Reviews by Kyle Ellis

Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1998)

Creators: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Performer: Jeff Bridges

Defining moment: Throughout, The Dude is striving to return to his habitual state of rest but fails. Driving his beat-up Torino home in a rare moment of contentment, supping a beer, taking a toke and singing along to Creedence on the eight-track, he spots he’s being trailed. This latest assault on his embattled karma causes him in quick succession to flick his joint into his lap, squeal like a girl, pour beer on his trousers, and slam the Torino into a row of dustbins. Rattled but unhurt, his drugstore Ray-Bans — an excellent bellwether for The Dude’s equilibrium — are left comically askew.

Fascinating fact: With the exception of his dream, you never actually see The Dude bowl.

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Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] trilogy (1972-1990)

Creator: Mario Puzo

Performer: Al Pacino

Defining moment: Watch him steeling himself to kill Sollozzo and Capt. McCluskey in the restaurant – a journey to the dark side begins.

Fascinating fact: Michael Corleone is a bit-part player in Puzo’s novel The Sicilian.

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Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] trilogy (1985-1990)

Creators: Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale

Performer: Michael J. Fox

Defining moment: After belting out Johnny B. Goode: “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet, but your kids are gonna love it.”

Fascinating fact: As Calvin Klein was relatively unknown in Europe at the time, Marty is mistaken for Levi Strauss and Pierre Cardin in some Euro versions.

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Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] series (2003–)

Creators: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio

Performer: Johnny Depp

Defining moment: His panicked cry of, “But why is the rum gone?” on learning that fellow castaway Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) has created a rum-fuelled beacon to attract rescue.

Fascinating fact: Elliott and Rossio designed Cap’n Jack in the spirit of characters in classic literature and opera like Figaro; the comic, puckish counterpoint to the film’s heroes.

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Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] trilogy (2001-2003)

Creator: J. R. R. Tolkien

Performer: Viggo Mortensen

Defining moment: Going to meet the Uruk-hai atop Parth Galen to allow Frodo time to escape. It’s the first time Aragorn embraces his destiny as a leader.

Fascinating fact: Mortensen patched up his own costume while filming and, when he lost a tooth in an orc-based squabble, he simply had it glued back in.

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Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] (2004), [Link removed - login to see] (2013)

Creators: Will Ferrell, Adam McKay

Performer: Will Ferrell

Defining moment: Having failed to convince Veronica (Christina Applegate) that San Diego means “whale’s vagina”, Ron says, “Agree to disagree” – displaying his particular mix of arrogance and idiocy.

Fascinating fact: Ferrell could have been a newsman himself – he even did an internship at a local TV station.

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Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1942)

Creators: Murray Burnett and Joan Alison (play, Everybody Comes To Rick’s); Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch

Performer: Humphrey Bogart

Defining moment: His curt nod to the bandleader to strike up La Marseillaise and drown out the Nazis. A tiny but pivotal gesture – Rick has joined The Cause.

Fascinating fact: Brazzaville, a mercifully unrealised Casablanca sequel, revealed that Rick was an undercover US agent all along.

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Appearances: The [Link removed - login to see] trilogy (1985-1990), A Million Ways To Die In The West (2014)

Creators: Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale

Performer: Christopher Lloyd

Defining moment: His apology for the “crudeness” of his ridiculously detailed scale model of Hill Valley.

Fascinating fact: In the Back To The Future animated TV series (1991), Doc was voiced by Dan Castellaneta, aka Homer Simpson.

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Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1976)

Creator: Paul Schrader

Performer: Robert De Niro

Defining moment: Bickle kindly gives his date a Kris Kristofferson album she already owns; then takes her out to a porn film.

Fascinating fact: One of Schrader’s inspirations for Bickle was Harry Chapin’s song Taxi.

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