Can Christian Bale Get Any Cooler?

In my opinion there are very few actors that can do no wrong. Maybe they have incredible decision making abilities or maybe they just have better people around them. But one of those guys is Christian Bale. I don’t think there is anybody that makes better decisions than Christian Bale. Christian Bale can be in a big blockbuster and be great in it or he can be in a small movie and be great in it. Christian Bale can be in a movie with another big star and there doesn’t seem to be any egos getting in the way and the star power isn’t completely disappointing. Just think about last year. Christian Bale teamed up with Russell Crowe in 3:10 to Yuma and it exceeded expectations. That same Russell Crowe also teamed up with Denzel Washington, who is treated like a god, and it was completely disappointing.

But there is one other quality that sets Christian Bale apart from everybody else. Christian Bale (or somebody around him) seems to know what his fans want to see him in. Let’s face it, every Christian Bale fan said “Holy (fill in your favorite expletive)” when they found out that Christian Bale would don the cape and cowl of Batman. After that it was decided that Christian Bale would be in the next Terminator movie, which everybody loved again. Next he teams up with Johnny Depp for a movie. Christian Bale and Johnny Depp? Are you frickin’ kidding me? Is this heaven? On top of that it’s a movie about John Dillinger.

Now comes the rumor that Christian Bale could be Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid movie. Again this is a perfect match. Video game fans (that’s what Metal Gear Solid is) are exactly the type of people that love Christian Bale. Video games fans are even more skeptical about movie adaptations than comic book fans because so far there have been no great video game movie adaptations. But video game fans would be fine with Christian Bale as Solid Snake, ecstatic even. After all, Christian Bale has done the best comic book movie adaptation, why can’t he do the same for video games?

Of course it’s not a done deal yet. While Christian Bale is the strong rumor out there other names are being tossed around by fans as possibilities. Here are some of my thoughts.
Great casting choice for Solid Snake: Josh Holloway
There are a lot of similarities between Solid Snake and another Snake, Snake Pliskin of Escape from New York. Pliskin was played by Kurt Russell and Josh Holloway is basically a younger Kurt Russell clone. He could easily play the Solid Snake part.

Good casting choice for Solid Snake: Sean Bean
I think I would prefer to see Christian Bale as Solid Snake and Sean Bean as another character, but Bean would be a pretty good Solid Snake as well.

He’s not the right casting choice for Solid Snake: Keanu Reeves
I’ve been hard on Keanu’s acting ability in the past but I don’t even think it’s about that. I think Keanu Reeves can be a decent action star if everything around him is done well but I just don’t think Keanu is the type of hero to play Solid Snake. In the Matrix Neo was cool, but he was the clean shaven, golden boy savior type. Solid Snake is the tough, five o’clock shadow, face paint wearing, gritty badass.

He talks funning casting choice for Solid Snake: Clive Owen
Clive Owen is tough and gritty and he’s a good actor. But here’s the difference between he and Christian Bale. You can never tell from Bale’s parts that he’s from the UK. Bale never has an accent. Clive Owen always has an accent. Maybe Owen has just never had a part where he needed to drop the accent so he hasn’t. Maybe he can actually do it. But until I hear it myself I’m not convinced he can do it.

Marginally acceptable casting choice for Solid Snake: Hugh Jackman
Jackman is alright, I don’t think he would suck. But I wouldn’t be waiting in line opening weekend either.

Old geezer casting choice for Solid Snake: Kurt Russell
Like I said, Solid Snake = Snake Pliskin. But Kurt Russell is too old to be Solid Snake.

Comeback casting choice for Solid Snake: Val Kilmer
Solid Snake is exactly what Val Kilmer needs to be a star again. Although last time I saw him he was getting really chubby.

If only he had hair casting choice for Solid Snake: Jason Statham
Jason Statham is the toughest and coolest sounding badass in Hollywood, and the best action hero.

Shut up Lord of the Rings fans casting choice for Solid Snake: Viggo Mortensen
Go back to the Shire you dumb Hobbits. What’s your next choice? Orlando Bloom?

I wish it would work but I doubt it would casting choice for Solid Snake: David Boreanaz
I like Bones, but surely there is something better for Boreanaz to do somewhere.

