Category Archives: Film

March 16, 2013

Secondary Character Saturday: Alan Rickman: Steven Spurrier (Bottle Shock)

By ritalovestowrite

“Great wine is great art, my friend. I am, in effect, a shepherd… whose mission is to offer the public another form of great art and to guide its appreciation thereof.”–Steven Spurrier

“Wine is sunlight, held together by water.” The poetic wisdom of the Italian physicist, philosopher, and stargazer, Galileo Galilei. It all begins with the soil, the vine, the grape. The smell of the vineyard – like inhaling birth. It awakens some ancestral, some primordial… anyway, some deeply imprinted, and probably subconscious place in my soul.” — Steven Spurrier

Alan Rickman as Stephen Spurrier in Bottle Shock [Image courtesy: 20th Century Fox]

Alan Rickman as Stephen Spurrier in Bottle Shock [Image courtesy: 20th Century Fox]

Who: Steven Spurrier

From: Bottle Shock

…The British owner of a struggling Parisian wine shop, Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman), concocts an idea to jumpstart his business and attract new customers – pit the French against the Americans in a wine tasting showdown. Certain that the established French wines will emerge victorious, Spurrier travels to the New World to sample the wines of Napa Valley with the intention of bringing back a few bottles to include in the blind tasting. Upon landing in California, Spurrier meets Chateau Montelena Winery owner, Jim Barrett (Bill Pullman), an attorney who left the legal field to start a winery, and his wayward son, Bo (Chris Pine), who works at the winery alongside his father. Spurrier samples the Barretts’ Chardonnay, finds himself impressed, and realizes that his planned publicity stunt may have a more profound impact than he had initially imagined. Back in Paris, on May 24, 1976, a panel of some of the most respected names in the French wine industry convenes to participate in Steven Spurrier’s tasting event. In the end, America emerges triumphant as the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay takes top honors, putting California at the forefront of the wine world and changing the future of the wine industry forever. When asked for comment about the victory, Jim Barrett simply replied, “Not bad for kids from the sticks.” [montelena.com]

By: Jody Savin, Randall Miller, Ross Schwartz & Lannett Pabon

Produced: 2008

Pros: He’s passionate about wine. Although he comes off aloof, he’s actually a pretty good guy underneath it all. He’s such a snob that by dropping his out of his element and forcing him to drive an AMC Gremlin around the hills of California eating Kentucky Fried Chicken and guacamole and drinking wine from jelly jars gives the movie a comic rhythm that it would otherwise be too earnest without, so he’s funny too.

Cons: He’s a terrific snob. “My definition of palatable might be slightly different from yours.”

Most Shining Moment: Realizing the Americans have won, he pulls Bo aside and encourages him to put on a coat and comb his hair. Spurrier pads his speech until Bo is ready then tells the assembled Francophiles that the distinguished panel of judges have just picked a wine from Bo’s American vineyard.

CD cover of Bottle Shock [Image courtesy: 20th Century Fox]

CD cover of Bottle Shock [Image courtesy: 20th Century Fox]

Why Rickman is so good: “Rickman is a hoot as Spurrier, though nothing like the actual man …. Making the wine merchant a pompous ass … ” [Los Angeles Times.com] Rickman does fish-out-of-water disdain so beautifully. And this is one of his best examples of it. He’s kind of the Mr. Darcy of Wine and the Napa Valley chardonnay and cab sauvignon  is the Lizzie that makes him rethink his prejudice and let down his guard (a bit.)

Why I picked Bottle Shock: Odds are you have never heard of Bottle Shock. So I wanted to make people aware of this little gem. It doesn’t have a good Rotten Tomatoes (49%) and it wasn’t critically acclaimed. But foo-foo on that. It’s a terrific little movie that makes me smile every time I see it. I don’t really drink wine, but when we left the theater after seeing this movie I did get a glass (though NOT of the 73 Montelena Chardonna). The Movie is a video valentine to the beautiful, lush Napa Valley. And the Doobie Brothers / Allman Brothers / Harry Nilsson /America,  California acoustic guitar heavy, soundtrack will leave you wishing you still had that vintage record collection of your youth.

