2019 Natie Awards: Best Actor

There were a plethora of great performances this year and narrowing it down to only five was very difficult.  Some of these nominees have been nominated for multiple Natie’s while others are being included for the first time.  In any other year, any of these actors could have walked away with the trophy.

Here are the nominees for Best Actor:

Christian Bale – Dick Cheney (Vice)

Bradley Cooper – Jackson Maine (A Star is Born)

Ryan Gosling – Neil Armstrong (First Man)

Rami Malek – Freddie Mercury (Bohemian Rhapsody)

John David Washington – Det. Ron Stallworth (BlacKkKlansman)

2016 Naties Awards: Best Supporting Actor

Not everybody can lead a movie.  Sometimes big-name actors have to take a step back and let others take the lead. There were plenty examples of supporting actors stealing the show in 2015.  Here are the nominees for Best Supporting Actor.

Nominees:

Christian Bale (The Big Short)

Idris Elba (Beasts of No Nation)

Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Road, The Revenant)

Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, Star Wars: The Force Awakens)

Michael Pena (Ant-Man)

Top 5 Christian Bale Roles

Sorry that I have not been posting as frequently.  I am currently recovering from a collapsed lung and just have not had a lot of energy recently.  I should be able to be back to posting pretty regularly withing a day or so.  I hope you enjoy the Top Five Christian Bale Roles

With a mother who performed in the circus and a father that was a commercial pilot, who ever thought Christian Bale would become one of the biggest actors of his generation.  Arguable the best active method actor, Bale still plays a huge role in Hollywood.  While he may be annoying to work with (see my list of the hardest actors to work with: http://bit.ly/1IDTiUK), here are Bale’s best five acting roles:

 

#5:  Trevor Reznik (The Mechinist-2004)

Considering how buff we know Bale is now, this picture shows the crazy lengths he will go to in an effort to get into character.  In The Mechinist, Trevor Reznik is an engineer that suffers from long-term insomnia and hasn’t slept in over a year.  He is blamed for a workplace incident that results in a coworker losing an arm.  We see the insomnia’s effect on him as delusions and hallucinations plague his life.  While it can be a tough movie to watch, The Mechinist was one of Bale’s best performances.

 

#4:  Irving Rosenfeld (American Hustle-2013)

From Trevor Reznik to Irving Rosenfeld, Bale has shown that he is not concerned for his weight when it comes to acting. Shortly after filming The Dark Knight Rises, he began working on gaining weight for his role in American Hustle.  Bale does a great job of portraying a man who has found himself forced to commit fraud and break the law to support himself.  When he meets Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), he wants to start his life over and leave New York, but he cannot bring himself to leave his wife (Jennifer Lawrence) and his son.  Who ever thought that he would look like this: http://bit.ly/1hsiliD 

 

#3:  Dicky Eklund (The Fighter-2010

Bale won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in The Fighter.  In a movie based on the true story of “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), he plays Ward’s half-brother, Dicky Eklund, who helps train Ward into the boxer he is.  Bale once again showed his method acting as he stayed in character during the entire filming process.  The Fighter was another movie where Christian Bale had to drop a ton of weight for his character.  It is definitely a must-see movie and one of the best sports movies created.

 

#2:  Batman (Dark Knight Trilogy-2005-2012)

Christian Bale was the perfect choice for Batman when Christopher Nolan decided to make a realistic depiction of the superhero.  He convinced everybody that a man could dress up as a bat and run around stopping crime.  In the three movies, he has everybody convinced that he is Bruce Wayne, not Bale.  While everybody focused on Heath Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight, Bale’s performance goes under the radar as he plays an effective Batman.

 

Honorable Mention

Dan Evans (3:10 to Yuma-2007)

Alfred Borden (The Prestige-2006)

 

#1:  Patrick Bateman (American Psycho-2000)

Successful businessman by day, ruthless serial killer by night, Patrick Bateman is a take off of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The movie does a great job of showing us inside the mind of a murderous sociopath.  This movie skyrocketed Bale into the mainstream and made him a hot commodity.  While the movie touches on some darker matter and includes a few graphic scenes, American Psycho is a solid movie that is a good horror-comedy flick.  It is, by far, Bale’s best performance (just watch the opening monologue http://bit.ly/1mSd1s).

