I'm enjoying everyone's commentary. I have my niece here visiting, so I just have a few moments at the end of the evening to pop in. She's 18. One thing I did (while trying to fool her into thinking that I keep a clean household) was finally organize my DVDs in the rack. They are mostly Elijah Wood DVDs (as I only got the silly thing to play LOTR on it!), but there are a dozen other choices, plus tons of videos.

For her first night's entertainment, she picked out Deep Impact. "This is a really good movie," she said. :) Tonight we just finished watching The Faculty. She was worried it would be too scary, but I fast-forwarded through the attack at the beginning (that one was too scary for me), and lent her emotional support for the rest. It kind of gives me a kick that she picked 2 Elijah movies out of all those in the house. We didn't discuss him as an actor, but we did talk about the movies. I feel wicked and happy!

from Maeglian
"Use Well the Days", on the other hand, seem too much like a compilation of "beautiful LotR quotes we really wanted to use and couldn't find the right place for"
LOL! Yes, this works for me. But I'd love to hear the song.

Carry on, everyone! I'll catch up with my reading when I can. I've got to read Frodo's Game -- I love Frodo and Ender!

Tg, thanks for clarifying the bit about copyright.

Thor broke off the frozen toe and threw it into the sky, where it became the star. For some reason, I just love the fact that a culture decided the brightest object in the sky after the sun and the moon was someone's frozen toe! That's the general "waste not, want not"- practicality of Norse mythology for you! :D The Norse legend where this tale is told is a well-known one about a fight and how Thor got a wetstone embedded in his forehead. The tale of Eärendil (in old Norse his name is Aurvandil) is told as an aside by Thor to Aurvandil's wife as she is trying to heal Thor. (I've only got the poetic Edda, so I could not check the original text) Several Norwegian and Danish web sites on the myth concur, however, that the reason why Aurvandil was with the giants and had to be carried/rescued by Thor is not explained in the surviving texts about the myth.

However, I found this very short and to the point explanation in English, drawing the lines between Aurvandil, Eärendil, the cry "Aiya Eärendil elenion ancalima" (indirectly, at least - especially since Middle-Earth is translated as "Midgard" over here ) and.... Hamlet. Really fascinating! (She said, ultra-geekily :o )

http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~cherryne/myth.cgi/Aurvandil.html


later edit: I've read "Frodo's game" and enjoy and appreciate very much its discussion of Frodo and free will and the terrible dilemmas he faced. I haven't read Ender's Game...... It sounds like quite a devastating read, though, from the spoilers you included.

Not much news at the moment. I read somewhere that the EII filmset is much more protected than The Yank filmset (that crew was apparently a bit annoyed that filming locations were made public on the net by fans).

Anyway, saw this (from an interview with Amber Gristak, a stand in on ESOTSM)
One job she took was as a stand in for Kate Winslet in the movie, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." She wasn't in the movie, but as a stand in, she would perform Winslet's lines with the other actors when Winslet was unavailable. It gave her the chance to hang out with such stars as Jim Carrey and Elijah Wood.

"I love Elijah. He is like one of my favorite people now. We were filming in the middle of winter, so he would hold these jumping contests to help stay warm," she said.
jumping contests :D :cool:

The rest of it is here: http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/news/ (http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/news/stories/20040625/localnews/714450.html)

"I love Elijah. He is like one of my favorite people now. We were filming in the middle of winter, so he would hold these jumping contests to help stay warm," she said.

...and what a lovely image that is for a cloudy Friday afternoon - a picture in my mind of youthful exuberance jumping up and down for no other reason than to jump up and down. (C'mon - you can keep warm other ways!) :) No wonder we love the Lad.

:) :)

~notquitesogrumpyafterthat :)

'Jumping contests' . How adorable! :k

Moondancer, you're amazing (where's that "not worthy" smilie? :) ) -- I'm not sure I want to know how someone in Europe tracked down a local news item from a small newspaper in Ohio, that had just a few short sentences about Elijah! Great work! And nice to read, because the young lady wasn't doing PR or putting on any kind of a show biz front, so she didn't have to say positive things if she didn't want to. She was talking to people from the "old home town" and could have said anything she wanted to say about Elijah--"He is like one of my favorite people now," was a lovely choice. (And I'd hazard a guess that it was really said with some commas: "He is, like, one of my favorite people now," :p which is even nicer.)

... They are mostly Elijah Wood DVDs (as I only got the silly thing to play LOTR on it!)...
Gee, what a coincidence ;) ! That's the same reason I "happened" to get a computer with a DVD drive last time I updated. And I didn't even know about screencaps then :eek: -- I just knew the picture was supposed to be better than on a video.

We didn't discuss him as an actor, but we did talk about the movies. I feel wicked and happy!
Oh, you shameless propagandist :p :D ! (Or is it proselytizer ;) ?)

Maeg--Thanks for the brief mythology lesson :) . So somewhere along the line, the toe was "upgraded" from Alcor to Venus? Oooo... [cue Twilight Zone music] In the first scene of Deep Impact, guess what one of the two stars is that Leo's looking at through his telescope... yes, Alcor :eek: ! Spooky, isn't it ;) ?

--As far as Ender's Game being devastating... I don't think I'd use that word, partly because of what I said in the essay (about how Ender's fate is different from Frodo's). One review said the word for the book is "intense," and I'll certainly go along with that. But Ender is an amazing character, and almost the entire story is told from his POV. It's one of only a very few books that, as soon as I finished them, I turned back to the first page and immediately started reading again.

Where is the Personality of "What Faculty character are You?" Is it still around? Where can I find it? :confused:

Thanks so much. ;)

I'm not sure I want to know how someone in Europe tracked down a local news item from a small newspaper in Ohio, that had just a few short sentences about Elijah! :D Makes me sound a bit creepy. ;) Well, Google is a great tool.

We all have the impression that Elijah has a great personality, but most of us have never met him (or just briefly) so, it's just that: an impression. So, it's nice to see it confirmed by people who have actually met him and spend some time with him.

From MuchMusic.com:
We've got the follow-up to last year’s hit 'Nard Wars'…it’s 'Nard Wars II: The Return of the Nard!' And this ain't no prequel folks; Nardwuar’s all-new special will be jam-packed with brand new interviews with Elijah Wood
Did anybody hear this? If so, do tell please. On TORN, somebody heard it (audio) and said it was pretty funny.

Moondancer,
Did anybody hear this? If so, do tell please. On TORN, somebody heard it (audio) and said it was pretty funny.

I don't think it's on until 4:00pm. But is MuchMusic a Canadian station? Do we have any Canadian Faculty members? :z: Hope so! We need some event to liven things up around here. It's been too quiet of late, and I miss everyone!

Honey!

Honey,

I don't really know if it's Canadian or not (I assume so).

On the website, the air time is given:
Saturday, June 26 @ 4pm ET

But, with a bit of luck we'll be able to hear it back on the Nardwuar site. You can still listen to Elijah's last interview from december 2, 2002.
http://www.nardwuar.com/ (http://www.nardwuar.com/audio/index.html)

It's been too quiet of late, and I miss everyone!
:( yep, me too


Ha...my oven calls me...my croissants are ready. :)

Moondancer,
But is MuchMusic a Canadian station? Do we have any Canadian Faculty members?
Honey!

Me me me! I was staining my fence today, so only saw a mention of the time it was on after 5:00 - and then was seriously disappointed that I missed it. But the good news is it is on again tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. I'll set it up to tape, and then report back once I've watched it! :)

I think he's playing Jonathan there, too, mainly because of the bag. We had a discussion about those bags in the Harem once as we call them "bum bags" in the UK . "Fanny packs" would be slightly rude to Brits. :D

How funny! After all the time I spent reading the deep, literary, and brilliant last few pages, this is the only thing I'm smart enough to remember I wanted to ask about.

Why would the term "fanny packs" be slightly rude to Brits?

I hope to retire to Britain someday, and I am beginning to fear that I will be a constant laughing stock. :rolleyes:

You may respond by private message if it's too rude to explain. And thank you for possibly saving me from at least one embarrassing situation! ;)

Belated thanks, Tg, for the nudge toward your 'Frodo's Game?' essay. I'd have missed it for my ignorance of Card's protagonist - which mattered not at all because your comparison was clear and enlightening (as usual :) ).

Just back from the Korean film, 'Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter' - an exquisite work where the acting and photography are so natural and convincing as to make a fable seem like a documentary of actual events. I truly couldn't imagine the cast as any other people than the characters they portrayed, and the masterful photography and music turned realism into magic. So, I thought, what Anglo actor could possibly compare, coud be so intuitive...? Uhm, yeah, that one who was Frodo, and Ice Storm Mikey.

By contrast, in the 'Troy' preview shown first, every actor (except Peter O) was recognizable and, of course, hot :D, and the shots were so reminiscent of LOTR, I had to remind myself that, no, this wasn't Part IV. How easily, LOTR's ground-breaking fx have become cliche! If only PJ had been influenced by the likes of the Korean director in his LOTR script and direction, he might have realized how provocative focussed, internal action can be, escpecially when enhanced by glorious photography and score (as lotr was). And this 'foreign' film, relying on a handful of actors with an instinctive and riviting style (so much like Elijah's) and shot entirely in a square mile or so of state park, hit the big screens around the world. Would love to see what the 'Spring,Summer' direction would have made of the Ring, Frodo, Elijah, and the rest of the fellowship. I never bought PJ's and Philippa's view that LOTR was unfilmable without the expance of high technology.
Jeez! Looks like I can't even go to a movie anymore, without comparing every aspect with my last 3 favorites :eek:

Happy birthday, Narya!

Many happy returns! :)

Carly, good to see you here again. Do delurk some more! :)

Naiad, fascinating thought about LotR being made without all the SFX, just relying on the actors and the emotions and mood evoked. I'd really like to see that once, for comparison purposes, as I do love PJ's films and wouldn't want to change them....very much. ;) (Just prolong them, mainly!)
I once saw one of my favourite novels, a vibrant and rich tale of a woman's life from childhood to old age in medieval times, acted by 8 actors on a bare stage with simple costumes and few (but relevant) props, over the course of 4 hours. It's one of the most fantastic plays I ever saw, all thanks to the actors and the scriptwriter and director, who managed to convey all the strong emotions, the complexity of the characters and their development, the many events involving the characters and the dramatic historic backstory..... Perhaps if those people tackled LotR on film, *or* on stage, one day? And made sure to hire Elijah again, of course. :)

Somehow I doubt that the LotR musical that's in the works will be a quiet and special-effects-less affair. :D

Happy Birthday, Narya
:)
(gift: see attachment)

On somebody's LJ, somebody posted a small clip from Nardwuar II and it was an old clip (still fun to see but certainly not new).


Why would the term "fanny packs" be slightly rude to Brits?
Brits, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I thought "fanny" referred to a certain part of the female anatomy.


Just back from the Korean film, 'Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter' - an exquisite work where the acting and photography were so natural and convincing as to make a fable seem like a documentary of actual events. I truly couldn't imagine the cast as any other people than the characters they portrayed, and the masterful photography and music turned realism into magic
I saw a Japanese movie in the theater once (one of the rare occasions we could see an Asian movie on a big screen). The pace of the film was very different than what I was used to and the photography was mindblowing! It was very, very beautitul.
I saw this movie in the middle of my uni exams - my sister and her husband dragged me against my will to the movie just to help my relax a bit and I was very grateful for that. Wonderful!
One of the things I liked about it was that they took their time to "show" things. This may sound odd but in a lot of Western movies, they have the tendency to explain almost everything, to talk a lot!
One thing I notice when I see a French movie is that they allow a lot of silences in the movie. I may have been looking at the wrong American movies, but I don't see that a lot in US movies. In French movies, there are usually a lot more dialogues about nothing in particular. The dialogues are not used to convey a message in words, but they do tell more about what's really going on here just by allowing the viewer to watch their body language,...They like to build in silences a lot. I like that: just people staring at each other, trying to find out what's going on inside the other person.
Again, maybe I'm wrong here but silences like that are usually seen as 'uncomfortable' silences in Hollywood movies, so you don't see them that often. It's very rare to see a real quiet moment in a commercial movie.

So, (to bring this back to topic :rolleyes: ), I agree when you say that Elijah has a talent of saying a lot using his body language without having to say things out loud. That's why I would love to see him work with a French moviemaker one day (the director of ESOTSM is French, no?). I'm not saying that a French moviemaker is better than an American - not at all. But, I have a feeling that a French moviemaker could really draw from Elijah's talents as a 'silent' actor.

Happy Birthday, Narya!!

http://fool.exler.ru/sm/hb.gif

Have a lovely day :) !


One of the things I liked about it was that they took their time to "show" things. This may sound odd but in a lot of Western movies, they have the tendency to explain almost everything, to talk a lot!

Moondancer, you nailed it. That's why I am such a great admirer of "The Ice Storm" - it's that kind of "Eastern view" on people and things. The viewer is allowed to make his own observations.

Again, maybe I'm wrong here but silences like that are usually seen as 'uncomfortable' silences in Hollywood movies, so you don't see them that often. It's very rare to see a real quiet moment in a commercial movie.

Wasn't it in "Pulp Fiction" (:rolleyes: ) that there is a silence (about 2 seconds long) in the dialogue between Uma Thurman and John Travolta, and she says something like "You are one of the few people who can bear an embarrasing silence" ? :p

I would love to see him work with a French moviemaker one day (the director of ESOTSM is French, no?). I'm not saying that a French moviemaker is better than an American - not at all. But, I have a feeling that a French moviemaker could really draw from Elijah's talents as a 'silent' actor.

Wonderful thought :) . Sometimes I imagine Elijah as an actor in one of the German silent movies, like "Metropolis" or "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" - he'd have been absolutely terrific!

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


Ha...my oven calls me...my croissants are ready.

Is there anything left? No?! It's a pity :( ;) !

...and what a lovely image that is for a cloudy Friday afternoon - a picture in my mind of youthful exuberance jumping up and down for no other reason than to jump up and down. (C'mon - you can keep warm other ways!) :) No wonder we love the Lad.


~grumpy, you don't know what you're talking about. Think about what happens when a young woman (especially if she's well-endowed and considering a certain young actor's comments about "endowments") jumps up and down. :eek: Mercenary kid, that Lad. ;) ;) ;)

~grumpy's bad twin Jessica :p (just kidding.)(Honest)
"When you talk to yourself, you know you're talking to someone worthwhile" --- my grandpa
(don't worry until I start throwing things at myself)(Ooooo-kay...back to laundry) ;) (sorry to hear about the security on set of EII. )(I'd love to see pictures)

There's an interview with a Dutch magazine (it's translated, don't worry), posted on A&F (from The Yank).
Here's a snippit:
In England, after the premier of The Football Factory, a discussion was held last month, about the relationship between film and hooliganism. The paper The Guardian said productions such as The Football Factory and The Yank are advertisements for ‘wannabe warriors’. In such productions violence is supposed to be romanticized.

Wood followed this discussion with some surprise. He thinks it is disappointing that ‘apparently one has to keep silent about this subculture’, whereas ‘a normal approach can take away taboos’. For him The Yank is not a film about football violence, but about violence in general. “I see those violent explosions around the stadium as a need that most people tuck away deep within themselves. Man is not so civilised by nature. The fighting is a substitute for warfare. Many people like to fight.”
You can find the rest of this on the Always and Forever site. It's not a bad interview so it's worth to go to the A&F site.

I haven't found any pictures of EII, grumpy but this 'Dutch' interview is accompanied by a great picture (Elijah resting his head on Claire Forlani's shoulder).



And now something I found on a LJ (from baylorsr):
Sean’s book on the filming of LOTR, There and Back Again, is done, he told us, and should be out in October. He said he anticipates it being his first book, and listed other books he’d like to write as a children’s book, a motivational book, an interview book about child actors and directors who work with them, and another LOTR book “that really services the fans.” He described this book as more anecdotal and playful than the book coming out in October.
So, Sean Astin wants to write a book about child actors and directors who work with them?
He was a child actor, so he can draw from his own experiences but can I hope and assume that he will spend a small section of his book about Elijah Wood and the directors who worked with him? :z:



PS: great picture, whiteling! The man in the middle reminds me of Michael Jackson :D
And sorry, no croissants left. :( ;)

Hi, Carly! Good to "see" you. I've been very much a lurker lately myself. And I thought I had a bunch of stuff to comment on but my brain has gone completely blank. :p


I may have been looking at the wrong American movies, but I don't see that a lot in US movies.

Anyone else here watch Speed Racer back in the day? It was one of the first Japanese animated series to reach the states, and all the characters talkedlikethisveryveryfast so they could cram in enough explanation for American audiences. There's a Dexter's Lab parody of it that's sheer brilliance. I still do my level best to get the subtitled Japanese version of anime, even if there are translated versions, not just because the actors in the English versions tend to be pretty sorry (not to mention cliched), but because the English versions tend to add voice overs and much yapping where the Japanese let the visuals tell the story. I've seen a bunch of anime in French (no, I don't speak French), and the French tend to let the story "breathe" with silences as well. (Plus the French music for Albatore, the Space Corsair - Captain Harlock - is to die for. *sigh* )

I have mentioned before that I would really, really like to see Elijah play Kenshin in the unlikely event that it's done as a live action movie someday. The Japanese voice actor is excellent. I keep intending to check, but best I can tell the actual translation of Kenshin is better done than usual, however the actor who does his voice is Mr. Cliche, and I can't stand to watch it long enough to know for sure. :p Too bad they didn't have Elijah do the translation - his voice is closer to the flexibility and strengths of the Japanese actor anyhow; the one they picked is overly self-satisfied and heroic and completely wrong for the character.

Oh, whiteling, I've always liked The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari myself, except for the tacked-on ending. And Moondancer's right - the gun in the middle *does* look like Michal Jackson in his current incarnation. :eek:

Happy Birthday, Narya!

http://www.jankishlapetitefleur.com/images/limogep.jpeg

Sheryl

Another short "drop in, run out" to wish A Very Happy Birthday to Narya! No presents to leave, I'm afraid :o , but Moondancer's gift reminds me again how much I l-o-v-e Elijah's ties :) !!

I do want to add some thoughts to above discussions, but right now am 10 minutes away from the arrival of my ride to the fulfillment of a lifetime dream: seeing Simon & Garfunkel live in concert!!! I fell in love with Paul about the time I discovered hobbits, and he's always seemed a bit like one to me :) . I'm sure it will take me awhile to unwind when I get home, even though it'll be late, so I may drop in then.

Maeglian, re:8 actors on a bare stage with simple costumes and few (but relevant) props, over the course of 4 hours. It's one of the most fantastic plays I ever saw, all thanks to the actors and the scriptwriter and director, who managed to convey all the strong emotions, the complexity of the characters and their development, the many events involving the characters and the dramatic historic backstory..... Perhaps if those people tackled LotR on film, *or* on stage, one day? And made sure Elijah's talents as a 'silent' actor. Exactly! And I'd have loved to seen the production you described.

a French moviemaker could really draw from Elijah's talents as a 'silent' actor Yes, Moondancer! And where his spoken words may be few but ones which we hang upon :) . As we may hearken well to Elijah's that you quoted,
He thinks it is disappointing that ‘apparently one has to keep silent about this subculture’, whereas ‘a normal approach can take away taboos’. For him The Yank is not a film about football violence, but about violence in general. “I see those violent explosions around the stadium as a need that most people tuck away deep within themselves. Man is not so civilised by nature. The fighting is a substitute for warfare. Many people like to fight. Astute and brave of him to say such in an interview.

Thank you all for your wonderful birthday greetings - complete with lovely cakes and pictorial gifts! :k

I did tape Nard Wars this morning. Unfortunately, it 'froze' shortly after it started, and they didn't correct it for quite a while. So there was a whole lot of a single screen capture for quite some time, and then when they did get it going again, there was a whole series of videos with no sign of Elijah (they were mostly videos of songs I liked, so at least it wasn't painful to watch the rest. ;) ). I'm assuming that if the EW interview was in there, it was lost due to technical difficulties. (I wasn't planning on getting up so early to watch it, but my dog had other ideas, so I ended up watching it while it taped.)

I like to think that someone at the studio watched the EW part so many times that they destroyed the tape. :D

I found some new pictures of Elijah in Prague in somebody's LJ (plaidpjs).
Because I can't link to it, I'll try to give you a sample.
(one of these days, I really have to learn how to include pictures directly)

Edit: on Undone's LJ, somebody (agarwaen) posted a link to a Czech article with those pictures:
http://www.stratosfera.cz/ (http://www.stratosfera.cz/ispy/spy.clanek.php3?clID=32076)
Anybody know any Czech? Serena?

The Always and Forever site also had this posted re the EII pictures of Elijah getting off the train (wonder if its the same Czech article, Moondancer? );

...... sent along this article which was in a Czech magazine called Story [26/04 issue]. The picture is from the filming of Everything Is Illuminated at the Masaryk railway station in Prague. (They) also sent me a brief translation of the contents of the article:
"In the article it's only written that they shot the opening scene where young author Jonathan Safran Foer (Elijah) is arriving in Ukraine. He gets off the train, meets his guide and tries to explain to him how to pronounce his name. They shot this scene almost the whole day, because the director Liev Schreiber wants it to be perfect."

So he was playing Jonathan there, after all.

Why would the term "fanny packs" be slightly rude to Brits?
Brits, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I thought "fanny" referred to a certain part of the female anatomy.

Thanks for answering that one Moondancer. :)

((( Carleenya )))

Well, it's no longer last night but Monday morning--brain somewhat muddled, but still have to go to work :rolleyes: .
...I'd really like to see that once, for comparison purposes, as I do love PJ's films and wouldn't want to change them....very much. ;) (Just prolong them, mainly!)...
...all thanks to the actors and the scriptwriter and director, who managed to convey all the strong emotions, the complexity of the characters and their development, the many events involving the characters and the dramatic historic backstory..... Perhaps if those people tackled LotR on film, *or* on stage, one day? And made sure to hire Elijah again, of course. :)

I've seen a few plays done wonderfully this way, and IMVVHO, it works better on stage than onscreen--maybe because of the immediacy of the actors. Not that it couldn't work onscreen. But I do agree that I wouldn't want it as a substitute for PJ's films. As I'm sure I've said before, what I'm going to carry into the future from those movies is the visuals, and I've been surprised many times over the last few years to learn how much those visuals are enhanced by special effects, even though New Zealand deserves an Oscar for its portrayal of Middle-earth :) . The movies could definitely have been done with fewer special effects, but I'd really hate to lose all of them. Now, if someone was to make another set of films (or play[s]) in that manner... it would certainly need a lot less money ;) ! One of my "It'll never happen but wouldn't it be nice?" dreams is an unabridged reading of LotR with the film actors reprising their roles.

I remember a film industry insider saying the bravest thing PJ did during FotR (IIRC, the statement was made before the other two movies came out) was including the scene of the Fellowship grieving after Gandalf's fall--that most directors would be afraid to "stop the story" for that long. And, of course, there are a number of other "silent movie" moments throughout the films, especially for Elijah, some of which we've scrutinized pretty well ;) --including those 10.5 minutes (almost 13 minutes in the EE) where Frodo doesn't speak at all, although admittedly other characters do. So I wonder if they aren't perhaps a little better than most "American blockbuster" movies in that regard? (And a question for those who've seen enough of a variety of films to make the comparison: how would small/independent American movies stack up against French and Asian films?)

Maybe Elijah tends to have a "silencing effect" on directors, at least those who appreciate his talents. In Huck Finn, not a movie you'd think would be particularly introspective, I've always been glad that the director realized we didn't need a lot of words during the fishing scene (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id185.htm)--Elijah's face tells it all.

http://www.frodolivesin.us/667a5e50.jpg http://www.frodolivesin.us/677a1e40.jpg

In a way it's too bad about the increased security around the EII shooting, but hopefully it'll make for a better movie in the end. During the current reduced flow of EJW pics, here are a couple of Alfred Abel, playing the male lead in Metropolis as he has his first realization of the plight of the workers who support his hedonistic lifestyle. Hey, I could see it :p ! (Especially if they'd let Elijah pick out his own ties ;) .) The acting does go a bit over-the-top at times (although not in this particular scene), but the entire film is more stylized than realistic, so the acting fits in quite well.

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/PDVD_6500.jpg http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/PDVD_6520.jpg

Edited to say...

I had the bright idea of trying to find an online English/Czech translator. Let's just say that when it came up with "Elijah Vegetable", I gave up. ;)

I found some new pictures of Elijah in Prague ...

Oh, thank you! What a nice present on a Monday morning! :) He's looking good, isn't he? Lit from within, as usual (or else well-lit) ;)


Because I can't link to it, I'll try to give you a sample.
(one of these days, I really have to learn how to include pictures directly)


Who the heck cares? It's proof that he's alive, well, and working! Thank you again! ::: uploading some coffeecake and a large Starbucks mocha latte for Moondancer :::



Wood followed this discussion with some surprise. He thinks it is disappointing that ‘apparently one has to keep silent about this subculture’, whereas ‘a normal approach can take away taboos’.

I'm hoping - and I'm sure he meant - that it would de-mystify and therefore de-glamorize the subculture. I don't know how his character ends up, of course, but when I was following the pictures and articles and discussion about the filming, I kept looking at the pictures and thinking "What the heck could possibly be attractive about a bunch of people beating each others' brains out over a bunch of guys with two apiece running around a field after a third?" But then, I never understood boxing, either.

For him The Yank is not a film about football violence, but about violence in general. “I see those violent explosions around the stadium as a need that most people tuck away deep within themselves. Man is not so civilised by nature. The fighting is a substitute for warfare. Many people like to fight.”

Oh, yes, they do. He's absolutely right. We all have a bit of the Wild Man or Wild Woman in us, and at times display pack or pride behavior. I believe that denying this need leads to the opposite effect. My generation grew up on what my grandmother called "shoot-bang" - the entire Saturday night lineup on TV was Westerns or crime shows with an appalling body count - and my generation was also probably the most pacifist since the early part of the 20th century. OTOH, I've seen many of these same people who grew up pacifist try to raise completely non-violent kids, and either they eventually give in to the need for "directed violence" in their kids, or the kids grow up, leave home, and have one *heck* of an explosion.

It's possible to direct, defuse, or even to de-mystify violence. I don't think it's possible to deny that it exists, though.

~grumpy (too serious for a Monday morning)(I saw a fairly long teaser for "Lost", with Dom. M. delivering the last line in the teaser: "Where *are* we?")(It looks promising)

Yes, Tg, Alfred Abel was one of the actors in Metropolis.
Freder was played by Gustav Fröhlich, though (:o - sorry for being nickpicking).

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

Nice trousers, eh ? :D

Yes, Tg, Alfred Abel was one of the actors in Metropolis.
Freder was played by Gustav Fröhlich, though
:o Oops... Sorry... :o I stuck the DVD in long enough to get some screencaps, but didn't check the credits (it was already about 2 am at that point :rolleyes: ), so just went by the order of listing on the cover. Maybe something of a Good Son-type phenomenon? Was Alfred Abel possibly more famous, putting his name first although he wasn't really the lead? At least, I'd consider Freder the lead...

Oh, never mind, Tg :k
At least Mr. Fröhlich looked not a bit like Michael Jackson :eek: ;) ...

At least Mr. Fröhlich looked not a bit like Michael Jackson :eek: ;) ...
These couple of mentions reminded of the hysterically funny (IMHO) made-up "news story" from a couple of years ago about New Line suing Michael Jackson for "stealing Elijah Wood's face." :lol: IIRC, it was a take-off on a reviewer's comment that "Elijah Wood has the face Michael Jackson has been trying to buy."

I did some searching, but couldn't find the story (let me tell you, you can find some disturbing stuff by entering "Elijah Wood" and "Michael Jackson" into a search engine together :eek: ). But in the process, I ran across a couple of "blasts from the past"--Newsweek articles from early December 2001.

The first is a reminder of the very real risk New Line took in the whole venture. This article was published just 9 days before FotR opened, and the answer to the question of "confident or crazy?" was still wide open:
Crossed Swords, Cold Cash
A studio gambles on an epic series
By John Horn
Newsweek

Dec. 10, 2001 issue - A lot of show-business people think New Line Cinema is nuts to have committed $450 million to produce, distribute and market three consecutive “Lord of the Rings” movies before the first film even debuts. But the way the “Austin Powers” studio sees things, it would have been far crazier not to make the trilogy.

Moviemaking is about taking calculated risks. By adding foreign-distribution partners and merchandise alliances, New Line has trimmed its investment dramatically and feels confident about its wager. But the company’s future may already be in jeopardy: some at the studio fear parent AOL Time Warner intends to shut the division down, no matter how well the films perform.

Miramax Films acquired “Ring” rights for writer-director Peter Jackson in 1996, but balked at the $80 million combined price tag to make two movies. When Jackson walked into New Line in July 1998 he was down to his last chance. New Line cochairman Bob Shaye interrupted Jackson’s presentation. “There are three books, right?” “Yes,” Jackson said. “Then why are you only making two movies?” Within weeks, New Line committed to make all three epics—concurrently and on a substantially larger scale. The final tally? A whopping $270 million in f/x-laden production costs and an additional $180 million for marketing. (Recouping the money will take time; 10 percent of the film’s proceeds are split between Jackson and Miramax.)

Where others imagined ruin, New Line saw opportunity. The franchise-dependent studio couldn’t launch an Isaac Asimov movie series, and follow-ups to “Dumb & Dumber” and “The Mask” were stalled. With “Lord of the Rings,” New Line had name-brand recognition and two built-in sequels. Says Shaye: “That comes along once in a moviemaking lifetime.”

To manage costs, actors were hired for one long production. New Line’s Rolf Mittweg insisted that foreign exhibitors wanting the first movie buy rights to all three, sight unseen. “They did that, not knowing anything except that if the first film doesn’t work, the other two won’t work, either,” Mittweg says. When international sales are tallied, says the studio, New Line’s financial risk on each $90 million movie is but $25 million.

Nevertheless, sure things have a way of costing New Line dearly. When last year’s $80 million “Little Nicky” bombed, AOL Time Warner publicly singled out the Adam Sandler comedy for damaging company earnings, even though sister studio Warner Bros. had an equivalent bust with “Red Planet.” It’s such treatment that spurs New Line to show up its doubters with a brassy bid, especially since Warner Bros. packed vaults with “Harry Potter” riches.

Even in its worst-case scenarios, New Line won’t contemplate the first film’s tanking. Says cochairman Michael Lynne: “Not working at all is not a contingency we have.” Confident or crazy? We’ll soon find out.

The second is an interview with "our boy" about two weeks before FotR opened. Not much new, but it's kind of fun to read this from his last few days of anonymity (discussion of tatoos deleted because this post was too long--nothing we don't know). And I love his misunderstanding of the interviewer's question about "falling in love" :p :

Elijah Wood: ‘We Were Passionate About What We Were a Part Of’
‘Lord’ star talks labor and love
Newsweek Web Exclusive

Dec. 6, 2001 - In the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, Elijah Wood plays Frodo Baggins, a naive hobbit who must take the terrifying road to Mordor, dodge the evil Sauron and Saruman—and then hurl the ruling ring back into the fires of Mount Doom. Not exactly your average role. Over the phone, the 20-year-old comes off as a sunny young guy (“Hi! It’s Elijah!”). He talked with NEWSWEEK’s Jeff Giles about the labor and love.

Everybody I’ve spoken to on “Lord of the Rings” loved the project but thought it was the hardest thing they ever did.

Yep. It was amazing. And it was so much more amazing than it was difficult. But the truth of the matter is that it was one of the most difficult experiences of anyone’s life. I’ve never felt so tired in my life, and the things that were asked of us—physically, mentally, emotionally, constantly—were really extreme. But at the end of the day, it didn’t matter because we were so passionate about what we were a part of.

