Best Cameos?

[Derek237]

http://www.premiere.com/features/3677/the-20-coolest-cameos.html

Well, after reading the above article, I started to think about what myfavourite cameos are. So, guys, what are some of the best cameos ever?

I would say one of the greatest cameos ever is Bob Saget in Half Baked. There's something so funny about hearing the once-America's favourite dad say that he "sucked dick for coke."


Other good ones, besides ones mentioned in the article:

Conan O'Brien in Vanilla Sky

Willem Dafoe in The Aviator

Will Ferell in Wedding Crashers (single-handedly saves the llagging ast act of the movie, IMO)

Steve Buscemi in Art School Confidential

Neil Patrick Harris in Hard and Kumar go to White Castle



Grr, I know I'm leaving out some good ones, so post yours.

[Badbird]

George Lucas was in Beverly Hills Cop 3???

And the David Hasselhoff thing for Spongebob was given away in the trailers and TV spots, so couldn't it have been that great? I don't know. Maybe.

Bruce Willis and Julia Roberts in The Player wasn't really a cameo... I mean, it was a movie about Hollywood. They were making a movie and playing themselves.

I agree with Ardold Schwarzenegger in The Rundown, but I think his line was "good luck," not "have fun."

And Austin Powers 3... great cameos.

Some more:

Everyone in Last Action Hero (Robert Patrick, Sharon Stone, MC Hammer, Danny Divito, etc.)

Robert Patrick (again) in Wayne's World.

Kevin Smith in Daredevil.

Danny Glover in Mavrick.

[Monotreme]

I really can't think of anything else outside of that really quite comprehensive list right there, except maybe Patrick Stewart in Men in Tights, parodying Sean Connery's cameo in Prince of Thieves.

[Buck Turgidson]

Jesus Christ...where is Sam Jackson in Out Of Sight? That's a natural. So is Nicholson in Broadcast News.

Among people being themselves, I've always liked Natalie Wood in The Candidate, (she's playing herself, meeting Redford's character at a party. He's totally star struck, and this would be cool enough at that, but add to the fact that they were real life friends and had worked in a couple of films together, and it got even funnier.) I would also mention the spellbinding appearance by Nelson Mandela at the end of Malcolm X.

[powersauce]

"The Boss" in High Fidelity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZE7OchG3DY)

An honorable mention to Bowie's Zoolander cameo as well. :cool:

[Le_Big_Mac]

Robert Patrick in Wayne's World

Steve Buscemi in Pulp Fiction

Alfred Hitchcock in North by Northwest, The Birds and Rear Window

Robert Duvall in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Kevin McCarthy in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Kenneth Tobey in Innerspace

Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall

Truman Capote in Annie Hall

[DrJellyfingers]

that's a good list.

i always liked Harvey Keitel in Get Shorty

[Buck Turgidson]

Robert Duvall's one scene in Sling Blade was great.

[ilovemovies]

I agree with:

The Austin Power Goldmember cameos


I KIND OF agree with Dustin Hoffman in The Holiday

Will Smith in Jersey Girl was cool.

Sean Connery was fine in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Ditto for Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Rundown


They also have Christopher Walken in Gigli, but while I actually liked that movie, Walken's scene was horrible. A much better cameo in that movie was Al Pacino's.


Not on the list:


Danny Glover in Maverick (probably my all time favorite cameo)

Martin Sheen in Hot Shots! Part Duex

James Cameron & Martin Scorsese in The Muse


That's all I can think of for now. But I should be back later with more.

[Gordon]

SPOILERS FOR GRINDHOUSE!!!



As of now I'm guessing Nicholas Cage in Grindhouse definitely falls in this category.

[Monotreme]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Robert Duvall's one scene in Sling Blade was great.
Well, this falls under a different category in my opinion, which is "best one-scene performances in a movie". Because his appearance in Sling Blade is certainly not a cameo. Other performances that fall into this category are: Harvey Keitel and Christopher Walken in "Pulp Fiction", Donald Sutherland in "JFK", and just a whole bunch of other actors who have only appeared in one scene in a certain movie.

Also, how could I have forgotten Martin Sheen in Hot Shots! Part Deux. Best. Cameo. Ever.

[Derek237]

Originally posted by Gordon
As of now I'm guessing Nicholas Cage in Grindhouse definitely falls in this category.

