Heath Ledger as the Joker is the 2nd best casting in the history of film

[Orrex]

Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl is the best. Hands down. No one was ever more clearly born to play a role.

Granted, the surrounding film wasn't that great, but come on!


:popcorn:


Edited to add the popcorn...

[bridgit]

1. "Shelley Duvall as Olive Oyl" Love your mind, that *was* an inspired casting...

:spray:

[Orrex]

4. You're too kind!

:hug:

[Lethe]

2. well, i think the octopus was pretty good too

and it's hard to find good cephalopod actors these days

[Orrex]

3. If you really want to find some...

Just say that you're having a cattle-call for your upcoming Call of Cthulhu blockbuster. They'll show up by the bucket!

[Lethe]

5. well technically

they are humanoid cephalopods.....kind of like the dungeons and dragons Illithiad (Mindflayer), but crossed with a half dragon.

[Orrex]

6. WTF?!? Are YOU telling CTHULHU how he should manifest?

You're going to have some horrifying dreams tonight, pal!

[Lethe]

7. Oh i'm waiting for him

In his house at R'lyeh, dread Cthulhu waits dreaming....

I welcome the insanity and the destruction of mankind

:D

[Danger Mouse]

8. Has Tom Cruise ever played a stupid prick?

Cause if he has, he wouldn't even have to act.

[Lethe]

9. Top Gun?

i like Iceman better

[Danger Mouse]

11. Then it was the part he was born to play!

[Orrex]

10. Well...

His "stupid prick" characters usually have some minor redeeming quality, so it's something of a stretch for him.

[Lethe]

12. also, his role in Rain Man was kind of un sympathetic

he was a dick, pretty much, that used his brother's abilities to make money, the whole time yelling at him for being different.

[Orrex]

13. Yes, but...

Charlie redeems himself somewhat when he realizes that Raymond is better off in the care home, even though Charlie has formed a bond with him.

This implies that, on some level, he wasn't a complete dick.

[Lethe]

14. what would Wopner say on this?

an eternal mystery....

:D

[Lyric]

18. The character he played in "Magnolia"

No redeeming qualities at all. Definitely a stupid prick. :D

[IndianaJones]

15. the dude in Taps. nt.

[TZ]

16. I've got an even BETTER casting..

Shia LeBeauf as Indy's son......:P

[TommyO]

17. This one needs no text, just a smilie

:puke:

[Orrex]

22. Oh yeah? Well tutch this!

:spank:

[soleft]

19. Shelley Duvall worst casting in history - the Shining

I always wondered what the Shining would have been like if you substituted Nicholson Duvall and the kid with the cast of Kramer V. Kramer.

[Orrex]

21. She has the worst swing of anyone whose ever held a baseball bat

And your casting suggestion is really interesting--I'd love to see that Hoffman in that role!

[gmoney]

23. shame everything is so dated in that movie...

the kid's clothes and haircut, and Shelly's gawdawful wardrobe, and that Gary Glitter looking guy who gives them the tour of the hotel at the start. And why do hotels always have the ugliest carpeting in the hallways? Sure, they're great for riding your Big Wheel... maybe the ugly carpet soaks up blood better?

[XemaSab]

43. I think the period details add to the creep factor

It's obvious everything is supposed to be opulent, but instead it looks shabby. :shrug:

[mnhtnbb]

20. I don't know. There are a lot of great male roles with spot on casting

What about Marlon Brando in The Godfather?

What about Clark Gable as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind?

What about Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke?

What about Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond?

What about Jimmy Stewart in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?

Just to name a few...I won't even start on the females.

[gmoney]

24. Maybe in terms of matching an existing character...

Much better performances by actors perfect for their role, but without some pre-existing visual they were trying to match.

And I think what makes the Heath Ledger "Joker" work is that the make-up doesn't look like pristine clown make-up, as Nicholson and Cesar Romero wore.

[DarkTirade]

26. That, and the fact that he was scary as FUCK.

:)

[Orrex]

28. I agree on both counts

The OP was largely intended in a ha-ha sort of way, though she really is perfect for the role.

Ledger's performance IMO is one for the ages. He portrayed a character that had simply never appeared onscreen before, despite weak comparisons subsequently made by curmudgeons and naysayers.

A while back I read Nicholson's Joker described as an "angry uncle," which seems about right. For that matter, I never bought his performance, because once you got past the fact that it was Jack, there was nothing remarkable about the role. Cesar Romero, of course, pursued a different aesthetic, and he was goofy and fun-loving and never particulary dangerous.

Ledger's Joker was nothing at all like either of them, and rightly so!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. Gregory Peck in: To Kill A Mockingbird

perfect.

[BrklynLiberal]

27. YESSSSSSSSSS!!!

I just loved that man..and that movie...

[Orrex]

29. Ooh! Good call!

Hadn't thought of him!

[Orrex]

30. You don't know what you're talking about, you freaking idiot.

George C. Scott as Patton. Magnificent casting.

[BOSSHOG]

31. Jack Nicholson as COL Jessup in a Few Good Men

Who else could have nailed it as he did?

[Orrex]

37. Maybe, but...

"You can't handle the truth" is about the worst line in film, after "you complete me."

And what do the films containing the original uttering of those two lines have in common? Hmm...

[montanto]

32. Jack Nicholson in The Shining and I disagree with

the post above saying that Duvall was wrong for The Shining. She's skinny, weak and afraid, but she perseveres.

[BOSSHOG]

36. Yeah

I thought Duvall was rather haunting. She put a lot into that role and her batswing was so bad it was good.

[XemaSab]

44. I think it would be a very different film with another actress

She herself is a little creepy, and the way she plays the character... she projects SUCH an aura of weakness that even after I've seen the movie MANY times, I never expect her to pull it off. :shrug:

[montanto]

51. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, she is

a little creepy and SO weak you always think its gotta go his way.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Spiritinthesky]

34. The Joker

Great film, great acting...

[bigwillq]

42. Hello!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[JCMach1]

35. Sheesh... it's called ACTING! His ability turned what would have been one lame ASS movie

into a must see.

[stanwyck]

46. Heath Ledger is the only reason to see

The Dark Knight. We spent the entire movie waiting for him to come back onscreen. The movie without him is just bloated filler. Batman is a rightwinger with a Clint Eastwood voice who believes in spying on Americans and kidnapping a foreign national to plunk him down in a U.S. jail. Glen Beck loved the politics of the movie. "George Bush IS the Dark Knight...he's protecting America from terrorists."
Heath was great, though.

[JCMach1]

49. agree 100%... this performance and his performance in Brokeback Mountain

cements his place in film history.

I have never seen an actor do more with the UNSAID than Ledger did in Brokeback Moutain.

The world is less of a place without him.

[Forkboy]

38. LOL...I liked Popeye.

:shrug:

George C. Scott as Patton was a pretty brilliant move as well.

[jobycom]

40. What Squinky eye?

[jobycom]

39. Christopher Reeves as Superman.

Beats both yours.

[Orrex]

41. A deleted message?!? How did that happen?

I wouldn't have thought that this thread could generate a delete-worthy posting.

:shrug:

[Doc_Technical]

45. Arnold Schwarzenegger as a robot,

a role he was born to portray.

[Initech]

47. No fucking kidding! You almost want the Joker to win at the end.

[stanwyck]

48. I've got two. Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara, and

Renee Zelwinger as Bridget Jones. Even my husband, who wouldn't go to the movie in the theatre, was charmed by Zelwinger as Bridgett when he saw the movie on TV.
That said, Heath gave one hell of a performance. Made the movie for me.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

50. to die for?

sorry, could not resist