It's amazing what we watch when someone we like is in it

[smallhobbit]

The more astute among you will possibly realise I rather like Richard Armitage.  Even the guy at work who transferred all my phone details to my new phone probably knows this, although he may not realise who it is.

So, recently RA did the voice for one of the characters on Castlevania, an anime of a computer game thingy on Netflix.  I do not like anime, I don't play computer games and I don't have Netflix.  But ...  It turned out with Netflix you get a one month free trial before having to start paying - so there was nothing lost.  And there were only four episodes of about 20-25 minutes each, which meant I could space them out nicely over four days.  Or in fact, watch all four in an evening.  Much to my surprise I enjoyed it, and am now looking forward to the new season next year.  Yes, there is a lot of swearing, and blood and gore (but if I can sit in the front row for Titus Andronicus I can cope), but in fact it was fun.

RA has also been in a film called Pilgrimage.  At first I wasn't going to watch it (lots more violence and unpleasantness) but the premise sounded interesting, and the question of the role of religion in the lives of the people is one I'm interested in.  So, when vix_spes  said she'd got a copy of the DVD for £7 from Sainsbury's I nipped into one on my way to work - and it went through the till for a fiver.  It's an interesting film, which I might watch again.  A proportion of the film is in Irish or French, and the subtitles weren't very easy to see - or at least not from my position behind the ironing board (no guilt whatsoever to watching a DVD during the day if I'm doing the ironing!) but I was taken with it.  And not just because of Raymond de Merville.

And I'm still waiting for Berlin Station to make it to Netflix UK!

Comments

[nagi_schwarz]

Oh. I played Castlevania games as a kid. I had not thought to check out the anime but I will. Bet I could even convince my husband to watch it with me.

It is true, I will also watch some dubious stuff because it has people I like.

[smallhobbit]

It's very well done - I wasn't expecting to enjoy it and was very pleased I had seen it.

[nagi_schwarz]

Watching it right now. It is very well done compared to a lot of anime I've seen.

[smallhobbit]

Oh good. I'm glad to hear it :)

[nagi_schwarz]

It was so good, but frustratingly short!

[smallhobbit]

That's been the general reaction. They're promising eight more episodes next year.

[prisca]

Your post title made me smile. Sooo true. I remember the first time when I fall in love with Sean Astin. First it was just Sam from LotR, of course, but then he was announced as a guest star for Ring Con and it felt to be a good idea to watch some of his other movies, too.

This was the beginning of a Sean Astin movie marathon; today I can say that I've watched almost all of his movies, TV shows, and focus. Some of his roles I still love even today (Mr. Smith in Jeremiah, Lynn McGill in 24) Some of his unknown movies were a nice surprise and I'm glad that I've watched them (Harrison Bergeron or Daddy, who?). Some of them are just too cute ( White Water Summer or Brat Patrol - for sure not big movies but he was so young and so cute and already a good actor that's it's hard not to like them).

And there are others where I have to admit that it was a waste of time because the movie was so, so bad that I couldn't help it but wonder what the heck has gotten into him that he agreed to take over this role (but I guess an actor can't be too picky when he is not one of the top actors, he needs to earn money)

I did similar 'movie marathons' with Josh Hartnett and Elijah Wood but not that excessive ;) = I didn't watch all their movies but only the more interesting ones.

[smallhobbit]

I've done the same with various other actors - Rupert Graves being one. And there have been some great finds, and as you say some awful ones :D

[sanguinity]

I have never really figured out who Richard Armitage actually is -- IMDB suggests I've never seen him in anything but Captain America -- but it was a Richard Armitage fansite that taught me how to vid, and so I always have a little burst of fondness when I see his name.

[smallhobbit]

He was Thorin in The Hobbit, Lucas North in Spooks, Guy of Gisborne in BBC's Robin Hood (both of whom feature in my fics!) and Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal and the swoonworthy John Thornton in North and South. But not among the big name actors, so you wouldn't necessarily know him.

[margaret_r]

I'd probably watch things I normally wouldn't be interested in if there was someone I liked in it. I think it does depend on the production though. For instance nothing would induce me to watch Hannibal (the TV series), despite the presence of Richard Armitage, who is also a favourite of mine. I don't have Netflix either so haven't seen any of his work there.

[smallhobbit]

I didn't think I'd like Hannibal, but in fact I quite enjoyed it. I watched the two previous series in preparation for series 3, and read the book "Red Dragon" beforehand. I found it really well done, which was why I managed to watch.

The only other thing of RA's on Netflix at the moment is "North and South" (and you won't be surprised to hear I have that on DVD!)

[vix_spes]

The number of times that I've done this and watched an actors back catalogue ... you really do watch some dross (some actors like Richard and Mads don't have too many dire ones but others like Karl Urban and Hugh Dancy have some shockers!)

I'm waiting for Berlin Station as well! (I'm also saving Pilgrimage for when I'm home so haven't watched it yet)

[smallhobbit]

Yep, there are things I've fast forwarded through and just watched the relevant bits.

Pilgrimage has Tom Holland too. I was surprised how much I liked it.