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Post by stevehadcrackers on Apr 18, 2008 15:51:58 GMT -5
I apologize if this has been done before. I've seen favorite character threads, least favorite character threads, but I don't recall a favorite peripheral character thread.
MSTED movies offer us such a varied array of bizarre, amusing, and hateful characters. My personal favorites in any MSTED movie are Torgo (Manos) and Mooney (Beatniks). But what about those characters that we can miss, the ones who only have one or two lines but manage to entertain us? I was pondering this recently as I watched The Deadly Bees. I realized that the friendly man in the bowler hat at the end totally makes that episode for me. He just shows up out of nowhere, tips his hat to the camera, flute music, and the credits roll. What in the holy hell? I love the randomness of it.
Another personal favorite is the newsboy in Invasion, USA. He just pops onscreen out of nowhere, shouts "Extra! Paper! America invaded!", is promptly ignored by the people with more important roles, gives them an angry look, and storms out of the shot. Huh?
I love the filthy potato lady in Deathstalker. She's not as peripheral as the others because she's in like three scenes, but her dirtiness, weird accent, and ardent love of potatos make me laugh. What was her purpose?
The dead lady in Space Mutiny, for her dome-shaped crotch and ability to die and reappear, unnoticed, in the next scene.
The mortician in Agent From HARM. Just because he's so bizarre.
The detective in Zombie Nightmare. Just because of his voice: "We are looking for a very large individual..."
So share yours! Show a little love for the folks we so often overlook even though they delight us for all the wrong reasons!
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Post by quinnmartin on Apr 18, 2008 16:09:55 GMT -5
How about the little kid in Mitchell. The one that gets into the yelling match with him during the stateout. What purpose that scene served, I have no idea. Beyond showing that Mitchell would not make a good father, that is.
Or the "hippie" in San Francisco International.
And Space Mutinty has a lot of those great side characters beyond the one mentioned above. The "I'm sorry the information is so scanty" guy, and the engineer who decides to announce that their plan is treason and that he must report it right away, both have brought me a lot of laughs with their "acting".
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Post by Frameous on Apr 18, 2008 16:42:04 GMT -5
One that comes to mind is a really dumb looking guy in Smuggler's Tavern during Final Justice. Not that I really like the character, but they riff him well. Like when he teases JDB about drinking milk and then later shouts "HEY!" with Crow following it up with "I'm from Malta!"
And I love the old couple who have their own part of the movie in Incredible Melting Man. They were so strange, they did the work for the writers. As they said, like something from another film altogether. I am sure I could think of more.
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Post by tokiyoke on Apr 18, 2008 16:49:30 GMT -5
I also loved the newsboy from Invasion USA. There's also the character that inspired the stingers, the blind guy from Rocket Attack USA. Would that lady from I Acuse My Parents who just shows up at Jimmy's house fall in this category? Who was she?
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Post by OxfordProle on Apr 18, 2008 17:42:23 GMT -5
I love the scenery-chewing airplane mechanic Marty in Time Chasers. He's obnoxious and lazy, but relatively well-meaning and sort of funny. I have no idea what his purpose in this movie was and I don't really care: I just love the bandanna over hockey hair look too much to judge.
"Thank you, chuckle-headed middle act who thought this was his big break!"
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Post by Bix Dugan on Apr 18, 2008 18:06:22 GMT -5
And wouldn't he have been left back in time with the air our Four Fathers breathed? I hate time-travel mobius-loop plot-lines.
How about the "Not an actor" guy in Starfighters. Mike was right.
Good thread!
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Post by hugo on Apr 18, 2008 20:42:32 GMT -5
My favorite is Chuck from "Village of the Giants." (usually paired with Jim Begg as part of the "good guys" group) He only has a small handful of lines, but manages to elicit a riff from Mike: "...and you are?" The reason he's my favorite? He's played by Hank Jones, who just happens to be my good friend's dad! ;-)  |
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Post by Dr. Henry Krasker on Apr 19, 2008 14:12:59 GMT -5
Kline!
You don't direct Kline, you just get out of the way!
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Post by jjb3k on Apr 19, 2008 20:30:32 GMT -5
The maid from Radar Secret Service and her delightfully bad overacting ("OOHHH!! THERE'S A DEAD MAN!!"). In a similar vein, there's also the lady in the red sweatsuit from Code Name: Diamond Head ("AAAHH! Johnny! Down there!") Both of them inspired their respective episodes' stingers, and deservingly so.
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Post by pups4ever on Apr 19, 2008 20:37:10 GMT -5
I absolutely love the Angry Old Man from Brute Man. Seriously, all that misguided rage. That delivery boy didn't do anything to provoke that kind of pure hatred.
Also, the lab guy from the second part of Riding with Death. "Who are you? Just leave!"
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Post by Mitchell on Apr 19, 2008 21:29:44 GMT -5
I like the hispanic burglar in Mitchell. Maybe I just like that Al Noga reference too much.
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Post by stevehadcrackers on Apr 20, 2008 11:24:09 GMT -5
Ooh, how could I have forgotten the angry old man fromThe Brute Man? He absolutely makes that episode! I love that the young guy who works there doesn't even respond to all of the hate that's directed at him; he just carries on like it's a normal conversation. He's obviously used to it.
I really love all of the peripheral doctor characters from Track Of The Moon Beast. They're all so bizarre and obviously not real actors. I love how Mike and the bots chuckle every time one is on screen, and then in one scene you hear Crow say under his breath, "Where do they get these guys?"
Thanks, Brigham Young!
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Post by mrsphyllistorgo on Apr 20, 2008 11:36:55 GMT -5
The Scottish guy at the big party in Skydivers. You can tell he's Scottish because he's wearing full kilt and sporran. In the middle of summer. In the desert.
Buxom Giantess and Polka-Dot Bikini Girl were standouts too--in more ways than one (wink wink nudge nudge).
Pinnochio, why you go onna de plane--oh, I'm Scottish, that's right.
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Post by wereworm on Apr 20, 2008 12:35:05 GMT -5
I love the filthy potato lady in Deathstalker. She's not as peripheral as the others because she's in like three scenes, but her dirtiness, weird accent, and ardent love of potatos make me laugh. What was her purpose? I like how she just inexplicably cocks her head and grits her teeth after showing the soldiers where Deathstalker went. |
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Post by Diet Kolos on Apr 20, 2008 12:41:29 GMT -5
The Fat Couple from Ring of Terror.
Tom: And now an interpretive dance showing how plate techtonics work.
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