#2 great British actors

[dullahandyke]

*finds another game that's weird abt 'pagan' pantheons to filter the tags of*

#like i watched a rlly good vid essay recently of a greek-canadian perspective on hades #n it brought up the point that like. the gods dont even begin to look Greek #and thats not a shitty 'they shouldn't have poc in games' thing #but like olive skin n black hair? #the closest the vid-essayist (self-professed 'fat hairy greek') could find to himself #was the fucking minotaur #and all of the characters had british accents and it was like no consideration was made- #-that adaptions of greek myth are often stripped of their greekness and given british and american and Not Greek actors- #-and that doing it but instead making the replacement guys poc still wasnt like. great #idk im only paraphrasing yer mans points #go watch 'the big fat greek reason i havent played hades' #its like 2 hours long and only about a fourth of it is specifically about hades but its rlly interesting

[enchantingharmonyperfection]

#night 2 in edimburgh may 2023 #harry styles #great artist #one direction #british artist #musician #singer #actor #art #music #pop star #sooo handsome

[insanityclause]

EXCLUSIVE: One year ago we told you that a second season of John le Carré adaptation The Night Manager was quietly being developed under the codename Steelworks.

Now, Deadline can reveal that the BBC and new co-pro partner Amazon have gone big on a supercharged two-season order of the thriller, with Tom Hiddleston returning to lead, Hugh Laurie coming back as EP and with a new director in I Hate Suzie’s Georgi Banks-Davies. A third season has also been greenlit. David Farr returns as writer and Stephen Garrett is showrunner.

The Night Manager Season 2 will begin filming later this year and will pick up with Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine eight years after the explosive finale of Season 1, going beyond the original book, which was written by the celebrated British writer in 1993. Additional plot details are being kept under wraps and there is not yet confirmation as to whether EP Laurie’s Richard Roper, who was last seen in the back of a paddy wagon driven by arms buyers who were not best pleased with him, will return to star. Hiddleston will also EP and will discuss in more depth on tonight’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Produced by The Ink Factory in association with Character 7, Demarest Films and 127 Wall, and in co-production with Spanish partner Nostromo Pictures, The Night Manager Season 2 was sold to Amazon by Fifth Season. The first was co-produced with AMC.

New director Banks-Davies, a BAFTA-nominee who takes over from Susanne Bier, has credits including I Hate Suzie, Garfield and upcoming Netflix series Kaos.

The Night Manager Season 1 was a huge success, watched by millions and winning multiple BAFTAs, Emmys and Golden Globes including best actor for Hiddleston. Also starring Tom Hollander, Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki, it followed Pine – who ran a luxury hotel in Cairo – as he attempted to infiltrate the inner circle of Roper’s crime syndicate after being hired by Foreign Office task force manager Angela Burr.

The first season was commissioned more than 10 years ago and the show has since been remade in India, lapping the UK version by swiftly having a Season 2 greenlit for Disney+ Hotstar in May last year.

Simon Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell, le Carré’s sons who run The Ink Factory, said Season 1 proved “a landmark moment for the golden era of television – uniting on-screen and behind-the-camera talent at the top of their game – and an audience reception which was beyond our wildest imagining.”

They added: “Revisiting the story of Pine also means going beyond the events of John le Carré’s original work: that is a decision we have not taken lightly, but his compelling characters and the vision David has for their next chapter were irresistible.”

Amazon MGM Studios Head of Television Vernon Sanders said: “We are elated to bring additional seasons of The Night Manager to our Prime Video customers. The combination of terrific source material, the wonderful team at The Ink Factory, a great writer in David Farr, an award-winning director in Georgi Banks-Davies, as well as the talented cast truly make the series the full package.”

Hiddleston said: “The first series of The Night Manager was one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I have ever worked on. The depth, range and complexity of Jonathan Pine was, and remains, a thrilling prospect.”

BBC content boss Charlotte Moore added: “After years of fervent speculation I’m incredibly excited to confirm that The Night Manager is returning to the BBC for two more series.”

The Night Manager series two is created and executive produced by Farr, based on the characters created by le Carré. Additional executive producers include Garrett for Character 7, Banks-Davies, Laurie and Hiddleston; Joe Tsai and Arthur Wang for 127 Wall; Stephen and Simon Cornwell, Michele Wolkoff, and Tessa Inkelaar for The Ink Factory; Adrián Guerra for Nostromo Pictures; William D. Johnson for Demarest Films, Nick Cornwell, Susanne Bier, Chris Rice for Fifth Season and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC.

#tom hiddleston #the night manager #seasons 2 and 3 #official #jonathan pine #hugh laurie #booked and busy

[blackterrae]

Ideas for Black!Reader Fic

I am going to try my hand again at writing. And I wanted to share some people and fandoms that I love. If you don’t know these shows/actors/franchises/movies/streamers I’m putting you on! For the following:

Johnny Depp- All his characters

Cameron Monaghan- I know that there are fics out there but it’s only always his Jerome/Jeremiah roles never just him or Cal Kestis

Anthony Carrigan- I loved Anothy as Victor Zsasz

Paul Dano- There are Riddler fics but not as many for his other roles

The Entire Cast of Hawaii Five-0 (2010) - Don’t even get me started on how good this show is! And the cast looks amazing!

Chicago Med/Fire/PD- These shows have so much potential for fanfic storylines!

The Game (2006)- Has great potential for slow burns and fluffs.

Star Wars franchise (1977-present) - I know I said Cal Kestis but there are also other characters like Anakin, Luke, Obi Wan,Boba Fett (etc.)

NCIS franchise- I honestly love this franchise and it’s characters!

Hamilton

Any/All Sports Men- Jude Bellingham,Lewis Hamilton,LaMelo Ball,Allen Iverson(etc.)

Berleezy - He’s handsome and he’s funny!

Coryxkenshin- I literally love him and his videos!

Albert Aretz (Flamingo)- Look … he may be the epitome of mediocre white man but I like what I like!

AMP- Duke Dennis, Kai Cenat, Agent 00, ChrisNxtDoor,Davis, and Fanum ( all I gotta say is love a black man from infinity to infinity🗣️)

Beta Squad- A British YouTube/ streamer group!

SOMEBROS- Berleezy, Rico, ,PG, Joe (etc.)

WWE- come on now, do I even need to explain!!!

Four Brothers- All the cast but Garrett Hedland in particular!

Peacemaker - Don’t get me wrong I love Adrian Chase but I want to see just as much Peacemaker x black!reader fics because 2 words… JOHN CENA

MAWS- New animated Superman show! Love!

Smallville - The entire cast is hot! Tbh I fell hard for Tom Welling when I was younger when he was in Cheaper By The Dozen. Plus they literally whitewashed Vixen. COME ON! Vixen is a black female hero btw. She was also with Jon (Green Lantern) at one point.

Justice League/Justice League Unlimited (2001 and 2004)- I mean I literally can’t find any Jon Stewart x black!reader fics and he was with a BLACK WOMAN!

Warner Bros Franchise (minus the looney tunes & space jam)- There are lots of popular franchises that this company has from Fast & Furious to The Matrix!

Peaky Blinders- Saw a Tommy shelby x arms dealer black!female reader fic on my previous account but even then I couldn’t find it again on that account. So it’s gone with the wind. And the cast (i.e the actors and other characters they’ve portrayed). Example: Cillian Murphy as Johnathan Crane.

The Bear

FBI (All)

Vinnie Hacker

Tiktokers

Blue Bloods

Will Poulter- I haven’t really seen any Adam Warlock fics

Slashers

Stranger Things

Dave Lizewski

Eddie Redmayne

Macgyver (2016)

Fresh Prince of Belair

Guardians of the galaxy- Explanation? Do I really need one?

On My Block

Descendants (characters will be the actors age in real life.duh)- Love Boo-boo Stewart & Mitchell Hope!

Matt Rife

Joey Bragg (Liv &Maddie) - What can I say I love dorks!

The Boys- Haven’t seen that many fics about the characters and a black reader

Once Upon A Time- I love dark fairytales sometimes because they remind me that not every story has a happy ending and you have to learn from them. But this series is good for any theme really.

