Happy Birthday to Christian Bale!

Love him and one of the big 3 of the last 10 years with Phoenix and DiCap- I've called him the most underrated actor on MAR but I think Ford vs. Ferrari won a lot of people over and maybe he's settled in to some people who used to find him just a "stunt" actor.

He's also a unique modern actor in that almost every great actor can be assessed relative to what we think they are like in real life or within a "brand" (a disgusting term btw) that they work/replicate and project - but Bale is what Pauline Kael once described De Niro as : "having a protean quality" - Bale is more removed from his roles than any other actor of his general age range.

What blows me away about him is his humor - he's been repeatedly, unexpectedly funny........a lot too.

In addition he has almost a lock on a great stat - and I've talked about this before - no UK actor besides DDL has 2 (or 3) Oscars where 1 is for Best Actor - ie anyone else with 2 just has 2 Supporting ........when Bale wins his 2nd, and he will - it's a tremendous statistical accomplishment - which Hopkins might have gotten in another year, but right now it's all an open road for Bale I reckon......I mean it's not a sure thing, there's always Redmayne but...

Bale's brand is and has always been his willingness to transform himself physically (and at times completely unnecessarily). I have always given him grief for that because while I have no issue with actors who do that if it serves the story (i.e. McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club), with Bale it feels phony and performative so much of the time, like everything is secondary to his body dysmorphia. And I often think he hides behind it because he's a far more limited actor than his fans give him credit for. I have called him the staple favorite for entry-level cinephiles for a reason.

But I'm not gonna bash the man on his birthday thread, so instead I'll shout out the handful of performances of his that I genuinely think are great:

Out of the Furnace feels like a throwback to the '70s greats at their peaks; De Niro and Pacino would've been proud to give a performance like that. I don't think Bale had it in him to do what he did there, and I really think it's criminal he got snubbed for that in favor of his somnulent work in American Hustle. Bale is haunting here.

Vice is an aggravating film that treats its audience like a puppy that has pissed on the carpet, but Christian Bale uses his gifts for good (evil?) here and is actually a surprisingly convincing Cheney. His early scenes are a bit rough but once he starts looking more and more as Cheney as we know him, it feels very immersive. Would've made a worthy enough winner out of that field for the win, even if he doesn't crack my lineup.

Ford v. Ferrari, a film that blindsided me out of nowhere, once again strips Bale of his bells and whistles and forces him to anchor the movie solo, and you know what? He fucking does. Hats off to him.

I also really like him in The Machinist and The Fighter, and he's quite good in two of the Batman films he's in.

"Christian, you commit to your roles in ways that i can only dream of. You never turn in a bad performance. It's infuriating. I wish you would. Just suck for once."

Joaquin Phoenix (SAG awards 2020)

It is really unfortunate that some people cannot get past some of his high-profile transformations. As an adult he has made 39 live action movies, in only SEVEN of which he has used the weight fluctuation route. Only 3 of these stand out as extreme The Machinist, American Hustle and Vice. Other transformations were not that extreme beyond what so many other actors have done before him and since The Machinist.

If people think he HIDES behind these transformations, then I don't believe you have watched The Prestige, Hostiles, Little Women, American Psycho, The Big Short and so many more. And your biases are clouding your perception of his performances even where he has transformed. I don't get why people were "surprised" by FvF when Rescue Dawn is right there.

I've been thinking a lot about Bale these past few crazy weeks. Through his intuitive eclectic style of choosing films, he has wedded himself to some iconic onscreen representations, all interwoven with themes that afflict our times. Whether it's the Bateman elitist culture, the political repercussions of Batman's vigilantism in TDK trilogy, or even his Michael Burry, all these representations are extremely relevant to our daily lives today and will likely remain so in the near future.

People revere performers like DDL and Leo for their classic filmography... mostly performances of stories from distant time periods (except Leo's Wolf of Wall Street). The themes, issues, and time periods Bale has associated himself with are current and very close to the fabric of our current lives.

I guess, what I'm trying to say is that Bale's filmography may not be considered as "prestigious" yet... but boy does he have a knack for picking things culturally relevant in a way that leaves Pop Culture behind and speaks to the pulse of the times...

A special special actors in SO SO many ways.

Well... I'm just a fan trying to honor my favorite actor on his B-Day. May you have many more filled with more great performances. And NEVER EVER leave your eclecticism in favor of vapid Hollywood prestige.