Maybe you don’t have to rush
You could leave a toothbrush
At my place
At my place
Tag: Alec Track
Fanvid Friday: Romantic Moments
Romantic Moments Valentine Video by Angela Smith
After yesterday’s Esquire video, I almost forgot what day it was. I even forgot to eat dinner! So I asked my daughter to make something for me, she made me an ice-cream sundae. vanilla not chocolate 😉
This video was a nice way to come down off my high and become grounded again. Grounded by the reminder of what Richard does so well, how he infuses life into each and every one of his characters. The music chosen for this fanvid is soothing and helps set the perfect mood for the romantic scenes chosen. There is a nice balance of talking parts and silent parts as well.
I especially like that Alec Track was included in this montage, because he’s not often thought of as romantic. I like his confident step as he walks up to kiss Jane in the street, and then you can hear the lament in his voice later on when he says that he thought he had lost her.
And, of course, there is Mr. Thornton.
I will always look back at you, Sir.
always ❤
You Raise Me Up
While watching David O. Russell’s American Hustle a few evenings ago, I started thinking about how much harder it can be to portray the “good” guy, the one who walks the straight-and-narrow, compared to the “bad” guy or the character struggling with emotional issues and obstacles. So many of the main players in American Hustle received acclaim for their performances and yet the good guy, Mayor Carmine Polito-portrayed wonderfully by Jeremy Renner- seemed sadly overlooked. If that character wasn’t infused with just the right amount of sincerity and heart, it could have come across as stereotypically cliche and then the whole thing would have just fallen apart.
Richard has said that playing characters that are closest to himself is difficult. I can understand that. When I was little, playing “pretend” with my friends, I always preferred to be the disruptive student when playing School; the annoying child when playing House; the rogue cop when playing with the boys.
I was able to become someone that I wasn’t in real life but someone that I had inside of me, just the same; it was very freeing. Playing the good kid though, or the quiet student, the obedient soldier, was confusing. The self-consciousness and second guessing quickly crept in, making it all seem too real.
So when “good” characters like Harry Kennedy and Alec Track get discounted for being easy, I must respectfully disagree.
Harry had to have just the right amount of affability, while leaving enough room for self-doubt, in order for it all to culminate in the ending proposal scene. He had to be charming enough to get the unflappable Geraldine nervous but aloof enough to not appear arrogant.
The proposal wouldn’t have worked nearly as well
without Harry pulling nervously at his collar and giving those confused awkward pauses while Geraldine moved full force ahead, oblivious.
Harry wasn’t there just for Geraldine to bounce jokes off of,
the jokes were there because Harry set them up.
Similarly, Alec Track was the sun his coworkers orbited around. He could have been the condescending boss, making Paul’s attempts at stealing his girl justifiable. He could have been the neglectful boyfriend, hiding Jane away out of some kind of commitment phobia, instead of the dedicated leader who was trying to do what was best for everyone involved. Richard gave Alec integrity enough that dragging his feet in the romance department didn’t automatically warrant harsh condemnation.
I’m not trying to take anything away from the “bad/struggling” characters that Richard portrays so well, just that the “good” guys may have more depth and purpose than they’re getting credit for. This is often why I respect the Best Supporting accolades even more than the main character praise because
they must possess strong shoulders, to raise those others to greatness.
On The Right Track
I did a post about Alec Track from The Golden Hour as part of the A-Z challenge series, but I forgot to include a regular post as well.
What I really like about this series is the hands-on-medical drama
and the victim back-stories, that we get to see in flashbacks.
I’m not all that interested in the doctor’s personal stories, to be honest; I like my drama wrapped up by the end of the episode.
There are four episodes, all available on YouTube…as long as you don’t mind watching them cut up in several different pieces per episode.
I like the third episode best, it revolves around a toxic truck crash. A father and daughter are trapped in the truck, while several different people inside a community center are wounded. There’s a lot of drama surrounding a male Yoga instructor and his girlfriend, but the father-daughter truck driver story is the one I really like: neglected husband and daughter, mother who works too much and pushes the girl to excel, while never really listening to her.
I also find the sound-effects in this series oddly addictive. The crinkling of their flight clothes, and the sound of plastic being ripped open during medical procedures.
All four episodes are worth watching, though the medical side of things can get a bit bloody.
Each of the stories touch on relevant topics: like hard-to-spot child abuse, insurance fraud, cutting corners in the trucking industry and seat-belt safety, mixed in with real life drama (the girl in episode two with the scarred face, is a storyline I really like too)
Richard Armitage doesn’t have a lot of face-time in the series as a whole, but his character is still very likable
Talented, respected, dedicated to his job. hmm, that seems familiar somehow…
“B” is for Blood
Not gruesome, not gory, and certainly not painful because this post is all about the delectable Alec Track.
He is a doctor who deals with that red stuff on a daily basis, but that’s not the kind of Blood that brought him to my mind. Alec Track is the lead doctor of an air-ambulance helicopter team, in the short-lived 4 part series The Golden Hour.
Alec loves his job, being a doctor is in his Blood. Sadly not everyone can understand his dedication, most notably his love interest and fellow team member Jane.
She wants more than he can give; this is clearly illustrated by her mistaking his cute gesture of gifting her a toothbrush as mocking a desire to move in together, rather than the acknowledgement that the relationship is moving forward to a place where he would welcome her spending the night more.
They’ve kept the relationship secret up until this point because Alec fears that it might negatively impact the functioning of the team.
Jane playfully taunts Alec for not having feelings. I think that maybe he feels that focusing on a personal life for himself might be too distracting, or selfish in some way. Instead he chooses to be a workaholic of sorts, thus eliminating the option to brood over personal strife like his coworkers so often seem to do.
Jane seems to be disappointed with the very things that attracted her to him in the first place. I think she realizes this when she sees Alec’s comforting manner with the newly awakened coma patient, who often took priority over those few moments during the working day when they could have spent quiet time together.
It might be easier for Alec to show special protectiveness towards a stranger who becomes his responsibility for a short while, than to nurture a romantic relationship for his own benefit.
Giving of yourself for something bigger than yourself can feel noble, while taking for yourself may feel selfish. Having a clear purpose drives you forward, while trying to navigate a romantic relationship often leaves you floundering.
I don’t feel sorry for Alec, he doesn’t appear unhappy with his situation. Not everyone needs a romantic partner to be happy. I dislike when others place regrets and desires onto those who have chosen a different path than them. If the situation is of one’s own choosing, the Happy Police need to just move along!
Choosing to embrace that special song that sings in your veins instead of wasting time wallowing in regret, should not be seen as a negative thing. We all have our own dreams and desires, there are just those whose blood may sing a little bit louder, the force of their passion may run a little bit stronger, so that not living that life would feel like not breathing to them. I respect and admire those people greatly.
Choosing to live the life that you want instead of letting others overly influence what or who should be important to you, is something to be celebrated.
Some parallels could possibly be drawn between Alec and Richard himself. Quite a few of our favorite characters have the “pursuit of passion to the detriment of romantic relations” syndrome in common: Alec, Lucas, Porter, Thorin.
But before anyone starts crying a river over the absence of a publicly recognizable romance in Richard’s personal life, nowhere does it say that it’s impossible to balance both. Keep in mind that none of us are qualified to be Richard’s Happy Police. But he being our Happy Place on the other hand; perfectly acceptable.
Nowhere in Particular RA 