You got the lead role, but I stole the movie!

Hi, just a few thoughts that have been in the back of my mind for a few years actually. What about those movies that were supposed to make a point, highlight a main character, but turned out to shift their focus onto a secondary one, sometimes because of the script, sometimes because of historical circumstances, sometimes because of the brilliant performance of the actor.

Grease by Randal Kleiser, 1978 (PG)
Betty Rizzo (Stockard Channing)
Olivia Newton-John was the perfect girl gone bad, pretty, cute, her journey would give her all the sympathy of the audience, but the edgy role of Betty, her sense of fashion, her issues being a woman who faces the complicated choice of having a child, her non-acceptance of the status-quot finally made her a universal figure, and in a way, her role didn't age compared to the other characters of Grease.


Girl: Interrupted by James Mangold, 1999 (R)
Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie)
Winona Ryder again is a cute victim of the system, but Angelina Jolie as the smart one who never fits in reminds far more of the impressive performance of Jack Nicholson in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and is the one that truly makes you question the system. She is also quite fascinating and manipulative, takes completely over the shot, while Ryder fades into the walls of the hospital, almost transparent.


The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan, 2008 (PG-13)
The Joker (Heath Ledger)
Christian Bale is at his second movie directed by Nolan, his character is established already, and somehow, as we know the hero, we get our attention towards the bad guy. And Batman always have really cool bad guys, but he exploded. And died, which by unfortunate circumstances did an amazing advertizing for himself and the movie, which got the attention at the awards. Interesting tragic turn of events.


Vicky Cristina Barcelona by Woody Allen, 2008 (PG-13)
Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz)
Scarlett Johansson was quite the muse of Woody Allen at the time, being the protagonist of his two previous movies Match Point and Scoop. But in this one, first she had to face an actress on the rise Rebecca Hall, and most of all, the fire of Spanish actress Penelope Cruz at her best as an Almodovarian character. Her "Joder!" made me unanimous about considering her as a great actress, and her wild spirit completely overshadowed the two (too) plain American actresses.


Four Weddings and a Funeral by Mike Newell, 1994 (R)
Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas)
Andie MacDowell was the perfect American, supposedly politically incorrect for the high class society of England, I actually liked her a lot, with probably the help of Hugh Grant being so much in love with her, and us as an audience projecting. Never the less, the script for Kristin Scott Thomas was so good, funny and dark at the same time, that it was impossible not to notice her. And when she finally raised the veil on her actual emotion, she was so beautifully broken I felt it was sort of unfair she had such a minor role. I really believe she was making the movie, perhaps with John Hannah.


Albert Nobbs by Rodrigo García, 2011 (R)
Hubert (Janet McTeer)
Glenn Close's character was so stiff there was a need for a similar and opposite one that would shake her up. Janet McTeer did so well she became the woman that made a point in the movie. Hubert is the modernism, the forward-thinkingness (?) that needed that society, where women didn't have much of a chance to become rich without the help of a wealthy family. She is light and optimism, despite the sad turn of events, something to look up to. And still, now that the condition of women has changed and we don't need to hide as men to achieve higher goals, there is still in her character a normalization of love that most of our society hasn't accepted yet. Perhaps this character will remain for a long time an unconventional one, hopefully not too long tho.


Any more characters you thought stole the movie?

Updates on Claudia Black, a journey to the impossibles

Following the article: Claudia Black, a journey to the impossibles

Claudia Black in the recording studios for Dragon Age Inquisition, 2014

I keep seeing these pictures on the side of my blog, as it appears to be very popular, and I feel weird because I just want to post a picture of Claudia Black the way she looks now, which is more beautiful than ever. Just come back to the front of the screen, even if that means more make up/prep up and less crazy voices to perform for video games. 

Update 10/01/2016: I am still catching up with the last episodes, so don't spoil it for me. But my, my... Lommers is quite the politician in Containment, I am thrilled she was cast in it. Looking forward to the end, and more shows with her in it.

