Gahbless Mickey Rourke
This is a warning right now. There's going to be a lot of swearing in this and if you don't like that sort of thing come back tomorrow or the next day and don't read this. I'm not kidding. If you don't like language on the raw side without any boundaries this is not for you.
You were warned.
The other day Mickey Rourke let fly about his opinion regarding what "Hollywood" is like these days. He said what he said as he wanted to say it right here. But I'll quote some of it now...
“You can be less than mediocre and be a fucking movie star,” Mickey said. “I have respect for very few actors and actresses. Some of them get a lot of acclaim but just because their movie made $200 million at the box office, they still suck. I got no respect for them and I used to let them know it. It was important for me to put that aside and go, ‘You know what? This is a business. If you kiss the right ass and you get lucky on a movie or two, you could last 10 years.’ So, now, I just keep my mouth shut and pet my Chihuahuas.”
Damn straight.
They got fuckin machines you can sing into in front of everybody at a concert with your big name and nipples and even if - in real life - you actually sound like a plop of shit falling into the toilet it will make your voice beautiful. Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson have been phoning in their shit for thirty years now and everybody still thinks they're the two greatest things since the Big Fuckin Bang. Doesn't matter that Nicholson is a fat ass who now gets his whole rep for fucking twenty year old airheads and is "cool" because he likes basketball. In ACTING he hasn't done shit since Cuckoo's Nest and what's more he knows it and doesn't give a fuck because he can demand the millions anyway and we're stupid enough to give it over.
Doesn't matter De Niro is the same fucking Italian New York guy in every one of his last six hundred thousand forty eight movies and hasn't actually acted since Taxi Driver - he's got a mole on his face and he sounds like your father and blah blah blah blah big fuckin blah. He can't act for shit anymore and that's that. I don't care what the hell kind of movie festival he puts on, he couldn't actually BE in any of those movies because they don't need a type cast New York Italian guy. Bull fucking shit.
When I was coming up they used to say a good acting job was when you forgot the actor and just saw the character. De Niro and Nicholson rely on you not doing that because otherwise they couldn't play the same fuckin prick every movie and get away with it. I know I know - it's COOL to like them because they're so COOL. But as actors they suck the big phantom cock and laugh about the dollars they can command because people still buy their shit.
Be different every time out. Be the character in the story, not a cliche of yourself. That was what was taught to me. You know who does this? Meryl Streep does this. That's why her fellow actors love her and why people out in the real world are bored with her, because she's doing it right and they're used to mechanical Joe and Jane, fake voice machines and plastic food full of antibiotics and steroids. Phony rules, and most of the young culture thinks that's how it is supposed to be. What's authentic is boring. They want to see what they expect, and there are plenty of shitheads like Nicholson and De Niro and the horseface what'shername from Pretty Woman and any number of "singers" and writers going rote because that's how we like it.
Oh well RW - Jesus - they're millionaires so they must know what they're doing. They must be doing it right. --- Oh yeah? If you add up his gold and art Herman Goering was one of the richest men in Europe when his pals were gutting and burning the fuckin Jews under Hitler's bullshit. Did his numbers make what he did right? Fuck you for even thinking that the numbers in your bank account justify what you do. You may be exactly part of the goddam problem, Mr and Ms 21st century too-Cool for your shit.
Sean Penn is the only real actor who goes deep and brings it all out into the open. One of the greatest working actors going. But people don't see that because he can't keep his stupid mouth shut and he seems to like to suck dictators' cock as if he's some kind of Ezra Pound. Too bad. If he'd shut his big fuckin yap people might actually notice he's one of the few guys left still doing ACTUAL acting. Same goes for Hillary Swank and this I will never understand - a modern day actress who doesn't care what the camera angle makes her look like but people don't like her shtick so obviously she's not to be regarded as anything great. Well fuck you, you superficial star crossed piece of shit, if you can't separate the personality from the work it's no wonder you also probably think Sarah Palin is going to save your stupid ass trailer park country from itself.
