Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

Currently on LORD OF THE RINGS...

look,ma,i'm first! by Soylent	Dec 9th, 1998 01:44:57 AM

So far, so good. by Oberon	Dec 9th, 1998 01:55:13 AM
It's encouraging to see New Line so supportive and willing to give Peter a free hand. If it stays that way, it remains only for Peter and his crew to work their magic. Christmas 2000 is a long, long ways away for this Tolkien fan.v
i wanna get this in first by Soylent	Dec 9th, 1998 02:00:30 AM
hey p jackson. i think sccript format can help an elf come alive(besides fx of course).in the movie fairy tale; a true story, tthee absencce of music in some close encounter scenes filled wwith cgi wwhere stirrringg music normaally comes on seeems tto imply that thee elves are aa natural part of the landscape..the only stirringg music is when the human are involved ;seeming toimply that wonder isn't frm the fairies but human!its so kewl..
hey, oberon by Soylent	Dec 9th, 1998 02:28:02 AM
yup,its along way to go.btu that was wwhat i said a few months before jurassic park...hope p. jackson work elf magic into his movies if he is planning to go against star wrs for two consecutive summers!cgi is cool but i would preffer solid story and characterisations too.it would be a bad idea to outspeectacle star wars....Howw aabout this, pete jackson,;the fellowsship and the orrcs on opposite sides of a chasm in the caverns off moria.doom!doom!doom!wee see the orccs part obeidiently.fellowwshp stare into the darkness behind the orcs,we seee twwo hideous trolls come upbehind.fellowship tighten their haands on hteir wweapons,but the trolls stayed wheere they are .one of them decided to take aa pounce at the fellowship.but it seems to heaR A UNHEARD COMMAND AND STEPPED BACK.we seee a figure stepped out betwwwween them;a human like figure .a sudden(as if by command) flaree and rising of hte fire illuminates the figure .we see a human enough features and wearingg armour but biggger than the largest human.it approaches gandalf .then the dancing flames settle down lower to show a shaadow formed by the light towwering behind the balrog itself;a pairs of angel like shaadow wings seeems to sprout frm the shaadow!!i've alwayss thought the balrog were based on thee nefilim...
what?when?where? by half vader	Dec 9th, 1998 07:19:32 AM
Who is conducting the casting and where is it at? Anybody?
Dublin? Hey, I'm there! by Gag Halfrunt	Dec 9th, 1998 08:14:53 AM
Casting in Dublin? As in Dublin, Ireland? As in something this cool is happening where I live for a change? About fucking time! I'm there. I'll be "Third Elf From Left For 3 Seconds"! Can't wait!
Casting by GIL GALAD	Dec 9th, 1998 11:13:15 AM
I live in Texas and i'm thankful for that. UNTIL NOW!!!! Los Angeles, Dublin? That's a couple hours away for me. I would die of a heart attack if i got ONE MINUTE AS SOME DEAD ORC IN ANY OF THE MOVIES! Quit school, quit both jobs and move my pregnant wife to LA, humm that should take me about 8 hours...bye!
The Latest On Casting, Etc. by LowtekSH	Dec 9th, 1998 12:01:45 PM
From Cinescape.com (originally posted on Monday, December 7)...Enjoy!:
Famous person (not me) who wants to play Gandalf by Ilvenshang	Dec 9th, 1998 12:52:40 PM
the Brit scifi mag "SFX" interviewed Christopher Lee (yes, THAT Lee). He, it seems, is a major Tolkien nut who reads the whole LOTR twice a year (so would I, if I were organized enough to find my copy twice a year). He took a wizard role on the Merlin TV series because it was a lot like Gandalf. He hadn't heard about Jackson's epic til the interviewer told him about it. Then he got excited and said he had to call his agent (cue mental image of agent trying to fend off angry client with crossed candlesticks). Best of all, Lee has a long white beard, and takes a literal-minded approach to playing book characters: unless the director says otherwise, he always wants to play book characters as written. Certainly better than Magoohan. Has anyone SEEN Lee in this supposedly Gandalfesque character from the Merlin show?
Dont do it Pete!!!!!! by Brian	Dec 9th, 1998 12:52:44 PM
If Newline and Peter Jackson had one iota of sense or decency they stop this sham before it even gets started.First,if what ive heard is true,Newline has alloted a mere $130 mil for these LOTR films.Not $130 mil per episode,but for the entire trilogy.If these movies are going to do Tolkiens masterpiece even the slightest bit of justice dont you think its going to cost more than $40 mil a film?Someone back me up on this will ya?I know Pete Jackson prides himself on low-budget,independant image but we are talking about one of the most beloved,most read epics of all time and its going to need a Starwars:TPM type movie making and financing.Secondly,whats this I hear of casting 7 foot giants to perform alongside tiny midgets?I know that its an attempt to accentuate the smallness of the hobbits but I dont think its going to translate well on the big screen.Its ging to look like a freek show.If things stay the way that they are then come release date for LOTR there are going to be millions of pissed off Tolkien fans and one half ass movie that had the potential to be a classic.Peter Jackson you better smarten the hell up.This aint the frighteners that were talkin about.Have a little respect for a masterpiece.Its the height of arrogance for a man with just a few mediocre films under his belt to think himself worthy of such a grand epic.
Don' t worry about the budget by lozza	Dec 9th, 1998 01:19:33 PM
$130,000,000 is enough to make 3 movies, this is because of the fact that the trilogy is being made entirely in New Zealand and for every US dollar you get the euivilant of $2 in New Zealand, in other words if a camera costs $4000 in the US the same camera will cost you $2000 if you buy it in New Zealand, follow me? To put it bluntly you get more for your buck. Uh-oh, time for shameless plug to website... http://welcome.to/pj-online is my Peter Jackson site.
Man with a mission by Cliff	Dec 9th, 1998 01:19:56 PM
Well, thank God for Harry Knowles is all I have to say. Recently, very ugly rumours have come to me of the demise of the LOTR project, and Harry has immediately put the evil whisperings to rest. All is well and moving forward in Middle-Earth! Since I'm here in L.A., and being an actor myself, I have immediate access to the Casting community and will be ALL OVER the LOTR audition before you can say _Sting_. Believe you me, there's no limit to what I'm prepared to do! Anyone remember Sean Young stalking around the WB lot in a black catsuit? Now that's what I call a self-promotion... And you, Brian, what gives with all the pissin' and moanin'?? Yes, yes, New Line has given Mr. Jackson about $160 mil. --But do you realize that in New Zealand, the production costs are reduced 8-fold? That same $160 mil. would not go very far if WingNut Productions were filming here in La-La Land. But in Kiwi-land, it will be enough to produce MIRACLES. Wait and see.