Walker Texas Ranger (1993)

Top Gun

Magcon: Whether you saw their vines on YouTube or vine, you know who they are

Dolan Twins

Mission Impossible

Euphoria- Entire show has great storylines with the potential of drama in fics

Shameless- Especially Carl Gallagher and Lip Gallagher

Creed- Michael B Jordan need I say more

Keanu Reeves- There are very few fics about Keanu but I’ve seen a few of his John Wick x black!reader fics (chef’s kiss) but never see any of The Matrix Fics!Also Ted (Bill & Ted)

River Phoenix

Batman Beyond

Rider Strong

Danny Gonzalez

Timothée Chalamet

New York Undercover

Past-Present Singers & Rappers/ Groups -Bow Wow, Tupac, Lil Baby, Nelly, Omarion, Prince, Michael Jackson, Jon B,Usher, Central Cee, Måneskin, New Edition, BTS, James Bay(etc.)

Anime(Any kind!)- Would love to see other shows, I know hunterxhunter,aot,one piece (etc.)

Bridgerton- There is very little Bridgerton stories catered around a black reader.

Marvel- Now that’s not to say that there aren’t any in fact there are many but I never see (Tobey Maguire Spider-Man stories and it seems like everyone tends to focus on the famous Marvel characters like The Avengers but not on other aspects like X-men or better yet, heroes that haven’t even gotten their own movie but are just as amazing like Squadron Supreme , it’s equivalent to DCU’s Justice League.

Secret Invasion- Not gonna lie , I’m feening for Gravik.😳

DCEU- Another franchise that pushes its other characters to the side. For example, Hush (Thomas Elliot) is literally the epitome of Bruce Wayne gone bad!

Ross Lynch- There are so many roles that Ross did so well in Like Teen Beach Movie or Sabrina.

Highschool Musical Franchise (2006- present ) I’m not just talking about HSMTS (2019), I mean even further back than that. I don’t see any Troy Bolton x black!reader and that’s crazy. I also can’t find any Zac Efron x black!reader

Interview with a Vampire (1994) and (2022)

Austin Butler- He did well in his role as Elvis!

Vikings - There are a good amount but still!

Transformers

Suits

Saved By The Bell

The Goldbergs

Parks & Recreation

Leverage

The Outsiders

Heart of Stone

New York Undercover (1994)

Addams Family

Victorious

Matpat

ICarly

The Real Bros of Simi Valley (2017)

Think Like A Man (2012)

One on One (2001)

Scorpion (2014)

The King of Queens (1998)

G.I. Joe Franchise

Terminator

Beware the Batman (2013)

Any and all Asian Idols/Actors

Seal Team

Mortal Combat

Bill and Ted

Barbie

Detroit: Become Human

Will Trent

Tokyo Vice

Growing Pains

Graceful Family (Kdrama)[Any Asian Drama shows or movies would be great as well]

The Regime

Batman: The animated series

If anyone needs ideas for these franchises/movies/shows/actors , then holla at me! I got you!

Also add more to the list if anything that you would like to see comes to mind.

Also tag black writers who you want to see this!

@sheabuttahwrites @shinsouscatpisssmell @cocoamoonmalfoy @heathenarmyimagines @cinewhore @cocoamoonmalfoy @stxxllaaa @glitterjuju @lilvampirina @breanime @blackmissfrizzle @afro-hispwriter @stargirlfics @lavenderursa @clydesducktape @pettyprocrastination @theblvckvenus @plantvenuss @punani @n-slayaaaaa @infernalodie @halfofmysoulsblog @iridecsense @tomhardydallasstarsgirl @supremethunda @thekrazykeke @canumoveurseatup-no @hiatuswhore @avintagekiss24 @ohcaptains @iguessweallcrazyithinktho @xsapphirescrollsx @sunflowertuliplily @bakarilennox @batfamily14 @ramp-it-up @blackreaders-assemble @royallyprincesslilly @funnyexel @blackterrae @slashisms @artemisthewh0re @shelbydelrey @toocriticalharlow @v-era-18 @vampsired @queenimmadolla @sinnerlillith @greengoblinswifey @apocalypse-shuffle

#black fanfic #black fanfic writer #black tumblr #bipoc writers #black writers #jack sparrow x black!reader #harry styles x black!reader #timothee chalamet x black!reader #mha x black female reader #r&b/hip hop #hawaii 5 0 #NCIS #cal kestis x black!reader #anime #marvel #dceu #warner bros #heroes and villains #star wars x black!reader #the bear #black fandom #peaky blinders #mortal kombat x black! female reader #black!fem!reader #Chicago PD/Med/Fire #multifandom black imagines #blackterrae #begone hiatus/writer’s block #slashers x black!fem!reader #Sam Witwicky x black!fem!reader

[bobparkhurst]

a totally unbiased (no) and mostly serious (i guess) spoiler-free primer

I've seen a bunch of posts floating around encouraging people into the fandom, or HBO War people looking for a new fandom/show to sink their teeth into. Here's my effot to add to the propaganda, because I've been in this fandom since Nov '22, it's delightful here and I always love a new SASRH friend to chat to.

tl;dr: it's a lot of fun

premise & setting

SAS: Rogue Heroes is the story of the founding of the original* Special Air Service (SAS) of the British Army during WW2. It centres three of the initial founders, David Stirling, Blair 'Paddy' Mayne and Jock Lewes. Two of other men credited as founding the SAS, Bill Fraser and Georges Bergé also feature. Bill Stirling, David's older brother and integral to the founding of the SAS, will feature in series 2.

Series 1 is 6 episodes long, covering events from the North African campaign from May '41 through Jan '43. Series 2 has been filmed and will move the action to Europe.

Based largely on the book, SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre.

*it was disbanded in Oct '45, and reformed in '47, ultimately leading, through various machinations, to the modern day SAS.

historical accuracy

Somewhat more fast and loose with history than Band of Brothers, The Pacific or Masters of the Air, but not bad enough to send historians spiralling into deep despair, with one very important caveat: the depiction of Paddy Mayne. More on him and this in a moment. However, it has generally been well received. Damien Lewis (the author and historian, not the actor) said "...it's reasonably realistic. It tells a great yarn. I think they've used some artistic license, I can understand why they've done so to a certain extent... Generally they've got the equipment and the kit bang on, I think they had some very good advisers." (here)

There are some weird timeline issues, which I think is caused largely by odd pacing and editing. I'd not worry about this too much, otherwise you'll break your brain. Likewise, liberties have been taken with the geography, which I think is a bit more heinous, but ymmv.

characters: lads lads lads lads lads

after the first four, these are in no order of importance, before anyone gets on at me about their favourite. i also appreciate there are other characters but this bit was already getting really long.

david stirling (connor swindells) - the dreamer

Arrogant, manipulative, clever, charismatic bastard. David Stirling is fueled chiefly by daddy issues and an inferiority complex a mile wide. Connor Swindells walks a beautiful line between swagger and vulnerability. He does not let things like "common sense", "safety precautions" or "understanding the implications" get in the way of doing important things like flinging himself out of a plane in the middle of the desert or talking his way into army bases armed with nothing but crutches and chutzpah.

blair 'paddy' mayne (jack o'connell) - the madman

Paddy Mayne my BELOVED. Character of all time. He's a drinker, a fighter and abhors a bully. For most of the show, we see him at his most desperate and most angry and arguably most violent. HOWEVER, he's also a highly intelligent, sensitive, compassionate poet and voracious reader; if there's a bunch of poetry being quoted, it's probably Paddy doing it. He loves so very deeply. His depiction in the show is a bit of a bone of contention with family and historians - some people read him as being depicted as a violent thug only, and that's not what the real Blair Mayne was like. Which is simultaneously true and not true. Blair Mayne was an incredibly complicated man.

The other contentious-to-some point is that the show does deliberately suggest his queerness, something Jack O'Connell has talked about in interviews. Some people have taken issue with this. Either way, for those who saw the sand wrestling gifs and wanted to know if SASRH was just queerbaiting, the answer is no, actually. But don't expect anything explicit on this front.

