New York Magazine’s online Vulture squad — one hell of a pop culture crack-unit — is pretty much my Google Reader equivalent of the daily paper, and typically generates Top 10 lists to put the AV Club to shame. They served it up right today with “Ten Beloved Characters, Ten Ignoble Deaths,” compiling a bunch of lame-death/cool-character combos to honor The Wire’s latest undeserving victim. Donny from The Big Lebowski was an obvious choice (not to mention prelude to filmdom’s most awesome eulogy ever), and list-topper Jesus (from The Passion) a total f-ing cop-out, but damn if #9 ain’t the saddest demise in shark-movie history. When Deep Blue Sea’sSamuel L. Jackson first got it from behind, it sent my teen heart leaping straight back at the screen.
– Sloane
PS — The LA Times amused itself last week with an untimely but totally true career re-cap of the many hair stylings of y’all’s favorite Mr. Jackson. Never would the NY Times print such offbeat non-news, and thus has the LA Times indefinitely proved to me its far superior worth.
Not surprisingly, a documentary on the word has the highest ‘fuck’ count. It will also shock no one that 24 of the 53 are from 1990 and on, and 26 are from 2000 and on — mainstream’fuck’ acceptance is a modern trend. Only Scarface, Born on the Fourth of July and Eddie Murphy: Raw represent the 80s (and how). Also featured: Quentin Tarantino (19, 20, 27), Martin Scorsese (3, 10, 25), Kevin Smith (22) and The Dude (1998), not to mention Eminem (42), 50 Cent (50) and, of course, Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen (53).
1. Fuck (2005) – 824 2. Nil by Mouth (1997) – 428 3. Casino (1995) – 398 4. Alpha Dog (2007) – 367 5. Twin Town (1997) – 318 6. Summer of Sam (1999) - 315 7. Running Scared (2006) – 315 8. Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat (2002) – 311 9. Menace II Society (1993) – 300 10. Goodfellas (1990) – 300 11. Narc (2002) – 297 12. Harsh Times (2006) 296 13. Another Day in Paradise (1998) – 291 14. Made (2001) – 291 15. Dirty (2005) – 280 16. Jarhead (2005) – 278 17. Bully (2001) – 274 18. State Property 2 (2005) – 271 19. Reservoir Dogs (1992) – 269 20. Pulp Fiction (1994) – 265 21. The Big Lebowski (1998) – 260 22. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) – 248 23. Dead Presidents (1995) – 247 24. The Boondock Saints (1999) – 239 25. The Departed (2006) – 237 26. Empire (2002) – 236 27. True Romance (1993) – 234 28. State of Grace (1990) – 230 29. My Name Is Joe (1998) 230 30. Gridlock’d (1997) 227 31. The Devil’s Rejects (2005) – 224 32. Eddie Murphy Raw (1987) – 223 33. Suicide Kings (1997) – 222 34. Black and White (1999) – 215 35. American History X (1998) – 214 36. The Original Kings of Comedy (2000) 213 37. Layer Cake (2005) 210 38. Scarface (1983) 207 39. Spun (2002) 203 40. A Bronx Tale (1993) 200 41. Foolish (1999) 200 42. 8 Mile (2002) 200 43. DysFunktional Family (2003) 200 44. I Got the Hook Up (1998) 197 45. Born on the Fourth of July (1989) – 196 46. Overnight (2003) – 191 47. Magnolia (1999) – 190 48. Monster (2003) – 187 49. Hustle and Flow (2005) – 186 50. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005) 185 51. Formula 51 (2001) – 180 52. Flawless (1999) – 178 53. Superbad (2007) – 176
