War Horse

War Horse

On my 'Hiddles 39th Birthday' post I already mentioned that every year on his birthday, I do try to watch a movie/series in which Tom Hiddleston has a role in. Last year I had watched a part of The Hollow Crown and the year before that I had watched Midnight In Paris. This year I watched War Horse and thereby I've broke the chain of watching something of him that I hadn't seen yet, because I have seen War Horse once. Although, that was long before I've discovered the Thor/Avengers movies, so I couldn't remember much about Tom's role. So perhaps you can say I've now watched War Horse from a total different view! I really do like to write reviews/blogs about films, so I thought let's do a blog about a Tom Hiddleston movie!

Even though I'm talking about a film from 2011, in case someone who hasn't seen this film yet and is planning to, I'll warn: There are spoilers below. 

Years ago I had already experienced War Horse as a breathtaking film and seen from the fact that war related films are not so easily forgotten and because I have a weakness for animal films, parts of War Horse were still very present inside my memory. War Horse is the story of Joey, the horse seen as a Wonder Horse and the relationship that has developed between him and a young man named Albert. After several threats of taking the horse done by a horrible man named Lyon when the father faces trouble in paying their monthly payment for the farm they are living in, the father decides to sell Joey to the army who are seeking horses for World War I. Albert arrives too late, Joey is already sold to Captain Nicholls (Tom Hiddleston), who admits he totally underpaid for a well trained horse as Joey is, but he just hadn't had more to offer. During the whole film Joey manages to touch the hearts of many human he crossed paths with, Tom Hiddleston's character is the first one who separated the Wonder Horse from one of the concerning humans. 

Now I make it sound like Nicholls is just as horrible as Lyon, who I mentioned earlier. He definitely is not! (See the GIF on the side, I see the opposite of a horrible man. 😇)

The GIF where Tom Hiddleston takes off the hat and makes the average woman faint, is where he promises Albert to take very well care of Joey and if he can, he would even bring back to horse after the war is over. Scenes between Joey & Albert I found very touching, the same is to be said about Joey's following 'owners', starting with Captain Nicholls who plainly has sympathy for Albert. We get to see him making a drawing of Joey, meant for Albert. Just like Tom (I adore the pictures with him and the horse, and see the bonus picture at the end of this blog!), Nicholls has heart for animals, so despite of the circumstances, Joey still is in good hands.

Tom & Benedict

I knew that War Horse had been the first film Tom Hiddleston & Benedict Cumberbatch both portrayed in. War Horse, a film set in times of war, was the beginning of a still standing as strong as a rock beautiful friendship between Tom & Benedict. Also I very much enjoyed the first scene that Loki and Dr. Strange..- uhh.. Captain Nichols and Major Jamie Stewart shared. Two great actors who put their heart and soul into the character they are portraying.

After seeing Infinity War I've came across of a meme once that showed Loki arriving in heaven, meeting up with other decreased Hiddleston characters. One of them was Captain Nicholls, so besides that I already had guessed it, I knew his faith. I just totally didn't expected to see it happen so soon in the movie! I really thought Tom had some more screen time. This once again proofs that he doesn't need much screen time to stand out! 

Both Topthorn (Steward's black horse) and Joey were fallen into the hands of the German. This ends with a beautiful evening 'shot' as we see the wicks of the mill distracting the view of another cruel war act, created with other kinds of 'shots' that I wouldn't refer as beautiful.. But luckily, in the next scene the horses are looking in the beautiful innocent eyes of Emilie, their new next young owner. Seeing her hiding the horses into her bedroom, training Joey in the hope of learning him some tricks, is one brighter part of the movie. Although her story too has a sad history. Emilie lives on her grandfather's farm and her parents are (recently) decreased. She also suffers from a illness but as stubborn and brave as she is, she's determined to ride Joey! And she does so but you do see it coming, all good things do come to an end. Here another innocent, pure heart breaks into a million pieces when both the horses are brutally taken away from her.

