The Right Profile: Discussion of Actors & Their Craft

[Seymour_Glass]

I loved jack in Cuckoo's Nest. And he was okay in Batman (I'm not fond of that film, so he's probably better in it than i think.) He has kinda started stopped trying hard, though.

Speaking of actors, Robert De Niro. He's hyped, but he's really damn good, too.
Al Pacino has given some great performances("Attica!")

And, this next one's gonna be more controversial: I think brad Pitt is one of the finest actors to be called a movie star working today. I've never not been impressed wih him in a picture.

Leo DiCaprio's been doing some fine work.

Christian Bale is overrated.

Johnny Depp is usually good, just not in Public Enemies.

ADDguy, over and out.

[candy]

I know what you mean completely, and I agree, I find Brad Pitt the same. But with the Joker, as with his role in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest I thought he fit the character well enough for Jack and the character to be one and the same. I think delivery of lines and stance and an ability to compliment your fellow cast are also good acting qualities.

yep, he has tended more in his later years to read them in, the bucket list was a prime example esp when looking back at the shining and cuckoo nest.
but the difference is even when he phones it in, he is still head and shoulders above the young whipper snappers currently on screen

I loved jack in Cuckoo's Nest. And he was okay in Batman (I'm not fond of that film, so he's probably better in it than i think.) He has kinda started stopped trying hard, though.

Speaking of actors, Robert De Niro. He's hyped, but he's really damn good, too.
Al Pacino has given some great performances("Attica!")

And, this next one's gonna be more controversial: I think brad Pitt is one of the finest actors to be called a movie star working today. I've never not been impressed wih him in a picture.

Leo DiCaprio's been doing some fine work.

Christian Bale is overrated.

Johnny Depp is usually good, just not in Public Enemies.

ADDguy, over and out.

maybe i am the opposite of a movie snob, but i dont get the hype around al pacino? he is neeee actor and he doesnt get me running to the cinema

agree that Johnny depp i a good actor, but so far he has picked really good films, makes you wonder if he can bring a bad film upwards (as mentioned with Jack Nicholson)

I also rate brad pitt as an actor, i feel he has also made good film choices,

think your all being very cruel to C bale when you see what he does for his craft, he is one of a handful of actors that really does immerse them selves into a role so much that sometimes his personal life suffer (as has been widely documented)

[Seymour_Glass]

He's just not as expressive as I want him to be. He'll go through all the hoops, but rarely do I feel what his character does in a film.

[Woofer]

I just don't get the whole Bale thing. He's not that great an actor. He has his moments, but honestly, for every good movie he's done - he's done one equally as bad.

One last comment, and Pam I am not singling you out, but I am using your quote as an example.

Why is it that people think I am in love with Bale just because I think he is the best Batman?

Srsly.

Hasn't anybody else looked at the list of live action Batmen that preceded him? George Fucking Clooney? Val Kilmer? Michael Keaton? He is the best we've had, and that doesn't piss me off.

Out.

[Seymour_Glass]

Bale is the best batman.

[turtlex]

I just don't get the whole Bale thing. He's not that great an actor. He has his moments, but honestly, for every good movie he's done - he's done one equally as bad.

One last comment, and Pam I am not singling you out, but I am using your quote as an example.

Why is it that people think I am in love with Bale just because I think he is the best Batman?

Srsly.

Hasn't anybody else looked at the list of live action Batmen that preceded him? George Fucking Clooney? Val Kilmer? Michael Keaton? He is the best we've had, and that doesn't piss me off.

Out.

SG.

[Woofer]

I just don't get the whole Bale thing. He's not that great an actor. He has his moments, but honestly, for every good movie he's done - he's done one equally as bad.

One last comment, and Pam I am not singling you out, but I am using your quote as an example.

Why is it that people think I am in love with Bale just because I think he is the best Batman?

Srsly.

Hasn't anybody else looked at the list of live action Batmen that preceded him? George Fucking Clooney? Val Kilmer? Michael Keaton? He is the best we've had, and that doesn't piss me off.

Out.

SG.

Thankee. Sorry if I sound touchy, but I've even had casual coworkers call Bale "your boy Bale" just because I praised him as Batman (starting with his first appearance as, of course). They say this as if I love him like I love Malcolm McDowell or something. I've liked him in some of his work (American Psycho, Equilibrium), not in others (Reign of Fire, The Prestige - to be fair, I didn't like movies either), and love him as Batman. I never thought I would love a Batman, so maybe the fact that I am so excited that I do like one makes it sound like I want to stalk and kidnap him or something. I don't know.

But thanks for understanding - and letting me use your post as a jump point.

Really out now.

