Finally Saw Into the Storm

into-the-storm-matt-walsh

SO and I were finally able to see this movie last night. And here’s a one sentence review for those in a hurry: I liked it!

Yep, that’s right, a Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte’ loving fan likes her some action adventure. Psst: don’t tell the action fans or it will spoil my image, but then I did say there is one way to turn us hopeless romantics into action fans. But that’s not the only reason in this case.

Into the Storm is a great summer ride, which is exactly what I thought it was going to be, and I was not disappointed. As well, I agree with several fans who said Max Deacon did a great job. We will certainly be seeing more of him. I also thought the rest of the cast did well. I already liked Matt Walsh. I knew almost nothing about Sarah Wayne Callies, and now I know something, and I like her. She can fawn over Richard any day of the week. Just wish it were in a movie. LOL! I also liked Alycia Debnam-Carey and Arlen Escarpeta. Both of them held their own. Jeremy Sumpter played the perfect guy caught in something bigger than he was, and Kyle Davis and Jon Reep were a scream. Their characters Donk and Reevis were the perfect comic relief.

But I adored Nathan Kress. I had never seen much of anything with him except when I was briefly passing through the room where my youngest child was watching iCarly a few years ago. I’ll have to think about exactly what it was about Nathan, but for now, the few times he was heard or seen, his charisma was huge!

I’ll cover Richard in another post.

Dear Mr. Garner,

Thank you, thank you for the ride. All of it. I know other fans have already thanked you for all the fun we’ve had, but I had to do it too. And Into the Storm was worth the $11.50 admission + $10.00 for popcorn and a drink x 2. My SO and I had a lot fun, and I even got a little choked during one scene and did not expect that. LOL!

Thanks again,
One of Richard’s crazy fans

P.S. SO felt the same about the movie. I was going to ask him to write a review, but I cheated last time with the first Hobbit movie. :D

August 20, 2014
Categories: Black Sky (Into the Storm), Dorktastic, Into the Storm, Movies, SO . Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 6 Comments

Bracing Myself, But Not Quite Yet

Since I’m up again at 3am and bored out of my mind, I come with a revision to a theory. About two weeks ago, I said that we would get news of Richard Armitage’s next project by the end of this month and a good chance it would happen by the middle of the month. I may be erroneously second guessing myself, but I’m going to revise that prediction to the end of September.

I’m changing the timelines because I forgot something key in how Richard Armitage generally does things with his work. And as he’s a creature of habit like most of us, I think he’ll stick to this pattern with his next project. I think an announcement will be more likely in September because we won’t hear anything until it’s something he is already doing or very near doing by the time we hear about it. That means it has to be after The Crucible ends. Yep, that’s what I’m thinking. Any thoughts on what this could be? I’ve been leaning toward the Uhtred role, but I haven’t been paying as much attention to what’s out there as I used to, so I’m curious what y’all think.

Richard,

I’d be happy for you to make a liar out of me and announce something in the next two weeks. Whatever you end up doing, do you think in all your negotiations that you could have mercy on the North American bunch and have a run in The Crucible in New York sometime in the next year? I heard there wasn’t going to be a DVD, so I’m really smarting and need a fix with a live performance.

Signed,
Your Crazy Fan who would gladly make a trip to NYC to see you. :D

P.S. I don’t care when the performance is. I’m just anxious.

Note: I love the pensive photo of Richard, but I honestly don’t know whom to credit for it or the enhancement to it. Help me if you know. Thanks.

August 16, 2014
Categories: Rumors, Stage Productions . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 18 Comments

Tangent — Have Hanx Writer, Will?

tom-hanks-hanx-writer-app

For the last couple of days I’ve been reading up on an iPad app that was prompted by Tom Hanks. He wanted it to mimic a typewriter, so he approached some app developers to build one. It does sound and act very much like a typewriter but a little too much for my taste. Perhaps the sensory attributes of this app will provoke someone’s creativity. I don’t know, but after trying it out, I’m hard pressed to think I would use it much to aid in my drafting.

