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Post by Andorinha on Oct 7, 2009 7:56:04 GMT -6
RE Ardo's: "Oh, but one more thing (and please, please forgive me for being so pedantic) I know the "Rumpole" episode of which you speak - "
Yes! Ardo, that's the episode exactly! I'll have to dig out the Rumpole tapes for a another review. Started re-visiting the Hickson, Miss Marple series just last week, lovely! But I'm beginning to feel positively "olde" these days, living more in the past than the present, all my favorite TV series are from at least 30 years ago... Wunnerful thing, recording technology, I can even relive the golden days of Gene Autry, Hopalong Cassidy, and the Spin and Marty adventures -- brings back the Saturday morning line-up of 1958...
Ah, for Bombur, how about the actor who played "Swelter" opposite Christopher Lee's "Flay" in Gormenghast, he also plays Harry Potter's uncle?
Stormrider, yeah, the master of Laketown role would work for Rowan!
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Post by Fredeghar Wayfarer on Oct 7, 2009 12:22:38 GMT -6
I have not seen the Blackadder so I am not familiar with his cunning and devious role plaing ability! Well...he looks rather odd to me, so Troll is what I thought of first. I am sure he could switch gears and make a very believable Troll. But Master of Laketown is another good suggestion. Did you know that Rowan Atkinson is the voice of Zazu in The Lion King? That's one of his conniving, pompous sort of roles that you might be familiar with. I agree with Ardo. As funny as he is as Mr. Bean, he's even funnier when he gets to talk and be a slightly shifty, upper class twit.
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 7, 2009 22:55:33 GMT -6
Hello, Andorinha, ( & Everybody! ) ~~~
I think a lot of the old shows like the "Rumpoles" are becoming available on DVD now, although the only Miss Marple DVDs I have seen so far are the more recent adaptions ( with Geraldine Mc Kewen ) --
It appears they have started yet another Miss Marple series ( the third time around for adaptions of the same Agatha Christie novels ) called simply: Marple -- I haven't seen any of these productions yet, ( although I may have seen a bit of one in passing ) but the actress who plays Miss Marple in this new series ( Julia Mc Kenzie ) looks like she fits the role properly... It looks like they might have another "winner" this time around...
Andorinha - it's funny that you should mention being able to see those old TV shows from the late '50's again - ( that's just a little bit before my time - I was just born then ) because on my last trip to the library, I came home with DVDs containing episodes from the first seasons of My Favorite Martian & I Spy! -- ( talk about nostalgia ! ) ---
I'm afraid I never saw Gormenghast & I only saw one of the Harry Potter movies in passing on TV some years ago... But if this actor is a British one, it's a good possibility I may have seen him in something else and would recognize him if I saw him - I'm going to find out what his name is, so I can look him up...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 7, 2009 23:19:52 GMT -6
OK - so I just looked it up - Harry Potter's uncle is played by a Richard Griffiths... I'm afraid I have not seen him very often - even hardly at all -- ( most of the things he has been in I have not seen ) except that he was in Chariots Of Fire -- which I just saw recently, ( & I thought it was a tremendous movie! ) But I saw just long enough ago that I can't remember which part Mr Griffiths was playing, - but it sounds as though his "resume" of acting accomplishments is quite varied and extensive & also it sounds like he takes his acting very seriously...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 7, 2009 23:36:50 GMT -6
OK - One more thing - I just looked up this Matin Freeman guy for the first time - he looks like the perfect, perect Bilbo to me, although I'm only thinking in terms of physical characteristics and his facial features - but the expression on his face seems to fit right, as well...
He does look pretty youthful for the part - bu then, there is makeup - anyway, Frodo, Sam, Merry & Pippin were all supposed to be older in the original LOTR story compared to the way they were portrayed in the movie versions ( in the PJ version, they looked downright like teenagers almost )
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 8, 2009 3:23:12 GMT -6
By the way, I see that Mr Freeman was in the original The Office - I did once watch a couple of episodes of that show ( the original UK version - I haven't watched the US adaption ) but Mr Freeman doesn't stick out in my mind, particularly - although if I saw that show again, I'm sure I could pick him out...
