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This was inspired by the Minor Characters That Are Brilliant thread. The original poster said this doesn't include cameos so I thought I'd start one for them. Often celebrity cameos from movies and tv are dull and only serve to show the audience that celebrity. However, sometimes they can be truly great. One of my favorites is Alice Cooper in Wayne's World.
Wayne Campbell: So, do you come to Milwaukee often? Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century. Pete: Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name? Alice Cooper: Yes, Pete, it is. In fact , it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land." Wayne Campbell: I was not aware of that. Alice Cooper: (something about Milwaukee electing socialist mayors) Wayne Campbell: Does this guy know how to party or what?!
It's actually one of my favorite parts of the movie and makes up for the extemely short (a few seconds) and basically pointless cameo of Stan Mikita.
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Love that one! ETA: (Referring to the Alice Cooper appearance.) Kinda goofy, but I always liked this scene from "The Great Muppet Caper":
Peter Ustinov plays a truck driver whose truck is hijacked by Miss Piggy. She throws him from the cab, and he lands in an alley by some garbage cans. Out pops Oscar the Grouch.
Peter Ustinov: What are you doing here?
Oscar: A very brief cameo!
Peter Ustinov: (Sighs, looks directly at camera.) Huh. Me too.
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"Damn you, Chuck Norris!" from Dodgeball. Brilliant.
Bruce Springsteen in High Fidelity. Xavier McDaniel in Singles made the theatre practically explode when he delivered his punchline. Minnie Driver in Goldeneye. Robert Patrick in Wayne's World. Jim Garrison playing his nemesis Earl Warren in JFK.
HSSenior mentioned Zoolander; that movie is just chock full of them. Billy Zane's is my favorite. His delivery of the line "It's a walk-off, people." slays me every time.
Should we set limits on how long a person can be onscreen before the line is crossed between "cameo" and "small role?" To me, a cameo is basically a walk-on with maybe a line or two, and to be most effective should be somewhat in-jokey and self-referential, like Hitchcock's appearance in (almost) all his own films. Martin Scorsese pops up in most of his own movies as well. In Taxi Driver he's a crazy racist passenger in the back of the cab for one scene, that would be a legitimate role, whereas in After Hours he's "man with spotlight" which would just be a cameo.
Is there a record for the fastest cameo? In A Kid From Tibet, Jackie Chan can be seen onscreen for literally less than two seconds, crossing the frame wearing a bright shirt.
Max "Dammit! Another thread where my nerdiness is spinning out of control!" Renn
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"Look, she sounds cool. But I have to tell you guys something. I'm not one of those singers who appear in movies. I made it this far without doing it."
quote:Originally posted by Max_Renn: "Damn you, Chuck Norris!" from Dodgeball. Brilliant.
Bruce Springsteen in High Fidelity. Xavier McDaniel in Singles made the theatre practically explode when he delivered his punchline. Minnie Driver in Goldeneye. Robert Patrick in Wayne's World. Jim Garrison playing his nemesis Earl Warren in JFK.
HSSenior mentioned Zoolander; that movie is just chock full of them. Billy Zane's is my favorite. His delivery of the line "It's a walk-off, people." slays me every time.
Should we set limits on how long a person can be onscreen before the line is crossed between "cameo" and "small role?" To me, a cameo is basically a walk-on with maybe a line or two, and to be most effective should be somewhat in-jokey and self-referential, like Hitchcock's appearance in (almost) all his own films. Martin Scorsese pops up in most of his own movies as well. In Taxi Driver he's a crazy racist passenger in the back of the cab for one scene, that would be a legitimate role, whereas in After Hours he's "man with spotlight" which would just be a cameo.
Is there a record for the fastest cameo? In A Kid From Tibet, Jackie Chan can be seen onscreen for literally less than two seconds, crossing the frame wearing a bright shirt.
Max "Dammit! Another thread where my nerdiness is spinning out of control!" Renn
oh! I forgot about Springsteen in High Fedelity! And I also liked David Decovony in Zoolander. Know who else was in Singles? Tim Burton! I got so damn happy when I saw him.
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Charlton Heston in Wayne's World 2, as the good actor. I particularly love how he gets his own uniform with his name on it.
...Family Guy cameos are generally a given, but I have to put one with the cast of Murphy Brown towards the top.
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Oh man, how could you talk about Dodgeball and not mention Lance Armstrong?!
Peter La Fleur: Uh, actually I decided to quit... Lance.
Lance Armstrong: Quit? You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I'm sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying of that's keeping you from the finals?
Peter La Fleur: Right now it feels a little bit like... shame.
Lance Armstrong: Well, I guess if a person never quit when the going got tough, they wouldn't anything to regret for the rest of their life. Well good luck to you Peter. I'm sure this decision won't haunt you forever.
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Peter Jackson managed to get in front of the Camera in all the Lord Of The Rings films.
