there, so those people just have to pop up ONE more time, how hard is that? Or, you know, just be Anthony Hopkins or Mick Jagger or something, for them it's easy. So here goes:

With 12 appearances: 

Ronald Reagan - "Berlin, I Love You", "Take Me Home Tonight", "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Becoming Cousteau", "Lucy and Desi", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

I tried to avoid this, I really did.  But Reagan KEPT popping up in everything, whether as the governor of Calfornia or as president of SAG back in the day, or you know, that time in the 80's when he was our commander-in-chief.  I really tried to make this Nicolas Cage's year, but Ronnie just would NOT let that happen.  

With 11 appearances: 

Johnny Carson - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Lucy and Desi", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Julia", "Wolfgang", "Listening to Kenny G", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

See, talk show hosts, what did I tell you?  And Carson was their king for a long time, simply EVERYBODY appeared on his show at some point, and every documentary about everybody just needs to use that footage.  And it's all very useable, apparently.

With 10 appearances:

Nicolas Cage - "The Frozen Ground", "The Croods 2: A New Age", "Running with the Devil", "A Score to Settle", "Bangkok Dangerous", "The Humanity Bureau", "Between Worlds", "Prisoners of the Ghostland", "Willy's Wonderland", "Pig"

This year's King of the Actors is Nicolas Cage, I suffered through so many non-starter films where he played a rogue cop or a drug smuggler, but then again, he's got range - he also played a truck driver, a prehistoric father, a truffle hunter, and best of all, a drifter who was secretly a demon-hunter who battled animatronic restaurant mascots and never said a word while doing that. Kudos, Mr. Cage, I'm sorry that I didn't get to "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent", but hey, there's always next year, and that one's on my list. Congrats on beating out Bruce Willis by ONE FILM.

9 appearances:

John Lennon - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "The Sparks Brothers", "George Carlin's American Dream", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Mr. Saturday Night",  "An Accidental Studio"

Ryan Reynolds - "Free Guy", "Red Notice", "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", "The Adam Project", "The Croods 2: A New Age", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed", "The Amityville Horror" (2005), "The Nines"

Frank Sinatra - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "The Many Saints of Newark"

Bruce Willis - "Cosmic Sin", "Reprisal", "First Kill", "Hard Kill", "Extraction" (2015), "The Cold Light of Day", "Acts of Violence", "Setup", "Fire With Fire"

8 appearances: 

Dick Cavett - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown", "Becoming Cousteau", "Lucy and Desi",  "Julia", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"'

Walter Cronkite - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "George Carlin's American Dream", "The Velvet Underground", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Becoming Cousteau", "Summer of Soul", "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"

Sammy Davis Jr. - "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Lucy and Desi",   "Listening to Kenny G"

Mick Jagger - "Freejack", "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "The Sparks Brothers", "The Velvet Underground", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Jimmy Kimmel - "Down to You", "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Can We Take a Joke?" "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Listening to Kenny G"

David Letterman - "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "Jagged", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "We Feed People", "Julia", "Wolfgang",   "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain"

Paul McCartney - "The Sparks Brothers", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road", "Count Me In", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story", "An Accidental Studio"

Susan Sarandon - "Romance & Cigarettes", "Elizabethtown", "Shall We Dance?", "Robot & Frank", "My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea", "Igby Goes Down", "Snitch", "Jagged"

Michelle Yeoh - "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny", "Gunpowder Milkshake", "Boss Level", "Minions: The Rise of Gru", "Last Christmas"

7 appearances: 

Benedict Cumberbatch - "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "The Power of the Dog", "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness", "Stuart: A Life Backwards", "The Mauritanian", "The Courier", "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain"

Dwayne Johnson - "You Again", "Free Guy", "Red Notice", "Snitch", "Empire State", "Walking Tall" (2004), "Jungle Cruise"

John F. Kennedy - "Berlin, I Love You", "The Courier", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Julia", "Summer of Soul"

Martin Luther King - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street", "Summer of Soul"

Dean Martin - "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Alfred Molina - "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "An Education", "Promising Young Woman", "Message from the King", "The Normal Heart", "Don't Let Go", "Identity"

Richard Nixon - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "George Carlin's American Dream", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street", "Summer of Soul"

Tyler Jon Olson - "Boss Level", "Reprisal", "First Kill", "Hard Kill", "Extraction" (2015), "Escape Plan 2: Hades", "Escape Plan: The Extractors"

