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I'm not a huge Tolkien head.
(T)his guy turns up and basically says: "Hello, I am a massively powerful timeless force of nature who could probably destroy both Sauron and the Ring without really trying too hard, or at least keep the ring safe in my own domain where no evil one could get it, but I'm not going to because I don't really care and I don't feel like it, byeee! Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!"
Then he goes away and dances in the woods for the rest of the trilogy, more or less.
AhabsOtherLeg wrote:Viewers get invested in the Fellowship's quest, and are rooting for them against heavy odds, and then this guy turns up and basically says: "Hello, I am a massively powerful timeless force of nature who could probably destroy both Sauron and the Ring without really trying too hard, or at least keep the ring safe in my own domain where no evil one could get it, but I'm not going to because I don't really care and I don't feel like it, byeee! Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! Ring a dong! hop along! fal lal the willow! Tom Bom, jolly Tom, Tom Bombadillo!"
Then he goes away and dances in the woods for the rest of the trilogy, more or less.
I can see how this might not really work on screen.
The New Shadow was an incomplete sequel (approximately 13 pages) to The Lord of the Rings that Tolkien quickly abandoned. It is set in the time of Eldarion, Elessar's son, approximately 105 years after the Fall of the Dark Tower. In it is mentioned the Dark Tree, and two characters: Saelon and Borlas.
Tolkien commented this on it:
"I did begin a story placed about 100 years after the Downfall, but it proved both sinister and depressing. Since we are dealing with Men it is inevitable that we should be concerned with the most regrettable feature of their nature: their quick satiety with good. So that the people of Gondor in times of peace, justice and prosperity, would become discontented and restless — while the dynasts descended from Aragorn would become just kings and governors — like Denethor or worse. I found that even so early there was an outcrop of revolutionary plots, about a centre of secret Satanistic religion; while Gondorian boys were playing at being Orcs and going around doing damage. I could have written a 'thriller' about the plot and its discovery and overthrow — but it would have been just that. Not worth doing." ― The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 256)
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/The_New_Shadow
Hammer of Los wrote:...I'm not a huge Tolkien head.
And don't think I didn't notice you dissing Nicol's Merlin.
You better watch your hobblin' step, Mr Ahab.
Hammer of Los wrote:The dragon's breath is all around you.
Hammer of Los wrote:Old Tom simply knows that to everything there is a season.
And a time to every purpose under Heaven.
A time to build up.
A time to break down.
A time to dance.
A time to mourn.
semper occultus wrote:Sean Connery for Gandalf - the latter choice more than sufficient I am sure to have converted Ahab into a pointy-eared & fur-footed tolkien-head
Jeff wrote:Stretching this to three films seems a touch cash-grabby, and also a little late in the game, artistically, to be making such a huge decision.
There will be the following boxes in the next years:
Dwarves: Kili & Fili & Longbeard Archers
Dwarves: Bombur with Kettle
Dwarves: Drogo Baggins & The Tavern Maid [Drogo is Frodo's father]
Dwarves: Dáin & Iron Hill Berserkers
Dwarves: King Thráin & Longbeard Vanguard
Dwarves: Young Thorin & Longbeard Mattockguard
Dwarves: King Thrór
Dwarves: Dragon Mithril Company of Dwarves
Dwarves: Dáin Ironfoot & Iron Hill Boar Riders
Dwarves: Dís, Mother of Kili and Fili
Dwarves: Gimli (Stubble)
Dwarves: Samwise Gamgee (Red Book)
Wargs: Dire Warg
Wargs: Grinnah & Mirkwood Werewolves
Wargs: Feral Wolf Pack
Wargs: The Werebeast
Wargs: Lagdush & Orc Wolfcloak Warriors
Wargs: Narzug & Orc Warg-Riders
Wargs: Dol Guldur Orc Overlords
Wargs: Orc Chieftain on Warg
Wargs: Orc Wolfbone Shaman
Dol Guldur: Leaping Spiders / Shiverfang Spiders
Dol Guldur: Spiderlings
Dol Guldur: The Willowhags
Dol Guldur: Bloodwraiths
Dol Guldur: Gwethil
Dol Guldur: The Necromancer / Flesh Avatar [Sauron enfleshed]
Dol Guldur: Narzug & Orc Summoner Coven
Dol Guldur: Tomb Wights [Making up for the absence of the barrow wights in FOTR?]
Dol Guldur: Mounted Tomb Wights
Dol Guldur: Saruman & The Ringwraiths
Dol Guldur: Vampire Bat Swarms
White Council: Mounted Rivendell Nobles
White Council: Lindir the Harper
White Council: Arwen & Estel
White Council: Galadriel (Barrel)
White Council: Radagast with Roäc & Swoop
White Council: Galadriel (Water Steed)
White Council: The War Council
White Council: Galadriel & Lórien Drumhooves
White Council: Chief Aravir & Dúnedain Rangers
White Council: Dúnedain Runecaster [I like the inclusion of the Rangers, though I don't remember them in the text.]
