Anna Karenina (2012) / appreciation for Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache

"You can't ask why about love."

I'm being very honest with the title there. I really am not going to talk about the movie Anna Karenina that much. I'm just mostly going to talk about Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache. I wish I was kidding.

Anna Karenina was very much what I expected it to be. It was quite pleasant to watch, not just because of the certain mustache, but also because of the beautiful sets and the cinematography and the costumes. Joe Wright has directed many films that I have enjoyed watching, first and foremost Atonement, which is one of my favorite films of all time, and which also made me fall irrevocably in love with James McAvoy. And which I haven't seen in a few years, actually! Gee, I need to fix that. And see if it's still favorite material.

I am one of those people who have always liked Keira Knightley. Admittedly, most of my positive sentiments for her derive from Atonement (and that gorgeous green dress!), but I've enjoyed her other performances, too. If nothing else, she can definitely pull of a sophisticated, 18th/19th century aristocrat lady.  By the way, the make-up department should get an Oscar for making Jude Law look so unattractive. That takes some skill, yo!

I find it amusing that Matthew Macfayden has been demoted from being Keira Knightley's love interest to being her brother. Ouch! The years have not been as kind to Mr. Darcy as they have been to Elizabeth Bennet. (Macfayden is eleven years Knightley's senior, though, so it's only fair that he retires from romantic leading roles earlier than her.) I liked his character, though. Comic relief is always likable.

The film was a tad too long, and at times felt very aimless. I'm not sure about the necessity of some of the subplots. Like I'm not sure whether I liked the way they used the stage as a device in telling the story. It felt strange, and confusing in the beginning.

The romance of Anna Karenina and Count Vronsky is the heart of the story, so I guess it is the thing that has to be blamed for the film leaving my mind un-blown. I mean, of course I find the premise completely believable: Bring me Aaron Taylor-Johnson wearing that mustache and the hair and the uniform, and have him shoot a few of those seductive glances at me, and I'll leave my imaginary husband before you can say, "It's ironic that Jude Law plays the decent, saint-like husband who gets cheated on by his wife who falls for someone young and good-looking".

Anyway. What I most enjoyed about the film was the beginning: when they brought in Aaron T-J (damn you, dude, for getting married and changing your last name into something so long and troublesome to type) and painted the picture about what a charmer and a heart-breaker he is, and then had him and Keira exchange some of those lingering looks loaded with sexual tension, and showed him kissing hands in intense and intimate close-ups. Ooooh. Yeah, after that no member of the audience can blame Anna Karenina for ruining her life for this young hunk of a man.

Let's review:

The best things about Anna Karenina, pt. 1: The smoking hot glances full of pure sex and seduction.

The best things about Anna Karenina, pt. 2: The super hot close-ups of kissing of hands.

Unfortunately, after the hand-kissing and the sex-glancing have worked their magic, and Anna and Vronsky fall in love so swiftly and randomly during one dance that you think you're watching a Disney animation, my interest and hopes for the film drop significantly, not to to be raised again.

Not even letting us witness the two of them kissing, more passionately and more up close than any of us in the audience feel comfortable watching, could revive the excited feelings I felt in the beginning. Because, in the end, I felt we didn't get to see enough layers in the characters. We see they are both very attractive, but we don't really get why that attraction turned into love. But, well, you can't ask why about love, you know. Still, I wanted to go a little deeper. I didn't end up caring about the characters too much.

What I did care about, however, was Aaron Taylor-Johnson's mustache. It's weird. One should not look good in a mustache. Who really wears a mustache? Except for Charlie Chaplin and Hitler, and only one of them looks good wearing it. A mustache and a head full of fake blond curls is not the easiest combination to rock, especially if you are obligated to charm all of Earth's female population while doing it. So, two thumbs up for Aaron T-J for showing that mustache can be the new sexy. We can only hope he'll adapt that look to the Kick-Ass sequel, too. Really, honestly, seriously: Not many young men could pull of that look.

The best things about Anna Karenina, pt. 3: The mustache.

I went to see Anna Karenina in the cinema of my childhood and teenage years, which was so nice, because it had been ages since the last time I went there. The audience consisted mostly of high school kids, who had come to see the film as a class assignment. Me and and my friend felt old, and oddly envious of the lucky 16-year-olds, for having such simple lives, and just hanging out at school, only dreaming about their future, instead of having to live it. Anyway, the teenagers giggled at certain parts that made them feel uncomfortable, and that made me feel uncomfortable. At times I didn't have an idea why they were bursting out laughing. Oh well. Perhaps you can't ask why about unintentional comedy, either.