The sound and feel of a typewriter never did help in spurring my thoughts. I never needed any help with that. My head has always been crammed with them and racing with them at that. The typewriter did nothing but create frustration for me. Perhaps not as frustrating as pencil and paper, but still a level of frustration that was a big, fat turn off. I turned to a cassette recorder to get out my thoughts, and many remained in that format until I discovered something life changing — word processing software.

When at the age of 20 I had the privilege to use what was then a newfangled machine called a word processor, I felt I had made an exodus out of the land of blank pages. The racing thoughts that had always been a curse became a blessing overnight. And I have no desire to move back to Egypt however majestic the ruins may look. They are only for visiting and not dwelling in, which is what I suspect will be the reaction of many to Hanx Writer. A fun thing to experience and observe, but I doubt anyone serious about writing will want to live there for long.

More thoughts on the Hanx writer from a recently discovered writer whom I’ve come to really enjoy and appreciate his cleverness:


Tom’s typewriter – thanks Hanks but no
by David Hewson

Tom Hanks loves typewriters. So much that he’s put his name to an app for the iPad that recreates his beloved machine. Hanx Writer is yours for free though there are in-app options including a ‘Writer’s Block’ bundle whatever that is.

I spent the first twenty five years of my life using a typewriter every working day… and quite a few when I wasn’t supposed to be working too. I wrote my first unpublished book on one of the things. Never again.

Each to their own. Some people still love typewriters and paper. Some enjoy writing out their work longhand (and then handing it over to someone to type into a computer I imagine).

Not me. Here are my reasons.

read them here

During all of my reading on this app, I also read Tom Hanks has or had a collection of near 2,000 typewriters.

And now I know where Nora Ephron came up with one of the quirks for Frank Navasky.

August 15, 2014
Categories: Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 3 Comments

Sometimes You Can’t Help Sounding Like a Frau

Lee Pace and Richard Armitage together at lastPhoto from a fundraising event in NZ in 2012.

This whole Richard Armitage/Lee Pace thing really is a bit comical and disappointing. It’s not the thought of the validity of this relationship being proved or disproved that engenders my response, and it’s not really about these two men. It’s about the larger issue of this maniacal need to assign something sexual to people who are together in seemingly commonplace situations. I’m not strictly thinking of the park bench scenario but of all the scenarios that have somehow been inferred as portending a sexual relationship. Oh, sure there could be a sexual relationship (I’ve never ruled that out), but I’m talking about the “evidence” on which the conclusion it’s sexual has been drawn:

Let me recap:

  • Going to see a movie together
  • Attending a fundraiser with a large group
  • Attending each other’s performances
  • Eating dinner together
  • Eating dinner together with family present (gasp)
  • Wearing each other’s clothes (oh damn, that’s so sexual)
  • Staying in each other’s homes while visiting (don’t grown, middle-aged men know they cannot do this without it being sexual)
  • Visiting each other during the holidays (definitely up to something sexual)
  • Refusing to answer questions about private life (oh shit; trying to hide something sexual)
  • At least one of the parties playing homosexual characters (yep, definitely a sexual relationship going on)

Maybe I’m naive, but can two people of the same sex who are middle-aged and single actually be close friends without someone else assigning a sexual connotation to their relationship?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine was over to visit, and she wanted me to see something on Facebook. She pulled it up, and then we ended up looking at a mutual friend’s photos, and this mutual friend had all sorts of vacation pics with another woman, and my friend said to me later, “I think she’s probably gay.” I asked, “What do you base that on?” The answer was the vacation pictures with the other woman, and that there were no pictures of men. Nothing else. Just the fact that these two women had been on vacation together on three occasions. Oh, and also that they’re both single and middle-aged.

