OFFICIAL DRAFT THREAD - The Greatest Movie Characters of All-Time
02-25-2017
, 09:46 PM
For my fourth pick, I choose Lonesome Rhodes, as played by Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crood.
Larry Rhodes is a drifter spending the evening in a jail in rural Arkansas (Jesus, is there any other kind of Arkansas?) singing high, lonesome songs about being stuck in an Arkansas jail, when he's "discovered", given a local show, then a show in in the bigger Memphis market, and then it's on to New York for the big time.
As he progresses, a darker side emerges. On television, he plays a likable singing bumpkin with a homespun sense of humor, not unlike the television sheriff Griffith would soon make famous, and keeps playing it to the public and even to the executives he has to please. The dichotomy between his public persona and his private and true self are slowly revealed, and the result is fascinating,if not down right disturbing.
Griffith had chops, but there are some who insist the character had more resonance after his television character became an iconic cultural linchpin. The film was not successful, critically or commercially, upon release, and maybe that fact does contribute to his effectiveness here.
Don't know, as I saw it after the fact. But it still remains one of the more intriguing performances you'll see. I think it stands on it's own.
The film, also starring Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau, has had a bit of a comeback, given the similarities between a scene in the film and a certain event on last year's Presidential campaign trail.
It's that, and then some, but it's also a fascinating clinic on par with (undrafted) in maneuvering the twists and turns of a twisted psyche.
So, I now have:
1. Chance the Gardner, as played by Peter Sellers in Being There.
2. Alex SeLarge, as played by Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange[/I]
3. Yoda, as played by Frank Oz, a puppet, a dude in a frog constume, and some expensive CGI in the Star Wars movies, and
4. Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, as played by Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd
Larry Rhodes is a drifter spending the evening in a jail in rural Arkansas (Jesus, is there any other kind of Arkansas?) singing high, lonesome songs about being stuck in an Arkansas jail, when he's "discovered", given a local show, then a show in in the bigger Memphis market, and then it's on to New York for the big time.
As he progresses, a darker side emerges. On television, he plays a likable singing bumpkin with a homespun sense of humor, not unlike the television sheriff Griffith would soon make famous, and keeps playing it to the public and even to the executives he has to please. The dichotomy between his public persona and his private and true self are slowly revealed, and the result is fascinating,if not down right disturbing.
Griffith had chops, but there are some who insist the character had more resonance after his television character became an iconic cultural linchpin. The film was not successful, critically or commercially, upon release, and maybe that fact does contribute to his effectiveness here.
Don't know, as I saw it after the fact. But it still remains one of the more intriguing performances you'll see. I think it stands on it's own.
The film, also starring Patricia Neal and Walter Matthau, has had a bit of a comeback, given the similarities between a scene in the film and a certain event on last year's Presidential campaign trail.
It's that, and then some, but it's also a fascinating clinic on par with (undrafted) in maneuvering the twists and turns of a twisted psyche.
So, I now have:
1. Chance the Gardner, as played by Peter Sellers in Being There.
2. Alex SeLarge, as played by Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange[/I]
3. Yoda, as played by Frank Oz, a puppet, a dude in a frog constume, and some expensive CGI in the Star Wars movies, and
4. Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, as played by Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd
02-25-2017
, 10:51 PM
02-26-2017
, 01:34 AM
02-26-2017
, 03:50 AM
02-26-2017
, 09:30 AM
02-26-2017
, 09:44 AM
I partly choose Bourne because he is the title character in the greatest action series of all time. The 4th film was terrible, but the original trilogy stands as some of he best action film making ever.
Like John McClane, Bourne is no superhero. He gets hurt, he bleeds, and he can die. Unlike John McClane and virtually every other action hero, Bourne is given a complex inner morality and political framework in which to operate. Brilliantly set in the modern era, where our most important political issue is freedom from the state and the right to privacy, the entire Bourne plot revolves around the boundaries between the state and the citizen. Where does a patriot draw the line? Bourne is the stand in for us all with one big difference, the state provided him skills to do something about it.
Damon is perfectly cast as just enough of an everyman with a bit of badass mixed in.
Last edited by Clovis8; 02-26-2017 at 09:56 AM.
02-26-2017
, 04:15 PM
02-26-2017
, 04:32 PM
I'm the movie maker's ideal customer. I always fall for it. I always drink the Kool Ade. This time I'm falling for...
