Man of the Hour: Jim Moriarty

Or, more specifically, Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty.

Not to worry - a new trailer for The Bourne Legacy is due at the end of the week and I suspect Jeremy Renner will regain his position of honor here soon enough.

In the meantime, however, I finally watched the last episode of the second Sherlock series.  Benedict Cumberbatch is still exotically brilliant but Andrew Scott is the one I'm thinking of in the shower these days.  His Jim Moriarty is chillingly intelligent and diabolically manipulative.  Here, at his slippery and calculating best:



and



Moriarty is, obviously, an insane force for malevolence but he also shows great humor, flashes of vulnerability, and, most of all, a very humanizing sensuality (something largely lacking in Cumberbatch's Holmes).  For example, this scene is wildly creepy but the way Scott works his eyes is undeniably sexy:



The series' finale suggests Moriarty won't be returning for more opportunities to send shivers (good and bad) down my spine.  I suppose I'll have to keep calm and carry on.

Best Scene on the Worst Show

I hate myself for watching the whole season of Smash.  Badly-written, insane characters played by actors whose skill-levels range from mediocre to incompetent.  If only the production numbers weren't so charming.

Case in point: this delightful scene wherein Derek fantasizes about Karen as Marilyn.



I love the way he stares at her with the pure innocence of a little boy.  Well played, Jack Davenport.

You Either Think All People Are Created Equal or You Don't

We can no longer afford the luxury of a leisurely attack upon prejudice and discrimination.  There is much that state and local governments can do in providing safeguards for civil rights.  But we cannot, any longer, await the growth of a will to action in the slowest state of the most backward community....We must strive to advance civil rights wherever it lies within our power.
 

-President Truman, Address to the NAACP, June 28, 1947

Man of the Hour: Jeremy Renner, Part III

Yowza.  According to my Blogger stats, somebody out there sure loves them some Jeremy and it's not just me.

So, let's feed the beast.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Jason Merritt/FREDERIC J. BROWN/Getty

And, he is a beast, isn't he?  I like the way he's looking at Scarlett.  I love how he actually looks at people.  Like he's honestly engaged with them.  He also looked at her that way at the Oscars last year:

Ivan Vejar / ©A.M.P.A.S.

Or how about when he looked at Carey Mulligan that way at the Oscars the year before?

Wireimage.com

I guess I'll have to put The Avengers on my To Do List so I can look at him that way for a while.