Narya-


And isn't our two year anniversary of that great event right around this time?

((((MOGGY)))))! :k

Where did those two years go? :eek:
I have no trouble remembering when it happened, because I was spending a few days of "vacation" in Denison, Iowa (the hometown of Donna Reed, and... that's about it ;) ), thanks to a deer that hit my car. I'll repeat for those who've forgotten or who weren't here at the time, that it was indeed the deer that hit my car and not vice versa--and that's straight from the sheriff's report!

And I remember the date because I was innocently on my way back to Omaha after having been in Fort Dodge for my mother's 85th birthday when said deer ran into my car. Her birthday is October 5 (my mother's, not the deer's :rolleyes: ). I came home to several days' worth of emails and PM's from {{{Faculty members}}} who wanted to let me know the thread had moved. Sheryl launched the thread here on October 7, 2002, a couple of days before I got home.

So we're not quite up to two years, but we're getting there... Time has gone by quickly--I remember the dates, but if someone had asked me out of the blue, I would have guessed it had been three years instead of two!! (I think that's a sign of getting older :rolleyes: .)

And isn't our two year anniversary of that great event right around this time?


tgshaw, I believe both you and Hobmom are right! The Harem moved over here close to the end of August / early Sept, IIRC, and most of the other hobbit threads (and elves and men, though the hobbits proved more enduring :D ) moved soon after. The Faculty hung on a little longer, being resilient folk who managed not to get anyone banned in the initial dust-up ;) . The move to the Pony didn't prevent further issues, though, and thus the Faculty moved here a little later than many of the other threads.

Ah, old times. :p Remembering all this makes me love KD all the more. :) :k

i was over at my moms today and she asked me
if i knew a place were she coulde talked to other people
about viggo mortensen,is there any body in who knows?

is there a thred in here maybe?

many questiens today and many posts!!!!! :lol:

LOVE/WOOD

Wonderful commentaries, breathtaking caps (echoing Tg: yay, Wood!!! yay Hobmom too! And OF COURSE Tg herself!!!). But no time to respond properly, except to say:

spine-chilling Froshadowing in Bumblebee, Vardaelentari - where Barney clutches Cassie exactly as Frodo clutches Sam in the boat! Thanks!

And thanks AGAIN, Moondancer :k for the French review of Elijah and that link to the EII "It's a Wrap" report. That's given me hope! It sounds like a cult movie if ever there was one, but if it's a halfway popular cult movie I'll be happy. And if it's anything like Emir Kusturica's movies I'll be happier still. His films are as bizarre and as hilarious as they get. If you don't know them yet, at least try Black Cat, White Cat (1998). Or his latest Cannes release:
here (http://www.festival-cannes.fr/perso/index.php?langue=6002&personne=2744)
(A Serb born in Sarajevo?? Interesting!)

Oh, and (sorry if this is slightly OT :rolleyes:, but it did start with a comparison of Elijah with Mona Lisa!) - Honey, I wouldn't suggest for a second that anything in The Da Vinci Code is original - except the central idea and the plot, of course, which I can only say are extremely clever. Even the (names of) the characters are based on real people. But it's hardly great literature, it contains some rather basic mistakes, and I guess it's highly controversial to anyone who has a personal stake in the matters it discusses. But if anyone wants A Potted Introduction to Conspiracy Theory (not to mention cryptology) plus a clever thriller, there you have it! And so does half the world - nearly everyone I know has been reading this book recently. And I have to admit that, even though I saw Leonardo's Last Supper al fresco in Milan a year or so ago, I didn't notice the aspect that is so obvious once it's been pointed out. Nor did the Creationist friend I was with!
And in a vain attempt to bring this back on topic: I could definitely see Elijah as one of those disciples. John, maybe?

i was over at my moms today and she asked me
if i knew a place were she coulde talked to other people
about viggo mortensen,is there any body in who knows?

is there a thred in here maybe?

Well, the Viggo thread here at KD is the "DSG/NSG Worshippers" (That's for "Danish sex god/Numenorean sex god" IIRC). But the last post in it was in June, so it's fallen off the 30-day thread list. You have to pull up the older threads in order to find it. So there might not be too much "action" for her :p . Here's the link, though:
http://www.khazaddum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=715

How sad that Viggo's fans don't have as much to talk about as we do... :( ;)

from tgshaw
How sad that Viggo's fans don't have as much to talk about as we do...
Mariole tries not to feel cocky about this. Fails miserably. Struts off smirking mightily... :p :D :p

Ooh, we need a 2-year party! :z:

[QUOTE=Mariole]Mariole tries not to feel cocky about this. Fails miserably. Struts off smirking mightily... :p :D :p

They say laughter is the best medicine. I admire the way you expressed your feelings, Mariole. My daughters probably wonder about their mother when she's at the computer smiling/laughing for reasons unknown to them.

However, I must say that this group is the most "intelligent" and "informative" bunch of loyal and true fans I have had the pleasure of finding.

Happy -early- anniversary!

I'm just dropping in to say I've been lurking with interest. Vardaelentari, thanks for posting those links to photos from the Bumblebee film. It's not rentable around here, so it's great to get an idea of the look of some of the scenes. And yes, nice hands... There have been so many great pictures posted, actually!

wood, the fan thread at TORC (Tolkien Online) for Viggo/Aragorn still is up and running (*--though not like the Frodo/Elijah thread!, Mechtild adds, her bosom swelling with pride*). I will try to make a linky thing for you in just a moment!

Mind you, it's mostly a swoon thread, not a discussion of acting like this one tends to be:

http://forums.tolkienonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=82358&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

RE: Shadowcat's musical moment yesterday morning..... just had to mention Magic Man by Heart:

never seen eyes so blue

maybe they haven't but I guess we all have :cool:

Moggy...Many Thanks....Being fairly new here(June)..I don't really know the whole history of this magical place we call KD and esp. "The Faculty"
But I do know I don't EVER want to see it GO AWAY......And when things get back to normal in my RL... I intend on helping keep this place running anyway I can :k
Did someone mention Party?
Sounds good to me ;)
Who's coming?
What shall I bring? LOL

Back to lurking for awhile but if someone's throwing a party I'll BE THERE!!!

Well, if we're going to have a party I, for one, would like to hear how TG had the wisdom and foresight to have been a fan for so long. What was it, Old Girl? (And I mean that in the affectionate sense!) What did you see that made you know this lad was going to be one to watch?

"Speach!"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/honeyelf/speach.jpg

See! He wants to know too! :D

***

OT aside to:

Serena, regarding The Da Vinci Code-
.... I guess it's highly controversial to anyone who has a personal stake in the matters it discusses

Which is why I probably won't be reading it. I'm aware of some of the plot points, and I just don't think it's my kinda thing. But maybe someday.
Honey!

Oh WOW !!! :D......Did you say " PARTY" ?

Lady Wendy claps her hands together, grabs her party dress and her dancing shoes from the cupboard in the corner of the Lounge, and runs off to the bathroom to get herself ready...

Although I'm a relative newcomer to this thread, it's reputation has spread far and wide..well, you know, I find it terribly difficult to keep something as good as this all to myself when I'm posting on other messageboards...( not so long ago, I was voted Faculty Lounge Personnel Officer, by someone on here, I momentarily forget who it was, which really chuffed me to bits !!! :o :o :D )
Anyway, what I was going to say was, even though I am a relative newcomer to this esteemed thread, I do vaguely know something of it's history, as well as that of the Frodo's Harem...( That's what comes of RL chat with Pearl and Ghyste, you know...gabby broads they are !!! )
However, I don't know the whole story...I believe it's something of a convoluted one, with numerous upheavals as the Faculty Lounge and The Harem had to move from Forum to Forum, trying to find a permanent home...what I don't know about is the thing about being banned...whatever for ???

So, without much further ado, I've been doing some digging around in the Archives, and look what I found :-

The Faculty Lounge - An Elijah Wood Discussion ( Part Deux - opened 09/05/2002 by Ariel ) (http://www.council-of-elrond.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119&page=1&highlight=Faculty+Lounge)

This version of the thread ran only to 18 pages...( the last page being particularly interesting, with regards to what should and shouldn't be discussed, in that Forum )...before everyone felt harrassed enough to decamp to here, where you've all remained in relative safety ever since...long may it continue !!!

And not only that, I also found :-

The Frodo Swoon Thread - aka Frodo's Harem (http://www.council-of-elrond.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=83)

For anyone on here that posts in both places like me...

( This last one has Pearl's first post, on the first page, edited at a later date, to say that " This isn't the Harem anymore, we've moved on "....presumably to here ? ))

It very interesting to read through some of the old threads, particularly the Faculty Lounge...it's wonderful to see that the conversation hasn't abated any at all...in fact, it's going on as strong as ever, even after all this time !!

How many of you remember this old thread, and who has disappeared off its member list, that you would like to see back here again ??

Tgshaw,

Honey said :-
I, for one, would like to hear how TG had the wisdom and foresight to have been a fan for so long. What was it, Old Girl? (And I mean that in the affectionate sense!) What did you see that made you know this lad was going to be one to watch?


...and I'd second that...what DID you see in this marvellous actor, that just said to you...yes, he is going to be extraordinary, and definitely worth watching...there must have been a defining moment ??

Well, I'm not the highly esteemed tg :k
But, I was a fan of the lad long before LOTR.

I remember discussing him with one of my sisters when he was only a kid. My sister thought that Macauley 'Home Alone' Culkin was such a cute kid (as did a lot of other people of course). I went into a discussion with her and said that Elijah Wood combines cute with lots of talent. She didn't agree with me back then but she does now. :haha:
From the moment I first saw him during Forever Young (not one of his best movies but still enjoyable and it's my 'discovery' movie so it will always have a special spot in my heart), I knew that he was one to watch.

However, Tgshaw did mention before that she knew before the casting that Elijah would make a good Frodo and I can't say the same thing.
So, Tg is the queen of The Faculty for having this foresight.
On Tg's site, there is a section where she talks about this.
http://www.frodolivesin.us/id28.htm


My book Frodo looked differently. Not as beautiful for example and I imagined him a bit older.
The moment I found out that Frodo was chosen on the Ain't It Cool News site, I hesitated a bit. Would this work? So, I let all the movies and tv moments (interviews,...) I had seen of Elijah pass...I let my memory do some magic and from that moment on, I understood that it could work really well.

The moment that my enthousiasm was proven right was the moment I saw this poster:
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/ATA/23563M.jpg
With that poster, it just clicked.

This is Frodo!

Elijah as Frodo is sheer magic.
Thank you, Peter and Fran and Harry Knowles and everybody involved (not forgetting Elijah Jordan Wood in the first place).
After that, My anticipation was so high that I was literally trembling during the first minutes of the movie FOTR.

If there ever was a moment of movie magic in my life, it was that first moment I saw Frodo sitting on the gras, by a tree, reading a book,...


((((Faculty))))


PS Vardaelentali, thanks for the fantastic Bumblebee screencaps in attachment. He's a great hugger in movies and in RL (judging from the pictures I've seen anyway).

I put this part of the quote first, because I have to say...
...and I'd second that...what DID you see in this marvellous actor, that just said to you...yes, he is going to be extraordinary, and definitely worth watching...there must have been a defining moment ??
...that, unlike the extraordinary Moondancer (and the incomparable Brunhild, and maybe someone[s] else I'm not remembering right now--IIRC, Brunhild saw his greatness while watching North; now, there's an eye for talent :eek: ), I can't claim to be an out-and-out Elijah Wood fan before he was cast as Frodo. I'd seen him in only two movies, Avalon and Huck Finn, and I hadn't even remembered it was him in Avalon (but when I started looking at all of his roles, I realized that it was his character's story that had stuck with me over the 10+ years since I'd seen the movie once in the theater--that if anyone had asked me, "What's that movie about?" it's Michael's story I would have told them--so I guess he had an impact :) ).

So, my only true Elijah Wood experience was Huck Finn. My only claim to fame is that when I saw him in Huck Finn, something in me knew that this was Frodo playing Huck Finn. So I can't claim an early discovery of Elijah--just of Frolijah :p . I'd done a lot of picturing of young Frodo living along the Brandywine, because my one and still only serious fanfic had been set then (and, with hobbits aging more slowly than Men, a 10-year-old Elijah was just right for 12-year-old Frodo :) ). And I just happened to have the very good fortune that my imagined young Frodo Baggins looked exactly like the real-life young Elijah Wood; thankfully, the resemblance continued, so that I didn't have to struggle at all to see the just-come-of-age Elijah Wood as the just-come-of-age Frodo (except that I'd want his hair a lighter brown :rolleyes: ; actually, IMHO, Elijah's natural color would have been perfect). At the time I first saw Huck Finn, of course, there was no idea at all that LotR would ever be made into live action movies, so my "casting" was purely personal.

I will say that I did notice his acting his Huck Finn, and not just his looks! The incredibly nuanced emotions for someone that age, the being able to tell what's going on inside the character without him saying a word. I'd guess that I wouldn't have noticed his Frodoness, or at least it wouldn't have made such a strong impact, without that acting skill. It was definitely the fishing scene that did that for me, which is the reason that it was the first non-LotR scene I ever screencapped.

But unlike the true Elijah Wood fans, I didn't seek out any of his other movies until he'd been cast as Frodo. By the time FotR was released, I'd seen all of his movies that were available on video, in part so I could better defend him against the nay-sayers--because just from Huck Finn I knew he could be Frodo. But I ended up getting hooked myself :p .

Not yet understanding the difference between Elijah-in-costume and Elijah-in-character, I was a bit disappointed by the early online interviews, where he was sitting outside Bag End dressed as Frodo but not playing Frodo. But even then I thought, "Well, it might not be as great as I thought it would be, but still no one could do it better." Then came the first online trailer and my first glimpse of the living, moving, breathing Frolijah--raising his sword against the WiKi on Weathertop--and I stared at my computer monitor and whispered, "My God! Its him!"

How many of you remember this old thread, and who has disappeared off its member list, that you would like to see back here again ??
The original thread, I think, has actually and completely disappeared. Some time before Imladris became the Council of Elrond there was a terrible crash and just about everything was lost :( . Some was recoverable, and some wonderful people had saved some of the discussion so it wasn't entirely lost. At that time, we were the Non-Swooney Elijah Wood thread :) -- It was started by a guy!! Which might be the first thing I'll say I miss. We haven't had too many men who've posted, but there have been some, and a few of them even hung around for awhile. I guess that's one reason I like keeping the place basically non-swooney--I keep hoping some men will discover it and start posting again :( . It was nice to get their input. Anyway, the guy who started the thread started it the day after FotR was released, and it's been going continuously ever since, even though it's changed location and name at times.

IIRC, we took the name "The Faculty Lounge" when the fan threads got moved into the Prancing Pony at Council of Elrond, because most of the threads there had names of places. That would be the 18-pager, if I have the history right.

It's kind of funny, because a google search turned up the first page of this incarnation of the thread a few days ago, and I'd followed the link just for the heck of it. And, oh, my--the memories!! Let me say to peaceweaver, Prim, and ainon that I'm so glad you got your proper names back :k ! Peaceweaver as a Sackville-Baggins just never seemed right!

There was also a mention or two of the "Faculty Three" (part of the banning story, which I'll leave for someone else if anyone thinks it's "tellable").

But what had me :lol: and giving lots of virtual ((())) and :k :k to Moggy and KD were some posts that just said:

Elijah Wood... Frodo Baggins... Elijah... Frodo... Frodo... Elijah...
...because it was so nice to be able to use both names in the same post :z: .

----Probably because of the memories being brought up, another poster (besides any men) that I feel bad about losing is LEK (Lady Eowyn Kenobi--and, yes, she's definitely a "double duty" fan, as her name implies ;) ). She was a mod at CofE when the dust-up occurred, and although she did her best to help us, (she's probably one of the biggest reasons we stuck it out as long as we did), and we certainly never blamed her for any of the problems, I don't think she felt comfortable posting with us after that, which is too bad. {{{LEK}}} wherever you are--we miss you!

Wendy, your research skills never cease to amaze me! Thank you! (I know nothing about the fractious moments in the history of the Frodo-Elijah threads here, either.)

Moondancer, you said,
My book Frodo looked differently. Not as beautiful for example and I imagined him a bit older.
Mine, neither. I had been thinking of a Frodo more along the lines of a thirty-something Colin Firth... But E.W.'s performance won me over, lock stock and barrel. (DUH, obviously! :rolleyes: )

tg, I see I just simul-posted with you. Many thanks for relating some of your group's back story so well. I would love to hear more! *nestles in closer to the messageboard tale fire.* I am a bit in awe of you fans who have been this invested in LotR for so long, all along. Like some others, I was engrossed years ago, but then was pulled away by RL for a couple of decades, before being drawn back in again. But those decades gave me the greater knowledge and experience to appreciate the books (and films) all the better, I find now. It's been beyond gratifying and exciting to be able to do this at a time when there is such a thing as the internet and these forums in which to listen and talk. For certainly, no one in my immediate acquaintance gives a fig for any of this -- at least, not the way I do. :D

...It's been beyond gratifying and exciting to be able to do this at a time when there is such a thing as the internet and these forums in which to listen and talk. For certainly, no one in my immediate acquaintance gives a fig for any of this -- at least, not the way I do. :D
I've never been completely "away" from Tolkien since I discovered him in 1969, but most of the time, as you said, I was by myself so it was hard to really be very involved. There were big "events" such as the Sil being published, but that was about it. My main activity was reading LotR once in awhile and making notes in the margins ;) , and buying the Tolkien calendar every year.

It wasn't til I moved to Omaha that I ran across Mythlore in the university library and so discovered the Mythopoeic Society. Still no one to talk to, but at least there was a journal to read several times a year--evidence that there were other people out there--and I discovered things such as the Letters and Carpenter's biography, various commentaries, etc. The Society's interests have broadened out a lot lately to more contemporary fantasy, so I've basically drifted away, although I'll be eternally grateful to them for introducing me to Charles Williams, who I never would have heard of, much less read, without them (for those who haven't :p, he's the "third Inkling", after Lewis and Tolkien, and if you think it's hard to find someone to discuss Tolkien with :eek: ). I've been in touch with the Tolkien Society, but RL has kept me from being very involved.

But it was definitely the internet that reignited things for me, and that happened directly because of the movies. I was one of those "Yeah, I have an internet connection but I hardly ever use it," people. But I had a next-door neighbor at the time who used to come over and use my computer, and he told me about the movies being planned (this was pretty early on--before casting). At first I thought he was joking (myself being very much of the "LotR is unfilmable" school), but then he started punching up all these internet sites... with people talking about... OME!! Tolkien!! And I can very honestly say that life's never been the same since :) :) .

Since we recently becoming nostalgic ;)

I laugh now when I think of how funny it is that I was rooting for this young man before I ever realized he was Frodo.
Since I've been movie obsessed since a young girl....I frequently argue points with my friends re: what is the Better movie.
Used to have very heated arguments about Deep Impact vs Armagedden
And since this genre is one of my favorites I had studied both films in Detail
My point was always well yeah it's got Tea Leoni (not very good)
But to counteract that..." it has that wonderful little guy from The Good Son and Forever Young...."
Most people couldn't take issue with that ;) Thanks Elijah for helping me win with that one :k
Guess somewhere I missed the fact they had cast him as Frodo
My daughter actually asked me back in January whether I was going to see RotK
I told her no...since I hadn't seen the other two
Why not ?
Well...."they can't make a decent movie from these books....too difficult."
She said " I've seen them...I think you should check them out."
Wise daughter she is because I distinctly remember that first realization
Ohh he's in this....might be worth watching...Mr. Wood is why I gave Peter Jackson a chance to prove me wrong....Very wrong indeed :eek:

IMHO....there are many reasons why I loved LotR...too many to go into detail...but only one reason why I ever even gave them I try in the first place.
I should have been paying attention to who they were casting....where the heck was I for for four years :o
I won't make the same mistake twice...from now on...if they are casting Mr. Wood in the flick...I'll be dropping the cash to see the film (in the theatre...Where I never got to see Fellowship...or Towers :( )
So there's my story...that's why I'm here...and here to stay :)

:eek:
Can this be our first glimpse of Sammy Davis Jr. Jr.???

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/honeyelf/lijdog.jpg

Hard to imagine that hairy behemoth executing certain manouevers, let alone fitting in EliJohnathan's lap! :lol:

OK, I'm gonna go brew some coffe, and then read everyone's posts, and come back when I can behave myself!

Honey!

Honey,
I don't want to destroy your fantasy about this dog executing certain manoeuvres ;) but
that's the dog of the hotel he stayed in when he was in the Czech republic for EII (their mascot)

http://www.arsys.cz/press/pdf04/Press_30_04.pdf

You'll see in that link that he wrote a "thank you" note to them:


Hotel Union,

Thank you for a pleasant stay that I won't soon forget.
The "Red" room was lovely. Until my next trip to Louny.

Love,
...

If you follow the next link and click on "Hotel", you'll see a better view of that "Red" room.
http://www.ln.cz/union/enghome-index.htm

hallo ladies!!

My historie with elijah and frodo beginns with fellowship!
I read the books when i was 13-15 years old but only once
i think they was very good but for some reson i never read them again
untill i hade seen the fellowship!
After i have seen the first movie i read them all sillmarilion,the hobbit
and lotr!!ok!there were some changes but they never was any real
problems for me maybe just becuse i wasen`t any die hard fan of the books
i think they are very good but i love the movies and i know why!! :D
The very beautiful guy who was sitting under the tree!!
With his beauti´ful blue eyes i was lost!!!! :p
And his acting was well i am lost of words if you now what i mean!!!
Now i buy every movie with elijah i can find and i will see his new in theater
And i have seen movies i maybe never would have seen otherwise!!

I just love this man fore his looks and his acting!!!
And i have hade the plesure of meting all of you my dear friends
and i am meaning to stay untill you throw me out!!!!!!!!!! :lol:
here are som beautiful pics (i goden`t help my self;SORRY)http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/lotrn21.jpg

and the last one!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/2417For_Always_Forever.jpg

hope you liked my story and the pics!!!!

LOVE/WOOD

Great to read all the moments in your lives when Elijah Wood/Frodo made a full impact.

I found a news snippit. It's nothing really but the Brits amongst us and those who can watch the BBC, might be slightly interested.

Alistair McGowan (I'm not a big fan of him myself) has a small role in EII.
Q: What are your current projects?

A McG: I'm writing a film script at the moment --a biopic of a historical figure. It's very different to writing sketches - there's loads of research and I'm not getting paid! I also went to Prague recently to take a small role in a film with Elijah Wood, called Everything is Illuminated. I play a rabbi.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/showbiz/articles/12892692?source=Evening%20Standard)


Also to the UK viewers:
I think that I saw somewhere that "Radio Flyer" is going to be on UK tv somewhere tonight. It's not on the BBC but on ITV or something like that. Check your tv guide to be sure
(sorry for posting this so late)

...there's loads of research and I'm not getting paid!
Dear Mr. McGowan: Yes, it's called writing! :lol:

Beautiful pics from wood (do you know who wrote the poetry?).

The other picture:
I love the glasses
I love the hair
I love the "gap"--and that he doesn't mind showing it
I love the shirt
I love that he seems to be carrying something around his neck (and something else sticking out of his pocket)
I love that he loves dogs
I love that he sits on the floor
I love that he doesn't mind someone taking his picture in light of all the above
Is our geek-boy back, or what :p ?

Geeky edit :p :
"He has never gone away. He is both geek-boy and movie star, and he is at home both in t-shirts and designer suits." [ref: "Flotsam and Jetsam" (IIRC) ;) ]

NOW LETS SEE IF THE THIRD PICTURE WORKES
IT DIDEN`T IN MY LAST POST!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/HQ_oscars01crop.jpg

you just have to love this guy!!! :p :D

LOVE/WOOD

EDIT:I´m glad you liked my pics TG!!Sorry but i don`t now who wrote the poetry but i found the pic in waroftherings photoforum there are many beautiful pictures!!!

And i loved your poetry about our Geeky-boy,he shore have both feets on the ground movie star or not!!!!

Moondancer,
Also to the UK viewers:
I think that I saw somewhere that "Radio Flyer" is going to be on UK tv somewhere tonight. It's not on the BBC but on ITV or something like that. Check your tv guide to be sure


OK, I just checked my trusty Radio Times, and sure enough, "Radio Flyer" is showing...at 4.20 AM on Sky Movies 9, for whoever has this movie channel...( not me unfortunately...:( :( :( )
It is billed as starring Lorraine Braco and John Heard...no mention of Elijah at all..but hey, we should be grateful for small mercies - even if I can't see it, it at least IS being shown !!!

I do have "The Ice Storm" all safely stored on our DVD recorder's Hard Drive, from yesterday, and I shall be watching said Elijah-goodness on Thursday evening...and I shall offer up my two-pennyworth after that...even though I have seen it before, it was a while ago, and there have been many interesting conversations about it in here since then !!

Wood,
Such a lovely poem with that illustration...is it your work or someone-else's ? Anyway, it IS wonderful...see, I said there'd be no stopping you now that you've learnt how to post pictures..( and don't worry about posting pics on my account...as far as I'm concerned, bring 'em on - I love a good pic !!! ) Even though it doesn't constitute earnest discussion, even the most academic theorising about acting skills always benefits from a little illustration, IMVHO...;)

Mechtild,
Wendy, your research skills never cease to amaze me! Thank you! (

Thank -you...( blush )
Actually, it didn't take much, once you know that the previous site was Council of Elrond, a quick search of the thread-index at the Prancing Pony Inn did the trick...( I happen to be registered with this site anyway - I don't post there because...well...there just ain't the quality there, if you get my drift :D...and that's because all the good people decamped over to here ages ago !!! ) I heard that this thread used to be there from Our very own Pearl and Ghyste, with whom I have had many a good old natter, about all sorts of things, over a few glasses of wine...you know, as you do....
( If you, or anyone else in here, for that matter, ever gets to come to London, please do drop me a PM, and we'll get together with all the other London KD-ers...Faculty-members, Haremites, etc...it really IS such fun...)

It really is heart-warming to read all of your stories about how you got to fall under this guy's spell...and he really has cast his spell over us all, hasn't he...

Hands up who doesn't agree ???

No, thought not !!!:D

Rosario Dawson Arrested

Just ran across this at IMDb. Since she played Elijah's wife in Ash Wednesday and has a part in Sin City, I thought some folks might be interested:
Actress Rosario Dawson was arrested in New York City on Sunday afternoon while filming during a political rally. The Men In Black 2 star was shooting scenes for new film This Revolution during a demonstration against President George W Bush, when she and two filmmakers were arrested. Dawson is now being charged on two counts of disorderly conduct and one count of second degree obstruction of government administration. The actress and her two crew members were released hours later. They have been ordered to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court, New York, on November 9.

ylla--I forgot to say earlier, regarding your "heated discussions" about Deep Impact and Armageddon :p -- Deep Impact was also closer to scientific truth according to my favorite astronomer at http://www.badastronomy.com . Without looking up the page, I remember his first comment about Armageddon was something like: "The movie didn't get everything wrong. There's an asteroid in the movie and asteroids do, in fact, exist." :D Although Deep Impact took some liberties with reality, he said it was much better than most movies of it's kind in getting the space science right.

Thank you lady wendy!!
this one will be the last and this has something to do with
acting or those who acts with im or?? :D :p :lol:
No ,it is not my work i have found them in warofthering photoforum under photoart!!!


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/2604Elijah_s_Eclipse.jpg

If you whant to you are all most welcome to visit my album!!!!!
Here is the adress http://photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/
Ihope you will come and letting me know what you think!!!

LOVE/WOOD

Cute, cute pics and words everyone! I think he looks really cute in the pic with that mascot at the Union Hotel in Prague!! So geeky yet so adorable!! I don't care what people say. . I love those glasses of his!!!!
Wow! I cannot believe that this board's 2 year anniversary is coming up. Shouldn't we plan on doing something really BIG???
I dunno if I can add a pic that I really like of our favorite guy. Need to think long and hard about this one.
Let's see. . . . how about this attached one?? Oh, how about another one?? I just cannot make up my mind which is better! ;)

Wow, you folks are great entertainment! *<3's Faculty.*

I choose attachment #1, Vardaelentari. I prefer Happy!Lij to Moody!Lij.

from tgshaw
Not yet understanding the difference between Elijah-in-costume and Elijah-in-character, I was a bit disappointed by the early online interviews, where he was sitting outside Bag End dressed as Frodo but not playing Frodo.
You have certainly hit on something for me. I was watching the early interviews post FOTR, and I thought, !!! :eek: Because of his accent, mostly, and his unmoved-to-the-lower register voice (although I didn't know what that was all about until later), but mostly because Elijah was so different! (And Viggo totally threw me ... "mumble mumble mumble" -- LOL!) At least I had the benefit of seeing the interviews after I saw the movie, or I think I would have been really scared! :p

It was fascinating that a man started the original thread. Was this in the "Kill Me Now" days? I just think more men were involved then because of the geek factor behind making the films. I have a friend who was totally fanatic about these films being made. He sent me a link to the baby LOTR site, and it featured some sepia pics of a Gollum creature, so dark as to be barely discernable, because they didn't want the secret of Gollum's "look" to get out. I thought it was a joke (particularly as this place was in New Zealand!) :rolleyes: He dragged me to the movie when it finally came out -- not kicking and screaming, I was curious, but as a (then) 26-year veteran of loving the books, I really didn't have much hope for the film. Wrong! Gandalf taking that cart into the Shire - I think I started to cry. It was so perfect -- beyond perfect! I fell instantly and deeply in love. (I had to warm up to Elijah, as he was too young, but he had me by the time he left Bag End. I woulda taken that Wiki knife for him, the sweetie!)

from ylla
My point was always well yeah it's got Tea Leoni (not very good)
But to counteract that..." it has that wonderful little guy from The Good Son and Forever Young...."
This is exactly my opinion and experience. I remembered Elijah from Forever Young -- the treehouse gibberish scene is one of my favorite comedic moments of all time. (I'd also seen Avalon, but like Tg, although I remembered the little boy, I didn't remember his name.)

Ohh he's in this....might be worth watching...Mr. Wood is why I gave Peter Jackson a chance to prove me wrong....
Your daughter is wise indeed. ;)

from tgshaw
"Yeah, I have an internet connection but I hardly ever use it,"
BWAH HAH HAH! *falls down, wipes tears* Oh, yeah, I remember those days. THANK GOODNESS THEY'RE GONE!!!

Moondancer, I did frequent the Prancing Pony Inn for a while, but it was hard to find the good stuff, since there was so much ... other stuff. :p However, they did have a marvelous ongoing joke, where someone asked a question, someone else would answer it, and pose the next question. It was hysterical. My favorite was, "Hey, Cave Troll, why did you go after Frodo?" Answer: "Him PURTY!" I think that said it! :D

from Mechtild
I had been thinking of a Frodo more along the lines of a thirty-something Colin Firth...
You know, that's not a bad image, either. :p

It's been beyond gratifying and exciting to be able to do this at a time when there is such a thing as the internet and these forums in which to listen and talk.
Absolutely. It is a gift I am grateful every single day.

Begin off topic:

Don't forget: Omar Sharif has a gap. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.filmarchiv.at/events/av/pics/64_01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.filmarchiv.at/events/av/jv1964.htm&h=200&w=220&sz=6&tbnid=WNOzKrAXXfMJ:&tbnh=92&tbnw=101&start=5&prev=/images%3Fq%3Domar%2Bsharif%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DN

Whahoo, go Rosario Dawson! *fangirls her*

"I spent many hours staring into his eyes.
I mean hundreds of hours staring into Elijah´s
eyes.It actually looks like,if you look really close,
it looks like an eclipse.The pupil has gone in front of the
sun and from behind the dark pupil are like,rays
of gold light coming through the pools of blue water"
--Sean Astin

I absolutely *LOVED* this quote from that ABC special on RotK! Elijah got embarrassed when Sean was talking about his eyes, and put his finger & thumb in a ring around his eye, then leaned over and put his arms around Sean. It was just so - so - Sean and Elijah! (at least, from what we've seen in public appearances!) Wood, is that where you got that quote? Or was it from that picture from somewhere?

Sean certainly has a turn for the descriptive, doesn't he? I need to get his book...

I sneaked over and looked at most of those 18 pages (I don't know - I try not to rubberneck at roadside wrecks but you know how it is!). I honestly don't think I could have participated in that environment with those constraints. I know that there are constraints here, but I've enjoyed it here - the leeway that we have in how we put discussions together, and the intelligence of the denizens. I've been in forums where there was "Nice Police" who decided for posters what their tone was and pulled the posts if she thought that the poster's tone was Not Nice, forums where the forum essentially died because we couldn't discuss anything with spoilers, and where the forum blew up in massive flame wars. I've also been spoiled by being on the best forum I've ever encountered, with a List Goddess ::: bowing three times and placing Toblerone chocolate before the Shrine ::: who was wise enough to trust the intelligence of the denizens and tolerate all but the most blatant trolls and flame wars. It was, like here, a collection of annoyingly ;) smart and insightful people and discussion was often like a doctoral thesis. ;)

On that old forum, I think that posts would have been terribly hard for me to compose, with not only having to worry about if they made sense, but if a particular sentence tying two thoughts together actually belonged in another forum, and if the two thoughts being tied together needed to be in separate forums. ::: mind boggles ::::

Here, quite honestly, I would hesitate to do any serious criticism of The Lad's performances (ever see a lioness when her young is threatened? ;) ), but then, I'm not inclined to because I've really come to like his work. But I like, and did not appreciate until I read some of those pages, that we can pull references from different places, performances, public appearances, the books, and our own various backgrounds, cultures, and experiences, to make wonderfully rich tapestries of Elijah-related logic and thought that make me think, delve into how other people view life from where on the globe they live, and actually learn something.

So thank you, ladies, for welcoming me so kindly all those months ago, and for the great discussion.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! :::: sniffle ::::

~grumpy

-- they're helping to make a rough time just a little bit easier (and I hope that making them eased your burdens a little too). :k
It really did, because the process was so different from what I usually find myself doing--going through four or five hundred caps, trying to pick out ones that will make a more or less coherent scene and include all the best acting moments. But with these RotK caps, I just took what I already had, and trimmed and "tweaked" some of them when I'd get home from work at night. It needed a lot less mind work and, I think, opened my emotions to them more than the usual process does. (But as I went along, I saw a lot of shots I want to go back and take a closer look at :p .)

I'm glad they've been helpful to you, too :k --IMHO, it is nice to have pics from throughout Frodo's entire "path" throughout RotK in one place. I've found that sometimes the part of his story that most speaks to me changes every day/hour/moment, and it might not even be the one I expect it to be.

----Let me add my admiration to "our" artists, Whiteling and Kumari :) . Such talent is definitely meant to be shared... Thanks. :k

I would imagine we've all heard about poor MacCaulay Culkin by now...May the One Lad be spared the pain that causes this kind of stuff. :(

it's plainly the Ring's conciousness that we are seeing when he looks up. And then he sees Sam and, recognizing the devotion in him, smiles that very chilling smile, as though thinking of the uses It can put such devotion to. ::shiver::
It never occurred to me that it was the *Ring* looking out of those eyes - which seems like the ultimate obscenity: that triumphant victory over a mere depleted halfling. But it makes sense in the context of the struggle in Frodo's face when he's trying to drop the ring, and when the struggle stops and he's completely taken by the Ring. ::: calling Honey's shiver and raising it an ICK! ::::

I think you're also right about "thinking of the uses It can put such devotion to". Sam could never bring himself to kill Frodo, but we've seen that he is easily pushed to homicial fury in defense of his master, that intensifies as they get closer. We also saw the he can be seduced by the Ring, though he was able to let go of it in both book and movie. Imagining what he could manipulate or force Sam into doing, eventually betraying him - leading him to his death, killing him himself, forcing him to kill for him - :::: shudder :::: I don't like my imagination sometimes. :(

It rather amused me too, from another perspective. In poking about on IMDB recently, I found a thread with some self-appointed expert whinging on about how Elijah Wood, at "five-feet, nothing" and with his designer ward-robe, was no Hooligan! He convinced 100 million people or so that he was three-foot-six with furry feet; convincing an audience that he's a very tough guy, however short, should be a cake walk.
This gentleman seemed rather incensed at the very idea! Which got me thinking: I think this -ahem- imagination-impaired gent
Oh, Honey, you are *so* polite! ;) :D

and his friends are a bit threatened by the entire idea of EJW representing their very gender, let alone "Hooligans!" :::: sigh :::: The curse of a pretty face... Yes, he is pretty and can look frail, but give me a break! Class, brains, and talent being representative of a gender? Hah.

(Hey! Larry King is interviewing Mc. Culkin and they just showed a clip from The Good Son, and the first person in the clip was *Elijah*!)

Nor did it seem to occur to this person that perhaps the very unlikelyhood of a smallish American being drawn into the esteemed art :rolleyes: of Hooliganism is rather near being the point of the film. Once again, compared to what he pulled off playing the unlikeliest of heros, this should be easy.

~grumpy

goodmorning girls!!!!

I heard about the poor lad,Culkin,in a way i realy feel sorry
for him! :(
Am i totally wrong here or diden`t Elijah got the part in Ricke Rich
before him? Well anyway i saw that movie yesterday and i have
too say, not that Culkin did a bad job,but i think Elijah would have
done it better! :)

Hope you hade a lovely birthday yesterday TG!!
I`m not good with words like someother in here are
but ihope you hade a great time!!!

Oh, i wish i was living in New York, Honey!!!!!
I wish i could met all of you ladies here at KD!!!! :k

Love you all /Wood

Okay--I just signed up for the email updates from the Indiana State Museum :) . Between their site and Flourish's description of the Boston exhibit, it sounds better and better.

One advantage of a dial-up internet connection is the anticipation :p -- tonight, watching as the artwork from Serena, and the pics from Narya and Lady Wendy unfolded. And being really curious about what kind of "chariot" Honey had found :D . I'll just send Mariole's row of "synchronized kisses" ;) back to everyone for all the kind thoughts and good wishes.

---Saw Tom Hanks's Terminal with my friend. It was... okay. :p

ETA: I haven't heard anything lately about Mac. Culkin--is there some news about him?

Just dropping in briefly to wish TG a belated Happy Birthday...
And Life Really Does begin at 50... :)
And if I knew how to post pictures I'd send you a little Elijah beauty :D

Love and Best Wishes for a fabulous year to come
Ylla :k :k :k

Thanks Lady Wendy, but I don’t think the official site allows me to save them to my own hard drive. The TTT one won’t even open. I guess I’m looking for the good, old-fashioned “unsanctioned” ones. I’ll have to dig a little more.

Thanks Narya, I’m allowed lots of room for an email account via my website host, but I haven’t a clue how to configure it. Too much computereeze to have it make any sense.

Honeyelf, awesome photo! Is that from Sean’s book? (Did you ever get the Hoot pictures I sent you?)

tg, McCauley was booked on possession of a controlled dangerous substance without a valid prescription and possession of marijuana. I often wonder if Elijah or the others aren’t probably a part of that kind of thing anyway, unfortunately. And if they aren’t (which I doubt), I’m sure they’re buffeted with it all around them in the industry.

Dang! I’m going to have to make it to that final 2005 exhibit when it comes back. Indiana is much closer than Boston.

Here's an article about Mac Culkin's woes. Poor guy.
here (http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=2316450)

I remember a transcript of a panel sort of event with Elijah, (and maybe some of the other LoTR cast?) where an audience member asked him if he'd ever tried drugs. His response was a bit on the vague side in one sense, and decisive in another. IIRC, he said "Oh, how does one answer a question like that? ...but I know how I want to live my life, and that's not it." I also recall another interview, maybe the Parade one?, where he remarked on what a waste River Phoenix' death was, and how living his life with drugs was not a choice he'd be making. Once again, wise beyond so many of his Hollywood contemporaries.

Edit:
Found this quote;
"I'm not on drugs. I'm not an alcoholic. I've just got incredible people backing me up...I wouldn't even think about taking drugs. I think it's ridiculous! I think people are throwing their lives away. River Phoenix was such a talented actor. I would have loved to see him win an Oscar. He so deserved it. Obviously he got mixed in with the wrong crowd. That ruined him. I love life. I've always been this way." -- USA Today, November 4, 1994
sorry such an OLD quote.

Here's another lovely bit, from an interview for Comedy Central:
Matthew: Can we expect Elijah Wood, now that he's a major movie star, to...

Elijah: {half laughing, half pained} I'm not - I'm not a massive movie star don't say that, please!

Matthew: You may be a massive movie star. If that happens, will you slip into drink, drugs and debauchery?

Elijah: {smiles and shakes head} No. {laughs}

Matthew: Why not, man?!

Elijah: Oh, cause it's terribly boring!

Matthew: Is it?

Elijah: Yeah.

Matthew: What about all the chicks?

Elijah: Uhh If that's how you get chicks then I'm going to be useless.
The whole interview is HERE (http://www.always.ejwsites.net/schmooze.html)

Oh, i wish i was living in New York, Honey!!!!! :k

Me too, Wood! And me too, again!

Honey!

PS Ezzie, I don't know where the Helicopter Hobbits photo turned up, but I've had it in my stash for months. Didn't I say thank you for the photos? :o OOps. Thank you! :) Suppose that means I never sent any of my hoot photos to any of the hooting party members. :o I'll have to go lookin' on my drive for those...

H!

Thanks (I guess :( ) for the news on Macauley Culkin. I've been keeping my fingers crossed for his future, and still hope he can straighten things out and go forward.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, ylla--perfectly okay that they're late, because I've decided to extend the "celebration"--went to bed after midnight and still haven't made my posting goal :rolleyes: .

Honey--What a cutie in that new avatar :) :) .

TG!! Can't believe I missed your birthday :eek: - but I do have an excuse, two actually. First, I still haven't recovered from those ROTK screencaps you posted of Frodo writing at his desk, they have left me quite weak and incapable, and second I have been completely engrossed in reading SEAN ASTIN'S BOOK!! Hope you had a good one and - I wish I was 50. I will say no more :( I send you one of my favourite Fro pics as an apology:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/ShirelingUK/gorgeousfro.jpg

Strange how my Favourite Fro Pics folder is now larger than the regular one, same with Fave Lij Pics! :)

And I confess, my remark about Sean's book was quite shameless- wanted to make all you US folk jealous :haha: - for some strange reason we in the UK have got it earlier. I won't spoil it for anyone - but it will be worth the wait, loads of Lijness. Must go - loads of reading to get through :D

(Have been away all weekend, so am going back several pages for some of these; sorry)

Alyon wrote:

A dark side does not need to imply that one is hiding something sinister or that Elijah's beautiful nature is a false front. But it just might mean that he might have some pain, or worries or issues that he keeps to himself. I don't know. But if it were true, it certainly doesn't make of the complimentary things said about him untrue. And in fact he can have pain and possibly be very wise in dealing with it and not letting it overrun who he wants to be in the world--a kind and good person.

That’s beautifully said. I would expect him to be a more complex person than he may superficially appear to be; otherwise, where does he get the insight and emotional understanding that he brings to his roles (and at a still very young age)?

tgshaw wrote:

And, IMHO, movie-Frodo has that same kind of peaceful moment just after the Ring is destroyed. It's afterward that we see signs of problems creeping in, as we do in the book. I'm not sure I can quite put my finger on what I'm trying to say, here... But it seems to me as if Frodo (in both the book and the movie) has to come to a point where he realizes the moment of peace was the truth and he's able to reclaim it. (But that's not quite right, because he doesn't just return to where he was--he moves beyond it.)

As you said in another part of the same post, in the “end of all things” scene, he thinks he’s going to die. And he has made peace with that, because he’s been pretty much expecting – for some time -- that this is how the whole quest will end. Then to be pulled back from that, and to have to face living again – and still with all the psychic trauma induced by the Ring, as well as the physical trauma – would be incredibly difficult. By the time he reaches the Grey Havens, he seems to have regained some sort of equilibrium, after the obvious deterioration visible in the “It’s been 4 years since Weathertop” scene. But we don’t see how that happened. Or is it just the knowledge that he’s going away to a place that may permit him to heal, that enables him to be so serene in the farewell scene? (I think that TG suggested some time ago that he’s depressed, and that’s why he doesn’t cry in that scene; but I think he actually shows a great deal of feeling there.) His walk toward the ship is kind of a transition, from his old world to this new one he’s going to, and the expression on his face is a sort of dreamlike, neither-here-nor-there one, as I interpret it. Then, once he’s on the ship, it’s as if he has stepped across that boundary, and can look back at his friends with real feeling. (Am rambling here.)

Belated happy birthday, TG. I have long operated on the theory that it’s the second digit of your age that counts. So, 38 and 39 always sounded much worse to me than 40; 48 and 49, much worse than 50. It’s a whole new decade! (DK how to post pictures, and have a Paleolithic computer, anyway.)

...but I think he actually shows a great deal of feeling there.)...
To use this as a springboard for something I think of every time I watch that scene but never remember to say anything about--maybe because it's not so noticeable in separate screencaps as in the actual "moving picture": After Frodo hugs each one of his friends, he watches him for an extended moment (Sam even longer) as if he's making sure he's all right before moving on. I suppose another interpretation could be that he's trying to impress each one upon his mind so he remembers him, but for some reason the way he does it strikes me as the former. Interpreted either way, I think it's a beautiful statement of his feelings for his friends. And it's an intense attention--reminds me of what some people have said about being the "target" of Elijah's gaze :) . Taking that entire scene, IMHO Frodo's much more at peace after Gandalf's call than he is before.

Have to say that in the "four years since Weathertop" scene, I do think that part of the difference is that Elijah (as opposed to Frodo) is noticeably older there. That's certainly not the entire difference, but IMHO it factors in--and, of course, since Elijah seems to be able to use any aspect of his face to show us the character, his more mature and leaner angles just help him all the more to show Frodo's unease and pain. OTOH, beginning with the scene in the cart with Bilbo, and ending with his approach to the boat, the makeup gives him almost a mask of pale perfection--more unworldly, IMVHO, than in the previous scene, but not in a healthy way. To be changed completely, again, into that rosey face we see in the final smile. Just-this-moment thought: Throughout the movies, Frodo always appears pale after a struggle with the Ring, or an encounter with the Eye. Wonder if his paleness at the Havens could be at all related to that--and the end of his entire struggle with the Ring. (Don't know that this would have been consciously in anyone's mind, but it might come from the same feeling.)

And, as far as age, thanks, shireling and Pelagia, for the birthday greetings. :)

I want to know what happened between Scarlett Johannson and Elijah? The last picture together and they looked so happy together. Or rather Elijah looked happy (Alpha Male type of smile. :D ) and as for her, she had that Serene look to her. (Mars and Venus statue, Anyone?) Then they Broke Up!

What happened? He seemed to belong to Her, and Vice Versa. :confused:

(Did They ever go to a Record store together?) ;) :lol: :rolleyes:

I was babysitting my adorable 4 year old godson this saturday. I had dinner with his mother and father before they went out and while his mum was preparing the meal, my godson took my hand and dragged me to the tv room to watch Flipper with him (I told you he loves it). oh, the sacrifices of a godmother

During the movie, he went out to the kitchen because he was very hungry and just to get him out of the way of his mum, I asked him to come back to the tv room to watch the movie with me.

So, his mother said to him: "you'd better go, son. Your godmother wants to see Flipper".
Er... Me? Wanting to see Flipper? No way... :D


After Frodo hugs each one of his friends, he watches him for an extended moment (Sam even longer) as if he's making sure he's all right before moving on. suppose another interpretation could be that he's trying to impress each one upon his mind so he remembers him, but for some reason the way he does it strikes me as the former. Interpreted either way, I think it's a beautiful statement of his feelings for his friends. And it's an intense attention--reminds me of what some people have said about being the "target" of Elijah's gaze.
I love that gaze there at these last scenes.

You see Frodo looking straight into the eyes of Merry, Pippin and Sam and as a viewer - you get the best look on those faces and not on Frodo's face.
You see them calming down after looking into those eyes.

