Memetic mutation

Arguably, the popularity of memes may have been attributed to the rise of the website 9gag. In fact, over the years, the memes have grown rapidly. From the Overly Attached Girlfriend, Good Guy Greg, Bad Luck Brian, and even the Derp and Derpina, 9gag has it. And of course, there is also that famous Liam Neeson meme highlighting a legendary line in the film Taken, which says “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.” The specific scene was shortened to the now famous meme “I don’t know you are but I will find you and kill you.” Ask any place in Europe be it Denmark or Norway and you’ll find that the meme is popular hit.

If Neeson were James Bond

Liam Neeson fans would probably have loved the famed celebrity even more if he had not turned down the role of James Bond in the 1995 film, Goldeneye. Ironically, Neeson reportedly refused to play the role because he was not interested in starring in action movies. But you see, he would later change his decision and has in fact been more notable in the action film genre as evidenced by the iconic film Taken. Neeson could have perfectly fit the 007 character. Imagine if he played in the 1995 Goldeneye film or if he was chosen over Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, or Skyfall. He would be a perfect protagonist paired up with the lovely Eva Green. and yes, Eva Green’s character was also the one kidnapped. Bond’s incredible dexterity and skill in strategic thinking is a product of both practice and luck. Something you might be able to acquire on online card or board gaming sites like http://www.cheekybingo.com/. Armed with the perfect suit and an expertise in strategic wit, Liam Neeson fans could fulfil the 007 role that the Northern Irish star rejected.

So, with this movie, fans will be able to see Liam Neeson is another role except for action and fight scenes. The story focuses on the life of Edmond “Mormon” Vidal, who became well known for his armed robberies back in the 1970s. Even though Edmond had given up that life, leaving everything behind, an unexpected event will take place to change it all. Edmond, who is 60 years old, will be contacted by an old friend, Serge Suttel, a notorious robber, who will manage to get him into trouble. The story actually shows how the past comes back to hunt Edmond, who seems to be unable to leave it all behind him.

Gang Story actually is the remake of a French movie, which was released in 2011. The movie, Les Lyonnais, also focused on the story of a former bank robber. Below you can watch the trailer for the original movie, directed by Olivier Marchal.

Filming for the new movie will probably occupy some of Liam Neeson’s time, even though the actor is expected to also work at Taken 3: Taken Not Stirred. Well, if Taken 3 will be released after all and when will this happen is something we are about to see. The future of this squeal has been put in incertitude, based on the limited success that Taken 2 has registered.

Which of these movies will be better and which one will be more successful is something we will surely find out soon. However, it is all a well known fact that Liam Neeson is an amazing actor, so his performances are expected to be great, regardless of the story we may be referring to.

In Batman Begins, Liam Neeson portrayed the role of Ra’s al Ghul/ Henri Ducard. The actor was also featured in the third movie from the series, The Dark Knight Rises, reprising the same role. In the first Batman movie, Ra’s al Ghul is Batman’s mentor. He teaches Bruce Wayne all he needs to know to become powerful. In this movie, Liam Neeson is presented as a great mentor and teacher of the future superhero, under the name of Henri Ducard. Later, he will become the worst enemy of Batman, trying to destroy Gotham with the League of Shadows. Naturally, Batman will try to prevent that from happening.

If you are going to watch the entire Batman series, you will also find out that Ra’s al Ghul was actually the father of Bruce’s later romantic interest and also foe, Talia al Ghul. In The Dark Knight Rises, fans will also be able to find out the story of Ra’s al Ghul. In his youthful days, he has been a mercenary working for a powerful warlord. However, he unfortunately felt in love with the warlord’s daughter. The two had a child together, but once the warlord found out about the affair, he decided to condemn him to the Pit prison, a place from where no one has ever escaped. Still, the warlord’s daughter managed to convince her father to let Ra’s al Ghul go and she would take his place inside the prison.

Once he was free, the mercenary joined the League of Shadows. Talia, his daughter was born inside the prison, but managed to escape with the help of another prisoner, Bane. Talia and her father returned to the Pit to rescue Bane, who had become mutilated being beaten for helping Talia escape the prison.

Liam Neeson had an extremely interesting role in Batman, although it wasn’t a positive one. And the actor has definitely managed to impress with his skills. Liam performed in an amazing manner a difficult role and he surely deserves all credit for that. Thanks to his great performance, as well as to the amazing work of all the other actors, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises have all been amazingly successful.

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Non-Stop stars Liam Neeson, Michelle Dockery, Julianne Moore, Anson Mount, Scoot McNairy, Corey Stoll, Linus Roache, Nate Parker and Bar Paly. Naturally, the main stars of Non-Stop are going to be Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.

Non-Stop is produced by Joel Silver, Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. The movie is centered on the adventures of a federal air marshal, whose role is naturally played by Liam Neeson. The character will have to survive a great challenge coming from a strange enemy, who threatens the lives of all passengers in the plane. Julianne Moore will play the role of this character’s love interest. She is a passenger in the plane as well, being a skilled technician in electronics.

