Christian Bale Rant and Remix

You might remember the rumors circulating last summer about a huge blow up on the set of Terminator Salvation which wasn't due to pyrotechnics. Later when the director McG said to the press insisting that Christian Bale was really a nice guy we all started suspecting that something must have happened, sincel there is no smoke without fire.

So what did happen? Apparently Mr. Bale yelled at a crew member for repeatedly walking around the set in the background while they were shooting a scene. And he yelled, and yelled.

Listen for yourself:
http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_audio/020209_christianbale.mp3

Now why did it happen? I've got three possible reasons for you:

1. He's an asshole. Period.

Personally, I don't think there's enough evidence to support that hypothesis.

2. He's only human. And yes, he's got a bit of a temper.

He is often described as an intense actor. It is possible that his control might have just slipped for a bit. Frankly, I've heard much worse from people who do remarkably less with their life. Of course that's not an excuse, and he should have handled it better.

3. He is a great actor caught up in the middle of an important emotional scene and he was still in the character when he lashed out. In which case the poor guy should be grateful he didn't take him for a terminator and ripped his head off.

I don't know Mr. Bale personally so I can't say I know the right answer. I did notice though while listening to the recording that when he said "Let's go again," he sounded in control and more like upset and disappointed than angry. It's only after that when he's denied that he starts ranting again and things get worse. I think that was poor management from the director's part who should have been more in control of what happened on his set and if he'd read Christian's mood right he would have spared us half the rant.

Anyway, that's not my problem. What does bother me is the fact that this recording was made available online and the form it is in, with Christian's voice level uped to the max for emphasis and little else. Isn't it amazing how this happened exactly three months before Terminator Salvation's opening? Just in time to catch people's attention, but not too close to the release date so it won't drive them away... and all on the expense of Mr. Bale's reputation, 'cause after all he's rich and famous so who cares if he's got a bad rep too?

One good thing got out of this whole mess, the fabulous remix of Christian Bale's rant. Listen for yourself!

Movie Review: Gran Torino

*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***

Featuring: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Ahney Her

Genre: drama

Plot: Old war veteran widower takes under his wing young Asian teenager who tried to steal his Gran Torino.

Official website: http://www.thegrantorino.com/

Comments: The first three quarters of the movie are quite enjoyable, but we should have known better. We get a feeling that things will go horribly wrong once the boy is attacked, I didn’t expected them to go that way though. When the girl returned home it made my stomach turn. I consider myself tough enough but I don’t have the stomach to watch it again due to that one particular scene. Also the ending while I suppose it was made that way to send a message it was totally anti-climatic. Clint Eastwood does a great job portraying the grumpy old man, but I can’t help feeling that in a way it’s a more modern remake of the Unforgiven. And what happened with the car? Who cares what happened with the car?!

Rating: 8/10

Gran Torino Trailer

Movie Review: Blindness

*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***

Featuring: Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Danny Glover, Gael García Bernal

Genre: drama

Plot: People in the middle of a blindness epidemic outburst.

Official website: http://www.blindness-themovie.com/

Comments: Interesting artistic visuals and use of light. To say it’s disturbing doesn’t cover it. It’s raw, it’s bleak, heavy on the heart and it leaves you with an uneasy feeling after two long hours of depression and pain. The slightly forced and bitter-sweet happy ending misses its point, you just can’t shake out of the state of mind the movie puts you through, it makes you want to go watch some cheap brain washing comedy to forget all about it and get rid of the bitter taste in your mouth. I won’t watch it again.

Rating: 7/10

Blindness Trailer

2008 Cititor SF Awards

A great initiative concerning the Romanian sci fi literary universe.

Go vote!

http://cititorsf.wordpress.com/vot-2008/

Movie Review: Defiance

*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***

Featuring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, Alexa Davalos

Genre: drama, war

Plot: Jews’ survival in a forest during war.

Acting: great

Drama: war, Jews, hiding in a forest, so plenty

Action: war scenes, attacks, etc. though it’s not the main part of the movie

Funny: some funny lines, it’s not really meant to be funny

Visuals: outstanding, that forest is amazing, makes me think of a Hallmark movie and that is a good thing

Soundtrack: appropriate and really nice

Official website: http://www.defiancemovie.com/

Comments: Let me say first that I don’t care for movie inspired by true stories, war drama, and especially Jewish war drama. This being said I only accepted to see this movie because it had Live Schreiber in it. I wasn’t expecting much and I definitely didn’t expect to like it. I’m glad I was proved wrong. The visuals are breathtaking, and I don’t mean by that gory but simply beautiful, I wouldn’t mind living in that forest too, the soundtrack just enough not to disturb but enhance the atmosphere, and the acting was solid, including Daniel Craig’s who I can’t say I liked much up until now. Their accents were way off but it didn’t bother me that much since I didn’t understand what they were saying anyway. And a bit of a nit-pick, no matter how good the movie is Liev Schreiber’s acting is still too good for it.

