Robert Downey Jr - Classic or Classic

Classic

he's going to come over to your house and stick a hot pepper up your ass for this thread

http://www.nndb.com/people/597/000022531/robert-downey-jr-mug2.jpg

HAHHA!

classic but so fuckin lazy too

we all love a comeback

Love him. I even went to see that road trip movie with Galafinakis and the dog because of him (ok also ZG and the dog too). Sadly it was pretty awful. He'll always be classic though.

and yeah as soon as dude realized he could coast on his charm it was kind of all over for him as an actor, but i'm happy he's getting work, and we could certainly do a lot worse when it comes to smug professionalism

And if I came home to find him passed out in my guestroom I def wouldn't call the cops. I'd put on a pot of coffee, break out the advil and start making some omlettes.

Hmmmm that might not have been him.

I don't think he coasted in the first Iron Man movie, although I'm apt to think that most actors in comic book movie do.

not first iron man, no, but sequel and tbh he may be one of the weaker performances in sherlock holmes, watching it again last night.

haha him coasting was the best thing about iron man! i can't imagine how bad it would have been if he tried to play it straight and not just be rdj. (who as i think dan has said elsewhere is basically tony stark already, minus the scientific know-how.)

i dont really get his appeal

but yeah, him and depp coasting from now til forever would still be a welcome thing tbf

he's a rascally rapscallion

I don't know if I do either Lamp and yet somehow he got me.

He's tricky like that.

the two Iron Man movies made it impossible for me to take The Dark Nought seriously, especially the second one, which is what I want from superhero movies these days: lots of good actors bullshitting like they're in Club Paradise or a Hope-Crosby picture.

that's not entirely fair; Batman != Iron Man and I think it's a good thing that the two movie franchises strike different tones

well, remember: I am not fair.

touche!

Yeah! I don't know why that latter Iron Man gets so much flak - it's a shiny decadent playground of a movie. I'd rather spend time there than in the endless self-important dreariness of the Batman movies.

I really enjoyed both of them and don't really feel like I have to choose between them

did you see captim america, alfred?

is Jake Gyllenhaal nude in it?

no but there's def. a bit of equivalent homo coding in it

http://i.imgur.com/jKOSW.jpg

first iron man - lol, smart, awesome
First nolan batman- srs, kinda dumb in spots, pretty awesome
Second iron man- lol, dumb, fun but only ok
Second nolan batman - srs, dumb, not fun but ledger's great

rdj's appeal in a nutshell: young actor who flamed out terribly to the point of becoming a joke with no seeming hope of return, everyone loves a comeback, handsome guy who seems to be enjoying his second-phase celebrity without taking it or himself too seriously, good comic actor who rarely pushes himself (which means he'll always be perpetually underrated as a dramatic actor, which for someone like him is actually a pretty good position to be in), little lingering hint of the bad-boyism that almost killed him in the old days.

Disagree, strongo: most of his recent roles are aging roués.

remember that elton john video he did

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufbexgPyeJQ

this is indefensibly moralistic or at least way too lisa simpsonesque but rdj bums me out cuz i think of all the other people serving long prison sentences for sharing his drug habit or supplying his drug habit so whenever i see him in anything its just kinda 'welcome to america, where only poor people have to face the consequences of their actions'

nah thats a completely defensible position tbh

“I have a really interesting political point of view, and it’s not always something I say too loud at dinner tables here, but you can’t go from a $2,000-a-night suite at La Mirage to a penitentiary and really understand it and come out a liberal. You can’t. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone else, but it was very, very, very educational for me and has informed my proclivities and politics every since.”

Has he ever expounded on this? I ain't mad at him, but I'm interested in hearing in-depth about the transformative nature his prison experience.

i assume he means that he's now a hard-chargin' communist peoples warrior

anyone ever see the documentary he did about the 92 DNC? i saw it years ago and i didnt think he came off particularly well in it

the one where he was meditating in his underwear in a fountain?

nah lamp, i feel you, and you are right. but also "assholes prosper" has been such a basic part of showbiz for so long that i can't get too worked up about it if i'm going to care even enough to know the basic ins-and-outs of these peoples lives.

Yeah Lamp I also think there's something to that. TBH I know p much nothing about him personally but he is v v handsome imo and has a killer smile but he could be a complete asshole for all I know.

i think there is every indication that he is a complete asshole, i.e. he is a massively successful movie star.