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This is not the first time when Neeson and Moore share the big screen. The two have previously played the role of a married couple in the 2009 movie, Chloe. However, the performances that Neeson and Moore are expected to achieve in this movie are surely great. The two actors are known to be some of the most successful Hollywood stars at the moment. For instance, Julianne has recently won an Emmy Award for portraying Sarah Palin in Game Change.

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If Non-Stop will really turn out to be a success or not is something we are most likely going to find out next year when the movie is expected to be out. Till then, Liam Neeson’s fans can enjoy the four successful films that the star has released in 2012. They are Taken 2, The Dark Knight Rises, Battleship and Wrath of the Titans.

1. Taken 2

Taken 2 is a successful movie released in 2012. The movie is directed by Olivier Megaton and stars Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Framke Janssen and Rade Serbedzija. Taken 2 had a budget of $40 million and grossed no less than $337 million at the Box Office. This movie is a sequel to the 2008 film, Taken. Both movies have been quite successful, Liam Neeson managing to achieve impressive performances.

2. The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises probably was the most expected movie of the year. This film was released in July, 2012. It is directed by Christopher Nolan and it stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson. Even though in this movie Liam is not interpreting one of the main characters, his performance is really spectacular. The Dark Knight Rises grossed more than $1 billion at the Box Office. The success of this movie cannot be denied.

3. Battleship

Battleship is another popular movie released in 2012. The movie is directed by Peter Berg and stars Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna and Liam Neeson. Battleship is an American science fiction action movie, inspired by a board game. The movie was set to be released in 2011, but unfortunately fans had to expect until 2012 to be able to watch it.

4. Wrath of the Titans

Wrath of the Titans was released in March 2012. The movie is directed by Jonathan Liebesman and it stars Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fienns. Wrath of the Titans is an American fantasy movie, a sequel to Clash of the Titans, a movie released in 2010. The performance that Liam managed to achieve in this movie, too, is really impressive, so you just have to watch it.

5. The Grey

The Grey is a movie released in January 2012. This is an adventure drama directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Liam Neeson, in the main role, as well as Frank Grillo and Dermot Mulroney. The movie is based on Ghost Walker, a short story written by Ian MacKenzie Jeffers. In The Grey, Liam plays the role of John Ralph Ottway, who works in Alaska.

Naturally, the aforementioned films are just five of the most important movies in which Liam Neeson starred. These are the movies released in 2012, in which the famous actor managed to achieve quite unique performances. Which of these performances is the best and which Liam Neeson movie you consider to be the greatest one? You can now tell us your opinions by accessing the Forum on this page.

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Taken 2, the sequel to Taken, was released on October 3, 2012. Starring the same Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace, this action thriller film is already one of the box-office favorites. In the first movie, the retired CIA operative Bryan Mills stopped at nothing to save his daughter from Albanian kidnappers. The father of one of the kidnappers killed by Mills sworn revenge, though, and takes Mills and his ex wife hostage while they are on a European vacation. Meanwhile, Mills is trying, once again, to save his daughter.

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The sequel grossed $50 million in the United States during the premiere weekend, making it the best October launch in the recent years for a movie with an indulgent of PG13 (children under 13 are only allowed to see it with parental consent). Taken 2 grossed $55 million more outside the United States.

Even though critics did not rush in praising Taken 2, the action thriller in which Neeson’s character goes through tense moments was well received by the audience, who made it box office royalty. One can hardly find a sequel that’s better than the original. But Liam Neeson’s Taken 2 has already proved itself to be more than the original’s equal by doubling its debut haul.

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Liam Neeson remains the most dangerous dad in the world and proves that at the respectable age of 60, he is still a hero and manages to destroy his enemies without blinking. Here is a great interview in which Liam Neeson talks about Taken 2.

“Bryan, at this stage of his journey, he is genuinely sick of killing. He has physically become a machine when he gets into the mindset of taking out these bad guys. I think this big worry is that the machine may take over from the human being. For the sake of his daughter, his ex wife and his own soul, he wants to stop”, said Liam Neeson about his character, Bryan Mills, and the changes he goes through in the acclaimed Taken sequel.

The actor also revealed that he loved reuniting with Taken‘s stunt crew for the new film, which was directed by Olivier Megaton. Cast members include:

• Maggie Grace as Kim
• Famke Janssen as Lenore
• Laland Oscar as Sam
• Jon Gries as Casey
• D.B. Sweeney as Bernie
• Luke Grimes as Jamie
• Rade Serbedzija as Murad Krasniqi

Here is the official trailer of Taken 2. It’s sure worth a shot, especially if you are a fan of Liam Neeson and the Taken franchise.