Rickman as Spurrier toward the end of Bottle Shock [Image courtesy: 20th Century Fox]

Rickman as Spurrier toward the end of Bottle Shock [Image courtesy: 20th Century Fox]

Related articles

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Alan Rickman, Film, Napa Valley, postaday, Stephen Spurrier, Thought of the Day

March 9, 2013

Secondary Character Saturday Alan Rickman: Colonel Brandon

By ritalovestowrite
[Courtesy Fan Pop]

[Click on the image for animated Alan; Image Courtesy Fan Pop]

Who: Colonel Brandon

 

From: Sense and Sensibility

 

Title page from the first edition of Jane Aust...

 

By: Jane Austen 

 

Published: 1811

 

Pros: Kind, considerate, thoughtful, decent, patient, gentle, faithful, honorable, sensitive, generous, caring… and , oh, yeah, RICH.

 

Although reserved and not passionate, he has a very good heart and helps out those in distress. His charitable behavior toward Eliza Williams and Edward Ferrars makes him the unnoticed knight in shining armor. [Book Rags.com]

 

Cons: Unromantic (on the surface at least), dull, remote, joyless, grave.  He appears stern and dour. especially when compared to Willoughby.

 

English: "when Colonel Brandon appeared i...

English: “when Colonel Brandon appeared it was too great a shock to be borne with calmness” – Marianne, expecting Willoughby, leaves after Colonel Brandon appears. Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. London: George Allen, 1899. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Most Shining Moment: Traveling from Cleveland to Barton Cottage overnight to fetch Mrs. Dashwood to Marianne’s sick-bed.

 

Not a moment was lost in delay of any kind. The horses arrived, even before they were expected, and Colonel Brandon only pressing her hand with a look of solemnity, and a few words spoken too low to reach her ear, hurried into the carriage. It was then about twelve o’clock, and she returned to her sister’s apartment to wait for the arrival of the apothecary, and to watch by her the rest of the night. [Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 43]

 

Least Shining Moment: [I love Brandon, don’t get me wrong. I don’t know that there is a bigger Brandon fan out there than yours truly. BUT … ]  Marianne (rightly) thinks Brandon too old for her. His attraction to her is largely based on a decades old attraction to another woman, Eliza Williams*, to whom he was separated from when he was shipped off to the Army. Essentially he is in love with a ghost from his past.   I know we live a different times but… crushing on some one who is nearly 20 years your junior because they remind you of lost love is a bit creepy, isn’t it? .

Brandon and Marianne (Kate Winslett) in the 1995 movie version of Sense and Sensibility [Image Courtesy: Fan Pop]

Brandon and Marianne (Kate Winslet) in the 1995 movie version of Sense and Sensibility [Image Courtesy: Fan Pop]

It is as good for him as it is for Marianne that it takes them the entire novel to get together. He’s a very patient man. And in the time it takes for her to realize that he is actually a wonderful guy, he has learned to appreciate her for who she really is (and not just as a substitute for his long-lost Eliza.) I think at the end of the novel Brandon really does love Marianne for herself. Perhaps that is the sweetest journey of all in the book.

 

He has clearly already had his heart-broken, and the romantic Marianne believes that everyone is fated to only love once; she prefers the young, handsome, and spontaneous Willoughby, who eventually jilts her. Proving that patience is a virtue, Brandon remains on the perimeter until Marianne gets over being jilted. Brandon’s character and temperament conform to Austen’s and Elinor’s idea of sense rather than sensibility. [Book Rags.com]

 

Alan Rickman played as Colonel Brandon in the 1995 movie directed by Ang Lee, from a screenplay by Emma Thompson. It was “the first cinematic Jane Austen adaptation in 50 years” [IMDb Sense and Sensibility] I love the movie. Like most Austen adaptions it swings wildly away from the book at times, but, still, Ahhhhh… it is a delight. And Rickman’s pitch perfect Brandon is certainly a big part of why I’m so fond of the film. He’s soooo somber, and the poor guy never seems to get his timing right. He’s always walking in just as  Marianne is expecting the more pleasant company of Willoughby.

As Marianne languishes in the other room, Brandon begs for a commission from Elinore. She suggests he fetch her mother, Mrs. Dashwood to Cleveland. [Image Courtesy: Fan Pop]

As Marianne languishes in the other room, Brandon begs for a commission from Elinore. She suggests he fetch her mother, Mrs. Dashwood to Cleveland. [Image Courtesy: Fan Pop]

The comparison between the two men (sensible Brandon and sensual Willoughby) is a secondary theme  in the book (it echos the dichotomy of the sisters’ relationship) but  the movie gives it a wonderful treatment with almost identical scenes of the male character carrying Marianne to safety through the rain. Willoughby does so almost effortlessly towards the beginning of the movie. He puts her down on her mother’s couch as if she is light as a feather. The episode hardly cost him any effort and Marianne is instantly besotted with him.  For Brandon it is a different story. He falls to his knees when he makes to the main hall at Cleveland. He’s spent every ounce of his energy in the task of finding and rescuing Marianne.  But, as she is lifted out of his arms, she is too ill to notice, much less thank him. … SIGH… for those of us who like a tablespoon of  unrequited love in our fiction it is a lovely scene.

 

 

 

Brandon reads to a recovering Marianne (in the 1995 movie version of Sense and Sensibility) [Image Courtesy Fan Pop]

Brandon reads to a recovering Marianne (in the 1995 movie version of Sense and Sensibility) [Image Courtesy Fan Pop]

*BTW: The Brandon and Eliza back story would make such a lovely historically based novel. Some one get on that please.

 

 

 

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Alan Rickman, books, Colonel Brandon, England, Fiction, fictional character, Film, Jane Austen, JASNA, postaday, Secondary Character, Sense and Sensiblity, Thought of the Day

March 8, 2013

Aidan Quinn 3.9.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“I think my being such a nomad let me into acting. I was always having to create a new image whenever we moved.” — Aidan Quinn

Legends of a Fall [Image courtesy: Tristar films]

Legends of the Fall [Image courtesy: Tristar films]

Aidan Quinn  was born on this day in Chicago, Illinois, USA in 1959. He is 54.

Born to an Irish American family, he grew up in Illinois ( in Chicago and Rockford) and in Ireland. His mother, Teresa, was a bookkeeper, his father, Michael, was a literature professor. Brothers Robert, Paul,  and Declan  and  sister Marian  round out the Quinn brood. He studied acting at the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Illinois and has a BFA in acting from DePaul University in Chicago, IL.

Quinn in Desperately Seeking Susan.

Quinn in Desperately Seeking Susan.

After working on the stage in Chicago he made the jump to film in 1984 with the drama Reckless, but broke through with the comedy Desperately Seeking Susan in the role of Dez in 1985. The Television drama An Early Frost, in which Quinn plays a young man with AIDS, earned him his first Emmy nomination. The next year he played a small role in [one of my favorite movies of all time] The Mission. “…Quinn found a niche playing sensitive, intelligent male characters, often in supporting roles. Notable films include Avalon, Benny & Joon, Michael Collins and Practical Magic.” [Biography.com]

One film that was close to his heart was also a family affair. He plays Kieran O’Day in 1998’s This is My Father.

This Is My Father

He plays a poor Irish farm hand in love with Moya Farrelly’s Fionna in This Is My Father

The film was written and directed by his brother Paul, brother Declan was the cinematographer, and sister Marian had a cameo.

Although having starred alongside “big names …and in some “big” films such as Legends of the Fall, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein… and Michael Collins he has managed to keep a fairly low profile. This is not something he’s unhappy about, since he likes to keep his private life private. [Aidan Quinn — The Biography]

“Celebrity” he says  ” is not a thing to seek.” That’s not to say he doesn’t keep busy. Between films, television and the stage Quinn has performed regularly (averaging 3 or 4 projects a year) since he entered the business.

Recently he’s been in the movie  Sarah’s Key and the US version of Prime Suspect. You can currently catch him in Elementary.

