Top Ten Movie Characters, part 2
on Jul 15 in Uncategorized by DanContinuing on from yesterday’s Top Ten Movie Characters meme as tagged by James from Luke, I am your father
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5 – Walter Gibson, The Sure Thing
“Sorry I’m late. There was this big problem… and I’m late because of it. “
When I was 16 years old Walter “Gib” Gibson was everything I wanted to be. Cool, irreverent, freewheeling, witty, and ultimately – able to get a girlfriend. What a hero. Often overlooked in retrospectives, I’d argue that The Sure Thing was the best work in the careers of two outstanding talents: director Rob Reiner, and actor John Cusack. The greatest teen movie of the 80′s, and that’s really saying something.
4 – Batman, Batman Begins
“It ends here”
As you know I’m a massive fan of the Caped Crusader. And Nolan’s depiction of him in Batman Begins is about as perfect as I suspect we’ll ever see. There are some flaws however, I’m not keen on the gravely voice for example; but all in all it’s pretty damn good. I’ve singled out Batman Begins specifically as this film was actually about Batman; The Dark Knight, while excellent, was really about the Joker and Two-face more than Bats.
3 – Stan Laurel, Various Movies
“I’m sorry Ollie”
I have a rather large boxed set sitting on my shelf of 21 DVDs full of Laurel and Hardy Hal Roach classics from 1926-1940 . Over the year’s I’ve sold many of my other DVD’s on ebay; realizing that all they do is take up space and gather dust. but I’ve never even considered selling my Laurel and Hardy collection; that stuff is for keeps. Of the two I’ve plumped for Stan to make this list, mainly because he’s a home town boy (relatively speaking – he’s from Northern England anyhow) and he was actually the comedy brains behind the duo. But if truth be told he wouldn’t be half the comic he was without Oliver Hardy. Evan has recently started showing a healthy interest in slapstick and I have grand plans to start introducing him to the boys over the next few weeks.
2 – Gregory Underwood, Gregory’s Girl
“Have you ever been in love? I’m in love.”
The 16 year old me may have wanted to be Gib from The Sure Thing, but I identified much more with the good natured bumbling of Scottish teen Gregory from Gregory’s Girl. Apart from Gregory also was able to get a girlfriend obviously. If there has ever been a more endearing rendering of sweet and tender adolescent awkwardness than created by writer/director Bill Forsyth and actor John Gordon Sinclair then I have yet to see it. Magnificent stuff.
1 – Kermit, The Muppet Movie
Frankly, Miss Piggy, I don’t give a hoot. “
There are few people in TV and television that truly deserve the moniker of genius; and Jim Henson was one of them. To be honest I could have very easily have filled this entire list with Muppets characters alone: Fozzie, Gonzo, Ms Piggy, Rowlf, the list goes on and on. Kermit was the figurehead of the Muppets, but more importantly he was the heart too. He was great in the TV shows, but it was in the movies that he truly shone. I challenge anyone to name a better movie opening scene than him sitting in a swamp singing Rainbow Connection. It gives me goosebumps every time.
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And that’s it. I just realized that my list is made up completely of men. In my defense I think this is due to the paucity of good roles for women in hollywood rather than any misogynistic attitude on my part.
And anyway, girls smell.
The rules state that I have to tag some fellow bloggers to do their own version of the meme. Normally I don’t do tagging, but I really enjoyed doing this meme so I thought I’d break with tradition. So here goes:
- Lee, from Quit Your Day Job – because such lists are very much his thing
- JJ Daddy-O, from JJ Daddy-O – because he hasn’t blogged in, like, forever.
- Simon, from Mere Bagatelle – because I want to see if our movie tastes align as well as our musical ones
- Ian, from Single Parent Dad – because I want to see how far up his list Cloe from Beverly Hills Chihuahua comes
- Ajan, from Dutchnid – because I want to hear about some characters from all those Dutch “speciality films”.
- Greg, from Greg and Deb on the Web – because it’s about time you got sucked into this blogosphere thing like the rest of us man. Join us. Join us.
- Jo, from Jo Beaufoix – because we’re swine flu siblings. that’s a bit like blood brothers, but mixed gender and a lot more snotty.
- Sam, from Rabbit Confused with Raisins – because mum told me I have to let him play with my friends as he doesn’t have any of his own
- Catherine, from Some Vague Utopia – Because she’s a meme virgin.
- And finally Andrew Collins, from Never Knowingly Underwhelmed – because I like to aim high on occasion.
And obviously if you fancy doing the meme but I haven’t tagged you then feel free to have a go anyway. I’m not the boss of you.
Related posts:
- Top Ten Movie Characters, part 1
- Movie Review: Ramona and Beezus (2010)
- Movie Review: X-Men First Class
- “It’s all Greek to me” Sunday
- Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Under the Red Hood
« « Top Ten Movie Characters, part 1| www.virusstompers.com » »
Bold choice, with Walter Gibson and not Lloyd Dobler.
And I have so been posting, er, this week….
.-= JJ Daddy-O´s last blog ..Mmmmm…. Nong Shim Neoguri Ramyun… =-.
