Boxer is hosting a Movie Clip Wednesday Meme where everyone picks a clip from their favorite movies based on a weekly theme. This week's theme is Bad Guys (way better than Musicals)!
First, I had to decide what "Bad Guys" meant to me. It could be evil, calculating, cold-blooded men (or women). Or it could be cool, macho, tough guys (or girls). To me though, bad guys are black hat wearing sociopaths. And they have to be men because women (in my world, and I'm not being chauvinistic here - I don't think) aren't capable of the cold-blooded brutality that men can unleash. So my choice will be a guy.
But which guy? This theme was a real challenge for me. I like to watch a lot of action, war, western, crime type thrillers. They all have bad guys. So, in honor of the Olympics, I will list my top 3 with an honorable mention (relax, they're mostly short clips).
My earliest recollection of a really bad guy was the Scorpio Killer from Dirty Harry. In particular, the scene where he hijacks the school bus. I saw this when I was 17 and it scared the crap out of me. Scorpio gets honorable mention as a deranged hippie terrorist. I couldn't embedded the clip but it's here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2q4NPa56v0
Third place goes to everyone's favorite offbeat character actor, Gary Oldman. When I first saw him as Stansfield in Léon (The Professional), it was on cable and I vividly remember the cold-bloodedness of the scene where he kills Matilada's family while talking about Beethoven. The bronze goes to a psychotic DEA officer with a passion for the classics.
(Warning - graphic violence)
And of course, I had to include the most famous line from the movie.
Most people will argue that Joe Pesci's Tommy DiVito from Goodfellas was his best, bad guy character. But I think it was just a warm up for his much more sociopathic Nicky Santoro from Casino, the epitome of mobster violence and worthy of a Silver medal. There are two scenes that demonstrate my point. The infamous vice scene (which I will not show) and the "Is this your pen?" scene.
(Warning - extreme graphic violence)
This brings us to the Gold Medal. I think I will probably get blogger jinxed on this one, but Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men is absolutely the scariest hitman I've ever seen in a film. With his monotone voice, Neal Diamond haircut and cryptic questions and observations, he will track you down and kill you in the most violent ways and his pulse rate won't get above 70. He even kills to keep his word to people who are already dead. He makes his own tools and weapons and performs surgery on himself. He's like a human Terminator. I'll leave you with (what I think) is the scariest scene in the movie - and he doesn't even kill anyone in it.
If you liked this Meme, head on over to see our hostess-with-the-mostest, Boxer, for even more bad guys.
8 comments:
Oh, well done, Buzz Kill, well done. You and I almost jinxed each other with Goodfellas, but you went a little darker. Ultimately, I think you made the right decision with your "No Country." but Sociopaths wear many hats and you demonstrated that well. I enjoyed all of these. Thanks!
well, I'm not as impressed with the No Country guy, as it had just a touch of Jason (Halloween) fantasy going on.
And Pesci, dang! I love how he can fill any role he's given from bad guy to bum, from a (near) lawyer to a street hustler...
But Gary Oldman?
So real.
So out there.
Very scary bad guy...
GMTA. I came very close to using Oldman's work in "The Professional". Haven't seen these other movies but I'm sure they're good.
Happy MCW.
Good morning Buzz Kill,
Beethoven, my favorite.
About once every couple years or so, a film comes out of Hollyweird that makes me believe we Americans still have it in us to make great film art. I'm not talking about a good or even great movie – those abound, although just barely. I'm talking about a complete, fully realized work of art. No Country For Old Men is one of those films. Great choice.
I need to watch that Dirty Harry stuff again. It's been a long time.
Boxer
I had a tough time deciding. Each has his own unique "ways". Ultimately, I went back to the 1st time I saw each movie and my impressions afterward. NCFOM was one I thought about for days after watching. Especially the near final scene with Llewelyn's wife.
Boneman
I think you're mixing up your slasher movies, but NCFOM is worth another look. Pesci is pretty much type-cast as a mobster because he does it so well. I think his Nicky character was his best. Oldman is not really type-casted. He does a lot of odd, different characters and pulls it off well. He's a lot like Johnny Depp but way scarier. Stanfield is one of his best.
Troll
Glad you didn't. I was concerned about getting blogger jinxed because it's been running a lot lately on Encore.
Karl
Are you talking aboutthat dog movie about Beethoven? Bwahaha When Stansfield explains why he stopped killing the family because Beethoven got a little boring - that was scary stuff.
Moi
I knew you would be down with thei film and am a little surprised you didn't do it. Javier Bardem is another decent character actor and he nailed Anton Chigurh. This movie was in my dreams for days after I saw it.
Heff
You can't watch too much Dirty Harry. I actually like Magnum Force a little better, but Callaghan is certainly one of the all time movie bad asses. Even more than Lone Wolf McQuaid.
Gary Oldman is by the far the BEST Bad Guy I have ever seen ... in ANY of his movies!
The rest of the picks are just as awesome ... Javier Bardem.
Excellent!
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