Spotlight On: Christian Bale

This week's spotlight is on one of my favorite actors, Christian Bale. He is an actor who has appeared in two of my favorite film franchises, Batman and Terminator. He is also very dedicated to his roles and has lost a lot of weight for several roles and has gained a lot of muscle for others. I have never seen The Machinist, but I have seen photos of Bale in that role, and it is just eery how much weight he lost for that movie. Anyways, he is a very talented actor, and here are some of my favorite roles of his.

Little Women

Little Women is still on my list of books I need to read, but I love this movie. One of the best things about it is Bale as Laurie and his relationship with Winona Ryder as Jo. It just breaks my heart everytime she rejects his marriage proposal.



Pocahontas

I added this one just because I think it is hilarious that Bale voiced Thomas in Disney's Pocahontas.



A Midsummer Night's Dream

Here he is in the film version of Shakespeare's famous play. He plays Demetrius, a man who is under a love spell and falls in love with Calista Flockhart's character.



American Psycho

My absolute favorite role of his, I love Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman. He is just this total yuppie rich guy who has to have the best everything and hates it when someone has stuff that is better than his. Oh yeah, and he is also a crazy psycho murderer...or is he?
Here are some of my favorite scenes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwicLgOGJOI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqJsycuqILM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VXRVq_1EYg

Batman Begins/ The Dark Knight

Here Bale plays one of the most well-known superheros of all time. What makes Batman different from other superheros is that he doesn't have any powers. What he does have is a lot of money, a cool car, a batsuit, and a utility belt.



Terminator Salvation

Here he plays sci-fi hero John Connor, the man who is prophesized to lead the resistance against the machines. While not the best Terminator movie, I still really liked it and am looking forward to another one!!!



The Fighter

This is the movie that Bale won his Oscar for. He plays Dickie Eklund, a former boxer and crackhead whose younger brother is getting his chance to be great. I thought that Bale was brilliant in this film, and think that he really deserved his Oscar.




Upcoming: I am super excited to see Bale in the remake of Oldboy. I loved the original, so naturally I was pissed about a remake. But with Josh Brolin confirmed to be in it and Bale rumored to be in it, it should be great. What I am REALLY excited to see, however, is The Dark Knight Rises, which will be the last time he will be playing Batman.

Best Horror Villains

My second YouTube video! Enjoy!!!

My Favorite Movie Lines

My first YouTube video! A compilation of my favorite movie lines. As soon as I made it, I thought of a million more so I'll probably have to make another one...

Spotlight On: Winona Ryder

This week's spotlight is on an actress that I have loved since I was a kid. I grew up watching Beetlejuice, Mermaids, Dracula, and Edward Scissorhands a million or so times, and now that I am older I still love all of those movies, along with several others of hers. Here are my favorites in chronological order...

Beetlejuice

In Beetlejuice, Ryder plays goth girl Lydia Deetz, the only member of her family who can see the ghosts living in her attic. This was one of her very first movie roles, and is probably the one that helped start out her career. I have seen this movie a million or so times, so I could probably quote the whole thing. Here are some of my favorite parts...




Heathers

Ryder also starred in my all-time favorite teen movie. (You can find the whole list HERE) She plays Veronica, a girl who hangs out with a clique of bitchy girls called the Heathers. Veronica and her boyfriend start a little killing spree, and make all of the deaths look like suicides. As you can see, this movie is very dark, but also absolutely hilarious and is one of my favorite movies.




Edward Scissorhands

This was her second film that she did with Tim Burton, and is another one of my favorite movies. She plays Kim, a suburban girl who ends up falling for a guy with scissors for hands. Here is one of the best (and sweetest and saddest) moments in the film...



Mermaids

This is another movie that I watched a million times growing up. She stars along with Cher and Christina Ricci (another actress that I loved growing up.) She plays Charlotte Flax, a girl who wants to be a nun (even though she's Jewish) and ends up crushing on an older guy.



Dracula

In Dracula Winona plays Mina, a girl who Dracula falls for because she looks an awful lot like his dead wife Elizabeta (also played by Ryder.) While she doesn't have the best British accent in the world, I still really love this movie, and I think that she looks great in her period costumes.




