Simplistic Armitage

I’m back. At least for a minute. And yeah, not to talk about how gorgeous Richard is, although boyfriend has been working it on this PR tour. Nope, I’m here to pick a bone with the guy.

I know you’re probably wondering what in the world I could have to be annoyed by. So let me tell you: it’s his simplistic division of those who will see The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. I’ve watched two interviews* with him so far where he divides viewers into those who are just along for the ride and those who only want to see the simple book brought to life just as it is from the page.

I get that this is probably a little thing, but as someone who has been a Tolkien fan for much longer than an Armitage fan, it doesn’t sit well with me. The guy has a movie to sell, that’s his whole role in the PR blitz. I get that. But were I not already his fan, it would not endear him to me. Because here’s the thing, it way too simplistic. It basically puts all the blame on the fans who love the books if they dislike parts of the movie, rather than putting any of that responsibility on the filmmakers for possibly having fucked up a beloved story. Oops. Did I just say fuck? Yes, yes I did.

This probably gets to me more, because I was and still am excited about some of the changes we were told early on were going to happen. Tying in parts of the Appendices to make the films more cohesive with LOTRs? Bring it on! Reintroduce Legolas, since the elvenking was his father? Awesome! Most Tolkien fans I know felt that way too.

But then we get reviews from people like  Quickbeam that indicate major changes to the plot. Some of Quickbeam’s spoilers sound like PJ and company decided they’d just substitute fanfic for Tolkien’s work in this expensive flick. Changes like he’s talking about are not something that only diehard purists are going to be upset by. Even those of us who are willing to see the story stretched and expanded upon aren’t going to be cool with such changes.

So yeah, Richard’s simplification of the types of people who will see the film and what their reactions will be is frustrating. And his seemingly dismissive attitude towards purists is to be honest, obnoxious.

Dude, I get you only have a few minutes with these interviewers, so you have to condense your thoughts. But give the book fans a little more respect. They aren’t all already your fans like I am.

*I didn’t save the links for these interview and couldn’t even begin to tell you which ones they are. If anyone knows feel free to drop me a line.

@merilyn066 and @lady0akenshield on Aussie TV!

We’ve all been squeeing over the pics on twitter of @merilyn066 and @lady0akenshield getting to meet Richard. Then the video of RA on Mornings (Is that the name of the show?) became available and I found myself squeeing all over again when I saw that they were actually in the segment!

Y’all should know by now that I like to make gifs out of the videos, so I made one of from the video that has both the ladies and RA:

 

One of the caps was really cool I thought, with the silhouette of the ladies and Richard in the same frame:

We’re all just so excited for you both! May the rest of the day be just as amazing for you and the rest of the Aussie fans attending the Q&A tonight.

What happened to, “I don’t really drink beer?”

Can Richard Armitage not keep his story straight? Did his tastes change this much between the November/December press tour and the end of April? Is he taking one for the team in trying to get the beard to grow back faster?

It really does crack me up when he contradicts himself in interviews that aren’t all that far apart. Kind of like how he was 6’2, 6’2 and 1/2 and so on during The Hobbit press tour. And now he’s done it again. At around 41 seconds into the below interview he says: “…pints of wine though, I don’t really drink beer.”

And now just a few months later he’s touting beer as the way to quickly grow his beard back.

Thanks to RANet for the scan. Highlighting added by me.

So does beer really help with facial hair growth? I did a quick, far from exhaustive search of Google and the only information I found seems to indicate the opposite. Apparently alcohol reduces testosterone levels and therefore slows beard growth! Maybe it’s an urban legend?

Oh well, as long as he keeps looking like this, he can say whatever he wants! 😉

Richard on Twitter…

…well, for an interview at least! We’ll take what we can get, right?

Tomorrow, #RichardArmitage wants to answer YOUR fan questions! Send your questions now using #AskThorin! http://t.co/BtPjmw76TX

— The Hobbit (@TheHobbitMovie) March 5, 2013

RA Interviewed by TORn

Okay, I’m sure everyone got the link to this in their email, but if not, you can read it here.

