Richard Armitage in character

So, this blog post by Guylty inspired me to collect some of my own fave in-character photos of Richard Armitage. No screencaps, just photos, and only one per character. This means that I have just spent a lovely 90 minutes or so going through my own saved pictures and pictures on Ali’s excellent Richard Armitage site (that alas seems mostly dormant now).

So, my Richard Armitage fascination started 13 (!!) years ago, when Richard played John Thornton in North & South:

When I met Richard at The Old Vic’s stage door in 2014 he even signed this picture that I have on a little poster I made, which hangs in my bedroom…

To this day John Thornton remains an absolute favourite character of mine that Richard has portrayed.

Next up: Harry Kennedy in The Vicar of Dibley. This picture together with Dawn French as Geraldine Granger just makes me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside – that huge smile and that profile! Sigh…

I was never a huge Guy of Gisborne fan, even though Richard was quite magnetic in this Robin Hood adaptation. This following photo of Richard as Guy is heartstopping, though. I’m a sucker for an instense Richard profile picture.

Lucas North in Spooks is next. Again, not a favourite but this picture makes me think he could be sitting right next to me at work, and what a joy that would be, right?

Strike Back, with Richard as John Porter, was a character I did enjoy. It was a little tough picking a favourite photo, but I settled on this one. I’d let him drive me anywhere…

Richard as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit was another high point for me! I love this picture…

And I have to add one more. For the premiere of the final installment, The Battle of the Five Armies in 2014, you could tweet to a certain account and receive an automated digital signed autograph card with your name on it in return. That was a great picture too that I just can’t resist sharing:

Next up is Gary in Into the Storm. Again, not a movie I like very much, but Rich did have a sympathetic role in it (albeit with a bit of a cringey US accent) and was easy on the eyes:

And then came another Richard masterpiece: he played John Proctor in The Crucible. My absolute fave photo from that is this following one. I also have it as a poster, it’s an image I can just stare at indefinitely and never get enough of:

I also very much like this picture of Richard as Bernhard Hare in Urban and the Shed Crew. I was lucky to see it last year at the Newcastle Film Festival, but when will it finally be released on DVD? Candida Brady tweeted this picture some years ago, there is something very endearing about this image…

When I think of Richard as Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal, I shudder. He portrayed him absolutely brilliantly but it’s not a role I can revisit, this horror genre is just not my thing. However much I disliked the character, Richard was able to make me feel sorry for Francis to a certain extent, something that I had completely not expected. He showed a new versatility in this role and he used his body so beautifully, right down to his hands…

Moving on to Brain on Fire, there was one photo that absolutely warmed my heart – Richard as daddy Tom Cahalan:

This one from Pilgrimage with Richard as Raymond de Merville is really nice too. I liked his look in this movie, it’s such a pity the man he portrayed was so evil:

The final one I’m sharing is one of Richard as Daniel Miller in Berlin Station, season 2. Not a great series by any means, but this picture just somehow grabs me. Again, I think it’s the way he holds his body, combined with that intense look. So nice!

So, that’s it! My fave Richard in-character photos that aren’t screenshots. I tend to have a soft spot for profile pictures, also very much noticeable in this selection. 🙂 Anyone else want to join in? I wouldn’t mind seeing more pictures and other people’s choices… And thanks Guylty for this very enjoyable Richarding-evening!

Richard on my Netflix screen

I was going to continue my binge-watch of Grace and Frankie on Netflix (I think a post on that may be forthcoming once I finish it) when I saw this on my Netflix homepage after I logged in just now…

Richard Armitage prominently and unexpectedly displayed on my screen like that is a great surprise to start my evening off! 🙂

Fingers on Fire

So, yes, I finally got to see Brain on Fire last night! Found a way to watch it and I couldn’t resist… 🙂 Warning: some SPOILERS ahead, proceed at your own risk!

Brain on Fire tells the true story of young journalist Susannah Cahalan (Chloë Grace Moretz) who starts showing erratic behaviour, she deteriorates into psychoses, and is hospitalized while the doctors can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong with her. The movie is all about this deterioration process and the search for answers by her, her divorced parents Tom (Richard Armitage) and Rhona (Carrie-Anne Moss) and her boyfriend Stephen (Thomas Mann).

So, what did I think of the movie? The acting was fine, the camera really likes Richard Armitage (he gets some nice close-ups), Moretz did a decent job, Moss (under-used!) and Mann were good, but the story was… a little tedious. Can’t quite put my finger on it why this movie did not ignite for me, but I think maybe it was because the story was fully focussed on the process of Susannah’s decline and the mystery surrounding her illness, where I had hoped it would be more character driven. Of course, as an Armitage fan, I was particularly interested in the characterization for Tom and it was not what I had hoped either. I remember from reading the book that this search for the truth brought Susannah closer to her father, also due to his diaries he wrote at the time, but I saw little of that in the movie. He and Susannah seemed OK with each other from the start (yes, he was a little annoyed with her sometimes, but no more or less than any parent would be) and he was happy with her in the end. Richard played the worried father very well (he was even scary sometimes when he got angry and felt helpless) but other than the worry and the relief at the end, there wasn’t that much character development for him here, I felt. Oh, and as an outsider, I thought he did a good American accent! End verdict for me: the movie was fine and I will watch it again (especially Richard’s bits) but, alas, it wasn’t a masterpiece movie.

