Flaming Hot…Five Reasons Why…You’ve Been Tagged

Well…what can I say…Gill (Realweegiemidget Reviews) and I just couldn’t resist to collaborate again. We chit and chat quite often about our favourite (hot, yes) characters…and because fellow bloggers Ruth from Silver Screenings and Maedez at A Small Press Life are taking a break from that wonderful Reel Infatuation Blogathon, we decided to bring a new angle onto our Flaming Hotties Tag we started a few years back. Just so those of you who are totally infatuated can still get it out into the Blogosphere. And, well, sometime we just need some time to be “shallow” and enjoy some good looking characters.

 

Thanks Maedez and Ruth for letting us “fill in” for you this year (although our tag doesn’t come anywhere near your wonderful blogathon). We can’t wait for next year’s Reel Infatuation Blogathon again.

 

So, here goes…please post the rules (copy paste does the trick) and then get swooning:

1. You must add the name of the blog that tagged you AND those of the Thoughts All Sorts and Realweegiemidget Reviews with links to ALL these sites.. and use the natty cat themed picture promoting this post. This picture is found later in this post… 
2. List 5 of your all-time swoon-worthy characters from TV or Film i.e crushes/objects of your affection. And also do mention the actor or actress who plays them, as you might like James Bond as played by Timothy Dalton and no one else.. etc etc
3. Link (Tag) to 5 other bloggers.
4. Add lovely pictures, gifs or videos of those you selected.
5. If you don’t have a blog (or don’t have time to write a post) join in with your choices on Twitter with this #5TheFlamingHot5ReasonsWhy Tag and tag @realweegiemidge and @Thoughtsallsort  and the person who tagged you in your tweet.
6. Oh…and post these rules.

So, in no particular order, here are my hottest characters (some good boys, some bad boys), many of which are probably no surprise to you:

 

Tommy Shelby (Peaky Blinders)

1. He’s all business.

2. Those eyes…no further comment.

3. Family comes first (even though they’re not the perfect one)

4. Who can resist that style? I mean…just look at him…

5. Is played by Cillian Murphy

 

Prince Charming (Cinderella)

1. He’s simply a gentleman. We need more of those.

2. Those eyes aren’t too bad either.

3. He doesn’t appear to be just superficial but has a genuine character.

4. There’s a gentleness about him.

5. Is played by Richard Madden.

Stretch (Yellow Sky) (Spoilers ahead)

1. He cleans up pretty well when told his smells. I mean, in a dusty, water-scarce area…that’s quite a feat.

2. He might be a criminal but he does come clean.

3. Any bank robber who brings back what he’s stolen (every last cent)…what can I say…?

4. He makes sure nothing happens to Mike no matter how hard his gang is to control.

5. Is played by Gregory Peck.

Fritz (Catch and Release)

1. He has his priorities right…about business and life.

2. He is not pushy at all and knows just when to back off.

3. Accepts Grey for who she is – I absolutely love watching his face as she reveals her feelings about natural disasters.

4. Oh that kiss in the fishing store…enough to make anyone swoon.

5. Is played by Timothy Olyphant.

 

Bond…James Bond (Casino Royale and Casino Royale only)

1. Ah man…you want 5 points? Really? Let’s start with the beach scene…

2. Then we’ll move on to the shower scene…

3. Ok, fine, let me calm down. Love the wit and sarcasm in this case (it’s characters we’re on about, not real people where this would be a total put-off)

4. There’s a soft side to him in this movie,

5. Oh…and I don’t need to say which actor plays him…

 

So…now it’s over to you 5 Bloggers…you’ve been tagged! I’ve been out of Blogging touch for ages so this is also a way to say Hi again:

Maedez – A Small Press Life (Gill tagged Ruth so I’ll tag you)

Rebecca – Taking up Room

Emma – emmakwall (explains it all)

Caz – Let’s Go to the Movies

Debbie – Moon in Gemini (I’m missing your Blogathons Debbie)

 

I definitely knew your name…

…before Bond.

For me the choice is simple. Who else but Daniel Craig. For two reasons…the first being that I really enjoy his movies and have done so before he became Bond. Back in the day when not too many people had heard of him (or so I think was the case).

And more fittingly, because he is the only Bond I actually enjoy. Pre-Craig, I couldn’t be bothered with 007 movies, the odd snippets I had seen were just, dare I say, kitsch and cheesy and just not my cup of martini, oops, tea…especially where a dude has silver bits (or was it diamonds in his face?) or some people prance around glass palaces. Anyway…back to the topic at hand…

I had initially noticed Daniel Craig in I Dreamed of Africa but only when he appeared in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (cringe, did I just admit to watching that?) did I consciously register this actor but hey, he still wasn’t in many movies at the time (or it was just pre-IMDB and I was none the wiser). But then came L4yer Cake (2004) and that’s where he was absolutely fantastic. And note-worthy. Re-watching it this last month, I recognised the Bond he was to become.

