Movie Clowns of Note
I haven’t been feeling very well at the moment. So, let’s make this short and simple. The theme of this week’s Monday Movie Meme is: Under the Big Top.
Share on your blog, or in the comments section, movies featuring clowns. It would also help to share how the clown or clowns that are depicted in the films you list fit into the story. Here are my two (yes, two! That’s all I could come up with) selections for this week’s Under the Big Top meme.
It
Based on a Stephen King novel, this made-for-television movie is about a group of outcasts who try to save the children of their town from being murdered by a monstrous clown. I’ve watched the movie one too many times, thanks to it being favored by one of my family members and I know it’s a horror film -- but it has seemed to be quite funny at times.
Warner Bros. currently appears to be moving forward with a big-screen adaptation of King's novel, that could be released in two parts, with Cary Fukunaga directing.
Capturing the Friedmans
Andrew Jarecki’s documentary film features video clips of David Friedman when he worked as a clown who performed at children’s birthday parties. What began as an effort to highlight party entertainers, however, became a look into the professional clown’s family after his father was convicted of child molestation.
What kind of clowns have YOU noticed in movies?
Reader Comments (7)
I haven't seen either of those, so thanks for more recommendations. I'm building quite the list from the MMM - loving it!
http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.com/
My Clowns
I'm not big on clowns. Nothing against them...just never my thing. The one movie I can think of is Spawn where John Leguizamo played the short, pudgy clown meant to be a pretty worthless guide to the resurrected spawn sent back to Earth. He was good for some laughs and a lot of farts, from what I could remember.
Argh! Beaten to the punch by Angela. Was going to mention Spawn as well....*plus* it just came out on blu-ray. Awesomely bad movie. One of my favorites of the 90's before anyone really knew how to make superhero flicks.
Other movies with clowns in 'em that comes to mind:
-Killer Klowns From Outer Space
-House Of 1000 Corpses: (this movie turned me into an instant Sid Haig fan!)
-The Dark Knight (with Heath Ledger)
-Quick Change (with Bill Murray)
"It" would have been my first choice, though. Classic Tim Curry, and outside of TRHPS it's what he's best known for (oh, can't forget that he was in Legend as well....)
Tina,
There's nothing like a full movie rental list to keep us entertained during rainy days or cold winter months :)
I'm surprised that you haven't seen the Stephen King one but am not surprised that you didn't see Andrew Jarecki's movie.
Angela Brown,
The way you feel about clowns is the same way I feel about wearing lots of makeup. Spawn is a great choice for this week's meme and I totally forgot about that movie even though I think I saw it in the theater when it came out. My recollection of the film is so vague that I thought Wesley Snipes was in it until I googled it and noticed that it's the guy from Why Did I Get Married? -- woah! LOL
Herman,
I can't believe that Spawn never even crossed my mind for clowns in film...good thing we have a community of people who think of films that may have been left out on each other's lists. As the saying goes, two...minds are better than one (or something like that?). The Dark Knight has one of the most fashionable clowns in film history if you ask me :)
Killer Clowns from Outer Space is a newbie for me and Houses of 1000 Corpses creeped me out too much to give it a shot, lol, but I've just passed up Quick Change despite being familiar with it for some time. Maybe I'll change that.
I think IT was the epitome of Coulrophobia (fear of clowns).
Maurice,
You may be on to something there! Strangely enough, I kinda liked that movie...after watching it more times than I desired. It was sort of funny to me and didn't incite any Coulrophobia in me but I can see how it would for men, women, teenagers and/or kids who are already on edge with regards to clowns.
Sorry I missed this one since it deals with a realm that I can appreciate. But I'll still add a couple.
Though I think it may have originally been made as a TV documentary/commentary, I'll mention Fellini's Clowns as a big favorite. It's a wonderful look at the history of clowns and their relevance in today's world. Weird, but wonderful.
So many more, but I'll stop there.
Lee
Tossing It Out