Marry Me – 7 fantasy husbands

Nell participated in a challenge on her blog to name 7 fictional characters that she would marry on the spot (this is originally a challenge from another German blogger). I’m always one to fantasize, so I figured I’d just jump in and join the challenge as well.

The rule is that it’s all about the character and not about the actor who portrays him (all men, in my case). I know actors of course do influence my choice because favourite characters lead to favourite actors for me and vice versa. So, actors can not be completely ignored and characters played by my favourite actors are naturally on this list. 🙂

OK, on to the challenge: which 7 fictional characters am I so in love with that I could marry them?

1. I just had to pick a character portrayed by Richard Armitage and I considered Harry Kennedy from The Vicar of Dibley because he just feels so familiar, like I could know him in real life, or John Porter from Strike Back, a tough guy who can think for himself, but in the end I would just go for John Thornton. Ah, the way he and I could change the world together! And he sure can kiss…

2. Nell mentioned Joe Bradley, the reporter in Roman Holiday (as portrayed by Gregory Peck) and I thought I’d pick him too but then I thought of a few other characters Peck played who I wouldn’t mind marrying either. James McKay in The Big Country springs to mind, the quiet Easterner in the Wild West who has such moral fibre and is made of sterner stuff than most people think, and of course Atticus Finch who, in a way, reminds me a bit of my own father. I’ll just go with the Oedipus complex choice and pick Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird. He’d be a good daddy to my children too.

3. Prince Edward (Richard Chamberlain) in the Cinderella movie The Slipper and the Rose because he was the first character that touched my romantic childhood heart.

4. Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) from The Mentalist because life would never be boring with him around and you know how deeply he can love once he lets you in.

5. Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside) from Lucifer because who wouldn’t want a fierce looking but soft hearted angel at your side to fight for you?

6. Mark Darcy from Bridget Jones’s Diary. Yes, he’s uptight, but underneath all of that… woof! And he’s smart too, changing the world one high profile human rights law case at a time.

7. Captain Frederick Wentworth (embodied most perfectly by Ciaran Hinds) from Persuasion, a self-made man with a faithful heart and I would get to travel the world with him aboard his ship.

Compiling this list, I chose the characters that popped up in my mind quickest and another one of them was John Keating (so brilliantly portrayed by Robin Williams) from Dead Poets Society, so he gets an honourable mention.

I know that makes it technically eight men I would marry and if I think a little longer I could probably think of 10 more (ooh, maybe hotshot lawyer Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) from Suits or honourable FBI agent Jack Hudson (Yannick Bisson) from Sue Thomas F.B.Eye or even Charles Ingalls (Michael Landon) from Little House on the Prairie) but I’ll just leave it at this.

Fictional crush challenge – day 7

10 days, 10 fictional crushes
Post an image of a fictional character who has been or still is your crush. No names or explanations needed. TV, movie, book, comic, cartoon characters are valid.

Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth). I already loved Jane Austen’s most famous novel so when this was coming to BBC TV in the autumn of 1995 I was more than ready to watch it. I had only ever watched an old Pride and Prejudice with Laurence Olivier, which I wasn’t too fond of (Olivier was fine, just didn’t like the adaptation so much). I wasn’t prepared for the fierceness of love I felt for this 1995 TV series and for Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy in particular. I can’t tell you how often I have re-watched (parts of) this adaptation over and over again. And yes, I was tickled pink when Firth reprised the character in modern times as Mark Darcy in the Bridget Jones‘s Diary movies.

No other Darcy was able to come close to Colin Firth’s portrayal of the character (nope, not even Matthew Macfadyen – he felt more like a Brontë character to me in P&P 2005 than a Mr. Darcy). I even have a Mr. Darcy pillow…

… and yes, I completely admit to being one of those thousands (or millions?) of women who have swooned over the actor and the character. No one can top Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy for me, ever.

My ‘Bridget Jones’s Baby’ report

Finally getting around to writing this up! It’s been busy…

So, a few nights ago I went to see Bridget Jones’s Baby. I was very suspicious of a new Bridget Jones movie but I can’t resist Colin Firth as a Mr. Darcy character (I can not resist Colin Firth – period) so no matter what, I was always going to go see this.

