To watch or not

(or, Even More About Peter Sarsgaard [can you believe it?])

Since naturally I would like to watch more things that Peter Sarsgaard has been in, the only thing left to decide is which particular things I want to watch. Which got me to thinking about my criteria for selecting such things (this goes for other actors as well)

• Main role? If yes, I'm more likely to watch.
• Facial hair/otherwise unappealing appearance? If yes, I'm probably going to be a little more hesitant
• Interesting character? If yes, that's good
• Genre/subject matter: I'm not into superhero stuff or western movies and I prefer dramas that are unique and/or thought provoking. Crime related stuff can be interesting as well. War movies... I like and dislike them at the same time... 

That's pretty much it, I think. These criteria have guided my choices for what I've already watched with him in it and is also why I'm not going to watch that western movie that I was previously unaware that Leonardo DiCaprio had been in, or Vincent's role in a Netflix tv series based on a comic book superhero. I am so sick of the superhero stuff that's been popular these last few years, for the record.  

On another related subject matter, I've read that Peter Sarsgaard is apparently similar to this other actor, John Malkovich, who I'm not really familiar with. In fact, Peter has been described as being a young(er) version of John Malkovich. So I took a look (and a listen) for myself. I do think they kind of have similar voices, and I guess they look similar enough to more or less convincingly play a father and son (which I think maybe they have? I'd have to check*). Apparently, John Malkovich is known for playing creepy/etc characters and Peter has also played his fair share of murderous/etc characters. So I suppose that influenced people to think they're similar. Apparently some people consider them both to have creepy voices. Which I guess I can kind of see why people might think that, but I don't consider Peter's voice to be creepy - I quite like it in fact. It's interesting and soft in the way that Vincent's (regular) voice is like that. I wish I had a better way of conveying what I mean than describing their voices as "soft" because I don't mean soft as in quiet. I mean it as in... not rough, I guess. Maybe smooth is a better word? But for some reason soft feels like it fits better. The way that he talks is just lovely. It's soft and Peter has a nice way of enunciation (or something. I think that's what I mean); it has a certain crispness to it. Like good (not squishy) grapes. I made the grapes comparison because the grapes at the grocery store today were a little too squishy for my tastes. 

I came across this quote from an interview he did: "It doesn't sound like a normal person's voice, whatever that is. I wouldn't be chosen to sell cereal on TV." I guess I would agree that his voice isn't like a normal person's, in that I don't often find people's voices as ear-catching as I did his when I happened to watch a movie he was in. However, I would certainly not mind if he did actually sell cereal on tv. I don't even like cereal. It's so bland, and the ones with flavor have too much sugar and I was only ever allowed to eat them on vacation, and the habit has stuck and I don't feel like I'm supposed to eat, say, Froot Loops, on any old random day. In any case, if Peter were to sell cereal on tv, I think some kind of more upper end/elite feeling cereal would be fitting. So not Cheerios, they're too mundane/plain (to me at least; maybe that's only because it's the cereal of choice in the house). Maybe something like Kashi brand cereal, which my mother used to eat in the past. If it were up to me, I'd have him sell cereal on tv. Which is now making me think about cereal ads.... and lactose intolerance. I'm glad I'm not lactose intolerant because (whole, or at least 2%) milk is tasty. I would drink half and half in place of milk, willingly. Skim milk just tastes so watery. 
Here is a link to the entire interview, which I thought was quite interesting and he comes across well in it - thoughtful and what not. Another quote he says is "I feel like I'm an attractive man." It's good to know that he has decent self esteem. 

* They have! And it was in some movie that I watched a long-ish time ago, but don't really remember what happened in. Just that Leonardo DiCaprio was in it, which is why I watched it at that time. Naturally I decided to go back and rewatch it with an eye for some other actors, the ones mentioned here. The movie is The Man in the Iron Mask, and Peter's character only lasts the first half hour (out of slightly over 2 hours total movie time). The movie is about "The former musketeer Athos (John Malkovich) swears vengeance after despotic King Louis XIV (Leonardo DiCaprio) causes the death of his son. Summoning his old comrades Porthos (Gérard Depardieu) and Aramis (Jeremy Irons), he hatches a plan to liberate a shackled prisoner rumored to be the king's twin brother, and then install him on the throne." (from google since I'm too lazy to summarize it in my own words)

Leonardo plays the king, and Peter has a minor-ish role as the son of one of the musketeers. He has silly looking long floppy hair (as do all of the other male characters, since it takes place in 18th century France. Leo for one has long wavy dirty blonde hair, which I'm sort of envious of actually) but it's still kind of cute in a silly way. Coupled with the ornate men's clothing that was in fashion at the time. I can really hear the similarities between his and John Malkovich's voices in this movie as their characters are father and son. Anyways I only watched the first half hour for now but I'd still be kind of interested in seeing what happens in the rest of the movie to refresh my memory. The hairstyle that Peter had in this movie reminded me of a few of James D'Arcy's roles where he had long hair. In fact, Peter in this movie looked fairly similar to James here, although is hair was slightly longer, but not as long as Leo's. Here also, which I think is a bit closer in length. And I finally found a picture of Peter in the movie so you can see (or at least compare and attempt to see) the similarities to the pictures of James. Peter's hair is a little bit lighter than James' though. I think I do have a type, eh?? 

I found this interesting blog post with a little commentary about the fashions/costume design in the movie.

Also, I know I used "apparently" a lot in that one section. This blog isn't exactly meant to be the epitome of my writing talents, just a mostly coherent (b)log of the things that come to my mind.

And anyways, while we're at it (and I probably will be 'at it', meaning fawning over Peter Sarsgaard, for the foreseeable immediate future), I'd like to comment on some various tweets regarding Peter. The sources shall remain anonymous but you're free to go and search and try to find them on your own. 

• "has no other movie cast John Malkovich and Peter Sarsgaard as father and son? Their weird voices make perfect harmony." Interesting, but I don't really think their voices are weird.
• "I once had to see a therapist because I was OBSESSED with a guy who looked like Peter Sarsgaard. he worked in a video store :/" I don't blame her. Hopefully I don't get to that point.
• "Peter Sarsgaard has such a sinister looking face but then if he smiles it's like nothing bad could happen" Again I wouldn't consider him to be naturally sinister looking. I guess the only things these people have watched of him are the roles in which he played a sinister character. On that note, I wonder if people consider a psychologist who does somewhat (but not terrible, in my opinion) unethical social experiments to be sinister? I don't, but perhaps other people might see it that way.

Also, as a closing thought, I think I put a lot of care (and effort, and my thoughts) into my blog posts, and I hope it shows. I also kind of hope it doesn't make me come across as a crazy person, but if it does, so be it. 

Also also, I think a more accurate and in-the-moment title for my blog currently would be "Fawning over Peter Sarsgaard, for the most part" but I'm going to resist the urge to change it to that.