@JJ Daddy-O, I like to court controversy. It’s how I roll. And wrote this post on sunday, so the information was correct at the time of going to press.
Noah would agree with you on the Muppets issue. Every Christmas season he forces me to watch the Muppet Christmas Carol, and every Thanksgiving we watch Muppet Treasure Island…because it’s so, Thanksgivingy? I dunno, it just feels right. (FYI Thanksgiving is that American holiday with the turkey and the football.)
@Erin, What do you mean “force”!?
Actually it’s my view those are the weakest two muppet films. My favorite is the Muppet Movie, followed (controversially) by Muppets from Space.
(and FYI you’ll find that game isn’t “football”. It’s just rugby played by people who are scared of getting hurt so have to dress up in pads)
I don’t remember seeing a Chihuahua in Star Wars.
Cheers for the tag, no really, I think I’ll actually enjoy this one. Especially when you give Mark Hamill a roasting in my comments.
.-= SingleParentDad´s last blog ..Who Got a Black Eye? =-.
@SingleParentDad, shhhh, don’t insult Mark Hamill or else you’ll get Amanda back here.
Cool meme, and well done! I’m with you on Batman’s voice. I never understood why he had to talk like he had laryngitis. Whatever.
Hey… thanks for the mini-blog linkage, I appreciate that very much. I think you might want to check the URL, it seems to be circling around back to here. Thanks!
.-= Jeff´s last blog ..Virus Stompers is open for business! =-.
@Jeff, Fixed. sorry about that Jeff.
@Dan, Thanks Dan. I was wondering where all our British traffic was.
.-= Jeff´s last blog ..Virus Stompers is open for business! =-.
So you didn’t tag me after all.
I was wondering if characters who originated outside of movies (ie. in comics or on TV) would be allowed, and you seem to have answered that question.
Next though, I want your top ten TV characters.
.-= Rol´s last blog ..Reader’s Wives =-.
@Rol, No I didn’t. I thought I had though. Still, that means you can do it now.
and I am going to have to think about that TV one
I’ve never even heard of Gregory’s Girl or The Sure Thing, but I’ll check them out.
.-= Avitable´s last blog ..MomDot Marketing Fail =-.
@Avitable, It’s possible that both those films are of their time, and re only great due to my nostalgia. I’m pretty sure they would still hold up though. Providing you like well crafted romantic comedies of course.
#2 gave me goosebumps. I’m not kidding. Such a perfect little movie. And, along with Local Hero, my favorite one-two punch of any film director. I still quote lines from Gregory’s Girl, much to the chagrine of my wife who doesn’t understand it. I think it’s a guy’s film. And, you’re right, it’s definitely of the time. If I saw it for the first time today, I would not have the same reaction. It helps to be a teenager while viewing this. Or at least thinking back to those awkward days of youth.
If you go to the US Amazon site for the Gregory’s Girl DVD, a review I wrote eight years ago is still right on top.
Thanks for the nostalgia, Dan, I really thought it was going to be Indy at #2. I know what I’m watching again tonight.
@Idaho Dad, I thought you’d like it.
Gregory’s there by his own merits though. It’s a stunning film. I advise against watching the sequel though. It’s not a truely awful film, but it certainly doesn’t add anything.
A great list. And not throwing way L&H is very very advisable.
I’ll start making a list tomorrow, I hópe I get some time tomorrow evening to really write it down..otherwise it won’t be till sundaynight.
I hope ‘speciality’ doesn’t mean anywhere near bad :P, but I’ll try to make a Dutch movielist incl. a little synopsis.
.-= Arjan´s last blog ..Magnetized =-.
Off topic and I should have emailed you about this before now so apologies but I forgot til now and then couldn’t find your email address but tomorrow night (Thursday 16th) at the New Roscoe in Leeds is Ukelele Night with all sorts of ukelele related stuff – performers and competitions. If you can get there I’m sure you’d enjoy it.
Wow, I was going to include some TV series characters in my list.
Hmmm, going to have to do some thinking about this one.
Problem is, most of the compelling characters I’ve seen lately are from shows like The Wire (hello, McNulty!) but that’s kind of cheating, since a series like that has 60 hours over 5 years to develop the character. Not really fair to movies, which only have about 120 minutes. (barring sequels).
.-= JJ Daddy-O´s last blog ..Mmmmm…. Nong Shim Neoguri Ramyun… =-.
Hey Dan,
nice list. I want to try and come up with my own but I don’t reckon I’d ever be able to decide. Not only can I not make a decision to save my life but my tastes seem to change on a whim.
I’m going to make an effort though.
Sean
.-= Sean´s last blog ..2009 City-Bay Fun Run – Training =-.
Stan Laurel, Various Movies – is the best movie of all times!
.-= lelik´s last blog ..Pregnancy Weeks 13-16, Month #4 (Pregnancy Health Guru) =-.
Stan Laurel was witout doubt one of the funniest people around during his time.
.-= Paul@jokers fancy dress´s last blog ..Fancy dress shop =-.