#shes the sean bean of action

[trash-but-trying]

I think the funniest part of the resident evil movies is that they kill Michelle Rodriguez. And then they bring her back. To kill again. Amazing

[emilybeemartin]

A whopping, like, 2.6 people have expressed interest in my recent adventures in watching Bean films, which is all the encouragement I need to present to you:

An Incomplete Guide to Sean Bean Roles (Investigation Ongoing)

Our guy has a vast filmography, and I'm not even close to being halfway through it, but I've watched a lot of his significant ones in the past few weeks thanks to a perfect storm of illness, injury, and lapses in client work. Crucially, I have created superlatives for a variety of them and present them here for your benefit. Disclaimer: many of these films are violent! Or have butts and/or tits! Some have dick! Some have dated bits that didn't age well! So, if you have triggers or are watching with young viewers, do your research first! Also, these are just the opinions of one solitary millennial! Nothing is objective! Nothing is real! I care not!

Okay, CYA done, let's begin. I'll get the two most obvious ones out of the way up front, otherwise they'll dominate half the categories:

ACT I

Greatest Bean: Fellowship of the Ring. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he achieved more pathos with Boromir than a lot of his other roles have allowed for, and every note he hits just sings. No debate.

Best Bean for Your Buck: Sharpe. For the best confluence of quantity, quality, physicality, emotion, humor, and action, you can't beat Richard Sharpe.

Favorite Dramatic Bean: Time; he earned that BAFTA fr

Softest Bean: The first date scene in Stormy Monday, where Brendan shyly gets to know Kate, slow dances with her, lends her a shirt and strokes her back after she asks if they can just go to sleep instead of have sex.

Most Dashing Bean: Vronsky in Anna Karenina, that uniform cuts, damn

Swooniest Bean: I know I'm supposed to say Chatterley, and he is undeniably sexy as Mellors, but there are parts where his character is actually kind of off-putting. I'll lay a good chunk of the blame on the weirdly ominous score, the very of-the-time depiction of dubious consent, and Joely Richardson's tendency to look like she's having the worst time of her life while shagging the hot gamekeeper. No, I'm giving this category to Stormy Monday again. He's just so gentle and genuine in this one, without some of the obligatory "heartthrob" overtones of his nineties stuff. He never raises his voice at Kate or manhandles her. He really does feel like some kid who just wants to be sweet to his girlfriend.

Laddiest Bean: When Saturday Comes, specifically the strip club and bathtub scenes.

Favorite Sad Bean: As a collective, he has some great grief scenes in World on Fire, but! The railroad track scene in When Saturday Comes?! That was RAW.

Favorite Mad Bean: Black Death; there are plenty of movies where he doesn't smile at all, but unlike some others, his grimness and anger felt proportionate to the story, rather than just rage because he's good at rage.

Favorite Bad Bean: There are so many great Bean villains (Goldeneye, obvs), but I think my favorite is Patriot Games. Bonus points for all the different hairstyles he has in this film (long locks-shag-shag ponytail!-buzz-wet spiky buzz). Also HUGH FRASER AAAA

Favorite Dad Bean: Wolfwalkers, where Bill Goodfellowe literally turns his own convictions and beliefs upside-down in order to protect and support his daughter.

INTERMISSION

A note on GoT: I haven't watched it. When season one was first coming out, it was during a time where I really couldn't handle watching any kind of sexual assault onscreen, and while I have a higher tolerance now, I just... don't want to. I like seeing gifs of Ned Stark and appreciate that it's one of his great roles, but I just can't make myself take the plunge.

ilysm you grizzled dead wolf man

ACT II

Favorite Costumed Bean: Odysseus in Troy: curls, leather, thighs.

Favorite Un-Costumed Bean: He strips in quite a lot of his films, so let's give it to Lady Chatterley for sheer screentime, exertion, and the bonus of being naked and wearing a flower crown. Honorable mention to When Saturday Comes for the totally not homoerotic amount of butts and also dick in the locker room bathtub scene.

Hurtin'est Bean: Bravo Two Zero. Oof, don't watch this one if you have an aversion to seeing pain, although---you're a Sean Bean fan, and we all know one of his MOs is being GREAT at pain. This one was directed by Tom Clegg, who directed Sharpe. Also lol at the sickle-shaped wound on his shoulder, which is covering his 100% Blade tattoo (he gets a lot of sickle-shaped wounds on his left shoulder).

Best Inside References: The Frankenstein Chronicles, where he plays a former Peninsular soldier, and every reference to his service is a reference to Sharpe, including shots of his greenjacket, pistol, sword, and flogging scars. Honorable mention to The Martian for the Council of Elrond line.

Most Unsettling Bean: Cleanskin for moral grayness, The Frankenstein Chronicles for body horror

Most Inefficient Use of Bean: Black Beauty. Despite getting high billing he's only onscreen for about two minutes and I'm convinced the long shots are a body double. Criminal.

Biggest Missed Opportunity: We were robbed of a Sean Bean Odyssey. R o b b e d

Funniest Bean: Deploying Bean for comedy is woefully underused, but he made full use of his ~15 seconds in The Vicar of Dibley ("Spring" episode). He's also hilarious in Wasted, though I haven't watched the show, only the clips he's in on YouTube, where he plays a mock version of himself serving as a spirit guide for a stoner. IMO, though, Sharpe gives him the most room for humor.

Favorite Character Quirk: In World on Fire, when Douglas is having WWI flashbacks and really coming apart, he kept putting his hand to his mouth. My modern brain first read this as talking into a phantom radio, but of course that wasn't right, and then I realized--he was reaching for a phantom gas mask. CHILLS. AMAZING. (Honorable mentions to the Mouth Rub and the Tongue Thing [pictured above]).

Most Nostalgic Bean: National Treasure. The concept may be utter silliness, but you have to admit, this is a fun movie to watch.

Best Dismount from a Horse: Henry VIII, he goes pshwing out of the saddle

Best Swordplay: You may think there's no possible answer to this, but there is---two moments, specifically: the preparatory sword-spin he does at Balin's tomb just before the goblin attack in Moria, and the four lunges he does at 1:26:22 of Sharpe's Battle. It's just facts.

Prettiest Bean Film: Wolfwalkers, hands downnnn

Favorite Bean Death: All right, you knew we had to eventually end here. It's Boromir, obviously--- nothing tops that. But if we're looking at other roles, I think Patriot Games is my favorite, followed by Goldeneye.

So! That concludes this installment of Bean films, though I'll be continuing the labor, and I hope you will, too. What are your favorites?

[cinematic-phosphenes]

HoTD S2x01: A Son for a Son (I have thoughts and I'm keeping them here)

The Stark theme and Cregan doing his best Sean Bean accent have me nostalgic.