My so-so opinion of the movie didn’t stop my screencapping fingers – they were on fire as I screencapped quite a lot of Richard in this. Finally, some new Richard-work for me to sink my teeth into! Alas, the caps aren’t high-resolution, but they are still lovely to look at. Be warned, there are lots! This post isn’t titled “fingers on fire” for nothing…

This is from the beginning of the movie, Tom working the BBQ, meeting Susannah’s boyfriend and celebrating Susannah’s birthday…

Tom visiting his daughter’s apartment…

In Susannah’s apartment after she gets home from a first stay in hospital…

Rhona and Tom discussing their daughter. Also, Tom’s reactions to his daughter’s odd behaviour during dinner…

Worried at the hospital…

Tom watching over his daughter…

In the doctor’s office, desperate because there are no answers…

Worried at the hospital and Tom comforting Susannah’s boyfriend…

More worries…

Talking with Rhona and then standing alone in the dark. I love the standing alone in the dark shot (and there’s the diary in his hand, which has no place at all in the storyline).

Worries, then finally some good news, smiles and a tearful release…

And I think this is my fave screencap.. hugs after the relieving news of a diagnosis… I just love those smile crinkles!

And then the happy ending… Susannah recovering and daddy Tom happily supporting her…

So, yeah, this may not be the greatest movie ever but it offers lots of Richard-goodies! Papa Richard is a lovely sight to behold. ❤

Needing new Richard material…

Releases in Bulgaria, Taiwan, Thailand… Brain on Fire is apparently more interesting for the Eastern (Europe /Asia) market than for the Western (Europe/US) market. I saw this image from the movie on my Twitter timeline this week…

… and for that shot alone I want to see this movie! I have a soft spot for profile/bearded Richard, he’s also looking sharp in a suit and then he has this sweet look/smile on his face… yep, makes me go weak in the knees! When I look at this I can even forgive him for silly (re)tweets! I look at profile-with-beard-Richard every day, he’s on my Crucible poster with signed ticket in my dining room…

… and I can never get enough of that look!

Also, the doting daddy thing – I’d really like to see Brain on Fire for that as well. There were already some doting Richard-daddy pics out there (scroll through posts here and here to see them), with this cropped picture so far as my favourite (I think you can see the pattern emerging here – beard… profile…)

And some newer doting daddy shots have recently emerged as well…

… more profiles and half profiles! When is this movie coming out here already?! I understand it is supposed to be released on Netflix, but when?

Right now, I don’t think Richard has any doting-daddy thoughts on his mind. He’s having fun in Berlin with his leading ladies, where the new Berlin Station series has just started shooting…

Maybe what I need to do before I finally get to see Brain on Fire is finally finish watching the last 4 episodes of Berlin Station, series one… As much as I love Richard, I have not been loving Daniel Miller so much, so I have put off watching those final 4 episodes. However, the desire for a fix of new Richard material is getting stronger and stronger. Maybe the time has finally come to finish Berlin Station then…

I’d better be off! No time like the present before I lose my nerve… 🙂

Richard and Colin in action

A trailer for Richard Armitage’s Brain on Fire was made available this past week!

No cinema release dates for my end of the woods yet, but it’s a start! There are lovely Richard snippets in the trailer, already immortalized in gifs (source)…

I really hope I can get to see this in a cinema in the not too distant future.

Our Rich has also been tweeting and deleting again. It’s his right, of course, but it gets exhausting to follow… Anyhow, the latest tweet is about the anti-immigration order to the US, which is effectively also an anti-Muslim ban. Yay to Richard for at least leaving this tweet up on his feed (and a pity he deleted the Women’s March one from last week)…

He followed the tweet by two pictures he also shared last year in his tweets about visiting a refugee shelter in Berlin.

Even he can not stay silent in these divisive times filled with hateful rhetoric. He may want to be overly careful with how he utters his opinions (tweeting and deleting), in certain deleted tweets you can sense how passionate he is about the Brexit and Trump policy issues, but I do see that he sides with values I also hold dear. I am very happy to see that. In honesty, if he had been on the other side of this argument, had he been pro Trump and pro this ridiculous immigration ban, it would have been a dealbreaker for me. I can respect differing political views but all these Trump policies are so against my absolute core beliefs! I can agree to disagree on many issues and still love a person but I can not accept when someone is pro discrimination and easily waves away human and civil rights. Thank goodness he is on the right side of the argument for me and I can still love him. 🙂

Colin Firth hasn’t been sitting quietly in a corner either. He was at the Producer’s Guild of America awards where he received an award for the movie Loving that he produced.

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Generated by IJG JPEG Library

Generated by IJG JPEG Library

I have seen the movie recently and I love the calmness of it and how it is shown that change can come from very normal people in peaceful and patient resistance. It’s the true story of an interracial couple, very fittingly named Richard and Mildred Loving, who challenge their arrest for their marriage in Virginia. This challenge to racial segregation law led to a legal battle that would end at the US Supreme Court.

The movie won a PGA award and Colin, as producer, accepted the award. The awards show started with John Legend slamming Trump’s anti-immigration policy and when Colin was up for the Loving award, he said this:

“I am deeply committed to vacuous entertainment, escapist froth; even a casual glance at my career will tell you that. But I think Stanley Kramer has challenged us, really, to use what we do as an instrument for empathy. I would echo the words we heard at the beginning of this evening — Now more than ever, it is vital to find stories that do that. This is for Mildred and Richard Loving, for the ACLU, for everyone who is fighting for their civil rights, and for everyone who’s families are being separated by the discrimination and violence.”  (source)

If I didn’t already love this man, I’d fall in love with him all over again!