villains http://www.cinemaroll.com/tags/villains New posts about villains What's So Special About the Dark Knight? http://www.cinemaroll.com/Cinemarolling/Whats-So-Special-About-the-Dark-Knight.360447 There are a lot of things to admire about Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight.  It's bold, dark, thoughtfully written, and powerfully acted.  It dares to be more relentlessly serious than most other superhero movies.  But I confess I am surprised at just how huge of a blockbuster it turned out to be.  As great as I think it is, it's not perfect.  Like its predecessor Batman Begins, it's longer than it needs to be, and the final quarter of the film is needlessly complicated and goes a little overboard with all the action sequences.  The thing that makes up for all that, though, and the thing that really sets The Dark Knight apart from all the other superhero movies and especially the other Batman movies, is the character of The Joker.  Thanks to the superb writing and the brilliant performance by Heath Ledger, The Joker comes to life in a way he never had before.  There is something genuinely terrifying, creepy, evil, and downright nasty about him.  He represents a kind of evil that is very real and particularly terrifying because there seems to be no answer to it.  The Joker doesn't want anything.  He doesn't want money, or power, or love, or even admiration.  He just wants to watch the world burn.  Just for the sheer pleasure of it.  So how can you bargain with a man like that?  How can you reason with him?  How can you fight that kind of evil?  We all instinctively understand it, because we all have a bit of it inside us.  Everyone has, at least once or twice, wanted very much to do something they knew was wrong - just for the hell of it.  Just to see what would happen, what it would feel like.  That's why we respond so strongly to Heath Ledger's performance.  He brings it home to us.  He makes it real.  We can see a bit of ourselves in him, and that's the scariest part of all.  

Before The Dark Knight came out, I remember reading something about how Jack Nicholson was angry about all the positive buzz Heath Ledger's performance was getting.  Because Jack wanted to be remembered as the best Joker ever for his performance in the Tim Burton version.  Well, sorry Jack.  We all love you, but your Joker seems so tame now.  Heath Ledger's version feels like the real one, the only one.  Good luck to the next guy playing The Joker!

]]> Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:21:42 PST Total Recall of Steven Seagal http://www.cinemaroll.com/Cinemarolling/Total-Recall-of-Steven-Seagal.346319 My late Mum, Joan was a great fan of Steven Seagal. Mum liked to watch all Steven Seagal's movies and thought that he was a great action movie star. Mum would say that she liked Steven Seagal because he was always very cool when he would confront the bad guys and you would never see him losing his temper.

I remember the first time we saw Steven Seagal movie, it was in “Under Siege” in 1992, where he is a cook on a battleship and confronts the villains in the forms of Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones, not forgetting the beautiful, “Birthday Cake Girl” semi-nude Erika Eleniak. This was a great movie and made a big impression on the four of us, Mum, Dad, my sister and myself.

Although Steven Seagal is a tall and imposing figure he moves like a cat and takes on the villains like they were flies. The actor himself is very interested in the Martial arts and is quite proficient in the Eastern Arts of meditation.

In life we need to be able to confront our challenges with a calm and peaceful mind and to be aware of the fact that every situation changes. We do not need to battle our way through life, but to be able to calmly move them aside effortlessly. This state of mind where we react calmly to life situations can be achieved if we learn to practise meditation and understand the life is always teaching us to improve ourselves.

In the movies, Steven Seagall takes on the bad guys and tosses them around. We do not need to do this in life. We need to control our tempers and our tongues, while concentrating our mind on inner peace of mind. As we practise the art of the mind warrior we will learn how to overcome our own fears and weaknesses, we will gradually understand that life has great rewards to offer to those who understand the value of life, with all its joys, sorrows, victories and defeats.

Steven Seagal has made a number of movies since “Under Siege”. A few of his other movies are “Under Siege 2”, “On Deadly Ground”, “Above the Law”, “ Marked for Death”, “Cradle to the Grave”, being just a few of them. Take the time to get a Steven Seagal movie to watch today and appreciate the value of the character he portrays on screen.

]]> Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:36:57 PST A Comical Version of The 15 Best of the Worst Villains http://www.cinemaroll.com/Cinemarolling/A-Comical-Version-of-The-15-Best-of-the-Worst-Villains.65981

  • Norman Bates from "Psycho"



    A true maniac from a cult movie who will not think twice about spying and then brutally killing you. On Sundays, he can be seen doing the rain dance in a Pocahontas dress while listening to Britney Spears latest album, backwards.