Those hobbits have been worrying about Frodo for so long, looking after him when he needed it, protecting him, defending him.
By not complaining about the struggle with the ring,...he was in part protecting his friends too, I think but it was tough on Sam especially seeing him get taking over by the One Ring.
Sam must have looked into those eyes on so many occasions to check if it's still Frodo he's looking at and not the ring.

When my mother was in her last months before her death...on so many occasions, when you looked into her eyes...you could see the despair, the pain...the illness, in general. She never, ever complained but the thing that pained me the most was that 'empty' look in her eyes.
The strange thing with my mother was that the more the disease progressed, the more she could no longer look us in the eyes. That was very strange. We lost eye contact with her (she used to look down) and when we did get eyecontact, there was this 'empty' look in her eyes. That's what scared me the most: is she giving up? Has the disease taken full control?
When we are worried about a friend, we ask them if they're alright but we usually can get more information about what's really going on by looking into their eyes. No?

So, to me...this last look of Frodo, straight into the eyes of Merry, Pippin and Sam is important.
It's a look full of love.
For so long, I can imagine the other hobbits looking into his eyes, checking if he's alright, if the one ring has taken over or not.
This last look gives the other hobbits the chance to have a peaceful memory of him.
And, indeed, it gives Frodo the chance to have this last look on his friends' faces locked into his own memory.


PS I saw The Bourne Supremacy and...doesn't Karl Urban look good!
PPS Narya posted a link to a smilies site a couple of days ago.
Isn't Monkey one of Elijah's nicknames?
http://smile.smilies.nl/959.gif
or would you rather prefer this little fellow?
http://smile.smilies.nl/953.gif
this one's for the movie Happy Feet
http://smile.smilies.nl/944.gif
and erm...he's cool although I have no clue who he is or what he's doing with that thing in his hands:
http://smile.smilies.nl/1993.gif
The site is: www.smilies.nl

PPPS Here I go again with my endless edits but Naiad posted a Frodo drawing in the Harem and I found a link to a site with more work of this artist (Lorraine Brevig).
Here's one other example:
http://www.lorrainebrevig.com/images/startled1a.jpg
and here's a link to her site:
http://www.lorrainebrevig.com/

Moondancer--Beautiful thoughts on "the gaze." :k

...and I'd think it would be an important godparent duty to keep the godson out of the way while his mother is busy. ;)

tgshaw wrote, about the Grey Havens scene:

After Frodo hugs each one of his friends, he watches him for an extended moment (Sam even longer) as if he's making sure he's all right before moving on. I suppose another interpretation could be that he's trying to impress each one upon his mind so he remembers him, but for some reason the way he does it strikes me as the former.
I absolutely agree that it’s the former. As Moondancer mentions, each friend seems to calm down and accept the fact that Frodo is leaving; but I think that’s a result of the hug, as well as “the gaze.” Frodo seems to embrace each one until he can feel him calming down. You see this most clearly with Sam (even in the way that, during the hug, Frodo sort of glances toward what would be the back of Sam’s neck, I guess, as if to check that he’s OK). But it’s apparent with Merry and Pippin as well. It’s one of the things I really love about that scene.

And going back to a discussion of several days ago, about Frodo’s ambivalent or ambiguous (maybe both) expression just after Bilbo boards the ship, and again just before Gandalf says, “It is time, Frodo”: it’s almost as if Frodo is waiting for a cue. He can’t very well just burst out with, “Oh, by the way, guys. . . .” He needs some kind of an opening to the revelation that he’s sailing, too.

TG, your contrast between Elijah’s appearance in the “4 years since Weathertop” scene and his “mask of pale perfection” in the following scenes is interesting. In the “4 years” scene, he strikes me as looking almost feverish (the book describes him as being ill on the anniversary).

>>>We were able to hold Glamdring (with gloves on)

Harrrumph. With gloves on indeed. So they finally figured it out, did they? After Theoden pulls his great sword out of the sheath and there's fingerprints all over it?!? Every Highlander fan on the planet was wailing "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" at that point; you don't touch the blade because the oils and salt and acidic properties of the skin will damage the metal.

( ;) ;) ;) )

:::: grumping back to work on a Monday morning and wishing I were back in bed or at least in the NYC area where I could visit with fellow Faculty when Honeyelf comes to town ::::

~grumpy (so, how's about a quick trip down to the Nation's Capital?) ;)

from Moondancer
Sam must have looked into those eyes on so many occasions to check if it's still Frodo he's looking at and not the ring.
SOB! :( Oh, my heart is breaking.

from Pelagia
In the “4 years” scene, he strikes me as looking almost feverish (the book describes him as being ill on the anniversary).
I didn't really notice this before, but I think you're right. I kept noticing his red-rimmed eyes. *sniffle* Very nice observation.

Lovely discussion, ladies. And that Lorraine Brevig site that Naiad found and Moondancer posted - wow. Lovely stuff. I so admire people who can do portraits.

Way back in the deeps of time, possibly Friday, Eandme was talking about Elijah's public vs private self. I enjoyed all the discussion, but just wanted to add a bit from Michael J Fox's book Lucky Man. He described how he could walk past the newstand and see the preppy MJF for one magazine, and the teen idol MJF for another, and so on and so on -- all pieces of his public image, yet none of them were "him." They were facets, in true inasmuch as they represented part of himself, but none of these personas were really him. It seems as if Elijah is also capable of distinguishing, "This is for the press, but this is me." I think to reveal your whole soul to the public world would be so unbearably intrusive, one might crack under the strain, or beat a full-fledged retreat. I'm happy that someone (or perhaps his native intelligence) taught Elijah early on about boundaries.

Cheers, you wonderful people!

Hallo girls!!
Just pop in to say this.
From the first time i saw rotk that face at the end
when he looks back and that wonderful smile it was
like you coulde see that all his worryes disepered and that
he coulde feel that life was returning too him! I just love too
see that ending thow i keep crying everytime i just love it!!!

Well that is my thoughts about that beautiful look!

And for the 4-year part he looks so sick so full of pain it is
hard to see and i think very well done from the book!

I think from some interwies it seams very much that he dosen`t see
him self as a big moviestar! And i think thats why we all love him
becuse he is so down to earth nothing like those other big stars who likes to see there own faces in tha mags. all the time!!

Well as you can see i have a lot on my mind to day! love to see your
opinion on this ! this is my thoughts any way!!

Love you all/Wood

Frodo seems to embrace each one until he can feel him calming down. You see this most clearly with Sam (even in the way that, during the hug, Frodo sort of glances toward what would be the back of Sam’s neck, I guess, as if to check that he’s OK). But it’s apparent with Merry and Pippin as well. It’s one of the things I really love about that scene.
Yes, I love that, too. There's the speculation that Frodo is saying something to Sam during that hug, but in typical (and IMHO exactly right :) ) style, that's kept very ambiguous in the scene.

...it’s almost as if Frodo is waiting for a cue. He can’t very well just burst out with, “Oh, by the way, guys. . . .” He needs some kind of an opening to the revelation that he’s sailing, too.
This is a spot the scriptwriters had to build from the ground up, since the entire thing plays out so differently than it does in the book, where Sam, Merry, and Pippin are at the Havens because Frodo's leaving, and their presence isn't related to Bilbo's sailing at all. Although it's short notice, by the time everybody gets to the Havens, they know Frodo's leaving, so he doesn't need an "opening" as he does in the movie.

I can come up with various speculations as to why the change was made, but I don't really know. IMVHO, Frodo and Sam meeting up with the Elves and Bilbo along the way, and Merry and Pippin rushing in at the last moment, would have worked fine and could have been every bit as emotionally wrenching. But I'm sure the scriptwriters had their reasons.

I can come up with various speculations as to why the change was made, but I don't really know. IMVHO, Frodo and Sam meeting up with the Elves and Bilbo along the way, and Merry and Pippin rushing in at the last moment, would have worked fine and could have been every bit as emotionally wrenching. But I'm sure the scriptwriters had their reasons.

TG, on first viewing for the lenghth of one heart beat I thought "maybe Frodo gets to stay; maybe he doesn't have to leave his cousins, and Sam!" while simultaneously thinking "they wouldn't dare change the ending would they?"

My sweet husband thought those gazes were too long. Thinking he was just umcomfortable with guys, be they hobbits or short actors, gazing into each other's eyes at length, I said "well, it's not like they have a polaroid; they're memorizing each others faces as best they can." Turns out his dis-comfort was on a more practical level; he'd sat too long!:D

ZK, I'm checkin' train schedules. Ylla, the express form Penn station in NY to Union Station in DC stops briefly in Boston. I've got $200 I'm gonna either spend on more fabric in the garment district, OR dedicate to train fare. C'mon you two, tempt me! :D

Honey! thinking what she can do with two three hour train trips....reading Sean's book full of Lij goodness springs to mind

TG, on first viewing for the lenghth of one heart beat I thought "maybe Frodo gets to stay; maybe he doesn't have to leave his cousins, and Sam!" while simultaneously thinking "they wouldn't dare change the ending would they?"
So someone who hadn't read the book might not realize he's leaving? I could see that as a reason for the change.

...Turns out his dis-comfort was on a more practical level; he'd sat too long!:D
I bet he loved all those multiple endings ;) .

I can come up with various speculations as to why the change was made, but I don't really know. IMVHO, Frodo and Sam meeting up with the Elves and Bilbo along the way, and Merry and Pippin rushing in at the last moment, would have worked fine and could have been every bit as emotionally wrenching. But I'm sure the scriptwriters had their reasons.

I suspect it was largely a result of two things: needing to film it as one scene rather than several, and the desire to create and maintain a particular mood at the end. Meeting up with the elves and Bilbo along the way would have required an entire additional scene, and as the critics have been eager to point out, there were already six endings. :p Also, I think they were trying to keep the focus on the main characters that were leaving, rather than showing a whole fleet of elves sailing along with them. :)

I also think that Merry and Pippin rushing in, as they did in the book, would have introduced a whole series of concerns for the audience - why were they left behind, so they had to come on their own? Weren't they important enough to be included? etc. Lastly, I think this would have considerably changed the mood of the last scene, which is intentionally slow and infused with emotion - grief and joy, loss and hope. Personally, I'm glad they didn't do anything to distract the audience from the enormous weight of Frodo's leave-taking.


Thanks for the first glimpse at Sean's book, Shireling. I'm now looking forward to it more than ever!

Way back in the deeps of time, possibly Friday

My first really good laugh of the day. Thanks! Things do move quickly here, don't they? :D

Yes, I love that, too. There's the speculation that Frodo is saying something to Sam during that hug, but in typical (and IMHO exactly right :) ) style, that's kept very ambiguous in the scene.

"I've left Bag End to you, Sam; the paperwork is in the third drawer on the left side in the sideboard." :p

This is a spot the scriptwriters had to build from the ground up, since the entire thing plays out so differently than it does in the book, where Sam, Merry, and Pippin are at the Havens because Frodo's leaving, and their presence isn't related to Bilbo's sailing at all. Although it's short notice, by the time everybody gets to the Havens, they know Frodo's leaving, so he doesn't need an "opening" as he does in the movie. I think that the scene was well done. I wouldn't be surprised if somehow they slowed the scene down, like they did when Arwen spoke to Frodo in the "Bilbo's Trolls" scene. It was also in a way like the "Borimar's final fight" scene, where the sound was muted below the music. In the GH scene, that wasn't the case, but it had a muted, surreal, other-worldly feel to it. It was somehow intensified and stretched until we were drawn into the hobbits' grief, and the effect was almost unbearable. In the book, Sam's "And I can't come", and Frodo's "You are my heir; all that I have, or might have had, is yours" are heart-rending, but I think that in the movie, it would have opened up a whole new theme in those final moments. The changes, as well as the omission of the mad gallop up to the GH by Merry and Pippen, made sense in context.

I wonder if they'll address the change in the commentaries in the EE?

Now, I've been wildly searching the last few pages for the "four years since Weathertop" pictures mentioned earlier and I can't find them. Where are they?

Re: Mr. Wood and the Alleged Girlfriend of the Month: RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! :eek:

Re: The Dark Side: I think that most people have facets of their personality that they emphasize in the appropriate setting. My demeanor at home playing with my cats is not the same demeanor that I would have in a business meeting (one would scare the cats, the other would freak out the attendees - most meetings don't involve members rolling over to get their tummies rubbed ;) ). I think that an actor or "personality" must do a difficult tight-wire act to give the impression of intimacy demanded by fans and media, while keeping private stuff private. I'm sure that the One Lad has times when he gets up grouchy, growls at his agent, gets annoyed and angry, kicks the tires of his car, yells at his mom, trips over the dog, teases his baby sister, drives friends up a wall, and has the kind of day when he stands at the curb and a car drives through a puddle of dirty icy slush and splashes him from head to foot. He does, though, appear to have sufficient self-control to remain relatively detached in public, and to not put too much of himself into interviews, and has sufficient command of himself to do no more than blush when handed a pornomanip. Plus, he appears to be thoroughly professional when he's working, which in itself is a great achievment. The question is, how does he do it, and what is that undercurrent of strength that he appears to have that (hopefully) protects him from being an egotistical prima donna? Will he be able to *keep* doing it?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that he hangs his pants on the dresser and jumps into them every morning just like the rest of us; he's just got his professional face on in interviews etc. It's as much a real part of him as my business meeting demeanor, and he's not putting on an act. He's just emphasizing one facet of his personality. (I'm assuming this, of course; I have no way of knowing and is there any other qualification I can possibly add to this post? ;) )

There was one time, btw, when my professional demeanor was really creamed. The night after my sister moved out of the house that we shared, I tripped in the bathroom and hit my eye on the end of the ceramic towel rod. The next day, I went to work with a huge shiner. The whole day, people would peek in my door at me, look shocked, and go away. Finally, late in the afternoon, my boss came and said "They said I had to talk to you". They all thought that someone had hit me! :eek:

~grumpy (why don't we have a "bawling my eyes out" icon?)

Well, grumpy!!
As alwayes so many good words!!
I realy hope he can hold on to that image,but in the same time i don`t
think it is to good to hold to much anger inside, he have to let something out sometime or he will burst.Just hoping he will do it when he feel he can realy let go!!!!!

I know, i hade such attack in fridays when we hade a birthday party for my middle daughter and i can tell you that was not very funny!! :(
There was much anger i keept inside for sometime and i never get angry!! :confused:
Well anyway i realy hope he knows him self, but by now i think he does!!!

Oh, Shireling!!I realy hope they will relese that book here in Sweden
otherwise i will die!!! :confused: :(

Sorry, rumbeling again but i hope you all understands what i am trying to say here!!

Love you all/Wood :k

In the GH scene, that wasn't the case, but it had a muted, surreal, other-worldly feel to it. It was somehow intensified and stretched until we were drawn into the hobbits' grief, and the effect was almost unbearable.
Whenever I look at that scene in the book, I'm newly surprised at how short it is; a lot of impact for a little print.

In the book, Sam's "And I can't come", and Frodo's "You are my heir; all that I have, or might have had, is yours" are heart-rending, but I think that in the movie, it would have opened up a whole new theme in those final moments.
Yes, I think removing the entire inheritance thing saved a lot of confusion--even having Sam return to #3 instead of Bag End at the end. I'm not saying that the whole thing verbatim would work in the movie--just musing on whether it would have been less awkward if Frodo hadn't needed an "opening." (Now, if I keep my theory about not even Frodo knowing for sure that he's going until Gandalf calls him, I quite like the scene just the way it is in the movie.)

The changes, as well as the omission of the mad gallop up to the GH by Merry and Pippen, made sense in context.
I suppose that's right, especially in the "context" of movie-Frodo. He's not nearly as private as book-Frodo when it comes to leaving people. He doesn't try to ditch Merry and Pippin at Crickhollow, and even talks to Aragorn before he leaves the Fellowship. Book-Frodo, OTOH, seems almost painfully private about leaving people behind; I suppose we could psychoanalyze it back to the loss of his parents.

IMVVHO, the fact that he asks Sam to come to the Havens with him (although he doesn't tell Sam where they're going) was a big concession for him, and I'm not surprised at all that he didn't tell Pippin and Merry.

But I do think movie-Frodo is different in that regard.

[off-topic thought] I used to think that it was some kind of "mystical" gift that let Frodo know just when to meet the Keepers of the Rings (Elrond had said something to him about it being "about this time of year," but didn't say what year). But now I think it was simple common sense and knowing Bilbo very, very well :) . Of course, Bilbo would wait until he'd passed the Old Took before leaving Middle-earth, and Frodo knew exactly when that matter would be "settled." Would the Keepers of the Three let Bilbo's ego decide when they departed? I don't think a year or two one way or the other would make much difference to them, so I can see their affection for Bilbo deciding the matter. :) [/off-topic thought]


Now, I've been wildly searching the last few pages for the "four years since Weathertop" pictures mentioned earlier and I can't find them. Where are they?

I don't think they've been posted in the thread, 'cuz the discussion just mentioned how he looked ill "in that scene." But here are the close-ups I've got:

http://www.frodolivesin.us/RotK/5491e510.jpg

http://www.frodolivesin.us/RotK/54a20520.jpg

http://www.frodolivesin.us/RotK/54b20510.jpg

http://www.frodolivesin.us/RotK/54c204f0.jpg

http://www.frodolivesin.us/RotK/54e204e0.jpg

OMG I am the last one who gets to wish you happy birthday tgshaw, I have been offline for a few days hence this debacle. But now .....

Happy -somewhat belated- Birthday!!! :)

I have enjoyed the discussion so far, and I loooove the caps! *fangirl sigh* I think there is much more to say but I have to go and sleep a bit first.

Oh yeah and I'm dying for spoilers! I want all things Elijah from Sean Astin's book! ;)

SPOILER ALERT
*
*
*
These are some excerpts from Sean's book, There and Back Again -- An Actor's Tale, dealing specifically with Elijah. The book has already been released in the UK and will be released here in the US on October 14. So if anyone doesn't want to see these, please skip my post. My only comment is that these snippets add up to a portrait of a deeply insecure man, on the part of Sean Astin.
*
*
*
*
*

I indulged in a bit of self-pity, but nobody responded to it. Like screaming in the wilderness, it was a thankless emotional exercise, and unfortunately the brunt of it was taken out on my wife, simply because she was there and she would know that it was happening. I thought then (and still do, although as times pass I'm less inclined to rationalise my own bad behaviour) that there was a legitimate reason for my frustration. Christine, though, tolerated only a small amount of whining. As Dom had done a few times, she would remind me why.

'Open your eyes!' she'd say. 'You're part of something unbelievable.'

Then she would run through a list of, oh, 25 or 30 anecdotes that reflected varying degrees of feedback and recognition for the work I had done. Unfortunately, my inability to exorcise the egocentrism from my personality spectrum led to a good deal of unneccessary, self-induced misery during the making of these movies. Elijah absorbed a lot of it, too, because we talked about it.

Most of the time he was really positive. He would indulge my self-pity to the extent that it made sense to honour it, and then he would joke with me about it, or not honour it when it was destructive to do so. Or he would have a visceral, knee-jerk kind of reaction: 'You're being an idiot, don't do that.'

All of which was fine. I needed him and I needed Christine to help me set limits to my own selfishness.


On the debate on homosexuality:

That the scenes between Frodo and Sam provoke such a visceral emotional response in audiences speaks volumes about the purity of Tolkien's writing, and the characters he created. There is, after all, an abundance of tenderness and closeness between male characters in The Lord of the Rings - more than one might reasonably expect to find in a blockbuster Hollywood epic - a face that moviegoers have generally accepted without reservation.

And yet there exists an ongoing debate, in both critical and casual conversation, over there is an undercurrrent of homosexuality in both Tolkien's books and Peter Jackson's movies.

Simply and succinctly put: are Frodo and Sam gay?

I think it's a legitimate question. A lot has been written about homoeroticism throughout the three-year cycle of the movies, and many people on the Internet have really had a field day fantasising about things or writing fictional humour pieces. I've even been interviewed on this subject by both 'The Advocate' and 'Out', two of the most visible and successful US publications that cater to a predominantly gay audience. So I do think it's a subject worth discussing; in fact, it would be kind of spineless not to discuss it.

There was an inordinate amount of male bonding during the filming of the The Lord of the Rings. When you put a bunch of men together in a relatively confined space, with little female influence to mitigate their bad behaviour, things can and do get ugly. Raunch was often the order of the day and, as in any all-male environment (locker rooms, army barracks, prison cell blocks), there was a lot of juvenile behaviour: a** grabbing, horrifyingly graphic insults regarding anatomy and sexual proclivities, and various permutations of, sometimes gay, jokes that have been around since the dawn of time. Or at least the dawn of Monty Python.

I'm not talking about making jokes about homosexuals who weren't in our presence, but rather making jokes that centred on the possibility that any one of us might be gay. I think that happens a lot with guys in such circumstances. When you change clothes together, eat meals together, travel together, get your makeup and hair done together (OK, maybe that's a bad example), you can help but grow close, and humour, perhaps defensive humour, arises out of that scenario. (Just a quick aside: my mother received death threats when I was a kid when she agreed to ride in a parade in support of gay rights. While as a child that frightened me, I was and still am proud of her for her beliefs and her courage.)

But when it comes to the actual sexuality of the characters in The Lord of the Rings, I don't think there's anything there. I don't believe Sam and Frodo are homosexual characters. I really don't.

....Elijah and I never had a serious discussion about this subject. Not one. I must admit, however, that we did engage in a broad range of homosexual humour with each other, and with Billy and Dom. It was just another way of relating that wasn't meant as an affront to everyone - I was raised in Hollywood; I've had, and continue to have, more gay friends than I can count. But we did enjoy the jokes. It was a way to release tension, and to acknowledge what was on everyon'e mind in a way that seemed harmless and funny.

On Elijah's demeanor:

He was smoking his ubiquitous clove cigarettes, and he was dressed very sharply - not so much dressed up, but it was apparent that he had a very clear sense of his own personal style. In sum, he looked like a movie star, and I remember marvelling at him. Here I was, just a guy trying to put a jacket on so I wouldn't be cold or look out of place, trying to figure out what the hell to wear to dinner, and Elijah seemed unburdened by such trivialities, even though it was obvious that in fact he gave such things considerable thought. It just seemed to come naturally to him. He was ten years younger than me, but already had figured out how to move elegantly, smoothly in virtually any crowd.

...So while I ran around and rescued his keys, he continued drinking, smoking clove cigarettes, connecting with cast and crew...perhaps eyeing the ladies. Not that Elijah was a rake, mind you. He was much more elegant than that with how he handled himself with the fairer sex. For an eighteen-year-old, I thought, he was remarkably graceful and sensitive and thoughtful. And I wanted to serve him, just as Sam might have done for Frodo.

On being in control:

Peter and Elijah and virtually everyone who knew me well could sense that I had a hard time bottling my enthusiasm and desire, if not to be in charge, at least to have a say. Again, I'm not proud of this, and even while we were shooting I knew how inappropriate the feelings were.


On Elijah and blood:


Elijah walked over as one of the emergency medical technicians was cutting off my prosthetic foot, an act that dislodged a huge blood clot, which landed on the groud with a splat! This naturally disgusted almost everyone in the proximity, with the possible exception of Elijah, who simply said, 'Cool!' and then began poking at the blood clot with a stick, an act that disgusted even Peter Jackson, whose background in splatter films ought to make him immune to such things.
'Come on, Elijah. Don't do that!' he admonished.
'No, that's OK,' I said. 'He can play with my blood clot.'


On Sean and Elijah's relationship:

The friendship between Frodo and Sam resonates with audiences because it appears to be genuine. There is chemistry, and chemistry rarely happens between actors who do not care for each other. I can honestly say that I love Elijah like a brother. For the sake of this book, I can also say, like any sibling relationship, ours is at times a complicated one.

:k Thank you, Achila! :k

(Will reserve comments on a**-grabbing for some other forum!) :p

I very much want to read this book. Thank you for providing snippets!