Jack O'Connell looks like he's having a fucking fantastic time.

jock lewes (alfie allen) - the creator

In real life, Jock Lewes was nicknamed "The Wizard", how great is that? David, Paddy and David met in training and are referred to in show as "the Three Musketeers". He is basically the mediator between Paddy and David, which sounds dull, except Jock is also batshit and clever and scary. He makes all the lads do intense marches in the desert without water, but is never willing to ask someone to do what he wouldn't do. Trouble is, as mentions, he is batshit so his standards are VERY VERY HIGH. He also has a fiancee, Mirren, whomst he loves very much and their relationship is so tender and brings me to tears on the regular.

eve mansour (sofia boutella)

Eve works for French Military Intelligence and quietly drives a lot of action behind the scenes. She's a totally fictional invention for the show and I'd be madder about it if Sofia Boutella wasn't being gorgeous and smart all over the place. She is focused on the goal and is generally just. Queen.

dudley clarke (dominic west)

Not so much a member of the SAS as the guy who helps Stirling bring this plan to fruition. He's great fun, charming and affable, and just as dangerous as anyone else. Dudley Clarke doesn't get enough credit, I think.

mike sadler (tom glynn-carney)

Mike Sadler my OTHER beloved. I joke about Mike coming to fix all the stuff around my flat that doesn't work and it's because he's singlehandedly the most competent member of the entire SAS, I think. His introduction scene is the sexiest thing on the entire show. He only gets introduced in episode 3, but in my heart we have six seasons and a movie with him. He's a member of the Long Range Desert Group and knows more about navigating the landscape than anyone. The LRDG are barely part of the show (save for Mike) and are well worth looking up.

IRL Mike Sadler actually only passed away this year, at the age of 103.

eoin mcgonigal (dónal finn)

Most of what Eoin's around for in SAS: RH is to hang out being impossibly beautiful and being ride or die for Paddy Mayne. Dónal Finn and Jack O'Connell created the most beautiful relationship told in touches. Drives me mad. He's also the first one who really understands who Paddy is beyond the brash and violent front. Eoin McGonigal is certainly a creature.

bill fraser, johnny cooper, reg seekings, jim almonds, dave kershaw, pat riley

(stuart campbell, jacob mccarthy, theo barklem-biggs, corin silva, bobby schofield, jacob ifan)

Look, there are a lot of lads and I can't do them all justice. Some of these folks get a lot more to do than the others, and they're all distinct characters in their own right. There are two matched set duos, Reg & Johnny (enemies to lovers, 150k) and Jim & Pat (do not seperate). Jim & Pat were Jock's crew prior to the SAS and the way he gets them to join is basically by saying "hey, there's a really stupid and dangerous thing i want to do, you in?" and they do this:

each and every one of them is as bad as the others.

augustin jordan, georges bergé, andré zirnheld

Free French paratroopers, who Stirling is reluctantly forced into accepting into the SAS by Eve and Clarke. TBF, this is where SAS: RH really starts playing with history, though it serves the narrative well enough. Show!Augustin Jordan was a former professor of Philosophy at La Sorbonne, and is also a tall dark haired man, so you can see how Paddy Mayne is gonna struggle.

I had to use the sand wrestling gif here (that's augustin), you've probably seen it. It's a surprisingly interesting character scene, would you believe.

There are several other named characters, but I'm running out of energy.

other stuff

OK, so I've lost my thread here a bit. SAS: Rogue Heroes is fun, first and foremost. It really does fall down on the side of "Cool Boys Doing War", so if that's not your thing, maybe you'll not enjoy it. I personally do. And I think it does have some further depth to it than that, even if that's where it comes back to. I've never seen Peaky Blinders, but apparently it's a bit like that? IDK.

While it's very violent, I don't think it's as brutal as the HBO War shows. It's a much more heightened kind of drama, so there's a step removal I think, from the really visceral. That said, it's still a war drama, and it does feature some very nasty business.

soundtrack

it's mostly hard rock and if you don't like this, idk what to tell you. i fucking love it. once again though, mike sadler gets the best of this. you'll know it when you see it.

the fandom

The SAS Rogue Heroes fandom is small but it is mighty and it genuinely is very friendly. There is a Discord if you like, but you don't have to do it if Discord is not your thing.

While the overriding popular ship is Paddy/Eoin, Paddy/Augustin and Reg/Johnny are also wildly popular. That said, we are fond of a rarepair in this fandom, and I personally have embarked on a mission of shipping Mike Sadler with every other character. Everyone's very encouraging of wild ideas and aus, anything's welcome.

A few people are writing OCs, and that too is great. I encourage more of that! I don't think I've seen any x Reader yet, but never say never.

Come join us!

a brief suggested further reading

you really don't have to do any of this, but like, some of you are nerds, i get it. i also got a lot of other recs, but these are some good starters. you can hit me up for more, it's all good.

SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre

SAS Brothers in Arms: Churchill's Desperadoes - Damien Lewis

SAS: An Illustrated History of the SAS - Joshua Levine

Speed, Aggression, Surprise: The Untold Secret Origins of the SAS - Tom Petch

One of the Originals: Story of a Founder Member of the S.A.S. - Anthony Kemp & Johnny Cooper (Johnny Cooper's memoir and imo, if you read nothing else, read this)

The Phantom Major: The Story of David Stirling & the SAS Regiment - Virginia Cowles (this was written in 1958. There is a "rebuttal" biog, The Phoney Major by Gavin Mortimer, which also contains a lot of info, but I find Mortimer's bias against Stirling incredibly difficult to stomach. Difficult.)

Paddy Mayne - Hamish Ross (honestly, I'd not bother with other biogs of Blair Mayne unless you want to do a lot of reading around and getting cross)

Special Forces Brothers in Arms: Eoin & Ambrose McGonigal - Patric McGonigal (this is so personal and so beautiful, I cried several times reading it. written by Eoin's great-nephew. Ambrose, Eoin's older brother was part of the SBS, Special Boat Service, who are ALSO very interesting)

Gentleman Jim: The Wartime Story of a Founder of the SAS and Special Forces - Lorna Almonds-Windmill (another biog by a family member, this one is gentle and told with love)

Joy Street: A Wartime Romance in Letters - the published correspondence between Jock Lewes and Mirren Barford. A slightly different kind of book, but gosh. It really hits.

...and that's all I got for you right now. I could talk about this show for days though.

(forgot to add: my SAS RH blog is @regseekings, I posted this on here for the HBO war fandom)

#sas rogue heroes #i'm very tired now #i'm gonna go get a sandwich #sasrh reading list #sas: rogue heroes #Youtube

[burgerking-official]

Alright fine I’ll do a full review on Hazbin

Okay I’m very bored so I’ll go in-depth on my thoughts on Hazbin.

The voice acting

The voice acting is mostly trash.

Erika Henningsen as Charlie was fine. Not great, but certainly not as terrible as the others.

Stephanie Beatriz as Vaggie was pretty bad. Her delivery sounds like she was trying to make herself sound as deep as possible and it didn’t work.

Blake Roman as Angel Dust was fucking horrendous, although it does improve as the series goes on. His acting was like Dan Castellaneta did in Aladdin 2. He sounded like he was trying to do an interpretation of Michael Kovach and it doesn’t work. Likewise, Dan was doing an interpretation of Robin Williams, but he still very clearly is not Robin Williams. Blake’s voice acting for the egg guys was fine though.

Alex Brightman as Sir Pentious was honestly fine. I think it’s mostly just Alex being an obscenely good voice actor, because I didn’t realized he voiced Pentious until I looked up the cast while writing this post. Alex’s voice for Adam was also really good. He sounded very distinct from both Fizzarolli and Beetlejuice, despite clearly being voiced all by Alex. Pretty good.

Keith David as Husk was okay. He’s certainly on par with the pilot VA.

Joel Perez as Valentino sucked. He sounds like a completely different person every time he speaks.

Christian Borle as Vox was actually pretty good. I like it.

Lilli Cooper as Velvette was horrendously bad. British people don’t sound like that. I’d know. If you can find me a single goddamn person on this island who regularly speaks like Velvette, I will give you nothing because that person does not exist.

