The character: Long John Silver The actor: Tim Curry The movie: Muppet Treasure Island (1996) So maybe this isn’t our best use of time, but let’s take a walk together, go through some Muppet movies, and decide which human actors from each movie deserved Oscar nominations for their time. I’ve done a variation of this… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Villain #39
The character: Annie Johnson The actor: Juanita Moore The movie: Imitation of Life (1959) “Annie” is a common first name, the diminutive of “Ann.” Not so Annie Johnson of Imitation of Life, whose given name must have been “Antigone.” The commitment to principle which leads to immuration befits Annie, who denies herself in front of… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Hero #39
The character: Count Dracula The actor: Gary Oldman The movie: Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) “I have crossed oceans of time to find you,” Dracula tells Mina. It’s been more than four centuries since he lost Elisabeta to suicide, and now he sees her, her face and body restored, something of the Romanian noblewoman within the… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Villain #40
The character: Mary Stevens The actor: Kay Francis The movie: Mary Stevens, M.D. (1933) Maybe it’s romantic to think so, but it seems to me that for beliefs or ideas to change, there have to be people who are willing to spill their own blood on the altar of convention. Someone has to starve to… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Hero #40
The character: Wolf Larsen The actor: Edward G. Robinson The movie: The Sea Wolf (1941) Magnificent fog is one of those things we don’t have anymore for our nautical films. Think of Pirates of the Caribbean and Master and Commander, both of which rely on some pleasingly misty moments to hide ships. The fog is… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Villain #41
The character: Gitl The actor: Carol Kane The movie: Hester Street (1975) Films about immigrants to America tend to follow one of three paths. An American Tail and The Emigrants/The New Land both envision a challenging, often unfriendly America which can be countered with a community brought from the old country. That community, especially in… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Hero #41
The character: Khan Noonien Singh The actor: Ricardo Montalban The movie: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan The most ludicrous thing that happens in The Wrath of Khan is that there’s a secret password in a secret Starfleet database that allows one ship to hack into another. It’s about as likely as the much… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Villain #42
The character: Harry Morgan The actor: John Garfield The movie: The Breaking Point (1950) It’s not called The Breaking Point for nothing, you know? As anyone who’s ever watched a POW movie or a torture movie or an especially shrill children’s movie knows, we all have that breaking point. Anyone can be forced to meet… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Hero #42
The character: Qui-Gon Jinn The actor: Liam Neeson The movie: Star Wars Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (1999) I stand before you today not to provide revisionist takes about the prequels. The Phantom Menace, for all of its many flaws, has Qui-Gon, and Qui-Gon, for my money, is the most interesting character in any… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Hero #43
The character: James Longstreet The actor: Tom Berenger The movie: Gettysburg (1993) In the first half of the movie, John Buford (Sam Elliott) foresees what will happen if the Confederate army get to Gettysburg in force before Union troops do. He can see the frontal assault that will become Pickett’s Charge, but in his mind,… Read More Better than AFI’s Heroes and Villains: Villain #43
Seeing Things Secondhand 