( He seems to take on a slightly different appearance in each of the different photos I did see of him on the Internet... )
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 8, 2009 3:32:36 GMT -6
I have not seen the Blackadder so I am not familiar with his cunning and devious role plaing ability! Well...he looks rather odd to me, so Troll is what I thought of first. I am sure he could switch gears and make a very believable Troll. But Master of Laketown is another good suggestion. Did you know that Rowan Atkinson is the voice of Zazu in The Lion King? That's one of his conniving, pompous sort of roles that you might be familiar with. I agree with Ardo. As funny as he is as Mr. Bean, he's even funnier when he gets to talk and be a slightly shifty, upper class twit. Another good adjective one could apply for some of Mr Atkinson's characterizations is: snide... ( in fact, "Blackadder" is more snide than anything else - while his own "cunning" often backfires on him ) --
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Post by Stormrider on Oct 8, 2009 6:35:51 GMT -6
I went to IMDb and looked up Richard Griffiths from Harry Potter. In the pictures posted at IMDb, he looks so jovial, round, and friendly. In Harry Potter, he was a nasty, mean guy. From HP I was thinking he would be a good Troll, but after seeing the jovial pictures, he might make a good Dwarf (Bombur, perhaps).
We seem to be searching our memories for British actors for roles in The Hobbit movie. I don't think we should limit ourselves and look at actors far and wide.
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 8, 2009 18:43:03 GMT -6
We seem to be searching our memories for British actors for roles in The Hobbit movie. I don't think we should limit ourselves and look at actors far and wide. Hello, Stormrider! ~~~ I'm afraid it was me ( pretty much ) who started this whole "British actors only" theme - and I have to admit I am fairly prejudiced in this matter, but I have my reasons: From what I have seen ( with a few exceptions, perhaps ) the Brits have been best at adapting stories written by Brits into films - From what I have seen, it still seems like they do the best Shakespeare, the best Dickens, and so on... ( of course, "The Hobbit" & LOTR have become universal in their own time - I know when I first read the stories to myself, I didn't necessarily "hear" the sound of the characters in my head talking with British accents - and even though it was so obvious a kind of thing [ at least, where some of the more vernacular speaking, "less genteel" characters are concerned - take, for instance, that opening sequence in the first chapter of FOTR, where the "locals" are sitting around and chatting in The Green Dragon{ the narrator himself even refers to them as being "rustic" } ] that these particular characters could easily be talking in some broad Yorkshire accent, it was still a bit jarring to me when I first started to listen to the "Books On Tape" version of the same story ( read with great dedicaton by Rob Inglis ) and to hear those same characters actually talking in those same kind of accents... But secondly, it's just that, ( in my opinion ) from what I have seen, the Brits seem to be the best at doing characters - That's what's so neat about so many of the Brit shows - it's not necessarily any snazzy plots or special effects or glitz or glamor that make them so intriguing, ( or good-looking actors ) it's all the individual characters that are realized so well by the actors - be they sweet and charming or crotchety and mean, smart or not so keen, pompous or humble, or whatever... Of course, there should not be any kind of "restrictions' placed on where to look for actors who might be taking part in the new movies - and, like you, I wouldn't mind still seeing some surprises - some more "unknowns" popping up to please us... P.S. - One of my favorite non-Brit actors is Gerard Depardeau - and of course, I have favorite American actors - I just have to sit down & recall who they are...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 9, 2009 3:34:30 GMT -6
Hello, Once More... Right off the top of my head, here are some of my favorite American actors: Tom Hanks James Garner Kevin Kline Dustin Hoffman As you can probably tell, I have a prediliction towards Comedy, as opposed to Drama -- I've been less familiar with some of the "new generation" of actors but I have been favorably impressed with some of the work of actors like: Tobey Mcguire George Clooney Mark Wahlberg Robert Downey Jr ... I have favorite actresses, too, of course, but there seems to be a scarcity of female roles in "The Hobbit" story...
