Saturday, 26 February 2011

Top 15 Most Hated Bastards in Film

Now these guys might not be the most evil, and you may even like some. But for me, personally, they make me want to crawl into the screen and stab them in the face... cos they're just 'ORRIBLE, IRRITATING BASTARDS! Warning: spoilers alert! And if you feel I've missed any significant people out, please do tell me!


15. Benjamin Kane - Wayne's World
Apart from his face looking like a desirable punch bag, he cons Wayne and Garth out of their show like the slippery bastard he is, and then tries to steal Wayne's girl. He may create some humour, but I hate the man, and Rob Lowe's casting probably doesn't help.




14. Don - 28 Weeks Later
Normally I love Robert Carlyle, but this character does my nut in. He makes no effort whatsoever to save his wife from the infected, and then proceeds to lie to his children about it. Then when all should be sorted he's stupid enough to break into the quarantine facility to make out with his wife that he abandoned in the first place, and turns himself all infected. What a dick. Then even when he isn't consciously human any more he manages to get in the way for the rest of the film.

13. Dolores Umbridge - Order of the Phoenix
Coming from the worst Harry Potter film, Umbridge is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher sent by the Ministry of Magic. She starts off being an irritating bitch to then dominating the entire school. She humiliates Harry in front of his class mates, then uses some nasty magic on him, tries to sack a teacher, tries and fails (HA!) to remove Dumbledore, then takes over Hogwarts making it a school of witchcraft and misery, among other annoying things that make you want to rip her hair out. The face says it all, hats off to Imelda Staunton.



12. Caledon Hockley - Titanic
I will try to refrain from ranting about how much this film itself annoys me and concentrate on this twat. He tries way too hard to get into Rose's knickers when she clearly isn't interested, he undermines everyone who isn't as rich and fabulous as him, is completely up his arse to the point of thinking he has power over them, and then to top it off gets Jack falsely arrested and uses a crying girl as a tool to get onto a lifeboat. Again the face says it all, but not hats off to Bill Zane, he just looks like a twat anyway.

11. Major Arnold Toht - Raiders Of The Lost Ark
Apart from trying to steal the medallion from Marion near the start of the film, he doesn't do an awful lot. He just pisses me off, as he looks and sounds like a slimy bastard and I'm glad he melts.



10. Roark Jr/Yellow Bastard - Sin City
This lovely fellow starts off looking not so yellow, normal in fact, but he is actually a child molester and killer who has kidnapped little Nancy Callahan. But when you thought he couldn't get any worse he returns later on in the film as a smelly, deformed yellow bastard. He then manages to kidnap a now adult Nancy again and means to rape and kill her, but she refuses to scream as he tortures her because it's the only way he can 'get it up'. There just isn't anything likeable about this guy, therefore deserves his gory yet satisfying fate.

9. Miss Trunchbull - Matilda
Looking essentially like a man, this woman has to be one of the most disliked children's characters of all time. She's brilliantly cast, but my god don't you just want her to fall off something high? She's a headmistress who treats the children like dirt, and if they're bad puts them in the 'chokey', a hole in the wall with a door of spikes. Lovely. She throws children out of windows, force feeds them, doesn't like smiles or laughter, abused her niece who works at the school as a teacher, and it is suggested she also murdered her brother! Kudos Roald Dahl, you created a monster.

8. Colonel Miles Quaritch - Avatar
I know that although Quaritch is a villian in the movie, a lot of people like him for being both bad ass and very determined, but I'm not one of them. From the moment he entered my 3D vision I thought he looked like a slimy bugger, and by gum he is one. Never giving up, ever ruthless, the tough bastard fights on and somehow avoids death until the last moments when he fights in the machine Cameron stole from his own Aliens film. If someone is that passionate about killing a whole race of people then he deserves a nasty death, rather like Hitler.

7. Carter Burke - Aliens
Burke gets a special honorary mention for being such a cock that he inspired me to write this list. Congratulations you slithering maggot. Burke is from the Company, and accompanies Ripley and the marines on their mission to 'destroy' the aliens. Ripley finds out that he caused the outbreak by instructing colonists to research the ship from the first movie, and that he wants specimens so he can profit from using them as biological weapons. He then tries to use Ripley and Newt as carriers of the specimens and planned to kill the other marines on the way home by sabotaging their cryogenic pods. And he still manages to piss me off when he refuses to help the rest of the crew and leaves them essentially to die outside the door. Burke, you are a berk.