If getting conscripted to the Wall is an honour, then why does budget Jon Snow look unhappy about it?

No Sara Snow, okay. I’ll live with it. No Jace/Cregan (b)romance, not okay. Tumblr made me want it, only to be so denied by the showrunners.

Not more Targ colonialism erasure. "We colonised an entire continent to save the world, no really. And look, even the noble Starks agree with it!" is such a shit take, even if it's canon. I like the Targ characters, but let's not erase the original Aegon's colonial crimes.

Jace looks so pretty! Major glow up.

Dragonstone has a dragon hangar! Yay for worldbuilding!

Daemon calling Vhagar a hoary old bitch reminds me of this absolutely amazing Vhagar POV fanfic I read. (Soon the god's hoar by eldritcher on AO3) (The fic is spoiler-y for the rest of the Dance, jsyk.)

Yes, Rhaenys! Put Daemon in his place! Also, her dragon riding outfit!!!

Alyn, I see you doing an Egg by shaving your head.

Why in the hell does no one take Helaena’s visions seriously?! She’s right every time. (Can I blame ‘I had a dragon dream once’ Viserys for this? Because I want to blame Viserys for this. Look at the mess you left your kids in, Viserys! I hope Balerion bites your ass in the afterlife.)

And here we see the 'Our lives are in danger, so let's fuck about it' trope in action. I’ve heard a lot of Alicole hot takes. “Criston Cole is ‘unmanly’ for going down on a woman” is the absolute hottest of hot takes I’ve had the misfortune of encountering.

Otto giving Alicent and Criston Cole that look as they walk in. He knows what they’ve been doing.

Aegon grinning at his son like a fool. Aegon giving Jaehaerys attention and wanting him to learn how to rule even though he’s only six. Aegon trying to do better than deadbeat Viserys did. Aegon talking about pony rides in a way that suggests Jaehaerys often gets pony rides, possibly from Aegon himself. If you told me last season Aegon would somehow turn out to be the best father on this series ….. (Yes, I know that when it comes to being a dad the bar is in hell’s basement here. Yes, I know the way Aegon treats his illegitimate kids is horrific. I think there’s definitely been some retconning here and S2 Aegon is not the same character as S1 Aegon. They should have portrayed him this way from the start.)

Alicent wrote Rhaenyra letters to apologize for Luke's death and she's expecting a response?! Girl ....

My kingdom for a scene of the Greens finding out that Aemond killed Luke. My kingdom for a scene of Aemond deciding to just fully commit to the villain persona and lie to say he killed Luke intentionally. Such a missed opportunity.

Larys being an intimidating creep to Alicent again. He should go fall down some stairs.

Alicent scrubbing her skin raw. She is not okay. (I want to see Alicent cracking. Let Olivia Cooke act!)

Rhaenyra’s grief over Luke is heartbreaking. Emma D’Arcy is acting their heart out. And Syrax crying too, nooo.

Aegon walking in sync with his fratboy squad. You know they practised that entrance during one of their nightly seshes in the throne room.

Are they going to show the throne cutting Aegon?

“On further thought, I have decided ….” Aegon is hilarious.

It’s Hammer time!

Larys already angling for the Hand’s position. I know this guy is ambitious, but damn.

Just Alicent looking ethereal reading letters.

Mysaria’s accent has been toned down! (Why was Mysaria fleeing King’s Landing though? Maybe I’m missing something but I don’t get it?)

“We swore an oath to protect the whole of the royal family. So what were we to do when they turned against one another?” Jaime Lannister echoes.

"I want Aemond Targaryen." Chills. Rhaenyra only says four words all episode and it's these four words.

Jace trying to keep it together and be professional to give his report. Jace looking so much younger and more vulnerable when he’s back with his mother. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Scenes with Rhaenyra at Luke’s funeral interspersed with scenes of Alicent paying tribute to the dead, including Luke. My heart. That empty space next to Alicent in the sept where Rhaenyra used to pray. They are an absence in each other’s lives.

Rhaena crying for her betrothed, nooo.

Why didn’t they have a dragon light Luke’s funeral pyre?

The return of the Daemon crime hoodie, now upgraded to a war crime hoodie.

Making it unclear if Daemon told B & C to go after another son if they can’t find Aemond or if B & C just went rogue – that’s a cop out by the writers. Unless it comes up again. EDIT: Daemon said 'a son for a son.' He was giving them carte blanche to go after another son if Aemond is MIA.

Daemon reluctantly admitting Aemond is a good fighter. I love to see it.

Why do I get the sense that Aemond also knows about Alicole?

“Rhaenyra is a cunning spider. Long ago she pulled Alicent into her web. Intoxicated her. It is not your mother’s fault.” “Her Grace speaks with two tongues. Alicent holds love for our enemy.” So they’re both obsessed and very much not over Rhaenyra. Do Alicent and Cole both think of Rhaenyra while being unholy together because it kinda seems like it?

Ewan Mitchell as Aemond is so mesmerizing. That man has presence.

Why the fuck has no one tried to map the secret tunnels into the Red Keep and close off the ones that allow randoms to sneak in/royal minors to sneak out?

The entire Kingsguard is in the throne room guarding Aegon? And they don’t stop the ‘rat catchers’ working at night? Even if the rat catchers were supposed to be there, I feel like it would still be protocol to stop and question them. Have none of these writers been pulled over by the cops for no reason/even slightly suspicious behaviour?

I think the build up to B & C should’ve focused on Helaena and her kids instead of B & C creeping around, arguing for no reason and committing gratuitous animal abuse. (That dog kicking scene looked so real, I watched the end credits for a disclaimer that no animals were harmed in the making of.) They could’ve shown Helaena getting the kids ready for bed, reading them a story, etc. They established a connection between Aegon and Jaehaerys pre B & C but none between Helaena and the kids before it happened. Lost opportunity.

B & C was very different than I expected before I was spoiled. I guess I see what the writers were going for with Helaena’s response to B & C. She’s dissociated rather than hysterical. She’s been painted as a character who’s distanced from the world around her in general, so perhaps this is an in-character trauma response for her. Plus you could see the absolute terror in Phia’s eyes. Helaena was terrified and traumatized. She was just quiet about it.

