Brain Splatter

Just wanted to try posting a picture. This is Al Swearengen from the show Deadwood that I mentioned in a previous entry. He is portrayed by Ian McShane and if he doesn't go down as one of the classic characters on TV of all time then something just is not right in the world.

I hate to use the phrase "person you love to hate". It is so over fucking used. Al Swearengen is a person who you know you should hate and you do. You just want to see what he is going to do next. When he is on screen it is his. Very few characters or actors in history have been able to do that.

Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs.
James Gandolfini in the Sopranos
Homer in the Simpsons
Darth Vader in the original Star Wars Trilogy

There are others but I can't really think of them right now. I mean there are a lot of great actors in great parts. Hell, Dinero, Pacino, Brando, Benji (yes the dog), Nicholson. And let's be honest, these guys have been in some crappy movies (well, all except for Homer--HE ROCKS and everything he touches is gold!) but they somehow can shine through. But while they are good and even sometimes great I believe that sometimes that little something extra is what makes something special.

I guess it comes down to when you see something that sticks with you, that you want to watch again and again. That is what turns good to great and great to awesome. It is the difference between a movie that is good and one that you can watch over and over. I could list movies that I can say are not the greatest movies on the face of the Earth but I could watch them over and over.

I will have to write about those movies, not now but Laterzzz...