Incredible Badass Movie Heroines

It’s always nice to see a girl who know how to fight and struggle for herself, who knows how to stand up for herself and what she like and love – then, we men are even more excited, even though in real life we’re so afraid of strong females.

Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor
Terminator 1 & 2

In James Cameron’s Terminator saga the fate of humanity rests in the hands of Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor and her son John. Sarah may have been something of a damsel in distress in 1984′s The Terminator, however by the time 1991′s sequel rolled around Sarah had graduated to an all-action badass.

Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley
Alien saga

The one and only Sigourney Weaver tops our list for being the awesome leading lady at the centre of the Alien series. Directors Ridley Scott, James Cameron, David Fincher and Jean-Pierre Jeunet should take credit for shaping the hard-as-nails science fiction icon, but it’s Weaver who puts an emphatic stamp on Ripley and paved the way for a host of poor imitations.

Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia
Star Wars trilogy

Remarkably, Carrie Fisher was just 20 years old when Star Wars redefined Hollywood cinemas in 1977. Her super-confidence and effortless chemistry with Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill took her out of her mother’s (Debbie Reynolds) shadow and made her an instant geek icon. As great as Leia is in Star Wars, she really transforms into a formidable heroine in sequels The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

Uma Thurman as The Bride
Kill Bill

When Quentin Tarantino penned a martial arts revenge epic (so big he had to split it into two films) requiring a sword-wielding female warrior there was only one person he was realistically going to turn to: Uma Thurman. The Bride sliced and diced her way through two cracking films in the early ’00s. Thurman and Tarantino have even promised a third movie one day – our fingers are tightly crossed!

Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
The Matrix trilogy

After two botched sequels, it’s easy to forget just how brilliant the first Matrix is. The Wachowskis cast the little-known Carrie-Anne Moss as their butt-kicking heroine Trinity, and she makes one heck of a foil for Keanu Reeves’s permanently perplexed Neo.

Zhang Ziyi as Jen Yu
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Ang Lee spun complex martial arts sequences into elegant ballets in his Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, casting Zhang Ziyi against seasoned stars Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh. The then-20-year-old wasn’t phased by the Asian megastars though, her mesmerising portrayal of governor’s daughter Jen Yu won her BAFTA and MTV Movie Awards nominations and led to Hollywood roles in Rush Hour 2 and Memoirs of a Geisha.

Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft
Tomb Raider

The Tomb Raider movies are hardly world beaters but they proved that Angelina had the chops to lead a big Hollywood action movie. Is there any other female A-lister right now who carries Jolie’s clout? The first Tomb Raider even co-starred future 007 Daniel Craig!

Honour Blackman as Pussy Galore
Goldfinger

Ursula Andress may have sent pulses rocketing when she emerged from the sea in Dr No, but it’s Honor Blackman as the cheekily monikered Pussy Galore who perhaps stands as the definitive Bond girl. An intellectual match for Sean Connery’s suave secret agent, here’s the first moment the pair meet in Goldfinger – “I must be dreaming!”

Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl
Kick-Ass

The most recent entry in the list, Hit Girl shot and swore her way through 2010′s comic book adaptation Kick-Ass. A startlingly confident turn from Chloe Moretz propelled her onto lead roles in Let Me In and Martin Scorsese’s Hugo Cabret, while Hit Girl is living on in her own spinoff comic book series.

Michelle Rodriguez as Diana Guzman
Girlfight

Director Karyn Kusama cast the green Michelle Rodriguez in her critically acclaimed drama Girlfight after seeing hundreds of young women audition. It was a canny move, as Rodriguez delivered a knockout performance as a troubled teen who focuses her rage into the boxing ring. The actress has since reprised her tough chick persona in the likes of The Fast and the Furious and Avatar.

-Weirdexistence.com

Coolest Men in Movies

The actors were all picked from modern movies and they all have one thing in common: they have played the coolest people on film. From cool to coolest.

