Ewan McGregor: Happy Birthday 2009!

Is it really possible that Ewan McGregor is 38 years old today?! Good lord ... AG takes a moment out and looks at the calendar ... is it. Woah. Where does time go?

Seems like only yesterday we were watching the new Obiwan Kenobi. And Brassed Off! -- which has to be my favorite of Ewan McGregor's movies, and that's saying a lot, because he's made some great ones.

Here's a bit of trivia for you: he's short sighted. Like yours truly! You might recall the serious eyeglasses you saw in The Long Way Round ... no joke. Those are the real deal. (He's also one of those guys who looks just as dishy with the spectacles on. Like Johnny Depp, for a start.)

So -- Happy Birthday, Man! Many more of 'em!

And now, shut up and paste in the eye candy, AG. I hear you growling, so ...

Christopher Lambert: Happy Birthday 2009!

And it's a big, loud HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Christopher Lambert, who turns 52 today! Can you believe that? It only seems like yesterday that I was drooling -- uh, watching, uh -- well, yes, all right, drooling my way through Greystoke. Never mind Highlander!

I have some fantastic memories surrounding Christopher Lambert, whose movies don't seem to get a lot of publicity downunder, so it's easy to miss them. One of my favorites is the off-the-wall comedy he did with Christopher Loyd, Why me? I laughed and laughed. Love the scene with the piano...

It's astonishing to go over to CL's page at IMDb and check out the amazing list of credits he's assembled. I have one monster wish: to see Vercingetorix. Not likely to happen, I know, but I can wish...

So -- hey, happy birthday, man! And now, who's for some eye candy?

A word or two from your host: heeeeer's AG!

And an editorial note here ... thanks gazillions to Jade (who is the cover artist for DreamCraft and Mel Keegan) for the spanking new header for this blog! I think it looks amazing, and it also reflects where most visitors are coming from, and what they want when they get here!

In fact, you might be interested to know a few stats on this here blog, since there's over 100 posts up now, and visitors from every part of the world are browsing through as if it were a magazine ... which I suppose it is, really!

• About 40% of all visitors follow a link or an image or a Google search of some description (blog, web or image) for ... Johnny Depp!
• Johnny Depp's tattoos are the most popular single feature on the blog!
• Followed a close second by Viggo's tattoos -- and then by Viggo himself.
• Next up, folks follow links and threads and wind up here on the trail of Elijah Wood...
• And about equal numbers of people are looking for Elijah Wood and Christian Bale; and finding it here!
• Next, James Spader, without or without the long hair (but searches and visitor "came from" links show a definite preference for "with").
• And Richard Dean Anderson is right up there with James Spader, Christian Bale and Elijah Wood, in terms of how many visitors are looking, and searching.

After that -- well, it's a free-for-all, with an absolute gran-bag of everything on the blog.

You'll have noticed the "Link Within" widgets ... I added this service about two weeks ago, and it really has added value to the blog. Visitors like it, and many wind up browsing from topic to topic ... a few have stayed for an hour!

I'm not so sure about the "Snapshots" feature, though. I know it's popular on a lot of sites (like Live Journal and (Wordpress) but I'm not totally "sold" on how it works here.

But I have checked out my Statcounter stats and made a note of what visitors are downloading as "keepers." Guys: you're sussed ... ie., I know what you like! Therefore, I can "keep it coming." And let's be honest, there is never a shortage of stuff to babble about!

Many thanks to all who have supported the blog with a click or two on whatever interesting advertising has come along. I appreciate it!

The next thing I want to add to the site here is a Movie Shoppe. Stay tuned...

Viggo Mortensen -- being Good

As a kind of post script to the last entry in this odd journal, I'm going to talk about Viggo again for a couple of minutes, and his new movie, Good.

I was over at YouTube, getting the trailer to plug in here, and couldn't help noticing that there's a bit of a furore brewing up over there. Most of it is about Nazis, Germans, Jews, Israelis, Palestinians and so forth -- and I really don't want to get into that ... I'm not qualified, honestly! There's people who know 100 times what I know, about all those subjects, and they're out there on the web, whanging it out all the time: they've said everything, fifty times each. Nothing left for me to add, and if I did, I'd either get it wrong or get everyone steamed.

But one thing on the discussion about the movie, Good, that seemed (to me) to be silly enough to be worth a post here is this:

A fair few people say they're "bothered" be the fact that Viggo and Jason Isaacs are playing the parts of Germans, using English accents. Apparently these viewers would have preferred to hear Viggo and Jason speaking with German accents.

Hunh?! Here's the problem. We hear German accents when German people speak English. But in Good, all the characters are German, speaking German, as German native speakers, in Germany.

