White Rose Writings The Hobbit Trilogy Movie Awards

I stole this idea (and the list) from dormouse on The One Ring Messageboard - hope you forgive me dormouse. Remember "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."

So without further delay (some spoilers, beware)

The Hobbit Movies White Rose Writings Awards

Most memorable  (a three way tie)

Thorin and Balin at Bag End

Thorin's Entrance

(I didn't know what to expect, but my heart stood still)

The Opening of the Door to Erebor

Most moving

Thorin and Bilbo 

"Look Thorin, the eagles..."

Most missed (something from the book that you hoped to see and didn't)

Thorin, Fili, and Kili fighting side by side at the end

Most appealing visually

Any scene with Thorin 

Most puzzling

 Walnuts?

(yes, I read interview with Philippa Boyens explanation of why, but I'm still not convinced)

Most amusing

Most like the book

Riddles in the Dark

Most unlike the book

The entire sequence of Thorin and the Dwarves 

fighting with Smaug

I was shocked first time I saw it, but the second time I watched DOS I liked it, happy they were fighting back, and now I watch all the time 

Most unexpected

Still remember the moment I saw this scene and heard 
the song the first time 

Not in the movie the first time, but before, in the AUJ trailer.  

My favorite song from the trilogy.

Most imaginative

The final battle of Thorin and Azog

There is so much, so difficult to select any one scene or moment from all three films. How to define "imaginative"? Right now my mind is filled with images of BOTFA. I found the battle on the ice to be strangely elegant.

******

Thank you dormouse

Bonus

Fabo's Best and Worst Hobbit Movie Premieres

Top Five Hobbit Movie Premieres for an International Audience Watching Online

1.  November 28, 2012 - 

World Premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and of the Trilogy, Wellington, NZ

 2.  December 1, 2012  

Premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Tokyo, Japan

(Live Streaming of the entire press conference as well as the premiere)

3.  December 9, 2013

 Premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,

Berlin, Germany 

4.  January 20, 2015

Premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Beijing, China

Thanks to the Armitage Chinese Fans for making it such a great experience for all Armitage fans around the world

(and also some of the best Richard Armitage interviews of any premiere PR Junket, I even feel bad calling it a PR Junket, they are great, and still we're getting more of them to enjoy)

5.  December 12, 2012 

The Royal Film Performance Premiere

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

London, UK

Personal Best Hobbit Premiere 

December 6, 2012- US Premiere, Ziegfeld Theater, New York City

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

To Benefit AFI

Worst Hobbit Movie Premieres for an International Audience Watching Online

Premiere: Los Angeles, CA - Dec 2, 2013

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Premiere: Los Angeles, CA - December 9, 2014

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

Thank you for reading and viewing

What are your favorite moments of The Hobbit films?

(Pics, videos and screencaps: Screencapped.net, The Armitage Effect, Richard Armitage Central, YouTube - click on the vids for the info on the creators, Google Images)

Thorin Rules the Middle Kingdom

@TheHobbitMovie @wbpictures @RCArmitager_CN so I joined Weibo Going to need some help, any volunteers?Best translator pic.twitter.com/wwohygeZDL
— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) January 29, 2015

A beautiful video from a fellow RA fan from China  birgit1226 and the link was from new RA twitter friend RAA China:

Richard Armitage

Bringing the world together in peace and harmony

 with his smile

(and we really need it)

Interesting Interview with Richard Armitage - Beijing Premiere

One of the many things I love about Richard is his passion for his work. I love getting immersed in his thoughts and feelings about his next role, and discovering new "worlds" myself. It's been a wonderful adventure for me to be an Armitage fan. 

Here he talks about Thorin, playing serial killer Dolarhyde, and even about Twitter

Thanks to Summer for the link

William Blake Revisited - Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal US TV Series

Richard Armitage as Lucas North in Spooks (MI5) - my screencaps from Season 7

And on November 28 Richard favorited an article on Twitter about William Blake:

Philip Pullman: William Blake and me http://t.co/JBJpXJ92FY via @GuardianBooks pic.twitter.com/U6tpJRL8by
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 28, 2014

He loves to give us hints, but we never get them do we?  I thought he was thinking about Lucas. Maybe because I'm always thinking about Lucas! LOL

I've been going to Google for information on this new character, since I've never watched any of the Hannibal movies or the TV show (though I like Mads Mikkelsen and Anthony Hopkins). The character Richard will play is based on a book published in 1981 so he has been around for a while this Red Dragon. The book is part of the Hannibal Lecter book series by Thomas Harris (spoilers about the character at the link below):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dragon_%28novel%29

Horror is not my thing, and I have no plans to read the book, or books, but I'm so happy he's been cast as this character.  I know he will put his own special stamp on the Tooth Fairy serial killer and I know he will find the human being (as difficult as that is for some to think about) in this character. 

