Cool News
Behold This Photo Of Martin Freeman As Bilbo In THE HOBBIT!! And, More!!
Merrick here...
And with this, I now have a sizeable and insatiable Geek-ection that'll be awkwardly and uncomfortably bulging all day.
This comes to us via a preview of this week's Entertainment Weekly, which goes on-sale tomorrow. CLICK THE PIC to jump to ew.com for a slightly larger version of this same shot, as well as two other images from THE HOBBIT's production.
It's funny...we've been hearing so, so much about this movie but I now realize it never felt altogether real to me until I saw this photograph.
--- follow Merrick on Twtter ! ---
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Bilbo, bilbo baggins...only three feet tall!
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first
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This makes me giddy
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Sorry Sigrid
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It's a little motherfucker about this high.
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best comment i could come up with...sorry. see...he's holding a scroll like thing ignoring the rest of the group...i suck at the internet.
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Is that important around here? I just like Bilbo and Leonard Nimoy's disturbingly catchy "song".
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theonering.net's been inaccessible for the past 48 hrs?
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Bilboooo, Bilbo Baggins. The bravest little hobbit of them allllllllll
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Fact.
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Jun 23, 2011 8:46:30 AM CDT
Even with his excellent job on Sherlock Holmes (can't wait for season 2, BBC, please)
by openthepodbaydoorshal
and this but I can't help but think of him as the "UK Jim" from The Office. Even in his Shaun Of The Dead cameo, I thought, hey it's that guy from The Office.
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Nobody else remember the lack of respect which Jackson showed the original novels? The shitiness of King Kong? The way he had to be dragged back into directing this? Yeah, all good signs.
Fuck this movie and fuck Jackson. -
Jun 23, 2011 8:57:20 AM CDT
BTW... Merrick's 'Geek-ection', nothing more then an ugly hemeroid
by largojr
These things tend to happen when he gets all excited and his blood-pressure jumps :(
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Torn on this project, plenty of the LOTR trilogy was cool, but plenty was shit too. Jackson and co tampering with the story was the biggest failure so the news that Jackson has added new characters of his own invention and altered the storyline again does not bode well. Still, i'm sure it will be fun and better than 90% of most of the schlock out there, and if nothing else a good excuse to hear a new Tolkien score from Howard Shore.
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tommywiseau, no fuck you.
And if you really *are* tommy wiseau then double fuck you. -
This photo is great.. i'd have liked to see the first image of Freeman's Bilbo at least in a red waistcoat to tie him in with Ian Holm's Bilbo.
But he looks the part. Perhaps the pic is a little air brushed but that's probably EW. -
They're an amazing example of world building, but as narratives they're some of the worst books to ever be converted to film.
The characters are flat, 2D cutouts, there's NO fucking palpable drama or a scrap of tension and they drag on for fucking ever.
Jackson and co. injected the stories with a much needed urgency, tension and dimensionality while staying true to the essential plot details.
Jackson haters can piss off. -
Gimme a fucking break. They're great fucking films and ROTK won an Oscar for Best Picture. Go fuck yourselves.
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Jun 23, 2011 9:21:22 AM CDT
Was anyone else clicking through the photos only to suddenly see Ken Jeong?
by kevin_costners_recycled_piss
I seriously thought he was in the movie for half a second.
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Chicago and The King's Speech won the Best Film Oscar too. Your point is? Return of the King was nowhere near as good as Master and Commander, which should have won that year. I like Jackson's films and appreciate the accomplishment but they're not masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination.
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Jun 23, 2011 9:34:36 AM CDT
already see inconsistencies between this Bag End and the one used in Lord of the Rings
by natalieportmansyummyafterbirth
What is this? A Reboot? Shame on you Peter Jackson... get with it, or GET OUT!
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What an awesome way to start a Thursday morning. Thanks AICN.
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This takes place many years before the LOTR, there's no reason why Bag End couldn't be somewhat different.
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If anything, its just tidy. Get with it, or go drink some of that yummy after birth since your days revolve around said "birth"
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Even though he's (at least) 10 years older since the LOTR triology, he doesn't look like he's aging backwards as Gandalf in the Hobbit...So, at least that won't be a glaring issue.
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Jun 23, 2011 10:20:25 AM CDT
Just please please don't fill this with winking references to the other films
by spacehog
Like Gandalf walks into Bag End and hits his head again (or for the first time, whatever) or one of the dwarves makes another awful "dwarf tossing" joke or something. Or Gandalf's talking to Saruman and he's like "Saruman you are truly the greatest and most heroic of the wizards" and Saruman's like "ha ha, oh you" and then Gandalf turns his back and Saruman glares menacingly for like twenty seconds while ominous music plays.
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my wife was going to read LOTR but I talked her out of it. I said just read the Hobbit and be done with it.
I don't regret reading them and they are great for what they are. But Jesus Christ people act like they are PERFECT. -
so sad.
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This pic is a fucking sausage fest.
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Who shines on Olivia Newton John?
That is Assy. -
Did someone hack in again?
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Jun 23, 2011 10:40:18 AM CDT
I share the joy, but does everything on this site have to be a penile reference?
by kevred
First off, thanks to Merrick for posting this, it makes my day and I share his glee at this "now it's starting to get real" moment.
But as for the 'geek-ection', the "I've got an erection" meme was always embarrassing, and now has surely run its course.
How about we all just say we're excited about it and eager to see it? That we feel joy and anticipation? That something inspires our imaginations and we collectively enjoy it, without self-consciously hiding behind sex metaphors?
(Note that if some of you actually do get erections at things like this, I don't want to interfere with your rights to express yourselves, so express away.) -
...completely right in what you say. LOTR novels are incredible, amazing achievements, but read like shit.
Compare Jackson's Balin's Tomb sequence in FOTR to the same in the novel - it reads like fucking football scores.
Some of the writing is so leaden and dull, It's testament to the actors involved that what made it from book to screen was delivered so convincingly. -
I am amazed that they are spending just 12 days less time than it took to film ALL THREE of the LOTR films. It sounds like they are focusing on the quality of this film.
:-) -
I don't think he's anywhere near his maximum weight, but I think he's clearly showing he's putting weight back on. I hope he nips that in the bud, because I don't want any complications in this movie due to health problems!
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They used to say that in the 90s.
Silly 90s people and their flannel. -
to be honest I thought is emaciated appearance after the films was MORE disturbing. He looks like he is at his fighting weight right now.
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I have a huge Balrog in my Khazad-Dungarees.
A Boromir-ection, if you will.
My Eye of Sauron is peeking from the top of its tower.
See? You just have to keep those memes fresh. -
I wish he was wearing the red waistcoat too, to look a bit more like Ian Holm.
This pic makes him look more like Merry. -
checking the guest list for the gay bath house that is just inside the door.
Where is all the pussy? -
I am very much looking forward to these movies.
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You obviously are one of the many undemanding idiots who allow this cretin to go on destroying good literature. Then again, you seem to think "The Karate Kid" is so magnificent that you created an entire online persona around it which you'd maintained for YEARS now. Well done, you.
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Jun 23, 2011 11:05:45 AM CDT
Interesting that Watson is Bilbo and Holmes is Smaug
by franks_television
I can’t remember how the Sherlock guy’s voice sounds. Hopefully it will work for Smaug. He’s also voicing the Necromancer (Sauron).
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Thorin.
Come to momma -
I never said they were masterpieces. They're great films that don't deserved to get bashed. Does know one remember that they were released around the same time as the shit prequels from Lucas? We should all be thankful.
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Will this site ever get an edit button?
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I doubt anyone here is going to take you seriously.
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Surely you've read at least ONE piece that Harry has written....right?