Aidan Quinn 2 by David Shankbone

Aidan Quinn 2 by David Shankbone (Photo credit: david_shankbone)

Leave a comment | posted in Aidan Quinn, Film, Ireland, postaday, television, Theatre, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

March 2, 2013

Second Character Saturday Alan Rickman: Severus Snape

By ritalovestowrite

Blogger’s Note: When I started to thinking about Secondary Character Saturday somehow Alan Rickman kept coming to mind. He’s been around for a long time, he’s been in a LOT of great movies, and he’s almost always in the secondary character spot. He’s PERFECT for this blog segment. But WHICH Alan Rickman role to feature on Secondary Character Saturday? Ah that’s the rub. He’s done everything from rom-com, to Shakespeare, to comic science fiction, to serious drama. Which side of A.R. do I show? Frankly, I couldn’t decide. So I’m claiming the month of MARCH as Alan Rickman Month! (He’s also one of my all time favorite actors so I wont mind spending a month researching him and maybe re-watching a few movies!)

Snape topper

Who: Professor Severus Snape

From: The Harry Potter series

By: J.K. Rowling wrote the fabulous and engaging books. The movies were directed with varying degrees of success by different people. For my money Alfonso Cuarón saved (the movie) franchise from generic blandom with his wickedly good HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and David Yates brought the magic in HP and the Deathly Hallows 1&2.

Released: The character of Severus Snape first appeared in June  of 1997 when Rowling published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in Great Britain.  We first got to see A.R. as Snape in 2001 with the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Pros: He’s brilliant, of course. He’s got fantastic wand skills and is so fab at potions that he literally rewrote the book. He’s inventive, hard-working,  intuitive. He protects Harry even though he can’t stand him. He teaches Harry Occlumency so he can keep Voldemort out of his mind. He’s acts as a double agent for Dumbledore. And he’s loyal to Lily, his one true and unrequited love. Having made both Lily and Dumbledore (and Narcissa Malfoy) promises he stops at nothing to keep them. He’s the perfect Slytherin.

Still from HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Snape rushes in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione to protect them from a werewolfe. Maybe he's just being a good teacher/adult. But I doubt whether some other teachers at the school would have done the same. [Image courtesy: Warner Brothers]

Still from HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Snape rushes in front of Harry, Ron and Hermione to protect them from a werewolf. Maybe he’s just being a good teacher/adult. But I doubt whether some other teachers at the school would have done the same. [Image courtesy: Warner Brothers]

Cons: Well… he’s mean. He’s REALLY mean to Harry! And that’s just not right! (OK I’ve got that off my chest. But lets face it, Snape isn’t the meanest one of the lot. He’s got nothing on Umbridge.) He’s a bully and he takes out his resentment for what James Potter did to him on Harry.  He’s spiteful, malicious, angry, bitter, resentful, and cruel.  He always favors Slytherin . He’s a double spy for Voldemort. He’s a Death Eater. And he KILLS Dumbledore! He’s the perfect Slytherin.

Most Shining Moment: I agree with Harry Potter Blog Spot who picks Dumbledore’s Death as Snape’s Shining Moment “For to honor Dumbledore’s wishes and protect Harry’s (and Draco’s) life, Snape risked the damage his own soul that this horrific act would bring.” [Harry Potter blog spot] It is the crowning action of commitment, loyalty and self-sacrifice, while on the outside (and to the reader)  it looks completely the opposite.

Least Shining Moment: All the times he was meaner than he had to be to Harry and the other students who weren’t in Slytherin … and when he killed Dumbledore.

The Mary Grandpre illustration of Half-Blood Prince.

The Mary Grandpre illustration of Half-Blood Prince.

Yeah, I know I sound schizophrenic, but things with Snape are COMPLICATED. And nothing in the books was more complex and, dare I say, misleading, than Snape’s killing Dumbledore. When it happened it was THE WORST THING EVER in the HP universe and I didn’t think I could ever forgive Snape. Up until then Rawlings had given me enough ammunition to  forgive away his nastiness towards Harry. But this? How could he be redeemed from this? Hmmmm.  Things have changed.

