Hi, Faculty! I haven't had a break to catch up. I came back from vacation to a set of deadlines that were issued straight from Morgoth. Still working this weekend, but at least I can breathe. I hope to catch up with the conversation soon! Just reading the last day...

About Ice Storm, people do find it depressing and it does have a disturbing ending, but something I forgot until I watched it again was how funny it was. There really is quite a bit of humor, which is essential to offset the ugliness that's going on elsewhere. And yes, it's quite a wakeup call, but love does come through in the end. I really do enjoy this movie.

About wanting to throw Frodo into the fires...
I really think that people have trouble seeing that much vulnerability on a silver screen.
Stepping back to ROTK for a moment, these are all fine theories, but I have another one. It's a writer perspective on the ending. I think that PJ, for whatever reason, declined to show how Frodo was suffering. Perhaps he thought it would be too much of a downer, and he wanted to end "happy" (hence the smile through the tears at the GH). However, friends who are not familiar with the books are baffled by the ending -- why it keeps going on. I don't think audiences are engaged with Frodo, and I don't think it's EW's performance. They are given no reason to be engaged with him. There is nothing left at stake. Sauron is conquered, Aragorn is king, our plot is all wrapped up. Since no one is "up to" anything, the ending feels long. If people were trying to figure out what was "up" with Frodo, on the other hand (if he were to have one of those anniversary spells and fall into a fit and mumble, "Now all is dark and empty," for example), then folks would have something to engage their attention. But it's not on the screen, so I can't fault audiences for feeling that the ending is too long. I think Elijah is wonderful, and the scenery is wonderful, and the hobbits' return is delightful. I have to lay the lack of emotion I feel on the screenplay or editing.

Perhaps the extended version will fill in some of these missing scenes. The TTT EE redeemed that movie for me. I enjoy ROTK without the extra scenes, but TTT I actually didn't like until the EE when I could see where PJ's team was coming from (given the canon and plot variations). I like ROTK now, and hope that I will love it when the EE puts in some of those involving things that I feel are crucial for the ending to be as emotionally gripping as I want it to be. I actually feel bad about this. I think PJ's team is wonderful at the visual portrayals. The charge of the Rohirrim, or Frodo the Greek God in Mount Doom -- lovely stuff. But they don't handle dialog or exposition well. The actors do their darnest to make up for it, but even acting up a storm can only fill in for so much if the words are wrong or missing. I wish one of the writers could have been killer at dialog, but that's all in the past now. It's a lovely set of movies to watch, and I will continue to watch and enjoy them. But part of me still mourns for what could have made them even better. (Elijah, I could have written a better parting speech for you! *sob!*)

But speaking of Elijah, I love to listen to people who don't know that I'm a fan talk about these movies. A group from work went out last Friday for a viewing, and were chatting afterwards. No one in the cast was singled out, but the conversation went, "Everyone looked so perfect for their parts! I believed every one of these characters was that character."

"And Frodo," says someone else. "You know, those are his real eyes?" (A murmur of appreciation sweeps the group.) Mariole gets all proud inside for her baby. And this group all men except for me and one other -- go, Elijah!

I love The Ice Storm. Elijah's big breakthrough role, that got him acknowledged as a fine actor.

Of all his non-LOTR films I think this and The war are his most important.

But Ice Storm is the best because of that strong message to parents.... "Kid's see right through our hypocrisy and that can be deadly."

A heavy, and to many, a depressing message. But I have said before it might do some parents good just to watch this film and then reflect on what we may be doing to our own kids.

The only problem with that is that the parents who really should watch it either won't watch it or won't even think it applies to them. The ones who do watch it and get it already understood the principles of good parenting already.

But it is Elijah's poor confused Mikey who really breaks the sensitive viewer's hearts. Which is just as it should be.

Hey guys, just a reminder that double-posting is not allowed. If you have something you want to add to your post, click on the "edit" button on the lower right-hand corner.

Thanks!:)

Let's try this again. Click on picture gallery 1, I think (my connection is so slow it won't load all of the thumbnails).

If that doesn't work, go to www.the-movie-times.com, click on actors, pick Elijah.

It's not the dirtynekkidbodypicture; it's one with an open shirt. Probably a G.B.B.S. there too.

http://www.the-movie-times.com/thrsdir/actors/actorProfiles.mv?ewood

~grumpy
P.S. No G.B.B.S. on the open shirt picture. The mesh shirt indeed has a G.B.B.S. (Gratuitous Belly Button Shot)

Hey, Mariole! Good to see you back. :)

And apologies for not welcoming people... I'm not usually a real regular in this thread, usually more of a lurker, so I feel weird welcoming anyone.

The quietness leading up to Frodo's departure at the Havens surprised me, too. I had wondered how it would be handled without the Scouring, and I expected the suffering to be more in my face... but I don't know how much of that was all the fan fiction I've read. A few viewings later, I like it. Someone (was it tg? Or Elenya? Or dream wanderer in the Trilogy discussions?) described it as very typical of depression. And to get back to acting, we've seen almost every bit of agony and torment on Frodo's face. (Maybe Elijah can do even more varieties of agony, but we've sure seen a lot in these movies alone! Every injury or fake death got a different reaction.) And somehow Frodo withstood all those different pains. So it was interesting to see a quieter manner of suffering... like the big stuff he could get through, but the emptiness was something more. And the utter clean-ness -- almost sterility, really -- of Bag End (compared to the pre-quest clutter), and the way the Shire theme seemed in pieces, and Frodo's voiceover... I don't know, but it's working for me now.

I almost think that 'It is gone forever, and now all is dark and empty' would have seemed rather melodramatic and over-the-top in the movie.

I've got a friend who hadn't read the books before seeing the movies -- or at least, who had never gotten farther through them than the Council of Elrond. He thought FotR was ok (6 or 7 out of 10), TTT was not as good (4 out of 10), but he gave RotK 9 out of 10. And has seen it at least three times. And then sat down and read the books and liked parts and disliked other parts. Anyway, he thought the ending in the Shire was great, and said he had no problem understanding why Frodo had to leave. So I guess different people get different things out of the ending. (I also sat beside a woman who muttered "oh, come on! Throw it in already!" during the Mount Doom scene, so different strokes for different folks, I guess.)

About the "I love you" that some people have heard -- I heard it, and I don't think it's really there. I think it's actually just Frodo's breathing as he hugs Sam. There's a little hitch in the air intake, and then a longer out-breath, and it sounds like three syllables, I-uh-oo. But I don't think it's really words. I think it's like sounds you can hear in the wind, or in ocean waves, or if you play records backwards. The three sounds plus the emotional intensity of the scene make "I love you" seem plausible, but again, I don't think it's deliberate (and as others have mentioned, the sound editors are too careful to let something that isn't deliberate through. Remember that most of the dialogue was actually re-recorded after the scenes were shot!)

Mel

Mariole, welcome back! :)


Aawwwww, Mel! I simply refuse to be *that* sensible when it comes to the "I love you". :o Because after a really tough day at work today, I didn't go home as would have seemed sensible to the world at large, I did what seemed sensible to me, and went to the movies. I just got home. And I heard it!!! I really did, and it's really there; - immediately as Frodo embraces Sam, there's a breathy, relatively quickly whispered "I love you". Blossom, you were right! :k

Oh, it *could* just be an intake of breath, but I'd like to believe that this whisper says what I'm now actually hearing too, and that it was allowed to stay as a homage to Frodo and Sam both, yet that it intentionally was kept so soft that it wouldn't be noticed by the audience at large. I'm *really* sappy like that. I hope PJ is the same. :)

I noticed something else: Another Shire smile of Frodo's, well, at the Havens, if fact! As Bilbo says his "another adventure" line, Frodo smiles briefly. I liked that very much. It's good that the only one who can make him smile there, ever so slightly, is going with him on the boat.


Oh yes, the Ice Storm. We've certainly given that a real thorough airing or two. :) Personally I think it's Elijah's second best performance, and the film is his second best film. (If counting the LotR trilogy as one film, that is! ) Those two "far out" scenes he has (Explaining mathematics to his brother, and the molecule speech) are truly great. Mikey Carver, the one and only!

And let's not forget that it was because Fran Walsh had seen Ice Storm that she recommended PJ have a look at that home made audition tape which arrived, with one Elijah Wood in impromptu hobbit attire, wanting the role of Frodo.

I've heard the "hobbits" including various joking about the "molecules" in interviews, too - Ice Storm has made an impression on many of the Lotr cast and crew, it seems.


ainon, I do not read articles and news about Sean Astin and only very briefly skim his interviews now in order to look for Elijah's name, so I don't know what Astin's been up to campaigning for Oscar (and hence what Elijah by comparison should have been doing to go by the book...) But thank you for your explanation. Like you, I don't think Elijah'll be nominated. :( But his performance is beyond stellar nevertheless, and whether or not he gets an Oscar will not change that. Of course I would have wished for him to get recognition from his peers, but...... I'll have to be content that so many fans of the books and films, all the ordinary audience members, thank him profusely for the way he played Frodo whenever they meet him. After all, they are the ones the films were made for, and they are the ones voting with their wallets to contribute to the amazing box office takings, too. :)


Real life is getting extremely demanding for me for some time to come. I may not have time to post much for a while. I'll make sure I somehow keep up with reading the thread nevertheless. I know I owe a few here responses to E-mails/PMs. Please do bear with me if it takes some time before you hear from me; which is likely, I'm afraid. :o

Keep up the fascinating discussions! :)

Happybelated Birthday, Viola!

http://www.epicureantable.com/images/gcc1.jpg

I really meant to post that *on* your birthday, but then I wandered off and read to someone or something and it just sort of slid. :o Been a more active participant with homeschooling lately and it's really cutting into my Internet time. I'm turning into a faithful lurker. :p But I am faithful - read here everyday and enjoy it immensely. :)

Hi and welcome to Random, hobbityme, wood, Steelsheen, and Moondancer! It's been mentioned recently, but let me again recommend tgshaw's site, which covers both Elijah and Tolkien - the Elijah side is image heavy, the Tolkien side has more essays, and it's all worthwhile!

http://www.frodolivesin.us/

Blossom,
Hobbits Rule over in the Garden swears she heard the "I love you" the last time she saw ROTK in the theatre. She was skeptical about that, so when she reported hearing it she concluded, "I owe Blossom a humble apology." :D I gotta confess I tend toward Mel's "We hear it because it feels right" theory, myself. :o On the other hand, maybe it was completely unconscious on EW's part (felt right to him, too!), and no one else caught it before Blossom, either. ;)

Alyon,
Do let us know how your daughter's movie went, yes?

Moondancer,
That Macaulay Culkin story was fascinating, and a new one on me. Fits with other stuff we've heard, though. Have you seen Huck Finn? The commentary on that is terrific and fits with what you reported.

originally posted by mel headstrong
I've noticed a fair amount of talk about how various actors are viewed in the acting community, along with talk about how good their performances are. I get the sense that actors who are really well-liked by their peers often get rewarded eventually -- and that everyone feels really good about it when it happens. Elijah just seems like the sort of person that that could happen to... eventually.

I think this is one reason why actors so often don't get voted in for their best performance, and why the best performance of whatever year doesn't always get the Oscar - to some extent it's a popularity contest. I think most people who've worked with Elijah would vote for him, but he also has to be noticed by enough people to carry off the vote. The downside of being a very good and professional actor is that you aren't talked about as much - people bitch and moan about the actors they've worked with who're royal pains whether that person's name has been mentioned or not, but an actor who is professional is less likely to be discussed unless he's already the topic, if you see what I mean. If someone tells a tale about some jerk they worked with, you'll hear about any number of other jerks from the other people in the conversation - but the good guys people have worked with are less often the topic. :p

I think The Ice Storm is a terrific movie, but I've only watched it once - not one I own. Too intense. :p I was knocked out by Elijah's performance in that, and thought nearly everyone else did an excellent job as well. I think I would like The Good Son considerably more if the acting on that had been better - particularly since Macaulay Culkin gave the weakest performance. Elijah did a good job, but I believe good preformers bring good perfomances out of other good performers. If The Good Son had had a better director, fewer gaping plot holes toward the end, and an actor to match Elijah in the bad guy role, that would have been a great flick. :p ;)

I am delighted by the numerous nominations that ROTK has gotten for "ensemble performance" kind of awards, because they really were all so good. Not just solid performances all around (which is also nice), but absolutely excellent ones from almost everybody.

originally posted by Lady Wendy
the fact that it needed the death of poor Mikey to show everyone just how very selfish they all were being made this film into a masterpiece of angst-ridden relationship drama...


Do you think they have really learned much? I seem to remember some debate on this - on whether the adults really have learned anything at the end, or if they'll just curse fate and continue on the same course. I thought Sigourney Weaver did a brilliant job in that movie - but I am not convinced that her character really learned anything there. I had more hope that the other set of parents learned something at the end, but I wasn't sure they were going to be able to do anything with the knowledge!

Sheryl

Originally posted by shilohmm
Fits with other stuff we've heard, though. Have you seen Huck Finn? The commentary on that is terrific and fits with what you reported.

I've seen it once, some time ago. It's on tv again tomorrow ...so, I'll watch it again (and tape it).Thanks to tgshaw's analyses on her website, I'll be looking out for Froshadowings.
How does the commentary fit with what I reported?

PS The movie 'The Faculty' has just begun on the BBC. Geek-boy has just been thrown about by a couple of students.

Shilohmm,

Do you think they have really learned much? I seem to remember some debate on this - on whether the adults really have learned anything at the end, or if they'll just curse fate and continue on the same course. I thought Sigourney Weaver did a brilliant job in that movie - but I am not convinced that her character really learned anything there. I had more hope that the other set of parents learned something at the end, but I wasn't sure they were going to be able to do anything with the knowledge!

Well, this is open to debate, of course :D...because the movie ends so soon after Mikey's death, we are left with the assumption, as they are all crying in the car, ( except for the son, who unsurprisingly, just looks bewildered,) that maybe the Carver family, at least, have learned a lot, and will use that knowledge to good effect...it's not so much a happy ending as a satisfactory ending, otherwise what's it all been for ??...
Sigourney Weaver's character, of course, was beyond redemption...she wouldn't be able to learn anything from Mikey's death unless it's that there's nothing a good recreational bonk wouldn't cure :D :D :D...I do suspect that she went and got herself another lover after the end of the movie...one who wouldn't get all emotional on her like the last one...

Hobmom,
The only problem with that is that the parents who really should watch it either won't watch it or won't even think it applies to them. The ones who do watch it and get it already understood the principles of good parenting already.

Yes, I'm very afraid that this is true of many things in life, isn't it...the things that would teach people about how to stop hurting other people won't be seen by the people who probably need the advice the most...

Mariole,

something I forgot until I watched it again was how funny it was. There really is quite a bit of humor, which is essential to offset the ugliness that's going on elsewhere.

That's true actually...this is the first time I've seen this movie ( how did you guess ?!! ) and I must admit, I didn't find it relentlessly depressing at all...maybe people remember it as depressing and forget that there WAS humour in it, from time to time...not a lot, but it WAS there !!

tgshaw,
That makes me sound more web-savvy than I am! I'm totally mystified by live journals and blogs, and would have no idea how to even maneuver someone else's, much less have one of my own. (In fact, I sat looking at that "LJ" for some time, trying to figure out if it was a new way to write "Lij" , before I realized what it stood for.)

:D :D :D How endearing...I'm no web-genius either, but I have learnt that LJ means Live Journal !!!...and I just assumed that yours was one of those - everyone seems to have one these days, except me of course !! I like your site very much and may link to it on other websites, if you are happy for me to do so...I think that your insights just have to be shared...tell me if you're not happy for me to do so and I won't...

will try to get back to the Ice Storm before too long (probably not much from the specific scene Lady Wendy brought up, since I try to keep things PG--although one cap from it also made it onto the "winning the attention of women" page .)

I would be quite happy for you to screencap this scene up to the time when they get it together...the expressions passing across Elijah's face when Wendy let's him know that she'd be up for some fun, are priceless !!! It would be still PG...

originally posted by Lady Wendy
the fact that it needed the death of poor Mikey to show everyone just how very selfish they all were being made this film into a masterpiece of angst-ridden relationship drama...


What happened to poor Mikey?!? :eek: :confused: :eek: :confused: How did he die? Do I really want to see that movie?

I've been doing some detailed analysis on Picture # 3 in that gallery :::: whistling innocently :::: :



This is the most adult-looking picture that I've seen of The Lad. He does not look like a goofy teenager, or a rebellious teenager, or a spaced out or angst-y teenager. He looks like an adult. The photographer has emphasized that remarkable jawline and those eyebrows and his nose - all of the strong features of his face. For a change, his eyes aren't emphasized as his primary good feature - we're forced to look at the rest of him (Oh the agony!). His neck and chest look more filled out somehow...perhaps he's been working out? He's never looked very muscular, except that, like one of the Hobbits said, he moves like a cat. Then there's that unbelievable cleft in his chin - Cary Grant would be proud. ;)

::::: THUD :::::

::::: picking self up off floor :::::

Let us hope that this is a new publicity still for his portfolio, that will help directors and producers to see this guy as an adult actor. He's certainly earned the designation. Frodo was an immense, complex adult role, however childish Hobbits may have seen at times (poor Pippen). If his reputation as an adult actor isn't sealed by now, then I think I'll start reading books instead of watching movies. ;)

~grumpy (still feeling a bit like a dirty old cradle-robber so I guess I'll go look at that adult picture again)(Oh, the hardship!)

"...it looked to Sam as if he was clothed in flame; his naked skin was scarlet in the light of the lamp above." LotR, Cirith Ungol

(well, if The Lad *will* have G.N.S. pictures like that taken, then what's a red-blooded American female supposed to think?) :p

Hey Mariole and Sheryl! Finally! It's great seeing you guys back here. :k :k

Oooh, 'Ice Storm' revisited. Agree on the humour, and on the darkness. Grumpy ... let's just say that he ... well, gets fried. Yes, very ... owwwy. And tg, I did spot the chewing gum thing right at first viewing. But it just made me go, "Eewwwww. Americans." :p :D :D


Originally posted by Lady Wendy
Therefore, I have to regretfully agree with you and Ainon about there being just the right amount of Frodo-angst at the end of ROTK, for your average cinema-goer, ( in fact, too much for some, as I've just illustrated )...however. come the SE DVD and that will be a different story, methinks....Yes, I want MUCH more Frodo-suffering, and I want it made absolutely clear where he is sailing off to at the Grey Havens, and why...

I figure I'm probably in the minority when I say this, but I really don't want it to be made absolutely clear where Frodo's going to at the end. Enough has been said about the where through the three movies, in the Aragorn/Arwen-Elrond storyline. And I suppose I'm selfish - I don't want some other exposition interfering with what Frodo has so beautifully and humbly summarised (for his uncle): "The Elves have accorded you a special honour. A place on the last ship to leave Middle Earth."

It's one line that says everything that needs to said. Why add more to it and spoil the mix? :)

And while I'm all for gratuitous FrodoAngst ;) I agree with Mel about preferring the quieter suffering that the movie has given us. I mean, I don't know if any more angsty scenes will do anything for any audience who is not already attuned to Frodo - fact, such things might simply turn more people off. When a hero tells you that he ain't feeling perky, that's more than a shout-out. ;) And just as PJ cut Bilbo's frantic Ring-search scene from the theatrical FotR for fear of the audience thinking Bilbo's a bad guy, I don't think RotKFrodo should be saddled with the baggage of a scene where it appears he still has longings for the Ring. It doesn't do anything for his character that late in the theatrical version. So I think the movie did enough, and if people care to ask, then that's good - because finally they're faced with an ending that's not what they were expecting and they're forced to process that. We book-readers dealt with it. Why should we cut the movie-viewers any slack? :D

take care of yourself, Maeg. (((Maeglian)))

hi just found this


Supposedly Marty at TORC announced it.
_________________
FOR FRODO!

"Wood carries the emotional weight of the odyssey and his eyes, as seen through Peter Jackson's lens, have never channeled so much of the actor's soul. I hope the Academy pays tribute."-E!
"Wood does one of the most difficult things I've ever seen an actor do: sustain the sense of a burden that's eating up a character while he's struggling to maintain his humanity."-Steve Vineberg

what do you say about this!!!
its on oscarwatch forum:D :o :o

His hair is also Frodolike in "The Ice Storm." As is his innocent (!) features. :eek:

Also, that ADULTLIKE picture can be seen in a different way: Compare his naked chest in the dark in "The Bumblebee Flies Anyway," and Naked Frodo, and you'll see what I mean. :D

(I DON'T REMEMBER a Naked Chest in the Dark scene ANYWHERE in the BOOK Version(!)) :eek:

Mel, Ainon, Maeglian, other (((Faculty))) -- hello! *grins foolishly* It's so good to be back. The more back-posts I read, the happier I feel. This board is such an antidote to corporate America!

As usual, your posts have helped me adjust my thinking. (And my blushes to find that Blossom raised this issue just a couple of days before I did -- sorry!) I was in fact feeling a bit depressed that the ending of ROTK didn't get across what I had wished for it. But I learn from other posts in here that other non-book readers "get" it. And as Ainon said:

We book-readers dealt with it. Why should we cut the movie-viewers any slack?
That's the spirit!

from Ainon
"Eewwwww. Americans."
Well, I think that sums up the international attitude very nicely! :o (Don't worry, we don't all chew gum, or otherwise behave lewdly. Some of us have standards!)

Moondancer, welcome! What a fascinating, appalling story about the politics behind Richie Rich. Jamie Lee Curtis has said she has a soft spot for Elijah; it's nice to see Mel Gibson charging to his defense as well. I think it's all part of Elijah being a "nice guy." And while, in some ways, "nice guys finish last" (particularly in a cut-throat environment), in many ways they finish first: with enduring friendships, respect, and lots of love along the journey. Regardless of any awards he may win or parts he may land, I am convinced that Elwood has these in abundance, just by being who he is. I hope that never changes.

* pats Grumpy on the shoulder, helps her off floor *

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the GNS is not a new picture of EW. It has been around at least two years (that's when I first saw it, but I wasn't on the web before then). So your "adult" Elijah is probably 20 in that picture. I hope this doesn't squick you. He's legal in all countries and territories now. And it just goes to show the good framework upon which this work of art is hung. (Yikes, let's just move on from that sentence, shall we?)

Blossom, you are so right about the wonderful jaw shot of Frodo when Shelob is sneaking up on him. Here's an award he ought to win: Best Ventral View of Dual Mandibular Prominence. I'd vote for that in a heartbeat. Hobmom, do you have this view among your many caps?

Wood, thanks for the encouraging words about Elijah. I have kind of given up on the Oscar race, as it's full politics and I find that a turnoff. Lovely research, Moondancer, on Elijah's words about an Oscar nomination. :k

Tg, I snorked mightily over your page Ageless Advice on Winning the Attention of Women. I notice that chivalry is a theme. Go, Elijah! (Too bad we didn't send your Frodo essay to those who need to see it; ah, well, there's always the next movie -- may it ever be so!)

Tonight, if I finish my book, I get to see ROTK as a little reward. Hooray!

Cheers, all!
Mariole

Hey, Mariole! Good to see you again :) !
And Hi, Sheryl :) !

Very interesting thoughts on "The Ice Storm", folks! I love this EW film, especially for the trueness of its characters. It IS funny and heart-breaking at the same time. I like tragicomedies of that sort; I think it draws the viewer in many cases nearer to reality than pure drama or comedy (IMHO).

Originally posted by tgshaw
And, I'd say more than withdrawn--he's really created his own little world, in which some things can be perfect, unlike the one around him.

I'd go further and say: Mikey's characterization is to such an extent authentic and all-too-true, you could make a psychiatric certificate from. He clearly shows autistic tendencies. Children of dysfunctional families often create their own realms where they feel secure and untouchable and manage it somehow to survive. In Mikey's family system chill is and probably always has been the only form of "love" so ice is the perfect idea of love in his mind. Order, perfection and all things inorganic mean a save place. The image of Mikey wandering through the ice storm, playing happily - and his death, what an apt allegory for his return into the coldness from where he came.
( :o - Sorry, I don't want to bore you all any longer with my inner bubbling therapist...)
Ang Lee's film is touching and the wonderful metaphor of the ice storm is just beautiful. And Elijah's acting convinced me deeply.

Continuing onto the Ice Storm discussion, I think that the important fascination of Mikey with the Ice Storm could also even extend farthur than the perfection and stillness of molecules (although they do actually still move) during such an event to the fact that ice storms usually encase everything in ice. It's kind of like how all the people seem to encase themselves in some sort of box where although they can physically get intimate, emotionally they are all separate. I think Mikey symbolized this the most where not only is he emotionally separate from the people around him, but also to the world and reality. I love this movie for so many reasons but I adore Elijah's performance. It's so heartbreaking to watch. I love his facial expressions during his absolute wonderment and joy at watching the ice storm take its course. It's actually the only time in the whole movie we see him feel elated about anything. Even when he's having intimate contact with Christina Ricci's Wendy, there is a strong sense of awkwardness and uncomfortability in his face and you know this isn't a typical teenage boy. I remember Ang Lee once saying that he related most to the character of Mikey and thus his portrayal was extremely important to him, and that Elijah captured him to perfection.

Just adding a link to a nice, sweet interview here:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/lotr_iii/news/index.asp?article=elijah_wood&topic=0

Well, I saw it again. Good audience - not that many - just the die-hards like me armed with lots of tissues who were crazy enough to venture out on a gray, sleety day. There was laughter, weeping, cheering at appropriate parts. I blubbed, of course.

I notice more things every time I see it. I tried to listen closely at the GH scene. The sound was really crappy, though.

I heard *something* - whether it was a phrase, or a sigh muffled by an elvish cloak, I'm not sure. But Frodo looked toward Sam as they were embracing, and Sam immediately got calmer.

Merry really did get robbed, though. I hope they have more of his stuff in the EE.

Re picture: Well, 20 is technically adult, at least in this country. It's still the most adult picture I've seen of him and a darned good one.


:from Ainon
"Eewwwww. Americans."

Well, I think that sums up the international attitude very nicely! (Don't worry, we don't all chew gum, or otherwise behave lewdly. Some of us have standards!)


Harrrrumph. Americans indeed. OK - if you don't *POP* say anything *POP* about Americans *POP* chewing and popping gum, I won't say anything about certain across-the-pond hygenic habits that many Americans find really icky. :p ;) :p ;)

:::: leads Faculty in rousing chorus of "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose It's Flavor on the Bedpost Overnight" :::::

~grumpy, who doesn't chew gum (jaw locks up just thinking about it)

Possible Ice Storm spoiler (although I think the cat's out of the bag already)




Originally posted by ainon
Oooh, 'Ice Storm' revisited. Agree on the humour, and on the darkness. Grumpy ... let's just say that he ... well, gets fried. Yes, very ... owwwy.
Well.... I don't think he suffered much--it was over pretty fast. For Grumpy and everyone who really wants to know--he gets electrocuted by a downed power line, not an unheard of type of accident during storms like that. FWIW, he does so much risky stuff out there by himself during the storm that I expected him to get killed sooner than he did :( .

and hobbityme--Yes, I'm kind of glad Mikey never found out about absolute zero; he would have been very disillusioned ;) .



End of possible Ice Storm spoiler


And tg, I did spot the chewing gum thing right at first viewing. But it just made me go, "Eewwwww. Americans."
I hope my calling it a perfectly Mikey thing to do assures you that it's not normal American behavior :eek: ! I think most American teenage boys, if really caught in that situation and totally unable to spit out their gum "coolly," would swallow it.

That does bring up a running subplot in the movie, though--chewing gum comes up so often that I wonder if it doesn't mean something. Especially those boxes of it in the basement. Any symbolism experts care to tackle that one :p ?

Enough has been said about the where through the three movies, in the Aragorn/Arwen-Elrond storyline.
I feel the same--I think the "where" is pretty well covered, especially when we see that Elrond and Galadriel are going along.

...I don't think RotKFrodo should be saddled with the baggage of a scene where it appears he still has longings for the Ring...
Agreed--and, again, Bilbo kind of takes care of that when he asks Frodo if he still has the Ring (completely book canon, except in the book he does remember a moment later what's happened: "How silly of me."). I would think an audience member who's interested enough to care, would realize that if Bilbo still has a desire for the Ring, how much more must Frodo--but yet he keeps silent about it.

IMVHO the decision about how to show the rest of Frodo's non-physical suffering fits with the overall aim of treating the story as history rather than fantasy. It's such a terribly realistic portrayal of depression that some people probably don't catch it (the same way a lot of friends and relatives of seriously depressed people "miss it" in RL). The other option would have been an over-the-top, very noticeable but also unrealistic portrayal, and I'm glad that avenue wasn't chosen.

I think the most important exposition we get is Frodo's voiceover while he's in Bag End. If I would have added anything at all, it would have been to go one line further in the book-dialogue used at Frodo's farewell to Sam [from memory, so maybe not exact]: "We wanted to save the Shire, and it has been saved--but not for me. I have been too deeply wounded." But, of course, he says that in the voiceover for anyone who cares to hear it.

...if people care to ask, then that's good - because finally they're faced with an ending that's not what they were expecting and they're forced to process that...
Ditto. :)

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

Regarding the "adult" photo--So much of Elijah's appearance in photo shoots depends on how the photographer handles it and who Elijah decides to be. We've talked before about how even his "fashion shoots" are more interesting than most, because he seems to put himself into a character--take on some persona--that can be very different one shoot to the next. I think that factors into that particular picture. And notice which side of his face the photographer decided to focus on with the lighting--the side that tends to give him a somewhat "darker" and less innocent look.

-----------

SCS--Yes, if there's any character of Elijah's that reminds me of Frodo in the way he physically plays them, it's Mikey. EJW's so good at it, of course, that I can't quite label it and certainly don't know how he does it, but I think a lot of it is the shape of his mouth, which he holds differently for those two characters than he does otherwise. Mikey also sounds very different from most of Elijah's other characters, so that may be a factor there, too.

And, as you said, IMVHO it does add to the appearance of innocence... I started to write an explanation of why I think that is, but got mired in the middle and realized I need to talk to my mother about it, :) as it's based on a term I've heard her use occasionally to describe people. So, we'll get back to that some other time.

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

Best wishes to Maeg and Mariole--- I didn't meet my goal today, so won't be rewarding myself with the movie :( ... I'm normally not a very good "parent" to myself--I can say, "No internet until you've done [whatever]..." but then I go online anyway because it's just too easy: no one else here to stop me, and the computer's sitting right there! It's a bit easier to hold firm when it involves getting into the car and driving a good half-hour to the theater :rolleyes: . So, probably shouldn't be here, either, but at least this won't take 4.5 hours or so that I should be using for something else. Since it'll always be around on DVD, I wouldn't mind not seeing the movie so often in the theater--but, man, I love watching those beacons get lit on the big screen :cool: ! (Besides, well, just wanting to see it.)

If I was being really "good," I wouldn't have done this, either, but I just added a few pages of Shots from the FotR Extended Edition (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id221.htm) to the website. My "rule" is to publish only once a month--otherwise I could spend every waking moment working on the site--so these should have waited for February. But I already had the caps prepared, and there really isn't much commentary, so it didn't take too much time. So, for those who, like me, get kind of down when the days are short and the nights are long (in this hemisphere ;) ), these are basically some pretty pictures to cheer things up a bit. I know I need some right now.

And for those who want an angst reprise, I've reformatted the three "Just a Dream" (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id172.htm) pages--to take advantage of the fact that I've finally figured out how to format the page so I can post fullsize caps without making everybody scroll horizontally to look at them. I'll be doing this to some more pages as time goes on--not every set of caps "holds up" well enough to be published at full size, but I'll redo the ones that can take it without losing quality.

According to my sitebuilding program, publishing these FotR pages pushed the total number of images on the site over 1700 -- that includes things like "Top" and "Next" buttons, and patterned backgrounds (which I obviously like to play around with :rolleyes: ), but still a fair amount of pics. Something I definitely couldn't have done on the "freebie" site, so I think the $4/month :eek: webhosting fee is worthwhile! It also gives me tons of bandwidth, so Lady Wendy or anyone, feel free to post the link (at least on smaller sites--I don't know if it could handle everybody from TORN :eek: ).

Anyway, my DVD program has been fickle lately, but hopefully that won't hold things up for February and I'll see what I can do with Mikey. Thanks for the kind words from all on the site--with so many people posting so many things in so many places these days, sometimes I feel a bit redundant (especially when the days are short and the nights are long, and... well, you know). So I want to focus on what people would like to see that isn't covered everywhere else (and that I have the ability to do!), so suggestions are always welcome. Thanks to Sheryl for posting the link again--but if you ever can't remember http://www.frodolivesin.us (I still love that domain name :) ), just click on the www at the bottom of any of my posts.

........Now I really have to do some laundry, or I'll have to go to work naked tomorrow and that probably wouldn't look too good on my personnel record.....

tgshaw ~ YOU are responsible for that God-given site!!!! It is absolutely one of the best Elijah Wood sites if not the best. I easily got lost in it and frankly, I love it! LOVE it!