Brian, Things Look Better than You Think... by BrianM	Dec 9th, 1998 01:33:56 PM
From one Brian to another, things are hardly as bad as you paint. I'm not sure where you heard about 7' giants next to midgits. According to Peter Jackson, he's going to use normal sized actors who are shrunk with CGI so that his hobbits can do things like fight realistically against orcs and what not. Also, Mr. Jackson has stressed that $130 mil will go a lot farther in New Zealand than we expect. Here are other reasons why I'm hopeful: 1) Mr. Jackson has promised to use relative unknowns in most of the roles so we won't be looking at, say, Aragorn and thinking about some other role we saw the same actor in. 2) Mr. Jackson is filming TLotR as a trilogy of films, not trying to squish it into one film or two as another studio was thinking of doing. 3) Mr. Jackson appears to be staying true to the sound and language of TLotR as evidenced by his use of elvish language with English subtitles. 4) CGI will be used extensively, including a special package developed in-house for the creation of huge and realistic battle scenes. Mr. Jackson has promised us the largest battle scenes ever done in movies as the seige of MT should be. These alone, I think, are reason enough to have hope for this project. Now, obviously, not every Tolkien fan will be pleased by Mr. Jackson's work. He will almost certainly leave out some characters, change some scenes and dialogue, and the vision we will be seeing will be Mr. Jackson's TLotR as expressed in film, so it obviously won't conform in every aspect to yours or mine. But, frankly, to see someone attempt such an epic work with the enthusiasm, attention to detail, and professionalism that we've seen so far from Mr. Jackson gives me hope that maybe someday film will be able to do justice to my favorite literarly genres. - Brian
ANSWERS by gingeracrockford	Dec 9th, 1998 02:00:33 PM
Where in London are they casting it?Have they finished with London yet?Why wasnt I told?When will we be getting cast details?What sort of age do they want for say,Pippin?Im 15 but he is supposed to be young[29 ie abut 17 in human terms].And Ive actually read the book.Come on Im wetting myself here.
FINALLY by Lady of Light	Dec 9th, 1998 05:06:47 PM
I just have to say its about F***in time they made a decent LotR movie! I love the books every time I read them but I saw that crappy animated movie when I was 7 YEARS OLD and I was disgusted!!! Anyway, I just can't wait till the movies are out
Which Dublin. by Ravenid	Dec 10th, 1998 05:25:03 AM
Which Dublin. Dublin Ireland(Please be so), Dublin Texas, Dublin, India. More info needed.
Dublin, Ireland??? by Derek Ryan	Dec 10th, 1998 09:02:26 AM
Ahh this is just too cool!!! I mean I only live 2 hours drive from there. But who are they casting for in these places. Hardly the extras. No, I think it more likely that they are casting for the main characters in all these countries. More than likely all extras (Orc#1-500) will come from NZ where the film is being shot. I mean can you afford to take 6 months off what ever your doing now and fly to NZ on a working holiday. I know I'd love to but can't
whats with this peter jackson pilia by morte	Dec 10th, 1998 03:22:34 PM
ok the man is an excelent director and movies such as "meet the feebles" and "bad taste" are one of my favourites but having him direct LORD OF THE RINGS is blasphemous Tolkien
why this pete bashing? by Soylent	Dec 11th, 1998 06:44:44 AM
give this man a chance,ppl.past works are not a way to judge a man's future works...i don't see how budget limit(if there is one)can hurt,look at robin hood the series(the british,not the bloody american);it was a great series despite obvios budget limit and non cgi because it plays on atmosphere and mood.the scene of the stonehenge against a stormy sky is so much more chilling than today's tv series'standard cgi-monster.if you look carefully into lotr,tolkien wrote the story primarily to create a world,we're allowed time and leisure to explore the lands and histories of this world.hence there are no literary devices such as trimming the story to quicken the pace and thus excitement.tolkien's pace is alll 'wrong' by today's standard.the 'prologue' and 'epilogue' are too long .after the final battle ,we're left with a long aftermasth where they deal with the scouring of the shire and such.but if we kept to modernconventional pacing , one can actually make a trilo frm the lotr.trimming of minor characters and events aren't necessary if these are shown thru implication .lets all remmenber to keep lotr(the book),lotr(the movie),pete jackson the man and our fears apart ....
Pessimism by Petrov	Dec 13th, 1998 10:37:28 PM
Enough with the negative thoughts. Let's be honest. We all want to see LoTR on the big screen. The problem is we all want to see our own version of it on the big screen. None of us can really say that when we read the books, we envisioned the same things that Tolkien did as he wrote them. The great thing about good literature is that while each member of the audience shares the same experience, each members' perceptions are different. A perfect example is the continuing argument about elf ears: half of us see pointy ears when we read Tolkien and half of us don't. Jackson is taking on a difficult job, no question. But we have to remember that he is first adapting a story that was intended to be read into a visual story. That's difficult in itself. Then we expect him to "faithfully" present numerous fantastical races and settings. Look he's not making a film based on a Grisham book. He can't run down to the court in Jackson, Miss. and get an authentic location shot. I suspect that given his respect for the subject, he intends to faithfully present at least his perception of Tolkien's work. And considering that he seems to be sincerely asking for input from other fans and "experts," we should assume that some of our own perceptions will make their way into the film. Frankly, that's all we should ask of him. Having said that. If he screws it up, I'll have his head. But until then let's all be a little more optimistic. Positive thought waves traveling to Kiwi land can only help.
yup.may the force be with you ,jackson! by Soylent	Dec 16th, 1998 04:28:50 AM

