Thursday, March 25, 2010

TTT: Top Ten Characters of the Aughts

Tuesday Thursday Top Ten

Remember almost exactly a year ago when I did that impossible list of Favorite Film Characters of All Time? At the time I excluded anybody from the Aughts on account of they were still so new and we'd get to them later. Well, it's later. Here's a quick rundown which I may expand for another project later. These are the newish characters from the last decade in film that are (arguably) the ones I think about the most. I cherish them... it's not a list of best written or best performances or best whatever. It's a list of characters that frequently hop into my brain. They've bought condos in my brain real estate. Though obviously if you asked me on a different day...

Not that you asked me today.

10 Favorite(ish) Movie Characters of the Aughts
  • Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain "Jack, I swear"
  • Lalit Verma in Monsoon Wedding (Loving dads in cinema really get to me. I'm sure armchair therapists will love that)
  • Clementine in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind "I'm just a fucked up girl trying to find some peace of mind"
  • Eleanor Fine in Far From Heaven "Cathy... I'm your best friend"
  • Tom Stall in A History of Violence (I've brought pompoms to this post...just in case)
  • Satine in Moulin Rouge! "wilting flower, bright and bubbly or smoldering temptress?"


  • Poppy in Happy-Go-Lucky (my hero!)
  • Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream (At least once a week I find myself thinking about Sara thinking about that red dress. And that's no exaggeration)
  • Vivian and Brad Markowski in I ♥ Huckabees "Have you ever transcended space and time?"
  • Elle Driver (aka California Mountain Snake) in Kill Bill, Vol. I and Kill Bill, Vol. 2
  • Mr Chow in In the Mood For Love and 2046 (who leaves behind a cloud of cigarette smoke to punctuate this list)
Oops. That's 12.

Tony Leung Chiu Wai in In the Mood For Love

Did these characters sink way down deep into your soul? Or are the newish fictional men/women/creatures that are never far from your thoughts quite a different dozen?
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