Latest RA tweet promises his "employers" will soon make an official announcement. In the meantime he suggests we "Relax Don't Do It" Reference to this 1983 hit...
[Update: Shortly after below activity the movie production 'Midlife Crisis' started to follow RA and he followed back. They're also following Brit actor Toby Stephens who yesterday acknowledged to a fan that he'll appear in the aforementioned film. A songwriter linked to the movie also tweeted he'd met Richard and "he's a lovely man"]
Couple days ago our fav actor started to follow the Roundabout Theater. The Arthur Miller play 'The Price' is on their Feb 2017 schedule. Subsequently he followed the director of that theater's production "Love, Love, Love" - previews start late Sept 2016.
Today he started to follow co-writer of Broadway play "Finding Neverland" which will open in London 2017: http://findingneverlandthemusical.com/
Where are the former leading ladies now? With all the recent chatter and Raymond deTerville comparisons to Guy of Gisborne, took a peek at Lucy Griffiths twitter timeline and saw this recent photo. Lady Marian is looking lovely..
After Thorin rides in his barrel to Laketown, look at the clever way he can convert it into a useful piece of furniture. Fortunate Thorin is a do-it-yourselfer/handyman, isn't it;) See Thorin in his barrel below..
VOTING STRATEGY for Success in The One Ring's March Madness Poll:
They allow 3 votes per person for different entries, however, if we cast one vote only - and of course make it for Thorin Oakenshield, we can pretty much assure he'll be included on the final list. By voting for 3 of them, we would actually be diluting the chances for Thorin's inclusion on that list.
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Notes taken while reading various explanations and historical records on Chas Brandon, Henry VIII’s close personal friend. Henry showered his friend with titles (Duke of Suffolk) and land grants (some taken from former monastery lands after their dissolution) These notes are not organized in any way and do not only focus on Brandon - jotted down while reading. They mostly highlight inaccuracies in the TV series. IMO, nothing crucial was altered.
[Tangent: In recent yrs, director Oliver Stone has changed major historical facts when writing/filming his movies - that type of artistic license should not be condoned. As a strident political liberal, Stone wanted to skewer the right side of US political spectrum. The arrogant director has recently kissed up to Venezuela’s dictator Hugo Chavez. He, Sean Penn and other LaLaLand types - suffering from political diahhrea of the mouth - never let an opportunity pass without taking a broadside at the political right. Their immature tactics simply highlight the emotional hysterics of Hollywood’s liberal community. In the US, it’s the average person versus entertainment and academic elitists.The latter groups are blinded by what they perceive to be their own brilliance.Both have political goals that almost never coincide with what the majority of solid, common sense American citizens support]
NOTES:
--Eliz Blount gave birth to HenryVIII’s son Henry Fitzroy when she was 17 yrs old.
--Buckingham’s(Edw Stafford) trial was in 1521 - No conclusive evidence exists that he was guilty of treason..only hearsay.
--there is no historical evidence to suggest Anne Boleyn’s father, Thomas, was part of the setup against Buckingham.
--Edw Seymour was Lord Hertford
--Brandon’s first wife was Margaret Mortimer nee Neville (annulled in 1507); second wife Anne Brown died 1511; third was Mary Tudor (Henry VIII’s sister--called Margaret in tv series) She died 1533. 4th and final wife was Catherine Willoughby (his former ward and son’s betrothed) They were married in 1533. Catherine was half Spanish - one of Katherine of Aragon’s Ladies in Waiting who arrived with her from Spain for the former’s marriage to Henry’s older brother, Arthur. In the series she’s referred to as Catherine Brooke.
--Chas oldest dau was born to him & Anne Browne outside marriage. He had instead married her very wealthy aunt--Margaret Neville Mortimer.
--The Mortimer marriage was annulled - Chas then married Anne Browne in a public ceremony.
--Several historians remarked on Henry VIII’s sister, Mary Tudor, as a great beauty with a clear complexion and long red-gold hair(a tudor trademark). Brandon became smitten..when her elderly husband Louis XII of France died they were married (1514). She was 19yrs old. They had at least 5 children - one of their daughters was mother of tragic historical figure - Lady Jane Grey.
--Mary Tudor was a personal friend of Cath Aragon’s therefore she stayed away from court when Anne Boleyn made her appearance. Her husband Chas continued to be the perfect courtier, which strained their relationship.
--Another of their daughters, Eleanor (countess of Cumberland) married Henry Clifford. She was taken prisoner by protesting rebels during The Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. Her captors attempted to force her father-in-law, Earl of Cumberland, to relinquish Skipton Castle. [Personal note: there’s a quaint shopping village about 25mi from Philadelphia called Skipton] Eleanor was rescued.
