Christian Bale = Psychomuch?

I’ve worked on a movie set, an independent with some notable but much smaller names than Christian Bale, but still around “celebrities.” While there are many of them who are very nice and pleasant people, no matter what character they’re playing, the fact is there are enough of them like Bale out there who think common decency in the way they talk to others is below them.

What am I referring to? If you haven’t heard the buzz around the net, then take a listen below. Although this is old news in the sense of when it happened, the audio has only recently been released. This is Christian Bale going very psychomuch on the supposed DP (director of photography) or someone for fixing a light. WARNING: Extremely explicit language–or Bale using the f-word every other word, literally.

For those who’d prefer to skip the profanities, basically we get nearly 4 minutes of Bale ranting and swearing for someone upsetting his scene, which according to most was perhaps at most a minor adjustment of a light. They’re trying to play it off to him being “in character” or “just doing an emotional scene.” But for all the demands Bale makes for professionalism in his rant, he comes up sorely wanting and a complete hypocrite.

I suppose this shouldn’t surprise us, since he was charged with an assault on his mother (and sister?) around the same time, but still… Can we let him off the hook with “having a bad day?” I mean, how many of us would still have our jobs if we acted that way at work?

I know a lot of us willing to shrug it off to being a “movie star,” but I think we shrug off too many things these days. Anyone in the public eye, be they celebrities, policitians, even presidents seem to get the shrug because, well, they’re “dealing with a lot of stress right now.”

I think it’s time to hold these people to the same value we hold ourselves. To be honest, I wasn’t all that thrilled with his acting in Dark Knight (Heath’s what made the movie for me). And all my motivation for a Batman 3 with him in it has gone to maybe-catch-it-at-the-dollar-theater.

If I had any kind of clout, I think I’d demand he publicly apologize to the DP or whomever he’d gone off on, and realize that those of us who invest in him through movies don’t want tantrum-throwing babies playing an iconic figure like Batman. I’m not saying fire him from Batman, I’m saying tell him to clean up his act.

Anyways, I’m disappointed. 😦

“Nailed It!”

…after just about every take, especially one where my performance was lousy or something had gone desperately wrong, i would pipe in a loud falsetto—“nailed it!”

This sounds so much like something that either myself or somebody in my family would do that I had to wonder if anybody I was related to was involved. Then I remembered we’re not that interesting and if I had a relative that knew David Duchovny from the set of The X-Files: I Want to Believe they would for darn sure have contacted me and somehow arranged a meeting. Because if they didn’t they’d have to know I would hunt them down mercilessly and their end would be painful. Hey, I told you I was obsessed.

In any case, go read the rest of David’s “Nailed It” story for a laugh. If you don’t at least giggle you have no sense of humor and I pity you.

Stop Messing with my Head!

What is it with TV networks and DVD releases? I feel this is a valid question to ask for a few reasons.

First, when I buy a season of a series it’s because I like that series. I also expect to be able to own that whole series on DVD eventually. At this very moment I have had the first season of Murphy Brown for well over a year and the general consensus is that there will be no more releases. Even worse, I have the first four seasons of The Bob Newhart Show (one of my top 10 TV shows of all time) and while the company hasn’t even come out and said if they’re going to stop the releases or not, they’ve started releasing Newhart, which is leading everybody – including Bob Newhart himself – to wonder if they ever plan on releasing the last two seasons of the first show. How wrong is that?

Second, Law & Order – the whole franchise – is releasing DVDs at a pace slower than a snail in a bowl of solidified gelatin. What reason could anybody possibly have to hold up these releases? Seriously. Criminal Intent is half way through its seventh season and you can only get the first three on DVD. SVU finished up its ninth season and they’ve only managed to release up through season six. The original Law & Order finished its 18th season and you can only buy seasons 1-5 and 14. This is unacceptable when you consider I had season one of Heroes before season two premiered. Same thing with Kyle XY. Even cancelled shows are seeing DVD releases faster than one of the most beloved franchises on TV. If anybody reading this happens to have an idea of what’s going on I’d like to know because I haven’t found a thing.

Third, some networks understand that, while you might like the credits at the beginning of an episode, you really don’t want to sit through them for the whole disc and that it’s very convenient to have a chapter break right at the end of said credits. DVDs have been out for how long and there are still networks that refuse to put chapter breaks after the opening credits? Is it laziness or are the people in charge messing with us because they can?

Sorry, I just had to rant. These are some of the things that just bother me and make my DVD viewing a little less fun than it should be.

My Foxy New Browser

Over the past couple of days I’ve managed to install and use Firefox 3 on both my laptops and now my question to those of you who haven’t upgraded yet is “Why not?”

I’m really loving this latest version and for one simple reason: tab saving. In Firefox 2 when you had several tabs open but had to shut it down for any reason (new Firefox update, Windows update requiring a restart, etc.) there was no option to save the tabs (at least not one that popped up when you were closing out; I never really thought about searching for the option until one of the aforementioned issues arose and by then it was a bit late to be checking if there actually was one). In any case, it’s fabulous and really the only reason I would have needed to upgrade if I’d known about it before I did.

Also, the address bar is much more helpful and the whole thing is more integrated into your system.

For those of you still using Internet Explorer I simply need to know why. I’m not talking to those of you who work in a place where you’re only allowed IE; I’m talking to those people who still use it willingly, on their own computers. Whatever the reason, I’m telling you that you really should give Firefox 3 a try. It’s a great browser and, since it’s open-source, there are literally hundreds of add-ons you can search through to add to its functionality. With IE you’re pretty much stuck waiting until Microsoft decides to add a feature.

No, I haven’t said much, but basically my goal is to let you guys know one of the coolest, most secure browsers out there has upgraded and to ask you to give it a try. If you’ve been using Firefox all along you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, you really couldn’t pick a better time to switch.

Greetings

Hi all, I’m Mac, your friendly neighborhood SFX and action movie reviewer. I’ll also be giving you the lowdown on my favorite and not-so-favorite TV shows and PS3 games. Soon my good friend Dee will be joining us with her take on the more artsy side of film and, if you’re nice, insights into Wii gaming. Sorry guys, no XBox 360 blogging yet; I haven’t quite mustered the overwhelming desire to spend $400 to play Gears of War yet.

This blog will be changing quite a bit over the next couple of weeks as we settle in, so please pardon our dust. I’m sure Dee will have something special to post when the grand opening rolls around (date TBD). As for myself, in honor of the upcoming X-Files: I Want to Believe movie, I’ll be reviewing the X-Files Complete Collector’s Edition DVD set. Complete with pictures. You’re welcome.