Mark Holton

I know what you’re thinking. Who in the world is Mark Holton? Well you might not know him by name, but you have definitely seen several movies that he was in. Stop me when I mention something you haven’t seen. Teen Wolf and Teen Wolf Too? Check and check. Pee-wee’s Big Adventure? Check. The Naked Gun? Check. Little Giants? Check. A League of Their Own? Check. Hijacking Hollywood? Che….ehhhhh, no. Time to stop. Let’s face it, no one has ever seen Hijacking Hollywood, not even Mark Holton. The point is that you don’t have to be a household name to make quality movies or just be awesome. Here at The Underappreciated Celebrities Blog, we don’t just talk about celebrities who are hated, or don’t get the props they deserve for being awesome. Sometimes, unknown celebrities need to be discussed to open the world’s eyes to how awesome they. Mark Holton is one of these celebrities. Besides his aforementioned body of work, his roles in these movies, the acting chops he puts on display in his films, and most importantly, the classic, quotable lines he is responsible for, Mark Holton maybe one of the most underappreciated awesome celebrities in show business. Don’t hate him for being awesome.

If you’re not a fan of both Teen Wolf movies, no offense, but you need to take some awesome lessons. Seriously, not since Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, have a movie and its sequel taken the world by storm. Ok, maybe I’m reaching just a bit, but they basically are a surprisingly, awesome and underappreciated set of films. You know the premise; awkward average teenager turns into a werewolf and becomes a superstar athlete and campus hotshot. At first he loves the attention, and then he struggles with it, and then he realizes he needs to just be himself. Once he comes to that epiphany, then he really becomes a true winner. Mark Holton realized that these movies were so great that he knew he had to be both of them. It would have been career suicide not to be in the sequel. Mark played the loveable, affable sidekick Chubbs in both movies. Chubbs has a profound impact on both cult classics, by helping his friend understand that he should be himself. Seriously, who doesn’t love a guy nicknamed Chubbs? That’s a friend that I want to have. That’s a guy who is awesome and is not afraid to accept himself for who he is. Don’t believe me? Let me tell you a story about Chubby’s awesomeness. In the first movie, Chubb’s high school basketball team is in the middle of the state championship. Mick, the main antagonist and star of the rival team, yells at Chubbs who is just holding the ball at center court, “Shoot it fat boy!” Angry, motivated, and inspired, Chubbs heaves the ball up and swishes a three point show. Now not only is “Shoot it fat boy!” a great quote that can be frequently repeated, while never getting old, it serves the purpose of displaying what happens when you anger a character played by Mark Holton; his awesomeness will make you pay.

Chubby isn’t just a fat slob, either. He’s no slouch in the sports world. Besides being the starting center on his high school basketball team, who do go on to win the state championship, he also rules the heavyweight division for his college’s boxing team. Yes in Teen Wolf Too Chubby has moved on to college and is one of the better fighters on the team. He possesses quick feet, an explosive left hand, and a powerful right. In the two fights in the movie he wins both times by a first round knockout. Now seriously, they could have just cast any random hefer to play the role of a guy named Chubbs. However, the producers of the Teen Wolf movies knew they had to hire an actor who not only was a believable enough to play a multi-sport star athlete, but one who was as tough as nails and had a heart of gold. No one could have done this better than Mark Holton, and if you doubt me, just tell him to “Shoot it fat boy,” and watch him rock your world with how awesome he can be.

No one celebrates awesomeness better than Mark Holton.

InPee-wee’s Big Adventure, Holton’s plays the “bad guy” Francis Buxton. We loved him in Teen Wolf and Teen Wolf Too, but we hated him in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. This show’s a different side of Holton than we saw in the Teen Wolf series, yet Holton still does an awesome job of portraying a character exactly how he is supposed to be portrayed. You know that somebody is a good actor when they can portray totally different types of characters so well, and Holton does this to perfection. He plays Buxton, who may be a grown man, but all he really is, is a spoiled, rich brat. He plays Pee-wee’s neighbor and desperately wants Pee-wee’s beautiful bike for his birthday. Francis tells us “Today's my birthday and my father says I can have anything I want.” Pee-wee obviously won’t give it to him, so Francis pays someone to steal the bike for him. Of course, as soon as he has the bike, he doesn’t want it anymore. Again, Holton is responsible for one of the most quotable lines in movie history. As Pee-wee and Francis verbally spar over the bike, (Side note: You can watch it on YouTube here.) Pee-wee angrily tells him, “It’s not for sale FRAN-CIS.” You can say this line in any scenario involving money, and those come up only like 10, 20 million times a week. This quote is so awesome, that you can probably even use it in situations not involving money. Would it be as awesome if it was said to any other actor? Not at all, due to the fact that Holton is so great at playing Pee-wee’s villain. He was the perfect actor to cast against Pee-wee, because they needed someone to be evil, but not scary evil, or even bad evil. He needed to be evil, but also juvenile enough to be Pee-wee’s foil, and Holton is perfect for this. Think about it, who is Pee-wee Herman? He is a nice, goofy, silly man-child that still plays with toys. Who is Francis Buxton? He is an evil, goofy, silly man-child that still plays with toys. They are so similar, yet so different. Balboa vs. Creed, Schwarzenegger vs. Predator, nothing compares to Pee-wee vs. Buxton.

Mark didn’t have as big of a role in the movie The Naked Gun or A League of Their Own as he did in other movies, but he was still awesomely legendary in both of them. He was so awesome, in The Naked Gun that his character’s name was his line in the movie. “Hey it’s Enrico Pallazzo!” he shouts from the stands at a baseball game. As soon as Holton’s character says this, the crowd roars in applause. Maybe it was because they were excited to see Leslie Nielson as the umpire of the game and the singer of the national anthem, but maybe; just maybe, it was also due to the fact that Mark Holton is so awesome that he has that much of an impact on a crowd when he speaks. Also, he appears in only one scene in A League of Their Own , but again that doesn’t lessen his impact in the movie. His plays the grown-up version of Stillwell, the once bratty kid of one of the girls on the baseball team the movie is about. He runs into Geena Davis’ character at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and briefly catches up with her. Davis’ character gets teary-eyed when Stillwell tells him his mother has passed away. This can be attributed to the fact that Holton has underappreciated action skills, because he can be the funny guy, the evil guy, and apparently the serious guy as well, which takes a lot of acting talent to pull off. For Holton to display his serious side in A League of Their Own that’s about as big of an impression that you can possibly have in such a short amount of screen time. Therefore, it’s safe to say that whether Holton is playing a main, supporting, or minor character, he is awesome enough to have an effect any movie and role he is in.

