A Brit a Day [#371]

Congratulations, Christian Bale! Last night he took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 'The Fighter.'

A Brit a Day [#370]

Here is the Alan Rickman I fell in love with so many HP's ago. I'm not crazy about Prof. Snape's current crop of hangers-on, but I would certainly feel OK about riding the subway with them as my entourage. This picture enlarges upon clicking and can then be seen at its most lovely. Mind the gap.

A Brit a Day [#369]

Two pictures of Davy Jones with his Monkee brothers [Mickey Dolenz, top; Peter Tork, above] on the beach, in sunny southern California I'm sure, circa 1968--since it's raining here today.

A Brit a Day [#368]

I'm listening to the unabridged audiobook of Robert Penn Warren's 'All the King's Men,' read by Michael Emerson, in my car. The novel is 6% narrative and 94% description, so Emerson has his work cut out for him. In the Mind's-Eye production, however, Eddie Argos has to be cast as my Willie Stark. It sounds like I'm afflicted with some kind of cultural aphasia, but this is absolutely perfect casting. Eddie's ability to charm a crowd into the palm of his hand, and that demure tip of the head behind a curtain of unruly dark brown hair, completely seal the deal.

A Brit a Day [#367]

I was feeling kinda crappy this morning, sitting alone in the living room waiting to take one of the kids to school when I heard this yappy little bark out front. I knew it was Boris, my neighbor's 'poodle-Yorkie-thingy', as my daughter calls it. I'm not in love with this dog, but there was something comforting about the familiarity of his voice, the fact that I could tell pretty much where he was in my [!] yard by triangulating the sound, the hope that at least he knew who he was barking at and he felt safe here too.

Then I remembered that I sat for a few minutes yesterday evening with the rats--our pet rats--licking invisible remnants of last night's dinner off my finger tips and chewing a nail for good measure. It just figures that Whitney would like masala....

I wish I had more pictures of the cast with pets. This isn't even a pic-with-pets, this is Ian Cusick in a scene from the final episode[s] of Lost. His character Desmond played Timmy's-in-the-well to Vincent the Dog's Lassie imitation.

A Brit a Day [#366]

Jason Isaacs rocking some blue chambray....

I've been checking the headlines lately when I google for our cast's pictures, and recently was rewarded with news of new opportunities for Ian Cusick and Michael Emerson, among others. Apparently ex-Losties aren't the only ones scoring new gigs these days. Jason Isaacs will be part of an offering for pilot season too.

http://www.shockya.com/news/2011/02/21/jason-isaacs-lands-lead-role-in-nbcs-rem/

A Brit a Day [#365]

"The Woman in Black" filmed from September to December of 2010, and it's set to come out in the UK in October of this year. Here is its star, Dan Radcliffe, in a charming photo from the set.

A Brit a Day [#364]

I wasn't feeling particularly inspired today, so I googled 'christian bale harry potter'. The very first thing I came up with was a video that used the techno-pop remix version of the infamous freakout as the score for a HP mash-up. OK, I wasn't too comfortable with that, but you know how Youtube gives you other suggestions after you watch a video....and the rest is history. This is pretty awesome, if you are familiar with Death Note, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart.

I'm really sorry for Christian Bale, in a way, that a moment [or 5] that I'm sure he'd rather forget has been turned into a cultural watershed, but sometimes you just have to lie in the bed you made for yourself.

A Brit a Day [#363]

'John Gabriel Borkman' closed at BAM February 6th, but not before a few fans got some great shots of Alan Rickman at the stage door. I found this one on Flickr.

A Brit a Day [#362]

One of my favorite Brits is Nic Roberson, the foreign correspondent who finds himself in war zones plying his trade for CNN. I'm sure he's heard so many jokes about being the real Nick Danger that he isn't even polite anymore. Nic's Wikipedia article includes this wonderful description:

He has won numerous awards, including two Overseas Press Club Awards, a Peabody, a duPont, and several Emmy Awards for his work in war zones and disaster areas around the world. People magazine voted him Sexiest News Correspondent in 2001 but he is better known as a fearless veteran of the world's conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Bosnia,Kosovo, Rwanda, Somalia, the Darfur region of Sudan, Northern Ireland and both the Gulf War and the Iraq War. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 CNN sent Robertson to report fromNew Orleans.

