Happy Birthday, Homeland (Or How Brody Turned My Life Upside Down)

At a recent dinner party, we played a game where everyone had to talk about three things they thought changed their lives. I had two moments from my early life: one being the Live Aid concert back in July 1985 (I was 13!) that got me thrilled that the whole world, all of us, were watching it together, and the other was a political assassination of a journalist in Turkey in January 1992 (I was 20!) that taught me that a state can get rid of citizens that insist on looking for the truth. And the third moment I mentioned was Homeland. Because I was a regular academic attending to my own thing until a certain “pesky Brit” disguised as an American POW showed up and turned everything upside down! Homeland made me a Damian Lewis fan for life and I launched a blog in his name almost a decade ago. Go, figure!

Homeland, the show that started it all, premiered on Showtime on October 2, 2011, exactly thirteen years ago today. Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Homeland (Or How Brody Turned My Life Upside Down)”

Revisiting BEST of Life with Charlie Crews

Damian-Lewis-in-Life-Fill-It-Up-1-11-damian-lewis-25272631-1280-720

Hello – Holliedazzle here! Welcome, one and all, to the Best of Life with Charlie Crews! In this post, we’ll all be weighing in with our highlights (and lowlights) of the entire series. Let’s jump right in, shall we?

Damianista:

At the center of Life lies the heart and mind of a man who gets his life back, along with a $50M settlement and his LAPD badge, after 12 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Charlie Crews is quirky and charming and funny, but vulnerable and even sinister at times. He’s a walking proof of the wide range Damian Lewis can deliver as an actor. No wonder New York Magazine calls him “the you-can’t take-your-eyes-off-him star” in Life. Damian takes a good network show and elevates it to another level.

source: fanpop.com
source: fanpop.com

So what do I talk about when I talk about the BEST of Life? Continue reading “Revisiting BEST of Life with Charlie Crews”

Believe It or Not: Damian Lewis Will Drive Sheep Over The Southwark Bridge

“As a proud London Welshman, playing the drover and driving my sheep, as if from Llandeilo, across The Thames, will be a career highlight. Can’t wait”.

Well, I don’t know if Damian has been waiting for this day to come but I certainly have since…

…the day he received the Freedom of the City of London honour in recognition of his achievements as an actor in March 2013 at London’s Guildhall.

Freedom of the City of London is one of the oldest surviving traditions still in existence today. The first Freedom is believed to have been granted in 1237. According to Wikipedia, being a “free man” in old times came with certain privileges, varying from the right to drive sheep and cattle over London Bridge to carrying a naked sword in public. Continue reading “Believe It or Not: Damian Lewis Will Drive Sheep Over The Southwark Bridge”

What to Expect When We Are Expecting “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light”

“Your Majesty is the only prince. The mirror and the light of other kings.”

Henry repeats the phrase as if cherishing it: the mirror and the light. (Excerpt from The Mirror and The Light)

It is 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead. King Henry VIII marries Jane Seymour, who gets pregnant soon but sadly dies days after giving Henry the male heir he has been expecting for a long time. Since one heir is not enough to secure the throne, finding a new bride for Henry is critical. And this is only one item on Thomas Cromwell’s to-do list in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light!

Cromwell, a blacksmith’s son from Putney and a newly created baron who continues his meteoric rise in the court of Henry VIII, needs to succeed at all costs to keep his power, wealth, and privileges. Imperial Ambassador Chapuys tells him: Continue reading “What to Expect When We Are Expecting “Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light””