Saying it's sympathetic just makes her sound like a neo Nazi (and mentioning Aryan Nation is despicable) and that's libelous.
:mad: Exactly!

Edit because I don't want to end this post on an angry note:
:) Nice to see you here, Mechtild (I've been reading that TORC Elijah/Frodo thread).
Welcome to mysticmarsh.

i dont realy understands what this ed is talking about
but why would it hurt elijah to work with this woman
does he think she is a nazti or what!!??

i was so looking forward to this movie
but i am very worryd about it and that it
will become a (flopp,cant find the right word for it)
:confused: :(
WELCOME TO ALL NEW ONES I HOPE YOU WILL LOVE IT
HERE AS MUCH AS I DO!!! :k

"Flop" would be the word, Wood, but don't give up yet. Personally I think that bit of "news" (read: gossip) is just another effort to get a rise out of (to annoy) a few people involved with the film and deserves to be ignored, as always. "Elijah Who?" suggests to me rather that the writer thinks EW was an odd choice for the role, which we've heard before (LOTR, anyone?). Ho-hum.

Ylla, I hope all is well. In the event it's helpful to you, here's a link to the experiences of a friend I made on another board who happens to be a transplant patient.

http://www.chfpatients.com/tx/txstories.htm

My thoughts are with you, and with Blossom too.

Mech, LOL! *waves*

Does anyone take Ted C seriously? He's well known to be a die-hard fan of Elijah, and I suspect he doesn't believe for a second that EW will sink into oblivion through being associated with Hooligans. What he's actually doing is giving the movie more publicity, whether he intends to or not (and maybe he does!) :p And he is careful to dissociate Elijah from all the aggro, which is a sort of back-handed compliment.

As for Lexi Alexander, like Achila and Moondancer I can see why she might want to make a film from the viewpoint of someone inside the Hitler Jugend movement. It could be very interesting to explore what it was like to experience that as it happened (as Achila says, few people have attempted this before). It's so easy for people to be wise after the event; I've often wondered what it was like to be in Germany in the 1930s, when no-one was as well informed as we are now, few people really understood what was going on and fascism and Nazism were in their infancy. How soon would we have recognised Hitler & Co for what they were? Would we have had the courage to oppose them, and if so, how and how soon? How many people would see through some of today's world leaders if it weren't for the media - and recently the movies - we have now? (Thinking of a certain film that did well in Cannes this year .....)

Clearly it would be professional suicide for anyone to make a "sympathetic" film about Nazism, so it seems Ted C is deliberately misrepresenting whatever Lexi said. Making inflammatory remarks is his job, after all .....

ylla, echoing what Flourish has just said (welcome back, Flourish!), the one former heart transplant patient I know looks younger and fitter for his age than anyone I can think of. One time I was with him he spent the whole day shifting furniture and carrying heavy equipment. The rest of us were exhausted, but he was still fine at 4 a.m. Just for the record.
Still thinking of you.

Once again Thanks to all who have sent prayers and positive energy my way.

We are back on for a surgery (quadrupil bypass and aoertic valve replacement tentatively scheduled the first week of August). I guess heart transplant is not what they are opting for. I don't know if that is good or bad. But some good news...they are letting him come home in between :z:

A little Elijah talk now...so pleasant to talk about him and not worries ;)
Did everyone see SNL got an Emmy nomination for Art Direction and the episode picked was the one that he hosted :cool:

Can't wait for that to be repeated so I can have a copy. I've only seen clips of it.BTW.....Can anyone direct me to a link that might work so I can see that video of the infamous rudeness of the so called fans giving him that envelope. Everyone seems to have seen it but me.


Gotta fly and get things ready here at home for My new movie called The Return of The Husband :D

Many, many Thanks to all who sent me messages and links :k I Love and appreciate everyone of You :k

As usual, a lot of thought-provoking stuff from this group! :) I'm also a bit confused about that gossipy quote, but I have a feeling that The Lad was very professional, which seems to be his M.O. when he's working. I'm sure he handled it with as much grace and class as anyone could muster. And "eye to chin"? Give me a short, peace-loving kid over a tall someone who swears that he could knock said short peace-loving kid on his can. Harrrrumph.

The stuff about the Nazi Youth movement - I would imagine that a film with a sympathetic view of this stuff would be as controversial as certain films that have come out in the US recently. That daggone First Amendment - just gets in the way of political correctness, y'know? Even if the subject of such a film would be reprehensible, I would have to grit my teeth and oppose censorship, as much as I might hate the subject.

I think it's important to recognize that those kids were *kids*, caught up in something that they certainly had no control over. My dad, back in the 60's, met a man who had been in the Hitler Youth. The man said "We were just *crazy*". There is no force on earth like adolescence, and manipulated adolescence is terrifying. I remember not too long ago seeing a documentary where they interviewed some regular German soldiers who had fought side-by-side with the HY. They said that the regular soldiers were able to see when it was time to retreat or surrender; the HY soldiers often wouldn't let them and demanded that they all fight to the death.

I'm sure it gave kids a sense of purpose and belonging - gangs do that too, and cults.

I think it's entirely possible to make a film with an unpopular view of a subject, even if the maker's views don't agree with those expressed in the film. You don't have to be a hen to know when an egg is rotten. If LA wants to make a controversial movie, why not?

On a lighter note, I watched AIW again over the past 2 nights. I really, really like that movie. It is just delightful and makes me laugh so much! I realized again how neat it is to see a small story made into a movie. There were no great earth-shaking events, mountains and towers did not fall. It was just a picture of a few events in Jones Dillon's transition from boy to man.

I was also more aware of how very often, the movie switched between different perspectives of Jones - his view of himself, which was sometimes "blah", then seeing him through someone's eyes - like the part where he was carrying the case of beer home and crossed the street like a creepy little robot, which was Jane's view of him at that point. Anyway, it was delightful.

Over the weekend, I saw more of The Good Son than I had seen before. It is a very ugly movie, isn't it? Sheesh. Of course, the original Bad Seed gave me the creeps too. I wonder if a lot of the perception of MC's performance as "poor" was just because the character was wooden? EW was just phenomenal with that growing terror exploding into the food-destroying scene - geez. Frenzy. The fight at the end was also really good. It seemed like the movie was a bit truncated - it went from the cliff scene to Mark standing looking over the desert with a voiceover about never asking if she'd make the same choice again. Wasn't there a scene with the mom and Mark at the grave?

I also noticed what someone said recently about EW at that age being able to look like he's older or younger.

~grumpy (still blown away by the various pictures and drawings here lately)(Ylla, healthy vibes to you and hubby!)

Bunnie posted this link in her LJ:
Together we'll cure cancer faster - GiveGet (http://www.tkmaxx.com/giveget/)
:)

Mechtild,
Well, how nice to see you here, now that you've de-cloaked !!! Hope you stay and contribute some of your monster posts that you got a reputation for back in the Kitchen...Go on, you know you want to !! ( Only Elijah-related instead of Frodo-related, of course !)

Serena,
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. 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.


Funnily enough...my mother, who paints the most exquisite miniatures, and also bigger works too, does exactly the same thing !! She says that it converts the whole picture into an abstract, and that makes it easier to see where there are bad aspects to the general composition, like too much light on one side or too much of one colour, maybe...and isn't the right side of the brain that deals with logic, maths and science ? So perhaps this way helps your brain to deal with the compositional problems in a rational way, without being distracted by the actual subject matter...I think this method isn't as mad as you think...

Ylla,
I'm so glad that your news is beginning to be a bit more hopeful...Husband coming home is a fantastic step forward, in terms of them being confident that he'll make it through...even if he does still have to have open-heart surgery...

BTW.....Can anyone direct me to a link that might work so I can see that video of the infamous rudeness of the so called fans giving him that envelope. Everyone seems to have seen it but me.

Yes, I agree...me too, me too !!! :z: :z: :z:

Achilla, Moondancer, and Serena,

Re: the Lexi Alexander proposal to shoot a film about the Nazi Youth Movement from their point of view...
I absolutely agree with you all that it certainly IS possible to do this without being necessarily a Nazi sympathiser !!! Our very own Dear BBC staged a marvellously gripping drama just last year, starring the very excellent Kenneth Branagh, no less, charting the beginning plans, the rise, and the subsequent, almost total fulfillment of the Nazi Final Solution...how it came to be, and how on Earth it ever came to be accepted as a feasible policy for the German Government at the time...Now this was fascinating stuff, but no-one ever thought of accusing the Beeb of being in any way sympathetic to the Nazi movement...this was just a straight forward telling of events, just as they happened...
See...it can be done !!

Far too many people trying to be the Moral majority sometimes, and this Ted Casablanca seems to be one of them..( makes a change !!! :rolleyes: ) ...stifles creativity, you know !!

TgShaw is absolutely right, when she points out that could any one of us, in all honesty, say that we would have been more perceptive about the way things were going ? Don't forget, the Hitler Youth Movement was seen as being very much like a patriotic mixture of the Boy Scout Movement, and the Territorial Army, at the time... Who knew ???

Now then..here's a bit of interesting stuff, I found whilst wandering around Live Journal-land today...Do any of you remember the "Bit of Earth" website, a fansite for Sam Gamgee/Sean Astin ? How it just vanished off the face of the Earth?..
Apologies to those for whom this is old news, but here's the full story...and honestly., you couldn't make this stuff up, you really couldn't !!! :rolleyes:

The "Bit of Earth" Debacle (http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=5307&page=1)

Achila,
That picture of Elijah in green combat-like jacket, really does make him look slightly menacing, doesn't it ? Yes, Ruthless and nasty Lij would be a very interesting thing, imo...
Are they playing cards in the background ?...Where did this pic come from, if you don't mind me asking ? It doesn't look like any of the more famous photo-shoots, and he HAS done a fair few, hasn't he ?

Ylla,
I'm so glad that your news is beginning to be a bit more hopeful...Husband coming home is a fantastic step forward, in terms of them being confident that he'll make it through...even if he does still have to have open-heart surgery...


Yep -- hugs to you, ylla, from your Sam! :k


Re: the Lexi Alexander proposal to shoot a film about the Nazi Youth Movement from their point of view...
I absolutely agree with you all that it certainly IS possible to do this without being necessarily a Nazi sympathiser !!! Our very own Dear BBC staged a marvellously gripping drama just last year, starring the very excellent Richard Branagh, no less, charting the beginning plans, the rise, and the subsequent, almost total fulfillment of the Nazi Final Solution...how it came to be, and how on Earth it ever came to be accepted as a feasible policy for the German Government at the time...

That was on TV here as well, about the Wannsee conference (Richard...or Kenneth Branaugh?). Quite well done.


Achila,
That picture of Elijah in green combat-like jacket, really does make him look slightly menacing, doesn't it ? Yes, Ruthless and nasty Lij would be a very interesting thing, imo...
Are they playing cards in the background ?...Where did this pic come from, if you don't mind me asking ? It doesn't look like any of the more famous photo-shoots, and he HAS done a fair few, hasn't he ?


Good question, LW -- it was from Patsie's lj, but I don't know where she found it. Yes -- those are playing cards in the background, all painted red. I know it wasn't exactly on topic, since it's not a screen cap, but couldn't help but share such a lovely new discovery with my sisters.

There's something about what's in those eyes....I find the photos from these posed sessions just amazing. Compare any of them to the happy, geeky Lijah that we all know and love and you would swear they're two different people. As we've discussed before, he can act just as well in front of a still camera as he can in front of a movie camera.

So many interesting posts!

As for Ted C. :rolleyes: I take everything he says with a gigantic grain of salt. He is primarily a gossip-generating gossip collumnist, meaning he writes whatever occurs to him just to see how many peoiple he can upset. There is rarely much truth in anything he says. If there is any truth it is buried deep beneath his snide little witticisms.

What we know we can believe is that Elijah was the peacemaker and true professional on the Hooligans set, just as we might have expected.

I don't think Ted has any real clue about Lexi's possible Nazi youth film and is just trying to make trouble, as is his wont.

That article about what happened with Bit of Earth is fascinating and scary. It shows what can happen when fans become lost in the fantasy they make up for themselves. :eek:

While the reports from the set of the Yank were far from encouraging, what really confirms for me that Ted C (Ted Who?) doesn't understand the situation (or Elijah) is his comment on why Elwood d-jed the wrap party. He ALWAYS d-j's the wrap parties!!!

What a maroon...

(((Ylla))) continued good thoughts directed at ya! And pm me if you can't find that SNL show. I may be able to help you...

Haven't had time to read all the posts that have popped up today, but thought I'd drop in to say: Twas Serena, not me :) :
TgShaw is absolutely right, when she points out that could any one of us, in all honesty, say that we would have been more perceptive about the way things were going ?
My secret to success is making sure I'm confused with the best people ;) .

Hey, has nobody noticed that we run over 8000 posts ???

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/feuerwerk1.jpg
Happy 8OOO, FACULTY!


Ladies, I'd like to thank you all for your kind words on my latest drawing - Serena, glad you like it :) - Moondancer, your hug arrived here nonetheless, and I'm hugging you back :k -
Grumpy, I'm storing your lines donation for the future ;)
Maeglian, Wood, Alyon, Lady Wendy, Shireling, Mechtild (welcome!) thank you for your compliments. But then, I feel honoured to share my artwork with the lovely Faculty! http://fool.exler.ru/sm/rev.gif


Funnily enough...my mother, who paints the most exquisite miniatures, and also bigger works too, does exactly the same thing !! She says that it converts the whole picture into an abstract, and that makes it easier to see where there are bad aspects to the general composition, like too much light on one side or too much of one colour, maybe...

That's a good explanation, Lady Wendy. The point in drawing upside down is to override the accustomed way of perception. You have to SEE and not only to THINK you'd see.

-------------
I think it's important to recognize that those kids were *kids*, caught up in something that they certainly had no control over. My dad, back in the 60's, met a man who had been in the Hitler Youth. The man said "We were just *crazy*". There is no force on earth like adolescence, and manipulated adolescence is terrifying. I remember not too long ago seeing a documentary where they interviewed some regular German soldiers who had fought side-by-side with the HY. They said that the regular soldiers were able to see when it was time to retreat or surrender; the HY soldiers often wouldn't let them and demanded that they all fight to the death.

I'm sure it gave kids a sense of purpose and belonging - gangs do that too, and cults.

I agree, Grumpy. The "Hitlerjugend" was a giantic brainwashing machinery. I am very interested in films that show the lives of the ordinary people in this horrible time. Without palliation or demonisation.


And to end with a positive thing - Achila, the pics you posted recently (red playing cards and sofas and so)... WOW! Thank you! :)

And (((ylla))) - I'm thinking of you and your hubby!

The first part of this post is on-topic because of Whiteling's latest amazingly wonderful Frolijah picture and how she drew it.
The point in drawing upside down is to override the accustomed way of perception. You have to SEE and not only to THINK you'd see.
I was in a class once where we used that "drawing from the right side of the brain" book--not an art class (thank goodness--I would have flunked!), but one about personality types; one thing we looked at was the theory that people have a dominant side of their brain, in the same way they have a dominant hand. Turning the picture upside down, as I understand it, was to make it impossible to use the logical function of the left side of the brain, that--as in Whiteling's quote--lets you think what you're seeing instead of just seeing. [As a lot of us lefthanders know, "The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, so only lefthanders are in their right minds." ;) ]

During that class, I had an interesting experience with the drawing process, because the picture was just as easily visible to me when copying it upside down as rightside up. It was interesting to everybody else, anyway--to me it was just normal :confused: . I've wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that I'm naturally ambidextrous. When I was little, I'd use one hand for coloring or whatever until I was tired of it, then I'd switch to the other one. My kindergarten teacher told my mother that I should use one hand or the other, because using both of them like that would "mess up my brain." (Yeah, I know, too bad she didn't get to me soon enough... :rolleyes: :p ). So I ended up being primarily lefthanded, but I still do a lot of things with either hand--and mirror-writing is natural for me (I'm out of practice, though. Guess I should brush up on it--it's a great party trick :p ). Anyway, maybe this gives me an excuse for not being able to draw ;) .

The second part of this post is on-topic because, well, Elijah was mentioned a couple of times in that "Bit of Earth" story and if you take the "Elijah" off the front, his name is "Jordan Wood."
I know it's impossible to psychologically "diagnose" someone from 1500 miles away, but I'd be awfully surprised if there isn't some schizophrenia involved in that story. I've personally known three schizophrenics quite well (two of them very well, and one of them--the only one who's also paranoid--is the reason I have an unlisted phone number :( ), and I've been acquainted with a few more. I believe I could plunk any of them into the lead role in that story and it would be completely realistic. Someone who's an active schizophrenic is completely convincing when talking about their fantasy world, because they're not lying. To them, everything they're saying is absolutely true. Knowing celebrities is probably the most common type of fantasy that exists with that disease--often they'll see someone on TV and believe the person is talking directly to them, so they must be friends, right?

I started getting into some stories of "schizophrenics I have known," but decided that wasn't really necessary--I'll just say that I've definitely witnessed these fantasy connections to famous people. And, the thing is, if I hadn't known better I would have believed them. I have no trouble at all accepting that rational, intelligent people--even a doctor--and even Sean Astin, FES!--could have gotten involved the way it's told in that story. The only thing that's unusual about this story is that there were "real world" people who were able to get the fantasies far enough along that they collided with reality (convention plans, airfares, disappearing appointments, etc.). I'm glad the group that's left is working on some positive things--the literacy garden idea is really quite lovely.

IMHO schizophrenia is one of the saddest illnesses in existence. It strikes people when they're just getting their lives underway, usually in their early to mid-20's. And its main targets seem to be those who are intelligent--the course of the disease can take someone from high achievement in university classes to complete mental disability in a short time. Some can be helped with medications, but some are unresponsive. Others are without family support and end up homeless, often without any mental health care at all. It's one of those things where I sometimes have to laugh about it to keep from crying.

---I want to add just a bit after re-reading Hobmom's post. IMVHO, the things that happened didn't come from fans getting too involved in their fantasies. It sounds as if the "normal" fans had their heads on straight; IMHO they just didn't realize what they were up against, which most people wouldn't. A lot of people with mental illness will gravitate toward something like a specific fandom, or (very often) religion, which IMVVHO doesn't say anything about the fandom or the religion itself--except, perhaps, that it gives people a sense of belonging.

Achila you may have to change your screen name to Sam as everyone now knows you as My Sam :k :k :k
Whiteling :) I didn't get a chance ..do to my RL crisis.. to thank you for your amazing drawing. You are truly gifted. How you captured Elijah's essence is unbelivable :)

A quick comment on the subject of the Nazi Youth Movement:
Many years ago..on TV they had an afternoon school special(if your not fortyish or fiftyish you won't remember this) about an amazing history teacher who was trying to explain how the German youth were brainwashed into the Hitler ideology. His students didn't buy into the idea. So he unknowingly to them did a little experiment. He factioned his students into two groups (the blue-eyed who he treated well and praised and nurtured. and the brown eyed, who he belittled and humiliated) over many weeks he was able to brainwash his preferred group into bullying and harrasing the "outcast" group. When he revealed his experiment his students were shocked. They were brainwashed and manipulated. The Lesson was taught. This Teacher was awarded Teacher of the Year. We can Learn thru history. If we have the right teachers.
My point..and I do have one...is any one can succumb to evil. If the evil is stong,
Everything to me comes back to the lessons we learn from TLOTR.
Only Frodo could carry that One Ring. The strength.. the purity of his soul got him to Mt.Doom. But even he.. with the nobilist of hearts needed Sam.
Evil can corrupt even the purest soul. Without Sam I think even Frodo would succumb to that hypnotic power.

Forgive me for being a little analytical...I'm a Capricorn..we tend to do that...
But then again I'm here in the Faculty...I guess that's what we do here :D

Tgshaw, ( btw, sorry for mixing you up with Serena..Dimwit Wendy !!)

Someone who's an active schizophrenic is completely convincing when talking about their fantasy world, because they're not lying. To them, everything they're saying is absolutely true. Knowing celebrities is probably the most common type of fantasy that exists with that disease--often they'll see someone on TV and believe the person is talking directly to them, so they must be friends, right?


Yep..that certainly sounds just like a good description of Amy Player/Jordan Wood/Victoria Bitter....particularly with reference to when she sent a suicide note to her Father, saying that her girlfriend had left her for this new person Jordan Wood, who had connections to the stars and had created this marvellous website for the fans etc, etc, and she couldn't hope to compete,...and then she turned out to be the same person....how messed up in the head is that ???

I have the link, for those who are fascinated by this whole messy saga, to the Live Journal of Jeanine Renne, who came out of this $13,000 poorer, and is now writing a book about it, in order to set records straight etc...makes a fascinating read, particularly the Memories link at the top of the notebook...
( Comes with a few pictures of the offending people too )
PM me if you'd like a look...

Apparently, these two scam-artists have crossed over into Harry Potter Fandom, with Jordan now doing impressions of Harry Potter, instead of Frodo, and posing with fans for money, ostensibly for charity !!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
:lol:
If any of you come across these two posing as anyone famous like this, outside the Chinese Theatre in LA, or anywhere else for that matter, please don't give them any cash ...

Peaceweaver,
While the reports from the set of the Yank were far from encouraging, what really confirms for me that Ted C (Ted Who?) doesn't understand the situation (or Elijah) is his comment on why Elwood d-jed the wrap party. He ALWAYS d-j's the wrap parties!!!

Do you know, I never even gave that a moment's thought...how daft of me !! You are absolutely right, this says an awful lot about how much Ted C really doesn't know about Elijah...
Of course, he ALWAYS D-J's the wrap party...it's becoming a bit of a tradition that, isn't it ? How could Ted C think that it was for any other reason ?...

Talking of Elijah and his music...I wonder when we'll start to hear about his record-label venture ? Has anyone seen or heard anything with regards to this, other than Elijah saying that it's something he'd like to do ?...

Some Sin City news , though nothing about Elijah's part but he is mentioned as a cast member....
here (http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/newsstory.asp?news_id=16012)

Good morning! I was diddling around, looking for pictures of Kevin, to see what the character looked like in the graphics novels and came up with this interesting link -- notice the names in the top 30 (and number 6 especially).

http://www.the-numbers.com/people/records/stars2000.html

LOTR without Elijah?? I can't imagine it, but some people can:

http://www.techcentralstation.com/071604C.html

Flourish...
That Article !!!...

I had that moment. So did you. So did a future director. Somewhere in America, a kid with a bad complexion and a limited social life is busily filling a secret notebook with plans for "Lord of the Rings -- The Right Way." And after he wins his second Oscar, the details of that notebook will be coming to a theater near you.

All I could think when I read this line was...
"Why...Oh why, do LOTR fans HAVE to be thought of this way ??? :rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes:

I don't know about you, but last time I looked, I certainly WASN'T an American kid with a bad complexion, and a limited social life...are any of you ?

Thought not !!!

Anyway...before anyone rises to the not inconsiderable bait that this article puts in front of us...can I just say that, imvho, the gist of the article isn't entirely incorrect in its premise, ( my disagreement about a certain actor notwithstanding...)...
I think that in twenty years, there WILL be another director who wants to rise to the challenge that Tolkien's little novel presents...simply because now someone HAS done it, and very successfully at that...

Can't wait to see whether he or she makes a better job of it than Peter Jackson et al...

...and can't wait to see the beautiful Elfin twenty-year old they cast to play Our Frodo...
Do you think he will be as good as Our Lij ? ( Let's face it, he'll have a lot to live up to...)

Fear not, Lady Wendy, I don't think it was us ordinary fans the writer was referring to with that unflattering description! No, I think director wannabes are the people he had in mind, and if I cast back to my college days and the film students I knew then, well-------- there's a grain of truth there. In fact, a few people I've met elsewhere on the Internet---well ;) .

The temptation,for me, is to think of all the things I'd like a new version to get right, like Faramir, and the Ford, and a few missed bits of dialogue. :rolleyes:

But I disagree very strongly with the writer's premise that the characterizations in PJ's films can be overriden by new actors. For my life I cannot imagine a more heartfelt or persuasive Frodo. Or, let's be honest, a more beautiful. :)

Nah!!!

I can't have it!! No Elijah? No Billy, Sean or Dom?? No Viggo as King?? :confused:

I do see the different permutations one might want to remake of Lotrs. I see different themes and different choices. But not different actors!! Oh I'm utterly spoiled, but all those boys ARE their characters. Any other Frodo would be an imposter!! :eek: The article says you can't imagine any one but Marlon Brando as the Godfather so one wouldn't dare replace him. I say the same to Frodo. Any remakes down the line--- use Elijah. In twenty years he still won't be too old to play Frodo. I mean, he'll still BE Frodo! ;) (and of course I doubt he'd ever accept any substitutes for his hobbit friends, so Sean and Dom and Billy would just have to come along...) :) :)

I met some wonderful KD women last night in Seattle. From the Faculty there was Honey and Mariole, with Peaceweaver still to come. Had a lovely talk with Ariel, who says she still lurks here even when she isn't posting. Wonderful women!! Honey and I are going to try to sneak in a viewing of Chain of Fools sometime...my first time!! :D Howard Shore tomorrow!! Wish you were all here :k

WHAT!!!LOTR WITHOUT ELIJAH!!.SEAN,DOM BILLY, VIGGO
ANDY AND ALL THE REAST?????? NO NOT IN MY WILDEST DREAM!!
NIGHTMARE MAYBE. :confused: :confused:

HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND PICS OF ELIJAH AS KEVIN
BUT I CANT FIND ANY?ANYBODY ELSE MAYBE?
I DID FIND ANOTHER PIC BUT I COULDENT SAVE IT IS WAS A VERY SEXY
PIC WITH HIS SHIRT OPEN SO YOU COULDE SEE HIS CHEST :p :p
AND WHAT A CHEST I HOPE SOMEBODY ELSE HAVE AND MAYBE CAN POST HERE HE WAS REALY SEXY(but that maybe isent relavent here i just
thought maybe someone else whant to see it)OH I RUMBELING AGAIN!

OH NUMBER 6 ON THAT LIST NOT BAD AT ALL!!

SEX AGAIN I BEETER STOP NOW OR WHO KNOWS WHAT THIS WILL LEAD TO :lol: :p :D :cool:

I FOUND IT THERE ARE TWO ALMOST THE SAME YOU DONT HAVE TO LOOK
IF YOU DONT WHANT TO :p :D
IF ITS WRONG TO POST THEM IN HERE PLEASE LET ME KNOW(but realy, why should it bee wrong!!!!????)

What this writer has discounted is the idea that in twenty year's time, these films will be such classics that it will be very very difficult if not impossible to recast them. Our boys (and girls) will draw exceptionally long shadows, methinks, not to mention the legions of new readers who now only picture *them* when they pick up the book. This was something that we, as old-time Tolkienistas, didn't have to overcome. For us, there was only our imaginations and a few cartoons to suggest the likenesses of Frodo, Gandalf, Aragorn, etc. I'm willing to bet that this melding of character and actor will only grow over time, rather than diminish.

And what would FroDay be without a little treat for all you guys who have been so good this week...one of each -- Frodo...and the man, himself. Enjoy!

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/classical_frodo_face.jpg

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/762524_07.jpg

achila what gourges pics!!

i dont know what i am doing wrong my pics alwayes
turnes out very very small pleas help!!!!

Congratulations to all of us on passing 8,000 posts! :) Rather amazing how the Faculty has been thriving over several years now. As one of the old-timers here, I fondly remember the 3,000- post celebration we had back at old Imladris..... That must be 2 years ago, almost!


Hi and welcome, Mechtild! :)


I wouldn't mind seeing another version of LotR. I think the story is more than rich enough for that - but who will dare take on that task? After PJ's fabulous films there's a long, long way to fall if a new version isn't artistically and financially successful. And the same goes for any actor taking on one of the principal roles. They'll have something very unique and daunting to measure up to! Another Frodo?? Hmmmm..... no!! However many versions get made, I do believe PJ's trilogy will remain a classic, and many of his films' characters will remain "The" LotR character, at least for me. Elijah's Frodo, absolutely and certainly. Ian McKellen's Gandalf, and Billy Boyd's Pippin, and Miranda Otto's Eowyn and ......... the list goes ever on!:)


I read the full story of "Jordan Wood" and Orangeblossom half a year or so ago. Of course it left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. Sadness that the stars have to deal with this kind of indecent "fan" behaviour, whether Elijah who had this person building "his"/her life on him, and Sean Astin who generously thought he was benefiting a charity. :( I do believe both Sean and Elijah knows well enough such is not their normal fans' norm, though..... that most of us are quite nice, actually! :) Also it feels very uncomfortable when this kind of behaviour gets a lot of attention; - it doesn't exactly rob those who believe that the LotR fans are total wackos of their notion. :(

From what I've read of the behaviour involved, I'd say there are strong sociopathic traits involved. Obviously this person is extremely talented at manipulating and deceiving others for her own ends, and has no qualms whatsoever about scheming and misleading others and using their trust for her own personal goals and ends. I think much of it looks deliberate more than anything. I suppose groups like online LotR fans can be ideal for this kind of thing, unfortunately. Online personas can be created and adapted without anyone being the wiser..... We're pretty tolerant of eccentric behaviour; focusing on the strong interest that binds us together with other fans even if their personality in total raises red warning flags, perhaps..... All of that's entirely fine, but it may open up for exploitation by anyone ruthless enough, and for whatever reason motivated enough. I suppose the motivation here was first and foremost basking in reflected glory from the stars?

I do hope Harry Potter fandom has been well and truly warned!


I have to agree with everyone who've said that they'd like to see a film dealing with Hitler Jugend from the inside. Unless it was simply a film made in praise of the ideology and the movement (which I really can't even imagine being made "in public"), it would be both interesting and, I think, a timely warning to get to see how ordinary people, minding their daily lives, can get caught up in a dehumanizing, destructive ideology without really realizing or seeing what's happening. Because it's happening gradually, and in exchange for the loss of certain human rights for all or for some groups, it's offering hope and "clear lines" and a way forward out of economic and national misery, and it's establishing an "outsider" enemy to blame all difficulties on..... Actually I think it is very relevant to be reminded of Germany in the 30's and to try to understand and identify with the people there and what happened, without just shaking one's head in disbelief with the benefit of hindsight. I think it would be thoroughly useful to be disabused of the notion that "it can't happen here".


Alyon, good to hear you're all having fun in Seattle! :)

Achila, lovely pictures! :)

Edit: Good heavens! I didn't think I was being that wordy :o ! Three posts and wood's edit all while I was writing--so now I have to go back and look at the pics (oh, my, what a chore :p ).

But I disagree very strongly with the writer's premise that the characterizations in PJ's films can be overriden by new actors. For my life I cannot imagine a more heartfelt or persuasive Frodo. Or, let's be honest, a more beautiful. :)
Hmmm... I didn't get the idea that the article was saying future movies/actors would override the current portrayals, just that they'd provide a different interpretation, which I think is valid. As the author said, LotR is one of the few books that has enough depth to the story and, even more, to the characters, that different versions can be done from different angles, or with different emphases, without really even stepping on each other's toes. Because it is so rare, I had to go to the Bible to come up with a parallel--over the last three decades or so we've had Jesus of Nazareth; Jesus Christ, Superstar; and The Passion of the Christ -- all hugely popular and each with a viewpoint completely different from the other two (Godspell's my favorite, and some people still prefer The Greatest Story Ever Told over all of them).

I agree that Elijah could probably still play Frodo twenty years from now, and I'd certainly like to see him do a more mature portrayal--but in order for him to get involved in another production, there'd have to be something about it that really excited him. It's been said that the best way to do LotR onscreen would be as a TV mini-series (or a Brit-style "limited series"), where it could have more time to spread out and follow the various storylines. IMHO that would be fantastic--especially, of course, if Elijah would jump in.

On somewhat the other end of the spectrum, one thing I think would be fabulous (and not nearly as expensive :p ) would be to have an unabridged audio version of the book--with the actors all reprising their roles for the reading. I for one would l-o-o-o-v-e to hear that perfect Frolijah voice say, "By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair, you shall have neither the Ring nor me!" Ah, what a fantasy!

----

Does anyone know which Sin City story Kevin is in? I was going to list the names, but realized one of them might have a word that's not allowed here, so I'll just ask if it's SC, TYB, or TBFK ;) .

Man, I've turned into almost a complete lurker here. The conversation is fascinating and fast moving and I've been busy so I am quite behind in terms of posting. Oh, my, the pictures and drawings and all lately have been quite stunner. I particularly liked the one of Elijah on the blue pavement, and holding the fence - although I found the red-painted playing cards neat as well, but I was looking at the cards, not EW. :p

Happy Belated Birthday, ainon!