The worst idea I’ve heard so far casting choice for Solid Snake: Johnny Knoxville
Yeah, right, and what are your other great plans? Dax Shephard as Alucard? Steve-O as Master Chief? Maybe we can even dig up Dan Cortese and Bill Bellamy to be Ken and Ryu.

Lost Thoughts

Sometimes in movies and television shows it is very small details that are the best moments. One of those moments happened on Lost last night. When Locke went into the cabin to find Jacob that left Hurley and Ben there all alone. Hurley pulls out a candy bar and looks at Ben. You can see exactly what he’s thinking, “to share the candy bar with the psycho killer or not to share the candy bar with the psycho killer?” Of course Hurley is the heart of the show so not only does he share the candy bar but he gives Ben the bigger half.

So Claire is still alive, or is she? The popular theory is that Claire died in the explosion and after that she was just some creature created by the island like Christian. I don’t know if Claire is still alive and I don’t care as long as Emilie de Ravin is still on the show. She rocks way harder than the other women on the show. By the way, out of all the women on Lost, why do the American characters suck the most?

I liked this week’s episode a lot but the Lost creators have got some splainin’ to do. Let’s go over what happened.

On the boat…
- Sayid leaves on a raft
- An hour later the doctor is killed
- A few minutes later the helicopter leaves

On the island
- The corpse of the doctor arrives on shore
- Two days later the helicopter appears
- Sayid is still rafting

If they freighties killed the doctor then jumped on the helicopter and flew over to the island then why did the dead body get there two days before the helicopter? Also I can understand why the helicopter got to the island before Sayid because a helicopter is faster than a raft. But why did the dead body get to the island before Sayid? Sayid is a resourceful guy. He should be able to out row a floating corpse.

Associated Content Update

I was doing pretty well on Associated Content. At one point I was averaging about $6 or $7 an article and I can write an article in less than a hour, so that’s an okay wage per hour. But I had heard that some people made in the $8 - $12 range. I wanted to make that much too so I did everything I could to improve. Sure enough I did. From August 2006 to February 2008 I brought in 700,000 page views. That period of time is 19 months. So I averaged about 36,000 page views per month.

In March of 2008 and April of 2008 (so far) I have pulled in 200,000 page views. That’s 100,000 page views per month. In that time I’ve had 21 articles featured on Associated Content, three articles on the Most Popular Content section and I had an article featured by IMDB.com. What’s my reward for this? An average offer of $3.80 per article.

I hate those people that think they are too good, “oh my articles are soooo good that I deserve sooo much more money.” But this is ridiculous. It’s bad enough that I’m making less than I should but my offers went down when my performance went up. It makes no sense.

So I’ve decided Associated Content isn’t working anymore. Clearly something has changed and clearly I’m going to make chump change on half of my articles and rejected on the other half. So from now on I’m only going to write one or two time sensitive article per week, submit it for free to try and get some money on the performance bonus. No more writing 5 - 10 articles a day. No more articles about really interesting things like chess boxing and bossaball. No more sports stories. No more writing 10 articles worthy of being featured every week. Just one or two little articles a week and that’s it.

Before I didn’t feature all my Associated Content articles on here because like I said I wrote 5 - 10 articles a day and I don’t think you want promotion for 5 - 10 articles every day. But since I will now only be writing one or two articles a week I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to promote them here when they are published. So here is the first article of the new era.

God Sends Message to Teenagers in Abbotsford; Rock is the Devil’s Music

By the way Associated Content added a picture to this article which usually means they are going to feature it. So even after I “quit” I still get featured. Go figure.

Today I will be spending the day looking for a real job. Tomorrow I’ll be playing Grand Theft Auto IV. Everybody have a nice week!

Book Appearance

A couple of days ago my mother called me on the phone to inform me that one of my articles was going to be in a book. What? How is this possible? It turns out that somebody at my church is publishing a sports book. They were online one day researching archery and just happened to come across my article on the 10 Greatest Archers. They were like, “Hey! I know that guy!” What a small world we live in that somebody could be writing a book, go on Google to do research and find an article from somebody that happens to go to the same church.

It’s a good thing my Mom told me about the book though because originally the author was going to copy the article for his book. Unfortunately Associated Content has exclusive rights, not me, and they could sue him if they found out he copied the article for his book. But since I caught this before the book was published I gladly rewrote the article so he could use it.