Originally posted by tgshaw
IMVHO the decision about how to show the rest of Frodo's non-physical suffering fits with the overall aim of treating the story as history rather than fantasy. It's such a terribly realistic portrayal of depression that some people probably don't catch it (the same way a lot of friends and relatives of seriously depressed people "miss it" in RL). The other option would have been an over-the-top, very noticeable but also unrealistic portrayal, and I'm glad that avenue wasn't chosen.
Is it something Tolkien talked about in his letters - maybe the post-war depression of soldiers? I know that a lot of the topics originated from his war time, but did he actually explain Frodo's post-Mordor days like that?
(sorry if this was mentionned already in this thread before. I'm still trying to read it all).
I bought the book of letters of Tolkien some time ago but I have only skimmed through them. So many books, so little time. I should really read them.

So, I saw the adventures of Huck Finn yesterday.
I managed to miss the beginning of it (stupid laundry).
The first time I saw it was years ago, so it was like watching a fresh new movie.
It's a very typical Disney movie, isn't it? I have read that book quite some time ago (when I was 10 or something...am not sure) so it's difficult to compare it with the book but from what I remember, they soften a lot of the topics in that movie. It's got a typical Disney feel-good touch to it. I would have portrayed Huck Finn a bit more darker (but that's not Elijah's fault).
But, it's an enjoyable movie. I loved seeing little Elijah in it. Some of his facial expressions are really great. It's always so clear with Elijah Wood what the character thinks.
Later that evening, I saw a movie with Keanu Reeves (The Replacements). Also a fun but light movie. Now, I think that Keanu is a very handsome man so he's always a joy to watch, but his facial expressions are indeed very limited. When he tries to look pained for example, it looks forced. Now, I know that Keanu suffered a lot of bad luck in his private life so you would think that he has enough to draw from but maybe he keeps his private life too seperate for it?

Anyway, reading some of the microexpression theories in here, I compared the two: Keanu and Elijah.
It's really not fair on Keanu. It's a black and white comparison.
I love watching Keanu for the eye-candy but I have yet to see a very good acting performance of him.
Keanu does not do 'gradual'. When his facial expression goes from serious to smiling: it looks too forced. At a certain moment, Keanu's character has a serious face. Somebody says something that brightens him up and Keanu starts to laugh. But it's like they have tied cords, going from the corners of his mouth to his ears. So, when he has to smile, somebody pulls them up to curl his mouth to a smile.

That does bring up a running subplot in the movie, though--chewing gum comes up so often that I wonder if it doesn't mean something. Especially those boxes of it in the basement. Any symbolism experts care to tackle that one ?

Well, I'm no sybolism expert, but I'll take a crack at it! Chewing gum isn't food, only a thing you partake of for empty pleasure; it provides no nutrients. At first it is pleasurable, but then it becomes flavorless, but you continue chewing it out of habit. In that sense it would be like a life lived only for the pleasurable but empty events, like an extra-marital affair that becomes habit though it is no longer providing even empty pleasure.

How was that? :rolleyes:

Someone very close to me grew up in a family where spouse swapping was going on, which broke up the marriage at one point. The young son of the couple spent that time period of his parent's break-up living for empty pleasures. He used girls in ways he regrets now, but there seemed to be no consequences then, and so he went with the moment. Mikey seems a bit like this to me; he doesn't consider that there may be consequences to his actions. Every event is reduced to the sensation potential, and he is like an spectator in his own life, and even up to the penultimate moment of his own death.

I was thinking about this movie (which I have seen once only) the other day. At the beginning Tobey M's character is sitting in an electric train which stops on the tracks. He looks up from the book he is reading and seems amused by it. It's probably Mikey's moment of death, further down the line, that cause the train to stop and go dark, but Tobey takes it in as pure sensation and is insulated from the tragedy that caused it until he pulls into the station at the end of the movie where he encounters his family, weighted with the grief of what has happened.

Having a hard time being either clear or concise just now.

Honey!

tg, I hope you're fresh and dressed as you read this on your Monday morning .... ;)



Possible Ice Storm spoiler (although I think the cat's out of the bag already)




And my apologies for that. :o I noted that Grumpy already knew that the end had come for Mikey ... but I should have remembered that not everyone knows yet! :trouts self:


Originally posted by tgshaw
Well.... I don't think he suffered much--it was over pretty fast. For Grumpy and everyone who really wants to know--he gets electrocuted by a downed power line, not an unheard of type of accident during storms like that. FWIW, he does so much risky stuff out there by himself during the storm that I expected him to get killed sooner than he did.

That's true. I was already spoilered as to his demise, but I think most folks would have figured out he was doomed anyway - anytime any movie spends intimate time with a supporting character doing happy-happy stuff you just *know* he's not long for this earth. I do hope he died quick. :( If he were wet through and through he would have, wouldn't he? Btw, The Green Mile is an excellent movie for anyone who wants a quick lesson on the relationship between water molecules and electric charges and death rates. :p But then a bolt of lightning should have more electricity than what an electric chair would generate?




End of possible Ice Storm spoiler





I hope my calling it a perfectly Mikey thing to do assures you that it's not normal American behavior :eek: ! I think most American teenage boys, if really caught in that situation and totally unable to spit out their gum "coolly," would swallow it.

Uh. Riiiiighhhhtttt. :D Oh, come on guys, I don't seriously think that you're all weirdos. ;) :D It's just a standard reaction to whenever we see White People do strange things on TV and in movies. It's a cultural shock thing. Case in point: how Americans on TV never wash their apples before eating 'em. Someone will just pick an apple out of a box, rub it against his shirt, and bite into it. We just don't get that. We really don't. :D

Just as I'm sure our Asian habit of liberally sprinkling soy sauce on everything would horrify a lot of you folks ... and we love deep fried stuff ... and of course, anchovies. We live to eat anchovies. Except when anchovies are on pizza. See, we don't understand that either. Anchovies do *not* belong on pizza. 'nuff said. :D

Honey, now that is one impressive crack at chewing gum symbolism. ;) Piece of trivia: chewing gum is banned in one country - Singapore. What does that contribute to the discussion? I have no idea.


tgshaw, your website -- what hobbityme said. :) And as a fan of Frodo, it's a nice and tingly feeling to think that hey, I know the person who runs www.frodolivesin.us and the person who runs www.frodoandsam.net. ((((tg & Elvellon)))

Wonderful updates to kick off 2004, tg! The FotR caps are such a welcome sight on a Monday morning! The two caps you got of him 'dancing' in the Green Dragon are beautiful. And I was giggling through the ageless advice on how to pick up women. Trust you to turn a memorable moment

http://www.frodolivesin.us/afb03840.jpg

into a truly significant one for all females, of all species. The boy just has that effect, doesn't he?

And one will never tire of the beauty (and heart aching angst, now that we have RotK's end) of this

http://www.frodolivesin.us/bebce2f0.jpg

Thanks, tg.

What is Elijah's Dark Side? Right or Left side of his face? I got confused in the Leather Jacket picture. :eek:

Forgive me if you've seen this before, but I was snooping around on the "Ain't It Cool" site and found a review for LOTR:FOTR.
It's by (a very enthousiastic) Norwegian journalist...that explains why the English isn't perfect.
This is a review after the first press screening and the journalist explains that (s)he had not read the book.

I haven't seen this review before and maybe some of you haven't either - sorry otherwise.
FOTR is very big. A big tale. But very small. I mean, big it is, but small is he – Frodo. Oh my gracious lord of modern cinema, the very man who gave Mr. And Mrs. The liberty to create the god given actor named Elijah. Nothing crazy about these sentences, but it is a holy great performance. He is feeling. He is a feeling. My back was cold throughout the entire movie. Feeling Frodo, being Frodo, hurting Frodo, bearing with Frodo. A class-act, truly enchanting, spectacular, it-is-no-good-words-to-compliment-enough Frodo. I am, as you just read, trying to verbalize my experience of Frodo Baggins.
:)

Link removed

I have nothing Faculty-ish to say except that Blossom was right.

I heard The Whisper in my local cinema on Saturday night. :cool: The sound system was REALLY good that night ... virtually as good as Odeon Leicester Square! Sauron said 'Elessar' very clearly indeed ... which made me keen to listen out for Blossom's whisper at the Havens. So I listened as hard as I could during Frodo and Sam's final hug, and yes, THE WHISPER IS THERE.

'I love you.'

Swo------

Ooops. Nearly swooned. Sorry. :p

But anyway, Blossom is right. The Whisper Exists. So for your future viewing pleasure, ladies, listen out for it ... :)

Originally posted by Moondancer
[B]Forgive me if you've seen this before, but I was snooping around on the "Ain't It Cool" site and found a review for LOTR:FOTR.
It's by (a very enthousiastic) Norwegian journalist...

It's such a shame that this journalist hated the movie so much!! ;)

What Moondancer said:

that explains why the English isn't perfect.
What my bleary-stayed-up-too-late-watching-FOTR-again eyes saw:


that explains why Elijah isn't perfect.

:eek: :eek: :eek: Now I know how Gimli felt when Eomer dissed Galadriel. ;) :::: going to borrow Gimli's axe ::::
:::: blinking :::: Oh, wait - never mind! (*)

What a beautiful review! And how accurate! (I wonder if this guy recognized the Norwegian fiddle used in the Rohan theme in TTT) In any case, it washes some of the bad taste away from that review where the (there are *NO* words Entish, Elvish, or the tongues Men for this treachery!) reviewer called Our Lad a turd!


Uh. Riiiiighhhhtttt. Oh, come on guys, I don't seriously think that you're all weirdos.
Well, it wouldn't be too far off from what we think of ourselves sometimes! ;)


It's just a standard reaction to whenever we see White People do strange things on TV and in movies. It's a cultural shock thing.

I can assure you that what you see on TV and in movies has very little if any resemblance to real life.

Case in point: how Americans on TV never wash their apples before eating 'em.

LOL! I guess some people don't, but I even wash organically raised apples! We even have special soap to use to clean fruit and veggies. You may also notice that in TV and movies people never use grocery carts while food-shopping, and that a bag of groceries always contains celery and a long loaf of French bread. ;)


Just as I'm sure our Asian habit of liberally sprinkling soy sauce on everything would horrify a lot of you folks

Not at all! The US has a large population of people from Asian cultures, and many kinds of Asian food. We dump soy sauce in barbeque sauce and other sauces, over vegetables, use as marinade, anything. I was vegetarian for a few years and still dump soy sauce on everything.

... and we love deep fried stuff
I have only one word in response: MacDonalds. ;)

... and of course, anchovies. We live to eat anchovies. Except when anchovies are on pizza.
I don't understand anchovies. But ketchup, now. Ketchup on *everything*.

Honey, now that is one impressive crack at chewing gum symbolism.
Wow. That was impressive. I'm still not sure I want to see this movie. So many of Elijah's movies seem to be painful to watch - it's too easy to suspend disbelief and believe that this kid that I'm watching really is feeling and experiencing those things.

I think Elijah's comments about wanting a career more similar to Johnny Depp's is pretty wise (as long as he doesn't emulate JD's drug use). He'll pick roles in movies that are a bit wierd and emotionally intense, and spend the time happily turning us inside out with the realism of his portrayal. Jodie Foster is another child actor who went that route. I still haven't watched Silence of the Lambs all the way through, or that movie that she made - what was it - Taxi Driver?

What does that contribute to the discussion? I have no idea.
It promotes cultural appreciation, IMGLO one of the most important things that can happen.

~grumpy (though I still don't know how people in Australia and NZ walk around upside down down there without falling off)
(*) in memory of Gilda Radner

You know what I wonder? I wonder if Elijah's roles or him playing the types of roles he has recently played, have had a great effect on his personal emotional being?

I don't know, but it seems to me that playing roles like Frodo, Mikey, Sean and Barney could be emotionally draining. I wonder, since he seems to feel it during his performances, if he feels some sort of short-term depression because he really does get into character so well.

Originally posted by zkgrumpy
...and that a bag of groceries always contains celery and a long loaf of French bread.
...and, if it's a commercial, whatever item the person standing next to them just happens to need--which, of course, just happens to be the product being advertised! :rolleyes:

It does seem there's broad cross-cultural agreement on anchovies not belonging on pizzas, although for different reasons :) . This is, of course, on topic, since Elijah's character in Child in the Night mentions it ;) .

Great discussion, ladies. Honey, wonderful gum symbolism. I bow in your general direction ... er, where are you?

hobbityme, my impression of actors taking depressing roles is just the opposite of yours. It's based on (get ready) Michael Dorn who plays Worf in Star Trek. :p Now, for anyone familiar with the series, Worf is this grim, growly, angry Klingon (alien). Michael Dorn is this hilarious guy who laughs all the time. My personal theory is that Michael has to spend so much time devoted to being angry that he gets it all out of his system. The Zen of the universe must be maintained, so happiness rushes in to balance all that forced anger and he just gushes with it.

I think that Elijah said that he went into a depression after Lord of the Rings, but I don't think that was related to the role. It often happens after finishing something very busy, some monumental task, that people can go into a mild depression. A great success can lead to depression as much as a severe disappointment, or so "they" say. I think he had to find his feet, and has done so, and continues to do so. I'm very glad that Orlando Bloom has said he's taking some time off to assess, because I think he's had it really weird with this super-sex-symbol stuff and all the sudden fame. My best wishes to the both of them.

Ainon,

And my apologies for that. I noted that Grumpy already knew that the end had come for Mikey ... but I should have remembered that not everyone knows yet! :trouts self:

Actually, it was me who let the cat out of the bag...well, my excuse is that I naturally assumed that everyone on a thread such as this, has not only seen it, but discussed it, dissected it, and generally post-mortemed it to death :D :D :D...but apparently not !!!...Whoops...Sorry :o:o:o

tg,

It also gives me tons of bandwidth, so Lady Wendy or anyone, feel free to post the link (at least on smaller sites--I don't know if it could handle everybody from TORN ).

Thanks for that...I chat away at Tolkien Online, only on two main threads though, so the only people who would click on the link would be the people who read those two threads...not the 38,000-odd fans who make up the total...Yikes, hope not !!!

I had no idea that you also own Frodo and Sam ...one of my other favourite sites...How on Earth do you manage to find the time ???

I have just been browsing through the glossary on your site, and came upon this:-

Froshadowing: a matching of a pic of Elijah in one of his pre-LotR roles with a similar pic of him as Frodo. (No consensus yet on what to call this when a post-FotR film is used to take the process in reverse.)

Well, may I cautiously suggest the term "Frodo-echoing", or Fro-echoing", as a suitable term, meaning the repeated vision of Frodo in a later film, of which there will, undoubtedly be loads, I hope...:D

Hobbityme and Mariole,

The Zen of the universe must be maintained, so happiness rushes in to balance all that forced anger and he just gushes with it.

Yes, I think that the same may well be true of Our Lij too...just think how he comes across as relentlessly cheerful and up-beat in all his TV interviews and indeed, all his magazine interviews too, come to that....there doesn't seem to be much that gets him down really, aside from the fact that he hasn't had much success with women...( well obviously he hasn't thought about looking in here at all, has he ? Actually, we'd probably scare the pants off him :eek: :D )

Honeyelf,
I DID like your chewing-gum analysis...never thought of chewing-gum in any other way other than the fact that it makes one look as if one is chewing the cud in a rather cow-like fashion !!! ( Remember this next time any of you reach for the small silver and blue packet :D !!! )

Well...ROTK may or may not get the Oscars it deserves, but it HAS just been nominated for twelve BAFTAS...our very own Brit-version, and just as important...go here :-

BAFTAS !! (http://www.theonering.net/staticnews/1074520280.html)

So, congratulations to everyone involved in these movies...I do hope they sweep the boards here, if not at the Oscars...pity they overlooked *you know who ..*

Lady Wendy and Mariole, some very interesting points and observations on Zen and Elijah. I agree, actually, to a level. But I think that it's best to say that it's an actor-to-actor difference. I'm not sure if you all are aware of another brilliant young actor named Ryan Gosling who really shone out in the equally brilliant movie "The Believer." Reading up on his experiences to that, he mentions being depressed from playing such an angry character. But yes, I think Elijah's post-LOTR depression was more due to the scope that the filming and being with the cast and crew had on him rather than him playing Frodo.

Also, commenting on your note about Elijah finding it hard to find women, it seems to me from his interviews that he's a real romantic and when he falls in love, he falls very hard. He's already mentioned how heartbroken he was when his relationship with Franka Potente ended, and how he even drove four hours in New Zealand to meet up with Madeleine Sami, a New Zealand actress. One thing to note, isn't it interesting how Elijah seems to always be attracted to older women??? Maybe that's why he finds it hard to maintain a relationship. I have a feeling that lots of those older women don't take him so seriously... which is a real shame because really, he's mature for his age. But I think that there is a special someone for him and I wish him the best in finding her.

tgshaw, you ALSO run frodoandsam.net??? You are incredible m'dear!

I have a question too, how do you place avatars?

Lady Wendy and hobbityme--No, no, no... :o ainon had the credits right in her post:
Originally posted by ainon
tgshaw, your website -- what hobbityme said. :) And as a fan of Frodo, it's a nice and tingly feeling to think that hey, I know the person who runs www.frodolivesin.us and the person who runs www.frodoandsam.net. ((((tg & Elvellon)))
How Elvellon does it, I have no idea--her site is much, much more involved than mine (the main reason, I believe, that she doesn't get a chance to post here very often :( ).

Just had to clear that one up fast! :eek: :) :)


I can answer questions about avatars, though :p -- It's done through your "user cp", but it might not show up on yours yet because you have to have 30 posts at KD before you can have one. I link to mine right from my hard drive, although you can put them on an image hosting site if you'd rather do that. They can be .gifs or .jpgs; KD has a size limit of 50x50 pixels. I use an image editing program to get them to the right size, but there are websites where you can do it for free--some people here do it that way, so can direct you if you want.

See, now you've got me thinking... I've been itching a bit lately to get back to "frequent Frodo" avatars :p , now that RotK is out. For new folks, until spoiler pics for RotK started showing up, I changed my avatar almost every day; I stuck with the one I have now because it's been trimmed to a totally "spoiler-free" state :p . I have lots of avatars from FotR and TTT, so if there's a particular "Frodo" you're looking for, I may have it--saving you the trouble of having to make the avatar. :)

------

I actually dropped in here to note the following release dates for Region 1 DVDs: Flipper on January 20, The Good Son on February 3, and Spy Kids 3D on February 24.

Now, a plea to the Powers that Be: Please, please, give us Radio Flyer!!

Thanks so much tgshaw! I think I'm fast approaching 30 :)

But here is a beautiful pic:

http://www.zoomavant.com/dossier/02/thelordoftherings/thereturnoftheking/titre.jpg

I was actually reflecting on Elijah's performance just yesterday and something struck me. I think that one of the main reasons why Elijah's Frodo is so endearing to me personally is because he personifies gentleness. I don't know if any of you agree but I feel Elijah's Frodo is even more gentle than Tolkien's Frodo. I don't know why but somehow, Frodo becomes a much more heartbreaking character that way.

Often times many people say Sam personifies goodness, and although that is true, I think that the way Elijah portrays Frodo also imbues him with the same level of goodness. It isn't hard to see that Frodo would have done the same things as Sam did if their roles were reversed. For me, and this is not at all a slight to Tolkien, Frodo in the book may be less likely to do so just because of the larger emphasis on the master/servant relationship. I guess it's just less apparent in the movie.

Back to my comments though, I find Elijah's delivery on certain lines near the beginning: "I'm glad you're with me Sam." and even "I will take the Ring to Mordor... though I do not know the way." as perfect reflections of this gentleness. This goes to a whole new level near the end where although Frodo regains the gentleness back (though he never quite lost it throughout his whole horrific journey), Elijah does a wonderful job of layering it with something else: wisdom and pain. It's a real marvel just hearing him say "How can you pick up the threads of a life you've left behind when you begin to understand, there's no going back?" or "We're going to the White Harbour, Bilbo. The elves have accorded you a special honour: a place on the last ship leaving Middle Earth."

The gentle nature of Frodo really gets to me and I think it's one of the reasons why Frodo seems so otherworldly to me. When I immediately watched him on Ellen right after watching the movie. It's amazing how different he is. Elijah seems to have that very fresh, youthful aura around him which is great to see. Very much like the Frodo of the Shire in the very beginning. To remember his performance in ROTK, they seem like very different people, almost polar opposites - a testament, perhaps, to how grand his performance really was.

Whoah! That is a thing of beauty--and this is the first I've seen it. Is that what you're thinking of using for your avatar? [See, giving you a chance to respond right away for post #18 ;) .]

Wonderful observations about Elijah's Frodo. The movies do show him as younger and more innocent than he is in the book, where he's fairly well into middle-age and has been "the Mr. Baggins of Bag End" for 17 years. (I figure that just having had to deal with the Sackville-Bagginses all that time must have "toughened him up" a bit ;) .) He's more self-confident and less dependent (even talking back to Gandalf at times). So, although I do think Tolkien's Frodo is still very much of a "gentle soul," it doesn't always show in the way he deals with people, because he's learned from experience that it doesn't always work.

Actually, I think Elijah's quite a "gentle soul," too--that doesn't mean he can't be bouncy and fun-loving, etc., but he strikes me as a person who'd never purposefully hurt anyone--human or otherwise--and who treasures his close relationships.

tgshaw ~ YES :D

[/faithful lurking]
Originally posted by tgshaw
I actually dropped in here to note the following release dates for Region 1 DVDs: Flipper on January 20, The Good Son on February 3, and Spy Kids 3D on February 24.

Really really really?? You're not joshing me??? I'll be able to get The Good Son on DVD??? The one DVD I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for, for years??? Really???

That makes me happy! :D

I'm very much enjoying the discussions, ladies. Carry on. :)

[faithful lurking]

tg,
Lady Wendy and hobbityme--No, no, no... ainon had the credits right in her post:...

...How Elvellon does it, I have no idea--her site is much, much more involved than mine (the main reason, I believe, that she doesn't get a chance to post here very often ).

Just had to clear that one up fast!


Whoops...Did I ever read something wrong :o :o :o !!!

( It sounded as if you ran both sites together as a team...now I find that Ainon was hugging both of you independently !!! )

As for the avatar thing...I have a small selection ( four ! ) of moving avatars of Frodo, the One Ring spinning, etc...and they are currently residing on The One Husband's bit of free webspace thoughtfully provided by Virgin.net, so that I can link directly to it...whether you get free webspace or not, I think, depends on your server, but I'll get one of mine up and running as soon as I have 30 posts to my name...( shouldn't be too difficult on this thread )

Hobbityme,

it seems to me from his interviews that he's a real romantic and when he falls in love, he falls very hard. ....

.... One thing to note, isn't it interesting how Elijah seems to always be attracted to older women??? Maybe that's why he finds it hard to maintain a relationship. I have a feeling that lots of those older women don't take him so seriously... which is a real shame because really, he's mature for his age.

Yeah...I would take him seriously, wouldn't you ??? I think that the reason he's attracted to older women is perhaps, because he's been around older people habitually, nearly all of his childhood, and therefore relates better to people who are adult, as opposed to children or teenaged ...now that he's in his twenties, he's gradually catching up to his preferred age-group for female company...and, yes, maybe he'll meet that special someone one day... :k

<<<<LOOKEY! :D :D :D I have an Avatar!

Hobbityme, I love what you say about Frodo's gentleness. It characterizes him for me as well, though I think he is a bit more gentle in the books than the movies. I'm trying to think of a good example. Well alright, on the steps of CU he wakes up and sort of tries to mediate between Sam and G/S, telling them both (IMVHO) "Don't take hard names to yourself. It is unwise." IIRC
:confused: Anyhow, he's far more gentle in that case, than "Go home!" But I'd love to be convinced otherwise.

But anyhow, I HAVE AN AVATAR :D :D :D

Honey!

Originally posted by Lady Wendy
Well, may I cautiously suggest the term "Frodo-echoing", or Fro-echoing", as a suitable term, meaning the repeated vision of Frodo in a later film, of which there will, undoubtedly be loads, I hope...:D

May I respectfully resubmit "Echfro"?;) Though "Echfroing" sounds kinda odd (not to mention looking really weird).:o

Tgshaw - Just reread 'On Not Getting Frodo' and was once again moved to tears. Just thought you might like to know that. :k

Great discussions here - especially, hobbityme, on Frodo's gentleness - a trait I loved in book-Fro and which Elijah translates beautifully on film.

Random notes:

Shadowcatshadow: EW's "Dark" side is his left side (from his perspective); strangely enough this is true for most people.

Ainon: Anchovies, like totally, belong on pizza. Totally. You people are weird. :D

Chewing gum is indeed a metaphor for mindless consumerism, Honeyelf, well caught. A calorie less food. Appalling. And such an environmental pollutant: I am so sick of gum stuck everywhere. I wish we would ban it here. :mad:

grumpy: NZ, contrary to accepted belief, is actually at the top of the planet. Our (excellent because of low air pollution) observatories have proved this. However...we don't like to make a fuss about it. Northern Hemi-peeps can be remarkably sensitive on this fraught issue. All that blood rushing to their heads no doubt. Thusly we are not at all concerned about falling off the planet. Hence (drags this post on topic) Elijah Wood was very relaxed about living here for such a lengthy time. He does fall down a lot but as far as I can research, he has never fallen on his head, while on these balmy shores. :)

By coincidence Green Mile was on tv last night. Horrors. More about electrical death than I ever cared to know.:eek: Wonderful movie though.

I saw the movie again. Better theatre. Excellent sound. Really loud this time and the battles were thus quite overwhelming. But no whisper or words at all. A short sigh, I think, but well after Sam's face changes????:confused:


edit: I do believe someone here, who, because I am a loving and tolerant person shall remain un-named, was rash enough ( ;) ) to dizz His Most Gorgeous the Exquisite, if somewhat wooden, Mr Reeves. In honour of his (now tragically sullied) reputation, I have risked identity crisis, abandoned my two year old hobbity leaf and changed my avatar. Yes. Reckless. But let this be a warning to you... ;)

When Elijah did "the Ice storm" did his voice change on set? or did his voice ALREADY change BEFORE he did the movie?

His kid voice is strange too. What 8 year old has a thin, but deep voice? it seemed to carry.

But I love the way he sounds! Does it maky ANY of you tingle?

Off topic but in reply to a post:

Originally posted by Prim
I do believe someone here, who, because I am a loving and tolerant person shall remain un-named, was rash enough ( ;) ) to dizz His Most Gorgeous the Exquisite, if somewhat wooden, Mr Reeves. In honour of his (now tragically sullied) reputation, I have risked identity crisis, abandoned my two year old hobbity leaf and changed my avatar. Yes. Reckless. But let this be a warning to you... ;)

*raises hand* Guilty as charged, your Honor. :D

Ahem...
I agree that he's mister Gorgeous. As a lover of beautiful eyes (not to mention some other features) he's very high on my hot list.
But, your Honor...I still stand by my argument that (in my opinion) he's indeed a wooden actor.
...that doesn't stop me from watching his movies, just to see that beautiful man on the silver screen:rolleyes:
Remember My Own Private Idaho? I love that movie with the marvellous River Phoenix.
Remember Point Break? Not a very strong storyline but Keanu looks extremely good in it.

I think that it's luck that his last name isn't Wood as in "Keanu Wood" or the jokes on him would be endless.
......I'd better stop yapping about it...I'm only digging a deeper hole for myself.

Edit to give a link to an article about Elijah's fingerbiting habit, with an expert opinion.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/2004/01/19/hnail19.xml&sSheet=/health/2004/01/20/ixhmain.html

Current list of candidates (have I missed any?):

Frodo-echo
Fro-echo
echFro
Froback
Frotype
Frodotype

--------

scs--IMVHO, Elijah's voice in Ice Storm is a "construct" for Mikey, not exactly his natural voice. Something about the way he uses his breathing makes it--I don't know quite what word to use--wispy? ethereal? Not a high voice as far as pitch, but high in the sense of being "up in the air" somehow.

Originally posted by Lady Wendy
Sigourney Weaver's character, of course, was beyond redemption...she wouldn't be able to learn anything from Mikey's death unless it's that there's nothing a good recreational bonk wouldn't cure :D :D :D...I do suspect that she went and got herself another lover after the end of the movie...one who wouldn't get all emotional on her like the last one...
Just popping on... way behind the current topic as per usual, but I have to disagree with this...

I was left with a profound empathy for Sigorney Weaver's character. I could feel exactly what she would when she walked downstairs... like the bottom of her world had just dropped out from under her... I was positive she would learn something... even if it was, obviously, way too late.

Shiver...

Originally posted by tgshaw
IMVHO the decision about how to show the rest of Frodo's non-physical suffering fits with the overall aim of treating the story as history rather than fantasy. It's such a terribly realistic portrayal of depression that some people probably don't catch it (the same way a lot of friends and relatives of seriously depressed people "miss it" in RL). The other option would have been an over-the-top, very noticeable but also unrealistic portrayal, and I'm glad that avenue wasn't chosen.

I wasn't that upset about the way they handled the end either, except that I would have liked to have seen more clearly how Merry had also fitted himself back into the society - it would have made Frodo more clearly the only one who hadn't been able to 'move on' with his life... though even that is a minor point I can easily live without.

Ariel

Love the discussion of Frodo's gentleness. To me, Elijah gets this trait across perfectly. They don't make much in the movie about the difference between Gollum and Frodo, although it's quite apparent. Gollum sees the Ring and, as a first act, kills his best friend. Frodo sees the Ring and, after much suffering, volunteers to take up a suicide mission to destroy it. Quite a bit different approach, these lads. :p

But my favorite part is when these two characters come together right after Shelob's Lair. Gollum jumps him, and Frodo fights -- he does alway fight in self-defense, as is only sensible. But as soon as Gollum capitulates, Frodo backs off. He immediately gets his mind back on the task at hand -- to destroy the Ring. And his voice there, and his attitude, is so very gentle and filled with compassion when he breaks the news to Gollum that I think it's one of Frodo's finest hours. I love that brave guy!

Keanu Reeves: very easy on the eyes. I've seen most of his movies, even the silly ones. Maybe his acting is confined to a certain range, but he gets the characters across and he's got bags of charisma. I like him. I just don't ... follow him, the way I've been following Elijah. Is that Elijah's influence, or LOTR? Either way, I'm a fan.

Originally posted by Moondancer
How does the [Huck Finn] commentary fit with what I reported?


The director clearly adored Elijah and considered him a consumate professional, which fits with all the other people defending Elijah in the Richie Rich debacle. :)

originally posted by tgshaw
That makes me sound more web-savvy than I am! I'm totally mystified by live journals and blogs, and would have no idea how to even maneuver someone else's, much less have one of my own.

Heh. I think dealing with an LJ is way easier than setting up a site - they're on par with AOL; set up for those who haven't a clue what they're doing. :p. I've got two LJs going, and haunt a number of blogs, but would argue that you are way, way more web savvy than I am. If I ever have a website, you can be sure hubby set it up. ;)

Hi, whiteling!
I got a chuckle out of your YAM observation in the Hugs thread. :p

originally posted by tgshaw
I'm normally not a very good "parent" to myself--I can say, "No internet until you've done [whatever]..." but then I go online anyway because it's just too easy: no one else here to stop me, and the computer's sitting right there!

Gosh, I feel better about my rotten self-parenting now. :p Although actually my parents were never too successful at motivating me either. ;) I wouldn't at this point make my next ROTK viewing contingent on my behavior - I've still only seen it three times. :( Just too busy every week end, and of course nearly all our weeknights are taken up with kid stuff. *sigh* I am going to have to make a serious effort to get there again, or I'm going to be kicking myself come February or March...

honeyelf,
I love your Ice Storm chewing gum symbolism suggestion!

Ariel,
And your comments on Weaver's character intrigue me. I totally identified with her (she reminds me very much of one of my best friends), but I had less hope that she'd be able to change at the end. I'm going to have to see that movie again with this discussion in mind. :)

originally posted my Mariole
Now, for anyone familiar with the series, Worf is this grim, growly, angry Klingon (alien). Michael Dorn is this hilarious guy who laughs all the time. My personal theory is that Michael has to spend so much time devoted to being angry that he gets it all out of his system.

I am not entirely convinced by this theory, but I wanted to say that Michael Dorn is an absolute doll! :D Wonderfully charismatic, as well. Actually, on second thought I do think the theory has merit - but only if the actor has that optimistic personality in the first place. Some actors seem to get lost in the angst, so that a dark performance colors their attitude outside of acting as well.

I don't change my mind as instantaneously as it looks sometimes - eldest son interrupted me after I typed "absolute doll", so my second thought had a few minutes to form. Probably should have given the idea more thought in the first place! :p

originally posted by Mariole
I think that Elijah said that he went into a depression after Lord of the Rings, but I don't think that was related to the role. It often happens after finishing something very busy, some monumental task, that people can go into a mild depression.

