Heath Ledger?....The Joker?

[quote]Steve4192 wrote:
Oquendog wrote:

However, Maggie Gyllenhaal will be playing ‘Rachel’ as Katie Holmes Cruise (or whatever) has turned down the continuation of the role due to ‘Scheduling Difficulties’.

That’s actually a HUGE upgrade in terms of acting ability. Katie Holmes is nice too look at, but she is about as wooden as they come in regards to delivering her lines. Gyllenhaal’s need to spout off about her personal politics annoys the crap out of me, but she is a damn fine actress.[/quote]

Katie Holmes and the guy that played the Scarecrow were painfully bad. The rest of the cast of Batman Begins was excellent.

Despite being a tad young, he probably will pull it off fairly well. Still, I would’ve like to have seen Philip Seymour Hoffman or maybe Crispin Glover.

[quote]Ronsauce wrote:
Despite being a tad young, he probably will pull it off fairly well. Still, I would’ve like to have seen Philip Seymour Hoffman or maybe Crispin Glover.
[/quote]

They were in talks with Phillip Seymour Hoffman to play the Penguin. There are even rumors of him appearing as Oswald Cobblepot in a cameo appearance in this movie.

Crispin Glover is fantastic, and has the look down pat, but IMO he is better at playing the understated quiet psychopath rather than an over-the-top character like the Joker.

I just want to echo whats already been said, I went into Batman Begins thinking it would be another in a long line of horrible remakes. But I was blown away with by the storyline and the development of the characters.

I mean I wasnt a fan at all of the Ras Al Ghul character on the animated series but I thoroughly his story in the movie. So I would say take a wait and see approach, the film crew have done a great job so far.

[quote]nephorm wrote:
Professor X wrote:
I have no reason to believe they will fuck up this movie yet. I honestly do think Bale would turn down the script if it truly sucked ass. That is why I am positive about Ledger and whoever else they throw in.

I am amazed so many people liked the first Bale movie. I was very disappointed with it.[/quote]

Sometimes, really great actors… make very poor choices. There have been enough mega flops with ‘all star’ casts who under some spell of stupidity all agreed to the film, and you wonder if they even saw the script. A good cast does not necessarily a good movie make.

Generally when I find out certain actors I respect are going to do the gig, it undoubtedly peaks my interest, but I try to keep my expectation to a minimum… and I’d say I was a pessimist for it…but by the same token I try to reserve negative expectation as well. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by no names in a sleeper and totally let down by big names in a pile of pretentious garbage.

All that said, I have been a fan of Christian Bale since he was a child and blew me away in ‘Empire of The Sun’. To this day it is one of my favourite movies of all time. Also, Maggie Gyllenhaal is terrificly talented, and one of the best female actresses going. Hell, she even married fellow talent Peter Saarsgard (his performances are always spot on with some edge of vulnerability, his best imo being in The Salton Sea opposite Val Kilmer) …they saw the double A’s in both of their last names and just knew they had to breed I suppose?

On the topic of Crispin playing the Joker…I could envision it, god only knows what that man has up his sleeve. (shrooms?) This interview with David Lettermen is just …holy shit. It’s from 1987, and Lettermen did not ask him back for more than ten years, since Crispin nearly dented his head in lol Hes so out there, its intriguing. I do enjoy Crispin.

http://www.youtube.com/p.swf?video_id=ALapHYNSmoA&eurl=http%3A//www.google.com/search%3Fsource%3Dig%26hl%3Den%26q%3Dcrispin%2Bglover%2Blettermen%2Byoutube%26btnG%3DGoogle%2BSearch&iurl=http%3A//img.youtube.com/vi/ALapHYNSmoA/2.jpg&t=OEgsToPDskIuUAumTmkqys6h2UPaap-d

As for Heath Ledger I think the doubt stems from the fact that the character of the Joker is quite eccentric, and he’s certainly not the first name that comes to my head when I word associate actors and ‘eccentricity’ …but that is the job of the actor is it not, to wear the pair of shoes you never thought they’d pull off.

And the fact that Jack wore them first, those are some pretty damn big shoes. He’s gonna need a few miles extra of laces.

