First candle, second year: Hobbit trailer premiere!
Dear Mr. Armitage:
Congratulations! Now we (and the many fans of longer duration than I) will be able to say we “knew you when.” You were stunning! There were tears in my eyes — no one deserves the success more than you do.
Your fan,
Servetus
***
A link to last year’s post, including a link to me singing Ma’oz Tsur. New reflections follow.
Richard Armitage menorah, first night: Richard Armitage and one candle. Okay, technically there are two candles on the first night, the first candle and the shamash candle, but you get the idea. I’ll do better tomorrow. Actually, John Porter (Richard Armitage) limps back into the orphanage after rescuing two little boys in Strike Back 1.4. Source: RichardArmitageNet.com
Last year I posted pictures of various menorahs (technically, the Chanukkah menorah has an extra branch and is called a chanukkiah) on the different nights. This year I think I’m going to go for an Armitage menorah. This may sound strange to non-Jews, but there are tons of different menorah styles designed to appeal to different interests — ballerina menorahs and baseball menorahs and so on. A bit like these Nativities, I suppose. This year I also made potato latkes for my family, and I haven’t lit the menorah yet but I will soon. I’ll watch it with a lot of joy, tonight.
Another Richard Armitage menorah, first night: Richard Armitage with one candle. Actually: Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) as he begins a song in the trailer from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (December 2011). My cap.
I think that (with the help of Peter Jackson) Richard Armitage gave us the big Chanukkah gift this year. It’s amazing to listen to him sing in this looser style (he sang in Clarissa, but he is clearly singing an art song, and also acting a particular role while doing so, in that role). Actually, the way that section of the trailer starts, it almost sounded like he was starting to sing one of the holiday blessings.
I’m beside myself. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about the makeup and prosthetics hiding his expressive face. His voice is as wonderful as ever. He has a commanding presence on a horse. I hope the film really turns out the way that the trailer implies, with a sort of triangular tension between Gandalf, Bilbo, and Thorin. It really suggests that the script will have some of the adult dramatic tension that the book lacks, and the construction of the trailer makes Thorin seem like a lead — like they’re really trying to promot Mr. Armitage. And it totally makes me want to see the movie. (Not like Captain America, where I was sort of seeing it because of Armitage). What a huge gift to fans — a piece that we’ll really want to see from the get-go — but also, what a huge gift for Richard Armitage, to have this kind of chance. The excitement will really be building now.
***
It’s that time of year again: a point at which we think about the needs of others in the midst of gratitude for the gifts we have received. Here’s a link to Mr. Armitage’s recommended charities at JustGiving and a link to Act!onAid, a child sponsorship organization for which he recorded a voiceover in December 2010. In 2011, Mr. Armitage also participated in fundraising efforts for Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. You can also generate a donation by doing any amazon.co.uk or Book Depository shopping that you do for the holidays via RichardArmitageOnline.com, or amazon.com or amazon.co.uk shopping via RichardArmitageNet.com, as these fansites both donate earned commission to charities that Armitage has endorsed. Fans have also donated in honor of Armitage to Oxfam International.
Yes, I am excited about the movie as a whole–not just RA’s role in it. The production values and art direction look absolutely fantastic. I think Martin is going to make a marvelous Bilbo, we already know what Ian will bring with Gandalf and yes, yes–it looks like our Thorin is going to be very prominent in this film. I enjoyed hearing him sing–seeing him on horseback once again (didn’t he look a treat?) and yes, we can still see that expressive face–still beautiful to me even with the prosthetics–and hear that rich baritone of his.
Oh, Richard, I am so happy for and proud of you, my dear fellow. Lots of folks will be sitting up and taking notice of you, and rightly so.
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angieklong said this on December 21, 2011 at 3:47 am |
yeah, the man was born to sit astride a horse …. squeee. And happiness. Gratitude. Wonder. Thank you, universe.
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servetus said this on December 21, 2011 at 4:25 am |
I am just so happy for HIM. He’s worked so hard and been so dediicated to his craft. So much talent and versatility and on top of it all he’s a lovely person.
In a world that celebrates talentless creatures like the Kardashian clan, it feels so GOOD to see someone captuing attention that really deserves it for all the right reasons. 😀
And yes, I am crying a bit. But happy tears.
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angieklong said this on December 21, 2011 at 4:34 am |
What Angie said; I’m still sniffing back happy tears.
