tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

I'm pretty sure you'll have Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman is to play) Amelia Earheart (Yup, Hilary Swank!), Julia Child (Meryl Streep), Coco Chanel (Audrey Tautou) and Bruno (Sasha Baron Cohen) on your list already! On the other end of the spectrum, there's Edward Cullen (Rob Pattinson), Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) to consider, esp by the Twilight fans.

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But hey, if that's the list, then it seems so predictable already. How about giving those lesser-known but equally fascinating (and mostly young) characters their share of the spotlight?

So, here they are: tMF's Ten Most Fascinating Movie Characters for 2009!
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# 10 - 'Columbus' - Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland) - At first, I thought Jesse Eisenberg's character, James Brennan, in Greg Mottola's Adventureland would be the better choice. But then again, when you've watched Eisenberg many times, you know he's awesome in comedy, and playing this character named Columbus, who is described as the most frightened man on Earth, in Zombieland might drive you wild.

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Chase Whale of GordonAndTheWhale.com did an interview with Eisenberg at Comic Con, and I can only say, watch the interview clip, you'll understand why I have to list down this character:

- - - Comic Con Interview: Jesse Eisenberg (ZOMBIELAND) from Gordon and the Whale on Vimeo. - - -

Says the actor:

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# 9 - Dorian Gray - Ben Barnes (Dorian Gray) - This classical character always fascinates me and I think they've found the perfect actor to play the part - Ben Barnes.

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Here's what he has to say about Oscar Wilde's book (where the movie is based) and playing the title character:

I read the book in my teens and I think for a lot of people it's one of the first novels they read on their own. A lot of people read it because teachers think it's forward thinking, exciting and shocking. Principally for me it's always going to be the character in the context of the story. Getting this role was one of those massive challenges and it wasn't going to get any greater than this. I've loved playing the darker moments and I've really enjoyed playing the 46 year old Dorian. Obviously he looks the same so it's been an interesting challenge to make him seem older and show the way experiences have affected him. It's also very interesting to see how the other characters have responded to me on those days because they've often been aged in make-up - especially Colin Firth. On the days when I've been young and vulnerable he's been bullying me on set; on the days when he's made up to look 70 the tables are entirely turned and he feels a little bit vulnerable because he's balding, so the joke is flipped! It's very interesting to see people genuinely respond when you're made up to look very different. Yesterday we filmed the very end and my portrait make-up and I morph into this disgusting, syphilitic, sinful mess of a man.

The trailer looks awesome and I'm really looking forward to this!
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# 8 - Beto and Tato - Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna (Rudo Y Cursi) - An odd choice? Perhaps... But the thing is, we've been bombarded with movies where characters seem so perfectly beautiful or perfectly evil (or both) it's always nice and refreshing to watch a movie where the characters are very real, quite unpredictable and are not based on the same old, same old Hollywood formula.

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Peter Debruge @Spout describes perfectly the two lead characters in the Luna-Bernal reunion flick:

Luna and Bernal play half-brothers, named Beto and Tato, mutually loyal to their common mother and, to a lesser degree, one another. When they aren't toiling away in the fields, they spend most of their time on the soccer field. Beto plays goalie, aggressive enough in his manner that his teammates call him "Rudo" (or "rough"), while Tato is such a show-offy forward, his fancy tricks earn him the nickname "Cursi" ("prissy," in English) - monikers that confuse the fact that each is simultaneously macho and sensitive. They're both dreamers, but unrealistic enough about how to pursue their dreams that they hardly know how to handle opportunity when they bump into a talent scout on their way to a match. Instead of talking soccer, Tato tries to impress the out-of-towner with his less-than-impressive singing skills. A compulsive gambler, Beto sees this as his big chance, overlooking the fact that his wife and kids don't necessarily fit into his fantasy of fame. Fortunately for them, the scout admires both brothers' skill, but there is a catch: He can only take one to Mexico City to play - and so the rivalry begins. [ read more ]

Many movie audiences would remember the two awesome Mexican actors from their first movie together, Alfonso Cuarón's Y tu mamá también. In their latest collaboration, it was Carlos Cuarón (Alfonso's kid brother) who directed it. I find the characters the two most realistic in the sense that what they do on screen is not something magical or extra-ordinary - they are both selfish and naive, and like most of us, will do just about anything to step up the human ladder.
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# 7 - Bliss Cavender - Ellen Page (Whip It!) - Ellen Page was a natural choice to play the teen beauty pageant contestant turned roller blade chick in Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It! As the 17-year old Bliss Cavender, Page character

... is tired of competing in beauty pageants at the insistence of her mother (Marcia Gay Harden). She rebels by joining the Hurl Scouts, a women's roller derby team in Austin, Texas, and finds her true calling -- or, at least, a good place to unleash some pent-up aggression. Barrymore skates with the Scouts, as does Saturday Night Live's Wiig and the great Zoe Bell (Death Proof). Juliette Lewis is described as the villain of the piece, an opposing player determined to defeat Page and the Scouts.