--When HenryVIII’s sister Mary(Brandon’s wife) died, her brother ordered masses said at the couple’s residence Westhorpe Hall, Westminster Abbey and at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Two centuries later her tomb was moved to St Mary’s church, Bury St Edmunds.
--Chas Brandon attended all momentous events of 1530s. He sat at the trials of Thos More and Anne Boleyn; helped lead forces to end the Pilgrimage of Grace; as result of dissolution of monasteries by Henry, Brandon was granted more land and pensions.
--He and his last wife, Catherine Willoughby, had two sons. They entertained Henry and his new bride, Katherine Howard. Suffolk(Brandon) was one of the men who subsequently arrested & extracted a confession from Queen Katherine(Howard).
--When Henry finally had his 'legitimate' son, Prince Edw Tudor, Chas Brandon acted as godfather.
--Last yrs of Brandon’s life were happy--he and Catherine Willoughby were affectionate. He died suddenly in 1545 at the advanced age of 60.
Historical records prove that Chas Brandon was a bad boy who definitely loved women (and of course their accompanying assets of land/wealth). In the form of Henry Cavill, females strongly return that sentiment. The actor said during an interview that his character in The Tudors couldn‘t keep his *duck*(my interpretation) haha inside his pants..quickly added ‘sorry’ to the interviewer. Henry‘s charming smiles could seduce an iceberg. He and RA share a number of physical characteristics that make the difference between pleasing to the eye and gorgeous - two being their strong, masculine jawlines and huge expressive blue eyes. Double Yum!
The Tudors is an Irish/Canadian co-production filmed 80% at Ardmore Studios in Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland and 20% at various locations like Dublin City, Dublin Castle, Kilmainham Jail, Phoenix Park and Lord Meath's estate at Killruddery House.
Locations: All four seasons of "The Tudors" used Ardmore Studios, Luggala, Killruddery House and Gardens, Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin, Christ Church, Humewood Castle, Swords Castle, Drimnagh Castle and Powerscourt Estate in County Wicklow, Ireland for locations throughout the summers of 2006 through 2009. County Wicklow, dubbed the "Garden of Ireland," lies on the eastern edge of the country, bordering the Irish Sea.
PAST POST with NEW COMMENT: Speculation in this past post about the identification of the blonde RA was photographed with at a charitable auction. I'd assumed it was an event organizer but MsG wonders if it might be the former girlfriend who moved out while RA was filming Strike Back in Africa. Inquiring minds can't help but wonder about these crucial questions. :) *afterall - we're only human* Truth is, if we do stop caring about this sort of aspect about an actor, eventually we stop caring about just about everything to do with him. As long as we want to talk about him, his life and his career - his future remains bright in the entertainment industry..
hmmm, interesting not only as world history, but on a personal level as well. Hubby's father's given names were George Owen. We always assumed he was of 100% Irish descent prior to the family's emigration to the US in mid C19. After learning at above links just how important the name Owen (Owain) is in Welsh history, it leads me to assume a Welshman as well started to swim in his gene pool at some point in time.
The Powhiri ceremony was performed on the first day of filming The Hobbit on 21 March 2011
Video provided by Peter Jackson -- Start of The Hobbit: 10min Behind the Scenes (Besides his prominent role in the Powhiri ceremony, Richard is seen in Bilbo Baggins cozy hobbit hole sitting with other cast members at one end of the table. You can only see the back of his head and shoulder of his leather jacket - That's alright, we won't be greedy;) after his leading role in the traditional Maori ceremony.
Around frame 00:58 of the above video, if you're extremely attentive, you can see RA for a split second rehearsing a Thorin fight scene. Screencaps posted on twitter by @RAnetdotcom..
Might only be rehearsal but he looks ferocious, doesn't he;) grrrrr, make my day baddies!
For those keeping count - that's one down and 4 more to go..
Look how attentive Rob Kazinsky is...sitting straight as an arrow,,shoulders back:) I'm rarely drawn to blondes..he's starting to grow on me. *young enough to almost need burping*...I know;)
Didn't RA leave the Spooks set to help find the setting below for the journalist's photo?
Recently a new series starring Ashley Judd and Sean Bean(Cornwell's Sharpe series & LoTR) was announced. At first I was slightly concerned that Bean might've accepted a role not worthy of him; however, upon reading an outline of the series plot realized it sounds rather interesting. I'll soon post more information about the show.
I've noticed many RA supporters also enjoy actor Bean's projects, in particular the aforementioned Napoleonic War adventures written by Bernard Cornwell. After reading this recent comment to a below post, decided to update this blog with Bean highlights as well as RA's. Both men were born in northern England - RA in Leicestershire and SB in Yorkshire.