Narya Celebrian said, re the Grey Havens scene:

Lastly, I think this [Merry and Pippin arriving separately] would have considerably changed the mood of the last scene, which is intentionally slow and infused with emotion - grief and joy, loss and hope. Personally, I'm glad they didn't do anything to distract the audience from the enormous weight of Frodo's leave-taking.
I agree. The whole scene in the movie seems to unfold very naturally, from the moment they arrive at the quay, and the emotional level keeps being steadily ratcheted up: first the “loss” of Bilbo, then of Gandalf, and then of Frodo as the final and greatest loss of all.

Question: Does anyone besides me think that Frolijah looks slightly different in the two “ambivalent” shots (the waiting-for-a-cue shots, or the am-I-going-or-not ones, depending on your interpretation) than in the rest of the GH scene? He doesn’t seem quite so pallid in the former, to me. Filmed at different times?? Or is it just me?

tgshaw, great choice of screencaps. He looks even worse than I remembered. I think I got the feverish idea because, as I recall, in the film he seems to have a sort of sheen on his skin.

For some reason, this popped into my head while I was driving home from work: for me, one of the most wrenching things about reading/seeing LotR again is knowing that Frodo doesn’t fully realize what he’s in for, even at the end of FotR. He knows that he’s likely to die (book Frodo seems almost certain of it), but I don’t think he initially has any concept of what the Ring itself is going to do to him psychologically and emotionally. In the course of TTT, he begins to realize: the Ring gets heavier, it’s “taking me.” (Although at other times, he can’t recognize how it’s changing him; e.g., the scene in TTT where he gets so angry at Sam as they watch Gollum in the stream). It would be like losing your sanity (and thus your self), and knowing that it’s happening to you: the knowledge would be as much of a torment as the process itself. In some ways, dying would be less fearsome. Not sure where I’m going with this, except that somehow I end up at the great observation that TG posted a page or two ago, that what we see looking out of Frodo’s eyes just before he says “The Ring is mine” is not him, and not even human.

On a lighter note, here are two questions for people who have been Elijah fans longer than I have: Do you think he has ever given a bad performance (as vs. a decent performance in a bad movie)? And has he done anything in the course of his career (choices of roles, how he played a part, etc.) that really surprised you?

Question: Does anyone besides me think that Frolijah looks slightly different in the two “ambivalent” shots (the waiting-for-a-cue shots, or the am-I-going-or-not ones, depending on your interpretation) than in the rest of the GH scene? He doesn’t seem quite so pallid in the former, to me. Filmed at different times?? Or is it just me?
I just clicked over and looked at those two pages of screencaps, and I think I see what you mean, although I might place it a bit differently. What I remembered as Frodo's "pale mask" is most evident in the shots where he's standing beside Bilbo. In the other shots, he still looks pale, but seems more normal--I don't see the pallid sheen I do in the ones with Bilbo. I don't know if that would be connected to being shot at different times, although it could if some was filmed without Sir Ian H. (What we need is a day-by-day, hour-by-hour shooting schedule of every shot in all three movies! :p An addendum on makeup and lighting effects used in each shot would be of additional help. :p )

...It would be like losing your sanity (and thus your self), and knowing that it’s happening to you: the knowledge would be as much of a torment as the process itself. In some ways, dying would be less fearsome...
And the thing about Frodo (both book and movie incarnations) is that he knows it's happening to him, and he knows it will continue happening to him as long as he stays faithful to the quest--and yet he keeps going. It's been said that Frodo's heroism consists of putting one foot in front of the other, which is a profound heroism if you know you're surrendering a bit of your self with each step you take.

Movie-Frodo is younger, and seems to go through more stages of understanding what's happening to him. At the time of the scene in TTT where Smeagol's chasing the fish, Frodo still wants to help him, so he can see that Smeagol can "come back." IMHO, one reason he gets so upset at Sam is that they're having one of their mismatched intuitive/sensate conversations: Frodo expects Sam to understand that when he's talking about the possibility of Smeagol being saved, he's really talking about whether he's going to be able to "come back," but Sam, as a good sensate, doesn't make that intuitive jump and, in Frodo's mind, is saying that Frodo can't be helped. But, my point (and I do have one ;) ) is that during that scene Frodo still sees "coming back" as a possibility for himself.

I think the Forbidden Pool ends Frodo's hope for Smeagol's coming back, and some of the things he says in the later parts of TTT indicate he's beginning to lose the same hope for himself--"The Ring Is Taking Me"; "I can't do this, Sam." And the battle he had to fight in order to keep Sam's throat from being slit must have had a tremendous effect on him--if the Ring is strong enough already to almost kill Sam, what will happen when it gets even stronger? (IMHO, that's much of what "I can't do this, Sam," is about.)

But I think it's the vision of Galadriel that finally solidifies things for movie-Frodo. It's after that that he claims the Ring not as his possession, but as his burden. In telling Sam, "It would destroy you," IMHO he's accepting at least the likelihood of his own destruction.

I don't know exactly when movie-Frodo gives up the hope of a return trip, but IMHO he's done it by his first scene in RotK, judging from his response to Sam's "...for the journey home." I don't know if it's true of movie-Frodo (I'd love to hear Elijah comment on it), but I think one reason book-Frodo gives up the idea of any end except death is that it enables him to give everything to the quest, without thinking of saving any physical or mental strength, or any part of his self, "for the journey home." If he'd held onto the hope of a life afterward, he would have been tempted (even if subconsciously) to hold back something, hang onto some part of himself, to make the return possible, just in case.

I can't keep track of whether there's anyone new enough here to not have read this before, so I'll post it again. Just ignore the link if you've seen it a gazillion times already. But here are some more thoughts on the subject: On "Not Getting" Frodo (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id109.htm).

On a lighter note, here are two questions for people who have been Elijah fans longer than I have: Do you think he has ever given a bad performance (as vs. a decent performance in a bad movie)? And has he done anything in the course of his career (choices of roles, how he played a part, etc.) that really surprised you?
I don't think I know him well enough to ever have been really surprised by a choice of his (I was glad when he said he took the role in Flipper to work with the dolphins, because otherwise I'd have wondered about his taste in scripts). But, bad performance, yes... I know nothing could have saved TAMTSNBN--and maybe Elijah realized that, too, and didn't put too much effort into it--but his part in that movie could have been (as they say) "phoned in," even if it hadn't been animated ;) . He read the lines. That was it. Not much to work with, admittedly, but he's never let that stop him before :) . IMO, in this one he let it.

And I have to quote this, because it just made me :lol: ! Not that we appreciate angst, or anything ;) :D :
tgshaw, great choice of screencaps. He looks even worse than I remembered.
:lol:

--Before I forget, thanks for the birthday greeting, Eandme :) .

(I'm going to sidestep any comments on Sean's book at this point, til I see more of it.)


Another addition, found while digging through the archives for the previous link. This one might be of interest since The Birthday is coming up: The Ring as Birthday Present (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id122.htm) (book-related).

Eeek!!! I missed tg's birthday! :o :o

Happy belated Birthday, TGSHAW! :k

Here's to many more years of thread companionship :k and appreciative fan analysing of the one who (grew up and) became our Frodo and made it worth our time to be here. :)

http://home.ripway.com/2003-7/13204/Huck_189.jpg

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

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

So it's a few days late. Which means we gotta make very serious solemn effort into cooking up that birthday meal ...

http://home.ripway.com/2003-7/13204/Huck_203.jpg


(((tgshaw)))




Not that we appreciate angst, or anything ;)


:lol: Well, gee, no, of course not. :D Thanks for the angsty series of worseness, tg. Now that's a way to start a day. ;)

Achila and Shireling, thanks for the promotion of Sean's book. Glad to know there's good stuff in there, and certainly very hungry for more quotes! shameless hint hint :D It's a hardcover, I presume? I am not looking forward to finding out how much it'll cost around here. :p

Moondancer, the pics you've been posting! Great pics, thanks. And the behind-the-scenes glimpses of the hobbits at work are so sweet to see.

Wonderful discussions, as always, esp. about the Grey Havens. I'm just soaking it all in. But I can pipe up an answer to Pelagia's question:

Do you think he has ever given a bad performance (as vs. a decent performance in a bad movie)?

There's been stuff that made me go, "Meh," plus a choice of other words describing sentiments that aren't appropriate for an appreciation thread. ;) The most obvious is TAMTSNBN. One suffers through that. SUFFERS!. I didn't see the point of 'The Black and the White'. And I didn't like 'Try 17' a.k.a. 'All I Want'. I felt that he could have done better in 'Ash Wednesday', but I'm kind of okay with the movie, if only because it offered a lot of snarky opportunities to pervert the movie into something that must surely be better than what we got. :heartless cackle of one who has sworn to stop Edward Burns from ever walking sidewalks of New York ever again:

Ehem. :o I guess I had to let out that TAMTSNBN and EdBurnswalking trauma outta my system. :D


((((Faculty))))

On a lighter note, here are two questions for people who have been Elijah fans longer than I have: Do you think he has ever given a bad performance (as vs. a decent performance in a bad movie)? And has he done anything in the course of his career (choices of roles, how he played a part, etc.) that really surprised you?
Has he ever given a bad performance?
Well, one movie I really could not enjoy - not even to watch Elijah Wood - was Ash Wednesday.
I think that he was seriously miscast in that one.
but that entire movie was very bad IMO
I didn't see Black & White and that animated movie, so I can't judge them.

A role that surprised me?
Flipper.
I remember lining up for another movie and watching the posters as the waiting line progressed. One of those posters was for Flipper. I was not only surprised to see that they did a remake of it but with Elijah wood? :eek:
My friend noticed that I was studying the poster and she asked me: "You don't want to watch that movie, do you? That's one of those dumn kids movies"
:o
Ha...the joy of VHS!

Some time ago, I was reading a chat transcript during the time Elijah Wood was considering the role in Flipper.
They asked him about future movie projects he's interested in.
He told them about Flipper and said that the script is very average but he gets to play with dolphins.
He asked them if he should take that opportunity?

While I was searching for the chat transcript, I found one with the actress who played his young wife in Deep Impact:
ETOL: Back to Deep Impact, what was ELIJAH WOOD like?

Leelee: Elijah Wood was great. Elijah Wood is really a smart boy. He's very mature. He loves literature, and he's very literate. He's just a great guy too. He has a great, great family and he's very close to them.

ETOL: Did you know him before the film at all?

Leelee: I had known him from seeing him in films, but not on a personal level.
The rest of it is here (http://www.fortunecity.com/tinpan/newbonham/351/transcripts.html)


EDIT: found the chat transcript I was looking for to begin with :rolleyes: It's from 1995!
Becky6244: yeah, don't u want to know your fans opinions?

Guest EJW: OK everyone....should I do Flipper?

DanIbs: How is the script ?

Guest EJW: The script is average.

Wolftrak25: What's the script like?

Guest EJW: Those who say no...why?

Yeti667: Free Willy again...

Guest EJW: I think it could be good.

Guest EJW: Besides, I want to play with the dolphins : )
The rest of it is here (http://www.geocities.com/precioussslotr/AOL.html)

tgshaw wrote:

What we need is a day-by-day, hour-by-hour shooting schedule of every shot in all three movies!

I have been thinking the same thing – seriously! (Well, day by day, anyway.) The general public wouldn’t care, but there must be enough LotR geeks out there to provide an audience for something like that. As it is, all we can do is make educated guesses.

At the time of the scene in TTT where Smeagol's chasing the fish, Frodo still wants to help him, so he can see that Smeagol can "come back." . . . when he's talking about the possibility of Smeagol being saved, he's really talking about whether he's going to be able to "come back," . . . during that scene Frodo still sees "coming back" as a possibility for himself.

I’ve always thought that was a great scene in terms of showing what’s happening to Frodo. But I think that already his belief in his own ability to “come back” is tinged with uncertainty. He doesn’t say “I have to believe that he can come back” with any great conviction, IMHO; there’s a hint of desperation in that “have to.” Because if he can’t make himself believe that, how can he possibly go on?

And the battle he had to fight in order to keep Sam's throat from being slit must have had a tremendous effect on him--if the Ring is strong enough already to almost kill Sam, what will happen when it gets even stronger? (IMHO, that's much of what "I can't do this, Sam," is about.)

Yes. And in both that scene and the one in RotK where he nearly throttles Gollum after escaping from Shelob’s lair, I like the way the film shows Frodo as actually shocked at himself and his own capacity for violence. In both scenes, he backs away from the fight and collapses, and his expression just about screams “What am I turning into?”

When I wrote (yesterday) “He looks even worse than I remembered,” it did occur to me that that sounded a bit odd. . . . Oh, well.

Re bad performances: I’m obviously going to have to find out what this animated film is that everyone keeps referring to! I love the idea of wanting to play with dolphins as a reason to do Flipper – that’s somehow very Elijah-ish, isn’t it?

Moondancer said (about watching “dumb kids’ movies"):

Ha...the joy of VHS!
And DVD. And Internet ordering so that you don’t have to embarrass yourself asking for such things at the local video place. Of course, since places like amazon.com track your purchases (shades of Minority Report), now whenever I log in they immediately offer me every EJW movie that I haven’t bought yet.

Oh, yeah, I forgot about Black and White. He seemed lost in that one. Until I saw ESOTSM, B&W had me convinced that Elijah should stay away from improvisational acting. But he's always willing to learn, and more experience and a lot of support from director and cast members on ESOTSM seemed to make the difference. In B&W, IMHO he just flounders.

But I can't give his acting bad marks in Ash Wednesday. IMHO, he does as well with the material as anyone could have (including the prologue, which is totally implausible, and the scenes where he gets to sit and listen to Ed Burns talk :rolleyes: ). And I'd say two scenes are standouts--the one in the uncle's apartment, where I felt we almost get in touch with Sean as a person, and the scene with Rosario Dawson at the end. IMVHO, that scene alone is worth the price of admission (especially on a DVD, where you can skip over everything else ;) ). His emotions--and his responses to his wife's emotions--are beyond perfect, and the fact that he almost certainly did it with little or no direction gives me hope for the future :) . You do have to mentally separate it from the ridiculous storyline that set up the scene in the first place, but IMVHO the acting is fantastic--bordering on over-the-top when it should be, and more restrained when it should be. (Can you tell I like that scene :p ?)

--------Thanks for the birthday greetings, ainon. I certainly thought of you when I made that "angsty" remark. :p


------------------
ETA:

I’ve always thought that was a great scene in terms of showing what’s happening to Frodo. But I think that already his belief in his own ability to “come back” is tinged with uncertainty. He doesn’t say “I have to believe that he can come back” with any great conviction, IMHO; there’s a hint of desperation in that “have to.” Because if he can’t make himself believe that, how can he possibly go on?
Oh, yes, I'd definitely agree with that.

When I wrote (yesterday) “He looks even worse than I remembered,” it did occur to me that that sounded a bit odd. . . . Oh, well.
I realized I was probably taking it not quite the way you meant it ;) , but it did make me :D . (And if it got ainon out of lurking mode, it can't be all bad ;) .)

...Of course, since places like amazon.com track your purchases (shades of Minority Report), now whenever I log in they immediately offer me every EJW movie that I haven’t bought yet.
I think Elijah's variation of roles must give amazon's poor computer whiplash :p . The "recommendations" I got after perusing everything I could find involving Sin City and Frank Miller were very different from those I got after checking out Jonathan Safran Foer and Everything Is Illuminated :eek: !! But after settling down for a day or two, it always seems to go back to evaluating what I've actually bought--which makes everything revert to Elijah Wood movies and J.R.R. Tolkien books. :)

I have never been quite convinced by the notion that film Frodo wanted to rehabilitate Gollum because he needed to convince himself that he (Frodo) could "come back"--could return to his pre-Ring innocence.

One of my problems with this idea (though it is portrayed very convincingly by all three actors in the film [Wood, Astin, Serkis]) is the usual purist one--book Frodo didn't have a thought to spare for Gollum, and whatever good he worked upon him, and which came to near-fruition on the stairs of Cirith Ungol, he worked unconsciously through his own gentle pity, awakened by Gandalf's prophetic words. I admit that the film "needed" (*cough*) to establish some more tangible sort of relationship between them than the subtly causal one in the book, but I find the book idea far more beautiful than the almost selfish notion expressed in the film, that Frodo needed to see that Gollum's rehabilitation was possible for his own sake. The whole Quest is about self-sacrifice, not about self-preservation.

And that leads me to my second problem, which is rooted entirely in this presmise of the film's. If Frodo knew there was no return journey, which he seems to have grasped at least by the time he stood alone on the riverbank and wept (and which the wiser book Frodo sees in Bag End), why in the world would he care about whether he could "come back" spiritually or not? There is an awful lot of cognitive dissonance going on there in film Frodo, it seems to me.

Ah, since Ainon has bravely broken the ice, I will say that though I have seen only a handful of Elijah's other films (*Flourish already prepares to run away*), I saw just about half of "Try 17" and it was too much. (*gets one foot out the door*) What an unconvincing film, and performance. (*is really gone, now*)

by Ainon
It's a hardcover, I presume? I am not looking forward to finding out how much it'll cost around here.

Ainon, I have a copy of Sean’s book. It’s in paperback - or actually what I think is known as a trade version. I picked my copy up at a pop culture expo in my home city (Brisbane) on the weekend. Sean popped over from New Zealand where he is working on ‘Hercules’ for the weekend to attend so I had it signed by him. The book cost AUD29.95. In his seminar Sean mentioned that it was the first time he had seen the book in final form with the photographs bound in.:)

Other LotR attendees at the expo were John Rhys-Davies :D and John Noble as well as two representatives from Weta.

**SEAN BOOK SPOILERS & A RANT**






I’ve been reading the book and I must say I now have an even greater admiration for Elijah and Peter Jackson and just about everyone else on the project than I had before. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more angry when reading someone’s memoirs than I have with Sean’s. His need for control of a situation seems to be absolute and worrying as it looks like the case of a man with more ambition than abilities. I’m just relieved he won’t be running for public office anywhere near me.

However, he did say in his seminar, that he believes that writing the book (in which he speaks of his experiences and examines the attitudes he carried with him on films like ‘Encino Man’, ‘Rudy’ and ‘Bulworth’) has been beneficial for him. He knows he doesn’t want to go back to those places and thoughts. Hopefully he feels the same now about his attitudes during filming of LotR. But I think these lessons are hard for him to learn. The shadow of his mother’s illness also hangs over him quite keenly.

Now, I'd say we’ve all felt irritated that the majority of movie goers and critics singled out Sean as the star of RotK and overlooked Elijah and also that the Mordor scenes felt truncated. It seems Sam could have been even more heroic! A few months before RotK was released Sean viewed a version of which included Sam threatening Gollum in the sending away scene on the stairs, the orc march and his “shadow is only a passing thing” speech. When these were left out of the final film he was so upset he couldn’t bear the thought of doing the publicity. He says:

Certainly I wasn’t going to get any sympathy from the other actors, all of whom felt the sting of the editor’s shears more acutely than I had felt it. I’d have to be blind not to recognize the fact that Sam’s is one of the best roles in the third movie, that he is in some sense the hero of the film, and that I am allowed to shine as an actor as much as anyone in the ensemble. I was going to be disappointed about that? How ungrateful could I be? But I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.

‘Am I crazy?’ I whispered to Elijah at one point, hoping that he might sympathise, since he, too, had seen an earlier version of the film. ‘I feel heartbroken.’

‘Heartbroken? That’s a little strong, don’t you think? It’s a great movie.’

‘Is it?’

‘Uhhhh, yeah. It is.’

‘Because I didn’t care as much this time. I didn’t feel.’

As was often the case, Elijah’s grasp on objectivity was superior to mine. Eventually, after some relentless prodding on my part, he agreed that the emotional impact of our scenes on the side of Mount Doom was slightly diminished. But only slightly, and not to a degree that bothered him. Elijah was able to see the movie for what it was: a brilliant piece of filmmaking and a technological marvel. I saw it as a slap in the face. How warped is that?

Um, very. But there’s Elijah again generously seeing the whole view and not being egotistically focused on himself.



**POSSIBLE EE SPOILER FROM SEAN’S BOOK*

Angst mavens of the Faculty can start salivating. Frodo and Sam in orc armour.

And then all of a sudden there’s this whole sequence where the orcs come around the corner and they slap us and whip us and put us in their column, and we’re marching with the bad guys. Then I pick a mock fight with Frodo to distract the orcs so that we can escape.

A Belated Happy Birthday to tg. Congratulations on attaining that adventurous age!

Here’s Sean’s autograph.

(((Faculty)))

(*is really gone, now*)
No, you're not...I can still see your username at the bottom of my computer screen :haha:

Try 17.
Well, that one isn't one for the record books but it wasn't a bad performance IMO.
I didn't like the scenes with Mandy Moore (but that had more to do with her than with Elijah).
I did however like the scenes with Franka Potente. I like her screen presence. :)

He did do movies like Ash Wednesday and Try 17 in between reshoots and publicity work for the LOTR and I'm just hoping and guessing that he needed to do a bit of lighter work (not as intensive perhaps?) to out-balance having to carry this trilogy as one of the lead actors (if not THE lead actor).
So, to me...the first movie after ROTK was an important choice and I was glad to see that movie get so many excellent reviews including mainly excellent reviews for Elijah's Patrick (he did receive a couple of negative remarks, referencing to Frodo...I'd like to think that this was just silly even if I haven't seen the movie yet :p )
Remember this excellent review?
“But the real diamond in the rough, you might be surprised to learn, is Elijah Wood. Beneath Patrick’s boyish countenance, Wood conjures up a whole haunting mess of adolescent insecurity and emotion, allowing his on-screen alter ego the freedom to be both sinister and heartbreaking at the same time. The full impact of Wood’s performance doesn’t sink in right away, and whether it’s ultimately the work of a skilled actor or a skilled casting director is hard to say. Those who spend time trying to figure it out, however, will miss the point; the wisest course of action is just to stop caring and appreciate it as the highly effective performance that it is”
I wish I wrote down who the author of that review is.

So, I'm hoping that The Yank and Everything is Illuminated will be interesting movies as well.
Lets not forget Sin City and Kevin, the mute cannibal of course.

And, now that he has time (at least...I think he has) to carefully pick and choose scripts ( :z: hoping that there are some gems in that pile of scripts), I hope that his next movie will be interesting and a big step forward.

I have never been quite convinced by the notion that film Frodo wanted to rehabilitate Gollum because he needed to convince himself that he (Frodo) could "come back"--could return to his pre-Ring innocence.
Y'know, a big part of me wishes I'd seen TTT without first having heard Elijah's statement on that, which is where the idea basically comes from, at least for me (Elijah specifically said that's Frodo's reasoning). I don't know that I would have picked up that much on it otherwise--I guess since Elijah said that's what Frodo's thinking, my mind kind of went, "Well, okay."

And that leads me to my second problem, which is rooted entirely in this presmise of the film's. If Frodo knew there was no return journey, which he seems to have grasped at least by the time he stood alone on the riverbank and wept (and which the wiser book Frodo sees in Bag End), why in the world would he care about whether he could "come back" spiritually or not? There is an awful lot of cognitive dissonance going on there in film Frodo, it seems to me.
I do think movie-Frodo understands the finality of his journey more gradually than book-Frodo does. Movie-Frodo's entire character development throughout FotR, IMHO, is aimed at getting him to the point where he's mature and independent enough to leave the Fellowship and go off on his own. And I've always thought that's what the tears are about at the end of the movie: not so much knowing that there's no return journey for himself, but leaving his friends and anyone else's guidance behind and going off completely on his own--made even more difficult because he's leaving his friends (especially Merry and Pippin) in such dire circumstances that he doesn't expect to see them again. IMVHO, that's the importance of the change from "we" to "you" in Gandalf's remembered words at the riverbank. I don't think movie-Frodo understands the finality of the journey until the later part of TTT, and perhaps even has a bit of wavering about it (emotionally) at Sam's "...for the journey home," statement at the beginning of RotK--although, by that point, I think he's more wishing he could share Sam's hope for it rather than actually hoping for it himself. I can't point to a single event that I think brings the idea home to him, but IMHO it develops gradually through the events with Faramir and, especially, at Osgiliath.

IMVVV ;) VVHO, movie-Frodo also grows and matures in his acceptance of self-sacrifice, and even in the way he sees Smeagol, with the "Who are you?" conversation as a turning point where Frodo begins to see Smeagol as a person. He "pities" him before that, but you can pity a guide dog.

