SPOILER WARNING FOR SPY KIDS 3

NOT HERE. THIS IS NOT A SPOILER.

It is a warning OF a spoiler. To wit:

If any of you visit the "Always and Forever Elijah Wood" website, their August 3 update has a "review" by Anna that starts out talking about what Elijah's cameo consists of -- then goes ahead and tells you blow-by-blow how it ends.

If any of you plan to see this movie someday (I'm going to hold out for video, myself -- those 3D glasses things sound way weird) and don't want to know exactly what will happen, just skip over that paragraph.

Happy weekend, all! And congrats to the newest Try 17/All I Want viewers. Yes, I'll have to see it again. Cheers! :k

Edit: Ainon, just saw your TMTSNBN Froshadows. LOL!!!

Oooh! Look! It's tgshaw's Andy Defresne! ;) :cool:


Bridget, I'm proud to know that you're doing your bit to protect the children in your community from the likes of

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/280194/PDVD_081.jpg

Oh sure, he looks innocent enough.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/280194/PDVD_077.jpg

And there're froshadows if you try hard enough

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/280194/PDVD_158.jpg http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/280194/PDVD_155.jpg

But ... oh, Maeg. I'm sorry. I'm sure you'd hoped that you could come to the Faculty to obtain sanctuary from The Animated Movie That Shall Not Be Named. Well. Guess not. :D

'Ash Wednesday' in Scandinavia. :shudder: ;) Actually I do wonder if 'Ash Wednesday' was ever scheduled to be released in cinemas or maybe in legitimate VCD format here, since the VCD copy I purchased at a night market has all the subtitles in place. I've yet to see 'AW' on sale in shops though.


Thanks, peaceweaver, for the sneak peek at Video Guy. TRON!


Wasn't there a Rodriguez interview where he did say something about how he'd like to work with Elijah again, and that he'd like to see Elijah play a bad guy? :confused: I'd love to see Elijah getting the kind of bad guy roles that Kevin Spacey and Edward Norton do so effortlessly. Say - I'm sorry if this had been explained already but I'm writing this off-line right now; can't check the previous page - is Elijah's Video Guy a good guy or a bad guy?

edit - just saw your post, Mariole. Thanks! :)

Well, if you really don't want to sit through all of Spy Kids 3D, you can get a glimpse of Elwood as Tron in a video clip from entertainment tonight posted at frodoandsam.net by the wondrous Elve! :) It is waaaay cool.

http://frodoandsam.net/film/multimedia/video.html

Originally posted by ainon
Oooh! Look! It's tgshaw's Andy Defresne! ;) :cool:
With Chinese subtitles, yet! :p (Have to admit I've been up to my ears in website difficulties this weekend so haven't had a chance to watch any movie--but it's sitting right here.

'Ash Wednesday' in Scandinavia. :shudder: ;) Actually I do wonder if 'Ash Wednesday' was ever scheduled to be released in cinemas or maybe in legitimate VCD format here, since the VCD copy I purchased at a night market has all the subtitles in place. I've yet to see 'AW' on sale in shops though.
'Ash Wednesday' is available "legitimately" at yesasia.com--not sure which subtitles are involved or whether it's VCD and/or DVD; afraid I didn't pay too much attention to it, since I already had it on DVD; I just noticed it was there.

Thanks for the pics from... you know. I needed just a few shots from it for what I'm trying to do in "revamping" my website--which is becoming more complicated than I expected--and I have no intentions of buying it on DVD! :eek: ;)

Tempting, peaceweaver--but I'm kind of excited about seeing Video Guy in context now, so I think I'll actually wait :) !

Originally posted by tgshaw
Thanks for the pics from... you know. I needed just a few shots from it for what I'm trying to do in "revamping" my website--which is becoming more complicated than I expected--and I have no intentions of buying it on DVD! :eek: ;)

tgshaw!:eek: You mean you're voluntarily putting pictures from TMTMNBN on your website? Where people can see them?:eek: That's it. You've obviously been spending far too much time watching second-rate EW movies, and now it's affecting your brain. My prescription: a large dose of "Shawshank Redemption." Stat.;) :D

*swoon* for Andy Dufresne...sigh...

Thumbelina looks absolutely possessed in that picture...scary stuff.:eek:



Try 17 spoilers to end of post


I finished watching "Try 17" today (thanks to ((((Sheryl))))). I haven't read anyone else's comments on it, but I know some people were disappointed/didn't like Jones. So I was worried that I might feel the same way. However, I ended up liking it a lot.:) The way he was so intimidated by his roommate at the beginning - so intimidating that he actually dropped out of school rather than share a room with him;) - a tad exaggerated, perhaps, but I totally identified with that feeling. Overall I just thought it was an enjoyable and funny movie, and liked both Elijah's character and his acting.:)

My favorite moment: when Jones was helping Lisa (Mandy Moore) run through her lines, and delivered his own line in such an awful, flat, expressionless voice. Very surreal to see Elijah not acting, if you follow me.:cool:

Little Try 17 Spoiler






Bridget--Since you haven't read everything that was said about Try 17, maybe you missed the comments on what (IMHO, anyway) was the funniest dialogue in the movie, when considering the two RL people involved:

Jones: You were good.
Lisa: Really? I mean, not just compared to you? :D :D

And, yes, I could identify with the roommate scenario, too.




End of Try 17 Spoiler




The following is especially for anyone who needs more reason to worry about my brain ;) .

Well, it had to be done... :p

From Video Game Kid #1 to Video Guy!!

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/Previous movies/SG_73051_Wood-small.jpg http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/Previous movies/videoguy.jpg

Too funny, tg! LOL! :D

Hi everyone! :) Not been around for ages {{{hugs}}} but thought I'd pop in and say hello.

Got loads to read, will hopefully be back sooner than before! :D

Take care,


{{{Elijah}}}

{{{Faculty}}}

Luth x

{{{Luthiea}}} Great to see you again... :) :)
And now you're running off? :( Come back here! :p

Just two links to some Frolijah-inspired fanart by a Russian girl. Might be considered ROTK spoilers...

A Portrait of Frodo (http://iorhy.narod.ru/44nfportret.jpg)

The Ring Is Mine (http://iorhy.narod.ru/34nfringismine.jpg)

Hey Luthiea! *hugs* Come back! :) :k


Brunhild ... :eek: :eek:


tgshaw - LOL! VideoShadowings! But I share Bridget's concern over the fact that you're putting up TMTSNBN images without having been coerced into doing so by rabid animated small people (in which case I suppose we should have more things to worry about. technically) and without corporate sponsorship amounting to enough cash to bribe Elijah's agent, manager and publicist into handing him over to us for the Faculty Moot.

And, in an effort to get myself thoroughly trouted, something I forgot to comment on last night:

Originally posted by tgshaw re: Spy Kids 3
Okay, now I'm actually looking forward to seeing this. I can hear the ticket seller: "Hmmm... middle-aged woman with no rugrats in tow seeing Spy Kids--Elijah Wood fan, right?" :p

Actually ... <prepares to flee> ... wouldn't she peg you as a middle-aged mad-about-Antonio-Banderas-and-will-suffer-greatest-indignities-to-gaze-upon-his-tanned-abs fan? :D :D :D

flees the Faculty ... but underestimates the reach of tg's mean right hook

Owwww!

Originally posted by tgshaw
Little Try 17 Spoiler






Bridget--Since you haven't read everything that was said about Try 17, maybe you missed the comments on what (IMHO, anyway) was the funniest dialogue in the movie, when considering the two RL people involved:

Jones: You were good.
Lisa: Really? I mean, not just compared to you? :D :D

And, yes, I could identify with the roommate scenario, too.

I agree, that was awesome.:cool: For some reason, though, I found this line of Elijah's really funny (paraphrased) (after Jane's car accident):

Lisa: I keep thinking I should tell her I'm sorry.
Jones: (Completely straight face) Actually, I think it was mostly the deer's fault.


I dunno, for some reason I loved that.:D

End of Try 17 Spoiler


Love the video shadowings!:cool:

Brunhild, I can't see your pictures.:confused: But from ainon's reaction to them, maybe that's for the best...:o

Hi, Luthiea!:) Hurry back!

And he makes the cover of Time! Again! :cool:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1929049978.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg


What? This counts too, right? :p :D

Avatar note: Because of website woes, I've been getting seriously short on avatars! So I've gone back to some of the screencaps from FotR that I'd given up on to see if I'd have any luck since I've learned a bit more. Yesterday's wasn't too bad, IMHO, but today's... Well, it's one of those "He doesn't have a nose" shots, and you can kind of tell he has a nose now, but... :rolleyes:

Originally posted by ainon
What? This counts too, right? :p :D
Of course! (And it's a much better picture ;) .)

Bridget (and I think I can do this without spoilers) -- I liked that exchange of dialogue, too, because IMHO it says a lot about Jones. Not only that he's quick-thinking and has a sense of humor, but that he picks up and analyzes what people are saying--and not saying--better than most people might. The line he was responding to sure puzzled me the first time I watched the movie, but he figured out exactly what was behind it. And when he brought it out into the open, naturally I thought, "Of course!" :p

ainon--Regarding pics from TAMTSNBN, the main purpose is to warn people! But for more about that, you can read my website problems below (which I completely blame on the presence of those images ;) ).

Regarding ticketseller at SpyKids--Hmmm... Interesting in that I was picturing the ticketseller as male and you were picturing the ticketseller as female, and I think our different predictions might be affected by that... Or, mine might be affected by my total lack of attraction to anyone who'd get into a committed relationship with Melanie Griffith :confused: .

Brunhild, I can't see the pics, either, but I'll go along with Bridget in guessing that it might be for the best...

-----------

The rest of this post deals with my website woes, so anyone who doesn't want to read my foot-stomping, hair-tearing stuff can move on :rolleyes: . --

The horrified remarks about my posting pics from TAMTSNBN just could be right :eek: ! I've been spending most of my computer time the last 4-5 days trying to get a revamped website up in the free space at Earthlink--to get away from the dropdown ads at Lycos. (Size-wise, I had to split it into two different URL's, but that's really no problem--would just have a link to the "LotR Movies" section at the second URL and it wouldn't even be noticeable.)

One of the changes I'm making is to give each movie its own page, with a couple of pics on each one. The pages have loaded but the pics just refuse to. I've tried everything I can think of and everything suggested on the Earthlink help pages, so have sent an email to the webmaster there to see if he can figure it out. I'm getting a very specific error message (which, of course, isn't mentioned anywhere on the "common errors" list), so maybe he/she can decipher it. If it can't be fixed, we may be stuck with the drop-down ads, at least for awhile.

I do kind of like the new look I've been able to give the place, though, between the new website program and the ability to be less "generic" now that the other parts of the website have been spun off into their own sites. If anyone wants to take a look at what's there (and what isn't :rolleyes: ) , go to http://home.earthlink.net/~jrrt-ejw/ . (Almost all the images from the JRRT part of the site were blocked by the upload problems, including page backgrounds.) I'm not going to upload the LotR Movies part until I find out if the rest of it is going to work.

BTW, since I was using the upgraded program on the Tripod site, it's now published "without frames," so it will seem a bit different. Should still be operational, though. It's just that the border will now scroll *with* the rest of the page instead of separately. If anyone notices any pics missing, please let me know--that's the other possible "side-effect."

[Sorry to talk so much about my website problems here, but it's about the only place I can "vent" where people understand that "Oh, the only problem you should have is that you might lose about three-fourths of your images" is not a minor thing :eek: ! --The entire site is saved on CD, but if I can't post it, it's not much good.]

Anyway, from the way the upload was working (or not), it has to be the fault of something in those 23 movie pages. Technically it could come from any one of them, but we know which movie has the greatest potential to inflict demonic harm, don't we :eek: ? The only other possible culprit (B&W) is the only movie for which I have no pics, so it can't be at fault.

--------------------

Tg, I love the look of your new web site! But I can't look at your background without thinking about poor Frodo getting run against the wall by Faramir. Perhaps that's a little too much Frodo on the brain? :p And I love your Froshadow for this month! ;)

I do hope you get your picture upload problems solved. When I uploaded my site to a new location, I had to make sure that everything was in the same case (upper/lower) in the filename and the link. Also, you might check your filename extensions (for example, if they want JPEG vs .jpg). That's all I can think of right now. It depends on the host's server (Unix, Mac, etc.). I don't think we can blame TMTSNBN for this one. Computers are just full of evil spirits. I think they enjoy laughing at us.

Brunhild, I can't see your fanart either. All I get is a page in Russian which I assume means "file not found"? :(

Both Bridget and Tg have noted some of my favorite Try 17 dialogue. The banter was remarkably witty and enjoyable in that flick.

Ainon, the only thing wrong with that Time cover is that they show Frodo instead of Video Guy. That would really have had me laughing!

Cheers, all.

Images are behaving strangely of late. It seems that American Faculty members cannot see the pics from that Russian site. Is the Iron Curtain still virtually there? :) One more attempt to subdue this JPEG riot against humanity:

Whoa!

Brunhild, that works. I agree with Ainon. :eek: Post the other one? Thanks!

Great new site, Tgshaw! As for Frodo Lives (which as a teen long ago, I disparaged as trite but is now my favorite 'essence'), I always thought it meant that Frodo lives on, in spirit, in our hearts - no matter where he went or ended up. I always suspected he remained mortal and therefore died on T.E. What happened after that depends on what we believe doesn't it?

Originally posted by Mariole
But I can't look at your background without thinking about poor Frodo getting run against the wall by Faramir. Perhaps that's a little too much Frodo on the brain?


Very nice angsty Frodo on the brain - you can never have too much of that! :D :D


Haven't had time to explore everything yet, tg, but the site's looking good. But, I'm sorry, my male ticket seller would probably still think the same thing as my female ticket seller while handing you that 'Spy Kids 3' ticket. :p :D Good luck with sorting out the bugs. We're cyber-patting you on the back and urging you on! :)


Meanwhile, have a read. ;)


Hobbits Play at EA GAMES
(http://www.eagames.com/official/lordoftherings/returnoftheking/editorial/comic_con3.jsp)

Comic-Con hosted a number of The Lord of the Rings notables this year. Andy Serkis, the actor behind Gollum, was generous enough to be on hand for much of the conference, greeting fans and signing autographs. Saturday saw a remarkable flux of Hollywood talent on the exhibition floor when Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) and Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck) graced the EA GAMES booth to play The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. A crowd instantly converged to catch a glimpse of the actors teaming up in co-op mode.

Wood chose to play as Sam while Monaghan stepped into Aragorn's virtual boots. Monaghan jokingly asked, "Can I kill Elijah?" (the answer being no, of course, since the Fellowship is fighting cooperatively to save Middle-earth).

As the game's "Minas Tirith – courtyard" level loaded, EA representative David Silverman explained how Sam can wear his Elven cloak of camouflage to evade enemies. Wood responded, "Aw, sweet!"

Monaghan, anxious to get into the action, egged, "Where are the bad guys? Come on, bad guys, come on!" Then the game began and havoc erupted on-screen. Blue-robed citizens ran through the courtyard as enemy soldiers streamed through the gate. A storm of boulders flung from catapults crashed continually, creating thick clouds of gray dust. The sounds of orc cries, crumbling rock, and metal meeting metal filled the air.

Wood noticed the enemy slaying the women and cried out with indignation, “Hey, they’re killing the wenches, dude!”

Monaghan, meeting stiff opposition, muttered “Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish!” He seemed a bit embarrassed by his initial performance, but managed to remember Aragorn’s combo move on his own and cleaved an orc in half. Then he grabbed a blazing war pike and thrust it into an enemy with a triumphant yell.

Wood observed that Sam "isn’t the best guy for this particular level." Silverman described how the Hobbits have special levels designed to suit their stealthier style and detailed how they can actually interact more with the environment by pushing boulders off cliffs, tipping braziers of hot coals, and setting off ballista. Wood, genuinely impressed, responded, "Oh, that’s awesome."

Wood proceeded to coordinate a strategy of attack with Monaghan. "I’m taking out their archers," he informed as flaming arrows whizzed by. They teamed up directly to take out an orc in a few swift blows, but the pressure of the invasion did not let up even for a moment. Wood’s brow began to furrow in concentration. The pair played with the utmost attention, their eyes never leaving the screen. Suddenly, Wood yelled, “Die! Die! Die!” at a stunned enemy returning to his feet. He finished him off with a kill move as Monaghan encouraged, "Good! Come on!"

Suddenly, the entire courtyard shook as three colossal cave trolls trundled into the action. Wood and Monaghan looked at each other, eyebrows raised in amazement, and chime in unison, “Oooooh!” Wood’s Sam hacked and slashed tenaciously, leveling dozens of enemy warriors. “That’s right,” he declared, “took him down! One… down…. Another one down…. We are good, dude!”

Meanwhile, Monaghan seemed to be meeting more resistance. He stated, “Hey, these guys are hard core,” and fretted about Aragorn’s declining health until Aragorn finally collapsed and respawned. Someone from the crowd teased, “Dom, What’s going on there?” Monaghan immediately struck an air of nonchalance: “Nothing, nothing, nothing, just chilling!”

Soon, it was Wood’ turn to vent. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Really dying a lot here, really dying!”

Within moments, though, they vanquished the last cave troll and finished the level. Wood raised his hand in victory, “Yeaaaaah!” He pointed to the remaining fleeing women and told them, “Go, wenches, go!” He turned to Monaghan and yelled, “We beat it. We beat it! We beat it!”

For their valiant in-game efforts, each one received a high-resolution rendering of his respective character from the game in 8”x10” glossy print format. When asked what they thought of the game, Monaghan shrugged his shoulders and replied, “It’s alright.” Both he and Wood laughed. “It’s good man, really good! It’s kind of hectic, but that’s what Helm’s Deep is all about!” He raised his glossy of Merry and kissed the back.

Wood leaned over to Monaghan and said, “It’s not Helm’s Deep, it’s really Minas Tirith; really Minas Tirith,” eluding to how similar it is in the game to the location in the movie. With that, they turned to their crowd of fans and departed to enjoy the rest of Comic-Con.


Click to see a four-shot composite of the crowd gathered to see Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan (http://images.ea.com/eagames/official/rotk/cc03/pan.jpg)

I hate to say it, tg, but I'm afraid I have to concur with Mariole - I don't thing it's You-Know-What's fault that your website's acting up. I suspect it's the Faculty spirits, letting you know how they feel about the main page.

"23 Elijah Woods Movies"???:eek: :eek:




;) ((((tgshaw)))) :D

The site is beautiful!:) I love the "brick wall" & how it fits in with your essay.:) Good luck appeasing the Faculty spirits, or exorcising the TMTMNBN demons - whichever works.;)

ainon--I'm resisting the temptation to put "Hey, they’re killing the wenches, dude!" or "Go, wenches, go!" into my sig :D.

Mariole--The other, scarier drawing of Frodo is attached.

Hello all.

Firstly, I must say HELLO LUTHIEA. How's life treating you? It's lovely to see you again. I thought you had deserted us. Welcome back.:)

Ainon - love that piece on Elijah and Dom and the ROTK game at Comic-con. Elijah was very chivalrous there, saving the 'wenches' from the baddies. Aaaahhh! Thanks for that.

Tg - Love the new site. I spent a while there last night, reading your essays, which for some reason I hadn't got around to doing before. (Too busy looking at your caps series) I love the 'Getting Frodo' one. Frodo has always been my favourite book character, and from my first reading of FOTR I saw him as the hero, even though other characters did SEEM more heroic. I can see why Aragorn, Legolas, Eomer etc are perceived as heroic figures, and Sam too, towards the end. But for me it's always been Frodo's quiet spirit, determination, and courage in carrying the Ring to Mordor, suffering the ever-increasing physical and mental torture the Ring induces without complaint. These are the qualities that draw me to Frodo rather than the other, more traditional action-man type characters in the story, who, although they possess admirable qualities, do not have the self-will or inner strength to resist the power of the Ring as long as Frodo does. As you say, Tg - Frodo was chosen. He was meant to be the Ring-bearer. No-one else could have carried the Ring as far as he did, whether he is seen in the end to have failed or not. If ANY other character had taken it they would have succumbed to the will of the Ring long before Frodo did. Some may (and do) scoff at the idea of Frodo being the hero, but I think you're right, Tg, when you say that Frodo is a little too much like all of us who doubt our own strength and courage.

On the subject of Book-Fro v Film-Fro. I know a lot of people think that PJ has lost some of Book-Fro's physical, fighting spirit. But I like the fact that Film-Fro sets off on his journey as soon as Gandalf explains the power of the Ring. He realizes the impending danger to The Shire, and wastes no time in getting it away, while Book Fro procastinated for months. And I do think that the younger Film-Fro grows a lot in determination and inner spirit during FOTR. Of course, in TTT he's becoming more 'addicted' to the Ring's power; that's to be expected, and whether he's too far gone, too soon, it is how PJ 'sees' the progress of Frodo's deterioration in the context and timeline of the films.

For me, it's both sad and beautiful to watch Elijah capture Frodo's 'essence.' He may not be our ideal Book-Frodo; he may have been stripped of some his external defiance, and that's PJ and Co's doing, but for me Elijah's performance DOES contain that 'essence' - 'the most important part or quality of something,' so the word is explained in my dictionary.

As for ROTK. The leaked trailer is tantalizing. That glimpse of Frodo - weary, tormented, struggling physically to crawl or climb his way forward is heart-breaking. He had sores on his lips!!! And did you all hear that sound he made - a faint groan of physical effort as he drags himself along! Oh My Good Grief! And the music there brought a lump to my throat. But I shouldn't get too carried away. There's no guarantee any of this will actually BE in the theatrical ROTK. I remember the TT trailer last year - the beloved Angelic-Fro Osgiliath shot, and the music then was awesome - but neither the shot nor that particular piece of music was in the film. Why does PJ torure us so?

Having said that, here's a quote from an interview with PJ - from www.stuff.co.nz - dated 3rd August 2003:

Quote:

Jackson admitted to sadness that he had now finished filming scenes with the trilogy's stars.-

"I have experienced my last day of shooting Elijah Wood as Frodo and my last day of shooting Viggo (Mortensen) as Aragorn. Those to me are more profound than what my personal last day is going to be."

He said The Return of the King would be the best of the three films, and his personal favourite.

"It is the movie that I want to be most proud of, so I am working very hard to make sure that happens," he said.

"I think when people look back at the three films, I want Return of the King to be the one that really lingers with them in terms of the emotional experience.

"I want it to be the reason why we made the other two films."
__________________________________________________

We live in hope!

Bye.

Thanks for the game-playing account from ComicCon, ainon. Did anyone else read the statements about Elijah's "amazement" and his being "truly impressed" and "furrowing his brows" in concentration, and want to give the reporter a nudge: "Uh, you know, those guys are actors?" :D :D

Originally posted by Bridget Chubb
...I suspect it's the Faculty spirits, letting you know how they feel about the main page.

"23 Elijah Woods Movies"???:eek: :eek:
Oh, my... :o I think that's from my own subconscious, because it's been kind of sad for me to let go of the "Wood's Movies" page :( --after all, it was the very beginning of the site, older than any of the essays or pics, and it's had that title all along. But by the end of the year, there will be 25 movies there--it's getting to be too much to keep on one page! I thought about keeping that name on the main page, anyway, and my brain was probably trying to do that by not deleting the "s" when I copied stuff from the other site :rolleyes: . [That's my story and I'm sticking to it :p .]

And, of course, since I haven't been able to upload anything since publishing those pages, I can't make any corrections.

I've been very happy with Earthlink's support as my ISP, which is why I've stayed with them, but their website support is leaving a lot to be desired. I've just sent the description of the problem to a third email address--the first one sent me an automated message telling me to send it to the second, and then the second did the same thing and sent me to the third :rolleyes: . Thank goodness for copy and paste--glad I haven't had to keep retyping that error message!

I probably got too excited too soon and shouldn't have posted the new address yet. I have the feeling Earthlink is going to be a temporary solution for my main site. They do fine with the simple, little ones (like the one with the crebain screencaps--I have three others of that size there, too), but I'm starting to suspect that for the larger one I'm going to get the "If you want better service, upgrade to a paid webhosting account" message :rolleyes: . If I do that, it won't be at Earthlink, but with a webhost who's much less expensive and who has gotten rave reviews from the half-dozen or so people I know who use it--it seems to be more friendly to those of us who aren't "big business." Stay tuned... :o

Thanks to all for the kind comments :) --in the meantime, the August updates are on both sites, and by September this will be resolved, one way or another!

---------

Edit: Oh, isn't this interesting? I just got a reply to my most recent email, and evidently the third support address I was sent to by Earthlink is actually the first one again, with the addition of a submission form--the reply was another round of the original message sending me to the second one... :rolleyes:

Very interesting drawings, Brunhild. Thanks for posting those. A very dark view of our hero. The second one looks like my idea of Mowgli from the Jungle Books -- Frodo looks so feral.

I also enjoyed the account of the guys playing the video game. They sound so very much younger there.

Blossom, thanks for the PJ quotes. I missed those. The whole cast and crew of LOTR will be crying the next time we see them together. "Wah, it's over!"

Tg, best wishes that your website problems get worked out soon. It's just the Nazgul, trying to reform. But you (and Frodo) will succeed. Good luck! :k

Blossom - beautiful post! I too appreciate Tg's 'Getting Frodo' essay (and have saved it in my treasures folder).
So, where is the bootleg trailor of Frolijah staggering up the mountain-side? (how did I miss that....??)

You mention a trailor featuring Frolijah's angel expression, AND music - any idea where that trailer can be found?

Naiad. Yes, there was a leaked version of some ROTK footage, which included only a few precious moments of Frodo material. There was a bit of a frenzy to locate it at the weekend, as New Line asked TORn to remove it. However, some of us tracked it down, or the ladies here at KD distributed it in various ways. I have it saved, and will gladly TRY and send it to you via e-mail, if you pm me with your e-mail address. I believe that's how some others were doing it. I'm no technical whizz - but I'll try. I'm not sure if it's possible to send them to you via pm's.

Same for the TT trailer. The angelic-Fro again lasts only for a couple of seconds, and it's in the official TTT trailer from last year. If you pm me your e-mail address, I'll send you that one too.

If anyone else knows the easiest way to get these files to Naiad, can you please help?

Alternatively, Naiad, in case you don't want to give your e-mail address out, if you have access to Kazaa, the ROTK trailer WAS there at the weekend. Don't know if it's still there, but it probably is. And the TT trailer is still available to download on the Apple Quick Time Movie Trailers site. Just scroll down the list. It's there.

Good luck.

Edit:

Naiad, I almost forgot. Ariel posted a lovely gif of the ROTK weary, dirty, struggling Fro in The Trilogy Forum. Return of the King - Shelob's Lair... Sorry, haven't a clue how to link to that from here - :confused: - but just go to the forum jump box. The gif is on Page 6, just over half way down. It's great. Thanks Ariel.

Delurking for a moment to say that I have a link to a website with the RotK trailer on it in swf format (i.e. macromedia flash, so it doesn't take to long to download). PM me if you want it.

Just popping in to say "Thanks" to Ainon! It came! You know of what I speak!

Caps of Try 17...will be forthcoming.:D

Thanks for the tip, Blossom. Off I went to Trilogy thread and looked at scared/scary Frodo pic. Thanks Ariel too :k

Re: PJ's comment - "I have experienced my last day of shooting Elijah Wood as Frodo and my last day of shooting Viggo (Mortensen) as Aragorn. Those to me are more profound than what my personal last day is going to be. [ROTK] is the movie that I want to be most proud of, so I am working very hard to make sure that happens," he said. "...when people look back at the three films, I want Return of the King to be the one that really lingers with them in terms of the emotional experience. I want it to be the reason why we made the other two films."
" That's strong feeling there. Somehow, I don't see 'the greatest war movie of all time' (or whatever Elijah and Dom called it) coming from those words. Surely the boys did jest...

Originally posted by naiad

Re: PJ's comment - That's strong feeling there. Somehow, I don't see 'the greatest war movie of all time' (or whatever Elijah and Dom called it) coming from those words. Surely the boys did jest...

The boys said that? But that's a fine thing to say too, IMO. Well-made war movies touch the audience on so many levels; great war movies are some of the best movies of all time.

Quite obviously I am not referring to the likes of Josh Hartnett's 'Pearl Harbour' when I say something like that. :p



Blossom, thanks for sharing the PJ quotes. "I want it to be the reason why we made the other two films." -- oh, that's just the most wonderful thing to hear.

I love the music that was used for last year's TTT trailer. It's common for the music in movie trailers to be 'borrowed' from other sources, because the real movie might not have its complete score done yet at the time the screening of trailers begin. Likewise, editing for the movie wouldn't have been completed yet either during the time scenes for the trailers were put together. Anyway, I think the TTT trailer music was from 'Requiem for a Dream'? Something like that? :confused: Deluby posted a link to where we could download the score ... I guess it's buried somewhere in this thread.


TORn put this up today: Premiere Magazine talks ROTK (http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/7699.jpg). No real spoilers, and the usual pic of RotK Frodo.


tg ... LOL! I didn't see your mockery of Elijah's last name. :D Good luck with the site, and are we hearing what we're hearing? You're ready to go all out for a real site? Well, you know what I mean. ;) That's cool, tg. :)


((((Hobmom)))) ;)

Now again, thanks to Ainon, I can present hundreds of caps of T17 for careful examination.My T17 Caps (http://groups.msn.com/ElijahSummer03/myt17.msnw?Page=1)

These are all mine and much better..if I do say so myself.. ahem... than the batch done by someone else on another site that I swiped last month. They are still vcd quality but I capped them on the large side so you can see them better..and me too! Next month I shall put myself through this arduous task once again when the DVD comes out. Sigh!

Included are in depth scientific studies of...

1. Elijah's progessing use of micro-expressions.

2. Tear acting.

3. Chemistry..ie. his and Franka's lovely interaction onscreen. The new Tracey and Hepburn? One can only hope.

And...

4. Certainly a cause for scholarly study by the Faculty ...Elijah's much improved kissing technique.

And....

5. Many shots of the finest profile in screen history!

Edit- Here's a few samples...

Profile....
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_205crop.jpg

Chemistry...
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/Myt17/PDVD_246.jpg

Pre-tear acting....
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/Myt17/PDVD_290.jpg

Tear-acting...
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/Myt17/PDVD_414.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/Myt17/PDVD_415.jpg

Back to chemistry...
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/Myt17/PDVD_550.jpg

So uh, what's this mean? From the ROTK article that ainon posted a link to:

"You'd be surprised how often I hear, 'So what's going to happen in the next one?' " says Wood, who plays the noble hobbit Frodo. "Well, read the book, man. Read it - it's all there. It's a good book."

Can we take this as a sign that our boy has *gasp* actually, finally read the book for himself?? Or is he just taking everybody else's word for it?;) :p

The "Always and Forever" site has scans of the most recent Film Review magazine article about Elijah. Lots of old quotes from Fellowship and TTT that we've seen before (but some really cute pics), and some new stuff on his future acting hopes and the character of Frodo.

Are you similar to Frodo?
I was like him before, but after playing him I feel I'm even more like him. I like his wry sense of humor.

Your elfin features didn't hurt your chances of getting the role.
... certainly physically, there are quite a lot of parallels in the way that Frodo's described, which I find interesting.

How do you see your future?
I want to play completely different characters from what I have done so far; I want to play older, more mature characters. Something that's a challenge and allows me to grow.

Hello, All! Sorry I've not been on for awhile, but I've been in Tenessee for Chic2K3 (did anyone else go? if so, email me at LetYourLoveSine@aol.com) I'm afraid I don't have much interesting to say, as I just got back afew hours ago, but I just wanted to let you all know I haven't died and shall be back and talking soon.

Kelsey

P.S. My full screen name is usually LetYourLoveShine, like the song, but there was a limit on the number of leteers, so I became LetYourLoveShin, just in case anybody was wondering what the heck LetYourLoveShin meant.

Oh, I did have one thing to say. While I was at Chic, someone had painted 'Angst for the memories' on a wall. I don't know, I just thought it was interesting, and it made me immediately think of this board.

kelsey

I remember, in at least one of the many interviews Elijah did last December, his mentioning that he HAD finally read all of LOTR.

It will be very interesting to see if this effected how he played Frodo in this year's reshoots.

And I just realized that ROTK is just a little over FOUR MONTHS AWAY!!!!!

YES!!!!

A link (http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-film.html?2003-07/31/12.30.film) to some information about the 'penguin' role. Teaser: EJW's penguin will be musically challenged :D.

Originally posted by Brunhild
...Teaser: EJW's penguin will be musically challenged :D.
Maybe he'll get to do his own singing ;) :p !

[Profane thoughts]This is in Australia, right? My guess is that the casting director heard EJW's audition for Moulin Rouge and decided he was perfect for this role :p ! The article even mentions Moulin Rouge. (BTW, did we ever find out for sure that EJW really did audition for Moulin Rouge? Seems like it was always at rumor level.)[/Profane thoughts]

--This week has gotten me the closest I've ever been to swearing off computers. Have literally "made the rounds" with support regarding the website, as I'm now being sent back to the places that told me earlier to go somewhere else. I completely removed the 23 movie pages from the Earthlink site and it still won't publish, so the problem can't be with anything actually on the site. My sisters are in town and I really wanted to be able to show them some of what I'm doing--so, of course, both the Tripod site and the main Earthlink site are in a mess. Then had an online "identify theft" incident that's going to keep me from doing anything online that takes money (like setting up a webhosting account :rolleyes: ) for a couple of weeks until I and my bank are sure it's all been stopped. I was supposed to have today off because of my sisters being in town, but now have to go to the office for a halfday where I "get" to use Windows XP :rolleyes: . Gag. I may not be here much for awhile. :(

Originally posted by tgshaw
Maybe he'll get to do his own singing ;) :p !

LOL! My thoughts exactly! :D


(((tgshaw))) Tough luck. :( But I hope you'll have fun with your sisters, and be able to show them something - anything, that'll help convince them that their sister is indeed in dire need of therapy. You can then ask for sisterly monetary support, and use said funds to further finance Elijah DVD expenditure once they've left town. :D :D

Seriously, hope things start working soon, and have a good time with your sisters!


Thanks for the news, Brunhild. Welcome back, Kelsey! What's Chic2K3, and what're they doing with all that angst? ;)

Hobmom -- nice! :cool:

Hello Faculty!