1. Schindler’s List (1993)

Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees in an opportunity to make money from the Nazis’ rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military contracts. He realises that his factory is the only thing preventing his staff from being shipped to the death camps and starts bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee list. Thus, he manages to save 1200 lives. The movie won seven Academy awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

2. Husbands and Wives (1992)

This is one of Woody Allen’s seemingly biographical films. The movie opens with upper middle class Manhattan couple Sally (Judy Davis) and Jack (Syndey Pollack) announcing to their best friends that they are splitting up. Gabe Roth (Woody Allen) and his wife Judy (Mia Farrow) are taken aback by their revelation. While Jack begins dating his dim, but sexy aerobics instructor, Sally starts up a tentative romance with Michael (Liam Neeson). The plot of the movie twists and turns and is somehow reminiscent of Ingmar Berman’s Scenes from a Marriage.

3. Batman Begins (2005)

The origins of the Caped Crusader of Gotham City are finally brought to the big screen in this new adaptation of the comic book series. Several years after the death of his parents, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) decides to flee the country and meets Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a mysterious man. Ducard guides him in the study of martial arts, and the ways in which an ordinary man can hone his senses to an almost superhuman acuity. Batman Begins also stars Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Cillian Murphy.

4. Gangs of New York (2002)

The violent rise of gangland power in New York City at a time of massive political corruption and the city’s evolution into a cultural melting pot set the stage for this lavish historical epic, which director Martin Scorsese finally brought to screen almost 30 years after he first began the project. Liam Neeson plays the head of one of the Irish gangs, called The Dead Rabbits and is known as “Priest” Vallon. It’s a thrilling movie, with many twists and turns.

Liam Neeson was awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1999 Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for his accomplishments in film and television. He is an extremely talented and dedicated actor.

Especially for his fans, here are some of them. Many people will agree that Liam is not the most handsome man in the world. However, he has a great attitude that got him ranked as one of the sexiest movie stars for many years and by many publications worldwide, including Empire magazine. He also has a great sense of humor. When asked what he thinks about he looks, Liam replied: “I never think of myself as handsome–terribly attractive, yes, but not handsome”. And he sure is right! Having in mind that he was even considered for the role of James Bond in GoldenEye, he clearly has the looks.

Liam Neeson has the looks, the talent and the brains. He is not fond of tabloids and even sued several trials against newspapers claiming that his marriage was in trouble back in 1998. 2009 was a hard year for Liam, since it marked the death of his beloved wife Natasha Richardson. Few people know this, but Liam was a boxer in his teenage years. He even broke his nose at the age of 15 and blacked out after one of his fights, which caused him to give up this passion. Regarding his hobbies, Liam loves fly-fishing. He suffers from acrophobia and is a National Goodwill Ambassador to Ireland. As you can see, there is so much more to Liam Neeson than his looks and talent. He truly is a role model.

Liam was passionate about football, but he also worked at a famous brewery before becoming an actor. After graduating university, he had several jobs, but in 1976 he joined the Lyric Players’ Theatre in Belfast and performed there for two years. Later, he decided to move to Hollywood in order to pursue an acting career and he succeeded. His first important role was in Darkman that also brought his name to public attention, so that was a very important moment for his career. Steven Spielberg wad impressed by his performance in Nell, so he offered him the leading role in the film Schindler’s List, which was about Holocaust. This incredible film, which  was nominated for BAFTA and Golden Globes, as well as for Oscar, brought him international recognition.

Liam Neeson continued his acting career with great films such as Star Wars, Taken, Unknown and he also voiced for many video games and animations. He also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, so his career is very complex and filled with a lot of incredible things. Liam Neeson is also famous for the role he had in the film Before and After, in which he played along with Meryl Streep. He also played himself in Life’s Too Short. His latest projects are The Next Three Days, Unknown and in 2012, he will act in The Grey. He has a lot of fans all around the world, being one of the best actors in the world, known for his great acting skills and incredible personality, but also for the roles he had in Schindler’s List and Nell.

In the early stages of his career, Liam Neeson played various role in low budget movies, until he was noticed by director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was so impressed by his performance in Nell, opposite Jodie Foster, that he offered him the role that would establish him as a wonderful actor, Oskar Schindler, from Schindler’s List. Liam Neeson was critically acclaimed for his performance and it later earned him a nomination for a Best Actor Oscar. Liam Neeson garnered BAFTA and Golden Globes nominations for Schindler’s List. The movie, thus, established him as a very sought after actor. Liam Neeson went on to star, opposite John Malcovich, as Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables.

Here is some interesting information about Liam Neeson that you probably do not know. In his career’s recent years, Liam Neeson has often taken roles in which he is a mentor, trainer, father figure to a younger man, as in Batman Begins, Kingdom of Heaven, Gangs of New York and Star Wars Episode I -  The Phantom Menace. His character often must die early in the movie so that the young man can apply the Neeson character’s lessons to his ongoing struggle. Moreover, Liam Neeson frequently portrays characters based on real people, such as Rob Roy, Oskar Schindler, Michael Collins or Alfred Kinsey. Regardless of the role, Liam Neeson is a wonderful actor who can play in almost any role and receive positive critics.