Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Christian Bale, Honorary Powerpuff Girl

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone fame is being roasted again as the all time champ of shameless Blurb Whores but that's not the point of this post.

While interviewing Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg for The Fighter, who seem to be in great moods (why wouldn't they be after the Globe & BFCA announcements?) Travers tries to entice Bale to serenade us with a little Newsies number. And why shouldn't he? Is there anything so wonderful as Bale crooning "Santa Fe" on horseback with that little red kerchief round his neck?

Travers doesn't get what he expects.



Unexpected delight: Wahlberg throwin' a little Boogie Nights encore in there.

Okay, I can't resist posting it... the best moment from Newsies bar none.



He has a lovely voice. Sad that he doesn't want to do another musical.

15 comments:

par3182 said...

i'm predicting all bale's acceptance speeches are going to be pacinoesque in their disjointed weirdness

Peggy Sue said...

Scary... Poor kids!

Volvagia said...

It'll be a better acceptance speech than the past two years. (Bardem was great, but Ledger (who probably would have been interesting) was dead and Waltz seemed amiable, but I don't even remember his phrasings. Bardem bursting into Spanish? Yeah, that was memorable.)

OtherRobert said...

The two seconds of a baritone rendition of "Sante Fe" were lovely. I can imagine, however, how being an actor stuck with Newsies on your resume could leave you reluctant to revisit the film. The reception back then was not nearly as kind as it is now.

NATHANIEL R said...

par -- a sound prediction. i hope that someone somewhen eventually goes as crazy as ally sheedy (at the spirit awards) or as loopy as barbra streisand (at the globes)... i still remember that bizarre rambling speech in which she talked about seeing her reflection in the hubcaps of a car. whaa...?

Unknown said...

That was quite amazing. I never thought I'd get to hear anything like that. He should include TV theme tunes in every interview he has.

Kurtis O said...

It never ceases to amaze me how often Travers recycles the same damn stock phrases. "Sneaks up and floors you" is the big one, but there's also "unmissable and unforgettable," and "sweeps you up on waves of ravishing romance," which he used for "Atonement," "Wall-E" and "Bright Star." Has he no shame?

Volvagia said...

There's only 2 guys I seriously read for reviews: Local paper critic Peter Howell and Ebert.

NATHANIEL R said...

Kurtis O -- no, none. what cracks me up is when he actually decides he wants to love something above all else and he'll say something like "it's the only movie i gave 5 stars to this year!" or whatever and i'm like HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE when every other movie gets "UNMISSABLE" quotes?

Kurtis O said...

Fo' real. And, as was brought up recently over at Awards Daily, he's not even consistent with his star ratings. "A Prophet" was one of maybe 3 films he anointed with a flawless score this year, but it's nowhere to be found on his LMAO top ten list. Same goes for last year, when he placed "Up" very low on his top ten, despite it scoring higher than nearly everything else, including his #1, "Precious."
I'm not saying a critic can't change his mind, it just adds to the guy's preposterous lack of credibility. And I know it's worthless to waste my energy on this, but, seriously, the Travers-as-hack discussion is one frequently had in my house. Every other TV spot (and it really is every other TV spot) makes me want to rip my hair out. [takes breath]

Unknown said...

I completely wasted my teens watching the Powerpuffs and Dexter's lab and

... Cow & Chicken and Courage the Cowardly Dog Show and the most recent very good one "The Grim Adventures of Billie and Mandy" and it was cartoons in general that taught me English, not books, so anyone who pays tribute to cartoons is a nice guy :P

so adorable that he sings this! really cute and fuzzy :D

Janice said...

//i'm predicting all bale's acceptance speeches are going to be pacinoesque in their disjointed weirdness//

and I for one am already looking forward to that night. Bring it on.

BTW, I always forget that he's British until I hear him in interviews. He does American accents so well.

On the issue of Travers - the one thing about the new TV spots for Rabbit Hole that made me cringe is that he is the first critic who gets quoted (with the Rolling Stone logo pasted across the screen like an advert within an advert.) I know it's all mutual f*cking, and all, in that precious little world but still - could they not have found a quote from another critic? That's the only misstep I've seen in RH's marketing so far, and maybe we're the only ones who give a damn about such things anyway? (but aren't we the target audience for the film?)

Walter L. Hollmann said...

*sigh* And here I was hoping they might get him for Freddy in My Fair Lady. Please, Bale! We want you to sing! Really, the only actor from Newsies who should be somewhat embarrassed is Duvall, whose "Ah'm uh newspapuh man, suh!" performance is ridiculous.

Katie said...

BE STILL MY HEART!!

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