Little Women

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is on my list of books that I want to read, and a big majority of that reason is because of how much I like this movie. I think that Ryder is great as Jo, and my favorite scenes were all of the ones with her and Christian Bale.



Girl, Interrupted

Although this film is usually remembered for Angelina Jolie's performance as Lisa Roe, it also features a great performance by Winona Ryder as Susanna Kayson, the film's protagonist. She plays a girl who is sent to a mental institution and is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She becomes friends with the other inmates, forming a close bond with a sociopath named Lisa Roe who she finds out is even more messed up than she thought...



Mr. Deeds

While I think that overall this movie is pretty stupid, it is worth watching just for one clip of Winona Ryder. Its in the video at about 2:06. It always makes me laugh...



Black Swan

In my favorite film of 2010, Ryder plays an aging ballerina who becomes jealous of Natalie Portman's character and gets really depressed.

Upcoming: She will next be lending her voice to Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, and will also star in a film called The Stare.

The Dark Knight Rises Teaser Trailer

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OGM OGM OGM OGM OMG OMG!!!!!! Finally there is a teaser trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. I read about it on twitter a few days ago and I rushed to my computer to watch it on the The Dark Knight Rises Facebook page. I am somewhat disappointed that we don't see Catwoman at all, we do get a few glimpses at Bane. This movie is going to be so cool!!! Why can't it be July 2012 now???

Character of the Week: Patrick Bateman

This week's character of the week is Patrick Bateman. I remember reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis when I was 15 or 16 and being really disturbed by it. To this day, I still have never read the book all the way through. That is one of the great things about books though, is that you can say whatever you want in them. Mary Harron's film adaptation of American Psycho, however, is one of my favorite films. In my opinion, it is Christian Bale's greatest performance. The film is both disturbing and also darkly funny. Of all the serial killers in film, Patrick Bateman is one of my favorites. Unfortunately, this was the only good video that I could find to embed, but everyone should just go out and see this movie because it is amazing!

Oscar Nominations

This morning the nominations were announced for the 2011 Academy Awards. Here is who I think should win....

Best Picture

Last year I thought that having 10 Best Picture nominees was rediculous, but it really fits this year because there were so many good movies that came out. It would have been extremely hard to pick just five. I have only seen 8 of them, not having seen 127 Hours or Winter's Bone, so for all I know those two could be complete genius, or absolutely awful. Of the ones I have seen, I think that they are all really good choices. Personally, I think that The Kids Are All Right was a bit overrated because I wasn't really all that impressed with it. I thought that the performances were great, but the overall movie was just ok. I liked Inception, but I really don't think that it deserves to win Best Picture. Of the other six, though, its a pretty difficult choice. I loved all of those movies: The Fighter, Toy Story 3, True Grit, The King's Speech, and The Social Network, but the movie that I really want to win is my favorite movie that came out in 2010, and one of my favorite movies of the past decade....Black Swan.

It was everything I love in a movie. It was creepy, suspenseful, interesting, and different from all other movies I have seen. I left the movie theatre completely awestruck after seeing this movie, and that rarely happens.

Best Director

This one is tough, because it three directors are nominated that I really love: Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, and The Coen Brothers. I'm gonna have to go with Darren Aronofsky, though, because Black Swan was just sensational, and I think he did a really great job with it.

 Best Actor

This is another one that is extremely tough. I haven't seen 127 Hours or Biutiful, but I'm sure that James Franco and Javier Bardem are great in those movies because they are two of my favorite actors. Of the three that I have seen, though. I can't choose between Colin Firth or Jeff Bridges. I thought that Jesse Eisenberg was great in The Social Network, but I'm more in favor of the other two actors. Firth and Bridges were both fantastic in The King's Speech and True Grit, so I would be happy either way.

Best Actress

Of the five actresses nominated for Best Actress, I have only seen two of the films, The Kids Are All Right and Black Swan. I haven't seen Winter's Bone, Blue Valentine, or Rabbit Hole. That doesn't really matter, though, because while I thought Annette Bening was great in The Kid's Are All Right, I am rooting for Natalie Portman.

