Man-Heros : Wicked & Illumi Dole out the Man-Love.

 MAN HEROS!

Wicked’s Number One Man-Hero is : Colin Firth !!!

    At First, I thought that I would write about one of his extraordinary characters, but much like my perennial favorite Alan Rickman, it’s nearly impossible to separate that one little sparkle of the man from his characters. Not so deeply buried is he ,as to ever lose the charming self, in the characters brought to the the screen. And though each of his fictional characters is brimming with charm, I found myself even more caught up in the life of the man.     His life reads like an adventure. His Parents were raised in India (as his Grandfather was a Missionary). He spent part of his childhood in Nigeria, some in the USA, and good chunks back in Jolly Old England. As an adult, he shared stage and screen with the likes of Rupert Everett & Sir Lawrence Oliver, breaking out and stealing hearts with those sparkling ever-dark eyes as Lord Darcy in the 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice.

Rupert Everette on first meeting Colin Firth.

Beyond his acting lies an extraordinary person. For instance, he put his writing skills to work with the piece “The Department of Nothing”, which was included in a series of stories, “Speaking with the Angel” in 2000. The sales benefited Autistic Children. He is also rather fierce campaigner for the defender of Tribal Peoples though “Survival International”, as well as a strong supporter of Oxfam’s “Make Trade Fair”, which of course encourages Fair Trade practices, and ecologically sound consuming-habits.

WOW! Fetch me a julep Ladies and Gentleman, Colin Firth gives me the vaporous! Here’s to smart, funny, gorgeous man crushes who have exceptionally admirable passions! Colin Andrew Firth, if you where just my Hero for being an incredibly talented Actor before, you are SO much more now!     Much like Illumi’s Man-Hero, Colin Firth doesn’t seem in visage to be a beautiful man, lacking sculptural beauty, he makes up for his looks in the seething emotions that glitter from inside his eyes, a tiny quirk of a smile, and that little indescribable something. So if you are really curious, go to these links of the man himself. (Apparently youtube saw fit to forbid embedding on 90% of Colin Firth video’s that weren’t those insipid ones with Celine Dion Playing behind a montage of scenes from Pride and Prejudice.) Charming in movies, Charming in altruistic habit, and Charming turns of phrase – Colin Firth Welcome to the Aunie Wicked Man Hero Hall of Fame you saucy Devil!

Aformentioned shimmery eyes

Colin Firth on SNL

The Color of the Clouds : Girl with a Pearl Earring (my favorite)

The Importance of Being Earnest (Oscar Wilde banter, ftw)

Doing a little dance in What a Girl Wants

“In a 2006 interview with French magazine

, Firth was asked “Quelles sont les femmes de votre vie?” (Who are the women of your life?). Firth replied: “Ma mère, ma femme et Jane Austen” (My mother, my wife and Jane Austen). ” (

Colin Firth @ Wikipedia

)

“Actors are basically drag queens. People will tell you they act because they want to heal mankind or, you know, explore the nature of the human psyche. Yes, maybe. But basically we just want to put on a frock and dance.” (Colin Firth Bio @ IMDB)

Read more about Colin Firth :

A Singular Man @ Firth.com

Bio @ the New York Times.com

Bruce Willis is Lumi’s #1 MAN-Hero

(but you can borrow him, if you say please!)

:a blog of appreciation and adoration for the man and his character(s), by a.illumi

Originally, we Aunties, thought we would make a list of our TEN favorite man heroes, then we realized just how MUCH there was to say about even ONE of them. So rather than type our fingers to the nub, Wicked wisely decided that we would only do one man-hero each for now and save the others for another time, possibly when we also feel like the Sanctuary is in danger of getting to feminist-ranty… Not that we are not feminists cause we totally are – but you know not THOSE feminists! Without further politically inciteful labels: Lumi, would like you to meet her number one man hero

I’m Bruce Willis from wreckandsalvage on Vimeo.

