“The play was a great success, but the audience was a disaster.”
- Oscar Wilde
Kendra was out of town on a trip all week so I watched a couple of older movies that I hadn't seen. They're both from 2007…Can that be 19 years ago already?
The first was The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It's good, although that may be the unwieldiest movie title ever. It stars Brad Pitt as a slow burn psychotic Jesse James and Casey Affleck as the conflicted assassin, Robert Ford. The acting across the board is great. I must say, Brad Pitt, regardless of anything going on in his personal life, is truly a phenomenal actor. I've never seen him in anything where he didn't shine.
If you didn't know, he's from here in Springfield. He graduated from Kickapoo High School in 1982. His family still lives here although his mother passed away recently. His brother, Doug, spoke at our nephew's baccalaureate a few years back. He's an entrepreneur here in the area. He told a story about a time Brad was in town and was at a station getting gas. A woman approached him and said, “Excuse me…aren't you Doug Pitt's brother?” Ha Ha.
When we first moved back here four years ago, I was talking with the bug man we had hired to spray our house. He said, “You know, I'm in so many homes and I never pay any attention to things sitting around or pictures on walls or anything. But one day, I was at this woman's house who I'd been working for for years, and I happened to notice this family-like picture with her in it and also Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston. I said, ‘Are you related to Brad Pitt or something?’ and she said, ‘Yes, he’s my brother, did you not know that?'”
Anyway, Brad Pitt's great in the movie and Casey Affleck is his equal, acting-wise. Casey got the acting chops in Affleck family as far as I'm concerned.
The other movie I saw was There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview, an oil tycoon in the early 1900s. The movie's been called a masterpiece and Lewis, of course, is without peer in the field of acting. I don't know what qualifies as a masterpiece. I think Caddyshack is a masterpiece, so there you go. I do know the film is good and Lewis is magnificent. I saw someone posit that Lewis' Daniel Plainview is the greatest villain in movie history. That is a point I will argue.
Yes, Plainview is a scoundrel of the highest order. He is ruthless and self-serving in all regards and gets more so as the movie goes on. He's also a murderer, so there's that. However, on rare occasions, primarily having to do with his “son,” he does show the slightest glimmer of humanity, it's ever so tiny, but it's there. That, therefore, disqualifies him as film's greatest villain.
There are two that I nominate for the honor that have not an ounce of humanity in their beings. They're neck and neck and I don't think anyone can top them for the sheer evil they portray. Total psychos.
The first is Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. I won't go into his character, but I'll just say that even writing about the guy right now unsettles me. He makes Hannibal Lector look like Mr. Rogers.
The next is Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brothers' No Country For Old Men. More people have seen this movie so he might be more familiar. Beyond anything else, his haircut is the stuff of nightmares, but the gas station/coin flip scene alone pretty much vaults him into villain hall of fame.
So, Daniel Plainview, AAA villain. Frank Booth and Anton Chigurh. MAJOR LEAGUES.
I'm sorry to go down this road on Valentine's Day. That seems bad form but, you know, it's what was on my mind. If you have a contender, please share.
Let me offer a pretty song that has a Valentine reference in it. See if you can find it.