Editing (hell, even PROOF-READING) is a totally alien concept. Along with grammar, punctuation, and most of the King's English.
BONER!!!*
*had to toss that in there to keep my meme-count up.
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Who gives a sh*t about the red waistcoat, pic is cool, can't wait...
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Jun 23, 2011 11:16:29 AM CDT
Tommy Wisseau. Isn't that the awful filmmaker geeks made famous as a 'joke'?
by subtleties_off
Now you're bitching at him?
Rich. -
Just as I thought. Couldn't they have at least put some make up on his face so he looks more like him?
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Yeah you don't get it.
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I'm beginning to believe that credible movie fans do not post to this site. #1 Most of the principle actors have other obligations during the Hobbit's filming period. That is one reason it is going to take this long. As I write Ian McKellen is in England rehearsing two plays that will show later this summer. Martin Freeman, I believe is also in England taping the second season of Sherlock. #2 If you know anything about the cast, you will recognize Richard Armitage (Thorin) as the dwarf in the background of the Bilbo picture. #3 TORN is back on line after suffering a massive electrical blackout in the Chicago area (see their explanation). #4 And I for one, do not enjoy the juvenile antics, references, and penile humor usually exhibited on this site. If you want decent info on The Hobbit movie, read TORN, the facebook pages, Warner's Hobbit Blog, Ian McKellen's Notes from Imladris, and the Frodo Franchise.
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The world Tolkien created is just incredible, but the actual execution of the storylines was really dull.
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Hopefully the lengthy shooting schedule results in the best quality film PJ can make.
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Holy shit. This is a great photo!!!! Winter has come to HBO and kicked ass. Now The Hobbit is being made for the big screen!!! And we have LOTR trilogy extended edition out on blu-ray!! I'm in heaven!!!! Geeks of the world rejoice! We have won!
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So obviously this line isn't going to work. Is PJ going to make changes to the story to force it?
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Some of you people really are idiots.
LotR: IT'S THE STORY!!
That is what has created millions of fans around the world since LotR was published. It has nothing to do with how good/bad a writer Tolkien (NOT a professional author, mind you) was. He wrote The Hobbit for his kids and was persuaded to publish it by others. Brave? BRAVE? Joking, right?
And, please, where do you dim-bulbs get off calling Jackson's Hobbit bad before any of you have even seen a script? What "invented storyline" are you talking about? There has been ONE newly created character yet already the doom prognosticators have declared the movie a POS.
Like mara69 said, "IDIOTS!!!"
I must say, Martin Freeman looks spot-on (the Dwarves look great as well) and gives me a better warm and fuzzy over his casting choice. -
The Holmes guy sounds a lot like Alan Rickman.
That pic is adorable, can't wait to see this. -
Who the fuck cares? You think I'm going to lose sleep over it?
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Oh great. You're back. Just what we were all waiting for after your insightful comments in the BRAVE TB.
You're an old man and your opinion isn't of any interest to me. Get your shoes, grandpa. It's time to leave the dancefloor. -
with bumbling prose and boring passages.
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Considering how angry and annoyed you are, I'd say you care quite a bit.
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Jun 23, 2011 11:53:06 AM CDT
Remembering The Fellowship Of The Ring by Peter Hackson
by iamtommywiseau
For anyone to see why this will be yet another disaster, you only have to look back to the previous movies. Let's take the first movie. The endless action cliches and cheap devices left me groaning at such a ham-handed treatment of Tolkien. From the sacrifice of Sam, Merry, and Pippin's characters for the sake of comedy, to the crumbling staircase in Moria, to the silly wizard battle between Gandalf and Saruman (complete with the dive off the tower, only to be caught by the eagle ploy). All of this was invented by Peter Jackson, as if the book does not provide enough exciting events to draw upon. It is a long book, and clearly cuts had to be made for a manageable movie. But to expend precious minutes on protracted combats and repetitious detail of Isengard, while leaving out important story and character development is truly sad. In fact, Jackson goes so far as to drag material belonging to The Two Towers (the shortest of the three books) into this movie (which is the longest of the three books).
Many of these changes do nothing for the story, sometimes even weaken it. In the books Saruman is in it for himself, believing himself to be the one person who could stand up to Sauron, if only he had the ring. His view of things has been warped by Sauron's subtle control of what he sees through the Palantir. This is much more interesting than Saruman as the avowed lackey of Sauron. The former case makes sense of the treatment Saruman gets at the end of The Two Towers, while the later does not! -
That might be the most ignorant post in the history of AICN.
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Because I just keep looking at him instead of Freeman. I'm still not used to the Freeman idea. He's probably the first person in these LOTR movies who I didn't like before he was cast so I don't know if I'll be able to get over it. I'll do my best. The movie does come out on my birfday so it has the potential to be a great last present before the world ends the next week. :D Anyhoo, The photos look good.
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I love the original and no one seems to have surpassed it yet, Jacksons version is beuatiful, funny, exciting and obviously laden with respect for Hollywood yet the action sequences are mental.
When I woke up I was thinking about how my brain just can't buy the scope, the running from the dinosaurs is too hard to swallow, the humans would have been overtaken and unable to avoid all this feet yet people are dodging and running apace, unreal hence unbuyable.
I wont bang on as I do love the PJ KK version too it's just he went too big.
Bilbos ears look dumb, like too big, thought the same about the Hobbit feet in LOTR, too hairy and too outsized, whatever though. -
I don't care one ounce what other people think of me. I care about the SOURCE MATERIAL that is in danger (once again) of being fucked up by a guy who should NEVER have been given this job.
If you found out that a school teacher was a paedophile who had molested a child, you wouldn't stick him back in a classroom and say "Here. Have another go." That's EXACTLY what's happening here. -
Jun 23, 2011 11:56:38 AM CDT
comicbooknews has all the pictures + a look at Ian Mckellen as Gandalf! Will the Hobbit steal avatars crown?
by arkhaminmate001
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Jun 23, 2011 11:58:15 AM CDT
It felt real to me when I watched the first video from the set
by atari
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You know absolutely nothing. Go fuck yourself.
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GREAT reading. Are they perfect? No. But to say they are poorly executed or boring reveals more about the attention span of the reader.
They were genre establishing books and were actually quite good. That can't be said for most. There is a reason no one reads Poe's "The Murders of the Rue Morgue" even though it's the first detective story... it's pretty crappy.
Tolkien's books, on the otherhand, are still enjoyed by new readers today. -
2012 is too long :-(((((((((((((((
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Jun 23, 2011 12:04:35 PM CDT
There you have it folks, Tommy Wiseau compared PJ's LOTR to child molestation
by d.vader
Is that akin to calling someone a Nazi or saying something raped your childhood?
Tommy, either you are incredibly hard to please, or you have no understanding of how to adapt a book for the movie screen. Or maybe it's a combination of both. -
Jun 23, 2011 12:05:40 PM CDT
Freeman is back in the UK now shooting season 2 of Sherlock.
by snootyboots
Not sure how long he'll be away from The Hobbit shoot, but I reckon his Stand In is getting plenty of work.
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Just as Tolkien wasn't actually a novelist. But while Fellowship might have a few action cliches/rough spots, the film itself and the film trilogy as a whole is still *extremely* effective storytelling with relatable characters and compelling drama. The stakes are high, the tension is ever-present and the characters have an actual DEPTH that is completely missing from the novels.
