Top 10 Film Cameos

Top 10 Film Cameo Appearances.

SPOILER ALERT!

This week we’re counting down the top 10 film cameo appearances.

Firstly, a couple of notable mentions who didn’t make the list:

• ·         Alfred Hitchcock who appeared in 39 of his 52 films.
• ·         David Bowie as the judge of the walk off between Derek and Hans in Zoolander.
• ·         Martin Scorcese in Taxi Driver.
• ·         Nearly everybody in the Anchorman films.

10. Peter Jackson – Hot Fuzz

The Cameo: To tell the truth there were many cameos to choose from Edgar Wright’s back catalogue of films but there’s no doubt our favourite is the fleeting appearance of Kiwi Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson who, in a blink and you’ll miss it moment, is seen stabbing Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) in the hand, dressed as Father Christmas.

The Best Moment: That maniacal face.

9. Hugh Jackman – X-Men: First Class

The Cameo: The younger portrayals of Charles Xavier/Professor X (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr/Magnetor (Michael Fassbender) are scouring the mutant world looking for recruitments where they come across a rather surly (obviously) Wolverine in a dive bar who hastily tells them where to go.

The Best Moment: Wolverine’s honestly blunt response to the pairs offer.

8. Spike Milligan and George Harrison – Monty Python’s Life of Brian

The Cameos: OK, this is technically two different cameos but we couldn’t bear to leave these two out. Firstly Milligan, who, after inspiring the initial Python work, just happened to be in Tunisia at the time of filming. He crops up as part of the crown following Brian whilst being abandoned as he is praising the ‘Messiah.’ Harrison on the other hand is well known for providing financial support to the Pythons in order to get the film made (and he was in a band or something) but he crops up in another crowd scene appearing as Mr Papadopoulos with one simple line.

The Best Moment: The clearly scouse ‘Hello’ from Harrison.

7. Charlton Heston – Wayne’s World 2

The Cameo: At the climax of the film when Wayne (Mike Myers) is on his way to gate-crash the wedding of Casandra he stops at a gas station to ask for directions, cue an unknown actor describing his memories of a woman who used to live on the same street. Wayne then breaks fourth wall to ask for another actor to bring a bit of class to the scene. Cue a quick change in cast and Charlton Heston whisked in to recount the tale.  

The Best Moment: Wayne’s tearful ‘Thank you’ after Heston finishes his lines.

6. Totoro – Toy Story 3

The Cameo: Although financially Disney has always dominated the box office when it comes to Animation, however critics are divided as to whether the title of king of cartoon belongs to Disney or Japanese rivals Studio Ghibli. However it is a lovely touch by Disney for one of the toys helping Woody to find his way back to Andy is none other than Totoro himself.

The Best Moment: Well he doesn’t really do much but just him being around is pleasant enough for us really.

5. Stan Lee – Every Marvel film ever made.

The Cameos: There’s far too many to choose from, needless to say however it has almost become a convention of all Marvel films now to have Mr Lee appear in some capacity whether its judging a contest or denying the existence of superheroes in New York altogether.

The Best Moment: Being mistaken for Hugh Hefner by Tony Stark.

4. Bruce Campbell – Spiderman 2/Spiderman 3

The Cameos: Raimi regular Campbell reunited with his Evil Dead director in two great appeareances in his Spiderman trilogy. The first as a snooty doorman at the theatre in which Mary Jane is performing and secondly as a French maître d’ (not dissimilar from the Mr Creosote sketch). Not only is it a wonderfully nostalgic hark back to Raimi’s roots as a horror director, but it’s also funny as hell too.

The Best Moment: His outrageous French accent and his pronouncing of ‘Parker’.

3. Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder

The Cameo: I defy anyone to admit that they recognised the pint—sized scientologist in the role of Les Grossman therefore it was a genuinely pleasant shock to see his name appear in the end credits of Ben Stiller’s nitro charged action comedy as a horrifically foul mothed movie executive with an attitude that is probably all too realistic. It was a role that was so shrouded in secrecy that anybody found to have published photographs were given a ‘cease or desist’ order. A spin off film has been in the pipelines for some time, and we’d all love to see that happen!

The Best Moment: It’s a toss-up between the telephone rant with the Vietnam based kidnappers and the infamous dancing to Usher.

2. Christopher Lloyd/Doctor Emmet ‘Doc’ Brown – A Million Ways to Die in the West

The Cameo: This came very close to the top spot just for the sheer ridiculousness and joy of it. Set in the Wild West, Albert (Seth MacFarlane) spots a strange light emitting from one of the barns. He opens the door to find an incredibly shifty looking Doc Brown quickly hiding a Delorean shaped object under a cloth.  

The Best Moment: ‘What’s that?’ asks a curious Albert. ‘A weather experiment’ replies Doc. Cue a lovely wink to the camera.

1.       Bill Murray – Zombieland

The Cameo: The quartet of survivors of the zombie apocalypse head into one of the many mansions of Beverly Hills in order to hide out from the mayhem. The mansion they choose is home to none other than Bill Murray who has donned full zombie makeup in order to camouflage himself from the hordes of the undead swarming the planet. However it conspires that maybe pretending to be a zombie for a joke to scare Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg) may not have been his brightest idea.

The Best Moment: ‘Any regrets Mr Murray?’ asks Little Rock to which Murray replies ‘Garfield.’ Absolute genius!

And the worst…

Keith Richards – Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End

It was always going to happen from the moment Johnny Depp claimed his performance of Jack Sparrow was based on Richard’s mannerisms.

It’s just cringe-worthy.

Then he starts playing the guitar, of course he does.