Well, it finally happened. I've been checking IMDB daily for news on Alice's pregnancy, but it wasn't until last night that I decided to check Alice's news instead of Ioan's. And as it turns out, it paid off.

Ladies and gentlemen, as of September 6th...

Ioan is officially a Dad.

( Details under here )

After weeks of nothing on the Ioan front, Imdb finally has something new.

No, it's not a new film.

I come back from vacation, hoping for some good news on the Ioan front (a new role, Alice is pregnant, etc.) and instead I find out that 20th Century Fox is remaking Fantastic Four. None of the cast is coming back, and they're going to try to make the films more serious (the article says more like Iron Man, but I haven't seen it yet, so I can't judge.)

Were the original two REALLY so bad that you need to reboot it after less than two years? (Remember, FF2 came out in July of 07) . And yes, the two films were silly. But the acting (with one exception) wasn't bad, and there's something to be said for light comedy fare.

The project's just in the development stage right now, so no news on casting. They better get someone pretty damn spectacular as Reed, that's all.

Here's the article: 

www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_four/news/1802260/weekly_ketchup_fantastic_four_to_get_reboot

*Sigh*. Ioan just cannot catch a break, can he? Well, at least "The Kid" looks to be a go, so there's a chance I'll be able to see him in something in the near future.

So it turns out that "The Secret of Moonacre" was released last week, although it appears to have been released solely in Britain. Sadly, the critics don't like it much, and some of them turn their scorn on the actors. However, one description of Ioan's performance was priceless.

From Simon Reynolds' review:

"Gruffudd dispatches his lines as if they're straight from the quill of Shakespeare. His over-earnest proclamation of "Damn my foolish pride!" is worthy of a Razzie nomination."

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind hearing Ioan be all Shakespearean, even if it's vaguely inappropriate in context.

Other reviewers have said he's channeling Darcy from Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre, which I am personally taking as a compliment, since I would personally date Mr. Rochester, and most people have a thing for Darcy.

But my absolute favorite part was the photo that accompanied one of the reviews.



I want that dress, and I want screencaps of Ioan in this film. NOW.

xbeyondinsanex , your fluff piece is coming soon, I promise.

Well, I've got good news and bad news on the Ioan acting front.

The good news is, he's working again.

The bad news is, I'm not entirely sure this is  a role I'm going to like.

I quote from an article quoted on IMDB:

"Rupert Friend, Ioan Gruffudd, Natascha McElhone and Liam Cunningham have joined Nick Moran's "The Kid," about an abused child who manages to pull himself out of a bad lifestyle to start over. The film is an adaptation of Kevin Lewis' book. (Variety)"

I have a sneaking suspicion I know who Ioan's playing, and it's not pleasant to think about. Please tell me you play a social worker and not Kevin's father. PLEASE.

If ANYONE out there has more information, please enlighten me.

I dropped off the LJ radar back in November because the leadup to Christmas was killing me, then, of course, I was on my vacation. So I'm hoping to make up for it by posting like crazy. Thank you to everyone who was patient and kept me on their friends list despite my vanishing off the face of the earth.

I'll do a larger update later, discussing some of my more awesome Christmas presents (Hint: one of them is a large box set) and general randomness, as is my wont. But for now, I would just like to say something. Remember how I expressed skepticism about that film, The Secret of Moonacre, and was pretty sure Ioan's suit porn wasn't that great?



I was very, very wrong.

Since I have been too busy to post for the last few weeks, I'll make up for it with a double, one serious and one funny. This is the serious one.

Have any of my fellow Ioanites wondered why we haven't been hearing much from him, or why there are no new projects listed on IMDB?

Well, I randomly came across this interview, which is fairly recent, and now not only do I know where he's been, but I love him even MORE (if that's possible).

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article5039887.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=1063710

If you do not get even a flicker of the warm fuzzies from the last paragraph (its three pages long, by the way), you are not human.

It's strange for me to have two posts in one day, especially since it's fairly late, but I have made two startling news discoveries concerning Ioan.

First off, according to Wales Online, a leaked clip of Ioan as Tony Blair made its way onto youtube...and proceeded to get 100,000 hits. I think I need to get youtube back up on my computer so I can see what all the fuss is about.

More disturbingly, I found an article in Variety that gave more details on "The Secret of Moonacre". Allow me to quote something. After declaring that the only real audience for this film will be teen girls, who will identify with Maria, the 13 year-old heroine (remember this), it says;

"The magical book describes a backstory involving a unicorn, an enchanted necklace, a greed-fueled dispute between the Moon Princess' father (Curry again) and her fiance (Gruffudd again)"

Remember Maria's age? And remember that Ioan just celebrated his thirty-fifth birthday? Not to mention that he's also playing her uncle, therefore meaning he would be a lot older than her anyway?

Normally, I'm all for Ioan playing the romantic lead. But this is squicking me out, big time. Who on earth thought this was a good idea to cast a fourteen year old (according to imdb) and pair her up with a thirty-five year old?