Bruce Willis

Two words: Die Hard. For that reason alone German-born Bruce Willis takes top spot. However, Willis has starred in an enormous number of highly popular films such as Sin City, Lucky Number Slevin, The Sixth Sense, and The Fifth Element. Willis was married to Demi Moore for thirteen years. Bruce is the ninth highest grossing movie star of all time. He is known as a keen supporter of the US military and is has been very public in his belief of various conspiracy theories and political views. On April 29, 2007 during a live broadcast of a Nets home playoff game vs. the Toronto Raptors on TSN Willis caused a furore by quoting a catch phrase from his Die Hard films, “Yipee-ki-yay motherfucker”.

Vinnie Jones

Vinnie is the guy in front. Onscreen and off, Vinnie Jones takes no prisoners! Vinnie was born in Watford, London and is well known for his intimidating demeanour on screen. He has stared in films such as Lock, Stock and two smoking barrels, and Snatch. in 2006 he played Juggernaut in X Men: The Last Stand. Unfortunately Vinnie has had some difficulties with the law: in 2003 he was convicted of Air Rage and in 1998 was convicted of assaulting his neighbour. In 2005, he became president of the Hertfordshire Agricultural Society.

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Jackson makes this list for his character in Pulp Fiction. In the film he played Jules Winnfield. His character has some classic quotes such as: “Yolanda, I thought you said you were gonna be cool. Now when you yell at me, it makes me nervous. And when I get nervous, I get scared. And when motherfuckers get scared, that’s when motherfuckers accidentally get shot.” Jackson also appeared in two of the new Starwars films and a variety of other films in which he often plays a gangster. Jackson is bald in real life and usually wears wigs in films. He is an avid golfer.

Christian Bale

Christian Bale was born in Wales, Great Britain. He has an incredible cult status on the internet and in 2007 IMDB users voted him their favourite actor ages under 40. For his role in the Machinists, Bale lost sixty pounds (27 kilograms) taking his weight down to 120 lbs (54 kilograms). Bale is most well known for his roles in American Psycho and Batman Begins where his part saw the Batman Franchise take a turn toward a much darker side. The film was an enormous hit and he will reprise his role in 2008 in The Dark Knight. If he fulfils his contractual obligation to play the role for a third time, he will be the first actor to play Batman in three films.

Edward Norton

Edward Norton is on this list for two reasons: American History X, and Fight Club. For both of these films Norton went from a puny whiny actor to a buff muscleman. He exuded hatred in American History X (which has one of the most gruesome scenes in a modern film – think sidewalk and teeth) in which he played a white supremacist. In the fight club he plays the alter-ego of Brad Pitt’s character and lives with him in the abandoned house. Norton refuses to embrace his celebrity status and he contributes to many charitable organisations, both money and time.

John Travolta

John Travolta shot to fame with his dance moves and singing in the 1970s through films such as Grease and Saturday Night Fever. After a series of flops in the 80s (following his last hit film Urban Cowboy), Travolta’s career had a downturn. Fortunately, in the 90s he made a comeback with his role as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction (the reason he is on this list). He was nominated for an Academy Award and he returned to the A-list. The only unfortunate aspect of John Travolta which keeps him lower down the list than he could be, is that he is a Scientologist.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp is well known for a diverse range of films, from dark movies like From Hell, and Sleepy Hollow, to childrens films like the Pirates of the Carribean and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Depp is a very diverse actor who spends half of him time living in France and the other half in the United States. He part owns a restaurant in Paris with Sean Penn, John Malkovich, and Mick Hucknall. He also plays the guitar and is very good friends with Marilyn Manson.

Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt made it to this list because of one film: The Fight Club. Pitt plays an incredibly cool guy living in an abandoned house. In his spare time he makes soap from fat stolen from a liposuction clinic – so he can (ironically) sell the rich women their fat back. Another reason that Pitt is cool is that he is predicted to play the role of John Galt (the hero) in an upcoming trilogy of films aiming to bring Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged to the screen. His wife, Angelina Jolie is already signed to play the part of Dagny Taggart.