Fuck yourself.

[Danger^Cart]

I don't have any that haven't already been mentioned at this juncture, but I'd just like to say how fucking AGGRAVATING that godamn article was. Who's idea was it to use random stills, instead of the cameo appearance? How little fucking sense does that make?

FUCK YOU, PREMIERE!

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by Monotreme
Well, this falls under a different category in my opinion, which is "best one-scene performances in a movie". Because his appearance in Sling Blade is certainly not a cameo. Define what constitutes a cameo, then. Does it have to be an example of the actor essentially winking at the audience? (Like Kevin McCarthy in the Invasion remake or Peck and Mitchum being in Marty's take on Cape Fear.) Do they have to be playing themselves? What's the deal?

Duvall made this appearance as a favor to Thornton. His presence wasn't billed or at least a major selling point. I'm hard pressed to see how it isn't a cameo, at least as I've always understood the term.

[bigred760]

I'll give them the Austin Powers cameos, but the rest I don't think were all that memorable.

I'll take this list instead:

http://joblo.com/index.php?id=7872

[Badbird]

Originally posted by Monotreme

Also, how could I have forgotten Martin Sheen in Hot Shots! Part Deux. Best. Cameo. Ever.

I loved you in Wall Street!

[Monotreme]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Define what constitutes a cameo, then. Does it have to be an example of the actor essentially winking at the audience? (Like Kevin McCarthy in the Invasion remake or Peck and Mitchum being in Marty's take on Cape Fear.) Do they have to be playing themselves? What's the deal?

Duvall made this appearance as a favor to Thornton. His presence wasn't billed or at least a major selling point. I'm hard pressed to see how it isn't a cameo, at least as I've always understood the term.
Well, a cameo is usually, as you said, an actor essentially winking at the audience. Almost all of the examples in this thread don't even really feature any acting at all, such as the "I loved you in Wall Street!" example. Robert Duvall's appearance in Sling Blade is a real performance, and a damn fine one at that (I agree with you, definitely).

[RandalGraves]

NPH in Harold and Kumar
Ben Stiller in Anchorman
Chuck Norris, Lance Armstrong in Dodgeball
Pam Anderson in Borat
Vanderbeek, Jason Biggs in Jay & Silent Bob
Will Ferell in Wedding Crashsers and Starsky & Hutch

[Scarfather]

David Bowie in Zoolander is easily my favorite cameo, but George Lucas in Beverly Hills Cop III was so out of place it was hilarious.

[ilovemovies]

Does David Duchovney count as a cameo in Zoolander? Or is that more of an extended cameo/really small part?

Either way, I wasn't really a fan of Zoolander but I LOVED Duchovney in Zoolander. He was absolutely great. Best thing about the movie IMO.

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by Monotreme
Well, a cameo is usually, as you said, an actor essentially winking at the audience. Okay, fair enough. Using that set of criteria, I think most of my original examples, except maybe Nicholson, stand.

[Monotreme]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Okay, fair enough. Using that set of criteria, I think most of my original examples, except maybe Nicholson, stand.
Indeed they are. Good examples.

[APzombie]

I agree with Danny Glover in Maverick, that scene was set up to comedic perfection. Definately the funniest cameo i've ever seen.

I also really love George Romero's small cameo in Silence of the Lambs.

[athf1980]

Matt Damon in Eurotrip

All the disney & warner bros cartoon characters that make camoes in Who framed roger rabbit. The best was Daffy & Donald

[Gordon]

Originally posted by Derek237
Fuck yourself.

The fuck....?

[bigred760]

Originally posted by athf1980
Matt Damon in Eurotrip


Oooh, forgot about that one; good one.

[Derek237]

Originally posted by Gordon
The fuck....?

The movie's been out for a few days. Other movies mentioned here are at least on video. I didn't know Cage had a cameo. You ruined the surprise for me. You should have put a spoiler warning.

I could have just said that, but I told you to fuck yourself instead because I was just watching The Departed.

kthnxbye

[Buck Turgidson]

Originally posted by APzombie
I also really love George Romero's small cameo in Silence of the Lambs. Roger Corman also had one that wound up on the cutting room floor (although it's available on the DVD.)

Now that you mention Romero, Stephen King's cameo as the dumbass yokel in George's Knightriders is pretty damn funny, too.

