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.
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.
While the science fiction genre is known for its handsome, charming heroes like Han Solo and Captain Malcolm Reynolds, for this list I am going to show some appreciation for my favorite science fiction heroines. These are the women who can kick some ass and take some names. While there are several awesome female characters in the sci fi genre, here are my top ten.
1. Ellen Ripley
Ellen Ripley kicks some xenomorph ass in not one, but four different Alien films. The one that she is probably best known for, however, is Aliens. I am a huge Sigourney Weaver fan, and that is in my opinion, the best thing that she has ever been in. No other sci fi heroine will ever come close to the awesomeness that is Ellen Ripley!
2. Mystique
Technically she is more of a villainess than a heroine, but I don't really care because I love Mystique. She is not only the coolest looking X-Men, but she has one of the coolest powers. Along with the ability that she has to turn into anyone, she also has great agility and fighting skills.
3. Sarah Connor
Although she is a bit of a damsel in distress in the first Terminator film, she shows her inner badass at the end when she kills the T-800. "You're terminated fucker!" It is in the second film where she becomes a truly badass sci fi heroine, only this time she has to work with a T-800 to fight against the T-1000.
4. LeeLoo
Growing up, The Fifth Element was one of my favorite movies. Naturally, my favorite character was always LeeLoo, the "perfect being" and the fifth element. The best part of this movie is most definitely the part where she is fighting all of those aliens during the Diva's song.
5. Princess Leia
Even though she does have her damsel in distress moments in A New Hope, Princess Leia is one tough broad. She is pretty much the only Star Wars character who actually hits the Storm Troopers when she shoots at them. Also, even though she is taken prisoner by Jabba the Hutt, she does find her own way to escape.
6. River Tam
I am a fan of all of the female characters from the show Firefly, but the one that is probably the most memorable is River Tam. Even though she is more of a quiet fighter, like Mystique or Miho from Sin City, she does have some cool fight scenes.
7. Dana Scully
While FBI Agent Dana Scully isn't badass in the way that the other women on the list are, she is still one of my favorite sci fi heroines. On The X-Files, although she is often quite skeptical about the strange things going on, she still uses her brains to solve (or attempt to solve) whatever she and Mulder are working on.
8. Barbarella
I just love this movie because of how campy it is. The best part is this movie has to be the part where she beats the Excessive Machine, which is a machine that tries to orgasm her to death. Boy, if I had to pick a way to die...
9. Zoe
Another one of my favorite characters from Firefly is Zoe. I just love her because she is both tough, but also really witty and funny. In the below video you will find some great quotes from her.
10. Jean Grey
Another one of my favorites from X-Men is Jean Grey aka The Pheonix. She has telekinetic powers, and goes from being a good guy in the first two films to evil in the third film.
This week's character of the week is Sarah Connor. She is from one of my favorite film franchises, the Terminator series. She is the mother of John Connor, the prophesised leader of the resistance against the machines. In the first Terminator film, the T-800 is sent back in time to kill her, so she never gives birth to John. So, a soldier named Kyle Reese is also sent back to protect her, but unbeknownst to both of them, he is also John's father, so he was sent back to impregnate her as well. In the second film, she works with a different T-800 to help keep John safe from the T-1000 model Terminator. She goes from scared victim in the first one, to badass survivor in the second film. I've only seen a couple episodes of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but I'm assuming that its pretty good. I love Sarah Connor because of how much of a transformation she goes through. Even by the end of the first film she toughens up a bit when she kills the T-800. "You're terminated, fucker!"
This week's spotlight is on Stan Winston. He was a make-up artist and a special effects person who had 10 Oscar nominations, and 3 wins. He has worked on some really cool movies and has really done a lot of important work in the fields of make-up and special effects. Here are some films that he has worked on. The Thing
While the majority of the work was done by the great Rob Bottin, Winston did step in to work on the dog transformation scene, one of the many amazing scenes in this film.
The Terminator
Stan Winston also did the special effects for all four Terminator films. He recieved two Oscars for his work on Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Aliens
For Aliens, Stan Winston was credited as Alien effects creator, and this is the film that won Winston his first Oscar, for best visual effects.
Predator
For this film, Winston received another nomination for Best Visual Effects. Even though this movie is corny as hell, I'm a sucker for a good Ahh-nold movie. That, and the Predator is one of the coolest looking film monsters ever!
