50 DAN BRADLEY - STUNT CO-ORDINATOR
A veteran “fall guy”, Bradley’s made a career out of making stunts look viscerally real. He spilled blood early on, working on gloopy horror flick Re-Animator, and was soon courted by Hollywood blockbusters (Swordfish, Spider-Man 2, Independence Day). With a taste for shooting on handheld cameras, his style is raw, like the New York car chase in The Bourne Supremacy. Ironically – in the true sense of the word, Ms Morissette – he also does car safety ads for Volkswagen.
What’s next? Smashing up an Aston Martin in Bond 22 and doing the same to an OAP in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.
49 JAMIE BELL - ACTOR
The one-time Billy Elliot is slowly starting to emerge from the shadow of his BAFTA-winning ballet-fest. Bell has balanced carefully plucked blockbuster roles – hello, King Kong – with smarthouse fare (his critically-acclaimed turn in Hallam Foe was one of 2007’s best). He’s also likely to nab bragging rights in Doug Liman’s trilogy-starter Jumper and he always gets the drinks in for TF. Good lad.
What’s next? Playing brother to Daniel Craig and Liev Schreiber in director Ed Zwick’s WWII resistance drama Defiance, currently shooting in Lithuania.
48 JERRY BRUCKHEIMER - PRODUCER
Known as Mr Blockbuster for his canny eye for big bucks/big bangs TV or movie projects, the jet-owning Pirates producer has brought in a whopping $13bn to date. Currently flirting with his softer side by swapping the trademark car spins and crime stories for cutesy chick flick Confessions Of A Shopaholic.
What’s next? Guinea Pig action animation G-Force (yes, really) and video game adap Prince Of Persia – the new Pirates?
47 SACHA BARON COHEN - ACTOR/WRITER
“IS NICE!” is very old now, but it’s worth remembering the slap-in-the-face freshness of his world-conquering Borat ($262m) and the Middle America-baiting delight of his Talladega Nights villain. Sharp (but rare) out-of-character interviews suggest there’s a lot more to come.
What’s next? Taking none-more-gay Austrian fashion bunny Brüno to the US. Where Borat shook out cultural prejudice, Bruno will offer reckoning for the rednecks.
46 EMMANUEL LUBEZKI - CINEMATOGRAPHER
You may not know the name, but you know his work. Lubezki delivers beauty and invention behind the lens, with career peaks of Ali and The New World eclipsed in 2006 by that tracking shot in Children Of Men. So good the Coens nabbed him for Burn After Reading – their first film without regular DoP Roger Deakins in 17 years.
What’s next? Scorsese’s Stones doc Shine A Light, Tree Of Life with Terrence Malick and Alfonso Cuarón’s latest.
45 JAMES CAMERON - DIRECTOR/WRITER/PRODUCER
James Cameron believes that filmmaking is about ideas and storytelling – and if it happens the technology doesn’t exist to bring that vision to life, well, get tinkering till it does. He’s spent 10 post-Titanic years on 3-D docs in order to deliver...
What’s next? ...Avatar, the three-dimensional sci-fi wonder pitched as the most important development in movies since Technicolor.
44 ZACK SNYDERR - DIRECTOR/WRITER
An expert at bursting through perceived notions, Snyder wowed with his Dawn Of The Dead remake and followed up with a blood and thunder sleeper smash in Frank Miller’s once-thought-unfilmmable 300. And for his next trick? Snyder’s hard at work on adapting Alan Moore’s Watchmen... Gutsy, opinionated, but surprisingly easy-going, he’s the fan every other fan wishes they could be.
What’s next? Watchmen, zombie shocker Army Of The Dead, Ray Bradbury adap The Illustrated Man and about 47 others...
43 CHRIS MCQUARRIE - WRITER/DIRECTOR
Bryan Singer’s favourite scribe (The Usual Suspects, Valkyrie, the upcoming Mayor Of Castro Street) McQuarrie is also co-founder of the innovative 1.3.9, a writing co-op delivering studio-free assistance to stars developing passion projects. Result? More power to the keyboard-bashers and more interesting movies, we hope.
What’s next? Directing The Stanford Prison Experiment, long-delayed follow-up to The Way Of The Gun.
42 KATHERINE HEIGL - ACTRESS
Heigl slept her way to the top. And she did it the hard way: with Seth Rogen. Busting free of the washed-out gloom of Grey’s Anatomy, Heigl is a comedy dream girl – an FHM pin-up with a big heart, a spiky sense of humour and a filthy mouth. Try imagining Jennifer Garner telling you to “go fuck your fucking bong”.
What’s next? Starring opposite the prettier-than-Rogen James Marsden in rom-com 27 Dresses.
41 MARTIN SCORSESE - DIRECTOR
We can all stop crossing our fingers on Oscar night after The Departed scooped a criminally overdue Best Director gong for Marty last year. With the intriguing Jesuit priests in 17th Century Japan flick Silence and city boy drama The Wolf Of Wall Street, he’s keeping it eclectic.
What’s next? Following Stones doc Shine A Light with DiCaprio crime thriller Shutter Island, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane.
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