This was my conclusion as well. I wonder if even writers get so completely wrapped up in a project for as long or as intensely as the people who did LOTR were - it took over their whole lives, really. Change is always stress, even good change, and then you add in the "loss" of a goal and I'm surprised that more of the actors didn't report depression!

originally posted by Lady Wendy
Actually, it was me who let the cat out of the bag...well, my excuse is that I naturally assumed that everyone on a thread such as this, has not only seen it, but discussed it, dissected it, and generally post-mortemed it to death ...but apparently not !!!...Whoops...Sorry

Some of us have been somewhat negligent in our research. Sheryl most carefully does not now mention that she has yet to see Avalon, or Bumblebee, or that she just saw The War this past year... :o

originally posted by tgshaw
I have lots of avatars from FotR and TTT, so if there's a particular "Frodo" you're looking for, I may have it--saving you the trouble of having to make the avatar.

Check out my avatar if you want an example of tg's work. Preens. :p I would be delighted if you started doing the new avatar every day thing again, tg, and I vote for "anime Frodo" as one of the early ones.

Congrats on your avatar, honeyelf!

originally posted by Bridget Chubb
May I respectfully resubmit "Echfro"?

I vote for that one. Last time I voted for either that one or Frotype, which I don't think you listed, tg. I prefer Echfro because it seems to point backwards, somehow, in the same way that Froshadowing points forwards.

I'm intrigued by the Frodo's gentleness discussion. I kind of tend toward the idea that movie Frodo is played gentler, but OTOH I think tgshaw's right that book Frodo is equally gentle "underneath." Which is to say, I haven't made up my mind, beyond agreeing that Frodo is fundamentally gentle. :p I kind of take the theory that Tolkien was working off historical documents in writing LOTR to rediculous lengths in that I "believe" that PJ was working off the same historical documents (rather than doing a direct translation of Tolkien's book), he just interprets them differently. But obviously Frodo's gentleness is clear in the original documents. ;)

Sheryl

EDITED: Just found this:
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,54,00.html

Originally posted by shilohmm
[B]The director clearly adored Elijah and considered him a consumate professional, which fits with all the other people defending Elijah in the Richie Rich debacle. :)

I picked this up too. The director kept saying "He was only ten years old!". He also talked about Elijah watching C.B.Vance asking the director a lot of questions about motivation, what the character was feeling, etc. Then, Elijah started emulating him and asking a lot of questions. The director stopped him and said something like "He does that because he has to. You don't; you're a natural". Neat, though, that The Wee Lad would have respected another actor so much that he tried to emulate him.

Gosh, I feel better about my rotten self-parenting now.
I will not log onto Khazaddum at work.
I will not log onto Khazaddum at work.
I will not log onto Khazaddum at work.
I will not log onto Khaz - Oh, what the h*ll. ;)

Some actors seem to get lost in the angst, so that a dark performance colors their attitude outside of acting as well.
I've heard actors say that as they play a role, they change because of it. I think it's one reason why so many are just - well - nuts. ;) I don't think a person could continuously play a dark angsty role, especially having to feel the feelings to express them, without it having a really strong effect. I don't think it used to be that bad; I think that it has a lot to do with "method acting" or whatever it is. There was a really great TV series on for about 4 years - Profiler. The first 3 years, Ally Walker was the lead, and she was wonderful. She left after 3 years, though - the series was so dark that it was affecting her. It was pretty evident - she was absolutely gaunt by the time she left.

Re the Lad's post-LotR depression: I've heard him say (or maybe read) that going to NZ for that amount of time was similar to other people's college experience - away from home for an extended period of time, developed another life with new people etc. Most people that I've known, regardless of when they did college (I finished mine in 1992), have gone through a depression afterwards. Suddenly, it's over and you're parted from friends (no matter how close, it'll never be the same), and if you go home, it's not the same. You're left with "Now what do I do?". Me? I flipped channels for two years and read a lot of Tom Clancy. I don't think it's surprising that he said that. Sean would have had more of an anchor there, having his family with him.

Check out my avatar if you want an example of tg's work.
What the heck is an avatar? :::: determinedly not asking what a blog and LJ is ::::

~grumpy (looked at RotK puppet show yesterday)(About busted a gut laughing)

Avatar: In the case of Khazaddum it means that little postage stamp size thingy under a user's screen name. I believe the word is of hindi derivation meaning the earthly manifestation of a god. Something like that. In terms of cyberspace it first came into use when Morningstar and Farmer were working on one of the first graphical chat programs, a little thing called "Club Caribe" for George Lucas back in 1985. It referred to your cartoon like character interacting on the screen with the other users' "avatars." Um, does that break the rule about using a word to define itself? Probably. I could go on at length about this since I'm very close to the latter of the aforementioned team :rolleyes: But I'll refrain from boring you.

blog: a web-log. How this is different from a LJ live journal I'm not sure. Both are, I believe, a sort of on-line diary which one leaves open to any and all who stroll by. Some celebrities maintain them. My close associate (the one from the preceeding paragraph) is addicted to Wil Wheaton's blog. (You know: Wesley Crusher of Star Trek infamy.)

How do I get this on topic? Um, one's blog or LJ may frequently reflect one's current obsessions. If I had one (which I don't, and never will) it would probably contain lot's of references to LoTR, and EJW.

Honey!

Originally posted by shilohmm
Ariel,
And your comments on Weaver's character intrigue me. I totally identified with her (she reminds me very much of one of my best friends), but I had less hope that she'd be able to change at the end.
Interesting discussion--I wonder if there could be a difference between "learning something" and actually changing. She could learn the lesson and still be too frozen to change. I suppose the kicker would be how she treated Sandy afterward--I do think she'd want to pay more attention and get more emotionally involved with him, but I'm not sure how good of a job she'd be able to do--or, for that matter, how open Sandy would be to her efforts.

Actually, on second thought I do think the theory has merit - but only if the actor has that optimistic personality in the first place. Some actors seem to get lost in the angst, so that a dark performance colors their attitude outside of acting as well.
IMVHO, I think Elijah's pretty well innoculated against that problem by being the "natural" that he is--as opposed to a method actor. Case in point is that series of pics that show him during the filming of the hiding-under-the-tree-roots scene, where he's terrified Frodo one second and the next -- Cut! -- he's laughing at something totally as Elijah. I'm not saying it could never happen to him, but I don't think it's as likely as it would be with a lot of actors. Maybe it has something to do with the way he connects directly to the character, rather than to the emotion the character is having (which, if I understand it correctly, would be closer to method acting). For him, the emotions are filtered through the character. In the tree-roots scene, Frodo's frightened--not Elijah, and somehow he seems to be able to keep the identities straight.

...Last time I voted for either that one or Frotype, which I don't think you listed, tg. I prefer Echfro because it seems to point backwards, somehow, in the same way that Froshadowing points forwards.
I went back and edited "Frotype" into the list :) . Going backwards, we don't have that handy little device of switching the letters from for- to Fro- , so coming up with a good pun seems to be harder. I'm the one who suggested Frodotype, which is probably too long, so I'll sit back and see what people think :) about the candidates.

I love this thread ( even though I know I must not read at work).

I saw ROTK again yesterday and I heard the whisper as well. However, two caveats: one, to me is sounded more like Sean's voice, and also, it could have been rhythmic crying or similar and I was just poisoned ;) by the KD discussion.

A thing I noticed also that was utterly amazing: after his hard climb, EW is lying there on the ledge, making little reflexive convulsive climbing movements with his hands and his whole body still. He is grabbing as if he's afraid he'll fall. It's a purely involuntary reaction by the look of it. It just managed to convey to me, completely without words, how exhausted he is. And it added such realism to the scene. It never ceases to amaze me, how real EW makes Frodo.

On depression post-roles: I didn't get depressed after graduating from either college or law school. So that doesn't necessarily happen. But I know quite a few people who did. EW looks pretty relaxed and happy in the interviews, so let's hope he's avoided the "curse".

Now I'll go back to work and stop gushing ;)

Hobbityme,

Often times many people say Sam personifies goodness, and although that is true, I think that the way Elijah portrays Frodo also imbues him with the same level of goodness. It isn't hard to see that Frodo would have done the same things as Sam did if their roles were reversed. For me, and this is not at all a slight to Tolkien, Frodo in the book may be less likely to do so just because of the larger emphasis on the master/servant relationship. I guess it's just less apparent in the movie.

For me, in the film, Sam personified the very best kind of friendship and the truest loyalty you could have towards another person...and Frodo personified Purity of Spirit, and, yes, gentleness of the loveliest kind...
As for Book-Frodo, I think that he would have done the same things in reverse, because it would be so against his nature NOT to - in those circumstances...if they'd never started out on this quest, yes, I think that quite possibly, Sam would have remained his gardener, and Frodo would have socialised with his own friends, just as was the custom in the days of Tolkien's formative years...'tis the nature of the beast, I think !!!

Honeyelf,
Nice avatar...congratulations on choosing Elijah's best feature to emphasize...I'm looking forward to getting one, and being able to change it regularly...."Avatar of the Month"...we should have a competition !!!:D

Prim,

EW's "Dark" side is his left side (from his perspective); strangely enough this is true for most people.

True, if you draw a line down through the middle of his face, in, say, Pierre Vinet's famous B&W Portrait of him as Frodo, you can see most clearly what it means to have a dark side to one's face, particularly with someone like Elijah, whose face is amazingly asymmetrical for one so good-looking - ( very attractive people usually have fairly even shaped features and symmetrical faces - but not Our Lij, methinks...)
For one thing, his mouth is slightly fuller in the right side, as we look at him...and his eye on that side ( his left eye ) is more open then his other...to the point that his other one could almost be said to be slightly lazy...this is VERY obvious in certain pictures, particularly ones in which his eyes are wide open and full on to the camera...
If you were to then split his face into two halves and mirror each half against itself, you'd have two very different people looking back at you !!!...one nice and gentle, and the other, well...:eek: try it in Paintshop Pro and see what I mean !!!

I'm looking forward to seeing ROTK for only my second viewing, ( beleive it or not !!! ) this Saturday, with a host of other LOTR fans from TORC - ( we have a thread for people who live in and around London, purely to organise Moots ) - at three pm, followed by a meal at a Tapas restaurant, followed by copious drinking in a Leicester Square`pub, I'll be bound :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ...

Therefore I'll be paying loads of attention to certain scenes discussed in here, notably the Grey Havens "I Love You" whisper, the Cirith Ungol bits, reflections of Frodo in the Ring, etc, and other bits of conversation shall echo in my head as Frodo and Sam do their thing at Mt. Doom...:D

Okay, so here's a little news on Hooligans... well, not really news but a mention. This is Dougie Brimson (author extraordinaire), who basically co-wrote the screenplay for the movie.

Click on "news" and read on. There's a bit of a mention with Elijah in LOTR. It's a bit of a different twist on why he couldn't really get into the character of Frodo ;)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dougie.brimson/frames.htm

Also, another tidbit from his page about the screenplay:

"Increasingly, offers of screenwriting work have provided a new challenge for Dougie who in 2003, completed his first full length feature for Oscar nominated, Los Angeles based director Lexi Alexander. Production of the script, which has been widely praised in Hollywood, is destined for 2004 with a number of well-known actors attached."

I'm very VERY intrigued with this movie. I've heard some great things about the script and Elijah and Charlie Hunnam themselves loved it, saying it mixes drama with slightly dark comedy. Personally I am looking forward to seeing Elijah be all wild and violent, which I think will raise plenty of comparisons with gentle and mild-mannered Frodo. (That'll be another 100 pages of discussion don't you all think? ;) )

Also, I'm glad to see that it's a woman director at the helm of this. You'd think with the subject it would be a man but somehow, I think the combination of Lexi and Dougie will really make this film a fantastic one. A little note on Lexi Alexander, she was a world-champion kickboxer, used to be a Hollywood stuntwoman, and was nominated for an Oscar in 2002 for her short film Johnny Flynton.

Okay, last edit... another little snippet from Entertainment Weekly:

Hot "Hooligans"

In England they call them "football hooligans": young male soccer fans whose enthusiasm for the game -- combined with testosterone and drunkenness -- usually leads to trouble and pain for anyone who gets in their way. So how against type is it to cast Charlie Hunnam (who played a blond twink on the U.K.'s "Queer as Folk") and Elijah Wood (the object of Sean Astin's affection in the "Lord of the Rings" films) as brutish, violent louts? Very. But the two will indeed star in the new indie film "Hooligans," which begins shooting in early 2004 with director Lexi Alexander, the former karate and kickboxing champion/stuntwoman whose short boxing-themed film, "Johnny Flynton," was a 2002 Oscar nominee. If anyone can whip these two men into fighting shape, she can.

I've been awfully busy and therefore mostly lurking, but I have to say, honeyelf, that is *wonderful* news!! I am very glad to learn that serious folks are involved in this project. You give me hope that the film will be good!

And of course we will have to discuss it. :) ;) (oh, and your chewing gum interpretation for "Ice Storm" rocked.) Congrats on the avatar!

ps, tg, I like "Froback." :p But that's just me. Whatever my distinguished colleagues choose is fine by me.

Peaceweaver, that was Hobbityme reporting on Hooligans, not my hobbity self :D Does sound promising. I can't wait to see himself play dark! If that smile at the Crack of Doom is any indication he should be wonderful.

I vote for FROBACK! Very clever!

Glad you liked my chewing gum analysis. It must be you all rubbing off on me! ;)

Honey!

OOOOPS! :o My bad. A thousand apologies, hobbityme. Must give credit where it is due. :k

Must say Mr. Brimson's comments about RoTK were a little, uh, restrained....

Oh, and while I am here, just want to alert US Faculty members that "Deep Impact" is on the tube on Sunday evening. On CBS. Check local listings. :)

hobbityme--Good to hear some more about Hooligans, but, y'know, you failed to mention the picture of the poster on that "news" page -- :eek: and :cool: all rolled into one !! Wonderful study material on the versatility of the Eyes :p --I think they're on "laser beam mode" there. ---- I tried to save the pic, but it wouldn't even acknowledge a right-click. Might be because of the security stuff on the computers here at the office, so someone else may have better luck.

Originally posted by Lady Wendy
As for Book-Frodo, I think that he would have done the same things in reverse, because it would be so against his nature NOT to - in those circumstances...if they'd never started out on this quest, yes, I think that quite possibly, Sam would have remained his gardener, and Frodo would have socialised with his own friends, just as was the custom in the days of Tolkien's formative years...'tis the nature of the beast, I think !!!
I like the fact that Frodo comes to recognize Sam as his equal long before Sam does :) . I agree that if "none of this had ever happened," they would have stayed in socially acceptable roles, although Bilbo seemed to respect his servants (judging from the Gaffer's opinion of him), and I'd hope that Frodo would have learned that from him.

But if, for some reason, the Council had decided that the task was appointed to Samwise Gamgee, IMVHO Frodo would have been a very willing member of the Fellowship and, yes, would have gone all the way to Mount Doom with Sam if possible. But, see, they really were fitted for their roles--IMHO, just because of his personality type, Frodo wouldn't have been as good at handling the practicalities as Sam was (mostly because of their intuitive vs. sensate difference).

I think the book is clearer than the movies in showing that the things various people "end up doing" aren't arbitrary; each is suited for the specific task he's called on to carry out. In RotK-the-movie, Frodo's vision of Galadriel gives a hint of that, as does Frodo's realization that the Ring is his burden--in a very different way than he claims the task as "Mine! My own!" early in TTT. Just in typing that, it struck me how much Frodo's grown between those two scenes; IMHO, they really show how the Ring's mode of operation has changed from temptation to assault--because Frodo's changed it can't deal with him in the same way. I don't know that it's really necessary for me to say that we're aware of the change because of how well Elijah shows it... but, well, to stay on topic ;) . Interesting, though, because that's a change in Frodo that's made evident in the book through narration; rather fascinating to see Frolijah showing it onscreen.

Originally posted by Dangermouse
A thing I noticed also that was utterly amazing: after his hard climb, EW is lying there on the ledge, making little reflexive convulsive climbing movements with his hands and his whole body still. He is grabbing as if he's afraid he'll fall. It's a purely involuntary reaction by the look of it. It just managed to convey to me, completely without words, how exhausted he is. And it added such realism to the scene. It never ceases to amaze me, how real EW makes Frodo.
Absolutely!! Even Gollum realizes it--that's the moment he chooses to start "working on him" regarding Sam.

IMHO, it's one of those things Elijah does that you wouldn't necessarily think of as missing if he didn't do them, but that make all the difference when he does. (Very badly worded, but hopefully the sense got through :o .)

'Scuse me for breaking in but I need to get a hold of enaiowen.

Enai!!!! Your box is full!!

So here's part of my response :

You sure you want me along? I'm very likely to stand up in the middle of the Battle of Pelennor Fields and shout "Let fly! This is ship is England! Choose the lesser of two weevils!"

Oh, the hormones...oh the humanity.

Im still at the saltwater address too if you still have it.

Breakin /OFF

Thank you m'ladies.

I shall let you return to your studies.

A vote from a semi-lurker, for what it's worth: I like 'Froback,' as well. It has that same play-on-words feel that 'Froshadowing' has, and is clear in its meaning, as well. Very deft! :cool:

hobbityme, thank you for sharing all that encouraging news about 'Holligans'!

Hooligan poster (http://home.ripway.com/2003-7/13204/poster2.jpg)


Honey, congratulations on your avatar! Prim! The Keanu avatar hath returned! :eek: :D

Btw, Village Photos won't let me direct link, but it will allow me to share my album. So I'm just gonna give this a try here.

ainon's Village Photos Album of only a few not particularly pretty RotK caps, but look, it's still Frodo, right? And he's always angsty. (http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=366585)


-- Yeah, I like 'Froback' best too.


Well, it's already the eve here, so it's not too early to start wishing Deluby and all our Chinese friends

Happy New Year! :) :) :)


Welcome the Year of the Monkey. :D

http://home.ripway.com/2003-7/13204/ComicCon03.jpg

Hobbityme, wonderful Hooligan news, thank you :) !

ainon - waaah, you're killing me! That poster :eek: :) ! And thank you so much for your photo album :k . As for Frodo's Isilduresk smile, I guess there is even a bit of morphing, wouldn't you say? Am I imaging things or is his nose different shaped?

Honeyelf - congrats on your avatar! That's a really ocular one ;) !

I went to my forth viewing of RotK yesterday and sat all prick-eared during the Havens scene but nope, I could hear the "I love you" in no case. But there IS definitely a whisper - and the mentioned words makes the most perfect sense!

My thoughts are with (((Rikka))) - will you eventually see RotK tomorrow? Enjoy it!!

I too like Froback best.
------------------------

And here's an announcement: German TV airdate of EW film -
Friday, 23th, 23.15 on ARD "Verbrecher und andere Chaoten"
Don't get confused by the awful title. In fact it is "Chain of Fools" :p

Ainon: The Don't You Let Go cap!!! Thankyou!!! Frodo really does look like he's thinking: just a slight loosening of my grip and its all over.... Poor thing.

Happy Chinese New Year to all !!:)

Thanks for the update on "Hooligans"
Haven't they retitled that movie to "The Yank"?
It might be a better title (but I'm not too crazy about that either) because hooligan is such a negative and aggressive word (certainly here in Europe).

I found a possible explanation for the title change on this site (see link below)
...have you checked out another movie being released this year called Hooligans. It stars Brendan F. demspey from Waking Ned Devine, About Adam, and Braveheart to name a few. Go to www.hooligansthemovie.com It appears to be a totally different concept and is a comedy.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385002/combined

I think that it's going to be a real challenge for Elijah. I've seen some comments on various forums like "How can that elfin-like creature play a convincable hooligan".

Edit: Elijah Wood is going to be one of the presenters on the Globen Globes Awards ceremony.
Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association choose the Golden Globes which honour achievement in both film and television.

Confirmed presenters include: Nicole Kidman, Renee Zelweger, Jim Carrey, Richard Gere, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Marg Helgenberger, Jim Belushi, Elijah Woods and Uma Thurman. Actor/producer Michael Douglas is to receive the Cecil B. DeMille award (sort of a lifetime achievement honour) which recognizes ‘outstanding contribution to the entertainment field’). And take a close look at Miss Golden Globes – that’ll be Lily Costner, actor Kevin Costner’s 17 year old daughter.
Source: www.ctv.ca

"Celebrity Presenters to Receive the Royal Treatment at the Golden Globes Worth More Than $26K" :eek:
If you're curious about what they're getting: follow the link
http://entertainmentworld.us/EW/templates/gossip (http://entertainmentworld.us/EW/templates/gossip.asp?articleid=1795&zoneid=15)

PS Honeyelf: great avatar! :)

At Lincoln Center on the 10th when the actors were discussing their upcoming projects someone asked Elijah about whether the title of this film had been changed, and he said something to the effect that they had tried to disguise it by inventing another name for the project (I had the impression it was for one of the usual reasons, security, marketing, something like that) but that the effort wasn't really working and it was definitely called "Hooligans."




(Of course he could be............ wrong.)

from Hobmom:
Where is our elusive and mysterious Serena?

Here, here, just back from LA, NZ, Oz, India and lately Belgium, and missing you guys like crazy!!!!!! I really can’t express how good it feels to be back amongst you at last. There have been such amazing posts recently (welcome Moondancer of Flanders, Dangermouse, Steelsheen, ElenorSam, Hobbityme, Lady Wendy of Greater London, Random …. anyone I’ve forgotten?) that it’s taken me days and days to catch up, and I still haven’t read pages 207-209 (have signed the petition, though – just hoping some of the more fangirlish comments in there don’t do more harm than good).
So many things to say - it will take me about 10 posts to catch up (be warned!). But:
Thank you for missing Mariole and me (((((((Faculty)))))))
[Had to laugh the other night when watching namesake film on BBC1 and seeing the school staff disappear at regular intervals into the Faculty Lounge. Liked the film far far better this time – you’re right, Mariole, it’s better viewed as a total spoof – and thought Elijah did a brilliant job with Casey: his voice, body language and of course facial expression were all totally in character and very unlike the real Elwood. And he was only 17 at the time. Truly amazing. My initial reservations were mainly about seeing him in yet another wimp role (not to mention about half the height of some of the other characters), but that’s, erm, sort of redeemed by his being hailed as the hero at the end. I think.]

from Hobmom:
Surely there are computers wherever she is.
From time to time there were, and I felt drawn to them much like Gollum to the Ring, but kept being snatched away by Sam – er, my travelling companions (more about them, I fear, in due course), plus, I have to admit, the rival lure of seeing as much as possible of the southern hemisphere while I had the chance. We travelled almost non-stop except on Xmas Day, when the few computers at Fox Glacier (west coast, South Island, NZ) were in constant use by …. Orli fans? Other Faculty members? No, I jest: mainly people sending Xmas emails to ALL their friends. So went to look at glacier and Lake Matheson instead.
But to get back on topic: for much of this trip I had a funny feeling we were following where Elijah had trod just 2 weeks earlier! (Me late as usual.) First stop was his former home town of LA, where we stayed in the downtown hotel where the Oscars had been held in the 1930s and visited (inter alia) the Kodak Theater, where he will of course be - oh yesssss! - on February 29 (have I got the date right?). Which reminds me:

from Hobmom:
We need your positive thoughts

Thinking them like crazy! Exuded them like mad in that theatre, I can tell you, looking straight at the seat Elijah sat in 2 years ago. That is HIS seat, right? As soon as an image of, say, SA attending the Oscars unaccompanied by EW crosses my mind I CANCEL IT. No such thought has crossed my mind or yours, OK? Elijah has that nomination in the bag. Have faith, you unbelievers! ;)
Anyway, back to the path-treading: in LA airport shop, what should we see but a pile of extremely glossy and (dammit) heavy Angeleno mags with THAT astonishing, breathtaking, mesmerising face, grave and ghostly pale, gracing the front cover. Caption: "Elijah Wood leaves us breathless”. And how. Quickly bought one while friend not looking (more on that topic later). (Should have bought more – sorry, chaps! Stuff the baggage allowance!) Checkout girl takes one look and exclaims, “Oh, he’s soooooo cute! He was in here two weeks ago. I just couldn’t believe it was him! And he was soooooo nice – very polite. My friend and I had our pictures taken with him”. So here was I standing in the very spot where Elijah had stood two weeks earlier on his way to Wellington for the world premiere (it was the New Zealand departures section of the airport). I positively floated off to the plane (not the Frodo plane, sad to say; I hope they at least reserved that for Frodo himself! Did see and photograph the Aragorn plane at Auckland airport, however). During flight, Air NZ documentaries galore (with interviews – Elwood in two highly-contrasting hair phases) about how much the LOTR cast and crew loved NZ. The 90-minute radio programme about LOTR featured a British journalist who talked about “Elijah Wood …. this remarkable-looking young man, possibly with blue contact lenses” :confused: So much for checking your facts. Hope Sir Ian, who did the main commentary, put the guy right on that one (i.e. smacked his hand).

Note on that Angeleno mag: it’s remarkably consumption-oriented and not Elwood’s usual style at all (ditto the Golden Globes gift pack contents – most un-Elwoodian IMVHO. But when is that, and will we in Europe get to see it?). Angeleno seems to consist entirely of ads for extremely expensive luxury items, apart from the occasional arty fashion shoot, which the Elwood feature was. I was really surprised to see such a huge feature on him in there, but I’m not complaining! Some of the inside pics I find, well, a little too feminine-looking for comfort (the lilac shirt one in particular), but what the heck: others are simply gorgeous What really interests me is the article, by one Jessica Hundley. It starts like this:
The moment you meet Elijah Wood, it’s obvious why he was chosen for the role of Frodo, the young hobbit who (etc.). He is tiny, but also unexpectedly muscular and possessed of an athlete’s natural grace. And then, of course, there are the eyes – as wide and blue as the sky spread above his home state of Iowa. Wood’s eyes seem to see everything, and it’s difficult, in fact, to look into them, for fear both of sinking in and of revealing too much of oneself. But the sweet-natured 23-year-old’s (sic) similarity to Frodo is more than physical. There is something about him that seems almost magical, a kind of electric hum which shimmers in the air around him.

At last an interviewer who herself has eyes to see! So there it is again – the crystalline glow, the inner Galadri-lighting, this time expressed in tactile/auditory terms. It really is astonishing how so many who meet Elwood remark on this! I can’t remember reading such things about anyone else, ever.

But back to the trip: our second overnight stay in NZ, in Rotorua, North Island, was at a place run by one of Peter Jackson’s many cousins, who had been to all three premières but (sadly) failed to meet any of the stars. What a small place NZ is!
Next day: Hobbiton, aka Matamata – the one LOTR set still partly in place, following a long fight between the owners of the farm/local people and New Line (NL finally relented and now allows guided tours of the site). And, guys, it really is worth a visit. The Party Tree is there in all its glory, the whole party site, the lake, even the remnants of outer Bag End – remarkably tiny (of course), and with the very steps our Frolijah walked up wearily on his way home from the pub. You can stand in front and look out at the very scene over which Bilbo and Gandalf send their smoke rings/galleons before the party. And we saw the spot at which Fro jumped off Gandalf’s cart, and even the small bank he stood on to greet Gandalf at the very start (scarcely recognisable without all the special greenery put in place for the film). (Incidentally, I read somewhere that the very beginning, that stunning shot of Fro standing up and his face breaking out in that grin of delight, was filmed during the FOTR pickups – so he was all of 20 by then!)

And then: Wellington, the Embassy Theatre and …. ROTK. To be continued ....

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dougie.brimson/Hooligansposter2.JPG

Hmm, looks like a variation on Camera Angel #1 to me. :p

ainon, lovely caps! Err -- You wouldn't happen to have access to those sketches over the credits, would you? ;) :o

Serena! So nice to see you back -- and with such an interesting report. Welcome! Waiting happily for installment #2.

Re: Hooligans -- I think one of the problems with actors being typecast is that people fall in love with them in a particular role, and then can't visualize them in anything else. (Of course, I think every actor has their limit, but some of them have pretty big limits as to what they can handle!) I'm glad for that reason to see Elijah taking a role so against type, even though I don't like violent films. I remember one of Liv's comments to her dad, when he was wondering who did her "voice" for the film: "It was me, Dad, I'm an actress!" LOL. Well, Elijah is an actor, and a darned good one. I hope he successfully shows the world he's more than just plain old Frodo, savior of the universe. :p

Love all the discussions and pics, ladies. Will say more when my pig freezes over -- I mean, when my deadlines are met.

Serena, hey, welcome back, girl :) :k !
What Mariole said - waiting happily for report Nr. 2!

Ok, this is Japanese, but I think it is also very fitting for Chinese New Year ;)

http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/Elijah_bow.jpg

( from the RotK release in Japan)

Year of the Monkey, did you say?
That, if I'm not mistaken, means it's Elijah's year.
2004.
Don't forget that ;)

PS great pic, Whiteling!

Ack! Potential conflict Sunday night: Deep Impact and the Golden Globes, which I wasn't going to watch until learning here that Elwood will be a presenter.:cool:

At least he might be able to use the surfboard listed as part of the gift pack. :D He'll probably give the rest of it to his mom and sister. He doesn't seem like the spa vacation or fur coat type.:p

peaceweaver, it's okay! I always make the same mistake!

tgshaw and ainon you're welcome!!!

The next bit may be more interesting for all you folks!

Okay, so, in all my curiousity, I actually emailed Dougie and this was his reply:

Hi Cheryl

I am humbled by the praise and thrilled you liked The Crew. You might be interested to discover that plans are already well advanced to film that later this year so fingers crossed, I could be a busy boy for a while.

As for Elijah, when his name was first mooted for this part, it took me about 2 seconds to realise he was the perfect choice. The main reason being that the journey the character has to go on is a very complex and as a result, the role requires the actor to adopt a variety of different personas. Of course there are hundreds of actors who could do that but what Elijah has which is unique is that he has a specific look and manner which is ideal for the movie. I don't think any of those hundred actors could take this role to greater effect than Elijah. It calls for subtlety and brashness at the same time.

The fact that he's a great actor doesn't hurt either!

As for screenings, to be honest, I have no real idea about any of that at the moment as that'll be down to the distributors. The best advice I can give is to keep watching my web site for news.

Best

Dougie


Just to let everyone know, the last part was asking where the movie will be screened. When I got this in my inbox, I almost flipped. I felt this little jig in my heart and well, it really made my day. Elijah and "complex role" in the same sentence tends to do that to me ;)

Originally posted by hobbityme
...I don't think any of those hundred actors could take this role to greater effect than Elijah. It calls for subtlety and brashness at the same time.
...
The fact that he's a great actor doesn't hurt either!
Dougie
Wow, thanks very much for the letter and the reply.
:) :)

I agree that certainly "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" and now "Hooligans" seem to be good choices - against the Frodo type (interesting scripts).

The biggest mistake Elijah could make was to choose a role quite similar to Frodo (good guy, cute, the one who saves the day, romantic,...). It would be the save money option but that's not what Elijah is all about, I think.
I'd like to see him in a romantic role, being the good guy too but he needs to emphasise his versatility.
All this is making me very curious about Hooligans.

So, it's the year of the monkey? Ha! That's at least one thing I have in common with Elijah.

Moondancer ~ TOTALLY agree about Elijah's smart career moves.

And just to do add to all this news, this is what Moriarty from AICN had to say about Elijah and Eternal Sunshine Trailer:

"Looks amazing. I am particularly pleased to see Elijah Wood doing something this cool after LORD OF THE RINGS. I talked to him about this when I ran into him at the ANIMATRIX showing at The Egyptian last May, and he described it as one of the most intense experiences of his career. He seemed to be infatuated with Gondry and the rest of the cast and the film in general, and who can blame him? Can’t wait."

The new trailer is here by the way!
http://mp3content01.bcst.yahoo.com/proot1/PubShare03/yahoomovies/5/5662934.mov

Hobbityme,
As for Elijah, when his name was first mooted for this part, it took me about 2 seconds to realise he was the perfect choice. The main reason being that the journey the character has to go on is a very complex and as a result, the role requires the actor to adopt a variety of different personas. Of course there are hundreds of actors who could do that but what Elijah has which is unique is that he has a specific look and manner which is ideal for the movie. I don't think any of those hundred actors could take this role to greater effect than Elijah. It calls for subtlety and brashness at the same time

Wow, what a fantastic e-mail to get back from Dougie...
and I think he's quite right about Elijah's capabilities as an actor, especially the part about being able to adopt various personas, and being able to take a character along a complex path during the course of a film storyline - his rendition of Frodo's journey is witness to that - his internal style of acting certainly lends itself to that ability very well, imo !!!
It's gratifying that these people in positions to give him the work, seem to be of a like mind...


Serena,
Hello, I haven't met you yet, but I assume you are a regular denizen of this thread...thank-you for the welcome, and your holiday sounds absolutely FAB !!! I'm looking forward to hearing about the rest soon, particularly the bits of Elijah-related stuff..you can tell I'm a bit of a fan, can't you :D !!

I'm off to see ROTK tomorrow with a few friends from TORC, as I mentioned before...only my second viewing, unlike SOME people here...Leicester Square is the best place to see films in London, high ticket prices notwithstanding (£10.50 or thereabouts :eek: )
and that's why I reserve it for only the BEST films !!!

