I cannot believe I’m referring to myself in third person again. If SO saw this, he would have a field day with it. I can hear it now, “What are you Elmo or Jimmy or something?”
Okay, the point — I turned off my phone for a few days, and I haven’t been on the Net, much. All of this was at the request of SO, who said, “Do you think you could navigate without that for a day or two?” Then he grinned. How could I resist?
And you know that old saying about familiarity breeding contempt, so I think staying away from Richard Armitage pics and video for a few days was a good thing and apparently didn’t put a damper on my ardor.
Back to the point. This is my long way of saying, please forgive me for not replying to email and messages. I have not been ignoring you — no one specific anyway. I just needed a break. But I’m back now, so give me some time to get caught up.
Thanks for being patient!
Hmmm. This needs a picture. But what would fit? Not sure. While I’m typing this sentence, I’m letting my mind wander. Got it.
Yes, I’m telling the truth, Rich. And I feel so good now that I realize I CAN survive several days without my phone and very little Internet. I know you like your phone, and oh yeah, your iPad, but you might give this a try sometime. :D
Note: this is a photo I haven’t been inclined to use because he looks so much like my dad in this one. Yeah, I can see my dad’s scolding look, and it looked just like that.
edit: When I got back on Twitter last night, I saw a blog piece by MicheleR with an update about Inspector Lynley. LOL! If you’ve never seen the show, go check out her blog.
Today, I had a long chat with myself. The issue at hand was my awareness of too much about the first movie in The Hobbit “trilogy.” It seems I was not as overwhelmed with awe as I had hoped when I first saw An Unexpected Journey. Yes, I’m admitting it did not completely live up to my expectations, but several people I know and respect have loved this movie — including my immediate family who before the movie came out, gave me good natured hell every chance they got about my extreme knowledge of all things Hobbit never mind my absurd knowledge of all things Richard Armitage. No, I don’t literally mean all things Richard Armitage. Chill on the Armitage Protection Mode, will ya? :D
What I discovered is that all of the people I know personally who have adored this movie didn’t know nearly as much about it as I did, and I would like to join them on that when the next installment comes out. During the weeks leading up to the premiere of An Unexpected Journey, my gut was literally screaming at me to take a step back and not be so informed, but I was grossly infected with FOMO, which made me less sensitive to my gut talking. And now I wish I had not been so obsessive about satisfying my curiosity that I did the one thing I’ve railed about on this blog — spoilers. Of course I know how the book plays out, but this isn’t the book, is it? This is Peter Jackson’s version of it, and he was so kind to give me quite a bird’s eye view.
Oh yeah, sure, it wasn’t too much for some of you, but I know now that it was for me. And all of this brings me to a couple of conclusions. First, I have new found respect for movie critics, who earlier in my life were thought of as frustrated directors just finding a way to release their sour grapes. I was wrong. Oh, so wrong. My gosh, it’s a miracle they like any movie once it comes out after knowing so much about them beforehand. Second, I have decided that I am not going to pore over every piece of information that comes out about the rest of The Hobbit movies, and I was not going to watch nor listen to anything today that was related to Desolation of Smaug. But after the email and messages I have received, I had to do something. ;-)
So here’s the clip from the movie:
And no worries, here’s our guy.
If WB wants me to take these down, then I certainly will, but I hope I can leave them up, since they help promote the movie. :D
Dear Sir Peter,
I know you may be thinking, “Sheesh, someone’s always bitching about something.” You’re great, and you’ve been great about sharing. I really do appreciate that, and I know that so many fans love it and aren’t affected negatively by it. I guess I’m just one of those fans who needs to be surprised more, and since you’re not holding a gun to my head to watch these things, I’m not so sure I want to know as much as the last time around. Oh, I want to be able to gush until I’m wrung dry, but I would rather do it after the movie comes out.
I keep hearing how Richard Armitage went to Los Angeles to pitch an idea for Richard III. That was certainly floated as a possibility when he was on the plane to LA and missed the BBC Leicester Radio interview. But now it seems to have become fact. When did that happen? I’m honestly asking that. Is there some intel that someone has that verifies this indeed happened?
If not, it’s still just a bunch of speculation, and frankly, Richard Armitage and “his people” would be utter fools to talk about him doing this. So again, I’m wondering what’s up?
Yeah, Rich, you’re not stupid, so I don’t think you let this out of the bag if indeed there was a bag. Love the smile:
I can’t help myself. This is such a fantastic photo. You all may get sick of it before I’m done. :D
edit:
It’s one thing for Philippa Langley to talk about Richard Armitage doing this, but it’s another to call that a fact. I do give her big time kudos for chuzpah, and I mean that in the very best way possible. Actually, I have a complimentary post on her which I wrote right after I watched the special and will post at some point soon, but it’s not for this blog. It’s a better fit elsewhere. At least how it’s written at the moment. Just know this: I like her!
