Killing Time - The "Name The Best...Game"

[Nebula]

Alright, start with some easier stuff.

 

1.) Who is the best villian of all time?

 

Gotta be Darth Sidious for me. (Palpatine.) Just so maliciously enduring. His voice, his effect on everyone...he is brilliantly evil. That's my vote. Everything he puts together is so calculated and so well cloaked. Dooku (Tyrannus) and the face he makes when Sidious commands Annakin to kill him is classic Palpatine. Dooku is SURPRISED! Any apprentice to that man should NEVER be surprised at an act of malice committed by Darth Sidious. But even an apprentice doesn't see his wrath coming. Palpatine wins pretty easily for me. And I love that Annakin REALLY does fulfill his destiny. Luke does not kill the Emperor. Annakin does. And you can probably argue that it's acceptable to call him Annakin in that moment. A Sith Lord does not murder his Master out of love for anyone, son or not.

 

(The Joker...Heath Ledger's Joker that is, is in 2nd place. How close that is I'm not sure, and I could be persuaded that he should drop maybe. But he brilliantly insane in that movie. Also...

 

2.) Best Gangster Role in a Movie: This is a hard one...lot of good choices to pick. This may be an unpopular pick, but I have to take Don Corleone. Yeah, I thought REALLY hard about Goodfellas and Casino and then, about Michael over the Don. But the meeting with all the main family heads is the final thing that sold me. He get's shot as a really old man, multiple times. Can't kill the bastard. Promises "he will not be the one to break the peace." And he isn't lying, but he knows that the Corleone Family will indeed be the one's to do just that. Brings in Hagan. Makes Luca Brasi, a man who is basically incapable of fear or respect, and makes him feel both of those deeply for the Don. The look he gives Sonny in the meeting with the Turk. And every single DeNiro scene in GF2. (Yeah, that counts. Same character! His killing of Don Fanucci is epic...and not just the hit. He profits off his future capos, eliminates a bane to the neighborhood, and basically usurps the role of crime boss in one fell swoop. Finally...telling Michael that whoever approaches him with Barzini's offer is the traitor. (Tessio, naturally.) He is cerebral, violent, reserved, and just all around a great, great character. And one last thing: His threat about what should happen if a bolt of lightning should strike Michael at that meeting. It's hard to be so intimidating while not really raising your voice, or even making an overt threat. Finally: "Tatagglia's a pimp....But I didn't know until this day that it was Barzini all along." Don Corleone gets my nod.

 

3.) Best Sports Character: REAL hard. There are a lot of options. Rick Vaughn. Jake Taylor....Roger Dorn. Hell, all of Major League is epic. Rudy? Solid character, but not in the running for me. Herb Brooks from Miracle? That's a solid choice. Hoosiers is a good movie, but I can't go with Hackman. I think....I think it's gotta be Coach D'Amato from Any Given Sunday. I know that's maybe not super popular, but I think Pacino gives an incredibly believable performance. This guy is NOT a perfect guy by any stretch. He's getting old...getting worried that he's losing it. He convinces Cap to play a game that could really cause the guy significant, permanent damage. But that whole speech...his whole persona sells it for me. Just dying when LT (Shark) begs for a waiver, talking to Beamon right before he throws the first TD, asking the reporter based on Jim Rome "Where's your neck brace?" right after giving an apology...he's a great character. I'm going with 2 time Pantheon Cup winner Coach Tony D'Amato.

 

4.) Best character in a Western: This...had a million options for me. I realized that I wasn't going to be able to pick somebody from the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and that didn't even seem possible. But when I was a kid, I always thought Eastwood in High Plains Drifter was the best. He was such an ominous, spectral kind of entity. I liked him because he wasn't some cocksure swaggering d-bag like John Wayne. I like my characters flawed. And in the end...that's why I went with William Munny from Unforgiven. How do you not pick Doc Holliday from Tombstone? Well...I'm not sure I can defend that. Holliday is so sick in that movie that I almost want to rescind my vote. ALMOST. Except Holliday is not a totally unique character, he's just awesome in basically every possible way imaginable. Pick Doc and you'll never get an argument from me. But here is why I went with Unforgiven and Munny: Munny is a bad man. He is a complete anti-hero. Really, the whole movie is about winnowing down the contenders for most ruthless, heartless killer in the land. At first those ranch hands that cut up the working girls are the worst...and very soon you see Little Bill for who he is. English Bob is revealed as an imposter. However...none of them are William Munny. Every time his past is mentioned, people look like they're talking about Nero, or Hitler, or the Devil. He tried to change. DID change, for a woman and a family.

