ot: is it worth the $$$ & time to try and watch Bale "act" in the new Batman???

[Crxsh]

wow, and i thought bale was a decent actor. but it is cool to dislike anything thats popular.

[Dolf]

Bale's a fantastic actor, y'all are on crack. And yes, see The Dark Knight.

 

 

Y'all better listen.

 

 

It's a fact that that guy is well adjusted.

[gusvolta]

Bale's a fantastic actor, y'all are on crack.

 

 

+10000

[jlantsberger]

Man, I really like Bale. And I REALLY can't understand not liking him in American Psycho. One-dimensional-skit acting? I think that was the point of his character in it. And it made me lol as well, but not due to poor acting, it's a comedy. An awesome and really dark comedy. And I second the idea that anyone should read the book, because holy {censored}. It's the only time I've ever had a hard time READING violence.

If anything, I'm skeptcal about Ledger. I've never liked him in anything (please don't bring up {censored}ing 10 Things I Hate About You as an example of his good acting. Please.), though from all I've heard he's awesome in this. I can't wait to see it.

[hangwire]

+10000

 

 

and your moniker makes em think you like the mars volta... so I guess our tastes are pretty much not going to match...

[loomer415]

Man, I really like Bale. And I REALLY can't understand not liking him in American Psycho. One-dimensional-skit acting? I think that was the point of his character in it. And it made me lol as well, but not due to poor acting, it's a comedy. An awesome and really dark comedy. And I second the idea that anyone should read the book, because holy {censored}. It's the only time I've ever had a hard time READING violence. If anything, I'm skeptcal about Ledger. I've never liked him in anything (please don't bring up {censored}ing 10 Things I Hate About You as an example of his good acting. Please.), though from all I've heard he's awesome in this. I can't wait to see it.

 

 

i was skeptical of ledger but bottom line: there is not a bad performance in this movie.

[Poker99]

I like Bale.

Kids don't like him because he's not emo enough.

[Taylor.]

If anything, I'm skeptcal about Ledger. I've never liked him in anything (please don't bring up {censored}ing 10 Things I Hate About You as an example of his good acting. Please.), though from all I've heard he's awesome in this. I can't wait to see it.

Don't be.

[HeartfeltDawn]

American Psycho is a fun movie. Bale's performance is akin to Jim Carrey in that one, though. It's a one dimensional, over-the-top skit-style of acting.

...which is precisely what the novel called for him to do.

'One dimensional' - the character's a yuppie in the 1980's! Of course he's shallow!

The novel has Bateman talking about Huey Lewis & The news for an entire chapter. It's obsessive. It's over the top. I thought Bale was superb in the film as it's a novel that doesn't lend itself easily to a film adaptation. Many thought you couldn't capture the drug experiences detailed in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on film but Terry Gilliam did it and so Mary Harron managed to capture the brutality and surreal humour in American Psycho.

Just think of this... at one point American Psycho was going to have been directed by Oliver Stone with Leonard DiCaprio in the title role. Now that really would have been one-dimensional. I can't stand Oliver Stone.

Kudos to you for the opinion on Bale though. I think you're wrong but I'm glad you said it, for your feelings about Christian Bale are how I feel about Daniel Day-Lewis over the last decade

[Welladjusted]

If anything, I'm skeptcal about Ledger. I've never liked him in anything (please don't bring up {censored}ing 10 Things I Hate About You as an example of his good acting. Please.), though from all I've heard he's awesome in this. I can't wait to see it.

 

 

People bring up 10 things I hate about you as an example of good acting?

 

He was excellent in Monster's Ball and I'm Not There, I thought.

