All the pieces matter

7th June 2011

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Notable Cast Members of “Game of Thrones”

As a man who enjoys knowing countless different actors and what films they’ve all been in, I look back at the last 8 episodes of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and realize just how many actors, smalltime and bigtime, I’ve recognized. 

Sean Bean as Eddard Stark: The star of the show, (SPOILER ALERT) for now anyways. Bean is remembered by all for his heartbreaking performance of Boromir in “The Fellowship of the Ring”, as well as his badass cameo in the extended edition of “The Two Towers”. If not that, then he’s remembered for his villains in “Goldeneye” and “Patriot Games”. For him to play this character is a dream come true.

Aidan Gillen as “Littlefinger” Petyr Baelish: Aside from Sean Bean, this is the actor I was most excited about being cast after seeing him own the final 3 seasons of “The Wire” as Mayor Thomas Carcetti. I never even thought about him for the role until I heard he was cast and then suddenly it was like, “Oh, of course!”.

Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont: I’d always recognize Glen in his many film roles, mainly villains, but I never really stopped to notice him until “Game of Thrones” where he plays the sympathetic and loyal exiled knight. Quite a change from his villains in “Tomb Raider” and “Resident Evil”. His cameo as Richard the Lionheart at the end of “Kingdom of Heaven” is also memorable. 

James Cosmo as Commander Jeor Mormont: Any medieval battle movie or Scottish film, this guy was in it. “Highlander”, “Braveheart”, “Troy”, “Trainspotting”, “The Reckoning”, even as Father Christmas in “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe”. I’m glad to see him playing a worthy character at long last.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister: In a weird twist of fate, this is the exact actor I pictured playing the Kingslayer when I started reading the book. Best known for his short stint as the star of “New Amsterdam” and his tragically heroic role as sniper Gordon in “Black Hawk Down”. Still, I remember him mostly as Liam Neeson’s traitorous nephew in “Kingdom of Heaven”, and of course the henchman Harrison Ford beats to death with a blender in “Firewall”. 

Julian Glover as Grand Maester Pycelle: General Veers from “The Empire Strikes Back” and Walter Donovan from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. Enough said I think.

Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister: The producers really outdid themselves with this bit of casting. I never thought the villain from the Schwarzenegger classic “Last Action Hero” would make such a perfect Tywin, but he exceeds that. They basically cast Tywin Lannister as Tywin Lannister. 

Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister: “300” brought her into the public mainstream, but I always favored her as Sarah Connor in the short-lived “Sarah Connor Chronicles”. But I now get to see her every week once again as another awesome character.

Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon: Heath Ledger’s loyal friend Roland from “A Knight’s Tale”, but probably better known as the dad from the show “Still Standing”.

Natalia Tena as Osha: I was quite surprised to see Tonks from “Harry Potter” show up late in the series, especially as a wild woman, but I am pleased by it nonetheless. 

Last but certainly not least…

Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister: Dinklage had always set himself apart from other dwarfish actors in that he was actually very good at acting. Now that he’s playing the most interesting and meaty character in the whole book series…nay, in LITERATURE…the issue of his height may disappear completely. 

In addition to these actors I already knew of are the newbies who have been blowing me away, particularly Emilia Clarke and Harry Lloyd as the Targaryen siblings and young Maisie Williams as Arya Stark in her very first acting role. Considering it’s based on a far superior series of books, the fact that this show is so awesome furthers my belief that HBO should just produce everything. 

30th May 2011

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My Top 10 Queen Songs (in no particular order)

1. One Vision - “Give me one light / Give me one hope / Just give me one man (one man) / One bar (one night) / One day (hey hey) / Just gimme gimme gimme gimme / Fried chicken!” 

2. Who Wants to Live Forever - “Now touch my tears with your lips / Touch my world with your fingertips / And we can have forever / And we can love forever / Forever is our today.” 

3. Headlong - “Headlong down the highway / And you’re rushing headlong / Out of control / And you think you’re so strong / But there ain’t no stopping / And you can’t stop rocking / And there’s nothing you can, nothing you can, nothing you can do about it.”

4. I Want It All - “Ain’t much I’m asking / If you want the truth / Here’s to the future / For the dreams of youth.”

5. Somebody to Love - “Got no feel, I got no rhythm / I just keep losing my beat / I’m ok, I’m alright / Ain’t gonna face no defeat / I just gotta get out of this prison cell / Someday I’m gonna be free, Lord!”