Everyone else wasn’t notable enough to get their own review.

The music

The music was okay. Most of the songs sounded fine. The lyrics mostly sucked, but the songs themselves sounded okay.

The characters

most of the characters were fine except when they weren’t. i want velvette to step on me

The writing

the writing sucked. a lot of the jokes just had swearing or sex as the punchline and it was bad and also not good. i’ve gotten tired while writing this so bye

vivziepop is also a shitty person still

#burger king #whopper #brgr kiq #hungry jacks #huqgry djaks #hazbin critical #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel critique #hazbin hotel #vivziepop critical #vivziepop criticism #anti vivziepop

[glennk56]

John Dair

John Dair was a minor Scottish fat actor who only has 32 credits in his filmography. He often played big scary guys on British TV.

John Dair first appeared on screen in the British TV show, Porridge, a prison comedy starring Ronnie Barker in 1975. He appeared in 3 of the 20 episodes. The first 2 photos are from Porridge and the 3rd is from an episode of Sykes in 1978. Next photo is from an episode of Last of the Summer Wine in 1979.

This photo is from the set of the movie Porridge in 1979, now entitled Doing Time. Pictured is Ronnie Barker and John Dair.

Above is a scene from episode 1;3 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe in 1981.

Most people know John Dair from the initial video for Relax by Frankie Goes To Hollywood in 1984. The video disappeared after the song was banned in England just as it hit number one in the charts. The video most people remember is the one that featured cuts from the film Body Double that featured the song.

John Dair stripped down for the video. How great is that?

Above photos are from the miniseries Jack the Ripper in 1988 and 2 from Batman in 1989.

The above photos are from an episode of London's Burning in 1990, 2 from an episode of Doctor Finlay in 1993 and 2 from miniseries Our Friends in the North with Malcolm McDowell and Stephen Marcus.

#John Dair #Scottish actor #fat actor #character actor 1970s-1990s

[obv10usly]

Have you seen that clip of great British actors on the same stage reciting “to be or not to be, that is the question,” while emphasising different words and giving completely different meaning to the line?

That’s what I feel about dan’s “Trying to Live My Truth.” Let me explain…

When the video was out, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Of course it was. We missed dan. It was his first video in 3 months. We were so proud though clearly we didn’t know what that truth was. He alluded to things, quite explicitly at times, but never really spelled it out.

At the time I thought,

“okay. It doesn’t matter. It takes guts already to admit to yourself this much. And he doesn’t owe his truth to anyone, least of all us. He’s TRYING at least, and he’s openly admitting it in a really good and inspiring video too. It’s great he’s on the right path.”

Then June 2019 came and we finally knew the TRUTH he was alluding to in the video. TTLMT is now full of comments made in 2019 saying how it hit different. It did and we’re beyond proud. But I couldn’t help wondering often what was on his mind at that point in time.

Then! In 2022 we finally got an answer for that. Dan wasn’t doing well at all in 2018. II tour almost didn’t happen as he didn’t think he could’ve gone through with it without coming out first.

He felt he wasn’t living HIS truth. He would spend the whole year pondering this.

Thinking about this today while watching old DanAndPhilGames videos (as you do) it suddenly hit me like a brick in the face that TTLMT was published 2 days after “Can Dan and Phil Survive Fortnite?!” You know, the one where these happened:

"We can make a life together up there."

"I will find you in any world phil"

Maybe the emphasis was on the word in TTLMT that I didn’t think was significant in that way after all.

Dan was trying to LIVE his truth. He wasn’t trying to announce it. He was actively, decidedly /living/ it in front of us.

Many called 2018 their “glass closet” era and that’s just it. I just feel blessed to have been there to witness everything I just talked about here as it happened.

And yeah, that’s how I ended up comparing dan howell to shakespeare on twitter. (Yeah I posted this to twitter first lol) Didn’t see that coming, did ya?

#daniel howell #dan howell #dan and phil #trying to live my truth #dnp #phan #william shakespere #can’t believe I’m tagging Shakespeare lol #pam had a thought

[findmeabowloftrash-blog]

okay so. I am very very recently into The Property of Hate. I am caught up, and rereading bits and parts, while attempting to find blogs that still actively talk about/post about it. I'm quite new, so there's a good chance I have just missed it, but these are some things I have noticed/wondered that I haven't seen talked about.

1) Theory: The eyes on (the top half of) the butterfly's wings are RGB's eyes. Reasoning: In "Iris," on pages 455 and 456, we see the butterfly glare at RGB while asking if he cares who they (the butterfly) once was, and he says no. It then cuts him, and we get a brief flashback of, presumably, human RGB telling someone (whoever the butterfly used to be? Or his reflection, perhaps?) that he hates them, with the same glare. This is also, I believe, the only time we ever see his eyes in a flashback. Further, the butterfly is widely believed to be Hate, and it would make sense that his own hatred (of this other person? of himself?) is what "blinded" him. ESPECIALLY if it blinded him to his own potential. More on that later.

2) Observation: Negative seems to wear actual spats, as opposed to having them be part of his shoes. Relevance: Mod once said in answer to an ask about RGB's suspenders that nothing about him is genuine, it's only meant to appear that way, and cited his not-actually-spats as one example. If Negative does indeed wear real spats, does that make at least part of him more "genuine" than RGB?

3) Theory(?): Negative means no harm to Hero, and in fact cares a great deal about her. Reasoning: He's clearly intelligent, not just violent toward whatever is closest, because in his first appearance he protects Hero, rather than going after her himself. If the Fears were no match for him, why waste time fighting them if he wanted to hurt her? She would have been the weakest target, not the Fears. Then, in the desert, after creating the giant rose to protect himself and Hero, once he looks up and notices her, the eye on his screen looks teary, like it's watering up. (Pg 355) And wouldn't you cry if a child you wanted to protect came back into a deadly storm for you? In addition, I saw a post somewhere reasoning that the House of Lead belongs to Negative, and in that post the OP theorized that Negative wanted Hero to tell RGB about him. If he were antagonistic, or had literally any ill will toward Hero, that wouldn't make any sense.

Miscellaneous thoughts and rambling:

RGB calls himself "an unreliable narrator at best" during the same conversation/monologue/story he says that he is a failure, that the only thing he ever does is fail. ("After all, I died, didn't I?" -pg 472) And it seems that way, based on his history with heroes, sure. He fails pretty much all of his goals in the story (even ones like "don't get attached"). But if we go based on a number of meta things, we can easily reason that that isn't true, and he is, in fact, an unreliable narrator of his own life. For one, he was almost certainly an actor or entertainer of some sort. That in and of itself is a form of success. But beyond that, we have Mod's "The Face of Television" art, which implies he was VERY successful. There is also the "I was in Brooklyn when I found out" art of Dial looking at obituaries in the newspaper. Why would the obituary of a failed British actor be in an American newspaper? He had to have been someone well-known. Finally, on page 433, all the way to the left, among the static, you can see, "-reaking news tonight --as famed --tertainer". All of this heavily points toward RGB being, not a failure, but instead highly successful when he was human. Rather, I think the "failure" part comes from how he viewed himself. Unable to look in the mirror, to stand himself at all, to think of himself as anything more than a projection-- empty, hollow. And isn't that exactly how he ended up? I think that he played into Hate's hand because he did, in fact, have hatred-- but it wasn't the kind she could use against others directly, because he doesn't hate others; He hates himself. He hates himself so strongly that, even after selling his memories, he still truly believes that he is, at his very core, a failure.

Maybe Negative is the part of him that believes in himself??

Also:

I never see anyone talk about the recurring shapes/symbols in RGB's flashbacks/dreams. I'm mentally calling them: Box (or possibly Casket), Hands, Iron, Teardrop, Rectangles. They appear on pages 335 and 456, at least. Possibly others. Really really curious what they represent.

Anyway I'm sure I'm missing a lot of well-known fandom stuff but. I just needed to put my thoughts together and dump them into a public space.