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ladyanne said this on December 21, 2011 at 5:02 am |
There was a lot of that last night and this morning, methinks 🙂
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servetus said this on December 22, 2011 at 6:36 am |
Look out world, here comes Richard Armitage!
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Gratiana Lovelace said this on December 21, 2011 at 3:59 am |
It’s really true.
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servetus said this on December 21, 2011 at 4:25 am |
I looked at my saved pictures of Thorin from the promo shots and I do not think that he has all of those prosthetics in the video. It pretty much looks like the RA we know and love just with a lot of hair on his face and on his head. This will require a lot more serious analysis of course.
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Kathleen Evans said this on December 21, 2011 at 4:01 am |
I think he has some prosthetics — that’s not the end of his own nose — but maybe not the ones we’ve seen most recently. I guess we’ll have to analyze!!!! What a shame. More time looking at pictures of Richard Armitage.
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servetus said this on December 21, 2011 at 4:23 am |
As if that is a hardship! I love the idea of an Armitage menorah. Is it heretical to state that he really does bring light into the darkness?
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ladyanne said this on December 21, 2011 at 5:06 am |
I don’t think so.
I think about this a lot because I’m such a frum chick — is it fair to write stuff about Armitage that has religious overtones? I don’t want people to think that *I* think he’s the messiah, because I don’t.
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servetus said this on December 22, 2011 at 6:37 am |
IMHO,prosthetics doesn’t do him harm,as log as he have those “thinking”eyes:)
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Joanna said this on December 21, 2011 at 7:18 am |
So true!
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servetus said this on December 22, 2011 at 6:37 am |
What a magical looking movie, it is going to be, very impressive once again Mr Armitage you are truly a master of your craft. I’m so proud of you I could burst- once the tears of joy cease!
Off to watch just a few times more……
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mersguy said this on December 21, 2011 at 10:17 am |
This gives me a poll idea …
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servetus said this on December 22, 2011 at 6:37 am |
I suppose it would be too much to ask for the dwarves to break out in a spontaneous tango at some point?
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simplegirl said this on December 21, 2011 at 10:53 am |
LOL simplegirl–
probably so, but it never hurts to dream . . . although with the looks of some of the dwarfs in full regalia, it would be a comical dance scene if it happened. But I bet that Thorin chap could make some smooooth moves. 😀
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angieklong said this on December 21, 2011 at 11:02 am |
great idea, simplegirl!
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servetus said this on December 22, 2011 at 6:37 am |
this one came to my inbox, but not the other one.
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RAFrenzy said this on December 21, 2011 at 7:25 pm |
He absolutely sounds fabulous. That voice, oh that voice of his! How I’ve missed it. And the treat of hearing him sing…
That he gets to play Thorin is a major plus, since I’d go see it anyway. The LOTR bug bit me hard 10 years ago and the Hobbit was quite enjoyable when I read it the first time so many years ago.
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CC said this on December 21, 2011 at 8:32 pm |
I’d probably have seen this film even if he hadn’t been in it — I’ve seen the other three. But this makes it special.
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servetus said this on December 22, 2011 at 6:38 am |
Oh yes, this makes it very special indeed.
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CC said this on December 22, 2011 at 4:44 pm |
[…] and this is what I thought of trailer 1: initial reaction, from seeing it on the computer, and then here, where I had seen it in the theater and was especially moved by the singing. I […]
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Coming to terms with The Hobbit, trailer 2 « Me + Richard Armitage said this on September 22, 2012 at 4:54 am |
[…] You will always have had that relationship. You will always will have been the first to know him when. […]
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Losing Armitage? or Thorin aches and pains, part 1 « Me + Richard Armitage said this on October 20, 2012 at 1:54 am |
[…] A year ago, on 1. Chanukkah, we were watching the premiere of the first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And that promise is shortly to be fulfilled as well. […]
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Third year, first candle « Me + Richard Armitage said this on December 8, 2012 at 11:31 pm |
[…] which also had hit me very hard for several days. And just a little after this, we were to see the first trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and #richardarmitage trended on Twitter for the first […]
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Richard Armitage: Two pictures, two fantasies. Fantasy 1 | Me + Richard Armitage said this on April 21, 2013 at 4:56 am |
[…] other first nights: 2010 (in the wake of the good news about the Hobbit); 2011 (the night the world saw the first Hobbit trailer and #richardarmitage trended the first time); 2012 (you can see the exciting sing along Chanukkah video here, if you haven’t); 2013 […]
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First night, eleven years on | Me + Richard Armitage said this on November 29, 2021 at 6:53 am |