Damn That Richard Armitage

Of course I don’t mean that the way it sounds, but sometimes I do. I’m actually thinking of going to New York. In my defense, I have a frequent flyer that I’m going to lose if I don’t use it, and I have two places I can stay. No, make that three, and I have an old friend who owes me an expensive dinner (maybe three or four cheap dinners instead?), and last but not least my two very compelling reasons are there. So yeah, I think that sounds good. Maybe. Still not sure about that.

As if that’s not enough, I recently bought another copy of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It was the hard copy of the Extended Edition. That makes four different formats I will own. Not kidding when I say that I have never bought four copies of a movie. Wait. That’s a lie. I’ve bought six copies of a movie. Want to guess which one? Yeah, I didn’t think you would have trouble with that. But I must say that three of those were gifts. Wait. No, I’ve actually bought more than six. I bought, dare I say it? I’m not sure that I can. This is tough to write as it really does make me a nut! But I’ll confess to having bought almost 20 copies of North and South.

I feel like an utter idiot if I really step back and think about that. Again, in my defense, I found a really good sale. Then I decided to send several copies to a list of folk I do not know along with letters that were hopefully humorous but sans the fruitcake. We’ll see how that turns out. ;-)

I told the addressees that Richard is something else and not to be put off by the pitiful looking photo on the DVD jacket, and I slipped in a secret weapon to ensure they knew I wasn’t exaggerating.

And if they don’t agree that it’s a secret weapon, then Richard’s not for them anyway. :D

note: if you want more scenes like those, then go buy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition on iTunes. You may have to wait a freaking day to download it, but hey, it’s worth it. I even took down my firewall for this one.

Richard,

See what you can even manage to leverage out of a cheap skate?

Signed,
Oh never mind, you already know I’m crazy

Dear Sir Peter, You’re Killing Me

Desolation of Smaug Poster

My power to resist temptation is under severe attack with Sir Peter’s bombshell about Desolation of Smaug. My ability to stay away from spoilers is certainly being destroyed, and I’ve been so good this year! But I have two very compelling reasons to make a foray into New York City, which has had me longing to go there anyway, and if I were to get lucky and be able to attend the live event on November 4th, well, that would just be icing. Who could turn that down? :D

Now we just need some details of how and where to attend this shindig.

Dear Sir Peter,

I look forward to hearing more information about this event — like how someone actually attends!

Also, I’ve been meaning to write to you about the Desolation of Smaug premiere. Let me be plain. We need details, Man. First up, is this event on November 4th the premiere? Or is the premiere going to be near Thanksgiving (in the U.S.), or maybe the same day as the wide release? Man, you are killing us with the suspense. Seriously! I thought you were going to spring something on us several days ago (like maybe during Comic-Con in NY), and even that would have been late in the game!

Okay, I’m not nearly as upset as I sound. :D I know you hate it when the fans will not be patient and let themselves be surprised. I get that frustration, but man, we’ve been patient. Don’t you think you’re carrying the suspense a bit too far?! Okay, okay, I’m really not that upset, really, but could you throw us all a few more crumbs about this “live event” so we have some clue how to plan?

Signed,
One of Richard’s crazy fans

P.S. Thank you for putting Richard Armitage in New York! Yes! Yes! Yes!

For further details on the November 4th fan event, be watching these spots: The Hobbit Movie’s official website, Twitter, Facebook.

edit: I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. LOL! Okay, so my timing was off, but I had a feeling TheOneRing was somehow going to be involved in something big that was coming. They’re giving away tickets here. Thanks to Servetus for the heads up.

Why do I think they are not the only ones giving these tickets away? Stay tuned.

note to TheQueen, do you have your suitcase ready? :D

Have You Signed Up for The Hobbit Visual Companion?

