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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jan 24 2015, 5:18pm
Post #1 of 10
(284 views)
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RA's New Role: The Tooth Fairy in Hannibal
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'Hannibal' is a highly acclaimed series about to start a third season - by the skin of its teeth, because its viewing figures are nothing special. It has just won the Golden Tomato on Rotten Tomatoes for being the show with the highest critical acclaim in 2014. So, why the low figures?
I have just watched the first two seasons and I think it's just too clever - too much great characterisation and long, philosophical conversations - to attract the normal horror fans and those who might have enjoyed this are not watching in the first place because they're not into horror. It is beautifully filmed and even the murders sometimes look like Renaissance paintings; and there is some superb acting from Mads Mikkelson as Hannibal Lecter (before people realised he was a serial killer) and Hugh Dancy as the special agent.
I think that the director, Bryan Fuller, felt he had to go all out this coming season which is why he has employed RA, hoping to bring his 'army' with him to watch the series. A lot of RA fans said initially 'not my cup of tea', but they have been intrigued enough to watch the first two seasons and attitudes are changing because of the quality of the show.
RA has just been in China, promoting BOFA and, in interviews there, he has said that he is attracted to parts which present characters that he either aspires to be like (John Proctor) or which are far from his own character (Francis Dolarhyde, The Tooth Fairy and a serial killer).
FD appears in the The Red Dragon books which are. apparently, very good; and he has appeared in two films: 'Manhunter' where the actor portrays him as weird-looking with a double hare lip, and 'Red Dragon', where FD is played by Ralph Fiennes, who also saw something in the role. This time, he is quite handsome, with only one scar on his lip.
The Red Dragon refers to the huge tattoo he has on his back of a dragon from a William Blake painting and which he first sees on the front of Time. Here is Fuller teasing us in a tweet:
https://twitter.com/...774190104576/photo/1
From China, RA flew to Toronto where they are filming and plunged straight in.
Here is a YT vid from 'Red Dragon' of FD's dragon tattoo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbiDj6vJfug
I'm not squeamish but people should be warned that the murders are very 'imaginative'. However, Dolarhyde is a fascinating character and this series is very well-made. I think that RA wanted to get onto American TV next and possibly get more male fans. So, I think he has chosen well.
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Avandel
Half-elven
Jan 24 2015, 5:52pm
Post #2 of 10
(208 views)
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IMO your analysis of this show being "too clever" is probably correct - evidently one of the greatest U.S. exports ever was "Baywatch" which probably says something.
If the film is - uh, "tasteful" about things, more or less - e.g. "Silence of the Lambs" didn't bother me in spite of the occasional gore, and over-the-top stuff like the films "Wanted" and "Kill Bill" make me laugh - I'll watch the show. As it is, Tooth Fairy memes are already popping up. I think this will have a dark - and even dark-funny aspect in modern culture, as folks will parody anything just about. I can see 'toons already involving candy and a sweet tooth and so on....(Which I think the book author understood re the nickname Tooth Fairy...)
And even if it doesn't get renewed for season 4, this is the kind of show that may end up with a cult following of sorts with a long lifespan in the DVD/rental market. Like when I discovered North and South and went out and bought it!
Kudos to NBC and the director for hanging in. I was also happy to hear that "Halt and Catch Fire" was being renewed, which is another more "intellectual" show of sorts, and took a few episodes for me me to get into the show - but now I want to know what happens next. I get so tired of the networks not even giving things a chance to build a following.
And RA has said he "always wants to stretch himself as an actor" - well, this should do it, I would think. Not that he hasn't pushed himself extraordinarily hard. But Philippa Boyens did mention that actors don't necessarily want a heroic part, as it's the character actors who often get to do the interesting stuff - like Martin Freeman asking PJ when "Bilbo can get dark".
(Of course, Thorin Oakenshield is quite a rich role in itself ).
