gwyn: (Default)
[personal profile] gwyn
Whenever I feel kind of down in the dumps, I pull out certain movies or shows with actors I love. A pretty face always makes me feel better, so I’ve been watching the remaining Sharpe episodes that I hadn’t seen (or rather, movies, since they were filmed separately as movies) because few faces make me as happy as Sean Bean’s. I’m still a bit stunned by the huge fandoms that sprang up over Pirates of the Caribbean and Master & Commander, because so few fans tend to (even with a love of pirates!) like historically set shows and films. A part of me keeps hoping that some of that will spill over onto two other shows I love set during the Napoleonic era -- Horatio Hornblower and the Sharpe series. At least HH is set on the sea, but Sharpe is set on land, alas, so I have a feeling I’ll wait in vain for more fans to come out of the woodwork (and write me some fanfic or make me some vids!).

Sharpe has all the same types of elements as M&C and HH, just without boats (swords, manly men, swashbuckling, manly men, derring do). And mostly it has Sean Bean as possibly the sexiest rifleman who ever shot a gun or wielded a sword. He plays a solider in Wellington’s army who saves Wellington’s life in the first movie (Sharpe’s Rifles), then rises through the ranks -- incredibly uncommon for a lower class infantryman back then -- to become a high-ranking officer of a select group of riflemen, sent on the most dangerous and secret of missions. Sean is so perfect in the role that Bernard Cornwell, who wrote the books, apparently revamped the physical descriptions of the character midway through. He’s got this perfect blend of macho manliness and loving tenderness, something that few actors can really put on screen well -- they often overcompensate in one direction or the other, and Sean never does that. Last year I remember an article in USA Today, I think, where they talked about the new scenes in the extended Two Towers release, and they said, “Fans of manly actor Sean Bean will be thrilled...” I howled over that for days. I’d never quite thought to put such a sobriquet on him, but it really is true to some degree -- he has that unique ability to be incredibly strong and exert a certain kind of machismo while also being believably tender and sweet and quietly sexy, a quality that’s there in only a handful of actors, most notably Russell Crowe.

Sharpe really needed that kind of actor, too -- you had to believe he could beat the shit out of a man much bigger than him to whip him into line, and yet still be so tenderly sweet to the women who fall for him (not to mention to his very young soldiers who need a guiding hand). Sharpe is kind of like the British Army of the 19th century’s equivalent of Captain Kirk -- the babes fall for him right and left, from firebrands to novitiate nuns to enemy spies to upper class English girls. And his men are all a little in love with him too, not to mention Lord Wellington. His first real girl in the series is a ball of fire who leads the partisans in Spain, and the two of them generate enough sparks of their own to create a bonfire. Sean has that rare ability to generate chemistry with a really huge range of other actors, which is not something that can be easily created by the producer types. And that ability comes into play when he has to work different sides of the character, against actors with varying styles.

I think when actors get tagged with that manly man title, they often get stuck in roles that don’t allow much leeway for quieter stuff; fortunately Sean’s been pretty good about testing that, in films as diverse as the dark and depressing film adaptation of the play The Field with Richard Harris, to an adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, to American Hollywood crap like Don’t Say a Word or Patriot Games. Because he can play that Eurotrash bad guy all too well, he gets cast too often as the heavy, like in Goldeneye -- he has, like Crowe again, those kind of eyes that can look either feral and psychotic or gentle and kind, and so he often gets stuck with the former while working over here. He’s also great at goofing on himself -- his cameo in the Vicar of Dibley episode where he appears to the Vicar in her wedding dream was hysterical, and he seemed to know it (plus I loved that the man she was marrying referred to him as Sean Bone).

I was so very grateful to Peter Jackson for casting him as Boromir in Lord of the Rings. At first I was kind of upset, because I didn’t like book Boromir at all, but I was glad that at least he wasn’t playing a nutball. In the end, though, Jackson and Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, through their wonderful alchemy with Sean’s acting gifts, came up with a character I fell madly in love with. He represented all the good and bad in humans, embodied all the nobility, pride, greed, kindness, and honesty that’s in people, creating a character that resonated with a lot of people even in his limited time on screen. Plus, Best. Death scene. Ever. Ever! (And I say that as a connoisseur of death scenes.)