[quote]Professor X wrote:
I have no reason to believe they will fuck up this movie yet. I honestly do think Bale would turn down the script if it truly sucked ass. That is why I am positive about Ledger and whoever else they throw in.[/quote]

I agree with that totally…Freeman,Caine,Eckhart…I believe they would do the same in my opinion.

I have no doubt that Eckhart will be good as Harvey Dent, but what about as Two Face?

[quote]Oquendog wrote:
This should definently seal the deal in people giving Heath Ledger a chance.[/quote]

That’s not Heath Ledger, and even less an official pic. Just a fan manip.

The one here is the only official pic of Joker, besides the pic in the first post, that’s known to public.

I have yet to be dissapointed in a Christopher Nolan movie.

I thought Batman Begins was awesome and the best Batman so far. I’m somewhat fearful of what the 2nd movie will be like because as someone said before “the bar has been set high” and hopefully this movie will be able to at least meet expectations.

We shall see July 18 2008!

I think what made Begins so good was the level of realism they achieved. However, I think that was mainly due to Liam Neeson’s Ra’s Al Ghul. None of the villains in Begins were cartoonish in the least bit.

However, with the Joker involved it is impossible to avvoid some level of camp and over-the-topness. I guess I’ll just trust that Nolan knows what he wants out of the character.

Besides, you couldn’t make a Batman series without the Joker.

[quote]Backlash79 wrote:
I thought Batman Begins was awesome and the best Batman so far.[/quote]

It’s the only good Batman so far, but it’s so amazing it made me forgot the other four. The first one wasn’t bad, but the three others were pure and unadultered crap.

Props to Micheal Keaton, a low-key actor who outstaged giants of the industry like Val Kilmer and Georges Clooney who’s interpretation of the dark night almost killed the franchise.

[quote]Zen warrior wrote:
Backlash79 wrote:
I thought Batman Begins was awesome and the best Batman so far.

It’s the only good Batman so far, but it’s so amazing it made me forgot the other four. The first one wasn’t bad, but the three others were pure and unadultered crap.

Props to Micheal Keaton, a low-key actor who outstaged giants of the industry like Val Kilmer and Georges Clooney who’s interpretation of the dark night almost killed the franchise.

[/quote]

I like the first one with Michael Keaton also, the 2nd one got way out of hand. Let’s not even discuss the other ones, I remember in an interview where Joel Schumacher said “I don’t like how they made Batman so dark…” that statement made me want to tear my hair out.

I think the biggest problem when it comes to portrayals of Batman was the dual identity. Michael Keaton I thought was a great Batman but terrible Bruce Wayne, Val Kilmer was an ok playboy bad Batman, Same with George Clooney.

Christian Bale was the one actor that I actually felt was a good Batman and a good millionaire playboy.

[quote]Backlash79 wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
Backlash79 wrote:
I thought Batman Begins was awesome and the best Batman so far.

It’s the only good Batman so far, but it’s so amazing it made me forgot the other four. The first one wasn’t bad, but the three others were pure and unadultered crap.

Props to Micheal Keaton, a low-key actor who outstaged giants of the industry like Val Kilmer and Georges Clooney who’s interpretation of the dark night almost killed the franchise.

I like the first one with Michael Keaton also, the 2nd one got way out of hand. Let’s not even discuss the other ones, I remember in an interview where Joel Schumacher said “I don’t like how they made Batman so dark…” that statement made me want to tear my hair out.

I think the biggest problem when it comes to portrayals of Batman was the dual identity. Michael Keaton I thought was a great Batman but terrible Bruce Wayne, Val Kilmer was an ok playboy bad Batman, Same with George Clooney.

Christian Bale was the one actor that I actually felt was a good Batman and a good millionaire playboy.

[/quote]

I think it helps that he has played several roles as someone psychotic. It isn’t that much of a stretch to now think of him as someone who is just borderline “out there” who hides it by pretending to be a care free rich kid during the day.

Someone mentioned that the Joker will undoubtedly bring camp to the 2nd film. I disagree. I think they’re going to make him really fuckin’ dark, not unlike Bale’s character in american psycho [that’s a VERY loose comparison, obviously]. In that first pic his make-up looks to be hiding scars, Like smiley slits. I can’t wait for this flick.

