Top Ten Tuesday: We Like To Party

I’m just gonna say it… WE LIKE TO PARTY, but even we can’t party as hard as the Wolfpack! Alan, Stu and Phil are bringing the party back to theaters this Thursday with THE HANGOVER PART II, so we thought, what better way to ring in the party than to count down our favorite party animals!

These are the cool kids that bring the party! They rage, they get down… heck, they might even get “jiggy wit it”! Sure, they might not be from the fluorescent box of crayons, but these folks can MacGyver a good time out of a paper clip, a broomstick and a Nelson cassette. (Yep, I said it!)

So, without further adieu…

TOP TEN PARTY ANIMALS

Honorable Mention: TRENT (Vince Vaughn) SWINGERS (1996)

Trent (Vince Vaughn) is an aspiring actor. He’s loud, flirtatious, and he’s living the swinging lifestyle. Vegas is this kings castle, and he’ll take his queen of the night in the form of a cocktail waitress, or anything with legs! Just remember Trent’s inspiring words whenever you tackle your next party endevours… “You’re so money and you don’t even know it!”

10. VAN WILDER (Ryan Reynolds) NATIONAL LAMPOONS VAN WILDER (2002)

Ryan Reynolds plays the ultimate college frat boy in this hilariously unapologetic comedy, which is what is to be expected from the National Lampoon group. He is a career college student that embraces his inner wild man by throwing wild parties, creating havoc, and grossing people out with disgusting pranks. His character is shameless, but you begin to root for the party boy. The laughs rarely cease during this riotously college romp and your stomach hurts from laughing at Van Wilders antics with many of the interactions with other cast mates. After watching this movie, not only do you want to see it again because you laughed so loudly you missed some other funny parts, but you walk away with many quotable lines. As you should from any over-the-top comedy. Party on Van Wilder!

09. DAVID WOODERSON (Matthew McConnaughey) DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993)

DAZED AND CONFUSED is filled with a myriad of up and coming and already established actors. It is another movie about small town high school hazing at its finest, but this on is the last day of school, set in 1976. The film covers many situations from sex, drugs, alcohol, and rock and roll; however the two main standouts are the soundtrack that lends itself perfectly and the most poised and cool character-Matthew McConaughey’s David Wooderson. He is a long since graduated nowhere-man clinging to his good ol’ days. And he does it well and with big swagger. The younger guys come to him for his almost jedi-like guidance regarding girls, etc. And he just about has to fend the youthful girls off with a stick. He is always having a good time and dressing the slick part. Dreamy David Wooderson has some parting wisdom about his choice in females, to paraphrase, he gets older, but the girls stay the same age! To be that cool and self-confident… rock on Woodson!

08. DUDLEY “BOOGER” DAWSON (Curtis Armstrong) REVENGE OF THE NERDS (1984)

Such class!… Such elegance!… Such poise!

How else do you think someone winds up with the nickname “Booger”? Oh wait, I get it now! Sure, Booger is a nose-picker, but he also won that Burping Contest against the Alpha Beta’s, which helped lead to an amazing victory for the Lamda Lamda Lamda’s at the Greek Games. When throwing a party, be sure to include his invite because he can chug a beer with the simplest of ease, and you know he’s going to wear the best t-shirt to the party! (Such as his clever, clever shirt “Gimme’ Head Till I’m Dead”) Classy!

07. JAMES “DROZ” ANDREWS (Jeremy Piven) PCU (1994)

When you lead “The Pit”, such as Droz, you had better know how to party! Especially when you are at war with the “Balls and Shaft” group. Not only is he fighting them, he is also combating the Womynists, a radical feminist group that is fighting to shut them down, and Ms. Garcia-Thompson, President of the school and enemy number one of “The Pit”. What they don’t know is that Droz is a true partier. He just wants to bring everyone together! Through his persuasion, and a little funk… George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic to be exact, he manages to throw a successful party and rally the various groups to protest against the school President, leading to her termination. The most important lesson to take from Droz is “What is this? You’re wearing the shirt of the band you’re going to see. Don’t be that guy.”. Please, don’t be that guy!

06. BERNIE LOMAX (Terry Kiser) WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S (1989)

How much fun can a dead guy be? Well, if you’re the recently departed Bernie Lomax, you’re the life of the party! Terry Kiser could be considered as having the easiest acting job of all-time.. playing a dead guy for 90 minutes, but I argue it takes talent to play dead and still be cool in the process. With that sly smirk of a smile permanently affixed to his face, courtesy of rigor mortis, not even a bad hair day can throw Bernie off his game, and he had plenty of postmortem bad hair days. (Nothing a few staples won’t fix.) So, break out the beer and get the party started. Bernie’s having formaldehyde, on the rocks.

05. FERRIS BUELLER (Matthew Broderick) FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (1986)

John Hughes was a master storyteller who captured an entire generation in just a handful of films, a generation of teenagers of the 80’s, a generation that liked to party. Possibly his most perfect, epitomizing representation of this era of free-spirited youth was Ferris Bueller. Portrayed with a zen-like sense of ease and coolness, Matthew Broderick helped to define a generation unlike any other by spontaneously crafting an entire day of good times, a celebratory experience for his friends to enjoy before leaving the party known as high school and entering the real world of being a responsible adult. Here’s to you, Ferris!