What I think made movie Boromir so amazing was that the character development picked up on what makes Sean so sexy and magnetic to many people -- a kind of rough-hewn quality that also shows refinement if you look under the surface, a quiet nobility that says this is a guy who doesn’t say a lot, but tells you deep things through his actions. He’s got all these very strong, masculine features -- the strong jawline, hawk-like nose, high cheekbones, sandy blond hair, narrow, deep-set eyes, and the deep, plummy voice with the rough Yorkshire accent. Yet at the same time he radiates that interior, almost artistically inclined type of personality, and you totally believe him when he’s tender and soft on screen (which I think really paid off for him in Ronin, where he played a bullshitting macho ass who, when the truth really came out, was scared and weak and miserable). Casting him as Boromir not only changed the character in some ways from the book, but brought a vulnerability to the role that wasn’t on the page, at least for me. Sean in that role couldn’t have been more perfect -- exemplifying how perfect the casting was throughout that movie for most of the characters.

A lot of actors, too, can’t make the switch between historical and modern all that well. One of the great things about so many British and Australian actors is that they have a quality about them that translates better in different eras, and when you go over his credits, it’s interesting to see how much of Sean’s career has him in roles set a long time ago. He’s amazing at wielding a sword and all that, but he’s equally at home in modern clothes, often pointing a gun. And nothing I’ve seen in recent years was as sexy as him simply reading from a book of poetry in the cheesefest that is Equilibrium -- that voice, that face, and poetry, yum.

Because at the core, a lot of what I love about him is that he’s gorgeous. My taste in most actors is quite different from my friends’ tastes, so when I think someone’s gorgeous and they don’t, I get that. But Sean’s one of those guys who, if people say they don’t get the attraction, I want to shout, “are you freaking blind?” It’s hard to see him in his regimental forest green velveteeny uniform in Sharpe, with the super cool boots and the epaulets and the tons of sparkly buttons and frog closures and the tightest trousers ever (stretched over a really, really nice ass), and understand how anyone could resist him. Especially when he’s got the jacket open and the poofy shirt underneath slightly unbuttoned, or when he’s strutting around in a nice medium shot so we can see how provocatively worn and faded his trousers are in strategic places. With the waist-length jacket always offering us a nice view of front and back, it’s hard to believe there are people who don’t appreciate that view.

He’s also one of those actors who's unafraid to share their... charms with the audience. It’s one reason I was initially so hopeful about Venetian Heat, but I have no idea if that movie’s seriously gone off the planner or not. It could have been lovely to have him and James Marsters in that, since they seem to have so little trouble with adventurous roles. Because it was for television, we didn’t always get as much skin on Sharpe as we could have, but what we got was often lovely, plus he was constantly macking with the babes, having this incredibly slashy relationship with his sergeant, Patrick Harper, and being shot, stabbed, beaten, betrayed, you name it.

Sharpe as a series had pretty much nearly everything, but mostly it was a chance to watch a really good actor define a character so completely that you can’t imagine anyone else in the role. It helped that he was so pretty, of course, and it’s fun to watch the series over the years, as Sean grew a little bit older and more rugged (though not in the craggy, scary way Mel Gibson has grown rugged). I wish they’d film some of the other books, but I suppose he’s too old for them to go back and fill all that in. I’m actually getting to the end of seeing the entire series now, catching the movies I’d missed before, and I wish it wasn’t going to end. Because, man, it’s a long, long time until Troy comes out, when we get to see him running around in a leather skirt as Odysseus. Hopefully even more people will discover him after that drops this summer. And now, of course, I'm wishing I had a Sean icon.

Date: 2004-02-03 06:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] umbo.livejournal.com
I've never seen any of the Sharpe series (haven't seen much of HH either), but you've definitely made me curious. He did do an excellent job in LoTR, and although my lustful attention was much more drawn by Aragorn and Faramir than Boromir, I can see why you find him so attractive. And that certainly was a kick-ass death scene, no question!