6. Amon Goeth - Schindler's List
Based on the real life man, Amon is the SS officer hired to build and run the Plaszow concentration camp, and he isn't a nice chappy. Like many nazis he is happy to murder thousands of jews, and takes part in war crimes which he later gets found out for. Ralph Fiennes portrays him brilliantly, and doesn't leave room for empathy.


5. Walter Peck - Ghostbusters
He's a smarmy knob who thinks the Ghostbusters are frauds, and tries to get them shut down for housing dangerous chemicals in their basement. Because of this he gets them to shut off the grid and all the ghosts are released to cause havoc on New York... nice one. It's difficult to watch him speak without hating him. Peck even inspires the most genius line in the film:
Dr Ray Stantz: Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here. 
Walter Peck: They caused an explosion! 
Mayor: Is this true? 
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes it's true. 
[pause] 
Dr. Peter Venkman: This man has no dick.
4. Warden Norton - The Shawshank Redemption
The corrupt, and ruthless warden of Shawshank Penitentiary. He exploits the system to get as much money as he can, although tries to present himself as a devout Christian. Apart from his whole demeanor, the most irritating thing he does is executes the guy who had the evidence for  Andy's release, just because he can. Thankfully he shoots himself in the face.

3. Percy Wetmore - The Green Mile
This man.... is a sadistic wanker that works as a guard in the Penitentiary, but because he 'knows people' higher up he can get away with things and the other guards can't do anything. He skulks around and harasses everyone, and he's that heartless he stomps on Mr Jingles the mouse and kills him (who thankfully gets brought back to life). He then proceeds to botch an execution by purposely not wetting the sponge which is meant to make a quicker, smoother death. Thankfully he then gets given a sickness from John causing him to go into a catatonic state, and is sent to Briar Ridge Mental Hospital where he earlier promised he would transfer his post. Ha. Kudos to Stephen King for creating two amazingly detestable characters, Norton and Wetmore.

2. Nurse Ratched - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ever since the first time I saw this woman I don't think I've felt more rage over a film character. Everything about her oozes evil. True, she has to deal with mental patients, but you could have a little heart. Her cold, sadistic face makes my skin crawl. She has almost complete power over the patients of her ward, of their medication, meals, and activities, and will happily remove privelages if she is displeased by people in any way. McMurphy challenges her methods and her power, by doing things such as wanting to watch the super bowl and do a vote but even when he wins she refuses to comply. She uses her force against him more and more throughout the film eventually leading to his lobotomy. She does however end up losing some of her control as McMurphy damaged her vocal chords, unfortunately not strangling her to death, which I certainly would have.

And in joint first place:

1. Bella Swan, Edward Cullen & Jacob Black - Twilight
I couldn't resist. They just have to be the top. It might be a little to do with the terrible story lines and the dire acting; but I have never hated three main characters in a film franchise, I didn't think it was even possible. Bella is the protagonist; she's just pathetic and irritating and I honestly don't care what happens to her which I should considering she is the main focus. Edward and Jacob are the two 'SEXY' guys fighting over her, totally plausible as one happens to be a vampire, the other a werewolf. I honestly don't understand why young girls are practically killing themselves over how much they love these films... I just hope that these aren't the people that will one day be running the country. Sorry guys, it had to be done. I will be overjoyed when the franchise ends and people get a good supernatural obsession, like zombies.

Friday, 25 February 2011

Would you erase me?

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

This has to be one of my favourite films for so many reasons, so I thought I'd write about it now because it NEEDS to be seen! I have even trialled this film with numerous people who hadn't seen it, and every one of them thought it was amazing even if this wasn't their usual genre; because this isn't any old film...

Our memories make us who we are, but this film shows what would happen if you could hire a company to erase them. Is there someone you have been with you'd rather forget? Got painful memories of someone? Get Lacuna Corp to do their procedure and you won't even remember they exist! Sounds great right? Well this is what impulsive Clementine (Kate Winslet) does, but doesn't tell Joel (Jim Carrey). He has to find out the hard way, so decides to get it done too and erase her. But as he is forced to go through their relationship in his head memory by memory, it's proved that although there was sourness towards the end, there were many good times and he doesn't want to forget her after all.