Before I say anymore I have to say that I regret seeing so many clips of this movie beforehand because it took away from some of the jokes once they came up – they weren’t all new to me, I had already seen some of the funny ones! Also, when we went to see the movie, it was shown in one of the largest theatres of the cinema we were at and it was sold out! That meant, quite some raucousness during the very funny scenes, which sadly also drowned out some of the funny dialogue. In writing this up,  I am aware that they colour my first impression of the movie.

So, I have said in the past how I didn’t much like the ‘who’s the baby daddy concept’ when I read about it beforehand. To my surprise, however, it was handled very nicely and it gave great friction for the two male characters, Mark Darcy (my Colin) and Jack Qwant (Patrick Dempsey)! Mark is still not good with emotions, somewhat repressed and a workaholic. Jack is the way I think many Europeans see many American men – touchy-feely with wide smiles, health-conscious, open charm and a go-getter. Bridget, once again, finds herself torn between two very different men, with both men vying to be with her. I thanked the stars above that there was no fight scene in this movie (I hated that the second movie had rehashed that from the first movie) but there was more than enough covert rivalry between these two men to make the situation even funnier. I found that especially Colin excelled in those situations, but then I may be biased…

About Bridget – while she does still bumble around quite a lot she has also matured. She is quite competent in her job (even though she does still muck things up) and she is still single, with her friend seemingly more obsessed by her finding a partner than she is. She is still not the best public speaker around but she tries and succeeds alright and she still knows how to enjoy herself at a party! Her mother is still ridiculous and her friends are still around, now with families of their own. She has also made new friends, like the delightful Miranda (Sarah Solemani), her colleague. So, yeah, Bridget is back but with a little more wisdom.

About Mark Darcy – he still is emotionally uptight but there is also a sadness to him. I find the explanation as to why he isn’t with Bridget somehow lacking. Why he would even have felt the need to marry someone else, whom he is already divorcing at the beginning of the movie, is beyond me. The explanation of why he and Bridget broke up (they are just too different) would have been divisive enough, I didn’t see the need for the ex-wife. Sure, it gave him an extra air of tragedy which really made you feel for him, but that could also have been achieved in other ways. I would have been happier if more of a deal had been made about those differences and I don’t think Darcy could have married anyone else after loving Bridget. Bridget never married, I don’t see why he would have done so. In my view, I believe he just would have emotionally shut himself down even more and have drowned himself in work, instead of getting another wife and then divorcing her again. But that’s just the romantic in me… how could Mark Darcy ever love or marry anyone else than Bridget?

So, the ex-wife storyline annoyed me, as did knowing some of the best jokes beforehand and the loudness of the crowd in the theatre but other than that: I truly enjoyed this movie and it had everything to do with stellar performances!

I really liked this Bridget, more mature, aware of her past mistakes and yet still the same bumbling person with her heart in the right place. I’m not a huge Renee Zellweger fan but she pulled this off beautifully! She truly is a great Bridget.

Of course Colin Firth was brilliant! The sadness he portrayed was heartbreaking, the way Bridget still touches him was sweet but what I think I loved most were his deadpan looks, especially in the scenes with Patrick Dempsey. Dempsey was alright, he’s a nice guy and a seriously good suitor for Bridget, but Colin outshone him in every way and really made me laugh in the rivalry scenes. I won’t go into the scenes specifically, I don’t want to spoil them, but pay attention to the looks Colin throws. The man acts beautifully with just facial expressions and eyes. Also, the magic between him and Bridget is still there… My bias, I guess, but boy, did I love Colin in this movie!

And then there was Emma Thompson as the gynaecologist Dr. Rawlings… She is all about the business she’s in, very experienced and matter-of-fact. She throws little lines of wisdom and some priceless one-liners out there that are truly funny. A few days later I’m still laughing out loud at the thought of some of them. I read that Emma pretty much wrote her own role and boy did she do it well! She was brilliant, she really stole the movie in the scenes she was in.

There was great humor in this movie – from the explanation as to why Daniel Cleaver isn’t around anymore, to the scenes of Bridget at work and the Jack Qwant interviewing section, to the Darcy-Qwant rivalry and more. I know the getting to hospital bit was a little over the top, but boy, did I laugh! Oh, and the whole labour and birthing section was truly hilarious. There were some sweet and sad scenes too, but mostly this really was a romantic comedy.