Date: 2004-02-03 10:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
You know, I have to shamefully admit that my interest in Boromir/Aragorn slash (which is small, but there in my head) came out of the DVD commentaries where Viggo and Sean talk about each other as if they were madly in love with each other! It's really quite...amazing. And couldn't have made me happier, because I've adored Viggo for a long time, too. And David Wenham was just such perfect casting -- they not only looked like brothers, they acted like brothers, and you could see that they had an intense chemistry with each other. I love all of them just a little too much. ;-)

Date: 2004-02-03 06:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] glassslipper.livejournal.com
Glad to see another Sharpe/Sean Bean fan. Isn't a wonderful thing - a series of movie-length episodes about a fantastic character. I watched all of them a few years ago, but your post is making me consider another go. I did love the stuff with Patrick Harper. And it's really too bad about Venetian Heat, which seems to have disappeared at this point.

Date: 2004-02-03 10:53 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
My friend loaned me her complete set, and I must say, it's really been a lifesaver for me. I'm probably never going to give them back to her, unfortunately. They're the rare movies I will watch over and over -- I always think I'm going to watch something a lot, buy it, and then never watch it again. Not Sharpe.

Date: 2004-02-03 06:59 pm (UTC)
fishsanwitt: (Default)
From: [personal profile] fishsanwitt
Gwn, what a great post :) Thanks for sharing - and for being so insightful too!

Date: 2004-02-03 11:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Heee... well, I do love to ramble about men I love. If I could only make a living at doing this!

Date: 2004-02-03 07:32 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] batdina.livejournal.com
I had occasion this past weekend to watch The Fellowship of the Ring with its commentary track and I was impressed as hell with the commentary from Mr. Bean. I am, by trade (for 15 or so years) a theatre slut, the kind of person who heads to Ashland or Stratford for a week at a time and see 14 plays. There's something about theatre acting that makes me feel alive and thinking.

Anyway, I'd either forgotten, or never known, that Sean Bean was a Stratford (England) player. But when he talked about playing Boromir, I felt like I was at a backstage getting ready for the play conversation about character. It explains why I was moved by his performance, even though he was playing a character I generally don't care for. Now I'm looking forward to seeing Sharpe, or anything else the man might have done.

Date: 2004-02-03 10:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
I knew there were reasons I liked you -- big theatre slut here too. The only thing I truly miss about ex is that he loved theatre, and we went all the time.

I really have loved listening to him talk about the LOTR movies. He's so modest and makes fun of himself (his fear of helicopters), but he says such interesting things about the craft, too.

Date: 2004-02-03 07:43 pm (UTC)
ext_6848: (Default)
From: [identity profile] klia.livejournal.com
Woo! Sean! He's been a favorite of mine for many years, too. I first fell for him in Stormy Monday (which I saw for... Sting! *cough*). Unfortunately, I never did get my hands on all the Sharpe movies, and dammit, your comments really made me want to see them. Plus, in Sharpe's Waterloo, Paul Bettany plays William of Orange. *g*

I’m still a bit stunned by the huge fandoms that sprang up over Pirates of the Caribbean and Master & Commander

There's a huge M&C fandom? Where? Seriously, none of the M&C panel suggestions even made the cut for Escapade, so if there are fans around other than the 8 or so I know of, it's news to me.

Date: 2004-02-03 10:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Wow, I've been seeing tons of interest in M&C in my friends list now since the movie came out. Also on some general interest lists I'm on -- lots of slash interest. I'm surprised it hasn't shown up everywhere for you, too -- hmmm... now I feel the need to investigate.

Date: 2004-02-03 08:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barkley.livejournal.com
Have I mentioned that I've seen shirtless Sean Bean in person? (I tend to mention that a lot. I have no idea why. *g*) He spotted me, and just ripped his shirt off. Anyone who says that he was doing a performance of MacBeth and I happened to be in the audience is a LIAR! And from what I've seen of pictures from Sharpe and I think that I could actually get into that, I've just never gotten around to it.

Date: 2004-02-03 11:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
I am dead. Dead. You have killed me with envy. Dead, I tell you! To have seen Sean rip his shirt off in person... holymarymotherofgod. ::dies::

I've only twice ever had the chance to see actors I worship on stage, and it was just such a joy. I can't imagine what it would be like to see Sean on stage as MacBeth. Dead, I tell you.