I found a picture of Nic in one of his assignments that I wanted to post. But as the photographer who took it has disabled download capabilities of the photo--that never stopped me--I will honor his wishes and only post enough bits of the photo to make you want to see it in its entirety on Flickr. You can do that here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/snapperjack/4215430293/lightbox/

I love pictures of actors acting, painters painting, writers writing, even thinkers thinking--so of course, I love this photo of a great reporter reporting. And in addition to that, I really like the looks of Nic in that fine coat.

A Brit a Day [#361]

Eddie Argos and Dyan Valdes have recently relocated to Berlin, just in time for springtime in Germany. Dyan posted on Facebook that a new place really starts to feel like home once you bring a piano in. I imagine the move means good things for the futures of all their bands. Punk rock ist nicht tot!

A Brit a Day [#360]

When in Rome.....

This photo of Henry Ian Cusick was taken in Rome in 2007 by an unidentified fan.

In about a month, my 15-year-old daughter will be taking her first major trip without me. She and a group of classmates are traveling to London, Paris, and Rome for 10 days with their beloved history teacher. Their teacher, Ms. M, has taken something like 14 different groups of students to Europe over the years, and has been there on her own some multiple of that many times, so I know the kids will be in good hands with an experienced guide.

Another thing that assures me that Ms. M is cool?--she rides a Vespa whenever she can.

A Brit a Day [#359]

This photo from 'Green Zone' has so much to love in it--Matt Damon, whom I love for his mind [remember 'Good Will Hunting'?], an awesome assault weapon, and a bloodied and be-stached Jason Isaacs talking into one of those cool comm thingies like the police wear.

A Brit a Day [#358]

With Dan Radcliffe in the lead, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" begins previews on Broadway February 26.

A Brit a Day [#357]

Happy Valentines' Day.

I've been holding onto this picture of Christian Bale because it is just too cool to give it up too easily. I believe it is from the same Esquire photo shoot that I have been mining for weeks now.

A Brit a Day [#356]

Sometimes Alan Rickman seems like the strongest, sternest man alive. It makes him a natural for playing Severus Snape and Metatron....so it is a pleasure to see him goofing around with Sigourney Weaver at one of the international events for Galaxy Quest. A couple of years ago I unearthed another gem with these two called 'Snow Cake'. Again, he's stern, not so strong, but he's also a bit goofy, and she is....well, you are going to go see it now, so I'll stop.

A Brit a Day [#355]

I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone that I frequently use my editor's choice day to post pictures of Ian Cusick. I clearly think he is the hottest, loveliest thing since toast was invented. Through a sisterhood of fans, the Sistahs, I've come to know a few things that go on in the Cusick household, too. For example, when his wife Annie cleans out his closet, she has brilliantly arranged to auction off some of Ian's better-known articles of clothing to raise money for a charity they are both passionate about, the Honolulu Theatre for Youth. Since Annie knows that the Sistahs have the emotional maturity of 15-year-olds where anything connected to Ian is concerned, these auctions are a sure-fire fundraiser for HTY.

The jeans featured in the 2 pictures above came on the block the other night. The sistahood met in a chatroom that became our virtual auction house. Less dignified than Sotheby's perhaps, but we had a blast. Somehow I found myself in a bidding war for the jeans, offering an amount that was double what I'd ever paid for a pair of jeans for myself. What can I say, I was drunk on those images and the aura those jeans were infused with. Then my sistah-bidder hit the gas and took the bidding into triple digits. I washed out on the side of the road.

When I recovered, I realized how much she really deserved them. She had been the unofficial organizer of Ian's fans long before he appeared on anyone's radar, before he was cast in 'LOST' and before there was any reason to be a Sistah. I could never begrudge her an article of his clothing. And besides being the recipient of those fabulous jeans, she was the recipient of the most obvious comment of the evening: "Honey, we always knew you wanted to get into Ian's pants."

A Brit a Day [#354]

Happy birthday to my friend Sue, Eddie Argos' mum. Here she is a number of years ago with a toddling-aged Eddie. She graciously posted some adorable family photos on her Facebook page a while back, and this is one of them.

