A Discovery of Witches Series? Let's Talk About Matthew Goode!
Okay, so I am WAAAAAAAAAAAY behind on the A Discovery of Witches phase/moment/thingy, it is one of those books that pops into my mind every couple of months and I hold it in my hands when I visit the bookshop, but I never get it or forget to buy it when I actually have money. I reeeeeally want to read this book and according to the ONE person who voted on my poll (Shout out to you bae!⭐) it's a good life decision to read it this year.
And then my journey began, I went off onto my online research of Goodreads averages and Amazon's second hand prices, when I stumbled on a little bit of news that the book has been adapted into a TV series that is coming out soon! So, instantly I thought; I have to read this book asap, not only for book bucket list purposes, but also for Book Vs Film so I can plan a whole piece around it. This is a usual train of thought with many books and has even had me completing some this year that I get to see in the cinema next month woo!
THEN, there's more, then, I scrolled down to find out that Matthew Goode, yes MATTHEW GOODE is in it.
AND SO, I thought what better thing to do and what better way to celebrate the upcoming release of the show, then doing a whole piece just on Matthew Goode! Well, I mean the roles he's played, not JUST him.
Watchmen (2009):
First in the list is Watchmen (2009), Goode played Adrian Veidt a.k.a Ozymandias, an immeasurably intelligent billionaire who used to be part of the Watchmen. This was the first role I ever saw Matthew Goode in and to be honest, during first viewing, the show was completely stolen by Jackie Earle Haley and his portrayal of Rorschach for me. HOWEVER, this is one of those films I didn't forget and when I watched it again later on, it was safe to say even then, that I'd watch it a lot and never even get close to the possibility of forgetting it. By this point of new Watchmen fandom that I grew in my teens, I paid much more attention to Adrian as an antagonist and found that there is this silky darkness to Matthew's portrayal that became the knot that hangs the film together for me.
Watchmen is of course an adaptation of the famous comics of the same name, specifically that were released between 1986-87. I will always recommend both comics AND film to anyone....except maybe children....
Leap Year (2010):
Next is a bit of a guilty pleasure and a movie I literally saw for the first time two days ago. I was in an ice-cream, cry-y mood and so went for a good old fashioned rom-com and that is Leap Year (2010), not only starring Matthew, but also Amy Adams in the female lead. I didn't just watch this for the soppiness, I also watched it because I saw that Goode was playing an Irish man and well, that made me happy. This is a traditional, stereotypical, but totally sweet rom-com about an American woman with a perfect life and perfect doctor boyfriend, trying to get the perfect apartment, but she's still missing THE ring. So when he goes to Dublin for...a doctor thing...she decides to fly to Dublin in time for the 29th (leap year, tadah!), in which Irish tradition says a woman can purpose. HOWEVER, you guessed it, her travels don't quite go to plan and so begins her stressful and adventurous journey to Dublin with Matthew Goode, as sarcastic and speaks-his-mind Declan, who helps her get to her apparent beloved. Can you guess what happens next?
I realised I gave you mainly synopsis for Leap Year and nothing really for Watchmen, however that is for two reasons; 1) there is so much that happens in Watchmen that is relevant with so many characters, I know I'll have no control over myself and write paragraphs and paragraphs about the whole story. 2) I definitely loved Watchmen more the first time being completely oblivious to everything about it, it makes the shock factor way more...shocking.
Stoker (2013):
Anyway, carrying on! This next film, is one of my favourites, but, even more so, Goode's Uncle Charlie role is in my top ten performances ever! *In the genre of like borderline psycho. That movie is Stoker (2013), which I actually found out fairly recently, has a screenplay written by Wentworth Miller of Prison Break fame! Now I will definitely have to do a full blown review for this movie because I love it so dearly and I do have such a tendency to ramble, so I'm not going to go too into detail in terms of plot and cast and so I'll narrow it down to a sentence, or two; this movie stars, not only Goode, but also Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and young Han himself, Alden Ehrenreich. This sinister film is about the arrival of India's Uncle Charlie after the sudden death of her father, however, her father never mentioned she had an uncle and his presence soon brings darkness and temptation to both India and her Mother that's new and dangerous.