Date: 2004-02-03 11:56 pm (UTC)
ext_6848: (Default)
From: [identity profile] klia.livejournal.com
Oh. My. God. I keep imagining him ripping off his shirt, and half the audience just swooning.

Btw, did you see him do The Scottish Play in Stratford?

Re:

Date: 2004-02-09 01:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barkley.livejournal.com
It was in London in 2002. The benefits of keeping an LJ for this long (and for going on vacation on roughly the same week every year) is that I can easily find the relevant entry:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/barkley/2002/11/20/

Re:

Date: 2004-02-09 08:07 pm (UTC)
ext_6848: (Default)
From: [identity profile] klia.livejournal.com
Thanks for the link.

It was *that* recent? I had no idea he was doing any stage work, anymore. *keels over* Sounded like an interesting production, too. Lucky you!

Date: 2004-02-03 09:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] namastenancy.livejournal.com
Gwyn - you are a Sean Bean fan as well as a superb writer and teacher of grammer to all us Internet types? WOW! I am impressed. I loved the Sharpe series and am collecting the DVD's as they come available. He was gorgeous in that series and I liked it that the women he really loved (as opposed to the snip that he married) were his equals in intelligence and strenght. Did you know that Alexis Denisoff plays a rotter in the series? I think that his character dies at the Battle of Waterloo but Sharpe (natch) lives on!

Now, if I could find a DVD of Lady Chatterly's lover, I'd be a happer camper.

ALSO - just to let you know that I am lighting candles, sending prayers your way and curses on the little man that fired you.

But - again a cliche - sometimes when a door shuts, a window opens. Maye it's time you set up your own business. I can see it now -"Tall Woman Editors of Seattle, Ltd, Inc?." Expertise, Intelligence and Height for a price. Attitude free.

But always the best,
namaste SF nancy

Date: 2004-02-03 11:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
A friend and I rented a DVD of Lady Chatterley and so I think it must be out there -- but she has a multiregion player, so i don't know if it was R1 or 2. But it's a horrible thing to watch -- we were sorely taxed, and we're pretty hardcore fans. But... nekkidity. Lots of it. So it's hard to gripe. We just fastforwarded a *lot*.

I'm just at the cluster of Alexis eps -- I've seen the final one, but not the ones leading up to it, so it's quite fun.

thanks for the wishes about the employment front... I'm taking it probably more slowly than I should, but just kind of starting to get the word out and think about it all. Which is why I keep popping in Sharpe's movies...

Re:

Date: 2004-02-04 06:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gattagrigia.livejournal.com
It's available both R1 and R2 now. And now I really want to rent Equilibrium... maybe I'll do a Sean mini-fest while I'm in Denver!

Date: 2004-02-04 09:31 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
He's only in it for like ten minutes all totalled, but they're nice minutes! And he makes a great naked corpse. You know, you could borrow it from Christy, I think. Unless she won't let it leave the state. ;-) It wasn't terribly easy to find.

Date: 2004-02-03 09:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] smithereen.livejournal.com
Don't feel at all pressured to use this, but your post reminded me that I had a couple Sharpe pics I've been meaning to icon. So I just made one, and if you want it, it's yours. And if you don't, that's totally cool too. I won't be at all put out. :)

Image

Totally agreed with what you said about Sharpe's combo of rugged, kick-ass manliness and his soft, tenderness. That's part of what I loved so much about Sharpe and Teresa in the first movie. He respects her so much, and he treats her like something precious. He's this warrior-rough guy, but when he's with her, he's so gentle and careful. I thought that their relationship in Rifles was beautiful because it has the warrior couple thing, which almost always gets to me. Love a woman who can kick-ass side by side with the guy. But it also has a huge element of tenderness. I have up through Sharpe's Honor on tape, but I haven't watched anything past the first one yet because I heard what happens with Teresa and I'm scared to see it. Hee. Eventually I'll do it because Sharpe is a great character on his own, and his relationships with the men are a big draw. But I'm still gonna be gutted, I just know it. *G*

Date: 2004-02-03 11:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Oh my god, this is *gorgeous*! Thank you so much! It's one of my favorite stills of him. I found a picture of one of my fave moments (a scene in Sharpe's Siege), but it was ganged with a bunch of other screen caps, so i couldn't take it separately, alas. So this is just... thank you!

