Richard Coming to America — maybe

May 29, 2010

After listening to the latest RA interview, I have to respond. I mean I would bust a gut or something (don’t you love our expressions in America?) if I didn’t respond.

Richard,

I doubt I’m ever going to write you a letter. Isn’t this blog enough? :D

What I want you to know is that we’re so ready for you in America. If you come sniffing around at the end of this year, we have lots of lovely places to ski.

Oh, and aren’t you glad you have a group who is smart enough to help you out? They know how to run web-sites and make videos. Damn, if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t know about you. Lucky you. ;-)

But seriously, man, we have to find another word for you to use than “middle-aged,” and I hope you know that not everyone is middle-aged. You actually have quite a few young fans. Yes, they’re mostly young women, but hey, young women prompt young men to spend money at the movies, and most women BUY the DVDs. LOL!

I do want to thank you for giving some of us a sop with the “quite well-educated” part. I’m not sure I fit in that heady crowd. Just not that into period dramas, but there are plenty who are. I’m more of a mutt. A cunning mutt, but a mutt none the less. But for you, hey, I can gut it up and watch a few high brow pieces.

So Strike Back was a nice change. Just hope you can lean on the writers so they don’t screw up the ride with too much introspection.

And Richard, if you ever do read this, I sometimes wonder if you think of your words like pebbles going into a pond. You can almost see, well, heck you can see the ripple effect of what you say. What you may not realize is how much fun it is to be a ripple.

Sincerely,
One of your crazy fans

P.S. I don’t know how crazy the fans are here compared to the U.K., i.e., not sure we send chocolate panties, but most here like chocolate and we’re a really practical bunch. So maybe you’ll get some chocolate you can actually eat.

Wow, that felt good writing to Richard. Thanks for inspiring me, Nat. I may have to can the Diary and start writing more fan letters. No, no, even if they’re fake fan letters, I still can’t really cut loose like I can in my Diary. ;-)

For the rest of you who haven’t heard the interview with David Stephenson of the Sunday Express, listen here:

Or get your own copy here.

Oh, oh, wait. I was almost going to post this without my gratuitous pic. Don’t know where my head is today but obviously it’s not on drooling.

Even momma would be proud of that picture.

edit: Richard eventually did make it to America.

Screencap courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.Com and audio courtesy of RichardArmitageCentral.

May 29, 2010
Categories: Fandom, Interviews, Strike Back . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 21 Comments

“I reject your reality and substitute my own”

This is probably the anthem for all of us who are Guy of Gisborne lovers, and it certainly is for 01Cheers on Livejournal. She has set up a shrine (those are her words) to Guy. If you haven’t already, check it out. You can click “Serious Guy Addict” under the Addict List. Of all the links I have listed on my blog, hers is clicked on the most. Gee, I wonder why. And if you appreciate all of her hard work, please let her know it.

Once the dust settles from Strike Back, I’ll probably be examining every little aspect of Guy. I’ve already started on this, but I’m probably going to take the first part of the summer to continue with it. What else can I do while we’re in a drought? Oh, and I’m sure it doesn’t matter if you’ve heard what I’m going to say already. If you’re a Guy fan, you will probably consume it, because you know it will either confirm what you think or give you food for thought. Whatever, the case, you’ll be thinking about Guy and looking at pictures and videos of Guy, and that’s the point isn’t it?

Oh, wait! I almost forgot my gratuitous pic.

A scene from Season 1 Episode 4 Parenthood, in which Guy is particularly nasty. But I’m sure I don’t have to tell most of you that, and I’m sure it doesn’t keep us from admiring that picture. Hey, Richard Armitage probably thinks we’re all nuts anyway. I figure I’d rather be hung for a lion than a lamb. Is that mixing metaphors? Oh well, literature never was my forte. LOL!

Yes, I’m still going to post about RA’s eyes, but I’m searching for a particular screencap. May have to breakdown and make it myself.

Screencaps courtesy of RobinHood2006.com

edit: I guess the Guy movie 01Cheers made was deleted from online storage. If you want access to it, send me a note.