If you want to read the descriptions for each person you can read the article above (although they will be different in the book). I did actually change the rankings in the book too. Here are my original rankings and the new updated rankings.

Original: 1. Robin Hood 2. Link 3. Sorsha 4. Green Arrow 5. Hawkeye 6. Legolas 7. Susan Pevensie 8. Rambo 9. Gizmo 10. Chewbacca

Updated: 1. Robin Hood 2. Link 3. Green Arrow 4. Hawkeye 5. Legolas 6. Sorsha 7. Susan Pevensie 8. Rambo 9. Chewbacca 10. Gizmo

Drobnjak

I would love to write some great post on my blog but after seeing these commercials I am speechless.

Praying For a Power Outage

Lately down here in Alabama we’ve been getting a lot of storms. Normally it’s not a big deal. It rains, it thunders, it lightnings and then that’s that that. But lately the power has been going out more than usual. I think the power has gone out more times in the last month than in the last 2 years.

About a month ago when the power went out my computer was on at the time and it wreaked havoc on my computer, especially on my mouse. Whenever I clicked on something with my mouse, it automatically double clicked instead. This was very frustrating. I often closed things I didn’t want to close and clicked on things I didn’t want to click.

Sometimes when something breaks people have a tendency to try and fix it by beating on it. I don’t know why people think they should do this. I guess they think if it broke then you can smash it around and make in unbreak. Well, apparently that is sort of what happened with my mouse because about a week later the power went out again with my computer on and suddenly the mouse started working again.

But like I said, the power has been going out a lot. The power went out again a few days later and the mouse wasn’t working again. A few days later the power went out again and the mouse worked, later that day the power went out again and my mouse wasn’t working again.

Now here I am with a mouse that doesn’t work properly and I can think is I hope the power goes out sometime soon.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

If you’ve read my articles on Associated Content then you’ll know that I like making lists. Today I’m going to make another list, a list of my favorite things. You might be asking, “favorite what?” Favorite everything. These are just the 10 things I’m loving right now. It could be a person, it could be a game, a movie, a food, an idea, a math equation, a quote. it can be anything. So here it goes…

1. Mike Pelfrey - Like always the media has blown the New York Mets problems way out of proportion. Even though Pedro Martinez and El Duque are both injured I have no problem with that because Johan Santana, John Maine and Oliver Perez is still a great top three. But Mike Pelfrey, one of the Mets best prospects for a few years now, has made things even easier by starting the season 2 - 0 with a 1.50 ERA. Imagine at some point if Pedro and El Duque are healthy. The New York Mets will have SIX starting pitchers. As I said, their pitching “problems” have been blown way out of proportion.

2. My pink iPod - I got my pink iPod and I’m enjoying it so far. It fits about 50 songs and some of my daily audio bible readings, which is plenty for my 1 - 2 hour exercise routine. It fits in my hand and is easy to carry. I have had the battery die a couple of times but since it runs on a AAA battery and not its own battery on the inside, I can just carry an extra battery with me.

3. NHL Playoffs - My sister is always talking about the NHL so I’ve really gotten into this year and have been keeping up with what’s going on. All of this despite the fact that I haven’t seen a single playoff game yet because there are no hockey games airing in Alabama. Just imagine how much I’d like the NHL if I could actually watch the games.

4. MK vs. DC - In case you don’t keep up with the video game world it was announced today that the newest Mortal Kombat game will be a Mortal Kombat vs. DC Comics game. This is the most excited I’ve ever been about a fighting game. It better have Flash and Green Lantern, and I don’t mean John Stewart. So far the only characters announced are Scorpion and Sub Zero from Mortal Kombat and Batman and Superman from DC Comics.

5. Woot.com - I love Woot.com. If you’re not familiar with Woot.com it is a website that sells electronics and gadgets like cell phones, computers, mp3 players, etc. They only sell one item a day though, but it’s usually a very good product for a very good price. A few days ago they sold a very nice computer for $649.99. The deals are so good that If I actually had a regular well paying job that I’d probably buy their item just about every day.

6. Doctor Who - I’ve really gotten into the television show Doctor Who lately. Unfortunately I’m skeptical about Season 3 and Season 4 (I’ve only seen 1 and 2) because I like Christopher Eccleston better than David Tennant (although I do like David) and Billie Piper was way better than Freema Agyeman. It’s disconcerting that each season the cast has gotten worse.