Ringo Starr - "The Sparks Brothers", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In", "Mr. Saturday Night", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie",  "An Accidental Studio"

Ed Sullivan - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Count Me In", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Lucy and Desi", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

Donald Trump - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Can We Take a Joke?", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "We Feed People", "Mayor Pete", "Running With Beto"

6 appearances:

Awkwafina - "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", "The Farewell", "Breaking News in Yuba County", "Swan Song", "The Bad Guys", "Raya and the Last Dragon"

Dave Bautista - "Escape Plan 2: Hades",  "Escape Plan: The Extractors", "My Spy", "The Man with the Iron Fists", "Dune" (2021), "Thor: Love and Thunder"

David Bowie - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "The Velvet Underground", "WBCN and the American Revolution", 

"Jagged", "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Carol Burnett - "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Becoming Cousteau", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Lucy and Desi"

Stephen Colbert - "Can We Take a Joke?", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed", "Mayor Pete", "Running With Beto", "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop"

Merv Griffin - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Listening to Kenny G"

Frank Grillo - "Boss Level", "Cosmic Sin", "Reprisal", "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", "The Purge: Anarchy", "The Purge: Election Year"

George Harrison - "The Sparks Brothers", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In", "Mr. Saturday Night", "An Accidental Studio"

Salma Hayek - "House of Gucci", "Some Kind of Beautiful", "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", "After the Sunset", "The Hummingbird Project", "Eternals"

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson - "Setup", "Fire With Fire", "The Frozen Ground", "Freelancers", "Escape Plan 2: Hades", "Escape Plan: The Extractors"

Larry King - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Listening to Kenny G"

Bette Midler - "George Carlin's American Dream", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Lucy and Desi", "Wolfgang", "The Addams Family 2"

Lin-Manuel Miranda - "In the Heights", "Vivo", "Tick, Tick...Boom!", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Summer of Soul", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Joan Rivers - "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Lucy and Desi", "Wolfgang", "Listening to Kenny G"

Peter Sarsgaard - "An Education", "Human Capital", "The Batman", "Robot & Frank", "The Lost Daughter", "The Guilty"

Liev Schreiber - "The French Dispatch", "A Rainy Day in New York", "Walking and Talking", "A Walk on the Moon", "Human Capital", "Don't Look Up"

Elizabeth Taylor - "The Lost Daughter", "The Automat", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"

Emma Thompson - "Carrington", "Effie Gray", "An Education", "How to Build a Girl", "Cruella", "Last Christmas"  

Penelope Wilton - "Iris", "Carrington", "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", "Zoo", "Operation Mincemeat", "Cry Freedom"

5 appearances: 

Marlon Brando - "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain"

Jim Broadbent - "Iris", "Six Minutes to Midnight", "The Gathering Storm", "Einstein and Eddington", "An Accidental Studio"

Tom Brokaw - "Empire State", "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Wolfgang", "Driven"

Clifton Collins Jr. - "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day", "The Replacement Killers", "The Rules of Attraction", "Running with the Devil", "Breaking News in Yuba County"

Olivia Colman - "The Mitchells vs the Machines", "Ron's Gone Wrong", "The Lost Daughter", "The Father", "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain"

Billy Crystal - "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Wolfgang", "Here Today"

Willem Dafoe - "The French Dispatch", "A Most Wanted Man", "The Boondock Saints", "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day", "Spider-Man: No Way Home"

Roger Daltrey - "The Sparks Brothers", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Judi Dench - "Iris", "Artemis Fowl", "Red Joan", "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells", "Six Minutes to Midnight"

Robert De Niro - "Freelancers", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown", "Mr. Saturday Night", "The War with Grandpa"

Bob Dylan - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Can We Take a Joke?", "The Velvet Underground", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind"

Idris Elba - "The Harder They Fall", "Thor: Love and Thunder", "Concrete Cowboy", "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom", "The Gunman"

Queen Elizabeth - ""How to Talk to Girls at Parties", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Lucy and Desi", "King Richard", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Chris Evans - "Not Another Teen Movie", "Cellular", "Free Guy", "Lightyear", "Don't Look Up"

Colin Farrell - "The Batman", "Miss Julie", "Ava", "Voyagers", "Artemis Fowl"

Richard E. Grant - "Their Finest", "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", "An Accidental Studio", "Withnail & I", "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms"

Arsenio Hall - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", 

"Wolfgang", "Listening to Kenny G"