Some people I’ve spoken to didn’t know how exhausted they were until was over.

Oh, I knew. I knew how exhausted I was. You go past the point of exhaustion. You do sort of lose it.

You had to spend an enormous amount of time with Sean Astin (Sam Gangee). If you hadn’t like each other, you would have been in deep trouble.

Right? Wouldn’t that have been terrible? We became like brothers. We spent all our time together.

Had you met him before?

I hadn’t. I met him about four or five days before I flew to New Zealand for the first time. He was getting his wig fitted, as I needed to get mine fitted. I went to this hotel, and we kind of crossed paths in the lobby. Obviously we both knew who [the] other was. And we kind of stopped and looked at each other, and we just ran and gave each other a massive hug—and that was the first time I ever met him. It was this instant connection because we knew what we were about to embark on together.

I take it there were a lot of schedule changes. You must have woken up a lot of times not knowing what you were about to shoot.

We never knew. About a month into the production, it became very obvious that we could not rely on the schedule. It was constantly changing. I’ve never seen a schedule change so much. Weather was a huge factor. Sometimes actors weren’t available yet because they were coming from overseas. The script was constantly changing—and that’s a positive thing. Normally when people mention that a script had to be rewritten constantly I think people tend to assume that that’s a negative, or that something was wrong. And that wasn’t the case with this film. It was just trying to find the right balance with Tolkien and a filmic kind of perspective—trying to include as much Tolkien as possible without making it too obscure.

You had to wear big rubber hobbit feet, right? Tell me about getting them applied.

We stood on a box. I had the sweatiest feet amongst the hobbits. So my hobbit feet tended to come off very quickly. The glue kinda melted away.

Were you teased for your sweaty feet?

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I was the one to constantly have his feet reapplied. I had to stand up for the better part of an hour, and then I could sit down for the remainder.

Did you ever say, “Can’t you just not show our feet in the shot, sir?”

Oh, constantly. We were all like little dealmakers. We were constantly walking around trying to figure out if they we’re going to show the feet or not. Most of the time we knew—we knew—they weren’t going to use them, and they would not admit it because they wanted to cover their ass. So constantly we’d come to them and say, “Look, they’re not going to be seen so can you just say they’re not going to be seen, so we can have an extra hour of sleep tomorrow?” And they’re like, “No, Peter doesn’t know what he’s gonna see in the shot.” Nine times out of 10 they wouldn’t agree with us, and we’d have to suck it up and put our feet on—and we would be right.

You’re 20 now, right? What’s the drinking age in New Zealand?

Twenty.

You got lucky.

I did. I think they actually switched it. It was 20 initially and they switched it to either 19 or 18 when I got there.

The studio probably made that happen as a gift to the actors.

Right? It was actually much needed, I think.

Did you fall in love making the movie?

Yeah, oh, God, I loved it.

No, I mean, did you fall in love with anybody?

Oh. Ah, no, not really. I did have a couple of relationships, though. I’m a hopeless romantic so it’s difficult not to over that period of time.

So if anyone knows how to find that "news story" about Michael Jackson... ;)

TGShaw:
(And a question for those who've seen enough of a variety of films to make the comparison: how would small/independent American movies stack up against French and Asian films?)

I'm terrible at recall (better at recognition!!)--but there is probably truth to the idea that many Hollywood films want to talk more than show, interesting point..... yet I think there are so many kinds of American-made movies that it is hard to generalize that all of them do this--or that you couldn't find a lot that didn't fit into that catagory. Even among the big ones. The Graduate??? comes to mind. Not lots of "telling"--lots of shots of a depressed and alientated Dustin Hoffman. The Shining, I think was told in lots of long non-talking scenes photographing hallways and a boy on tricycle... ;) I'll have to give this some thought and consult my little film specialist....

ah...Alyon's Daughter enters the room and says (speaking of independent movies)-----go see Gus Van Sant's Gerry and Elephant. Gerry is a film of very little dialog and long long shots of people merely walking, or sitting in the desert, and shadows moving, and the sun coming up. Sort of existential. She highly recommends it. Elephant is loosely based on Columbine. No real talking exposition, but follows kids lives in one day....

Off now to see the Director's cut of Donnie Darko. Another that might fit into the catagory...?? I'll be thinking of this question as I watch.

EDIT To ADD Happy Birthday to Narya!!!

From Grumpy
We all have a bit of the Wild Man or Wild Woman in us, and at times display pack or pride behavior. Just now we're in the middle of the European Soccer Championship. Probably this is something that gets little, if any, mention in the US, but here in Europe you pretty much have to live in a dark forest under a rock not to be involved on some level. I think it's fascinating to see the "pack and pride" behavior of the soccer fans at the matches - nearly everyone dress up in the country colours, including caps, pace faint, wigs, banners, the works. And though everyone are very intensely supporting their team, what has struck me overall this time around is the positive experience - it looks as if all their energy finds it outlet not in anger and violence, but in companionship, creativity, being intensely in the moment. A few of the English soccer fans made themselves known at first through some violence, but as far as I know they mostly behaved nicely - even when England lost their quarter final, which was so exiting it had even me on the edge of my chair! So soccer hooliganism seems to be on the decline at present, though the more positive aspects of "pride and pack" behaviour certainly aren't.

Let me tell you, you can find some disturbing stuff by entering "Elijah Wood" and "Michael Jackson" into a search engine together Now I'm curious..... but I don't think I'll follow up on the curiosity. :eek:


Thank you for re-posting the Newsweek interview. I always get an aaaawww! feeling when reading how SA and EJW first met each other. So wonderfully nice. :)

From tg
I'm going to carry into the future from those movies is the visuals

From EJW
It was just trying to find the right balance with Tolkien and a filmic kind of perspective—trying to include as much Tolkien as possible without making it too obscure.

In our discussions about the use of SFX compared to more "intimate" filmic reliance on emoting from the actors, I've been reminded how PJ was really under strong continual crossfire from many opposing interests in balancing quiet subtelty and large SFX-riddled visuals. One reason for the extensive SFX may well be New Line's financial gamble that's descibed in the article in tg's post. What if the films had not used state-of-the-art SFX at every turn, but had relieved almost more extensively on "quiet" subtle acting moments without enhancements - and had bombed at the box office? Wouldn't they have had extreme criticism for not paying attention to the perceived main target audience of young males, and their penchant for things that go boom in the most spectacularly possible ways...... ?

Anyway, on the one hand, PJ obviously went for subtlety in the Frodo portrayal at least, letting Elijah express what's going on in very few words but with lots of close-ups of his very expressive face. (And contrary to what people beleived, not even using SFX on the *Eyes*! :rolleyes ) And that, in turn, has lead to a lot of different interpretations and discussions and disagreement concerning what's exactly happening with Frodo, whether he's close to canon or directly contrary to canon, whether he's a wimp, etc. etc - because so much is left unspoken except by Elijah's non-verbal acting.

On the other hand, there are all the scenes where quiet subtlety might have worked very well, and where PJ went for the big SFX guns instead. By and large, he did go for the SFX and visual impressive effects more often than not, IMO; that was his "filmic kind of perspective" and his choice, as Elijah says above. The LotR films are chock full of SFX-enhanced visual echoes and contrasts, and work amazingly well on that level. It's extremely rewarding to get into that aspect of the films, I think.

For instance, there are various very similar scenes which are contrasted through the use of colour: Sam and Frodo's two handclasps, mirroring each other so closely: One in cold blue colours (water), one in warm red and orange (fire). And to follow up on that though: One of the scenes where most people, including me, have been complaining that PJ *should* have gone for the subtle acting instead of over-the-top SFX effects, is Galadriel's "Freak-out" at the mirror. Cate Blanchett is a fantastic actor who could have shown us Galadriel's reaction to the Ring's temptation much better without being caught in a blue/green windstorm while wearing some sort of ragged valkyrie outfit.

And yet, if the films are out to employ strong repeated and contrasting SFX-enhanced visuals in telling the tale: In contrasting and comparing two Ring temptation moments, one in the cold blue-green of water, one in the golden-red of fire, both seeming to be caught up in a whirlwind coming from the Ring's direction; could the following composite perhaps be at last part of the reason for the filmatic choice of "nuclear Galadriel" over more appropriately subtle means?

Tg, thanks to the wonder that is "Search this thread" , I found a post by Erendis from 20th Feb 2003 where she quotes the spoofy New Line article;



I remember the quote as "Elijah Wood has the face that Michael Jackson tried to buy." I can't find it online.

I did find a follow-up to it. The MJ connection was picked up on by the Brains Trust, one of those spoofy online "news" pages, like the Onion. They wrote a parody article:
:LOTR Producers Sue Michael Jackson's Face
New Line Cinema, Wingnut Films, and producers of "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" filed suit this week against Michael Jackson's medical team and face for "knowingly acting in violation of international copyright laws by reproducing Elijah Wood's features on the front of Mr Jackson's head." Plaintiffs contend, in a 60-page brief, that unauthorized production stills from the first installment of "Lord of the Rings" fell into Mr Jackson's possession sometime during the summer of 2000. At this time, Mr Jackson's surgery goals allegedly veered suddenly away from the "glamorous features of Diana Ross" and toward a "look which is decidedly pixie-like and uncannily similar to that of Elijah Wood." Some 40 photographic exhibits purport to compare Mr Jackson's features with Mr Wood's, noting similarities in the two men's "alabaster complexion, adorable pointy nose, irresistible dimple, and pouty, pouty lips." However, a powerful legal team which represents the studios has indicated they will do their utmost to protect the financial interests of several corporations, including the estate of J R R Tolkien. "We are not unsympathetic to Mr Jackson," said one attorney, "But Elijah Wood's face is the exclusive property of New Line Cinema, and we're damned if any fly-by-night international pop superstar is going to go around wearing it."

:lol:

Alyon,

I was thinking about Tg's question about American independent movies and Gus Van Sant was the first name that popped into my mind. What a coincidence!
I really love 'My Own Private Idaho': original storylines, a lot is left for the actors to 'show'...the dynamic between River Phoenix and Keany Reeves is fantastic (I was really a fan of River Phoenix and I thought that his brother was great in The Gladiator).
I can't say anything about Asian movies (I haven't seen enough of them) but I do think that American Independent movies lean more to the European film genre (but it's difficult to generalise).

The dumning down happens mostly in commercial movies, no? Not only in Hollywood blockbusters. They simply do not like taking risks and using original movie concepts = taking risks.
Although, with the LOTR movies, PJ and co. have proven that you can make commercially succesful movies without oversimplifying the story.

Let me tell you, you can find some disturbing stuff by entering "Elijah Wood" and "Michael Jackson" into a search engine together
Due to my curiosity, I did do this search and...YIKES :eek: ...talk about disturbing stuff. I quickly stopped my search.

..."knowingly acting in violation of international copyright laws by reproducing Elijah Wood's features on the front of Mr Jackson's head."
...
Mr Wood's, noting similarities in the two men's "alabaster complexion, adorable pointy nose, irresistible dimple, and pouty, pouty lips."
:lol:

quicksilver--Thank you, thank you :z: . I knew it was much funnier than what I could remember of it [simulposted with Moondancer, but I'm going to keep the following, anyway--think it's worth another repetition :p ]:
"knowingly acting in violation of international copyright laws by reproducing Elijah Wood's features on the front of Mr Jackson's head."
:lol:

On soccer fans--Something else I wouldn't know if I hadn't been following the news on Hooligans is that the known British hooligans were refused permission to leave the country during Euro 2004. Might have had something to do with the civility present? The description of the fans there sounds pretty much like American sports fans, and I'm sure is a better picture of most European and British sports fans than the hooligans are. IMHO it's not that we don't have much worse violence problems in the U.S. than those across the pond--they just haven't become connected with sports (except for clothes from specific teams sometimes serving as gang "colors"--but really having nothing to do with the teams themselves). Somehow I think soccer might lead to a lower level of violence than guns and drugs... :(

Ditto to what Maeg said about PJ's spot between a rock and a hard place. There was absolutely no way he was going to completely please everyone without making a half-dozen sets of movies. It would simply have been impossible. Not a new phenomenon, even with LotR--the first thing I think of is JRRT's statement in the Prologue that the passages of the book that some people dislike the most are the favorite passages of other readers. I've seen exactly the same dynamic in discussions of the movies. (Interesting that JRRT also says the same thing Maeg said about the movies in an earlier post--the only agreement seems to be that the book isn't long enough :p .)

That's one of the main reasons I personally try to stay at least basically focused on the aspects of the movies that are gifts to me, and figure the other aspects are most likely gifts to other people (and DVDs do have that wonderful "next scene" feature :p ). I have the entire story and deep insight into the characters in the book, and anything added from the movies is pure gift. If I tend to grump about nuclear Galadriel, I remember that the screenwriters had to forcefully convince New Line that, no, Frodo shouldn't fight off a band of orcs in order to get to the boat at the end of FotR, and ended up giving us that incredible scene on the banks of the Anduin instead. If PJ had really tried to walk a tightrope all the way through in order not to offend anyone, IMHO the end product would have ended up completely bland--which it certainly isn't.

Not to say that there aren't parts I would have done very differently with my own 300 million dollars... :rolleyes: ...or that I disagree with a lot of the complaints.

Morning all! I posted this on my lj, but I thought some of you might be interested in this too, since Lij's newest film venture, EII, has a strong Holocaust theme.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am something of a Holocaust scholar. So it thrills me to see Elijah involved with the Shoah Foundation, started by Stephen Spielberg, which, to date, has recorded 52,000 testimonies of Holocaust survivors. The project Lij worked with is called Voices of the Holocaust: Children Speak, and may be found at: http://www.vhf.org/childrenspeak/

After watching the historical overview by Peter Coyote, you will see a small block with the word "Menu" on it, on the left hand side of the screen. Rolling your mouse over it opens the menu, and the one you'd be interested in if you want to hear Elijah's narration is "Themes". This opens what looks like a flow chart of themes that each of the four highlighted survivors speaks on. Clicking on a theme will give you an opportunity to select a name and listen as that person relays their memories on that particular topic. Elijah introduces the remembrances of Max and Morris; the narrator for the two female survivors is Natalie Portman. Great stuff, and so wonderful to see Lij involved with such an important project.

Unfortunately, this site apparently doesn't work too well for those without high speed internet connections. And if you do go and listen, just so you know, a few of these testimonials such as "Before the Holocaust" and "Family" are without introduction.

Achila--Thank you so much for that update. That Elijah (and Natalie Portman) were going to be involved in the project was announced quite some time back, but then any news about their part in it seemed to disappear. Since I don't have high-speed internet, I may not see it til the weekend, but will certainly watch it when I can (at the office we have high-speed, but no audio :rolleyes: ).

You're welcome, tg. Yes, I remember hearing about this some time ago as well, and went to look for information on it last night after watching the bonus materials on the DVD of Schindler's List (which has info on the Shoah Foundation and which reminded me of Elijah -- yes, everything DOES remind me of Elijah :) ). The site has a 2004 copyright date and from what I can gather, it's not up that long -- probably four months or so.

Thank you very much, Achila. :)

I saw the link on your LJ earlier and I listened to bits of it at work. I'm now going to listen to the rest of it.
It's great to hear the story of a Jewish kid (Max) from my country. Interesting to hear how things went here.
My dad is only three years younger than Max, so I've listened to some of his stories. He has talked about some of the things he has seen (in my city, Jews,... from all kinds of places were gathered before they were sent to Nazi-Germany).
The place were they kept the 'prisoners' has been rebuild inside and it has now lofts and appartments. Well done, I must say (and expensive) but I could never live in a place with such a dark history,...in a place where people were tortured (in the basement),... :( :( There's also a holocaust museum now in there.

Elijah does this well, doesn't he? I really think it's fantastic that he's involved in the Shoah Foundation project.

Hello again at last ....

Sorry about my long absence, but - and here comes the confession - yes, I've been in Prague! Tg, you were absolutely right :). Got back on Saturday after end of intensive Czech language course sponsored by my unwitting employer. (Seriously, I did have to work quite hard and pass an exam at the end, but still got to enjoy that magical city.)
So yes, Moondancer, I'll translate that little article for you (see below).

Whiteling, I'm so sorry I missed your birthday! And I ADORED your Froijah portrait. Most beautiful and captivating. Not to mention everyone's wonderful posts. Haven't quite caught up yet.

But Happy birthday, Narya!

And no, I didn't see Elijah in Prague despite all my best efforts! :( (But DID see and definitely hear David Bowie - mind-and-ear-blowing until he had to leave the stage because of acute shoulder pain - and hear a concerto with full orchestra for blues harp, AKA diatonic harmonica, so all was not lost!)
And tomorrow I head back to the Czech Republic, to the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, so - unless he unexpectedly cancels - I should see Elijah there :) :) :)
He is presenting ESOTSM on Saturday evening at 10.30 p.m., I think.
Anyone feel like coming along? If so, PM me!

And I did manage to discover where a lot of the location filming - of the remains of Trachimbrod, I assume - will take place. It's a small town not all that far from Prague. I dare not post the name on the Internet in case I unleash an avalanche of people looking for the set, but if anyone wants to know they are welcome to PM me!
Problem is, I don't know WHEN they will be there! Visits to both sites of the Barrandov film studios yielded no info on that. But I intend to find out on next visit to the Czech Republic, one way or another. Have the phone number of someone who was very helpful last time but did not have all the information then; she may have by now (OK, next confession: as Moondancer knows, I had to sign on as an extra to get that info, but there isn't a hope in hell of being called on, as they know I don't live in the country! But it was fun trying.) Failing that, will simply go to said place and ask around.

May feel bound to visit the Nebe club as well (probably along with the whole population of Prague by now, though).

Was slightly gutted when I realised Elijah had been filming ABOUT 10 MINUTES' WALK FROM WHERE I WAS on my - and his - very first day working in Prague! If I'd REALLY thought about it I might have realised Liev would shoot the story absolutely in sequence, starting on Day 1 with Jonathan's arrival at the station in Prague (I realised that was being filmed as soon as I saw the pics posted by the three girls). But at that time I wasn't familiar with the local Masarykovo Nádraží (Masaryk Station) where they filmed that, and so might have gone to the wrong one - the main international station - even if I had worked out the filming sequence. So ... to nevádí, as they say (never mind) .... If I had seen him there, I might not be going to KV, er, tomorrow!

Saw (and bought) at least 5 Czech newspapers with snippets about Elijah - all of the main ones reported his presence in Prague, and one said he had rented a private villa somewhere and that family members would be visiting at some stage (and girlfriend ??? Who knows?) and that he was hoping to pose as an ordinary American tourist :D and was not behaving at all like a film star :) (so what's new?). As for websites, I last looked at the Czech ones a few days ago and found a story about his being at someone's birthday party the Friday before last, surrounded by adoring females, it seems (!). This person (not an Elijahfan) reported that EW was "irresistible" to all the women there (again what's new?), looked and sounded about 20 (well, OK, that's close enough) and took a lot of pics with his very sophisticated digital camera. If I get time to do more searching I'll keep you informed (but am just a bit short of time, what with one thing and another ....).

The only pic of him I took was one of a Frodo drawing by one of the artists on Karluv Most (Charles Bridge) ....

Anyway, Moondancer's article says this (paraphrased to save time):

EW (23), who portrayed the hobbit Frodo Baggins in the hugely successful trilogy LOTR, secretly visited our city!
Spies managed to photograph him in the Nebe club, where the actor hung out with his friends until 4 a.m. Elijah is only 168 cm tall, but it's impossible to overlook his piercing (?) blue eyes. "I went to the bar to get a drink and suddenly he was standing next to me. I couldn't believe it!", said one of the club's visitors. Elijah was making a flying visit to Prague, but he will be filming EII for a whole 2 months (!) starting on June 14. "In that film I play a young American of Jewish origin who visits the Ukraine ... etc. ...." the Hollywood actor readily revealed to us.
Pic caption:
After the success of LOTR, Elijah became a major star. "I lead a normal life, I go where I want and do what I want. I just have to cope with people's massive interest", he said.

Erm, yes. Must remember not to importune the poor lad if I run into him in the street on Saturday .... :)

Love,
serena

After the success of LOTR, Elijah became a major star.


It's really funny to me. I don't think he's considered "A-list" (Eastwood, Cruise, Ford, Streep, and a whole lot of actors that I don't care about) - at least that's not how he's treated at red-carpet events - but he's probably more recognizable to more people in a shorter time than anyone who *is* considered "A-list", and for pity's sake how many of the others have had their faces on *airplanes*!?! So is he a major star? To most of the world, definitely. To Entertainment Tonight and E, no.

"I lead a normal life, I go where I want and do what I want. I just have to cope with people's massive interest", he said.

I keep wondering how long that will last. :(

Erm, yes. Must remember not to importune the poor lad if I run into him in the street on Saturday .... :)

We already know from those who ran into him in England that the Faculty are way too classy to be obnoxious. :)

:::: sending serena off to Prague with this tune to have running through her head if she *does* run into him ::::

'Lijah O 'Lijah,
Oh have you met 'Lijah?
Oh 'Lijah the champ of them all....

:::: giggling ::::

~grumpy

Serena, welcome back :k
Congrats on your passing the Czech exam!
And thank you for your nice compliment :)

What great news you have!
And tomorrow I head back to the Czech Republic, to the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, so - unless he unexpectedly cancels - I should see Elijah there

Fingers crossed you'll meet him!! :z:

We already know from those who ran into him in England that the Faculty are way too classy to be obnoxious.

What she said. But anyway, don't forget your rescue remedy ;)

Serena you are just too cool! :cool:
How like you to be right there in Prague. And signed on as an extra! Even if they don't call you that is still amazing.

Keep us posted on anything you are able to find on our boy. You've already added a few snippets we haven't seen anywhere else.

OK...today, I decided to use a search engine to have a look through various postings on 'groups', 'message boards',...

Not a lot is happening today here, so...do you mind if I post some of it here?
As you might expect, there's a lot out there. I was not really interested in speculations about his private life (seen those quite a few times, even from before his LOTR days, from the age of 16 or so).
Note: of course, I don't know how accurate some of it is...I'm just doing a copy and paste thing here while I'm watching Holland play against Portugal in Euro 2004 on the tv.

1. Posted in 1994:
Rob Reiner's newest movie out this summer "North" stars Elijah Wood. In an article, Reiner calls Wood a "prodigy, an unusual talent with the most maturity of any child actor I've worked with".

2. Posted in 1994 - on one thread, somebody said that Elijah is marginally talented and somebody else responded:
Marginal talent"???? Roger Ebert himself finally had to fess up that Elijah Wood is "the most talented actor in his age group in Hollywood history." Elijah could give acting lessons to his "War" costars, according to LA Magazine. I met him at "The War" premiere, and he is a very intelligent,
articulate young man. He is a prodigy.
Also in this thread: a lot of comments were about Oscar buzz: there was talk in the industry that Elijah deserved to be nominated for his work in The War.

3. Posted in 1994 - I saw a couple of projects Elijah was supposed to be involved in (or in the negotiation phase):
Elijah Wood is going to appear in yet another movie entitled "Zoo", The movie is the first cooperative effort between Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and New Line Cinema.
Elijah plays a telepathic young boy who is able to communicate with animals.After his father dies, the boy moves to the South with his aunt and uncle where he helps, via his abilities, to revive the family zoo.
The movie is directed by Anthony Drazan. Drazan is also rewriting the
original screenplay by Patrick O'Connor.
Anybody familiar with this Zoo project? Did it ever get made?

4. Posted in 1996 - in this particular thread, they were talking about Elijah's appearance in the Letterman show and about a 'before they were stars' section. They apparently showed a little clip with Elijah
It definitely was him! Did anyone else see this? Elijah looked great! If I'm not mistaken, the clip was from one of those short Disney films in which Elijah played Pinnochio (sp).
I'm quite pleased and a little surprised that they would include a clip of Elijah on Before They Were Stars. Miracles do happen.
Pinnochio? Elijah? :D

5. Posted in 2001
I worked with him in about 92 and he was a great kid, sharp as a tack, a real trouper of an actor (we were ON Wrightwood Beach [outside]in Wilmington NC in a very cold November and Elijah worked with a fever; his adult co-star sicked out (with an itchy throat and no fever) and EXTREMELY well supervised by a very level-headed non showbiz mom (all gifts were cleared through her, no extravagances, etc.). I'd love to see him have the career he's learned to work very hard to achieve.

6. Posted in 2001 - I have avoided most LOTR related comments because I assume that most of you have followed various debates on that topic
At 20, Mr. Wood is to be admired as much for his present level of achievement as an actor as for his potential to develop still further. I must admit, I had qualms when I heard of the casting, but "the proof of the pudding is in the tasting", and Wood selected this role most cannily, knowing his own tastes and strengths better than most actors. In my book, he is a treasure.

In that same thread, somebody posted that in Tolkien’s book he had a bit of problem when it came to the burden Frodo had to bear but that Elijah managed to iron out the problems he had with it. In fact, in the book he never really could empathize with Frodo but now, after 30 years, he can return to the book with a much better understanding.

And yet another comment in that thread:
The first time I saw the movie I was a bit disturbed by him immediately dropping his sword on the approaching of the nazgul at Weathertop. It made him look like a coward. On later viewings, I grew to be really touched by it. He didn't act cowardly; he acted mortally afraid. He WAS
mortally afraid, as we all would have been. Still, he did not yield. The same thing goes for the cave troll-scene. He doesn't attack the troll, he leaves that to the warriors in the company. He flees, hides, only uses his sword when he sees no other way. I LIKE it. Frodo IS not a warrior. His strength, his heroism, is of the mental kind, spiritual if you will.
This all comes together at the scene on the beach of Amon Hen, where he
steels himself to go to Mordor alone. He does not dare to, yet he does.
No sword-wielding. No "Gilthoniel"-yelling. He just goes. It had me in
tears.
This is what Elijah Wood's performance did for me: He made room for
Frodo's true courage. I can't get enough of watching him.



That's about it.
:)


PS: I'm not sure which team to support at the moment: Holland or Portugal :confused:
PPS Good luck meeting Elijah, Serena and thanks for the translation and the lovely little bits of info. :)
PPPS and in the edit: Portugal - Holland: 1 - 0 (you're probably not at all interested in that...just switched over to the Dutch tv and then there was silence from the commentators :D )

Thanks for those, Moondancer -- they really made me smile.

But...speculation about his private life since the time he was 16???? Oh, the poor lad. Can't imagine how unbearable all that must get at times. But once again, my hat is off to Debbie Wood, the "level-headed, non showbiz Mom", who raised him so beautifully to not to get ruffled by any of that rubbish.

BTW, where did you search to find these?

BTW, where did you search to find these?
I used google, typed in 'Elijah Wood' and hit the 'groups' button.
:)

speculation about his private life since the time he was 16????
I was amazed to see some of it. I thought that some of this speculation only started when he became known as Frodo.
On one of those threads, they talk about his appearance on some talkshow when he was 16 (I guess for the promotion of Flipper).
The talkshow hosts asks the predictable question: "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Elijah replies no (don't know exactly what he said but he responded no)
This is enough to start speculating.
"A good-looking, talented, succesful and charming young guy like that doesn't have a girlfriend? Hmmm...strange. Do you suppose he is...." :rolleyes:
Well, you can imagine the sort of silly things people can come up with on a message board.

I'm woefully behind here - due to a RL crisis, I'm afraid.

Just wanted to pop in quickly and say:

A BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NARYA!!!

I had prepared this earlier, and intended to post it on Sunday, but circumstances intervened. This is the first chance I've had to deliver this birthday gif(t) to our super-duper moderator!

For Narya (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/Narya.gif)

I hope you had a lovely day.

Carry on... I'm going back to catch up.

The talkshow hosts asks the predictable question: "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Elijah replies no (don't know exactly what he said but he responded no)
This is enough to start speculating.

"A good-looking, talented, succesful and charming young guy like that doesn't have a girlfriend? Hmmm...strange. Do you suppose he is...." :rolleyes:


How very sad. What does it say about our world that even 16 year olds are expected to pair up?

First off I'm new to the Faculty and K.D. I'm new to computers in general. Thanks to a new found friend :) who I was lucky enough to find thru a lovely composition she wrote :) I am finally here. And I feel, already, like I have more new found friends...Thank You HoneyElf for leading me here.

I have not posted before because frankly you are all sooo smart I have felt a bit intimidated :( But at the same time you are all such great supporters and have such heartfelt respect for My Favorite Actor.......well I have decided to overcome my fear.

It is because I have such respect I had to speak out. I couldn't agree more with Moondancer's feelings. I am so sick and tired of the press and their speculations regarding Elijah's personal life. Just because he isn't a womanizer and a Hollywood Bad Boy the press has to hound him. Why is bad behavior more acceptable and condoned than a young man who is simply trying to live his life more discreetly while working at his craft :confused:

Attention Press :mad: Leave him alone. Recognize his immense talent for a change. You can get all your bad boy jollies by watching some other young actors........God knows there are enough of Them out there

But at the same time you are all such great supporters and have such heartfelt respect for My Favorite Actor.......well I have decided to overcome my fear.

ylla - welcome to KD and in particular to the Faculty Lounge :) ! You made a good decision. What a smart first post :cool: .

It is because I have such respect I had to speak out. I couldn't agree more with Moondancer's feelings. I am so sick and tired of the press and their speculations regarding Elijah's personal life. Just because he isn't a womanizer and a Hollywood Bad Boy the press has to hound him. Why is bad behavior more acceptable and condoned than a young man who is simply trying to live his life more discreetly while working at his craft :confused:

Obviously you have "eyes to see" his real qualities (unlike many other people) ;) .

Ylla, I'm glad you decided to unlurk! :k

Narya, Happy Birthday, belatedly!

Moondancer, Great stuff in your post! I particulary liked:
In that same thread, somebody posted that in Tolkien’s book he had a bit of problem when it came to the burden Frodo had to bear but that Elijah managed to iron out the problems he had with it. In fact, in the book he never really could empathize with Frodo but now, after 30 years, he can return to the book with a much better understanding.

I loved book Frodo, but Elijah really taught me (an admitted Tolkien newbie) who Frodo was with hardly a word. His Frodo was really a gift to us all.

Serena, good luck with your quest to see Lij! Thanks for the report!

Just saw "Saved!" McCauley Culkin has this face that just creeps me out. He's not bad looking, though hardly conventional movie star material. He just has this little twist to his face that makes him look very decadent somehow. Like a sadistic rent-boy or something. ::shivers::

Elijah's face, while undeniably beautiful, is somehow a blank canvas until he lets the character inhabit it, and that character's many emotions enliven it. I think that famous "glow" we hear so much about, is his intelligence shining through, as much as anything. I believe he could play a vast range of 'types,' from innocent Frodo of the Shire, to sinister Kevin the Cannibal.

Honey!

Welcome, ylla!

Fortunately the Czech press simply seems interested in the actor so far and (as far as | know) has reported only nice things about him - have seen no speculation at all about his personal life. They simply seem totally delighted that he is here. And they certainly regard him as a Big Star, whether or not Hollywood sees him as A-list.

Have just managed to buy a Karlovy Vary Film Festival pass and a ticket for ESOTSM on Saturday. There was no problem at all in doing this, despite the fears of some at the EII Yahoogroup. I'd better tell them that!

Just wish some of you were here too .... it would be so good to have a fellow Faculty member to share this with! :k

And thanks for all the good wishes ....

Am writing this in the only place (not exactly a cafe) in KV I can find with Internet access! So please forgive me for being so far behind with this thread. So many wonderful posts to comment on, but wil have to do that when I get home :).

