Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2015 February 18

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

February 18

Who is this lady ?

she was interviewed in X Rated The Greatest Adult Movies of All Time 39.42.225.246 (talk) 14:22, 18 February 2015 (UTC) http://i.imgur.com/zEoZ3zQ.png

The link is to an image of a fully clothed woman, so don't fear to click :) I did a reverse image search on google images and couldn't find anything easily. Actually, this image appears to be posted nowhere else. Did you post it to imgur OP? If anyone else tries to search by image, be warned that the results of the search may well be not safe for work or otherwise offensive. SemanticMantis (talk) 15:32, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

This is screenshot from documentary's trailer39.42.225.246 (talk) 17:25, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Jacky St. James (identified with title card in the movie at 0:15:01) 80.189.74.55 (talk) 17:43, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Wherein the villain wins

I was wondering the other day - are there any films where the villain of the piece actually wins and/or the hero loses. To avoid confusion, no suggestions which then have sequels where the villain does after all lose; nothing historical; and no films (such as Megamind or similar) where the villain becomes a hero. I couldn't think of any off the top of my head, and I suppose it's not unreasonable for cinema to have a pro-goodies stance, but surely there must be one... -mattbuck (Talk) 23:16, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Oodles. For instance, do you like fava beans? Clarityfiend (talk) 23:20, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Do Repo Men and Glory count? Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 29 Shevat 5775 23:22, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

There are lots of lists out there. Just search for "movies where the bad guy wins", e.g. IMDb. Clarityfiend (talk) 23:23, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

[1] -- Finlay McWalterᚠTalk 23:29, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

One of my faves is The Villain (1979 film). Much of the film is a send up of the Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner cartoons. So, in the end, not only does Cactus Jack (Kirk Douglas) get the girl and (by inference) Wile E. finally beats the Road Runner at his own game. MarnetteD|Talk 23:59, 18 February 2015 (UTC)

Off the top of my head, Se7en, No Country For Old Men, Brazil, The Vanishing.... Tevildo (talk) 01:12, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

The Usual Suspects (that Keyser Söze is a hard one to catch). StuRat (talk) 01:17, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Then we have all those horror film series with a dozen sequels, like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger not only don't die, it seems they can't die. StuRat (talk) 01:45, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith has two layers with regard to this question. Not only do the Sith win in the end in the film itself, but Lucas managed to make the film in the first place. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 30 Shevat 5775 01:50, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

But doesn't that have sequel(s) where the bad guys ultimately lose ? StuRat (talk) 02:01, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

We're just talking about the one film though, and even though they seem to win in the end of the Original Trilogy, the no-longer canon EU and the new Sequel Triology tell a different story. Also, I was going to whale you for referring to the sacred Original Trilogy as a sequel to that pitiful excuse for a film, but a trout will suffice as you have since removed the original blasphemous statement. Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie | ^{Say Shalom!} 1 Adar 5775 00:27, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

If the bad guy overcomes the good guy's adversity and danger using courage and self-sacrifice, for what he considers the greater good, wouldn't that make him the real hero? If so, no villain wins. If not, sometimes. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:09, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Body Heat is another one. And, by necessity, any version of The Alamo. Someone mentioned the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Determining who the bad guy is in that series is not as obvious as one might think. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:47, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

From the antagonist's perspective, the villain usually does win. Ian.thomson (talk) 02:59, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

It's also hard to tell whether this Cactus Jack is good, bad or a tweener, and whether wrestling morality plays ever end. You can still trace the plot back to the days of actual film. Maybe a connection between the "The Three Faces of Foley" (or "The Man of a Thousand Masks") and "The Hero with a Thousand Faces". George Lucas likes that book, that much is certain. InedibleHulk (talk) 03:45, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Seriously, what kind of hero does this to a guy? InedibleHulk (talk) 03:54, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Here's an interesting perspective on the Coyote vs Roadrunner feud. Hard to not feel sorry for the guy. InedibleHulk (talk) 04:02, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Funny Games. ---Sluzzelin talk 04:09, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

TV instead of film, but Alfred Hitchcock Presents often had the bad guy (or gal) win, usually a murderer. However, the Production Code at the time required that the bad guy be punished, so he would toss in some half-hearted explanation of how the bad guy ended up being punished, in his closing monologue.

Moving back to film, The Bad Seed also added a half-hearted punishment at the end (bad girl struck by lightning), for the same reason. StuRat (talk) 05:08, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

The original Ocean's 11; its remake Ocean's Eleven along with sequels Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. And going back a ways, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, and Escape from Alcatraz.    → Michael J Ⓣ Ⓒ Ⓜ 07:56, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

The Sting is kind of a special case. You've got "bad" guys (grifters) vs. "worse" guys (murderers). And that reminds me of a lesser-known but well-done Walter Matthau film called Charley Varrick, about some guys who rob a bank only to discover that what they stole was "mob money". Oops. And even more obscure, a Charles Bronson film called The Family, or something like that, in which Bronson is a bad guy who gets hit by a worse guy, but takes posthumous revenge. (Although they're both dead, so that doesn't quite fit the scenario.) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:34, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

The heroes in Dirty Work fight treachery with underhandedness. They win in the end, no sequel. Also maybe cinema's finest half-assed epilogue: "Oh, and Dr. Farthing. He got over his gambling problem, but the bookies beat him to death anyway. So, he's dead. That's it. Bye!" InedibleHulk (talk) 08:24, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Baseball Bugs I am think the Bronson film you are referring to is The Mechanic (1972 film). I think his character lives at the end of The Family, though it has been something like 40 years since I saw it so I could be wrong. MarnetteD|Talk 23:46, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

You're right, it was The Mechanic I was thinking of. And likewise it's been decades. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:17, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

The Last Seduction —Tamfang (talk) 08:33, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Not a film, but the original House of Cards (UK TV series) is really great. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:19, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

If we're including TV shows, can't forget Game of Thrones. Sometimes the good guys win, but as of the last episode, the Great Other is ahead on points. Though George R.R. Martin is another who thinks villains are just heroes of the other side. InedibleHulk (talk) 22:50, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Nightcrawler (film) was pretty good. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:22, 20 February 2015 (UTC)