Jack Nicholson

70 yo Jack Nicholson is probably best known for his role in Stephen King’s The Shining in which he plays Jack Torrance, a writer who moves with his family to a hotel which is shut for the winter. While he is there he goes insane due to ghosts in the house. If you haven’t seen this film – you absolutely have to. It is one of the best thrillers ever made (probably because it is directed by Kubrick). Nicholson has been nominated for 12 Academy awards and has won three. He is considered to be one of the greatest actors of all time. It is alleged that he has had sex with over 2,000 women.

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan was born in Ireland. He first shot to fame playing Remington Steele in the television series of the same name. Before his contract on the show was up, he was offered the role of James Bond in an up and coming film, but he was unable to break his contract. The suave actor finally played the role of Bond in Goldeneye, and he played Bond for a further four films (the last being Die Another Day). In 2004, Brosnan was voted “Best Dressed Environmentalist”.

Unusual or Well Known Mad Scientists

Mad Scientists have been appearing in books and movies for generations. They generally follow the stereotype of the white coated, crooked toothed, white haired, white skinned maniac.

Dr Jekyll

In the photo above we see Dr Jekyll as his alter-ego Mr Hyde. Originally from the book the “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” by Robert Louis Stvenson, it is best known for its vivid portrayal of the psychopathology of a split personality; in mainstream culture the very phrase “Jekyll and Hyde” has come to signify wild or bipolar behavior. By taking a potion that he concocted, Dr Jekyll transforms himself in to Mr Hyde, a violent and murderous man.

Dr Frankenstein

Frankenstein becomes obsessed with the idea of creating life in inanimate matter through artificial means, dropping out of school to pursue this goal for the next two years. Assembling a humanoid creature perhaps by stitching together pieces of human corpses, perhaps by the use of a chemical, apparatus or a combination of both (he avoids the question three times when asked, though the fact that he noted lightning striking down a tree in his childhood is a prominent clue), Frankenstein successfully brings it to life only to be repulsed and terrified by its monstrous ugliness.

Dr Moreau

After being rescued and brought to an island, a man discovers that it’s inhabitants are experimental animals being turned into strange looking humans, all of it the work of a visionary doctor – Doctor Moreau. The original story is a book by H G Wells, but it has been turned into a film at least three times (once in 1933, once in 1977, and once in 1996)

Dr Strangelove

Dr. Strangelove serves as President Muffley’s scientific advisor in the War Room, presumably making use of prior expertise as a Nazi physicist: upon becoming an American citizen, he translated his German surname “Merkwürdigliebe” to the English equivalent. Twice in the film, he accidentally addresses the President as “Mein Führer.” The character is an amalgamation of RAND Corporation strategist Herman Kahn, Nazi SS officer-turned-NASA rocket scientist Wernher von Braun and “father of the hydrogen bomb” Edward Teller. The character was also compared to U.S. Secretary of State and controversial Nobel Peace Prize laureate Henry Kissinger.

Doc Brown

Emmett Lathrop “Doc” Brown is a fictional character, one of the lead characters in the Back to the Future motion picture trilogy, played by actor Christopher Lloyd in the three films and the live action sequences of the animated series. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta in the animated series. The character’s appearance and mannerisms are loosely inspired by Leopold Stokowski and Albert Einstein.

Dr Faustus

The origin of Faust’s name and persona remains unclear, though it is widely assumed to be based on the figure of German Dr. Johann Georg Faust (approximately 1480–1540), a dubious magician and alchemist probably from Knittlingen, Württemberg, who obtained a degree in divinity from Heidelberg University in 1509. Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend in which a medieval scholar makes a pact with the Devil.

Dr No

Dr. No is a brilliant scientist with an implied Napoleon complex, a self-described “unwanted child of a German missionary and a Chinese girl of a good family”. He later “became treasurer of the most powerful criminal society in China”, in this case, the Tongs. He then “escaped to America with $10,000,000″ of Tong gold bullion. He specialized in atomic energy, which cost him both of his hands, which were replaced with crude bionic ones that were made out of either iron or steel.

Dr Frank N Furter

Dr Frank N Furter is the “Sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania” – the star of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. He uses his scientific prowess to create a handsome young man to improve his love life. The film itself is a hilarious musical with all manner of strange goings on and bed swapping.

Dr Benway

Dr Benway is probably the most immoral of the mad scientists. He was created by William Burroughs and first appeared in the book Naked Lunch. He sinced turned up in many other books by Burroughs. He was also featured in the film of Naked Lunch by David Cronenberg. In the photo above we see Burroughs dressed as Benway . I believe this is from a short film excerpt he made of a scene from one of his books. He was used by the author to parody the medical profession and, perhaps, the misuses of science in general. More of a maverick surgical artist than a doctor, Benway lacks a conscience and is more interested in his performance (and his next fix) than his patients’ well-being.

Jet Li Top Movies

One of the most popular stars of Hong Kong martial arts films throughout the 90′s, charismatic wushu champion Jet Li was at one time considered the heir apparent to the original master, Bruce Lee. Bring it to present day, and his catalog of films have truely been inspirational. We kick off the list with a film that basically introduced him into American living rooms across the states:

Fearless

Fearless [directors cut] is inspired by the life of Huo Yuan Jia, real-life Chinese martial arts master. Jet Li plays this legendary figure, whose martial arts style and fearless fight helped the people in China regain their pride. Li also succeeds in bringing life and dignity into the character of Huo Yuan Jia. The fight scenes aren’t just ‘cool’ to look at. They demonstrate a realism which pays great attention to detail to the authenticity of actual martial arts styles and limitations. They depict characters dishing out and taking a lot of punishment, which was characteristic of practitioners of the Iron Fist, Iron Palm and Iron Body disciplines of Kung Fu. As you know, it is said that Fearless will be the last martial arts film for Jet Li. I don’t know if it is really true, but I know this is his best film and a fitting way for him to leave.

Fist of Legend

A lot of these Martial Arts flick aren’t great movies in the traditional sense. It’s the action scenes that elevate these movies from being enjoyable to greatness. While many of these movies are good when there are no action scenes, but in general that is what elevates them. Fist of Legend is one of the greatest Martial Arts movies and one of the all time great movies period. When there is no action the movie is still great and than on top of that we get some of the greatest fight scenes ever captured in film.

Once Upon a Time in China

The film which started one of the most famous and successful Hong Kong franchises of all time is one of the best of all the Wong Fei Hung films. One of the most ingenious fight scenes ever seen and probably the most intriguing, emotional and complex storyline of any Hong Kong Martial Arts film make Once Upon a Time in China enjoyable to almost any Martial Art fan.

The Warlords

The Warlords is an action epic set during an endless war in 19th century China. Jet Li opens the movie as a disgraced General Pang, who was betrayed and only survived a massacre of his troops by the cowardly act of playing dead. The cinematography is outstanding, the budget is huge, the directing brilliant and the war scenes brutal as can be. As for the battle scenes, it may well be the bloodiest I’ve seen so far in Hong Kong cinema. A great addition to Jet Li’s already impressive filmography.

Hero

Most people would expect Hero to be higher on the list, and I would agree for the most part. Unparalleled cinematography, great direction with colors so vibrant they jump off your screen and brilliantly staged. But presentation isn’t everything and unfortunately this film had to be ported over in a mainstream setting. It’s a shame and almost a dealbreaker for me that the original language is not in lossless audio and that the English dubwork isn’t very good for this film. If only more care was given to bring this film stateside. Otherwise it is a solid piece of cinema.

