1/19/14

They're back...

[via]

Two years and four days after this--

Sherlock Series 3 will air on PBS 1/19/14

[via]

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I just found this post from 1.16.12.  The day after the fall.

It's been nearly 2 years and it still hurts.

Many Happy Returns!!

Well, today we celebrate an absolute favorite of mine!  Yes, Benedict Cumberbatch turns 37 today!

My faithful readers already know that I like him and many reasons why.  If you're new or have been living on a desert island and haven't heard of Mr. C or his merits, start with my post for his birthday last year or check out his tag on my blog.  Or read my favorite interview with him to-date (thank you, Caitlin Moran!)

But yes, there is no denying I'm rather fond of the man and his work.  Even were I to try to deny it... the evidence suggests otherwise.

[to be fair... all but one of those was  a gift!]

Yep, I think he's pretty amazing. "Absolutely amazing!  Brilliant!"

[Benedict at 4 days old with parents Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham, July 1976]

[Benedict at Star Trek premiere, May 2013]

36 has been a busy and breakthrough year for him!  The year began (literally on his birthday) with his first Emmy nomination (Sherlock, Season 2); it ended yesterday with another Emmy nomination (Parade's End).  As far as TV goes, he had the aforementioned release of Parade's End, a guest role on The Simpson's, and had a bit of fun just the other week on Top Gear.  He also appeared on several late-night shows including David Letterman's, Jimmy Fallon's, and (my personal favorite) Graham Norton's.  His radio work this year included Season 4 of Cabin Pressure as well as a star-studded production of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (which will be available later this year - and Gaiman has hopes to make a film version with the same cast ;).  He's been slightly too busy to pursue any serious stage-work this year.  But, of course, the big event of the year was Star Trek: Into Darkness.  It served as a lot of people's introduction to him and he got rather better reviews than the film did.  As a personal aside, I thought he did quite fine - but it wasn't even near his top works.  However, it is just wonderful that he got into his first leading role in a blockbuster.

The past few weeks have served as a fantastic set-up for his 37th year as the final 2 trailers for his 2013 films were released.  This fall, 4 films in which Cumberbatch stars will be hitting the big screen.  A brief rundown:

October 18 - 12 Years a Slave

October 18 - The Fifth Estate

December 13 - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

[221B convention]

And, on Christmas Day - August: Osage County

Hopefully we'll also be viewing Sherlock Season 3 before the end of the year (or at least by January 2014).  He did help play a little joke on the Comic-Con panel yesterday - explaining how Sherlock survived the fall:




Ah... cheeky!

As busy and successful and brilliant as he is... my wish for his 37th is actually that he'd be able to take a breather and settle down.  Here's hoping he finds "the right one" - and that this would become a reality:

[Benedict with a friend's newborn... and one of my favorite pics of him ever!]

I'll keep hoping for that.  But in all his ventures and doings I do wish him luck and many happy returns!

via

#ProudToBeAFanOf

#ProudToBeAFanOf was trending today... and I had to chip in.

Of course, you all know what I'm proud to be a fan of.  Lucky for me, today provided some adorable [what's known in the fandom world] "crack."  Little morsels shared with fans, just enough to provide a temporary high.

And so... meet #Setlock [the tag assigned to the current filming of Sherlock Season 3].

I have to start with the "totes supes adorbs" (thank you, Lydia Bennet).

After spending the majority of the last 2 years in New Zealand and away from his family, Martin-the-Hedgehog-Freeman is back in London.  What's more, his wife, Amanda Abingdon, has been cast in Sherlock in a role we can only assume to be "Miss Mary Morstan" - who, after hiring Sherlock in "A Sign of Four," became John Watson's wife! :)

Isn't that precious?

Well, the cuteness gets better when the Freeman children come to visit 221B for the day!!

Seriously, his kids look like Hobbits!

And they reportedly enjoyed visiting Dad, Mum, and "Uncle Ben" [Ah!] at work :D



[Back to 221B - er...187 N Gower.  Martin's face!!]



[The hat. The coat. The smile. The man. The character. Sherlock's alive!!]



[Martin totally is a hedgehog!]

Annnd... in another favorite fandom - the LBD got a proper photoshoot!

Make the cuteness stop!

["Jing" + "Dizzie"]

Except, wait, don't ;)

Love and miss you, Lizzie B.



Proud to be a fangirl ;)

#SherlockS3 #cubicleparty

****Nerdy Fangirl Warning****

It's been 1 year, 2 months, and 3 days since The Fall.