Another thing I definitely like about animal related films is the developing relationship among animals. Mostly it starts with some hostility during the meet but in the end that has made a huge turn. (Well okay, this movie didn't had a lot of hostility among the two horses, perhaps for them there was enough war around them already..) War Horse really has some stunning shots in where the friendship of Joey and the black Topthorn (Hey, there's Thor in the name) was to be seen. True friendship is wanting to sacrifice yourself for the other and Joey definitely had no doubt in doing so. 💔🐎

Here's a list of animal-related movies that have touched me to:

• Two Brothers
• White Fang
• Call of the Wild
• Homeward Bound
• Life of Pi
• Lion King/Jungle Book
• Bambi
• Dolphin Tale
• Hachi
• 101 Dalmatians, Lady & The Tramp, Frank & Frey
• Black Beauty
• A Dog's Purpose
• We Bought a Zoo
• Dolittle Movie
• A Dog's Way Home

And many many more.

Just like about Loki, I can go on and on about this film. I mean, the no man's land scene and the truce Joey had created. Wow!

It's really in the details and films who are able to have beginning-details return later/in the end, mostly do something to me. They really get me. One strong detail is the regimental pennant Albert attached to Joey during saying goodbye. It later touched Tom Hiddleston's hands (😊), was used in the training done by the young girl Emilie and finally made it's way..- (Just look the film again because it's worth the watch until the very end!) In the beginning of the film Albert had learnt Joey to come to him when he made an owl sounded-like whistle. Not to mention I had experienced those scenes as highly funny when seeing Joey run over everything like a dog would do to get to his owner. When Albert did this again during the end of the movie when he heard about a Wonder Horse while he was being treated for his eyes, try to keep your eyes dry.. Really hard right?

And here's the bonus Tom Hiddleston I mentioned as a closure of this blog post!

First anniversary of Goddess of Loki on Blogspot!

First anniversary of Goddess of Loki on Blogspot!

Blog created on February the 10th, a day after Tom's 38th birthday.

From February 10, 2019 to February 10, 2020 I wrote in total (this one included) 69 blogposts.

After I had watched War Horse last afternoon on Tom's birthday I realized that this blog's birthday was coming up soon too. One year has passed now, because I made this blog one day after Tom's birthday. It was one day too late when I decided I wanted to have my own blog, no actually one week too late because there were so many beautiful things to share in Tom's Spirit Week (so I just re-shared them a week later)! Because today it's my blog's first anniversary, I would like to look back on a few of this blog's posts, published in the first month! I think it's funny (and sometimes a bit embarrassed) to look back on your older writings, whether they are blogs or fanfiction writings. Not only do you improve your writing style in a year, but often you'll cross writings and you think: "Have I really written that? Was that my opinion?" I hope this sounds familiar, otherwise I'm the only one haha. 

I had a lot to write about in February 2019 because it had 16 posts! However, my first blogpost was a very short one, basically just a status where I shared that I had watched The Hollow Crown for the very first time the day before, on his birthday. My second one was named Favorite Tom Friday, dedicated to #TomsSpiritWeek. It was for the day you had to pick your favorite 9 of Tom from his 37th to his 38th birthday. It was a lot of text, here's a small part of it:

(Note: I'll add "2020:" in commentary I've added now.)

1. Favorite Tom Hiddleston Friday (<-- link to post)

4. Suddenly out of the blue, there was this picture of Tom Hiddleston & Josh Wilson posted by Wilson Worldwide Productions Something about a secret project. I‘m still very curious, because we still don‘t know what it is! I think it‘s something very spectacular! We got something to look forward to! He also posted a second photo (that‘s the one in the collage) in which he tagged me & a few other Tom Hiddleston/Loki fan accounts in. That totally made my day, so thank you Josh!

2020: Is it just me, or do we still NOT KNOW?

6. On the 30th October Tom and Josie Rourke talked at the Alan Howard / JW3 Speaker Series. It was a lovely and inspiring interview, I was able to watch later on Youtube. He talked about how he stepped out of his comfort zone, which has inspired me to do the same. When I hear this man talk about acting; whether it‘s in film, series or theatre; it‘s so so visible I‘m listening to a man who found his passion and as I said it before: He truly has put his heart and soul it. Perhaps I do not know how to properly bring this into words, but I hope you understand what I mean. I think many people can see him as an example, given the fact for example how he has grown in +/- 20 years. From liking to do voices as a kid to this passion and talent which goes much deeper than just the word ‘acting’. He does inspire people to go take their passion to the next level as well. 

2020: Still one of my favorite interviews of Tom!

