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What the hell happened to Edward Norton?

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nomoment

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After brilliant work in:

Primal Fear
American History X
Fight Club
and arguably, the 25th Hour

Norton has literally, fallen off the face of the earth. I realize he was in Kingdom of Heaven (which I haven't seen), but he doesn't seem to get a lot of press these days. Before the awful Death to Smoochy, Norton was really set to take reigns as the De Niro of the next generation.

For the love of god, someone give this guy a good role!
 
I know this is a completely random thought, but everytime I see Sam Rockwell in a film, I think, "I guess they couldn't get Edward Norton."
 
norton.jpg
 
You should catch him in Rounders, if you can stomach some Matt Damon. Really some good old fashioned Norton goodness.
 
Well, here's his upcoming slate:

Down in the Valley (2005)
Set in the present-day San Fernando Valley, the project revolves around a delusional man who believes he's a cowboy and the relationship that he starts with a rebellious young woman.
(with Evan Rachel Wood, Bruce Dern, David Morse, Rory Culkin)

The Illusionist (2006)
Director Neil Burger's screen adaptation of Steven Millhauser's short story 'Eisenheim the Illusionist'. Eisenheim (Edward Norton) is a magician in early 1900's Vienna, who falls in love with a woman well above his social standing. When she becomes engaged to a Crown Prince, Eisenheim uses his powers to win her back and undermine the stability of the royal house of Vienna.
(with Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti)

The Painted Veil (2006)
A woman becomes dissatisfied with her marriage, as her husband favors of his research over time with her. An affair leads her on a journey of self-discovery, and her new dedication to fighting cholera brings her to the Far East.
(with Naomi Watts)

Motherless Brooklyn (2006)
"Motherless Brooklyn" is about Lionel Essrog, a detective with Tourette's Syndrome. When his mentor is murdered, he must go and find the killer.
(Norton is directing and adapting the novel)
 
Good to see he's stuck with Motherless Brooklyn all this time. I've been waiting on it for at least four years now.
 
Ed Norton's awesome. His brother was teaching 7th grade science to us (as well as coaching soccer) and that happened to coincide with Ed Norton hitting it big in Primal Fear. He stuck around another year and then skedaddled out to L.A to hang out with his now Oscar-nominated brother. He actually showed up on the basketball scene in "American History X" and me and my friends are pretty sure he's the dude that says "hey that's fucking offense" (off-screen at that point) since it's his voice. Pretty weird that our 7th grade science teacher was playing a skinhead. :lol
 
He lost all credibility with me when he dumped Salma...




maharg said:
norton.jpg
Click to expand...


jackie-gleason.jpg


"Norton my friend, how would YOU like to...."
 
don't sell him short by calling him "this generations de niro". De Niro, more or less, is the same as Denzel... they play the same character in EVERY MOVIE with the exception of 2 or 3, and because those 2 or 3 roles they do that are different are AWESOME, everyone splooges when they hear their name.

Denzel in Crimson Tide: "YOU ARE RELEIVED OF COMMAND!"
Denzel in John Q: "I WILL NOT BURY MY SON... MY SON WILL BURY ME!"
Denzel in Remember the Titans: "YOU WILL NOT GET BLOOD ON MY JERSEY!"
Denzel in The Hurricane: "I WILL NOT CONFESS!"
...then he does amazing in Training Day and everyones on his nuts. Deniro does the same thing.

Deniro in Meet the Parents: "You're not threatening me, are you Focker?"
Deniro in Casino: "Whoa whoa, lets just calm down."
Deniro in Heat: "Yoo, you're not taking me in, remember?"

Ed Norton plays DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. Who he plays in 25th Hour is totally different than who he plays in American History X which is, well, kinda different from Fight Club. You get the point. Both Denzel and DeNiro, like it or not, are typecast worse than Sam Jackson.
 
Whytemyke you obviously haven't seen many films with DeNiro. Go watch The King of Comedy, Mean Streets, Once Upon a Time in America, and Raging Bull. All very different.

Deniro now is just taking roles that are easy. Sadly.
 
Yeah, "Meet the Parents", "Casino", and "Heat" are not what I'd consider DeNiro's great roles. They are good movies, but they aren't what defined him to me. Go watch "Taxi Driver", "The Godfather Part II", and "Goodfellas" for his great work. Why haven't I seen "Raging Bull" yet?

