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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Bad MoFo

The bad guy.
The most coveted role in any movie.
Everyone wants to play him. He gets all the best action, the hottest chicks, and he definitely gets the coolest lines.
As a follow on from my last post regarding Heath Ledger's impending Joker, I thought I'd list some of my favourite bad guys from over the years.

Here we go (in no particular order):

Dr Christian Szell (Lawrence Olivier) - 'Marathon Man' (1976)
I remember the first time I watched this film. I was a kid who already had a healthy phobia about the dentist. This really didn't help matters. It's still a real surprise to see old Larry as a bad guy.

John Doe (Kevin Spacey) - 'Se7en' (1995)
The lack of any anger or aggression that Kevin Spacey puts into the character of 'John Doe' just makes him all the more chilling. Still a fantastic end to a film.

Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe) - 'Streets Of Fire' (1984)
I love this film. It was pulp fiction before anybody thought about making 'Pulp Fiction', and has an awesome soundtrack.

Norman Stanfield (Gary Oldman) - 'Leon' (1994)
Gary Oldman is one of my favourite actors. He can play good guys, but his bad guys, of which there have been many, are superb. This is his best though, as the dirty cop in the film that introduced the world to Natalie Portman, who would one day go on to help bring balance to The Force.

Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) - 'Goodfellas' (1990)
Without question the finest gangster movie of all time. Joe Pesci is truly scary in this film, and it's still Ray Liotta's finest hour, with the possible exception of 'Narc'.

Come on, who have I missed?

12 comments:

Jaggy said...

How can you have a "Punch it Chewie!" bad guy list without including the king of asthmatic baddies, Darth himself.

Inchy said...

Darth was a pussy. Tommy DeVito would have rubbed salt into Luke's severed wrist then sent him to swim with da fishes. No hesitation.

Zen Wizard said...

1) Michael Madsen as "Mr. Blonde" in Resevoir Dogs.

2) Glenn Close as "Alex Forrest" in Fatal Attraction.

3) Bruce Campbell as "Bad Ash" in Army of Darkness.

4) Ralph Brown as "Danny" in Withnail & I. (Maybe not evil but really creepy.)

5) Peter Greene as "Zed" in Pulp Fiction.

6) Honorable Mention: Robert Mitchum as "Powell" in Night of the Hunter for inspiring a bunch of knuckle tatt' douchebags since 19552

It's not movies, it's TV but anyone who shagged "Rachel" on "Friends"--especially Schwimmer but also "Paolo" and especially that douchebag, "Joshua." And while I am at it, "Gunther" for WANTING to shag her.

Steve said...

Not sure if it counts but Andy Serkis's portrayal of Ian Brady in Longford was the most frightening thing I've seen in a long time. Understated but very real... he made the guy seem unhinged and evil without raving or foaming at the mouth. A fantastic performance.

JW said...

Missed I don't know about but I want to cast my vote behind John Doe. It's the cool, rational detachment of the character - no ranting, raving loon this; no, Doe is in absolute control of the situation and he knows it.

Scary. I'm glad he's dead even if he is only a fictional character!

Suzy Norman said...

Dance, muthafukka, dance. Aw, yes.

Helga Hansen said...

I know he wasn't a "bad boy" as such, but I thought Ed Norton played his role in Primal Fear brilliantly! Amazing how devious a stuttering choir boy can be!!

And who couldn't love Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs?? He so looked the part, especially when wearing that mask!

Groanin' Jock said...

Not strictly a movie, but Robert Carlyle in the episode of Cracker where he plays the skinhead is pure evil. And he's pretty special as Begbie as well.

Inchy said...

Jock - Francis Begbie is legendary, but even though he was a bad bastard in Trainspotting, he's not really a complete 'bad guy' in the traditional sense, but I do agree that Bobby Carlisle, like Gary Oldman, can do evil really well. He's fucking scary in '28 Weeks later'.

Groanin' Jock said...

Aye, he's good in whichever Bond film it is he appeared in as well.

Rol said...

Nice choices - you know, I don't think I've ever seen Streets Of Fire, but it sounds right up my street (no pun int.) - I'll have to check it out.

By the way, if you're looking for something to occupy your time and your blog, why not do the 'My Life In Movies' meme that's going round... check out my version on my blog. Considering your interest in film, I'd be fascinated to see your choices.

Inchy said...

Bloody hell Roll, that's 3 hours of my life I won't get back again. I made it though.