Is Jeremy Irons Put 'Out to Pasture' as Pennyworth?

[Editors Note: I am pleased to welcome new contributor Diana Drumm to The Film Experience. The benefit of fresh voices? They often have subjects to opine on that we haven't run into the ground already here at TFE. Like this consideration of Jeremy Irons, late in his career. Enjoy! - Nathaniel]

Last week, the internet announced, buzzed and trounced the news of Jesse Eisenberg signing on to play Lex Luthor in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman. (Insert maniacal mastermind Mark Zuckerberg joke.) Less buzzed about, but part of the same announcement, Jeremy Irons is set to play Alfred Pennyworth. Seriously. Jeremy “Scar is an unknowing introduction to masochism” Irons. Brushing aside millenial Disney hang-ups, Jeremy Irons is a glorious figure of bygone British manhood and Alfred Pennyworth is... A different sort of bygone British manhood. 

Lithe yet powerful, languid yet vital, vulnerable yet undeniably masculine. As an actor, Irons’s performances take on a seductive quality, with an earnest veneer covering an implicit rascaliness or vice versa or a muddled mix of both. With a bewildered look as powerful as a forceful growl, he (his innate talent, his RSC work, his Oscar) is being wasted.

Not that he’s the first thesp to be called in as a ringer for a blockbuster (or that this is his first time on the merry-go-round -- Eragon, Beautiful Creatures, etc.)...

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Posterized: Christian Bale

In the Posterized series we look at a whole career though the most enduring bit of movie marketing: the poster. You'd think that when two of your first three film roles as a young boy were Oscar nominated wonders (Henry V and Empire of the Sun), there'd be nowhere to go but down. In the case of Christian Bale, you'd be wrong. His rise to the top, though, was not without its long stretches of 'this might not happen at all.' Younger readers might not realize that Bale was a fan favorite in the 1990s -- "Baleheads" they called his stans -- long before fandom was empowered by the internet. His star might have risen a lot faster if tumblr had been in existence during his slow climb.

Bale is back. And so is his yo-yo dieting

Now, of course, his career is very much happening / has happened.  The literally shape-shifting A lister has two new movies opening this weekend (Out of the Furnace) and next (American Hustle) and he's skinny in one and thick in the other as is his way. Also his way: winning "Great Actor" reviews for every single performance. It's always an unpleasant surprise to remember that he's only ever been Oscar nominated once (The Fighter). At least he won on his first and only shot at gold to date.

Let's look at his career from the very beginning. How many of these 36 have you seen? 

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Silent Linking

Variety glorious piece gently berating Disney for their self-loathing Frozen marketing ('no, this isn't about girls and it's not a musical, either!')
Towleroad James Franco's '50 Shades of Batman & Robin'. Ha! I know a lot of people hate Franco's absurdities and his ubiquity but I love that he has turned the boredom of professional acting (all that time not acting on film sets or between jobs) into performance art.
EW Marcia Gay Harden will play Christian Gray's mother in 50 Shades of Gray. Can the movie just be about her instead?
MNPP which is hotter retro reminder: American Hustle's JLaw or... 

Vanity Fair Katey wonder whether Lena Dunham or Kristen Stewart have the Sundanceiest Sundance movie
Time Wispy beautiful Gal Gadot from Fast and Furious 6 will play the world's most famous Amazon warrior, Wonder Woman. Or at least Diana Prince in that likely-to-be-terrible Man of Steel 2 Men of Steel? Batman vs Superman? World's Finest. (I don't care what it's called. So bored of superhero movies... especially Batman. He's been on movie screens regularly since 1989... hibernate in the cave for a bit, PLEASE. Make us miss you)
Cinema Blend Two competing live action version of The Jungle Book are headed your way. It's Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu vs. Jon Favreau. I can't be the only person who still remembers the 90s live action version with Jason Scott Lee, can I?
The Wire Joe Reid on Her's NBR win
Hollywood Elsewhere Jeffrey Wells is grossed out by some hearsay that someone somewhere who is savvy about Oscars thinks Saving Mr Banks is going to win Best Picture. (P.S. You can find someone somewhere who thinks anything... even among people who are generally not completely dumb about the Oscars)
Coming Soon a new Ira Levin adaptation is coming: Veronica's Room. If it's anywhere close to as good as previous Levin adaptations like Rosemary's Baby or The Stepford Wives (original) than we are in for a treat.