But that's us all over. That's America 2010. We don't know what the truth is anymore. We eat shit food we don't know where it comes from or how it got here, we think people who go through the motions are great because we give them lots of money to get off their ass once in a while and real talent gets pushed to the wayside because we don't like their shtick.
Is it any wonder we don't know who we are or what's what anymore?
God bless Mickey Fuckin Rourke for saying the goddamm truth. The Pope Of Greenwich Village speaks. The Summer Wind baby. But I'll say this and then I'll be quiet. Because he's right about another thing - and after this I'm just going to keep my mouth shut and pet my Chihuahuas. Too.
Arf this.
posted by RW @ 12:09 AM
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29 Comments:
I'm tired, so I'm just going to go ahead and agree with you, in general. Mostly because I do. But as for the specifics of when De Niro and Nicholson lost it? Well, let's just say I think you might be missing a few gems since Taxi Driver and One Flew...
I used to think Ed Norton was going to rival Sean Penn for the title of greatest working actor. Johnny Depp too. But both of them seem to have lost their way. I still think it's a shame that Gary Oldman has never been recognized by his peers for his work. That guy disappears in his roles. Or he used to...
Have you ever seen The Pledge? Directed by Sean Penn and starring Jack Nicholson, oddly enough. Boring piece of crap, I thought. But it did have two incredible small performance by Benicio Del Toro and Mickey Rourke. Man, those two actors in those two scenes almost made it worth sitting through the rest of that drivel.
On this point I am willing to go to the mats: I think we hesitate to question the glory that is Nicholson and De Niro out of habit. You can draw a line from Cuckoo's Nest to the thing with Helen Hunt and all you're looking at is a different version of McMurtry or whatever his name was. And the last time De Niro played something other than a New York Italian guy was never.
Phone it in I sez.
Nice rant RW!!! Yes!
I agree with you on the Nicholson and DeNiro thing, with one exception. Terms of Endearment. Not much of a stretch for Jack, but it was executed to perfection and a joy to watch.I have yet to see The Shining..but that picture of his face in the door is horrifying..
DeNiro is becoming the Chaz Pamentieri (sp?) of the A listers for sure, but I LOVED Midnight Run.
"Is this moron one? Lemme speak to Moron two."
You know who I Love as an actor...don't laugh...Steve Martin. So sue me.
You know when I fell in love with Mickey Rourke?
When I saw him in Iron Man 2 yesterday and had no fucking CLUE who he was. He was that good.
I also agree that Sean Penn is fantastic as an actor. But I'm going to go ahead and say that I also think Leonardo DiCaprio is crazy talented. CRAZY talented. I don't know how anyone could watch "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and not agree.
And hell YES about Meryl Streep. She absolutely becomes the character. I actually can't think of another female actress who does that as well.
as opposed to, uh, a male actress??
You almost wish that Jack would do some smaller character work like he did in "A Few Good Men". He stepped a bit out of the McMurphy zone for that one (even if he was still essentially Jack). And you mentioned his one great role as Melvin Udall he has had since, but that doesn't mean I wasn't entertained by "The Shining" or "Prizzi's Honor" or "The Departed" (or even "Batman").
With DeNiro, on the other hand, I gotta disagree. Sure, he pays his bills by playing New York Italian guys. But he has stretched it a bit with films like "The Mission", "Cape Fear" (he was the only good part of that film), "Mad Dog and Glory" (okay...he was a NYer, but a submissive NYer), "Wag the Dog", "Jackie Brown" (he was awesome in that!) and recently as the gay pirate captain in "Stardust". His string of redundant NY tough guy roles bothers me too, but he does sprinkle in the occasional character piece that is worth watching.
Now Al Pacino...talk about a guy who forgot how to act! Hoowah!
Pacino makes the list too, no doubt. But even when he's outside his comfort zone De Niro brings the same sound to everything he does. A different version of the same guy we see every time out. Sometimes it's even a parody of himself doing a parody of himself. And that's millions of dollars right there for something a thousand other guys could have done better, easy. Plaster of Paris on that facade and it wore thin decades ago. Robert Dde Niro saying it this way, Robert De Niro saying it that way. Not acting - just being the same sauce on a different day.
