(Right) Alien: Resurrection (1997) ... Frank Elgyn
(Left) Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) ... Guy of Gisborne
I watched Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves years ago and liked it very, very much. In that movie, Michael Wincott played Guy of Gisborne, the right-hand man of the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham. Not really noticeable, since his character served as the bad guy who always gets his ass kicked by Robin Hood before he was finally killed by Sheriff of Nottingham, who blamed Guy after his caravans were robbed by Robin Hood.
In Alien: Resurrection, Michael Wincott is Franck Elgyn, the captain of a cargo ship delivering a stock of live humans to be infested by the Xenomorphs. Unfortunately, he is the first of his crew to be killed by an alien warrior, while he is picking up some weapons left behind by dead soldiers. Very, very anticlimactic one can say.
The special thing about Michael Wincott is his voice; it's so low you might mistake it as coming from a machine if you don't see his lips move!
Djimon Hounsou
(Bottom Right) Blood Diamond (2006) ... Solomon Vandy
Constantine (2005) ... Midnite
(Bottom Left) Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003) ... Kosa
(Top Right) Gladiator (2000) ... Juba
(Top Left) Deep Rising (1998) ... Vivo
Congratulations to Djimon Hounsou for being nominated for the 79th Annual Academy Awards in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Blood Diamond. I haven't watch that movie but I do recognize him from a still image from that movie.
Djimon Hounsou definitely came a long way to his achievements today. Almost never taken the lead in a cast, his acting in a supporting role is always interesting. In the 1998 sci-fi Deep Rising, he played Vivo, a vicious member of a pirate band trying to hijack a titanic-like cruiser. Couldn't really remember him back then since I was only interested in the story, not the cast.
Juba in Gladiator however, is one character hard to forget. Some of his scenes with Russell Crowe were quite good, like the one where Maximus (Russell Crowe) was trying to get rid of his platoon marking of his arm, Juba was asking "Won't your god be angry if you do that?". That question kind-of springs up some important issues about choices in life versus oaths to one's country in my personal thoughts. And not forgetting the final scene, where he buried the figures of Maximus's wife and son in the Coliseum where He died, and he said, "I will see you one day, but not now," and he walked away as a free man. That's was really good.
In Tomb Raider II, he played Kosa, the guide of Lara Croft in her quest for the Cradle of Life. Pretty good, I guess. I wasn't really paying attention to him in that movie. How could I, with Angelina Jolie flying and jumping around? :-)
By the way, Djimon Hounsou is Midnite in Constantine, a mysterious bar owner who has a used electric chair that can sent people to Hell and come back. Pretty cool huh~
Gary Busey
(Bottom Left) Soldier (1998) ... Church
(Bottom Right) Under Siege (1992) ... Cmdr. Krill
(Top) Predator 2 (1990) ... Peter Keyes
Gary Busey should be considered a household name for villains. That guy must have the natural gift of being the bad guy. In Predator 2, he is Peter Keyes, the ambitious scientist trying to capture the Predator. Human beings are no match for the hunter of hunters, and Keyes taught the audience that by having his body split in half by the Predator's Flying Disc. In Steven Seagal's Seagal-the-only-hero-who-can-save-everyone's-butt-movie Under Siege, Gary Busey is Commander Krill, the second in command on the battle cruiser USS Missouri who helped to hijack the ship. Unbelievably, the submarine he boarded for delivery inspection was blasted to bits by USS Missouri's main gun, courtesy of Steven Seagal of course.
In Soldier, one of the few really meaningless sci-fi commando movies I watched, he is Church, one of the military officers who train fearless, heartless and ruthless mercenary soldiers for combat. He was killed in the end by another officer in an argument. Death for the villain as usual~
No wonder his appeared in so many different movies: his character rarely survives in one movie, so he has no reason to expect a cast in the sequel right?