7. YouTube Video - I love YouTube and my favorite video is constantly changing right now it has to be a movie trailer for one of those crazy Japanese movies. This movie is about a one armed boxer and his evil nemesis. This nemesis has a hat that he can throw at people and it lands on their head and goes down over their head. Suddenly spikes come out of the hat and chop the victim’s head off. This evil man is a serial killer knocking off one armed men for some reason until he comes face to face with the one armed boxer. Enjoy this trailer of The One Armed Boxer and the Master of the Flying Guillotine!

8. Bossaball - I wish I could find people to play bossaball with. Bossball is a sport invented in Belgium that combines volleyball, soccer and a trampoline. Basically there is a volleyball court but in the middle/front position of the court there is a trampoline so that the spiker can jump and get extra height. Bossball players are also allowed to kick the ball. To really get the full jist of it you must watch this video.

9. Mass Effect - I just played Mass Effect for the first time and enjoyed it. It probably doesn’t hurt that I played it on my friends HDTV, which unfortunately I don’t have. It should still be fun on my regular television though.

10. French Toast Bagels from Panera - Mmmmm.

Doctor Who?

Lately I’ve been watching the current season of Doctor Who and I got to wondering about the television show. Doctor Who is the last person of his race so he just calls himself “The Doctor”, and people always say, “Doctor Who?”, that’s how he got his name.

But what was he called before the rest of his race was killed? Were they all Doctors and he was Doctor so-and-so and there was another Doctor so-and-so and another Doctor so-and-so? Or was he the only doctor and all of his other people other professions? Was there an Engineer Who? 3D Animator Who? and Garbage Truck Driver Who?

Proverbs 3:27-28

Today I was listening to my Daily Audio Bible when a couple of verses caught my ear that I had never noticed before. Proverbs 3:27 - 28 reads “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor ‘Maybe some other time’ or ‘Try me tomorrow’ when the money’s right there in your pocket.”

It’s a good thing I didn’t know this verse when I was in high school because I probably would’ve thrown it in some people’s faces. Not in a confrontational, but helpful, way. I mean in a “you’re a big jerk” way. This verse pretty much describes every friend I ever went to for help in high school. Looking back I’m sure there were one or two people I could have gone to with my problems and they would’ve helped, but for one reason or another I didn’t want to go to them. The people that I did want to go to with my problems were never very helpful. It was always “Why do you go to talk to this person or that person instead.” Or it was “I can’t stay and talk I’ve got a test to study for.”

It always bothered me in high school because here were people that claimed to be Christians but they just brushed me aside when I was going through really difficult times. I understand school is important and all of that but more people than other people’s well being? Come on.

But it’s been 10 years since high school (scary!) and now that I’ve grown both in maturity and spiritually my thoughts on this verse were coming completely from the other side. I thought to myself. Am I like this? Does my hand represent God’s hand the way that it should? Honestly I don’t think that I’ve ever just completely turned down somebody that outright asked for help like I had done to me many times in high school and I’ve even gone out of my way to do nice things for people, but is that enough? The main reason I’ve never turned down anybody is because nobody has come to me. Do people know they can come to me? Do I need to do a better job of showing them or telling them they can come to me?

Disney News

There has been a lot of Disney news lately. I guess we’ll start first with the news that I don’t really care about and that is that Disney is already working on High School Musical 4 even though High School Musical 3 hasn’t been finished yet. This can not be a good sign. The third High School Musical takes place during their senior year. Going from high school to college will doom this series. Saved by the Bell the College Years anybody? Once you go from a high school program to a college program your audience changes and that audience doen’t care about High School Musical.

The other news is that Disney has announced that they have a slew of animated movies in store between now and 2012. Here is a summary of all of them:
Bolt (starring John Travolta) - Bolt, a German Shepherd, has lived his whole life on the set of his action TV show, where he believes he has superpowers. When separated from the studio by accident, he meets Mr. Mittens (actually a female cat) and a hamster named Rhino. Along the way, he learns that he doesn’t have superpowers and that the show is not realistic.