And today it finally happened:

Yes.  It'll probably be another year before we get Season 3, Episode 1 "The Empty Hearse."  But, as of today, it is officially on it's way.

And that meant today was a cause for celebrating!

So today was my first ever "Cubicle Party" - and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to do it again. 

There were already about 5 other "fans" in the office (I told one friend that on a scale of 0 to clinical, they counted as positively infected).  So today was both a celebration with those fans, and a marketing push to infect introduce Sherlock to more people.  And I think it was successful because several people said they'd be checking it out :)

Alright, a run-down on the cubicle-party-components:

[I started building the "shrine" last Friday with printed pictures on the left (gift from co-worker),  Last April's Radio Times with you-know-who on the cover (gift from Lois in London), pictures I took last spring of Sherlockian chalk-art at UW, and Volumes I and II of the The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes.]

[A few details - including a parody of the telegram / text Sherlock sends John: "Baker Stree. Come at once if convenient... if inconvenient come anyway."]

[Deerstalker (aka - death frisbee), eye-glass, pipe, Sherlock Holmes V. I + II, and books published circa Sherlock's era]

[Benedict Cumberbatch & Martin Freeman
Sherlock Holmes & John Watson
Smaug & Bilbo
...can these two just please keep making art together?]

[Sherlockian Donuts (via Top Pot):
A 3 patch problem: maple bar
The Riding Crop: chocolate bar
Invisible Ink: lemon filled
A Scandal in Belgravia: bavarian creme filled
Irene: raspberry filled
Molly - raspberry glazed
M (for Moriarty): old fashioned chocolate glazed
1895 - old fashioned
On the side of the Angels: powdered
A Study in Pink: pink frosted cake
The Fall: double trouble chocolate cake]

More symbolic donut shots:

Each of the donuts have significance to one degree or another... so ask if you're wondering :)

[Houndstooth Dress]

[popped collar]

And finally, some fandom fun:

[From one of the guys I've recently got hooked on this show]

[Ok... maybe I'm not that bad.  Maybe.]

Happy filming, Sherlock!!

We've become "the Fandom that Waited" - and wait we shall... but not without unbridled excitement, intermittent squealing, and occasional cubicle parties :)

B+W Love

There is just something about black and white.

I think it automatically appears to us as art because, while we see in color, someone or thing has been cast in a black and white re-presentation of themselves.  It's mimetic while remaining boldly artistic.  Or in the words of our beloved, bow-tied Nerd-man: "the obviously constructed nature of the scene would by its own artificiality, create it’s own sense of... verisimilitude."  It is real, but at the same time it is unafraid to be art.

But I may be reading into this too much :)

I've been watching a lot of B + W films lately and have been impressed with shots from them - especially behind-the-scenes - but also of more recent shots in B + W.  Here are a few faves:



[Marlon Brando in his Academy Award winning performance of Terry Malloy - On the Waterfront]



[Because just wow!]



[Oh and he had a kitty]

  

[Walt Disney and Shirley Temple presenting at the 1939 Oscars]



[Adorable Audrey]



[Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard filming Breakfast at Tiffany's]





[These three!!  PS - I love Harrison's hipster glasses! Via]



And in honor of the new season they're about to start shooting, in B + W, the gents of Sherlock:



[Thanks to the dear friend who forwarded this along to me ;) ]





"Sherlock!  There's something in here.  There's something in here with me!!"

;)

36 for 36: Happy Birthday, Benedict Cumberbatch!

July 19, 1976. Special day. Special because Benedict Cumberbatch came into this world. I am particularly grateful for this one incredible actor.


So, for his birthday, I give you, 36 things I appreciate about Mr. Benedict Cumberbatch:


1. Sherlock.
I will never stop being grateful for the entirety of this show--but especially the dynamic Benedict brought to life through his performance.


2. How self-deprecating he is


3. His impersonations

[just one example :]

4. Gratefulness - He is continually expressing gratefulness for the roles he's been given, the praise he's received--He is still genuinely shocked when other people appreciate his work


5. His relationship with his parents - Benedict is the only son of actors Timothy Carlton and Wanda Ventham (still married)

[Wanda and Benedict - via]

It was a performance of Glengarry Glen Ross

...that he broke his father’s heart with pride. “After the show he told me I was a better actor than he had ever been or would ever be. He was tearing up as he was saying it.” He has continued to be “terribly proud and utterly selfless”, revelling in his son’s success. When Hawking was well reviewed in The Sunday Times his father framed the drawing that accompanied the piece as a 28th birthday present. “Mum gets a bit emotional on first nights,” he says, “but Dad... he started to weep at the first night of After the Dance when he was telling me how proud he was. I didn’t know what to do. I just held onto him. I said, ‘You’re not crying out of relief that I got through it, are you?’ And he said, ‘No, you stupid boy. I’m crying because you were so wonderful.’