No way in the world would you hear German accents! Think of it like this: the whole movie has been translated out of German into English. You just wouldn't, shoudn't, couldn't, hear an accent like Max von Sydow speaking English! (And incidentally, I could listen to Max von Sydow all night.)

Making a movie about Germans speaking German in Germany, they only had two choices: 1) have everyone speak German and subtitle it; or, 2) have everyone speak English that sounds as perfect to the ear as proper German would sound to native German speakers.

Now, the question of "should Viggo be speaking with an English accent?" comes up ... and it's pretty plain to me that since all the characters are German etc. etc., then you have no choice but the stabilize the accent used in the movie to ONE accent. Jason Isaacs is English -- so is everyone else in the cast ... I know, because I bothered to go to the movie's IMDb page and check! So, since they're all English barring Viggo ... if someone wanted to have Viggo speaking with his American accent or his Danish accent, they'd have to coach everybody else in the movie to speak with the same accent as him ... that's a huge amount of work, to make 10 people match up with one!

Why bother, when Viggo already "does" a gorgeous English accent (Aragorn), so he can mesh with the rest of the cast without problems.

This seems to be such a weird thing to me. It's just about the last reason I could think of for people saying, "I'm bothered by an American speaking in an English accent, playing a German." I mean -- duh. It's so obvious, I shouldn't have to be saying this!

Eye candy now, anyone...?!

Viggo Mortensen -- trilingual is terrific!

I'm in a Viggo mood today ... because he's been on the box promoting GOOD, which is just one of his new movies.

So, what the hey? Let's have some Viggo stuff today.

Let's start with the GOOD trailer ... which is a marvelous piece of filmmaking in itself. Listen to that accent! Viggo is "doing" the gorgeous British accent we heard in Lord of the Rings. Aragorn speaks! Have a listen to this...



This is going to be such a good movie. Next ... since we're on the subject of
accents and languages, you have to check this out:



Being bilingual would be fantastic. I always wanted to speak a second language. Viggo, it turns out, speaks at least three. He did CAPITAN ALATRISTE in the Spanish language:



And yes, I have a copy of ALATRISTE ... in Spanish ... with English subtitles, thank heavens, or I wouldn't get one word in three of what's being said!

Lastly ... well, let's get naughty. Chuckle! Enjoy:

Digital eye candy ... Final Fantasy. Woah!

When's the last time you took a long, hard, serious look at anime, and digitally animated movies, not to mention the games that either spin off them or spawn them?

You might not have looked in a while ... I haven't. I just did. I'm fairly speechless here (and for AG that's saying a lot).

What can I tell you? There's going to come a time when human actors are going to be out of work! What they're doing with animation these days is aready enough to blow you away ... you know what this is going to be like in another 10 years?!

Take a squizz at this ... and think of Storm Comstantine's Wraethu while you're squizzing ... because both these characters are guys -- namely Sephiroth and Cloud, villain and hero, from Final Fantasy.






What can you say? Johnny Quest was never like this!

Christian Bale must be blushing (again) when Auntie Beeb does an oopsie

You just have to chuckle, but I can also imagine some red faces -- and Christian Bale must be among them. Check this out:

BBC Breakfast has avoided censure by Ofcom after it quickly apologised for broadcasting an unedited version of Christian Bale's foul-mouthed tirade on a film set.

On 16 February, the BBC One breakfast news show featured part of the sound-clip in which Bale is heard losing his temper with a member of the film crew.

After introducing the Bale item, the word "fucking" was heard almost immediately.

The clip was stopped and the presenters apologised stating that the clip should have been edited.
The Ofcom code states that "most offensive language must not be broadcast before the watershed".

The BBC explained to Ofcom that two versions of the Bale rant item existed in its production database – one containing the most offensive language and one with this language bleeped out for transmission.

Apparently the original unedited version was played by mistake because the two different versions were not clearly labelled.

Ofcom said it considered the matter adequately resolved in view of the broadcaster's swift action to stop the clip and apologise for offence to viewers.
(From http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43399&c=1)

Nice one, Auntie.

The problem is, Christian Bale might never live this down!




Along the same lines ... but it's a very, very safe bet that it's a clever publicity stunt ... is Gary Oldman's absolutely hilarious tirade ostensibly aimed at a bunch of TV or magazine journalists who appear to be pursuing/harassing him. It's all about a movie that must need some advertising -- because this is just about the best kind of advertising it could get. God knows, even I want to see it now, to figure out what the brewhaha is about! Have a butcher's at this:



I laughed and laughed. And I'm honestly curious to know what the heck The Perfect Sleep is all about. Good one, guys: the advertising worked ... and you got the Internet to spread it "virally" for nothing, right?! Glad to help.

Richard Dean Anderson: Macgyver rides again, big sceen style!

Richard Dean Anderson fans: you want good news to wind up today's business?! It couldn't be better, and AG is wearing a mile-wide smile!