Lucky Greendragon!

There are some great new tidbits we haven’t really heard him speak about yet, Richard talking about the emotion of the shoot and his excitement over what happens in the end. It is one of my favorite interviews in the last couple of days. Maybe because there wasn’t just more of the same. Plus, Greendragon understands what we want to know besides the movie tidbits:

Let me start by answering the question which I know will be on the minds of many readers…  Yes, he really is that handsome.  Yes, he really is that charming; he has the ability to make you feel, as he talks to you, that you are the only person who matters.  This skill in focusing and being ‘in the moment’ is an important part of the intensity he brings to his acting; and it gives him that reputation for making interviewers go weak at the knees.  (I’m pleased to report that my knees were reliable throughout the interview!)  And yes, he really was wearing black, leather trousers – Guy of Gisborne lives on!

Oh, and for the beard lovers like myself, it was great to hear him talk about regrowing the beard:

God I can’t wait!  I miss that beard!

Viva la beard! 😉

Richard Armitage: Like a teenage girl?

That clip from NineMSN, with Richard, Martin and Andy cracked me up. I clipped just their little bit out:

“Tailor Swift. We’re like teenage girls, we like her.”

Three 40-something year old men saying they are like teenage girls. Bizarre, slightly creepy and hilarious all rolled into one. 😉

“Hot Dwarf” Interview Gifs

I’m not very tech savvy. So it took me ages to get the video from ZMTV with Richard responding to the hot dwarf questions.  @bff222 over on Twitter told me she was anxiously waiting for someone to make some gifs, and since I finally got my hands on the video, I went ahead and made some. So, @bff222, these are for you.

There he goes with the TOC again.

Martin sure does crack everybody up.

Richard’s so modest…but dude, you’re hot. Get used to it!

The second time she called him hot:

You know what: actually he was hot, literally:

Did you just say Thorin’s hot but Richard isn’t? Come on lady!

Yes, Martin! That is what she said.

Look at that thumb action in the last gif, Serv. 😉

This was probably my favorite interview from the press junket. I hope you enjoy the gifs. And now, seeing as it is 2:30 in the morning, I’m off to bed. 😉

It’s a Good Day to be a Fan

Gah! I just got home from a long day of painting and washing wallpaper glue off of walls, only to find out that today is a GREAT day to be a fan of Richard Armitage. I still have a lot of reading to do and I’m sure I’ll be back with my thoughts on the interviews, but for now, this graphic made me laugh:

io9’s comic version of Richard Armitage

Raucous, Naughty, Dirty, Filthy Beasts

I’m sure everyone has seen the extended HitFix interview with Richard Armitage by now. If not:

There were several nice moments in this interview. I don’t know about you, but I was glad to hear that the dwarves will be singing more than just the one song. Loved that he talked about taking pictures of the line to get into Hall H. I’m sure is was an exciting and overwhelming thing witness, so it is great that he took some photos for remembrance. I also really liked his answer about not trying to make Thorin contemporary…hello lady, this is The Hobbit!

Now, I need to be honest, I had to watch the interview a few times to actually pay attention. There was one little clip that seemed to render me stupid for a while. I’m sure you can guess, but if not, I extracted it for our listening pleasure.

30 Days of Richard Armitage-Day 14

A favorite personal quote:

I think one of the first Richard Armitage interviews I read was the “My First Million” interview. In that interview they asked him what he would do if he had a million pounds at his disposal. And as I read his response, I remember thinking, “Wow, how generous a thought is that!” So, here is his response to that question–one of my favorite personal quotes:

I would buy a ski chalet in the French Alps. I wouldn’t rent it out but would let my mates and family use it whenever they wanted. It would be brilliant, and I would load the fridge with champagne and leave the key under the mat.

And because no day would be complete without a picture of Richard Armitage and it is Guy Friday…