Then I came to think that had they made the Star Wars prequels ten years later, Aaron Johnson (or Taylor-Johnson, whatever) could have been the perfect Anakin Skywalker that Hayden Christensen was never quite able to be. He actually might have made some of the awkward romance scenes work, too, with a few of those Glances of Seduction. Might have. Just something I hope to have a detailed, vivid, lengthy dream about tonight.

Hmm.

I start writing these things, thinking I have hardly anything to say, because the film didn't have much of an impact on me, but then I end up writing a post, comparable to a Tolstoy classic in length. Oh, the power of a good mustache. I'll finish by quoting the actual novel, and maybe thus fool you into thinking that this has been a very intelligent and sophisticated post, indeed.

He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.

~ Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

Never Let Me Go (2010) - no more smiling today

directed by Mark Romanek / starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley

Ruth, Tommy and Kathy grown up in an idyllic boarding school in the English country side. They are not normal children, however, and this they learn from a teacher, who simply feels too sorry for them to keep them in the sweet ignorance. And thus they are forced to adjust to the truth, and try and live the rest of their lives as well as they can.

Never Let Me Go is not a very cheerful movie. Actually, it's quite depressing. It never really rubs it in your face, but in fact it's quite cruel and ruthless and hopeless. All of that is almost hidden under the beautiful music, young love, the lingering shots of the English country side, the gentle voices of the actors and the subtle ways of handling all that cruelness and hopelessness. But yeah, I know I won't be smiling for the rest of the day. It's just so unfairly sad to watch young, beautiful people turn into wrecks as their lives are thrown to waste beyond their own control.

 The reason I first got interested in this film was its splendid cast; the cream of Britain's young talent is at work. Mulligan is inevitably on her way to winning at least a lap-full of Oscars, Garfield is only the most disarmingly adorable thing ever, who manages to melt anyone's heart with that humanity and innocence he conveys through his every role, and even though not everyone likes Keira, I do, and I thought she did really well, too.

There have been numerous films surrounding this topic, but never before has it been looked at from such an emotional and humane point of view. It's always just so sci-fi. In Never Let Me Go all that has been stripped down to the minimum, which allows us to see the real tragedy behind the sci-fi. I also think it was very clever to set the film in the past, instead of future, as usually. It doesn't feel so alien and far-fetched, but actually very real and relatable.

What the heck, I'm not rambling. Or writing unrelated, stupid things just because they pop into my head. That's all I have to say, really. Weird! I bet it's because I cut 25 centimetres off of my hair today. I feel like Samson, when that bitch Delilah cut his hair and he lost all of his powers.

"None of you will go to America. None of you will work in supermarkets. None of you will do anything, except live the life that has already been set out for you."

Yo ho, a pirate's life for me (again)

You know it hasn't been long enough since your last viewing of a film, when you all the time feel like reciting the characters' lines with them as they speak, and you know to look forward to every single witty/cheesy one-liner and funny gesture. You also know that if that's the case, you've probably seen the film one (or two or three) too many times. In addition, since you still laugh at pretty much every single one of those witty/cheesy one-liners and funny gestures, you know there's a reason why you once again decided to spend numerous precious hours of your day following the same old story all over again. Finally, when you watch the said film for the hundredth time and find yourself noticing new things and understanding some gags you never did before, you know that either a) the movie is amazingly profound and multi-layered, or b) you're just a bit slow. (In this particular case, I'd put my money with option b.)

So, in other words... It was time to refresh some memories and dive into some sweet nostalgia, as yesterday me and a friend held another movie marathon. I know what you're probably thinking; The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy is a much too recent thing to feel nostalgic about. Oh well. I sometimes feel nostalgic about yesterday or for what happened at breakfast that day. So this is like ancient history for me, if you know what I mean. The third film came out 2007, and that's like WAY back. I mean, I was under-aged back then! ... Or was I? Hold on. Oh, I don't know, that's way too much mathematics for a humanist. (You can blame everything on that, you know? It's quite wonderful, really.)

EDIT // After much contemplating, I came to the conclusion that I was indeed NOT under-aged in 2007. Still, it was a pretty long time ago, so indulge me and grand be my nostalgia, if you please.