Raymond Cruz
(Bootom Left) Alien: Resurrection (1997) ... Vincent Distephano
(Right) The X Files - El Mundo Gira (1997 TV Episode) ... Eladio Buente
(Top Left) Under Siege (1992) ... Ramirez
Raymond Cruz in my mind is perhaps one of the favorite choices for a director to pick as the supporting actor number five or six for a movie. He isn't as impressive as Djimon Hounson or Tony Curran, where their characters would often leave some impression in the viewers' memory. His presence does, however, make the cast of the movie feel more "international". The guy got some Mexican feel, plus he is quite short among other huge actors, so the audience got to see some diversity among the cast. However, it's very easy to forget him entirely after the movie.
What surprises me is that for the three movies and TV shows I watched, his appearance never changed one bit. Either it's because his profile is universally suitable for all roles offered to him, or perhaps the movie team wishes to save money on his make-ups, you will definitely know it's Raymond Cruz, doesn't matter if it's Ramires the cook on USS Missouri alongside Steven Seagal, or Distephano the marine who got his head cracked by an alien-human hybrid in Alien: Resurrection, the guy is just spot on!
Jason Isaacs
(Right)The Patriot (2000) ... Col. William Tavington
(Bottom Left) Armageddon (1998) ... Dr. Ronald Quincy, Research
(Top Left) Event Horizon (1997) ... D.J.
Mel Gibson's The Patriot is one of my all time favorite movies. Great acting, great storyline and some surreal battle scenes. The ultimate villain in the movie, Colonel William Tavington was played by Jason Isaacs. His character killed two of Benjamin (Mel Gibson)'s sons, including Gabriel, who was played by Heath Ledger. Jason Isaacs's superb acting, as well as his English essence made him top of the hate list for the Americans after that movie I suppose, but a great actor he is nonetheless.
I watched two of his earlier movies, Armageddon and Event Horizon just recently, and immediately recognized him from both movies. In Armageddon, he played the arrogant scientist at NASA who snapped at Lt. Kimsey (played by Keith David mentioned below) rather sarcastically when the Lieutenant suggested to nuke the incoming asteroid. In Event Horizon, he played as a member of the salvage team sent to recover the ghost ship Event Horizon, whom despite the funky name, was the most boring character of the whole movie!
Keith David
(Right) Pitch Black (2000) & the Chronicles of Riddick (2004) ... Imam
(Left) Armageddon (1998) ... Lt. General Kimsey
I mentioned about Pitch Black in the previous posting. Its ending is quite surprising for me, as it is not the usual only-the-hero-and-heroin-will-survive plot as seen in most other movies. As a matter of fact, the only reason why I remember the Imam, played by Keith David is because he is among the three survivors who made it out of the wretched alien planet. The other two being Riddick and Kyra, whom everyone thought was a boy in that movie. The Imam returned in the second Riddick movie, peacefully settling on the planet Helium Prime until the attack of the Necromongals. Nonetheless, his acting was really good in both movies, as I thought he was really an Arab Muslim actor.
In Armageddon, his performance was again quite convincing, as Lieutenant General Kimsey who tried to detonate the nuke when the communication with the drilling team on the asteroid was severed. Quite an annoying character for me, but it just shows the versatility of Keith David in handling roles of different characteristics. This should be nothing special for actors and actresses, but the audience will definitely remember who's good and who's not in doing so.
Tilda Swinton
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) ... White Witch
(Inserted) Constantine (2005) ... Gabriel
The first time I saw Angel Gabriel in Constantine, I thought she was Cate Blanchett. Both of them look quite alike for me: very fair, blonde hair, and in both movies mentioned above, Tilda Swinton played pretty much ethereal characters, much like Lady Galadriel played by Cate Blanchett in the Lord of the Rings.
Between the White Witch and Angel Gabriel, I like the later better. She was seemingly helping Constantine at first, being one of his guide in the movie, I couldn't believe that she became the villain of the story in the end, trying to help the devil's son to get into the mortal realm. She was unsuccessful of course, as the bad guys will never triumph over the good guys, especially when the title of the movie is the name of the hero himself. Tilda Swinton seems to be the prefect actress for that character, as her extremely fair profile suits the character of an Angel very well. And who would be a better cast for the White Witch in Narnia other than Tilda Swinton? I guess none. In this movie, she didn't have to hide any bid of the evil of her character anymore as the Sauron-equivalent super villain of a great fantasy movie.
Andrew Robinson
(Top) The X Files - Alpha (1999 TV Episode) ... Dr. Ian Detweiler
(Bottom) Hellraiser (1987) ... Larry Cotton
Hellraiser anyone?
I'm a great fan of the franchise, especially of Pinhead. In my opinion, only the first three movies of Hellraiser are good while the rest diverted too far from the original idea of Hellraiser, they seem to be abusing the theme. The original is the best, and Andrew Robinson starred in that movie as Larry Cotton, the unlucky husband to an unfaithful wife trying to resurrect her lover, who turned out to be the brother of Larry and was hunted down by Hell. For Andrew Robinson, he had to play two characters in that movie: the first half as Larry, and at the very end, played his brother who had killed him and disguised himself with Larry's skin (Talk about plastic surgery from Hell!)
In the 6th Season of the X Files, Dr. Ian Detweiler is played by a much aged Andrew Robinson. Despite his somewhat grayish hair and bread, it's quite easy to recognize him as the same actor from Hellraiser.
By the way, rumors had it that there will be a remake of Hellraiser this year. Is that good news or the opposite?
Kari Wuhrer
(Right) Eight Legged Freaks (2002) ... Sheriff Samantha Parker
(Left) Hellraiser: Deader (2005) ... Amy Klein
Another Hellraiser movie: Deader in 2005 which in my opinion, the worst of all the offerings. The movie has a very poor plot: some weirdos calling themselves the Deaders trying very hard to get into troubles with the forces of Hell, and was stumbled upon by a tough journalist Amy Klein played by Kari Wuhrer. I guess it's quite unlucky for Kari Wuhrer, the lead actress in that movie, as most fans just can't forgive the movie for destroying the sacred idea of Hellraiser, no matter how well Kari Wuhrer performed as Amy Klein. Personally, I think she did a marvelous job in showing between reality and a much fantasy-like world of horror and terror after she "opened the box" and summoned Pinhead. With a better and logical storyline, this movie should have been much more interesting.
Anyone watched Eight Legged Freaks? Although giant spiders attacking human beings is not a new idea anymore, the movie managed to provide quite a lot of humor and action, and the CG is quite good as well. I enjoyed the move very much, and Kari Wuhrer as the tough Sheriff woman is just brilliant. I wish I get to watch more movies featuring her in the future.
And for the fans of Command and Conquer, Kari Wuhrer is the voice actor for Tanya! I played the game once, and my Tanya got bitten to death by canine unit of the enemy! Hellish!
Leon Rippy
(Bottom) Eight Legged Freaks (2002) ... Wade
(Top) The Patriot (2000) ... John Billings
Leon Rippy is really good as cowboy-like characters. That's my opinion about him in both movies I watched featuring him. In The Patriot, he played John Billings, one of the militia recruited by Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson). Rather funny and a bit nerdy, his character provided a bit of humor in the rather sad and serious movie. His suicide half-way through the movie after his family was massacred by the British Redcoats was really a sad scene.
In Eight Legged Freaks, he played Wade, the selfish mayor of a town trying to sell off the people's land when giant spiders start to invade the town. Since the town is in Arizona, Leon Rippy got to wear his cowboy boots and jeans again.
At least he didn't die in the end!
Don S. Davis
(Left) Stargate SG-1 (1997-2006) ... Lieutenant General George Hammond
(Right) The X Files (1994 TV Episode) ... Captain William Scully
I love the Stargate series, especially SG-1 where producer Richard Dean Anderson is Colonel Jack O Neil. Each episode was interesting and the opening theme was just plain amazing. I was lost after the airing time was changed after one or two seasons, and before I realized it, it was off the air. Anyway, Don S Davis played General Hammond in SG-1. Not much can be said about him, since his role is just to brief the team before they travel through the gate. In the X Files, he played Captain William Scully, a retired navy officer who was the father of Agent Scully. He only appeared in two episodes, the first one was when he died and appeared in Scully's vision to tell her something; in the second appearance, he was in Scully dream when she went into a coma after her abduction. In both TV Series, his characters were respectful, and caring for his troops and children at the same time. The ideal cast for a military parent role?