Update 02/18/2016: Alright, Claudia Black has been back, with the role of Dahlia in the Originals, (spin-off from The Vampire Diaries), pretty much immortal. And something I really look forward to, she will be part of the cast of "Containment", set to debut April 19, 2016, meaning really soon!!! This is good news.

Update 12/19/2013: Just in: "Strange Frame: Love and Sax" is now available in Netflix. Only thing I gotta do when I get back home after holidays is to watch it! Yay!

Update 08/05/2013: Finally, just saw the other vampire Claudia Black was turned into, for the movie "Queen of the Damned". Honestly, I much prefer the one of "MoonLight". They made her have luggage under her eyes, bad skin, and an insignificant role. Anyway, the movie is not that interesting either, so I guess it is a good way to skip Claudia Black for once. Still have to see "Strange Frame" and "Rain From Stars".

Update 11/29/2012: Answer from the producers of Strange Frame: "Weʻre still working on a screening for New York. Stay tuned, but it will be out on VOD in February and DVD in March."
Simple as asking!

Claudia Black as Pandora in "Queen of the Damned", 2002

Update 11/28/2012: Just watched for the first time Haven, this series from SyFy (who produced BattleStar Galactica) of course to check out the latest work of Claudia Black ("Magic Hour" Part 1 and 2). I kind of got hooked to the series, it has an interesting point, despite the fact that it looks like "The 4400" and "Heroes" in more than one way... Or X-men... Wonder why there is such a fascination for people with superpower (oh now I remember half of the movie industry money comes from stories about people with Super-Powers :) Anyway, I am starting to get annoyed at Claudia Black for staying no more than three episodes without being outcast or killed, or simply popping by just long enough we would point our attention to her and then leave. Can any producer be smarter than that?
But... she looks like she is getting a serious credit in the coming-up movie "Rain from Stars", which is not an animated movie. Yes!!! It's finished, so let's wait and see. In the meantime, I keep asking in case... where can we see "Strange Frame: Love and Sax" in New York?

Claudia Black in TV series "Haven" as Moira in episode "Magic Hour"

For more on Claudia Black, I recommend IMDB and claudiablackonline

Claudia Black, a journey to the impossibles

I never knew one of my recent obsession would become the reason why my blog is so much read. Definitely, I believe that there is a major curiosity to be built upon Claudia Black. She was once overly wearing make-up for "City Life", which is here in the US practically impossible to watch, except if you understand Russian and you are not bothered by the fact that it is only one person (male) that does he voice over for all the characters, with the enthusiasm of Aeryn Sun in "Look at the Princess" for Dregon Carzenova (Aaron James Cash). I personally do not understand Russian. Anyway...

Claudia Black as Angela Kostapas in "City Life"

My journey of discovering Claudia Black started (obviously) with Aeryn Sun in "Farscape". Interesting character, who pretty much stole the series, evolving from tough military to someone more complex, with feelings, emotions, hopes.

Claudia Black as Aeryn Sun in Farscape

Something in her pushed me into watching "Stargate SG-1", while my friends (who had recommended me "Farscape") were kind of reticent. My only curiosity came from the fact that in one of the episodes of "Stargate SG-1" named "200", she was playing Aeryn Sun. But instead of going straight to the point, I started back to "Prometheus Unbound" and watched her as Vala Mal Doran in all the episodes in between to get to that point. I was definitely on the one hand deceived that it wasn't Aeryn Sun per say, but one the other hand, I got my only laugh for watching "Stargate SG-1" which largely compensated.

Claudia Black as Vala Mal Doran in Stargate SG-1

Following this Stargate period, I got into what is called at my age (28) a shameful moment. Yes, I watched "90210" aka Beverly Hills. It used to be successful as a different generation cast, when I was 8 years old, with the reputation to be for kids and teenagers. When I was 8, I thought it was an adult show, with real heart drama. Watching it now was sort of a learning experience, first of that target audience, second of a certain mentality that perhaps some high school have. Anyway, Claudia Black played for a few episodes a guru, Sona. Of course, she has to be the bad guy, and of course, the whole game has to be unveiled in an obvious manner. Anyway, definitely a character change. My shame was more or less watching the rest of the episodes that ended the series...

Claudia Black as Guru Sona in 90210

Next was the wonder of "City Life" dubbed in Russian, which I probably gave up to easily, although reading about it, it made me realize this was a response to Melrose Place from New Zealand, meaning not sure I want to be hooked to a sitcom again. 

Then came "Rango"... I had to see it, because of the reviews, and because of her role as Angelique. Well, the movie is great, the character of Angelique, let's define it: nearly nonexistent. Sad because she is funnily arrogant, could have had more slashing lines.

Claudia Black as Angelique in Rango

I checked the trailer of the animation movie "The Alchemist Agenda" but it looked like it was still a work in progress. I was also watching this episode of "MoonLight" where she appears, kind of SM Vampire Cleaner, reminding me of Trinity in "The Matrix" (And I love Trinity... But The Cleaner wasn't a recurrent role so I gave up).

Claudia Black as Ariel Allis in The Alchemist Agenda

Claudia Black as The Cleaner in MoonLight

Now, my two latest moves are to watch "Pitch Black" which when it came out was a blockbuster, and hum... "Xena: Warrior Princess" that's it, I said it. I believe I watched that once on tv when I was a teenager, at my aunt's house (never had tv in my childhood), bored to death and at 11am during the week with no cable tv, obviously not much to watch either. I was not impressed. So this time, this particular episode where Claudia Black appears, "Lifeblood" is with guest star Selma Blair and is about this leader from the past Xena is having visions of. We are at the time of the early Sapiens I think, and Claudia Black is a hippie with skins and fur named Karina. Her character is close enough to Aeryn Sun, sort of a leader herself, very naive tho. Anyway, It was a bit painful to watch, since everything is over-staged, loud and absolutely not convincing, from the acting (except perhaps Claudia who also strangely never dances with the crowd, skipping in extremis a ridiculous fate.)

Claudia Black as Karina in Xena: Warrior Princess

I am trying to watch in the subway (yes, New York) every time I can "Pitch Black". Not sure this is a good idea since last time, because I couldn't hear the deep voice of Vin Diesel, I put the volume to the maximum and then they shot something really loud (in order to scare) while I was leaving the train, got my ears and heart by surprise, I almost hurt someone. I am pending on the time where Sharon 'Shazza' Montgomery, her character, is going to die, seems like everyone will besides Vin Diesel and Radha Mitchell...

Claudia Black as Sharon 'Shazza' Montgomery in Pitch Black

Ok, to jump subject, I watched a few interviews of the "Real" Claudia Black, she looks very funny, grounded. Which might have been why in a way, she decided to focus her career on voice-over for films and video-games and other priorities. I am looking forward though to her next performance in a feature film, if possible not in an animation movie :)

Update 08/25/2012: The latest news is the completion of the animation movie "Strange Frame: Love & Sax" which has Claudia Black playing Parker C. Boyd, a women from a few centuries forward in a society that has stopped living on earth, saxophonist, falling for another woman with an extraordinary voice, Naia X. who ends up becoming the slave of her new manager. So of course, Parker needs to save her. The trailer is out there, the animation seems a bit unequal, between 3d landscape that are absolutely stunning of realism, to the characters that look like painting or video-game from the 2000s, but awkwardly animated. Would love to see it tho when it comes out in New York. Still running its first rounds in L.A. so far...

Update 12/25/2014: yes that's Christmas night and I am reviewing my notes on Claudia Black... Just felt like having a revival of Farscape, that's why... So, thanks to Netflix, the movie is on demand! And it is an interesting story, although the animation is a bit unequal and sometimes sketchy. 

On a Christmas note, I needed to express how beautiful Claudia Black looks lately with her blonde and curly hair. She should be in a movie (ah ah!). Anyway, seriously, any director reading this?

Claudia Black in Strange Frame: Love & Sax as Parker C. Boyd

Trailer:


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For more on Claudia Black, I recommend IMDB and claudiablackonline