I feel very silly doing this at the moment but I'd regret it if I didn't and besides humans when we think we are being absolutely wise are often merely silly anyway.

I want to wish you, Mr. Hurt, a happy Valentine's Day. I hope you spend it with someone you love. I want to say something infinitely beautiful and moving about love but I can't. It means very much to me and sometimes the things that mean the most to us are the things we can't find the words to describe. You know the belief that a camera can steal part of your soul? Maybe that's the case with words at some moments in life. They take away the power of something that should just exist. If I could show you my heart and what it is feeling it may do the trick but I can't and I hope that I'm smart enough, in this instance anyway, not to try. So I'll leave it with happy Valentine's Day. I know you are loved and that you love and that is the most important thing.

I have two Valentine's for you:

William Hurt will be portraying Frank Hamer the Texas Ranger who helped in tracking the notorious couple Bonnie and Clyde.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/william-hurt-holly-hunter-bonnie-clyde-lifetime-history-418838

I remember an interview where Mr. Hurt said that his aunt (or great aunt) once said that growing old isn't for cissies. That could be paraphrased.  I've heard you call yourself old enough in interviews to know that you think of yourself in this way, although, I wouldn't agree, Mr. Hurt. Disagreement about that issue aside, you certainly are brave because you are taking on a lot of work these days. You are not a cissy.

The work is your passion. I know that. But please, once again, take care of yourself.

Variety has the first photo of William Hurt as Richard Feynman. Hurt will be playing Feynman in a docudrama produced by the Science Channel and the BBC about the Challenger tragedy.

Click on the photo for the link:

I discovered four photos of William Hurt filming "Winter's Tale". He is not wearing a glove in one of the photos and I hope and pray that it wasn't too cold that day. I'm Canadian and know all about harsh weather. Keep your hands warm, Mr. Hurt! He is looking handsome as always.

Click on the photo for the link.  And if that doesn't work go here:

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/William+Hurt/browse

I finished screencapping “Smoke” and “The Good Shepherd”.  I’ve got to confess that “Smoke” really helped me.  I’m going through a bit of a rough spot. I love September to December, probably my favorite time of the year, and I told myself this year I would savour ever second because it goes so fast. However, some occurences have reared their not so pleasant heads trying
to spoil those intentions.  Making the pictures from “Smoke” really helped. It reminded me of what a good film it is and how William Hurt gives a really outstanding performance. 

I know that Hurt’s work as Richie in “A History of Violence” is often heralded because it is so different from his usual characters but in a very strong way Paul Benjamin is equally diverse, or at least William Hurt makes him different. Of course, the man is able to do that with any character he decides to tackle but I’m focusing on Paul at the moment. I love the way Paul methodically moves,  giving the impression of slightly bent shoulders as if he really has been sitting for a long time in an uncomfortable chair, working on a book that isn’t coming together. Or the way that he occassionaly scratches his leg. I love the little touches like that. Not to mention the heartbreaking scene where Paul sees a certain photograph from Auggie’s marvelously strange hobby. I’m not too fussy on Paul kicking Rashid out of the apartment but, hey, what great character doesn’t make a few goof ups and needs to learn something?

William Hurt is a delight in “Smoke”.

It was just announced that William Hurt will be portraying Richard Feynman in a BBC2 drama about the tragic 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. Richard Feynman investigated the cause behind the tragedy. He was simutaneously battling cancer at the time.

This looks like  a project that would appeal very much to Mr. Hurt. Fans of his work will recall that he narrated a biography of Albert Einstein called "A. Eisntein: How I See the World".  Both Einstein and Feynman were truly blessed by God to see and understand things about the world and universe that most of us, myself included, aren't likely to.

Filming, supposedly, is set to begin in October and the finished project will air in 2013.

What I'm worried about is when is Mr. Hurt going to get a chance to catch his breath? The man is going to be in "Winter's Tale" which is set to begin filming in October also. . I know that his work means so much to him, and likely if he were to stop it it would cause more damage to him than over working but still I worry about him.

If you ever read this, which now I hope you do for the sole reason that it will mean that you have enough free time to do something as silly as to read my words, please take care of yourself. I'm sure all of this work will do something marvelous for your mind but it is still trapped in the form of a body that is very particular with what it will and will not allow you to do. Believe me, I've found that out the hard way just recently. Please take care.

“Winter's Tale” will begin shooting on October 29th 2012 and will continue until January 30th 2013.

I will be the first to admit that I have almost no idea how long it takes to shoot a film. I’m not the most informed, having worked on absolutely zero movies, but I find this very shocking since the film is based on a longer novel.  If my memory serves me right, which it frequently does not, I think that “Altered States” took about 150 days.

