Since the first official trailer has come out I thought I'd open up this topic to discuss. This looks like its going to be awesome

The previous Hobbit films were far below the mark, but with Peter Jackson (and 3D) this one might work. I expect a new generation of Tolkien readers to emerge, especially now that the Harry Potter series is done. No other evil-vs.-good series, including Eragon and King's The Dark Tower, has reached Tolkien's level.

I still believe that the Lord of the Rings was an allegory about World War II despite Tolkien's insistence that it was not.

Glad they had the sense to retain Peter Jackson, after initial silly noises about getting rid of him. Also glad they retained many of the other original actors, especially Ian "Gandalf the Gay" McKellen, who is absolutely indispensable, Andy "Gollum" Serkis and a few name actors I don't care about much, though they're good for continuity.

Looks like a real geekgasm, plus they're teasing for it damn near a year before the event. That's usually a good sign.

And it's slated for a December opening, which usually means Oscar bait.

A whole year we haz to wait?! I won't show this to Sprout for a while.

Being the total nerd/gay/fanboy that I am, I can only say...
Squeeeeee!
FWIW, I'm especially amused because, way back in 1970-something, my freshman year, I read The LOTR trilogy first, then read The Hobbit a year or so later. I also threw the Silmarillion in the trash, so I'm gonna bet I go 3-for-3.

I thought the first film in the trilogy was great, and I thought the other 2 were complete drek.

Literally the only bits I enjoyed in the second one were Gandalf and the Balrog kicking the shit out of one another, and the Ents using the Orcs as footballs. That's it. It was boring, pointless, filled with actors deadpanning lines not emoting at all and not giving me a reason to give two shits about any of them. What the frack was this suddenly,. a George Lucas film? And Gimli was suddenly the comic relief for some reason, after being a powerhouse in the first movie. Also Jackson altered bits of the second one in ways that made no sense whatsoever. For example

Book: The ends Have a meeting, and decide to go to Isenguard and kick the shit out of orcs. Huzzah!

Film: The Ents decide to give up and go home, then Merry tricks Head Ent with the weakest trick ever and Then the ents get all shocked to see that they were cutting down trees and then get mad and go to bloody war. I mean what the hell was the bloody meeting about. And what did they think the orcs were gonna do, wrap the trees in winter wollys? All I could think about was that Jackson was talking about the rest of the world and the Iraq war, and how they were all cowards for not joining in.

And King Theoden was not possessed in the book, and in the film we have a side quest into the Exorcist. And before you think that it would not have worked on film, in the cartoon they did it like in the book and it worked brilliantly

Saruman showing off the latest models you can get at games workshop was fun too. And I thought Aragorn should have had an S on his chest as all he had to do was touch an Orc and it fell over. I mean 2 guys on a bridge was able to hold off an army, after those same 2 guys were running from Orcs for all they are worth in the previous film?

Its a sad thing that the most interesting parts of the movie were the most uninteresting parts of the book, namely Sam and Frodo getting rained on for weeks as they wander westwards with Gollum. Regardless I must have looked at my watch 30 odd times in the theater to see when it would be over.

The third one I know was going to be a pointless special effects romp with no character or acting, but hey at least I was expecting it after the boring mess of the second movie. But there was one line I looked forward to, the end of the witch king. And of course Jackson fucked it up for no reason at all.

In the book its very psychological. First Sauron's storm breaks which shakes the Witch Kings confidence a little. Then he kills Theoden and a warrior confronts him and he laughs, saying what prophecy has said that no man can kill him. And then the warrior laughs out loud and takes off her helmet saying "you're looking at a woman" This stuns him and he just sits there, because he suddenly realizes he actually IS vulnerable, that he COULD die in this situation. His confidence leaves him and that's why he dies.

In the film of course he pointlessly spins around and then grabs her and holds her staring into her face for 10 seconds rather than ripping her head off, giving Pippin a lot of time to stab him with a sword he picked up, and then she stabs him in the face and gives some butch line he must have ripped out of Zena the Warrior lingerie cataloge.

So, Not going to bother going to see this hobbit film at all. He'll probably have some woman riding Smaug or spinning warrior babes with lots of wire fu, or some other stupidity to be hip.

On the other hand, Suranis is Sanskrit for 'Sauron.'

But seriously, I love reading a good, honest, contrarian review. I do need to go back and read the whole trilogy again.

Of all your criticisms, the one I agree with the most is Gimli as comic relief. The whole dwarf race component was fail, did not convey their power and nobility.

Now imma watch the hobbit trailer.

Anybody up for reviewing the Hardy Boys books?

Nancy Drew was smarter than those Hardy Boys!

Not even on her best day!

Draw your own conclusions.

It's the Hairy Boys and Nancy Do!

Sigh! Shaun Cassidy, one of my great teen crushes! Lots of the girls had it bad for his brother David, but for me it was always Shaun.

Ima old-school purist.



(and that Nancy Drew was too pure)

Not just the girls, my dear. Although for me back then it was Chris Knight/Peter Brady.

Christians for a Moral America announce boycott of this wicked film:



http://christiansforamoralamerica.blogspot.com/2011/12/boycott-announcement-hobbit-movie.html

I've read the Hobbit many times, but I somehow missed the "Christians vs Atheists" undertones alluded to here.

Also of interest is the website's poll as to how our Sacred Nation will finally be rid of that intruder in the White House. (I personally find the "He'll take refuge in Africa after backlash" to be intriguing.)

Some Xtian groups said the same things about the Harry Potter series. I suspect it intrigued young minds so much that they were banned from going to these movies that they found a way to see them, if only on DVD at a friend's home. This will increase attendance for The Hobbit.

The last thing you want to do with a teenager is ban them from doing something. That guarantees that they will do it. Discussing things with them works far better, although you run the risk they might not agree.

Are you sure the text you're quoting is real? It sounds like an example of Poe's Law if it's true, because it reads like something off the Landover Baptist Church parody website.

LOTR does have some Christian-inspired elements, but unlike C.S. Lewis, Tolkien certainly did not intend it to be allegorical in any way. In fact, Tolkien vocally disapproved of Lewis's rather evangelical use of Christian allegory in Lewis's Narnia series.

The poll of these "Christians for a Moral America" apparently includes assassination as one of the ways President Obama will "go out in 2012":


Twenty-one percent favor assassination. What lovely moral Christians.

They do not do parody! They are the only Way To Salvation and True Christian^tm religion. You should be clicking their PayPal button and buying your way to heaven, silly heathen.

A Huff Post writer on religion said that "Christians" is what is a lie about this site. It consists of only one guy, somebody named Keith. Christians for a Moral America Pray for George Michael's Death by John Shore. Warning: graphic image >>> Keith's post on abortion is gross and greatly misleading

Suranis, I agree on a number of your criticisms of the second and third LOTR movies, but you missed two of my least favorite "changes" in the second:



While I found more enjoyment in 2 and 3 than you did, what particularly bugged me throughout the series was the pattern of unnecessary changes to people's fundamental natures.

A couple of my kids were part of a LOTR marathon yesterday that was precisely timed so that the ring was destroyed as the ball dropped. There were intermissions in the marathon, as well -- again, very precisely timed

One of my sons and his buddy were the "brains" behind the whole operation. There were charts involved.

Anyway, one of my greatest happinesses is that at least one of my kids ripped through my SF/F collection as he was growing up. (He would be thrilled to nitpick through the series with y'all.)

Nerdiness breeds true, at least in my case.