7. Tom Hiddleston‘s first social media post in (what was it?) 2 years: Loki. More stories to tell. More mischief to make. More to come. That literally broke the internet! What Ralph Breaks the Internet? No, Tom Hiddleston breaks the internet! The #LokiSeries (#Disney+) confirmed by the man himself! I‘m so excited for this whole thing. Patient, patient.. But I‘m freaking out inside! Can‘t wait!

2020: Now we finally have a first look of the Loki Series! And I still can't wait!

9. This photo is taken by BBC Radio 2 during the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show. It‘s truly one of my favorite pictures yet! There he spoke about ‘Betrayal’ which will be hitting the theatre in London next month. He also spoke a little about the Loki Series & about the Nightmanager season 2, but he wasn‘t allowed to say much about it yet. What better to start your Friday morning (it was a Friday) with then listening to Tom‘s voice on the radio! They also had some real good music in-between the talks. I heard ABBA, Journey (Don‘t stop Believing) & a live performance of a song of No Doubt. Also they spoke about the film 'Mary Queen of Scots' which premiered that week. I found it very impressive!

2020: Okay still nothing on the Night Manager Season 2, but wow Betrayal London is almost a year ago now! Last December in my Top 2000 Music blogpost, I also addressed this radio interview when sharing the main reason why I gave Journey's Don't Stop Believing a vote: --> "Ever since my teen years the song Don't Stop Believing came to me on moments when I was about to stop believing.. It's like it's the Universe's way to send me a reminder, a confirmation and it's so beautiful. It's something that gets me emotional too. You know one of my dreams is meeting Tom Hiddleston one day and when he was on the English Radio 2 (betrayal interview) the song Don't Stop Believing was played during that show or after it. And here it comes: Two hours later I switch back to the Dutch Radio 2 and on the very same moment there it is: Don't Stop Believing from Journey!" <-- It was such a magical moment! And the ABBA song was 'Waterloo', one that now also makes me think of Tom every time I hear it!

In a top 9 of 2019-2020 probably Loki in Endgame, Tom Hiddleston on SDCC, Tom's posts about the Loki Series, Betrayal London & Betrayal Broadway won't be missing!

My other two edits I made for Favorite Tom Friday were 9 of my favorite Tom Hiddleston photo's/moments/my fave roles of Tom other than Loki + 9 favorite photo's of Tom as Loki:

2. Loki's Birthday (Chapter of my Loki Novel)

To stay in the spirit of Tom's birthday, I shared a scene of when it was Loki's birthday in my Loki fanfiction. Click the link if you want to read it. I'm currently editing my story, what I had posted here is obviously not edited yet. 

3. Thor The Dark World 

Still one of my favorite posts. I talked Thor the Dark World, one or maybe my favorite Marvel movies all time! 😊 Again, here's a small part:

Favorite Introduction: In the Avengers we see Loki looking as a mess at first sight, (Of course he made all women worldwide faint a few scenes later, with him staring in their souls while the guards guide him away. Even Bruce Banner got distracted by that look!) here we see the opposite. I can‘t help but saying that he just looks extremely attractive in those chains! I don‘t know how many time was meant to be passed, but he surely doesn't look like he just got Hulk Smashed! The way we get to see him walking towards -there‘s the minor point..- Odin. In between he asked his mother if he made her proud. Also I like the scenes with Frigga and Loki very much. If you ask me I think, despite that he wasn't her real son, she favored Loki over Thor. Yes, I love this introduction. I have played this DVD like a thousand of times, so I usually just skip the prologue part and my movie starts with this scene. :) 

Favorite quote: 

"If it were easy, everyone would do it." 

And of course, off-screen at the end of the scene: "Ta-daa!"

2020: And somewhere in this post I wrote: "Is it an idea to rerelease this film, with nothing but Loki commentary during the whole film?" I still would sign for this haha! 

