August 16, 2010

Richard Armitage Pic + Game of Thrones News & Artistry


Everyone ready for a Guy fix...
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Richard Armitage: Romantic Moments by spikesbint
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Artists continue to be inspired by GRR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series.  Latest examples posted on Twitter by Xavier Garcia...

Jaime Lannister...twincest partner who does the sinister bidding of his equally evil sister...

Sean Bean's son,,,err..that is, Eddard Stark's son Jon - a member of the Black Watch, as he guards Westeros' 700ft high wall of ice...

Apparently according to an HBO exec's freudian slip of the tongue, GoT might premiere as early as Mar, 2011...he was quickly directed by another to use the more general 'Spring, 2011' timeframe.  The decision makers also explained why they decided to give the greenlight for the production, despite the fact it's genre is not their usual preference.  Interesting comments...

>‘Game of Thrones’ to premiere next spring

by James Hibberd  -  HBO confirmed: "Game of Thrones" will indeed premiere next spring.

One executive at the TCA press tour said that he thought it will premiere March 3rd, though another corrected him and just said "spring."

"It's a genre we've approached somewhat cautiously," said Michael Lombardo, HBO's programming president. "We have two writers ... who are so smart and so talented. Neither of us are particularly fans of the genre. It was such enormously compelling reading. It wasn't the genre we responded to it was the storytelling."

"It's really about power," added Richard Plepler, co-president. "And that's a theme which has resonated throughout history. You'll forget where you are very quickly and will find yourself immersed in the storytelling."

Both executives noted that the show's intense online fandom is helpful for growing an audience ... yet also adds pressure.

"It's a ravenous audience," Lombardo said. "You have to get it right. Those fans are waiting. They've set a bar that, if you do it, you have to do it right.<

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/08/game-of-thrones-to-premiere-in-spring.html

Young Spanish composer Hilario Abad provides generous sampling of his wonderful music inspired by Game of Thrones...
MUSIC SOUNDTRACK: http://hilarioabadfilmscoring.blogspot.com/2010/08/medieval-knight-music-inspired-by-game.html

GRR Martin gave his journal readers a sample of  miniature sculptures being created for the series.  First is Cersei - one of the extremely close knit Lannister siblings ...also her 'little' brother Tyrion who is really almost the heart & conscience of the story....he's definitely not her fav brother.
The above artist's site..http://www.thunderboltmountain.com/
Here's evidence a major production like HBO's Game of Thrones cannot exist very long without THE crucial commercial offering - the ubiquitous t-shirt.  A Russian artist's design for the Targaryens - one of the earliest ancestral kingdoms of Westeros ...

15 comments:

Laura said...

I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your site! I'm a Midwestern USA RA fan, and it's fun to find others like me... who don't think my "obsession" is insane!

Love that mesmerizing picture. I've kept it open to refer back to when my day gets hectic...

Ricrar said...

Welcome Laura,

Happy to hear you're enjoying the blog.

If we're insane, then there are tens of thousands of women all over the world exhibiting the same symptoms... including large smiles on their faces:)

Now you've triggered an urge to watch the GoG youtube vid "You're My Obsession." It might even creep unto the site;)

Are you a Game of Thrones enthusiast as well?

Laura said...

I don't know anything about Game of Thrones, except what I'm reading here... I might be convinced to become a fan of it, as well.

...and I'll be checking out that video later this evening. I've already bookmarked the "Oh My God" one.

Ricrar said...

How did you discover Richard, Laura?

On my way for the 'you're my obsession' vid...haven't watched it for mos....time for a Guy fix;)

Laura said...

I found him through one of my all-time favorites, the lovely Vicar. I've been a Vicar fan forever - but her shows are sporadic at best around here. I'm fortunate that the PBS station here where I live now are also Vicar fans.

I turned the show on one evening - halfway through, no less - and there was this... this... VISION on my screen. And then he spoke. And then I died.

When I recovered, I burnt up the internet, trying to find out who he was. Since then, I've been able to Netflix North & South, Robin Hood, and MI:5 up through season 7. Not having season 8 is killing me. Netflix doesn't have Strike Back, either, so I'm getting that fix through your site.

It's been an enjoyable ride.

Ricrar said...

Very 1st moment for me was as Guy of Gisborne strutted down the castle hall in RH2...my reaction was "why isn't this actor RH?...he's acting circles around the lead." Not that Jonas isn't a fine actor--it's simply impossible for fine to compete with totally world class.

Missed the final ep of RH2, therefore never realized Guy in a fit of jealous rage had killed Marian. UNTIL about 6mos later when a Christmas gift arrived - North & South dvds. That's when I finally learned Richard's name & became fascinated w/him & the story.

Spooks 8 & Strike Back pics coming up...will ferret out many of those great vids as well:)

Laura said...

I love that you put up the "obsession" video after we talked about it! I still like 'oh my god" better... I think it's the repetition of that phrase - I hear it all day long in my head, and know exactly why it's invoking a Pavlovian Response.

