Playing the Bad Guy

With actor David Stahl currently appearing as the wicked Richard III and actor Katherine Catmull having recently played the evil Goneril in King Lear, the challenge of playing villains seemed a ripe topic to launch a series of artist-to-artist conversations on craft.

"...with two of our city's most accomplished actors discussing villainy onstage and how to play it. We hope to..."

Aug. 17, 2001 Arts Feature by Katherine Catmull

Amy Gentry Is All the Rage in Her Third Novel, Bad Habits

The Austin author talks anger, solidarity, and grad school villainy

"...AC: You've talked about the idea of villainy being a function of circumstance with Mac and I'm..."

April 30, 2021 Arts Feature by Rosalind Faires

Justice League

Another ho-hum entry to the DC Extended Universe

"...sensibilities fuse together fine – the swarming hordes of villainy and slo-mo fetish are patently Snyder, and the uptick..."

Nov. 17, 2017 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Whistleblower

The international crime of human sex trafficking is the subject of this melodramatic and often harrowing drama.

"...case of criminality unravels a scandalous skein of unconscionable villainy – most of which can’t be prosecuted because of..."

Aug. 19, 2011 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

N-Secure

In this indie drama about affluent urban professionals in Memphis, an abusive and obsessive man makes life complicated for the women in his life.

"...committed, paternity tests are scuttled, and so on. David’s villainy is almost comical in its extremity and completely unbelievable...."

Oct. 22, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Black Beauty

"...come to expect in modern motion pictures. Rather, the villainy here is thoughtlessness, a lack of consideration for a..."

July 29, 1994 Movie Review by Hollis Chacona

Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina

"...own size. It has all the requisite romance and villainy and songs, but it lacks enchantment, the very fiber..."

April 8, 1994 Movie Review by Hollis Chacona

The Hightower Report: Four Questions for the Former Boss of the Wells Fargo Gang

Some stories of corporate villainy make me throw up my hands in astonishment. But this one makes me literally throw up.

"...Some stories of corporate villainy make me throw up my hands in astonishment. But..."

Oct. 28, 2016 News Column by Jim Hightower

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

How Parallelogramophonograph survived Scotland and became a better improv troupe

"...Comedy, Jane Austen meets Raymond Chandler, Grimm's Fairy Tales, Villainy, and a nod to science-fiction films rooted in isolation..."

Dec. 30, 2011 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission

Latest anime outing for the heroes-in-training is loud but not much fun

"...would normally be ideally positioned to take on such villainy, but he's on the run with petty thief Rody..."

Oct. 29, 2021 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Swan Song

Meandering story of nearing death flies on Udo Kier’s wings

"...of a talent who’s often utilized for boisterous B-movie villainy. Stephens’ film, which is an unassuming, loving ode to..."

Aug. 13, 2021 Movie Review by Jenny Nulf

Rent-A-Pal

Who doesn't need a buddy? (Even if they're a tape.)

"...work and push the damaged protagonist into predictable delusional villainy when the tape finally stops rolling...."

Sept. 11, 2020 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Parasite

Bong Joon-ho heats up South Korea's cold class war

"...tearfully talks about bottoming out, of actions of heinous villainy that he justified through blaming the system. His character..."

Oct. 25, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Midsommar

Ari Aster’s folk-horror excursion to Scandinavia never sees the forest for the trees

"...suddenly erupting strand about academic theses) merely creates cardboard villainy. It’s another of those threads that unfurls a little..."

July 5, 2019 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

The Legend of Tarzan

This new take on Tarzan, with its CGI jungle animals, isn't half bad

"...Skarsgård’s finely sculpted abs, Robbie’s self-actualized womanhood, Waltz’s gold-standard villainy, and the historical introduction of George Washington Williams make..."

July 1, 2016 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Captain America: Civil War

It's a Marvel Universe, and we all just live in it

"...and not the heroes vs. an anonymous swarm of villainy so common to these movies. That lesson carries over..."

May 6, 2016 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Ambassador

With daring, gonzo filmmaking, this documentary film penetrates the blood-diamond trade in the Central African Republic.

"...dance with drunken pygmies, and consorts with scum and villainy of the most wretched kind. It's a damning portrait..."

Aug. 31, 2012 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Snow White and the Huntsman

Ambitious, brutish, and ruthlessly unromantic, this feminist reworking of the fairy tale has us under its spell.

"...that plays to modern-day cravings for a psychologically rich villainy, which Theron milks to sympathetic effect. Yep, she sucks..."

June 1, 2012 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Good, the Bad, the Weird

This rollicking South Korean film mines the traditional Western genre and infuses it with fresh, frequently hilarious life.

"...(Lee as the "bad," the very model of dashing villainy), and Do-won (Jung, in duster and breeches, as the..."

April 30, 2010 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Page Two: Praying for an Early Death

Louis Black sucks, and he makes SXSW suck

"...sometimes in positive ways but more often to evoke villainy and corruption. III..."

March 26, 2010 Column by Louis Black

Catch a Fire

Phillip Noyce explores the havoc and repercussions caused by white interlopers toward indigenous peoples in this straightforward account of real-life black South African activist Patrick Chamusso and the white Boer police agent, who hunts him.

"...a political activist in his own right, playing at villainy (see Arlington Road, Bob Roberts), but here he descends..."

Oct. 27, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Batman Begins

Batman Begins … and it's about time. The movie is great fun, and also a terrific relief.

"...minor corruption of officialdom to a major influx of villainy in the form of Cillian Murphy’s horrific Scarecrow, who..."

June 17, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Spider-Man 2

Even superheroes have to do their own laundry in Sam Raimi's truly spectacular vision that combines human pathos and breathtaking action.

"...it was about the series’ revolving door of cartoonish villainy. Here, aided and abetted immensely by a terrific script..."

July 2, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Torque

Rev your engines: The first bike movie of the year is here.

"...of a Dark brothers porn epic, and the cartoonish villainy going on behind the scenes is just one curled..."

Jan. 16, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Circuit

"...sex, and shorthanded characterizations. Katt's character tends toward skulking villainy (he spends much of the film poolside, in a..."

Aug. 23, 2002 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

The Talented Mr. Ripley

"...feral wit and pushing him to greater feats of villainy. Above all, however, it's Matt Damon's show. And in..."

Dec. 24, 1999 Movie Review by Russell Smith

The Borrowers

"...magical occasions, are lost in the tumult of slapstick villainy. John Goodman too often fills the screen, his Ocious..."

Feb. 13, 1998 Movie Review by Hollis Chacona

Sprung

"...find a bonding experience of their own in mutual villainy. This initial foray into romantic comedy by Cundieff, whose..."

May 30, 1997 Movie Review by Russell Smith

High School High

"...top administrator. As the school's principal, Louise Fletcher's hard-hearted villainy makes her old Nurse Ratched look like a perky..."

Nov. 8, 1996 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Dragonheart

"...mythic adventure film, full of cliff-hanging heroics and dog-kicking villainy, or a light-hearted genre spoof. In its attempt to..."

June 7, 1996 Movie Review by Joey O'Bryan

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