The Squeee

BEHOLD!!! :D Things that make a simple fangirl very happy: finding out that Warner Bros have recently (earlier this month), finally, after all these years, decided to make the 1993/1994 sci-fi TV show Time Trax available on DVD. The most disappointing thing thing is that it's only series one. C'mon WB, you only ever made two - would it have killed you to release them both at the same time as a box set? :(

Everyone hates Joffrey. If you watch Game of Thrones in particular, or perhaps if you're just reading the books on which the TV series is based, you're likely to have taken a sort of anti-shine to that little bastard. As well you should, because Joffrey is not a nice person and is completely devoid of any redeeming features. In fact, he's the epitome of a complete dick, git, douchebag, jerkwad, and so on. But the actor that plays him is the complete opposite, I only just discovered, and because he's made us all hate Joffrey so much, he's obviously rather convincing as an actor! Okay, I didn't expect the actor to be a complete and utter little shit in real life just because he plays one on telly, but you know, it's nice to know that he seems to be a really nice guy in real life.

I've often wondered why in Jane Austen the interesting new acquaintances of the heroine's age are often men rather than women. If the women are bad, they are petty, malicious, proud and inconstant. If the women are good, they are giggly, unintellectual, sometimes sensible, never really deep or profound. (We're not talking about the heroines themselves). Perhaps Jane Austen preferred the company of men? (We seem to see quotes from her letters favourable things about the gentlemen she met). Was she trying to tell us something by having the heroines be friendlier (in a platonic sense) to men than women? Look at Pride and Prejudice . Miss Bingley is a petty malicious slanderer who thinks she's greater than the less well-off Elizabeth. Charlotte Lucas is sensible but then marries the idiotic Mr Collins. Lady Catherine de Bourgh is a vulgar, arrogant interfering old woman. The only exception is Mrs Gardiner, but she's Lizzie's aunt, so that doesn't count. The ge...

More hot dwarves. Sorry, I meant to say "more Thorin Oakenshield". Sorry, I mean Richard Armitage!! *happysigh* Ehh ... okay, well, just look at this: It does have a tremendous amount of Thorin/Richard in it. Very pleased! And of course, now it's less than three months to go! :D

Hello. If you have ever considered submitting a guest review or any other kind of post, to my humble haunt here, now is a great time to get your hands dirty! I'm going to be offline for a few weeks, but I'd still like there to be some posts while I'm gone, if possible. I'm working on writing reviews myself, and so far I've managed to cover six out of nine posts (or twelve, preferably), but if you ever wanted to contribute, now would be a good time, as it gives me time to focus on a bunch of stuff I'll need to sort out in the week ahead. If you have anything you'd like to write, you can email the finished post(s) to blog(at)traxy.co.uk before Friday 21 September, and I'll let you know what date it'll be scheduled for, which will be early- to mid-October. If you've never contributed before, a short blurb about yourself would be great so that you're more than just Random Name. See Guest Posts for examples of previous guest posts. :) Thank...

Look, he's even wearing a cravat! :D Happy 65th birthday, Sam Neill! May you have a great birthday weekend, with lots of wine, spring flowers and warm breezes through the vinyards. :)

Holy moly, it's been a year already! Or rather, it's been three. I can't believe I've managed to post regularly on a blog for three years now. Uh-MAY-zing! :) Thank you for reading this blog, and thank you for leaving a comment now and then, if you do. (Lurking is fine, not like I don't do that myself!) I started this blog to have an outlet for all my pent-up fangirliness, and I think I've succeeded in that. Now, I just like to have reviews of films I've seen so that I pay more attention to what's happening. Writing them down also means I remember whether or not I've seen or read something, and maybe, just maybe, it will be useful to anyone out there who loves to watch films just to be entertained and is wondering whether to watch the latest Twilight flick or Tropic Thunder . Or a Jane Eyre adaptation. Things to look forward to for the rest of 2012: The first part of The Hobbit - which is now a trilogy . Not sure I like that or not yet, consi...

What day is it today? It's Armitage Day! Wishing everyone a fantastic day, regardless of where in the world you are, which also of course goes for the birthday boy himself! Happy birthday, Richard Armitage! Hope your 42nd* year will be as epic as the number implies! :D And don't get swooped up by some big ol' tornado now, y'hear? ;) * The same way as the 1800s is the "19th Century", meaning if he's 41, he's on his 42nd year. That's right, isn't it?