 

As a method actor, Christian Bale has given us many great performances.  He is willing to do just about anything for a role. This picture shows what he is capable of doing in only a few MONTHS:

and there is no way that I could leave you guys without a link for his outburst on the set of Terminator: Salvation (warning: it’s pretty explicit:  http://bit.ly/120lkeo).

 

Which actor or director should I do next?  Comment and let me know!

Five Hardest Actors to work with in Hollywood

After appearing in movie after movie, some actors let the fame go to their head.  Whether they want more say in the script or demand a higher pay, these are the five hardest actors to work with in all of Hollywood.

#5: Edward Norton (Birdman, Fight Club, American History X)

Norton has been known to work as a method actor.  He completely submerses himself in each of his roles.  While his dedication is admired, it can occasionally lead to Norton butting in where he shouldn’t.  Norton wants a large degree of control in all of his roles.  His character in Birdman is actually an extremely similar actor to himself.  While he is one of the best actors out there, buyer beware when it comes to Edward Norton.

#4: Charlie Sheen (Major League, Platoon, Hot Shots!)

Sheen’s temperament and attitude issues have been well documented on and off the set.  His drinking and drug use has led him to make numerous public spectacles that have hurt his reputation.  While his acting career isn’t quite what it used to be, Sheen is still out there making movies and TV shows.  Directors know what they are getting into when they sign Sheen and that he could be gone in any moment if he makes some huge public gaffe.

#3:  Russell Crowe (Gladiator, Les Miserables, Man of Steel)

Russell Crowe loves to drink and get into fights.  He has had multiple public mishaps that have hurt his reputation.  What hasn’t been harmed is Crowe’s acting career.  Despite butting heads with multiple directors, Crowe continues to be offered role after role.  Although he has a bit of a temper, his acting skills keep him in the business as he continues to grow his already legendary career.

#2:  Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Hustle, American Psycho, The Fighter)

While Edward Norton is one of the biggest method actors, Christian Bale may be the best.  He has exploded on not only directors but even lighting guys (listen to his profanity-laced meltdown from the set of Terminator Salvation http://bit.ly/120lkeo).  To prove his dedication to his acting career, check out the body transformation that he went through in just SIX MONTHS between filming The Machinist and Batman Begins

You have to be crazy to be able to go through that.

Honorable Mention:

Gwyneth Paltrow

William Shatner

#1:  Marlon Brando (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, A Streetcar Named Desire)

Marlon Brando is considered one of the best actors of all-time.  He was also the hardest actor to work with of all-time. Brando would refuse to memorize lines for performances.  After signing a big deal with the creators of Superman, Brando mailed in the performance and made Kate Upton’s Age of Empires commercials look like good acting.  His ego definitely got to his head, but wow was he a great actor.  Most people will remember him as a historic actor, but I am sure that plenty of directors would have plenty to say.

Who do you think is the hardest actor to work with in Hollywood?  Let me know what you think.

Top 50 Movies of All-Time: Recap and Fun Facts

I can never just finish something and move on (kinda like Peter Jackson).  Now that I have finished my list of my Top 50 movies, I found a few “interesting facts” and connections that are pretty cool.  For those of you who haven’t read my top 50 posts, I’ll list them below:

Honorable Mentions:

The Immigrant

Toy Story 2

Better off Dead

Star Wars (II):  Attack of the Clones

Angels in the Outfield

Field of Dreams

Monty Python

The Lion King

Man of Steel

Dr. Strangelove

#50:  Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

#49:  12 Angry Men

#48:  UHF

#47:  Toy Story

#46:  Facing the Giants

#45:  Wreck-It Ralph

#44:  22 Jump Street

#43:  Moneyball

#42:  Anchorman

#41:  World War Z

#40:  The Dark Knight Rises

#39:  Boyhood

#38:  Glory Road

#37:  Star Wars (III):  Revenge of the Sith

#36:  Toy Story 3

#35:  The Prestige

#34:  American Beauty

#33:  Airplane!

#32:  Saving Mr. Banks

#31:  Captain Phillips

#30:  The LEGO Movie

#29:  It’s a Wonderful Life

#28:  Star Wars (VI):  Return of the Jedi

#27:  All the President’s Men

#26:  The Social Network

#25:  Captain America: The First Avenger

#24:  Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers

#23:  The Naked Gun

#22:  Iron Man

#21:  Silver Linings Playbook

#20:  The Princess Bride

#19:  Major League

#18:  Nightcrawler

#17:  Zero Dark Thirty

#16:  The Imitation Game

#15:  The Avengers

#14:  American Sniper

#13:  Now You See Me

#12:  Birdman

#11:  Lord of the Rings:  The Fellowship of the Ring

#10:  American Hustle

#9:  Argo

#8:  Star Wars (IV):  A New Hope

#7:  Schindler’s List

#6:  Whiplash

#5:  The Dark Knight

#4:  Lord of the Rings:  Return of the King

#3:  Star Wars (V):  The Empire Strikes Back

#2:  Inception

#1:  Interstellar

Okay, now that we are done with that, I went through every movie and listed the year that they were released.  While a lot of years had one or two movies, there were six years that had three or more movies released.  Here they are:

1989: 3 (Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, UHF, and Major League)

It was definitely a great year for comedy movies in 89!

2006: 3 (Facing the Giants, Glory Road, and The Prestige)

2006 saw a lot of strong underrated movies released.

2010: 3 (Toy Story 3, The Social Network, and Inception)

It was a huge year for blockbusters in 2010!

2013: 5 (World War Z, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips, Now You See Me, and American Hustle)

We saw a ton of variety and different concepts in 2013

2012: 6 (Wreck-It Ralph, The Dark Knight Rise, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, The Avengers, and Argo)

I would have hated to have been a member of the Academy and had to vote for the awards in 2012.

2014: 9 (22 Jump Street, Boyhood, The LEGO Movie, Nightcrawler, The Imitation Game, American Sniper, Birdman,                       Whiplash, and Interstellar)

I feel like 30 years from now 2014 is going to be remembered as a “1989.”  So many great movies came out last year          that didn’t even make the list.  It will be a long time before a year will produce as many memorable films as 2014.

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I also saw a link between a lot of actors that were in each of my movies.  Here is a list of each actor who was in at least three of the movies on my top 50:

First to cross off the obvious-

Everybody from the original Star Wars and Lord of the Rings trilogies (simple enough)

Chris Pratt: 3 (Moneyball, The LEGO Movie, Zero Dark Thirty)

Although he was only the star in one of these movies, Pratt is definitely a rising star in the movie industry.  He gave            great performances in all three of these movies along with Guardians of the Galaxy and Parks and Rec.  We’ll be                seeing a great deal of him in the future as he stars in Jurassic World and the Indiana Jones reboot.

Bradley Cooper:  3 (Silver Linings Playbook, American Sniper, American Hustle)

Over the last few years, Bradley Cooper has changed his image from the sexy funny guy to a serious Hollywood                  actor.  His great performances are one of the reasons all three of those movies are on the Top 50 list.  I can’t wait to          see what he has in store next.

Tom Hanks:  4 (Toy Story, Toy Story 3, Saving Mr. Banks, Captain Phillips)

Tom Hanks has been a star in Hollywood for a long time.  His performances in all four movies were spot on.  He has            been in the industry for a long time but does not intend on slowing down any time soon.  Whether it is a fun kids                movie like Toy Story or more adult movies like Forrest Gump, Hanks has been a solid actor in everything he has                  done.

Christian Bale:  4 (The Dark Knight Rises, The Prestige, American Hustle, The Dark Knight)

Christian Bale is one of the best method actors out there.  Although he has well-documented antics from his time                with Terminator Salvation, Bale is definitely a great actor.  He has been working with Christopher Nolan for both                  the Dark Knight trilogy and The Prestige but Bale was also a member of the star-studded American Hustle.

I have been a fan of all of these actors for a while and I guess it makes sense that they are reflected in my Top 50. Did you guys notice any oddities from my list or weird stats?  Let me know what you think.