I've seen quite a few questionable (but sort of interesting) early Alan Rickman. Close Your Eyes, where he plays a husband cuckolded by siblingcest (the brother's played by Clive Owen so maybe sort of understandable? IDK.) Man, what a weird film. An Awfully Big Adventure, also with the incest theme! A couple of movies that tried to capitalize on Rickman's charisma by casting him as historic figures well known for their famed magnetism -- Mesmer and Rasputin -- and fell short. And that one movie where he and Emma Thompson played a couple of bickering detectives on search for a a con woman played by Carla Gugino and they inexplicably failed to have any UST. I blamed the director (Gugino's hubby.)

I dunno. I love him, but I kind of feel like he's been ill-served by movies in general, TMD and Sense and Sensibility excepted. Well, and Galaxy Quest, of course.

I would never have thought to look for Blow Dry on Netflix streaming, but now I know one of the things I will be doing this weekend.

Blow Dry is pretty fun. Natasha and Rachel have great chemistry together. So does Alan and the rest of the cast.

Rickman in Dogma was fun.

Oh hell, I loved Rickman first--before Die Hard--in January Man. I'm a huge Kline fan and a Mastrantonio fan, and of course, Susan Sarandon and the vowel guys: Keitel, Steiger, Aiello, but I kept staring at the screen: Who *is* that Ed?

January Man

YES!! My fourth favorite Rickman film.

I also like Bottle Shock, which was quite educational. (also on Netflix)

Plus, the other historical figure movie he did with Mos Def...Something the Lord Made. Really unsympathetic in that.

Wikipedia says he'll be Ronald Reagan this year. Hm. That should be interesting.

My favorite Bill Nighy pics...besides Underworld, judge if you must...are The Girl in the Cafe and Still Crazy.

Sadly, neither is on Netflix.

IMO, which I really don't expect anybody to share, Prince of Thieves was a vehicle for Blessed to bellow, Wincott to growl, and Rickman to snark his way through.

When we talk of spoons as a measure of energy these days, Gisborne and the Shurf are always muttering away, "Why (stab someone with) a spoon, cousin?" "'Cause it's *dull*, you twit! It'll hurt more!"

Love the Girl in the Cafe--'cause, Kelly MacDonald! and Bill Nighy! And hey, you're not the only one who loves him in Underworld! SO much. Couldn't get past the prosthetics and CGI to love him in Pirates, though.

Seconding Something The Lord Made. The whole cast is terrific, and the story is compelling, and for all that Rickman is incredibly unsympathetic he's also weirdly, stubbornly honorable (as was the real Dr. Blalock, who knew Vivien Thomas's worth and genius, expected others to treat him the same way, and valued him enough that when he was offered the chief of surgery position at Johns Hopkins he wouldn't go unless Thomas was offered a job too; Thomas became the first black man to walk the halls of JH wearing a lab coat).

I don't know if I could watch him be Reagan -- or anyone, really. My Reagan tolerance at any one viewing lasts just about as long as a vintage SNL skit and not a second more.