Another round of thanks, to:

Ainon: for the slightly worrying screen caps from TMTMNBN (that is hard to type!); also the Games commentary is a hoot! “Hey, they’re killing the wenches, dude!” *snort, giggle*

Bridget Chubb and Hobmom – for such enthusiastic Try 17 discussion and the great screen caps! I can’t wait to see this film;

peaceweaver – for video guy (this is another film I’m looking forward to seeing, fortunately I’ll be taking a member of the target age group with me ;) );

tg shaw for the comparison video boy-to-man pictures. Words fail me. (Almost.) I have also paid a very quick visit to your site, I did like the look of it! I hope your web troubles are sorted out soon. (And identity theft – what an awful thing to happen. I do hope it wasn’t too serious. :( )

I read your essay on the front page of your site, and I like your reading of ‘Frodo lives’. I had not understood what was intended by it way back when, but on reading and re-reading LOTR I’ve come to think that ‘Frodo lives’ in any instance of selfless courage, of endurance in the face of apparently insurmountable odds;

maeglian – for surviving TMTMNBN (I’m getting better at that with practice) with great humour;

Luthiea – for coming by and saying hello :) ;

Mariole – for even contemplating Flipper caps, and the potential for froshadowings…;

Brunhild – for the links to the drawings – amazing.

Blossom – for the PJ interview excerpt. It’s really almost all done now. But the way he has expressed his feelings about ROTK give me great hope that it will be all we want, and perhaps more.

And to all those I might inadvertently have missed {{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}

And one lass *snort, giggle* at the ‘musically challenged’ Mumbles. :D The movie is indeed being produced in Australia, by Kennedy-Miller. Apparently Robin Williams will also be voicing some of the characters.

Servus!
Just popping in for a brief hello to you all... it has been so unbelievable hot here for days (39°C!!) and this seems to continue, so at the moment I try only to keep up with reading (thank you - great posts everyone, like always :)). The heat melts my brain away and before I start to sound completely hare-brained I'll leave and shift from brain to braise mode again :rolleyes:.

Good luck with your website, tg!

Cheers, dear wenches! (What a gorgeous word!... I hope it has no insulting meaning!?... the heat, you know...)

Chic stands for Covenant High in Christ. It's a conference sponsored by the Covenant church. It only happens once every three years and usually has 6 to 8 thousand highschool students in attendance. I think the angst phrase was there before the conference, having been put there by some university student or another (The conference was held at the university of Tennessee.) I just saw it while I was there and was greatly amused.

Kelsey

Whohoo! Thanks to Blossom I have finally figured out how to take screencaps!!! Yeah! Now, how to get them on the message board?

Kelsey

I remember, in at least one of the many interviews Elijah did last December, his mentioning that he HAD finally read all of LOTR. Could this be true, Hobmom? Are you quite sure? If so, I feel ever so much more excited about the final movie. The idea of the original Frodo securely in Elijah's head... and his having a chance to express this... ahhhh!

I'd be interested in that exact quote, too, Hobmom. I don't think he's ever read the book, although possibly or likely some of the more relevant chapters. He's become incredibly deft at giving the impression in interviews that he *has* actually read it, though, without saying so outright. The above quote about "Read the book - it's a good book" is a very good example. Guess he's partly embarassed at not having gotten around to reading it, partly tired at having to discuss and explain and defend this in interviews, and partly he wants to promote the book and make people read. (Insert fond memories of "Me and my cat" here. That one actually ranks near the top of my good-new-EJW-stuff-of-the-year barometer).


Hi, Kelsey! :)


ER, good to see you again! :cool:


Hobmom, lovely caps as always! :)


Luthiea, wonderful to see you back here for a moment too. :)


Whiteling, sending cooling thoughts your way. It's unusually hot and sunny up here too, but not anywhere near the temperatures central Europe has been having lately.


Brunhild, I liked those two drawings. The one should show EJW how he'll look if he ever gets very old and disillusioned (may the latter never occur!) and the other pic was good too. The hair ruined part of the impression for both of them, though. Looked a bit like the artist couldn't be bothered anymore.


Sorry I've become such a seldom poster, people. Various difficulties have kept me away and somewhat in a funk. Nothing serious, so no need to worry. But I'm just not very verbal at the moment.


(((Faculty)))

(((((Maeglian))))) I hope you feel better. If there was a :stick-out-tongue-rudely: icon, I'd point it at your funk. :k

Tg, best wishes to you sorting out your web site difficulties. I hope you get it all working soon and get to enjoy the fruit of your labors. Try not to stay away too long!

Enjoying all the other commentary. Very busy weekend, including work, but I'll try to keep up during my rest breaks. :p

Cheers!

Originally quoted by ainon:

I love the music that was used for last year's TTT trailer. It's common for the music in movie trailers to be 'borrowed' from other sources, because the real movie might not have its complete score done yet at the time the screening of trailers begin.
_____________________________________________

Yes, ainon. In that PJ interview I posted the quote from, he did also say that the score for ROTK is not ready yet, so I expect that the beautifully haunting music that's played during the dirty, weary Fro clip in that trailer won't be in the film. Let's hope Howard Shore can repeat his excellent work from the first two films. I really want sad, haunting music for Fro in ROTK.

Maeglian - Hi. Sorry you're not chatting as much as usual. Hope things improve for you soon. :)

Hobmom - delicious 'Try 17' screencaps.:)

Tg - hope the problems with your website get ironed out very soon.

LetYourLoveShine - Great news about the screencapping. I did pm you, but don't worry about replying now - I know now from your post that it obviously worked! Whoo-hoo!!! If you need any help actually posting them, there are plenty of people here to help.

Mariole - Don't work too hard!:)

Only two weeks and three days until TTT theatrical DVD will be in my hot little hands!:) :) :)

Actually, I could use someone telling me how to post pics here. Please?

Kelsey

"You'd be surprised how often I hear, 'So what's going to happen in the next one?' " says Wood, who plays the noble hobbit Frodo. "Well, read the book, man. Read it - it's all there. It's a good book."

Just wanted to say, I think Elijah may well have finished reading the books now. In one of the interviews he did just before TTT - I'm sorry I can't remember which mag it was in but will let you know when I find it, it was one of the well-known ones - he actually made a promise that by the time the interviewer spoke to him again, presumably in the run-up to ROTK, he would have finished the books. From the above quote it sounds as though he may already have fulfilled his promise:)

I've always had the impression, gleaned from the multitude of articles & interviews I've read, that when he set off for NZ he hadn't read the books at all, but has since read just the Frodo and Sam parts - and who could blame him, as those were the bits he needed to know. I must admit I'm guilty of doing the same - after seeing FOTR and reading FOTR, I then jumped to the F & S chapters in the next two books, I was just too impatient. Afterwards I started again and read them all the way through:)

LYLS/Kelsey. Check your pm box for some information on posting screencaps.

IT'S VERY QUIET IN HERE!:(

Where is everyone?:confused: :)

Edit: Oh, there you are, Shireling. Just saw your post. How are you? It's nice to know Elijah has finally read the books, isn't it? But as you say, I'm sure he was well aware of the Frodo/Sam/Gollum relationship/storyline when filming began. And I'm sure that as time went on he gained a deeper understanding and empathy with those characters, particularly Frodo. Whether he has read the books or not, I doubt we could have had a better Frodo than Elijah's. Hopefully PJ will give both Frodo AND Elijah the opportunity to shine in ROTK!:)

Yes, it is quiet in here. I hope to be more chatty when my deadline's up (in 2 weeks).

But I like very much what you said, Blossom. I adored Elijah's Frodo, once I got over the shock of him being this young kid. I don't know if reading the books would have really helped. It sounds like Sir Ian got some revisions out of it, but I didn't see where the books made any difference to Movie!Aragorn. If I were PJ I'd listen to what Sir Ian had to say, too! (Not meaning to imply that he didn't listen to the actors, but that he had a particular vision he wanted to portray, and that meant plot and character changes in several places).

From the interview quote Mariole posted--if EJW said he likes Frodo's "wry sense of humor," he has certainly at least made the acquaintance of book-Frodo! :)

I don't know what's happened to everyone! IS THERE ANYBODY THERE??? I can't remember THREE DAYS of silence on this thread before!!! I know Mariole said she would be busy for a couple of weeks, and Tg may well be otherwise engaged with her sisters and her website, but everone else appears to have gone AWOL too!

Perhaps you're all on holiday. Perhaps there's a giant EW appreciation event on somewhere that I don't know about, where all of his films are being shown in chronological order, culminating with an exclusive showing of ROTK four months early! That must be where you all are.:)

I keep checking in only to find the place deserted. I am having withdrawal symptoms - the only cure for this is to post a Happy Fro collage, and hope that the sight of this may just lure someone out of hiding.

Enjoy. (that is, if there IS anybody there, and I'm not actually by myself in The Twilight Zone!)

Happy Fro:

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/HappyFro3.jpg

Isn't he LOVELY?

Hope to see SOMEONE here very soon.:)

I'm here.

But I just heard from someone on another site that ...maybe...this isn't confirmed on the news here in the US yet... That Lij had to have his widdle apendix removed. Poor baby!

The person who said this has a friend in Germany who said she heard it on their news over there.

Also he was supposed to be on E News tonight talking about ROTK but now he isn't on. But they haven't said why.

Have any of our European Faculty members heard anything?

Hobmom is worried about her Elijah!:( :confused:

The article even mentions Moulin Rouge. (BTW, did we ever find out for sure that EJW really did audition for Moulin Rouge? Seems like it was always at rumor level.)[/

It is true - Elijah mentioned it during a radio programme in Canada - not the Nardwar one - the one where he was on with Franka and they chose the music that was played. He didn't actually say 'Moulin Rouge' - he said 'that Baz Luhrman movie'.

Isn't he LOVELY?

He certainly is, Blossom. And that Happy Fro collage is just gorgeous - you're so clever:)

Hobmom is worried about her Elijah

I have also been very worried since reading that rumour yesterday, Hobmom, especially as he didn't appear on Enews. I'm just holding my breath & crossing my fingers that it is just a rumour, but if it is, what a horribly sick thing to make up. I'm not sure if you read it in the same place as me but they were saying that it was a ruptured appendix which is a very dangerous thing, although thankfully the report did say that he's recovering. Apparently it was in something called 'The Star':(

Blossom, that's beautiful! Thank you. :) :k

More please? :D

It's been a pretty busy week for me too, and I've been a bit under the weather, hence the silence on my part. But Blossom's HappyFro did the trick and perked me right up again. :blissful happy sigh: :)

Was the E News thingy supposed to be a live interview? I haven't read any news reports about Elijah anywhere. As for 'The Star', that's one tabloid import that does get here, and I've been guilty of rifling through its pages. :o Very far out stories (to put it mildly) in those pages, and hardly worth quoting, except maybe in disbelief at how low tabloid reporters might stoop. If stuff about a ruptured appendix makes great fodder for a rumour then it certainly is a very, very sick thing to make up. :mad:

Well, let's say The Star is a bit more believable than The World (or is it World News?), which still holds my award for best tabloid headline ever: "I Married a UFO Alien to Save Our Family Farm." The Star would probably be more likely to exaggerate a story than create one from whole cloth.

Having your appendix removed isn't necessarily a major thing--it would be the ruptured appendix beforehand that would be dangerous :( . So if he's recovering from the surgery, that would be good news. It helps that he's young and healthy otherwise (although he'd be even healthier if he'd quit smoking :rolleyes: ).

It'd be nice to hear something officially, though.

------------------------

Shireling, thanks for the beautiful collage, and for opening the thread back up--since mine was the last post, I was hoping someone else would jump in! I can't remember three days of silence, either. Of course, my workaholic boss thinks Europeans are crazy for taking so much "holiday" time during August (he wants to get something done and all his European collaborators are off having a good time somewhere :rolleyes: ), so a lot of people may just be out of touch right now.

Also, Shireling, I don't know if you've just added the quotes from Elijah to your sig, or if I've just now noticed them :o , but they're very, very nice to read :) .

------------------------

I haven't been working on the website itself, but I have been learning to navigate the world of domains and webhosting plans and people who speak HTML as a first language :confused: . It's very different from the free website space I've always used. (Although I've certainly considered myself to have a real website :mad: ;) !)

I don't have anywhere to put it yet, but I did get a domain name I kinda like. Since the site has stuff about both JRRT and EJW, I really did want Frodo in the name, but so do a lot of other people, so I wasn't expecting to be able to get "frodolives". But there've been a number of new extensions added lately to cover the growing number of websites, and one of them is .us (for anyone living in the United States or for any U.S. company). Now, for someone with a rather skewed thought process that has all kinds of possibilities :p . So the domain name I got is frodolivesin.us (well, I kinda like it :rolleyes: ).

It'll probably be a week or so before anything is up and running there, because it takes more time to work out the webhosting than it does to register a domain name (and it's taking longer than it normally would because the payment process is still being affected by the identity theft incident--can't use my Paypal account or credit card yet). But I hope before too long...

----------------------------

Edit: Well, things are enough back to normal here that ainon and I simulposted :) ! Glad you're feeling better.

BLOSSOM: IS THERE ANYBODY THERE???
I'm here ! Just haven't got much to say. :rolleyes:

Maybe everyone's resting in preparation for the marathon discussions about microexpressions that are sure to follow the release of the TTT DVD. :p Only a few days to go now! :) (Or not even a few days if you know the right people in NYC, if reports in the Harem are anything to go by.)

Hobmom: But I just heard from someone on another site that ... Lij had to have his widdle apendix removed.
I haven't heard anything about this, and I wouldn't worry too much about it. These rumours about some celebrity or other supposedly being in car crashes or being rushed to hospital or whatever seem to pop up on the net with great regularity, and they almost never turn out to be true. (Although if it is true let's hope the surgeon is careful with the tatt. :eek: ;) )

Edit: Oh, I see ainon and tg just posted too. HappyFro is bringin' 'em out of the woodwork! Looking forward to seeing the new website, tg.

Another of the silent ones checking in


Lovely collage once more, Blossom. :)

Sorry for having been silent so long. It's due to various reasons:

1. RL Blues with a capital B

2. Another case of "Why the heck am I spending so much time on some guy that I've never met, who's much younger than me and with whom I've got next to nothing in common." In fact, it was that little snippet of EJW and Dom Monaghan at ComiCon, seemingly jotting down marks to keep track of the number of passing babes that brought it on this time. I was thinking - he's such a GUY, and he's so YOUNG..... that little thing made him so very REAL. So at present I'd rather focus more on Frodo and less on EJW. Of course, once the DVD is available, that should be very easy to do.

3. Possibly I've reached another phase in my message board attendance cycle? Seems to me that many are going through some recognizable phases; - when first registering, it's fun to just share the excitement, discuss and analyze, point out things noted, gush, squeal and rant, share information, do research.
But over time, relative more time seems to be spent on various creative or artistic activities related to the fandom. Be it making lovely Fro collages, learning how to screencap, establishing sites full of good caps and other goodies, writing fanfics, etc. In my case I think it was that limerick burst some while back that really opened *that* dam (currently I've a small filk-craze :rolleyes: ) I also spend time reading good LotR based fanfics that are recommended to me. And, well, - there *is* only so much available online time........ :(


(((Faculty)))) :k

We'll see what happens. I'm looking *very* much forward to the DVD. :)

Well...

I asked the webmaster at TORN in an email about Elijah and got what I feel was a rather cold and nasty reply.

there was a small thing like THE LARGEST BLACKOUT IN THE WORLD that happened today...perhaps this is the case?
And weither he had an operation or not is not realy your concern or ours


Now what do you think of that?!

When JRRD was hurt and in the hospital TORN reported it fully. And it seems when others in the cast have had things happen to them health-wise it's been mentioned.

Why is Elijah getting the cold shoulder? Isn't he the STAR of all three films?

Perhaps Elijah, being the sweet unnasuming guy he is, didn't want it made public. OK. I respect that.

But somehow it seems to have gotten out to the press in some places. I heard it on a LJ board from a fan who's friend in
Germany heard it on the news there, of all places.

I also saw a mention of his surgery on Elijah's Grey Panther's board but then it got deleted.

Odd, very odd.

All, I for one, want to know is if he is OK. If it was a burst appendix that can even be deadly if not treated in time. I so hope it wasn't that.

Sniff! (Real tear,too!) I love that little bugger.:k

Also, Shireling, I don't know if you've just added the quotes from Elijah to your sig, or if I've just now noticed them , but they're very, very nice to read .
I did add those quotes some time ago, TG, they're from one of my fave Elijah interviews (I call it the Jane Eyre interview!) which I think he did for a Finnish tv programme. Its one of those you can't save and I dread them taking the page away but for anyone who hasn't seen it this is the link to the page that the interview is on:
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/mediathek/0,1903,VI-2015373,00.html

Oh. by the way TG, thanks for crediting me with the lovely Fro collage but it was actually one of BLOSSOM's masterpieces. I wouldn't have a clue:)

I asked the webmaster at TORN in an email about Elijah and got what I feel was a rather cold and nasty reply
I'm so angry & disgusted by that response, Hobmom. What the hell is the matter with them? Why shouldn't we care about him and worry when we hear things like this? And yes, he is THE star of these films but sometimes, from the way they and others talk, you wonder if they realise that. The trouble with these rumours is that 99% of your brain knows that they're most probably untrue, but there's that niggling little doubt that won't allow you to forget it, and you start to think "why should anyone make something up like that?". At least that's how it affects me, and this has just kept coming back to me, on and off, ever since I read about it. Right or wrong, I adore 'that little bugger' too, and hate the thought of something like that happening to him, so I know exactly how you feel, Hobmom:(

Wow have I had one horrible day.

The people at the LJ board where I mistakenly mentioned how concerned I was about Elijah have tried to insult and grind me into the dust. I have never seen such venom online anywhere before and I am OUTTA that place and staying here where nice calm hobbity sensibleness usually reigns supreme. Even in our kerfuffles we are generally kind to each other here.

Whew! I need dinner and a nice nap.

I still cannot believe the coldness with which Elijah is being treated though.:(

Has anyone heard anything else about him?

from Gladys
Maybe everyone's resting in preparation for the marathon discussions about microexpressions that are sure to follow the release of the TTT DVD.
Oh, say that it is so! BRING ON THE SCREENCAPS! I will be your devoted admirer.

from Blossom
Perhaps there's a giant EW appreciation event on somewhere that I don't know about, where all of his films are being shown in chronological order, culminating with an exclusive showing of ROTK four months early!
Wow, I'm so sorry you missed this, Blossom. It was great! Yeah, I know you all thought I was working (and working, and working, and even some more this weekend), but really I've been at this massive screening event. It was awesome, and Elijah was there and looked fine, nothing wrong with him appendix-or-otherwise. I won't spoil ROTK for the rest of you (I mean, for Blossom, since almost everyone else was there -- how did you miss the memo on this?), but they had some lovely people walking about discretely handing out hankies and it was much appreciated.

I think all this work is boiling my brain. No one should have to deliver 13 documents in 3 weeks -- what WAS I thinking when I signed up for this?

Good luck posting your new, official web site, Tg! I may not say much (especially during the week), but every once in a while my brain seizes up like an engine with no oil, and then I must get a K-D fix. It's such a pleasure to see Happy!Fro!

Maeg, good luck getting over your slump. Yes, Elijah is only human, but Frodo is pure hobbit, and always good for a pick-me-up. Let's hear it for phases. Feel better!

(((Hobmom))) Yes, stay here in K-D. We are nice. You can get enough grief in this life without searching it out on the message boards, thank you very much! Pah! Ignore them! Play Shireling's interview, and look at Blossom's collage again. :k

Cheers to all!

Originally posted by tgshaw
frodolivesin.us

tg ... that's the most perfect domain name! :k I'm very eagerly awaiting the day you unveil the new site, and hope that identity theft thingy will be sorted out soon. Even your credit card's affected? Oww. :(


(((Hobmom))) That guy from TORn could learn a few things about being polite :rolleyes: but I don't think he's being mean about Elijah. IMO he's doing what he should be doing (and what the on-line originator of this rumour should have done if that person had had any level of competence, and assuming there was no malicious intent). When things happen to actors, their publicists will release official statements about the issue. If the actor concerned wishes to make the issue public or if the issue has already been picked up by official press (e.g. Patty Duke's accident, JRD's accident). Thus far, TORn seems to report only officially-released personal matters about the actors. I think that's very sound policy that they're following in that they're not putting up any rumours about Elijah until and unless Elijah's people release any info.

But of course the TORn guy could have chosen to not be rude. ((((Hobmom)))) :k Have a better day, today, and don't worry, Hobmom. If it's true that Elijah's not well, we'll know about it when Elijah is prepared to make a statement. Otherwise, no news will be good news. :)

Originally posted by Gladys
These rumours about some celebrity or other supposedly being in car crashes or being rushed to hospital or whatever seem to pop up on the net with great regularity, and they almost never turn out to be true. (Although if it is true let's hope the surgeon is careful with the tatt. :eek: ;) )

LOL! The last grand rumour had been about Britney Spears and Justin Timberblake, IIRC - and only because even the mainstream media were hoodwinked into believing there was substance to that story. :rolleyes: :p


Mariole, you were at that special RotK screening, you say? And yet you didn't try to produce bootleg recordings of it? Nor have you written to AICN, screeching in CAPS about the grand f****** time you had and how f****** fantastic it was and how it was such a mindf*** and you almost p****** your pants you were so happy? Next you'll be telling us how blue Elijah's eyes really are in real life. Tsk. :D :D Good luck, Mariole. I do so hope you're already up to Document No. 13! ((((Mariole))))


((((Maeg))))

The guy from TORN emailed again and apologized for being rough on me.

He said -my apologies if I sounded harsh, I"m just very protective of star's private lives. Especially the Hobbit boys, who seem to be constantly hawked since the first movie came out. And you have to understand my reaction from the millions of emails we get monthly with people demanding to know where Elijah lives and how come he hasn't been seen around lately and why there aren't more movies with him on tv...and so on.

So he did apologize but notice no real news about Lij's surgery. I think from the few bits of news we've gleened that it may really have happened. But hopefully he is on the mend.

Now's my turn to report in. Firstly, a link (http://www.hellfireltd.com/management-fame.htm) to some pics of EJW. As far as I understand, the people he's with are from The Flaming Lips band. It seems that they wanted EJW to feature in their film project Christmas on Mars (listed at imdb.com as being in production).
Originally posted by Maeglian
In fact, it was that little snippet of EJW and Dom Monaghan at ComiCon, seemingly jotting down marks to keep track of the number of passing babes that brought it on this time. I was thinking - he's such a GUY, and he's so YOUNG....
There was a guy who allegedly kept asking similar questions :D :k:
"Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me only the ability to recognize the incarnation." -- Salieri to God in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus.

One good reason to concentrate on the acting :).

From Hobmom:

[QUOTE.
The person who said this has a friend in Germany who said she heard it on their news over there.
[/QUOTE]

Hobmom - I live in Germany, and just let me tell you that I've heard absolutely nothing about the supposed surgery. I've vetted the news here and really nothing was mentioned!

Shireling - I love the wonderful Elijah quotes in your sig too. The 'Jane-Eyre-Interview' (what a lovely name :) !) you've got them from was done for a German TV channel...I mentioned this interview in my first post in this place (I think it was on page 132), because I was so much impressed by Elijah's way of answering the questions - exceedingly polite and complete opposite of all the phrase mongers we see mostly :rolleyes:. It's wonderful to see how Frodo's nobility and dignity shines through Elijah :) !

Blossom, thank you so much for HappyFro :k ! Very effective and beautiful roll call ;)

Maeglian, I hope you feel better very soon!

Ainon, nice to see you again!

Mariole, good luck for your work. Remember, 13 is a lucky number :D !

Tg, I'm with ainon - the new domain name *is* perfect!

Hi, Gladys!

(((Faculty))) :)

Hobmom; Shireling; ainon; Tg; Gladys; Maeg; Mariole; Brunchild and Whiteling. Thanks to you all for getting things back to normal in here. I was beginning to panic! Thank Heaven for Happy Fro!

Originally posted by Mariole:

Wow, I'm so sorry you missed this, Blossom. It was great! Yeah, I know you all thought I was working (and working, and working, and even some more this weekend), but really I've been at this massive screening event. It was awesome, and Elijah was there and looked fine, nothing wrong with him appendix-or-otherwise. I won't spoil ROTK for the rest of you (I mean, for Blossom, since almost everyone else was there -- how did you miss the memo on this?), but they had some lovely people walking about discretely handing out hankies and it was much appreciated.
_________________________________________

Waaghh! I missed it!:( I KNEW it must be something big to keep you all away from here for so long. And EW was there too?!
:eek: :cool: You lucky people! And Mariole - If hankies were needed, please spoil ROTK for me right now, and tell me EVERYTHING - well, the Frodo bits anyway.:)


Hobmom - It's worrying to think Elijah may be ill, and I'm sorry about your experience with the Torn webmaster - but at least he got back to you to say sorry. As Shireling said, why would anyone invent a rumour like that? If it is true, I hope he's on the mend. A friend of mine had a burst appendix a few years ago - very nasty.

Maeg - Hope RL blues get better VERY SOON. We miss you when you don't post.:)

Tg - Love the new domain name. :) Can't wait until we can go in there and take a look.

Whiteling - I hope things have cooled down for you in Germany. It's also been very hot here in the UK for the past few weeks, and while some people love it - it really doesn't suit me at all. Give me a sunny, frosty day in late Autumn or Winter any time!

Shireling -Thanks for the link to the EW interview - I'm off to have a look at that right after this post. I agree with everyone else - lovely quotes in your sig.

ainon - Sorry to hear you haven't been well, but I'm so pleased Happy Fro brightened your day.

Only 10 more days until we get our TT DVD's. It's sure to be busy in here then. Screencaps galore! More Mariole comparisons! More collage material for me! More in-depth discussions! Whoo-hoo!!!:)

Does anyone know what's happened to Deluby?

Bye.:)

Holy cow, I'm gone for over a week and when I come back there's only one page to download and save? :eek: I figured I'd need all morning to catch up, since things were whipping right along before I crashed with the flu.

I'm sorry to hear about your identity theft problems, tg. :( Our adopted grandma was dealing with that last year, and that kind of thing is no fun at all. We'll be thinking about you; hope it all gets strightened out with minimal grief.

I like your domain name, though.

Originally posted by LetYourLoveShin
'Angst for the memories'

I'm gonna use that on my next birthday card to a fellow fan... :D

Originally posted by Maeglian

somewhat in a funk

Me, too. Spending four days flat in bed with the flu didn't help, but I've been in a blue funk for a while, too. Must be something in the air, an alignment of the stars, a cosmic connection between the two of us, I dunno...

And what's this about your writing filks? Do tell.

Hobmom,
I'm sorry that the guy at TORN was rude to you Hobmom, and I'm glad he sent an apology, but I can kind of see his point. It really isn't any of our business if EW's sick or hospitalized, and I know for myself, if I was sick enough to be hospitalized I really wouldn't want anyone to know until after the fact. I hope he's okay and I rather suspect it's just a false rumor (although he is right at the age for that sort of thing), but ultimately his comfort level when it comes to sharing information is more important than my comfort level about knowing he's okay. IMHO :p

I vote against its validity in part because whiteling hasn't heard of it and in part because... I dunno, I guess because I think some people just like to spread these rumors out of sheer malice or something. If there isn't strong evidence that something like that came from a reliable news source, I just automatically assume it's invalid. While I make no claim to sanity, I suspect I'd be even more crazy if I took all the rumors I hear seriously. ;)

Originally posted by Brunhild

One good reason to concentrate on the acting.

Brunhild, you evil! :D

BLOSSOM,
I missed the big film festival as well. :mad: Nobody tells me anything, anymore. And we're not even getting any reviews! Humph.

I think deluby has fallen off the planet. Along with EE and a few others. I have hopes they'll drift back eventually - like, after the release of ROTK if not sooner. :)

Sheryl

Thank you all for your supportive comments! I'll get through this deadline, one way or the other.

Hobmom, it's nice that TORN followed up their original email. Ainon and Sheryl both speak wisely about the probable release of information. Clearly TORN has a more personal relationship with the New Line folks, so they are careful to publish things that don't offend them (although they were courageous enough to post that ROTK snippet when it came out, probably knowing full well that they'd be asked to take it down once they were caught -- which they were and did).

Whiteling, despite your reflection that 13 is a lucky number, I think (along with Gandalf) that 14 would be better, so here is a new document:

SPOILERS FROM THE ALL-ELIJAH VIEWFEST THAT EVERYONE EXCEPT BLOSSOM AND AINON AND SHERYL (AND POSSIBLY OTHERS) SAW

First, we all sat down on blankets in nice comfy grass in this giant outdoor ampitheatre. Dusk had just fallen, and the stars were bright with just a touch of red clinging to the clouds. It was a pleasantly warm evening, so Sean Astin was there directing Dom Monaghan and Billy Boyd down various aisles to make sure everyone had the right refreshments (lots of lemonade and nice raspberry-scented iced tea).

Ian McKellan and JRD were on stage as the "warm-up act" -- relaying various embarassing anecdotes and bloopers from the movies. It was hysterical! Then Sean Bean and David Wenham came on stage and pretended to arrest them. They dragged the pair off to Minas Tirith for judgment, with Ian and John wise-cracking all the way. Very funny!

Then Tg came on stage and introduced the concept of "Froshadowing." Ironically this involved showing the clip from Back to the Future II's "Video Boy 1" alongside "Video Guy" from Spy Kids 3. Elijah then came out and pretended to act offended, and everyone was in hysterics over his remarks about how his career had progressed, "really it had." I was a good 40 feet from the stage but even from there it was easy to see his eyes beaming blue bolts into the audience. Just wild. (Sorry, but everyone asks, so I have to mention it.) As I said before, he looked fine and was in great spirits -- very bouncy and silly and clearly into having a good time. Brunhild's link to those party pics can't capture the actual energy -- no wonder folks think he's on acid. (Not me; "high on life" is clearly his motto.)

We were then treated to a medley of highlights of all his various films, although we did slow down a couple of times for group discussion on "the Angst of Nat" and microexpressions, particularly as played out in Huck Finn. I (blush) did a series of Froshadow comparisons from various movies to (mostly) FOTR. Elijah really got a kick out of that, BTW -- first, that anyone would put so much effort into a screen-by-screen analysis, and second, how the heck you could get any Froshadowings out of Flipper. But the Faculty triumphed, and he acknowledged our skill.

By then it was getting late and the hobbits (including Elijah, who along with the other staff members was hanging with the audience) began handing around chilled wine with strawberries during intermission. Viggo had set up a face-painting booth along one side, and both children and adults were getting various wild patterns painted on various parts of their bodies. Orlando had set up a bungie-jumping stand over the pool, and was throwing various youngsters (and some not-so-youngsters) overboard, where they squealed with delight from the jump, and then were cut loose to splash into the pool. Quite refreshing, as the evening continued warm.

After about an hour, everyone reassembled for the Frodo movies -- I mean, Lord of the Rings. We did an abbreviated version of FOTR, which was fine because we'd already seen lots of it in the previous segments. We then did a "good parts" version of TTT, along with the extended scenes. I won't bother to go into these because I know you've all been spoiled by reading the summaries of this on various message boards, TORN, and AICN. Thank heavens Faramir's character was explained so well -- I wasn't sure how they would pull that off. And Sean B was gorgeous in his reprised role. Especially nice were the extra Frodo scenes, including the extended Gollum tracking scenes, Herbs and Stewed Rabbit scene, and of course the Wiki battle and escape from Osgilliath. How I wish this had all been in the TR!

But you don't want to hear about that. You want to hear about the first-ever viewing of the complete Return of the King. The actors all settled down in a cluster someone in the middle of us, as they'd never seen the whole thing as well, just earlier versions before the film had been completely scored. Whenever I could drag myself away from the film -- which was hard, it had an unrelenting pace and my heart was in my throat, much as it had been upon my first viewing of FOTR -- I could see that the actors were obviously pleased with what they saw, and surprised by scenes that they hadn't been in themselves. There was a good deal of whispering and some horseplay among them. Intriguing as this byplay was, it really couldn't keep my attention off the film, which was made even more emotionally engaging by one of the finest scores I've ever heard in a motion picture. Really, when we got to the part--

Gah, I've just looked at the clock. I've got to get back to work! Sorry, ladies, I'll have to fill in details about the ROTK at some later date. Must scamper off. Just wanted to say, great work, Faculty, in helping put on this wonderful show. You're all terrific! Candid shots of various party goers are now posted in the Faculty museum, in Gallery 4. A few unused hankies are under glass in the entraceway. Take a look at the embroidery -- just fantastic. No detail was overlooked.

Cheers, all. Keep cool! :k

Originally posted by Mariole
Gah, I've just looked at the clock. I've got to get back to work! Sorry, ladies, I'll have to fill in details about the ROTK at some later date.
Mariole!!! :D :D :D

You did keep that RotK film reel so we can watch it next time I'm in Denver, right? Right? :D

Mel

Mariole!! You are evil!! E-e-e-e-v-i-l!!!!!!!!!




Now all of those who couldn't attend are going to feel bad. :D :D :p




(You forgot to mention Billy's toast to PJ when they passed the champagne - so sweet, and so funny!! :D )

Mariole--I was there, huh :confused: ? The wine with strawberries must be blocking my memory! And I was going to ask if they showed Day-O :p !

But I do vaguely remember falling into a swimming pool from a great height... and I do have this really surreal painting on my... :o ;)

---------

BTW:

Amadeus (Latin): Gift of God.

Elijah (Hebrew): Gift of God/Gifted by God.

:) :)

----------

Mariole- What about me? Did I show up? Did I have fun?

Last I recall I was sitting at Elijah's bedside in the hospital comforting the poor, possibly, sick baby.;)

(((Sheryl))) and (((ainon))) Hope you're both feeling better.
Candid shots of various party goers are now posted in the Faculty museum Yep; - and that person with the glazed, bedazzled, amazed look........ that's me.

And the look isn't due to the lovely wine with strawberrys, nor the exposure to so many great actors first-hand, nor the experience of having "Frodo lives" painted on my .... well, never mind that, nor the wonderful opportunity to *finally* meet all you ladies.

It's all due to RotK. What a film! :cool:

Just to refresh our memories a bit;

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/orig/7866_orig.jpg


If I'm not saying the same in 4 months time, when I get the chance to watch it again, I'll have very serious issues with mr. Jackson. Or possibly with New Line. Given all those utterly great Boromir/Faramir scenes that were cut out of the Theatrical TTT in favour of Aragorn snogging Brego and sniffling Arwen, who knows what strange last-minute decisions may yet be made for RotK.

(Can you all tell those spoiler pics from the extended TTT has me reeling.... It's so good to see Sean Bean's Boromir again, and smiling and happy, I can hardly wait! And the Steward of Gondor family angst scenes sound too good to be true! Wow, am I gonna hate Denethor.... )


Uh....