I just did it, and honestly, I’m hoping I win this for my 13 year old. She is the kind of child who will treat a book like this gently, and yes, she’s a Richard Armitage fan. She’s just bummed Lee Pace didn’t sign it. :D

Hobbit Companion Signed by Cast Contest

For details, check out TheOneRing’s piece.

I Knew I Liked You, Rich

Okay, I admit my last post title was blah, so I thought I would soup it up for this one. Yeah, this one isn’t that great either, but hey, I’m just now jumping into blogging again. I need some time.

No two photos have ever made me like Richard Armitage more than these two. I knew he had a BS detector, and these scream confirmation. And yes, I’m a dog person too. I guess that was obvious. :D

Richard_Armitage_likes_Dogs
Richard_Armitage_bloody_cats

If I were really brave, I would add captions. I’m off to run an errand, and somewhere between now and when I return, I may gain more of a spine.

Oh, and for the record, I have not been through nine kinds of hell. Seven maybe but not nine.

Should I even put a link to the interview? Surely anyone reading this blog has read that thing and then some.

For posterity.

Richard has struck again

It seems our friend Todd Garner has been hit by the Armitage Effect. ;-)

https://twitter.com/Todd_Garner/status/379806983785697281

What I want to know is whether Richard also subdues the Black Sky and Sarah Wayne Callies while he’s at it.

Aside: do you see how there is absolutely no need for Richard Armitage to be on Twitter? He’s put the whammy on all of us (I’m not complaining). Meanwhile, I would bet he’s dreaming somewhere.

Clever :D

Wait! a pic courtesy of Todd Garner. Thank you, Todd.

BUU7VcPCIAAYXFP

Rich,

I really do think you’re clever, and Todd Garner is no slouch himself.

Looking forward to this movie.

Signed,
One of your crazy fans

I can’t stand it. I had to blow it up:

RichardArmitage_as_GaryMorris_in_BlackSky

I never had a teacher who looked like that. No dreamboats at my high school. Yeah, it was dull.

And yeah, I need a slap. It’s late where I am, and I’ll probably regret this post in the morning, but for now, damn! this is fun. Definitely beats the hell out of what I’ve been doing the last few months.

Is Black Sky Coming?

Click to see more awesome photos from Klipsi.com

Click to see more awesome photos from Klipsi.com

Last night there was a private screening of Black Sky and a reaction on Twitter afterward:

JohnSwetnamTwittertimeline

I did ask Todd Garner if there was a release date, and he said there was none yet, but Garner is resourceful, so I’m confident he will get a date and we will see this movie. And I have to remind myself that lots of movies take awhile to go from idea to release because there are fits and starts along the way. Look how long it took The Hobbit to even begin filming.

As to the devastating storms which occurred in Oklahoma last spring and left several dead including a father and son who were professional storm chasers, I don’t want to gloss over those situations. I grew up in Texas and have relatives in Oklahoma. I’ve seen the devastation of a tornado first hand — more than once. It looks like someone dropped a bomb, and the sense of death is overwhelming. It’s always amazed me how people go blithely on after something like that, so I would never treat that news flippantly. And if anything, the drama of a movie coming fairly closely on the heels of the Oklahoma disasters can help to humanize these ordeals in a way a news report or even a documentary cannot.

Garner made it clear he wants this movie experience to be very personal, “I wanted to make a movie where it would look at ordinary people (as opposed to mostly professional storm chasers) reacting to these situations when one minute they are living their lives, and the next minute things are completely out of their control and the house is falling in. What do they do? How do they deal with it? And hopefully the rest of us would ask ourselves how would we handle it?”

Is there any question Richard Armitage won’t deal with this in a way that makes the horror and stress real and leaves a resounding impact on the audience? Yep, we fans know he’s the perfect one to play a part like Gary Morris. I’m also very much looking forward to what the other cast will bring!

