And, of course, Salma Hayak is in Chain of Fools, The Faculty, and Spy Kids 3D (and both she and Elijah will probably be in whatever that next Rodriguez movie is :p ).




Speaking of Rodriguez, found something just now on Yahoo. (Hope it hasn't been posted before - I checked back a few pages and didn't see it.)

I continue to enjoy this thread, even though RL has me by the throat lately and I can only lurk. Am very much looking forward to ESOTSM (especially since I liked Being John Malkovich and Adaptation very much). Thanks for the review, peaceweaver.

Yahoo article below:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (news) is packing up a U-Haul with a host of top talent in hopes that they'll move into "Sin City."

According to multiple sources, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Willis , Elijah Wood, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Kate Bosworth and Jaime King have been targeted for the Dimension Films project, an adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novel series. Some of the actors have already signed on for parts, while others are only in discussions or have just received offers to join the cast.

Other names being bandied about include Benicio Del Toro (news) and Maria Bello (news), though offers had not yet gone out to either as of late Wednesday. Set to start shooting shortly, "Sin City" will be composed of three intertwining vignettes revolving around a dark set of characters that call the fictional corrupt town home.

Hallo girls!!
Finally i have seen the Jay Leno show with Elijah!!
He was awsome so funny, and the way he was looking
fore the phonenumber in the chair.Wasent he so cute in those
old pictures? He is a real entertainer.H e must really loves
what he is doing i mean he was 8 when he began to act
and he is 23 now and still can give away so great performens
both in movies and in talkshows when there is now acting
just being himself.You just have to love him!!!




:D :D :D :k :k :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Jeez, ElanorSam...that's some potential cast for Sin City.
It must be an exciting script/story that so many of the bigger names are mentionned.
I hope that it's not yet another 'underdevelopped' character for Elijah.
An article with more info:
Robert Rodriguez brings Sin City to life (http://www.superherohype.com/index.php?id=915)

Another interview with Elijah:
http://www.teenhollywood.com (http://www.teenhollywood.com/d.asp?r=62950&cat=1035&pg=1)
Added to that, an old photoshoot. Most of you have probably seen it before but it has beautiful pictures....consider this a late birthday gift, Sheryl:
Photoshoot (http://217.158.83.123/scripts/kws30pre.exe?site=LFI&type=GfxOnly&search=elijah&submit=lsearch#)

posted by tgshaw
to anyone who's completely Irish, as well as to fellow members of the great American "mongrel race" (what Hitler called us--I take it as a compliment--hybrid strength, y'know ). My personal mix includes Irish, German, (French) Belgian, English, and a drop of Czech.
Jeez...even a drop of Belgian blood?
My ancestors weren't as adventurous. I'm (Flemish) Belgian and I have French blood flowing in me (I might even have blue blood in me of the royal kind...one of my ancestors may have been a bastard son of a French king)...that's it.
But, the next generation is making up for the lack of diversity in our blood, adding German and Asian blood in the mix.

Oh yes, to the American Faculty Members: don't forget he's on Regis and Kelly today!
:) (the clips will probably (hopefully) surface somewhere on the net)

Originally posted by Moondancer
I'm (Flemish) Belgian and I have French blood flowing in me (I might even have blue blood in me of the royal kind...one of my ancestors may have been a bastard son of a French king)...that's it.

Wow, Moondancer - now, doesn't that sound like a great film story! Imagine Elijah in the role of the royal "bastard son". You definitely should write a screenplay of your familiy history and send it straightaway to Elijah (I'm not kidding, well, perhaps a little bit). ;) :k
Thank you for the infos on Sin City (thanks, ElanorSam!), the interview (apologies for my ignorance - anyone in here who knows the directors Elijah wants to work with? Wes Anderson, Darren Aranofsky, Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham?) and the photos - gorgeous! I loved especially the picture with the bust! Like Wood said, "You just have to love him!!!"


Originally posted by peaceweaver
The film itself is very engrossing, with a lovely tone and message to it. I didn't even mind Jim Carrey in it.

Peaceweaver, thanks. :) You give me hope. Actually, I recently borrowed Carrey's "Bruce Allmighty" for training purposes, in order to lift my tolerance limit (I call it my personal JC desensitisation :p , Tg - I won't do that with Don Johnson ;) ).

HALLO!!
Just have to write of some angry(dont now if this is the place
for this but i know you will understand what i mean) I was talking
with my mom this morning and i was telling her about Elijah
and Jay Leno and how good Elijah is and i was really exaiting
about this and she just not lisening to me shes just begining
to talking about Viggo iknow people have a right to ther own
apinion but they can atleast lisening and try to understand
why Elijah is so good. I just feel a littel alone over here its just
me in the hole family who thinks Elijah is a great actor and
a real sweatheart to look at.im so glad i have you my frends
to talk to you at least know what i mean and lisening to me
i mean reading.Thank god i have found this place!!!!
:k :k :confused: :confused:

Robert Rodriguez seems to be the opposite of Elijah when it comes to talking about his projects :D -- like when he told the kids that Elijah would be "The Guy" before even talking to Elijah. (And announcing a couple of those names in the article before he's even made an offer to them.) Maybe he figures it'll be harder for them to say no if their names are out there :p .

whiteling--Whoaa! I won't watch Bruce Almighty :eek: ! If you haven't seen The Truman Show and can find a rental copy, you might want to try that--more like ESOTSM than most his other movies. (I also liked The Mask, except for the overly violent--IMHO--ending, but that's probably just me :) .)

-----------

Moondancer, the "branches" of my family springing from my two brothers in California have added lines from Korea (adopted), India, Africa (two lines), and Mexico. Time marches on :) . But you're right about some of the matches in the past being "adventurous." On both sides of the family, there were some strong women who not only married men they weren't "supposed to," but also stayed very much themselves after marrying them :) .

My Belgian ancestors, BTW, were named Renier, and started music stores (selling pianos, etc.) in Iowa. There's actually a store in Omaha that's part of the chain they started, but now the store's name is pronounced Ren-eer's with the accent on the second syllable.

----------

Can't forget to report on my co-worker! He hadn't been in the office last Friday and then was home ill on Monday. So when I saw him on Tuesday, I was going to say something like, "Now I suppose you're going to give me a lame excuse about being sick all weekend!" But he beat me to it and said, "Guess what I saw?" and then whispered "Loved it!" :D (Turns out he hadn't been sick on Friday, just taking a vacation day, so he saw RotK before he got sick.) He said he'd been thinking about waiting until it came out on DVD, but was really glad he'd seen it in the theater, mostly because of the sound.

He had a couple of questions about movie-Arwen's illness, which I answered in terms of the movies but also told him none of that is in the book, and that Elrond responds quite differently to the match between Arwen and Aragorn! He (the co-worker) thought it was really interesting that Elrond is actually half-Elven himself--which would be a bit difficult to work into the movie's approach to his opposition to a mortal/Elven mating (could be done, but would take a lot of explaining). And like a lot of people who haven't read the book, he basically understood why Frodo sailed West but wanted to know more, so I've been going through the "Grey Havens" thread in the Trilogy forum trying to find some bits to pass on to him. We also talked some about the Cracks of Doom, and I just barely stopped myself before giving away the differences in the book :eek: !

At one point in the conversation he said something about wanting to see how something played out in the book, and I asked, "Oh, so you're going to read the book?" He said, "Well I kind of have to, don't I?" :D Then he said he wanted to see how the fights were done in the book. I told him that the ones in the movie are best when they stick to the book, because Tolkien was very good at setting up battle strategy. The co-worker said Eowyn's dispatching of the WiKi "rocked" (did I mention he's quite a bit younger than me :p ?), and I made sure to tell him that that particular bit is exactly as it is in the book.

Now, ESOTSM is just the kind of movie this guy would like... he might even discover it on his own (which would be great) because he does go to quite a few movies, but I'll keep an eye on that (as well as his reading LotR).

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

Edit: (((wood))) -- This is the only place I can really "converse" about Elijah, too.

Emergency! Elijah sighting! Right now this morning on "Regis & Kelly"! Upcoming round 9:20 or so, tallking 'bout "Eternal Sunshine" but they introduce him as being from LOTR...

sorry tgshaw
about my english spelling and gramma
ihope you still understands what i mean!!
:( :( :(

tgshaw
it was not the english gramma you meant, was it?
i have read the line again i think i took it for something els
at first but now i think i know what you mean,that you are in the same situation as i am,am i right?

:cool: :cool:

Originally posted by wood
...now i think i know what you mean,that you are in the same situation as i am,am i right?

:cool: :cool:
Yes, that's what I was trying to say :) . Even if your grammar isn't perfect, your message comes through fine! Believe me, most people who grow up speaking English don't have perfect grammar, either. :) I hope you just keep asking questions when we don't say something clearly enough.

HI!! I have found some beutiful pics of Elijah
on always and forever elijah but i couldent post
them over here,but go over ther and have a look
they are awsome what an eyecandy!!
:eek: :eek:

I know some of you UK ladies bought the beautiful Starburst issue a couple of weeks or so back ... well down in deepest Somerset I haven't been able to find one anywhere!!!

Would anyone be able to get me a copy, or have a spare copy that they would be willing to sell?? Of course I would fully reimburse the cost of the magazine and the postage etc ...

And my offer still stands if anyone would like a copy of Lij on Graham Norton (UK haremites only as unfortunately our tapes don't work in the US :( ) I would be more than happy to make one for you ...

Help, if you can, please!!! The pic I have seen of the cover looks so beautiful, and I believe there is a poster with it too??

I will adore you forever ... well I do already but you know what I mean !

*huggles*:k :k :D

what is this starbust?i bett its not here in sweden
its there any chanc some one can put the pic in here?
i have to say there are very little of the golden man in our papers
over here or i am just unluky and have mist it!!
when it comes to this subjekt i wish i was living in the us or the uk
instead.okej i can such on the net but with my old machin
it will take for ever and it will cost me a grat dael of my paycheck!!!:confused: :confused: :confused:

Originally posted by wood
what is this starbust?i bett its not here in sweden
its there any chanc some one can put the pic in here?


So sorry you don't get much in the way of magazines in Sweden.

Here is the link to the magazine's website featuring this particular issue with Mr Beautiful on the cover.

http://www.visimag.com/starburst/s62_display.htm


A friend also tells me there is a two-page poster of him too!!! Although it is a UK mag she managed to pick up a copy in Los Angeles !!! and is trying to scan it for me, so if she sends me the scans maybe I can put them up either here if I can figure out how to post pics in here or direct you to wherever I finally put them!!!

Maybe you will be lucky and find one in Sweden - I hope so!!! :k

OK, all you lovely ladies who missed out on watching Graham Norton' show from New York last week,, featuring Our One and Only :D ...
Here's a link to a post I did at Empire, with the full transcript...

G.N.S.Transcript (http://ubb.empireonline.co.uk/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=lotr&Number=548178&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1)

BagEndBabe...
I shall look out for a copy of Starburst for you, here in Ealing, if you like !! Our W.H.Smith's is a monster branch, so they may have some left...but I'm not holding my breath, as it is a while ago that I bought my copy....

Off-topic alert ...By the way, where do you live in the West Country ? I used to live in Bath, and my Mother still does...

I just followed the link that bagendbabe posted, and within five minutes I'd ordered both that issue and the "yearbook" that has lots of LotR movie stuff. There's a U.S. store with amounts in U.S. dollars and another store for everybody else in the world. :)

It was $9.99 (U.S.) for each magazine. I was afraid the shipping would be expensive, since it's overseas, but the charge for both magazines to be sent airmail was only $4.00. Unlike a lot of websites, you don't have to have a credit card to order. There's an option for sending your payment through the mail--of course, it takes longer to get your order that way.

So there is an option for those who can spare a few bucks, if you don't mind some waiting--the longest it's supposed to take my order to get here is a month (I ordered with a credit card). I found the process to be very user-friendly. There's a different button that sends you to a page where you can subscribe to the magazine; the one I used says "To buy this issue".

Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway ;) ) Thanks for that link, bagendbabe :cool: .

For those of you wondering, those directors that Lij mentioned in the article directed Rushmore (Wes Anderson) -- a movie that Elijah auditioned for (and the part went to Jason Leto, I think), Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky) and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich)

Hey everyone, I just wanted to bring this video to your attention:

http://ktla.trb.com/entertainment/movies/#spotlessMind

It has a small comment by Elijah about Jim, and also a small comment by Jim about Elijah and about the movie in general.

Cute about Elijah saying that Jim's like an onion, and Jim's response to that.


Enjoy!

I've been going through EW's IMDB file, and reading some of the reviews on his earlier films while waiting for more of the ESotSM reviews to come out tomorrow. I'll admit that I'm a newbie to this thread; I've only been around since RotK came out. So, I might have missed talk about this, but I found a remarkable quote from Roger Ebert from his review of The War:


Elijah Wood has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history.


That's quite a statement!

Edited to add more ESotSM review snippets!

"Wood's blithely creepy Patrick is as geekily of this 21st-century moment as his pop-eyed Frodo was of the far-ago Middle-earth." [Philadephia Inquirer]

"The more interesting performances come from the supporting actors, notably Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings) as Patrick, a dweeb who uses his position as an apprentice memory wiper to put the moves on Clementine, using Joel's memories as a blueprint." [Arizona Republic]

"The film’s outside world boasts some amazing supporting performances as well from Kirsten Dunst, Mark Ruffalo and Elijah Wood as the trio of doctors’ assistants performing the procedure. Remember how you wanted to give Frodo some help and a hug? Here, Wood creates his own sort of Gollum, a disingenuous little sneak you’ll want to throttle." [State Journal-Register]


And, for full truth in posting, a not-so-favorable review of EW:

"[I]f Wood comes off as a little stiff, it's only because he's got the flattest part, an undeniable a** who uses Joel's memories to try and get into Clementine's pants." [Las Vegas Weekly]

thanks bagendbabe!!
for posting the link:k :k

Another great interview with Elijah:
http://www.naplesnews.com (http://www.naplesnews.com/npdn/neapolitan/article/0,2071,NPDN_14939_2741100,00.html)

And news about the "Everything Is Illuminated" project:
Everything is Illuminated for Elijah Wood
Source: The Hollywood Reporter Friday, March 19, 2004

"The Lord of the Rings" star Elijah Wood has joined Warner Independent Pictures' Everything is Illuminated. Liev Schreiber is making his directorial debut on the feature.

Based on Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling novel and adapted by Schreiber, the film tells the story of a young American Jewish man (Wood) and his quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped off the map by the Nazis.

A drama with many comedic elements, the movie starts shooting June 14 in Prague.
Source: comingsoon.net

I went to the original source (Hollywood Reporter) and found this:
March 19, 2004
Wood sparks role in WIP's 'Illuminated'

Going from middle-earth to Ukraine, Elijah Wood is set to star in Warner Independent Pictures' "Everything Is Illuminated." Liev Schreiber is making his directorial debut on the feature, which is being produced by Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf. Based on Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling novel and adapted by Schreiber, "Illuminated" tells the story of a young American Jewish man (Wood) and his quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped off the map by the Nazis. A drama with many comedic elements, the movie starts shooting June 14 in Prague. The film is co-financed by Turtletaub and WIP. Wood is shooting Odd Lot's "Hooligans" in London and has "Sin City" next up for Dimension. He also appears in Focus Features' "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," which opens today. Wood is repped by WMA and attorney Craig Emanuel. (Borys Kit)
He's going to be busy, isn't he? :D :cool:

Thanks for the great reviews Sharpe's girl!:)
I've seen this one before: Elijah Wood has emerged, I believe, as the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history. but it never hurts reading this one again!


Edit to add a quote from another very good ESOTSM review;
The leads alone would make this movie, but the supporting cast enacts a parallel drama that adds dissonances and echoes all over the place.
<snip>
I thought Kaufman's Adaptation (2002) was wildly overrated, but it obviously did wonders for his confidence: He has the fearlessness now to move the boundary posts of romantic comedy. This is the best movie I've seen in a decade. For once it's no hyperbole to say, "Unforgettable!"
Source: http://slate.msn.com/id/2097362/

Ladies, it's Friday (weekend's almost there), spring is in the air and the Elijah Wood news is all good.
I feel fine (singing to James Brown's "I Feel Good")

Hi Faculty!!

Just popping in with a bit of info which I don't *think* has been mentioned here yet: not sure where my friend in PRAGUE found this but as you can imagine she's almost demented with excitement - she adores Lij:)

March 19, 2004

Wood sparks role in WIP's 'Illuminated'

Going from middle-earth to Ukraine, Elijah Wood is set to star in Warner Independent Pictures' "Everything Is Illuminated." Liev Schreiber is making his directorial debut on the feature, which is being produced by Marc Turtletaub and Peter Saraf. Based on Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling novel and adapted by Schreiber, "Illuminated" tells the story of a young American Jewish man (Wood) and his quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped off the map by the Nazis. A drama with many comedic elements, the movie starts shooting June 14 in PRAGUE. The film is co-financed by Turtletaub and WIP. Wood is shooting Odd Lot's "Hooligans" in London and has "Sin City" next up for Dimension. He also appears in Focus Features' "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," which opens today. Wood is repped by WMA and attorney Craig Emanuel. (Borys Kit)

The latest reviews and news about Elijahs projects are exciting!
Thanks one and all.

Here's a bit of DVD news....

Elijah Wood did five hours of interviews for new Rings DVD
[from BBC Radio 1]

The DVD of the final instalment of Lord of the Rings goes on sale in May. Three months faster than the first and second parts of the trilogy.

It will be around 15 minutes longer than the cinema version with two or three hours of documentary added in. Elijah Wood, who played Frodo, has done his fair share of interviews for the recording.

"I've done about five hours of interview footage... yeah, five hours. Sitting down for five hours."

The young actor himself is looking forward to getting hold of a copy as a piece of history.

"It's nice to be able to show my family and my kids and grandkids what it was like to be a part of something like that."

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King hits shelves on 25 May.


Published March 18, 2004

(From www.wizardnews.com)

An extra 15 minutes???? Whoo boy! So this is a kind of mini-extended TE??? Wonder what the extra 15 minutes will cover??

I think they might have their DVD releases confused. It sounds like they've mixed up the theatrical release (which will have 2-3 hours of extras on the second disc) with the Extended Edition (which will have 50 extra minutes, and for which he did the five hours of interviews).

"I've done about five hours of interview footage... yeah, five hours. Sitting down for five hours."

Our wiggly darling seems to have had a hard time managing five hours of sitting, and who can blame him?! I can though, be ever so grateful!

Oh, all this word of new movies in the works! How exciting! And they all sound so interesting and different! Orlando who? :D

BeB, thanks for the link to the Starburst site. And TG thanks for the heads up on ordering; my copy is on it's way.

Bought my own copies of "Flipper" and "Huck Finn" this week. Have seen Huck Finn before, but look forward to seeing it again, and hearing the director's comments.

I'm a little afraid of "Flipper." Not the dolphin, the movie. The trailers on the disc were all for cheapy kiddy flicks; disney schlock, and the like. That's as far as I got. :o

And then my son, who of the household seems the most embarrassed at my little "hobby," (probably because he's only a year and a half younger than the Lovely Lad himself) finds the disc in the DVD player and pops off with "Can't you draw the line?" (My darling daughter only says of my obsession "I wish I had an actor to squeee over!" So, wood, I can completely sympathize with the lack of understanding at your house! (((wood))))

(Anxiously counting the hours until Lij can make me loathe Patrick! :D)

Honey! (delurking and nattering on about nothing as usual)

And then my son ... finds the disc in the DVD player and pops off with "Can't you draw the line?"
LOL! What a great story, Honeyelf! Oh, dear. Guilty! :o

I'm terribly busy, but enjoying the conversation. Regarding the new projects, of course I will see them to see Elijah. But of them all, 'Illuminated' sounds like the only one that I would probably want to see for its own sake. I just don't like violent movies about nasty people (that doesn't have some message about overcoming one's circumstances, I should add). I hope that Elijah, once that he feels he's broken the "hobbit hero" perception, will return to movies that feature characters that I will more happily emphathize with. Bring on the saints and legends!

Candy follows the lead of the other lurkers in the thread and 'de-lurks' for a moment

Hello, everyone!! Sorry I haven't been around lately...RL...need I say more? I have been lurking as possible, but really haven't had much time to post...so...anyway.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful reviews of Sunshine!! I can't wait to see it (hopefully tonight!). I am so proud of our boy!! I am very happy for him that he is finding and being offered such great roles POST-FRODO! Not that I ever doubted he could! But now, all those sillies that said Elijah was doomed to be the "Next Mark Hamill" can eat those words!

Our boy is going to be busy indeed! London in April, Prague in June - and then, of course he mentioned going to NZ in September (to be "stomped on by a foot or something" hehe!)! Too bad he's not a Star Trek fan, cause he could sure make use of a 'teleporter'!:D

Good to see you, de-lurking, too, Honey! By the way, you wouldn't happen to still have that pic I liked so much, would you? You know the one...the one that always made me want to touch a certain young hobbit's chin-cleft?:D Sorry! It is almost the weekend and I just can't help feeling a little naughty!:p

Blessings!
cp

Originally posted by bagendbabe
So sorry you don't get much in the way of magazines in Sweden.

Here is the link to the magazine's website featuring this particular issue with Mr Beautiful on the cover.

http://www.visimag.com/starburst/s62_display.htm


Mr. Beautiful? Looked like Mr. Evil to me. :p

Wood, I think you're in luck, and so am I! They have a link to an info page with a link to the site that you can order from outside the USA. They also have a place where USA people can order too so here I go! :) I did a search on "Elijah Wood" on their search page and oh my [insert name of deity here]!!! Many, many magazines!

I'm going to go see RotK tomorrow at the C O Uptown in DC- Great big huge screen! It's probably the last time I'll see it in the theater so I plan to pack lots of kleenex. :)

I watched the end of AIW last night - that really is a cute movie. I have to chuckle, though, when Jane says "We are too much alike". Can't see it. Nope. Jones was so different than Jane.

I noticed, also, that the most genuinely relaxed moment that Jones had in the whole movie was the "Shut up and drive", and the grin at the end.


http://www.visimag.com/acatalog/info.html

~grumpy

hello evryone!!!!
im so glad to hear that it is other than me with teenage kids
that teasing there mother for her (hobby),or should i say sorry?
it seams to me who ever you are talking to women in my age (38)
should like the older actors like Viggo for ex,shure his very good
looking but nothing copared to Mr Beutiful, it is something
very very very speciell with that man shure it is the eyes, his face
but there is something else about or around him i cant put
my finger on what it is but something is it. do you know what
i mean?:( :( :eek: :D :k

Oh,i almost forgott i hope if there is anybody who is going
on the premier tonight i hope they write about it here very very
soon you know i cant wait to hear what you folks thinks and
myself have to wait until September to see our Loverboy
(mygod, did i say that) candy you not the only one getting a bit
naughty. Well, girls just wanne have fun.Wasit sindy lauper
who sang that in the 80? oh god im getting old. Ibetter stop this
right now!!!!:cool: :cool: :cool:

Candy, is this the one you mean?

Originally posted by Lady Wendy
I shall look out for a copy of Starburst for you, here in Ealing, if you like !! Our W.H.Smith's is a monster branch, so they may have some left...but I'm not holding my breath, as it is a while ago that I bought my copy....

Off-topic alert ...By the way, where do you live in the West Country ? I used to live in Bath, and my Mother still does...

Oh Lady Wendy! Thank you SO much for your kind offer, I should very much appreciate it if you could look out for one for me!! .... hmmm I will be surprised if there are any left though, by now ... I think I may have to wait until that particular issue comes up on their back issue site (and you were so welcome for the link to that, honeyelf and tgshaw - which is odd, that you were able to order it - this issue is not yet on the UK order site!!! Weird!!! Although I dare say it will crop up soon *fingers crossed*)

LW you live in Ealing!!! I know Ealing very well - I grew up in Hounslow, and lived in Richmond until 1996! I have a cousin who lives in Ealing too!

I now live in South Somerset, on the Somerset/Dorset borders, about 9 miles from Yeovil. It is so beautiful!! :D

*hugs* :k :k

Quick Edit to grumpy: well, he does look a bit evil, but even more beautiful when evil!!! Our gorgeous, evil DDDL!!! :eek: :D

Originally posted by Achila
For those of you wondering, those directors that Lij mentioned in the article directed Rushmore (Wes Anderson) -- a movie that Elijah auditioned for (and the part went to Jason Leto, I think), Requiem for a Dream (Darren Aronofsky) and Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich)

Achila, thank you for that attribution. I loved "Being John Malkovich", what a spacy movie :cool: .
To speak with Richard Burton, "The face is familiar, but I can't place the name." :D :o


Thanks, Lady Wendy - your G.N.S. Transcript is highly appreciated!


Hobbityme - thanks for the video link :) ! Very nice comments, both Elijah and JC. Too funny that Elijah uses the term "multi-layered" to describe Carrey, it reminds me of Tg's comparison of Elijah's acting to a paiting. Every new brushstroke builds up more complexity to the painting. Well, Elijah's concept of an onion seems also very appropriate to me ;) .


Originally posted by wood
it seams to me who ever you are talking to women in my age (38)should like the older actors like Viggo for ex,shure his very good looking but nothing copared to Mr Beutiful, it is something
very very very speciell with that man shure it is the eyes, his face
but there is something else about or around him i cant put
my finger on what it is but something is it. do you know what
i mean?

Oh yes, Wood, I know exactly what you mean. And I'm faced with the same problem - I am 39 and my female friends around me tend to like Viggo, pointing at Elijah and saying, "I don't like those youngsters!" :eek:

Hi gals! I'm 43 and would take our Beautiful Boy over Viggo any day (not that I'd exactly throw out Viggo either!)!

Originally posted by Achila
Hi gals! I'm 43 and would take our Beautiful Boy over Viggo any day (not that I'd exactly throw out Viggo either!)!

LOL! (Me neither :D )

Happy Belated Birthday, Sheryl! Hope it was a good day!

So I had the good fortune to have a day off from work yesterday and was excited about seeing Elwood live on Regis & Kelly. About a minute into the interview, I realized it was a repeat from the day before ROTK came out.:eek:

But, I hadn't seen it the first time, so to me it was a new interview.:cool: :p

What a delightful flurry of new projects being announced for Elijah! :)
Let's hope some of them get a theatrical release.:rolleyes:

ESOTSM probably isn't the "best film in ten years" as one reviewer claims (maybe he missed LOTR), but it is worth seeing, even if you have to pay for a ticket.;) It's kind of amusing to note the number of reviews making mention of how different a role this is from Frodo for Lij. D'oh!:D

Candy, is this the one you mean?

The very one!!!!(hugs Honey profusely!:k ) Thanks, Honey!!!!!!!!

saves picture to hard-drive! stares at pic far longer than she needs to...has same old urge to touch chin-cleft!! feels very naughty, indeed! LOL!!!



candy you not the only one getting a bit
naughty. Well, girls just wanne have fun.Wasit sindy lauper
who sang that in the 80? oh god im getting old. Ibetter stop this
right now!!!!

Oh boy!:D Naughtiness loves company!!!! LOL!! And, yes! It was Cindy Lauper who sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fu-un!" Wow! Talk about a blast from the past! I remember being at my cousin's house dancing with her around the pool to that song when I was like 9 or 10 years old or so. We thought we were the stuff! :p :D

On a decidedly more sour note...I just called to check and NONE of the theatres in my area are playing "Sunshine"!!!!:mad: :( :mad: They're playing, "Agent Cody Banks, 2" for goodness sake!!:confused: What the....?!? (exasperated sigh!!!!) Why don't I live in a REAL town?

Walks out of thread mumbling something about 'stupid small town theatres..."

Blessings!
cp

OK Ladies...this will keep you busy for the next month, probably....:D :D :D
This site is the best site EVER for links to movie reviews....ROTK's page is here ( it has 269 links on this page alone :eek: )...

ROTK reviews (http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?^Lord+of+the+Rings%3a+The+Return+of+the+King,+The+(2003))

and here's the ESOTSM page too :-

ESOTSM Reviews (http://www.mrqe.com/lookup?^Eternal+Sunshine+of+the+Spotless+Mind+(2004))

I've absolutely no doubt that this site will have many more reviews posted for ESOTSM very soon, so I recommend that you bookmark the site for future reference....and also for all Elijah's other up and coming movies ( of which there seem to be many more than a few months ago, when we were all getting a little worried that he may not be getting as many offers as we would like :D....)
Another link for your delectation ....here's a Japanese interview from Bag-end Inn, that I found highly amusing...

Elijah Interview (http://www.wowow.co.jp/cv/vol114_en.html)

Honey,
It's so nice to see that you haven't dropped off the face of the Earth....haven't heard from you in ages !!
:k

Bagendbabe,
How funny that you lived around these parts for so long, and now you are in the West Country, where I lived for so many years too !!...will look out for the Starburst magazine for you, but it IS a little late...

I'm hoping that the filming of "Hooligans" might involve, in some very small way, a visit to the newly revitalised Ealing Studios...we've already had Dom down our way to shoot "The Spiv" with Jack Dee, so you never know, it IS a new London studio looking for work...

That would be SOOOOOO cool, don't you think ?:p :D

Did you check out the Ain't It Cool News-site today?

They have another report about Sin City and...:eek: ...this is getting more and more incredible! If the current potential names, mentionned with this project aren't enough...the producers are also talking with Johnny Depp, Christopher Walken, Michael Douglas,...
Tarentino is going to be involved (directing one of the Sin City stories)...

I love comic books and living in Belgium, I'm spoiled; comic books and animation are considered a true art form over here....after all, Tintin is our most famous Belgian...and don't say you don't know him, please...:p . Stephen Spielberg has been trying since the 80's to bring Tintin to the big screen. Parts of Indiana Jones were inspired by Hergé's Tintin (= Kuifje in Flemish).

...so, as a lover of comic books and animation...I'm looking forward to this Sin City project.
Also on AICN, I think I read there that the movie is going to be shot in black and white (or at least parts of it)...that also sounds good.


Wait a minute...back up a bit...
Johnny Depp??
I need to sit down for this one
Johnny Depp and Elijah Wood possibly in one movie???
:cool:

Moondancer,
Wait a minute...back up a bit...
Johnny Depp??
I need to sit down for this one
Johnny Depp and Elijah Wood possibly in one movie???


OH MY !!!:eek: :eek: :eek: :D :D :D

That would be UTTERLY Fabulous....

Just think..Elijah and Johnny in the same scene...well... you wouldn't know which way to squee first, would you ??? !!

:k

Originally posted by Lady Wendy
Just think..Elijah and Johnny in the same scene...well... you wouldn't know which way to squee first, would you ??? !!

:k
:D
Lady Wendy, I don't even dare to think that far ahead....Johnny and Elijah in the same scene? Melt down!

Elijah Wood = "...the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history."

Viggo Mortensen = ...well... not...the above.

What's age got to do with it? :confused:

And teenagers are embarrassed by whatever their parents do ;) .

:D (((TG)))

Post "Flipper" debriefing:

Even Sullen!Sandy is a pretty thing

There CAN be too much even of pretty Sullen!Sandy

What idiot decided to name the black Sherriff "Buck?"

Umm...I'm no marine biologist, (and neither is Chelsea Field) but I didn't think hammerhead sharks were any threat to humans*???Even very pretty ones.

There can never be too much wet!Sandy!

I'm a pervy 44 year old.

Marvin would make a very nice pet dolphin; kinda cute in a squinty eyed way, intelligent, "speaks" in single word sentences.

The beneficent Deity who gave our boy that adorable diastima++ is a GENIUS!

I agreed with the two giggly teenaged girls on the ferry boat, though I think they underestimated Sandy's "cuteness" since only age and wisdom equip you to fully appreciate such pulchritude.

For shear physical beauty this dvd will get a lot more of my viewing time than "Deep Impact."

The "line" has been CROSSED!

*Edit to add apparently the Great Hammerhead can be very dangerous to humans.

++"diastima" a gap between teeth

Always and Forever,
Honey!

Wait a minute...back up a bit...
Johnny Depp??
I need to sit down for this one
Johnny Depp and Elijah Wood possibly in one movie???


:eek: :eek:

Oh hyperventilation! Oh my suddenly racing heart! Johnny Depp and Elijah Wood in the same movie? Possibly having scenes where murky, bottomless brown eyes and gloriously golden-lit blue eyes are staring intently at each other in anger/hate/friendship/love/whatever/whotheheckcares?

I feel suddenly faint. I must lie down and watch FotR. Only RotK tomorrow on a very large screen will revive me.

:::: fanning self ::::

~grumpy (you know us wimmenfolks south of the Mason-Dixon line: we have vapors over stuff like this and fan ourselves delicately with lace hankies)(darn. We don't have a hanky-waving emoticon)

Re: Johnny Depp and Elijah Wood together in one movie:

*joins crowd already on the floor* There is an Eru. *worships universe*

from CandyGirl
NONE of the theatres in my area are playing "Sunshine"!!!! They're playing, "Agent Cody Banks, 2" for goodness sake!!
*joins you in being appalled. And flabbergasted...* :p

It was Cindy Lauper who sang "Girls Just Wanna Have Fu-un!" Wow!
True, but one of the most charming moments in my life recently was standing in the airport, when the young man in his twenties next to me burst into a rendition of this song. Clearly he was just absent-mindedly waiting for his flight to leave, but it was very cute!

Elijah Wood = "...the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history."

Viggo Mortensen = ...well... not...the above.
*falls down laughing, even though it's bad and wrong. Hands Tg a weekend brewski in appreciation.*

I must now run off to look up "pulchritude." (Hmm, "Physical beauty and appeal." Do they have something like "pulchritude to the 13th power?")

But first..Elijah and Johnny Depp together??!!!!! Yes!!!!!

I am very excited about Elijah's new film projects. And I'm glad that he seems very much in demand now. This is just as it should be, after all.


Now.....am I the first one to post a review?



Here it is....





ESOTSM review and *SPOILERS*


I have seen it! Almost couldn't go but went at the last minute all by myself. I don't usually go to movies alone, but for Elijah I did.

OK..review and spoilers start here.....








First question..How is Elijah in this film?

He is so completely different from Frodo as do be almost unrecognizable. He always 'becomes' the character he plays and that is clearly evident in ESOTSM. His every mannerism and expression and even his way of speaking is entirely dweeby 'Patrick' and not intelligent, self-confident, witty Elijah. Nor does Patrick have a trace of Elijah's kindness and caring attitude toward other people. Patrick is a totally self-absorbed, ineffectual failure of a person unable to get a girl in any normal way so he has to try and steal Jim Carrey's memories of Kate Winslet's character, Clementine, so he can try and trick her into being his girlfriend. He is truly pathetic as he tries to convince Mark Ruffalo's character that "I have a girlfriend now, you know..I have a girlfriend..."

Elijah makes Patrick a sad, pathetic character that you can sympathise with but also be repelled by at the same time. And for Elijah to seem at all repellant proves what a talented actor he is because he himself is in no way repellant at all.

His role is fairly small but absolutely key to what happens in the story and you feel Patrick's presence even in the long breaks when he is not actually onscreen. I found myself wondering..'What is that little sneak, Patrick, up to now?' while Jim's character is struggling against the loss of his memories of Clementine.
The 'little sneak' is rather dismally trying to worm his way into Clemantine's life but only succeeding in driving her nearly mad as she realizes something is terribly wrong and that Patrick is not the man she really loves but Joel(Jim's character)who she had had erased from her memory earlier.

Elijah ably shows us how important a supporting role can be even if he isn't on screen very often.
Remember, Judy Dench won a supporting actress award for ten minutes screen time in Shakespeare in Love.

As for everyone else..

Jim Carrey is very much not Jim Carrey. Not zany or out of control but subdued and grief-stricken over Clematine's having him erased from her mind. He gives another Oscar-worthy performance.

Kate Winslet is great,too, as the impulsive, kooky, umpredicatable Clementine who learns what she really wants in life through the traumas they both suffer as a result of their individual memory erasures.

Mark Ruffalo, Kirsten Dunst, and Tom Wilkinson are all very good as well. No one gives a bad performance.

And Charlie Kaufman again shines as a brilliant screen-writer.

This is not a true comedy. There are no big laughs and much of it is very sad and dark. But it is moving and shows how strong love can be even when all efforts are made to wipe it out.

My ESOTSM thoughts: SPOILERS

Loved Jim Carrey's vulnerability in this movie. I usually hate his movies because he always plays such a self-satisfied pr***, but he was wonderful in this one.

