First off, I know some people think its somehow "cool" to dislike Sean Penn (which is fine, people with something to say and aren't shy about saying it generally do come under some heavy fire) but I have a confession: I like the guy. And always have ever since seeing him in 1988's Bad Boys movie.
I will probably get a few negatives from my fellow Brits by admitting this (he rubbed more than a few up the wrong way after what he said about the Falkland Islands but hey ho, we have free speech yes?) but as a force for creativity goes, Penn is quite...awesome and excuse me while I blow my own trumpet but the "Dangerous Angel" in my title took no thought, came in an instant and suits the actor perfectly. I'm not a big film fan these days (poetry and videogames have a bigger place in my heart) but if I see Sean Penn's name in the credits, its an easier sell for me.
The man is a walking stick of TnT, oozing with charisma and I adore that danger which plays around his eyes. The silver screen does more than fairly crackle when he gets his acting chops on. British actors have always been rightly celebrated with giants like Sir Lawrence Olivier, Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole and Richard Harris but its always bugged me when some folk think American actors are less good. Perhaps today they are, like I said, I don't watch much movies these days, but Pacino, De Niro, Eastwood, Freeman and damn it yes Sean Penn? That's some heavyweight clout right there.
A local journalist once asked me which actor I would choose to recite my poetry. Obviously my first choice being Welsh was Richard Burton but when she said, I had to choose a living actor I could tell my reply surprised her a tad. "Sean Penn>?" She asked checking to see if she'd heard right. "Sean f**king Penn" I said, the F word used to emphasise how highly I rate his talent if that makes sense.
And the sad thing is? From the few movies I have watched recently featuring what the tabloids call, "hot young actors", I don't see a Burton or Penn in sight.
Way back when I was in school I used to carry a notebook everywhere I went to record daily thoughts and observations. So you see, ive been blogging since before it was popular and where better to carry it onward than to give it a digital page of its own? Welcome to the pages of bar fly Hollywood Francis...