 

But word on the street is that The Joker is by far his best work

[onyxrhino]

...which is precisely what the novel called for him to do. 'One dimensional' - the character's a yuppie in the 1980's! Of course he's shallow! The novel has Bateman talking about Huey Lewis & The news for an entire chapter. It's obsessive. It's over the top. I thought Bale was superb in the film as it's a novel that doesn't lend itself easily to a film adaptation. Many thought you couldn't capture the drug experiences detailed in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on film but Terry Gilliam did it and so Mary Harron managed to capture the brutality and surreal humour in American Psycho. Just think of this... at one point American Psycho was going to have been directed by Oliver Stone with Leonard DiCaprio in the title role. Now that really would have been one-dimensional. I can't stand Oliver Stone. Kudos to you for the opinion on Bale though. I think you're wrong but I'm glad you said it, for your feelings about Christian Bale are how I feel about Daniel Day-Lewis over the last decade

 

Yeah I'm no Oliver Stone fan either.

 

But I have to take issue with the whole "It's a one dimensional performance because it's a one dimensional character" argument. Go watch The Discreet Charm of Bourgeosie (Harron's admitted biggest inspiration for American Psycho) to see how real actors handle one dimensional characters.

 

In the book, the character is very eerie in his obsessive blankness. In the film, I didn't get that, I just got hyperbolic shallow yuppie.

[jlantsberger]

People bring up 10 things I hate about you as an example of good acting? He was excellent in Monster's Ball and I'm Not There, I thought. But word on the street is that The Joker is by far his best work

 

 

Well, maybe not of good acting. But every time I say "Man, I can't stand that guy," I get "But what about 10 Things I Hate About You? I love that movie!" To which I respond with a blank stare. Or people note Brokeback Mountain, which I thought was also pretty weak.

 

However, I've yet to see either of the movies you've mentioned, so...

[MegaTom]

Christian Bale as Batman rocks my cock off!

[HeartfeltDawn]

Yeah I'm no Oliver Stone fan either. But I have to take issue with the whole "It's a one dimensional performance because it's a one dimensional character" argument. Go watch The Discreet Charm of Bourgeosie (Harron's admitted biggest inspiration for American Psycho) to see how real actors handle one dimensional characters. In the book, the character is very eerie in his obsessive blankness. In the film, I didn't get that, I just got hyperbolic shallow yuppie.

I agree that the book is more eerie in how it portrays Bateman. Personally I think that's down to the near-10 year gap between the novel coming out and the film being released. There's an entire decade of 90's backlash against the 80's as well as some jibes at the rise of the corporate world. The societal situation at the time the book was written compared to the time of the film being delivered will inevitably influence the film. The move to the hyperbolic yuppie was pretty much all they could do with the character if you can't replicate the lengthy sex and murder scenes. The book and the film compliment each other pretty well because both have flaws and positives. There's a good argument for saying the book is too dense at times, that the level of Bateman's obsessions actually do the book damage. It reminded me of reading Junkie by Burroughs for the first time. Years ago I wrote a piece for a class that made a case for American Psycho being a superb demonstration of writing technique and ideas rather than being a good book in itself.

More kudos to you for mentioning Bunuel

[telephant]

.your feelings about Christian Bale are how I feel about Daniel Day-Lewis over the last decade

[onyxrhino]

I agree that the book is more eerie in how it portrays Bateman. Personally I think that's down to the near-10 year gap between the novel coming out and the film being released. There's an entire decade of 90's backlash against the 80's as well as some jibes at the rise of the corporate world. The societal situation at the time the book was written compared to the time of the film being delivered will inevitably influence the film. The move to the hyperbolic yuppie was pretty much all they could do with the character if you can't replicate the lengthy sex and murder scenes. The book and the film compliment each other pretty well because both have flaws and positives. There's a good argument for saying the book is too dense at times, that the level of Bateman's obsessions actually do the book damage. It reminded me of reading Junkie by Burroughs for the first time. Years ago I wrote a piece for a class that made a case for American Psycho being a superb demonstration of writing technique and ideas rather than being a good book in itself. More kudos to you for mentioning Bunuel

