Christian Bale - Last Proper Bloke Left in Hollywood

[Skywalker]

Bruce Willis was doing comedy long before Matthew Perry. Remember Moonlighting?

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Oh, that's true. I keep forgetting about that.

 

[Nardpuncher]

There's a topic....dramatic actors that are funnier than comedic ones.
Robert DeNiro is much funnier than Ben Stiller.
Bruce Willis is really funny.(Though yes he started with Moonlighting)

Well that's all I got.

 

[gblews]

Bale rules out romantic comedy role.



Well, that's at least one major actor who won't be selling out.

The romantic comedies that feature stories from the man's point of view are the best; When Harry Met Sally, 40 Year Old Virgin, Swingers, As Good s It Gets, are all good examples.

There is the occasional exception like Love Actually, which I believe is objectively shot from a "romantic" standpoint. But most romantic comedies are shot from the female standpoint and those, I believe, tend to be more formulaic, predictable, and cringe worthy. That would include all the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan romantic comedies. I can understand Bale not wanting any parts of these types of movies.

But from what I saw of his work in BB, Bale had better keep his options open.

 

[Hermiod]

^Hmmmm, hardly.

I do agree that "romantic" films are usually better if they're presented from a male perspective. Unfortunately, when they come from the female perspective they just go straight for schmaltz.

 

[Othello]

Christian Bale is a B-list actor whose been in a TON of shitty movies. He has no cause to be snobby about his work whatsoever. A very average actor on his best day.

 

[Othello]

^Bale said it first and I agreed with him. The male lead in your average rom-com is a weak character meant only to supplement the female lead.

The last good rom-com was When Harry Met Sally and that was 19 years ago. Since then they've become little more than vehicles for their female stars - especially the cookie cutter movies Jennifer Aniston does.

You've obviously never watched Love Actually.

 

[Othello]

^Maybe I misunderstood him, but my point stands. There has not been a strong male lead role in a romantic comedy for nearly two decades.

Clearly you haven't seen Love, Actually.

Hehehe..

 

[Hermiod]

^Yes, I have, and I'm not even going to get in to this with someone who thinks Bale is B-List.

 

[Daedalus12]

^Yes, I have, and I'm not even going to get in to this with someone who thinks Bale is B-List.

AFAIK in the movie industry the term A-List refers to a movie star who can command $20 million or more per movie.

 

[Nardpuncher]

This is getting weird....when did we all start defending romantic comedies?
This happens on this board sometimes...people become iconoclastic just to play devil's advocate. I say "Damn! I hate paper cuts!" then 3 people post and tell me to get over it or defend paper cuts or something. Ugh. Not everything has to be argued.

I am now an open target.

 

[Venardhi]

Christian Bale is a B-list actor whose been in a TON of shitty movies. He has no cause to be snobby about his work whatsoever. A very average actor on his best day.

I suppose SOMEONE has to like 10,000 BC and Jumper.

 

[Avilos]

Christian Bale has admitted to not being a big movie watcher. The lifestyle of a child actor did not allow him to grow up watching many. (Unlike many of his biggest fans!) Also that his perspective is different than most other actors. He never studied any particular acting style or the history of cinema. Which is the case for most actors who careers began as Drama Students.

Bale has said that he largely operates on instinct. In terms of the selection of his roles but also his performances. He chooses roles that he likes and plays them the way he sees them in his head. Not the way another actor may have played a similar part in a past film. I think that is what makes him so unique and so effective as an actor. He is rare natural actor. Which has been in evidence since he was a child.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Even "Good" romantic comedies are usually cliche-ridden, predictable, and have stereotypical roles. I can't see them as a challenge to actors, so I'd agree with Hermiod about that.

That's true of most commercial movies - especially action films and including "Batman."

And it's not true that romantic comedies from "the male POV" are "better" - only that a lot of guys like them better.

 

[Hitman]

Then you need to see Analyze This and Analyze That to see Robert de Niro holding his own with Billy Crystal.

I disagree completely. While de Niro was not bad in the movie, he was far from being good.

 

[Hermiod]

And it's not true that romantic comedies from "the male POV" are "better" - only that a lot of guys like them better.

Despite the occasional aberration (most notably Sex and the City) men still spend more money at the box office than women do, a fact Hollywood has forgotten.

 

[Tralah]

Considering the quality of romantic comedies, I can't blame Bale in the least. I'm sure there are some good romantic comedies being made these days, but no way in hell am I going to dredge through all that sludge to find a gem.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

And it's not true that romantic comedies from "the male POV" are "better" - only that a lot of guys like them better.

Despite the occasional aberration (most notably Sex and the City) men still spend more money at the box office than women do, a fact Hollywood has forgotten.

No, they haven't. They're just trying to pull a nintendo, and go for "The Expanded Audience".

 

[Hermiod]

Sex and the City is just the start. We'll see more female-orientated "blockbusters" in future. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just that the entertainment industry always takes it too far. Instead of going for every market they just go for the new one.

TV is abandoning men in droves and the music industry hasn't cared about men for two decades. Video gaming is still male dominated but the success of the Wii will no doubt lead to imitators. Resident Evil might change things, but at the moment the more traditional games on the Wii have not been its biggest successes.

This is not me saying "stop entertaining women!", of course not, it's me saying "look at me! I've got disposable income!! Entertain me too!"

As I said in Temis' thread about the US Summer TV schedules, with the exception of Stargate: Atlantis there is not one thing I want to watch. Battlestar Galactica and Lost both have definite ends coming up, and then there's Heroes. Aside from spin-offs from existing TV franchises, I just can't see myself watching much in the way of new TV.

I'm certainly not going to let Dollhouse get me all excited. It's a Joss Whedon show on Fox, look what happened last time they tried that idea.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Sex and the City is just the start. We'll see more female-orientated "blockbusters" in future. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just that the entertainment industry always takes it too far. Instead of going for every market they just go for the new one.

TV is abandoning men in droves and the music industry hasn't cared about men for two decades. Video gaming is still male dominated but the success of the Wii will no doubt lead to imitators. Resident Evil might change things, but at the moment the more traditional games on the Wii have not been its biggest successes.

This is not me saying "stop entertaining women!", of course not, it's me saying "look at me! I've got disposable income!! Entertain me too!"

As I said in Temis' thread about the US Summer TV schedules, with the exception of Stargate: Atlantis there is not one thing I want to watch. Battlestar Galactica and Lost both have definite ends coming up, and then there's Heroes. Aside from spin-offs from existing TV franchises, I just can't see myself watching much in the way of new TV.

I'm certainly not going to let Dollhouse get me all excited. It's a Joss Whedon show on Fox, look what happened last time they tried that idea.

This isn't a new trend, it started about 3 years ago, and sure there are more films and shows aimed towards women than there used to be, but there's plent of shows that aren't gender bias and work. Supernatural, Pushing Daisies, Sarah Connor, for starters. Upcoming just on the beeb, Being Human, Phoo Action, Outcasts, Survivors. There also seems to be a good chunk of American shows, Caprica, Virtuality, Dollhouse, Fringe, Revolution, etc. and these are all just on the SF&F side of things.