The Whimsy of Walken

If you ask me who Christopher Walken is, my first answer will be that he was in the movie The Prophecy. You probably don't like scary movies, and especially ones about religion, so then I will say that he is the "more cowbell guy" in the famous SNL skit. If you are unfamiliar with this too, then: 1. We are probably not friends and 2. I know that you will recognize him from Hairspray as Tracy Turnblad's dad.

Truthfully, what I love about Walken is that he can be the guy from The Prophecy AND the guy from Hairspray. He can act as the intimidating mob boss in True Romance and play opposite Dennis Hopper in one of the most tense scenes I've ever seen on screen, and dance in the Fatboy Slim video, Weapon of Choice.

He is nothing if not a versatile actor. His face is sharp and angular which makes him perfect for the role of the bad guy. My two favorite of his villains are both named Max. Max Zorin from the Bond movie, A View to a Kill, and Max Shreck from Batman Returns. In the Bond film, he has this ridiculous yellow hair that makes him look elitist and weird. He accepted the role that was first offered to David Bowie. In Batman, he is a "friend" to the Penguin and pushes Selina Kyle out of a window creating Catwoman. His character has wild gray hair and is a bit cartoonish, but then, all of them were in the Burton Batman movies.

He's been in The Stepford Wives, Waynes World 2, Wedding Crashers, Annie Hall, and Click to name a few. I think it's fair to say that he plays his comedy with a straight face and his villains with a smirk. Ultimately, both of these things serve to convince you that maybe he is really crazy. Since he's best at playing crazy, it stands to reason his next movie is called Seven Psychopaths. In the clip below, watch him read the part of June from Honey Boo Boo...which is what started this entire journey through this Walken wonderland. It's just fantastic!

What's your favorite Walken role?

True Romance: A Movie Review

It's rare for me to venture back to the movies of the early 90's to watch something that someone suggests. At this point in my life, I kind of think I've seen all of the quality ones, or at least heard of them and have some awareness of what I'm missing. 

Brilliant.

It's also rare for me to add a new movie to my favorites list. The last movie I added to the list was Inception, and that took writing multiple blogs on it to work out why exactly I loved it so much. I eventually landed on these three things: The concept was brilliant. The emotional content was brilliant. The music was brilliant (and I was probably manipulated by the swells and chords). Even so...it made the list. 


Last night I was Face-Timing (such an awkward way to say that) with my friend Joni and we were sharing about some of our favorite movies as we often do. She mentioned the movie, True Romance. I had never heard of it and she was shocked. She went on to list all of the people in the movie. You can read for yourself here:

Star. Studded.

I assured her I would try to find it and watch soon. She insisted on sooner than later. It happened to be for rent on iTunes and so I kicked back tonight on my couch and decided to watch.


True Romance was made in 1993, at the height of Christian Slater's career. And in this movie, he is as great as I remember him being when I was 14 and completely in love with him. Patricia Arquette comes out of nowhere for me. I have never really paid much attention to her, but in this movie she's adorable and strange. The two of them together are kind of magical. Oh, and Gary Oldman. Oh wow!

I can't even...

All of the acting is great, but the brilliance of this movie is the totally unexpected dialogue. It's off the wall and crazy and yet, completely believable. The storyline itself is pretty simple: couple in love, a little in over their heads with a drug deal, trying to make it out alive. It's violent for sure, and there's some pretty offensive language, so you've been warned. But it's so so so good. It's ironic and comes full circle in all the right ways. 


One of the things that caught me off guard was that some scenes are so full of tension that you will want to watch The Hurt Locker afterwords so you can relax. One in particular scene is a confrontation between Hopper and Walken. In your gut you know what's coming, but leading up to it is turmoil. I found myself smiling in awe, but looked down to see that I had crushed a handful of popcorn to bits while watching.

3 Words...You're So Cool.

I know this is all very vague, but when I start to tell you the details of a scene I find that I don't want to give it away at all! I think this is the same feeling Joni must have had when she was stressing that I just "have to watch it." She couldn't really seem to pinpoint the greatness, but assured me it was there.


I'm sure True Romance is not for everyone. I honestly had doubts that it would be for me. But after seeing it today, I am proud to announce that I have added it to my list of favorites. I'm a little ashamed that I have missed it all these years. If you get a chance, check it out.


Oh, and don't get me STARTED on the soundtrack....