Hi-Sci-Fi

Rule 1: Never watch a movie because you like an actor who is in it.

Ben,

Yes…and no. Actors are often known to pick a certain quality of scripts, which is how we develop “trust” (an important corporate concept, and applicable to any brand, including that of individuals as brands) and associate a quality of a film with those who participate in it.

Thankfully though, via magic of IMDB, it has become a much easier task to predict a qualitative outcome of a film in making. For one, looking at McG’s record of production leaves me ambivalent when discussing new Terminator. Yet, the impeccable choice of scripts and high production value history by an actor such as Christian Bale still places me at ease, intimating that this has the possibility of an immensely awesome film, which I will devour and enjoy.

What I mean is = all of this requires too much thinking. After all, this is just a movie…I just wish I didn’t care so much :(

Hmm. I’m actually not that impressed with Mr Bale. His version of Batman seems way too smug and comfy with the wealth that comes with his public Bruce Wayne alter ego. I miss Michael Keaton’s uncomfortable stutter and helpless shuffle when Vicki ‘Kim Basinger’ Vale voices her appreciation of the opulence that simply, and slightly embarrassingly, came with his cradle.

I liked him better in Equilibrium and American Psycho, but those were simpler roles to portray.

EDIT: Heh, forgot the point I was going to make :-P Christian Bale refused to do Justice League of America, so there’s something to be said for the argument of using the presence of big names as a sign of quality.

I think Bale is actually keeping his profile as low as possible. He isn’t Bruce Wayne, instead he is a modest family guy who has been in the acting business since he was a wee one. I loved Keaton as Batman, but touch my Bale with pointy ears, and I’m ready to rip anyone a new one!

He was in sooo much stuff - his Herzog film was mindblowing, and he seems like a helluva dedicated actor.

Maybe, just maybe, he refused to do Justice League because Justice League script sucked balls? Speaking of which - what is the last decent thing with Basinger in it?

Just a thought…

Herzog… Rescue Dawn? Yes, excellent point, bravery, but a nasty inelegant bravery born of despair and no available noble alternatives, so real you could taste it like it was blood in your beer. Mindblowing indeed.

But let me ask you this: Who were you cheering on most as the desperate pair made their way across the cruel jungle? Bale’s char, Dieter, or his already broken-by-years-of-torture partner, hanging on to near faded memories of hope instead of hope itself? Gotta check IMDb for his name, hang on. Ah: Steve Zahn, the actor is named, Duane, the char, the guy with the blond beard.

I had forgotten about Rescue Dawn because Christian Bale played second fiddle here too, just like Dark Knight and Heath Ledger. Granted, the baddie-char leaves more room to go mad with the performance, but the man for me just hasn’t registered as a ‘go anywhere, do anything’ actor yet.

Okay, so to concede, last Kim Basinger and her screen death, The Real McCoy [snigger] ;-P , and exactly, Warner is casting cheap unknown soapstars from Smallville and the like to cut costs. So you know Warner Bros is banking on the comics fandom to break even and the script is going to be torture and WB is investing as little time and effort they can get away with, not caring that those fans are gonna leave the cinema feeling buggered and are not gonna buy any dvd of this future monster, despite any amount of Stan Lee’s cameo footage.

But to bring this discussion back to back to its original Ben vs Irma point, yes, top league actors often equals satisfying scripts. Point for Irma: Christian Bale refuses WB’s JLoA. Point for Ben: Harrison Ford does and flunks Crystal Skull (or were you gripped by the ‘lifelike’ father-son chemistry between Ford - LaBeouf?)

I’m gonna have to go with Ben at the end of the tally, and harken back to the days when a 200 million dollars budget would mean a no-holds barred movie sensation, whereas now that barely seems enough to pay a big name cast.

When are the money hemorrhaging studio’s gonna stop blaming torrent sites for their downfall, when it’s their own damn fault for not scouting out eager new names like we see in Juno, but instead shoveling out senseless millions for a zero-expression Tom ‘scientology-sponsor’ Cruise? How stupid can you be, to make a multi-million dollar success enterprise like New Line Cinema stutter and fall?

Was I alone in seeing all those comments on SG’s Ark of Truth, saying if you like this, buy the dvd? I did buy the dvd for my living room entertainment, but I also downloaded the rip, because my Eee pc doesn’t have a dvd player.

I’m gonna stop here, ‘cause I seem to’ve twisted this argument into a well-travelled road.