Does Christian Bale have an angel looking over his shoulder? Does somebody up there like the outburst-prone actor?
They must. That must explain the one two punch of salvation, that has come in the form of not only Whoopi Goldberg, but venerable rotund blogger Harry Knowles of the pre-school designed fan website, Ain’tItCoolNews (yes, it is cool).
Let’s go with the Queen of “The View” real talk, Whoopi first. She admits that even she, convivial actress herself, has even unloaded a can of vitriol on unsuspecting assholes on set. “We don’t know if this [incident happened] at the end of the day, we don’t know how many hours [he had] been working,” she said defending Bale’s recently leaked freakout on “Terminator Salvation” cinematographer Shane Hurlbut. “It’s tough. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I too have gone off on people, because if you’re a professional, you know what you’re not supposed to do.”
Harry Knowles, king of the online contacts, also defends Bale and says he heard that the DP Hurlbut had it coming.How does he know? Oh, he know. Knowles drops some, “Hey, I know a guy,” science.
“Except, you want to hear the REALITY behind that clip? I know this because I happen to be somewhere where someone that was there that day and for the shoot is. And this person isn’t a publicist, nor are they invested in Bale’s career. They’re just someone that thinks it is absolute bullshit that this moment in Bale’s life is being aired and that the real story should get out there.”
Was that second sentence Latin? He continues and reveals ladies and gentleman that Shane Hurlbut… is an UNREPENTANT LIGHT TWEAKER [*gasp* from the readers].
“Shane Hurlbut, is a apparently a light tweaker. He’s a fairly young DP and likes to fiddle with his lights on set during action, which is a big “NO NO” on most productions unless worked out in advance with performers. But apparently Shane was a pretty unrepentant light tweaker.”
Well, with that irrevocably damaging info out there, Hurlbut’s career is now over. Burl Ives and Kathy Lee Gifford reportedly were going to come to Bale’s aide with statements, but obviously, that’s no longer required. There you have it, folks. Looks like this one is going down in the books in the Christian Bale column and this story is done.
Does anyone, anywhere respect Harry Knowles at all? The guy is such a joke. The only good reporters on that site are Beaks and Capone. Quint is kind of Mini Harry, though he isn’t quite as obnoxious as Harry.
You know I can actually say I respect Russell Crowe more for bashing some guy with a phone than Bale for this tantrum. And mostly cause (and I said this before) ITS TERMINATOR 4!
Shingle: I was just having this conversation with a friend. Everyone tells me Beaks and that guy are good, but I don’t really read them… the font and style of the site make everyone seem really amateurish, but i’m sure that’s not the case for all of them.
Did you ever see this Defamer piece about Harry’s “Doubt” review? My god, it’s a hot mess of unintentional brilliant comedy.
The thing that gets me is the apparent amount of control Bale had on this set, where he could act like this and get away with it. The producers of this movie were so happy to have a “credible” actor to reboot this series (as they even said in interviews) that they made him king and gave him free reign along with the big fat check I’m sure he banked. It’s like Bale thought he was Colonel Kurtz and the set his jungle village.
ocaypse Now
Damn you DP, DAAAMNNN YOUUU!!!
“Except, you want to hear the REALITY behind that clip? I know this because I happen to be somewhere where someone that was there that day and for the shoot is.”
I am gonna accuse Harry of plagiarism. That is a direct quote from Rachel McAdams in “Mean Girls.” Wait, it’s not? Damn, Harry must indeed suck then.
Come on people! you know there’s a say in Hollywood that DP’s are the second divas on set, I mean it’s no excuse for Bale cursing with fury etc., but the guy was in the middle of the frame, Do you ever been on a big production set? that’s stupidity, that thing is no accident.
Every single (great) director have nightmare stories about the DP’s, ask Kubrick, he fired some violently (in a worse way then Bale).
It’s a shame that thanks to the internet any celebrity can be crucify overnight without a chance of second story versions or the benefit of a doubt.