A Brit a Day [#353]

Henry Ian Cusick leans on Dominic Monaghan. And Dominic Monaghan leans on Megan Fox a bit in the video for eminem's "Love the way you lie," which is in heavy rotation on my laptop these days.

A Brit a Day [#352]

Ah, family....

This Norman Rockwell-like scene was created to promote the show 'Brotherhood.' Jason Isaacs was one of its stars.

A Brit a Day [#351]

I love the idea that our "family" can be people we aren't related to by blood. I call it found-family. There's a lot to be said for having to love the family we're born with, but I think we are equally without choice when we find like-minded friends close by in our everyday life--we have to love them, they are so much like us that to deny we love them is to deny we love ourselves. I am an only child, but I am blessed with brothers and sisters.

Above, Gary Oldman and Dan Radcliffe in a scene that presages what I think is a monumental tragedy in Harry Potter--that Harry should lose his surrogate father, Sirius Black, just as he found him.

A Brit a Day [#350]

I used a portion of this picture in a Live Journal entry I did the other day. It's Christian Bale and his lovely wife Sibi in Paris. I've read somewhere that he says she doesn't take any of his bad-temper crap from him. In this week running up to Valentines' Day, we should all give thanks for the loved ones who put up with us.

A Brit a Day [#349]

My post yesterday got me thinking about how much I like the movie 'Dogma' and how much I love the movie 'Wings of Desire.' The funny thing is that I loved 'Dogma' until I watched the DVD with Kevin Smith's narcissistic commentary turned on. I think Kevin Smith is incredibly creative, but I don't think he is as funny as HE thinks he is. Initially, I loved 'Dogma' because it gave me the same rush that seeing 'Harold and Maude' for the first time gave me--that moment when you realize a movie is so twisted that you either have to walk away in disgust or laugh out loud and enjoy it. The cherry on top was when Bud Cort--'Harold'--had a small part in 'Dogma'. I felt like Smith had read my mind.

The one really good thing that came from hearing Smith's testimony on the making of 'Dogma' was finding out that the idea for costuming the angels in something distinctive, like hooded sweatshirts, came from Wim Wenders' film 'Wings of Desire.' Wenders' American movie 'Paris Texas' was one of my all time favorites. So I bought the DVD of 'Wings of Desire'....and for anyone who's seen it, you know the rest. If you haven't seen it, then you must and this is your call to action.

A caricature of Alan Rickman as Metatron [above], and Bruno Ganz with Peter Falk in 'Wings of Desire' [below].

A Brit a Day [#348]

I admire Randee St. Nicholas's new photographs of Henry Ian Cusick not only for their beauty [oh, yes, beauty..] but for their style. Is it her style, his style? What makes these pictures so evocative is that there is a seamless blend of artist and subject.

I love the hoody within a hoody within the leather jacket. That's a brave choice; I know I couldn't pull it off. And it immediately makes me think of Kevin Smith's movie "Dogma" in which the angels all wore hoodies. It was sort of their dress code. Alan Rickman was the angel known as the Voice of God, a bit of brilliant casting if there ever was one.

But then Kevin Smith freely admits that he derived the hoody idea from Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire." In "Wings of Desire," the angels wore full overcoats and cashmere scarves. The look is timeless and yet the story is firmly set in the time it was made, the 1980's.

A Brit a Day [#347]

I think that might be Eddie Argos in the far corner. What I do know is that this is the studio in Salem, Oregon, where Art Brut have been recording their 4th album, with Frank Black producing. And they said it wouldn't last...

A Brit a Day [#346]

I'm not much of a bobble-head collector, but I must admit, I'm looking forward to this one. It comes out in June, and you can pre-order it at EntertainmentEarth.com. You can locate it on their site by searching, among other keywords, 'henry ian cusick.'

A Brit a Day [#345]

This is one of the earliest photos I have of Jason Isaacs. Anyone know what it's from? I don't, so please comment if you do.

A Brit a Day [#344]

I fell in love with Dan Radcliffe when his hair was this long in 'The Goblet of Fire.' Here he is at the DVD launch of 'The Prisoner of Azkabhan' greeting POA director Alphonse Cuaron. Dan was probably already filming GOF by then.