So, here are the 10 Movie Characters I Love. These are the ones I just love watching, and, in some cases, wish I could be (at least for a little while).
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1) Michael Myers (Halloween films)
Michael was, and still is, the horror villain who scared the crap out of me. Lurking, barely hidden, behind car windows, bushes, clothes on a line, Michael watched you and waited. He was super-patient and always silent.
Watching the original "Halloween", late at night, in the dark, Michael can still give me the willies. I can't say that about many other characters.
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2) Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th films)
Jason is the quintessential freaky, outcast kid back for vengeance. Doesn't matter that the kids who picked on him, or the girl who offed his mom, are all gone. He will continue to make everyone pay.
Never one who "fit in" myself, I guess I can understand Jason on that level. Maybe that is why he has resonated so long for so many horror fans. We get him. Creepy, but true.
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3) Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark, etc)
Indiana Jones was smart, adventurous and brave, yet also a wee bit unsure of himself at the same time. He went on amazing adventures to exotic places and always won out over the bad guys. And he got the girl.
What boy in the early 80s didn't find a jump rope, a clothesline or something to use as Indy's whip?
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4) Mikey Walsh (The Goonies)
Where Indy was the adult we wanted to grow up to be, Mikey was the kid we were, having "adventures" with our friends.
Mikey gets to go on the real adventure we all dreamed we could have, finding a way to save his home and town in the process. And he does it with his friends, the Goonies.
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5) George Bailey (It's a Wonderful Life)
George is a great kid who grows up to be an even greater man. He doesn't ever do anything big and showy, the adventures he dreams of having. Instead, he stays home and does what needs to be done, standing his ground for what he knows is right.
George is the kind of man we want to be, in our heart, doing what is right no matter what may be easier, or more profitable, or even just "cool". Doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do.
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6) Rick Blaine (Casablanca)
Rick is the suave, cool, man-of-the-world who seems to have it all together. But, alas, he is just like everyone else, with his fair-share of heartbreak and pain.
At first cool and jaded, we soon see he still has a good heart. And when it comes down to it, he, too, does what is right. Even though it hurts.
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7) Lisa Fremont (Rear Window)
I went back and forth, unsure whether to include Grace Kelly's Lisa or Thelma Ritter's Stella in this list. Both characters, from Hitchcock's "Rear Window", are wonderful, as is James Stewart's L.B.
In the end, I chose Lisa, simply because she is my favorite of Grace Kelly's characters. Beautiful, smart, kind, witty, brave... She is just amazing. The fact that L.B. is so reluctant to marry her and settle down seems, to me, to be more about the awe he feels at living up to such a lady.
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8) Nick & Nora Charles (The Thin Man book and films)
Okay, so I cheated here. Obviously, Nick and Nora are two characters. But, I love them both, and can't imagine watching either of them apart. They work as a team, playing off one another like no other characters I know of.
Created by Dashiell Hammett, the characters came more to life in the movie and it's sequels. Played by William Powell and Myrna Loy, Nick and Nora are so great together, so much better than they are alone. Their banter is playful and adult, yet never mean or hurtful. They love each other, no matter what, and they "get" each other.
I wonder if we will ever see a couple like them in movies again.
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9) Clark Griswold (National Lampoon's Vacation movies, specifically Christmas Vacation)
Clark is the stereotypical suburban dad, trying to have the best vacation ever with his family, even if all hell has broken loose and everyone wants to just go home.
I think Christmas Vacation is the best of the movies, truly showing the heart of the man in Clark. He just wants to give his family, and himself, the perfect Christmas ever, the celebration he remembers from childhood, even if he is only remembering the best parts of it himself.
To me, he is just a normal dad, trying his best, no matter what common sense tells him.
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10) Yzma (The Emperor's New Groove)
Played with such gusto by the late, great Eartha Kitt, Yzma is the Disney horror villain who can never catch a break.
I just love how she tries so, so hard to be EVIL, yet is always thwarted. Yzma is diabolical, smart, creepy, everything that would make you think she will succeed in her nasty plans. But nothing ever goes her way. Just hilarious.
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So, there are my ten. Of course, tomorrow or the next day, I will read this and think about who should be here who isn't. But, that's life!
Not going to tag anyone in particular. I would love to see your "top 10", but only if you want to. Hope you liked mine!