I think that it's going to be a real challenge for Elijah. I've seen some comments on various forums like "How can that elfin-like creature play a convincable hooligan".


All I can think of is (and I wasn't in LotR fandom at that point): "That kid from Deep Impact?!? Kill me now!" :eek:

It sounds like The Lad has made a good choice of a role that is miles away from a gentle hobbit. He'll get to stretch his ol' acting muscles and hopefully, at least if this movie gets actually seen and doesn't go direct-to-video, will enable people who didn't think he was acting in LotR to see that the he isn't Frodo,and can step into another character's skin quite well.

As for "elfin": it's about soccer, right? Soccer guys aren't necessarily big; they're fast and agile and aggressive. They aren't built like Sherman Tanks the way football (USA version) players are in the USA. EW would fit well in that context. As for playing a convincing hooligan - haven't they seen the left side of his face? Big blue eyes that can look sweet and loving and angst-y can also look like blue lasers.

Oh, this is one I'll go to see. :)

~grumpy

p.s. re: poster: :::: THUD :::: (not swooning, just thudding) He's not the most comfortable person to look at sometimes, is he? Of course, if we've got journalists talking about his Galadriel-lighting, then I don't feel so bad about some occasional THUDding. ;)

Originally posted by zkgrumpy
it's about soccer, right? Soccer guys aren't necessarily big; they're fast and agile and aggressive. They aren't built like Sherman Tanks the way football (USA version) players are in the USA. EW would fit well in that context. As for playing a convincing hooligan - haven't they seen the left side of his face? Big blue eyes that can look sweet and loving and angst-y can also look like blue lasers.
blue lasers? LOL

Nope, soccer guys aren't necessarily built like Sherman Tanks. True. Some of them are: it's a good feature for the defense players though (they have to be strong and able to do a good tackle and withstand an attack) but in soccer, a lot of the good attackers (the goalgetters) are not so big, very fast and they can change their pace and rhythm (running direction, speed,...) very fast.

But "hooligans" is a term, not used for the soccer players themselves but for the supporters. Not every supporter of a soccer team is a hooligan of course but those labelled as hooligans tend to have a certain look and aggression is key here.
Most of the soccer teams have hard core supporters but some teams attract more hooligans than others and matches between certain soccer teams are almost like gang wars.
In two weeks, there will be a major soccer match in my home city (the two big teams of our city have to play against each other). The teams are not that important (they're in the 3rd division) but the tension will be very high: lots of security, police on high alert, a lot of red cross teams and ambulances ready, blocked off city sections,...
Last time they had to play against each other was not a pretty sight.
So....I don't know where Elijah's character will take him and how far he will go into this hooligan stuff (like with gangs, there is a hierarchy in the hooligan gang of a soccer team). But if he has to play a hard core hooligan, I'm expecting one of his crew cuts or something like that.


Press Conference in Japan - Billy, Dom, Elijah, Andy and Viggo: you can find it on the following site (it's quite long, but it has its good moments)
http://www.excite.co.jp/cinema/special/lotr3/
(most of it is in Japanese, but there's a trailer you can watch and the press conference)

Whiteling:
As for Frodo's Isilduresk smile, I guess there is even a bit of morphing, wouldn't you say? Am I imaging things or is his nose different shaped?

Isn't the slight skewed look of that picture just because the aspect ratio is a bit off? I think that was all Lij! And wasn't it an amazing smile when he claims the Ring? Absolutely chilling. I knew he could do it, and was so glad that PJ et al did not opt for freakish special effects for this moment, but let our boy do what they pay him to do.

That thing they did to Ian Holm in Rivendell with the goblin face was so unnecessary. If any of you Johnny Depp fans have seen a little thing called "From Hell" you know that Ian Holm can be SCARY.

Serena, welcome back! Neato report. You don't like lavendar shirt? :) I have to admit I like it very much.

Hobbityme! An e-mail from Dougie! Wow! Does that make it officially one degree of seperation for you? :cool:

Moondancer:
So....I don't know where Elijah's character will take him and how far he will go into this hooligan stuff (like with gangs, there is a hierarchy in the hooligan gang of a soccer team). But if he has to play a hard core hooligan, I'm expecting one of his crew cutts or something like that.

Interesting that the fauxhawk appeared about the time his casting for "Hooligans" was announced, dontcha think?;)

I saw a thing called "Breakfast with the Arts" the other day. It had a looooong segment on ROTK with interviews with the cast including Elijah with his 'hawk. My daughter takes one look:eek: , and says to me "What's with that?" :rolleyes:

Honey!

Reading all this stuff on both "Eternal Sunshine" and "Hooligans" is getting me excited for the coming year (after feeling a bit down that there wasn't any Frodo in the coming year).

I am sure EW can pull off a hooligan: after seeing him hnadle the transformation from gentle boyish Frodo of the beginning of FOTR, to the starved, almost driven mad, ring possessed Frodo of ROTK, I think he can do anything.

The NZ trip sounds fantastic. I went during the summer, but only had time to go to the South Island. Now I want to move there, it's so pretty.

Wow! This thread has started moving like lightning - how shall I ever manage to catch up ?!? :eek:

After very quick late-night browsing: I'm sure Elijah can do very well in the Hooligans role. No worry on that account - But it'll be very interesting to know who the other as yet unnanounced actors are.

But, - uhm - when did hooligans start wearing *eyeliner*? ;)

Has This FYC poster (http://www.newstands.org/lotrrotkfrodosam61.JPG) been posted over here yet?


This is the very first time such a lot of the actors are travelling to Japan, - wonder if they do it because it's almost the last premiere of RotK *ever* that they will be able to attend; - or because they're under contract with New Line to promote and New Line wants to do all they can this final instalment to push RotK to better results in Japan than the previous two LotR films..... Or somewhere inbetween those two scenarios. Surely it must be tiresome to do all the promotion, but fun to do it together with the other actors/friends.

Love polite!Lij bowing to the audience. And PJ's attire! Well, he's nothing if not himself, always.


Rikka: Have you seen the film by now? You'll return and let us know what you thought of it, I hope! :)

Eyes like Lasers? and Crew Cuts?

Doesn't Anybody remember when Frodo attacked Sam? Didn't his eyes seem like two blue LASERS? I mean what would You do in this situation? (Without Sting of course, just his bare hands. :eek: )

As for the Crew Cut hair, will it be like Stu in "The War", all grown up into a delicious looking Man? LOL :D :rolleyes:

Serena, WELCOME BACK! (((serena))) Waiting eagerly for your story to continue!

Hobbityme - thanks for sharing the e-mail reply! :cool: You have e-mail from someone who's created the part Elijah is going to play. Okay. Whoa. :cool: And another honourary Faculty member looks like, from the way he's gushing appreciation. :D Was Elijah was offered the part, or did he go for it?

Whiteling - cute pic! And Maeg - oh, that's lovely. Here're a couple more. Note that on the ensemble poster only one person's credited Best Actor. ;)

http://home.ripway.com/2003-7/13204/sLOTRensemble.jpg

http://home.ripway.com/2003-7/13204/sfvarietyFYC.jpg


Originally posted by erendis
ainon, lovely caps! Err -- You wouldn't happen to have access to those sketches over the credits, would you? ;) :o

Alas, no. :o :(

Originally posted by Maeglian
And PJ's attire! Well, he's nothing if not himself, always.
It probably makes it easy to get through security checks at the airport :D .

Can only repeat after everyone else--Welcome back to Serena and thanks for the email sent and received, hobbityme! :) !

Some folks on the other side of the pond might be surprised to know that in the U.S., "hooligan" is an old-fashioned, rather mild term for a wrongdoer--one or two steps worse than a "rascal," although the term "hooligan" is usually reserved for someone who actually breaks the law. IIRC, it did have stronger connotations a generation or two ago. I don't know that the word even has a definite definition in the U.S., but until I started hanging out here I had no idea of the soccer-related use of the term. So if the movie goes into wide release here (hope, hope, hope!!), it should open a lot of eyes (including mine!).

scs: You mean like this ;) ? --

http://www.frodolivesin.us/b3ace2f0.jpg

Originally posted by tgshaw
[Some folks on the other side of the pond might be surprised to know that in the U.S., "hooligan" is an old-fashioned, rather mild term for a wrongdoer--one or two steps worse than a "rascal," although the term "hooligan" is usually reserved for someone who actually breaks the law. IIRC, it did have stronger connotations a generation or two ago. I don't know that the word even has a definite definition in the U.S., but until I started hanging out here I had no idea of the soccer-related use of the term. So if the movie goes into wide release here (hope, hope, hope!!), it should open a lot of eyes (including mine!).

Ha...so it's a mild term in the US? Well, indeed our understanding of the term is different and very grim.
The worst experiences we've had here in Belgium was in Brussels. A match between a UK soccer team and an Italian team.
The violence started early and before you knew it: mayhem, people being crushed, killed, beaten to death and that before your very eyes while you were watching a sports game on tv. The hooligans are usually only a small part of the supporters. So, they start the mayhem (in this case during the match), everybody starts to panick, people want to get out (which is not easy in a closed off sports arena), so they throw everything and everybody on the ground in their way out.
It was terrible to witness. I remember it like it was yesterday and I couldn't believe my own eyes.
But that's only a very extreme example of it.

But I want to stress that soccer is usually a fun sport so it's only a small part of it and I don't know if the hooligans in this movie are meant to be hard core hooligans. We'll see.

Now, to end my post on something more positive:
I saw this little snippit on the always.ejwsites.net site...a story with a huge awwww...factor. ;)
Frodo Lends a Helping Hand
There was an uproar at the Central Japan International Airport as fans assembled to meet the stars of the last film in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy: The Return of the King. Actors Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortenson, Andy Serkis, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd and director Peter Jackson were given a very warm welcome as they stepped off the plane, with fans showering them with bouquets of flowers. Young Japanese girls were screaming for Elijah Wood as he led the group. The mob of fans were so excited that amidst the rush to get signatures, two fans were pushed to the ground and could have been seriously hurt had not Wood managed to notice. He diverted the large crowd and helped the two up asking if they were alright. Return of the King will be showing here on February 14.

From The Asashi Shimbun

Serena the Erudite! Welcome back! We need your positivity!
I do believe I saw your signature on my Elijah Oscar petition. Thank you very much!

I still think Elwood can get that Oscar. NL really is putting him out in front in all the PR that's going on, and in the posters and ads as well. He's been mentioned as a 'dark horse' candidate for the award and isn't that what they were saying about Adrian Brodey last year? Also they said Adrian was too young for an Oscar but... he won!

I loved reading the report about Elijah being so 'take charge' at the Japan airport to help those two girls. He seems to be doing that more and more. If something needs doing he just ups and does it!

And at that hour-long press conference he seemed the one who took the lead in what the group...even PJ... did. Indeed PJ followed the Hobbit-lead like a NZ sheep. Very cute!They seemed to look to Elijah as the leader of the pack. And it seems almost unconcious on Lij's part. He's not pushy at all. He just does things and the others follow. Quite like Frodo!

And he took the lead in the little bits of silliness after the press conference was over, like switching their name cards around and getting them to dance in a kick line, etc.

Here PJ is being quite obedient to the Lead Hobbit about the name card.
http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/lineup3.jpg

Lij starts to dance...
http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/lijdance.jpg

Then they all join in..
http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/lijdancekick.jpg

They wave goodbye.
http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/wave.jpg

Lij jumps for joy.
http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/lijjump.jpg

More Japan Pics Here (http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/)

Also in Hooligans it seems to me that Elijah does not specifically play a hooligan but an American journalism student ( I think) who is wrongly expelled from Harvard and who goes to England and gets involved with..perhaps in writing about.. the hooligans. Rather like Dougie who writes about the hooligans but doesn't seem to be one himself.

Those pictures are adorable. Thank you!!!

Where I grew up (former USSR), "hooligan" is also not a horrible term. It's someone who might graffitti, or be loud and obnoxious, but not an uber-violent sicko soccer hooligans seem to be. An old person might call a young kid or boy/girl who is being loud and obnoxious a "hooligan." When I was little and would be "naughty" my grandma would often call me "hooliganka" (a female version).

On EW and Oscar: it would be great (though unlikely). I've seen all the potential Oscar contenders and he gives by far the best performance of the lot. Here's crossing my fingers for Tuesday morning.

Reading all this stuff on both "Eternal Sunshine" and "Hooligans" is getting me excited for the coming year (after feeling a bit down that there wasn't any Frodo in the coming year).
Oh, I'm so looking forward to Elijah's new movies -- even the penguin one. :p But have no fear, Dangermouse, we will get one more Frodo fix yet. The EE for ROTK is coming out. I'm sure we'll have more Frodo and the Orcs for our viewing pleasure. I'm still holding out for a hideous Weathertop throwback once Frodo reaches the Shire, causing him to shriek and clasp his shoulder and fall to the ground, and make Sam run in all concerned (ah, I'm killing myself here), but we'll see. I firmly stood by my "nothing but artful lighting" stance for the CU scene, and look at what happened to me there -- pants. Pants and underwear. Sigh. But I can always dream. :)

Maeg, you're so right. Barefoot!PJ cracked me up.
It probably makes it easy to get through security checks at the airport
Tg, you're wicked! *snerks it up*

Hobbityme, loved Dougie's email. Thank you. :k

from Moondancer
two fans were pushed to the ground and could have been seriously hurt had not Wood managed to notice. He diverted the large crowd and helped the two up asking if they were alright.
All right, I'll say it: aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! :cool:

Hobmom, loved your annotated Japan pics. Very cute -- and interesting!


Interesting (and alarming) discussion of hooligans. I may be going against the majority here, but when li'l Frodo wrinkles his nose and goes after Sam with Sting, he still looks cute. I'm sorry, but he does. He's the gerbil who roared. I think he'll be great in any character-driven role, but he just doesn't ever look physically scary to me.

Hoping all dark-horse Elijah-will-come-through thoughts cause a disturbance in the universe as we know it. Wouldn't it be a positive sign for our culture if Elijah was nominated over (insert testosterone-driven male hero of your choice)?

Thank you for the welcomes, dear friends :k It’s so good to be back amongst like-minded people I can’t tell you (will explain that in due course).

And it’s fantastic to read Dougie’s email, hobbityme – congratulations on that! :) – and Moriarty’s comments on ESOTSM (I already knew he was a Elwood fan, but it's nice to see it confirmed yet again!). It does me old heart good to know there are guys out there who appreciate him for something other than his pretty face, and can actually see what we see so clearly.

I see what y’all (except Mariole, it seems! ;)) mean about the left side of Elijah’s face: quite scary! It’s mainly the curl of the lip on that side, but there’s also the slightly protruding left eye …. Makes him all the more fascinating and versatile. And yet the overall Lij is so angelic! William Blake would adore him if he were around today (and who’s to say he isn’t? – she asks darkly. If Elijah can be a thousand-year-old soul ….).

Golden Globes: had a look at the “official site” today here (http://hfpa.org/html/GoldenGlobeAwards-2004.html) to find out when it takes place, and EW’s name is not on the list of presenters! Anyone throw any light on this?

I just LOVE that Japanese site! It’s so Elijah-centric it’s not true. He seems to have been THE big star of the film in Japan right from the start. I put this down to the good taste of young Japanese girls (plus, possibly, the fact that EW is the same height as most Japanese and so makes them feel comfortable AND has eyes that, to Asians, must seem quite unbelievably exotic [not thet they would to us, of course ;)] AND has the type of beautiful skin that I’m told is appreciated there). My current dream? An Academy made up of Japanese girls, Dougie, Moriarty, Harry Knowles, Sir Ian, PJ and us ..... :D
By the way: New Line :k

Also by the way, Sir Ian (not SA, note) has been nominated as Best Supporting Actor in the UK BAFTA awards (to be held 15 February).
And incidentally, I too have been having a few problems with Sean (screaming at him to shut up and let Elijah or Andy speak in the TTT commentaries and elsewhere, for example), but he has said such wonderful things about Elijah in the past that I can forgive him everything (“Elijah Wood is a thousand-year-old soul in a 20-year-old body”, “I learnt so much from watching him", “He has more confidence, more comfort in his own skin, than anyone I’ve ever met”, “I might not have survived the journey had this young prince of an actor not taken me under his wing” and so on). And Elijah supports him to the hilt. So go Sean!

Originally posted by serena
I see what y’all (except Mariole, it seems! ;)) mean about the left side of Elijah’s face: quite scary! It’s mainly the curl of the lip on that side, but there’s also the slightly protruding left eye …. Makes him all the more fascinating and versatile. And yet the overall Lij is so angelic! William Blake would adore him if he were around today (and who’s to say he isn’t? – she asks darkly. If Elijah can be a thousand-year-old soul ….).


Originally posted by mariole
I think he'll be great in any character-driven role, but he just doesn't ever look physically scary to me.
There are more ways to scare people than being physically scary, no?

I don't know if this is going to work but I'm going to try and insert a picture here:

http://www.frodoforever.com/rotkgallery/rotk14.jpg
http://www.frodoforever.com/behind/beh22b.jpg

Can you see it?
This is not exactly an angelic look, is it?

Originally posted by Mariole
I may be going against the majority here, but when li'l Frodo wrinkles his nose and goes after Sam with Sting, he still looks cute. I'm sorry, but he does. He's the gerbil who roared. I think he'll be great in any character-driven role, but he just doesn't ever look physically scary to me.

But you know, I think he could be... Very scary looking. Sort of 'Children of the Corn' type scary... :eek:

Oooo... Bring it on, baby! :D

Thanks for all the wonderful discussions - I am quite looking forward to Hooligans too. I have wanted to see him do something dark for a long while - I think he would be brilliant at it.

Too much more to make sure I mention everyone... so I will just have to say - wonderful, interesting and provocative, ladies - thank you!

Ariel

Hi everybody!
It's a deep night in Moscow, I'm just from the theater and totally exhausted… So I'm in now only for a moment – to say that I LOVE this movie! I started to cry again and again – many times through these 3h20. I never thought I would cry so much… .And now I feel in my heart the same pain and same bittersweet feeling as after reading the book. PJ is genius! There are a great number of things I love in PJ's ROTK (this is unbelievably rich, intense movie). But EW's Frodo in ROTK became a shock for me… He did it better that I could imagine. When I close my eyes now I immediately see Frodo's face –when he said the Ring was gone and he can see the Shire again…oh… and than I hear his voice saying "and it was saved, but not fo me"… Sorry, I fell the tears in my eyes again.
Many kisses. I love you all and be back at the Faculty as soon as I can to say more.

Welcome back, Serena! Thanks for the report(s)! Love that Japanese crowd one. Reminds me of a Lords of the New Church concert I went to where Stiv Bator pulled a girl out of the mosh pit who'd been bashed and then read out the rowdies who'd clobbered her at some length. Totally *not* the sort of thing you'd expect of Stiv Bator. :D

But completely unsurprising when Elijah does it. :p

Originally posted by Mariole
Wouldn't it be a positive sign for our culture if Elijah was nominated over (insert testosterone-driven male hero of your choice)?

My problem is that if he gets a gold guy for ROTK, or nominated for same, the ones being ignored aren't testosterone-driven male heroes but the other actors in LOTR! I'm feeling very ambivalent about him winning an Oscar for that performance. Yes, it was excellent, but it wasn't the *only* excellent one in that movie, and, I dunno... mumble mumble...

The fact that I figure he's destined to get an Oscar eventually anyhow has no influence on this ambivalence. Neither does the fact that for some reason I don't think getting one is a huge goal in his life. Not influenced at all. Nope. ;)

Is it me, or does the "Frodo/Gollum" pic Moondancer posted remind you of Boy George? Or has this been said?

I think he's pretty intimidating at the Crack of Doom, myself. And I love that picture tgshaw posted. *sigh* I don't necessarily want him to play a really evil bad guy, but something along the lines of Snape in Harry Potter would be good... Tormented and a bit violent... I could live with that, yep.

(((Rikka)))
Good to have you back, kiddo! And so glad you love it!

Sheryl

Originally posted by serena
Golden Globes: had a look at the “official site” today here (http://hfpa.org/html/GoldenGlobeAwards-2004.html) to find out when it takes place, and EW’s name is not on the list of presenters! Anyone throw any light on this?


Er...from that site: HOLLYWOOD, CA, January 22, 2004 <...> Robin Williams, Elijah Wood and Renee Zellweger as presenters at the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards to be telecast live on NBC Sunday, January 25 (8 – 11:00 p.m. EST) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Maybe I was there later after you and they updated?

Originally posted by shilohmm
Is it me, or does the "Frodo/Gollum" pic Moondancer posted remind you of Boy George? Or has this been said?

Oh, good, so I'm not going insane. Or if I am, I have company. (I agree, if you follow me.)

Mariole, I agree with you about the "hamster that roared" concept--he's adorable always! (ps, I'm more excited about Lijah as a dancing penuin voice than the others!)

((((Rikka)))) We'd waited so long for you to see what we've all seen! Glad to know you love it! :k

Hobmom :k thank you and bless you for collecting all the precious pictures out there and putting them in one place for all to see!

Finally got to the Japanese site. Oh my! All official sites should be like this.

Japanese site banner (http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0603/ainon/JapEnter.jpg)

I even managed to play the Japanese trailer ... now, I'd always figured it'd be cool to see Frodo at CoD in the trailer - just to have that glimpse of DarkEvilFrodo. I figured that'd really jolt newbies out of their seats. But even I never figured anyone would go so far as to give away the Ending! :eek:


Originally posted by serena
I put this down to the good taste of young Japanese girls (plus, possibly, the fact that EW is the same height as most Japanese and so makes them feel comfortable AND has eyes that, to Asians, must seem quite unbelievably exotic [not thet they would to us, of course ;)] AND has the type of beautiful skin that I’m told is appreciated there). My current dream? An Academy made up of Japanese girls, Dougie, Moriarty, Harry Knowles, Sir Ian, PJ and us ..... :D

LOL! Aye, that would be sheer joy - that'd be our first Faculty moot, right? Don't forget other honourary guests: Billy Boyd and Sean Astin and Dom and Viggo and Sean Bean and Fran Walsh and Phillipa (female scriptwriters highly appreciative of angstses - they are a beacon of hope to all girls everywhere) and Richard Taylor and heck, everybody!

We can always have the special one-on-one session with Elijah later ... the poor unsuspecting boy ... heh heh

Legolas is the hunk of choice here, but yes, Frodo's eyes are fascinating to behold. Before Frodo I don't believe I really bothered with people's eyes, I mean, eyes they're just there, right? Oh, you know what I mean.


Moondancer, I'll take DarkEvilFrodo at the top anytime. But GollumFrodo does creep me out in a 'not what I want to see thank you very much' way. :p Anyhow, count me in as another one really looking forward to Dark stuff from our boy. Mariole - LOL at the gerbil that roared!


I'll be at work while the Globes is on air. Will have to find ways to keep checking on-line ....

Oh, Rikka, I weep tears of happiness for you. I'm so glad you enjoyed your first ROTK viewing! (If that's the right word for your emotional ride...) ;)

Ainon, that Japanese site! *dies* Truly a people of superior taste and intelligence. Bring it oooon!

Mariole's reaction to Moondancer's Scary Photo #1: jump him! (Notice in the theatrical version that Gollum fulfilled this obligation.)

Mariole's reaction to Moondancer's Scary Photo #2: Ah, isn't he cuuuute! SQEEEE! (I know; I'm incorrigible. BuckleburyFerry and I had better watch Hooligans together, as we'll be the only ones giggling and ahh-ing through it.) :D

Sheryl, I like your Snape analogy for an Elijah bad guy. Yup, I could take that -- please! With a cherry on top. (Goodness, I'm full of spunk tonight. Signing off before I can make a greater fool of myself. 'Night!)

I am very much enjoying lurking in this thread (as always). And the Haremite in me cant help drool over the pictures. ;)

Re; Hooligans.
Here's a link you might find interesting (but also very disturbing) about Soccer hooliganism.


Hooligans (http://www.twafa.org.uk/Fascism/Nazis_and_Football_Hooligans.html)

The film could be quite disturbing for me too, depending on whether Elijah becomes a hooligan in it. (It would definately stretch his acting skills though.)
But quite a few hooligans are professional people who enjoy taking part in organised violence (not real soccer fans ) so just because he's playing a journalist doesn't mean he wont be involved in the violence. :eek: :confused: :(

OK...I found an interview from a Dutch journalist with Elijah.
In that interview he talks about Hooligans a bit (amongst other things)
I've translated the Hooligan part of it (I'll try to translate the rest later)

In april, we begin shooting Hooligan (working title). "It's about an American student, who's kicked out of school. He moves to London to live with his sister. There, he befriends a guy who's envolved in the world of soccer hooligans. You find out that those violent people are in fact average bankers and other normal people. An interesting perspective."

It's so interesting that a quiet English journalist asks which soccer team's seats he's going to destroy for the movie. "Oh, I don't quite remember that" he confesses. "It's certainly not West Ham United." Arsenal? Chelsea? Tottenham Hotspurs? suggests the journalist. "Yes, I think it's that last one, but don't publish that because I'm not 100 percent sure and these things are a touchy subject over there" says a smiling Wood, who is clearly aware of the rivalry between the various soccer teams. "I find it a fantastic sport" he remarks. "Forget the Americans with their American Football, what's the fun in that?"
Source: www.filmfan.nl

"You find out that those violent people are in fact average bankers and other normal people. An interesting perspective."

Hey-he might get to keep his hair then! :p

It's my translation of it (so, the mistakes are all my fault).

Interview : filmfan
December 17, 2003

Promoting a movie is a tough job, that much is clear when we visit the press junket in Berlin. Lead actor of “Lord Of The Rings” Elijah Wood has been very busy all day long on Saturday and Sunday to talk to the press. Afterwards, there’s a diner with prominent members of the cast and crew. After that, he has to fly back to the US for – indeed – another promotional job. Wood is a bit behind schedule when he enters our hotelroom just after 7 o’clock.

It does not show on the young actor that he has been very busy all day long, answering questions. Mostly the same questions, because there are not a lot of topics concerning the trilogy the main actors haven’t been asked questions about.
How long were you in New Zealand? (16 months for principal photography and pickups every year after that) “How about those feet?” (it took several hours to glue them to my own feet and to do the coloring but they were comfortable enough). What frustrated you the most about those feet? (Regularly, we had to put them on when we knew very well that they weren’t going to be on the film that day. On those days, we went to Peter and told him “Come on, we’re not crazy. We know how it works and we know about ‘forced perspective’. Our feet are not going to be filmed anyway, so can we put them off?” But Pete wouldn’t hear of it and said that we had to put them on for the slight chance that they were going to be in the shot. “So, they had to stay on”, grins the actor.

After these standard questions, we talk about the third film, of which not much is spoken in the interview session. Finally, filmfan dares to ask a question about a scene that is not in the books (and may be controversial). Wood seems relieved that he gets to talk about it.
We want to know what your thoughts are about the scene on the stairs of Cirith Ungol, where Frodo sends Sam home.
“Oh, were you sorry to see this scene included? Do you want to talk about it? You can tell me”, mocks Wood with a wink. Earlier in the interview, Wood was embarrassed because during a yes-no discussion, we had to correct the actor about something he thought was in Tolkiens books, but which wasn’t correct. The sweet taste of revenge…

“I think that this scene is included to give both characters something to work at; the scene where Sam and Frodo find each other again in the tower. It’s also to send the audience the message that Sam’s character grows in the third movie. No matter how everything turns against him, he does not give up. But, above all, I believe that this scene shows how big the influence of the ring is on Frodo. He actually sends away the one person, who is closest to him and this is unthinkable when you know about the relationship between the two. Despite that, Frodo does it and it shows how far he has gone”. Wood himself is not sure whether this is the real purpose of the scene. “You should really ask Pete or Philippa Boyens. Let me know if I’m right”, he adds playfully.

The real story behind the scene is actually also very interesting. “It is shot when we were still busy with “The Fellowship Of The Ring”, tells Wood. “Every shooting day outside, we had ‘wet weather coverage’; a backup-plan for rainy days. When it did rain, that scene was shot. Sean and I had no idea where we were exactly in the story. We were made-up to look like we had been crawling in the dirt for months and on that day Sean’s lines were taped. Only a year later, my part of the scene was filmed.”
This is not that unusual in filmmaking. First, all the camera angles for Sam, than those for Frodo. The death scene of Boromir was also taped in two parts: Boromir’s viewpoint, than a cosy lunch for all the actors, followed by Aragorn’s viewpoint. “but this time, there was a year in between and that’s very extreme”, says Wood.

Is there life after Frodo for the 22-year old actor?
“I hope so. But, of course, I’ll have to wait and see what comes to me. For every Mark Hamill, there’s always another one who did succeed”, remarks Wood. “Not that there’s anything wrong with Mark Hamill! He has done a lot of fun stuff”, he adds quickly. “He did the voice for The Joker in Batman, that’s cool. Seriously, that’s very cool”.
After The Lord Of The Rings, Wood appeared in the well-received movie “Ash Wednesday”, the teenage movie “Try Seventeen” and he did the voice for the animation “The Adventures of Tom Thumb and Thumbelina”. Indeed, a movie about little people. In the following year, you will be able to see him in Charlie Kaufman’s new movie “Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind”, with well-known names such as Jim Carrey and Kirsten Dunst.

"In april, we begin shooting Hooligan (working title). It's about an American student, who's kicked out of school. He moves to London to live with his sister. There, he befriends a guy who's envolved in the world of soccer hooligans. You find out that those violent people are in fact average bankers and other normal people. An interesting perspective."

It's so interesting that a quiet English journalist asks which soccer team's seats he's going to destroy for the movie. "Oh, I don't quite remember that" he confesses. "It's certainly not West Ham United." Arsenal? Chelsea? Tottenham Hotspurs?" suggests the journalist. "Yes, I think it's that last one, but don't publish that because I'm not 100 percent sure and these things are a touchy subject over there" says a smiling Wood, who is clearly aware of the rivalry between the various soccer teams. "I find it a fantastic sport" he remarks. "Forget the Americans with their American Football, what's the fun in that?"

To end the interview, we talk about Wood’s first steps into the world of music. Wood is a great lover of music and together with the other Hobbits Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan and Guns ‘n’ Roses-guitarist Buckethead, they recorded the song “Half Flings”. It’s appeared on Viggo Mortensen’s first album Pandemoniumfromamerica. “Viggo actually only asked us to come to the studio and just jam along. That’s what we did. The song turned out quite funny. Dominic and I sing a bit of it with a very high-pitched voice. It’s really fun. Viggo is fantastic”.

And than; our time is up. Wood stands up, gives a couple of signatures and his picture is taken with a couple of journalists. Before he walks out of the door, Wood’s personal assistant gives us a friendly handshake as a sign of recognition. A couple of smiles are exchanged between us about the discussion – the other journalists don’t understand what that’s all about. Then, Woods’s personal assistant gets him out of the room. In the next hotelroom, the following batch of journalists await him, to ask him the same questions for the next 20 minutes.

Moondancer, thanks so much for translating all of that!

Originally posted by quicksilver
Hey-he might get to keep his hair then! :p

LOL! I actually had that same thought! :D :D And thanks for the hooligan research. Very :eek: stuff. Europe's football hooligans make the international news but I never knew it was so organised. :(

Back on topic, please God, don't let Elijah do anything to his head before the Golden Globes. He's looking very nice and presentable now.

You might want to check this out. Click on the image to get to this really cool Japanese site filled to the brim with RotK clips and making-of stuff.



http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0603/ainon/japniftytheatre.jpg
(http://theater.nifty.com/lotr/index.htm)

You want bucketloads of angst? The behind the scenes clip of Shelob's Lair would be especially interesting, then. ;)

http://theater.nifty.com/lotr/img/b_pic09.jpg

Streaming Windows Media Player. Click on either:

Shelob's Lair - low resolution (http://theater.nifty.com/meta/BB/lotr/b_09_64k.asx)

or

Shelob's Lair - high resolution (http://theater.nifty.com/meta/BB/lotr/b_09_512k.asx)

re: Windows media clips above. Are they only audio? Or is there video too? I'm only getting audio.

I wonder if anyone got pictures of the Crowd Control incident in Japan. I'd love to see how he managed to divert a large crowd instead of having them trample him.

Originally posted by Mariole
[B]I firmly stood by my "nothing but artful lighting" stance for the CU scene, and look at what happened to me there -- pants. Pants and underwear.
:::: snicker :::: Briefs or boxers? :D Kind of makes Sam's line about walking through Mordor in "naught but your skin" superfulous (sp?), huh? Sort of like "Not asleep - dead!", when he didn't see Frodo in Galadriel's mirror because HE WASN'T THERE!

I too was disappointed that they didn't adhere more closely to that scene in the book. Plus, Book Frodo's hands weren't tied but who am I to complain? No whips, either. And disappearing cobwebs.

