Sean Bean screen caps from TNT’s LEGENDS First Look Trailer

Full trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=aM7I-rUl0CU#!

Today 17 April is Sean Bean’s 54th birthday, wishing you a Wonderful Day!

Sean’s life has always been closely tied to football, in particular our beloved Sheffield United F.C., so I always thought it was fitting that he was born on the same date that The Football League was founded, at a meeting of clubs in Manchester. Today is their 125th birthday!

Sean’s looking great, just had to post a couple of these RTS after party pix!
19 March 2013, Soho

Here’s the link to the whole album:
http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Sean+Bean/Sean+Bean+Out+With+Friends/Xl1hnJzsTaJ

WINNER!!!! Sean at the Royal Television Society Awards, picture thanks to Beany and The Mighty Bean http://www.themightybean.com!

Heaven is a girl I know so well
She makes me feel good when I feel like hell
Heaven is a girl that I’ve got to have,
And she makes me feel better when I’m feelin’ bad…

Stormy Monday (1988) is the 2nd major film of Sean’s career (Caravaggio being the 1st). I saw it first run, but for reasons other than Sean, who I had just discovered 2 years before. At the time, my main reasons for seeing this film were Sting, Tommy Lee Jones & Melanie Griffith. A few words about that later. I liked this film for other reasons too, among those being its vibe about jazz, its cinema noir feeling, its setting in Newcastle, and my amusement at the town having an “America Week” celebration to woo a big shot businessman Mr. Cosmo from America (Tommy Lee Jones). The film’s story largely centers on Brendan (Sean Bean), a bloke looking for work & finding some at Mr. Finney’s (Sting) jazz club, taking care of maintenance & also looking after a visiting Polish band called the Krakow Jazz Ensemble. Brendan takes a liking to their leader, Andrej. He first meets Kate (Melanie Griffith) when he accidentally knocks into her at the mall, then at an American style cafe in town where she is waitressing. She & Brendan develop a mutual liking, enjoying each other & going on dates, one of which is my fave scene of the film, at the Polish club where Andrej meets a lady. In the meantime, at Kate’s other job working for Cosmo, dark things are brewing. During a meal at the cafe, Brendan overhears 2 men discussing plans to hurt or maybe even kill Mr. Finney, but he doesn’t know it’s on Cosmo’s orders. Although he’s only been working for Finney for 14 hours, Brendan feels he needs to warn him. But Finney handles it his way so Brendan thinks he’s done with it, wants to focus on Kate. Cosmo hears what happened, finds out Kate is with Brendan, and turns things very badly for both Brendan and his band friend Andrej.

I’ve been an ardent fan of Sting since 1977. I like jazz very much too, seeing Sting playing a bit of bass was very cool, as was Don Weller himself & his band playing on the jazz club’s stage. Also, long ago, I first noticed Melanie Griffith because of Don Johnson, but I came to look for her work too as I like many of her characters (Working Girl is one of my all-time fave 80s films). Same like for Tommy Lee Jones, among his 80s films Black Moon Rising is one of my all-time faves, so he didn’t disappoint in this “bad guy” role. And what is there left to say about Sean in this role other than the obvious? He was ok with nudity on film, did his part with sensitivity & completeness. Looking at this film again so many years later, I still think he gave as good as or better performance compared to the “stars,” it definitely further fueled my enthusiasm for him. I also think Brendan is one of his sweetest characters. This is a must-see film for any Sean Bean fan.

LEGENDS Production Update : Sean Bean stars in 2013 TV spy drama pilot for TNT channel

Post I wrote for fansite & will update as info becomes available:

http://seanbeanfans.blogspot.com/2013/01/production-update-legends-sean-bean.html

SO EXCITED! If you haven’t read Robert Littell’s CIA books, including Legends, I highly recommend them! Definitely see why Sean said YES to this project, it’s right in line with his interests. 

I hope this pilot is finished soon enough to be scheduled for summer! Then it will be up to us fans to push the numbers to get the full series produced, which I want very badly. This is a quality production with a great plot & cast!

Sean Bean - Year in Review 2012

It was a very diverse & interesting results year for Sean! Some truly great performance moments by him, my faves are ticked by asterisks:

*Missing. 10 episode global TV series about 2 ex-CIA parents looking for their kidnapped son. Sean was the father, Paul Winstone. The show had action & a few crazy twists mixed with flashbacks of the Winstone family story, but overall I really enjoyed it and regret it wasn’t renewed. Also starred Ashley Judd, Nick Eversman, Cliff Curtis, Keith Carradine.

