Guilty Villainous Pleasures!

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Guilty Villainous Pleasures!
Topic Started: Jul 6 2009, 01:47 PM (316 Views)
mort bakaprevski	Jul 6 2009, 01:47 PM Post #1
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,431 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	I was involved in an interesting discussion on another site. It started with the Web Site Owner stating: Righteous Web Site Owner And it should go without saying that the idea of watching a serial and admiring the villain is not healthy... I countered with: Mort Revealing His Evil Soul Welllll, yeah. But, I DO remember admiring the villain... in a way. Oh, I certainly didn't want to grow up & be evil incarnate, but I definitely envied the (seemingly) absolute control master criminals like The Clutching Hand, The Dragon & The Wizard seemed to have. Remember, children have very little control over their lives & envy the (seeming) power of adults. These master criminals, with their omniscient TV coverage of friend & foe alike & limitless funds for secret hideouts & fantastic scientific gadgets certainly represented a role model that I wanted to emulate (sans the evil portion, of course)!! At any rate, it got me thinking back to the very first film where I ended up rooting for the crooks… because I thought their plot was so damn clever. The film was a Bill Elliott color epic entitled, THE LAST BANDIT. The plot (at least so far as I remember it), involved stealing a train that was loaded with gold. The gimmick was that there was a “forgotten” spur line that ran to a long played out mine. The spur was covered with sand & was invisible to anyone riding the regular line. Forrest Tucker (& the rest of the bad guys) held up the train, cleared off the spur line, ran the train into the deserted mine… and then covered up the spur again with sand, etc. Now you have to understand that Mr. Elliott was definitely my favorite cowboy actor at the time… so it was definitely hard for me to root against him. And, even though I didn’t know the intricacies of the Hays Office, I knew damn well that the bad guys weren’t gonna win in the end. Neither of these facts dissuaded me from admiring the bad guys’ ingenuity & wishing that they really could pull it off. Of course, I’ve subsequently seen numerous films where I’ve admired the bad guys’ plans & hoped they’d get away with it. Sometimes they did… & sometimes they didn’t. What are your favorites of that ilk?????
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Jul 6 2009, 02:16 PM Post #2
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,168 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Without giving this much thought (like most things I think about) I'd say Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid and The Usual Suspects (if I recall, a mort fave). Funny you should post this after I read the original thread last night! Righteous ... phooey!!!
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


panzer the great & terrible	Jul 6 2009, 07:34 PM Post #3
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,340 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	There are a few sanctimonious webmasters out there. I think it's a power thing. In Five Fingers you root for the bad guy. Another one is Psycho, in a way. and of course To Catch a Thief and even more so, Stage Fright, where you're tricked into liking the bad guy, and feel hecked off when he turns out to be bad. Very Catholic, but poor storytelling. Hitchcock was educated by the Jesuits, and it shows.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Ignatz Ratzkywatzky	Jul 6 2009, 07:51 PM Post #4
Charter Member Posts: 750 Group: Members Member #28 Joined: September 5, 2005	I always root for Dr. Anton Phibes and his ingenuous thematic revenge in THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES and DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN. I only wish a proposed third film, THE SEVEN FATES OF DR. PHIBES, had been produced, because the script outline was promising.
	Read reviews, news, and features from the world of soused cinema at "Booze Movies: The 100 Proof Film Guide." http://boozemovies.com/


mort bakaprevski	Jul 6 2009, 08:41 PM Post #5
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,431 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	No! No! No! You guys seem to be picking films where the perpetrators are sympathetic. I'm thinkin' of films where the plan is so clever... it doesn't matter whether the perps are nice guys or bastards. I remember seeing FIVE AGAINST THE HOUSE. Frankly, I honestly don't remember the characters, BUT the plan was so damn clever, I really hoped they'd pull it off. Kubrick's THE KILLING &, to a lesser extent, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE also fall into this category!!
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Laughing Gravy	Jul 7 2009, 05:57 AM Post #6
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,070 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Well, in the "sympathetic" mode, the crooks in Big Deal on Madonna Street are impossible not to root for. But to answer your question, c'mon... Who roots for Kane Richmond against Zolok and Gorzo in The Lost City? Not me, bub. That would be like rooting against the Muppets. I also root for Sylvester to eat Tweety and the Coyote to eat the Roadrunner.