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I can't wait to kick ass on wheels! says the actress. I am simply amazed how these two young and driven women are joining forces to come up with a movie that has heart and features unique and strong characters.

"I've been working toward the goal of directing my entire life," Barrymore said. " 'Whip It!' is a story that really spoke to me."

Derby star Shauna Cross, known on the circuit as Maggie Mayhem, penned the screenplay. Project, which had originally been set up at Warner Bros. via Barrymore's Flower Films banner, reteams Page with Mandate, the company behind box office- and awards-season hit "Juno."
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# 6 - Adam Raki - Hugh Dancy (Adam) - I remember Hugh Dancy cavorting in bed with both Julianne Moore and Eddie Redmayne in Savage Grace and in that awful film, Blood and Chocolate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I never saw him play the same role twice, and I always find his performance to be quite good, even if the movie is bad. He has this distinct British suave look, and I am pretty impressed at his transformation in this unique tale of love between two 'damaged' individuals.

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In Adam, Beth (Rose Byrne), a brainy, beautiful writer damaged from a past relationship encounters Adam (Hugh Dancy), the handsome, but odd, fellow in the downstairs apartment whose awkwardness is perplexing. Beth and Adam's ultimate connection leads to a tricky relationship that exemplifies something universal: truly reaching another person means bravely stretching into uncomfortable territory and the resulting shake-up can be liberating.

Director Max Mayer was not convinced Dancy should play Adam and Loranza Munoz' LA Times piece further explains:

A self-possessed individual graced with the good looks of a matinee idol -- large, bluish-gray eyes, a firm jaw line and fistfuls of brown, wavy hair -- actor Hugh Dancy seemed, at first glance, completely wrong for the lead in Fox Searchlight's unconventional romantic drama "Adam." But soon after meeting the 34-year-old English actor, director Max Mayer realized that Dancy had "the requisite insecurities" to play the part of an awkward, introverted young man with Asperger's syndrome who struggles with social interactions.

Says Dancy:

You have to be very clear about why you are doing something like this. The most elusive thing for an actor is any kind of control over his career. . . . You have to have a realistic acceptance of the odds and how they are stacked against you. It makes me all the more grateful about how it's worked for me.

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# 5 - Clareece 'Precious' Jones - Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe (Precious) - tMF loves it when our viewers 'push' us to feature young and up and coming talents. Gabourey is certainly a talent to reckon with, and her debut film, Precious, is the big winner at Sundance (Grand Jury for Drama, Audience Award and special acting prize for Mo’Nique).

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Precious (Gabourey Sidibe) is a sixteen year old girl who lives in hell. She's morbidly obese and hated wherever she goes, except in her fantasies. (Kind of like Pan's Labyrinth, but the war torn country Precious escapes is the Harlem ghetto and her fantasy world comes from TV.) It's a little absurd and supposed to be funny. She has an indomitable wit despite the fact that she carries her father's second child and her mother (Mo'Nique) is one of the most tragic and despicable villains, maybe, in all of cinema. Precious' entire life is just a vessel to absorb all the victimization possible from being poor and black and female. Through her hallucinogenic fantasies, her protective sarcasm, and a couple of women who refuse to let her disappear, she inches - and I mean inches - towards prevailing. If you're starting to think Stand and Deliver with incest, think again. Precious' journey is like watching somebody held under water learning to breath through a straw. If Push did not completely absorb you into the world of Precious, it may appear that her victories (like reciting the alphabet from start to finish) are minute, maybe even pathetic, but their monumentality in Precious' world is visceral. It also helps that every once in a while there's a fall-down funny joke. [ read more from Paul Moore's review @Spout ]

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# 4 - Chelsea - Sasha Grey (The Girlfriend Experience) - I find Mr. Ebert's review of the movie - with emphasis on the character and the actress who played the part to be spot-on:

Chelsea is played by Sasha Grey. She is 21. Since 2006, according to IMDb, she's made 161 porn films, of which only the first title can be quoted here: "Sasha Grey Superslut." No, here's another, which makes me smile: "My First Porn #7." I haven't seen any of them, but now I would like to see one, watching very carefully, to see if she suggests more than one level. Grey wasn't hired because of her willingness to have sex onscreen; there's no explicit sex in the movie and only fleeting nudity. I suspect Soderbergh cast her because of her mercenary approach to sex -- and her acting talent, which may not be ready for Steppenwolf but is right for this film. She owns her own agency and Web site, manages other actresses, has a disconnect between herself and what she does for a living. So does Chelsea. The film is intent on her face. It often looks over the shoulder of her clients. She projects precise amounts of interest and curiosity, but conceals real feelings. It is a transaction, and she is holding up her end. Notice the very small nods and shakes of her head. Observe her word choices as she sidesteps questions without refusing to answer them. When her roommate/boyfriend insists on knowing the name of one of her clients, she is adroit in her reply. [ read more ]

I enjoyed the silliness and quite frankly, the stupidity posted by some IMDb readers on the movie's board in their attempt to criticize the movie. Anyway, everyone is entitled to his/her own opinions, but how you react and the language you use is another story. It only indicates that Chelsea and Steven Soderbergh's film is really fascinating.