[X-Nightcrawler]

Originally posted by Derek237
The movie's been out for a few days. Other movies mentioned here are at least on video. I didn't know Cage had a cameo. You ruined the surprise for me. You should have put a spoiler warning.

I could have just said that, but I told you to fuck yourself instead because I was just watching The Departed.

kthnxbye . . . cameos can be spoiled too?

Anyway. Every star/celebrity cameo in "Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back" takes the cake. Awesome appearances.

And for some reason I loved Carrottop's cameo in a "Scrubs" episode. I hate that guy, but that joke in Scrubs was hilarious.

[Derek237]

Originally posted by X-Nightcrawler
. . . cameos can be spoiled too?

Of course. I had heard there were some cameos in it when Robert Rodriguez was on Leno. Jay, a class act, said, "well I don't want to spoil it but some pretty unexpected people show up."

So, I've avoided all the grindhouse threads...I'm planning on seeing it this week, and I'm pretty bummed that that surprise has been ruined.


ANYWAY,

Some other cool cameos:

Bruce Campbell's cameos in Intolerable Cruelty, The Lady Killers, and Spider-man 1 and 2.

Directors who show up in their own movies like Scorsese, Hitchcock, Oliver Stone, etc. etc.

[Jimmy"The Gent"]

Billy Idol showing up on the plane was classic in The Wedding Singer, also (sticking with Adam Sandler movies) Bob Barker in Happy Gilmore and Chris Farley in Billy Madison were pretty hilarious.

"This Guy Sucks!"

[ilovemovies]

There is a great cameo by Mel Gibson but I don't remember what movie it was in. But in the movie, the scene takes place at a rave or something and Gibson is a guy who has all kinds of piercings on him.

Does anybody remember the movie?

The two that I think that come to mind is either Airheads or Father's Day. I can't remember which one. But Gibson's cameo I'm pretty sure is in one of those.

[dennisv]

Bruce Willis i think in Hot Shots, first one or part Deux.. can't remember.

[zeppelin]

Marshall McLuhan in Annie Hall is easily my favorite, so I'm glad to see it was on their list. The many (many) cameos in The Player are good too, the highlights being the two that were mentioned in the article.

Steve Buscemi in Pulp Fiction has to be one of the most clever cameo appearances ever, so that should have been on the list.

I would agree with Will Ferrell's appearances in Wedding Crashers and Starsky & Hutch, but they're not so much cameos as they are just small roles. There's a difference. If those are cameos, then William Hurt in A History of Violence is also a cameo, but he was nominated for an Oscar for that (deservedly so, I might add).

Does Tom Waits in Shrek 2 count? No, I guess not, since it's actually just a clip from a song, but still, his voice is used as a character's voice, so maybe it does.

Usually musicians make for the best cameos. Like Springsteen in High Fidelity, or Bowie in Zoolander. I guess just because they're so unexpected. How many people here were even aware that George Harrison has a cameo in Life of Brian?

[Derek237]

Originally posted by zeppelin
I would agree with Will Ferrell's appearances in Wedding Crashers and Starsky & Hutch, but they're not so much cameos as they are just small roles. There's a difference. If those are cameos, then William Hurt in A History of Violence is also a cameo, but he was nominated for an Oscar for that (deservedly so, I might add).

I'll have to argue with that. There's always a hard time determining the difference, but in defence of Ferrel's appearences in Starsky & Hutch and Wedding Crashers: if you check IMDb, or hell, even the credits of the movies, you'll see that he's uncredited. And that's a big part of a cameo, in some cases.

That's part of the fun of cameos. When I first saw Wedding Crashers and saw Ferrel's character coming down the stairs, still in the shadows, with the dramatic music playing, then finally being revealed that it's WILL FERREL! That's a great surprise, a great little treat. He was not in any commercials, his name was not in the credits or on the poster, it was a genuine surprise. Unlike the surpise I won't get when I see GRINDHOUSE. :mad: So I think that justifies labelling it as a cameo rather than a small role.

Hurt, on the other hand is credited, he's on the poster billing, etc. etc. It wasn't really a surprise because you know he's going to be in the movie and you're more waiting in anticipation for him ,rather than being totally taken off-gaurd by his appearance. We all know Brando is in Apocalypse Now, and the whole movie is destined towards him, and the biggest and deepest revelations of the film are with the scenes with him, and William Hurt's role in AHOV is in a similar vein.