The man literally oozes awesomeness.

While Mark Holton, maybe the first unknown actor in this blog, he won’t be the last. He is the type of unknown celebrity who sets the standard for what it means to be underappreciated. In terms of film, he starred in several cult classics, was responsible for some great quotes, and is extremely versatile in terms of the role he plays. Like I said in the beginning of this post, you might not know him by name, but I am hoping that you do now and you remember who he is. After all, that’s the point of this blog; to make you realize the awesomeness of certain underappreciated celebrities. If that celebrity doesn’t happen to be a house-hold name, he or she should become one due to his or her awesomeness. If this doesn’t define Holton, I don’t know what does. However, what I do know is that his awesomeness should be appreciated by the world. The next time you can, tell someone “Shoot it fat boy!”, “It’s not for sale FRAN-CIS,” or “Hey it’s Enrico Pallazzo!” and people will laugh, giving Mark Holton the appreciation for his awesomeness that he rightfully deserves.

Mandy Moore

All my life, I have heard two conflicting points of view about what type of women I should date. My mom always told me to try and find the sweetest, nicest girl I could possibly find. My dad, on the other hand, always told me to go after the girls who either were smoking hot or who had unbelievable bodies. Growing up, I had the usual celebrity crushes most guys had. I had converted to the dark side and followed my dad's advice since these crushes involved the hottest unattainable girls I saw on television and in movies. I lived in a fantasy world where I was married to Jenny McCarthy, spent my nights with Nicole Eggert, and woke up next to Cindy Crawford. Never in these delusional fantasies of mine were women like Oprah, Helen Hunt or even Renée Zellweger, who all seem like really nice people, ever involved. I was led to believe there was no such thing as both a hot and sweet girl, since no one ever told me about these type of women, nor had I ever encountered one. Then all of that changed with just one song in 1999. That was the year Mandy Moore was introduced to the world with her hit single "Candy." It was also the same year that she took up a permanent residency in my heart and the archetype for my future wife. Mandy Moore is the type of girl who you can bring home and would make both your mom and dad proud of you. She is the one.
Mandy Moore's awesomeness should be discussed at church/synagogue, during sporting events, holiday parties, bars and everywhere or anywhere discussion is held. When was the last time you had a conversation about Mandy Moore and how awesome she is? Because I know you answered "never," that is why she is not appreciated for what she is, the most awesome girl you can ever dream about.

When Mandy Moore first burst onto the scene, she was a teen starlet who played the innocent role in the same mold of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera before her. She was 15 years old (Side note: As was I at this time. Fate? I think so.), blonde and beautiful. It seemed that the phrase "the girl next door" was created about her. She was too good to be true. One look at her and it was like you can just tell that she wouldn't be corrupted, like you knew Spears and Aguilera eventually would be. Sure she didn't have the success Spears, Aguilera, or even Jessica Simpson had, but she didn't need that. Her voice was angelic, her smile was magical, and heart was full of gold. Even though she wasn't the first of her kind, in terms of a female teenage pop singer, she was original because she was hot, seemed like a total doll, and appeared to be a real person. I don't care how big of a fan you are any other pop singer, but you have to admit that they always seemed like celebrities, in the sense they were never like someone you currently know or will ever meet in a thousand lifetimes. They are these distant figures we would hear on the radio or see on tv that can't relate to us and we can't relate to either. Mandy has this vibe going on for her that she would be someone you would meet at a friend's party or she would be standing in line in front of you at Subway. It doesn't seem too far fetched to even see her helping you at Banana Republic to get that smaller size jeans that you need. Can you imagine Britney doing this? Hell no! Why? Cause she isn't as awesome, yet she gets all the appreciation she needs, and them some! (Side note: This is coming from someone who actually likes Britney Spears) That's why the paparazzi doesn't follow Mandy around town, like they do other celebrities; because she's too real. She's just like us, regular everyday people. She's not crazy, she doesn't do outrageous things like other celebrities, she stays grounded, and most importantly (and underappreciatedly awesome) she carries herself around with class, again unlike all her contemporaries. If that's not the hottest, most awesome compliment you can give a celebrity, I'm not sure what is. It's something that's so rare in a celebrity, that you can see Haley's comment more often than you can see someone famous have all of those traits.






Mandy looked just as awesome as a blonde, as she does as a brunette.


Still not convinced of this awesome aura that Mandy exudes? Just take a look at what she has acted in and what her (playing herself or her character) was able to accomplish. Keep in mind she is totally believable to do everything she has done on the big and little and screen because of the hotness and sweetness combination that she has. In Entourage, she plays herself as Vincent Chase's costar and ex-girlfriend. Chase is the ultimate ladies man who meets and sleeps with at least one girl every episode. Yet it turns out, he's still in love with her after their breakup and can't get over Mandy because she's that great of a catch. In Scrubs JD meets her character and immediately falls for her, wants to settle down, and buy a house with her. He's petrified of finding a flaw and screwing things up with her in the two episodes she is in. When she guest starred in How I Met Your Mother she was the first girl Ted hooked up with after his relationship with Robin ended. I never saw License to Wed, but I do know that John Krasinski's character has to go through hell and back just to get the APPROVAL of Mandy's priest to marry her. However, the best example of how Mandy can win any guy's heart is in A Walk To Remember , when she plays the local minister's daughter. The local bad boy still falls deeply in love with her, changing into a better person just because of who she is and how she makes him feel. No one could have played this role as believable as Mandy did because this is what she does in real life. Even when she's not playing herself, she still has something about her that just draws guys in. It's like she a tractor beam of awesomeness that just radiates from her beautiful smile. She's not breathtakingly gorgeous, but she just has that "IT" factor. I am a huge proponent of the theory that a good personality can make a girl better looking and a bad personality can make a girl worse like. If Mandy Moore, is like an eight or nine out of ten on just looks, when you factor in her personality and her vibe, she becomes a ten billion out of ten. She's so cool that she even appeals to geeks. She was in an episode of The Simpsons and the voice of Aerith Gainsborough in the video game Kingdom Hearts. If you can be hot to the geeks who play Kingdom Hearts and the alpha-male type guys who watch Entourage, then you definitely have mass appeal awesomeness. Yet amazingly, Moore gets none of their recognition for her charm that she deserves.