[Comment referred to: >The Sharpe series was utter delight. Mr. SB managed to make a thoroughly conscientious character (who might have stereotype boring) hero very interesting.Could have been better cast as Robin in BBC RH than JA? Just speculating, as I think JA did some good stuff there, just not quite up to the level of Mr. A at that point of acting development. As for some remarks made by Mr. A in interviews, I take some with grain of salt. There is a (somewhat?) mischievious, slightly teasing? quality. Rather English. fitzg<]
[My reply to the comment: >Hey there fitzg...almost missed your interesting comment down here. I know how that can happen however, after posting a question recently for Dezz at his website. When I returned to see the answer, had difficulty finding it because I'd placed my query in one of his older posts;) Being a hollywood spy no doubt helped, for he managed to find my post and replied. Hubby & I have just finished watching the complete Sharpe series. We'd watched episodes whenever available here and there over the yrs. DH was so happy to see each entire ep without editing for tv ads. Sean Bean is a courageous man as well as actor. He recently stated in a prominent interview that he believes Mel Gibson is a fine man. That took unbelieveable courage, since the often vicious and incorrect media had scourged Gibson after a girlfriend made abuse charges against him. I have no idea whether or not all the charges are true about Mel, but I do know Sean Bean seemed unconcerned that the show biz media might consider him a target in the future. It took major backbone on Major Sharpe's;) part. Will post more info about Sean Bean's new tv series w/Ashley Judd. It sounds interesting.]
By RiCrAr in former post comments: 'Clive Standen's Tweet Compliment for RA +Spooks 9'
PLOT Description for Sean Bean's upcoming new TV series:
Sean Bean's new series might be entitled 'MISSING' but he certainly isn't missing these days from very many screens across the globe...
>Apparently because he still has an hour or two to kill between all the movies and TV work he’s already got lined up, Sean Bean has joined Ashley Judd’s new show on ABC called “Missing”, which sounds like a cross between “Taken” and “Not Without my Daughter”. Bean will play Judd’s husband on the show, who is killed early in the pilot, but returns in flashbacks throughout the season.
The plot: The story centers on a worried mom who, after her son disappears in Italy while overseas for a summer internship, takes it upon herself to travel to Europe and track him down. It soon becomes clear that this isn’t any ordinary woman, but a former CIA agent who will stop at nothing to bring her son home alive.
Unlike his ex-CIA wife, though, Bean’s character Paul on the show will be your average husband … who gets blown up in the pilot.
Here's the reason THE HOBBIT is currently in production. There's a famous US saying "follow the money" :) Comparison is with THE EAGLE which has only been in release for 8wks. It's budget was merely 1/4 that of Jackson's The Two Towers. The Eagle will definitely make millions more before fading to tv movie channels, BUT there are very few movies with the box office totals garnered by the LOTR trilogy. These are the stunning figures for the middle film of the series..
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Worldwide Total Gross: $925, 282, 504
Distributor: New Line Release Date: December 18, 2002
Genre: Fantasy Runtime: 2 hrs. 59 min.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Production Budget: $94 million
The Eagle
Starring: Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell
Worldwide Boxoffice Total as of Apr. 7, 2011: $32, 708, 156 In release: 8 weeks
Distributor: Focus Features Release Date: February 11, 2011
Genre: Period Action Runtime: 1 hrs. 54 min.
MPAA Rating: PG-13 Production Budget: $25 million
**GAME OF THRONES**
I'd agreed with Sepinwall when he rated Camelot as better than The Borgias, therefore decided to read his following review, despite the fact I'd refrained from reading others. They are afterall coming fast and furious these last few days leading up to GoT's global premiere on Sunday. After reading a sentence in one of the first paragraphs where the writer stated he's never been a fan of fantasy productions, said to myself - "aha! something else on which we agree."
We can return to his review following ep 1 for further comment...
EXCERPT from Review by Alan Sepinwall:
HBO put the "It's not TV. It's HBO." slogan into semi-retirement a couple of years ago. (followed by a few paragraphs describing it's history)...
The slogan's gone, but HBO has been mounting a comeback over the last year thanks to new blood like "Treme" and "Boardwalk Empire." Now comes "Game of Thrones" (it debuts Sunday night at 9), the expensive adaptation of George R.R. Martin's fantasy novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire," which is trying to do for the fantasy genre what the classic HBO dramas did for cops, cowboys and wiseguys.
And for the most part, it works - stunningly well.
Where I went into "The Wire" and "Deadwood" with a lot of built-in affection for their respective genres, I've never had much sentimental attachment for fantasy. I love the "Lord of the Rings" movies, but for the most part what gets adapted for movies and television is either laughably cheap-looking, more interested in fetishizing all the stuff about magic and kings and swords than in telling a good story, or both.
"Game of Thrones" is not that. Yes, it takes place in an alternate version of the Middle Ages - in an ancient collection of seven kingdoms where magic may have once existed, but which hasn't been seen in centuries - but it takes its world, its characters, and its stories seriously. There are kings and queens and knights, but they are always treated (by Martin in the books, and by producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss in the show) as people first, titles second.