Final verdict from me? Bridget Jones’s Baby is not as great as the first Bridget movie (nothing can top that) but it is way way better than the second one. The story was generally good, as were the characterizations, and the acting was great. I’m not just talking about the lead roles here, the supporting roles were acted superbly as well! The movie did have a few annoyances for me but still it is thumbs up from me for this one, I quite loved it! Yes, I need to go see it again, even if only for Colin Firth’s deadpan looks and Emma Thompson’s dry remarks…

Colin at the London BJ premiere

And I was right, the man looked dashing at the Bridget Jones’s Baby premiere last night!

He also took a little time for his fans…

Generated by IJG JPEG Library

Generated by IJG JPEG Library

I always love seeing Colin Firth with his wife Livia. Before she went to the premiere, Livia (an eco-warrior for sustainable fashion) posted a video on her Instagram about her choice of outfit.

View this post on Instagram

#GreenCarpetChallenge @ecoage world premiere of #BridgetJonesBaby #London @erdemlondon @sergiorossi @rogervivier with @chopard #jewellery #TheJourneyToSustainableLuxury 💚

A post shared by Livia Firth (@liviafirth) on Sep 5, 2016 at 10:03am PDT

 

Then later she shared this snap of her and Colin on the pink carpet…

… but I found many more cute shots of the couple together!

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Generated by IJG JPEG Library

I love the way she looks at Colin here, and he at her. It’s so lovely seeing an ‘old married couple’ like that look comfortable and apparently still happy together! A man with a good marriage is very sexy… There are bound to be ups and downs after so many years together but ultimately they stick together because he knows how to make his woman happy and she knows how to make him happy. I find that extremely appealing. ♥

Emma Thompson (credited as co-writer, but I think mostly for her own character) was also there with her daughter Gaia. This woman always exudes irrepressible glee, I just love her! Emma apparently steals the show in the scenes she’s in, which I can very well imagine, judging from what I have seen in trailers.

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And here’s a shot of the main cast (Patrick Dempsey, Renee Zellweger and Colin of course)

I also found a nice little interview with Colin HERE (filmed a few days before the premiere during the press junket) about the movie, his co stars and if there could be even more Bridget Jones movies.

What maybe pleases me most, however, is that my go-to movie magazine “Empire” gives this latest Bridget Jones movie a 4 star review!  They say: “Though the story occasionally stretches credibility, the warmth and wit so reminiscent of the original Bridget Jones’s Diary propels you along, being due in large part to the return of one woman: director Sharon Maguire. […] While the dynamic between Zellweger and Firth is as solid as ever, her pairing with Dempsey never delivers; him playing a one-note nice guy with a megawatt smile.” This means, I hope, that Bridget wisely chooses Mark Darcy in the end! Empire’s final verdict: “More than a match for the original, the third outing for Bridget has a solid story with holes you’ll forgive thanks to the much-missed onscreen magic created by a director and her leading woman.”

I have since read a few more positive reviews, looks like this movie may not be such a disaster after all! Fingers crossed that I’ll feel that way as well when I see it (I still feel nothing can touch the first BJ movie) and that this is the worthy sequel the second BJ movie never was.

Funny Face

I’m on a blogging roll today but then there are so many goodies to share! So, I was eating my Armitagean cake today and checking instagram which offered mostly new Colin Firth goodies.

Colin is in full Bridget Jones promotion mode right now. He was doing press in London last week and has just been in Venice. The pictures from these events are just… well have a look!

So, here are Colin’s funny face pictures from when he was doing press in London!

These funny faces made me think of this Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn number from the movie Funny Face 🙂

But I digress… There was one picture in London where Colin smiles and it just made me think of Mr Darcy smiling at Elizabeth Bennet singing at the piano in Pemberley in 1995’s Pride & Prejuice.

Then Colin went on to Venice and there are some lovely shots of him interacting with fans:

There also was suave Colin in Venice…

… and some more funny face Colin…

… but my favorite picture is this one…

It’s such a sweet picture, he has such a lovely and soft look about him in this one. To quote Fred Astaire from the song above: “I love your funny face, your sunny, funny face!”

Tonight is the Bridget Jones’s Baby premiere in London, so I may come back with more pics tomorrow… 🙂