Plus, I'm now extremely annoyed about Faramir and Frodo because I'm just reading that part in the book. Book Frodo said: "I've told you no lies, and all of the truth that I could". About Gollum, he said that he had the care of him for a while - didn't lie. In the movie, Frodo lied his a$$ off. Harrrumph. Serious character assassination, there. Book Faramir was enough of a threat that there were some really tense moments there. They didn't haven to destroy both characters' integrity to get a point across.


Interesting (and alarming) discussion of hooligans. I may be going against the majority here, but when li'l Frodo wrinkles his nose and goes after Sam with Sting, he still looks cute. I'm sorry, but he does. He's the gerbil who roared. I think he'll be great in any character-driven role, but he just doesn't ever look physically scary to me.

...which is why that angelic face and deceptively slight body may prove a goldmine for him. An angelic appearance may mask a monster (Ted Bundy comes to mind). It was chilling enough in Ash Wednesday to see that cuteness walk into a men's room and shoot three people. Give The Lad a role where he plays a seriously manipulative Icon of Evil clad in a choirboy's face and body and I think he'll be great.

A lot of the cuteness of the Sting scene is how they shot it - the distorted perspective that they used. He did look cute and way too young. But I'll forgive his looking 8 years younger just for the change in expression.

I may never get over what They did to Faramir and Frodo, though.

:::: still giggling over "the gerbil who roared" ::::
~grumpy (I'm going to go have a LotR EE marathon tomorrow with my nephew's 5-ft. big screen!)(Woo hoo!)

Originally posted by zkgrumpy
Plus, I'm now extremely annoyed about Faramir and Frodo because I'm just reading that part in the book. Book Frodo said: "I've told you no lies, and all of the truth that I could". About Gollum, he said that he had the care of him for a while - didn't lie. In the movie, Frodo lied his a$$ off. Harrrumph. Serious character assassination, there. Book Faramir was enough of a threat that there were some really tense moments there. They didn't haven to destroy both characters' integrity to get a point across.
Preaching to the choir here.... I adore book Henneth Annun... the complexity of the dialog, the tension, the honor and diplomatic skill of both protagonists... *sigh* We lost a lot when we lost that scene - not the least of which was a REASON for Faramir to at last understand Frodo. :rolleyes:

Thank you, ainon! Those clips are wonderful! And that banner! Wow!

Ariel

Yes, Grumpy, now you know why so many Tolkien fans went on the warpath after viewing TTT. It was so baffling as to be unbelievable -- why trash both characters like this? PJ, for all his visual sense, doesn't have much character sense, IMVHO (and likely people won't agree with me on this).

My favorite "you goofed it" scene in ROTK is when Sam and Frodo in their newly acquired orc outfits (aren't they cute!) look over Mordor, and Frodo mentions that, er, they'll be caught. That's fine. Then they have Sam do this totally unnecessary line, "Well, let's make it down this hill for starters." :eek: As if Frodo wasn't gonna go? I just didn't see the point of that line -- making it seem as if Sam had all the gumption and Frodo needed to be prodded along somehow. Gak. A pointless humiliation of the character, and for what reason? :mad:

But all the younger guys got trashed to a certain amount (Aragorn is so different he's his own Movie!Aragorn, and not my Book!Aragorn at all). The older guys did okay. Bilbo (though we hardly see him in this one) is great. Theoden did pretty well after he woke up (although I still don't understand his "Rohan won't support Gondor -- oh, yes we will" reversal). Gandalf at least got to have intelligence and strength, although PJ made him too thuggy for my tastes. Gandalf bonking the Steward with his staff is funny the first time, but rings more and more false with *cough* repeated viewings. :o And him knocking over Meriadoc (in the palantir scene) and thwacking Pippin when he pledges himself to Denethor to pay the debt he owes Boromir -- what's that all about? But overall I think the older guys came out stronger than the younger guys -- except for Legolas. Elves had permission to be strong in this movie, even though poor Leggy did get saddled with some barker lines. Ah, well. It's all pretty to watch. I could watch the charge of the Rohirrim over and over again (and, I have ... erk!). :o

Whoops, got carried away. What I meant to say was, Ainon, thanks for the clip of the filming of Shelob's Lair. Wow, does that acting stuff look hard. You have to be in character and completely natural, while a crowd of at least 5 people, and usually more, shuffles after your every footstep waving cameras and microphone booms and lighting panels in your face. I can imagine how that would really "kill the mood" unless you had a lot of practice. Really interesting stuff. Nice to see how the scenes shown altered from the final version as well (such as Frodo saying the words before reaching for the phial, instead of afterwards and invoking the light).

Moondancer, thank you for that lovely translation. I'm really interested in this movie. May the Valar grant that it is distributed.

Wandering back in with some thoughts about Hooligans. I think I'm going to like this movie because I was just reading more about Dougie Brimson at IMDB and he is a funny and fascinating guy. A real Renaisance Man. And if Elijah's character has any of Dougie in him this might be almost as good as our lost and lamented Einstein. We looked at some of this before, I believe, but it seems there's more about the amazing Dougie there now.

Here's what IMDB has to say in the Dougie Bio-

"Biography for
Dougie Brimson

Having published 10 books in the last 7 years, former serviceman Dougie Brimson has emerged as one of the most prolific authors in Britain. After 18 years serving with the RAF, including both the Falklands and Gulf conflicts, his writing career began in 1996 when, after a short spell working as a TV and film extra where he collected an impressive list of credits including Jonathan Creek, Casualty, Between The Lines, Dangerfield, The Bill, and Reeves and Mortimer as well as feature films such as Judge Dread, The Fifth Element, Goldeneye and In Hitler's Shadow (later renamed The Infiltrator), he co-wrote the best-selling non-fiction work Everywhere We Go. This groundbreaking book examined the culture of football and has become essential reading for anyone with an interest in the game and its supporters. Three further non-fiction books followed and their success established the author as one of the worlds leading authorities on the issue of football hooliganism but in 1998, Dougie took a radical change of direction with the release of his first solo project, The Geezers Guide To Football. A comic parody of lads and their relationship with the great game. This book received widespread critical and public acclaim yet Dougie avoided the temptation to build on that when, in September 1999, he released The Crew. A hard-hitting thriller originally conceived following a meeting with the TV writer, Lynda La Plante. The book was an instant success and is currently being adapted for the big screen.

March 2000 saw a return to non-fiction with Barmy Army. A book described by one reviewer as the definitive examination of football and its culture. However, the success of this book merely spawned another change of direction and a welcome return to his comedy roots with Billy's Log. A lighthearted look at the hardships of life as a single male. Released in October 2000, the book was described by one reviewer as `Bridget Jones's Diary meets Fever Pitch' and is currently attracting interest from film companies on both sides of the Atlantic. In March 2001, Dougie released his third book in 12 months, a thriller entitled Top Dog. Set amongst the world of organised hooliganism in and around the East End of London, it has been reviewed as possibly the greatest ever work of football related fiction.

With his ninth book out of the way, Dougie switched his attention to screenwriting and wrote his first full-length feature with Oscar nominated director Lexi Alexander. Entitled Hooligans, the project is currently in pre-production with filming due to commence in spring 2004. His tenth book, Eurotrashed, was published in March 2003. His sixth non-fiction book, it examines the worrying spread of hooliganism across Europe and has already attracted attention from publishers on the continent eager to secure the translation rights.

An advisor to both the British governments working group into football disorder and the European commissions' football group, he is widely acknowledged within the media as one of the leading experts on the culture of both 'lads' and football. As a result, he has forged a reputation as a forthright and humorous talk show guest and his ability to discuss a wide range of issues whilst providing both strong opinion and ready wit continues to draw admiring comment from both producers and presenters alike. It also ensures that he is in constant demand.

Aside from writing, Dougie has not been shy in branching out into other areas of the media. He has co-hosted a late night comedy show for 963 Liberty Radio, wrote and presented sports films for Bravo Television and produced and presented The Stock Car Show, a 6 part series for Granada Men & Motors. In 2001, again for Granada, he co-produced and presented Madder Maxx, a 13 part series examining the diverse world of British motorsport. A role he is perfectly suited to having been involved with grass roots motor-racing for many years including successful spells in Autocross, hot rods, banger racing and Stock Cars. Madder Maxx was a huge success and is currently being repeated.

The fact that his creative talents are so diverse has not gone unnoticed within the media industry and this has led to an increasing amount of work as an ideas consultant. He is currently working on a television adaptation of his novel Billy's Log and four full-length feature film projects. An ex-Serviceman and highly qualified engineer, Dougie is an avid motorcyclist and is happily married to Tina. They have three children."

Oh, and I hope, hope, hope Elijah keeps his hair!!! He looks so much more mature and downright handsome with longer hair. The buzz cut makes him look like a twelve year old.


Here he is yesterday at the Japan premiere...Hair still there. Stay hair! Stay!!

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/lij01.jpg

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/lij04.jpg

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/Japan/8df21620.jpg

Edit-
Ainon- That site is fabulous! Clips, clips and more very pretty Lijah clips.

I am in severe Elijah overload. After waiting for ROTK and not seeing a lot of Elwood for most of last summer the absolute avalanche of all things Elwoodian is overwhelming. Not complaining though!

TORn just posted a bunch of photos from the Japanese premiere with a lot of Elijah in them.

I think this one:
http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/group/1291/view/11825

sums up why I think he is such a great actor. Looking from his normal, smiling and very young face into the anguished, tormented Frodo image behind him, it hardly seems possible that (despite physical similiarity) they are the same person.

I never had a problem with Frodo in TTT lying. Not morally at least: I see no problem with white lies, and lying to someone who you don't know is trustworthy (and probably isn't considering how the Ring is a big bad corrupter), and while you are on a secret mission, is just fine by me.

As to the line about making it down the hill: I think it highlights Sam's intensely practical nature versus Frodo's more theoretical one. That's why they complement each other so well. Sam is encouraging Frodo there: trying to buck him up. Quite natural, I'd imagine. Frodo will do it anyway, of course, but no harm in giving the poor boy some encouragement.

Confession time: I like Movie!Aragorn much better than Book!Aragorn. Book!Aragorn who I've liked at the beginning, quickly began to bore me with his "I am the heir of Isildur, hear me roar!" By the end, all he was good for was healing the hobbits :p Now, Movie!Aragorn, I swoon for unashamedly.

As to Elijah being scary. I think Frodo at CD is very scary. That look in his eyes as he claims the Ring certainly scared the bejesus out of me! He looks quite capable of murder. And when he lurches towards Gollum: :eek:

originally quoted from Elijah Wood:
“Every shooting day outside, we had ‘wet weather coverage’; a backup-plan for rainy days. When it did rain, that scene was shot. Sean and I had no idea where we were exactly in the story. We were made-up to look like we had been crawling in the dirt for months and on that day Sean’s lines were taped. Only a year later, my part of the scene was filmed.”
Ye! utuvienyes! Could this be the infamous "squash court" scene? :D

Hooligans: Darnit, does this mean that Elijah will be the American journalist who gets caught up in hooliganism or whatever? Gee darn, I was hoping he would be a real hooligan and retain that English accent. And hasn't the "tranplanted American learns about new culture"-type movie been done a thousands times, in anything from The Killing Fields to Dungeons & Dragons? I hope there's some plot twist somewhere.

Originally posted by zkgrumpy
Windows media clips above. Are they only audio? Or is there video too? I'm only getting audio.

You should be getting video and audio. But if you're on a slow modem connection like me, the video might be in jerky slide-show fashion - and I'm talking about the low resolution one! :p

Originally posted by Dangermouse
sums up why I think he is such a great actor. Looking from his normal, smiling and very young face into the anguished, tormented Frodo image behind him, it hardly seems possible that (despite physical similiarity) they are the same person.

Oh yes, Dangermouse. Absolutely agree.

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/11825.jpg


As to the line about making it down the hill: I think it highlights Sam's intensely practical nature versus Frodo's more theoretical one. That's why they complement each other so well. Sam is encouraging Frodo there: trying to buck him up. Quite natural, I'd imagine. Frodo will do it anyway, of course, but no harm in giving the poor boy some encouragement.

And it is a movie so the characters should preferably be talking aloud to each other. :D And since the characters are in the story as it happens - they don't know what's going to happen next. :D :D

I agree with you, erendis, about hoping the movie 'Hooligans' will be more than just another 'American eyewitness' story. And yes! The squash court scene it is. :) Probably another reason why I liked the scene immediately - knowing the history behind its making, so to speak. Sean is just absolutely incredible there, circa late 1999. And then for Elijah to reciprocate sometime in 2000 ... :bowdownsmileytobothofthem:

Hobmom - thank you. :k I so know what you mean about Elwoodian overload. About time, too! :)

Yay!! to the Elwoodian overload! Long may it continue!

Love all the pictures from Japan: Press conferences, and the premiere, and airport reception and all; - from all of the guys dancing on stage to Elijah holding or throwing a large golden ring surrounded by flaming torches at nigh.

And seriously, he's gotten himself a good stylist. He must have. I'm so *not* complaining.

The picture you posted, ainon, is another one of those pictorial gems combining two of the flattering camera angles, the Best Poster of Frodo Ever, and Elijah being himself and looking great. :cool: ***In fact, coolness overload***


Moondancer, thank you for translating the interview. It's great to see the squash court scene being discussed, now that we know which scene they were filming; impressive the way the two POVs were filmed so far apart in time; - and hey! I went on at length over in the trilogy forum about how this scene and Frodo sending Sam away was the culmination of one particlular part of the Ring's impact on Frodo. So I'm not complaining if Elijah interpreted it somehow the same way when he acted it! :cool:


Ditto to what was said about the demanding task of being an actor and staying in character when trailing around all those people and equipment. That never fails to amaze me. The actor is alone in the scene, yet in real life the place is teeming with people, some of them not one meter away. Yes, after a lot of fuss I eventually managed to see the small version of the streaming video with video as well as audio. Thank you, ainon. Very interesting to see! There's one bit where he falls on his butt, - again and again....Fall down. Cut. Get up. Do it again.... I hope they had a soft cushion hidden below the cobweb-and-skeleton stuff on the ground.


About Sam's line of making it down the hill: I liked it, it seemed true to canon to me, and illustrative of their character traits.
Frodo looks to the big picture, the distant goal, the small likelihood of their success, and despairs. Ever practical Sam looks to the next meal, the next drop of water, the next step on the road. Of course Frodo would have gone on anyway, he's shown that time and again - and if not before, it was decided for the movie audience in/after Frodo's vision of Galadriel.... So I don't think Sam's line reflects on Frodo at all, it just highlights Sam's very practical nature in always as much as possible looking at the next task at hand, keeping his attention on and dividing their journey into the small manageble tasks and deeds in the here and now.

Sam's line strongly reminded me of the book; - but I realized that in fact it reminds me of a scene where Frodo does not really *have* to go on anymore, but does so anyway for Sam's sake: "We could at least go further from this dangerous place here, from this Crack of Doom...[ ] Come, Mr. Frodo, let's go down the path at any rate!"


I've also realized that the one line I still *don't* really like, even though I've managed to completely rationalize it, the one Frodo speaks about how there'll be no water for the return journey, is likely to make much more sense when we get the Extended Edition RotK. We know there was a scene filmed where Sam leaves all his gear and pots and pans behind. It's likely at that time that Sam still expressed hope for the return. If so, Frodo's line will make much more sense! (Now, just how long is it to the EE? :rolleyes: )

From Moondancer's translated interview:
There, he befriends a guy who's envolved in the world of soccer hooligans. You find out that those violent people are in fact average bankers and other normal people. An interesting perspective. The violence perpetrated by some soccer hooligans in Europe and the UK is truly atrocious, and certainly if these people are "normal" people going about everyday job and family life, that's an interesting perspective, - what makes them do ugly random acts of violence in the guise of soccer "fandom?"


[Warning - going off on a limb here]

For some reason, I thought how easy it would be to change that sentence of Eljijah's to reflect on another group who aren't always understood by the world at large, but who (luckily) channel their interest and energy in other ways than violence: "There, he befriends a guy who's involved in the world of LotR fandom. You find out that those intensely engaged people are in fact average bankers and other normal people. An interesting perspective." Having now met quite a few of us rabid LotR-and Frodo fans, I'd totally subscribe to *that* sentence. Especially if it added "nice and fun and totally great to be around " into the description of the fans as well. :)
Yup, LotR should definitely catch people's interest before soccer can claim it! :D As some may recall, this mix-up of soccer and LotR fandoms has happened in my brain before. This time it may have been prompted by the following link at ToRN:Frodo-lookalike? (http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/group/1289/view/11811) I'm rather *hoping* noone here get's why I think this is funny; so an explantion is probably required. The guy who's supposedly looking like Frodo is in all probability the most world-famous Norwegian alive today. Due to the fact that he's a soccer player. And the total opposite of a hooligan, let me hasten to add!

[/End off topic strangeness :D ]


Mostly I'm looking forward to "Hooligans" making Elijah sink his acting talent teeth into a proper new lead role. That's very good. And from the new trailer, his role in ESOTSM still looks *really* small. I didn't get around to ever reading the script. I hope his role isn't just this tiny walk-on part for a couple of scenes.


Rikka, so glad you loved the film! Please come back and talk to us about it! :)

Originally posted by zkgrumpy
...Give The Lad a role where he plays a seriously manipulative Icon of Evil clad in a choirboy's face and body and I think he'll be great.
I'm kind of surprised no one's posted this yet ;) :

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/Previous movies/sing2.jpg

Maybe not an Icon of Evil :p , but definitely a seriously manipulative cold-blooded murderer. Now I have to embarrass myself :o by saying I don't remember the name of Elijah's Homicide character--a first name that sounds like a last name--Mc[something?]. (Yeah, this picture did come to mind while Todd was doing his stuff :p .)

[And apologies to Moggy--I seem to have a hard time getting the resize option to work at ImageMagician ( I thought I'd reduced that pic to 50% :o ). I'll have to remember to check the size before I upload something so I can reduce it first.]

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

In the pics from the Japanese premier, Elijah's fashion sense continues to intrigue me. Not when he's dressed the way he was on the first day, which is fairly typical twenty-something jacket, shirt (with tails out) and jeans, but the second day. Several times when he's been dressed up during the last year or so, he's worn clothes that are gorgeous and fashionable--with some kind of quirky edge added. Someone here mentioned a particular designer when Elijah wore the suit with what looked like numbers/letters on it, and I'm wondering if the suit he was wearing in Japan is from the same designer. In the picture posted above where he has his arms crossed--wow!--I love the clothes! The suit and the shirt and especially the tie! Then you see him without his arms crossed and up comes that row of trees. In a full-length pic posted at TORN, the trees are repeated on one pant's leg (which is also similar to that other suit, IIRC). I don't know that I feel positively or negatively about it--although I have to say that I like the trees much better than the "masking-tape" look ;) of the other suit. I'm just fascinated. I've never seen anyone dress like that before, which is really rather :cool: in itself. It lets him be handsome and unconventional at the same time. :)

BTW, my favorite thing about the Japanese pictures--about the captions, anyway--is that Elijah's always called the "lead" and the others are "his supporting actors." :)

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

I've been posting most of my comments on RotK over in the Trilogy forum so won't say much here. But the summary is that IMVHO the gift of the LotR movies is the images, and those are what I'll be remembering ten years from now when reading the book. In most other areas (character development, thematic development, storyline, etc.), no matter how good the movies were they'd never be as good as the book, and I tend to think the people making the movies realized that.

Maeglian: loved your description for the Frodo-Sam scene!

Ainon: thanks for posting the pic from the link. I am rather a computer illiterate about these things.

I am so excited: I've started watching my first non-Frodo EW movie! (ainon, you shuld be so proud of me :k ). It's "Bumblebee Flies Anyway," the only non-Flipper (I am sorry, I refuse, even if it is Elijah :p ) EW movie I could find in my neighborhood rinky-dinky rental place.

Warning: giddy gush follows!

I put it in with very few expectations, because I knew next to nothing about it. Wow! I am partway through into it only, but am so excited had to stop and post. I utterly love it!

Not only is the story good, and the characters interesting, but Elijah is unbelievable. I always thought he did a great acting feat as Frodo, just by watching the transformation of his character in the movie, and by comparing him to what he acts/looks like in RL, but after watching another movie with him....he is utterly amazing! Somehow, he just manages to grab me by the throat, emotionally and never let go: when he's on screen, I can't take my eyes off him, and he makes me feel the character's emotions and empasize as no actor I've seen before. I thought that a huge chunk of this reaction must be Frodo (who after all is my second favorite literary character ever), but after starting on BFA, I realize that it really is Elijah.

And those amazing eyes! He is so utterly expressive with them, and his acting is so fluid: I've read the back pages on microexpressions but it's so great to see them in action again. The moments that stand out for me so far are his quick, split-second look of amusement when the kid in the wheelchair names the outrageous name of the song he called in, or his horrified guilt when he tells one kid to "drop dead." They are so brief that if I was blinking during that scene I'd have missed it!

And I love the expression in his eyes during the free association session. So many layers of emotion in those eyes, so fluid (I know I used this word before but can't come up with another good one) and changing all the time: guilt, worry, fear, intensity...but so many different layers of that.

His face is like a mirror for his character's soul: all the emotions and thoughts are effortlessly reflected. And what is great, he is so subtle about it: there is no "I am an A-C-T-O-R, look at me act!" acting (i.e. "Give me an oscar!" style). It's beautiful, it's understated, and it's so true.

Maeg, LOL at your comparison of Hooligans to LOTR fandom. Well done!

Thank you for rationalizing Sam's line for me. That's why I'm here in the Faculty, getting my brain massaged! I can easily see how the authors might have transported the incident you mention, at Mount Doom, and tried to put that sentiment in another place (as there wasn't a lot of talking after the climactic scene, just a lot of running and jumping and Holy Cow, Here Comes the Lava! Not a lot of walking down the path, in other words...)

I regret that Frodo's often-repeated sentiment of his dedication was not given greater play, compared to how they handled Sam. Here's just one example: "I am commanded to go to the land of Mordor, and therefore I shall go," said Frodo. "If there is only one way, then I must take it. What comes after must come." Not a cheery statement, but for all of Phillipa Boyens talking about how Sam's "will was set," and how that informed her portrayal of the character, that scene comes at the foot of Mount Doom. Frodo's will was set back at the Council of Elrond, and his superior intelligence told him it was a suicide mission from the start. I'm just not sure that this comes across in the movie. (And why do I worry? But I do.)

As for Gollum, it would be nice if they'd given Elijah at least one line to let Sam know he wasn't completely suckered in. Here's from Frodo's speech to Sam before the tunnel, after Gollum has disappeared again: "Even if he's up to some wickedness, and I suppose that's not unlikely ... if it's anything, it will be some little private trick of his own that he thinks is quite secret." Which was exactly what occurred. I think if they showed Frodo continuing to give Gollum the benefit of the doubt despite his well-founded suspicions, it would have highlighted the pity and compassion that is so important for the mission to have succeeded. But I like to see clever people being clever. They do have adventures anyway, especially if they venture into Mordor. Oh, well.

BTW, my favorite thing about the Japanese pictures--about the captions, anyway--is that Elijah's always called the "lead" and the others are "his supporting actors."
Tg, you just made my day. Thanks! (Why am I so proud of that? As if I had anything to do with his success... :rolleyes: ). Sometimes I get the feeling Elijah is more recognized for his contributions outside of America, where the majority seems to want our heroes freshly oiled from the gym, preferably bearing guns. Sigh. Or maybe my hope for international recognition is just wishful thinking. But it's been clear to me for a while, based on the magazines I've seen, that the Japanese love Elijah! He's the real star there. I'm so glad that they visited Japan last in their premiere circuit, so that he can have that good memory to carry away from all this. Being the guy to toss the Ring into the fire pit -- very lovely. A much-deserved pat on the back.

Tg, totally forgot about the Homicide episode. It didn't pop up for me for SNL, probably because I've never seen it. Is it worth viewing? I agree, it seems (from the stills) that it is the genuine "evil behind the angelic face" role.

Dangermouse, I loved your Bumblebee report. I read this with a warm feeling of nostalgia. I'm afraid I wasn't thinking of microexpressions so much as how beautiful he was as Barney. :o My favorite relationship was between him and Mazzo. Please do post an update when you've had a chance to recover from it. Tell us how you liked the last line!

Originally posted by tgshaw

Maybe not an Icon of Evil :p , but definitely a seriously manipulative cold-blooded murderer. Now I have to embarrass myself :o by saying I don't remember the name of Elijah's Homicide character--a first name that sounds like a last name--Mc[something?]. (Yeah, this picture did come to mind while Todd was doing his stuff :p .)


McFee (or McPhee?) was his character's name, tg. And yes, I am slightly embarrassed that I know that! :o ;)

I also thought immediately of the choir scene in Homicide during the SNL 'Todd' skit.:D

I finished watching Bumblebee. What a good and depressing movie.

Spoilers for BFA

Elijah was amazing throughout. I was utterly relieved he didn't kill himself at the end.

Favorite little things:

The way he lets his breath out after being in Mazzo's room: you can see the horror and the pity and the panic. No young kid should have to see this stuff.

The way his eyes change from amused to wary to horrified...when he goes to see the handyman and gets the memory jolt that results in his finding the car. That whole scene is a closeup of his face and it's amazing how he conveys this swift change of emotions so brilliantly. My favorite scene, really.

His determined and deadened eyes when he decides to help Mazzo along and die in the process.

I loved his relationship with Cassidy. It's so sweet, and teenage and real. Loved the tender way he smoothed her hair off her head and how he just sat and watched her sleep: once again, no dialogue but you cold tell his feelings just from his face and posture.

And I loved their kiss: very desperate and very childish at the same time: this is how kids would kiss, not how experienced grown-ups would. It really touched me.

And the last line: WOW! I think there's puzzlement, and general quiet politeness (Barney seems to be an amazingly well-spoken person), and yet a hint of delight and recognition there (I hope, I hope). such a huge mixed up bundle of emotion. I am still amazed he pulled it off.

End of BFA spoilers

This movie made me really think about how amazing EW is. He doesn't talk much in BFA. He really relies on his facial expressions and his posture and bodily movement. It's amazing how much he is capable of conveying with no words. You don't need the clue of dialogue to know what's going on and what's he's thinking. BFA is full of these utterly silent or sparsely dialogued scenes where the focus is just on EW's face and body and you are riveted every second. I am so buying this movie!

Goldie-

McFee (or McPhee?) was his character's name, tg. And yes, I am slightly embarrassed that I know that!

It's McPhee Broadman. And I'm not embarrassed to know that.;)

Yes, everyone must see that Homicide episode. Elijah really becomes the evil McPhee. He made me actually want to smack his nasty little smirk off his beautiful face. And THAT'S great acting!

DM- Glad you got to see Bumblebee. It was seeing Elijah in that film before FOTR came out that allayed all my fears about 'this kid' playing my Frodo. When I saw how beautifully he played Barney I knew the perfect Frodo had been found.

I must get out all my Elwood movies and rewatch them.

What episode in "Homicide?" :eek:

I don't remember it. What does it have to do with Todd on SNL?
:confused: :rolleyes:

Hello again, colleagues! :)

Since the oscar noms are out on Tuesday, I thought I would drop this little piece of appreciation by. It is by Thea Posnick, a columnist at oscarwatch.com. Is she biased? The column is called, “Diary of a Hobbit Fiend” ;)

Which one of us is she?


Here is her handicap of the Best Actor race:

Realistically, I don't think ROTK has a contender who can crack the top five. Elijah Wood, the soul of the film, is the most likely to get a nomination here. But I just don't think there are enough people (outside of the diehard fans), who take his work seriously. It is one of those instances where a role has been so perfectly cast and embodied by the actor, that it doesn't seem like a performance. He is Frodo. And don't give me that crap about his acting just being a wide-eyed stare. The truth is, Elijah's eyes are almost a handicap for him. I've seen him in person more than once, he has huge eyes. Would it be a better performance if he squinted? In a year with less heavy-weight “actorly” candidates, he may have had a shot at a nomination.

Here, here!

SCS: The Homicide episode is from the mid-90's (1997?); the episode with Elwood was called "The True Test." (Why do I remember that? :o ) The program sometimes airs on Court TV, if you have cable, but you'd have to be on the lookout for the episode.

And as the photo posted suggests, in one scene EW is shown singing in a choir. :)

"Saturday Night Live" in half an hour is a repeat of the Elijah one from December...I've not seen it before...

I just came across this lovely review of ROTK in Baltimore Sun:

http://www.sunspot.net/entertainment/movies/bal-to.rings16dec16,0,2112437.story?coll=bal-movies-utility

The whole thing is worth a read but what I loved especially is that the critic seemed to get why I thought Elijah was so amazing in ROTK (I took a quick look and didn't see it posted so am quoting the relevant paragraph. Nice to know we are not alone (and that this was written by a man).

Wood and Astin as Frodo and Sam do more than hold their own with this eye-catching critter: They summon superhuman acting resources to imbue their scenes with brink-of-tragedy weight and quicksilver sentiment.

Wood pulls off the almost impossible feat of playing a character who is constantly losing character and keeping him plangent and unpredictable. You can read the profound volatility of the entire saga in the moody depths of his eyes.

I must read more of this critic's reviews now :)

Bravo, Dangermouse! Love all your giddy gushy observations on Barney! Makes me feel like I must rewatch it now. :)

Originally posted by Mariole
I regret that Frodo's often-repeated sentiment of his dedication was not given greater play, compared to how they handled Sam. Here's just one example: "I am commanded to go to the land of Mordor, and therefore I shall go," said Frodo. "If there is only one way, then I must take it. What comes after must come." Not a cheery statement, but for all of Phillipa Boyens talking about how Sam's "will was set," and how that informed her portrayal of the character, that scene comes at the foot of Mount Doom. Frodo's will was set back at the Council of Elrond, and his superior intelligence told him it was a suicide mission from the start. I'm just not sure that this comes across in the movie. (And why do I worry? But I do.)

I suppose it's just the way things are - although LOTR is one story and the film makers do talk of it as such, and it does indeed work marvelously as one story IMO - marketing for the movies has been done individually. So the maximum Frodo exposure had been for Fellowship when all the talk *had* been on Frodo, Frodo, Frodo, Frodo. Which was a very heavenly time for anyone Frodocentric to join in on the LOTR bandwagon for sure - Frodo, Frodo everywhere! :D TTT shifted the publicity focus to the Men. And for RotK it's Sam's time. Without Sam, there wouldn't be any Frodo in the third part of the story, and for that fact alone I reckon he's worth every bit of honour that the film makers bequeath on him.

And well, LOTR is one story. Frodo's will had been set at the CoE, in FotR. The scene at the river bank in FotR reinforced that Frodo's will was set. The end of TTT established that Frodo was fully aware of the price he'd have to pay, and he was willing. In RotK he keeps going even after he's all spent. I reckon short of Frodo stopping and launching into a soliloquy at the foot of Mount Doom summarising his situation thus far ;) things are pretty obvious up there on screen. I guess at some point we learn to trust the audience. :)

Although dang it, PJ should have put that soliloquy in there anyway because that would have definitely won Elijah his Oscar. Sigh. :p

tg - yeah, add a me too to the feeling that comes from reading those "Lead actor, Elijah Wood" captions.


TORn has pics from Variety posted, and this little caption quoting Elijah. I am so not crazy 'bout Elijah's hair there. Please, please, please Elijah, don't do anything to your head before tomorrow night! Please? Okay? Please?

Click on the images to get to the larger versions.

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/b/11815_b.jpg (http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/11815.jpg)

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/11813.jpg (http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/orig/11813_orig.jpg)

Peaceweaver -
Thanks for that lovely quote about Elijah's Oscar chances.
It is one of those instances where a role has been so perfectly cast and embodied by the actor, that it doesn't seem like a performance. He is Frodo. And don't give me that crap about his acting just being a wide-eyed stare.
LOL..this does sound like a comment from somebody of this Faculty.
In december, I saw a great article about it as well: about what a phenomenal acting performance Elijah did with Frodo and why it won't be recognised in the big award shows. It was a great article but I didn't keep it :rolleyes: and I can't find it on the internet anymore. (Maybe somebody posted it in here already...I'm still reading this thread but I keep on being interrupted by RL so I'm making slow progress).
On the one hand, I'm also thinking what PJ could have done to make it a bit more obvious how great Elijah is portraying Frodo. What could he have changed to push people's noses in it?
On the other hand, I would like to see the entire cast get an Oscar for the fantastic performance in the trilogy.
The Council Of Elrond is a great example of the fine collection of actors. The way Sean Bean acted those scenes made me want to see him on a theater stage. Ian McKellen's facial expressions when Frodo announces that he will take the ring to Mordor. Elijah Wood's inner struggle when Frodo is watching the one ring when the rest of the Council are arguing around him. Sean Bean and Viggo Mortensen's interaction (when Boromir obviously doesn't accept the Strider's claim to throne),...
From sunspot.net
For movies like In America and Return of the King, the Academy should follow the lead of the Screen Actors Guild and establish a best ensemble category. If presented early in the evening, an ensemble prize might cut down on the show's running time, since the lead and supporting actors wouldn't feel they had to thank everyone in their company. And a group acting award would add a much-needed touch of class to a night that's supposed to be about collaborative art, not just star power or commerce
Find the entire article (about undervalued actors,...) here (http://www.sunspot.net/entertainment/movies/bal-as.oscar25jan25,0,7893395.story?coll=bal-artslife-movies)

Dangermouse -
Wood pulls off the almost impossible feat of playing a character who is constantly losing character and keeping him plangent and unpredictable. You can read the profound volatility of the entire saga in the moody depths of his eyes.
I didn't see this before...thanks. :)

Ainon -
About one of his stranger hairstyles:
In an interview he did in Japan he was asked about the spiky hairstyle he had:
You got rid of the spiky hair that you had a few months ago when you were in New York...
Yeah, I had that for about 2 weeks that was about it.
Oh really?
Yeah, that was all it needed…
Captured forever on film…
Exactly
You can read that entire interview here:
http://always.ejwsites.net/japan2004.html

There are so many EJW movies I can't seem to get my hands on.
Chain Of Fools, that Bumblebee tv movie, the Homocide episode, Avalon (how I would love to get that), Radio Flyer (I rented it years ago, but the video store no longer has it).
So, without sufficient material...I'm only going to be a student in the Faculty but I love reading the detailled analyses.

