Oh fuck you world. Fuck you. Things were going so well and you had to go and take Dennis Hopper from the world. Not cool, man. Not cool.
To this day, I believe Mr. Hopper to've been one of the greatest actors I had ever seen in a film. From Easy Rider to Blue Velvet, to Speed, the man was a frightening powerhouse of intensity.
And, like many my age, my first time seeing him was in the Super Mario Bros. movie.
As a kid, I loved this movie. I knew it was weird, and I knew it had nothing at all to really do with the games I loved, but, none the less I adored the movie. Admit it, there was nothing as unique or off the wall as this movie. Alternate dimensions with fungus people and dinosaurs evolved villains? Goombas as giant turtle men? Rocket boots, toy bombs? Electric cars? It was all so uniquely and terribly brilliant. Also, Fisher Stevens was in it.
But, among them all, Dennis Hopper, in a role that could've easily been phoned in, was at the top of his game. He brought a bizzare villainy to the role, that I would later see to be more slightly ripped off from his role in Blue Velvet, but I was hooked none the less. Later, I would see Speed, another so bad it's good movie, and Dennis was no less the insane intense villain.
Life would go on, I would see him in everything, Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Hoosiers, and Crash. Everywhere he went I was enthralled. I even liked Land of the Dead because of him, even though his appearance there was mostly phoned in.
I dunno. I was kinda down when Gary Coleman died, and kinda down when Corey Haim died, pretty bummed when Michael Jackson died, but none of them effected me like this.
Anyways, just though I'd get that off my chest.
Gonna go play the underrated
Deadly Creatures and watch some of his movies, and enjoy what he left behind.
EDIT: Now with Fire Coming out of a Monkey's Head. Forgive me for forgetting it the first time.
LOOK WHO CAME: