Fade In, Scene One, Cue the Devil

So, I’m watching “Runaway Jury” starring Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and other well-known actors on Sunday night and there is a scene where John Cusak’s character buys candles at a Voodoo shop in New Orleans -- and for some reason, that had some sort of influence on the creation of this week’s Monday Movie Meme theme: Members of the Underworld.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring demons or related occupants of Hell. Yes, I know it’s a dark subject but sometimes, everything isn’t all sun and roses. Here are my selections for this week’s Members of the Underworld meme.

The Golden Child

It’s probably hard to believe that this is a comedy but Eddie Murphy plays a social worker who is chosen to protect a young boy who possesses supernatural powers. Why does the boy need protection? Well, a vicious man who is actually a demon, wants to destroy the child.

Little Nicky

In another comedy, Adam Sandler plays an evil guy who is sent to earth to help his father Satan sustain life and control over Hell. I’ve only watched this movie once because I thought it was dumb.

The Devil’s Advocate

It’s not often that I opt to watch horror films, but hey, how can anyone pass up an Al Pacino flick?! So, Keanu Reeves plays a lawyer who wins cases even if his clients are guilty. Long story short -- a whole lot of weird crap starts happening after he joins a law firm where his boss, played by Pacino, is Satan. The sad thing is, that isn’t the only revelation for Keanu Reeves’ character but I’m not going to tell any of you who haven’t watched this movie -- you’ll just have to find out by checking it out!

Just like “Little Nicky,” I’ve watched “The Devil’s Advocate” only once but unlike the former film, I didn’t come away from the latter movie too disappointed. Instead, I just thought it was one weird, crazy motion picture!

What films have YOU watched that feature members of hell?

Movie Clowns of Note

I haven’t been feeling very well at the moment. So, let’s make this short and simple. The theme of this week’s Monday Movie Meme is: Under the Big Top.

Share on your blog, or in the comments section, movies featuring clowns. It would also help to share how the clown or clowns that are depicted in the films you list fit into the story. Here are my two (yes, two! That’s all I could come up with) selections for this week’s Under the Big Top meme.

It
Based on a Stephen King novel, this made-for-television movie is about a group of outcasts who try to save the children of their town from being murdered by a monstrous clown. I’ve watched the movie one too many times, thanks to it being favored by one of my family members and I know it’s a horror film -- but it has seemed to be quite funny at times.

Warner Bros. currently appears to be moving forward with a big-screen adaptation of King's novel, that could be released in two parts, with Cary Fukunaga directing.

Capturing the Friedmans

Andrew Jarecki’s documentary film features video clips of David Friedman when he worked as a clown who performed at children’s birthday parties. What began as an effort to highlight party entertainers, however, became a look into the professional clown’s family after his father was convicted of child molestation.

What kind of clowns have YOU noticed in movies?

Film Characters in Disguise

The summer of 2012 is shaping up to be quite a hit for Hollywood with all of the superhero (such as “The Amazing Spiderman”), action (like “Total Recall”), animated ( including “Brave” and “Ice Age: Continental Drift”) and comedy (such as “Ted”) films playing in theaters. I finally got around to watching “The Dark Knight” this past weekend and now feel prepared to check out “The Dark Knight Rises” when it’s released.

So, this week’s Monday Movie Meme topic is inspired by the man who leads a double life -- working as a philanthropist by day and a fighting vigilante saving lives with tricked out costumes and fancy automobiles at night: Take off your little mask!

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring characters who wear a mask either intentionally or not. Their mask does not have to be worn during the entire movie but should be noticeable enough to be of some relevance to the lives of these movie characters. Face paint does not count. They must have the option of removing their masks. Here are my selections for this week’s Take off your little mask! meme.

Kingdom of Heaven

In this 2005 action film directed by Ridley Scott, Edward Norton plays King Baldwin of Jerusalem and he wears a gold mask to hide his disfigurement.

The mask is later removed momentarily by his sister Sibylla and although it’s obvious that the cover became part of his identity, all I could think about while watching this movie was “Isn’t he hot under there?!” -- I mean, they’re in the Middle East, for crying out loud and King Balwin’s mask in this film looked heavy as all get-out AND it was silver. SILVER! Since he was a ruler, I could understand if it was real but damn, can a man get some ventilation up in there? I’m just sayin’.

The Strangers

I love me some Liv Tyler and have no objections to getting a view of cute ol’ Ben from “Felicity” but the characters that they play are annoying as a couple. Still, you want to root for them to make it through a horrific evening surrounded by three weird ass masked intruders -- gotta respect the strange trio’s attention to detail in the styles of their porcelain and colorful disguises tho’.

Baghead

Mass hysteria and chaos emerge in this independent film by the Duplass brothers, when a masked person in-question terrorizes a group of actors who are trying to make a movie. Although the mask is efficiently economical and easily accessible, I honestly don’t even know if this particular film counts as a “masked character” movie since an entire paper bag is used.

My guess is that the mask could easily be considered a hood -- which opens the Monday Movie Meme topic up to a lot of possibilities. The paper bag CAN, however, be removed by the unknown subject or any of the other main characters so it could work as a mark. Shucks! Is it a mask or a hood?

Honorable Mention: Man in the Iron Mask starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s not a main selection for this week’s Monday Movie Meme because I already talked about it in the context of mask-wearing during the 2012 A to Z Challenge.

What movies have YOU seen featuring people who wear a mask?