Top 10 Villains: #8

Warden Samuel Norton from, The Shawshank Redemption, at first glance seems like a very respectful and honorable man.  He is quite fair with the hero of the film, Andy Dufresne:  a man wrongfully accused of murdering his wife and her lover.  He is well versed in the Bible and is God fearing, but maybe not too much.  In truth he is a corrupt, emotionless man who sees dollar signs with Andy.  Andy is a well trained banker and helps keep track of Shawshank Prison's finances, but also launders the money for Norton's personal gain.

SPOILER ALERT:  And when Andy actually has a chance of getting out of Shawshank, based on a confession one of the prisoners heard from another, Norton has Andy put in solitary and the confessional prisoner killed.

Top 10 Villains: #9

Francis Begbie, was introduced through Danny Boyle's 1996 Scottish drama, Trainspotting.  The film concerns the heroin-fueld exploits of Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) and his friends:  Spud, Sick Boy, Tommy, and Begbie (played by Robert Carlyle).  Begbie is the only one of these characters that does not do heroin, yet he can be considered more insane than the rest.  Begbie is a violent man who is easily agitated by the smallest things and would betray his friends the second his life depended on it, or any time.  He constantly puts them in danger by getting into random bar fights just for fun.  In fact, it can be said that his friends drug of choice is heroin, while his is the adrenaline of fighting large groups of people.  At one point, after he finishes telling a false story to his friends, he chucks a pint of beer off a balcony just so he can take part in the ensuing brawl.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - American Remake Trailer

The above video is an apparently bootleg trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a remake of the Swedish film and book of the same name.  The film concerns the characters of Mikael Blomkivst (Daniel Craig) and Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) as they try to solve a 30+ year old mystery of a missing girl.  The trailer doesn't really give you a story, but instead shows off the mood of the film:  DARK.  I also like the cover of Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song by Karen O. and remixed by Trent Reznor (who is also doing the film's score).  I loved the book series, I liked the original film, and I try my best to forget the film's sequels.  I'm glad that David Fincher is directing and I'm glad I will finally get to see it this Christmas.

Top 10 Villains: #10

Principal Edward Rooney.  I felt I had to include at least one villain from a comedy, so this is the one.

Now a few word about the film, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, in case you haven't seen it.  It is a classic 80's comedy from the late, great director, John Hughes.  The film involves Ferris Bueller, high school senior who just doesn't want to go to school.  So what does he do?  He fakes an illness, that gets the attention of most of Chicago, and gets his girlfriend and his cynical friend, Cameron, to have a day in Chicago, all while in his friend's dad's Ferrari.  Now the villain.  Rooney is crazy.  Or maybe he cares too much about his student's education.  All he does the whole movie is try to prove Bueller is skipping school, but the kid is just too good at covering his tracks and having people help.  In all honesty, Ferris is a complete smart ass and we're supposed to be rooting for him.  Rooney just cares about his students.  But then again, Rooney does end up breaking into the kid's house.

Day 8: Observe And Report

"Right now the world needs a hero."
Well Seth Rogen's character is far from it.  Rogen stars as Ronnie Barnhardt, a mentally unstable mall cop.  Ronnie sees himself as the one to solve all problems and when a flasher is terrorizing the mall, Ronnie feels he can save the day and get the girl.  Now if the premise made you feel nice and fuzzy you won't feel that way watching this movie.

It should be noted that this a black comedy, meaning this is one of the darkest comedies ever.  The film pokes fun at the most taboo subjects and yes it is very funny to laugh at those.  The comedy is very well done and has several qoutable lines to boot.  Seth Rogen did a great job as the over-the-head Ronnie, but I feel that fellow mall cop Dennis, played by Michael Pena, steals the show in all of the scenes he is present.  And of course I can't forget Aziz Ansari's bath and soap character who constantly has fights with Ronnie.

Favorite Quote(s):

Charles: [Charlie is asked to join the Special Elite Task Force] Wait a minute, are we getting paid extra for this? Because it seems like...
Ronnie: Let me ask you something - how much did they get paid to storm Normandy, how much did King Arthur get paid to kill Merlin, how much did they get paid to invent Television? Nothing. They did it because they knew it was right.

Nell: Is there really a pervert here?
Ronnie: Yes. Yes, ma'am, there is.
Nell: That's scary.
Ronnie: Not for me so much, you know, it's actually kind of my job, to put myself in harm's way, to protect weaker people such as yourself who are crippled in the leg and whatnot.
Nell: Oh, my cast is coming off in like a month.
Ronnie: I do it, so other people can sleep well at night, meanwhile, I'm up all night fighting demons, just screaming bloody murder, waking up with nosebleeds, night terrors, finding myself a mile from home with bloody feet and a gun in my hand I have no idea how I got there, but pound for pound, I'd say there's not one human being in this mall that deserves this coffee as much as myself.
Nell: Wow.

In Memory: Sidney Lumet

As a truely gifted director, Sidney Lumet wanted to question the ideas of others:

...he wanted to see why we were mad as hell:

...and he wanted to know what we do out of desparation:

Through his directing, Lumet could pull convincing performances from his actors.  Sidney Lumet worked with some of the best because he was one of the best.

Sidney Lumet

1924-2011

Day 7: Dumb and Dumber

Of course this will be on anybody's favorite comedies list.
The film concerns two dimwits Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carry) and Harry Dunn (Jeff Daniels) who go on a cross-country trip to return a suitcase to a woman in Aspen.

The film is a true classic in the realm of gross-out comedy.  Both actors do a great job being stupid and continued to do so, except for Jeff Daniels who strayed away from this type of comedy, but I wouldn't mind seeing him return.

Favorite Quotes(s):

Lloyd: That's it. I've had it with this dump! We've got no food, we got no jobs,... our pets' HEADS ARE FALLIN' OFF!!!

Harry: [his leg is on fire while asking for Beth Jordan's phone number] FOR GOD'S SAKES, JUST GIMME THE DAMN NUMBER!!!!

Lloyd: Excuse me, little old lady. Do you have change for a dollar?
Elderly woman: Change? No I'm sorry, I don't.
Lloyd: Well, can you do me a favor and watch my stuff here while I go break a dollar?
Elderly woman: Of course.
Lloyd: Thanks. Hey, I guess they're right. Senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose. I'll be right back. Don't you go dying on me!

Harry: Where's the booze?
Lloyd: I got robbed by a sweet old lady on a motorized cart. I didn't even see it comin'!
[Harry starts to moan in despair]
Lloyd: Harry... Oh, come on, Harry. Cheer up...
Harry: [voice breaks] It gets worse, Lloyd. My parakeet, Petey...
Lloyd: Yeah?
Harry: He's dead.
Lloyd: Oh... Oh, man, I'm sorry, Harry. What happened?
Harry: His head fell off.
Lloyd: [reacts; whispers] His head fell off?
Harry: Yeah, he was pretty old.

Harry: I can't feel my fi-fingers anymore, Lloyd. T-th-they're numb!
Lloyd: Ooh. Maybe you should wear these extra gloves... my hands are starting to get sweaty.
Harry: Extra gloves? You've had...this pair...of extra gloves...this whole time??
Lloyd: Yeah! We're in the Rockies.
Harry: I'm going to kill you.
Lloyd: [chuckles] ...What?
Harry: I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you, Lloyd!