Tom Hardy - "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "Child 44", "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", "Stuart: A Life Backwards", "The Matrix Resurrections"

Ed Harris - "Man on a Ledge", "Resistance", "Eye for an Eye", "Geostorm", "The Lost Daughter"

Edwin Hodge - "Take Me Home Tonight", "The Tomorrow War", "The Purge", "The Purge: Anarchy", "The Purge: Election Year"

Bob Hope - "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Lydia Hull - "Extraction" (2015), "The Frozen Ground", "Escape Plan 2: Hades", "Escape Plan: The Extractors", "Empire State"

Jay Leno - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Julia", "Listening to Kenny G"

Norman Lear - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Lucy and Desi", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Fady Naguib - "My Spy", "Free Guy", "The King's Man", "Eternals", "Candyman" (2021)

Patton Oswalt - "Eternals", "The Sparks Brothers", "George Carlin's American Dream", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Sidney Poitier - "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Wolfgang"

Elvis Presley - "The Sparks Brothers", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Carl Reiner - "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "The Automat", "Mel Brooks Unwrapped", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Chris Rock - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Summer of Soul", "The Witches" (2020)

Maya Rudolph - "The Mitchells vs the Machines", "Luca", "My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Hubie Halloween"

Mark Ruffalo - "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", "The Adam Project", "Infinitely Polar Bear", "Reservation Road", "The Normal Heart"

Zoe Saldana - "Get Over It", "The Adam Project", "Vivo", "Colombiana", "Infinitely Polar Bear"

Dinah Shore - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street", "Summer of Soul"

Sarah Silverman - "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "The Bob's Burgers Movie", "Don't Look Up"

Benedict Wong - "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings", "Raya and the Last Dragon", "Dirty Pretty Things", "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"

4 appearances: 

Muhammad Ali - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "George Carlin's American Dream", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

Utkarsh Ambudkar - "Mulan" (2020), "Free Guy", "Tick, Tick...Boom!", "Tom & Jerry"

Louis Armstrong - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Listening to Kenny G"

Alec Baldwin - "Elizabethtown", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "Dean Martin: King of Cool"

Jack Benny - "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It"

Daniel Bernhardt - "Escape Plan: The Extractors", "Red Notice", "Term Life", "The Matrix Resurrections"

Jon Bernthal - "Snitch", "The Many Saints of Newark", "King Richard", "The Unforgivable"

Ed Birch - "Gunpowder Milkshake", "Their Finest", "Red Joan", "Cruella"

Jack Black - "Margot at the Wedding", "The Love Letter", "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Cate Blanchett - "An Ideal Husband", "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain", "Don't Look Up", "The Good German"

Martin Blencowe - "Reprisal", "First Kill", "Extraction" (2015), "Acts of Violence"

Shea Buckner - "Reprisal", "First Kill", "Escape Plan 2: Hades", "Escape Plan: The Extractors"

Steve Buscemi - "Romance & Cigarettes", "Hubie Halloween", "Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania", "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie"

Gerard Butler - "Geostorm", "Greenland", "The Game of Their Lives", "Gamer"

Bobby Cannavale - "Romance & Cigarettes", "Shall We Dance?", "Tom & Jerry", "Sing 2"

Timothée Chalamet - "The French Dispatch", "Dune" (2021), "A Rainy Day in New York", "Don't Look Up"

Jessica Chastain - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "Miss Julie", "Ava", "Miss Sloane"

Dick Clark - "The Sparks Brothers", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Mr. Saturday Night"

John Dauer - "Reprisal", "First Kill", "Extraction" (2015), "Acts of Violence"

Ellen DeGeneres - "The Love Letter, "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "Mayor Pete", "Running With Beto"

Angie Dickinson - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Wolfgang"

Vincent D'Onofrio - "Fire With Fire", "Escape Plan: The Extractors", "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "The Unforgivable"

Elle Fanning - "A Rainy Day in New York", "How to Talk to Girls at Parties", "Reservation Road", "The Nines"

Ralph Fiennes - "Wuthering Heights" (1992), "The King's Man", "The Dig", "Listening to Kenny G"

Tait Fletcher - "Free Guy", "Running with the Devil", "The Harder They Fall", "Term Life"

Morgan Freeman - "Feast of Love", "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms"

David Frost - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Jim Gaffigan - "Luca", "Tesla", "Igby Goes Down", "Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania"

