They are a danger to themselves and others

In honor of Heath Ledger's insane turn as the Joker, I thought I'd run down some movie characters who suffer from a touch of the crazies. But is there a method to their madness?

Jack D. Ripper
This is the general in Dr. Strangelove who orders an pre-emptive attack on the 'Russkies' which sets off the action in this cold war dark comedy from Stanley Kubrick. His obsession over the purity of his bodily fluids leads to some odd drinking habits (Mandrake, bring me a glass of grain alcohol and rainwater). Also his rants about communist plots ape the right-wing hawks today who prattle on about Marxists and the tenets of national socialism. The wall fell assholes. They lost.
Crazy quote: "I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

Colonel Kurtz
Hrmm, another one from a Kubrick film. I have never actually sat down and watched this movie all the way through -- so it would be a mistake to opine at length. But basically it's Marlon Brando mumbling about "the horror" while washing his bald head. Also he's commanding an indigenous army in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Crazy Quote: "I've seen horrors... horrors that you've seen. But you have no right to call me a murderer. You have a right to kill me. You have a right to do that... but you have no right to judge me. It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face... and you must make a friend of horror. (this goes on for a while ...)

Walter Sobchak
Am I wrong? The not so stereotypical vet who had a few screws knocked loose in Vietnam, his hyperkinetic aggression is actually kind of funny -- if only it wasn't mixed with a bizarre misplaced self-assurance. Also, the militant jewishness? Clearly necessary. You are about to enter a world of pain.
Crazy Quote: "What the fuck are you talking about? The chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you DO NOT... Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please."

Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Yeah Gary Oldman needs to be here somewhere. And his turn as the unhinged Zorg in this underrated(?) sci-fi flick "The Fifth Element" is probably my favorite, with apologies to Leon. Without delving too much into the ludicrously awesome plot -- he plays an arms dealer and industrialist with a plastic hairpiece who is aiding the giant ball of evil aka The Great Evil. Let's see a clip if only for the accent that I can't seem to place.


Vic Vega
You may remember him better as the sadistic Mr. Blonde. The scene where he tortures the police officer to the sultry sounds of "Stuck in the Middle with You" is disturbingly memorable. He's probably the craziest character in all on Quentin Tarantino movies, which is saying something. Apologies to Gogo from Kill Bill Vol. 1.
Crazy Quote: "Listen kid, I'm not gonna bullshit you, all right? I don't give a good fuck what you know, or don't know, but I'm gonna torture you anyway, regardless. Not to get information. It's amusing, to me, to torture a cop. You can say anything you want cause I've heard it all before. All you can do is pray for a quick death, which you ain't gonna get. (takes out straight razor) You ever listen to K-Billy's "Super Sounds of the Seventies" weekend? It's my personal favorite."

Hannibal Lecter
I don't think any list of insanity in the movies would be complete without Anthony Hopkins' creepy cannibal serial killer. Even if he's arguably not even the craziest character in "Silence of the Lambs." Right Clarice?
(not so) Crazy Quote: "You know what you look like to me, with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. A well scrubbed, hustling rube with a little taste. Good nutrition's given you some length of bone, but you're not more than one generation from poor white trash, are you, Agent Starling? And that accent you've tried so desperately to shed: pure West Virginia. What is your father, dear? Is he a coal miner? Does he stink of the lamp? You know how quickly the boys found you... all those tedious sticky fumblings in the back seats of cars... while you could only dream of getting out... getting anywhere... getting all the way to the FBI."


Jack Torrance
Finally we have Jack Nicholson slowing going crazy from cabin fever and ghosts offering him liquor. Or was that the Simpsons version? This movie is fucked up, pure and simple. I mean, if you need an explanation as to why trying to kill your wife and child with an ax is crazy, uh, don't come near me.
Crazy Quote: "Have you ever had a SINGLE MOMENT'S THOUGHT about my responsibilities? Have you ever thought, for a single solitary moment about my responsibilities to my employers?? Has it ever occurred to you that I have agreed to look after the OVERLOOK Hotel until May the FIRST. Does it MATTER TO YOU AT ALL that the OWNERS have placed their COMPLETE CONFIDENCE and TRUST in me, and that I have signed a letter of agreement, a CONTRACT, in which I have accepted that RESPONSIBILITY? Do you have the SLIGHTEST IDEA, what a MORAL AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLE IS, DO YOU? Has it ever occurred to you what would happen to my future, if I were to fail to live up to my responsibilities? Has it ever occurred to you? HAS IT??"
Gimme the bat Marge.

Well there you have it. Seems about right to end this list with Nicholson -- the first cinematic Joker -- even if he's now second best. Also, this post probably could have just been characters from Kubrick movies, just add in some Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket.