ROTTEN TOMATOES: Five Favorite Films with Ron Perlman Comments

Five Favorite Films with Ron Perlman

by Jen Yamato | April 21, 2009

Summary

While he's become best known for portraying a red, horned antihero in Guillermo del Toro's popular comic book adaptations Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Ron Perlman has long been a favorite character actor among fantasy and science fiction fans thanks to his work in films like Quest for Fire, The City of Lost Children, Cronos, and Blade II. This week, the classically-trained actor (who is between seasons on his critically acclaimed FX series, Sons of Anarchy) stars in Mutant Chronicles as Brother Samuel, a monk dedicated to guarding a set of scriptures that predict the coming of an ancient enemy. Rotten Tomatoes talked with Perlman about his favorite movies and directors, whose films he watches when he's having a rough day, and his remembrances of working alongside one of his idols, Marlon Brando. Back to Article

(1-38 of 38 posts) | Reply

arendr writes:
on Apr 21 2009 12:59 PM

Seems like everyone picks either Godfather 1 or 2 for these lists.

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Salty Gritts writes:
on Apr 21 2009 01:27 PM

Not a surprise to see Pan's Labyrinth on his list, Perlman and Del Toro are damn good friends and Perlman's been in almost every Del Toro film except Pan's Labyrinth (only because of scheduling conflicts).

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jokerboy1991 writes:
on Apr 21 2009 01:38 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434621)
Really, was he suppose to be in it? Well I remember when Labyrinth came out Perlman kept raving about, and can you really blame him for saying Pan's Labyrinth is one of his favorites? Good list of course, and its The Godfather guys- thats literally almost everyone's fav movie. Also the Mutant Chronicles is bad, but funny as hell. Perlman is always cool in my book.

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DaftBot writes:
on Apr 21 2009 01:41 PM

I absolutely love this article. Ron Perlman is one of the coolest guys I've ever met. Yeah sure I have a tattoo of the guy on my arm, so i love anything he says, but this is still quite awesome. Great read. Thanks.

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IMAmoose24 writes:
on Apr 21 2009 01:52 PM

For neither Godfather I or II to be on one of these actors lists' is sin in itself. You should expect to see one of them everytime you click on one of these articles.

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The Lawless Bastard writes:
on Apr 21 2009 01:55 PM

I wonder how much it'd hurt to be punched in the face by him?

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Funkmaster Flex writes:
on Apr 21 2009 02:24 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434667)
I laughed out loud at the randomness that is face-punching. I think it's a good list, but mostly because you can actually see a thought process as to why he picked the movies/director he did. I just don't like the Five Favorites when they give 2 sentances about why they like it.

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emoticant writes:
on Apr 21 2009 02:56 PM

I'm very impressed with Perlman's reasons and descriptions for his picks. He sounds like a really intelligent guy. Well spoken.

It's weird when comments here bag on people for picking movies like The Godfather or Citizen Kane or (insert movie name here). It's not cliche to like a great movie. That's what the topic is. They're supposed to pick great movies.

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FinalDestination019 writes:
on Apr 21 2009 02:59 PM

Good list. Sure, The Godfather is a pretty conventional choice (he pretty much says it himself), but I think he explained why it's a favorite of his well. All the films are great, and I like that he mentioned the directors, too.

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Apr 21 2009 03:01 PM

Wow. Three entire careers. Damn. That includes "1941" you know! He's a good guy, and looks like a old Will Ferrell.

And emoticant is right.

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rt_hire_me writes:
on Apr 21 2009 03:29 PM

He could be Will Ferrel's brother. I'm sure they could make Hellboy have a younger brother.

He is well-spoken. It's one thing to write a favorite list, but to talk about it coherently is another is something else. How many celebs on these lists do you see using the same words over and over? You'd think people who memorize scripts for a living would have a broader vocabulary. He gives actors a good name. And a down-to-earth list. Spielberg rocks.

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Apr 21 2009 03:30 PM

Wow, Kent o. I'm gonna need to see a picture of that Ron Perlman tattoo!

Glad you guys like this Five Faves. Perlman was one of the most thoughtful, intelligent people I've done this feature with so far, and I think you can really tell where he's coming from on every pick.

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steve s. writes:
on Apr 21 2009 04:56 PM

a tattoo of R.P. ??? huh? were you drunk?

top notch list........appreciate the insight

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Speaker for the Films writes:
on Apr 21 2009 04:58 PM

Mickey Rourke and Ron Perlman are both awesome, which makes me want to see them in a fist fight. I smell a Sitcom!

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blattman writes:
on Apr 21 2009 05:23 PM

He had a great small part in Looney Tunes-Back in Action, and the best line out of Alien ressurection-"I'll get you off, maybe not this ship!"

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Apr 21 2009 05:39 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434869)
I smell an Oscar winner.

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Roger_O_Thornhill writes:
on Apr 21 2009 05:42 PM

There is something deeply wrong with any human being who lists Citizen Kane as their favorite movie. Or maybe they're just full of ****.

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Bigbrother writes:
on Apr 21 2009 06:16 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434937)
I would guess there's something deeply wrong with about a Billion People since Citizen Kane is listed on tons of lists as the greatest movie of all time. I'm a Raiders of the Lost Ark guy myself, but I can respect the Citizen, Godfather, Lawrence of Arabia and Corky Romano fans too.

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Bigbrother writes:
on Apr 21 2009 06:19 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434758)
Jen,

Y'all should do a five favorites with some of our more prolific posters as well. I'm thinking Gimy is secretly a Gigli fan.

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Jen Yamato writes:
on Apr 21 2009 06:20 PM

Ha, way to bring Corky Romano back to the Five Faves. That Rob Pattinson really loves him some Chris Kattan.