*Just going to leave this here; for relevance.
He starred in The Imitation Game alongside much beloved Benedict Cumberbatch.
There was seduction in Brideshead Revisted an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel.
And another one I love, but Matthew's role is not a huuuge one, however I totally recommend Cemetery Junction, in which he plays a life insurance salesman with the tactic of a con man and the fiancé of the films main love interest played by Felicity Jones.
Finally, consciousness can be put inside ANYBODY (including Ryan Reynolds), in Self/Less.
And then my journey began, I went off onto my online research of Goodreads averages and Amazon's second hand prices, when I stumbled on a little bit of news that the book has been adapted into a TV series that is coming out soon! So, instantly I thought; I have to read this book asap, not only for book bucket list purposes, but also for Book Vs Film so I can plan a whole piece around it. This is a usual train of thought with many books and has even had me completing some this year that I get to see in the cinema next month woo!
THEN, there's more, then, I scrolled down to find out that Matthew Goode, yes MATTHEW GOODE is in it.
AND SO, I thought what better thing to do and what better way to celebrate the upcoming release of the show, then doing a whole piece just on Matthew Goode! Well, I mean the roles he's played, not JUST him.
Watchmen (2009):
First in the list is Watchmen (2009), Goode played Adrian Veidt a.k.a Ozymandias, an immeasurably intelligent billionaire who used to be part of the Watchmen. This was the first role I ever saw Matthew Goode in and to be honest, during first viewing, the show was completely stolen by Jackie Earle Haley and his portrayal of Rorschach for me. HOWEVER, this is one of those films I didn't forget and when I watched it again later on, it was safe to say even then, that I'd watch it a lot and never even get close to the possibility of forgetting it. By this point of new Watchmen fandom that I grew in my teens, I paid much more attention to Adrian as an antagonist and found that there is this silky darkness to Matthew's portrayal that became the knot that hangs the film together for me.
Watchmen is of course an adaptation of the famous comics of the same name, specifically that were released between 1986-87. I will always recommend both comics AND film to anyone....except maybe children....
Leap Year (2010):
I realised I gave you mainly synopsis for Leap Year and nothing really for Watchmen, however that is for two reasons; 1) there is so much that happens in Watchmen that is relevant with so many characters, I know I'll have no control over myself and write paragraphs and paragraphs about the whole story. 2) I definitely loved Watchmen more the first time being completely oblivious to everything about it, it makes the shock factor way more...shocking.
Anyway, carrying on! This next film, is one of my favourites, but, even more so, Goode's Uncle Charlie role is in my top ten performances ever! *In the genre of like borderline psycho. That movie is Stoker (2013), which I actually found out fairly recently, has a screenplay written by Wentworth Miller of Prison Break fame! Now I will definitely have to do a full blown review for this movie because I love it so dearly and I do have such a tendency to ramble, so I'm not going to go too into detail in terms of plot and cast and so I'll narrow it down to a sentence, or two; this movie stars, not only Goode, but also Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska and young Han himself, Alden Ehrenreich. This sinister film is about the arrival of India's Uncle Charlie after the sudden death of her father, however, her father never mentioned she had an uncle and his presence soon brings darkness and temptation to both India and her Mother that's new and dangerous.
*Just going to leave this here; for relevance.
♞ Honorable mentions!
Matthew has quite a large filmography that hopefully isn't slowing down anytime soon, especially with the coming Discovery of Witches series, so rather than going on for a dissertation length, borderline creepy fan piece, here's just a quick mention of some more of the good ones;He starred in The Imitation Game alongside much beloved Benedict Cumberbatch.
There was seduction in Brideshead Revisted an adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel.
And another one I love, but Matthew's role is not a huuuge one, however I totally recommend Cemetery Junction, in which he plays a life insurance salesman with the tactic of a con man and the fiancé of the films main love interest played by Felicity Jones.
Finally, consciousness can be put inside ANYBODY (including Ryan Reynolds), in Self/Less.
So there you have some film recommendations, starring a great and marginally underrated actor, I will update you on whether I FINALLY get on reading A Discovery of Witches in time for the show because I will definitely be watching it, so fingers crossed!
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