I seriously think there is nothing that Mandy can't do. If you couldn't tell by the aforementioned paragraphs detailing her singing and acting, she is awesome in anything she does. After all, she also had her own clothing line called Mblem., that was sold in boutiques all over the world and such high-end department stores like Macy's, Bloomingdales, and Nordstrom's. In 2000, when she was only 16, Moore hosted her own talk show, The Mandy Moore Show. Listen, I don't care what anybody says, to be a talk show host is not an easy job. You need to be personable, outgoing, fun, spontaneous, smart, and have a good sense of humor. These are characteristics that a lot of people can't even master when they are in their 40's or 50's. For Mandy to have her own talk show and display these qualities at such a young age, speaks volumes about her awesomeness. Even the show only lasted two years, how many people reading this actually knew she had a talk show? I can't imagine many, if any, of my loyal, faithful readers knew this. I didn't even know this, and this show was on right around the time I gave her my heart. Therefore, this show and Mandy herself (since she was the host of it), must have been extremely underappreciated by MTV, pop culture, and to a larger extent, society that it was and still is pretty unknown. Also consider the following when you ponder Mandy's awesomeness; she is a fan of MMA and has been seen at several UFC events. Mandy's favorite band is Weezer. Her favorite movies are Annie Hall and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (Side note: Can you imagine if Mandy was the main character in either of these movies instead of Diane Keaton and Claire Danes respectively? I would not blame Woody Allen or Jim Carrey's characters at all for their extreme actions of chasing after Mandy's character.) According to her IMDB page, Mandy not only likes roller coasters, but she also had a high school GPA of 3.8, which shows she's not just a talented pretty face, the girl knows how to have fun and is probably smarter than you also. Mandy models for Coach handbags, was a spokesperson for Neutrogena, and for the School and Youth Programs of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. According to her website, Mandy is involved with non-profit organizations in helping fight malaria in Africa. Also, the USA Today reported that Mandy was serving as the Honorary Chairperson of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's division on awareness for youth by spreading awareness of the seriousness of leukemia and lymphoma. As we all know, here at the Underappreciated Awesome Celebrities Blog, charity is looked upon greatly in terms of someone's awesomeness, and a woman's hotness. In this case, it just solidifies Mandy's case for being the sweetest, most awesome woman alive.






Good luck trying to find a flaw in this awesome girl.


One thing that amazes me about Mandy's career is that even though she might not get the appreciation she deserves from everyone, she does get props here and there, and when she does its very quietly mentioned. For example, did you know that Moore's movies have grossed a total of $220 million in the US? You wouldn't expect it considering her movies are usually panned by critics and moviegoers. However, that doesn't mean she's a bad actress, she just has to choose better roles. After her role in A Walk To Remember, Mandy received several positive reviews for her performance, none bigger when Roger Ebert said her performance was "quietly convincing." Ebert also said about her acting job in How to Dealthe she has "an unaffected natural charm" and "almost makes the movie worth seeing." Even Variety mentioned that Moore's acting was "appealing" in of their reviews. It's not just her acting career that again gets praised, yet stays under the radar. Even though she's not considered as successful as other pop starlets, an article by Paper Magazine concluded that "Moore is a far better musician than she's often given credit for." So, it's not like Mandy isn't known for being talented throughout the world, it's just that she doesn't get appreciated often enough or for what her talented to deserves. Although, if she does get mentioned for being awesome it's usually detailed as being surprising and unexpected, and that is a crime against humanity in my opinion.


Just when I thought Mandy couldn't be any more awesome, I found out something she said that literally rocked my world. When she was dating Zach Braff she said in an ELLE interview that she likes "good Jewish boy(s) with a sense of humor." Now I'm not saying I'm holding out hope that we still have a chance of dating, (Side note: She's married to Ryan Adams (Side note: He clearly made a deal with the devil to lock that down)) but I'd be lying if I said that didn't make my heart melt. That's what Mandy does to me on a regular basis because she's not just beautiful, but she's an awesome, adorable individual. Even though I said earlier that Mandy is the archetype for my future wife, I know that the future Mrs. A will never compare to Mandy, (Side Note: If you're reading this in five to seven years, I'm sorry and I love you honey.) and there's a reason for that. I'm just curious if anyone else came to the same epiphany that I did. Mandy Moore is not just awesome, but she really is the perfect woman.

The Neptunes

The following two true stories say everything about how underappreciated the Neptunes are for their awesomeness. The first story involves my brother, who if you don't know, is the king of pop culture trivia. No joke he can list the twelfth actor in a movie or a one hit wonder from 1982 like people recite there names. Yet, when I told him that this week's entry was on the Neptunes, he asked me who they were. Shocking? Absolutely. Poignant? Without question. The second story involves my friend and the girl he is currently dating. When we were talking about my blog one night, they asked who the next post was being written about. Their response about the Neptunes? "Wow, great choice. They are awesome and no one ever talks about them!" I could rest my case solely based on those two situations, but I'm not going to. For some reason when one thinks of the most successful hip-hop and rap producers of all time the same two people come to mind; Dr. Dre and Timbaland, and rightfully so. They definitely deserve the props, fame and recognition they get because they have consistently churned out extremely successful,popular songs and albums over the years, while helping several artists achieve mainstream status. However, the Neptunes fail to get their due for some unknown reason. What's especially surprising is the number of hits they have produced that you didn't know they were behind. It's about time that the Neptunes start getting appreciated for being awesome and are recognized as the most successful producers in hip-hop and rap today.


