Wolf Hall Wins 2016 Golden Globe for Best Mini-Series

imageedit_43_6884616896Breaking News! Wolf Hall wins the 2016 Golden Globe for Best Television Limited Series! Our King, Damian Lewis, was in attendance himself, nominated for Supporting Actor for Wolf Hall, but, as luck would have it, didn’t go home with the award.

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Forensic Fandom re Billions – The Evidence

imageedit_8_5432412121So you know how we dissected each and every little snippet of preview of Billions just as soon as our fingers could get to hitting rewind and clicking away? Well, friends, we did even more of that cogitating and guesswork and forensic investigation behind the scenes. Allow me to share with you today one such IM marathon we had about Chuck’s board. Chuck’s board, you say? We thought it was just ropes and lit cigarettes, you say. No, I don’t mean THAT kind of board. But, who knows, as the season progresses we may have some kinky Billions/Homeland tie-in (so to speak) with torture rooms, water, and boards. I’m talking about the board upon which Chuck has written pertinent points of his investigation of Bobby Axelrod. We haven’t seen it on the series yet. Heck, we just barely saw Chuck’s appetite whet for some fresh new prey in the hedge fund king. Prey in hedges? Hm. Oh, I digress. And we do that a lot when he talk behind the scenes, we team of bloggers here. You may not believe it, but lots of good stuff comes from our digressions.

So, as I was saying, allow me to share a bit of our conversation about Chuck’s board. Most of what we saw back before the pilot aired may be reading too much into things or totally wrong, but, if anything, it’ll give you a brief window into the process of forensic fandom. (I’m trademarking that phrase BTW…or I would if only we had a patent attorney on board)

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Top Damian Lewis Moments 2015: Cleo at the New Yorker Festival

Damian Lewis
source: New Yorker

The holiday season seems a great time to watch new films and catch up with the waiting list. One film long on my list has been Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. I knew enough about the film and had seen enough clips to know it would not be the typical feel-good holiday watching. But I also knew enough about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor’s history together that any film starring the two of them would be a scalding glimpse into their mad love story.

What does all this have to do with Damian Lewis, you wonder? Well, one of the Top Moments in 2015 for Damian Lewis was his reading the role of Richard Burton in Lawrence Wright’s Cleo at the New Yorker Film Festival in October. And because Damianista and I were there, front row center, it’s a TOP moment for us too! There we were rapt in attention as Damian belched his way into the script and, despite the fact that the show was simply a table reading, proceeded to channel the rude, sexy, and perpetually drunk Welshman to a tee.

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Top Damian Lewis Moments 2015: Vanity Fair British Invasion Shoot

Ah, the Vanity Fair British Invasion shoot: where do I even start with this sweet highlight of 2015? Stunning shots of the many actors who have crossed the pond and made it big on screens in the US. The pages in the magazine were lovely, but the video and short film accompanying the shoot was to die for.

Damian Lewis
source: screenshot from Vanity Fair shoot

 

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Bastogne

battle of the bulge, bastogne, band of brothers
Source: http://yalebooksblog.co.uk/2014/12/22/held-bastogne-2-americans-strike-back/

This week marks the 71st anniversary of the Seige at Bastogne, a pivotal confrontation in Battle of the Bulge, which saw the Allied forces assert their most courageous and bloody defense against the last big push by Nazi forces in WWII.

The Bastogne episode of Band of Brothers was arguably the most emotionally intense and beautifully filmed of the series. It was like watching a dream sequence through a filter of constant snow, a bitter cold that you could almost feel in your bones as you’re watching. Or an opera of bodies, bent over, running for cover, crouching near trees, or frozen solid to the ground. You could watch all the action without sound and still feel it viscerally.

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