Andrew Garfield - "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "Tick, Tick...Boom!", "Never Let Me Go", "The Eyes of Tammy Faye"

Judy Garland - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Lucy and Desi"

Mark Gatiss - "The Father", "The Sparks Brothers", "Operation Mincemeat", "Last Night in Soho"

Whoopi Goldberg - "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It"

Douglas M. Griffin - "Fire With Fire", "Freelancers", "Geostorm", "Snitch"

Andy Griffith - "Adrienne", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Lucy and Desi"

Naomie Harris - "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", "After the Sunset", "Swan Song", "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom"

Ethan Hawke - "The Phenom", "Tesla", "The Purge", "The Guilty"

Adolf Hitler - "Red Notice", "Resistance", "The Gathering Storm", "Operation Mincemeat"

Dustin Hoffman - "Can We Take a Joke?", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Elton John - "Under the Volcano", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road", "Mr. Saturday Night", "An Accidental Studio"

Anthony Hopkins - "The Father", "The Two Popes", "Magic", "Freejack"

Lil Rel Howery - "Free Guy", "Judas and the Black Messiah", "Fatherhood", "Tom & Jerry"

Allison Janney - "Walking and Talking", "Trust Me", "Breaking News in Yuba County", "Ma"

Jacqueline Kennedy - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Julia"

Nicole Kidman - ""How to Talk to Girls at Parties", "Being the Ricardos", "Margot at the Wedding", "Wolfgang"

Kevin Kline - "Cry Freedom", "The Starling", "Here Today", "The Bob's Burgers Movie"

Keira Knightley - "Berlin, I Love You", "The Aftermath", "Never Let Me Go", "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms"

Louisa Krause - "My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea", "Cryptozoo", "The Phenom", "Here Today"

Nick Kroll - "How It Ends" (2021), "Sing 2", "The Addams Family 2", "The Bob's Burgers Movie"

Peter Lawford - "The Automat", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Justina Machado - "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Muppets Haunted Mansion", "The Purge: Anarchy"

Madonna - "Jagged", "Listening to Kenny G", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story", "An Accidental Studio"

Steve Martin - "Windfall", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Count Me In", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Helen Mirren - "Berlin, I Love You", "An Accidental Studio", "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms", "The Hundred-Foot Journey"

Chloe Grace Moretz - "Tom & Jerry", "Carrie" (2013), "The Addams Family 2", "The Amityville Horror" (2005)

Carey Mulligan - "An Education", "Promising Young Woman", "The Dig", "Never Let Me Go"

Bob Newhart - "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Jack Nicholson - "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It"

Conan O'Brien - "The Mitchells vs the Machines", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie", "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Gary Oldman - "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", "Mank", "Child 44", "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary"

Jesse Plemons - "The Power of the Dog", "Jungle Cruise", "Judas and the Black Messiah", "Windfall"

Chris Pratt - "Take Me Home Tonight", "Jurassic World Dominion", "The Tomorrow War", "Thor: Love and Thunder"

Jesse Pruett - "Reprisal", "First Kill", "Freelancers", "Escape Plan: The Extractors"

Richard Pryor - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Can We Take a Joke?", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Lou Reed - "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "The Velvet Underground", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano"

Debbie Reynolds - "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It"

Andrea Riseborough - "Happy-Go-Lucky", "Never Let Me Go", "Welcome to the Punch", "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain"

Cindy Robinson - "The First Purge", "The Purge", "The Purge: Anarchy", "The Purge: Election Year"

Charlie Rose - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Listening to Kenny G"

Jason Schwartzman - "The French Dispatch", "My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea", "The Sparks Brothers", "Sing 2"

Molly Shannon - "Trust Me", "Promising Young Woman", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania"

J.K. Simmons - "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "Being the Ricardos", "Venom: Let There Be Carnage", "The Tomorrow War"

Alexander Skarsgard - "The Aftermath", "Passing", "The Diary of a Teenage Girl", "The Hummingbird Project"

Kevin Smith - "For a Good Time, Call...", "Catch and Release", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Jagged"

Octavia Spencer - "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "The Nines", "Ma", "The Witches" (2020)

Sylvester Stallone - "Escape Plan 2: Hades", "Escape Plan: The Extractors", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Wolfgang"

Sting - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In"

Corey Stoll - "The Normal Heart", "Driven", "West Side Story" (2021), "The Many Saints of Newark"

Mark Strong - "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day", "Miss Sloane", "Cruella", "Welcome to the Punch"

