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Friday, January 15, 2016

Here We Go Again

Two legends.  Within one week.  Both 69.  Both died from cancer.

This week has sucked.

Alan Rickman was outstanding.  He was beyond words.  He was a powerful yet understated actor.  He was one of those that I always thought must have had an amazing sense of humor and be kind beyond measure.  I mean he had to be to make up for all of those awesome baddies he played.

Media outlets have been remembering him for playing all the villains--which he did very well.  The first time I ever saw him was in 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (which, thanks to Christian Slater I saw THREE times in the theatre).  I was completely enamored of his portrayal of the Sheriff of Nottingham.  He was so disgustingly wicked!  I went for Christian Slater, but I was mesmerized by Alan Rickman.


He kept showing up in my movie world, and each time I was so happy he was present.  I didn't see Die Hard until I was much older: nailed the villain again.  I've always been obsessed with his carefully maintained beard in that, too.  So 80s.  So villainous.



Oh, he's Snape?  Well.  That's perfect.  A "villain" with a conflicted heart of gold.  Even before the end of the Harry Potter series was published, I knew there was more to Snape, and when he was cast, I knew it was perfection.

If this didn't make you feel all the feelings, you are not human.

What about comedy?  Galaxy Quest?  CHECK.  Dogma?  CHECK.  (Man, I just wanted him to be able to taste that tequila!)


Sweeney Todd?  I get to see Alan Rickman AND Johnny Depp...SINGING???  OKAY!!!!  I'm okay with that!  Completely okay.


How about some voiceover work in another Tim Burton film, Alice in Wonderland, or giving the best performance in the big-screen adaptation of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?  A lot of people love Morgan Freeman's voice, but I always loved Rickman's more.  It was velvety yet rugged.  Sophisticated.  Learned. Oooohhh, I loved it.



But my favorite...my FAVORITE Alan Rickman was Love Actually.  The couple he and Emma Thompson portray, though definitely not the happiest of the lot, was the most real.  Confused, middle-aged, wanting something more, yet still needing his family, understated...the two of them presented a real-life situation that happens way too often.  I admire and respect their performances the most in that film, and though it's hard to watch each time, when Emma Thompson's voice cracks when she tells him, "...you've also made a fool out of me, and you've made the life I lead foolish, too," and then the look of realization on his face...It's perfect and real and kind of lovely that they could capture that on film to let others know they aren't alone when a comfortable marriage falls apart.


So, we say goodbye to another, and...here's the deal.  I have a pop culture mindset.  I'm not really sure how it happened, but I grew up completely engrossed in music, TV shows, and movies.  I was that teenager who had crushes on all the 80s hunks--like Michael J. Fox, John Stamos, Kirk Cameron, River Phoenix, Ricky Schroder, Brian Bloom (anyone remember that one?), Michael Schoeffling--and my heroines were bright-eyed ingenues--Molly Ringwald, Alyssa Milano, Justine Bateman, Drew Barrymore (rebel that she was at the time).  I talk in movie quotes and song lyrics.  Rarely does a day go by that I don't quote from one or both.  The highlight of my year is always twofold: watching the Golden Globes and then comparing them to the Oscars.  I am movie.  I am music.  I love the people involved in them.  And many think I am silly and weak-minded to have feelings for actors, actresses, and musicians when they pass.  Well, it's just who I am, because they help make up WHO I am.  If you don't like that, I guess you don't like me.

Let's put this week to rest with a Bowie/Rickman celebration.  Listen to all the Bowie.  Watch all the Rickman.  It'll make you smile!

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