Other matters;

Sheryl; my filks have been posted either in the harem or in the goonies over the last couple of months. There aren't that many....

Brunhild, should I be offended at the Salieri comparison.... I can't seem to work up the energy. You have a point, of course, as usual; - but really I don't consider EJW to be a genius like the real Mozart, nor to be anywhere near the character of that obnoxious lustful brat of the play's Amadeus. So in this case there's less of a conundrum distinguishing the art from the persona of the performer for any would-be Salieris out there.

Maeglian--You shouldn't be offended :k.

tgshaw--I know I'm a boring pedant, but 'Amadeus' means 'beloved of God' whereas 'Elijah' means 'God is Jehovah' ;).

Mariole--Good gracious, you have been productive :D :p :).

from Maeglian
Given all those utterly great Boromir/Faramir scenes that were cut out of the Theatrical TTT in favour of Aragorn snogging Brego and sniffling Arwen, who knows what strange last-minute decisions may yet be made for RotK.
Wow, you said it! I recall various members of New Line saying that TTT suffered from the "middle child" syndrome -- being squeezed from the original FOTR release (where PJ did a lot of campaigning, a move he later seemed to regret) and trying to get ROTK just right. At least PJ devoted himself to crafting as perfect a ROTK as he could, so I don't think (meaning, "I hope") we won't see the "Say, what?" weirdness in the third film that we saw in the second -- says Mariole, still spinning around in lazy circles in Optimism Land, until she gets all dizzy and falls down BOOM!

Speaking of that, goodness, I've never seen such hazy memories. And not just Maeg being "that person with the glazed, bedazzled, amazed look," but others. Well, Narya was a little giddy, but that's only to be expected as she was sitting between both Smirking Sons of Gondor for most of the night. Ainon, are you sure you weren't there? I thought that was you studying the cloak action when the various cast members did the bungie thing. (Remember how the cast so kindly brought their elven cloaks, just so we could study the degree to which they blended in with their surroundings? Of course it didn't work at all, as these were Ngila Dickson cloaks which, no matter how lovely, just don't have any inherent Elvin properties.)

Hobmom, I was sure I recognized you among the synchronized swimmers. It was just before we did the "Mount Doom Erupts" move -- you know, the one that sent out this massive wave that pushed Tg into the side of the pool? I really hope you didn't suffer any lasting ill effects, Tg. You were disoriented for a minute, but as you recovered quickly and starting checking out various members of the cast for half blinks, everyone thought you were fine. I really wouldn't have wanted you to miss the Secret Sam Smile that Elijah gave when Sean A started directing everyone back to their seats following intermission. Those guys are just adorable together! I'm sure once your memory recovers fully you'll recall the complete, unedited viewing of Day-O. Was that ever a cute show!

But wow, those movie memories. :cool: ROTK began much as I expected it would, with a high shot along a glistening shore that opened out into a standard flyover of the city of Tokyo. Mount Fuji towered majestically in the background, streaked red by the slanting rays of the sunrise. Waves lapped the misty beach, an ominous warning that Godzilla lurked not all that far below. Suddenly Gandalf, riding Gamera -- wait a minute, that's not Gandalf. Heeeeeey, these are the wrong notes!

Sorry. I'll get back to those details in just a bit ... (Psst, Mel! I did smuggle out a copy of the reel. All I need to find is a suitable projector, and we're in business! Shh!)

(Brunhild, re being "productive" -- yup, that's what it feels like. Having kittens...)

Originally posted by Mariole:

I really hope you didn't suffer any lasting ill effects, Tg. You were disoriented for a minute, but as you recovered quickly and starting checking out various members of the cast for half blinks, everyone thought you were fine. I really wouldn't have wanted you to miss the Secret Sam Smile that Elijah gave when Sean A started directing everyone back to their seats following intermission.
____________________________________________

Mariole LOL!!! Brilliant All-Elijah Viewfest reports! But you are cruel to us - us being ainon, Sheryl and myself - reminding us of what we all missed!:(
Why do you always slope off, ostensibly to work, when you're on the verge of spilling ROTK beans? :rolleyes: :)

That mention of Sean directing people back to thier seats made me smile. (a sort of secret-Sean smile, I suppose) I read a piece on TORn last night that said Sean was in NY during the power cut, and was helping people out of lifts and directing traffic. Doesn't that sound just like him? He should be well qualified to direct traffic, since he spent such a lot of time in NZ directing helicopters!:)

Sheryl - Sorry to hear you had the flu. You poor thing. Nobody told me about the All-Elijah Viewfest That Everyone Except Blossom, Ainon and Sheryl (and, it seems, Narya - and Mel)Saw (phew!) either.:( AND IT WAS MY IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!;) :rolleyes: :D Ainon will go mad at missing all that cloak-swirling action as the hobbit-boys plummeted to earth secured only by a length of elastic! Oh, the angst of it all.

Maeg - That pic! OMG! :eek: That is a new one to me. Are there more spoilery ext TT and ROTK pics to be found? I see that one was from the TORn scrapbook. I must head off over there and take a look! Thanks Maeg.:)

Mariole - Feel free to carry on where you left off... Like now...:)

Evidently. I don't think this is made up.

Poor darling! It did burst. The horror!

http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/LIjbooboo.jpg


On a lighter note... Mariole...Loved the synchronized swimming.
We were good weren't we? ;)

Now I'm going back to Lij-fretting.:(

Hey all,
While some have apparently fallen off the planet, I have merely been taking a long summer snooze. Of course I DID find time to attend Mariole's fabulous ROTK showing and Faculty conference, complete with appearances by Elwood and other LOTR actors. Those who missed it definitely missed the event of the century!

;) :p

Seriously, ROTK is going to kill me dead, if the unbelievably angsty picture that Maeglian posted is any indication. :( :( :(

Hobmom, you go, girl--excellent piece of detective work! Good for you , sticking to your guns about Lij's appendix scare. If the Star made that story up, they're going to look pretty silly--yes, even sillier than usual. Now it remains to be seen whether the evening entertainment shows pick up the story. It sounds like he came through well, and there is no need for further worry. :) :) :) He's young and healthy and hey, maybe he had to give up smoking while in the hospital so now he'll give the cancer sticks up for good!:D

Or maybe it's just a dream I have.:rolleyes:

Goldie aren't you our resident medical specialist? Have you had any first hand experience taking care of patients who have this?

I went and did further research on the medical sites about burst appendix(peritonitis) and scared my Lij-obsessed self silly. I knew it was bad but ..goodness! He could have been hours away from death and the infection could make him very sick for weeks afterwards. And he needs to be on mega doses of antibiotics and IV fluids for a good while to kick the infection out of his system.

Well. I must try to hope for the best.

But...poor baby!:(

And I do hope the hospital refused to let him have his nasty cancer sticks and he had to quit.

Two illustrations from a 2001 German article about EJW. Concept art by Hieronymus Bosch.
http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/jetzt/heft/2001_51/titel1.jpghttp://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/jetzt/heft/2001_51/titel3.jpg

Hobmom, relax! I expect that even if Lij did get his appendix out, it's highly unlikely it burst first - that happens very rarely, but it spices up the story, in a way The Star likes to do. I still think the whole appendix story needs verification from another source, since the symptoms (pain off and on for weeks ahead of time) don't match the presentation for appendicitis, and he's also highly unlikely to be answering the phone in his hospital room where anyone and their dog (read: reporter) could call him. None of it sounds particularly likely to me (Our VideoGame Boy watching Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles in the hospital?? Oh please!!). So I'd say, until you hear it from somewhere else, stop worrying! :k

... why hasn't it occured to anyone that if Elijah DID have surgery last weekend, then nearly every entertainment magazine would be on the story in a flash?

He is the top name in one of the most popular movies over the past two years. Yet The Star seems to be the only tabloid to pick this up? :rolleyes:

Let's all try a dose of logic, now. :p

The Star is as reliable as the National Enquirer for crying out loud. I wouldn't use their paper in a bird cage.

I would think that you could immediately tell this was fake by the fact that the article says the reason Franka didn't come is because they 'just' broke up. :rolleyes: As if they were even together recently in the first place..

And his quotes don't sound like him. 'I have no celebrity friends'? Even if that is a joke, it's not the type of joke you'd normally hear him saying.

Don't get so worked up about something so fake. It's not good for your health!

:k

Now, before we get into arguments about "Well, there ARE quotes!" they make up fake quotes ALL THE TIME. While celebs COULD sue them, it's not worth the time and energy and it only results in giving the tabloid publicity- which is why they do this crap in the first place.

Yeah, the Star is a pretty dumb paper and I generally don't read those things. But sometimes when it comes to something that is verifiable like this there is at least some truth to it. It could be checked by other reporters just contacting the hospital or other simple ways. Most magazines and TV stations have their insiders all over Hollywood to let them know about things like this.The Star has reported acurately about Elijah in the past. They just throw in the mention of Franka because most articles about him throw that in just for good measure to beef out the story.

The theory seems to be that Elijah didn't want the story getting out too soon. So we'll see what happens in the next few days.

As for the way his appendix bothered him off and on for a few weeks.. according to the various medical websites like WebMd etc. that I looked into it CAN do prescisely what it did. And that's why a burst appendix is so dangerous. If someone has those vague pains off and on for awhile not knowing what it is and then the pain stops suddenly that CAN be when the appendix bursts and the person actually feels better for awhile till the infection sets in then they feel awful and can die rapidly.

Of course I hope it didn't happen and he is off frolicking in the sun and enjoying his summer before the onslaught of ROTK press and photo-shoots starts.

I am not stressing THAT badly. I will just eat chocolate and wait and see.;)

I will just eat chocolate and wait and see. This sounds like a brilliant strategy to me. ;)

I've just gone and fetched some Cadbury's LOTR promotional choccies from the Harem -- there's stacks of it there at the moment. OK everyone, what's your fancy? Fruit & Nut? Peppermint Cream? Caramello? The Dairy Milk's got Elijah on the wrapper, so we can analyse his microexpressions while we're chomping.... :D

Ah! Just in from sync. swimming practice for the next Lij Film Festival. We just get better over time!;)

Hand over that Dairy Milk Cadbury, Glads! Thank you very much! Oooh! Look at the Lij/Fro piccy.. yum! Why does this one taste better than the Caramello? Hmnnn?

Chocolate is good!!!!!

Honestly the Lij-angst sent me out for a bunch of M&Ms today. Haven't had a craving for those in awhile.

Feeling better now.:D

Another attempt to attract attention to EJW's acting ;). This time by attaching a spoilerish pic.

:eek: !!! :eek: !!! :eek: !!!

Brunhild, where did you get *that*? Where is it from? Wow! It's so aptly named I can hardly speak... well, OK; - type.
Oh my - I totally adore and admire that acting! So expressive! So right! I can study it for the longest time.

More info, please! :)

And I was meaning to ask you, - those pics from a German article, was that a joke? Or did someone really use those in an article about EJW himself? Or about Frodo? If so, what did the article say? Doesn't exctly look like your run of the mill article about EJW. Is it some kind of fantasy/gothic or religious magazine thing?

Maeglian--The "angst" picture is from the site that, IIRC, should not be directly linked here. The German article can be found here (http://jetzt.sueddeutsche.de/f/content/jetzt/heft/2001_51/JE_MAG200105100601.pop).

So I wasn't the only one who had to laugh at the idea of The Star being granted an exclusive interview with Elijah Wood? :D

I'm not being mean; I'm certainly not belittling the circumstances, if true! So you can put that trout down, now, Hobmom! ;) :k But oh, that alleged warm relationship between actor and tabloid reported really made me laugh. :) Anyway, still no word about it at TORn, which makes me respect them a lot. :)

Originally posted by Brunhild
Concept art by Hieronymus Bosch.


Wow. Thanks, Brunhild. Slightly off-topic: one of my favourite cop characters is the hero in investigative/thriller novels written by Michael Connelly, and he's named after the painter Hieronymus Bosch. In the books he goes by the working name Harry Bosch. Michael Connelly books are great rivetting fun to read (IMHO), but I was never really sure if Hieronymus Bosch the painter truly existed. It's so cool to know now that he was real, and to see examples of what his work was like.

And it goes without saying that those pics are deliciously, delightfully angsty! :o :o ;)

ainon--Before I'm accused of misleading the young :D let me add that the pictures are not really by Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516). However, they do look like some of his work, e.g., Christ Carrying the Cross (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch/carrying/carrying.jpg).

Brunhild - wow! The pictures you found are real gems! "Angst" is breath-taking, heart-breaking and leg-wobbling... I could hardly bear looking at it... OMG.

The Bosch-ish illustrations are very interesting too. The article (written by a male journalist almost of the same age of Elijah; it's from a mag edited once a week by a big German daily newspaper) they belong to delighted me because Elijah and LOTR is described in a very warm and poetic way. No really new facts or statements (interview dates from December 2001). The author depicts Elijah as a likeable boy, as 'halfling and sunshine' :) , is deeply impressed by his huge blue-shining eyes (who wouldn't ?) and his down-to-earth manner. I liked this sentence: "Elijah Wood's eyes reveal the difference in nature to the cold-hearted dullness of most Hollywood stars." - (my translation)

Ainon - Hieronymus Bosch is one of those responsibles for the nightmare pictures of hell we have got in European Christianity - really terrible and very very angsty. Brunhild chose a good example to show you a kind of 'late-medieval-orcs' :eek: ...

Whiteling-
I liked this sentence: "Elijah Wood's eyes reveal the difference in nature to the cold-hearted dullness of most Hollywood stars."

Yes. That is such a lovely way of saying it. He really does stand out amongst his peers. Or should I say he has no peers. There isn't anyone like him in Hollywood. And that's a very good thing. He is such a gem amongst the rubble.

I think one of things a lot of people don't 'get' about Elijah is that he is just plain 'different' and doesn't play along with the typical Hollywood machine. If he is sick and says that no celebrities visited him this fits with the way he is in RL. He doesn't hang out with other 'stars', just regular folks and he couldn't care less if this isn't the 'correct thing' for stars like himself to do.

He doesn't fit into any category except his own. He's an individual. Which is one thing that contributes to his being such a talented actor.

Now I'm off to grab those new and oh so angstey ROTK pics!

Another comment regarding Elijah saying that he has no celebrity friends. What do you call the other hobbits and Orlando, whom he said he is close to like they are part of his family? Not to mention Ian McKellan and Ian Holm who were KNIGHTED they are so good. Now, I know he probably doesn't think of them as stars because he knows them so well, but he does seem to hold them in high regard, and to say he doesn't know anyone famous would be rather insulting.

Kelsey/LetYourLoveShine

For your viewing pleasure:
http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-8/19314/PDVD_000.BMP

OK that needs a little clarification. Of course the cast of LOTR are celebs.

I think what Elijah means is that beyond the cast members of LOTR he doesn't go and hang out with JLo and Ben A.,Britanny Spears and all the rest of the usual "Big Names".

It's quite well known that Elijah's closest friends besides his LOTR pals are just people like the guy he knows at the CD store and other unknown everyday people. Go Lij! For not feeling he is too good to hang out with regular folks.

He's a truly humble, nice guy who befriends whomever he chooses and not just those who can 'advance his career'.

Oh, I'm not saying he doesn't have normal friends, I know he does and I think it's adorable and I love him for it. I know waht he said is true, I just don't think it sounds like something he would say, though. He's down to earth, bbut he doesn't go around bragging about it. I just doubt the quotes validity because he always seemed more respectful than that. Plus he says he despises tabloids, why would he grant an interview with one? He's always said that he hates the gossip and people should just mind there own business. Why would he feed that empire?

Kelsey

Hobmom - While I appreciate and share your concern over Elijah's health, I have to admit I'm firmly with Narya, Winter, ainon and LYLS in thinking that this tabloid publication's 'exclusive interview' occured only in their depraved little minds! I'm not saying there isn't a possibility that Elijah has been ill and underwent surgery, I just really, honestly do not think he would be chatting on the phone from his hopital bed to THAT type of paper, when there has been no official announcement from his publicist, agent or family.

I don't know if 'The Star' is a US publication, but it sounds like one called 'The Daily Star' here in the UK. I think it was Winter who said (here or in The Hugs Haven?) 'she wouldn't put it on the floor of the birdcage.' Well, I wouldn't eat my chips out of it! They make things up, invent stories to boost sales to the misguided fools who actually buy it.

Of course, if you are proved right in the end, Hobmom - you can always trout the lot of us!:)

I so agree with Goldenberry when she says she hopes Elijah has been forced to give up the ciggies though. Me too!

Brunchild - Thanks for bringing us all back down to earth with a bump with that AngstyFro pic. Don't know how you find these goodies, but be assured we are all very grateful for that one.:)

Btw, Elijah's acting is always uppermost in my mind! Any interest I have in his real life comes second to my appreciation of his extraordinary talent, particularly his portrayal of Frodo. I don't think our admiration of him as an actor or as a person gives any of us the right to think we should know everything about him, but I DO care, as do most of us here, I think. Can't help it.:)

LYLS - Your pic only showed up for me as one of those pesky little red x's, but perhaps the real thing will appear later.

BLOSSOM-
Of course, if you are proved right in the end, Hobmom - you can always trout the lot of us!

Reserves large bucket of trouts for future use.;)

I am adopting a wait and see attitude about the whole thing. And trying not to fuss too much.

But since you brought it up again..LOL;) ..the consensus of opinion on Elijah sites is that this thing is for real.

OK... this will be the last time I talk about this in the Faculty till we learn the truth for certain.

The Star is a sort of so so tabloid. BUT it is not the worst one here in America. There are really unbelievable ones like the Enquirer and others and I don't buy or read any of them. The Star, as I think somebody mentioned here ..but I'm not sure who... is celebrity based and a tiny bit more careful of what they print and if they quote someone directly it's just likely it's true. Direct quoting is a tricky thing and they have to be more acurate about that than just quoting 'their source'.

Now as to why Elijah MIGHT have talked only to them...Perhaps the Star found out he was in the hospital and contacted his manager or publicist. Now the Star could have said ..'We are going to run this story with or without any interview'. So the publicist contacts Elijah and asks him what he wants to do. He might have decided that it's better for him to tell them what happened than to let their imaginations run wild so he gives them a quick interview to stop that from happening and then otherwise asks his publicist to try and keep a lid on the whole thing if possible. This fits the way things are happening at present.

I feel that's the most likely scenario. Given the fact that TORN seems to know something about it but won't confirm it OR DENY it. If it wasn't true wouldn't the simplest thing be to just say.."Hey..He's fine. It's not true". But NO ONE has said that.

Now the fact that Elijah did not get to the E interview he was scheduled for last Thursday...and that he didn't get to see Billy's play a day or so ago at The Edinburgh Festival, which he had planned to do, suggests that SOMETHING did happen.

OK, that's it. That's all we have. That's all the sleuthing and deducing I can do for now. Takes off Sherlock Holmes hat.

I think whatever has happened he would like to be left alone. So I will now TRY to shut up about it till we hear more.

OK, now back to his movies.... Hey how about that DVD coming out next week? You know I'll be making some very studious caps of that for our examination.

Originally posted by Hobmom
OK, now back to his movies.... Hey how about that DVD coming out next week? You know I'll be making some very studious caps of that for our examination.

For a bit of a taste--shieldmaiden posted a link in the Trilogy forum to a site that had some pics from the RotK preview on the TTT DVD. I thought I'd go spend... a few minutes :rolleyes: ... looking at them before I got other things done tonight----I didn't know there were going to be several hundred of them!! :eek: Let's just say I didn't get anything else done tonight... But here are the important pics I found in that bunch (including some we've already seen):

http://www.members.tripod.com/afewwords_tgs/id187.htm

Enjoy. I'm going to bed :) .

Tg, love your Startled!Fro icon tonight from the new batch. I was forced to make a new wallpaper from the new TTTT EE and ROTK preview pics. That's why I was up until 10:30 PM finishing my chapter! *sigh*

Enjoying all the pics and comments, everyone. Another 2 weeks and things should slow down for me. Half my docs are out in draft form now, yea!

(((Faculty)))

(((Lij))) (just in case he was really sick...)

Oh, man. This just in: one of the official teaser posters for ROTK.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/46319/frodo_poster.jpg

Ever get that feeling that your heart has been ripped out and stomped on? Yeah.

Bunnie, where'd you find that?

Incredible. *SOB*

I saw the series from RotK that went up yesterday; tgshaw linked it above, and it was linked on another favorite list. A close up of this is there... but not the teaser poster you've found.



SPOILER Alert: I do not see how to make this invisible... sorry! Trying to drop enough space in that it's not noticeable...









SPOILER!!!!









Extensive discussion yesterday with beta and application of Faculty type forensics makes for likely conclusion re location and timing in tale... just after Sam has turned Frodo over post Shelob battle, to find him, apparently... you know.

*sob*

Sam's tears are still on Frodo's jaw; Sam has not yet been able to bear closing his eyes... as has been done by the time Sam is holding him in the pic we've seen before. Pic is probably Sam's pov from Frodo's right side.






End SPOILER

Bunnie your link has failed!!

Here it is again!!!!!!

http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/FrosterSADBIG.jpg

I am not really here. I am in an angst coma in the Harem.

I'm still amazed at Elijah Wood and his acting ability. I remember when FotR came out we were all amazed that Elijah disappeared when PJ said "action." We looked for him, and couldn't find him. :D At the time of FotR we weren't all that familiar with Elijah, so it was to be expected.

But here I am a year and a half later, and I've analyzed dozens of non-Frodo screencaps, seen the transformation from Elijah to Elido* to Frolijah to Frodo and back to Frolijah to Elido to Elijah, analyzed in detail The Wig**, mourned the loss off the hair, celebrated the growing of the hair, bawled over The War and The Ice Storm, "awwwed" over Huck Finn, refrained from naming the Animated Moved That Shall Not Be Named, got hormonally thrown by Madeline Sami, only a little thrown with Franka, stared at the tattoo, seen countless TV appearances, behind-the scenes shots, red carpet shots, Oscar shots, interviews, reports from conventions, all manner of promo photo shoots in ugly colors, good colors, see-through colors, and the crappy tan jacket, got disturbed over Elijah baby pictures, and just generally swooned like the dickens and made a total emotional and intellectual fool of myself. Baby, I've come a long way from watching that original early 2001 Internet teaser trailer of Elido saying "It's so real you really believe it's real" and doing a few :rolleyes:.

And you know what? After all this time of drowning in ElijahElijahElijah, I can still stare at that picture of Bloody Frodo, and no matter how hard I try, I still can't find Elijah Jordan Freakin' Wood!!!

Dudes, if that's not an Oscar for SOMEBODY, something is terribly wrong.

-----------
*Elido is the name used to describe Elijah in the Frodo costume. He's mostly Elijah and only partially Frodo at that point. You usually see Elido in behind-the-scenes type shots.
**All Hail THE WIG!!

Originally posted by erendis
And you know what? After all this time of drowning in ElijahElijahElijah, I can still stare at that picture of Bloody Frodo, and no matter how hard I try, I still can't find Elijah Jordan Freakin' Wood!!!

Dudes, if that's not an Oscar for SOMEBODY, something is terribly wrong.

What she said.

But wait...can you really win an Oscar if what you're really doing is not acting but channeling a Third-Age hobbit? :confused: Hmmm...

I'm so happy to hear you say that, Erendis, because I can't see him in Frodo either. People think I'm nuts when I say that, but honestly, when I watch Elijah as Frodo, or even just look at screencaps or photos, I just don't see anyone but Frodo. It still astonishes me. :cool: It's nice to know that you guys are here and know what I'm talking about and that I'm not nuts. Well... okay, maybe not that last one, ;) but you know what I mean. :D

In all seriousness, that poster has such emotional impact that all by itself it is enough to increase his Oscar chances. That's no pretty little boy who has only a "deer in the headlights" expression to offer. That's an artist doing what artists do.

erendis, just LOL at your EJW summary of the past 18 months. If that isn't me to a T! :D

You know, I can't find him either, the missing EJW. He just so completely becomes Frodo when he's doing that role. EW said in one of his interviews, "I look at the screen and, if I can't see myself up there, I feel I did a good job." (I'm paraphrasing, but that's the essence.) Well, none of us can see him up there, so I guess he did pretty good!

I remember back at the beginning of the FOTR run, I'd only seen it once or twice at this point, and I was just ... amazed. Astounded. Just so totally intrigued with this virtually unknown (to me) actor's performance. When I said as much to my Oscar-fanatic friend, she said, "I don't think he'll be an Oscar contender, though, because his role doesn't have enough range."

So said my friend at FOTR. By the time ROTK is out, perhaps she'll agree that, just maybe, this role has a little "range."

What you've all said in the most recent posts! :)

I know I'm an emotional person, but I also like to think I'm also *somewhat* realistic and cynical. Yet however much I look at that poster (and believe me, I've *really* looked at it! :rolleyes: ) and tell myself that that is Elijah Wood in makeup, and think of that happy relaxed near-bald geeky person that he is in Real Life; - that poster *still* continues to have the same emotional impact.

The only way I can explain that to myself, is that between him and the film crew, they've created a work of art. Good art does that; - it's the emotions and reflections and completeness and its reality in itself that hit you and take up your mind and time at first, not the painting technique or the colour scheme or the finish. So yes; that really *is* an artist doing what only few artists could ever manage to do.


Of course, with this I've now officially started to be really worried for the film. What if it doesn't deliver after building up expectations based on *this*? They've only a little over 3 hours to tell an amazingly rich, harrowing story. What if too many emotional artistic moments have to be sacrificed on the alter of running time? 4 months, 4 months, 4 months......

I’m having the same response to the poster of Frodo that you are, Maeglian (and Elda and Erendis, and, oh, everyone.). I’ve sat here at my desk all day, thinking about it, studying it, responding to it.

I have the same kind of raw, sensory response to it as I felt when I first went to see FOTR and was almost overwhelmed by the ‘oh my God, that really is Frodo.’

No doubt, after a little while, I’ll be able to intellectualise why I feel this way. But I don’t actually want to go there, just yet. I find the image painful to look at, because it radiates pain and torment. The look on his face, I can almost hear an indrawn breath, the prelude to an attempt to say…something.

:(

Don’t worry about ROTK, Maeglian. There, there. Don’t worry. (If I say that often enough then I won’t worry either.)

Erendis-
Dudes, if that's not an Oscar for SOMEBODY, something is terribly wrong.

He's got it!!! If that ALONE doesn't do it what will?!

Oh ..I know I'm biased and emotional...... but never in all my long life have I seen a movie poster with the impact of that one. And it is ALL centered on HIS FACE!! EVERYTHING Frodo goes through is shown on his face in that ONE shot!

Weeps!!!!!!

Off-topic:

ainon (and anyone else who isn't familiar with him), you must try to check out the work of Hieronymus Bosch. His paintings aren't exactly "nice" or something that you'd want hanging on your living room wall, but they have all the weirdness, symbolism, intricate detail and sheer imagination that a fantasy literature fan could wish for.

On-topic:
Brunhild: Another attempt to attract attention to EJW's acting ... (links to angsty ROTK Frodo picture) :eek: And what an attempt! :D I wouldn't mind talking about EW's acting too, Brunhild, but the little bugger's going to have to put out more new movies so that we have something to discuss. :p Never mind, I think the drought's about to break with the DVD/video release of TTT, and (hopefully) a wider availability of Try 17/All I Want.

Thanks to Bunnie for bringing us the Bigger Version of the poster, and to Hobmom for the HUMUNGOUS Version. ;) :D But seriously, it's just stunning, isn't it?

Hi, Notabluemaia! Haven't seen you for a while (except in the Harem Hoot thread. :p )

Per the speculations on where the shot in the poster '"fits" in the story... It's my belief that this poster, like the TTT one, isn't necessarily in the film. i.e., it's a staged shot. I just see a summary of what Frodo goes through in ROTK up until Mt. Doom - huge levels of pain and fear and determination and anguish and angst. YES! :D So I'd guess it sort of fits toward the middle, somehow, but no where in particular.

originally posted by Maeglian
Of course, with this I've now officially started to be really worried for the film. What if it doesn't deliver after building up expectations based on *this*? They've only a little over 3 hours to tell an amazingly rich, harrowing story. What if too many emotional artistic moments have to be sacrificed on the alter of running time? 4 months, 4 months, 4 months......

I have great hopes that PJ insists on blowing that "no more than three hours" thing. Otherwise I just don't see how it can be done. I think PJ *can* do ROTK right - but in three hours? When you consider what's left of TTT? I'm not so sure about that. And I want Frodo and Sam's part done right, and Merry, and Pippin's, and I certainly want to see more of Gandalf this time around... And you know there's going to be more non-canon Arwen stuff. *sigh* not trying to pop anyone's balloon or anything, because the poster is knocking me out, too, but I am trying not to get too filled with anticipation.

I expected nothing but disappointment of FOTR, and it completely blew me away. I wish I could rediscover that distance for ROTK, because I think it'll blow me away if I just don't expect too much of it. :rolleyes: :D

estella rose,
Thanks for the encouraging words - I'll just siphon off a bit of that from Maeglian. "Don't worry. Be happy. Don't worry." ;)

ainon,
I'll second Gladys in recommending Hieronymus Bosch. Somewhere I picked up a book discussing some of the symbolism in his paintings - all I can remember at this point was that bagpipes symbolized sexual decadence, or some such, but it was interesting. Apparently there was this whole "visual langauge", so Christians could meditate on paintings and be holding whole conversations with the painter.

Speaking of which, where's peaceweaver? Goldie popped up a bit ago (I knew she hadn't fallen off the planet, though, saw her in the Harem a time or two ;) ), haven't heard from peaceweaver in a while. Or is she on vacation? Ack, I've lost track...

What's the countdown to the DVD? I haven't gotten that on the calendar yet, I'm ashamed of myself.

Sheryl

Yes, Sheryl, I've been lurking, but now that THAT POSTER has officially, irrevocably and completely slain me, I may not be around much except in spirit form.;)

Peaceweaver should be back from vacation today. I eagerly await her return. We have a date to analyze Try Seventeen in greater depth. :p

erendis, your summary of the last 18 months is breathtakingly succinct, funny, insightful and oh so familiar to my own heart. I still have not seen any Oscar speculation about acting performances that even mentions Elijah Jordan Wood, a sad fact that leaves me cursing the morons who write about and vote on such things. Oh, how I hope they wake up and take notice after ROTK comes out! PJ's trilogy of films has been referred to as his "nine-hour movie" and it is my fervent wish that Oscar voters will think of it as exactly that. Because when the whole package is put together, it stands as an unparalleled achievement in cinema, and deserves every accolade that can be awarded.

Including the actor who channels Frodo!

Hi, Shilohm!

Here's a link to tons of screen caps from upcoming TTT dvd. There are pics from the RotK 'preview' there...

Look at RotK 5... the pic from the poster is there in extreme closeup (as well as some other very wonderful pics)

Looks like the poster is exactly that shot.

See C203


http://homepage.mac.com/elwen/PhotoAlbum18.html


SPOILER!





The extreme close up shows some very interesting things about Frodo's eyes, and their focus. His cheeks have sunken. By golly, that EW is acting 'dead'!

Also, Frodo is lying on his back in the poster shot, not leaning. His hair has fallen away, and the Ring chain is nestled in the hollow of his throat, not pulled taut by its own weight. I think this is a very angsty moment... Frodo has been watching Sam's battle... and the life fades from his eyes... and Sam finds him so, and weeps...

And, the part of this scenario, if it is true, that shocks me so, is the idea, a very effective one cinemagraphically, of showing exactly why Sam thinks Frodo dead: his beautiful eyes are open, and fixed? (*sob*) Avoids shaking his shoulder and calling interminably, and appears indisputable proof...

It is possible that Frodo, injured, has weakly watched Sam's battle with Shelob as he lies fallen... and fades away before Sam returns. That expression is consistent with the look of worry and fear he would have seeing Sam in such danger. And, if PJ pulls no punches, Frodo of the teaser poster, is Frodo 'dead' ...

And... that moisture on his jaw... perhaps... Sam's tears, exactly where they would fall as Sam leaned over him in grief.

The RotK collection at the site above has pictures of a very dirty Frodo pushing up from the ground, looking agonized and determined... would seem that those might be Mt. Doom. Much dirtier face than in the teaser poster.


Of course, this is just a supportable hypothetical... and others may be equally probable!


Spoiler end.



I have barely survived this picture. I will not live through the film.

[A bits and pieces post from work--originally followed Sheryl's, but the thread's a bit busy right now :) ...]

I have to admit with shame :o that someone asked me yesterday what the release date was for the DVD and I didn't know! Had to look it up: August 26. Next Tuesday. Five days.

Regarding the Bosch-ish art discussion, how about throwing in a little Albrecht Durer? See that one sad-but-tranquil face in the midst of the battle, within the curve of an angel's wing? ;)

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/www_pics_am-durer109.jpg

Hmmm... The more I look at it... That's not really a battle is it? The angels are just killing all the humans...

From Sheryl
Per the speculations on where the shot in the poster '"fits" in the story... It's my belief that this poster, like the TTT one, isn't necessarily in the film. i.e., it's a staged shot. I just see a summary of what Frodo goes through in ROTK up until Mt. Doom - huge levels of pain and fear and determination and anguish and angst. YES! So I'd guess it sort of fits toward the middle, somehow, but no where in particular.
Agreed that we probably won't see this particular frame on screen. But just the assumptions we make say a lot about our reactions--This is Frodo, and you can't make a composite of a real person. So, this shot had to be taken at a specific point in the story--even if we never actually see it on screen. (Reminds me of the line from Fran or Phillipa that even though the Old Forest and Tom B aren't shown in the movie, it doesn't mean those things didn't happen in the movie-verse: They just decided not to show them :p . )

Even though I've seen Elijah in a lot of movies (and watched him completely disappear into several other characters), I absolutely think he has some kind of special symbiotic relationship with Frodo. Some of the things he's said seem to indicate he felt the same thing--for example, that he'd get up in the morning to start the day's shooting and Frodo would somehow "just come out." Believe me, I've done a lot of looking at Frodo screencaps, and the only time I've vaguely seen Elijah Wood in them is a few frames where he's in profile during one scene.

Regarding the Oscar, I'll just defer to the quote from SciFi Magazine in my sig. But, the reality is: "Deserves an Oscar? I daresay he does. But many who deserve an Oscar don't get one, and many who get one don't deserve it." ;) -- but true.

------

Does this one poster get my expectations up for the movie? Well, I know the entire movie isn't going to live up to this, but I do think a couple of scenes--at least--will. If RotK can deliver at the level FotR did--and that movie did have its faults, remember--I truly think generations of people will be watching these films, which will still be serving their most important purpose, when someone 50 or 75 or... years from now, says, "I've got to read this book!"