He remained true to himself by remaining loyal to Dumbledore and his lost love. As the stakes and danger increased for him, and Dumbledore pushed him to greater acts of spying and risk, Snape met these challenges bravely, even if irritably, to protect the son of the man he loathed and thereby preserve the memory of the woman he loved. [Ibid]

Something clearly resonates with Snape. He was the top pick of for favorite character in a poll done by the H.P. British publisher Bloomsbury. He received 20% of the votes in the poll that asked readers to rank their favorite 40 characters. (Hermione came in second. Harry was a distant 5th!)

Not to take anything away from the Snape Rowlings painted on the page, but Alan Rickman’s nuisanced performance as the greasy haired potions professor had a lot to do with that high rating. He’s delightful to watch throughout the series. (He makes the first couple of movies bearable with his dark, snarkiness). And as Snape’s story arch progresses Rickman’s performance builds in a measured, restrained, mysterious pace. He respects the character enough not to give anything away. He’s multidimensional in a very limited scope of dimension, many shades of black, as it were. And he’s fun to watch … right up to the moment he makes you cry.

Found this piece of Fan Art on Pinterest (with Maggie's help -- thanks Maggie!) And can not find any one to attribute it to. Sorry.

In another life wake up. by Lily-fox

Sorry the text is small in the comic:This is what it says…
Snape wakes from the dream to find his daughter at his bed side.
She asks “Are you awake?”
He reaches out to touch her red hair — she looks so much like Lily “Yes.”
She smiles “Mommy says pancakes are ready.”
Life is good.

 

Frankly… (if you haven’t guessed) I’m not a big fan of the HP movies. (LOVED the books — so don’t kick me out the club — but he movies… for the most part … eh.) But Rickman was always worth watching.

——————————————————————————————-

So which other A.R. characters should we tackle this month? We’ve got 4 more Saturdays in the month so get your votes in!

  • Hans Gruber (Die Hard’s evil bad guy)
  • Alexander Dane  (Galaxy Quest’s classically trained science officer)
  • Dr. Blalock (the life saving doctor in Something the Lord Made)
  • Judge Turpin (the evil judge in Sweeny Todd)
  • Steven Spurrier (the wine snob from Bottle Shock)
  • Alex (the grief-stricken stranger in Snow Cake)
  • Jamie (the cello playing ghost in Truely, Madly, Deeply), or
  • Col Christopher Brandon (from Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensiblity)  — Yeah, I’m doing Branon.

To see how Rickman “elevates the role of a villain from the plain ol’ bastard to a bastard coated bastard with bastard filling.”…go to the excellent blog The Many Faces of Alan Rickman.

9 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Alan Rickman, books, Fiction, fictional character, Film, Harry Potter, postaday, Ron Weasley, Snape, Thought of the Day

March 2, 2013

Ron Howard 3.1.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“One of the great things about being a director as a life choice is that it can never be mastered. Every story is its own kind of expedition, with its own set of challenges.”– Ron Howard

Gallery ~ Opie Taylor

Gallery ~ Opie Taylor (Photo credit: erjkprunczýk)

Ronald William Howard was born on this day in Duncan, Oklahoma, USA in 1954. He is 59 years old.
He was born into a theater family. His mother was an actress, and his father both acted and directed. He was in his first film at 18 months and on stage at 2. He appeared on television frequently as a child and had reoccurring gigs on CBS’s Playhouse 90,  Dennis the Menace, and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis before landing the roll of Opie Taylor in the Andy Griffith Show.

He played Opie from 1960 to 1968. The show ran for 268 episodes and was ranked as the #9 best show in  American Television History by TV Guide.

Howard kept busy while the show was in summer hiatus with family films like The Music Man and  The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.

In the early 70’s the worked on The Smith Family, a sitcom about a police detective and his family starring Henry Fonda. (It lasted two seasons) In 1973 he starred in George Lucas’ American Graffitti. Then hit with another sitcom as the star of Happy Days.

Photo of Richie (Ron Howard) dressed as a girl...

Photo of Richie (Ron Howard) dressed as a girl dancing with Fonzie (Henry Winkler) from the television program Happy Days. In this episode, Richie must dress as a girl and attend a Jefferson High School dance as part of an initiation. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

His second act came as a producer / director / producer.  He’d been behind the camera before Happy Days was a wrap, but it was Night Shift with Michael Keaton, Shelly Long, and Happy Days alum Henry Winkler that made his as a Director. Other comedies include Splash, Gung Ho, Cocoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Dilemma.

Adult Opie in the 1986 reunion telemovie, &quo...

Adult Opie in the 1986 reunion telemovie, “Return to Mayberry”. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dramas and Dramedies include: Parenthood, Backdraft, Far and Away, The Paper, Apollo 13, Ransom, A Beautiful Mind,The Missing, Cinderella Man, The Da Vinci Code, Frost / Nixon and Angels & Demons. He won an Academy award for A Beautiful Mind, and the Directors Guild of America Award for A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13.
Next up is a biopic about formula one race car drivers in RUSH due out in September of this year.

Ron Howard during filming of Angles and Demons...

Ron Howard during filming of Angles and Demons in Rome. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Film, Ron Howard, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

February 20, 2013

Jeff Daniels 2.19.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“I’ve got a lot of friends who make $20 million, and I don’t. I could feel unappreciated. So I fanned those flames [to play the part].” — Jeff Daniels

images

Jeff Daniels was born on this day in Athens, Georgia, USA in 1955. He is 58 years old.

His family left Georgia when Daniels was an infant eventually landing in Chelsea, Michigan. His father, Bob Daniels owned a lumber yard in the town and was the town’s mayor for a while. Jeff still calls Michigan home. He lives there now with his wife and three kids.

When he was 18, in 1976,  Jeff Daniels was part of a Bicentennial Repertory program at Eastern Michigan University. The guest director for the program, Marshall Mason encouraged him to come to New York where Daniels worked with the Circle Repertory Theatre in The Fifth of July. He won a Drama Desk Award for the play. Other plays, both in New York and in regional theatre followed.

Jeff in Terms

His film premier was in 1981 with Ragtime as P.C. O’Donnell.  He gained a wilder audience as Debra Winger‘s cheating, disengaged, husband Flap Horton in Terms of Endearment. The movie won a slew of awards (including 5 Academy Awards) and raised Daniel’s visibility considerably. In 1985 he teamed up with director Woody Allen for The Purple Rose of Cairo. He played the dual roles of Tom Baxter (literally a character that comes off the screen)  and Gil Shepherd (the actor who plays the character) in the movie. Another terrific movie from his early career is the quirky “romance,” Something Wild.

Daniels is one of those actors who blends so seamlessly with a role that you kind of forget that he’s in a movie. So when you go to the dvd shelf you have a kind of ah-ha moment. This guy has done a LOT of movies.  In part that is by design. He’s never been keen on being a movie star, and has always been content to just be a good actor. He is equally at home with comedy and drama.

Pleasantville

He plays the Everyman in mid-America, sometimes a little goofy, like in  Arachnophobia, some times sweet, like his delightful performance in Pleasantville. But watch out, his characters can have a real zing of intellectual ass-hole-ed-ness to them too, like his Bernard Berkman in The Squid and the Whale (I loved the movie, but I didn’t love him.)Last year he starred in the new HBO series Newsroom as Will McAvoy. He is fantastic in the show. The faced paced dialog and occasional rant seem like a dream role for an actor who too often has to dampen down his acting palette to shades a vanilla. It is nice to see him chew a bit a scenery, and in Will McAvoy it really works.

the-newsroom1

Here’s a link to an NPR Terry Gross interview with Daniels shortly after the debut of HBO’s Newsroom.

http://www.npr.org/2012/06/20/155426877/jeff-daniels-anchoring-the-cast-of-the-newsroom

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in Film, Jeff Daniels, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

February 17, 2013

Secondary Character Saturday Aragorn

By ritalovestowrite
“I am Aragorn son of Arathorn, and am called Elessar, the Elfstone, Dúnadain, the heir of Isildur Elendil’s son of Gondor. Here is the sword that was broken and is forged again! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!” [The Two Towers]
Viggio Morgenson as Aragorn in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Viggio Morgenson as Aragorn in the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. [Image courtesy:  Wikia.com]

 
Who: AragornFrom: The Lord of the RingsWritten by: JRR Tolkien

Date Published: July 21, 1954

Last week I profiled Samwise, this week it is Aragorn’s turn. Aragorn is the star of his story arc, but he’s not the main character of TLOTRs. That said, his story arc is a lovely one. Left to the protection of the Elves of Rivendell as a child when his father is killed by Orcs he lives a secret life. As an adult he goes from being a Ranger ( some one generally considered to be a dangerous and unsavory character) to King.

Pros:  Brave, skilled, humble, kind to those who are weaker than he is.  He’s good with horses. He’s handsome, and he can sing.

Cons: A reluctant hero he hesitates when it comes to taking on responsibility and the burden of leadership.

Shining moments:

  • Aragorn puts aside his fear and grief and finally takes control of the Fellowship after Gandalf’s fall in the mines of Moria. By the sheer force of his will he gets them out and to the safety of Lothlórien, It is a huge turning point for him. He’s spent his entire life avoiding leadership, and staying safely hidden among the elves or anonymously hidden in the trees.  But now he has takes the lead in a life and death situation.
  • He braved the paths of the dead in  Dwimerberg and took charge of the ghost army in Return of the King. He used the grim army to defeat the Orcs at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. He had promised to release them from their curse at the end of the battle. He could have kept the ghost army under his power and forced them to fight for him at the gate of Mordor, but he honorably kept to his promise and let them go.
  • Of course Aragorn unites the Northern and Southern kingdoms and… gets the girl.

Least shining moment:  He spent much of his life shirking his duties as king. “He didn’t want to step into that position, which is understandable… but still, when the world is crumbling around you … you have step up”. — Dave

Coat of arms from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-ea...

Coat of arms from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Español: Escudo de Gondor, reino de la Tierra Media de J. R. R. Tolkien. Français : Blason du Gondor, royaume de la Terre du Milieu de J. R. R. Tolkien. Italiano: Stemma di Gondor, reame della Terra di Mezzo creata da J. R. R. Tolkien. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Thanks to Bill, Maggie, Dave and John for contributing to their thoughts to this Blog Post.
———————
On a lighter side Bill adds to Aragorn’s Cons that…He smoked and that he was too cheap to buy his own sword so he has to make the elves put a broken one together for him.
Strider, aka Aragorn

Strider, aka Aragorn (Photo credit: Dunechaser)

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Leave a comment   |  tags: , , | posted in Bilbo & Frodo, books, Fiction, fictional character, Film, JRR Tolkien, postaday, Samwise Gamgee, Secondary Character, The Lord of the Rings, Thought of the Day, Viggo Mortensen

February 10, 2013

Keeley Hawes 2.10.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

“I’ve been really lucky with my career so far. I haven’t been pigeon-holed, which sometimes happens to actors. … I’m even lucky enough to have done my pocket version of Lady Macbeth!”– Keeley Hawes

Zoe Reynolds

Zoe Reynolds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Clare Julia “Keeley”  Hawes was born on this day in  Marylebone, London, UK in 1976. She is 37 years old.

The youngest of four siblings she grew up in a working class family. Her father drives a taxi, and her brothers followed suit. Keeley is the only one in the family who was bit by the acting bug. They lived near the Sylvia Young Theatre School and she attended on a grant. There she took ten years of elocution lessons to lose her cockney accent. She also took acting lessons.  At 16 she began modelling for a year and half before making the switch to working as a fashion assistant for Cosmopolitan magazine.

In 1996 she landed a role in Dennis Potter’s Karaoke with Albert Finney and her acting career started in earnest. She had a starring role in the BBC’s 1998 adaptation of Dicken’s Our Mutual Friend. Her Lizzie Hexam is shy, humble, poor, innocent.