Black Tiger	Jul 7 2009, 07:13 AM Post #7
Charter Member Posts: 1,813 Group: Members Member #50 Joined: September 15, 2005	Le Circ Rouge (The Red Circle) by Jean Pierre Melville and other other caper films generally have me rooting for the hapless planners. Asphalt Jungle is another example. Throw in John Woo's The Killer and Hard-Boiled and Melville's Le Samurai as more sympathetic bad guys you hope get away with it.



mort bakaprevski	Jul 7 2009, 10:03 AM Post #8
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,431 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Laughing Gravy Jul 7 2009, 05:57 AM I also root for Sylvester to eat Tweety and the Coyote to eat the Roadrunner. Well.... yeah!! But, everyone does... Don't they??????
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Jul 7 2009, 12:01 PM Post #9
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,168 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	mort bakaprevski Jul 7 2009, 10:03 AM Laughing Gravy Jul 7 2009, 05:57 AM I also root for Sylvester to eat Tweety and the Coyote to eat the Roadrunner. Well.... yeah!! But, everyone does... Don't they?????? I don't! I don't care for Tweety nor the Roadrunner, but I don't wanna see them get et. Gravy and mort, both of y'all are one and the same!
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


mort bakaprevski	Jul 7 2009, 02:49 PM Post #10
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,431 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer Jul 7 2009, 12:01 PM I don't! I don't care for Tweety nor the Roadrunner, but I don't wanna see them get et. Mmmmmm, yeah I guess that would be a little toooo graphic. How 'bout they are captured, Sylvester & Wylie do a victory dance culminating with a cream pie into the captives faces. Yeahhh, that'll do it. I really enjoy the satire on Robot Chicken, but it seems that a lot of the sketches end up with a beheading or some other bloody carnage. I guess you need adolescent glands to find that much violence entertaining.
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Jul 7 2009, 02:56 PM Post #11
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,168 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	I like Sylvester sans Tweety, ya know, when he'd get in trouble with the black lady with the slippers and broom. As for Wylie, I can use one word to describe why I like him: ACME. Robot Chicken: Ain't seen it.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Jul 8 2009, 03:14 AM Post #12
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,168 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer Jul 7 2009, 02:56 PM I like Sylvester sans Tweety, ya know, when he'd get in trouble with the black lady with the slippers and broom. Oops ... I think I was thinkin' of Tom. Oh well, one and the same.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


mort bakaprevski	Jul 8 2009, 06:54 AM Post #13
Soony Roony! Posts: 1,431 Group: Members Member #73 Joined: January 1, 2006	You definitely was. However, Tom & Sylvester are NOT interchangeable. Tom’s most loveable characteristic is his complete delight in his own cleverness. Sylvester is more “everyman” (everycat?). Frequently, the look on his face is almost like he knows his next effort is doomed from the outset, but he doggedly (bad choice of adverbs) moves forward… perhaps because he realizes that it is his catly duty to continue the pursuit. Besides, Sylvester, like Porky, was more of a Warner’s character actor… who could play a variety of roles depending upon the script he was given.
	“You’ve got to take the bitter with the sour.”


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Jul 8 2009, 12:03 PM Post #14
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,168 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Good, witty post mort. Oh, BTW ... Porky and Sylvester ... one and the same!!!
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Chandu	Jul 8 2009, 05:04 PM Post #15
Knowledge Seeker and rascal at large Posts: 10,276 Group: Members Member #297 Joined: October 19, 2007	mort bakaprevski Jul 7 2009, 02:49 PM Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer Jul 7 2009, 12:01 PM I don't! I don't care for Tweety nor the Roadrunner, but I don't wanna see them get et. Mmmmmm, yeah I guess that would be a little toooo graphic. How 'bout they are captured, Sylvester & Wylie do a victory dance culminating with a cream pie into the captives faces. Yeahhh, that'll do it. Aw, c'mon. How many times has that prissy little Tweety been in Sylvester's mouth and just a gulp away from being only a memory, but something always happens to bail him out, much to my displeasure. I'm always rooting for Sylvester to hurry up and swallow 'im! Just let it happen. As for that smart-assed beepster, imagine his scrawny little neck clenched between Wile's teeth and the coyote dragging him off to his den as the scene fades away. Both scenes ungraphic and completely bloodless, but oh my, how satisfying!
	Not plane, nor bird, nor even frog. It's just little ol' me...


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