Ed Lynskey's Blog: Cracked Rearview Mirror - Posts Tagged "theater"

Going to the cinema is still a big treat for us. I like the b-i-g picture on the splashed on the silver screen. It's more transformative than gaping into my palm at some gizmo. But I wonder if I'm missing out on the TOTAL moviegoing experience. Consider these goodies from the past that were also offered at the theater:

Newsreels
These short documentary films preceded the main feature. I've seen them on TV run before the old movies but never in a theater although newsreels ran until the 1960s.

Cartoons
This one really grates on me. I recall when one or two cartoons ran before the main feature. I also crave a traditional cartoon fix not Beavis and Butt Head, Simpsons, or South Central Park.

Trailers
Just opposite applies here. I can do with fewer trailers pitching me before the main feature.

Advertisements
Huh? You mean after ponying up $12 for a movie ticket, I have to sit through advertisements for cars and laundry detergent? I can get that sitting at home in front of the idiot box.

Motion Picture Rating
Don't the kids already have easy access online to view the raunchy stuff, and worse?

Walk, Do Not Run to the Nearest Exit!
The booming voice is for the hard of hearing. This one thing I don't mind. Have you ever been inside a theater when a fire starts?

Hope all your moviegoing experiences are rewarding and entertaining ones for you.

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Nice addition to anyone’s summer beach reading schedule."
Florida Times-Union

Playing the villain or bad guy, according to actors, is always the juicier role to be cast in for a film. Indeed, some of them seem, at times, to be having too much fun acting the dastardly part. Chewing the scenery, if you will. I have to keep reminding myself that they are actually nice, decent guys in real life.

So, I decided to sit down and list (I like using lists) the top 12 male villains I've seen at the cinema. I tried to stick to those actors from the past who still stand out in my mind. In no particular order, here's what I drew up:

#1. Jack Palance (in Shane)

#2. Anthony Hopkins (in The Silence of the Lambs)

#3. Anthony Perkins (in Psycho)

#4. John Huston (in Chinatown)

#5. Robert Mitchum (in Cape Fear and Night of the Hunter)

#6. Warren Beatty (in Bonnie and Clyde

#7. Dennis Hopper (in Blue Velvet)

#8. Kevin Spacey (in The Usual Suspects)

#9. Jack Nicholson (in The Shining)

#10. Ralph Fiennes (in Schindler's List)

#11. Paul Newman (in Hud)

#12. Humphrey Bogart (in the gangster B-movies he made before stardom hit)

Honorable mentions: Christopher Lee, John Malkovich, Sam Neill

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Definitely recommend you take a fictional journey to Lake Charles."
Elizabeth A. White's Musings of an All Purpose Monkey

Of course, the tough ladies shine in their roles in the movies. Here are the ones that stand out in my mind, again, in no particular order:

#1. Sally Field in Norma Rae

#2. Geena Davis in Thelma & Louise

#3. Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich

#4. Frances McDormand in Fargo

#5. Meryl Streep in Silkwood

#6. Sigourney Weaver in Alien

#7. Meryl Streep in The River Wild

#8. Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not

#9. Helen Mirren in The Queen (okay, maybe in the TV crime series Prime Suspect then)

#10. Angelina Joile in Tomb Raider (okay, so maybe it's a stretch, and I needed a tenth one to round off my list!)

By Ed Lynskey
Twitter: @edlynskey
Author of Lake Charles
"Definitely recommend you take a fictional journey to Lake Charles."
Elizabeth A. White's Musings of an All Purpose Monkey