Pete Townshend - "The Sparks Brothers", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Count Me In", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Alex Trebek - "She's All That", "Free Guy", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Betty White: First Lady of Television"

John Turturro - "Romance & Cigarettes", "Margot at the Wedding", "The Batman", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me"

Taika Waititi - "Free Guy", "Thor: Love and Thunder", "Lightyear", "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain"

Bradley Whitford - "Tick, Tick...Boom!", "Three Christs", "The Call of the Wild", "How it Ends" (2021)

Robin Williams - "Can We Take a Joke?", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Stevie Wonder - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Under the Volcano", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street", "Summer of Soul"

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "The Sparks Brothers", "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story"

Neil Young - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Jagged", "Neil Young: Heart of Gold", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind"

3 appearances:

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II - "Us", "Candyman" (2021), "The Matrix Resurrections"

Joanna Adler - "Down to You", "Tick, Tick...Boom!", "Here Today"

Jessica Alba - "A.C.O.D.", "Some Kind of Beautiful", "Good Luck Chuck"

Steve Allen - "Can We Take a Joke?", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Ann-Margret - "Magic", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Fred Armisen - "How it Ends" (2021), "The Mitchells vs the Machines", "The Sparks Brothers"

Gemma Arterton - "Their Finest", "How to Build a Girl", "The King's Man"

Eric André - "The Mitchells vs the Machines", "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "Sing 2"

Frankie Avalon - "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Dean Martin: King of Cool"

Lucille Ball - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Lucy and Desi", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Javier Bardem - "Dune" (2021), "Being the Ricardos", "The Gunman"

Roseanne Barr - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road"

Simon Russell Beale - "An Ideal Husband", "Thor: Love and Thunder", "Operation Mincemeat"

John Beasley - "Walking Tall", "The Purge: Anarchy", "The Turkey Bowl"

Stephanie Beatriz - "Encanto", "In the Heights", "The Bob's Burgers Movie"

Zazie Beetz - "Geostorm", "The Bad Guys", "The Harder They Fall"

Ed Begley Jr. - "Get Over It", "Eating Raoul", "Wolfgang"

Harry Belafonte - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Tony Bennett - "Jagged", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Milton Berle - "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Chuck Berry - "The Sparks Brothers", "The Velvet Underground", "Dean Martin: King of Cool"

Jessica Biel - "The Rules of Attraction", "Elizabethtown", "Cellular"

Joey Bishop - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Selma Blair - "Down to You", "Feast of Love", "Legally Blonde"

Humphrey Bogart - "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Many Saints of Newark", "An Accidental Studio"

Hugh Bonneville - "Iris", "Mansfield Park", "The Gathering Storm"

Christopher Rob Bowen - "Reprisal", "Extraction" (2015), "Acts of Violence"

Pierce Brosnan - "Some Kind of Beautiful", "After the Sunset", "An Accidental Studio"

Lenny Bruce - "Can We Take a Joke?", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project"

Sandra Bullock - "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "The Unforgivable", "The Lost City"

Bill Burr - "Walk of Shame", "George Carlin's American Dream", "The Guilty"

George W. Bush - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It", "Running With Beto"

Michael Caine - "Wolfgang", "Mona Lisa", "An Accidental Studio"

Glen Campbell - "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Nick Cannon - "Shall We Dance?", "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Can We Take a Joke?"

Adam Carolla - "Down to You", "Can We Take a Joke?", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Nancy Carroll - "Iris", "An Ideal Husband", "The Gathering Storm"

Vincent Cassel - "Child 44", "Becoming Cousteau", "Underwater"

Dave Chappelle - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Can We Take a Joke?"

Ray Charles - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Lucy and Desi", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Jeff Chase - "Freelancers", "Escape Plan: The Extractors", "True Memoirs of an International Assassin"

Kristin Chenoweth - "You Again", "The Witches" (2020), "Hit and Run"

Eric Clapton - "Under the Volcano", "Mr. Saturday Night", "An Accidental Studio"

Montgomery Clift - "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road"

Bill Clinton - "George Carlin's American Dream", "We Feed People", "Listening to Kenny G"

Deon Cole - "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop", "The Harder They Fall", "Friendsgiving"

Robbie Coltrane - "Effie Gray", "Mona Lisa", "An Accidental Studio"

Billy Connolly - "The Boondock Saints", "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day", "An Accidental Studio"

Jennifer Coolidge - "Legally Blonde", "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "Promising Young Woman"

