Thursday, July 12, 2012

Top 10 Least Favorite Movie CHARACTERS: Part II

The Best of the Worst


      Part I of my "Top 10 Least Favorite Movie CHARACTERS" can be found by clicking the above link.  
      I suppose I'll have to choose my words carefully. Chuck Norris is watching. I'll oblige only because Bruce Lee's reincarnated-self is not here to protect me. 
      These characters are the vermin of cinema. But they are the best vermin, contaminating the world, charmingly, one evil at a time. They are simply too good at being bad. While their actions, behavior, and generally their outlook on life is morally objectionable and admittedly terrifying, their determination and affinity for destruction is captivating. 
      Evil is not the prerequisite, but its very existence is crucial to my ultimate aversion to these characters. So, I urge you to tread cautiously. Trading glances with individuals so miserably appalling is known to be the predominant cause of nightmares. As we all know, fear leads to madness. Do not let fear transform you into a revolting character of cinema. I never want to see any of you lovely readers creepily decorating one of my future "Love to Hate" installments. I for one harbor no such fear. 

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Top 10 Least Favorite Movie CHARACTERS: Part I

Love to Hate

Image

      Let's face it. We are wired to dislike certain people. Human nature assures us there's a line to be crossed between that which we deem admirable and that which we deride gleefully. Movies are no different. The characters who inhabit these tantalizing worlds solidify our diametric ideological curiosities. And I'm most curious about the disreputable. Therefore, in this post, I will identify my "Top 10 Least Favorite Movie Characters." 
      Common themes you may discover are the false representation of power, the willful subjugation of powerless figures, betrayal, cowardice, fraudulent ethics, deception, malfeasance, and of no less importance, obnoxious personalities. 
      These characters are despicable. The actors are not. In no way is it my objective to denigrate the work of these performers. In fact only great performances qualify for my list. It's not the performances or the actors I'm begrudging, but the detestable characters they portray so effectively. Their inclusion is actually an endorsement of the quality of their work. An actor's placement on this list is a celebration of their trenchant embrace of villainy, or in some cases their insufferable expression (think obnoxious voices, folks). 
      Some choices will be obvious, some more surprising. I made a concerted effort to avoid selecting only familiar "villains." A task too easy is little fun. Did I succeed? 
      One final caveat: I refused to select loathsome characters from godawful movies. Logic being that movies that are awful do not deserve publicity. Additionally, if the movie is bad, it is likely the characters are, too. No need to dwell in the vapid sewers of mediocrity, right? Thus, only movies I deem worthy of praise are to be culled. Let's begin shall we...