May 29, 2010
Categories: Fandom, Robin Hood . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 3 Comments

Heather’s Done It Again

If you are new to the RA Fandom, and you don’t know Heather, well, this is a great introduction:

Oh, and if you don’t watch this in 1080, you’re missing out. You can get a copy here. It’s awesome, and I don’t like words like awesome because they’re often used thoughtlessly. But I’ve found myself in awe several times at not only RA but some of his fans. Heather is definitely one of those.

Plus, I’ve been struggling with Strike Back. Yes, as much as I like RA, I have struggled with some of the aspects of Strike Back, but this video makes me want to watch again. Thank you, Heather.

For those who are just tuning into this blog, Heather is the one who introduced me to RA. No, she didn’t know me. I stumbled on her videos on YouTube, and the rest is history. If you haven’t clicked on that link yet, do it now for a treat.

By the way, Phylly3 and Servetus each wrote a piece about RA’s eyes. Heck, I may have to write one after this video. I hope they both check it out since it’s about the best shot of his eyes I think I’ve ever seen.

May 26, 2010
Categories: Fandom, Fanvids, Strike Back . Tags: , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 18 Comments

Tangent — My Timing Stinks or Maybe Not

I bitched in this post about the British making us Americans the bad guys and how unoriginal that is, and the same day I posted that, this article below was printed. Wow I was more right about the lack of originality than I realized. I’d forgotten about this. Yes, I was guilty of forgetting about this! LOL!

Why does Hollywood ALWAYS cast English actors as villains?

By Barry Norman
Last updated at 9:25 AM on 20th May 2010

The most dastardly villain in Ridley Scott’s new Robin Hood movie – Sir Godfrey, who plots to betray his country to the French – is played by the British actor Mark Strong.

Well, fair enough: he’s an English knight, albeit probably of Norman descent, so you’d expect an English accent.

But, hang on, Robin Hood and Maid Marian are English, too, and they’re played by Australians – Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

And Sir Walter Locksley, Marian’s father-in-law, is played by Swedish actor Max Von Sydow. So what, you may ask.

Good at being bad: Mark Strong as the evil Sir Godfrey in Robin Hood

Well, cast your minds back a few years to another Sherwood Forest epic, Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. Who was the gloriously over-the-top villain here?

Yep, another British actor, Alan Rickman, as the Sheriff of Nottingham. And who played our hero, the Saxon Robin of Locksley?

Why, Kevin Costner, whose transatlantic twang was such that he seemed to have arrived in Nottingham only after an extended sojourn in Southern California.

So a disturbing pattern begins to emerge. In the casting of big budget Hollywood movies the rule is clear: bad guys British, good guys anything but.

Helen Mirren sounded off about this in Los Angeles the other day.

‘I think it’s rather unfortunate,’ she said, ‘that the villain in every movie is always British. We’re such an easy target that they can comfortably make the Brits the villains.’

This, however, raises the question of why we’re such easy targets. I mean, why pick on us?

Oh, and he does go on to explain why, in his opinion, and of course it involves us being dumb. You do know that we’re all dummies over here who can’t grasp anything that’s nuanced? LOL!

What had me laughing is that Mr. Norman and Ms. Mirren don’t get when the English are being complimented. So much for understanding subtlety. Sure we could have had an American or someone else playing baddies, and we have. But they’re not nearly as cool as the English baddies. We love those guys! I mean we darn near root for the English baddies. Well, yeah, sometimes we do root for them. I guess I should have known the English didn’t get it when they have such dumbass Americans as their bad guys. By the way, anyone who makes Toby Stephens look like a dumbass ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Really I guess this is turnabout is fairplay. So we’ll have to endure a while of being the baddie to satisfy some notion of fairness. That’s my take on it, but then that might be too literal. ;-)

May 25, 2010
Categories: Strike Back, Tangents . Tags: , , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 12 Comments

Waiting on SO

Isn’t it usually the man who waits on the woman? Well, in this case I’m waiting on SO to give me his take on Strike Back. I want it because, well, he’s just so blasted interesting most of the time. After all the years we’ve been together, he still surprises me and almost always has something to say that makes me think. It has been that way since the first day I laid eyes on him.