The titles are important, but only in the sense that nearly everyone is jockeying for the big one: ruler of the seven kingdoms of Westeros. Martin loosely adapted the books' story from England's War of the Roses, and as we enter the world, Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy) has been king long enough to acquire a colorful and large rogues gallery of contenders and pretenders for the throne. His wife Cersei (Lena Headey) and her twin brother Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) are conspiring behind his back, eager to see Cersei's son Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) take the crown as soon as possible. Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) and his sister Daenerys (Emilia Clarke), the children of the murdered previous king, live in exile and are trying to amass an army to cross the sea and reclaim their birthright. Each of the king's advisors is running his own individual hustle, and Robert himself is a gluttonous, spiteful drunk.
There are times when it seems the only man in Westeros actually suited to running the place is the one man who doesn't want the job: strong, fair, noble Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean), Robert's best friend, who controls the northernmost part of Westeros.
Those oddly-spelled names above represent only a small portion of the huge cast of characters in "Game of Thrones." Ned Stark alone has a wife, five legitimate kids, a bastard son, a "ward" and various close friends and advisors, almost all of them getting significant screen time. .
Friends have been recommending Martin's books to me for a while, but I chose not to read them (for now, at least), wanting to see if the series could stand on its own and be both comprehensible and interesting to a newcomer. And it is....
These characters all share complicated histories with one another...
But the characters are so richly-drawn, and so wonderfully-played, that the exposition ultimately isn't that great a stumbling block. I wanted to know more about these characters, and within an episode or so was eager for any bit of backstory that helped better clarify all the relationships.
The casting on this is really exceptional, from the well-known actors like Bean (who has the difficult task of making a man largely defined by his goodness not seem dull), Addy (fierce and commanding and completely unrecognizable from either "Still Standing" or "The Full Monty") and Peter Dinklage (having the time of his life as the Lannister twins' clever dwarf brother Tyrion) as well as relative unknowns like Clarke (who makes the virginal Daenerys' growing awareness of her power, sexual and otherwise, into one of the series' strongest ongoing arcs) and Maisie Williams (a delight as Ned's tomboy daughter Arya).
It's a mark of how well-crafted the show is that I didn't find my attention wandering during scenes involving the types of characters who usually put me to sleep on other series, fantasy or otherwise. I usually find bratty, willfully ignorant kids a chore to watch (take Elizabeth Mitchell's "V" son - please), but I found myself understanding (if not particularly liking) Ned's snotty, status-conscious daughter Sansa (Sophie Turner). Ditto the Lannister twins themselves, as I rarely have any interest in the catty scheming types; Headey, Coster-Waldau and the writers make them into three-dimensional, interesting figures.
And even as the series is demonstrating its ample commitment to story and character, it still offers all the nifty visual bells and whistles that you find in abundance in more shallow fantasy stories.
The pilot episode (mostly directed by HBO veteran Timothy Van Patten after an earlier version by Tom McCarthy was largely scrapped) is a feast for the eyes. The different corners of the world all have their own memorable looks: the arctic chill of the giant wall separating Westeros from its primitive, deadly neighbors to the far north; the lazy tropical ambience of the nation's capital; and the mix of seaside beauty and Great Plains simplicity of Daenerys' new homeland. A later episode brings us to the Eyrie, a mountain stronghold that has one of the most diabolically simple fictional prisons I've ever seen.
There's also abundant violence (it's like a masterclass in beheading techniques) and sex ...It's an adult series in every possible way. But where a comparable show like Starz's new "Camelot" might throw in the nudity just as a lure to get people to watch, the sex scenes in "Game of Thrones" almost always have major narrative value, whether they're establishing a foreign culture or telling us more about a character who plays things close to the vest outside the bedroom.
It's far too early to say whether "Game of Thrones" will ultimately belong in the HBO pantheon, but it has so many things in common with those shows.
Like the best of the HBO dramas, "Game of Thrones" has more on its mind than telling a good story within its chosen genre...
...it has one hell of an opening title sequence: a soaring tour through a map of Westeros and its different corners, with each kingdom or garrison rising up from the ground like clockwork toys. Not only does it help orient newcomers like me to this sprawling place, but it says so much about how this world is one incredible playset, first for Martin, and now for Benioff, Weiss and company. It was a place for Martin's imagination to run wild on the page, and now for everyone else (including Martin himself, who wrote one of the later episodes) to bring that imagination to three-dimensional life.
There's so much going on in this series - so many people and places and rules to learn - that I feared I would be completely lost without the books as a roadmap. But as with the cream of the HBO crop, "Game of Thrones" deposits me in a world I never expected to visit and doesn't leave me feeling stranded and adrift, but eager to immerse myself in the local culture.
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