04. FRANK “THE TANK” RICARD (Will Ferrell) OLD SCHOOL (2003)

OLD SCHOOL has an interesting twist on the old adage ” wake the sleeping giant” because instead of a giant , a great party animal is awakened. Frank Ricard has his wife (and himself, really) believing that his wild days are behind him. He’s a mature button-down guy until that fateful housewarming party- or “Mitch-A-Palooza” when one of the college guys reminds him of his old reputation. Reluctantly Frank takes a big gulp of beer and his Mr. Hyde, Frank the Tank is released. After astounding the youngsters with his beer-bong skills, Frank is soon shedding his inhibitions-and clothes. Time to revisit another of his favorite past times-streaking. During his naked jog through the neighborhood Frank’s stunned wife pulls her car alongside him. Her repressed hubby is gone. After getting tossed out of the house they shared, he joins old pals Mitch and Bernard in their new college fraternity. Ferrell had made name for himself on TV’s Saturday Night Live and in several small film roles, but with his role as the legendary “Frank the Tank”, he became a major big screen comedy star.

03. SUGAR KANE KOWALCZYK (Marilyn Monroe) SOME LIKE IT HOT (1959)

No one but Marilyn Monroe could’ve taken on the role of fun-loving Sugar Kane Kowalczyk in SOME LIKE IT HOT. Girl loved to party, she even knew how to smuggle in and mix drinks inside of a hot water bottle. Sugar is the ukulele player and main singer of the all-girls band headed, where else, down to Florida when she meets up with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis who, while running for their lives disguised as dames, also like to party. Through her sultry songs and provacative dresses, Sugar is innocently enough pure sex and deserves the status of party-icon. A definite must-see for any Monroe fan.

02. RICK GASSKO (Tom Hanks) BACHELOR PARTY (1984)

These days everybody thinks of Tom Hanks as the sweet natured, two-time-Oscar winning family man. Ah, but here’s a relic of his checked past. Just a few months after his big screen starring role in Disney’s (er, Touchstone’s) SPLASH, the ultra-raunchy BACHELOR PARTY exploded on the scene. Those of us familiar with Tom’s TV work (“Bosom Buddies” and guest star turns in “Happy Days”, “Taxi” and “Family Ties”) had seen his wild side, but for those who only knew him as Madison the mermaid’s beau, this must have come as quite a shock. Before the big event we get to see him tangle with his fiancee’s ex on the tennis court, take a cut of the gambling that occurs on the school bus he drives, and oogle a stacked young mom at his buddy’s photo studio. But at the debauchery really starts when his bachelor party begins. But with so much temptation thrown at him, can Tom stay true to the gorgeous Whitesnake video vixen Tawny Kitaen? Hanks and his own “wolf-pack”(including Adrian Zmed!!) really laid down the ground work that the guys of THE HANGOVER would build upon twenty five years later.

01.  JOHN “BLUTO” BLUTARSKY (John Belushi) NATION LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE (1978)

When it comes to movie party animals, can there be any other character as number one? I’d even put him on my short list of the greatest movie comedy characters of all time. But, if you examine the film again, it’s main focus is Larry Kroger- shy, innocent young freshman. That all changes when he and his pal Kent arrive at Delta House. The first frat brother they meet is Bluto. From the moment he spins around and relieves himself on the two freshmen’s shoes, the movie belongs to him. It’s nearly impossible to single out one scene as the best Bluto moment. Is it when he reacts in wide-eyed horror to a photo slide of Kent Dorfman’s face? Or leading his frat brothers in a drunken, head-butting group sing of Louie, Louie? How about his help in stealing Niedermeyer’s horse? Or his late night visit to dream girl Mandy’s Pepperidge’s sorority house? You can’t forgot him at the toga party dressed like Julius Caesar and bashing sensitive singer Stephen Bishop’s guitar to smithereens. And many radio Djs still use bits of his rallying speech to his moribund frat pals (Over?! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?). I’d think that the character helped director John Landis enormously. When he needed a laugh, he could just cut to Bluto. He’s almost a classic silent movie comic as his silent reactions say more than pages of dialogue. In that way he’s a little bit of Harpo Marx, a bit of his brother Groucho (with those expressive eyebrows), a bit of Curly Howard of the Three Stooges, and a whole lot of the Loony Tunes Tasmanian Devil. Bluto’s scruffy mug was soon adorning posters, T-shirts, and the covers of Newsweek and Rolling Stone Magazine. The movie brought back toga parties to colleges and the fictional movie band, Otis Day and the Knights, became a real touring band that performs to this day. All the screen party wild men from Jack Black, Dan Fogler, and Seth Rogen today through Chris Farley and John Candy are children of John Belushi’s lovable reveler. Of course, his character is the last one shown before Bishop’s Animal House theme kicks in over the end credits, with our favorite Delta brother featured in the chorus-Do the Bluto! Do the Bluto!

So, who would you want at your party???

I will leave you with a party tip from the King of Party, Mr. Andrew W.K.:

“Used at the right time, a fistful of confetti can blow minds!”