And all Nicholson does anymore is give a big grin, open his eyes wide and stick out his chin. He's full of shit.
While I would not presume to debate you on Jack Nicholson's acting chops, I have to say that his name recognition has netted him some interesting roles in entertaining movies. I liked "The Bucket List" and "As Good as it Gets" and "Mars Attacks!" and "A Few Good Men" and "The Two Jakes" and "Broadcast News" and other films he's done in the past 30 years, partly because he was in them. Greatest actor in the world? Not really. Entertaining? Sure. And there are times I don't need high art... I just want to be entertained... so that's okay.
The standard of the generation, and I am the same generation as the two main phonies in question, is that you DON'T play the same thing every time out. The standard was, or at least used to be, a person couldn't draw any connections between the character you do in one piece to a character you do in another. To the degree you don't make the effort is the same degree you phone it in. the criticism this grew out of was the old Hollywood star system of the 30's and such where Clark Gable played a different version of Clark Gable every time out and so on. It doesn't have to be high art to approach acting. I wouldn't call Streep's bit as Julia Child high art, but I would call her bit in Prada as consummate and irreplaceable and nothing like her other stuff. That differentiates acting from being a mock-up of your persona.
There's another thing that bothers me and it goes back to money. To say that an actor has to do the rote stuff to pay the bills is a little specious. What bills can't either of the two guys mainly mentioned have they can't pay already? This should be the time of their careers where they take the risks and do the work out of the ethic of the work. Instead... phone. This is altogether my point. Pay the bills. Right.
Sometimes being recognized as a great actor has more to do with the role than anything else.
Are Gabouray Sidibe and Mo'Nique great actors? Maybe. Sure seems like it was the roles that garnered them their awards.
How about Christoph Waltz? Possibly, but we haven't seen enough of work to truly judge that. And since his role in that film required someone who was fluent in German, English, Italian and French and he happened to be fluent in German, English, Italian and French...well, let's just say not a lot of actors fit the bill.
As for Mickey Rourke, I love me some Mickey Rourke. But he is guilty of ruining his "acting" career just as much as De Niro or Nicholson. His sin wasn't phoning it in like those guys, but rather an inflated ego. By the time he played the wrestler, he hadn't done anything truly interesting since the late 80's besides the odd supporting bit.
And I was just using "pay the bills" as an expression. Obviously DeNiro doesn't really need to keep acting like DeNiro simply to pay the bills. My bad on that one.
Although I could be wrong about that. Gia's sister worked as a personal chef for one of the big-wigs at Lehman before it went tits up. She told me about all of his personal wealth and how much he spent each month on his 4 homes, staff, fleet of cars, private helicopter, etc... She wondered why he didn't just retire. I replied that he kept working to pay for all of that stuff. Living large requires a big paycheck.
Michael Caine used to be asked about why he was in so many movies like Jaws 4 or whatever. He said it was because he needed a new roof, or an extension on his summer home. He did it for the money and he wasn't ashamed of that.
So I dunno.
Why can't we put Sidibe and Mo'Nique in the same category as Waltz? It's not like they have a "body of work" we can look at in depth either. Does the role make the actor or the actor make the role? Conversely there are great roles that have been butchered just as easily. Hepburn and O'Toole in the overblown piece of crap called "Lion In Winter" being exhibit A. Two great roles two fine actors totally blew - but got accolades for anyway because of their names.
Mickey's biggest sin is walking away from it, but if the period between that Brazil thing and the Wrestler fed him to be able to do what he's doing now then it worked.
But hey - we can't say it's okay if De Niro pays the bills with the usual schtick and then call out Rourke for approaching the same. That's another logical fallacy.
Caine would get kudos for being honest about it, but being honest doesn't make you a good actor. So many names in the business are a lucky break a thousand other people didn't get. They ought to at least try instead of being that lazy about the craft.