------------------
Edit:

Nota, that's where I got the screencaps I posted a couple of days ago at:

http://www.members.tripod.com/afewwords_tgs/id187.htm

Your "spoiler" speculations would be about the only choice that would fit, if the pics were being shown in the order they are in the story--but I don't think that's completely the case. Some of the Merry & Pippin pics, especially, seem to be out of chronological order. Hard to tell, of course, until we can see more than the individual stills.

What, where, when.......

Spoilerish discussion of THE ONE POSTER TO RULE THEM ALL!


As far as I can see, gravity is pulling at the Ring in that poster pic. Which means, to me, that he's sitting upright against some rock face. The swept-back hair could be either due to wind, or because he's just turned his head, or because the makeup dept. decided it made his look even more poignant. I don't think this is "choices", and I don't think he's acting "dead".

This *has* to be later in the story than "choices", IMO. I believe it's from the very last stages before they reach Mt. Doom. Look at those drops that have spilled from his mouth down his chin - I speculate that Sam has just fed him the last of their water. :(
I think it is that late in the story because:

- We know how he looks at the end of TTT, when approaching the Stairs and Shelob's lair. That deep groove from the Ring, the red-rimmed eyes, the general state of extreme physical deterioration aren't to be seen at all at the end of TTT. The poster pic *must* be from a point significantly later in the story, and therefore later than Shelob's lair. Moreover, he doesn't look anywhere near so worn out in the spoiler pics that are actually *from* Shelob's lair.

- Despite the shirt being half unbuttoned, there is no mithril to be seen. Which means this is not only post-CU, but post shedding the orc armour they wear as disguise when leaving CU.


I also think this is not a promo shot, but a shot from a real scene that was actually filmed. That's also because of those drops of water. While I do believe they could make him look as angsty as that in order to have him specifically pose for a promo shot, the water drops would then just be confusing the picture. They wouldn't make much sense in showing a "generic" harrowing portrayal of someone in the last stages of physical and mental exhaustion. So I believe those drops of water attest to this being a real scene.

I also doubt that we'll ever actually get to *see* that scene. :( Just like the Angelic Osgiliath shot, which also was shot as a scene, it evokes a mood very strongly, it is emotional to the extreme, yet it's from a scene snippet that likely isn't pivotal to the plot as such. It's a non-plot driven quiet deeply evokative and angsty moment, fanning the flames of multiple emotions in the viewer. So I'm thinking it probably will not be there, because there is so much action and so much plot development that *has* to go into the film to tell the story.

Just my 2 cents. I hope I'm wrong about the last part there.


I love that picture, I'm pretty much still in complete & utter awe.

I'd dearly like to get hold of that poster.

Possibly Spoilerish (like any of us know :rolleyes: ) Discussion Continued



I'll start off by agreeing with every word Maeg just said :) !

At TORN, the caption on the "head and shoulders" version of the poster shot is "A Desperate Frodo on Orodruin." The fact that they say it, doesn't necessarily mean it's right, of course, but for reasons Maeg gave I do think it has to be deep inside Mordor. (BTW, one thing I don't expect to have much screentime is the actual trek across Mordor.)

Besides the angst level, another thing about the poster raises my hopes for the movie itself: Frodo is still Frodo... He hasn't become a crazed monster or a blank automaton or any of the other horrible visions we got from EJW's statement about Frodo becoming "unrecognizable." The fact that it is still the Frodo we know looking out of those eyes is what makes it so angst-filled in the first place! If he looks like that on Mount Doom, someone's made some good story decisions. -- And I did read a long time ago that those dulling contacts were for the time inside Mordor, to "unbrighten" Elijah's eyes as Frodo deteriorates.

Another speculation: Sam does find Frodo's clothes in CU--the two articles of clothing that are very obviously missing in the poster shot (the mithril shirt and the Elven cloak) are the two the Mouth of Sauron displays at the Black Gate. IMHO, there wouldn't be any reason the Orcs would want the rest of his clothes, and I don't see any harm done to the story if he gets them back (as long as we get a heart-rending "They've taken everything!" first). This would also explain why the Frodo in Orc-armour action figure appears to have Frodo's regular clothes on beneath the armour.

Besides, I think that set of clothing itself has become pretty important to the story, as told visually in the movie. Comparing poster-Frodo to the early Shire pics is heartbreaking--and what's happened to his shirt and OME! those fuzzy suspenders! just underlines it all. Remembering those beautifully tailored, hand-stitched cuffs, even as they are in the "hand-grasping" scene at the end of FotR... :( :(

tgshaw--A nice :rolleyes: picture by Durer: "And the four angels were loosed, who are prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they might slay the third part of men" (Revelation 9:15). One more engraving by Durer here (http://www.conncoll.edu/visual/Durer-prints/apocalypse.all/big/Box%2022-06.jpg). Hopefully, it's not what Sam will see at the Tower of CU :eek: :eek:.

Tg, yes, I'm absolutely certain Sam will recover the shirt and trousers at CU, and that Frodo'll wear them all the way to Mt. Doom. The Mouth of Sauron scene may not feature more than the Mithril.....

This also casts new doubt about the timing of the Pieta pic (the other new F&S teaser poster). We've all assumed that that one is "choices", but Frodo's jacket and cloak (and any spiderwebs) are none of them to be seen. That pic may well be close to Mt. Doom too.


I haven't seen Mel posting during this poster frenzy, I think. Would be interesting to hear her comments about the rock he's leaning against in the One Poster.

Just a quickie 'cause I should be doing something else (sound familiar??)

THAT poster is unbelievable!

If anyone ever doubted Elijah's ability to act, and totally inhabit a role, that is it -and without having seen ROTK (yet).

Personally I don't care where in ROTK its supposed to be, the emotion in it just blows me away -it just looks as though it is beyond acting, just so totally real, and all the more upsetting for that.


viola

[back to lurking/oops, working ;) ]

Just wanted to mention that I just posted, in the Harem, screencaps from the sequence of Frodo seeing what was pursuing them in Shelob's lair. Someone had mentioned here (I think) that they didn't think that, in the one photo we'd seen, Frodo had actually seen what was pursuing him. They were right.

And as for Bosch - I have been forever turned off of his work by the fact that when I was young, my parents took me to a dentist who had pictures of Bosch's hell on all his walls - and he wasn't a very good dentist, so I was frequently in pain and gagging while he worked on my teeth. So as an impressionable youngster, I got to look at representations of hell while I went through it. This has heavily influenced my ability to appreciate Bosch's work, I'm afraid. To this day, I can't imagine why this dentist thought those pictures were appropriate for his office. :rolleyes:

Images of hell in a dentist's surgery seem entirely appropriate to me :p because I hate the dentist :rolleyes: but I echo your sentiments, Narya, what an extraordinary visual image to put in front of one's patients. :eek:

Originally posted by tgshaw
Besides the angst level, another thing about the poster raises my hopes for the movie itself: Frodo is still Frodo... He hasn't become a crazed monster or a blank automaton or any of the other horrible visions we got from EJW's statement about Frodo becoming "unrecognizable." The fact that it is still the Frodo we know looking out of those eyes is what makes it so angst-filled in the first place! If he looks like that on Mount Doom, someone's made some good story decisions.

I agree 100%, tg. :cool: One. Hundred. Percent. :)

I too was a bit freaked by EJW's statements about ROTK Frodo. :eek: I don't think I could cope with anything worse than Ian Holm turning Frodo into a gremlin at the Sammath Naur. (Holm played Frodo in the BBC radio LOTR, and I adore his Frodo, absolutely adore him, but he is rather OTT at times. :p) Unless it was PJ pulling a god-awful Nuclear Frodo on me. :eek: NO! PJ! NO! :mad: :p

So yes, these posters and screencaps are VERY reassuring. ROTK is the Frodo-angst film ... and that's the way it should be.

Sam (aww, dear Sam) finding Frodo's clothes for him in CU would be a beautiful, beautiful touch. :) Hope that's so.

I have to say I agree with all the thoughts on THE poster. That's one of the most beautifully angsty things I have EVER seen!

I keep coming back to the notion that whether Elijah's Frodo is book-canon or not (OK - not, but we'll blame PJ and Co. for that), the fact remains that NO-ONE ELSE (and I honestly believe this) could have portrayed his innocence, goodness, fear, despair, courage (and I think that Film-Fro DOES have courage) pity, grief, torment - you name it - Elijah delivers. His Frodo is a stunning achievement, and I fully expect him to break our hearts come December, whatever PJ has in store for him.

Looking at that poster I am reminded again of Sir Ian McKellen's words.

Quote:
"If you think Elijah's good in this one [FOTR], wait till you see him by the end of the third one."
_____________________________________________

I think Sean Astin will shine also - I cannot wait to see these two play out the physical and emotional journey that awaits Frodo and Sam in ROTK.

Maeg, you posted that lovely Happy/Carefree Fro pic in The Harem, and it prompted me to do this:
http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/FacesofFrodo1.jpg

That's a very steep character arc; THAT'S WHAT I CALL ACTING. And Tg, I agree with you about the Oscars - I'll bet that he won't even be nominated. (I do have my fingers crossed though - he so deserves recognition for this role)

Right now I'm too emotional too say anything really coherent, but I thought I'd try. That poster was so powerful (not helped by the fact that I was listening to Only Hope from A Walk to Remember at the same time) I don't think I've ever seen a photo that powerful. Or heart-wrenching. I just don't know how to react. I t almost makes me cry.

Kelsey

Oh, and I agree with you guys about not seeing Elijah in Frodo. I've been trying to figure out how to explain to my friends for a while that my appreciation of LOTR was completely seperate from my Elijah "obsession." I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who just completely escapes into Frodo.

from Maeglian
they've created a work of art. Good art does that; - it's the emotions and reflections and completeness and its reality in itself that hit you and take up your mind and time at first, not the painting technique or the colour scheme or the finish.
Yes, that's just what it feels like. I'm witnessing Art here, with a capital A.

Despite the shirt being half unbuttoned, there is no mithril to be seen. Which means this is not only post-CU, but post shedding the orc armour they wear as disguise when leaving CU.
Excellent detective work. Yes, I'm buying the Orodruin theory. I'm so glad that Frodo is still there (of course, he's not glad!), but I do see EW's point when he talks about Frodo changing into something unrecognizable. I'd say, ROKT!Frodo is going to be far different from FOTR!Frodo, but it has to be so. Look at what he's going through. *sob*

Blossom
NO-ONE ELSE (and I honestly believe this) could have portrayed his innocence, goodness, fear, despair, courage (and I think that Film-Fro DOES have courage) pity, grief, torment - you name it - Elijah delivers. His Frodo is a stunning achievement, and I fully expect him to break our hearts come December, whatever PJ has in store for him.
Our hearts are broken already. I'm bringing a whole packet of tissues. I'm prepared to be happy (in that upside-down mixed-up way when something too tremendous to hold overwhelms you and makes you notice sunsets and rainbows and those newly-washed-by-rain smells again).

Tg, thanks for the lovely set of pictures on your site! My own quick reference, for when I need a Frodo fix. :k

:eek:

I just had a thought strike me; -


If I'm right, and The One Poster does show an actual scene right before they reach Mt. Doom; - this could be from the Wheel of Fire scene!!!

And if so, we may get to see it after all; - while much is cut due to time restraints, they just *have* to include that speech. It cannot *not* be there! It got Elijah the role! It's so poignant and sad and heartbreaking ..... and... :( It just has to be in!

I hope that is it.


Blossom: Thank you. :k
I know many reacted very strongly to me posting the comparison picture in the harem, and may react to your collage as well, but they *are* all of the same character in the same 9-hour film, and it illustrates the acting, and the character development, better than any words. :)

Blossom, inspired by your heart-wrenching comparison photos, I was looking through my screencaps for a photo that showed a profile that was similar to the poster, and...


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid75/p22b5dec5d14c8774d379d0234aff86f7/fb51aacb.jpg

I'm too tired, and too devastated by where RotK is obviously going to take me to make it all pretty, but...wow. He looks ten years older, and like he's been through twenty years of pain. Even the line of his jaw and neck are so different. I 'know' this is the amazing work of the make-up department, and some of the most incredible acting of all time, but it feels incredibly real to me.

A long forgotten deluby crawls into the room.


http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=upsell_article&articleID=VR1117891287&categoryID=13&cs=1


New Line Re-Releasing First Two Lord of the Rings Movies! Source: Variety Friday, August 22, 2003

New Line Cinema will re-release The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, with additional scenes and footage added, just two weeks before the worldwide December 17 release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The plan calls for putting the films on 100-150 screens in the top 10 U.S. markets. Many other U.S. cities will have one cinema participating in the special extended edition screenings. Running times for the extended editions are 208 minutes for "Fellowship of the Ring" and 214 minutes for "The Two Towers."

Advanced ticket sales are scheduled to begin in late September or early October on exhibitor Web sites and movie ticketing sites like Fandango, MovieFone and Movietickets.com.

Starting the week of Dec. 5, the extended DVD cut of "Fellowship of the Ring" will be released in some 100 or so theaters in the U.S. and in 20 theaters in Canada.

Then, the week of Dec. 12, "The Two Towers" will be released, leading up to a worldwide Dec. 16 daylong marathon, during which all three films will be shown back-to-back. The screenings that day will include a 3 p.m. showing of "Fellowship" followed by a 7 p.m. screening of "Two Towers" and then an 11 p.m. screening of "Return of the King," which will carry over into Dec. 17 -- the day of its global release.



;) :k

You weren't forgotten, deluby. :k (I believe someone was asking after you just yesterday. :) )

And as for your news .... (why don't we have a "WOW!" smiley?) :D

Narya, love the comparison pic! We have a new feature to study now: jawline acting. I've been studying that one intently ever since Frodo turned his head to watch the Black Gate close... (More random thoughts: how does he do that?)

Also, Blossom, I forgot to thank you for another beautiful collage. They often keep me company on my screen. :k

Maeg, you are so right. They absolutely have to include the Wheel of Fire speech. It's as crucial as the Pity Stayed his Hand speech. I'm sure we'll see it in some form. Oh, and weren't you relieved, at the special Faculty ROTK screening, to see that the film opened with the Crossroads scene just as you wanted? PJ promised a more quiet beginning to this movie, and that scene was just perfect. I tell you, this third movie is looking to be great! :p

deluby! Great to see you again. :D

Edit: Some good news from USA today, at http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2003-08-21-lotr_x.htm

So rather than focus on such digital hocus-pocus as Gollum, the hissing computerized goblin inspired by actor Andy Serkis' behind-the-scenes performance, it's time to play up the human element and the intimate encounters.

As Jackson describes the main objective behind this year's extra shooting, "We're tending to look at scenes that we already did the first time around and make the character moments more powerful."
It sounds like PJ and company are taking to heart some of the criticisms folks had about the earlier movies. It was worth a 98-minute battle at Helm's Deep (or so it seemed :rolleyes: ) so that ROTK could benefit from the learnings, and return to that tight character focus that made FOTR so watchable (for me).

I'm just thinking how odd this must be for the actors involved. How many movie actors get to go back to the studio, knowing what the audience thought of their characters? For example, that Faramir was evilized? Or that Frodo was an ace #1 clutz and "deer in the headlights"? (That's gotta hurt.) Sure, they get to hear the feedback, and perhaps learn from it, but they've got to know that much of their performance is already in the can, and what ends up on the screen is in the hands of the director anyway. I think that's a pretty tough challenge to meet, emotionally and technically. IMOHO.

Deluby--Welcome back! Friday's Variety--that's really breaking news! Thanks.

Wonder if Omaha will sneak in as a big enough market to have a screen involved. It'd be great if the one theater here that's had midnight showings for FotR and TTT would be chosen to host the back-to-back showings. Just to be sure, I'd better sneak in and add December 16 to December 17 as vacation days for myself on the calendar at work--before someone else decides to visit relatives for Christmas or something :rolleyes: and snaps it up first!

The only negative--if it is one--is that I wonder if the folks organizing the gathering in Toronto will be disappointed that theirs won't be the only showing. (I haven't checked in on that event for some time--I'm assuming it's still scheduled.)

Originally posted by Mariole
Narya, love the comparison pic! We have a new feature to study now: jawline acting. I've been studying that one intently ever since Frodo turned his head to watch the Black Gate close... (More random thoughts: how does he do that?)
The comparison pics and collages have been incredible--it's one thing to say, "Remember what he looked like..." and a completely different thing to see it, especially in shots that are otherwise similar. It's not just Frodo's appearance that's poignant in Narya's Shire pic--it's the situation. He's horrified that Sam's going to get another mug of ale to avoid dancing with Rosie--and he's going to do something about it! So sweet, innocent, naive :( :( ... concerned about the things in life a young hobbit should be concerned about--rather than the fate of Middle-earth and whether he can hold himself together long enough to save it.

And what makes the "How does he do it?" even more incredible, IMHO, is that these movies/scenes were not shot in sequence. We know at least once--in the "squash court scene"--Elijah (and Sean, to be fair :) ) had to jump from FotR to a scene well into RotK, without much notice (change in shooting plans because of the weather--flooding, IIRC). Even if that particular scene doesn't make it into the movie, I'm sure there will be similar transformations on the screen that we won't even know we're seeing. "Steep character arc" for sure :eek: ! -- I remember Sean once making the statement that they often didn't know which part of the story they'd be shooting on a particular day until they got to wardrobe and saw how beat-up the costumes were that they were going to be wearing.

Mariole, that turn of the head at the Black Gate also blew me away--and it was one of those things I didn't really notice until I slowed it down to screencap it. I hadn't thought of it as "jawline acting" before, but it fits--sure looks as if he's doing something with those muscles to change the look of his face. If anyone wants a refresher, the series of caps is on:

http://home.earthlink.net/~screencaps/id7.html

(May need some patience--there are a lot of pics on that page, and the turn is at the very bottom.)


----------


And since I was at the crebain website copying that URL, here's one for something completely different. I've held off posting the link for a couple of days because I didn't want to detract from the important new RotK discussions, but for those who want a short angst break, here's The Saga of Brego the Wonder Horse (http://home.earthlink.net/~screencaps/id20.html). Not recommended for those bothered by PG-13 sexual innuendo or for diehard Viggo fans without a good sense of humor... ;)

Let's consider this the "last hurrah" of the VCD caps as they give way to the DVD :) :) .

Just checking in to say "Hi! I am not dead after all!"...just in case any of you were wondering. I don't know when (or if) I will have to to drop back in, but I am glad I did. What a great pic of Frodo!

It's about time that they got emotional, and RotK is the movie to do it in. But I'm not going to blame PJ for TTT. Just the few screencaps of the TTT SEE are enough for me to angle my trout solely at the New Line.

I'm going to the meet in Toronto, but I do not resent that other theatres will be doing back-to-back-to-back showings. On the contrary, it was probably the Toronto Meet that gave New Line the idea. (although fans had been clamoring for it since a week after FotR.) The only only thing is that the Toronto people have changed the scheduling a few times because the distributors were unsure how to work it. Now that New Line has come up with a plausible schedule, I'm hoping the Toronto distributor can just use that.

MsU and Deluby! :k It's so wonderful to see you guys again, after so, so long. You guys have been missed. :k :k Welcome back! Hope you're both fine, and no! Don't go disappearing again!

(((((MsU & Deluby)))))

Hello again, Nota and Gladys. And thank you to everyone who'd gone into educational (off-topic) talk about Hieronymous Bosch. Very gruesomely interesting, and it jives with the stuff that's been mentioned Michael Connelly's novels ... but I'll pass on actually looking at more paintings, I think. :)


Back on topic ... ahhh, that poster. And Narya's comparison pic. And Blossom's collage. I'm all angsted out happy. :D I'll sit out the speculations about it, though. I don't care where it's from in the movie. The movie is four months away. The poster, however, is here. Now. On my screen. So I'll spend my time looking at it and be very, very spine-tingly content. ;)


As for the Oscar buzz, sure, early Oscar buzz for an actor is nice, but the buzz could fizzle out after a movie is out and things don't match people's expectations. Which tends to happen again and again every year (but I do put a lot of faith in the buzz being generated for Sean Astin's work in RotK). In Elijah's case I'd definitely prefer him catching everyone by surprise and having them heap their superlative praises on him after the performance is out there for all to see. :) I'm thinking of how it must have been for the first two Godfather movies, when seemingly plain ordinary actors named Al Pacino and Robert De Niro became each movie's Don Corleone - and blew everyone away. I know they were nominated for Oscars but I don't know if either won, and I don't think it matters. What matters is that 30 years later, people are still watching the Godfather movies, and still being wowed by the performances of those two actors. And both actors are still around, working, proving they are worth all the accolades they got in their younger days, and that they're still capable of getting now. Elijah recognised as the Pacino or De Niro of his generation, and lasting as long as they have - I reckon that's the real draw. :cool:


Moving on to tgshaw - tg, dear, you need therapy. Definitely. :D :D :D http://home.earthlink.net/~screencaps/id20.html --- ROTFLMAO!!!

On a more serious note, I watched Viggo in 'Indian Runner' a couple of nights ago. Viggo's character was a very flawed as-far-from-Aragorn as you can imagine type of person, a guy with no hope of redemption. Great performance. Viggo had that intensity thing going too in 'Indian Runner' ... gotta wonder which role of his clued PJ & co to what he could do as Aragorn. Anyway, I am kind of on-topic, because David Morse played Viggo's brother in 'Indian Runner' and of course David Morse was Elijah's dad in 'The Good Son'. They're all connected to each other! :p ;)

Just popped in to say - I HAVE IT! I HAVE IT! I HAVE THE TWO TOWERS THEATRICAL DVD!

For some unknown reason this has become available here in the UK early. Although I had it ordered at Virgin, and had paid a deposit, I walked into our local supermarket yesterday morning - and there it was! My hubby and I looked at each other (I'm sure he can read my mind) and he said, 'Oh, go on then.' The temptation of having it there and then instead of waiting (when we have all waited so long already) was simply too powerful to resist!

Anyway, I've been through most of the extras, and we watched the film last night. Oh, to see determined Fro at The Black Gate again. Heaven! :)

I loved Sean's film 'The Long and Short of It' and the 'making of' that. I have realized I really like Sean Astin. And Andy Serkis is funny in this, and Elijah is just lovely as First Assistant Director.

The ROTK preview had a profound effect on me. The extras are all a bit muddled in my brain now, but I think it was in this where Sean Astin said, IIRC, 'If you want to know what happens, just watch where Elijah goes - what happens to poor Mr. Frodo.' And Phillipa comments again that the relationship between Frodo and Sam is the heart of the story. These remarks, and the glimpses we have already had of Elijah's (and Sean's) heart-breaking performance, is very encouraging.

I just had to share these gifs with you all.

We've seen a couple of stills from this, but this clip is in the ROTK preview:
http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/ShelobxsLair1.gif

and this from the trailer:
http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/FroMordor1.gif

Mariole - That quote from PJ will also raise all our hopes and expectations for this film.

Maeg - Oh yes, the Wheel of Fire speech is a MUST.

Narya - Love your comparison pic coupled with the poster. He DOES look older, and weary, and desperate. Although we can attribute some of this to the make-up department, most of the credit must go to Elijah, who immerses himself in Frodo so deeply and so earnestly as to lose 'himself' completley. As many of you here have said - we don't see Elijah on the screen, we see Frodo. I am in total awe of this truly gifted young actor. :)

Deluby - Where have you been? Welcome back. It sounds as though there will be a LOTR frenzy in the US come December.

MsUnderhill - don't leave it too long before you come back and see us.

Well, it's back to the DVD. Lots of screencapping to do. Can't wait to get to work on some TT related collages and gifs at last.

Blossom--How great to see some .gifs again (actually took me a second to realize what you were saying--I'd fallen back into thinking of a .gif only as a still used for an avatar)! As I just finished saying in regard to Narya's screencaps in the TTT forum, it's so nice to have some of the blanks left by the "official pics" filled in. :)

Funny how three days can seem so far into the future! IMHO, it's partly related to how long we're looking at waiting for everything--November for the SE, December for RotK... it all kind of runs together...

Originally posted by ainon
In Elijah's case I'd definitely prefer him catching everyone by surprise and having them heap their superlative praises on him after the performance is out there for all to see. :) I'm thinking of how it must have been for the first two Godfather movies, when seemingly plain ordinary actors named Al Pacino and Robert De Niro became each movie's Don Corleone - and blew everyone away. I know they were nominated for Oscars but I don't know if either won, and I don't think it matters. What matters is that 30 years later, people are still watching the Godfather movies, and still being wowed by the performances of those two actors. And both actors are still around, working, proving they are worth all the accolades they got in their younger days, and that they're still capable of getting now. Elijah recognised as the Pacino or De Niro of his generation, and lasting as long as they have - I reckon that's the real draw.
I just had to repeat that entire paragraph, because I think it's all so true. And, because of the way the Academy operates, even if Elijah doesn't win an Oscar this year, when he does win one in the future, we'll know it's partly for Frodo, even if they don't come right out and say it.

Moving on to tgshaw - tg, dear, you need therapy. Definitely.
Oh, yes, I've been in therapy for quite some time, now :) --but do you honestly think I'd give that URL to my psychiatrist :eek: ? Seriously, though, any therapy I've ever had has been for depression, and everything involved with LotR, and Frodo, and now EJW (and this board :k ) is on the positive side when dealing with that.

On a more serious note, I watched Viggo in 'Indian Runner' a couple of nights ago. Viggo's character was a very flawed as-far-from-Aragorn as you can imagine type of person, a guy with no hope of redemption. Great performance. Viggo had that intensity thing going too in 'Indian Runner' ... gotta wonder which role of his clued PJ & co to what he could do as Aragorn.
I do think Viggo's a good actor (even though I've made fun of him ;) ). As I said way back when I first made the screencaps that ended up in the "Saga of Brego," there are a lot of different talents that come together in acting. IMHO, Elijah's unbeatable when it comes to the audience being able to read the character's emotions in every screencap (the skill that's spoofed in "Brego"). But I think Viggo comes across as having a good sense of the character, and, of course, he's "coincidentally" a better swordsman than Errol Flynn, according to the man who taught them both. IMVHO, this was about as "coincidental" as finding the only actor around who could be Frodo emotionally at all times--something as necessary to Frodo as swordfighting is to Aragorn.

Anyway, I am kind of on-topic, because David Morse played Viggo's brother in 'Indian Runner' and of course David Morse was Elijah's dad in 'The Good Son'. They're all connected to each other! :p ;)
:D Yeah, Elijah's worked with so many other actors that a game of "Six Degrees of Elijah Wood" would probably work as well as the "official" version using Kevin Bacon (although I love that Kevin's able to make fun of it/himself in his Visa Check Card commercial :D --for those who haven't seen it, he brings in a string of people that starts with someone who knows him and ends with someone who knows the store clerk, to prove who he is when he tries to write a check). My difficulty in playing "Six Degrees of EJW" would come from not knowing enough about the other actors' movies to make the necessary connections :rolleyes: .

Congratulations, Blossom! You lucky woman :) !
And thank you so much for your gifs - they are heart-rending! - I'm sure, you'll enjoy your weekend very much ;) .

Narya - your comparison pic is really unbelievable... and yes, Maeglian and Mariole said it already, it is a work of art at what we look here! Make-up and light art but above all the art of a specially gifted actor.


Originally posted by ainon


Elijah recognised as the Pacino or De Niro of his generation, and lasting as long as they have - I reckon that's the real draw. :cool:





Yes, it's a certainty! (Tg, I see, you just posted it but I have to rerepeat it! - -- Btw, therapy is a good thing as well as posting on such a lovely board like this place here ;) !)

One thing I have to get rid of: these days I had the opportunity to watch "Internal Affairs".
Ugh! What an unpleasant film :eek: ! It's not the genre per se I dislike (e.g. "L.A. Confidental" was very good IMO), it is the film's cynical and psycholgical clumsy basic tone and the hair-raising combination of crime, sex and violence makes it a really indigestible mixture for me.
I'm glad Elijah had so less screentime and I thank you, Tg, for not putting it on your list of EJW films!

Hi to deluby and MsUnderhill!

Have a nice weekend, all :) !

Just here to say I re-did those gifs from my last post. When I looked again they were just TOO dark. Now I've lightened them up at least you can SEE Frodo in Shelob's Lair!

Quoted by Tg:
Funny how three days can seem so far into the future!
__________________________________________

It sure is, Tg. Pathetic really, isn't it, that I couldn't wait until Tuesday? And they had the DVD EVERYWHERE in town today! That's what Frodo/EW does to us. :)

Whiteling. Hi - I haven't seen Internal Affairs, and after your remarks I definitely won't bother with that one. Doesn't sound like my cup of tea either, cute little EW or not.

Blossom!!!
I'm obliterated. I'm knocked stupid. I'm mesmerized, gaping, with no control.

That animated gif of Frodo in Shelob's lair!!!!!!

I'm actually a bit jittery and upset. It's so intense! I'm going to be destroyed by seeing this wonderful book come to life in such a scary, impactful way. I'm going to die!!! Happy!!!

Oh, yes cap. Please cap. I'm boneless. Cap. cap. cap. *crawls off to moan*

from tgshaw
IMHO, Elijah's unbeatable when it comes to the audience being able to read the character's emotions in every screencap (the skill that's spoofed in "Brego").
To use a sports phrase, I agree with this 110%. I often can't tell what Viggo's Aragorn is thinking -- I just can't. I was so used to being (delightfully) inside Book!Aragorn's head that the movies, particularly TTT, were quite a shock. Whereas with Elijah's Frodo I am, as they say, "so there." Perhaps that's why, with so much less of Frodo in TTT, I wasn't all there. (I'm still not. People who know me will swear to this in court. :p) I certainly didn't feel the emotional investment that I willingly give time and again to FOTR. Does this make any sense? (I'm so looking forward to the "good parts" version of my TTT EE, when I finally get it. I'm not dignifying the TR with a purchase.)

Did we ever discuss your Jones Dillon page? I had another one of my "theories" about him plucking the springs on the bottom of the top bunk in his dorm room. Jones is (perhaps unconsciously) chafing against the boundaries that have hemmed him in all his life. I look at the plucking as him rattling the bars of his cage. But that's my take on Try 17 -- it's full of symbolism.

I posted a bit of the RotK preview that I transcribed over in the RotK thread, but just wanted to drop a little encouraging spoiler bit here:

PJ:The great thing with LotR, as well as these huge battle scenes, is you have the intimate story, the emotional story. And that’s where most of the power of RotK really lies.

Mark Odesky: All the massing armies, Aragorn, Gandalf’s brilliant strategy, everything that happens is only about : can we buy Frodo a chance?

Phillipa Boyens: So you have this massive war on an external level. And on an internal level you have two little hobbits, Frodo and Sam, on their hands and knees, literally crawling up a mountain. It’s the relationship between these two characters that is the heart of the movie.



Is it December yet???

I was also wondering - is anyone in the Faculty seriously spoiler adverse? Should we be marking / hiding all spoiler conversations and pictures until the SE and RotK come out, or do the interests of analyzing every snippet of EW acting action that we can get our hands on supercede spoiler warnings? It would be nice to keep the main Frodo / movie discussions / speculation in the Trilogy threads, and only bring up things here which are directly related to EW's acting, but some things (such as what I put above) just seem too wonderful not to share. What do you all think?

Originally posted by Narya Celebrian
I was also wondering - is anyone in the Faculty seriously spoiler adverse? Should we be marking / hiding spoiler conversations until the SE and RotK come out, or do the interests of analyzing every snippet of EW acting action that we can get our hands on
supercede spoiler warnings? Just wondering how much I'll be using silver color between now and December 20th! :D I am personally going to try avoiding spoilers as much as is humanly possible, both for the SE and ROTK. I appreciate having the text marked as spoiler, so that I can skip it. The less I know about the film, the more I will be able to enjoy it.

I have a bigger issue with spoiler images, though, and I've been reminded over the last week or so how dangerous it is to come to a place like this when you don't want to see anything! :eek: Not stuff like the teaser posters: I'm glad I saw those! They are all so beautiful, and the Frodo one... well, that goes without saying.

Anyway, I'm toying with the idea of turning off the images in my options, though I hate to do that. But I don't want to impose my almost anal desire to avoid them on all of you folks, as I know some people just love spoilers. ;) I haven't even watched Blossom's animated gifs, though I think I will try to save them, without watching, for later.

I will undoubtedly watch the ROTK preview on the DVD. There are just some things that go beyond my willpower. :p But I looked at a lot of spoilers before TTT, and I think I will enjoy ROTK more if I don't do that to myself this time.

Hey, deluby achieved re-entry! :D

Hi, Viola, deluby and Ms. Underhill! Always good to see you guys.

My eldest daughter saw the stunner Frodo poster and wailed, "Why isn't it December yet?" ;) She's re-reading LOTR for the sixth or eighth time, I think inspired by the poster since she hadn't read it in a while...

Originally posted by Mariole

I'm just thinking how odd this must be for the actors involved. How many movie actors get to go back to the studio, knowing what the audience thought of their characters? For example, that Faramir was evilized? Or that Frodo was an ace #1 clutz and "deer in the headlights"? (That's gotta hurt.)

Ooo, interesting point - the idea of actors reapplying themselves to characters that've been already critiqued. Although I suppose TV actors in continuing series deal in that sort of thing all the time. I don't think EW's ever dealt with that before, though. And does it influence how PJ approaches the characters in the reshoots? Is this the *real* explanation behind his criticism of the guys who shot stuff for him - that he wants to modify performances to move them away from these misconceptions he's hearing?

Never mind the actors; I wonder how much PJ was influenced by commentary on stuff he was still working on. Then again, he's so busy working on it - how much criticism did he have time to pick up? Some of the actors probably know more about what critics had to say than he did. But it seems unlikely he's heard *nothing* - although I can see a raging auteur director insisting that no one speak to him about what critics have to say, PJ seems too low key to be that anal...

Originally posted by BunnieBugs
I will undoubtedly watch the ROTK preview on the DVD. There are just some things that go beyond my willpower. :p But I looked at a lot of spoilers before TTT, and I think I will enjoy ROTK more if I don't do that to myself this time.

This is roughly where I'm at. I'm going to indulge in the offical trailers and posters and things, when I get them through "official" channels, but beyond that I'm trying to stay clear of imagery. If people put up .gifs and spoiler pics as links rather than directly in the thread that'd help. And if spoiler discussions are clearly marked I'll probably read them anyway (I have a hard time scanning past without picking up bits, although it helps if it's in a color similar to the background - problem is, people here have different color backgrounds!), but I think I'm less "spoiled" by discussion than by visuals, somehow.