White Council: Elrond & Rivendell Spearguard
White Council: Elros & Rivendell Outriders
White Council: Radagast's Chariot / Spellfire Cart
White Council: Cirdan the Shipwright
Mountain Orcs: Azog & Orc Needlers
Mountain Orcs: Azog (Wounded)
Mountain Orcs: Bolg & Great Goblin Bodyguard
Mountain Orcs: Armoured Hill-Trolls / Frenzied Trolls
Mountain Orcs: Orc Stone Thrower
Men of Esgaroth: King Girion
Men of Esgaroth: Fram the Watchman
Men of Esgaroth: The Master of Lake-Town
Men of Esgaroth: Bard & Greystreak Bowmen
Men of Esgaroth: Bain & Quickstrings Gang / Trout Guild Militia
Men of Esgaroth: Alfrid & Loyal Town Guard
Men of Esgaroth: Garf & Footsoldiers of the Dale
Grey Mountain Dragons: Fire-wyrms
Grey Mountain Dragons: Braga & Goldscale Worshippers
Grey Mountain Dragons: Venomblade Assassin
Grey Mountain Dragons: Goldscale Priest
Grey Mountain Dragons: Bofur on Cold-Drake
Grey Mountain Dragons: Dragon Thrall
Grey Mountain Dragons: Money Bags & Hired Knives
Grey Mountain Dragons: Fell Hatchlings
Beornings: Woodmen Healer
Beornings: Fair Daughter
Beornings: Meneldor & Swiftbeak Flock
Beornings: Gorm & Woodmen Axethrowers / Skin-Changers
Beornings: Whisperbark / Gnarlfir
Beornings: Black Bear Pack
Beornings: Enraged Beorn
Beornings: Grimbeorn (Greataxe)
Silvan Elves: Legolas & Mirkwood Fire Archers
Silvan Elves: Mirkwood Warhost
Silvan Elves: King Thranduil (Battle Garb)
Silvan Elves: Tauriel (Mounted)
Silvan Elves: Castellan Amroth
Adventure: Gandalf's Quest
Adventure: The Battle at the East Gate
Adventure: The Fall of Dale
Adventure: The Belltower
Adventure: A Thief in the Night
Adventure: The Clearing of Foul Roots
Adventure: Assault on the Barrows
Adventure: Clash of the Beasts
Adventure: The Last Stand
Adventure: The Raven Hill
Adventure: Thorin's Folly
Adventure: The Battle of Five Armies
Adventure: Breaking the Siege
Adventure: Revenge of the Goblin King
Adventure: Blacksoil Slope
Adventure: The Final Onslaught
Adventure: The Clouds Burst
Adventure: The Ritual
Adventure: The Haunted Tombs
Adventure: The Blight Breach
Adventure: Gollum's Escape
Frodo with Red Book
Smaug the Golden
Gandalf (Dual Sword)
Turin, The Dragonslayer [I could see this making great sense as a flashback to establish the legacy of dragons.]
'Hobbit' high frame rate getting bad buzz online
By Ben Fritz
December 10, 2012, 12:13 p.m.
Social media buzz leading up to this Friday's release of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is great. But for a new technology showing the movie at 48 frames per second... not so much.
According to data collected by research firm Fizziology, an overwhelming 60% of the conversation on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook about the 48 frames per second version of "The Hobbit" -- which will be shown at only about 450 theaters out of 4,000-plus in the U.S. and Canada -- is negative. Only 10% is positive, while 30% is neutral.
"The Hobbit" is the first major studio movie to play at 48 frames per second. For more than 80 years, the industry standard has been 24 frames per second.
48 frames per second is by far the most common complaint about "The Hobbit" on social media, making up 45% of negative conversations. The film's hefty two-hour, 49-minute running time is No. 2 at 13%.
Reviews of the "high frame rate" version of "The Hobbit" have been decidedly mixed, with some critics praising the sharper quality and others saying it looks like a high-definition television show and makes some props and sets look fake.
Some of the social media complaints have also centered on unverified reports that the high frame rate version made some viewers at the New Zealand premiere nauseated. Warner Bros. has denied the claim, and no one has stepped forward publicly with that complaint.
If buzz surrounding 48 frames per second remains negative, few people may choose to see the movie that way. Nonetheless, all signs are that people are eager to see "The Hobbit" one way or another (most theaters will show it at the standard 24 frames per second, either in 2-D or 3-D).
Almost 40% of all sentiment surrounding "The Hobbit" online is positive, according to Fizziology, compared with just 7% that's negative. That data back up very strong numbers in the "tracking" pre-release surveys distributed throughout Hollywood.
As a result, "The Hobbit" is expected to open to more than $100 million this weekend.
So how much taxpayer money, would you guess, did Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. need to produce the films based on the J.R.R. Tolkien book? The answer is zero. The studios are investment companies, and the films are almost certain to be immensely profitable.
But now you aren’t thinking like a studio. The real question is: How much taxpayer money can Warner Bros. demand from the government of New Zealand to keep production there (rather than, say, in Australia or the Czech Republic)? That answer turns out to be about $120 million, plus the revision of New Zealand’s labor laws to forbid collective bargaining among film-production contractors, plus the passage of three-strikes Internet-disconnection laws for online copyright infringement, plus enthusiastic and, it turns out, illegal cooperation in the shutdown of the pirate-friendly digital storage site Megaupload and the arrest of its owner, Kim Dotcom.
For keeping Warner Bros. happy, Prime Minister John Key, a former Merrill Lynch currency trader, got a replica magic Hobbit sword from U.S. President Barack Obama and a chance to hang New Zealand’s fortunes on becoming the tourist destination for Middle Earth enthusiasts. What could go wrong?
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