Character

So I'm wondering...is anyone's filmic experience really that limited that they can pick and choose their Top 5 Movie Characters of all time? I mean, to be able to choose 5 is damn near impossible, more so to do it in one sitting...

This comes from a hurried little facebook exercise I partook (is that a word?) in last week, one that I probably had many regrets about a split-second after I clicked the submit button. Regrets and frustration confirmed moments later when a friend managed to pull up a character that would've been one of my favs had I bothered to take more than 20 mins to think about who I adore on the big screen.

Also what criteria do you use to determin such a list? I thought about endearing characters, interesting characters, memorable characters... but many of these people had numerous flaws and faults, ones that made me wonder if they are the "best" characters after all. To say best would imply someone that you might look up to or want to emulate right? Surely I wouldn't want to be Lux Lisbon from Virgin Suicides then, would I? Much as I adore her.

I spent an evening on and off mulling over what I like best in some of my favourite film personalities, and while there's still much that is uncovered, I think I've narrowed it down to three main dominant categories: femme fatales, unlikely heros, and those that endear me to them. Of course femme fatales are often heroic figures to me, but there are so many it's like they are a category of heros, my brand of superhero (er, super villain?) That being said, heroes are naturally endearing, and so once again what I really have is still, just a very long list of characters that I like. Same as films themselves, I believe that one should not have to produce a list of less that 50 when it comes to "All time favourites"

Below is a loosely categorized list of some of my most beloved movie characters:

FEMME FATALES

1) Suzy Toller - portrayed by Neve Campbell - in Wild Things

2) Juliete Hardy - portrayed by Brigitte Bardot - in God Created Women

3) Kathryn Merteuil - portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar - in Cruel Intentions

4) O-Ren Ishii - protrayed by Lucy Liu - in Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2


UNLIKELY HEROES

1) Mark Renton - portrayed by Ewan McGreggor - in Trainspotting*

*Also interesting to note is that in all three films that Danny Boyle and Ewan made, Ewan's character always wound up with the money (in 2 of the 3 he betrayed his mates to get it)

2) Enid - portrayed by Thora Birch - in Ghost World

3) Marie "Slim" Browning - portrayed by Lauren Bacall - in To Have and Have Not

4) Alyssa Jones - portrayed by Joey Lauren Adams - in Chasing Amy

5) "Woman" - portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter - in Conversations with Other Women

6) Monty Brogan - portrayed by Ed Norton - in 25th Hour


PLAIN LOVE EM

1) Bonnie Parker - portrayed by Faye Dunaway - in Bonnie & Clyde

2) Penny Lane - portrayed by Kate Hudson - in Almost Famous

3) Woman in blonde wig - portrayed by Brigitte Lin - in Chungking Express


And those don't even really scratch the surface of great characters out there...

Ada sans coffee is still better than mentally challenged Kansas ravers

As is evident from my lack of posts lately, this blog has been severely neglected. Polls about The Watchmen (so is there anyone who doesn't feel like it could've been 30 mins less? At least?) and a list of films I most recently viewed in... say... February?

This is a bit of pre-coffee dribble that I typed out when I recently went on another half-hearted tirade about how most of the general public can't post a proper movie review. Granted I set a less than stellar example with this garbled blurb about The Martyrs, if I had any shame at all I wouldn't be posting it here:

Friday May 08, 2009 - 10:28 AM

you know, I try to ignore it... but nothing irks me more than lame movie reviews!

seriously, either write a decent review or just give it a star rating and say nothing already, these kids make me want to hunt them down in their little Kansas homes and smack em over the head! Possibly with an empty film canister

maybe others can be like sheep, go read reviews that say "it's good" or "dont see it, it's boring" and just take strangers' word blindly, but not me, if you don't give me any insight or explanation then you are null and non-existent to me. it's ok if you just give a star rating, I like how that averages up so I can see at one glance what the consensus is, but to have to scroll down a series of "good" "meh" "horrible" I have so many better things to do with my time... like colour my pen cap with a sharpie!

anyway, this is the review for Martyrs (which I saw back in September at TIFF 2008) that I tossed onto the thread for good measure. It was written before my coffee had filtered into my system but sadly it's still better than most of the reviews on this site.

cheers

MARTYRS




The problem with Martyrs isn't the gore... I think if you sign on to watch this movie, you're either really into gruesome, disturbing, sickening imagery and messed up stories... or you're really dense for not having read the back of the DVD box first

When it comes to disgusting, Martyrs wins hands down, it's gratutious, it's in-your-face, and completely excessive.

My issue with Martyrs is the arch of the climax... it builds and builds with one torture scene after another... to reveal a mediocre motive and a last 15 mins that plateaus in terms of psychological disturbance... and you just sit there thinking "ok get on with it already" By the time it ends you feel things have been taken down a notch... it's dissapointing! I'm squirming in my seat for an hour and 15 mins, I expect to be screaming and pulling out my hair and covering my eyes by the end... but no, I'm just thinking where to go for food after the movie

I like gore, but I think the best horrors are still the ones that show less but fucks with your mind most. Of you can go the cheesey route and pour on the gore while the audience cringes and laughs. If you want a good serious horror though, the trick is to marry the gore and the suspense and psychological manipulation, but Martyrs really falls short in that respect.

For just a smidge less gore but twice as disturbing, I'd definitely recommend À l'intérieur (inside) instead.