Hi, ylla
Welcome :)

Attention Press :mad: Leave him alone. Recognize his immense talent for a change. You can get all your bad boy jollies by watching some other young actors........God knows there are enough of Them out there
I fully agree with this, but to be fair:
when I was doing my search, most of the speculation was done by random people on message boards.
I usually try to ignore tabloids and gossip magazines. When I come across an article on the internet, I'll probably read it :rolleyes: but I certainly don't buy it.

I found a thread where somebody posted an article, that apparently appeared on some trashy 'news'paper about a sighting of Elijah in some bar (I'm not going to repeat the specifics of that article in here...not worth it, in my opinion).
Anyway, other posters in that thread questionned the reliability of the article and somebody tried to trace back that post. It was an anonymous post, with a non-tracable e-mail and the newspaper does not exist.
I have seen that a number of times. People planting stories in various threads and some love to believe those kind of stories while others question it.
In the same thread, others said that it's no surprise really that Elijah is the target of this sort of speculation about his private life. He's good-looking, succesful, boyish looks, charming and apparently single...those kind of actors always receive that kind of attention and it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's good for a career in showbiz to keep people guessing about what you're like in private.

I agree however on your viewpoint about some sections of the press, ylla. How I would wish that they focus more on talent and on quality rather than on stories like 'Celebrity A is dating celeb B', 'Celeb C on holiday in Aruba...find our exclusive pictures on pages 2 and 3', 'Celeb D has dumped her boyfriend after only three weeks', 'Celeb E is in the middle of an ugly divorce...find the story on pages, 2,3,4 and 5 of your newspaper'...
In general, I would say that, most of the time, Elijah has managed to stay out of those kind of trashy newspapers,...
Sometimes, those tabloids really go too far. I don't know if some of you have seen this but during the football match England vs Portugal in Euro 2004,, the referree Urs Meier disallowed a goal from England. (the right decision in my opinion because the goalkeeper from Portugal was blocked off by England players so he couldn't try and prevent the goal but that's another matter). The Sun printed angry reactions from disappointed England fans, they printed Urs Meiers e-mail address and he's been receiving incredible amounts of e-mails (thousands!)...among them death threats. The Sun also planted an England flag in his garden in Switzerland. Meier's partner apparently can't take it anymore and Meier himself had to seek police protection.

"Saved!" McCauley Culkin has this face that just creeps me out. He's not bad looking, though hardly conventional movie star material. He just has this little twist to his face that makes him look very decadent somehow.
I haven't seen any of his recent movies, but I do sense that they're starting to take McCauley a bit more serious. For a long time, he was the target of ridicule in the mass media but now, more and more people seem to be admiring the fact that he's fighting back and they seem to have the impression that McCauley himself might be in this industry because he really likes to act and that he's not just in it for the publicity.

PS I'm going to London in a few weeks time for a couple of days :) . I love that city!

I saw on a Captain Sparrow Poppet board that Orli had to get chest hair put on him in order to play Paris. :lol:

The reason? So he'd look MORE manly. Double :lol:

Now imagine if Our Boy was faced with the same problem? :lol: Wouldn't he look silly with chest hair? :lol: He's MANLY enough as it is. ;)

I just thought of Something: How about a grown up Elijah and Mac reprise their roles as the ADULT version of their "Good Son" characters? :confused: I mean not the same roles, but sort of like them in which something interesting happens. :rolleyes: Like Elijah's house is wrecked because his wife is kidnapped by Mac. Then Mac calls him on the phone and says," Hey (blankety blank) I have you're wife, remember me?" The twist is that Elijah doesn't remember who Mac is because Mac is just some sicko stalking his wife, an actress. Elijah's a diplomat to France. Mac is a peverted French guy who takes Elijah's wife because she looks like his mother who abused him as a child.

Another Something: I once saw a picture of Mac partying and looking drunk in a magazine. Down at the bottom was a picture of Nick Nolte's Mug Shot. I laughed because it was the best BEFORE (Mac) and AFTER (Nick Nolte) picture I've seen in a awhile. :lol:

To answer Moonshine's question: I think the Hollywood Mind can't handle an Actor that ACTS right (no pun intended). That is why Bad Behavior is condoned and Elijah Wood is a curiosity, whereas Mac is a guy who had no morals growing up. (his parents still could have provided him with a good home life without being married. You never hear of Peter Jackson's and Fran's kids acting up, but they aren't teenagers just yet. I think They will turn out all right).

Somebody (Kristi) posted this on the A&F message forum:
For like 5 minutes on today's (6/30) TRL, they had Brittany Murphy hosting this 'Sin City' Behind The Scenes segment. She gave a short tour of the sets, intereviewed this guy from Troublemaker Studios, walked around some more and so on.

But THEN they showed a clip of Elijah who was looking all sexy in a black leather jacket and his yummy glasses AND was doing a FIGHT scene. Whoa, yeah. Anyway, it was only for like 2 seconds, if you blinked, you might of missed it, but man, Lij was SO kicking ass.
Did anybody see this?
I'd love to see a screencap of how Elijah looks

Moondancer, I so love your research regarding the article that was really the result of an anonymous post. I know exactly the article that you mean. It was one of the first things I ran across when I first joined the online community regarding the LOTR movies and my favorite actor. I didn't know anything. I was extremely surprised, but I believed it (for a while). Then I started recognizing who the weirdos were. I eventually stumbled into a forum where people, instead of shouting at each other, actually discussed the movies! And the actor's acting! In a respectful manner! *teary moment for a group hug* I love this place.

Ylla, welcome! I also do not care for "personal" press. And I mean that in, I honestly don't care -- who's dating who, for how long, and what they get up to on vacation. *suppresses huge yawn* But I do have my passionate interests, and like to follow those up. So I suppose I can't fault people who are passionately interested in who someone else is dating, although I'm still extremely puzzled as to why this might be interesting.

I actually just dropped in to say that I have been traveling, and will be traveling even more, so my comments might be sporadic for the next month or so. However, I do drop in and catch up when I can. Thank you for keeping these conversations alive. It's a relief! Cheers, everyone.

I'm woefully behind here - due to a RL crisis, I'm afraid.

Just wanted to pop in quickly and say:
::: snip :::
I hope you had a lovely day.


Yeah! What she said!

I confess; I peeked. :::: sniffle :::: I will never understand what it is about those first slow steps toward the ship that reduces me to a puddle of tears. Something about the way The Lad expresses the transition in those steps from Frodo's past to his future; from pain and loss and tears to peace and healing.

Dad-gummit. Every dad-burned time. ::: reaching for the Kleenex :::

~grumpy
P. S. I'm having a birthday every week for the next three weeks. :::: batting eyes hopefully :::: ;) ;)

:z: I realize I may be breaking the rules on decoram by posting again so soon. I do hope I will be indulged this one time. I feel by reading the comments associated with my first post I may have been slightly misunderstood as one who never swoons. I have been known to swoon although I do try to keep it in check. Perhaps that is why I hang out with this group. I suspect most of you have the same feelings regarding the attractive nature of a certain someone who embodies good looks, good humor, a romantic nature and as we all know incredible talent. In saying this :) an occasional slip re: swooning is bound to happen :)

I guess that makes me all to human.....certainly makes me female :) And for that I make no apology. :) Being that I am no teenager.... I am always mindful of what I express. I'd like to think if Elijah peeked his head in this forum he would be pleased or amused....certainly I'd feel badly if he was disgusted. Knowing he doesn't enjoy the swooning type of behavior :k I would like to believe this could be the one place he would feel less uncomfortable with.

I'd love to hear from you regarding that scenario...as remote as that possibility would sound :confused: What do you think :eek:

A note before I leave the office--since I'm trying to use my "at home" computer time to work on site updates, which have a long ways to go yet :eek: .

Ylla--Welcome :) :) !

And no rules broken as long as you don't post twice in a row (if you want to add something and yours is still the last post in the thread, just hit the edit button and add what you want).

IMHO, the quote from zkgrumpy that Mariole has in her sig is a good "summary" of this thread. I'm old enough to be Elijah's grandmother, and that's kind of how I feel about him--so I'm glad to have a place where I can talk about how wonderful and talented he is--as well as handsome and beautiful inside and out--without it being assumed that means I must have the hots for him... Not that I don't understand why other people do ;) --as any good grandmother, I can't understand why every available female on the planet isn't chasing him! :p :confused:

serena--Thanks for the preliminary reports (and we'll be expecting a full one after Saturday ;) ).

I'll echo Moondancer in that I'd love to know what Elijah looked like in that brief clip from Sin City. I checked the MTV website, but they seem much more interested in getting people to watch upcoming shows than in repeating what's already been shown :rolleyes: . I'm curious about (1) whether he really had four-foot-long fingernails, and (2) whether the clip was in black-and-white, as the movie's reportedly going to be.

How about a grown up Elijah and Mac reprise their roles as the ADULT version of their "Good Son" characters? I mean not the same roles, but sort of like them in which something interesting happens. :rolleyes:
Well, it sounds as if you have the screenplay about half written already ;) .

--Actually, Shadowcat's "plot outline" reminded me quite a bit of the description of the movie Robert Redford has coming out. He was interviewed about it on the Today Show this morning, and throughout the interview I kept noticing how much his way of thinking about moviemaking is like Elijah's: looking for characters unlike ones he's played, wanting movies with good scripts and "heart", and having a sense of humor about it all. I'm also glad that even with his success as a director he's still doing some acting, too--maybe our boy in 40 years or so? ...hmmm, and speaking of "boyish good looks"... :)

Well, it looks like it might start raining any minute, so I'd better start for home. A few rumbles of thunder, even. Hope we're not in for an electrical storm that will make me turn the computer off--I want to get Frodo at least inside Shelob's lair for July, even if I can't get him back out again until August ;) :eek: !

---Ooops. Too late. Rain coming down hard. Oh, well, it's only a 20-minute walk... :p

Ladies,

Here's something to give us all joy. :D :D



IMDb Salutes Action Heroes

http://imdb.com/gallery/virtual/heroes/59


(((Blossom))) Take care of yourself, dear. :k

Welcome ylla! :k

Serena! :cool: Thanks for the on-location updates!

And my embarrassingly late belated Happy Birthday wishes to wood and whiteling (whose Frodo portrait made me sigh ever so wistfully as I gazed ... the eyelashes! whiteling, thank you :k ) and Narya. :k

Have been busy with work, progressively slothly about all else, plagued by a wonky home computer monitor, and still very much fixated on a couple of glorious new DVDs of the Middle Earthy and Royal Navy kind that I got at the end of June. :D But I've been keeping up with y'all and appreciating the warmth of companionship and the discussions. Thank you, all. (((Faculty))))


Signing off with a happy 4th of July weekend greeting to our American Faculty! Meanwhile, the rest of the world, I suspect, awaits the Portugal vs. Greece showdown. Maeg, my dear, everyone knows about Euro 2004. Well. Except maybe Americans. ;) :D

Sorry to be very brief, but I really am not supposed to be here at all! :eek:


Welcome to you, Ylla! Great to see a new face! :)
I've somehow come around to just ignoring the speculations and gossip - I skip it if I come across it, and don't frequent sites where it's rife.


(((ainon))) Great to see you again and to know 't was DVDs kept you away! :) Yes, I know - The Euro 2004. Even I am watching. :o Didn't know about the English tabloid and fan behaviour vs. the referee that Moondancer mentioned, though. I should have known something like that was happening. I was in the UK at the time when England lost against Argentina in the World Cup. I still wonder how David Beckham managed to live through the aftermath of that; - it went absolutely crazy with spite and nastiness, extreme media hoopla and the hanging of effigies and what not.... Oh well. Fingers crossed for Portugal, here! :D (The "Hooligans" movie actually makes stuff like this on-topic. Isn't it nice?)


(((Blossom))) Take care. I hope the RL crisis sorts itself out. :k


(((Faculty)))

When folks on the Today Show announce the performer for their weekly summer concert series, it's usually my cue to turn off the TV, but today they announced Annie Lenox, so I'm hanging in there for a few more minutes. She gave a gracious response to all the compliments during her introduction, and some lovely/interesting remarks about how she sees her job as an artist as pulling things--sometimes painful things--out of herself that listeners can identify with. So far she's sung one song from her new album.

Thanks, ainon ( :o to anyone who read this while I had the wrong name there :o ), for the IMDb link. Frodo as action hero? They picked a wide variety of heroes for the list, so, yeah, I think Frodo fits in there very well :) .

Our favorite magazine :rolleyes: , People, has put out a list of the "50 Hottest Bachelors." Guess who's not there :confused: . Guess who's #1 ;) . Orli's such a sweetheart, though, I'd rather have him at the top of the list than most I could think of. As #1, he's the only one who gets a multi-page write-up. Proof that nice guys can be considered "hot" (although he's taken, it seems :) ). So, I'm happy to let Orli continue his "thankless job" :p of keeping the mobs of fans occupied so Elijah can do some serious work ;) . BTW, Johhny Depp fans will find some cute parallel pics in the article.

((())) to all being kept away by RL -- which I should be... :rolleyes: ... but I'm not sure I could face it without this place (meaning the people in this place--and its primary subject)... :)

Looks like RL has grabbed ahold of many of us at the moment, but I'm glad people are stopping in to say at least hi. Miss you women. :k

(((Blossom))). A crisis?? I do hope it's better by now. Good luck.


Ainon---It's about time. Good to "see" you!! (Now I still wonder where HobbityMe went to).


Serena!! Good luck. We will all be with you in spirit--which might be a little overwhelming, better bring your whip. "Down, Faculty!" (Hope you see the lad!)

Welcome, Ylla. Yes you have to have the warmth and not just the analytical bent to fit right in here. :D You will do quite well!! As to rumors etc regarding EW---I wouldn't care one way or another if EW said he liked girls, boys, aliens, or no one. But I do think it's up to people to respect his statements (as with any public figure) about their private lives. And they don't have to prove anything to any of us. Not our business. But one of the things I think is charming about Elijah, and the other Lotrs actors, for that matter, is that they seem so unfazed by speculation. They don't even bother to get indignant. They say what they want to say about their private lives...but haven't so far thought anything too worth getting offended by. That may change--esp if there really is malicious gossip--but I've found it quite an appealing trait that they can be so unruffled with things at this level, anyway. Pretty cool. :cool:

Mariole!! Have fun traveling, and see you soon!! ;) :cool:

Happy Weekend, to all.

Thank you all for the ongoing birthday wishes - it's nice to have it last longer than a single day! A special thanks to ((((Blossom))) for the loveliest birthday gif I have ever received. I definitely did a right-click-save on that, and will treasure it. :k I do hope your RL crisis has passed, and everything is OK.

Welcome ylla!! You have certainly come to the right place. :)

Moondancer, what an interesting search! Isn't it nice to know that for years to come, internet searches on Elijah Wood and his movies could bring people here to KD and the Faculty?

It's late and I'm an insomniac again. So might as well:

Marlon Brando >> Diane Keaton (The Godfather movies)
Diane Keaton >> Richard Dreyfus (The Goodbye Girl)
Richard Dreyfus >> Elijah Wood (Oliver Twist)

Can anyone do it in fewer steps?

I'm really wishing for some concrete news on a new EW movie. Is it dreadfully horrid that Yank/Hooligans hasn't an American distributor yet? Is this sort of par for the course with movies made outside of Hollywood?

I guess I'm suffering from some sort of post-Ring malaise. :confused:

Honey!

Marlon Brando...his death is not unexpected, we knew that he had health problems and he wasn't getting any younger but still...sad to see the great man go. RIP

Like a lot of people, I got to know the man through The Godfather and later, I saw his earlier work, which I now prefer.
I saw an old black and white movie of him last night and...wasn't he great?

Funny thing is...Marlon Brando is always considered to be one of the best actors in the business, right? Maybe this is silly of me but it gave me pleasure finding an article in a quality newspaper The New York Times, remembering the great actor and who gets a tiny mention in the very first paragraph?
Yep, Elijah Wood.
Appreciations. Marlon Brando - article by Andrew Rosenthal, New York Times -July 3, 2004
For my generation of movie lovers (born after "A Streetcar Named Desire" and now stunned to be old enough to be Elijah Wood's father), being a Marlon Brando fan meant absorbing his work in reverse. Ours was not the muscular, handsome young Brando who defined method acting in films like "On the Waterfront." It was the older, more complicated, uglier Brando
See? Silly to get some pleasure from such a tiny mention but still...somebody wrote an article about one of the best actors in the movie industry and they thought of Elijah Wood while writing it. Good sign IMO. :D


I'm hoping to find some pictures and articles from that Czech film festival and looking forward to a report from Serena. I really hope she had a great time there.

Off topic: the Tour de France starts today! :) :) ...I'm VERY excited about that (go Jan Ullrich...go Tom Boonen...make me proud!...don't mind me...I'm in a silly mood). I'm going to be glued to my tv screen for three weeks, interrupted by a trip to London...it's going to be a fantastic couple of weeks.

Thank you, Alyon! I'll head out 3 AM tonight for a rafting trip. :eek:

Moondancer, I bow to your superior journalism coverage, as always. :p And good work about making the connection, Honey, although I'm :( about your insomnia.

*this is me waving wildly at Ainon, Serena, and all the other semi-lurkers. Thank you for popping in!* :k

See? Silly to get some pleasure from such a tiny mention but still...somebody wrote an article about one of the best actors in the movie industry and they thought of Elijah Wood while writing it. Good sign IMO.
Silly :confused: ? Sounds good to me. :)


As a fan of classic movies and not much of a "modern" moviegoer, Marlon Brando for me will always be as he was in On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire -- Although I actually did see Don Juan DeMarco in the theater!! And parts of Apocalypse Now on TV. I know the Robert Duvall connection is a bit questionable (not onscreen with EW and all), but since he delivered one of my alltime favorite movie lines in AN (I'm sure someone will tell me if I've remembered this wrong ;) ), I just had to include the link.

Marlon Brando >> Johnny Depp (Don Juan DeMarco)
Johhny Depp >> Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Orlando Bloom >> Elijah Wood (LotR)

--------

Marlon Brando >> Robert "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" Duvall (Apocalypse Now)
Robert Duvall >> Elijah Wood (Deep Impact)

--------

Simulposted with Mariole--Quite a way to "travel" :p . Have fun and stay safe!!

-------

And yet another edit :rolleyes: . This one after a quick visit to IMDb--and let me tell you, I never would have come up with this first step on my own :eek: !

Marlon Brando >> Ron Perlman (The Island of Dr. Moreau--1996 version)
Ron Perlman >> Elijah Wood (The Adventures of Huck Finn)

The only positive comment I found about that particular Marlon Brando movie was that it was so bad it was unintentionally funny. :( But perhaps not a bad reminder that even the greatest can have moments like that--without making them any less great. (TAMTSNBN?)

from Tgshaw:
People ... list of the "50 Hottest Bachelors." Guess who's not there

Well, some people have taste. Quiote a crowd of them has been waiting alll day outside our lad's hotel in Karlovy Vary (more about that institution when I get the time!) in the hope of catching a glimpse of him leaving. Joined them for a while but gave up when I saw there was a reception and then a VIP dinner planned by the Festival and hence no chance of his emerging until quite late in the day. I did catch sight of the back of his head as he arrived this morning - had been watching " The Boys from County Clare", the current Bernard Hill movie - the festival's No 1 film, it seems - in the Pupp cinema attached to the very Grandhotel Pupp where EW is staying (amazing to think I stayed one night there myself 10 years ago - but it's had a total refit and facelift and the price has trebled since then!). Emerged to find a large crowd of excited people - mainly, but not all, girls, - and TV cameras and Elijah disappearing into the hotel. [Why didn't I follow my instincts and leave the movie the second it ended, or even earlier? Grrr! The acting was good and the characters (most of them) appealing, but the script was awful - slow, predictable and implausible all at once, if you can imagine that. And the direction was sentimental to say the least. PJ forever!]

So .... yes, please, Faculty, be with me in spirit as Alyon suggests ... I need you! Will do my best to record/remember everything EW says and does tonight when he presents ESOTSM. :)

There are new pictures from his appearance on the film festival!

You can find them in Undone's LiveJournal and probably on other sites soon.
If you can't find Undone's LJ, give me a PM and I'll give you a link.

Edit: this was on the official Karlovy Vary film festival site:
Elijah Wood will present Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Today at 10.30 pm in the Thermal Grand Hall one of the most expected guests of this year’s festival Elijah Wood will present a much awaited film – Eternal Sunshine of the |Spotless Mind. The actor, who is said to be attracting heaps of fans to Karlovy Vary, got the part in the Michel Gondry’s movie along with other two film stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. The movie with complicated name tells a story of a lonely and frustrated Joel whose long-time girlfriend has humiliated him by having all her memories of him erased from her head and wants to start a new and happier life. Joel decides to undergo the same procedure but unfortunately it does not come off as expected. The respected screenwriter Charlie Kaufman, whose previous film Adaptation was screened at the festival last year, co-operated with Gondry.
Pictures will probably appear on this site. Here's the link:
http://www.iffkv.cz/ (http://www.iffkv.cz/desktopdefault.aspx?tabId=110&datumlive=2004-07-03#)

Moondancer

A million thanks for The Most Incredible Picture

I actually gasped when I saw that beautiful picture. My daughter, who was in another room rushed in to see what was wrong :eek: I may have to look at that picture a few more times. Am I wrong.....How incredible is that face :)

I am so needing a new EW movie fix. I can't wait for The Yank (or whatever they decide to call it ) and EII. Almost wish I could time travel into the future.

I am so grateful we have a fan in Prague. Serena ....we are all with you in spirit and look forward to everything you see and experience. A little bit jealous but mostly happy and excited for you. All my best wishes for a meeting with our favorite guy.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEk! What a Bad picture! He looks like he has too much cheek blush on, and it's the wrong color. :rolleyes:

It makes me think of "Pinnochio's Revenge 2: Pinnochio at Large" because he looks like Evil Pinnocio in that picture. It scared me. :eek:

Moondancer, you really are our foremost Internet Hound (was it Mariole who called you that? She's right!). Belated thanks for finding the last Czech article, too!

Elijah is certainly attracting heaps of fans here (as one of them I can vouch for that :)). It's clear he's the No 1 attraction of the Festival, rather to his surprise, it seems - last night he looked pleased but stunned and slightly embarrassed at the rapturous reception he got as he arrived to present ESOTSM. Barrages of TV cameras and microphones and a huge crowd jostling to photograph him. Ironically those who didn't have tickets but waited outside may have got a closer view as he arrived; I had initially been in the perfect place to see him as he came in, but those with tickets were eventually sent into the screening room by the ushers, so we had to be content with seeing it all on the big screen. It was quite surreal watching the film of him arriving - a bit like all those awards ceremonies, except that a moment later the film became reality as he entered the room we were in.

Elijah was looking as adorably geekish as usual in a striped shirt and jeans (no CTJ, sad to say!) (yesterday's stripy T-shirt also contrasted charmingly with the film-star demeanour of Jacqueline Bisset and others). He was introduced in Czech by someone who made a series of jokes about the inconspicuous little film trilogy LOTR (sorry, I didn't get all of it, but no doubt it will appear somewhere on the Net). Elijah then came on to the stage and APOLOGISED for being there, saying "I shouldn't really be doing this: Charlie Kaufman should have been here to introduce this film, but he couldn't make it; he's ill. I have a very small part in this movie, which is about the truth of relationships - what it means to be in relationships. It's as cerebral as anything Charlie Kaufman ever wrote. I'm proud to be part of it and I hope you enjoy it. This is my first time in the Czech Republic - I'm here to film "Everything is Illuminated" - and you've been so receptive towards me and I thank you for that."

It was Elijah's modesty that came across most strongly (even more than that enormous intelligence he radiates) and my abiding feeling from seeing and hearing him live was one of huge affection and respect for someone capable of keeping himself and the world in perspective despite all. If anything I love him even more than before for that! He looked totally beautiful as well, as far as I could see from where I was (tried taking pics, but he is a bit of a speck on the horizon in them). There will be - and are - much better ones in the press: this morning's Festival daily has a beautiful pic on the front, taken yesterday, which I'll scan and post when I get home, and a lengthy interview which I'll translate when I get the time (along with some - ahem - interesting snippets from Bernard Hill's interview yesterday). And even more pics on the back cover of Elijah arriving.

And hearing Elijah's voice live yesterday was a thrill too - his voice has always been one of his most attractive features because of its depth (of expression, not timbre, needless to say). That too is in some way a mirror of his soul, I feel. He really is a very, very special young man.

So thank you, dear Faculty, for the good wishes! :k The downside of being here is queuing early in the morning for tickets and the tension of wondering whether everything will work out as you want it to, but the reward has been seeing and hearing our lad in person, if from more of a distance than I'd have liked. Maybe that will improve over the next couple of days - who knows?

It's clear he's the No 1 attraction of the Festival, rather to his surprise, it seems - last night he looked pleased but stunned and slightly embarrassed at the rapturous reception he got as he arrived to present ESOTSM

How typically Elijah :) Its what makes him so different and so adorable. Wonderful report Serena - I'm so excited for you. And I'm just hoping and praying that a dear friend of mine, who lives in Prague and is as besotted with Elijah as I am, gets to finally meet him there, I know she managed to get tickets. Its been so frustrating for her, knowing how close he has been working to her but not being able to find him.

And hearing Elijah's voice live yesterday was a thrill too - his voice has always been one of his most attractive features because of its depth (of expression, not timbre, needless to say). That too is in some way a mirror of his soul, I feel. He really is a very, very special young man.

He does have a most beautiful voice, gentle but strong, I could listen to it for hours. When I was listening to his narration on the Shoah Foundation site it occurred to me what a great choice he would be to narrate long, in-depth documentaries. "He really is a very, very special young man" - those words are very similar to how I finished up my report after meeting him last year (yes, I tend to refer to this a lot & I'm afraid I'll continue to do so - I will never get over it!) - but that is exactly how he leaves you feeling, that there is something very special about him. Hope you manage to get closer to him next time :z:

Doesn't he look wonderful in all those pics now emerging from Karlovy Vary - if anyone was unable to see them through Moondancer's links they are also here:
http://www.elijahfan.com/gallery/index.php?
spgmGal=Events/Karlovy_Vary

As someone mentioned, the black hair really emphasises his beautiful eyes and skin even more. And he does look relaxed and happy, thankfully.

My friend sent me some pics of Karlovy Vary - its a very beautiful place, I will attempt to attach them to this message as my pic host seems to have disappeared, not sure if I can attach more than one but will soon find out :D
I don't know if any of these are where the film fest is taking place.

A rather belated welcome to YLLA:)

WOOD - you have my sympathy on your computer crash - the same happened to me last year so I know what you're going through :eek: Its so frustrating. Hope to see you back soon :)

BLOSSOM - I do hope your RL crisis is nothing too serious :z:

Elijah is certainly attracting heaps of fans here (as one of them I can vouch for that :)). It's clear he's the No 1 attraction of the Festival, rather to his surprise, it seems - last night he looked pleased but stunned and slightly embarrassed at the rapturous reception he got as he arrived to present ESOTSM. Barrages of TV cameras and microphones and a huge crowd jostling to photograph him.

Thank you SO much for your report, serena -- between that and the pictures, I almost felt like I was there. I hope you don't mind -- I shared your words with the EII yahoogroup, which is very much akin to us here at the Faculty.

You could see from the photos that Lij was utterly surprised. And in fact, his name is listed first in the press releases that are on the KV official site. Never mind that they're giving Harvey Keitel a lifetime achievement award -- a hobbit -- THE hobbit -- will be here! These things make you so proud, but most especially, to see how very humble and modest our lad is. I think we really need to find out when Debbie Wood's birthday is and celebrate it every year, don't you? :)

Thank you very much, serena. I really enjoyed reading that.

It was Elijah's modesty that came across most strongly (even more than that enormous intelligence he radiates) and my abiding feeling from seeing and hearing him live was one of huge affection and respect for someone capable of keeping himself and the world in perspective despite all.
:)

Pictures are starting to emerge all over the place: check out the Always & Forever site (somebody has posted some pictures, taken from the Czech tv).

Also, a little report on the official film festival site is now up + pictures there as well (I'm attaching one for those with a slow connection).
Elijah Wood introduced a “surreal” film
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a film by Michel Gondry with a star cast and script written by Charlie Kaufman was introduced in the Grand Hall of Thermal Hotel yesterday by the significant festival guest Elijah Wood. “In this film I have just a little role, but I am glad that I could work with Charlie Kaufman. I admire what he does and this movie is very close to me,” Elijah Wood said. His colleagues in the film were Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet or Kirstin Dunst. Elijah Wood who confessed that it was his first time in this part of the world was awaited by crowds of fans in front of Thermal Hotel and they welcomed the young actor as a star like him deserves.

Shireling, how wonderful to hear from you again! And thanks for all the info and pics, which I'll look at properly when I'm in a more private place - writing this in the very public KV Festival Internet cafe - but Internet access is free thanks to Czech Telecom :)
And Achila, thanks so much for copying my stuff to the EEI board - I had meant to do that myself but am not sure now if I'll manage it as I've hurt my foot quite badly (hope it's not broken) - but that may have been a blessing in disguise, because through it I had a brief but sort of close encounter (sounds like 2 film titles!) with Elijah - see below!
Moondancer, thank you too yet again ....
:k to all

Went to try to see a movie this morning in the main screening room but had to climb over people to get to my seat, and in doing so tripped on the stairs in the dark. My foot started to hurt a lot, so I hobbled back to where I'm staying only to find that the one pharmacy I've seen is closed till Wednesday (holidays here Mon and Tues). So hobbled to where I was told there might be medication (arnica?), which just happened to be Elijah's hotel (OK, OK, but it's true!). Arrived to find another huge crowd of people - even bigger than yesterday. Apparently he was due to give a press conference in the Thermal Hotel, so people had gathered at Grandhotel Pupp to wait for him to emerge. Couldn't get to hotel entrance because of crowds, so I hobbled through the cafe at the side and up the stairs and suddenly found I was 2 feet away from a familiar figure dressed in another striped shirt (yellow this time) and the usual jeans and clutching a cigarette which I could smell was a clove one. He was surrounded by people and just saying goodbye to someone ("I'll see you later", he was saying to [and hugging] someone who might have been Liev, but I was so amazed at seeing Elijah that I didn't notice while walking past - and was reluctant to stare too much :)). But I must have passed within a couple of inches of him. And yes, Shireling, you are right - the photos don't do him justice. He really is stunningly beautiful in real life - and that's without even seeing his eyes properly! I did notice the black hair, and yes, it makes his skin look even more luminous than it already is. He stood out of that crowd like a beacon (and Czech people are notoriously beautiful themselves, so that's saying something). I was reminded of Romeo talking of Juliet (forgive the sex change: "He doth teach the torches to burn bright - it seems he hangs upon a cheek of night as a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear ..." - except that it wasn't night, but last night was, so that's OK). Oh dear - I seem to have turned into the ultimate superannuated fangirl :eek: Sorry about that. I'll shut up now.

Must go and get my foot seen to. (The things people will do to get to see Elijah Wood, eh? :D ) Not sure, but I suspect any visits to the film location are now out. Not even sure about rest of festival. Will keep you posted.

PS His voice cloe up sounded strong and confident too. More so than in TV interviews. Amazing.

I sure do hope your foot isn't broken -- {{{serena}}}. And I will copy this to the EII group too, if you don't mind -- lots of great folks there too, and they'll love hearing this story.

My only somewhat close encounter with Elijah was at the TORn party. Of course, he was up on stage and I was standing below, maybe 30-40 feet away, but those eyes still blazed like beacons and I could see them very clearly from where I was. How lucky that you were able to get that close to him, despite the circumstances! Someday, I hope I get that chance too.

Anyway, take care of yourself, luv, and thanks for the wonderful reports!

xxxx A

Oh, Serena! Firstly, before I forget, I'm so sorry to hear about your foot! I hope it's alright. :(

It's ridiculous, but I'm sitting here crying, I'm so happy for you. Your report was wonderful, and I'm going to go back and read it a third time!

It was Elijah's modesty that came across most strongly (even more than that enormous intelligence he radiates) and my abiding feeling from seeing and hearing him live was one of huge affection and respect for someone capable of keeping himself and the world in perspective despite all. If anything I love him even more than before for that!

Oh, it's so lovely to hear people say things like this about him! You lucky, lucky thing you!

I'll be thinking healing thoughts for your poor foot! :k :z:

Honey!

OH MY!! Serena. Good going!!! I do hope your foot isn't broken. Instead of icing it you were up hobbling around and look, it only brought you good!! (though maybe not for your foot).

Thank you so much for coming right back here to report on your encounter. I am so glad Elijah is receiving such attention. And what brilliance that you found yourself so close!!! Thank you again for thinking of your companions in spirit!!! :k

Now go put some ice on your foot. Can you do that??

And I echo everyone's appreciation, Moondancer. Your research is incredible. :cool:

Pics are now up from yesterday at the official KV site:

http://www.iffkv.cz/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabId=111&FSID=20040704175803

Serena-- :k :z: What great reports--to say nothing of the experiences themselves!! :) And so many fantastic contributions of pics aleady! Achila, that one that's second down on the left on the official site is... ahem... quite lovely... ;) And I suspect that's Serena's yellow-striped shirt he's wearing there, yes?? :)

To take nothing away from the great work elijahfan.com does in getting all these things together, for those who get as wiggy over their pop-up and pop-behind ads as I do, I've also posted the pics shireling linked to here:

http://www.frodolivesin.us/Pics

A totally "unlinked" link, as I try not to step on anyone's copyright--more than necessary :rolleyes: . Only way to get to the page is to use that specific URL.

Must be my elderly eyes :rolleyes: -- Besides the ads driving me nuts, I also have trouble with dark pictures, so some of the pics have a "tweaked" version directly beneath the original.

Updates on rest of site should be up sometime tomorrow.

Carry on :) .

Welcome, ylla! Glad to have you here. Yet another excellent first post to the Faculty!

Thanks, tg, for the photos and the photo tuneups.

serena,
I hope your foot is doing better. Arnica is considered a pretty old-fashioned treatment around here; you'll have to let us know how it worked for you.


Elijah then came on to the stage and APOLOGISED for being there, saying "I shouldn't really be doing this: Charlie Kaufman should have been here to introduce this film, but he couldn't make it; he's ill.

I adore that boy. I just simply adore that boy. And he's right pretty, too. ;)

Sheryl

Ouch Serena

Hope that foot is okay. Wow to think your injury got you that close to Elijah is certainly amazing. You deserve a purple heart for your troubles ;) Does it hurt less knowing that very unfortunate accident led to your encounter with him. Still....keep it iced and get some Motrin (sorry I'm a nurse....always on duty I guess :eek: )

Thank You one and all for your all your warm welcomes and kind words. I do feel very at home here. Think I'll stay :)

BTW..I like Achila's idea --we should find out Debbie Wood's birthday and celebrate. I actually wanted to somehow send her a Mother's Day card this year...just to Thank her for giving birth to him. Also wanted to thank her for raising him to be such a fine young man. Gotta love that lady. Maybe next Mother's Day :) it could be a nice little group project :D
Am I insane or what :confused:
I think all the pictures coming out of Prague kinda got to me (momentary lapse......better now :o )

Serena....don't ever apoligize for anything...and certainly never shut up
I'm sure I speak for all of us...We so look forward to your reports :)

Serena, I hope your foot is not too badly hurt? Keep us informed.
I'm so happy for you about that close encounter. :)

TG, thanks for the picture page. Are the July updates up yet on your site?(not that I want to rush you ;) ...I'll check it out after work). That elijahfan site is a great site but has indeed a couple of annoying side effects: the pop-ups and my computer tends to almost crash when I get to it (I have to shut down and start again...so I'm avoiding it for the moment).


Keep following Undone's LJ for the fantastic updates! There's also a small interview there. I have downloaded it but haven't listened to it yet (will do so later).
Photo's on getty images: http://editorial.gettyimages.com (http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/cfw/FrameSet.aspx?s=EventImagesSearchState|1|15|1|51021103|0|0|0|0||0|0&p=7&pk=4)
The Always & Forever site doesn't give me any problems so here's a link to a photo page:
Always & Forever - Karlovy Vary Film Festival Page (http://always.ejwsites.net/04KarlovyVary.html)
Elijah was in a 'striped' mood so it seems. I love to look at the faces surrounding Elijah, just to see how they react to him. Big smiles all around.

This weekend, they showed Forever Young on tv, which was great because I didn't have that on tape. :)


Off Topic: the Tour de France has begun. Jan Ullrich didn't have the best start, I'm afraid but I'm keeping my hopes up. The American Lance Armstrong is looking strong again. The Tour is now in Belgium and Jan was amazed by the unpredictable weather in Belgium: sunshine one moment, clouds the next, followed by rain, sunshine, rain, clouds, sunshine,... :D

Off Topic 2: I can be really absent-minded at the best of times, but sometimes it gets worse and then I'm a walking disaster. On saturday, I visited my dad, when I got back home I realised that I forgot my bag with all my things. OK, drove back to dad, sat down again to have a chat with him and drove back home. There I discovered that I forgot my coat with my mobile *sigh*. OK, drove back to dad...
And that's not all that happened...help!

Edit: found these pictures in attachment in "The site you can't link to". There are more there + for those who like to check out LJ's: Patsie and Undone!

Edit 2: saw this on the TORN message board (this is a copy+paste):
I just saw this quote from Elijah Wood given yesterday (I think)-on various sites.
"Don’t you mind that people now you as Frodo above all?

No, I like this character. Frodo is my shade and I will always keep on coming back to Lord of the Rings"
Interesting comment, that. I wonder it's from that interview you can download on Undone's LJ. I listened to it (it's lunch break now) and they asked him about being associated with Frodo. Trouble is: you can listen to the beginning and the ending of Elijah's answers but in between you have to listen to a voice over, talking in Czech.
The beginning of one answer was: "there's two schools of thoughts on that. One is that all the original ideas are used and we...." Sounded like an interesting answer.
Again, if anybody likes the link to Undone's LJ...give me a PM and I'll send it.

Here's the English translation of that interview:

http://www.iffkv.cz/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabId=110

Elijah Wood: Frodo will remain my shade

One of the main actors starring in Lord of the Rings Elijah Wood
remembered the shooting of the worldwide accepted phenomenal film
saga during his meeting with journalists today:

Elijah:
We all have excellent memories of the shooting not only due to the
beauties of New Zeeland but also due to the people we worked with. A
real community originated there so we were sorry when the time came
to leave. On the other hand it was a nice change to start working on
films with simpler production.

Interviewer:
You have come to Karlovy Vary to introduce the movie of the script-
writer Charlie Kaufman called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind…

Elijah:
Charlie Kaufman succeeded in doing something extraordinary. All of a
sudden he is not an important director but a script-writer.
Everybody keeps asking: "Have you seen the new Kaufman?" Surely
Kaufman himself contributed to it, he is an active participant on
the shooting and checks on everything himself.

Interviewer:
Kaufman's last film is mostly concerned with relationships. What are
your love stories like? Is it more of a Hollywood story or a
Kaufman's one?

Elijah:
The most difficult thing on any relationship is the compromise. My
loves are not really Hollywood ones though I consider myself a
romantic type. I think in my case drama and tragedy prevail.

Interviewer:
What film are you shooting now in the Czech Republic?

Elijah:
The film Everything is illuminated tells a story of an American who
goes to Ukraine to look for a woman who is said to have saved his
grandfather. This is my first time in the Czech Republic, most of
the time we work close to Prague; in my free time I walk because
Prague is beautiful wherever you go. I also like going to bars which
are really good here and because there are many Irishmen in our crew
we go every Friday to an Irish pub.

Interviewer:
It is summer, do you plan to go anywhere on holiday?

Elijah:
Being an actor means to travel a lot. Therefore I usually go home on
holiday. I don't really feel like getting on a plane and fly
somewhere. I enjoy relaxing, I don't want to go anywhere which is
something my friends can't understand.

Interviewer:
Don't you mind that people now you as Frodo above all?

Elijah:
No, I like this character. Frodo is my shade and I will always keep
on coming back to Lord of the Rings.

((((Faculty))), thank you SO MUCH for all those kind thoughts! Despite having a badly sprained foot and now having to get around on crutches (!) I feel really privileged to be here and I just wish some of you were too.

To complete the story, I spent yesterday afternoon at Karlovy Vary hospital being X-rayed (no break, fortunately), bandaged and given crutches. The doc said I should really be in plaster but he wasn't going to do that because I was at the Film Festival and needed to get around, didn't I? :) (And I hadn't said a word about that!). (Also am not sure if it wouldn't be easier to have my foot in plaster - it hurts like hell if I make a wrong move! Did use ice-pack last night and this morning, but can't bear to spend all day in hotel room, so am back in the Hotel Thermal Internet lounge .... Good thing taxis are cheap and friendly here!)

But back to Elijah. I'm beginning to feel rather sorry for Our Lad. We know how much he hates being treated as different from other people - but here he has to have a secret schedule and be ferried everywhere in a car with darkened windows. There's no way he can simply wander about like the rest of us or go anywhere on a whim, and what with spending most of his travel time behind dark glass he can hardly have seen anything of this rather amazing place. Nor can he get away from his assistants, it seems - although he is clearly being as charming and courteous as ever to them, judging by all the beautiful film clips being shown everywhere here. And yesterday he was made to do a press conference all by himself, it seems - I saw him on screen while that was going on and there were moments when he did not look happy. Achila's posted some of it - thanks, Achila! - but there's a short report on the front of today's Festival daily about some faux pas he made about wanting to work with Fellini, who is apparently dead ... The poor lad was asked out of the blue by some *** Italian journalist which Italian film director he'd like to work with - as if that is at all relevant to this festival or to his career right now - and he replied "Fellini", which apparently said Italians found hilarious. But the Czech journalists seemed affronted by this and defended "our Frodoriko", as they call him, insisting that he is absolutely nobody's fool, as we all know so well. I hope I've understood that properly - this is the first time I've been out without my Czech dictionary as I can't carry it and crutches .... Will correct if I find out I'm wrong.

Another small thing: Elijah yesterday seemed taller than I'd expected! Well, taller than me, anyway - but that's not saying a lot.

More later .....
Love, serena :)

Edited to say:

Thank you thank you for the link to those pics! the fifth one down (chin on hand) is a heartbreaker, isn't it? Looks like The Lad did really well - poised and classy.

QUOTE]
Marlon Brando >> Robert "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" Duvall (Apocalypse Now)
Robert Duvall >> Elijah Wood (Deep Impact)[/QUOTE]

Martin Sheen (AN) >> Richard Schiff (West Wing, DI) >> 'Lijah oh 'Lijah oh have you met 'Lijah... ::: giggle :::

Serena - no time right now to read all of your report but I'm very sorry about your foot! I hope it's mild and temporary.

However, next time someone sprains an ankle in the vicinity of Elijah Wood, please remember to do the following:

1. Whip out cleverly concealed broad-brimmed hat, gray wig and granny glasses (note: those well over 50 may skip wig and substitute reading glasses;) )
2. Retrieve retractable cane hidden in sleeve.
3. Exaggerate limp (Note: practice this ahead of time)(Moans and groans and a few tears are always good)

Faculty member: Mooooooaaaaannnn... :::: limp limp limp :::: groooooooaaaaannnn...Oh, my poor ankle! Mooooaaaaaannnnnn...whimper...
EW: Ma'am! Ma'am! Let me help you to a chair!

[actor puts arm around suffering Faculty member and assists her to a chair; faculty member cleverly hides Gollum-like leer underneath hat brim]

(just kidding, honest)(Serena, I'm really sorry about your foot)

~grumpy (hopefully more when I get caught up)

My only thought to add to zkg's is that one useful thing about a plaster cast is that it can be autographed... In America, at least, that's just expected, with total strangers sometimes asking to sign them. I'd think that even Elijah's ever-present assistants would have some feelings for a fan who suffered personal injury in the line of duty (duty being, of course, to get close enough to Elwood to be able to make personal reports :p ). Pity is not necessarily a bad thing ;) . But, yes, I do hope the foot gets better quickly--be careful (from someone who, a number of years back, while hobbling around on crutches and one sprained ankle fell down a flight of stairs and sprained the other one :rolleyes: ).

On the Fellini thing--Well, they asked him which Italian director he'd like to work with, right? They didn't specify that the director had to be available! ;) But how sweet of the Czech press to defend Elijah. :)

I hope the darkened car windows, etc., is limited to the film festival. Since he said in an interview that he likes to walk around Prague, it'd be nice if he could keep doing that.

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

I'm mostly here to say that the July updates are ready. It's almost 3 pm on the third day of a three-day weekend--and I have to get something done :rolleyes: ! I knew that til I had the site published, I'd keep editing, rewriting, changing my mind, moving things around, changing links... So I put the thing up. Probably best to go to the homepage (http://www.frodolivesin.us) and navigate from there, as there are a number of updates on both the JRRT and EJW sides of the site--and one new section that's linked to both sides: a place for "guest contributions," which is now hosting a couple of Whiteling's beautiful drawings. :) Screencaps from FotR and RotK, as well as the end of the Leo & Sarah storyline (yes, finally! :o ).

There's no hurry--no need to compete with all the great stuff coming from the film festival :).

I'm mostly here to say that the July updates are ready. It's almost 3 pm on the third day of a three-day weekend--and I have to get something done

Wonderful stuff as always, tg, and much appreciated. I noticed something in the Shelob's lair pics that I hadn't seen before. At pic 17/18, when he says, "I can't go back", suddenly his eyes are much shinier than before -- they've filled with tears. And it looks to me as if they've put eyeliner on his lower lids, so his eyes really stand out (as if they need more help!). It made me think of the tight shot of Elijah's eyes when he says in TTT: "This' Sting -- you've seen it before -- haven't you...Gollum?" -- it looked like they had liner on his eyes in that shot too.

I noticed something in the Shelob's lair pics that I hadn't seen before. At pic 17/18, when he says, "I can't go back", suddenly his eyes are much shinier than before -- they've filled with tears. And it looks to me as if they've put eyeliner on his lower lids, so his eyes really stand out (as if they need more help!).
Oh, yes, the tears definitely come in, and are there at least until he shifts his gaze upward. I'm not sure if they go away then, or if they're just harder to see. In fact, IMHO the tears are one of the differences between the two cropped pics I posted side-by-side at the bottom of the page. Not the only difference, of course.

I'd have to investigate again to look for the eyeliner, but one thing I know I saw is that his right eye (to our left) is rimmed in red, as if he's had absolutely no sleep, or even has a slight infection starting :( . I hope it's makeup... I mean, I'm sure it's makeup :eek: , but it looks awfully real. I'm not sure how clearly that shows on the webpage--I just checked, and it's not very visible right now, but that may be because the room's too light.

TG, thank you, thank you for the mithril page, and for adding the book text there. This is absolutely one of my favorite passages from LoTR:

Frodo said nothing, but he put his hand under his tunic and touched the rings of his mail-shirt. He felt staggered to think that he had been walking about with the price of the Shire under his jacket. Had Bilbo known? He felt no doubt that Bilbo knew quite well. It was indeed a kingly gift. But now his thoughts had been carried away from the dark Mines, to Rivendell, to Bilbo, and to Bag End in the days while Bilbo was still there. He wished with all his heart that he was back there, and in those days, mowing the lawn, or pottering among the flowers, and that he had never heard of Moria, or mithril -- or the Ring.

It says so much about how Frodo thought of Bilbo, the person he loved most in Middle Earth, and how much Bilbo thought of his spirited 'nephew.' And it also makes me wonder if Frodo didn't begin to feel a real kinship to Sam in these moments, seeming to think that he would have been happy to have been 'only' Bilbo's gardener.

And Elijah does a splendid job of it all as always.

Honey!

Tgshaw, I don't know what I'm looking forward to more with your site updates: the screencaps or your comments. :cool:

As is often true throughout the movies, this moment just before Frodo enters the tunnel, letting his weariness, sadness, fear, despair and struggle show on his face, isn't seen by anyone--Gollum is behind him. Frodo doesn't mean anyone to see this, but we do; maybe that's part of the reason it can feel almost intrusive to watch it, and other moments like it. Anyone who can get through the caps on this page with an intact heart is made of sterner stuff than I am
I read this comment of yours and then, slowly, looked at each screencap and ...it had me in tears.

It reminded me of something. The first time I saw my dad cry. My dad is a strong, tall, proud man. His beloved sister died too soon after a cancer battle (she was the age I have now). I was about 7 years old and I'm the youngest at home. Normally, in church, I never sat beside him but that day, my mum asked me to go and sit beside him, he kept me close to his side. I didn't really understand the impact of it all and I guess he just needed to look at the face of his cheerful little girl to give him a bit of hope that day.
But I remember looking up at his face, he looked at me and winked at me (I guess that he could see that I was trying to understand it all) but I saw the tears falling from his face for the very first time in my life and I saw the sadness.
Frodo's pain and suffering in those images reminded me of that moment. Elijah Wood really was an amazing Frodo.


Really, those who think that he only has one expression miss out on so much! I almost feel sorry for them.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! :eek:

Is that Ring a Wedding Ring from Franka Pontente or is that just The Ring that he wears occasionally? :confused:

No words....just....WOW!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! :eek:

Is that Ring a Wedding Ring from Franka Pontente or is that just The Ring that he wears occasionally? :confused:


Franka gave it to him, but he still wears it because he likes the sentiment of it -- in Hebrew, it says, "If not now, when". It's not a wedding ring.

from zkgrumpy:
Faculty member: Mooooooaaaaannnn... :::: limp limp limp :::: groooooooaaaaannnn...Oh, my poor ankle! Mooooaaaaaannnnnn...whimper...

actor puts arm around suffering Faculty member and assists her to a chair; faculty member cleverly hides Gollum-like leer underneath hat brim]


Grumpy - ROFL !!!! :D :D :D

But no, in fact no such thoughts have crossed my mind. None at all. Really. No fantasies whatsoever of encountering Elijah at some movie here and him being so sorry for me he offers me a lift back to Prague (a mere 2-hour drive). Nope, nothing like that.

from Tg:
I'd think that even Elijah's ever-present assistants would have some feelings for a fan who suffered personal injury in the line of duty (duty being, of course, to get close enough to Elwood to be able to make personal reports

Exactly. Should have insisted on a cast. In fact, should have taken duty more seriously and fainted at his feet instead of hobbling past trying to look as if I hadn't seen him. We always think of these things too late. But was slightly worried I might be thrown out, since the place I encountered him was the hotel's Festival office (actually a wide corridor leading from the cafe to the reception area). Also, he was clearly preoccupied with trivia such as the imminent press conference, Festival dignitaries and general planning, so did not wish to intrude by, erm, fainting, drooling or even grinning like Gollum (though did and am still doing all of those inwardly :D ).

But poor Tg, your story of spraining BOTH ankles - :eek: :eek: What can I say? That is in fact my worst fear right now! [Oops - CANCEL that thought immediately :z: .] Seriously, this has been a real learning experience about how hard it is to do the slightest thing when you can't walk, and how organised you have to be, and how much you have to rely on other people, and how to accept help, and how much you miss (have missed joining the crowds waiting for Elijah, and have missed films I wanted to see - and seen some I wish I hadn't, but that's another story :eek: ), and how untidy things get. Long-term disabled people really have my sympathy (even more than before). Am flying home tomorrow instead of Saturday and will have to be a wheelchair case at airport! Am always open to new experiences ... :cool:

Ahem. Having consulted dictionary, must now correct the Fellini story - as I suspected, there were indeed some nuances in there that had escaped this ignorant foreigner. What the article said in full is that there was a "humiliating" rumour going round that Elijah told the Italian woman journalist he'd like to work with Fellini. But the Festival journalists were careful to correct this, bless them. What really happened was that he was asked which Italian director he'd like to work with (highly relevant question, this :rolleyes: ) and he replied, candidly as always, that he wasn't all that familiar with Italian cinema (and why on earth should he be? How many 23-year-old Italian actors know the US film scene in depth, I wonder?) and added that he liked Fellini. The Italian woman (from the national radio station RAI) was "confused" at this (it's quite possible she hadn't fully understood) and snapped back "But Fellini's already dead!". The Czech article then says "But of course, Ms Castrovilli. Our Frodoriko (pun on Federico F, I assume!) is nobody's fool!" (literally: absolutely not stupid).

Apart from making me want to kill that Italian journalist, I think this article really shows how the people here have taken Elijah to their hearts - as everyone everywhere who meets him seems to do. People in general (and not just the girls) really seem to love him to bits, as far as I can tell. It seems he left this morning :( but before doing so asked if he could have 5 copies of yesterday's (freebie) Festival daily (which contains some great stuff which I'll definitely scan and post when I get home unless it's already been done). The paper jokes a bit about people who fail to pick up copies on the day of issue and says "Why should we make an exception for Elijah Wood? Because of his beautiful blue eyes?" But in the end they sent him the copies by courier and the article finishes with "But that's the last time, Elijah! Which we're really rather sorry about."

I bet they are. There are more pics on the back and a caption that says "Sadness has fallen on Vary" because he has left (OK, it's talking about the fangirls, but implies that everyone feels the same). I think people here really appreciate his unfailing good humour, modesty and willingness to go along with everything. Last year, I was told, Sean Connery was supposed to be the star guest, all the preparations had been made and everyone was waiting for him to arrive - but he never did. Enquiries were made and apparently he was too busy playing golf in Prague to bother to turn up, or so the story goes. Maybe he had just forgotten. But you can't imagine Elijah letting people down in that way - he just doesn't have it in him.

There's so much wonderful material here that I can't post it all. Am not yet sure how much of it is already on the Net (Internet opportunities limited), but will try to find out and if I can't find it, I'll transcribe or scan it. Elijah has even managed to say some interesting things about LOTR that I for one hadn't heard before. Yesterday I bought a couple of truly gorgeous close-ups of him taken here - some of the most "inwardly" revealing ones I've seen (in that they seem to reveal his famed beauty of spirit even more than most).

And yes, I'm sad not to have " met" him in any real sense, but eternally glad to have heard him speak and seen him close up, however briefly, and for once NOT in a meet-the-fans situation but at a time when he was just being himself. Maybe I will after all manage to visit that film set when my foot is better ... maybe there is an even better reason for what has happened. You never know.

Especially for Serena :p :

http://www.frodolivesin.us/abffac70.jpg

Things about LotR that we haven't heard yet? :z: Soon, please!

Regarding the Sean Connery story: Was Elijah really supposed to be "the star guest" this year, or did it just kind of turn out that way ;) ?

I think the ring he wears really says so much about they way he conducts his life. Never going the Hollywood road. With all the hoopla given to LOTR he could have had a starring role in a big studio production. But instead he chooses roles that mean something to him in a personal manner. Isn't it amazing that a man of 23 sees what most people only discover much later in life?

"If not now...when?"

If he is this deep and thoughtful at 23 imagine the future. We are all going to have a BIG party when he gets nominated for (and of coarse wins) an Academy Award. Hollywood is just not as smart as we all are. They'll catch on eventually.

"If not now...when?" Soon....very soon I hope :z:

Tg, don't! :D :eek: :D I meant a lift BY CAR, not a literal fireman's lift !!! Not that I'd exactly turn THAT down ... in fact the mere thought of being lifted by Elijah makes me want to faint right off this stool, and not just at the idea of what it might do to the poor lad's slender physique ....

But is that Franka he's carrying? Is it from AIW? Great pic, wherever it's from! Looking forward to perusing your site again when I get home.

Regarding the Sean Connery story: Was Elijah really supposed to be "the star guest" this year, or did it just kind of turn out that way ?

The website doesn't at all give the impression he was intended to be the star guest, even though the blurb about him says he has become an idol to hundreds of thousands (that few?) of fans all over the world. More prominence was initially given to Harvey Keitel, I think, but he seems to have sunk in Elijah's wake, so to speak. Or is it just that I only have eyes for Elijah blurb? I don't think so - maybe the organisers hadn't really grasped in advance quite how popular EW would be. As far as I can tell they don't really have a star guest No 1 in theory, but they certainly do de facto, and this year Elijah was definitively it! No-one seems very interested in anyone else. I'm sure the organisers can't believe their luck.

Just thinking about how much the people at the film festival loved Elijah, and thought of something I read once: That it says a lot about someone's character if he treats people who don't have a lot of power to help him "get ahead" with the same consideration he gives to those who do. I can't imagine Elijah treating people at this lesser-known film festival with any less consideration than he'd give the power-brokers at Cannes, or important film industry financiers--as Serena said, he just doesn't have it in him. I think sometimes the more "powerful" elements in the film industry assume that actors/directors/etc. will try to impress them in order to get ahead, and become a bit ho-hum about it (would Sean Connery have "forgotten" if he was scheduled to appear at Cannes?). OTOH, the people who don't have as much "weight" to throw around know that when someone treats them with kindness and consideration it comes from the heart, not from some ulterior motive, and they pay the person back in kind.

Edit:
But is that Franka he's carrying? Is it from AIW? Great pic, wherever it's from!
Yes and yes :) . Her character's been in the hospital, he sees her arriving back at the apartment house by taxi, on crutches and her leg in a cast, and he goes down to give her a "lift" to the second floor.

I do have that pic on my site, actually, as part of the "Ageless Advice on Winning the Attention of Women" (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id205.htm). :p

The website doesn't at all give the impression he was intended to be the star guest, even though the blurb about him says he has become an idol to hundreds of thousands (that few?) of fans all over the world. More prominence was initially given to Harvey Keitel, I think, but he seems to have sunk in Elijah's wake, so to speak. Or is it just that I only have eyes for Elijah blurb? I don't think so - maybe the organisers hadn't really grasped in advance quite how popular EW would be.


That was my take too -- it caught everyone by surprise, and seemingly, no one so much as Elijah himself. I half expected to see him looking over his shoulder to see if Orlando or Viggo was standing behind him. This' one of the few times recently that he's been to a public event without any of his fellow LOTR-teers -- no other hobbits, no elves -- just himself, and it's so thrilling to see the love and admiration that people feel for him. He has the nerve to say anything ever again about the screams really being for the Elf or the King, and I'm gonna beat his cute little patoot black and blue!

HALLO LADYES!!!!!!!!
I MISS YOU ALL VERY MUCH!! I HAVE NO TIME TO STAY,
BUT I HAVE TO SAY YOU HAVE ALL BEEN BUSEY WRITING
HERE I HAVE MUCH TO READ WHEN MY COMPUTER IS FIXED
(TO THIS WEEKEND I HOPE)I AM AT MY MOTHERS HOME AND
I JUST HAVE TO POP IN TO SAY HI AND TO LOOK AT ALL
THIS KNEW PICS ON MR.BEAUTIFUL OH THOSE EYES AND FACE
HOW CAN A GUY WALK AROUND AND LOOK THAT WAY?AND
DONT BEEN ATTACK BY A CRASY WOMAN(LIKE MY SELF :cool: :D )

OH SERENA I WISH I COULDE BEE WITH YOU OVER THERE!!!!

I HAVE TO GO KNOW MISS YOU ALL

LOVE WOOD :k :k

Last year, I was told, Sean Connery was supposed to be the star guest, all the preparations had been made and everyone was waiting for him to arrive - but he never did. Enquiries were made and apparently he was too busy playing golf in Prague to bother to turn up, or so the story goes. Maybe he had just forgotten.

It's a darned good thing Connery didn't turn up this year at the same time as The Lad. I'm sure he would have been as offended as certain mega-stars whose pictures didn't win Best Picture at the Oscars that this young whippersnapper of a hobbit stole his thunder just by showing up.

Age, time, trouble, and way too many fans may change The Lad in the way he presents himself, but hopefully not yet. It's way too much fun watching someone that young and charming and apparently unassuming. It's fun watching an entire city fall in love with him, too. :)

Serena, don't worry about the wheelchair stuff at the airport. Believe me, you *don't* want to hobble through the airport. If they talk VERY LOUDLY AND SLOWLY at you ( I guess they think that when you sit down in a wheelchair, your brains leak out), talk VERY LOUDLY AND SLOWLY back. ;D

~grumpy

But no, in fact no such thoughts have crossed my mind. None at all. Really. No fantasies whatsoever of encountering Elijah at some movie here and him being so sorry for me he offers me a lift back to Prague (a mere 2-hour drive). Nope, nothing like that.

Serena, don't you worry your pretty little head about such things. I've been taking care of this part of the task for you! wishing a certain actor would meet up with our serena so we can all enjoy vicariously!

WOOD, GLAD SEE YOU BACK! I'VE BEEN WONDERING WHERE YOU GOT TO! :k

:confused: What? I'm just following ZK's advice!

Honey!

Hi, I've never posted here before and I probably shouldn't now, but I am just so fed up...!! :mad:

Here's why: "Maclean's" is the top weekly newsmagazine in Canada. Back in December, its film critic, Brian Johnson, wrote a scathing review of ROTK. He seemed to think it was some kind of pro-Bush propaganda film, and that it supposedly justified "holy war." (He later praised Cold Mountain effusively for its anti-war theme.) He's been making little digs at LOTR ever since.

The current issue of the magazine has a new contribution from Johnson, "10 Reasons to See Spiderman 2." Now, I'm sure S2 is a fine movie and I'd like to see it too. But I just knew this column would contain yet another slam at LOTR, and sure enough it did. You can read what Johnson said at http://www.macleans.ca/culture/films/article.jsp?content=20040712_84079_84079. It's Reason No.7. (Grrrr.)

What is it with this guy? I'd write a letter, but am afraid in my present mood it will just come out snarky. But if any of you Wood fans would like to write a calm, concise, well-reasoned response in his defense (and Peter Jackson's) you can do so at letters@macleans.ca.

Sorry for the intrusion, people. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. . .

Serena,
Your accounts of your Elijah-encounters in Prague are very enthralling indeed...I am SO enjoying them, even at second-hand...it's so nice to read a personal account from someone who is actually there, and not, specifically a journalist... and I'm so sorry about your poor ankle, it's so painful to sprain major joints like that...I think that ZkGrumpy's advice with regards to wheelchair use, is very probably spot-on, I'm afraid....so hang in there !!
I must say, I think it says a lot about Elijah that he can be the major star featured at a film festival of this nature, and still manages to come across as a sincere young man, completely self-effacing and seemingly unaware of his own popularity, and who seems to be enjoying Prague for its own beauty and historical character...Go Lij...please don't EVER change !!!

As for the ring that Elijah wears ...the inscription is from a book-title by the esteemed Jewish author Primo Levi...he wrote many books, but his most moving work,imo, has to be that about his own experiences during the Holocaust.."If Not Now...When? " being the best...Very good indeed !!
Here's a link for those interested...

If Not Now..When?" (http://dannyreviews.com/h/If_Not_Now_When.html)

. 7. When the camera moves in for a tight shot, Maguire's blue eyes reveal more emotional depth than all those fawning close-ups of Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings -- whose eyes just looked really, really blue.

I watched RotK (most of it - again) this weekend, and was struck by yet another Frodo moment.

