James, I am going to take back what I said about Bale. You are probably right, he may certainly be a huge star now but most of the people who only watch "hollywood" films will probably not be aware of what a huge talent he is. So in that sense maybe underrated is correct.

I was actually annoyed with him to taking the terminator role, my worry is that now he is leading two major studio franchises is he going to be able to spend the time acting in "proper" movies in the future? Of course kudos for him to be in the position to earn the big bucks but it would be a loss to the independent movie scene if he cut down his projects.

Quoted from Murphy I was actually annoyed with him to taking the terminator role, my worry is that now he is leading two major studio franchises is he going to be able to spend the time acting in "proper" movies in the future? Of course kudos for him to be in the position to earn the big bucks but it would be a loss to the independent movie scene if he cut down his projects.

I actually knew nothing about Bale being in the next Terminator until you mentioned it. I'm actually pretty shocked. IMDB has him listed as "rumored" but still. The idea of Bale involved in the Terminator franchise is just weird. In any case, I'm not too worried about it. He's an extremely talented actor and, like I said, he'll give his all to whatever he's in. Despite the good he's done in independent cinema, he's done some stinkers as well but still managed to stand out. Unless he's in a Jason Friedberg/Adam Seltzer movie, I'm not too worried about what he decides to do with his career.

Hey Murphy heh....yeah  I seem to catch hell for not liking PT Anderson but for me ( keep in mind I have not seen Hard Eight or There Will Be Blood) he does nothing but channel other filmmakers, to varying degrees of success.  

Boogie Nights is perplexing, as it's nothing but one Scorsese homage after another, and the last scene is infuriating in particular for being a virtual shot for shot steal from the last scene of Raging Bull. It wasn't that engaging for me, as all it did was remind me of other, better movies.

Magnolia was even worse, stunningly self indulgent to the point of absurdity. I really tried to like it, seeing that Anderson was...aiming for greatness...but that pretension was the downfall of the movie. Plus just plain bad story structure, such meandering to the point of madness.  Punch Drunk Love was just horrid and the less said about it the better.

Someone passed me a second hand quote from Anderson, I'd love to find it again, where supposedly he acknowledges that BN was his Scorsese film, Magnolia and Punch Drunk were his Altman movies, and TWBB is his attempt to make a Kubrick film. That's very interesting if true ( it really seems to be the case) and it does explain a lot.  For me he's just a moviemaker with no style or thought of his own, he tries to emulate his heroes while feeling he is a true artist. And that feeling, that aura around his films that " I'll do as I please and you will love it" just shows that the Emperor has no clothes, so to speak.

I hope upon seeing TWBB that I'll be floored by it, really, I want to be. But for now he's just a wildly overrated "artist" whose work just doesn't do it for me.

I don't know where this Bale being an independent actor thingy came from, Shaft, Reign of fire, batman, empire of the sun, little women, newsies, American psycho, the new world, the prestige, 3:10 to Yuma, not really independent films, he has done a few, but he has done even more big budget studio films.  I like him a lot, the fact that he is still so young and has a lot more to offer is great.

Quoted from mikep Boogie Nights is perplexing, as it's nothing but one Scorsese homage after another, and the last scene is infuriating in particular for being a virtual shot for shot steal from the last scene of Raging Bull. It wasn't that engaging for me, as all it did was remind me of other, better movies.

I don't remember DeNiro whipping out a big, prosthetic dong in that one.

Quoted from The boy who could fly I don't know where this Bale being an independent actor thingy came from, Shaft, Reign of fire, batman, empire of the sun, little women, newsies, American psycho, the new world, the prestige, 3:10 to Yuma, not really independent films, he has done a few, but he has done even more big budget studio films.  I like him a lot, the fact that he is still so young and has a lot more to offer is great.

I think though that you can certainly tell the difference between the films Bale acts in and the films he stars in. My favorite Bale performances would definitely be The Machinist, Rescue Dawn and Harsh Times, movies you would consider to be independent. While i for one did not think he did anything too special in 3:10 to Yuma, maybe a decent job but nothing that 20 or 30 other actors could have done in his place.

Though you are right in what you say i guess, I never really considered American Psycho or The Prestige to be mainstream hollywood blockbusters though I guess they are in a way. Though the term 'Independent Film' is starting to be less about independent from studio involvement and is turning into more of a genre now to be honest (Juno anyone?) we probably want a better word to mean a well thought out film with good intentions as opposed to a Terminator film directed by McG!

John C. Riley is one that I think is now coming out into his own, he was wonderful in Walk Hard, and he can sing very well, I just heard a song from that movie so this just popped into my head.  He is great at comedy and drama, he can play a nice guy and scum, he does all sorts of movies as well like action, musical, suspense, along with comedy and drama, and he proved he could carry a film with Walk Hard, even though no one went to see it, kinda sad, people missed out on a good time.  I think we will see a lot more of him, at least I hope so.

Riley is great in THE HOURS and CHICAGO.

Quoted from Shelton I don't remember DeNiro whipping out a big, prosthetic dong in that one.

Shame, since that's always a sure fire crowd pleaser!  

Quoted from Shelton I don't remember DeNiro whipping out a big, prosthetic dong in that one.

I don't remember, either, although I still haven't watched the deleted scenes.  Even if he did, though, De Niro probably wouldn't need a prosthetic one like Markie Mark.

I do have to agree about John C. Riley.  He is very underrated, but it also looks like he is finally about to get his dues.  It's a shame his claim to fame is going to be campy, cheesy movies like 'Taladega Nights', and not for his great dramatic roles like in (though a lot of people hate it), Riley himself was truly great in 'Magnolia'.  'Criminal' is another little known film that Riley soars in.

And, although he was nominated for Best Actor in 'Sideways', hopefully Paul Giamatti will get his deserved praise pretty soon.