I will not anticipate, I will not anticipate, I will not anticipate...

Hey, I conned hubby into taking a day off so we get to see the midnight showing this year, hurrah! Always assuming we get our act together in time to get tickets. :rolleyes:

Sheryl

(((Sheryl))) -- so glad you'll be at the midnight showing -- (((Sheryl's hubby))) :p ! Get those tickets early! And I suppose it's time for anyone with hobbitlings to start bribing a babysitter :p .

Of course, I've had December 17 "booked" as a vacation day since just about the time the 2003 calendar went up on the wall at the office, but I did go back in this week and add December 16--in case Omaha gets one of the back-to-back-to-back showings--and December 18--for recovery time :eek: ! And it actually works out well with co-workers, as most of them would rather take off the days right before Christmas, and I'll be there to "hold down the fort." :)

----------

Mariole--interesting Jones symbolism, as always :) . Maybe when the DVD comes out in September we can have another round of discussion on that one.

That poster - again -

Need to echo Pearl's quote of Tgshaw -
Besides the angst level, another thing about the poster raises my hopes for the movie itself: Frodo is still Frodo... He hasn't become a crazed monster or a blank automaton or any of the other horrible visions we got from EJW's statement about Frodo becoming "unrecognizable." The fact that it is still the Frodo we know looking out of those eyes is what makes it so angst-filled in the first place!
YES, absolutely what you say Tg!! And what I especially love about that is its portrayal of Frodo's remaining strength - that attribute without which - in some form or another - a hero cannot be.

Blossom, you lucky angel you! Bless you for those gifs!

Originally posted by Mariole

I'm obliterated. I'm knocked stupid. I'm mesmerized, gaping, with no control.

What she said. ;)

I can see now what the still pic didn't show. That's him in Shelob's cave. He's holding the phial. Such a little fact is making me so happy.

RotK spoilers -- I'm not avoiding the spoilers that are posted in this thread, but I do plan to steer clear of speculations even though I'll read them. A bit of a schizophrenic approach, but hey. :p


Steering off course for a while ...

The inspiring talk about the well-sharpened by make-up Frodo jawline (those make-up folks deserve an Oscar nom, but will they be shut out of the running again next year?) and tgshaw's snogging saga have spurred me into putting forth this brief paper in an effort to waste more time as everyone else but me gets their TTT TV DVD. It covers an area of Frolijah research that the Faculty has left in the hands of others thus far, and as my introduction into the topic, allow me to present a simplified history of the events.

Soon after FotR premiered and blew everyone away (either with sheer joy at the sight of long-held personal dreams coming to life, or with the sheer horror of unforgiveable adaptation encroaching upon purism), Elijah Wood became the object of much scrutiny amongst the regulars at the Imladris message board, which was the precursor to the current Council-of-Elrond board and the first Faculty home. Posters talked about his acting. His speech. His hair/wig. His eyes. His teeth. His pimple. His *eyes*. His posture. His rightness/wrongness as Frodo. His hobbitness. And, the folds of skin in his neck.

(hey, I'm just reporting this. I haven't a clue how the neck got so much attention - go ask someone else)

The following image illustrates the skin folds mentioned above.

http://www.photobucket.com/albums/0603/ainon/4b52f7e5.JPG

As I noted earlier, the Faculty never actively pursued active discussion of Frodo/Elijah neck skin folds. Personally, I've no particular interest in skin folds either - except when pertaining to the obvious, i.e. 'damn, I *am* getting older/fatter/flabbier, aren't I?'. But the folds of skin at Elijah's neck did afford many a poster in Imladris's 'Fingernails' thread (a thread dedicated to hours of amusing Adobe Photoshop manipulations of actors/characters pics. nothing malicious. just for the fun of it, if that's your kind of thing) the opportunity to increase their number of posts, while getting a good chuckle or two out of it. Again, I haven't the faintest clue why folds of skin in someone's neck should be so given such attention, but hey I ain't commenting on the personal tastes of other folks. Not when I have the rest of Frodo to stare at. :D

Anyhoo ... I have to admit that there does seem to be more skin-folding at Elijah's neck than what's usually seen. I mean, look here.

http://www.photobucket.com/albums/0603/ainon/4f189909.JPG

Now, crane your head at that unflattering angle too, and look in mirror. Compare.

:eek:

Yeah. :p

Then, on a quiet night of non-LOTR DVD viewing, I happened to notice:

http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-7/13204/a'in/fightcluben.JPG

and

http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-7/13204/a'in/fightcluben2.JPG

Images are of Edward Norton in scenes from the film 'Fight Club'. Aside from notable injurious make-up effects to face, and highly angsted agitation state, skin folds in the neck are plainly visible. I have no hypothesis to put forth at this juncture (i.e. the very fact that I'm putting aside my lazy streak for long enough to type this up is considered a Big Thing, okay) and I am aware that these comparisons are not merely statistically insignificant, they're also totally absurd. But hey, I managed to introduce the concept of 'neck skin fold observational analysis' into the Faculty, and that, I think, deserves some kudos.

Thank you.



Have a nice weekend! And fine, fine, I'll atone ...

http://www.photobucket.com/albums/0603/ainon/25e8611d.JPG

... for having made you all read this post. And I want to avoid those trouts, if possible. ;)


http://www.photobucket.com/albums/0603/ainon/d405861c.JPG


deep nostalgic sigh for PreMordor Frodo

Originally posted by BLOSSOM
Just popped in to say - I HAVE IT! I HAVE IT! I HAVE THE TWO TOWERS THEATRICAL DVD!

me too, me too :D :D :D

now I know where the seriously angsty picture came from..


I haven't seen it all yet, but just had to look at the trailer for ROTK, which in PJ style, is not just a preview but a chat about the making, his preference for this film over the others, and short coments from EW and SA and the others...

Elijah DOES look older, even in real life, and I can't decide if its just because time has elapsed, and he's at that age when facial features change a lot anyway, or whether its because of the movie??? :confused:

oh, and the spikey haircut is growing out (and better too IMHO)

must get back to the DVD (but I'm depending on everyone else to do the screen caps, I'm still struggling with quotes :eek: )

viola

[good thing its a bank holiday weekend here :cool: ]

ainon--It's subtle product placement! An explicit version of this ad is shown below.
Michelin-Frodo: The road goes ever on and on! :)
http://www.michelin.com/portail/images/im_portail1.jpg

Originally posted by ainon
I can see now what the still pic didn't show. That's him in Shelob's cave. He's holding the phial. Such a little fact is making me so happy.
Yes, yes... I just went back and looked at the "new, improved (lightened)" gifs and will say the same thing. Added comment--one advantage (there are so many :rolleyes: ) of having a slower modem is that I see each frame as a separate screencap for several seconds as the gif loads, and watching both of these just gave more evidence for the "every screencap a keeper" view of Elijah's acting. Even the ones that are blurs show how fast he's moving.

Watching the second gif load, a few frames gave me a brief flashback to Stu--I think it has something to do with the dirty face and the absence of hair :) .

...but I do plan to steer clear of speculations even though I'll read them...
:confused: Uh, okay... :D

My aim with spoilers is to know enough going into the movie that I won't be taken by surprise by any important departures from the book (meaning important to me, which basically means involving Frodo, or involving a waste of time that could have been much better spent on Frodo...). I want some time to adjust my expectations--I think my first FotR viewing would have been disastrous if I hadn't known about the ford ahead of time and been prepared for it. Reassuring spoilers like the poster and Blossom's gifs are also welcome. So, basically, I guess that means I'll look at about anything :p .

I faithfully read the RotK spoilers thread in the Trilogy--I don't always follow up on links to other sites, simply because of time, but figure I'll find out about anything important from that thread (with thanks to those who go to the time and effort of finding and posting the info :k ).

Right now I'm catching the same overall feeling for RotK as there was for FotR around this time--cautious optimism with an occasional flurry of excitement. Also like FotR, there seems to be a move away from worry and toward anticipation as more and more spoilerish info/pics come out. I don't think that ever happened with TTT--there was a lot of worry right up to the film's release. I'm hoping this says good things about RotK (and the extended version of TTT). IMHO, it'd be hard for PJ or NewLine to hoodwink the entire fanbase into expecting one kind of movie and producing something completely different come premiere time... there are just too many geeks among us...

To be honest, I don't think my spoiler policy has changed much since it was first announced that the movies were being made--it's based on that completely irrational and totally real Tolkien-geek stance that they're making these movies about my book, a story I love, a world I've visited, and characters who are my dear friends. They'd darn well better do it right--and I'm gonna be keeping an eye on them the whole time!

But hey, I managed to introduce the concept of 'neck skin fold observational analysis' into the Faculty, and that, I think, deserves some kudos.

Thank you.
[Insert several clapping smilies here ;) ]

I'm not sure what led to that specific piece of research, but to quote another movie, "I'll have what she's having." :D IMHO ;) , I think there's a potential for grant support in this one.

The head turn at the Black Gate is a possible source of data--stemming from, IMO, the related concept of jawline acting (granting agencies always like to know you've done some "preliminary research" before handing out the bucks).

BTW, with all the talk of "the one zit," etc., has the permanent skin crease under EJW's right eye ever been officially named?

--------------

Progress report on website: Finally gotten things straightened out with PayPal account so I could pay for a year's worth of webhosting. Got notice that my account has been set up, but it could take a few days for the domain name to "propagate" (whatever that means :confused: ). I've pulled the site back together from the pieces I'd broken it into when trying to get it to publish on the free space. Now I just have to figure out the instructions for publishing with the new webhost, which are also more complicated than they were for the freebies. After I publish it once, I should be able to make changes with no problem--it's just getting everything "pointing" in the right direction that may take some doing, because I've never done this before. From what I can tell, the "error" messages I was getting were from a problem with the webhost, not the site itself--I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that's true, because if the problem is with the site, I don't know what else it could be (the "pulling apart" was mostly to try to find where that problem could be hiding).

One thing I'm hoping to do after I get the site up and going is to add back on some of the screencap pages I had to delete because of lack of room--I've always kept the pages intact on my hard drive. With the "bought and paid for" site there should be plenty of room to "archive" the screencap pages in the same way as I've always done with the essay pages.

Good to hear you're making progress with the new site, TG! I really appreciate the time and energy you put into it, and am looking forward to it's new incarnation.

Originally posted by tgshaw
Got notice that my account has been set up, but it could take a few days for the domain name to "propagate" (whatever that means :confused: ).

Once you register a new domain or transfer an existing one, you must let your domain registrar (the company with whom you registered your domain) know where your site will be residing so they know where to point your domain. You do this by providing your registrar with your Web host’s name server information The Internet is a worldwide network, and is not based on one central computer. Therefore, when your registrar sends out the information that your domain needs to point to a new server, it takes several days for this information to spread to all the computers on the Internet, all over the world. Once all computers on the Internet “realize” the name servers and Web site to which your domain is now pointing, propagation is complete.

So, basically, the internet is a great big gossip network, and when someone moves, it takes a few days for the word to spread... :D

Skin-fold acting! Ainon, I think you've hit on something there! :D I actually do think this will be one of the subtle but significant ways that Frodo's deterioration is conveyed. In the Lorien pics you posted, his chin is down slightly, thus compressing the neck, and producing the skin folds - which do convey a sense of a healthy hobbit appetite and appearance. In the recent poster, his chin is raised, smoothing out the neck and defining the jaw line, making him appear much thinner and older. (His adam's apple also nearly disappears when his chin is lowered, but is prominent when it is raised.) A whole new thing to look for when screen-capping!

***Spoiler for RotK to the end of post***



Originally posted by ainon
I can see now what the still pic didn't show. That's him in Shelob's cave. He's holding the phial. Such a little fact is making me so happy.




Not only does Frodo have the Phial in that scene, but he also has Sting drawn and ready...so while he is running from Shelob just before he stumbles (which is the part shown in Blossom's gif) he is running with the Phial in one hand and Sting in the other - and he quickly recovers, gets up, and starts running again. Hopefully the fact that he seems prepared to use both the Phial and Sting means we will see some courageous moments in Shelob's lair, to emphasize his character development from the young frightened hobbit depending on others which he started out as in FotR - and to finally make up for the Ford...:D

Hello again, dear Colleagues. It seems I came back from my trip just in time: to see the amazing Poster! And then Blossom's gifs... I cannot imagine how any mortal will survive the experience of RoTK.

One of the highlights of my trip was the mini-Faculty meeting I had with Eagles' Eyrie in Dublin! :k We had a great time lifting pints and gabbing in pubs. And she showed me pictures of the Brit hoot (not the most recent one, alas, but an earlier one that Maeg attended!) I would love to meet you all!

Another very cool moment from my trip was catching a glimpse of Air New Zealand's Frodo plane as I walked through Heathrow. That was very :cool:

I've been trying to catch up with the thread (I no longer have any hope of catching up at the Harem...) and find old friends and new! Hi Deluby! Welcome back Ms. U! Welcome to new colleagues! I missed you all!

Just to put in my 2 cents, Hieronymous Bosch is an amazing artist! His Hells are very Morder-like, but his paradisical scenes are quite breathtaking. He is a challenging artist (the number of books written on him in every language is astounding!), but very rewarding when studied.

Still waiting for confirmation that poor Elwood had to have surgery. :(

And ainon has discovered a wonderful new branch of research for us to pursue, too. ;) Very perspicacious of you, ainon!

And now the TTT DVD is out (well, not til Tuesday here, but I get to see it with Goldie!) And all this great new imagery from RoTK! And the news that the EE's will be screened in Theaters! What a cornucopia of good things are coming our way!

Tg, I will hope with your hope. I've been happy with what I've seen of the ROTK teasers so far. I'm not even particularly "cautious" with my enthusiasm, but as I've said before, TTT gave me a nasty knock, so I'm spoiling myself to a certain extent just to not get blind-sided again. I'm thinking this movie will be so good that these precautions won't be necessary, but that little wounded purist inside me is still nursing her hurts. So I'm seeing some scenes that I think, "Wow, that looks just right!" which undoubtedly I'd have preferred to see fresh in the theatre in the context of the movie. So it's a win/lose. But I'm having fun looking at the pictures and reading speculations, although I do it selectively. You can surprise me with Aragorn all you want. Ever since he splatted into the river and fell in love with a horse, he's kind of been on my secondary priority list. My heart remains with Frodo and Sam.

OT- technical note: "it could take a few days for the domain name to "propagate" (whatever that means)." Okay, Narya answered this quite accurately, but in layman's terms, this is when the domain name swims upstream towards the search engine. It is a hazardous journey as the name sometimes encounters dams or waterfalls which can impede its progress. A strong domain name will clear these hurdles until it can rest in the cool waters of the search engine database, allowing all who drink from that stream access to its precious cargo. *ducks trout* Good luck with your website! (Mouth waters, anticipating as-yet-unseen screencaps...)

pw - on glimpsing Air New Zealand's Frodo plane :cool: :D


Dear Dr. Ainon,

We have reviewed your preliminary paper entitled "Skin Fold Analysis: Attraction/Distraction/Distress?" Although we at the Institute prefer body part analysis in reference to its impact on emotional exhibition, our recent decision to fund an application for a similar program entitled "The Jaw Line: It Doesn't Bite" has expanded our views. When such prestigious organizations as Newsweek and Michelin have devoted time and thought to this particular aspect of character protrayal, we would be remiss in overlooking your observations. Consider your application funded in full. Post more screencaps. We enjoy them.

Congratulations,
The, uh, "Institute" ... :confused:

Attachments:

With his preternaturally wide eyes, his strong neck, and his dirt-caked fingernails, Wood makes an ideal hobbit hero, at once ethereal, determined, and funky." ~ David Ansen, *Newsweek*

Deluby! So good to see you back here! :) And MsU, you too! :) And Viola! :)


Peaceweaver, good to have you back too. And you met EE!? I thought she might have given up on us. Nice to hear you two met! Oh yes, that London hoot..... well, I am still utterly sad and disappointed that I had to cancel my brit hoot attendance this summer, so I guess I'll have to live on the memories from January.... :(

Soooo envious that you got to see the Frodo plane! :cool:


Re. spoilers and speculation: Bring it on! Anything, anywhere.
I won't be able to stay away. The only thing I've promised myself, and that's a promise I fully intend to keep, is that I won't read any of the detailed blow-by-blow synopsises that will appear online once the film has had its early premiere in NZ. There'll be a couple of weeks there when people who've gotten to see the film early will spill it *all* with their opinions at great length. But not to me, not this time.

I want *something* to be a surprise. So come December, I'll be surfing with great care and averted eyes!


Gif spoilery comments


Blossom; - thank you for those marvellous gifs! Wonderful! The first one, yes, it's Frodo holding the phial in Shelob's cave..... I felt certain of that from the first still I saw, but your gif confirms it and is so great. And the other just has to be crawling up Mt. Doom, hasn't it? I have belived that from the first blurry look at that trailer-that-disappered.

End spoilery comments


Did you all see that USA today article today? About how the reshoots were to focus more on character development and emotions, less on the grand-scale battle thingies? Woo-hooo! Lots of lovely close-ups, angst and agony all around.....!! Ahem. Would be my guess. Purely non-biased. :o


Ainon, I'm scratching my head in wonder over the serious and well documented neck skin folds research. Only in the Faculty, I say. :D

I *had* expected extensive jaw line research following The Poster... to the point where I went looking for other pics where he's equally positioned: Upper body turning left, face turning right, face lifted. (Utterly random comment because I just read an art book: This position was used by Leonardo for the models in several of his painted portraits, for instance "Lady with an Ermine", and the books says that this represents a very dynamic style of portraiture....) There aren't that many Frodo ones to be found without further search, really. Seems that another camera Angel (TM Erendis) has been more used, namely the Froster one (Head slightly bent). Anyway, here are a couple:

This early one (http://www.ninecompanions.net/gallery_pics/fotrpics/frodo/fotr_frodo_shire_18.jpg)

and this:From Shelob's lair (http://maggiebear.crosswinds.net/return01/return005.jpg)

Viola - Congratulations on your purchase of TT Theatrical DVD!:) Watch and enjoy!

ainon - Frodo's Neck Skin Folds!!!:) Glad to see Mariole got you the funding for further research!

Peaceweaver - welcome back to the fold. How great that you met EE. I'd been wondering where she was hiding. Haven't seen her in here for ages.

Bunnie - I'll try and keep it in mind about your decision NOT to see spoilery pics. I do always link to the gifs anyway.

Narya, wasn't it encouraging to hear those words from PJ, Mark Ordesky and Phillipa on the ROTK preview? It gives me great hope for this film.

Tg - Good luck with the website. I wouldn't know where to begin!!! As Narya said, we do all appreciate all the work you put in to bring us those brilliant screencaps and comments. I love going there. Thanks.

Maeg - Lovely Fro Poster comparison pics. Oh, when you compare those now so familiar early happy, carefree Frodo pics to that poster and the other ROTK images, it's enough to bring tears to your eyes! I'm with you and Tg where spoilers are concerned. I think by now most of us have come to accept that PJ's vision of Frodo doesn't exactly match our own, but many of us have managed to 'separate' the younger Film-Fro from Book-Fro to some extent, and Elijah has played a HUGE part in that, as far as I am concerned. However, I think it's our nature to speculate which of our own personal favourite Fro scenes may or may not be included in the films, and having some prior knowledge of what PJ has changed means we go to the cinema fully prepared for those changes. I'd rather that than go to the film 'spoiler-free' and risk being disappointed. And who could resist that poster? What angst; what suffering; what beauty!

POSSIBLE TT EXT DVD SPOILERS:














Don't know how everyone feels about being spoiled for the TT extended edition, but here is a gif from the DVD preview of that. During this sequence, Gollum's voice is heard, saying, (IIRC)

'Once it takes hold of us, it never lets go.'

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/FroRingGollum.gif

Enjoy.

Where can I find the Quiz:"What Faculty character are You?"

I want to know if I'm like Casey Conner or not.

What was Josh Hartnet's character and what was his story?


shadowcatshadow - I merged the thread you had opened to ask the above question into this existing thread, as I thought it would be more appropriate. Please read the Cafe Posting Guidelines or contact a Cafe mod if you have any doubt as to where a specific question or comment might best fit. Thanks!
- Hallah

"Michelangelo would have loved him." ~ Peachy "Michelangelo will have to get in line." ~ Mariole -courtesy of Maeglian's sig
You ladies are splendid! :k

First of all, I have to declare it is so not fair you guys already have the TTT DVD! With the release in only two days I'm almost in agony waiting. My father and I have been counting down the days. Literally. Whenever we see each other it's always 10 days...3 days..etc. Ah, well. At least somebody is already enjoying it.

As far as spoilers, i don't mind images so much because it is usually rather difficult to see what is happening from a single still. However, I do not like to read plot spoilers, so if they could remain marked I would be most grateful. You see, I have not read ROTk as of yet (Yes, I know, *gasp*) but intentionally. I find I have no problem seeing a movie, and then reading the book and loving them bothm but if I read a book first, I just sit through the movie thinking 'they changed that, and that, and so on' and frankly, I just don't want to spoil that experience, so I'm waiting. And believe me, it's been killng me. But, I remain resolute, I wish to love Tolkein and Jackson, and this seems to be the best way. Sigh...

Kelsey

From Maeg
I *had* expected extensive jaw line research following The Poster... to the point where I went looking for other pics where he's equally positioned: Upper body turning left, face turning right, face lifted.

Hmmm.... How many would you like, exactly :p ? Here are a few--although he's not always facing the same direction:

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/shoulder/jawline1.jpg http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/shoulder/jawline3.jpg http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/shoulder/jawline5.jpg


I've found more, but these are about the best so far.

The best "research data" IMHO, though, is still from the turn toward the Black Gate, because you can see the change all the way from facing toward the camera with plenty of skin folds to facing away from the camera with none. Rather than eat up bandwidth by posting them all again: http://home.earthlink.net/~screencaps/id7.html. It's toward the bottom of the page.

And, in case anyone's keeping score, here's one for Barney:

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/shoulder/cap1995-crop.jpg

Just realized there's a good Jones one out there, too, but I'd need to go looking...

Have we reached, like, a new level of geekiness here, or what :D ?

------------

Blossom--The latest TTT gif fits in, too, doesn't it? Unless it's a shadow moving, I think there's a bit of jaw clenching in that first shot of Frodo. A bit of struggle/effort he's trying to hide from Sam, maybe?

------------

Kelsey--Thanks for the heads-up on the RotK spoilers. I think sometimes we get a little sloppy with marking the book spoilers, thinking, "Well, everyone already knows that." So it's good to be reminded that everyone just might not :) !

-------------

Thanks for the explanations of "propagation."

Welcome back to peaceweaver!!

And too many other good posts to be able to respond to them all right now!

(((Faculty)))

Did someone say Jones in reference to the jawline acting study.... These can also be used to examine the neck-fold theory... or absence of neck-folds.

http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/lijaw1.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/lijaw2.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/lijaw3.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/lijaw5.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/lijaw6.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/lijaw8.jpg

Edit- TG-Have we reached, like, a new level of geekiness here, or what ?
Oh no...we have much further to go before we get THERE!:D

Hobmom, I think what I have to say about those shots doesn't belong on this thread. :eek: :D ;)

Well Bunnie I could move them to Hugs also........

Good Morning Ladies.

I'm just rushing in and out in order to post this gif. I noticed it last night as I re-watched the ROTK preview on the DVD. I didn't see it the first time - it goes by so quickly. It's right at the end of the feature, as they return to PJ in the editing room.



ROTK SPOILER!!!









http:// http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/ShelobxsLair2.gif


I THINK it's Frodo (but it could be Sam - pic's not very clear, I know) Is he hacking a way through the webs that block their exit from Shelob's Lair? The webs don't look very thick, but when I saw it that's the scene I immediately thought of.

Bye.

BLOSSOM that is definitely Frodo! My already high hopes for ROTK continue to rise!:D

Ainon, ainon, ainon.

:D

You are a genius!

I had begun to think there was no facet of Elijah Wood’s acting style unexplored, but you have managed to identify, and produce preliminary analyses of a whole new field of study! And prompt supporting research by willing contributors! Congratulations on winning the grant, and where do I sign on as research assistant?


In terms of spoilers, I vowed to stay clear of them for ROTK. And that lasted, oh, about a heartbeat. I will try to avoid things like the photoguide (which gives away the major plot changes), and I’m not planning to listen to the CD of the score when it’s released. And I’ll probably miss the previews which happen just before it’s released. I found with TTT that it was OK up to about late November, when really detailed accounts started to be released, and clips of some quite important scenes.

Of course, being located Way Down Here I have to take leave of absence from the ‘Net for the period between the rest-of-the-world launch and the Oz launch (on 26 December). Which irks no end.

tg shaw said:

Also like FotR, there seems to be a move away from worry and toward anticipation as more and more spoilerish info/pics come out. I don't think that ever happened with TTT--there was a lot of worry right up to the film's release.

I would agree with this, tg. The reception around the various LOTR sites of the recent batch of pictures, and discussion of the DVD ROTK preview has struck me as being pretty positive – hopeful even. Whereas, with TTT there seemed to be an underlying concern about the possible direction PJ could take. (Sadly realised, in some cases :( ) I know I’ve relaxed quite a bit (ie, stopped out-and-out panicking) about ROTK since seeing things like Blossom’s gifs, and That Poster.

(I’m glad your web site woes are sorting themselves out too, tg.)

Peaceweaver – you saw the Frodo plane!!!

I forgot to say earlier – I enjoyed the various comparison pictures (to That Poster) which have been shared. And I loved the Elijah Wood Film Festival report Mariole, and I’m really devastated that I missed it. Oh well, I’ll take comfort from the pictures, and hope to make it next year.

;)


Maeglian, I know this is going back a bit, but I hope you are no longer having a blue RL time.
:k

Re neck fold acting: When Elijah (or anybody) turns his head enough (70-90°), there will always be neck folds on the side where the skin is most compressed, and no neck folds on the other, "stretched" side. Whether or not the neck folds are visible is a function of the Camera Angel, as usual. :p If the shoulders are perpendicular to the plane of the lens, and the head is facing the camera, the neck folds will be visible on the side. This is true for the pictures posted by ainon, especially those of Edward Norton. If Elijah's shoulders are parallel to and facing the camera lens, and his face is perpendicular (ie Elijah's body is facing the camera while his head is turned), neck folds will be not be visible if the camera is filming the stretched side. This is best seen in the picture of Frodo taking down Bilbo. Now if the camera was filming from the hobbits at an angle to the back and side of the hobbits (in this case, imagine the camerman standing behind Ian Holm's left shoulder), Elijah's neck folds would be visible, and quite numerous, since Elijah's shoulders and head are nearly perpendicular. In pictures where the shoulders and face are facing the same direction, and Elijah is looking up, neck folds would only be seen if the camera were positioned directly behind Elijah. This applies to the pictures that Hobmom posted.Now, there are fairly few shots of Frolijah's neck folds because Close-ups of Elijah tend to be extreme close-ups of only his face, so his neck is off camera. PJ was careful to preserve Camera Angle 1 and 2, which dictate that Elijah turn his head only partially (~35-45°) in relation to his shoulders, not enough to create extreme neck folds. To show the hobbits in scale, PJ either shows Frolijah facing upwards, or aims the camera facing downwards. The only way to see neck folds in those cases is to have the camera directly in the back, or possibly under Elijah's chin. Both are uncommon camera angles, and almost never used in close-up. In either case, the folds would be hidden by THE WIG. Even if the height and head-turn angle are correct, the chance that the camera is at the angle to see the fold side is 50/50 between the fold and stretch side. The best example of neckfold acting is the "What will I see" screencap, and it is more a study in neckfold cinematography and direction. This screencap fills all of the requirements: This is one example where Frolijah's head is nearly 90° to his shoulders, thus creating the neckfolds. Why the 90°? This is a classic "suspicion" pose. Frolijah's shoulders are turned (as if to run away) but his face is squarely on Galadriel (to keep an eye on her). Of course, in order to show the entire suspicion pose, PJ has to include his shoulders and neck (and neckfolds) in the frame, and not rely on extreme close-up of face alone. PJ has to show the near-front of Frolijah's face to capture the full impact of the facial expression. So the camera can't be positioned on the stretch side. Frolijah is shown at nearly normal height to put him on the same intellectual plane as Galadrial.Result? Voila! Neckfolds.
-----

btw, I too have reverted to my FotR level of anticipation. Somewhat excited, but with a healthy dose of reservation. I had a bad feeling all the way through the TTT post production (why the "pickups?" What about Arwen at Helm's Deep?), so by the time I stood in line for the midnight show, I felt dread rather than excitement. Even THEN I was not prepared for -- well, for the additional *ahem* stuff in TTT. I'm not getting this feeling this time. This time I think New Line is giving PJ free rein, hoping that PJ's vision coincides with the Oscar vision.

Hobmom and tg, great work on the jawline action. Keep 'em coming. I've loved interesting jawlines ever since (here's how you get to know how old I am) the Beatles cartoons were playing. John in particular had a great jawline that was practically the whole reason why I watched the cartoon. There you go.

Blossom, you gif queen! :k I love these snippets you're sharing, thanks so much! (Although that looks like Peter Jackson in that last shot to me...)

Maeglian, have you seen this? Are you going?
"This article in VG says that Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) and Peter Jackson might show up for an enormous screening of the Return of the King in Oslo Spektrum on the 15th of December where 5000 people will be."

http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=72503


Edit: erendis, we simul-posted. What are these famous camera angles you keep quoting? Is this a real thing I would learn, were I to go to movie school? Love your neck fold research, and accompanying psychological analysis.

estella rose, welcome to the research grant! Feel free to post anything. However ... if you're thinking of making an avatar now (I see you've got over 30 posts), I'm not sure if you'd want to use as inspiration the current "neck fold" discussion...

Just wanted to say "Thank you" to erendis for such a detailed and enlightening discussion of skin fold acting (or filming...) :)

Also, I think I can explain why Eagles' Eyrie has been so scarce--she is trying to avoid spoilers. Don't worry, she still cares! ;)

In a fit of displacement activity while waiting for the US release of TTT, I watched Try Seventeen again. I have some more thoughts about this adorable film, but given the impending TTT tidal wave, I will hold off.

BUT!! Something else to look forward to: Here is a snippet of a review of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, posted at Harry Knowles' site.

The acting is top-notch and definitely the movie’s strong point. I agree completely with what your other reviewer said – Kate Winslet really steals the movie. Jim Carry is phenomenal as well, Elijah Wood stands out as sufficiently creepy in a pathetic kind of way, and all the other actors do a wonderful job of giving their characters a depth that is never fully elaborated on in the script. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though, as the movie belongs to Carrey and Winslet and you find out just enough about the people around them to make it interesting without detracting from the main story.

:)

I was scrolling back through a couple of previous pages and ran across this post, which Hallah merged with this thread. Since the Faculty thread had moved on chronologically past it already when it was merged, it might have been overlooked.

Originally posted by shadowcatshadow
Where can I find the Quiz:"What Faculty character are You?"

I want to know if I'm like Casey Conner or not.

What was Josh Hartnet's character and what was his story?


shadowcatshadow - I merged the thread you had opened to ask the above question into this existing thread, as I thought it would be more appropriate. Please read the Cafe Posting Guidelines or contact a Cafe mod if you have any doubt as to where a specific question or comment might best fit. Thanks!
- Hallah

Kelsey--I have a vague memory that quiz might be on your website... ???


Spoilerish comments about Josh Hartnett's Faculty character






I could tell you all about Josh Hartnett's character, but can't remember his name (and I'm at work, so can't check the movie cover). He's supposed to be brilliant, but uses his smarts to make homemade "drugs" which he sells (along with other, uh, interesting items :rolleyes: ) to classmates. His "drugs" are mostly caffeine and, of course, help save the day in the movie. Evidently, his father's out of the picture, his mother travels a lot, and he's left on his own--brilliant but lacking guidance. Like all the other characters, he rethinks his life after the encounter with the alien.




End of Spoilerish Faculty comments


BTW, shadowcatshadow--Hi, welcome, hope we can help, and hope you hang around. Anyone who's a fan of EJW's movies is cordially invited to pull up a folding chair in the Faculty Lounge :) .

peaceweaver: I'm thinking that when All I Want (aka Try 17) is released on DVD with region 1 coding on Sept. 16, the Deep Impact of TTT may have settled down enough to talk about another movie without causing The War or disrupting Frolijah Paradise :) .

Originally posted by BLOSSOM
Viola - Congratulations on your purchase of TT Theatrical DVD!:) Watch and enjoy!

ok, after watching the film twice (*and* I admit, watching Haldir's death scene in slo-mo a few times -I just love that bit where he blinks and looks confused as to what is happening), and all the extras, not a lot of RL work got done this weekend...:o


**spoilers for the TTT DVD for those who haven't got it yet!! **

I did like the making of SA's short film -EW came across as an incredibly nice, humble guy. Andy Serkis was a scream -wanting to rise thru the ranks in less than a day, then deciding that he didn't like it!! what a ham. PJ was very funny when he said that SA almost made him cry when he was directing him -but was there a barb in there too??:confused:

I am amazed though, given the number of times I saw TTT in the theatre, that I keep seeing new things on the DVD, 'specially considering my tv is soooo tiny. Ah well, more research is required :D

**end spoilers**

Speaking of research...

I would add that the neck fold issue is not entirely due to the degree of rotation of the neck but additional variables (to use appropriate research terminology now that we have a grant to study this-makes the writing up easier (cut and paste, you know ;) )) such as elasticity of the skin, angle of the jaw in relation to horizontal when the head is being turned, age-which will in part determine elasticity, ethnicity (I think), and genetics (might as well get totally carried away here in the interests of science).

IMHO of course :D

viola

[on my way back to the DVD]

Originally posted by tgshaw
peaceweaver: I'm thinking that when All I Want (aka Try 17) is released on DVD with region 1 coding on Sept. 16, the Deep Impact of TTT may have settled down enough to talk about another movie without causing The War or disrupting Frolijah Paradise :) .

Oh, tgshaw, that was bad.:p I'll forgive you this time, but only because "Brego the Wonder Horse" was so awesome.:cool:

Hi, shadowcatshadow!:) I can't help you with the Faculty quiz, but Josh Hartnett's character is named Zeke Tyler.

ainon, loving the neck folds research.:D (But it couldn't possibly be a complex excuse to post gratuitous Edward Norton pictures, could it? No, of course not - what could I be thinking?;) :D )

I'm avoiding all unofficial spoilers, too, and trying(:rolleyes: ) to avoid speculation, but just from the posters and the few things that have slipped through my filter - Dude. I. Am. Going. To. Explode. They're going to have to carry me out of the theater on a stretcher. Or more likely, a bucket...