Rating: 8/10

Defiance Trailer

Take That - Up All Night

We're starting the year with a new Take That video. After the heat received on top of a skyscrapper in LA last fall, this time we're treated with a frozen middle age street party. The concept is fun and it can fit the theme of the song if done write, only that unfortunately it wasn't. The protagonists don't look like they're having fun at all, there are way too many shots of people we don't care about and the boys are barely there, not mentioning the fact that Gary Barlow is missing from the entire second half of the video. The reasons are known, he had to rush home because his wife was in labor, but really we expected more professionalism from the guys and not just throw something there and make do with what they had without making any extra effort to get it right. The whole feel of the video is cheap, rushed and poorly edited. We're actually this close to be embarrassed for them.

Still, Up All Night is a fun song with a lot of potential. Just take a look at this recording from Take That Come to Town ITV show and tell me am I right or am I right?

Book Review: Frank Herbert – Chapterhouse: Dune (1985)

Published by www.nemira.ro

Being closely related to the previous book, Chapterhouse: Dune should be read right after Heretics of Dune, otherwise neither of them will make much sense. As it happens, up to this day Chapterhouse: Dune is the only book that is still missing from my Dune collection. When it was first published here it had taken a while since Heretics of Dune had appeared in the stores and I was so anxious to read it that as soon as I discovered that my cousin had it I couldn’t wait any longer and borrowed it from her. After that, the way it happens with most good things, I neglected acquiring it and I still regret that. Whenever I happen to enter into an used book store I look for it, I want one with the first edition cover to fit my collection and none of the new covers because I don’t like them, but so far no luck.

The story picks up right from where the last book left off, the same conflict being at the order of the day and led by the same major players. Again most action is taking place in the Bene Gesserit world of which we get a pretty good insight. The two rival Sister clans, Bene Gesserit and Honoured Matres, lead a ferocious fight for supremacy, determined to extinct one another and become the supreme leader in their field.

With the Bene Tleilaxu taken out of the equation for the time being, two new groups are introduced to join the conflict. First are the Jews, descendants of the original Jews from Earth, who had survived in hiding over the millenniums. It’s a bit puzzling that exactly they had made it that long, or maybe not. The others are the Futars, half-man half-cat people, and their handlers. The reasons behind their actions aren’t exactly clear but they are brought together by a common cause, fighting against the Honoured Matres who are like a plague for what is left of the Empire.

The key character is a Honoured Matre captured by the Bene Gesserit and rehabilitated and trained in their way. Duncan Idaho and Sheena aren’t missing from the scene either, and of course the sandworms.

The story ends with a major battle worthy of an Oscar special effects award, which reminds us in some way of the ending in Dune. The big difference is that, once again, there is no real ending. It becomes clear that Frank Herbert was saving the answers and part of the plot for future novels that he didn’t have time to write anymore.

If you want to know how the saga ends you have to read Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune. It’s a shame that Nemira didn’t get the rights to publish these two books. They aren’t better than the original books in the series but the way it is it feels unfinished. And maybe, just maybe, if it had acquired the rights they might have gotten published sooner. It would have been worth it even if it was just for that one great final closing line. But that's not the subject I'm writing about here so I’m not gonna tell you what that was.

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Written for Nemira Fan SF campaign:
“Aceasta recenzie face parte din campania Fan SF”

Book Review: Frank Herbert – Heretics of Dune (1984)

Published by www.nemira.ro

Things are speeding up again in Heretics of Dune, book five from the Dune saga. This was a breath of fresh air after the tedious and somewhat depressing God Emperor of Dune. A new era, new generation, and lots of action.

We’re a millennium and a half after Leto II’s death. The Empire has collapsed due to the God Emperor’s reign. Famine took over making the humans leave in an extended Scattering beyond the limits of the known universe. The created situation has allowed the Bene Gesserit order, Bene Tleilax and Ixians to take over the control becoming the highest power in the hierarchy. Dune is under their control, the desert is spreading again and sandworms have reappeared. They control the spice.

Sounds familiar? At least we’re in the same universe as in the first few books. Of course something has to happen. This time the main focus is on the Bene Gesserit clan and a new threat, the Honoured Matres, presumed wild Sisters gone rogue during the Scattering who are now returning intending to take over everything. They’re more violent and base their tactics on sexual enslavement of men. Yes, sex is becoming an important issue in this book receiving quite a bit of attention. Apparently Frank Herbert had learned that sex sells and was catching up with his time. I wonder how much the book’s appeal has increased because of this aspect as far as some of the readers are concerned, it would make for an interesting matter to study.

Things seem a little strange at first in the absence of any familiar character and having just known concepts laying around, but then a ghola of Duncan Idaho, or at least one of them, shows up and we feel at home again. So on one hand we have Duncan, and on the other hand we have Sheena, the last in the Atreides line, a child who can control the sandworms. These two are the real heroes of the story, the ones who make the action move forward being less inclined to let themselves be controlled by it. Another interesting character is Bashar Miles Teg who pretty much saves the day and their behinds several times.

