I finally noticed this actor has done some cool stuff. This week I watched American Psycho and The Machinist. He's definitely one of the most dedicated actors there is, since he stopped eating to prepare for The Machinist. In fact, I've been inspired to read a few novels by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I just need to finish my stack of books about quantum physics (a bunch of really good ones recently came out).

I dunno, the Machinist was kinda ruined by its 13-in-a-dozen plot twist. Seriously, people need to stop doing that already, yet I've seen the exact same kind of plot twist in 2 recent movies with big Hollywood names in them.

Also, Bale was Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins, so you might want to check that out too. Wasn't really impressed with his performance there though.

You should watch Equilibrium.

I have to agree, although Bale (and the movie itself) was kind of refreshing after the last few Batman flicks.

Equilibrium is comedy gold. Watch it with some friends and a few beersand you'll have a great night.

I didn't find The Machinist to be that overbearing; nothing about it was 'too much'. A few weeks ago, I did watch a Cronenberg movie, eXistenZ. That was a madhouse. There might not be a way to resolve what happened.

    A movie I had watched as a teenager, Jacob's Ladder left me very confused. In fact, someone had to explain it to me. And just last month, 13 years after I had watched it, another piece of the puzzle fell into place. The scriptwriters definitely let their imaginations run away, as Agent Orange is not a hallucinogen (it's a dioxin). It was used to defoliate forests in Vietnam, not turn the soldiers into better killing machines. I don't know where these rumors come from.

Jacob's Ladder is great, one of my personal favourites. If you like that kind of movie, have you checked out David Lynch's work? Aside from the timeless awesomeness of the Twin Peaks-series, he's done a lot of freaky, enigmatic movies like Eraserhead, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Inland Empire, etc.. The last one in particular is a multi-layered puzzle of great depth that confuses the hell out of most people (and therefore might not be the best place to start if you're new to his style). All of these movies are works of art and very rewarding IF you like to think for yourself and don't like to have all of the story neatly explained and handed to you. They're very ambiguous, and offer many levels of speculation and interpretation. Just a word of warning if you're interested: you will be confused the first time around.

EDIT: Also, about Jacob's Ladder (this was why I replied in the first place, heh), if you really have figured out what's going on in that movie, you'll understand that it doesn't matter whether Agent Orange was a biological weapon or a drug, the scriptwriters didn't mess up.

LSD was tested on soldiers during that time. That's where the rumours, and Jacob's Ladder, come from. Actually, I hven't seen the film in a while but I'm pretty sure there's an end slate in the movie that explains exactly about the testing.

By coincidence I just rented Jacob's Ladder a couple of days ago. I already saw it a couple years back because it was cited as an enormous influence on the SH series (and it VERY obviously was), but I didn't quite get the story either.
I'll watch it again soon.

I guess I better watch Jacob's Ladder again. I'm not familiar with David Lynch, but coincidentally, I bought Eraserhead and The Elephant Man last week. I had been told that I need to check out his movies.
     
   And to Amazingu - what you said about SH does not surprise me. Now that I think about it, it should've occurred to me before.

Speaking of Silent Hill influences, I went and saw the 'The Mist' last week.  This is another Stephen King adaptation from Frank Darabond (Also did The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption).  Hard to recommend because the ending was too 'dark' for my tastes, however, I liked it way more than the Silent Hill movie.  Some of the similarities were uncanny (the obvious fog, and monster element, and the religious zealot character)

Someone else mentioned Existenze (sp?), definitely check out an earlier Cronenberg classic 'Videodrome'.  It carries a very similar theme on the blurring of fantasy and reality.  In that movie, however the 'virtual' world is television.  Some classic '80's era special effects too.