I loved Teresa so much. He gets a lot of wonderful babes (one of the later eps has a most unusual one, who ends up saving his life when he's near death, and I highly recommend it), but Teresa was the most wonderfullest. He had such regard for her, and even though he came from such a low-class background, she saw the gentleman and man of honor he was, and gave him a lot of the polish he needed to succeed. The scenes you're talking about are hard. But they're also some of the most beautiful in the series, and some of Sean's best work, too. And if you do watch it, you can e-mail me and I'll comiserate with you over the gutted part. ;-)

Sean and Angus Viewfest

Date: 2004-02-03 09:27 pm (UTC)
ext_8787: (Default)
From: [identity profile] deejay.livejournal.com
For an interesting Sean Bean-appearing-in movie, that coincidentally also has Angus Macfadyen-appearing-in (not at the same time, sadly), check out 'Equilibrium.' This movie also has Christian Bale-appearing-in, he of the next 'Batman' movie.

Re: Sean and Angus Viewfest

Date: 2004-02-03 11:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
It's the cheesiest! Forget Kraft macaroni and cheese, Equilibrium is the cheesiest! But oh, oh, how I love it. Everyone's in that damn thing -- mean I love like Sean, Angus, William Fichtner,Bale, Taye Diggs, and Sean Pertwee. It's a cheese and pretty boy fest!

Date: 2004-02-03 10:25 pm (UTC)
ext_15108: (Default)
From: [identity profile] varina8.livejournal.com
Another Bean fan? Woo-hoo! I loved the Sharpe series. Your analysis of Sean Bean's appeal was right on the mark (though the Captain Kirk insight was a bit scary even if true). I should try to snag a copy of
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a href"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090798/">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

Another Bean fan? Woo-hoo! I loved the Sharpe series. Your analysis of Sean Bean's appeal was right on the mark (though the Captain Kirk insight was a bit scary even if true). I should try to snag a copy of <a href"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090798/">Caravaggio</a. from the library before we get together.

Date: 2004-02-03 11:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Now I'll have forever haunted you with the whole Kirk thing! Heeee...

I had a tough time with Caravaggio. Other people I know seemed to get more out of it than I did, but he is pretty (even if it was before he got the Hollywood teeth!), that's for sure. I still think I should try to watch it again, drunk, and see if it improves with alcohol.

Date: 2004-02-04 09:34 am (UTC)
ext_15108: (Default)
From: [identity profile] varina8.livejournal.com
Now there's a technique that can pave over any number of artistic flaws.

Date: 2004-02-04 04:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] harmonyfb.livejournal.com
been watching the remaining Sharpe episodes that I hadn’t seen

[livejournal.com profile] peacockharpy let me borrow "Sharpe's Rifles", and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. He was very sexy, and there was lots of action. Good movie. I wanted to get some other of the Sharpe movies, but it looks like the whole thing just devolves into this soap-opera-ish romance novel stuff. ::sigh::

Date: 2004-02-04 09:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
No, no! Don't give up on it! At least, to me, it never descended into soap. he does get a lot of babes, and at the end there's a bit of stuff with his wife leaving him for another man, but it's much... it's more backdrop for the action and adventure. In fact, he gets very nearly killed a couple times, there's all sorts of intrigue and adventure... I felt like the maintained the tenor of the Rifles pretty much fairly throughout. Even his marriage to Teresa is full of action and adventure.

Date: 2004-02-04 05:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cy-girl.livejournal.com
I adored Sean Bean as Boromir. Must check out this Sharpe series.

Date: 2004-02-04 06:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gamiila.livejournal.com
Yay! Someone who loves Sean Bean as much as I do! And for all the same reasons as I do, too -- but who is much better at explaining them.

And now, of course, I'm wishing I had a Sean icon.

How about this one? It's Sean showing off that really, really nice ass you were talking about, in Clarissa, where he played Mr. Lovelace.

Re:

Date: 2004-02-04 06:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gamiila.livejournal.com
...or was it Lady Chatterly's Lover? Come to think of it, it may actually be that last one!