Bradley Cooper - "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain", "Thor: Love and Thunder", "Hit and Run"

Stewart Copeland - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In"

Bill Cosby - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Katie Couric - "Wolfgang", "Listening to Kenny G", "True Memoirs of an International Assassin"

Bing Crosby - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road"

Russell Crowe - "The Man With the Iron Fists", "Mel Brooks Unwrapped", "Thor: Love and Thunder"

Tony Curtis - "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Wolfgang"

Charles Dance - "The King's Man", "Mank", "Child 44"

Blythe Danner - "The Love Letter", "The Tomorrow Man", "The Last Kiss"

James D'Arcy - "Six Minutes to Midnight", "Into the Storm", "Jupiter Ascending"

Doris Day - "The Sparks Brothers", "George Carlin's American Dream", "The Automat"

Rob Delaney - "Ron's Gone Wrong", "Tom & Jerry", "Last Christmas"

Mike Douglas - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Adam Driver - "House of Gucci", "The Sparks Brothers", "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain"

Alice Drummond - "Walking and Talking", "The Love Letter", "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie"

Faye Dunaway - "The Rules of Attraction", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Kevin Dunn - "Fire With Fire", "The Frozen Ground", "King Richard"

Kirsten Dunst - "Get Over It", "The Power of the Dog", "Elizabethtown"

Charles Edwards - "Mansfield Park", "An Ideal Husband", "The Witches" (2020)

Eric Etebari - "Boss Level", "Cellular", "Walk of Shame"

Veronica Falcon - "Jungle Cruise", "Voyagers", "The Starling"

Mia Farrow - "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Craig Ferguson - "We Feed People", "Wolfgang", "Listening to Kenny G"

Tina Fey - "Free Guy", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "Betty White: First Lady of Television"

Victor Garber - "Legally Blonde", "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "You Again"

Andy Garcia - "Geostorm", "Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar", "True Memoirs of an International Assassin"

Jerry Garcia - "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind"

Richard Gere - "Shall We Dance?", "Three Christs", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Paul Giamatti - "Gunpowder Milkshake", "The Phenom", "Jungle Cruise"

Mel Gibson - "Boss Level", "Can We Take a Joke?", "Listening to Kenny G"

Karen Gillan - "Gunpowder Milkshake", "The Call of the Wild", "Thor: Love and Thunder"

Terry Gilliam - "Jupiter Ascending", "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain", "An Accidental Studio"

Jackie Gleason - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project"

Judy Gold - "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Adrienne"

Judy Greer - "Elizabethtown", "Driven", "Carrie" (2013)

Bryant Gumbel - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Wolfgang"

Ryan Hansen - "Hit and Run", "The Turkey Bowl", "Friendsgiving"

Sally Hawkins - "An Education", "Happy-Go-Lucky", "Never Let Me Go"

Taylor Hawkins - "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road", "Count Me In", "Jagged"

Lena Headey - "Gunpowder Milkshake", "The Gathering Storm", "The Purge"

Brian Tyree Henry - "Vivo", "Eternals", "Don't Let Go"

Taraji P. Henson - "Minions: The Rise of Gru", "Muppets Haunted Mansion", "Term Life"

Jessica Henwick - "Underwater", "Love and Monsters", "The Matrix Resurrections"

Bob Hoskins - "Lassiter", "Mona Lisa", "An Accidental Studio"

Rock Hudson - "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It"

Jeremy Irons - "Their Finest", "House of Gucci", "Love, Weddings & Other Disasters"

Michael Jackson - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Richard Jenkins - "Shall We Dance?", "A.C.O.D.", "Kajillionaire"

Ken Jeong - "Boss Level", "My Spy", "Tom & Jerry"

Ron Jeremy - "The Boondock Saints", "The Rules of Attraction", "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James"

Penn Jillette - "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "Can We Take a Joke?", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project"

Cherry Jones - "A Rainy Day in New York", "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me"

Quincy Jones - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Madeline Kahn - "The Automat", "Mel Brooks Unwrapped", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

Buster Keaton - "The Love Letter", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Lucy and Desi"

Catherine Keener - "Walking and Talking", "The Adam Project", "The Croods 2: A New Age"

B.B. King - "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street", "Summer of Soul"

Jason King - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Listening to Kenny G"

Regina King - "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "How Stella Got Her Groove Back", "The Harder They Fall"

John Krasinski - "Free Guy", "A Quiet Place Part II", "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness"