Oh I wasn't really calling anyone out. Who knows what truly inspires these guys to do what they do? Nicholson, DeNiro and Rourke were all great actors once upon a time and they all lost it for one reason or another. Maybe Mickey has learned enough from his down period to become a great actor once again. Maybe he'll make enough money from Iron Man 2 to never have to worry about making money from his craft ever again. Maybe he doesn't care about the money. Who knows?
Sure is fun to talk about though.
He just wants to pet his Chihuahuas.
You couldn't have made your point without all the profanity?? Sorry...it just blew the post for me...
I like Chihuahuas.
I loves me some profanity and I LOVE Mickey Rourke. "Barfly" is one of my favorite movies of all time, and he was fantastic in that movie. I haven't even seen "The Wrestler", or "Iron Man 2", but I've never doubted his talent - just his sanity in general. I don't need him to be sane to enjoy his acting, though.
I think you're completely right about everything else, though. Like that idiot Tom Cruise- I will state he was NEVER a good actor and I have always hated him with a burning passion, yet people still see his movies and he still makes millions.
I can't help but love DeNiro, though. Mostly because I love his past work, sure -but it's still some really good shit, that holds up to the test of time.
I forgot everything else I wanted to say. Oh well.
I think most of the best acting nowadays is actually happening in serial dramas on cable. I'd put pretty much anyone from the cast of, say, The Wire, Deadwood, Damages...hell even Battlestar Galacica up against anything DeNiro, Pacino, or Nicholson have done since the 70's.
Good writing and more time for character development help, I'm sure.
Have you seen Doubt? Meryl Streep and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, both at the top of their (very formidable) games.
ok, I agree. BUT. heh I still loved The Shining & A Few Good Men (even though I hate Tom Cruise), don't like Sean Penn, & LOVE Johnny Depp. so there. I also like Charlize Theron, always have.
What's your take on Christopher Walken, did I miss that?
Walken? He'll do just fine!
if you want craft, go to the arthouse.
if you want to be entertained, go to marquee place.
i'm not a judge of ability, other than to say i like this/that character in a movie, but i dont mix the two types that i see and try to compare.
i just cant.
when i go see stallone, i'm expecting stallone. if he gets all weepy and shit without blowing people up and looking mean, then i feel ripped off.
It seems to me, that you are ranting for the sake of ranting. That you are a grumpy old man who wishes all the young people would go away. Some of the biggest stars of "the good ol' days" were also just themselves in each of their roles. James Stewart, Cary Grant, Audry Hepburn just to name a few. Hollywood is doing what it's always done: making money entertaining the masses. As for your "phonies," has it ever occurred to you that what the directors, producers, and audience want from De Niro and Nicholson is a NY Italian, and an eccentric old man who says some blunt shit with a smile? That maybe, just maybe what you are calling "shit" is actually art? That one man's trash is another man's treasure and all that jazz? It's not that they're millionaires so they must be right, its that we like what they do, so we pay them millions. I know lots of people who have favorite actors/actresses and will see movies that don't look all that appealing just because their fave is in it. And it's not just that they like the fave's face, it's that at the very least their fave's part in the movie will be entertaining.
I know that since I don't lick your ass, you're going to tell me to go away, and not read your stuff as if you have put it up on the walls in your house instead of the internet; but I just get so angered by your very existence I read exactly one post of yours to try and change my feelings towards you, and couldn't keep my fingers still. You are an ornery jackass who shoves your ill-tempered opinions down other people's throats, and I have never seen you write anything positive or light or even well-meaning. How do you stand yourself?
well... my work here is done. :-)
I think you need to watch more movies.
I'm a little surprised at one name that has not been thrown into this here ring...And I think once I mention it, you will all be ashamed of yourselves...Guttenberg.
I BELIEVED he was helping the aliens.
I BELIEVED he was an adoptive father.
And dammit, I BELIEVED he was in love with that damn robot.
Number 5 IS alive, I say! Number 5 IS ALIVE!!!
I agree with you (and Rourke) 100 fucking % !
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