Seems like I still wasn't quite able to reach the point. PotC movies were a huge thing for me back in the dark Middle Ages (also knows as some four to eight years ago). I don't know if I've ever left a cinema so utterly delighted as I did after the first film. Later on, I've been expecting myself to outgrow the whole pirate thing, but all I have to do is pop on a DVD and it's clear that the charm is still there, and probably not going anywhere anytime soon.
 

The movies' charm lies in the adventure, in the fun and engaging characters, the humour and the lack of seriousness. Even if it gets a bit darker once in a while, the Disney behind it all ensures that the gloom won't last too long. I mean, no one really believed that Jack actually died in the end of DMC, because that would've been way too harsh, and basically the stupidest thing one could imagine to be doing to a character like that at that point. So we once again have to thank Disney for bringing us guaranteed happy endings, time after time, allowing us to enter and exit cinemas with gleeful smiles on our faces and a spring in our step! (Okay, I'm determinedly aborting the surge of Disney praise, before I get really going and it's too late to stop me.)

The general opinion basically is that the first film is good (it's on IMDb's Top 250, after all!), and the sequels are bad (though now that I checked, they aren't too poorly rated on IMDb, either). And yes, admittingly, CotBP definitely has the most coherent storyline, and it doesn't resort to ridiculous over-the-top absurdities as often as the sequels. (It's tough, you know? Having to try and top the grandness and inventiveness of the previous action scenes and storylines, because generally everyone believes it's better only if it's bigger. That's when the multiple Jacks and twenty-minute wheel-mill fights and overgrown roaring ladies step in... Anyway.)

As confusing as the sequels might occasionally be (like yesterday, during AWE, we were distracted for about ten minutes, talking about something else, and when returning our attention to the film, we felt completely lost, despite the numerous rewatches before. I mean... "How did she end up in there? Where is he at the moment? Whose side is he on right now? What's his hidden agenda this time, or does he have one?" It's quite puzzling, and not necessarily in a good way...), I still find myself enjoying them over and over again. At least the constant coat-turning and switching of sides keeps the characters somewhat interesting and unpredictable.

Captain Jack Sparrow is one of the greatest and most legendary characters created in the 00's, and that's pretty much all I need to say about that. I'm pretty sure old Johnny sealed his place in movie history the day he first pulled the costume and the eyeliner on and took his first staggering step as the wonderfully eccentric, ridiculously charming, geniously witty and thoroughly lovable pirate captain. Bless him.

In this particular rewatch my favourite character number two ended up being Tom Hollander's amazingly slimy and placidly douchebag-ish Lord Beckett, the vilain of the sequels (or one of them). The character is not one of those utterly horrible vilains, who you just love to hate. Though he can be pretty disgusting at times, in some twisted way I always end up feeling sorry for him. Maybe it's his death scene and that puzzled, beaten, totally dumnfounded look on his poor little face. Or maybe I feel for the actor for always having to play the slimy douchebag? Not that I'm complaining and nor should he; he does it ruddy well.

Other favourite is of course Geoffrey Rush and his varyingly evil Barbossa. I'm so much looking forward to seeing the character again soon, in slightly different circles... Also Jack Davenport's James 'Turncoat' Norrington always wins my sympathies in the end. Tia Dalma was cool before the third film watered down the whole character. Bill Nighy plays the infamous Davy Jones outstandingly behind all those (freaking impressively done) CGI tentacles.

And yeah yeah, of course I have to say something about the young and beutiful pair of super movie stars. Because yes, I like them, too. Orlando maybe looks confused more often than he should but he does action (and kissing!) very well. And Keira... What can I say, I like Keira. She does well in holding her head high among all those scruffy, grumpy men. And that speech of hers in AWE always guarantees some goosebumps, at least for me.

The marathon was a piece of cake really, or at least should've been. We were done in about seven and a half hours, and that should be nothing compared to the previous Star Wars and LotR Extended Edition marathons I've sat through. However, I was dangerously close to falling a sleep somewhere in the middle of Dead Man's Chest, and that's just not right. Am I getting old or what? (Well, clearly... It can be proved by the fact that Curse of the Black Pearl came out 2003, which is now eight years ago. Holy.......)

Anyway. The fourth instalment will reach the cinemas in just a few weeks, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I am more than excited about the comeback of Captain Jack and company (mostly just Jack, though). Bring it on, I'm so very ready.

Finally... Because the PotC films have some of the most hilarious blooper reels ever. Here we go, one more time. You know it never gets old.