  • Dr. Hannibal Lecter



    You won't want to cross this guy, if you get on his bad side you might become his supper; gave a completely new meaning to Chianti. Unfortunately, when he ran out of people to eat he started going at himself. All that remains of him is his lower jaw and three gold capped teeth.

  • The Doom Cyber-demon



    Wow if this thing were real we would be dead, beyond dead, and there would be very little we could do to stop him, unless we get a hold of that BFG… He is currently developing a new Tic-Tac that will freshen your breath too rotting corpse level.

  • The Alien from “Aliens”

    These bug-like things are truly something to watch out for. First off, bug spray will not work on them and if you get too close when you shoot them their acid blood will melt your skin, watch out for that tail. He was last seen working at the postal office complaint department. Oddly enough, there has never been a single complaint

  • Predator from “Predator” Hunters from a galaxy far far away



    Yep that is where it is, far far away. Apart from being able to turn invisible and partially disintegrating you with their superior weapons, they could also tear you to shreds in less than a second. I wonder if they could be the new spokesperson for Maybellen's new luscious lipstick. On Sunday he can be seen selling “Crazy Beaver” Girlscout cookies.

  • The Headless Horsemen from “Sleepy Hollow”



    I always wondered how this person managed to ride on a horse without being able to see where he went. Obviously, no one can catch him as he always gets a head start (yes, I know it is a terrible joke, bla bla bla…)

  • Darth Vader from the “Star Wars” saga



    Well this person is the big boss of "Star Wars", can probably choke you to death without touching you and slice you in two with that nifty little sword of his.

  • Those disgusting little things from the “Critters” movies



    I always hated these ugly little things from space. They are little ugly gremlin like creatures with a certain taste for human flesh. Could they be Dr. Hannibal Lecter's long lost relatives? Who knows……

  • The Joker from the first and upcoming “Batman” movie



    This is an incredibly complex character. Apart from wearing way too much makeup, he also invented a nifty little potion that would make you laugh hysterically until you drop dead….. Better that than the electric chair, in' nit?

  • Michael Meyers from the “Halloween” saga



    This guy is incredibly disturbed, has been since he was a young toddler. Rumor has it he killed the preschool teacher because she smelled funny. Currently works as a courier. Do not make too much of a scene if your mail looks damaged.

  • Dr. Doom from “Fantastic Four”



    This guy has serious problems whenever he has to pass through customs at the airport, not only that but his armor has never come off, he has never taken a shower and currently owns a ball-of-string factory somewhere in the north

  • Jason Voorhees from the “Friday 13th” saga



    This person just will not stay dead, you can do anything and everything has been done to him but he will not die. Shooting, cutting, stabbing, exploding nothing works. Not even forcing him to listen to a 10-hour cello concerto works. Last seen selling wacky inflatable waiving arm tube men.

  • Freddy Krueger from “Nightmare on Elm Str.”



    He cannot seem to want to stay dead either, he haunts your dreams by convincing you to buy rental property. Freddy enjoys long walks on the beach, sunsets, puppies, maiming people, decoupage, making collages from his victims bones and flesh but his personal favorite, buying rental property.

  • Hal9000 from “Space Odyssey 2000”

    This is the most feared machine of all time, not only is it responsible for countless deaths but it is also responsible for leaking out the end to the Harry Potter movie, the one responsible for convincing George Lucas to remake his movies and yes he and he alone is the one behind the invention of Jar Jar Binks. Fortunately, the Y2K virus got to him and he currently believes that he is a condom-dispensing machine working in a Tijuana airport.

  • Barney the Dinosaur.



    Lastly, la crème de la crème, the most horrific creature to ever be spawned on the any screen, his name alone strikes fear and rage in the minds of those who hear mention his name. The one creature responsible for the destruction of countless planets, galaxies, and entire civilizations past, present and future. The one being that alone could use Vin Diesel as a bat to beat up Chuck Norris. The only creature strong enough to be able to eat a mountain of Mexican food and Indian food and not have to sit on the toilet for a weekend...

    The destructor of worlds.
    • ]]>     Tue, 11 Dec 2007 11:19:50 PST