Kate Winslett was perfectly human, and her Clementine illustrates a chief theme in this movie: that the people we love are not perfect, but those flaws are part and parcel with the things we do love.

Patrick was a pitiable little creep. Elijah played him perfectly. I wanted to shake him when he kept trying to recreate the things that had made Clementine fall in love with Joel.

He reminded me of John Cusack's character in "Being John Malcovich." Patrick was willing to be a blank slate for Clementine to write her desires on. John Cusack's character was willing to put on someone elses' skin in order to have a facade of cool from with which to pursue his girl and his dreams. Either way, they are both ultimately thwarted in their aim of "getting the girl," because they cannot be honest in themselves and accept it. '

SPOILERS END

My husband loved the movie. He cried! What a doll!

One funny thing; when Patrick first came on screen a group of "tween" girls in front of us started whispering "that's Elijah! That's Elijah Wood!" :)

Candy, get yer little cooper on the road and find this movie! Hope you don't have to go too far afield! :k

We have an embarrassement of riches here. I could choose to see it in a "art" theater, or a multiplex; wound up at the multiplex due to time constraints. The audience was quite receptive, and different people laughed at different things.

Honey!

Oops! forgot to add that TIVO had a cute little interview with Elijah; I'll try to tape it and transcript it in the next couple of days!

De-lurking for a moment to say thanks to all for reviews of ESOTSM - sounds interesting - and links to interviews etc. The trouble is I spend so much time following all these things up I don't get time to post!

A very happy - and very late - belated birthday to you, Sheryl. sorry I missed it.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about 'Everthing Is Illuminated.' Is that a definite project for Elijah? It's great to see our boy getting so many interesting and varied roles.

I'm with the other UK Facultiers who would love to see Elijah on 'Parkinson' when he's over here for 'The Yank/Hooligans.' He must be arriving very soon. Not sure if 'Parky' will happen, but there's Jonothan Ross - surely that's a possibility - and Shireling did say the 'This Morning' presenters asked Billy to ask Elijah to go on thier show. I can picture it now - me, taping the 'This Morning' show (couldn't bear to watch day-time TV so often) every week-day for six weeks in the hope that Elijah will appear - I'm a lost cause!

Here's hoping he finally turns up on Conan here this weekend.

I'm a little worried about Elijah being in the UK - British tabloid newspapers being what they are!

Welcome to any newbies I haven't already said hello to.

Btw, Flourish - I have now cleared my PM inbox. Sorry!

Candy, get yer little cooper on the road and find this movie! Hope you don't have to go too far afield!

Yes, Precious! The Cooper will be headed toward Chattanooga tonight! I found out that a theatre there is showing Eternal Sunshine (it's also being shown in Atlanta, and Atlanta is about the same distance, but it's so much more difficult to get around and park there compared to Chattanooga. Both towns are about the same distance for us - Atlanta to the southeast, Chattanooga to the northwest.) It's about an hour drive for us (but who cares when you're in the Cooper - it's so much fun! :D ), but we are gonna combine it with some shopping we've been meaning to get up there to do anyway. So, Woo-HOO! I get to go shopping AND see ESOTSM!!!!!!!! What a day! I'm GLAD they are not showing it in our crappy little theatre! :D

After all the great reviews that have been left, I am dying to see it more than ever!

Blessings!
cp

Blossom What do you mean by the british newspaper?
they better not write bad things that not i true!!!
im so yelous of you wich have seen esosm already i have
to wait to atum its to Looooooooooong waiting what shall
i do meanwail?? :( :( :(

Even though I don't have to leave the city, it's still about a 45-minute drive one-way to the theater. So I try to make good use of the trip, too... Just bought tickets online for ESOTSM showing at 1:30 this afternoon--then for RotK at 4:15. Figure I'll have just about enough of a break between to get a really good seat for RotK :) . I've never had a bad seat for it, but have yet to sit in the most coveted row, because it's always full by the time I get there.

It may be interesting to see Elijah in those two roles back-to-back. But since I've yet to see Elijah in Frodo, it may be just like watching two different actors. It's been about a month since I've seen RotK, and it feels like it :( . I need to see this movie again, now, for the sake of my mental health (and possibly the Pants thread ;) ?).

Moondancer,
Somewhat way off-topic...
after all, Tintin is our most famous Belgian...and don't say you don't know him, please...
Oh, The One Husband LOVES Tintin...he has all the cartoon-books, including the one that was banned in the UK for being somewhat politically incorrect :rolleyes: ...so it is in French, I think !
When we came to Brussels, we SO enjoyed the Tintin Museum, ( which also covers the History of Belgian Cartoon-strips too ) and that was excellent...spent a whole afternoon there...:D

Wood
Blossom What do you mean by the british newspaper?
they better not write bad things that not i true!!!

There won't be anything that our Tabloids could find on Our Lij, I don't think...the only thing is, they ARE very well known for their Papperazzi-talent..the somewhat shark-like photographers who will do ANYTHING for a good ( that usually means embarassing ! ) compromising picture of him with some unsuspecting girl ( or boy :D ) doing something they shouldn't do in public or something...anything that they think will sell their tatty newspapers....Grrrr, they make me so mad sometimes !!

Look at all the pics of him with Franke when they were dating during the shooting of All I Want...poor guy couldn't move without some creep with a long lens peering at him from a distance...and believe me when I say that the British Press are the best in the WORLD at this !!!

I must admit to having a burning desire to see Elijah Wood appear as a guest on Parkinson too...I've said it before, and I'll say it again...Our Parky will get the best interview out of him, by asking very pertinent and intelligent questions, and giving him the time and space to answer at length...he'll get about half an hour of air-time, if not more. If he does do this show, it will be worth spending a week down-loading it from the BBC site afterwards, if you are in the US, unless it is screened on BBC-America at all...

Jonathan Ross is a distinct possibility too, especially as he is a big LOTR fan, and he does all the film stuff for the BBC now, and that would be very entertaining as well....I quite like Jonathan's chatty and informal style, as well as his sense of humour...I think Elijah would get on well with him....

As for ESOTSM...our local cinema, here in Ealing, will be showing this film as from 24th April...the release date for the UK, I think, and so I'll have to be satisfiedwith reading the reviews from MRQE, and of course, all of your witty and insightful reviews and opinions too !!
I must admit that this movie would definitely be a must-see for me, whether Elijah was in it or not...the fact that he is just makes me want to see it all the more !!

wood
Like lady Wendy's already said...Blossom is probably referring to the British tabloids and they're very famous for not letting the truth get in the way of a good story. :(

Sorry you have to wait until september to see Elijah's new movie. I wish I knew how long I had to wait for ESOTSM. :( It's still not on the agenda here.
I don't understand why there's such a big difference between release dates. Boy, was I glad that the LOTR movies came out at around the same time all over the world (can you imagine having to wait half a year for each movie after the release in the US?)
I remember the release of a hotly anticipated movie. We were looking forward to this movie like crazy until we found out how long we had to wait for it here in Belgium. We were the last country in the world. The movie was released in the beginning of the year in the US and ended up on our screens at the end of the year.
So, whilst the rest of the world was talking about the movie plotlines, characters, the ending.... you could see a lot of Belgians on the internet screaming...NO SPOILERS PLEASE...NO SPOILERS... the @#$&! movie is still not out over here.



Lady Wendy,
Your husband loves Tintin? Your husband obviously has taste :D :D :)
Oh, I adore Tintin.
Some of these books are banned in the UK? I can imagine which ones. Tintin in Africa springs to mind or Tintin in America (my two least favourite Tintin books). It's silly that they are banned, though. They were a product of a typical 'white' view on the world but Hergé didn't mean anything bad by it. You only have to check out the rest of his work to know that.
My very favourite is Tintin in Tibet (it has my in tears with laughter every time I read it. Captain Haddock is such a brilliant character).
And I know what you mean about spending an entire afternoon in one of those museums. Everytime I go to the centre of Brussels, I can't help visiting the Tintin store.

Back on topic :D Elijah Wood on the Parkinson show?
I'll help you hope for an interview with Parky (or if that's not possible Jonathan Ross). I can see those two shows on cable!

By the way, apparently Ash Wednesday can be seen in the theaters in London (UCG).

I wish I knew how long I had to wait for ESOTSM. It's still not on the agenda here. I don't understand why there's such a big difference between release dates. Boy, was I glad that the LOTR movies came out at around the same time all over the world. What she said - word by word. Still no info on when ESOTSM will premiere over here. Neither the distributor's website nor the main cinema schedule site has any info at all (except that the latter has the trailer available, and claims the film premiered here in December 2003. :confused: I hope that doesn't mean it'll premiere in December of *this* year.) From the glowing reviews and the appearently intelligent and brain-challenging content I'd actually very much like to see this film even if EJW wasn't in it. That's saying something when it's a Carrey vehicle. Seriously, I'd *never* thought I'd like any of his films. (Yes, it's true: I didn't like Truman Show either, although that was perhaps less due to JC and more due to the script, especially at the end.)


Anyway...

Whether or not I get around to seeing ESOTSM, I've by no means finished being bowled over and filled to overflowing with admiration for Elijah's Frodo. Especially in RotK. That is the performance of a life time. I could gush and post foreever about every little scene. I was really happy that I got to see the film once more last week. :)

The Green CoE has posted heaps of caps from the film, and I've spent some time just looking through the Frodo and Sam scenes. Seriously, the acting is so good, the story is told so well...... I get a lump in my throat. I'd never have expected the Cracks of Doom, the End of all Things, the Grey Havens to translate to film so *true*, so visually perfect, so fantastically acted.

And the parallells and mirrors...... I love those. I think it's the lovely Teasel who's pointed out the likeness and difference both between Frodo hugging Sam in the boat at the end of FotR, and him hugging Sam at the end of RotK. The position is the same, but the difference in Frodo's look and expression.... :( (Not to mention the 2 handclasps, - the one in water in FotR, the one in fire and blood in RotK.....:( )

***Bows down to EJW once more***

***sighs***

I'm not entirely sure that I'll continue following EJW's careeer as closely as I've done these past couple of years, - I very likely won't...... But his beautiful, perfect and completely real Frodo will be with me for life, I think.

A couple of updates on this project:
Dougie Brimson has written a news update on his site and he hopes to "post up pictures taken during filming" He seems a bit surprised by the worldwide attention this movie is getting, thanks to the lead actor.
Here's the link to Brimson's site: http://www.brimson.net/

Also found on that site: a link to an unofficial fansite for The Yank.
http://www.theyankfansite.co.uk/
Here's an extract from an interview with Brimson (found on that fansite):
Dougie answers some of the most frequent questions he's been asked about Hooligans:
What the basic plot of Hooligans?
A young American (Elijah Wood) is expelled from Harvard and comes to England to escape the repercussions of what has happened to him. Once here, he meets Pete (Charlie Hunnam) who introduces him to football and then the world of hooliganism.
Isn't Elijah Wood a bit girlie?
To be honest, that was what the producers expected my reaction to be but the simple truth is that he is absolutely perfect for the part. Once people see the film and understand the journey the character makes, I'm sure they'll realise that as well.
Please tell me it isn't going to be a 'Yanks do football and run everyone' piss take?
I can make that assurance categorically. There will be no American firm taking on all-comers on the streets of London and a Burberry clad Elijah Wood will not be steaming in all alone wielding a machete, AK47 or even a razor sharp wit. Nor will there be any martial arts or 'Matrix' style fight scenes.
The reality is that from day one of this project (which was about three years ago) both the director and myself have taken great pains to ensure that the story is as credible and authentic as it can possibly be. Indeed in terms of the actual violence in the film, everything has been based on real life events. It may have been tweaked a bit but that's understandable given that we have to make it look exciting on screen and appeal to an American audience.
The rest of it can be found on the fansite.

a Burberry clad Elijah Wood will not be steaming in all alone wielding a machete, AK47 or even a razor sharp wit. Nor will there be any martial arts or 'Matrix' style fight scenes.
Hmph! Well, forget it. I'm never seeing this movie, now that I know there won't be any good stuff in it ... :p

Isn't Elijah Wood a bit girlie?
*teehee* I wonder if we'll keep getting this reaction once more people see ESOTSM (which I haven't seen yet, targeting next week). But I believe "girlie" is not how people describe his character. I'm pretty ignorant, as I'm avoiding most movie spoilers. I hope to be more educated next week.

I'm seriously under the gun at the moment, but want to thank all of you lovely ladies for your continued research and commentary, which I quite enjoy in my few frantic bursts of freedom.

(Happy birthday really, really late, Sheryl! :k)

as promised...

Elijah is wearing a tan print, checked shirt with brown striped tie. His hair is artfully mussed.

Shanon Carney: Okay! Thank you so much for joining us again.
Elijah Wood: You’re welcome!
S: Great movie. I’d say its about the power of memory, so I thought we’d play a little memory game.
EJW: Okay. I like that.
S: What’d you have for dinner last night?
EJW: I had, uh, steak and french fries.
S: What’s the last TV show you watched?
EJW: Probably the last episode of “Sex and the City.”
S: Okay.
EJW: …which was dissapointing. (Looks straight into the camera emphatically.)
S: Oh, no!
EJW: Yes.
S: Really? Why?
EJW: (Shakes his head.) Don’t need to get into it. (Smiles.)
S: Okay. Fair enough. (Elijah grins) Okay. The film wrapped a year ago…
EJW: Yup, yup. Yeah! (shaking head) Man!
S: Um… what were you doing?
EJW: Um… the day that I wrapped, uh, it was a scene in the, um, bookstore with Kate where Jim is trying to sort of get around to see me and he can’t quite see me…Yeah, it was actually kind of emotional. I didn’t really wanna leave everyone, I had such a great experience working with everyone on the movie.
S: You play Patrick, a technician, a mind-erasing technician in the film…
EJW: That’s right.
S: …which is quite a departure from our beloved Frodo…
EJW: Yeah. (Grins)
S: Talk a little bit about Patrick.
EJW: Uh…Patrick is this, uh, technician for a company called Lacuna, who erases peoples’ memories.
Dr. Howard Mierzwiak: Here at Lacuna we have a safe technique for the focussed erasure of troubling memories…
EJW: So he goes from house to house aiding in that process.
Stan: Whoa! Careful!
Patrick: What? What?
Stan: Step back!
EJW: Mid-way through the film you kind of realize that Patrick is manipulating his way into Kate Winslett’s love, whom he had aided in her memory erasing process. And so he’s kind of found a way into her life through manipulation, um, because he doesn’t really have what it takes to start a relationship with any way, any, anyone in any kind of normal sense.
S: You have an excellent memory.
EJW: Yeah. Keep goin’; I like this! (Grins)
S: Yeah! Okay! How did you win the affection of your first crush?
EJW: Ooh! Now…now you’re delvin’ deep! I don’t know; I think I may have just said “I like you?” (Little laugh.)
S: So, you didn’t steal any underwear…
EJW: No. I don’t think it… yeah, no! Definetly not! Not the best way to gain affection.
S: People are gonna have to see the movie to understand what we’re saying there.
EJW: Indeed!
S: One more memory question. Just your earliest childhood memory in general.
EJW: Oh! Uh…being at a family party, um, when I was…three? Um…And I, my mom had me dressed up in this kind of English page boy outfit for some odd reason, with tights, white tights…and then I…
S: That sounds like your first “Frodo” outfit if you ask me.
EJW: Yeah, it was very “Frodo.” And I peed my pants!
S: Oh, no!
EJW: Yeah! Which was kind of a bad thing!
S: Oh, boy.
EJW: Yeah, it wasn’t so nice, it was kind of embarrassing…
S: How embarrassing! Yeah, your first embarrassing moment.
EJW: Yeah.
S: Thank you so much.
EJW: Thank you!

Saw ESOTSM. Thought it was wonderful (even better than Malcovich), and now joins the ranks of my all-time favorites. But this said, it's certainly idiosyncratic, so I can see people hating it.

Must say if I didn't know that it was EW, wouldn't have recognized him as the same guy who played Frodo. It was my first post-Frodo movie of his and I was worried that seeing Frodo would ruin the balance of the movie for me. Needn't have worried. Hated Patrick's little guts and wanted someone to hit the character over the head. Most impressive.

I also saw ESOTSM yesterday (and then snuck into the second half of ROTK -- I'm a bad girl, but...talk about contrasts!) and enjoyed it. Our boy was wonderful, although there surely wasn't enough of him. Dangermouse was so right -- particularly after seeing it and then ROTK, the difference between the two performances is staggering. Lij even modulated his voice to make Patrick whiny and pathetic. I didn't hate him, though -- I felt sorry for him that he had so little confidence to go out and find a woman of his own in the proper way. And especially considering that beautiful face, it almost seems remarkable that he'd have to go to those lengths. I especially loved that line, "I have a girlfriend now...did I tell you I have a girlfriend now...." How much more perfectly geeky could you get? Isn't this just like the nerdy jerks we've all met throughout our lives who brag when they finally find someone? This will definitely break the "Frodo affect" for him, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Mark Hamill who?

Gondry is a genius of visual creativity. You don't really even think about what you're watching or why it's happening. You just accept and go along with it. I didn't find it confusing in the least, except when it came to the "major reveal", which I won't spoil for you. That did have me sitting there thinking, "Hey, didn't they...?" until it became clear what was happening. And then you just sit back and say, "Oh OK -- I get it...."

The little mini-program on the "Making Of" that premiered this morning on Bravo is a must-see (I think they're running it again next Saturday). Lij is so sweet and articulate and is shown having fun and hugging with Jim Carrey on set. He's nothing but a big schmoop and it's no wonder that other actors love working with him and being around him. That's a delight to watch.

Just wanted to pop in and say 'Mae Govannen' - I've been registered for a while but haven't posted, just lurked (bad me)...I was led here by the lovely Achila (hello, pet!) and I also notice my pal, bagendbabe, is here *waves*. I've been a LOTR fan since the beginning of time (I'm 50) and an Elijah fan since the Wee Lad was in 'Forever Young'. Hopefully I can occasionally add something to the conversation. So enough from me...please carry on.
Namarie, Michelle

Honeyelf......that is an adorable interview! How totally un-Patrick
is he there? 100% Elwood.

Dangermouse-
Hated Patrick's little guts and wanted someone to hit the character over the head. Most impressive.

That is the highest praise for Elijah's talent. We love him for himself but he can make us hate or really want to thwack his character over the head.

Really it's those guys who are like Patrick that just make your skin crawl and go..Ewwww! And that's about as different from Elijah himself as he could possibly get. I felt sorry for Patrick but he seemed almost beyond help.

I wanted Elijah to make me dislike Patrick and he did!
I'm so proud of him!

Dear Colleagues:

I am so glad that others are enjoying ESOTSM. Yeah, Elwood does a great job in it, as do all the actors, in fact. (I love your comment, Achila, “Mark Hamill who?” Do you mind if I sig you?) However, according to Boxofficemojo, the film is waaay down on the rankings for this weekend, with 'Dawn of the Dead' pulling in three times as many moviegoers (or as much money, anyway). There is just no accounting for taste.

Am loving all the informative interviews, links and pix you all are posting. I feel like a dweeb for missing that Bravo Making Of thingamajig that was on this morning. But it is repeating next week on Saturday March 27 at 11:15 (I presume that is Eastern time.) Will NOT forget next weekend. :mad:

Wonderful interview snippets coming out. I love that EW referred to Jim Carrey as layered like an onion. I thought that sounded familiar, and remembered that it is a line from Shrek, who refers to himself as an onion. The man remembers dialogue really well, even the dialogue of other movies! :D Thanks for the transcription of the TIVO and the Graham Norton interviews. If anyone knows where in the web I can find the Graham Norton clips in Quicktime or Realplayer, please let me know. (I can’t see the wmv files.)

These new film projects are great news. I have never seen the “graphic novel” Sin City, so I cannot begin to imaging what potential role is in it. I, too, would adore a project that brought Elijah and Johnny Depp into the same film, but it is my impression, from reading about Sin City, that it would be rather episodic, so even if the two men were in the same movie, they might not be in the same frame. Of course, I am not sure my eyes could stand it if they were! :p

Am planning a trip to my local library to check out “Everything is Illuminated.” (Hmmm, wonder if Amazon will see this novel rise in its best-seller rankings on this news?)

Like others (waves at Honeyelf and Mariole and wood) I too am a victim of Eyerolling Extraordinaire, whenever my family discovers me watching, reading or downloading some LoTR or EW--related item. Sigh. Must develop thicker skin. My teenage son gave me grief the other night for renting Spy Kids 3 to watch for the two minutes that Elwood is in it. But I loved those two minutes.
Ooops!

And Six Degrees of Elijah Wood? I think with as many films as he has made, this game would be waaay to easy. It would have to be three degrees of EW to make it a challenge! :)

And welcome to marigold6!

You may certainly sig me, doll -- I would be honored.

As for Box Office, though, we must keep in mind that ESOTSM only opened in 1,200 theatres, as opposed to the wider releases of the others. If you look at it from that point of view, then it did fairly well. Anyway, this is not going to be a movie that is everyone's cup of tea, and that's fine. It's gotten huge critical acclaim -- go to Rotten Tomatoes, and you'll see that it's rated a 94, and that's amazing (by comparison, ROTK ended up with a 96 or 97 -- I forget which).

(sorry -- 1,353 theatres -- I stand corrected)

Hi, Marigold! :)

ESOTSM is at no. 2 for the weekend in the US when it comes to pr. theatre average, so that's very good. Combined with the extremely positive critical acclaim, it gets even better. :)

Is it just me getting a thrill from the fact that among the top 10 in the US at the moment are ESOTSM, "50 first dates" and Hidalgo? Now if there was a new feature film featuring Billy Boyd prominently as well, that would be perfect!

Thanks for the comments from those of you who've seen ESOTSM. Perhaps we should mark spoilers, though, since many of us won't get the opportunity to see it just yet? One of the things I've always appreciated about the Faculty is how many nationalities we've got represented here.


I'm starting to feel sorry for both Mark Hamill and the nerdy jerks of this world, though. Not everyone can be a continuous success story.....:(

I am not sure when ESOTM is released over here ... it isn't in our cinema lists for THIS week anyway. Maybe it is next week, it can't be long because they have shown the trailer on TV.

Lady Wendy, hope you got my email yesterday - I tried to PM you but your box was full (actually that reminds me, I must empty my own lol). ;) :k

And welcome Marigold6!!! Glad you are over here too!!! (((hugs))) :k

Thank you, Maeglian, for your kind thoughts and wise words. Yes, can we all post spoilers for ESOTSM a little bit longer? I inadventantly read something I wish I hadn't in the interview that honeyelf posted -- not your fault, dear, I'm just too weak to skip interviews that aren't marked, "SPOILER!" (I don't read any reviews because I know those have spoilers...)

As for Mark Hamill, I have three degrees of separation from both him and Elijah Wood, and I think they're both very sweet and nice men, from what I know of them. *hugs Mark and Elijah both -- ooh, what fun!*

Thanks for the box office news, Achila. I was curious! I'll be paying my way toward the total next Tuesday night.

Sorry, peaceweaver, I've only seen the GN clips in wmv. I'm going to be right behind you in viewing "Spy Kids 3" -- just have NO time for movies right now. Well, except Sunshine. ;)

Hi, Michelle/Marigold6! Thank you for becoming visible. Your personal history matches my own. My first thought on seeing Frodo in FOTR was, "Hey, that's the kid from Forever Young!" And I've read and continue to read Tolkien forever. Welcome to the Faculty! :)

Mariole and anyone else, I'm sorry! :k I didn't mean to spoil you! I forgot there might be spoilers there! :o

spoilers ahead for ESOTSM

One of the things I love about this movie is that it is so antithetical to so many Hollywood love stories we've seen. Joel and Clementine are not two perfect, beautiful (no slight to Ms. Winslett's looks intended, but blue hair?), monetarily successful people who "deserve" to be loved. They are flawed, and they nearly let each others' flaws, as well as their own (Clementine: "I don't like who I am when I'm with him") pull them apart.

In this sense creepy loathsome little Patrick is absolutely necessary to the story. He's sort of the Anti-Prince Charming, whose only knowledge of his "love" is what he's seen of her sleeping, and her underwear choices! Edited later to add: I which case his pretty little face, and the character's empty little head are perfect for Patrick aren't they?

Oh, did anyone else notice Patrick singing (off screen) in this "child"/"half fling" voice in the van? :D

Spoilers End

I'm looking for a copy of "Everythings Illuminated" too! This should be good.

Why is it when I try to imagine the story arch for "Hooligans" I always see Elijah's character becoming part of the turf at some soccer stadium? :(

Honey!

Whether or not I get around to seeing ESOTSM, I've by no means finished being bowled over and filled to overflowing with admiration for Elijah's Frodo. Especially in RotK. That is the performance of a life time. I could gush and post forever about every little scene. I was really happy that I got to see the film once more last week. Maeglian, I SO agree! And I was thrilled yesterday to learn that our local movie theater - a little art cinema run by a prestigious group of local magicians (sic!) - will be the showing ROTK in April - yipee! get to see it on the big screen one last time (or maybe 2x if I go both days). And the film summary in their bulletin is wonderfully complementary and satisfyingly credits Frodo (Elijah ;) ) as the story's pivotal hero. "The fragile alliance of men, elves and dwarves must wage their final battle against the massive armies of the Dark Lord Sauron, who is on the verge of total domination. The best chance to defeat him rests in the hands of the diminutive ringbearer, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood)...."
Then the author of the blurb quotes Wallstreet Journal critic, Joe Morgenstern, whose ecstatic words are excerpted below in case anyone missed his review. Never has a filmmaker aimed higher, or achieved more. ... To write about this culminating chapter of the Lord of the Rings is to risk gushing in a public place. Still I've never seen a movie like it, or been so struck by a filmmaker's generosity and the prodigality of what he has done.Personally, I attribute that last bit of praise to Elijah Wood's performance.

Oh - all you lucky people who've already got to see Eternal Sunshine - I'm so jealous. I have to wait until the 23rd April (I think) before I can see it.

But some good news is that I got to see Ash Wednesday for the first time at the weekend. Our biggest video store was even advertising it for rent on the tv (along with In America) and I was pleased to say that it was sold out on Saturday night - so lots of people getting to see it. I had to wait until Sunday to get a copy. And ... well, I thought it was a pretty good movie. Definitely a case of suspending your disbelief, but still pretty good and our boy was great. Seeing him and Grace in the wedding photo made them look like a highly improbably couple, but seeing them together in person wasn't as unbelievable as I feared. I definitely liked it a lot better than The Brothers McMullen (which I didn't like at all).

Spoiler

So just one question (sorry, I might be a bit dim here), but was Francis shot at the end because they thought he was Sean, as he was wearing the same clothes, or did they know it was Francis and want him out of the picture anyway?

End Spoiler

Greetings, Faculty! Hope everyone is having a wonderful day/evening/night/etc.!

I did get to go see ESOTSM Saturday night and I thought it was absolutely fantastic! I loved it! Even if our boy had not been in it, it would have been a great movie. The fact that he was was just ICING!!:D

SPOILER (though, very minor)





Wasn't our boy's character just a perfectly pathetic little weasle:D?!? Elijah was wonderful! I didn't hate Patrick...I mostly felt sorry for him - because he was so pathetic and sad to apparently have to stoop to the measures he did to win the affection of a girl. Elijah did his job perfectly - I completely forgot that he was ever Frodo - and even Elijah. For that space of time, he was simply, Patrick. The only complaint I have is that there just wasn't enough screen time for him. Other than that...I thought it was great! Very cerebral! Very smart! Wickedly funny at moments, yet full of emotion and depth. Definately one I will add to my DVD collection when the time comes.

END SPOILER

Oh, did anyone else notice Patrick singing (off screen) in this "child"/"half fling" voice in the van?


LOL!! YES! I did! Too cute! I still don't have the album, but have heard the 'half-fling' er...um...uhh...'song' :p ? I thought it was a nice little add in bit and contributed to the big brother/little brother thing Lij and Mark had going on...

PATRICK: (making 'squirrel' noises)...doo-doo-dee, do-de-do...la-la-la
M.RUFFALO'S CHARACTER (who's name escape's me!:rolleyes: ): Patrick...stop it!
PATRICK: (in chastised voice) Ok.

LOL!!:D

Blessings!
cp

EDITED: Isn't Elijah Wood a bit girlie?

BAD interviewer! Bad, bad boy! Bad! No biscuit!

or, to paraphrase the evil minion on Buffy:

Bring me the beaten and bloody body of that interviewer! :D


Re: Page Boy Tights Interview: Cute! Thanks! I knew he'd get bodily functions in there somehow, though. Rotten kid. Harrrumph. ;) ;)

I got to see RotK, possibly for the last time in the theater :::: bawling :::: I went with a good friend and her daughter - um - 13? 14? Taller than me, anyway, cute as anything. My friend is extremely witty and irreverent. We'd all read the Hand Puppet version of LotR, with RotK titled "Crazy-Glued Myself to a Flaming Bowling Ball". When Pippen gets "captured" by the palantir, we looked at each other and said "Crazy-glue", and giggled for the next 5 minutes. Then, when Faramir is on the pyre, we looked at each other and said, "Ummmm...not dead yet?" I needed that irreverence, I think - it's lightened things up for me. But she sniffled at Pippens song and Faramir's "Charge of the Light Brigade", and I sniffled appropriately at the Grey Havens. And no, even on the HUGE, ENORMOUS, 70MM, FANTASTICALLY BIG, SURROUND DOLBY SOUND screen, I did not hear anything at the "sigh" when Frodo embraced Sam.

My friend does *not*, however, agree about Elijah's classically manly features. Harrrumph. She's Viggo all the way. Her daughter is, of course, nuts over Orlando Bloom. We have a friend, too, who's in her early 30's, a six-foot-tall equestrian, who's absolutely wild about Billy Boyd. ;D

That was an experience. For example, when Pippen and Gandalf walk into the Citadel to see Denethor, and the doors closed behind them, the sound was actually *behind* me. Phenomenal.

That was a wonderful final (in theaters anyway) tribute to a really great movie. Good audience too - cheering, laughing, crying.


Edited again:
Indeed in terms of the actual violence in the film, everything has been based on real life events. It may have been tweaked a bit but that's understandable given that we have to make it look exciting on screen and appeal to an American audience.

Harrumph again. What the heck is that? Them thar swaggerin' gun-totin' Americans again? Sheesh. Amazingly enough, I don't own a gun, have never shot a gun (except my Fanner 50 cap gun in the 50's), don't like guns, would never bring one into my house (Swords, now - that's different). Furthermore, I would imagine that a movie of this kind had to be set in Britain or Europe, because we don't have much of this particular brand of hooliganism here. Guys are more likely to paint themselves wierd colors and wear rubber pig-noses and act really stupid when they go to football games in this country.

After all, as Hizzoner, the former great mayor of the District of Columbia once said, "Except for the murder rate, crime in this city isn't bad..."

Happy Monday to all.

~grumpy (I should talk. I peed in my red cowboy boots)(But I was only 2, I'll have you know) :p

~grumpy (I should talk. I peed in my red cowboy boots)(But I was only 2, I'll have you know)

LOL!! OMG!!! I had RED cowGIRL boots too!!! I LOVED my boots!! And, I was, in fact about three and I remember I loved them so much I used to wear them (with the matching red cowgirl hat, of course!;) ) and just walk around looking at them as I walked! LOL!! Silly thing, wasn't I? I remember my mother and I fighting over me taking them off to go to sleep (yep! wore them with my little night gown, too! Pink, no less! LOL!! :D )! My mother said she used to have to wait til I went to sleep, then take them off of me! I was a bit of a scamp, I suppose. Poor mom!:D Oh...but, I don't remember ever going tinkle in them! *shudders at the thought of desecrating the Red Boots in such a manner*:eek: Poor little Lij! He must have been so embarassed! What was his mother thinking anyway...dressing him in a pageboy outfit...she was just BEGGING for trouble! :D

Furthermore, I would imagine that a movie of this kind had to be set in Britain or Europe, because we don't have much of this particular brand of hooliganism here. Guys are more likely to paint themselves wierd colors and wear rubber pig-noses and act really stupid when they go to football games in this country.

Now I'm envisioning a SNL skit where the soccar hooligan fans meet the American football fans. Who will win in the fight between the two? If there is anything I learned from watching Braveheart is that weird colors on the faces are supposed to scare off the enemy...... but it rarely works, hence the off-screen eviscerating thing in the end.

The "Illuminating" movie sounds interesting and something I would look forward to. Is this the third time Elijah would play a Jewish character? For some reason just now I remember this very strange anti-Jewish/anti-Christian website that bemoan the use of a "kike" actor to play Frodo. Obviously a highly ignorant and stupid website in sooooooo many ways.

Ash Wednesday spoilers, sort of....

From EEwas Francis shot at the end because they thought he was Sean, as he was wearing the same clothes, or did they know it was Francis and want him out of the picture anyway? Hi, EE! good to see you again! :) I'm not entirely sure about the answer, it's too long since I watched AW and towards the end I was a little bit numb (lulled into a state of inattention by the monotonous and repetitive language, among other matters...). So you'd really need our AW expert, (ainon, yes: I *am* looking at you! ;) ) but I'd say that in line with the heavy symbolism Mr. Burns was trying to convey throughout, he was actually going for Francis voluntarily taking on his brother's clothes and personae and so sacrificing himself in order for the little family to escape for ever. That is, IMO it's in the logic of the film that the killers thought they shot Sean. Only, it doesn't make any sense...... Francis is much taller than Sean, isn't he, and the two of them do not exactly look alike at all, so the killers had to be pretty stupid not to notice. And anyway, the identity of the dead guy was bound to come out as public knowledge once the body was found and the crime discovered. :confused: So maybe they were just gunning for Francis as revenge after all, and he just accidentally put on Sean's jacket because he was so preoccupied, thereby creating incidental symbolism...... :confused:

That wasn't very helpful. :o

[/spoiler]

Spoiler for ESOTSM, sort of...


Patrick[ ]'s sort of the Anti-Prince Charming OK, I just *have* to see this film once it eventually surfaces here! Because I can't get my mind around him being the anti-prince charming. Ever. Never. Nope. This will be quite an experience!

[/spoiler]

The only talkshow we get here is Letterman, and it *just* aired (I actually had to stop typing this to watch it) - it had Jim Carrey promoting ESOTSM. And managing to remind me in *so* many ways in just a few minutes' time why I *swore* never to see anything with Jim Carrey in. Eeeek! I can't stand that type of (IMO, of course) annoying, non-stop bratty humour. No mention of EJW, either, so I watched it in vain. Oh well.

BTW, tg, what did you think of the film, now you've seen it? :)


About Hooligans: What the heck is that? Them thar swaggerin' gun-totin' Americans again?The film is about British soccer hooliganism, isn't it? Those guys aren't first and foremost known for gun-toting, AFAIK, it's been more the direct in-your-face physical up-close-and-personal violence thing. Fists, teeth, knives, bottles, feet. Although they've surely also acquired guns. I seriously hope that "making the violence appeal to an American audience" doesn't mean they believe they have to make the violence all too graphic, detailed, drawn-out and generally nausea-inducing. :( Judging by the recent top US film and the level of depicted violence the average American movie-goer seems prepared to watch, I admit to being a little bit worried about that part. I'm certainly no great fan of overly graphic violence on the big (or small) screen.

Originally posted by Mariole
As for Mark Hamill, I have three degrees of separation from both him and Elijah Wood, and I think they're both very sweet and nice men, from what I know of them. *hugs Mark and Elijah both -- ooh, what fun!*
Out of curiosity, I just checked Mark's credits at IMDb, and--My! He's been a busy guy! Besides the occasional movie (one in post-production for 2004) and TV show/mini-series, he seems to have made quite a career for himself in voicing cartoons and--especially--video games. I'd thought he was more active as a producer/director than his credits show, but he has been doing some of that, too. And there's a nice pic on his IMDb page that looks as if it must be fairly current, so it doesn't seem as if he's hiding away somewhere in disgrace :cool: .

I also came up with three degrees of separation between Elijah and Mark--but I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing... Mine is:

Paradise [Melanie Griffith] to Working Girl [Harrison Ford] to, of course, Star Wars... You could also use John Rhys-Davies to jump to Harrison Ford, but I try not to use LotR actors if I don't have to--just makes the whole thing too easy :) .