Mila Kunis - "Get Over It", "Breaking News in Yuba County", "Jupiter Ascending"

Jake Lacy - "Their Finest" ,"Being the Ricardos", "Miss Sloane"

Emeril Lagasse - "Julia", "Wolfgang", "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain"

Burt Lancaster - "The Automat", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road"

Ed Lauter - "Not Another Teen Movie", "Magic", "Lassiter"

Cloris Leachman - "You Again", "The Croods 2: A New Age", "Betty White: First Lady of Television"

Jared Leto - "House of Gucci", "The Little Things", "Morbius"

Jerry Lewis - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me", "Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown"

Juliette Lewis - "Catch and Release", "Breaking News in Yuba County", "Ma"

Ray Liotta - "The Many Saints of Newark", "Identity", "Hubie Halloween"

Danielle Macdonald - "Trust Me", "French Exit", "Dumplin'"

Bill Maher - "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "Mayor Pete"

Dick Martin - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Wolfgang"

Harpo Marx - "The Sparks Brothers", "Can We Take a Joke?", "Lucy and Desi"

Gugu Mbatha-Raw - "Jupiter Ascending", "Miss Sloane", "Fast Color"

Melissa McCarthy - "Thor: Love and Thunder", "The Nines", "The Starling"

Linda McCartney - "The Sparks Brothers", "Under the Volcano", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road"

Frances McDormand - "Nomadland", "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day", "The French Dispatch"

Ed McMahon - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Janet McTeer - "Wuthering Heights" (1992), "Carrington", "Into the Storm"

Freddie Mercury - "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In"

Joshua Mikel - "Extraction" (2015), "Greenland", "Term Life"

Roman Mitichyan - "Extraction" (2015), "Escape Plan 2: Hades", "Message from the King"

Keith Moon - "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Count Me In", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Julianne Moore - "An Ideal Husband", "Tales from the Darkside: The Movie", "Carrie" (2013)

Mary Tyler Moore - "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Lucy and Desi"

Elisabeth Moss - "The French Dispatch", "The Invisible Man" (2020), "Us"

Eddie Murphy - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Olivia Newton-John - "Under the Volcano", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Mike Nichols - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Jeremy Northam - "An Ideal Husband", "Wuthering Heights" (1992), "Carrington"

Denis O'Hare - "The Normal Heart", "Swallow", "Lizzie"

Eric Christian Olsen - "The Last Kiss", "Not Another Teen Movie", "Cellular"

Timothy Olyphant - "Head Over Heels", "Catch and Release", "The Starling"

Yoko Ono - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "George Carlin's American Dream", "Dean Martin: King of Cool"

Jack Paar - "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Betty White: First Lady of Television", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

Al Pacino - "House of Gucci", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Amanda Peet - "Igby Goes Down", "Trust Me", "Identity"

Sean Penn - "Wolfgang", "The Gunman", "An Accidental Studio"

Bernadette Peters - "Tick, Tick...Boom!", "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me", "The Automat"

Regis Philbin - "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed", "Dean Martin: King of Cool"

Freddie Prinze Jr. - "She's All That", "Head Over Heels", "Down to You"

Da'Vine Joy Randolph - "The Lost City", "Kajillionaire", "The Guilty"

Dan Rather - "The Eyes of Tammy Faye", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Driven"

James Read - "Legally Blonde", "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "Not Another Teen Movie"

Nancy Reagan - "The Amazing Johnathan Documentary", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Lucy and Desi"

Robert Redford - "Becoming Mike Nichols", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran) - "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "The Sparks Brothers", "Under the Volcano"

Keith Richards - "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In", "Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain"

Sergio Rizzuto - "Reprisal", "Hard Kill", "Escape Plan: The Extractors"

Julia Roberts - "The Normal Heart", "Ben Is Back", "Wolfgang"

Craig Robinson - "The Bad Guys", "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop", "Muppets Haunted Mansion"

Michael Rooker - "The Replacement Killers", "Vivo", "Love and Monsters"

RZA - "The Man With the Iron Fists", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Minions: The Rise of Gru"

Adrian Scarborough - "Artemis Fowl", "Into the Storm", "Dirty Pretty Things"

Kristen Schaal - "My Spy", "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop", "The Bob's Burgers Movie"

George Schlatter - "Tiny Tim: King for a Day", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Sammy Davis Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me"

Tom Selleck - "The Love Letter", "Frank Sinatra: One More for the Road", "Lassiter"