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 9, 2009 3:52:04 GMT -6
Sorry - just one more quick note - this is semi - related...
The latest episode of Inspector Lewis ( The offspring of the Inspector Morse series, wherein the Morse character [ played by John Thaw ] died at the end of the series [ followed not too long afterwards by the actual death of Mr Thaw ] ) which aired the other night locally contained numerous references to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, The Inklings, The Eagle & Child, Charles Williams, Lewis Carroll and so on...
In a way, it's almost surprising these subjects had never been brought up before, as all the stories in the series take place against the backdrop of Oxford and its environs...
There was one character in the story, a professor, who made rather obnoxious comments about how he felt that only Lewis Carroll's works would stand the test of time, as compared to these other works of fantasy ( works by Tolkien & Lewis, etc ) which were inferior to Carroll's, etc...
I have to say, however, this particular character was particularly obnoxious anyway...
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Post by Stormrider on Oct 9, 2009 6:34:43 GMT -6
Dustin Hoffman has always been my ultimate top on the list favorite actor. But I guess I can't picture any of the actors you've mentioned as being suited for The Hobbit movie. And that character is indeed obnoxious if he thought Tolkien could not pass the test of time! bah!
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Post by Andorinha on Oct 9, 2009 12:46:50 GMT -6
I think the academic English community (especially traditional Oxford/ Cambridge) are still somewhat ambivalent about Tolkien -- proud of all the global popularity (money!!!) his works bring them, but not quite sure yet if he is "real" literature, or just "childish escapism."
Lewis Carroll was viewed as "absurd" by many of the Dons (college professors), but his works have been around long enough now to make certain he is a timeless wonder. In another 100 years, I'll bet Tolkien will be just as highly revered...
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Post by Fredeghar Wayfarer on Oct 9, 2009 14:16:14 GMT -6
I think the academic English community (especially traditional Oxford/ Cambridge) are still somewhat ambivalent about Tolkien -- proud of all the global popularity (money!!!) his works bring them, but not quite sure yet if he is "real" literature, or just "childish escapism." That's something that's always bothered me, especially as an English major in college-- the gap between so-called "Real and Important Literature" and "fantasy escapism." Are the literary elite worried that we're avoiding reality with these works? Is reality that great a place that we should spend 100% of our time there and never allow our imagination to run free and dream of something better? To me, the ability to create a believable and consistent other world using only one's imagination is among the most impressive feats of literature. The worlds created by writers like Tolkien and Lewis and Carroll and Lloyd Alexander and the creators of my favorite comics and cartoons inspired me to want to be a writer as well. It's escapism but it's the kind of writing that really speaks to my soul and engages my mind. But I digress. That's a topic for another thread, I suppose.
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Post by Ardo Whortleberry on Oct 9, 2009 19:04:08 GMT -6
Wow! it's great to see so many postings since the last time I was here! ---
Stormrider - I guess you are right - I can't see necessarily where any of those actors I mentioned would "fit in" in a "Hobbit" movie...
Andorinha & Fredegar ---
Yes, even that theme of "Fantasy possibly being a infantile need to escape from facing the serious problems of life and 'dealing with reality' " seemed to be underlining the entire episode ( of Inspector Lewis )...
I thought Tolkien himself made a pretty convincing argument in defense of "Escapism" in his esssay On Fairy-Stories...
I'm afraid I don't "rank" Lewis Carroll's works on the same level as Tolkien's - and I don't think their respective works fall into the same genre of literature - but, yes, Andorinha, I can see what you mean about how Carroll's contemporaries & associates would have been so "embarrassed" by the publication ( and the success! ) of Mr Carroll's nonsense stories when they first came out, whereas by the present time, they would be considered properly "aged" enough to garner a modicum of respectability...
I'm afraid I won't be around 100 years from today, but I rest assured that Tolkien's books will indeed have "stood the test of time" by that time, and that ( even in the English academic circles ) his works will be revered as classics then...
Fredegar - You are right, this does sound like it all belongs in a thread of its own! ~~~
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