In one of the scenes that I deny ever happened (ok, ok, it's a great scene anyway and portrays accurately Sam's reaction when Frodo would verbally attack him), the "Departure of Sam" scene, I was struck this time around by the "fawning close-up" :::: snicker :::: of those expressionless, very, very blue eyes as well as the rest of his expressionless face ::: giggle :::. EW managed a schizoid-type split between the expression in Frodo's eyes - tears, pain - and the inhuman - er - inhobbity rigid expression of the rest of his face, especially his mouth saying those awful words: "Go home." Yeesh.

8. Here's a superhero who talks about his costume, how "it gets kind of itchy" and "rides up in the crotch."

Geez. Didn't this guy ever see that series back in the 70's called "Greatest American Hero" - a neat song about "Believe it or not it's just me" came out of it - William Katt was the star, I think - wasn't Dean Stockwell in there somewhere in a pre-Quantum-Leap incarnation? The character got this superhero suit but lost the instruction book, and was always having trouble making it work, plus he'd put it on over his clothes and it seemed really uncomfortable. Hardly original in Spidey's case. So there. Hah.

We're right, the critic is wrong. So there.

~grumpy

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Is it really needful to slam one very fine actor to promote another? Mr. Maguire and Mr. Wood are both good actors, but there are many who find Mr. Wood to be an exceptional actor, myself amoung them.

By your criteria I could compare Mr. Wood's very expressive voice with Mr. Maguire's preternatural perenial post-pubescent squeak. But I won't because the two young gentlemen in question both have their own strengths as actors.

Are you one of those clever fellows who thinks Elijah Wood has but one facial expression? Allow me to educate you. Please click on the link.

http://www.frodolivesin.us/oneexpression/

That, my dear man, is acting. And one day, when Mr. Wood has won his first Oscar, perhaps you will find it in your heart to take another look at how truly gifted the young man with the "really, really blue" eyes is.

See you at the movies,

Pamela

OK, I don't know how eloquent or brilliant that was (who needs eloquence when Frolijah and TG Shaw have said it so perfectly?) But I feel better!

:o Yeah, I really sent it. :o

Honey!

I haven't read the Canadian review (I'm squeezing this in at work), but just going from zkg's comments--

What gripes me especially is when someone like that makes up some "competition" when no one wants to compete. (Anyone remember that question from the 1960's, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?")

I love Tobey Maguire--not as much as I love Elijah :) , but they have a lot of similar characteristics, both personally and as actors. I'm very happy that Tobey's had such great success, and IMHO whoever cast him as Peter Parker was inspired. (He was also very good in a little film called The Ice Storm, BTW ;) .)

I love Spiderman--way not as much as I love Frodo, but... He's a very human superhero--Peter Parker really is a geek, not someone from a strange planet with a human "secret identity," and he has the same problems most people do--just magnified by his "night job". Like Frodo, he didn't ask for that gig, but he found himself with the ability to do something positive, so he tries the best he can. (I loved "The Greatest American Hero," too :D -- Hey, any Chickenman fans out there? ;) )

I think Peter Parker has some lovely hobbit attributes, and I think he and Frodo would probably be good friends if they somehow ended up in the same secondary creation. I think Elijah and Tobey could be good friends, too--for all I know, they are. Reminds me of when one teen girls' magazine had a poll where readers could vote for which guy they preferred between Elijah and Orlando. I don't know who "won" that particular contest, but all I could think of was the two of them looking at the magazine together and falling over laughing. :lol:

Tobey's and Elijah's talents and careers don't take anything away from each other (and because the Spiderman movies have been summer flicks, there hasn't even been the artificial box-office competition there was between LotR and HP). It's very easy to praise Tobey without insulting Elijah--and vice versa. This is the first reviewer I've heard of who's decided to put them up against each other, and I hope it's the last. It's complete nonsense (in the strict definition of the word), and I'd hope the vast majority of his readers would see it as that.

It sounds as if this reviewer has something stuck in his craw about LotR--or, at least, RotK--and is taking any opportunity he can find to say something negative about it (sounds as if he wouldn't be too open to sensible discussion about that, either :rolleyes: ).

Simulposted with Honey--A very good and intelligent letter... [gulp] :z: Just a little prayer to whichever vala is in charge of watching over the internet.
(No, I'm flattered, really... :z: maybe I should go home and add a few more pics...)

Just a little prayer to whichever vala is in charge of watching over the internet.

Yikes! :eek: TG, I'm sorry. I should have asked you first. :k I'm sorry. It was just there, and so very perfect, and so tempting....and....

:: feeling very tookish ::

Honey!

Originally posted by tgshaw: It sounds as if this reviewer has something stuck in his craw about LotR--or, at least, RotK--and is taking any opportunity he can find to say something negative about it (sounds as if he wouldn't be too open to sensible discussion about that, either ).
**********************************************************


Yes, that's exactly my feeling -- especially since I read his original ROTK review! He seems like one of those reviewers who are less interested in the quality of a film than whatever political message (real or imagined) it conveys.

I suppose I overreacted -- I read that article right after coming back from the dentist, which may explain my mood :o . But it really did seem like such a cheap shot. It insults both Jackson's work ("fawning close-ups") and Wood's ("whose eyes just looked really, really blue"). I knew the people on this board would be more likely to express themselves eloquently -- I'm afraid my response would have been along the lines of, "Mr. Johnson, a film you didn't like swept the Oscars. Deal!!" :haha:

Hello ladies.

Firstly, a warm welcome to Ylla and Aravir.

Serena - You did us proud in Prague. Thanks so much for telling us all about it. It's so lovely to hear how the Czech people have taken Elijah to their hearts. Your poor thing - hope the injured foot gets better very soon.

Thanks to all for your concern over my RL crisis - my hubby is ill in hospital. I'm afraid I'm still quite bogged down with it, but popped in here to deliver this:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRIM - Wherever you are!

PRIM'S GIF(T) (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/Prim.gif)

Can't stay now, but I'm going to try and take a look at your July frodolivesin.us goodies, Tg. :)

((Flourish))

((Ainon))

Wood - I'm glad to hear your computer should be up and running again soon.

Bye.

As for the ring that Elijah wears ...the inscription is from a book-title by the esteemed Jewish author Primo Levi...he wrote many books, but his most moving work,imo, has to be that about his own experiences during the Holocaust.."If Not Now...When? " being the best...Very good indeed !!


Thanks, Lady Wendy. This' one of Primo Levi's books I'd never heard of. And btw, although that phrase was the title of the book, it was originally said by Rabbi Hillel.

Popping back in for a moment to say how much I've enjoyed Serena's exciting reports (and I'm so sorry about your ankle! Rest it and take good care of yourself), and Honeyelf's wonderful letter--WTG!--and to send hugs to Blossom once again. Thinking of you!

tgshaw, I've been e-mailing back and forth with a friend about Tobey and Elijah. I too wondered whether they knew each other. She pointed out that at the only time they worked together (on "The Ice Storm") they were both young enough that the six-year difference between them was probably enough to keep them from having much to say to one another. Tobey was 21; Elijah was, what--15?--and on set with his mother. And they never appeared in the same scene so they may not even have met! Apparently Elijah auditioned for the role in "Pleasantville" that Tobey got, and he was once mistaken for Tobey by an under-informed fan. And that seems to be all the connection there is between them. But I agree they have a lot in common as actors, and I look forward to seeing them both prosper.

Well, I've had a houseguest for a few days and also had friends over on the Fourth, and all this has kept me far busier than I thought. Amazing what a bit of social life can do. Also three new work projects turned up just before the weekend-- I am a freelance editor so new work is always welcome, but two of them are on short deadlines :rolleyes: . So now I must catch up.

Meanwhile I'm still lurking, trying not to fall too far behind!

(((Honey))) -- No problem on the link--that's what it's there for! I'll send word if I need bodyguards ;) ;) . I did come home and add some more pics after work, though. Made me feel as if I was doing something useful :) -- Took longer than I planned, of course, so now I'm off to bed. The "One Expression" section is in its own little subdirectory, though, so once the work's done it only takes a few minutes for it to upload.

Flourish--Besides the things you mentioned, the only other time I've seen Tobey and Elijah talked about together was an article about the popularity over the last few years of "unconventional" movie heroes, with Frodo, Harry Potter, and Peter Parker being the main topics. And, of course, the article pointed out that unconventional heroes need to be played by actors who wouldn't normally be considered "action hero" types. But there wasn't any mention of them knowing each other in that article, either, as far as I remember.

Good to "see" all who've been able to drop in! :) :)

I have to echo tg's statement....why create a competition at all?
My affection for EW doesn't take away from my enjoyment of Tobey Maguire films. I'm actually a big fan of his. I find he has a quietness in a lot of his performances that I enjoy. His co-star in The Wonder Boys(Michael Douglas)commented that TM possessed the ability to allow his "quietness" to say what dialogue alone could not do. He admired his ability as an actor to not have to fill-up quiet moments.He thought this was a rarity in actors of TM's generation.
Well I certainly agree with that.....however that ability IMHO is done at it's very best by our dear little Elijah. He's been doing that in films since age 8.
It doesn't sound to me like that idiot of a reviewer sees many films.
OK even if ...I am slightly biased in my total admiration for Elijah Wood's immense talent....this reviewer needs to read all the comments SO many seasoned actors have made when talking about Their admiration for Mr. Wood.
Everyone who has ever worked with him is in awe of his talent.
I doubt any letter or message we send this guy will change his opinion. He is just an idiot. We should consider the source.
Being a lover of movies :) there are many actors I love watching :)
But just one that I am constantly amazed by. Even in a bad movie(and I can only think of 2 of those) he is always :eek: Illuminating :eek:

Stick that in your hat Mr. Johnson :haha:

Happy Birthday, Prim! :k :k

(((Blossom))) (((Blossom's hubby)))

And a :z: and quick recovery for serena's ankle. ;) :k Thank you for keeping up with the updates!

Welcome Aravir! I saw 'Spiderman 2' over the weekend. Wonderful movie- nay, excellent movie! Tobey Maguire did very good work, but of course. He's a very good actor, and Spidey 2 provided him with very good material. And our Elijah's a very good actor, working from that wonderfully woven foundation that is Frodo Baggins' character. Nope, we needn't compare and judge them against each other. We just need to be happy that we have them both!

Now that I got that bit of sappiness off my chest (I think it must be the residual 'feel good' from Spidey 2 :D ) it's time to go check out the goodies that tgshaw has put up for the world to see ... :) (((tg)))

I'm not sure if this is on the One Expression page (I'm at home and it takes forever to do anything)(good thing my 'puter is on an antique treadle sewing machine stand - I can always work the treadle when things get slow), but the one sticking in my mind is the part in FotR when the little kids stand in the road begging for fireworks. Frodo looks up at Gandalf with a questioning look. After Gandalf lets loose with the fireworks, Frodo looks up at him again with a look tinged with pure worship. Incidentally, it sets up the premise for the other One Expression concerning Gandalf - when Gandalf fell in Moria. So many "One Expressions"; so little time. ;) (Incidentally my foot. Peter Jackson never did anything incidentally in his life).

~grumpy (I think the heat exhaustion from the weekend finally hit)(::: making note ::: Be sure to walk by EW in very hot weather and swoon from the heat at an opportune moment)(Seriously, Serena, you showed the usual and expected Faculty class by not bugging The Lad)

Hi Iam Back Get The Maskin Fixed To Day Atlast!!!!
I Have Misst You All So Much I Be Popping In Later To Night
Now I Have To Kock Some Food For The Kids !!!

(((wood))) So good to have you back!

...Frodo looks up at Gandalf with a questioning look. After Gandalf lets loose with the fireworks, Frodo looks up at him again with a look tinged with pure worship.
I'ts not on the OE page, but I remember posting the two pics side-by-side back at CoE or maybe even Imladris, because I thought they showed how well Frodo knew Gandalf. Same with Bilbo "eyeing" him after blowing his smoke ring before the Party--he's expecting Gandalf to add his touch.

...So many "One Expressions"; so little time.
Truer words were never posted :) . I'm still trying to figure out a way to make a living from watching EJW so I don't have to waste 50 hours a week on something as trivial as cancer research ;) . Do you think a book on "Elijah Wood Acting Appreciation" would hit the best-seller list :p ?

(Incidentally my foot. Peter Jackson never did anything incidentally in his life).
IMHO, that's one of his attributes that made him the right director to tackle LotR--it's the same way Tolkien wrote it.

-------

Comments on "The Eyes"--

I'm not sure what the complainers (such as that reviewer) want Elijah to do--have surgery to make them smaller? Wear contact lenses to make them less blue? :confused: :rolleyes: Geesh. [BTW, if we return to analysis of the contribution of specific body parts to Elijah's acting, I think we should study his eye sockets. Quite amazing at times. :) ]

I think it was in an interview linked to here that Elijah said something like, "Eyes are one of an actor's most important assets. Mine happen to be bigger than usual." Honest, candid, and to the point. If he's learned to use an important asset to its best potential, more power to him. It's exactly what any other actor would want to do.

Thinking back to SNL, I'm glad he's got a sense of humor about it--that is, what people say about his eyes. Out of the "eye/related" jokes my favorite was in the Fab Five skit, when he's teaching Santa how to have eye contact with Mrs. Claus. After that lesson, Santa asks if he's going to teach him anything else, and Elijah looks straight into the camera, bats his eyelashes, and says, "No, that's about all I do." The audience loved it, and I'd guess that a lot of people who did think that's all he does saw a different side of him that night. :)

Because of that perception, I tried to put some pics on the OE page where we don't see his eyes at all, or where I cropped them off to concentrate on another part of his face. I don't think I've heard many people say what that reviewer did--that Elijah's eyes aren't expressive enough--but I also cropped some pics so all we see is his eyes. If you can tell exactly what a character's thinking/feeling from only his eyes, I'd call that expressive:

http://www.frodolivesin.us/oneexpression/2c24d270.jpg http://www.frodolivesin.us/oneexpression/3ee52380.jpg http://www.frodolivesin.us/oneexpression/4a268300.jpg http://www.frodolivesin.us/oneexpression/4beaa1d0.jpg http://www.frodolivesin.us/oneexpression/381631f0.jpg

Happy birthday, Prim!
Hope you've had a lovely day and that you're still peeking in here now and then!

Blossom, best wishes for your husband's speedy and full recovery. I really hope all will be well. :)

Serena, wishing you and your ankle a full recovery, too!

Hullo ladies!

The current TORN survey asks "In all of cinematic Middle Earth - who is far and away, the best looking person?" Our darling Frolijah is pulling into 4th place, just ahead of Eowyn! :confused: Go!
VOTE! (http://www.theonering.net/index.shtml)

Happy Birthday, Prim!


Honey!

Many thanks for all the good wishes for my hubby, ladies. It's much appreciated. He is a little better today, thanks. :k

Quoted by Grumpy:
After Gandalf lets loose with the fireworks, Frodo looks up at him again with a look tinged with pure worship.

Ah, Grumpy - The perfect excuse for a trip down memory lane:

After the fireworks (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/Fellowship14.gif)

Quoted by Grumpy:
good thing my 'puter is on an antique treadle sewing machine stand -I can always work the treadle when things get slow

:) That brought a smile to my face. I now have a delightful image of dear Grumpy pedalling away on her 'Singer' computer.

I like Tobey Maguire too. He does have a similar acting style to Elijah. But Elijah's the man for me - his talent, looks, personality. Nobody does it better.

As for that reviewer - It's his loss! I don't see how he can appreciate the finer qualities of Tobey's acting, and not see even better in Elijah - particularly with Frodo, whose physical and internal struggle and torment was, 'beautifully judged,' - courtesey of Sir Ian McKellen. I know whose opinion I value!

Honey - I voted!

Hello, Dear Colleagues!

Having just returned from a computer-less trip, I am hopelessly behind in the conversation. I missed you all terribly! But I got home just in time to see all those fabulous photos of EW at the film festival, and to read serena's wonderful account of being there. ((serena)) for the ankle. Take care, now. as once weakened, the ankle may be weak for a while. Thanks for the lively tale of the encounter.

And thank you, tg and others, for posting those pictures. Words fail me.

As we were in France, I watched a good deal of the Euro 2004 competition, so Maeg, I was rooting for your team! I still can't believe that Greece won. Let us hope it is an omen for the Olympics! And I've been paying attention to the Tour, Moondancer. I saw the stages in Belgium (Wallonia looks lovely with all those rolling hills.) Hoping that he doesn't turn out to have feet of drug-assisted clay, I am rooting for Armstrong.

(((Blossom))) Hope all is well.

And Happy Birthday to Prim, Welcome to ylla, hello there to ainon and wood, and see you soon to honeyelf!

hallo to you all!!!!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRIM :k :k

WELCOME YLLA :k :k

and happy birthday to all i mised when i was gone
i havent been here fore over a month and it seams
like a liftime!
but i did see the football insteed but poor sweden dident
make it lost against holland and i can promis you if it is of
any intreste to you the match betwen sweden and denmark
was NOT fixed!!!!!!!

back to elijah!!!!!

you have all been very busy i cant keep up with you!!
lovely new pics of mr.beautiful!!!!

and this mr.jonsson i just want to kick his as!!!!
one face expression is he blind or what!!!

i havent seen spiderman 2 jet but it has got nice rewies and i also like tobey
but only as an actor
the man for me is 100% mr.elijah wood who will bee in my heart for ever!!
as an actor he is the best and just as a man well you all know by now
were my heart is!!!! ;) ;)

when my computer was down i lost all my saved links (faculty is the only one
i could find)which is relited to elijah is there any body who can pm me some
links so i can reed and see more about him!!??

see you soon love wood :k :k :k

Being that I am a very new member to this wonderful group I don't know if I am about to step into an inappropriate topic
All week long I have seen members post that they are having a RL crisis. Most don't go into detail,probably because to do so is off topic and really not the purpose of the forum(dealing with personal problems and such) forgive me if I am committing this very thing.
I need all my new friends in this forum to send a little positive energy my way.
My husband had a heart attack this morning. His condition is guarded and I am scared. I'm feeling very Frodo-ish ....small.... scared and unsure of my way. I know I have to be strong for my children but when the man you've loved for 18 years...well you know.
I don't feel very smart or articulate right now just scared and unsure of what tommorrow might hold.
I know most of you don't know me at all. But without sounding too sappy I feel like I know you, I've felt comfortable and happy in this room. And I guess that's why I'm here right now.
I'm going to sign off now. Think I'll put RotK in my DVD player so I can fall asleep to something more pleasant than my own worries rolling around in my brain.
I truly appreciate all the joy this group has brought me over the past weeks when I joined.
Thank You for being there.
You truly never know what gifts await you when someone cares enough to lead you by a loving hand(that's for you...HoneyElf...thank you for leading me here last month....I'm forever grateful.)

my dear ylla!!
i am so sorry to hear about your husband!!!
i dont know what to say just that i realy hope he will be okej
and that you must try to think he will be okej!!
i just wish i could say something to sheer you up!!!

i have to say that i have the same feelings fore the members of this
coumunity as you do!! i feel like i know them for ages and that they know me
they are realy good friends and very understanding about who i feel about
somethings in RL but aspecilly about my feelings about elijah!!!!
i dont know if you have read my posts wayback but i can tell you
i have problems with my family about my love fore elijah!!
know i better stop i dont know if this is untopic but i dont think so
i mean it is about elijah in some ways, or? :p

Ah, that journalist. Like others have said...it's his loss. I really like Tobey. I think he's one of the better actors of his generation but I can't quite understand how anybody can appreciate Tobey and not see the brilliance of Elijah.
Forget that journalist. Not worth it.

Now: to better things...I have really enjoyed seeing (via Serena) Elijah and his natural charm in action in that festival. The way that Czech journalist stood up for Elijah (the Italian incident) says a lot!

Peaceweaver, so you've seen the Tour? Yes, Wallonia is a beautiful place.
I'm sooooo supporting Jan Ullrich. That man has quite a powerful body and a fantastic and very gentle personality to match. Even with all his weaknesses, I adore that man. :) Do you know that his heartbeat (normal, resting heartbeat) is about 33 beats per minute? :eek:

And...I'm a bit late but:
I hope you had a great birthday, Prim


Edit: OMG...It didn't sink in right away, ylla and here I am, rambling about the heartbeat of Jan Ullrich...sorry!
Whenever something this bad hits me in my RL, besides getting strength from family and friends, I do get a lot from watching beautiful things or listening to great music (just to help me see a bit of sunshine amidst the darkness). So, in my opinion, you're not a kook at all. (never heard of that ...a 'kook')
I'm so sorry to hear about your husband! If I were a religous person, I would say a prayer for him but I'll be sending positive thoughts to you.

It is very late
I didn't think I would still be up or certainly posting
I believe I did read a post of yours once
and believe it or not I had thoughts of it earlier tonight
God does truly work in mysterious ways
I almost included it in my last post, but was not up to it.

Last night at work before all my unhappiness occurred I was in a very cheery mood. A friend of mine(much younger than I )was thinking of having a tattoo party. She asked me if I would join in. Would I consider getting a little tattoo.
I said ...OH I am much too old to do that..but If I ever did I would probably get an elvish nine. Possibly on my toe..something very small.
She said okay your In...something small..it's good ...very empowering..it will make you feel young again.
I discussed this with some co-workers(and I actually had been thinking about doing this for some time) one of them said I was a real kook(for those not American=a nut case=crazy)
My favorite number since I was a small girl..has always been nine.Long before LotR. But ever since my fanship it has had even more importance.
I came home from work feeling stupid...obsessed...and humiliated.
Maybe they were right maybe I am Kooky..Crazy...I was embarrassed.

When my husband was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. The emergency room only had one patient...my husband.There were 12 rooms open...guess which one they brought him to(before I arrived) They told me to report to room 9.
I told him he would live.He was in good hands..a good number. Maybe I am crazy maybe it meant nothing...but the number felt good. It helped me.
When this is all resolved...whatever the outcome...I'm getting that symbol somewhere on my body.I won't let what people think embarass or hurt me again. What you feel has no age..love is not something you should ever feel embarrassed about.It's pure.It needs no apology no explaination.
Wear it proudly
Thank You for your post...it gave me the courage to say what I Really wanted to say
Thank You so much

:( Ylla, your last two posts moved me to tears. My dear, I'm sending all my healing thoughts and prayers your way (((ylla and husband))) :k

(((Blossom))), the same heartfelt wishes for you and your hubby! Fingers crossed for his speedy recovery. :k

Serena, needless to say, that I'm spending healing thoughts to your ankle, too ;) :k (((Serena's foot))). And thank you so much for your reports. I have to catch up properly first, I got only a few glimpses here over the last several days...


Wood, it's SO good you are with us again! :)

Peaceweaver, hi there and welcome back! :)

Prim, happy birthday :)! http://fool.exler.ru/sm/hb.gif
It's still your birthday where you live, isn't it?

hallo again!!
as you can see i have many things to talk and ask about!!
i just is wondering if there is anybody with news about sin city
the yank everything is iluminated????

and is there anybody who knows what elijahs plans fore the future
is when he had a well desurved holliday!!??

i better dont post more to day otherwise you guyes hade to belive i
have nothing better to do,what is two or three posts already today
no good! but i have realy mised talking to you all!!

((((ylla & husband)))

:k :k :k

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/224.jpg


And maybe a little amusing something to bring a smile to your face. :)

http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/1293.jpg

okej couldent stay away any longer!!!
i am in sain i know!!

about the tattoo ylla,i have bee thinking about it for somtime know
but i cant deside wat it would bee,a ring and the inscription
one ring to rule them all?an elfen nine like you?a pic of elijahwith the words
frodo lives no my family and friends would kill me!!! :confused:
maybe a bumbelbee(its in my opinion one of his best movies)
a butterfly whats the conection?
something to do with elijah that only i know about!
maybe something with faculty?maybe we all coulde have one!!! :cool:

to old ylla?no i dont think so am 38 and have three kids i love beeing like a teennager again atlest in heart and mind with you ladys!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

((((((Ylla)))))) My thoughts are with you. Take care.

I need all my new friends in this forum to send a little positive energy my way.
My husband had a heart attack this morning. His condition is guarded and I am scared. I'm feeling very Frodo-ish ....small.... scared and unsure of my way. I know I have to be strong for my children but when the man you've loved for 18 years...well you know.


Oh my dear, ylla...I remember only too well going through this three times with my father when I was in high school, many years ago. And I know exactly how you're feeling.

I would like to hope that not only do we love and support Mr. Wood around here, but each other as well. Unlike the Fellowship of the Ring, ours will not end now that the ring has been destroyed. Please feel free to PM me or email or whichever, if you'd like to. But I think it's absolutely appropriate for you to post this -- please continue to. {{{{{ylla}}}}}

(((ylla))) I haven't posted much lately and probably did not even give you a proper welcome. My thoughts are with you, and your husband and family. Sending strong hopes your way for your husband's complete recovery.

And on a lighter note, Happy Birthday to Prim, and to all the other Faculty members whose birthdays I have probably missed!

I told peaceweaver yesterday how fortuitous it was that she returned home just in time for all the Film Festival goodies, after a relative drought of new Elwood pictures and news over the last several weeks. :D

(((Ylla))) you already know you are in my prayers.

(((wood))) here's to feeling young again! Me too,and I'm even older than you! I hope my little tease back there didn't offend you. :k (I like the bumblebee tattoo idea! and I don't know why you think of butterflies and Elijah, but I do too!)

(((Peaceweaver))) I can't wait to meet you! I can hardly believe that we will be in Seattle this time next week. Going to get my wee little car all lubed up for the big trip right now!

Honey!

(((ylla))) Those of us who've been "here" for a few years remember very well that one reason the Community Cafe was set up here at KD was to let us be a community without immediately being declared off-topic--so all the positive energy and thoughts of the Faculty (including mine :) ) are yours for the asking. IMHO, one of the gifts we get from following Elijah around is absorbing a bit of his energy and positivity.

There was a thread awhile back about how LotR had affected people's lives, and so many people felt they'd gotten support and strength from the book, especially from Frodo. My life situation is completely different from yours, so I can't say I know what you're feeling or what you're having to cope with, but if my sharing (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id121.htm) of some of what Frodo's done for me is of any help, you're very welcome to it.

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

something to do with elijah that only i know about!
I have a little stuffed toy penguin sitting on top of my computer monitor at work--he's there for two reasons, and only a couple of people know one of them has anything to do with Elijah ;) .
...maybe something with faculty?
Well, The Faculty does have a butterfly connection--I like the fact that at the end of the movie Casey is still enough "Casey" that he's photographing a butterfly :) --that is, he hasn't let his celebrity status completely change who he is (which sounds like someone I could name :p ). And butterflies come in all kinds of formats, not just tatoos. If we thought of doing something in common, though, I'd kind of like it to be Frolijah-related in some way.
to old ylla?no i dont think so am 38...
...and Ian McKellen is... what? ;)

there it is !!i knew i have seen a butterfly in one of his movies!!!
thanks tg!!!!
me to can you come up with some idears of what it should be??

oh compereing with ian i guess we are TEENAGES!!!!!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Dear ((((ylla)))), my thoughts are with you too. Like Whiteling, I cried when I read your posts. It is so frightening when such things happen. As a nurse you will know more about the prognosis than most ... and I hope your husband will be one of the many who recover from heart attacks with no ill effects. Sending lots of positive thoughts your way.
More below ....

((((Blossom)))), likewise! How kind of you to think of the Faculty and Prim's birthday at such a time. Your GIFs are always such great gifts to us too! Thank you for all of them ....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRIM!!!

And ((((Wood)))), welcome back! I do so sympathise about the stick you get from family and friends about your feelings for Elijah. As for me, I know perfectly well that I can't talk to ANYONE here (I'm back home now) about seeing Elijah in Karlovy Vary - I'd never hear the end of it. Several know that I like him, and several know about the film festival, but none of them (thank goodness) have yet twigged that I went there specifically because EW was there (I got away with it because of my recent Czech studies - they make a good alibi!). I just hope they don't do any Internet research on it .....

As for that reviewer, he was simply another of those who was so mesmerised by Elijah's eyes that he couldn't see anything else. It seems to be a kind of blindness certain people suffer from in his presence - well, perhaps not in his presence, but certainly on seeing him on screen. I suspect the incredible beauty of his eyes makes some people uncomfortable and they feel they have to cover this by knocking him in some way - after all, there's no way he could be THAT amazing-looking AND a good actor, is there? It wouldn't be fair on the rest of us, would it? So let's just deny it.

I still find it practically unbelievable that all those attributes are combined in one young man. That he has those eyes AND that skin AND that shape of face AND that physique AND that hair AND that intelligence AND that wisdom AND that talent AND that charisma AND that sheer goodness still seems to good to be true. But it is true! I've seen him and, as Esme at the EII yahoogroup says, he's like someone from another world. She swears he's part Elf, and so do I.
So it really amazes and perplexes me when people can't see him for what he is. But then that's just as well for Elijah - if everyone felt as we do, he'd be killed in the stampede :eek: .

Ylla, your Number 9 experience was most definitely a good sign. Go for it! And go for the tattoo as well, I'd say!!

More later .....

We already know from those who ran into him in England that the Faculty are way too classy to be obnoxious. :)

Phew...I take it that means I did the *right thing* ??

In between episodes of RL I do wonder what it would have been like if I had actually talked to him..

'specially as I went past the same little side street the other day on the bus and it was closed off and similar buses were parked outside..

made my heart skip a beat until common sense prevailed and I realised that he couldn't be back, he's back in the US and doing something else

must be a popular little street though ( perhaps I need to modify my route for my morning runs :D )

viola
p.s saw ESOTSM ages ago but didn't want to spoil it -I thought it was a great film, very thought provoking although had less of EW than I had anticipated. I could understand why he wanted to be part of that project though, especially with that director -I expect the director's style would have been totally different to PJ's.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

What some fans can do.... :rolleyes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/news/entertainment/040708_elijahwood.shtml

And I know who these gals are from Live Journal and they are really getting told off for doing this.

And I know who these gals are from Live Journal and they are really getting told off for doing this.

Thankfully onto serena's list of attributes also belongs "good sport AND sharp AND classy (and a lot of others)" because that could've been simply horrible for him.

I have the pics of him getting the envelope and manip and he turned every shade of red there is. (Can't show them here, sorry.)

But he did control himself admirably as the professional and gentleman he always is.

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

What some fans can do.... :rolleyes:
<snip>
And I know who these gals are from Live Journal and they are really getting told off for doing this.


Oh Good grief! What an utterly stupid thing to do, besides being totally rude! Sheesh! Poor 'Lij! Didn't he have a runner who could field personal stuff like that? It could have been almost anything (I've known of women to send their (dirty) underwear to stars if you can believe it).

When I was HL fandom, at a convention, a woman (She who Is Not Named) gave one of the cast members a very slashy f*nf*c story at a Q&A, IN FRONT OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS!!! What the poor guy was supposed to do with it, who knows? Anyway, said Copyright Holders subsequently stomped all over the Internet, issuing "Cease and Desist" letters right and left to anyone who had any copyrighted material (like screen caps, scans, f*nf*c, extensive quotes) on their websites. It was pretty nasty for a while, and the entire fandom suffered, to the point where someone used a two-line quote of material, quoted and attributed, in a discussion, and she was issued a "cease and desist".

This kind of stuff goes far beyond any reasonable use of material. That it was given to someone involved in the movies is - well - The Lad said it - "That's so *WRONG*!". That it was given to a 23-year-old kid who is still un-jaded enough that he doesn't have security six-deep around him is inexcusable. Some crazed fan could just love him to death. :::: shudder :::: Every incident like this will drive home more and more the need for him to shut himself off from fans. He's lovely and open (to some extent - nice to fans, anyway) and charming and it's just going to be so sad to see that erosion of trust.

