Bean and Bowie ... woah!

If you've got a fancy for Sean Bean (oh, yeah...) you're going to love this little feature which just popped up on Press Association:

Sean Bean has revealed he used to dress up like David Bowie.

The Lord Of The Rings star, who will turn 50 in April, told The Times he used to glam up like the 70s rock star when he was a teenager.

Sheffield-born Sean said: "I wore similar outfits to Bowie. The truth is, I was a clone. I dyed my hair red, wore jumpsuits and big stack heels decorated with stars.

"People in Sheffield thought I was a poof. A weirdo. Which encouraged me to do it even more. I risked getting my head kicked in for a while, but then glam rock became more mainstream and dyeing your hair, wearing make-up and dressing up became more acceptable."
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jcQOhcUgNU098d_AcLO8Q9oBsBOg
...woah, that would have been something to see!

I have to admit to being very partial to Mr. Bean ... whose name was originally spelled Shaun, but he decided to change it to "Seen Bean" (as he jokes about it) because the more traditional spelling is quirkier ... which suits the movies.

It's Sean's birthday in April (he's 50! Good golly, doesn't time fly?) and we'll have to have a Special Event on the blog here when the big day comes around.

Eye candy now? What -- you insist?! Okay:

Men in tights: booboos in the Green Wood

Circulating right now is a king-sized case of "WFT" is going on now?!

This tipped me off to something weird happening:

Russell Crowe's Robin Hood to woo Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian: Will he finally be reunited with Oscars as well?

I mean, it's good news: "Because Cate Blanchett and her playwright husband Andrew Upton are co-artistic directors of the Sydney Theatre Company she has scaled back her film commitments to barely one a year. That makes the news that Blanchett is about to sign up to play Maid Marian opposite Russell Crowe's Robin Hood even more intriguing."

Great news, in fact, but --

The last time I looked, Russell Crowe was going to be playing the SHERIFF to Christian Bale's Robin. I admit, it's a few months since I looked, but ... this was it. Well, as of 02-28-09, try this one on for size:

The above is a screen-cap from the important part of the 2009 Robin Hood page at IMDB.
Christian Bale is nowhere in sight, and Russell will be playing (OMIGOD!!) both Robin and the Sheriff --

He's going to hunt himself down! He's going to promise to hang and/or behead himself! He's going to menace Maid Marian for being in love with him! He's going to betray himself to Prince John!

Pardon me, folks, but I know the story. I grew up with Robin Hood. He might have been Errol Flynn, or Michael Praed, or Sean Connery, or Jason Connery, or Richard Green, or Cary Elwes, or even (god help us) Kevin Costner. But I grew up with the legend, the mythos, the story, the whole bucket-of-bolts, and I can tell you for a fact, Robin Hood is not, nor was he ever, the Sheriff of Nottingham.

So --WTF?! And here's where I throw up my hands (not to mention my brekkie) and paste in some eye candy instead. So, what the hey, here goes -- Errol, Cary and Michael, in order:





Stay tooned for further developments...

Tom Hanks: a tale of typewriters and anti-matter!

Two delicious items just popped up a little while ago -- Tom Hanks is in the news again, which makes sense when you remember his new movie, Angels and Demons, will be opening soon, and the publicity campaign has to get into high gear.

Turns out, Tom Hanks has an "obsession" for collecting stuff -- but not any kind of stuff. He has a passion for typewriters!

This snippet is running on One India: "Tom Hank's obsession costs him a fortune. The Hollywood superstar has revealed that he has a weakness for typewriters and ends up paying a fortunes for the shipping charges of his goods from all across the globe. The Oscar winner has more than a 100 manual, portable typewriters. "(I collect them) from the 1930s until they stopped making them," Contactmusic quoted him as saying. "I bought a $5 typewriter from Australia that cost me $85 to ship," he said The actor confesses that his hobby some times burns his pockets badly." (http://living.oneindia.in/insync/2009/tom-hanks-typewriter-190209.html)

Good golly, I remember my first four or five typewriters. As much as I love computers, I wish still had my portable word-basher-outer. Nobody makes them these days -- and I guess the big problem is, even if you did have one, you couldn't get the ribbons for them. Rats.

From one end of the tech spectrum to the other, lets leapfrom from India to Europe ... where Tom has been signed to (get this) restart the Large Hadron Collider!