Edward Scissorhands
For this film, Winston did the make-up for Edward as well making his hands. For this, he also received an Oscar nomination for Best Make-up. I was actually just watching this movie a few hours ago. I just love how under all of that make-up, Johnny Depp's handsomeness still shows through...
Batman Returns
For Batman Returns, Winston received yet another Oscar Nomination for transforming Danny DeVito into the Penguin.
Jurassic Park
Now onto what I think is the greatest work that Stan Winston has ever done, and that was creating the dinosaurs for Jurassic Park. Whenever you saw an entire dinosaur body, that was CGI. However, when you saw only parts of the dinos, you saw Winston's creations. This film, of course, won Winston his fourth Oscar.
While he has worked on several more films than this, including Avatar and Iron Man, these are the films, in my opinion, where he has done his best work.
This list was actually really hard to make. I was originally going to have it be my top ten, but it was way to hard to narrow it down, so I made it 15, and even that was hard. I ended up limiting it to two robots per movie (sorry Star Wars and Wall-E), and excluding TV robots (sorry Sarah Connor Chronicles and Jetsons.) Anyways, here is my list of my top 15 favorite movie robots.
15. THX 1138 Guards (THX 1138)
These silver-faced guards are from George Lucas's pre-Star Wars sci-fi dystopia film THX 1138. You better take your anti-emotion drugs, or you'll end up being shocked by one of their little cattle prod thingies. Its not easy to escape either, these fuckers are everywhere!
14. Gort (The Day the Earth Stood Still)
While he may not be the coolest looking robot in the world, Gort is certainly the most obedient. For the majority of The Day the Earth Stood Still, he is just standing in front of the spaceship, awaiting instuctions from his master, Klaatu. I read online that they had two Gort suits made, one with a zipper in the front for shots from behind, and one with the zipper in the back for shots from the front.
13. T-1000 (Terminator 2: Judgement Day)
Whats scarier than an evil cop? An evil cop that is actually a cyborg from the future who can turn to liquid and turn his arm into a giant knife, thats what...
12. Ash (Alien)
You don't find out that Ash is an android until towards the end of the film, but one of the coolest parts of the movie is when his severed robot head is talking on the table.
11. Fembots (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery)
Careful...cross mojonation causes their heads to explode...
10. Optimus Prime (Transformers)
I am not the biggest Transformers fan in the world. I've never watched the cartoon, I thought the first movie was okay, and I thought the second movie was stupid. Optimus Prime, however, makes the list because No.1, hes a badass and the best thing about the movies, and No 2, hes got that amazing deep voice....
9. EVE (Wall-E)
EVE is an awesome robot because she doesn't let anything get in the way of her mission. Eventually, she does soften up a bit, and how could you not with that adorable robot Wall-E around?
8. Machinenmensch (Metropolis)
Metropolis was one of the very first science fictions films, coming out in 1927. Even by todays standards, the design for the machinenmensch is pretty spectacular, and was reportedly an inspiration for C3PO's design.
7. Sonny (I, Robot)
I actually read the story that this movie was based on when I was in high school, and I thought that the Three Laws of Robotics thing was very cool. Can a robot break these rules and harm a human?
6. Marvin the Paranoid Android (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)
"What are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot?"
"I'd make a suggestion...but you wouldn't listen. No one ever does."
5. HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey)
HAL is without a doubt the most evil robot on the list. All he is is a red light and a voice that never changes tone, and yet he is terrifying!
4. Wall-E (Wall-E)
Wall-E is my favorite movie that has been made by Pixar. I think that it is such a great story and that Wall-E is a really great character. If you don't think this movie is absolutely adorable, then you must be a robot yourself...
3. T-800 (Terminator)
"I'll be back." Arguably the governators greatest role, and certainly my favorite of his...
2. R2-D2 (Star Wars)
You can't have a list of the best movie robots without adding this little astro droid. R2D2 is amazing because he only speaks through beeps and electronic sounds, and yet he has a personality. R2 is a bit of a smartass and a troublemaker, and is always giving C3PO a hard time, and thats why everybody loves him...
1. C3PO (Star Wars)
C3PO is one of my favorite characters in the Star Wars universe, and my favorite movie robot of all-time. C3PO is a protocol droid who was made by Anakin Skywalker, and ironically bought by his brother Owen Lars some years later. He then accompanies Luke Skywalker, his maker's son on many adventures throughout the galaxy along with his trusty sidekick and best friend R2D2.