I'm glad they're getting stomped on, I hope that they're getting stomped on hard, and I hope that it's by Peter Jackson's weasel - er - legal representatives. I've seen things from PJ or reps. on occasion and he can get *very* hot under the collar.

And I sincerely hope that Elijah Wood's agent and/or representatives have gotten the message and will take steps to ensure his safety at these events.

Geez. This isn't some cheesy story or character that they're messing with. This is Tolkien and Frodo! And Elijah Wood! It's like writing slash about the Holy Writ.



::: looks around at faculty staring strangely; steps off soapbox, kicking it under nearest table, and walks away whistling nonchalantly :::

~grumpy (and here's Faculty being so *good* when they see him, even with sprained ankles!)

When I was HL fandom, at a convention, a woman (She who Is Not Named) gave one of the cast members a very slashy f*nf*c story at a Q&A, IN FRONT OF THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS!!!

You mean THE she who is not to be named?!

PM me and tell me more. This is too good to waste. :eek:

Didn't he have a runner who could field personal stuff like that? It could have been almost anything...
It could have been dangerous, FES! :mad:

Elijah knows that stuff is out there, especially on the net, as he showed during that one talk show (can't remember the name? Oops... simulposted with Maeg--thanks :) ). But, he had some time to prepare for that one and could beat the guy at his own game. When a celebrity's out in the open like that, there really needs to be someone beside him to stick out a hand and say (politely), "Here, I'll take that." IMHO, if someone would be upset by that precaution, they're someone to watch out for, anyway.

...the entire fandom suffered, to the point where someone used a two-line quote of material, quoted and attributed, in a discussion, and she was issued a "cease and desist".
If it was less than 200 words long, it would have unquestionably been legal under "fair use." But the point's well taken.

And I sincerely hope that Elijah Wood's agent and/or representatives have gotten the message and will take steps to ensure his safety at these events.
The last time I saw Elijah's reps listed, there were two: his agent, and an attorney. I don't know what the attorney does for him, but it sounds like a good idea to have one on retainer.

Geez. This isn't some cheesy story or character that they're messing with. This is Tolkien and Frodo! And Elijah Wood! It's like writing slash about the Holy Writ.
Oh, you mean like the stuff about Jesus and "the Beloved Disciple"?? :rolleyes:

Ylla, my thoughts are with you and your husband. I sincerely hope he'll have a full and speedy recovery.

And I actually think it's a helpful and comforting to watch LotR when feeling worried and distressed and depressed....... I've certainly done so myself on occasion! Especially Frodo's story has an impact, of course. The fact that he's so anti-superheroic makes him so much more gruellingly realistic on the emotional level, someone that it's possible to relate to and find comfort and inspiration in.

Have you by any chance read "One Step More: The Heroism of Frodo Baggins", by Connie Marie Anderson? Just like tg's essay, it has a wonderful and personal perspective on Frodo that seems very true to me. It was posted over at Frodo and Sam. net, and concluded as follows: What have macho action heroes to offer us? Nothing real. Nothing lasting.

Frodo, on the other hand, inspires and empowers. However exotic his circumstances, I can relate to him. He is tired and scared, as am I. He has been promised no reward, no glory. Nor have I. Love propels him onward even when his heart is breaking, something I can understand.

When I am defeated, when I am so exhausted and full of despair I don’t think I can carry on one more second, when I am tempted to give up, I think of Frodo. Frodo on that river bank. Frodo in the Dead Marshes. Frodo in Mordor.

Then I somehow find it within myself to take one step more.

I love that essay. :)


Wood, I'm truly enjoying *your* joy at being back on the net and here in the Faculty. Don't worry about posting more than once - or twice. :) You've got me thinking about even more possible tattoos with hidden Elijah-references now, in addition to those mentioned. A dolphin? :D A Ring? Uhm.... to obvious. :rolleyes: "Elijah" written in elvish runes? A chinese coin? I'd better stop there. :o


Hobmom, Grumpy, I fully agree that that fan was in the very poorest of intrusive tastes and should have known better. Seems the exact opposite of various considerate Faculty members that come to mind. :) I have no idea what the intention was at all, it mainly seems offensively silly to me. Anyway, Elijah knows well enough what's out there on the net and I have every confidence that he, by and large, manages to shrug off and even laugh off that kind of thing, and isn't deeply upset. I doubt he'd have agreed to be so charmingly in on the joke concerning similar pictures on the Graham Norton show if that wasn't the case. And that show's content is also why I'd think and hope there won't be a "Cease and Desist" backlash as severe as what Grumpy described in this case; ..... since similar pictures were already aired on the Norton show with Elijah participating. But I do agree that such events might lead to him needing more and tougher security around, which is sad.

Actually, I'm thinking that the best way for fans to handle other fans' unwanted and inappropriate behaviour of this kind may well be to "kill it by keeping silent" as the saying goes over here. If Elijah feels uncomfortable by that kind of thing, the more it's being described, discussed, protested, and even ranted at; - the more attention it gets; - and the more discomfort he might be feeling. Although when the BBC runs the story, it's really out in the open, I suppose.

Someone posted a link to a video of this particular part of the press conference. Lij didn't seem especially embarrassed and even said it was "hilarious". In fact, he even told the press exactly what the pic was (BUT, he DIDN'T wave it around so they could see it, I noticed.) However, news of this incident appeared on Swedish TV, in a Spanish newspaper, and on MTV. That's the part that's bad, because the rest of us get painted with the same broad brush.

Achila-
rest of us get painted with the same broad brush.

I didn't realize these other news venues had also reported the incident. So it is really well known now.

That's why we need to show our disaproval when two(as it was in this case) fans do something most of us find very offensive and not something most of us would do.

Silence in these situations can mean consent and I for one do not consent to this kind of treatment of Elijah or any other human being.

He laughed but he also blushed very dramatically. He can't have been feeling really comfortable inside. :(

Guys, even though it's ridiculously late at night and I can't tell you why I'm up so late, I'm still going to tell you what I know about that pornomontage story. Good to know the 3 German girls are having their hands slapped, Hobmom - go for it! It was of course all over the press in KV, but was presented rather interestingly. My view (shared with others there) was then and is now what a stupid, absurd waste of a golden opportunity it was to meet Elijah, talk to him and present him with a gift. Particularly after they had reputedly driven 14 hours to meet him!

Apparently they wormed their way into his press conference by gatecrashing the previous one and then refusing to leave (how they found out about it at all I don't know, but if you're that pushy - er, resourceful - you'll go to any lengths). ANYWAY, this is what the English section of Tuesday's Festival Daily said about it :

Elijah Wood, who has expressed interest in music videos and possibly starting his own record label, put in an appearance at the MTV party Sunday night. Polishing his mad music industry playa skillz? Are we witnessing the rise of E Wo? Doubtful. The 39 Steps (this little gossip column - ed.) thinks Wood is just too darn patient to be much of a mogul. Witness his good-natured reaction to a bizarre gift from three zealous German fans. The fräuleins, who reportedly drove more than 16 (?) hours just to see Wood, presented him with Sauerbraten? Almost: beefcake. Wood reacted with humor and equanimity after glancing at the doctored photomontage portraying him and another Lord of the Rings star in an, ahem, compromising position. P. Diddy could never be so cool.

So that probably won him even more friends in KV. Pity it's got into the popular media, though - they will not report it with such sympathy or insight, and the "gift" rather than Elijah's cool reaction to it will be all that anyone remembers. Why on earth people who apparently value Elijah enough to go to all those lengths to meet him feel they have to try to embarrass or humiliate him when they do I can't imagine. It's not so different from that Italian journalist (not to mention Her Who Shall Not Be Mentioned). In their own ways they are all trying to appear clever at Elijah's expense. Do they think he is fair game, there to be used for their amusement or aggrandisement just because he's a celebrity? Why anyone would want to do that to someone who is so thoroughly sweet-natured is beyond my comprehension. Fortunately Elijah is extremely clued-up and unlikely to be too fazed by pornomontage (as Maeg so eloquently says, he himself brought up the subject on the Graham Norton show - hilarious as that was, it was also an attempt to defuse and debunk the whole thing, I think). It seems those girls had no idea he'd seen it all before. Thank goodness he had is all I can say.

One paper reported that EW had a lot of fans and a lot of bodyguards, BTW. Yes, there were a few bruisers following him on the night he arrived to present ESOTSM, but none I could see when he arrived at or left the hotel. Odd, that.

BTW, Elijah was all over yesterday's Czech national newspapers - for some reason all of them had pictures of him him on the front page as well as long - and sympathetic - reports on him inside :). Will scan them one of these days! Dnes called him "the biggest star at this year's festival" (yessss!) and also reported on the pornomontage incident, saying that the girls told him to sit down before opening it, so he was taken aback (surprise :rolleyes: ) and jokingly asked if it was going to explode. He then recovered his cool and said "That's horrible! Really disgusting" or some such - I'm translating from Czech here - and went on to explain to the press what was going on. OK, if the audience had been made up of fans who knew the score, it wouldn't have been a problem - but this lot were serious arts journalists and the poor lad ended up having to tell them about the contents of those websites. Not something he'd have wished to do in normal circumstances. So (((Hobmom))), those girls deserve whatever you feel like giving them.

Achila, I'd love to see a video of any part of that press conference. Haven't had time to look yet, but if you wouldn't mind pointing me to it ... :k Saw some of it live on screen while it was going on .... and while my foot was swelling to the size of a football .... but there was no sound. A strange experience.

Actually, serena, those weren't his words at all. He said, "That's so wrong" and "That's hilarious". I'll PM you the link to the video.

I have just gotten hold of the video. He covers it well but our poor boy was completely shocked and the fan just barged up to the press table and plunked the thing down in front of him. Watch him slam the manip down and then push it and the bag she gave him away.

Here it is...Right click and save.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~dutche/Prague.wmv

Serena- Never fear the culprits are being suitably dealt with. ;)

OK that link SHOULD work.

((((ylla))))) My thoughts are with you. Please take care of yourself in this difficult time.

(((Blossom))). I hope things are improving for your husband, as well.


Glad you are back, Wood.

Waving to everyone as I hop in and then hop back out. :k

Having seen the vid now, I can only say that Elijah has a career as a diplomat awaiting him should he ever hang up his acting hat. He really walked a fine line there. His body language, and that positively incandenscent blush, spoke of his disgust quite clearly. But he still managed to be respond with good grace and humor.

Which is why the whole incident really infuriates me. :mad: He never fails to treat his fans with anything but respect. And these three drive so far only shove filth in his face? How funny would they find it if presented with manipulated pictures of themselves shoplifting? Not very I expect.

I can't imagine what would motivate someone to do such a thing, nor what response they hoped to elicit.

Honey! who is just maybe mad enough to revisit livejournal land and deliver a choice piece of my mind!

I am at a loss to understand why so called 'fans' would do something so disrespectful to Elijah. :confused: Shame on them. In such a public situation, he had little alternative but to explain to the room at large what was going on. I think he was obviously embarrassed, but handled the whole thing with his usual grace and dignity.

Ylla - I'm so very sorry to hear about your husband. From my own recent experience, I know how difficult and worrying it is to have someone you love fall ill. You feel so helpless. Be assured all our thoughts are with you and your husband, and if you feel like talking, there's always someone here to listen. :k

My husband came home from hospital yesterday, and seems much better. Thanks for all your kind wishes, everyone.

I really popped in to bring this:

For Ainon (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/AINON.gif)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AINON!!!

Have a wonderful day, dear. :k

i just cant understand???how could something like this happend
to our poor elijah??? arent there supose to be gurds around
when the stars are doing presskonferns??

what were they thinking about when the world are crasy with
thoose terrorists,it could have been a bomb uh horrybel thought!!!!!!!! :confused: :confused:

it can give anybody nightmares!!!!!

i hope he is okej!! but who in the world does those fotos? they
should be in jail!!!!! :eek:

hobmom! i just saw the video it was a swedish voice at the beginning,
do you know in what program they was showing this and when???

ylla!i hope your husband is feeling better!
blossom! glade to hear that your husband is home again!

i forgott HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINON!! :k :k

OK...my 2 cents...not that you asked for it but I'm offering it anyway ;)

I don't think that we should overdramatise this either. Sure, it was a stupid and silly gift from those girls. Talk about wasting a golden opportunity and making a fool of themselves. :rolleyes:

I can imagine that Elijah was more than a bit surprised and that this wasn't exactly the sort of gift he'll proudly show to his mother :D but...in my opinion...I think he'll have a good laugh over this afterwards.
Edit: can moondancer ever do a post without an edit, she wonders just saw a videoclip (posted on that site you can't link to) and...what a classy guy!

Also, in all those pictures I saw from the festival, I have often seen the same big guys standing or walking behind Elijah. You can never be sure of crazy fans, I know, but it wasn't as if he was unprotected.

Edit 2 :rolleyes: : have you guys seen this? (link found on A&F)
It's a bit from Czech tv. http://www.czech-tv.cz (http://www.czech-tv.cz/vysilani/index.php?progid=1198&forday=1088805600&streamtype=WH&ilink=Udalosti030704.13.asx)



Happy birthday, ainon.
Have a great celebration!
http://graphics.stanford.edu/~comba/cartoons/tintin.gif

i saw the clip but what did they say?
anybody who knows?
but what i can tell he looks very classy and
have great self controll i mean he is on his on
now and dont have his friends with him
like when they were doing thing like that with lotr
you know what i mean.
and wonder what they were saying about the ring
very nice closeup oh those eyes ;)

from Moondancer:
just saw a videoclip (posted on that site you can't link to) and...what a classy guy!

Absolutely! The press people there will have nothing but admiration for him for the way he handled that, so maybe the girls unwittingly did him a favour with their "gift" (Whiteling, Moondancer and others will know the connotations of that word in German: it means "poison"!) :D .
Thanks to Achila and Hobmom for the links :k

Thanks, Moondancer, for the Czech TV link too! It would take me forever to translate it all, but as far as I can tell they just introduce Elijah as Frodo from PJ's LOTR (the caption under the whole Festival clip says "Frodo Baggins has arrived"!), talk about all the fans waiting for him and a bit about his past and his presentation of ESOTSM and what he's filming in the CR, and then cut to the interview. I have the text of a lot of the interview in Czech - see below! They ask him about Paula Abdul and Macauley Culkin and what he'd like to do apart from acting, and if he'd like to do music clips. Some replies are quite interesting and I'll translate them .. er ... some time .... The pic is just gorgeous, though - will try to enlarge it. The headline says something like "I'm not a wooden actor" - it's an untranslatable pun on "wood".

Honey, belated thanks for your good wishes and kind thoughts - and for your great letter to the blind critic and the link to Tg's "The One Expression" page - just brilliant. I love it. Tg, you're a genius.

PS Most of the Czech press just refers to Elijah as Frodo (they have a LOT of trouble pronouncing "Elijah Wood" ... :) ). Guess Frodo really will be with him all his life.

The press people there will have nothing but admiration for him for the way he handled that, so maybe the girls unwittingly did him a favour with their "gift" (Whiteling, Moondancer and others will know the connotations of that word in German: it means "poison"!) :D .

:D :rolleyes: :mad: These dimwits!

"I'm not a wooden actor" - it's an untranslatable pun on "wood".

No, his acting is not exactly what I'd call hölzern :p !


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AINON! :)
Have a nice day! :k

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/frodo24.jpg

Have a Great Birthday, Ainon!

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/cropcap334.jpg

Yeah, I know I ususally save that cake for double birthdays, but what the heck :p .


Coincidentally, while I was reading the new posts, the adult Kerry/Hines/Edwards children were being interviewed on the Today Show, and a clip was played of a fake "campaign ad" that was shown on Jay Leno's show last night that showed John Kerry and John Edwards in a variety of "friendly?" situations. No sex (or even kissing), but the intimation of a romantic relationship was clear--with "You Are So Beautiful to Me" playing over the pictures. It was a joke, of course (we're talking Jay Leno here), poking a little fun at the effusive praise the two are giving each other these days as opposed to what they said when they were running against each other. And also, of course, this type of thing isn't new--taking bits of film from here and there and sticking them together to make them look like something other than they are. But this one caught my attention because the clips were obviously photomanips rather than just various real snips of film stuck together. Some of the shots were of things that haven't even happened yet, such as the two of them together at the Democratic national convention.

The fact that I even know what "photomanips" are comes solely from following the LotR movies and being an Elijah Wood fan, but I'm pretty sure I would have figured out something was a bit "off" :rolleyes: even if I'd never heard of them. The ability to make things look like something they're not has come a long way since someone stuck Oprah Winfrey's head on someone else's body on a magazine cover.

Anyway, what struck me was the context. The children being interviewed are all college age and older, extremely intelligent and poised, and certainly knew about the "ad" before it was played for them this morning. They all gave the appropriate response--which was laughing at it. I'm sure that's what the candidates will do, too, when someone brings it up--which someone undoubtedly will. But if the children's first awareness of it had been during this live, national TV interview, I can imagine it that it could have taken them a few moments to respond. And I'd hope that the people at the Today Show (which is supposed to be a news program, after all) would have had the common sense not to show it if the two younger Edwards children had been there.

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this (if anywhere) :rolleyes: , but seeing the "campaign ad" just after the incident with Elijah reinforced the fact that there's a lot of this out there. If he'd been in front of a group of fans, he could have looked at it, said, "Oh, it's just a silly photomanip," and everyone would have known what he was talking about and business would resume as usual. But in front of a group of serious journalists, IMHO he wasn't left with much choice except to explain in a bit more detail. (Can you imagine what ideas some people would come up with if someone handed Elijah an envelope, he looked at the contents, blushed bright red, and then refused to say anything about it :eek: ?)

I doubt if Elijah was seriously upset--embarrassed, obviously (unless he can also blush on cue, which I wouldn't put past him :p ), and in front of a group where he'd want to be seen and accepted as a serious actor rather than the object of fangirl nonsense. IMHO, Elijah handled the situation perfectly, which seems to have gained him positive points anywhere important. The press seems to have handled it well, too (all I know about that is what I've read here--don't know if it's even been mentioned on any U.S. entertainment programs). Since the press conference was being shown live, according to our Faculty member on the scene :) , not reporting it would have just made it look worse than it was.

And I'm glad the LJ community is dealing with the perpetrators internally. I don't know who they are--and don't want to know--but some "self moderating" within the group is the best way to handle it, IMHO.

One of my first thoughts, too, was "What a waste of a golden opportunity," but then I realized that, of course, if the perpetrators were the type who would have used the opportunity well, they wouldn't have wormed their way into the press conference and been obnoxious enough not to leave when asked. [ (((classy Serena))) And I'll just throw a few virtual :k to Serena's football-sized foot :( -- real ones would probably just make it hurt more.]

Happy Birthday to Ainon (and anyone I may have missed -- I know I missed Narya's -- Happy Birthday to you, luv!)! Sadly, on lj land, those who create photomanips are now blaming themselves and pulling their work off the net. I know some of you may think that's justifiable but to me, it's an unfortunate backlash. Personally, I enjoy their work. I see nothing wrong or shameful with two beautiful bodies loving each other (even if they're not wearing their original heads). Elijah doesn't seem to be much bothered by this going on -- heck, we sure didn't invent this stuff -- it's been going on a lot longer than the LOTR movie fandom. In fact, slash stories were being written about Frodo and Sam long before the movies were a gleam in Peter Jackson's eye. It's just that the presence of such lovely male actors (including our lad) has given it a whole new dimension.

I don't know why those girls did this either. My guess is that they thought it was funny. I don't think they thought about the consequences. It's what happens to some people in the presence of their idols. Nuff said -- I think we've spent enough time discussing this.

Perhaps to swing things away from that nasty "incident", here is a link to a short, but nice, article/interview from Radio Prague:

Lord of the Rings' "Frodo" the biggest star at this year's Karlovy Vary festival (http://www.radio.cz/en/article/55830)

And Happy Birthday, Ainon!

Quickly flying through to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Ainon and thanks to all of you for the in-depth information and intelligent commentary on what I think is really a sad incident. Thank goodness Mr. Wood has the maturity to deal with it so well. May he always rise above.

RL calls, as never before. Bye for now!

Achila quoteth: Sadly, on lj land, those who create photomanips are now blaming themselves and pulling their work off the net. I know some of you may think that's justifiable but to me, it's an unfortunate backlash.


:::: shrug :::: I think it's entirely justifiable. There are some things that are not appropriate for public viewing; if people wish to manip and view them privately, more power to them. It's not homophobia; I'd feel the same way about explicit pictures of compromising positions between Arwen and Frodo, or Eowen and Merry. And I cannot comprehend giving a stranger a porn picture.

Personally, I enjoy their work. I see nothing wrong or shameful with two beautiful bodies loving each other (even if they're not wearing their original heads).

I think creation of falsified pictures is a gray area. I don't like the idea of photomanip to begin with. To use it to create porn pictures - I don't really care about that when done privately, just when said pictures are publicized in such a way. I think that's irresponsible and leads to idiotic Supreme Court cases in this country.

Elijah doesn't seem to be much bothered by this going on
Unlike many of his elders, I imagine that he realizes that things like that, though he may consider them very wierd, are a person's choice and has no problem with it unless he's put on the spot like that. Assuming that he is as expressive in real life as he makes his characters, I'd say his reaction was pretty negative - slapping the picture down, putting it in the bag, pushing the bag to the side, blushing to the roots of his hair. I would be willing to bet that from now on, he'll have someone off to the side to intercept fans at things like press conferences. At least I hope so.

heck, we sure didn't invent this stuff -- it's been going on a lot longer than the LOTR movie fandom. In fact, slash stories were being written about Frodo and Sam long before the movies were a gleam in Peter Jackson's eye. It's just that the presence of such lovely male actors (including our lad) has given it a whole new dimension. Oh, it's been done for decades, though I wasn't aware of it before getting online in '95. It didn't have such wide visibility before the Internet. But I question the need to publicize it so widely, or to embarrass actors at press conferences.

I don't know why those girls did this either. My guess is that they thought it was funny. I don't think they thought about the consequences. It's what happens to some people in the presence of their idols.

I think it's part if the illusion of intimacy that movies and TV give. We got a good look into Frodo's soul and Sam's character, we see an attractive young actor who appears open and sincere, and some may think that we actually *know* the actor. We don't.

Nuff said -- I think we've spent enough time discussing this. :::: making funny face at Achila :::: I think it's a valid and possibly important topic. If it keeps one person from becoming a threat to that actor's privacy, then it's worthwhile. IMGLO, of course. :)

~grumpy

Thanks, Bunnie--I liked seeing this quote from Elijah on EII:
It's incredibly funny but also so touching and dramatic. It's a beautiful, beautiful story and I'm excited to be working on it."
This movie keeps sounding better and better. I'm not only excited to see it, but also hoping it'll be a breakthrough in Elijah's career--now that the world knows who he is. And I can't think of a better description of the perfect "Elijah Wood movie" than the one he gives in that quote. Sounds like exactly the kind of film that will give his talents a real chance to shine.

Simulposted with zkg--Yes, the internet has made things very different. Fanfic used to be run off on mimeograph machines and sent to maybe a couple of dozen people the writer knew personally. Anything that's put on the internet has to be put there with the knowledge that literally anyone in the world can see it (unless someone uses high-level security on their site).

And it's also legally different--since the internet is open to "public consumption," posting something there is legally considered publishing, which means copyright protection kicks in--something the privately distributed 'zines didn't have to worry about because they were legally private communication, not publishing. Saul Zaentz, New Line, and even the Tolkien estate have been remarkably lenient about online content.

Selamat hari lahir, Ainon! Semoga panjang umur dan murah rezeki! :) Hopefully, this means what I presume it does. Should be something about very long life and easy luck, but one can never be completely sure :p.

Though I hate to think of dear Elijah having to manuever through such surprise in front of journalists, I guess I'm in the minority, but I agree with Moondancer that we are likely making a bigger deal about it than we need to.

TG's example of the recent Kerry/Edwards sketch using photo manips on Jay Leno brings to mind The Saturday Night Live skit that Al Gore PARTICIPATED in during the last campaign--in which he was looking for a suitable running mate and ended up in the hot tub with Joe Lieberman (Al was real, Joe, an actor) , drinking champaigne through encircled arms and finishing each other's sentences: something along the line of "if we could only used some sort of..." "metaphorical.." "lockbox (together)".... :D :D

(Oh yeah--Gore was also was in a sketch that same show in which he kept deeply kissing his wife, Tipper, in kisses that went on forever).

He was quite funny and yet I think didn't sacrifice his dignity on that show.

What I mean by this--is that these things are taken more lightly than they used to be. Our own boys kiss in public, not too worried about furthering the talk. They once joked about walking the red carpet holding hands. Such joking on TV shows etc these days isn't considered meanspirited as in the past. But, as at the Graham Norton show, I think it would be in bad taste not to let the guest in on the joke so they can play along...or if they want, to nix them if they think they will be too uncomfortable (this when they are present as a guest).

Yes, in this case it was totally inappropriate to put Elijah in such a situation, expecially since he has shown so much grace and tolerance. It's not fair to push him so. It's not fair to put your own fantasies using his image right up into his face. That be the same whether het or slash. It's a fantasy and one has to be respectful of not forcing him into it. I wonder how young those women/girls were, and if they are feeling pretty sheepish by now?

That said, probably the appropriate things have already been said to these fans. They have likely been punished enough, by now. IMVHO


Oh Yeah HAPPY BIRTHDAY AINON!!!

I wonder how young those women/girls were, and if they are feeling pretty sheepish by now?

That said, probably the appropriate things have already been said to these fans. They have likely been punished enough, by now. IMVHO


One of the 'girls' in question is 25, don't know about the other. And unfortunately, neither one is showing any remorse whatsoever. They appear to be of that oblivious breed who simply cannot see how incredibly inappropriate their behavior is. :(

Ah, well. Best to move on.

:::: shrug :::: I think it's entirely justifiable. There are some things that are not appropriate for public viewing; if people wish to manip and view them privately, more power to them.

And just like the programs on TV, when you run across one you don't want to watch, you change the channel. No one forces anyone to look at these sites. In the case of one person I know, her graphic manips are passworded and you have to email her to get the password before advancing into the site. She is very responsible, overall.

Comparatively speaking, there are probably thousands of sites on the net with pictures of naked (fill in the blank) that anyone could stumble on. I don't choose to frequent these sites -- but many do. I'm glad they have the freedom to do so.

I see nothing wrong or shameful with two beautiful bodies loving each other (even if they're not wearing their original heads).

I totally agree with the first part of this, but not the second. I look at it this way - would any of us be happy and comfortable with someone putting our heads on another (albeit beautiful :D ) body, when that body was doing something which we either wouldn't do, or wouldn't consent to have pictures taken while we were doing it?

And to take it one step further, even if we did find it funny to laugh about those pictures when we knew about them ahead of time (like with friends at a bar, or on the Graham Norton show), I don't think any of us would be happy to have them handed to us unexpectedly at a formal event when we weren't expecting them (like in a business meeting, or at a press conference.) Celebrities and politicians and others in the public eye know this is going to happen to them, but I do believe there's a difference between knowing it's out there, having the grace to laugh about it in appropriate situations, and having it put in your face in a totally inappropriate situation.

I can't say how much I admire Elijah's response in that clip - he was careful not to hurt and humiliate the girls who did this, showing his true kindness of spirit as well as far more class than I would have been able to muster in the same situation. :)


I thought I'd mention as well that I'm leaving for the Seattle hoot tomorrow, so Lyric and BFM will be modding in my absence. Be good to them! :D

A very happy birthday to you, ainon!

Hope it's been a wonderful milestone day. :) :) :)


I personally still absolutely think the "incident" shouldn't be blown out of proportion. Elijah surely knows most of his fans are nice and considerate and enthusiastic people who respect and admire him, and who wouldn't want to embarrass him. Just thinking about those I know who've met him at autograph signings and the like; - the nicest people around! And that woman in the wheelchair - Ruth? He's met lots of fans like that, who are genuinely happy and impressed to meet him. I should think he's pretty realistic about the vast majority of fans; - and the very few ones doing silly stunts.... or worse.

Also, I'm becoming increasingly relaxed about fan creativity in general. I don't think there's much out there that's been made with the intent to hurt, defame or ridicule, even the stuff that isn't in the best taste or that crosses the border to being inherently speculative. But of course none of it should ever be pressed on the LotR actors, or on anyone else, who are not themselves actively seeking it out.

Forgot to say earlier:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AINON !!!

Will these do as presents? ;)

http://webplaza.pt.lu/barbara/kvelijah.JPG

and:

http://webplaza.pt.lu/barbara/kvelijah2.JPG


The newspaper article I attached earlier, entitled Nejsem herecké dřevo ("I'm No Wooden Actor" (!)) continues like this:

Elijah Wood arrives in Vary and the girls scream their heads off

He's about the size of a hobbit (:confused: - ed.) and his big, bright blue eyes look as if they were made specially for a coloured contact lens ad. Thanks to his role as Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings trilogy he became a Hollywood star who has driven a lot of girls into a passionate frenzy by coming to present the film ESOTSM at the Karlovy Vary Festival. Yet he came across as modest, likeable and non-starry. On his finger he was wearing a silver ring. "It's just a cheap ring - it's definitely not the one from the film, which is the one I'm sure you want to ask about", he explained at the start. "No, we're not going to talk about Lord of the Rings" I replied. Today he was hoping for something different.
To be continued .......

EDIT to say I totally agree with this, Narya:

I can't say how much I admire Elijah's response in that clip - he was careful not to hurt and humiliate the girls who did this, showing his true kindness of spirit as well as far more class than I would have been able to muster in the same situation.

(((Faculty)))

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! Blossom! :k :k :k Brunhild, yep, that's right! Terima kasih. :D Serena, absolutely acceptable birthday presents, those, thank you. ;) :k Well tg, a cake that big should do fine to go around the Faculty. :D

As for the current incident under discussion, I'll ditto Narya:

I can't say how much I admire Elijah's response in that clip - he was careful not to hurt and humiliate the girls who did this, showing his true kindness of spirit as well as far more class than I would have been able to muster in the same situation. :)

I've read other stories of stars being presented with manip shots -- usually the stories go that the stars would be too stunned for words. :p

Have a great weekend, everyone! Hope things are looking better, ylla. :z:

EDITED: AAAACK! NOT an innocent babe. NOT!

... I don't think any of us would be happy to have them handed to us unexpectedly at a formal event when we weren't expecting them (like in a business meeting, or at a press conference.) ...

:::: choking :::: Reminds me of way back about 12 years ago. The site where I was working, somehow we got hold of a Fabio poster. It got passed around and put on the backs of peoples doors when they weren't looking, or over their desks. One morning my task leader met with someone in her office. They went in, she closed the door, and hurriedly opened it again; there was Fabio, bigger than life, behind her door. ;) ;) I think I still have that poster somewhere. :)


...I can't say how much I admire Elijah's response in that clip ... I think he handled it well, in fact, some of the most cynical people I know thought his response was "cool". I should say, though, that my objection is NOT that it might hurt his tender sensibilities - he's shown repeatedly (along with certain other hobbit-actors) that he's no innocent babe (not with that vocabulary!). ;) My objection is that it should not have been done, for reasons already stated.

~grumpy

I just don't get it. Anyone who has seen the Graham Norton clip could pretty much tell you what his reaction to such a photo manip would be; embarrasement, mingled with his usual grace and good humor. But to spring something like that on someone, with no warning, and in a public setting seems just a bit sadistic to me. Sort of like yelling "boo" at someone carrying a priceless fragile vase -- or their reputation as a professional. There are times, like the GN show -- where Elijah obviously had been warned about what GN was going to do -- when that sort of thing (while not exactly appropriate :rolleyes: ) is OK to talk about. But you don't spring it on a young man while he is doing his job, for pity sake!