#Tpoh #tpoh rgb #the property of hate #tpoh negative #Tpoh theories #Trashseeker talks #I'll come back and edit this when it's not 2:28am

[ismellpestilence]

Things to watch if your favorite show is being affected by the WGA strike

This is everything that I have watched and enjoyed. They are by no means perfect shows. This includes complete series, cancelled series, and series that are still in progress. Feel free to add your own recommendations.

Only Murders in the Building (Hulu; currently on season 3)

Murder mystery dramedy set in a wealthy NYC apartment complex

Staring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomes as three residents who decide to make a podcast about the murder

The cast has great chemistry and the twists are compelling

Gravity Falls (Hulu/Disney; ended after 2 seasons in 2014)

An animated show about a pair of fraternal twins who spend the summer with their con-man great uncle in a weird, monster filled town

Absolutely iconic children's show.

Dead End: Paranormal Park (Netflix; cancelled after 2 seasons in 2023)

Animated YA show about two teens, an exiled demon, and a pug, that all work at a haunted theme park and are investigating the disappearances of some of the staff

Similar in style to Gravity Falls

Sadly cancelled by Netflix, but there's also the graphic novels to enjoy

Reservation Dogs (Hulu, ended after season 3 in 2023)

Coming of age dramedy about four Indigenous teens living on a reservation in Oklahoma as they mourn a friend who died and dream of running away to California together

Made by an all Indigenous writers, directors, and main cast

Scrubs (Hulu; ended after 8 seasons 2010)

Workplace comedy about staff at a California hospital

Praised as the one of most medically accurate medical show

Very much a 2000s comedy. Humor can be jarring/mean by today's standards

What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu, currently on season 5)

A mockumentary following 4 vampires and their familiar that live on Staten Island as they go about their boring, pathetic lives

Makes fun of the "cool, sexy, edgy" vampire trope

Based on a 2014 movie of the same name

Dead to Me (Netflix, ended after 3 seasons in 2022)

A traumedy (trauma comedy) following a woman who's husband was killed in a hit-and-run and the perpetrator who lost her own partner and secretly befriends her

It's funny about what happens but does deal with some heavy topics so definitely look into that before watching

The Owl House (Disney; ended after 3-ish seasons in 2023)

About a young girl who wanders into the Demon Realm and decides to stay there and become of witch instead of going to summer camp

Celebrates being the weirdo and being kind to people

Made by many of the same people who did Gravity Falls

The Office (Peacock; ended after 9 seasons in 2013)

Workplace mockumentary about some bizarre people who work in a boring office space

Features a lot of cringe/second-hand embarrassment based humor

Based on the British limited series of the same name

Very much a 2000s comedy that can at times be just plain mean. Season 1 is the worst season by far so if you can get through it the character become way more likeable

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix, ended after 5 seasons in 2020)

An animated fantasy about a young soldier who simultaneously discovers that her side is the aggressor in the war and that the planet has chosen her to be it's legendary protector. This forces her to leave the only home she's known and her childhood friend to fight for the rebellion, who she thought were her enemies

A remake of the 1985 He-Man spinoff series

Very "defeat them with power of friendship and also this sword you found in the woods"

BoJack Horseman (Netflix, ended after 6 seasons in 2020)

An adult animated comedy about a self-centered, washed-up 90s sitcom actor (who is a horse) as he struggles to become famous again and break out of his destructive habits

Satirizes Hollywood, media culture, and American politics

One of those shows where you aren't supposed to admire the main characters

Big trigger warnings for this one. Seriously.

Good Omens (Amazon Prime, currently on season 2)

Follows the misadventures of a demon and an angel, a witch's descendent, two unskilled witch hunters, a sex-worker, and the antichrist and his friends as the antichrist grows into his power and brings about Armageddon, all set to Queen songs

Based on the 1990 book by Neil Gaiman and Sir Terry Pratchett

The fandom focuses a lot of the shipping side of the show but forget all of that if you plan to watch it

Season 2 wrecked me

Gentleman Jack (HBO Max & the BBC; cancelled after season 2 in 2022)

Based on the real diaries of Anne Lister, a wealthy lesbian in 1830s England who is looking for a wife and to expand her business enterprises

Sadly HBO pulled away and the BBC couldn't afford to make another season without them. What was made is still worth checking out.

Our Flag Means Death (HBO Max; currently on season 1)

A pirate workplace comedy/romcom that loosely follows the real life of Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner who ran away to become a pirate due to a mid-life crisis. He wants so badly to be a pirate captain but is far from qualified for the role.

"Traditionally, piracy is a culture of abuse...floggings, keelhaulings. And my thought is, "Why?" And also, what if it weren't like that?" really is the thesis of the show

(Edit) omg I cant believe I forgot:

Avatar: the Last Airbender (Netflix; ended after 3 seasons in 2008)

An animated children's fantasy series in which people can manipulate one of the four elements, and their peacekeeper, the Avatar, can manipulate all four. After being frozen in ice for 100 years, the 12 year old Avatar learns that the Fire Nation has begun a war that he must stop by next summer

Literally the blueprint for the modern animation that we enjoy today. IDK what else to say. It's iconic

Hilda (Netflix; ended after 2 seasons and 1 movie in 2021)

An animated children's fantasy series set in a world full of Nordic folk creatures

After spending much of her life living in the woods with her mom and her pet deerfox, Hilda is upset to learn that her mom now wants to move to Trolberg, a walled-off city where Hilda fears there is nothing interesting to do. She quickly discovers that there is just as much magic and wonder in the city as there is in the woods.

She's voiced by Bella Ramsay and the animation is beautiful. It's all all-around good vibes show.

Interview with the Vampire (AMC; currently on season 1)

After the first interview in the 70s that ended in disaster, Louis de Pointe du Lac reached out to Daniel Molloy and demanded a do-over. He goes back to his life as a black businessman in 1910s New Orleans and the complicated relationship between himself and Lestat de Lioncourt.

It's actually gay enough this time you guys.

I'd also like to add:

The Bear (FX/Hulu; currently on season 2)

A dramedy about a New York chef who inherits a failing sandwich shop after his older brother commits suicide.

Sometimes a found family isn't all sunshine and unicorns. Sometimes its a lot of screaming and resentment and cussing each other out.

It's a very stressful to watch so it's not for everyone, but if you're the type who finds that cathartic then you should give it a watch.

The Sandman (Netflix; currently on season 1)

Begins in 1916 with the capture of the god of dreams by a greedy sorcerer. After he escapes he must rebuild his realm and repair the damage done by his absence.

Trying to describe this show is really, really, difficult. It would be easier to describe what this show isn't.

Based on the DC comic of the same name by Neil Gaiman.

#wga strike #writers guild strike #writer's strike #only murders in the building #gravity falls #dead end: paranormal park #reservation dogs #scrubs #what we do in the shadows #dead to me #the owl house #the office #she ra and the princesses of power #bojack horseman #good omens #gentleman jack #our flag means death #avatar the last airbender #hilda the series #the bear #interview with a vampire #the sandman

[amarriageoftrueminds]

Hi! Do you have any headcanons about the Howling Commandos?

Okay well sorry in advance 'nonny but it's been that kinda day so this answer might be a bit depressing

(to offset that here's an old ask with Howlie headcanons)

14 Headcanons about the Howling Commandos:

.

1 - all of the guys in the 107 who were captured by Hydra and put to work in the Krausberg POW-camp/factory later died of radiation-related cancers because of being exposed to Tesseract energy. (This was reported upon in the scientific press, post-war, and is part of the reason why people like Bruce Banner were duped into believing that the Bio-Tech Force Enhancement Project would be interested in a gamma-radiation sickness treatment.)

2 - Because Steve made the 107 famous, post-war there was a controversy of unscrupulous members of the 107 who hadn't been captured (ie. the guys who threw rotten food and homophobic jeers at Steve) claiming to have been in Krausberg. But the fact that those guys didn't develop the same health problems as real 107 rescue-ees unmasked them as valour thieves. (Especially galling for the Howlies, since Dum-Dum had had to fight for the government to officially recognise Gabe and Morita's valour in medals, as they deserved.)