Yeah, I've always considered the book to be one of the more unique literary achievements. It's like a 1980s Song of Myself written by an automaton. It would have been {censored}ing difficult to ever adapt it faithfully, but I think it could have been done better. I would have loved to see what a director like DePalma could have done with it. That said, it's a pretty good movie. But I do feel like another actor could have done more with the part. There needs to be more of a void in the character. I realize a void is something impossible to play. But I think its something that can be suggested. What Bale does is exaggerate the surface of the character, which to me is the easy way out and doesn't really get at what is unique about the character and the book. I wanted to see something more along the lines of what Bresson gets from his actors when his technique is working properly - a sense of emptiness beyond understanding. Admittedly, it's hard as hell to pull off that sort of thing, so I can't really fault Bale in this performance in particular for failing in that. But I also won't hold up his performance as evidence of fine acting because he does seem to miss the point of the character.

[L_Z_nut]

Don't you guys love criticizing people you don't like? I know I do.

[murch33]

he played in alot of movies and american psycho is the only one everyone remembers?... he's a good actor... "rescue dawn", "the machinist"...

Ugh... Rescue Dawn suuuuuuuuuuuucked.

 

My favorite Bale performances are American Psycho (by far) and The Machinist, although I'll agree that he's not the greatest actor around. Hopefully I'll get a chance to catch Dark Knight this weekend without it being too incredibly packed with high school kiddies.

[Gomez315]

what about harsh times? That movie was pretty lol. Should rent it if you haven't seen it.

[Dolf]

And am I the only person here who's seen "Metroland?"

 

 

That movie kicked ass.

[HeartfeltDawn]

Don't you guys love criticizing people you don't like? I know I do.

So do I but there's only so many posts I can make entitled 'John Mayer sucks ass'. Or have i missed the point?

[HeartfeltDawn]

Yeah, I've always considered the book to be one of the more unique literary achievements. It's like a 1980s Song of Myself written by an automaton. It would have been {censored}ing difficult to ever adapt it faithfully, but I think it could have been done better. I would have loved to see what a director like DePalma could have done with it. That said, it's a pretty good movie. But I do feel like another actor could have done more with the part. There needs to be more of a void in the character. I realize a void is something impossible to play. But I think its something that can be suggested. What Bale does is exaggerate the surface of the character, which to me is the easy way out and doesn't really get at what is unique about the character and the book. I wanted to see something more along the lines of what Bresson gets from his actors when his technique is working properly - a sense of emptiness beyond understanding. Admittedly, it's hard as hell to pull off that sort of thing, so I can't really fault Bale in this performance in particular for failing in that. But I also won't hold up his performance as evidence of fine acting because he does seem to miss the point of the character.

The Bateman character is a very open-ended one. From the book we know things he likes, we know his regimes and his routines but we know so little about him as a human. Apart from the psychotic element, he's a very 'blank slate' character. Someone like Johnny Depp I feel would have played it along similar lines to Bale whereas a young Dennis Hopper....

And with that open-endedness, a director could have taken that film in all manner of directions. I found it a very visual film which is odd for me. I'm not a hugely visual person, films have never grabbed me in the way books have, but there's some stking colours and it's got a really technicolour feel to it. It's comic violence and I wonder how much it was influenced by Pulp Ficiton in that Pulp Fiction was violent but the comedy it contained somehow toned down the violence. I wonder if this approach was used in American Psycho so that some of the violence could be retained but the more comic elements would help to smooth everything out a bit.

Maybe we'll get lucky one day and Michael Bay will remake it!

[Destrega]

Eckheart, Ledger, Oldman (lots of screen time!), Freeman, Cain are all awesome, and Bale is good as Wayne, but not Batman (the voice is meh).

 

I thought Bale was rock on in Equilibrium for sure.

[dreamspace]

what are you guys smoking?

he's the best damn actor we have these days

[chisa]

don't think he is much of an actor. seems to do the english roles better. he was good in the prestige.