To beard or not to beard -- David Warner: The Forum

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2 ]

Subject: To beard or not to beard

Author:
Suky

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 23:33:58 05/10/05 Tue
In reply to: eva 's message, "Re: In the beginning" on 19:42:15 05/09/05 Mon

>Well, I guess it wasn't a very memorable role then...
>Thanks for the input, Suky-I love reading your
>postings!

Thanks, Eva! Careful, though, you'll just encourage me! ;-) It's great to read your postings too. It's nice to have some discussion again. Unfortunately, in trying to be helpful I spoke too soon--I dug out my copy of In the Beginning (complete with commercial breaks featuring coverage of the 2000 U.S. elections as the recounts dragged into their agonizing umpteenth week!), and I don't know what I was thinking about him being a storyteller. I must have been remembering Martin Landau, who, as Abraham, spends about twenty minutes telling the Creation story. Those bushy beards, long robes, and turbans kind of make all the guys look alike! You really have to look closely to see who's who. (At least you see slightly more of DW than you did in Planet of the Apes! Why am I hearing the line "I've gone all furry" in my head?) But there's no confusing their voices, so apparently I didn't pay very close attention to the movie at all the first time. Even now, I'm finding it hard to focus on except for the DW scenes. I mean, if you know the story of Genesis, it's a little, er, predictable--only really stretched out, especially if you're not a big fan of Martin Landau. (But if you are, it's well worth the investment cuz he's in almost every scene of the first segment!) Then again in Part 2 you've got Christopher Lee in eyeliner as the Egyptian Pharoah (hmm, why does *that* look familiar?), so at least the coolness is spread out.

DW pops up throughout the story, but overall, he's not in it very much (surprise) ... but then, for us, he's not in *anything* enough unless he's the lead, is he? ;-) He plays Abraham's "eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had" (according to the King James version), who's not actually named in the Bible but is called Eleazar in the movie. (He's the one who goes to get a bride for Isaac, among other miscellaneous duties.) He makes it through about the first hour (including the commercials).

All in all, I'd say the movie is a pedestrian TV interpretation of the first two books of the Bible masquerading as a blockbuster and a perfect example of waiting for that elusive glimpse of DW! But if you get the DVD, it's easy to skip to the good parts. (Personally, I wouldn't recommend paying very much for it! If you do get it please let us know what you think.)

>DW seemed to look quite like he
>did in Rasputin, if you can recollect his Russian
>looks.

While I was at it, my copy of Rasputin happened to be on the same shelf as In the Beginning, so I took a quick peek to refresh my memory before saying anything out of turn again. Unfortunately, I like the goatee even less than the grizzly beard from In the Beginning! Does he have a goatee again in Ladies in Lavender? (He's so much handsomer clean-shaven, don't you think?)

Oops ... hope that's not too much rambling! (Speaking of stretched out!)

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: To beard or not to beard

Author:
Eva
[ Edit | View ]

Date Posted: 16:13:41 05/11/05 Wed

I couldn't agree more, Suky. Down with facial hair!

Not even when he was youthfully gorgeous-The Ballad of Cable Hogue, A Doll's House-did it suit him as much as clean-shaven looks do, at least IMHO!

And yes . . . the goatee's back in LIL! And so is the short salt-and-pepper (ginger-and-pepper?) hair. I daresay he'll look better at the Minerva considering the small pic on their website. As for TLOGA ... well, he reminds me of a musketeer!

Thanks for your ITB ''review''. I suppose I'll try and bargain eventually. I'd also like to have a look at Diana Rigg, Amanda Donohoe and the late Alan Bates's performances.

Best regards,

Eva

PS Senator Sandar was sort of cute-for an ape! Think of poor Tim Roth!

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Warning: more girl talk!

Author:
Suky
[ Edit | View ]

Date Posted: 23:01:08 05/15/05 Sun

>I couldn't agree more, Suky. Down with facial hair!

Glad I'm not alone, Eva! Bummer about the goatee in LIL. At least he's clean-shaven in Miss Marple! And he sure does look good in that King Lear pic. (The play opens this Tuesday! Anybody here planning to see it? I can't wait to hear all about it.)

Just to give you an idea how big a difference facial hair makes (especially disconnected clumps of it, as in goatees, mustaches, etc.) ... before I knew who DW was, I went to see Time After Time on a friend's recommendation--she said there was this actor in it I would think was cute. So I sat through the first twenty minutes wondering who she meant ... until he got rid of the mustache. Turns out my friend knows me really well! Of course, I quickly came to appreciate his brilliant *performance*. :-) And he's been my favorite actor ever since. (Beauty and talent in one package, and an intelligent, down-to-earth nice person in real life--what more could you ask for in a favorite actor? Apart from more starring roles!)

>And so is the
>short salt-and-pepper (ginger-and-pepper?) hair.

"Ginger and pepper"--that's a good description. (Hmm, it's making me hungry!) BTW, have you seen Cast a Deadly Spell? I think he had one of his best haircuts in that; he looks kind of matinee-idolish. (He was also really good in it too! He plays another one of those suave, sardonic baddies that nobody else can play quite the way he does.)

They sure did assemble a great cast for In the Beginning, didn't they? I confess, after DW's part was done, I never watched the rest of it (even Christopher Lee couldn't compel me), so I'd love to hear someone else's review. Should I bother with it?

>PS Senator Sandar was sort of cute-for an ape! Think
>of poor Tim Roth!

Well, Sandar certainly had nice eyes ... and fingers! Cuz that's about all of DW you get to see! Even his voice is a little distorted because of all the ape prosthetics.

I saw Tim Roth on a talk show once saying that he loved playing bad guys. I found that interesting because he played one of the most despicable villains I ever saw in Rob Roy. I still feel icky thinking about him in that movie. (And I think he's good-looking too.) Meanwhile, DW could play Jack the Ripper and make me swoon! Go figure!

[ Post a Reply to This Message ]