Best Supporting Actor

I have not seen The Town or Winter's Bone, so I can't really judge how good Jeremy Renner of John Hawkes's performances were. Of the other three actors, it is a really hard choice. Christian Bale, Geoffrey Rush and Mark Ruffalo all gave excellent performances this year in The Fighter, The King's Speech, and The Kids Are All Right. I'm going to have to go with Christian Bale, though. He was great as the crack addicted former boxer Dicky Eklund, and I think his win should make up for Mark Wahlberg not even being nominated. (Which he should have been!)

Best Supporting Actress

If it were up to me, I would give the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to Barbara Hershey. She was perfect as Natalie Portman's controlling mom in Black Swan, and I can't believe she was snubbed! I know the Academy loves nominating kids, but they could easily give her Hailee Steinfeld's spot. I thought Steinfeld was good in True Grit, but I didn't think her performance was Oscar-worthy. I love Helena Bonham Carter, and I thought that she was fantastic in The King's Speech, but I think this year the Oscar is going to go to The Fighter's Melissa Leo. Although I do agree that she was a bit too young to play the mother of 9 kids in their 30s and 40s, her age wasn't something that was distracting because she was so great in her role as Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg's mom.

Best Visual Effects

I'm not even going to talk about the others because this one should go to Inception! From half of the city curving up to the zero gravity fight scenes, this movie just looked really cool! Nothing else really compared to it visually this year. Having said that, I'm pretty bummed that Tron: Legacy wasn't nominated in this category...

Best Costume Design

This year I was crazy about the costumes in Alice in Wonderland. I loved everything that Mia Wasikowska wore in that movie. Even the armor she wears at the end is fantastic! If this movie doesn't win for Best Costume Design, I will be very disappointed!

Best Makeup

I haven't seen Barney's Version or The Way Back, but I don't really care because I am rooting for Rick Baker all the way!!! Baker and David Elsey are nominated for The Wolfman, and should definitely win. I am a huge fan of monster makeup, and they did a great job transforming a handsome dude like Benicio Del Toro into the Wolfman.

My Review: The Fighter

Mark Wahlberg is effin sexy. Just thought that everyone should know... Anyways, this movie was really really good. It tells the story of boxer Micky Ward and his older brother Dicky. Dicky is sort of a town legend because he knocked out Sugar Ray Leonard, and is also Micky's trainer and a crack addict. This movie tells the tale of how Micky went from being a "stepping stone" to being welterweight champion of the world. While I'm not a particularly big fan of boxing, I always get really into boxing movies. When they are in the ring, and getting the crap kicked out of them, I always get stressed, and when they start winning, I always get really excited. During the first fight when he was getting his ass kicked, I seriously thought I was going to have a heart attack, and at the end, I almost cried. Anyways, this movie has great performances from all of the leads, Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo. Bale and Leo totally deserved their Golden Globes, and I'm surprised that Wahlberg wasn't nominated, because I think that he did a great job too. And I'm not just saying that because I think that he is damn fine, which I do...because he is. Well anyways, if I saw this movie when it was still 2010, this definitely would have made it in my top ten of 2010 list because it is a really great movie with really great performances, and is definitely a film I would recommend. My rating: 9/10

Batman 3 Title!!!

Slowly but surely more news keeps coming out about Christopher Nolan's next Batman movie. Today I learned two very big things about Batman 3. First, it is titled The Dark Night Rises. Not the best title in the world, but hey, at least theres a title. The second thing came as a big surprise to me. Nolan said that the villain in The Dark Knight Rises will NOT be The Riddler! I mean, I thought that it was certain that The Riddler would be the villain, but I guess not... So, that leaves the question of who WILL be the villain? I've said this before, but I personally really hope that it will be Catwoman. Rachel Dawes died in The Dark Knight, so Bruce Wayne needs a new villain AND a new love interest, so why not give him both with the character of Selena Kyle? I've posted before that I thought that Angelina Jolie would make a perfect Catwoman, and while I stand by that statement completely, I have also read rumors that Marion Cotillard might play her, and she wouldn't be too bad of a choice either...

So, to sum up, here is everything that i know for sure about The Dark Night Rises:

• Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine are returning
• It will be released July 20, 2012
• It will be filmed in IMAX, but not in 3D
• Tom Hardy has a role, but it's not specified as who
• The villain will not be The Riddler, nor will it be Mr. Freeze or The Penguin
• It will be Christopher Nolan's last Batman film