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Don't Tase Me Bro writes:
on Apr 21 2009 06:33 PM

Very modest guy. Very modest. He would have been forgiven for any hint of vanity in my book if he listed Jean Jacques-Annaud's "The Name of the Rose" which he was in. Excellent film. Central use of semiotics a whole generation before the Dan Brown 'Da Vinci' whores all jumped on this band wagon that Umberto Eco started years ago.

Perlman's a badass.

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Apr 21 2009 06:51 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434937)
Oh my God. Another looney. Another "I think "Citzen Kane" is flawed" noob. Oh my God.

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Don't Tase Me Bro writes:
on Apr 21 2009 07:18 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434974)
(The only person who could get away with calling 'CK' flawed was William Randolph Hearst. And he's a persona non grata.)

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Colyn B. writes:
on Apr 21 2009 08:27 PM

In reply to this comment (#2434937)
Ummm Have you seen Citizens Kane? How can you say its wrong to list that movie as their favorite its an absolute masterpiece!

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JUDGE DREDD writes:
on Apr 22 2009 07:54 AM

Ron Perlman should play JUDGE DREDD!!!! Anyone know of any updates on the reboot of Dredd? I havent heard any news on the project since it was announced in jan i think. ?

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Carlos R. writes:
on Apr 22 2009 08:05 AM

I like the article a lot, not only because of Perlman's choices, but because he didn't restrain himself to five movies, he center on Directores instead.

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SIRxxxTMG writes:
on Apr 22 2009 11:42 AM

Perlman is awesome.

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Roger_O_Thornhill writes:
on Apr 22 2009 09:09 PM

I'm not saying Citizen Kane is bad by any stretch, it's all right, but there are so many better films out there that to list something so boring and dated compared to, say, There Will Be Blood, which tells the same story much better, speaks to me that they're full of **** and just listing what everyone else says. And not everyone has the same taste, so why do so many people list an old, black and white movie with overly dramatic camera moves as their favorite? Because they're being pretentious and not really thinking about why they like the movie. Why don't these people in the industry ever branch out and watch different movies? It's like they've never heard of anything outside the AFI top 100. Joe Wright's list is a good one, that guy's shown a true interest in film by pursuing movies that not everyone has heard of. For god's sake, don't you people ever get TIRED of talking about how good Citizen Kane is? Don't you ever want to discuss something NEW? Give me a break.

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Roger_O_Thornhill writes:
on Apr 22 2009 09:17 PM

I like the Godfather, I like Citizen Kane, just...talk about something new for a change! There are other great movies!

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ledawg1138 writes:
on Apr 22 2009 10:03 PM

In reply to this comment (#2436363)
Yeah. but it's his list.

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James F. writes:
on Apr 22 2009 10:51 PM

If you asked me my favorite movies, they wouldn't be anything new to the ear. Almost everyone loves Godfather, Kane, Speilberg, Capra, etc...

I'd like RT to ask these guys "What are your 5 favorite films we never heard of?"

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Don't Tase Me Bro writes:
on Apr 23 2009 04:15 AM

I see your point Roger. But 'Citizen Kane' is a technical masterpiece...Welles really threw the cinematic textbook out of the window when he made it. So from a 'technical' aspect, citing 'CK' as "one of the greats" is okay with me--at least people still remember its influence (even if AFI does the actual critical thinking for them.)

I won't, for instance, be too upset if 50 years from now people still name 'Blade Runner' as one of the best Sci-fi noir films...mainly because Ridley's work on that film redefined the genre and it's been parroted and copied for over 20 years now.

Naming 'CK' or 'Godfather' in a favorite film list depends on the actor in my opinion. So if Miley Cyrus lists those two...your diatribe is totally right-on. But if, for instance, Day-Lewis, or even Perlman lists either of those two...that's different. They both strike me as informed and avid cinephiles who have probably watched those films on several occasions and have arrived at their conclusions independently from the AFI thinktanks.

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Adam F. writes:
on Apr 23 2009 08:57 AM

Holla to The Pearl for knowing he is enough of a BA to list Capra. Capra has some of the most important films that are "americana." Plus most of Jimmy stewart's best work came under Capra's hand so his influence is HUGE!
Second: i think these kind of lists are hard because there are film I think are Master pieces of cinema but I would still prefer watching Princess Bride over Kane.
third the idea of "movies we have never heard of" is awful simply because these blogs would be filled with people going on and on about "oh my god he thins we have never heard of 'Viva maria!' What a loser! I have been watching that movie since.....blah blah blah...look how many movies I have watched....blah blah blah...." And we got enough of that on here.

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tomwaitsjr writes:
on Apr 23 2009 02:03 PM

It's funny, but people often confuse Tom Waits with Perleman. I kind of see how they look simmilar. There's some mediocre 80's cop movie where they keep claiming Tom Waits is in it, when it's really Perleman.

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Roger_O_Thornhill writes:
on Apr 24 2009 07:17 AM

In reply to this comment (#2436683)
Yeah, but it's supposed to be your favorite films, not stuff that you respect because of how much praise it's gotten. And Citizen Kane really wasn't that revolutionary.

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Joshua G. writes:
on Apr 24 2009 09:05 PM

the reason people pick the Godafather films for lists is simple dumb ***..........

They are amazing movies.

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BlastastiC writes:
on Apr 25 2009 03:12 AM

Bit of a legend is Ron.

The first thing that I always think of when I see Ron Perlman is...

"War... war never changes."

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mjbmjb writes:
on May 22 2009 06:29 AM

I don't care for Horror flicks. Guys in goalie masks should only be allowed onscreen if they are also wearing ice-skates. This aside, I consider Pan's Labyrinth one of the best films so far this century, and was really pleased to see it listed here.

(Reply to this)

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