6. The way he so badly wants to be a dad


When asked his greatest disappointment, he responded: "Not being a dad by age 32."


7. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. 

[While filming, Gary Oldman had to swim in a freezing cold lake. Cumberbatch offered to jump in first... verifying the water was, indeed, freezing.]

8. Hair - in a variety of styles

9. He looks good in period clothing


10. His funny faces

11. Amazing Grace.
When I first saw this I had no idea who he was, nevertheless it was my introduction.


12. Full name: Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch [Benedict is his, but the rest of the name is his dad's]

Benedict means "one spoken well of" and Cumberbatch comes from a Welsh word for "one who dwells in a wooded glen." haha

13. That his first stage role was as Tatiana, Queen of the Fairies in Midsummer Night's Dream.
He went to an all boys boarding school, okay? Haha... what I'd give to see that.


14. Voice.
It's been described as "a jaguar hiding in a cello..." ummm, yes =)


[Now, Benedict, will you please stop smoking so you and your voice will last longer??]


15. The Reichenbach Tear!


16. That he rejects celebrity.
His life isn't all out there for the public. As much as I wish I could follow his every move (more easily, anyway), I'm grateful he doesn't have a twitter or anything. It keeps him more mysterious.


17. That he gives everything to a role. I mean, the dude studied Komodo-dragons at the London Zoo to prepare for his role as Smaug.


18. His favorite poem is "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats. [I think the reason he lives in Hampstead is at least partly due to Keat's house there]





19. That--though he impersonates them--he's always respectful to Directors.
In interviews it's always Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Abraams.


20. That he's so awfully gangly.


21. That he really does look like an otter


22. That he's great on stage as well as screen. 

Three BAFTA nominations and an Olivier award on the shelf--not to mention a host of other nods??

23. Frankenstein. Brilliant and chilling in both roles.


24. His amazing displays of strength.

He's portrayed multiple characters who's muscles fail in some way (Frankenstein, Hawking, etc.) and he has such incredible command over those gangly limbs!

25. His buddies

[Tom Hardy - costar in both Stuart: a Life Backwards and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]

  

[Jonny Lee Miller - co-star, and co-Olivier Winner, in Frankenstein]

[Martin Freeman - Sherlock, The Hobbit, need I say more?]

[Tom Hiddleston - War Horse]

[James McAvoy - Starter for 10 and Atonement]

26. His handling of the car-jacking situation

While filming To the Ends of the Earth (2005) in South Africa, Cumberbatch, along with some friends, were car-jacked. He was tied up, beat, and had a gun held to his head (you can read more details here). But he left that night not with bitterness or fear, just an intense desire to live. In one interview: "It’s made me want to live a life slightly less ordinary."

27. That he loves London and Great Britain so much =)

28. He's complained of the shape of his head, comparing it to Sid the Sloth's


29. The crow's-feet, because it means he's smiled so often in his life...

30. That even though it terrified him, he was willing to dare the runway for his favorite designer, Spencer Hart


31. He's still a fanboy

32. The suspenders - he openly admits his interest in fashion is relatively new... and he blames it on Martin Freeman. "There's a man who knows his threads," he told one interviewer

33. His thoughtfulness - in an interview with the guardian, he offered to share a tea-bag with the journalist while sounding off on the subject with everything from "tea ceremonies to post-colonial theory..." Moreover, he spent his gap year teaching English in Nepal, contemplating his decision to pursue acting.


34. Humor - if it isn't obvious through other things posted, the bloke is hilarious! He's constantly cracking jokes about himself, his colleagues, impersonating people, dancing, etc... he just enjoys life and enjoys making other people laugh.


35. Intelligence - a "public school" education, a passion for research, and an expansive vocabulary all contribute to his knowledgeable approach to roles and interviews


36. Just him =)

Benedict, 35 was a fabulous year, but I'm hoping 36 is even better [of course an Emmy nomination isn't a bad way to start]! Here's to another fantastic year - Happy Birthday!