The Bear and the Bow - The impetuous, tangle-haired Merida, though a daughter of royalty, would prefer to make her mark as a great archer. A clash of wills with her mother compels Merida to make a reckless choice, which unleashes unintended peril on her father’s kingdom and her mother’s life. Merida struggles with the unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark, ancient curse to set things right.

The Princess and the Frog - A musical set in the legendary birthplace of jazz - New Orleans - “The Princess and the Frog” will introduce the newest Disney princess, Tiana, a young African-American girl living amid the charming elegance and grandeur of the fabled French Quarter. From the heart of Louisiana’s mystical bayous and the banks of the mighty Mississippi comes an unforgettable tale of love, enchantment and discovery with a soulful singing crocodile, voodoo spells and Cajun charm at every turn. Randy Newman will write songs and the score for the film.

Toy Story 3 (Starring Tim Allen and Tom Hanks) - Woody, Buzz, and the rest of their toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, departs for college.

Wall-E - After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, WALL•E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets into motion one of the most exciting and imaginative comedy adventures ever brought to the big screen.

Tinker Bell - Enter the magical world of fairies and meet the enchanting creatures of Pixie Hollow, who “nurture nature” and bring about the change of the seasons. Changing the colors of the leaves, moving a sunbeam to melt snow, waking animals from their winter slumber, or giving a patch of sproutlings a sprinkle of water are all within the realm of these seasonal specialists. Tinker Bell thinks her fairy talent as a “tinker” isn’t as special or important as the other fairies’ talents. But when Tink tries to change who she is, she creates nothing but disaster! With encouragement from her friends Rosetta, Silvermist, Fawn and Iridessa, Tink learns the key to solving her problems lies in her unique tinker abilities … and discovers that when she’s true to herself, magical things can happen.

Up - a comedic adventure taking off (and lifting spirits) in summer 2009. Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life. “Up” takes audiences on a thrilling journey where the unlikely pair encounter wild terrain, unexpected villains and jungle creatures. When seeking adventure next summer — look “Up.”

Tinkerbell North of Never Land - In autumn, Tinker Bell is entrusted with crafting a great treasure that can rejuvenate the Pixie Dust Tree. But when her friend Terence offers to help, Tink’s temper and stubbornness get the better of her, shattering both her creation and her friendship with Terence. To set things right again, she must embark on a journey far North of Never Land … and along the way, she will discover an even greater treasure.

Rapunzel - In this new telling of the classic fairy tale, “Rapunzel,” audiences will be transported to a stunning CG fantasy world complete with the iconic tower, an evil witch, a gallant hero and, of course, the mysterious girl with the long golden tresses. Expect adventure, heart, humor, and hair … lots of hair, when Rapunzel unleashes her locks in theaters for the 2010 holiday.

Tinker Bell A Midsummer Storm - After being confronted by her antagonist Vidia, an irritated Tinker Bell retaliates by taking a photograph of Vidia … without considering the consequences. Now, the two must set aside their differences and cooperate to prevent evidence of the existence of fairies from falling into human hands.

Newt - What happens when the last remaining male and female blue-footed newts on the planet are forced together by science to save the species, and they can’t stand each other? That’s the problem facing Newt and Brooke, heroes of “newt,”

Tinker Bell A Winter Story - The fourth, as-yet-untold story of Tinker Bell and her fairy friends will take place in winter, completing the cycle of the seasons.

Cars 2 - All the world’s a racetrack as racing superstar Lightning McQueen zooms back into action, with his best friend Mater in tow, to take on the globe’s fastest and finest in this thrilling high-octane new installment of the “Cars” saga. Mater and McQueen will need their passports as they find themselves in a new world of intrigue, thrills and fast-paced comedic escapades around the globe.

King of the Elves - Legendary storyteller Phillip K. Dick’s short story (his only experiment in the fantasy genre) becomes the basis for this fantastic and imaginative tale about an average man living in the Mississippi Delta, whose reluctant actions to help a desperate band of elves leads them to name him their new king. Joining the innocent and endangered elves as they attempt to escape from an evil and menacing troll, their unlikely new leader finds himself caught on a journey filled with unimaginable dangers and a chance to bring real meaning back to his own life.

My Disney/Pixar Related Articles:
Top 15 Non-Animated Disney Films
The Seven Best Animated Disney Films
Ranking Pixar’s Best Animated Shorts
Ranking Pixar’s Best Feature Films