As for her just pointing out Jaehaerys instead of trying to bargain or plead more for his life … I guess it’s because they’re characterizing her as very literalist, straightforward and honest to a fault as part of her ‘strangeness’? So she just took B & C at their word and didn’t try to change their minds because after the necklace offer failed, she assumed they couldn’t be swayed and would definitely kill her and both kids like they threatened to if she didn’t point out Jaehaerys to them. As for not pointing to Jaehaera – that wouldn’t accomplish anything. If they didn’t check that they really had the boy, one of her kids would still be dead. If they checked and discovered she’d lied, they might kill both kids. She was a mother who didn’t want either of her kids to die but perceived she couldn’t do anything to save both of them, so she felt she had no choice but to point out Jaehaerys. And then she grabbed Jaehaera and got her to safety when she saw the chance. At least she could save one of them.

As for Helaena saying they killed ‘the boy’ instead of saying his name Jaehaerys – I don’t see that as her being insensitive and uncaring about her kid. I think she was just repeating B & C’s exact word use in her dissociated state. She was on auto pilot at that point.

I do get what the writers were going for … but it’s not going to translate well to most of the audience I don’t think. I see many people interpreting it as Helaena not caring about Jaehaerys and not trying hard enough to save him. “Why didn’t she offer up her own life like any mother would?” If a large part of the audience misinterprets or misunderstands a scene or a character’s intentions or motivations, then that’s a failure on the part of the writers IMO. I’m not upset they didn’t make B & C more graphic or violent in the physical or psychological sense. (In the book, their twisted mind games were just as horrific and brutal and every bit as violent as the physical violence). But I do think that scene could have been better executed in a different way. And including Maelor probably would have worked better to illustrate the horrific, inescapable situation Helaena found herself in between a rock and a hard place.

Where the fuck are the guards? In the throne room with Aegon? Sent away by Cole to hide the fact that he’s in the queen dowager’s bed? The Greens never considered infiltration or a stealth attack? They really got complacent because they have Vhagar guarding the city.

Alicent and Cole doing it in Rhaenyra’s old room, in Rhaenyra’s bed!! Are they both imagining they’re with Rhaenyra too?! Because this is giving … high levels of dysfunction. They’re both haunted by Rhaenyra

The only thing I’ll say about Alicole is that they really should have shown them getting together for the first time. When, how and why did that happen? Who instigated it? How did they both feel about it? Again the writers don’t show the motivations they had in mind for the characters, resulting in the viewers drawing different conclusions than they’re ‘supposed to�� and it works against the story. The interviews I’ve watched seem to say it’s consensual on both their parts. (I know there’s a power imbalance that makes it problematic, but I don’t think the writers see it that way.) Again, showing the start of their first sexual encounter would have been better writing (IMO) because it could have been used to illustrate consent.

The last thing I’ll say about Alicole (okay, so I wanted to say two things) is that showing it after B & C that way by having Helaena walk in on them cheapens B & C. The true shock and horror here is that a child was murdered in front of his mother. Why add the cheap shock value of someone walking in on their parent in flagarante?

All in all, okay episode, kind of weird. Looking forward to see what they do with the rest of the material.

[verdemoun]

What subjects do you think the vdlg was good at in school?

quick high school au. grimshaw, hosea, dutch, pearson, swanson, uncle, molly and strauss are all teachers. rest of the gang is de-aged to teens.

arthur: art. he is the definition of the quiet kid the teachers let sit in the art classroom during lunch despite rules because he all he wanted was the peace and quiet to draw

john: pe. not just the actual physical activity side of it but really good at the health and human development, understanding of physiology side of it. could've been an all-star if he hadn't had an injury in middle school

javier: languages and music. unsurprisingly his brain is just pre-disposed to the particular process of learning third/fourth/fifth languages after moving to america as a very smol bean and having to learn english. still argues sheet music is easier to read than shakespeare. english is his least favorite language.

bill: chemistry. admittedly he can't explain how he's good at it and will forget a formula the second he learns it but on the practical side of things will outperform the teacher on experiments.

micah: home economics/FCS. which he will never admit to liking. but a bit of privacy and encouragement from his fav teacher and he can patch clothes, and cook like he's been doing it since was seven years old (because his father's an alcoholic and his mother died so he had to take over domestic duties to look after his little brother)

charles: vocational. woodwork, metalwork, outdoor ed, anything he can do with his hands without being in a classroom.

sean: history is the only class he pays attention in. except he's usually correcting the teacher because 'but my da said' and then going on with a mostly fantastical story about revolution and victory for the working class.

lenny: legal studies. he wishes it wasn't how his brain worked, but it's really intuitive to him even without his father's pressure to excel. he can't help he's got that belief that in righteousness and social justice. presentation on a class action? lenny and sean dream team going to make you think you're in court.

sadie: automotive! at least when she bothers to show up. she skips school more than sean does, usually to hang out with her bf jake and give him a heart attack as he plays backpack on their motorbike.

karen: english but only persuasive writing. captain of the debate team. her and lenny get into a fight it's the presidential debate. sean is increasingly aware he might just have a thing for being yelled at.

tilly: maths, specifically financial maths. but she's an all-rounder who knows she can go into absolutely any field she wants because she's just designed to learn. despite all warnings not to, she decides to go into teaching.

mary-beth: also maths. obviously she loves english but she is a maths prodigy effortlessly doing work several grades ahead of her actual level. when she eventually decides to pursue creative writing she has to put up with everyone who knows her telling her she wasted her potential. no i'm not projecting.

abigail: drama. she's hosea's little prodigy, lead for every play and landing some minor acting jobs while still in school. she's going to end up getting pregnant at prom and spend the next 5 years putting up with john's bs before he decides to grow up.

trelawney: it! he's amazing with computers, stopped attending school for two years at only to reappear at graduation with his wife in a fancy car. he was definitely running scams and apparently already owns his first house and is talking about getting a bigger one for when their first born arrives. he's 19.

kieran: english. yes, he couldn't read until senior school because it took that long for the teachers to realise he is hella dyslexic. but he's getting a lot better at it and it's still his best subject because he's just terrible at everything else.

[ceoofhelaegon]

In HOTD the “prequel” episodes should’ve been confined to 3 instead of 5 and those 2 episodes should’ve been spent with the green kids, specifically Aegon (older Aegon).

He’s our 2nd main character and we know NOTHING about him going into S2 and the main action other then he’s a r***st and a pos.

All his canon character traits like going to flea bottom, alcoholism, whoring, being a sex addict and a libertine, being depressed over his inheritance etc are all either just implied, hinted to or viewers heard from the books or actor interviews. For most of us it’s the books. If you only watched the show you know nada.

On the other hand we spent SO MUCH TIME with Daemon. We saw what he casually gets up to, kinda a view his daily life, we got to know him in what I even think was too much screen time. He’s an important character but not a main character so the most time should’ve been spent on rhaenyra (5+ episodes of focus) and Aegon (10 minutes max of screen time and in 90% of that we just see him and don’t get to know him at all or it’s already the main action)

We also spent so much time with Leanor who hardly has any significance in the Dance or later events.