 

And then he starts to slowwwwwly turn back into who he really is. His fever makes him see all those he's killed...and the look on Ned's face when confronted with a frightened William Munny says more than words ever could. Munny being scared is HORRIFYING to Ned. The Devil is showing fear. And then Ned, who really seems to be the only person outside of his wife and kids that Munny has ever respected in his life, is killed. We see the change coming before this. The whiskey. As he starts drinking, you see the coldness in his eyes. He is a truly dangerous man, a murderous son of a bitch who won't bat an eye at a wailing man he's just gut shot. Munny DOES not care. And after Ned dies, his charade is over. He is William Munny again, the true version. An evil man who does not fear death nor lose sleep over the murder of ANYONE. And when he walks into the bar, everyone knows: Little Bill is a bad man. But William Munny is evil incarnate.

 

And Doc Holliday is not as complicated. He's a rather simple man in some ways: a brilliant, humorous, hard gambling and hard drinking lunger who is exceedingly dangerous in a firefight. Nothing more, nothing less. Now, he is ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS EVER. Like, of any genre. Munny is just a genius character in my view. Because, the more you watch that movie, the more you realize just what kind of a person he truly is. And he isn't humorous. He isn't sentimental. He sure as HELL isn't a hero. He's sneaky evil. You see it to a greater extent every time you watch that movie.

 

OKAY: Insanely long? Ridiculous? I want signing day. Anybody feel like voting on these? Offer new questions. Anything. I'm bored beyond bored.

[Creighton Duke]

Best video game of all time: Donkey Kong

[NUance]

1.) Best villain of all time? I was going to say Snidely Whiplash from the Dudley Dooright cartoon. But then Hannibal Lecter came to mind. He removed portions of a guy’s brain while he was still alive. And ate it. Much worse than tying a damsel to a railroad track.

 

2.) Best Gangster Role in a Movie? “Say hello to my little friend.” —Tony Montana (Al Pacino)

<--there's a bit of violence and profanity in that clip. lol

 

3.) Best Sports Character? I like underdogs. I’m going with Rocky Balboa. Honorable mention to Ralph Walker, the teenage Canadian marathon runner in “Saint Ralph”.

 

4.) Best character in a Western? “I’m your huckleberry.” —Doc Holiday (Val Kilmer)

[Walleye Hunting Husker]

1) Best Villian - Toss up but I would say its between The Joker (Heath Ledger), Hannibal Lecter (Hopkins is just plain creepy in that role) or William Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York)

 

2) Best Gangster Role - I'll go with Robert DeNiro as Al Capone in The Untouchables

 

3) Best Sports Character - Alvin Mack (The Program)

 

4) Best Character in a Western - Doc Holiday or William Munny

[QMany]

1) Best Villian - Anton Chigurh (No Country For Old Men) - Truly frightening character.

 

2) Best Gangster Role - Frank Lucas (American Gangster) - Half true-life, half Denzel acting prowess. Awesome character. "My man."

 

3) Best Sports Character - Quincy McCall (Love & Basketball) - Probably my favorite movie of all-time. "I took the ho to Burger King!"

 

4) Best Character in a Western - Dr. King Schultz (Django) - Really good movie, really interesting character. "My good man, did you simply get carried away with your dramatic gesture, or are you pointing your weapon at me with lethal intention?"

[Nebula]

First of all...Donkey Kong is NOT the best video game ever. That must have been simply to counter my laughably long post with a curt nonsensical retort. Because Donkey Kong and Super Mario 3 already erases the Kong.

 

Greatest Games is impossible to winnow: Blades of Steel - Tyson, Tecmo, Sup 2 and 3 (I liked 2, many did not) Double Dribble, Hockey *countless others for NES, Mutant League Football on Sega Genesis. FIFA on the new era consoles. Close to qualifying is Rygar, because I was the only person who could beat that game. And yeah...I failed algebra. What is your point? RYGAR, son.

 

+1 to Q. Sigur rounded out my top 3, and I really, really had to think about whether the Joker was better. I just like the Joker better as an engaging maniac, if that makes any sense. He is darkly humerous occasionally. Sigur is...well, as you said: "A truly frightening character." Side question to Q: Did you like the ending? I still get chills when he says the final line. He ain't there. All that he wakes to is all that cold and all that dark. People seemed really disappointed in that ending...I thought it was brilliant. That movie is classified as a horror movie by the Coen's. Which makes sense.

 

American Gangster was not bad. Not bad. A touch underwhelming just because of who Frank Lucas was. I actually struggled with another villain, who really was basically a gangster in his own right: Alonzo from Training Day. That is a great performance as a villain for Denzel, and I think that's a much better character than Lucas, just based on character development and traits rather than acting. Alonzo is an evil SOB: "Make sure that bathtub's clean." Click. Heartfelt words to the man who's death warrant he just signed.