OK, I'm gonna shut up about it.

Honey!

Honeyelf- I am with you totally. And so are many other fans who think this was really going too far and was crude, rude, selfish and just plain stupid.

And I too thought Elijah WAS embarrassed even on the Graham Norton Show but just gritted his teeth and went along with it. He is obviously not happy having his personal life treated so callously. He covers it well and is always a gentleman and a professional but he is smiling less and less about this. He may say it's hilarious but he doesn't really seem to feel that way.

Remember when he threw the tabloids into 'Mt. Doom' on TRL last December? He was genuinely angry and it wasn't really at the tabloids but at certain people who have no respect for his privacy.

I think he's almost at his breaking point on this issue and how long will it be before he and perhaps Orli and Sean get fed up and sue some people. Orli is reportedly completely furious over what some fans have been saying about him and his girlfriend Kate Bosworth.

Fans really need to show respect for the lives of the people they claim to care about.

Honey:
I'm with you on that. You don't spring things like that on someone to see how they swim with it.--especially in front of everyone. Especially someone you profess to hold dear.

That said, he handled himself so so so well. And that is the best news to come out of it all. :) . Class, class, and grace.

Thank everyone for such wonderful picture postings and as ever keeping me up to date as I'm not half so good with those internet searches.

(((Faculty)))

It has been months since I last posted here, but I couldn't miss the chance to say:

Happy Birthday ainon!!

:) :k :)

And hello to all other Faculty members!

Thank everyone for such wonderful picture postings and as ever keeping me up to date as I'm not half so good with those internet searches.

(((Faculty)))

Ditto X 2 on that (at least), as checking in here is often all I have time for! :k Elijah's interviews from the Czech Republic have been wonderful to read.

And an extra :k for estella rose!

hi to you all!!
i been thinking a little( :D )
maybe it is that way like somone sade before
i cant remember who,
that some people get afraid what feelings elijah
gives them when they are talking to them
i mean with thoose eyes nobody can walk away
and not been toched in some way and maybe some
of them cant understand that feeling, i mean
in all the pics i have seen never a liae can be told with
those eyes and not been seen
i gues people are not juse with stars that are totaly
oh i lost the word!!!!!
i mean that elijah alwayes seams so unest(wrong spelling!
hope you understand)

oh my god what am i getting here i dont know my self!!
hopfully somebody is understanding what i been trying to
say :confused: :confused:

not that its importend but i gues those pics was of elijah and sean
i wonder if he has spoken with sean about this and wonder what seans respond was to it :(
it seams like they are like brothers so i gues they are talking about
almost everthing or am i totaly wrong here?? :rolleyes:

not that its importend but i gues those pics was of elijah and sean

Actually, Wood, someone I know who saw the girl's lj (before she locked the post) said the pic was of Elijah with Orlando.

oh my!!
that i never thought!!
i realy thought it was on sam and elijah
becuse of there friendship outside and on screen
in my own opinion just close friendship like brothers
you know what i mean!!!i hope!! :(

Well, here's the conclusion I've come to regarding this whole thing...maybe how disgusted you are by this whole affair depends on how you regard the whole business of photo-manipulations...given that most of these are of the very Slashy variety...
I've noticed that there are various people who are not really that shocked, disgusted, or generally feeling bad about Elijah being unexpectedly presented with photos of himself in a somewhat compromising position with Orlando Bloom...and then there are others who are very disgusted indeed...I wonder if there is any co-relation between these people, and the question of who is or is not comfortable with the idea of Slash generally...and in relation, specifically, to Elijah himself ?

I, myself, am not averse at all to the idea of, and, indeed, actually reading slash fiction when it comes to the fictional characters these actors portray, Frodo, Sam, Legolas, whoever...some of these stories are extremely well written, and portray very loving relationships between two people who went through Hell and high water together...

However, I DO draw the line, bigtime, when it comes to RPS Fiction, and that has to include these photo-manipulations too, doesn't it ? It goes against the grain totally to read fictional stories, or to see pictures of or about real people who don't know thay are being written about or portrayed in this way....How can anyone think that these drawings won't cause offence to the people portrayed therein ? !!! I'm just gobsmacked that anyone could possibly think that Elijah would have been pleased to be presented with the results of their labours...and in a public situation too !!!
I'm very interested in the whys and wherefores of this...so if anyone knows who these girls are, please could you let me know where their LJ's are, via PM...
( I'm so eaten up with curiosity :confused: :rolleyes: !!! )

And, Maeglian, I agree with you too, about not making too much of a mountain out of a molehill here...Sure, Elijah was undoubtedly shocked, but most probably because he wasn't expecting it, (well, who would be ??? ) ...he's certainly no baby, and he certainly knows about the photos out there in Internetland, doesn't he...and these girls don't really deserve the notoriety that this little episode will give them..( yes, that must be the reason they did this, mustn't it ? )

Actually, it may interest you to know that our free newspaper that we get on the Tube in the morning, had a little piece about this in their celebrity column last Friday...and they reported the offending article as being a LOTR-based board-game, with photo-manips of the cast and characters...don't know where they got that from exactly, but it does show you how these things can change magically when being transported from site to site, and journalist to journalist...

Lady Wendy is thinking deep and wise thoughts:
Well, here's the conclusion I've come to regarding this whole thing...maybe how disgusted you are by this whole affair depends on how you regard the whole business of photo-manipulations...given that most of these are of the very Slashy variety...It's not the slash aspect of it that bothers me. It bothers me in a whole lot of ways, very few if any of which have to do with gender preference. One is that it is apparently sexually explicit material, which I believe should be kept private, and should not be given to a stranger. Some things should just be kept private. We seem to be losing touch with any sense of decorum. :::: straightening white linen skirt, adjusting broad-brimmed organdy hat, and pouring another cup of tea for all :::: Another is copywrong infringement - this is just blatant if they used LotR characters. Private use is one thing, usage that is reported around the world flies in the face of the copyright holders, and puts the whole fan community in danger of a crackdown from said owners, as well as giving them an opinion of us that I cringe to think about.

I've noticed that there are various people who are not really that shocked, disgusted, or generally feeling bad about Elijah being unexpectedly This is part of it. A person holding a press conference usually doesn't expect porn handed to him. Had he reacted differently, I probably would have rolled my eyes and forgotten about it.

presented with photos of himself in a somewhat compromising position with Orlando Bloom... Was it Elijah/Orlando, or Frodo/Legolas? Not that it makes much difference...it could have been Elijah and Liv Tyler, or Frodo and Galadriel, or Rosie in a thr - er - never mind :eek: and I'd still have the same reaction.

and then there are others who are very disgusted indeed...I wonder if there is any co-relation between these people, and the question of who is or is not comfortable with the idea of Slash generally...and in relation, specifically, to Elijah himself ? If he turned out to be gay, I'd think it was a sad loss of little blue-eyed 'Lijah-ings running around in the future. ;) But no, that's not it for me.

I, myself, am not averse at all to the idea of, and, indeed, actually reading slash fiction when it comes to the fictional characters these actors portray, Frodo, Sam, Legolas, whoever...some of these stories are extremely well written, and portray very loving relationships between two people who went through Hell and high water together... (my cat is, quite literally, in a bag at the moment) :::: letting cat out of bag :::: I've read my share of slash in other contexts, along with other NC/17 stories. I stopped. I think I read exactly *two* that were worth the effort. One was het, and one - no - that one wasn't NC/17; some of the characters were gay but it wasn't the premise of the story. My problem with explicit f*nf*c in whatever mix of genders is that the incident described is, without exception that I've seen, the entire story. There's nothing else - no plot, no point to the story, just an explicit description of a sexual act, and way too often it involved some level of violence. They are also usually very badly written, as are most of the f*nf*c stories that I've read. On occasion, I've actually thought that the person was kidding until I found out otherwise.

However, I DO draw the line, bigtime, when it comes to RPS Fiction, and that has to include these photo-manipulations too, doesn't it ? I don't remember the name of the author, but there was a book called "Scruples" back in the 70's - a very racy book, actually . They had a marvelous term for this kind of thing, though they didn't do photomanipulation. But yes, I agree with you. That is beyond the bounds of anything I can comprehend.

I'm just gobsmacked that anyone could possibly think that Elijah would have been pleased to be presented with the results of their labours...and in a public situation too !!! You hit on a whole area that bothers me. Even if it's Frodo/Legolas slash, the movie characters were given life, limbs, movement, demeanor, and soul by these actors. A slash pornomanip of F/L would be fictional, but it's still Elijah Wood's features and expressions in the picture. This is the kid who walked into a convenience store and yelled "I WANT PORN AND CHOCOLATE!" - I doubt if we would have seen the same reaction to somone sticking a centerfold from some magazine in his face. Surprise, shock, snarky comments, possibly rudeness, but not the reaction that we saw. It wouldn't be his own face looking out of the picture.

I dislike the idea of LotR f*nf*c in any case. LotR is a complete story in itself, where a number of really great characters went on a journey that changed them all. With the words "Well, I'm back", the story is complete. We're left to grieve for Frodo and ponder on the future of all (which Tolkien kindly tells us in the Appendices). None of us can really improve on it, and there aren't holes to fill in. Areas that seem like holes aren't - anything I've found, I've been able, after some thought, to get an idea why Tolkien left it that way. He took tremendous care and decades to write it, and I think he knew the roads and paths through Middle Earth better than anyone except possibly Aragorn. Everything that happened was in Tolkien's plan. I am in awe of the world that he put together, and of the story itself, and I think it's the ultimate - um - U.S. English doesn't have a good word for it - "cheek" is one, "chutzpah" is another that would serve - for people to try to improve on it. It's disrespectful. It's kind of like finishing Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, or the sequel to Rebecca or Gone With The Wind, or Ted Turner colorizing movies, or correcting mistakes in Bach or a Da Vinci painting. It's just unnecessary and is no improvement. It just ain't gonna happen.

And, Maeglian, I agree with you too, about not making too much of a mountain out of a molehill here... Oh, I agree, but it's been an interesting couple of days here and personally, I've enjoyed learning more about how other people think about an issue. A discussion about a multi-faceted and controversial issue was held without people losing tempers and flaming each other. I congratulate us all for that. :::: sprains arm patting self and others on back ::::

and they reported the offending article as being a LOTR-based board-game, with photo-manips of the cast and characters... There was presumably something in that gift bag...

~grumpy
"Evil Kane says: I will destroy the world. HA HA HA HA HA !
He destroys the world.
The president gets mad."
...
"MacLeod stiffened at the memory of his slight feelings for her"

I have enjoyed reading your comments on the matter. I'm glad most of us know better than to do a thing like that. I still feel Elijah has the nicest fans ever.

Hello, Eandme :) :) . Someone else in Sweden to keep wood company :) .

I completely agree with you about Elijah having the nicest fans--IMHO that's one reason some of the nice fans get upset about incidents such as this one. There's definitely a fear that some people will think that's how "we" are, in general. But it seems safe to say at this point that that hasn't happened, at least not in the press, which is certainly a relief (especially for those who're already being given a bad time about being an Elijah Wood fan). I'm sure we can thank Elijah himself, and the way he handled the situation, for the press realizing we're not all like that.

...I wonder if there is any co-relation between these people, and the question of who is or is not comfortable with the idea of Slash generally...and in relation, specifically, to Elijah himself ?
IMVHO, it has more to do with who is or is not comfortable with the idea of sexually explicit pictures (seemingly) of real people, in public and without their permission... and, yes, in relation especially to Elijah himself because there's a bit of an emotional connection there, although I'd objectively say that it shouldn't matter who the real people are. Whether it shows Elijah with Cate Blanchett, Viggo Mortensen, or whoever portrayed Brego the Wonder Horse, it would be the same. But that leads me to a question, which I'll ask here since I'm totally ignorant on the subject: Do people also post sexually explicit photomanips depicting heterosexual couples? And, if so, are those pictures considered funny?

Because something that bothers me about this particular incident, when compared with thoughtfully written slash fiction about characters who care deeply for each other, is that the perpetrators very obviously considered it a joke. IMVHO, treating love between two sentient beings (human, elf, hobbit, dwarf...) as a joke demeans it. Why should anyone think a picture like that is funny? Under proper circumstances (which this certainly wasn't!) it might be considered beautiful, touching, enthralling... even arousing... but funny :confused: ?

However, I DO draw the line, bigtime, when it comes to RPS Fiction, and that has to include these photo-manipulations too, doesn't it ?
I think zkg said something important regarding photomanips of the movie characters:
Even if it's Frodo/Legolas slash, the movie characters were given life, limbs, movement, demeanor, and soul by these actors. A slash pornomanip of F/L would be fictional, but it's still Elijah Wood's features and expressions in the picture.
So, yes, I'd definitely say this involves real people, even if they were wearing wigs. Elijah may have performed wonders in channeling Frodo, but it's still the face of Elijah Jordan Wood, born January 1981 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He may say that when he watches a movie he's made and doesn't see himself on the screen, he knows he's "done a good job," but, even so, it is still him.

-----------

Unlike zkg, though, I'm not totally against fanfic set in Middle-earth, or based on LotR. I've stopped reading it myself, but that's simply because it tends to interfere with my suspension of disbelief to read various mutually-exclusive accounts of how something happened, or of what happened during a particular timeframe (for example, Frodo's childhood). Makes it seem, well, fictional somehow ;) . I've successfully maintained Middle-earth as a historical reality in my imagination for over 30 years, and don't want to burst my bubble now :p .

But, in a way, I think Tolkien set up the conditions for fanfic almost on purpose--although I don't think he imagined people actually writing these things down (he often couldn't understand how some readers could get so involved in his stories :) ). LotR, especially, has an infinite number of "what if's" that can be explored, and I believe he put them there on purpose. He didn't want to give us all the answers--that would limit applicability. That's why some of the same questions have been discussed for 50 years without resolution anywhere in sight. He wanted readers to think about things from various angles--and he left us plenty of opportunities to do so.

But IMHO, the incident currently being talked about has absolutely nothing to do with well-written, thoughtful fanfic, whether it's sexually explicit or not. The two things belong in separate universes.

Mostly what TG Shaw said. Especially the part about the joke element of the presentation. And I like fanfic, too (when it's good).

(Lazy Alyon)

Late again, but I had to say:

Happy Birthday, Ainon!

I'm going to refrain from further comment on the moronic and disrespectful behavior of some "fans." Instead I am wallowing in the wonderful pictures that have come out of the KV festival. :)

But I am desperate for real news from the set of EII! No updates on the rest of the cast? No stories leaking about the filming? No rumors of future projects?

i have to agree with the things that have been sade here
about the hole thing.

it is to bad that people cant have any privat life
just becuse they are famous!!
and just becuse it is elijah and other members of lotr
this hole thing upsets me even more!!! :confused:
cant people bee great friends without this things
happend?? :confused:
but i think elijah handels the hole thing just great!!! :k

know i whant to hear some fun roumes about the movies
he is making anybody who knows something?? :k :k

The people working with EII must be better at security than the ones with Hooligans/The Yank :rolleyes: . From a couple of the articles that have been posted, it seems the Czech movie industry is very serious about making their country a place where people will want to come and make films. So maybe they pay more attention to such things?

Loved the interview about the car they're spending so much time in, though :p . It sounds as if Elijah's become quite fond of it, even though he said he wouldn't want to try driving it in the U.S. ;) When the train station pics came out, someone here said they weren't surprised that the director had started filming with the movie's opening scene, and that he likely would shoot the entire movie in sequence. To my shame :o , I haven't yet read the book, but I know a lot of it takes place in that car. Does the fact that Elijah's evidently become quite familiar with it give any hints (to those who have read the book :o ) as to how far the shooting might have gotten? Or is the car a "continuing character" throughout the entire story? According to the announced timeline of about two months' of shooting, they should be nearing the half-way point of that process.

In the absence of anything reliable about future projects, how about a bit of sheer speculation :p ? It seems (from publicly available evidence ;) ) that when Elijah's shooting a movie he's... shooting a movie. He didn't decide to do AW until quite some time after he'd finished with the main filming of LotR, and AIW and ESOTSM didn't seem to trip over each other in any way (or over Happy Feet). It wasn't until after Elijah was finished with ESOTSM that we had the "rush" of announcements about Hooligans, Sin City, and EII--all three of them announced before he started filming any of them, IIRC. As the article about his "frequent flyer miles" pointed out, he's been filming on those three almost non-stop. My complete guess is that he's not one to break his concentration on what he's currently filming in order to read scripts or "have meetings" about future projects. If that's true, I suspect that after EII filming is over, he'll take a short break (using some of the time to look at scripts), and then we'll hear about what's next. Somewhat aggravating for us, maybe--but, just think, by the end of the summer he'll have four movies "in the can" that we haven't seen! Those should give us something to concentrate on for awhile :p .

And, of course, there's King Kong ;) .

On the photomanips/slash topic: when I first heard about the incident in KV I just felt slight annoyance that Lij's serious press conference had been interrupted by a fangirl prank - it didn't occur to me that it had genuinely embarrassed him until I saw the clip. I'm sure that, if it had been a fan gathering, he would have been completely unfazed and simply laughed and maybe even shown the photomanip around. But this was not a fan gathering. He was there to talk to the European press about his career and cinema in general, not slash fiction. That is what bothered him, I think - not the item itself. The girls were totally insensitive to that.

I'm also sure that fanfic, slash, photomanips etc. in general don't bother Elijah in the slightest provided people don't take them as fact. But certain people are still claiming loudly and publicly on the Net that they are fact, at least where Elijah is concerned, to the extent that a section of the general public believes it. That's not just an intrusion into private life, but a slur on the characters of those involved in that it brands them as liars. Elijah is one of the most honest, open and courageous people imaginable. If he were gay, he would be the first to say so. End of story.

Personally I think people can publish whatever they like on the Net (barring certain illegal topics, of course) provided it doesn't hurt real people. It's when it does that I draw the line.

If The Very Secret Diaries can be classed as slash, then please give me more! I fall off my chair laughing at them.

And now for something completely different:

http://webplaza.pt.lu/barbara/KVfestivaldaily.JPG


Hope you can read this. I particularly love his response to the question about erasing memories. That's quintessential Elijah.

Also, thanks, Achila, for sending me this article at
http://always.ejwfiles.net/images2/Story_26_04.jpg
(it can't be accessed directly - you have to paste the URL into the address line to get to it).

It may have appeared here before. Roughly translated it says

Frodo Baggins takes over Masaryk Station
Elijah/Jonathan:
"Good morning/afternoon, am I really in the Ukraine here?"
Hollywood has found the Ukraine in Prague! Masaryk Station was transformed and travellers were in shock a few times today.
Even the ticket hall had been completely changed to look like the Ukraine. Notices in Cyrillic puzzled commuters, who had no idea about the filming . And when they had recovered, they couldn't believe their eyes a second time: is that really Frodo?
The actor who portrayed the hobbit Frodo Baggins in the cult film LOTR is unrecognisable in his new role: he has slicked-down hair and wears thick glasses. This first day of shooting of the film EII was used entirely on the leading character, played by Eliah (sic!) Wood: the film is actor Liev Schreiber's directorial debut, and he will be very meticulous about every scene. The introductory scene, in which the young author JSF (the film is autobiographical) travels to the Ukraine to look for his ancestors (sic), was filmed on Prague's Masaryk Station. The crew occupied Platform 1, on which the same scene was filmed virtually all day: Eli(j)ah steps out of the train and tries to explain to his Ukrainian guide, who is waiting for him, how to pronounce his name.
Elijah is living in Prague in a rented villa in a secret location. He will be with us until the end of August and will also be one of the guests of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

Interesting. I've heard from another source about how super-meticulous Liev is being with his first film as director. And that Elijah has in fact revealed his Prague address to too many people! Hope he doesn't regret that ....

EDIT after seeing Tg's simulpost: yes, I believe the Trabbi features more or less throughout.
And Peaceweaver, yes, I do have a tiny bit of news about the filming. Every scene is apparently being shot 50 times and Elijah is getting very tired as a result. I'm glad in retrospect that he got some time off in KV to sleep.
Oh - and the screenplay is a long, long, long way from the book. Not a great surprise, given the complexity of the book and its interesting perspectives.

I am so glad to see that Elijah was not only given *annoying things* at the KV film festival but also very nice ones - when I was looking for more pictures of the Czech film festival I ran across the photo of the afterparty you see below - the blonde woman is handing Elwood a yellow something - although rather blurry I recognised immediately what it was and hardly believed my eyes. My favourite cookies! :cool: :D Well, of course sooner or later someone had to give these cookies to him because they are called "Hobbits" (Brits will know this sort of oat cakes as "Hobnobs", IIRC). The bisquits are from a German brand but are made in Poland. I hope he tasted one, they are really delicious. (I am eating these cookies quite often... every single bite is "for Frodo" :D)

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/karlovy_vary_kleiner.jpg


I particularly love his response to the question about erasing memories. That's quintessential Elijah.

Yes, absolutely. Love it, too :) . Thank you for posting that article, Serena. And thank you for translating all these goodies! :k


Tg, I had finally enough leisure time to enjoy your wonderful July updates on your site. Thank you for that. Shelob's lair is really hard to watch... (and thank you again for hosting my drawings on your gorgeous site. I feel very, very honoured :) !) Er, and to my shame, I haven't yet read the book, too :o . The story takes place in a Trabbi? Yes, I can believe that Elijah likes that car type. Sometimes I see one of them here on the streets - they are really "cult". :)

I'm currently reading EII, but haven't gotten very far. However, I've gotten to the car, though - it's there from the moment Elijah's character Jonathan steps off the train. The first (long) car journey thereafter.... I can imagine that was a hazzle filming, what with 3 people and a dog in the small car, and probably quite a lengthy scene. I'm currently reading about the first hotel meal after that journey.

I can't helping think the book is slow going, though; - Aleks' incessant prattling and odd use of English is enervating rather than endearing, IMO.


Whiteling, thanks for telling us about the cookies - complete with illustration! What a lovely little incident, instead of the one so much discussed. :)


I like fanfic. I enjoy reading good well-though-out fics. I see such fics as signs of appreciation, interest, and gratitude from the fic writers; - the book inspiring its readers to work through all the "what ifs" and to delve into the characters and their portrayal, by turn comic, tragic, moving...... Granted, there are dreadfully many badfics out there, but the good ones are rewarding, IMO. And even the bad-fics; - well, the writers *were* inspired to actually being creatinve and trying to write something. That can't be bad. I don't worry about any of it being disrespectful to Tolkien, - his works will rise above it all and continue to shine and to inspire new readers, no matter what. :)


The perpetrators very obviously considered it a joke. IMVHO, treating love between two sentient beings (human, elf, hobbit, dwarf...) as a joke demeans it. Why should anyone think a picture like that is funny? Because they are immature and not at all reflected? Therefore snickering as a defense mechanism against what they shallowly can't manage to see as anything else than "dirty"? Or perhaps it wasn't the picture as much as the situation in which it was delivered that seemed funny to them. Either way, the fact that they find it *funny* speaks for itself in characterizing them. (I haven't seen the clip of this - I can't bring myself to seeing Elijah being embarrassed, however well he handles it. And it's all about the inappropriate setting, place and time, - I'm not forgetting this is the guy who saw fit to go on record about the size of his testicles in a recent interview, and so, apparently, is not easily embarrassed.)

FWIW, if I understand it correctly it was 2 actors, not 2 LotR characters, that were being portrayed in the now so (in)famous picture.


Edit: Ooops! I forgot to say:

Welcome, Eandme! :) Hope you'll find it comfortable and friendly here in the lounge.

Shelob's lair is really hard to watch...
I don't know if others have as much difficulty as I do in being able to tell what's happening in the darker (physical lighting-wise) scenes. But as I work with the individual screencaps, I'm seeing shots that I didn't even know were there--and I've only gotten him as far as "It's sticky! What is it?" :eek:

Maeglian, definitely stick with EII. It took me a good three weeks to get through the first 150 pages, what with picking it up and putting it down all the time, but then after I got to the midpoint, I zoomed through the rest in three hours. Just be patient until the modern-day group gets to Trachimbrod.

Well, of course sooner or later someone had to give these cookies to him because they are called "Hobbits" (Brits will know this sort of oat cakes as "Hobnobs", IIRC). The biscuits are from a German brand but are made in Poland. I hope he tasted one, they are really delicious. (I am eating these cookies quite often... every single bite is "for Frodo".) Whiteling! :k

Maeglian – belated (again I’m behind) thanks for the link to CM Anderson’s ‘One Step More - The hero, Frodo Baggins’ which, as you pointed out, backs up Tgshaw's excellent essay on same.

Reading it reminded me that those I know who disliked EW’s Frodo didn’t relate to book Frodo either, because,
‘They want to relate to winners, manipulators of Fate, people who are in control’ (CMA).
But every one of the movie Frodo lovers I know also revered Tolkien’s Frodo, because, When the One is destroyed it is not through Frodo’s efforts alone. His goal is achieved and Middle Earth is saved, but his role in the triumph is only partial. Although he sacrificed everything he had – body, mind, will, heart, soul – he is granted neither unadulterated victory nor glorious death.And because,Frodo… bows to Fate, but he is not passive. He makes sacrifices, but he is no victim. He weeps, but he is no weakling. He quails, but he never gives up. CMA

:Raise Glass, to Frodo!!!

Well, somewhat related, this weekend was particularly lovely, not only thanks to the flood of sunshine and silky ocean breezes across our tenuously warm (these days) NE beach, but because my sister who’s been eminently disdainful of movie LOTR and particularly of EW’s Frodo in films I and II, ‘sneakily’ watched ROTK on pay-per-view last night. Today she announced that she LOVED III and thought Frodo completely redeemed himself. :D ‘Now you can see that he’s REALLY hurting,’ she said. I suggested that he looked to be hurting a lot in II as well but that maybe in ROTK his strength was more apparent, making his suffering more noteworthy, and that the script allowed some more forceful and convincing lines (mostly per JRRT). Not to mention her own attitude had shifted (due to force of public opinion, ROTK awards etc.?). She half-heartedly agreed and all day I was elated.
Besides this, I learned that my new, ultra-cerebral neighbor who just bought the little house next door is enamored of LOTR – books, film, BBC radio-play. It’s inexplicable but I get chills when I learn of such kindred spirits.

Great posts, All - HUGs!

This is VERY late but a family crisis and computer problems have kept me away for almost a month.

Thankyou to Goldenberry, Serena, wood (back online too I see, isn't it a relief), Moondancer, Maeglain, Peaceweaver, Honeyelf, Ainon, Blossom (sorry to hear hubby is ill, hope things look better now) and whiteling (cute smiley!) for the birthday greetings. :) I'm so rarely here; so an extra thankyou for your kindness.

ylla- having just gone through a major crisis with my father I sympathise with you and wish you strength. And don't give up hope. We had a miracle (several really) and still have our father.Here's hoping you have some good luck too.

Hope the walking wounded are healing now.

Happy Birthday Ainon!!!

love, Prim

Nice to know that Liev Schreiber is working really hard on EII. I only hope he won't keep his promise to make it "simple." For some reason, I don't like the current popular demand for film and fiction characters who are "easy to emotionally connect with." From life experience, I know that it's actually quite difficult to empathise with most really interesting people. However, once you make the effort, the result is even more rewarding. Of course, noone can expect that the target audience of Spiderman will ever want to make any effort at all :p but EII is a very different kind of film. IMHO, of course.

But IMHO, the incident currently being talked about has absolutely nothing to do with well-written, thoughtful fanfic, whether it's sexually explicit or not. The two things belong in separate universes.

Surprising EJW with fake illicit photos of himself is a stupid prank whereas writing sexually explicit LotR fanfic is pornographic plagiarism. Two separate universes indeed :D.

Yes, as I mentioned earlier, both the Tolkien estate (regarding book-related fanfic) and New Line (regarding movieverse fanfic as well as photomanips) have been remarkably lenient about internet content. Much more so than a lot of copyright holders. It'll be interesting to see (generally speaking--I won't be around to see it) if the people who've developed into good fanfic writers illegally will be publishing legal Hobbit/LotR-based fiction when that becomes possible later this century. [BTW, I do think we're talking copyright infringement more than plagierism--I don't think too many people are posting Tolkien's work and claiming it's their own ;) .]

I do think there's a bit of a gray area in regard to "private" internet sites--those with passwords, etc. Since most of what's been decided in copyright infringement has been done through case law, there probably won't be a clear answer until/unless there's a case where both sides are willing to fight it out all the way through the legal system. Even then, IMHO much of the decision would be individual for a specific case: what level of security does the site have, how much care is taken in limiting who's given passwords, etc. In essence, a court would have to decide where the line is between private sharing (legal) and public availability (illegal). Similar to "fair use" decisions, where a lot of cases have to be decided one by one because there really isn't a clear dividing line--and so many considerations have to be factored in.

BTW, as I try to say fairly clearly in my copyright policy on my website, "fair use" is what I base my use of screencaps on, which is why: (1) I'm careful not to post anything from an illegal source, and (2) you'll never see a set of screencaps there without commentary. Of course, New Line could come along and say that the commentary exists for the sake of the screencaps, not the screencaps for the sake of illustrating the commentary, and, again, there would have to be a line drawn. (But you'd all back me up, right? :) .) Fairly nitty-gritty stuff when you get right down to it.

I'm far from an expert on the matter, but surely there is some sort of law already in place with regard to people publishing stories based on fictional characters already in existence. Of the top of my head I can think of a number of such cases - the sequel to Gone With The Wind, a sequel to Jane Austin's Emma and I heard only today of a story based on Heathcliff's experiences during the four years he spent away from Wuthering Heights.

And in an effort to make at least some of this post Elijah related before I get scolded, I'd just like to say that he was the "mystery voice" on a local radio station today!!

EE--Yes, definitely. As I said above (I think I was editing in the last half of my post while you were posting, so we kind of half-simulposted :) ), it's based on copyright law. Holders of a copyright can give permission for fiction to be published using their characters, etc. It's also not illegal to write such fiction without permission as long as you don't make it available to the public (limited private sharing is okay, but it's hard to say where that line is). That's where the internet comes in--because anything posted on the internet is available to anyone in the general public, it's legally considered publishing, and the site owner is legally obligated to follow the same laws as someone publishing a book. Anyone publishing a Middle-earth-based fanfic on an open website could be sued for copyright infringement. So far the Tolkien estate hasn't "cracked down" on internet fanfics (although they have on some other things).

And copyrights do expire. LotR's should do so about halfway through this century. Unless the law's been changed recently--which it tends to do a lot :rolleyes: --a copyright expires 75 years after the death of the author. So things like Wuthering Heights are already fair game--no permission needed.

--Additional thought: Parody is a protected form of free speech (at least in the U.S.), so can be done at any time and without permission--Hence Bored of the Rings. I'd think parody would cover such things as The Very Secret Diaries and (my own personal favorite :D ) The Hand Puppet Theater. I loved Al Franken's statement after a judge threw out the suit filed against him by Fox News: "Parody is protected as free speech in America, even if the subject of the parody doesn't 'get it'." :p

Tg--I didn't want to say anything about copyright infringement. In fact, I'm no supporter of copyright at all, and I'll be the first to defend your beautiful site from copywrong (;) at zkgrumpy) enforcers. I used the word `plagiarism' because I couldn't find a better term for the situation when people use someone else's literary work in their own fiction for purposes that the original author would have clearly found unsavory.