“He’s cursing? he might be an a***!”
This whole thing just screams “Faulty Towers”, Bale is Basil and the DP is Manuel, i hope they put this on the DVD.
Burl Ives: Dead or Canadian?
Does anyone on this site have an original idea, ever?
So now you’re adding your voices to the chorus regarding Bale’s outburst? Feigning outrage about something that probably happens every single day. Jeez. How original. How brave.
Because no one ever, and by ever I mean ever, had an outburst on a set before when some stupid crew member was walking around and essentially ruined a shot.
Bale yelled at him for three to four minutes and used the f-word. OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH! The horror. The horror.
I think what we need is a little perspective, not some more knee-jerk reactions.
I thought you people here understood filmmaking, or at least understand how the business worked.
I swear most times you come across as tween girlies when it comes to some of your criticisms.
cirkusfolk,
Stop being a film snob, it’s growing old.
All Dps. Ever laugh much?
All DPs:
Flattery will get you everywhere.
And when you say “I swear most times you come across as tween girlies when it comes to some of your criticisms,” do you mean the collective you, or our editor? If it’s the former, I may have to go stress eat and blare Taylor Swift in my room to get over that burn.
I am playing with you. Yeah, Bale overreacted, but it is certainly being overexposed. This is not the first or last time an actor has blown up on a set. It’s just a time when said actor was caught on tape.
Apparently it’s not obvious to people, but we like to amuse ourselves and some of these news stories and situations are just too fucking rich to not be cheeky about.
And yes, not the first time, sorta understandable, not a big deal, but the defenses just crack me up.
I don’t see how I’m being a film snob? I’m just stating the way I see it. This has nothing to do with film, and I don’t see how anyone can back this sort of behavior no matter what the excuse. I’ve heard, Oh he was working long hours, he was stressed, it was hot, etc. News flash…we are fighting a war where young men are working 24 hours a day in hot weather, and where they could potentially die at a moment’s notice, and I know for a fact that they don’t act like this even when mistakes are made that cost millions of dollars and possibly lives lost. Bale is playing a soldier in this film and he’s the farthest thing from it. It’s shameful.
A very sage comment from Goldstein: It’s understandable, but that doesn’t mean its excusable.
“Is it really a surprise that Hollywood actors–even really gifted ones like Bale–often act like bullies and idiots?
The difference, of course, is that nothing is private anymore. Bale’s tantrum was no secret–TMZ actually had a story about it last July, right after it happened. It simply took six months for the tape of the outburst to fall into the wrong hands, which, if I remember correctly, is actually longer than it took for Alec Baldwin’s screaming phone call with his daughter or David O. Russell’s freak-out on the set of “I [Heart] Huckabees” to surface on the Internet. It’s hardly a dirty little secret anymore: In Hollywood, everyone looks the other way at bad behavior, as long as it’s the behavior of someone powerful enough to get away with it, be it a top actor, a studio chief, an agent with a hot client or a powerful producer.
Not to single him out, but Scott Rudin hardly blinks anymore when someone recounts one of his outbursts. He’s the best in his field, so dealing with his volatile temper is simply viewed as the cost of doing business. But to be fair to the movie business, the examples of bad behavior hardly end when you leave the force-field of Joel Silver’s office.”
If people keep trashing actors for every single reason movies are gonna be pack with a bunch of wusses performers afraid to explore and let themselves go. Artists are special beigns, I don’t want my actors to be “the regular guy” I want my actors to be intense, to explode, only genius go to the other side.
If we need people to get hit by a telephone or Dp’s to get humiliated on set to have another Brando or Pacino my vote goes to the a**holes.
Making movies is all about craftmenship, is not about morals or humanitarianism.
Hey sorry for my english, keep on rockin Playlist.
By the way cirkusfolk, you don’t want me to start with all the inhuman atrocities those “young men” do at war, so don’t go there, beside that’s a whole other topic for another blog, not the Playlist.
Saludos.