I got you a horsie cake. :D Had to link because it became ENORMOUS when I tried to post it in the thread.

http://www.julieleung.com/archives/horsiecake.jpg

Happy Belated Birthday, Serena!

This cake makes me think of your name. And I'm linking to it, as well, although it didn't become quite so huge - wood's having trouble with images shrinking and mine are expanding. :confused:

http://www.decorcakes.co.nz/cakes/Wedding/images/Marina.jpg


I met some wonderful KD women last night in Seattle. From the Faculty there was Honey and Mariole, with Peaceweaver still to come. Had a lovely talk with Ariel, who says she still lurks here even when she isn't posting. Wonderful women!!

I'm not jealous, oh no, not me. Oh, yes I am. I want to have a lovely talk with Ariel, and see Chain of Fools with Honey and see Howard Shore and hang out with Peaceweaver and Mariole and meet Narya and I am terribly, terribly jealous. Hugs to all the Faculty members and Haremites in Seattle! Enjoy yourselves!

*gnashes teeth*


I do believe both Sean and Elijah knows well enough such is not their normal fans' norm, though..... that most of us are quite nice, actually!

What strikes me about the OB/JW story is that the fans *did* step in and try to pick up the pieces - other fans are now in charge of the garden they started, for instance, keeping it cleaned up and going, and people did what they could to help the people who were going to have a wedding at the con... (A couple got married at one of the cons I worked, many moons ago. What I most remember is that the best man, I believe it was, was made up as a goblin :eek: :eek: :rolleyes: Everyone else was in lovely sorta medieval garb or sciencefiction-y stuff of silks or other flowing materials, and then there's this guy with a two-foot long snarling mouth instead of a chest...)

And of course one of the reasons that fans tend to be trusting souls is that most people *do* live up to their promises - there was a huge debacle in zine fandom a decade or so back when someone took "pre-orders" on a much-awaited zine and lived on them, finally backing out and saying she couldn't afford to print the zine *or* to pay people back if they'd pre-ordered. And fans stepped in that time, too - I can't remember how the pre-orders were handled, but I know someone else published the zine so it was avaliable. But people sent their money in to someone they didn't know all the time, and generally got a zine or a refund out of it. Some people who were burned didn't pre-order any more if a payment was required, but most long-timers shrugged it off, because losing their money was such a rare thing they felt it was still worth the risk.

It is, unfortunately, the newbies who get most burned by a Jordan Wood sort of person - people who've been around long enough to know how things work are much more likely to see the holes in her story and things I suppose, and if an old-timer gets burned thats one minor incident in a long history of positive experiences. What enrages me about a Jordan Wood is that now, for a lot of newbies, getting ripped off IS their fandom experience. :mad: That, to me, is the real tragedy - I'm glad Turi is hanging in there with fandom, since financially, she was the most burned. But what saddens me the most is the fans who left fandom over this. That's such a shame.


Does anyone know which Sin City story Kevin is in?

According to a website I ran across; "Kevin appears extensively in Sin City. He makes a cameo in at least one other story, but as yet has not appeared as a primary character in any further stories."

Sheryl

a camero? i thought it was a real roll he was playing!

but the i have never read sin city so how would i know,i cant
find anything about sin city.they must have massive security
around the studio!! :(

I know what a neat thing to do is: Get a picture of Elijah playing Stu. It has him shirtless and standing on the porch. Next to it, put the picture of his leather jacket and no shirt pic, and say, "My, what a fine young man that boy has grown into!" I mean is that a solid, swoonworthy chest or what?

I watched "The Bumblebee flies Anyway" and the scene where Elijah is put unto the table, and I couldn't believe that was his real Body. That's what happens when you watch any part of LOTR's and then switch channels. :lol:

I'm sure none of you ladies (are we all ladies? I don't really know - would be nice if any fellas could introduce themselves) would be interested in seeing what I consider to be the sexiest pic of Lij ever - so I've posted it in Hugs Haven like a good girl. Not sure why I even bother to mention it really - I know NONE of you will be going there to look ;)

ACHILA ~ that Frodo pic you posted - one of my all time favourites. Its beyond beautiful :)

I say the same to Frodo. Any remakes down the line--- use Elijah. In twenty years he still won't be too old to play Frodo. I mean, he'll still BE Frodo! (and of course I doubt he'd ever accept any substitutes for his hobbit friends, so Sean and Dom and Billy would just have to come along...)

ALYON ~ I couldn't agree more - there is and only ever will be one Frodo (and Sam, Merry, Pippin, etc. etc.) :)

SERENA ~ some time back you mentioned the letter that Allie passed to Elijah for me and said you hoped I'd get a reply. I meant to say before but forgot - it wasn't really a letter which calls for a reply - I simply wanted to say how much I was hoping that, depending on his work schedule, we would see him at the Felloowship Festival in London which is from 28-30 August. I don't delude myself that this will have any effect on whether he comes or not, it was just something I needed to say. I also said that I hoped he was enjoying working in Prague and how much I was looking forward to EII. I'd already poured out all my feelings about Frodo etc in a previous letter given to him at another time. I'm getting a bit despondent about the FF now - its beginning to look unlikely that he'll be there. :(

I have to agree with everyone who've said that they'd like to see a film dealing with Hitler Jugend from the inside. Unless it was simply a film made in praise of the ideology and the movement (which I really can't even imagine being made "in public"), it would be both interesting and, I think, a timely warning to get to see how ordinary people, minding their daily lives, can get caught up in a dehumanizing, destructive ideology without really realizing or seeing what's happening. Because it's happening gradually, and in exchange for the loss of certain human rights for all or for some groups, it's offering hope and "clear lines" and a way forward out of economic and national misery, and it's establishing an "outsider" enemy to blame all difficulties on..... Actually I think it is very relevant to be reminded of Germany in the 30's and to try to understand and identify with the people there and what happened, without just shaking one's head in disbelief with the benefit of hindsight. I think it would be thoroughly useful to be disabused of the notion that "it can't happen here".


Sorry, if the following is slightly off topic but I just have to express my gratefulness...(((Faculty))) - I was very touched by all your understanding, reflected and unbiased comments on the topic of Nazi Germany. It is the most difficult and painful topic for Germans, as you can imagine. It is wonderful to have an international community which is able to pay a closer look on such things. A special thanks to you, (((Maeglian))). Your words that I reposted above are precious to me.

A few years ago I found a pocket diary of my grandmother (sad to say, she died before I was born), dating from the year 1945. It was incredible - she noticed all the all-day things that were happening, and there were entries like: "8 o'clock service; shopping; 13 o'clock air-raid warning; correspondence; 17.30 second air-raid warning; in the evening dinner with C. and M."
Life had to go on, but what was that life like? My grandmother had jewish adopitve parents and couldn't help them, that must've been the worst of all. But she was a courageous woman and was in (secret) contact with jewish people who had have managed to flee just in time.

:( My apologies, I had to get this off my chest, thank you for your patience.

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


On a lighter note -
Shireling, I HAD a look over at the Haven... all I can say is thank you ! :)

Shireling,
so I've posted it in Hugs Haven like a good girl. Not sure why I even bother to mention it really - I know NONE of you will be going there to look

Harrrumph...as if we would - the very thought !!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

( Wendy sneaks out the back door, disappears for a few minutes, and reappears by the front door...hyperventilating !! )

Oh my...haven't seen THAT one before ... :k

Whiteling,
but I just have to express my gratefulness...(((Faculty))) - I was very touched by all your understanding, reflected and unbiased comments on the topic of Nazi Germany. It is the most difficult and painful topic for Germans, as you can imagine. It is wonderful to have an international community which is able to pay a closer look on such things. A special thanks to you, (((Maeglian))). Your words that I reposted above are precious to me.


Thank-you for your kind comments...
I think that the reason the Faculty has such an aptitude for seeing all sides of any story, is maybe because we are nearly all, on average, a little older than your run-of-the-mill fan thread, and rather prone to dissection, discussion, and gentle debate on very much less potentially divisive issues...therefore it doesn't surprise me at all to hear such grown up attitudes coming to the fore, when a topic like this raises its head...

Today, Germany has risen like a phoenix from the ashes of Nazism, and has proved itself to be a very modern, forward-thinking state, and thank goodness that the two halves of Germany are now back together...
The lessons of World War II are there for us ALL to learn by...we ignore them at our peril, methinks !!

Shilohmm,
What strikes me about the OB/JW story is that the fans *did* step in and try to pick up the pieces - other fans are now in charge of the garden they started, for instance, keeping it cleaned up and going, and people did what they could to help the people who were going to have a wedding at the con...

Yes, this is what I've heard too...Not only that, but all the message-board Mods who resigned en masse when they got wind of the fact that all was not as it should be, simply re-created the messsage-board at Sean Astin.net, I think, or at least, it is accessible from there..it's still called The Prancing Pony, and most of the regulars still post there...Isn't that fab !!

Wood--According to the quote Sheryl posted, Elijah has a very "real" role in one of the three storylines in Sin City, but doesn't show up in the other two except for possibly a brief shot. I've looked through the available "look inside this book" pages at Amazon (one reason I was wondering which story Kevin might be in), but no signs of Kevin in those early pages--just the "hero" and the "victim" (and if you can't imagine how a "comic book" could be erotic... If nothing else, this movie will definitely be interesting).


The lessons of World War II are there for us ALL to learn by...we ignore them at our peril, methinks !!
Absolutely--and the most dangerous attitude of all is "It could never happen here."

Whiteling, your grandmother was certainly a courageous woman. (My grandmother, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Germany in the late 1800's, used a German word on the telephone during WWI, to have the operator break into the conversation and tell her she'd be reported if she did it again.)

And to make this completely on topic (without even stretching):

I don't know how history will be shown in EII, but IMVHO The Witness is extremely powerful and really makes the viewer face, "What would you have done?" Gary Sinese's portrayal of an ordinary German soldier in a concentration camp who tries to come to terms with his own conscience is wrenching--and his acting is so nuanced it bears watching more than once. (Elijah's role is passive and inexpressive--just it should be. IMVHO, it must have taken some pretty good acting from a hyperactive 8/9-year-old.)

Yes, this is what I've heard too...Not only that, but all the message-board Mods who resigned en masse when they got wind of the fact that all was not as it should be, simply re-created the messsage-board at Sean Astin.net, I think, or at least, it is accessible from there..it's still called The Prancing Pony, and most of the regulars still post there...Isn't that fab !!
Wonderful--and what "fandom" is all about. :)

No time to comment on this fascinating discussion (sadly) except to say

THANK YOU, Sheryl, for the birthday cake ! :k

Must now make up for eating it by running 10 miles.
Or not (foot still hurts a bit!)

But Shireling's extremely sexy Elijahpic in the Hugs Haven reminds me of this one, which is, well, not overtly sexy (which enables me to post it here) but has the same hairstyle (so was taken around the same time??) AND (unusually) shows the back of his neck, but of course that has nothing to do with my reasons for posting it here. Nothing whatsoever. It's here because it illustrates the impact Elijah's performances have on filmgoers. Of course.
It's from an article in the UK Marie-Claire mag about what goes on behind the scenes at the Oscars.

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



EDIT: How wonderful that you found your grandmother's diary, Whiteling. Many people in Germany were then and are now of course just as humane and courageous and wise as many people elsewhere. We are one and the same.

OH MY SHIRELING! THAT ONE WAS NOT GOOD
FOR THE HEART!!!JISSES :p :D :eek:

(i just hade to look :rolleyes: ;) )

i just whant to lay my hand around that neck
is there anybody else? lovely pic serena!!!

tg,thanks for explaining that for me!!! :k :k

i was at this site(that we for some reson should not talk
about cant remember my but if i write this bei maybe
you understand anyway)oh my godness i just have to go
away from the computer and take a smoke,my heart almost
jumped out!! this girl patsy hade posted the most gourges pics i
ever seen (just whanted to tell you i anybody is intrested :D )
i think some of you have alredy seen them becuse one or two have been posted
here and in another thred ;)

Hi Wood and all,

Yes, that picture I posted yesterday (the one of Lij holding onto the fence) was one of Patsie's, from the same group that shireling's photo came from. I was going to post that one here myself but thought better of it, so I'm glad shireling put it in the other thread. There are others I personally consider sexier than that one, but that one is definitely up there!

It keeps coming back to me, over and over, how different Lij can look in these photos. You can imagine the photographer saying, "OK now, Elijah, look sad," etc., and these are the result. Quite amazing, really, to contrast that to his unposed pics, which show you the friendly, outgoing, somewhat geeky young guy we know and love.

To keep this on topic -- re: the lack of photos from Sin City. All of this movie was shot against green screen and therefore, was filmed inside a studio. Therefore, unless a photographer/reporter is specifically invited, there's hardly any chance for sneak peeks. Think back to all those Yank/Hooli pics -- they were all taken outside, on the streets of London, where it's much harder to control that sort of thing. We saw none taken inside a studio.


ETA this tidbit from Aint It Cool News:

Remember us reporting on the George Miller animated film HAPPY FEET? The one with the penguin voiced by Elijah Wood? No? Then you should concentrate more. Because Miller wanted to make the film a photorealistic and rather mind-blowing thing, and if his plans pan out, we may be in for something awesome. *If* they pan out. This is what Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Max had to say: "Animal Logic [the SFX house commissioned to bring the project to life] has never done this kind of film before. The company's basically expanded by a factor of ten to do it. It's spent the last 18 months building digital models, sets, pipelines etc. An enormous technical effort. All of this to bring George's vision of completely photo-real CG penguins to life. But in all this activity, all this work, there's been one thing that everyone's overlooked... photo-realistic penguins CAN'T ACT!!! Yes, after all these millions of dollars spent, Animal Logic have discovered that penguins are completely inexpressive creatures. What about all the wonderful character animation that the artists are creating, I hear you ask? Well, dear reader, the entire production is MOTION-CAPTURED! There is no character animation. So what's only now been discovered is that the entire cast of the film are as emotive as garbage cans. The blamestorming has begun, with Animal Logic desperately trying to keep a lid on what is fast becoming a spiralling disaster. Even the studio has no idea how much of a mess this has become." Max goes on to give away the ending, so I'll cut him off there. But this could be a big disaster... HAPPY'S GATE, perhaps? We'll let you know.


Yep, tg, edited to add. But goodness, if this one turns into a fiasco too, what are Elijah's chances of getting good roles in the future? Prospective directors and producers are going to think he's some sort of Typhoid Mary!

Achila :lol: :lol: on that last bit! (And I think I've just figured out what ETA means--edited to add??).

Ditto on the photo shoots--IMHO he's portraying a character in those as much as he is in a movie. Would love to be able to get inside his head on some of them and find out just who the character is.

oh my i dosen`t like that at all! poor elijah!! :(

i just hope the other movies will be big boxoffice movies
so people dosen`t care if this happy feet will be a big flop!
but just to hear elijahs voice mmm :p
you can close your eyes and just listen for ever!! :D :k

Tgshaw,
IMHO he's portraying a character in those as much as he is in a movie. Would love to be able to get inside his head on some of them and find out just who the character is.

Yes...I agree, wouldn't that be fascinating !! Some of the photo-shoots are so varied in their attitudes and poses...he seems to be able to switch emotions at a click of the shutter, very useful for an actor, imo...

I have posted the most AMAZING wallpaper-link for you all to download from the Elijah Hugs Haven, which, following Shireling's excellent example, will be my regular Picture hosting thread....( what it is meant for, as I understand it ? ..am I right ? )

Note for future reference :-
I do, often, find the most excellent photos of Our Lij sometimes, in my meanderings around the Internet, and it seems a shame not to pass them on to you all..well, those of you who want them of course !!! ;) ;) ;)
So, the Hugs Haven would seem to be the right place for them...

From time to time, I may launch into a critique of his latest fashion-victim look, when he decides to shave his hair off again, or pierces his face in some way...( Only a matter of time, :rolleyes: ... although, that may be a no-no when it comes to his acting career, methinks...)
This is my area of expertise, so I will use the excuse of being critical in my professional capacity as a fully paid-up member of the Fashion Police !!!

Or alternatively, I may rave about his latest gorgeous Indie-designer/vintage 2nd hand suit, which is a look that suits him extremely well, being very individual, very sexy, and has the added advantage of being a cheap option...not that he has to worry about such fiscal matters, of course...

So keep your eyes on the Hugs Haven....in fact, go there now !!!

Serena, you posted an absolutely adorable pic! Thank you! I do hope, the girl who got his autograph hadn't a too long suffering from stomachache :D .

How wonderful that you found your grandmother's diary, Whiteling.

Oh yes, that is wonderful, indeed. It is my Red Book. :)
I'd say (together with Tg), long live our Grandmothers! :)
The Witness has never been released here. Must look for it on the Net.


The possible Happy Feet disaster - one could get the feeling Elijah should keep his hands off animated movies :eek: :p


Lady Wendy, I'm willing to hug your picture discoveries in the Haven any time! ;)

On no! A Happy Feet fiasco!

Well it certainly seems that the problem is not with Elijah's voice acting but with the penguins and the animation. Darn penguins!

Still this is the director who did Babe and I hope he can somehow work out these problems so we can hear Elijah. With all the amazing things they can do with digital animation surely someone can figure something out. Maybe they should call in the WETA team since it seems they can animate anything.

As for the posed photos Elijah does..I've often wondered WHO he is portraying in them, too. He is clearly acting in so many of them.

Hullo Dear Ladies!

I'm posting from the fantastic new down town Library in Seattle. Haven't had time to read all the posts. And I certainly haven't really had time to examine all the LOVELY new pictures, as I'm not sure I want a herd of perfect strangers see the expressions of delight on my face.

Speaking of delight, I'm fresh from the Howard Shore concert, having wept my silly eyes puffy!

And I can't tell you how wonderful it was to pull out my copy of Angeleno to show to Alyon and seeing her expression of delight! I've never had anyone to share it with before! That the magazine chose that exact moment, in a room
full of Harem ladies, to fall apart at a certain photo spread was slightly humilating. But, ah well, the price I pay for my little obsession! :o :)

Watched "The War" and "chain of Fools" with Alyon yesterday which was a nother joy!

Hugs,
Honey!

Shireling, a brief and very late reply to your explanation about your letter to Elijah (sorry!). It would be so nice to think EW might attend the Fellowship Festival, but you're right that it looks unlikely - the change of date and venue didn't help, I'm sure. Still, if you go, I hope you have a wonderful time there, whoever the guests turn out to be!

Achila,
From "Ain't It Cool News"..."But in all this activity, all this work, there's been one thing that everyone's overlooked... photo-realistic penguins CAN'T ACT!!! Yes, after all these millions of dollars spent, Animal Logic have discovered that penguins are completely inexpressive creatures."

Well....D'uh !!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
When was the last time YOU saw a penguin smiling, crying, laughing, looking puzzled, flummoxed, or filled with hate ???

To my mind, it doesn't take an iota of common sense to realise straightaway, that motion-captured penguins, done in a CGI, but photo-realistic way, may be cheaper and easier than getting real penguins to do what you want them to do...but, just like the real thing, they have NO expressive capability...

( I dunno...where are the " Finding Nemo" people when you want them ??!!!...)

'Tis a shame, because this could have been one of those fantastic animated features that take everyone by storm, and sweep all before it at the Oscars...still, there's time yet for it to recover itself... :z: :z: :z:

Honeyelf,
I had to LOL at your Angeleno magazine committing suicide on the carpet just as you were showing it to fellow-Haremites...Tres amusant !!!
Glad you are all able to meet up in Seattle, and the Howard Shore Concert will be coming back to London in the Autumn, I've heard...so I will probably get together with some other London-Haremites to go and see...and hear !!!

Lady Wendy, do keep us informed of the possible HS concert in the autumn. London's not quite as far away as Seattle, so who knows what might be possible...? :)


Sorry to hear about "Happy Feet" being a possible fiasco - sounds weird if noone thought of the general un-emotiveness (is that a word?) of RL penguins. I hope they'll be able to sort it out. I'm not sure though how much the "Fiasco", if any, will reflect back on EJW. Remember, in many parts of the world he won't even be in the film at all - this being a film that children who can't read subtitles will go to see, it will be dubbed. Even over here.

Can anyone shed some more light on how "Voice acting" is considered these days, as opposed to on-screen acting? I know that many of the big stars do it now, and get much press and reviews doing it. But until recently, wasn't it considered somewhat, somehow "less" than "acting"?


(((Whiteling))) :k - I pretty much think I was voicing no more than the opinions of nearly every Norwegian in what I wrote, certainly including both my grandmothers', who experienced the 5 years of occupation, and have told me quite a lot about it; - not all of it pleasant, as you can imagine.

Now... I took the AICN report on Happy Feet as a joke... :confused: or at least a huge exaggeration... No? I mean...

--we are talking AICN here.
--as Maeg said, it's kind of a "duh" issue. (Although penguins' overall movements can be awfully cute, and they do blink and tilt their heads and all that stuff, they do have beaks instead of mouths--but if they could make a pig talk in Babe...)
---if they've been using motion capture, that doesn't rule out animation, otherwise Gollum would look just like Andy Serkis. CGI is CGI: motion capture is just one way to get the 1's and 0's into the computer--right? If they are having problems, maybe they should ask Weta for help. But this is a Pixar movie, for Pete's sake; they should be able to handle it.

I'm not ready to get too worried about this yet. I may be wrong--but I hope not :( .

One thing I do take at AICN without a huge grain of salt is their interviews--and they have a brand new one with Robert Rodriguez, just posted since last night. Lots of news on Sin City, although there's no specific mention of Elijah. Shooting is definitely finished. There will be a panel on the movie at ComicCon, including the showing of film clips. (I don't know when ComicCon is--anyone?) Nudity, graphic violence--yep, if nothing else this movie will be interesting. [Can you tell I've been reading AICN for the last hour?? :rolleyes: Ahem! Pardon me while I get my real voice back *cough*]

For anyone who might wonder, Aint It Cool News is unlinkable because the language gets pretty colorful, but the URL isn't hard to come up with.

--Maeg, it seems voice acting is looked at as something "fun" the big-name stars do in-between "real" acting jobs. So I don't think the work itself is considered as important as live action acting, but you don't lose your "big-name" status by doing it.

----------
(((ylla))) -- Hope all is going well with "The Return of the Husband" :) .

(((Honey))) and everyone else meeting in Seattle. Glad you're having such a great time!
---------

OTOH, I did not have a good day yesterday. Besides getting lost on the way to a funeral, and other fun adventures, I spent six hours on a computer rescue. I was trying to install a silly little software program from a CD (you know, the kind you buy for a few bucks, that's supposed to give you lots of graphics and desktop publishing goodies), but instead of installing it knocked out my CD and DVD drives--I don't know how something in the CD drive could knock out both of them, but it managed. Of course, upon going to the "support" URL listed on the package, I found the product has been replaced by another program that costs (literally) ten times as much, so the one I had was no longer supported.

It took three system restores and six "Windows Update" downloads, but I seem to have everything back now. One of the updates I was instructed to download, BTW, turned my modem into a joystick port--no, I don't know how it did that, either--which meant I couldn't go online, which is bad because that's where almost all the support is these days (got rid of that update through a system restore, thank goodness).

The only good things to come from the experience were getting some housecleaning done (since the downloads took up to a half-hour, I had to find something to do that didn't involve the computer), and something of a sense of accomplishment--and relief!--that I was able to take care of it myself. I also learned to take system restore more seriously; I would have had a much simpler time of it if I'd set a restore point just before I tried to install the software :rolleyes: (the computer would have set one automatically if a new program had been installed, but since the program didn't install :rolleyes: ).

But it was frightening to lose those drives! I mean, take my car, take the shirt off my back and the roof from over my head, but FES don't take away my DVD drive :eek: !!

Tgshaw,
I'm sorry to hear about your computer woes...how hateful !!
Luckily for me, The One Husband knows far more about our little computer and laptop set-up than I will ever hope to, and so when ever something goes wrong, it's down to him, I'm afraid...

Maeglian,
As soon as I find out about this HS concert, I'll PM you...would be lovely of you could come too!!
( Look forward to meeting you next weekend, BTW !! I'll be there on Friday night, even though I'm not staying at the hotel...)

Now then..
Here's a little something they had up at A & F today...
Alexandra meets Elijah in Prague (http://always.ejwsites.net/alexandra.html)

Also at A & F are these Czech magazine scans....but the trouble is, it's all in Czech, ( obviously :rolleyes: !! ) and I'd love to be able to read the captions to the pics...
Can anyone here have a go at translating them ?

Mag scan 1 (http://always.ejwfiles.net/images2/Spy_a.jpg)

Mag scan 2 (http://always.ejwfiles.net/images2/Spy_b.jpg)

Pretty please ... :z: :z: :z:

PS :If you can't see these links...it'll be because A & F is hosted by Angelfire.com, who don't really like hot-linking...the articles are both posted on today's page, if that's the case...

Tgshaw,
Luckily for me, The One Husband knows far more about our little computer and laptop set-up than I will ever hope to, and so when ever something goes wrong, it's down to him, I'm afraid...
Yep, sometimes it's #%*&#*! being single. OTOH, I know every trick in the book for getting lids off jars.

That's a sweet story from Alexandra (and her English lapses just add to the charm :) ). Thanks for the link. (And, yes, I got a "Forbidden" message on the links to the scans.)

I finally picked up EII-the-book today, but haven't started reading it yet. I wonder if there's any psychological significance to whether you buy one with the BRIGHT pink cover or the BRIGHT blue cover :p .

tg, I can empathize. I've spent the whole day attacking Trojan horses which have descended upon my poor little computer like a pack of wild...Trojan horses. After uninstalling and reinstalling virus detection software and buying myself a fire wall, I think I'm finally back in business.

Anyway -- here's something new from Dougie Brimson's website re: Hooligans

I recently mentioned some of the fears being expressed about The Yank and the impact it might have on 'soccer' in the US. Whilst it was a subject I had hoped to avoid for a while, it seems that the debate has moved on further and faster than I thought. Indeed, it recently received a long airing on a Fox Sports network show hosted by two ex-pats, Nick Webster and Steve Cohen. Sadly, I didn't actually hear what was said but from all accounts it made for excellent listening and more importantly, both my books and the movie featured prominently which is never a bad thing! However, I am delighted to report that having exchanged mails with both hosts this last week I have been invited to appear as a guest as soon as it can be arranged.

Further details on the show, which I hear is rapidly becoming compulsive
listening for football fans in the US, can be found at BigSoccer.com. You can
even listen live if you fancy it.

On the subject of The Yank, it seems that despite my best efforts the
fascination with the behind the scenes shenanigans shows no signs of abating. If anything it's actually increasing given that a number of former cast and crew members are beginning to vent their own frustrations and opinions more publicly. To be fair, that is their right and I have no doubt that some of them have good reason to be pissed off but in my experience such actions can only lead to trouble especially when the film is already being dogged by all kinds of unsavoury rumours.

I have no intention of repeating any of those here and will certainly not
confirm, deny or add to any of them. What I will say however is that for my part this movie was a very steep learning curve -both professionally and personally-and whilst there is a lot that could and maybe should be said about some of the things that went on, there is a time and a place and now isn't it. Primarily because any more negative publicity at this early stage could well damage the chances of the public ever being able to see The Yank on the big screen. And whatever the rights and wrongs of what went on, I can't think of too many people who would be happy with that.

(BTW, I am only too well aware that this is all sounding increasingly like a
plot outline for a sequel to the movie Big Fat Liar! Sadly, it isn't).



ETA: Forgot to mention that the same person who's been reporting the gossip on the Hooligans set now has said that Lexi Alexander made some anti-Semitic remarks. This earned her the name "the Nazi" from some. Firstly, I find it hard to believe that IF the set was this hostile, no one called their agent or SAG union rep and complained. Secondly, a slur like that doesn't have to come in the wake of inappropriate remarks. This could've been their name for her without that. And lastly, I wonder if all of this simply stems from the fact that she was tough and took no quarter from anyone and the men just didn't like being bossed around by a woman.

Okay, there's really no such thing as being able to catch up with the Faculty every few days. You're all posting so much info and so many glorious pics at such a breakneck pace ... great joy! But I hope everyone understands when I don't reply specifically on points and can say only a blanket thank you to everyone, and give everyone a big group hug. :k

((((Faculty))))

Hope the Seattle folks had fun. :)

ylla, glad to see you popping in, and especially relieved to know things are looking better. :k

A hug for ((whiteling)) too.



But it was frightening to lose those drives! I mean, take my car, take the shirt off my back and the roof from over my head, but FES don't take away my DVD drive :eek: !!

((tg)) But your DVD drive is safe now. There there. :) I still have that wonky monitor of mine to deal with at home, and last week I had computer issues at work too, so the bane of not having access to technology whenever I want it is definitely weighing heavily on me lately. :p

Sheryl, THANK YOU! Whoa. Now that is a horsey cake. :D

AICN's news about Happy Feet taken at face value may not mean anything yet ... but I don't like this notion that there might be a build-up of apathy against the film. On-line movie sites are capable of killing movies before they even reach anywhere near premiere time - Catwoman, anyone? Garfield? :rolleyes: I don't want that kinda thing happening to them cute little penguins! :(

But I'm not sure what emotiveness has to do with anything. Always thought the primary thing about any animal movie is that you capture them in the best photographable moments, after setting up the right situations for them to react to. Whoever heard of screen-by-screen analysis of Lassie emoting anyway? :p And National Geographic has done what must be hundreds of documentaries about everything from sloths to bears to sea turtles that just tug at your heartstrings ... why, I was watching an hour-long documentary on sloths on Saturday and I was close to tears when one little fellow drowned in raging flood waters. Then it turned out that she had survived after all, and I was grinning like an idiot at the sight of a water-logged sloth clinging weakly to the branch she'd held on to for dear life. Guess what her researchers had named her? 'Lucky'. :D

Hi, our RingCon staff in Seattle is raising money for our RingCon--Lord of the Rings--convention in October by selling various things, including bumperstickers. A very talented gal in our Northwesternesse group graciously made some stickers available for the folks that came to Seattle this past weekend...they were very popular

I have 23 extra and would like to offer them out to anyone who would like one. They are $4.00 plus $.60 shipping in the US (not sure about other parts of the country...I'd have to check.

I am attaching a list and number of available bumperstickers here. If you see one you are interested in, I will scan you a pic of it (a couple of them have some variations) but the scanned stickers would probably be too big to attach here.

If you are interested, please PM me, if possible within the next week with your email so I can send the scanned pic to you.

And if you know any folks that came to Seattle and got some you might want to look at theirs for an even better idea. If there is a demand for more than what I have available here, I can see if the creator of these can make more, but she'd rather I try to sell these extras first.

Thanks!

Ev

(((Faculty)))

I have a lot to catch up on since I've been with the Hoot in the last few days. Just wanted to stop in and say hi. I had Honey over and we were able to check out all those lovely pics posted a few days ago and do a little sighing together. Gorgeous stuff. We also watched The War and Chain of Fools, which she so kindly brought with her. I expected to enjoy CoFs (which I did)--but I hadn't given much thought to The War before. I found Elijah just stunning in that movie. What a fantastic performance!!! Such a believable and unique portrayal that never faltered all the way through. I thank Honey a million times for bringing it. Not only did she bring it, she very generously GAVE her copy to my daughter who wasn't with us when we viewed it. (probably a good thing--with just Honey and I there we had no inhibitions sharing knowing looks and being fairly gushy). Honey is quite the sterling woman. Thanks, Honey!! It was so nice to finally meet and spend time with you!!

Oh yes--the Howard Shore concert was fantastic!! And yes, I cried.

I also was so very pleased to meet two other Faculty members--Peaceweaver and Goldenberrry. Both so interesting and kind. A real highlight for me. You women are great. Plus of course, Mariole, who I mentioned before...who I wish I got to talk more to we never had our discussion about memory!! maybe next time?

Now I have to go back and catch up on my reading. I love coming back here and finding so many interesting discussions!!

Thank you all!!

alyon

I don't know if we are marking spoilers for EiI so I'll just say....

EiI SPOILERS...


I've been reading the book which is a wonderful, funny and heartbreaking story. Perfect for Elijah. Well I got up to the chapter where he finds all that's left of Trachimbrod. Oh my!!!! He is going to be brilliant. This part is so overwhelmingly emotional, SAD and very powerful. I cannot wait to see how well Elijah performs these wrenching scenes.