Today's Must Read
Gawker Tom Scocca's essay about "Smarm" and social media. A lot of food for thought. Don't dismiss it unless YOU'VE written a 9,253 word thinkpiece...

Finally... 

Library of Congress findings on Silent Films

Finally, I'm noticing a lot of news sites suddenly reporting about these awful stats about the survival of silent film... or the lack thereof that is. This chart and many of the articles, are stemming from a September 2013 report from the Library of Congress which you can read in full here.

Before Batman Began Again...

JA from MNPP here. This is making the rounds today, but perhaps you've missed it - from the new boxed-set of Batman blurays out this weeks comes the above audition tape from our most recent rubber-suited shadow dweller, Christian Bale himself! This was for 2005's Batman Begins of course, which began the whole Nolan era of Gotham and its gruff-voiced hero. Right off the bat (har) you'll see that Bale had that smoker's voice in mind for the character beneath the scowl - personally I was cool with it in Begins, but grew steadily sick of the affectation as the films wore on. (Although the same could pretty much be said of my take on the triology, give or take some Ledger.) But who's reading that opposite him? Might that be Lois Lane herself, one Amy Adams? To think what might have been with her in place of Katie Holmes...

The Best Tweets About Ben Affleck As Superman

Last night on Twitter when the news broke that Ben Affleck was cast as Batman for the inevitable Batman vs. Superman movie, Ben Affleck and the internet reenacted that scene from The Dark Knight Rises where Batman "dies" in a nuclear explosion over Gotham. Here were my favorite tweets from that "event"... 

Have we learned nothing from 'Daredevil?'

— Ashley Reynolds (@Ashley_Reynolds) August 23, 2013

You guys, I'm really worried Affleck isn't up to acting challenge of the 2 or 3 scene where Batman isn't entirely CGI.

— Michael Cusumano (@SeriousFilm) August 23, 2013

I swear I can hear Matt Damon giggling wherever he is.

— Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) August 23, 2013

The person most disappointed by the Ben Affleck news is Matt Damon, as he is now legally required to play Robin.

— James Martin (@Pundamentalism) August 23, 2013

Lee Daniels' Batman vs. Superman (a.k.a. Mo'Nique vs. Oprah with Lenny Kravitz as Alfred the Butler)

— itsonlyzach (@itsonlyzach) August 23, 2013

Hey, remember when Affleck was Superman? pic.twitter.com/rD4xn9U8RU

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) August 23, 2013

Batman fuck yourself?!?

— Andreas (@astoehr) August 23, 2013

In the Ben Affleck version, Batman's parents kill themselves.

— Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) August 23, 2013

On a more serious note, I don't get why they need a Star when Batman is the draw. Superman movies understand this and this is a Superman movie (sort of... being the Man of Steel sequel that's become a Batman vs. Superman thing in the latest example of Hollywood's fandering.) It's just setting fire to your production budget is all. It buys you one day of notoriety on the internet for heaps of millions but ticket sales will be there regardless. 

And, finally, the perfect rude 'hair of the dog' cure this morning to get this out of your system once and for all...

Not even Jennifer Garner sucks Ben Affleck's dick as much as the internet did just 6 months ago.

— Maxwell H. (@cinemaxwell) August 23, 2013

Not even Jennifer Garner fucks Ben Affleck as hard as the internet has over the last 10 hours.

— Maxwell H. (@cinemaxwell) August 23, 2013

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