Sadly, I’ve heard people make sweeping statements based on less, and this kind of assessment seems to occur much more often in the last several years. Can’t people of the same sex just be close friends anymore? Probably not since everything seems to be sexualized. That’s sad to me because friendships are so precious, and how frustrating to think that if you’re middle-aged, single and hanging out on a regular basis with someone of the same sex, then there is the specter that it is sexual. What a drain.

And even gay people are tired of the myth (see #3 and #4 and maybe #7) that if they are around people of the same sex it must be sexually motivated.

Then again, maybe it’s good for a laugh. James Franco seemed to give that appearance. Of course he was also promoting a project.

I did say that speculation was a favorite past time, and I still stand by that, but I also like to be reasonable unless, like Franco, I’m unreasonable to get a laugh or make a point.

note: Frau is a term commonly assigned to a certain set of fangirl and often used as an epithet on a particular gay gossip site. Frankly, I’ve found it uproariously funny when I’ve read it.

August 14, 2014
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 185 Comments

Timeout for Robin Williams

Man, I am sad. I just read a report that Robin Williams is dead and the cause may be suicide. That is a sucker punch.

I feel for and will pray for his family but shaking my head right now.

This is how I will remember him — with his twinkling eyes:

robinwilliams

August 11, 2014
Categories: Timeout . Tags: , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 14 Comments

Diary of an RA Fan — Part 808 The Wayward Lover

August 11, 2014

Hobbit-Premiere-Berlin-Gundi

Entry — Sunday, August 10, 2014:

_______ sent me another song. Every few days she sends one and wants my take on it. Most of them have been great, some good and some okay. But whatever the performance, the sum of her writing is fantastic. Yeah, I’m biased. I can’t help it, but I’m far from alone in that assessment.

She was always a writer and has been successful at it for quite sometime. At barely 20 she went to NYC and landed a good writing job of a few hours a week which more than paid her rent. But writing for someone else was never going to satisfy her. She’s always working on something else, and then she picked up her guitar again and started writing songs. Now SO and I have quite a few on our phones which we can’t stop listening to. They are all rough cuts with all kinds of extraneous noises like her roommate’s hair dryer in the background. I don’t care. They are well written, and some of them I believe could gain something significant.

For the last couple of weeks, part of one song has been on my mind waking up and going to sleep. I have literally gotten up singing it. This prompted me to listen to the whole thing again this evening. It’s about expectations, identity and the desire for acceptance. Despite this song being written for others reasons, I began to see it as something from Richard Armitage and concerning his relationship to us fans. I imagined him singing this song to us and using all sorts of pronouns and of course sincerely but with an occasional sarcastic tone. It made me laugh and think about what may or may not be real.

The lyrics and copyright info, and if you don’t listen to anything else, listen from 3:40 on.

Maybe these thoughts were also brought on by Lee Pace’s interview in May. Maybe it was reviewing Richard’s interview in the Telegraph and the Sunday Times. Or maybe it’s because SO and I live a public life and have for quite a few years. A lot of our moves are watched, and if either of us look at someone the wrong way or reveal something about ourselves the public isn’t ready to see, it can cause some consternation on the public’s part. I don’t worry about this most of the time when I go into public, because some people are going to think what they want to think no matter what SO or I do. But occasionally something comes back to us that we supposedly said or did, and I’m dumbfounded and feel bad that someone read into our expressions and was hurt by them. Obviously, I’ve read in all kinds of things about Richard Armitage during the life of my blog, and I still wonder what he really thinks, and if I should write what I think about that. I don’t wonder this as often as I did when I first started writing. But that song made me wonder, and that in itself makes it a really good song.

rachel

Candid shot of the musician in Central Park

Candid shot of Richard by Gundi (and I’m wondering if Gundi is a fan who has shared this photo with us via RichardArmitageNet.com or not and if I’m violating copyright. Someone raise your hand if you know the answer. Thanks!)

edit: I have riddled this post with typos, and now I see RichardArmiteneNet.com. ROFLOL!! It will be fixed by the time someone reads this comment. Sorry about that, Ali. I flat did not see that. Oy

August 11, 2014
Categories: Fandom, Interviews, Musicilove . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 17 Comments

Into the Storm Tickets Selling Out

Into the Storm selling outI’ve been out of pocket more or less the last couple of days due to unexpected company — my brother. We were going to try to see Into the Storm this evening, but it’s sold out. I should have known this since I’ve had several fans telling me they went to see the show only to find the screening they wanted was sold out.

