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Christian Bale, Robert Downey Jr., Kristen Bell and Skeletor, all in Everyday Hero headlines

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In today’s edition of Everyday Hero, your roundup of handpicked fanboy headlines, let’s try to work together as professionals...

THE CHRISTIAN THING TO DO: The audio of Christian Bale’s enraged outburst on the set of ‘Terminator Salvation’ continues to echo throughout the celebrity-obsessed ether of the Internet. Now there are T-shirts for sale, a nifty soundboard so you can mix-and-match Bale’s torrid tantrum and there’s a jaunty pop ode to Bale by the L.A. band Mae Shi (which plays tonight in West Hollywood at the Troubadour). And of course there’s the brilliant Bale Out,’ the club remix of the new John Connor’s meltdown. The debate continues, too, about whether this snippet of rage is just a fleeting bad-day kind of moment or if it’s a startling glimpse into the true personality of a Hollywood bully. In the audio, you can hear Bale stifle the peacemaking comments of a guy named Bruce -- that would be assistant director and associate producer Bruce Franklin, who is still trying to calm everybody down. Franklin talked to E! and said Bale’s rant was a passing moment of little import and came during the filming of the ‘most emotional’ scene in the movie. Frank also said, ‘He didn’t walk around like that all day long. It was just a moment and it passed. He is so dedicated to the craft. I think someone is begging to make some noise about this, but I don’t think it’s fair.” Patrick Goldstein, who writes the Big Picture blog, listened to the rant and shrugged. ‘If you look back at the history of film,’ Goldstein writes, ‘there is a long tradition of brilliant nut cases, from Marlon Brando and Peter Sellers and Rip Torn right through Nick Nolte and Don Johnson to Sean Penn, Joaquin Phoenix and Russell Crowe. Oh -- and did I forget Mickey Rourke? Oscars go for great acting, not necessarily for good behavior. The difference, of course, is that nothing is private anymore.’ Here’s an unexpected take: At Gold Derby, Tom O’Neil suggests that the talented Bale could be ruining his chances to pick up an Oscar in future films (such as Michael Mann’s upcoming ‘Public Enemies’) with his growing problem-child reputation: ‘Bad boys don’t win Academy Awards. It’s no coincidence that the Oscars’ two biggest losers — Peter O’Toole (eight defeats) and Richard Burton (seven) — have been Hollywood’s biggest hell-raisers. Or consider Marlon Brando. Early in his career, when he exulted in being a ‘tude-heavy dude fond of throwing his fists around Hollywood, he left the Oscar ceremony in 1951 hugely embarrassed — the only cast member of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ not to win despite widespread predictions otherwise. Things just got worse after that. Over the next two years Marlon Brando lost best-actor nominations for ‘Viva Zapata!’ and ‘Julius Caesar.’ ‘ Interesting...but of course Brando eventually did win (twice), and Russell Crowe wasn’t exactly known as a teddy bear when he grabbed the trophy for ‘Gladiator.’

MASTERS OF THEIR DOMAIN: Is there a 1970s-1980s toy or cartoon series that isn’t being drafted for duty as a summer movie? Here’s an excerpt from Micheal Fleming’s recent update on an, ugh, ‘Masters of the Universe’ project that is ramping up: ‘Warner Bros. and producer Joel Silver have set ‘Kung Fu Panda’ co-director John Stevenson to make his live-action directing debut on ‘Masters of the Universe,’ a reimagining of the signature Mattel toy line. Pic will revolve around He-Man, a prince who transforms into a warrior and becomes the last hope for a magical land being ravaged by the evil Skeletor. Silver is producing through his Silver Pictures banner. Mattel’s Barry Waldo will be exec producer. WB acquired the property in 2007, and Justin Marks wrote the first draft of the script based on a story he developed with Neil Ellice. The Mattel property was adapted into the 1980s cartoon series ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.’ The property was previously turned into a campy flop by Cannon Films in 1987, with Dolph Lungdren as He-Man and ‘Frost/Nixon’ star Frank Langella as the villainous Skeletor. The film project is a big priority for Mattel, which licenses a high-end line of He-Man toys that are popular with hardcore collectors.’ [Variety]

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HEY HOLMES, WHATTUP?: One of the easiest things to do as journalist is interview Robert Downey Jr. Even when the guy says absolutely nothing, he’s effortlessly entertaining. Now there is one problem -- if you happen to be an on-air interviewer, the actor will do everything in his power to upstage you and make you look like a complete stiff. Case in point: Here is Downey on the set of Sherlock Holmes with MTV talking about Mickey Mouse, Bruce Jenner, Rodney Dangerfield...and the death of MTV.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: At the premiere of ‘Fanboys’ there was a photo that comes close to earning the caption Wookiee Nookie...it’s Kristen Bell and Chewbacca and things appeared to be getting, uh, hot and hairy. OK, I’ll stop now...

ON THIS DATE: It was 26 years ago today that David Cronenberg’sVideodrome opened in the U.S. and was dubbed a ‘‘Clockwork Orange’ of the 1980s’ by none other than Andy Warhol. The film starred James Woods and the oh-so-seductive Deborah Harry of Blondie fame, and its plot was a surreal mix of sleaze merchants, warped reality, violence, brain tumors, media excess and entertainment addiction. In other words, it was pretty much just as the Internet is today. To celebrate this anniversary, let’s go plant a wet one on our television set...

Thanks for reading!

-- Geoff Boucher

CREDITS: Christian Bale photo from Getty Images. ‘Fanboys’ premiere photo by Wire Image.

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