We spent so much time on the Stepstones debacle even tho it has little to no contribution to the main plot other then one mention of the triarchy during the dance. The stepstones plot was done imo as a way to flesh out Daemon’s character and Daemon and viserys’s relationship.

But am I wrong when I say “was that really that important and crucial to take up 5 episodes?”

Look how unfair and unbalanced the info we have on rhaenyra vs Aegon is. We see rhaenyra grow up, we see an hour long well rounded view into her life, hardships, conflicts, friendships, etc that shape her into who she will be as a character and her behavior in the later action. By the time we see her in episode 8 and the real action begins she’s a character we’re already familiar with.

Instead we could’ve gotten a good 2 episodes looking into the daily lives of the green kids at the Keep. We could’ve seen Aegon in flea bottom, wandering drunk around the keep, being dragged out of brothels, partying, sneaking out at night, creeping around serving girls in a book canon way, slacking off training and lessons, bonding with or riding Sunfyre, his relationship with his siblings and family outside of only showing us the conflict parts

The whole thing with Daemon stems from “famous actor syndrome” meaning that if an actor less well known than Matt Smith was playing Daemon we wouldn’t be spending as much time with him.

GOT had Sean Bean, I was looking into the promo for GOT season 1 and it was only Sean Bean. GOT firstly attracted viewers because of him.

Kit Harrington and Sophie Turner talked about how all of the actors had to learn Sean Bean’s northern accent because Sean Bean couldn’t do RP.

I think the same could be applied to Matt Smith, without a shadow of a doubt he is the most famous actor in HoTD, and neither him or his fans would like to have him in the sidelines.

In regards to Rhaenyra, regardless of my feelings of the character, making her the protagonist was a mistake. She doesn’t survive the whole Dance, and her death occurs way too late to be like Ned Stark dying in season 1, so we would shift focus to other characters.

Alicent survives the whole Dance, her character is one of the most important to be build up for it. Cregan doesn’t do anything to her to avoid another war breaking out.

Targaryens are supposed to be otherworldly, if we got them through an outsider’s perspective it would make much more sense. Alicent seeing Rhaenyra flying on her dragon and seeing how insane this was, and how Rhaenyra saying that Alicent should ride with her would be a great set up.

Seeing how Targaryens only care about their own, no matter what they say is also a good way of seeing it through Alicent’s eyes.

Aegon, well…he should’ve been the focus of the narrative as soon as Rhaenyra leaves for Dragonstone. How does he feel about Rhaenyra? How does he feel about the fact that he was disinherited for no good reason? Those are the questions the show should be answering.

They have the skeleton of a story, finish the building, don’t knock it down and start from scratch because it never works.

[atopvisenyashill]

What other projects have you watched with got and hotd actors and how do you like their performance outside of got/hotd?

I’ve watched probably….most of Matt Smith’s filmography on account of watching Doctor Who in high school and falling in love with him. I think he’s incredibly talented and charismatic and genuinely perfect casting as Daemon. I had also seen Paddy Considine in that movie Pride altho I didn’t recognize him as Viserys lmao but i adore that movie, you should watch if you haven’t seen it, it’s about the Lesbians And Gays Support The Miners movement and I definitely cried watching it aksjdjd. I also watched all of bates motel as it was airing which olivia is in (and also the sound of metal, which she and riz ahmed are amazing in, and also riz steven and chadwick were robbed that year smh). olivia and matt are actually The Reason i started hotd lol i didn’t intend to watch it but then i was like oh…..but……….i love them aksjsjs.

I have technically seen Rhys in several things but he’s Fine. I am still mad about him having zero chemistry with Lucy Liu in Elementary and ruining an entire season by having negative rizz. why am i supposed to believe that man is like some great love of watson’s life when they don’t even look like they like each other. rhys count your fuckijg days. i’ve also seen graham mactavish in a number of things, the first being Outlander and he was like, one of the best antagonist characters in the show, was both excited and devastated when his character died hah he has one of my favorite lines in the show which is “the idea of grinding your corn does tickle me” 💀💀😂😂

For the main show, I had seen Charles Dance in Phantom (he’s really good even tho it’s a more romantic take on the story but that’s fine i still love it!!!), Lena, Peter, & Mark in like Most Of Their Filmographies bc i was already a fan of them, who hasn’t seen at least five Sean Bean deaths, and I’d seen a few Alexander Siddig, Ciaran Hinds, Iain Glenn, & Indira Varma in a bunch of stuff too and loved them - Kingdom of Heaven & Syriana & DS9, Persuasion & The Terror, Resident Evil, Kama Sutra.

I’ve seen Gwendoline, Elyes (he was Rakharo, rip to an icon), Thomas Brodie, Sophie, Maisie, Kit, Richard, Jason (Momoa), Michelle, and Tobias in a bunch of other stuff since I started the show. I think Gwendoline is incredibly talented, as are Sophie and Maisie. Richard imo usually needs a good script to shine - like Rocketman? amazing. Eternals? Meh - and Kit is uh. Sometimes he has good chemistry with other actors. I paid real money to see him in Pompeii and my sibling holds a grudge against me to this day for that one aksjd. Jason Momoa has a tendency to just play different versions of himself but the movie Red Road Redemption is real good, it’s about MMIW & his acting abilities really shine, I’d love to see him in more serious or more romantic roles and less action roles. I cannot praise Tobias Menzies more highly, hes in Outlander, The Terror, and the Crown and he’s just sublime in all of them and you’d never know it by the way they wrote Edmure. OH SHIT also obviously Jacob Artist in IWTV is amazinnnnnnng EGOT INCOMING and Nathalie Emmanuel was REALLY FUN in The Invitation!!!

Probably my favorite of everyone is Peter Dinklage tho, he’s very serious & choosy with his roles bc he doesn’t want to play a stereotype and it’s made his filmography just *muah* like it’s so interesting and varied and he puts his whole heart into every role however goofy or serious it is. i love him, i want him to be the romantic lead in more stuff bc i’m a romantic and also like, a pervert and he’s so handsome aksksk.

Also Ciaran Hinds & Amanda Root Persuasion >>>>>>>>>>> Those Other Two

[arcadianambivalence]

World on Fire Season 2, Episode 1

Well folks, it’s finally back. After the first season aired in Britain in 2019 and in the U.S. in early 2020, the world has been…going through things. Between lockdowns, travel restrictions, scheduling conflicts, and all the behind-the-scenes difficulty related to these things, World on Fire finally returns for season 2, albeit somewhat different from creator Peter Bowker’s original plans released shortly after season 1. While the cast and crew have worked tirelessly to smooth over the gaps of characters whose actors are not returning, their absences are as obvious as the gaping hole in the Bennett home.