ETA: And no, I wouldn't kick him out of bed, but I also wouldn't kick out Gary Oldman, Angelina Jolie, Tim Roth, Salma Hayek, Brad Pitt, Malcolm McDowell, Aaron Eckhart, Alan Rickman, or the ghost of Cary Grant.

[pathoftheturtle]

Hasn't anybody else looked at the list of live action Batmen that preceded him? George Fucking Clooney? Val Kilmer? Michael Keaton? He is the best we've had, and that doesn't piss me off.

Adam West?

[turtlex]

Adam West brought a layered sensibility to the rol..... No, sorry, I can't even type it without laughing.

[Woofer]

Adam West's pole was larger than Burt Ward's.

[Seymour_Glass]

Spoiler:

[cozener]

Isn't saying Bale is the best Batman like saying ... never mind. We haven't exactly had a plethora of "good" Batm...Batmen to compare him with.

Exactly. Val Kilmer? George Clooney? Michael Keaton?

I actually liked Keaton's Batman the most. He fit the look and the feel of Burton's Batman movies as both Bruce Wayne and Batman better than Bale fits in Nolan's movies. I do prefer Nolan's movies to Burton's though. Burton's movies went for a more comic book feel. Nolan's movies spring more from the idea of a "real" Batman. There's no weird camera angles in Nolan's movies, no outrageous color contrasts. Even the Joker displays this with his appearance being created with makeup and scars as opposed to the far fetched scenario of being dropped into chemicals and being disfigured in such a way by them.

And I don't think Bale is a bad Batman. I think he's a rather good Batman. The problem with Bale is that he makes for a shitty Bruce Wayne. Not because he doesn't act the part well. He does. He just doesn't look the part to me.

[pathoftheturtle]

He did look the young BW in parts of Batman Begins, IMO.

Thanks for getting my point that the nature of a film is more complicated than the subject of acting ability.

[pathoftheturtle]

Actors don't have to be Great in order to be great or perfect in a roll.

Who says they do?

It's an interesting question. I would have to say that sometimes when an actor is "perfect in" a certain role, the casting director actually deserves more credit for it than that actor does.

[turtlex]

Actors don't have to be Great in order to be great or perfect in a roll.

Who says they do?

It's an interesting question. I would have to say that sometimes when an actor is "perfect in" a certain role, the casting director actually deserves more credit for it than that actor does.

This is very perceptive.

I always thought one of the coolest jobs in the Industry was casting director.

[Seymour_Glass]

Yeah. Keanu Reeves in Thumbsucker.

[cozener]

I like the whispering that Bale does as Batman just because it makes sense that he'd want to disguise his voice. Bruce Wayne's image, at least in Nolan's movies, is almost like a male Paris Hilton. And he does everything he can to cultivate that image by acting the obnoxious, ditzy spoiled rich boy part. He's probably been interviewed by paparazzi, done fluff pieces for local tv stations. People that have interacted with him in person as both Batman and Bruce Wayne would almost certainly recognize his voice...especially astute people like Gordon and Dent.

Besides...it gets me all moist.

[turtlex]

Thanks, Coz - I just laughed coffee all over my computer !!


( mostly, I just wanna hand Batman a Sucret and tell him to get over himself and remind him he's wearing a mask )

[ArtherEld]

Well, I'll say something I'll probably get flamed for. I think Tom Cruise is a damn good actor. There I said it. I think most who criticize are bothered by his offscreen personality. Really I don't care how many couches he jumps on, he gets the job done onscreen. That's all I care about.

His best performances: "Born on the 4th of July", "War of the Worlds" (I'll get flamed for that one), "Tropic Thunder".

[turtlex]

I'm not going to flame, but I will say that I think he's better in secondary character parts than in leads.

I loved him in Rain Man, and he absolutely rocked in Magnolia. I hated War of the World, and thought he really phoned that one in. He was really good in Born on the 4th of July. Without a doubt.

Unfortunately, he's done enough crap that it's hard for me to say he's a great actor, in general.

[candy]

i agree that he was top on rain man and born on.

but tropic thunder? really?

[Jean]

I think the only movies with Cruise I've seen are Rain Man and Vanilla Sky; he was quite adequate in both.

[fernandito]

... and he absolutely rocked in Magnolia. .

He was amazing in Magnolia.

[turtlex]

... and he absolutely rocked in Magnolia. .

He was amazing in Magnolia.

Feev - I agree completely. 100%. Actually, though I loved Magnolia, all of it - my favorite scene is his with the reporter, when he's just sitting there and she asks what he's doing and he just says "What am I doing? I'm quietly judging you."

So great.

[pathoftheturtle]

i agree that he was top on rain man and born on.

but tropic thunder? really?

Well, it does show that he has some range, doesn't it?

Jean: You're saying that you've never seen Jerry Maguire?