Can you say Oscar? This movie has everything the academy goes for. Socially relevant, important story beautifully written and certainly well-acted. And Elijah gets to play such a wide gamut of emotions from bewildered visitor in a strange land, comedic love object of the overly affectionate dog Sammy Davis Junior Junior, hungry vegetarian in a meat eating country with bad coffee, but ultimately a young person in search of his lost heritage and the people he came from. Throughout the story you see more and more how intensely Jonathan feels about finding his past. It means everything to him and when he finds out what happened to the charming people of Trachimbrod it is positively devastating.

I cannot wait to see this!

I am not envious of the Seattle hooters and concert-goers. Nope. Not at all. The colour of this text is mere coincidence.

That out of the way :D, let me say that I do find it difficult to take all this seeming negativity about Lexi Alexander at pure face value. It sounds suspiciously like the kind of nick-names and put-downs that are used when a woman is strongwilled and direct and tough in her decision-making. Whatever the truth of it, I hope the film will turn out OK in the end. Wasn't there a lot of quarreling behind the scenes at the Bumblebee set also?

On-line movie sites are capable of killing movies before they even reach anywhere near premiere time - Catwoman, anyone? Heh-heh. I don't follow many online movie sites, really - I had great fun recently reading the reviews of "King Arthur" at RottenTomatoes.com, though. I must be quite frank and say that I don't really mind that films bomb when they outfit their female leads in costumes signalling nothing except defiance of logic and utter desperation to pull the teenage boy segment into the cinemas. Catwoman would be a prime example. Halle Berry must have had a hard time believing her eyes when she first saw that outfit. And the current Guenevere is another. Yuck! But since Hooligans pics haven't sported any scantily-clad hooligan babes showing off minimal-attire-kickboxing-skills just yet, I certainly do hope "word of mouth" will turn more positive for the film. Perhaps it's good that all these rumours get out now, if only they'd abate soon - the film should then have time to "recuperate" and turn focus onto its story and actors before it hit cinemas. :)


If I had lived in the US I would have found the "Frodo/Sam -04" bumpersticker hard to resist! :)


Lady Wendy, I'm looking very much forward to the weekend and to meeting you and everyone! Only hope I'll manage to be there before it's too late on the Friday evening. :)

IMHO he's portraying a character in those as much as he is in a movie. Would love to be able to get inside his head on some of them and find out just who the character is. Cupcake and mouse comes to mind. I'd *LOVE* to know what was going on with that one. ;) Has anyone ever asked him?


Or alternatively, I may rave about his latest gorgeous Indie-designer/vintage 2nd hand suit, Where? Where? Is there another one besides the green velvet one? :::: spraining neck looking around ::::

~grumpy (re: Haven: I think I'll wait till I get home before perusing those pics)(Won't do at work, y'know)

Alyon,
I found Elijah just stunning in that movie. What a fantastic performance!!! Such a believable and unique portrayal that never faltered all the way through.

Yes, yes !!..for a 13 year-old, I thought that he turned in the most extraordinarily emotionally charged performance...absolutely stunning for such a young actor....just about the only performance of his that almost made me actually cry !!! ( That's some achievement, I can tell you ) Loved it !!!

Not only did she bring it, she very generously GAVE her copy to my daughter who wasn't with us when we viewed it.

Awww..Honey !!! - How sweet ...Knew you were an intrinsically nice person...

Hobmom,
I can see that I'm just going to have to get The One Husband to obtain a copy of EII to read...sounds just like my kind of book !!
( Of course, the fact that Elijah is playing the lead role isn't anything to do with it... :rolleyes: )

Zkgrumpy,
Where? Where? Is there another one besides the green velvet one? :::: spraining neck looking around ::::

Oh, he's worn several different ones...the most memorable being the green velvet suit, I guess... the other significant one that comes to mind is the tweed 3-piece suit he wore to the Wellington Premiere of ROTK...that is so clearly a vintage suit, and he wears it so well...another was the dark burgundy suit he wore recently on the ROTK junket circuit...can't remember too well , if I find the pics, I'll post them in the Hugs Haven..my new Picture-spam place of residence...

Almost everything he's worn lately is vintage. The charcoal pin striped suite from the LA ROTK premiere, The (sainted) One Tan Jacket, the leather jacket with the lady's face on the back (Beth Franks -- she reclaims old leather garments and paints them -- very cool), the very worn looking brown bomber jacket, the velvet jackets (midnight blue and royal purple), etc. I like to think of it as recycling. Look -- our lad is environmentally minded too!!!! Add that to his list of wonderful attributes.

Whatever the truth of it, I hope the film will turn out OK in the end. Wasn't there a lot of quarreling behind the scenes at the Bumblebee set also?
That's my understanding--between the director and the producers, IIRC. All I've read is a short statement that the conflict happened; I've never seen any details. Interesting, though, that I've never heard/seen any comments from anyone about the filming of Bumblebee, which is rather unusual among Elijah's movies. Maybe the silence shouldn't make me more suspicious of problems--but it does :o .

Bumblebee might possibly have been a better movie without the disagreement, as my guess is that it led to some of the annoying little inconsistencies--but that is a guess. I'm just glad that whoever it was that wanted to steer the movie into more positive waters than the book won out.

The only conflict that concerns me about Hooligans is that between Dougie and the director (I assume it was with her, although Dougie still refuses to say). Dougie doesn't seem to have distanced himself from the movie, though; I hope that means he's not totally unhappy with it.

...I must be quite frank and say that I don't really mind that films bomb when they outfit their female leads in costumes signalling nothing except defiance of logic and utter desperation to pull the teenage boy segment into the cinemas.
:rolleyes: The way some fantasy artists like to clothe their "warrior babes," my first thought on seeing one is, "...and she's supposed to fight in that? :confused: :rolleyes:

If I had lived in the US I would have found the "Frodo/Sam -04" bumpersticker hard to resist!
Have you visited Hobbits for President (http://www.frodoandsam04.com/page/page/984743.htm)? I've lobbied them for buttons (as not everyone has a bumper ;) ), but they don't think they're "popular enough" to be able to sell those, too. Maybe if enough people ask :z: .

-----------

On photo-realistic penguins :) :

Be warned--I love penguins. Proceed at your own risk ;) .

Omaha has a top-flight zoo, better than those in most larger cities (I've been told that by visitors from larger cities ;) ). One thing it's very "big" on is having animals in their natural habitats--besides making the animals more comfortable (I imagine), that also lets visitors watch more natural behavior than if the animals were in cages.

One of the habitats/displays the zoo is especially proud of is the one that houses the penguins. There's a variety of different kinds and sizes of them, from the adorable little rock hoppers (yes, they really do :) ) to the much larger and more sedate emperor penguins. My sisters and I have stood just watching the penguins for a solid hour--and I think we could have watched them all day if we hadn't wanted to see some other things.

Even if their faces aren't terribly "expressive" in the way we usually think of the term, their other actions seem to make up for that (they have to communicate somehow, after all). They're fascinating, fun and adorable, and show individual personalities. Now that we've heard the people making the movie are going the "photo-realistic" route, I'm very curious as to which type of penguin they've decided to use as their model--they're so different from each other. Let me tell you, if they're using rock hoppers, I'll be smiling for days after seeing the movie :) . I doubt if they are... *sigh* ...as the little guys aren't what most people would think of when hearing the word "penguin". But any type that's chosen will have its own attraction. Penguins acting like penguins don't have to be boring.

I'm suddenly having a great urge to go to the zoo :p !

Anybody who thinks it's impossible to let Penguins act and show emotions should have a look at Pingu.
Does anybody here know that tv show for kids 'Pingu'?
The style is very similar to Wallace and Grommit (sp?). It's mostly aimed at toddlers, I think.
It's about penguins and nothing but penguins and it's incredibly popular with the kids here. It's very cute.

yes,moondancer
i have seen that tv show
its going on tv here in sweden too its a kids program
but i have too say i think he is pretty cute!! :)

Tg, seriously, if those bumperstickers weren't available to US addresses only, I'd probably have bought the red, white, blue and gold one. And I *have* a bumper. It's too adorable. The sticker, that is. :D


I'm beginning to see that movies in production generally can't avoid some rumour-mongering and negativity concerning poor quality in one aspect or the other and production difficulties. So Happy Feet and Hooligans are no exceptions. Probably it should just be taken in stride since "All PR is good PR"..... Negativity certainly seems to be there for the recent EJW films (although not really focusing on him directly as far as I can see), except for Try 17, where certain goings-on at an ice hockey match gave the magazines and film gossip columns something more interesting to focus on. :rolleyes: I didn't follow the LotR publicity and gossip before FotR was released, but I've read enough afterwards to be aware that despite AICN's continuous raving praise it wasn't *all* sunshine and jubilation. What about that rumour that in order for the films to be more PC, Sam would be replaced with a woman named Samantha? There were people who believed that back in those days, as far as I've heard later on; - and were really agitated. Replacing Townsend with Mortensen after shooting had started must have made for a lot of speculations about back-stage quarreling and production difficulties, too. (It must have been *really* weird for Stuart Townsend to be present at the most recent Oscars, btw - watching RotK being showered with golden statues...)

Replacing Townsend with Mortensen after shooting had started must have made for a lot of speculations about back-stage quarreling and production difficulties, too. (It must have been *really* weird for Stuart Townsend to be present at the most recent Oscars, btw - watching RotK being showered with golden statues...)

I often thought of that. Poor Stuart -- not only did the film he got dumped from -- either amicably or otherwise -- walk away with all the gold the Academy could throw at it that night -- but his girlfriend won Best Actress and talked about him as if he were her pet. Some guys have all the luck!

Here are some penguin pics. I think they are adorable creatures and they DO have some range of expression.

http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Life/EmperorChick.jpg
http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Life/Emperors.jpg
http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Life/AggressiveAdelie.jpg
http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Life/Creche.jpg
http://www.gdargaud.net/Antarctica/Life/FeedChick.jpg

So what's the problem with the Happy Feet folks? Maybe they just need a creative team with a bit more imagination?

Wasn't there a lot of quarreling behind the scenes at the Bumblebee set also?

A long time ago I found an article Martin Duffy had written in an Irish Film magazine about his experience with STG, the production company on Bumblebee; he certainly wasn't pleased with them or the process. But I just found that he now has his own website, and has put up this short article that he wrote earlier, in 1998, during the Bumblebee shoot. He talks about his process as a director, the shooting locations, many on the crew and the actors. He has very nice things to say about EJW (who doesn't??)

http://www.duffyberlin.com/bumblebee.html

Saith Mr Duffy: "Shortly after my arrival I went to Los Angeles for a few days of auditions and to meet Elijah. Fortunately, he and I got along really well from the start (we met for lunch and wound up chatting for five hours) and there was the added bonus that Elijah, having recently made the TV film "Oliver Twist' in Dublin, was a major fan of Ireland and all things Irish...I was blessed to be working with Elijah because he has the ability to deliver all one could want and more without having to agonise over the work."

(I'm a lurker here, because I so very seldom have anything to add to the conversation, glad I can share a tidbit that I found interesting!)

chattegrise

(I'm a lurker here, because I so very seldom have anything to add to the conversation, glad I can share a tidbit that I found interesting!)
Much more than a tidbit! Thanks so much! :k (BTW, it took me several tries and some hits on the refresh button to get the page to open, so if anyone has trouble with it, don't give up. :) )

I don't suppose we could tease anything more out of your memory about that magazine article :z: ? In the writeup you linked to, it sounds as if Mr. Duffy felt caught between TSG and the "Hollywood minded" producer, and that he much preferred TSG's way of approaching things. But later he ended up unhappy with them? Wonder if it involved post-production in some way? In the earlier article he also said it was a "happy shoot." But in the earlier one it does sound as if he's trying not to say anything negative, so possibly he was holding back on some things. That would be understandable, since the movie wasn't even finished yet at the time he wrote it.

My biggest curiosity remains not the "conflict" itself, but the who/when/how of the decision to change the movie so dramatically from the book--whether that was the idea from the beginning, or if it came later. IMVHO, the movie picked up on a single line from the book and developed it into a whole different direction for the story, which I think is terribly interesting--and I wonder whose idea it was. (And those little incongruent "leftovers" that have context in the book but not in the movie are intriguing along that line.)

---------

If Elijah wasn't an actor, IMO he could have had a great career as an international diplomat. He's able to say how wonderful every country is that he's worked in, while always sounding completely honest--which he probably is, given his openness to new experiences, places, and people. :)

...and I bet he loved "speeding a red convertible down a hill" even more with someone "hanging out of the passenger side." :p

I am enjoying catching up on the new Elwood pics, while experiencing some angst over the controversy and troubles that seem to be dogging his two most recent films (Happy Feet and Hooligans/The Yank). As for the non-expressive penguin issue, I'm with tgshaw--penguins are absolutely adorable, especially rockhoppers! :)

Does anyone know of a short cartoon called For the Birds? It played before some cartoon feature (maybe Monsters, Inc) and won an Oscar. It is hilarious and very, very cute, and it achieves this totally through movement and sound--not facial expressions. In the hands of people who are creative, the relative lack of penguin facial emotion will not be a drawback. :rolleyes:

Had a wonderful time meeting Faculty members Honeyelf, Alyon and Mariole in Seattle. Honeyelf generously chauffeured me and peaceweaver around Seattle. She led us to the troll under the bridge in Fremont :D and fearlessly found her way through Seattle's winding streets. She, peaceweaver and I had a delicious dinner and good conversation together on Sunday night. I wish all of you could have been there!

Much more than a tidbit! Thanks so much! :k (BTW, it took me several tries and some hits on the refresh button to get the page to open, so if anyone has trouble with it, don't give up. :) )


Yep -- not an easy site to get to open. But having grown up and lived much of my life in Brooklyn, it was an absolute revelation to learn that Bumblebee was filmed at Creedmore, in Queens. That was one of those names you tossed around as a childish insult without really knowing or understanding what it meant or where it was ("You belong in Creedmore", etc....) Wow. I had also thought that some of the scenery looked like the Hudson, so finding out it was The College at Mount Saint Vincent wasn't quite as surprising. What a cool little journey into the past - - thanks, guys!

BTW, concerning EII -- a very strange photograph appeared today (which I have attached) -- Jonathan (?) dressed in a bad 70's prom tux, with Adolf Hitler? Gee -- is THAT in the book???

hi everyone!!

i cant remember anything about that in the book!!
i wonder were that one come from??

cute pics of the penguin!!

i cant open that site at all i have been trying alot of times
i guess i have to keep trying!! ;)

from Achila:
Gee -- is THAT in the book???

In a word, no. Here, it seems, is another screenplay that's a million miles from the book whose name (and author!) it borrows. An account from a friend who did manage to be an extra for a day (lucky girl! :)) confirms this: the scene she was in was not exactly in the book either, although I think it may be linked with the Hitler one in the pic Achila posted - as far as I know they both depict Alex's fantasies of Jonathan and his homeland, i.e. the US. At least bookAlex does have wildly off-beam ideas about America, and he and his grandfather refer to Jonathan as "the Jew" at the start - so the Hitler pic may be another Alex fantasy. Just guessing.
[Achila - will PM you!]

So I really, really hope your ideal scenario comes true, Hobmom:

I've been reading the book which is a wonderful, funny and heartbreaking story. Perfect for Elijah. Well I got up to the chapter where he finds all that's left of Trachimbrod. Oh my!!!! He is going to be brilliant. This part is so overwhelmingly emotional, SAD and very powerful. I cannot wait to see how well Elijah performs these wrenching scenes.

Can you say Oscar? This movie has everything the academy goes for. Socially relevant, important story beautifully written and certainly well-acted. .......

Other comments from my "extra" contact and from Allie of the EII yahoogroup seem to suggest that, for Elijah, shooting this movie is a bit like climbing Mount Doom. For reasons I can't quite fathom, he is being worked extremely hard. So, if anyone feels like sending our lad some positive thoughts/vibes/whatever, please do :)


from Chattegrise:
Saith Mr Duffy: ... I was blessed to be working with Elijah because he has the ability to deliver all one could want and more without having to agonise over the work."

Welcome, Chattegrise! Great name. Lovely to hear yet more confirmation of EW’s acting talent. As Tg says, here’s another example of a film dramatically different from the book, though I can't even hazard a guess as to why because I haven't read Bumblebee (unlike EII).
Tg, so sorry to hear about your computer woes! Hope the DVD drive is feeling better :)

ylla, I still haven’t said how delighted I was to hear The One Husband came home! Hope you are both (all) doing well. Thoughts still with you.

Honey, alyon, peaceweaver, goldenberry, mariole – how fantastic that you were able to meet! Howard Shore’s music breathes life into those movies – am not surprised you cried, alyon :)

Whiteling …. If you’re reading this, could you please PM me your email address? Danke! ;)

*waves to Achila*

Another Brooklynite here, born and bred! :) I live in the 'burbs now, though.

Thanks to all for keeping us up to date and for all the great recent pictures!

Hello again, colleagues!

Am also returned from a wonderful weekend with fellow KDers from the Harem, the Mob, the Playgroup and the Faculty. :k I had forgotten how nice a town Seattle is. And Queenie arranged such nice weather for us! Howard Shore's music is worth a trip anytime, but to be able to get together with such a lively group of Tolkienites, too, was truly special.

I missed you all, so have had to spend some time trying to catch up. I refuse to believe the rumors about Happy Feet. On principle. How can anyone criticize acting done by animated characters? And doesn't Pixar know a thing or two about giving personality to unpersonable things? (Remember their signature image is a very personable table lamp!)

I am, however, beginning to worry about EII. Achila that picture scares the living daylights out of me. Even if it comes from a fantasy sequence from Alex's POV, where does that leave Jonathan? You mean he *isn't* the main character? ARRRGGHHH! And the rumors of Elwood being worked too hard worry me. Liev Schreiber may be striving for "perfection" and so requiring innumerable takes of each scene. Is this a sign of a rookie director? (I know that Peter Jackson did the same thing, and he was no rookie) Or is LS somehow not getting what he wants in the film? Now I'll be up nights worrying...

And those other new photos? My. Oh. My.

Hmm.... Wow! What a picture. It looks like Jonathan is stepping out in the middle of Mel Brooks' film and later musical "The Producers", and its play "Springtime for Hitler" which was supposed to fail and didn't; - doesn't the picture look like they're up on a theatre stage? And the "Hitler" guy is too good-looking and tall to be meant to be a genuine look-alike.....
I still don't know where this would fit into the film, though, - probably still a fantasy sequence of Aleks's? OTOH, if they've not retained any of the 1700's storyline of old Trachimbrod, perhaps the character of Jonathan has been re-vamped to encompass some of the traits of the character of Safran - maybe he's the one making up this entire sequence for some reason out of an over-active and overflowing imagination, perhaps in order to entertain Aleks, or to enlighten him as to the wide-encompassing themes of Broadway shows?

Still don't know what to think of the weird costumes of Elijah's though. And I do hope the "Being overworked" isn't as bad as it sounds! :(

(I haven't read EII out yet, so I really should refrain from guesswork!) :o


Chattegrise, good to see you delurk here again, and thank you for the very interesting information and links. :)

Oh dear...I seem to come in and drop bombs, don't I? Didn't mean to scare the taters off everyone with that pic, although it sure is a corker. But I have to trust Elijah when he said EII was a "beautiful, beautiful story", since he's going by the script. Of course, I know that a beautiful script does not always mean a beautiful film -- we'll just have to keep our fingers (and toes) crossed and see.

In other news, I thought I'd share this picture with you -- it's from The Cranberries video, Ridiculous Thoughts, which I bought yesterday on DVD. He's only 14 here and so so beautiful. I have a couple of other pics on my lj, if anyone is interested (aquila0212).

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/ridiculous_thoughts_4.jpg

Serena-
Other comments from my "extra" contact and from Allie of the EII yahoogroup seem to suggest that, for Elijah, shooting this movie is a bit like climbing Mount Doom. For reasons I can't quite fathom, he is being worked extremely hard. So, if anyone feels like sending our lad some positive thoughts/vibes/whatever, please do

Well that means he'll be in most of the scenes then? We can only hope. But poor Elijah.

Never fear I am always ready to send encouragment his way. I do have that little LJ community Elijahsletters where we can send him positive messages that he MAY read. His management is aware of the site so who knows? And it can't hurt to send him some good thoughts that way. It sounds like he is getting very tired, from what Allie said in her report.

As for that Hitler and Jonathan or Safran pic....?????? I don't know what that is either. But we have to realize this is a very difficult book to translate to film and there will have to be changes made to make it suitable for the screen. We went through a lot of worries when PJ was making changes to LOTR and everything, for the most part, came out quite well. Even though Liev is a first-time director he seems very dedicated to filming this right so hopefully any changes will be for the sake of making a good film even though they may be simplified ways of conveying ideas in the book.

About that Nazi guy/Jonathan Safran picture.

I have seen a couple of people in LJ-land panic a bit about this and I don't really understand why.

I don't think we should make too much of this. This is only one picture and it doesn't really say much about the why and how of this. We have no idea how Liev is going to use this.
We don't even know if it's going to make the final edit and we have no real idea about the script and the way they want to film the book. A couple of pictures on the internet just isn't enough information about the film.

The same goes for The Yank/Hooligans as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to wait with my judgement until I see the final product. Bits of gossip, rumours and just bits of information is just not enough for me to have an idea of what's going on and how it will have an impact on the final movie.

Just my opinion of course.
:)

hobmom,achila!! sorry for stupid questiens again but what is lj
i realy don`t understand is it a homepage or what? :(

Fortunately, he and I got along really well from the start (we met for lunch and wound up chatting for five hours) ... he has the ability to deliver all one could want and more without having to agonise over the work."

Yaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnn...
:::: blink blink ::::

A director fell in love with Elijah Wood.
The director praised EW's work effusively.

Ho hum. Just another day in Elijah Wood's life.

;) ;) ;)

(Thanks, chattegrise! Just kidding, of course. Neat article!)

Who is it with the One Expression page? Honey? Hobmom? I don't know if you have these, but there are two expressions in the scene where Frodo is frantically trying to free himself from the cobwebs, when he's suspended in midair. I stepped through it last night, and zoomed in (oh, the agony!), and it's fleeting, but pretty amazing. His face is almost obscured by the cobwebs. At first he looks terrified, similar to what we'd seen up until that point. He starts to get visibly exhausted; the slashing movements become weaker. Then, after Gollum taunts him, and after a few glances to see where Shelob is, his expression changes to pure maniacal hatred and fury and he cuts himself free. It's a terrifying expression. Didn't know Frodo had it in him. Or The Lad. Scary. I always thought Gollum took off because he saw Shelob; I now think it was because Frodo looked like he was going to get free and wasn't going to be too pleased about the whole setup when he did.

~grumpy (Five hours?!? My word!)

A 5-hour conversation with Elijah Wood--Now that will get me fantasizing :p !

Who is it with the One Expression page? Honey? Hobmom? I don't know if you have these, but there are two expressions in the scene where Frodo is frantically trying to free himself from the cobwebs, when he's suspended in midair.
That's me... :) http://www.frodolivesin.us/oneexpression . No, I don't have those--there isn't room for all of the good ones, FES (or, for grumpy: FBDS ;) )!

You have to remember that I wanted that page up just a few days after RotK came out on DVD, so every RotK pic on that page was taken "on the fly" during one viewing of the movie. I just watched the movie and kept hitting the capture button when Frolijah was onscreen--no stops, no steps, no going back. I can't imagine doing that with any other actor and coming up with the wealth of emotions I did--and the ones that ended up on that page are a tiny fraction. In fact, all of the pics on the "It's gone" and "The end of all things" pages are from that same one viewing--just from clicking the capture button without even pausing the movie.

I didn't do anything with RotK systematically til I started the Shelob's lair pics. I'm working on next month's installment, but it's slow going because of the darkness--I keep uncovering things I didn't know were there (when I lighten up some frames I feel like one of those art restorers cleaning centuries of grime off the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel to reveal what's underneath :p ).

During my "on the fly" shots, I was hoping to end up with something from Frodo cutting his way out of the web, but all I got was one frame of Frodo from the back and one where the action's so fast his face is completely blurred. The emotion you can see on that one is horrible--literally! Looks like Lon Chaney's "Phantom of the Opera" :eek: (especially the nostrils ;) )! He's one mad little hobbit there.

There's also a great look on his face when he takes a swipe at Shelob earlier on--but I didn't get one of that, either. Sometime I'll get to that point in the scene... :rolleyes:

--And I always took Gollum's surprise and fear to be a reaction to Frodo cutting himself free. He wasn't expecting to have to actually face him after that taunting. (Very logical that Gollum would stay so close, though--he has to be there to grab the Ring. I wonder if he was aware of the way Shelob played with her food--even if his plan had worked, he might have had a long wait.)

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

I'm not worried about the pic from EII. Certainly looks like it's from either a fantasy or a dream. Of course, there's a huge difference between my concerns for EII and for the LotR movies. With EII, as long as the film is a wonderful film, I don't really care how close it is to the book... BIG difference!

--And I hope, too, that the "50 takes of each scene" is simply first-time-director jitters and not something more serious.

I have a huge frame by frame album of Shelob's lair here.

http://rp.photosite.com/Shelair/

Elijah's expressions are amazing.

I don't suppose we could tease anything more out of your memory about that magazine article :z: ? In the writeup you linked to, it sounds as if Mr. Duffy felt caught between TSG and the "Hollywood minded" producer, and that he much preferred TSG's way of approaching things.

Au contraire, he hated working with STG, and decided that his experience must reflect what working with the Hollywood studio system would be. He determined to never sacrifice his own creative vision again, and went back to Ireland. That article is here http://www.iol.ie/~galfilm/filmwest/39duffy.htm ; the stuff about Bumblebee starts in the second para.

I've also been curious about the script and the story choices - this was a very rare book & film combo where both were equally affecting for me, even though they were not actually very similar in the end. Jennifer Sarja gets credit as the book adapter/screenwriter, but I can't find that she's been credited with anything else at all. She was, however, a Leominster, MA, resident - Leominster was Robert Cormier's lifelong home town.

Mr Duffy says that he rewrote the script at least 6 times, and then the STG producer rewrote it again. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for a cast, to have to watch that struggle for creative control, and still give good performances. Which this cast did, IMNSHO.

I can thank EJW for the impetus to find Cormier's other books as well - the kind of books I wish I had been able to read when I was a teen. Many good things can result from an obsession with a remarkable actor's work - one's horizons, as it were, can expand like that incredible sunrise at the end of Bumblebee.

chattegrise ;)

Two things.

First: If Elijah was approached for donations the same way Sean Astin allegedy was by Jordan Wood and Orangeblossom, would he have given him an Evil Elijah face and said, "No!" "It stinks?" What would he do? :confused: (I still can't believe Sean Astin was gullable enough to give to a bunch of strangers. I don't think he did though.)

Second: Elijah's expression of "Phantom of the Opera." Didn't it look Earthy Too, and remind Anyone of a small bull losing it? LOL.

Does his Personality seem Earthy and Manly-No- Nonsense sometimes?Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Right?

I have a huge frame by frame album of Shelob's lair here.

I figured someone would... I've only gotten through what's on page two... maybe I should give up this gig :rolleyes: . Gives me a chance, though, to say to anyone who hasn't looked at the transformation from "I can't go back" to his stepping into the tunnel in slide show mode--do!

--------

chattegrise, thanks for the added article by Duffy. IMHO it's even more interesting for what he says about himself than what he says about the producers. He seems to be very honest about his need to learn more about directing at the time he made Bumblebee, and also about his insecurity. I wonder how much of that (especially the insecurity) might have been picked up by the producers and caused them to handle things more directly than they might have otherwise. Interesting that on his next movie he was also given a lot of producer input but he felt he handled it better. (I just checked his filmography at IMDb and Taliesin Jones is still his latest movie listed as director (there are a couple more as writer, including the Saint Patrick film he mentions in the article--but if he's trying to develop his own projects, that would understandably take more time.)

Both The Boy from Mercury and Taliesin Jones have positive write-ups at IMDb from viewers who thought the films deserved more attention than they got.

Thanks for the info, too, about the scriptwriter being from Robert Cormier's hometown. Wonder if she's the source of the little things that would have had context if the movie had stayed closer to the book? With so much rewriting, it's probably hard to say what's left from the first script... :confused:

After I first read the book (because of the movie, of course ;) ), I was disappointed to find out that Cormier had died a few years previously, as there were a lot of things I would have liked to ask him, especially about Barney's disease (modeled on Kaposi's sarcoma?) and the research taking place.

To be very honest myself, I'm kind of glad I didn't read Cormier's books in junior high or high school--way too dark, which wasn't something I needed to add from the outside at that time. I know it's the kind of writing a lot of people that age prefer, but I'm glad I "accidently" found LotR instead :) . Now, the movie of Bumblebee has been a positive thing for me--there are times when it seems hopeless to go back to work on a Monday morning, but the difference between Barney at the end of the book and Barney at the end of the movie reminds me that research does, in fact, end up helping people even when the progress can't be seen. A good movie for Sunday evenings :) .

--------
Edit: SC, I don't recall any mention of Sean A. giving Jordon Wood & Co. any money (which doesn't mean he didn't of course). He helped plant the garden, which the real fans are still keeping up, so IMHO that's a good thing. If they contacted Elijah, he probably said something like, "Gardening? I don't know anything about gardening! Call my gardener... er, I mean Sean." :p

Back from Seattle and rested up from my vacation. It was a lot of fun meeting everyone. Alyon and I had a great time watching The War and Chain of Fools. And even listening to pandemoniumforamerica, which we both are fans of now!

Had a lovely dinner with Peaceweaver and Goldenberry. It was a kick meeting actual educated women who understand. Someday I hope to meet many more of my Faculty Colleagues! :D Really. There must be some excuse we can come up with for a Faculty moot?!?

PeaceWeaver, thank you for the 'Homicide' tape! :k Terrific stuff! Our Lij can certainly act 'evil!'

I've been enjoying your EII website and links, Cheryl. Last night I listened to JSF reading from, and discussing EII on NPR. ('nuff acronyms for ya?) It brought up some questions though:

If you haven't read the book there is possible Spoilery stuff ahead

1. in the book both Alex and 'the hero' Johnathan are born in 1977, so what's with the on-set pics of JSF in 70's vintage wardrobe?

2. That pic of JSF and Hitler posted earlier; was it a photograph? The interesting lighting, with the 'halos' of light made it look sort of like a drawing, so I'm not sure.

3. One of the themes seems to be that love is a choice we make. So a counter un-spoken theme of the book would be that hate is also a choice. Or maybe I'm just light-years off mark. :confused:

4. Given the last point; whom has Alex chosen to love by the end of the story? Is he in love with JSF? Is all that stuff a the beginning about his girls just elaborate window dressing for Alex? Is he trying to protect his beloved little brother from what he senses is his true nature?

Musing out loud, but would love to discuss with you all. Or should I take it to your site, Cheryl?

Honey!

Welcome Chattegrise!!! Thank you so much for the Bumblebee info!! :)

Regarding EiI --So did someone say they are doing 50 takes per scene?? Or do I remember that correctly (I am melting in unusal heat in Seattle and I can't seem to effectively find that post--or do anything effectively)? Is this a really well financed movie?? I feel kind of stupid assuming it's an independent movie but maybe its a studio movie and I missed that. Is it? That's a lot of film which would seem to be very expensive, wouldn't it??? I heard one first time director speak of really limiting takes because there just wouldn't be enough for lots of extra film--it costs a lot. Maybe that is a whole different catagory of independent movie. But, I guess they have the money for it, or they wouldn't do it. Just speculating, but seems like a pretty good amount of money for a first time director. But I'm just wondering aloud. Maybe it's peanuts, in the end.

Poor Elijah!! Hope the director has a sweet nature, like PJ, to help the actors through the ordeal.

Grumpy said:
A director fell in love with Elijah Wood. The director praised EW's work effusively.
Ho hum. Just another day in Elijah Wood's life.


:D :D :D You said it.


