More Fun With Lists

The whole not including cartoon characters or puppets rule really made compiling the list of my favorite television characters tough, so I've decided that I needed to make a list just for them. For this list, I ignored the rule about having to be a regular character, because that would have eliminated some awesome characters that just could not be ignored. All the characters did have to come from series though, not movies or specials. Sorry, still no Barney Rubble.

As always, this list is in random order.

1. Buffy the Vampire Salyer

OK. Fine. She never actually made it into cartoon form, but it would have been awesome. I'll start over now.

1. Spider-Man
2. Winnie the Pooh
3. Grover
4. The Tick (the only character to make both lists - unless you count Buffy)
5. Gonzo the Great
6. She-Ra
7. The Question
8. Harley Quinn (the most adorable psychopath ever)
9. Lex Luthor (nothing but love for the Super Friends version, but I'm talking Timmverse all the way)
10. The Flash (again, Timmverse)
11. Kermit the Frog
12. Cyclops (included not because he was ever in a very good cartoon, but because I first became aware of him through a cartoon, and that deserves acknowledgement)
13. Brak
14. Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
15. Brock Samson
16. Homer Simpson
17. Firestar
18. Iceman
19. Ms. Lion

Hehe...Just kidding...

19. Optimus Prime
20. Bumblebee
21. Skeletor
22. Snuffleupagus
23. Oscar the Grouch
24. Snoopy
25. Charlie Brown
(I figure there are enough Peanuts specials out there for it to be considered a regular sort of thing and therefore they can make my list.)

You know what? I don't actually think that's a great list. I bet if I limited it just to a top 10, it would be a really strong list. Maybe I should have just done a list of my top 10 JLU characters. Whatever. I'm leaving it the way it is.

Fun With Lists

A of at Whedonesque.com directed me to James Gunn's blog and I realized two things: 1) James Gunn is very cool, both as a person and as the director of the Dawn of the Dead remake, and 2) this blog needs more lists. So, in that spirit, I am going to list my 25 favorite characters, just like James Gunn did. Later I might even take another page from Mr. Gunn's book and list 100 things I love and 100 things I hate. Anyway, a note before I begin, unlike James Gunn and Joss Whedon's lists, Whedonverse characters will be all over this motherfucker. However, I will try to stick to the rules of not including any puppets or cartoon characters (making it a very difficult list to compile) and to only include characters that are regulars on the show.

Now on to the list of my 25 favorite television characters, presented in no particular order:

1) Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - OK, this one actually is in order, since she is deffinitely my favorite television character ever.

2) Jack Bristow (Victor Garber, Alias)

3) Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner, Alias)

4) Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell, Veronica Mars)

5) Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion, Firefly) - James Gunn may have left him off but I sure as hell wasn't going to.

6) Wonder Woman (Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman)

7) Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin, Firefly)

8) Brother Justin (Clancy Brown, Carnivale) - the rules say no cartoon characters, but Clancy Brown had to be represented, even if not as Lex Luthor

9) Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks)

10) Spike (James Marsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel)

11) Spock (Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek)

12) Bill Haverchuck (Martin Starr, Freaks and Geeks)

13) The Tick (Patrick Warburton, The Tick) - Thank god there was a live action version

14) Captain Kirk (William Shatner, Star Trek) - Shatner's Roast is on right now and I realized that there is no way the greatest Star Trek captain does not make my list

15) House (Hugh Laurie, House)

16) Buster Bluth (Tony Hale, Arrested Development)

17) Gob Bluth (Will Arnett, Arrested Development)

18) Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan, Arrested Development)

19) Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke, The Dick Van Dyke Show)

20) Dr. Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart, The Bob Newhart Show)

21) Wesley Wyndham Price (Alexis Denisof, Angel)

22) David Brent (Ricky Gervais, The Office UK)

23) Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report)

24) Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black, Farscape)

25) Timmy(Josh Ryan Evans, Passions)

Man, that list was so hard to come up with. I didn't think I could make it to 25 without cartoon characters, but now that I'm done I feel like I left people out. Oh well, I'm sticking with it. Who do you think I should have put on the list?

From the Man Who Made Ninjas Boring...

Marvel needs to stop hiring Zak Penn to write everything because he fucking sucks. I couldn't even watch Elektra, and I think I have made my feelings about X3 perfectly clear.

At least he's not writing Captain America, so I can have hope for that. I think I am going to write a letter to David Self and ask him to include Cap's "Do you think this A stands for France?" line from Ultimates. As I have mentioned before, I really want to hear that line in the movie. It just says it all.

Finally, do you think Hank Pym is going to beat his wife in Ant-Man movie?

Embarrassing Admission of the Day

I am actually looking forward to watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels tonight. I'm the first to admit that the world doesn't need any more reality shows, especially not of the kind where some celebrity puts himself and his loved ones on display for cash, an image change, or some desperately needed exposure. I'm sure this show is an attempt by Simmons to return to the spotlight and appeal to a new audience, much like The Osbournes did for Ozzy. (Eventually, KISS is going to have to make good on those retirement claims.) That's actually the main reason for my emabarrasment. Nothing Simmons ever does seems to have a motivation other than profit and self-aggrandizement. A reporter recently asked him if he was worried that the show would hurt his image, and therefore his future earnings. Simmons responded by saying that it might, but he already had enough money. I have to wonder how much money he's still making off that image now anyway. The KISS Army is there, and I don't think anything he does is going to lessen there willingness to buy anything he slaps a picture of his giant tongue on, but I don't think that image is really pulling in the kind of profit it used to.