I think movie-Frodo's emotional and spiritual development, and his understanding of what he's doing, is one area where we basically have to throw out the book and start from scratch. I'm not saying I like that, but I think it's true. And, IMHO, it's mostly because of those missing 17 years and PJ's decision to start with a much less mature and more dependent Frodo.

Even book-Frodo progresses to a degree. When he leaves Bag End, he's accepting lifelong exile, which I guess would be "no return journey," but I think is a bit different from accepting death in the foreseeable future.

----Thanks for making me think this out :) (whether you agree with it or not :) ).

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

Simulposted with Merewyn and Moondancer--

Merewyn, thanks for the "adventurous age" greetings :) . -- From the snippets posted, it sounds to me as if Sean is someone who finds it much easier to say negative things about himself than positive. But, then, all I've read are snippets.

Ditto to Moondancer's remarks on Ash Wednesday and Try 17/All I Want. Elijah took the part in AW partly because it would have a very short shooting schedule; it was what he used to pull himself out of the depressed period he had after finishing major LotR shooting. Which, IMHO, makes that scene in the van even more amazing. He must have really thrown himself into that one. (Can you tell I like that scene :p ?) AIW isn't perfect, certainly, but I did end up liking Jones. Took me a couple of times through to pick up on some of the character--like that smoldering anger that finally breaks through in his fight with Steve (I think that's his name?)--but I do believe there are some interesting things there.

I found this bit of information on my round of visiting favorite websites this morning. The website is that of the author of the book and movie script (I believe) of "The Yank" (Hooligans). He has finally gotten around to updating his site after a couple of months. Althought it appears there is a lot of controversary surrounding the film, he has always refused to discuss any of it. But he did say this:

I will be seeing the finished movie for the first time this coming week and I am delighted to announce that it will almost certainly be premiering in The Netherlands in March 2005.

I guess a January 2005 release is no more... :(

*slips back in to say:*

Thank YOU, tg, for responding! I love this kind of conversation. Will think about your post and get back to you.

(Moondancer, LOL!)

The Yank?
Premiere?
The Netherlands?
That little country next to my little country?

A premiere can't do without the presence of the lead actor, right? :z:

We could even have a little European Faculty get-together.
Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom is very close also.


Oooohhhh...I hope this news turns out to be true.

Flourish, tg, I found your recent discussion engrossing. Thanks so much. I am highlighting the following not because it is a summary of the exchange but because I most am thinking of this bit:

I think movie-Frodo's emotional and spiritual development, and his understanding of what he's doing, is one area where we basically have to throw out the book and start from scratch. I'm not saying I like that, but I think it's true. And, IMHO, it's mostly because of those missing 17 years and PJ's decision to start with a much less mature and more dependent Frodo.

Even book-Frodo progresses to a degree. When he leaves Bag End, he's accepting lifelong exile -- which I guess would be "no return journey," but I think is a bit different from accepting death in the foreseeable future.

I have thought this myself but have never seen it said so plainly or said it so simply. "[This is] one area where we basically have to throw out the book and start from scratch." That word of wisdom could be applied to many of the departures that have nagged me watching the film version. I still have not properly accepted that it is a particular interpretation, or adaptation, and then let it be for me what it is rather than what I would prefer to see. This particular change made in Frodo's character is just one example of many, but it is a serious one to me, since it is Frodo, as a character, who most matters to me.

I also agree with you, tg that book Frodo leaves Bag End expecting not to return -- which would be a terrible thing in and of itself -- but was not expecting imminent death. That is an important distinction.

P.S. I have been increasingly fascinated to hear the spoilers from S.A.'s book. It sounds as though it is going to show Elijah Wood in a very good light, though at Sean's expense. If I didn't feel for a pang for Sean I would be one hundred percent pleased by that. I remain very grateful that he played Sam and played Sam so well. It was worth letting him be a pain. (I just hope they can rein him in on the actor's commentaries!)

Thank you Tg for those beautiful pictures of a very sick Frodo!!!!

Thank you so much for the teaser of Seans book,Achila

Moondancer,I hope we from Sweden can come too!?

I don`t know when this picture was taken but i just hade
a need for sharing it with you! Isen`t he gourges on this one!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/OUT000010.jpg

I know he is young in this one but already a "hottie"

love/wood

P.S. I have been increasingly fascinated to hear the spoilers from S.A.'s book. It sounds as though it is going to show Elijah Wood in a very good light, though at Sean's expense. If I didn't feel for a pang for Sean I would be one hundred percent pleased by that. I remain very grateful that he played Sam and played Sam so well. It was worth letting him be a pain. (I just hope they can rein him in on the actor's commentaries!)


Some other excerpts have surfaced that are Sean talking about other members of the Fellowship and cast. Of course, since this' an Elijah forum, and not a Sean forum, I didn't repeat them here. But they continue to paint a picture of someone who has pretty low self-esteem. He is jealous of Orlando (we already knew that), somewhat begrudging of the attention paid to Liv Tyler during the press junket for ROTK, disappointed with his relationship with Ian McKellen (not sure what was meant here -- hard to tell from just the excerpt), ashamed of the way he needed control that he didn't get from Pete and Fran, and most of all, utterly, completely enthralled with Elijah Wood. Lij, although ten years younger, is everything Sean wishes he himself was -- confident, mature, graceful, beautiful. Sean struggles with himself, struggles not to be overbearing and egocentric and so on and so on, and sometimes, he wins the struggle. Sometimes, he doesn't.


ETA: Hey, it's my 300th post! :)

Yeas Yeas!!!

They are realising Seans book here in Sweden 23 september!!!!!
Sorry just have to tell!!!!

love/wood

EDIT:Oh dear, it is in english!! I realy hope i will understand
all of it!!! :z: :(

*Whiteling trots into the Faculty Lounge, exhausted*

Hi, my dear Ladies,

I reckon I am the really last Faculty member who wishes Tg a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY :o ! I'm so sorry to be so late, but I spent the last week with my ill father. He is very old and his vitality withers rapidly and yet it is hard to let him go.
I used my free hours to draw Tg's Birthday picture and I found that very comforting.

Trudy, here's your Mount Doom Frodo:


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

Hope, you like it :) !

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

Moondancer, many thanks for the link to the wonderful drawings :) !

*waves to Ainon*

Bye for now - {{{Faculty}}} - I'm glad to be with you!

Oh whiteling!!! It`s so beautiful!!!!!

I am so sorry to hear about your father!!!! :(
My thoughts are with you!!! :z:

love/wood

I used my free hours to draw Tg's Birthday picture and I found that very comforting.

You've done it again, dear one -- another masterpiece! {{{Whiteling}}}

Whiteling - your beautiful drawing gave me goosebumps! I understand how it is with your father - I've been there.

Kumari

...This particular change made in Frodo's character is just one example of many, but it is a serious one to me, since it is Frodo, as a character, who most matters to me.
Yes, to me, too. I don't know if this helps anyone else, but it has helped me quite a bit--it comes courtesy of the esteemed Pearl :) : To consider the movies an "alternate history" of what things might have been like if Gandalf had discovered that Bilbo's ring was The Ruling Ring immediately after Bilbo left the Shire (as he does in the movie) instead of 17 years later (as he does in the book). The parallel isn't perfect, but it "works" for me in that IMVVHO movie-Frodo is, indeed, a younger version of book-Frodo, rather than a completely different person; that is, I could imagine book-Frodo being very much like movie-Frodo if he'd had to leave Bag End only a few days after he came of age. (This particular way of looking at things really only applies to Frodo, though, so is for people who are mostly concerned with him; for example, under this same alternate history Pippin would be about 11 years old. :rolleyes: So you can't push the idea too far.)

But they continue to paint a picture of someone who has pretty low self-esteem.
That's how it's seeming to me, too. He's certainly very aware of what he considers to be his failings. I hope writing the book was good therapy for him, instead of forcing him even more into those feelings.

And, Achila Congratulations on 300 posts! :cool: :cool:

Just saw whiteling's post--Wow--That was a hard one to get "right" and you certainly did! I'm glad it was comforting for you, instead of another concern on top of your father's illness. :k

Oh, Whiteling! That is so perfect. You've got me in tears! It's absolutely amazing! I hope you don't mind if I print out a copy right now, to pin to my wall!

And an approriate "gift" for Frodo's and Bilbo's birthday tomorrow, too!

I hope we from Sweden can come too!?

Are you kidding? Of course! :)



((((Whiteling)))) How I wish I could give you a real hug right now or send you one of those special Elijah hugs.
Having to let go of a loved one is indeed so very difficult.
Take good care of yourself!
:k

Your drawing is so beautiful!
Thanks again for sharing this amazing talent with us.

Ainon, I have a copy of Sean’s book.

Hateses you, we does! Wicked! Tricksey! False! :haha:

;) ;)

Disclaimer: I don't know either actor. I'm making suppositions based on things that they've said.

I don’t think I’ve ever felt more angry when reading someone’s memoirs than I have with Sean’s. His need for control of a situation seems to be absolute and worrying as it looks like the case of a man with more ambition than abilities. I’m just relieved he won’t be running for public office anywhere near me.

I haven't read the book yet, of course, since :::: grumble grumble :::: it's not released here until October, but...

I can't agree with "More ambition than abilities". I think Sean Astin is a very capable actor, cares about things - issues and work- deeply, and will do well in whatever he does, including politics. Good grief, we've got Conan the Barbarian on the throne - er - as Governer of California!

Quite honestly, I feel nothing but sympathy, empathy, and understanding for the man. Despite his understanding of his mother's illness and actions, and their later rapport, that experience, from his own accounts, affected him tremendously. I think that he's a tremendously intelligent person and I give him high marks for his accomplishments despite a horrific background.

I've rescued a fair number of cats who have been abused, either by people or other cats. They ranged from feral to frightened to depressed to nearly starved to tormented. The one thing that they all have in common, and what I've seen in every abused animal that I've encountered, is that they always seem to be asking, "Am I doing it right? Is it good enough?" I sense the same thing in Sean Astin. He's evidently a man who spends a great deal of time inside his head, trying to make sure he's doing stuff right. It's a kind of self-editing that he's probably always doing, and it's difficult and exhausting. From what both he and Patty Duke have said, he was always having to be on the alert and paying attention to sidestep his mother's out-of-control behaviour. He's said that he was the peacemaker in the family. That role involves a tremendous amount of thinking ahead, evaluating moods and actions and determining courses of action, avoiding controversy, getting others out of the way, pacifying, reasoning - stuff that a child should not have to do. He's simply doing the same thing as an adult - he probably never learned how to turn it off and it's possible that he may never be able to.

He knows he doesn’t want to go back to those places and thoughts. Hopefully he feels the same now about his attitudes during filming of LotR. But I think these lessons are hard for him to learn. I don't think he can help going back to those places and thoughts, and objectivity will always be a struggle for him. The lessons are easy to learn; it's just keeping them from repeating over and over that's a bitka.

Now, I'd say we’ve all felt irritated that the majority of movie goers and critics singled out Sean as the star of RotK and overlooked Elijah and also that the Mordor scenes felt truncated. I don't feel irritated. Sam and Frodo were just heroic in different ways. Sam's heroism was more obvious to most people, and critics have their heads in anatomically impossible places anyway. ;) Besides, with Elijah's generous and un-egotistcally-focused spirit, we'd be doing both guys an injustice by not sharing Elijah's delight at recognition of Sean's performance. :p

When these were left out of the final film he was so upset he couldn’t bear the thought of doing the publicity. <snip>He says:

I was going to be disappointed about that? How ungrateful could I be? But I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. <snip> ‘I feel heartbroken.’
It's difficult for anyone to see something that you've put heart and soul into left on the cutting room floor. The qualities in Sean that caused this reaction were the same qualities that made Samwise great.

Sean again: 'Elijah was able to see the movie for what it was: a brilliant piece of filmmaking and a technological marvel. I saw it as a slap in the face. How warped is that?' We're talking apples and oranges here. Elijah's background, personality, and experience are far different than Sean's. I can see where to a person with Sean's evident sensitive spots, this would be diifficult. Elijah probably processes stuff like this in different ways. He must: he doesn't knaw on his fingernails and smoke a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for nuthin'.
But there’s Elijah again generously seeing the whole view and not being egotistically focused on himself. I don't believe for a minute that it's egotistical focussing on Sean's part, or generiosity or lack thereof on either actor's part. You (or whoever said it) are probably right about Sean's low self-esteem. It most likely feeds into what people interpret as perfectionism: nothing he does is ever quite good enough and could be done better, and anything he does is tainted by his not being good enough. I call it the "Elephant Gun" approach to life: like killing a fly with an elephant gun. Rather than judging how much effort a task requires, the person puts everything he has into everything he does. How exhausting, when doing the dishes requires the same kind of intensity as a reasearch project! It must have been refreshing to have Elijah just say that yes, it was a great piece of film-making, no matter what it's shortcomings or omissions were. No wonder he loves Elijah. Not only was he probably able to alleviate some of the "not-good-enough" feeling: he was an example and a reminder of a different way of living - that it might not be necessary to always be inside one's head.

[/rant] Whew! Where did that come from?!? :::: mopping brow ::::

Anyway, I love both characters, and both actors for making them what they are. But it's Samwise and Bill the Pony who are displayed in a prominent place at home. :)

~grumpy (and I haven't even addressed the impact of a massive weight gain!)

Sean again: We're talking apples and oranges here. Elijah's background, personality, and experience are far different than Sean's. I can see where to a person with Sean's evident sensitive spots, this would be diifficult. Elijah probably processes stuff like this in different ways. He must: he doesn't knaw on his fingernails and smoke a pack and a half of cigarettes a day for nuthin'.

I like your interpretations of all this, Grumpy. I too see Sean as constantly critiquing himself and his behavior and ability, to the point of being obsessed over it. And knowing a little something about Elijah and his desire to have everyone around him happy, it definitely fits in. I'm sure we've all known someone like Sean. Sometimes you worry a little that you're enabling them, by constantly saying, "You're good -- of course you are...." etc, because they always seem to be fishing for your approval. But when you love someone, you can't help it. You don't want to see them always taking themselves apart. However, you also get tired of it after a while, and you start saying exactly what Elijah said to him -- "Cut it out -- you're being an idiot."

Fantastic, insightful post, grumpy. I don't call that a rant but a display of passionate thinking. Thank you.

In a way, Sean's personality and temperament only helped make him an even better casting decision. Whether it was chance, forethought or probably both, those two actors made a top-quality working team. Looking at what you limned out as the effect of an emotionally difficult childhood on Sean, it underscored for me what I think is the wrong-headedness of fan-fics portraying Frodo's childhood as a miserable one. He couldn't have made it through the Quest the way he did, were he already nearly hamstrung and at least burdened by the residual damage. Elijah may have come from a homelife that was not perfect, but his little family seems to have been tight and his mother capable of making their world a safe and stable one. I think it shows in how well he handles himself and takes things, compared to Sean. "Equanimity" I think it's called?

P.S. I bit my nails and picked my scabs as a child, but was perfectly happy otherwise. I did have an awful lot of pent-up energy, however, which found relief in these bad habits. It was the same with smoking, once I bothered to try it. It was even better than nail biting for dealing with excess psychic and physical energy. Terrible for the health, though. I would have run, instead, if I didn't hate exercise so much. :D I gave that up years ago, but still am terrible for bouncing my leg, pacing, humming and wiggling my fingers. It makes me look nervous, but it's just too much voltage or something. Perhaps it is for Mr. Wood, too.

Whiteling, that portrait is truly wonderful. Not only is it a faithful rendering of the subject, it projects the mood of the scene wonderfully. Thanks! And I'm sorry about your dad. I hated that, too.

tg, Pearl's little proposal of seeing it as an, "alternate history" is an excellent one. Thank you for putting it forward!

zkg--Thanks--you said everything I wanted to but didn't know how :k . A child in the position Sean A. was in usually becomes either irresponsible (because to be otherwise seems useless) or overly responsible (because they're parenting one or more parents, and trying to keep the family going), and Sean certainly seems to have taken the second road.

IMHO, anyone who says...

"How ungrateful could I be?"

"How warped is that?"

...isn't really ungrateful (or he wouldn't feel bad about what he's feeling)--They may be warped, but not in the way they mean. Someone who was truly egocentric wouldn't know he was being egocentric.

A lifelong struggle--yes. It's not for naught that self-help groups for adult children from dysfunctional families use the Twelve Steps. Like an alcoholic, you're always "recovering," never "recovered." (If you lose that awareness, you end up with a "Smeagol's free!" situation, where you're a relapse waiting to happen.)

One of those Twelve Step sayings that seem trite until you realize how insightful they are is, "It's simple, but it isn't easy." Very, very true.

My only "problem" with the book is that I hope it was helpful for Sean to write it and not harmful, and that's probably not obvious from the snippets. I'll be very interested to see how he puts his thoughts together at the end--where he feels he is now.

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

ETA: On Frodo's childhood. Losing both of your parents at the same time and suddenly at age 11/12 would be a terrible experience, and IMHO it would have affected Frodo in some ways. (I think it's very interesting that JRRT "orphans" Frodo at the same age he himself was orphaned; even though the circumstances were very different, it seems to indicate some kind of bond, and I suspect JRRT knew some of the effects very well.) One thing that I think could be attributed to it, as I said a day or two ago, is Frodo's proclivity to go away permanently without telling people (but his friends were too sharp and too loving to let that really happen). Good-byes seem to be something he simply can't force himself to make--so he just leaves (or tries to).

OTOH, I think it's very important that Frodo never had to fear being alone or unwanted. One of the good things in the society of the Shire (IMHO) was the awareness of extended family, and the acceptance of it as a normal part of life. Yes, losing your parents would be a terrible tragedy, but you'd still have aunts and uncles and (lots of ;) ) cousins, and you'd never be without a home. Tolkien says actual adoption was rare in the Shire, but IMHO that's because it was rarely needed. I imagine Bilbo formally adoped Frodo (not made clear in the book, but it is in one or two of JRRT's letters) in order to give him every legal footing possible when it came to his inheritance, knowing the S-B's.

So, horribly traumatic event--yes. But miserable childhood--I doubt it.

I'm enjoying the spoilers and commentary from Sean's book, but I'm only giving them a cursory reading because I want to read it myself when it becomes available. Interesting stuff, though!

And I just have to gush over Whiteling's latest drawing! :z: :eek: :cool: So beautiful, and again one of the most perfect renditions I have ever seen. You truly have a gift for translating his features onto paper! It's very inspiring. :)

I think that at least part of his "problem" with Ian McKellen was that Sean had been rejected by the UCLA film school prior to being cast in LotR, and viewed his prolonged stay in NZ as an opportunity to do some film study reading and research in whatever free time he had. Ian said that Sean would try and Talk Acting like you would in school, but Ian just wasn't interested, which had to disappoint Sean a bit.

Also, I remember at the end of the 20/20 interview with Patty Duke, Sean, and Mac that the interviewer asked Sean if he was concerned about his own mental health considering that mental disease had affected both his mom and grandmother. He acknowledged that that was a constant fear for both him and his wife, not only for himself but also his daughters. He has to see that being obsessive about small details, if taken to an extreme, is a symptom of mental disorders, so being envious of someone like Elijah who can be seemingly uncaring about nitpicks is completely understandable.

ZK, I just want to say thank you for your beautiful, thoughtful post. What you say rings true, and rather than being angry at Sean, I'd like to be able to give him a big hug.

Whiteling, now that I've recovered myself after viewing your beautiful drawing, I want to give you a hug too. [[[[Whiteling]]]] It sounds like you and your dad are close, and that is such a blessing.

My father's Alzheimer's has now progressed to the point where my sister and I need to make new living arrangements for him. This is particularly frustrating as he could never manage an emotional relationship with us. I had nightmares all night last night, in which he was very angry at my sister and I for his loss of indepence. So I always feel a little jealous of people who are close with their fathers, make that 'alot of jealous.'

Back to Sean for just a moment, in that 20/20 interview with his mother, it was lovely to hear him speak of the three men he calls "dad," and how much he loves them. I'm glad he's had that in his life. ((Sean))

Mechtild, I can't agree with you more that Frodo could not have been an abused, or even neglected orphan. The Ring would have had such power to tempt the "forged" Ring-bearer of a certain epic fan-fic, only by dangling the promise of revenge I would think.

Honey!

And I just have to gush over Whiteling's latest drawing! :z: :eek: :cool: So beautiful, and again one of the most perfect renditions I have ever seen. You truly have a gift for translating his features onto paper! It's very inspiring. :)

:::: clasping hands behind back, scuffing shoe tips on floor, staring innocently at ceiling and whistling nonchalantly ::::

My birthday was on the 9th...

Hopefully:
-----------------------
____________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<><><><><><><><><><>
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
=====================
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

;) ;)

~grumpy (just kidding, Wh.; I can perfectly well enjoy those posted. :) )

Wow, thank you all so much for your kind comments and your hugs,
Tg, Wood, Kumari, Achila, Honey, Moondancer, Mechtild, Bunnie and Grumpy :) :k :) ! What a great compliment to be considered as inspiring, thanks! That makes me happy.


from Honeyelf:
My father's Alzheimer's has now progressed to the point where my sister and I need to make new living arrangements for him. This is particularly frustrating as he could never manage an emotional relationship with us. I had nightmares all night last night, in which he was very angry at my sister and I for his loss of indepence. So I always feel a little jealous of people who are close with their fathers, make that 'alot of jealous.'

(((Honey))), the relationship between my father and me wasn't all that good like it may sound. He, too, wasn't able to manage an emotional relationship with me. I always thought he wouldn't love me. Only 5 or 6 years ago a Familiy Constellation showed me that there IS a bond between us, perhaps not the looked-for "individual" one but a deep "archetypical" one. And I learned to appreciate this form of his love. Yes, as a child I missed his love - but now I know he loved me in his own way. And I'm sure, in our existence is always at least a grain of love contained, even if we can find it. I don't know your story but I dare say your father loved you - in his own way. Some people cannot show their emotions - including your Dad, my Dad and Elijah's Dad.


from Grumpy::::: clasping hands behind back, scuffing shoe tips on floor, staring innocently at ceiling and whistling nonchalantly ::::

My birthday was on the 9th...

Hopefully:


Grumpy - :lol: ;) well, what would I do without my most important lines distributor...? ;)

Sorry guys, what does TAMTSNBN stand for? :confused:

Wood, thank you for letting me know that Seans book is coming out in Sweden. :k

:::: clasping hands behind back, scuffing shoe tips on floor, staring innocently at ceiling and whistling nonchalantly ::::

My birthday was on the 9th...

[From a few recent posts, I still seem to be the "dean" around here, whatever that means :rolleyes: .]

So, *Ahem* ;) , zkg -- All you have to do to get oodles of birthday goodies is to let people know when your birthday is by putting it into your profile :) . Then it shows up on the forum calendar and at the bottom of the "Forums Home Page" -- What, you think we can remember all these dates?? :eek:

I think the only two people not required to do that have a birthday coming up tomorrow... ;)

Seems Merry and Pippin set off some of the fireworks early again :p :

http://www.frodolivesin.us/4b8f4d30.jpg

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

Eandme: TAMTSNBN = The Animated Movie That Shall Not Be Named. If you really, really want to know, Click here (http://www.frodolivesin.us/id144.htm). -- What, you think I'm going to put the name of it here? :eek:

On a side note and to test my ability to add a signature...

My daughters and I finished reading Tolkien's The Father Christmas Letters tonight. We enjoyed the book. There are familiar elements such as elves and goblins in it. And fireworks! Gandalf must have gotten them from Father Christmas...

Happy birthday, Grumpy!

Don't hide your birthday away, share it with the group! Here's some of them now:

http://home.ricochet.com/mdes/limages/hide.jpg

*dies of how cute they are * wonders if they're hiding from us ... nah!

Happy birthday, Baggins boys!