Tolkien just created the LOTR trilogy to show off the language he made up. Which is fine. But the suggestion that somehow *sticking* to the books would have made for better cinema is fucking ludicrous. -
Jun 23, 2011 12:08:41 PM CDT
Fact. Tolkien never describes the hobbits as having pointed ears.
by snootyboots
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Jun 23, 2011 12:09:11 PM CDT
Add a tail to him and it's "The Littles: The Movie."
by cletus van damme
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At least, that's how it looks to me. As much as I'm looking forward to these movies, I'm concerned about how they're mixing so much of the other story into it. The Hobbit should be about The Hobbit, not another whole movie's worth of "Gandalf's adventures while he's away." Maybe someday we'll get an Un-Director's Cut that just follows the book.
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What geek movies make the grade in the Tommy Wasseau household?
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Jun 23, 2011 12:12:58 PM CDT
The Hobbit is still just a kid's book
by surfaces_are_supposed_to_be_flat
It is great stuff, yet hardly of the same caliber as LOTR.
So a tweak here or there, a new character or cheesy moment here or there is NOT going to be the same kind of disrespectful thing if it happens here, that it was when it happened in the LOTR movies. IMHO.
From my readings of the book, quite a few years back, The Hobbit is packed fully of silly, campy, cheesy and childish (while never not being delightful. Don't get me wrong please) things, with its share also of equally dramatic, frightening, charming, brilliant and exciting things.
I am confident these movies will be wonderful.
Just not so sure of Benedict Cumbersnatch (is that his name?) doing those epic voices. -
You are entitled to your opinions about Jackson's films. But you are in a very very very tiny minority. Using hyperbole won't make people think you are right. It will just make you seem even more idiotic.
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God bless you, Peter Jackson!!
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Jun 23, 2011 12:16:36 PM CDT
the movies gave us the gift of an awesome soundtrack; can we all agree on that?
by simpsonian
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Looks great! We are getting that much closer to the return. Hard to believe after all this time.
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Source material? You do know that when they adapt a book to a film, they don't burn every copy of said book? If Jackson fucks it up just read the book.
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Fine with me. Skinny Peter Jackson just didn't look right to me. Like Skinny Jonah Hill and Skinny Seth Rogen and especially Skinny Al Roker.
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Jun 23, 2011 12:20:37 PM CDT
Say what you will about PJ sticking closer to the books...
by rollnstns
Would have been a snoozefest. The books are legendary, but not a great example of how to write a novel. Fellowship would have been 6 hours long with them walking for 3.
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...casting looks excellent, Freeman looks perfect, McKellen is back in the grey and playing Gandalf..
fuck the haters! This will make a fat pile of cash and be that rarest of things- excellent to boot!! -
Molestation? Really? Wow. Sounds like you should be in some sort of recovery program for jackasses.
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For that matter, has there ever been a black person in a lead role, in any Peter Jackson movie, ever?
Think about it. -
The problem is that readers today have the attention span of a fly. In addition they can't tolerate real description. They blaze through books just to get to the resolution of the plot, never allowing themselves to linger and enjoy how it unfolds.
The Hobbit was written for ten year olds and in Tolkien's day ten year olds read it and enjoyed it. Now, teenagers find it difficult. -
Not often you see a three-way ....
iamtommywiseau VS alienindisguise VS rational people
* grabs popcorn *
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Skinny Al Roker should be the model for the villain in the MONSTERS INC. sequel.
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Jun 23, 2011 12:40:11 PM CDT
It makes sense that Bag End looks a bit different and a bit sparse compared to the LOTR films.
by ingeld
The setting of that film occurred decades later after all. After Bilbo returned with wealth. In the intervening years, he no doubt changed the place around and made it more affluent looking.
Kudos to Jackson. This picture is very promising. -
are right. I'm sorry I've made multiple pee-pee jokes in this very thread.
But this pic gives me a warm tingle in my mangina. -
Bilbo better watch out.
I agree with you, Simpsonian.
The score for the trilogy was fucking EPIC!!
Is Howard Shore scoring this too?
Word to the wise: There are older and fouler things in the dark places of the world. DONT FEED THE TROLLS!!! -
when bilbo and the dwarves are marching in the battle of 5 armies, bilbo said, "i'd rather be back in hobbiton." it's been awhile since i've read the book, but did the cartoon change the name from the shire or is the shire just the overall land and hobbiton is a smaller section?
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Anyone Nerds bitched about that yet?
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doubt it will be very satisfying as an adaptation of The Hobbit.
Return Of The King was an overwrought let-down and Freeman's shtick is awful. -
Jun 23, 2011 12:56:56 PM CDT
chicken, I'll tell you who does look fine having lost weight recently
by the_choppah
Jordin Sparks. The Choppah'd plug Sparks! Maybe she can be Monster's Inc.'s equivalent of Jessica Rabbit. Choppah's Chocolate Bunny!
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Hobbiton is a village, area or district of the Shire. Merry and Pippin, for example, are not from Hobbiton, but from Buckland--also in the Shire-- which is closer to Bree. I believe Frodo is originally from Buckland too.
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PJ will pull a Lucas and it will suck. Keep your expectations low.
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Don't stop with the just the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Read the 12 volumes of the history of middle earth (ed Christopher Tolkien), the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc before you continue making stupid remarks about the content of Professor Tolkien's books. Also try and read some of his professional publications. His essay on Beowulf is extremely interesting. And for children The Letters from Father Christmas are very good. Maybe that's more your age level. Just remember that every author writes in the style of his era and Prof Tolkien is a Victorian at heart; read Tom Shippey's or Humphrey Carpenter's biographies.
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That is all... :)
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but I wanted to follow up on the whole weight issue.
If you look at PJ in his early work, like Bad Taste and Brain Dead (briefly playing the embalming assistant), you'll see that he has quite a slender frame.
Although I do concede a little weight on him makes him *look* healthier, it's still probably not good for him.
I usually wouldn't care. But, I've struggled with weight all my life, and I'd hate to see a man who worked so hard to lose that weight put it back on. -
Hasn't aged a day, my ass!
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HA! BUT WHAT ABOUT TEH AWESOME SONGS THEY SING? THAT MUST HAVE BEEN HARD FOR TOLKIEN TO COME UP WITH THOSE LYRICS! AND ORCS AND ELVES AND THEY DO THINGS!
CHOPPPPPPPED
Sorry....Longbottom Leaf plus gravity bong = head full of Smaug.
CHOPPED -
Jun 23, 2011 1:12:34 PM CDT
Jeebus Christo people, The Hobbit is being split into TWO movies
by d.vader
Its not one movie with a sequel that's filler between The Hobbit and LOTR. It hasn't been that way for a long time.
Try to keep up. -
cannot wait
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i want for you to learned the fonics asap
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People who complain that Jackson's LOTR ruined the books are full on idiots. I have actually went back to the books after watching the magnificently fun and beautifully shot movies and can attest that not one word of Tolkein's original prose has been changed. The stories still read exactly the same as they did the first four times I read them.
Here is a little primer on the difference between books and movies:
THEY ARE NOT THE SAME THING
Your inability to be able to differentiate between the two and be able to enjoy them both marks you as a mouth-breathing, basement-dwelling, no significant other having, 12 sandwich eating mental midget.
Sorry, mental little person.
Sorry, just plain idiot.
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...banging? Bard? All the Dwarves? Throwing a bone to the Furry contingent and gettin' down with Beorn?
If Jackson can restrain himself from adding too much extra bullshit, these can be amazing movies, but the whole Elf Girl thing smacks of "Romantic Subplot" to get Twilight Fangirls into the theater..... -
Jun 23, 2011 1:26:03 PM CDT
Nothing wrong with adding a female character to this decidedly girl-less story
by d.vader
Shes not going to factor into the big plot, you can count on that.
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What the fuck are you talking about?
No, honestly.
