Tag: Christian Bale (21-30 of 34)

Sep 1 2011 04:20 PM ET

Christian Bale won't star in stage version of 'Newsies,' but here's what you can expect

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Newsies-Musical

Image Credit: Disney

You remember Newsies, the 1992 Disney cult hit about a turn of the 20th century New York City paperboy strike — a.k.a. the kids movie in which Christian Bale sings and dances. Well, Millburn, N.J.’s Paper Mill Playhouse is about to host the world premiere of the Bale-free stage version. The producers staged a special advanced presentation today of four numbers from the new show, which begins performances Sept. 15 for a Sept. 25 opening. For those fans out there (and I’m one of them), we’ve got the lowdown on what’s the same, what’s different, and what we’re really, really excited to see.

• Don’t expect to hear the Razzie-winning song “High Times, Hard Times.” That tune, along with showgirl Medda’s “My Lovey Dovey Baby,” was cut (the former at the request of book writer Harvey Fierstein). Expect four or five new songs in their place, including a solo by a brand spanking new character and a number dedicated to the Brooklyn newsies.  READ FULL STORY »

Jun 8 2011 03:30 PM ET

Mark Wahlberg talks up 'Fighter' sequel again: Good idea?

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While accepting the Spike TV Award for Guy Movie of the Year, The Fighter‘s star and godfather Mark Wahlberg reiterated his intention to take “one more run” at the Micky Ward saga with another film. In a NSFW acceptance speech, Wahlberg reminded fans that Ward’s greatest moments in the ring — his epic trilogy with the late Arturo Gatti — weren’t included in the initial film, which nevertheless earned Oscars for co-stars Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. “We left [those] fights out for a reason,” he said, “because that’s for Fighter 2. We’re not going to do Fighter 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, but we’re going to do 2.” Watch his speech, which will air on Spike on June 10, after the jump. READ FULL STORY »

May 2 2011 01:24 PM ET

'The Batman Complex': Not as crazy as Christopher Nolan's other work?

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It was Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne himself who said in 2005′s Batman Begins, “Well, a guy who dresses up like a bat clearly has issues.” Christopher Nolan’s two superhero films seem satisfied with a superficial glimpse of the mental stability of its hero, but a clever new faux trailer for The Batman Complex ventures deep into the brain of the man who thinks he’s the Caped Crusader, with the help of Nolan’s other blockbuster, Inception, Bale’s previous work on films like The Machinist, and several other mind-altering movies.

Is it wrong to think that this pretend plot is less confusing than the actual one in Inception? This time around, when Leonardo DiCaprio’s dream-thief says, “I’ve done it before,” he’s referring to the seed he planted in Michael Keaton’s brain back in 1989. And when he warns, “His subconscious is militarized,” he’s dealing with extremely deadly characters: Joker, Two-Face, and an oil-spewing Batman. Take a look below at the first (fake) collaboration between Christian and Leo. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 28 2011 11:48 AM ET

Oscar Twitter stats: James Franco feels the online love/wrath

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James Franco may not have won the Best Actor Oscar, or the hearts of Oscar watchers (save our Ken Tucker), but according to Tweetbeat, which tracks the most talked about things on Twitter, he was by far the most tweeted about personality during last night’s Academy Awards. Of the estimated 400,000 Oscar-related tweets logged — half as many as the Super Bowl — 21,117 of them involved the actor/cohost. Anne Hathaway was the second most mentioned person with 14,530 tweets — though users were kinder to her than Franco. See the full Top 10 list below, along with other fun stats such as: the Top 3 most tweeted designers during the red carpet, the moments that caused “unexpected spikes of tweets” (hello, Melissa Leo!), which films were referenced the most (and whether those sentiments were positive or negative), and who Kirk Douglas bested… READ FULL STORY »

Feb 9 2011 07:26 PM ET

Christian Bale could go super-skinny again for his next role. Bo-ring. How about some REAL Method acting?

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Christian-Bale-MachinistImage Credit: Nicholas Geller; Inset: Vera Anderson/WireImage.comChristian Bale has his next project set in stone: According to Variety, the actor will re-team with The Machinist director Brad Anderson for Concrete Island, in which he’ll play “a wealthy architect who finds himself stranded on a section of fenced-off wasteland in West London and is forced to survive on only what’s in his crashed car and what he’s able to find.” You know what this means, PopWatchers: Bale will surely be going Method. Yes, based on that description, I fully expect to soon see scary tabloid photos of the dangerously dieting actor, who has famously lost weight for roles in The Machinist (pictured), Rescue Dawn, The Fighter, etc.

But I can’t be the only one thinking: Zzzzz. Been there, done that, Christian Bale! We’ve already seen the actor Method-act his way to a smaller pant size. We want to see if he can Method-act his way to something we’ve never seen from him — or any other actors. I’ve polled PopWatch HQ about what role they want to see Christian Bale try to play, with inanimate objects counting as an acceptable answer. Click the jump to see our answers, and suggest some in the comments below. It’s hump day, PopWatchers — let’s have some fun! READ FULL STORY »

Jan 25 2011 02:30 PM ET

Christian Bale has an Oscar nod, so now who's the greatest working actor still emptyhanded?