Armitage Besotted and her bunch in Manhattan were going to attend a particular screening today, and it was sold out. They had to attend later. TheQueen went to see it yesterday at 11:00am, and I was stunned when she told me the theater began to fill up as she was waiting for the previews to end. Did I mention this was 11:00am in the morning? That venue was Kansas City. A friend in Denver also experienced a sold out screening. She and her companion bought the last two tickets for the performance they attended. And I could go on with stories like this from around the country.

The moral of this story is don’t wait until the last minute to purchase tickets.

August 9, 2014
Categories: Black Sky (Into the Storm), Into the Storm . Tags: , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 9 Comments

Fandom Forensics

Fandom forensics is when a fangirl (or fanboy) goes into detail mode to solve a mystery. What happened?! When?! Who did it?! Who was there?! Did the tie have a tie clip?! If so, whose was it?!

Take the recent photo of Richard Armitage sitting on a park bench with you know who. (Do I have to say who? Seriously? You know who it is. :D) This photo is being examined for all sorts of information. Was it Photoshopped? Were the flowers really in bloom on Sunday? Whose backpack is that next to Richard? And if it’s his, what does it mean?

I hope none of you mind that I get tickled when I see this mode. As long as no one gets upset if others disagree with their conclusions about a particular item, what harm can some forensics do? Forense (is that a word?) to your heart’s content. Yes, I know it’s not a word. This comment is for the anal Richard Armitage fans of whom I happen to be one at times. Not right now, but if the right picture comes along, I can certainly go into this mode. See here for proof I can do this. :D

August 6, 2014
Categories: Fandom . Tags: , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 32 Comments

A Word or Two About Comments and Spam

There has only been one comment policy on this site — comments must not stray into attacking others, and yes, I’m the one who gets to decide what’s an attack. So far I’ve never had to block anyone because of this rule. Maybe admonish a little when someone was straying into it but not outright block someone, and I hope I never do.

That aside, I’ve blocked all sorts of spam. Too much to even consider. Just know it’s in the hundreds of thousands. And therein lies a problem some of the time. Legitimate commenters occasionally get caught in spam because the Akismet program which filters spam on WordPress.com sometimes gets overzealous. Nothing against this program. It works great except when it doesn’t, which isn’t very often. But it happened the other day when it put a longtime poster’s comment in spam. Thankfully, she sent me a message to let me know she was unable to comment at my site. I searched spam, and voila, there were her comments.

If this ever happens to you, and you’re not a spambot :D, please let me know. I want everyone who wants to comment or discuss to be able to do so.

FYI: I can be reached on Twitter or by email and yes, by Facebook although I have FB notifications turned off, so I may not quickly reply there.

August 6, 2014
Categories: Housekeeping . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 6 Comments

Finally, Some Max Deacon

I kept waiting for some photos of Max Deacon going into the theater at the Into the Storm premiere but never saw any. My instincts tell me that he is on the verge of something big. I have been told repeatedly that his part in the movie is really good and he more or less steals the show. Even his cast mate, Nathan Kress said something awhile ago about Deacon needing an award for his performance. I’m looking forward to it come this next weekend, and I hope some of you will share your impressions of it.

Meanwhile, here’s Max:

Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty Images

August 4, 2014
Categories: Black Sky (Into the Storm), Movies . Tags: , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 7 Comments

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