I did another one of these " People that remind me of Richard Armitage " posts before, and I thought it was time to do another one, seeing as how I was reminded of this guy when we saw The Dark Knight Rises recently. (Review to follow once I get back from Sweden?) Well, here's the man in question: Josh Stewart .

Here's what we're going ga-ga over today on Facebook! A new picture (from Entertainment Weekly, I believe) of Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit . [Source: RichardArmitageNet.com ] Hawt dang. Like a friend of mine commented: I really didn't think he was going to be hot as a Tolkien-dwarf but omg, he is hotness no matter what he looks like ♥ I concur! And at the same time note that he seems to be sporting his very own beard and not that fake fuzz we've seen previously. A little over five months to go now! :D

The news has been out for about a week and a half, but I didn't see it until just now. Starlings , the new drama/comedy show on Sky1 (starring Brendan Coyle and Lesley Sharp) that I absolutely adore, has been renewed and a second series will be out some time in 2013. HAPPYFACE! :D

Last night, Nora Ephron was trending on Twitter, because an obituary had been posted on a website, and then removed. Her people said she was alive. Other tweeters said that she's alive, but not expected to live through the night. Well, it seems the latter was right. :( It's now been confirmed that Nora Ephron, screenwriter and director, has died, aged 71, from acute myeloid leukaemia. Sorry to see her go. My thoughts and condoleances are with her friends and family. One of her best known films, and perhaps also most loved, is When Harry Met Sally . I've not yet (re-)watched and reviewed that, but here are a couple of other Nora Ephron films you can read my take on: Sleepless in Seattle (1993) You've Got Mail (1998)

No words needed, just watch this:

Ah, sometimes Facebook ads are actually useful. It showed me a t-shirt site called Meanfellas.com, which I immedately had to investigate: Lowood t-shirt Lowood Charity School. :D It's £15 (or more, depending on size/style) and comes in white or pink. Free shipping to anywhere in the world.

I was going to write a post, but then ... then someone posted a link to this video and a description seems sort of superfluous! ...Okay, maybe some things need explaining after all.

There are some people that you see on TV, and then you see someone that looks just like them. Except unlike the topic of yesterday's post, they're the other gender. And they're not even related. Ever had that? There's one I've been thinking about for a while, and while looking for photos in order to make this image, found that Google Images actually suggested I search for the two of them together. For anyone in the UK, it's rather obvious: John Sergeant and Jo Brand , of course! Jo Brand & John Sergeant. Or is it the other way around? Brand is a very deadpan, snarky, and - in my humble opinion - hilarious comedian. Sergeant is a journalist or something? These days he's on The One Show and has danced (badly) in Strictly Come Dancing . Could be twins! Don't know the age difference between the two, but gosh, they do look very similar. Another one I didn't think of until today, when I watched The Prestige . I saw the judge and thought ...

Please tell me I'm not the only one who keep seeing people that remind me of Richard Armitage? Surely you keep seeing people that remind you of him as well? Anyway, here's the one that gets me every time we watch Grimm : Sasha Roiz .

Just saw that the Queen's Birthday Honours have been made public. Kenneth Branagh may now call himself Sir, as he is to be knighted. Gary Barlow and choir boy Gareth Malone got an OBE each, and  Kate Winslet a CBE, just like Mary Berry from The Great British Bake-off . Another Knight of the Realm is Richard Stilgoe, who's worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber a lot. Congratulations, one and all! The full lists are on the Directgov website and a summary is available on BBC News .

The subject of a gay actor playing straight parts has come up in the comments before, but I think for me personally, that's more to do with the actor's skills than anything else. For instance, if a certain actor we all love and are really devoted to would turn out to bat for the other team, as it were, some people would argue that it would be too weird to watch him play straight relationships on screen. For instance, wouldn't it be weird if Thornton was gay in real life? Don't look like no limp wrists to me, sonny. I think it's more to do with how the actor portrays the character. With Thornton, I'd say "whoa boy, you sure could've fooled me!" for instance. In Serenity , we finally see Kaylee and Simon get together. The actor playing Simon, Sean Maher, came out last year. Him and Kaylee? That seems genuine enough to me.

Peter Jackson and pals in New Zealand post production diaries from The Hobbit every now and again. The seventh one in the series has just been released. Was happily surprised to realise Billy Connolly has been cast as Dain, and the surprise cameraman in the end is pretty cool. :D There's no interview of Richard Armitage, and we only see him briefly, but oh, those moments are worth their weight in gold. Feast your eyes on this: