What is it with Christopher Walken?

Cafe Society
#1

Ok, maybe I’m not cool or “in the know”, but what is it about Christopher Walken? I hear someone mention his name at least once a day. Fark even has a “Walken” category. I don’t understand the popularity of this guy. To me (and like I said, I’m not cool, or in-the-know) he’s not that great of an actor, and I find him very vaguely creepy.

I totally see Christopher Walken as a burned-out pothead version of William Shatner. :smiley:

So, what is it? What do you think of him? Because I’m just trying to figure out what makes him so special, and nothing makes sense to me.

#2

I think the thing about him is that he’s not that great of an actor and he’s vaguely creepy. See, you DO get it!

#3

The impression I have is that he’s popular with independent filmmakers because he’ll do anything for a few dollars.

#4

And not so independant film-makers, too. He was in The Country Bears for Disney.

#5

I think he’s a great actor (at least part of the time). He was wonderful in The Deer Hunter, and he was really scary in that one with Christian Slater, Brad Pitt, and Patricia Arquette (with the awesome shootout at the end…what was the name of that?).

#6

I still remember him from Who Am I This Time? with Susan Sarandon. Damn, that was good. He was funny.

#7

I saw him on Saturday Night Live a couple weeks ago…my, my, my, that was some bucket of creepiness. He played a homicidal contestant on a ‘prank show’ a la Candid Camera. Also, a very ‘touchy feely’ robe-wearing lover trying to seduce the camera. He also did a song and dance number, I don’t remember what the song was about - I was too busy watching him attempt to tapdance. Overall, I was thoroughly creeped out, although, there’s just SOMETHING about him that makes it OK. huh.

#8

The thing I can’t stand about him is when he does appear on SNL. I’ve seen him host a couple of times now, and he is easily the worst host I’ve ever seen. I know they only have a week or less to learn their lines, but hell, even John McCain seems to get to know them reasonably well. Creepypher Walken just stares as the cue card guy and reads his lines like he’s a Grade 7 kid in a school pageant. So, the list now stands at: poor actor, creepy, and…well, I guess we’ve got “poor actor” again.

Hmm…didn’t add much to the discussion, did I?

#9

The only time I wasn’t completely creeped out by him was when he did the number in that neat-O Moby video.
I think it was Moby. Maybe it was that other bald white guy.

There he was only a little creepy.

#10

True Romance. Great dialogue between him and Dennis Hopper.

#11

Anyone seen the Star Wars casting videos with Kevin Spacey pretending to be Christopher Walken trying out for the part of Han Solo… Funny as heck!

#12

I think it’s his insatiable desire for more cowbell that keeps me coming back for more.

#13

Nope, another guy - Fatboy Slim, Weapon of Choice.

I will never forget the day that my girlfriend yelled from the living room: “Hon, come here! Christopher Walken is on VH1. He’s dancing in a music video… OH MY GOD, HE’S DOING THE POCKET DANCE!”

#14

I did see Jay Mohr do a funny impression of him on ‘Comics Come Home’. He seemed to understand the creepy factor as well.

#15

THANK YOU, Banger! I’ll be able to sleep tonight! I love that movie.

#16

If he wants to be really creepy he can be. I thought he was at his coolest in God’s Army (for some reason renamed in The Prophecy along the ways of distribution).

He’s probably a little whacked out in real life. When God’s Army came out, my then-boyfriend read to me an article out of Fangoria magazine (sorry, no cite) that said Christopher Walken kept telling everybody he knew when they were going to die but wouldn’t disclose that information right now…

I however have to agree that some of his roles coughCountryBearscough cover a different area of “creepy” alltogether.

#17

I think what it is about Christopher Walken is:

CREEPY + UGLY = GOOD & WEIRD (Thorton, Buscemi)

CREEPY + UGLY + HAM = STILL PRETTY GOOD (Deniro, Pacino)

SHAKESPEAREAN TRAINED = GOOD BUT EH (Patrick Stewart)

But

SHAKESPEAREAN TRAINED + CREEPY + UGLY + HAM = GREAT

Hope that helped. :slight_smile:

#18

He’s kinda like a one of those husk thingys you get stuck in your teeth while eating popcorn. Kinda irritating and draws your attention to it till you can get it unstuck, but it sure doesn’t slow your popcorn eating down, now does it?

I would just like to add that “The Deer Hunter” sucked major wad.

Fagjunk Theology: Not just for sodomite propagandists anymore.

#19

I love Chris Walken. LoveloveLOVE him.

Yep, it’s the creepy thing, I think. The first time I saw him I was unimpressed. Then I caught At Close Range, and oh, my. That did it. That’s Chris Walken at his best…well, second best, maybe, because he was perfect for the Dead Zone, too.

He’s a little weird. But in a yummy way, y’know?

(Sorry, I get embarrassingly overwrought about you-know-who. I’ll try to contain myself in the future.)

#20

Christopher Walken completely rocks my world.