Wild Card Week–“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and Richard Armitage Take North America by Thorin! 12/05/12 Gratiana Lovelace (Post #318)

This week is a killer again–two more Hobbit premieres (Toronto and NYC) and all the related press.  But if we Richard Armitage and Hobbit fans feel overwhelmed with all of the media goodies coming our way, just think how those Hobbit cast and creative types being interviewed feel.  Ha!

And since I’m supposed to take it easy on the eyes still, I’m going to try to make this Hobbit post short (nope, didn’t succeed, Ha!)–and then add to it Wednesday and Thursday as interesting things to me arise or are made public.

But for full coverage, visit the main Richard Armitage resources sites like www.RichardArmitageNet.com and www.RichardArmitageCentral.co.uk and www.RichardArmitageonline.com

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1)       First up, the December 3^rd Toronto, Canada press swing and premiere [(1) right] lead with inexhaustible energy by Richard Armitage flying solo–no other Hobbit cast or creative team present.  It speaks well for the state of the Commonwealth when a British citizen is eager and pleased to show his movie in Canada.   Richard Armitage did so with verve and style. Love the “Oh Canada” red [(2)] tie with his blue pinstripe suit!

With lovely comfy suede ankle boots on, RA dipped  host Marilyn Denis when he greeted her on her  December 3rd talk show [(3) RA’s segmentis later in the video of this broadcast]. We should all be so lucky!  In chatting with Ms. Denis, Richard Armitage shined with poise and grace as usual–and a bit of humor, about immigration agents at the airport making him “feel human”.  Priceless!  Ha!   Below is a screencap collage  retweeted by WB Pictures Canada[(4) below]:

Faboamanto shared a link to a transcript of a brilliant and insightful interview Richard Armitage had with Jason Gorber on Dec. 3rd at http://twitchfilm.com/2012/12/interview-richard-armitage-talks-thorin-tolkien-and-being-a-leader-of-dwarves-in-the-hobbit-saga.html   and I love the new poster picture of RA as Thorin included with the article [(5) right)].

And RACentral tweeted their link for the 680 News All Radio interview[(6)] Richard Armitage did with Gloria Martin on 12/03/12.

And Toronto makes me wax nostalgic for my honeymoon there 23 years ago.  *sniffles*  Well, we passed through Toronto after Niagara Falls.  So I actually got to see more of Toronto through Richard Armitage’s press tour–including an RA  Union State interview with Maurie and his Headcam from KISS 92.5 [(7) left]; and RA’s relaxing chat at Root where he waxed enthusiastic about The Hobbit in his gRAy sweater (below, left and middle)–that leaves us enthusiastic.

                   

And then the Toronto Premiere that evening [(8) above far right].  Richard Armitage was devilishly handsome and gentlemanly–as always.  All I can say is, thank you Getty Images and the photographers (6) above] for all of the wonderful Richard Armitage pictures!

This just in from GizTheGunslinger on FB, a Russian fan site has huge hi-res images of the Getty images from Toronto at http://armitage-online.ucoz.ru/photo/165  [(9) below]  спасибо! (Thank you!)  I couldn’t resist embedding the full size for this image–such a sharp dressed man:

2)       That said, December 4^th news on RANet [(10)] was astoundingly long and wonderfully detailed–even more so than usual–with excerpts of movie reviews and such.  Ali, honey, did you get yourself a staff?   Or did you clone yourself?  Take a bow, lady!  You are amazing!  And readers, follow the RANet link pronto for some great reviews of Richard Armitage portraying Thorin Oakenshield.   Their homepage URL is www.RichardArmitageNet.com

3)       And TORN shared a review of The Hobbit by Calisuri on 12/04/12 [(11)] that basically praised Richard Armitage for becoming Thorin Oakenshield:

“The acting by the core cast was astoundingly good. Martin Freeman IS Bilbo Baggins and as expected delivers an amazing performance with true emotion, humor and feeling. Ian McKellen is a less serious version of his LOTR-self and in many ways a lot more likable. His sense of humor comes across more in the performance and it is very endearing.  Richard Armitage delivers a dead-on performance of Thorin. For those of us who know what the future holds for Thorin, I can clearly state the casting was perfect. Andy Serkis returns as Gollum and provides yet another amazing performance. ‘Riddles in the Dark’ will be one of your favorite scenes – guaranteed!”

However, Calisuri was not a fan of the 48fps at 3D.