Anyway, you can say that "Denzel" line about almost every prolific actor, it doesn't hold much water with me. Does he sometimes play a characture of himself? Yep. Does that diminish some of his earlier work? I guess that depends on your POV, but no amount of trash that Jack Nicholson has been involved in will erase "The Shining" or "Easy Rider."
 
He slowly and surely used his fame to get a shot at Salma Hayek. He achieved his goal and said "fuck it, I'm rich, hit it, and now I can retire."
 
whytemyke said:
don't sell him short by calling him "this generations de niro". De Niro, more or less, is the same as Denzel... they play the same character in EVERY MOVIE with the exception of 2 or 3, and because those 2 or 3 roles they do that are different are AWESOME, everyone splooges when they hear their name.

Denzel in Crimson Tide: "YOU ARE RELEIVED OF COMMAND!"
Denzel in John Q: "I WILL NOT BURY MY SON... MY SON WILL BURY ME!"
Denzel in Remember the Titans: "YOU WILL NOT GET BLOOD ON MY JERSEY!"
Denzel in The Hurricane: "I WILL NOT CONFESS!"
...then he does amazing in Training Day and everyones on his nuts. Deniro does the same thing.

Deniro in Meet the Parents: "You're not threatening me, are you Focker?"
Deniro in Casino: "Whoa whoa, lets just calm down."
Deniro in Heat: "Yoo, you're not taking me in, remember?"

Ed Norton plays DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. Who he plays in 25th Hour is totally different than who he plays in American History X which is, well, kinda different from Fight Club. You get the point. Both Denzel and DeNiro, like it or not, are typecast worse than Sam Jackson.
Click to expand...
You're clearly selling De Niro short by comparing him to friggin' Denzel Washington. And Meet the Parents, Casino, Heat? What about Cape Fear, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Deer Hunter?
 
DJ_Tet said:
Yeah, "Meet the Parents", "Casino", and "Heat" are not what I'd consider DeNiro's great roles. They are good movies, but they aren't what defined him to me. Go watch "Taxi Driver", "The Godfather Part II", and "Goodfellas" for his great work. Why haven't I seen "Raging Bull" yet?

Anyway, you can say that "Denzel" line about almost every prolific actor, it doesn't hold much water with me. Does he sometimes play a characture of himself? Yep. Does that diminish some of his earlier work? I guess that depends on your POV, but no amount of trash that Jack Nicholson has been involved in will erase "The Shining" or "Easy Rider."
Click to expand...

Actually, you can't say that Denzel thing about every actor, because not every actor plays the same role in every movie. Nicholsons shit changes in almost every movie, from As Good As It Gets to A Few Good Men to the Shining to Batman. Sure there may be a few, but not nearly on the same scale as Denzel.

Same with Deniro. Sure he was awesome in Godfather Part II, Cape Fear, and Raging Bull... even Taxi Driver, too. But what is that, four unique roles in a CAREER? A really LONG career? Goodfellas is the quintessential example of typical Deniro.

You'll see a far higher ratio of typecast:uniqueness with both of these guys than you will with other actors who receive such acclaim. Now take Dustin Hoffman, whom I think is probably the best actor out there right now, period. Everytime he does a new movie, it's a completely new character. Look at i <3 Huckabees, or Hook, or Wag the Dog, Rainman, etc, all the way back to the Graduate. Hardly any of these characters are the same as any other unless you're going to use far broader strokes than anything needed to cover Denzel or Bob Deniro.

I'm not saying that neither of them are amazing actors. I just think they receive FAR more acclaim than is warranted.
 
isamu said:
He lost all credibility with me when he dumped Salma...
Click to expand...

WTS...he dumped her? I thought it was the other way around...at least it would've explained his being in a slump.

And there's a good number of actors that seem to play the same two or three roles...Pesci is another one, Pacnio's been argubly milking his Scent of a Woman character for over a decade, and Tom Cruise has played the same damn cocky/arrogant persona in every movie not called Legend and Collateral.
 
whytemyke said:
Actually, you can't say that Denzel thing about every actor, because not every actor plays the same role in every movie. Nicholsons shit changes in almost every movie, from As Good As It Gets to A Few Good Men to the Shining to Batman. Sure there may be a few, but not nearly on the same scale as Denzel.