The main problem with this book is that, unlike the others in the series, it has no proper ending, not the slightest feeling of completion. Too many plots are left unfinished, too many questions still need answers. After reading the next book, Chapterouse: Dune, it feels like they are both volumes of the same novel split in two. From a reader’s point of view that was very disappointing, especially since it took a while until the next book was published here at the time.

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Written for Nemira Fan SF campaign:
“Aceasta recenzie face parte din campania Fan SF”

Book Review: Frank Herbert – God Emperor of Dune (1981)

Published by www.nemira.ro

The fourth book in the Dune series stands out as the most different from the rest as far as plot, writing style and attitude as a whole are concerned. Three and a half millenniums have passed since the events in the previous book, and still the author manages not to just bring in an entire series of new characters but preserves some of the old ones too. We probably would have liked it less otherwise.

In fact, the book is a character study for the God Emperor, Paul Atreides’ son, Leto II. Starting from a baby who experienced the agony of life while still in the womb, then a child with prescient visions, a teenager symbiotic with the sandtrouts and becoming eventually the God Emperor of the known universe, Leto II has led no ordinary life.

It is interesting to follow the metamorphosis of this Tyrant as his people call him, see what makes him human, or better yet, discover how much of him is still human. He first lost his physical human form after the inoculation of the sandtrouts into his system. Only the face and hands are left of what used to be young Leto II, the rest of him has transformed into a giant worm-like creature, the advantages of this condition being that it made him practically indestructible.

On a personal plan, he lost his family. The Atreides line is not extinct but, as he’s lived longer than any other human ever had, he had to go repeatedly through the painful experience of seeing the ones he loves dying. It hardened him and emotionally distanced him from the ones around him. Still inside he is struggling with his condition and the solitude he has to endure. It is probably the reason why he is hanging onto a long series of Duncan Idaho ghola, an unique contact with the past and last reminder of who he used to be.

Settled on the Golden Path the way he is supposed to, Leto II is living a sentient life just waiting for the inevitable to happen. It is a fact he has accepted ever since the beginning, making the greatest sacrifice for the benefit of the human kind while supporting the risk of being hated by basically everyone. To quote a more modern character: “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” (Harvey Dent) Of course, that only applies to those who have the capacity to become a hero in the first place.

The romantic aspect is also explored though to a lesser degree. A creature like Leto II has become still finds the capacity to love against all odds.

Of all the books in the series this one is the most dragging, Leto’s point of view regarding everything around him leaving space for many long essay-like speeches, some with pure philosophic ideas, some with pure rambling, intentional or not, most of them adding little to the plot.

Written for Nemira Fan SF campaign:
“Aceasta recenzie face parte din campania Fan SF”

Book Review: Frank Herbert – Children of Dune (1976)

Published by www.nemira.ro

Note: I got complaints that this is more like a synopsis than a review. I was merely enjoying going through the book again. So now I changed it back to the usual rambling that doesn’t tell you much about actual plot… :P

While following the adventures of the Atreides twins, Frank Herbert uses the third book in the Dune series to discuss global issues that are just as current today as they were thirty years ago when the book was written.

From a political, Paul’s abdication to the throne while his heirs haven’t reached the physical maturity age yet leaves the Empire in a difficult situation. There’s need of a regent to reign in until the twins grow up, but their aunt Alia is not the best choice for that part. Like every party in the story she has her own agenda, not mentioning the fact that she is possessed.

This state of affairs has deep implications on the economical climate. There are already signs on difficulties as the Empire is starting to fall apart.

Aside from that, the religious factor added by Alia, The Preacher and the cult evolved around them gives us a close insight on how religion can influence the masses and where it can lead if used for personal purposes that have nothing to do with the religious feeling itself.

It is understandable that in such precarious circumstances there are various parties, particularly those who had the most to lose when Paul ascended to the throne, who will not pass on the opportunity to fight back and take what they consider as rightfully theirs. The twins are under constant attacks no regular children would survive, but of course our heroes are far from normal.

When it comes to them social implications and family dynamics are studied. Orphans, whose closest relatives - their aunt, step-mother, and even grandmother – who are supposed to love them and protect them do not have their best interests as priority but behave like their enemies at times, their only chance for survival is to stick together and back up one another the best they can. In the process life changing decision have to be made and put into practice, which permanently affect the children.

Underlying all, the constant ecological theme is not absent this time either. Once covered in sand and nothing else, Dune is slowly changing as the flora takes over the desert menacing the sandworm population.

Character death is judiciary applied terminating some of the storylines, though this is not a true ending but the beginning of a new era. We are left with the feeling that there is more to know about Paul Atreides’ children.

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Written for Nemira Fan SF campaign:
“Aceasta recenzie face parte din campania Fan SF”