3 - one of the Howlies' acquaintance Steve never got to meet was Izzy Cohen, a kid Bucky took under his wing from basic training onwards, who had lied about being underage in order to get into the Army. The same guns which Bucky and the guys were later forced to make for the Nazis turned him into a blue mist at Azzano.

4 - Gabe and Morita came from all-POC squads who were killed off completely because the Nazi guards at Krausberg were hardest on them and because they were the first Zola picked off to experiment on. (This presaged later torture by Zola of Isaiah's men, and of Asian civilians by Werner Reinhardt; both men hired by Peggy's SHIELDra).

5 - During the war Gabe once sat next to Bucky at a campfire, watching Steve perform some feat of extraordinary strength across the way, and -- thinking of his friends he had lost -- asked Bucky what Zola did to them all in the lab. Bucky couldn't talk about it...

6 - over Christmas 1943, before being deployed back to the continent, the Howlies were sent on intense specialised training in the coastal village of Aberdyfi in North Wales, under the auspices of a secretly all Jewish troop of Continental-European Commandos, called X Troop.

7 - because Monty was in with all the right chaps in the Old Boys network, he was able to give Steve et al insight into a lot of the political goings on behind the scenes in the British forces, give him a hint on which of the English intelligence-officers to dismiss due to incompetence, nepotism hiring, etc. Monty once took Steve and Bucky to the London Ritz, where the basement bar was a gay club. 👀

8 - during missions in France the Howlies met Virginia Hall, Noor Inayat Khan (Morita proposed to her while drunk), Logan Howlett (an old war buddy of Dum-Dum's), and Ernest Hemingway (whom they did not think much of: despite being just a journalist, he was waving a handgun around trying to 'liberate' the Paris Ritz... which had been long abandoned by the Nazis by the time he got there.)

9 - while filming movies as part of his USO tour, Steve was biletted at a place called Fort Roach, California, where the US Army Air Force's First Motion Picture Unit was making animated war-propaganda short movies for cinemas. While there, he got Bucky a signed animation-cell of 'Trigger Joe' and met (and punched) some actor guy called Donald Reagan??

10 - During the Allied Invasion of Sicily, the Howlies met three Brits who were introduced to Steve later on, in London. In the modern-day, Steve was delighted to discover that two of them had gone on to become famous actors after the war: one of them starred in Star Wars and another -- still alive -- in Lord of the Rings. He and Christopher Lee kept in touch (Bucky and CL agree that it's great they got the stabbing-noises right in the movies). It blew Tony's mind when he found Steve listening to an advance copy of a heavy metal album, that his 'buddy Chris' had sent him from England. Bucky kind of had a crush on him back in the day... (The third Brit the Howlies met in Sicily was 'Mad Jack' Churchill, of broadsword, longbow and bagpipe fame; Bucky wrote his Scottish dad a delighted letter about it).

11 - Steve and the guys once had to physically restrain Bucky from punching General Patton, during one of their morale-boosting visits to a Field Hospital. (One of the guys at this particular hospital had just had his leg blown off. And Bucky made sure Steve visited in his dirtied combat gear, and not looking immaculate, because he remembered how demoralising it was for bedridden pre-serum Steve if Bucky waltzed in looking all dapper, while Steve was feeling his worst.) The punishment for this incident was the Howlies having to let news crews follow them around for a week, filming propaganda newsreels.

12 - they also repeatedly got in trouble for damaging historic churches in Germany ('accidentally' blowing off the antisemitic Judensau carvings) and loitering in Nazi-occupied areas to put up anti-Nazi graffiti on public buildings (Steve loved exercising the old artistic muscles again.)

13 - after the war, Gabe became a leading light of the Civil Rights Movement in the South. He was once present for one of the Winter Soldier's assassinations in Manhattan, but didn't see who was responsible. (In another universe, where Isaiah Bradley escaped a lot sooner and managed to get to Macon, GA, he and Gabe teamed up to become a sort of Holmes-and-Watson vigilante duo.)

14 - Steve's tactical innovation for the D-Day Landings was to imitate the testudo or shield-wall formation of Roman legions. By standing at the front of one of the LCVPs as it hit the beach, holding a massive piece of steel as a shield, he was able to lead Bucky and the boys (plus 30 others, carrying a second giant shield) safely up the beach, plant the steel-shield, and then retreat to repeat this with each incoming landing craft. This was bastardised in a famous war movie, where Steve McQueen's Captain America simply did an Evel Knievel motorcycle jump over the fortifications to land on the German guns. Everyone is disappointed when Steve has to tell them he never did this. (Bucky keeps telling everyone he did... 🤦‍♀️🙄)

#long post #historically accurate stucky tag #thc #the howling commandos #stuckbunny #steve meta #bucky meta #toAyourQ #catfa meta #dat's me #hey nonny #release the cracken #catfa #headcanons #ficbunny #au idea #my meta

[door]

my friend asked me for murder show recs and i put together a list of a bunch of them and thought i'd also share it here in case anyone else who was not raised by the glow of mystery! on pbs might want an intro. extremely subjective commentary, obvs. enjoy.

hello. welcome to the world of finding television shows about people getting killed comforting. it's fucked up, but who isn't. here's a list of the ones i like and why and where to watch them.

midsomer murders (1997-current): this is one of those sterotypical "it ran for 25 years and did nearly 18 episodes" british shows. it was adapted from a book series, which are the early eps. they're really fucked up and great imo. the later ones lose that sharpness, but until seasons 20+ i think it's a really solid show. the theme song is performed on a theremin. pluses: every great british actor shows up at least once, incredibly great deaths, lots of hyper niche hobby groups, tom barnaby is the best. minuses: showrunner brian true-may quoted as saying that his version of "english countryside" is entirely white. he was booted from the show at that point, however. i've watched the entire series 2-3 times, except for s5e3 "Ring Out Your Dead" because there's a death in it that i found particularly tragic the first time i watched it and have no desire to revisit it (but ymmv). robyn's fave ep is s3e3 "Judgement Day," because a brass band plays the show's theme song at a village fete and also Orlando Bloom is run through with a pitchfork. (ACORN)

Poirot (1989-2013): truly the goat. David Suchet bodies this role. i don't know how familiar you are with christie, but hercule poirot was her recurring detective character, a fastidious little belgian living in 1930s England. in this show, it's the late 1930s for 20 years, and the sets and costumes are so good. not a single streamline moderne property in england is overlooked. the early episodes are short--40ish minutes each--but they transition to 90 minutes at some point. they adapt all of the poirot books, with the big ones--murder on the orient express and death on the nile--done as higher budget tv movies. (BRITBOX)

marple (2004-2013): another christie adaptation, with 2 actresses playing miss marple in sequence. they also adapted a bunch of non-marple stories to have miss marple in them. set post-WWII, mainly countryside english mysteries. (BRITBOX)

miss fisher's murder mysteries (2012-2015, film in 2020): set in 1920s melbourne, mfmm follows independently wealthy private eye phryne fisher. it's an adaptation of modern novels, so it's less conservative than the christies. phryne's best friend is a suit-wearing lesbian doctor. it's a sharp, smart show, and phryne herself (as well as her relationship with buttoned-up detective jack robinson) is very sexy. it ran three seasons and was followed by a crowd-funded film in 2020, which isn't GOOD, but it is FUN. there's another a spin-off set in the 1960s called miss fisher's modern mysteries, which follows phryne's niece. again--not good, but fun. nothing beats the og series tho. (ACORN)

lewis (2006-2015): this is technically a spin-off of the inspector morse series, which started in the 80s, but i've never watched it so you should be fine. this follows very un-academic inspector lewis and his very academic assistant DS hathaway in EXTREMELY academic oxford england. i really dig the pacing of this, as well as how profoundly weird smart people can be. the big downside is the actor who played hathaway is laurence fox, who's a real stinker of a dude. right-wing, racist, etc. so. ymmv. (BRITBOX)

vera (2011-current): vera is a nearly retired, irascible, set in her ways detective in northumberland. she heads her own department, so part of the appeal is definitely trim youngsters dashing to do her bidding with a "yes mum." she drives a huge old land rover, wears a raincoat everywhere, has no patience for class barriers, and in short i love her. in the newer seasons there is also a detective in her squad called Jaq who is a very cute butch. (BRITBOX)