I've tried linking EW with actors we've talked about in the thread (either positively or negatively); the only one I've been able to actually s-t-r-e-t-c-h out to six degrees is Jimmy Stewart--and I did have to start with a LotR actor for that one, although there are probably other ways to get there. With just about anyone else, even those who seem unlikely, it takes only one or two jumps. One link I'm not satisfied with is to Gregory Peck. You can get from Elijah to him in one jump going through Robert Duvall (who was in both Deep Impact and To Kill a Mockingbird). But, like Morgan Freeman, Elijah and Duvall were in separate storylines in Deep Impact so were never on-screen together. Anyone come up with a different route?

[And, actually, I don't spend valuable time on this--I just find myself occasionally working through connections mentally as I walk to and from the office ;) .]

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

I was watching the morning news on our local channel 6 today. To be cute they always give "top six" lists to match their channel number :rolleyes: . They listed ESOTSM as #6 on this past weekend's box office, which isn't bad at all for a movie that wasn't released in a huge number of theaters.


Yowser--We Americans would probably have to use our secret weapon if confronted with soccer hooligans: Call out the Cheeseheads! :D And, yes, I'm a proud Packers fan :) (but, alas, I don't own the appropriate headgear :p ).

from Yowser
The "Illuminating" movie sounds interesting and something I would look forward to. Is this the third time Elijah would play a Jewish character?
Either third or fourth, depending on how you count North. The book is strongly based on North discovering his Jewish roots, but that's not even mentioned in the movie (I thought it was particularly... ironic? ...or something... :confused: that the movie replaces an elderly Jewish man who befriends North with the Easter bunny :rolleyes: ). Other than North, there's Avalon and The Witness. Elijah's actual family background is Catholic, but he's not personally connected to any organized religion (unless things have changed very recently).

He's also had some involvement in a project to teach children about the Holocaust. I'm not sure what stage that's at. There was a link in this thread to the project's website, IIRC, but it would be many, many pages back.

-----BTW, I read some reviews of Everything is Illuminated over at amazon.com today, and it sounds like a very good--and unusual--book. Without a doubt, I'm looking forward to this adaptation much more than I did for Thumbsucker!



Ash Wednesday spoiler--for EE :)









The movie isn't entirely clear about the reason Francis got shot. But based on the extremely prevalent religious symbolism throughout the movie, my guess would be that he was mistaken for Sean--by putting on Sean's clothes, he was literally dying for his brother's sins. The position of his body at the end--as if he's on a cross--kind of puts the cap on it, IMHO.

Edit: I see Maeg already talked about this in her simulpost, and said pretty much what I would. The movie is, shall we say, not entirely logical :rolleyes: -- definitely a need for a high level of suspension of disbelief as far as the plot goes. But I'll defend the sniper a tad in that he was a hired killer, not someone from the neighborhood, and IIRC, he'd seen Sean only from a distance. But, yeah, Francis' real identity would certainly become public knowledge.


(And I thought Elijah and Rosario Dawson were wonderful in their one scene together. :) )






End of Ash Wednesday spoiler



And, finally, Welcome, Marigold6! :) :)

And Six Degrees of Elijah Wood? I think with as many films as he has made, this game would be waaay to easy. It would have to be three degrees of EW to make it a challenge!

Did we do Clint Eastwood? Elijah was in a movie with Mel Gibson, Renee Russo was in Ransom with MG, and in Line of Fire with CE.

:::: twirling twin pearl-handled Colt-45's and pushing back brim of silver-trimmed black cowboy hat with barrel of one of them before slapping them lightly back in holsters ::::

~grumpy
"D: I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy,
T: I see by your outfit you are a cowboy too...
D&T: We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys,
If you get an outfit you can be a cowboy too"
-- The Smothers Bros., sung to "The Streets of Laredo", circa 1963

Actually, Clint Eastwood was the first one I attempted--because of his snit over the Oscars :rolleyes: .

Can be done in one jump through Courtney B. Vance, who was (of course) in The Adventures of Huck Finn and was also in Space Cowboys with Mr. Spaghetti Western ;) .

(And, yes, I remember that Smothers Brothers song very well :D .)

Just popping in to say I am really behind, but I did see I got some birthday wishes and wanted to say thanks! I loved all the EW pics, and I liked Whiteling's paper cake right well (hadn't remembered you'd posted that before - I need to copy it for the kids; it'd be great for home made birthday cards), and I particularly appreciated the "real" cakes because I have yet to bake myself one. :p Hubby didn't get me one, either, but he did get me some mu shu pork, so I was happy. ;)

Just skimming a bit it does look like there'll be plenty of Elijah to watch even without LOTR. :) And someone is discussing Tintin! I adore Tintin. :cool: But hubby's going to strangle me if I actually sit down to read what everyone else thinks of him. *sigh* Well, the kids are getting videos at the library tonight - maybe I'll just plant them in front of the TV tomorrow and finally get caught up!

Sheryl

You could hook up EW with most of Golden Age Hollywood through the Orlando-to-Peter O'Toole-to-Katherine Hepburn route. Also, EW is only three degrees from Shirley Temple! (Kate Winslet-to-Gloria Stuart-to-Shirley)

Also, just found this ESotSM more-than-a-snippet about EW from thehoya.com!!


But the real diamond in the rough, you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood. Beneath Patrick’s boyish countenance, Wood conjures up a whole haunting mess of adolescent insecurity and emotion, allowing his on-screen alter ego the freedom to be both sinister and heartbreaking at the same time. The full impact of Wood’s performance doesn’t sink in right away, and whether it’s ultimately the work of a skilled actor or a skilled casting director is hard to say. Those who spend time trying to figure it out, however, will miss the point; the wisest course of action is just to stop caring and appreciate it as the highly effective performance that it is.

But the real diamond in the rough, you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood.

Why is this person so surprised to see this? I dunno but to me Lij proved his acting skills in the LoTR movies.

The way he channels his inner adolescent/geek in ESOTSM just blows me away. I caught that Bravo "Making Of" show, and was amazed at the difference between thoughtful, articulate Elijah-in-the-Patrick-suit, and Patrick-in-the-Patrick suit! Whoa! The lad never ceases to amaze.

Only today got around to watching the whole of that recent Leno show with our dear boy. That "Bleachy Hair Honky B*tch" (no disprespect intended; it is the title of her book! :eek: ) cracked me up! Lij heads towards her aiming to hug her about the shoulders. She GRABS his right arm and sort of wraps up in it, then looks at the audience like she's just found heaven! And who can blame her! :D :D :D

Oh! And then Lij comlimenting her on her obviously 60's vintage dress! I could read his lips as they were on stage with the music talent and he was asking where she shopped! :D The lad does love his vintage clothes, doesn't he?

Come to think of it I used to love vintage clothes too. Alas, I've outgrown them. *pout* Besides, there comes a time in ones life when you begin to fear that people will think you were the original owner! Not that this grey-haired hobbit really looks so old...really...

Honey! whofeels'boutahundredtonight

re: Hooligans and making the voilence appeal to an American audience
Although they've surely also acquired guns. I seriously hope that "making the violence appeal to an American audience" doesn't mean they believe they have to make the violence all too graphic, detailed, drawn-out and generally nausea-inducing.
Well, from a European viewpoint and living in a city with a soccer team that is not free of its share of hooligans...
I would say the contrary.
I think they need to make this movie less graphic than they would do if they would only make this film for a European audience.
Correct me if I'm wrong here but violence in American movies is very rarely direct.
Hooliganism violence is in your face violence, very rough: using fists, using whatever is around to hit and hurt others (bottles, chairs,...), kicking without making it look like an almost beautiful martial arts movie but...you know, just kicking the hell out of somebody, man-to-man violence...
Also, the violence seems random (just kick the hell out of the next person with whatever you can find in your path of destruction) and it is to a certain degree but a lot of those fights are orchestrated before the match
I think they need to tone that sort of violence down a bit to fit an American audience.
But, I'd like to add that most soccer fans are peace loving people.


...But the real diamond in the rough, you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood.
Thanks very much for the review Sharpe's girl. Great to see this fantastic comment!

Originally posted by Sharpe's Girl
You could hook up EW with most of Golden Age Hollywood through the Orlando-to-Peter O'Toole-to-Katherine Hepburn route...
Oh, very good--I hadn't thought about the Orlando link :) . That lets me lower Elijah's degrees of separation from Jimmy Stewart from 6 to 3, since I've been ending that chain with The Philadelphia Story but got to Hepburn by a rather convoluted route.

Also, just found this ESotSM more-than-a-snippet about EW from thehoya.com!!
Thanks for that quote--it's nice to see more than a snippet on EJW in that movie. I'm with honeyelf in wondering why the reviewer was so surprised (although careful not to admit that by saying that we might be surprised ;) ). And... "in the rough"? What's that about :confused: ?

Anyway, one good thing about Elijah's upcoming movies is that--except for Sin City--he's the lead. So there should be much more than snippets in the reviews. Which is a very good thing, although it makes me nervous in a way--there will be a lot more people paying attention to him now than before LotR, including some who probably wouldn't mind taking him down a peg or two, "the industry" being what it is. Elijah can handle it, but can I? :eek:


honey--My first thought on seeing her dress was "hmmm... another vintage clothing shopper." What a kick that he actually asked her about it :D !


I just hit the wrong button and visited http://oscarwatch.com when I didn't mean to--but there are some good reviews of ESOTSM there. Hardly anything on Elijah, I'm afraid, so nothing really to post here.

As promised (or "hoped" anyway) I have April updates on my website a bit early since I skipped March and have had a chance to see ESOTSM. Links to comments on that movie, plus a couple of new pages of screencaps here: http://www.frodolivesin.us/id75.htm

A couple of JRRT-related additions with links here: http://www.frodolivesin.us/id107.htm .

(I still have to make some "tweaks" on link colors, but I think they're legible.)

I'm working on some new "web skills" so I can add a new section to the site.

Well I viewed All I Want over the weekend.
Spoiler alert.
Though probably I’m the last person in the Faculty to see this film!
.
.
.
.
It’s the first film I’ve seen with an adult Elijah, since the Trilogy ( apart from Spy Kids 3D !! :o ) and overall I found it enjoyable .

I didn’t quite buy into the Jane/Jones romance though. Jane seemed so much more mature, I couldn’t see her being compatible with Jones, he didn’t seem at all her type. It didn’t help that Elijah looked about 12 years old in some scenes!
Thank goodness he’s starting to look a little more mature now.

The characters didn’t seem to have much depth to them which didn’t tax Elijah’s acting skills very much, (although his eyebrows got a nice workout – I just love those squinchy brows. :D ).
Its only after seeing a movie like this which was made in the usual short time span (I assume ) that I appreciate what a rich role Frodo was. I doubt if Elijah will ever have the chance to spend so much time on one character again. (Unless he tries live theatre, with the chance to vary his performance from night to night and explore all the nuances of the part. But then we’d have to go every night to see the transformation.)

But at least I didn’t see Frodo in his performance, except when he looked into the car at the end. I thought he was going to say “Sam!”

End Spoilers

I look forward to seeing him in ESoTSM when it opens here.

I found this an interesting interview with Elijah about ESoTSM- it mentions The Yank as being a comedy??? :rolleyes:
http://www.timesstar.com/Stories/0,1413,125~1549~2032927,00.html

tgshaw!!you not the only one being a bit nervous about
that elijah has the lead roll! i dont mean that he cant handel
it.HE CAN!! Im just wish he get well in the media after and get
many good rewiers he so deserves it after all he done!!!
i ges im nervous for him for that reason!!
And im always getting nervous on other people becuse in some-
way especily in this case after all talk here with you it feels
like i know elijah very well and i always whant much
happines and good luck for anybody i know oh im just
mumbeling hope you my friends know
what i mean!!!!
:cool: :cool: :cool:

just remember something wasent there a poll
at torn, some kind of after oscars award ? dose anybody
remember this?has anybody heard of the result?:) :) :)

oh im just
mumbeling hope you my friends know
what i mean!!!!


Wood,

We know EXACTLY what you mean.:k

Being understood is a lovely thing.;) :)

EDITED to say:

Wood,

The poll I *think* you are referring to is the "Who will win the first post LOTR oscar?"...it ended with an *almost* tie between Viggo and our boy! Viggo had 28.2 - our dear boy had 28.1. Not a nickle's worth of difference in my opinion. He'll have one one day...mark my words!;)

Blessings!
cp

Quicksilver, many thanks for your AIW review and the timesstar link. :) Elijah's caring love for his characters is wonderful. Can't wait till May, the ESOTSM release date here is on 13th. - And how odd, "The Yank" - a comedy :confused: ?


WELCOME, Marigold6 ! :)


[tiny "Paradise" spoilers]
Last weekend I saw "Paradise". Uhm, I'm sorry to say I didn't like that movie at all. The story, some actors (DJ) and the characters left me cold (and I had a hard time believing that children aged 9 and 10 would talk to each other in the way the film suggested) and besides from few moments little Elwood was cute and nice I'm going to forget this film completely. I'm not sure to what extent the translation is to blame for the incredibility of the characters (IMHO, of course). As far as I know, "Paradise" is the remake of Jean-Loup Hubert's book and film "Le Grand Chemin". I don't know that one, either. (Moondancer, do you happen to know it?)
[/"Paradise" spoilers]



Hi Sheryl, good luck for your catching up. BTW, I posted the origami cake for the first time. With "serving the scholary level again" I referred to the scientific Sternocleidomastoid (oh, I love this term) pics in honour of Mariole's birthday the day before ;) . I have to admit that my piccies represented a sort of compulsory exercises and I'm glad Tg presented the very likeable freestyle element in addition. ;)


Maeglian, I adore your new avatar :) and Tg, I've just seen your new one. Lovely :) !
Off to Tg's April updates...

hi candy!!
no that is not what i meant.but i remember it just now, it click
in my head i think it was called golden gandalf or something
like that. you could vote for ex.best interactive with the fans
(i think )and we all agreed elijah must win this one are you
following me does it ring a bell my memory maybe
been areset :D :D :D

What was Clint Eastwood's Oscar snit?


Thanks for posting that review! :)


But the real diamond in the rough, you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood.

Why oh why are these people so surprised that a talented post-adolescent actor who convinced a few hundred million people that he was a "wool-pated, wool-footed" halfling and reduced them to tears could play a post-adolescent?

whether it’s ultimately the work of a skilled actor or a skilled casting director is hard to say.

I think the answer to this one is "yes". I give high marks to the casting director for seeing past the wig, pointy ears, feet, and martyr-like soulful blue-eyed angst to an actor with tremendous versatility. I give high marks to Elijah for taking what could be just another stereotypical geek-boy role and making it good.


the wisest course of action is just to stop caring and appreciate it as the highly effective performance that it is.

...as with all of his performances.


... in some-
way especily in this case after all talk here with you it feels
like i know elijah very well and i always whant much
happines and good luck for anybody i know oh im just
mumbeling hope you my friends know
what i mean!!!!
:cool: :cool: :cool:


I know what you mean, wood! It's fun to cheer him on. It's hard sometimes to recognize that though we know something *about* him, we don't really know *him*. :) :) :) Anyway, I'm right there with you waving an Elijah flag!

:::: donning Cheesehead headgear just to look really silly while I'm sitting next to wood waving that flag ::::

~grumpy (next we'll have cow-tipping!) (did anyone else notice how often the makeup people had to conceal little bumps on The Lad's face in LotR?)(What? That's not what that "ZOOM" button on my DVD is for?!? :eek: )

That's a very nice avatar, tgshaw. The nicest.

Thank you for your April updates, which I'll read soon as I get home. I'm on vacation :) and just poked my head into the Faculty here, and I see my name called out!

Ash Wednesday spoilers, sort of....

Originally posted by Maeglian

So you'd really need our AW expert, (ainon, yes: I *am* looking at you! ;) )

LOL! Goodness, and all I ever tried to do after watching AW was try to come up with as many ways as possible to ensure that Ed Burns never casts himself as a walking hero in another self-written, self-directed walking movie ever again! :D

Fortunately, I never watched AW with any great appreciation for the symbolism that was there in the truckloads. I thought the ending was as pat as pat could be, really, and well yeah, with the bonus positional symbolism thrown in and the good cop showing up to tsk-tsk solemnly over Ed's dead body just as he knew he would. :p

But seriously. Francis had already killed all his known enemies the previous night so as far as he knew, the board was clear. IMO he dressed the way he did that morning so that he could walk around town again and prove once and for all to all those who had seen Sean in those clothes the night before Ash Wednesday must have been sadly mistaken. Sean was dead; it's only Francis. That way Francis secures Sean's safety in exile.

So you see, the assassin, who as tg pointed out does not know Sean personally (he was given only the description of the clothes), did us all a *huge* favour by killing Francis when he did. Imagine if the movie had had to end with more shots of Francis walking. Oh help us all .... :rolleyes: :D


One last word before wrap up my AW spoiler commentary. I cannot believe that I'm still talking about AW! :p :D



[/ AW spoiler]





Re: ESotSM

Thanks so much, Faculty, for the early reviews and opinions. I know Jim Carrey can deliver - he earned my respect with 'The Truman Show' - so this might've been a movie I'd be interested in even if I didn't know I could play 'spot Elijah!'. At least I am reasonably assured that playing 'spot Elijah!' in ESotSM won't be as daunting a task as it was to spot Billy Boyd in 'Master and Commander'. ;)

First order of the day when I get back to the city: to seek out a precious specimen of Crebain esotsm. Since this is a mere drama it is not being treated with the appropriate respect of simultaneous international releases, so one must ponder the beneficial piratical aspects of procuring observer status to this elusive piece of film-making.

Maeg, Moondancer has said it best, but yeah, compared to some non-American stuff I've seen (and even then there hasn't been much), Hollywood violence might perhaps be described as, how shall we say it, rather 'manufactured'. ;) "Americanised 'Hooligans'" probably indicates flashy MTV-style editing to complement the choreographed fight sequences, and lots of interestingly appealing angsty make-up. :D



And WELCOME Marigold - that's much too long to be in the lurking! Come out here and go all silly with us. :)

Though probably I’m the last person in the Faculty to see this film!

Nope - I haven't seen it either :(




One last word before wrap up my AW spoiler commentary. I cannot believe that I'm still talking about AW!

LOL!! Okay, it wasn't that bad. I actually rather liked it!


Thanks for the explanations. I'm glad to know that I wasn't just being dim: missing the point of the final scene. I did notice the OTT crucifixion symbolism of Francis' dead body. I mean, who does he think he is? Willen Defoe?

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
........you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Or, NOT AT ALL surprised.:rolleyes:

Well. It is nice to see him being noticed by others. At last. Kind of funny that my main reaction to ESOTSM was "there isn't nearly enough Elijah". But apparently there IS enough to be worthy of comment by some reviewers.

Remember how incensed many of us were (and still are) about the rave reviews for supporting actors in ROTK at the expense of the lead actor? Now here's Elwood garnering praise for his supporting role. What a world, what a world.;)

Really craving that Bravo special on the making of ESOTSM. I don't get Bravo, but I know someone who does. (((peaceweaver))) :) :) :)

P.S. tgshaw, if you want an official Cheesehead hat, I can cut across the Wisconsin border easily enough to procure one. :D

Hi dear Faculty ladies!

This *** RL takes everything from me, and I'm able only to read new posts from time to time. Anyway, I enjoy your discussion as always.

My best wishes and many kissed to all those whose birthdays I missed - dear Shilohmm, dear Sheryl! :k

My dear ladies, your first reviews of ESOTSM inspired me a lot. I think I will like it. I really loved "Being John Malkovich" in the past, even bought it on video. I love this kind of intellectual films.

I've read the sceenplay of ESOTSM already and really loved it, too!!! It's great, intelligent and touching. Very human, I would say. And I liked Patrick's role in it. It is quite small, but interesting - he was nasty and pityful at the same time in the screenplay... Remined me a bit of some characters from the novels of the great Russian writer of 19 cent. Feodor Dostoyevsky.. the same strange mix of pity and disgust..

Now I see from your reviews that EW managed to do the role well. Great! I'm so glad to know it!!! I knew he could play Patrick in the right way!

I have to wait for watching ESOTSM antill mid spring - in Russia it starts only at 24 of April. But now, after reading your impressions, I'm waiting for it in a good mood.

All those professional reviews that I managed to read hail ESOTSM, too - highly. Some of then are even ecstatic about the movie... Who knows, may be ESOTSM will be in the Oscar nominations in 2004. This could be very good for our boy's career - to be again a part in the top-runner is a great boost for a young actor.

Moondancer,
about foorball hooligans.
Oh, I agree with you. Real football hooliganism is so rude and violent. Not pretty at all. They will have to do someting if they want to show it. In RL this is terrible. They are fighting each other and everything around them like wild beasts... In my country we have this evil, too, and it's disgusting. When I was younger I was a football fan myself and liked to go to stadiums from time to time. But now I stoped to go there because I'm afraid exactly of hooligans. Football as a game became less attractive for me because of these brainless creatures. :(

Jane seemed so much more mature, I couldn’t see her being compatible with Jones, he didn’t seem at all her type.
quicksilver,
this happends sometimes in RL, too. ;) When I was at Jane's age I had a very emotional romance with a young boy of Jones's age. And we were quite interesting for each other, I should admit. For some time at least! From my point of view Jones's and Jane's romance has no real perspective in time, it will stop very soon. But it coud give a lot of very interesting and deep experience to both sides.

One last word before wrap up my AW spoiler commentary. I cannot believe that I'm still talking about AW!
ainon,
dear, don't worry, I'm the other one who somehow liked AW movie. :)

HI! this makes me so angry
why can not this people see what a great actor he his
shall we buy glases for them? i cant belive why they are so suprised!! i know i will not lose my temper, i will not, becuse i know
what i know and i am glade they finally saw him
(how they could miss him in lotr is a big questien)

oh my god how many posts today four maybe five
i better stop right now!!!!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

Originally posted by whiteling
As far as I know, "Paradise" is the remake of Jean-Loup Hubert's book and film "Le Grand Chemin". I don't know that one, either. (Moondancer, do you happen to know it?)


Yes, it is indeed a remake but...nope, haven't seen it or read the book. I really do not see enough French movies, but they have a hard time competing with the movies from the English-spoken market even in my country (with 40% French speakers)

Football as a game became less attractive for me because of these brainless creatures.
I still like the game but I hesitate to actually go to a match because of the possible violence.


And someone is discussing Tintin! I adore Tintin.
Ha! Another Tintin fan! :)

Originally posted by wood
HI! this makes me so angry
why can not this people see what a great actor he his
shall we buy glases for them? :

wood,:k
in my country a lot of people also don't understand what an exelent actor EW is, too. This is painful for me! So I can understand you.

Sometimes I start to argue with those blind, sometimes... Well, sometimes I'm just very aggorant and just tell them: if you are not able to understand a great acting this is your problem! Than you don't understand anything an acting skill. :D

Sometime this arrogance works, at least with people who knows that I have professional education in this field. ;) But in fact I'm also surprised by the number of people who didn't like EW's Frodo. This is a mistery for me. I have a good schooling in acting area, so I think I can understand what is good in it and what is not good... When I watch LOTR, I see a great work by EW. I don't understand why so many people are blind in this point.

Well, personaly I'm lucky. All my relatives and close friends like and respect Mr. Wood's work in the movie. But I'm tired a bit to explain it to those who don't understand.

Sharpe's Girl, thank you for the review quote! I *have* to ecko Grumpy, though:But the real diamond in the rough, you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood. Beneath Patrick’s boyish countenance, Wood conjures up a whole haunting mess of adolescent insecurity and emotion, allowing his on-screen alter ego the freedom to be both sinister and heartbreaking at the same time. The full impact of Wood’s performance doesn’t sink in right away... Hey, why on earth is the reviewer thinking peole might be *surprised* to know that Elijah shines in his role? What follows in the rest of that quote's praise would be a fair description of Elijah's Frodo, if only a very few words were changed. Most ESOTSM viewers will have seen and hopefully, *hopefully!* also have managed to appreciate LotR and Elijah's very significant contribution.


Back to Ash Wednesday spoilers for a moment
*
*
But seriously. Francis had already killed all his known enemies the previous night so as far as he knew, the board was clear. I'll freely and openly admit it: I'd totally forgotten this not entirely unimportant plot point. :eek: I can't remember the local cop either. I do remember the walking though. I should know better than to comment on plots when I can't even remember them :o , but OTOH, it makes for some fun ad-libbing possibilities and general increase in confusion levels all around. If actors can improvise, why shouldn't critics do the same? **Now, interpret this plot, the crucial details of which you've partly or completely forgotten so you have to make some up as you go along. ** It *could* work. Or not. It'd easily turn into interpretation of even more walking. You know, all that purposeful, meaningful waaaalking. :D :eek: :D

But I still go for the heavy symbolism interpretation of Francis' death, though..... :p

*
*
And *that* surely concludes my final words on Ash Wedensday.


Tg, thanks for the ESOTSM review on your site. Interesting, insightful and non-spoilerish. :)


Quicksilver, thanks for the Try17/AIW review! I must shamefacedly admit that what *really* strikes me when watching it is how incredibly *pale* EJW was there. I want to drag him out into the sun, onto some beach, to get a little flush of colour if not a tan.... or failing that possibility: To get hold of the makeup artists who did the CoD Frodo makeup. :D I actually re-watched the film recently after reading a lot of squeeing about it over in LJ-land, but I don't think I changed my opinion about it. It's a quiet, quite endearing film, I like the main characters including Jones, but it's not EJW's best performance, as he's far too subdued here IMO.


Oh, yes.......I'd really like to see RotK once more. I feel the need to squee and sob over Frodo again. But, alas.... patience is required now!


Whiteling, thank you! :)

Thank you for looking up Mark Hamill's stats on IMDB, Tg!


Ash Wednesday SPOILERS:


You are all cracking me up! This, however, is my favorite quote:

"Imagine if the movie had had to end with more shots of Francis walking. Oh help us all .... "

Still snerkling over it. Ainon and Maeg, you're both too funny! I think the :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: signs say it all, for me! :p

But Rikka, I'm so glad that you did enjoy the movie. I very much wanted to, but I think it was the language that put me off more than anything. Too many F*s!


/Ash Wednesday SPOILERS


Soon I will be able to catch up on the conversation. I see ESOTSM tonight! Yea! :)

Originally posted by ainon
That's a very nice avatar, tgshaw. The nicest.
Glad you like it, ainon, since it came from the screencap you posted ;) .

Ash Wednesday spoilers







But seriously. Francis had already killed all his known enemies the previous night so as far as he knew, the board was clear.
And I'm sure the audience was supposed to have thought so, too, which is one of the things I didn't like about the plot. We were shown the sniper very briefly early in the movie and then he disappeared until the end when--surprise!--he popped up again suddenly and resolved the plot. It's the kind of thing a beginning writer would do when he can't come up with an ending that develops organically from the rest of the story.

IMO he dressed the way he did that morning so that he could walk around town again and prove once and for all to all those who had seen Sean in those clothes the night before Ash Wednesday must have been sadly mistaken. Sean was dead; it's only Francis. That way Francis secures Sean's safety in exile.
There are only two problems with that theory:

1. It doesn't fit the symbolism as well.
2. It makes sense. :rolleyes:






End of AW spoiler


--And Then--


ESotSM spoilers





Since I try to keep my website comments non-spoilerish, I'll say here that there were two "substories" in the movie that I especially liked.

One is the couple who were responsible for Clementine and Joel meeting and who had the note from Lacuna telling them to never again mention Joel to Clementine. IMHO they represent a couple who have as many difficulties and differences as Clementine and Joel, but who stick it out and stay together anyway. I don't know that the movie tells us this is a good thing or a bad thing--it just gives us a look at an alternative path for the relationship.

What we don't see, of course, is what this couple is like in private, or even most of the time; we meet them when they're under a lot of stress about what to tell/not tell Joel and how to react to this development between two friends of theirs. It reminded me very much of what can happen when a couple gets divorced and the people who were friends with both of them have to decide how best to handle those friendships (especially difficult for this couple, I'd think, because they were friends with both Clementime and Joel even before the two met). They can evidently do enough without fighting that they were able to throw a good-sized beach party.

The second substory I particularly liked was Stan's--IMVHO, it's his closing line that cuts through all the crap and complexities that we see surrounding relationships in the rest of the movie by stating a bare, honest, simple truth: "I really like you." (The closest I came to crying during the entire movie.)

You'll notice I didn't mention Patrick in those :p ... But although his story wasn't particularly likeable, it was interesting. His last scene was the perfect ending for that substory, IMHO--things have gone full circle and Clementine is throwing him out of her life like she did Joel (I thought there was a bit of a hint that she was going to go through the procedure to "forget" Patrick, too, but I'm not sure). It's an ending he should have been able to foresee, given that he was basing his entire strategy on a relationship that fell apart :rolleyes: . He's getting close to full stalker mode at the end, when he's outside and yelling at Clementine through the window--which threw me back to Joel's dialogue toward the beginning of the movie, "There's a stalker book? Maybe I should read that one."


My understanding at the end of the movie is that that both Joel and Clementine seem to accept that the same things are going to happen in their relationship again and even that it will probably "fall apart" again, but that what comes before is worth the pain of it ending. Maybe that's what Patrick felt, too, although I doubt if he'd able to articulate that.







End of ESotSM spoilers



from Maeg
Hey, why on earth is the reviewer thinking peole might be *surprised* to know that Elijah shines in his role? What follows in the rest of that quote's praise would be a fair description of Elijah's Frodo, if only a very few words were changed.
IMHO, a lot of people who say things like that have seen Elijah only as Frodo, and don't realize how much acting he's doing in that role, if you take my meaning. They see Elijah as being so naturally Frodo that they're surprised to see that he can believably play a character who's so different. Whenever I see one of those statements along the lines of "Gee, the character's not like Frodo at all, and he still did a great job," I think, "The guy's made over two dozen movies and y'know what...? The only time he's played a character who's remotely similar to Frodo is when he played Frodo!" :rolleyes: [A given, of course, since there is no other character remotely similar to Frodo :) .]


Goldenberry--Nah, that's okay. Thanks for the offer, but I'll stick with my piccies of Brett Favre :p .

The reactions to Elijah's performance have been very interesting. If you go on IMDB and read the reviews posted there by movie goers, you find a variety of things -- either:

a -- they've probably never seen Elijah before Frodo or don't remember his "child" movies or don't equate him as that same actor because he's grown up now, but they're suprised at how different he is in ESOTSM;

b -- they don't like his performance because they don't like the character he is portraying -- although this' precisely what should be happening, and when I see this, I say "YAY!"

c -- they understood what he was doing and thought he was brilliant -- again, YAY!


ESOTSM SPOILER ALERT










I'm interested in what people think is the reason Patrick has decided Mary hates him. Did he do her erasing procedure? Did they have a relationship that was erased from Patrick? Both possibilities?



END SPOILER ALERT

I'm interested in what people think is the reason Patrick has decided Mary hates him. Did he do her erasing procedure? Did they have a relationship that was erased from Patrick? Both possibilities?

ESOTSM Spoilers!!!!!ESOTSM Spoilers!!!!!

Yes! I found myself wondering this very same thing...actually from the first moment Patrick says, "I think Mary hates me...". I thought...'wonder why?' The reason it struck me so much was because of the way Patrick said it...as if he himself didn't know why and was completely confused by it (yet, seemingly accepting of it/resigned to it). At FIRST, I thought, 'hmmm...I wonder if they had some kind of relationship that's been erased from Patrick's memory but not Mary's...?" But THEN...when the story line between Mary and Howard emerged and it was revealed that the realtionship between the two had been erased I thought..."Oh! Patrick must have done the erasing." I feel like my theory was proven at the end when Stan tells her (and I THINK I remember him saying this...), "It wasn't me...I didn't do it." BUT...that still leaves you wondering why she would hate Patrick so much...as it was something she agreed to and he was just doing his job:confused:...but perhaps he was somewhere in her subconsciousness as 'the one who did her harm':confused:....I dunno. Just a theory.:D :rolleyes:

Blessings!
cp

I suppose there is one other possibility -- Mary understands what Patrick is, just like all the rest of us women know a creepy little jerk when we meet one. It may very well be that there isn't anything underlying her dislike of him -- she just hates him for who he is.

I hope this doesn't constitute overposting, but I just HAD to come on to share something I just found with all of you. From time to time, I read the reviews on IMDB, as I mentioned before, and today, I was looking at ROTK's. Look at this one -- this gal is definitely one of ours:

________________________
The Lord of the Rings is a celebration of the beautiful and the aesthetically pleasing, a carnival for the senses. Tolkien created a literary masterpiece, which was consecrated and turned into a cinematographic masterpiece, surpassing all previous cinema, by Peter Jackson and his formidable cast and crew, who have become into a cinematic pantheon thanks to their incredible work.

For a student who lives by the suitcase, it is a joy to have these films accessible to watch everywhere I go. Sharing this film with fellow enthusiastic friends, kith and kin make the viewing twice as enjoyable and sweet.

The wonderful cast are a feast to behold, each member chosen carefully and with great consideration. I've tried picturing other actors from various nationalities as the protagonist Frodo Baggins, and have concluded that some could have done an adequate portrayal, but none masterful, as Elijah Wood did. The small, gentle, sweet being who was stripped of innocence, health, mind and soul was finely and regally brought to life by Elijah, who has always been an extraordinary actor (as a kid, I enjoyed The War and The Good Son).

Others have spoken of Elijah Wood in glowing terms and these are mine. Elijah has a sense of maturity, spirituality and purpose that are unique. Well bred, sophisticated and stylish fall short for his mundane qualities. These, blended with his legendary seraphic beauty consisting of eyes which have given new definition to eyes and are in a class entirely unto their own, fair, pale, delicate facial features and his petite stature make him a true world-class aristocrat, which he really is and which Frodo Baggins surely was in Tokien's mind.

Tolkien compared the hobbit Frodo with the highest beings of Middle Earth, the elves, who were refined, beautiful, ethereal and wise. Elijah Wood couldn't have been a better choice; and... if casting directors have any aesthetic sense at all... they will realize that he could do wonders in such roles, playing a British gentleman on a Titanic like ocean liner or an aristocratic native of Paris or Buenos Aires dancing to the rhythms of waltzes, tangos and danzons, dressed in Hugo Boss and smiling, while sipping vermouth (THAT would put the crass Adam Sandler, Paul Walker, The Rock, other such celebrities and all their fans to adequate shame).

:( my post just got eaten before I could send it...:mad:

*sigh* Second attempt.

I am soooo trying to avoid the ESOTSM spoilers but at the same time...I'm soooo curious about what you're all thinking about it...:rolleyes: :)

Anyway, did you see this on the TORN site:
Wood Lends Voice To Another 'King'
3/24/04, 2:06 pm EST - Xoanon

Ann sends in word that Elijah Wood will be a guest voice on 'King of the Hill' this season: The episode is called "Girl, You'll Be a Giant Soon", and if new episodes are aired every Sunday night, this one should be shown on April 18. It is episode 19 of Season 8: "Hank and Luanne protest a no-propane rule at the Texas State Fair Grill-Off, but campus radicals take over the protest and turn it into an anti-globalization rally."
What's "King of the Hill"?

On the A&F site, there was a link to a site with a video (interviews with the cast of ESOTSM, including a reaction from Elijah)
http://www.hollywood.com/multimedia/detail/media/1746076
There's also a profile on Elijah Wood in there:
Just one quote from it:
Now of an age to play older teen roles, but possessing far more talent and experience than most of his contemporaries, Wood shied away from the high school-set romantic comedies and self-referential horror flicks that were inundating theaters in the late 1990s. When he did appear on the big screen in more exploitative projects, he managed to choose the best of the genres, taking featured roles in Mimi Leder's above-average Armageddon actioner "Deep Impact" and the Robert Rodriguez-directed, Kevin Williamson-scripted sharp and scary sci-fi thriller "The Faculty" (both 1998). A large part in the James Toback misfire "Black and White" (2000) didn't derail Wood, who instead emerged better for the effort, seeming more adult and more versatile after his work in the mostly-improvised, gritty drama. In 2001, he was featured in the Encore-aired independent "Life Without Dick" and followed with Edward Burns' "Ash Wednesday" (lensed 2001), playing the younger brother of the director-actor in this look at the Irish vs. Italian gang wars of the 1980s.
What's "Life Without Dick"?

from the IMDB review in Achila's post
Elijah, who has always been an extraordinary actor (as a kid, I enjoyed The War and The Good Son).