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jan 24 2015, 6:45pm
Post #3 of 10
(206 views)
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It has always been said about RA
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that he is a character actor trapped in the body of a handsome leading man. And this has always worked against him. His height and good looks mean that directors refuse to consider him for the character roles and when he went to audition for the clumsy, scruffy farmhand in Sparkhouse, it was his last desperate attempt to break into TV and he went dressed for the part just to prove he could do it.
But, if you listen to his audiobooks, where I reckon he has voiced a hundred different people at least, giving them all different accents and tones and speech mannerisms - all sorts of characters, including women and children - it is obvious he can do more than tall, dark and handsome.
However, when it comes to the leading man roles, he is cut out of those too because there are always others in their early 40s who are more famous.
I think that Dolarhyde will be a great challenge for him because he will not look gorgeous and it will all be down to his acting skills.
We shall, however, be seeing a lot of his body - although only above the waist because NBC is so conservative about body parts, LOL - at least when they are alive and moving. When Lecter got out of bed after spending the night with a woman, he had his jim jams on!
However, this is something that I really like about the show: there are very few sex scenes and they are all done tastefully (ie you don't see a thing). Those murdered are just as likely to be men as women and there is no sexual perversion involved - women aren't seen as sex objects. The killer isn't into sexual domination but usually has some strange desire to make his victims 'better', by mutilating them into something else, like angels. It made a 'nice' change. What women there are have strong, intelligent personalities.
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glor
Rohan
Jan 24 2015, 6:51pm
Post #4 of 10
(197 views)
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These are becoming far less relevant in our current age of on demand, box set binge TV. TV has changed, now acclaimed TV shows do not get picked up en masse by the viewing public, until the 3rd or 4th season ( see the Walking Dead and Breaking Bad for evidence) especially when the potential number of viewers is limited by the nature of the content e.g not family viewing.
The problem with the current changes in viewing habits is that the networks be they cable, free to air or, subscription need advertising revenue to make shows (public broadcasters like the BBC being the exception).
Hannibal is also aquiring Gillian Andersen as a permanent character in the 3rd season, this show is going for the acclaim as adding two, when one includes RA, of the most acclaimed actors from London's theatreland in 2014 is going to mean that this show is going to be watched and possibly awarded by the people that matter ( critics). I do not think this is just about RA fans pushing up viewing figures, this is the producers and those behind the show, saying we have the TV drama with the best acting chops (excuse the pun) on your screens, something that is becoming increasingly important if one wishes to attract viewers in this box set, binge watching on demand market.
No mascara can survive BOTFA
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Iris70
The Shire
Jan 24 2015, 6:56pm
Post #5 of 10
(197 views)
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I'm so glad Richard was offered this part, it's a good way to be known more in the USA. A couple of years ago I remember hearing him say (or reading, now I don't remember) in an interview, that he wanted to play the mass murderer, just because it's a role so different from himself and because he's attracted to complicated roles (he said this again recently, in a video interview in China)
I read Red Dragon nearly 30 years ago, as a teenager, and was fascinated by the story and the character of FD, so to speak. I saw Manhunter and loved it. Then Ralph came and gave us a great FD. So I'm extremely curious to see what Richard is going to do with this character.
And.... I want to see him naked, TBH. I saw one character naked in season 2, a man, in half shade, so it's possible that we can see his 'black blood' in the moonlight on his perfectly sculpted and tattooed body... 
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glor
Rohan
Jan 24 2015, 7:00pm
Post #6 of 10
(195 views)
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His height and good looks mean that directors refuse to consider him for the character roles ...
...However, when it comes to the leading man roles, he is cut out of those too because there are always others in their early 40s who are more famous.
RAs issues with getting cast have from I have read in numerous interviews, centred around his height and being too tall compared to the other actors, that seems ironic post-Hobbit . Being a leading man requires you to not tower above the leading lady and a lot of the major leading ladies in Hollywood are tiny so, I don't think it is just other potential leading men being more famous, they also happen to be shorter than RA!
