Richard Armitage tangentially related mammoth edition, part 1

(Some of this will probably be ICYMI for some readers. I think it’s been a week. More updates about the me part, soon. I needed a break.)

Castlevania 2:

• Will be delayed till the end of calendar 2018, apparently, per Warren Ellis (writer).

Ocean’s 8:

• Some more reviews: Armitage is described as “resolutely one-dimensional” here, which in this case is a description more than a criticism; this one hates Bonham-Carter’s Irish accent (I was wondering about this); this one finds Armitage too bland; this one refers to Armitage as a “male of note“; this one says Armitage didn’t get enough screen time to flesh out Becker as a villain; this one argues the film is the perfect break from the horrible news this summer; this one calls it the first film of the post-Weinstein era and thinks men can enjoy it, too; this says men won’t get it; Film Threat says “talent is talent no matter the gender.”
• A piece from Sarah Edwards, the costume designer.
• A review in a socialist publication that I’m finding both typically socialist in view (full disclosure: one of several reasons I can’t really get on board with socialism is its deeply rooted misogynism) and hilariously funny. Like: why would a socialist reviewer even want to see this film?Interestingly, one of the alert links this week went to tapatalk, a forum about male bondage. Although there was only one post noting Armitage’s scene in this film, there were several earlier threads about the frequency with which he gets tied up. I’m not linking b/c it’s signup only, but I’m intrigued that people have been talking about it.

• Den of Geek thinks Claude couldn’t have been framed so easily.
• Linking this review mostly because of the author’s objection to Kaling’s assertion that male critics were not in a position to appreciate Ocean’s 8. As proof of his capacity to love female films he cites Bridesmaids (meh) and Wonder Woman (a teenager’s wet dream of a film if I’ve ever seen one). I think he kind of missed her point. For what it’s worth — while I do not agree that only women should review women’s films, I do believe that diversity of perspective in reviewing is essential and that the film criticism industry (at least in major outlets) suffers from lack of such. And I’m still turning over in my head the question of whether “female values” should lead critics to rethink the traditional categories with which they’ve critiqued film (in this particular case, the question of how conflict occurs would be a major field of discussion). This review makes a strong case for the latter point. Here‘s another interesting comment on the question, in part a response to Bullock’s and Blanchett’s assertions in the Telegraph on the same topic, although to some extent it misses the problem that in many of the reviews of this film by white men, there was no good faith attempt made to understand the film on its own terms (which is the first step in criticism). Thumbs up / thumbs down is not the be all / end of film reviews. Neither is (pace The Guardian) whether an individual finds a piece entertaining (although this article makes the good point that the task of reviewing a franchise film complicates a reviewer’s task enormously and leads to distrust of critics).
• Second weekend box office held strong in the U.S. against the biggest opening of an animated film in history (I wanted to see The Incredibles but now it’s unlikely that I will have the opportunity). Reports at Forbes and Collider. Here’s also the previous day’s comment at Forbes, which points out that other than The Incredibles there was no comparable competition at all for 08. The real question is how it would hold against this weekend’s release, the next Jurassic Park film (I’ve only ever seen the first one, and it scared the shit out of me, so no more of that for me). Our local chain actually increased the 08-dedicated screens this week, perhaps in view of the disastrous reviews for JP. Apparently second weekends are usually good for female-centric films?
• I appreciated this review of the film’s press conference, which pointed out that one female-centric film cannot be all things to all women, a point the Telegraph reviewer missed.
• Interesting piece on the film’s premiere in Lagos, which none of its stars attended.
• Another RT scandal:  Gotti, which got a 0% critical score and which almost no one has seen, has more reviews than 08.
• The waiter with the weed was the late James Gandolfini’s son.

Berlin Station:

• Interview with season 3 costume designer Stephanie Maslansky (the one who’d moved to Budapest a few weeks ago).
• The same “first look” deal that led to the creation of Berlin Station spawns another series. The drive for content is absolutely on.

Urban and the Shed Crew:

• A second signed poster for the film sold for about a tenth of the price of the first one on eBay. Not sure what was up with that.
• A late review. The loud sucking noises coming from this reviewer at Film Inquiry are getting impossible to ignore.

Wolverine: The Long Night:

• Gulf News loves it: “With Wolverine: The Long Night, listeners got a chance to get inside the much-loved, adamantium-clawed mutant’s head in a way that hasn’t been done before and they largely pull it off because of lead star Richard Armitage’s superior voice acting skills. Armitage’s Logan is everything you’ve known him to be and more: vicious loner meets overzealous protector meets vulnerable man. If you are a fan of the comics, you have no excuse to not have tuned in to this beauty.”

Past projects:

• Interview with the author of a new North & South sequel.

Things about Armitage:

• He has a teenage past as a competitive ballroom dancer, and stated that the “Argentinian tango” was his best dance. Interesting piece about the transformative powers of tango.

Collateral attractions / degrees of separation:

• Jon Bernthal (Pilgrimage) said to be returning to Walking Dead for one episode.
• Dana Schwartz, who emphatically doesn’t think Richard Armitage is all that, on the publication of her book.
• James Corden (Ocean’s 8) on his favorite moments on his own show (it’s an Emmy contender).
• Adi Shankar (Castlevania) also mentioned on FB this week that Castlevania is an Emmy contender.
• Updates by her partner on the recovery of Sarah Dunn (frequent photographer of Armitage), who is having issues with her eyes, apparently. Donate for her continued care at the same page, if you feel led.

Fandom:

• Warner Bros. cracks down on non-official fan events. No more quidditch for you!
• Interesting reflection on grief over the loss of celebrities.

Industry issues:

• BAFTA enacts diversity requirement for 2019 awards sequence.

Miscellaneous:

• Fans had wanted Armitage to appear in the Fantastic Beasts films. Here’s a long Rolling Stone profile on the on its headliner, Johnny Depp.

~ by Servetus on June 24, 2018.