Check Out the Dish

If you’re a Dish Network subscriber in the U.S. and a Richard Armitage fan, and you still haven’t bought North and South on DVD, then you’re in luck. This Sunday night, it’s playing (all four parts) on the Inspiration Channel. And maybe this will be available via other cable/satellite providers. I really wouldn’t know since I haven’t watched cable/satellite tv in years. Anyone wants to chime in with what they know, go for it.

For those of you thinking to pass it up and just watch on YouTube ’cause it’s still there and you really don’t need to buy the DVD, the Lindmas channel that hosted it for a few years has been terminated, and the one that has the four full episodes is probably not too far behind.

A little teaser:

Starts at 8pm Eastern Daylight Time according to the INSP schedule.

And a must:

Dear PBS,

What is your problem? Seriously.

I think that about says it all.

Signed,
One of Richard’s fans who has supported you unfailingly for years. How about a little give on this RA thing, please.

P.S. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, check it out here.

Man, if the phrase ‘fake fan letter’ was ever appropriate, it is on this letter. :D

edit: LOL! I left out ‘fan’ in the first sentence, but I imagine most of you supplied the word.

Green Becomes You, Baby

I’m caving into my lame gene. That’s where I come with all manner of assinine titles because these pictures strike me dumb. Just don’t count on any Latin when I’m in this frame of mind. Oh, you weren’t counting on any Latin anyway? Okay, good. Just checkin’. :D

ThorininGreen
[oh yeah, click to enlarge]

See my last post for more of this.

Once again, lifted from Thorin of Erebor

Pardon Me But, WTF?

This below appeared in my reader last night, and made me shift into overdrive on all sorts of notions about Richard Armitage and his involvement with The Hobbit. LOL!

LOTRO, Movies, MPAA Rate An Extended Version Of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit — June 12, 2013 at 14:30

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have just rated an extended cut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Thanks to Melonfarmers for spotting this). This will not come as a major surprise to anyone, as details of this longer version were confirmed by Peter Jackson himself in an interview with Ain’t It Cool last year. What is interesting are the specifics details of the rating, which remains PG-13 for this longer version.

“ Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, frightening images and fleeting nudity”.

Fleeting nudity? That’s curious, to say the least. Exactly who is going to be naked and under what circumstances?

Plot_relevance_with_Peter_Jackson

source

Who is going to be naked?

Now there’s a question.

I thought perhaps I was seeing things, but then I got up this morning, and TORn had a piece in my in-box.

Talk amongst yourself, but I would love to hear your speculation and I can see some of you feverishly clicking on your Photoshop. :D

Note to self: consider creating a WTF category

Dear Sir Peter, Again


Dear Sir Peter,

I’m not going to cop to how many times I’ve watched this new trailer for The Desolation of Smaug, but sufficient to say you have once again sucked me into this Hobbit madness. Hell, man, I wasn’t even paying that much attention to Richard Armitage (no offense, Richard). That’s how serious this is. My latent Ringer doesn’t want to be so latent anymore.

Desolation_of_Smaug_Trailer_screencap

But the dirty secret of my Ringer is I like that you’ve injected something more into Tolkien’s story, because now I have no real clue what exactly is going to happen in the second movie!!!! Yes, I know there’s a confrontation with a dragon, but the somewhat unknown elements that you’ve either taken from other writings or just made them up, gives me a sense this might be a better movie than the first. Hopefully we can keep it this way. So no more dragon. That was almost too much. I don’t want to see anymore of Smaug until December and especially don’t want to hear him. And please, please, please no spoilers on the romance between Kili and Tauriel. Otherwise, I’ll have to make good on my promise.

That’s all for now, and I hope you know it’s my Ringer who is so demanding. As for myself, I could care less as long as you keep the Richard pics coming. :D

Thank you so much for listening.

Signed,
One of Richard’s crazy fans who is almost afraid to get her second wind on all things Hobbit

P.S. Since I’m being so candid, yeah, I did look at Richard a little.


Richard_Armitage_Desolation_of_Smaug_Trailer_4a