I just think it's rather odd that a nation that prides itself on its virility should feel compelled to strap on forty pounds of protective gear just in order to play rugby.

Giles ,'Beneath You'


LotR - The Return of the King: "We named the *dog* 'Strider'".  

Frodo: Please, what does it always mean, this... this "Aragorn"? Elrond: That's his name. Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Aragorn: I like "Strider." Elrond: We named the *dog* "Strider".

A discussion of Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King. If you're a pervy hobbit fancier, this is the place for you.


Kate P. - Feb 03, 2004 5:15:49 pm PST #1633 of 3902
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love

He lost his ID card the night before the Golden Globes and, of course, couldn't get past security because nobody knows who he is.

Seriously? Ouch. That must really hurt, especially with nearly everyone else from the movies being such big celebs these days.


sumi - Feb 04, 2004 5:43:05 am PST #1634 of 3902
Art Crawl!!!

Well, the people from the production offices were trying to get him past security -- but security wasn't having it.

JessPMoon, is this in line with your assessment of the Trilogy?

(From the The Toronto Star.)

Mortensen is a man of carefully chosen words and strongly held convictions about integrity and honesty. He's proud of his work in The Lord Of The Rings, and he's a staunch defender of the trilogy, but he candidly states that the first film, The Fellowship Of The Ring, was the one where the acting counted for the most.

"Especially the extended version.

"There was more of a balance between the special effects and the fantastical and the subtle and human interactions.

"I think with the second movie and the third and the final part, the direction went from balancing that more towards the broader brush strokes in terms of performance and emotion, and very much towards special effects."


Jessica - Feb 04, 2004 6:01:03 am PST #1635 of 3902
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

I think that's a fair assessment, yes. Especially the "broader brush strokes" part.


sumi - Feb 04, 2004 7:13:26 am PST #1636 of 3902
Art Crawl!!!

From the History News Network a draft Aragorn campaign.

(I nabbed this from Readerville's Tolkien thread.)


JohnSweden - Feb 04, 2004 7:55:44 am PST #1637 of 3902
I can't even.

From that link you posted, sumi, I followed to this one:

Zinn v Chomsky LOTR

"And observe the map device here — how the map is itself completely Gondor-centric. Rohan and Gondor are treated as though they are the literal center of Middle Earth. Obviously this is because they have men living there."

Okay, more. Sheer genius here:

Well, you know, it would be manifestly difficult to believe in magic rings unless everyone was high on pipe-weed. So it is in Gandalf's interest to keep Middle Earth hooked.


Consuela - Feb 04, 2004 8:47:02 am PST #1638 of 3902
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

"I think with the second movie and the third and the final part, the direction went from balancing that more towards the broader brush strokes in terms of performance and emotion, and very much towards special effects."

Absolutely on the money, as far as I'm concerned. I enjoyed the hell out of all of them, but I still find Fellowship the most emotionally engaging, despite the acting pyrotechnics in Return.


§ ita § - Feb 04, 2004 8:55:48 am PST #1639 of 3902
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I still find Fellowship the most emotionally engaging

I find it more emotionally compact, but I did cry much more in RotK. FotR gets me at Amon Hen and "although I do not know the way" -- I see those moments as both iconic.

For RotK, however, it's all Pippin, most Eowyn, and fires to boot. I also think that Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen and Sean Astin turn in their strongest performances.


Calli - Feb 04, 2004 9:11:02 am PST #1640 of 3902
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs

I think FotR had to spend more time on showing the nuances of the characters, because we were meeting most of them there and getting to know them. In TT and RotK the characters had to show how their experiences were changing them, but they had the basic characters established by then.


Matt the Bruins fan - Feb 04, 2004 9:13:59 am PST #1641 of 3902
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand

I think it's telling that I've rewatched FotR on cable whenever I've come across it (weirdly, I almost always hit whatever channel it's airing on during the Moria sequence), yet never went back to the theaters for a second viewing of the other two movies or rented The Two Towers.


Jeff Mejia - Feb 04, 2004 11:34:29 am PST #1642 of 3902
"Don't think of yourself as an organic pain collector racing towards oblivion." Dogbert to Dilbert

From TV Gal's coverage of the Golden Globes:

Moment That Made Me Least Proud of Joan(Rivers): Joan asked Dominic Monaghan of "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" if there would be a fourth "Lord of the Rings" movie. Such sad times, Joan.