Saturday 26 February 2011

Shouting Lager Lager Lager


Now as you know, I had a blog discussing iconic Batman Villains, so let's talk about the other villains.
First of all let's talk about Catwoman.
Catwoman
Catwoman (actual name Selina Kyle) has a variation in origins; one of which is that she was a prostitute and was forced into burglary, by her pimp. She has been a villain of Batman's, but she has also helped him at times. In the newest Batman game (Batman: Arkham City). In film, she has been portrayed by Lee Meriwether, Michelle Pfeiffer and will be portrayed by Anne Hathaway.
Up next is Mr Freeze.
Mr Freeze
Mr Freeze (Doctor Victor Fries), was originally a brilliant-minded cryogenics expert who suffered an indrustial accident while trying to cure his wife Nora. He has to wear a cryogenic suit to keep himself alive, otherwise he would die. His crimes usually have a theme of ice or cold. His primary weapon is his "Freeze gun" which he freezes his enemies with. He was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the film "Batman And Robin".
Our next villain to discuss is Ra's al Ghul:
Ra's Al Ghul
Ra's Al Ghul is one of the major villains that stands up to Batman, however he is not as known as the likes of the Joker or The Riddler. He is an intelligent man and his origins have constantly changed. He is almost five centuries old and is a criminal mastermind. In Batman Begins he is portrayed by Liam Neeson.
 
Next up is Victor Zsasz:

Victor Zsasz
Victor Zsasz is a serial killer who murders his victims with a knife, he then scars in a tally of his victim within his flesh. He was tried for murder and was sent to Arkham Asylum. He is not a major villain, but he is one of the most twisted villains that Batman has ever faced.
Our last, but not least, Batman Villain is Killer Croc:
Killer Croc
Killer Croc (actual name Waylon Jones) was a criminal kingpin who tried to take over the Gotham City underworld. Born with a form of avatism which had imparted him with reptilian traits, he is one of Batman's stronger foes. He has strong skin which bullets can't penetrate and has an excellent sense of smell.
That's all hope you've enjoyed.

Thursday 24 February 2011

Reservoir Fiction Or Pulp Dogs

To start this off I would like to discuss 2 characters from 2 of acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino's most famous films . First of all let's talk about a character from Reservoir Dogs.
Mr Blonde (whom I discussed in my blog about Iconic film characters - I'm Busy Right Now Part 1) is the most infamous character of this film and for good reason. He is known for the infamous ear cutting scene in which Mr Blonde cuts off the ear of a cop while dancing to the Stealers Wheels song Stuck In The Middle with you. He got killed by Mr Orange. Mr Blonde's actual name is Victor Vega.
Mr Blonde
Up next is the main character from Tarantino's most famous film Pulp Fiction: Vincent Vega. He is portrayed by John Travolta and is extremely calm until he shot Marvin in the face or when Mia Wallace OD'd on his Heroin. He also died, he was killed by Butch.
Vincent Vega

Now people are probably wondering why I am discussing these 2 characters? Well, the thing is these characters are related. Yes it's true, in fact Tarantino himself had plans to make a film called "The Vega Brothers" which would have starred Michael Madsen and John Travolta. However, Tarantino did not develop this idea.

