For the Love of Bale

He was on the cover of Seventeen Magazine back in the day.
Shocking, no? This was before I was old enough to read such magazines. I think I was 11.

For those of you who've known me for more than two days, you know that I am pretty loyal to Christian Bale. Ridiculously so. Fortunately, our relationship has transitioned over the years. The swoon factor has faded into respect for his craft. And I will defend him. To the point of fisticuffs. He's like my super-cool, talented, secret cousin. You do not have permission to mock him in front of me. Unless I happen to like you more than him. Which is unlikely. So tread carefully.

I waxed poetic about my love of Bale over at MovieZen. Shocking, I know. But he's going to show up in the next installment of The Terminator franchise. And I'll probably beg one of you to come see it with me. Not that I have a problem going to the movies solo. It's my superpower.

I know you're all familiar with the awesomeness of his Batman. So for our Sunday YouTube party, I'm going to throw some lesser known gems at you. And none of the videos are from Newsies. Because you should go watch the entire thing. (I own it on VHS and DVD. And I have the soundtrack. Let me know if you need to borrow it.)

Swing Kids.
Christian Bale dances with Robert Sean Leonard. Until Nazi Noah Wyle shows up:



Little Women.
The most frustrating scene in both the book and movie. She turns him down. For Gabriel Byrne?! Hey, I'm pretty sensitive to the young-writer-in-need-of-an-adventure thing. And sure, a poor smart guy with an umbrella is pretty irresistible. But really, Jo. Over Laurie?

(Ending is here. Awkward accent. Cheesy line. Still one of my favorite movies ever.)

"Jo. Such a little name for such a person." I swear, I always think he's going to say "such a big person." Which would crack me up. Advice to my male readers: Don't call a girl big. Especially when proposing. It's only funny to the rest of us.

The exasperating Bale moment:



There are so many awkward fan videos of the man on YouTube. It was hard to find non-doctored scenes. Really, girls, did we need a montage from Little Women to Enrique's "Hero"?

And why can every guy play that song on the guitar? Every. Single. One.

Empire of the Sun.
Spielberg's most underrated masterpiece. I was tempted to just post scene after scene. I'd say go rent it, but really, you should buy it. The first clip is a little long, but by the end, it's child acting at its best. Scrap that. It's acting at its best. Child or otherwise.






American Psycho.
His breakout role. There is no killing in this scene. Just business cards.




Rescue Dawn.
And finally, the trailer for a powerful little movie that no one saw. Except me. For the Lost fans out there, find the two cast members in the trailer. Highly recommended. But not if you're in the mood for a romantic comedy.



I'll stop myself here. For now.

I was going to end with some brilliant movie quote of Christian's. But somehow "I promise to kiss you before you die" doesn't seem appropriate. Nor does "I need to engage in homicidal behavior on a massive scale."