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# 3 - Sam Bell - Sam Rockwell (Moon) - There's a cool side story about how Duncan Jones convinced Sam Rockwell to play the lead role in Moon and it provides more than a glimpse into Rockwell's role and its fascinating character:

So when director Duncan Jones offered Rockwell the chance to play yet another villain in his debut feature, Rockwell turned him down. But their conversation unexpectedly turned to their mutual love of science fiction, particularly movies from the '70s and '80s, such as Alien and John Carpenter's The Thing. "The acting was so kitchen-sink real," Rockwell marvels. "They were regular blue-collar people - in space, with a monster." Based on this one conversation, Jones dropped his original project to make a movie specifically starring Rockwell. It's about a working-class stiff of an astronaut, alone in space on a three-year mining contract. The character is named Sam, after the actor who inspired it. "And he made [the film] such an actor's piece, I couldn't resist," Rockwell admits. But Jones also wanted the film to explore some of his ideas about human relationships with technology. He studied artificial intelligence and ethics as a graduate student at Vanderbilt University. And though elements of the film are clearly intended as homage to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jones' outlook on technology is much sunnier. [ read more ]

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# 2 - Susie Salmon - Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) - Susie Salmon is a 14-year-old girl who is raped, murdered and dismembered in the first chapter of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, and narrates the novel from heaven.

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What makes Susie Salmon so fascinating and so unforgettable is the story behind her creation. The book draws from the author's personal experiences from when she was raped during her freshman year at Syracuse University. In Lucky, Sebold's 1997 memoir of the event and its aftermath, she describes how it transformed her life, especially after learning that the rapist's previous victim had died. After later seeing the rapist on the street, she reported him to the police and eventually testified against him. He was convicted and received the maximum sentence.

Playing the part is Saoirse Ronan. [ tMF puts the spotlight on Saoirse ]. Watch Peter Jackson, and the cast discuss the movie in this featurette.

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# 1 - Xas - Gaspard Ulliel (The Vintner's Luck) - Playing Xas may be the biggest challenge in Gaspard Ulliel's acting career to date. It is not, however, without controversy: the character, as depicted in the novel, has a relationship with the vintner - and it goes beyond the platonic. Why so much fuzz about this fictional character? For one thing, Xas is an angel whose philosophical discourses have set him on a collision course with God. He is forsaken but unlike other fallen angels, goes on to deal with Lucifer in a way never before seen in film or book ... Knox certainly has a very vivid imagination and she apparently focused a great deal of her creative energies in developing this character. [ read more from tMF's The Vintner's Luck spotlight ]

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A Matter of Luck? Some issues with the movie version- Right now, I'm a bit worried that Xas, a character, so intriguing and powerful and seductive in Elizabeth Knox's book will be 'toned down' and relegated to a supporting character in Niki Caros' film version. The trailer and now, the movie poster has not even included Xas.

If this is just a marketing ploy to lure mainstream audiences, then I find it cheap and sneaky. I hope whoever is driving this marketing ploy has read Kyle Buchanan's post How Do You Talk to a Gay Angel @Movieline:

... based on the novel by Elizabeth Knox, it’s the story of winemaker Sobran (Jeremie Renier), who’s caught in something of a love triangle between his wife (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and a baroness (Vera Farmiga). Who can help him sort out such a complicated scenario? Hmm, I dunno, maybe the hot shirtless angel (Gaspard Ulliel) who visits him once a year and who he eventually falls in love with and bones? The first trailer, sadly, is pretty light on the implied boning. In fact, it’s so resolute in implying that this story is just a heterosexual love triangle that the whole angel bit seems completely random — and it’s not like it isn’t completely random, but without the context of “this angel is here so they can have sex, duh” ... [ read more ]

I'm still hopeful and have faith that with Niki Caro's reputation and knowing that the author herself, Elizabeth Knox, has been quite 'cooperative' making appropriate announcements about the film, Xas will be depicted truthfully. With a book sequel (The Angel's Cut) just launched recently, how can they disappoint?

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What's on your mind? Do you have another movie character that ought to be in this list? Do you find some of the movie characters on the list not fascinating at all? Let us know what you think!
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