 

NUance: Rocky is right up there for me too. Honestly, Rocky IV was like a top 5 favorite all time movie for me in my childhood. I like I an awful lot, II is SO painfully slow until the final awesome payoff, (too long to get to it though for my liking, but I'll watch the Rocky II fight anytime, anywhere.) Clubber Lang was a good character. The stupidity of bringing in Hulk Hogan stunt BS is offset by Mr. T really pulling off a great job presenting Lang as a Roberto Duran type (In the sense that Duran literally killed two people in the ring in Panama and never considered quitting or anything like that.) IV, awesome. V actually never happened. The last one was weak but not Godfather III-Rocky V condemnable.

 

I hate Scarface. No idea why. Just always, always have. I think Pacino is WAY better in Donnie Brasco. For me, it isn't even close. But I'm in the superminority there.

[Nebula]

William Cutting...great character. GREAT character. Villain, gangster? I dunno, but that role ranks high, somewhere.

[zoogs]

Don Corleone is bad ass. That's a cool list, very in-depth. I like it. I was a big fan of Pacino's Michael, too, at least in the first movie and before he starts to unravel. A harmless-looking kid transforming into a cold-blooded, ruthlessly capable mafia lord.

 

Video games, I'm not sure they get any better than Zelda: A Link to the Past. There's a pretty cool IGN review that terms it, "The only Zelda game ever made." (LINK) I'll let that review do the talking; it says everything I'd want to, but better.

[Nebula]

Video games, I'm not sure they get any better than Zelda: A Link to the Past. There's a pretty cool IGN review that terms it, "The only Zelda game ever made." (LINK) I'll let that review do the talking; it says everything I'd want to, but better.

I'd take 5 points off my rep if I could for leaving off Zelda (and Metroid, for that matter) but the best I can do is +1 you.

 

Michael is epic. Less likeable...but that doesn't make him a worse character. He's a dark bastard...even darker than the old man I think. Which is what hurts him, I think. He's too distant to generate the loyalty and love his dad could. Fredo weeps over his father, he conspires with Johnny Ola. (In typical, fumbling Fredo fashion.)

[T_O_Bull]

Best villain of all time? The killer as played by Andy Russell in "Dirty Harry."

 

Best Gangster Role in a Movie? Marlon Brando is terrific but this goes to Al Pacino as the young Michael Corleone. The sene in the hospitol when he he says to his father, "I'm with you now, I'm with you." and the scene when he essenthily takes control of the family whth all around him he plots the murder of Solotzo and the police captain, "Its not personal Sonny, its strictly business."

 

Best Sports Character Major League is a montage and they cancel each other out.. I was thinking Roy Hobbs from the Natural but have settled on Tom Hanks as the manager in "A League of their own," "There's no crying in baseball."

 

Best character in a Western? Based on body of work and his greatest role John Wayne as Ethan Edwards in the "Searchers."

 

T_O_B

[GM_Tood]

Best Villain- Jack Torrance, The Shining (Jack Nicholson)

 

Best Gangster Role- Sonny LoSpecchio, A Bronx Tale (Chazz Palminteri) “He’s outta your life for $20, you got off cheap, forget it.”

 

Best Sports Character - Jake La Motta, Raging Bull (Robert De Niro) "I'm da Boss."

 

Best Character in a Western - Josey Wales, The Outlaw Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) It was hard to pick amongst the numerous roles he portrayed in Westerns.

 

Best Video Game Ever? - The original Super Mario. I don't know how many hours I wasted my life on this game....but it was damn fun.

 

Best Likeable Villain-Keyser Söze

[walksalone]

Best Villian - Magua, Last of the Mohicans (Wes Studi) When I saw Chingachgook beat him to death at the end, I was standing up saying f*ck yea

 

Best Gangster Role - Christopher Walken - Frank White (King of New York)

 

Best Sports Characters - Hansen Brothers (anyone else pales in comparison)

 

Best Character in a Western - Doc Holliday, Tombstone (Val Kilmer)

 

Best Video Game - Nobunaga's Ambition (feudal japan) Played that for hours

[walksalone]

[MLB 51]

Best Villian - Magua, Last of the Mohicans (Wes Studi) When I saw Chingachgook beat him to death at the end, I was standing up saying f*ck yea

 

Best Gangster Role - Christopher Walken - Frank White (King of New York)

 

Best Sports Characters - Hansen Brothers (anyone else pales in comparison)

 

Best Character in a Western - Doc Holliday, Tombstone (Val Kilmer)

 

Best Video Game - Nobunaga's Ambition (feudal japan) Played that for hours

Use to play that game for days at time.

[SCode]

Best villain-Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Creeps me out just thinking about it.

 

Best gangster-Al Capone (DeNiro) from the Untouchables. Saw a replay of the baseball bat scene the other day.

 

Best sports character-have to agree on the Hansen brothers

 

Best character in Western-Josey Wales. Some of the greatest movie quotes ever.

 

Best video game-Super Mario Bros (NES)-7 minutes was my record from start to saving the queen.