Favorite Illusion:

In my opinion, too much Loki scenes got cut in Thor the Dark World. (Perhaps because otherwise they could have better named the movie: Loki the Dark World..) But if I should name one they should not had cut out, I‘m not naming this one. I‘m naming the scene in which you see Loki scream loudly after he just heard about his mother‘s death. In the movie we only get to see him moving his furniture, while this extended scene showed much more of his emotions! It showed that he cared deeply, that also the God of Mischief is a man with real feelings. Of course for us it‘s obvious Loki isn't heartless, even though his actions and words have not always shown that. We read it off his face (right?). But when I‘m talking to someone who doesn't understand his character, they describe him as a selfish, heartless dirty bull. Unfortunately for some, Loki still is a misunderstood character. But luckily, the deleted scenes are out there for us to see. And this is one of my favorite because it‘s full of fun! Loki dressed as a King, raising Mjolnir and getting a lot of glory from the folks. An illusion created by Loki. The scene in Thor: Ragnarok (Hela demanding the folks to kneel before her), reminds me of this scene. Loki really has developed himself in Ragnarok, but sometimes I think it‘s funny to wonder: Is Loki really the adopted one? ;)

Favorite ending: Once you have seen the after credits scenes, you don‘t have to see them again. At least, that‘s what I thought. For me the movie starts with Loki and ends with him + the lovely Thor the Dark World music which comes after. Once I said: "Marvel shall never outdo the strong vibe this ending had.", and several movies further I still agree with myself. The best fatherly advise Thor ever got, didn't even came from his father. As if Loki just knew Thor would have turned around while walking away (imagine if he did..), he transformed (looking just as attractive like in the introduction) back to himself and softly said: 'No, thank you..' Gold!

2020: ^^ Still saying AMEN to this!

4. Who is 'Goddess of Loki' ? 

I had found a website with all kinds of questions to introduce yourself to your readers. Funny to read it back tho, let's see if I still agree with my 'one year ago' self:

"By start the people who know me don‘t call me 'Goddess of Loki', most of them don‘t even know I got social media accounts named after that, let along if they even know who Loki is. No, people call me Nicole because well.. that‘s my name. And at the moment I‘m still 27 years old. I do live in a very small town in a country shaped like a hand glove. Do you know what country I mean? (The Netherlands.)"

2020: ^^ That's not right, I'm 28 now lol.


"1. What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend? Watching tv (shows, films with or without Tom in them), writing, reading, in general relaxing and sometimes I like to go out with friends.

2. What type of music are you into? Rock music mainly! I really like 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s."

2020: Nothing changed there.


"3. What was the best vacation you ever took and why? London 2017, it‘s just an amazing city! 

4. Where’s the next place on your travel bucket list and why? Ah, I thought this question would come.. Scotland! I would really like to go to Scotland! I think it‘s a really beautiful country with stunning nature. And I‘d like to see Lake Lochness!"

2020: Well, I'm going to Glastonbury this year, so perhaps question 3 would change. And question 4 would not be right, even though Scotland stands very high on my bucket list!

"9. What are you most proud of in the last year? How much I have grown in my English writing. You should see something I wrote like two years ago, I‘m still working on some adjustments in my older work."

2020: That answer is still correct! I think it's amazing how much you can learn in one year!

"12. Who do you admire most in the world? Do I seriously need to answer this question?? The answer is the person I dedicates this blog to! But besides him I also really admire my family members and some people who had to deal with a lot of difficulty."

2020: 💓

"21. If you could invite 3 people, dead or alive, to a dinner party, who would they be, and why? Tom Hiddleston, Kurt Cobain & Chris Hemsworth. This would be the weirdest party ever.."

2020: Why hadn't I invited Robert Downey Jr? He's definitely invited, so I've got to un-invite someone. Obviously that'll be Kurt Cobain or Chris Hemsworth..

"24. What fictional place / movie universe would you most like to go? Asgard! Dreaming away with Loki below the beautiful Asgard sky.."

2020: Who wouldn't?


(Then came a Valentine post, a post about the Raffle for meeting Tom Hiddleston, first news about the Loki Series and news about Betrayal)


5. Stuttgart Loki Funko Pop Custom

In February 2019 I also received my Stuttgart Loki custom I had requested. I still love him, he's so adorable! More pictures in the blogpost of February 23rd.

6. Throwback to Tom‘s Spirit Week: Good Will Thursday

My last post from February 2019 was dedicated to a charity for animals, my subject for Thursday's theme of 2019's Tom's Spirit Week:

Small part:

#TomsSpiritWeek: For today‘s theme #GoodWillThursday I chose to support charities. Since I already have donated for both of the Tom Hiddleston birthday Fundraisers for Unicef, I chose Animals Syria - CatConnect. I chose to donate the exact amount I had paid for an event which got canceled (and so was refunded to me). 