I think a lot of the problem when it comes to the Neptunes is that people seem to get them and N.E.R.D. confused, which is somewhat understandable. The difference between the two? N.E.R.D. (No one Ever Really Dies) is the hip-hop group that consists of  Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shay Haley. The Neptunes is the name of the production group of Williams and Hugo. So to sum up, N.E.R.D. is the music group and the Neptunes are the producers and Haley only performs. Got it? In a move that might not surprise you, the Neptunes have produced every song and album that N.E.R.D. has ever made. Since they choose to have two different groups and that are associated with each other and involve almost the same people, a lot of the world usually assumes that they are the same thing.  Due to the fact that N.E.R.D. is more well-known because of such hits as "Lapdance" and "She Wants To Move" usually the credit is only given to N.E.R.D. However, it takes two different kinds of musical talent to make music and to produce music and while N.E.R.D. is appreciated for the awesome skills making music, the Neptunes are not given such credit for producing music, when they should be.


One of the things I love and totally respect the Neptunes for is that they don't just limit themselves to one genre. They could easily produce for just hip-hop and rap, which is clearly where they excel. However, they often tend to step out of their element producing pop hits like Nsync's "Girlfriend" (reached fifth in the U.S. charts), rock songs for Papa Roach, and they even took a swing at the indie scene producing songs for The Hives. I think the reason why they cross over genres so successfully is due to their unique sound. The Neptunes' sound involves a heavy use of synthesizer riffs, loud drum beats, and falsetto hooks that make up a funk-like hip-hop. It's so different than anything else out there that so many artists want it on their tracks. They also do more then produce and make music. Williams and Hugo are credited as the writers for the song "Hella Good" by No Doubt which reached 13 on the pop charts. The Neptunes also are so awesomely versatile that they even produced the "I'm Loving It" theme song that you hear during McDonald's commercials...and why wouldn't they? Obviously McDonald's was trying to make themselves look hip and cool after the whole Supersize Me scandal, so they decided to hire the awesomest, hippest, coolest, most popular producers around to fit this image. And when I mean the awesomest, hippest, coolest, and most popular producers around, I mean it. A survey in August 2003 found the Neptunes produced almost 43% of songs played on U.S. radio. That is just absurdiculously awesome as far as I am concerned. You can also make the argument that the Neptunes helped launch several careers. The were responsible for Mystikal's biggest hits in "Danger" and "Shake Ya ***" and making Kelis a household name with her breakout hit "Milkshake." They also have produced every album by the Clipse and have introduced them to a national audience as well. However, they are so awesome, that their awesomeness doesn't stop there.






The Neptunes are not N.E.R.D., but they are just as awesome.


Most of the time in the music industry, people like to let their body of work speak for themselves in terms of how talented they are. If you are to take this literally, the Neptunes would have a conversation that would last 40 days and 40 nights. Seriously, the amount of hits that are behind might make your head explode, and I am putting the over-under at two for the amount of songs you knew they produced. If someone was to tell me they knew more than four, they better be Pharrell or Hugo themselves or the world's biggest liar. They got their first break in 1997 producing Mase's hit "Lookin' At Me", which peaked as the number eight rap song in the United States. However, they really didn't hit it big until 1999 when they produced the crowd pleasing hit by Ol' Dirty Bastard, "Got Your Money," which at one point was the 26th most popular song in the country. This lead to collaborating with Jay-Z for "I Just Wanna Luv U (Give It 2 Me)", which at one point was the #1 hip-hop song in the country, and Busta Rhymes on "Pass The Courvoisier pt. 2." Once those were released, it was official; the Neptunes owned the world, musically producing speaking. The helped Ludacris with "Southern Hospitality,"  then tore up the charts with Fabolous' hit Young'n (Holla Back), and produced one of the most highly anticipated (and awesome) albums of all-time, Justin Timberlake's debut solo album, Justified. This album just went on to win two Grammy awards for the Neptunes and sell more than seven million copies worldwide. This helped lead them to a success they never could have imagined.


The Neptunes have produced several number one hits in the United States. These hits include, Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl," Jay-Z's "Excuse Me Miss," LL Cool J's "Luv U Better," Nelly's "Hot In Herre," Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot," and Usher's "U Don't Have To Call." (Side note: I guarantee you that you just read that list and said either "Wow" or "I didn't know they produced that") However, their most awesome, biggest hit, Britney Spear's "I'm A Slave 4 U" went number one in the world. Now I know what you're thinking, they produced a song for Britney Spears during her peak popularity, of course it was going to go number one worldwide. Well let me respond by posing the following question; do you think Brit-Brit would let anyone produce a song of hers when she was on top of the world? Of course not! If anything was going to bring Britney down, it was going to be her social life, and certainly not her music. She was going to hire awesome producers to produce her tracks, which is why she chose the Neptunes. She knew they were awesome and respected their talent and skill to produce a hit, and produce a hit they did.


When I was writing this article, I kept wondering if producers should stay behind the scenes and not step in the lime light. However, then I realized how much producers are involved in music and should be appreciated and recognized for all the hard work they do. The Neptunes deserve to be appreciated for their awesomeness by people as much as they get it within the music industry. In 2008 and 2009 the Neptunes got the biggest compliments they could get when they went out of this world mainstream. They spent time producing their specific sound for all-time musical legends like Madonna on her Hard Candy album, the first lady of the Underappreciated Awesome Celebrity Blog, Shakira on her She Wolf album, and the late great Michael Jackson on The Remix Suite album. Clearly, this is a sign that the Neptunes should be recognized for being on the list of all-time best musical producers ever. And why not? Besides being name as Producers of the Year at The Source and Billboard Music Awards in 2001, and the aforementioned Grammy wins, they won another for producing the Best Rap Song of the Year for Ludacris' "Money Maker" and were at least nominated for Best Producers every year from 2004 to 2007. I could only think what if there was a Grammy award for most Underappreciated Awesome Producers? I have no doubt that they would win the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Shakira

Quick, name the most talented current female pop singer? I expect a lot of people to say the usual suspects; Beyonce, Rihanna, Britney Spears, or even Kelly Clarkson. Who are you forgetting? Shakira. Now name who you think the hottest woman in the world is. Who did you say? Megan Fox? Adriana Lima? Olivia Wilde? Jessica Biel? Again, I'm sure almost no one said Shakira. Why is that? How can this be? No one combines the awesome raw talent of singing, dancing and overall hotness better than Shakira. Yet she constantly fails to achieve the credit for her awesomeness she deserves. In fact, Shakira is so awesome, that even though I always thought she didn't get the respect she deserves for being awesome, it wasn't until I started doing research on her for this article that I realized I was underappreciating her awesomeness, when I thought I was praising her. I mean I just didn't realize how highly she rated on the awesomeness scale, and I'm sure nobody does either. It's time we change that.

Shakira is out of this world gorgeous. There's just no other way to put it. She is so hot that there are three different levels of her beauty. She is exotic hot, sexy hot, and beautiful hot, and yes there is a difference between all three. Dictionary.com defines exotic as of foreign origin or character; not native; introduced from abroad, but not fully naturalized or acclimatized. Based on this definition, Shakira is as exotic as it gets. Born in Colombia, Shakira is of Lebanese, Spanish, and Italian descent. It's not just that, its her tan skin, blonde hair, and brown eyes that makes your heart skip a beat every time you look at her. It's the type of knockout beauty that you rarely see in anyone that truly makes her stand out from the pack of other celebrity hotties. She's sexy hot in the sense that she personifies sex appeal. From her dancing, to her body, to the vibe she gives off, let's just say that she is the type of woman a man dreams about from the age of 15-105 to make his wildest fantasies and dreams come true. Finally, she's beautiful hot in regards to her overall hotness. I mean, look at her! Do I even need to get into detail here? She has that classic feminine beauty look to her. There's not a man on the planet who wouldn't sell his soul to walk around with Shakira arm in arm and have the biggest smile on his face for an hour. When you think of the requirements of what it takes to be beautiful, Shakira meets all of them. She is as perfectly awesome as one can possibly be in terms of looks.

Therefore, it totally makes no sense that in its annual Hot 100 List, Maxim Magazine didn't even rank Shakira in 2009. Again, I repeat for emphasis, not even ranked! That's blasphemous as far as I'm concerned. I mean, how can the Red Sox win the World Series twice in a decade, and Shakira goes unranked in Maxim's Hot 100? This is even more mind-boggling especially when you consider they ranked several "hotties" like Michelle Obama (93), Chelsea Handler (91), Milla Jovovich (63), and Cameron Diaz (37). Now don't get me wrong, these are all very beautiful women. However, none of them compare to Shakira in the looks level. I mean can you really say any of them is as hot as Shakira?As my fellow New Jerseyite Tony Soprano would say, faghedaboutit! Now, I'm not saying Shakira should be number one on this list and that she's the hottest woman in the world, but I definitely think she deserves to be listed. In my personal opinion, I would say that she definitely belongs in the top 25. Which begs me to ask the question, is Shakira the perfect combination of looks and talent in the music field today? I think so, if not she's definitely in the top three with Beyonce (52) and Christina Aguilera (14). Beyonce and Aguilera frequently get the praise they deserve for their awesome combination of talent, beauty, and success, yet not Shakira. It pretty much seems that people don't realize how talented and successful Shakira really is, just like they overlook her hotness.

This is what love at first sight feels like!

Some of the records that Shakira has broken in the music industry are as insane as her dancing movies. However, it almost make one's head explode when you read these facts and realize that Shakira isn't considered one of the most successful artists of the past two decades by the general public. I bet you didn't know that according to, Shakira was the fourth highest-earning woman in music for 2008 behind Madonna, Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion. You should also know that Shakira recorded her first album, Magia, when she was only thirteen years old. Now most artists that age have someone write their songs for them, but not someone as awesome as Shakira. The songs on the album were written by Shakira when she was eight years old. Eight! Most eight year olds can barely write complete sentences, and Shakira was writing songs. Shakira's second album Pies Descalzos, was just as awesome since it debuted at #1 in eight different countries. She also received a World Music Award as the best selling Latin artist for this record. Then, her fourth album ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, sold 300,000 in one day in Miami alone. It wound up selling over 1,500,000 copies in the United States, making it one of the best selling Spanish albums in U.S. history. Around this time, Shakira performed her hit song "Ojos Así" at the inaugural ceremony of Latin Grammy Awards. Shakira did such an awesome job that he was named the Greatest Latin Grammy performance of all time. In 2002, Shakira released her first ever English album, Laundry Service, which became the best selling album of 2002, selling more than 20 million copies worldwide, and was certified three time multi platinum by the RIAA. Still not impressed? Well, you're about to be.

In 2005, Shakira released Oral Fixation Vol. 1 and 2. Volume 1 spent a record 25 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart and sold 157,000 copies in its first week of release in the U.S., becoming the highest debut ever for a Spanish language album in America. It also was certified eleven times multi-Platinum. But now, here's the ridiculous statistics. On the day of its official release in Venezuela, it went Platinum, in Colombia it went triple Platinum and in Mexico, it was sold-out. Think about that for a second. I just suffered an aneurysm at the thought of a record selling out in an entire country...in one day! The album wound up selling over one million copies in three days. The most successful song of the album "Hips Don't Lie", was rated the number one song in at least 55 countries. It was also the most-played pop song in a single week in American radio history, getting played 9,637 times in one week, and according to was the best selling single of the last ten years.The tour she went on for this album was just as awesome. The tour had 125 shows, on five different continents: Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Africa. Over 2.5 million people came to these shows. During this tour, Shakira performed a free concert in Mexico City and over 210,000 people were in attendance. Ok, now tell me you aren't impressed? I dare you.

