Monday, October 22, 2012

Movie Marathon: Edward Norton

Yeah, you know me. I'm that lazy and crazy girl who spends most of her time watching movies, even in the middle of deadly college tasks. I told you how different college and school are, but I'm still doing that same thing I did when I was in high school: movie marathon.

I don't care what time it is, what day it is, or what tasks that I haven't done, I just have to watch at least one movie a day to keep my mood up.

And now I've just done Edward Norton movie marathon.


For those who don't know (I don't expect you to know it anyway), Edward Norton is one of my favorite actors of all time. He is a great actor, cute, smart, cool, and a Yale graduate (!!!), oohhh what a dream man, but too bad, he's old enough to be my dad haha (FYI, he's the same age as my Mom).
So, what makes you decided to do Edward Norton movie marathon?
It's all started when I was watching The Bourne Legacy and found him as a good villain. But I was still crazy about Jeremy Renner that time (the last movie marathon I had was his movies!) so yeah I was kind of ignoring Norton. But then couple weeks later, I watched Moonrise Kingdom and realized how funny Norton's character (Scout Master Randy Ward) was. And the next day, I happened to (re)watch all his movies that I have, starting from Primal Fear.

Here's the list of his movies, according to the time I watched them:
1. The Bourne Legacy (yeah let's assume that this was the first film in my Edward Norton movie marathon)
2. Moonrise Kingdom
3. Primal Fear
4. The Illusionist
5. The Score
6. American History X
7. Keeping the Faith (Norton's directorial debut)
8. Red Dragon
9. Death to Smoochy
10. 25th Hour
11. Stone
12. Rounders
13. Pride and Glory
14. The Italian Job
15. The Incredible Hulk
16. Fight Club

Actually, there are many other movies of his, but I just have all of the above. Yep, most of them are action/thriller. Maybe next time I'll find the other movies :D

After watching all of them, do you have any specific movies that you've been into?
Yes! Yes, yes, and yes. Edward Norton is so great in playing any kind of roles, makes me rather hard to choose one or two of his movies as my favorite. But, here's my top 5.

The first is Red Dragon. Oh, I love this movie so much. Red Dragon is very special because it introduced me to the actor named Edward Harrison Norton. In other words, Red Dragon is the very first Edward Norton movie I've ever seen. I first watched it on the local TV and loved Norton ever since. It also stars Ralph Fiennes (another favorite actor of mine) as the villain. Norton plays a retired FBI agent Will Graham who is assigned back to track down a mysterious serial killer (Fiennes), with help of criminal genius Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). I'm telling you to watch this movie guys, seriously. You (probably) will instantly fall in love to Edward Norton hahaha.

The second is Primal Fear. This movie is Norton's motion picture debut. He plays Aaron Stampler, an altar boy who is accused of murdering a priest. A lawyer Martin Vail (Richard Gere) takes on his defense at no charge. If you see this movie, you will fall to Norton's innocent face, just like me. I mean, he was soooo young back then (the movie is released on 1996, he was still 27 years old!) and so handsome (of course). And this role led him to win Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and received nomination for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Can you imagine it? Debut + great acting = awards! Watch it, guys, watch it. A little surprise for the ending.

The third is American History X. This one is so phenomenal, and once again, Norton received Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He plays Derek Vinyard, a former neo-nazi skinhead who's trying to prevent his younger brother (Edward Furlong) going down the same wrong path that he did. You can see Norton's transformation from being so brutal (when he's still a neo-nazi skinhead) to a very nice and caring guy (after gets out from prison). This movie is just that good, sometimes it plays my emotion, and as a result, I cried in the end of the movie. That's just me, what about you?

The fourth is Fight Club. Edward Norton and Brad Pitt? Me likey! Fight Club is just amazing. It is about an unknown man (also can be called The Narrator--played by Norton) who meets a soap maker Tyler Durden (Pitt) and together they form an underground fight club. Brilliant. I love the bromance between Pitt and Norton here. Besides, this is a great movie, guys! And super great bonus: Jared Leto co-starred! Although it's just a small role, but seeing three of my favorite actors on screen together is just... xD

The fifth is The Illusionist. Norton plays Eisenheim, a magician who falls in love to a woman (Jessica Biel) whose social standing is far above his. It sounds ordinary, but I'm telling you guys, the movie is beautiful and extraordinary. I usually don't like this kind of romance but The Illusionist is different. I was thinking about learning magic after seeing this movie haha ridiculous, I know. Maybe you will too? Just watch the movie. But be careful, nothing is what it seems.

Wait, wait! Only FIVE? Does this mean you don't like The Bourne Legacy, The Incredible Hulk, and the others?!
Hey I didn't say that! I chose those five because for me, those characters are the most unforgettable from Norton's career. Don't get me wrong, I love all his movies, I love The Bourne Legacy and The Incredible Hulk. But in TBL, the one who's got my attention is Jeremy Renner because he's the main actor. And as the scientist Bruce Banner, Norton is good, but somehow it doesn't fit him because of his previous roles (but he's sooo freaking handsome in this movie).


"I'm an actor and, each time out, I'm trying to convince the audience that I'm this character. Every little thing that people know about you as a person impedes your ability to achieve that kind of terrific suspension of disbelief that happens when an audience goes with an actor and character he's playing."
-Edward Norton


That's it from me. (Sorry for my broken English). I hope I can do Edward Norton movie marathon again :D
Looking forward for the next movie marathon! Which actor/actress do you think should I watch?

Pics were taken from Google, then were made into a collage by me.

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