My TOP 5 favourite women in Hollywood today

Because I'm shamelessly female and probably never get totally over my passionate fangirl-ism, I tend to write about male actors more than it would probably be healthy. And as much as I adore my RDJ, River Phoenix, Sam Rockwell, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy, of course, I thought I could for once leave all the testosterone out of a post and concentrate in the gorgeous, beautiful, talented, AWESOME ladies of Hollywood. Because, thank god, they're not all meganfoxes there. Here are the best of the best!

5. Keira Knightley

She kicked some pirate ass in The Pirates of the Caribbean, she was nominated for an Oscar for potraying Elizabeth Bennet in The Pride and Prejudice, she sweeped James McAvoy off his feet in that oh-so-gorgeous green dress in Atonement, she bent it like Beckham, she was cute as a button eating banoffee pie in Love Actually, she was a face of a Channel fragrance... and she's only just 25! Next I'm looking forward to seeing her in Never Let Me Go, alongside Andrew Garfield and Carey Mulligan.

FAVOURITE ROLE: I'm biased, yeah, but the only honest answer here is Atonement. She might not always be the biggest chracter actress, but she worked excelently together with the awesomeness also knows as James McAvoy. (No testosterone... Right. I'll shut up now.)

4. Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman is the brain of Hollywood. She's always seemed so smart and sensible, staying away from the crazy partyscene and thus the tabloids. And good for her! Majority of people probably know her best as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequels... Not so good for her. But anyone who's seen her in Closer, Léon, V for Vendetta or Brothers, for example, knows she's capabale of much more than just that horribly corny 'Anakin you're breaking my heart, boo hoo' melodrama. I also have a certain admiration for anyone who shaves her head and still manages to look outstandingly beautiful.

FAVOURITE ROLE: The red-headed, wild, mysterious, erratic what's-her-name in Closer. The upcoming Black Swan might challenge that, though...

3. Marion Cotillard

When I think about the French actress, one of the first things coming to mind is her little speech about/to Kate Winslet in the Oscars a few years back. It was one of those 'previous Oscar winners talk about the year's nominees' thingys, that easily are awkward, unnatural and corny, but she sounded so sincere making it really touching. Other than that, she did a role of a lifetime as Edith Piaf, which also made her well-known among international audiences, too, fortunately! She was a rare bright spot (not literally, though) in Nine and releaved another side of herself in Inception. I'm exited to see what she is yet to accomplish in the future, which surely will be bright for her!

FAVOURITE ROLE: The unexpectedly evil memory of Leo's wife in Inception. Who knew she can be so creepy.

2. Meryl Streep

There's not anough space. Well. 16 Oscar nominations. Been married for like 30 years. Funny (those accents in the end...). Gets older in a NORMAL, natural way. And still looks splendidly beautiful. Is a great role model. I've often said I want to be Meryl Streep when I grow up. Who wouldn't? She just seems to have it all together, but in an admirable way, not in a way that makes you jealous. Because she is so humble and sweet and genuine. She's a freaking godess!

FAVOURITE ROLE: Tough one. I have yet to see embarrasingly many of her older movies. I should make it another official project. Well, I'm not going to be entirely obvious, so I won't say Mamma Mia!, but I'll go for another silly answer - The Devil Wears Prada. Because she is just colder that ice in that one.

1. Kate Winslet

Oh, Kate. The lovely Kate. No adjective describes her better. I just adore her! I adore her down-to-earthness. She once said in an interview that she uses the subway. I can imagine her sitting next to me in the Tube and then accidently burping or something and then going "oh, sorry about that!". I adore her because she's so heavenly beautiful and always looking so elegant on the red carpet, on those pretty, simple dresses. And I won't even begin with her talents. Okay, maybe just a little. She makes us cry and she makes us laugh and she astounds by the feelings she is able to potray without words, so effortlessly. Just think about the brilliantly ominous scene at the breakfast table towards the end of Revolutionary Road. P.S. She likes being naked in movies. And she makes it cool!

FAVOURITE ROLE: I want to say Titanic. I also want to say Revolotionary Road and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Little Chidren. And I also feel a bit like saying Extras. So, I won't give you a specific answer. Because I love Kate whatever she does. (Though nothing tops her beauty in Titanic. Damn! If all the women in the world looked like that I'd change my sexual orientation right away. Haha, kidding. Kind of.)

A few HONORABLE MENTIONS aka consolation prices, because there are so much more women in Hollywood worth a mention.

1) Cate Blanchett. Great presence, guaranteed talent. She potrays the most beautiful non-human creature ever, Galadriel.

