Mickey Rourke, up for a Best Actor Oscar that he richly deserves at this year’s 2009 Academy Awards ceremony, is not your usual, play-it-safe kind of actor. (To enter our Oscar prediction contest, go here!) Just today, the Huffington Post put a up a slide show of recent promotional appearances Rourke has made in the last month during his run for gold with Darren Aronofsky’s stellar film “The Wrestler.” They are calling it a Hand-In-Pants Retrospective. I think you’ll enjoy it; here’s a taste:

So, the question is: Will Oscar voters want to give this guy a chance to get up onstage on February 22 during an internationally televised event and be himself?

Sunday night at the BAFTA Awards, Rourke won Best Actor and dropped the f-bomb repeatedly as nonchalantly as ever. The British crowd didn’t seem to mind. Here’s his speech:

And after his win at the Golden Globes, he looked as rough as ever, thanking both his dogs and his director. When the camera cut to Aronofsky, he gave Rourke an aptly timed middle finger which the network was not quick enough to edit. (Don’t think they could have CGI-ed over it fast enough– maybe cut to Brad Pitt instead?) Here’s that infamous Golden Globe moment:

Finally, before the SAG Awards (which he lost out to Sean Penn for), Rourke let slip to an interviewer that he would be wrestling at the upcoming WWE Wrestlemania event. A publicist has since retracted the comment, but you know as soon as the Oscars are over, Rourke will probably buff up and go right back in the ring. How surreal is that? Here he is not heeding the advice of a publicist:

So, as Oscar night rolls around, all I can say is, “Let the best man win!” In my opnion, that’s Rourke, and it has nothing to do with the fact that I can’t wait to see what he’s going to say.

(For the record, I predict Penn will win.)

Tags: 2009, academy awards, aronofsky, controversial, interview, mickey rourke, middle finger, Not your usual Oscar bait, speech, wrestlemania, wrestler

Eric Melin and guest co-host Whitney Mathews (www.whitneymathews.com) review Mickey Rourke’s comeback role in Darren Aronofsky’s new movie “The Wrestler.” Co-starring Marisa Tomei as the stripper who wins his heart and Evan Rachel Wood as his estranged daughter, “The Wrestler” is a gripping, realistic walk through some important moments in the life of fictional 1980s professional wrestling icon Randy “The Ram” Robinson. It may not be the WWE (WWF) or ECW, but Aronofsky’s movie is about as hardcore as it gets.

Tags: aronofsky, Darren, Evan Rachel Wood, instant, Marisa, Mickey, of, on-camera, review, Rourke, the wrestler, Tomei

Questions about the “Iron Man” sequels? The DVD release? Upcoming storylines? “The Avengers” and future Marvel tie-ins? An IMAX release? This long interview at SuperheroHype with director Jon Favreau (finally hired on by Marvel) ought to answer any of those. If that’s not enough, here’s more. And more.

Films number 4 and 5 in the “Spider-Man” series will be filmed back to back and are expected to be directed again by Sam Raimi. Tobey Maguire has a pretty sweet deal for starring in both, but it is unknown whether Kirsten Dunst will return.

Darren Aronofsky is riding high after his new indie “The Wrestler” was sold, but let’s look ahead to his “Robocop,” which he says will be a completely different movie, not a remake of Paul Verhoeven’s classic.

I reported on the Henry Selick-Neil Gaiman new stop-motion animated flick “Coraline” last month when I saw some exclusive clips at Siggraph 2008 in LA. This is an impressive behind-the-scenes report from the set of the movie, as well as an in-depth interview with director Selick.

Michael Douglas as Liberace in a biopic directed by Steven Soderbergh? Only if Matt Damon plays his boyfriend.

Producers Don Carmody and Sam Raimi are in talks to bring the stage play “Evil Dead: The Musical” to the big screen in full 3D glory. Check out YouTube for clips from the play. The movie will feature “some” of the original cast, though star Bruce Campbell may be too old to star as Ash.

Robert Greenwald’s Brave New Films is quickly becoming a major player in the political scene, in part because it embraces the immediacy of online video. They are offering Michael Moore’s new documentary as a free download starting Tuesday and are able to take new developments in the presidential election and turn them into short films that become viral sensations. There’s a great profile of Greenwald (who also directed Olivia Newton-John’s surreal 80s musical “Xanadu;” love the E.L.O. on that soundtrack!) here at PBS’ Media Shift. Here’s a video that exploded right out of the gate:

Tags: aronofsky, brave new films, coraline, evil dead musical, gaiman, greenwald, iron man 2, iron man marvel, liberace michael douglas, michael moore, Robocop, selick, slacker uprising