The majority of the film is set inside Joel's head, in his memories. As you can imagine this creates endless possibilities for awesome camera shots and tricks as memories are being erased before our very eyes. Objects, walls, people, all disappear. There really isn't just one person to give credit to for this film, for me it's the writer and the director. The writer Charlie Kaufman came up with the story, as well as Being John Malkovich, a film which if you have seen you'll realise there are many similarities in the themes of thought, memory and being inside the mind, and the peculiar storylines which could only have come from his crazy imagination. The other genius behind this is of course Michel Gondry, who has directed countless imaginative pieces including many music videos, and The Science of Sleep, a french film which is again very peculiar and dreamy. The combination of their creative minds creates a film that is normally classed as a romantic drama, but is so much more than that. There are elements of fantasy and sci-fi that turn what could have been a soppy mess into a cleverly crafted masterpiece.

Another odd thing about this film that is in my opinion the key to making it work, is the casting. Jim Carrey before this had mainly done over the top comedic roles, which I do love, but this film shows a whole other side to him which you may not even think he had in him. He manages to play a serious, quite regular guy, and does it brilliantly. And as for Kate Winslet, this is by far my favourite role of hers as it's the complete opposite of what she normally does too. Where she is normally elegant, beautiful and strong; in Eternal Sunshine she is kooky, impulsive and eccentric. With her constantly changing hair colour, she's a great character and I can't think of an actress that could portray her better. The supporting cast are also really well chosen, with Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood and Tom Wilkinson working for Lacuna Inc in the parallel storyline, they bring some great performances and touching moments.


I'll shut up in a minute, but lastly I just want to mention the soundtrack. The original score is by Jon Brion and is the majority of the film's music, but there are a few songs like Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime which appear in the opening and closing credits. The music creates a mellow like ambience that surrounds the film reflecting the characters.







If you hadn't realised already I bloody adore this film, and think it should be obligatory watching for everyone because I love everything about it. I just hope this has persuaded you, or if you've already seen it, persuaded you to watch it again. Just one bit of advice, if you think it's a bit slow at the start which my mother did... whatever you do don't turn it off, or else I'll hunt you down and use the method from A Clockwork Orange on you. The opening credits are 20 minutes in and then the film completely changes, into the intriguingly odd and beautiful.

How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot. The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd.

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Be careful what you wish for.

Coraline (2009)

It's taken me too long to get round to watching this, but I'm glad I finally did! It's a bat shit crazy magical leap into a stop motion world (which by the way is ridiculously well done). Coraline is a girl who finds a mysterious door in her new home, which leads to an idyllic version in an alternate world with her 'Other Mother' and 'Other Father', who of course have buttons for eyes.. and then it gets kind of odd, in the good way that these films often do. 

It was originally a book written by Neil Gaiman, but you have to give credit to Selick for his eery style on the sets and the colourful characters, including the two retired burlesque actresses voiced by French and Saunders, and the odd russian gymnast voiced by Ian McShane, all neighbours of Coraline.

Something I noticed was there were some beautiful shots in the film, especially considering it's stop motion and some things would have been more difficult to film. I tend to appreciate films more when it is clear of the attention to detail and effort put into making them, be it CGI battle scenes or in this case movement of individual hair strands on a model for example. Also considering it's 3D (which unfortunately I haven't seen it in) and it was brought out around the time when this 3D boom began, there aren't an overwhelming number of shots to take advantage of it, unlike some films which seem to be made purely for the fad.

I should mention, that a lot of people were/are still misled due to the advertising when this was brought out which said 'From the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas'. This caused people to think it was a Tim Burton film, but actually it was Henry Selick's film, and Tim Burton just wrote and produced it. Selick was also behind James and the Giant Peach, a film which for me is full of nostalgia, and although there are many good Roald Dahl adaptations (The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), for me this has to be my favourite as it really brought the magic of the book to life, and then gave more by transforming what began as a live action film into beautiful stop motion. I wish more people would recognise Selick's work, and not think it was someone elses, as he's brilliant at what he does.

If you haven't seen Coraline then if you get the chance I would, as it's not just a children's film; it's an easy going, enjoyable but cleverly done animation and deserves being watched.

Coraline: I almost fell down a well yesterday, Mom.
Mother: Uh-huh
Coraline: I would've died.
Mother: That's nice.