Date: 2004-02-04 09:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Holy moly! Boy, that woke me up very nicely this morning! I might just try to make that a wallpaper!

Date: 2004-02-04 06:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reginaspina.livejournal.com
I came here from a link in [livejournal.com profile] ealgylden's journal - and now I HAVE to friend you because you love Sharpe and Boromir (and yes, it was the BEST DEATH SCENE ever - as much as I adore Sean and wish that he had gotten to be in more of LOTR, I wouldn't trade that scene for six more hours of screentime ...) and I completely agree with your paean to Sean Bean (and am also eagerly awaiting the release of "Troy"!)

Re:

Date: 2004-02-04 06:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] reginaspina.livejournal.com
I meant to add (curse this no editing business) that I got to see Sean in “Macbeth” last January – and he was absolutely amazing in person … He really just radiates charisma (plus, the costume choices were EXCELLENT!) As much as he’s an extremely handsome man, I think one of the things I really like about him is his lovely voice and his ability to use it so effectively. (I guess the RADA training will out.) Have you ever seen “Caravaggio” (the Derek Jarman film)? It’s one of his early roles and it’s a bit weird but very beautiful to look at.

Date: 2004-02-04 09:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
I'm just so envious!! I don't know what it is, I guess simply that I love theatre and all, but seeing actors I love and have discovered through film actually treading the boards... I wish I lived in a place where i could do that more, or made more money in order to fly to the places where they're acting. Sigh.

I could listen to him, Ioan Gruffud, Viggo, all of those guys, read the prescription labels on my pill bottles. That voice... yum.

Date: 2004-02-04 02:02 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lamath.livejournal.com
Found this journal via [livejournal.com profile] ealgylden.

Oooh, that was a great post on Sean! I think what originally drew me to Sean was this strength that he seems to radiate when he's on-screen (this was especially evident in his portrayal of Boromir). When I saw him move, I could practically sense the power inside him. He played the role wonderfully. I'm also into less-than-perfect guys, but I never thought much of Boromir when I read LotR, mostly because he didn't have focus thrown his way. I was very pleasantly surprised to see myself being sympathetic to Boromir after seeing the movies.

*sighs* And yes. Best. Death. Scene. Ever. And while I'm not necessarily a connoisseur of death scenes, per se, I do have this horrible tendency to fall in love with characters who die. In fact, the only one of my favourite characters who lives would be Gandalf (although technically, he did die but came back to life).

Have you seen the movie 'Stormy Monday'? It was one of Sean's earlier films, and he was utterly adorable in it. After seeing him in so many villainous roles, it was very nice to see him playing an innocent, naive puppy-like youngster! And Sting was very good in the movie as well.

Date: 2004-02-04 03:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Hi! You know, I have seen Stormy Monday, but it was like a gajillion years ago, and now I'm thinking that I need to rent this again. I've forgotten most of the movie (and had seen it for someone else entirely!), and it seems to have generated many fans of certain people over the years, hasn't it? Must toddle off to update my Netflix queue!

I've always wondered if that power/strength that he seems to carry inside him is what makes people on this side of the pond so often cast him as villains -- the way they see power as threatening all the time, rather than as something that can be honorable? Hard to say, but I do enjoy the rare chances to see him playing good strong, as opposed to bad strong.

Date: 2004-02-04 03:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lamath.livejournal.com
Mm, yes, most definitely. I'll also admit to having a soft spot for his 'strong' characters that also show a great deal of vulnerability.

Boromir's scenes in Lorien (first meeting Galadriel, later talking to Aragorn about the White City) had me melting into puddles in the theatre floors. Meeep!

Re: things to queue up

Date: 2004-02-04 04:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gattagrigia.livejournal.com
Remember to put Bravo Two Zero on that list - ostensibly a Gulf War movie, it's practically Sharpe in a different war. Same director, same star, similar story telling style, similar story line to a Sharpe ep or two. And SB bloody, beaten and nekkid!

Re: things to queue up

Date: 2004-02-04 08:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
It's coming up in the next batch of Netflix movies! Whoo hoo!