Cast an eye upon this, from Reuters:

"It will take more than twine, bubble gum and a pencil to do it, but the science-oriented adventure series "MacGyver" is being developed as a feature film for New Line.

"MacGyver" ran from 1985 to 1992 on ABC. Richard Dean Anderson, later of "Stargate: Atlantis" and "SG-1" fame, starred as an incredibly resourceful secret agent for the Phoenix Foundation who frequently would escape from dangerous situations with ingenious and lightning-quick engineering trickery.

Two telefilms starring Anderson aired in the years after the show's cancellation. The character eventually achieved enough cultural recognition to become a reference for anyone attempting to jury-rig a solution out of household items. "Saturday Night Live" took the concept to the next level with its "MacGruber" spoofs starring Will Forte.

Raffaella De Laurentiis, daughter of veteran producer Dino De Laurentiis, is producing the movie through her Raffaella Prods. along with Martha De Laurentiis and series creator Lee Zlotoff. Dino De Laurentiis is executive producing.

No writer has been hired. The studio hopes to find a script that acknowledges the concept's pop-culture profile yet still makes for a serious and fun adventure movie.

"We think we're a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise," said New Line's Richard Brener."
http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE52F0PX20090316

And if that isn't reason enough to hop up and do a small dance for the sheer joy of it, what is? It's also MORE than reason enough for some eye candy!

Wedding Bells for James Spader and William Shatner

This, from the Windy City Times ... and don't you just love this? Bromance. Has to be the cutest term dreamed up for the "zone between the clear-cut genders" since someone in the UK coined "omnisexual" ...

From the “Whatdya-Call-It-If-2-Guys-Really-Really-Like-Each-Other-But-Ahem-Aren't-Gay?” file, the Chicago Tribune ( Dec. 16 ) and the Chicago Sun-Times ( Dec. 31 ) more-or-less jointly announce the “bromance.” The Trib lists the TV shows Scrubs with J.O. & Turk, House with House & Wilson, Heroes with Hiro & Ando, Entourage with Vince & Eric and How I Met Your Mother with Ted & Barney, while the Sun-Times had a story on Boston Legal with Denny & Alan. All of these pairs would be married if they were gay ( and it was legal ) ; they are thisclose. The Sun-Times even shows a pic of Denny ( William Shatner ) and Alan ( James Spader ) , who DO get married for plot reasons waltzing around at the wedding: Spader's the lead. Some movies with this theme are in the offing: there's going to be an awful lot of dialog about how one guy can tell another guy he loves him without being, you know, uhhh, gay.
http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/gay/lesbian/news/ARTICLE.php?AID=20689

Want more? This is great ... and so's this!

Kewel. I mean, this is cute as all get out, and so without further ado, let's get into the pictures!

Brad Pitt: give the man some credit -- he's an actor!

There's a curious little piece running on The Times of India, and it just leaves you shaking your head. I've heard of some dumb things, but this just about takes the cake.

Pitt out of film for his good looks
Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is out of upcoming movie State of Play as the director on hindsight felt he was too good-looking to play the role.

Pitt was originally to star in the big-screen thriller as a journalist but the actor quit during pre-production, citing concerns with the script, contactmusic.com reports. Gladiator star Russell Crowe was roped in as a late replacement for Brad to star opposite actor Ben Affleck's character of a Congressman in the film. Director Kevin McDonald is convinced that Crowe's rough features are more suited to the role. "In a way, I was lucky it didn't work out with Brad. The relationship between the journalist and the politician was meant to be between somebody who feels inferior, who's a bit of a schlump, who kind of can't get a girlfriend, and somebody he's looking up to and admires his polished politician friend," he said. "That is not the dynamic of a Brad Pitt. He's not looking up to anyone thinking 'Oh, I wish I could have your girlfriend'," he added.

Here's the rub, boys and girls: THE MAN IS AN ACTOR. He isn't actually Achilles. Nor doe she race about machine-gunning people. Nor was born at age 90 and grow younger throughout life. All these parts are ACTING.

And he's not supposed to be able to act the part of someone who looks up to others and envies their girl friends?!

I would venture to say that if Mr. Pitt decided to play the part of a blind leper, he'd do just fine. Being an ACTOR. Professionally. Meaning, "getting paid to do the job and being bloody good at it."

Anyway, Russell Crowe will also be just fine, but -- and Russ, we love you, man! --it's just the principle of the thing, you know?!

Okay, AG: off the soapbox and on with the eye candy. Here we go:

Matthew Broderick: happy birthday 2009

And it's happy birthday to Matthew Broderick, who turns 46 today (same age as AG). Is it really 25 years since Ladyhawke?! Good gods, it is. I mean ... that's a quarter of a century! I was a mere child when I sat in the dark, eating popcorn and watching Rutger Hauer turn into a wolf, and Matthew Broderick picking locks --! Marvelous memories, which I relive every time I play the DVD. Here's a bit of trivia for you: did you know, Ladyhawke was only his fourth credited role? True.

