Captain Jack ... what's in a name?

And apparently, when the name is "Captain Jack," there's a heck of a lot in it. In fact, I was very tempted to chuck all the images in here and say, "There, sort them out yourself!" But no. Would I do that to you? Well, I probably would if I didn't have the time to do this properly, but since I do...!

There's at least EIGHT Captain Jacks that I know of, and you could probably find someone out there who knows some more. But right now let's have a look at the eight of 'em. This gallant company starts with the one you probably know best, or second-best:


There you go ... with strains of The Johnny Depp Song going around your head ... Jack Sparrow himself! What's the Johnny Depp song? Allow me to illuminate you:

Okay --! So that's one down, seven more to go! The other one you probably know best, or second best: Harkness, Jack Harkness ... the time agent from the 51st Century who's now not merely immortal but indestructible:

...and now it gets better, because you get two Jack Harknesses for the price of one:


And if you think your glasses just steamed up, and you didn't see that right, here's Take Two ... oooooh, yes you did:

Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood, 2007, meet Captain Jack Harkness of the US Airforce, 1941. Boy meets boy, the old, old story, right?

Okay, there's three down! Next:

Let me transport you back to 1980, or thereabouts. Captain Jack Vincent ... the show was Smuggler, a young adults' adventure series set in the Napoleonic Wars. Some episodes were too juvenile to really "travel well" across the generations, but some were absolutely top-notch. This Captain Jack was brooding, simmering ... smuggling in fact. So there's Number Four. Next?

Your grandmom would tell you, maybe with a quiver in her voice, that John Wayne wasn't always old and grizzled. You demand the evidence before you believe? Okay, you got it. Our generation didn't invent gorgeous, we only think we did:

And this here, with the hat and the major sideburns in the color still above, is Captain Jack ... Stewart. The movie is Reap the Wild Wind, and it's still a good watch, about sixty years later! So that's Captain Jack number 5. Next?

Now it gets musical. Enter Billy Joel at stage left:

Not sure if I'd call Billy's music "timeless." Not usually my kind of thing, actually, but there sure is a Captain Jack coming at you from this direction ... and if you're in the mood for two Captain Jacks for the price of one again, here's Billy Joel's Jack, plus the one in the greatcoat ... "Captain Jack will get you high tonight." (Warning to the faint hearted: there's some stuff on the soundtrack that rates this MA15, and some visuals, likewise.)



So that's Captain Jack number Six. Still two to go, that I know of ... and I'm sure there's others. Drop me a line, kids, and I'll update this. But in the meantime, try this for a golden oldie: Captain Jack and the Mermaid was a folk album that came out in 1975 ... and I've been listening to the audio CD since about 1982. Would give anything for a CD version, but you can't beg, borrow or steal them. You can only get Captain Jack as Amazon MP3 downloads ... and if you're not in America, you're outta luck, because Amazon MP3 is another Americans Only club. Here is is:


And I know the cover of a music album doesn't mean a heck of a lot, so try this instead ... YouTube to the rescue, to a point. They won't let you embed a videoclip. It's a good song, though not the best on the album (The Elf Glade is the best ... whoooo!)

And there is actually one more Captain Jack. The real one -- real, live historical character. The Black Irish Band has recorded the story. The first 75 seconds of this video give you a history lesson, so if you just want the song, fast forward to 1:15. But this is the real deal:



Starring as Captain Jack:

Johnny Depp as Sparrow
John Barrowman as Harkness
Matt Rippy as the "real" Harkness
Oliver Tobias as Vincent
John Wayne as Stewart

With music by Billy Joel, Meg Davis and Black Irish.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

John Barrowman: go west, young time agent!

This isn't news ... to be news, I'd have had to put this post up in mid-August! But it's interesting to me, because I finally, finally got to see the third season, the miniseries, of Torchwood -- Children of Earth. This also ain't a review, because it's too late for that, as well ... shows you how much a much of a chaos my life has been lately!