#CatConnect is on my list for charities I wanted to support since I saw the episode of husky Zeus on Dogs (Netflix documentary). As I got a big heart for animals and I want them to live a happy and safe life, the episode touched me very much. The episode is about a Syrian refugee. His dog Zeus remained in Syria for several years before enlisting the help of Animals Syria to make the reunion possible.

2020: ^^ I don't know if it's still on Netflix, but 'Dogs' is really worth the watch!


💚💙💜💛


Compared to last year and seen how busy I am lately, I know I won't make it to 16 posts for February this year! But since I watched War Horse last night and because I like to write film blogs/reviews, I think my next blog will be about War Horse!

I want to thank everyone who has followed me & has been reading my blogs this year. Up to another year of fun, lots of Hiddleslove & lots of Loki's mischief!

See you soon!

💓

Love,

xx

Nicole

💓

Hiddles 39th Birthday!

Hiddles 39th Birthday!

9 February: Tom Hiddleston's Birthday

Dearest Tom,

Years really do fly. I remember your 38th birthday like it was yesterday. I had totally stepped out of my comfortzone with making a silly video of me singing Happy Birthday to you. And I haven't stepped in that comfortzone again ever since. I've made some crazy but good decisions, overwon some of my fears and did the things I desired for. Thank you Tom!💓.

Today it's your day. Have a lovely, fantastic birthday! Enjoy your 39th birthday! Congratulations! And.. Mischief is allowed! Haha. 

I wish all Hiddlestoners a lovely, great day on Hiddles Birthday!

In Dutch we say something similar like: "If it's your birthday, you hand out treats!" In case of Tom, I think that's exactly what he has been doing for the past few weeks! Because we've been granted with a few exclusive first looks of his dyed black hair for the Loki Series, the Super Bowl video, Thor Ragnarok deleted scenes and there were some pictures of Tom I've never seen. And all this in my busy months! Yeah, it has been quite hectic this year and it actually has just started! I've started a new job, got a lot to do here and there, had a school reunion and I even had a blind-date (but let's forget about that because that absolutely was a no match..) While there's a heavy storm outside, there's a lot of Tom to share on his birthday, so shall we do that? 😁

First look of Tom Hiddleston as Loki, doing preparation for the Loki Series:

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

Prep is going really well. #Loki

Een bericht gedeeld door Tom Hiddleston (@twhiddleston) op 27 Jan 2020 om 11:35 (PST)

There were already rumors that Tom had dyed his hair black and there he posted the proof! We've got to do it without Loki's long locks, but I think this look fits Loki very well too. At least it's not as short as Thor's look from Thor Ragnarok! Also this means bye bye beard as Tom is now seen clean shaved. It resulted in fans creating 'RIP Hiddlesbeard' memes and videos. Don't be sad! No beard means more Loki so what more could we want? However, Loki with a beard, how would that be?

Loki in the first Marvel Studios trailer for the Disney Plus Series, showed at the Super Bowl:

Loki, smiling, showing his naked arms saying: "I'm gonna burn this place to the ground!"

Uhm.. Wow!

Make-up Artist Douglas Noe shared a photo from Tom from the summer of 2017:

Dit bericht bekijken op Instagram

#fbf Summer 2017 ‘Thor Ragnarok’ pickups Here’s Tom taking out the trash... aka me. All kidding aside, Happy Birthday (this Sunday the 9th) to one of my favorite people. It’s been said so often, he’s truly remarkable in every way!!! 39 years young! #tomhiddleston #loki #happybirthday #ragnarok #alwaysgreat

Een bericht gedeeld door Douglas Noe (@douglasnoemakeup) op 7 Feb 2020 om 8:27 (PST)

Ohh and let's not forget about this one: 😮

Deleted Scene of Thor Ragnarok:

Loki, Thor finding a homeless Odin and then there's the introduction of Hela. This scene is epic! 

Enjoy this lovely day! What are you going to do today? I'm going to watch a Tom Hiddleston movie. I think it's going to be War Horse, it's been a long time when I last saw it! Have fun!! And next year: Big 40th party?? 😁

PS: I remember that I made this blog one day after Tom's 38th birthday, so tomorrow it's the first anniversary of GoddessofLoki.blogspot!

Credit frame: Neopets

Love,

xx

Nicole