This is actually pretty darned cool, if you like your high-tech stuff: "Tom Hanks, he of Forrest Gump fame, has been signed up to restart the Large Hadron Collider. The announcement is sure to finally garner some positive press for the presumably highly stressed scientists at Cern, who are busy trying to get the LHC fully functional. As bizarre as the link-up sounds, there's some method in the madness behind getting Mr Hanks on board. The Hollywood star is about to embark on a tour-de-force PR campaign for his latest film Angels And Demons. The movie, based on the book by Dan Brown, features Cern as part of the plot that involves the stealing of some anti-matter from the particle physics laboratory. Speaking about his involvement with the LHC, Hanks told journalists: "I found out today that if I stuck my hand into the particle accelerator, it would disappear, and antimatter would be created." (http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/future-tech/tom-hanks-roped-in-to-restart-hadron-collider-533467)

Please don't, Tom! Shove something else in there -- like, your lunch, or the pencil sharpener, or someone's mobile phone that won't stop going off!

Eye candy? What's that you say? Eye candy, please?! Okay, gimme a reason why not...

Get ready for STAR WARS: THE MUSICAL!

Well ... not really. Actually, I do believe it's going to be something like a star-warsie version of the Middle Earth Symphony which toured far and wide: massive screens, a full-size symphony orchestra, on-stage effects, what have you.

In fact, there was also a Doctor Who take on this same thing, Music and Monsters ... I have it on DVD, and it works extremely well.

Anyway, if this is your thing (and it could be great) see the full story right here: LucasFilm Says "Star Wars: A Musical Journey" Bound For U.S. ... the story popped up on Rolling Stone a few hours ago. Remember, you heard it here first. Well -- actually second. I guess Rolling Stone was first...

And while we're on the subject of Star Wars, there is something you HAVE to see. Have you got about fifteen minutes, and a beer, and no fear for your ribs??? Because you're going to break several laughing. See this: The STAR WARS ASCIImation ... there's a whacko programmer in Kiwi country who has waaaaay too much time on his hands. It's big fun. Enjoy.

And how's about some eye candy while we're here?!





And before anybody says a word ... I was a Han Solo freak. The Han Solo freak is still hiding inside, waiting for a chance to escape...

Oscar and Hugh: not such an odd couple

With the Oscars 2009 show being a piece of history now (in other words, it was yesterday...) folks downunder are wondering what response was gleaned by Hugh Jackman -- who's only the second Aussie ever invited to host the show.

Turns out, Hugh's been gathering mixed reviews -- and I shouldn't think it bothers him one jot, because while critics appear to have NOT likes him, audiences loved him. And that's what a performer cares about. (Which is probably also how he's feeling about Australia, which has been, and still is, absolutely delighting home-grown viewers all over our rural zones, even though city slicker crictics in the hearts of major metropolises like New York, London and so forth didn't reckon it was worth the celluloid it was printed on! Go figure. Me? I reckon it's audiences that count. God knows, they're the ones who didn't get free bloody tickets!)

Here's some interesting reading on the topic:

Will Hugh Jackman get Oscars call back? Was he Billy Crystal?
Liveblogging the Oscars: Stopping the Show
Kudos!!!!

Kewl, eh, what?!

So let's have some pictures while we're here!





Now, that's what I call candy for the visual cortex.

Way to go, Sean!

It's history: the Oscars 2009 ... and what history!

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire;
Best Actor: Sean Penn, for Milk;
Best Actress: Kate Winslet.
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger;

...and this is so cosmopolitan a decision on all fronts, I'm surprised and delighted. Slumdog is a picture about Indian people in India. Sean Pen's character of Harvey Milk was not merely 'out' gay, but the gay rights activist to end 'em all ... in fact, he's become a gay icon. Kate Winslet is English; Heath Ledger was Australian.

Here's the complete list: http://oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/

And here is Sean Penn's clip, speech and all:




Verrrrrry, verrrry nice! Here's AG standing up and applauding!

And the winners are --

Yep, it's Oscar's Day -- can't say "Oscar's Night," because down here in Aus, the show goes on (and on and on and on) all day, due to the time difference!

As I write this, the great news is that Heath Ledger has just been honored with the AFI award:

See the winners come up in real time here, if you can't park yourself in front of a TV screen for about six hours during the working day -- and who can?

From my perspective, this is the big news at the Oscars -- why? Because it's the last chance Heath Ledger will have to "win the big one." And he richly deserved it. Brad Pitt and others will have many, many other chances, but this one was critically important for Heath, his family, and his fans.

Nice one, kid. Real nice.

