Film - Michael Keaton Top 10

Steve Taylor-Bryant has been unwell and so has been watching films and thinking. Normally we don't encourage him thinking, but on this occasion he delivered his Michael Keaton top 10 so we can't complain...

There are quite a few actors out there that just seem to pop up in everything and anything. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, an actor has bills to pay and it certainly stops someone getting pigeon holed into one particular role, but it doesn't lead to the global acclaim some might get if they were more picky about the projects they signed up for. Gary Oldman is a top actor but won't ever get a George Clooney pay check, Liam Neeson is quite adept at varying roles but will never be spoken of in the same breath as Brad Pitt and then we come to today's subject... Michael Keaton. I've always enjoyed watching Keaton as much as he's always looked like he's enjoying being on screen. He is inventive, has an anarchic streak, handles dialogue like a pro, can contort his face to carry off both comedic and serious expression and has been in some brilliant films. Strangely though, and this brings me back to my point above about not being considered as an equal amongst his peers, he's never won an Oscar, only nominated once, and seems to be only remembered for a caped crusader, a bio-exorcist, or for his roles now he has matured age wise, he's not even equal enough to use his real name! (Apparently the "other" Michael Douglas gets first dibs)

Keaton is a favourite in my film collection. He may not always make the most successful films but God loves a trier and you can't knock Keaton's commitment to any role he takes on. With some really exciting roles on the horizon, particularly Beetlejuice 2 and American Assassin, I thought it was time to spread my love of Keaton so here now are my ten essential films.

Johnny Dangerously 

Times were good in America. There was plenty of everything: jobs, security, laughs. America was in great shape, except for the President, William Howard Taft. Was HE a porker. At 310 lbs. he weighed as much as Teddy Roosevelt and half of William McKinley. Immigrants poured into the country from all over the world looking for a better life for their children. And over 97% of them settled into a two-block area of New York City.

The Paper

What do you think I'm trying to do?. Look, I got news for you. I'm not locked up in the men's room with a cop because it's a good time. Frankly, I've had better times, okay? I'm here because I think the story is wrong. Is it? Is it? If you have something, give it to me now, but don't stand there and act coy and say "Fuck you", because, quite frankly, it's a waste of all of our time. And you know what? I don't have any more time. I have no more fucking time. I need it fucking today, I need it right now!

White Noise

You were outside my house and now you're outside my office, so do me a favor, don't insult my intelligence by telling me it's some sort of coincidence.

Jack Frost

Three balls, two sticks, one corked nose. Snowman? No. Much, much more. I am the Wizard of Blizzard! Hahahahahaha! Now run you little mountain goats!

Batman

You wanna get nuts? Come on! Let's get nuts!

Pacific Heights

They're lying. These people are completely pathological. They took a 1/2 year's rent from me, and they said I never paid them. They evicted me, they slandered me, they totally destroyed my credit. They physically assaulted me. They threatened my life. And now this. These people are parasites. Florence.

Beetlejuice

Ah. Well... I attended Juilliard... I'm a graduate of the Harvard business school. I travel quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague and had a pretty good time during that. I've seen the EXORCIST ABOUT A HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SEVEN TIMES, AND IT KEEPS GETTING FUNNIER EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT... NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO A DEAD GUY... NOW WHAT DO YOU THINK? You think I'm qualified?

Desperate Measures

Yeah well I need a blowjob and a Martini. Looks like we're both gonna have to wait.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

It's important to me! Alright? Maybe not to you, or your cynical friends whose only ambition is to go viral. But to me... To me... this is - God. This is my career, this is my chance to do some work that actually means something.

Spotlight

We got two stories here: a story about degenerate clergy, and a story about a bunch of lawyers turning child abuse into a cottage industry. Which story do you want us to write? Because we're writing one of them.

Images/quotes - IMDb.