What the FUCK are YOU talking about? -
I'd reply but I got half way through your post and fell asleep. Must be great being one of the most boring people in the world. At least you're the best at something, right? Go you!
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What's the point in doing something if you're only going to do it half right?
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To the feeble minded fools who cant' appreciate the prose of Tolkein's in Lord of the Rings:
It is perhaps the finest example of modern literature, standing alongside such works as Huckleberry Finn, Moby Dick, Ulysses, and The Giving Tree. It has, for lack of better terms, stood the test of time. It will forever more.
It elegantly told a saga of fantastical elements all the while making it relevant to its generation as well as each succeeding generation. It foresaw a world consumed and ravaged by war and greed.
It encompasses everything you want in a story and then some. The only minor negative I can think of is that it unfortunately has to end. It is the Ultimate Men on a Mission Story. Ever.
So deep is this world that languages and maps and ballads and appendices have been created to give the reader the fullest, richest experience.
In the House of Chop, this book is a Rite of Passage. It changes you, just as the journey changes the characters. They've seen and experienced events never before seen.
I understand why people can't get into it. I do. It's "long", it has long constructed sentences and is overly descriptive. Fuck that noise. It doesn't have pictures . Screw. It dives wholly into the world it describes that the simple-minded tend to stray and wander off to the glowing light of television.
Perhaps that is how it should be. A tome of this nature that separates the wheat from the chaff. The beggars and the choosers. The men from the lads. It's a known fact that people who enjoy Lord of the Rings live full prosperous lives, those who don't troll on AICN and bitch endlessly.
CHOPPED.
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...well, maybe he saw him a couple more times between Hobbit & Fellowship?
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Prove to me that being in a minority instantly means the minority is wrong.
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Jun 23, 2011 1:46:28 PM CDT
Yeah, and Gandalf looks bad! Gandalf looks older then he did in the LOTR. Another inconsistency. Bravo PJ... BRAVO.
by natalieportmansyummyafterbirth
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was way more dramatic and entertaining than Tolkien's books.
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You've been
AFTER
BIRTHED!
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I now realize, finally, that the books I have loved... and read many times since I was 12 - enjoying them equally if not more so each time - the books that are on probably every top ten list of the most popular and well-loved books of the 20th century, books that defined and created a genre and a world of wonder and myth and languages still unsurpassed...
...actually sucked. Good to know, thanks guys. Now I know where to go for the straight dope.
I'm not quite ready to accept this other concept here, that Jackson's LOTR films....ones I greatly enjoyed and shared with my family and felt were a high point in fantasy movies, that were so critically well regarded and award winning, chock full of good actors, borne on the shoulders of countless behind-the-scenes craftsmen, and in terms of popularity include one of the top 5 grossing
movies ever made, world wide....
...also actually were full of shit. Maybe a few more comments about crumbling Moria stairs will convince me and I will finally understand what sucks and what doesn't. Thanks again.
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If only the Choppah could inspire you as much as Tolkein inspired me.
But I appreciate the sentiments. Remember--A lot of kneeling keeps you in good standing with the Chop.
CHOPPED. -
Jun 23, 2011 1:58:11 PM CDT
Bildo looks NOTHING like the Bilbo we saw at in the prolouge before Fellowship..... FAIL...
by natalieportmansyummyafterbirth
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Which is cool. Apparently she is not going to play the character that Saoirse Ronan was going to play, though. What is with people’s names these days?
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Jun 23, 2011 1:59:22 PM CDT
Bilbo's light was clearly Bronze in Fellowship... here it's clearly NICKEL.... FAIL
by natalieportmansyummyafterbirth
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How else do you think Frodo knows Gandalf so well?
Also, if anyone is going to be that nitpicky over Martin Freeman looking younger than Ian Holm and therefore Gandalf is a liar or it contradicts that line from FOTR and now PJ needs to retcon... You know what, these movies are not for you. -
Jun 23, 2011 1:59:54 PM CDT
snootyboots, in a letter Tolkien says elf ears are leaf shaped
by franks_television
That probably means pointed.
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Jun 23, 2011 2:00:11 PM CDT
The angle of a Hobbits ears are supposed to be 130 degrees from bottom... not 125 degrees... FAIL
by natalieportmansyummyafterbirth
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Jun 23, 2011 2:01:59 PM CDT
voiceofsaruman - aren’t we lucky to have the internet to tell us these things?
by franks_television
Here I was, thinking Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings was beautiful and fascinating, but apparently it is boring and poorly written. You learn something new every day.
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And Gandalf jumped off Isengard to land on Gwaihir! That's much more boring than how Tolkien wrote it- with Gwaihir just picking him up when Saruman wasn't looking.
Peter Jackson, you should be ashamed. -
What was your favorite part of the second volume of the book? Faramir kidnapping Frodo to Osgiliath? Aragorn falling off a cliff and falling in a river? Making a big deal about some imaginary exodus of the Rohirrim?
All hail Peter Hackson and his screenwriter, who are obviously better than Tolkien! -
Jun 23, 2011 2:04:20 PM CDT
A step stool for Bilbo should have TWO STEPS... NOT THREE!
by natalieportmansyummyafterbirth
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You obviously don't care about the source material and therefore wouldn't understand. I bet if someone remade Star Wars but decided that their version of the story would be better than the originals, THEN you'd understand.
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Jun 23, 2011 2:12:00 PM CDT
Oh wait snootyboots, you were talking about hobbits, not elves.
by franks_television
Yeah, I don’t think hobbits should have pointy ears. They are supposed to be a race of humans.
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Jun 23, 2011 2:14:13 PM CDT
Wiseau: sure Jackson made a few inexplicably stupid moves in the LotR adaptation
by franks_television
but the overall product is still fantabulous.
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I would totally lick her hairy feet.
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Shame it's Peter Jackson's Lord Of The Rings and not Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings though, isn't it?
I hope they do an adaptation of Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings some day. I'd really love to see those books adapted to film. -
I am a HUGE fan of the source material. I just understand what it takes to adapt a very difficult story to the screen and know there are a lot of battles you have to fight with yourself to be true to the work but to also make the best screen story you can.
Don't for one second think that because I believe you're hyperbolic and overreacting it means I don't know the source material or can't possibly love it more than you. -
Jun 23, 2011 2:35:26 PM CDT
I mean, TommyWiseau, you're bitching about a crumbling staircase
by d.vader
A crumbling STAIRCASE.
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Jun 23, 2011 2:37:00 PM CDT
I bet TommyWiseau thinks the tv movie version of The Shining is better than Kubrick's
by d.vader
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One of the Mirkwood elves. Though I could see her playing a hobbit as well. She has the hair for it, and the buck teeth would kind of work.
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Jun 23, 2011 2:39:21 PM CDT
iamtommywiseau - Wow. Your 3rd grade-style response was sooooo funny, I forgot to laugh.
by mr. nice gaius
ZING!
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Hey don't pick on the guy. His attention span obviously cant last longer than 4 sentences.
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As an AD I can't imagine putting together a 254 day schedule which will probably end up somewhere around 270-280 days. The longest I've done was somewhere around 65 days, and my mind was fried trying to make that work.
Good luck to all in the office and production team working on this marathon endeavor. -
Jun 23, 2011 2:58:28 PM CDT
mr. nice gaius. I doubt you've ever reached 3rd Grade.
by iamtommywiseau
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...I didn't get an erection.
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I don't have to prove to you that you are wrong...
Like I said you are entitled to your opinion.
