Pretty much accords with my fav local movie critic,

Post #22,076 by Ashton 12/20/01 5:57:51 AM Reply	Pretty much accords with my fav local movie critic, Mick LaSalle (SF Chron). I most often agree with his take; he usually avoids superlatives - but gave this a similar overall take to yours. He commented in more detail on the characters and entirely suitable casting. Sample: JRR Tolkien's masterpiece ... is about two profound things - the horror of power without spiritual understanding, and the nature of courage. ... Well [LOTR] gets it right. It's a wonderful movie. Watching it, one can't help but get the impression that everyone involved was steeped in T's work, loved the book, treasured it an took care not to break a cherished thing in it. He goes on to note that the movie is about character, yet the art direction is beautiful, special effects stunning. Guess I'll have to go to the City to see it; not much around here that isn't a McMovie noise-plex :( Comforting to expect the next two, with some assurance they won't blow it. Even better - despite Corporate, occasionally you can still create art! Ashton ..and not a single chopper hit with a missile.
Post #22,152 by mhuber 12/20/01 7:27:49 PM Reply	..and not a single chopper hit with a missile. I got two questions: 1) Does the hero get the girl? 2) Do the horses expolde when they crash? ---- "You don't have to be right - just use bolded upper case" - annon.
Post #22,195 by Ashton 12/21/01 1:25:02 AM Reply	Beauty of Tolkien.. No gurrlz. Wait, that didn't come out right: yes there be elfin and elvin Princesses but.. no soap operas about hobbits gettin into pants by method XZ-143-beta, nor the other usual. ie Nobody Gets the Girl or for the other half: Nobody gets the guy/hobbit/elf or Gollum. There's just fuckin No Sex :( and it Works :-) er, don't try this at home, kids. Ashton
Post #22,205 by ben_tilly 12/21/01 7:06:36 AM Reply	Really? Sam gets Rosie. There is a fine Hobbit romance. Aaragorn gets Arwen. Tolkien isn't above a little cross-racial relationship or two. For purely human romance, Éowyn gets over her love for Aragorn and gets Faramir. Legolas loses his heart, OK that is to the sea and not a person, but still he does. Heck, even Gollum gets his heart's desire, the Ring, and keeps it to the end of his days. (OK, that isn't as long as Gollum might have wished...) Now the romance is not central to the book. Doing romances isn't exactly Tolkein's strong point. Wistful longing and deep devotion are more his style. There is a .. gap .. between feeling and lifelong marriage that he doesn't fill in. But still there were romances there. Cheers, Ben
Post #22,210 by Simon_Jester 12/21/01 7:59:51 AM Reply	Just a tad bit of understatement... Heck, even Gollum gets his heart's desire, the Ring, and keeps it to the end of his days. (OK, that isn't as long as Gollum might have wished...)
Post #22,212 by ben_tilly 12/21/01 9:15:02 AM Reply	Ya think? :-)
Post #22,246 by Ashton 12/21/01 3:51:07 PM Reply	Romance yes.. just no gratuitous scenes Doin It One More Time, for the voyeurs.. nor a Hobbit worryin.. worryin.. is mine Bigger?? ... enough? Will she respect me in the morning? Hey check out the boobs on \ufffdowyn! yada yada. ie What exactly would have sex-onlooking done for these books? Obviously JRR thought: nada. I think he got that right. Older kids could fill in their own imaginations (and who could stop them!) - but to younger ones, it er wouldn't come up.. And after all, what's the most erotic part of the body? Yup - the mind. 'Romance' was about developing that larger aspect so perfectly Missing in the 2.8-minute fuck in 3-D color with body double - y'know? (Hell, maybe JRR was prescient about the obvious direction of mass media.. for all I know he might even have despised the fact that Sex Sells [now.. absolutely Everything]. That's just a guess, of course.) Those who can get off only on the explicit.. are doomed to endless reruns of Bo Derek on that mind projector. Cackle.. glorp. :-\ufffd A.

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