Jane Seymour - "Friendsgiving", "The War with Grandpa", "Lassiter"

Fiona Shaw - "Catch and Release", "Ammonite", "Lizzie"

Paul Simon - "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Becoming Mike Nichols", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

Matt Smith - "Charlie Says", "Last Night in Soho", "Morbius"

Dick Smothers - "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Tom Smothers - "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "The Super Bob Einstein Movie"

Bruce Springsteen - "New Wave: Dare to Be Different", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road"

Lakeith Stanfield - "Judas and the Black Messiah", "The Harder They Fall", "The Purge: Anarchy"

James Stewart - "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Jerry Lewis: The Man Behind the Clown"

David Strathairn - "Nomadland", "Adrienne", "Fast Color"

Barbra Streisand - "George Carlin's American Dream", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Andy Summers - "Bitchin': The Sound and Fury of Rick James", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In"

Wanda Sykes - "Breaking News in Yuba County", "The One and Only Dick Gregory", "Friendsgiving"

Channing Tatum - "Free Guy", "Jupiter Ascending", "The Lost City"

James Taylor - "Under the Volcano", "Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

Marisa Tomei - "Spider-Man: No Way Home", "Human Capital", "The First Purge"

John Travolta - "George Carlin's American Dream", "The Kid Stays in the Picture", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Danny Trejo - "The Replacement Killers", "Minions: The Rise of Gru", "Muppets Haunted Mansion"

Stanley Tucci - "Shall We Dance?", "The King's Man", "The Witches" (2020)

Dick Van Dyke - "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project", "Mr. Saturday Night", "Lucy and Desi"

Andy Warhol - "The Velvet Underground", "WBCN and the American Revolution", "Mr. Saturday Night"

Charlie Watts - "The Velvet Underground", "Under the Volcano", "Count Me In"

Orson Welles - "Dean Martin: King of Cool", "Wolfgang", "Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street"

Mykelti Williamson - "After the Sunset", "The Purge: Election Year", "Don't Let Go"

Luke Wilson - "Legally Blonde", "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "Berlin, I Love You"

Henry Winkler - "The French Dispatch", "Down to You", "The Kid Stays in the Picture"

Kate Winslet - "Ammonite", "Romance & Cigarettes", "Iris"

DeWanda Wise - "Fatherhood", "The Harder They Fall", "Jurassic World Dominion"

Reese Witherspoon - "Legally Blonde", "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde", "Sing 2"

Mary Woronov - "Rock 'n' Roll High School", "Eating Raoul", "The Velvet Underground"

Daniel Wu - "The Man With the Iron Fists", "Geostorm", "Reminiscence"

Roger Yuan - "Mulan" (2020), "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny", "Dune" (2021)

So there you go, it was the year of Nicolas Cage, but it was also a year full of Bruce Willis, Ryan Reynolds, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and so many others.  My documentary chain was longer than usual - and it was a thing of beauty, since it was designed as a perfect circle that folded back in on itself, and I could then enter at any point, and travel in either direction.  So I was able to micro-manage it to find the best possible chain FOR ME, and look what happened, I hit all the major holidays spot-on, and finished with my FOURTH consecutive unbroken chain from New Year's to Christmas.

Right - New Year's is tomorrow, so I've got to get my move on.  I did some work last week on figuring out what to watch in January 2023.  First, of course, I had to figure out my February chain, because the January chain has to end where the February chain begins - this took a few late nights to work out, but eventually I landed on a chain that clears the MOST romance films off my list, and the maximum number of ones that I have on DVD or DVR, because that will make more room for new movies.  And I determined that the BEST film for February 1 is "Licorice Pizza", and then I worked backwards from there to find my starting point for 2023.  

January's line-up looks great, it's also going to clear a lot off my list, mostly action movies, but a couple comedies and a couple new animated films.  Mostly films that are a few years old, but a couple newcomers like "Glass Onion" and "Blonde".  I really should focus on some films that might get nominated for Oscars, but, honestly, I don't know right now which films those will be - so it's better that I clear off a bunch of films from 2020 and 2021 while I still can.  Right?

If i hurry, I can still file away my November and December DVDs, and get the January ones out and ready for viewing.  I may even have time to re-alphabetize all the discs, and log in all the new films I've burned to DVD before I have to watch a new film tonight.  My starting point for 2023 is quite unusual, I can't wait to reveal it to you in just a few hours.  See you then.