I'm Busy Right Now Pt 2

Now is part 2 of the iconic character discussion.
The first one is John Doe:
John Doe
The villain from 1995 David Fincher film "Sev7en" is an icon and seems like a major influence for the Saw series in terms of Jigsaw for his valid reasons of killing the selected villains. He killed his villains for their main sins (such as a fat man for greed, a drug addict for sloth and a prostitute for lust). Portrayed by Kevin Spacey, he is shown as a cold, yet mannerful man who torments his victims in a sick way. He is a significant symbol of the darker side of human nature.
Up next we have John Ryder (or the hitcher)
John Ryder
The hitcher is a rather twisted character seeing as he hitches a ride and kills the people in the car. He is twisted and cold-hearted even in the opening scene one of his first lines is "You wanna know what happens to an eyeball when it gets punctured? Do you have any idea how much blood jets out of a guy's neck when his throat's been slit?" He is portrayed by Rutger Hauer and acts it out perfectly.
Up next we have Alex:
Alex
From A Clockwork Orange, comes one of the most sadistic characters in movie history. Alex is a person who enjoys his classical music (such as Beethoven), rape and Ultra-Violence. Portrayed by Malcolm McDowell. He is another character who shows the darker side of human nature.
The next character is John McClane:
John McClane
An icon of action movies, Die Hard's John McClane is just amazing. He has come out with one of the most iconic lines ever and is vulgar in every sense. Able to essentially take out horde's of terrorists and destroy a lot of buildings and machinery. John McClane is just tough. Bruce Willis is the man who plays John McClane and he is able to adapt to the character quickly.
Next we have Vito Corleone.
Don Vito Corleone
From the first Godfather film, Vito Corleone is an icon in cinema history (along with many other characters). He is intelligent, rational and patient. He is the one man who desperately tries to stop a war from beginning between the other mobs. Marlon Brando portrays Vito in the film and he accomplished the rationality of the character perfectly.
Up next is Randle McMurphy:
Randle McMurphy
From the iconic film One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest we have Randle McMurphy. A man who chose to declare himself as insane just so he can finish out the rest of his sentence. During the film we see him take on the oppressive tyranny of Nurse Rached. In the end he gets lobotomised and gets killed by his best friend Chief. Jack Nicholson successfully portrayed Randle in this beautiful film.
Last of this part is Blondie:
Blondie
Blondie (or the man with no name) is from the iconic film The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. He is the Good, a bounty hunter who has to team up with Tuco (the Ugly) to search for gold in a cemetary (he knows the grave and tuco knows the cemetary), he is sympathetic towards the soldiers in the wars and is rather patient. He was portrayed by Clint Eastwood 

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Mega Mega White Thing

Discussion of today is iconic Batman villains

The first of these villains is (obviously) The Joker:
The Joker
Now I don't think this character needs any introduction. Everything from the green hair, the red lips and the purple suit is known throughout the comic book world. This character is a maniac, twisted and prefers to kill his enemies with some sort of sadistic joke. No one knows his actual name and there have been various stories of how he became who he was, most of these stories revolve around him falling into a vat of chemicals. This bleached his skin, turned his hair green and turned his lips a ruby red. He has been voiced by Mark Hamill and others in the animated series and has been played by Cesar Romero, Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger.
Up next we have the Riddler:
The Riddler
The Riddler, also known as Edward Nigma, is an egotistical narcissist. His crimes are usually of a non-violent nature and are used to flaunt his intellectual superiority. Many people see The Riddler as insane, but he isn't really. He has been portrayed by Frank Gorshin in the 60's TV series and in Batman Forever was played by Jim Carrey. He has been voiced by Robert Englund (known for being Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street) and others.
Up next we have Two-Face:

Two-Face
Two-Face was originally defense attorney Harvey Dent and had chemicals thrown in his face, he despises Batman and holds him responsible for what happened to him. He is a major criminal mastermind and his crimes usually related to the number 2. He is a paranoid schizophrenic and has a multiple personality disorder. He has been portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones and Aaron Eckhart.

Up next is the penguin:
The Penguin
Born Oswald Chesterfield Copperpot, The Penguin is one of Batman's oldest enemies and has been originated in various ways; one adaptation is that he was a deformed infanticidal monster, another is a high class man who was bullied for his appearance and forced to use an umbrella due to his protective mother. He is usually armed with a lethal range of umbrella's and is shown in an aristocratic way. In film he has been portrayed by Burgess Meredith for the 60's TV show and film, in Tim Burton's Batman Returns he is portrayed by Danny Devito.

Up next is Harley Quinn:

Harley Quinn
Doctor Harleen Frances Quinzel (more known as Harley Quinn) is the female accomplice of The Joker, and believes she is his lover, although The Joker doesn't love anyone and has no regards to human life. She is as crazy and as twisted as The Joker himself. She has not been in any of the Batman films, but she is a main villain in Batman Arkham Asylum.
Up next is Poison Ivy:

Poison Ivy
Poison Ivy (known as Pamela Lillian isley) is an Eco-terrorist who is mostly Batman's enemy but has also helped him sometimes, after almost being murdered by being poisoned she grew a natural resistance to toxins, venoms and poisons. She has control of plants. In the Batman and Robin film she is portrayed by Uma Thurman.
Next Iconic Character is The Scarecrow:
The Scarecrow (actual name Doctor Jonathan Crane) is a former psychologist student who was kicked out after using humans for testing his experiments. His primary weapon is by inducing people into their fears through a toxin he made himself. He was portrayed in Batman Begins by Cillian Murphy and was a primary villain in Batman: Arkham Asylum.