But when it comes to opinions, if you are in the minority then you are WRONG. Go to rotten tomatoes and look at the ratings... you are wrong and no amount of crying or use of profanity will change that. -
You ask me what my favorite scene is from the Two Towers, as if it's unthinkable to imagine anyone having a favorite scene from it, and you missed that my very screen name here for many years now, "voiceofsaruman", is actually the name of a chapter "The Voice of Saruman" in The Two Towers, and it refers to a particularly great scene, and surprise, it is one of my favorite moments in the books.
pwned. -
You obviously DON'T love it more than me. You obviously aren't a true fan of Tolkien and nothing you can say now will convince me otherwise. I never bothered seeing the third movie after the first two travesties. If you cared for the material at all, you'd be outraged instead of shrugging your shoulders and apologising on behalf of Peter Jackass because he had to fight battles with himself and make the best movie that he could, and whatever other bullshit excuses you want to use.
If you can't adapt something properly, DON'T FUCKING DO IT. It's not really that difficult. Fuck me - they probably did a better job at adapting Twilight than they did with Lord Of The Rings. -
tommywiseau, (slow hand clap) taking a grab at being troll du jour!
You achieved your ambition little boy. You came out with some shit and got called on it.
Here's a tip. If one person calls you a fuckwit you can shrug it off - but if everyone calls you a fuckwit then you got to look in the mirror and realize.
You do realize don't you little boy?
You're a fuckwit. -
1. My question was aimed at you deliberately because of your screen name. I figured you were obviously a fan of the material, much like me.
2. Do you think I was actually looking for an answer, or phrasing the question in a way that points out 10% of the way in which Peter Jackass fucked up?
3. Nobody says "pwned" anymore. C'mon. It's 2011. -
Nanny nanny poo poo!
I'M TELLING MY DAAAAD!! -
While it is by far one of my favorite moments from the books, and I was disappointed that it wasn't rendered on screen faithfully, I realized that it probably would never have worked on screen the way it works in the book. Read it again and you might see what I mean.
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You want me to Google all of the people who have thought YOU'RE a fuckwit on these talkbacks? Here comes reality, Cobra-Kaii - you've got far more haters than i do and we're all SO VERY TIRED of your "doesn't exist in this dojo" and "no comment" schtick.
At least that guy who used to write "FUCK MICHAEL BAY!" all of the time, eventually realised his shit was boring and got off the train. You missed your stop about three years ago, Cobra. Time to get off.
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You're right, let me know what people say now instead of pwned so I can be only partially ironic instead of fully in my meme references.
I read the books when I was 12 and I admit that The Two Towers was a hard book for me to get through. I've come to love it thoroughly, but first off splitting Frodo and Sam's journey off to the second half of the movie (like the book does) certainly wouldn't have worked as a film, would it?
So immediately, drastic changes and choices need to be made in the film adaptation. If you are saying that if you have to change anything then don't make a movie of it, I think it's unfortunate, because while anyone can gripe about changes from the books or certain moments, I think it was well worth it overall - seeing Rivendell, Mordor, Gandalf the Grey on the screen etc. looking pretty damn faithful if not surpassing my childhood imagination, was worth the changes. -
Tommy Wiseau, you're an idiot. Or a teenager. Or a college student who thinks he's smarter than everyone else.
Really? You're gonna fight over who loves the books more? Pssssh. Mature. -
tommy, tommy, tommy.
Damn you Michael Bay. That's what the guy wrote. Not fuck michael bay.
And it's not No Comment. It's No Subject.
If you're gonna try out for troll of the day at least put some effort in with the accuracy.
What a silly little red-faced fuckwit you are.
Tell us more about how crumbling staircases raped your childhood.... hahahahaha!!!!! -
He thinks it's "not really that difficult" to adapt it into a movie.
What a maroon. -
is how you get your ass handed to you by the muthafuckkin DOJO!!!!
jagoff -
Tommy are your cheeks flushed red with a cocktail of shame and impotent rage?
tommywiseau = beetroot boy -
Because if he loved it enough, his screenname would obviously reflect that.
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It's actually made his comments 100% more interesting than they were before. Unfortunately he can't do anything about the subject titles as he's only got two possible choices. Yeah, we all love that schtick of his. It really didn't get boring years ago.
Go ahead Cobra! Tell us what else doesn't exist in your dojo! We're all DYING to know! -
Yeah. Those were good days.
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Fuckwits, that's who.
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I want him to google how many people hate on Cobra-Kai. He seems to think that's an easy task.
As easy as adapting LOTR for the big screen perhaps. -
Jun 23, 2011 3:47:21 PM CDT
It seems that there were a lot more Tolkien fans around here
by franks_television
when the LotR movies were coming out. And not cynical ones either. Where have they gone? Now it seems most of the comments are from people who either hate the books or the movies, or both.
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Jun 23, 2011 3:48:14 PM CDT
You know who needs to banned so he can cry about it again?
by iamtommywiseau
d.vader, that's who.
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Raiding Bilbo's refrigerator or using his Hobbit crapper?
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How did I cry about it?
LOGIC, motherfucker, do you speak it?! -
good times. wheres the fucking obit?
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I guess that means he couldn't fight back in the debates we're currently having. Guess we'll call it a loss on his side.
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Looks plastic or like a painting. Wish they'd shoot movies so they look real. ESPECIALLY fantasy films, to help ground them.
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Jun 23, 2011 3:51:20 PM CDT
I’m not sure what Bilbo is supposed to be reading here.
by franks_television
I don’t remember him reading a long letter while the Dwarves were at his house. Was there something that went along with Thror’s map or something?
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The painful memories of those days staring at AICN and not being able to post anything are causing you to cry now? Awwww, don't cry d.vader! You're back now and look at you, making us all remember why we missed you. Look at all of your meaningful contributions and wonderful insight.
Boy, AICN really suffered when it kicked you out. Yeah. Yeah, it did.
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Since he's calling for me to get banned again.
Who does that! I don't know a single talkbacker who cries and whines that someone should be banned after that someone hurts his feelings.
Sorry I hurt your feelings so much little Tommy. Dont play with the big boys next time. -
This is The Hobbit as envisioned by Peter Jackson and crew, and a companion to his Lord of the Rings movies. Obviously it will have all the same strengths and weaknesses as those films had... and it should. Like them or not, the LOTR films are getting their "prequel", and it will match them. That's only right. Maybe someday they will all be redone by someone else and the issues some have with PJ will be rectified. But there's no reason to hate on the Hobbit film they are making or call for it to be different or more like the book... you know damn well it won't be, this is PJ again, as it should be! Let the fans have their complete LOTR-Hobbit series. It can be remade someday.
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D.VADER GAVE ME A BOOBOO!!!
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Jun 23, 2011 3:56:50 PM CDT
Hell, I remember when D.Vader was crying about being banned... what a little pussy.
by natalieportmansyummyafterbirth
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Try and imagine him weeping away as he types out the words, and it'll put a smile on your face for the rest of the day.
"Who does that!" screams out d.vader, hammering his fist down on his keyboard. "Who does that!" he says, tears pouring down his face as his mouth trembles.
I made d.vader cry today. Today is the second best day of AICN ever. The first day, of course, was the day he got banned. Oh shit. I shouldn't have mentioned that! THE OUTRAGE! -
Tommy Wiseau is the biggest bitch since Leona Helmsley.
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Your immaturity and pisspoor debate skills are practically gushing onto everyone's computer screen, and you have no idea of just how much if a 12 yr old you're making yourself look.
Bring up my banning all you want, it just shows you to be the petty little person incapable of complex thought. -
Hobbits like to keep their feet nice and trim. hahaha
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"I will write a whole sentence and someone will notice me".
Congratulations, thatchicken! You've finally been noticed? Ever read "The Hobbit"? Oh, wait. You're probably not interested in Tolkien. You just want to be noticed. It's a great day to be you, yes? -
Jun 23, 2011 4:05:33 PM CDT
Now, I’ve noticed a tendency for this talkbackto get rather silly.
by franks_television
Now I do my best to keep things moving along, but I’m not having things getting silly.