Paul Bettany, transported to the fantasy landscape

Today I'm in a Paul Bettany mood for some reason -- not that you need a reason, right? And I have to say, I'm really looking forward to Inkheart. I like this actor so much; he reminds me a little bit of what the late Michael Gothard might have been, if he'd been born maybe thirty years later and given a chance! (As it was, Mike Gothard was so far out of his time, it's a wonder he left his mark on the world at all -- but he did, with projects like Arthur of the Britons. Speaking of which -- you DO know it's been out on DVD for about a year, don't you??)

But I digress, and to apologise, let's have a really lovely Paul Bettany pic:

Paul has done his fair share of creepy stuff, so it's going to be so nice to see him once again looking gorgeous, as he did in -- oh, for instance, A Knight's Tale, with Heath Leger and company...

Got a soft spot for Geoff Chaucer. I have. And not just because he has one of the nicest posteriors in motion pictures. Anyway --

Inkheart is going to be a major treat, and if you want to know more, there's a good interview with Brendan Fraser running right now, on Movies OnLine.

On the other hand, if you prefer to go into a movie "blind," then don't read that page!! However, I'm going to paste in the movie poster right here, because it's a beaut:

This one, I'm going to see on the big screen, whether or not my significant other wants to come along or not. Paul Bettany and Brendan Fraser in the same movie? How could you not love this one?

TEN MINUTES LATER, here's a bloody annoying PS to this post:

I just went to Greater Union (dot-blasted-com) to find out when Inkheart opens. Now, bear in mind it already had its world premier in Berlin back in January (because it's from the novel by Cornelia Funke, makes sense to have the premier in Germany). But they're not opening it in Australia until April!! Can you believe this? Think I read it wrong? See this:

http://www.greaterunion.com.au/movies/7166/Inkheart.htm -- that's Inkheart's page at the aforementioned Greater-flaming-union -- complete with auto playing trailer, and opening date. April 2. Well ... shoot. AG is under-impressed.

Heath Ledger: Speak out for him someone, since his voice is silent now!

Two items hit me squarely between the eyeballs this morning, and Heath Ledger is central to both of them. The first is great ... the second is a "WFT" piece for which somebody, somewhere, has to say something -- and if it has to be me, then so be it.

Let's go to the first piece ... first. This is lovely:

HEATH Ledger's love of chess has been set in stone at a park on Perth's Swan River, where he played as a child.

Ledger's family have given the City of Melville, in Perth's southern suburbs, a polished concrete and marble sculpture in memory of the late actor, comprising two chess boards and a yin and yang symbol.

Ledger's mother Sally Bell said the family had chosen the site at Heathcote Reserve, overlooking the Swan River, because her son had cared about the environment and spent much of his youth in the Applecross area.

Ms Bell said he often walked to the park with his friends. "He truly loved it there," she said.

There's loads more to read on this story -- get the whole thing here:
Heath Ledger's memory set in stone in park along Perth's Swan River

Is that lovely, or what? Nice one. [Reaches for a kleenex]

And then, at the exact same moment, this pops up ... and it just can't be kosher:

FYI: Heath Ledger was a badass chess player.

After sodomizing Jake Gyllenhaal (so hot) and hamming it up as a psycho, mass-murdering clown (hella artsy), Heath overdosed on sleeping pills (so in right now) and bit the dust — a fucking brilliant career move. Immortalized forever as a tortured actor on the cusp of glory, the former junior chess champion joined the VIP list of early-death superstars: James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Bruce Lee ... and now our favorite, 28-year-old Australian man candy.

Forget that he was the most convincing clown ever, licking his caked-up lips in the freakiest of snakelike fashions (after all, making even the burliest bro piss his pants doesn’t make a man). It’s what happens after — hundreds of tribute videos from love-struck fans, thousands of Facebookers in Joker paint, millions made in box-office bills — that truly grants Ledger a rank among legends.

As for other Oscar nominees? He’s the checkmate from hell.

That's the whole, idiotic piece, in entirety! There is no more. The blogger has said her piece (I assume it's a female -- the first name is Allie):
Best Posthumous Achievement - The Dark Knight

...Say, what? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Don't know about you guys, but I find it muy offensive. This post went up at University of California, San Diego, on The Guardian online magazine.

AG was the first to comment and left this:
Am I the only one who finds this offensive ... or just the first one to find it?! Someone has to be the first ... and if there was a "report this" button, I'd be clicking it. Is this drivel supposed to be a joke? If so, it's in extremely bad taste. Doesn't anyone at The Guardian edit items before they're posted?!