Cool pic from the Cranberry video, Achila!!!! :cool: :k

godmorning to you all!!
here its raining again!!but i hope the weather
will be warmer soon,the kids have three weeks
left before the school starts again and we havent been to the sea
once jet!!!

i agree with you Alyon! i hope they know what they are doing
with so many takes it will be like climbing mount doom!!!!
poor elijah i realy hope he will be okej after this! :(

welcome chattergrise i hope you will enjoy this place as much
as i do! this ladyes in here are realy lovely and know what they
write about and they know and understand what you are trying to write
but maybe you have better english then i have so its maybe
easy fore you to write than i have anyone hope you will enyoy
it here and thanks fore the post on bumbeelbee!!!!! :k

its been a little quite inn here i guess its becuse its summer
i hope i see you soon in here

i was thinking about some thing last night wouldent it be fun if
we all woulde be aybel to get together fore a weekend i would like so
much to meet you all but it wouldent bee easy of cuse you all know why
(my husband wouldent like that :confused: :( )but it would bee real fun

know iam rumbeling again but it is so easy to talk to you and you are so understanding for this :k
i miss all the news about mr.beautiful is there anybody who knows something

i have seen so many sexy pics of him and beautiful
pics my heart will explode soon :cool: :D :p

fore the director who fall in love with elijah
who wouldent ???5 hours with this lovely man mm :p
in my dreams! i wonder,maybe i start directing!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

So did someone say they are doing 50 takes per scene??

I certainly hope not :eek: But going by this pic :(

http://img78.photobucket.com/albums/v327/ShirelingUK/tiredcrop.jpg

I may just have to find myself a flight to Prague - check out how they're treating my ba - er, Elijah;)

OH MY GODNESS :( !!!

HOW ARE THEY TREATING OUR MAN?? :confused:

SHOULD WE ALL GO OVER THER AND HAVE A LITTLE CHAT
WITH MR.LIV :mad:

I REALY REALY HOPE HE CAN HANDEL THIS AND HE WILL
BE OKEJ!!

BUT I REALY DONT LIKE WHO EXAUSTED HE LOOKS ON THAT PIC :eek: :eek:

Alyon--The company listed for EII is "Warner Independent" which sounds like an oxymoron to me :confused: . I'm sure Warner has a very clear definition of what it considers an "independent" movie--and makes sure that it's followed to the letter ;) . One negative echo in my head (tells you how much is in there :p ) is that IIRC they're the ones who did CofF, and we know what happened to the distribution of that one with several big name actors in it. If the only way to see EII is with Chinese subtitles, I'll be very upset :mad: . Not that I don't like Chinese subtitles, mind you, but I'd rather have Elijah's movies a little more available. So people can, y'know, run across them at the theater or on DVD, and not have to specifically go hunting them down on VCD at yesasia.com. Not that I have anything against VCDs or yesasia.com (okay, I'd better stop before I dig myself in deeper--hey, ainon :p ).

I picked up that "50 takes per scene" idea somewhere--maybe a quote from an extra?? So it might have very well been an exaggeration. BTW, my innermost hope is that Shireling's pic shows a moment of necessary emotional recovery after shooting a particularly gutwrenching scene--but, yeah, he's probably "just" tired :( . Either way, he'll deserve a break after this stint.

Isn't he coming home for a break this week :confused: Thought I heard that somewhere.
Hope if he does he gets a little shut eye and doesn't party too much..however he'll probably hook-up with his friends..well I think a 23yr old can replenish his energy pretty quickly and we all know he is a bundle of energy. Also from the interviews on LotRs we know he can sleep anywhere...sits in a chair and nods out for a few minutes...and he's back and in good form.
However he does look tired..makes me wonder maybe things are not going smoothly on set...mental fatigue can be more exhausting than physical.
Anyway..just speculation...we all care and worry about him :k

Welcome chattegrise :) wood is right.. it's been a little quiet in here lately but fear not :cool: it'll pick up soon
Wood....great idea..If we could find a way to all get together someday soon we'll come up with ideas so your family doesn't wig out on you (in plainer English: get upset :eek: )

Went to see Bourne Supremacy last night...just ok...liked Matt Damon in it but thought the first movie was better...
On a personal note..still can't see what EW saw in Miss Potente..I'd pick someone a little more demure and feminine for him :) ...guess that's the mommy in me speaking...want to pick out The Right One :k

Love to all :k
Ylla

Shireling- Oh my! What are they doing to him? Poor baby.

But this and that Hitler pic make me wonder if he isn't playing almost all the Jonathan/Safran roles. Which will be very interesting and a wonderful showcase for his amazing talent.

I certainly hope not :eek: But going by this pic :(
<snip photo>
I may just have to find myself a flight to Prague - check out how they're treating my ba - er, Elijah;)

Oh, heck. I'm not worried. I'm giggling a lot, though, about all Elijah's surrogate aunties sitting here worrying about him. ;) :p ;)

I remember several things:
1. He's been working professionally since he was 7.
2. Filming requires long days, a lot of which is spent sitting around waiting.
3. He's double-jointed. We saw him, in that one interview, demonstrate the "Downward-facing Frodo" where he calmly put his leg around the back of his neck. A position like that in the picture is surely very easy for him.
4. He's a consummate and respected professional in his field. Worldwide. He's not likely to be unduly troubled by on-set shenanigans.
5. He's 23 and likes to party. Party hard, rest hard.
6. He's a bundle of energy. People like that seem to go and go and then just *stop* for a while and replenish. Ah, the boundless and renewable energy of youth!
7. What's summer in Prague like?
8. There is no 8.
9. I remember Sean A. (or someone) saying that EW can sleep anywhere. There's an adorable picture of him somewhere in Frodo costume, sitting on a bed in the middle of a huge mess which was probably either his room or his trailer, fast asleep.
10. He survived Lord of the Rings, which was probably more demanding than anything else he'll ever encounter. I'm reminded of a reporter who asked Harrison Ford, when he was working on Air Force One, what he thought of the enormous AF1 set. Ford said, "I worked on Star Wars!" :)
11. He's got a *mom*!! - the most fearsome force in the universe! I'm sure that She Who Guided Him Through an Acting Childhood is not above getting on a plane and whipping a few directors/producers into shape. ;) I can just hear her: "Now do I have to come OVER THERE?!?..." :D
12. He's got several million surrogate aunts worrying about him. ;)

Be reassured, dear Faculty. Trust in the Lad. He's more than equal to the task at hand. :)

~grumpy

I'm so glad that you said it, ZK. I'm not worried, either. I posted that pic in my journal yesterday (that's my cropping of a larger photo), because he looks as tired in it as I thought he must be, if Liev is really working him as hard as the rumors say. But he lived through LOTR! And this has got to be nearly nothing, compared to that.

Also, I've heard it's pretty warm over there, though I've not checked a weather report. There were other pictures of him behind the scenes, standing with someone nearby who was shading him with an umbrella, so I'm guessing that heat may be an issue.

But the man is far more resilient and has much more spine than many give him credit for. I'm sure he'll be fine, too. :)

But this and that Hitler pic make me wonder if he isn't playing almost all the Jonathan/Safran roles. Which will be very interesting and a wonderful showcase for his amazing talent.
Why am I getting this image of Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove? :p EJW would be great at that kind of thing. Quick! Somebody write a comedy screenplay set up for Elijah to play all the major roles! :)

Here's an addition to the list of things you learn by being an Elijah Wood fan. I had no idea Shelob lived in Injun Joe's cave (or did Injun Joe live in Shelob's lair?) ;) . This is evidently from the "new, improved" version of Tom Sawyer, in which Huck has sent Tom home because he was afraid Tom would take all the treasure for himself ;) ;) :

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/RotK/FroFinn.jpg


Edit--more than 5 hours later--it is quiet in here.

ComicCon is going on now! Much news on other sites about EE of RotK. It's 50 minutes longer than the original film, but from the reports it sounds like it's mostly "wasted" on Men :rolleyes: . Very little added for FrodoAndSam. The reports, of course, are full of spoilers. I'm not linking because I've only read what's posted at the unlinkable AICN (and most of their ComicCon reporting is more unlinkable than usual :eek: ).

The reason I went to AICN instead of TORN, of course, was to see if there was anything on Sin City. With fans of Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, and Elijah Wood involved in that site, I doubt if they'll let it pass without saying anything. Which means, at this point, the panel/screening must not have occurred yet. The only thing I found in the ComicCon coverage about Sin City was this pic of a poster. The "look" is exactly like the front of Miller's books. And remember, now, this is the hero of the storyline Elijah's in:

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/LaterxMovies/MarvInComicCon.jpg

Hellooo - where *is* everybody??!

Tg, your sig is very nice and apt ;)

I thought I report two things I endured in the name of Elwoodology:
Point one: I viewed North.
Hm. :rolleyes: What can I say? No, I won't comment on that one. The dubbing was so awful and even worse, I've read the spoiler warning on Tg's website afterwards... grrr.

Point two: I googled Sin City and ran across a site which gives the whole storyline away... I wish I've had stopped reading!! :eek: :eek: It don't know how close to the original that abstract is - anyway, it was unbelievably cruel... terrible, indigestible stuff. But I managed it to find a picture of Kevin -

http://img4.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/SinCity_58.gif

this is the nice mute, smiling, woman-eating guy. Poor Elwood, the fate of his character is no bed of roses.


*Back to surrogate aunt :p state*

hallo whiteling!!and every body!
i wonder if you possible would like to pm
me i would like to see the link you are talking about! :z:

Saying that the movie of North is miles away from the book is an understatement. The book is, in some ways, a younger version of EII, as the main effect of North's travels is that he discovers his Jewish, Eastern European heritage--which you'd certainly never know from the movie. (And the book doesn't "cheat" on the ending :rolleyes: ).

I do think that Sin City might be the first Elwood movie I purposely stay away from in the theater. I'll probably see it on the DVD, when I can skip parts of it. Thanks for your dedication to the cause, Whiteling--the following is my contribution...

Here's the first AICN coverage of the Sin City presentation at ComicCon. (To borrow a phrase from the New York Times: "All the news that's fit to print." :rolleyes: ) I don't think the omissions make the reports difficult to understand--just keep in mind that the more ***, the more excited the guy is (if there's a female contributor to AICN, she's well hidden). There are three reports; I've put lines between them. I've pulled out a couple of paragraphs that gave details about specific scenes and put them under a spoiler warning at the end of the quote. The most important and disappointing sentence about the presentation/clips was: "Missing was Elijah as Kevin, but I'm sure we'll get a glimpse of that sooner than later." So here's the rest:

My wife… and I stuck around for the Sin City panel. I am not familiar with the books but have been curious as *** about what this film could look like after hearing reports of some sort of revolutionary process Robert Rodriguez is implementing. Well, this bloke doesn't *** around. Within five minutes of showing up he asks us if we want to see the opening scene that he used to convince Frank Miller, Bruce Willis, the Studio, etc. that this was a movie worth being involved with. Three seconds (literally) into the clip I turned to my lady and said, "I am *** dying to see this movie now." This flick pops off the screen. Stark blacks and whites, exciting use of color, *** music, disturbing looking characters, and NOTHING like Kill Bill. I can't really say more about this one, it looks to be a knockout.

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

SIN CITY: Uh.........oh my ******. WOW. Rodriguez was funny to listen to because he is so into this material and obviously *** Hollywood *** whenever he can. He repeated over and over and over and over and over and over (10 more overs) that he wanted to make Frank Miller's movie, not change it. The clips were breath-taking and original and WOW. The character sketches interspersed with movie characters were just perfect. In this flick I LOVE Alba with all of my heart. I now love Rosario Dawson who looked perfect beyond all the other perfects and Benecio and Bruce (Willis) and the lot of them. I am in love. I can't say enough sincerely good things about what were were shown and what we heard. My little geek friends (fellow geeks) of all ages and various levels of comic interest (from freakish devotee to non-readers) all had similar reactions. TO me, this *** Star Wars ***. IT was the absolute opposite of the 2 hour Star Wars commercial…

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

***, guys. SIN CITY is going to *********. Rodriguez showed up with the opening of SIN CITY, which is the footage he shot with Josh Hartnett and did all the effects work on to get Frank Miller to step on board. It was also the only thing he brought with final backgrounds in place and it's *** amazing looking in noir-ish black and white. It was taken from one of the smaller stories from Miller's SIN CITY world called THE CUSTOMER'S ALWAYS RIGHT. [More on this scene below the spoiler warning.]

Robert also showed some character footage, which cut alternately with panels out of Miller's book to show how faithfully it's being adapted... [Translation of a few omitted sentences: Fanboys who want to see female skin will not be disappointed.] ... Showed Mickey Rourke as Marv and the make-up is amazing. Imagine if the characters in DICK TRACY looked real, not rubbery. He has a Kirk Douglas chin, rough (but very real looking) skin and a flat top.

My favorite shot from what was shown was of Jessica Alba, playing Nancy, dancing behind Bruce Willis' Hartigan using deep focus so they're both sharp in the frame... all in slow motion. It was hypnotic and ******. [Translation of next two sentences: Above-mentioned fanboys will really appreciate Jessica Alba's acting (and costume).]

Also seen was Miho, played by Devon Aoki… [Tranlation of next sentence: Those who want “awesome” views of blood will not be disappointed, either] …and Rosario Dawson's character, who looks stunning in her tiny *** getup. Missing was Elijah as Kevin, but I'm sure we'll get a glimpse of that sooner than later.

It was great stuff and the backgrounds weren't even in place... in much of the clips shown it was all against a jet-black background. You want to see this footage? Rodriguez said that this footage will hit the net in the next few weeks. I can't wait to see them again with frame-by-frame action. The babes came out... Jamie King, Rosario Dawson and Jessica Alba... [Translation of the rest of this paragraph: When the female cast members joined the panel, the reporter was glad he was sitting close to the front, and that the room was cold--trust these guys to cover the important issues :rolleyes: .]

Here are some of the tidbits from the panel:
-The film's rough cut is done and at 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the final film will be under 2 hours.
-Rodriguez said that the DVD will have the film and the option to watch each of the 3 SIN CITY stories from beginning to end just as they were in the comics, even if each story had some scenes cut for the theatrical film. DVD will also have a big, big feature on the making of the film.
-Frank Miller said there are more SIN CITY comics in the works.
-Rodriguez enjoyed the process so much that he wants to get together with Frank Miller and shoot every one of the SIN CITY stories so there will be a moving version of each book... he said he may put those onto on big DVD release at some point so you can access any of the SIN CITY stories at your will. Sounds *** to me! I'd buy it!


SPOILERS for Rest of Quote




It has Hartnett's character smoothly meeting a woman in a red dress (which vibrantly pops against the black and white world)... her lips, also, are red... and telling her about his desire to protect her from whatever she's running from... how she must be tired of running. They embrace and BANG... she sinks to the ground as his voice-over talks about holding her until she's gone... smoking gun in hand, his voice-over tells us he's gonna go get his paycheck... Welcome to Sin City, gang! The camera pulls out over the city, then up higher and higher until the lights of the city make the title: SIN CITY, which changes to the exact font and color of the comics with the added "Frank Miller's" before the title.

--------

There was some great stuff with Benicio del Toro and Clive Owen with Owen holding a blade an inch from Benicio's eye... there was also Benicio's threat to the streetwalker... him pulling the gun and her saying, "Sugar. You just made the biggest mistake of your life." All this is from THE BIG FAT KILL. They showed Nick Stahl in the YELLOW *** make-up and it looks fan-***-tastic. Lumpy, disfigured... ugly as ***... it's the perfect shade of yellow, too... not neon bright, but more like the way a highlighter run over smeary black lettering looks.



End of Spoilers

De-lurking for a moment.

Firstly, a belated welcome to Chattergrise, and many thanks for sharing that Martin Duffy 'Bumblebee' article with us - one of my very favourite Elijah films.

Whiteling and Tg- thanks to you both for the news on 'Sin City.' I don't think that particular film will be quite my cup of tea, but it would be interesting to see how Elijah handles the role of Kevin - :eek:

Shireling - We do all worry about our boy, don't we? :) As Grumpy said, Elijah can apparently sleep anywhere, so perhaps he was just having a quick nap during a break in filming in that pic. But I do think he deserves a holiday after EII!

As it's fairly quiet in here, I thought I'd share some gifs with you all. Two Frodo; two Elijah:

'It's all we have left.' (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/CU5c.gif)

'The Ring is mine.' (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/CofD16ca.gif)

This one from 'The South Bank Show' programme on Ian McKellen, which aired here in the UK a couple of weeks ago. Sir Ian donned a ladies wig to play a joke on PJ - and Elijah was there.

Elijah (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/EWMcWig3.gif)

... and another behind-the-scenes gif of Frolijah, in the fake snow of Caradhras:

Frolijah (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/EWSnow.gif)

Enjoy!

Btw, Serena - I'm glad you like the 'yawning Frolijah' in your birthday gif. He's adorable, isn't he? I make the gifs using JASC Animation Shop, a programme I could barely live without!

Ylla - Still thinking of you.

Re-lurk!

Oh Bossom!!! :k for those gifs.
And how did you ever find Frolijah on Caradharas?

Yay! More Blossom goodies! :k Thank you.

As for Frolijah on Caradarhas, it never ceases to amaze me how he looks entirely different when he's just being himself than when he's in "Frodo-mode!"

h!

Yes... Thank You Blossom for both the gifts and the thoughts

I recently acquired The Good Son on DVD-had only seen it on video before that..I was pleased to see the little 7 minute featurette on the making of the film. It's always a pleasure to see the little guy and how joyful he was ( and still is) His enthusiasm is just such a joy to behold and I'm still in awe of what an extraordinary young actor he was. I can't imagine any critic not thinking he was the very best child actor that has ever been. Can anyone think of any child actor with the range of expression he had?

I had to go back into my little film archive and look at some other movies I own..just to see if I could objectively see if another kid could come close to his talent. Nope...couldn't find one...the closest I could come up with was Henry Thomas in ET and that performance isn't even in the same ballpark. I just happen to like that movie :cool:

I think tonight I'll look at Huck Finn...another fantastic performance by The Best Child Actor That Has Ever Existed :) :) :)

Do We All Agree :k

BTW...I want to see his next movie a romantic comedy....something fun and sweet and very swoony
And just for fun what leading lady should we suggest?
It's been way too quiet in here and this could be fun to ponder :)
One idea I have is Scarlett Johanson :)
More ideas ;)

hallo girls!!

great ide ylla!i love to see elijah in a romantic movie
but maybe not a comedy.
how does this sound,a big drama about true love
maybe war or sikness or a lovetriangel with elijahs
caracter as winner at the end or maybe that is to comen
maybe a more unjusuel drama but what? :rolleyes:

and who will he play agains?no ide at all it is so many good
actresses i have to think about this one!! :D
who should be good enough for him :p
maybe franka again but i dont know maybe they are still in love :D
so it maybe not a good ide!

i cant come up with any child actor as elijah but i arent very
objectiv :p :D

posted by Tgshaw
I do think that Sin City might be the first Elwood movie I purposely stay away from in the theater.

Oh...and this is a project I'm really looking forward to. A dark role for Elwood, very dark...I can't wait. :D
Especially now that the first rumors about the project have been very positive.
Thanks for posting the AICN updates (loved your translations, Tg).

This was posted in Empire Online - nothing new but still, very positive:
Sin City
In a word, amazing. Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller (the creator of the Sin City series of comics, and Rodriguez’ co-director), Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson and Jamie King turned up, with the three blonde babes in particular getting the crowd all riled up. Then came the footage of this incredible project, where Rodriguez and Miller have used greenscreen and digital technology to perfectly replicate the noir-ish black-and-white look of the comics (with occasional bursts of vibrant colour).

Rodriguez showed several clips from the movie, including the showreel featuring Josh Hartnett as an assassin and King as his mark, that he made in secret to convince Miller and many of the A-list stars (Benicio Del Toro, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Elijah Wood) to be in the under-the-radar project. And it looks, frankly, amazing – not unlike Sky Captain And The World of Tomorrow in execution, but somehow more vibrant and vital. And this thing is going to be mean – several of the clips we saw were bloody, brutal and violent.

The use of shadows is masterful and, as Clive Owen confirmed exclusively to Empire last week, it’s extraordinarily faithful to Miller’s vision, retaining dialogue and plot exactly. Rodriguez talked about filling in the imagery between the panels depicted in the comic, about his ricket with the Directors’ Guild of America, and much, much more. All of which you can read about next week.

Apparently, it has been quiet in here.
When I wasn't abroad (London was great...I wouldn't want to live in such a big city (I am used to smaller things in a small country like Belgium) but I love to visit it), I was fully emerged in the Tour de France.
My favorite didn't get the podium (ended 4th) but... :) ...jeez, Jan Ullrich is such a classy guy, though. I really adore that guy. :)
Lance Armstrong won a record 6th Tour de France. Fantastic champion.
OK...I won't bore you anymore with my cycling stuff here...
/Tour de France 2004


Talking about DVD's. I have the region 2 version of The Good Son, The Adventures of Huck Finn,... It comes without the extra's. :( I wonder why? I love extra's. I want the extra's. The DVD's here are expensive enough:(
/whining session ;)

i agree with you moondancer!!
(so far i agree with everybody :lol: )

i realy looking foward to a realy dark side of elijahs
acting we know after rotk he realy can play dark and evil :cool:
i just want to see more of that!!

Talking about DVD's. I have the region 2 version of The Good Son, The Adventures of Huck Finn,... It comes without the extra's. I wonder why? I love extra's. I want the extra's. The DVD's here are expensive enough

Then I suppose, Moondancer, that we're even, because our Region 1 version of The Faculty had no "making of" featurette that the other regions' versions had! :mad: :confused: :(

Goedendag and welcome back, Moondancer :) !
Thanks for the Sin City news.

*joins Moondancer's and Achila's whining session* Yes, the lack of extra's on DVD's is really annoying. It cannot be much more work to add these extra's :confused: so, what the heck is the problem??



I think tonight I'll look at Huck Finn...another fantastic performance by The Best Child Actor That Has Ever Existed
Do We All Agree

But of course ;) ! Yesterday I had the pleasure to watch "The War" - I've bought it eventually on DVD (I was tired of my taped and therefore dubbed version). His outburst after his father's death is so heartwrenching - and he never goes over the top. It's unbelievable. He was only 13 then and acted better and more convincing than many actors who are much longer in this business.


And Blossom - your gifs are absolutely the best. Thanks so much! :)


Uhuh, I keep forgetting - WELCOME Chattegrise (lovely name!) ! :)

Moondancer, wood, and all looking forward to Sin City -- It sounds as if this is going to be a fantastic movie, wonderfully made, groundbreaking, great cast (especially that guy playing Kevin ;) ), and everything done just the way it should be. If I wait for the DVD to watch Elijah in it, it will be because of only one thing:
– several of the clips we saw were bloody, brutal and violent.
I don't handle that kind of thing well. I went to one of the Lethal Weapon movies with a friend who was a Mel Gibson fanatic. She loved it. I had nightmares for three days. :( And it sounds as if Sin City will be graphically violent far beyond those movies. So, it's simply a "personal limits" problem for me. Nothing against the movie itself--in fact, I'll probably be missng some great filmmaking if I don't watch the entire thing. Maybe if I take it in small bites on the DVD. Thanks for the bit from Empire, Moondancer--it sounds as if the report next week should be interesting.

I'm hoping to see Elijah in more dark roles that aren't so graphically violent--like his Homicide episode, or more of a psychologically dark character. He can play that evil undercurrent so well it sends chills down my spine (Homicide, Ring-controlled Frodo at CofD).

And speaking of DVDs--Sometimes the extras are worthwhile and sometimes not. For me, of course, their main purpose is frame-by-frame watching and screencapping :p . It's too bad if some people can't get Huck Finn with the director's commentary--very worthwhile on that movie, especially since the director gushes quite appropriately about Elijah :) . For The War, not so much so (IMHO). Both great movies, with great work from the lead actor.

I can't think of another child actor with the range Elijah had at that age, or the depth. There's one I'll be interested in watching in the future, if he keeps acting (which means I'll have to check his name again, as I keep forgetting it :rolleyes: ). That's the kid who plays Eldarion in RotK. I don't expect him to surpass Elijah, but he can sure say volumes without speaking a word--that look he gives Arwen is pretty complex (IMHO) and he nails her with it. And, yes, the Tolkien geek in me absolutely loves that the character is listed by name in the credits :D !!

As always, Blossom, thanks for the gifs. The one on Caradhras brings back memories *sigh* . It still find it hard to think that it's all over.

posted by tgshaw
If I wait for the DVD to watch Elijah in it, it will be because of only one thing:
"several of the clips we saw were bloody, brutal and violent."

I don't handle that kind of thing well. I went to one of the Lethal Weapon movies with a friend who was a Mel Gibson fanatic. She loved it. I had nightmares for three days.
I thought as much, tg.
I saw the movie Stigmata some time ago. Now, to me, that's a scary movie. Trouble is that I wanted to see how it ended. The trick for me is to switch off the sound during the scary parts. It's the music that does it.
I guess that it's not so easy to do in a theater and much easier on a DVD :D

I never seem to get nightmares from movies. When I do watch a scary movie and I'm afraid that I'm not going to sleep very well when I go to bed right after the movie...I usually focus my mind on something totally different. Like reading something silly and funny or watching something 'fluffy' on tv.

I do see what you mean about a Homicide type role. Seeing him in a comic book kind of role seems fun to me (even if it's bound to be a small part) but I do want to see him in another type of dark role. More dark in the psychological sense without explicit violence.
Why do I want to see that angelic face in a dark role so much? What does that say about me? ;)

Another child actor with a good range? What about that kid from that movie "I see dead people" with Bruce Willis. I'm so bad at remembering names. I can't remember the title and I can't remember the name of the kid. It's a 3 part name ________ ___________ _________. You know who I mean?
I'm much, much better at remembering faces (photographic memory).
He's considered to be very talented, is he not? I don't know him well enough to judge that myself.

Another child actor with a good range? What about that kid from that movie "I see dead people" with Bruce Willis. I'm so bad at remembering names. I can't remember the title and I can't remember the name of the kid. It's a 3 part name ________ ___________ _________. You know who I mean?
I'm much, much better at remembering faces (photographic memory).
He's considered to be very talented, is he not? I don't know him well enough to judge that myself.
You're talking about Haley Joel Osment. I've only seen him in a couple of things, and he is quite good. I still don't see him in a class with Elwood, though. :)

Another good child actor: Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun. Now, there was a brilliant piece of acting. An amazing film and an incredible role -- our boy would have done well with it, too, I think.

Regarding the speculation about Sin City: I've read the book, know what to expect, and I know it is going to be hard to watch. I read it with a certain amount of glee, to see how Elijah was going to be in a part that is light years away from Frodo and almost anything else he's ever done.:cool: It is a smallish part, but a major character, if that makes any sense. It will be interesting to see how he plays it, because in the book, the character shows little or no emotion, regardless of what is happening around or to him. :eek: But it's a shocker of a role, to be sure, and his fate... well, I'll just say that it makes me cringe just to think about it. ;)

Haley Joey Osmont. Yes! That's the one.
There's another kid actor from some tv show and he also has a three part name (can't remember the title of the tv show very well but it's got something to do with tools and the main actor (name?) grunting a lot). Anyway...I always switch those two child actors. I don't know why.

Ask me again next month and I will have forgotten the name of Haley.


About the fate of Kevin. I haven't read the comics. I was tempted to buy them but they were really expensive and I didn't know if it was such a good idea to read it.
I know that it's got ...erm...quite some ending :p but I don't know what exactly.
I'm curious to see which ending is more brutal: the one I'm thinking of, fantasizing about in my mind or the one Frank Miller thought of.
My mind has some dark corners, you know. :D

moondancer!its saems like we are little a like!i have some dark corners too! :D

it is one movie i had nightmares after seeing it.petsemintary
after a book Stephen King i don`t know if you heard of it but that one
was very horrybel.i love ready his books but to see it on screen was just
to much!! this is way off-topic!!!
back on-topic seeing elijah doing a dark and evil caracter will be very
interesting to see after doing what he does with frodo over three
films.from naiv little hobbit in the beginning you clearly see the change
his going throug in the end of the rotk dark evil frodo (i lost the word :confused: )with the ring!! i have to come back on this one i can`t
find the right word or is it anybody who knows what i am trying to say
who is better writer than i am?


i know this isen`t the place for pics but i just have to show you this one!
i just think it is beautiful no evil frodo here!

that one came out to be very small!!sorry!!i guess that was beacuse i
put it some were it not supose to be :lol: :lol:

i know elijah have done some dark caracters before,or am i wrong?but
i havent seen it just this homicide and he was very god in that one
is there any more i have been missing???

On Haley Joel Osment--I saw him in Secondhand Lions last year (hmmm... can't imagine why... :rolleyes: could it be because the trailer for RotK was being shown with it? :p ?). I felt kind of sorry for him during the first half--more or less--of the film because his part of the story, at least, was predictable and he really didn't have much to work with while Charles Duvall and Michael Caine were chewing up the scenery. Typical storyline of kid gets dropped off to spend summer with eccentric older relatives he doesn't know and who don't want him there, and everybody ends up learning something and loving everybody else.

But when dysfunctional mom (and we learn as we go along that she's even more dysfunctional than we originally thought) comes to pick him up, along with her new boyfriend, the story gets interesting and Haley's character gets to show some guts. Too bad the story couldn't have been that way all along, but maybe the later part wouldn't have been as effective if we hadn't gotten to know the character first.

Of course, I couldn't help comparing him to Elijah at the same age. Haley would have been about 14 at the time SL was made. Elijah at that age was making Um... [i]Flipper, actually... :rolleyes: But he'd made The War a little earlier. When Haley got to actually act in the later part of the movie, IMHO he was very good but his emotions weren't quite as nuanced as Elijah's. I still can't think of anyone else who has the seemingly subconscious connection with the character's emotions that Elijah does--IMVHO that's pure gift, not that he doesn't work awfully hard to make the best use of it he can.

Interesting that Haley did quite a bit of voice work during the years between AI and SL--being at that awkward age when there aren't many good parts for male actors. I hope he gets something better soon.

I haven't seen any of the Harry Potter movies, but Daniel Radcliffe seems to be growing up nicely--very personable, anyway. And he admires Elijah and wants to work with him, so he evidently plans to keep acting and learning.

BTW--IMDb finally has a new photo up for EJW. It's one of the Vinet pics from TTT. The previous one was from The Faculty, IIRC.

Wood,
from naiv little hobbit in the beginning you clearly see the change
his going throug in the end of the rotk dark evil frodo (i lost the word )with the ring!! i have to come back on this one i can`t
find the right word or is it anybody who knows what i am trying to say
who is better writer than i am?


I believe the word that you need is "possessed "..that is controlled and taken over by something outside the person, in this case, The One Ring ...

And yes, this is the thing about Frodo...his very long, dark disintegration into something else entirely, because of his possession by the Ring...

His is the darkest story arc in the whole of LOTR, imo !!

Elijah did it SO well...

Tgshaw,
Joel Haley Osment impressed me too, in "Sixth Sense", almost as much, but not quite, as Elijah in "The War"
Makes a change for American child actors to be given emotionally very hard roles to play...(and not just the schmaltzy lovey-dovey Apple of Mom's Eye roles...the demanding roles must really stretch them enormously...
)
The latest Harry Potter movie, I liked very much better than the first two, because they were much darker...and I think Daniel Radcliffe may do well as an actor, and the two of them, Elijah and Daniel in the same film will surely tip the fan-girlies off the ends of their collective trolley, wouldn't it ? :rolleyes: :D :D

Concerning Daniel Radcliffe -- this' the guy who's going to have the most trouble with the "Mark Hamill effect" if he doesn't do some other roles besides HP. But there was some talk at one point that perhaps he wouldn't continue acting so who knows? I too really enjoyed PoA, far better than either of the previous two films, and can see that although he still has a long way to go, he's definitely getting better.

I saw Orlando's episode of Midsomer Murders, "Judgement Day", yesterday -- for those in the States, it was on the Biography channel. I love Orli -- he's a sweet, charming guy, but again, it's hard not to make comparisons and he'll just never have what Elijah has. Lij was/is a prodigy and there's no way you can learn that in drama school. Nothing against our elf tho -- he's a lovely boy.

And nothing against those of you who consider yourselves Elijah's surrogate aunties, btw. I, on the other hand, do not, even if I'm old enough to...but enough of that....

I also saw Second Hand Lions recently, on cable. Man, was I glad I didn't spend the money to see that in the theaters, just for the ROTK trailer! P-U!

Oh -- and speaking of dark roles, I think we've mentioned this before but a role in one of Anne Rice's stories -- Armand, perhaps -- might be super for Lij.

Oh -- and speaking of dark roles, I think we've mentioned this before but a role in one of Anne Rice's stories -- Armand, perhaps -- might be super for Lij.
Elwood would be a fantastic Anne Rice vampire. The only problem I have with making another Rice movie is the last one. I've mentionned it before but... :( ...they've hurt my Lestat in 'Interview With A Vampire'. It was not a bad Lestat but far from the intriguing and wonderful character I imagined him to be. (no offence to Tom Cruise fans)

Anne describes her bad characters so well: lots and lots of layers, very subtle, you can empathize with them...which is quite something IMO, considering that they're vampires.

