As a previous post of mine spoke of, I love Mickey Rourke. He is receiving rave reviews for his performance in Aronofsky's The Wrestler (which is in limited release and I've looked as far as Atlanta and can't find anywhere that is showing it). I'm so glad that Rourke is receiving such a career reappraisal, as I truly feel it is merited. Even Bill Simmons over at Page 2 is devoting whole columns to The Wrestler.
I am a big fan of many, many of his films - Diner (a classic), Rumble Fish (one of my favorite films of all time), The Pope of Greenwich Village (underrated), Angel Heart (totally brilliant), Barfly (probably Rourke's best performance, I estimate I've seen it over 50 times), and Sin City (groundbreaking). I've even seen a whole bunch of movies just because he was in them, even in small parts - Heaven's Gate (all 50 hours, and it's truly a masterpiece), Homeboy (I'm willing to bet you don't know anyone else who has watched this entire movie), Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man (awful), White Sands (decent), Bullet (Tupac movie), The Rainmaker (Coppola), Domino (Ridley Scott makes it worth it), Man On Fire (Scott again), Once Upon A Time In Mexico (good Rodriguez pulp), Buffalo 66 (bad Gallo pulp), The Pledge (superb Sean Penn direction), Wild Orchid (bad), and 9 1/2 Weeks (good). There was a period of my life when I was actively attempting to see every Mickey Rourke film ever made.
In case you were keeping score, that is alot more bad films than good. But Rourke does that - he makes you watch terrible films because he can be so brilliant that he can make these films worth watching. There are few actors that I like enough to watch anything they are in - Brando (I will, and have, watched anything with Brando in it, no matter how abysmal), Pacino (he is become borderline), and Depp (I have seen every film he's been in except The Brave, but that's never been released in the US). At one time I would have had placed De Niro on that list, but there are some De Niro movies I won't watch (like Showtime or Rocky & Bullwinkle).
Anyway, the wonderful Sheila Variations has written (over at the House Next Door) the ultimate treatise on Rourke that sums up so much of what I think about his career. It's lengthy but totally worth the time spent on the read. Enjoy.
I am a big fan of many, many of his films - Diner (a classic), Rumble Fish (one of my favorite films of all time), The Pope of Greenwich Village (underrated), Angel Heart (totally brilliant), Barfly (probably Rourke's best performance, I estimate I've seen it over 50 times), and Sin City (groundbreaking). I've even seen a whole bunch of movies just because he was in them, even in small parts - Heaven's Gate (all 50 hours, and it's truly a masterpiece), Homeboy (I'm willing to bet you don't know anyone else who has watched this entire movie), Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man (awful), White Sands (decent), Bullet (Tupac movie), The Rainmaker (Coppola), Domino (Ridley Scott makes it worth it), Man On Fire (Scott again), Once Upon A Time In Mexico (good Rodriguez pulp), Buffalo 66 (bad Gallo pulp), The Pledge (superb Sean Penn direction), Wild Orchid (bad), and 9 1/2 Weeks (good). There was a period of my life when I was actively attempting to see every Mickey Rourke film ever made.
In case you were keeping score, that is alot more bad films than good. But Rourke does that - he makes you watch terrible films because he can be so brilliant that he can make these films worth watching. There are few actors that I like enough to watch anything they are in - Brando (I will, and have, watched anything with Brando in it, no matter how abysmal), Pacino (he is become borderline), and Depp (I have seen every film he's been in except The Brave, but that's never been released in the US). At one time I would have had placed De Niro on that list, but there are some De Niro movies I won't watch (like Showtime or Rocky & Bullwinkle).
Anyway, the wonderful Sheila Variations has written (over at the House Next Door) the ultimate treatise on Rourke that sums up so much of what I think about his career. It's lengthy but totally worth the time spent on the read. Enjoy.