You might be wondering what I thought of Children of Earth? I'll give it 9 out of 10, and I only dock the last mark because the ending was downbeat enough that I'm not sure I want to shell out $45 (incl. p+h) to buy it.

I'm not talking about the death of Jack's lover and best mate, Ianto Jones ... that, I can accept as necessary, painful and marvellously dramatic. But I have to admit, I was expecting a much more upbeat conclusion -- Jack always found a way to save the day in style. He certainly saves the day in this one, but the "style" is grand tragedy, a la Wagner. Everything has blown away on the wind, and Torchwood is literally over. Gone. Hmmm.

Now, to viewers in Australia and England, the miniseries was dark and absolutely harrowing -- far more so than we're accustomed to from TV, and especially from something like Torchwood. Imagine my surprise to read the American reviews, where not one but several critics referred to the same five hours of digital video as (get this), "good fun," and "lighthearted."

Uh....hunh? Hey, whatever, dudes.

If they thought Children of Earth was good, lighthearted fun, gawd only knows what they're accustomed to watching on American TV, and I don't wanna even speculate about that!

And what worries me is -- and given the above!! -- Torchwood is heading west. To America.

If this is news to you (maybe you've been working as hard as me for the last six months and haven't seen much Internet, much less a magazine!) I'll give you a quick bulletin: against the odds, the show was picked up for a 10-episode fourth season, all of which is going to be one loooong extended story -- but one of the sponsors is the US cable network, Starz, and their involvement takes the show to America and adds an American cast. Which is fair enough ... if American money is paying for it, they want to listen to American actors, not to Welshmen, right? Right. That's not what worries me.

What does worry me is that if American critics thought Children of Earth was good, lighthearted fun, by the time the new writing team gets done "rebooting" the show, as they put it, it could be so dark, so dismayingly dismal, a lot of us won't be watching it. And there's a tragedy, because some of us fell head over heels for Jack so long ago, he was still dancing on a spaceship, in midair, in front of Big Ben, at the time! He's Russel T. Davies's ninth symphony ... he's a gay icon ... and therefore the Americanization of Torchwood fills me with dread.

Having said that, I'll give it a whirl, give everyone the benefit of the doubt. The new writing team certainly has great credentials (see this for more), and it just depends how dark Starz will want to make it. In all seriousness, if Jack Harkness were a real human being, rather than a character in a TV show, he would be stark, raving mad by this time, after what he's done, and seen, and had done to him.

And here's the thing: maybe Jack is bonkers. There's a lot you can do with a character who's actually insane, though the insanity is soooo subtle, you don't see it at once. You could weave what Mel Keegan called "a darkness incandescent" about him. And I have no doubt John Barrowman will be absolutely, bloody amazing in the part, if only the audience can hang on long enough to watch ten potentially depressing episodes.

Here's something else that's interesting. The British style of acting is not "satisfying" to American critics. To Commonwealth eyes, the performances on Torchwood (and esp. this last series) have been utterly outstanding. American reviewers referred to them as mediocre. It's the style of the performance which doesn't "jive" with the American dramatic requirement ... so, again, we can look for subtle differences in the new one -- Torchwood: The New World.

And there was I, hoping "the new world" might be Mars or Castrovalva, or maybe Callufrax. No such luck!

UPDATE:
Two things. Several people asked why I didn't run a video or an least a pic of Jack and Ianto in full-on romance mode, and that's a hell of a good question ... so here it is:


Second thing: thanks so much to Jade for "cross pollinating" with me on her latest post, and if I helped to inspire the shots where (whooooo!) Jarrat and Stone finally get it together, then ... well, I'll just do a few laps of the room without touching the floor here! And check this out:


Here's the post where the full set of images appear. At risk of sounding like the kid in the movie, with the bowl and the spoon, "Can we have some more?"

Ewan McGregor talks about playing gay

With the indie I LOVE YOU PHILIP MORRIS languishing -- tough to find a distributor for such an out-n-out gay movie -- it's good to hear Ewan McGregor talk openly about playing gay characters. Which he does quite often, and enjoys doing...