She's hot! She's talented! She's charitable!

Over the course of her career, Shakira has received 103 awards from 224 nominations from various globally recognized music organizations such as the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Grammys, the Latin Grammys, the People's Choice Awards, the World Music Awards, and the Golden Globe Awards, among others. Her two biggest wins were when she won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in 2001 for Shakira MTV Unplugged and for best Latin Rock/Alternative Album in 2006 for Fijación Oral Vol. 1 Besides her two Grammy Awards and seven Latin Grammy Awards, Shakira has sold 50 million albums. She also happens to be the highest selling Colombian artist of all time, and the second most successful female Latin singer. If that's not enough to impress you, take an objective look at the talent she posses. Besides having a world class voice and dancing ability, Shakira loves all genres of music since she has covered Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Elvis Presely. Oh, and did I mention she plays the harmonica? Is this not one of the most awesome women in the world? Before you answer that, you have to understand, it gets better, you see she's even more perfect than you think.

Do you think this Colombian beauty is all looks? Wrong! Shakira has brains as well, and it is evident in her business ventures and charity work. I mean there is a reason why that it is reported that Shakira has an IQ of 140. In 1995, she founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation, a Colombian charity that builds special schools for poor children all around Colombia. Over the course of her career, Shakira has been known for performing at a large number of charity benefit concerts like Live 8, Live Earth, and the Clinton Global Initiative, Shakira is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is one of their global representatives. She also served as the Honorary Chairperson for "Action Week" 2008, which was sponsored by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), to generate awareness about the Education for All Act. She spoke with the U.S. Congress, the British Prime Minister, and the World Bank President to promote a move towards Global Education. She's spent days in Bangladesh visiting families effected by cyclones, open $6 million schools in her hometown, and has been named "Humanitarian of the Year" by People En Espanol.Shakira was also ranked the 48th most charitable celebrity by OK! magazine, which reported she donates around $55,000 a year to charity. The Spanish government has committed over $45 million to her cause of helping people who are victims of natural disasters, and help education in Latin American countries. She clearly has a face, voice, and heart of gold.

It is very hard for a woman, especially a celebrity, to be considered underappreciated. They are often frequently discussed in the press, tabloids, are guests on talk shows and are pretty much always recognized for their talents and beauty. However, just like Shakira's hips, the facts don't lie; Shakira is unbelievably awesome, and doesn't get the credit she deserves for it. I mean who ever really knew that she could dance like that? And she really does make a man wants to speak Spanish. If you could do those two things, and don't get the praise you deserve, you definitely deserve a spot in The Underappreciated Celebrity Blog. Having an awesome name usually helps too. After all, Shakira means thankful in Arabic. I like to think the meaning of her name shows not only a twist of irony, but it also displays the humble side of Shakira as well. You see, in actuality we are the ones who are thankful for her hotness, talent, charity work, and most importantly, her awesomeness.

Jesse Palmer

Before I get started, let's just make one thing clear. If you think that I mean Jesse Palmer was underappreciated for his awesomeness as an NFL quarterback for the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers, I can assure you that's not the case. Truth be told, he was your average NFL backup quarterback. In fact, you can even make the argument he was a below average backup quarterback. In his career, he threw three touchdowns, four interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 59.8. I don't think you need to be a sports fan to realize that's not very good. However, his sports career managed to lead Jesse to his true calling. You see, Jesse happens to be a good looking guy and is a natural in front of a camera, so his awesomeness must have told him that he can rely on those two traits to get involved in television. Therefore, once his football career was over it didn't mean he was going to fade into obscurity. In fact, Jesse was smart enough to get a jump start on getting involved in television when he was still playing football when he decided to be the hunk 25 women purse on the reality show The Bachelor. This brings me to the Jesse Palmer who is underappreciated for his awesomeness; the actor, tv football analyst, and sex symbol.

Jesse Palmer, an actor? You're telling me you didn't see the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 2005 episode titled "Design" where Jesse played third baseman Don Lacey? You are missing quite the awesome performance then. Even if the underappreciated awesome Nicolas Cage would be proud of Jesse's awesomeness, especially because it's almost like Cage tutored Jesse on how to act. In the episode, a women claims to have been raped and impregnated by a wealthy scientist. However as the episode progresses, we learn that she in fact druged and raped several rich, famous, and good-looking men to try and get her pregnant so she can extort them. Jesse was one of these men who was taken advantage of. The four scenes he was in were brief; he was probably in the episode for less than three minutes. However, during this time he seemed comfortable and confident. I'm not saying he is going to be the next Deniro or Nicholson, but for a professional athlete he was pretty awesome. There are a lot of professional athletes who try their hand at acting and are just terrible. There are also a lot of professional actors who are just terrible as well. All I'm saying is that based on his role appearance on Law & Order, he did a great job, a lot better than one would expect, and he should definitely consider some more acting in his future. After all, it's pretty clear after seeing him on a hit television show that his potential for awesomeness in the acting field is very high.

Jesse needs a coach for football, but not for being awesome.

Palmer currently works for ESPN as a studio analyst on College Football Live and other various ESPN2 telecasts. He is also a game analyst and commentator on ESPN Thursday Night College Football .In the November 23, 2009 issue of The Sporting News, the writers of this prestigious sports magazine teamed up with writers from SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily to write a feature article ranking the top 25 football announcers in the business. It didn't matter if the announcer commentated on professional or college games. For some odd-known reason, Jesse was not ranked. Talking about being underappreciated for your awesomeness! How often does an analyst/commentator host the two biggest shows of the week on one of the biggest networks not get recognized for his awesomeness? Almost never. This is almost a crime against humanity in my opinion. Even if he doesn't get the recognition in print he deserves, at least he gets it from his employer. After all, ABC has scheduled Jesse to be the studio analyst for their broadcast of the 2010 BCS National Championship Game. Now don't you think for the National Championship game they would hire one of the best in the business? Of course they would, and ABC did, even if The Sporting News chooses to underappreciate Jesse and his awesomeness.