But back to the subject at hand. Until Richard Armitage or someone who officially represents Richard Armitage or who is confirmed as working with him states that he went to LA to make a pitch, I can’t refer to that as a fact. Did it probably happen? Oh, I can certainly see that it may well have happened. No problem seeing that. It’s how I’m referring to it that’s a sticking point.
I was just listening to Dave Andrews’ show on BBC Leicester, and he read Richard Armitage’s email informing Dave that he couldn’t make it on the show. He had wifi but couldn’t make a call.
Richard, Richard, Richard,
It’s called Skype or Google phone or any number of other VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone services. ;-)
Man, if you need help with this, I’m your girl. We can get around those pesky federal regulations. ;-) ;-)
Signed,
One of your crazy fans who loves to give technical support.
Fat chance I’ll ever get to do that, but hey, what the heck? I never thought I would be blogging successfully for almost three years, and here I am.
edit:
I need to clear something up! VOIP is not allowed on a plane. That was why I put the wink at the end of the line. I’m sorry if that caused some confusion. I was teasing! Please don’t try to do that with an airline that provides wifi! LOL! Ahem.
The good news is this may be a reality in the future. But it’s not today — at least not in the U.S. However, look what I found. I knew about the CEO being escorted off a plane for using VOIP, but I didn’t know that Virgin Airlines is now allowing these calls. Interesting. I guess Richard Armitage wasn’t flying on Virgin. :D
edit: an update on the FAA relaxing the rules but still can’t make calls. Bummer
I just read an article about your being cast as Richard III, and the look on my face is a lot like that of the King’s above — thoughtful with a little thread of perplexity. Earlier I had read CNN’s piece with quotes from Ms. Langley, and her statements about your involvement gave me some pause. I so want to jump on the bandwagon but admit to being the suspicious kind. I just feel funny about this, and especially when I consider the ‘Charlie’ debacle. Of course that didn’t involve CNN or a Scottish newspaper, but I can’t get ’round the very non-committal tone of your agent. Maybe I’m hesitant for no good reason.
Signed,
One of your crazy fans who hates being cynical, but I can’t seem to help myself.
P.S. I look forward to whatever you may be doing in future.
This is just me sharing my unvarnished thoughts about this. It will be wonderful if this is true, but I hope someone hasn’t jumped the gun by mentioning it now. Then again what do I know about promoting a possible film? Yes, you guessed it, nothing. LOL!
See. Being a make-up artist can be rewarding on lots of levels. :D So far I’ve only covered some of the personalrewards. But for Tami Lane, who received an Oscar nomination for her work on The Hobbit, it has transcended the personal, and it’s not her first time. She was nominated and won an Academy Award in 2006 for her work on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
But working on The Hobbit was a far different experience for Ms. Lane when considering the unforgiving eye of 48fps:
Since the 3D movie was being filmed in 48 frames per second instead of the normal 24, their work had to be flawless, she said. Each set of dwarf eyebrows, which are not reusable after removal, had to be re-created daily to look exactly the same – for all 266 days of shooting.
“All the old tricks we use for film had to be thrown out the window. Shooting like this makes you a better artist,” Lane wrote by email.
The 48fps aspect of this film just gets more interesting. Could dealing with near ten times the normal frame rate be any more daunting in its rendering of reality? I wonder. 48fps seems pretty tough.
And now a must:
Dear Ms. Lane,
You did a marvelous job. I think it’s safe to speak for other fans to say how much we appreciate the time and care you took to make RA look so spectacularly Thorinesque. [is that a word? if not, it should be. Then again, I suppose it’s okay if it’s hyphenated — Thorin-esque. Hmm. I can make anything a word if I hyphenate it. Can’t I? :D]
All the best and at the Oscars as well!
Signed,
One of Richard’s crazy fans who sometimes covets your job for all the Richard-esque moments you got to witness. ;-) Yeah, it’s lame, but I need coffee, and it is my first time to make up somethin’. At least I didn’t say Armitage-esque. I’m outta here!
P.S. Wait. One more thing. I hope you can chuckle at all those shallow girls in high school who didn’t think it would pay to be a geek. Oh, how wrong they were. Look at your life, and the fantastic views you see. Damn! I need to start this letter over, but I don’t have time. Best o’ luck!
After I drink some coffee, I may be back with some other words that you’ve never seen. :D
2012 was quite a ride for Richard Armitage. Too much happened to recap it! Not even going to try especially when there are so many others who have done such a marvelous job of it, and if you don’t want a recap and just want to immerse yourself in information and photos about Richard Armitage, try Places to Get a Fix or The Addict List.