*Cleanskin. Indie feature film. Sean played Ewan Keane, a former British army now MI6 agent given the task of pursuing and eliminating a British-born suicide bomber and the terrorist cell. I thought this movie was awesome, packed in plenty of action & intrigue against an intelligent balanced plot. Definitely worth seeing! Also starred Charlotte Rampling, Abhin Galeya, Tom Burke.

Mirror, Mirror. Feature film. Another take on the Snow White fairy tale (evil queen, prince, princess, peasants). This was one of my “entertainment sacrifices,” I only saw this flick for Sean, who played Snow’s father, the King. However, it was better than I expected, I liked Snow (Lily Collins), the ending, and all the dwarfs. Also starred Julia Roberts, Armie Hammer, Nathan Lane.

*Accused. The acclaimed BBC TV series from Jimmy McGovern finally got Sean in its episode Tracie’s Story, as poetry teacher & transvestite Simon Gaskell / Tracie Tremarco. In the story Tracie meets Tony (Stephen Graham) after being harassed & falls in love with him; Tony is interested in Tracie, not Simon, and has another problem as well- he’s married. This performance was one of Sean’s most challenging & brilliant yet, I was absolutely thrilled with it! Great photography, too.

Soldiers of Fortune. Ltd release feature film. Sean played Roman St. John / Dimidov, a wealthy business owner who is offered, along with other wealthy men, the chance to be a part of an island revolution in return for his monetary investment. But the mission gets complicated as each man reveals his own agenda. I enjoyed this movie, lots of faves, the storyline was good & had plenty of action. Also starred Christian Slater, Ving Rhames, Dominic Monaghan, Colm Meaney.

Silent Hill: Revelation. 3D feature film. I really liked the 1st Silent Hill movie, looked forward to seeing this one, where Sean is now Harry Mason, changed name & on the run with his likewise renamed & now teenaged daughter Heather (Adelaide Clemens) who continues to have nightmarish flashes & dreams from her ordeal & possible future; events conspire & inevitably they get pulled back into the town’s terrifying alternate reality. The movie fell a bit short for me, concepts good but somewhat muddled delivery. Also starred Kit Harington, Carrie-Anne Moss.

Always in demand, Sean has more new projects in the pipe for us to enjoy, I look forward to a great 2013! Happy New Year!

Brightest Yuletide Blessings & Happy Christmas!!!

“We were born to rule - Masters of all the universe
For we are the kings of the world…”

In light of the news that work is beginning on Scorched Earth, in which Sean will play futuristic bounty hunter Atticus Gage, I thought a review of Soldiers of Fortune (2012) was in order. After a lengthy delay it finally got a cinema release complete with a premiere in Moscow. I’m sure you remember those pictures. The DVD was in my Redbox for 2 months, which is pretty good rental success. I saw it in theatre, it was as much fun for me to watch as it looked like it was to film! Yes it’s a so-called “B-movie”, but from a purely entertainment stance, just for the cast alone (a lot of faves), it’s certainly better than the “bad” reviews that got hung on it. I thought the pace & action was as good as any movie in its class. Loved the locations. I even liked the movie title pun & the graphics. The plot is definitely coherent, the main character is down-on-luck former US Army Capt. Craig McCenzie (Christian Slater). He gets an offer to train five rich guys (Sean is metals magnate Roman St. John aka Dimidov) who have agreed to fund a former Soviet island revolution in exchange for a piece of the action. McCenzie has a personal stake in this too, the usurper Colonel’s head of security Mason (Colm Meaney) is the CIA man who got him dishonourably discharged after McCenzie disobeyed his orders in Afghanistan & saved his friend instead. Said friend Capt. Reed comes along, without this job he will lose his family’s house. As the story progresses, things don’t go as planned, and in the course of events each man reveals his true reason for putting up the money & wanting to do this mission. The head-to-head finish is very exciting!

If the terrain looks familiar to fans of Sharpe, it should! Sean’s character had the best plot twist and also got the best line in the movie: “He’s been shot at with his own merchandise and he hasn’t been paid for it!”

PS I liked this movie better than both Expendables.