You just know he is in the middle of making an awesome point.

Here's something else to consider when Jesse's awesome analyst skills are discussed. Most analysts are either former all-time great players (i.e. Dan Marino, Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman etc.,) or journalism majors (i.e. Curt Menafee, James Brown, Al Michaels etc.,). Jesse was neither. Yet, he has managed to transcend himself into one of the best analysts without the usual required credentials. Why? Cause he's awesome! He knows the game, can relate to the modern-day athlete, understands what the pressure is like playing at a big school, and states his points eloquently and concisely so everyone watching the game can understand what he is trying to say. It's almost like this is what he was born to do considering the fact he is the only below average pro and college athlete to become a successful commentator/analyst. Even guys like Chris Collinsworth and Brian Griese made Pro-Bowls and accomplished more on the field than Jesse ever did. Jesse has such natural talent in front of the camera that he's not just limited to covering sports. He is also the New York correspondent for CTV's entertainment news program, eTalk, covering both sports and entertainment events, including the Super Bowl and the 79th and 80th Academy Awards. Seriously, do I even have to ask how awesome he is? Yes someone like Joe Buck and Jim Nantz may commentate for multiple sports, but how many analysts cover sports and entertainment? I can't name one. Oh wait, yes I can. His name is Jesse Palmer.

If you couldn't tell by any of the pictures displayed in this post, or by anytime you've seen him on television or magazines, Jesse Palmer is a really good-looking guy. He has all of the features that women look for in a man. He's tall, tan, and handsome. He has a great smile, perfect teeth, amazing hair, and bone structure to die for. The last time someone had such great hair, John Stamos was showing it off on Full House. Also, even though he is retired you can tell me from his tightly fitted suits and shirts he wears that he still keeps himself in great shape. He's not just looks either. Since he's been on ESPN he frequently quotes great literary figures showing off his intelligence, and he says such witty jokes, you'd think he could be a stand up comedian. (Side note: We all know Jesse would make an awesome stand up comedian and would put Chris Rock to shame.) His personality literally radiates off from the screen. So it seemed like a perfect match when he was cast as the star of The Bachelor in 2004.

The Hair? The Smile? The Rose? What isn't awesome here?

Mike Fleiss, the executive product of The Bachelor recognized Jesse's stud status when he said, "If you lined up all the greatest bachelors who have ever applied to be on the show, Jesse would definitely be our number one draft pick." He wasn't the only one who was impressed. When Jesse accidentally called the wrong girl's name to keep her on the show, he did the right thing and told her he didn't mean to pick her. However, she was so enamored with Jesse that she decided to stay on the show anyway to see if things could work out between the two of them. If that's not enough, another woman who Jesse voted off, came back to the show a couple of episodes later to get him back and try to make him change his mind! You don't do that for a guy, unless you realize he is one awesome catch. Yet, for some reason he is never mentioned on any list of hottest male celebrities and is constantly off the radar. People Magazine has yet to include him in their annual Sexiest Man Alive issue, and was not named on E!'s Top 50 Hunks show. E! and People's credibility is totally damaged for not giving Jesse Palmer the beefcake status he deserves. I mean look at the guy! This alone might be the most insulting underappreciation of awesomeness ever.

As stated previously, Palmer was not a great quarterback. But he was named The Canadian Player of the Year in 1996 and was the second Canadian (behind Mark Rypien of the Washington Redskins) to start at the quarterback position in the NFL. How awesome is that?!?!? Jesse is also a part of two NFL records. In 2003, Jesse combined with Kerry Collins to throw 616 passes, a franchise single-season record. He also was the recipient of a Bruce Smith sack that made Smith the all-time career NFL sack leader. Those both make great trivia questions for your friends, and it doesn't get much more awesome than being the answer to trivia questions that stump your friends. You maybe wondering why would such questions stump your friends? Because Jesse is awesome, and they probably don't appreciate his awesomeness, like most people in this world. However, a true Jesse Palmer fan, who recognizes the awesome powers he possesses does. The facts don't lie, Jesse Palmer is so awesome that even though he was a below average quarterback he still made NFL history and won an award for the being athlete to represent his country. Jesse accepted those accomplishments with great pride, and we can only assume he accepts the award of being in The Underappreciated Awesome Celebrity Blog the same way. What gives us that assumption? Obviously because he's that mad awesome and can finally feel appreciated for it.

Nicolas Cage

Yes, Nicolas Cage is a world famous actor, but is he appreciated for awesomeness? I really don't think so. Cage gets unfairly panned for making what critics call "bad movies." Yes, I have yet to see such movies as Next, Ghost Rider, or Bangkok Dangerous, but as far as I'm concerned, Nicolas Cage is underrated because he fails to be mentioned as a quality actor and for making several mad awesome movies. His three best Con Air, The Rock, and The Family Man, even though he has many more classics under his belt. Also remember, even if a movie is bad, that doesn't necessarily seem that the actor in them is bad as well. In Cage's case, this is certainly true. So even if Knowing got bad reviews, I legitimately think Nic Cage's awesomeness will be dripping from the screen because of what he has shown the world with those three underrated hits.

