A little gem of an RA interview

This interview is brilliant - had me laughing out loud!! :-)

There will be more in-depth analysis of the film and the previous weeks and days very soon, but as it's already 01:40am here, I need to get some sleep first. Or maybe I'll just quickly watch this interview again... ;-)



Richard Armitage on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight- Toronto, Canada
Video shared on Youtube by TheHour

Beam me up to New Zealand, Scotty!

I've always believed that I was so very lucky to have been born right here. I'm in the centre of Europe, in a country that offers it residence so much security and so many opportunities. We have warm summers (when we're lucky) and snowy winters (more snow every year, which I absolutely love, unless it's getting in the way of my travel plans). We are not plagued by any natural disasters and the financial crisis has not hit us as badly as it could have. So, I'm usually very grateful that I ended up exactly where I am. Usually... Today, not so much. Today, I would have wanted to be in New Zealand, the NZ Opera House to be exact. Why, you ask? Because that's where this man was and there are pictures to prove it!



A big THANK YOU to Catherine, who shared her pictures on tumblrhttp://cathoiskool.tumblr.com/post/25712812234/tonight-i-went-to-see-sir-ian-mckellen-host-a


Richard Armitage and many other members of the cast of The Hobbit attended Sir Ian McKellen's one-man show to raise money for charity, to help re-build the Christchurch area which has recently been hit by a series of devastating earthquakes.

Could this be the end of Richard's period of hibernation? Is he slowly shedding the skin of Thorin Oakeshield and coming back to real life? OK, the look is still very much Thorin: the athletic body of the dwarven king is still in shape, the (now apparently slightly longer) hair probably makes it easier to add the long dwarven mane and I'm extremely happy to see that my beloved man is still rocking that beloved beard. If he's not stepping into a new role right after filming on The Hobbit wraps in July, I may even be lucky enough to see more pictures of him before he has to shave it off. Although I like my men silky smooth, there's no denying that, on the right man, a beard can look incredibly beautiful - and this one simply makes me want to reach out and touch his face!

The eyes are definitely Richard, not Thorin. He's not channeling the King Under the Mountain here, he's just himself. His beautiful, talented, humble, generous self, to be precise. I see before me, a man who is content, happy to be where he is and prepared for whatever the future holds for him. My crystal ball says the future may be absolute madness once the audiences of the world get acquainted with this talented Brit, but Richard will take things as they come, and he'll be happy to go back to relative obscurity once the world moves on to the next Twilight or Hunger Games. He'll make it through the storm unscathed and with his sanity firmly intact.

Richard Armitage channels Thorin Oakenshield, King Under The Mountain
Image source: www.richardarmitagenet.com

Oh, I almost forgot, there's video too. See what happens when Sir Ian invites the cast of The Hobbit on stage and then gets a whole bunch of audience members to come and play Shakespeare with them!

I can't wait to see this film!! Today is Sunday, 23 June, so that means 173 days until the film finally opens around the globe. [And only 59 days until Armitage Day!!] Now where did I park that time machine again?

For now, New Zealand remains on the bucket list. Some day...

Random thoughts on Tuesday...

Although Tuesday has just about come to an end in my time zone, I’d just like to share a few things that have been on my mind today.

Bullhead

Michael R. Roskam’s “Bullhead” didn’t win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards on Sunday.  It doesn’t matter, really. It’s still an amazing film. If you have a chance to go and see it, you really should.  It’s a beautiful, complex and slightly disturbing film and I was completely overwhelmed by it when I saw it a few months ago.
Matthias Schoenaerts’ performance is breathtaking, his transformation from slick, good- looking actor into this beast is unbelievably genuine and vivid that it left me trembling in my seat.

Matthias Schoenaerts, remember that name. If he plays his cards right, he’ll have a wonderful future in film, hopefully not only in Hollywood where he seems to be ‘hot’ at the moment, but also back in Europe. An American film critic described it like this: “Matthias Schoenaerts turns in one of the oddest, subtlest and confusing performances in memory. He is both the film's greatest piece and its big weakness. He plays a meathead -or in this case, a Bullhead - a slightly simple but far from stupid young man whose identity is lost in a swirling concoction of steroids and hormones. He’s someone who wants to do good but can't, his destiny predetermined by a childhood incident that is shocking and too disturbing to put into words here.”

One of the possible reasons why Bullhead did not win the Oscar is because the story is so completely Belgian. The darkness of the cities, the sadness of the countryside and the cattle farms. The different dialects used in the film that give it so many layers are unfortunately completely lost in translation. So I can understand why an American audience would not be able to identify with the film and its protagonist. It doesn’t matter, really. It’s still an amazing film.

Sonnet 138

When my love swears that she is made of truth
I do believe her, though I know she lies,
That she might think me some untutor'd youth,
Unlearned in the world's false subtleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best,
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue:
On both sides thus is simple truth suppress'd.
But wherefore says she not she is unjust?
And wherefore say not I that I am old?
O, love's best habit is in seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told:
 Therefore I lie with her and she with me,
 And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be.

I watched an episode of season 3 of Spooks today in which Will quotes Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138 to Zoë.
I never realised that there’s actually a lot of poetry in Spooks. Skully made a list on the Spooks fan blog:  http://spooksfanblog.com/2011/05/04/poetry-in-spooks-an-extensive-list/

In Stereo: Upstairs Downstairs

I’m watching the first and second series of Upstairs Downstairs at the same time. One is on Belgian TV on Tuesday evenings, the other on the BBC  on Sundays. My husband commented that that must be so confusing, but I don’t find it confusing at all. I’m always reading several books at the same time as well: one in the morning when I’m on the train to work, and another one in the evening before I go to sleep.

Dubstep violin

A friend of mine shared this video on Facebook and I simply had to share it here. The music is beautiful – enjoy!!

Lindsey Stirling – Crystallize