Danny The Dog

The fight scenes are not your typical martial arts kicking and punching. Danny breaks bones, breaks necks, rips people apart and the sound effects can be disturbing. If you love Jet Li and his incredible acrobatic martial art skills, then this one is for you. Being an English speaking picture they had to work around Jet’s limited English. The story however is perfect for that. Jet is a killing machine that has literally been raised like a dog by a cruel master who uses him to enforce his extortion racket as well as using him to fight in an illegal combat arena where victory only comes with your opponents death. Yes. Awesome.

The Enforcer

Although much of this movie was spent on character development and plot-setting, and that Jet Li’s fighting prowess was only a small percentage of the action sequences, I have to give this movie a high ranking. The storlyline was easy to digest and the choreography livens up the screen with genuine artistry. He’s supported by a strong cast including Anita Mui and Yu Wing Gong, and with Yuen Kwai at the helm, you expect quality.

The One

Trust me, I know The One gets a lot of hate and has started a pretty garbage duo of Jason Statham/Jet Li buddy films like War. But this movie has personally kick started my interested in Jet Li during the time of it’s release, and made my crush on Carla Gugino ignite even furthur. The slow-mo and fast paced action sequences were very cool. The movie has a somewhat involved plot that the filmakers rush too quickly through just to get to the action. I feel that Jet Li is a wonderful actor, and his english has improved with each American film that he has made.

Romeo Must Die

For those who like cross-culture, Romeo Must Die is for you! Jet Li, who was fresh from Lethal Weapon 4 really delivers in this action-packed movie. Following a jailed HK police officer named Han (Li) on his quest to learn the truth about his brother’s death. Upon arrival he meets up with Trish (Aaliyah), the love interest. The film is truly a mixed bag. the way it is shot and filmed is truly slick, with a smooth new-style camera and hip visuals.

Lethal Weapon 4

While Jackie Chan was porting over films like Rumble in the Bronx and Mr. Nice Guy, Jet Li was starring in blockbuster films to gain his domestic recognition. Jet Li is absolutely dynamic, and brings a real sense of menace to his character of Ku. For the first time, you get the feeling that Riggs and Murtaugh may be up against more than they can handle by themselves. As mentioned, this is Jet Li’s first American film and it’s no wonder he has become a success since. This film paved the way for his mainstream success and lands a nod at the start of the countdown.

Unbelievable Facts about Home Alone

The picture Kevin finds of Buzz’s girlfriend was actually a picture of a boy made up to look like a girl because the director thought it would be too cruel to make fun of a girl like that.

The role of Uncle Frank was written for Kelsey Grammer.

There is a legend that Elvis Presley (who died in 1977) made a cameo in the movie. Many of those who believe that Elvis is still alive maintain that, the heavily bearded man standing in the background of the scene where Mrs. MacCallister is shouting at the desk clerk (just before she meets John Candy) is Elvis.

The issue of Playboy that Kevin finds in Buzz’s room is from July 1989 with Erika Eleniak as Miss July.

The “evil furnace” in the basement was done by two guys with fishing line and flashlights.

Robert De Niro turned down the role of Harry.

Angels with Filthy Souls is a fictional gangster film and was made specifically for the film. There is also a sequel to the film, Angels with Even Filthier Souls, in the sequel.

The Talkboy was originally conceived as a non-working prop for Home Alone, used by Macaulay Culkin’s character. In 1993 it was made into a retail version, brought on by a massive letter-writing campaign by young fans of the film.

John Candy filmed his part in only 1 day, albeit an extremely long 23-hour day. The story about having once forgotten his son at a funeral home was entirely improvised. His part is obviously inspired by the character he played in Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

In the scene where Harry bites Kevin’s finger, Joe Pesci actually bit Macaulay Culkin, leaving a scar on his finger.

The concept for the movie originated during the filming of a scene in Uncle Buck when Macaulay Culkin interrogated a would-be-babysitter through a letterbox.

Daniel Stern agreed to have the tarantula put on his face for exactly one take. He had to mime screaming because the noise would have scared the spider, and the scream was dubbed in later.