[mukooh]

'the machinist'....opening next week....hardly anywhere.....what makes this film especially interesting to me is how far christian bale went to make this role work..........early review below.....


THE MACHINIST

****1/2


Starring Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, John Sharian, Michael Ironside and Larry Gilliard. Directed by Brad Anderson. Written by Scott Alan Kosar. Produced by Julia Fernandez. A Paramount Classics release. Psychological thriller. Rated R for violence and disturbing images, sexuality and language. Running time: 98 min.

Much is made when an actor, particularly an attractive one, radically changes his or her appearance for a role. Charlize Theron packed on 30 pounds, bit into prosthetic teeth and ravaged her blonde locks to transform into serial killer Aileen Wuornos--and she won an Oscar. The prevailing wisecrack is that movie stars have to uglify themselves to be taken seriously. Perhaps there's some truth to this argument. Certainly in the case of "The Machinist," Christian Bale undergoes a metamorphosis that demonstrates an unrivalled dedication to his craft.

Trevor Reznik (Bale) is dying of insomnia. He hasn't slept in a year, and his fatigue has led to a shocking degeneration of his physical and mental health. Both his call-girl girlfriend (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and the waitress (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon) at the airport diner he frequents tell him, "If you were any thinner, you wouldn't exist." He steps on the scale often and keeps tabs on his deteriorating weight on a series of yellow Post-it notes: 121 pounds and, by the end of the film, 99. Trevor isn't just thin--he's emaciated, his gaunt facial features underscoring the torment of a man who lives in fear, his grotesque body an outward manifestation of the tortured soul within. Although screenwriter Scott Alan Kosar fully expected the use of CGI or baggy clothes to suggest his character's weight loss, the horrifying reality of this man's condition would not have been achieved with the same punch-to-the-gut intensity without Bale's 63-pound sacrifice.

Skeptical of his appearance, Trevor's coworkers at a machine shop turn on him when he's involved in an accident that costs a man his arm. Plagued with guilt over the incident, Trevor's shame devolves into suspicion, then paranoia, when it appears his colleagues are conspiring to have him fired--or worse. He finds cryptic hangman drawings on Post-it notes in his apartment and is told that a mysterious coworker who distracted him during the accident doesn't even exist. Consumed by a guilty conscience for a crime he's uncertain--or even unaware--that he committed, Trevor investigates these mysteries to determine whether they're part of a plot to drive him mad or fatigue robbing him of reason.

Bale's brilliance in the role lies not only in the fact that he starved himself for months but that he fully inhabits this wasted, paranoid man. At the peak of his desperation, he throws his body in front of a car (for non-suicidal reasons too complex to go into here). Bloody and bruised and at the end of his rope, he lopes through the city streets with the police in pursuit--a monstrosity.

There are echoes of helmer Brad Anderson's two previous films in "The Machinist"--the horror of "Session 9" blended with the questionable reality of "Happy Accidents." And like last year's "Northfork"--also distributed by Paramount Classics--"The Machinist," atmospherically photographed in desaturated blue and green hues, is uniquely cinematic in that the visual cues to this mystery that's occurring largely in Trevor's mind accumulate and gradually reveal themselves as crucial pieces of the puzzle.

A fellow critic, met while shivering in line for a Sundance screening, posited that there are films that are short stories, there are films that are novels, and then there are films that are films. (What else does one talk about at a film festival than film?) "The Machinist" falls definitively into the latter category, drawing on artistic influences as diverse as Kafka and Dostoevski, Hitchcock and Polanski, "Nosferatu" and "Dr. Caligari." An existential horror film that's as intellectually stimulating as it is gripping, "The Machinist" converges to an unexpected yet inevitable conclusion to culminate in the gratifying experience cinema should be. -Annlee Ellingson


trailer here

[summerbug]

This movie looks very interesting. I love Christian Bale - he is a terrific actor so I will definitely be checking this one out. I believe it was on tvguide.com where I saw a picture of him shirtless from the movie and he was pure skin and bones. Then he has to pack on extra lbs on top of what he lost I believe for Batman and then how he changed so much for American Psycho. How can someone's body take so much of that?

[S.A.S.H.A.]

I am SO looking forward to this movie.

Sasha

[Galaxia21]

I can't wait to see this! Christian = x 100. He's just so skinny in this. But that sexy voice.

[Ambular]

Originally posted by summerbug This movie looks very interesting. I love Christian Bale - he is a terrific actor so I will definitely be checking this one out. I believe it was on tvguide.com where I saw a picture of him shirtless from the movie and he was pure skin and bones. Then he has to pack on extra lbs on top of what he lost I believe for Batman and then how he changed so much for American Psycho. How can someone's body take so much of that?

I was wondering the same. I mean, granted, he doesn't do this frequently, but still, that's (obviously) extremely unhealthy. I read that he lived off of a single can of tuna fish and an egg for each day. I can't imagine that doesn't have serious effects on your body, aside from having bones sticking out.

[S.A.S.H.A.]

He mostly lived off coffee, cigarettes, and an apple a day.