For those who want more details, ask me for the link in the comments, since LJ apparently thinks posting the link makes this post too big.

Yeesh. Is the Britishness and period piece suit porn worth it?

I'm desperate for new Ioan stuff, and because my computer has decided that Adobe Flash Player does not need to be on my computer (translation: I can't get on youtube), I'm spamming my Friends list and the internet with a few questions.

1. Has there been ANY news on that TV show Ioan's supposed to be in? IMDB still doesn't have a release date for "The Meant to Be's", and I don't want to miss the pilot if I can help it.

2. Anyone seen "W"? Ioan's only in one scene, so I figured it wasn't worth the money. But I'm curious as to how he had to act as Tony Blair. Plus, is that hair REALLY as bad as it looked in the trailer?

And now...

( Sexy Picspam )

Someone has uploaded a "Secret of Moonacre" trailer on Youtube.

It's really crappy visual and sound quality, and the choice of music left a lot to be desired. However, it's counter-balanced by the following fact...

IOAN'S IN PERIOD PIECE SUIT PORN!!!! AND BEING BRITISH!!!

Granted, the trailer does not give me high hopes for the movie. Although I could be wrong; the early Harry Potter movies might have had trailers like this (come to think of it, I think they had the same announcer). I can't quite put my finger on why I'm unsure of this film (maybe it has something to do with the possibility of Ioan being placed in an undignified situation). Watch the trailer and judge for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jr9GiNKYi4

At any rate, this might be one of those movies where you go solely for Ioan and Suit Porn. (The More I know, the more wary I am of placing "W" in this category as well). It doesn't have a release date yet, far as I can tell, so I'm off to IMDB to find out.


(Oh, and since I've never heard of this children's story, perhaps someone on my friends list has read it and can enlighten me on the all important question...will Sir Benjamin (Ioan) be humiliated, tortured, killed, or any other thing that would cause this Ioanite to curl up in the fetal position?)

Ok, how many people out there have seen the "W" trailer? If not, here's a youtube link;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEyJ2kdaaTQ

Pause at 1:08. What did they do to Ioan's hair?

The only reason I want to go see that movie is Ioan in suit porn and speaking in a British Accent. And now they're ruining it for me by doing strange things to his hair!!

On a brighter note, even though "Fireflies in the Garden" may NEVER come to my area, at least I finally know who Ioan's playing. He's a teacher.

This leads to some interesting questions. What type of class would Ioan be best suited for teaching? English, I'd say. Or maybe History. He's definitely a humanities sort of guy.

And, of course, which Ioanites, inspired by his teachings, would get straight A's, and which ones would be like the students in Indiana Jones and just sit there drooling at him and not registering a word?

Especially if he came to class looking like this on a regular basis?


I know what camp I fall in. What about the rest of my fellow Ioanites?

So I'm surfing an LJ community dedicated to news about British actors (brit_actors for those who are interested), and I came across this lovely piece of news. Sadly, it contains both good news and bad news.

The Good News: Ioan won an award at the Welsh Baftas.

The Bad News: He accepted the award with a black eye he'd gotten when Alice hit him in the face with a golf club.

It was an accident, of course. The article didn't give details, save that it was a golfing accident.

Of course, the question is...how far back was Ioan standing when Alice swung? If it was far back, how'd she reach him? And if he was up close, then WHY? Was he teaching her to swing?

Anyway, the wound will heal. I just feel sorry for him, that's all.

Oh, and Ioan? As romantic as you two are, can you please find a better pet name than "Baby Angel?" Angel, fine, Baby, fine. "My Love"; perfect. But "Baby Angel"? I expected something more suave from you.


Other news...

On this same site I found an interview with Ioan...with Alice as the Interviewer. It is hysterical, with Ioan initially not wanting to do the interview because he's watching a sports match (until Alice points out "That's a TAPED GAME!! You can watch it whenever you LIKE!!!").
 Oh, he would so not have been like this if it was a real interviewer. It's so cute.

And on that note, I'll sign off for now.

I could have sworn I read that "Fireflies in the Garden", with Ioan as a supporting character was coming out on May 5th. However, I just looked at Rotten Tomatoes. Not only is it not out, but it apparently already played...9 years ago.

I'm not kidding. Look:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10008601-fireflies_in_the_garden/

How long has this movie been on the shelf? And what happened that made them pull it yet again?

I am so confused right now. The usual websites (RT, IMDB, Ioan sites) are no help. Will I ever learn the answer to the mystery of who Ioan played?

Anyone else out there know anything?

Edit: A little more digging around reveals the film was shot last year. What on Earth is Rotten Tomatoes THINKING?

Being the High Priestess and all that, I keep tabs on Ioan's upcoming projects (thank you, IMDB). The next movie I can expect to see him in is called "Fireflies in the Garden." It's being released to a limited audience (read, art theaters) on May 5th. If it doesn't do good business, it'll be out of theaters in a week. I just hope I can catch it in theaters, because I need to know the answer to a burning question...

WHO THE HELL IS IOAN PLAYING??