The clips I have seen look pretty amusing though, and you know that Simmons' ego, which is bigger than his platform boots, isn't going to be able to remain intact with teenager children. Seeing him get taken down a few pegs just by being in a domestic setting. (I saw Being Mick. Even Jagger doesn't get to play rock god with his family.) However, I mostly think this show is going to be interesting because the Simmons Family, while unconventional, seems pretty functional. That alone sets it apart from other shows of its kind. I remember some conservatives complaining about The Osbournes, but they should be far more concerned about a show like this. Here we have a rock star and a former playmate who have never wed and aren't even monogymous raising two well adjusted, intelligent and apparently very un-Osbourne-like children. That's pretty subversive stuff when you think about it.

On a somewhat related topic, the newest Entertainment Weekly had a small feature on Gene Simmons' past television roles. While that was amusing, and I welcome any mention of KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park and the bizarre casting choice for Ace Frehley's body double (too bad they didn't work in a mention the fact that that wasn't even Peter Criss' voice), it's a shame it was limited to television. I can't be the only person who wants to talk about Wanted: Dead or Alive, where Rutger Hauer memorably shoved a live grenade in Gene Simmons' mouth. That was good stuff right there. Man I miss the 80s.

By the way, if you didn't figure it out, this whole post was just a flimsy excuse to mention an almost twenty-year-old Rutger Hauer movie. Why would I do such a thing? Because I am at work and have nothing to do and no supervision, thereby eliminating the need to pretend like I am doing work. Also, it's always a good time to mention Rutger Hauer. I would do a whole blog entry on him, but quite frankly I can't remember much about his films besides little details like shoving a grenade in Gene Simmons' mouth. Good times.

Sadly, Cesar Romero Has Not Been Resurrected to Reprise His Role as the Joker

After rumors swirling around for a wile now, it has finally been confirmed that Heath Ledger will play the Joker in the Batman Begins sequel to be titled The Dark Knight. I won't lie. I think casting the Aussie as the classic Batman villain is as weird as everyone else does. It's not that I don't think he can act. I have always believed him to be a bundle of untapped talent and charisma just waiting for the right roles, and while Brokeback Mountain* still sits on my desk in its Netflix envelope waiting to be watched, I'm fairly certain that his performance in that film has brought the general public around to my way of thinking. And while most people don't enjoy A Knight's Tale nearly as much as I do (there's no crime in enjoying jousting, pretty people and classic rock), it at least shows that he does more than brood. I think Heath Ledger probably has a lot of tricks up his sleeve that we haven't seen yet, especially given the limited number of good roles he has had. Also, I think it is safe to assume that, given the tone of the first film and Goyer and Nolan's emphasis on realism, we will be seeing a slightly different Joker than we are used to anyway.

My problem with casting Ledger as the Joker, since I initially read the rumors, has been purely based on his looks. He's just so pretty. He's not like Cillian Murphy either, who is so pretty with a side of creepy. Heath Ledger is just straight up attractive. Not at all like the Joker. At least that's what I thought, but then I saw the picture that went along with PopWatch's item on the casting announcement. Check out all those lines he gets around his mouth when he smiles. The whole lower half of his face is pretty exaggerated. Dude won't even need any prosthetics, except for the nose. It's still entirely too button-like. It needs a bit of a point to it.

It seems that the second villain in the movie has also been confirmed as the Penguin. I find it amusing that Nolan wants Phillip Seymour Hoffman for the part since he is being reimagined as a British arms dealer. The only American in the movie would be playing a Brit. I can't be the only one who thinks that's funny. Actually, I'm disappointed -- not about Phillip Seymour Hoffman, because casting him is always a good idea, but because I was hoping we would get to see the Scarecrow again. Cillian Murphy did such a great job and he had so much potential to become an even bigger threat. I'm also a bit disappointed that they are still going with the two villains per movie thing. The Joker is a strong enough character to pose a threat on his own. Many of Batman's rogues are, which is why his rogue's gallery is the strongest in all of comics. I just hope they don't kill the character off at the end. That's a pet peeve of mine. These characters never get killed in the comics. I'm not cool with Batman letting them die either, but that's another issue involving what is generally perceived as acceptable behavior for a superhero by the public versus what has always been the standard behavior in the comic books -- a debate for another time.

Finally, I would like to put out a suggestion for the third movie. I know I am jumping the gun, but I figure there's no reason why I shouldn't be first. I'd like to see Poison Ivy. I know it's been doe before but 1) so has the Joker, and 2) Batman & Robin really shouldn't count. She's just such a wonderful femme fatale character. I would love to see a really noirish Batman movie, one that highlights his detective skills more than we have seen on film so far, and a great femme fatale would fit in so well with that kind of movie. Sure, you could use Catwoman, another great femme fatale and one the filmmakers could actually hook up with the Bat. The character could use some redemption after what Halle Berry did to her too, but with her, at least we have Michelle Pfeifer's wonderful performance from Batman Returns (truly the best thing about that movie). Poison Ivy only has that campy performance by Uma Thurman. She deserves better. Also, she's a hot chick, ad maybe if they use a hot chick for he villainess, we the audience will be spared a Katie Holmes 2.0 situation. Who says Batman needs a love interest anyway?

*Wasn't Jake Gyllenhaal Nolan's second choice to play Batman? How funny would that be? So funny that I can no longer resist the Brokeback humor...."I wish I knew how to quit you, Joker."