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Jun 23, 2011 4:06:33 PM CDT
Good friends why do you continue to engage this boring retard?
by the_choppah
I mean do you not see the irony of arguing with someone named for one of the worst directors in the history of film about whether or Peter Jackson is a good director and the LOTR films are good adaptations.
If wisseau truly is a Tolkien aficionado, and I have my doubts, he is the very worst kind of fanboy, a fundamentalist, who can't understand basic concepts of adapting a novel to the screen and who takes it personally any changes to his holy text. -
I know it'll break your heart to hear it, but no one will ever cry over you.
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I guess I'd be bitching and whining for you to get banned.
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Oh my God. I hope he doesn't shoot himself or something tonight.
It's okay, d.vader. It's just the internet! No need to become so upset! Take some deep breaths and try to push those dark days of not being allowed to play on AICN to the back of your mind. Go to the mirror and tell yourself that everything's okay and that you won this one. Make yourself believe it and you'll be fine. Everything will be fine. You can do it, pal! -
Jun 23, 2011 4:12:02 PM CDT
Is that Momoa in the background? That guy is conquering EVERYTHING!
by boober
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tommy, you fucking tit.
You've got a noob name but you talk about stuff from ages back, which means you're one of these troll boys who regularly gets banned or hated so much that they keep changing their nick.
If I had to guess i'd say you're that LOWES_GARGANTUAN_FOREHEAD or Viggeo Morgenstein troll.
You seem to spam a lot of posts out like those idiots did. A lot of hot air... like a fart in a sleeping bag.
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And heres a tip if you ever want to win a debate: Stick to the topic at hand and you'll look like a bigger man. And an intelligent one at that, instead of a pathetic, crying child screaming for attention.
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It may warrant an angry mob finding you, forcing you face down on a curb with your mouth open, teeth-to-'crete, and then commencing to making a Merrick-slurpy with steel-toed boots....sheesh. What? Is that distrubing? Yeah, almost as disturbing as your first paragraph...*shudder*.
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I'm disappointed, especially after you claimed to be a Tolkien fan.
Have you watched "The Two Towers" recently? Did you not see the scene where Frodo offered the ring to the Ringwraith?? Or having Theoden POSSESSED by Saruman?? That's just TWO of the deviations from the text. How did they improve the story? Why would anyone need to "improve" on some of the greatest fiction written?
How can you NOT be outraged? -
How to win a debate with d.vader:
1. Mention his banning. It causes him to suffer an emotional breakdown.
2. Point out why he's wrong enough times and eventually he splutters, wilts and dies.
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choppah, we're not so much engaging him as verbally kicking the shit out of him.
But you're right. He showed himself to be a first class fool right off the bat - he hoisted himself by his own petard long before anyone else chipped in with an insult.
tommy, consider yourself lucky. But i'm leaving you to lick your wounds in peace now.
Know that you are a fuckwit. But even fuckwits can change. If you try really hard you could downgrade yourself to a mere knob-end. There is hope. -
Nope. I'm just another person you've managed to bore and then annoy. Well done, hero. Soon there'll be so many of us that "Interesting Posts From Cobra--Kai Don't Exist In This Dojo" will be the most popular Facebook page in the site's history.
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1. I love Tolkien, it is literary art, not for everyone to be sure; but as a complete world really without peer in fiction. Not even the Dune series dives as deep as Tolkien did. The man created entire histories and languages for the books for fucks sake!
I have issues with Jacksons telling, as I feel they left out much of the detail that made the books so rich...but as stand alone adaptions of Tolkien's work they are enjoyable; and I can not fault them for making them marketable...though on here I will bitch about it.
Myself...I'd love to see a HBO Mini-Series with a decent budget, which really is the only way to put all that detain into anything other than a book.
2. Who the FUCK is this Tommy Wiseau? Although it seems as my esteemed friends here know the name...I've never heard of him. -
Jun 23, 2011 4:29:21 PM CDT
Jackson made some stupid choices, wiseau, but I don’t think they ruin the movies.
by franks_television
I think in general, Jackson was trying to “amp up” Tolkien’s scenes, making them more exciting for the slower members of the viewing public (about 75% of the audience). Thus, he makes Theoden literally possessed by Saruman and he makes Faramir a real threat to Frodo’s mission. Stupid, yes. I would prefer that Jackson had not catered so much to professional wrestling fans, but the fact remains that the movies are still about 90% great. I just look away and think happy thoughts when things happen on screen like Gandalf beating Denethor with his staff, then I look back and enjoy the awesomeness.
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Off to lick his wounds and ponder which of his two subject titles to use next.
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You think the world is flat too, don't you?
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I wish I could see the movies like you do, my friend. I just came out of that first movie with so much disappointment. I mean, look at Frodo. At the time the story, he is 50 years old! Just look at him in the film! And since when do Hobbits have pointed ears? Next, there is the complete absurdness of the plot. The director cut out the entire Tom Bombadil scenes, and to get the Hobbits' their weapons, Jackson makes Strider give it to them. Like all he does is carry a pack of Hobbit-sized swords with him. And then there is the Crouching Gandalf, Hidden Saruman scene. Like old, wise wizards have nothing else to do but to fly around with their staffs. But wait, there is more! Gandalf rides to Gondor to study the manuscripts. Almost no time passes and he retuns to Bag end. Considering that there is several thousand miles between them, and he still must spend some time reading, and then return, with nothing faster than a horse available to him, the journey should have taken quite some time (In the book, Gandalf is gone for about 20 years). This is only a small part of the absurdities of the plot. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Tolkien, but THIS has almost nothing to do with what the Professor wrote. Jackson created his own story, and even though it bears the name The Lord of the Rings, it is not.
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Jun 23, 2011 4:37:02 PM CDT
Ladies and gentlemen! Behold! The most inane and belabored put-down in AICN history!
by thatchicken
Soon there'll be so many of us that 'Interesting Posts From Cobra--Kai Don't Exist In This Dojo' will be the most popular Facebook page in the site's history.
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You're done. Get used to it and give up. It's not the first time you've been outsmarted and outwitted, and it won't be the last time. Just don't cry about it like you did before during the b***ing (see - I've censored it to protect your feelings). Everyone loses sometimes. You just lose more than others.
Time to put your stuff in a suitcase and head home, d.vader. Your day is over. -
Jun 23, 2011 4:39:18 PM CDT
Tommy, you do realize that you're setting yourself up to be the AsimovLives of PJ's LOTR
by the_choppah
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Jun 23, 2011 4:40:49 PM CDT
Tommy there is absolutely nothing you can say that can hurt me
by d.vader
Nothing. And nothing you can do to win either. Its like watching a monkey fucking a football.
But please keep trying both, it's fun to watch you flail. Just don't get too one note about it (you're dangerously close); it's starting to get boring. -
Its okay to deviate form the source if its faithful in tone and in this case, PJ did an excellent job.
You are the kind of faithful purist who will have no such deviation because that's not what happened in the book mommy read to you when you were a baby.
But lo!! When a True Artiste faithfully adapts a book ('cept the ending) panel for panel like Snyder did with Watchmen, you still come out of the woodwork and bitch about it.
You are like a little bitchy Goldilocks..not too faithful, not to loose. Cant have it both ways sucka
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Jun 23, 2011 4:41:47 PM CDT
wiseau: You remind me a lot of that guy who was lauding Vader's banning some months ago.
by thatchicken
What was his name? Bill_Faulkner? WilliamFaulkner? It was some variation on the writer's name.