Parody and literary polemic are an entirely different story. For instance, the main villain in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose is the blind librarian called Jorge of Burgos . This is an obvious send-up of Jorge Luis Borges, who was indeed blind and served as the director of the Argentinian National Library. The image is striking and makes for some legitimate, if unfounded, criticism of Borges' ideas. Also, Borges himself would have probably enjoyed being the centre of a work of fiction :).

So I would never object to a story or a film in which a pipe-smoking Oxford don lures an unsuspecting American youth into a madcap Wagnerian adventure :haha:.

Hello Faculty :) Sorry about the lack of comments lately but as I've said before, I'm always here reading and enjoying :)

First, can I ask a very boring question :( Last year I posted on the Billy Boyd thread just once (don't worry Lij - I wasn't cheating on you, it was just to post my report on meeting him at CM4). As I say, it was just once but I receive an email notification every time someone posts on that thread. I occasionally visit Frodo's Harem, but there can be long gaps when I don't, but I still get an email every time someone posts. However, to finally get to the point, if I miss one day visiting The Faculty, or even less, the emails stop. Very odd :confused:

AINON ~ so sorry I missed your birthday :o Hope it was a good one :)

Today she announced that she LOVED III and thought Frodo completely redeemed himself.

NAIAD ~ its always heartwarming to hear of someone seeing the light at last :)

MAEGLIAN ~ I also struggled with EII for a time but am now enjoying it. I think my trouble is, and this probably applies to most people as we all have such busy lives, is that I tend to read books in dribs and drabs, rarely finding an opportunity for a good long read and that makes it more difficult to grasp whats going on. Ok, admittedly I often have the choice of spending my free time at the computer or reading, and the computer usually wins :D I also seem to have two or three books on the go at the same time, which I know is a bit silly. I'm still in the middle of 'House of Leaves' - the book Elijah recommended when he was at CM5 last year (I don't seem able to post without referring to CM5 at least once :o ). Has anyone else read this? I also remember another book I was reading, more than two and a half years ago now, which I started to struggle with a bit after the first few chapters and put to one side for later. Then something happened. I've now read the book about six times. Its called 'The Fellowship of the Ring' :D

WHITELING ~ I was so pleased that someone gave Elijah the hobbit cookies - that's the kind of gift he really seems to appreciate :) And I know the story about those two 'fans' very stupidly embarrassing Elijah by presenting him with that fake pic has probably been discussed to death - but I just want to say how I agree with the person who said that, not only was it a very rude and inconsiderate thing to do to him, it was also a complete waste of a golden opportunity that many can only dream about :(

I don't know if this has been mentioned, but I'm trying to decide if the girl in the foreground of the pic Whiteling posted is Hannah or not. I know he mentioned that family members would be visiting him.

YLLA and BLOSSOM ~ you are in my thoughts :)

Some of you may remember that I mentioned an internet friend in Prague, Allie, who is as besotted with Elijah as I am. She had been frantically trying to see him, knowing he was working very close to her but not exactly where. She was getting very depressed about it as she dreaded the thought of him leaving Prague, perhaps never to return, without having even glimpsed him. Well, her dream came true - twice. She met him at the Film Fest and also the following day on the film set. Needless to say, she is now floating on Cloud 9. I'm so happy for her. And, ahem, he has my letter in his pocket ;)

Hi shireling -- saw your post on lj re: Allie and giving Lij your letter -- congrats!

ETA: thought that I'd bring ya'll a little preety, since it's Monday:

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/tokyo.jpg

Thanks for the beautiful pic, Achila. Sigh.

Shireling, I'm thrilled to hear that Allie met Elijah - twice! Do let us know if you get an answer to your letter :)

Whiteling, I can see I'll have to scour the shops for Hobbit cookies from now on. And think of you and Frodo while eating them!
So is that Hannah in the picture? She has a similar skin tone and bone structure .... so it could easily be her, although she certainly didn't arrive in KV with Elijah and was not exactly in evidence (may have been keeping a low profile, of course).

Tg, I meant to say way back that I've been trying to catch up with your beautiful website. The "getting Frodo" piece was just what I needed (saw a ROTK review the other day - on the BBC site - that praised EW's "admirable steel" when defying the Ring, Shelob and Gollum etc. but accused him of simpering the rest of the time .... grrr). Now for the rest of the site (Tg's, I mean ....)

...(saw a ROTK review the other day - on the BBC site - that praised EW's "admirable steel" when defying the Ring, Shelob and Gollum etc. but accused him of simpering the rest of the time .... grrr).
Hmmm... Of course, for Frodo, there is no "rest of the time." Defying the Ring, at least, is a constant action--and I thought Elijah portrayed that quite well, too, along with the more obvious battles. (I wonder what they mean by "simpering"--one dictionary says it's using a "silly smile" or a smirk; another defines it as "to smile foolishly or self-consciously" :confused: I must have missed something. :confused: )

Speaking of negative comments, I read more than usual of the posts in the email discussion group today. Once in awhile, I drop in to see if they've learned to disagree without being obnoxious--no luck yet :rolleyes: . (And these are mostly people in their 50's, so if they haven't learned by now...) Worse than usual today, in fact, because an unsuspecting new member said something positive about the movies :eek: -- something about it being possible to admire both the book and the movies :eek: :eek: . I'm sure she'll never make that mistake again! My "favorite" response called the movies loathsome poison that PJ has vigorously stirred into the clear liquid of the book, so that the two can't be separated. (Well, literati types can come up with some interesting images ;) .)

So, I just have to say what a pleasure it is to come here :) where people (1) are mature enough to respect each other even if they don't agree about something, and (2) are able to pay attention to the positive even when it isn't perfect. :k Seems to me both of those make life more enjoyable--and allow people to feel safe stating opinions we might not hear otherwise. {{{Faculty}}}

--I'm getting a little concerned about not hearing from ylla for so long. I hope it just means that her husband is feeling well enough to keep her busy. But if anyone hears anything from her... {{{ylla}}} :z:

I'm getting a little concerned about not hearing from ylla for so long. I hope it just means that her husband is feeling well enough to keep her busy. But if anyone hears anything from her... {{{ylla}}} :z:
Yes, I've been wondering the same thing. {{{ylla}}}



Achila, that sure is a stunning picture! That expression on his face.
I saw the original on Bunnie's LJ. It's from a cover from a Japanese magazine and Salogel used Photoshop to take away the writing on the cover. She made two versions: this one and a duotoned one. Beautiful in either case. I'm still not sure which version I prefer.
:)

I'm still not sure which version I prefer.


Isn't that the truth, Moondancer?! I think I like them both, for different reasons.

As for ylla, her husband is having open heart surgery/mitral valve replacement today. You might all want to send some positive energy her way.

I have been wondering about ylla, too. Thanks for letting us know, Achila.

(((ylla))), my thoughts are with you.



Beautiful pic, Achila.

My dear dear friends

Thank You Achila for letting the group know a little of what's been going on.

I've been checking in on the message board (it's been my comfort zone as of late). I've been unable to post because quite frankly I've been unable to find the right words.

I won't go into all the details because it would take way to long...they cancelled my husband's surgery at the very last minute because the surgeon felt his condition was too unstable. I fear they are thinking he may need a heart transplant. He is awake, in good spirits and trying his best to be strong for me and our kids.
He has a world renown cardiac surgeon and the hospital and staff is excellent.

I so wish I could get every one of you in my hotel room for a big group hug.

Achila has most generously offered to be my Sam...to help me thru Mordor.
I feel that very offer has helped keep me upright...I feel a bit stronger.

Your positive energy..and for those of you so inclined..your prayers are welcome and so appreciated

Gandalf's words to Frodo keep echoing in my head....with the time that is given us.

Time......Strength....and good surgeons' hands.

Thank You all for constantly thinking of me...I cried when I checked in with the Faculty tonight. Because I saw that you were looking for me. I'm here .
I'm sitting in the lobby of a hotel but with this little group of mine I'm also Home.

Love and Many Thanks

Ylla

Achila :k

Someone has stopped by to say goodnight to ylla and all -- I told him he could.

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/790048.jpg


:k {{{{ylla and Faculty}}}}

my thoughts are with you ylla!! :k

i just hope it will turn out well fore you and you husband :z: :z:

here are some pics to you all, i guess you all have seen them before
but i dont think you can see at this to many times,or? :lol: :lol:

the last one turn out to be very small,dont know how to make it bigger,
sorry!! :(

I'm sitting here at my husband's 'puter, printing some fan-fics and stuff to read on my trip to Seattle!

Yay! I get to meet Alyon and Peaceweaver! And Ariel is my roomie! And Harem Ladies (gulp) Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I leave tomorrow morning!

Wood, that pic you just posted of Frodo is so goooooddddd! And very nice and big, too!

((((Ylla))))) I'm praying for you, your husband and family. I sent you an e-mail at home today, not realizing that you are away from home in all this. :z: :k

Love to you all. I'll let you know how the Howard Shore concert was!

Achila, he can wish me "goodnight" anytime. You know, I kind of miss the tres-geeky buzz cut! :rolleyes:

Honey!

Glad you were able to contact us, ((((ylla))))
Thinking of you and your family.

Achila, aka Sam ...... :k

Honeyelf, have a wonderful time in Seattle!

:confused:

That picture of Frodo/Elijah on the ground with his sword. What kind of expression is that? (No Nonsence? No?) :confused: It looks like Gollum pushed him on the ground, and he's looking up at him like, "No more Mr. Nice Guy!" :lol:

Plus Oh how MANLY he looks. :lol:

Achila, that pic! A highpitched fangirl squeal was my immedeate response. Thank you! :)

De-lurking again, to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SERENA!

I thought I'd give you a little mix of Frodo/Frolijah/Elijah for your birthday.

For Serena (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/serena.gif)

I hope the foot is on the mend. Have a lovely day!

Ylla - sending positive thoughts your way. Hugs and :k from us all.

Honey - Have a great time in Seattle. Be good!

Shireling - How lovely, your friend meeting Elijah - (twice!) - and giving him your letter! :)

Re-lurking.

http://www.tolkiengathering.com/artgallery/thumb001.jpg

Happy birthday, Serena!
I don't know about you but I do love to see Elijah in a smart suit with a great tie (see attachment)

Lots of Faculty members do have a birthday around this time! It's great, I love to see all the gif(t)s.

Ylla! Sending some positive thoughts to your husband, to you and to your loved ones. I like the idea that you have a Sam here in the Faculty.

(((ylla))) Glad to know you & hubby are hanging in there. You're in my prayers. :k :k

Serena, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :) :)


Eandme, WELCOME!

And Shireling, WELCOME BACK! :D

Achila, Moondancer - great pics! Thank you.

((Blossom)) :k


Man, how's that for a post-n-run? :p :D

Take care, everyone! ((Faculty))

Serena,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU !!

Have a FAB day and thank-you very much for all your dedication to the Faculty Cause, your research and your hard work to bring all the facts to us out here in Internet-land...I know that all the effort was a real trial :rolleyes: :D but I hope you enjoyed it all...I know that I enjoyed reading your accounts..

Ylla,

He is awake, in good spirits and trying his best to be strong for me and our kids.
He has a world renown cardiac surgeon and the hospital and staff is excellent....
.....Gandalf's words to Frodo keep echoing in my head....with the time that is given us


I do so hope that we can be a help to you at this very difficult time. My heart goes out to you - I KNOW what it is to have someone very close to you dangerously ill, and potentially at Death's door, so I do hope that The One Husband pulls through for you...
Even though I am not a praying-type person, my thoughts are with you anyway !!
You seem so positive in your outlook, I think that this will be a strength to you in the days ahead, whatever the future will bring...keep your chin up, girl !!!


For both of you :-

Serena, for your Birthday

Ylla, because you really need cheering up right now...

Frodo in Blue (http://www.livejournal.com/users/notabluemaia/15855.html#cutid1)

Yes, Notabluemaia's been at the Photo-Impression Program again....Enjoy!!

Every time I run into this guy in the hall I think "I have to tell the Faculty about him" and then forget :rolleyes: , so before I forget again -- Regarding EJW disappearing into his characters: We have a college kid who's doing some volunteer work in the dept. this summer who completely reminds me of Jones Dillon--but he doesn't look a thing like Elijah :p !

----------

Honey, Alyon, Peaceweaver, and anyone else going to Seattle--have a wonderful time!

Have a great birthday celebration, Serena!
http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/www_pics_am-renoir42-50.jpg


Ylla, here's a little hobbit angel to watch over you and your husband (well, of course it's a hobbit angel :) ):
http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/off topic/www_pics_am-rosso1.jpg

Before I left home this morning, I put together a page of screencaps (http://www.frodolivesin.us/Pics/id2.htm) that I thought showed some images of hope from the movies--for ylla and anyone else who might like to see them (did it in a hurry, so they're not in any particular order). Others may or may not see them the same way I did, but if nothing else there are some nice Frolijah pics :) . The page also just happens to link back to the one with some of the photos from the film festival, for anyone who's interested.

-------

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SERENA!
http://fool.exler.ru/sm/rog.gif

I've finished it just in time - your birthday present: "We are not alone"


http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/wearenotalone.jpg


Believe it or not, I find it the easiest way to "get" Elijah, drawing the picture upside down. This method lessens the mesmerising effect of his eyes to some degree. :p According to Dr. Betty Edwards that is "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". I hope there is some left brain side left in my head now. :p


Blossom, yawning Frolijah is just too cute! Hopefully your hubby feels better!

Hello and welcome, Eandme! Nice name ;)

(((ylla))) - I wish you and your husband all the best. My thoughts are with you.

Honey et al - have lots of fun in Seattle. Save journey!

Loved your smart Elwood pics, Achila and Moondancer - many thanks :k !

Lady Wendy, the Notabluemaia's goodies you bring are simply breath-taking!

Tg, there can't be too much angels :) ! Off to your screencaps,
bye!

Oh my .... I'm speechless .....
......................

...recovers quickly to say: how did I deserve such beautiful goodies from everyone? THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Blossom, the gif is beautiful and hilarious at the same time - how did you do it ???? I just LOVE the "slightly mental" clip! Not to mention The Yawn - it's just adorable. And it has my name at the end ..... Thank you so much! :k

Tg, what a perfect birthday party!! :k

Lady Wendy ... gasp! Who is Notabluemaia???? Who did that painting ??? Will read the ensuing story when I get some quiet time tonight .... :) :) :k

Ainon :k

Moondancer - that is simply gorgeous. Both of them, I mean! Talk about being spoilt. Can't stop looking .... :k

And, last but NOT least, WHITELING ..... oh my goodness ....... there are no words ...... :k
A PM (a long one!) is on its way to you ..... :)



ylla, I'm praying it all ends happily for you and your family.


Love and thanks to ALL of the wonderful Faculty,
serena

Whiteling...honestly, if you were in the same room, I would give you a big hug. Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us. :) :k :)

What an utterly beautiful drawing. Let me just sit here and enjoy that. I especially love the light effects (in the eyes,...and I wonder why I keep staring at those eyes) than...that mouth... :)
Simply amazing.

OH MY!!! WHAT A DRAWING!! I AM SPECHLESS!!!
THE EYES ARE EVEN DEEPER THAN YOU CAN IMAGIN!!

I CANT FIND THE RIGHT WORDS!!!ITS SO BEAUTIFUL :k :k :k

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU SERENA!!!!!! :cool: :lol:
HOPE YOU WILL HAVE A VERY NICE DAY!!!!! :)

Whiteling,
How utterly FAB !!!...
You simply MUST get in touch with EvFrodo on the Frodo's Harem thread...I think that there's a plot and scheme to get a page for Harem/Faculty Artwork up and running at the Frodo's Harem Fanfiction Archive...doesn't matter if you don't look in at the Harem very often, if at all...they are currently searching for drawings just like yours for the Frodo's Harem website, and would be absolutely thrilled to see your work...it's exactly the type of thing that they're looking for...it would be a crying shame for an opportunity missed, if you don't get to know about this !...Go, talk...

Serena,
Ladt Wendy ... gasp! Who is Notabluemaia???? Who did that painting ??? Will read the ensuing story when I get some quiet time tonight ....

Well, Notabluemaia is a writer of Frodo-based Fanfiction, and she also does these rather fabulous CGI-paintings of Frodo..here are links to two of her other works that I absolutely LOVE, although these only appear very rarely....
Here's one:-
"Grafting Roses" (http://www.livejournal.com/users/notabluemaia/14679.html#cutid1)

And here's another...the best of the lot, methinks, and therefore I'll post the pic itself , just because I can :D :-

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v296/Notabluemaia/Frodo_thoughtful_casey_nota.jpg

Enjoy...



EvFrodo asked me if I'd get in touch with Notabluemaia, ( who used to be a member here and at the Harem, apparently,) to see if she'd agree to us hosting her CGI-artwork, which is, as you can see, absolutely gorgeous, but, alas, she's not very confident about having her work posted around the Internet too much, although, strangely, she's knocked out that I think it's good enough to link to here, and she's very happy for me to do that !!!
Anyway, her work won't be appearing at the Harem Archive just yet, though I'm sure it will be soon...

Happy Birthday, Serena! Here's a couple of little pressies -- I hope you like them. If not, I'm sure I can return them...

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/2094511.jpg

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/2315877.jpg

Oh wait -- black and green aren't your colors?? Then how about duotone?

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/tokyoduotone.jpg

Re: drawings and paintings:

HOLY MOLEY! WOW!

:::: frantically assembling pageful of lines to send to whiteling ::::

The paintings all seem to pick up the strong aspect of Frodo. Very nice indeed.

Suits: When EW wears pinstripes, especially broad ones, he always looks like he raided his big brother's closet. He is simply too small to have that much pattern, and ends up looking shorter. I think he looks great in plain or small design, or unusual suits - the one in Japan comes to mind, as well as green velvet. When he wears plainer suits, he seems to go all-out in patterns in shirts and ties, which is great. Not that those eyes need much competition in the way of ornamentation... ;)

And hair! No, give me long hair any time. Here's my nephew of the golden red curls, who had it all cut off and dyed it dark brown. :( Dad-burned whippersnappers, the whole bunch of 'em. These kids don't know hair. Why, in *MY* day, men had *HAIR*! We're talking Afros 2 ft. out on each side, men with moustaches as long as their hair, which often was longer and prettier than their girlfriends, ears modestly covered. We had to climb a hill and throw rocks to get any haircuts at all! And we were PROUD of it! We didn't have these shaved heads, or fauxhawks, or the Great African-American Shaveoff of 1994, when all of the Afr.-Am. guys came in to work completely bald. Harrrumph. Whippersnappers!

~grumpy
;)

Ylla, my thoughts are with you and your husband. I sincerely hope he'll get the necessary treatment and surgery that's required; - will respond well to it, and recover completely. (((Ylla and husband)))


Best wishes for safe travel and lots of fun and a lovely concert in Seattle for those of you who are travelling there. I'd have loved to be there with you; - there are many ladies attending that I so much would like to meet! None mentioned means none are forgotten, as the saying goes. Luckily, I'll get to meet a few of the Seattle hooters later this year! :)


Ladies, I am simply STUNNED! And AMAZED!

Such an incredible outpouring of talent and beauty; - fantastic pictures, gorgeous photos, awesome art and gifs! :cool:

Blossom, I *love* your hugely yawning Frolijah. Notabluemaia's photo artwork I've seen and thouroughly enjoyed around LJ-land already. :) Tg, your "hope" gallery is beautiful. For some reason, this time around it was the pictures from the conversation in Moria that especially caught my attention this time. "That's an encouraging thought!" What a lovely and hopeful scene! :)


Whiteling, I bow before your impressive talent. That drawing is nothing less than magnificent. Thank you for sharing it with us! :)


Then last, but certainly not least, I'll end my post by saying:

Happy birthday, Serena!

which talk show hotst ans when asked him if he had a girlfreind? im lost. was it in prague?.

Wood, Maeg, thank you !! :k

Achila .... please please don't return those pics! I LOVE them - especially the first one. Who says this man is not part Elf? I've never seen him looking quite so adorable as at the Golden Globes (well, not in pics anyway ;) ). And that one just accentuates his other-world features. Gorgeous.
But what exactly is he wearing in the one with The One Ring? It looks suspiciously like an academic gown to me. Is it a Potter spoof, or has he been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Middle Earth? OK, UCLA, Harvard, Yale, Oxford?

That was a truly wonderful birthday yesterday. I have some great friends, and the Faculty are amongst the best of them. Thank you! ((((Faculty))))

Hi Mysticmarsh,
As far as I know, no-one in the Czech Republic has asked Elijah specifically about girlfriends. Someone in Karlovy Vary (not Prague) asked him about relationships in connection with the film he was presenting, ESOTSM, and he replied that in his case they were all drama and despair. Someone who met him in Prague has hinted that the budding romance he mentioned in a Danish interview recently (and yes, that did sound authentic to me) may be over. But that really is all I know.

Oh dear! Can't believe I've missed yet another birthday :eek:

SERENA ~ I'm so sorry this is late but birthday wishes for yesterday and I hope it was a good one :) A little belated birthday gift:

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v327/ShirelingUK/FourFourTwoMag3.jpg

This pic has just appeared in a UK football mag and I've scanned it but I have to say the scan doesn't really do it justice - the original is much nicer and full page - so if any UK'ers want to see it (with article) its in the August edition of FourFourTwo. I'm working on scanning the article.

Unfortunately this is just a flying visit but I must say I am speechless with awe by the gorgeous pics posted here just recently, especially WHITELING'S amazing drawing, absolutely brilliant, and those gorgeous pics by NOTABLUEMAIA, they are so Frolijah, especially Frodo in Blue, just beautiful.
And BLOSSOM, your gifs are always a joy - I love that yawning one, the expression on Elijah's face after the huge yawn is adorable. And I do hope your hubby is getting better. :)

{{YLLA}}

Achila .... please please don't return those pics! I LOVE them - especially the first one. Who says this man is not part Elf? I've never seen him looking quite so adorable as at the Golden Globes (well, not in pics anyway ;) ). And that one just accentuates his other-world features. Gorgeous.
But what exactly is he wearing in the one with The One Ring? It looks suspiciously like an academic gown to me. Is it a Potter spoof, or has he been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Middle Earth? OK, UCLA, Harvard, Yale, Oxford?

Glad you enjoyed them, serena dear. What he's wearing is just a navy blue hoodie, which he's had on quite a lot lately. But the picture makes it look like velvet. Someone else also suggested to me that it looks like Harry Potter's Hogwarts cape. You're right -- it sort of does, actually.

But what exactly is he wearing in the one with The One Ring? It looks suspiciously like an academic gown to me. Is it a Potter spoof, or has he been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Middle Earth? OK, UCLA, Harvard, Yale, Oxford?

Isn't it the same hooded sweater/jacket he had on when he presented TRL in march, this year?

Yep!

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/trl-031204-123.jpg

Er, thanks for the explanation, guys :o

TRL seems to have passed me by for some reason.
EDIT: nope, I have part of a clip on my PC! How could I have forgotten?
Second edit: it must be the juxtaposition of the smart shirt and tie with the, er, hoodie that confused me. But that seems to be his style.

Shireling ...... :k I never thought a football pic could be lovely, but that one is!
Can't wait for that film to come out, whatever it's about and whatever the title (Hooligans is far more descriptive, so I hope it's that).
Thank you also for telling us about Allie's encounters with Lij. I've just asked her for more details via the EII yahoogroup - good to have a real live Czech in our midst! :)

Nothing to add. Just had to say what a wonderfully quintessential-Elwood photo that is--from the shoes to the hair and all the clothes in-between :) . Even the way he's standing, come to think of it (shades of monkey-boy? :p ).

I probably have a dozen or so pics from that day, tg, and I picked the most "Elwoodian" one I could find. There's also one of him laying on a couch that's very cute but I couldn't find it -- I'll post it if I do.

And here's one more, for a soggy Wednesday in PA:

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/MPE03117-002.jpg


ETA: Here's that pic on the couch, from TRL (it's attached)

(*I know -- no more, Narya -- I promise!*)

OK...that look on his face in that picture there, Achila...combined with the slightly military jacket...one word comes to my mind:
ruthless.

I want to see Elijah Wood do 'evil', 'dark' and 'ruthless' in a movie. :)
besides seeing him in an 'angelic' role and lots of combinations in between those two extremes 'ruthless' and 'angelic'

Back here yet again! Can't keep away ....

This time I have a question, however. Someone somewhere suggested recently that both Liev Schreiber and Elijah will be back in the USA in the last week in July, because they both have commitments there. They will apparently return to Prague afterwards to finish filming. Does anyone know about this, and do they know the exact dates? I ask because someone has asked me when and where the filming is (wish I knew exactly!) because they are thinking of going to Prague. If you know anything about this, would you please post it or PM me? Many thanks!

i cant agree with you more moondancer!!
i wonder what i will be to see him in sin city?
is there anyone who have heard anything about
this movie?
with holigans there were many news and pics all the time but with this two new movies,eii and sin city i must say its very queiet or is it
looking in the wrong places!!!

so much good pics have been posted here resently i cant get enough
of this man!!!! :lol: :lol:

is there anybody who knows were i can find a link to trl i misst it on mtv
i know it is a while ago but maybe there is still some links!!

ylla!i hope hope everything is alright with you husband!!! :z:

talk to you all tonight.of to work now!! :cool:

Hi there

Stunned by all of the gorgeous pictures. Fabulous.

Tomorrow I meet Honey and Peaceweaver and Mariole and Ariel and Goldberry and Narya and Chica and more and more..wish you were all here.

Blossom, I hope your husband is still improving. And Ylla, I hope you continue to feel all of the positive energy from the Faculty.


To trivia. I went to Elijah's IMDb biography and it says (among all his other accomplishments) that he ...studies singing professionally.

True???? Just a little trivia for my night.

I say again, MY GOODNESS what lovely pictures. My daughter wears those same shoes...well, not the SAME shoes..but one's that look just like. CUUTE... :cool:


BEAUTIFUL Drawing, Whiteling. Breathtaking. Upside down technique?? Works well for you.

And Very Happy Late Birthday, Serena!!!

WELCOME, Mystic Marsh!!! :D

Dear persons of The Faculty,

I just wanted to say, on behalf of those who lurk here now and again from TORN's Frodo/Elijah fan thread, that we very much appreciate your posts, photos and news links. If it weren't for you, we would often be in the dark as to Elijah Wood's professional life, that is in terms of what he is up to in the present. But lately, we have been enjoying the art work that has been coming out of here. (One of your number has kindly brought some of these to our attention). Already we have swooned for the "paintings" made from E.W. photos by Notabluemaia. (I have saved them to a photo file, which I hope is acceptable...?)

I now break silence to thank her and to thank Whiteling for her drawing of Frodo recently posted, "We Are Not Alone." I especially like the work you did around the chin and mouth. It brings out that head-of-David likeness that makes me all - well, never mind. (This is why I hang out on swoon threads!) :D

Gratefully, Mechtild

Welcome Mechtild! I think you'll enjoy hanging out here -- I know I do.

To Alyon re: Lij studying singing -- he took some voice lessons to audition for Moulin Rouge. That's about it, so far as I know.

And here's some gossip about Hooligans (yes! no more The Yank -- :haha: ) from possibly my least favorite source, Ted Casablanca's The Awful Truth (and gleened from The Yank yahoogroup):

Elijah who? That's what the latest gossip from Brit soccer movie The Yank--which finished filming in the U.K.--might lead one to say (the flick will probably be renamed Hooligans, by the by). Hobbit Wood's experience on the strife-filled set has been challenging, as Mr. W. has often seen to it to help various factions see eye to chin. Near crippling is the latest word from Yank. The film's director, German-born Lexi Alexander, is reported to be babbling that she'd like to prepare a sympathetic film about WWII's Nazi youth movement. All righty, then, but didn't Cabaret already take care of that?

Charlie Hunnam, of Cold Mountain and Queer as Folk fame, certainly won't be first in line to see Alexander's Aryan Nation nod, should it get made. Yank's set vets insist L.A. tears into C.H. (and into his trailer as well), blasting with bitchery. Meanwhile, our darlin' Elijah played deejay at the wrap pah-tay, just so he wouldn't have to deal with any more of the movie's Sturm und Drang.


This' so not good.

i wonder what i will be to see him in sin city?
is there anyone who have heard anything about
this movie?
If I understand correctly, Elijah's Sin City filming has come and gone. Since so much of it is blue screen, it seems the actors basically went to Austin to film their parts--often separately--and then left again. With everything done in the studio, it's been pretty easy for them to keep things quiet. IMDb lists scheduled release in 2005.

With the three storylines, it's difficult to tell how much screentime anyone will have. At first I was disappointed to see Elijah at the very bottom of the list of 26 cast members given on IMDb--then realized it's alphabetical :p :rolleyes: . For trivia's sake ;) , cast members Elijah's worked with before include: Rosario Dawson (Ash Wednesday), Josh Hartnett (The Faculty, so another Rodriguez alum), Brittany Murphy (Happy Feet and King of the Hill), Bruce Willis (North), and, if we stretch the meaning of "worked with," Carla Gugino (Spy Kids--and a Rodriguez regular).

Moondancer--IMHO Kevin should fill the bill for "evil, dark, and ruthless" :eek: !

Welcome to Mystic Marsh, and hello to Mechtild (and all our lovely lurkers :) ).

Edit after reading Achila's post--I'm not sure what a couple of phrases in that report might mean--any clues??
--Elijah who? That's what the latest gossip from Brit soccer movie... might lead one to say.
--Near crippling is the latest word from Yank.

I can see how Dougie could have had some difficulty working with this director :( .

Moondancer--IMHO Kevin should fill the bill for "evil, dark, and ruthless" :eek: ! :D Great, isn't it? :D I hope it can live up to my expectations because I'm looking forward to evil, dark and ruthless. :)

Achila, I saw that bit of gossip elsewhere. It's from that Ted guy (who has a gossip column somewhere).
It's no surprise to hear that there was trouble on the set and it has been mentionned before that Elijah didn't get involved in the arguments.
On the other hand, I don't really like the way this Ted person talks about that German moviedirector. I mean "Aryan Nation" and "sympathetic film about Nazi WWII"? :eek:
What's he implying exactly?

Besides, even if he's right and she wants to make a movie about the Nazi youth movement...It still is a fascinating topic and it could be interesting to make a movie from an inside view. I mean, most of the popular WWII movies are made from the viewpoint of the allies. It could be interesting to see what it was like for the Hitler Jugend without necessarily taking a Nazi sympathy viewpoint.
I may be overreacting a bit about this but I don't like the tone of that piece of gossip.

A lot of those gossip journalists think that they have the right to say just about anything as long as they put the "gossip" label over it.
If somebody disagrees, they get the "get a sense of humor" reply. :mad:

No, I didn't like his tone either (although when it comes to Ted C., I rarely do). tg, I didn't quite understand what he was implying either until I read it a few times. I think he means that Elijah will become Elijah who? (i.e., will lose his credibility and career) from being associated with Lexi Alexander and this movie, because of a) internal strife on the set, presumably leading to a poor product and b) her being an obvious Nazi sympathizer (?????), which will reflect badly on him. I agree with Moondancer, again, as an amateur Holocaust scholar -- there is much about Nazi Germany we don't know, from an insider's point of view, and it would be very interesting to see a film about someone within the Hitler Jugend.

How does Ted C know what this film would be about? Perhaps it's the story of someone who tries desperately to get out of the Youth, maybe even doing something heroic. Saying it's sympathetic just makes her sound like a neo Nazi (and mentioning Aryan Nation is despicable) and that's libelous.

And, of course, that "eye to chin" thing is a cut against Elijah's height....grrrr