Others have spoken of Elijah Wood in glowing terms and these are mine. Elijah has a sense of maturity, spirituality and purpose that are unique. Well bred, sophisticated and stylish fall short for his mundane qualities. These, blended with his legendary seraphic beauty consisting of eyes which have given new definition to eyes and are in a class entirely unto their own, fair, pale, delicate facial features and his petite stature make him a true world-class aristocrat, which he really is and which Frodo Baggins surely was in Tokien's mind
LOL..."this gal is definitely one of ours"
Oh yes...hook, line and sinker :D

IMO all these people who are "surprised" by Elijah's perfomance in ESOTSM did not see him in LotR. Goodness knows *I've* been obsessing over LotR for years and I STILL haven't seen Elijah in LotR. :rolleyes: :p To be fair though, in ESOTSM EW doesn't have the advantage of The Wig (all hail).*

Most people think that if they want awards, they have to improve their acting. If Elijah wants any awards, he'll have to make his acting worse just to draw attention to the fact that he's acting. I hope he doesn't resort to that. I guess the only other way is to work with a director who concentrates on acting. I wonder how EW would do under Clint Eastwood's quiet-man style? (like that will ever happen) Or Steven Spielberg? Or maybe some indie director where Elijah gets to scream and yell and angst a lot. I guess the best thing EW could do to establish himself as an ac-TOR is to do a Star Wars movie so that people actually don't laugh. (okay, sorry, cheap shot)

(okay okay, so I'm not really sorry. :p)

------------
*I admit there's one time I see Elijah on the finished film. It's during the Majestic Rock money shot in FotR. The wind blows back the Wig (hail) and that forehead gives away that's it's Elijah.

PS: King of the Hill is an American TV show. It's animated but it's a real show, and actually good quality.
http://www.fox.com/kingofthehill/

http://www.fox.com/kingofthehill/images/h_epi402.gif

Achila:
Whoever wrote that sketch of EW’s career hasn’t done their homework. Or they were relying on very outdated materials. Life without Dick is a black comedy about a woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) who accidently shoots her boyfriend and then falls for the hitman (Harry Connick, Jr.) who had been hired to kill her boyfriend. Got that? Ha Ha! :rolleyes:

One review at Rottentomatoes calls it “hideously painfully bad.” BUT, at one time it was included as a credit for EW on the listing at the IMDB, so, I rented it, despite the reviews, figuring there was a cameo or walk on or something. But alas, alack, it was a total waste of time and brain cells. If Elijah Wood is in that movie, he is in it for a nanosecond. I looked very carefully a while ago in my initial research on EW films, and was bitterly disappointed. My advice is: run away run away if anyone recommends this film to you.

ESOTSM SPOILERS


Very interesting speculation about why Patrick feels Mary hates him. It hadn’t occurred to me that it was anything more than her aversion to his weaselness! Or perhaps that he had tried to hit on her at some point. But the theory about his being the tech involved in erasing her memories is very intriguing. It gives the relationship just the right kind of tension.

By the way, did anyone else think Mark Ruffalo just rocked in this movie?

/ESOTSM SPOILERS

Connections, connections:
"Hank and Luanne protest a no-propane rule at the Texas State Fair Grill-Off, but campus radicals take over the protest and turn it into an anti-globalization rally."
Luanne is a regular character on King of the Hill who just happens to be voiced by Brittany Murphy, who just happens to provide the voice of Gloria in Happy Feet :) . Gee, wonder how Elijah got involved in that one ;) . For those not familiar with the program, it uses "celebrity guest voices" quite often, with the celebrity often--but not always--drawn to look very much like himself (sometimes even playing himself, if it can be worked into the story somehow). It'll be interesting to see if they decide Elijah's enough of a "name" to handle that way, or if he'll be playing against type. Maybe he'll be one of the "campus radicals"?

Thanks for the heads-up on that, Moondancer. I used to watch King of the Hill regularly, but haven't for a long time now. Will have to get back into practice. :)

BTW, for those who saw Elijah's hosting stint on Saturday Night Live, the man who created/creates King of the Hill also did the cartoon of President Bush dressed up in increasingly ridiculous outfits.

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

Yes, peaceweaver, I ran into Life Without Dick during my days of trying to track down every movie Elijah ever made--which was basically the summer before FotR was released. Thankfully, though, I found out that he wasn't really in it before I went through the pain of actually watching the movie. Sorry you weren't so lucky :( .

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

zkg--sorry I forgot to answer this earlier. Clint Eastwood's "Oscar snit" was basically that RotK won a lot of awards seemingly (from his POV, anyway) at the expense of his baby, Mystic River. Not that MR came away empty handed--Sean Penn landed best actor for his role in it (wow, now he really got to yell and scream and emote in that one!!). But Clint's hopes for best director and best picture were quashed. Elijah said in one interview that it actually got kind of uncomfortable as RotK kept winning everything it was nominated for--almost as if they were becoming "the enemy." He said they were waiting for Clint to do a Dirty Harry style "Hobbits, make my day!" :D

IIRC, Clint and the MR folks were also involved in the anti-RotK campaign leading up to the Oscars (you know, how the only thing that was any good in RotK was its special effects :rolleyes: ).

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


ESOTSM spoilers to end of post








IMHO, every reason that's been given for Mary not liking Patrick is a definite possiblity. I'll just add another idea--that Patrick's the kind of person who just decides that someone "hates" him, whether it's true or not. I'd have to see the movie again to decide if Mary really acts as if she hates him. Her choosing Stan over him could be enough to cause that feeling if Patrick's as screwed-up mentally as he seems to be.

And, yes, I thought Mark Ruffalo was great. I got to like Stan better as the movie went along, all the way up to his "I really like you," which affected me emotionally more than anything that happened between Joel and Clementine. Even his description of seeing Mary and the doctor together once, and then deciding he must have been imagining things, was touching--he was caring about her even then. He certainly wasn't perfect; the whole "auto-pilot" episode was a bad mistake :eek: . But as far as people involved in the movie's various relationships, he seemed the most real to me. And that couldn't have been easy to pull off from behind those glasses. :)

Yeah, isn't that cool about King of the Hill? That was announced at the beginning of the season and I've been keeping tabs on it (Ann is moi -- :D ). So as I said, I think it will probably air on 4/18 if they keep showing new episodes every Sunday until the end of the season.

I actually bought Life Without Dick, not knowing what it was but got lured into it because of the prospect of a Lijah film. It wasn't the most awful thing I've ever seen, but surely not the best. I don't know how Lij's name got attached to it -- maybe he had a part in it that ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor?

Eek! Ash Wednesday spoilers :D



Originally posted by tgshaw

There are only two problems with that theory:

1. It doesn't fit the symbolism as well.
2. It makes sense. :rolleyes:



Shush, tg, be good. :p There is irony ain't there? I mean, there we had Sean, thoughtlessly stupid and selfish, advertising himself around town -- an act which eventually leads to his brother's murder, which Sean had managed to avert two years before by committing murder himself.

Err. I think that there is one profound sentence in a jumbled up mess, but look, I'm trying to fit it into a symbolic ironic pattern ... thing. :p

And aye, that ending was too pat to be true, it was. :rolleyes:


End spoilers



Alas, I watched 'Life Without Dick'. I knew Elijah wasn't in it, but I watched it nonetheless out of a perverse sense of fascination for the really bad. :p :D

Speaking of which :o here's an article from Time (of all sources) about Ben Affleck, but it's really sorta talking about actors in general. Nothing to do with our boy, but well, we get some idea of the system in Hollywood.

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,604078,00.html

Another post that got eaten and I really do need to learn to save my post before I try to send it.

Casting news from Hooligans:
Claire Forlani Kicks Around with Elijah Wood
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Thursday, March 25, 2004

Claire Forlani will join Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam in the soccer-themed project Hooligans, set to start shooting this weekend in London.

The film centers on a Harvard undergraduate (Wood) who moves to London after he is wrongfully expelled from the Ivy League school. Once there, he meets up with a young man (Hunnam) who introduces him to the violent underworld of soccer hooliganism.

Forlani will play the married sister of Wood's character. Marc Warren plays her husband, with Leo Gregory as the best mate of Hunnam's character and Terence Jay as a golden boy at Harvard who sets off the destructive spiral of Wood's character. Lexi Alexander directs.
OK, the names Claire Forlani and Mark Warren don't ring any bells.
According to Forlani's filmography, she worked in Meet Joe Black and her picture doesn't not do much either for my memory (she's beautiful!)
Mark Warren was in Oliver Twist (no...not the Elijah version, another one) and in Band Of Brothers. Looked his picture up as well and yep...I do remember him from BOB.


Source:The Guardian, posted today
Claire Forlani will join Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnan as a last-minute addition to the cast of Hooligans, which begins shooting in London next month. Hollywood's attempt to get to grips with the phenomenon of football violence, Hooligans stars Wood (aka Frodo Baggins) as a doe-eyed Harvard undergraduate who moves to England, gets sucked into a horrific vortex of soccer matches, Stanley knives and Lambeth walking around the terraces, and presumably gets to meet the Queen too. Watch this space.
The Queen? :eek:

ETA: (link found on A&F)
From: telegraph.co.uk
First orcs, then West Ham fans

It's all go for fans of West Ham United. Last weekend they rioted during a derby match at Millwall; this Saturday, they will entertain none other than Elijah Wood.

The Lord of the Rings star has arranged to attend the Hammers' crunch match against Gillingham, to research his next film role.

Makers of the film - working title: The Yank - will also be there to video crowd scenes for their project.

"The producers are hoping Elijah doesn't get noticed, so they can just get on with shooting," says a source close to the club. "They want to get it as realistic as possible, with real fans and the real atmosphere. That's why the visit has been kept a closely guarded secret."

Details of The Yank have yet to be announced, but Spy understands that Wood plays a Harvard drop-out who gets caught up in English football hooliganism.

"It's a far cry from The Lord of the Rings, though the battle scenes might be pretty similar," says one wag.

Originally posted by Moondancer

The Queen? :eek:

I hope he does get to meet the Queen- at least he would get on the UK news then !
Unlikely though. :(

Exciting to think he is actually in the UK now.! :D

"The producers are hoping Elijah doesn't get noticed...That's why the visit has been kept a closely guarded secret."

Well, until now! :eek: :rolleyes:

Elijah dear, wear sunglasses, and a big poofy coat. Consider a stocking cap. Do NOT wear any tan jackets, crappy or otherwise! Certainly no words on you jacket, inflammatory or otherwise. Make sure you cheer for the same team your seat mates are cheering for! Don't drink too much beer; one or two at most. Take an umbrella with you. If one of them starts to charge you, open it; that way you look bigger than them. Oh, wait that's how you ward off a charging turkey! Never mind the umbrella then. In the immortal words of my mother, "have fun! Be good!" And stop making me worry about you! I feel so silly when I worry about you!

Honey!

hallo girls!!
i wonder if anybody can help me??
i recived a copie of the homicide with elijah today
i told my husband and he almost freaked out
NOT ANOTHER DVD WITH ELIJAH WOOD he sad
and my daughter sad YOU ARE CRASY!!!!
please help me what shall i do i will not stop posting
in here i just better stop wathing things with
MR beutiful but how will i cupe with out!!!
:( :( :(
why is there no understanding for me ??
am i just a crasy woman or what???:( :( :confused: :confused: :(

Wood, as far as your unsympathetic family goes, just explain that you could be injecting drugs or running a child pornography business. But you're not doing this (or so I assume :p ) -- all you're doing is watching a bunch of movies with the same actor in it. It's not an obsession, it's an interest, a hobby, and people follow up on their hobbies. You're no more nuts than someone who collects stamps or tries to heal wounded birds in their spare time. Says me! :D

Moondancer, thank you for these continued news bulletins! I do appreciate it, and am sorry that KD also appears hungry for your news. Just make a quick copy before you press Submit, and you should have an emergency backup if needed. :k

Honey, I'm just as silly. Who was warning us that the British press are the most intrusive? Well, it looks like they spilled the beans on this top-secret visit. I do hope that Elijah manages to steer clear of any violence, on his quest to make a movie about violence. Oh, dear. Will it be over this weekend, so I can stop worrying and move on? :p

Wood, I'm sorry you're having these difficulties. Don't your family have interests of their own that you don't necessarily share? I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Whenever someone thinks I'm a bit weird with my LotR interest, I point out how alike it is to most other persons' soccer interest, which usually is quite as intense and every bit as time-consuming, and every bit as expensive. That normally does the trick. Or - have your family ever *seen* any of the Elijah Wood films? Nearly all of them are good, interesting and entertaining films in their own right, that people might really enjoy even if they don't particularly care for Elijah. So perhaps they'd like the films and him more if they sat down with you and actually saw the film(s), or the Homicide episode for that matter.

I hope things work out.


Moondancer, thank you for the news snippets! Great how you manage to keep us informed. :) I agree with a few of your soccer match attendance precautions, Honeyelf. Many of my friends travel to the UK fairly regularly to attend premier league soccer matches, and they all think it's great good fun (as long as they don't cheer for the "wrong" team), and only one has ever witnessed *any* kind of threatened violence. Granted, they are not celebrities, but still. I think Elijah will have lots of fun. And surely he won't be going alone? Where are Dom or Billy these days?

UK Facultiers, you'll keep your ears and eyes open for any non-gossipy news snippets of this particular yank when he arrives in the UK and attends soccer matches and what not?


From Erendis
IMO all these people who are "surprised" by Elijah's perfomance in ESOTSM did not see him in LotR. Goodness knows *I've* been obsessing over LotR for years and I STILL haven't seen Elijah in LotR. (snip) If Elijah wants any awards, he'll have to make his acting worse just to draw attention to the fact that he's acting. Perhaps, after a few more films with critical acclaim for his acting, critics will look back and say: "But......this probably means he was *acting* in LotR too! Wow! Oh my! Incredible! Unbelievable! How could we be so *blind* back then! Let's have a LotR movie renaissance right away just so we can gush over and praise Elijah's fantastic acting!"

:rolleyes:

Well, a woman can dream, can't she? :D


Ladies, I have to mention that by pure coincidence I've the possibility to watch RotK yet again - on the small screen this time - and on March 25 of all days! Very significant date in Ring-lore, that. Watching RotK is the perfect celebration. And...... the little acting moment that nearly kills me, it's so fabulous, is Frodo's look when Sam sobs "It would have been her". How is it even possible to *look* like that? To convey such a wealth of emotion? Such beauty and sadness and relief and grief and love and compassion and gratitude.... and.... and **sigh** I love that whole scene. I completely agree with Erendis. I don't see Elijah either. Just Frodo.

Thank you for lisening to me!!!
im so glad i have you my friends to talk to
i always know you be hear!!:k :k
i have to confese something:( :(
its not just the acting im been wathing i really think
i have a crush on the lovely boy him self but i think
i can aloud my self to have that i mean its not like im
going to jump on him at the street, i am never going to meet him
in real life and i am not going to leave my family just to go to him.
(only in dreams)
:D :D :D
know we leave this terrible history!!
over to what we are here for!!!

saw the episode of homicide
i just want to say what do you think about elijah playing a killer. i think he would do that realy well.
he was realy creppy in this one. his eyes when ditektiv bayley
push him down the floor he really have (murder in them)
awsom you relly never know what to come next i thought he
was going to attack the police!!

Well, godnight ladyes and thanks for today,hope talking to you
towmorro

:k :k :k

Mark Warren was in Oliver Twist (no...not the Elijah version, another one) and in Band Of Brothers. Looked his picture up as well and yep...I do remember him from BOB.

I loved Mark Warren in Oliver Twist – he played Monks, IIRC, and it was a great performance. UK-ers can also see him in Hustle. This is shaping up to be interesting – I get the impression that Elijah is not so wildly popular in the UK as he is in (say) the US or Japan – a Britflick may make all the difference. (I’m praying it will be good. Elijah has pretty good judgement, but when a Britflick is bad, it’s really bad.)


UK Facultiers, you'll keep your ears and eyes open for any non-gossipy news snippets of this particular yank when he arrives in the UK and attends soccer matches and what not?

The, er, non-gossipy stuff. Does that rule out Heat? Damn!

what does a brithflick means???:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Wood: Britflick is a term for a British movie.

Ohhh, these news are all really interesting! The only movie about soccer fans I've seen before was "Fever Pitch" and I think this one would be quite different :)

It does seem that EW has a very good choice in roles.

I think the problem with people and appreciation of EW's acting in LOTR is that a lot of them haven't seen him in anything else (or if they had, it was when he was a kid and they've forgotten all about it). Thus, the only person they see him as is "Frodo." And because he is so effortless, so perfect, so "Un-Actorly" they think he is just being himself and not acting (and since he is not a tabloid star, like let's say Colin Farrell, they have no clue that his real personality is different). After all, even his greatest, most moving moments are not histrionics. The Wheel of Fire speech is not EW declaiming a great suffering speech. It's a young, exhausted, almost-mad hobbit trying to haltingly articulate the horror in his mind. It doesn't feel "dramatic." It just feels real.

I've read some ESOTSM reviews that mention that EW is unrecognizable as Patrick, quite different from Frodo. Of course he is. He is an actor. Frodo is a role. Patrick is a role.

ESOTSM spoilers till the end

I am planning on seeing it again. What a beautiful, moving movie. The last scene in Joel's memory, as the house collapses around them and he pours his heart out to Clementine is amazing.

And when they decide to try again...sigh...It really is one of the most romantic movies I've ever seen.

EW sure knows how to pick them.

ESOTSM spoilers - er, MOST of the post


Eek, I forgot to say how much I loved this movie! I thought the screenplay was excellent -- thought-provoking, clever, interesting story line. I liked how the characters were revealed to us bit by bit, so that Mary (who I thought was a bit of a tart, shall we say) turns out to be someone who was really affected by a previous relationship she had no clue about -- much to Stan's personal heartbreak. Very moving stuff. I liked the recurring theme about how people are drawn to each other despite their memory -- that whatever it was about the person that initially attracted them is still there. Once they've fallen, they'll fall again. Just, really neat stuff.

Now, as for Patrick -- soooooo creepy. I did not like him at all. He was such a pathetic loser. I suppose I can appreciate him as a geek, but having to steal Joel's lines, and steal C's underwear :eek: ! Sorry, not sympathetic. It goes beyond my ability to be compassionate when the person crosses into creepy, and Patrick crossed that line for me. That's all the reason I needed for Mary to hate him. I love how Joel was unable to see his face in the bookstore -- so dreamlike and real feeling. At the very end, when Clementine yells at Patrick to get lost, I felt such a rush of anger for Patrick, it was like hate. Yes, I hated that creepy, manipulative man.

And this is the same guy who played Frodo, whom I love?

*wanders around in bafflement, until she hits the wall and falls over*


End ESOTSM spoilers

Okay, it's not all Sunshine. I must take a moment to emphatically agree with Dangermouse. Carry on.

Originally posted by wood

no that is not what i meant.but i remember it just now, it click
in my head i think it was called golden gandalf or something
like that. you could vote for ex.best interactive with the fans
(i think )and we all agreed elijah must win this one are you
following me does it ring a bell my memory maybe
been areset :D :D :D

I was wondering the same thing, Wood--but I never saw the results posted. TORN said that there was some delay...but they should know by now.

HI to everyone --- RL has taken me away for awhile, but it sure is nice to come in here and get so many wonderful updates.

Thanks all!!:k

Others have spoken of Elijah Wood in glowing terms and these are mine. Elijah has a sense of maturity, spirituality and purpose that are unique. Well bred, sophisticated and stylish fall short for his mundane qualities. These, blended with his legendary seraphic beauty consisting of eyes which have given new definition to eyes and are in a class entirely unto their own, fair, pale, delicate facial features and his petite stature make him a true world-class aristocrat, which he really is and which Frodo Baggins surely was in Tokien's mind.

Achila, I forgot to thank you for posting this review! It's lovely!

Wood, I've been thinking about you. My husband was a little jealous at first. He's got over it, and has become something of a fan himself. My son knows he can really tweak me by throwing out snarky little comments about the "inappropriatness" of my hobby. I've decided not to let him get to me anymore.

Besides which, you have the HOMICIDE Episode? I saw it once years ago. I vaguely remember "that kid" was terrifying in his remorselessness. would love to see it again. I check TiVO evey couple of weeks to see if "Homicide" is running on any of our cable chanels.

I really liked that show. Andre Brauer was terrific and very complicated. I also liked Melissa Leo alot; she had a great face! Not glamourous in the least. The last season really dissapointed me when they brought on all those pretty people and most of the original cast was gone by then too. Do I remember correctly that Vanessa Williams was in the last season?

Waving at Alyon. I'll write very soon. (((Alyon)))

Well, as I sit here Elijah is probably at that soccer game. I hope he has a blast! And I'll be very glad when I know he is safe and sound again!

Honey!

Not much chance to post lately, but thinking of you all.

Wood - I'm sorry to hear your interest in LOTR and Elijah is causing problems. My friends and family think I'm mad, but my husband is very tolerant of my obsess... er... hobby. :) Hope all goes well with you.

I'm glad to see I'm not alone in worrying about our boy while he's in the UK. He's going to a football match at West Ham today, and according to TORN the West Ham supporters rioted last week - OMG!!!

It's lovely to have Elijah here, of course, but I wish he'd picked a film with a safer subject matter: Table Tennis? Tiddly-winks? Snail-racing? Haven't heard of any riots or outbreaks of extreme violence at any of those gatherings lately!!!

He'll be OK.:)

Thanks to all for review quotes and snippets from ESOTSM - sounds interesting. And I'll echo everyone else - Why are some of these critics surprised that Elijah is so convincing in this role and that Patrick is so different to Frodo? Beats me!

Welcome Marigold.

hallo!!
i am okej!!!i told him about what i was feeling about his hobby
which is sports,he always se football and icehoceky and to
me iits the same thing.i told him i must have some kind of hobby
to and for me its always Elijah.
:cool: :cool:

have anybody heard how it goes for ew at the footballgame?
i am too worry about him hope he is okej!!

i told my husband that the next ew movie i belive even he will
look at i was thinking about the yank-football
(he have seen lotrmovies and flipper and think they are good)
:k :k :k

Achila,
Others have spoken of Elijah Wood in glowing terms and these are mine. Elijah has a sense of maturity, spirituality and purpose that are unique. Well bred, sophisticated and stylish fall short for his mundane qualities. These, blended with his legendary seraphic beauty consisting of eyes which have given new definition to eyes and are in a class entirely unto their own, fair, pale, delicate facial features and his petite stature make him a true world-class aristocrat, which he really is and which Frodo Baggins surely was in Tokien's mind.

Well, I reckon we can certainly add her to our list of honorary Faculty-members...quite clearly besotted with Our Lij...don't you think ?

:rolleyes: :D :D :D

Wood,
Don't be too disheartened by your family's mistrust of your little, er, hobby...just tell them it is just that - a hobby - just like some people love football, and other people are obsessed with collecting things, you are obsessed with a rather talented actor....surely not an unusual phenomenon in your country, as well as the UK, or the USA, or anywhere else on the planet in this day and age !!! If all else fails, just show them the pic of Bagendbabe's bedroom, and tell them to count their blessings !!!

(Sorry...I couldn't resist :D )

That truly IS the bedroom of a true fan....
{{{{Bagendbabe}}}}

If I started putting pics of Elijah, or Frodo, all around our bedroom, like that, I reckon we'd be heading for the divorce courts before the year's out !!!
(Now The One Husband certainly is very understanding, and even indulgent, of my interest in all things LOTR and Elijah, but even he would be feeling a tad jealous and just a little undermined in, shall we say, the bedroom department...:eek: :D )

How DO you get away with it ???
(Envious ladies need to know !! )

Found some pictures of Elijah at the West Ham football game. He seems to be having a great time!

I tried to link it but it doesn't seem to work.
So, simply go to http://editorial.gettyimages.com and type in Elijah Wood in the search request form.

The other guy (with his arm on Elijah's shoulder) is Charlie Hunman, isn't he?

If anybody's interested in the match result:
West Ham - Gillingham: 2 - 1

i just want to ask about the book
Everything is illuminated is there anybody who knows
who have write it is it a true story,what is it about?

i am to lacy to lookback i know i have read it somewere
ihope you dont mind??
:( :( :(

i must have mist bagendbabes bedroom :confused: :confused:
anyone who have a pic?:D :D :D

Well, I've been online most of the day and am about "written out" between the Trilogy forum and an email I sent to an online store explaining the several reasons they shouldn't be selling their (decidedly inferior) version of The One Ring as an "Elfin Ring Pendant" :rolleyes: .

But, I don't have much to add here, anyway.

wood, Everything is Illuminated is based on a book about a young man who goes to eastern Europe to try to find the woman who saved his grandfather's life during the Holocaust. From what I've read about it (lots of reviews at amazon!) it sounds as if the writing style is quite unusual--I'm curious to see how they turn it into a screenplay. It's a novel, not a true story. Judging by what the reviews say, the book seems to have gotten a lot of attention from literary types when it was published.

Thanks for the game pics, Moondancer. I don't know who the other guy is, but I expect someone from Britain will be able to fill us in :) . Elijah seems to have listened to everyone's advice about cheering for the same side as the people around him ;) .

Wood,
i must have mist bagendbabes bedroom

...and that's because Dimwit Wendy here got this thread mixed up with Frodo's Harem....how embarassing :o :o :o
Here's the link :-

Bagendbabe's photo (http://www.khazaddum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=406&perpage=25&pagenumber=656)

Just scroll down the page a bit, and forgive me for being a prat !!!

To make up for this shameful lapse of protocol...here's a link for the "Everything is Illuminated" novel by Jonathan Safran Froer :-

Everything is Illuminated" (http://www.jonathansafranfoer.com/)

The story sounds quite fascinating, although I'll freely admit that I have read an extensive amount of literature about this particular period of our history, mainly because I find the whole episode so unbelievably shocking that I almost have to read more and more in order to believe that something like this could ever have happened at all...and above all, I am immensely impressed by the sheer bravery and courage of spirit shown by the victims in the face of quite awe-inspiring adversity...and I am also fair gobsmacked by the fact that the whole situation could have been allowed to develope in so many countries, without someone, somewhere, simply saying "No, this ISN'T how it's going to be "

You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the terrifying situation they were in ...

I may have to read this book, as I haven't come across it before, and I am intrigued to know how well Elijah will do in a movie like this...of course he'll do marvellously...why am I even questioning this ?...I should know better, shouldn't I ?

Okay, Hair Talk.

I think that is Charlie Hunam next to Elijah. I think so anyway :confused: I've seen him in Undeclared (TV), and I saw an episode of the British Queer as Folk--and he had longer hair in both. He was "the pretty boy." So maybe for The Yank/Hooligan he has his head shaved. And Elijah's character comes from America as is--he gets involved with Charlie character---and then what?? Is he going to shave his head again???:(

I know. I know. It's his business and whatever he wants and all. But he sure is looking fine these days. The TRL pics that are on that same site (((moondancer))) are also great.

Wood, another thing besides this actor being your hobby. Tell your husband it's kind of a community thing. That it is fun to have something to get together with other intelligent women (((Faculty!!))) and share talk and over ideas with. It's a bonding thing :D :D Women need that.
Men do, too. But they often don't recognize it.

(((HoneyElf!!))) Waving back at you!!:k

from Lady Wendy
Well, I reckon we can certainly add her to our list of honorary Faculty-members...quite clearly besotted with Our Lij...don't you think ?
I don't know, she sounded pretty objective to me..! :D:p:D

Re: the soccer pic, the common opinion on LJ (I personally have no clue) is that Charlie Hunnam is in the tan coat, and the guy in the green coat is Ross McCall. Both are co-starring in "The Yank" with him.

I guess it all worked out fine, so Blossom, Honey, and the rest of us can go to sleep without worrying about Elijah's well-being. Sigh. It's difficult fighting that mommy streak...

Originally posted by Mariole
I don't know, she sounded pretty objective to me..! :D:p:D


:D :D

Some folks who are about my age may remember the Walter Brennan TV character (I can't recall the name of the show), whose tag line was "No brag. Just fact." IIRC, he was often "not bragging" about his son. I think that line applies perfectly to any admiration of Elijah. ;) :p

Any of you soccer ladies, what are those *things* that Elijah has in or near his mouth? (if you click on the Getty image they do a close-up) One looks like a tiny drink (?), and the other, well, I can't make it out at all. It looks like a bent flat cigar, perhaps a noisemaker of some sort.

:confused:

godmorning ladyes hope you sleept well!!!
i think that it is a noisemaker on one of the pics.
in the other it seams like it is a minidrink,maybe they already
have beginne to film so it is elijahs caracter who is drinking
i dont know if they do such things in the arenas or they just do it
before they go to the games(the supportes i mean) maybe they
dont drink at all but i think so otherwise i dont think they
should behave like they do i dont know,i am not an expert
its just what i was thinking when i so the pics.
or maybe it is elijah who is simpley have a good time
and are trying to keep the warm up, i think maybe it is a bit
colder in uk in springtime an in the states?




:cool: :cool: :cool: :k :k :) :) :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Thanks for all the tidbits and snippets on ESotSM (wasn't it just wonderful) and Hooligans.

Sorry I haven't been able to properly sit down and write long, thoughtful posts... I just don't know where time is flying off to these days.

But, I do have this link that I hope you ladies will enjoy:
http://www.randonstudios.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&eventid=3519&categories=no&keywords2=no&eventgroup=yes

They are lovely pics though I feel somewhat sorry for Elijah. Just HOW MANY photos did he have to take? One for each boy? He is a sweetheart.

just pop in to say i saw deep impact yesterday
i think its a very god movie ad i just love ew in this one!!
how i surce for the girl he love!i notist somrthing else
we diskust earlyer abot his chest in this movie it seams
like he been workout a bit he seams very muskulur in the wite
t-shirt:D :D :D

Hobbityme, don't you love that picture of Elijah standing in between those 2 big guys (page 2)? Keep smiling, Elijah...keep smiling.

About the getty pictures,
I didn't see a noisemaker. Just the little liquor bottles.
Now, I'm not a big football (soccer) expert but you can't drink within the stadium (I think) so I assume that they bring these little bottles and hide it somewhere when they enter the stadium.

Here's an article (including a picture) in The Sun about Elijah's appearance in West Ham. For those who don't know The Sun: it's one of those famous British tabloids. It's gutter journalism but here's a link anyway:
***link removed***

Off topic: I just heard on the news that Peter Ustinov died :( (here, famous for playing Agatha Christie's Belgian detective Hercule Poirot).
He could speak an awful lot of languages really well (including French, German, Dutch!!, Russian, ,...)

Originally posted by Moondancer
[B]Here's an article (including a picture) in The Sun about Elijah's appearance in West Ham. For those who don't know The Sun: it's one of those famous British tabloids. It's gutter journalism but here's a link anyway: **link removed**

Aw thanks for the link Moondancer - I must get a couple of copies this morning - and check the other tabloids. Yes, the Sun is a ghastly paper but if pics of Lij are on offer - well, you take what you can!!!

I agree Lady Wendy - Wood could use the piccy of my bedroom as ammunition if her family get too un-understanding ... LOL!!! (And thanks for putting the link in :D and no, you are not a prat!!! LOL :k ) I suppose my hubby is quite understanding - you can't see but the other side of the room is covered in Liv Tyler piccies!!!

Wood, hope you got to see the photo okay! (((((wood))))) ((((lady wendy))))

thanks for the link moondancer!!
its looks like he having a good time!!
i hope you brittish posts more links about it!!
i read what i can find:D :D :D the west ham fan sade he looks a little outside but shouldent he, i mean he from states and new in this (i mean the carecter his playing) maybe thats what his mean.
if thats the case he doing fine in this roll to as always.i mean playing the leadroll cant be easy!! Oh im just nervous for him
i just want the critics and everybody else to like what his doing.i know that not everyone can do that but i just want him to get the attention he deserves.oh i know we been talking about this before,i just cant help it

i am going to the libery today and see if i can find everything
is illuminated.its itressting to see if it is any good,i will
picture me Elijah in the roll when i read it i will let you know
if you are intressted(i bet you are)



:D :D :k :k

Preliminary screencaps of Crebain estosm

also referred to as being

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Spoiler Images!!!!!

Click here (http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=833397)

author: ainon
contact: by clicking on 'quote', or by PM.

Abstract

Esteemed Ladies of the Faculty, it is my humble privilege to present to you a preliminary report on the Crebain estosm. Miscellaneous caps were obtained of the crebain, with every effort given to presenting only the clearest, best posed representations of the subgenus C. patrick (previously identified by majority of moviegoers and film critics as belonging to the genus hobbit of a Jackson, P. motion picture of the adapted history of the Lord of the Rings; observed then for being of exceptional wide-eyed angstivity, curly-haired, furry-footed, and presented as vertically-challenged by motion picture trickery methodology).

Unfortunately, conditions are currently unsuitable for the migration of a member of the Originalis estosm species; the C. estosm being but a poorer cousin was nonetheless available for capture. Upon entrapment, specimen of C. estosm was analysed by author through DVD-capping methodology (as previously reported by shaw, t.g., Blossom, deluby, et al). Results were for the most part of ghastly visual quality, and of these the most viable were selected for presentation in this preliminary report. Further effort shall be attempted to adjust lighting and contrast of capped details, should requests be made to author.

Frame-by-frame study is theoretically possible, and shall be attempted, but only upon specific scene request to author.

Questions regarding exact nature of situations of C. patrick may be answered by author at a later date, or by any of the Faculty who have endeavoured to study Originalis estosm on a larger legitimate screen.

References

1. Faculty posts on DVD capping and screencap enhancement methodology

2. Faculty posts on species estosm, inclusive of links to external data

3. Faculty posts on discussions of history (adapted and puritical) of 'Lord of the Rings'

4. Faculty posts on individual Elijah Wood (real life Homo sapiens): physical characteristics, shadowings, micro-expressions, hirsutism (or lack thereof)

5. Faculty posts on subgenus Frodo Baggins: physical characteristics, micro-expressions, unique tremble of voice, eye half-blinks, angst

6. Faculty posts on subgenus patrick: physical characteristics, smarminess, reediness, hirsutism (or lack thereof)

mention of references to posts includes also acknowledgments to authors of posts

Study was supported by free image-posting at www.villagephotos.com

Esteemed colleague AINON, (*adjusts glasses on nose*) I feel deeply indebted to you. Thank you for sharing the stunning results of your DVD-capping methodology. Your presentation gave me the highest scholastic pleasure for a long time.
You may be certain that you will receive several specific scene requests from illustrious Faculty members... :D :D :D


Hmpf, I must say that pic of Elijah shouting at the West Ham stadion had me trip down memory lane - when I was commuter and quite often had to share a waggon with a group of dead drunk guys celebrating their demobilisation :rolleyes: . Well done, Elijah, very convincing. However ;) , thanks, Moondancer, for that link! (Sad news on Peter Ustinov, indeed. I liked him very much and loved his witticisms :( )


Bagendbabe, I'm quite impressed by your bedroom (and I'm relieved to hear that your hubby has created his own realm ;) ). I think, I wouldn't get a wink of sleep in a room like this!

Interesting picture. I was worried until I saw that it was part of a shoot. The Lad has said that he doesn't follow sports much; I was concerned that he'd suddenly lost his mind (sorry, sports fans ;) )

I'm just waiting for it from the critics. Lessee...

Elijah wasn't really acting in LotR because he's really like that.

Elijah wasn't really acting in ESOTSM because he's really like that.

Elijah wasn't really acting at that game because he's really like that.

"My, my, what a many-faceted lad he is!", grumped the ~grumpy one on a grey and chilly Monday morning... :p :p :p

~grumpy
(Hail to the Redskins, Hail vic-tor-eeeeeee, Braves on the warpath, FIGHT for Old DC....)(just because I don't watch football doesn't mean I don't know the song) ;)

Having seen on TV the havoc that soccer hooligans can wreak, I think Elijah was showing great restraint in his acting at the match. :D

Do you think EW will still be in the UK on April 19th? Its the UK premiere of ESoTSM, and a local cinema (Ster Century ) is running a competition to win 2 tickets to it. I'm tempted to enter...

a little questien?
whats wrek and restraint,sorry to ask but i dont want miss-
understand something!:( :( :(

Just abandoning RL for a second or two to say ....
from bagendbabe:
the other side of the room is covered in Liv Tyler piccies!!!
bagendbabe, I am SO relieved to read that :). Had been getting seriously concerned about your hubby's self-esteem. I mean, tolerance is a fine thing and much to be admired, but there are said to be limits to what the average male can cope with while in bed with his spouse. But then it seems your husband is far from average! Go him :cool:

wood, "wreak" just means "cause" or "bring about" - quicksilver said that soccer hooligans wreak havoc, i.e. cause a lot of chaos and damage.
"restraint" could be something like "inspänning" in Swedish - it means that Elijah was keeping calm and holding back, i.e. not behaving as violently as soccer hooligans often do. Just a little irony there? :D

Am beginning to think I'll have to take a trip to the UK to see ESOTSM. All these spoilers - not to mention abstracts, ainon :D :D - too enticing for words. Will miss the première, however. :(

Have been trying to think of a link between Peter Ustinov and Elijah, but none comes to mind (except the obvious charm, wit and intelligence of both). Saw PU quite recently in "Luther". Can't quite believe he is no longer with us. Will be sorely missed.