And yet, while you can see where new members of the cast are stepping into the footprints of those who are not returning for the season, the first episode of season 2 breathes a fresh sense of urgency and humanity to the plot. More importantly, it brings new opportunities to the remaining characters while raising the stakes.

The first go is the most obvious: Sean Bean. In true Sean Bean fashion, the Bennett father does not make it to season 2, leaving his children (and granddaughter) to maneuver their new daily perils without him. All jokes about our premature relief that he survived last season aside, the reminder that Douglas would have died reliving his worst experiences from the First World War is particularly distressing. 

When his son Tom arrives back in Manchester, having made it out of Occupied France by way of Fascist Spain, he comes home to a crater where the Bennett home once stood. He learns of Douglas’s death from Lois, who is now staying with Connie and baby Vera. The two begin arguing to cover up their grief, just as they frequently did last season. Anger and blame are more familiar companions than remorse.

Also arriving after an offscreen escape from Occupied Poland are Kasia and Harry, emotionally picking up where we left them last season. Still the romantic, Harry wants to reunite Kasia with her brothers and give her a place to stay at Robina’s. Although he will have to leave soon to a posting in Egypt, he wants to ensure Kasia’s safety (and love) before being separated once again. 

Meanwhile, Kasia is showing signs of Complex PTSD after nearly a year of one traumatic event after another. Between her mother being murdered by a German soldier, her friend and fellow Resistance fighter Thomasz being arrested and killed, her vengeful and soul-crushing routine of luring German soldiers to their deaths, and her own near-brushes with death are taking their toll. 

When introduced to any established character, she reacts with distance and resignation. Her mother-in-law is rude, off putting, and xenophobic? Okay. Her little brother Jan acts more like a young British gentleman than a Polish boy? Sure. Her husband had an affair with a local girl who has given birth to a baby? That’s a thing that happened. But one thing she cannot resign herself to is the blatant hatred some of the local Brits have for “The Other.” Meeting Grzegorz and Jan in a teashop, Kasia gets into a scuffle with a local man after he makes several xenophobic comments towards the siblings. The potential legal action, Kasia’s nightmares, attempts to speak Polish with Jan, and mere existence has bristled Robina’s feathers. It seems Robina has suffered a backslide in the months between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2.

Speaking of backslides, Lois is also not doing well. Not only has she lost her father during an air raid, but her pilot fiance has perished as well. While Connie tries to get Lois to talk about it during their work in the ARP, as an air warden and ambulance driver respectively, Lois has returned to her knee-jerk reaction: deflect, say something sharp, and engage in risky behavior. This time, she puts more than her own health at risk, though. As an ambulance driver, it is her duty to take injured survivors from bomb attacks to a hospital or medical station. While she does this, Lois takes unnecessary risks, driving fast and recklessly through rubble-strewn streets or beside collapsing buildings. Seeing Harry for the first time since her last conversation, where Harry made plans to have Lois inherit some of his money if he were to die parachuting into Poland, Lois is unfortunately still into him, if the sweeping camera zoom on her glowing face is any indication. 

The two secretly meet in a canteen, where Lois urges Harry to make things right with Kasia, something she never could with Douglas. While this would sound like a helpful piece of hard-won wisdom, Lois’s desire to know that Harry will be okay, coupled with the risks taken on the job and the danger of her line of work…sounds like Lois is resigning herself to dying in an air raid. Indeed, when responding to a bombed flat one night, Lois helps the last survivor (a grandfather) out then runs back into the building to grab the man’s prosthetic teeth. Eyes drawn to a massive hole in the burning ceiling and a dogfight in the skies overhead, she steadies herself and lets the house collapse around her.

But this is World on Fire, where she’s one of the main characters (and based off Peter Bowker’s grandmother) so of course she’s going to live!

Less certain, though, are the lives of two new characters, the pilots David and someone with the callsign “Shortbread,” whose name I cannot remember. David is a brash, womanizing, and jovial pilot taking the place of Randy or Vernon with such confidence and presence, you’d think he’d been here all along. Grzegorz, working as a crew member at the local base (not sure what his specific job is yet), is a friend. While I’d love to see a subplot with these two bonding over their shared interests and feelings of being outsiders (with Grzegorz as a refugee and David as a Jewish man surrounded by Gentiles who aren’t so gentle), the preview for season 2 seems to imply a different path for these guys. (A shame, as I want to see Grzegorz happy after all he’s been through! Can’t somebody be happy?)

But having Grzegorz on the air base, representing the significant role that Polish pilots and crew members had on the defense of Britain during the Blitz is what I wanted most for this character, so Bowker, I thank you for this.

. . .

One aspect of history I did not expect this show (or any show) to actually cover is another disturbing aspect of Nazi Germany’s eugenics programs, the Lebensborn program. A new character, Marga, is proud to be chosen for her “duty” to the nation as a young and healthy woman meeting the beauty standards of the day. This means more than pageantry and propaganda, though, she’s already gotten plenty of that in school and as a member of the League of German Girls. No, what it really means (and what everyone else seems to understand but not explicitly tell her) is that she is going to be forced to have a child with a complete stranger who has also been chosen for his apparent health and attractiveness. Or, to quote her concerned teacher, the government will rape this teenaged girl.

Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, this did happen. There were also many children taken from occupied countries and made to live in Germany with German families, and not as an act of kindness for poor abandoned orphan refugees.

So…this is going to be a rough storyline. It makes the flimsy Mancurian love triangle look even more out of place with the tone and content of this show.

(Can you tell I’m not a fan? Can you tell I think Lois and Harry are at their least interesting together? Can you tell I think that a show called World on Fire should focus on bringing together different characters of different backgrounds and different countries?)

. . .

Speaking of bringing together characters from different backgrounds and different countries, there is one more storyline introduced this season that will have plenty of hair-raising action scenes. The North African front, or more specifically, the battlefields along the border of Egypt and Libya. We follow a familiar character, Stan (Harry’s sergeant), and a new one, Rajib, head of a Sapper unit for the British Indian Army. The Sapper unit is responsible for locating, defusing, and removing landmines left by the retreating German army.

Keeping with the show’s focus on overlooked points of view and experiences during the Second World War, the character of Rajib brings the viewer to a world of the unfamiliar and terrifying. From the (green screen) sandstorms to hidden explosives to recognition of the importance of the Commonwealth forces, Rajib is another welcome addition. A brilliant engineer who leads by example and looks at everything as if it may be the last thing he sees (and in this line of work, honestly could be), Rajib and his storyline are a reminder of the unacknowledged risks and sacrifices made to get the Allied forces one step closer to the Axis powers in the North African campaign. 