Her next major mini series role, Cynthia Kirkpatrick, in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters is none of those things. The only thing Lizzie and Cynthia have in common is that  they both wear a corset… and Hawes is wonderful in both parts.

In 2002 she took on a much more modern role as Zoe Reynolds in the BBC One spy series Spo0ks (MI-5 in the US). She met her husband, Matthew MacFayden, while working on the series.

Keeley Hawes and Matthew MacFayden from Spooks (Image courtesy Fanpop.com

Keeley Hawes and Matthew MacFayden from Spooks (Image courtesy Fanpop.com]

Speaking of modern, Hawes starred in two modernized Shakespeare plays; an Andrew Davies penned retelling of Othello for Masterpiece Theatre, and as Ella MacBeth in BBC’s  Shakespeare Retold  with James MacAvoy.

Hawes has been busy (I’m only mentioning the performances I’ve seen == all of which have been excellent).

Her latest “Masterpiece” was last year’s Lady Agnes Holland on the reboot of Upstairs Downstairs.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , | posted in Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, England, Entertainment, Film, James McAvoy, postaday, television, Theatre, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday

February 5, 2013

Laura Linney 2.5.13 Thought of the Day

By ritalovestowrite

Just because you’re not famous, doesn’t mean you’re not good. — Laura Linney

[Image courtesy: theplace2.com]

[Image courtesy: theplace2.com]

Laura Leggett Linney was born on this day in New York City, New York, USA in 1964. She is 49 years old.

Linney is the daughter of Romulus Linney, a playwright, and Miriam Perse, a nurse. Her parents divorced when she was an infant and she grew up in a modest 1 bedroom apartment with her mother. “Linney grew up working in the theater, both behind the scenes and, in her late teens, on the stage.” [Starpulse.com] After graduating from  Northfield Mount Hermon School, a New England prep school, she went to Northwestern University and Brown University for undergraduate work. (She received her BA in Fine Arts from Brown in 1986). She did post-graduate work with Group 19 at the Juillard School.

She took the stage in such Broadway productions as The Seagull, Six Degrees of Separation and Hedda Gabler before making the leap to film.

Linney’s screen debut was a minor role in Lorenzo’s Oil. She played Kevin Kline’s mistress in Dave, and landed the role of Mary Ann Singleton in Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City (a role she would reprise two more times.) She played in a trio of thrillers, Congo, Primal Fear and Absolute Power, before getting her big break as Meryl Burbank in The Truman Show.

Linney played the "perfect wife" in Truman.

Linney played the “perfect wife” in Truman.

2000’s You Can Count On Me earned Linney her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. (Her second nomination was for her work in 2004’s Kinsey opposite Liam Neeson.) Also in 2000 she did the lush, delightful The House of Mirth (based on the Edith Wharton novel, with Gillian Anderson, Eric Stoltz and Elizabeth McGovern).

Linney won an Emmy Award for her work on Wild Iris opposite Gena Rowlands. She won another Emmy, this time for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her story arc as Charlotte on the TV show Frasier.

She played Zelda Fitzgerald in American Master’s F.Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams. She worked on ensemble films  including Love Actually and The Laramie Project. She’s equally stunning as the intellectual mom struggling as her family crumbles around her in the Squid and the Whale as she is in the supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies  as small town police officer.

On screen, Linney has mastered quite a line in striving. Her most memorable characters have had a combination of astute wit, career focus and either a leavening daffiness or a chilly sort of overbrightness. This tends to hinge on whether they’re good apples (as in You Can Count On Me or The Savages) or bad (The Truman Show, The House of Mirth). [The Telegraph 2.1.13]

She brought Abigail Adams to life with her beautiful, strong portrayal of our second First Lady in HBO’s mini-series John Adams. Linney won  her most recent  Emmy Award for her efforts.

She can currently be seen on Showtime’s The Big C — for which she won a Golden Globe — and as the host of Masterpiece Theatre on PBS. Her latest film role is as Margaret “Daisy” Suckley  in Hyde Park on Hudson opposite Bill Murray’s FDR.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Abigail Adams, Film, Laura Linney, New York, postaday, Thought of the Day, Today's Birthday