This feature appeared online in OUT a few months ago ... and as you probably know, I've been working so hard, so long, I haven't had the chance to post much. So ... belatedly ... here's Ewan: Filthy and Gorgeous -- Ewan McGregor comes clean.

Makes interesting reading, well worth the click other there, trust me! Ewan McGregor has become quite the gay icon in the last decade and a half or so. Which is pretty good going for a straight guy --! Here's a very small quote which, for me, says it all:

“I’m always interested in playing different people, in different situations,” he says, sitting bolt upright, suddenly serious and eyeing the Pacific Ocean stretching below us. “It doesn’t matter to me whether someone is in love with a man or a woman. I find the idea of love and romance interesting. I’m a sucker for it. I like playing someone who’s falling in love because I like the sensation of it.” He pauses to give Syd [his dog] an affectionate pat. “People do extraordinary things when they’re falling in love.” http://out.com/detail.asp?id=26508

Robert Downey Jr. -- bisexual, or not?

Robert Downey Jr. the luscious Mr. Ironman himself ... is he bisexual, or isn't he? Well, it depends on who you talk to! By all accounts, he outed himself in an interview where he described himself as "an eccentric bisexual." But lately, he's been saying that all this was part of a "manufactured" personality, or character, going back to the days when he was reinventing himself.

Well ... hmmm. Okay. But try using using your Sherlock Holmesian powers of observation (in other words, OBSERVE as well as SEEING ... you thought that was a joke in Without a Clue, right? Wrong!! Arthur Conan Doyle wrote this in A Scandal in Bohemia -- they borrowed it for the movie) when you watch Robert Downey Jr. movies...

And you will see, if you actually trouble to look, his body language.


Body language tells a whole lot of truths about us that our tongues and the minds that drive them are probably trying to hide. It's in the gestures, the way we use our hands (and feet!!), the way we choose to wear our hair, facial expressions, the way we toss our heads...

AG's verdict? Robert wasn't kidding, the first time around, but now hi career is going into orbit, and IRON MAN is his big ticket -- and IRON MAN is a Marvel movie, and Marvel has just been bought (holy crap, Batdude!) by DISNEY!!!!

Therefore, 'tis time for Robert Downey Jr. to reinvent himself all over again, damnit, and be BON. Which is an acronym for Boring Old Normal.

If you LISTEN to the dialog in the first IRON MAN movie, there's gay and bi throwaway lines alllll over the place. Not so in the second, which was done under the threat (or promise) of a Disney hand on the tiller. (I find myself wondering how Disney will affect the overall integrity of the Marvel product. Yeee-ouch.

Here's the rub: Robert Downey Jr. could have eventually have been a gay icon, if Disney hadn't bought Marvel. Well ... rats.

For the first time in several months, I actually have the time to post something here ... I can't believe all the great things I've had to let slide on by, because working doesn't leave any time for blogging. But this, I have to share with you. Dishy John Barrowman joins La Cage, right? And the result ...!

Jack Harkness: immortalized in comics

Comics?! Yep -- comics.

In fact, this is really cool. First, I happen to like comics; second, modern comics have incredibly high production values. Third, John and Carole Barrowman are writing this one. Fourth, John has made "his face" available to the character, so you get very, VERY nice artwork...

See this: Captain Jack And The Selkie’ Comic Strip First Look, for a sneak preview and the story behind the story!



Looks like being a blast, and it's great that John's sister Carole has gotten into this. (She has her own webpage, incidentally.) It's so great that Torchwood is a massive success -- it's even gone well in the US, which surprised the heck out of me. US networks are really picky about coarse language, sexual references, nudity and whave have you, and I'd expected them to handle Torchwood with tongs! In fact I think they did to a degree. I read a quote from John Barrowman where he says the next season (he could mean the third or even fourth, depending on how old the quote is, and this is something I can't say) of the show will be toned down. He said words along the lines of "We won't be swearing or doing anything close to the bone, so the show won't have to be heavily edited for US audiences." That's not a verbatim quote, but it's darned close ... and I can't find my way back to the original page for love or money!