L4yer Cake (yes, L4yer) is one of those brilliant British movies (think Lock, Stock… or Snatch) where a successful (businessman) drug dealer, ? as we never know his name (Daniel Craig) decides he wants “out” but of course it isn’t that easy. Just as he decides to call it a day he is tasked with one last job: to find the daughter of a seriously influential friend of his boss. This task in itself isn’t easy and to complicate matter more (I mean, why not? We wouldn’t have a story otherwise), the stakes go up with a huge number of Ecstasy pills needing to be moved coming into the mix (no pun intended). layer after layer of back-stabbing, gangs, lies and a pretty lady (Sienna Miller) are stacked upon each other, make for an interesting watch. No longer knowing who to trust our unknown leading character must navigate his way through this dangerous mess.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching L4yer Cake again for the first time in many, many years because it is just such a great movie but because it was so interesting to see Daniel Craig in a role that I felt almost gave hints of what was to come. Obviously, this wasn’t the case but I definitely felt some Bond recognition. Then again, I guess it is the style of the actor that makes the character. In fact this scene just sums it all up:

Oh, and to see Tom Hardy, wow, I couldn’t even remember he was in this one – not the biggest role but still fun to watch. Sir Michael Gambon and Colm Meaney star as the double-crossers yielding the power. All in all, L4yer Cake is well made with the layers (yes, picture a cake made up of different criminal layers) adding to the one already there i.e. our nameless dealer just wants to get out of the business but one job is added to another, one challenge to the one before making for an interesting end.

Well, then we have a total opposite of a role for Daniel Craig. Another one that I saw pre-Bond i.e. pre-Casino Royale. Here I saw what a brilliant actor Mr Craig is, how he delivers such contrasting roles to perfection. Or, at least I think so. The Mother is the movie I’m talking about now.

Here we have Darren (Daniel Craig of course), boyfriend of Paula and repairer of Bobby and wife Helen‘s conservatory. But, that’s the simple part. The complexity is that we have mother of Paula and Bobby, May (Anne Reid). Still all good, right? Well, not for long because while May is staying with Bobby and Helen in London, she is introduced to Darren. The form a connection around art and well, ultimately other things. Darren is also a married man. I think you see this is all one complex family setup but the movie revolves around May and the relationship (let me say that we’re not talking about just “friends”) she has with Darren but also with her children. May fears she will become an “invisible old lady” but also struggles to come to terms with her depression while raising her children and the effects this has had on them.

While this isn’t a feel good movie by any means, it is thought provoking (controversial?) and raises interesting questions around family relationships, growing older and parenting. But, it shows what a versatile actor Daniel Craig was/is. He is able to take on complex characters and portray them perfectly – from the quiet (and destructive) handy-man to passionate lover.

Granted, The Mother is definitely not for everyone but after having seen this and the previously mentioned L4yer Cake, I was totally hooked on an actor I’d never heard of before. And one who, at that time, wasn’t so well known as he is now.

And he’s the only reason I ever watched  Casino Royale. I honestly wouldn’t have bothered otherwise. I’m not sure (and I’m not really interested, sorry 🙂 ) what the previous Bond movies were like, but ever since Casino Royale, I’ve enjoyed them (ok, exclude Quantum of Solace).

For some more reading on non-Bond Bond actor movies, head on over to Real Weegie Midget Reviews or Pale Writer for their You Knew My Name: The Bond not Bond Blogathon.

PS: Gill and Pale Writer, I’m sorry I’m late – I had in my mind that I still had today. Arghhh, the calendar in my brain is a bit out at the moment. Could we use the excuse…ahm…Daniel Craig?

 

In a Nutshell: Knives Out (2019)

It has been a while since I’ve come across a good one like this. Clever, wacky and at times weird, Knives Out is one hell of an off-beat investigation movie. You know it’s going to be a good one from the start…rather, from the point you are introduced to the “last of the gentlemen sleuths” Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, who I’m enjoying so much in these strange roles – this one and you really should check out Logan Lucky…he’s brilliant there too). Yes, yes, OK, from the very beginning it has you curious, especially the family in question, but that single piano note has you all in. Don’t ask…just watch. Really.

We are introduced to the patriarch on his couch…with a slit throat. Suicide. Clearly. Add a gathering of eccentric family members. And a systematic piecing together of events together with the patriarch’s caregiver who cannot lie without puking. Yes, it’s true. The plot thickens. And the secrets come out.

So, at risk of giving something away, I’m just going to say that this is so worth watching. Hmmm, Daniel Craig’s accent takes some time getting used to but hey, it just fits in with this wacky movie. This whodunit stars a colourful ensemble of Toni Collette, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Michael Shannon, LaKeith Stanfield, Don Johnson Noah Segan and a whole lot more.