Bagendbabe,
Glad you got your magazine so quickly..I only posted it at 4.30pm on Friday...so that's quite good going really...

You can't imagine how relieved I am for your marriage, that Liv Tyler also inhabits your bedroom too..still, I wouldn't be getting much sleep, or anything else for that matter, in a room like that...I'd feel as if I was doing it in front of an audience !!
:eek: :eek: :eek: :o :o :o

Thank-you for the Sun link, it looks as though a fight IS just about to break out though, the way that Charlie is grabbing hold of his jacket like that...
I also have to admit that I was enjoying perusing your pic, when my attention was caught and held in complete fascination by the right hand side of the page, and a box entitled "Dear Deirdre Archive", with THE most incredibly posed couple in bed I have ever seen...absolutely riveting !!!:D

Ainon,
oh my...you don't hang about do you ?
Well, as ESOTSM ain't even released here yet, I will have to leave it up to our American Faculty Members to request the business...I have every faith that they'll make the right choices !!!Meanwhile, I'll have to sit tight until the movie is released here, I suppose...

Moondancer,
So sad to hear of Peter Ustinov's death...he was a true entertainer, of the nicest sort...no ego, just witty and very kind...

(Now, I'm off to read Dear Deirdre's Archive...has to be done, methinks !!!)

have read empieronline an elijah at the game at the
end it stood alltogethe now you **** and you know it
ihop they didnt mean mr.beutiful
i cant stop worry about him this guys can be very bad if you pisses them of:confused: :confused:

Ainon, thank you for that scholarly coverage! I haven't yet managed to get out to see ESOTSM yet, and am really looking forward to it! Of course, since I'm reading all the posts here, I'm pretty spoiled, but somehow that doesn't seem to affect my appreciation for a movie.

Moondancer, I had to remove your links - since I didn't get to them right away, it looks like everyone's seen them already. :o Nice pic of our boy, but it was definitely not a PG-13 paper. If you want to post the article, you need to copy and paste the sections of it that are allowed - or even just save the picture to your hard drive and then attach it to your post.

Please, everyone, please pay attention to the PG-13 guidelines when posting links. :) The idea is that you don't post non-PG-13 links at all, not that you post them so that others can see them before I come along and remove them. :p (Moondancer, I'm not suggesting you did this, but since some members of the Faculty occassionally get a little lax about checking out sites in their enthusiasm for research, I just want to make sure everyone knows what the guidelines are and makes an honest attempt to follow them! :k :k )

Wood, I wouldn't worry about Elijah. We only see what's in front of the camera, but wherever they are filming there will be plenty of people in behind the camera looking after him. You can bet he won't be getting into any REAL fights, though I suspect we'll see a lot of fighting in the movie. That's what the special effects and make-up teams are for. :)

Just a quick post to warn you all of a virus that's currently whizzing around the planet...

I've just spent the last half hour getting rid of the Netsky Virus from our computer, and it came from tgshaw...unbeknownst to her, no doubt...and now everyone in my address-book will be receiving it too...Grrrr :( !!
So, if you receive an e-mail from me or anyone else that contains a zip-file as an attachment, don't open it or you will inadvertantly download in excess of 1500 porn images into your computer...and that's a shock to the system, I can tell you !!! :D

Mine came from tgshaw, as I said and it was entitled "Something for You !" I should have smelt a rat because it wasn't addressed to anyone else, and that's unusual...and because it was someone I know, I tried to open the zip-file, which wouldn't open, of course...but just clicking on it caused all kinds of trouble !!

Beware !!!

Sorry my name was on that email, Lady Wendy :( . But those things are terribly sneaky, and it probably didn't come through my computer at all, since I don't have you in my "address book," and I don't think I've ever sent you an email--actually, I don't keep addresses in my "address book," for that very reason, and almost always use PMs rather than emails for folks on the board. It probably came from an address book that had both of us in it, or even carried my address from one computer's address book to another one. Then it uses one of the addresses it's stolen to make a fake "from" line.

But it's definitely a warning that the virus has worked its way into an address book with addresses of KDers in it!! So, yes, everyone be careful!!

It's kind of sad, but the emails you can't trust are the ones that look like they're coming from someone you know, because that's how all viruses propagate these days. Best thing, if there's anything suspicious at all (and that includes almost any kind of attachment, or a very "nonspecific" subject line) is to ask the person whose address is on it if they really sent it, before you even touch the thing. (Send them a new email--don't hit "reply" on the suspicious one :eek: !) It's too bad that we can't trust each other--but we have to realize it's not each other that we're not trusting, it's the loonies who get their kicks by seeing how much damage they can do to someone else.

On my home computer, I've got a subscription virus screen, which McAfee updates automatically whenever they've identified a new virus. Lately I've been getting several updates per day--that's how fast new viruses are coming out. I do think both my home and office computers are pretty well protected, but I still don't open anything I'm not sure about without checking with the "sender" first. And I try to make my subject lines as specific as possible, so if you ever get an email from me that doesn't tell you in the subject line exactly what it's about--trust me, it ain't from me :eek: !

I got a virus from a close friend of mine. She actually didn't send it but it arrived with her email addy. My ISP's email server usually catches and removes all the new viruses, but this one slipped through. Needless to say, I had a heck of a time removing it.

Be scared...be very scared. :D It's gotten to the point we can't even trust what we think is "safe mail" from our friends.

In a totally different vein...

I was thinking over whether I should post this here since it really is not Elijah-related, but I felt that, selfishly so, I could feel somewhat useful in this whole tragedy by letting others know about this.

Today, my community suffered greatly, and will probably continue to do so for a long time. I don't know if there are any Canadians here, or from Toronto specifically, but if there are any, you may have heard five months ago about the abduction of 9-year-old Cecilia Zhang from her own home. In the five months that she was missing, I saw plenty of posters around town with her beautiful smile, hoping for people to help find her. There were ribbons in front of people's houses, as a symbol of hope for her safe return. I too, prayed every week that her story would end as happily as Elizabeth Smart's.

Today, however, we are all mourning. Cecilia's remains were found in a wooded area, in a ravine.

I cannot fathom in my mind how devastated Mr. and Mrs. Zhang are, and more still, I cannot conjure up the monstrosity of the person who did this to a child. When I learned of the news, I was literally shocked and I could not go through the day with the thought that the children in my community are not really safe and how the life of a beautiful child ended so unfairly and so brutally.

I know many of you are mothers here, and while I too hope that one day I will be a mother, I just want to say, treasure your children everyday, and keep them safe from these monsters. It breaks my heart to see these stories.

Narya, of course The Sun is a bad link...didn't think about it. :rolleyes: Sorry!
Maybe it's because I don't have any kids myself that it does not cross my mind that a site is a PG one or not. You have my permission to slap me the next time you see me post a bad link but I'll try to prevent it.

Anyway, I'll just copy this in here:
ELIJAH WOOD BACKS UK SOCCER TEAM

THE LORD OF THE RINGS star ELIJAH WOOD has become a real-life supporter of soccer team WEST HAM - in a case of life imitating art.

American-born Wood - currently filming THE YANK in which he plays a passionate West Ham fan - has succumbed to the charms of the east London team, and is now a keen supporter after going to see them play twice recently.

Wood says, "West Ham is my team - it has stolen my heart. They had a great game before, against Crewe, and it was brilliant. There were six goals and it ended 4-2 to West Ham."

Wood is set to run out for West Ham as part of a pre-match kick-about, but he's bracing himself for the crowd's reaction.

He asserts, "I'm rubbish. I'm sure I'll make a fool of myself. I don't know if they will come up with a chant - I hope they do.

"If it is from West Ham I hope it will be positive but if one of the other teams comes up with something I'm sure it will be some kind of derogatory hobbit chant - which I'm very much looking forward to."

The actor has also defended the film's working title HOOLIGAN - which had to be changed after complaints it gave West Ham a bad reputation.

Wood explains, "Being an American that word doesn't have any kind of negative connotation - in fact it is a kind of silly wood, it means ruffians, like little kids."

Source: contactmusic.com, 29/03/2004
Didn't we have this discussion about the different interpretation of the word in Europe and the States?
I prefer the title Hooligans to The Yank myself.

Hobbityme, I'm so sorry to hear that. You're right: it is heartbreaking.
Things like that are awful to read. I can't start to imagine what it must be like for her family. If this sort of thing happens, it's a massive blow for the entire community and it scars us all.
Here in Belgium, we're still not over the shock of the horror of the Dutroux case. I can not begin to understand why people do such things. My heart goes out to the little girl's family.

Virus update--I did a full scan on my computer and it was clean, so hard telling where this thing is coming from. I posted some info on the virus in the Community Cafe Bulletin Board.

Originally posted by Moondancer
Didn't we have this discussion about the different interpretation of the word in Europe and the States?
I prefer the title Hooligans to The Yank myself.
Aren't movies sometimes released with different titles in different countries? Maybe use Hooligans in the U.S. and The Yank in other countries, if some people are offended by Hooligans? I'd prefer Hooligans in the U.S. partly because "The Yank" could describe about 99.9% of American films :rolleyes: , but even moreso because the term hooligans doesn't have the negative connotations here. If this movie gets wide release in the U.S., it could be quite an eye-opener for people here--if someone would go to the movie based only on the title, most Americans would expect to see something like "Ferris Buehler's Day Off."

BTW, Elijah has played soccer before--even though it only lasted for a few moments in the movie before being stopped by the sight of dad on the sidelines, I imagine he had to learn something about the game :) :

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/Previous movies/PDVD_0200.jpg

I'm not meaning this to be disrespectful at all--more of a tribute--but I couldn't resist the question of whether there's any connection between Elijah and Peter Ustinov. Here's one with five degrees of separation:

Elijah to Sean Astin (LotR); Sean Astin to Warren Beatty (Bulworth); Warren Beatty to Dustin Hoffman (Dick Tracy and :eek: Ishtar :eek: ); Dustin Hoffman to Laurence Olivier (Marathon Man); Laurence Olivier to Peter Ustinov (Spartacus).

[That Marathon Man link is a handy one for crossing generations ;) , since both Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier can be linked to so many people themselves.]

There's a short link from EJW to Peter Ustinov via Maximilian Schell: EJW to Schell (Deep Impact) and Schell to Ustinov (Topkapi). Schell is in a different stroyline in The Deep Impact, though.

hallo!!!
here in sweden they often change the titel
for exampel the bumbelbee flyes anyway
was change to Memory!!!

oh may good is he going to bee a real fotballfan now!!
:( :( :(

Oh, hobbityme, what a terrible and tragic story... :( I'm so sorry.
-----
Back to the topic...

Some days ago I read a book about early Christian and Byzantic art and found there a pic of a mosaic from S. Vitale chirch in Ravena - Christ and angels. This mosaic is very old, about 6 c.

Give a look - doesn't the Saviour on this mosaic remind you of someone else? ;)

At our time we got used to portrayal of Christ as a man in his early 30s with long hair and a beard. But in early christian art tradition they draw Christ in different way - as a holy Shepherd,
a very young and beautiful fellow, beardless, with curly hair and big eyes.

Sorry I couldn' t find a better pic of this mosaic in the net where you could see his face really well... But I have a big pic in my book, so I can tell he looks so much like EW's Frodo! The only real difference - dark eyes.

Well, PJ said once that for Frodo he looked for an actor with some "magic" in his face....

from new zeeland herald

Acting? Elijah Wood plays Frodo with a repertoire of two wide-eyed expressions - his shocked-happy face and his shocked-hurt face. Wood also rolls up his eyeballs nicely when falling unconscious. Women, as we'd expect from a geek epic, hardly exist - they are merely an annoyance. As Clive James remarked: "Middle-earth is a place where even Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler come to be boring:confused: :( :(

what planet is this guy really from? mars or pluto or?

should you laugh or cry?becuse idont think this is fear,or?
:( :( :(

I wouldn't worry too much about it, wood dear -- there are a lot of unenlightened jerks in the world! And that's obviously not the opinion of the majority, seeing as how many roles Lij has gotten recently. Hard to know if these are brand new offers or have been in the works for a while, but I wonder if some of it has to do with his great notices for ESOTSM. Were they all simply waiting to see what else he could do after Frodo? Dunno.

As for that silly comment about Lij having one or two expressions, they obviously haven't seen what I did the other day. One of the livejournal communities (lotrboys_daily) hosted a series of the most gorgeous screencaps I've ever seen of ROTK. Clear, perfect -- PM me if you need help finding them -- not sure if the link would be acceptable here. And you can look at the Sammath Naur scene and watch frame by frame as the Ring begins to take over Frodo. It's quite extraordinary to see how Elijah manifested all those different emotions -- confusion, sorrow, disgust (there's one frame where that one is very apparent -- amazing!), resignation and then defeat (the evil little smile) -- one after the other. But because the scene goes by so quickly, your eye simply doesn't process it fast enough for each emotion to register clearly. In fact, it had me in tears to see this magnificent young actor delivering such an incredible performance, and that was only from screen caps! I've seen ROTK 9 times and even I didn't see all of the subtlety of it until now.

What a masterpiece, and believe me, you will feel even angrier that Lij received so little acclaim for this role when you see these caps. I'm sure we're all gonna have fun with our DVD players on May 25!

(((wood))) -- What Achila said. We've talked about these poor people before--they're the ones who would see a unicorn walking down the street and say, "Huh. Weird horse." They will always be with us, I'm afraid, and the more attention/praise Elijah gets, the more they'll feel the need to run him down. They are sad little people, and you might want to cry for them, because of all the beauty they're missing in the world. :(

I'm at work, so can't say just how many screencaps I've taken (I'd have to count my CDs, because they haven't fit on my hard drive for a long time). But I know it's well over 10,000. A few of these are from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Maybe a few hundred are non-Frodo LotR caps. All the rest are of Elijah (in movies--not personal pics). I've said before that DVD drives were obviously invented for the express purpose of making screencaps of Elijah Wood's acting--and I certainly can't think of a better use for one :p . It's the only way to understand just a bit of how he affects us the way he does--seeing the individual brushstrokes instead of just a quick glance at the finished painting.

But there are people who don't see anything beyond quick glances. They're not going to take the time or the effort to appreciate the artist's method, or the writer's carefully chosen words, or the way Frodo's internal battles play out on Elijah's face. It's their loss. And I'm sure there's no need to worry about how Elijah takes it--he faced scathing reviews of North while he was still a kid, and he has more fans and movie offers than he knows what to do with (which is a good thing :p ). A few negative comments from jerks who don't know any better aren't going to hurt him.

I've started working on a new section for my website that won't go up until June, because I need the RotK DVD to finish it! It's a tribute to Frolijah's "one facial expression" ;) . It'll be a little less subtle than some of the series of screencaps, but there are always some of those on my site--with new ones almost every month. If you still need an antidote after seeing the CoD caps :p , I'd suggest the pages from Weathertop, or "Just a Dream," or Frodo's battle with the Ring in Osgiliath. Then throw in the fishing scene from Huck Finn and Mikey Carver's football game for good measure :) .

And remember that I'm always open for suggestions--of scenes from any of Elijah's movies except Child in the Night, Paradise, North, or Radio Flyer* (and I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for that last one to come out on DVD). There's only one request "pending" (it involves a Nixon mask ;) )--but since I already have two series of caps from The Ice Storm posted, I'm holding off on that one for a while.

*And, of course, TAMTSNBN, which I refuse to buy on DVD--but you can't see Elijah in that one, anyway ;) .

OOhh! the Nixon mask scene! :eek: I went to see RoTK for the eighth time last week I have to admit that when Frodo was standing over Gollum in Shelob's lair, there was one shot UP at Frodo's face that reminded me of the Nixon mask scene in "Ice Storm." Did I mention I was having trouble staying with the story that night. :( :confused:

Funny little interview I found:

"The heart of Patrick is this kind of sad pathetic guy (who) doesn't have any confidence really in himself and doesn't know about getting a girlfriend in the normal sense," he said. "I find him to be more endearing than creepy."

Silly lad! "Endearing???"

Have you ladies ever seen an actor play a "jerk" like Patrick with kind of a wink and nod to the audience? Like "hey, I'm playin' this creep, but we all know I'm much cooler than this guy!" as if the actor's ego won't let him just *be* the jerk.

Before you all go throwing fish, Elijah most certainly doesn't do that with Patrick. Well, the little interview above makes me wonder if Elijah doesn't sort of Identify with Patrick, like he feels a little bit of that inside. I've seen several interview snippets where he talks about being 'shy' with women, and he doesn't seem to have a real sense of his attractiveness (why does that word seem so inadequate to refer to our dear boy's radiant beauty? oops! swoooony remark! sorry! not. )

Hobbityme, so sorry to hear about that little girl. Several years ago a girl who lived up the street from my parents died under similar circumstances. It ended up impelling me to spend time volunteering for an organization that searches for missing kids for a couple of years. I found the work to be very healing, despite the fact that I'd never known the girl.

Honey!

godmorning girls!!! the clock here in sweden is 6.45 am!!
i am going to work soon.
i just pop in to say this,i am so glad you my friends have suth big paitent for me!!!!;) ;) ;)
I just is like this always worring about people i love i will stop this
right now,i promise.Idont know why i keep stumbling over
the bad things people writes about EW,all you others find
always good things maybe i search on the wrong places!!

In my heart i know he is the biggest of them all alwayes
will be!!!!:k :k :k

I see you ladyes tonight i hope!!:k :k

Have a good day and take care of you self and you families!!!
:k :k

I've read the article (somebody posted a link in TORN). I wanted to comment on it but Tgshaw already wrote what I wanted to say (only much better than I could say it). I always look forward to your posts, tg! :)

I find this sort of article more funny than insulting to be honest and like tg says...you have to pity this journalist.

posted by tgshaw
the more attention/praise Elijah gets, the more they'll feel the need to run him down. They are sad little people
Yes, I'm afraid that this is how the game is played. But, I think Elijah knows how to deal with that.
First of all, he seems confident enough in his own ability to not be thrown by a couple of bad comments. Remember how a lot of people first commented about the casting of Frodo and how Elijah talks about those comments?
Secondly, I have seen enough praise by directors, actors and professional critics for Elijah. I guess you can't win them all and when you reach a certain level of fame, you're a bigger target.


Somebody asked me some time ago why I love the LOTR books, it's for kids, no? I mean, it has elves, dwarves, wizards,... That's the sort of stuff I used to read when I was a kid...
I get this reaction less now because of the movies, but in my answer, I talk about the richness of it, the fact that if you only see dwarves and elves and think that you're reading a story for kids, you miss out on a lot. Tolkien offers the reader his fantasy and it just takes your own imagination to take a magical trip to Middle Earth. But beyond the magical trip, there's also a magnificent story behind it.
A lot of those people actually respond to me that they don't have enough imagination to read and appreciate Tolkien's work. Isn't that sad?


I don't know if there are any Belgian lurkers here but tonight on Discovery Channel (23.00h), you can see:
Beyond the movie: Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King.


ETA:
wood, some nice quotes to cheer you up from people who know Elijah and who know what they're talking about. Don't focus on the negative things said about Elijah when so much good is said about him.

Ian McKellen:
Elijah is a very experienced actor and he is much wiser than most 20-year-olds you're going to meet. To have a leading man who is attentive to everybody and so genuinely interested in everybody, and so good-natured, is a very good emotional center for the cast. I was very impressed by the way he handled that. When you think of the monsters who might have landed that part and been absolutely horrendous to work with, well, it just redoubled how lucky we were to have had Elijah. He's a sweet man and a very good actor.
Also from sir Ian
Elijah looks angelic but his beauty of spirit is what makes his Frodo leap out of the screen. Unalloyed goodness is one of the most difficult attributes to act.

Peter Jackson:
Elijah can register such subtle emotion on his face that I loved doing close-ups on him. He really brings a superb emotional level to Frodo's scenes and although he is a very instinctive actor, we discussed the character thoroughly.

Sean Astin: (quote before the release of FOTR):
He can't fail - just look at his body of work. Should he be concerned if the film doesn't perform? It is Elijah's doe-eyes on the buses that go by. But he's got more confidence and more comfort in his own skin than anyone I've ever met. Do what you will to try to knock the guy off centre, he's just not going to go.

And that's just a few good quotes. There are lots of them, not just by LOTR people.

Edit to add these (I love seeing these quotes):
Director Rob Reiner:
"It's amazing. I do believe that Elijah has an extraordinary talent that will, in fact, carry him through 30, 40 years. He really is a star of the future. And he's a nice guy. He's like a prodigy in a way. You know, I've worked with a lot of other young actors, and it's difficult to get a good performance at times. You have to be very careful...and help them along and spoon-feed them. But with Elijah, that's not the case. I mean, he really comes to the part full-blown. You give him a little tiny adjustment in a scene, and he takes it as if he's been acting 30 or 40 years."

Director Joseph Ruben
"He's just really quick. Elijah can give you the same reading or different readings with a lot of facility." ~ Director Joseph Ruben, Entertainment Weekly, November 25, 1994

Executive producer Daniel Rogosin, The Good Son
Elijah has an innate understanding of the characters he plays."

One of my favourites:
Director Stephen Sommers
Elijah's just a natural. You never get him going over the top.... He gets up, takes a deep breath and there's 100% energy...When the camera starts rolling, he's LIVING that scene. I'm talking like he's Marlon Brando, but he blew my socks off.

And that still isn't every good quote on Elijah.

wood, here are just two more quotes about Elijah (there are many, many more on past pages, but it takes time to find them, as we know!):

Peter Jackson
"Elijah instinctively understands how to act for the screen. And he has awesome craft and technical ability. It’s quite humbling to see so much talent in someone so young."

Jon Avnet (director of "The War")
"His professionalism, his intelligence and his talent are singular. There's no-one like him, period."

I think the last one really sums it up. Those observations have been expressed by many, many people in different words. Those who think he has only two expressions (or even one!! :confused: ) are revealing deep flaws in themselves, not in Elijah.

Tg said it. :)

Hobbityme, it's so sad to hear the story of the little girl. Such things happen far, far too often. It's hard for us to see how anything could be learnt from such a tragedy, but I hope that, nevertheless, something positive will. By someone.

.Yes, I'm afraid that this is how the game is played. But, I think Elijah knows how to deal with that.
First of all, he seems confident enough in his own ability to not be thrown by a couple of bad comments. Remember how a lot of people first commented about the casting of Frodo and how Elijah talks about those comments?
Secondly, I have seen enough praise by directors, actors and professional critics for Elijah. I guess you can't win them all and when you reach a certain level of fame, you're a bigger target.


Thankyou Moondancer, your comment - in reply to TG's "the more attention/praise Elijah gets, the more they'll feel the need to run him down. They are sad little people" - has given me some comfort. My first reaction whenever I read such insulting, unjustified remarks about Elijah is concern over the possibility of him reading them himself - and as he reads Torn's news page he will most probably read this one. That guy must not mind making thousands of enemies - the remark about subnormal minds was unforgivably insulting. But I suppose you really have to feel sorry for someone who goes to see ROTK and spends the time looking at his watch - he obviously has something missing.

Edit after reading Shireling's post: There are some people who seem to enjoy getting other people upset and angry with them--maybe it makes them feel powerful :confused: ?

--------

honey, I remember one interview (I don't think it was the one you quoted, but I might be wrong) in which the interviewer said something very negative about Patrick and Elijah defended him in much the same way. The interviewer said he/she got the impression that Elijah gets such an understanding of his characters that he wants them to be "understood" by other people, too. Depending on what kinds of characters he plays in the future, I hope there's some limit to that :eek: ! Although I suspect it may be something like the way I felt about some of the characters in Chain of Fools--that I could understand a lot of their inner conflicts although they responded to those conflicts in wildly different ways than I would (I'm pretty sure I wouldn't hire a hitman, even to kill someone who's "almost dead already" :eek: ).

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

Moondancer, I was thinking much the same thing about Tolkien's writing but didn't post it, so I'm glad you did :) . LotR can be read as simply an adventure story--even a boys' story :rolleyes: --but what makes it unique is what's below the surface--or even what's on the surface but isn't immediately obvious. Which is one reason that, IMHO, Elijah's acting is a perfect match for it, especially as Frodo.

And among those lovely quotes Serena and Moondancer just posted, one that struck me was PJ saying that although Elijah's a very instinctive actor, they discussed the character throoughly. Reminded me of Tolkien's statement that some of the spiritual elements in LotR were "unconscious at first, but conscious in the rewriting"--they were so instinctive to him that he didn't even realize he was putting them into the story at first, but he could also think about and refine them... Which takes me back to Elijah's acting, and what IMVHO we're seeing as he continues to mature. I thought of this so much when I was doing the screencaps from the "turns" in The Good Son and FotR. In The Good Son, Elijah lets us know what's going on inside Mark at his mother's funeral--especially when he gets away from the crowd. But at that age, he couldn't possibly have given us the heart-stopping, naked emotion we see in Frodo after Gandalf's death. (And both characters have not only lost a parent-figure, but blame themselves for the death.) It's almost frightening to realize he's just getting started on his adult career. If he gets the right roles, he could tear us to pieces and have us beg him to do it again. (God-willing, those roles will be there when he's ready for them.)

I've been trying to figure out a way to say this since hobbityme told us about the death of the girl who was abducted--and I still haven't figured out how, but will give it a shot. IMVHO, things like that give us even more of a need for Tolkien, and Frodo, and Frolijah--and Elijah. To remind us "there's some good in this world" [although I didn't like the speech, I agree with the sentiment]. In Tolkien's view of evil, evil can never be undone but in the end (whatever that end may be) good has the upper hand because evil will never understand it. So evil ends up defeating itself (as Sauron defeated himself by not even thinking of the possibility that anyone would want to destroy the Ring). I hope very much that Elijah always concentrates on movies that have something positive to say, even if he sometimes plays the villain. (I might even forgive him a slip-up or two in the "positive movie" department :p .) As an individual, he does see the good in the world, and I hope he always stays that way; there are enough cynical, power-hungry people around--we don't need any more of them. But we do need to be reminded that the cynical, power-hungry people aren't the end of the story. That's why (even though I should often be doing something else :rolleyes: ) I don't consider the time I spend on Tolkien and Frodo and Elijah wasted time--if it adds one spark of something good to the world. (((Faculty))) Thanks for being here :) .

After these 2 years I got used already to the strange fact that some (big) number of critics and spectators have strong allergic reaction to EW's Frodo. This still hurts me sometimes but... well, I'm able to live with it. :)

But I have to admit this is more paiful when "those" spectators and critics are from your own family. :( (wood, dear, I understand you!:k )

Well, here is my personal sad story. :)

Two days ago my mom visited me and finally watched ROTK (on crebain DVD in English). Well, I must say that in fact she wasn't so indifferent to the movie as she pretend to show me after. It was late already (about 9-30 p.m.), when she asked me to show her the movie, saying: "I know this is quite long, but when I'm tired I will ask you to stop". She didn't ask! Watched it to the very end till almost 1-00 am. And she kept a very long scilence at the end - from GH to the end of Into the West song... This is something for her, I would say - normally she loves to comment everything non-stop.

But next morning, when I asked her about impressions, I had to go through a painful moment, when she told me she thoght EW's acting is "monotonous". And that from her point of view he's a middling actor. :confused: :( She told that she liked only two moments in his acting - waking in the Houses of Healing and coronation ("You bow to no one" thing).

Well, I didn't start agruing with her, just tried to ask what was wrong for her in EW's acting... And finally I found out a very revealing moment - the real problem is not in actor and his abilities - she just do not get Frodo as a character!

She did read LOTR (2 years ago), but wasn't exited about it at all ("Your Tolkien isn't my author! I prefer fantasy novels by Robert Jordan and Catherin Kurtz").

Thinking about her questions and comments during the movie, I realized that in the book she didn't pay attention and real interest to the Mordor jorney plot and has very dim memories about it. For example she remembered very well all twists of Rohan-Gondor plot , but... she didn't remember that Shelob sting Frodo and that Sam took the Ring from him after it!

Finally mom told me openly: "Frodo never was my hero, you know... Not the one I would follow... I prefer something and someone more simple, closer to the Earth. From those two I prefer Sam with his simplicity, wife, kids and flowers. For Frodo I can feel compassion to his sufferings, but I don't get all this "saving-a-world-self-sacrifice-mission" stuff, it's too complicated, abstract and high for me".

Well, I think here is one of the answers why so many people do not accept Frodo in the movie (and in the book, too). This character is too complicated, inner - tg is right, too many depths and twists are under surface. And EW acts his exactly in the same way - too deeply, in too complicated manner for a majority of public.

PJ's quote about Elijah continued a bit -- here's the whole thing:

"Elijah can register such subtle emotion on his face that I really loved doing closeups on him. He really brings a superb emotional level to Frodo's scenes. And although he's a very instinctive actor, we discussed the character quite thoroughly, so Elijah certainly understood what we were trying to get across in every scene. He really has this great ability to focus entirely on his performance. He's not thinking about what he's going to have for dinner, or what he'll be doing on the weekend".


How lovely! And another that struck me is the one by Ian McK, in which he says that they could really have had a time of it with some of the monsters that could've gotten that role. Apparently, Pete checked into all the people he cast, to make sure they were nice, and easy to work with, so Ian had nothing to worry about.

And speaking of "Elijah Wood as Frodo??? Kill me now!" -- that same sentiment is running around with the casting news of Jack Black in King Kong. After LOTR and the flawless casting of every actor without exception, people should know better than not to trust Pete!

From TgShaw:
I've been trying to figure out a way to say this since hobbityme told us about the death of the girl who was abducted--and I still haven't figured out how, but will give it a shot. IMVHO, things like that give us even more of a need for Tolkien, and Frodo, and Frolijah--and Elijah. To remind us "there's some good in this world" [although I didn't like the speech, I agree with the sentiment]. In Tolkien's view of evil, evil can never be undone but in the end (whatever that end may be) good has the upper hand because evil will never understand it. So evil ends up defeating itself (as Sauron defeated himself by not even thinking of the possibility that anyone would want to destroy the Ring). I hope very much that Elijah always concentrates on movies that have something positive to say, even if he sometimes plays the villain. (I might even forgive him a slip-up or two in the "positive movie" department .) As an individual, he does see the good in the world, and I hope he always stays that way; there are enough cynical, power-hungry people around--we don't need any more of them. But we do need to be reminded that the cynical, power-hungry people aren't the end of the story. That's why (even though I should often be doing something else ) I don't consider the time I spend on Tolkien and Frodo and Elijah wasted time--if it adds one spark of something good to the world. (((Faculty))) Thanks for being here .

BRAVO!!! Exactly!! TG you said it exactly!! I get so much from this story and Elijah's performance of Frodo because it is so instructive regarding an attitude of living. There are so many terrible things in the world, and difficult fights to fight---things you can't and shouldn't look away from. But to sustain oneself you have to let the good have more power than the bad. You have to look at and honor the trees still standing while you learn lessons from those that have fallen. I get this from Frodo--this bright soul in the middle of desolation. Love and spirit being more powerful than politics and war. Go Frodo. And Elijah embodies that. Go Elijah. He and this story are very good things in this world. I like to honor that and I get sustainence from such things. And historically stories are about learning to live....not a waste of time at all...and it is nice to honor people who embody those virtues--not just to honor a concept or an idea....but a concrete embodiment
Okay..I'm rambling.


As to the negatives about Elijah that you hear from some people. I don't like it either. Not at all. But if I take a deep breath and put it in perspective I realize any actor gets that. It's a difficult business putting yourself up to scrutiny all the time. But an actor does it knowing that no one gets all people liking them all of the time. I listened to two different acquaintances talk of Russel Crowe in one day. One "he is brilliant!." The next, "I can't stand him, he can't act." And there are few movies that get as many consistent reviews as did RotK, or even Esotsm. It's got to be nerve wracking to be in that business. Some people don't get Elijah. But a whole lot of people do. And some of us don't go nuts over Viggo (or whoever)(edit--I do like Viggo, I'm not bowled over by him, but I like him alot. Just used that as an example) --and there are people who just don't get that, either. I expect some negative reactions. What I wanted for RotK, was just more positive ones that singled Elijah out. I do wonder if over time he will get more credit. I think as people watch the movies more and more, certain things become more apparent. And I think Frodo's mission will become more meaningful as people see the foreshadowing etc with more viewings. I think the acting will be appreciated as people have the leisure to watch for more details...


Okay--maybe this is for the Rotk thread (which perhaps I should start visiting), but I'll throw it in here. Can any of you explain Plato's Cave a little more to me?? My daughter came home from school and they were talking about Plato's Cave, and she her first thoughts were "Frodo!" She said it has to do with people working and living with light positioned so that they can only see shadows cast against the wall, and so that is what they think of as reality. Then one of them climbs out and sees things illuminated with real life, but can never go back because he sees the world past the shadows and no one else can really understand. She thought of Frodo as being the one who, after going through his ordeal sees the world beyond what everyone else sees, and so he can't live the same life as everyone else anymore. Did I get that right???

(((Faculty!))) What great posts! :k

Regarding the various criticisms of Elijah's acting, I'm always reminded of this quote I love, from Bill Cosby:

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.
Every artist has to be true to their internal vision. They are never going to get 100% agreement with that vision -- people are too different. But they are guaranteed to drive themselves crazy and stifle what it is that makes them unique by reacting to every negative comment that someone has about their work. We have to trust that these talented people have their own support groups who will offer constructive criticism, and nourish them if they start getting a little too battered by life's absurdities.

Sorry, I need to post one more quote from Bill:

A word to the wise ain't necessary -- it's the stupid ones that need the advice.
(sends this message subliminally to the journalist at the NZ Herald...)

from serena
Those who think he has only two expressions (or even one!! ) are revealing deep flaws in themselves, not in Elijah.
Yes. Thank you for reminding me! :)

from Alyon
But to sustain oneself you have to let the good have more power than the bad. You have to look at and honor the trees still standing while you learn lessons from those that have fallen.

from Tgshaw
But we do need to be reminded that the cynical, power-hungry people aren't the end of the story.
Beautifully stated, ladies. Thank you! :k

from Rikka
For Frodo I can feel compassion to his sufferings, but I don't get all this "saving a world-self-sacrifice-mission" stuff, it's too complicated and high for me".
People will get out of a work what they get out of it. I'm glad you realize that your mother's experience is her own, and shouldn't take away from the pleasure that you get from these movies. It's frustrating to have unsympathetic relatives (I also have a few), which is why these boards are such a relief!

from Moondancer
I talk about the richness of it, the fact that if you only see dwarves and elves and think that you're reading a story for kids, you miss out on a lot.
I've found that people also have problems appreciating science fiction. In both cases, the author uses an invented world to illustrate some very pertinent points about the one we live in. Some people just can't make this mental leap. But for those who can, the alternative world sets off the issues in sharper relief. I'm old enough to remember the snowballing fandom of the original Star Trek series when it came out -- such a unique phenomenon that it sparked a franchise 20 years after the fact! I remember Leonard Nimoy in particular commenting about how free he was to remark on some quirks of human nature, as he was safe behind his Vulcan mask. But the people hearing those remarks are humans with those particular qualities. Sometimes the fantasy world lets people hear things that they would ordinarily outright deny. As Alyon said:

historically stories are about learning to live....not a waste of time at all...

And finally, in a different vein:

from Honeyelf
I have to admit that when Frodo was standing over Gollum in Shelob's lair, there was one shot UP at Frodo's face that reminded me of the Nixon mask scene in "Ice Storm." Did I mention I was having trouble staying with the story that night.
Thanks, Honey. I will never be able to watch that scene in the same way again! :p

Silly lad! "Endearing???"
Not the word I would have chosen, either! :k

Silly lad! "Endearing???"