6. Bohemian Rhapsody - “So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye? / So you think you can love and leave me to die? / Oh baby! Can’t do this to me, baby! / Just gotta get out / Just gotta get right out of here!”

7. I Want to Break Free - “It’s strange, but it’s true / I can’t over the way you love me like you do / But I have to be sure / When I walk out that door / Oh how I want to be free, baby! / Oh how I want to be free / Oh how I want to break free!” 

8. The Show Must Go On - “The show must go on / The show must go on / I’ll face it with a grin / I’m never giving in / On with the show!”

9. Princes of the Universe - “I’m a man that will go far / Fly the moon and reach for the stars / With my sword and head held high / Gotta pass the test first time / Yeah! I know that people talk about me / I hear it everyday / But I can prove them wrong / ‘Cause I’m right first time!”

10. Under Pressure - “Love’s such an old-fashioned word / And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night / And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves / This is our last dance / This is our last dance / This is ourselves under pressure.”

26th May 2011

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Copying Hyzy…Again

List 10 musical artists you like, in no specific order (do this before reading the questions below)!

01. Nightwish
02. Queen
03. Third Eye Blind
04. Breaking Benjamin
05. David Bowie
06. Simon & Garfunkel
07. Gregorian
08. The Swell Season
09. Kerry Ellis
10. Pink Floyd

What was the first song you ever heard by 6?

“Scarborough Fair/Canticle”

What is your favorite song of 8?

“Feeling the Pull”

What kind of impact has 1 left on your life?

Impact? After years of collecting different musical interests I finally discovered a band that brought all my favorite styles into one epic blast of awesomeness! With Nightwish I get the heaviness of modern rock/metal; the guitar work reminiscent of classic rock; poetic, almost Shakespearian lyrics; the soothing symphonic melodies of a film score, heavily influenced by Hans Zimmer, a favorite of mine; finally, I get a female and a male vocalist whose abilities defy possibility. Basically, everything I ever needed in music can be found on a Nightwish album. 

What are your favourite lyrics of 5?

“I can remember standing by the wall

And the guns shot above our heads

And we kissed as though nothing could fall

And the shame was on the other side

Oh we can beat them forever and ever

Then we could be heroes, just for one day.”

How many times have you seen 4 live?

Sadly, none.

What is your favorite song by 7?

Difficult to choose, but probably their cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”.

Is there any song by 3 that makes you sad?

“God of Wine”. I think the song’s about alcoholism, or about taking something too far and resulting in irreparable consequences.  

What is your favorite song by 9?

“I Loved a Butterfly”, an acoustic cover of the Queen + Paul Rodgers song “Some Things That Glitter”.

When did you first get into 2?

Everybody likes at least one Queen song. I loved the song “The Show Must Go On” but really I only liked them averagely until I studied in London in 2010 where I saw the musical “We Will Rock You”. Since then I’ve become a bit of a fanatic. 

How did you get into 3?

I grew up in the 90’s; “Semi-Charmed Life”, “Jumper”, and “How’s It Going to Be” are classics to me. I’ve had their debut album since I was like 7 but didn’t discover the rest of their discography until I bought a greatest hits later on in high school. 

What is your favorite song by 4?

“Until the End”, without question. Coming from a band like them, this sounds like the most encouraging song ever. 

How many times have you seen 9 live?

Sadly I missed her concert with Brian May, but I saw her play Nancy in the musical “Oliver!” and got her autograph afterwards, so that counts I think. 

What is a good memory concerning 5?

My awesome Prince Jareth costume I made for Halloween. 

Is there a song by 8 that makes you sad?

“I Have Loved You Wrong”. The title speaks for itself. 

What is your favorite song of 1?

“Dark Chest of Wonders”. The opener to their greatest album to date, Once. I knew instantly I had made a good purchase. 

How did you become a fan of 10?

Nightwish covered their song “High Hopes” on a live album release, and from then onwards it was a beautiful journey into the world of Pink Floyd. 

18th May 2011

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Check off another dream role

This week I tried out for a community theater putting on West Side Story, expecting an ensemble part at best. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the cast list and I had landed the part of Bernardo, leader of the rival gang The Sharks. I am so excited, Bernardo was the one part I wanted to play if I was ever in WSS, you could call it one of my many coveted dream roles. It’s even funnier since Bernardo is modeled after Tybalt from Romeo & Juliet, whom I’ve also played and was also a dream role. 

So this summer just got loads better. I’m going to have to work on a Spanish accent though. 

9th May 2011

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Oh no I’ve started listening to Kerry Ellis. Now I’ll never go to bed.