I was taking probably the most boring class I had in college. It was one of those filler classes when all the ones you really want keep closing, and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t stay in the class but was going to give it a couple of weeks before dropping. The classroom was in one of the older buildings on campus and had huge doors with transoms and desks instead of the slicked up table and chairs bolted to the floor. The first day I stepped into the room there were about 30 or so desks facing the blackboard and hardly anyone was in them. Across from the door and facing the sides of the desks was a lone desk, and there sat SO. I remember thinking, “Why is that guy sitting there when all these desks are empty?” Immediately I thought he was too self-aware and a turkey; he just had to be different. Wasn’t I a nice piece of work? The cynic was alive and well even then.

The room finally filled up and the instructor came in. He was an old guy with a comb over and chalk dust all over the front of his pants. I had to keep from rolling my eyes. Yes, I was a real piece of work who let no one out from under the magnifying glass. He launched into the requisite speech about how he ran his class, and I wasn’t really listening like I should have been. My eyes kept straying to the turkey sitting to the side of all of us. Then the instructor said there would be devotions at the beginning of each class and the students would be called on to do them. That got my attention. As much as I liked to wax on about my opinions, I knew I didn’t have any devotional material and wasn’t inclined to get any. Then the instructor took us all off the hook and said it was completely voluntary, and that he already had someone to do the first devotion. He extended his hand to the side of the room, and I turned to see SO standing up in his ragged jeans and golf shirt. Humph I wondered as he squeezed down the aisle to get to the front. What in tarnation could this guy have to say that wouldn’t sound contrived?

He said hello and made a shy grin reminiscent of James Dean (funny thing about it is that I found out later he had never seen James Dean; heard of him but didn’t really know who he was). I was almost a goner at that moment, and then he said he was reading from Romans 14. Oh yeah, I knew it was going to be lame. The weaker brother stuff again. It was verse 4: “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand,” and then he looked right at me and grinned again. I was about to feel convicted, well, yes, I did feel convicted, but I was definitely a goner when he said, “I don’t sweat too much about what others are doing, and I hope no one sweats too much about what I’m doing,” and then he sat down. I don’t think I heard a word the teacher said that day. I could not stop thinking about those moments. They were like a drumbeat in my head, and that was the case for the next three weeks when I stepped into that class. It’s a miracle I passed the course.

May 25, 2010
Categories: SO, Strike Back . Tags: , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 2 Comments

Don’t We Always Love the Girl Next Door? — SPOILERS

Spoilers I guess.

The breathtaking beauty is fun to watch too, but we want the girl next door to get the guy. It’s about as cliche’ as it gets, but isn’t that who most of us still want to win? Or have I completely misunderstood this audience? I didn’t think so.

Really how can most of us not pull for Layla? We’re set up to pull for her. Danni doesn’t stand a chance against the quiet beauty who’s a patient seeker of truth and fiercely loyal.

Could we ever believe that Layla would not ferret out the truth and then try to see justice done? Yep, I knew it. So since most of us aren’t breathtaking beauties but we are patient seekers of truth who are fiercely loyal or that’s what we hope we are, we certainly relate to Layla. Plus, her big brown eyes look at Porter so beseechingly that I melt when I see them almost as much as when I see his eyes. Of course the keyword there is almost.

Dang! I’d forgotten how much fun it is to be manipulated.

Just in case someone who has the ability to mold this character is reading this, could you have Layla kick some ass too?

For those who want a more heady discussion of Danni and Layla, see Servetus’ blog. At the moment I seem to be stuck on this girl gets guy/guy gets girl scenario.

Screencaps courtesy of Sky1.

May 24, 2010
Categories: Spoilers, Strike Back . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 7 Comments

Untying the Knots — SPOILERS

Yes, spoilers.

dénouement (n) Origin: 1745–55; < F: lit., an untying, equiv. to dénouer to untie, OF desnoer (des- de- + noer to knot < L nōdāre, deriv. of nōdus knot) + -ment -ment

— the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.