Leeloo Minaï Lekatariba-Laminaï-Tchaï Ekbat de Sebat
I realize that things may be different here on Earth, but on my home planet Leeloo is pretty much the standard Girl Next Door.
And if there is one thing I admire in a woman more than being a badass...
… it’s finding out that she’s a healthy eater.
I freely admit that I seldom understand what women are telling me, and with Leeloo it is no exception, yet she somehow makes the whole experience seem charming.
P.S. Advice for some of the younger guys on the forum: stay away from redheads until you’ve had more experience and/or professional training.
riverboatking has been pmed
Leeloo Minaï Lekatariba-Laminaï-Tchaï Ekbat de Sebat
I realize that things may be different here on Earth, but on my home planet Leeloo is pretty much the standard Girl Next Door.
And if there is one thing I admire in a woman more than being a badass...
… it’s finding out that she’s a healthy eater.
I freely admit that I seldom understand what women are telling me, and with Leeloo it is no exception, yet she somehow makes the whole experience seem charming.
P.S. Advice for some of the younger guys on the forum: stay away from redheads until you’ve had more experience and/or professional training.
riverboatking has been pmed
02-26-2017
, 06:06 PM
02-26-2017
, 08:04 PM
02-26-2017
, 10:01 PM
02-26-2017
, 11:31 PM
Bob Harrison
There are so many great Bill Murray roles, and I won't even mention them because I'm sure some will be chosen in this draft. That being said, I think all of those phenomenal roles led up to this absolutely shocking and incredible character. Had we not known that he had the acting chops from his prior roles, we wouldn't have given as much weight to the lines on his face. You can truly see the tracks of his tears throughout this movie.
Bob Harrison is an 'A' list celebrity, who is spending a week in Japan to do a commercial for some whiskey, instead of doing something meaningful like performing in a play.
He is alone. Despite having an entourage of yes men, a prostitute willing to let him 'lip' her stockings, and a wife who wants him to choose the color of their new carpet, he is isolated.
The movie begins with a literal shout out to the title. The director of his commercial, speaks for a good 60 seconds in Japanese, and the translator concisely tells him that the director wants "more intensity." His facial expressions throughout this scene are priceless.
He meets another lonely soul in Scarlett Johansson. They both want nothing more than to just connect with a fellow human being. This isn't about sex, or lust, or desire. This is about something so much deeper.
This role was written for Bill Murray and Bill Murray alone. If he said no, this film would never have been made. Not with a Kevin Spacey, or a Anthony Hopkins, or a Sean Penn. This was Murray's role, and only he could've pulled it off, and boy did he.
We all want to know what he whispered into Scarlett's ear at the end. These two were meant for each other, but maybe they just were born a few too many decades apart. They formed an emotional bond, and maybe that was enough, or maybe it wasn't. We will never know, and that makes them saying goodbye all the more painful. Maybe I'm relieved I don't know what he said to her, as that may cheapen the moment.
There are so many great Bill Murray roles, and I won't even mention them because I'm sure some will be chosen in this draft. That being said, I think all of those phenomenal roles led up to this absolutely shocking and incredible character. Had we not known that he had the acting chops from his prior roles, we wouldn't have given as much weight to the lines on his face. You can truly see the tracks of his tears throughout this movie.
Bob Harrison is an 'A' list celebrity, who is spending a week in Japan to do a commercial for some whiskey, instead of doing something meaningful like performing in a play.
He is alone. Despite having an entourage of yes men, a prostitute willing to let him 'lip' her stockings, and a wife who wants him to choose the color of their new carpet, he is isolated.
The movie begins with a literal shout out to the title. The director of his commercial, speaks for a good 60 seconds in Japanese, and the translator concisely tells him that the director wants "more intensity." His facial expressions throughout this scene are priceless.
He meets another lonely soul in Scarlett Johansson. They both want nothing more than to just connect with a fellow human being. This isn't about sex, or lust, or desire. This is about something so much deeper.
This role was written for Bill Murray and Bill Murray alone. If he said no, this film would never have been made. Not with a Kevin Spacey, or a Anthony Hopkins, or a Sean Penn. This was Murray's role, and only he could've pulled it off, and boy did he.
We all want to know what he whispered into Scarlett's ear at the end. These two were meant for each other, but maybe they just were born a few too many decades apart. They formed an emotional bond, and maybe that was enough, or maybe it wasn't. We will never know, and that makes them saying goodbye all the more painful. Maybe I'm relieved I don't know what he said to her, as that may cheapen the moment.