2) Anne Hathaway. A sweet girl-next-door, with a bit of an edge. Very likable as a person.

3) Maggie Gyllenhaal. The other half of my favourite pair of siblings in Hollywood. A special mention to her little role in the Sam Mendes film Away We Go.


Now, please protest!

"I only really dance sitting down." - James McAvoy

(The title is from a YouTube video, an Unscripted interview with James and Keira Knightley. He gives a demonstration of his best moves as he tells about the song he likes to dance to the most. Aww, isn't he adorable...)

James Andrew McAvoy was born in 21 April 1979, in Port Glasgow, Scotland. Before inspired to go into acting, he thought about becoming a missionary or joining the Navy. He worked his way through gueststarring in TV shows and little roles in little films, into leading roles and the hearts of audiences. For his role in the 2007 film Atonement he was nominated for a Golden Globe and BAFTA. He's established a small-ish, yet loyal fanbase, which I'm proud to be a part of.

Like many others, I first became acquainted with James McAvoy around Christmas in 2005, when I saw him in the first Narnia film, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, in which he played the faun, Mr. Tumnus. Though the role is not that big, he caught my attention. I walked around in my red, hand-knitted scarf a lot that winter... (It's actually still my favourite scarf. I'm almost happy it's getting colder, because now I get to use it again!)

Next I saw him in The Last King of Scotland. I took a film course in English in high school (or whatever I should call the Finnish 'lukio'. I never really got the hang of these terms...) and we got to choose which film we wanted to see in cinema. I voted for this one, because "it has Mr. Tumnus in it!" and fortunately we ended up seeing it, instead of Nic Cage's Ghost Rider.... Gee. The movie is very very good, and James is very very good in it. Everyone always talks about Forest Whitaker and his Oscar-worthy performance as the dictator Idi Amin (don't get me wrong, I know he's phenomenal), but James' performance as the young Scottish doctor, who becomes Amin's personal advisor, shouldn't be overlooked.

What did it for me for good, however, was Atonement. Robbie Turner, a housekeeper's son, who falls in love with Keira Knigthley's rich girl Cecilia - and who then are ripped apart by a terrible lie - is a great, multidimensional character, whom James plays just beautifully, in his journey from the easygoing, goodhearted, lovesick gardener boy to the sick and tired, mentally unstable soldier. He's brilliant and funnily enough, James has been my favourite actor ever since. He was also a major contributor in the process that made Atonement possibly my favourite film of all time. Or at least one of the Ultimate Favourites.

After James established his position at the top of my Most Wanted list, I began to hunt down as many of his films as I could, determined to like them, no matter what. Not very surprisingly, I've liked every one of his films I've seen so far, more or less. I even like him in Wimbledon, as the idiotic cyclist brother of Paul Bettany! Not very unbiasedly, I admit.

Inside I'm dancing, or Rory O'Shea Was Here as it's called in US (I like the UK title so much more, I think it's brilliant and and one of my favourite movie titles ever), is one of James' earlier films. He plays Rory O'Shea, a young disabled man, who arrives at a residental home and turns things upside down by his sarcastic, foul-mouthed, rebellious attitude. Inside I'm Dancing is a genuinely funny and touching little film and it's nice to see James in a slightly less traditional role.

Becoming Jane is a light, harmless, a bit dramatized story of how a young woman named Jane Austen became the great, famous Jane Austen we know today. James plays her love interest Tom Lefroy, who charms Jane with her arrogance and that city-boy-ish recklessness. It's a romcom, really, set in the late 18th century! And James is as drool-excreting (yep, just coined a new word...) as ever, ah! That library scene (James handles himself very well in libraries, just think of Atonement...) is wonderfully electric and of course the dance scene - hearts skip beats everywhere as he emerges out of nowhere (happens at 1:10, approximately, if you're impatient), and that smile, oh man...

Then there's Starter for 10, a silly little romcom about a nerdy college kid and a trap of two girls. It's quite funny, actually, but if James wasn't in it, I probably never would have watched it in the first place, let alone bought it on DVD. Haha. Favourite actors make us do crazy things.

In Penelope James plays the love interest of Christina Ricci, a girl under a curse. You know, she has a nose of a pig, and so on. I know it sounds horrible, but Penelope is quite charming and sweet, really, a modern fairytale, one could say. James' character is a young man with a serious gambling problem, and he rocks that awesome straight, messy, long-ish hair. Great hairdo, okay film.