dalgliesh (2021-current): adaptation of pd james novels following detective-poet adam dalgliesh. set in the 1970s, which sets it apart and which i quite enjoy. his character is really sensitive and thoughtful is a way that's unusual for cop shows. (ACORN)

annika (2021-current): i'm gonna dive into some of the weirder ones now. annika is still pretty serious, but the title character has a habit of breaking the 4th wall to loop the audience in on the meta nature of her thoughts--usually relating to a book or story. it's set in glasgow and they investigate marine crime specifically. annika is played by nicola walker, who full disclosure i find VERY attractive. she's norwegian, she's odd, and she's trying her best. she has a teenage daughter who's gay. (PBS)

queens of mystery (2019-current): this one is VERY odd. think british murders meets pushing daisies. there's a narrator, and occasional technicolor flights of fancy. it follows a very serious detective who was raised by her three aunts after her mother was killed. she comes back to work in her home town and has to navigate both sides of her life, plus still wanting to know who killed her mother. production was interrupted by covid, so the main actress changed between seasons, but the new person is also very good. (ACORN)

brokenwood mysteries (2014-current): this one is sort of...sillier than the rest? it's a new zealand show set in a small town. it's fairly queer (although not nearly queer enough), and one of the things i love the most about it is it maintains a roster of recurring characters (which i think is only possible because of the small size of the NZ film industry). pretty good maori rep, especially jared, a local who seems to know or be related in some way to everyone in town. i adore him. he's off the show now, and i miss him. (ACORN)

mcdonald & dodds (2020-current): set in bath, this is an odd couple partnership of an ambitious young cop lately from london and a shy older cop who has lived in bath all his life and hasn't seen action in a decade. their interactions are funny and lovely, and it's refreshing to see a black woman character allowed to be ambitious. (BRITBOX)

#took out the julie mentions left in the robyn mention #because their love of a tv show playing its theme song on the show is so funny and i love it #gentle murders #this is like. half the length this list could have been #and that's not even getting into the mini-series

[insanityclause]

Tom Hiddleston Says Revisiting Loki Was ‘An Honor,’ Thanks Co-Stars for ‘Chemistry and Inspiration’

Ahead of accepting Variety’s Virtuoso Award at the Miami Film Festival, Hiddleston reflects on previous roles and impactful creative collaboration.

By Jenelle Riley

Tom Hiddleston knows “Miami.” That is, all the words to the Will Smith song titled after the famous city — a video of him reciting the lyrics once broke the Internet (not an unusual occurrence for the actor.) That was in 2012 when he was doing press for “The Avengers,” the movie that would change his life and career. It was also the same tour that last brought him to the city — but that was a whirlwind two days of press. “I do recall promoting ‘Avengers’ in Spanish and the city had a great, unique energy,” he says. “I’m really excited to be back as an explorer.”

The British actor will be returning on April 9 to the Miami Film Festival to accept Variety’s Virtuoso Award for his career achievements and will participate in a Q&A at the Adrienne Arsht Center – Knight Concert Hall. Tickets are available here.

And while Miami is known for its food and culture, the actor has one thing on his mind. “What will the weather be like?” he queries of the town’s famously balmy temperatures. “Because I’m coming from the wettest February on record in London’s history.”

Hiddleston admits it’s somewhat ironic to be receiving the Virtuoso Award there, because “when somebody says ‘virtuoso,’ I think of a dazzling soloist in an orchestra, and I feel about as far from that image as it’s possible to imagine.”

He continues: “I am the opposite of a soloist, actually. I always feel like I’m at my strongest in a team. What we do is a collective creative act and the joy of it is in the shared imagination.”

This might explain why his resume is filled with standout ensemble pieces in every genre. Hiddleston’s worked on stage — he earned a Tony nomination for his 2019 Broadway debut in “Betrayal” — the SAG Award-nominated ensemble of “Midnight in Paris,” up through his most current turn as the God of Mischief in Season 2 of the Disney+ series “Loki.”

The second season’s finale, “Glorious Purpose,” remains the highest-rated episode ever in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and brought a conclusion to an epic character arc that has spanned 14 years of Hiddleston’s life. The actor, who also served as producer on both seasons, says it would have been impossible without his “deep bench” of castmates, which includes Owen Wilson, Sophia Di Martino and Season 2 addition Ke Huy Quan, Oscar-winner for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

“I don’t know who said it, but there’s the phrase: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,’” he notes. “And it’s never been truer than for this show.”

Community and collaboration are perhaps his favorite aspects of the work. “I truly find the most interesting work I have discovered happens between people. You show up and ready and prepared, but you take that preparation onto the dance floor and see what there is between you. If I’ve done anything of value, it’s because of that chemistry and inspiration I receive from another actor.”

Hiddleston says that team spirit extends to his next project, “The Life of Chuck,” a big-screen adaptation of the Stephen King novella that also stars Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill and Chewitel Ejiofor. “I’m a lifelong tennis fan and I feel like being on set is like playing tennis,” Hiddleston notes. “It’s all about who you’re playing opposite and the energy back and forth between you. And I have some great partners on ‘The Life of Chuck.'”

As for continuing Loki’s story in a third season, it’s a question Hiddleston is asked pretty much every day — several times. “I truthfully don’t know,” he says. “I am so proud of where we landed in Season 2. To go from this lost, broken soul in Asgaard, and be given a second chance and learn so much about life that he actually gives himself to protect other people, has been such an honor.” For tickets to the conversation and Variety Virtuoso Award Presentation to Tom Hiddleston, visit here.

#tom hiddleston #miami film festival #virtuoso award

[spiderman-into-the-sapphiverse]

so to this day I have watched the Last Wish twice in theaters in French dub and once online in its original dub. Both versions are equally good (even Puss' voice actor did a great job at imitating Banderas' iconic accent without sounding caricatural) but there are a few things about the dub in particular that just Got It Right

- when Puss buries his clothes and cries during his fake eunology, he doesn't sing "who is your favorite fearless hero? you were...you were" but instead "who is the most fearless hero ? not you...not you." which is a very little variation but like...OUCH???

- Goldi and the Three Bears as a whole. They sounded amazing. They really went from the cute british criminals to the loud French family from the country and it just works so well

- when Kitty Patte de Velours (yeah her name is Kitty Velvet Paws and it's very badass) hands Potté the gatito blade (his name should have been Botté but at the time Shrek 2 was made they couldn't change his signature P into a B, so Puss in Boots kind of became Cat in Poots. so his name is Poots. it means nothing. it's hilarious.), he says "it's cute?" instead of "thank you" and he sounded so awkward for some reason, funny as hell. Bro was whipped.

- the Wolf. good god. the Wolf. Wagner Moura did amazing in the original version but...THE WOLF SOUNDS SO MUCH SCARIER. HE CAN GET SCARIER PEOPLE. THE ACTOR HAS THIS DEEP MENACING, WEIRDLY SEXY VOICE THAT JUST MAKES YOUR SOUL TREMBLE. and for the whole time my friends and I were wondering where we had heard that voice before, because it sounded so recognizable. And well. It's the same guy who dubbed Moto Moto in Madagascar 2. It's the exact same voice and tone. Except Moto Moto is a serial killer now. I'll never get over this I think.

#so many long posts about puss in boots and for whatttt #puss in boots 2 #puss in boots the last wish #puss in boots #death starts singing big and chunky in french mid movie

[mrdarcygenderenvy]

Recent Austen adaptations yelling

Ok I DID make this blog to review historical-set Pride & Prejudice adaptations (with an exception made for iconic B&P). But for everyone who was DEFINITELY WONDERING, yes I have also been storing away a lot of opinions about other recent Austen adaptations that I Must Tell Someone.

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Fire island (2022)

A modern gay party cheesy rom-com P&P that genuinely made me laugh. Having seen some other (whiter) cheesy gay romcoms that were extreeeemely PG & playing it safe, I was pleasantly surprised.

Also Bowen Yang and his story just came across really earnest in a way I was into - would watch this man cry again, 10/10.