I thought, briefly, about Richard being Robin Hood, but decided early on that it would have been a waste of his considerable talents. Robin is such a locked-in person - he *has* to be good, you know? And although Jonas brought a depth to him, there really was no question that he would *always* be the Good Guy, and that he'd *always* be on the right side of things.

But Guy... there's an untapped well of opportunity there, and Richard did a phenomenal job exploring it, letting through just enough of the good to keep you hooked and praying that he'd see the light. Even after you accepted that you were totally in love with the bad guy...

Ricrar said...

Laura,

Earlier today I'd responded to your last post - asking if you've had an opportunity to hear Richard's silky velvet narration of Bernard Cornwell's Lord's of the North. What a puzzlement to check back just now and realize the post is missing??hmmm, maybe a software glitch of some sort.

I've added another RA classic vid under the Guy obsession one. It's 'RA - Romantic Moments'...lovely music combined w/more mesmerizing clips..leading to deep *sighs* :)

Laura said...

Ohhhh.... I haven't heard ANY of his voice-work, except the jewelry ads (hmmm, engagement rings & RA. There's a lovely tangent...) and that show about horrible houses. I'm not very partial to audio books, although I am looking through my library's network to see if any of them have the books available.

Love the romance video. Such a sweet piece of music it's set to. I love the flute solo.

Ricrar said...

The Lords of the North audiobook relates the earliest history of No England. Viking invasions...Angles & Saxon lords & King Alfred. Uhtred, the main character, is a warlord caught in political upheavals of the time who literally becomes enslaved. Richard is magnificent. He uses over a dozen voices and slides in & out of them w/unbelievable finesse. Great storyteller w/the deep resonating vocal chords to make it all come vibrantly to life.

For those who prefer a different narration topic, there are Richard's Robin Hood episodes & his current Heyer novels. The latest is entitled 'The Convenient Marriage'.

My 'puter is acting very strangely today, so don't be surprized if I suddenly become speechless for a few days:) DH is grumbling over the prospect of replacing it, because it's only 20mos old. Prospect of possible RA-free days ahead does not sit well with me:( boo-hoo

Will need to take a positive attitude - it definitely could be something much worse. Is it obvious I'm attempting to look at this with a mature attitude. haha On the bright side, without internet access for a few days I'll finally make the time to start Vol 2 - A Clash of Kings in the Song of Fire & Ice series.

Of course, I could just as easily boot up in the AM and find it's perfectly fine...fingers crossed. If not, will be back ASAP with oodles of RA photos, etc.

Laura said...

Hmmm... methinks I'll have to wedge open the change purse and produce a little coin to purchase that audiobook. My husband is blind, and devours audiobooks - this one sounds like one that he would enjoy, so perhaps it serve a dual purpose... satisfy my addiction, and his reading recreation.

Good luck with your computer. I hope it's just a matter of a re-boot.

Ricrar said...

You have to be careful when purchasing the LOTN audiobook. There's another narrator besides RA. Ordered mine through amazonUS, but that was 18mos ago. I'll check there to see if it's available...if not, it is provided by an English bookseller. Will look for the link for you.

Ricrar said...

"Satisfy my addiction & his reading habit"...that was the reasoning I used when buying Chris Ryan's Strike Back after RA was cast as John Porter.

Similar reasoning - hubby enjoys Bourne-type espionage, so naturally he received Spooks7 dvds as a Christmas gift last year. He really enjoyed it, as did I...ooooh yeah;)

There's a used RA Lords of the North offered at amazonUS. Just search for Richard Armitage narration Bernard Cornwell Lords of the North audiobook.

Message appeared saying 'nothing available' but there right before my eyes was the used RA audiobook for $75. My new copy was $99, 18mos ago. Good value, having read it 5Xs so far.
Will check for the British bookseller as well. If they're not on-line, a long distance phone call might be necessary.

Laura said...

D'Oh!!! I found the one you did, and $75 is out of my budget right now. I looked for it on Audible.com, too. They have two RA narrations, "Venetia" and "Sylvester". But no LotN.

My husband says he's going to try and get it through his "blind" sources - we have an excellent Library for the Blind here, and it's very possible that they'll be able to get it for us. I'm not giving up yet!

Ricrar said...

It would be wonderful if they could locate one for him, Laura. He'd really enjoy the battle descriptions, Uhtred's appreciation for his sword,'Serpentbreath' and his constant commands for his men to form a 'shieldwall'. All the while we're enjoyably learning the historical facts--Cornwell is a stickler for accuracy.

There's romance as well for Uhtred. First is more a relationship of convenience, with a nun he rescues from disgrace. That's one of the reasons Richard mentioned, during an interview, that he's 'good with nuns.' hahaha He has true love for the second female & often expresses his yearning for her. *sigh*

My hope is RA will have time someday to narrate more of that particular writer's novels, especially
'Avignon'...very doubtful Richard's schedule will allow for it into the foreseeable future - which is actually a good thing for us:)