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Back to Zoolander I love Vince Vaughn as one of Zoolander's brothers. I don't think he even says anything, the fun lies in realising its him under all the soot and dirt.
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Joe Bentley
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Definition TV
posted
Seconding Charlton Heston in Wayne's World 2.
I agree that Family Guy had a lot of funny cameos, with Patrick Stewert's, Jonathan Frank's, and Michael Dorn's reprising their roles from Star Trek: The Next Generation being the best.
quote:Picard: "Number One." Riker: "Yes, captain?" Picard: "Let me ask you something. If I whispered in your ear that Commander Worf's head looks like a fanny, would you join me in a laugh?" Riker: "Yeah, I could get in on that." Picard: "All right, here it comes: Commander Worf's head looks like a fanny!" Crew: "Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha..." Worf: "You can both suck my ridges!" Picard: "Oh, get a sense of humor, Rocky Dennis!"
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quote:Originally posted by Joe Bentley: I agree that Family Guy had a lot of funny cameos, with Patrick Stewert's, Jonathan Frank's, and Michael Dorn's reprising their roles from Star Trek: The Next Generation being the best.
*counts the seconds before the first trekkie rags on you for getting one of the names wrong*
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Unfortuantely in the UK many of the cameos are wasted, especially in comedy films where a sports star or TV commentator appears and we have no idea who they are (in some of them half of the credits are people as themselves)
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quote:Originally posted by Mycroft: Unfortuantely in the UK many of the cameos are wasted, especially in comedy films where a sports star or TV commentator appears and we have no idea who they are (in some of them half of the credits are people as themselves)
I'll also add that a lot of cameos in British TV (and, I assume, movies) done for comedic effect are lost on North American audiences who don't know all the British celebrities. I watch a lot of British TV on DVD (working my way through season one of Spooks now, it's bloody brilliant) and am lost at some of the references. The episodes of Coupling featuring Mariella Frostrup in cameos as herself are just as funny as the rest of the series, but I'm sure there's a joke or two going over my head as I have no idea who she is.
Max "I've got too many legs!" Renn
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The original Dr Who had a few over the years, & a lot "as themselves" in the new series.
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quote:Originally posted by Richard1978: The original Dr Who had a few over the years, & a lot "as themselves" in the new series.
Catherine Tate at the end of Season 2 went soaring over my head. I couldn't figure out why everybody was so crazy over one actress. I guess cultural relevance plays a big part in the value of a cameo.
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Definitely have to mention Shirley MacLaine in Defending Your Life! One of my favorite movies of all time, and she plays the "MC" at the amusement park where you see who you were in a past life. Very funny cameo, and so appropriate.
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Hitchcock in "Lifeboat". Very clever...Can't be in the boat full of survivors of a U Boat attack. Put yourself in a newspaper ad that one of them is reading.
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My favourite tv cameo was David Copperfield in Scrubs
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Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche in Coming to America, reprising their roles as Randolph and Mortimer Duke from Trading Places. Oh, so comical and so unexpected.
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Dan Aykroyd in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom. Wordless, but there's a second of "Hey...isn't that...?"
John Landis' inexplicable trademark is to cast other directors in cameos in his films. It may have started with Spielberg as the clerk in The Blues Brothers but pretty much every movie Landis has made since then has had directors doing walk-ons. Into The Night is in fact probably better known for its parade of director walk-ons than anything notable in the script (although it's apparently where David Cronenberg met Jeff Goldblum before casting him in The Fly. Cronenberg also showed up in The Stupids along with fellow Torontonian Atom Egoyan, of all people.
Some other Landis films and their director cameos (not a comprehensive list, only a sampling): Spies Like Us: Sam Raimi, Coen brothers, Terry Gilliam, Costas-Gavras, Ray Harryhausen Innocent Blood: Sam Raimi (again), Tom Savini, Dario Argento Beverly Hills Cop 3: John Singleton, George Lucas (!), Barbet Schroeder, Martha Coolidge, Joe Dante.
Max "(trying to think of a Twilight Zone joke that doesn't cross taste boundaries and coming up short)" Renn
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Howard Cosell and Don Dunphy playing themselves in Bananas.
"Wide World of Sports is in the republic of San Marcos where we are going to bring you a live on the spot assassination. They're going to kill the president of this lovely Latin American country and replace him with a military dictatorship."
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quote:Originally posted by Norton II: Howard Cosell and Don Dunphy playing themselves in Bananas.
"Wide World of Sports is in the republic of San Marcos where we are going to bring you a live on the spot assassination. They're going to kill the president of this lovely Latin American country and replace him with a military dictatorship."
That's brilliant! And while we're on the subject of Woody Allen movies, what can possibly top Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall?
Max "It's obvious you know nothing of my work." Renn
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Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston in The Iron Giant, and again in The Incredibles.
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There's a few "just standing in the background" cameos in the bar scene in SWII:Attack Of The Clones. Ahmed Best, Anthony Daniels & George Lucas's daughter are 3 I can remember, there might be more.
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