Saturday, April 4, 2015

50 Reasons why Robert Downey Jr. is Awesome

Surely, I won't be in alone in this, but speaking as one of this man's biggest fans, it's something I can't not do.

It feels like just yesterday when RDJ was 45 (going on 46) and "Less than Zero" kinda changed my life... when I went from being a huge fan to attaining fangirl status.

Today, he's turning FIFTY.

So why not be totally cliché and list 50 amazing things about him?
And I will do my best to be original... not just focusing on the physical things, but going for the deep stuff. What sets him apart for me as someone generally crazy about actors, but also what makes him an amazing person.

Believe it or not, coming up with 50 things wasn't easy, but I managed.

1) He gets better with age... not just his good looks, but his acting has even improved.

2) His wife, Susan Downey, is his secret weapon. An amazing movie producer and partner.

3) He can make a bad movie worth watching until the end... because he makes you care about what's going to happen to him.

- "Less than Zero" looked like it was going to be one of those John Hughes type 80's movies... after we got to know the characters and such, the plot stalled for a bit and the focus shifted to numerous scenes involving Andrew McCarthy and Jami Gertz messing around. If not for Julian, I wouldn't have stuck around for the ending.
...incidentally, I stuck it out through the credits because I was still getting over the shock of it.

-even with him involved, I still didn't think "U.S. Marshalls," "Air America" or "Bowfinger" were great movies... and in the case of "Wonder Boys," he was the one character in the movie I didn't like... oddly enough

4) When he gets a role, he really does his homework

-while Richard Attenborough searched for a studio to host "Chaplin," Robert went to "every autobiographical source" and spent 18 months in research mode

5) When he auditions for a role he really wants, he aims to nail the screen test to the point where it's virtually impossible to cast anyone else

-see "Iron-Man"

6) He has an AMAZING singing voice

7) He's one of the few actors who'd released an album of well-written ORIGINAL material

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwmiNUf2wx4 
[part 1 of 4 of my discussion of his album]

8) He'd had that sass from a very young age

-in his father's film, "Pound," where the actors played dogs, he asked a Mexican hairless, "Got any hair on your balls?"

9) He has great instincts for pickings movies (those that went on to be successful and indie films that he made better by being a part of)

-regarding the latter, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Fur, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Charlie Barlett10. He's great with accents

-except he twice asked to change his character's accent from Irish to Australian ("Natural Born Killers" and "Tropic Thunder")... so maybe not he's great with ALL accents just yet

11. He's a great piano player

-a great example of this is at the end of "Two Girls & a Guy" where he gives a very poignant emotional performance without speaking a single word- another original composition

12. I find him just as compelling to listen to off-camera

13. He's gotten great actors on board for his movies

-Jamie Foxx in "Due Date" and Mark Ruffalo in "Avengers" are two stand-out examples

14. He survived addiction, accepted its many consequences, and has since left it in rearview

-out of respect, this is the only time I'll bring up his troubled past... even if it contributed to the endless wisdom he spouts in his more in-depth interviews

15. He's made ordinary roles extraordinary

-Larry Paul on "Ally McBeal" is a prime example of this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CJexCB0RII

16. In "Fur," he conveyed so much emotion and mystique as Lionel, a man who suffers from hypertrichosis, that when his true face was revealed, the mystique actually disappeared

17. He's a practitioner of Wing Chun Kung Fu and has expressed interest in opening his own studio

18. When it comes to Susan, he doesn't fear the occasional PDA ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=110UMQovTR0

19. He's great with improv in his movies

-he once joked that he thought he was already writing for movies already and just hadn't been credited

20. He is Iron-Man




-c'mon, I had to go there... everyone else likely will

21. As promised, he maintained character throughout the "Tropic Thunder" DVD commentary

22. His "Maximum Movie Mode" feature on "Sherlock 2" is a great way to spend a rainy day

-or your birthday [the night of 7/29/2012, that was how I celebrated turning 26]

23. He wrote a touching eulogy for his mom on Facebook, posted directly from his smartphone

24. Nobody pitches a movie like him. Gotta love that eloquence.

-and wish you had it (I know I do!)