You know, with respect to Patrick, I have a hard time believing that Elijah was truly offended by the word "creepy". As in any form of art, the results are always open to interpretation -- it's subjective -- and he would be the first to agree with that, I think. So perhaps the person interviewing him misinterpreted his reaction. It was conducted over the phone, wasn't it, and not in person?

But isn't it just like Elijah to see the "good" in this character, who so many others (justifiably) view as repellent.

thank you girls!!:D :D
for chering me up i feel much better now!!
what would i do with out you!!:k :k

thanks for the lovely quotes where do find all this stuff??:eek: :eek:

i am very sorry hobbitme fore the tradigedi on that littel girl.
as a mother of three kids a boy 14 years old, two girls 12 and
4 years old i can never forgive peopel who can do such things
to a child who can not defend there self!!:confused: :confused:

Pictures of Elijah filming in London can be found in splashnews.com.
It has a couple of great ones, including a series of Elijah twirling around a lamppost.

Mariole, I love to read good Science Fiction books. But I love to read different genres. I'm now reading a book of Neil Gaiman, a book that is very strange...I'm on page 422 of 632 and I'm still not sure what the author is getting at...great! You probably know the author from Good Omens (Pratchett & Gaiman...I love that book) and the next book waiting for me is a Science Fiction book by Greg Bear ( I loved his book Music of the Blood) and after that a book by Primo Levi (about Auschwitz) and after that Patrick O'Brien (the author of Master and Commander) and after that....
...so many good books (and I want to re-read LOTR).
Good Science Fiction doesn't only allow you to really use your imagination but ...quite often offers a different look on life, the world, relationships,... Quite often, it really makes you think about things and gives you a view on various things from a different side. A lot of these great Sci Fi writers have great minds.
I once saw a program about the link between Science and Science Fiction and how many of the modern inventions are based on some idea the inventor read in a Sci Fi book.
But of course, if you can only read things that are real, you won't be able to see past the robots, the androids, the aliens and all the strange things that might happen in a Sci Fi world.
I'm rambling a bit
When I first discovered Tolkien, it was a copy from the library. It didn't have any pictures on the cover, neither did it have a summary so I didn't have a clue that I was about to read this legendary book, loved by so many people. It was my first trip in the Fantasy genre and the experience of being transported to this world and reading such a strong story that works on so many levels was mindblowing to me but...I know enough people who don't see it that way.
Fair enough, I say...their loss.

thanks moondancer for the page!!

have you girls looked at it?
in one of the pics he looks very angry and upset.and to me
it looks like his lost weight or is he just well trained?hard to tell
with his shirt on(:D :D )

and to me it also seams he got a black eay?faiting in the
movie already?:cool: :cool:

Moondancer, Serena, Aquila, - thanks for all the quotes from people who *know* what they're talking about when they talk about Elijah's fantastic acting, as well as his personality. :) Made for happy reading!

I would not let myself be bothered by negativity like the one you mentioned, Wood. Like others here have said: It's their loss if they're really that unable to *see* what's right in front of them. If they can't think of anything better to do than to belittle and ridicule talented acting, they chiefly manage to characterize themselves.


Hobbityme, I'm very sorry about the tragic outcome of the little girl's disappearance. Seems many communities tragically faces this kind of trauma, there was a similar case here a couple of years ago that made a very deep impact on the whole nation and has not been forgotten.


ainon, thank you for your excellent research report on your particular ESOTSM specimen. It was scientific to the umpteenth degree, and extremely right and proper for a Faculty report. :)


Tg, I'll join Alyon in the "Bravo" chorus for the passage she quoted. Very insightful, positive and full of hope! Thank you.


Alyon, I do not know "Plato's cave" :eek:, but your description reminded me of Tennyson's great poem "The lady of Shalott" with the woman who only sees the world through a mirror and who dies upon eventually being shocked out of this half-life and stepping out into the real world. Whether there is a direct comparison to Frodo, I'm not quite sure, but there is a strong "can never go back" theme in both stories. Perhaps also a paralell "adapt, change or die" theme. The lady dies. Frodo adapts. He moves forward into unknown territory to find hope and a new life, when he finds he can't go back to the old one.


Moondancer, thank you for the heads-up to that site with pictures. Elijah in London and sporting a *huge* makeup shiner.... yes, it certainly does seem the film will show vintage style hooligan fighting. :eek:

I think this link is all right to post--

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/plato.html

My memory of the story of Plato's cave was a bit dim--the relevant point seems to be this:

In "The Republic," Plato sums up his views in an image of ignorant humanity, trapped in the depths and not even aware of its own limited perspective. The rare individual escapes the limitations of that cave and, through a long, tortuous intellectual journey, discovers a higher realm, a true reality, with a final, almost mystical awareness of Goodness as the origin of everything that exists. Such a person is then the best equipped to govern in society, having a knowledge of what is ultimately most worthwhile in life and not just a knowledge of techniques; but that person will frequently be misunderstood by those ordinary folks back in the cave who haven't shared in the intellectual insight.

And it does seem, Alyon, as if it might be somewhat applicable to Frodo's journey (as depicted by Elijah Wood of course--must mention his name here somewhere:p ). An insightful leap of the imagination that your daughter made there.:D

Moondance,
thank you for the link to the Hooligans filming pics. They give some visual information about what it could be.

If to recall what I remember about foolball hooligans from my own RL, EW (with bruises and blue eye) looks quite believable, at least for a beginner in this bussiness! ;)

But... wooow... near Charlie Hannam Elijah looks so slender, tiny, diminitive... :eek:

Elijah in London and sporting a *huge* makeup shiner.... yes, it certainly does seem the film will show vintage style hooligan fighting.
Maeglian,
why not? Its impossible to make a movie on this topic without scenes of a violent fighting - this is a part of football hooligans' culture... If it could be named "culture" :( But this is real life. All of us saw this kind of vandal mess at our streets, at least those who live in Europe and to the East from it.

hallo!
now, you girls is free to call me a real crasyhead!!

but yesterday i send a letter to elijah i just must lett him
know what a great actor he is.I bet he gets toons of fan-
letters and i dont expect anything in return,it was just
something i hade to do.so am i a nutcase or? :( :( :(

About that EW Hooligan filming pics again. Here, in attachment is one of them - but the big one! I like it.

...I finally understood why the face of this Charlie Hannam seems so familiar to me. I saw him before in the last british adaptation of "Nickolas Nickleby". The movie wasn't bad and the fellow did his job in it well.

----- now, you girls is free to call me a real crasyhead!!but yesterday i send a letter to elijah i just must lett him
know what a great actor he is.
wood, dear, why would I call you "crazyhead"? If you feel you need to do it than you are right that you did it. ;) :D That's all. You wouldn't get anything in return? May be... But who knows!

I had my own funny story of this kind - I mean about fan's letters. Now I'm a Formula 1 journalist, but 7 years ago I only dreamed about this career and was just a fan of F1 racing... And a fan of one of the F1 drivers. One day I also - first time in my whole life! - wrote a letter to him (he had hard times and I just wanted to support him and to say he had his fans too, who care). And I was in shock when 3 months later I found his answer letter in my post box - just a few kind words and a card with autograph, but I was so surprised and happy! Later, when I started to work in this bussiness, I met this driver in RL at the race (made an interview with him). He is really a very nice and kind fellow, I told him about that old letter story and we had a small laugh together... So everything could happen in this life.

Hello ladies.

I was just thinking of that 'Elijah Wood has only two wide-eyed expressions,' remark in that NZ newspaper article. Wood, I share your indignation. Obviously, everyone is entitled to an opinion, and we can't always expect other people to agree with us, but it still grates when I hear someone put this amazing actor's talent down. And I had promised myself not to take such things to heart!

But seeing that remark reminded me of a couple of reviews I had read on ROTK. I checked my files, and sure enough, I had saved them. I just love re-reading all the positive reviews on Elijah's portrayal of Frodo. I usually keep the reviewer's name on file, but for some reason I missed that on the first one, so now I don't know where I got it from, whether it's a critic or a fan review. Anyway, both reviews reflect exactly my own feelings for Elijah's Frodo, and I thought it would be worth us having abother look at them.

This first one seems to share the Faculty's opinion on our boy's acting ability - someone who certainly understands the meaning of subtlety.

Quote - unknown source:

And now to the heart of the story: Frodo. Elijah Wood is extraordinary, and goes places only hinted at before. His role requires a much more internal level of expression than do many of the others, and Elijah carries it off without a hitch. As he showed with FOTR and his brief but wonderful screentime in TTT, his gift is his face and his voice. It’s painful, uncomfortable to watch, even, to see this young country gentleman, once so full of life, joy and humor, reduced to crawling inch by painful inch across horrible terrain, trying desperately to resist the lure of his burden, especially with Gollum encouraging his addiction every step of the way, and sabotaging Sam’s attempts to help. Elijah’s sheer angelic beauty, so battered, so ruined and faded by the end, creates a constant, frustrated ache in the viewer. Yet he doesn’t overdo it, and that is his talent. You see everything you need to see in his eyes, in the set of his jaw, in the way his chest deflates when he despairs. Too often, we’re conditioned to think of great acting as only being that which dominates our senses, which fills our screens with larger-than-life. Indeed there are many wonderful performances, and the sheer spectacle of the film itself which bring home this kind of excellence (there simply isn’t a bad performance in the film.) What gets missed, in cursory, surface-level viewing, is the subtlety. This is what Elijah is best at. Like the tight focus on the Simblemyne flower in TTT, or the gasp which comes when Sam’s hand clutches Frodo’s wrist at the end of FOTR, the brilliance of these films is in the quieter things, including Elijah’s performance.
It takes great work to create massive battle scenes, bombast and stirring, heroic speeches, but it takes even more work to properly contrast those with things on a smaller, more intimate scale. The root of this story really is that “even the smallest person can change the course of the future,” and that is, to my great satisfaction and delight, exactly what Elijah personifies in Frodo. That a short, slender and frankly beautiful young man, barely 18 when he started, could carry these films is extraordinary. I suspect that this may go unnoticed by those in a position to properly award him for his achievement, because too many people have this bizarre idea that a “leading man” type is the only type who can be considered a true protagonist. They are blinded by the title of the film, by Aragorn’s stock hero, by the flash and crash and sheer size on display, and they overlook the person whose story this really is. Thankfully, within the film, there are several moments which remind the audience of this (one of which nearly had people rising from their seats in sheer, astonished joy) and I hope that at least some people take notice, and leave their Braveheart and Gladiator ideas of real heroes behind, and acknowledge that a real hero can indeed be small, slender of shoulder and soft-spoken, every bit as much a hero as any man twice his size.

______________________________________________

And I hope Europanya (who is most definitely 'one of us') won't mind me posting her wonderful review here. It's another one I saved.

Europanya’s review:

But nothing, nothing I had read, or heard, or seen in production photos or in trailers could have remotely prepared me for Elijah’s Frodo. Nothing I had seen in FOTR and TTT could have prepared me for the terror of watching the most angelic of hobbits fall into ruin this hard to see. I’m waxing sentimental, but I can’t tell you how amazing he is. This is a Frodo who is not a victim of his burden, but a creature wholly committed to his fate. Frodo goes through such a wide range of change in this film that every scene needs time for careful study because he is doing something sublime in every single moment. I don’t know what switch Elijah flicked deep inside himself to find this character, but he DID. From the very first scene, you know something has gone horribly, horribly wrong with Frodo. Yet, it’s a subtle change. He still looks and speaks like Frodo but something is gone, he doesn’t carry himself the same way, his eyes are somehow brighter, yet darker, something is rotting deep within that we all know can never come back. I’m so glad I’ve met the lad in the flesh to know that he survived this role, because honestly, it chilled me to the bones. Elijah, confess, you were kidnapped from the real Middle-earth sometime in 1998 and told to pretend to be this actor guy from LA, right? Because I can’t believe any other explanation is valid. I worship you.
______________________________________________

And then there is dear Sir Ian McKellen, who has openly said he thinks Elijah's performance was 'beautifully judged.'

It is sad to think that Elijah himself probably has seen this NZ article, and other negative comments. But I hope too that he sees some of the wonderfully positive thoughts and reflections on his Frodo, and that he takes heart from the fact that there are many of us who have been deeply moved by his truly inspired portrayal of a much beloved character.

Hobbityme - so sad about the little girl. Here in the UK we had the tragic case of little Holly and Jessica last year. It's a cruel world we live in.

Rikka - thanks for posting that larger pic of Elijah filming in London. I could only see the small pics on the site Moondancer gave us. Hubby and I were in London on Monday - no sign of our boy:( But it's great that he's here.:)

Before I go, for any UK Facultiers - I was browsing the TV channels, looking for possible chat-shows on which Elijah MAY - possibly - make an appearance, when I looked at 'Richard and Judy' for tonight - channel 4, 5pm. No Elijah, I'm afraid, but Viggo is listed as being a guest, so our boy may at least get a mention.

Shireling - love your avatar. I recognize the quotes in your sig - they're from that lovely German TV interview you call the 'Jane Eyre' one - the one we could only watch before. You probably know this already, and it's sitting safe on your computer as I type, but I found that one yesterday to download and SAVE, at the place we're not allowed to link to.;)

Apologies for the looooong post!

Bye.

Dear ladies, I've found one more BIG pic from London Hooligans filming. Enjoy!

(((Blossom)))...thanks so much for those beautiful reviews.
I've read the first one before but I didn't save it and I couldn't find it later. That's a glorious review!:)
I'll try and save it this time (start a "good quotes" file).
Does anybody have the quote of that New York based professor, who wrote the text book on method acting (or something like that)? He gave a fantastic comment on Elijah's top performance as Frodo. If anybody knows about acting, it should be that guy and his comment was very positive.

By the way, you can see the entire Hooligan picture series on the net somewhere. It's certainly on a well-known site you can't link to but the name of the site begins with a "b" and ends with "inn".
I love the lamppost twirling series.
Oh, and while you're visiting that site: check out the Variety article (and remember what day it is).

Off topic: Rikka, who's the F1 driver or would you rather keep his name to yourself?

OK...I don't mind that not everybody likes the same actors and actresses. Vive la différence.
But this review is just another silly one:
Where "Secret Window" seemed a sure thing, with Johnny Depp and a Stephen King storyline, "Eternal Sunshine" seemed like a hit-or-miss proposition: Jim Carrey in a serious role? Kirsten Dunst and Kate Winslet in the same film? Elijah Wood?

My one hope for this film was that it did not involve hobbits. It didn't.

It did, however, have some of the most moving imagery and performances I have seen in a long time. And, try as he might, Elijah Wood did not manage to ruin the movie. It was that good.

could go on to rephrase the countless glowing reviews of the film with statements like: "It is a moving meditation on the nature of love and loss, and the connection between memory and identity," or, "This is a visceral film. You feel this film in your heart and in your gut. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, a brilliant rendering of the vagaries of memory. Jim Carrey's performance is inspired, and hopefully signals a move away from the bland by-the-numbers comedies that, sadly, compose most of his past endeavors. And, thankfully, Elijah Wood is not in most of the movie."

I could, but I won't. I will, however, say that this is a totally kick-ass movie with awesome acting and stuff. Go see it. Now.
Source: dailyvanguard.com

Correct me if I'm wrong here but I did not see countless statements like "...and thankfully, Elijah Wood is not in most of the movie". Actually, I saw the opposite, saying that they underused Elijah Wood. Surely, I didn't imagine those positive comments. Most of the reviews I saw were positive towards him or did I manage to miss most of the bad reviews?
And what about this comment: "My one hope for this film was that it did not involve hobbits. It didn't."
How silly can that woman get?

This sort of comment is not one I would expect from a professional journalist. If you don't like him...fine, but I prefer constructive criticism. I can see bad comments on Elijah Wood if the person can back his or her opinion up with reasonable arguments.
*sighs*
*re-reads review in Blossom's post*
Everybody has a right to an opinion, I suppose but it bothers me a bit that she gets paid to publish hers.

And just for those whose blood pressure tends to get too high after reading reviews like that, let me re-post this glowing review (found it some pages ago)
But the real diamond in the rough, you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood. Beneath Patrick’s boyish countenance, Wood conjures up a whole haunting mess of adolescent insecurity and emotion, allowing his on-screen alter ego the freedom to be both sinister and heartbreaking at the same time. The full impact of Wood’s performance doesn’t sink in right away, and whether it’s ultimately the work of a skilled actor or a skilled casting director is hard to say. Those who spend time trying to figure it out, however, will miss the point; the wisest course of action is just to stop caring and appreciate it as the highly effective performance that it is.
:)

Originally posted by Moondancer
It's certainly on a well-known site you can't link to but the name of the site begins with a "b" and ends with "inn".
Moondancer,
I'm not so good in riddles in foreign language... :) May I ask you so send me this site link on PM?

Originally posted by Moondancer
Off topic: Rikka, who's the F1 driver or would you rather keep his name to yourself?
Off topic:
Moondancer, I never kept this in secret. This is Jarno Trulli. May be he's not a champ, but he's such a nice, honest, goodhearted fellow, that I'm very happy that I know him a bit.

Wow--lots of wonderful thoughts over the last day. I barely started a post yesterday afternoon but never had a chance to finish it, and have been busy since (am a bit fuzzy this morning).

Thanks for all the positive reviews that were shared--I have to agree with the one that said the subtleties of Elijah's Frodo, and of the LotR movies as a whole, will be more appreciated in the future after people have had time to study them. And, yes, people have a right to their own opinions, but if they're gong to state them in public they should be able to back them up. I'd like to ask the reviewer Moondancer quoted, "Could you give us an example of just how Elijah tried to ruin the movie?" :rolleyes:

---------

Alyon, I very much liked what your daughter said about Frodo regarding Plato's cave, although I have to admit I never "got into" Plato much, even when studying him. I always got hung up on his idea that the things we see are only shadows of the "Real" thing--such as a tree being only an image of "Tree". IMVVVHO, a tree's pretty real. But that's all philosophical stuff that I probably don't understand, anyway. but I think what your daughter said about Frodo is very insightful. Tolkien said that Frodo is "a hobbit who's been broken down and made into something completely different." By the end of the story, that "something completely different" is still only being hinted at, and Frodo doesn't understand it himself, but I think it's very, very real.

----------

wood--no "crazyhead" label from me :p ! In a composition class I took in high school (with a very creative teacher :) ), one of our assignments was to write a letter to a famous person. If we received a reply before the end of the term, we got an automatic "A" (highest grade) on the assignment. Most people wrote to big movie or music stars. But I asked myself, "Who would be a truly nice person who would be likely to write me back?" (I didn't care too much for the big movie and music stars, anyway ;) ). So I wrote to Charles Schultz (the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip--Charlie Brown et al.). Guess who was the first person in the class to get a response :p ? And it wasn't just a form letter, or one that he sent a copy of to everyone who wrote him; I'd asked a couple of very specific questions, one about the characters in the strip and one about marketing, and he answered them both. So I know it was, indeed, a personal letter. I still have his letter, and now that he's died it's even more of a treasure.

So you never know... you could very well get a reply from Elijah. I'd imagine that with as much as he travels, his mail situation gets very complicated and it might take him awhile to receive letters, but give it some time... :)

[And speaking of receiving mail--I'm afraid there are several people I owe PMs :o -- I promise I will be caught up soon :o !]

The website that had the Hooligans/Yanks pix yesterday (the shiner and the lamp post) now has a set showing Elijah on the football pitch ("soccer field," to us US fans:p ) practicing a few soccer moves such as juggling.

Hmmm. Don't quit your day job, Elijah.:D

Blossom -- *sigh*. Thank you thank you for posting those beautiful reviews. I think I'll just ... wallow...

Originally posted by Flourish
Hmmm. Don't quit your day job, Elijah.:D
LOL! I certainly hope he won't! :p

Originally posted by Flourish
The website that had the Hooligans/Yanks pix yesterday (the shiner and the lamp post) now has a set showing Elijah on the football pitch ("soccer field," to us US fans:p ) practicing a few soccer moves such as juggling.


Thanks, Flourish.
Had a look and found bigger pictures topfoto.co.uk

Good pictures that (talking about football...yesterday, our Belgian team got humiliated a bit by our German neighbours...*sob* and die Mannschaft wasn't even good and we were sooo bad).

mariole and flourish i agree with you!!! ihope he never stops his day job!!
:D :D

but its looks like he is having a real god time!!:D

As I dared venture into the Harem to leave this, as a public service, so do I here...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2234730447&category=4045

You never know, someone might want to bid...;)

Alyon, I loved your daughter’s observation regarding “Plato’s cave” and Frodo. I’m currently reading “Tolkien and the Great War” and I ran across this wonderful snippet, a quote from Verlyn Flieger in A Question of Time: Tolkien’s Road to Faerie. She’s talking about the seeming paradox of using a heroic romance, with fairy tale aspects to mirror a world war. She is speaking of "The Sea Bell" (a poem subtitled "Frodo's Dreme" IIRC) when she says:

Beneath the surface, however, [Tolkien’s] words suggest a deep but unmanifest connection between these apparently unlike things…Both are set beyond the reach of ordinary human experinece. Both are equally indifferent to the needs of ordinary humanity. Both can change those who return so that they become ‘pinned in a kind of ghostly deathlessness’, not just unable to say where they have been but unable to communicate to those who have not been there what they have seen or experienced. Perhaps worst of all, both war and Faeire can change out of all recognition the wanderer’s perception of the world to which he returns, so that never again can it be what it once was.

Emphasis mine.
________________

Blossom and every one else who has posted those marvelous reviews, Thank you! I’m copying them all to a file. So far I have 14 pages worth! Perhaps it mostly serves to reassure me that this very, very talented actor will be around for a long time barring all ill-fortune!

((((Faculty)))):k I'm so glad you're all here to appreciate this lovely young man with! So glad to find a place where this pass-time of mine is understood.

Honey!

PS I just went to the "site that dare not speak it's name" and looked at that Variety article. I'm laughing, but still, isn't a bit mean spirited!?! Yikes!

Some posts ago, I asked if somebody had the quote from the professor who wrote the textbook on method acting.
Well, I remember asking the same question before :rolleyes: and getting a reply from Blossom - only, I didn't copy and save her answer. Using the search tool, I found her reply:

A journalist confronted Elijah Wood with the professor's words in an interview:
Originally posted by Blossom in another thread
From sunspot.net, in an article on Elijah by Michael Scagrow - Sun Movie Critic. Published December 23rd 2003:

The Holy Cross College theater and film professor Steve Vineberg, who wrote the groundbreaking book Method Actors, puts Wood's accomplishment right up there with McKellen's. As Vineberg said in a recent interview, "Elijah 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."
Quote that statement back to Wood and he comes up with an unselfconscious "Wow."

From the same article:

Despite the saga's sprawling expanse, the work for the actors was detailed "scene by scene. We focused on the ambiguity of what Frodo was experiencing at every moment and played with his sense of self and loss of self, especially when we reached the end. At what point does he make the decision to keep the Ring? What's in his head when he's running after Gollum?"

I suggest that Wood gives a modern-day silent performance. "It's not dissimilar to silent-film acting," he agrees, "when performers were called upon to affect an audience without words. With Frodo, it's all about the expressions on his face. In II and especially III, it's about trying to convey what's happening internally when saying very little."
Now, I remember reading the original interview with Vineberg and he says more about Elijah's performance.
I'm paraphrasing here, but the professor talked about the diffculty of having to play Frodo. Elijah had to portray the inner turmoil and struggle of Frodo without going overboard with it like many actors tend to do. It's a difficult balancing act and Elijah nails it.

wow,wow!!!:D :D :D

i love reading the hole thing and what elijah ansewerd to it,
were can i find this interwie? please tell me!!!:k :k

in another forum they are diskussing the fellowships tatoos
orlando is showing his in pirates and elijah showed his on
the jay leno show.anybody saw it? i for sure misst it:eek: :eek:

Not much to add to everyone's wonderful offerings, except to pick up on honey's quote and say that Verlyn Flieger is my favorite "professional Tolkien person." IMHO, she gets to the heart of what Tolkien is saying. Both of her books, A Question of Time and Splintered Light, are wonderful, and I hang onto a photocopy of an article she wrote for Mythlore well over 10 years ago, because it's still the best discussion I've ever read about the presence (or lack of) a Christ figure in LotR. -- I was surprised to see recently (in one of his letters) that Tolkien considered the Sea-bell to be one of his less successful poems. IMHO, it's powerful and heartbreaking. Maybe what he was trying to say was so difficult to express that he didn't feel he reached it?

--BTW, that quote (and the Plato's cave discussion) fits perfectly with what's being shared in The Official RotK Discussion Thread right now, for anyone who wants to jump over there for more on "going home" and "going back". :) : http://www.khazaddum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=216592#post216592

---------

wood--it wasn't on this year's appearance on Leno that Elijah showed his tatoo. It was last year I think, or might have been even earlier.

Shireling - love your avatar. I recognize the quotes in your sig - they're from that lovely German TV interview you call the 'Jane Eyre' one - the one we could only watch before. You probably know this already, and it's sitting safe on your computer as I type, but I found that one yesterday to download and SAVE, at the place we're not allowed to link to

No Blossom, I hadn't seen it and I can't thank you enough for pointing it out - I was looking at the vids listed there only recently & I'm sure it wasn't there then so perhaps its just been added. I also discovered a couple of others I hadn't seen before. But 'Jane Eyre' is a particularly sweet interview - and there's one part that always makes me smile. The interviewer starts her sentence with "When you grow up ..." Elijah's face is completely inscrutable at that point but he must have been a little worried until it became apparent that she really meant "When you were growing up"!

While reading those two wonderful reviews you posted, the one by the unknown author & the one by Europanya, I was left with a longing for Elijah to be able to read these, as I always am when I read the many eloquent posts here. And I have a question for the Faculty - this may or may not have been discussed before - but if it was possible to tell Elijah about the site and urge him to read some of the wonderful posts - would you want to? I'd really like to know how people would feel about that:)

Thanks for all the wonderful expounding and expansion on the Plato's Cave theme. I need a question answered, I know the Faculty is up to it. I have to be out of town for almost two weeks and won't have access to your wonderful company. :(

However will I catch up when I get back?

((((Faculty))))

sherling;i was thinking the same thing,when i was writing the letter to Elijah i almost did then i dident becuse i dident
know what you would think about it!!??:) :)

But wouldent it be a blast to tell Elijah about us so he could
read what we realy think about him and his acting and
all the rewiers which hade been posted in here he maybe never
have read them it would be wonderful to show them to him,
dont you think?

i would love to do so!! count me in if it should happend!!!
:D :D :k :k

Remember that article by a certain Denis Dutton, who wrote a dismissive article about the LOTR under the title "Spectacular it may be but LOTR lacks lasting value"?

In the same newspaper (NZ Herald), there's now a reply from a woman, telling the snobs to "get over it".:D
Here's the link (I refuse to link to the article of that Dutton fellow):
Cinema snobs had better get over it (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3558606&thesection=news&thesubsection=dialogue)
Now, I'm not entirely happy with her comments. I certainly don't agree with everything she writes but I do agree with the GET OVER IT bit of her article.

I read the article in the link you posted, Moondancer. I agree with the lady's general point is good , but nevertheless her actual opinions about matters related to LotR seem more focused on perceived flaws and "stretched" symbolism than praise. I got as far as.....Okay, so Elijah Wood can't act and the LOTR women are boring..... and then I quit, thinking along the lines of the well-known proverb: "With friends like that, who needs enemies?" :rolleyes:

Nothing to do with you, of course, Moondancer! I very much enjoy the interesting links you provide! :)

From Shireling
if it was possible to tell Elijah about the site and urge him to read some of the wonderful posts - would you want to? My plain answer: No. I would stop posting here if I thought he read the thread. However I feel pretty sure that he doesn't, and hasn't, and won't.

:::: snip :::: (Pssssst...Is that what you meant? :) )

:::: crawling out of base 36 conversion black hole like Frodo crawled up Mt. Doom... :::::

("There's nothing between me and Base 36 Math! I can see it with my waking eyes!")

::::: moaaaaannnnn... grooooaaaaaaannnn.... angst.... ::::

...but nevertheless her actual opinions about matters related to LotR seem more focused on perceived flaws and "stretched" symbolism than praise. I got as far as......... and then I quit, thinking along the lines of the well-known proverb: "With friends like that, who needs enemies?" :rolleyes:


Again, I've been down in that blasted Base 36 black hole the past week, so I've missed a lot of what's going on. Was this the article that said that the whole thing was over the top and over-acted? If it was, surprise - that's how the book is, and I thought it was a very good representation of the rampaging emotions of war. PJ nailed the tone of the books perfectly, IMGLO. All of the actors are capable of subtle performances, but Pellenor Fields and the Bridge of Khazaddum weren't the time for subtlety, for pity's sake! Sam was about as subtle a character as an oliphaunt, and Gollum - though possibly the most complex character in the series, he was just a *mess* of conflicting emotions!

If anyone got to give a subtle performance, it was Elijah, and even that was layered - a top level of tears, temper, terror, determination, weariness, screaming - all noisy and overt emotions that he had to express. But underneath that, he had to do a whole other layer of acting - the quiet internal destruction by the Ring and its tremendous weight on his body and soul. It's like chronic physical pain - it's so often misunderstood because unlike a skin rash, you can't *see* pain. You can only see the effects of the pain, if they even show.

A kid barely out of adolescence portrayed those layers of emotion and feeling so well that it pulled me into Frodo's experience completely. Even now, all I have to do is start going through the final scenes in my head, and I'm headed right for the Kleenex.

The kid's amazing, and that's a pathetically mild word for it.


My plain answer: No. I would stop posting here if I thought he read the thread. However I feel pretty sure that he doesn't, and hasn't, and won't. [/B]

:eek: :eek: Run away! Run away!!! AAAAGH! No! Please! Anything but that! It would be the most uncomfortable thing in the world to think that he reads this stuff. I think it's a *really* bad idea for actors and/or celebrities to read online stuff. We need places where we can post within the limits of behavior for a forum, without feeling like we must self-edit because The Star might be watching.

I could see Elijah the Kid goofing around with friends and having a good laugh over what's out here, but I can't see him wasting time reading the stuff from day to day. I'd much rather have him reading scripts and picking really good movies to be in. From what we've read (from Sean Astin and others), he's pretty centered and has good confidence in his own abilities - he doesn't need validation from the fans other than the obvious - like purchase of movie tickets. Part of acting is being able to go on without being crushed by bad reviews, because there's *always* someone who's not going to like what he does. Personally, I don't see how actors do it - one mean review and I'd be crushed.

Didn't Liv Tyler talk about making the mistake of going online during the filming? There was a lot of negative stuff about Arwen being so aggressive, and apparently she was really upset and cried. I hope she knows better now!

I'm not worried about the effects of negative reviews on Elijah. The Lad only has to look at the box office totals for LotR for validation.

~grumpy (I was told there would be no math on this board...) ;)

Her second and third sentences did me in:
Denis Dutton, in a piece in the Herald, makes the astonishing discovery that the trilogy isn't great art.

I'm not sure that many people, apart from trainspotters and the odd overexcited New Zealand film critic overdosing on Hobbitmania, thought it was.
Hmmm... I don't think I fit either of those categories... :confused:

In response to people who don't think a movie that's popular should have received awards, she has "One word: Titanic." :eek: !! Now that hurts! :(

And later she agrees with Mr. Dutton that "of course" the LotR movies aren't as good as the one of The Wizard of Oz. I'll say one thing--the LotR movies stay closer to the book! (My earliest "purist rants" came when I was about five and had my first viewing of what the Wizard of Oz movie had done to the book I loved.)

When talking about movies as "great works of art," I'd rank LotR below Schindler's List, but it would definitely come in above The Wizard of Oz :rolleyes: (I was going to say "and Titanic," but since I haven't seen Titanic I won't make that judgment).

Another case of art imitating life (i.e., the LotR movies immitating the book ;) )? Literary snobs have been whacking at LotR for 50 years, many of them using the same assumption as a lot of the film snobs--if something's popular with the masses, it can't be any good. (Wonder if the popularity has anything to do with the fact that Tolkien thought "the masses" were important enough to make some of them characters in his books.)

I can think of two kinds of responses to both types of snobs, when they turn their noses up at LotR because it's "just a silly adventure story."

The one I prefer is to point out how they're wrong.

The one this lady seems to prefer is to shrug and say, "Your point being...?"

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

Regarding the "do we want Elijah reading our posts?" question:

I'll go with Maeg [Edit: and zkg] in saying "no" to inviting him to read the thread. Not only would it make a lot of us self-conscious, but I really can't see him being interested in our in-depth discussions of his neck muscles :rolleyes: and whether Jones's eyebrow acting is different from that of any of Elijah's other characters. It's usually better if research subjects don't sit there watching the report being written--and most of them don't want to ;) .

As far as the lovely reviews that get posted here, I'm assuming that he has as much access as he wants to virtually any review that's published in the media, either by his own initiative or through his agent.

The only thing that I'd be at all comfortable with would be if someone individually was going to send Elijah a letter of appreciation and wanted to include a few well-chosen posts (and certainly only with the permission of the author of each post). Kind of a "This is how I and some of my friends feel," sort of thing.

IMVHO, anything beyond that would just be too intrusive--on both ends.

from tgshaw
When talking about movies as "great works of art," I'd rank LotR below Schindler's List, but it would definitely come in above The Wizard of Oz (I was going to say "and Titanic," but since I haven't seen Titanic I won't make that judgment).
I never read the Oz books, but I can say I very much enjoyed the movie. I never thought of it as a great work of art. I enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed any Indiana Jones movie. I also would not consider those great art. But they are darned fun and great entertainment!

As for Titanic, the historical part is interesting, so that appeals. The heroes splashing about in this freezing water that would have killed them within two minutes blew my sustained suspension of disbelief, so it was hard for me to enjoy the movie (inasmuch as anyone can "enjoy" a disaster of this sort). I actually appreciated it more after I saw the "making of" show, because then I learned that all sorts of minor characters (like the cook on the back of the ship) were real survivors who had been interviewed, and Cameron wanted to sneak in their stories. That was very interesting! But the movie was just a little too silly for me to fall in love with it.

I suppose Schindler's List must be considered art, because it was so hideous and painful to watch. I only managed to watch it once. I have no intention of repeating the experience. Does that make it a great work of art? To me, that's like people seeing the statue of David, averting their eyes, shrinking away, and saying, "Thank heavens I got that over with." I mean, isn't art something that's also supposed to be enjoyed? Something that we can come back to and continue to find inspiration and meaning from?

Of all of this (fairly random, I understand ;) ) list, I think PJ's movies do a fair job of trying to combine real emotion with entertainment. I don't think he succeeded on all levels. I do think that the overall effort was amazing, and will stand the test of time, much as the Wizard of Oz did and will (with all due respect for its variations from the book). And a wish (that will never be fulfilled, but I can hope :p ) is that all critics everywhere will get over themselves and realize that life is more than pomposity and self-consciousness. Let your hair down. Sit in the grass. Get your feet dirty and not mind it. Hey, this is life!

okej you girls have a point, there if we should let Elijah
read our post, maybe it wasent that good ide,i just fought
i would have been fun!!:( :(

i am cure he must have better things to do.

and ofcurse he maybe think we a pretty silly as you sade
discussin neckmucels ,eyebrown acting and sheekboons
and so on.now the more i think about it it was not a very good ide
as i first thought sorry sherling!!

it would be a tradgidy if everybody stops posting in here
i hope you never do that
:eek: :eek: :eek:

love you all, in this subject you are my only friends
and i hate losing you!!:( :( :(

You can find them on rexfeatures.com (http://www.rexfeatures.com/cgi-bin/r2show0?k=elijah)
No doubt we will be able to see a bigger version somewhere else rather soon.
Edit: Yep, the bigger version of the pictures can be viewed in the site we shall not link to ;) you know the one...name ends with "inn"

I agree with grumpy and tgshaw about not pointing Elijah's attention to this thread.
Not just because it makes us a bit conscious about what we write but also we would have to ask permission of the Frodo's harem thread because if he finds the Faculty, he will also go to the harem.

I hate the fact that some people refer to movies like Casablanca and conclude that the movie industry is worse off today.
Sure, a lot of crap is made today and yes, it probably has gotten a lot more commercial.
But, in those Casablanca days, they made a lot of lousy movies too. We just don't get to see them. All we see of those days is the classics and the crap ones are gathering dust somewhere or are already thrown out.
These days, a lot of good movies are made too - all around the world - and only a fraction of those movies end up on the big screen.