Date: 2004-02-05 11:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] oran.livejournal.com
Thank-you for this - I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Insightful and excellently written.
If you want anymore Sean icons feel free to hop over to my LJ and grab some.
Oran xx

Date: 2004-02-06 09:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Oh, very cool! Thank you for letting me know you had some icons. I kept looking for a long time, but it's hard to search for icons sometimes on a dialup!

Date: 2004-02-06 12:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] hazel75.livejournal.com
I see that you've found a Sean icon, but I wanted to point out that [livejournal.com profile] delectableoomph has several over at her website.

I loved your essay -- he's probably one of my top three actors of all time! When I heard about Troy, all I could think was I want a sequel now of the Odyssey which would be all about Sean :)

Date: 2004-02-06 09:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Icons abound! I love deletableoomph's Buffy icons, so that's great to know. Man, and to think all I have to do is rhapsodize about someone, and then I can get all kinds of pointers to iconage. I shoulda figured this out months ago!

Date: 2004-02-06 07:15 pm (UTC)
ext_67382: (Wes)
From: [identity profile] moonchildetoo.livejournal.com
Both Hornblower and Sharpe have had good-sized fandoms for several years, but with Sharpe at least, it was enough years ago that the fandom has gone quiet. In the early days of HH fandom, a lot of the fans were also Sharpe fans and there were at that time Sharpe discussion lists, archives, web sites, etc. To be recommended: a zine novel/novella by Kitty Fisher called Written in Dust, Carved in Bone, featuring Sharpe with an original character who was based on Alan Rickman. The HH fans are splintered between pairings, and many of the HH/CP writers have left the fandom, leaving the majority of the fandom HH/AK.

Re another comment farther down the page...you do remember that the slimy swine who cuckolded Sharpe with his wife was none other than Wesley Wyndham-Price, i.e. Alexis Denisof...

Date: 2004-02-06 09:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwyn-r.livejournal.com
Geez louise, girl -- you are just an incredible fount of info about all this stuff (and now that I have... uh, free time on my hands with the unemployment and all, I plan to follow some of those HH links you gave me a while ago). I had no idea Kitty had done some Sharpe fic; I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for zines at Escapade (btw, I will have a disc for you with the KE vid etc.)

I'm kind of weirdly fanfic avoidant, a lot of times, and often only come in long after a fandom's kind of petered out and I can sift through and only get the good, lasting stuff. I don't know why. I guess because I'm so nitpicky about language and writing quality and all. Lately I've just had this hankering for something with Sharpie, and I can't even figure why. Sometimes it'll take years for me to hear that click.

Date: 2004-02-06 09:51 pm (UTC)
ext_67382: (Default)
From: [identity profile] moonchildetoo.livejournal.com
Heh...well, I was so into HH for so long...and I'm a history nut, so definitely appreciate historical fic of just about any era. Keep threatening to do Cadfael, and/or Holmes/Watson based on the PBS Hound of the Baskervilles. Thinking about bringing a tape of the latter to Escapade for pimping.

If you write to Kathy Resch soon, she's agenting the zine for Kitty and could try and make sure she brings a copy to Escapade. Ditto for the two HH Adventure and Adversity zines, which center on HH/EP with a few other pairings thrown into the mix. I think she also agents a more HH/AK centered zine by Julien from Oz.

Sometimes it's good to be fanfic avoidant (g) and wait for the good stuff - if you can then find it! I'm the old fashioned sort who just finds fic easier to read from zines, yet most fic today isn't printed in zines. Sigh....

Looking forward to the KE vid! I've managed to successfully pimp to at least one other friend, who's watching it now. Will I write it? I haven't written anything in about a year and a half. I need to dip my toe in *something* again. I've got my friend ready to write it too, though. Heh. Pimping is a Good Thing, esp. when it works.

Date: 2004-02-22 02:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sairalinde.livejournal.com
fans to come out of the woodwork (and write me some fanfic or make me some vids!).

Actually just posted a silly little fic today about Sharpe's Lips (based around Sean's habit of licking his lips) and working on a song vid idea or two. Will let everyone know once the vids are done...they take me a LONG time to do. (Starting to sound like Treebeard now.) ;)

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