Okay -- now the part you've been waiting for. The eye candy! Shut up and paste the pictures in, Aricia....

Way to go, Sean!

It's history: the Oscars 2009 ... and what history!

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire;
Best Actor: Sean Penn, for Milk;
Best Actress: Kate Winslet.
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger;

...and this is so cosmopolitan a decision on all fronts, I'm surprised and delighted. Slumdog is a picture about Indian people in India. Sean Pen's character of Harvey Milk was not merely 'out' gay, but the gay rights activist to end 'em all ... in fact, he's become a gay icon. Kate Winslet is English; Heath Ledger was Australian.

Here's the complete list: http://oscar.com/oscarnight/winners/

And here is Sean Penn's clip, speech and all:




Verrrrrry, verrrry nice! Here's AG standing up and applauding!

John Barrowman and -- who? So that's Matt Smith!

I did a post a couple of days ago, "Captain Jack meets Doctor #1 -- the new Doctor." And quite a few people said to me, "Who the heck is Matt Smith?

Well, the simple answer is, "a very young English actor with a quirky, unique face, who has a connection to the GLBTI community..." He's still in his twenties, but there's much about him that suggests to me that he could actually "be" the Doctor...



We've lurched over the hurdle of the Doctor being identified as an older man -- he's immortal, he regenerates, there's no reason he shouldn't regenerate into a young face. Peter Davison was the first young Doctor, and he promptly laid to rest the arguments that he was too young. Paul McGann was the next young Doctor ... gods help me, I liked him a lot as the Doctor, but I know a lot of people didn't. Well ... anyway.



And now ... it gets interesting. I put the following to you, and I'm not going to say another word:



Actually, I will say another word or two after all: Woah, this is going to get intreresting! Jack Harkness became a gay icon in a single episode of Doctor Who, even before Torchwood came along, and, uh ... after that it was an absolute blast.

James Dean: happy birthday, 2009 ... albeit posthumously!

James Dean would have been 78, if he were alive today. In fact, he was killed in a car smash when he was just 24. His movie legacy is brief, with just three iconic films (East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, and Giant) leaping out of filmic history to bring Dean into the forefront of the twentieth century motion picture legends. He was the first real genuine "Bad Boy" to catch the attention of movie fans and make hearts beat faster (though James Cagney had set a precedent for the Bad Boy back in the 1930s, with another generation of iconic movies like Angels With Dirty Faces, and White Heat.)

It would be fair to say, a lot of viewers couldn't stand him! It would be equally true to say he was worshipped by a lot more fans, and he continues to be idolized 54 years after the car wreck which ended his career. Now, much of what I know about James Dean, I learned from the biography James Dean: Portrait of a Friend, in which he was portrayed by one of my own favorite actors, Stephen McHattie (Canadian, born in 1947). I've been fascinated by Dean myself, for a long time.

Here's a brief quote from his page at Wikipedia:
Many American teens at the time of Dean's major movies identified with Dean and the roles he played, especially in Rebel Without A Cause: the typical teenager, caught where no one, not even his peers, can understand him. Joe Hyams says that Dean was "one of the rare stars, like Rock Hudson and Montgomery Clift, who both men and women find sexy." According to Marjorie Garber, this quality is "the undefinable extra something that makes a star." Dean's iconic appeal has been attributed to the public's need for someone to stand up for the disenfranchised young of the era[18], and to the air of androgyny that he projected onscreen. Dean's "loving tenderness towards the besotted Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause continues to touch and excite gay audiences by its honesty. The Gay Times Readers' Awards cited him as the male gay icon of all time."

Couldn't have put it better myself. The Stephen McHattie movie hints in every direction about James Dean's private life and persona, but it was made way back when, in an age when you couldn't be too up-front about this kind of, uh, thing. But it's interesting that reviewers now place Dean in the self-same file folder as Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson and Sal Mineo -- all of whom were gay, and all of whom were attractive to both sides of the fence.

So -- happy birthday, James Dean, wherever you are.