She Likes to Watch

Remember when Guy Ritchie was known for something other than being Madonna’s husband?

Back in 1998, he was Hollywood’s hottest new find, the director of the funny, fast-paced crime blitz known as “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.”

The movie, about four working-class stiffs who find themselves mixed up in high-stakes poker, pot and the search for two antique guns, made stars out of former Olympic diver Jason Statham and footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones.

It also set a new standard for British action flicks — and some unforgettable lines and one of the best movie soundtracks in years.

“Snatch,” released in 2000, ups the ante with more stars, more violence and and an even more confusing plot.

This time, a tangle of boxing promoters, bookmakers, amateur thieves, gangsters and jewelers are all after the same sparkling 84-carat rock.

Ritchie’s music-video-on-acid visual style makes for a wild time.

There are big names, like Benicio Del Toro and Dennis Farina, as well as a few familiar faces from “Trainspotting” and “Lock, Stock.”

But the most unexpected standout is Brad Pitt.

Pitt, playing an Irish-Gypsy prizefighter, is hilarious here — a tough scrapper with a nearly unintelligible accent and a deep love for “dags” (dogs) and “me mam” (his mother).

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Watch “Snatch” tonight at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Showtimes are 7 and 9:15 p.m.

Tickets are $7.50.

Next in the Palm Wednesday movie series is “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” on July 2.

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Photo courtesy of MovieWeb.com.

I love celebrity cameos.

Whenever famous faces pop up in films, I’m always abuzz with anticipation. What will they say? What will they do? Will they tap into a familiar on-screen persona or, even more delightfully, play themselves?

More often than not, they steal the show.

Naturally, whenever I get a great idea, the Onion A.V. Club has done it first. Better. And with video clips.

Click here for 19 stellar “one-scene wonders,” courtesy of the A.V. Club.

(A warning: Not all of these picks come with videos, but those that do feature occasional foul language. Headphones required.)

The short list, for all you lazybones out there, is as follows:

1. Alec Baldwin in “Glengarry Glen Ross”
2. Ray Charles in “The Blues Brothers”
3. Pamela Anderson in “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
4. Dean Stockwell in “Blue Velvet” (David Lynch film No. 1)
5. Janeane Garofalo in “The Cable Guy” (one of my personal favorites)
6. David Letterman in “Cabin Boy”
7. Billy Ray Cyrus in “Mulholland Dr.” (David Lynch film No. 2)
8. Ned Beatty in “Network”
9. Chris Rock in “I’m Gonna Get You Sucka”
10. Topher Grace in “Ocean’s Eleven”
11. David Spade in “Reality Bites” (another gem)
12. Sammy Davis Jr. in “Sweet Charity”
13. Vanessa Redgrave in “Atonement”
14. Charlie Sheen in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
15. David Bowie in “Zoolander”
16. John Carroll Lynch in “Zodiac”
17. Charles Fleisher in “Zodiac” (That’s right, the voice of Roger Rabbit)
18. Samuel L. Jackson in “Kill Bill, Vol. 2″
19. William Hurt in “A History of Violence” (What a ham)

What do you think, readers? What celebrity cameos would make your list?