Even Stan, who let’s remember casually spouted off some racist and ableist language last season, seems moved by the bravery of the Sapper unit and the total lack of protection given to them by their (white) British commanders. Is this a character arc I see before me? I guess we’ll just have to keep watching…

. . .

There are two other conspicuously absent storylines: the American journalist Nancy and the band of French medical workers in Occupied France. While the episode 2 preview promises an answer for questions about one, it's still unclear what will be revealed about the other.

[naruthandir]

I'm gonna be real with ya'll I do understand why we want to make Tolkien inclusive by drawing elves with different ethnicities and that's AWESOME but is anyone going to talk about it from a character design perspective.

I mean just think about it. Diversity in the way we draw characters is not only good from an inclusivity standpoint it is just. Objectively better? I think? Because otherwise you are left with a bunch of characters that all look so very similar do each other and half the time you can't tell who is who. You can't really tell them apart. I found that it was a lot easier to read and be invested in the silmarillion if I imagined the characters having different skin colors and features.

Same applies to body types. Making a character fat may not be good only for inclusivity "woke points" as some like to call it. It is literally better to have characters with recognizable silhouettes. I never got the hate for the changes in character design in She-Ra for example, when they are, from a technical standpoint, easier to animate and more visually interesting and distinct.

(this is also the reason I don't really watch live action because I have prosopagnosia and I can't tell who is who half the time)

Also next time someone says "representation doesn't matter" tell them that the whole reason Latin America is majority catholic is because they made the virgin Mary indigenous. There's a story about La Virgen de Juquila, a small town from near where I live, that goes something like this: The Spanish brought their God, but people weren't keen on it. One day the church was set on fire, and the statue of the virgin was burnt and her skin made brown. The priests tried to restore it, to no avail. They say the virgin herself wanted to make her skin brown, so the people of the region could better see themselves in her.

Like I'm not religious and I kinda despise the church but this is literally the oldest trick in the book and it works. People like it when the people in stories, their icons, look like them. It just makes the Monke Brain happy. It makes *my* Monke Brain happy. And I feel like happiness is always a net positive.

And while I am no one to tell anyone what to do, I do think it's a good thing, when we make our characters diverse, just for the reasons listed above. I genuinely don't see why anyone would be upset at this? I've seen people be upset. They say it goes against the lore. Casting Sean Bean as Boromir goes against the lore as well, I don't see anyone complaining. He was a good pick, and that's that, even if his hair color isn't the same as in the books. We deal with it and move on. Might be slightly annoying, but the books will always be there for us Black Hair Boromir truthers.

[elshells]

It Blursday!! 🖤💜

WE’RE TAKING THE SQUADDIES TO EISENGARD!

You don’t have to fill all the roles, and they don’t all have to be from the same WIP, but who’s:

the Ring-bearer, entrusted with carrying the One Ring (bonus: funniest instance they use it to nope right out of reality)

the “Sam”, armed with a frying pan and a wizard of potatoes

Sean Bean, who dies in every movie — falls victim to their own hubris

totally crushing on Arwen and has a really cool sword

AND MY AXE

AND MY GLOCK BOW

Merry and Pippin the “package deal”, very concerned about missing second breakfast

the dude with a sick staff and a concerning amount of explosives, may or may not be an actual wizard

— @outpost51

Happy Blursday!! I want you to know that I've been thinking about this question all day XD

So, the Harmont Heroes go to Eisengard! I love this prompt <3

The Ring-bearer, entrusted with carrying the One Ring (bonus: funniest instance they use it to nope right out of reality):

Max kinda takes after Frodo IMO, and I think the others would deem him the most trustworthy. He would take this duty extremely seriously, keeping the ring off his finger at all times—that is, until combat breaks out. It almost becomes a panic response. Anytime he's in danger—BOOM. Invisible. I think it would also be really funny if he just slipped it on anytime he felt like he was third-wheeling too hard on Harley and Jade. Just sliding out unnoticed and without confrontation.

2. The “Sam”, armed with a frying pan and a wizard of potatoes:

Sophia—which might seem like an odd choice until you remember how devoted she is to the people she loves. She will protect them until her last fighting breath.

3. Sean Bean, who dies in every movie — falls victim to their own hubris:

Bellona, stronger than the rest and too proud for her own good. Ultimately, she's her own undoing, which is ironic, since no one else seems able to take her down.

4. Totally crushing on Arwen and has a really cool sword:

Most likely Harley, since there's not much she wouldn't give for a cool sword (Jade is Arwen).

5. AND MY AXE:

Jet, 100%. Way too eager for action, but at least he's got the spirit!

6. AND MY GLOCK BOW:

Janus. Cool, collected, slightly unhinged, and ready to make it everybody else's problem.

7. Merry and Pippin the “package deal”, very concerned about missing second breakfast:

Ahren and August have BIG Merry and Pippin energy. On their own, they're both loyal and semi-competent, but once you put them in a room together, the brain cells cancel each other out.

8. The dude with a sick staff and a concerning amount of explosives, may or may not be an actual wizard:

Evelyn Cho, Max's mother. That woman may have a secret or two up her sleeve.

[captain-303]

So I watched the SILENT HILL movie. It was pretty good! I have to admit I've only been able to play the remake of Silent Hill 2, I really want to play 1, 3 and 4 but they're simply 2 spooky 4 me. I do know however that this movie is very loosely based on the events of Silent Hill 1, so I'm a little surprised that Pyramid Head made such a prominent appearance, I kind of understand that at this point he is the poster child of the series and it was nice to see a live action version of him, even if his 'pyramid head' wasn't completely game accurate. One thing I really didn't expect was for Sean Bean to be in it... And survive!

I think the only scene I didn't like was where Pyramid Head skinned that woman, like, don't do that man. The only equally violent scene that made me look away was probably Dark Alessa's massacre at the church at the end of the movie, although all the members of The Brethren probably deserved it; firstly for trying to burn Alessa when she was still a child and secondly for burning that nice cop lady. Although maybe tearing the cult leader in half with her barbed-wire tentacles was a little much, maybe not, idk. I thought all the sets were really good too, and the costumes too, the bit with the bobble head nurses was genuinely hair raising espically the way they moved around, that was super spooky.

8 spooks out of 10!

I hear there's a sequel! I hope it's just as good

[ghostlyerlkonig]

Hiii I know you said that you wouldn't answer asks about that anti censorship post but if you'd be willing to answer this I'd be grateful.