One more day til TTT (at least here)! Woohoo!:D :D

Edit: Oh yeah, and a LOTR marathon on Dec. 16th? I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that that's going to be the most amazing, awe-inspiring, historically significant movie event ever. I'm already making mental plans on how to make this work!

I've been thinking a lot about the sticky issue of spoilers, and I'm waffling a bit. I turned off the images in my options, so now it's up to me whether I view the spoiler images or not, rather than coming upon them unawares. I think this will work well for me.

I managed to save Blossom's animated gifs to my hard drive without looking at them. A nifty trick, you say? Why, yes, it was (involving squinting my eyes and putting my hand over the critical part of the screen :rolleyes: ), but now I have them for posterity, and can view them after I've seen the DVD. (Eeeeeee! :D Tomorrow!)

The waffling I'm doing is in realizing that some spoiler stuff can be a good thing. for instance, I was extremely grateful to know, before TTT, that Shelob would not be making an appearance, so that I wasn't left sputtering in indignation in the theatre. And I believe I was aware of the change of the Ford in FOTR, so that was also a blessing. So, I don't know. I know there will be changes in ROTK, but I wonder if the two prior movies were enough "practice," and that I won't need the knowledge of the changes to enjoy it. I mean, I already know of a couple of pretty major changes (I'm sure most of you know them, too, so I'm not going to mention them specifically and have to mark them as spoilers), so, maybe that's enough.

I guess I still feel that marking anything that might be considered a spoiler as such is still a good idea, clear up to and past the release of ROTK. I think it should be a choice for everyone whether or not to view potential spoilers. :)

Hi and welcome, shadowcatshadow! Love the name. :)

Welcome home, peaceweaver! You saw the Frodo plane! :cool: And thanks for that quote from AICN. I'm wickedly delighted that Elijah has chosen to play as against Frodotype as he can - that'll be fun.


Now, Faculty fellows, geez, we all need therapy! :D I'm so overwhelmed, and not just because of the lovely neck-inspired screencaps (:k Hobmom). Thank you for the immense support in favour of my research application, and for furthering the preliminary report into something far more substantial. The grant from the suspiciously named uh Institute will be well spent - perhaps we could post a reward now for info on the elusive 'Day-O' movie. It won't be a misappropriation of funds, not at all. We must be certain, as Viola pointed out, that this skinfold trait isn't merely a variable of angles. Genetics, diet, acting habits, directorial habits, pages upon pages of variables that must be carefully considered by continuous viewing!


Originally posted by Bridget Chubb
ainon, loving the neck folds research.:D (But it couldn't possibly be a complex excuse to post gratuitous Edward Norton pictures, could it? No, of course not - what could I be thinking?;) :D )

What?! Are you implying I would go through all that trouble in order to gratuitously post Edward Norton pictures? How could you suggest that I would do such a thing as put complex effort into gratuity? If I were gonna be gratuitous about something, I'd just be gratuitous!

http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-7/13204/a'in/enml.jpg

http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-7/13204/a'in/insomn1.jpg

:D



Actually the only reason I even brought up the skinfold stuff was because I happened to notice Norton's neck while rewatching the movie, and remembered reading that he'd lost weight for the role. The fleeting thought crossed my mind: that the weight loss helped contribute to him looking so convincingly haggard (yes, yes, acting skill and a terrific make-up crew are the other factors in the equation, I know), then I remembered Imladris posters kidding around about the skinfolds seen in Elijah's neck and how you don't get those skinfolds on anyone else's neck ... well, okay, so it's true. Everything eventually leads back to Frodo. Everything. :p


Good news about the resolution of that identity theft issue, tg, and good luck with the site! We're rooting for you and Frodo as frodolivesin.us goes propagating in streaming Internet engines. (hey, I could come up with a worse pun, but I didn't wanna beat tg at the game :D)


Heaps of thanks to Blossom for the new gifs. Spoilerish comment pertaining to gif: In the FroRingGollum.gif, does Frodo's hand actually brush/pause there on the hilt of his sword, or is it just a gif effect?.
End of spoiler comment.


Btw, right click and save Blossom's gifs -- that way the gifs download straight to disk and you can open them later for viewing. Or as you just trying to not see 'em, hmm, Bunnie? ;) More importantly, we all save on Blossom's bandwidth. :)

To those who're getting their DVDs in mere hours, enjoy! I never got around to cancelling my Amazon order, so if it ships, I'll only get it in two weeks time. Maybe. I should have been sensible and cancelled the order, and just waited for the DVD to go on sale here. I don't know when shops here start to sell, or what the local price will be -- but if I find out they're already selling, and at a lower price, then you'll be hearing me shriek. :o

JIPIIIIIE!!!

I am sooo happy!!! Yesyesyes, the postman just handed me a nice preciousss little parcel.... you all know its content :) !

Whiteling bounces immediately to the DVD-Player...

Originally posted by ainon
...the suspiciously named uh Institute...
LOL -- Now there's an invitation for bad puns... What does that U.H. stand for? Or is there some organization out there promoting uncertainty? But I'm either too tired or not tired enough ;) for bad puns this morning.

Yes, Yes, I completely deserve the chides from Bridget and ainon--and anyone else who wants to get in on it--for that horrible sentence yesterday. But I'm blaming it all on peaceweaver ;) -- it was her image of the "TTT tidal wave" that started the whole thing. Tidal wave naturally leads to thoughts of Deep Impact, and I couldn't let that stand by itself... :o

Good news about the resolution of that identity theft issue, tg, and good luck with the site! We're rooting for you and Frodo as frodolivesin.us goes propagating in streaming Internet engines. (hey, I could come up with a worse pun, but I didn't wanna beat tg at the game :D)
Thanks. I just checked, and the name apparently hasn't made it to the spawning grounds yet (as a biology person, I really liked Mariole's explanation :) --maybe the 'net needs to build some domain name ladders to help them get over the rapids ;) ); at least, the "index" page I'm supposed to link to in order to upload files still comes up nameless. There's also a temporary address where I could upload until the name propagates, but I'm not in any great hurry as I'm still trying to work out the uploading stuff--I was following instructions from someone on a (different) discussion board, who uses the same website program and the same webhost I do, but halfway through there was something I couldn't figure out, so I'll go back to the discussion board today and see if he can explain it so even I can understand it :rolleyes: . The sticking point is a specific interaction between that particular program and that particular webhost. I'm familiar enough with the program itself (it's just an update of the one I've been using at the main site all along) that as soon as I get this initial uploading process done I don't think there will be too many problems...

Besides, I do want to have a page of TTT screencaps posted when the site goes up, and since I'd never do anything like post caps from a movie that wasn't officially released :rolleyes: I can't do that until at least tonight (the subtitles would be a mite suspicious).

Plan is to pick up the DVD on my way to work this morning--most difficult part of that will be knowing it's sitting there in my tote bag all day and not being able to watch it. I was in the neighborhood Walgreen's yesterday and they had a sign up advertising the DVD, which kind of surprised me as they don't carry many new DVDs. The ones they do carry, they keep behind the counter and you have to ask for them (theft problems, I imagine). But even though I gave the guy behind the counter my best smile, he wouldn't sell one to me before the release date--the store opens earlier than the places you'd normally go to in order to buy a DVD, so I can stop in before work and pick it up to avoid any annoying delays--like having to buy the DVD ;) --before I can rush home after work and watch at least certain parts of it.

To all who'll have the DVD today, enjoy! To all those who won't, keep up your courage--your time will come :k !

Very quick SPOILER post:

From TORn

http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/2/1061868957

E! Entertainment RoTK Preview - The Lowdown

- spoiler control - highlight to read -


First it starts out with Jackson saying, "At the end of The Two Towers, Gandalf says that the battle for Helms Deep ...", and then it cuts to Ian MeKellen actually saying that in that part of the movie. We see the logo for RoTK, then Jackson in the editing room watching some clips of Frodo in Shelob's Lair.

Then it cuts to Aragorn, Theoden, and the rest of company riding off for the Muster of Rohan. Then we cut back to the editing room. Frodo turns around, and he gets this horrified look on his face, most likely when he first really sees Shelob.

Then we cut to a WETA guy talking about how he thinks it will be just the best battle ever seen on film. There's a vast number of horses charging across the Pelennor, and its just an amazing epic shot, even though it's a behind-the-scenes camera filming. It actually looks like a battle.

Then it shows drawings of Oliphants charging towards Minas Tirith, probably during the Pelennor Fields battle. Jackson starts talking about how powerful the story becomes, and how it is immensely driven by the spirit of every one involved - the emotional power is a key factor.

Sean Astin also talks about how this story is from the book, and how the book and the movie are both so alike, and that the story is just what Sam and Frodo are going through. What Sam has to live up to, to carry on, and what's happening to Poor Mister Frodo - his exact words.

They show some pictures of Sam and Frodo, looking up at something, and then that amazing picture of Frodo on the new RoTK poster, where he's just in tears. That alone got my heart pumping. Elijah Wood comes in and says that it's truly better than film one and two combined: "Some people call me crazy, but (sighs) thats just the truth."

It also shows a majestic shot of Gandalf riding up to the hill looking towards Minas Tirith, and then it continues on to show him riding up a set of stairs at Minas Tirith, and looking out at a vast number of orcs approaching for battle.

It shows the Cross Roads, Pippin saying, "Is there any hope Gandalf? For Frodo and Sam?" Then Gandalf replies, "There never was much hope. Just a fool's hope."

There was a little more, but nothing we haven't seen.


Paragraph in bold is my edit. ;)

Good night, Faculty! :)

Erendis - I am in awe of your knowledge of neck-folds, camera angles etc! What an fascinating post.:) ainon - you've really started something!

Hobmom - Love those 'Try 17' caps, and Peaceweaver, I look forward to reading your views on that film when you're ready to share them with us. And thanks for that quote from AICN regarding ESOTSM. 'Elijah Wood stands out sufficiently creepy in a pathetic kind of way.' Mmmmm.

I was also looking at AICN yesterday, and noticed that Harry Knowles mentioned the new ROTK posters. He only actually featured one, though - THE FRODO POSTER, and here's why:

Quoted by Harry Knowles of AICN:

'...this poster is for me significant because this is how I first saw Elijah as Frodo... (presumably when Harry was in NZ visiting the LOTR set)... this version of him, not on the day he shot this scene, but at this stage of physical torment... The burnt-in chain... the 5 day scrub to get out dirt look... the clothes beyond filth... basically the standard Camp HacknSlash survivor look.'

And he has this to say on the ROTK preview on the TT DVD:

'...reminds me why I love/hate Peter Jackson so much. The 'I'm editing Shelob's Lair' sequence on the screen is mind-numbingly aggravating, and he knows it. If you look at that cherubic face of his - you can see the Marquis De Sade in those eyes... he's definitely got the bamboo chutes beneath our fingertips with us asking for more please, sir. The glorious b*****d.'
______________________________________________

And on the subject of Shelob's Lair...

ROTK SPOILER!!!







Another gif from the beginning of that sequence:

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/ShelobxsLairCut.gif



END OF ROTK SPOILER!!!

Whiteling - Whoo-hoo, you have it too!!!

I wonder if it will go quiet in here while everyone devours their DVD's. Enjoy it everyone - it's been a long wait!
:)

from Bridget
Dude. I. Am. Going. To. Explode. They're going to have to carry me out of the theater on a stretcher. Or more likely, a bucket...
Yes, ROTK will be a very messy movie...

BunnieBugs, I really appreciated your thoughts regarding spoilers. I've been indulging, mostly because my unspoiled TTT viewing really distressed me, for a long time. But this movie's looking much better (what I've seen so far). I may in fact back off much the way you have done, now that the publicity machine seems to be turned to ON. I think I've had enough reassurance that the movie will be good, and I don't want to know the blow-by-blow -- who will be in what battle and in what manner they enter it, etc etc. I think it might be time for me to tastefully avert my eyes, much as you did for Blossom's gifs, and turn the talk toward All I Want/Try 17, or ESOTSM if that ever gets rolling. And of course we've got the TTT EE to explore.

So, starting now, add me to the less-spoiled list! I'll mark spoilerish ROTK comments (since I do plan to stumble across some of them now and then), and will look for spoilerish remarks from others, intending to exercise supreme will and skip them. Thank you!

from tgshaw
What does that U.H. stand for?
Canon: Unlikely Hero
Fangirl: Ugh! (the "g" is silent; typically uttered upon first encountering some totally unexpected view of eyes, face, neck, or generally white skin)

Just saw this at TORN

Quoted by TORN - 26th August:

Sean sends in this story which confirms the millions of emails from fans. TheOneRing.net has tried to independently confirm this, but to little avail. Take a look: I was just watching Entertainment Tonight, and they had a mention about Elijah Wood (Frodo) on Newslink. They mentioned that his appendix had burst and he was in hospital for 2 weeks.

We at TORN wish Wood well, get some sleep and surf the net my friend!
____________________________________________

Still no official confirmation though.

The scene on the tower in Osgiliath when Sam grabs Frodo's hands forward to the beginning of their fall. Frodo has some very interesting facial expressions going on there and the progression would make for some fascinating research ;)

Enai

(also a quick wave and hugs to ainon :) )

Well BLOSSOM beat me to it but ......Looks to be true about Lij's appendix. Entertainment Tonight is an old reliable show in the US and I stongly doubt if they would lie about this.

As was mentioned in Hugs by Bunnie though Elijah was apparently spotted in a cd/dvd store last week so at least he is mobile again and visiting his usual places.

(((((((((((((ELIJAH)))))))))) Again.

Now for whom have I been reserving these nice fishessss?

Consider them tossed at you.:D ;)

Now to cheer everyone up.... C'mon you gotta know what I've been doing today. I've "only" gotten through the special features and up to the Dead Marshes but that is already a HUGE number of full-screen caps which are...........

HERE (http://groups.msn.com/ElijahSummer03/ttt.msnw?Page=1)

Of particular interest for Faculty studies are the microexpressions during the Ring-petting and the Frodo/Smeagol discussion.
Elijah goes through so many subtle facial expressions in those scenes that I never noticed before but then I discovered how to push that little button on my player that advances frame by frame and Lo and Behold!.... Micro expressions... including jawline, neck-fold, nostril and...how could we have NOT done THIS one...EYE acting!

More tomorrow. Such a chore!!!!! Have fun!:D

Originally posted by tgshaw

My aim with spoilers is to know enough going into the movie that I won't be taken by surprise by any important departures from the book (meaning important to me, which basically means involving Frodo, or involving a waste of time that could have been much better spent on Frodo...). I want some time to adjust my expectations--I think my first FotR viewing would have been disastrous if I hadn't known about the ford ahead of time and been prepared for it.

Sorry, this is days old, but tg, I so agree with you. But even with all the spoiler info I reaped (mostly pictures), I was still obliterated by what I saw in FOTR. :eek: My head was spinning by the time I got out of there, it was a definite period of overload for me. I ate up all the spoilers for TTT too, but weathered that one just fine. ROTK I'm worried PJ won't get right, but that seems to dwindle a little more everyday. If PJ can capture the essence of that current wowsome gorgeous Frodo poster and incorporate it into all that is ROTK, I'll be forever grateful. Frodo hugging Sam in the boat fulfilled all of FOTR for me, as it was the scene that affected me the most. So far the Frodo poster has summed up ROTK for me in the same way, and I haven’t even gotten there yet! If I were to die tomorrow (God forbid!), I’d be happy knowing it completed the trilogy for me.

Blossom I loved FroRingGollum from the 24th! It took my breath away. :) :) :)

I envy everyone watching TTT and the ROTK preview. :( I have a DVD player, but it’s not out of it’s box yet since I haven’t a clue how to hook it up. :rolleyes: I might have some time this weekend.

I also noticed some before and after shots of Frodo a few pages back. Here’s artist Wendebee’s latest creation.

http://overthebrandywine.com/A1/ROTK/Frodo/wendebeefrodos.jpg

Hi, all... Nice to have you drop in, Ezzie, and thanks for the artwork! Good luck with the DVD player--hope it has good instructions included.

Well, as to my own best laid plans... The things we can assume, eh? Walgreen's had only the fullscreen version of the DVD, a possibility that hadn't even entered my mind when I saw the ad posted there. Several employees (after they searched the back room for me, which was kind of them) tried to tell me why that version would be just as good as the widescreen... The best (?) reasoning was that, well, you can make the fullscreen version look like it's widescreen by changing the screen settings... of course you'd cut off part of the picture... uh, yeah... Why anyone would want to do that... :confused: ...fool the inlaws, maybe? A couple of employees couldn't understand why in the world I'd want the widescreen version when I'm only going to be watching it on a 13-inch computer monitor. I had to explain that what I exactly don't want to do is lose part of the picture! At least I had the chance to talk to a few more people about the movie... and tell them that I was sure the third one would be better ;) . One guy who'd seen the movie, and had read the book years ago, said, "Y'know, I don't remember all that romance stuff being in there..." :D ---- All in all, a frustrating experience, but maybe good for a few laughs :) .

So, there is a plan B, of course! Just checked my morning email and had a notice from Borders that until September 1 you can buy 4 DVDs or CDs and get a fifth one free. It also said the TTT DVD is specially priced until September 1 (the only specific item mentioned in the ad, interestingly enough). I'll go there after work and see what else they have that I might want to buy--I don't usually buy that many items at one time, but I'm sure I can find enough things for a good "splurge" [that's a really odd word, isn't it?] especially since CDs are included. And even though I'll have to drive a few miles to the store, it's really closer than anywhere else I could buy the DVD (which is the reason I was so happily surprised to see it advertised "in the neighborhood" at Walgreen's).

Often the email special notices I get from Borders have coupons you have to print out and bring into the store, but this one doesn't, so anyone who has a Borders nearby and is interested, the deal should be available. It's not a cheap store, especially where movies are concerned--I'm guessing the "special price" for the DVD through September 1 will probably put it at about the same price most stores usually sell it for.

I would say hi to Hobmom, but I'm sure she's doing something other than reading this thread ;) :) .

Oh I'm still peeking in here, too. Will do more caps in awhile.

Now I deliberately got the full-screen version because I am getting the SE in wide-sreen. AND because I mainly wanted to get nice BIG close-ups of Elijah's face and expressions which you can really see more clearly in the full-screen version, I have discovered....see my already posted caps. Loverly!!!!! Oh ..Yes....And worthy of serious study.


OK I can't resist... Here's a few micro-expressions from 'Ring-petting'....




http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_357.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_365.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_372.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_385.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_387.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_390.jpg http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_395.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/celeb2/elijahw/PDVD_404.jpg

Ezzie - Nice to see you. Thanks for your kind words re the FroRingGollum gif. Hope you've got your breath back! That comparison you posted is a brilliant piece of artwork. Thanks.

With the theatrical DVD now on general release, I'm not sure if we should still put spoiler alerts for TT ext DVD spoilers, but just in case -



TT EXT DVD SPOILERS!!!













Tg also commented on the FroRingGollum gif.

Originally quoted by Tg:
Unless it's a shadow moving, I think there's a bit of jaw clenching in that first shot of Frodo. A bit of struggle/effort he's trying to hide from Sam, maybe?
___________________________________________

I thought so too, Tg. Frodo seems to be suspicious of those around him, and protective/possessive of the Ring there.


Originally quoted by ainon:
In the FroRingGollum.gif, does Frodo's hand actually brush/pause there on the hilt of his sword, or is it just a gif effect?.
____________________________________________

It does appear to actually linger on his sword hilt for a moment, ainon. Nothing to do with the gif.







END OF TT EXT DVD SPOILERS!!!

Enaiowen - Research into Frodo's facial expressions in the Osgiliath 'fall' scene. I'm sure there are Faculty members studying that as I write. Mmmm, I think I feel another gif coming on...

Hobmom - Have you actually SLEPT since you got the DVD? Wonderful screencaps, as usual.

Tg, I think 'SPLURGE' is a great word! Go on - treat yourself! :)

No Spoilers Here whatsoever!

Just wanted to gush a bit about seeing the theatrical TT again - on DVD, many months since my last big-screen viewing (only the third). Since it was after midnight by the time I could sit down and crack open the DVD, I feared I'd fall asleep before the end. Then I remembered I'd be able to fast-forward through all the 'superfluous' non-Fro scenes, and so cut at least an hour off the film! But instead, I got totally blown away by the entire movie, no FF necessary, and no napping neither! - The acting was so good, so many details to enjoy - the music, gorgeous throughout - and the tale itself driving the action from one powerful moment to the next. Even though I've been close to the books and fanfics all summer, I found no need to compare. Movie TT was simply compelling in its own rite (even got through the odious U.N. speach and Arwin/horse/Aragorn-nuzzling scenes without too much bile). Not that I still don't prefer the books of course :D. Central to the thrill, was Elijah's performance. I was moved more than ever by his nuanced acting and his grave and nearly heart-broken Frodo. And... he's even more beautiful in voice and action, than I remembered...

Was so totally psyched that instead of finally hitting the bed, I stayed up to watch the behind-the-scenes trailers. The one for the November SE TT release looks real promising - made me VERY happy.

Maybe I was just giddy from the movie experience but I found every bit of 'The Making of the Long and Short of It' hilareous. Oh yeah, and uhh, Lij is just adorable in it. (I'd been ignoring the tabloid rumours of EW's health scare but now, with no reliable proof that he's fine... I'm uneasy. Burst appendixes usually happen after someone's been bearing alot of pain without attending to it, which makes me wonder what EW might have been putting up with while filming those last segments of ROTK - possibly adding an RL aspect to Frodo's anguish!)

Hope everyone's enjoying these long-awaited treasures. :)

How can a people that bore no arms be difficult to kill?

Naiad- There have been reports yesterday and today on Entertaiment Tonight that Elwood did have the burst appendix and was in the hospital for two weeks but is home now and reportedly he went back to doing the voice work for Happy Feet, the animated penguin movie, today.

See the discussion in Hugs.

Shadowcatshadow - The answer's in the book.

Thanks, Hobmom.

nurse is back...inherited new computer...quit home evening job and have it's DSL & associated browser now...school nurse by day...mommy by night...

I had to re-register here (lost the 30 odd post credits but gained a better name---Robert Foster says "name by which the Hobbits of the Shire and Bree called themselves at the time of the WR, related to the Rohirric kud-dukan". I'm afraid it sounds Klingon, but what the hay).

I finally found time to finish TTT (the book) for the second time and ignorance was bliss. Watching the movie the first time, I was annoyed by Theoden's whininess but otherwise was ignorant of the loss of dignity inflicted on Gimli, Aragorn, Faramir (I'm reading RoTK and I dearly hope PJ doesn't slight the amazing Faramir/Denethor story), etc. but I still have no real handle on book Frodo.


Someone wrote "All roads lead back to Frodo". So true! Even PJ acknowledges it!

Except for seeming younger, Elijah Wood IS Frodo for me. No, that's not right. Elijah's not remotely involved. No that's not right. AARGH! Someone wrote about him channeling a third age hobbit. That's closer. I loved that quote of Elijah's that if he can't see himself up there, he's done a good job.

My sister is an actress. At times, a very good one. In that I mean I believe the emotions, I'm there with her. But she's most successful with parts with which she has a lot in common and I've never seen her (or any other actor I can think of) INHABIT the role the way Elijah does. A Faculty member earlier quoted someone discussing Oscar buzz and stating the role (pre-RoTK) didn't have enough range!!?! The collages here explain that away! Preaching to the choir, I am.

Tuesday morning my hubby asked, "so who's buying the DVD today?" Gotta love him :) I stopped by Wal-Mart at 7:30 on my way to work (sorry it didn't work for you tg, do you have it yet?)
and it was right out front I was so excited that I almost forgot to check for widescreen. Fortunately I did and the only ones they had were way at the bottom. Go figure. I do see Hobmom's point though. But, Hobmom, aren't you afraid you'll miss some previously yet unnoticed almost off screen Frodo heart attack? :)

[/brag] At her request, I've been reading bits of TTT to my 7 year old daughter, I figured she'd fall asleep at the lofty vocabulary and long descriptions but she loved it. She laughed out loud at Herbs and Stewed Rabbit, though I worried a little over her affection for Gollum. Tuesday night we sat down to watch the DVD (she's seen FOTR but never TTT) and I called her over and she said "I only like the book". Gotta love her! I replied (PURISTS GET THE TROUTS READY) "but the movie's even funnier" (HOLD OFF, I WAS TALKING ABOUT THAT ONE SCENE ONLY!!). Mind you, she heard that chapter once. We got through most of the first half, got to the stewed rabbits scene, Gollum dumped the coneys in Frodo's lap and she said "The rabbits!!" She proceeded to repeat dialogue along with Sam and laugh out loud. I just wonder if I can keep the RoTK end from her until she can hear the entire LOTR from the beginning. [brag/]

So far I've only watched the first half and the RoTK preview.
{{{Faculty}}}

Welcome back, nurse/Kuduk! Yes, I did get the DVD after work yesterday. Thought of going to BestBuy instead of Borders so I could just run in, grab the DVD and get back home without spending the extra time/money for the four other DVDs at Borders--then realized that with all the computer stuff tempting me at BestBuy, I'd probably end up spending more time and/or money there :p !

Fun part of browsing in Border's movie section is that they don't carry everything, but you occasionally run across "Ooh, I've always wanted that!" titles. Found enough of them, in fact, that I didn't have to "resort" to buying any CDs to come up with five, and even had to put a few "Oooh"-producing ones back on the shelf for another time. Not that anyone should be particularly interested, but I ended up with, besides TTT (widescreen ;) ), Babette's Feast, Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V (with Ian Holm, BTW), Dr. Strangelove, and Thirteen Days (have wanted that one since it was released, because of all the extra historical goodies on the DVD).

Anyone who was "around" before FotR was released might realize why Thirteen Days isn't really off-topic. It was the first movie I'd seen in the theater in several years--I even took the afternoon off work so I could see its absolutely first showing in the city, which happened to be a weekday matinee. Well, yeah, I was interested in how it handled the Cuban missile crisis (remembering myself as a terrified second grader at the time)--but the real reason I was in that theater that afternoon was to see the first showing of the first theatrical trailer for FotR, the very first chance to see any of it on the big screen!! It was worth it--and I also ended up thinking Thirteen Days was a pretty good movie :) . I probably never would have seen it if it hadn't been for the FotR trailer! (Apologies to all those allergic to Kevin Costner ;) .)

I can see your point, too, Hobmom, about the fullscreen version, but there's just something about seeing the movie the way it was meant to be shown on the screen... And no offense to the crebain producers--they did a great job for... well, crebain ;) ... but seeing a legit version with even better picture and sound was a real eye-opener after all these months. The initial view of the mountains was incredible!

My viewing last night was kind of "utilitarian." I watched about the first third of the movie, then went back and started trying to get a website page together from "Just a Dream." Still have some work to do on that... I'm too old for all-nighters, especially when I have to work the next day :o . naiad, did you get any sleep at all :eek: ?!

BTW, I did look at Borders for the EJW movies I don't yet have on DVD, but came up empty--they had The Ice Storm and Huck Finn, both of which I already have on DVD.

-------------

Shadowcatshadow--I know naiad's trying to encourage you to read LotR if you haven't yet, and I'll certainly do the same :) . But a brief reply to your question is that the phrase "difficult to kill" refers to the fact that Hobbits are tough, resilient, and can recover quckly from serious injuries that would kill "big people".

Edit: I'd written here that I hadn't seen Kelsey around for awhile, so went over to her website to see if she had the "What Faculty Character Am I?" quiz and didn't find it. But, hey, we're all about research here, right :p ? So here it is, thanks to MSN Search:

http://www.quizilla.com/users/ainaaeariel/quizzes/Which%20character%20from%20The%20Faculty%20are%20you?/

First I keyed in "What Faculty Member Am I?" and it just came up with all these webpages of... well... faculty members :rolleyes: ... University of Indiana, mostly :p . Then I realized I should look for Faculty Character and there it was, top of the list. :)

There's also a "What Elijah Wood Movie Am I?" quiz at that URL. I may have to check that one out later--no time to do so before work, of course :rolleyes: .

------------

Very glad to know that Elijah's health crisis is well behind him. It seems as if he didn't want it known about until it was over, so I'm glad he (and his family) were able to pull that off, too. :)

Brief supergeek question which is on-topic in a 'well, Deep Impact *was* about stars and stuff, right?' way ... anyone able to catch a glimpse of Mars? Or was everyone too busy with the DVD? :D I had no luck at all. Cloud cover. Sigh.


Really back on-topic ... WELCOME BACK, nurse/kuduk! Lovely thing with your daughter there. :) And congratulations to you, and to everyone who've gotten their DVDs and enjoying it like there ain't no end to DVD. No, I don't have my DVD yet, and yes, I'm sure I'll know the meaning of patience, so the next person to make a quip about being patient will get a trout from me. :p ;)

So, big huge thank you to Blossom and Homom for the gifs and caps! Bless you both. :k


If I hadn't read LOTR before watching the movies, I probably would hold off reading them until after I have seen everything. Now hold your trouts, everyone! ;) In my case, I happen to think that that's the thing about watching any movie adaptation of a book - it can be better or it can be worse than the book, but it can never be exactly like the book experience. Although Silence of the Lambs came pretty close when it successfully pulled off the most tautly written escape scene ever in the history of thrillers. IMHO. But even Silence changed some details. Anyway, to get back on topic, if a movie is sheer magic that grabs me at the very first viewing, then chances are I'll have more to enjoy from reading the book afterwards, because the book works to fill in the blanks that the movie would inevitably have, and maybe even 'fix' plotholes or changes. My best experience in this regard was with Shawshank Redemption, and that's why that story remains so dear with me.

tg -- Dr. Strangelove is a great one to have in your DVD collection. Haven't seen the other movies, but I did see a really cool documentary on the Cuban missile crisis on Discovery. Quite sobering to hear you confirming that it really was real, and that people really were scared. The missile crisis, I mean. :( meanwhile, it wasn't really meant to be subliminal, but hey, since I already mentioned it shawshank have you, tg? Hmmmm?



Guess where I'll be Saturday night?

http://www.starlightcinema.com/my

http://www.starlightcinema.com/my/StarCinema02.jpg

http://www.starlightcinema.com/my/calendar.htm#lotr1


Yes, that's right. Back-to-back FotR and TTT screenings. Read that and feel the envy. Because, like, meh -- what's a double-disc TTT DVD when you can sit out doors (oh please, God, don't let it rain) on dampening grass as you quietly endure backpain and loss of sensation in the lower extremities for the first TWO LOTR movies screened back-to-back? Yeah? I mean, that DVD is like ... what? Just a movie with some specials? Like, there isn't even a commentary. Or any additional scenes. Heh. I don't know why anyone's getting excited about it even. Well, sure, the RotK preview is nice and all, but come on ... RotK *is* coming in 4 months. What's the hurry to see rushes and scenes that aren't even properly edited together? I mean, I feel sorry for you guys. All you have is that crummy DVD and I'm gonna get LOTR under the stars. No contest, man. You guys are so lame. Really.

Sour grapes? What're you talking sour grapes? Hey! You talkin' to me? Huh? You sayin' sour grapes to my face? Huh? Huh? :mad:

:D :D



Hey Ezzie - that's beautiful! Thank you!

:waves to enai: Are you gif-ing us that scene, Blossom? :) And thanks for answering my question. Very interesting ....


News that Elijah is up and about and well again is very, very good news indeed! Thanks for keeping us informed, Hobmom!

{{{{{Faculty}}}}}

PURE SPOILER ROTK speculations

Ian McKellan's comments, translated from Germany's Cinema Magazine
With these new scenes Peter Jackson wants to raise the drama of the story even more, will make it even more obvious for the audience what is on stake the nearer the ring-bearer is coming Mount Doom. Will he make it? And will Frodo throw the Ring into the fire? ... Heart-breaking scenes are followed by epic battle-paintings. Elijah Wood and all the other hobbits deliver wonderful performances.
I pulled this quote off TORN this morning. I think it might help answer what's behind the New!Improved!Ring with Faster!Acting!Evil(TM). The Purists were worried that Frodo was disintegrating too rapidly in TTT, but if Sir Ian's remarks are accurate, the "evilized" Frodo is a PJ creation IMO on par with the Disappearing!Strider who left the hobbits on their own at Weathertop. In the book, Frodo's decision to not toss the Ring at the end came as a real surprise to me. I guess PJ wants audiences wondering for a while if Movie!Fro will really have the strength do it (similar to, "Is Strider in league with the Black Riders?"). Something that someone familiar with the books would never wonder about, but something that movie newbies could worry about. FWIW

END SPOILERISH ROTK speculations


Welcome back, nurse/Kuduk! Did Book!Theoden help explain a few things about his character's "whininess?" :p I loved your anecdotes about acting and especially reading to your daughter -- fabulous! 7 years old - wow!

Elijah Wood IS Frodo for me. No, that's not right. Elijah's not remotely involved. No that's not right. AARGH!
Actually, this is the best description of his Frodo performance that I've seen. ;) :D

Hobmom, your suggestion is brilliant. I still plan to skip buying the TTT TR, but when I purchase ROTK, I expect I'll do the TR in fullscreen, and the EE in widescreen. I normally like only widescreen, but thinking about all the extra resolution I'm losing when I study Elijah's face in FOTR is now killing me. I feel myself being pulled to the store -- to buy FOTR in fullscreen!

from tgshaw
My viewing last night was kind of "utilitarian."
I interpret that to mean you're way too busy. I hope things calm down for you soon, and you can get back to enjoying updating your web site.

Agreeing about the coup EJW and family pulled off keeping this appendix thing out of the news (assuming that it happened, which it likely did?) :confused: It also goes to show that celebrities can keep their lives private to a degree if they really choose to. This is a relief to me, because I think EW is someone who doesn't want to be followed around all the time.

from ainon
I mean, I feel sorry for you guys. All you have is that crummy DVD and I'm gonna get LOTR under the stars.
Heck, I'm convinced!

(No Mars here either, too many clouds! :( I'm keeping a look-out, though.) :)

Ainon-
News that Elijah is up and about and well again is very, very good news indeed! Thanks for keeping us informed, Hobmom!

Hey!
This is what I do! ;) Worry over him when he's sick and appreciate his face on the fullscreen DVD and make screen-caps.:D The fullscreen is fantastic for really catching the microexpressions as you will see....

