Vera's Top Ten

It's not like I'm celebrating any milestone. Yes, I've been blogging for almost seven years. I've posted almost seventeen hundred articles. I've had almost five million page views. But nothing special has happened lately, and there's no good reason why I'm doing this just now.  I just happened to be looking at my site statistics, something I used to do obsessively, but seldom do now, and I thought it might be fun  to show you the subjects of my most viewed posts. I've done this before, in 2013, but there have been some changes afoot recently, and I decided to share. Here then, in descending order,  and based strictly on page views, are the most popular guys who have appeared on this blog.  Enjoy!

#10- From August 18, 2010-  Mr. Tom Daley.

#9- From March 11, 2010- These Two Guys

#8- From July 1, 2008, this Sweaty Guy.

#7- From August 18, 2008- Lovely Austin Butler (and some girl).

#6- From October 30, 2013- Sean O'Donnell and his blue, blue eyes.

#5- From December 8. 2011- Toby Regbo,  and with all his clothes on!

#4- From July 7, 2008-  This fellow, who turns out to be Aaron Brückner.

#3- From February 3, 2008- Former party boy, Aaron Johnson, and friends.

#2- From May 20, 2010- Former Boy Toy to a certain annoying heiress, River Viiperi.

AND FINALLY...

#1- From May 20, 2014- Taking only eight months to surpass all others, our newly crowned king...

Lucky Blue Smith!

Toby Regbo WIns The Week

Reign may not be the big hit of the new television season, in fact it doesn't even meet The CW's exceptionally low standards, but it must be doing something for Toby Regbo's profile, because for the past week the most viewed post on this blog, by quite a margin,  has been about him.  Not one of my more more recent posts about him, no, for that would be too logical. It is a post I wrote about him in December 2011.  

Incidentally, my first post about Mr. Regbo occurred in August 2010. At that time I had yet to see him perform, and so I was simply enamored of his pretty face.

Equally incidentally, the film that really put Toby on the map, Mr. Nobody, has finally been made available in America, even receiving a small theatrical release.  It has been available to the rest of the world, and to Americans who know where to look, since 2009.  Apart from Toby's very amply displayed charms, it is a very interesting film, and well worth a look.

When Bad Shows Happen To Good People

"Just wait 'til I get my hands on my agent."

I gave it a try, but there is no getting around the fact that Reign,  The CW's new show about Mary, Queen of Scots and friends, is an epic fail, in spite of the welcome presence of Mr. Toby Rego as Francis II of France.  In truth, Francis was a sickly child, who died,  sixteen years of age, less than two years into his reign. Don't tell the folks at The CW, though, as they prefer him as a energetic and strapping young lad who will live until the show is canceled in six weeks.

I give the show a bit of a pass for it's historical accuracy, but they really aren't even trying here. The costumes, makeup, and hairstyles are laughably modern. The show takes place in France, but everyone speaks with an English accent.  The music is  modern, which doesn't bother me in the least, but seems to drive a lot of people to distraction. And all of this would hardly matter if the story would be told in a compelling manor. Instead we get Pretty Little Monarchs. It doesn't help at all that Adelaide Kane, upon whose shoulders the show must rest, is such a wet dishrag of an actress. 

Toby is still pretty. He tries his hardest to bring boring and risible dialogue to life. And he's pretty.  He's really pretty. 

A Hard Reign Will Fall

I have no illusions that Reign, which premieres tonight on The CW will be actually good, after all, it is on The CW, but Toby Regbo is not someone who I can easily pass up. Already there are critics everywhere with their knives out because it is historically inaccurate, wildly so, and the use of modern music, a la Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, seems to be too much for some people to wrap their brains around. But I'll give it a try.  I have to get me my Toby while I can.

Coming Soon To A Television Near You

The fall TV series I am most looking forward to is Reign, a "historical" drama (that completely ignores history) about the affairs of a young Mary, Queen of Scots,  airing on The CW in October.   There are many reasons that I will be watching this, and they are... Toby Regbo, and... well really just Toby Regbo, if I'm being honest.  Even with funny, sad facial hair, he still has something about him that makes my toes curl. 

And here, just in case you didn't know, is the best drama ever done about said Mary, The Death of Mary Queen of Scots, a BBC radio play.  Enjoy.