Why do you think actors safety on sets would get worse if scenes that required more levels of safety for emotional and sometimes physical protection? Would getting rid of them not get rid of the need?

howdy, im fine answering this, my contempt was related to the people trying to catch me and squash me into a corner for themselves.

so ive talked about it before some but I have a degree in stage management, if you dont know what that is, im so sorry its too vast a position in theatre for me to explain and duties vary from country to country, so ill focus on the relative parts of the job.

im going to try and keep this concise but please understand this is a very vast topic that the lack of care toward in the industry as older people in it are stubborn assholes a lot of the time and my living in Utah (otherwise known as 'most dramaturgs helping create a season here will have to stick to reccing family friendly shows due to the mormon population' capital has soured my want to be in theatre at the moment.

Part of a stage managers job as it has developed in the USA (and from what i glean from the British SM books ive read it is also like this over there) is being a resource for actors. Part of that is also being a safety resource and advocate for actors if need be. Actors do not all get good educations and experiences in "safe spaces"** to learn how intimacy works and how it has developed through really just the last 8 years. Because of this and a sort of not great push back on the idea of intimacy directors/choreographers are a necessary hire on shows where it is needed in the same way a fight choreographer is needed for fights by older vet actors (lost a lot of respect for Sean Bean with his words on that ESPECIALLY with his role as Eddard Stark) a lot of actors dont get them.

It wont be Sean Bean who is hurt emotionally during a challenging sex scene because hes a big enough name to call a stop to it, it WILL be smaller actors who are probably already being taken advantage of on sets or in rehearsal rooms.

It is the moments where I have had to look a Director in the eye as they bitched to me about an actor being scared to use a prop that could genuinely harm them and when I have actors who do not speak as to not cause issues and end up harmed in the process.

One of my directors I worked with last fall said it best when she told our cast of a particularly emotionally heavy show that had scenes that required anger at each other and sexual actions;

"This is a space where I need you to be able to be brave. We [Director and Stage Management team] will do everything we can do to help you get there but that means you have to be brave enough to start talking and let that keep growing. It will be scary and we can take time when you need it but you need to be brave."

the removal of tough scenes rather than continues advocacy to improve upon how these scenes are done technically (as in during the filming or rehearsal/blocking processes) takes away the ability to create better advocacy for safety on sets and to create these needed brave spaces in all types of scenes. Spaces that actors know are safe for them to explore with each other and ask for help when they need it and understand that if help can be given, it will be given.

It makes me sad that so many vet actors push back on this so hard, some of them cite it as a limiter on creativity (bullshit) and others seem to be dealing with it as "I walked on coals, you have to too" issue but that doesn't actually help anyone it just makes more people get hurt.

Conclusion is difficult scenes CAN be done safely. Art should not be stifled to censored safety when it is a matter of if people care enough to make sets/rehearsal rooms safe enough to do daring things in. I do not think attempting to say "NO BAD THINGS IN ART" would actually stop the bad things in art because the hays code ultimately didn't stop shit. It definitely won't stop actors from being hurt in ways making self-advocacy a welcomed and necessary thing would help lessen. You wouldn't take or refuse a harness from/to an actor who has to jump and fall, so why take or refuse them someone who is there to help them in moments of other vulnerabilities? Why are we so upset over the idea of a flesh tone cover for someone vagina or dick when we use floppy knives that retract and fake blood?

Getting rid of difficult scenes is just a bandage over a bullet wound that needs to be addressed and part of addressing that is having better safety measures and advocacy for everything on sets and in rehearsal rooms.

for more information about what can be done in rooms and on sets

Intimacy Directing for Theatre 1st Edition by Dr. Ayshia Mackie-Stephenson (Editor)

Staging Sex: Best Practices, Tools, and Techniques for Theatrical Intimacy Edition 1 by Chelsea Pace

Supporting Staged Intimacy: A Practical Guide for Theatre Creatives, Managers, and Crew By Alexis Black, Tina M. Newhauser

[kinnie-coins]

Welcome to the . . .

☆ FREAKSHOW ☆

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[thelongforgottenrealm]

BARTHOLOMEW VARMONT, HAND OF THE KING / SEAN BEAN

♛ Age: (57) ♛ Relationships: Ciara Varmont (daughter), Eoin Varmont, Arthur Varont (sons), Roderick Varmont (nephew/king), Alaric Varmont (nephew), Edmund Varmont, Sebastian Varmont (great nephews), Guinevere Varmont, Cassandra Varmont (great nieces), Godfrey Calainon (future son-in-law), Marian Varmont (interest/former lover), Aleksander Royce (distrusts)

the much younger brother of roderick’s deceased father and now hand of the king

responsible for a lot of the more sane choices roderick makes and helps keeping him from going too far off the rails

has watched as his nephew descends into obsession – stopping at nothing as he conquers kingdom after kingdom, but despite this bartholomew believes that there is still much good in roderick, but even bartholomew will admit that it is sometimes hard to see when his ambition clouds all else

bartholomew is extremely loyal to his family & friends

once you are in his inner circle, you are there for life!!!

honestly he always tries to do the right/honorable/just thing but if you are going to get bartholomew to bend the rules, it is probably to avoid the suffering of a loved one

lost his wife during the birth of his daughter, ciara

bartholomew cared for his wife a great deal, but he had never loved her as he loved marian

he had planned to remarry after his wife died and had privately decided to court her, but before he had the chance, roderick announced that he meant to marry her instead and so bartholomew said nothing

instead he remained a good friend to them both and could not help but comfort marian when she eventually confided in him the struggles she had with her marriage to roderick and one day she confessed how she was afraid of what might happen to her if she did not give him a child and it was in this moment of weakness that bartholomew let his feelings for marian cloud his judgement

nine months later when marian birthed a son, bartholomew knew it was his ...

has tried to be a father-figure and mentor towards roderick’s other children, as he knows roderick’s duties often leave his own children neglected -- however when it comes to arthur, bartholomew has said firmly away as not to allow for any suspicions to ever fall upon him

instead, bartholomew has become close with sebastian, in whom he sees a lot of himself and both understand what it is to be a brother to a future king, all while having no desire to ever usurp their position

bartholomew considers it his duty to advise roderick to do what he feels is the best course of action, but at the end of the day, he will follow his king’s commands

however, when it came to invading astaira, bartholomew was hesitant – both because his wife was born there and because he is no stranger to the tales she would tell of what might happen if ever the guardians were neglected. while he has never practiced his wife’s religion, worry prays on his mind on what might happen to them all if her stories proved to be true …

OPEN.

