Introducing...The Wood Harris All Stars

Most people know him as Avon Barksdale from the Wire...others might know him as Ace from Paid in Full...Oh and he was also the black guy in Remember The Titans. All are good roles, but I know him as the greatest living american actor...who never blew up. Bold Statement? Yes. But Mr. Harris is one of those great actors who (Until the Wire) was plagued with a career of mediocre roles in average to bad movies. Much like Malcolm McDowell (of A Clockwork Orange) he suffers from the curse of setting the bar too high too early. Malcolm Mcdowell played Alex Delarge so perfectly and memorably, that he was never able to do anything else nearly as memorable (or watchable) since. And although Avon Barksdale is awesome, Above the Rim is Wood Harris' Clockwork Orange. Check out Wood's resume here.

Harris' portrayal of Motaw, in the 1994 Urban Basketball Drama, Above The Rim was nothing less than Genius. On the surface he might appear to be the average Thug/Henchman, but Mr. Motaw was much much more. For example, here is the definitive scene that established Harris' greatness.




CLASSIC! Motaw displayed the perfect balance of Gangster and unintentional Humor that makes movie villains entertaining and often likeable. One summer, My cousin and I watched that movie every day and when this scene came up, we had to rewind at least 3 times before moving on with the movie. It still never gets old.

The Wood Harris All Stars honor lesser known and even lesser celebrated movie characters and actors that, as minor as their roles may be, have the power to make bad movies good, good movies Great, and Great movies a little better. So of course, the first inductee to the Wood Harris All Stars is none other than the Wood-man himself.