Originally posted by Moondancer
On the one hand, I'm also thinking what PJ could have done to make it a bit more obvious how great Elijah is portraying Frodo. What could he have changed to push people's noses in it?
Now this may be totally an off base observation, but from what I have seen of the fellow, he's the one who pushes talk and praise away from himself. I also wondered about the cast and crew's tendency not to talk about Elijah (ala the TTT commentary), but when I saw him in NY, I noticed he does tend to steer the conversation away from himself - towards praise of others. I thought it might just have been my imagination before, but he really does seem to do this. It's a remarkably mature and magnamous thing to do - though frustrating for those of us who want to see him praised. I sort of felt like a mom who's kid wasn't getting the acknowledgement he should have! LOL!

Ariel

Hello Faculty!

I have finally seen ROTK! Actually I saw it about three weeks ago, but I’ve been without computer access, and so haven’t been able to log on and be part of the initial discussions. But boy oh boy I’m enjoying reading them now. Thanks to all for posting links to all the reviews and interviews. :)

I also wanted to say a very big Thank You for continuing to mark spoilers for the time you did – it was hugely appreciated.

Maeglian said:

Yay!! to the Elwoodian overload! Long may it continue!


I’d second that!!

:D

Hello all!

I registered here some time ago but never posted, so this' my first time. I've been a dedicated EW devotee for over a year now, although I'd seen many of his older films and had always been impressed with him.

So fun to see him on SNL again last night -- he really should do more comedy. He was so wide open and obviously game for anything...that's a breathtaking trait to see in an actor and that should serve him well in the future. Looking forward to tonight's Globes and to see what he wears -- yes, those suits he'd been wearing lately are definitely unique. Did you notice that the "trees" one he had on in Japan had frayed sleeves? Under usual circumstances, I'd say "oooh -- weird" but on him, it seems just right -- :D -- surely, it's that beautiful face.

I've seen ROTK 5 times now and it's still bugging me how many critics and others have remarked that the end is too long (they obviously have never read the book!). For me, that's the best part of the movie and could've gone on for hours. I do think, however, that some of the reason the end is baffling for them is that the CU scenes were not brutal enough. Not that I looked forward to watching Frodo be beaten and tortured, but IMVHO, because you don't see that physically happening in the Tower, Frodo's leaving ME doesn't seem justified, despite 1) having watched him walk to Mordor and back and everything that he suffered during the quest (some of which happens in a different movie), 2) having him saying what he's feeling in his voice-over and 3) his muted, depressed demeanor. Pete always did say "show, don't tell", and in this case, "show" would've been slightly better.

Another thing with CU -- the brutality was needed to blunt the beefcake "whoaaa" factor of seeing Frodo shirtless. For me, that broke the mood, nice though it was! You wanted his partially naked state to be heart-breaking, not titillating, which is what it ended up being without seeing him beaten. Again, JMHO.

Anyway, glad to be here and looking forward to discussing all things Elwoodian -- it appears that we will have some wonderful material coming up in the near future with ESOTSM and Hooligans.

In Fellowship,
Ann

AUUUGGHHHHH!!! Due to a series of misadventures I lost my copy of Lij's appearance on SNL, and when I tried to tape it again it didn't work! I'm hurtin' here. Does anyone know of anywhere on the web that is hosting clips???? Or would anyone be willing to copy their video tape?

Welcome Achila! As a 'Lijah fancier you have certainly arrived in the right place! :k

Another thing with CU -- the brutality was needed to blunt the beefcake "whoaaa" factor of seeing Frodo shirtless. For me, that broke the mood, nice though it was! You wanted his partially naked state to be heart-breaking, not titillating, which is what it ended up being without seeing him beaten. Again, JMHO.

Now that I've welcomed you I have to sweetly disagree with you! :D

Frodo in CU is dirty, wounded, panic stricken and covered in those icky webs; in short, he breaks my heart. He's surrounded by orcs, and thinks he's failed. I just can't feel that those scenes are very sexy. I'm also very glad that PJ didn't choose to go with the whole torture thing. Mr. Baggins didn't include that part when he wrote his story down ;) and I think he didn't because it was humiliating and painful. I'm willing to let him have his privacy in this matter.

I was probably the only female in this hemisphere, or maybe galaxy for that matter, who was glad when Frodo kept his shirt on at Rivendell because that would have been pure beefcake and completely distracted from the story.

But in CU he just looks so sad and lost that I wanna run in like book!Sam and scoop him up and take care of him!

But that's just me.

If you wanna see shirtless beefcake rent "All I Want." :D As any man ever been more adorable in his boxers and socks? :o :)

Honey!

Originally posted by honeyelf
Welcome Achila! As a 'Lijah fancier you have certainly arrived in the right place! :k

Thanks, Honey!



Now that I've welcomed you I have to sweetly disagree with you! :D

Frodo in CU is dirty, wounded, panic stricken and covered in those icky webs; in short, he breaks my heart. He's surrounded by orcs, and thinks he's failed. I just can't feel that those scenes are very sexy.

No, the scenes themselves are not, but they also don't distract from the lovely show of skin. Again, here, we may see more of this scene on the EE DVD and Pete will let Elijah show more of his anguish, but I for one wasn't truly getting it there. I think it probably had more to do with the length of the scene and the build up to it, not Elijah's acting. For some reason, the whole thing felt flat to me -- like the tension got ratcheted up and then dropped unexpectedly.


If you wanna see shirtless beefcake rent "All I Want." :D As any man ever been more adorable in his boxers and socks? :o :)


Ain't THAT the truth -- too right, Honey!

Ann

Originally posted by Achila
Another thing with CU -- the brutality was needed to blunt the beefcake "whoaaa" factor of seeing Frodo shirtless. For me, that broke the mood, nice though it was! You wanted his partially naked state to be heart-breaking, not titillating, which is what it ended up being without seeing him beaten. Again, JMHO.


Hi Achila, :)

They had to pack so much into that third movie, I understand that they had to make choices but I agree that the CU was a bit short in the movie. It's one of my favorite parts in the books. By adding in the funny moments between the orcs, fighting over the mithril shirt, it also took away a bit of the tension and the anxiety. The orcs just weren't scary enough for me.
But, from Frodo's viewpoint, I do think it comes across how awful that situation was for Frodo and how fragile he felt. I don't think it was a 'isn't he cute' scene.
(I've only seen the movie twice, so for further comments I'd have to see it again)

Originally posted by Ariel
I noticed he does tend to steer the conversation away from himself - towards praise of others. I thought it might just have been my imagination before, but he really does seem to do this. It's a remarkably mature and magnamous thing to do - though frustrating for those of us who want to see him praised. I sort of felt like a mom who's kid wasn't getting the acknowledgement he should have!
Yep, he does have a tendency to do that. In the cast commentary on the TTT DVD for example, Andy Serkis complements Elijah on his performance. He says (amongst other things) that he couldn't have done it. When Elijah gets compliments like that, his reaction is usually the same: a very quiet 'thank you'.
Is it because he's confident enough about his own abilities that he does not need the compliments to feed his own ego or is it just humility or maybe an unease to accept compliments and talk about his own achievements?
Sean Astin behaves differently. He's always very complimentary about the others: the way he talks about Elijah, Gollum and so on but when people compliment him (in interviews for example): it's very obvious that he soaks it up and begins talking about the particular thing they compliment him on.

While I'm talking about the TTT DVD: I really like Brad Douriff's Wormtongue (that bit of casting was also perfect - exactly like I imagined him in the books) and I liked his commentary.

After my previous post, I decided to contact video stores to search for Avalon and ...:) ...I found it. ,..
They no longer have Radio Flyer and the copies I can find on the internet are region 1).
At least, I can now look forward to seeing Avalon (I've never seen it).

Thanks for the food for thought on a chilly Sunday morning! I'll have to think about it all...

I dragged my sister along to my nephew's for a big-screen-tv LotR marathon. Oh, the torture!!! ;)

I couldn't believe it. Two teenage girls, my niece-in-law, and my sister (and I) sat there *glued* for 8 hours (with one or two very brief breaks) and watched both movies. Nephew was in and out. The younger grand-niece had to leave to baby-sit; I took pity on her and left both EE's at their house so they could watch the appendices (Oh, the withdrawal!). I, in turn, am holding their theatrical version FotR and Pirates of the Carribean hostage, along with my nephew's left shoe. ;)

And my sister! She brought a lot of mending along to do, and ended up not doing much of it. On the way home she said, "I didn't think I'd watch so much of the movies, but I was like, MESMERIZED!!" Fool of a Sister! ;D She's as glued as the rest of us. She even said she's ready to go see RotK now. We had some very intelligent discussion at the dinner table and afterwards - performances (got to talk about Elijah some without appearing too wierd!), themes, interpretation, book vs. movie, etc. Lovely day! Just lovely!

I noticed a few new things this time (a 5-foot TV screen definitely helps!). One, they pointed out - on the stairs of the Golden Hall, when they turn over their weapons to Hama and Gandalf whimpers about an "old man's walking stick", he then totters into the hall holding Legolas's arm for support. I completely missed that!

Also, and I may just have fallen into those enormous blue eyes one too many times, ;) I remember the photography guy (?) describing that they lit Galadriel so that her eyes reflected multiple points of light - they called it "Galadriel lighting" or something. Did they start doing something like that with Frodo's eyes along the way? That could be a very subtle reference to what I was complaining about a while back - that they didn't follow through on the "inner light" theme. Maybe they did. I don't think I noticed it all the time, but I started looking for it (Oh, the agony!) and I *think* I saw it - his eyes reflected multiple little points of light (if anyone says "thousand points of light" I'm gonna lose it!).

I also noticed, again, how pale Frodo was in Rivendell and afterwards :::: sniffle ::::

Interesting substitution, btw, with "LotR" for "soccer" in the fandom thing. We used to do something similar back in HL fandom. I will say that I have never watched Highlander or LotR during Thanksgiving dinner - but get the menfolk to turn the Big Game off during dinner! Not likely!

I hope The Lad has gotten himself a good stylist and perhaps hired the Fab Five for fashion advice! :cool: His hair looks great - stylish, adult, not harsh-looking, seems to emphasize his face as a whole, rather than just his eyes. Amazing how much a good cut can do. That softer suit with the trees looked really, really good on him - dressy without looking like he'd borrowed his big brother's best suit. Somehow, getting things like large stripes away from his face makes him look taller and more adult, and allows focus on his phenomenal looks as a whole. It looks like he's beginning to find his own style and I'm sure it will be as interesting and quirky as The Lad himself. Oh, yes, he's definitely growing up nicely. (I wonder if his publicist read him the riot act after that faux mohawk following the shaved head? ;) )

Is anyone supposed to show up for the Golden Globes tonight? If so, I'll see if I can suffer through them. Or maybe I'll record them so I can fast forward to the good parts. ;)

I didn't know about SNL last night and I was even home in time!!! AAAAAAAGH!!

~grumpy (I fell asleep during the post-Aragorn's-hero-entry-into-the-Golden-Hall war discussion)

Hi Grumpy!

Yep, Lij is presenting and my guess is that one or some of the other guys will be there too (probably Astin, etc.).

As for the "inner glow" lighting, Lij has his own Galadrilights, didn't you know -- LOL! Part of what I think we're seeing is the "eye lights" that are used, particularly in dark scenes. And of course, because Lij's eyes are so large, they really reflect and transmit that light.

Re: his style, it's pretty obvious that all the stuff he's been wearing lately is from the same designer -- I think someone on here mentioned a name once? I personally loved that blue (yes! blue!!) suit he wore at the PGA Awards a couple of weeks ago. That looked to me like the work of the guy who used to design for The Beatles, who's big again (can't remember his name), because of the narrow lapels and the overall shape of the jacket. Yes, that style was very becoming to our Mr. Wood.


Isn't it funny how the "fauxhawk" didn't last very long but surely showed up in a lot of publicity pictures/appearances? You can tell exactly when something was filmed by the haircut. The one thing I don't personally like about the recent fashions he's been wearing is the pairing of stripes with patterns -- i.e., patterned shirt and striped tie, or vice versa. I do think it's a little busy for him. But nothing could ever take away from that gorgeous face -- even the fauxhawk was tolerable because of it!

Ann

Ahhhhh, what to do? I taped SNL the first time it was on and (prepares to be trouted) I really don't need to keep the tape as I will not likely watch it again. I just don't find the show that funny, sorry! Once was enough.

Anyway--I'm willing to send the tape to any one of you (in the US) who wants it and who PMs me her address, but would you undertake to send it on to one of the other members who missed the show, and they can send it on, and so on?

Is everyone interested in the tape OK with that?

Flourish - I have recently gotten a setup to make DVD from tape... if you want to send it to me, I will be happy to convert it and make as many copies of that as people want.

Ariel

Ariel, Very :cool: that you can make DVD's from tape!

The wonderful Elvellon has posted clips from the SNL appearance on her site, Frodoandsam.net which I believe are in quicktime. Things may be moving pretty slowly over there, though, because there is so much good stuff to see and to download and to *cough* study! ;)

I wonder why they decided to repeat this show so quickly? It was done just a little more than a month ago! Do the folks at SNL believe their audience has such short memories? Or....maybe they got a lot of positive feedback about the show and decided it was one of their better efforts recently? Or maybe, the night before the Golden Globes they wanted to remind the world that they got the "leading man" of the biggest movie of the millenium (so far ;) ) on their show? (it's all about them!) methinks it is the latter.

Welcome to Achila! You've come to the right place!

Congrats to estella rose!

And Moondancer, Radio Flyer is a frequent repeat on cable tv channels. Just keep checking--I bet it will be on somewhere before the Oscars are awarded at the end of February. :)

Not only is EW supposed to be a presenter at the GG's but he is appearing tonight in Deep Impact! Thank Eru for VCR's!

Thanks for the welcome, peaceweaver! :)

I'm not sure why they repeated the SNL episode so quickly, but I suspect that this was part of the contract -- that it would air again during awards season. The ratings were also probably good and that surely helped.

There may have been some weak sketches but Lij was wonderful throughout. And Boy George...what a scream!

Originally posted by peaceweaver
And Moondancer, Radio Flyer is a frequent repeat on cable tv channels. Just keep checking--I bet it will be on somewhere before the Oscars are awarded at the end of February. :)

On frequent repeat? Not where I live...but I'll keep checking my tv guide. The EJW movies we get to see regularly over here are Deep Impact and The Faculty.
The Oscars we do get to see (hopefully), but only on the BBC (I have to tape it as it is shown in the middle of the night), but the Golden Globes only get a small mention here, I'm afraid.
So, I'll be looking for screencaps and reports on it on one of the LOTR or EJW sites.

I actually liked the fauxhawk - and seeing his hair now, I think that style might have been part of the 'growing it out' phase to get his current longer look.

I too would have liked CU to have been longer, but I think I understand why they did it the way they did. If they cranked up the severe angst too early, they would risk reducing the impact of the Mount Doom scenes. There is so much emotion in the movie already with so many characters going through their trial by fire, it's a fine balancing act to keep the audience involved without overloading them. I think saving Sam and Frodo's extreme angst moments for Mount Doom was the right thing to do for maximum impact.

In the book, if you're overwhelmed by the angst, you can put it down for a while- in the movie, if you're overwhelmed, you tend to start blocking out 'more of the same.' (Of course, this doesn't apply to the angst mavens amongst us. :D) As to the Frodo's state of undress - they actually toned it down considerably from the book, so I didn't think it was gratuitous at all.

Ariel, you can do video to DVD now??? Too cool! You know we're expecting many new screencaps now. :D

Welcome, Achila. If you've been lurking, you need no introduction to the wonderful scholarly world of the Faculty. I'm the new mod here, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Originally posted by Narya Celebrian
Ariel, you can do video to DVD now??? Too cool! You know we're expecting many new screencaps now. :D
Very... It's actually my hubby's setup. I was supposed to do some tape to DVD for BEB in the harem and believe I have lost the tape while I was waiting for him to get the system set up and all the bugs worked out... :mad: But now, it is in working order and I plan to use it!

Any requests besides SNL? (my copy ran out of tape before Boy George so I haven't got the best version to copy).

Also, welcome to Achila - very nice posts. :)

Ariel

Ariel, fine by me since you are willing to share the wealth--very good of you!

Just PM the address you'd like me to use. I think you're local to me (NYC area?), so it should be no problem--as long as the weather doesn't keep me from the post office--yikes!

Maeglin, tgshaw, and zkgrumpy,

Re: Elijah's stylist...yes, I'm sure that he now must have one, as there are far too many good new outfits recently for it to be anything else...he has shown a lot of new self-confidence as a result of these movies, imo, and also there has been so much more demand for new clothes, all the time right now, what with all the publicity events he's attending at the moment, that I reckon a stylist that he can trust to make him look quite out there, without looking like a fashion victim, could be crucial to his image as a hip young actor..to complete his transition from a successful child-actor to fully-fledged member of the indie actor scene, which is what he claims to want to be, I'm afraid that image is as much everything here, as it is to the rest of mainstream Hollywood...I also have a feeling that Dom isn't very far behind much of this new look of Lij's, don't know why, just have that feeling ...

Long may it continue, especially the more hair look :D...

Honey,

Frodo in CU is dirty, wounded, panic stricken and covered in those icky webs; in short, he breaks my heart. He's surrounded by orcs, and thinks he's failed. I just can't feel that those scenes are very sexy. I'm also very glad that PJ didn't choose to go with the whole torture thing. Mr. Baggins didn't include that part when he wrote his story down and I think he didn't because it was humiliating and painful. I'm willing to let him have his privacy in this matter.

Yes, on the whole I think you're right here, but I have to also agree with Achila, ( Hi Achila...welcome !!) in that I would have liked to have seen a tiny bit more of the torture of the whip, but not too much, just enough to show that it DID happen...the scene was a little too short for me too...

Dangermouse,
Re: "The Bumblebee Flies Anyway"...
This is a movie I have yet to enjoy, but I do know this - my all-time favourite photos of Elijah, aside from him as Frodo, date from this period, I think...

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/magazines/blackshirt5/blackshirt5-006.jpg

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/magazines/blackshirt5/blackshirt5-008.jpg


Well, I do think we might need to have a Favourite Picture Fest...what say you ??:D...

Anyway, here, for your amusement, is Elijah's opinion on what turns him on, or at least, fascinates him...( and I'm secretly smiling to myself from a vantage-point of a 36d !!!:D :D :D )

QUOTE:-
The actor Elijah Wood – a.k.a Frodo in the Lord Of The Rings – is right now maybe one of the world's most wanted singles. Although he has just saved Middle Earth, he is still a shy person: “I am very reluctant, I’m not the type of person that will walk over to someone and start a conversation”, he says. Not that he won’t have anything to do with girls: “I love the warmth that they have, I love their femininity. I love the fact that they have breasts. That they have two of them is amazing”,

The bit about him being "Oh so shy", goes a long way to explaining, perhaps, why he's so reluctant to talk about his acting, when someone praises him for a particular good example of his craft...he's just shy !! Awww...

Achila! Welcome! Another Pennsylvanian! I and several other Faculty members are in PA as well. You fit in wonderfully!

Ariel has a tape to dvd thingie?????? Hmnnnn. Do you have the Ellen D. Show with Elwood taped or DVD'd???? What elses do we wantses presciousss? Everything!

Why don't you make some nice caps for us, Ariel?:D

CU...It's a good scene as it is now. But it was a little too short and..... well...... it was somewhat different in the book and I would have liked to see it as written by Tolkien.

Thanks to all who extended the warm welcome -- I'm thrilled to be a part of the Faculty. Just came home from my sixth viewing of ROTK -- it's...er...uh, research....yeah...that's the ticket.

And don't you love Lij's comments about women? He's such a cutie. Breasts, eh? I've got those! LOL

He also recently said he wanted to kiss Katarina Witt (but the dummy thought he was too young -- :eek: ) so there's hope for us older gals! Hmm...perhaps WE aren't the only ones who like to do research....after all....wouldn't that be the benefit of an older, more experienced companion.....

Ann (who is still in a daze from spending 3 hrs with the beauteous Elijah Wood)

PS -- this' an excerpt from a reader's review of ROTK over at IMDB.com -- perhaps one of us?:

"However, the real acting triumph of the film is Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins. He continues his descent into corruption with an incredible talent that many could not pull off. Wood's performance is so critical to the film because it determines the ring's power to corrupt, which, needless to say, is absolute."

Hi Achila! From one newbie to another: :k

LOL about the breast comment. Does that mean, by logical extrapolation, that he'd prefer someone with three? :p

As to the CU scene. It works for me (I feel horrible for poor scarred starving powerless Frodo there), but do agree with everyone that a longer one (and a hint of a whip or sme mistratment) would have been even better, more dramatic, more angsty. But perhaps PJ did not want to take our breath away so early in the evening? I do hope there's more of it in the EE.

Lady Wendy: those pictures make me miss the CoE swoon smiley. They are wonderful!

Originally posted by Lady Wendy
(and I'm secretly smiling to myself from a vantage-point of a 36d !!!:D :D :D )

LOL!!! Oh, I am SOOOO with you there! (as those who have met me can attest... :rolleyes: )

It may be shyness, but what it comes off as is very modest, unassuming and admirable. Not that there aren't advantages to being proud of your work and more aggressive about your skills, but personally, I prefer EW's approach.

Now, we have to find him a nice girl, with a chest, dark hair, german accent, who is intelligent, funny and as unassuming as he is... and, of course, one who is a faculty member or at least similarly minded. :D

Ariel
(Another Pennsylvanian)

Hey, I have all that (does that mean I'm not unassuming???). Just gotta work on my German accent now.... LOL!

Welcome, Achila! Great posts. I do so agree that being a Faculty member is a fantastic feeling - I was on a high for days after my first couple of posts! :)
Now I'm a pathetic addict - but suffering from acute lack of time for past week (work taking priority, dammit). So will content self with reminding anyone who wants to be reminded of some of Michael Sragow's other writings about Elijah - above all this wonderful interview here (http://wgnsuperstation.trb.com/entertainment/movies/chi-031223dpfrodo,0,295761.story) (it's at least been alluded to by someone recently - thanks, someone! - but I'm sure it does no harm to repeat it ;)

And I've posted this extract from MS's review of FOTR before, but what the heck - the more positive vibes we can give Elijah right now the better:
"Elijah Wood...is both robust and plangent, pulling off a daunting feat with ease--making the education of a naif as dynamic as it is rending....When Frodo starts to put on the Ring because he fears a looming Ringwraith--an act that attracts the Ringwraith even more --it's a moment of sublime terror. It's also an aesthetic victory for Jackson and his collaborators...and of course for actor Wood, who brings vitality to despair."

Thanks, Serena, and thanks for the link to that article. It was one of the best -- I especially loved this:

"However, Christopher Lee's saying that "Elijah Wood will never grow old" struck the most resonant chord. "If I do embody something youthful, and I think I do, " Wood says, "it's because my nature is to be constantly fascinated. I think it would be difficult for me to become jaded. I love people too much; I love life too much. I think Tolkien put all the best elements of humanity into hobbits. They're serene and content with home and friends, food and beer and pipeweed. Remember, the hobbits were popular with hippies! But they're also curious about the world."


Could you possibly love this guy more???

Elijah is at the Golden Globes. He just walked in dressed in one of his nice dark blue suits..No trees on it, thankfully. And HE STILL HAS HIS HAIR!

So everyone is watching the Globes? I'm at work and should be very hard at work indeed, butwhat am I worrying about? Well, aside from whether or not we'll win ;) --- I'm worrying about silly banter. Please, please, don't get into any ridiculous bantering. Please, no stupid hobbit jokes. Please, don't start plugging Eternal Sunshine. Please - just make us proud. :p :D

Hobmom -- he still has his hair!!! YES! That's one anxiety down. ;)

WELCOME ACHILA! You are most definitely at home! Soak up the angst! We didn't get the whip, no, but there is that gash on his face ... where did that come from, hmm? See, that's the nice thing about the writing team. So they move things around, do they? Mess up purisities? But they always make sure to reapply the angst where necessary. :D

CONGRATULATIONS, Mod Narya. :k :)

Ariel, your DVD-making capabilities are most admired!

Sigh. Back to work. Gotta control self. Must not keep checking back on-line every two minutes .... :rolleyes:

Welcome, Achila :) ! And Rikka and Estella, so wonderful that you've finally been able to see RotK!!
Originally posted by zkgrumpy
...along with my nephew's left shoe. ;)
Okay... :confused: ...I'll admit being curious about this, but is it something I really want to know about ;) ?


...That could be a very subtle reference to what I was complaining about a while back - that they didn't follow through on the "inner light" theme.
The two places the inner light is specifically mentioned in the book are when Gandalf is looking at Frodo just after he's awoken in Rivendell, and when Sam watches him sleeping just before stewing the rabbits. I thought the movies did a nice job of recognizing those moments, first with him waking up "into" the light at Rivendell, and then with him sleeping in the bright sunlight that seems to be centered directly on him--just before Gollum drops the coneys in his lap :p .


...It looks like he's beginning to find his own style and I'm sure it will be as interesting and quirky as The Lad himself. Oh, yes, he's definitely growing up nicely...
This thread is really moving fast and there've so many interesting comments--I'm wondering how much of what's been said is related to what Lady Wendy said about Elijah wanting to be a "full-fledged member of the indie actor scene." Seems to fit not only his clothes but his unassuming nature, his openness to trying a wide range of roles, and his interest in movies where he feels he can learn something and work with people he wants to work with (rather than making tons of money, winning shelves of awards, and being a household name).

It is a contrast with Sean Astin, who's been part of mainstream Hollywood for years, and is interested in doing movies that are "bigger" and more likely to be studio-driven (whether acting or directing)--and whose style and personality reflect that.

Most of us here naturally tend to gravitate toward the way Elijah views himself and his career--but mainstream Hollywood desperately needs people with Sean's solid values, so I'm glad he's comfortable there. :)


I didn't know about SNL last night and I was even home in time!!! AAAAAAAGH!!
Same here :( . It would have been fun to see it again, but I'm even more disappointed in that there are a few people I would have mentioned it to, if I'd known ahead of time.


The only thing I'd have to offer to Ariel's new video-to-DVD capability :cool: would be the EJW movies that aren't on DVD: especially Radio Flyer, because it's really a good movie, and also Child in the Night, Paradise, and North because, well, Elijah's in them :rolleyes: . I've got them on VHS, so the only reasons to put them onto DVD would be getting them into the hands of people who haven't been able to find them, and (of course :o ) making screencaps. I don't know how many people would be interested in copies... ( :) It's so great to be able to take The Good Son off that list!)

----------

I missed Elijah's arrival, but Christina Ricci just presented, and she's grown up nicely, too ;) .

----------

I was just looking back over the past couple of pages, and had to laugh over the fact that we've said Elijah should do more comedies, more dark roles, romantic leads... He just needs to make more movies!! :p

Just to relieve Ainon's anxiety. Elijah presented all by himself and introduced ROTK as one of the Drama nominees. No hobbit jokes, no plugging, just a nice little speech about how good ROTK and everyone involved was. He was quite lovely, both behavior-vise and look-vise (normal hair, yay!). I just loved his demeanor.

And O/T: it was cool to finally see Fran Walsh!

Edited to add PJ won Best Director (woo-hoo!) And the camera was on Elijah for a huge chunk of the speech. He looked so utterly moved and had tears in his eyes (so did Dom). I am very happy this evening :k

Edited: Do I need to say it?!?

WOO HOO!!!!!


Originally posted by ainon
So everyone is watching the Globes?


(Who is this silly ditz who's emoting all over the place just now?) I *swore* I wouldn't watch it. I watched the :gag: Joan Rivers thing, the 7 pm red carpet thing, and most of the globes. Deep Impact is playing on CBS; I hate disaster movies but sneaked over and got a few glimpses of The Lad in a role that doesn't seem to nearly do him justice. Maybe I need to rent the movie; maybe they cut out all of his scenes.

I'm worrying about silly banter. Please, please, don't get into any ridiculous bantering. Please, no stupid hobbit jokes. Please, don't start plugging Eternal Sunshine. Please - just make us proud. :p :D


:::: sniffle :::: He made us so proud!!! Beautifully and unusually dressed, hair artfully out of control, green velvet of his jacket setting off the intense blue of his eyes, poised and dignified all the way (except for a little goofing on the red carpet, which everyone did). Dominic Mon. looked absolutely *wonderful* too.

Peter was the only one who made a hobbit joke - he said that after 7 years, he didn't expect to become a hobbit (his jacket didn't go together in the front but at least he had long pants and shoes). PJ got a big hug from Elijah and Dom. and Fran Walsh and a bunch of others. During the acceptance speech, they showed The Lad - his eyebrows were squinched up in the middle (see end of Rivendell bed scene) and he looked like he was almost crying.


Hobmom -- he still has his hair!!! YES! That's one anxiety down. ;)


Whew! Nicely styled, too. Like I said above, artistically messy - obviously as intentional as the careful arrangment of Dom's bangs. Did I see Billy Boyd at the table too or was that someone else?

I've recorded all or most; will post pictures as soon as I can.

(LOTR has swept everything that it's been nominated for, I think)(I blubbed during "Into the West", of course.)

~grumpyandsoproud (It's SNOWING!)(And it's coming up the coast!)(Mountains of snow! (well, for us anyway)(Oh <insert name of deity here>, Jim Carrey is bald!)

Elijah looked great at the GGs. :) Nice suit, nice hair. He and Dom both seemed to have tears in their eyes when PJ won Best Director. I also liked when Elijah ran over and hugged Dom after PJ made his acceptance speech for Best Picture. :) :) I am so glad LOTR is finally getting the recognition it deserves. :k


EDIT:

http://overthebrandywine.com/A1/Awards04/globetearsmerge.jpg

Here's the shots from when PJ won Best Director. Dom and Elijah nearly had me crying as well!

THEY WON EVERYTHING!!!

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/awards/gg-2004/2004-gg-016.jpg

And Elijah was on the verge of tears and just SO proud for PJ and everyone.

YIPPEEEE! **does happy dance** This bodes well for the Oscars. With any luck, we'll be crying with happiness at the TORn party!

I put the pics I've got so far Here (http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/GGs/?)

Delurking to thank HobMom for all the wonderful pics! Didn't Elijah look wonderful? I loved his hair (so often I do not!) and his clothes (ditto!) But he looked great tonight. And a very nice presentation by him, too, very classy. Loved seeing the camera on him and showing the tears in his eyes when PJ won for BD. What a great day! Saw ROTK again (9th time - but unfortunately heard not a word during the Grey Havens hug), then came home and watched ROTK sweep the GG. Life is good.

YES!!!
What wonderful news on this grey Monday morning! :) :) :) They really made my day - Ezzie and Hobmom, a BIG THANKYOU for the pictures.
Elijah looks so great (his sylist deserves a Golden Globe, too ;) )!
Hobmom, I hope you don't mind if I'm posting one of your gorgeous pics here - this one shows so much of the affection and love between director and actor...

http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/GGs/b15044b5.jpg


And WELCOME, Achila :) !

Hmpf! Just read on AOL that they consider Elijah to be one of the WORSE dressed at the Golden Globes!! Some folks have NO taste!!

WOOHOOO!!!!

Thank you, Ezzie and Hobmom for the pictures, and thank you Dangermouse and Grumpy for the breaking news.

Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy.

Am so gonna be waiting to watch the entire show when they repeat it on TV tonight.

Whiteling, that's my favourite pic of the lot too. (((Hobmom))) for once again collating and compiling everything we want to see. :k

Estella - I missed saying welcome back to you this morning! Well, welcome back! :)

Happy Happy Happy from all these wins. Hoping the Oscars news tomorrow (Tuesday) will bring even happier news.

Yup. Life is good.

:) OMG.

I am so proud to be a kiwi.

Totally.