This movie seriously needs to open in more theatres than just THREE nation-wide.

Granted I could easily drive to Los Angeles or Santa Monica in an hour, but still. I want something closer.

Sasha

[Ambular]

Ugh, that's just macabre The shoulder-blades are the worst.

For Christian's sake, I hope this is a big seller, and he at least gets Oscar props (if he is so deserving, I have not seen the film, although I know he is a great actor)...It would be awful if he went through all of that and dropped 63 lbs. (which is a record in movie history!) and got nothing back for it.

[Ambular]

What Christian Has To Say About The Movie

“I feel that it was as long as I don't ever find out that there's ever been any permanent damage because of it,” Bale said. “I'd really, really kick myself for that because at that point it'd just become stupidity, and certainly wouldn't be worth it. But I feel fine. So right now I do feel like it was worth it. I think that it was also just an endeavor where I kind of just wanted to see if I could set myself a challenge and achieve it and have the mental discipline not to waver from it. The way that I thought of it is just that it's only actually eight weeks of filming and I'd done the preparation beforehand, but I've had many six months of my life which I can almost remember nothing particularly that I did during that time. It's fairly unremarkable. So I felt, 'Well this is really only six months. Why not really do something that defines that time?' And it would've been ridiculous if it was for a movie that I didn't think it was worth it, but I felt that it was essential for playing this part. I understand that a number of people have also said to me, 'Well, this isn't going to be a mainstream movie. You're not going to get many people to go and see it. So why did you do it?' Well look, it's not for that. To me a movie doesn't become better just because a lot of people go see it at all. My primary satisfaction for making movies is actually in the making of the movie. So in those terms, absolutely, I feel like it was worth it.”


“I didn’t feel terrible to be honest. I felt quite fine once I got beyond the pangs of hunger, et cetera. Your stomach shrinks and you get used to it. And interestingly, I did find that mentally it was very, very calming being that skinny, because you really didn’t have any energy for expending on unnecessary things, so you just kept it simple. Life became very simple. Much like when you are ill, you just do what is essential and that’s it.


Even before he bulked up for Batman Begins, Bale rushed to enjoy the fruits of his labors, literally. You won’t believe what his big comfort food was after filming wrapped. “Bizarrely, apples. You’d kind of think it would be something a little bit more indulgent than that, but it was them. It was apples that I really wanted. I dreamed about them. Any kind. There were all sorts of different apples that they had in Spain and I was really into them and interested in finding out about all the different kinds of apples. And then different crew members would bring me different apples to try. And I’ve never liked apples particularly in my life, but it must have been I guess the vitamin A I believe that’s in apples that my body was craving.”


I think he's a bit odd, to be honest But at least he's getting a lot out of his work, and isn't all about the fame or the money.

[mukooh]

audio review of 'the machinist' at the web page below.....click on the speaker icon next to the film.....
web page

[mukooh]

Originally posted by S.A.S.H.A.: This movie seriously needs to open in more theatres than just THREE nation-wide. Granted I could easily drive to Los Angeles or Santa Monica in an hour, but still. I want something closer. Sasha

live anywhere close to the orange county?.....across from my school, less than 5 miles away from my hometown....newport beach, ca.....

starting friday...at one of my favorite theaters......in the shopping center, directly the across the street from the university of california, irvine (go anteaters!!!!)....i plan on seeing the 2:45 showing...probably the first day.....


Edwards University Town Center 6
4245 Campus Drive, Irvine, CA 92612

I Heart Huckabees (R) 2:20 | 4:40 | 7:00 | 9:45

Lightning in a Bottle (PG-13) 2:30 | 5:15 | 7:35 | 10:00

The Machinist (R) 2:45 | 5:15 | 7:40 | 10:20

Primer (PG-13) 2:15 | 5:00 | 7:45 | 10:15

Undertow (R) 2:25 | 4:50 | 7:15 | 9:50

What the Bleep Do We Know!? (NR) 2:05 | 4:45 | 7:20 | 10:15

[S.A.S.H.A.]

It's opening in more theatres! Hopefully it'll open in one of my local theatres, if not, I'll drive about 30 minutes to Irvine!

Sasha

[mukooh]

2nd page of a flyer about the making of the film......picked up today at the university 6 theater in irvine.....

[mukooh]

forgot to ask...has anyone else seen the directors other films?? 'happy accidents'......is about a time traveler and a co-dependent....marisa tomei and vincent d'onofrio star.....i really kind of liked it...i saw it in a theater a couple of years ago.....the same with 'next stop wonderland' with hope davis and philip seymour hoffman....an ok little film.....i have yet to see 'session 9'...although i've heard nothing but good things about it.....snyopsis...Tensions rise within an asbestos cleaning crew as they work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.

[mukooh]

making of clip

[Mavericks]

Whoah at those pictures! This is some kind of dedication. It's quite impressive but scary at thesame time. Geez. The sad part is, as much as I want to see this movie, I don't think they'll release it here in the Philippines (I do hope I'm wrong). And yet, many crap movies are released worldwide