Thank you, Merewyn and Achila, for the Sean spoilers. I've got my order in at the library! :p

from Achila
utterly, completely enthralled with Elijah Wood. Lij, although ten years younger, is everything Sean wishes he himself was -- confident, mature, graceful, beautiful.
Tg, you've done a wonderful job considering the effect the book might have on Sean -- if it will be helpful or not. But I think this book might be hard on Elijah, too, if he's held out as too perfect, because nobody is and Elijah would be the first to acknowledge that about himself. I trust their relationship, though, so I assume Sean won't put in anything that Elijah would be too uncomfortable with. *crosses fingers*

from Mechtild
I don't call that a rant but a display of passionate thinking.
I love this. I will steal it at the next opportunity.

from Moondancer
When I wrote (yesterday) “He looks even worse than I remembered,” it did occur to me that that sounded a bit odd.
That's quite all right. We don't require uniformity of thought in the Faculty. If you think our lad looks terrible, go you! Otherwise, something tells me this thread might be accused of biased reporting. :p (I always loved how ill he looked after Weathertop -- just really beat up...) <3s makeup people.

from Flourish
The whole Quest is about self-sacrifice, not about self-preservation.
This is a brilliant observation, and I very enjoyed the discussion. Thanks!

Happy birthday, Grumpy!

See the attachement!
(I just love this picture)

Eandme, I believe TAMTSNBN stands for: That Animated Movie That Shall Not Be Named. In case you're not sure what movie we're talking about, I'm about to break the rule :cool:
******Those who are a bit squimish...close your eyes for just a bit. Small picture of TAMTSNBN following******



http://ai.pricegrabber.com/muze_images/Video/DVD/88/196688_118x160.jpg


:D
******OK...you can open your eyes again ******
Edit: Oops... I somehow overlooked Tg's explanation. It seems that I broke the rule for nothing. :rolleyes: ;)
And while I'm editing: Mariole, that quote you mentionned up there was not mine. :)



Happy birthday, Frodo and Bilbo!
http://www.libraryofmoria.com/fanart/frodoandbilbo.jpg
(that's from the artist I linked to a couple of pages ago)

Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo Baggins!!!

Cake and ice cream at my house tonight.

Legolas will be there *our life sized cardboard standee that is* **my daughter's :rolleyes: not mine** *I prefer the short guys with the fat furry feet* ;)

Have an awesome day everyone! :D

P.S. Happy *belated* birthday Grumpy!!!

Happy Birthday, Frodo and Bilbo!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/honeyelf/March20.jpg
Wow! It was hard to find a picture not from a scene that someone else had already used!

TG, I liked you "The Ring as a Birthday Gift" essay very much. I'm still not very clear, though, on what it might mean that Bilbo gave Frodo a birthday gift when the reverse would have been the norm. Was Bilbo in some way acknowledging Frodo as "the best Hobbit in the Shire?" Or was the order simply reversed because Bilbo was leaving the Shire?

Dashing off to work.

Happy Hobbit day ladies!
HOney!

Glade you told us when your birthday is grumpy!!!

Happy birthday to you, sends you lots of hugs and kisses!!!
:k :k :k :k :k :k :k
And this little cuty!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/photoshoot-8-003fix.jpg

love you all/wood

EDIT: Well Moondancer,i realy think it is a great ide.Think about
how much fun we coulde have!
And think about if Elijah showes up at the premier we coulde stand
there screaming like teenagegirls!!!!!!
We realy should think about this seriously!!!!
Anyone who agrees???

Happy Birthday, Frodo! And Bilbo, too!!


http://bagendinn.com/group/images/costumed/fotr/caps/cap010_small1.jpg

...I'm still not very clear, though, on what it might mean that Bilbo gave Frodo a birthday gift when the reverse would have been the norm...
The way Tolkien set it up in his letter on hobbit birthday customs, Bilbo and Frodo would have given each other presents. IMHO, it's to keep that exchange intact that JRRT specifically mentions that parents do give birthday presents to adopted children (at least, I can't think of another reason he would have added that qualification).

[For those who haven't read the essay or the letter, JRRT says that, generally, a hobbit child would give a present to his/her parents on the child's birthday (usually something simple that the child made), but parents wouldn't give one to the child. I think you'd have to be a hobbit to figure out all the ins-and-outs of this one :p (12-mile cousins, anyone :D ?).]

Anyway, IMHO it's significant that Tolkien doesn't mention Frodo giving Bilbo a present on their birthday the year of The Party. I don't think that means Frodo didn't give Bilbo a present, rather that not mentioning it in the book was a way to focus more strongly on the Ring.

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

That's the "inside" explanation, of course ;) . The "from the outside" explanation is probably that Tolkien didn't think out all the hobbit birthday customs until he wrote that letter, which was long after LotR was published. So he had to take customs that he liked and wanted (like children giving presents to their parents, evidently), and square them with things that had happened in LotR (like Bilbo giving Frodo a present), so that there wouldn't be contradictions--hence the custom of parents of adopted children giving them presents.

BTW, the letter was written in response to a reader who thought she'd "caught" Tolkien in an inconsistency (and, to be honest, probably had ;) ). She asked why, if Gollum was related to hobbits, and hobbits give presents on their birthdays, did Gollum consider the Ring to have been given to him as a birthday present. The professor said that, well, of course ;) , he didn't think it was necessary to put things in the book that his audience would be familiar with, so, although hobbits did, also, receive presents on their birthdays, he hadn't mentioned it. Then he took the opportunity to lay out a number of fairly complicated guidelines on who would give a present to whom and under what circumstances, which I think he must have had some fun with :) . But, personally, I have the feeling that he was "thinking on his feet" in order to come up with an answer for the reader that would be consistent with what he'd written.

Well, no one said being a subcreator was easy :p !

But, even with the later "enhancement" of hobbit birthday customs, I do think it's very interesting that only Bilbo is mentioned in regard to throwing The Party, although every other year during the time he and Frodo lived together they gave joint birthday parties. IMHO, he really did want to focus on Bilbo giving Frodo the Ring, so de-emphasized Frodo's role for that particular year.

-----------

I have no idea how to bring this on-topic, except to note that the movie went even farther and doesn't even mention it being Frodo's birthday. But, IIRC (have to admit I haven't watched that part of FotR for awhile), the movie doesn't mention birthday presents at all--Bilbo just leaves the Ring for Frodo along with Bag End, etc., and doesn't say anything about trying to make it easier to give away the Ring by giving away lots of other presents at the same time. And in the scene in the cart at the end of the RotK movie, he doesn't mention the Ring being a birthday present (which he does in the equivalent scene in the book).

---Hmmm.... I seem to have written another essay, here :p :rolleyes: .

Thoughtful and fascinating posts, as usual, ladies.

Oh, Whiteling!!! That drawing - amazing! You have captured Frodo at that moment perfectly. I know it was Tg's birthday gift, but I'm sure every last one of us saved it for ourselves. Thanks so much. :) My thoughts are with you at this difficult time.

You too, Honey. And Ylla - how are things with you?

Well, I'm in the UK, and I don't have Sean's book yet! :( Who said anything about being jealous, Shireling? :) I ordered it from my local bookshop, where it should - hopefully - arrive tomorrow.
:z: So thanks to all for the snippets, which I have devoured with interest, as I have absolutely no willpower.

Grumpy - What a moving, compassionate post regarding Sean. I hadn't realised his childhood was so fraught. Your comments have certainly helped me to look at him in a new light, and hopefully understand him a little better.
I'm very much looking forward to reading his book.

And Grumpy -

A VERY HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!! (http://www.imagemagician.com/images/blossom/Grumpy.gif)

And on the subject of birthdays:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRODO AND BILBO!
http://imagemagician.com/images/blossom/FroBilbo.jpg

...Wherever you are.

Waves to Ainon and Flourish before re-lurking... :)

the movie doesn't mention birthday presents at all--Bilbo just leaves the Ring for Frodo along with Bag End, etc., and doesn't say anything about trying to make it easier to give away the Ring by giving away lots of other presents at the same time.

TG, the last time I watched FoTR I noticed in the scene with Bilbo opening the door to greet Gandalf IIRC, there are several small parcels wrapped in red and yellow to Bilbo's right. So PJ DID sneak in a little reference to Hobbit birthday customs! :D

---

Have you all heard about the revisions George Lucas has made to the new "Star Wars" DVD set? For example, he has Han Solo and that oogie looking guy :rolleyes: (what's his name? :o ) in the bar scene shooting each other simultaneously now, rather than Han shooting first. And Hayden Christensen has been editted into the final scene of Return of the Jedi.

I dunno know about you all, but i'm really hoping that PJ has entirely too much to do in twenty years, rather than go back and "tweak" his master-piece. Think of the wonderful moments we might lose! He might edit TTT Gollum into the mines of Moria. He might clip that balrogs wings, thus forever ending the question of whether balrogs HAVE wings. OK, I don't suppose I'd morn the removal of the One Zit. But whatever would we do without the Sacred Nipple of Rivendell! :D :eek:

Honey!

Just one little pic in honor of Frodo's (and Bilbo's) birthday:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/Angelijah9.jpg

(it's my favorite -- enjoy!)

Blossom....I'm doing well thank for your query

I've had many posts to pour over...much catching up to do
ZK...belated birthday wishes to you
Whiteling...as usual beautiful...beautiful picture and big hugs to you and your Dad
I've been so moved by everyone's posts on Sean Astin...I think Sean truly struggles with his feelings...he is at times his own worst enemy...but despite anything he actually says I think he truly is an honest man who has internal struggles and tries hard to do quality work....his affection for Elijah endears him to me...he could have chosen to resent Elijah instead of admiring him..AND...I think Elijah is smart and sensitive enough to understand and love Sean unconditionally...but isn't that what Elijah does with most people...that's why everyone loves and admires Elijah...his positive spin on just about everything....Elijah goodness...a powerful potion :k

Achila...congrats on 300 posts....some celebration is in order...just so happens I'm free this weekend ;)
No....on second thought I have plans...seems I'm going to a new friend's house for a little EW film festival :D
Achila...it seems the address on my invite looks at lot like your address ;)

Let the geeky festivities begin :k

I just noticed...this is my 50th post :D :D :D CELEBRATION....Oh how I love this place!!!

Ylla,
An EJW festival? :)
Are you going to watch LOTR movies or other EJW stuff too.
What movies are you planning to watch?
Oh...how I wish that transportals existed...you know, the Star Trek way of travelling...go from point A to point B in a matter of minutes.
Have fun!


Tg, honeyelf and those talking about Frodo, Bilbo and the ring as a birthday gift.
I'm enjoying the conversation. :)


Thanks also to those who posted snippets from Sean Astin's book.
I haven't read it completely but still couldn't stop myself from glancing over it.
I'm looking forward to this book.
I know that some people are a bit annoyed by the fact that Sean Astin was mainly the one talked about during the Oscar season.
As annoying as that is - Sam is a more logical choice for Oscar (as has been discussed before).
Listening to Sean Astin's commentary on the TTT DVD, I sometimes wished for him to shut up for a bit and let the other speak a bit more.
But all in all...I like him.
There seems to be this odd combination (emphasis on the word 'seems') of being proud of who he is and his ability but at the same time not being sure at all about how the world views him. He seems afraid that people have the wrong idea of him - hence the need to talk a lot to try and correct this....but I could be totally misjudging that.
Sean talks in an article about having to lose weight. He had some issues with it. The article says: "...in Astin's mind, adding weight was Jackson's way of distancing the character from America's celebrity machine. "I think Peter senses in me the potential of being a Hollywood sellout", Astin says, "so he wanted me fat"
In the same article, Dominic Monaghan describes Sean Astin as a worrier:
"Sean's a worrier. He's a natural-born worrier. I think he gets himself in too much trouble inside his head"
The article goes on to say that the other hobbits have a deep affection for Sean, even if he seems like the odd man out
http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/ (http://www.theonering.net/scrapbook/view/9668?q=hobbits&g=1&r=0&tn=12&ts=0)

Different topic now: (sorry if this post seems to be a bit chaotic...more than usual, that is) ;)
When they started holding the auditions for the hobbits and it became clear that they weren't planning on using little people (is that the politically correct term?), I knew that there was a big fuss amongst little actors.
Using my beloved search engines, I found a couple of rants about this topic.
The following is not a real rant about little people but...it came up in my search:
The movie's creators chose effective places and people to bring out these themes cinematically. Boromir's desperation to save Gondor at all costs, and the craven impotence beneath it that borders on self-hatred (do not give this guy the launch codes). Bilbo's ugly, paranoid response to Gandalf. The vision of Galadriel as a dark mistress of the ring. And above all, the steel, humility and weariness in Frodo's face as the weight of his responsibility becomes clearer and clearer. I can't think of anyone better to play Frodo than Elijah Wood. I can't think of anyone else, from any era, who could play daunted and determined with the same hobbit-like gentleness. Jimmy Stewart? Tim Robbins? (They'd be good for The Lord of the Rings: The Lanky Version.) Maybe John Cusack (in LOTR directed by Cameron Crowe, with Stanley Tucci as Bilbo and Kyra Sedgwick as Galadriel).
From: here (http://www.jedmiller.com/comment_lotr.html)
Jimmy Stewart, Tim Robbins - the lanky version?
:lol:
But all in all...I'm pleased to see this. Another connection between two of my favourite actors: Jimmy and Elijah: they're both very good at portraying the combination of determinated, yet gentle.
:)

ylla wrote:

I've been so moved by everyone's posts on Sean Astin...I think Sean truly struggles with his feelings...he is at times his own worst enemy...but despite anything he actually says I think he truly is an honest man who has internal struggles and tries hard to do quality work
That sums up my feelings about Sean, too. Based on the book excerpts, as well as how he comes across in the DVD EE commentaries, it sounds as if he could be really annoying if you actually had to live with him. But he still seems like a fundamentally decent person.

I wish I knew somebody with whom to have “a little EW film festival”! I'm afraid that all my friends belong to the "He's weird" school of thought. Very depressing. :( (Although one friend -- whom I practically forced to look at EW reading "Me and My Cat?" -- admitted that he looks very cute there.)

Achila, loved your picture – really brings out The Eyes.

honeyelf wrote:

I dunno know about you all, but i'm really hoping that PJ has entirely too much to do in twenty years, rather than go back and "tweak" his master-piece.

I was thinking exactly the same thing, as I read about all the changes that George Lucas has apparently made to Star Wars IV-VI. It’s one thing to clean up mistakes (and there are a couple of continuity lapses in LotR that always bother me); but this kind of obsessive tinkering is pointless and self-indulgent, IMVHO.

As for Frodo and Bilbo’s birthday yesterday: Isn’t it nice to know that they aren’t really getting any older, and that they’ll always be with us?

As for the quote that Moondancer posted about "the lanky version" of Frodo (Jimmy Stewart, Tim Robbins) -- the people who had to deal with problems of "scale" would really have had a challenge!

TG, the last time I watched FoTR I noticed in the scene with Bilbo opening the door to greet Gandalf IIRC, there are several small parcels wrapped in red and yellow to Bilbo's right. So PJ DID sneak in a little reference to Hobbit birthday customs! :D
Oh, I hadn't noticed that--thanks :) . The "No Admittance Except on Party Business" sign was one of the first bits of recognition that these movies were going to have some little familiar touches to them. Also party-related, something I posted over in the "Little Things I Liked" thread for RotK: During the End of All Things, when Frodo is reclaiming his memories, he mentions the Party Tree--which isn't talked about at all in the movies, although we do see it there! :p I liked that--it not only brings in something from book canon, but it's true to what either Phillippa or Fran (can't remember which one) said about some of the things that aren't in the movies, such as the Old Forest and Tom Bombadil: Just because there wasn't time to put them all into the movies doesn't mean they didn't happen . Very Tolkienian comment, IMHO. :)

BTW, I decided to leave the Party avatar and "title" for another day. After all, this is the day the wheelbarrow drivers are really needed ;) .
And we do observe "birthday octaves" here, don't we? Since I reached my goal [i]only five days late? :rolleyes: ;)

Moondancer, thanks for those two links. I'd read some of the comments from that Premiere article, and seen some of the pics, but I don't remember ever reading the entire article before--so I did just now :) . And the review you linked to, IMHO, is one of the best reviews of FotR I've ever read! (I stole a bit of it for my sig, which has been way too short lately :p .)

Best wishes for the weekend EJW film festival, Ylla and Achila :) .

Congrats on your 2000th post, tg! :) And I sure wish all of you guys could join ylla and I this weekend. A very good time is going to be had by two -- that I can guarantee!

A couple of little spoilers for Black and White:



In other news, I rented (although Eru knows why) Black and White on DVD yesterday to see the Director's Commentary. Sort of interesting, in a way. The director, James Toback, does not strike you as the sort of guy who would know much or even care about interracial relations but his entire intention was for the actors to bring their own perspectives to this subject, and for that reason, 90% of the film is improvised. There are two sections that were scripted -- the plotline between Ben Stiller and the basketball player (whose name escapes me), and the Claudia Schiffer character and the rapper (the guy from Wu Tang clan), but otherwise, Toback let them all have free rein.

We knew this already, basically, because of what Elijah has said about this film, but it really brings home to you how out of his element he was in all this. Man -- Toback thinks Mike Tyson is a genius (!) -- that should tell you something. And at times, Elijah has a sort of confused sound to his voice (and body language), as if he's not sure of himself and what he's offering into the mix. As a result, his character becomes even more insubstantial than he was already. This is one of those films that I think would be fascinating to see him do now, considering that a) he has a little bit more experience with improv from doing ESOTSM and b) he has gained a lot of maturity in four years.

One notable thing about this director's commentary is that it isn't non-stop, wall to wall talking. Unlike Ed Burns, who doesn't shut up for a minute on "Ash Wednesday", Toback actually lets you watch the scene and understand what it was he was trying to convey (whether he actually succeeds is another story!).

ETA: Series 5 of Homicide is now available on DVD. The episode Elijah is in is called "The True Test". Also, ESOTSM will be released on DVD next Tuesday, September 28.

TG,

http://smile.smilies.nl/475.gif http://smile.smilies.nl/488.gif http://smile.smilies.nl/477.gif

Congratulations on 2,000!

Happy 2000, Tg!
:)

And the review you linked to, IMHO, is one of the best reviews of FotR I've ever read! (I stole a bit of it for my sig, which has been way too short lately)
Looks good in your sig! :)

Btw, I followed that review to a ROTK review of the same person and this is a quote from it:
Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Ian Mckellen (Gandalf) nearly revive the biblical epic with their performances. After Frodo finally has the chance to say "It is done," with the world breaking into lava pits behind him, it would not seem far-fetched to establish an entire religion around Elijah Wood. They should at least establish a retroactive Oscar for Best Performance in a Trilogy for him, since you really need to go back to his Oliver Twist-like innocence in the first movie to understand what he's accomplished at the eensy age of 22.

OH, i realy hope i can find a friend to have a Elijah festival
with it sounds so fun!!!! :( You all ofcuse!!!!
But as it is right now you all live so far away!!!!
Maybe someday i can find away to go and visit some of you!!!! :k
When i can handel my fear of hights so i can fly!!!! :lol:

HAPPY DAY TG,for 2000 posts!!! :k

Love/wood

tg, Congratulations on your posts, primarily for all the knowledge, thought and input that number stands for. Over at TORC I linked your The One Expression, in honour of their Birthday. I hope that is all right. It is such a beautifully done -- and useful! -- visual summation of your argument.

Achila, is "The True Test" the name of the only episode E.W. is in, in Homocide? Is this something that typically can be rented, or is it only to be purchased, do you know? From what some of you have said previously about his work in the episode, I would really like to see it, but not if I have to buy it.

Thanks, Mechtild

**links removed - PM will be sent later with explanation**

Achila, is "The True Test" the name of the only episode E.W. is in, in Homocide? Is this something that typically can be rented, or is it only to be purchased, do you know? From what some of you have said previously about his work in the episode, I would really like to see it, but not if I have to buy it.


Yes, the only one. And btw, there are screen caps up (taken from the new DVD already) at http://sean-astin.net/undonetwo/thumbnails.php?album=28&page=1 (link should be OK, methinks).

I've never seen it at Blockbuster to rent, but to tell the truth, I never looked. My guess is that Netflix might have it, if you have a subscription to that. Otherwise, I'd ask your local video place.

Thanks so much, Achila! I got those from TBEI, but they are not very high in quality as you can see. Still, for someone who never has seen it, they still manage to make it look interesting. WOW! Your link's screencaps are GREAT!!!!

For those who can't buy or rent the DVD for some reason:

dutch_eowyn has posted 4 clips from the Homicide episode on her LiveJournal.
It's not the entire episode of course but still very good to watch.
(you can also find the 'The Guy' clip from The Spy Kids 3D).

PM me if you can't find her LiveJournal.
:)

what I'd like to know is did Elijah really win that Harvard eating chicken wing contest that they have every year? It sure sounds gross.

I was reading reactions to that particular Homicide episode with Elijah Wood on message boards.

This post contains spoilers to the end of the post.
*
*
*
*
*
*
One discussion I found was about the mother of McPhee.
Somebody argued that this mother/judge goes very far to protect her son even after he's admitted to have ordered her murder.
Lots of people said that they could well believe it. People will go far to protect their children. Somebody said that she's a psychologist herself and the daughter of a judge and she has no doubt that her father would have done the same thing.
------
Fans of the show seem to consider this as one of the best of the season - if not the best, although I have seen a couple of people who found it not very believable. They could not believe that a kid could have so much control over the others and it's never really explained how McPhee does it (not only control over the school kids but also over his mother,...

At school, I've seen kids have an incredible control over others - making them do incredible things and make it seem like they volunteered to do so. I have one person in mind who could manipulate people. I still can't believe how many people fell for it.
I was one of the people who could not stand her (she also happened to live in the house next to ours :rolleyes: ). Let's just say that our relationship was tense at times. She would wrap the entire neighborhood around her fingers and I would try to do some damage control (there was this one little girl. She was only 6 or so (when that evil person was 12 or so - she was born in the same year as I) but she refused to give in to her. The evil one tried to get the entire neighborhood to do all sorts of things to that little girl - so, I had to go through the entire neigborhood to try and undo the evilness.

It was incredible. She and I did our rounds regularly in the neighborhood
For her, it was an opportunity to spread some lies about something (for god knows what reason)
When I saw that the atmosphere was changing...I did my rounds to find out what she had done this time and to try and convince them not to believe her.
The problem was that this evil person had the face of a little angel.
During a couple of these occassions, I talked to an adult when she really had outdone herself again but those adults seemed to take her side. They could simply not believe that she was able to do such evil things.

So...to bring this back to McPhee in Homicide. They may have exaggerated a bit there but a kid with a strong control over his peers and even adults? I believe it.


Going back to what I found on a couple of message boards:
Somebody wrote:
For me, the best episode of the season, even surpassing my fave bad guy Luther Mahoney's show.
...<snip>...
What a wonderful break from that tired rock music that seems to reign
supreme in general these days. The strains of the alternative British
National Anthem (Jerusalem) were a welcome relief from the usual junk.
Nice touch with the line "dark satanic mills" showing the "angelic" face
of McPhee during the pan.

The Bayliss/McPhee clash showed the reaction against (born into) privelage
that the American system purports to be against. It might have been
interesting if Bayliss' hypothesis had been wrong about McPhee, but that
is another story. Just a brilliant, bone chilling performance by the
actor (Elijah Wood?) that played McPhee. His feelings of invincibility
led him to believe him he can off his own Mother, his source of protection
in his crime ridden world. Perhaps, deep down, he wanted to be caught!?


Other people argued that they were glad that the race issue was handled in a subtle way and not overbearing.
During the interrogation scene: McPhee says to the police officer "At least, you know your place" That could have been a remark about race but also about class distinction.

Also ETA: Where would people get the idea that Frodo was an abused orphan? Didn't he grow up at Brandy Hall before Bilbo adopted him? IIRC, Tolkien described Brandy Halll pretty well and it seems like a really neat if somewhat chaotic place to live, full of nooks and crannies to explore and play in. He would have grown up in the middle of an extended family. Hobbits don't seem to be very territorial (except for the S-B's), and I suspect that extends to their children.

ETA: slightly off-topic but he *is* a hobbit and a friend of EJW's: watched "Lost" the other night; what a great change from lawyer/cop/hospital shows! I held my breath - for some reason I was concerned that Dom. M.'s performance would be awkward, or that I'd see Meriadoc. Not that hobbit! I shouldn't have worried. I'm also relieved that he appears to be a lead - he's not shunted off somewhere in the story as an afterthought.