I love when actors challenge themselves, and challenge us as fans to watch something we never would have before.  I love when actors are brave to risk taking on a role, a character, that is hated and feared.  Less typecasting can mean a long and busy career.

I hope it also means that he finally, finally, breaks through the American entertainment industry wall so next time I mention Richard Armitage in my office I don't get blank stares in return. I'll break out the bottle of California Pinot Noir the minute he's on a US talk show.  If he's on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon I'll take a bath in California Pinot Noir. 

Dear Richard - the adventure continues.  Thank you for always, always, surprising us. Expect the Unexpected.

Pic from Fanpop

Mall Walking in Winter - Degas, El Greco and Thoughts about Mr. Turner

I haven't posted a Mall Walking post for a while.  When I say Mall Walking I mean the National Mall in Washington DC.

During the Holidays I was off for a few days and decided to go to the National Gallery of Art to see two exhibits I've been meaning to see:  Degas's Little Dancer and El Greco's 400th Anniversary.

As a perennial student of art history Degas and El Greco are two of my favorite artists.  

Edgar Degas is a favorite because when I was in school and college and even beyond I was a great lover of ballet. I used to go standing room to see the great dancers that came to our city. (Oh, how I miss those student discounts.) So I had lots of prints and posters of Degas' dancers on my bedroom wall. One of my favorite Degas paintings is part of the NGA exhibit.

The focus of the exhibit is the only sculpture Degas ever showed publicly, at the impressionist exhibition in 1881, Little Dancer Age Fourteen.

It was a wonderful experience to see the sculpture up close. I really felt the personality of this young girl and her determination.  

The El Greco exhibit brings together the artist's paintings owned by the National Gallery and works on loan from Washington collectors. It traces the evolution of Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco) as an artist and his influence on modern art and artist. 

One of El Greco's paintings on exhibit was once owned by Edgar Degas:

Saint Ildefonso, c. 1603/1614

If you happen to be in or near DC between now and February, don't miss these two exhibits. You can read and watch more about the exhibits and the two artists on the NGA website by clicking the links below:

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/features/modeling-movement.html

http://www.nga.gov/content/ngaweb/exhibitions/2014/el-greco-400-anniversary.html

For Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, and Hobbit fans you can watch Thorin and Kili as artists Claude Monet and Dante Gabriel Rossetti in two UK TV series. (And you get some Degas with your Monet as well)

Richard Armitage in The Impressionists:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496201/

Aidan Turner in Desperate Romantics:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1346018/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Desperate Romantics also stars Rafe Spall as William Holman Hunt one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and a desperate romantic.  I recently saw his father, Timothy Spall as artist J.M.W Turner in the movie Mr. Turner. 

A few impressions of Mike Leigh's film Mr. Turner 

I wanted to fall in love with this film. Timothy Spall gives a great performance as the enigma that is Turner the man. The supporting cast is perfect, and many familiar faces if you watch UK television and films. 

The movie in visually stunning, the beauty of the landscapes almost brought me to tears. Some of the interior scenes are so beautifully meticulous in their detail.  We see the real transferred on canvas. Turner's paintings become more and more abstract. Visually this is a great film.

Yet I didn't fall in love. As perennial art history student I know a tiny little bit about Turner and have seen some of his work in museums. I wanted to leave the film understanding Turner's art as well as the man, yet I left knowing less than ever. Maybe that was Leigh's intention. 

We do learn about Turner's rather complicated private life and curmudgeonly personality from middle-age to death. How this grumpy and not always likable man of few words, and some inexplicable deeds, created his works of art is puzzling. Through Spall's performance and Turner's outdoor wanderings we see his great dedication to his work. But for me there was a disconnect. Why did Turner turn more and more towards abstraction? Why light and landscape? We do see the politics of being a successful artist in his time, but what about his art?

But maybe that was the director's message, that art, like love, is inexplicable. 

(bad photos of DC  and inside NGA are mine, others from NGA website, or Google Images)

My Liebster Award Nomination Post and My Nominations

My lovely fellow blogger Jazzbaby1 from FunkyBlueDandelion nominated me for a Liebster Award.  I’m very excited, happy, and grateful to be nominated. Thank you Jazzbaby1.

