Top 5 Movie Journalists

5. John Grogan - Marley & Me

Yeah, that's right, I like Marley & Me. And I like Owen Wilson. Although it has to be said that Owen Wilson is a bizarre comedic actor. He's probably made me laugh out loud maybe three times in his career, but at the same time he has never made me want to solder my eyelids together to escape the pain. Anyway, in Marley & Me he plays a pretty sympathetic reporter-cum-columnist who reluctantly gets a dog to please his wife, and ends up liking the dog after all. Awww. It's all very sweet. The likability is amplified by the fact that his boss is the always-awesome Alan Arkin, and his wife is the constantly irritating Jennifer Aniston - who, by the way, he deals with like an absolute saint. It's not a film about journalism, but journalism does play quite a large part in what goes on. And it's lovely.

4. Cal McAffrey - State of Play

Weird thing about Cal McAffrey: if it wasn't for one particular scene in State of Play, I would hate Cal. He's exactly the kind of archetypal honest-but-with-his-own-code-of-ethics idiot I don't like in movies. We know he's not your average Washington Post journalist because the opening shot is of him in a beat-up old car filled with junk food wrappers, listening to some God-awful Irish punk. Later he is the only white man in a greasy diner in a black neighbourhood where he is clearly chummy with the proprietor because of a conversation that might as well have gone like this; "Yo dawg!" "Sup homes?" et cetera. Oh, and he has stubble, a mane that wouldn't look out of place on a pantomime lion and wears mismatched suits. He is also gruff with his superiors and underlings, but with a knowing look that means "I'm just joking, I'm a lovable rogue!" Anyway, the scene that I like him for involves him knocking on a door that he really shouldn't be knocking on. Suddenly his devil-may-care attitude and casual questioning becomes trying not to fill his trousers as he runs away like a little girl. It makes him human.

3. Tim Messenger - Hot Fuzz

Adam Buxton's misspelling Sandford Citizen editor is a joy to behold really. What's not to like? He has inside information that he tried to share with the police before meeting a grisly demise AND that grisly demise comes in one of the best homages to The Omen that anyone has ever seen. Also, his greeting of choice is the ridiculously upbeat "hi hi". There isn't a lot to say about him, but he's bloody great.

2. Woodward and Bernstein - All The President's Men

This wouldn't be a real list without including Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the exposers of the Watergate bugging scandal way back in 1972. Played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, two of the most likable screen actors, they caper about Washington uncovering fresh evidence with the help of their informant Deep Throat and destroy the presidency of Richard Nixon. All without the internet. They just don't make journalists like they used to.

1. "Photojournalist" - Apocalypse Now

Apparently Dennis Hopper's drug-addled photojournalists doesn't have a name, but it doesn't stop him from the being the greatest movie journalist of all time. Ever. He doesn't really do anything to further the plot, but he does spout some wonderful nonsense, including my favourite line from the movie; "The heads. You're looking at the heads. Sometimes he goes too far. He's the first one to admit it."

So those are my favourite movie journalists. I'm kinda hoping that this list goes down in history as the first Top 5 to include both Marley & Me and Apocalypse Now. Unless there is a Top 5 Horrific Animal Deaths list, in which case I've been beaten to it.