I don't understand the prejudice against special effects.
Yes, sometimes...less is more. One of my all time favourite movies is Rear Window (with the fantastic James Stewart). That's a strong story. Almost all the time, you get to see only one room and the little courtyard with the opposing appartments but it's a fantastic story.
Now, to me...that's art.
But, special effects can enhance a magnificent story.

Wood - here is the Michael Scagrow article that Moondancer quoted from. I just happened to have it saved. Sorry I can't help with the original Steve Vinerberg interview, Moondancer.
_________________________________________
NEW YORK - Thirty-five years ago, the graffito "Frodo Lives!" was as ubiquitous on college campuses as "Kilroy was here!" used to be on Army bases. Today, Elijah Wood has made "Frodo Lives!" for new generations of J.R.R. Tolkien fans - and he's done it without minimizing the character's heroic complexity.

In a Manhattan hotel room a week ago, he eloquently dismissed the too-hip-to-live rap against The Lord of the Rings trilogy - the one that calls it a spectacle of epic simplicity about pure good vs. impure evil. "All the characters in Tolkien's novels doubt themselves or wrestle with demons all the time," he told me. "That's the human element in the books and movies, and that's what makes them connect with audiences and readers."

Contrary to their leprechaunish reputation, it isn't easy being a halfling when the weight of your known universe bears down on your furry feet. It's even harder to act Frodo, especially in the trilogy's final chapter, The Return of the King, when the nonstop presence of the Ruling Ring and Frodo's prolonged quest to destroy it have begun to shred his own personality. The Ring promises omnipotence and gradually strips its Ring-bearer of human emotions. Yet Wood found the challenge of acting that mutation elating. "What was so exciting about the project was going through that internal journey - playing a character who starts out in an innocent place, and taking him to a very dark place where he almost shatters."

A few minutes later, Wood adds: "If you understand the human condition, if you understand where a character is coming from and where he's going, and try to embody that as best as you can, you just grab hold of that burden and make it come to life."

What makes the climax of The Return of the King as moving as it is turbulent is the amalgam of figures from various races and species fighting for survival with honor, often out of friendship. Actors of several nationalities and styles echoed this fraternity when they united to form the trilogy's Fellowship of the Ring. Wood uses as an example Ian McKellen, the British stage legend who plays the wizard Gandalf: "For years and years and years he's been esteemed for doing wonderful things in the theater. But he didn't embody Gandalf from an overly stage presence or perspective - that might have alienated him from the rest of the movie process. Of course, Ian has his own way of inhabiting a character. There'd be days when I'd be working with him and I'd be pinching myself, because I felt I was sitting next to Gandalf."

The Holy Cross College theater and film professor Steve Vineberg, who wrote the groundbreaking book Method Actors, puts Wood's accomplishment right up there with McKellen's. As Vineberg said in a recent interview, "Elijah 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."

The focal point

Quote that statement back to Wood and he comes up with an unselfconscious "Wow." Not yet 23 (his birthday comes in January), Wood has been the focal point of the most popular and acclaimed trilogy in movie history - what the Godfather and Star Wars movies might have been if each Part III hadn't proved a letdown. But he looks back on a three-part movie that took him from age 18, when production began, to 22, when he did his last "pick-up shot," as profound, exhilarating fun. "Part of it was being in New Zealand," he says. "Part of it was the friends all of the actors made. We were called upon to give so much of ourselves that it was a very growing, maturing experience."

Unlike Frodo, who battles with his own possessiveness over the Ring, Wood seems both worldly and unspoiled. During a photo shoot he banters merrily with a hair-fluffer and a publicist about more obscure movies in his portfolio, like that 1992 attempt to make an uplifting film about child abuse, Radio Flyer, and the 1996 big-screen Flipper ("Hey, I got to swim with dolphins for weeks!"). When he talks about The Lord of the Rings, his conviction is complete.

Wood is alight with pride for embodying a pint-sized protagonist who goes from green naivete to moral shades of gray. Still, as soon as Wood senses himself giving into hubris about playing "the spiritual guy" amid more battle-oriented hobbits, elves, men and dwarves, he corrects himself. "None of us is playing an archetype or cliche. We're all playing characters who are flawed. That's what's fascinating about Viggo Mortensen's character. Yes, Aragorn is a warrior; yes he's strong and heroic. But he's reluctant to be the king he knows he has to be, and it's because of his fear of his weakness as a man."

When production commenced on the trilogy, director Peter Jackson tried shooting as much material as possible from the first movie, The Fellowship of the Ring, partly to set the momentum for the saga and allow the actors to get a fix on their characters. But fallback plans in case of inclement weather included filming material from The Return of the King. Wood was initially terrified, because he had no time to prepare for the ultimate in existential woes - Frodo's feeling that he's disappearing from himself. As the filming went on, though, he found himself looking forward to the days when he'd jump from The Fellowship of the Rings or The Two Towers to The Return of the King.

"We did have to map out exactly where Frodo was in his downward spiral. But that challenge also made these scenes the most enjoyable to do," he says.

'A total surprise'

Wood loves the way Jackson began The Return of the King by flashing back to the duplicitous Gollum first getting his hands on the Ring. Even for Wood, "it was a total surprise. I didn't know it was going to open that way. It's wonderful because you see where Gollum came from and you also see what the Ring is capable of doing. The Ring transformed him from a hobbit into Gollum, and that informs the relationship he has with Frodo."

Jackson and Wood took special care during "the Ring moments" when Frodo grabs the Ring and puts it on; he feels the eye of the evil Sauron studying him and his body shudders and eyes cloud. "Apart from the difficulty of making the spiritual effects of the ring physically manifest," Wood says, "we had to be certain that these moments wouldn't be repetitive and wouldn't get old for the audience."

Despite the saga's sprawling expanse, the work for the actors was detailed "scene by scene. We focused on the ambiguity of what Frodo was experiencing at every moment and played with his sense of self and loss of self, especially when we reached the end. At what point does he make the decision to keep the Ring? What's in his head when he's running after Gollum?"

I suggest that Wood gives a modern-day silent performance. "It's not dissimilar to silent-film acting," he agrees, "when performers were called upon to affect an audience without words. With Frodo, it's all about the expressions on his face. In II and especially III, it's about trying to convey what's happening internally when saying very little."

When Frodo's servant and protector Sam holds his hand out to save Frodo from falling into a lava river, the act mirrors in a heart-swelling way the instant at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring when Frodo rescues Sam from drowning. It's a grand and moving illustration of the notion that what you give of yourself in friendship ultimately strengthens yourself.

continued...

Double-post to include entire article. (Hope that's OK)

continued:
From the start, Wood and Sean Astin intended to explore every angle of Frodo's bond with Astin's loyal, scrappy hobbit Sam. "Frodo early on is stronger in the sense that he's a little wiser than Sam, a little more focused, and he's constantly pushing Sam on and helping him. But when Frodo can't carry on himself any more, Sam becomes stronger - he picks Frodo up, literally. That whole change is beautiful and speaks volumes about their friendship."

When the series debuted in theaters two years ago, the first blast of publicity included Brian Sibley's companion book The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, which contained a series of testimonials to Wood from his co-stars. I asked Wood if he'd care to respond to them.

For example, Ian Holm, who plays Frodo's Uncle Bilbo, went into dithyrambs over Wood's "remarkable, God-given eyes!" Both flattered and unembarrassed, Wood responds, "As an actor, eyes are always your greatest tool, because it's through the eyes that you carry all your emotion. It happens that my eyes are larger than most, and I guess that helps - because I've been told - but it's not something I can be conscious of when I'm working on a scene."

Sean Astin said that Wood became "more like a brother than a fellow actor" and that he "might not have survived the journey had this young prince of an actor not taken me under his wing." But Wood declares, "He helped me as much as apparently I helped him - we relied on each other, and we spent so much time together we definitely embodied the relationship of Frodo and Sam. It transcended friendship; it was more like family."

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."

One of Wood's favorite scenes featured only hobbits; Jackson conceived it after the script was written and shot it after wrapping up the action. This vignette depicts Sam and Frodo and their fellow veterans of the quest, Merry and Pippin, exchanging glances of comradely understanding during a night of merriment at their favorite pub.

It reminded me of the astronauts at the end of The Right Stuff silently affirming their bond while LBJ fetes them at a mammoth indoor barbecue. To Wood, though, it was more like "Vietnam veterans returning after the war, and realizing that no one else in their town really knew what they had gone through." Gandalf the wizard could not have put it better.

Originally posted by Mariole
I suppose Schindler's List must be considered art, because it was so hideous and painful to watch. I only managed to watch it once. I have no intention of repeating the experience. Does that make it a great work of art? To me, that's like people seeing the statue of David, averting their eyes, shrinking away, and saying, "Thank heavens I got that over with." I mean, isn't art something that's also supposed to be enjoyed? Something that we can come back to and continue to find inspiration and meaning from?
Well, different reactions are healthy, right? (((Mariole))) I saw Schindler's List three times in the theater and again on TV and am happy it's come out on DVD although I can't afford to buy it right now. It is painful to watch, but I guess that in the midst of the horror I did find some inspiration and meaning in seeing that even if one person can't change the world, one person can do something--even if that one person is far from perfect (I am, too, if not in the same way). Not everyone averts their eyes from the statue of David, but hopefully those who do, find beauty in many other things...

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

I did a bit of a search for Steve Vineberg. I found his faculty page (geesh, there are a lot of Holy Cross Colleges out there--his is in Massachusetts), and a number of reviews he's written for a few publications, including Salon, but no interviews and nothing on LotR or Elijah. I'm wondering if the interview mentioned is something the reporter himself did as part of his research?

Thanks Blossom
for the lovely interwie it was interasting!!!!

lovely pics of mr.beutiful in action thanks moondancer!
i hope he never quites doing this!!

not many posts yesterday misst you all!!!:( :(
not stot posting ihope,ist holliday i know!
see you to night on the board i hope!!!
have a nice sunday girls!!!
:k :k :k

Edit after writing the following rave: Much of this will be old stuff to anyone who's been following the movies, but it doesn't hurt to be reminded once in awhile of a few of the reasons they're so great--Right? :p

Originally posted by Moondancer
But, in those Casablanca days, they made a lot of lousy movies too. We just don't get to see them. All we see of those days is the classics and the crap ones are gathering dust somewhere or are already thrown out.
Exactly! True classic movies stand the test of time, just as classic books do. Casablanca's been around for 60 years. How many other movies from 1943 are still well-known and regularly watched?

Fifty years seems to be the amount of time usually set before something's "officially" considered a classic. LotR (the book) will reach that point next year, with the 50th anniversary of the publication of RotK (yes, "will"--I don't think there's much question it'll make it, and would have even without the movies, although its sales would have been somewhat lower ;) ).

I don't expect to be around 50 years from now, but I don't have much question that PJ's LotR movies will be--and still well-known and actively watched (and Elijah, as he said, will hopefully be watching them with his grandchildren :) ). Mystic River?--I'm not so sure, but that's not because it lacks special effects!

I don't understand the prejudice against special effects.
Yes, sometimes...less is more. One of my all time favourite movies is Rear Window (with the fantastic James Stewart). That's a strong story. Almost all the time, you get to see only one room and the little courtyard with the opposing appartments but it's a fantastic story.
Now, to me...that's art.

IMHO, some of the prejudice is simple human protection of territory. Something new moving in is always seen as a threat by those who are already there. And often with good cause! Some silent movie actors went by the wayside when talkies came in, because they looked great on screen but couldn't deliver lines. Special effects is a bit different from that, because wonderful movies can be made without them--and people who make wonderful movies that don't call for special effects don't have to feel threatened by ones that do (IMHO). IMVVVHO, it reflects less on RotK than it does on MR that the folks connected with the latter felt they had to stomp their feet and say, "Not fair! Not fair! He got to use special effects!"

Although, as has been mentioned before, it's hard to draw the line between "special effects" and "regular effects." Is lighting a special effect? Or makeup? Or cinematography or even editing--sometimes a camera angle (as we know! :) ) or the way one scene cuts to another can make a big difference. So almost every movie uses some kind of special effects--it's just a matter of degree. Speaking of Rear Window--a lot fewer people are familiar with Hitchcock's Rope. It was built on an interesting special effects gimmick, but it didn't become a well-known classic like so many of his movies--maybe because its story and characters weren't as good? (Still speaking of Rear Window, I think Grace Kelly's wardrobe deserves to be called a "special effect" :p .) Good heavens! Is this getting completely off-topic? :eek: Quick!! Mention the Wig! :p

IMHO, the moviemakers who really had cause to be threatened by PJ's use of special effects were the ones who do make a lot of use of them. It wasn't mentioned so much after TTT and RotK (because the ground had already been broken), but after FotR was released, there was a lot of discussion of how it had "raised the bar" on special effects. It set the standard and said, "Okay, this is how the game's going to be played." Moviemakers who said certain things were impossible to do were suddenly looking at them being done on the screen by this... what's that name again? Weta? ;) And, most of all, they had to face the fact that the movie-going public was seeing the same things they were, and they could no longer tell viewers, "Gee, it'd be nice, but it can't be done." The American Film Institute put FotR on its list of the top ten movies that have changed the entire movie-making industry--because it raised the bar so far above anything that had ever been done before. (Of course, a lot of other things about the movie were great, too, but it was the special effects that were truly groundbreaking for the entire industry.)

And it wasn't just digital effects that had their bar raised. Even something as non-technical as forced perspective was taken to a new level. It had been held as a truism that it was impossible to use forced perspective if the camera was in motion. Guess what--they found a way to do it. Instead of saying, "It can't be done," they invented a new kind of camera platform so that it could be done. When you watch the scene of Frodo sitting side-by-side with Gandalf as Gandalf's cart heads into Hobbiton, you're seeing the very first use of it--one of the most amazing (to special effects experts) special effects in the entire movie.

And when we're talking about size effects, we not only have to think about forced perspective and blue screens and scale doubles--we have to think about the clothes those scale doubles are wearing, which the costume designers made so carefully that even the size of the weave in the fabric and the length of the stitches are in proportion to the person who's going to be wearing them--so that a glimpse of Kieran's green cloak will look exactly the same as a glimpse of Elijah's green cloak, instead of looking as if the weave is too loose to be the same garment. Is that a special effect? How about Gandalf's teeny mug at the Party (I love that :D ) ? Or the Ring of Barahir that Viggo's scale double is wearing when he has his hand on Elijah's shoulder on Caradhras? :o I'd better stop--this could go on for a long time :o !

The point being, I guess, that it's sometimes hard to say what's a special effect and what isn't. A smaller weave in a fabric is as much an illusion as a blue screen... isn't it? How about Elijah using "muscle memory" to leave just the right amount of space between him and the ground as he's tumbling downhill so that Gollum can be digitally inserted later? In a great movie, everything works together, including the acting and the digital effects.

But, special effects can enhance a magnificent story.
And, IMO, that's the real point. And, IMHO, it's one of the very strongest points of the LotR movies. As "high-tech" as the special effects can be, they don't take over the story--they help tell it. Given Tolkien's imagination, it would be impossible to do any kind of justice to it in a live action movie without the use of some extraordinary special effects. But, as in the book, you don't want, say, the epic size of the battles, or the appearance of strange beasts, or an exploding volcano, to overpower the very human story that's at the center. I have to say there are a few times during the 10-or-so hours (counting the EEs) when I feel PJ's a little too much like a kid with a bag of tricks, and the special effects "take over" a scene more than I wish they would. But those are small lapses, when you look at the entire achievement.

Originally posted by tgshaw
I think Grace Kelly's wardrobe deserves to be called a "special effect" .) Good heavens! Is this getting completely off-topic? Quick!! Mention the Wig!
:D
Well, Grace Kelly was a beautiful woman but I must say that Rear Window is a favourite of mine because of James Stewart. The whole story evolved around his character.
I was so thrilled to find out he's one of Elijah Wood's favourite actors. :)
That was also a man who could tell a story with his face and the actor evokes a similar feeling with me. Remember Ian's words about Elijah: "Unalloyed goodness is one of the most difficult attributes to act"? Well, I think it applied to James Stewart as well and it's very rare IMHO.
I'm not crazy about Stewart's Western movies but that's just because I don't like that genre.
Mister Smith goes to Hollywood is also a favourite of mine.
Edit...erm...did I just write Hollywood? *hangs head in shame* I mean Washington.

it's one of the very strongest points of the LotR movies. As "high-tech" as the special effects can be, they don't take over the story--they help tell it
Yes and if anybody thinks that LOTR is about special effects in the first place...they're just fooling themselves.
Each of the three movies was appr. 3 hours long. You can't hold the public's attention based on special effects and a weak story.
No, at the core is a very strong story with various dimentions. You just have to be willing to look for them.

With a bit of luck (and good health), I'll still be around in 50 years time. I'm interested in finding out how they will perceive this trilogy then.


PS A new batch of pictures (The Yank, behind the scenes) is up on the site you shall not link to, including pictures with him smoking... :( ...I wish that he would stop that nasty habit.

Originally posted by Moondancer
:D
Well, Grace Kelly was a beautiful woman...
...And in that particular movie, since her character is a "high-fashion" model, her clothes are :cool: :cool: :p !


...but I must say that Rear Window is a favourite of mine because of James Stewart. The whole story evolved around his character.
Yes--you could almost say his being confined to a wheelchair is a "plot device" to keep him out of any physical action in the story, which IMHO really ratchets up the suspense: that feeling of watching something happen and not being able to do anything about it. OTOH, he does it so well that it never seems like a plot device, if you take my meaning. Someone without his skill at "telling a story with his face," as you say, would never be able to make us feel it the way he does.

Hitchcock certainly appreciated him! Hitchcock often drew in the audience emotionally by having protagonists who were simply normal, everyday people going about their lives, who get pulled into something dangerous and sinister by no plan of their own--which makes it seem a lot closer to home. And, of course, Jimmy Stewart is the perfect actor for that--The Man Who Knew Too Much is probably the epitome, although Rear Window does somewhat the same thing. In Rope, Stewart plays a teacher who talks to his class about the "logic" needed to plan a perfect murder--never dreaming that they'll actually go out and try it! (Hitchcock does give Cary Grant the "everyman" role in North by Northwest but, well, there's quite a bit of romance in that one ;) .)

I was so thrilled to find out he's one of Elijah Wood's favourite actors. :)
Ditto, ditto!! And I can picture him in many of the same types of roles. It's absolutely time someone did a remake of Harvey, and Elijah would be a perfect Elwood P. Dowd :) ! :rolleyes: Yeah, I know I've said that before, but in case someone happens to get a few million dollars, I don't want it to be forgotten. (And as an inside joke for EJW fans, a "digitally captured" Bruce Willis as Harvey :D -- Yeah, I've said that before, too :rolleyes: )

Am I hallucinating, but didn't Elijah say at one point that his all-time favorite Jimmy Stewart movie was, in fact, Harvey?

Hmm, don't know the answer to the Harvey question, Achila, but it wouldn't surprise me!

Just wanting to ditto (as I've talked about it before) how in most of LOTR, PJ clearly uses the special effects in support of the story. Just compare his movies with the new Star Wars series. I loved the original Star Wars trilogy, but the new movies are clearly about the gimmicks. It just doesn't interest me, and I don't believe it will stand the test of time.

Now, The Wizard of Oz did. There's a movie with special effects! Remember the shocking, shocking I tell you, use of color? When Dorothy wakes in Oz and we have color?!?! Ooh, the technology! And Glinda flies in in a soap bubble, and the Wicked Witch flies -- why, that whole movie was a special effects extravaganza. Today, we find it "charming" ;) but it was cutting-edge in its day. Yet it has stood the test of time because those effects supported this fantastical story. They didn't try to tell it, or eclipse it, but enhance it.

And that is why I think the LOTR movies will endure. They're not about the effects, but about characters engaged in a gripping story. That's why these movies sparked a phenomenon, and why they will survive. My two cents!

Mister Smith goes to Hollywood
Lovely slip-up, Moondancer! :p That's one of my favorite movies, too. I adore that totally "good" Mister Smith!

Dearest Faculty friends, I hate to have to share this with you, but I need your wise words! Last night I had another of those ghastly experiences with people who have neither eyes to see nor, it seems, a heart to think with (and yes, I mean that!). I was at a small dinner party hosted by an American couple. Halfway throught the meal the hostess began talking about her one and only experience of a small speaking part in a movie, and how difficult it was to deliver her one line with the camera tracking her, the technicians all around, the lead actor waiting for her cue etc. etc. It had not been what you might call a success. The conversation turned to the general difficulties of filming out of sequence. I mentioned LOTR as a prime example of that and said how hard it must have been to film, say, the farewells at the Grey Havens when Ian McKellen had only just arrived in NZ. The next moment I heard the hostess say (more or less) this. I could hardly believe my ears:
"You know who I think is obnoxious? That guy with the big eyes -the one who played Frodo. He's been on all of these chat shows recently, just because he's suddenly become known through those movies - no-one had heard of him before. He's so full of himself. He just sat there bragging about how they had won all those Oscars. And then he talked about this other film that he's been in - some really weird thing, and he had these long sideburns ..." [wrinkled nose at this point].
When I'd picked myself up off the floor I told her that the actor concerned (his name was never mentioned) hadn't just become known, that he'd been acting in movies since he was seven or eight and had been well known long before LOTR, and not only in the States, and that I had seen some of the chat shows concerned and he had not come across that way to me at all. I also told her the new film she meant was ESOTSM, starring Jim Carrey. Her husband (seemingly not at all anti-EW) then mentioned that he had seen "the film set in the Deep South" recently and I told him that was called "The War". To which the hostess replied: "You're really sharp tonight. You must like him."

How do you tell someone who's made up her mind that she's got it totally wrong without branding yourself as a zealot? And where do you start? I was dangerously close to revealing myself as a passionate Elijah fan and losing all credibility, so I simply dropped the subject. (Also, I'd had to put that particular lady right on something else earlier on, and there are limits to the number of times you can contradict your hostess in one evening ....:rolleyes: )

You'd expect someone who's experienced the difficulties of film-making first hand to have some understanding of the magnitude of EW's achievement, wouldn't you? Or am I being totally naïve?

The odd thing is that, if anyone really is full of himself/herself, it's the speaker, not Elijah. Maybe it's one of those cases of people seeing, and hating, their own faults in others. Even when the other person doesn't actually have those faults. And the person who came off worst out of the evening's conversation was (I suspect) the hostess, who had clearly been trying to impress the other people there (one a small-scale professional stage director).

Oh - I forgot to say: a few cutting remarks were made (not just by the hostess) about the lack of Oscar nominations for the LOTR actors (remarks of the "that speaks volumes, doesn't it?" ilk). How do you even begin to explain that to people who are clueless about the whole subject?

So - was this an example of people resenting other people's success and feeling they have to knock them to make themselves feel better? Or sheer ignorance? Or both? One thing that strikes me again and again is that it's only those who know nothing whatsoever about Elijah that criticise him or his acting. And the major difficulty Frolijah has in those films - the difference between him and the rest of the cast/characters, and the reason he sometimes gets singled out for criticism - is that Frodo appears to deteriorate while every other main character (except Denethor) becomes better, grander and more heroic. An impossible role to pull off, but Elijah did it. That he managed it all despite knowing, as he must have known, that his character, and hence he himself, would be deeply misunderstood by the ill-informed, makes his achievement all the more awesome. I can't say how much I love and respect him for that.

serena

(((serena))) [although I think I'd rather smack your friend :rolleyes: ] -- A few thoughts.

My guess is that these two things are related:
Originally posted by serena
You'd expect someone who's experienced the difficulties of film-making first hand to have some understanding of the magnitude of EW's achievement, wouldn't you?...

...who had clearly been trying to impress the other people there (one a small-scale professional stage director).
I suppose some people think praising someone else's work will make them seem less impressive, although IMHO that's totally wrongheaded. As you said, it was obvious she was trying to impress people--and I'm sure it was obvious to everyone else, too, so it probably ended up doing just the opposite. Being gracious and generous regarding another actor's work (assuming she considers herself an actor?) is much more impressive--and much more professional--in my book. So I doubt if she did herself any favors. (Even actors who aren't as personally gracious and positive as Elijah is, if they're true professionals, rarely if ever openly insult the work of another actor in public.)

Oh - I forgot to say: a few cutting remarks were made (not just by the hostess) about the lack of Oscar nominations for the LOTR actors (remarks of the "that speaks volumes, doesn't it?" ilk). How do you even begin to explain that to people who are clueless about the whole subject?
IMO, the real response to that is the ensemble awards the cast received. The National Review Board, perhaps, isn't as well known, but the Screen Actors' Guild is hardly small potatoes when it comes to awards specifically for acting. As far as I know, those are the two most-respected awards that have a category for best acting by an ensemble, and the cast of RotK was not only nominated, but won them both. Now, that speaks volumes!! As Joel Seigel (ABC network movie critic) said the morning after the Oscars--The fact that there were no acting nominations for RotK wasn't the fault of the actors: it was the fault of the Academy for not having an ensemble acting category.

I don't know if these are people who consider themselves "better than the masses"--if so, they're probably going to be more likely to run something down simply because it's popular, and I don't know if there's much that can be done about that. But, good heavens, if that's how they feel, they should respect a "Kaufman film"!

So - was this an example of people resenting other people's success and feeling they have to knock them to make themselves feel better? Or sheer ignorance? Or both? One thing that strikes me again and again is that it's only those who know nothing whatsoever about Elijah that criticise him or his acting.
It's probably both. And if they consider themselves knowledgeable about film, they are somewhat ignorant if they're not aware of, say, the SAG award.

And if they know nothing about Elijah, they could be among the people who don't realize he was acting when he was playing Frodo. As we've said many times, he makes it look so natural that unless you see him in different roles you might not realize what an incredible job he does. (But, IMHO, if you just watch the journey he takes Frodo through during the three movies, you don't even need to see him play any other roles!)

And the major difficulty Frolijah has in those films - the difference between him and the rest of the cast/characters, and the reason he sometimes gets singled out for criticism - is that Frodo appears to deteriorate while every other main character (except Denethor) becomes better, grander and more heroic. An impossible role to pull off, but Elijah did it. That he managed it all despite knowing, as he must have known, that his character, and hence he himself, would be deeply misunderstood by the ill-informed, makes his achievement all the more awesome. I can't say how much I love and respect him for that.
Yes... and that's something that's hard to do anything about, I'm afraid. Frodo's been a victim of it for 50 years and, as you say, Elijah ends up carrying some of the same misunderstanding. It was an extremely courageous role for him to take on, for a number of reasons--realizing that many people are going to misunderstand the character if he plays the role the way it should be played being a major one.

Whatever Elijah does, or whatever his fans say, not everyone's going to like/admire/appreciate/understand him and his acting. If it's any consolation, the people who make a difference--the people who aren't ill-informed, ignorant, and clueless--do seem to be "getting it." He's getting enough job offers that he can pick movies he really wants to do, which IMHO is absolutely the best thing that could happen for him. Of course, the fact that he likes to do "little" movies, and ones that take some thought to understand, might not make him a household name overnight, but somehow I don't think that's too important to him. So, a few years from now, when these people are gushing over this "new actor" they've discovered, you can politely remind them... ;)

...(Also, I'd had to put that particular lady right on something else earlier on, and there are limits to the number of times you can contradict your hostess in one evening ....:rolleyes: )
I moved this to the end, since it kind of sums things up. There's only so much you can do in front of other guests without making it seem as if you're the unreasonable one (although we all know better than that :) ). I don't know if you're close enough friends that you spend time privately with her, but that would probably be a better setting. Or, my sneakier side says, you could mail her a few reviews you "just happened" to run across ;) , and you thought she might like to read them since she seemed to have an interest in the topic...

Serena, what a trying experience. The woman clearly IS uninformed about Elijah and LOTR and does seem to be carrying some kind of grudge possibly due to her own acting experience or lack thereof.

I find it so hard to understand when anyone has a hostile reaction to Elijah, who is one of the nicest, most humble people around. I can understand if they just don't get him or prefer other actors for various reasons but hostility is just uncalled for where Elijah is concerned.

At least you stood up for our boy and let everyone know about his long acting history and skill.

Hi serena,

First, let me say that you should congratulate yourself on staying so calm in the face of that -- it's truly difficult not to scream at someone when the person you admire is being slammed like that. I can totally relate -- I have had a 30 year "relationship" with a particular singer (sadly, dead now) whose very name inspires comments the likes of which you received about our Lij. So to have this happening again for me (and I've gotten it too about Elijah -- my mother insists on calling him a pipsqueak!), with another artist is quite disconcerting, to say the least.

All you can do is present what you know to be true. You have to chalk up at least half of it to ignorance. Not everyone cares enough about performers to find out about them. The fact that she thought no one had ever heard of him before is quite interesting, considering all the whoo-ha in the press over him when he was a child. My, what short memories people have. As far as him bragging about the Oscars, he never was. Proud? Yes, and justifiably so. That's honest. If he'd sat there when Leno or Conan brought up the awards and just smiled and seemed unmoved by the whole thing, who would've believed it? Gosh -- this guy can't win, can he?

Considering that your hostess didn't know the depths of your feelings for Elijah, you kind of have to wonder if that would've tempered her comments any if she had known. There are just some very insensitive people in the world, who don't appear to care who they hurt with their remarks, and this person may be one like that. As I said, I've had to endure a lifetime of this -- and now with Elijah too -- and it's not easy to deal with, but each time, it hurts a little less.

((((serena)))) -- you're here among friends who share what you feel for this special young man -- I feel sorry for those who are so jaded that they can't open their hearts to him.

A

PS -- I hope you told your hostess her cooking was terrible! lol:)

Hobmom! You're back! I'm so glad :k

Thanks Naiad! I wasn't gone. Just busy with RL but still lurking and reading.

Dear Serena!!
I feel so sorry for you!!:rolleyes:
But dont feel sad for in our hearts we know
who E lijah is and what a great actor he his.:k :k

I too have the experiens with friends and family which
dont can see the great acting he does.
For example my friend from work whent with me
to see Rotk(my therd wieing) and after the movie
i asked her what she thought about it,she thougt it was good
and i asked her about the actors i menched now names
and she thought the guy who was playing Aragon(Viggo)
was the best.but the guy with the big eyes did not impress
on her.she thought he lookt creepy and as he was sick!!:confused:

I try to tell her he was SICK he was sick in his mined boddy
his hole soul was infekted by the ring but she couldet get it
and she sad what have they done to make his eyes
look that whay i try to tell her THIS IS REAL ACTING
HE PLAYES WITH EYES AND FACE, CANT YOU SEE THE PAIN
AND AGGANY HE IS GOING THROW!!!:confused: :confused:

We dropped the subject becuse she saw how i reacted
i have as you could see now pokerface!!

And another storry i have with my brother he is alwayes talking
about that saen astin should have on oscar
and i say that elijah should have one
and then he ask me why?:eek: :eek: :eek:

WHY i sade look in to his eyes for goodsake!!!

i dont get it with this eyes he sade!!:confused: :confused:

I GIVE UP!!!!
I know in my heart and i have you ladyes to talk to!!:k

So Serena i realy know what you going throuh at this dinner party
i really do!!:k :k
i beginning to learn not to react this way becuse people see
things defrent but it is heard realy heard!!

And for this pics of Elijah smoking i wich he would let go of it
for his on good,but i know how heard it is, i am a smoker to
its realy heard to let go its like poisen!!!

In front of other guests, it's indeed the wise thing to do to be gracious about it and ignore the host's ramblings.
I think it's great that you let her know that she's wrong (about the sudden fame) without getting too deep into the discussion in front of her guests.
In a situation like that, I always have to fight my instinct to use sarcasm. In that situation - with a host who does not know what she's talking about...:
You know who I think is obnoxious? That guy with the big eyes -the one who played Frodo. He's been on all of these chat shows recently, just because he's suddenly become known through those movies - no-one had heard of him before
LOL...I would have serious trouble controlling my urge to start laughing at this point.
Obnoxious?
Suddenly become known...
LOL

I think you handled the situation very well, serena.

Michael Schumacher won another GP in Formula 1 yesterday. I get a lot of grief over supporting him but...:D ...he's such a great person to be a fan of (like I said before, his career speaks volumes)
People say to me: it's the car, he's driving the best car in the world. ....Yes, but do you remember how average the car was when Schumacher arrived in the team and that this is one of his strong points, building a strong team around him?
People say to me: My 5-year old could win a GP in a car like that...Yeah, right.:rolleyes:
I have the same reaction with Elijah Wood. No need to defend him, really. He has a good track record already and a very good reputation in the industry. Those with knowledge and talent, who don't feel the need to put others down in order to make themselves feel better, acknowledge Elijah's talent and his great personality. I don't have time for those who are jealous about it and certainly not when they're rubbishing somebody without knowning what they're talking about.

So, don't worry about it, serena.

((((serena))))

There is another way of looking at it. A positive spin, if I may. Imagine how much patience and serenity you can develop from having to hold your tongue while facing down the ignorant masses ... and put that patience into practice when you have to smile and pretend to be interested when friends start talking about oh, say, Britney Spears as representing depthness in teen-angst music writing. :p Look, I ain't kidding. I've been there. I don't know how I survived that conversation, but I did. :rolleyes: :D So we all have different favourites and we all have different dislikes too, however rational or irrational. Then once in a while, woe behold, we encounter people who dislike our favourites or who love our dislikes, and then they proceed to tell us all about it! God help us and give us strength, eh? ;)

And you were polite. :k Anyway, 'obnoxious' is one strange tag to put on Elijah, that's for sure.

Originally posted by Moondancer
People say to me: My 5-year old could win a GP in a car like that...Yeah, right.:rolleyes:

LOL! I've known people to scoff and under-rate Formula One driving before, but that's definitely a new one!

Rikka, that's one cool job you have. :) Do you get to follow the teams as they jump from one place to the next? Were you perhaps at the KL GP? :)

*waves to Hobmom* There you are! :)

(((Serena)))
What can I say what not yet has been said by my fabulous and admirable colleagues? IMHO you just did the right thing - pointing out some facts and let the topic go. Well done!

Originally posted by Achila
I feel sorry for those who are so jaded that they can't open their hearts to him.

I guess, that's why such incidents are so hurtful - we've set our hearts on Elijah, not our heads (yes, I know, research, and all this scientific stuff...but isn't it our deep felt love to Frolijah that keeps this place going and going?)
At certain points there is no other way as to leave the eye-(or heart)patches on the eyes of our fellow human beings. At least, it is their blindness. And only heaven (or universe) knows for what reason they need it.

Originally posted by Moondancer
People say to me: it's the car, he's driving the best car in the world. ....Yes, but do you remember how average the car was when Schumacher arrived in the team and that this is one of his strong points, building a strong team around him?
People say to me: My 5-year old could win a GP in a car like that...Yeah, right.

Hey, these people can come to visit me and I'll take them to the near Nürburgring (a legendary circuit) for a full speed run with the Renntaxi (racing cab) - we will see what they say afterwards. :p :D

He's so full of himself. He just sat there bragging about how they had won all those Oscars. And then he talked about this other film that he's been in

Serena, I'm afraid if I'd been in that conversation the above quote would have been the straw that broke the camel's back because it is so completely & utterly the opposite to the truth. To say Elijah is full of himself is so wrong its almost laughable. Its his complete lack of ego that makes him so different to the majority of his peers. I am constantly amazed at how modest, humble and unassuming he is and very often during chat shows I get very annoyed with the interviewers who sometimes seem to spend more time talking about themselves than listening to Lij and because he's so polite and won't interrupt they get away with it. And my God - shock, horror - he talked about this other film he's in!! Well excuse me but isn't that why he was invited onto these shows in the first place!! Its difficult to understand how anyone can have formed such a completey false opinion of him.

Thanks to all who replied to my query about Elijah reading the posts here. It appears the majority would be very much against this. I agree it could be very inhibiting - its just when I read some of the rubbish out there that he must get to see I feel it would be good to be able to guide him towards all the words of wisdom here:)

(Serena)

How annoying (to put it mildly)!

And as Shireling has pointed out- the description was as far away from Elijah as one could get. I've never heard him brag about anything he's done and he always turns praise away from himself and onto the other actors.

Perhaps she read that Variety April fool spoof (posted on the site we cant link to) and thought it was true! :rolleyes:

I get very annoyed with the interviewers who sometimes seem to spend more time talking about themselves than listening to Lij and because he's so polite and won't interrupt they get away with it.

This is why I would love to see him on Parkison, who always lets his guests say their piece, and to that end I actually e-mailed the BBC to suggest he would be an interesting choice of guest.