As for me, I’m taking a day off and celebrating! I may go skiing, and I may go see The Hobbit again. It occurred to me I was tense about SO‘s take on the movie and couldn’t really enjoy it like I wanted. So back to the movies without him. Until then, I’ll be outside.
And now a word or two to our guy:
Richard,
I hope you can take the day off. It’s lovely weather for skiing somewhere, and you’ve got the funds to go where you would like. Yes, I realize you know that, but with someone like you, a reminder may be in order.
If you take it into your head to grace our slopes in the U.S., there are plenty of great places. I’m not even going to mention my area although it’s great too!
Wherever you go, I hope you can get outside. That’s where I’m headed. I adore being outside, and I don’t mind saying it’s days like today that make me want to pinch myself because I live where I do.
Hope you have a great day and don’t break a leg. :D
Signed,
One of your crazy fans, who wishes she could do this:
P.S. If you missed it, check out my other letter about skiing. I’ll be back tomorrow to give you a hard time with my speculation about what you’re doing. :D
Looking backward. Isn’t that what today is about? I guess it’s infected me because the subject I’m about to broach was not something I was going to revisit. However, recent reports I’ve read and new thoughts I’ve had compel this post. :D
I’ve run through a range of musings about The Hobbit premiere in New York. One of my first thoughts was New York is too cool to get excited about a movie premiere. This is a matter of pride for New Yorkers. They love to let you know they make barely a flicker of an eye when the famous pass by them. After countless trips to New York and living there one summer, I can attest to the sheer numbers of celebrities strolling around the streets and making the ho hum attitude understandable. But another thought was remembering the fanfare I’ve seen there. “Ticker tape” parades so huge the surreal feeling takes days if not weeks to go away. When these people throw a party, they know how to throw a party!
Outside at The Hobbit premiere was like a meeting. No party atmosphere but the distinct feeling it was all business. I could almost hear the marching orders repeating themselves in the heads of some of the cast who came to the fans lined on the street, “If you greet the fans, make it short. Don’t linger. Get it done and get inside the theater. And for God’s sake watch the cars coming down the street behind you!” Yep, the normal traffic flow was not completely blocked but rather interspersed with the celebrities’ cars stopping in front of the Ziegfield Theater which made it a dicey affair for the cast to be on the street. Then there were the thugs (TheQueen has another name for them) trying to get autographs to hawk on eBay. Since I had effected the New York cool, I wasn’t too worried about them even if they could have easily pushed me down on the barricade and busted my kneecaps. No problem. I was there to see Richard Armitage blast it! and after my deal with the thugs, no sweat (picture the optimist who was put in a room full of horseshit. :D)
But I’ve been wondering if the sober feeling from many of the cast was actually the ominous thought of combating traffic and facing the New York thugs. Something has to explain the wary looks I saw from some of them. Their demeanor was certainly a far cry from the cheerfulness in Wellington, Tokyo and London. It makes me wonder if this is the norm for New York premieres. I’ve never been to a movie premiere in New York. Never been to a movie premiere, so I really don’t know. I had only seen two live streaming until this one.
But despite all of that, I must give thanks to someone for a very enjoyable part of my premiere experience:
Dear Andy Serkis,
Man, I love you! Thank you for injecting some party atmosphere into the affair known as The Hobbit Premiere NYC. Thank you for the time you spent with the fans lined on the street. You almost single handedly made me forget the feeling of a business arrangement.
And I have a suggestion for your colleagues at next year’s premiere to make them feel secure about dealing with the fans, the thugs and might help with dodging traffic. I’m passing this along now so they have a whole year to practice.
Signed, One of Richard’s crazy fans who thought your wife was also lovely. :)
P.S. I watched Distant Voices, Still Lives the the other day. Wow.
And a big thank you to @nancyjohnson1 for holding a place for TheQueen and me since yours truly had to run errands until about 45 minutes before the premiere. Phew!
Watch someone take all of this seriously. Yes, I’m talking to the action fans. This subject isn’t about a cure for cancer nor a solution to world strife, so it is not serious. LOL!
Not long ago a body was unearthed from its burial place under a car park in the UK. It may be the corpse of King Richard III, the last monarch in the War of the Roses. Various tests have been done to help determine the identity as a small group of zealous supporters longing for the king to gain his rightful place in history have watched the world become aware of him. Despite confirmation, Richard III will still be confined to a villainous image. He will still be seen by a significant number as the man Shakespeare portrayed as a scoundrel who callously killed his nephews and anyone else who stood in the way of what he wanted. And if he really has been unfairly maligned by the Bard, few will appreciate the fact. Such is the effect of a drama with a powerfully developed character — its ability to drown out anything that would give lie to it.
