Reviews by Kyle Ellis

Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] (2003), [Link removed - login to see] (2004)

Creator: Quentin Tarantino

Performer: Uma Thurman

Defining moment: Beatrix Kiddo’s drastic rationalising of the Crazy 88 during the slay-full House Of Blue Leaves showdown.

Fascinating fact: Uma Thurman ran over a chicken during the movie’s shoot.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (2007)

Creators: Paul Thomas Anderson, Upton Sinclair

Performer: Daniel Day-Lewis

Defining moment: “We offer you the bond of family that very few oilmen can understand…” claims Plainview, luring dumbfounded landowners to his cause with Molotov sincerity. A monologue doubly astounding given that Day-Lewis improvised most of it.

Fascinating fact: Plainview’s mansion in the film is, in fact, Greystone Mansion in LA, the home of Edward Doheny Jr., son of the real oil baron upon whom Plainview was partly based.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (2000)

Creator: Bret Easton Ellis

Performer: Christian Bale

Defining moment: Patrick Bateman’s soliloquy on the genius of Huey Lewis, followed by his iconic Hip To Be Square flat-ricide.

Fascinating fact: In retrospect, Bret Easton Ellis felt that making Bateman a rabid Huey Lewis fan was unfair. The musician didn’t much mind, even doing his own Funny Or Die spoof.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1994)

Creator: Winston Groom

Performer: Tom Hanks

Defining moment: When he asks Jenny if their son is “normal”; it’s a moment that shows a tragic awareness of his own limitations.

Fascinating fact: In the book, Forrest is more of a savant, and gets top marks in advanced physics at college.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] (1981), [Link removed - login to see] (1996)

Creator: John Carpenter

Performer: Kurt Russell

Defining moment: On being asked if he’s going to kill Lee Van Cleef’s character: “I’m too tired, maybe later.”

Fascinating fact: Production company Avco Embassy Pictures preferred Charles Bronson or Tommy Lee Jones for the role rather than Russell, who was better known for his recent Disney comedies.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] and [Link removed - login to see] trilogies (2001-2014)

Creator: J. R. R. Tolkien

Performer: Ian McKellen

Defining moment: In a small but perfect grace note from the Council Of Elrond, as the first to hear Frodo’s offer to take the One Ring all the way to Mount Doom, a ripple of sadness crosses Gandalf’s face. It is the heartbreaking recognition of what his meddling will cost.

Fascinating fact: McKellen openly professed that he preferred playing Gandalf The Grey to Gandalf The White.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearances: [Link removed - login to see] (1984), [Link removed - login to see] (1989)

Creators: Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis

Performer: Bill Murray

Defining moment: Giving two students an ESP test, happily electric-shocking the obnoxious sophomore guy while flirting with the girl. Poor science, but liquid Venkman.

Fascinating fact: According to the Ghostbusters novelisation, he was born in a circus tent at King City Attractions in Sedalia, Missouri.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearance: [Link removed - login to see] (1994)

Creator: Quentin Tarantino

Performer: Samuel L. Jackson

Defining moment: A brutal choice, with Tim Roth reaching for his wallet a very close second place (“It’s the one that says Bad Motherfucker.”), but the winner has to be quoting Ezekiel 25:17 before blowing away Brett (Frank Whaley). Righteous fury.

Fascinating fact: The quote isn’t actually, largely, from the Bible but from the 1976 Sonny Chiba action pic The Bodyguard.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

Appearances: The [Link removed - login to see] series (1976-2015)

Creator: Sylvester Stallone

Performer: Sylvester Stallone

Defining moment: “Down! Stay down!” Battered to the canvas by Apollo Creed, the easy thing for Rocky would be to do just that. But up the Italian Stallion climbs. Creed’s look of disbelief, mingled with respect, is glorious.

Fascinating fact: Stallone wouldn’t sell his script unless producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff let him star.

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]

[Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see] [Link removed - login to see]