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RotK again (but not much)
Quick little George Eads news snippet aqui. It's Justice League, not CSI, but yay George anyway.
While I like the Sméagol/Déagol prologue, I think Andy started using his Gollum voice a bit too quickly. The Ring hooked Sméagol right off, which was good, and that was clearly visible through his expression and body language (and the fratricide was a pretty big clue, I guess), but unless he had always sounded like the creepy freak that the other River Folk were never allowed to play with, I think the voice was too much too soon. For me, it would have been better used as part of Gollum's physical transformation. (I could probably warp the reasoning behind it until I'm okay with it, though, like Arwen's Ring-rabies. How about, the scene is directly lifted from Sméagol/Gollum's memory [with his voice-over being not a message to audience, like Galadriel's wonderful Last Alliance Cliff Notes, but one of his usual talks with himself], and as such has been thoroughly warped by the Gollum aspect of his personality. His remaining Sméagol-ness is little more than an artifact by the time RotK rolls around, with almost no useful influence, and is overtaken as soon as The Precious shows up in his memories. Or something.)
Did Andy have a stunt raw fish eater? Those are some foul teeth, dude. Yum, grey slime! shudder
I just know that when I get the DVDs, I'm going to wear a hole in the Rohirrim scenes. Mad, mad love. Today's "why Rohan is the keenest" mental clipshow features the feast at Meduseld, complete with "Hail the victorious dead!" (yeah, I still miss Boromir too, Aragorn), Éowyn looking gorgeous and golden in Wealhþeow mode, and one of my favorite Théoden/Éowyn moments, as they watch Aragorn walk away and Théoden gives Éowyn his blessing for the match-that-will-never-be ("I am happy for you. He is an honorable man." High praise indeed). They both look so happy and hopeful. It doesn't last, of course. Almost immediately Théoden is struck again by his guilt, regret and grief over Helm's Deep and his recent failings as king. But for a brief moment, they get to enjoy a moment of comfort and hope for the future, and it makes me glad.
Hey, there are big Irish wolfhounds in Édoras! How cool!
Why does Arwen throw off her cloak as she runs up the steps to yell at her dad? It looks very dramatic, but sheesh, Arwen, someone's going to have to pick that up, you know, and I think the servants have sailed off by now.
I haven't been able to make movie!Denethor work for me yet, but I will say, John Noble has a great voice. If only he were allowed to use it to better effect. As little as I like Denethor (as little as I've ever liked Denethor), I hope there are a great whack of Denethor scenes in the EE, because he needs the help. He needs the palantir too, considering the number of oblique references to it.
What do the beacon-keepers do for food?
For that matter, what does Gondor do for food?![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ide_cyan was quite right to point out that they seem to be lacking in any sort of agriculture. Maybe they import their grain from Alberta? As lovely as Minis Tirith is (and as Osgiliath must have been), I miss the sense of Gondor as a kingdom, not just a city. And I miss the provinces. I miss Imrahil. Not in a fanatical "without Tom Bombadil there is no point to this movie and Peter Jackson might just as well have seduced goats on Tolkien's grave" way, but I do miss him a little.
Hey, with no Imrahil, does that mean theatrical cut!Éomer stays a bachelor? His lines get divvied up or cut, his sister gets his throne, and his wife never existed in the first place. Poor guy. He should retire and start a pub or a pancake house or something. "Éomer Son of Éomund's House of Steaks."
I love the baddies chanting "Grond! Grond! Grond!" Maybe I'm just a sucker for chanting, but that's darned cool. I also love the look of the Haradrim and their painted pachyderms. I hate them for squishing my Rohirrim (boooo!), but dayum do they look nice, in either their "swathed-from-tip-to-toe archer" or "tattooed oliphaunt-driver" varieties. I'd much rather look at them than that evil potato of an orc commander. But whatever happened to the gorgeously-armored Easterlings from TTT? They were awfully pretty, too. I mean, awfully evil. That's what I meant.
When Faramir and his troop are riding out of the city, and all the Gondorians are watching and throwing flowers and all, there's a young couple whose pose is twigging something in my memory, and I don't know what or why. They're both beautiful and dark, and neither is looking at the riders- she's standing in front of him, leaning slightly against him (I don't think his arms are around her, but I don't remember), looking down and to the left (? I think?). He's looking the other direction, and I don't think he's looking down. The pose just seems familiar, somehow. Regardless, it's a gorgeous composition.
I had the crying mostly under control this time, except for Théoden's death. No surprise there. I still cry every time at Boromir's death, too. I'm very predictable sometimes. Also, Miranda Otto looks lovely smiling through tears. She has a gift.
The use of the Army of the Dead to the exclusion of any other armies of Men is kind of a cop-out, but the image of them swarming over the oliphaunt and pulling it down was creepily cool. It reminded me of those horrible nature shows where some hapless spider gets eaten alive by hatching wasp maggots. Euch.