If you're even half as PO'd as I am, skeedaddle over there and leave words for somebody called Allie Cuerdo: http://www.ucsdguardian.org/hiatus/best_posthumous_achievement-1.1486561 in the hopes that this sort of twaddle can be nipped in the bud.

Go on! Heath can't speak out for himself any longer, so someone's going to have to do it!

Let's have some pictures, now, to sweeten this ... because AG's Album isn't supposed to be full of aggro!

The Thunder God commeth ... in 2011!

In fact, Viggo has been in a couple more newsie items that might have blown right by you, because they're not (yet) Hollywoodish.

The big news first: Marvel considers a real-life Thunder God ... woah! You do know, don't you, that the next massive, monster movie of a comic book legend is The Mighty Thor ...?! If you didn't know -- consider yourself informed! And in fact they're casting the part now. They're looking at Brad Pitt, Viggo Mortensen, Gerard Butler, and James Preston Rogers ...

Ouch! Okay, well... James Preston Rogers has six-foot-six, has the muscles and the hair, but he's a pro wrestler. Thor won't be a simple acting part, and there's more to it than looking right. Unless he has the voice and the presence, you'll wind up with a movie that tanks, even though the actor looked right:



Oooooh, how I could wish Viggo would land the part, but as much as we love ya, Viggo, I have to admit, I don't think you're tall enough or big enough, muscles-wise. Thor was ... a big, big boy.


Gerard Butler could do the part. He has the presence, the stature, and some extremely nice, uh, muscles...



But if I had to choose? If I really, seriously, had to choose? Well ... I grew up with the comic books, and I have to tell you, folks, Brad Pitt's Achilles looked more like Thor than Thor did. And Brad can act. And Brad has a good voice. And Brad is close to the top of the Hollywood A-list.

Viggo Mortensen -- being Aragorn. Again!

I'm in a Viggo mood today, and there's plenty to be in a mood about! You probably know that The Hobbit is in serious, serious preproduction. I blogged a little about it here, when Dominic Monaghan was talking about the very real possibility that he, Billy and Elijah would be in the movie. (It was Elijah Wood's birthday at the time...)

I still don't know how those talks have turned out, but I can tell you this much: now the company is talking to Viggo about coming back to be Aragorn again!! Here's the news: Viggo Mortensen talks the Hobbit. This is so cool, it gives you shivers.



Now, the problem is that Aragorn wasn't in the book of The Hobbit -- any more than Pip, Merry and Frodo were in it. However, if Aragorn was 87 y.o. in Two Towers, then he sure as heck was there, temporally speaking at least, when the story of The Hobbit was actually happening. So was Legloas. And Elrond and Arwen.


So potentially you could have Aragorn and Legolas, and Elrond and Arwen, at least as "guest stars" along the way. You could also have Gimli, but remember that he'd never met Aragorn and Legolas before the Council of Elrond.

James McAvoy is being whispered about as the actor to play the younger Bilbo. (I blogged about this too, right here. With succulent pictures.)

You could even write in a part for Saruman, who was still sane at the time. Send for Christopher Lee ... and if Ian McKellen doesn't play Gandalf, not only will I not blog about it, I won't even go and see it!

Same goes for Orlando Bloom, who looks far more gorgeous now than he did 10 years ago, and if they get anybody else in the cosmos to play Legolas ...!!!



Which leaves Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood kind of "dangling" ... and I just can't figure out how their characters are going to get into the picture.

Anyway, while I'm in a Viggo mood, let's have some pictures...




I'm STILL in a Viggo mood, so I'll be posting again shortly, with more news...

John Barrowman and -- who? So that's Matt Smith!

I did a post a couple of days ago, "Captain Jack meets Doctor #1 -- the new Doctor." And quite a few people said to me, "Who the heck is Matt Smith?

Well, the simple answer is, "a very young English actor with a quirky, unique face, who has a connection to the GLBTI community..." He's still in his twenties, but there's much about him that suggests to me that he could actually "be" the Doctor...



We've lurched over the hurdle of the Doctor being identified as an older man -- he's immortal, he regenerates, there's no reason he shouldn't regenerate into a young face. Peter Davison was the first young Doctor, and he promptly laid to rest the arguments that he was too young. Paul McGann was the next young Doctor ... gods help me, I liked him a lot as the Doctor, but I know a lot of people didn't. Well ... anyway.



And now ... it gets interesting. I put the following to you, and I'm not going to say another word:



Actually, I will say another word or two after all: Woah, this is going to get intreresting! Jack Harkness became a gay icon in a single episode of Doctor Who, even before Torchwood came along, and, uh ... after that it was an absolute blast.