And btw, I don't consider myself as an aunt either but that's just me of course. No problem with others feeling that way.

Achila, I agree with you about Daniel Radcliffe being a candidate for the next Mark Hamill. Daniel was a virtual unknown before Harry Potter, and didn't have much acting experience when he embarked upon his journey as the world's most famous Boy Wizard. He seems very level-headed and has a couple of non-show-biz parents, and those factors should serve him well.

I have been on the lookout for child actors who have a 'certain something' ever since Elijah Wood entered my life. ;) :D The one that comes to my mind is the young blond actor who played a midshipman in the film Master and Commander. His name is Max Pirkis. He gave a very affecting and natural performance. Anyone else know of whom I speak?

Oh yes, Goldenberry (re: Max Pirkis) -- very much so.

Elijah was the same age Daniel is now when he made that Ridiculous Thoughts video, and there was so much emotion dripping from his eyes and face that it was almost uncomfortable to watch. Especially since it was hard to tell what the premise of the video had to do with what the Cranberries were singing (maybe there ISN'T a point, and I'm just hoping for too much!).

But what I was getting at was that by that age, Lij had already made movies that required him to mine very intense emotions (The War, Avalon, etc.) and that has not really been the case for Daniel; the first two Harry Potter films were somewhat limited in range and we're now just beginning to see his abilities emerge with PoA. So it will be interesting to see how well he does as the next HP movies challenge him to greater emotional depths.

is there anyone who knows if i can download that video
on the computer somhow i realy must see this!! :z:

I guess it's not just the fans...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/africa/07/26/safrica.shootout.reut/index.html

Geez!


From Achila: And nothing against those of you who consider yourselves Elijah's surrogate aunties, btw. I, on the other hand, do not, even if I'm old enough to...but enough of that....

:) DISCLAIMER: Personal opionion only; others, please lust away! ;) )

You understand, it is entirely unseemly and simply NOT demure for a woman of my age to be lusting after a 23-year-old kid, no matter how beautiful and nubile he might be, and no matter how blue his eyes are. I've got to keep some perspective on this whole thing somehow! Besides, being a surrogate aunt, I could concievably put The Lad's picture up on my refrigerator door with all the other nieces and nephews and nobody would ever notice him amid the crowd. :p :p :p

Did you all see the throw mentioned on TORN?

~grumpy ("Aunt Z, how come that one guy's picture is covering the whole refrigerator door? And why is he holding a sword?")

Geez!
:eek: Fans, parents of kid players, players themselves... you name it. I was surprised to see South Africa has a rate of gun deaths 8 times that of the U.S. :eek: Just when you think you're a world leader... :rolleyes:

Besides, being a surrogate aunt, I could concievably put The Lad's picture up on my refrigerator door with all the other nieces and nephews and nobody would ever notice him amid the crowd.
Helpful hint from one surrogate auntie to others (I've said I'm old enough to be Lij's surrogate grandmother, but I'm feeling young today ;) ). Those clear acrylic magnetic picture frames are great things. I not only have a refrigerator, but metal kitchen cabinets, too, where Frolijah's been keeping watch for quite some time :p . It's just kind of nice to look up and see him there. :)

----BTW, I already have 5 great-nieces and 3 great-nephews. The numbers have a way of expanding exponentially after awhile :D .

EDITTED TO ADD:

I've been looking at other child actors too, looking for ones as wonderfully affecting as little 'Lijah. I loved Max P. "Master and Commander." There was also that adorable little blond fellow, with the black eyes in "Love Actually." And did anyone else see "I'm Not Afraid?" An italian film with a couple of wonderful perfromances by children about the same age Elijah was when he did "The War."


Grumpy:
Besides, being a surrogate aunt, I could concievably put The Lad's picture up on my refrigerator door with all the other nieces and nephews and nobody would ever notice him amid the crowd.
and TG:
Frolijah's been keeping watch for quite some time . It's just kind of nice to look up and see him there.
I'm currently in the process of "nesting" in my new sewing studio. Since this a place where I excercise my creativity, little bits of my personal history (my 45 year old baby booties, and my wooden blocks), things that inspire me (colorful postcards of other artists work, and LoTR stuff) are going up, as well as a couple of my own quilts of course.

One prized piece that has gone up, in a frame I just happened to find at IKEA that just happens to fit perfectly, is an autograph from the lad himself which a friend thoughtfully obtained for me at a fan meet-n-greet thingy. Remains to be seen how my resolutely normal, sedate quilting friends will react. Or memebers of my family, who have not yet espied it admid the clutter. (I could exist happily in book-strewn, pre-quest Bag End.) Especially since it is addressed to....

"Honey!" ;)

Whoah, Honey! SCORE! Such nice friends you have! Such inspiration to work by! ;)

I, too, find myself paying attention to other child actors, however, it is usually to imagine the young Elwood in whatever role is being performed. :D I still haven't seen another young actor who was or is as good as he was as a child.

Achila, I am with you on the Ridiculous Thoughts video. The version that was released seems to have absolutely nothing to do with the music or the lyrics of the song! Now I learn that the group itself didn't really like the director's notion for the video, and that what they approved was a splicing together of the Elwood/Young man in a desolate landscape bits with the band performing the song. No wonder it didn't make any sense. (BTW, I learned this from the link you posted on your lj. The site is in italian, and it explains the difference between the "director's cut" and the released version. Thanks for posting that!) Thank Eru the Cranberries liked the Elwood sequence, or we might never have seen that particular image of him.

Oh, and wild horses couldn't keep me away from Sin City. Though I will probably avert my eyes during most of it! :rolleyes:

Achila:
Oh -- and speaking of dark roles, I think we've mentioned this before but a role in one of Anne Rice's stories -- Armand, perhaps -- might be super for Lij.

Oh! Oh! Oh! When I first read Interview with a Vampire, years ago, Armand just slayed me. (so to speak). If I recall, I think she changed him in later books so he didn't fit my first impression. But Oh MY Elijah as Armand! You have to start over, though. A new movie version entirely. Armand was beautiful, a body perpetually about 17 (?), but a very very ancient person. And he had a knowledge of the ages and was so alone among the community he led...and powerful and yet lonely. Yeah, Achila...Elijah.

Daniel Radcliff --- I did go see the last Harry Potter movie. At first I was quite disappointed because Daniel IMHO just doesn't have enough magic or charisma to bring to such an important character. As the movie went on I thought he got better. His acting craft got better as the movie went on. And he may end up being quite a good actor. But he didn't ever bring the kind of soul to the character that goes way above technique--the kind that makes you want to fall into him as Elijah did with Frodo--both characters you are supposed to KNOW are unique and -- that they are chosen in some way...You want to feel that you would know them in a crowd just by how they move....or what shines out of their eyes. Elijah as Frodo --yes. Daniel as HP-- no.

(I don't know what happened--half my post just went away!! I'm going to submit again and half to continue the rest later!!)

Whoah, Honey! SCORE! Such nice friends you have! Such inspiration to work by! ;)
Ditto :p :) !

I, too, find myself paying attention to other child actors, however, it is usually to imagine the young Elwood in whatever role is being performed. :D I still haven't seen another young actor who was or is as good as he was as a child.
Thinking of child actors... and The War... Besides Elijah's roles, the only other time I've been absolutely and completely convinced that the actor was the character was poor little Billy Lipnicki (Christopher Fennell). When he was so
s-c-c-a-a-r-e-d on top of the water tower, I just about died (each time ;) ). And every little movement, tone of voice, etc., etc., was so right for the character.

There was such good acting from all of the kids in that movie that I've assumed a lot of the credit must go to the director, Jon Avnet. But IMHO Christopher Fennell really stood out--by disappearing into the character, as Elijah did in that same movie.

I checked his history at IMDb a couple of years ago and he'd done some more work but nothing I was familiar with. But I just looked again today and see that he was in Cold Mountain, playing a character named Acton Swanger. I may just have to rent that movie. Did anyone who saw it notice that character--or the actor? I'm wondering if in The War he just "fell into" the perfect role with the perfect director (for him), or if he's truly as talented as he seemed in that movie.

Imagine a dark Buddy Movie: Elijah Wood and Edward Furlong. What happens then? :eek: :confused:

.I checked his history at IMDb a couple of years ago and he'd done some more work but nothing I was familiar with. But I just looked again today and see that he was in Cold Mountain, playing a character named Acton Swanger.

Ooh, we could play Six Degrees of Separation with that, TG, and we could do it in one, twice. Charlie Hunnam is also in Cold Mountain!

Oh, and PS, Alyon -- you and I aren't the only ones who think that way, re: Armand. There are many others I've seen in the fandom who have mentioned that very role. I think of it often, particularly when I think of the total fiasco Interview With the Vampire (AND Queen of the Damned too) was. TOM CRUISE AS LESTAT????? :confused:

At last... :z: this place is picking up on the conversation :)

I totally can see Elijah doing something wonderful with Armand
Dark is something he can certainly do easily and it is so chilling when one so BEAUTIFUL as he: goes dark.
A not so attractive actor doing dark is just so blah :rolleyes: I know Kevin is going to be a chilling role for him...I'm anxious to see it even though I still long to see him in a role where he "gets the girl" without literally...GETTING THE GIRL :eek: :eek: :eek:

Back a minute to child actors...I fear too.. that Daniel Radcliffe may end up being Harry Potter for the rest of his career if he's not careful...I think it would be wise for him to go with a different genre after the next HP movie.

Also another child actor who I think has good potential to "stay in the biz" as an adult..is Dakota Fanning. I believe someone who interviewed Elijah once asked him how he was able to transition from child actor to adult without so much difficulty and his comment was pretty interesting. He thought it came from not being in strictly kid movies. Most of his roles were geared towards adult audiences. If he had done a bunch of Disney films he may have had a more difficult time with transitioning. I think he (and of course his Mom :) ) made wise choices. Dakota Fanning seems to be in every film where a good child actor is needed. She's done both comedy and drama and has starred with some A list actors. I think she'll do very well. And from seeing her interviewed on Leno and Ellen she seems very sweet and unaffected by her celebrity. Maybe she's got a Momma like Lij has :cool:

And IMO I was very disappointed with Haley Joel Osmont in SHL. IMHO he overacted...and I liked him a lot in The Sixth Sense and Artificial Intelligence.
He's in that gawky teenage stage right now...not a cute little boy and not a cute young man.......however don't remember OUR lad ever being gawky...or unattractive...or overacting :k

NOW... does that sound like an auntie or Middle Aged Swooner talking :D
As Donny and Marie might say...."I'm a little bit country....I'm a little bit rock and roll" ;)

If you get my drift :haha:

ylla:
I believe someone who interviewed Elijah once asked him how he was able to transition from child actor to adult without so much difficulty and his comment was pretty interesting. He thought it came from not being in strictly kid movies. Most of his roles were geared towards adult audiences.

Yeah--like Christina Ricci did the same, didn't she? And Indie movie kids such as Jenna Malone who was in Bastard out of Carolina, the Dangerous LIves of Alter Boys, Donnie Darko, Saved....

Emile Hirsch has just chosen interesting roles, too.
The other Culkin brothers are also pretty respected in the smaller film world...Kieren and Rory...

Some of these people may or may not end up really BIG--but they have made good choices and are well respected and get work.....and are serious actors, not just "kid" actors.... and they still get work as they have gotten older..

Ooh, we could play Six Degrees of Separation with that, TG, and we could do it in one, twice. Charlie Hunnam is also in Cold Mountain!

Oh, and PS, Alyon -- you and I aren't the only ones who think that way, re: Armand. There are many others I've seen in the fandom who have mentioned that very role. I think of it often, particularly when I think of the total fiasco Interview With the Vampire (AND Queen of the Damned too) was. TOM CRUISE AS LESTAT????? :confused:


I may still wish that I never saw Interview With a Vampire but I managed to stay away from Queen of the Damned. The reviews for that one were very bad, I believe.
If they ever do film another Anne Rice book: please, guys...think hard about it and choose your actors wisely.
I've said it before but this Interview With a Vampire fiasco made me so grateful to Peter Jackson. I really was scared that the same thing would happen as with Rice's books (my very own wonderful Lestat being replaced in my mind by a poor version of him). Thanks so much to PJ and to the script writers, the actors,...
The amazing thing is that film!Frodo is not the same as book!Frodo but both are loved by me. Because one is not the poor version of the other. Both are intriguing and interesting. Thanks again, Elijah. :)

I still enjoy going to Tom Cruise's movies, though. He has found his 'niche' in Hollywood. so, stay in your niche, Tom. Please? Much more enjoyable. Thanks

Btw, I always find it weird...the way you have to write titles in English, using a lot of capital letters (on the main words). Any idea why that is?

Now, every Wednesday night HBO Asia showcases a movie by the 'superstar' of the week. And this week's superstar is ... Elijah Wood!!!. :D

http://www.hboasia.com/browse/details.jsp;jsessionid=C05C9E2DB6A99FBCD9E42700FFD3E31A?id=1498&curCountry=65

I could have opted for another movie, but then Mr HBO Voice wouldn't be able to intone, (paraphrasing) "Before he was Frodo, Elijah Wood was swimming with dolphins ... " :p :D :D ;)

I'll add my aye of admiration for the talented Max Pirkis (M&C) and Thomas Sangster (Love Actually), especially for the former - M&C was the first acting job he'd ever done! Those two certainly made me think that they'd give Elijah a fair run for the money if they had at all happened to be in the same age group.

I could have opted for another movie, but then Mr HBO Voice wouldn't be able to intone, (paraphrasing) "Before he was Frodo, Elijah Wood was swimming with dolphins ... "
Even HBO can make mistakes, eh? :p :

Spending a summer on your own by the sea in Florida can be boring. But when your uncle is a wild one it's different, as Elijah Wood (Pleasantville) finds out. And when he is befriended by a super-intelligent dolphin, the summer will never be the same again.
Guess they wanted to remind him of "the one that got away" :rolleyes: :rolleyes: .

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

Later Edit: Thinking about Pleasantville and, especially, Rushmore--which was a part he really wanted, and looking at his history up to that point, I'm not too surprised that Elijah didn't get cast. He hadn't had a "mature" lead at that point except uh... Flipper... He wasn't a little kid anymore in The War, but he was still a kid. He'd done great work in The Ice Storm, but he didn't have to carry the movie. His other post-kid films were a mixed bag. If a casting director was just looking at his record, and perhaps gave him a "traditional" audition, I can see how he could have been overlooked.

It makes sense that he'd do better with "non-traditional" auditions: a 5-hour lunch ;) or, even better, a videotape of him in costume being the character; IIRC, that's exactly how Elijah described his LotR audition tape--that it showed him being Frodo. That's the key, IMVHO. He doesn't act characters, he becomes them. I'd think that would be terribly hard to get across in a typical line-reading or a normal audition for a part. He had to get to a point in his career where people knew what he could do.

Thank goodness everything about the LotR movies was unconventional enough that he could get noticed the way he did--it's in his becoming the character that the "magic" PJ was looking for comes through. And now the people who are looking for Elijah's kind of acting know where to find it (those who are looking for over-the-top scene chewing will be looking somewhere else, anyway).

IMVVHO, LotR was the breakthrough he needed--if he'd gotten cast in Moulin Rouge and passed up Frodo, he'd probably still have his small-but-faithful fan base and still be trying to convince casting directors he was capable of being the character they were looking for (and more). Every time I see one of those [often alphabetical :p ] lists of "A-list" actors in Sin City and see Elijah at the end of it, I'm reminded how grateful I am that he got that chance.

i have seen the crainberry video now!

just wondering what went on in his head looking like that?

how can a guy 14 years old play like that?it is a mystery to me
he just have to be the best and SO SO beautiful wonder what he will look
like in his 30?

think we alredy discust this but have to wonder again!!!
:) :rolleyes: :p ;)

edit: just have to right my wrong spelling

Whoah, Honey! SCORE! Such nice friends you have!

Yeah, I know! :D I wouldn't have dreamed to ask her to do such a thing! I was just thrilled she got to meet him! And then the autograph, too! Whoah! doesn't nearly cover it!

That's the key, IMVHO. He doesn't act characters, he becomes them.
Oh, yes! He amazes me that his body language is so different for each character; the little country gentleman that was Frodo, the gangling 13-year-old that was Stu, the bumbling graceless Patrick...You can't do that reading lines, and that body language is a good quantity of the 'magic.'

I've been indulging in speculation about what JSF's body language will be? Perhaps a scholarly stoop, the actual article being one of those ivy league types. For the Hooligan perhaps a confident swagger. For Kevin, a skulking slouch? Whatever, I'm sure he will imbue each character with a life all his own.

Wood, I just saw "Ridiculous Thoughts," both cuts, for the first time last night. You're right, the emotion is so raw it's palpable.

Oh, and the HBO mistake; do a search on Elijah Wood and Tobey Maguire and you'll find an article where both TM and his agent were quite irritated at people mistaking TM for Elijah! :rolleyes: :lol: :lol:

Well, off to empty my closet so the plumbers can work tomorrow. If I get it done in good time, I think I'll go to the cheap theater to see ESOTSM again! It's buck-fifty Tuesday! Yay!

Honey!

I'm happy Elijah's being recognized as the true superstar he really is! Even if it's thereupon demonstrated by his super swimming-with-dolphin-star abilities. :) :D


It's interesting how much tastes and opinions differ..... I had very low expectations for Cruise's Lestat, but I thought he did a very good and chillingly convincing job in the role (just like Anne Rice thought, if I remember correctly). While Antonio Banderas' and Brad Pitt's respective vampires were quite uninspired and even annoying in their roles, IMO.


I've recently returned from the London hoot, where I met fellow Facultier Lady Wendy! :) Really wish I could meet other Faculty members, too - hooting is *great*..... While there, I got to see some photos from that UK con a while ago where Elijah attended and signed autographs. The pics just reinforced to me how very kind and attentive he is when it comes to his fans. :)


Tolkien-nut that I am, the yet unseen work of Elijah's that I'm absolutely looking forward to the most, is the extended Frodo scenes in the RotK EE DVD. Europanya just posted about this in her LJ after having seen actual clips at Comic-con, and of course, my expectations skyrocketed. Several great F&S scenes are in the offing..... including: (I'll not start throwing spoilers about, left right and center, but I *have* to mention this one, which made me squee!!

ROTK EE DVD spoiler!
*
*
*
*
*



That scene from the trailer, where Frodo is leaning his head tiredly on Sam's shoulder at night in Mordor, is in the EE! And it has Sam looking up, and seeing the star that gives him comfort and hope! :) :) :)

.....While Antonio Banderas' and Brad Pitt's respective vampires were quite uninspired and even annoying in their roles, IMO.
That movie was the first time I'd laid eyes on Antonio Banderas, and... uhhh... I didn't really notice his acting :p :rolleyes: . But he sure looked nice in those costumes ;) .


Several great F&S scenes are in the offing.....
Thanks for saying that. After reading the ComicCon reports at testosterone-run AICN, I didn't think there'd be much new material of F&S at all. Although there's one SFX-full scene with Aragorn that I "got" to read a description of several times :rolleyes: . Now I feel like I have something to look forward to :) .

"Ridiculous Thoughts," both cuts, for the first time last night. You're right, the emotion is so raw it's palpable.

What is this? A music video? Is it available in the US? Is there a clip online anywhere that I can see?

~grumpyandtryingtocatchup

Grumpy, luv, I'll PM you the link. It's at that place we're not allowed to mention! sshhhh

As for Antonio Banderas, yeah....but still...Elijah as Armand...yeah. Gee, I'm just totally articulate today, ain't I? :lol:

A total tangential post (forgive me):

Daughter told me this morning she had a dream that there was a "Frodo" retrospective on television. Not Elijah, but Frodo. So I said--what? Three whole movies? :rolleyes: She said no--there were all sorts of shows Frodo was in, as himself. Frodo in a Star Trek episode. Dressed in a Star Trek uniform. Frodo in the final frontier...

I'm sorry, but the idea made me laugh. How about Frodo in Bonanza? Or Frodo guesting as himself on the Tonight Show? How about on That 70's Show?

Sorry, ladies...but I guess I'm going to miss seeing that hobbit after the last EE. Be a good reason to see the next Star Wars movie if hobbits played into the picture ;)

But bringing this post back onto topic--a little. I finally saw Spiderman 2. I had hopes because of the trailer, which I really thought was borrowing from the mood of LotRs. The music in the trailer was very evocative in the style of Lotrs trilogy, and there is huge focus on the sensitive hero's sacrifice of self. I felt it intentionally played on that theme, knowing it to have worked in Lotrs. Yes I know it's in the comic book. But still......

Anyway, as much as I usually like Tobey, his suffering just wasn't as interesting as Frodo's-- he didn't bring the same sort of soul to his angst that Elijah could bring to Frodo's. Possibly it was because I just couldn't feel a lot of chemistry with the characters...maybe I wasn't in a very good mood. But I found myself, like Honey did, thinking about how much more heartwrenching Elijah could make that role. But I do like Tobey...so this doesn't mean to be a knock. I was just rather disappointed. I wanted to like it and really be distracted for awhile. It was fine...but I wasn't overly impressed.

It's weird because in a way Spiderman is certainly a different role for Tobey--an action hero and all. Nonetheless, it really didn't seem to be a departure in the personality of the character. I didn't see the first one, so I may be wrong, but Peter Parker seems like Tobey. So it doesn't really seem like he is playing variety. Not that someone always has to. People are often cast according to how something in them is like the role. Playing to that strength. So it was good casting. But when I think of Elijah taking on the part in The Hooligans, or Kevin in Sin City, I guess I can really tell he is deliberately going out to show his range as an actor. He is being very strategic--not about the money aspect, or trying to get BIG roles. But to showcase his acting abilitites. Pretty smart, it seems...

I'm sorry, but the idea made me laugh. How about Frodo in Bonanza? Or Frodo guesting as himself on the Tonight Show? How about on That 70's Show?
Hey, sounds like a whole new area of fanfic to me :p !

If he was on the Tonight Show, it could even provide a context for one of the oldest LotR jokes around. It's not difficult at all to imagine Jay Leno asking, "So, Frodo, except for the Ring, how was your trip?"

We've already gotten a taste of Frodo's version of Laverne and Shirley! (Even though I love Todd, my favorite image from that entire SNL program is Frodo--in full TTT garb--drinking coffee from a Farside mug :D :D ).

Oh, that reminds me... I heard this morning that Al Sharpton's going to be hosting SNL this coming Saturday. I'm not sure if it's a re-run, although that's pretty likely, considering Rev. Sharpton is speaking at the Democratic convention this week, which would make SNL rehearsal difficult ;) . Anyway, he hosted the week before Elijah, so if they're showing re-runs in order I suppose we should pay attention to the schedule. -- Of course, they might be showing Rev. Sharpton's program because of the convention. Now that he's no longer a Presidential candidate, the stations that pre-empted the live program because of equal time worries wouldn't have any reason not to show it.

...But when I think of Elijah taking on the part in The Hooligans, or Kevin in Sin City, I guess I can really tell he is deliberately going out to show his range as an actor. He is being very strategic--not about the money aspect, or trying to get BIG roles. But to showcase his acting abilitites. Pretty smart, it seems...
I think that sometimes I must give the "If you're interested in that, you may like this" computer at Amazon.com whiplash :D -- all because I'm tracking Elijah-related stuff. Got some really interesting suggestions :eek: after I did a search on Frank Miller's books. Quite a switch going from that directly to Everthing is Illuminated--now, after that, the computer came up with some books I might actually want to read :p . I'm curious about how long it will be before the page for EII-the-book starts listing books related to Elijah's movies--IIRC, Robert Cormier's Bumblebee popped up there once not as a recommendation but under "People who shopped for that also shopped for this."

A reading list as eclectic as Elijah's filmography is a rare thing, I'd guess. :)

What is this? A music video?
~grumpyandtryingtocatchup

Thanks for the PM, A! I watched it - it's hard because it's so tiny and if I make it bigger than it's blurry.

I have this sense of deja-vu that I've seen it before. I don't know when I would have, though.

14, huh? I wonder if PJ watched it when trying to decide on Frodo? If that isn't a range of emotions, I don't know what is. (another "one expression"?)

I've mentioned before how sometimes intensely emotional scenes are difficult to watch because I feel like I'm intruding on the person's soul. I think this fits that description.

~grumpy

Just stopping by to say Hello

I don't have anything to add....except maybe to say that Spiderman 2 might best be appreciated by seeing the first movie. I think the chemistry between MJ and Peter Parker is more apparent when you see where the first movie left off. Although I do agree...Tobey Maguire seems very much like Peter Parker in RL so probably not a big acting stretch for him.

True confession time here. I wasn't going to post at all :D

Just a shameless excuse to see my very first signature :eek:

P.S. Just saw on my google alert a woman was arrested today for stalking Elijah in the Czeck republic. Anybody else got details :mad:
It certainly is eerie given the signature I chose before I read that report :confused:

(((ylla))) Great reason to post--great sig line!!

And I like Tobey...I probably shouldn't have said anything. I was in a mood. ;)


And ylla, how is your husband??

(Even though I love Todd, my favorite image from that entire SNL program is Frodo--in full TTT garb--drinking coffee from a Farside mug ).

Me too, TG :cool: :D

EDIT because Ylla and I are simulposting. I think there are some details about the stalking in the Hugs Haven thread.

Me too, TG :cool: :D
Well, then, since there's obviously a groundswell of support ;) :

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/tgshaw/CoE/24.jpg

from Alyon:
I think there are some details about the stalking in the Hugs Haven thread.

There are. But it may be worth repeating them here. Several sites (I see it's finally reached the English ones - it's been Czech [Pravo was the first], German, Spanish and Portuguese so far!) report that Elijah had to call in the police a week or so ago to protect him from a woman who has been following him everywhere for two years! Apparently she found the set where he was filming EII in Beroun (west of Prague) and pestered him non-stop. She refused to leave him in peace when he asked her to, so the police had to be called to keep her away.
My feeling was that, for Elijah to have to resort to calling the police, that must have been some stalker. We know how incredibly patient and kind he usually is to fans - it apparently took two years of stalking before he finally lost his cool.
One site said she was deported, but I doubt the police would go that far - they just expelled her from the set and issued an injunction, I expect. But whatever happened, I do hope she finally got the message (and won't now hate Elijah).

There's quite a thread in the Hugs Haven about fandom in general (there's also a lot about Franka, who was quoted by Whiteling recently as admitting how much the relationship with Elijah knocked her off her feet, and the apparent new girlfriend, in case anyone is interested ;)). But it does look as if Elijah's fascination for fans is reaching epic proportions. People seem to get totally addicted to him (of course, the Faculty wouldn't know anything about that, would we? :)), particularly after seeing him in the flesh (and that's something I can sympathise with). There are so many accounts from all kinds of people about how extraordinary he is in real life - so much more so even than in the photographs. Some people actually say that seeing him changed their lives.

Not sure why, but I find it almost frightening. And not just because I hope he will be able to continue leading a halfway normal life when he isn't at film festivals or fan gatherings - he's always said how important that is to him. And I hope it will help rather than hinder his career.

EDIT: Tg, I just LOVE that cap. The whole sketch is adorable (even when you don't know the original sitcom - never seen it!). Thanks :k

The whole sketch is adorable (even when you don't know the original sitcom - never seen it!).
It's one of the funniest things I've ever seen--and IMHO it was also a stroke of genius, whether it came from Elijah, the SNL crew, or (most likely) a combination of both. It was broadcast four days before RotK opened and, let's face it, most people knew Elijah from LotR, so it was going to have to be referred to at some point during the show. That reference could very easily have been a really bad LotR parody skit. Instead, it put the characters (with some of their recognizable foibles--the refrigerator full of fish :D ) into a completely different, bizarre setting with room for tons of hilarious incongruities (Frodo and Gollum playing a computer game together, Gollum hitchhiking with his guitar slung on his back--and can't forget that Farside mug).

It also brought back a fan favorite in the previous cast member who played Gollum--he'd "done" Gollum before on the program, so when it was announced that Elijah was going to host, the first response on the SNL fan sites was, "Maybe they'll bring Chris back so he can play Gollum!" Which is exactly what they did, also putting him in some other skits. That was really a plus for the regular SNL viewers and built up some good anticipation for the program. It "cheated" Elijah out of having a real monologue, but hopefully there will be another chance for that :) . From my couple of weeks of lurking on SNL fan sites before and after the show, I can say it would have been a huge disappointment to them if Chris hadn't shown up, which wouldn't have helped their acceptance of Elijah.

And it worked in large part because of Elijah (well, of course). He pulled off a parody of himself playing a parody of a character he'd played seriously, at the same time coming up with an entirely new "personality" for the merger. I haven't seen one person say they felt it was "disrespectful" to Frodo in any way. It very possibly could have been if not done right, but it was so obvious that this wasn't Frodo we were seeing on the screen (the "Elijah Wood as Frodo" line was one of the biggest incongruities--and got a good laugh).

Absolutely a hit--with Elijah fans, LotR fans, and SNL fans all at once, which isn't an easy crowd to please.

report that Elijah had to call in the police a week or so ago to protect him from a woman who has been following him everywhere for two years! Apparently she found the set where he was filming EII in Beroun (west of Prague) and pestered him non-stop. She refused to leave him in peace when he asked her to, so the police had to be called to keep her away.

:eek: How awful! I'm once again reminded of the class and consideration that ppl here have shown when encountering, limping by, or nearly being run over by said Lad, and not intruding on his privacy.

I wonder if he knows how many people see him, hyperventilate, and just keep going?

:::: sniffle ::::

I love you guys! :k

~grumpy

i have to say this! seing elijah on the screen, in interwies or on tv
is a joy and i have to say he have change me in a way i can`t
describe. ihope you guyes not think i`m crasy in anyway :rolleyes:
i have talk about this in here before (i think :p )

i mean sitting in the sofa or what ever and just watch him or listen to him
oh :p :D
he is magic in a way i can`t describe but he has a way of toughing people
i realy hope this isent going to change becuse of this crasy,crasy girls
he is magic in his acting ,his beautiful face. its something very specil about him.i have been reading in here that people who have seen him in real life
sade he is nothing like in the pics and what ever it is(in a good way i mean)
i guess i woud just faint if i saw him,wich would never happend :(


ihope you all understands even if i am totaly crasy about him i know when
to stop!!!!! i only write my feelings in here and you are the only ones who knows how i feel for him
not in my wildes dream i would go around and stocking him and do other crasy things!!! :confused:

love you all for being so totaly understanding for me :k :k :k :k

Perhaps my thoughts belong over in Hugs Haven but since I always hang out and post here (only early this morning did I make my first post there) here goes :)

My Mom used to have premonitions...she thought I had the same gift(although sometimes it's a curse)
For the past week I have wrestled with what my signature should be.
Since I read a lot and have kind of a literary background (my Dad was a writer) I was thinking of using a line from one of my favorite books (most likely Martian Chronicles...as that's where my screen name comes from)
But
for some reason Sheryl Crow's "Safe and Sound" kept going thru my head.

I'm glad I chose that....because everytime I post now...maybe the shear force of that message will give him a little bit of the Safety he so deserves.

I don't want him lonely...or scared
I want him surrounded by loving friends (like us)

And most of all I want him Safe and Sound :z:

EDIT after ylla's simulpost:
ylla, that's a really beautiful sig. And so right just now.

from wood:
i guess i woud just faint if i saw him,wich would never happend

Aw, wood, never give up hope! I never thought I'd see him either - particularly when I went and crippled myself the morning after he arrived in KV :rolleyes: . But all ended well :). And I was saved from being tempted to join the fans permanently outside the hotel (couldn't move far enough!). Am really glad about that in retrospect - he was under such pressure there that I'd have hated to add to it. Did I mention that he had to escape through the hotel kitchen in order to go swimming without being watched by hundreds of fans? Or that his friends had to shield him from the video cameras while he was in the hotel café? Or how fed up he was when he returned from the press conference? (see Hugs Haven thread)

love you all for being so totaly understanding for me

Believe me, we understand! :k

from grumpy:
nearly being run over by said Lad

What a way to go! :lol:

from Tg:
IMHO it was also a stroke of genius, whether it came from Elijah, the SNL crew, or (most likely) a combination of both .........
And it worked in large part because of Elijah (well, of course). He pulled off a parody of himself playing a parody of a character he'd played seriously, at the same time coming up with an entirely new "personality" for the merger.

