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Scene Stealers: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Filed under: Joss Whedon, Scene Stealers  Most American audiences know Chiwetel from his small part in Love Actually; he played the groom to Keira Knightley's blinding ultra-white toothy smile. Americans who don't know him from that probably know him from playing the antagonist in Serenity, where he almost single-handedly managed to outshine Nathan Fillion and crew. He played the lead in last year's Sundance hit Kinky Boots, where he literally walked away with the entire film. If you haven't seen Kinky Boots, I can't recommend it enough, last year I found myself liking it despite the predictable storyline and the hit-you-over-the-head message. This guy has so much...
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Scene Stealers: P.J. Soles
Filed under: Horror, Music & Musicals, Scene Stealers  It may not be fair to label someone a scene stealer when they've got the lead role in a film, but when they're up against The Ramones and manage to hold their own, they've earned it. P.J. Soles, playing high-school groupie/wanna-be songwriter Riff Randell in Rock 'n' Roll High School, is one of the reasons why people still remember and cherish this goofy Roger Corman-produced movie today. (Other reasons include The Ramones and Mary Woronov.) Soles manages to be perky without acting at all stupid, and her high level of energy helps keep the movie interesting. The above...
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Scene Stealers: Bill Paxton in Aliens
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Remakes and Sequels, Scene Stealers  There's not a single frame in James Cameron's Aliens that I don't love. (OK, there's ONE scene from the director's cut that really irks me (it has to do with hamsters), but why nitpick?) I love the music, the sound effects, the script, the brilliant (practical!) effects, the pace, the tone, the mood ... Hell, I could probably watch this movie four times a year and never get sick of the thing. (And get this: I think the original Alien is even better!)
Fresh off of The...
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Scene Stealers: Charles Napier
Filed under: Scene Stealers  Actor Charles Napier's grin is nearly as scary as the late James Coburn's was. In fact, Napier's characters genuinely frighten me at times. I am thinking particularly of his role as psychotic bad guy Harry Sledge in the 1975 Russ Meyer movie Supervixens. For once, one of the men in a Russ Meyer film actually steals scenes away from the overly endowed, bare-breasted women. You thought Willem Dafoe was scary in Wild at Heart? He's a pale imitation of Harry Sledge. Napier flashes that grin and you just know something horrible will happen. I don't understand why the other characters in Supervixens trust him even for...
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Scene Stealers: Carol Kane
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Scene Stealers  Everyone is familiar with Carol Kane. But from where or from what do they remember her best? The actress has stolen scenes in so many films that you could have a room of twenty people and each person might choose a different title she's most memorable in. She's played so many types -- quiet and loud; cute and sexy and plain and creepy; young and very, very old -- it is amazing that she can sustain such easy recognition. Perhaps it is her tired, Bette Davis eyes. In a non-physical way, it is her distinct voice, of course, which people recall.
She...
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Scene Stealers: Charles Durning
Filed under: Scene Stealers  Charactor actor Charles Durning has stolen scenes in countless movies since the early 1970s (not to mention various TV shows and Broadway plays). Many of us grew up watching him as Doc Hopper, the evil fried-frog-legs magnate in The Muppet Movie. I always envision him in Hopper's stereotypically Southern white suit. I've pictured him wearing that suit even in movies where, after I did a little research, it turns out he didn't wear it at all, such as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (where he played the governor of Texas) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (where he played the governor of Mississippi). The man...
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Scene Stealers: William Atherton
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Casting, Scene Stealers  With his three scenes as the "dickless" EPA agent in Ghostbusters, William Atherton imprinted himself into the consciousness of moviegoers as one of the all-time greatest scumbags of modern cinema. The role typecast him for the rest of the '80s, despite a prior decade full of varied, significant parts in films including The Day of the Locust, The Sugarland Express and Looking for Mr. Goodbar, as he was cast as a sleazy science professor in Real Genius and a sleazy television reporter in Die Hard(reprised in Die Hard 2). Now he's...
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Scene Stealers: Thelma Ritter
Filed under: Classics, Fandom, Scene Stealers  I don't think it's a stretch to say that Thelma Ritter was a genius of sorts. Nondescript in appearance, middle-aged, sporting a constantly-irritated expression and the kind of Brooklyn accent actors are no longer allowed to have, she spent her entire career stealing both scenes and entire films -- Rear Window, Pillow Talk, The Misfits, The Mating Season, etc. etc. etc. -- from glamorous, big-name stars. She stole them, however, not through hamminess or attention-getting ticks. Instead, she was simply so real, and so convincing that it was impossible to meet her on screen, and then...
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Scene Stealers: Animal House's Tim Matheson
Filed under: Classics, Comedy, Scene Stealers  I haven't ever been able to actually prove it, but I swear I remember hearing, many moons ago, that the Tim Matheson role in Animal House was originally written with Chevy Chase in mind. Now, considering how slick, smooth, and smarmy "Otter" is throughout the flick, I don't find that very hard to believe. And while I'd love to see how Chevy Chase would have fit into the Animal House ensemble, I don't know how much I'd love a version of Animal House that doesn't feature Tim Matheson.
One of the undeniable classics of modern Hollywood comedy, Animal House packs a...
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Scene Stealers: Will Hare, Silent Night, Deadly Night
Filed under: Horror, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, Scene Stealers  The 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night is a typical Eighties horror movie, considered controversial upon release because the killer dressed up as Santa Claus. The first 10 minutes of the film are truly the best part, and this is due almost entirely to character actor Will Hare, today's featured scene stealer.
It's Christmas Eve, and little Billy is accompanying his parents to visit Grandpa (Hare), who is in a nursing home and never speaks or seems to move. Grandpa is so harmless that the parents leave Billy alone in the room with him...
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