FunkyBlueDandelion: http://jazzbaby1.wordpress.com/

I gather the idea is to spread the news about other blogs and to get to know more about other wonderful bloggers.

I've had fun answering Jazzbaby1 questions and coming up with my own for my nominated bloggers.  

But first the rules of the Liebster Award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog into your post.
2. Answer 11 questions which you have been asked by the nominating blogger.
3. Nominate 5 to 11 other bloggers who have fewer than 1.000 followers.
4. Add a new list of 11 questions for the nominated bloggers.
5. Paste these rules into your post.
6. Make sure your nominees know about your post and their nomination.

Without further waiting below are my answers to Jazzbaby1’s questions:

1. Beatles or Rolling Stones?

Beatles

2. What was your Richard Armitage gateway drug role?

John Thornton, North & South

3. What’s your favorite Richard Armitage role?

Lucas North on Spooks 

4. What’s your favorite picture of Richard Armitage?

An oldie I know, but I just love that smile and the fun he seems to be having, and those long, long, legs

5. What song would you like to hear in a fanvid? Any particular scenario?

This is a difficult one, and I know people may roll their eyes at my answer. 

(Spoilers maybe)

It’s something I've been thinking about, but I don’t have the skill to do it well. It would be “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables” from Les Miserables and would be Thorin’s journey to meet  Fili and Kili, Thror and Thrain in the “halls of waiting” and a guest appearance by Bilbo.

I know, should have come up with a more fun answer, but what can I say…

6. Coffee or tea?

Coffee

7. If you could have dinner with any two people living or dead who would they be and why those two?

I’ll skip the obvious answer, Richard Armitage and Sean Bean, though I’ve dreamed of it happening many times. 

I would have dinner with two favorite film directors, one from the classic era of Hollywood, Howard Hawks, and one from the present day, Ang Lee, and have them discuss the state of the film industry today, what inspired (or inspires) their work, and I could ask them questions about some of my favorite films like Bringing Up Baby and Sense and Sensibility.

8. What book are you reading right now?

I am reading two, Hearts and Minds by Rosy Thornton  and Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien.  I've been reading a bit more during the holidays, but I read as I have bits of time, so it takes me a while to get through a book. I have one book in the living room and the other one in my bedroom. 

9. If a train leaves the station travelling east at 50 MPH and another leaves fifteen minutes later travelling west at 55 MPH how long till I start crying because I hate word problems?

I think it takes you 5 seconds to start crying. I hate word problems too. Could never figure out why you wouldn't just look at the train timetables, and now of course we have Google. 

10. Fili or Kili?

Can’t believe you've done this to me. It is breaking my heart to answer this question.  

The answer is Fili.

11. How long did it take you to answer these questions?

18 hours or was it 18 minutes?


Now my nominated bloggers for the Liebster Award:

CDoart  Richard Armitage & History & Spooks

http://cdoart.blogspot.com/2014/12/merry-christmas.html?showComment=1420086727234#c2362599273087098087

Mary Tales

http://www.mary-tales.blogspot.com/

All Things Armitage

http://allthingsrarmitage.blogspot.com/

DistRActed in ReAlity

https://distractedinreality.wordpress.com/

An RA Viewer’s Perspective

http://mulubinba.typepad.com/an_ra_viewers_perspective/

Something About Love (A)

https://gratianads90.wordpress.com/

Jonia’s Cut

http://joniascut.blogspot.com/

Here are my 11 questions for them:

1. If you could take Richard Armitage on vacation with you anywhere in the world (except ski resorts) where would it be and why? 

2. What is your favorite RA interview?

3. If you were producing a movie starring RA what would it be and who would be the director?

4. Your favorite RA sweater? 

5. What was your favorite movie as a child?

6. What is your favorite comfort food?

7. Favorite RA hair?  Thorin, Guy (season 1, 2 or 3), Proctor, Lucas North, or John Strandring (pre or post haircut)?

8. Are you a day person or a night person?

9. Vanilla or Chocolate Ice Cream?

10. Favorite RA premiere look? 

11. Favorite TV Series?

Thanks again Jazzbaby1 for nominating me. This was a fun post to work on. I wish for you a happy and prosperous 2015. 

Please go and check FunkyBlueDandelion and the blogs of my nominated bloggers and enjoy.