The Fabulous Eton Boys
Who knew one of the oldest private schools in Britain, one counting Prince William and current Prime Minister David Cameron as graduates, produces so many actors? Among their alumni are:
- Dominic West (The Wire, The Hour, 300)
- Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers, Life, The Forsythe Saga,Homeland)
- Harry Lloyd (Robin Hood, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, The Iron Lady)
- Eddie Redmayne (My Week with Marilyn, Pillars of the Earth, Tess of the D’Urbervilles)
- Hugh Laurie (Stewart Little, Blackadder, House)
British newspapers wrote about the many drama productions, guests lecturers including Sir Ian McKellen,and whether one can be an actor if from a ‘working class’ background. (Looks like the class system in Britain is not dead yet.) However, I want to single out one alumni playing a villain in one of the biggest movies this summer, yet wrote a thoughtful piece about the substance of superhero movies:
The piece entitled ‘Superheroes movies like Avengers Assemble should not be scorned’ weaves a Harold Pinter quote, likened Batman to Hamlet, and pretty much demonstrates the depth of his education. If this doesn’t scream WELL-EDUCATED GEEK I don’t know what does.
Hold the Worry for Just a Second
Meanwhile back in Middle Earth, Peter Jackson debuted of ten minutes of Hobbit footage in the much touted 48 frames per second. People call the reaction ‘mixed’, which is a bit like saying ‘almost pregnant’. People are pregnant with panick is more like it. Theatre owners decry the format as looking like a 70’s soap opera in one article, while another makes an attempt to talk about the storytelling itself. Am I concerned? Oh indeed I am. A group of actors gave up two years of their lives and careers on this feature, hoping to grow slightly bigger careers. However now is not the time to panic and the look of 48 frames per second proved jarring for a number of people. I felt slightly dizzy watching The Hunger Games and that’s a hand-held camera.
All this technotalk makes me want to watch Serenity with Joss Whedon’s commentary. If you ever want to learn about lenses, watch the movie with commentary and hear the nerdiness come through the screen. Peter Jackson has the same strain of nerdiness and hopefully will make 48 frames per second work.
Related Reading
- CinemaCon 2012: Dim reaction to high-def look of Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’ (thevisionaryfilmfanatic.wordpress.com)
- Op-Ed: The Hobbit at 48 FPS (moviefail.wordpress.com)
- You don’t have to be posh to be an actor (but it certainly helps)(http://www.guardian.co.uk/)
Unpaused Life 