I’m Bruce Willis from wreckandsalvageon Vimeo. Don’t you love that video? If Lumi was a man she would want to be just like Bruce Willis in real life but with all the hard ass bombacity of his characters!The Real Bruce:Mr. Walter Bruce Willus(which incidentally, is part of the name of Lumi-son but actually not intentionally in honor of Mr. Willus). What is there not to j’adore about him? Did you know he was born in Germany on a military base? Lumi did not know that. Or that he has worked nuclear power plant security, secure transport, and as a private investigator! Lumi loves also that he has had many jobs, one likes to have something in common with one’s seemingly untouchable heroes! Of course later,he became a bartender and was discovered – now he is a hugely paid actor who also produces, plays music(mostly in an honorary fashion to jazz), and is apparently theworld’s most progressive man when it comes to blended families and shared custody. Less literally, Bruce Willis is to be loved for being the working man’s hero story in his actual life and for maintaining this role throughout most of his career. He represents something of what Lumi feels is an endangered species also: a tough man who knows how to handle thingsand also call his mother or ,in this case, his kids and ex-wife. To celebrate Bruce Willis, is to celebrate an absolute testament to unbridled manli-ness and that could be boring if he didn’t also have some interesting political views, the kids, and an insatiable compassion for men and women of the armed forces.

insatiably adorable compassion that is:

“In 2002, Willis’s youngest daughter, Tallulah, suggested that Willis purchase Girl Scout cookies to send to the military. Willis purchased 12,000 boxes of cookies, distributed to sailors aboard USS John F. Kennedy and other troops stationed throughout the Middle East.”

As if all that were not enough to make him Lumi’s hero #1 hero, he also became the national spokesperson for children in foster homes across the country in 2002. His blunt, get real, words about what foster care is really like are exactly what the system needs – if it ever has hope of reform.Lastly, but not at all leastly, he has become a very vocal and open person in regards to moving on and dealing with your issues whatever they are…and then 100% showing what it’s like to live it, when you can get past yourself and start again. Human Hero and Action hero…Lumi had forgotten actually how great was this guy!! In fact, I haven’t seen like four of his latest movies? Sorry Bruce. I am going to be a better fan this year! I never miss the interviews though…if you haven’t seen Bruce Willis interviewed – you have missed so very much, here’s a sample:One of many legendary Letterman appearances(he has a history of going on Letterman and beingoutrageously interesting):With Zack Galifianakis:http://player.ordienetworks.com/flash/fodplayer.swf

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: Bruce Willis from Bruce Willis

That is but a sample of the goodness that is Bruce Willis interviewed – you tube it you won’t be sorry!While beating herself over not being a better fan these last few years, Lumi found out that Red was hitting stores this week on DVD and is personally looking forward to catching it on Amazon on demand rental. If you have no idea what it is, because maybe like Lumi you don’t watch much television…here is the trailer:

If you don’t know his characters here is a list of some of the most important ones.. And who cares? and what does it matter because he is following a script anyway? Well, Lumi believes that what is special about SUPAH stars is that no matter what character they are playing they bring something of themselves as a person; a sparkly intriguing thing to the role. Whether the situation is dire, or laughable, or sad there is always a sense of reality that is brought to the movies. No matter how terrible some of the actual parts may be Mr. Willis…who is actually amazing in his for-real life, brings a much needed grace to the screen. You might think it is strange to use the word “grace” in reference to someone so gruffy but think modern-day Humphrey Bogartand you can understand why Lumi went there. Now Lumi will show you her favorite pictures of Graceful Unbreakable Fantastical Bruce Willis…OR NOT… Lumi Searched high and low for pictures that portrayed Bruce Willis – there are none. The man is told in his facial expression,his twinkling wit, his constant motion and his incredible characters. So rather than punctuate with pictures, this little Auntie leaves you with these gems of Lumi’s manliest man hero Mr. Bruce Willis.

and okay I do like this picture:

Thank you readers and thank you Bruce Willis and Colin for being awesome! Auntie Wicked and Lumi want to hear always what you have to say about heroes, this blog, or anything – so comment us kay(facebook, formspring,comment on wordpress, myspace,tumblr, or e-mail: the2aunties@gmail.com). As for this Auntie off to watch Red! You should too! Also, it seems VERY sad to Lumi that brucewillis.comis broken! Someone please help him fix it – even superheroes need a little tech support now and then!