Another great TORN article  on 12/04/12 “The Hobbit’s dwarves: Too Hot to Handle?” by Maegwen [(12) below and image below right] in which she lays to rest any concern about tall and handsome Richard Armitage portraying Dwarf King Thorin Oakenshield:

“With the casting of Richard Armitage as Thorin, the leader of the dwarves, we couldn’t help but admit that we were conflicted. Supremely talented actor. But could he look dwarflike? …

With the exception of Thorin, dwarves aren’t the leading characters in “The Hobbit” and yet the film would live or die on them. …

So, with the “Unexpected Journey” finally here, how did it all turn out?   Fabulous.

He [Richard Armitage portraying Thorin] embodies the essence of the character – the haughty nobility, the impatience and simmering anger. The sadness. This is not the hot dwarf you were looking for, but so much more.

Voice, body language, costume, prosthetics – all combine to transform Armitage into the strong, surly Thorin Oakenshield. One dimensional images fade from mind and the focus shifts to the character in action, as it should. …”

4)       Media for The Hobbit is coming out faster than  I, for one, can process it–let alone locate it.  So again, thanks to Heirs of Durin blog for her nicely inventoried listing of the new Hobbit clips (six of them!) on Trailer Addict [(13)].  To view the summary and access the links, visit the Heirs of Durin blog at the link above.

5)        Then it was on to New York City December 4^th  for Richard Armitage and all of the cast and creative team for the start of a three day whirlwind culminating in the Dec. 6^th NYC premiere, but with some stuff happening on Dec. 7^th too.

The Anderson Cooper Live show taped a segment with The Hobbit that will air on Dec. 14^th (air date per RACentral).

More info will come out on Wednesday and I will add it in as I get to it.  Feel free to share links to neat Hobbit and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield resources from yours or others sites in the comments below.

This is only the tip of the iceberg folks–just the things that particular caught my eye that I wanted to bookmark for myself.  So I say again, visit the main fan unofficial Richard Armitage resources sites of:   www.RichardArmitageNet.com, www.RichardArmitageCentral.co.uk, and www.RichardArmitageOnline.com

References

1)       Richard Armitage  at the Toronto Premiere is courtesy of WB Pictures Canada and was found at https://twitter.com/WBPicturesCan/status/276044392370958336/photo/1

2)       “Oh Canada”, the national anthem of Canada information, and the Canadian flag is found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Canada;

3)       The Marilyn Denis Show, December 3, 2012, on air interview with Richard Armitage about his role portraying Thorin Oakenshield in “The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey” is found at http://www.marilyn.ca/Video.aspx#clip818392&vp127686

4)       Screencap collage of Richard Armitage on the Marilyn Denis Talk Show, 12/03/12 retweeted by WB Pictures Canada from http://twitpic.com/birzsd on a site by the Ghoulish Glenn.

5)       New Thorin poster at http://twitchfilm.com/assets_c/2012/12/thorin-thumb-300xauto-35340.jpg, with interview article by Jason Gorber, 12/03/12 at http://twitchfilm.com/2012/12/interview-richard-armitage-talks-thorin-tolkien-and-being-a-leader-of-dwarves-in-the-hobbit-saga.html

6)       Transcript for the 680 News All Radio interviewRichard Armitage did with Gloria Martin on 12/03/12 was shared by RACentral at http://richardarmitagecentral.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=326851 .

7)       [HEADCAM INTERVIEW] Damnit Maurie &Richard Armitage chat about The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey” on December 3, 2012 at   http://www.kiss925.com/2012/12/03/headcam-interview-damnit-maurie-richard-armitage/ ; the link has video, though with Maurie being shorter than Richard, there aren’t a lot of shots above his shoulders.  Ha!

8)       Getty RA Images Listing page  http://www.gettyimages.fi/editorial/richard-armitage-pictures#

9)       This just in from GizTheGunslinger on FB, Russian site has hi-res huge images of the Getty images from Toronto at http://armitage-online.ucoz.ru/photo/165  ; sample image was found at http://armitage-online.ucoz.ru/_ph/165/205477745.jpg

10)   December 4, 2012 News on RANet link is http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/news.html#dec04

11)    “The Hobbit:  an expected masterpiece in a distracting frame”, a review by calisuri was found at   http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/12/04/66330-the-hobbit-an-expected-masterpiece-in-a-distracting-frame/

12)   “The Hobbit’s dwarves:  Too Hot to Handle? by Maegwen, 12/04/12, article and image are found at http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2012/12/04/66605-hobbit-are-hot-dwarves-too-hot-to-handle/

13)   “6 New Hobbit Clips, Actor Interviews, and Behind-the Scenes Footage!” by DarkJackal32 at the Heirs of Durin blog at  http://thorinoakenshield.net/2012/12/04/6-new-hobbit-clips-actor-interviews-and-behind-the-scenes-footage/