The way he did it was SO clever and - sniff - adorable. That crazy wig! And the refrigerator full of fish! And the hitchhiking scene! And and and. I just wish the file was small enough to email to friends - I dare not link them to the sites I've seen it on :eek:
Has anyone seen - or managed to produce - a clip that includes only the Frodo/Gollum in Denver part (and so is possibly small enough to email)? If so, I'd be eternally grateful for a copy ... gets into begging mode ....

thanks serena!!!fore being so understanding :k

did he realy have do all this things?lucky him that he has his friends with him!!!
the more i hear about this things the more i feel sorry for him :( :(
i realy hope that he dosent think all who loves him is the same like those crasy ones
in here at least we respect him for what he is and what he does in
private and in busnisse!!!
i realy hope he knows that all fans are not alike if you know what i mean!!

i hope the magic and his closeness with the fans remains!!!! :z: :z:

i have done a few posts alredy today (my husband isent home and he wont be home untill later tonight,so maybe there will be a few more :D )

edit:is there anybody who knows something about his movies hi is doing now?
( on-topic :lol: )

edit2:i have been writing a letter to elijah about all this i will write a copy here
before i send it becuse i took the liberty to right on the behalf of us all
i hop you don`t mind and kick me out!!!

here it comes!!!!!
dear elijah!!!
i just whant you to know that we are many ladys out in the big
world who thinks a lot about what have been happend to you laetly.
And we all hope that you will be okej!! We all love you and hope that your
closenes with your fans will reamains.we know that you are awere of that we
are many who loves you for what you are both in personal and in busnisse thow we are many who never have hade the joy of meeting you it sometimes feels like we realy know you!!Not in a long shot are your fans like this crasy girls who been stocking you or throw nasty pictures in you face!
I don`t expect you to answer this but if you do i would be more then happy!!

ALL THE BEST FROM A GRUPP OF TRUE FANS!!!

if there is some one out there who don`t whant me to send this
i WILL NOT DO SO!!!!!!

i realy hope that he dosent think all who loves him is the same like those crasy ones
in here at least we respect him for what he is and what he does in
private and in busnisse!!!
i realy hope he knows that all fans are not alike if you know what i mean!!

Wood, I am convinced that the love and respect and appreciation of fans (like us) is finding its way to him howsoever. Loving thoughts and positive energy is never wasted or lost in the universe. So much these annoying incidents lately must've bother him, the support and love he is getting is also an active energy. And that is an encouraging thought :) .
And I'll sign your letter anytime!
Ylla - your sig is certainly a very good mantra :)


I don't know if Rikka is still with us -

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RIKKA!
Hope it's a great one :) ! http://fool.exler.ru/sm/kuku.gif (I think, this smilie cokoos in Russian)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIKKA!!! :k

AND THANKS WHITELING FOR THE SUPORT! :k

Just a flying visit to say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RIKKA!!!

Rikka's Birthday Gif(t) (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/Rikka.gif)

Wherever you are, have a lovely day!

Happiest of birthdays, Rikka!


Wood, I wouldn't worry so much. Elijah's been in the business since he was a kid - and he seems a very levelheaded, sensible person. I think he knows that most of his fans are decent appreciative and enthusiastic people, and he also knows very well the "stalker" risks that go with his profession and with taking on a high-profile role like the lead in LotR. By contacting the police he's proven he knows what to do when something seems it may be getting out of hand. I'm certain he's wise enough to be cautious and have sufficient security on hand. That probably means he'll be less visible and accessible to fans in future, which is a pity, but much better that than seeing him take unneccessary risks, of course.


Ooooh - lovely gif(t), Blossom! Hope your husband is doing better! :)

I watched "Pleasantville" on tv last night and realized why people confuse Toby Maguire and Elijah Wood. Both are handsome dudes who have such beautiful blue eyes (Toby's eyes are smokier and sometimes look brown ;) )

There were several scenes in "Pleasantville" that could easily been pulled off by Elijah Wood, such as when Toby says, (I won't repeat it here) in response to the boy saying, "Take your Colored girl home." (Very funny when We remember that People thought differently in 1959). I could see Elijah saying the same thing with a Very Cold Stare. :eek:

I find it funny that "Pleasantville" was meantioned on the discription of "Flipper." Does this mean that Toby should have done "Flipper" and Elijah do "Pleasantville?" Imagine that! You don't see "Spiderman" and in parenthesis "LOTR" as in Toby does Frodo do You? I wonder why? :D I also wonder if River Phoenix (remember him?) could pull off Frodo, or would he have been too old too? Just a thought. :D

Elijah's new girlfriend made me think of Portaguese Barbie doll in that dress. He's standing next to her. Is the fake caption, "At last, someone Smaller than Me!" idea came from? Or was it the other pic where she has a skirt on, and he has a cheessy smile and he's standing behind her? :lol: He looks so happy, I hope he is, and they make a better looking couple than him and Franka, don't They? :confused: Well I THINK so. :D :haha:

Orignally quoted by Maeglian:
Ooooh - lovely gif(t), Blossom! Hope your husband is doing better!

Thanks so much for asking, Maeg. He's actually back in hospital at the moment - for the fourth time in as many weeks - hence me only de-lurking now and again.

Like you, I also hope Elijah won't be too 'freaked out' by his recent 'fan' experiences. He has such a great relationship with his fans, the majority of whom appear very respectful - it would be such a shame (though understandable) if he felt compelled to put a greater distance between himself and the public - it would inevitably be his 'real' fans who suffered. At the end of the day Elijah's personal safety is the most important thing.

naiad - that Caradhras gif is from the FOTR Extended Edition Extras.

Happy Birthday Rikka :cool:

Blossom...all my positive energy towards your husband's recovery...my thoughts are with you.. as you know my hubby's been ill also and we'll probably be going back into the hospital soon for surgery.. so I know well what you're going thru :k

Wood...you are a true spirit...your love and goodness shines thru in every post you make...send your letter I'm sure it will be appreciated. I know whenever I read what you write... you always make me smile! :) :) :)

Thanks to Alyon..Serena...and Whiteling for the positive feedback on my sig :k

What is the big whoop about being listed at the bottom of A list actors on the set of "Sin City?" should Elijah Wood be at the top?

Should the A listers all line up and be grateful he is working with them? LOL. Imagine that. :eek:

Oops...I'm a little late.
Rikka, are you still there? Lurking perhaps?
In any case:

Have a great new year in your life, Rikka. I hope you had a wonderful birthday
http://smile.smilies.nl/509.gif

I was just wondering in the last couple days where Rikka has been, and I get online and it's her birthday. I hope you're still around and lurking, Rikka. Happy Birthday!!

To both ylla and blossom, best wishes for each of your husbands!! Our thoughts are with you!! I'm glad to see you both are able to drop in to see us occassionally. Please take care of yourselves.


Wood, you have nice thoughts, I'm sure they will reach Elijah. :)

TG--that pic is adorable!! Thanks for posting it. It's really good for a smile. :k

Serena, thanks for the info from the czech paper. We are lucky to have such excellent reporters in the Faculty!!

thanks to you all!!!

i hope my love dosen`t show to much and that it
will be a burden to you all
okej i will send the letter if there isen``t any objection for it
i guess my love shines throw becuse i know i am with friends :lol:
maybe i am a worryed soul for people i realy care for :k
maybe i am one of the surrogats aunti :D

anyway i will say it again LOVE YOU ALL
MY DEAR FRIENDS!!!!

What is the big whoop about being listed at the bottom of A list actors on the set of "Sin City?" should Elijah Wood be at the top?

I think it was probably alphabetical. He's last on the LOTR cast listing too, in the credits list.

I think it was probably alphabetical. He's last on the LOTR cast listing too, in the credits list.

Yes, which I tried to say in my original post (which I suppose is the "big whoop" being referred to :confused: ? ), but guess it got lost among other things (not unusual with my posts-- ;) ):
Every time I see one of those [often alphabetical :p ] lists of "A-list" actors in Sin City and see Elijah at the end of it, I'm reminded how grateful I am that he got that chance.
Shoulda just stayed with saying I was grateful to see him in the list and not tried to make it into a joke :rolleyes: .


In the end credits of one or two of the LotR movies--I'd have to recheck to know which one(s)--it worked out quite nicely, as there was an "odd" number of cast members, so Elijah's name got centered at the bottom. :)

In the end credits of one or two of the LotR movies--I'd have to recheck to know which one(s)--it worked out quite nicely, as there was an "odd" number of cast members, so Elijah's name was centered at the bottom. :)

IIRC, it's Fellowship.

hallo!!

i thought that they alwayes hade alphabetical order
in the cast list this is something i took for grantid!!
and for elijah being cast in sin city makes me very happy i have long to
see him in a dark scary caracter!
any news one this one,when the subjekt is up? :rolleyes:

i don`t think things gets lost in your posts tg!! :)
i think they are great and i getting better,better
to read and understand all posts in here!!
(but my spelling is no good,its a wonder you can read them) :(

ylla,blossom i hope your husbands are feeling better!!!!
rikka were are?are you here lurking?

Hi, Faculty!
I have to share with you what I just found during a google search on the name "Elijah" - nice "Happy Feet" related material :D . It comes from a site which presents pupils' works of an American Elementary School. Apparently a little schoolboy called Elijah wrote down his complete knowledge regarding penguins (he is really an expert).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/I_know_penguins.jpg

:D ;)

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

And today we have another birthday child!

Happy Birthday, estella rose! :) Have a lovely day, wherever you are.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/carminrosewatercplour.jpg


P.S. Blossom and Ylla, fingers crossed for the complete recovery of your husbands!

happy birthday estella rose!!!! :k :k

A bit quiet in here.

I followed the stalker incident over in the hugs haven. Weird stuff.
However, I'm sure (and hope) that Elijah is well taken care of by those who are responsible of his security. Plus, by being in the movie industry for quite some time and growing up in it, I guess that he has a bit of experience in dealing with all sorts of people.
It reminded me of a couple of stories I have read about 'fan' encounters (if you can call them that).

I hope I remember this one correctly (feel free to correct me if I'm not)
In one interview, he was talking about a girl who managed to track down where he lived (his mum's house). Day after day, the girl just stood there, watching the house. So, after a while...Elijah just walked up to her (!) and started a conversation with her to find out her motives. The girl was insecure, had a bit of problems in her life (whatever they were...typical teenage problems or more?) and she seemed to be convinced that Elijah would be the solution, would be a positive force in her life.
He tried to tell her in a friendly and diplomatic way that standing in front of his home was not a solution and that she needed her own friends and family in her life to help her get through difficult times. I think (but I'm not sure) that he also advised her to have a good talk with a therapist or somebody like that.
(I'm paraphrasing this of course).
The interviewer replied something like: You just went to her and talked to her? You're too trustworthy. (that was not the word he used but it was something like this).

Another one (I read this in the TORN message board)
In 2002, he was walking in the streets (in California somewhere) with a friend of his. He was just telling his friend how relieved he was that the LOTR exposure hadn't changed his life that much and that he doesn't have to deal with the crazy stuff connected with fame. Right at that moment, a girl shrieked...jumped him and started kissing him on the mouth.
:D Weird stuff! (that's also something he told in an interview)

Anyway...getting a bit on topic now in The Faculty:
Found this interview with somebody who worked in The Yank:
Paul goes back to café after finding fellowship with Elijah
By Siobhan Lismore

A caf owner has returned to his day job after filming with Elijah Wood in new Brit flick The Yank.

The Hollywood star, who played Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, even came to Paul Row's wedding after the pair made friends on set.

Paul, who owns Caf in the Park in Coulsdon Memorial Park, was surprised when his friend telephoned him and asked him if he fancied taking part in a film about his beloved West Ham.

Paul's friend was working as a security guard on the set of the football flick last year when he was approached by renowned director Lexi Alexander.

Despite the film's £6.5m budget, Paul said that Elijah was very down to earth and had no airs and graces about him.

Marc Warren, who played Danny Blue in TV series Hustle and also stars in the film was described as "quite obnoxious" by the caf owner.

Paul of Marlpit Lane said: "Elijah's door was open all the time, even if he was filming we would go into his caravan.

The 38-year-old added: "He even came to my wedding reception. I invited him along and he spoke to loads of my mates. He got on great with everyone and was always up for a laugh."
Source: Croydon Guardian
Link to the article (there's a small picture of Paul and Eijah) (http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.514328.0.paul_goes_back_to_caf_after_finding_fellowship_with_elijah.php)

Happy birthday to Estella Rose, and Rikka! And you too, Serena, belatedly because I think I missed it while I was heading for Seattle.

And welcome belatedly to Chattegrise, who brings lovely things! Did I spell that right? Am I betraying some horrible ignorance that should be remedied post-haste when I say I don't understand why everyone is swooning for your name?

Wood, your letter was very sweet. Stick a hug in the envelope from me! :)

And Moondancer, thank you for the reminder that Elijah has been at this a long time, and won't fall apart and start declaring "I vant to be alone!"

Edit: I forgot to say Ylla, that I love your sig-line! I'm going to find something like it to put in mine too, as a way to send lovely positive thoughts to our favorite "surrogate nephew!"

Honey!

I CAN`T BELIVE THIS THE OTHER GIRL CRASYER
THEN THE OTHER!!! :(

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THERE HEADS?NOTHING I SOPOSE!! :confused:

I AM GLADE WE DON`T GOING AROUND AN DOING STUFF LIKE THAT
IT SEMS LIKE MAYBE WE ARE NOT CRASY AFTER ALL! IF YOU KNOW WHAT
I MEAN :lol: :lol: (take this the right way please,its a joke :k )

i agree with you moondancer!it is a bit quiet in here
wonder were everybody is??

Dear Faculty ladies!
Thank you for your kind BD wishes and congrats! :k I appreciate.
Whiteling, this smilie really cokoos in Russian :) Blossom, your gif(t) is so nice!

I'm so sorry I have now no opportunity to take part in your discussion... :( I'm so busy in RL that have no time for anything, but work.
But anyway I don't forget you, and try to take any chance to read the thread, at least. My best wishes to the Faculty!

The EiI Yahoo group is turning up some wonderful reports from people working on EiI. This one is from a lady who worked for awhile as an extra.... As usual we see Elijah as the wonderful, intelligent, kind, adorable man we know he is.

" Hello Everybody from this group!

I haven't posted anything yet, apart from this little incidence where I got to know some nice guy and then found out it was actually the best friend of Jonathan Foers brother... the world is so small. because: it was in Prague! Well, I haven't popped in very often and just can't follow all your emails, you have so many lovely conversations! But where do you take the time to read them??
Ok, because I felt I could lift the one or other mystery about the shooting, the cast and so on I feel I MUST write you now. And my friend who was there, too, said, I should. I was an extra on the set a while ago. I have done this before, and always find it interesting. You get to know so many nice people.
Right, so: where can I start?
Alex is defenitely played by this singer called Hutz. The producer said he was an awesome actor, given that he'd never done it before. He wasn't in our scene, because that was one of those that take place in America. There are a few.

The dog (sammy d.) is definitely in the movie. I heard Liev Schreiber asking Elijah if he had met the "actor", actually "actress" before (the dog). He said: "I did, it's actually two girls, they are so sweet", so that's clear, Sammy is played by two (very well trained - said Liev when I asked if it is possible at all with the car scenes and we know all what not... :-) )sister dogs.

I also know that the historical Trachimbrod scenes are IN the movie, there is no way they are left out, although it sounded much like they were focusing on the action around the Nazi invasion of the towns. My friend from that day spoke of shooting scenes (in sense of shooting down people here) where they actually had very good extras doing the "being-shot-and-falling-to-the-ground-action" which I think must be hard to act out)

Then---let me think-- yea, the Hitler-mystery: Well he might be appearing at different points in the movie as a vision of Jonathan, as the movie has to do with the Nazi history. In this scene we were in (funeral of grandmother of Jonathan, also a thing that isn't in the bood) Jonathan at a certain point turns round to face the audience (us) and sees all those famous people of the past among us. When he turns back he sees the rabbi that has suddenly turned to Hitler. It was amazing, they really filmed it right there, with the rabbi actor being dressed as Hitler, very authentic. He did an astonishing job, spoke with a German accent. Which is, of course, not hard for him, he is a good actor and well-known British comedy star. Those guys have this certain talent. The rabbi was just as believable! Someone I got friends with, too, did the part of the rabbi's assistant. He had to act, but not to speak. He was a very jewish-looking extra.

With our scene, the black suit and tie (which OF COURSE he wore there, too) of Elijah Wood's costume did really go well.
This scene, Liev said, was the entrance scene of the film, so, might be that parting from there, he doesn't take it of throughout the film. It would be very odd, though, yea.

Elijah is a real awesome boy. I say boy, because he seemed so young! NOT from what he said though! I have hardly ever heard someone talking so maturely, thoughtfully and intelligent. (excuse my english..) I chatted to him for quite a while. The costume doesn't really make him prettier.. He is good-looking, he is!! How bad I couldn't see him without it. He is wearing these "forbidden-looking" glasses, that make his eyes somewhat big.
Liev was very nice but at the same time very director. He was a little bossy and looking around the extra crowd with a serious _expression. But he and Elijah could work very well together. It was very much WORK though, the whole shooting. Sometimes Elijah would flip out of his calmness and modesty (..?) just a little little bit and say or do something funny.

Elijah got good friends with the still fotographer (he is a young sympatheticly looking guy from maybe Britain or Ireland), he talked to him a lot on the set. I think his back was on one foto that I saw you had in the photo section. The light designer (who occasionally does the camera too, was very good (one of the best there is, I heard) and very busy on the set, with clouds coming and going all the time). The Personal assistant ... I saw her too. No memory of anything odd.

I think I have wrote a long email..
don't want to bother you too long, other time more..

Take care, all,
Elisa"


:k :)

videoeta.com reports that Radio Flyer DVD will be available Oct 12. No other info, and the usual sources (IMDB, amazon, etc) don't show it yet. hmmmm...

OOOH! Does really happy dance! RF is my favorite "babyLij" film -- that's great news, chattegrise. BTW, I got Paradise (without Lij's name on the front, but it does say "Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings)" on the back blurb!) and Oliver Twist on DVD today. I had ordered them a couple of months ago and they were just released this past week. Also, btw, a great source for DVDs is www.deepdiscountdvd.com -- no shipping charges and very good prices.

This girl that stalked him for two years?

Why did it take so long for him to do something?

I had a horrible thought that this girl was possibly the Redhead in the picture of Elijah and Franka that looks nautious as they are passing by, or she might just be a stray person in the picture. :confused:

Two Years? :confused: Does this mean that she was around when Elijah had to go do pick ups for TT and took Franka along? :eek:

Think about it!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, RIKKA! Sorry about the lateness. And it's great to hear from you again, even if only for a second or two!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ESTELLA ROSE!

Moondancer, what a great little article! Thanks :k
Very, very interesting. Will do Elijah's UK reputation no end of good.
And the comment about the other guy .... interesting too, in the light of what else we've heard.

Following all this stalker stuff, I thought you might like to hear from a different kind of fan. Here's a translation of part of an article by someone called Michaela - definitely not a teenager - from the Czech LOTR website:

Elijah Wood really surprised me. I've seen a lot of stars and was always surprised by their ordinariness, the fact that they are exactly the same as us and the same as they are on TV or in photographs. But Elijah - believe me - is not the same. I can't explain it, but it's a fact. No-one in my life has impressed me the way he did. It's not just that he doesn't look the same in real life as on TV and in pics (he just doesn't - and if you see him in the photos I took and tell yourself it's this guy you know, it's something else when he's standing a few centimetres away from you), but he's even more beautiful and more interesting. You don't notice that he's smaller than you (if you're 173 cm tall like me); you don't notice that he's still a child (no way!), as a lot of people think. He's friendly whether he feels like it or not, he's nice, he has perfect fashion sense (I think), and he exudes energy. There's just one thing that may throw you a bit - even though you've always thought you knew him intimately from documentaries, articles and interviews, when he's standing a few centimetres away from you you suddenly realise that that guy is a total stranger and you know absolutely nothing about him, have absolutely nothing in common with him and never will have. That feeling comes as a huge surprise, but I'm happy to have experienced it. Elijah Wood has something that radiates from him with incredible power, I can't describe it, you have to feel it for yourself. He's far from the only actor I like a lot, but of those I like and have seen, he's the only one who left a real impression on me and who really changed my views on a lot of things (I'm not going to explain what; you have to know me to know that). Seeing him so briefly for a few days, a few days ago, has changed a part of me for ever, and even I don't know how it's possible. I know it sounds melodramatic, and a lot of people will think I'm crazy, but I know it's simply the truth and I can't do a thing about it.

Lady Wendy, sorry I haven't got round to translating those pages you posted with Lij and the party women! Will do when I get time.

Oh Serena!! :k You should post that on TORN and let all fandom see that!!! :cool: Not every board has someone who can translate Czech for them!!


Elijah Wood has something that radiates from him with incredible power, I can't describe it, you have to feel it for yourself

This is becoming a consistent observation among different people who meet him, isn't it??? Fantastic!!

Thanks for sharing :k

One of my online friends declared after meeting him last year at C4, that he was a living work of art. I think that pretty much covers it.

I forgot to say Ylla, that I love your sig-line! I'm going to find something like it to put in mine too, as a way to send lovely positive thoughts to our favorite "surrogate nephew!"

Thanks a lot....that is extra special because it comes from my mentor :)
Honeyelf will always be special to me because she introduced me to this group :k

I have to return a moment to an earlier discussion re child actors :eek:

Today I went to see The Village (new M. Night Shyamalan film)
Ron Howard's daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, makes her screen debut in this film... OMG... she is AWESOME. She certainly is testament to acting somehow being in the genes. I remember watching her Dad as Opie Taylor. I forgot how wonderful he was as a child actor. His daughter is going to be a huge star. Try to see this film. Pay special attention to the porch scene. Talk about quiet moments being so important to a film. There are some very good performances in this film. And more importantly she is the same age as EW.
So there is potential here for her to someday act as a romantic lead for him :k
I may have to write a screenplay ;)

And thanks Hobmom for the info on EiI
We need all the latest info :k

BTW....Does anyone recognize my avatar ;)

Honeyelf will always be special to me because she introduced me to this group

Aw, Ylla! :k Your special to me, too!

And so is Alyon who introduced me to the geeky goodness that is the Faculty! :k

I told my husband about the speculation that if LoTR was made again in 20 years, Elijah would still be young enough to play Frodo. He laughed, and said "you Faculty people are so cute!" So there you have it from a man who thinks that women don't even get interesting until they are 30! :D :lol:

Hobmom, thank you for the wonderful EiI report! I'm thrilled to hear there will be scenes of Trachimbrod! And that Elijah likes his doggy co-stars! :D :cool: I have to come visit your site more often!

And Serena, another fan report of the glow/electric hum/radiance! Thank you! What a lovely reprieve from all the stalker nastiness of late! See, the positive energy thingy is workin' it's magic already!

I'm gonna go read the EiI report again, 'cause there's just so much lovely stuff in there!

Oh, Ylla, I saw The Village too! I really enjoyed it! Shyamalan's movies really appeal to the puzzle solver in me! He uses every element of the film-makers craft to such interesting effect!
Honey!

hallo girls!!lovly reports letly!!

its make me so happy to read all this good stuff
about elijah!! :)

hobmom:i lost the link to you eii site!will you send it to me please?! :k

this positive thoughts we have in here maybe he can feel our thoughts
whats the word for it??????

Thanks for that report, Serena :)
That feeling comes as a huge surprise, but I'm happy to have experienced it. Elijah Wood has something that radiates from him with incredible power, I can't describe it, you have to feel it for yourself. He's far from the only actor I like a lot, but of those I like and have seen, he's the only one who left a real impression on me and who really changed my views on a lot of things (I'm not going to explain what; you have to know me to know that). Seeing him so briefly for a few days, a few days ago, has changed a part of me for ever, and even I don't know how it's possible.
I haven't met him and the chance of me meeting him is very smal (but that's fine be me...I'll just be enjoying his movies and admire him from a distance.)
But I do enjoy reading the impressions and opinions from others who have met him.

Everytime I see such a glowing report, I always have the impression that they exaggerate a bit and I think 'He's a man of flesh and blood, he makes mistakes just like you and me...'
BUT
Then I keep on reading many of these glowing reports from fans, extra's, other actors, directors and I think 'Sure, he's a man of flesh and blood, flawed like the rest of us...but he sure seems a fine human specimen).

Just visited the Always&Forever site:
For the aussies amongst us who don't visit the A&F site:
elijah's episode of Saturday night live will finally after months of waiting air in Australia. It airs on the 14th of August at 6:30 eastern standard time on cable channel arena
And they put in a link to this site:
Elijah Wood Artwork (http://www.tiells.com/LijPencil.html)
And and it's nice to see that the artist is also a Russell Crowe fan like me :)
(there's a page with Russell drawings on the site ...although I find those drawings less succesfull as some of her Elijah Wood ones)

I love pencil work. I always enjoy working with a pencil but I don't have anywhere near the talent somebody like Whiteling has. :k


Thanks for the info, Hobmom. I am a member of that site but I rarely visit it (so many interesting sites, so little time :rolleyes: :p )
Good to see that the original Trachimbrod scenes are included.
Sometimes Elijah would flip out of his calmness and modesty (..?) just a little little bit and say or do something funny
:)
Just to ease the tension perhaps in between the hard work?

Elvish symbol for nine, ylla? How extremely :cool: ! Wheredya get it?
Hope The One Husband is still doing well.
Ditto Blossom's.

It's so nice to know that so many of us have understanding and tolerant husbands! wood, I so wish that were true of yours too.
I still get ridiculed by friends for being an Elijah fan. Haven't yet admitted that he was in the Czech Republic when I was - and so far no-one has searched the Net and found out. Hope they never do!

Alyon - OK, will do! Have never posted at TORN before and am not sure how, but it's time I caught up with it. Thanks for the tip! Wonder if Michaela (Misa) will ever read it? Maybe I should tell her ....
EDIT: maybe not after all. Just put something together and realised it doesn't fit the "tone" of TORN, which is a general LOTR fansite and not necessarily an Elijah-worship site (more's the pity)! If it were actual news, then I'd post it. Anyone else have any ideas on that?

thanks for the thought serena!!i just have to live with that
learn to sit with the computer when his not at home and watch his movies
at night when he sleeps.But things is getting a little better after the holidays
then he starts working eveningshift then i can sit all night when the kids are
at bed and nowone have to be batherd about it.

it sounds realy wrong to say this things to a bunch of people i have never
met but it is so easy to talk to you, sometimes it feels like i realy know you all
it maybe sounds crasy but it is the truth!!! :k
i don`t know what i have done if i hadent found this site!!! :(

know i am on deep water naging on about my problems!!!

its mr.beautiful we a discusion in here!!! :p

i have a kind of silly questien but a whiel a go we talkt about tatoos,anybody
remembers?
i saw rotk last night and the scean where he is prisoned
i think i saw his felowship tatooat the leftside just abow his pants
but i am not sure is it anybody else whpo have notist it before
or is it just me´.Don`t know why i was looking at his stomic :p :D :cool:

Edit: i realy think you scould post at torn i think it is a great ide
and i think there is fans both to elijah and his frodo over there don`t
you think??!!!otherwisw maybe they will be after reding it :z: :z:

From ComingSoon.net:

ComingSoon reports that Dimension Films has scheduled the Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller big screen adaptation of Miller's Sin City for release on April 1st (yes, April Fool's Day).

One of the big highlights at the Comic-Con this past weekend, fans will surely line up for this one! You can read our coverage of the Sin City interviews at Comic-Con here (http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=5691)

no elijah mentioned??? :( :eek:
how big is his part anyway?or havent they started with that one yet???

thanks anyway moondancer!!!alwayes pleacure reading about his movies
and he is not the only one in them!!! :rolleyes:

wondering about the timedifrenses here in sweden the kl.is 17.40pm
what is the clock were you live at this point??
why i wonder it is alwayes so quite when i am in here!!!

Here's the link to the EiI Yahoo group. It's PG so the link should be OK.

http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/Everything_Is_Illuminated/

It's not my site though. I post there once in a while but it isn't mine. I thought another Faculty member started it. :confused:

Anyway it is a great place to get all the newest info on Elijah, the book and the filming of the movie. There are members who live in Prague and our own wonderful Serena is a regular poster there as well. :cool:

sorry hobmom!!
i thought it was your site!!but it was not the yahoo site i was thinking about
was ther anybody here who made a site a while ago about eii
or am i totaly lost???

Everytime I see such a glowing report, I always have the impression that they exaggerate a bit and I think 'He's a man of flesh and blood, he makes mistakes just like you and me...'

Moondancer, I sort of wonder the same thing. I've seen a few celebs in the flesh. One thing that is striking, suddenly this person is standing there in three dimensional space with you! Of course they will look different because they are no longer effectively flat!

I remember once being in a store in San Francisco, and seeing Dianne Feinstein (a senator) go by on escalotor; the impression that remains to this day was how pale she was, very, like a vampire!

Sometimes it just a massive disspointment, because they are so ordinary. In the case of George Lucas, whom I once observed at the Christmas party when my husband worked for his company, was "he's so short!" :eek:

BUT

Then there was that Angeleno article where the interviewer remarked on the kind of "electrical hum" emanated by Mr. Wood. Now these folks see celebs all the time. Do they always gush on so? Maybe. I dunno.

and i'd still like to get close enough to find out for myself! :rolleyes:

Honey!

Think about this: He loses his cool and does SOMETHING FUNNY? It sounds like a guy who enjoys SHOCKING people, but the way I see it, he could have worse habits than that. :D

I'm glad he isn't a stiff. I love this about him. :lol:

i have to agree with you shadowcat!!

he seams to fool around at the set and sheer the other
people up who is around him.he alwayes seams to bee in a good mod
when ever you see him in interwies on tv or what ever it is.
sometimes you have to wonder if he is that way all the time or if it is just
when the camera is rolling.i mean like moondancer sade he is flesh
and blood like the rest of us,he must have bad days to!!!

i love that he is not a stiff!!! but i hope he aloud him self to have bad days
i mean you can`t go a round and be happy all the time, or maybe he can!
is he realy happy in life maybe he can!oh i am i rumbeling again?
is it somebody who knows what i mean?? :lol: :k :cool:

Honey, Moondancer, far be it from me to gush ;) :D , but there's a lot more to it than the Angeleno article (interesting as that was from a professional journalist). Shireling's reports from last year are worth reading. As are Ian Holm's remarks. And so is Marea's report, also from last year (quoted below). And I've seen him too, and I know exactly what they mean. The guy is not ordinary, believe me.

from Marea's Celebrity Charades report from Sept 2003:
But that barely half-minute exchange of words was enough time for me to see It. That Something that Elijah has. I don't know how to describe it… except to say that it became clear to me all of a sudden why he did not stay there, back in Cedar Rapids, in a ho hum obscurity like most of us, but was instead singled out for the life that he now has.
He has a quality that I have never seen in anyone else... and I have met a number of other famous people and also many, many interesting and talented people who are NOT famous over the course of my lifetime. I don’t know what to call it. Presence. Charisma. Charm. He is all of these things… and yet there is an undefinable More to him.
And the thing is… this quality seems as natural, as unconscious, as breathing to him. This Thing… it is not something he does, it is something he IS. And I saw people respond to that in him, over and over.
For me, it feels similar to what occurs inside you when you first spot the first fresh, green, blooming thing outside in your garden after a long winter. Two things happen. First, the light around you gets brighter and your world suddenly seems much less grey and more beautiful..
And then you realize that Something Magical has just happened …and you want MORE of it!
..................
You know those images of Frodo’s face we have all seen on screen over and over... in scenes by firelight at Bag End or after Moria or in Lorien when encountering Galadriel... that "glow"? That aura of otherworldliness and Elvishness so beautiful to see that your eyes automatically get drawn into a hobbit face that looks like something out of Raphael or Caravaggio or one of the other Renaissance masters' paintings?.
Well.. of COURSE that is a creation of special effects (makeup, lighting, camera angles, digital enhancements). But it was during the late evening on Monday September 29th 2003 when I realized that these special effects amounted to... at best... 1/3 of the effect.
But… as for the rest... at solid 2/3 of it… Folks… that is simply Elijah.
It is what he REALLY looks like, even in his blah-colored street clothes and his hair in a mohawk. It is how he is made... it is ALL there.
And… in some ways, he looks BETTER in person than onscreen. Really, truly, as incredible as it sounds. Believe it
...............
And the most incredible thing is (and this will sound strange and unbelievable until you see it for yourselves) is that wherever he went, and whatever his surroundings... this guy who played our Ringbearer appeared as though through in a soft focus lens As if he was surrounded by a faint crystalline … glow. And that does and does not describe what I saw… but to tell the truth I am at a loss for the right vocabulary.
It is almost as though he carries his own, interior Galadri-lighting with him.
It is a very Frodo-like quality actually... so much so that it’s eerie.
..... before when reading fan reports I just daydreamed and wondered about the people writing them. TOO hysterical, too exaggerated I thought.
Now, I know better. “Our Elijah” is not only talented and wonderfully easy on the eyes... he is also someone who seems “outwardly” oriented – ontoward his environment and the people who he finds there – people he seems to very much want to please and which he works hard to do so.
And as for centeredness, egotism… I’ve never heard anyone describe “our hobbit” in those terms… no person who has met him anyway… and now that I have done so myself from everything I’ve seen I would have to conclude that these concepts don’t seem to exist in Elijah’s world.