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Christian-BaleImage Credit: Jojo WhildenChristian Bale, c’mon down! After dozens of dedicated, textured, surprising performances — notably Empire of the Sun, Velvet Goldmine, American Psycho, Laurel Canyon, The Machinist, Batman Begins, Rescue Dawn, The Prestige, and 3:10 to Yuma — the Academy has finally recognized the actor for his supporting performance in The Fighter. I’m not going to scream, “It’s about time,” but, well… it is.

The Oscar nod allows us to remove Bale from EW’s list of Greatest Actors Never to Receive a Nomination. Last year, Bale was planted near the top of EW’s criminally never-nominated list, which still includes the likes of Donald Sutherland, Jim Carrey, Richard Gere, and Gary Oldman. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 20 2010 02:27 PM ET

Johnny Depp, 'Inception' top IMDb's year-end polls

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wonderlandImage Credit: DisneyIMDb released its users “STARmeter” picks for the year, which are completely based on “search behavior.” And lo, we search for who we love. The top slot this year went to Johnny Depp, which marks his sixth win in the category. Kristen Stewart came in second, followed by Robert Pattinson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Robert Downey Jr., Christian Bale, Gerard Butler, Megan Fox and Zoë Saldana. Interesting!

IMDb users also rated movies all year, and at the top of that heap is Inception. The wisdom of crowds, you guys! Toy Story 3 was second, followed by The Social Network, How to Train Your Dragon, Tangled, Kick-Ass, Shutter Island, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and The Town. This list is actually a bit more surprising — I know people loved Dragon, but I didn’t know it was that popular.

Do either of these lists surprise you, PopWatchers?

Nov 23 2010 04:07 PM ET

Christian Bale: The hero Batman deserved and needed

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Stephen Vaughan

There’s a famous tale that Batman & Robin director Joel Schumacher settled on George Clooney as his second and final Batman after sketching the superhero’s cowl with a Magic Marker over Clooney’s face in photos. I’m sure there was actually much more involved in the casting, but the story underscores a basic truth about playing every superhero, but especially Batman: No one really cares who wears the suit.

At least that was true for a long time. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 11 2010 05:10 PM ET

'The Dark Knight Rises': Which superstar actresses should Christopher Nolan cast?

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Weisz-Portman-HathawayImage Credit: David Gabber/PR Photos; David Gabber/PR Photos; Sylvain Gaboury/PR PhotosFor the past couple weeks, Hollywood gossips have been buzzing about the fact that Inception helmer Christopher Nolan has been auditioning actresses for two roles in his third Batman film, entitled The Dark Knight Rises. Deadline reports today that the director will soon meet with these six stars: Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts, Blake Lively, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway, and Keira Knightley. This follows a report at ComicBookMovie.com that Nolan has met with Charlize Theron for one part (said to be a character named Sarah Essen) and Vera Farmiga and Kacie Thomas for another (said to be a character named Julie Madison). To these names, I can report to you exclusively today that Nolan has just decided five seconds ago to meet with every single woman in Hollywood (and several locales outside of it) between the ages of 18 and 91 over the next two weeks, because hey, why not? Thoroughness, you know.

Okay, I confess: I may have made up my exclusive “news.” For the record, reps for Nolan and Warner Bros. declined to comment on the casting process. But just in case ComicBookMovie.com at least got the names of the characters right, here’s what you need to know: READ FULL STORY »

Nov 3 2010 06:50 PM ET

Is Tom Hardy the next Christian Bale?

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tom-hardyImage Credit: Steve Granitz/WireImage.comRumors circulated today that Inception‘s Tom Hardy is in talks to take a pivotal role in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. According to Moviefone, Hardy would play Sturges, a vampire mentor to young Abraham Lincoln. (Fox is producing AL: VH and would not comment on Hardy’s involvement in the film.) Combined with his mysterious lead role in Batman 3, Hardy is just a couple of years away from pop culture ubiquity. In fact, if you look at his career track closely, you find a striking array of similarities to his Dark Knight Rises co-star, Christian Bale.

Both Bale and Hardy were talented young actors who had an embarrassing (and potentially career-killing) role in a box office bomb in their younger days. Hardy played Captain Picard’s Romulan clone in Star Trek: Nemesis (which is actually better than its reputation), and Christian Bale played a singin’, dancin’, unionizin’ newsboy in Newsies (which is actually worse than its reputation). Both of them came back into prominence after playing jacked-up psychopaths (Bale in American Psycho, Hardy in Bronson.) They’re both totally Frolan (Friends of Chris Nolan). If you count Hardy stepping in for Mel Gibson in Mad Max 4, which is still set to film someday, then both actors have lead roles in post-apocalyptic reboot-fourquels. (Bale’s post-apocalyptic project being 2009′s Terminator Salvation.) Ow, my brain!

PopWatchers, do you think Tom Hardy’s 2012 will look like Christian Bale’s 2005? Would you like to see him in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, or should he be looking for artier fare to offset his expanding Nolanography?

Read more:
Tom Hardy to be in ‘Batman 3′? Who will he play?
EW review: Bronson
Fourth Mad Max film still a go

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