Lots more added starting HERE (http://groups.msn.com/ElijahSummer03/ttt.msnw?Page=39)
and continuing in second album HERE (http://groups.msn.com/ElijahSummer03/ttt2.msnw)

I still have the Faz and Osgiliath scenes to go. In order to post them on that site I will probably have to delete some of the MTV and ComicCon pics so if anyone wants some of those go and grab them today because they may be gone tomorrow.

I'll also be putting some of the adorable caps of Elijah from 'The Making of The Long and Short of It' in Hugs.

(((Faculty)))

Popping in briefly to say hello, and to apologize....... RL is going crazy; I haven't even had the chance to read all of this thread, and I've bought the DVD, but have had next to no time to watch it. I may be quite scarce for some time to come, but I'm looking forward to checking in here when there is time.

Hope you are all enjoying the DVD. :)


Edit: Oh, I knew there was some few things I just *had* to say, comments to posts a few days back:

From Ezzie
If PJ can capture the essence of that current wowsome gorgeous Frodo poster and incorporate it into all that is ROTK, I'll be forever grateful.

Oh, I so agree! Even if the film does not turn out to be what I ferverently hope for, I shall remember for a long time the emotions I had when seeing the "Pieta" and "The Poster". I'm even buying The Poster, and intend to keep it visibly around. Those two pictures were worth it all for me - allthough I do hope there'll be so much more in the film.

I must admit that I was pretty underwhelmed by the RotK preview (probably since I'd seen some of it before). They all sounded so very *eager* to sell the film........ The only thing that really caught my attention was that opening with Frodo in Shelob's lair, phial and Sting in hand, the recent Blossom gif. :k

But then, I'm thinking about all the stuff that'll have to be there, all the stuff that I really want to see, and which wasn't spoiled at all in the preview: CU, Mt. Doom, Choices, Grey havens, the Black Gate Parley, the weddings....... and I perk right back up again. :)

How long now.... ca. 100 days?

Oh, and Mariole: No, I have no possibility to go to the December 15 charity event. Probably just as well, since one ticket costs more than USD 70. And also....... once that day is here, I figure I can wait a little longer. Once I've seen the film, all the anticipation will be over. Then we'll *know*. That will be that, in a sense. Anticipation is not so bad, really! :) :D

Originally posted by Maeglian

Even if the film does not turn out to be what I ferverently hope for, I shall remember for a long time the emotions I had when seeing the "Pieta" and "The Poster". Those two pictures were worth it all for me - allthough I do hope there'll be so much more in the film.


I couldn't agree more!

Originally posted by Maeglian
Even if the film does not turn out to be what I ferverently hope for, I shall remember for a long time the emotions I had when seeing the "Pieta" and "The Poster".
That's the thought I try to keep--especially for TTT--although it can be a bit difficult: being glad for what we do have instead of being disappointed by what we don't. But, as you said, we already have so much from RotK!

Once I've seen the film, all the anticipation will be over. Then we'll *know*. That will be that, in a sense. Anticipation is not so bad, really! :) :D
Well, it won't be entirely over :p ! We'll still have the RotK SE to look forward to, and just think how many microexpressions and bits of eye/nostril/jawline/skinfold acting there will be to discover! I expect it to take us a l-o-n-g time ;) . At least, I hope so!

(((Maeg))) Hope RL calms down soon. Please drop in when you can!

ainon--IMVHO, we have every right to be envious! After all, you'll eventually get the DVD, but most of us will never get to see "LotR under the Stars." But, how :cool: !!

I just had to quote this from Kuduk, too--What a perfect description of the whole Frolijah phenomenon :) :
Elijah Wood IS Frodo for me. No, that's not right. Elijah's not remotely involved. No that's not right. AARGH!

Hobmom--So let me get this straight. Before another day's over, you'll have every Frodo scene in TTT screencapped :eek: !? Makes my eyes tired just to think of it!! But that's pretty :cool: , too!

--------------------

Well, to make a very long story... a little less long :rolleyes: , the domain has landed... or spawned... or whatever domains do! The boss is out of town, and I was getting so uptight about whether this was going to work that I took a "mental health day" and stayed home to try to get it done. I was mostly worried the same problem would crop up as did at Earthlink, and the worst part of that problem was that you couldn't tell until the very end of the publishing process whether it was going to happen. I tried to do a bit of writing during the almost two hours it took the site to publish (takes awhile with about 950 images!). And I guess I did a bit of writing. But mostly I doodled and watched the time click off because I was too nervous to do much else.

I've already found a dozen mistakes--typos, at least one "top of page" link that doesn't work, links that are invisible because I forgot to change their color when I changed a background, etc. But, y'know I don't think I'm going to do anything about them tonight! I'm just relieved that the thing ended up on the server!!

I also want to add another page or two of TTT screencaps for September. I only made it halfway through the "Just a Dream" scene on the page I posted, so had to give it a different name :p . Now, if anyone thinks you saw caps from that scene (or the Taming of Smeagol, or the Black Gate) before, remember it was "Just a Dream." ;) -- The caps are all new, from the DVD.

Just about everything else on the site is "old hat" to everyone here, but I'll be adding more as we go along. For anyone who's interested, the extra space let me bring back the screencap pages I'd had to take down--mostly from FotR but also one each from Huck Finn and Ash Wednesday.

I'm not sure when I'll actually get to watch the goodies on the DVD--the SE and RotK previews, "The Long and Short of It" and the specials (I've never seen the one from Starz). But that just leaves so much to look forward to :) ...

I'll be heading to the "member control panel" now to change my www listing, but now it's actually easy to remember ;) : http:www.frodolivesin.us . I'm so glad they added that new extension :) .

Now I just want to give a big... sigh... of relief!!

Tg- Hobmom--So let me get this straight. Before another day's over, you'll have every Frodo scene in TTT screencapped !? Makes my eyes tired just to think of it!!

Well due to the intrusion of RL it may take me till Saturday.:D

Hello, with all of the talk about whether ROTK will be accurate to Tolkein, etc. I fear I must make a comment of which many diehard LOTR book lovers will hate me for. But first let me say I LOVE Tolkein's books. He was a literary genius. Maybe that will help you understand I do love the book and mean nothing ill by what I'm about to say.

You see, many people believe PJ should have kept the movies strictly to the book, play by play. Well, first I must point out that if he did so, because there is so much that happens, there would be no depth. One of the reasons it probably hasn't won an oscar (though I daresay it deserves it!) is because the in film, deep character depth and psychological understanding of a character is very important. Now, drama is basically a showcase for acting. Movies like A Beautiful Mind are excellent acting. People come away going "Wow, that man is so talented, he completely disappeared into the character." Unfortunately, while this same skill may be applied to fantasy, it is less noticed because a lot of the film is telling just what happened, not what it meant . Now, ELijah is one of those actors who can invoke the ""Wow", but just the events actually take away from getting to really see Frodo as well as in say, a Drama (interesting side thought, what sort of drama would Frodo be in?) Basicallly, what I am trying to say is that if PJ had done TOlkein event for event, we would not have time to know the characters at all and would feel disconnected and would frankly not care what was happenning. It would fail to capture our interest. We NEED to know Frodo in an intimate way that that would not provide. A movie is different than a book, it is not something that can be read over the course of a month when a viewer has time. It has to fit into certain time restrictions, or no one will watch it (perhaps with the exception of people like us ;) ) People expect a book to be more in depth. But that kind of depth just isn't practical in a movie. Does anyone get what I'm trying to say?

So, movies and books are different, what does that mean to diehards like us? What it comes down to is just seperating the movie and film in your mind as entirely seperate entities. Seems difficult? of course, as they both follow roughly the same story. But do you have trouble watching, say, All I Want because it is not like the classic Romeo and Juliet? Of course not. They're entirely different. Well, try and apply the same thing. The movie is so different, just forget it's based on a book while we watch it. Just experience the movie, get lost in it, and don't think about alternate plots, or what they've changed, but what they've created within itself.

I don't know if anyone understands a thing I've saide, but I shall refrain from going on incase I'm boring everyone. If you want me to explain it more I'll try. I just know I've pretty much managed to accomplish this, and I have a passion for both the movie and the book, and neither one upsets me. I left the theater from Two Towers with the same thrill Tolkein's work gives me. There just different, perhaps better suited to their own genres.

Kelsey

Hobmom -- I just wanted to let you know that I spent quite awhile going through your screencaps from TTT today, and they are incredible. I spent most of my time on the scene at the Black Gate, which is perhaps my favorite Frodo scene in that film, and I kept thinking, "Wow, look at that one! Whoa... look at that one! Ooh... Now, this one's a keeper!" :D Well, you get the idea. Such beautiful, inspiring shots. Thanks for those! :k

Bunnie and everyone...Glad you like the caps. I am amazed at the little nuances of expression I keep finding on Elijah's face.

Some more will be going up there in a few inutes. Keep checking back.

Originally posted by tgshaw

Well, it won't be entirely over :p ! We'll still have the RotK SE to look forward to, and just think how many microexpressions and bits of eye/nostril/jawline/skinfold acting there will be to discover! I expect it to take us a l-o-n-g time ;) . At least, I hope so!

As one late to this party, I hope it goes on and on...


tg--yeah for propagation! I love the domain name. I read the Frodo Lives essay again and it makes me first jealous of the lost past, then appreciative of the present, then joyful for the chance to instill the love of Tolkien in my kids!

ainon--I'm not listening! :p Enjoy!

Hobmom--thanks!! I too am appreciating unseen microexpressions. From one who was sceptical about the appendix and the full-screen, let me offer fresh rainbow trout on a platter. :) Thanks again!

Kelsey-- I greatly enjoy both the book and the movies and appreciate them as separate and unique forms of media. Otherwise I wouldn't be here. It's still fun to critique once you get past the "ooh, aah" stage. I know there are purists who see red at every change. I personally have few complaints about the movies and IMHO the ones I have could've been easily rectified without destroying the pace. Before I get too off topic, PM me if you care to discuss more.

Accio Elijah!

Originally posted by kuduk
It's still fun to critique once you get past the "ooh, aah" stage...
That's true of the book, too ;) . There are Tolkien discussions you can come away from thinking some of the people must hate LotR, or the Sil, or whatever... But it's just that there's so much there to think about, pull apart, and analyze--well, you just kinda havta do it, y'know :rolleyes: ? It's the feature that makes Tolkien such great geek material :p ! As I've said several times before, IMHO the fact that we can do the same thing with these movies says something really good about them.

There are ongoing discussions in the Trilogy forum where the movies get pulled apart, analyzed, and critiqued. Only a couple of active threads for each movie, but they're broad enough that they cover most of the territory--and all sides, pro and con. (And, of course, there are always those threads that have fallen off the board but are just waiting to be revived ;) .) Most dissatisfaction seems to be over what was added rather than what was taken out--naturally, those two things are kind of related when you're working within time constraints ;) .

IMVHO, this is also why Elijah's acting is such great geek material--there's just so much there! I can't imagine being able to analyze and critique anyone else's acting the way we do his. And, of course, when you do that, you're going to find a few flaws. A look or a word that doesn't hit quite right. But if there wasn't so much great stuff there, we wouldn't be analyzing it in the first place :) !

Just found this new ROTK image at TORN. I'll link to it for the benefit of those who wish to remain ROTK spoiler-image free.



ROTK SPOILER!!!






http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/view/8117







END OF ROTK SPOILER!!!


nurse/kuduk - So glad to see you made it back here.

Kelsey - I know what you mean. Although I have loved LOTR for 30-odd years, I have managed to separate the film from the books. In many ways I PREFER Elijah's Frodo to book-Frodo, although I still love HIM, of course. I think the fact that Film-Fro is so much younger, he starts off as being more naive, innocent, apprehensive, dependent on others, and this makes his character arc much stronger IMHO. And Elijah just LIVES the role!:) He IS Frodo. :)

Hobmom - Keep those screencaps coming at us!!!

Maeg - Hope RL starts treating you better very soon.

Tg - It's good to hear that frodolivesin.us is coming together at last. :)

Ainon - You jammy girl, you. FOTR AND TTT beneath the stars! I promise not to do my rain dance on Saturday! :) Enjoy.

[Dropping in and seeing spoiler]


Squeeeeeee!

This is exactly why I don't avoid spoilers. Why should I avoid something that makes me all squeeingly happy like that picture? :D

Isn't it *awesome*!

They look so ......TRUE! (To book, to imagination, to characters, to story, to ....you name it!)

And OK, that *is* Frodo's right hand showing, isn't it? Is one of the fingers missing? Difficult to see..... If so, then it's the index finger. Anyone not avoiding spoilers have better eyes than me? :o

Thank you for posting that, Blossom! :)


---------

Thank you all for good wishes. I don't mean to bother or bore people with my RL, it's just that I used to be such a frequent poster, so it feels a little strange to be posting more infrequently, and not commenting on everyone's posts etc. But I do need time and thought before posting, and that just isn't as often available anymore. But RL is getting brighter, there's just ....... so *much* RL! :rolleyes:


Happy weekend, everyone! :k

Back to look at pic once more!


[/Dropping in]

The picture that Blossom linked to has me speechless.

Nevertheless, I wanted to congratulate tg on building such a beautiful web site! It is full of great stuff and wonderful to look at too! Thank you!

And thanks to Hobmom for making all those screencaps. We are all profiting from your skill and care!

And welcome back to kuduk!

Now back to the TTT DVD! And Research! :)

((((((Faculty))))))) Thanks for the concern and Hi to new members. :)

RL has been mean for the last 2 month but I did manage to get things back to normal about 2 weeks ago and have been busy trying to catch up with news and spoilers that I missed. ;) So I'll probably be lurking for a little while. :k

The new spoiler image had me going http://members.lycos.co.uk/duckycc/smilies/bigeyes.gif. I wish it was bigger though. :o Thanks Blossom!!

Btw, here's a [ROTK spoiler] TORN logo-less version of that picture Blossom linked to (http://www.lucifer.hoolan.org/lotrsign/106452.jpg) [/ROTK spoiler]

Have a great weekend, everyone! :k

tg ... :cool: site! Haven't had time to look through it all - blame it on Hobmom ;) :k - but I will. Did look at the legit New Line caps ;) of Frodo waking up. You would leave us with a cliffhanger! :p

Thanks tg and Hobmom. All the work you're putting in -- it's all appreciated. *hugs*

Blossom, thanks for that image. I actually scrolled past and read Maeg's post first before deciding to take a look at it. Self-control. Who would have thought I had any of that? But Maeg, no, I don't see none missing. And deluby (hope things are all fine now, my dear. I'm very. very glad to see you back), thanks for 'touching up' the image!


Kelsey, I hear ya, and I'm with you and Blossom. :) I loved TTT right off, and though it was bewildering and confusing at first to deal with being in what seemed like a minority group ;) I'm content now to just enjoy the fact that I have nothing to complain about.


Spoilerish remark to Mariole's speculation

I think it might help answer what's behind the New!Improved!Ring with Faster!Acting!Evil(TM). The Purists were worried that Frodo was disintegrating too rapidly in TTT, but if Sir Ian's remarks are accurate, the "evilized" Frodo is a PJ creation IMO on par with the Disappearing!Strider who left the hobbits on their own at Weathertop. In the book, Frodo's decision to not toss the Ring at the end came as a real surprise to me. I guess PJ wants audiences wondering for a while if Movie!Fro will really have the strength do it (similar to, "Is Strider in league with the Black Riders?"). Something that someone familiar with the books would never wonder about, but something that movie newbies could worry about. FWIW

I admit that's always been my take on it, so it's cool to have someone else see it that way too. I'd add that PJ's job is made very, very difficult by how deus ex machina the Mount Doom finale is. The minute Gollum shows up again, the audience just knows how it's gonna go (has there ever been any horror movie that did not have a Gollum just popping up at the end so that he can die and kinda save the day/world/empire?). The bigger concern is if EW doesn't pull it off, in which case it's gonna be one of the bigger disappointments in cinematic history. On par with Anakin turning out to be a brat who shouts "Yippee" or somesuch when he's happy. :p But I'm sure we can rest assured that EW will be pull it off, and the events of TTT have acclimatized the audience into understanding the strain Frodo's under so that RotK 'Frodo has a Dark Side' scenes in CU and Mount Doom will be real and character believable, as opposed to convenient (movie) plot devices and opportunities for actor grandstanding/Oscarclip-fying. ;)

disclaimer, just in case: I'm speaking of the movies strictly as movies here! I'm not comparing to the books or commenting on the book at all! Put that trout away!


/End RotK-ish remarks




Well, tonight's my LOTR marathon night! Before I leave, I'll recommend that you guys click on this link and watch the trailer.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/miramax/comedian.html


Now, we can't see the trailer we *really* want to see yet, but my friends, if there's a second trailer that you wouldn't want to miss this year, it's this trailer.

warning: Have no fluids or edible solids in mouth while watching.



Happy weekend, folks! (((((Maeg)))))) (((((deluby))))) :k

Hello, all!

Ainon, enjoy your LotR evening! It sounds terrific :) !

Welcome back, peaceweaver and nurse/kuduk -- so good to have you two with us here :k !

Blossom, the four-hobbits-post-journey picture is absolutely stunning! The signs of an overwhelming film-experience in December augments visibly. Thank you :) !

Tg, I payed a little visit to your new website... wow! It looks very good and I'm looking forward seeing the whole project completed. And I *love* the new name - it is truly heart-warming :) !

Hobmom, :k for all the wonderful screencaps! Browsing through your caps is like watching TTT as a silent movie, very hypnotic.

Kelsey, I understood. Films and books are two different things. Since I read the books afterwards I couldn't complain anything. The book's reading was a pleasure of its own.

*Hugs* to Maeglian!

Thanks, deluby, for the picure!

And thanks to Mariole for the interesting quote you posted a few days ago!

--------------------
Watching the TTT DVD specials with all the descriptions of stuntmen work and exertions for the actors (especially Orlando and Viggo) I was thinking: Oh, come on boys, I know, your job was pretty hard and - sure, you must've been exhausted -- but what about Elijah?! He does all his emotion stunts by himself!
That leaves much more lasting impression on me than anything else!

(((Faculty))) - have a great weekend, all :) !

Just dropped in to say--for anyone who's not avoiding RotK spoilers, there's been close to a "real time" discussion of the TORN pic that Blossom linked to in the "RotK Official Spoiler Discussion Thread" this morning. It starts about halfway down page 15, and includes pic comparisons and tweaked versions as well as a "speculative" discussion about what Frodo's wearing beneath his cloak (oh, and a bit of talk about, uh, fingers).

http://www.khazaddum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=161214#post161214 -- This link takes you straight to page 15.

Crumbs, Maeglian, I felt the exact opposite watching the Not Really A Preview Because We Didn't Get Stuff Cut In Time Preview of RoTR. I just want December to be here already. Yesterday.
But then I've been pretty spoiler free and am a total battle fan so both these things probably help.

I've also been heartened by the preview of the extended DVD. Cool. Boromir. Well- wrong thread. Enough said.:p

I love Frodo's character changes in these movies and am totally wanting him to almost lose it in RoTK. Take a deep breath tg :)But then like several here I do see the movie as a separate entity from the book so I suffer little Purist Stress. I can still pick up the books and slip into my Original Tolkein World which is very very different from Jackson's vision. But I find the world created by Jackson and co. so compelling and close thematically to the novels that the divergences are a minor irritation.

(Except Faramir. Still struggling with Faramir though David Wenham seems less annoying on a small screen than a large one.)

I somehow notice EWs acting more on a small screen than on a large. I have no clear idea why. Perhaps there's something about the intimacy of viewing his acting on a small screen that ironically gets lost on a huge screen. Bigger and better appiles to the battles and the heroic type action but perhaps not to the more intensely emotional moments. In fact sometimes I find it hard to totally absorb the entirety of the images on a big screen. It requires a lot of hard work scanning the entire image and the effort can be distracting. Fine, detailed acting is suited to a smaller screen perhaps.

Whatever. I just typing and thinking at the same time too so these are random thoughts at the moment. But I am seriously impressed with Wood's acting and this has renewed my exasperation with his acting in Try 17.:confused: Yes its a totally different role but he could have done so much better. He may very well be an actor who needs a director with a strong vision.

I would so love to see a FoTR screening and TTT screening on a big screen and in the open. I find theatres a serious difficulty to overcome (mild too-many-people- all-crowded-together-anxiety) an outdoor setting would be wonderful. So much more air!!!:p Hope its great and doesn't rain Ainon.

Greetings nurse/kuduk. It took me a bit to figure out who you were (I read this thread backwards.) Welcome back!

from whiteling
Oh, come on boys, I know, your job was pretty hard and - sure, you must've been exhausted -- but what about Elijah?! He does all his emotion stunts by himself! That leaves much more lasting impression on me than anything else!
whiteling, your comment sent me off on a little quest, and then I became distracted. Prepare for a rant!



My original intent was to find a quote from a TT review, something that was talking about the acting in terms of who delivers a powerful performance or not. It was saying that, basically, Movie!Aragorn was pretty much a pure action character (something I happen to agree with) and said, of the principle characters, that "only Wood and Astin are given much to do."

The problem is that there are roughly 975 million reviews of TTT, so I couldn't find what I was looking for, or who said it. But in my rambles via Google I came across a few quotes about how Elijah Wood is such an uncharismatic actor, and how amazing it is that he can take the multi-faceted character of Frodo and make it boring, and how his scenes are saved only by Gollum or Sean Asin -- not because they're particularly good, but because EW is so weak he just gives the scene away.

Now, I didn't go into the LOTR movies with any preconceptions. I didn't know any of these actors except Ian McKellan, who I really liked. And of them all, Frodo just captured my heart. Am I in the minority here? Is all the world enamored of Mortensen's Aragorn and Bloom's Legolas to the extent that Wood's Frodo is a weak second-best and I'm just not seeing it?

I know that I should never read reviews, they only depress me. So let me be honest and say that I'm looking for reassurance. I am greatly looking forward to ROTK because I want to see more Frodo Frodo Frodo -- I really love this guy! But if the rest of the world is thinking Frodo=boring, then I won't get to see so much Frodo, and I will be sad while all the world is rejoicing over how good this movie is because a digitized version of Legolas -- oh, I don't know -- leaps into the air and wrestles a Ringwraith off his dragon mount or something. And that will p*ss me off no end.

I know we're all staunch Elijah Wood supporters here, but I'd hate to be in my insulative little bubble only to have it burst with great disappointment when the movie airs 4 months from now. Should I be worried? Has anyone done research on how Frodo's character is perceived generally among the population at large?


(Heh, I just remembered -- a while ago I said that sooner or later I would fall off my "tra-la-la, ROTK will be great, I'm not worried" pedestal. Well, I guess this is the time that I do ... ker-plunk! Please tell me that I'm just having a mood swing.)


[end rant? I hardly think so...]

Edit: Just had to add my own spoiler comparison pic. Not really all that valid, as I believe the Vanity Fair shot was posed and this new [b]spoiler pic may be as well, but it was interesting to compare the stances/expressions of early and late Fro. Warning: spoiler

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/etherealFro.jpg

PS: Thanks, BB. It's puzzling why my heart is so wrapped up in this, both movie and book, but it is so there you go. :k

{{{{{Mariole}}}}}

I can't speak for the population at large, but I do know that after my first viewing of FOTR it was one Elijah Jordan Wood and his very impressive acting talent that drew me to the internet to find some place to talk about him.

I had never been in a chat room, or on a message board, but I was driven to talk about this amazing actor, whose name I knew, but I had never before seen performing his craft. And this was long before I became enamored of him for other reasons. ;) I don't claim to be an expert on acting, but I do know for a fact that he blew me away with his performance.

I don't know if that's in any way helpful, but I don't think we're going to be disappointed, come December.

I've only ever seen good reviews of Elijah's performance as Frodo.

All the big newspapers like the NY Times and magazine and TV reviews seem to have raved about him.

Mariole, where did you find negative reviews? I've only seen negative fan comments from guys who seem to be jealous of him or never understood Frodo to begin with.

Originally posted by Mariole
Now, I didn't go into the LOTR movies with any preconceptions. I didn't know any of these actors except Ian McKellan, who I really liked. And of them all, Frodo just captured my heart. Am I in the minority here? Is all the world enamored of Mortensen's Aragorn and Bloom's Legolas to the extent that Wood's Frodo is a weak second-best and I'm just not seeing it?


Sometimes, when I hear the things reviewers say or don't say about Elijah's work as Frodo, I wonder the same thing. Am I just so entranced by his appearance that I've persuaded myself he's a brilliant actor, while it's the people around him who are actually doing the real acting?

I don't think that's what I'm doing, but I do think there hasn't been a lot of critical recognition of Elijah's performance. What I've mostly seen in critical reviews of both FoTR and TTT is not disdain towards Elijah's Frodo but just complete apathy, which is worse, in its own way. Aside from the occasional comment (usually vaguely derisive) about Elijah's looks, the critics seem to take little notice of him, preferring to comment on Viggo's performance or how "hot" Orlando Bloom is. (Hobmom, alas, the NY Times review of TTT made almost no mention of Elijah Wood other than the mandatory listing of his name. I hope they DID rave about him in FoTR!) There have been some very good reviews of Elijah's performance, but I still don't think it gets the attention it deserves. I think that three things work against Elijah---his youth, his looks and, sadly enough, his talent.

Elijah was just barely eighteen when he began filming LoTR. In spite of the fact that he'd already been acting for over a decade, a lot of people find it easy to fix upon the notion that someone so young can't possibly be that good. They ignore what their own eyes are telling them---that not only is he that good, but he's also more than capable of holding his own with some of the most respected actors in the business.

Elijah is also beautiful. Okay, there's no getting around that, he's beautiful. Even all his attempts to look like uber-geek can't change that fact. And when he's in full-Frodo guise, he's beautiful enough to make angels weep. The problem is that we don't live in an era when it's acceptable for any male over the age of six to be considered "beautiful." I said this before, a long time ago, but I think that Elijah's beauty can be very disconcerting to people who think there's something "wrong" with that. So his performance becomes secondary to the necessity of mocking his "clammy skin" or "frog eyes."

Finally, Elijah's talent is so unlike what is commonly recognized as great film acting. He doesn't chew up the scenery, and you don't look at his performance and think, "Wow! That's ACTING!" Instead, you think, "That's Frodo!" and some interpret this as Elijah "not doing anything." His work is so subtle and so seamlessly unobtrusive that, sadly, some just overlook it. It's interesting that Prim found his performance in TTT more compelling on the small screen, because I had the same experience. I think the intricate subtleties of Elijah's Frodo are easier both to see and appreciate when they're not diffused on the big screen.

I think these factors keep Elijah from getting the recognition he deserves, and may also keep him from getting even a nomination for his work in LoTR. But, I am hopeful that they will NOT keep him from being both the anchor and the soul of RoTK, as he was of FoTR. Since the beginning, I've heard nothing but praise for Elijah from the filmmakers and his co-stars, and it doesn't sound like the kind of empty ego-stroking that often goes on in Hollywood. In spite of the flaws with TTT, I think PJ and everyone connected with these films understands the depth of Elijah's talent, and will allow RoTK to showcase it to its greatest effect.

Don't let me down, PJ!

Originally quoted by Mariole:
But in my rambles via Google I came across a few quotes about how Elijah Wood is such an uncharismatic actor, and how amazing it is that he can take the multi-faceted character of Frodo and make it boring, and how his scenes are saved only by Gollum or Sean Asin -- not because they're particularly good, but because EW is so weak he just gives the scene away.
_________________________________________

WHAT???!!!

Also from Mariole:
Now, I didn't go into the LOTR movies with any preconceptions. I didn't know any of these actors except Ian McKellan, who I really liked. And of them all, Frodo just captured my heart.
__________________________________________

ME TOO!!!

Also from Mariole:
I know that I should never read reviews, they only depress me. So let me be honest and say that I'm looking for reassurance. I am greatly looking forward to ROTK because I want to see more Frodo Frodo Frodo -- I really love this guy! But if the rest of the world is thinking Frodo=boring, then I won't get to see so much Frodo, and I will be sad while all the world is rejoicing over how good this movie is because a digitized version of Legolas -- oh, I don't know -- leaps into the air and wrestles a Ringwraith off his dragon mount or something. And that will p*ss me off no end.
___________________________________________

ME TOO!!!

Mariole, I know everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and I respect that, but I find I do take it quite personally when I read a negative review of Elijah's Frodo. Although there are great performances all round in LOTR, for me, Frodo is the heart and soul of these films. That an actor of Elijah's age (at the time) should take on this mammoth task, steering his character so convincingly from happy and carefree innocence, through all manner of emotions in between, and lead him to the darkest depths of physical and mental suffering and despair, (with the best yet to come in ROTK, we hope) never ceases to amaze me. Awesome!

There are a lot of POSITIVE reviews out there too!

Fellowship of the Ring reviews:

"In the end, it all comes back to one performance… Frodo. Elijah Wood is the heart and soul of this film. Without his performance, the film just wouldn't have worked. You need to BELIEVE in his innocence, bravery, fear, apprehension, and guilt. You need to understand and empathize with every emotion Frodo has. Somehow, Eijah does it. He makes you care and he makes you understand. That's the mark of a truly great actor." ~ Kerouac, DVD Dungeon

"Elijah Wood's Frodo holds the camera captivated in just about every one of his scenes. He shows equal parts boyishness and gravity. His face, all immense eyes, still glows with youthful innocence, but there's also something fearfully mature about it: If you've read the books, you'll see how that look points the way to the darker, more devastating turns this story will take from here." ~ Stephanie Zacharek, Salon Arts & Entertainment
___________________________________________

You can find more elijah reviews here: (http://frodoandsam.net/film/elijah/reviews.html)
___________________________________________

And on a personal note, although of course I don't know him, from what I have seen in interviews etc. I think Elijah simply exudes charisma.:)

Whiteling - I so agree with you when you say Elijah's emotional performance stays with you. Given training, anyone can swash a buckle! It takes special talent to deliver a performance of such heart-wrenching emotion as Elijah's Frodo. I must pay tribute to Sean Astin's Sam here too. I think they work so well together - and off each other.

Bunnie - I had never visited a message board either, but when I saw FOTR at the cinema I was so impressed with the young actor who WAS Frodo that I came home and searched the net for anything LOTR and Elijah Wood. Once I found The Faculty Lounge (or should I say The Elijah Wood Non-Swoony Thread, as it was then in the old place) I have never looked back.

ainon - Hope you had a great time at the movies.

deluby - Hello again - Hope you're back here to stay.:)

P.S. Elda - What a great post!:) So true - I agree with every word!

Lots of simulposts, YEAH! I'll read them after I submit this:
We pick up our story in Osgiliath. Our daughter asks about Faramir, “is he good or bad?”, my hubby and I exchange looks, obviously trying to decide how long a diatribe to go into regarding book vs. movie. We’re interrupted by “they’re here…they’ve come”. Our daughter’s entranced, watching him walk towards the beast, he lifts the ring, she says “what is he doing?!” Sam arrives, they tumble down and Frodo draws the sword on him. My daughter shrieks at the TV “what are you doing!!? Don’t do that! He’s your friend!”

My hubby and daughter giggle together at (paraphrased) Sam‘s “by rights we shouldn’t even be here” and Faramir‘s “at last I think we understand one another”.

Me, I’m just blissfully watching. I now realize I have become a Movie!Frodo junkie. I don’t worry that they’re not supposed to be there or that Frodo’s character arc is getting a little too steep. Osgiliath was the first scene I saw that consciously made me think, “hey, he’s really good!” I had very little previous experience with studying or critiquing acting (my sister notwithstanding). Of course I later went back and studied and came to admire him in The Shadow of the Past, The Bridge of Khazad-dum, Parth Galen, The Breaking of the Fellowship , The Taming of Smeagol, The Black Gate is Closed, The Forests of Ithilien, etc.

Maybe one day I’ll fall in love with Book!Frodo. For now I’m a loyal Frolijah fan. (Although I’m severely ashamed to realize that I’m one of those for whom PJ’s Ratcheting-up-the-Tension “worked". Kuduk is buried by a mountain of trout.)


Extraneous comments about the ROTK preview:

Does everyone agree that PJ’s “drop in on me while I’m editing” bits were carefully scripted and planned including the timing of the camera pans to and from the screen? I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that there was little to nothing else on the tape he was watching except what we saw.

RE: by Meryl Marie 8/24/03 (KD ROTK spoiler thread, p. 14): “Didja hear Frodo moaning and panting (on the unseen TV screen) during PJ’s last words of the RoTK preview? Didja? EEK COOL”

YES I DID!

And the Pieta and the Poster sandwiched by Elijah Wood talking about how his last day of work as Frodo will be “tragic indeed”...
(OT: the picture of Sam after that is pretty amazing too. Is there a name for that one, any resident Goonie?)

Waaah! Kuduk turns into a puddle of goo. Note to self: buy Kleenex stock December 15th.

(OT: Aragorn in the Dwimmerberg (forgive the spelling if wrong) looks pretty "deer in the headlights" to me. He does look rather kingly later with his Gondorian getup and his hair pulled back.)


Regarding Mariole’s post:

So you’re giving the Faculty homework of doing a review of the literature on Elijah Wood as Frodo acting reviews with a statistical analysis of the prevailing view of the populous and speculation on how that might affect his screen time in movie three? Whoa. Sounds like fun! Don’t know if I have the time or smarts, maybe a senior member will.

Mariole--does this lift your spirits any about RoTK?:
(transcribed by Narya Celebrian 8/23/03--KD RoTK spoiler thread, p.14):

PJ: The great thing with LotR, as well as these huge battle scenes, is you have the intimate story, the emotional story. And that’s where most of the power of RotK really lies.”

Mark Odesky: All the massing armies, Aragorn, Gandalf’s brilliant strategy, everything that happens is only about: can we buy Frodo a chance?

Phillipa Boyens: So you have this massive war on an external level. And on an internal level you have two little hobbits, Frodo and Sam, on their hands and knees, literally crawling up a mountain. It’s the relationship between these two characters that is the heart of the movie.

Sean Astin: If you want to know where the third film is going, just wait and see what it is that – Where Elijah goes, and what happens to poor Mr. Frodo.

Deep sigh. Maybe I’ll go here http://hollywooddreamsonline.com/ and stare at the Pieta and Poster some more.

Mariole: Inspired by your comments, I went looking for reviews of TTT that addressed the issue of EW’s acting (those available online, anyway). Here are a few I found, which I hope will salve your concern, at least to a degree:

Salon.com: Frodo (Elijah Wood, whose performance is both intensely physical and vibrating with a sense of spiritual terror) and his faithful companion Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin, whose doughy cheeks bring the movie a grounded touch of the ordinary and familiar) are making their way to Mordor to dispose of the Ring of Power, which will destroy the dark forces.