:k to Facultiers

Wouldn't it be strange and funny if Elijah Wood married Miss Golden Globes: Lily Costner, since her dad played his dad in "The War." :eek:

Wouldn't you call this picture: "The War Part Two?" :D

The worst dressed? Elijah was absolutely the most gorgeous I think I've ever seen him and that's saying a lot! His whole outfit went together beautifully. I put their silly opinion down to jealousy.

Originally posted by ElanorSam
Hmpf! Just read on AOL that they consider Elijah to be one of the WORSE dressed at the Golden Globes!! Some folks have NO taste!!
LOL...I was just thinking how great he looked when I read this comment. I love the way he looked: individual style (not a tux like most of them), I love the green velvet vest (nice cut, goes very well with the eyes,...)

Thanks for the updates. I woke up this morning with the news and the very first words I heard were: "The Lord Of The Rings is the big winner of the Golden Globes with 4 major awards".
I'm hoping to catch a glimpse of it on the tv news this evening.
:cool:
What a nice way to wake up.

Hobmom - Thanks so much for the pictures.

Ariel - great news about your DVD thing. I'd love to have Radio Flyer or Flight of the Bumblebee or the Homicide episode on DVD but I live too far away (it would cost too much to send it) and I have a region 2 DVD player. So, nice toys for others...:)
I'll keep on searching the net.

Edit: just a bit of fun. You can vote for the green velvet outfit of Elijah (best/worst dressed man):http://www.eonline.com/Features/Awards/Golden2004/FashionPoll (http://www.eonline.com/Features/Awards/Golden2004/FashionPoll/index.html)

He got dumped on for the suit he wore to the LA premiere too. It's becoming obvious that despite how much they say to the contrary, they don't appreciate anyone who shows any individual style. The green velvet suit fit him beautifully and made him look taller and totally worked with his coloring (compare it to the 3 piece banker look he had going on for the Wellington premiere, which was a vintage number and did nothing for him).

But I find it sort of interesting that they care enough about what he's wearing to comment -- Elijah Wood has arrived!

Great news about the Golden Globes awards. :D

Moondancer- I followed that link and found this on the Backstage Blog page....

11:08 p.m.: Two out of four Hobbits--Elijah Wood and Dominic Monaghan--are on hand for Return of the King's Best Drama win. They are exactly the same height. Now, that's good casting.

11:15 p.m.: Jackson receives no questions on where, when or how he settled on his evening attire. But Wood does get a question about his very snappy green-velvet suit. For the record, he has nothing against tuxes. He just thinks snappy green-velvet suits are cool. Which they are.

Too true!

The "fashion guru" at GoldDerby.com put Elijah on his worst dressed list, too, citing the "puffed sleeves" (is he referring to the shoulder pads :confused: ?), the "slim cut" (hey, if you've got it, flaunt it), and the "flared pants" (I may be showing my age, but I like tastefully flared pants--it's not like he was wearing bell bottoms :rolleyes: ). Even after using Hobmom's great picture gallery for head to toe research, I'm not sure what the critic's getting at. BTW, he basically ignores the males besides Elijah and Kevin Costner, whom he says needed a bath and a shave. Then he kind of shows his level of knowledge by saying that K.C. must have thought he was still on the set of Open Range because he looked like he was ready to "milk em cows." (Milk beef cattle? Ooo-Kaayyy :rolleyes: .)

My personal reaction? I could have done with smaller shoulder pads, but otherwise I thought the entire outfit looked great. It reminded me of what he wore in Japan--without the trees :p : dark clothes setting off a fantastic tie! I love his ties! :cool:

I don't have much to add to what others have said about the awards themselves. I wasn't surprised to see Elijah close to tears when PJ won--all along, it seems the only award-type thing Elijah has cared about is that PJ get recognized for what he's done.

BTW, when the announcer introduced Elijah he did say, "Next to appear in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," but that was the only mention, and the announcer said something like that for each person that was introduced. There was another presenter who was introduced with a mention of ESOTSM, but I didn't catch who it was. (Jim Carrey was introduced as the star of Bruce Almighty :rolleyes: .)

For all Brits here...a heads up !!!

OK,for all us Brits...the Golden Globes are going to be screened from 10pm until Midnight on the Living channel tonight...so set your videos or make a date to stay in and watch...( I think it's going to be hosted by Barry Norman, but I maybe wrong about that ) Let's not miss out on this...OK?


Re: Elijah's choice of suit for the Golden Globes...

Here's what the reporter from E! Online thought...

11:15 p.m.: Jackson receives no questions on where, when or how he settled on his evening attire. But Wood does get a question about his very snappy green-velvet suit. For the record, he has nothing against tuxes. He just thinks snappy green-velvet suits are cool. Which they are.

Which just goes to prove that these Hollywood reporters who comment on such things are being SO subjective...but I guess, that's their job, isn't it ? I'm betting that his suit will be commented on everywhere, simply because it's not the traditional tux, and that's called courting publicity...

(Better to do it that way then throw tantrums over nothing in public ( Russell Crowe ), or get yourself arrested for drug abuse ( Robert Downey Jnr ) or shoplifting ( Winona Ryder ), don't you think ? !!! )

tgshaw,
I don't think that you're showing your age at all...flared trousers happen to be absolutely de rigeur where I come from, and so LIJ is completely in fashion at the moment....I, myself am wearing bootcut trousers as we speak, ( and I'm a trained fashion designer, so I should know ;) :D :D...just shows how much these reporters know half the time !!!

Hobmom,
Thank you, thank you, for all those fantastic pictures...as you can guess, I'm a picture maven, in the same way that Ariel is an Angst maven, although I have to admit to being one of those too :D :D :D ...hence the pics I posted on the last page...( the first one being the one you tend to see everywhere, but the second is more moody, from the same shoot )

I still think that we should have a picture-fest, to celebrate EJW's birthday this week perhaps...the idea being that everyone posts their very favourite pics of Our Lij, or at least links to them, and tells us why they love them so much.
Then we see which are the most loved pictures of them all...a kind of top ten best photo contest...
Thoughts anyone ?

I think I'm just going to drown in a sea of Elijah-goodness over the next few months or so...first the G.G.s, then the BAFTA's, ( let's not forget them ) then the Oscars, then Elijah's pending visit to our fair London-town in April to film "Hooligans", ( and who knows what TV fun that little visit will throw up - endless chat-show appearances, I'm hoping ) and after that, its the Fellowship Event in London over a weekend in April, to which Elijah has been invited to do some signings, I think... then ROTK gets its DVD release...OH, the fun just goes on and on....

I'm just going to be a mess by the time ROTK EE DVD comes out, aren't I ???

It seemed as though each person was introduced with a mention of an upcoming role, rather than what they were in this past year. In Elijah's case, considering he was there to present the clip for BP for ROTK, it seemed a little silly.

Hmm...thought they mentioned ESOTSM for Jim Carrey too...anyone know why Jim is bald????

I personally really liked the flared pants. Overall, especially considering some of the things he's worn recently (like the jacket with the numbers across the middle, etc.), this was a very conservative outfit. And shoulder pads?? Gimme a break -- OK -- he's tiny and slender and needs SOME definition, right? And standing next to PJ (who suddenly looks to be the width of two Elijahs), he'd disappear without them!

While Lady Wendy was posting :) , I was watching a Golden Globes report on the Today Show. Someone at NBC must have liked the way Elijah looked, too, as he was one of the people they obviously asked to take a "model's turn" in front of the camera on the red carpet--and one of only three or four that they showed.

Speaking of TV networks, the Oscars will be shown on ABC, so I expect that'll be the best place to catch the nominations tomorrow morning.


Edit: On the "favorite pictures" contest--hmmm... Methinks this may need more than one division :p . Maybe an "Elijah as himself" contest in the Hugs Haven and an "Elijah in character" contest here (with pre- and post-puberty divisions so we don't miss all the early cuteness ;) )? Just a thought.

And it could either be an actual contest, with winners etc., or just a sharing. :)

The only negative thought is that it would use mega-bandwidth if everyone's posting pics. Maybe if each of us who can afford it resolves to send a nice donation to Moggy? Or, I'd be happy to host it on my website, but I'd be able to post new pictures only about twice a day since I have to edit the website from my home computer--can't do it from the office.

Hiya all. Seems like forever since I was here last.

Caught the GG's yesterday and just want to say that the LOTR cast and crew who went seemed like the classiest bunch of the lot.

Elijah was his usual darling self but yesterday I was struck more than ever at how handsome this young man is really becoming. Don't care what best/worst dressed list says, that suit suited him very well (sorry for the pun). I really think that he should wear forest green a bit more often. It made his eyes really stand out.

Don't know if anyone saw Richard Gere's expression after Elijah came out... I think he was probably taken aback by how old Elijah is now (as he did star with little Lij in Internal Affairs almost 15 years ago!!!)

Elijah was all class in his speech as well and I loved how supportive they were of each other. Really and truly touching.

On a totally unrelated note, can't believe how much Elijah-related things were on television for me here: SNL, The War, Deep Impact, Faculty and the Globes.

Also... just to ease the worries about Hooligans being an "American Eyewitness" sort of story... perhaps part of it. But Dougie did mention to me it was more focused on Elijah's character internal and external journey as he himself joins hooliganism. (Remember, he just got kicked out of Harvard so expect this to be angst-filled!)

Oh, and the other man at the GG's who was mentioned as being in ESOASM was Mark Ruffalo.

Oh, and the other man at the GG's who was mentioned as being in ESOASM was Mark Ruffalo.



Thanks -- I knew it was someone!

hobbityme, the more I hear about "Hooligans" the better it sounds! :)

TORn just posted a whole bunch of GG pictures with lots and lots of Elijah at http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/group/1294/range/1

My favorite is the shot of his reaction to ROTK winning best picture at http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/group/1294/view/11867 . It's nice to see Frodo so happy :p

Thanks for the screen captures!!! Oh my The Lad looks fine! I did see a brief interview with PJ, BO, Dom, Elijah, so I feel a little bit better that they weren't completely ignored. I feel like the interviewers didn't quite know what to do with them.

I understand, though, why LotR has had so much trouble with awards.

Blonde actress: "Did you guys like LotR?"

Dorky interviewer: "I did - I - It's one of those movies, though - I'm not sure what I've seen when I've seen it but I know that I liked it."

:::: banging head on keyboard ::::

If people who crack jokes about Linux and Relativity Theory during LotR see it multiple times to understand it, how can these - these - :::: suppressing nasty comment :::: PEOPLE think that they're going to get it in one viewing where they were probably gabbing or out at the concession stand through half of it?!? A movie that makes one think? Horrors!

~grumpy

You guys should go over to Bag End and see all the GG goodness there, including videos and two pages of lovely photos:

**link removed**


The post-show video from E! was especially great -- Lij talking about the gratitude of the fans for the movies, etc.

Achila, I had to remove your link because that site isn't PG-13. If you find pictures you really like and you're not sure about whether you can link to the site they're on, there are a few people here who have sites they can save pictures on (Hobmom has the most extensive Elijah collection), or you can sign up for one of the free image-hosting sites yourself.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about how to save or link to pictures, or about the PG-13 policy.

Sorry, Narya -- i didn't know there was anything on there that wasn't OK.

No problem, Achila. No harm done.

If films are being turned into DVD's, I haven't managed to find Radio Flyer or Child in the Night or North or Paradise yet :rolleyes: - and I would love to see Witness. I've seen the Homidice episode, but that was before I knew who Elijah Wood was. I'd like a copy of that too. :) Have cash, will pay all costs. :D

I'm still floating over the GG. My son told me today that the best thing about watching them was watching my reaction when they won. Oh yah. I got a little excited. :D :p

Thanks for the great links and comments, everyone :k !

As for the Elijah picturefest Lady Wendy suggested - I think, it's a great idea to celebrate Elijah's oncoming birthday with eye-openers like that. I'd love to see everyone's fav pic! But I think we should elaborte Tg's annotations concering bandwidth and the basic conditions. I for one prefer "sharing" to "contest".


And now for something completely different:

Originally posted by Achila
He also recently said he wanted to kiss Katarina Witt (but the dummy thought he was too young -- :eek: ) so there's hope for us older gals!

Achila, I found her somewhat snotty comment posted at a German EW fansite and translated it -

Ice princess Katarina Witt (37) is amused by the advances of "LotR" actor Elijah Wood (22). "The eyeballs would fall out of his head," Witt commented Wood's desire to kiss her. "I wouldn't kiss him truly," she said in ARD talkshow "Beckmann". She might hug and cuddle him. Despite the fact of being a huge fan of the trilogy (Wood plays the main character in it), she considers the actor definitely too young for herself.
:confused: :rolleyes: :eek:
That woman has NO IDEA!


Oh, I keep forgetting: Congrats, Narya, on your new job :) !

Whiteling,
"The eyeballs would fall out of his head," Witt commented Woods desire to kiss her. "I wouldn't kiss him truly," she said in ARD talkshow "Beckmann". She might hug and cuddle him. Despite the fact of being a huge fan of the trilogy (Wood plays the main character in it), she considers the actor definitely to young for herself.

Well, for goodness sake...is she mad or what ???!!!

She doesn't deserve him, methinks...maybe this is why he's allegedly so unsuccessful with women..he constantly goes after women who think he's too young for them without getting to know him first !!

As for the Picture Fest...yes, I agree, the sharing thing was absolutely at the heart of the idea...Oh yes !!!! The contest thing is just an aside ...what really would count for much more would be your reasons for posting a particular picture...why you find it really appealing ( as if we need any excuse :D !!!)

What I had in mind was something like this thread at the Empire site :-

Random Picture Thread (http://ubb.empireonline.co.uk/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=lotr&Number=445391&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=6)

The bandwidth thing may be a problem though...in fact I took down a pic that I posted with those first two, because it was SO HUGE !!!
( The One Husband pointed out that other people wouldn't thank me for it...and he is probably right. )

Tgshaw has kindly offered to host the pics if everyone agrees that this is the best way to go, so everyone, we want your opinions on this matter :D !!

Vote here now if you loved Elijah's green suit! Hurry. Votes due today! (http://www.eonline.com/Features/Awards/Golden2004/FashionPoll/index.html)

And I do have tons of recent Elwood pics HERE (http://img7.photobucket.com/albums/v18/Hobbsy/?multi=20) and HERE (http://www.imagestation.com/mypictures/)

Feel free to go and take as many as you want.

Ice princess Katarina Witt (37) is amused by the advances of "LotR" actor Elijah Wood (22). "The eyeballs would fall out of his head," Witt commented Wood's desire to kiss her. "I wouldn't kiss him truly," she said in ARD talkshow "Beckmann". She might hug and cuddle him. Despite the fact of being a huge fan of the trilogy (Wood plays the main character in it), she considers the actor definitely too young for herself.



THE EYEBALLS WOULD FALL OUT?????!!!! Snerk snort snerk!!!! A little full of herself, would you say???

Why would his eyeballs fall out? Now I keep imagining her as a vampire or someone with the breath of death :p

Hobmom, thank you thank you thank you for the pictures link!

Just stopping by to say

WOW !!!! :cool: :) :k :D

Haven't seen Elijah looking SO happy - or SO beautiful - for ages and ages! A thousand thanks for all those breathtaking pics, Hobmom et al. And yes, the love and affection and respect between EW and PJ is tangible. Sob. Just wish I could get ANY of the channels the Globes were/are on (Living TV is showing as I write, but do I have a subscription??). :(

So, if anyone manages to put the GGs - and/or Homicide - on DVD or VCD or even on VHS tape, I'll GLADLY pay all costs, postage, fees, you name it! (well, within reason ... ;) )

btw, Hobmom et al, I'd love to vote for Elijah as best-dressed man, but the site forces you to vote for someone as worst-dressed man as well! Since I haven't a clue about that and don't wish to do anyone an injustice, any suggestions ??????

He got on the best-dressed side with MSN ;)


serena - if you want to catch some clips on the GG's, go to **link removed**. On their picture page of the GG's which you'll find on the updates, there are links to all the LOTR related clips except for Lij's arrivals interview.

Well Serena, I voted for Clint Eastwood as worst dressed simply because the advertising campaign for his film made snarky comments directed at ROTK. ;) And he didn't wear anything too wonderful anyway.

As for the ladies Cate Blanchett was stunning even for a pregnant gal. Really graceful and beautiful. So I voted her Best Dressed Actress.

Nicole Kidman had a very strange outfit on and it wasn't as attractive as many of the other ladies dresses so I voted her worst dressed.

Just some of my personal tips to use as you will. Just as long as you vote for Elijah's nice green suit.

http://overthebrandywine.com/A1/Awards04/globetearsmerge.jpg

I don't think this was posted here?

Mel

Originally posted by Dangermouse
Why would his eyeballs fall out?
Maybe she saw the trailer for ESOTSM and didn't realize there were special effects involved :p :p .

I wanted to vote for Christina Ricci for best-dressed woman and they didn't even have her on the list :( ! She was one of the very first presenters. Simple and elegant long black dress that showed off her figure without showing too much of her :rolleyes: , if you know what I mean. Maybe it was too simple and elegant for the Hollywood crowd to even notice. I thought it was really quite stunning with her porcelain skin and dark hair. Besides, she's almost one of the family ;) .

Originally posted by Achila
It seemed as though each person was introduced with a mention of an upcoming role, rather than what they were in this past year. In Elijah's case, considering he was there to present the clip for BP for ROTK, it seemed a little silly.

Ah, but it's the norm - especially for some awards shows where the actors literally *do* start plugging away for their upcoming movies while they're up on stage. :rolleyes: I was thankful to see that the Globes director/whoever had a tight leash on that! But yeah, it seems more and more now that a movie actor appearing at an award show is often technically there to 'promote' his upcoming presence in something else.

Watched the delayed telecast last night. No pre-show thingy, but there was a montage of shots of stars arriving on the red carpet, set to the cheesiest, cringiest showtune ever sung in the history of cheesy TV showtunes. It embarrassed me to even see Elijah appear in that montage. :p

But the show itself was okay, and it became great once RotK started winning and the director remembered that Elijah's the best fellow to keep the camera on. ;)

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/11867.jpg

And I *loved* that *everyone* LOTR-ish crowded up on stage with Pete Jackson. :) That spirit of togetherness was just so wonderful to behold. And it was heartwarming too, wasn't it, to hear both PJ and Fran remembering to honour those who had passed, while giving their thank you speeches.

http://sfgate.com/chronicle/pictures/2004/01/26/dd_gglobes12.jpg


I'm game for sharing Elijah pics! For those who don't have websites, you can do what I do. Register at www.villagephotos.com . You can upload all your favourite pictures there - maximum of 25 pics - and share your gallery with us here. That'll be free. Another option is www.photobucket.com - allows direct linking for free, but if you're in a country that can donate to the founder (i.e. Paypal compatible) and you can afford it, please do. :) Yet another is www.ripway.com - also allows direct linking and for the time being, still free, albeit with a 5.0 MB a day bandwidth limit.

As we await the Oscar tally ... please, please, please ... this is fine stuff to read:

http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/group/1292

Chronicles PJ & co's writing and adaptation saga. PJ's quote:
"Eventually these films will become dated and the book will live on."

Elijah's in a fine company of the very well-spoken and very humble, IMO. :)

All right, who's making these lists (for the best-dressed/worst-dressed poll)? The woman I wanted to vote for as worst-dressed isn't on the list, either! And she was a winner (twice), not "just" a presenter. They must have been watching a different show than I was ;) .

Regarding the on-stage Fellowship--I thought I saw Cate come up and join the LotR group at the end, even though she was there because of a different movie. But I'm not sure--did anyone else get a better look? It would have been lovely if she did.

Yeah, Cate was there. Here pretty red dress was hard to miss.
Loved everyone coming on stage together. Also loved Elijah's whoop during the announcement of PJ's win, and Dom's little smirk as he catches the camera "eye" during being on stage for Best Pic.

You know what was weird (or not, if you know entertainment media). During Howard Shore's win they showed quite a few celebrities "watching" but no one from ROTK. And it looked like they put them in the back of the room as well (not as far back as the Afghan Director, though). Blech! If it wasn't for ROTK, I wouldn't be watching this in a million years.

Talking about Elijah's fascination with the female body, I saw this over at Salon.com's "color commentary" on the Globes (requires viewing a commercial to read it--I'll just excerpt the RotK-specific stuff!):

7:13 p.m. Elijah Wood actually is a hobbit. Those big blue eyes aren't CG-enhanced, either.

9:34 p.m. Best supporting actress in a TV series, miniseries or TV movie. Another unfair category, with "Angels in America" star Mary-Louise Parker going up against Kim Cattrall, Kristen Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Megan Mullally. With the Unbearable Importance of "Angels in America," how could Mary-Louise Parker not win? And she does win. Her boobs are out and in such rare form, my boyfriend and I slow down the victory walk to a frame-by-frame, in which Elijah Wood and Peter Jackson gaze at Parker's assets and grin from ear to ear. Just another life-changing TiVo moment.

10:05 p.m. Dustin Hoffman announcing nominees for best director -- motion picture. It goes to Peter Jackson, which is expected. What's unexpected is that Elijah Wood looks like a Keane painting, blinking his massive, teary blue eyes while watching Jackson's speech. He's more choked up than Chad Lowe was when Hilary Swank won for "Boys Don't Cry." Boys do cry. Oh yes they do.

10:55 p.m. Best motion picture -- drama. The winner of this one also gets a free entree at Denny's and a coupon for 15 percent off at Six Flags Over Georgia. The winner is "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King." Who says a movie based on the books that spawned a subculture of stuttering Dungeons and Dragons enthusiasts can't win a big, glamorous award? Who says you need dexterity of at least 7 and charisma greater than 9 to win the world's love and adoration? One small step for Peter Jackson, one great big step for bright but awkward hobbitses across the globe!

Elijah and PJ were not alone in ogling Ms. Parker. All the boyz at Box Office Mojo were salivating.

(Personally and totally IMO, I squick at this. I know that women want people to think they are attractive, but shouldn't the single-woman type of catcalling and salivating be somehow "not allowed" out of respect for the momhood of an obviously taken woman? Oh well. I guess I'm off base here.)

Who says you need dexterity of at least 7 and charisma greater than 9 to win the world's love and adoration? One small step for Peter Jackson, one great big step for bright but awkward hobbitses across the globe!

Cripes. :rolleyes: Even a win from the Golden Globes is not enough to get rid of the Geek image. I guess we'll always be wearing glasses with Scotch tape. :(

Originally posted by Sharpe's Girl
Talking about Elijah's fascination with the female body, I saw this over at Salon.com's "color commentary" on the Globes (requires viewing a commercial to read it--I'll just excerpt the RotK-specific stuff!):

Thanks for posting this - I enjoyed reading it.

Isaw some disturbing things on the Random Pictures thread. One of them was a mention of Elijah wearing his hobbit feet under his shoes. No, I think they really are that big. :eek: He seems to be so unusual in this way. Big feet for a short man. What say you all?

I think he's gorgeous. The way him and Eminem look akin to each other. :cool: A similair thing is comparing him to a nicer guy, Hugh Jackman. :eek: NOtice how Frodo/Elijah looks confused, but still manges to look many when he sees Sting for the first time. :eek: Compare that to Hugh Jackman/Wolverine, when in the first XMen movie, Wolvie says, "What is this place?" :eek: Notice how Hugh Jackman/Wolverine has this confused (Innocent like Frodo/Elijah), yet maintains his toughness look. :cool:

No wonder Elijah is a convincing thug. As sweet as he is, he's equally tough. Am I right on this? :confused:

Haaa...the wonders of the internet.
On our tv news, they practically only seemed to have eyes for Charlize Theron but thanks to the net, I was able to see most of the LOTR related stuff.
You can indeed see most of it on that site *no links allowed* (including a little twirl from Elijah, showing off his his green velvet suit on the red carpet).

You can also download it here (http://www.forums-oscarwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=764) (I think this link is OK)

On the following site, there's more, including a little snippet with a reporter asking Elijah what color velvet he's going to wear for the Oscars. Dominic Monaghan starts to sing "(he wore) blue velvet..." with Elijah joining him in the song (it's in the GG outtakes)
http://extratv.warnerbros.com/dailynews/extra/0104/01_26b.html

The green suit did get some excellent remarks:
some of the male stars got into the high-fashion act as well. Elijah Wood was perhaps the best-turned out gent of the day in a distinctive green suit he said he found in a vintage shop. (source: hollywood.com)
Best Use of Green Velvet: Erstwhile hobbit Elijah Wood looked jaunty in a bell-bottomed green velvet suit.

Worst Use of Green Velvet: David Cross had a serious case of arrested fashion development in a massive green velvet pea coat accessorized with a diamond brooch.
(source: entertainment.msn.com)

Oscar nominations just announced--RotK has 11 nominations, the most of any movie, but no acting nominations. Expected, but still disappointing. It's really too bad the Oscars don't have a "Best Acting by an Ensemble" award.

(But the clip they keep shoiwng is a great piece of EJW acting--where he's almost convulsing, trying to make it up that last step of the stairs--and "Come to Smeagol".)

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Score (which I wasn't expecting--they must have changed that eligibility rule again), Best Song, all the "technical" awards you'd expect. And, maybe the one I'm happiest about--Best Adapted Screenplay. RotK is the one of the three movies that's closest to the book, and IMVHO is the one that should have gotten that nomination.

I had to work late, and then when I get home I check back on-line anyway, figuring Oscar nominations should be out in the States now.

http://movies.yahoo.com/oscars/

Best Picture

COLD MOUNTAIN (Miramax)

LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING (New Line Cinema)

MASTER & COMMANDER (20th Century Fox)

MYSTIC RIVER (Warner Bros.)

SEA BISCUIT (Universal Pictures)

Achievement in Directing

Anthony Minghella for COLD MOUNTAIN (Miramax)

Peter Jackson for LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING (New Line Cinema)

Sofia Copppola for LOST IN TRANSLATION (Focus Features)

Clint Eastwood for MYSTIC RIVER (Warner Bros.)

Peter Weir for MASTER & COMMANDER (20th Century Fox)


Best Actor in a Leading Role

Russell Crowe in MASTER & COMMANDER (20th Century Fox)

Sean Penn in MYSTIC RIVER (Warner Bros.)

Ben Kingsley in HOUSE OF SAND & FOG (DreamWorks Pictures)

Tom Cruise in LAST SAMURAI (Warner Bros.)

Bill Murray in LOST IN TRANSLATION (Focus Features)


:( :(


Best Supporting Actor

Tim Robbins in MYSTIC RIVER (Warner Bros.)

Alec Baldwin in THE COOLER (Lions Gate Films)

Albert Finney in BIG FISH (Columbia Pictures)

Peter Sarsgaard in SHATTERED GLASS (Lions Gate Films)

Robert Duvall in OPEN RANGE (Touchstone Pictures)


:confused: but what about Sean?

:( :( :(


edit: looks like tg and I cross-posted. okay - yeah, now I can see the full list at TORn too. 11 nominations. no acting noms.

Meh. I'll go to bed now. :p

ainon--I was watching the nominations live, and some of those listed at the yahoo site are wrong. Someone must have been awfully sure of themselves--they got the expected ones, but missed the ones that were considered surprises.

None that affect RotK, but some that people might be interested in: Cold Mountain surprisingly got "stiffed"--no Best Picture nomination. Tom Cruise did not get nominated but Johnny Depp did (have to say I'm :) about that one).

Originally posted by tgshaw
ainon--I was watching the nominations live, and some of those listed at the yahoo site are wrong. Someone must have been awfully sure of themselves--they got the expected ones, but missed the ones that were considered surprises.

None that affect RotK, but some that people might be interested in: Cold Mountain surprisingly got "stiffed"--no Best Picture nomination. Tom Cruise did not get nominated but Johnny Depp did (have to say I'm :) about that one).

Well, well, is that so? :D Awww. Poor Miramax. Gee, Tom got stiffed too? Awwww. ;) :D

tgshaw, your news has just made my night again. :D :D

Yeah, sniff, sniff... poor things ;) . Here's a site that has the correct list (thanks to Quicksilver in the Oscars thread):

http://www.oscar.com/nominees/nomineelist.html

----One unhappy surprise: no Best Cinematography nomination for RotK :confused: !


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

But even without any acting nominations, I'd say that being (now undisputed) lead actor in a movie that wins the Golden Globe for Best Picture and is nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture says something in itself!

Can anybody explain to me why they announce that at such a weird time?

Russell Crowe did not get a nomination. :( Too bad, I liked his performance in Master and Commander but he's received a lot of awards and nominations in the past so I bet he won't shed a tear.

Johnny Depp did get a nomination? :) I didn't expect that and good for him. He sure is one of the most interesting actors around. He made that POTC movie (IMO).

Tom Cruise no nomination? :D (I shouldn't laugh, I haven't even seen the movie).

About LOTR: I'm a bit disappointed for Sean Astin. He has been talking so much about it in the press (answering questions mainly). I hope that he wasn't counting on a nomination too much.
But the LOTR is indeed a team effort. It would have been too bad for the others if just one actor got an award and the rest didn't.

Oh well, we tried for Elijah.:rolleyes: :(

But hey those other noms probably make him glad. They DO need an ensemble cast category.

So now I can root for Johnny Depp who I did love in PoC.

And NO nom for Tom!! THAT makes me happier.:D

Hi everybody!
Well, I'm back - able to post something, not only to read. At least for some time.

I had no chance to watch the Globe ceremony, only some glimpses of it in the TV news; anyway I'm very happy for the LOTR crew - they deserve this joy and acknowledgement.

But speaking about ROTK... I've seen the movie twice already and on Thursday will go again. I'm absolutely in the "ROTK mood" now - I'm able to think only about this great movie... This created problems at work - this is quite difficult to concentrate on my job. :) But what a sad paradox for me!- I feel as I have nothing to say here: I'm too late to join the discussion.... Almost everything was said already since 17/12/03. What can I add?

Just to repeat that ROTK makes a very different impact comparing to FOTR and TTT. It has some kind of postponed effect - a very strange one - you start to feel the whole profound sadness and melancholy of the story only some time later.

When I read the final pages of the book they were always more painful and bitter for me, than the last scenes of PJ's movie. Yes, I cried a lot in the theater at GP, too, but just after the movie I didn't feel depressed. I was in a very high mood. But the next day - oh, it was very hard, really. Because I started to cry again and again during the day...and felt myself so so sad,with same feeling of the bitter loss as in the book... Two of my friends told me the same story - great and light mood just after the movie and a lot of tears the next day... Did anyone at Faculty had the same strange experience?

And... by the way, after seeng ROTK I don't care at all if these strange Academy folk give EW an Oscar nomination for Frodo or not. If they have no eyes to see how splendid his work in this role is... Well, this is their problem. I'm just sorry for their blindness. (may be they will understand this mistake many years later- as it had happened with O'Tool's Lourence of Arabia.) This role will not loose any of it's splendor and without their recognition.

Originally posted by Moondancer
Can anybody explain to me why they announce that at such a weird time?

5:30 am Pacific time means that the morning shows coming out of New York will be able to show the announcement and bring out their movie critics to discuss them (Joel Siegel over on ABC was actually pretty accurate with his Best Picture noms, but he was waaaay off on the Best Actress list).

Originally posted by tgshaw

----One unhappy surprise: no Best Cinematography nomination for RotK :confused: !

But even without any acting nominations, I'd say that being (now undisputed) lead actor in a movie that wins the Golden Globe for Best Picture and is nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture says something in itself!
I noticed the absence of a cinematography nom right away, too. What a strange omission.:confused: And a nom for sound mixing but not sound editing?:confused: :confused:

It's been a remarkable journey to this state wherein I actually notice such things. Three years ago you couldn't have gotten any reaction whatsoever from me (or a lot of other people) about any nominations apart from the Big Ones.

The Oscars really do need an ensemble cast category. Does anyone know when was the last time they added a category?

I so loved witnessing the love between PJ and Elijah at the Golden Globes. I almost--almost but not quite!-- don't care about the Oscars now. Peter Jackson, and Elijah, are finally getting their due acclaim.:) :) :)

Edit: Rikka, I just read your latest post in detail. You are not alone in your feeling of initial good vibes followed by deep angst after viewing ROTK. I was actually relieved that PJ gave Frodo's departure from Middle-earth a hopeful twist. Frodo's smile and tiny nod as he turns to leave are such a gift to the audience! I left the theater KNOWING that Frodo is going to be alright. An hour or so later, though--WHAM! The sorrow and feeling of loss hit hard. Part of it has to be due to the inescapable fact that it is over. No more Lord of the Rings films.. Except, mercifully, for the extended DVD. And do not fear, there is still plenty of ROTK discussion to conduct. At the moment, the awards shows and nominations are at the front of everyone's mind. It will pass, and the film discussion will resume! :) :) :)

Originally posted by Goldenberry
Peter Jackson, and Elijah, are finally getting their due acclaim.:) :) :) [/B]

That's exactly how I feel. I wasn't expecting any nominations in the acting categories, and in some ways I'm glad there are none - the entire cast did such an amazing job that it would be hard to single anyone out, despite having one or two closer to my heart. :)

I think that recognition of the movies overall is, in effect, recognition for all of the actors - and for all of the people who put their hearts into this. And they are such a generous, warm-hearted bunch that I doubt that anyone feels anything but celebration that RotK leads the nominations so strongly.