Angeleno interview ? :confused:

OK....this is starting to bug me.

I know the photo's...who doesn't? They're from one of the best photoshoots of him. Those pictures are scanned in my brain, razorsharp in my memory but not an interview. (memory lapse perhaps?)
Help?


PS I hope that nobody was thinking that I have a problem with the gushing. On the contrary. I like it!
Just speaking for myself, I try to keep things in perspective, that's all.
It's just that there are so many gushing reports about Elijah and not just recently but all along his childhood as well. You find so few annoying reports (and those tend to come from critics without a clue but that's my biased opinion ;) ...that 'perspective' habit of mine doesn't work all the time :p )
Compare this to one of my other favourite actors, Russell Crowe. Now, I have no problem finding reports from people who seem to think that he's a total a**. (luckily, I can also find the opposite but Russell has a bit of a bad boy reputation).

Hi, all. Several layers of RL stuff to deal with, so it's nice to drop in here and see such lovely quotes about Elijah's "something"--that glimpse of the first green in the spring. indeed. :k

As I was driving home last night, thinking about Our Boy and the discussion here (don't we all ;) ?), I decided that his "something" had to be just a very high level of charisma--unusual, but there've certainly been people throughout history who've had it and have used it for both good and not-so-good purposes. Like so much about Elijah, the word itself says it's a gift rather than something a person can manufacture.

But then I come here and see the quote from Marea (via Serena, with her own personal experience) that specifically says it's More than that.

Then this part of the quote took me back to some early Faculty discussions about Elijah's acting and how he manages to make it so natural:
“Our Elijah” is not only talented and wonderfully easy on the eyes... he is also someone who seems “outwardly” oriented – ontoward his environment and the people who he finds there – people he seems to very much want to please and which he works hard to do so.
And as for centeredness, egotism… I’ve never heard anyone describe “our hobbit” in those terms… no person who has met him anyway… and now that I have done so myself from everything I’ve seen I would have to conclude that these concepts don’t seem to exist in Elijah’s world.
That focus on the other person, especially during a conversation, has come up over and over again in firsthand reports--even if it's just for a couple of seconds of autograph signing. As "in the beginning" (of this thread :p ) I still think it's that focus that gives him the ability to "read" people emotionally, which seems to be perfectly natural to him. And that, in turn, makes the subconscious parts of his acting possible--the microexpressions, the "I don't remember what I had in mind when I did that" moments, the expression of complex emotions that can't be labeled but are exactly right, the "how does he do that" ability that he's had at least since he was ten years old, everything that lets him connect directly to the character as a person and lets him perfectly show emotions that he's never had. According to the original microexpression researcher, only a small portion of the population has the ability to "read" people to that extent.

Geesh... I feel an essay coming on--and I don't have time for that right now :eek: !! What takes Elijah beyond even that "small portion of the population," IMVHO, is that he doesn't focus on someone in order to read them, or to pick up something to use in his acting. He's focusing on them because he actually cares about them--and ends up internalizing what he sees in them without even thinking about it.

And that has an even simpler label than "charisma" -- it's love. That was my first reaction when I read the story about the girl who was standing outside his home, who he went out and talked to. Dangerous? Maybe. But (to quote an essay I read years before Elijah was born), "Love does such things." There was someone who needed help, he had the ability to help her, so he did. (That encounter probably did change her life, so in a way she was right.) It's the kind of risk people take when they decide to minister in parts of the city and to people who aren't considered "safe"--sometimes bad things do happen to them, but that's the risk love takes. If it didn't take those risks, it would be something else (philanthropy, maybe, or friendliness) but it wouldn't be love.

Having crowds around him all the time puts him into a different set of circumstances, and he's going to have to do things to adjust to them. But even if fans have to go through metal detectors to get close to him, I hope he never gets cut off from those one-on-one encounters, because I think they're as important to him as they are to the other person. Without them, he'd lose part of who he is.

I have a sneaking suspicion that, despite outward appearances, Elijah's basically an introvert. That one-on-one focus on another person is very telling, IMHO. He also tends to make a few close friends rather than a wide circle of "acquaintances," as most Hollywood types do. And, most of all, he's someone who has to get away from people once in awhile to recharge. That's probably even more important if he's someone who, as Marea said, wants to please people (which I hope he's learning isn't always the same thing as loving them). He bites his nails, he smokes, he's had a ruptured appendix... so, yes, he does seem to keep the negative inside, which is something else I hope he learns isn't always the same thing as caring about other people. If he learns those things (and probably some other lessons I can't even imagine), I think he's got a good chance of getting through this with his "Something More" intact. If he doesn't, I'd be afraid of him becoming either cynical or burned out, either of which would take it away from him.

In a way, I'm hoping that his celebrity status calms down some after LotR fades over the horizon of public awareness--It was probably necessary to get his career going in the direction he wanted (by opening up more possibilities to him), but IMHO it's continuation isn't necessary for the kind of career he seems to want in the future.

[This was supposed to be a short post :rolleyes: . Believe me, I could have said more :o --and I've never met the guy.]

What a lovely post, tg, as always. Just a couple more thoughts on what you have written so eloquently.

As I was driving home last night, thinking about Our Boy and the discussion here (don't we all ;) ?), I decided that his "something" had to be just a very high level of charisma--unusual, but there've certainly been people throughout history who've had it and have used it for both good and not-so-good purposes. Like so much about Elijah, the word itself says it's a gift rather than something a person can manufacture.


It's interesting to me that the one other celebrity I was ever "interested in" on this level also had this trait. And it was my beloved John Denver, who we lost almost 7 years ago. I was lucky enough to meet John four times in our "relationship", and I felt all the things that people have mentioned when meeting Elijah (and a lot of other similiarities too, which I won't go into here). I gave this charisma a lot of thought over the years and decided that without getting mystical or spiritual, there are just some people who connect, on a very simple biochemical level, better than the rest of us. They have a degree of empathy/compassion, call it what you will, that allows them to understand. It is this that draws us to Elijah, rather than just his looks and talent. We sense this with our own biochemical awareness, we want to be near him, to be where he is. It's seductive. And it's very easy to get carried away and forget about the usual limitations and barriers.



I have a sneaking suspicion that, despite outward appearances, Elijah's basically an introvert. That one-on-one focus on another person is very telling, IMHO. He also tends to make a few close friends rather than a wide circle of "acquaintances," as most Hollywood types do. And, most of all, he's someone who has to get away from the crowds once in awhile to recharge.

I think you're absolutely right. As a basic introvert (and Aquarius) myself, I see those same traits in him. Not to mention his hobbies - - video games and general computer interests do tend to be solitary pursuits.



That's probably even more important if he's someone who, as Marea said, wants to please people (which I hope he's learning isn't always the same thing as loving them). He bites his nails, he smokes, he's had a ruptured appendix... so, yes, he does seem to keep the negative inside, which is something else I hope he learns isn't always the same thing as caring about other people.

The only thing I will take exception with here is the appendix -- that isn't from stress, but when something indigestible gets stuck in it (it's a blind sac, after all). My own probably burst because of popcorn -- possibly even his too, considering his movie-going/watching proclivities.

As he himself has said, someone who both bites their nails and smokes has issues. Don't we all. Nice to think that he's human too -- even just a touch!

I gave this charisma a lot of thought over the years and decided that without getting mystical or spiritual, there are just some people who connect, on a very simple biochemical level, better than the rest of us. They have a degree of empathy/compassion, call it what you will, that allows them to understand.
This could very well be the start of it. But IMVHO, it's just the start. The person who's born with that biochemical "something" can live in a way that either nurtures it or withers it, I think. And I believe Elijah's has been nurtured--probably both by himself and by the people he's been close to. I believe it can also be used in negative ways by people who choose to do that--charismatic dictators, for example. So I think a person's free will has a lot to do with the way they develop and use it, as with any gift (guess I agree with Tolkien ;) on that one).

The only thing I will take exception with here is the appendix -- that isn't from stress, but when something indigestible gets stuck in it (it's a blind sac, after all).
I'd tend to agree--someone mentioned it earlier in the discussion as a sign of internalizing things, so I added it to my own list. Maybe it comes from dealing--both indirectly and directly--with people who feel a sense of guilt about having cancer, or even about passing it on to their children, but I do have a difficult time linking physical diseases to mental states (so many people feel they "caused" their own disease, when there's absolutely no basis for thinking that). That's my main area of needed suspension of disbelief during the Bumblebee movie--the book avoids the subject.

This could very well be the start of it. But IMVHO, it's just the start. The person who's born with that biochemical "something" can live in a way that either nurtures it or withers it, I think. And I believe Elijah's has been nurtured--probably both by himself and by the people he's been close to. (I believe it can also be used in negative ways by people who choose to do that--charismatic dictators, for example.)

Yes, that's absolutely true. And perhaps that quest to please others has something to do with it too. Of course, it's purely speculation on my part but it's almost like what happens with abuse (and NO -- Elijah was NOT abused -- I'm not trying to say that). The emotional absence of his father may have triggered some of this, that Elijah, without even realizing it, was trying desperately to win his attention/affection. Like -- "If I'm the best actor there ever was, my father will love me..." Couple this to an upbringing where he was forced by his mother to be "not different" (and thank goodness for that -- imagine the monster he could've become if he was treated as special????) and had to try to fit in with other children who saw him as "different". And then you add in a dash of fierce intelligence and unbearably gorgeous looks and to a degree, it's not hard to imagine how all this developed.

Of course, he could've also been dropped off by aliens or is really part elf ;)

There's just one thing that may throw you a bit - even though you've always thought you knew him intimately from documentaries, articles and interviews, when he's standing a few centimetres away from you you suddenly realise that that guy is a total stranger and you know absolutely nothing about him, have absolutely nothing in common with him and never will have.

...and this may be the clearest expression that I've ever read of the most important reality check that fans should have. Every EW fan should paste this on the mirror and read it every morning while brushing her teeth. Wow. What a great article! Thanks for posting it!

However, she left out the following: "... , and he should be treated accordingly"

I watched Huck Finn about 3 times this weekend. It really is a good movie, and is downright scary in some places and the director/writer doesn't skimp on that. Huck's reaction to the gunshot that killed Billy is phenomenal - without showing the kid being shot and falling, you know exactly what happened. It's as visceral a reaction as Frodo's reaction to being stabbed. What a kid he was!

And on another note, I was talking with a friend yesterday and told her about the slash porn picture incident. She said that she's counseled her daughter what to do when she comes across slash and porn - her daughter likes and writes fanfic. However, one of her "friends" sent her a slash A/L porn picture; my friend was pretty angry, and her daughter was really upset.

~grumpy(and in the news today, Medicare has finally figured out that obesity is not a moral failing :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: )

Hi, all! I came across an article concerning Happy Feet this morning, and I thought I'd share. It's fairly short, so I'll just put it here:

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

Murphy Has Happy Feet

Brittany Murphy told SCI FI Wire that she's enjoying the process of voicing a singing penguin in the upcoming animated fantasy musical film Happy Feet. "Happy Feet is a blast, and it's still going on," Murphy said in an interview. "I just did some recording sessions for it, about a week ago."

In the computer-animated film, Murphy voices Gloria, a penguin with a beautiful voice, opposite Elijah Wood, who voices Mumble, a penguin who can't sing and is ostracized for it. "I'm not sure how much I can bring up the story at this point," Murphy said. "Savion Glover is tapping [dancing] in the film for Elijah's character. I play Gloria, who's the female love interest. And I sing. Basically, all the penguins have a heart song, and that's part of their mating ritual. And the music runs the gamut from the Beatles to modern-day hip-hop, all songs that we already know."

Murphy, who also voices Luanne on the long-running animated television series King of the Hill, politely declined to reveal what song she performs in Happy Feet. "It's a secret," she said. "Gloria's heart song isn't quite revealed until towards the end, until the tapping helps her find it, until Elijah starts tapping, and that leads to it."

But Murphy added that, unlike many other animated features in which the stars don't actually meet until the premiere, she and Wood exchanged dialogue in a recording booth. "Elijah and I did everything together," she said. "It was wonderful. We were able to do every scene together. And then when we came back in [for re-recording], we requested that we please be together. He's a ball to work with." Happy Feet, which is directed by George Miller (Babe), will be released in 2006.

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


Either this is some damage control, or things aren't as bad as we were led to believe a couple of weeks ago (I'm thinking it's the latter, personally :) ).

Wood, I forgot...but is THIS (http://www.freewebs.com/everythingisilluminated/frame.html) the EII site you were looking for?

Bunniebugs,
thanks :)
I'm already hoping for extra's on the DVD so that we will be able to watch the two of them at work in the recording booth.

Either this is some damage control, or things aren't as bad as we were led to believe a couple of weeks ago (I'm thinking it's the latter, personally :) ).
Ditto :)

Thanks for that report--several nice things in it: That the two are recording together (I'd think the "chemistry" between the characters would be much easier/better that way). That Mumbles isn't just on the receiving end of help in the story, but is able to help Gloria find her song :) . And I knew about the dancing, but not that it would be tap dancing--how cute! Maybe we need to take Dom's line about being funnier than a penguin playing a banjo and change it to a penguin tap dancing :D . The little beanie-Mumbles on top of my monitor assures me that either would be quite a feat for him ;) .

The only negative is that 2006 seems so far away...

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

zkg--"Ditto" too about all you say about Huck Finn. Another amazing bit that rivals Frodo's reaction to getting stabbed is Huck's physical reaction when he's shot in the back (How did he do that?).

"Elijah and I did everything together," she said. "It was wonderful. We were able to do every scene together. And then when we came back in [for re-recording], we requested that we please be together. He's a ball to work with."

Yaaaaaawn.... ::: blink blink ::: Another performer on a film loves to work with EW. Ho hum. Just another day in Elijah Wood's career. ;) ;) From what I've seen actors say, it's much easier to act off reality - I'm sure it's much easier for someone to exchange lines with a real person that you can see (and who is probably acting very convincingly like a tone-deaf tap-dancing penguin, if we know The Lad's work, though what a penguin's expression might be will probably never be known to the general public. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that studio! ;) ).

BTW did anyone else see Sean A's 20/20 segment on Friday night, with his mom, Patty Duke? He did some very Samwise-like choking with tears, of course, and with good reason. :::: sniffle :::: It's easy to see what I've suspected ever since I learned that he's PD's son, and since I saw the movies. His childhood seems to have uniquely prepared him for the role of taking care of a Frodo who was falling apart to the point of self-immolation. (I think it also explains his directing helicopter traffic!)

I think it's also interesting that although the Sam/Frodo relationship seemed to extend somewhat to Sean/Elijah, Sean still said that beautiful thing about Elijah, that he didn't know what he would have done if that "young prince of an actor" had not taken him under his wing. So Sean is apparently open enough to benefit from another's strength.

zkg--"Ditto" too about all you say about Huck Finn. Another amazing bit that rivals Frodo's reaction to getting stabbed is Huck's physical reaction when he's shot in the back (How did he do that?).

Yes! I stepped through that scene several times. He's running full-tilt and suddenly his head snaps back and he lands on the ground. It was *NOT* a graceful motion - I'm sure he knew how to fall by then without hurting himself, but the effect was that he hit the ground from a full run, and with great force. It seemed so accurate, just like Frodo's expression of shock replacing the agony when the knife was pulled out. (how does he *DO* that?)

I am beginning to love the last scene where Huck is running gleefully across the field throwing fancified and restrictive clothing to the winds. :)

BTW, was all of that gorgeous red-brown hair Elijah's? I noticed he was the only kid in the movie with that hairstyle.

I still think, though, that the sight of a child aiming a gun at his father in self-defense is one of the most chilling things that I've ever seen on film. That whole bedroom/stairs/boat/cabin sequence was scary!

~grumpy (though I did worry about little Huck - he was so self-reliant yet so vulnerable)(A bit of Miz Watson in me, I guess) ;)

Those of you who are Lord of the Rings fan club members may have already seen the letter in the latest issue of the magazine from Andy Cintron. Andy is a huge Man U fan and writes a column on the United American Supporter's Web. Last summer, he was lucky enough to attend a Man U game in LA with Elijah and Dom, and wrote about his experience here at:

http://www.muscusa.com/andy_usa.html


You must go and read this. I always love when I find out something new about Elijah -- and according to Andy, our darling has NO sense of direction. He apparently got lost twice in LA, and well, he's basically lived there all his life. Somehow, this makes him even more loveable!

Hello, Faculty! I'm finally back, after multiple vacations (three), floods (two), and deadlines (ongoing between the other events). I have only had a chance to read the last two pages, but it's very good to be back!

from zkgrumpy
I'm sure it's much easier for someone to exchange lines with a real person that you can see (and who is probably acting very convincingly like a tone-deaf tap-dancing penguin, if we know The Lad's work
LOL! I love this image!

Double-ditto Huck's fall. I am amazed every time I see it. I was playing TTT the other day, and stepped through Frodo's expression as he climbs on top of the rock beside Sam to look at the Black Gate. In a matter of 4 or 5 seconds, he registers surprise, curiosity, awe, and despair. It's amazing to watch. I'd never get tired of that lad, because he gives me so much to appreciate

BTW, was all of that gorgeous red-brown hair Elijah's?
I'm sure it was. I have noticed his bouncing luscious locks ever since Radio Flyer (thank you, Chattegrise, for the news on the DVD!). It's one of the reasons why I selfishly applaud this return to longer hair styles, hoping that EW will adopt it.

Serena, thank you for sharing that Michaela quote. I'm just ... savoring it. As Honey said, "another fan report of the glow/electric hum/radiance!" That's me (even having never seen EW in person). "A fine human specimen" indeed. I am so grateful that he lets what's special about him shine through, and shares it with us. Thank you for all those wonderful quotes!

Lovely analysis of Elijah's (perhaps) introvert side, Tg. This does fall in line with other comments I've heard him make (but nothing specific springs to mind, due to brain exhaustion). Achilla, thanks for being articulate for me! :p

I'm hoping that his celebrity status calms down some after LotR fades over the horizon of public awareness
Ditto that. I think we'll have one last surge of craziness in November and during December for the ROTK EE promo, and then the masses will move on to something else, leaving only the die-hard fans to carry on our adoration. (With luck, the crazies will move on to fresh targets, also.)

Honeyelf's hubby: "you Faculty people are so cute!" I'll accept that! :p

Happy birthday to Estella Rose, Rikka, Serena and anyone else I missed. Welcome to new friends, and hugs to the old. It's good to see you again!

TG Shaw:
And that has an even simpler label than "charisma" -- it's love. That was my first reaction when I read the story about the girl who was standing outside his home, who he went out and talked to. Dangerous? Maybe. But (to quote an essay I read years before Elijah was born), "Love does such things." There was someone who needed help, he had the ability to help her, so he did. (That encounter probably did change her life, so in a way she was right.) It's the kind of risk people take when they decide to minister in parts of the city and to people who aren't considered "safe"--sometimes bad things do happen to them, but that's the risk love takes. If it didn't take those risks, it would be something else (philanthropy, maybe, or friendliness) but it wouldn't be love.

Oh, TG, you melt my heart!!! It is very much why I like to spend time in here reading about a beautiful young man who is such a compelling actor but who I probably wouldn't bother to be so facinated by if I didn't also enjoy the qualities he has that makes him such a good person. And I love being here in the Faculty, because though I know we are here to discuss his acting (yes, quite exceptional), and I know on top of that he is easy to look at (I admit Honey accurately described my expression when she showed me the Angelino photos :eek: ;) )---but from what I hear from Faculty members, we really are deeply drawn in by the quality of the person. I'm such a sucker for that stuff. YOu said it TG. LOVE in the sense of giving out to others (love thy neighbor--though I am not religeous). As corny as it sounds, it does so much more for the world than political arguements alone. I've worked on various causes--I've gnashed my teeth at various inequities in the world, and I've watched people sink from the depression of it. And I've watched just as many lives go bleak for lack of sustenance..lack of love and caring. And I think there is so much power in people like Elijah who radiate a caring. It heals further than they know. It's why I am drawn to Frodo. He radiates. And it's what makes me still come back to read up on Elijah--because it seems integral to his personality to give of himself.

And of course it's you ladies, too. Because it makes me feel good to tap into the conversation of people who value those good qualities and who obviously have it in them to care themselves. I already know I am in the company of good women. :D

Sorry for such a corny post :o . But you all know that about me by now. I'm loving all the talk about the electric hum, and the light within----it is so great to know that some people rise above one's expectations. It makes life a little more surprising and joyful. :)

He's just a kid with an old heart and a great acting ability. But it's nice to have such treasures to appreciate in life. It's the best.


Oh, Mariole!! Welcome back!!!! We've missed you here!!

ZKG!! Did that 20/20 segment with Sean and his mom finally air???? I missed it!!! :(

Now to go read the interview Achila linked to. More fun ;)

There are some days where you wake up and weirdness is in the air. Sometimes I wonder if celebrities live every day like that. The quality of absurdity must reach an Olympic level when you're a celeb.

Case in point? Elijah Wood just had a stalker arrested.

A woman stalking Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood has been arrested by police in the Czech Republic.

The unidentified female has been served with a restraining order which forbids her to go near 23-year-old Wood.

Police stepped in after the woman approached Wood again while he was filming Everything Is Illuminated in the north of the Czech Republic. (WOKR TV, link snagged from FARK.com)

To which I say, "Elijah Wood? You obviously have seen Lord of the Rings one too many times- and yet you stalk Elijah Wood?"

Now there's nothing wrong with dear ol' Elijah. But you have got to admit that his hotness factor is negligable compared to the dear, sweet hunk o'manflesh known as Viggo Mortensen. With him around, why on earth would anyone stalk Frodo, fer Gawd's sake?

Did anybody see this :eek:

I received this in a news alert....I guess you have to be what they consider a sweet hunk o'manflesh... to be harrassed and stalked
This a really sad statement on how we look at celebrities :(

I can't tell you how much this article bothered me
Hours after I posted this I thought about just deleting it.
But I just wanted to share my frustration...still there are those in the press that try to make a mockery out of a scarey incident.
Does anyone think stalking is a joke?
Ask Yoko Ono how she feels about stalkers


Okay I'm finished with the rant

Alyon I love your post
There is a special radiance that emanates from this man. It is a magic that is rare. I think it captures those that are open to a different realm then most of "the rest of the world"
Maybe we are a special group of women
I think we have the ability to see rare and special beauty.
I feel lucky and privledged to be in...what I view...a very elite group of insightful ladies :k

Big Group Hug :k

Beautiful thoughts, ladies!

Moondancer, you asked about the Angeleno interview. Surely somewhere on the net there is a scan of the entire article. I will give you the pertinent (to the discussion of Elijah's 'glow') bits:

The moment you meet Elijah Wood, it's obvious why he was chosen for the role of Frodo, the young hobbit who must save Middle Earth in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He is tiny, but also unexpectedly muscular and possessed of an athlete's natural grace. An then, of course there are the eyes -- as wide and blue as the sky spread above his home state of Iowa. Wood's eyes seem to see everthing, and it's difficult, in fact, to look into them for fear both of sinking in and of revealing too much of oneself. But the sweet-natured 23-year-old's similarity to Frodo is more than physical. There is something about him that seems almost magical, a kind of electric hum which shimmers in the air around him.

(emphasis mine.)
The interviewer, by the way, was Jessica Hundley. I don't know who she is, but she seems pretty well smitten!

Honey! who is crawling off to bed

Thanks for that lovely quote, Honeyelf,

How did I manage to miss the Angeleno interview? I've never seen this.
So, anybody with a scan of this? Please, could you bring the interview here or show me where I can find it?
You would think it would be easy to find a scan of this interview, but I didn't have any success yesterday. Maybe I overlooked it but I only could find the photos from that shoot on various sites but never the interview.So again...help?

EDIT: I don't have the tendency to keep interviews. I read them, maybe keep some of the quotes but I don't have them on my computer (and I sometimes regret that). But this great quote there made me think of another interview.
Don't ask me the name of the magazine or newspaper or even the year but I remember reading an interview. It was a well-written one (not for a tabloid or a teenmagazine or something like that). That interview was done in a hotel in NY (I think). Elijah was a bit late and a bunch of journalists were waiting for him. So, Elijah enters the room, full of energy, apologizing for the delay.The (female) journalist's description of Elijah Wood was also very moving...she was talking about a certain aura surrounding him.
At a certain point, Elijah closes his eyes for a moment to think about an answer. She said something like "it was like the room got a bit darker when he closed his eyes. The room lit up the moment he opened his eyes'.

I remember this because I was surprised to see that: it was written by a serious journalist who seemed to have gotten under his spell. I expect this sort of report from fans but I'm always surprised to see this from people who meet celebs regularly because of their job.

Anybody remember that interview and has that on file somewhere?

Sweet dreams, honey :)


Btw, on Wizard News, there was a little article about a young actor Daniel Hotchkiss (what a name!). His fans are starting a petition to try and help him get a role in the Harry Potter movie The Order of the Phoenix.
This is a small quote from Daniel, taken from that article:
"I really loved watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I don’t think that they could have improved many aspects of it, all the performances were excellent, especially in the third film, Return of the King. All the actors did their characters justice, especially Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins."
http://www.wizardnews.com (http://www.wizardnews.com/story.200408023.html)

Suddenly this board's buzzing again! SO much to comment on. But just for now (RL calling), here's an extract from an interview with Billy Boyd in 2002 (found on a Czech Billy fansite here (http://boyd-oh-boyd.czechian.net/small.html) but in English for once - what is it about these Czech LOTR fans?):

... Boyd settles back into the sofa, flushed from his strenuous farewell [to a Master and Commander friend - ed.]. Yup, it's friends first, career second - I certainly wouldn't want to make him choose. But I have to ask: is Elijah Wood a precious Hollywood brat or what?

His co-star does a "that pains me" face, before launching into an endearingly boyish defence.

"Oh no, not Elijah," he says incredulously. "I mean, he and the rest of the Ring lads came to stay with me when I was in Mexico. At one point there were 50 of us staying in my house. So Elijah had to sleep on the floor. He didn't bother that someone else had got a bed before him. He's a very, very cool guy. The whole movie thing just doesn't affect him," Boyd insists.

Wow. Hollywood star spends a night on the floor. Still, it's clear our Billy isn't fazed by the superstar treatment, apart from jet-setting around the world's great surf breaks. "If I was going to become a luvvie, I would have become one by now," he observes.


Also learnt from this site that, before LOTR, Billy was the one Scottish actor who was reputed never to be out of a job. Can well believe it. He's a very, very cool guy himself.

Oh - and a note about that idiot Google "news" alert (what has parading your personal sexual preferences to do with news, I wonder?). It's not just flippant, it's positively insulting to EW. But not quite as bad as something I read, re the stalker incident, in a German tabloid that shall not be named, which implicitly ridiculed Elijah for being scared of a woman and called him something I will not repeat here. Elijah's agents could sue the editor, but that would merely draw attention to the remark. Better to ignore it (those who know better will ignore it anyway). (Can't help hoping there's been a deluge of complaints from German Elijahfans, however.)

Moondancer, you're so right that the (thankfully few) annoying reports about Elijah come from people without a clue. Pity there are some of those who think their opinions worth publishing.

Serena, thank you for the nice Billy comment :cool:

But not quite as bad as something I read, re the stalker incident, in a German tabloid that shall not be named, which implicitly ridiculed Elijah for being scared of a woman and called him something I will not repeat here.

Let me guess - this tabloid's name consists of four letters, right?
After reading your comment I visited their homepage (something I've never done by now and will never do again) and found the short decrying "article" :mad:
Grrr... in view of such writing scoffers it is really not easy to keep calm!

I'm running off, so can't comment on much right now. But I have to "come clean" and confess that some of my (very limited) education in the German language came from the tabloid that shall not be named :o :o . I was babysitting for a German/American couple who had met and married in Germany, when the husband was stationed there with the U.S. military. I was studying German in summer school, and the German-born wife would loan her copies of the magazine to me after she finished reading them. Have to say I don't remember much about the stories, but I do recall that my adolescent eyes were shocked by some of the photos ;) . IIRC, I mostly paid attention to the ads--easiest format for matching up words with what they're talking about :) . Whew.... there, now I feel better. Had to get that off my chest :p .

Dear Faculty Members

Thank you for your kind birthday wishes. I really appreciate them, especially since mostly I’m just a lurker in your midst. Be assured though, I try to call in and read as often as I can.

(whiteling, that was a really lovely picture you posted – very pretty – thank you)
:) :) :)

Now there's nothing wrong with dear ol' Elijah. But you have got to admit that his hotness factor is negligable compared to the dear, sweet hunk o'manflesh known as Viggo Mortensen. With him around, why on earth would anyone stalk Frodo, fer Gawd's sake?

Ppphhhhffffttttttt! :p Bah. What does this idiot know, ladies of the Faculty???

Now, it so happens that I do swoon for VigAragorn, the Numenorean Sex God. And for Captain Gorgeous, aka Wenham. And Boz. I do like my heroes rugged. :) (Rugged AND sensitive, as in Faramir's case, is a big bonus. :D )

But heroes come in all shapes and sizes and not all heroes have to be rugged in order to earn my love and respect and admiration. Of course not. Frodo is such a hero, and I confess to being rather enchanted by the extremely charming, intelligent, likeable young man who played him. ;)

Some people just don't get Teh Beauty. Bah humbug to 'em!

(((Faculty)))

Estella Rose, good to see you again! A belated very happy birthday to you! :)


....you have got to admit that his hotness factor is negligable ... Excuse me while I go :lol: Such utter cluelessness - it's funny!

I puzzled out that the German tabloid in question had to be Bild - and trotted off to read the article in question. The front page of the paper alone nearly made me turn back. Yuck! But anything for research..... All I can say, is: Pffffftt! Such clueless nastiness should just be shrugged off, it does nothing except characterize the tabloid itself. :rolleyes:


(Small private moment, here: 500! Wooot!)

If you go to the AICN site, you'll find a report about ROTK EE. It's an interview with Billy Boyd and David Wenham.
There's a bit where Quint (interviewer) asks them to tell him a dirty joke and in return he'll tell the joke Elijah told him in 1998.
BILLY BOYD: Tell us Elijah's joke...
QUINT: It was the funniest thing... not really because of the joke, but he kept messing the joke up. He was hitting the table trying to remember how it goes, getting upset at himself for not remembering it straight away. But it was about this greek guy who is lamenting, "Look at this house. I build big, beautiful house! But I am not known as house builder..."
DAVID WENHAM: Oh yeah! "But do one goat!"
QUINT: Yeah, "**** one goat..." It's funny, but the funny part of that joke didn't really come through, I think, in the transcription because it was in the way he was getting frustrated at telling it that made it hilarious.


In there, you'll also find a link to the original 1998 interview with Elijah.
Now, didn't somebody mention that Elijah doesn't have the best sense of direction?
I open it to see Elijah with a slightly frantic look upon his brow. "Where on earth is Threadgill's, I'm supposed to have met Quint there hours ago, but I can't find the place." :D

Just while I'm editing this, I see Serena's post and the google count. Good to know that I'm not the only one checking the numbers and comparing. :D

Just did a couple of Google searches. 319000 hits for Viggo. 615000 for Elijah.

Can't be the number of films (Viggo has made more than Elijah) or even the number of LOTR trilogy hits (their names were probably equally prominent).

So have to conclude it's the Hotness Factor that makes the difference.
Plus, of course, the good taste, intelligence, sophistication and sheer insight of Elijah's fans. ;)
:lol:

Not that Viggo isn't worth looking at, of course :) Might have gone to repeated showings to see him (and Sean Bean and David Wenham and Karl Urban and that other Rohan soldier second from the left) had it not been for That Face.
PS I refuse to do any Google searches involving The Elf, nice lad as he is.