The TV Guide channel has a clip about it - the lead actress was marveling that they reserved an auditorium for 1000 people to view the pilot and they had to move it to a place that held 4000 people! The voiceover person said that it was already an "underground" favorite. I wonder if she realizes how many LotR fans tuned in to see Dom, or understands the mighty intensity of LotR fans?!? :p I certainly hope they come up with some episodes that are worth discussing!


what I'd like to know is did Elijah really win that Harvard eating chicken wing contest that they have every year? It sure sounds gross.

This is a guy who stood in a convenience store and yelled "I WANT PORN AND CHOCOLATE!" but passed out before he got to read it (related by Himself on national TV), climbed a fountain and peed in it and talked about it on national TV, uses the f-word liberally, and whose favorite word is the c-word, by his own admission! :eek:

~grumpyandwonderingifwe'dputupwithitifhedidn'thavethefaceofanangelandhowtheheckdidhegetFrodotolooksoangelicanyway?
(Oh 'Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiij, your halo is drooping!) ;) ;)

At school, I've seen kids have an incredible control over others - making them do incredible things and make it seem like they volunteered to do so. I have one person in mind who could manipulate people. I still can't believe how many people fell for it.

We've all known or heard of adults who are so charismatic that people will do anything for them, to gain their approval. In history, names like Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler come immediately to mind. My guess is that they learn at some point how to do this as children, and grow up to continue the behavior. It'd be nice to think that a charismatic person would not use this trait for evil, but many do, obviously.

Also, in McPhee's case, here's a young guy who has never had to pay for any of his crimes. Probably won't be implicated for that murder either, since a) his mother will find a way to get him off, and b) he didn't actually do anything. So you could imagine that he would grow up to be a real monster some day.

It's so amazing to think of the complete 180 that Elijah had to do from his own personality to inhabit McPhee Broadman. And surely it's that combination of his looks and that black heart that makes this such a fascinating character. Can anyone say "Kevin"? From the sounds of it, that should be the ultimate angel-faced bad guy -- and Elijah will no doubt pull it off beautifully. My guess is that when that film hits next year, you're gonna read a lot about his performance (and the name Frodo will be bandied about mercilessly).

This is a guy who ...
...and played with Sean Astin's blood clot after it dropped off his foot, [where's that "YUK" smilie??], and still makes jokes during interviews about Mikey's molecules speech as related to bathrooms. I don't think this is someone who has a problem with "gross." :rolleyes: ---- And, as memory serves me, yes, he really did win that contest. But, of course, he was the special guest that day, so it may have been a bit "fixed." ;)

~grumpyandwonderingifwe'dputupwithitifhedidn'thavethefaceofanangel
Probably that, adding in that he's honest, gracious, grateful, optimistic, unspoiled and down-to-earth, loves his family, little kids and dogs, is (generally ;) ) respectful of other people and relationships, and oneheckofanincredibleactor :p .

andhowtheheckdidhegetFrodotolooksoangelicanyway?
He was channeling Frodo, of course :p .

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

Regarding Homicide --



Achila, those are great screencaps--thanks. And Moondancer, your usual interesting research results :) . The bit that I like the best is:
Just a brilliant, bone chilling performance by the
actor (Elijah Wood?) that played McPhee.
...because the person saying it evidently doesn't have a "vested interest" in Elijah, if there's a question mark after his name. :) I always love to see praise for his acting that's from an objective viewpoint, instead of someone who's already a fan.

...And, Moondancer, such a maddening story about that girl in your neighborhood. I can completely believe in a child/adolescent/teenager having that much control, because I knew a couple myself who were capable of it. But, thankfully, they didn't use the ability in quite as hateful a way as the girl you knew (not to say they didn't use it negatively at times). That brave little six year old must have very happy to have you on her side.

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

ETA (for zkg's ETA): I was so mad at myself about 9:30 Wednesday night :mad: ! I'd been reading about Lost over in the Brandy Hall thread and was really looking forward to watching it -- then totally forgot about it that evening! And it was even on broadcast TV so I actually could have watched it!! I suppose it had something to do with the fact that I just never watch TV in the evening, so I didn't even think about it, but still... :rolleyes: As I understand it, the episode on the 22 (nice date for a "hobbit" premiere :p ) was the first part of a two-part opener, so maybe they'll do a bit of "the story this far" next time (and maybe I'll remember to watch it :rolleyes: ). I'd seen Dom in some of the Hetty Wainthrop [sp?] shows, and his character there was so different from Merry that I expect him to be pretty versatile. (IMHO, he's also the one of the four hobbits whose looks are improved the most by not wearing the wig :p .)

And I completely agree about Brandy Hall. I think just looking at the relationship between Frodo and Merry shows that it wasn't a "bad experience." (When Ezzie and I "met," we discovered that we'd both come up independently with the scenario that the two of them grew up almost like brothers--especially since each was an only child--and that Merry's parents may even have acted as surrogate parents for Frodo.) I think some fanfic writers pick up on the episode with Farmer Maggot as evidence that Frodo was something of a juvenile delinquent, so there must have been something "wrong," but from what Tolkien says about hobbit parents, they seem to accept a bit of getting-into-trouble as a normal part of growing up, so I doubt if Frodo was out of the ordinary in that way.

Somebody argued that this mother/judge goes very far to protect her son even after he's admitted to have ordered her murder. Lots of people said that they could well believe it. People will go far to protect their children.

I think the whole dynamic in the relationship between McPhee and his mother is really intriguing. I think McPhee would have been happy had he succeeded in coercing one of his peers into killing her. I think he was also happy with the outcome because, once again, he had his mother's full attention.

A piece to the puzzle, I think, is the fire-bombing of the headmaster's car; what would McPhee have gained by such, beyond the momentary pleasure of seeing the car go up in flames? The episode doesn't give us any clues to that specifically. But he plainly gained his mother's attention again, however briefly.

For the mother's part, she admitted to hating her sociopath son enough to send him away to live with his father for several years. There may have even been some measure of relief on her side, at the revelation of McPhee's plot. Because now she could deal with him on her comfort level, in a professional sense as a lawer.

I was so mad at myself about 9:30 Wednesday night ! I'd been reading about Lost over in the Brandy Hall thread and was really looking forward to watching it -- then totally forgot about it that evening!

TG, you need TiVO! It's this nifty little box you hook between your TV and your cable. Then you can tell it weeks ahead of time, while you're actually thinking about it, to tape this or that show, even every episode thereof!
and if that's convinced you then PM me and I'll tell you how you can say I recommended you, so we get credit for a bigger TiVO. ;)

what I'd like to know is did Elijah really win that Harvard eating chicken wing contest that they have every year? It sure sounds gross.

And, as memory serves me, yes, he really did win that contest. But, of course, he was the special guest that day, so it may have been a bit "fixed."

I'd not be surprised if that particular choice of food item wasn't on purpose too! :p Here's a quote I found:

The first time I ever saw Elijah Wood: The Rosie O'Donnell Show, three-ish years ago. Rosie force-fed Elijah barbecued buffalo wings. He obviously didn't want to eat the buffalo wings. It was very surreal and disturbing--this big, huge, and (then) repressed dyke forcing this precious little 98-pound darling to choke down these crazy barbecued buffalo wings. But Elijah was so sweet about humoring the crazy lady--and he was so f****** ADORABLE with that crazy hair and those big blue eyes--that I developed a crush that has endured to this day.

Honey!

TG, you need TiVO! It's this nifty little box you hook between your TV and your cable..
...this seems to assume that you have cable... ;)

Next sentence in my post:
And it was even on broadcast TV so I actually could have watched it!!
:)

The first time I ever saw Elijah Wood: The Rosie O'Donnell Show, three-ish years ago. Rosie force-fed Elijah barbecued buffalo wings. He obviously didn't want to eat the buffalo wings. It was very surreal and disturbing--this big, huge, and (then) repressed dyke forcing this precious little 98-pound darling to choke down these crazy barbecued buffalo wings. But Elijah was so sweet about humoring the crazy lady--and he was so f****** ADORABLE with that crazy hair and those big blue eyes--that I developed a crush that has endured to this day.

This' priceless, honey! I laughed out loud at the image this created in my mind. But doesn't that say so much about our lad, and how game he is?!

Wish I had seen this one -- I guess this was during the press junket for Fellowship.

Achilla:
I guess this was during the press junket for Fellowship.

Actually I think it was in 1998, probably around the time of "The Faculty" because, checking on ElijahFan it seems that was the only time when he was on Rosie's show.

You and Ylla have fun this weekend!

...this seems to assume that you have cable...

Oh...yeah. :o

Achilla:


Actually I think it was in 1998, probably around the time of "The Faculty" because, checking on ElijahFan it seems that was the only time when he was on Rosie's show.


Ah -- then he *really* was a tiny little thing, as opposed to now, that he's a...well...less tiny little thing (snerk).



You and Ylla have fun this weekend!

Thanks luv -- wish you were going to be there too. And thanks also for the package you sent us -- that was really sweet. :k

We've all known or heard of adults who are so charismatic that people will do anything for them, to gain their approval. In history, names like Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler come immediately to mind. My guess is that they learn at some point how to do this as children, and grow up to continue the behavior. It'd be nice to think that a charismatic person would not use this trait for evil, but many do, obviously.


I often wonder about the good old question:
Are some people born evil?

I wouldn't say that this girl was that evil (she certainly does not deserve to be named in the same sentence as these two evildoers) but she was always manipulative.
In homicide, McPhee has the combination of having an angelic look, having charm but most of the time, he does not 'do' the nasty things himself but he convinces others to do it for them.
With that girl: I never did quite understand how she could convince others to do all those things for her. I even had a conversation with one of her 'friends' about it but I never got more than a 'mind your own business' reply (surprise, surprise).



Honey,
I remember reading a very similar incident on some message board.
Of course, I don't know how accurate this is or even if it is at all true but it was a report by somebody who claimed to have been in the live audience of a tv show.
IIRC, according to that story, Elijah went on this tv show during the promotion of LOTR and they challenged him into eating frog legs, prepared in a particular way (can't remember how).
He didn't want to eat it but they insisted and he did go through with it but it was quite obviously not his idea of a happy meal.

Edit:
To those who went to Dutch_Eowyn's livejournal to download the Homicide clips. In there, you'll find a link to Undone's LJ. Follow that for more clips (she has two extra clips)
Remember to right-click-save!

Thank you so much for the help finding
the clips Moondancer!!! :k

You are all so helpfull with everything!!!!
True friends i am so glade i have found you all!! :k

Ylla and Achila i hope your weekend will be full
of joy and great Elijah stuff there are so much good things
to look at when it comes to him!! You both know what i mean!!! :p :D
I so wish i coulde bee with you!!!!
Maybe someday we all coulde meat!!

Love you all/Wood

Moondancer:
The evil one tried to get the entire neighborhood to do all sorts of things to that little girl - so, I had to go through the entire neigborhood to try and undo the evilness.

You sound like you were a very good friend to have. I'll bet over life you've accumulated a lot of friends who appreciate you for your sense of fairness and willingness to step up.


The Homicide commentary is scintillating. I am dying to see it. But I guess patience is a good virture to cultivate. With my dial-up, bring-your-own- access connection, I just cannot download very well. I even can't bring in Blossom's various GIFs. But oh well. I usually get to see things eventually. I keep reminding myself of the old days when you really had to wait until something was re-released in a theater, or got a special television showing to ever see it again. So perspective, right?? I remember in the early '70's staying up late with my hand held cassette recorder to audio tape John Lennon (and later George Harrison) on the Dick Cavet show. I did that all the time--sneaking out of bed when the rest of the house was asleep. It took real tenacity in those days to capture a bit of your obsessions for posterity.... :D

I'm late in thanking Whiteling for the beautiful drawing. Breathtaking...

Originally posted by HoneyElf:

The first time I ever saw Elijah Wood: The Rosie O'Donnell Show, three-ish years ago. Rosie force-fed Elijah barbecued buffalo wings. He obviously didn't want to eat the buffalo wings. It was very surreal and disturbing--this big, huge, and (then) repressed dyke forcing this precious little 98-pound darling to choke down these crazy barbecued buffalo wings. But Elijah was so sweet about humoring the crazy lady--and he was so f****** ADORABLE with that crazy hair and those big blue eyes--that I developed a crush that has endured to this day.

and Moondancer:
according to that story, Elijah went on this tv show during the promotion of LOTR and they challenged him into eating frog legs, prepared in a particular way (can't remember how).

I'm glad I missed that :confused: YUK. I like the mushroom risotto visual much better. :D

Just popping in to add a little snippet re the chicken wing eating contest. The fact is although Elijah won, he didn't eat a single wing!! A quote from an article posted on torn at the time:

"Wood did not eat a single wing, but his opponent, a Lampoon staffer, was disqualified for being a member of a professional wing-eating club"

:D

Tgshaw (and anyone else who missed it), Lost is going to be rebroadcast in its two-hour entirety on October 2nd. Yes, two hours--ABC decided to split it into two separate episodes for the initial showing and broadcast it over two weeks, but they're rerunning it as it was originally intended to be shown.

Good morning too you all!!

Well it looks little dry on the news side!!
I s there someone who knows something??
I can`t find anything!!!

Was looking on Sin city but diden`t find much!!
What i found was that someone sade that they have cut down
Elijahs part!!!!!!!!!!!!!If thats true,how can they do that?????? :confused:
Is there somone else who have seen this!!!!???


Love you all/Wood

Good morning everybody,
:)


Wood,
Where did you find this bit of news?
Maybe some people were just speculating on a message board because they didn't see Kevin in that Sin City trailer?

Kevin was never supposed to be a really big role, I think.
I can't imagine that they would cut the Kevin scenes because - as far as I can tell anyway - the scenes between Marv and Kevin are an important storyline.
However, I have read how it all ends for Kevin (major - major spoilers, so I won't put it in here) but..believe me: that's very interesting (for lack of a better term but I really don't want to spoil it).


"Wood did not eat a single wing, but his opponent, a Lampoon staffer, was disqualified for being a member of a professional wing-eating club"
:D
ah, so that's how he did it!

Hello everybody :k !


However, I have read how it all ends for Kevin (major - major spoilers, so I won't put it in here) but..believe me: that's very interesting (for lack of a better term but I really don't want to spoil it).


Interesting is an interesting term for Kevin's end, Moondancer :p ! I, too, read what fate he meets and I felt quite speechless afterwards :eek:. I think it's better not to know too much about it.


Love the discussion on Elijah's character McPhee.


Alyon, thanks for your kind comment on the drawing :) ! The same goes to Blossom :) and Ylla :) - thank you for the hugs :k , they are very welcome.



Dear colleagues, I have good news and bad news...

The good news is, I have "Day-O" on video tape.

The bad news is, it is dubbed in German :haha: :o :(

The movie was aired over here some time ago and I forgot totally about it. And just yesterday I discovered the tape again and rewatched it. Elijah is so cute! (But I must confess that I have major difficulty with Delta Burke. Her acting style is quite the opposite to the fluently multiple expressions we know from our Elwood... her sledgehammer acting isn't my cup of tea at all, I'm afraid.)

IIRC, wasn't it Tg who is looking for ages for "Day-O"? Maybe anyone of you is interested in this movie, so I can send it. Or perhaps there is anyone who can make copies of it? Don't know if it makes any sense for non-German speakers, but I wanted to let you know.


Have a great weekend, all :) !

Interesting is an interesting term for Kevin's end, Moondancer :p ! I, too, read what fate he meets and I felt quite speechless afterwards :eek:. I think it's better not to know too much about it.
'Speechless' is a good word to describe how I felt about his fate.
'Gobsmacked' is another one. :cool:

IIRC, wasn't it Tg who is looking for ages for "Day-O"? Maybe anyone of you is interested in this movie, so I can send it. Or perhaps there is anyone who can make copies of it? Don't know if it makes any sense for non-German speakers, but I wanted to let you know.
I'd be interested in a copy, whiteling.
My brother-in-law has a DVD recorder and my brother has bought a machine.
Now, if I can convince them both to make a DVD copy of the tape, I could send the second copy to Tg (IIRC, she understands German).
I'll give them a call and send you a PM, whiteling.
Tg, let me know if you're interested in getting a dubbed version of Day-O.$

EDIT: I phoned them both and they're willing to make a copy (might even be able to get a third copy from them but I'll give you guys a warning so I can send it to anybody who's interested - if Whiteling is willing to lend me her video, that is...in Dutch there's the saying: "don't sell the skin of the bear before you've killed it")


Have a great weekend, all :) !
You too, whiteling. Take care. :k

Kevin was never supposed to be a really big role, I think.
I can't imagine that they would cut the Kevin scenes because - as far as I can tell anyway - the scenes between Marv and Kevin are an important storyline.

It's probably a matter of them not revealing Kevin's "look" and demeanor before the film is released -- much like the trailers and commercials for ROTK, in which you didn't see Frodo at the Sammath Naur because that part was supposed to be a surprise for the audience. Surely you don't want to reveal your best bit in a trailer -- who would go see the movie then? And how many times has that happened, that you've seen enough of the trailer to know the entire film and that you don't want to go see it?

I highly doubt that Elijah's part was cut -- it was quite short to begin with, but apparently very pivotal.

Now, if I can convince them both to make a DVD copy of the tape, I could send the second copy to Tg (IIRC, she understands German).
I'll give them a call and send you a PM, whiteling.
Tg, let me know if you're interested in getting a dubbed version of Day-O.$
What a find! Yes, I'd be very interested, if it can work... I know some German (and I doubt if the dialogue for Day-O is at the level of a doctoral dissertation ;) ) and my mother knows quite a bit more. Not Elijah's voice, of course, which would be a drawback, but still would be great to see it. (And, yes, Delta Burke is rather known for being a "drama queen"--it's part of her stock in trade, so I'd be surprised to see her act any other way :) .)

But wouldn't this run into the "region" problem again? VCDs work everywhere, but I don't have an "all region" VCR or DVD drive. I wonder if, when the DVD copiers do their copying, do they save the video actually onto their computer drive? If so, it may be possible to save it onto CDs as a VCD. ainon is our resident VCD expert--at least she's sent me a couple that she copied herself ;) --so she may know how that works. Once something is on a computer drive, I believe it's possible to copy it as a VCD using just a regular CD drive--Yes? That would avoid any region problems, and it's still possible to make screencaps from it although they aren't as good as from a DVD.

Whiteling--Is it a video that someone recorded privately off their TV, or a bought one? If the region problem can't be worked out, and the VHS is a bought one, it should say which company put it out, which might make it possible to track down a region 1 version. Even if it's privately recorded, it should tell the production company, and possibly what network it originally aired on since it was a TV movie.

Right now, I don't have any DVD or CD drive at all--ever since that first episode awhile back, the CD drive has been completely out (crossing my fingers that my website doesn't go down, as I have no way to back it up without a CD drive) and the DVD drive has been in and out unpredictably. This time around, it's been out for over a week except for one brief sputtering into life. This isn't going to be permanent, because I won't let it :p , but if it takes any money to fix it or if I have to buy another, it may last months (til the legal matter is settled--I'm hanging onto every penny I can til then, just in case). This not only means no screencaps, but no movies--at least no Movies :( , although I do have some of Elijah's earlier things on VHS.) I'm going to try another driver download today, but don't know if that will help.

...in Dutch there's the saying: "don't sell the skin of the bear before you've killed it")
A very good saying :p . In English (America, at least) I suppose the equivalent would be "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." More farmers than hunters in our history, I guess ;)

Good Morning Faculty! Found this about Hooligans. I guess its Hooligans now and not The Yank. Anyways, I'm not sure about posting links or saying what site it is from...if I can do that, let me know and I'll let everyone know about the site. And I'm off to my daughter's soccer games...

...yes I did see Hooligans this week and yes, it was fine. The story works as well as I thought it would, the fight scenes look excellent thanks to Pat Johnson's sterling efforts as fight co-ordinator and the actors do a great job with the script.

Obviously being an early edit there are a few minor things that need addressing -the majority of which will already have been dealt with by now- and sad to say that there are a couple of 'I hate to say I told you so...' moments. However, generally speaking, I am very pleased with the way it has turned out -in spite of the behind the scenes dramas- and if they get the sound track right and ditch the heavy metal dross added to this edit, then the finished movie should be cracking.

Anyways, I'm not sure about posting links or saying what site it is from...if I can do that, let me know and I'll let everyone know about the site. And I'm off to my daughter's soccer games...
Shelbyshire--Only time posting links isn't allowed is if the site being linked to has "R rated" or worse material on it. The one your quote is from has been linked to a number of times in this thread, and it's never had any bad content that I'm aware of. So linking--or naming--should be fine. And that is a recent update that I don't think has been posted here, yet, so thanks for posting it :) .

Quote from Moondancer's snippet:

Feeling that she's let life pass her by, Delta is enervated by the return of her imaginary childhood playmate, Day-O (Elijah Wood).
Flourish commented,

(...) "enervated." The last 52 times I ran across it, it was misused, anyway. It means to lessen or reduce the strength or vigor of--

*chortle* That was a pretty amusing use of "enervate," for sure! Perhaps the writer was trying to say "invigorated?" Is the character hyperactive? In that case, running around after him might have left her feeling "enervated." But I have a feeling, she/he meant "invigorated." :D

(Hi, Ylla!)

Hi Ylla, great hearing from you!!!!

Congrats for the pictureposting!!!
I told you Achila woulde help you out!!!

HOPE YOU LADIES ARE HAVING A GREAT TIME!!


Love/wood

Whiteling--Is it a video that someone recorded privately off their TV, or a bought one? If the region problem can't be worked out, and the VHS is a bought one, it should say which company put it out, which might make it possible to track down a region 1 version. Even if it's privately recorded, it should tell the production company, and possibly what network it originally aired on since it was a TV movie.


Tg, it is my own privately recorded tape. Day-O was aired in Germany on "SuperRTL", a Cologne TV channel where Disney is a shareholder.
In the credits are following names mentioned
"Produced by Barry Bernardi and Ira Shuman - Executive Producer Steve White". That's all.


Nothing much happens, except for the formidable Ms. Burke raising her voice to an air-raid-siren decibel every few minutes.

Mmh, then it seems the German dubbing is very close to the original mood. The description above fits perfectly. :D

Note to those reading this and raising an eyebrow over all this DVD copying thing. you never know
Most of us would be willing to buy an official Day-O DVD or VHS video if it was available.
That's for sure!! It's a lot easier (and probably cheaper by the time you factor in time and postage) :eek: ! The one time I've had an "illegal" copy of something that wasn't available (The Witness through the kindness of ainon :) ), as soon as I found it on VCD at yesasia.com, I bought it--just seems fair. And, let me tell you, if someone went to the trouble to put this out legitimately (so a lot more people could see it than just us geeks), I'd want to support them!

Did the New York Times review mention what the network was that aired the movie? I'm trying to recall if in 1992 Disney was still over at NBC or had switched to ABC? If the movie was filling in the time slot that used to be the Sunday Disney Movie, maybe it was aired on NBC not long after the switch? That's just a guess... (Thought maybe they'd give the network at IMDb, but they don't seem to.)

"As always, however, young Mr. Wood is consistently fine"
:)
Quite a statement for someone who was what? ten years old? when he made the movie? As always... consistently.... and even "Mr. Wood" :) :) . Someone there had been paying attention!

[Maybe the "enervated" was meant to refer to the decibel level of the dialogue :p .]

----Simulposted with Whiteling: thanks for the extra info.

Did the New York Times review mention what the network was that aired the movie? I'm trying to recall if in 1992 Disney was still over at NBC or had switched to ABC? If the movie was filling in the time slot that used to be the Sunday Disney Movie, maybe it was aired on NBC not long after the switch? That's just a guess... (Thought maybe they'd give the network at IMDb, but they don't seem to.)

Can't see any mention of NBC or ABC.
Here's the link:
http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies (http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=124849)


EDIT: NBC (found several comments that it's an NBC/Disney movie)
I found this comment through Google. It was posted in december 1994
Since a number of people have asked about the 1992 TV movie "Day-O" which
Elijah Wood starred in, NBC might be showing it on December 25 at 7pm
(eastern/pacific). However the other NBC station listed in this edition
of TV Guide is running a different movie and I have no way to tell which
movie is being run nationally by NBC and which is being run locally
So, even in 1994 people were unable to find this movie but were asking about it.


