Angie was just talking about one of our favourite 'that guy' actors the other day. David Krumholtz plays Bernard in The Santa Clause (1994), one of our all-time favie Christmas movies. Now that we're totally engrossed in the holiday spirit, we thought it was time to feature some Charismatic Characters from some of our favie Christmas flicks.
Bernard is a tell-it-like-it-is kinda guy/elf. There's no messin' around in the workshop when he's on shift, which is like, always. He's dry, he's sarcastic, he's awesome.
We featured Ichabod Crane as a Charismatic Character a long time ago, but since All Hallow's Eve is upon us (mua ha ha ha!), we figured it's time for a redo.
This movie freaked us RIGHT out as kids. The creepy whistling, Bram's scary story/song, the dark forest, the bridge, the scary cackling laughter... *shudder* ughhhghhh it just makes me feel weird, even now.
Also, how can you go wrong with Bing Crosby as the narrator? If you've never seen this classic family friendly Halloween flick, check it out. I promise, even as an adult, you'll be a wee bit spooked.
Ichabod is a ladies man (somehow) and a massive glutton. He's a lanky, awkward, cowardly, dorky school-teacher that you'll love from the first moment you see him. As much as we loved Johnny Depp's 1999 portrayal of this character, this animated one is the real OG.
Are they shovels or are they feet? We say they're more like massive canoes.
Walt Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1958) (Jump to 3:35 for the Ichabod song)
She's sassy. She's saucy. She's effin' rude. Edna tells it like it is... there's no beatin' around the bush with this broad. Despite her size, this woman's got a HUGE personality.
We look forward to her scenes and giggle about the fact that a man (Brad Bird who is also the director) voiced her! She might just be our favie character in the whole damn movie!
Creepy, sexy, fugly, gorgeous, weirdo, crazy, romantic, sensual... all words that describe Juan Antonio Gonzalo. He's such a great mix of strange and alluring. As a female I have to admit that Juan Antonio did have me at 'hello' or 'hola' or whatever.
He's charismatic alright. Charismatic enough to get me to join him on a tiny plane to travel to some small town without so much as a few words exchanged? Not a chance in hell.
This post was written by this week's Cin-Ob Supreme, Jonathan!
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Many times I visit this site and find great content. One of my favorite segments is the Charismatic Characters. Although I absolutely love watching scenes with great written characters, it got me thinking of the other side of the coin, those characters that to some can be so annoying they can be deemed to be Non-Charismatic Characters.
I have a few that I want to discuss, and I’m sure you will agree with me (if not there is something wrong with you). *joke*
First – Meesa hates this guy with a passion – Mr. Jar Jar Binks. I don’t understand how G. Lucas can say that he was created to appeal to small children and get away with it. If you are creating an adult movie, stick with adult themes. Who gives a shite to appeal to small kids, they have their own movies.
Sample of his annoyance:
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Second – The precious Gollum/Smeagol – Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE the entire trilogy of LOTR, but for some reason this character just didn’t do it for me. Every time I re-watch the movies, I cringe when Gollum starts being in the frame more often. I think it’s his look and the way he talks and spits so much. Yuk. I could have done without this character, although “every creature serves a purpose” as Gandalf would say. But honestly, if you have some major sore throat, take a cough drop!
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Finally – Harry Potter’s chamber maid – Dobby the Elf (or whatever it was). Again, I love the Harry Potter films, so thank God this annoying fellow only showed up in The Chamber of Secrets. I think it’s a funny thing that he reminded me of Gollum so much. I find JK Rowling “took” a lot of ideas from the LOTR series. I think what bugged me the most about him was his look. That nose, and those ears, not quite right even for a fantasy creature!
So here you go. I think what bugs me the most about these characters, is that they talk in the 3rd person, “Meesa doesn’t like this” (Jar Jar) or “It burns us” (Gollum) and so on. I mean seriously, you ain’t no royalty. Now maybe you won’t agree with me, maybe you absolutely loved Dobby, or that Gollum strikes your fancy. If so all the power to you!
Are there any other characters you can think of that annoyed you? I’d love to know as these are the only ones I could quickly think of.
In honour of Amadeus (1984) winning our recent poll, we've chosen a very special someone for today's Charismatic Character. Meet Antonio Salieri. He was a real person, yes he was. True story.
F. Murray Abraham portrays Salieri in this period piece which depicts the rise and fall of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his bizarre relationship with his composer rival Antonio Salieri. The story is told by Salieri himself as he reminisces about his rivalry with Mozart. For the rest of the film, we travel back in time to visit a young Salieri at the peak of his contempt! It's fantastic!