Personally as an extremely disabled british nerd (now tragically unable to travel and/or go to the club...) this gay scene is a long way from my queer scene. But I still had emotions, you know?

Kinda wanted more of the Mary analogue and generally just normal looking people (almost everyone is so ripped) but I appreciate that's how beautiful smooth people often look in mainstream american films, we can't have everything.

DARCY WATCH: I do not want to dress like this adaptation's chinos Mr Darcy. But Conrad Ricamora was generally great and very hot and awkward and understood the assignment. Good ice cream throw.

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Emma (2020)

I know I know, it's pretty... but I don't think that's enough!!!!!

Lovely production, beautiful costumes, a candy wes-anderson cinematography that really suits the story, and it's fun to notice references to actual outfits and prints from the time but lads. LADS. UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME: Where is the chemistry???

You can’t make Mr Knightley a nice sweet boy (so funny to have cast a posh folksy singing man) and leave the plot the same and expect it to work!! Also I was personally pissed off that a lot of the promo/ ads for this made it look like ~forbidden love~ when it's the 2 richest white people in town getting together?? ? There's actually not even a class difference in this one, guys.

Basically this romance was nothing to me!!! I felt nothing!!!!!!!! WHERE'S THE DEPTH

I did like the bit where he lies down though. Relatable.

Also why are you drawing so much attention to the servants when you don’t seem to have anything to say about class...? 'Wow look how many servants they had! Anyway, they don't get any speaking lines'... it's 2020 guys!!! like what are we saying here. 'isn't it cool to think about how people were rich'??

kind of the point of Emma (character) is she's pretty superficial, but the story does not, in fact, have to be

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Persuasion (2022)

Weeping softly into a pillow........ did you know this version meant a version with Sarah Snook and Joel Fry got cancelled?? we could have had it all

(standing on a table yelling) THE MODERNISATION WAS NOT THE PROBLEM WITH THIS FILM!!!

Honestly I actively liked all the entire secondary cast in this. Louisa and Mary were extremely charming fun takes to watch. ('I'm an empath' IS right for the character if you're doing modern jokes!!!) And nobody can deny this was a correct and powerful use of Richard E Grant.

Henry Golding was naturally great. Apparently he got offered the lead and took the villain instead, which DOES mean the villain is super charming and fun to watch which is... hard to match and.... kind of shows up.... the main man.

It's been said before but the main two were WOEFUL imo. I have no beef with the actors I just question the DIRECTION and whether anyone making this knew (or cared) why people... enjoy things.

Book Anne is the quietest gentlest loser and I LOVE HER and so does basically every Austen nerd. Making her a quirky wine-bath girl who's honestly just cruel sometimes fully stops the main romance chemistry and plot from working.

And it means the main boy is still like 'god I'm so horny for how KIND AND CAPABLE YOU ARE' which is just 100% no longer true. You can't transplant a personality in a romance but leave the plot the exact same and expect it to work. The chemistry IS the plot in a romance..........

you can't act morally superior to your siblings and still rate people out of ten.... also so funny to me that everyone else gets period outfits and hair whereas this protagonist looks like she just glanced at a picture of any time in the past and grabbed a couple shirts from primark. it doen't even look good or build character!!!!!

Anyway, not to be an elderly man like 'ohhh why does nobody care about character these days' but the reason something like Clueless works is because it has the heart of the story right, instead of just copying the surface level stuff.

#making all of these a single post which probably means nobody will reblog it ever. OH WELL #emma 2020 #persuasion 2022 #fire island #austen adaptations #full disclosure yes I was midway through making a queer regency romance GN whose plot is partly based on emma and p&p when i saw 2020 emma #so YES.......... i have strong opinions... possibly UNPOPULAR ONES.......... #anyway if you enjoy the things i'm complaining about more power to you. I'M TOO BORING tO ENJOY THEM UNFORTUNATELY

[lyledebeast]

I think what really makes The Patriot such a great movie for Jason Isaacs in spite of being such a shitty movie for just about everyone else involved just comes down to laziness in the writing. Robert Rodat wrote a protagonist who is allegedly, somehow, a badass Rambo-style war hero and haunted by his past AND a good father, and the filmmakers planned from the beginning to rely on Mel Gibson's charisma to sell him. Roland Emmerich admits they never really considered anyone else for the role. Meanwhile, Tavington on paper is a cardboard cutout Evil English Snob. The original plan was to cast Jude Law, a solid Evil English Snob choice, but when he took too long to officially accept, they offered the part to an actor with little experience in American film who had not played a major antagonist before. And they let him implement some of his own ideas because his character wasn't the one they really cared about.

And he stole their movie!

I would argue that the main reason for this, the reason all the others stem from, is Issacs' idea for Tavington's backstory. Not only does it explain why he is in the Army and so desperate for a British victory, but also, in part, why he has such particular beef with a father.

The backstory itself is certainly more tragic than Martin's. For all the movie's criticism of "gentlemen," growing up in the expectation of a certain kind of life and having that torn away through someone else's irresponsibility would traumatize anyone. While the movie tells us nothing about Tavington's age when his father died or what happened to him in the immediate aftermath, it is abundantly clear that he has not gotten over it. Martin has not gotten over Fort Wilderness, but by every other account we hear it was 1, Martin's accomplishment and 2, an absolute Roman triumph from the British Colonial perspective. It did nothing to hurt Martin's fortune or prospects, quite the opposite. The only drawback for Martin is that when you commit war crimes, it has an unfortunate way of making you feel like you might be a war criminal. Annoying that.

That Tavington has a saber to grind with fathers is also far more consistent than Martin's approach to fathering, as we see in Tavington's first scene. He points his pistol at Martin's children to get the rise out of him that pointing it at him failed to stir. He never speaks to Gabriel or even looks at him upon discovering the dispatches he carried, but when Gabriel calls Martin "father," suddenly Tavington is invested: "Oh, I see. He's your son. Well, perhaps you should have taught him something of loyalty." Every problem Tavington sees in this scene of performed neutrality he lays at Martin's door, even Gabriel's service in the Continental Army. Could it be projection? If there is one outcome that is not Martin's fault, it is Gabriel joining up against his explicit wishes. Meanwhile, Martin's concern for Gabriel shifts from his endangering five of his remaining children's lives to save him to paying so little attention to him immediately after his new wife's murder that he is able to ride for revenge with no inconsequential number of Martin's men behind him. And he is at least as shocked by Gabriel's death as he was by Thomas's.

The first exchange between Tavington and Martin is mostly unchanged from the script to the theatrical release, but the two following it are dramatically different thanks to Isaacs. He argued successfully that not only would Tavington not be afraid of Martin after the prisoner exchange but that he would do well in the final fight between them (a fight that does not exist in the original screenplay). That fight in particular creates problems for the filmmakers' vision of Martin. In the unaltered first scene, Tavington has all of the power, sitting on his horse while Martin is on foot. In the second, Tavington draws his sword to kill Martin while he is unarmed. Both of these are classic dastardly villain moves. In the last exchange, though, it is Martin who has the advantage of having wounded Tavington twice before they get in sword's reach of each other, and Tavington still kicks his ass. On Tavington's side, this is not representative of a one-dimensional villain but of a man who has clawed his way to being a colonel in the British Army after losing everything with his father's death. The only reason Tavington does not kill Martin, either after the punch Martin does not take like a champ or after he has literally beaten Martin to his knees, is that he is still seeking a connection with a father.

The problem with the changes Jason Isaacs brought about is that they make Tavington a badass fighter with a sad backstory, which also happen to be the only aspects of Martin that get any real development. His onscreen violence evokes Fort Wilderness from first to last, but the third aspect of Martin's character, that he is a good father, is told rather than shown. Had changes been made to Martin that corresponded to Isaacs' for Tavington, then he could have had a stronger ending, perhaps saving Gabriel as he failed to save Thomas. But, no. Instead he just gets out-badassed in his own movie and then handed a giftwrapped victory anyway.

#the patriot #jason isaacs #william tavington #benjamin martin #when your villain is better written than your hero #it's time for a new career