Not quite sure what to think of how Strike Back has left us. It seems that there are lots of loose ends, but really there are lots of loose ends with knots. There’s John Porter’s relationship to the military, and now Hugh is gone and Porter will not divulge that Hugh was the guilty party in the “Bratton extraction.” There’s the relationship with Layla, who knows about Hugh’s guilt and who obviously has a growing admiration for Porter. There’s the relationship with Danni. There’s the relationship with his ex-wife/dead wife, or more accurately, his dispensible wife, and then there’s his daughter.

Of course not to be forgotten is the whole Indiana Jones cum Christ figure thing going on. It all has my head spinning.

Maybe I should not even stop to ponder but just continue to take the ride. I would do that except for one thing that keeps niggling at me. Are the writers of this show good enough to deal with all of this so I will come away saying, “Wow! That was quite something,” or will they screw it up? My gut says the latter. Oh, I hate it when my cynical self rears its ugly head, but it sometimes just takes over and spoils the fun.

But, but wait. The whole question of whether or not he has chest hair can now be put to rest! Ahh. That’s better. Back to my insane self.

May 22, 2010
Categories: PHWOAR!, Spoilers, Strike Back . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 15 Comments

One More Thing Today

and then I’m outta here. I really need to get some things done!

Should I put the word ‘spoiler’ in the title of these spoiler pieces? Would that help those of you who really are trying to stay away from spoilers?

Thanks in advance for your input,

RA Addict

May 20, 2010
Categories: Housekeeping . . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 3 Comments

C’mon Strike Back! Part 2 — SPOILERS

This is a continuation of this post.

AGAIN, MAJOR SPOILERS

I loved how Porter and his sidekick of the week were driving along

and then suddenly they met the Burka Sisters.

I’ll keep my crack about what they wanted in case some of you are cheating and looking at the spoilers when you shouldn’t.

And of course, as any good little RA fan would, I thought of this.

Also, it was wonderful to have another tottie in the show. Could we have that on a regular basis? Doesn’t have to be every week but maybe every other week.

That’s all I can think of right now. Oh, and of course don’t forget about dealing with HD and getting that make-up looking realistic all the time. It wasn’t quite right in Episode 5. I’m available for the placement of facial hair if you need someone.

Screencaps courtesy of RobinHood2006.com and my own stash.

May 20, 2010
Categories: Spoilers, Strike Back . Tags: , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 9 Comments

C’mon Strike Back! — SPOILERS

Strike Back. Strike Back. Strike Back. All I need is a Bic lighter.

MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS

Do you think Sky will make some more of these? I hope so. No, it’s not that intellectually stimulating and there are plot holes you could drive a truck through, but I don’t care! It reminds me of another show I used to watch called J.A.G. It alternated between shoot ’em up and pure schmaltz most of the time. Much more than this show. But I fell in love with the characters. Love of character can cover a multitude of sins. If I never was quite sure of that, I am after watching Robin Hood. So I would like a chance to love these characters. As much as I like RA, I don’t love his character or the other characters yet like I did Harmon Rabb or Mac or Bud or the one I really loved, Admiral Chegwidden, and certainly don’t love him like I do Guy and his bunch. But I might work myself up to it. ;-) Just need to see more of them.

But I have one piece of advice. Please, please, please don’t have John Porter cry anytime soon. It was bad timing and all wrong in this episode. I love RA’s acting, but that little piece of writing sucked. Porter needs to be taking names and kicking ass 98% of the time. Yes, I still want to see Beta but not like that.

I guess I have more than one piece of advice. Can the daughter angle just be completely done away with if the show continues? That really limits him. and I’d like to see him, uh, unfettered. I’m sure I’m going to catch it for that statement, but hey, do we want the show to continue or not? A single dad on the run all the time in God knows where? Really? There are writers good enough to pull that off? Somehow with this bunch I doubt it.

We need to see him getting out of scrapes

and messing with people’s heads

and, well, this post will have to be two parts otherwise it will take a week to load.

Next part.

Screencaps courtesy of my stash.

May 20, 2010
Categories: Spoilers, Strike Back . Tags: , , , , , , . Author: RAFrenzy . Comments: 4 Comments

« Previous Page — Previous page Next page — Next Page »