Before seeing Wanted I wasn't entirely sure wheter he would be able to pull it off or not. Let's face it - when you think of an actionhero, James McAvoy is the last thing that comes to your mind. At least before Wanted. James plays Wesley Gibson, who's just so thoroughly bored with his life, he doesn't even bother doing anything about it. Then he's trained to be an assassin and he kicks ass and bends bullets and kisses Angelina Jolie. And, what do you know, he turned out to be a totally believable badass! The film is just ridiculously absurd but highly entertaining and that one action scene towards the end kind of made me drool as I worshipfully stared at the screen. Damn, my little James was all grown up.

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I lived in England, near London, for seven months in 2008-09. During one of my numerous trips to the wonderful, lovely, awesome capital of UK, I walked past a poster in the subway. I only had spotted the name 'James McAvoy' on it, before the flow of people forced me to move on. That was enough, though. I soon found out he was performing in a play called Three Days of Rain. This was obviously far too good an opportunity to be missed - I probably never would've forgiven myself if I had. 

So, I bought the ticket for a price that almost made me grimace (but only almost!), and the last week before returning to Finland, I sat down in an uncomfortable seat in row 12 (too far from the stage for my taste - I wanted to see every pore and every drop of perspiration!) in Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue. Minutes before the play started I began to sweat and my pulse raced, as I was suddenly certain James had become ill and I'd be forced to watch an understudy do his role. Luckily, my worries were all in vain.
 

The play was... okay. I blame the damn language barrier for the fact that I didn't enjoy it too much - there was a lot of talk, rapid talk, and the language was quite difficult. I mean, I knew what was going on, but not understanding all of the dialogue deprived me of the biggest possible indulgence, damn it. But it was quite a good play, and interesting acting-wise - act one was set in the present, and the second act in the past, so, for example, in act two James played the father of his other character. And guess what? I thought he was amazing. There were only three actors, so he really had a chance to shine. Also, there actually rained on the stage for a couple of times, which was cool. There was fire, too!

Afterwards, I went to the stagedoor with a bunch of other people (mostly young-ish females... go figure) and got his autograph. It was so weird. I condenced all my feelings of awe and years of admiration into one highly clever and witty sentence: "I hope my pen works." Plus I muttered it so quietly I doubt he even heard me. Then I walked away, stopped after a while and thought about going back because the whole thing had happened so quickly - I'd hardly had a good look at him - but I kept going in the end and sent my friend a message saying that my hand had just been an inch away from James McAvoy's. Damn, it still feels so surreal... I have the autograph hanging on my wall, and every now and then I stop to look at it and just think "oh MAN".

Next James lents his voice to a cartoon Gnomeo and Juliet. It's Romeo and Juliet... with garden gnomes....... It sound very, eh, tired, but the trailer looks actually kind of fun. Then there's two big-budget sequels (or the other one is a prequel), Wanted 2 (haha. Okay. Bet it'll be twice as ridiculous) and X-Men: First Class (so I guess I have to do some magic and become interested in X-Men, then...). Last year he starred in The Last Station, which I haven't yet got my hands on. But anyway. Life looks quite good.

Wrap-up, then. Now I should explain why I really like him so much. These things don't really follow any rational pattern, not in my case at least. I'm sure there are many actors with as much or more talent, better looks and more successful careers, so why on Earth is some random little Scot my favourite actor? Maybe because of this or this. Because he's so funny and charming and genuine, and he has a lovely lovely accent and lovely lovely blue eyes and a messy hair, and he seems so amazingly down-to-earth (I'm a sucker for down-to-earth), and when I briefly met him, he seemed - though quite relaxed, polite and kind - a bit awkward, as if it'd felt as odd to him as it suddenly felt to me, that I was asking this totally normal guy to write his name on a piece of paper. I like normal. Normal rocks. Therefore I like James McAvoy. And James McAvoy indeed does rock.

I finish with some quotes and my favourite picture of my favourite actor. Oh, how I adore him.

"I always believed that I never wanted to be an actor. I only did it because I was allowed to do it and I had to do something."

"We're in a horrible, repugnant place now where kids are told it's their right and due to be hugely famous. Not good at their job, not good at anything, just hugely famous. This is not sane. Little girls think they'll be famous if they have vast breast implants and might as well die if they don't."

"The minute you start to strategize too much, the more you start to think you're in control of your own fate. And you're not, really."




 (So that was 'the big  secret', haha. Hope it was worth the epic wait... Also, if you made it this far... I salute you, mate! This was a pretty, eh, lenghty post. It had to be.)