THE CAST by gingeracrockford	Dec 17th, 1998 01:16:53 PM
I think Christopher Lee would be cool as Denethor.The problem with Denethor is that people will confuse him with the other sad old king who also loses a son and also dies Theoden.So they have to be really different.How about Oliver Reed.That plus Connery as Gandalf Liam Neeson as Aragorn Bob Hoskins as Gimli Gary Oldman as Gollum Steve Buscemi as Wormtongue and Peter Ustinov[or even better Peter Sallis]as Bilbo could make a good film
My two cents... by Glaze	Dec 18th, 1998 02:50:03 PM
I've been reading all of the posts over the past several months and I only have a few comments. From the comments I've heard from Peter Jackson, he certainly seems to be approaching this from the proper perspective (of course that's just my opinion). I, for one, will await the release of this picture in two years (God that's a long wait) with eager anticipation. Anyone who has seen Heavenly Creatures knows that Jackson can put together a dramatic masterpiece when he wants too. In all the time that I've been reading the posts on who should play Gandalf I have been truly surprised that my first choice has not been mentioned. I can't think of anyone who could do a better job in that role than Christopher Plummer. He's a Shakespearean trained actor who has received critical acclaim at every level of the industry, and he also has the two physical attributes necessary for this role. His eyes and his voice. I think the eyes go with out saying and all anyone needs to do to hear the power of his voice is to watch him as General Chang in Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country.
So much trouble over jewelry. Are Hobbits gay? by Wolfpack	Jun 20th, 2006 07:23:44 AM

Talkbacks

Currently on LORD OF THE RINGS...

User login

Quick Talkback

Talkbacks