I had a reply as follows;
I'm afraid we only have the Parkinson's guest list for this week's and next and Elijah Wood is not included. We don't have any information about their future plans but your e.mail has been forwarded to the production team. I hope they will look at it in a favourable light.

also..

All comments, complaints and appreciations are read and recorded in full on a daily log within one working day of receipt. This log is circulated widely within the BBC to programme-makers and senior management.
Your feedback is extremely important to us, as it helps to form
decisions about future programme making and editorial policy. Thank you for taking the trouble to share your views with us.

So perhaps if all the UK Facultiers e-mail the BBC they might finally realise what a good choice he would be. :)

There was a trailer for ESoTSM on TV last weekend too. I'm sure there was a brief glimpse of our lad included. I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

quote:You know who I think is obnoxious? That guy with the big eyes -the one who played Frodo. He's been on all of these chat shows recently, just because he's suddenly become known through those movies - no-one had heard of him before

quote:He's so full of himself. He just sat there bragging about how they had won all those Oscars. And then he talked about this other film that he's been in

hm-hm-hm. hee hee. HEE HEE HEE! HAHAHAHAHAH!!! ::: giggle :::: SNARK!!! :::: SNORF :::: BAHAHAHAHA!!!! :::: rolling on floor in most undignified manner ::::

:::: wiping tears from eyes ::::

Thanks for the Monday Morning Giggle. I needed that.

Do the people who made those hysterically funny remarks realize that the reason why celebs go on talk shows is to plug their products?!?

:::: stumbling away still giggling ::::

~grumpy ("won all those Oscars...") (little bitty accomplishment) (11 Oscars for a so-called fantasy movie?) (if that isn't something to be proud of I don't know what is) ("Never heard of him"?) (What turnip truck did that person fall off of?(*))

(*) "You ended that sentence with a preposition! B**T*RD!!!" -- Col. Jack O'Niell, "The Abyss"

Originally posted by whiteling
(yes, I know, research, and all this scientific stuff...but isn't it our deep felt love to Frolijah that keeps this place going and going?)


All the best research is done out of love. ;)

I second tgshaw's recommendation of bringing up the two ensemble awards in situations like the one serena faced. If the person you're dealing with replies, "Well, I'd admit that most of the rest did alright, but the bug eyed guy still can't act," then you know you are dealing with a Genuine Certified Jerk (TM), rather than with someone who is merely uninformed or who hasn't been paying attention.

I am very lucky that my hubby supports my various obsessions, but OTOH I do not expose my obsessions to my brother because he really is a Genuine Certified Jerk (TM) sometimes. He doesn't get me too often, but he used to make my sister foam at the mouth on a regular basis. I wonder sometimes what percentage of the people who put down EW (or Frodo, in various stories in the Harem) are doing it just to yank the Frolijah-lover's chain. While most of the LOTR lovers I've known in real life preferred the men or the elves, I've seen far, far more hobbit dissing in general in discussions where there were people clearly defending the hobbits (most typically Frodo), than I do on average, and I just wonder if Frodo dislike goes as deep as it sometimes seems to when someone's got a true hobbit lover to play with.

I do think a depressing percentage of LOTR fans don't really understand Frodo, but I don't think most of them think he's a complete wuss either. They just don't get him and tune him out a bit, rather than actively disliking him or thinking him particularly unworthy. I mean, I don't dislike Aragorn, but my repeated readings of LOTR still tended to be hobbit-centric to the point where I skipped Aragorn stuff. I like to think most LOTR fans recognize that their own preferences do not necessarily reflect reality, despite considerable evidence to the contrary. :p

I tend to figure my kids have a fairly honest viewpoint of reality, because they're homeschooled and don't watch TV and just generally don't deal much in peer pressure, and they all think Elijah's great stuff. I think much of the grief Elijah gets is because he's "not cool." I read this weekend that "research has proved that the more aggressive and defiant [boys] are, the more popular their peers will perceive them to be." To quote a 12-year-old boy, "I'm not going to be friends with Will, because he's not going to be cool. Unless he's the first person to go up on one of those rocket things, and he's on TV and famous."

The "Will" in question is much like Elijah - intelligent but not arrogant. A person not particularly motivated by a need for conformity or popularity. I think people sense that Elijah would be viewed as a geek if he were not famous, and so they judge him as "unpopular" even though he has a huge fanbase. Over on DL-A there's "Snacky's Law", which I believe says that the first one who accuses the other side as acting as if they're in high school loses. But, man, there *are* people who still apply the standards of jr. high to the real world and think they should work, and it sounds like this lady may be one of them.

I've really enjoyed the conversation the last few pages, guys. :) So many articulate people saying what I think - how can I not love this place? :D

Sheryl

(((Serena)))) Wouldn't it have been wonderful if that woman had been standing amoungst a crowd of 'us,' the Enlightened!?! We'd have set her to rights!

Shilohm, I think people sense that Elijah would be viewed as a geek if he were not famous, and so they judge him as "unpopular" even though he has a huge fanbase.

Funny, ain't it, how this is one of the very qualities that make him so attractive to those of us who get it? Really, would that lovely face be so attractive if what was behind it was a vast ego, and play-boy hedonism?

gotta run,
Honey!

Wouldn't it have been wonderful if that woman had been standing amoungst a crowd of 'us,' the Enlightened!?! We'd have set her to rights
I don't know about the Enlightened bit as far as I'm concerned. I'd let others do that part while I would be too busy trying to control myself from giggling out loud and...by the looks of it...if grumpy was there, we would have a giggle-fest on our hands. :p


There's an nice update on Dougie Brimson's (The Yank) site:
http://www.brimson.net/
(on the news page)

Originally posted by shilohmm
All the best research is done out of love. ;)
You beat me to it! :p When my workaholic researcher boss complains about people who think they need a day off once in awhile :rolleyes: , I sometimes remind him how lucky he is to have a job that he absolutely loves--and he admits it (sometimes ;) ). Although I think he feels everyone should be able to do the same. Well, if I could pay the rent by doing the research I love, I would... but a lot of "loves" don't work out that way.

Not that I don't consider the research that does pay my rent to be worthwhile--and if I sometimes start feeling that way, I try to remind myself of the difference between Barney at the end of the book and Barney at the end of the movie. In fact, I've thought that if I had a chance to tell Elijah one way his acting has helped me, it would be that. Seeing Barney with some hope has pulled me out of some serious "It's just not worth it" times, when my little contribution to "the cause"--as my boss calls it--doesn't seem very important.

They just don't get him and tune him out a bit, rather than actively disliking him or thinking him particularly unworthy. I mean, I don't dislike Aragorn, but my repeated readings of LOTR still tended to be hobbit-centric to the point where I skipped Aragorn stuff. I like to think most LOTR fans recognize that their own preferences do not necessarily reflect reality, despite considerable evidence to the contrary.
Ditto to all of that. Back when the "Men of Middle-earth" thread was active in the GD, I really enjoyed reading the posts of people who had a special relationship with Aragorn--it was obvious that they "got" him in ways I didn't, and they had some great insights into the character. The same thing happened with Denethor in the "character arc" thread. The Men will never supplant the hobbits in my heart, but that doesn't mean I want to completely ignore them.

--And I think the "chain-yanking" is often a reality. I don't mind good-natured teasing (accompanied by lots of ;) :) and :p ). But if someone's actually mean-spirited about a person (in either primary or secondary creation ;) ) they know someone else holds dear, IMHO they're acting like a Certified Jerk, even if they don't qualify for the title permanently.

The "Will" in question is much like Elijah - intelligent but not arrogant. A person not particularly motivated by a need for conformity or popularity. I think people sense that Elijah would be viewed as a geek if he were not famous, and so they judge him as "unpopular" even though he has a huge fanbase... But, man, there *are* people who still apply the standards of jr. high to the real world and think they should work, and it sounds like this lady may be one of them.
Well, Elijah is a geek, and a proud one, right? :p I think that's one reason we love him. In the "real world," I don't think that necessarily has anything to do with popularity or lack thereof, but if someone's still operating on a junior high level that's probably how they'd see it. Somehow I have a hard time imagining many directors--especially of the caliber Elijah wants to work with--thinking, "Ewww! I don't want to cast him. He's a geek! If I put him in my movie, people might think I'm a geek." (That last comment being what I believe is behind most peer avoidance of kids who don't seem "popular"--the fear that I'll be seen as unpopular if I associate with them.)

-----I was thinking about the "big eyes"/"bugeyes" statements on the way to work, and remembered something Elijah said in a recent interview (or, at least, an interview that I read recently :rolleyes: ). The interviewer said something about how Elijah uses his "big eyes" in his acting, and Elijah said (not an exact quote, I'm sure): "An actor's eyes are one of his most important assets. Mine happen to be big." Such a simple statement! Any actor is going to use whatever assets they know they have. They'd develop it rather than squelch or deny it. If Elijah was 6'6" and built like The Rock, he'd probably use that (as I'm sure The Rock does). Well, Elijah's not built like The Rock, but he has eyes that can give a direct line to the character's soul, and he's not afraid to use them--for which I'm very glad.

--------------------
from Moondancer
I'd let others do that part while I would be too busy trying to control myself from giggling out loud and...by the looks of it...if grumpy was there, we would have a giggle-fest on our hands.
That might be the best response of all :D . Can you imagine her sitting there, making her ridiculous statements, and everyone in the room just bursting into laughter :D ?

from quicksilver
Perhaps she read that Variety April fool spoof (posted on the site we cant link to) and thought it was true!
LOL! I believe that quicksilver has come up with the true answer behind all the fuss with serena's friend. The poor dear! Let's not tell the little darling; she might be embarrassed! :p :D

Congratulations on your pokerface, Wood! Very convincing. And yours, Grumpy! (still snerking)

from tgshaw
Somehow I have a hard time imagining many directors--especially of the caliber Elijah wants to work with--thinking, "Ewww! I don't want to cast him. He's a geek! If I put him in my movie, people might think I'm a geek."
You are wicked, tg! I think I hurt myself laughing at this. :D :D :D (Although I personally belive that Jr. High School is alive and well in the adult world, more's the pity!) :rolleyes:

he has eyes that can give a direct line to the character's soul, and he's not afraid to use them--for which I'm very glad.
*sigh* What a lovely thought to carry into my day.

((Faculty)))

Serena,

Compare and contrast these two quotes :-
from Serena's hostess ( I don't think she really qualifies as a friend ):-

"You know who I think is obnoxious? That guy with the big eyes -the one who played Frodo. He's been on all of these chat shows recently, just because he's suddenly become known through those movies - no-one had heard of him before. He's so full of himself. He just sat there bragging about how they had won all those Oscars. And then he talked about this other film that he's been in - some really weird thing, and he had these long sideburns ..."
From the One Husband,( whilst watching Sandra Bernhardt on Graham Norton's New York show the week after Elijah guested ) :-

"God this woman is full of herself isn't she...she's really trying to impress everyone...now, your friend last week (Elijah) - he wasn't trying to impress anybody.....he was just having a good laugh and enjoying himself...not trying to prove a point to anyone. I wish all chat show guests were a bit more like him !!! "

(Yeah, I know...could have knocked me down with a feather too !!! )

Hmmm...did we watch two different people or what ???..:confused:

I guess you won't be going round to her place any more than...:D :D :D

It's always hard when a person you admire deeply, well OK then..love deeply, comes in for stick from some ignorant dipstick, who is only trying to impress someone who can potentially give her a job, but remember...this kind of comment can only reflect badly back on her..."Who knows what she's saying about me behind my back" ...that's what people generally think about people like her....

...now, your friend...

Awwww... how lovely of him to put it that way :) :) !

Guys, I've had such a fabulous time today reading all your hilarious (and heartfelt) replies that it was almost worth the Saturday night angst! :D :D Well, almost. I keep getting visions of The Faculty behaving like its big-screen namesake, advancing in a row, sweetly smiling, on the quaking Hostess, suddenly transmogrifying into a row of reptilians from outer space and .... well, tickling her to death or something. As Grumpy would say: ::: giggle :::: SNARK!!! :::: SNORF :::: BAHAHAHAHA!!!! ::::

But be that as it may, THANK YOU !!! ((((faculty))))

I love Quicksilver's suggestion. That had occurred to me too! I wish I could say the whole incident had all been an April Fool, poisson d'avril or what have you, but sadly it was only too genuine (incidentally, I thought the Variety spoof was funny in parts and sort of flattering in its assumption that everyone knows it's the opposite of the truth, but it was still a bit too personal in singling out Elijah and a bit unfair on him, considering that some of Shilohmm's GCJs probably WILL take it as seriously as they did Dom's little joke about Elijah, Andy and the Two One Rings.... :eek: )

Thinks: should I send The Variety Spoof to The One Hostess? Erm. on second thoughts she really would take it seriously. Better not! :p

Our sweet geekish Elwood himself keeps telling us he doesn't give a **** what anyone thinks of him. Go him! That's one of his most endearing - and mature - qualities. If only The One Hostess shared it! (Hey, there could be room for a play here. How would that be for revenge? *wanders off hatching plot ....* )

More later ......

incidentally, I thought the Variety spoof was funny in parts and sort of flattering in its assumption that everyone knows it's the opposite of the truth, but it was still a bit too personal in singling out Elijah and a bit unfair on him,

Not sure if everyone knows this so thought I'd point it out just in case - the 'Variety' article was not, in fact, a 'Variety' article and never appeared in that publication. It was actually the creation of a certain MsA at the place which shall not be named. If you click on 'email the author' all is revealed. She - and I quote - "spoofed their web layout".

{{{Lady Wendy's husband}}} Hope she doesn't mind:D

from Shireling:
It was actually the creation of a certain MsA

Aha! I suspected as much, having failed to find it on Variety's site. The references to Dom were a bit of a give-away too. Thanks, Shireling!
How typical. MsA was also the author of the rather good ROTK review, praising EW to the skies, that Blossom posted a couple of pages back. What a pity MsA has to ruin her eloquence, not to mention what would otherwise be a very good site, by banging on endlessly about imagined sexuality issues.

But that aside - it's funny how things turn out. Had it not been for my favourite Hostess's unkind words about our Lij I'd probably never have found these wonderful reviews, most of which I'd never seen before and which turned up on a Norwegian site (!) - Norwegian Wood lives !! :D (I was looking for Roger Ebert's immortal quote about "The War" with a view to sending it to MsH). I think the site is a linkable one, so the link is here (http://www.arnadal.no/film/actors/woode.htm) .

And just in case it gets deleted, here are the quotes (I just LOVE them !!!) :cool:

'Paradise' does have real qualities. Two of them are the kids, played by Elijah Wood and Thora Birch with strong, simple charm." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, on Paradise.

"As Mike and Bobby, Wood (Paradise) and Joseph Mazzello are excellent." - Leah Rozen, People Magazine, on Radio Flyer.

"Elijah Wood brings a naturalness to his acting that at times is completely disarming. Perhaps Mel Gibson should have paid more attention to the familiar adage that actors should never work with animals or children because they are likely to be upstaged. As he did in Radio Flyer (1992), Wood manages to evoke all the right emotions, furthering the story as a result. His performance is in direct contrast to the rather uneven acting of Gibson, who treats some of the more dramatic moments with inappropriate lightness. Since Wood can clearly hold his own with such a seasoned professional as Gibson, Wood's career as an actor is assured." - Richard Cormack, Prodigy Online Services, on Forever Young.

"Wood is an almost scarily accomplished little pro." - Jay Carr, Boston Globe, December 16, 1992, on Forever Young.

"Good-hearted Huck is the most engaging urchin in American literature, and in scamp-and-a-half Elijah Wood he comes to life more than he ever has before.... Not even Mickey Rooney and Jackie Coogan, who starred in two of the earlier versions, captured the spunk and the spirit of the boy who wouldn't be civilized in quite the way Wood has.... With a face lively even in repose and eyes like great dark saucers, Wood displays more of an irrepressible imp persona than he showed in 'Avalon' and 'Radio Flyer'. Yet it is not just his wholehearted relish for pranksterism that sets this Huck apart, it is his air of capability and self-possession. This is one small boy whose survival on his own is not at all hard to believe." - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1993, on The Adventures of Huck Finn.

"Huck is played by Elijah Wood, from 'Radio Flyer' and 'Forever Young', who mercifully seems free of cuteness and other afflictions of child stars, and makes a resolute, convincing, Huck." -- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, April 2, 1993, on The Adventures of Huck Finn.

"[Elijah Wood is] a talented young actor who acquits himself well even under these dire circumstances." - James Verniere, The Boston Herald, September 24, 1993, on The Good Son.

"Second-billed Wood is a far better actor [than Macaulay Culkin], and his scenes with Culkin bring the child star's limitations into painful relief." - CineBooks Motion Picture Guide, on The Good Son.

"Mr. Wood is currently the most natural, confident child actor of his generation... He's very likable throughout, and Mr. Reiner has surrounded him with a good deal of comic relief." -Janet Maslin, New York Times, July 22, 1994, on The War. [EDIT: this must be about"North", not "The War", if it's Rob Reiner]

"Elijah Wood has emerged, in my opinion, as the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, on The War.

"Elijah Wood--that terrific little actor--has the spunk and fury to make Stu into more than just a peacenik. ...His performance resembles a champion swimmer paddling through heavy molasses." - Peter Rainer, The Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1994, on The War.

"The most satisfaction the movie offers is the spectacular acting of Wood, 13, who is the best under-20 actor since Freddie Bartholomew." - Ralph Novak, People Magazine, on The War.

"Elijah Wood confirms his standing as the foremost actor of his generation. ...Wood acts so eloquently with his sentient face and searching eyes that his job becomes one of concealing how redundant his spoken lines are - a tricky job he largely is able to bring off commendably." - Jay Carr, The Boston Globe, on The War.

"In Jon Avnet's mesmerizing 'The War', young Master Wood is giving acting lessons all around.... I prefer to ponder the wonder of Elijah Wood, who manages to bring tremendous restraint - an inner simmering - to a role that, with a lesser actor, could have gone out of control.... Sometimes a great performance is just a onetime occurrence, and sometimes it is a flash of things to come. Right now, Wood is blinding us." - Rod Lurie, Los Angeles Magazine, on The War.

"Young Wood is an exceptionally talented actor; his career is likely to survive both The War and the disastrous North." - CineBooks Motion Picture Guide, on The War.

PSfrom Shireling:
{{{Lady Wendy's husband}}} Hope she doesn't mind
Can I hug him too please? :)

Serena...:k ...you can't imagine how I enjoyed these reviews well, maybe you can. Thanks.
I haven't checked out the link, but I will do so at home.

"Right now, Wood is blinding us."
:cool:
He still is!

EDITED: Got it! Many thanks! I looooove you guys! :) :) :)

Edited after reading it: Oh my <insert name of deity here>!!! That is absolutely hysterical!!!! :::: snorfling happily ::::

Would someone please PM the link to the April Fool faux-Variety article to me, please? Thanks.

~grumpy (Birdies! Finches! I have finches nesting on the wreath on my laundry room door for the THIRD YEAR! A beautiful nest and four little pale blue-green eggs!)(I feel like a proud grandma...) :)

Love those reviews, serena! *sighs*

Elijah Wood--that terrific little actor--has the spunk and fury to make Stu into more than just a peacenik.
Funny, I never saw Stu as much of a peacenik...

"Wood acts so eloquently with his sentient face and searching eyes that his job becomes one of concealing how redundant his spoken lines are --" - Jay Carr, The Boston Globe, on The War.
I adore this quote! Perhaps PJ read this review before giving Elijah his lines, eh? ;)

(PMing you the link, Grumpy!)

from Moondancer:
you can't imagine how I enjoyed these reviews well, maybe you can

Yup, I think I can. I just keep reading them over and over again - can't get enough! :cool:

Finches, Grumpy? Aaaaah. I had three pairs of blackbirds (or rather, the same pair 3 times) raising young right outside my kitchen window last year. This year I may have to cut down the ivy to extend the kitchen ... sniff.

Serena, thank you for all the wonderful reviews of young Elijah! My favorite of the batch is:

...Wood acts so eloquently with his sentient face and searching eyes that his job becomes one of concealing how redundant his spoken lines are -

Interesting how often the idea of a modern day silent performance comes up, as in the quote Blossom posted a few days ago:

I suggest that Wood gives a modern-day silent performance. "It's not dissimilar to silent-film acting," he agrees, "when performers were called upon to affect an audience without words. With Frodo, it's all about the expressions on his face. In II and especially III, it's about trying to convey what's happening internally when saying very little."

---

I picked up a copy of "Everythings Is Illuminated" yesterday. It is very profane, and quite funny! (I was reading it in a cafe last evening, and laughing out loud!) But also with a certain longing sadness and loneliness. I can imagine some of Johnathan's lines coming out of Elijah himself so clearly that I am really quite intrigued to see how he will deferentiate his "Johnathan" from himself. (Did that make sense?:confused: ) I wonder if any one has been cast for the role of Alexi? He's the hilarious narrator through much of the book, and does things to the english language that leave you breathless from laughter, or scratching your head for seconds at a time. I can't find much on the upcoming filming other than it is begins shooting June 14th in Prague. This will be Liev Schreibner's first time directing.

with high hopes,
Honey!

I believe Jonathan Schwartzman's name came up, but I don't know if that was Lij's competition for his role or for Alexi.

from Honeyelf:
it begins shooting June 14th in Prague. This will be Liev Schreibner's first time directing

Honey, thank you for that! This sounds really exciting. Must read this book before seeing the film (unlike LOTR :rolleyes: ).

Believe it or not, I'm actually being leant on by my employer to do a(nother) Czech language and culture course in the Czech Republic this year. I'm expected to arrange it myself. Strictly for professional reasons, of course, the latter half of June seems to be the only possible time to go there. The fact that Elijah begins filming in Prague in mid-June has absolutely nothing to do with it. And believe it or not, it doesn't have to be a language course as such. Maybe I could do a placement as a film-making apprentice? Or make a Making Of documentary with Czech subtitles?? Could I be KD's very own Brian Sibley, just for a week? Any bright ideas, anyone? :)

Hello everyone, thanks so much for the kind words. I've been pretty out of it for the past couple of days, which is not very good considering finals start next week!

But I felt like I deserved a break so here I am!

It really perplexes me to hear of stories like serena's maybe because I have never encountered such an experience. I don't know if it's a Canadian thing, or if it's just my circle of friends but everyone here is TOO polite to say something overtly negative about somebody else, which, could be a good or bad thing depending on the situation. However, I haven't met any serious Frodo/Elijah dissenters, so it's a good thing in that respect. Most of whom I've shared a conversation with about LotR have always had nothing but undulated praise for Elijah EVEN if they don't quite get Frodo's character.

And to wood and everyone who seems to have a hard time with fancying Elijah at home, I can only reiterate how lucky I am for having a parents and siblings who seem keenly interested in all things Elijah I have to say even though they're not fans themselves. (I think my parents decided long ago that being obsessed about a celebrity is much better than becoming involved in the drug scene) The only suggestion I have really is to take your family members/friends to watch Elijah movies and leave them to have their own epiphany as to just how talented he really is... it really seems to work if you show them a young Elijah film (The War does the trick every time!).

As for the cheap shots at Elijah with those New Zealand articles, well, all I can do is shrug my shoulders, say "meh... it's their loss.", and send a tasteful email with a rebuttal swiftly to their accounts.

honeyelf, I'm glad you're liking "Everything Is Illuminated." I read it myself a few months ago and almost spit out my drink (in excitement of course) when I found out that Elijah was cast in an adaptation. To try to answer your question, although I don't have names, I do know that Liev is looking for two Ukrainian actors to fill the part of Alex and Alex (the grandfather), so I guess Elijah got the role over Jason Schwartzman, which is interesting as an anecdote as Jason had beat Elijah for the leading role in "Rushmore".

And noone has really mentioned it, but am I the only one getting strangely excited for "The Yank"/"Hooligans"??? Maybe it's the sight of brooding, rampant Elijah that's leaving me swooning all the way to the Harem... ;)

"Wood acts so eloquently with his sentient face and searching eyes that his job becomes one of concealing how redundant his spoken lines are --" - Jay Carr, The Boston Globe, on The War.:cool: That is going into the sig. :cool:

I'm POSITIVE that PJ discussed this sort of thing before giving his lines to not only Elijah, but to everybody. For such a long movie, RotK has surprisingly little dialogue. It's all Eye Acting with some body acting. For example: Arwen's vision Minas Tirith/Beacons Pippin's song/Faramir/Denethor Legolas/Oliphant battle Frodo vs. Shelob, part I and II All of Cracks of Doom Houses of Healing Coronation Beer at the Green Dragon . Weep, Embrace, Smile and Nod at the Grey Havens.It's no coincidence that the most memorable scenes are also nearly wordless. There's your Directing Oscar.

How blessed we were to have a pairing of an Eye actor with an Eye director.

from Erendis
How blessed we were to have a pairing of an Eye actor with an Eye director.
Well said! :D

from Serena
Could I be KD's very own Brian Sibley, just for a week?
:eek: :eek: :eek: :cool: Oh, please. I'm certain we can find something for you to write about. How about ... how facial expressions can span languages, making the spoken word redundant? :p You could feature lots and lots of close-ups in your work. :p

JASON Schwartzman. DUH. I called him "Jonathan" a few posts back -- sorry. Thanks, Hobbityme.

Just came home from viewing ESOTSM for the third time -- research, it's research -- and I think I finally know what's wrong with this movie. It's nothing about Elijah's performance but it's exactly what erendis said about Lij being an "Eye Actor" -- PJ spoiled me with the close ups. There's only one scene in ESOTSM where you see can Lij's face clearly...bleh.... :D

I'm with you, Hobbityme, re: The Yank. Those pictures that have been appearing lately are very...interesting. And the funny part is that I'm seeing two things I abhor -- violence and smoking -- and it's suddenly, strangely, very sexy. Why is that???? lol

from Mariole:
How about ... how facial expressions can span languages, making the spoken word redundant?

Hey, how about that for the subject of a thesis? :D I could always pretend I'm doing a doctorate in film studies. Could actually do one, for that matter. Though maybe not in two weeks - it would involve following Elijah around for several years, he being (of course) currently the supreme exponent of the filmic art. Or so one could argue in a really pretentious foreword. :p Wonder if I'd get a grant for it? Not from current employer, that's for sure ....

from Hobbityme:
Most of whom I've shared a conversation with about LotR have always had nothing but undulated praise for Elijah EVEN if they don't quite get Frodo's character

It's so good to hear that! :cool: Maybe I'll suggest to The Hostess that she goes to Canada to take some lessons in taste, discrimination and politeness. (Michael Moore would say it's all the fault of the media and whoever is behind them, and he's probably right in this context too!)
But on the other hand - maybe Elijah's attitude to it all is something we (well, I) could learn from. If he can gracefully accept all the flak from the "Kill me now" phase onwards, why should we worry about it? It's all part of being the top celebrity he now is. I guess that if he's the old soul that all his LOTR colleagues keep saying he is, total acceptance of all things, good and (apparently) bad, will come easily to him. [Oops - getting a bit philosophical here. Sorry!]

Serena, how noble of you to oblige your boss by traveling to Prague in late June.;) :p It will be a difficult sacrifice, and we will all admire you for it. Especially if you are able to track down Mr. Wood.:D

Am loving all the old reviews from Elijah's childhood performances. IIRC, he won a ShoWest award for his work in The War.

I saw on MsA's site (erm, yes, I lurk there occasionally :o) that Jason Schwartzman has reportedly signed to play Alex in Everything is Illuminated. I DO hope this film will get a theatrical release in the US. I have been reading the book, which peaceweaver gave me, and am very interested to see how the movie version will be handled. Of course I am reading it imagining Elijah as Jonathan, which isn't too hard.:cool:

Originally posted by Goldenberry
Serena, how noble of you to oblige your boss by traveling to Prague in late June.;) :p
Kudos to European cross-cultural education :p !

Happened to catch the first part of Jay Leno last night, and was thinking how much "fun" :eek: ;) it could have been if Elijah'd been the first guest. Remember the "Jay-walking" segment where the audience had to guess if each person interviewed on the street was "a good dancer or a bad dancer"? Elijah came on immediately after and the audience had to do the same with him (that's when we got his little dance number). There was a "Jay-walking" segment last night and the audience had to guess if each person interviewed on the street was "gay or straight"--I turned it off before the first guest came on, and don't even know who it was, but Jay mentioned that whoever it was would get the same treatment. I doubt if they'd spring that on a guest with no warning, and I'm sure Elijah would have found a way to turn it around and have fun with it, but I think I preferred the dancing ;) :) .

Serena, thank you so much for seeking out and posting those glowing reviews of Elijah's past work. Two things struck me as I was reading them. First, why was there so much skepticism about his ability to play Frodo when he was already earning such euphoric praise for his talent when he was only a child? Second, why did critics, including some very well-known ones like Roger Ebert and Janet Maslin, single out his performances in lesser films and not (for the most part) in the LoTR films? Is it because Elijah's performance was often the sole bright spot in relatively average movies, like North and The Good Son, while his brilliance just blended into the overall excellence of LoTR?

originally posted by honeyelf
Funny, ain't it, how [EW's geekiness] is one of the very qualities that make him so attractive to those of us who get it?

I like that quote tgshaw has up on her site - "Geeks are the most interesting people," or whatever it is. I've always liked geeks - and geeks tend to do well in life long term. So far as I can tell, it's the "cool" people who often go nowhere and look back on high school as the best years of their lives. I worry about EW's smoking, but I don't worry so much about him, if you see the difference.

originally posted by tgshaw
Back when the "Men of Middle-earth" thread was active in the GD, I really enjoyed reading the posts of people who had a special relationship with Aragorn--it was obvious that they "got" him in ways I didn't, and they had some great insights into the character.

I liked that thread, and I've got one Steelsheen sent me on Aragorn from Imly Lit, IIRC, and I dip into that one every once in a while. These guys see things I never saw - but things that are really there, y'know? :cool:

Originally posted by Eldalieva
First, why was there so much skepticism about his ability to play Frodo when he was already earning such euphoric praise for his talent when he was only a child?

I suspect most of the "Kill me now" guys probably knew Elijah through Deep Impact, which was not one of his better efforts. Not that I personally think he was bad in it, but neither was he spectacular. I think the average LOTR fan at that point, at least in terms of the people speaking up on the big sites, was a fantasy/sf fan who probably hadn't seen many of his other movies, or didn't remember them if they had.

Sheryl

This being a fairly long post, it is, of course, made up purely of speculation and half-thought-out hypotheses :p :rolleyes: --

Edit: Seem to have simulposted with Sheryl, so one or two of our points overlap. :)

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

IMHO, part of the problem with Elijah being accepted as Frodo (by some JRRT readers) was that a lot of them, being close to his age, knew him only from his later movies. Most of his childhood movies were made for adults, so people his own age were a lot less likely to have seen them. Even The Ice Storm, although he'd made it fairly recently, wasn't a movie that would have attracted his peers. It's because someone older (Fran Walsh) had seen The Ice Storm that Elijah got a chance to audition.

The two movies most mentioned by the "Kill me now" folks were Flipper and Deep Impact--not his most stellar roles (to put it mildly!), and those are the ones his "demographic" seemed most familiar with. The Faculty was somewhat better, but he was shooting that when the auditions for LotR came up, so a lot of people hadn't seen it yet when he was cast; but even seeing him as Casey (IMVHO) wouldn't make a lot of people clamor for him to play Frodo. And Chain of Fools, of course, never saw the light of day in the U.S. (or anywhere but Sweden, IIRC). I do remember some people countering the negative comments by mentioning TBFA, but that movie seems to have mostly flown below the radar (pun not intended :rolleyes: ).

At the time, Elijah was going through that "awkward age" for male actors when they have to shift from child/adolescent to adult roles, and there just aren't many good roles out there for them right then. It's when a lot of child actors just fall out of the picture, because they can't make the transition. It's to Elijah's credit that he kept acting steadily, but to do so he kind of had to take what was there (or gave him interesting experiences, like swimming with dolphins ;) ).

IIRC, people "of a certain age" (myself included :) ) were more likely to remember Elijah from some of his childhood roles, and were also less likely to be in the "Kill me now" camp. So possibly those two things are connected?

Regarding the reviewers, IMHO that's harder to answer. Maybe it's partly because (as has been said in this thread a number of times) a lot of people--including some reviewers--just don't "get" Frodo. Maybe some of the reviewers had an easier time getting a handle on Stu, or some of his other characters. I don't know if the amount of praise for Elijah in The War has anything to do with Stu being one of his most openly emotional characters--incredibly nuanced acting, but not as interiorized as some of his other roles, especially Frodo. In a way, I pity the reviewers who had to judge his Frodo performances after one viewing--without screencaps :eek: --and after one viewing of movies that have so much else in them to pay attention to at the same time!

A lot of the reviewers who said negative things reacted to the entire LotR "experience" negatively. With some of them, it was obvious that they even carried negative feelings they had toward the book over to the movies. (Of course, there are a lot of similarities, so it's not unlikely that someone would either like or dislike both the book and the movies.)

To add to the confusion, some of the reactions carried over from the book were based on faulty memory! One reviewer gave several reasons that Jackson's interpretation was better than the book (although he still didn't like Jackson's). Only trouble was, everything he gave credit to Jackson for was in the book :rolleyes: ! The only one I can remember at this point is the "addition" of Eowyn, because Tolkien hadn't put enough women in the story :confused: .

And, leaving Mr. Ebert to last, he definitely had some faulty memories. The following is from my incomplete recollections; if anyone has better information, please post it. -- As I remember, Mr. Ebert said he liked the book, but it had been years and years since he'd read it. He remembered hobbits as being "twee"--which my dictionary defines as "affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint". Main trouble was that it seemed he remembered liking twee hobbits :rolleyes: , and the fact that the movie had them out doing courageous things and being faced with sinister enemies didn't fit with his memory of the book, so must have been wrong. (That was after FotR, IIRC. I don't know what he said about the other movies. Hopefully he got reacquainted with the book before he reviewed them?)

Even worse, Sheryl -- they knew him from North -- and possibly more recent movies as The Faculty and didn't think much of those efforts. But it appears that these are probably the same people bellyaching over who PJ has now cast in King Kong, so it might just be that they're not happy with anything, period.

Originally posted by tgshaw


...some reviewers--just don't "get" Frodo. Maybe some of the reviewers had an easier time getting a handle on Stu, or some of his other characters.... In a way, I pity the reviewers who had to judge his Frodo performances after one viewing--without screencaps :eek: --and after one viewing of movies that have so much else in them to pay attention to at the same time! Good point and well said, tgshaw! :cool: I can't imagine what it must have been like to have to review FotR after ONE viewing -- heck, even the fans needed that Second Viewing Conversion, and we already knew the characters. And now the poor n00bie reviewers had to keep track of the plot and ensemble cast, with constant distractions from Oscar-winning SFX effects, music, sound, etc. It's no wonder that they could only "take home" one of Frolijah's many facial expressions, with so many other characters to monitor. (and we all know how poor :rolleyes: Richard Roeper fared in that task.)

Frodo is not written as clear-cut to begin with, not by Fran/Philli or Tolkien. On the other hand, Stu was very clearly the main character, the one who has the arrow over his head "Yo! I'm the one whose acting you're supposed to be looking at!" Whether they intended it that way from the beginning, or whether Kevin Costner just put everyone to sleep as usual, somebody thought enough of Elijah's acting to given him the Industrial-strength-angst role, complete with obligatory yelling and screaming. Yet Elijah pulled it off without resorting to that look-at-me-I'm-an-ac-TOR-watch-me-emote schtick that passes for Oscar-winning acting these days. :rolleyes:

I admit that I was a little apprehensive about Elijah at the beginning too. I had heard he was a good actor, but only vaguely knew about him (In 1998(?) I saw the name in the credits for the Ice Storm and wondered if he had been the younger or older brother! :eek: ) Then, there he was on that Internet teaser with the California accent "They make it so real you really believe it's real." :rolleyes: Not quite Kill Me Now, but certainly several Oh Dear's worth. Thank goodness I was proven wrong. But in all of this, I am still going to stump for Peter Jackson (and sometimes Fran). Elijah is so clearly a director's actor that I simply can't attribute Frodo to Elijah alone.

(new thesis topic: do you think Elijah is a director's actor because all those male directors acted as substitute father figures when he was growing up? And therefore Elijah --with prompting from Mom-- learned to obey them to the letter, as he would a father? And only now, since he is grown up, is he able to detach himself from the director's vision?)