EDIT: read the AICN interview, Moondancer (not for the first time). As you say, seems our lad had no more sense of direction then than now. How endearing :)
Preferred his joke to Quint's, however :eek:

Someone should send that search result to that writer who said the snide thing about Elijah's alledged low hotness factor.

So there! :haha:

Edit- But in one of those ironic twists I am about to go out and buy 'Hidalgo'. :rolleyes:

The person who wrote the article I mentioned in my last post...re the hotness factor....must have gotten a lot of negative feedback (and rightly so :eek: ) because she reissued an almost apology....saying she didn't mean to imply stalking was something to laugh about.
I still think her article was in bad taste... not only in content .. but if she doesn't think he's hot.....well I think she should have her head and eyes examined :p

Some very good news..Deep Impact is being released in a collector's edition Oct. 5 with some nice little extras
With almost all his movies coming out in dvd editions....doesn't that mean he's REALLY HOT.....I think so :rolleyes:

What is the difference between the book version of "The Bumblebee flies Anyway" and the movie version? What doesn't the book address that the movie does? :confused:

from ylla:
The person who wrote the article I mentioned in my last post...re the hotness factor....must have gotten a lot of negative feedback

Anyone corrected her spelling yet? :D :rolleyes:

The stories about Elijah's sense of direction (or lack thereof) are so cute :) -- Does this give us at least one imperfect thing about him to make him seem more humanly possible? ;) It's certainly something I can relate to :p !

And the story about him not being able to remember the joke... :lol: ! And it wasn't even a very complicated one. Now, this is the guy who could act an emotionally complex scene with a lot of dialogue (almost all of it his) perfectly in one take by the time he was ten years old! And he can't remember a two-line joke? Maybe his "channeling the character" is even more important than we've given it credit for ;) . Or, more likely, he's like the rest of us and most easily remembers the things that are most important to him. :)

OT--My boss has a hard time with jokes, both remembering them and understanding them, because he's so literal (which I don't think would be Elijah's problem). I once told a joke that involved Moses and Jesus golfing together. After hearing it, my boss went into his office, then came back in about a half-hour and asked me, "Did Moses and Jesus live at the same time?" [By now I'd forgotten about the joke and couldn't imagine why he was asking me this.] I said, "No, Moses probably lived about 1200 B.C." Then he asked, "So then how could they play golf together?" And, the thing is, he was serious :lol: . Another time I told a joke in which the punchline depended on a pun. He thought it was awfully funny, and said he was going to go tell it to his wife (who also works in our office). He came back a short time later, and said, "Jane didn't think it was funny at all." I had a sneaking suspicion of what had happened, so I asked him how he'd told the joke. Of course, he'd used a punchline that had the same meaning as the original, but without the pun :rolleyes: (and he was completely clueless as to why his wife "didn't get it".) Not quite as OT, I think it's his literalness that makes him unable to see how I can get anything worthwhile out of reading fiction, as it's all "junk".--/OT

What is the difference between the book version of "The Bumblebee flies Anyway" and the movie version? What doesn't the book address that the movie does? :confused:
Try page 190, where you asked something of the same question ;) . There's a more complete discussion earlier, but the search engine doesn't find it (and I'm not going back through all those pages :eek: ). But, sc, sweetie, from your previous posts I'm pretty sure you've both read the book and seen the movie, so if you want to talk about their differences, why don't you start out by telling us what you think? :k Just be sure to use spoiler warnings.

Last night, VH-1 had a very interesting show on called Child Star Babylon, about the eventual misfortunes of child stars, mostly those from television. Of course, I watched it for obvious reasons; didn't expect to see Elijah and didn't. But it just bears repeating that we should really send Debbie Wood flowers next Mother's Day because the results with our lad could've been so different.

Television brings actors into our homes every week, sometimes for years, as in the case with shows like The Waltons, etc. And once those shows end, even adult actors can find it hard to break away from a character they've become known and loved for. Think Seinfeld -- no one from that cast has done anything worthwhile since; lucky that some of the Friends cast has been doing different work all along but I predict that only Jennifer Aniston will continue to do well now that the show is over (the rest have not exactly prospered in movies to date). Now imagine that you're a cute kid on TV, have grown up in a role and now you're an adult, identified for being Opie or John Boy Walton or Eddie Munster. It's a heck of a lot harder to break that.

So many of these young people have had their lives utterly ruined. They've turned to drugs and crime and many have died, sadly, unable to continue with their careers in a highly competitive industry that just doesn't want them. Often times, parents, out to make a fast buck, have lost track of their children's best interests along the way -- the program highlighted the career of a little six year-old boy named Lil Maxso, trying to become a rapper, and his pushy, greedy, misguided father. There's trouble waiting to happen.

Of course, Elijah's success story was always in my mind as I watched this show. Not only did he weather the transition from child star to adult star, but has done so as a fully functional human being that people actually enjoy being around, is humble, good-humored and very conscious of the relative unimportance of popular media in the scheme of things. And, my dears, as we've said many many times before here, there's really only one person to thank for this. I hereby proclaim today Debbie Wood Day. Thanks, Mom! :k

So happy Debbie Wood day, everyone! :)

Debbie must be one totally remarkable lady and we have one hell of a lot to thank her for – first and foremost for having the guts to up sticks and take the family to LA, with all the risk that involved (including maybe having to return sheepishly to Cedar Rapids if it had all gone wrong), and then for keeping it all together AND bringing up her kids to be such charming, modest and insightful people (not that I know anything at all about Zack, but Hannah seems to be another very cool lady).

But here comes the great Nature versus Nurture debate. How did Elijah really get to be the way he is? OK, basic biochemistry plays a role: I’m sure EW’s pheromones are totally irresistible, and his DNA must be something else, as they say. And then there’s the nurture factor:

From tgshaw:
The person who's born with that biochemical "something" can live in a way that either nurtures it or withers it, I think. And I believe Elijah's has been nurtured--probably both by himself and by the people he's been close to
And also, maybe, the loss-of-father factor mentioned by Achila:

The emotional absence of his father may have triggered some of this, that Elijah, without even realizing it, was trying desperately to win his attention/affection. Like -- "If I'm the best actor there ever was, my father will love me..."
Maybe. If so, that’s unbearably sad. What I think is certain is that Elijah felt under huge pressure as a child and teenager simply through being (a) the reason the family was uprooted and (b) undoubtedly the core reason his father eventually left (as has been said before, it must be tough on a father to be outperformed by his 8-year-old son, and he probably ended up feeling totally superfluous; not sure what he found to do while he was in LA). The responsibility Elijah carried was huge, no matter how much of it his Mum took on herself: he became essentially the breadwinner at a very early age and responsible for his whole family’s welfare.

But be all that as it may, neither nature (in the form of biochemistry, anyway) nor nurture explains the glow/electric hum/radiance Mariole mentioned a page back (Mariole, welcome back :k We missed you !!!!) and so many different people in different continents have commented on quite independently – the accounts are so consistent we can’t just ignore them. I really only saw Elijah close up in KV (twice) for a few seconds, but that was enough to pick up those incredible vibes. I don’t know what it was, but I do know it wasn’t biochemistry, it wasn’t upbringing, and it sure as hell wasn’t the result of losing his father. (Or even being dropped off by aliens or elves ;) …. though maybe that depends on the sort of aliens or elves you mean!)

EDIT: One thing I'm trying to say is that people are not just products of their parents. They are essentially themselves alone, and a lot of parents must feel the "strangeness" of their offspring, their foreign (alien?) quality, as Michaela described on seeing EW (really ought to tell her I translated her article ...).

Hello, everyone. I just want to publically admit I've been lurking on these boards for a couple of weeks now. Thanks for all the wonderful information on Wood. I seem to be the last to know anything, but if I do come across any info, I'll be sure to post it.

I also want to echo Achila on Wood's mother. She must be a wonderful person to raise a fairly normal child, despite his oh-so-public occupation. I hope in the next few years he'll continue to produce good work and avoid the self-destruct mode that plagues many young actors.

BTW, it was Lady Wendy who clued me into this website. Thanks!

You know, I'm reminded of something Elijah said that I think was in his Parade magazine interview from a couple of years ago. Around the time he was 15, Debbie began deferring to him, since he was the breadwinner, as serena pointed out. And Elijah had enough innate intelligence and sensitivity to understand what a bad idea that would be, and made her stop. So maybe it wasn't just Debbie alone that made her son the man he is today. ;)


ETA: Welcome, Ereshkigal!

BTW, it was Lady Wendy who clued me into this website. Thanks!

Lady Wendy is very good at spreading the word, ;) not to mention the Elijah-love. :D

*waves at Ereshkigal* You'll know me as Di of Long Cleeve from TORC. :)

The Faculty is certainly the happenin' place for all the hot-off-the-press and up-to-date film and biographical info on Mr. Wood. :cool:

I can barely keep up with it all myself :D and lurk in the Faculty rather than post, but I'm glad to know the Faculty is here. You do a grand job, ladies. :k

One thing I'm trying to say is that people are not just products of their parents. They are essentially themselves alone, and a lot of parents must feel the "strangeness" of their offspring, their foreign (alien?) quality, as Michaela described on seeing EW.


Serena, I so agree! This discussion made me think of the wonderful philosophical poetry of Kahil Gibran. Probably you all know the following, but in honour of Debbie Wood Day ;) it isn't off topic at all.

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

On Children - "The Prophet"



And WELCOME, Ereshkigal :) !

First of all:
Ereshkigal, welcome :)

The Always & Forever site has new EJW pictures: mostly scans from Czech magazines (some new pictures, some pictures from older photoshoots...just one example in attachment)

Maybe this is old news to some of you, but Radio Flyer is going to come out on DVD (in october).

Jeez...I bought my DVD player a year ago. It's a fine machine but it's limited to region 2. I was thinking about buying an all-region machine but the shopkeeper told me that it's not worth the extra cost because "why would you want to see other region DVD's? You're never going to use that extra feature on your machine anyway. :rolleyes:
*grumbles* Yeah, why would I want to see other region DVD's.

PS Gibran has written some brilliant things, hasn't he?
:) Quite appropriate for Debbie Wood Day.

I've not been appearing much in here lately,...RL intervening as usual, you know :rolleyes: ...

Have been lurking though...and this conversation is far too interesting to pass up, and also, I see, a Fellow Elijah Swooner from TORC has just introduced herself to you all...

Ereshkigal...Welcome indeed...I was wondering how long it would be before someone else, other than Mechtild, de-cloaked in here...you will enjoy it here, for all the wonderful thoughts and theories about this and that relating to Our Dear Lij..
Please post often...

Hurray for Debbie Wood, for all her clear-headedness and down-to-Earth groundedness that she has instilled into Elijah, and for the smashing result of all her hard work...Hurray !!!

Now then...as for this Father thing...
Achila said :-The emotional absence of his father may have triggered some of this, that Elijah, without even realizing it, was trying desperately to win his attention/affection. Like -- "If I'm the best actor there ever was, my father will love me..."

If you substitute the word "know" for "love", then this struck a chord of remembrance in me, due, no doubt, to the fact that I have an alarming tendency to print out and save all the really interesting interviews that all the LOTR actors have taken part in, just because, well, you know ... :rolleyes:
Anyway, this is an exerpt from an interview that Elijah did with Rolling Stone Magazine back in 2001 or thereabouts :-

The one adult Wood says he didn't grow up with, even when he was around, was his father. About six years ago, his parents divorced and his dad moved back to Iowa. I ask Wood what his father does now. He pauses then says, "Very good question. I don't know. He does odd jobs. He was painting houses for a while. I'm not sure."

Which, I point out, is an interesting answer in itself.

"Yes," he says perkily. "Speaks quite a lot of that relationship, certainly."

You were close, I ask, until the split?

He shakes his head. "No. It just is what it is. He was always physically there as a father, but never emotionally there. I was not raised by my dad."

He was in the house?

"Yeah. But someone can physically be somewhere and not actually emotionally be present. He just wasn't capable... how can I put this?... He just wasn't an emotional guy. You look at the idea of a mother, and the mother kind of nurtures you and cares about you and is concerned with every detail of your life and upbringing... and my dad just wasn't. He was incapable of it. The relationship was never bad. It just wasn't there. I think some of that also had to do with the fact that I was gone a lot. I have to thank my mom for everything in my life, the person I am today. She sort of overcompensated to raise the family, so I never felt a lack."

Wood says that once his father moved back to Iowa "I didn't really feel the need to call him. We don't really stay in contact. It's off and on."

Does your dad want more contact?

"I think he does, yeah. It's awkward to create a relationship with someone you didn't have a relationship with in the first place... There are probably certain behaviors that I'm angry about that I could get very specific about, but there's no real need to."

But it must have had some effect on the kind of person you are...

"The lack of a father? It very well could have. I'm conscious of..."

Sitting here during this conversation, the striking thing is not how awkward it is or how troubled Wood seems about it but the reverse; though he's talking about something serious and recognizes that, as he talks about it he is never anything other than breezy.

Astin acknowledges that nothing can be as clean and simple as it sometimes appears with Wood. "There's definitely a quality that is searching," he says. "He smokes these clove cigarettes all the time and... it's trying to fill something. It's a very primal..."

Peter Jackson explains how, at first, he had to spur on Wood to inhabit the darker side of Frodo. "He was having to summon up feelings of genuine hatred that he didn't enjoy doing," says Jackson. "Those were the times when I had to say to Elijah, 'I'm not quite believing it - let's do it again.' " And when they did it again, he was there.

I propose to Wood that when darkness doesn't appear easily in someone, especially someone as upbeat and positive as he, one wonders whether there's no darkness there, or that it's buried very deep. And is even darker.

"Because it doesn't get air," he nods, considering the notion. "When something doesn't get air, it smells worse."


And a little later on in the same interview...

The last time we meet, Wood says he is a little worried about having spoken about his father. "I just don't want to upset the waters any more than they are already," says Wood. Before Christmas, his father had left a message complaining that his ex-wife had said she would get Elijah to call, and he hadn't called. Elijah is annoyed that in his message his father had said of his other children, "And if anybody else is around I'll talk to them too."

"It was so revealing," says Wood, "and it bugs me."


I remember reading elsewhere, also, that just after FOTR came out, Elijah's Father had got into contact with Elijah and tried to achieve a reconciliation...this must be what he is talking about here...and I think that Elijah just felt that he only wanted it because his Father could then boast about what a wonderful relationship he had with his famous son, and that really annoyed him intensely., as you can imagine...

The interview is here :-

"The Secret Life of Elijah Wood " (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story?id=5933700)
It's a very interesting interview, even though it contains all the usual stuff about him playing Frodo that we've all read a million times by now...but the bits about his Father, I remember, were particularly fascinating, from the point of view of Achila's comment...
Now that he has achieved Fame and is a marvellous actor, his Father did want to suddenly know him, but he'd grown up enough to know that it was all phoney, and he was having none of it..

whiteling, thanks for posting that sweet poem from Gibran: as the parent of a 16 year old boy who just got his driving license :eek: I am taking those words of wisdom to heart!

I concur (how's that for a good "faculty" word?) that we owe Debbie Wood much gratitude for helping EW grow up the right way. Although who do we blame for his inability to find directions? :D Or is that the Y-chromosome speaking?

Hello and welcome Ereshkigal! Happy Birthday to anyone I missed!

Thanks for posting that photo, Moondancer, I'm heading straight for A&F!

Edited to add: Lady Wendy, we simulposted. I remember the interview you excerpted very well, and I remain in awe that such a young person as EW was then could be so aware and reflective as he appears in that article.

Thanks for the welcome, Achila, Pearl (I loved reading your alter ego's posts on TORC), Moondancer, Peaceweaver, and Lady Wendy.

Also, Wendy, I love the article you quoted. I had read that a while back, and it always saddened me. My own husband is a bit reserved with our children, and I wonder if they feel that he is not there for them. He is such an improvement over his own father that I don't think he sees any problems with his behavior. Of course, as long as the girls show an interest in sports, he is much more active in their lives.

Does any one know if these new DVD releases will feature cast/director commentaries? I'm a junkie for that stuff.

And Whiteling, I know it would come as a relief for my parents to know that I am separate from them. There were quite a few arguments about which side of the family I take after! :D

Wendy, that interview! :( :( :(

But someone can physically be somewhere and not actually emotionally be present. He just wasn't capable... how can I put this?... He just wasn't an emotional guy. You look at the idea of a mother, and the mother kind of nurtures you and cares about you and is concerned with every detail of your life and upbringing... and my dad just wasn't. He was incapable of it. The relationship was never bad. It just wasn't there.

That could so easily be me describing my dad.

And it does make it hard to acknowledge, and handle certain emotions when someone who should be close to you can't validate that you have those emotions, let alone teach you to deal with them effectively.

Well! enough Psycho-babble for one day!

Welcome, Ereshkigal! :k

Honey!

From http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=11524994&method=full

"It was great just to hear his voice again after all that time. It would be so wonderful to spend time with my boy again. But we still have a lot to work on regarding our relationship."

I'm trying to write a comment but I don't think I will. Elijah Wood's family is a matter of speculation for me; I don't think I'll get into that. True, that article is public record and he's commented publicly about the relationship. But I would like to say two things in general:

1. There is no situation that I can think of, short of criminal behavior, that would make a child responsible for a breakup of a family.
2. The essence of drama is conflict. While I don't necessarily believe that artists must suffer greatly to be great, I think that conflict or loss or deprivation or something gives the artist a realistic edge in his/her work. Whatever EW's family circumstances, his work resonates with - something.
3. Maybe he is really part elf. ;)

I give up. Whatever he's doing, he should do more of it. ;) ;)

~grumpy

From what I know of this situation (i.e., reading interviews published since Jan 2002), this so-called reconcilliation never occurred.

Welcome Eresh!

Flourish (aka Zazinka of TORC) ;)

Welcome Ereshkigal

I'm sure you'll love it here

To answer your question re dvd extras
CE of Deep Impact...due out Oct 5 is suppose to have director's commentary and at least two featurettes.
Like you... I enjoy commentary by directors (and casts as well)
The process of film making really interests me :)

A big HI and HUG to my Sam :k

Thanks, Lady Wendy, for the interview link. I'd never read it before and found it more fascinating than the ones I had. For instance: Now, more than a year later, Wood is considering another Lord of the Rings tattoo. In the first movie, Frodo is stabbed above the heart, a wound that never truly heals. Wood wants to get that wound inscribed onto his chest, just a simple black line or a white scar on his flesh to mark where the blade entered and the injury remained. "It would be a really brilliant personal Frodo tattoo to have," he says. "That little scar that would never go away."OME! Guess he well and truly does identify with Frodo - the dear :).

I've found these special features on the Deep Impact DVD, coming out on october 5.

Audio commentary with Director Mimi Leder and Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar
Preparing for the End - Featurette
Making an Impact - Featurette
Creating the Perfect Traffic Jam - Featurette
Parting Thoughts - Featurette
Photo Gallery
Theatrical and teaser trailers
Anamorphic Widescreen
English DD 5.1 track
English Dolby Surround and French Dolby Surround tracks

I don't know about Radio Flyer, though. I found a site, where you can order the DVD's from Japan (!), even region 2, but the only extra's there were trailers.
Talking about Radio Flyer, I found the following on the IMdb message board:

Disclaimer: I don't know of course if this information is true and if these answers are really coming from the screenplay author. So, I'll let you decide for yourself and just give you these answers

***WARNING: RADIO FLYER SPOILERS (click over it to see the text more clearly):





I decided to go to the source of the story, David Evans, who had recently done an interview with a screenplay yahoo user group that I belong to. I got his E-mail through them, although you can get it on his website.

Anyway, according to him, the movie was never supposed to be so ambiguous. Mr. Evans had some abuse in his childhood, and this movie was created out of that experience. It is meant to be taken literally, as it is essentially supposed to be a story about an extrodinaty event fueled by brotherly love and hope.

It was probably Richard Donner who decided to make the story more ambiguous, so that each person would digest the events differently. Once a film goes into producting, the screenplay writer has little, if any, say to what happens.

But, if you want to know the truth from the man behind the story, what he meant for the characters, and ultimately - what the truth of the characters were. Read on.

Was Bobby real? - yes he was.
Did Bobby Survive? - yes he did.
Did he really fly away? - yes, and that was the remarkable part of the story.
Does Shane (the doy) really die? - in the original screenplay, yes, the King was supposed to have killed Shane when he shot him.
What happened to Bobby? - He grew up and flew planes for a living.

The last scene of the screenplay that was not included in the production of the movie, was the grown up Michael (Tom Hanks) taking his kids into the airplane hanger (if you remember, he was at some kind of air show when he tells his kids the story) and the radio flyer is on display. Here, grown up Bobby shows up to meet with his older brother.



***END spoilers
Posted by moojieba, in june.

Personally, I prefer the ambiguous ending

The idea that Elijah Wood is an Alien must also be true of Other Child Actors, because SOME of them really are different. :haha: I mean how do We explain a 4 year old that is asked "Do you want to be in acting?" when she's "Acting Up?" at the Mall? :eek: Clearly this is a 4 year old who was "Acting" like an Adult. :haha: I this NORMAL Human behavior? :lol:

Just think of what Elijah will look when he's a Distinguished Gentleman. :cool: He will look like his father. Gray haired and Handsome. :z: (does anybody remember Frodo in a tree picture, and the inner picture was Elijah's dad?) :confused: Now We know why he's so Handsome. He looks just like him and probably sounds like him too, that gorgeous mellow voice. :p I always thought he looked like his mother and sounded like the men in HER family though. :lol:

He probably can't tell jokes sometimes due to that Aquarian Absentmindedness. :p I heard also that Aquarian's tend to be clumsy and fall a lot because, their minds are always racing, they are in a fog, and can't see where their going. Meanwhile the Boss who is so Literal, has a Worse Problem. :rolleyes: (being an air sign, this is why Our Boy looks so graceful when he does trip and fall eventually, and because he isn't a stiff, he ALWAYS lands on his feet. :lol: The Boss who can't understand puns reminds me of "Happy Days." The wife couldn't understand the joke about the Ostrich and the Funny hat. Mr. Cunningham said, "It's a smut joke, Marian!" :haha:

Whiteling, what a simply beautiful Gibran poem! So right. Thank you .... once again :k .

Ereshkigal, WELCOME! So good to see new faces - er, I mean names :)


from zkgrumpy:
There is no situation that I can think of, short of criminal behavior, that would make a child responsible for a breakup of a family.
Grumps, if it's my last post you're referring to, that's the reverse of what I was trying to imply. The responsibility I meant was Elijah's breadwinning role, particularly after his father left - and even that was technical rather than moral (he continued to regard his mother as head of the household, but he had to insist she saw it the same way). His father clearly left for his own reasons; of COURSE Elijah was not "responsible" for that. He might have left even if Elijah had never acted; who knows? But I'm sure Elijah must nevertheless have worried about the role his career and the move to LA might have played in that split. It's well known that kids often take on their parents' burdens, but that does not mean they are morally responsible for what happens to them - quite the reverse.

Thanks, Lady Wendy, for those very revealing interview extracts. :cool: Used to have them as well (before the demise of the Hard Disk).

Not much time, again :( . Sorry, just too much stress in RL right now.

But wanted to say welcome to Eresh (and anyone else I might have missed :o )!

And--

There isn't anything new on that "wound" tatoo, is there? IIRC, there was never any follow-up story and he seems to have thought better of it afterward--it could be a little annoyance in future acting jobs, I'd think.

Moondancer, thanks for the screenwriter interview. As far as believability, we now have two unconfirmed reports that say exactly the same thing, so I'd guess it's pretty close to the truth. Only addition from the report I read several years ago--and then lost when the "officially unofficial" EJW site disappeared--is that it said the change was due to a decision that a movie about child abuse shouldn't have a "fantasy" ending. Only things in your report that I hadn't read in the earlier one was the very last sentence, and the part about the "doy" ;) -- how's that for avoiding spoilers :p ?

It's nice to have my recollections confirmed (considering the state of my memory these days :rolleyes: ). Even though it wasn't official (as it claimed to be), the officially unofficial site seems to have been pretty good on its facts.

----On other matters, each human being (and definitely each human family) is a mystery, in the sense of being too complex to ever know how someone turned out the way they did. IMHO, Elijah's more of a mystery than most, so I'll just stand in awe ;) rather than try to figure it out.

Good morning, Faculty Loungers,

I just wanted to say an updated "Thanks!" to you all for providing the detailed sort of discussion you have here. I've really profited from lurking here. I know relatively little (relative to you, that is ;) ) about Elijah Wood as a person, so your latest pages speculating on his childhood and its effects on him have been extremely interesting.

From the Rolling Stone interview Wendy quoted, it looks as though his paternal relationship was inadequate from very early on, but Serena's remarks above about Elijah's early success having a negative effect on his father sounded like a familiar dynamic to me. It reminded me of couples in which the woman becomes famous or very financially successful, but the man doesn't it. The relationship often doesn't survive it -- not because of the woman, but because the man can't handle it.

Whatever his upbringing, he does seem to have been a true child prodigy. I am looking forward to Everything is Illuminated far more than anything else he has been working on recently. I so much want to see him do something that gives him a real workout as an actor but which also connects with his viewers at a deep level.

On a previous page, you talked about whom Elijah inherited his looks from. I have never seen pictures showing any of his family except Hannah, only because she is in The TT. Can any of you point me to a link? I am quite curious. Thank you!

(P.S. Hi, Ereshkigal! See??? I know how to behave myself off a swoon thread.)

-- Mechtild

Possible spoilers of Radio Flyer:



I really think that the ending is best this way. I found the literal interpretation difficult to believe (kid escapes in that radio flyer thing, goes on to become a pilot,...). So, the interpretation I had in my head was that the kid dies because of the abuse. His brother feels incredibly guilty and the ending we get to see is the one he prefers to think of in his imagination instead of the sad truth.

How the environment reacts to a case of child abuse is fascinating. I'm not an expert on child abuse of course.
I just read a book about one of the worst cases of child abuse in the history of the US (he was beaten and tortured by his mother) and the reaction towards that kid is amazing (in a :( way). How long it took his school to comprehend the situation!
It reminded me of a French story, sadly also a true story. Even more horrible than the US one. (I tried to get that French book but it was sold out and I was so stupid not to write down the title + author so I can't look it up anymore). The kid grows up in a flat, lives practically in a closet (his eyes are not very good now because he's not used to light), was tortured by his mother on a regular basis. He manages to escape after many years. Later, he wonders why his neighbors never suspected anything. They must have heard him scream (the walls were thin) regularly.
(if anybody should have a clue what French book I'm talking about: would you please give me the title, author and publisher's name?)

In Radio Flyer, the mother's role is believable. She could see what was happening to her little boy but wasn't able to stop it.
I don't have any kids myself but I can't understand that. If I would catch my partner beating my kid into hospital...that would be it. The end. My child would come first. But you see the opposite happen in a lot of cases. I don't get it but it happens.
It reminds me of the father's reaction in that US abuse story. He saw what happened but wanted to hold on to his life (good marriage, regular work,...) and all he could say to the boy was 'well, you'd better not make your mother angry anymore'.

Radio Flyer is not the sort of film you forget about 5 minutes after you've seen it.
There are a few made for tv movies about this sort of thing (child abuse) and usually, I don't really like those movie but those two child actors in RF really lifted that movie above average for me.


Erm...bit of a depressing topic this, isn't it? I suddenly have the urge to see Chain of Fools again.


Edit: I did say that I found the literal ending of Radio Flyer not very believable (kid escaping and becoming a pilot). When I come to think of it: that true US story there: that boy escapes and becomes a fighter pilot in real life. So, maybe it's not that unbelievable after all.

hallo girls!!

my, have you been busy or what!!!

very intresting discussion wich i dont think i will
start to follow you in,i know i can`t find the right words
but i can say that i agree with wath have been sade,
i just will say this. i feel sorry for elijah that his father will know him now when he is famous,that is not what i call a good father, but what i have read
he was not either.thanks very much every body for the interwies!!!

thanks moondancer for the link to EII,that was the one i was looking for!!!!

and a very warm welcome to all new friends i hope you will enjoy it
as much as i do!!!! :k :k

Welcome, Ereshkigal, Mechtild, and everyone else I haven't greeted yet. I, too, am more of a lurker than participant. The Faculty is a great place, and I am usually in too much awe of the brainpower here to contribute anything useful. It takes more time than I ever seem to have to do the necessary research to provide meaningful posts. :(

tg's mention of the "unofficially official" Elijah website gave me a pang of nostalgia...that site had a small blurb about the Holy Grail of early Elwood works: Day-O. :D Complete with several photos of young Elijah with Delta Burke. Is it too much to hope that someday, THAT will become available on DVD? :z:

Happy Thursday, all! This was on The Yank yahoogroup, apparently posted to the IMDB board. Some interesting further info on Elijah's character in "Hooligans":

I have been reading several messages suggesting a boycott of the Yank because the lead role is played by Elijah the Hobbit and not Danny Dyer (Football Factory) Having seen Football Factory I must say what an excellant film superb charactors and actors that really summed up the Saturday ritual and the need in some to spill blood.

As for the Yank first and formost Elijah Wood does not play a football Hooligan as most contributers seem to think !

He is the brother of a girl who is married to a retired thug "Steve Dunham". Matt (Elijah) gets chummy with Steve`s younger brother Pete played by Charlie Hunnam and gets dragged along to Upton park. Matt spends 90% of the film avoiding violence as he is not trusted By the firm of hooligans "Green street elite"

Elijah turns in a fantastic performance so do the rest of the cast. Unlike the football factory all fight scenes were choreographed by screen legend Pat Johnson (Enter the Dragon 1974)

All hooligans attended fight training schoolwhich were run by Pat himself. The end result is an outstanding sequenses of fights etc. Make no mistake "football factory" would have been forgotten by next year where as "the yank" will be talked about for many a year. Quote "Guys this fight scene will go down in Cinema history and will be talked about by your grandchildren,its awesome" Pat Johnson after watching the closing fight sequence on the monitor. So lets not judge anything until we have seen this film amd then by all means draw comparisons and voice your opinions.

This is Elijah coming of age so to speak and the elven cloak will finally be discarded. A great actor!!

The Faculty is a great place, and I am usually in too much awe of the brainpower here to contribute anything useful.
Well, it doesn't stop me from contributing ;) :D


Achila, I didn't know that this comparison was being made like that (Football factory vs The Yank). Rather silly if you ask me.
I went to the IMdb message board to see who the poster of that comment is but he doesn't say.
steve-1957? :confused:
Make no mistake "football factory" would have been forgotten by next year where as "the yank" will be talked about for many a year. Quote "Guys this fight scene will go down in Cinema history and will be talked about by your grandchildren,its awesome" Pat Johnson after watching the closing fight sequence on the monitor.
I'll be trying very hard to not get my hopes up too high...a fight scene that will go down in Cinema history, choreographed by legend Pat 'Enter the Dragon' Johnson?
:cool:

This is Elijah coming of age so to speak and the elven cloak will finally be discarded. A great actor!!
:)

Thanks, Achila.

Yes - great news about "The Yank". Am so looking forward to this movie! Whoever steve-1057 is, he has insight :cool: Thanks, Achila :)

EDIT: zkgrumpy and I have been having some Interesting (with a capital I) correspondence about father/son relationships (one in particular). Seems we misunderstood each other - sorry, grumps :k
But the (very good) point zkg makes is that Warren (hope he's not reading this) seemed to imply a joint responsibility for the lack of communication between himself and his younger son when he said "we need to work on our relationship". Maybe the relationship would improve if he revised that view.
OK, enough speculation about the Wood family for now ....

Second EDIT: Welcome, Mechtild! Thanks for your comments above. I have next to no idea of what the rest of the family looks like either (but maybe they don't want us to know - I could sympathise with that!). Haven't even spotted Hannah in TTT yet (third Gondorian maiden from the right or what? :cool: )

Still no word about a US/UK distribution deal tho -- a bit worrisome, considering the film is supposed to open in January.

I have next to no idea of what the rest of the family looks like either (but maybe they don't want us to know - I could sympathise with that!). Haven't even spotted Hannah in TTT yet (third Gondorian maiden from the right or what? :cool: )

Yes, Hannah is visible in the caves at Helm's Klamm (and I spotted her clearly next to Eowyn, when she turnes back to her uncle Theoden, shocked over the message of Aragorn's death. Must try to get a screencap of it.).

Here's an obvious dated photo of Elijah with his mom


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/elijahanddebbiewood.jpg

These two cuties :k !