And Matthew Broderick went on to do loads of great projects, not just as an actor (for instance, Godzilla), but also as a voice artist (ex., The Lion King). In fact, I'm remembering all the way back to Wargames, and wishing I had a DVD of that one. Note to self: get one!

So -- happy birthday, man! Have a great one. (And now, shut up AG, and paste in the pictures -- sheesh, you think people visit this page because they want to listen to you babble on?)

Gary Oldman ... happy birthday, 2009!

It's also happy birthday to Gary Oldman today ... and I can't believe he's 51. Mind you, I've enjoyed his movies for a couple of decades now, so I guess he must be!

His roles are so diverse, you're just left blinking. He has a gift for accents that is quite the equal of Johnny Depp ... in fact, I don't think I've heard Gary Oldman sound the same in two consecutive movies! My favorites from among his movies? It's almost impossible to choose. Immortal Beloved, Air Force One, The Dark Knight, The Fifth Element, Lost in Space ... the Harry Potter movies ...?! Like I said, utterly impossible to choose.

So I'm not going to choose -- I'm just going to nominate Gary Oldman as one of my most favorite actors, wish him Happy Birthday, and get on with the eye candy ... which is the whole reason you're on this page anyway, right? (In other words, shut up already, AG, and paste in the pictures. Right.)

Timothy Dalton: happy birthday 2009!

It's Happy Birthday, 007 today -- wish birthday wishes going to my personal favorite of the James Bonds. Don't get me wrong -- I like them all! But Timothy Dalton is my favorite. Why? I think it's because I actually believed James Bond as a real person in his two movies. The other actors were consistently "tongue in cheek," and the movies had the quality of satire or even spoof. In the Timothy Dalton movies, though, you had a greater sense of reality, and I guess I liked that!

It also doesn't hurt that Tim Dalton had devilish good looks, a gorgeous voice ... and great legs! Would you believe he's 64 years young today?! (Good grief, that would make AG...)

Want some eye candy now? You bet. Here goes:

Elijah Wood ... as Iggy Pop?!

Would you believe Elijah Wood starring as Iggy Pop?! I mean, the guy's an incredibly talented actor, but this is the reverse of casting Viggo Mortensen in the title role of Heidi ... you get what I mean. A complete mis-match:

They couldn't put enough makeup on Elijah Wood to make him look remotely like Iggy Pop. Some wise-cracker suggested casting Robert Downey Jr. in the part (maybe because Robert Downey can and will wear so much makeup, they might stand half a chance of getting a remote likeness...

...and I mean, it would have to be an utterly REMOTE likeness.

But as per angelic Elijah Wood...???

Pull the other leg, man ... it has bells on.

Speaking of Elijah Wood, there's a cute little piece running on Softpedia:

Actor Elijah Wood, aka Frodo from "Lord on The Rings" trilogy confessed he is the subject of a gay site, made by some online jokers.

During a TV show he was invited, Elija told the host that some pranksters have started a website named elijahwoodisveryverygay, where they present fake photos with him that are 'proving' the 'Lord Of The Rings' star is homosexual.

He told US chat show host Conan O'Brien: "There's one that's called elijahwoodisveryverygay, which is actually a personal favorite of mine, it's absolutely hilarious.

"It's this kind of joke website that maintains that they have proof that I am very, very gay in various photographs - photographic evidence of me holding hands with a male".

The actor also revealed he was approached many times by fans who wanted to give him "fake" pictures of himself in compromising situations with his male co-stars.

He explained: "They want to create moments that they didn't get to see in the film, of these characters in sexual congress.

I was actually at a film festival once and this fan came up with a gift, I open the gift in front of all these people that I'm talking to and it happens to be a photo from one of these websites of me and Dominic Monaghan making sweet love".

Now, that wasn't a nice thing to do to the actor! (However ... I've seen photos (and they are not faked; they're on one of the leading PR image sites, where the dopyright owners charge an arm and a leg for reproduction royalties ... fake photos don't sit on those sites) of Dominic Monaghan frenching -- or getting frenched by?? -- Viggo. So ... who knows where imagination and wishful thinking ends, and where the truth begins?! But I really do think fans ought to have more sense and more manners than to hand the actor fake photos -- called digital maniupulations -- in public ... or anywhere else, for that matter. Guys -- get real here. Nuff said.)

Bruce Willis: happy birthday, 2009!

What else can you say? Happy birthday, man! You have us some of the greatest motion picture thrills and laughs ... have a great 54th, and a great 2009!