Same with Deniro. Sure he was awesome in Godfather Part II, Cape Fear, and Raging Bull... even Taxi Driver, too. But what is that, four unique roles in a CAREER? A really LONG career? Goodfellas is the quintessential example of typical Deniro.

You'll see a far higher ratio of typecast:uniqueness with both of these guys than you will with other actors who receive such acclaim. Now take Dustin Hoffman, whom I think is probably the best actor out there right now, period. Everytime he does a new movie, it's a completely new character. Look at i <3 Huckabees, or Hook, or Wag the Dog, Rainman, etc, all the way back to the Graduate. Hardly any of these characters are the same as any other unless you're going to use far broader strokes than anything needed to cover Denzel or Bob Deniro.

I'm not saying that neither of them are amazing actors. I just think they receive FAR more acclaim than is warranted.
Click to expand...


That's a fair point about Hoffman, he's one of my favorites too. I love "Little Big Man" for one. However, you might be selling Denzel short. You aren't mentioning "Glory" or "Malcom X" in which he played characters totally different than he is "thought of." I understand and respect the point you are trying to make, I just think it can be said of a lot of prolific actors, not just Denzel. Hoffman might be the exception to the rule, he was "Tootsie" after all. I've heard that point about Denzel before, and I think it's a little unfair.



edit--"Goodfellas" IS the quintessential Bobby DeNiro role. You're right about that. But it was also the FIRST time he played that role. It's not even close to the role he had in Godfather II. Did he lampoon it in the Analyze movies? Of course. Did he play off it in "Casino?" Yep. Does that hurt his performance in "Goodfellas?" Nope.


edit2--damn, we forgot about "Cape Fear." I think you are too harsh on Denzel's choices and DeNiro's in particular. It's not as simple as you make it out to be. But Hoffman is a great example of someone who does play different parts every time out.
 
Ed Norton became one my favourite actors after witnessing him in fight club, which in turn became one of my favourite movies.
 
Norton is notrious around town for being an asshole, and if you don't pull in the dollars, that kind of attitude can catch up with you. He'll never be blacklisted completely, but he's certainly not on the top of every producer's wish list anymore. Tobey Maguire is also an asshole, but he does Spider-Man, so he can get away with it. For now.
 
Willco said:
Norton is notrious around town for being an asshole, and if you don't pull in the dollars, that kind of attitude can catch up with you. He'll never be blacklisted completely, but he's certainly not on the top of every producer's wish list anymore. Tobey Maguire is also an asshole, but he does Spider-Man, so he can get away with it. For now.
Click to expand...

What about Leno?
 
Willco said:
Norton is notrious around town for being an asshole, and if you don't pull in the dollars, that kind of attitude can catch up with you. He'll never be blacklisted completely, but he's certainly not on the top of every producer's wish list anymore. Tobey Maguire is also an asshole, but he does Spider-Man, so he can get away with it. For now.
Click to expand...


I trust Wilco on this one. He knows his movie info.

Ed dumping Salma was a true WTF moment.
 
isamu said:
"Norton my friend, how would YOU like to...."
Click to expand...

Eddie Murphy said:
You know who would be a funny fa--ot?
Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton!

Ralph Kramden leaning out the window and:
"Norton! Come on down, I wanna show you somethin'!"

"Ralphie-boy, whaddaya say there pal of mine ?"

"You know Norton, I've been watching you.

And I know you've been watching me.
You watch me! I know!"

"So, Ralph, what are you gettin' at?"

"Norton, my friend!
How would you like to **** me up the ass?"

"I know you wanna **** me, Norton!"

"And you know that I know that you know
that I know that you wanna **** me!"

"Now I'm gonna bend over,
and when I do, start ****in'!"

"Here I go !"

"Way to go there, Ralphie-boy!"
Click to expand...

I love that.
 
Whatchu talking about beeatch? He was awesome in Kingdom of Heaven last year. His performance was asily the best thing about the whole movie.
 
Willco said:
Everybody loves Leno. Don't worry, between your darling Superman and my amazing Spider-Man, Brandon Routh is the far more likeable person.
Click to expand...

Brandon Routh IS Spider-Man 4-6!
 
Do any of you come to Bob's Big Boy on Friday's for Cruiser Night with your neat, vintage cars? I think not! You leave Leno alone, he's a saint!
 
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