The final iconic Batman villain I plan to discuss is Bane:
Bane
Bane was born in a prison and was forced to serve out his father's service, he is a highly strong and intelligent person but when he is induced with an experimental drug called "Venom". He almost died but when he recovered, his physical strength had increased. Whenever Bane gets pumped with Venom, he almost becomes unstoppable. He has crippled Batman. In Batman And Robin he is portrayed by Robert Swenson and in the newest Batman film: The Dark Knight Rises, he will be portrayed by Tom Hardy.

Stay tuned

Saturday 19 February 2011

In Ze Mirror, In Ze Nude

Today's topic is about the Resident Evil character Wesker and how the film Resident Evil: Afterlife essentially was a terrible film. First of all let's discuss Wesker.
Wesker
Albert Wesker appeared in the original game and was the commanding officer of Special Tactics and Rescue Services (most people will know this as STARS) and was the leader of Alpha team. Turns out he was a double agent working for the Umbrella Corporation.
He was ordered to lead the STARS squad into the Spencer Mansion so they could be used test subjects against the creatures to gather battle data. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine and the others learn of his betrayal, but as a consequence of releasing the Tyrant monster, Wesker supposedly dies. In the rest of the Resident Evil series he becomes the main antagonist of the series and has made more appearances in the games than the other characters.
Now why is it he appears more in the game series and not in the film? That is a question I would like to have answered.
The fact is if you are planning to make a film series based on a game series then you should have the primary antagonist throughout the whole series instead of introducing him in the 3rd film and then having him in the 4th film only twice overall.
Wesker in Resident Evil: Afterlife portrayed by Shawn Roberts
The bottom line is this: If you are going to make a film series based on a game series then you should stick with the main antagonist. I mean the Mortal Kombat films were bad, but at least they got the main characters from the game. So how can they not do the same for the Resident Evil films?

Friday 18 February 2011

I'm Busy Right Now pt 1

Now today I am talking about Iconic Characters from films and games (spoilers).
This is the Iconic Characters that will never be forgotten.
Our first Iconic character is: Francis Begbie
Francis Begbie
Now this character is a perfect example of some one you'd love to hate: Trainspotting's Begbie. His tone, his view on life and his attitude in general towards his mates, just goes to show you how not to live your life. Robert Carlyle helps to portray this character as the shallow and ignorant man that he is, helping to symbolise the man against change of life
Our next character is the infamous Mr Blonde:
Mr Blonde
Now we deal with a pure sadist. Reservoir Dogs: Mr Blonde is most known for the infamous Ear-cutting scene in which he cuts a police officer's ear off just for fun. Michael Madsen portrays this character as the proud, vain and disturbingly comic man that he is.
Next up is Gunnery Sergeant Hartman:
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman
Renowned for Full Metal Jacket. Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (portrayed by R. Lee Ermey) is a cold hearted drill instructor in the US Marine Corps. He is cruel, vulgar and yet entertainingly funny. Unfortunately, he got shot by Private Pile.
Next is Tony montana (more known as Scarface):
Tony Montana
Even if you haven't seen Scarface, you must've heard of him. The man who began as a  small time Cuban punk to later on become the boss of a major Cocaine empire. You must've heard of him even the famous quote "Say hello to my little friend" will put the image above into your head. Tony Montana is, arguably the most iconic film character ever. His attitude to everyone and his vulgarity help to show how amazing he is. His portrayal was done by Al Pacino and this was his most iconic role.
Up next we have Travis Bickle:
Travis Bickle
The taxi driver from Taxi Driver. Travis Bickle is a man who got sick and tired of the scum in his city. During the film we slowly see him lose his mind and get more and more annoyed at the drug dealers and the pimps. Portrayed by Robert De Niro, this is a character who slowly breaks down and ends up becoming a hero as a consequence.
Up next is Verbal Kint:
Verbal Kint
The cripple from Bryan Singer's "The Usual Suspects" portrayed by Kevin Spacey. He is extremely talkative and is in fact the villain. At the end of the film it turns out that he is Keyser Soze, he is so iconically known due to the famous ending of the film, in which he's limping away and then began walking normally. This simple change in movement helps to show how everything he said was a lie.
Up next we have Derek Vinyard:
Derek Vinyard
The noted character from Tony Kaye's "American History X". Portrayed by Edward Norton. This character is a symbol for changing your views. Originally, he was a person who wasn't too bothered about immigrants but, after his father died, he became a member of a white power skinhead group. He then went to prison for murder and after getting raped by fellow skinheads, he gave up on that way of life and has accepted those people for not being white.
Standby for more.