25. When it comes to promoting his movies, or accepting awards for them, he's always quick to highlight the writers, directors and supporting cast before patting himself on the back.

26. He was the voice of Mr. Peanut, did the original "Innovation That Excites" Nissan ads, and starred in a promotion shot film for Volvo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HAV_AlVC38

27. That time on Ellen when he danced like nobody was watching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPGPPqYl_eo

28. He does his own stunts

-although thanks to his experience on the "Iron-Man 3" set, he's starting to accept his limitations

29. His great sense of humor

30. He got a guest starring voiceover gig to impress his son, Indio

-a little show called "Family Guy"

31. He's friends with Sting and has performed with him

32. HIs favorite curse word is [an unprecedented] 7 syllables

33. He's very loyal

-i.e. Mel Gibson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AAJuynxnTQ

34. On-screen, he can convey a lot without saying a word

-a lot of his stand-out moments in "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" were non-verbal. Simply the way he holds himself on screen and engages the other characters

35. He's well-versed in philosophies

-he name-dropped Campbell & Moyers in a Charlie Rose interview when they were discussing myths [Charlie Rose added "Tuesday's with Morrie" to the conversation moments later]
-he also quoted the proverb "the optimist believes the future is uncertain, the pessimist is always right" on two occasions [Charlie Rose & The Daily Show]

36. All of his tattoos are close to his heart

-Elias [his father's true surname]
-Suzie Q [his wife]
-Indio [his son]
-I'm not sure if he got any more for the latest addition to his family [Exton & Avri]

37. He puts himself in the audience's shoes when it comes to making movies and picking roles... doing what he thinks the audience would respond to [again, great instincts]

38. He's not afraid to dress in drag if he feels it would be conducive to the plot

-see Sherlock 2

39. He'd conceptualized back stories for his characters to explain the unexplainable

-in "Tropic Thunder," he presented the best actor Oscar, something that the previous year's best actress does. so he claims he could get away with it because he'd previously won for playing Gloria Steinham [even with that logic, it still doesn't hold water... a) because "Tropic Blunder" is a documentary and documentaries don't qualify for acting Oscars, b) whether his role was male or female, the previous best actress still presents to the new best actor]

-the drag event in Sherlock 2 was supposedly a woman who was meant to rival Mary for Watson's affections... even with that explanation, he became increasingly self-conscious about the fact it was his idea

40. Robert has great taste in movies even when he's not in them

-9 times out of 10, if he says a movie's great, I agree with him [Lethal Weapon, Rain Man, My Week with Marilyn, to name a few]
-the jury's still out on "The Big Lebowski" [although technically he just namedropped it when talking about Jeff Bridges while promoting "Iron-Man"]

41. I was introduced to some talented actors I might not have noticed if they hadn't worked with him

-I took a chance on "2 Broke Girls" because Kat Dennings played his daughter in "Charlie Bartlett"... between that and her role in the "Thor" films,  she's become one of my favorite actresses

42. No other actor can rock the "I'm an intellectual because I'm wearing glasses" look quite like him


-and I believe he can be intellectual with and without them

43. By starring in them and discussing them, he made me appreciate the concept of "indie film" a lot more

-Little Miss Sunshine, The Art of Getting By, Beware The Gonzo, In Bruges are just a few of the ones not involving him...

44. He added words like "cathartic" and "nerdgasm" to my vocabulary

45. The first year I watched the Golden Globes, he won for "Sherlock Holmes"... so I guess you could say he started that tradition of watching the show every year [in addition to the Oscars]

46. On the rare occasion Robert does get to do the victory dance, his acceptance speeches are always gold

47. Despite how he comes off in some of his roles and interviews, he is actually very humble

48. He inspired me to write [blogging and fanfiction] when I hadn't for a while and made me smile during times when I didn't feel I had much to smile about.

49. He posts on Facebook and Twitter

50. He liked and favorited me on Facebook and Twitter





[the entry refused to save with my screenshot of the "liked" Facebook post... thanks a lot, technology]


nonetheless,

Happy birthday, Robert ;)

[and I swear I'm done with all the fangirling :P after the new "Avengers" movie, of course]

and one final YouTube tribute [this one's brand new]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x03WPrAtdXs



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