As far as I'm concerned, Con Air is not only one of the best action movies of the 1990's, but it is so over-the-top unrealistic and ridiculous, that makes me watch it every single time I see it on tv....and I own it on DVD. Besides it's intense action scenes, this film rates very highly on the unintentional comedy scale. Seriously, who thought of the idea, "Let's take the worst, most dangerous criminals in America and put them on a plane together. I really don't think anything wrong will or can happen. There is no way, they will come up with a plan to try and overtake the plane with only three guards on board." Keep in mind that if this concept doesn't seem unrealistic enough for you, this is before John Malkovich builds a bomb....in prison. As well as before they land a plan in the middle of the Las Vegas strip that kills and injuries the prisoners only, and no civilians to speak of. I mean, come on! I can't imagine a scenario like this ever happening in real life. Nicolas Cage (awesome hair and all), saves America from these criminals and their ludicrous plans. Why? Cause he's awesome, that's why. I mean the man can do hand stand push-ups for crying out loud!

Nic Cage has the look of an awesome action hero.

Sure people laughed when they heard Cage might play Superman, but this movie portrays Cage as a great lead for an action movie box office smash. Keep in mind, this was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and it did gross over $100 million in the United States alone. For those who say that this was a fluke, well it was not the only awesome action movie Nic Cage was in, it wasn't even his first mega action hit.

If you think of the wrestler when you hear someone say "The Rock," you seriously need to bone up own on your action flicks from 1996. To summarize, Alcatraz has been taken hostage by a group of Marines who have access to a lethal chemical weapon. Cage plays FBI chemical weapons expert Stanley Goodspeed who has to infiltrate Alcatraz with a Navy SEAL team and the only person to ever escape from Alcartraz (played by Sean Connery). Cage portrays the nerdy and dorky Goodspeed perfectly, yet as dorky as he is, its not that out of reach to assume someone has hot as Vanessa Marcil (who plays his girlfriend Carla, a former prom queen) would date his character. You never say to yourself, "Why would she date him?" Serious awesome points go to Cage due to that fact alone. It not only takes great acting ability to pull that off, but general awesomeness as well. Anyway, as the movie progresses, Cage starts to beat some people up, even though he plays a scientist, and not a field agent. Sure he gets his butt kicked at some parts, but that's expected as well. Again, this doesn't seem so out of reach because Cage manages to pull it off so easily. Heroically, Cage saves the day at the end of the film, albeit with a little help from Connery. The Rock made over $130 million in the box office in the United States alone and was the seventh highest grossing film of 1996 in the US, and the fourth highest worldwide. Does Cage get the credit he deserves for this? Nope, personally I think this is a very underrated movie, and people don't realize how successful The Rock really was. It also did wonders for Cage's career, as it brought him into the discussion of mainstream actors. Unfortunately for him though, it left him vulnerable for criticism and did not praise him for his deserved awesomeness.

Nic Cage is here to save the day! Awesome!

After the previewing of Cage's film Knowing, Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman wrote an article in March 2009, accusing Cage of "selling out." In the article, titled "Nicolas Cage: Artist or hack? The choice is his", Gleiberman states that Cage should return to dramas as opposed to only making high-paying blockbusters. I know I'm tempted to ask Glieberman if he has even seen The Rock before if he is going to pose such a question because there is no way you can say that about Cage unless you have not seen this film. Unless Cage doesn't get the props he deserves, which certainly seems to be the case. One can even make the argument that The Rock jump started the Bay-Bruckheimer production of mega action hits from the 1990s - present day. Whether you view that as a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of opinion, but one thing that can't be argued is that it takes someone truly awesome to start such a trend.

The Family Man is a great movie, and shows how awesome Nic Cage is in a different light other than action superstar. For those who missed out on it, Nicolas Cage plays a Wall Street playboy who wakes up in an alternate life where he married his college sweetheart (Tea Leoni). It's like a cousin to It's A Wonderful Life. Predictably, when he is about to go back to his original life, he realizes that he belongs with Leoni. Once he goes back to his old life he chases after her character, and stops her at the airport right before she is about to board her plane. To win her heart, he says one of my favorite monologues in movie history:

"We have a house in Jersey. We have two kids, Annie and Josh. Annie's not much of a violin player, but she tries real hard. She's a little precocious, but that's only because she says what's on her mind. And when she smiles... And Josh, he has your eyes. He doesn't say much, but we know he's smart. He's always got his eyes open, he's always watching us. Sometimes you can look at him and you just know he's learning something new. It's like witnessing a miracle. The house is a mess but it's ours. After 122 more payments, it's going to be ours. And you, you're a non-profit lawyer. That's right, you're completely non-profit, but that doesn't seem to bother you. And we're in love. After 13 years of marriage we're still unbelievably in love. You won't even let me touch you until I've said it. I sing to you. Not all the time, but definitely on special occasions. We've dealt with our share of surprises and made a lot of sacrifices but we've stayed together. You see, you're a better person than I am. And it made me a better person to be around you. I don't know, maybe it was just all a dream. Maybe I went to bed one lonely night in December and I imagined it all. But I swear, nothing has ever felt more real. And if you get on that plane right now, it'll disappear forever. I know we could both go on with our lives and we'd both be fine, but I've seen what we could be like together. And I choose us."

The Family Man or The Awesome Man?

I think that if anyone else chased down Tea Leoni at an airport down and uttered this speech, she would say thanks, and then proceed to board to her plane. But it's not just anyone who chases her down. It's the underrated Nic Cage...and he is awesome, which she realizes, so she decided to chose him too. My friend and I quote this speech to each other on a frequent basis because it is so awesome. I don't know about you, but I know every time I go to the airport I'm always hoping someone pulls a Nic Cage and does that to me. (Note: You know someone is truly awesome, when you can say pulls a _____ referring to an individual.) But does Nic Cage get the respect for being awesome that he deserves? From a general consensus, I think not. But he definitely should.

Think about this though, Nicolas Cage is so awesome, that I didn't even mention that he did win an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas, and was nominated for another in Adaptation. (Side note: Great movie if you're interested in seeing how scripts for movies are written). I also didn't discuss how The Weather Man is one of the funniest movies no one has seen, and he has made another over-the-top unrealistic and ridiculous action movie in Face-Off. Nicolas Cage, you maybe an underappreciated awesome celebrity by the world, but not by us. Congrats on being the first member of this club and website.