Well, anyway, my point is that he was annoying prick, too. -
Welcome back thatchicken. Congratulations on spelling "belabored" correctly! I told you that it was a good day to be you, and I wasn't wrong!
Your next task is to use two sentences in a post. If you can manage that, mommy and daddy chicken will be REALLY proud. -
Don't get me started on Watchmen....
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Didn't I already tell you that you've lost? I hate kicking a guy whilst he's down and you sure are down.
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So, uh, what time do your posts usually become interesting to read? Let me know and I'll set my clock.
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If you think you're winning, you must be enrolled in the Charlie Sheen school of dumbfucks.
Thanks for the laughs today, it's been a pleasure watching you hang yourself and call it a victory. -
I think he really is that Faulkner douche!
All too easy. -
All I hear about Watchmen will bitches complain is that Snyder hackily translated the book to screen..
in which case i ask--yeah, so what?
Thats what I wanted and thats what we got. Same thing with LOTR.
You are upset about the uber-faithful translation of Watchmen yet your panties get in a bunch about PJ embellishing scenes and characters in LOTR? Which bitchy fanboy are you?
Wait--yer both (with a dash of hypocrite).
BTW--PJ's fleshing out of Boromir and what Sean Bean did with him far far surpasses what Tolkein ever wrote.
Just sayin.
School's out hooker. Time to hit the Streets for Daddy. -
I think you've missed your stop, chump. You should have gotten off when Cobra--Kai left and you were only slightly tiresome to respond to.
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You think that Watchmen was "uber-faithful"? I really don't want to get into this argument but I'm going to politely disagree with you and move on.
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Jun 23, 2011 4:56:41 PM CDT
those things that you mentioned don’t bother me, wiseau
by franks_television
Some alterations are necessary to make the book work as a film and have widespread appeal. I would have loved a very faithful adaptation and would have happily sat through all 32 hours of it, but I doubt the average moviegoer would share this opinion. The things that bother me more are where PJ dumbed down certain characters (Gimli, Denethor) and or added in unwarranted comic relief which in some cases ruined scenes which should have been dramatically powerful and intense. I don’t mind deviations from the text just because they are deviations. It’s more just poor filmmaking that upsets me. I only have to look away from the screen and plug my ears maybe once during Fellowship, three or four times in TTT and five or six times in RotK (I go get more popcorn during the Army of the Dead attack). For the rest of the run time I am good to go. It would be awesome to make my own edit of the films, now that I think of it.
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Nice first publically released pic from Peter Jackson's upcoming "Hobbit" films. Looking forward to seeing them.
We've all seen Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Tree Ents and The Mighty Balrog in The Ring Trilogy, what I am most looking forward to is seeing how the Smaug is rendered! I hoping Mr. Jackson with give us a proper, truely awesome, terrifying version of the old Fire breathing, treasure hoarding, vainglorious, properly ancient and evil looking flying lizard and not some terrible wussy-ass looking, laughable piece of CGI rendered crap (like sayyyyyyy....in the movie "Dragonheart" -
Come on, don't let us down!
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Except for the ending, which worked better cinematically than the squid--i say hell yes it was faithful.
it was a panel for shot rendition of the comic.
but yeah..run away from a fight. I expect that from you.. -
You've reminded me about Gimli now. God, I hated what Peter Hackson did to Gimli by turning him into the comic relief character. I've never seen RotK and, judging by what you say, that was probably the right decision. I wonder how a Del Toro adaption of "The Hobbit" would have turned out? I hear he was quite faithful to "Hellboy" which makes me think he might have been a good choice here. Real shame that he dropped out.
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I really hope they have a great design for him as well. Something unique and memorable but not strange looking. Guillermo Del Toro’s design for Smaug was slightly bizarre, with an axe shaped head, so I am kind of hoping PJ decided to scrap it, or at least alter it significantly.
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before his owner got home...
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Oh, you're still here. How lucky for us all.
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and like what I imagined Peter Jackson's Hobbit films would look like. Well, at least the parts in the Shire and Hobbiton.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy were some of the best film going experiences I've had at the movie theater. I can't wait for another two films to hopefully take me back to that same state of mind. -
Jun 23, 2011 5:14:12 PM CDT
If you hated PJ’s Fellowship you would probably loathe his RotK, wiseau.
by franks_television
I think it deviated the most from the book of any of the three films. I still loved it though, except for a few points where Jackson must have been heavily medicated while he was filming.
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Can you seriously not do better than that?
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Jun 23, 2011 5:15:03 PM CDT
Here Tommy, dazzle us with your love and knowledge of LOTR once again
by d.vader
You were better at that. Marginally so, anyway.
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Jun 23, 2011 5:15:46 PM CDT
Del Toro is still one of the screenwriters for The Hobbit.
by franks_television
So at least the script should reflect his influence. Whether that is good or bad, I’m not sure.
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I don't know about during filming but I tend to think that Hackson was heavily medicated whilst reading the original material. Well, I'm glad that I've avoided RotK. It would probably make my head explode.
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I'll bet money that this argument was better made here about a million times back in 2001, but while I enjoy visiting with Tom Bombadil in the book, it just doesn't work on screen in a movie that wants to keep people engaged for 2.5 hours. Nothing really happens there that's important to a tightened up plot structure. And the idea that Bombadil basically thinks the ring is no big deal, and he puts it on like its a Cracker Jack toy, well that might have killed the tension of the whole onscreen saga.
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Bombadil would have confused the average viewer, particularly those who hadn’t read the source material. He doesn’t set up anything that is important later in the story, and so I can see why cutting him out would make sense.
Personally, I am very glad that Tolkien was not a trained fiction writer, and that his stories do not follow the prescribed laws of plot, pacing etc. This makes LotR much more interesting to me, because we can have “extraneous” characters like Bombadil, and we can have long explanations of past histories etc. that aren’t directly relevant to what is going on with the main protagonist and don’t necessarily drive the plot forward.
The LotR is not written like a modern novel, and that makes it seem more authentically ancient, and also makes it less predictable, more challenging and ultimately more satisfying because of it. It’s sort of like listening to classical music. You have to really pay attention in order to become emotionally invested in it. -
cant wait
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What I've learned from iamtommywiseau today:
1) Peter Jackson is no better than a child molester.
2) If you don't abhor Jackson's films, you're not a true Tolkien fan.
3) crumbling staircases are childhood rapers.
There was a sad, gaseous twat who posted endless and similar diatribes against LOTR back when the films were still coming out. I forget his name but he basically made the same "points" as iamtommywiseau. Hilariously, he made the mistake of letting slip that he and some of his friends had actually made a "true" adaptation of some of the scenes from Tolkien's books and posted links for everyone to see. They were indeed literal versions, but also howlingly awful because of it. There isn't an actor good enough in the world who can pull off reciting Tolkien's dialogue in its entirety and come off as even remotely believable.
To call Jackson's films, warts and all, anything less than an absolute triumph is absurd. -
How'd you manage to read Tolkien with those wall-eyes? Did you read the right hand pages before the left-hand ones?
You probably think Tom Bombadil shouldn't have been excised from FotR too, right? -
The majority of talkbackers on AICN (and I said majority because people like franks_television are not included) only care about a novel if it's got the word "graphic" in front of it.
Fuck around with one of the greatest books written and people on AICN will say "Oh but Peter Jackson was fighting himself, and it takes a long time to make a movie, and we forgive him!" BUT, if you change something to do with Superman or Batman, or the original X-Men team don't show up, then the anger is somehow justified. "Why wasn't it more like the comic?" they'll say, whilst sitting back and happily watching their mutilated Lord Of The Rings adaptations.