Originally posted by Goldenberry
I noticed the absence of a cinematography nom right away, too. What a strange omission.:confused: And a nom for sound mixing but not sound editing?:confused: :confused:

While I wish they had gotten those noms, FOTR did win for cinematography (someone at TORC thought there were so many digital shots in ROTK that perhaps it explained this omission) and the TTT won for sound editing. I remember TTT had only 6 noms, and people were saying one explanation might be because all three movies were shot at once and so the movies were regarded as one project, and the tech awards had gotten their recognition already with all the noms for FOTR. So I personally was thrilled to see some of the nominations (like costumes) for ROTK that were snubbed last year.

Originally posted by Narya Celebrian
And they are such a generous, warm-hearted bunch that I doubt that anyone feels anything but celebration that RotK leads the nominations so strongly.

Heh, heh, somehow I doubt Harvey Weinstein is feeling the love for ROTK! :D

Rikka, you described exactly what happened to me the first time I saw it. Second time (did I see it 3 times?), the reaction wasn't as delayed.

The book always leaves me with a terrible feeling of grief and loss, as I've mentioned before. I forgive (and appreciate) PJ's putting a slight glimpse of hope in the backward look and smile. He couldn't leave the audience feeling that horrible sense of loss.

Oh, dad-gummit. There I go again.

Re Oscars: NOT ONE acting nomination? Not ONE?!? :eek: :confused: :eek: :confused: :eek: :confused:

It reinforces my belief that the GG and Academy voters threw up their hands in despair and confusion when they looked at LotR for acting nominations. I refuse to consider that they would think that a movie that wins Best Picture has acting that's not as good as others. The trouble was, there were so many, the casting was perfect, and performances were all at the same spectacular level. How could you nominate Sean Astin but not Ian McKellan (answer: you wouldn't DARE)? Elijah but not Viggo? Viggo but not Elijah? Miranda but not Cate (they wouldn't DARE!)? It's an absolutely hopeless task.

What they should do is have a special recognition (maybe mini-Oscars) for an unusual and phenomenal ensemble or accomplishment or something. There should be something to point out that despite - or maybe *because* of the acting excellence, nobody stood out. There were no "breakout" roles. Sean's Samwise was spectacular because the character is spectacular and was cast and acted very well. Maybe a category for "best fit of role to actor"? The roles fit the actors as beautifully as that green velvet jacket. (did you notice how well it fit across his back and shoulders? Being a conisseur (oh <deity> I can't spell today!) of well-tailored backs, I approve thoroughly.) Isn't there a category for best casting?

BTW we *did* see Fran Walsh before - in a painting above the fireplace in Bag End. :)

I watched The War again last night. It's hard to recognize child-actor EW as the same beautifully tailored young man who walked down that red carpet.

~grumpy

Originally posted by Goldenberry
Edit: Rikka, I just read your latest post in detail. You are not alone in your feeling of initial good vibes followed by deep angst after viewing ROTK.

Goldenberry,zkgrumpy, thanks! :k I'm glad to know there are others like me at the Faculty, too.

Originally posted by Goldenberry
I was actually relieved that PJ gave Frodo's departure from Middle-earth a hopeful twist.
Well, reading LOTR I always was - and is - in a "pessimistic camp" about GH. For me Frodo's departure means death - at least for our world (yes, I did read Silm and the letters, but they didn't change my mind in this point).... And any death (especially of the one still so young) is a tragedy and loss anyway... Even if afterlife promises light and peace, it is only "after" life - it doesn't bring back simple human happines of our mortal life he'd no chance to know.
To my surprise I found out that PJ has the same concept about GH - in the movie the departure of mortal characters (Bilbo and Frodo) to the Evergreen land obviously means death... PJ even made Gandalf to clame this concept outloud in Minas Tirith - in his speach about a death as a new journey that leads to the far green country in the swift sunrise... And IMO in GH PJ managed to express all sad and high poetry of saying farewell to this life so greatelly... that I'm deeply grateful to him. Sincerely saying, I even don't want to discuss is it different from the book's concept or not... Why? Because the end of his movie effects me in the same way, as a book's one - they both make me not to fear death.

- - -
EDIT:
Just finished to read the information about the Hooligans project. Thanks for all you, ladies, who had found it! I may say it sounds very interesting. I would love to see EW playing complicated character in a todays psichologic drama. And I love Hooligan's poster - it looks very intensive and gothic in some way - looking at those black and darkblue colours with pail moon light, shouting lads and "infernal" beauty of EW's face I just thought about... vampires? :) he he he... And I suddenly thought the boy could be very nice in an adaptation of the only story about vampires I liked in my life :) ("Those who hunt the night" - may be someone here read this book).

Rikka:
Just to repeat that ROTK makes a very different impact comparing to FOTR and TTT. It has some kind of postponed effect - a very strange one - you start to feel the whole profound sadness and melancholy of the story only some time later.

I've seen the movie six times now, and cry through the whole last half, and then the next day it sneaks up on me again, and I cry some more.

Regarding Elijah's stencilled jackets; according that Angeleno they are by Liberteens, and that is the way it is spelled. Everyone of them that we've seen so far has a seam that is ragged or hand stitched with large stitches. This is a hallmark of "deconstruction" style. It first appeared in the early 90's I believe, and Japanese designers were amoung the first to adopt it. As a wearables artist I really appreciate those jackets! :D

I was having an amusing thought this a.m. Remember back in the late 80's when "boyfriend jackets" were the thing? They had huge shoulder pads, with rolled up sleeves to reveal the lining and you wore 'em with frothy lace and lots of rhinestones and denim and shtuff.

Imagine the '04 version. You get a well made jacket at Goodwill; at my local one you can get a Ralph Lauren for around $30 bucks. Employ a seam-ripper with discretion to a seam here or there, whip the seam back up with really large hand stitches. Stencil something on it. Now get one of those goofy "it's an Elijah Wood thing" t-shirts I've seen on E-bay....

Nah!

Oh, one more clothes related note. Did anyone else notice he was wearing that vintage "military" style jacket from the Angeleno shoot when he de-planed in Japan? Does this mean at some point we'll see the lavendar shirt and ripped jeans? mmmmmmm......:)

Well, I really can't believe that Elijah didn't get an Oscar nom. Hopefully though our Lovely 'Lijah will have a lot more chances in the future.

Honey!

from Goldenberry:
I so loved witnessing the love between PJ and Elijah at the Golden Globes. I almost--almost but not quite!-- don't care about the Oscars now. Peter Jackson, and Elijah, are finally getting their due acclaim

from Narya Celebrian:
in some ways I'm glad there are none - the entire cast did such an amazing job that it would be hard to single anyone out

Amen to both of those comments. Much as I would have loved to see Elijah nominated (n'est-ce pas, Hobmom? :) ), I'm sure that he, being such an unselfish and giving person, would have hated to be singled out from the rest of the cast. So what has happened instead - no nominations for anyone - is the next best thing. Apologies to Viggo and Ian and Sean (I'd have loved to see everyone in that exceptional cast nominated if that had been possible), but I'd have been heartbroken to see Elijah pushed aside in favour of anyone else from ROTK. I feel that those three movies would never have worked without Elijah's tireless optimism and sheer "beauty of spirit", as Ian McKellen put it, to keep everyone (especially PJ and SA) going throughout those gruelling 16 months. To me his achievement, both in acting and in terms of his overall contribution to the project, was so immense that it would have been a tragedy if another cast member had been honoured in his place. My biggest fear recently (I can admit it now!) was that of seeing Sean and not Elijah nominated (it's by no means certain that those not nominated can even attend the ceremony, as seating in the Kodak Theater is so limited). But PJ is certain to invite Elijah as his guest, as he did for FOTR. Isn't he?

I really am sorry about Andrew Lesnie, though. One of my favourite LOTR people and a truly brilliant cinematographer. However, he did win the Oscar for FOTR, which is probably why he's been overlooked this time. And he was nominated by the American Society of Cinematographers (their award ceremony is on Feb 8).

from tgshaw:
Maybe she saw the trailer for ESOTSM and didn't realize there were special effects involved
ROFL!! :D

Hello Faculteers :D

Happy New Year to everyone :) Just wanted to came back and see how you're all doing. And hopefully post some more too! I've got about a zillion pages to read! :eek: :D Better get reading then ;)

Luth x

Eleven Oscar Nominations...WOOOHOOO !!! :D :D :D

First the Golden Globes Triumph, now the Oscar Noms...

Way to go..Pete !!!

That is such good news, isn't it ???

I, too, was very puzzled by the absence of a nomination for Cinematography, seeing as it was stunning, imho...
But then, I realised that Elanor was probably right...the other awards for SFX and costume and the like, were all for new things with respect to ROTK, such as Shelob or the Gondor sets and costumes, etc ...whereas the cinematography has been the same methods used, achieving the same levels of excellence, throughout the whole Trilogy.. .and if you've got an award already, then that's it !!!

As for the actors getting no noms this time around...well, I agree with Serena, that Elijah, for one, will be just happy that the film has received recognition, and that this IS definitely an ensemble cast, and as such, with such a high level of teamwork involved, you can't really reward one person over anyone else...

People have suggested that the Oscars need an Ensemble-cast Award category...well, on the face of it, that seems to be a good idea, until you realise that there has to be five movies, all with ensemble casts, in order to have any sort of an Award at all...and I can't see five movies like ROTK in the running, can you ?

( Ainon, and Blossom,
I have sent you both PM's today, by the way...just a request, if it's at all possible !!...Thanks :k :D )

Cheer up everyone! Although Eiljah didn't get a nomination, he'll definitely get it sometime. You know what they say, you can only get better as you grow older.

But... if you're still feeling a little blue, here's a little something that should do the trick.

http://always.ejwsites.net:443/images/wood3.jpg

We might not be able to bask in an acting Oscar nomination, but we sure can bask in his beauty.

EDIT: The pic can't be linked (I dunno - something about a URL referrer) ... so my best bet is just to copy and paste it onto the address bar. Trust me... do it!

Originally posted by Lady Wendy
People have suggested that the Oscars need an Ensemble-cast Award category...well, on the face of it, that seems to be a good idea, until you realise that there has to be five movies, all with ensemble casts, in order to have any sort of an Award at all...and I can't see five movies like ROTK in the running, can you ?
Well, there are some groups that do have that category and they seem to find enough movies to honor--probably not all ensemble casts in the way that the LotR movies have been, but ones that can be rewarded for great acting overall. And everything doesn't have to be set at five nominees. I think this year there are just three nominees for best animated movie (a fairly new category--started just several years ago).

RotK won the best acting by an ensemble award from the National Board of Review this year. I think there's at least one other group that gives out that award, but I don't remember who :o .

Screen Actors Guild (SAG) gives an award for ensemble as well. ROTK cast is nominated (as were FOTR & TTT). Hope they win it this time!

Hobbityme: your picture almost turned me into a Haremite, something I've been steadily resisting for three years! :k

Hi, just popped in because I had to share, and say:

THIS did not get an Oscar nom? Shame, shame on them! :)

http://home.comcast.net/~ppitts/RotK_Frodo07.jpg

Patricia found this little gem on CoE. It's from the NYTimes.

Sigh. Getting any closer to Haremite-dom, Dangermouse?

Hewene

Originally posted by Hewene

Sigh. Getting any closer to Haremite-dom, Dangermouse?



How PreRaphaelite angel he looks in the picture (a very grimy angel, but still...) To quote Gandalf: "Don't tempt me." I am on a brink of a precipice though am trying very hard not to fall off. :p(goes and hides from Ainon). It's all Pippin in ROTK's fault: after all if I could swoon for one hobbit, why not for two?

Originally posted by Dangermouse
To quote Gandalf: "Don't tempt me." I am on a brink of a precipice though am trying very hard not to fall off. :p You *do* realize, don't you, that resistance is futile? :D

(I've turned into quite the little Pippin swooner myself, so I know what you mean!)

Hewene

ACK! The Mesh Shirt of Doom! My eyes! My eyes!!!!:D ;) :k

Hewene, I just HAD to quote your signature. Hope you don't mind. Flick Filosopher wrote amazing things about FOTR as well. And now this!
The Flick Filosopher, re: why Cold Mountain left her cold:
"But mostly, the problem is this: I've seen Samwise Gamgee carrying Frodo Baggins up the slopes of Mount Doom. I've seen Faramir, captain of Gondor, ride to what he believes will be his death merely to earn the love of his father. I've seen Peregrin Took leap onto a burning pyre to save a dying man he doesn't know in repayment for a debt owed that man's dead brother. I've seen an entire world shrink into molecules of fading hope and acts of selfless love. After that, how can the troubles of one Confederate soldier and one Southern belle amount to even a hill of beans in this crazy world? Nothing they can say could upset me."
You said it, babe.

Dangermouse...

http://www.bagendinn.com/Elijah/images/posed/concrete.jpg


What about now? :D


Going to watch ROTK again this Friday. I'm going to be really looking out for all those microexpressions tgshaw!

/delurks

Cor!!!!

/redelurks

:D

Originally posted by Rikka
This role will not loose any of it's splendor and without their recognition.
Yes! Brilliant observation, Rikka – and I strongly agree! EW’s was the most incredible performance in a cast of incredible performances – and with the hardest role! That many are blind to see it, does not change the accomplishment.

Originally posted by Narya Celebrian
That's exactly how I feel. I wasn't expecting any nominations in the acting categories, and in some ways I'm glad there are none - the entire cast did such an amazing job that it would be hard to single anyone out, despite having one or two closer to my heart. :)
YES!!! LOL!!! OK, so I should have read further! You’ve stated my feelings exactly! Good to see I am in such magnanimous company! ;)

Originally posted by Goldenberry
I was actually relieved that PJ gave Frodo's departure from Middle-earth a hopeful twist.
Yes, I would call PJ’s take slightly more hopeful too – though I am not sure why! In Tolk’s GH, I was weeping buckets (and do every time I read the book- but I love every single minute of it), but in PJ’s film, I don’t feel the depth of Tolkien’s sadness…though I agree PJ suggests the characters’ deaths even more strongly than Tolkien himself does. I am still trying to figure out why I haven’t cried yet – maybe it will hit me later too – I’ve just got a longer delay timer than the rest of you have… LOL!

Serena – Yes – I was worried about that myself. This way is indeed much better.

Ooooo! Hobbityme – that’s a shot from the infamous Premiere session that WASN’T in the article. Bravo for finding and sharing it!

OOOO!!! Dangermouse! A Challenge? Try this on for size…
http://www.frodosharem.org/Pics/ewood4.jpg or http://www.frodosharem.org/Pics/frodoportrait.jpg

or...

Edit: Making this last one a link out of deference for the innocent victims and so as not to make this seem too much like the Hugs Haven... LOL!
Elijah in Blue (http://www.frodosharem.org/Pics/Elijahinblue.jpg)

hehehehhe... I know... merciless, aren't we?

Ariel

I know these pictures are for Dangermouse, but I'm falling under friendly fire here!

::swoons::

Ariel, now you're not playing fair. :p ;)

Originally posted by zkgrumpy
It's hard to recognize child-actor EW as the same beautifully tailored young man who walked down that red carpet.


This, plus the recent picture posting challenge, made me think of a few early pics I have which I think clearly showed his potential to become that young man:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid102/p2cbe5a728e67a7055aa7a3519a2a1f56/f9cc0180.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid102/p7ded02e066f9df3efc90a0faf3a9058a/f9cc013f.jpg

For some reason, these early pics seem to capture that potential even more than the ones from around the time of The War and Flipper. It's almost as if that luminescent energy was more focused when he was young - and went a little awry during his early to middle adolescence. ;)

BTW, if anyone was to find an original of that second one anywhere, I would pay good money for it. It was a trade advertisement for The Good Son, and it's one of the only trade advertisements from any of the movies that I would really like to have. As Spork would say, I just lurve it. :D

Originally posted by Alyon
Someone wondered if Elijah's size might go against him in theater--but I think SNL proved he can turn it on. And his face and eyes are what really matter--how they project to the very back of the theater. I think he would be great (yeah, I"ve said it before).

I do too, especially after seeing him on SNL (just caught the rerun) and watching him present at the GG. He was so comfortable and relaxed during the GG presentation, and had a lot of charisma. Some of the presenters seemed nervous, or uncomfortable, or bored, or flubbed their lines, or were obviously reading from cue cards, but not Elijah. He was totally professional and his introduction sounded like he were really talking to the audience rather than just reading off cue cards. I was impressed!

Luthiea! It's about time you showed up here again! Where've you been, girl?!

Welcome back, Alyon and Daughter! That is great praise indeed! Congratulations, A.D.! :k

Rikka, yes, I know what you're talking about and that feeling you've described when it comes to RotK. Although I seem to tear up more at the nonFrodo scenes: Pippin and Pippin and Pippin (yes, yes, so I swoon for Pippin, okay, I confess it! I swoon for Pippin! And for Billy. Forgive me, Faculty, for my heart hath strayed :o ), the beacons!, Eowyn & Aragorn, Eowyn & Theoden, King Theoden, Gandalf's "swift sunrise" speech, Aragorn's "For Frodo", Gandalf and Frodo at the HoH. I expect and am prepared to be angsted out by Frodo and Sam, but when the others wrench such emotion outta me too, there's just no controlling it.

Well, no acting noms isn't a big deal for our LOTR actors in the long run, although if the Academy wanted to pick any actor out of an ensemble they could have - I remember 'Gosford Park' getting at least two acting noms in the same category a couple of years back, and that movie was without doubt an ensemble team. Whatever.

But how could the Academy stiff Andrew Lesnie?! :mad: I don't care 'bout him winning for FotR already. That's like saying Miramax has plenty of Oscar movies already and really doesn't need more, does it? :p


Originally posted by Ariel
Making this last one a link out of deference for the innocent victims and so as not to make this seem too much like the Hugs Haven... LOL!
Elijah in Blue (http://www.frodosharem.org/Pics/Elijahinblue.jpg)

hehehehhe... I know... merciless, aren't we?



LOL! Dangermouse dear? Give me your hand. Let me pull you up and brush you down. I hope you didn't hurt yourself thudding to the floor that hard? :D

I love that Frodo portrait, Ariel. And CoD Frodo is WHOA! Thank you for sharing that, Hewene and Patricia!

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/01/27/movies/oscars/lordoftherings366.jpg

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/movies/oscars/index.html

well, NYTIMES insisted that I register to read the article. so I figured that meant I could borrow some pic bandwidth too. :D

On the other hand, I've always found Little Elijah to have that special potential - like Narya said. And Elijah is starting to become interesting ;) but he ain't done nothin' for me. Yet.

Aye, Ariel. I triple dare you. :D

tg, the Screen Actors Guild has their Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category, that hopefully will be going to ROTK (tho I’m sorry to say Christopher Lee won’t be eligible. :( ) The SAGs will be broadcast on Sunday, Feb 22nd, from Los Angeles. It’ll be televised on TNT.



Also, another face showed up after the Golden Globe ceremonies. (I know one Haremite who needs to see this picture pretty bad. ;) )


http://overthebrandywine.com/A1/Awards04/GGaftSean.jpg

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0603/ainon/0065.jpg

http://home.ripway.com/2003-7/13204/0066.jpg

which in turn came from here - http://www.newlineawards.com/

lovely pictures...:)

In my newspaper (a Flemish one), they commented on the Oscar nominations.
"Hobbits in the lead in the Oscar race...with 11 nominations, things are looking very good for the Return of the King. But the film has no acting nominations. Not unexpected really, it's a tough job trying to figure out what's a lead role and what are the supporting roles".


Happy birthday, Elijah
He's not going to read this but I'd like to send positive vibes in his direction anyway:...may this year be a blessed one, full of exciting projects for you, love, happiness, good health and lots of laughter!

By the way, on the radio this morning, the dj's were talking about celebrity birthdays and of course they mentionned Elijah. The female newsreader was suprised to see that he's 23 yrs old. "He's only 23? I thought that he was older than that". That's a change from the usual "He's 23 already? I thought that he was only 17 or so"
Male dj 1: "Come on...just look at that baby face."
Male dj 2...mispronouncing his name: "Elijah Wood, the lead actor in Lord of The Rings, who played Frodo."
Female newsreader: "He IS Frodo".

BTW, if anyone was to find an original of that second one anywhere, I would pay good money for it. It was a trade advertisement for The Good Son, and it's one of the only trade advertisements from any of the movies that I would really like to have.
The DVD for The Good Son is one of few EJW movies that is fairly easy to find over here (the region 2 dvd's).

Since Elijah's birthday is a winter birthday and we actually have snowy landscape...
http://img1.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/cast_ew_pic19.jpg

Happy Birthday, Elijah! May your dreams come true!


ainon et al, am I allowed to look at the already posted pictures even though I am not Dangermouse? :p

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our beautiful ringbearer!

That’s a very powerful image, ainon. Stunning.

Rikka said: Just to repeat that ROTK makes a very different impact comparing to FOTR and TTT. It has some kind of postponed effect - a very strange one - you start to feel the whole profound sadness and melancholy of the story only some time later.

I completely agree with this – it has struck me that way too. It took me the first two viewings to stop feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of ‘events’. But after my 3rd viewing I had a similar experience to you, and to Goldberry too. I had the greatest sense of resolution – Frodo is gone, even with such radiance. What struck me was the sense of grief I felt on behalf of Sam, Frodo and Merry. That sadness and emptiness you feel when you say a truly final Goodbye. Part of that is the story itself – it’s this aspect of the Grey Havens chapter which saddens me the most. But it’s also a farewell to something that has become part of my way of life too.

I went to see ROTK again today, and found myself thinking that I can’t wait for the DVD so I can look at particular scenes slowly, frame by frame, to really absorb what’s happening.

:D :D :D That’s excellent news about the Oscar nominations :D :D :D

Happy 23rd! :cool:

Had a hard time deciding among all the cute little-kid pics, so here's one where Elijah's a little older, showing some early ease and confidence on a talk show (Arsenio Hall, I think):

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/outtakes/CAOLI3OH.jpg

Ezzie, thanks for the news on the SAG awards. Too bad it'll be shown on cable, but we'll know when to watch for the results.

Alyon--Great news! Congratulations to A.D. I don't know if Evergreen will make it to Omaha, but I'll watch for it! :cool:

Moondancer--Sign up that female newsperson :) ! IMHO that statement in your newspaper about the LotR roles is exactly right. -- The Good Son is actually going to be released on region 1 DVD in a few days, but I don't think the particular shot Narya's looking for is in the actual movie. Wonder if there will be much "extra stuff" on the DVD? Maybe it'll show up.

They also mentioned Elijah's birthday on the early local news here (and pronounced his name correctly :p !). Also, of course, they mentioned that he was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They showed a picture: the one from the calendar where Frodo's holding the phial.

Thought it was a bit strange in this week's People magazine. There was a short article on the back page--where they publish little snips of interviews, etc.--that said "Elijah Wood, 23," but then they didn't list his birthday with other "celebrities" in the front of the magazine :confused: . Must be two different people responsible for those pages. BTW, there wasn't anything new in the little article (so I didn't buy the magazine :p ). Just a rehash of some of the rumors about Elijah & Dom, and Elijah saying how hilarious they both thought they were. And a head and shoulders pic with one of his slightly-geeky-looking closed-mouth smiles.

Luthiea!! :k Good to see you--come back soon!

---And thanks for the CoD pics, ladies. Amazing, amazing scene.

Originally posted by Ariel
Yes, I would call PJ’s take slightly more hopeful too – though I am not sure why! In Tolk’s GH, I was weeping buckets (and do every time I read the book- but I love every single minute of it), but in PJ’s film, I don’t feel the depth of Tolkien’s sadness…though I agree PJ suggests the characters’ deaths even more strongly than Tolkien himself does.
Gee, with everything that's been posted in-between :p , I forgot I was going to comment on this. IMVHO, a big part of the difference is that in the book we're seeing (and feeling) everything specifically from Sam's POV, and even though I think he was hopeful, it was emotionally wrenching for him and we feel it right along with him. In the movie, we're watching more from the outside, which I think lowers the emotion a bit. Also, a lot of the lines that are tear-jerkers (for me, anyway) in the book aren't in the movie--but I can fill them in well enough :) , so I think the less intense POV makes more difference for me.

Edit:
FORGOT (how could I?) TO SAY:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIJAH !!!!! :k

from Rikka:
you start to feel the whole profound sadness and melancholy of the story only some time later
Yes. It hit me the day after I saw ROTK for the first time (in the Embassy Theatre in Wellington). That experience was so stunning and so beautiful that I just sat there in rapt amazement. The next day I had to choke back tears from morning till night. More of that saga when ... phew .... I finally get the time ...

from Alyon:
Someone wondered if Elijah's size might go against him in theater

No way! Those oxy-acetylene eyes will burn a hole in the back wall of any theatre, let alone the back row. AND there's the fact that actors usually look bigger on stage than in "real life"; I remember meeting one TV star whom I'd been watching during a studio recording and being amazed that he was scarcely bigger than me (he'd looked far taller under the lights). And as for stage fright: no worries. Didn't Elwood say he was scared sh**less before SNL? He was cool as a cucumber when it came down to it. And even at age 13, when drafted in at short notice to replace - yes - Master Culkin himself :eek: as a presenter at the 1994 Oscars (Mac apparently rejected the speech written for him, so they gave him the boot), Elijah was praised as being the evening's most poised presenter. He's one of the coolest people around when interviewed or put on the spot. He also knows when and when not to fool around (there was never any danger of hobbit jokes at the GGs). He would LOVE theatre, and be excellent at it.

Talking of fooling around, one thing I saw in NZ was a snippet in a newspaper about one NZ TV channel having repeated about 12 times a clip of EW saying "Hello sweetheart" to the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, at the press conference after the world première. New Zealanders seemed to find this hilarious ("sweetheart" seems to be a typically NZ form of address). Sadly, I didn't get to see the actual clip! If anyone can come up with that ..... :k

Having brought up the subject of Macauley, I should thank Moondancer very belatedly for the Richie Rich story. I have a very very vague recollection of hearing about that at the time, but failed to connect it with the wonderful 10-year-old I'd seen in "Forever Young". Anyway, it's great to know that Mel Gibson went to that trouble on Elijah's behalf. I already knew he was an Elijah fan - here's part of his quote about him after said movie:

"Elijah seems to have knowledge beyond his years for executing his job. He's professional and extremely talented. He learns quickly from watching others and before you know it, he's borrowing bits and pieces" (or words to that effect - can't remember the exact wording of the last bit).

What really stands out is that everyone who's worked with Elijah from age 7 onwards seems to be completely blown away by him as an actor and as a person. Unique, I'd say.

Can't stay to join in the interesting discussion, but I had to say,

Happy Birthday, Elwood!

May 2004 truly be the year of the Monkey!! :)

Originally posted by serena
Having brought up the subject of Macauley, I should thank Moondancer very belatedly for the Richie Rich story. I have a very very vague recollection of hearing about that at the time, but failed to connect it with the wonderful 10-year-old I'd seen in "Forever Young". Anyway, it's great to know that Mel Gibson went to that trouble on Elijah's behalf. I already knew he was an Elijah fan - here's part of his quote about him after said movie:

And talking about the Macauley Culking troubles (with his father). There's also a Macauley/Elijah story connected to the Oscars. Does anybody remember that?
Macauley was supposed to do a small but funny presentation for the Oscars (I think that this was very quickly after the Home Alone succes). Again, Macauley's father caused trouble (demanding too much, being very difficult). As a result he and Macauley were impossible to work with. They (= Oscar organisation) were fed up with this, so ...with little time for preparation...they asked Elijah if he would do the presentation instead.
Of course he said yes...he learned in lines in no time and was an absolute star. I remember the comments from somebody behind the scenes of The Oscars, saying what a professional little Elijah was and what a dream to work with.

edit:* must read everybody's comments in full before answering...* :rolleyes:
Forgive me, Serena...I just read your post entirely and I saw you mentionning this already.
I deserve a trout for this.

Alyon, my hubby also cries when everyone bows to the hobbits! And he is not a "movie crier". Or even hobbit-centric.

I watched part of my Golden Globes tape last night and was thrilled to see Nancy O'Dell from Access Hollywood interview Elijah on the red carpet--the very first interview of the pre-show!:cool: Nothing we haven't heard before, questions about how he feels about it all being over, wrap parties and the Ring he got at the end. Nevertheless it was a great surprise and I was sooooo glad I had taped the red carpet thing! He was of course charming and articulate and glowing.:) :) :)

Happy Birthday to Elijah!:k

Year of the Monkey indeed! :p

Edit: Ooooh, Ezzie, Sean Bean! A certain Haremite will be very very jealous. How inconsiderate of him to be on the wrong coast at the wrong time.;)

Keep those glorious pictures coming, Faculty members!

New Line's awards site also has a clip of "Here at the end of all things".... :eek:

I've just watched it about a dozen times....indescribable.

Hi,
now I'm in here just to say:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ELIJAH! :k
I hope that for our boy this year will be full of interesting job...with good and joyful time between.

Thank for all who shared with me your aftermovie experience. I thought a lot about this strange "postponed sorrow" effect of it... And it seems to me I begin to understand why and how does this movie make this effect - at least on me... heh... Mr. Jackson somehow knows a lot about elvish medicine and magic - and he used them successfully for his purposes in the fin. ;) Well, this needs a long conversation... just have no time for it now. But tomorrow I'll try to come back and to explain what I mean.

P.S. Pics are wonderful!!! Thanks.

:::: cowering on floor covering head as Duelling Pictures zing back and forth overhead ::::

"Oh, ya wanna fight? Take that! (grimysweatyCoDpicture)"
"You're not playing fair! Take that!" (adorablelittlekidpictures)
"Think you're tough, do you?" (meshshirtofdoompicture)
"Hah! Here's my secret weapon!" (blue-eyedangelpicture)

Help! Mercy! I have to, like, *WORK* today! AAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH!

:::: recovering composure (well, sort of) ::::

Happy birthday, Elijah!

~grumpyandoverwhelmed (I don't *dare* watch any of those clips)(Like I said, I have to work today)

First of all...

Happy Birthday Elijah!
May this year be truly filled with wonderful things for you!

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/magazines/roadshow3/roadshow3-014.jpg


And with all this talk about Oscar 1994 (the year Elijah presented)... Here are a few pics of his adorable majesty ;)

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/awards/oscar-1994/oscar-1994-009.jpg

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/awards/oscar-1994/oscar-1994-001.jpg

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/awards/oscar-1994/oscar-1994-003.jpg

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/awards/oscar-1994/oscar-1994-007.jpg

He was a little darling! Just wondering, did anyone actually see him present in '94? Or know which award he presented?

Unbelievable. That last one looks like it could've been taken Sunday. Just remove tuxedo (oooohhh...should've rephrased that! A kid -- he's a kid -- keep reminding myself.....) and add green velvet suit in.

BTW -- how do you guys get the pics to show up in your messages?

Achila ~ isn't it a wonder how this young little prince has grown up??? Just looking the the first picture, it's so striking. I remember reading a celebrity personality say a while back that if Elijah grew up not to be fat, ugly or get addicted to anything nasty he would do alright. Well, I can safely say he's done MORE than all right!

To answer your question, if you want to post an image, just type in

*insert pic url here

That's what I do except there's also a button up top "IMG" which will prompt you to enter the image url and that works as well.

Happy Birthday, Elijah! :k

Here's a classic. Wish I could figure out how to include pictures:(

Oh cool - - thanks!

Radio Flyer was on last night (not that I couldn't watch my own copy, but when one of his movies is on, I just HAVE to watch, you know? ), and it made me curious to find out what Joseph Mazzello looks like now as a young adult (he's 20). Sad to say -- very disappointing. And Macauley Culkin too. Lij is in the small minority of actors that are gorgeous as children and remain so (and then some) when they grow up.:)

Honeyelf, Achila, the * codes only work for pictures that you are linking to that are already out on the internet, either on your own picture hosting site or some other site. If they're saved on your computer, you can only use the attachment function and show them as a link.

If they're on the internet, just right-click on the picture, and choose properties - that way you get the direct URL for that pic. Then paste it between the IMG codes, and you're set. (Just remember that even pictures can only be linked from PG-13 sites.)


Happy Birthday, Elijah.

Thanks for all the joy.

OK -- gotta try this -- here's a nice one from Sunday night at the GGs:


http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/awards/gg-2004/2004-gg-095.jpg

http://mesapollons.free.fr/Images/uvwxyz/Wood/ew17.jpg

Ooh, that's one of my favorites, honeyelf -- there's something about those pics where he's covering his mouth that just....

Here's another from the Golden Globes -- too bad he didn't win (by himself) the one in his hand:

http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/awards/gg-2004/2004-gg-111.jpg

Achila
there's something about those pics where he's covering his mouth that just....

I know exactly what you mean. somebodycouldprobablyexplain this to mebut IdontthinkIwanttoknow


http://chilax.com/~nine/Elijah/E3.jpg