There is also the fame game, and the politics of major movie making, that some actors do not want to play; the so-so rom-coms and action flicks to enamour yourself with the studios, the networking and hanging around the right people BS etc.
No mascara can survive BOTFA
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jan 24 2015, 7:38pm
Post #7 of 10
(181 views)
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I think he's taken a big leap forward
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in that he didn't seek this role: he didn't go after them but they, according to RA, went after him. That's got to be a sign of increasing fame and confidence in his acting abilities.
I don't remember the naked man, Iris, LOL! I think that shows how tastefully they do things. I've heard that NBC won't show bottoms from the rear or 'bum-cleavages' but that they will show naked men from the side. Odd, isn't it? I've seen RA naked in an early role, in Between the Sheets, and it was a moment really worth waiting for. He said it was embarrassing to think his mum was watching it.
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Kim
Valinor
Jan 24 2015, 8:30pm
Post #8 of 10
(181 views)
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Thanks for the post ShireHorse
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I just watched the first 4 episodes last night and posted a quick note to the "what are you watching" thread below. I'm really debating about whether to continue watching as I did find that the murders were pretty gruesome and gory. I'm also a little hesitant based on the description of the Tooth Fairy character - it does seem like that one will veer into areas I just don't know if I want to watch. I do see how it's more intellectual and philosophical vs. straight horror, so I'm trying to figure out if that's enough to overcome some of the graphic visuals. Does it continue along the same lines as the seasons progress, or does it veer more towards a cat-and-mouse tale as they figure out who Hannibal is?
Tip for new viewers: do not eat while watching this show. 
#OneLastTime
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ShireHorse
Rohan
Jan 24 2015, 9:05pm
Post #9 of 10
(177 views)
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in season 2, more cat and mouse and more complex. The conversations and the character interplay started to take over from the gore, it seems. But there is one murder per episode - and I was unhappy with this, not because it was too much gore for my sensitivities but because there was just too much happening for 45 mins - the murder, the investigation, the capture. Apparently, in the new season, Fuller is moving away from this and I'm pleased.
As to the murders, all of them are so OTT that I felt distanced - they didn't horrify or upset me, especially since most seemed to involve mutilation after a killing and not whilst the person was alive, and the killer often had a strange but interesting reason for what he did. I found myself studying a gory close-up and wondering how the special effects dept achieved it. I couldn't take it seriously and was quite glad when they moved on to the 'important stuff', the character interplay etc.
Actually, the most nauseating moments for me were the close-ups of food preparation, seeing a sharp knife cut so easily through a liver or kidneys. It made me think of the frailty of human flesh. I don't think I shall ever be able to cut up meat with complete sang froid again.
Also interesting was the number of times that the killers or Lecter said 'Do you see?' or 'Do you see me?' Not only do they have a yearning to be understood but I'm sure this is building up to Dolarhyde and his blind girlfriend who 'sees' him through touch. RA's first reference to his new role was to tweet some lines spoken by FD in the book:
'You see me now, Yes
That's how you feel to see me
Do you feel me now? Yes'
But, I perfectly understand how, in spite of many good things about the series, people might decide that they can't watch and will wait for RA to appear in something more in line with their taste. After all, we have Urban and the Shed Crew plus Sleepwalker in the can and he will start filming Pilgrimage in April. And don't forget you will be able to download The Crucible soon.
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Eowyn of Penns Woods
Valinor
Jan 24 2015, 10:06pm
Post #10 of 10
(180 views)
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This.
Actually, the most nauseating moments for me were the close-ups of food preparation, seeing a sharp knife cut so easily through a liver or kidneys. It made me think of the frailty of human flesh. There was a preview done like a parody of cooking shows, and it turned the whole family off watching Hannibal. We're not particularly squeamish, but that was too much. Funny in a clever and dark way, but really disgusting when you're still digesting or waiting for your own dinner.
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NABOUF
Not a TORns*b!
Certified Curmudgeon
Knitting Knerd
NARF: NWtS Chapter Member since June 17,2011
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