[fearsmagazine]

CONSECRATION | Trailer, Poster & Images

After the suspicious death of her brother, a priest, Grace (Jena Malone) goes to the Mount Saviour Convent in Scotland to find out what really happened. Once there, she uncovers murder, sacrilege and a disturbing truth about her own past.

Danny Huston as “Father Romero” in Christopher Smith’s CONSECRATION. Courtesy of IFC Midnight. An IFC Midnight Release.

Co-writer and director Christopher Smith, co-writer Laurie Cook, and staring Jena Malone, Danny Huston, Dame Janet Suzman, and Thoren Ferguson. From IFC Films and Shudder, in theaters February 10th, 2023.

Danny Huston as “Father Romero” in Christopher Smith’s CONSECRATION. Courtesy of IFC Midnight. An IFC Midnight Release.

Christopher Smith is a highly established British filmmaker having directed some of Britain's most popular genre films to date. In 2004, Chris wrote and directed his debut, Creep, a horror film that follows a woman trapped on the London underground whilst being hunted by a mysterious attacker. His next film was the comedy-horror Severance, which screened at festivals all over the world. In 2009, Chris directed the mystery-thriller, Triangle, followed by the epic medieval action thriller Black Death in 2010, which starred Eddie Redmayne and Sean Bean. Chris then went onto write and direct the family-comedy, Get Santa, starring Jim Broadbent, followed by Detour in 2016.

Jena Malone as “Grace” in Christopher Smith’s CONSECRATION. Courtesy of IFC Midnight. An IFC Midnight Release.

Recently, Smith has been focusing on TV, directing episodes of Sony's highly anticipated TV reboot of Anthony Horowitz's "Alex Rider," and Sky's "Temple." Returning to the horror genre Smith directed The Banishing starring Jessica Brown Findlay and Sean Harris. Set in the 1930s, the film follows a family moving into their new home and the horrors that unfold.

[necarion]

I suspect the writers in Rings of Power were also given considerably less freedom from the get-go. The series clearly had a few mandates, which limited the effectiveness of the stories that could be told, and even then, the writing was deprioritized. (The establishing shots make excellent desktop wallpapers, but so little else makes sense from there):

Above all else, borrow nothing the Tolkien estate might sue us for. Let’s use the LOTR appendix.

Maintain a sense of “mystery” to keep people guessing. People love mysteries and they’ll sure love this one!*

Throw in a couple “Maybe Saurons?” (Pseudosaurii?) for the above.

People like Gandalf. Gandalf is part of the Lord of the Rings. Let’s have “Maybe Gandalf?” in there, but not name him for sure. Mysteries are nice!

People like Hobbits. Hobbits are part of the Lord of the Rings. Let’s have some Hobbits. But we’ll call them Harfoots because that’s what the book says, and they need to be, like, proto-Hobbits.

Numenor is an important part of the story leading up to the big fight in the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, gotta make sure that happens. Oh right, we need Elendil and Isildur, because they show up in the final action sequence.

We need Conflict(TM). Let’s make some of the elves huge jerks with no ability to plan. Let’s make this generation of Numenorians full of huge jerks, despite that being 2000 years later in the appendices we’re drawing from.  Let’s make Jerk Elf (alas for the great Gil-galad) set an insane artificial timeline to drive this Conflict.

We need big action scenes.

Mordor has to show up somehow.

Oh, right. We have to have the Rings of Power in there somehow.

The problem is that these are a bunch of dueling objectives which get in the way of each other.

Instead of telling one good story, they tell four much weaker stories (Galadriel + Numenor + Southlands, Rings forging, Elrond + Dwarves, Harfoots) (never half-ass two things). They end up compressing, like, 2000 years of Second Age history into one concurrent timeline that ends up getting in its own way, because they need to include all the above elements. Note: this will also get in the way of all future seasons by putting things on a ticking clock - the stories must be done before Elendil is too old to fight. He’s long-lived, but this means <200 years or something.

Because of these conflicts and time-pressures, the story is forced to rely on the audience already knowing and caring about the things. We know about the Rings of Power; they were in the Movie! We know about Galadriel; she was in the Movie! But they skip the hard work of making any of it matter. (Hell, the Rings are a consolation prize, done as a rush job in this story)

And most importantly, it gets in the way of character-building because there are too many independent things going on, that are forced to meet in the middle. I’m pretty sure the quality of the Elrond + Dwarf storyline is either an accident, or something that happened despite meddling due to the strength of the acting and writing that was given a little time to breathe. Basically, the entire story ends up a pointless dead end, except for the character work.

notes:

I think S1 of Wheel of Time suffered a lot from trying to maintain a mystery and lost some of its ability to set up why being the Dragon Reborn

RoP also hired a bunch of minimally known actors (nobody well-known enough to get paid more than $35k/episode, which is tiny). No existing stars (LOTR, with a much smaller budget, had several major stars and a number of veterans. Game of Thrones, with a smaller budget, still had some well-knowns (especially Sean Bean). Wheel of Time, with a season budget smaller than RoP’s episode budget, spent $2.5M on Rosamund Pike. It isn’t like Rings of Power had bad acting, but I don’t think there were any standouts. I certainly cannot remember caring enough to look up anybody’s name. And this fedback with the writing. Morfydd Clark (Galadriel) didn’t have much to work with, and the directing did her no favors.  There’s a scene where she walks into the throne room in Numenor. And yes, she’s still dirty and in rags (despite having a week aboard a ship who should have given her a comb at least, and a washcloth for her face) showing that the directors want her to seem an underdog.  But the character of Galadriel should have been the most charismatic thing in that entire hall, regardless, and they just had her trying to go on “OMG and ELF!!!” rather than any actual framing that would help that. 

I think we also ought to head one objection off at the pass here: that it is unfair to hold a TV show to the standards we might a film in terms of things like sets, extras and costumes. The thing is, Rings of Power apparently had a $462 million budget to produce eight one-hour episodes;1 by way of comparison Peter Jackson’s films had a combined budget of $281 million (inflation adjusted c. $470m) to produce 9.3 hours of film (theatrical edition; extended cut is 11.4). In short the series and the films had remarkably similar budgets to cover remarkably similar amounts of screentime. I confess I find myself confused, given the comparison, as to where all of that Rings money went; the show evidently was lavishly produced but it doesn’t generally feel lavishly produced.

I am once again asking for a forensic accountant

[kittensintinytophats]

So @donnovien and I were chatting about Arthur’s bad habit of dying multiple times and she joked about how he’s trying to surpass the king of on screen deaths, Sean Bean. I jokingly said that if he was 30 years younger he’d be perfect for a Malevolent live-action remake, but I looked up young Sean Bean and it actually kinda works? 

like look at these pics and tell me that’s not Arthur Lester