Cinescape.com: Ian McKellen’s pitch-perfect work as Gandalf seems destined to establish him as the movie wizard of the present Age, while Wood succeeds in taking Frodo into darker character territory as the Ring continues to exert its terrible influence on him.

Denver Post: this film's plot is harder to follow than last year's "Fellowship of the Ring," but there's better acting and character development from Elijah Wood (Frodo), Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) and others.

movie-reviews.colossus.net: Elijah Wood's Frodo is haunted and weary, relying more upon Sam. Wood's body language expresses the weight Frodo feels from bearing the ring.


However, in general, the critiques I saw rarely addressed the acting in the movie, as they had to 1) recount the story of the film 2) rehash the story of the filming and 3) gush over the battle scenes and special effects. In essence, you are right that the “critics” don’t seem to be paying attention to Elijah Wood’s amazing acting in this movie. And Elda is correct that some reviewers can't get over how good Frodo looks, and make snide comments about that.

The 200+ reviews you can link to at the IMDB, however, include a lot of media outlets outside of Hollywood and private web sites. What I can’t tell from this little research project is what is happening with Elwood’s reputation in the industry, which seems to me to be the most important issue for his future. Certainly his role in Eternal Sunshine was influenced by the work in FoTR, but what new is coming his way? There is no more filming for the trilogy going on now, right? So aside from PR for RoTK, and the penguin voice, what’s next for our hero?

Let us hope that the third movie rocks everybody in the biz--as it will us!

Regarding the post-quest photo of the hobbits, Pearl just posted in the spoiler thread:

"...Sam looking like the guy who will become the Mayor.
My Frodo looking sombre and 'priestly'. He looks exactly how I imagine post-quest Frodo to look. And he's still Frodo.

Post-Quest Hobbits. Gazing down at their beloved Shire. All four sadder and wiser and having lost a bit of their innocence ... Frodo most of all."

Originally posted by peaceweaver
Let us hope that the third movie rocks everybody in the biz--as it will us! [/B]

Amen!

Originally posted by kuduk
And the Pieta and the Poster sandwiched by Elijah Wood talking about how his last day of work as Frodo will be “tragic indeed”...
(OT: the picture of Sam after that is pretty amazing too. Is there a name for that one, any resident Goonie?)

I think that's just "the angsty Sam picture" - no name for it beyond that as of yet.

Mariole, none of my RL friends are LOTR-obsessive like we are here. Some of them have read the books, but none of them think it's the Greatest Movie Ever. However, there's not a one of them who hasn't seen FOTR and TTT. I had quite a group of people who went to see TTT with me on opening day last year, and I'd be surprised if there's not an even biggger group wanting to see ROTK on the 17th this year. All of my friends and family have seen and were impressed with the first two movies, none of them would dream missing out on ROTK (or even waiting for video), and although I don't know anyone in RL who has gushed over Elijah's performance, how could these movies possibly be such a hit (to put it mildly) if the main character was played by a sub-par actor, being supported by the pefromances (typo:p ) of the actors around him? I think it's what other people here have said - Elijah's performance is so subtle that you tend to take it for granted; you don't even realize how well he's disappearing into the role. Well, until you start doing nostril and neck fold research, that is.;)

(((((Faculty))))) :k

Thank you all for talking me down. Bridget, your post was so sensible and reasonable. Yes, if EW was truly awful, how well would these movies succeed?

Thank you all for posting the positive review quotes. I'd seen many of those, but seeing the icky ones this morning made me wonder if I'd been selectively reading. The ickiest quotes came from a place called bikkit.com - I'm not even sure who they are, but they were very mean. Perhaps they're just a bunch of psychopaths, and posting movie reviews is considered positive therapy for them.

Elda, you bring up a very interesting point about beauty vs. respectability. I see it so often with women, that it's unusual to map it over to a man (how many men are truly "beautiful," after all?), but I wonder if that same lack of respect holds true. Here you've got this freakily beautiful young man (already we're treading on homophobe territory here) and he plays a vulnerable, emotional role. Gender crisis! Men are strong they have no emotions (except anger); they grunt and sweat and make body-function jokes. All this describes Viggo's Aragorn -- well, except for the body-function joking, but then, he is going to be king, so he probably only makes humorous armpit noises when he's alone with Elrond or something. But Gimli certainly holds up the belching end of the spectrum.

These are real men. Legolas is not a real man, but with his Super-Action Arrow Speed and Running!Horse!Mount!Maneuver(TM) and his modern affiliation with skate boarding :rolleyes:, he's more of a Spider Man superhero rather than a manly man, so I suppose he can get away with being lovely (although he still has to endure a boatload of razzing about it). I know that not all men are insecure about their masculinity, but here in the U.S. of A. it really is the norm for men to -- I don't know, cut themselves off from their emotions and softer side. You can punch your best friend on the shoulder, but never embrace him. That's weird. I hope the rest of the world isn't so ratcheted up about this, but probably some places are, some aren't.

I agree with the subtlety of Elijah's acting. It didn't take the small screen for me to appreciate it; he had me hooked from FOTR on the big screen. I think that's why FOTR is so watchable; his acting just fits -- the character, the scene, the mood. It doesn't easily translate itself to charicature or parody -- it simply is the character, being in that situation. His performance doesn't get stale or draw attention to itself over time. That's a tremendous accomplishment to pull off, and is one of the reasons why I think these movies will enjoy a healthy life long after the theatre run is over. People will keep coming back to Middle Earth like they visit Oz or Austria (for "The Sound of Music").

from Blossom
I think Elijah simply exudes charisma.
I can't keep my eyes off him when he's on the screen. (Sorry, Sam lovers!) I don't know the word for it, so I suppose "charisma" will have to do. It's a pull, arresting and magical. It's a complete absorption. It baffles me.

Sigh. On the positive side, I figure my RL must be in pretty good order, if I can spend this much energy worrying over the possible recognition that a fictional character and the actor who portrays him will receive in a movie that hasn't been released yet. Tolkien's life work has made such an impact on me that I feel fiercely protective of it. I have to trust that enough of the message will get out so that others can enjoy the beauty and majesty of Middle Earth and those wonderful, self-sacrificing characters. * unclenches fists * unclenches jaw * goes off to read something uplifting...

If you haven't seen it, run to

http://www.khazaddum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2126

for Winter's brilliant, hilarious, inspiring and nostalgic posts (from 8/6-20/03) about her first impressions of FoTR. I laughed til I cried.

Wonderful posts, all! I've spent too much time today writing posts in the Trilogy forum with Faculty-length word counts :o , so I've just now had time to catch up on this thread.

IMHO, some people don't appreciate Elijah's acting because it's so natural, subtle, and true to the character. It may be the same problem that, say, figure skaters have who make it "look too easy." The professional judges usually understand how difficult it is, but the casual observers (like me :p ) have to have it pointed out (many thanks to Dick Button for his comments over the years :) ).

It says a lot that the "best in the business" gush about Elijah's acting as much as we do. Ian McKellan, especially, has gone far beyond necessary "positive PR" statements. Who would know better than him?

Prim's post about the small screen rang completely true for me, too. My "small screen," after all, is my computer monitor, so I'm 18 inches away from it at the most, and Elijah's acting is perfect for that. I think the word "intimate" could be used not only for the setting, but for Elijah's acting--you really become intimate with the character. IMVHO, there are people who don't appreciate the subtlety and are uncomfortable with the intimacy (especially as Elijah's gotten older--it's "okay" for a little kid to be emotionally open).

Anyway, I am, as they say, "Preaching to the choir," but for a little more subtlety... I've finished posting the "Just a Dream" scene. I've added more pics to the first page and have added two more pages. It's the stuff on page 2 that stopped me in my tracks when I was working on it yesterday; I had no idea it existed when I started working on the scene, but that's what makes it so interesting...

I've been trying to figure out a way to explain why it's important that Elijah has these subtleties in his acting, when so much of it isn't obvious unless you look at it carefully. I mean, what difference does it make if the moviegoer can't even see it? The caps on page 2 helped me get a bit of a handle on that, because I'd felt the effect of the subtleties before I consciously noticed them--My reaction was, "Oh, so that's why I responded the way I did." The subtleties are important to the overall effect--as individual brushstrokes are important to the overall effect of a painting even though you don't notice them unless you study the painting carefully.

Anyway, here's a link straight to the "Just a Dream" pages:

http://www.frodolivesin.us/id172.htm

BTW, I apologize to anyone who's been overwhelmed by the huge lettering that appeared on the site :eek: ! I'd used a nifty font to make the "Frodo Lives" headers--one that really looked like graffiti, y'know? And I thought I'd followed the process correctly in order to make them "images," instead of "text," so the special font would show up on people's monitors even if they didn't have the font available on their computers. But when I looked at the pages on my office computer, I saw it hadn't worked--and the font that the computer had changed it to was way bigger than the one I'd used! So I changed to one of the "browser-safe" fonts. If I ever learn how how to do the image-thing correctly, I'll try to put the nifty font back up ;) .

Men are strong they have no emotions (except anger); they grunt and sweat and make body-function jokes. All this describes Viggo's Aragorn -- well, except for the body-function joking, but then, he is going to be king, so he probably only makes humorous armpit noises when he's alone with Elrond or something.

Oh my - that's a vision I won't forget in a hurry! :D:D:D

I bet Elladan and Elrohir had competitions with Arrers to see who could make the loudest armpit-squelching noises. They WERE partly human, after all.

And they probably blackmailed Arrers all the time by threatening to tell Arwen.

I'd attribute the body-functioning joking to Elrond alone (possibly with Figwit as audience), since anyone with a permanent facial expression like his has got to suffer from terminal haemorrhoids.

Mariole, jesting set aside, your post was brilliant, touching, and so, so true.

And sorry, I know the Faculty is usually more civilised than this. :)

And sorry, I know the Faculty is usually more civilised than this.
Oh, dear, Niphy, I don't think we've returned to "civilised" just yet. See, I just had to do something silly after my recent bout of angst over how much screentime and respect Frodo will get in the third movie. I decided to turn my attention to executing some of the research funded by our recent Faculty grant, to wit, "The Jawline: It Doesn't Suck."

I wish to point out that the following has nothing to do with acting. It's all just bone structure. This is a silly grant, and should never have been funded. I don't know what Uh Institute was thinking when they approved it. But, the money's here so I may as well spend it.

Part 1: A comparison of jawline between friends

As the boys leave the bar, we can see the distinct shape of Frodo's angular jawline, compared to the softer shape of Sam's.

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/jguys.jpg


Frodo's mandible actually flares out slightly -- turn your head, dear, so we get a better view. Thank you. See?

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/jflare.jpg


Part 2: The prominence of the sterno-cleido-mastoid

As the guys turn to take a gander at our little barmaid, you can see how Frodo's sterno-cleido-mastoid (neck flexor muscle) just pops out of the guy's neck. It gives a certain sharpness to his features that may help in setting off his expressions so well.

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/jturn1.jpg

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/jturn2.jpg


The little sucker is also visible in many full-front shots. Again, it helps direct attention upwards toward the face.

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/jfront.jpg


Part 3: The lovely combination

When you put it all together, you get a nice sharp mandible with a prominent sterno-cleido-mastoid. I say, well done, EW's bone structure! Well played! * clap * clap * clap *

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/jboth.jpg

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/jboth2.jpg


Thanks to tgshaw, whose site provided these caps. Your new site is looking great! Eagerly awaiting more TT pages.

From Mariole:

I wish to point out that the following has nothing to do with acting. It's all just bone structure.
When you put it all together, you get a nice sharp mandible with a prominent sterno-cleido-mastoid. I say, well done, EW's bone structure! Well played! * clap * clap * clap *



*Now* you got it, girl! It's all the bones! Faculty research ends up in a scientific and therefore provable/measurable result! Professor Mariole, I feel I have to say, that it was high time to clarify this specific question. All these strange "qualities" like *cough* "charisma", "emotional intensity", "beauty" or "talent" do not count. Mawkish nonsense! :rolleyes:

Whiteling feels a creeping nervous breakdown, goes down on her knees and thanks the online communitiy of geeks she've found to praise the apparently almost invisible acting skills of a certain Elijah Jordan Wood... and thinks of many brilliant artists whose real talent wasn't seen by the majority

Originally posted by Mariole
When you put it all together, you get a nice sharp mandible with a prominent sterno-cleido-mastoid. I say, well done, EW's bone structure! Well played! * clap * clap * clap *
The Academy shows how shortsighted it is by not having an Oscar category for this--it's behind the times and needs to catch up with scientific progress: May I suggest "Best musculo-skeletal features in a supporting role"--we don't want to leave out the all-important sterno-cleido-mastoid by limiting the award to bone structure alone.

Hmmm... My father wasn't great looking, but he did have a very prominent sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle (not that I ever knew that's what it was called :p ). Wonder if that's what caught my mom's eye ;) ?

from whiteling
...and thinks of many brilliant artists whose real talent wasn't seen by the majority
Would you like to join the "Claude Raines Coulda Been a Contender" fan club? Right now, I think I'm the only member :p . More power to not-overly-tall actors everywhere!! :)

Brilliant observation, mariole! :p

God, I love this place! :)

Yes please, tg, count me in your "Claude Raines Coulda Been a Contender" fan club! And give three cheers to the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle :D !!

It rained. For the whole afternoon it rained. But an hour and a half before the movie was scheduled to begin, the sun came out again, and shone bright before it set for the day, and my friends and I stepped out of our car and headed for the wet field. We had old newspapers which we used to line the patch of ground we'd chosen as our base. We laid our mats on top of the newspapers. We made ourselves comfortable as the evening cooled and day became dark and huge floodlights came on around the field. There was a huge screen before us, a projector's booth in the middle of the field, and big speakers located surround-system style all around.

Near the end of FotR, it started to drizzle. We'd come prepared and had umbrellas, so we shared two people to an umbrella. There I was, huddling miserably beneath the umbrella canopy, back and shoulders aching, getting slightly dizzy from trying to peer up at the screen from the hunched position I was in. Then the rain stopped. But stretching out on the mat wasn't a nice thing anymore because the mat was wet and last thing you want is to lie back on a wet mat on a cold night. Trust me on this.

After FotR, there was a 20 minute intermission and then TTT began. Less than halfway through, it started to drizzle again. Back to huddling under the umbrella. Then the rain stopped. Then it started. Then it stopped. Then it started. The night being what it was, of course it was raining around us while Helm's Deep was unfolding on screen. Then the rain stopped. By which time it was 2.00 am in the morning and every joint in my body ached, and lying back on a wet mat wasn't such a bad thing, really, and I couldn't figure why I was being so particular about it earlier. I didn't even mind that my pillow had gotten damp. When everything's wet, you accept that 'dry' is a rather abstract idea.

It was all over by 2.30 am. My legs were kinda shaky when I stood up, but I could walk. Still, thank God I wasn't driving. The field was all dew and leftover newspapers and plastic bags, and the path leading out of the field had gone muddy. There was a traffic jam as everyone was leaving at the same time. And I was so hungry I wasn't hungry anymore - you know what I mean? Not to mention dehydrated; when you're in for a 6-hour movie in a public place, you tend to hold back on water consumption as a survival adaptation.

But it was all FUN! :) Yup, I'd forgotten how absurdly funny some of the subtitles were. :D But no, really, it was fun. Aching muscles and joints aside, there's nothing like watching the movies unfold one after the other - this being the second time I've done this actually. My second viewing of TTT had actually been part of a FotR-TTT marathon, but that had been in a cineplex with proper chairs. With backrests.

The version of FotR shown was the original theatrical version, with the attached special TTT preview. We've all written dissertations about Frodo, so I'll summarise by saying the largest impact of watching the movies on the big screen again was Frodo and trust that you all know precisely the lengthy paragraphs of gushing I needn't go into so that I can finish this post without going over the word count. ;) Instead I'll mark off the other things that we take for granted sometimes while we're concentrating so on EW. Things like:

The sounds that fill the background - chirping birds, crackling fire in the fireplace, soft padding footsteps, little little sounds that are all there but alas, some go unnnoticed when we watch on our TVs at home.

Christopher Lee's voice.

Gandalf. I had a grin on my face when he reappears again in TTT, and I love Shadowfax. Gandalf's fall at Moria almost made me cry this time. In fact, I'd forgotten how incredible that whole Moria sequence is on the big screen, from the crumbling stairs right through to the fellowship coming out on the other side of the mountain. The falling staircase is one of those cinematic things that's just instant classic, IMO. And I don't care what people say - I love Gimli's "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" John Rhys Davies is an actor who can deliver that kind of line and make it right, and I love him - he makes it right. When we get to TTT and the 'toss me' line: I was cheering for him. Yes, that sorta humour works for me. I know, I know, I'm a lost cause. :D

Sam and his care and concern for Frodo shining through every time.

The brilliance that went into creating Gollum, and the actor that made Smeagol/Gollum believable.

Helm's Deep - awesome, awesome, awesome. And to appreciate that when we get to RotK, Helm's Deep is gonna look like a mere small skirmish.

Merry and Pippin growing up right before our eyes. I mean that metaphorically, of course, because in the theatrical version we won't know about accelerated hobbit growth. ;)

Eowyn. Aragorn. Eomer. Faramir. They rock. :cool:

The beauty of the locations, after the proper colour toning and stuff. ;)

And because we can never say it enough, FRODO. As lived and breathed by Elijah Wood. :)


((((Faculty)))))

Mariole -- LOL! Glad you've cheered up again! :k

tg-it's all your fault I'm not getting more done! ;)

I was starting to think, maybe I'm exaggerating Elijah's talent. Then I saw the Just a Dream screencaps on your site. Here's the link to that section: http://www.frodolivesin.us/id172.htm
"As he settles into reality, we get another of those complicated blends of emotions: pain, disbelief, realization, fatigue, grief, discouragement". That's frame 31 of the first section. Frame 35: "Then he seems to fall back into the horror of it..."

It's true there's wonderful nostril acting, eyebrow squinching, cheek muscle acting, etc. But what REALLY amazes me is the eyeball acting. I covered all but his eyes in frames 34 to 35 and you can still see the difference in emotions and thought. How does he do that?

More great examples of eyeball acting are in the set of Leaving screencaps from FOTR, expecially 8b to 9b and on.
http://www.frodolivesin.us/id159.htm

simul-edit--great post Ainon!

First and foremost, I'm joining the EJW apologetics squall triggered by Mariole's post :).

OTOH, I think I could offer an explanation of why respectable critics may call EJW's acting 'bland' at times. I don't believe it has much to do with his looks--every half-decent movie critic has seen thousands of actors representing all possible and impossible types of bone-muscle-hair structure, from Gregory Peck to Woody Allen :p. The actual problem, which EJW would have to deal with in the future, is his somewhat 'passive' approach. His characters are more often reacting to events and moods than initiating them. Of course, this is the way directors set things up for him but the viewers may still blame EJW for the result. For instance, here's some legitimate criticism of North from tgshaw's :cool: new site:
Afraid I have to rank this toward the bottom as far as Elijah's acting, too. He seems lost a lot of the time. [snip] It's as if each family he visits is a different comedy skit and he's dropped into the middle of it without any lines.
Substitute FotR for North and bizarre horror movie for comedy skit and you will get your typical not-so-positive review of EJW's Frodo. In fact, there's a wealth of flowing facial expressions in both films, but a certain lack of accentuation makes it possible to miss it completely if you don't care much about the film's subject matter and the hero's plight. (See also Ainon's and Prim's comments about Try Seventeen.)

Once again, it may be that directors and cinematographers get somewhat mesmerised by EJW's acting fluency and forget to put 'warning marks' for the audience to take notice. Or it may be that EJW is simply too young and naturally reserved to impose himself on the audience in an overly open way.

Nonetheless, it's something he'll have to work on if he's going to tackle difficult and controversial roles which usually require a lot of 'pressure' on the audience to become acceptable. (Think Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo in The Midnight Cowboy.)

Which leads me to another topic. I've been told that the Constantin Films AG actually has the rights to Patrick Süskind's book The Perfume and plans to start filming in 2004. Ridley 'The Alien Gladiator' Scott was attached to this project at some moment back in 2002. It's difficult to say whatever might be the result of basing a movie on a book dealing with odours and featuring two of the most disturbing 'mass adoration' scenes ever. However, if EJW likes a challenge, he'd be mailing an audition tape now ;). His 'molecules speech' from the Ice Storm would fit right in, too.

Edit: There might be some pretty tough competition for the Perfume role. According to this interview (http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/384/384094p1.html?fromint=1), Perfume is Andy Serkis' favourite book...

Just want to let you know that I found this interesting link
It's about acting (especially film acting), and I've read this lovely quote:
"In the cinema the actor must think and let his thoughts work upon his face. The objective nature of the medium will do the rest. A theatrical performance requires magnification, a cinema performance requires an inner life." -- Charles Dullin

from tgshaw
The Academy shows how shortsighted it is by not having an Oscar category for this--it's behind the times and needs to catch up with scientific progress: May I suggest "Best musculo-skeletal features in a supporting role"
Yes. By all means, do suggest that. I have some fine evidence right here. :)

I've already devoted much of the previous musculo-skeletal oriented post to the prominence of the sterno-cleido-mastoid. The importance of this muscle as a supporting device cannot be overemphasized. For example, consider the following:

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/scmp.jpg

This set of pics reveals two very important "supporting" roles for the sterno-cleido-mastoid. On the left, the sterno-cleido-mastoid literally supports Frodo as he climbs the Emyn Muil. It's hard to imagine him making this important climb without the structural support of his sterno-cleido-mastoid.

On the right, the sterno-cleido-mastoid provides a completely different kind of support. To be sure, it still plays a physical role, but here you can see the sterno-cleido-mastoid prominence (or s.c.m.p.) actually supporting Frodo in his decision to enter the Black Gate. Would he have dashed not once, not twice, but three times toward the Black Gate, had his sterno-cleido-mastoid not been so noticeably present? (His other major psychological support came from, of course, Sam -- but take note to whom Frodo said, "I do not ask you to go with me." His sterno-cleido-mastoid was not given the chance to back out. Coincidence?)

And this is not the only example of s.c.m.p. helping out in a tight spot. In the pic below left, the s.c.m.p. provides its typical emotional/physical support, incidentally playing off a nice mandibular flare with connecting!tendon!action. But this capability is well known. The more interesting aspect is how the s.c.m.p. goes out of its way to support others around it. In the pic below right, the s.c.m.p. exhibits "dual-flex action," where both neck flexors are tensed in a double-display of support. My personal theory is that the s.c.m.p. is reaching out to provide emotional support, not just to Frodo, but to his troubled older cousin as well. The s.c.m.p. is thoughtful as well as attractive, and very considerate of others.

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/scmp2.jpg


But, to quote Sam, this is "all wide of my mark." My intention was to focus on the supportive nature of Frodo's mandible. This crucial piece of bonework is often overlooked as nothing more than the "silent partner" to the prominent and arresting sterno-cleido-mastoid. Indeed, mandibular flaring is often combined with s.c.m.p. to excellent advantage. For example, in these "listening" poses:

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/mf1.jpg


But, can Frodo listen without a prominent display of the sterno-cleido-mastoid? Indeed he can, as these "softer" poses reveal.

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/mf2.jpg


While s.c.m.p. is often present in a pinch, neck flexure apparently is not a requirement for mandibular flaring. In fact, mandibular flaring is present in nearly all "alertness" poses, regardless of chin, eye, or head orientation, as the following frames reveal.

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/mf3.jpg


Could it be that mandibular flaring is the unsung hero of the musculo-skeletal supporting cast? Despite their close teamwork, should these important body parts be lumped together under a single title -- as we so often see done with "Frodo & Sam" or "Merry & Pippin" or "Legolas & Gimli"? In the interest of fairness, is it not far more appropriate to acknowledge the vital role played by each, and single it out for its due recognition?

I leave it to the Faculty to determine. ;)

Thanks to Hobmom for providing the TT caps.


----
Ainon, loved the LOTR under the stars report. Sorry it was so wet!

Thanks, Brunhild and Whiteling, for following up on my original acting rant. :k

ROTFLMAO!! :D :D :D

That was great, Mariole! I didn't understand one word of it, but with those wonderful illustrations as examples, who cares? :p

Mariole, that was a SCREAM! I can just picture you in a darkened lecture hall with a laser pointer while all the attentive Faculty students take notes. Jeez, sign me up for THAT class!

Mariole--ROTFLMAO!!!

Your research has provided a great challenge for the next update of the Faculty Glossary ;) !


And thank you, ainon, for making it sound like such a miserable night. Very considerate of you to help us control our envy :p .

Ah yes...Great elucidation on the "Mandible Theory" Mariole!

I like this college class!

RL annoyances have prevented me from getting to the rest of the screen caps...But never fear! In the interests of this vital research I hope to have them done in a day or two.

Originally posted by kuduk
If you haven't seen it, run to

http://www.khazaddum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2126

for Winter's brilliant, hilarious, inspiring and nostalgic posts (from 8/6-20/03) about her first impressions of FoTR. I laughed til I cried. kuduk, how can I ever thank you enough for sending me on that wonderfully funny & touching journey of "the Virgin Memoirs". Winter is a hoot & a half, and her intelligence shines thru as often as her hormones. (Just the right mix to fully enjoy the richness of Our Movies, IMO :D )

But before I could say so, I come back here and get my socks knocked off -yet again- by Mariole. And whiteling. And (as always), ainon. And...oh, you all know who you are. To quote peaceweaver, who said it perfectly:God, I love this place! :)

Ezzie! Have I been thoroughly & completely exposed? You know of what I speak! :p

Mariole, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I finally sat down at my computer late tonight after a grueling 13 hour long renovation marathon, and used the only muscles that were not immensely weary at the end of this day - my LMAO muscles. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You made my day!!

Ainon - despite the rain, it STILL sounded like fun!!

(((Faculty)))

Could it be that mandibular flaring is the unsung hero of the musculo-skeletal supporting cast? :D Mariole, I am in awe of your research abilities, and your unparallelled abilities to convey your deep and insightful research in a popular and interesting way, including lots of extremely relevant illustrations!

More, more! :cool:


Ainon, thank you for the report. I agree with Narya, it does sound like fun, despite the rain. :)


I think I need to be a bit contrary for a little while....... :eek:
From Brunhild
In fact, there's a wealth of flowing facial expressions in both films, but a certain lack of accentuation makes it possible to miss it completely if you don't care much about the film's subject matter and the hero's plight. (See also Ainon's and Prim's comments about Try Seventeen.)
Once again, it may be that directors and cinematographers get somewhat mesmerised by EJW's acting fluency and forget to put 'warning marks' for the audience to take notice. I'm wondering a bit about this, especially the part about Try 17. If I'm remembering correctly, ainon's and Prim's reactions were the same as mine, namely that EJW's performance in Try17 was somewhat bland and unengaging. (Sorry if I remember this incorrectly, both of you! )

And if so, well; - It's one thing to put "warning marks" large enough for your general disinterested member of a random movie audience to notice subtle acting....... I can understand why that wouldn't happen because of EJW's talent. But if the warning marks are so tiny and the acting so subtle that even many in the Faculty audience don't notice, then I actually would question whether he / the director did get it right.

If you out-subtle almost your entire audience, did you still act well? After all, I doubt he'll ever find a more interested and alert audience, so predisposed to really *notice*, study, enjoy and praise his acting as soon as any praise is due, than he finds here........

I must admit I think his acting in both the post-LotR films (AW and Try17) has not been plain fantastic. Sure, there are small gems and good moments, and I don't think he could *ever* be outright bad. However, I still think he may be somewhat on the rebound from Frodo, acting-wise.

I'll be happy and interested to have people comment or disagree with me, here! (As long as I'm not buried in trout. :eek: )



And I'll continue being a bit contrary:

Do I want EJW to be praised by huge movie audiences and hailed as a phenomenal actor by a unanimous and united corps of reviewers and critics? Yes, I do; - if that is what he *himself* wants and works to achieve. Or if it is required to get him the roles he'd like.

Otherwise, I don't really mind him not being praised at all times by all and sundry. I don't fret that much about the relatively few less-than-stellar reviews and the way he's now and then overlooked in favour of Viggo Mortensen. I know how *I* view EJW's acting, especially in the Frodo role. I'm so certain about my opinion that I don't need professional critics to confirm my view; - it doesn't matter. I know what I know, regardless. In fact, I rather *like* that there isn't this massive praise and hype from all over the place. That makes me think that my opinion is really *mine*, that it's real, that this is what I truly feel and see........ I haven't been manipulated or overly influenced or swept away by mega-hype and mass-marketing and excessive media hysteria and rave reviews, but have made up my own mind. It makes my admiration more real to me, in a way. I kind of like that. (Of course, perhaps the marketing and hype is on par with EJW's acting, ie. so subtle that I don't even notice being influenced........ :D Now, that *would* be ironic! )


Oh well, I probably have stirred things up more than enough for now. :o

Have you noticed we're going past 4000 posts very soon? Impressive!

Time for a party and some excessive mandibular flaring, people!!!

:D :p :) :k

Hi everybody!

I had some strange problems with the loading of this forum for a long time - and couldn't visit the Faculty at all... So now I'm very happy to be back... So many posts to read since may!

For Mariole
Speaking about the reviews on EW’s acting... I would say the situation is not so sad! There are some more quotes from the reviews on TTT...

The Daily Californian (Phillip Stoup):
"The world of "The Two Towers" is more alive and sophisticated than its predecessor. The dark and ominous tone so pronounced in the novels is recreated well in the movie. The destruction of Frodo's mind by the ring of power is done superbly. Elijah Woods who plays Frodo brilliantly under the direction of Jackson disintegrate from sanity to depravation that was made more evident by the presence of Gollum. Seen only in the shadows in Fellowship, the computer rendered Gollum was a great foil and generator of tension for the character of Frodo in "The Two Towers." Gollum's murderous schizophrenic demeanor
beautifully contrasted the purity and innocence of Woods' Hobbit character. Gollum's presence also served as a foreshadowing of Frodo's doomed destiny which created further tension and added to the tone of despair giving the film more emotional depth and ultimately helping to make Tolkien's world feel more alive".

Sunday Times Magazine:
"Here, the fellowship has been fractured into three separate story lines, with mixed results. The best of the bunch involved Frodo (Elijah Wood), Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin) and Gollum (based on Andy Serkis) on their journey towards Mordor. This is a subtle, superb slice of drama. The darkness of this film comes not just from the hideous collection of creatures - orcs, Uruk-hai, wargs and Liv Tyler - but from the spectacle of Frodo's mental and moral decline. Jackson presents us with a boy who is into heavy Rings addiction, and, like all addicts, denies that he has a problem. (Invisibility, Omnipotence, Eternal life? Hey, I can handle it!) But Sam is worried: "You hardly eat, and you hardly sleep." The Two Towers brings into focus a central theme in Tolkien: the question of temptation and what a man will lose to gain the greatest buzz of all - power."

?????????????
"The quest of Sam and Frodo, however, is probably the most enticing. Wood's casting makes as much sense now than it ever did; his Frodo is so undeniably tragic, you can feel the weight of his burden in his eyes. Wood displays despair, anger, warmth, and regret with equal skill, and his chemistry with Sean Astin's Sam is undeniable."

I don't think I can think of any actor who has ever wowed me with every single one of his performances, thinking about it ...

Sorry Maeglian, that's all I can manage for now! Deadlines call ... ;)

I haven't seen those two post-quest (;)) films - so can't really say ...

The darkness of this film comes not just from the hideous collection of creatures - orcs, Uruk-hai, wargs and Liv Tyler

KER-SPLORTTTTTT!!!!! :D

But oh, the Sunday Times is SO right about Frodo! :)

Mariole--I can see Frodo reading this thread and thinking: "Gandalf was so right. There are scarier things than orcs in the deep places of the world!" He may be even stiffening his masseters at the thought :D :).

Maeglian--Can I point out that your comments about Try 17 are pretty close to what some critics said about Frodo? I'm afraid there's a role-independent pattern at work here: EJW does not quite succeed at taking viewers where they are not willing to go. I would say that he almost invariably gets to the proper place himself, as the "willing" part of the audience can attest. In a few scenes in TTT and the Ice Storm, he's even there for people who'd follow his characters into their morbid obsessions--although the audience is only supposed to sympathise (and not empathise) with Ring-Devoured-Frodo and Mikey Carver.

OTOH, it's very considerate of EJW not to drag people--especially his admirers--into dire and obscure places :D. (I'm not sure, for instance, that I've quite forgiven Ben Kingsley for getting me to understand his character in the Death and the Maiden.)

Geesh--here I rush home from work, sure I'm missing the party...

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/www_pics_am-renoir42-50.jpg

...and no one seems to have noticed that Niph just gave the Faculty Lounge its 4000th post!!!

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/champagne-resized.jpg

And a little extra bubbly to welcome Rikka back (even though hers was only #3999 :p )!! (((Rikka)))

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/www_pics_am-birthday74.jpg

I know there's all this serious research and discussion going on, but I'm going to wander around the room and pass out glasses of champagne, anyway ;) !

Argh!

A party in progress, and I'm working!!! :mad:

Well, maybe just one glass... :p Ah, that's better! :D

Yay!:D

http://www.council-of-elrond.com/gallery/moviepictures/albums/Places/shire006.jpg

And a happy Party Fro to celebrate the occasion.:cool:

http://www.council-of-elrond.com/gallery/moviepictures/albums/Characters/Frodo/frodo135.jpg

Congratulations, Faculty, on 4000 erudite and fascinating posts!!

http://www.gifs.net/animate/firewk-blue.gif http://www.gifs.net/animate/firewk-grn.gif http://www.gifs.net/animate/firewk-yellow.gif

And just because TG's champagne was so darn good, and it makes me happy to read everyone's posts even when I don't have time to post a lot:

http://www.smilies.nl/dieren/elefant.gif http://www.smilies.nl/dieren/elefant.gif http://www.smilies.nl/dieren/elefant.gif http://www.smilies.nl/dieren/elefant.gif

4000 posts! Congratulations, everyone!

Did we ever get this far without mishap or loss of posts in either of our previous homes? I'm not sure, but I think not.
KD has been a very good home for us. Thank you Moggy! :k

Good to see you again, Rikka! :)

~~~~~~~~

Edited because I *have* to know:I'm not sure, for instance, that I've quite forgiven Ben Kingsley for getting me to understand his character in the Death and the Maiden. What did he make you understand? What made him tick? Why he became what he was? The external or internal circumstances? Or why he used "death and the maiden" as backup music? I have seen the film, but must admit my focus was very much on Sigourney Weaver. So I'd really like to know.

Wow! 4,000 posts here alone for EJW!!!!!

Doesn't that tell the Academy or somebody something?