Something tells me that William Hurt is not going to get a whole lot of rehearsal time. I hope I’m wrong about that.

I’m a little concerned that they are giving the director, crew and actors so short a time to work on the film adaption of a novel that deserves a lot of care. The budget seems small too for a story that is very complex and grand.  I hope that the studio execs are
thinking properly. I know that Akiva Goldsman’s heart is in this production (he's been trying to get it filmed for years which hopefully means he has planned a lot of it already in his mind) and he is probably willing to adapt to a whole lot of limitations to make his dream come true but this hardly seems like fair and thoughtful film making. Especially since it will be the man's film directorial debut, I believe.

On the other hand, it should be a challenge and mankind is usually at its best when it has something to strive for and overcome.

I wish the production good luck in regards to the things that can’t be controlled like weather  etc...  Concerning the work, all I can hope for is that they will put their heart and souls into it because that is something that can be controlled and it can make all the difference in the world.

The net is currently being graced with numerous images of William Hurt and Jessica Chastain filming scenes from "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby". Zimbio has quite a few of them and I will provide a link here to see selected ones with Mr. Hurt but there are more scattered in the Jessica Chastain section as well. Also Getty has some.

BTW, my mother is going to love the title of this film. Her name is Eleanor and she was teased endlessly about keeping her face in a jar. I picture any day now her telling my sister and I, "Do you know that they are making a movie with the title from that terrible song?" I'll know, of course, but I will nod understandingly even though I'm excited to see it.

Mr. Hurt looks as if he has lost a little weight. Frankly, I'm ambivalent about that. I think the man would look good if he weighed 500 pounds so it's not really something that matters to me. I wouldn't want him to lose too much weight, to be honest. That old adage that you could never be too rich or too thin is a bunch of flower fertilizer, to put it nicely. It never looks healthy to me. I'd rather have someone look healthy and not like they will be blown away the next time someone sneezes. William Hurt would wear any weight, healthy weight that is, well.


The link is the image and the image is the link. Just click on it.

I just read yesterday that William Hurt will be in "Winter's Tale", based on the book by Mark Helprin. It will be the directorial film debut of Akiva Goldsman. Akiva and Hurt also collaborated on "Lost in Space" which Goldsman wrote and produced and in which Mr. William Hurt played Prof. John Robinson.

Now I actually like "Lost in Space". I'm a lot more forgiving of it than some fans and even Mr. Hurt himself. I know what the film was trying to say. I think that it has its heart in the right place, wasn't content with being simple, and I do find it entertaining. I also became interested in it around the time my grandfather was dying/died of cancer and it helped me through the pain of his death. Because of that I could never look at it badly or feel anything else but fondness for it despite what anyone else says.

Production is to begin in October, making this the fourth film that Mr. Hurt will have made this year. Well fifth if you count both the His and Hers versions of "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby". The year started with "The Host", followed with the modern version of Chekhov's "The Seagull", both sexed variations of "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" were fast on its heels and this will eventually  progress to "Winter's Tale". 

Mr. Hurt is a busy, busy, busy man! I hope that he remembers to take good care of himself! Even God rested after the seventh day, afterall. Of course, this was probably not so coincidentally after He created the wonderful and troublesome creature known as man, for which He would need a long rest, and who knows how long a day really is to God. But the point is the same: He still rested and you should too Mr. Hurt!

I added some more King of Queens: Shrink Wrap screencaps. I know, I know one of them is just of William Hurt's knee. I'm pathetic I know.

I think that probably Mr. William Hurt would ask me why I am bothering with so many screencaps in the first place. I'm sure he'd say "I want to be known as an actor. Those are photos. They don't move. They are the opposite of action."

And I would say "Well, if you click the 'next' button fast enough they move."

To which he may say "..."

And I would then have to explain in my ineloquent way, because I am very very shy,  that, "Well, actually, one single picture can make me remember a whole sequence. It happens in my head, you see. One photo can remind me of how a character acted or reacted, the arch of a brow, the tilt of the head or the waving of a hand. I can hear the dialogue in my head. I can see the movement. I don't need a photo to do that but when I see a photo it works that magic inside my mind. And visuals are important to some extent or else God would have made us all look the same. It's just that the problem doesn't come from saying that someone is handsome or beautiful the problem arises when someone says that someone isn't either of those. Every single person is gorgeous unless their soul has been completely corrupted and that is probably a rare occurrence."

I have no idea what Mr. Hurt would say to that but I think the second thing he would probably ask is "What are you doing putting words in my mouth?"