All Hail
July 9, 2001 11:31 AM Subscribe
All Hail Christopher Walken. He has given us some of the most out-there/bocephus movie performances, he has become patron saint of the cowbell, and he has done freaky dances in our favorite music videos. I propose we raise a toast to the man, the myth, the legend, the Walken.
From Annie Hall:
Duane (Walken): Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist,I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving... on the road at night... I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The... flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.
Alvy(Woody Allen): Right. Well, I have to-- I have to go now, Duane, because I, I'm due back on the planet Earth.
posted by machaus at 12:18 PM on July 9, 2001 [2 favorites]
Duane (Walken): Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist,I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving... on the road at night... I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The... flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.
Alvy(Woody Allen): Right. Well, I have to-- I have to go now, Duane, because I, I'm due back on the planet Earth.
posted by machaus at 12:18 PM on July 9, 2001 [2 favorites]
Lest it be overlooked, there's also Walken's very special relationship with hot dogs. "When we filmed The Dead Zone, I ate over 800 hot dogs a day. It was necessary."
posted by Gilbert at 12:30 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by Gilbert at 12:30 PM on July 9, 2001
My all-time favorite search engine referrer for my page is "hot pics of christoper walken."
posted by chrisege at 12:34 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by chrisege at 12:34 PM on July 9, 2001
Machaus - that may be my most favorite movie scene ever.
A close second is the scene where Duane agrees to drive alvy and his wife to the airport that night. The pan over to Woody Allen's face in the car is priceless.
posted by lawtalkinguy at 12:48 PM on July 9, 2001 [2 favorites]
A close second is the scene where Duane agrees to drive alvy and his wife to the airport that night. The pan over to Woody Allen's face in the car is priceless.
posted by lawtalkinguy at 12:48 PM on July 9, 2001 [2 favorites]
From True Romance, (Walken to Dennis Hopper):
"...I want you to tell the angels in Heaven that you have never seen evil so singularly personified as you did in the face of the man who killed you."
I freakin' love that guy....
posted by Optamystic at 1:03 PM on July 9, 2001
"...I want you to tell the angels in Heaven that you have never seen evil so singularly personified as you did in the face of the man who killed you."
I freakin' love that guy....
posted by Optamystic at 1:03 PM on July 9, 2001
Don't scare me like this anymore timo...when I saw this post I thought he had passed away!
posted by brucec at 1:18 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by brucec at 1:18 PM on July 9, 2001
I timothompson, of sound mind and body, swear on the Oprah's Book of the Month, that I shall never, ever, ever, post a Metafilter RIP Thread™! And you can take that to the bank.
Sorry for the confusion though...
posted by timothompson at 1:36 PM on July 9, 2001
Sorry for the confusion though...
posted by timothompson at 1:36 PM on July 9, 2001
Walken's appearances on Saturday Night Live are always memorable. The one on 10/24/92 is one of my favorite SNL episodes with sketches like Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic and Walken singing an ode to VD. They created the perfect material for him. And of course there's The Continental.
posted by girlhacker at 1:41 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by girlhacker at 1:41 PM on July 9, 2001
I really really dug that SNL sketch with him answering the door to the census taker....where he estimates the number of people living in his apartment at around a thousand, and then turns out to be two...him and his wife, who is a bobcat. He was also, of course, counting the plants as people.
My other favorite Walken role is the sheer Over-The-Top-ness of Prophecy. "In Hell...You get to eat all the ice cream you want..." "You know why you have that little dent on your upper lip? Because before you were born I put my finger there and said 'Shh!'". Strangely, Prophecy is one of the only movies where he was out-overacted, albeit briefly, by that rather strange individual that played Satan.
Last one, Jay Mohr's Christopher Walken-as-meteorologist impression:
"Could snow...dunno"
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:53 PM on July 9, 2001
My other favorite Walken role is the sheer Over-The-Top-ness of Prophecy. "In Hell...You get to eat all the ice cream you want..." "You know why you have that little dent on your upper lip? Because before you were born I put my finger there and said 'Shh!'". Strangely, Prophecy is one of the only movies where he was out-overacted, albeit briefly, by that rather strange individual that played Satan.
Last one, Jay Mohr's Christopher Walken-as-meteorologist impression:
"Could snow...dunno"
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:53 PM on July 9, 2001
Yes, that SNL census skit was funny, but damn! Walken could have learned his freakin' lines! He never once looked at Tim Meadows, his eyes were constantly over Tim's shoulder on the cue cards. I was surprised he wasn't moving his lips to Tim's lines so he could be ready for his next cue. It was funny and embarrassing.
posted by starvingartist at 1:56 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by starvingartist at 1:56 PM on July 9, 2001
Oh and I love the part in Communion where he is doing that fully whacko bit where he's dressed as a magician in the alien spacecraft. "I am the dreamer...you are the dream."
I still kind of get the willies thinking about that little alien head leaning around the side of the wardrobe. "You know, I can see you there..."
Since I know you are all so terribly interested in my take on somewhat laughable Whitley Streiber stories made into films, I have to say I kind of like that movie in that it is so...odd. It almost seemed like they were making fun of themselves. And it had terrible terrible Eric Clapton music in it. Sorry to *ahem* probe the subject so deeply.
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:07 PM on July 9, 2001
I still kind of get the willies thinking about that little alien head leaning around the side of the wardrobe. "You know, I can see you there..."