Well yeah, there's that.

is he an asshole for his drug habit or an asshole for getting away with that, i'm curious tbh

can't it be both? I love a lot of his roles/movies but I assume on a personal level he's a total asshole, like most other wildly rich/famous people

this is indefensibly moralistic or at least way too lisa simpsonesque but rdj bums me out cuz i think of all the other people serving long prison sentences for sharing his drug habit or supplying his drug habit so whenever i see him in anything its just kinda 'welcome to america, where only poor people have to face the consequences of their actions'

why not hate entertainers in general then, a large number are bombed out on coke and I'm sure they aren't picking it off the cocaine bush growing in their backyard, sounds like you're pillorying this guy for coming clean

well thats why its indefensible, i only 'care' because he got caught so many times. & its not like i think rdj shouldve served ten years in prison and be living in halfway house working unlicensed home renos cuz he cant get a real job 'to pay for what he did' but whenever i see him in anything he just seems kinda smug & so 'fuck you buddy' is my first reaction.

his appeal is so handsome

oh erica covered it

:)

he is totally smug but he's so good at performing it i feel like it's kind of a joke? i probably made that up because he's so handsome tbh.

so we've determined that his appeal is metaphorical boners

his loyalty to james toback is certainly suspect.gif

It will prob never happen, but it would be interesting to read/hear about his prison experience. He mentioned it briefly on Inside th Actor's Studio and was like - "you simply do whatever you have to do to survive in such circumstances" + steely gaze + you will never understand my pain Lipton u giant feeb.

He was the last celeb to get tossed into general population, right? They changed the rules because of him- straightup iso.

he is real good at smoking. real zippy smoker. i think exemplified in the singing detective. he had those few years when all he could get was sorta anachronistic, smart-alec roles on account of being able to quicktalk like the old guys used to.

being handsome and quicktalking is all i want out of my movie stars, really

i will settle for quicktalking. luv u don rickles.

Classic

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lesse0alBA1qajc4eo1_500.gif

<3

I've always thought this mugshot would be a great basis for a Chuck Close portrait:

http://celebrityphotos.sheknows.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/robert-downey-jr-mug-shot.jpg

okay, this is like a get out of hell free card, fun starts at .28 and there's an awesome moment at 1.07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEx5lmbCKtY&t=42

I really have nothing against him but I can't help but feel people who are fascinated by his Iron Man schtick are a bunch of Austin Powers 3 and Mortdecai enablers.

yes when will people stop enjoying movies with bantering action heroes, goddamn that charming actor for allowing the cycle of affability to continue

Austin Powers 3 was the best in the series, foo!

also I think the guy was a prick to shoot down the channel 4 interviewer like he did last month. the dude asked his question clumsily, but I hate the idea that you *can't ask celebs certain questions in an interview situation - and I especially hate the fawning, serf-like swell of fans who thought it was so out of order for an interviewer to ask RDJ anything that isn't directly promoting his movie. I think his "I was liberal until I went to prison" is exactly the sort of provocative bullshit that demands further investigation, and I think a lot less of him for being unwilling to discuss it.

charmingly entertaining and hissy right-wing douche are not mutually exclusive categories

tho i hate Guru-Murthy and he was clearly trying to act the dick so i don't blame Downey for walking away

maybe heaven needed a Bill Murray with more explicit politics

the thing is, if you watch the clip (or the tarantino one), guru-murthy is reduced to a stammering, deflecting mess at the first bit of antipathy from his interview subject. he can't come out and say what he thinks, or even ask a clear question. he just brings up something embarrassing from the subject's past and expects them to do all the work. you can't just say "oh you said this once" or "oh people said this about you once" and expect any self-respecting, self-aware figure to say "ok cool buddy, it's your lucky day and i'm going to politely give you an in-depth, respectful response as if you asked a thoughtful, considerate question." they're going to either coolly walk off the set or yell at you, as your disrespect and cowardice is transparent.

if someone interviewed me about my job in the middle of a day of interviews about my job and said "oh hey you said this obnoxious thing on ILX once five years ago...er um...well..." "yes?" "do you still, i mean...that's kind of.." i might think that person was a prick

this isn't to say i don't think there are worthwhile hard questions to ask RDJ and QT, I just think this guy is horrible at it and shouldn't get a back-pat for half-assedly trying

Krishnan Guru-Murthy is a wanker and this has always been his steez

Yep

All these dudes are tbf

When I saw Little Women a few days ago, there was a trailer for Doolittle--big and expensive, just like in 1967. I'm sure anyone who's read Mark Harris's great Pictures at a Revolution would have found the idea of a remake as amusing as I did. Except--I'd say sadly, but I don't really care either way--this one will probably do very well.

Eddie Murphy's didn't, did it?

then again, he did TWO of them

Forgot all about that. So if that one made money, then I guess that's the precedent.

anyway Downey made many more watchable movies when he was bi

I couldn't really work out what accent Downey is doing in that Doolittle trailer - posh English like his (very bad) Sherlock Holmes accent?

The Doolittle books are actually p weird - and often v racist, in their unbowlderised versions.

btw the doctor is Dolittle, Eliza is Doolittle