Speaking of which (well, not really, but...), the whole Legolas vs. the oliphaunt thing was goofy and unnecessary (and not as cool as the leaping on the horse thing in TTT), but I do like his expression after he leaps off and lands in front of Gimli. He does this little head-toss thing and barely raises an eyebrow, like, "So what did you think of that?" Aw, he wants Gimli to be impressed. Yay OTP!
The Witch King gets so little play overall that I wonder if the Black Breath is still a factor. Can't wait for those Houses of Healing scenes. I do still love the Fell Beasts, though, and the ear-piercing screechy noises they and the Nazgul make.
Unintentionally goofy lines: "To the gates, you slobs!"- one of the commanding orcs or Uruk-Hai. "I see you!"- Sauron, at least once in all three movies. Cha, dude, you're an eyeball.
Who's bearing the Gondorian standard before the Black Gates? There's Aragorn (and is it me, or does his accent sound odd in that scene?), Legolas and Gimli, Gandalf and Merry-or-Pip, Éomer and Merry-or-Pip, and Standard-Bearing Redshirt. Not that it matters who it is, really; I'm just curious.
Does Gandalf ever call Aragorn Elessar? Or Elrond? Galadriel, maybe? I can't remember. I want someone other than Sauron (or the Ring) to have called him by that name at least once, though. Galadriel would be nice. I did like that Gandalf bowed his head to Aragorn after he released the Dead. Nice moment, that.
I love the moment at the coronation when everyone bows to the hobbits, but I wonder what the people in the back were thinking. They get to stand there in the hot sun for hours, in their very finest finery, not being able to see a thing, bowing because the folks in front are bowing. That sounds fun, doesn't it?
So long to type for so little said! I wish I knew what I did to my arm to make it so sore. If I slept on it weirdly or something, you'd think it would be okay by now. Maybe chocolate will help.
While I like the Sméagol/Déagol prologue, I think Andy started using his Gollum voice a bit too quickly. The Ring hooked Sméagol right off, which was good, and that was clearly visible through his expression and body language (and the fratricide was a pretty big clue, I guess), but unless he had always sounded like the creepy freak that the other River Folk were never allowed to play with, I think the voice was too much too soon. For me, it would have been better used as part of Gollum's physical transformation. (I could probably warp the reasoning behind it until I'm okay with it, though, like Arwen's Ring-rabies. How about, the scene is directly lifted from Sméagol/Gollum's memory [with his voice-over being not a message to audience, like Galadriel's wonderful Last Alliance Cliff Notes, but one of his usual talks with himself], and as such has been thoroughly warped by the Gollum aspect of his personality. His remaining Sméagol-ness is little more than an artifact by the time RotK rolls around, with almost no useful influence, and is overtaken as soon as The Precious shows up in his memories. Or something.)
Did Andy have a stunt raw fish eater? Those are some foul teeth, dude. Yum, grey slime! shudder
I just know that when I get the DVDs, I'm going to wear a hole in the Rohirrim scenes. Mad, mad love. Today's "why Rohan is the keenest" mental clipshow features the feast at Meduseld, complete with "Hail the victorious dead!" (yeah, I still miss Boromir too, Aragorn), Éowyn looking gorgeous and golden in Wealhþeow mode, and one of my favorite Théoden/Éowyn moments, as they watch Aragorn walk away and Théoden gives Éowyn his blessing for the match-that-will-never-be ("I am happy for you. He is an honorable man." High praise indeed). They both look so happy and hopeful. It doesn't last, of course. Almost immediately Théoden is struck again by his guilt, regret and grief over Helm's Deep and his recent failings as king. But for a brief moment, they get to enjoy a moment of comfort and hope for the future, and it makes me glad.
Hey, there are big Irish wolfhounds in Édoras! How cool!
Why does Arwen throw off her cloak as she runs up the steps to yell at her dad? It looks very dramatic, but sheesh, Arwen, someone's going to have to pick that up, you know, and I think the servants have sailed off by now.
I haven't been able to make movie!Denethor work for me yet, but I will say, John Noble has a great voice. If only he were allowed to use it to better effect. As little as I like Denethor (as little as I've ever liked Denethor), I hope there are a great whack of Denethor scenes in the EE, because he needs the help. He needs the palantir too, considering the number of oblique references to it.
What do the beacon-keepers do for food?
For that matter, what does Gondor do for food?
ide_cyan was quite right to point out that they seem to be lacking in any sort of agriculture. Maybe they import their grain from Alberta? As lovely as Minis Tirith is (and as Osgiliath must have been), I miss the sense of Gondor as a kingdom, not just a city. And I miss the provinces. I miss Imrahil. Not in a fanatical "without Tom Bombadil there is no point to this movie and Peter Jackson might just as well have seduced goats on Tolkien's grave" way, but I do miss him a little. Hey, with no Imrahil, does that mean theatrical cut!Éomer stays a bachelor? His lines get divvied up or cut, his sister gets his throne, and his wife never existed in the first place. Poor guy. He should retire and start a pub or a pancake house or something. "Éomer Son of Éomund's House of Steaks."