It's fucking crazy. -
Yes.
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whether there's going to be a scene again where one of the dwarfs burps and farts at the same time, like Gimli does in the ROTK:EE.
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even though I disagreed with many of them why? Because I have read Tolkien's Hobbit and LOTR a number of times since the 1970s. The book is a work of timeless literature and will always exist. It was and is impossible for Rankin Bass, Bakshi and Jackson to ruin it for me or really for anyone.
It will always exist in its wonderful and original and authoritative form as the text Tolkien wrote. The film versions are essays at attempting to capture that--not the thing itself. -
First off, having read The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings for the first time at age 6 it became two books (four if you are breaking down the three novels of Lord of the Rings) that I have read cover to cover, probably over a hundred times.
The Nicol Williamson audiobook of The Hobbit was bought and played to me as a four year old, and I can tell you that I used to listen to it night after night, until I could read well enough to read the books, which like I said before was at the age of 6.
These books have been as much of a part of my life growing up, and I have always been fascinated with them - in fact luckily, I live smack bang in the middle of where Tolkien based all of Middle Earth, and regularly pass one of his homes.
I love the books, I love the audiobooks.
and guess what? I love the films too.
I am grateful to them for giving me another way to visualise the story when i'm reading the books, comparing my characters I developed in my head all those years ago.
And unfortunately you are missing the point of film adaptations, they use the source material and build within it strands and scenes and stories that yes are not in the book, but do they hinder or detract from the story? Hell no. They are intensely difficult books to adapt, Tolkien said so himself, but the three films i'm looking at now sat on my shelf are perfect to me, and to my enjoyment of the series.
We can all pick holes at adaptations of films from source material, but the common phrase of 'if you don't like it, don't watch it' is pretty valid here. What right do you have to critique other's enjoyment of films because they don't live up to your infallible vision?
On the face of it, they are never going to be remade 'better' or 'closer to the source material' because if they did prepare to spend 15 hours per film per book.
And your comparison to the Twilight series about how they got it closer to the book just goes to show exactly what your literary taste is all about. Of course they can make those films closer to the book, because guess what? Books like that are written with a view to the end goal of film/television, blame the fantastic way Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings were adapted to screen (oh and how well received they were in terms of box office and subsequent revenue)
After all, using the name of someone connected to 'the best worst cult movie ever' really shows us all that you are a far superior person within the cinematic world, because you watch/appreciate/know of 'cult' movies that only 'serious' film goers know and understand about.
I forgot, you are a much better person than me and everyone else here - I would sincerely appreciate you putting together a list of appropriate films for me to watch to make sure my taste in films and other media lives up to your standards.
thank you, and goodnight. -
Straw man argument.
Try harder. -
Next time use "Geeky-rection".
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Youre a wise man. Or woman.
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Another wise man (or woman).
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Enough of the Hobbit, where is my Warcraft movie at FFS.
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... but if you are a hardcore Star Wars model builder, you are going to go nuts for this.
Caution, it's $1,000 per book...
www.theblueprintsbook.com/the-trailer/ -
Still no obit? Wtf???
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Jun 23, 2011 10:28:25 PM CDT
For the first time in years, I'm truly excited about a film
by wcolbert
He looks like a Hobbit to begin with, so I certainly have no issue with the casting, here. I haven't seen a Tolkien-verse film's production photos since...well, high school! So this takes me back to simpler times. When a class trip was to go see Lord of the Rings...which was the first 3+ hour movie I had seen in theaters at the time, and my butt hurt from sitting so long...but it was worth it!
Ok, so he doesn't look exactly the same age as Bilbo in Lord of the Rings- but (and correct me if I'm wrong here, it's been a long time since I read the books) didn't The Hobbit take place over a rather lengthy period of time, by the very end of the book- that is to say, at the very end of the book, wasn't Bilbo considerably older (though still young looking for his age)? Perhaps that's the age Gandalf was referring to when he said 'you haven't aged a day'. I'm sure he didn't mean 'since before you set out on your journey and came across that ring'.
Is that Gandalf with the white hair? My only concern there is...why are his beard and hair (which are extensions and so can be any color they like) white? I could have sworn it was more gray in the trilogy. Hmm... Maybe it's just a test shot? Or the lighting? I do hope they're conscious of continuity. -
Each of the Lord of the Rings films was worse than the once before. I couldn't wait for the third one to end. What a ponderous piece of crap!
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That scene should be awesome in this day and age.
Those dwarves look awfully well behaved ... I must have watched the cartoon one too many times. -
I agree with "queefer sutherland" that they progressively got "worse" but I still loved them all. Except the last 15 minutes of Return of the King.
I expect nothing short of brilliance this time, again.
Look at that set design. Marvelous.
Oh I'm sorry was I supposed to bitch and complain about something? -
Doc Pazuzu rang in, obviously missing me, and boringly and uncritically calling the film adaption a "masterpiece".
iamtommywiseau, I've got your back. The films are travesties compared to the novels, but they aren't TOTAL travesties. A lot of people involved in the film loved Tolkien, and held Jackson back from his worst "Meet the Feebles/Brain Dead" sensibilities. However, do be kind to the people who are appreciating the story the films bring, however imperfectly. What they are responding to is for the most part the same thing we responded to in the books.
I wasn't particularly bothered by Gandalf diving off the tower to land on Gwaihir, but to say that it would have been more "boring" any other way shows a great lack of imagination. How about a tense night scene with a maleficent red gleam that vanishes before morning, finally signalling that Saruman might be exhausted from a conference with Sauron, and a possibility of an actual conversation with Gwaihir under starlight? A shift from overcast Mordor-weather to elvish starlight beauty before the rescue? There's poetry in Tolkien, and that poetry CAN be translated to film (see Boorman's EXCALIBUR). Jackson has zero, zip, nada poetry in his soul.
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You don't consider the moments with the Moth to be poetic?
To me, that's exactly the same as a shift from Mordor-weather to "elvish starlight beauty"; both are a herald of hope. -
The scene with the moth was a nice touch.
I won't give that touch to Jackson, however, though anything is possible.
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the look on his face is because PJ's just handed him the 93 endings they are shooting with the intention of using all of them.
We all know The Hobbit will be turned into two 67 hour snore-fests. -
still no Ryan Dunn obit! Who can blame him?
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Ugh. Not again. Enough with these whimpy Hobbits.
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Snorefests indeed!
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Just joking.
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Do it agin. I remember after my first reading of The Hobbit and the Trilogy thinking it would be great to see a live movie and just as quickly thinking, no way, can't be done with the state of the art of moviemaking in the early '70s.
What we should be is grateful for the Lucas', Spielbergs and Jacksons for creating the technological capabilities to bring filmmaking as far in so short a period of time to enable fans of the genre the opportunity to have these films brought to fruition.
Anyway, for all the myopic Tommy boys out there, there are MILLIONS of Tolkien fans out there that were/are ecstatic for what PJ brought to the screen. Sure he hit a few foul balls, but in the end, he hit a home run to win the game. -
...you've been back for, what, a total of five minutes and you're already on the road to failure and humiliation. I didn't call the films "masterpieces" in this talkback. What I said was "To call Jackson's films, warts and all, anything less than an absolute triumph is absurd." See the difference?
I'm looking forward to reading your invariably pedantic and idiotic posts regarding The Hobbit over the next couple of years. I'm sure your dissection of the first trailer will be another classic of psychotic myopia. -
You never came back to give us your review of it.
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I am afraid, if you will need drawings of hobbits in various attitudes, I must leave it in the hands of someone who can draw. ... I picture a fairly human figure ... fattish in the stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and 'elvish'; hair short and curling (brown).
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