We love him and hate him. We love to hate him. It's all very strange and confusing! Enjoy!
Who says a Charismatic Character has to be human? Not us! Today's choice is Teddy, the loveable teddy bear from Aritificial Intelligence: A.I. (2001). When we first met Teddy, we nearly shit ourselves. We were genuinely psyched at the idea of a robot teddy bear!
Now, Teddy was just a little too smart for us. We already had issues leaving our plush toys alone, so if they had talked, we would have been toting them everywhere. Poor, poor Teddy. Anyone else feel bad for him? Of course we felt bad for David too, but there was something so heartbreaking about Teddy being abandoned.
Does it really get any better than a singing, dancing, animated D-BAG? The answer is no.
Let me introduce you to Monsieur Hood. This French D-Baguette was a super memorable character in Shrek (2001) and deserves to be showcased on this 'lil website thingy of ours here. So here he is, in all his choreographed musical number glory, Monsieur Hood... and 1 and 2 and Fosse and voila!
So, if you haven't been living under a rock your whole life, you've seen The Goonies (1985)... So many memorable moments, monologues and quotes. But today we celebrate Sloth. A misunderstood, kind and gentle soul who's totally one of the good guys! Here's to you Sloth. You might not be purdy, but you's a sweetheart!
Les Grossman, played by Tom Cruise, is getting a lot of attention lately due to his performance on the MTV Movie Awards, and the whispers that Les is getting his own spin-off film.
This inspired me to present you with a most charismatic character, in that asshole kinda way. Grossman has one hell of a way of giving people hell. He's a scary mofo, and I'm sure if he was my boss I'd come home crying every day.
This character, in my humble opinion, stole the whole damn movie. Grandpa, played by the comic genius that is Burgess Meredith, is responsible for some of the best one-liners in this gemmy gem gem.
Some of my favie quotes from 'ol Gramps:
"Looks like Chuck's takin' the skinbone to Tuna Town."
"How would you like my boney macaroni?"
Holy shit. That's gold.
Thanks to this character 'Wha Happened?' has become a regular part of our vocab. Fred Willard is a comic genius. He's a regular in Christopher Guest's movies, all of which we LOOOVE!
Meet Mike LaFontaine, the biggest Douchebag you'll ever meet. He thinks he's hilarious. He thinks he's brilliant. And as much as I want to say he's not... he really is! Just not in the way he thinks he is!
This character was born in A Mighty Wind (2003). Check out what we had to say about this gem's Sublime Soundtrack here!
Oh Anna Faris. I have a 'girl' crush on you. BIG time. You are one funny gal who can make me LOL hardcore.
Case and point - your portrayal of Samantha Jones in Just Friends (2005). This ridiculously dense pop-tart is so fun to hate. Not only is she self-obsessed, delusional, arrogant and annoying, but she can't sing for shite! Although every time I watch this gem, I end up singing 'Forgiveness' for days...
Last week, Holley our newest Cin-Ob Supreme, wanted to see anything that involved Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds. Seems she has great taste, since Mr. Waltz took home the Oscar for best sopporting actor for this role last night! Great choice Holley!
~ Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Critics didn't seem to enjoy De Niro as Captain Shakespeare in Stardust (2007)... but of course we LOOOVED him in this role! Yo ho ho maties - he's fabulousss! *snaps*
Long Duk Dong is just one more reason to love John Hughes. He's borderline offensive, but manages to be completely endearing! Gedde Watanabe, who played the loveable 'Chinaman' in the classic Sixteen Candles (1984), was actually 28 years old at the time of filming!
If I were shaman (shawoman), I would just mess with the villagers. I'd tell them to smear poo on their noses to keep evil spirits away, then watch them walk around all day gagging. I'd do my face makeup like a member of Kiss. I'd tell them the only way to please the sun god is to bring me tasty snacks.
And I'd have my pick of the dirty cave men. Wait, scratch that last one.
Bill Hader gave us an unforgettable portrayal of a tribal shaman. And he gives us some real insight into the thought patterns of such a person. Poor guy... he really just wants to have a nap.
We've watched Harold and Kumar go to White Castle (2004) so many times it's sickening. We get jittery and excited when we know this part is coming. Freakshow. One of the most charismatic characters of all time (in our books). Not only is he hideously ugly and provokes our gag reflex, but he likes to sing little jingles, help strangers, and get buck wild. He makes us howl with laughter and creeps us out to the max. And that's why we love him.
"Randy! What? The Devil! Who? The devil is everywhere!"
We give you Christopher Meloni's unforgettable performance as Freakshow.
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