Yeah I also heard this joker will be very dark and his “make up” wont be so “clowny” like the first joker in the original batman.

I think it’s going to rule tits, Batman Begins was the best superhero movie.

I can see Philip Seymour Hoffman as the penguin too.

[quote]Majin wrote:
Don’t think he’s got what it takes. Then again, I didn’t watch his latest performance in Mount Brokeback so I could be wrong.[/quote]

Did you miss-name the film to avoid suspicion that you had gone to see it…?

C’mon, fess up, Majin :wink:

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Backlash79 wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
Backlash79 wrote:
I thought Batman Begins was awesome and the best Batman so far.

It’s the only good Batman so far, but it’s so amazing it made me forgot the other four. The first one wasn’t bad, but the three others were pure and unadultered crap.

Props to Micheal Keaton, a low-key actor who outstaged giants of the industry like Val Kilmer and Georges Clooney who’s interpretation of the dark night almost killed the franchise.

I like the first one with Michael Keaton also, the 2nd one got way out of hand. Let’s not even discuss the other ones, I remember in an interview where Joel Schumacher said “I don’t like how they made Batman so dark…” that statement made me want to tear my hair out.

I think the biggest problem when it comes to portrayals of Batman was the dual identity. Michael Keaton I thought was a great Batman but terrible Bruce Wayne, Val Kilmer was an ok playboy bad Batman, Same with George Clooney.

Christian Bale was the one actor that I actually felt was a good Batman and a good millionaire playboy.

I think it helps that he has played several roles as someone psychotic. It isn’t that much of a stretch to now think of him as someone who is just borderline “out there” who hides it by pretending to be a care free rich kid during the day.[/quote]

His performance is downright chilling in “American Psycho” for those who have not seen it. He’s great in it and does so by just creeping me the fuck out in that role.

[quote]Kuz wrote:
Professor X wrote:
Backlash79 wrote:
Zen warrior wrote:
Backlash79 wrote:
I thought Batman Begins was awesome and the best Batman so far.

It’s the only good Batman so far, but it’s so amazing it made me forgot the other four. The first one wasn’t bad, but the three others were pure and unadultered crap.

Props to Micheal Keaton, a low-key actor who outstaged giants of the industry like Val Kilmer and Georges Clooney who’s interpretation of the dark night almost killed the franchise.

I like the first one with Michael Keaton also, the 2nd one got way out of hand. Let’s not even discuss the other ones, I remember in an interview where Joel Schumacher said “I don’t like how they made Batman so dark…” that statement made me want to tear my hair out.

I think the biggest problem when it comes to portrayals of Batman was the dual identity. Michael Keaton I thought was a great Batman but terrible Bruce Wayne, Val Kilmer was an ok playboy bad Batman, Same with George Clooney.

Christian Bale was the one actor that I actually felt was a good Batman and a good millionaire playboy.

I think it helps that he has played several roles as someone psychotic. It isn’t that much of a stretch to now think of him as someone who is just borderline “out there” who hides it by pretending to be a care free rich kid during the day.

His performance is downright chilling in “American Psycho” for those who have not seen it. He’s great in it and does so by just creeping me the fuck out in that role.[/quote]

It is creepy yet hysterically campy at the same time. Hard to manage and yet he does.

If youre a fan of Bales acting, check out his movie, “HARSH TIMES.” He’s a white ex-marine thats fucked up in the head and he acts like a cholo…you wont even believe he was “Batman.” The movie didnt get “rave” reviews but I think its a decent enough film just because of the acting.

…eva longoria is in it too. =)


I am not sure how this was possible, I saw The Machinist last night after it being available on DVD for quite some time now. Not only was this one of the weirdest Christian Bale movies I have ever seen but it is definitely one of his best in my opinion.

The fact that he trimmed down to look like a human skeleton isn’t the only reason why I thought this movie was impressive. The twisted journey the audience follow with his character is strange and confusing, it’s a clever film with a snappy ending . He is without a doubt a brilliant actor.