Since I know you are all so terribly interested in my take on somewhat laughable Whitley Streiber stories made into films, I have to say I kind of like that movie in that it is so...odd. It almost seemed like they were making fun of themselves. And it had terrible terrible Eric Clapton music in it. Sorry to *ahem* probe the subject so deeply.
posted by Kafkaesque at 2:07 PM on July 9, 2001
There is also the great SNL sketch where Kevin Spacey plays Christopher Walken trying out for the Hans Solo part in Star Wars. (link)
"I'm Captain of.. the Millenium.. Falcon. Chewie here.. tells me.. you're looking for passage.. to the.. alderaan system."
That is one of my favorites, and this brought it to mind, even though Christopher Walker isn't actually in it.
posted by eau at 2:12 PM on July 9, 2001
"I'm Captain of.. the Millenium.. Falcon. Chewie here.. tells me.. you're looking for passage.. to the.. alderaan system."
That is one of my favorites, and this brought it to mind, even though Christopher Walker isn't actually in it.
posted by eau at 2:12 PM on July 9, 2001
Girlhacker: thanks for that link. That SNL sketch is one of my favorites
Comfort of Strangers, that film which takes place in Venice, is also very bizarre/good
posted by ParisParamus at 2:21 PM on July 9, 2001
Comfort of Strangers, that film which takes place in Venice, is also very bizarre/good
posted by ParisParamus at 2:21 PM on July 9, 2001
Was it just me, or did anybody else think Walken's casting as the Hessian in Sleepy Hollow was pure genius? I mean, the savings on make-up alone!
posted by J. R. Hughto at 2:43 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by J. R. Hughto at 2:43 PM on July 9, 2001
I was looking up info for America's Sweethearts because I (heart) John Cusack and noticed that Walken is also in the cast list. I don't know much more about the movie beyond what is in IMDB and the trailer. But with Walken, Cusack and Seth Green, I'll be keeping an eye on it (oh, there are those two whatstheirnames female leads too :-).
posted by girlhacker at 3:11 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by girlhacker at 3:11 PM on July 9, 2001
Christopher Walken rules... I nearly fell out of my seat when I first saw him in a music video. (warning: realmedia) For someone who looks so stiff- that man can really move...
posted by lpqboy at 5:30 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by lpqboy at 5:30 PM on July 9, 2001
"Weapon of Choice" isn't Walken's first turn in a music video. True Fans (tm) will recall his role as Madonna's semi-guardian angel in the beautifully filmed clip for "Bad Girl." Walken kicks much butt.
posted by Dreama at 5:45 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by Dreama at 5:45 PM on July 9, 2001
I think he was a professional dancer; there's even a film in which he dances (which I haven't seen but heard him talk about on the Actor's Studio on Bravo).
posted by ParisParamus at 6:20 PM on July 9, 2001
posted by ParisParamus at 6:20 PM on July 9, 2001
Don't forget Walken's great performances in the films of Abel Ferrara:
King of New York
The Addiction
The Funeral
New Rose Hotel
posted by Rebis at 8:10 PM on July 9, 2001
King of New York
The Addiction
The Funeral
New Rose Hotel
posted by Rebis at 8:10 PM on July 9, 2001
Amen to Christopher and his wonderful acting skills. Go see him as the totally random Captain Koons in Pulp Fiction! Bring the kids!
"After the war was over, he paid a visit to your grandmother, his Dad's gold watch. This watch. This watch was on your Daddy's wrist when he was shot down over Hanoi. He was captured and put in a Vietnamese prison camp. Now he knew if the gooks ever saw the watch it's be confiscated. The way your Daddy looked at it, that watch was your birthright. And he'd be damned if and slopeheads were gonna put their greasy yella hands on his boy's birthright. So he hid it in the one place he knew he could hide somethin'. His ass."
posted by GirlFriday at 8:26 PM on July 9, 2001
"After the war was over, he paid a visit to your grandmother, his Dad's gold watch. This watch. This watch was on your Daddy's wrist when he was shot down over Hanoi. He was captured and put in a Vietnamese prison camp. Now he knew if the gooks ever saw the watch it's be confiscated. The way your Daddy looked at it, that watch was your birthright. And he'd be damned if and slopeheads were gonna put their greasy yella hands on his boy's birthright. So he hid it in the one place he knew he could hide somethin'. His ass."
posted by GirlFriday at 8:26 PM on July 9, 2001
As I posted much, much earlier when we were talking about our
summer movie choices & our birthdays, CW & I share the same birthday
(March 31) & yes, we do have that ironic, yet wacky Aries humor in common!
BTW, please, link lightly; I too thought the worst (he had passed on!)
when I first read the link. Thank goodness, it's not true.
posted by Lynsey at 6:19 PM on July 10, 2001
summer movie choices & our birthdays, CW & I share the same birthday
(March 31) & yes, we do have that ironic, yet wacky Aries humor in common!
BTW, please, link lightly; I too thought the worst (he had passed on!)
when I first read the link. Thank goodness, it's not true.
posted by Lynsey at 6:19 PM on July 10, 2001
I have an ironic, wacky sense of humor too, yet i'm a sagitarius. how can this be?
posted by jpoulos at 8:35 PM on July 10, 2001
posted by jpoulos at 8:35 PM on July 10, 2001
BTW (always late to a thread, me) that Spacey as Walken as Han Solo SNL bit that eau mentioned was streamable from ifilm recently - probably still there somewhere. Comedy gold.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:06 PM on July 11, 2001
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:06 PM on July 11, 2001
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posted by davidmsc at 11:35 AM on July 9, 2001