I love the baddies chanting "Grond! Grond! Grond!" Maybe I'm just a sucker for chanting, but that's darned cool. I also love the look of the Haradrim and their painted pachyderms. I hate them for squishing my Rohirrim (boooo!), but dayum do they look nice, in either their "swathed-from-tip-to-toe archer" or "tattooed oliphaunt-driver" varieties. I'd much rather look at them than that evil potato of an orc commander. But whatever happened to the gorgeously-armored Easterlings from TTT? They were awfully pretty, too. I mean, awfully evil. That's what I meant.
When Faramir and his troop are riding out of the city, and all the Gondorians are watching and throwing flowers and all, there's a young couple whose pose is twigging something in my memory, and I don't know what or why. They're both beautiful and dark, and neither is looking at the riders- she's standing in front of him, leaning slightly against him (I don't think his arms are around her, but I don't remember), looking down and to the left (? I think?). He's looking the other direction, and I don't think he's looking down. The pose just seems familiar, somehow. Regardless, it's a gorgeous composition.
I had the crying mostly under control this time, except for Théoden's death. No surprise there. I still cry every time at Boromir's death, too. I'm very predictable sometimes. Also, Miranda Otto looks lovely smiling through tears. She has a gift.
The use of the Army of the Dead to the exclusion of any other armies of Men is kind of a cop-out, but the image of them swarming over the oliphaunt and pulling it down was creepily cool. It reminded me of those horrible nature shows where some hapless spider gets eaten alive by hatching wasp maggots. Euch.
Speaking of which (well, not really, but...), the whole Legolas vs. the oliphaunt thing was goofy and unnecessary (and not as cool as the leaping on the horse thing in TTT), but I do like his expression after he leaps off and lands in front of Gimli. He does this little head-toss thing and barely raises an eyebrow, like, "So what did you think of that?" Aw, he wants Gimli to be impressed. Yay OTP!
The Witch King gets so little play overall that I wonder if the Black Breath is still a factor. Can't wait for those Houses of Healing scenes. I do still love the Fell Beasts, though, and the ear-piercing screechy noises they and the Nazgul make.
Unintentionally goofy lines: "To the gates, you slobs!"- one of the commanding orcs or Uruk-Hai. "I see you!"- Sauron, at least once in all three movies. Cha, dude, you're an eyeball.
Who's bearing the Gondorian standard before the Black Gates? There's Aragorn (and is it me, or does his accent sound odd in that scene?), Legolas and Gimli, Gandalf and Merry-or-Pip, Éomer and Merry-or-Pip, and Standard-Bearing Redshirt. Not that it matters who it is, really; I'm just curious.
Does Gandalf ever call Aragorn Elessar? Or Elrond? Galadriel, maybe? I can't remember. I want someone other than Sauron (or the Ring) to have called him by that name at least once, though. Galadriel would be nice. I did like that Gandalf bowed his head to Aragorn after he released the Dead. Nice moment, that.
I love the moment at the coronation when everyone bows to the hobbits, but I wonder what the people in the back were thinking. They get to stand there in the hot sun for hours, in their very finest finery, not being able to see a thing, bowing because the folks in front are bowing. That sounds fun, doesn't it?
So long to type for so little said! I wish I knew what I did to my arm to make it so sore. If I slept on it weirdly or something, you'd think it would be okay by now. Maybe chocolate will help.
no subject
Galadrial calls Aragorn "Elessar" in the extended version of FOTR. It's a very sweet scene, she cups her hand around his scruffy jaw (::swoon::, I've got a thing for dark men and beards...) and tells him "I will not see you again, Elessar." It's a beautiful moment.
Thanks for comments! I agree almost 100% with everything you said. I too, missed the 'dark breath' - doesn't it look as if Faramir is suffering from an arrow wound (or two) and not the "dark arrow" from a Nazgul? And I missed the scene where Aragorn wakes Eowyn up terribly. I'm already anxious to see the extended version!
no subject
Galadrial calls Aragorn "Elessar" in the extended version of FOTR. It's a very sweet scene, she cups her hand around his scruffy jaw (::swoon::, I've got a thing for dark men and beards...) and tells him "I will not see you again, Elessar." It's a beautiful moment.
Ah, thanks very much. I thought I vaguely remembered that, but it's been a while since I've seen that EE and I couldn't be sure. I'm glad, though- I was getting concerned that he only ever hears that name in a "Come to the Dark Side" context, so I'm happy that there was Galadriel for a counterweight. I definitely need to watch that again soon.
I too, missed the 'dark breath' - doesn't it look as if Faramir is suffering from an arrow wound (or two) and not the "dark arrow" from a Nazgul? And I missed the scene where Aragorn wakes Eowyn up terribly. I'm already anxious to see the extended version!
Yes, I was wondering about Faramir's wounds as well. We know that, whatever his wounds are, he still requires a laying-on of hands from the king, because there are pictures of that scene floating around (as well as the one of Aragorn and a sickly-looking Eowyn), but is that because of the malevolently mystical qualities of a Nazgul-inflicted wound, or because of a couple of plain old orc arrows? I'm curious to see what route Peter Jackson takes. November and the EE seem so far away!