By the way, I completely agree that it was a very well deserved Oscar nomination.

[arto_j]

Originally posted by ilovemovies
There is a great cameo by Mel Gibson but I don't remember what movie it was in. But in the movie, the scene takes place at a rave or something and Gibson is a guy who has all kinds of piercings on him.

Does anybody remember the movie?

The two that I think that come to mind is either Airheads or Father's Day. I can't remember which one. But Gibson's cameo I'm pretty sure is in one of those.

It's in Father's Day. It makes me sad that I remember this.

[the ooze]

regis and dan marino in little nicky

m night shyamalan in the village (his smallest part)

tom arnold in austin powers

the hoff in dodgeball

and arnold in the rundown, martin sheen in hot shots deux awesome!

[Gordon]

Originally posted by Derek237
The movie's been out for a few days. Other movies mentioned here are at least on video. I didn't know Cage had a cameo. You ruined the surprise for me. You should have put a spoiler warning.

I could have just said that, but I told you to fuck yourself instead because I was just watching The Departed.

kthnxbye

Sorry about that. I thought everyone had read that online already, I wasn't really thinking.

Edited accordingly.

[Derek237]

"Thanks, babe." ;)http://www.waytoblue.com/media/image/Shaun_of_the_Dead_Shaun_Ed.gif

[X-Nightcrawler]

Some other cameos I loved-

-Jay and Silent Bob in "Scream 3".
-Mr. T in "Not Anotehr Teen Movie" .
-Paul Gleason in "Not Another Teen Movie".

And the best. . .

Molly Ringwald in "Not Another Teen Movie".

Love that silly little movie.

[zeppelin]

Originally posted by Derek237
I'll have to argue with that. There's always a hard time determining the difference, but in defence of Ferrel's appearences in Starsky & Hutch and Wedding Crashers: if you check IMDb, or hell, even the credits of the movies, you'll see that he's uncredited. And that's a big part of a cameo, in some cases.

Good point. It's still a bit puzzling though. In A History of Violence, the character that William Hurt plays was built up a lot, so there would be no point in disguising his eventual appearance. Same applies to Marlon Brando in Apocalypse Now. Would it have even mattered much, in those cases, if the actors didn't receive billing? Their characters were still built up to the point that we KNEW they were going to show up. All the billing did was spoil who was playing the roles.

With the two Ferrell roles, there was no build-up for his characters, they just show up and take you by surprise (though by the time of Wedding Crashers, it was hardly a surprise that they would include him in a Vince Vaughan/Owen Wilson movie). If Will Ferrell received billing, then everyone would be waiting for him to show up, and it would take away something from the movie. In the cases of Hurt and Brando, the status of their characters is kept somewhat intact for the entire movie, so the audience isn't left wondering just when they're going to show up.

But that's part of your argument, I think. Hurt's and Brando's characters are actually integral to their respective movies, whereas Ferrell's are just little bits that, let's face it, were not essential for the movies' plots. He was just there for fun. So if that's what you mean by distinguishing a cameo from merely a small part, then I can see your point.

So, yes, you have at least convinced me that Ferrell's roles in those movies are indeed cameos. But the criteria you've established, while logical in this case, can't be applied to some other scenarios. For instance, have you seen Little Shop of Horrors? I'm talking about the 80's musical version. If you have, would you consider Bill Murray's role to be a cameo? He is billed, but it's only a bit part which has nothing to do with the plot. So is that a cameo because it's a brief appearance not integral to the plot, or is it merely a small part simply because he receives billing? It's essentially the same kind of role that Will Ferrell has in Wedding Crashers, but he gets credit for it. Is that enough to completely make the difference?

[Derek237]

Hmm, well that is a tough one since Murray was playing Nicholson's original part, wasn't he? And Nicholson's part certainly wasn't a cameo since he wasn't famous at the time he got the role. So let's say a no-name actor had Murray's part...would it be a cameo? I guess not. Just a bit part.

I would say that cameos are only uncredited, but there are tons of cameos that ARE credited. So there's no real way to determine. At all.

I think you just gotta trust your gut. There's no rules for cameo, whether its in crediting, screen-time, or even the stature of the actor.

[the ooze]

only cameos submitted to the cameo department and approved are allowed to further be descibed and defined as 'cameo'