Who is this Lucian the Lycan?

I have recently installed Sitemeter for this blog, and I can see the search words that bring people to my blog. Because I wrote about the new photos of Robert Downey Jr. Shirtless as Sherlock Holmes, and also because of this Hurray for Chest Hair post, I have had some interesting search combos bring people to my site, including several "Name of actor" shirtless. Recently, it's been "Michael Sheen Shirtless." Having just seen Michael Sheen in Frost/Nixon, and loving him in that, and also loving him as Tony Blair in The Queen, I admire the actor, but was puzzled. Yeah, he's kind of handsome, I thought, but what is up with this rash of searches for images of Michael shirtless?

You see, I had never seen Underworld. I looked Michael up on Imdb after I saw Michael in Frost/Nixon because it was bugging me that he had been in another movie in the past, and I couldn't think of it. The movie was Timeline, where he plays the villain. But in those IMDB credits were the three Underworld films. So, out of curiosity, I rented the first Underworld from Netflix. The movie disk was infuriatingly skipping on me, but I was arrested by the first shot of Michael Sheen as the Lycan (werewolf) Lucian. Holy crap. THIS was Michael Sheen who played David Frost?! This bad ass?!

I adore English actors because they will take any work, from Shakespeare to Horror. Bill Nighy plays the king of the vampires, so it's a kick ass movie with great actors who it is just a ball to see chew up the scenery. I loved Underworld. Since the movie was skipping and freezing so badly, I had to abandon the DVD, and some kind soul had posted the whole thing on YouTube. Michael's character Lucian at the beginning is the bad guy, but you find out something about him in the movie, which changes your mind about him. His look is just so arresting with the hair extensions, and the gaping open shirt (he's quite fit, as the Brits would say). Wow. One of his first lines is to one of his werewolf minion, "Must I do everything myself?!" Classic!

I got caught up in Underworld's story of vampires and werewolves. It's an interesting world, and the movie was more entertaining than I expected. A nice break from the heavy Oscar fare. The romance between Kate Beckinsale's character and Scott Speedman's Michael is the main story, but I was loving Michael Sheen as king of the lycans and Bill Nighy as king of the vampires.

I have Underworld Evolution as my next movie to be mailed to me on my queue now, and the third movie, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, is a prequel telling the story of the beginning of the war between Lucian's Lycans and Bill Nighy's vampires and is out in theaters now. Michael's character Lucian in the first was an important supporting one, but interest in his back story obviously grew, since they made the third all about his character. It's probably really bad, but at this point, I don't care. I hear there's a Michael Sheen love scene in it. And he's quite fit, and maybe even shirtless. ;)

Frost/Nixon - Mini-review

'Tis Oscar season, and all the heavy hitters come out in December. The holiday
season for me was a chance to catch up on all the fantastic movies released just in time to beat the Oscar deadline.

Frost/Nixon stars Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, and Michael Sheen as interviewer David Frost. I just love these mano a mano acting films. These two actors also played the same roles in the play in London and on Broadway. Frank Lingella won a Tony for his amazing portrayal as Nixon, and he's likely to get an Oscar nomination as well. Ron Howard made it a condition that both original actors from the play be in the movie. There are some other great actors, too == Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell, and Kevin Bacon.

I heard David Frost interviewed on NPR, and he says that the play and the movie exaggerate his underdog status to make for heightened drama. It is true that he had to put his own money on the line to make this interview happen.

Michael Sheen is an accomplished theater actor, but is best known to American audiences for playing Tony Blair in The Queen. I've heard a rumor that he might play Tony Blair again in an upcoming film. I just saw a commercial for the third Underworld film, and had no idea that he's had a major role in that action vampire series since the first one. I'll have to add those to my Netflix queue, especially since Bill Nighy is in them, too. It was bugging me that he had been in something else familiar, and I hit my forehead, D'oh!, when I read on IMDB that he was Lord Oliver, one of the bad guys in Timeline, one of my favorite films.

Frank Langella is a character actor, recently playing Perry White in Superman Returns. It's so great to see him get the chance to play such a big role on film. He's had an accomplished stage career, winning three Tony awards on Broadway.

This is a fantastic movie and it is just so fun to watch these great actors take each other on. Another one for the Best Picture list, and probably another Director Oscar nod for Ron Howard. Four stars, and one of the best films of the year.

Ron Howard's Next movie

Just read a bit on Ron Howard's upcoming film. Frost/Nixon will have a limited release in early December for Oscar consideration. The film will star the same actors who performed the roles in the very successful play: Michael Sheen as David Frost and Frank Langella as Nixon. You'll remember Sheen played Tony Blair in The Queen. Frank Langella won a Tony Award in 2007 for playing Richard Nixon in the original stage production.