Tuesday, February 03, 2009

Some Things are Worth Fighting for

This recording of Christian Bale getting really fucking angry on the set of Terminator: Salvation put a huge smile on my face. And not for the reasons Harry Knowles accuses people of enjoying it for in this rant. Harry's right, everyone has moments where they lose their cool and the lighting guy Bale was yelling at was being unprofessional. But I didn't need Knowles to tell me that. I didn't enjoy the clip because it diminished Bale in my eyes. I enjoyed it because it enhanced my affection for Bale substantially. Somehow, people have gotten so they assume the angry guy is always wrong. Not me. As far as I'm concerned, this clip confirms for me that Bale's a righteous motherfucker who can throw down some shit if need be.

It also makes clear he's got a lot more authority on set than the director as you can hear him shooting down the idea of taking a break. But that's to be expected, really, when you're talking about a production helmed by a guy previously best known for a Charlie's Angels movie. And it's no surprise the DP's a dipshit, which doesn't excuse him from a dressing down by Bale. People like that deserve to have their balls put through a meat grinder. I just hope this makes Bale more careful about whom he works with in the future.

Another candid celebrity moment, this one on video, I meant to talk about a while ago is this footage of Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Wright getting pepper sprayed and tazed by police for no apparent reason. It's one of those things that makes you realise just how virulent racism still is in this country. It's inconceivable to me that someone could feel threatened by Jeffrey Wright, whether you're talking about the excitable amateur detective he played in Broken Flowers or the soft spoken freed slave in Ride with the Devil, the guy just always radiates gentleness. You get the impression that not only could he not hurt a fly, he'd burst into tears at the sight of a dead fly. I bet a lot of racist cops are particularly frightened by gentleness, though.

I watched the thirteenth episode of Battlestar Galactica's second season last night, which was enjoyable, but sill filled with disappointment. I had a sinking feeling right at the beginning when Roslin flashed back to seeing Baltar with the Cylon lady on Caprica. Yes, you would just remember that now, wouldn't you? Really stupid. Then we see Roslin soaking her bare feet in a pond. First the colonel's wife, now this. Why does this show insist on showing us withered old feet?

The episode also took us back to the baby killing well*, this time it was Roslin being bloodthirsty or something. I do kind of appreciate the writers are finally letting Roslin make mistakes. And we finally got some time with the doctors talking about Cylon anatomy, though Baltar talking about how Cylons are mostly indistinguishable from humans makes us wonder how Sharon plugged the ship's computer into her arm.

And how the hell didn't Adama foresee Helo might need to be restrained? You're going to kill his baby and he's just supposed to accept it?

The whole anti-war movement on the show is just too silly. I keep trying not to think about how the writers might be trying to create an allegory for modern U.S. relations with the middle east, but here it was especially grating. No, the analogy does not work, folks. Maybe if al Qaeda had killed 99% of all Americans and occupied the country, it might be similar. This is not the same thing. Or maybe the humans are supposed to be al Qaeda? It's too stupid, I don't even want to think about it anymore. I seriously hope these writers aren't influenced by modern international politics too much in the future.


*Is that like the kite eating tree, Sets?

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