Richard Armitage in The Hobbit is also an unearthing. It is a star emerging to all but a few rabid fans who have waited for several years for the public to recognize it. Despite this rise to the larger public’s notice, will Richard, like his namesake, also remain confined to an image? I hope not. I hope his Thorin Oakenshield will be sufficient to give lie to the notion that he’s only a heart throb. But when I consider the effect of his portrayal as John Thornton in North and South followed closely by Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and hear the current rhetoric about the hot dwarf, it’s hard not to see him remaining in the box marked tall, dark, handsome man who is extremely masculine and sensitive and must be a romantic figure.
When women in the U.S. alone get hold of the almost Svengali like appeal of his, the marketing of his roles will be narrowed to romances. Much like was done with Colin Firth and Gerard Butler only they aren’t Richard Armitage. He goes way beyond them in sex appeal. Yes, I’m biased, but I’m also not blind. Some women I know have never seen the likes of Richard Armitage, and those who have really watched him are blown away. One told me, “I laughed at your reaction. I really did. I thought you were just having a mid-life meltdown with all that’s going on in your life. Phew! I was wrong! I have never seen anyone like that!” To which I said with as much humility as possible, “I know.”
But for a good long while I’ve been finding that a trap. He’s too capable to be left to roles as a mere love interest, only useful for awakening desire. Granted, he does love interest so well, but how long can we dwell there? Doesn’t it get passe’? Or is our need as women so intense we must continually feed it with characters who engender passion? I can only answer for myself. I’m bored with this. And I’m way past the place where I wrote about his characters’ effects on me. I was actually past it when I wrote the piece but was compelled to capture the phenomenon so I wouldn’t forget. Now I want what I always want — a good story and characters that move me but without the added noise of squeeeing.
I’m all squeeed out for now. And it’s only my snark gene that continues on with the appearance of it yet with a twinkle in my eye hoping some of you catch on to my mirth at the manipulation we receive as fans.
I long for more from Richard Armitage. I long to see him leverage his ability as a chameleon and apply his fine sense of a story. When do we get to see that without the pr machine pandering to women? Playing them like a fiddle? Harsh words you say? What else to make of this? LOL!
Yes, I know I’m whining, but really, I just hate to see Richard getting in the box however big it may appear. A little Armitage Protection Mode at work? No question. And my control freak dictates this:
Dear Richard,
I hope once you get past all the hype for The Hobbit that you can really sit back and consider what’s next and do not feel compelled to give people exactly what they want. You once said of a character that he was only interesting when he didn’t get what he wanted, and it would be over if he got it. The same logic could be applied to you and your fans. Please don’t give what it seems we want. We don’t know what’s good for us. Yes, I am a capitalist, but not when it comes to art. Ignore my capitalist, please. Go with your heart.
Just please stay out of the box, or at least don’t let the marketers close the lid on you.
Other than all of that, I hope you have a Merry Christmas.
Signed,
One of your crazy fans who knows you have much more in you in than tall, dark, handsome cotton mill owner
P.S. Maybe a little chat with Viggo Mortenson might be helpful. Yes, I’m a control freak. Now listen to your mother, er, big sister. :D
The rant is done, and I want you all to know I am emphatically not against his being cast as a romantic figure, and I’ve been thinking about what I would like to see in that respect. More coming up on that and on Richard III. I’m not even close to being done with the “good” king.
edit: I am not down on Richard Armitage. I think he’s a great talent, which I would like to see succeed as some other great talents have succeeded. Neither do I begrudge him making money. Money is necessary to live.
But I had to say something about what I am seeing. More later on contributing to facilitating this. That’s the post where I admit my guilt. LOL!
So I am sitting in my hotel room from which I can see a very long red carpet and The Embassy Theatre. I am nervous, excited and quite emotional, the day has arrived when we can finally present our work for everyone to hopefully enjoy.
I wanted to say thank you for the continuing support that I receive from everyone who visits Annette’s brilliant site, and those others which have popped up over the last few years and months. It means so much to me to have that support. I truly hope you all enjoy The Hobbit, I tried to respect the responsibility that taking on this role presented to me, my fellow cast members are all spectacular in the story and we send out our work to you in the hope that you can take your friends and family to see a great event in the cinema.
I look forward to saying thank you, at the various premiers over the next few weeks.
See you on the Red Carpet.
Much love
Richard
fumblingly sent from my iPad
Definitely calls for a fake fan letter only I’m very sincere this time:
Dear Richard,
You were great, and we were all so proud of you. Take care, and all of us so look forward to your coming successes.
I don’t know what else to say but that, or I could go on for an hour.
Sincerely,
One of your crazy fans who is tired after a wonderful night
And on that note, I’m calling it a night. :)
edit: For those not familiar with me, my reference to being sincere was an allusion to the mostly tongue-in-cheek tone of my fake fan letter series. I hope that explains it. Call me if it’s still not clear. :D
RAFrenzy 
