HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN!!!

Perhaps no currently working actor walks the line between creepy/terrifying and downright hilarious as the great Christopher Walken. I love the man's work, and would rate him among the handful of thespians who elevate whatever film they happen to be in, no matter how truly awful — although A VIEW TO A KILL, in my opinion the worst James Bond movie to come along until THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, was too much for even him to overcome — and I never tire of seeing what he brings to the show. Best appreciated for the many heavies he's played, I never fail to bust a gut at his comedic performances, no matter how stupid the movie may be, or how short his screen time; JOE DIRT is a prime example of this, and his part is played so utterly straight that I start snickering the second he shows up.

But what truly sends me into nirvana is Walken body of work for the largely odious SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, performances that for the most part make me wonder how the participants in that moribund selpulchre of humor feel when he shows up and blows most of them off the stage. "The Continental" is in a class by itself, and there are many other bits featuring him that people love — "The Cowbell Sketch" is a fan favorite that wears out its welcome for me thanks to Will Ferrell — but my all-time favorite, which will come as a surprise to absolutely no one, is the fantastically sophomoric "Colonel Angus," an endless deluge of truly juvenile oral sex double entendre that's so ridiculous I nearly died laughing while watching it, and I had to wonder how the actors managed to get through it with straight faces.

Walken as returning Civil War hero "Colonel Angus."

So happy birthday, you wonderfully strange man. May you have a long career, and continue to shine while far lesser talents shine briefly before fizzling out like a half-hearted Chimichanga fart.