As you probably know if you have been reading my villain blog series, Entertainment Weekly released their 50 favorite movie villains list. This list was comprised by the EW staff. But, it seems they left off quite a few fan favorites!
Fans couldn’t believe EW missed Glenn Close as Marquise Merteuil in Dangerous Liaisons. Personally, I am offended that both EW and fans missed the ultimate female villain, beautiful yet demented Alex Forrest, played by Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. I am sure plenty of us could relate when she told Michael Douglas “I’m not going to be ignored, Dan!” but she may have taken it a bit far with kidnapping his child and boiling the family bunny. And, there was that whole attacking his wife with a butcher knife thing (of course, I am saying this facetiously).
It seemed no villain was safe from the fans list. Even American as apple pie cutie Mary Tyler Moore was listed as a villain for her portrayal as Beth Jarrett in Ordinary People. I never saw that one and now I am scared to – Mary Tyler Moore – evil?
They got Leatherface, but forgot the character that helped breathe life into teenage horror movies – Michael Myers. Who wasn’t creeped out by this sociopath killer who not only killed his own sister, but countless others in the Halloween horror movies? Evil as he was, he tried to kill babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in the original, but didn’t succeed until the Halloween: Resurrection.
It must be a tough list when a mobster can’t even crack it. Fortunately, fans pointed out that Michael Corleone from The Godfather trilogy, a man so ruthless that he killed his own brother, had been left off the list.
EW did miss a couple of my favorite villains. John Malkovich’s character Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom from Con Air was a psychopath completely devoid of any compassion for others. And, with a nickname like “The Virus,” how could you not be bad? Claiming to have “killed more men than cancer,” Malkovich certainly played the part well. Now that was one bad guy there!
Amother favorite villain of mine was skinhead bad guy turned good guy Derek Vinyard, played so well by Edward Norton in American History X. Norton received a Best Actor nod for this role but lost out to Roberto Benigni for A Beautiful Life.
So who did EW, the fans, and I miss? Let me know who your favorite movie villain is!