Mmh, then it seems the German dubbing is very close to the original mood. The description above fits perfectly.
As I mentionned before, German dubbing is usually rather good.
I haven't seen many French dubbed movies (I avoid them) but I often watched them as a kid when I was watching tv with my parents when I couldn't yet understand French (I used to annoy the hell out of my older brother, sisters and my parents: "what are they saying now? And now? And now?...").
But...quite often, the French would use a female voice to do the kids voices.
I hated that but I don't know if they still do that.
(if I'm not mistaken, Bart Simpson's voice comes from a woman and it works there but most of the time, it's just annoying).

Had not intended to delurk at all tonight (MUCH more to say, but that will have to be tomorrow :)), until I followed Moondancer's link (thanks once again, MD!) to Elijah's biog and complete filmography on the NYTimes site. All goes well - with far more NYT critic's picks than I'd expected! - until back in 1988, when the list concludes with this:

.........
1989 Back to the Future Part II Actor: Video Game Boy, Mickey
1988 Little Dorrit Actor: Greedy-Eyed Old Man
1984 A Private Function Actor: Ernest

Now, we know Elijah was precociously intelligent and mature from early childhood, but who would have thought his talents extended to playing a Greedy-Eyed Old Man at the age of 7 - or, indeed, that grizzled character in A Private Function (hilarious movie, btw) at the age of 3 (probably 2 when filming started!)? :D

Maybe that explains Tg's observation:
from tgshaw:
Quite a statement for someone who was what? ten years old? when he made the movie? As always... consistently.... and even "Mr. Wood"

ROFL
Seriously, though, I'm sure most of us have come across Mr Elijah Wood Senior on the Net before, listed along with his, er, great-great-grandson from Cedar Rapids. It all speaks volumes about the way filmographies are compiled !! :rolleyes:

But it's a good review, and I'll forgive pro-Elijah critics anything (including the misuse of "enervated" .... :rolleyes: )

And as for that IMDB message board person, he(?) is clearly just another of those who see such threads as a forum for showing off - usually at the expense of the celebrity concerned. As Moondancer suggests, their opinions are not worth the cyberspace they occupy. Don't worry, wood! :)

EDIT: Have just looked at the NYT entry for The Good Son. Hadn't seen that particular DVD cover before - and what a change! First it was MaCC and his name alone on the cover; then, after FOTR, a small pic of him with Elijah appeared, but still with Mac's name only on the cover; now there's very prominent centre pic of Elijah as Mark, and Elijah's name is billed equally with Mac's. Justice at last :)
EDIT again: Have now read the real review of TGS, and it starts like this:
Macaulay Culkin is not too young to need career advice. It's a triple mistake for him to have appeared in "The Good Son" as Henry Evans, a disturbed and malicious little boy. First of all, this character's brattiness is deeply unappealing. Second, a role as solemn as this one makes it clear that wisecrack-filled comedy is what Mr. Culkin does best. And third, his co-star is Elijah Wood, the second hottest child star of the moment (whose credits include "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"), and a fine little actor who is much more comfortable with dramatic material. Although Mr. Culkin has top billing Thank you, Janet Maslin - who also wrote this about Flipper:
Mr. Wood, looking newly chiseled and handsome, is aging gracefully well beyond the realm of the child star.
and this about The War:
Well established as a first-rate child actor (in films including "The Good Son" and "The Adventures of Huck Finn"), Mr. Wood has also developed that stellar shine. He eases effortlessly into the role of a tough, sturdy Southern boy who struggles to hold his family together, and whose sentimental scenes late in the story will send many hardened moviegoers groping for their hankies. If "The War" had confined itself solely to the love between this father and son, it would have had a small but satisfying story to tell.
Clearly a critic with eyes to see!

Seriously, though, I'm sure most of us have come across Mr Elijah Wood Senior on the Net before, listed along with his, er, great-great-grandson from Cedar Rapids. It all speaks volumes about the way filmographies are compiled !! :rolleyes:
During the pre-FotR, learn-everything-you-possibly-can-about-any-actor-who's-going-to-be-in-these-movies days :p , I ran across a filmography for Billy Boyd that listed a western from 1947. Since "our" Mr. Boyd wasn't even born then, it was clearly someone else. I sent a correction, and it did get fixed eventually. :)

But it's a good review, and I'll forgive pro-Elijah critics anything (including the misuse of "enervated" .... :rolleyes: )
As long as they don't say he's "almost unique" :eek: ! But, seriously, thanks for those reviews. I hope Ms. Maslin is justifiably proud of herself for having spotted the "diamond in the rough" (which Elijah might have been in Flipper, but I can't quite understand why one reviewer used that term for him in ESOTSM :confused: -- but, again, the reviewer said good things about him so, oh, well... :rolleyes: ).

Any other original, loyal Star Wars fans out there? I believe there was comment on Star Wars but that was some pages ago...

I've been watching the newly released DVD trilogy set these last couple of days. Star Wars can be credited as being one of my earlier "geek" moments. I bought advanced tickets (back then, being early in the day it was being shown, not a month or so before!) and sitting in the front row for Empire Strikes Back. Anyways, I heard Peter Jackson was interviewed in the special features so naturally I have watched them. It was so wierd to have the two different stories merge for a moment, to see footage from LOTR on a Star Wars documentary. Only one shot of Frodo and that one from the Fords when he sees either the Ringwraiths across the river or the white horses coming (?, no time to quickly watch the DVD in the name of research). But Peter made a comment on how, after 25 years, that the Star Wars characters are remembered and not the special effects because they were "wonderfully created and performed characters".

And we all know how words can sometimes not even begin to describe how well "performed" Frodo was! :D

Hey everybody,

Not a lot happening lately as far as EJW is concerned but still The Faculty Lounge is buzzing with people. :)

I saw a preview of the next movie season here in Flanders and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is released even later than I expected.
Not the first week of november but the second! :eek:
But, at least, I have the DVD coming to me soon (should arrive in october)

Also, this is not that interesting but I found a transcript of an interview with Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith on Larry King Live (CNN) when they were doing promotion for Paradise.
They mainly talk about themselves (as far as I can tell, I skimmed through it at work) and there's nothing much on Elijah.
MsGriffith: The movie is about two people that have had a tragic loss in their life and they don’t know how to talk about it or how to express their feelings, and so they’ve grown apart and they’re angry and they don’t have any way of working it out. And this little boy comes into their life, and you know how children have a way of making you kind of open up your heart and they’re so honest and right to the point? And this little boy — Elijah Wood is the actor and he plays Willard in the film — he comes in and sort of opens up our hearts — opens our characters’ hearts. And a terrible lie is revealed and feelings that were held in are released and then it’s like then we’re on the road to paradise at the end of the film.
Here's the link if anybody's interested: Larry King transcript - Griffith and Johnson about Paradise (http://members.lycos.nl/JStinis/larrykingparadise.html)
There's a little clip from the movie (trailer): here (http://www.fye.com/catalog/moviesProduct.jhtml?itemId=10677866)

That's a picture from the original French movie "Le Grand Chemin"
http://www.cinemovies.fr/images/data/films/Pfilm13682036743927.jpg
http://www.dvdrama.net/imagescrit/legrandcheminpic2.jpg

I don't know if anybody is at all interested in this but nothing much is happening anyway so I'm posting this. :rolleyes: It's a photo gallery from Le Grand Chemin. It looks good. I really must see if I can find it in my videostore
(which reminds me: Try Seventeen is for rent here (under that title) and I found a rare and beautiful Russell Crowe movie from his earlier work before the big success. None of the movies I wanted to rent were there so besides the Crowe movie, I ended up renting Starsky and Hutch :D )
Before I forget why I'm doing another edit: here's that gallery
Le Grand Chemin - gallery (http://www.boyacts.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?action=showgal&ref=561&type=mve&start=16)
I've been trying to find a trailer from that but haven't had success yet.

Btw, this is a picture from the same site that had that little gallery:
http://www.boyacts.com/babin/actorpics/39.jpg

Re: Copywrong:

Note to those reading this and raising an eyebrow over all this DVD copying thing. you never know Most of us would be willing to buy an official Day-O DVD or VHS video if it was available.

I would not make a copy of a movie/TV program for someone else if it were otherwise available. If I did make a copy of an unavailable show, I would not ask any $$$ other than possibly postage and the cost of the tape/whatever. It would be unethical, and probably illegal, to make a profit from it. But if someone would put the danged thing out there for sale, I'd certainly buy it, even if I already had a fuzzy, commercial-filled copy.

I still wonder if a heartfelt appeal to Lifetime network would help...

~grumpy

When Sean Astin said Elijah was like a cat, was he refering to his Manly Strength? :lol:

He (Sean Astin) certainly didn't lack in this area. ;) :D

On the Always & Forever site, they put up a scan from a French magazine "Ciné Live".

I translated a bit from that article for those who are interested.
(the sections I didn't translate were about LOTR and ESOTSM and a bit about EII...I'll see if I find a bit of time to translate more of it later)

Ciné Live
Que devient la communauté de l’anneau
Chapitre 1 : Elijah Wood

There’s more to life than the hobbit. At least, that’s what Elijah Wood is proving by playing in Michael Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s an occasion for the actor to present himself as cool and urban and it enables him to go back to the image he had before the Lord of the Rings.

CL: You started your career very early. In 1989, at the age of 8 as an extra in the movie "Return to the Future II”
EJW: I remember it very well, especially because I could work on the sequel of my favorite movie at the time. It also gave me the opportunity to meet my hero Marty McFly and see Michael J. Fox for real. The excitement was almost too much for me! Just think: a kid like me in gigantic decors scattered around a large part of the Universal Studios. It was amazing! I had a futuristic costume on and I could play a video game. I remember the flying cars and all the other gadgets…I had no idea who Robert Zemeckis was besides the fact that he was the director and very kind. The first time I saw myself on the big screen wasn’t a big shock for me. On the contrary, I was very excited about it and quite proud of myself. I became more critical later.

CL: You worked on Internal Affairs with Mike Figgis
EJW: It was just a small role. Billy Baldwin and Faye Grant played my parents in the movie and they had the idea to take me to the zoo to give me the opportunity to get to know them. That was really kind of them because they didn’t have to do that. Otherwise, I didn’t have to do much on the set. Most of the time, I occupied myself by making my homework.

CL: In The War, you get to discover a more serious role
EJW: I remember that there were a lot of kids on the set and because we all stayed at the same place, it was like being on a holiday camp. We had a great time together. For the first time as an actor, I had to take a more emotional viewpoint and that was a new experience for me, a challenge that enabled me to grow as an actor. Kevin Costner was my dad. I knew he was my dad.

CL: That same year, you did North.
EJW: An enormous production. Everybody expected this to be very successful because Rob Reiner was directing it. The least you can say is that it wasn’t. But still, it was an interesting experience with an incredible set and decors and in particular the North Pole with all the igloos. I was 12 years old back then and for the first time, I was the star. Nevertheless, I didn’t feel any pressure. What pleased me a lot was being able to meet all the actors who appeared in the movie Kathy Bates, Dan Akroyd…Bruce Willis was also really adorable to me (note: "il a été adorable avec moi"); he gave me my first electric guitar. That touched me (note: "ca m'avait marqué") Rob Reiner helped me a lot and was very forthcoming to me. I went to his trailer to eat eskimo’s (note: Huh?).

CL: We can imagine that Ang Lee was a totally different sort of director
EJW: And one of my favorites by far! Just before going to New York to start the rehearsals for The Ice Storm, he sent me a big package with all sorts of books and press clippings from the 70’s as well as 2 CD’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” from Pink Floyd…This allowed me to fully immerge myself in this period of time I wasn’t familiar with. No other director had wanted me to do research. I knew that they were expecting a lot from me. Ang Lee also gave each actor a list with questions we had to answer from the viewpoint of our own character. The atmosphere on that set was quite unique, very calm. Ang Lee’s English wasn’t perfect, we never received very precise directions from him but more suggestions, impressions (note: "suggestions impressionnistes": impressionist suggestions?) and this added a bit of difficulty.

So, you folks have been talking about copies? :D Yup, tg, nothing like the words 'angst' and 'copies' to get me all perky and talky ... a couple of day late, maybe ... well, okay, many days late ... :p

Anyway, once a DVD copy has been made of well, any urm, thing, any number of copies from DVD Copy 1 should be easy-peasy. :) The DVDs will all be Region Free, and anyone anywhere should be able to play the DVDs in their players or DVD-ROMs. But considering how little space there is in a CD compared to a DVD, I don't think you can make direct VCD (video CD) copies from the DVD. Any redistribution effort would have to be in DVD format.

What I daren't say is if there will be any effect from the fact that Americans are on the NTSC, while Europeans, Australians and Malaysians have PAL TV. Since I'm in a place where all regions and all formats are accessible and playable, I would never experience any restrictions anyway.

Not that I'm talking about actually making copies. All just rhetorical metaphorical allegory technically speaking, that's all the above paragraphs are.

Moondancer, thank you for your brilliant tracking and research efforts, and your translation work! *hugs*

I went to his trailer to eat eskimo’s (note: Huh?).

Maybe he's talking about Eskimo Pies? Which I don't actually know what they are. Never seen 'em. But enough people in books and on TV shows talk about them Eskimo pies. :D

But Moondancer? The AMTSNBN plug? That's low. Really. Shame on you. :D :D

((((whiteling)))) Take care of yourself too. :k And thanks for sharing your amazing drawings with us.

Merewyn, thanks for the Sean Astin book price info! After conversion, that's still one very steep price for a book. Sigh. Guess I'll just be waiting for the Elijah snippets to be discussed right here. ;)

Star Wars DVDs! Well, kinda on-topic because EW said he was a fan. I'm not getting the DVDs, but all the news items and interviews and stuff brought back great memories of the ol' days before Special Redone Editions became the in-thing. I don't think it actually matters what George Lucas wants to keep changing or omitting or whatever - they're all his creations so he has the right. What grates is that he's not (so far) making available the original original versions, the versions a lot of folks grew up with, and really would like to own if they could. Difference with Peter Jackson is that PJ could conceivably wait twenty years and entirely recut version of theatrical LOTR if he wished - whether fans wanted it or not - but the original versions are already out there, for all to own, and so he can add to the LOTR vision, but he can't wipe the slate clean and try to recreate history.

End of off-topic-ish rant. Which wasn't so off-topic, was it, since EW's a fan? ;)


Say, zkgrumpy? Happy Belated Birthday!. :k :k

Maybe he's talking about Eskimo Pies? Which I don't actually know what they are. Never seen 'em. But enough people in books and on TV shows talk about them Eskimo pies. :D
Eskimo pies? :confused:

But Moondancer? The AMTSNBN plug? That's low. Really. Shame on you.
:D :haha:


Anyway, during my lunch break, I translated another bit from that Ciné Live interview.
CL: Have you now totally digested the experience of living with this character Frodo for such a long time
EJW: Each character leaves an impression on me on different levels. A much stronger reason for me is that Frodo will always remain strongly linked with the memories I have of the extraordinary filming of the trilogy and the unique adventure it was for me. I think that I am more affected by having met Peter Jackson and the entire crew. On a human level, that was more profound, especially with Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd. We will always have a strong bond.

CL: The pile of scripts you must be getting now must be enormous.
EJW: (pensive) Not as big as you might expect. Well, there’s always that script I haven’t had the time to read yet, I’m difficult because I often have to wait a long time to find a script that pleases me on all levels. Not just my role, but also the story, the quality of the scenario. All these elements have to be just right before it all clicks for me.

CL: What’s the worst advice you’ve been given in your career?
EJW: I forget those! The best advice however came from Mel Gibson during the shooting of “Forever Young”. He explained to me that whatever you may think, you can always do better. I think that this stayed with me. This is what has prevented me from stagnating.

CL: Has the cult success of the Lord of the Rings caused any wild scenes from your fans?
EJW: Most of them have been very respectful and admirable. I am very grateful to them for that. However, some of them – amongst the more adventurous types – have sent me messages of love and some of them have traveled half around the world just to try and meet me. The most disturbing was a woman who followed me everywhere during the shooting days in New Zealand. Somehow, she managed to get through our little closed community. She was very tenacious but luckily, that was an isolated case.

There's still a bit about ESOTSM. I'll try to translate that as well when I find a bit of time.

Moondancer, thank you for your brilliant tracking and research efforts, and your translation work! *hugs*

Ditto! Hey, I've just noticed - Congratulations on 400 posts, Moondancer! :k


Not that I'm talking about actually making copies. All just rhetorical metaphorical allegory technically speaking, that's all the above paragraphs are.


Of course, Ainon! :D The urm, thing is on it's metaphorical way. ;)

And thank you for your warm wish :k !

Maybe he's talking about Eskimo Pies? Which I don't actually know what they are. Never seen 'em. But enough people in books and on TV shows talk about them Eskimo pies. :D


Ainon, an eskimo pie is a type of ice cream bar -- usually vanilla covered in chocolate -- without a stick.

Star Wars DVDs! Well, kinda on-topic because EW said he was a fan. I'm not getting the DVDs, but all the news items and interviews and stuff brought back great memories of the ol' days before Special Redone Editions became the in-thing.

One more thing about this -- there are two featurettes that have commentary by our own Peter Jackson. How very cool to be watching and hear that familiar and beloved voice, and then there's Pete. At one point, in one of the docos, there are little snips of LOTR shown and a 1-2 second shot of Frodo. So I wonder how much our lad screamed when he watched it and saw he was on a STAR WARS DISC!!!!


Happy Belated Birthday Grumpy!. :k :k

I just thought I'd drop off this review of ESoTSM DVD.

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/dvdreviewsnews.php?id=6507

The extras sound like they have more EW for us;

There's also a lot of footage of the cast and crew clowning around on the various sets, too. It's obvious they had a lot of fun making this movie. It's also obvious that there were a lot of deleted scenes in this movie that weren't included in the "deleted scenes" section. You get brief glimpses of them here and there.

The Polyphonic Spree "Light & Day" Music video – This is probably one of the more amusing music videos I've seen that is tied into a movie. Clips from the film are shown and the lips of the characters have been manipulated to look like they are singing the song.

Thanks for the french interview translation Moondancer. Eskimo pies? We call those Choc Ices here in the UK.

Thank you from me, too, Moondancer, for that translation; I LOVED reading it!

Excursus on Eskimo Pies: these are one of those treats that kids with a tendency toward obsessiveness (raises hand) like to eat -- you can try to lift off the thin, hard chocolate coating with your teeth in clean, large sections, before eating the vanilla ice cream inside. There's the sheer thrill of meeting the challenge in terms of one's chocolate-peeling skills, but it also makes the whole experience last longer. Rob Reiner seems to me like a person who would eat an Eskimo Pie the way it was designed to be eaten, with the chocolate and vanilla taken together in each bite. E.W.? I can't make up my mind; either a nibbler or a snarfer, but not the middle approach.

Well, I'll post one bit of DVD info:

Details on the RotK special edition--to be released December 14, available for pre-order October 1-- are posted over in the Trilogy/RotK forum (feature = 250 minutes :z: ), and Hewene has posted a link to the NewLine page with the same info in the Community Cafe Bulletin Board.

And ask about another:

"Collector's Edition" of Deep Impact to be released on October 5. But I can't find any details on extras, or whether this is worth buying if you've got the original DVD (I'm having deja vu as I'm typing this--sorry if I've asked it before and forgotten :o ).

-----------

Eskimo Pies = brand name for one kind of "ice cream bar" of vanilla ice cream coated with chocolate -- as Achila said, [Very hurried, embarrassed correction :eek:! While Eskimo Pies, indeed, do not have a stick, the ad jingle was running through my head in the shower and I realized the "no room for a stick" line is for Klondike Bars! Apologies to all brands involved! :o ] the one that's so big and thick there's "no room for a stick" :p (as their ads say ;) ). But since they were first, and still the best-known brand, some people use it generically for any ice cream bars--even those with a stick :eek: . And quicksilver corrected a misconception I'd had--I'd always assumed "choc ices" (which I have heard of, on Red Dwarf :p ) were what we'd call "fudge bars" in the States--chocolate ice cream, no coating, on a stick.

Chocolate coating addition after reading Mechtild's--My favorite, which I learned as a young child on rare Sunday evening family trips to Dairy Queen, is to bite off the tip of a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone and suck as much of the vanilla ice cream out through the little hole as I can before eating the chocolate outside (yes, I still do it sometimes, but not in public :p ). When I was older, I learned that it's sometimes possible (depending on the facility in question) to get a chocolate-dipped ice cream cone made with chocolate ice cream, which adds another whole level of chocolatey goodness :p . Some places also have additional flavors of coatings, but... :confused: :confused: .

----------

Moondancer, thanks for the interview translation--and congratulations on 400 posts, so many of them with info from your great "tracking skills" :) .

either a nibbler or a snarfer, but not the middle approach.

My vote goes to 'snarfer'. :D

"Collector's Edition" of Deep Impact to be released on October 5. But I can't find any details on extras, or whether this is worth buying if you've got the original DVD
Deep Impact
Movie Description
Drama, 1998, 121 minutes.

What would you do if you knew that in a handful of days an enormous comet would collide with Earth and all humanity could be annihilated?
The countdown to doomsday is underway in this “gut-wrenching, eye-opening blast of a movie experience”. – Jeff Craig, Sixty Second Preview
Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker) directs, guiding an all-star cast featuring Robert Duval, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximillian Schell and Morgan Freeman. With the film’s dynamic fusion of large-scale excitement and touching, human-scale storylines, Deep Impact makes its impact felt in a big and unforgettable way.

Stars: check out the spelling of some of those names
Tea Leoni, Robert Duvall, Eluah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave

Directed by:
Mimi Ledler

DVD Features
• Commentary With Director Mimi Leder & Special Effects Supervisor Scott Farrar
• “Preparing For The End” Featurette: In Depth Look At Deep Impact
• Making An Impact: The Making Of Deep Impact – The Original US Theatrical Featurette
• Creating The Perfect Jam Featurette
• Parting Thoughts Featurette
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Gallery

From: here (http://www.atlanticdvd.com.au/index_stuffer.cfm?view.cfm?id=10057~content)


Erm...are we still using metaphores concerning copies?
I may have taped *coughs* that from tv. I'll wait until I see what others think of it (check out online reviews,...) before I consider buying the special edition. This might be a good opportunity to get a good, commercial copy.


Thanks for explaining the Eskimo thing. I have many vices but ice cream isn't one of them. I hardly touch the stuff.

Thanks Moondancer for the translation!!!
And thans from me too for your searching skills!!!
I have know idear how you do that!!!! Were you find everything!!

Just so happy you are so whilling to share with you to us!!!!!


Love/wood

OH,i hope you and Ylla hade a great time together Achila
i so wish i coulde have join you two!!!!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes, all!

Ainon, an eskimo pie is a type of ice cream bar -- usually vanilla covered in chocolate -- without a stick.

Achila, I take serious exception to this. ;) A *Klondike* bar is the one without a stick. (althought maybe Eskimo pies also come that way). I like the sugar-free Eskimo pies - they have ice cream sandwiches, and also a vanilla ice cream bar coated in chocolate, on a stick. Those are my favorites, and relatively guilt-free. I don't know how to act around them though so I've put a temporary moratorium on them until I can behave. Or until I get to the store. Whichever happens first.

Anyway, I eat them in a mixed style. First, I bite the very tip off - coating and ice cream. Then, I work on the corners, again, both coating and ice cream. Then, I carefully bite off the chocolate on the sides and nibble on the ice cream. Then, I bite off the wide part of the chocolate, trying to keep it in one piece. Then, I eat the rest of the ice cream to the bottom, and pull the very bottom choclate and rest of the ice cream off the stick. Yummy.

Right now, I'm heavily into Minute Maid orange juice/vanilla ice cream bars. They're like high-test Creamsicles. The very top is usually orange juice; I bite that off. Then I approach the rest of the bar in much the same way.

~grumpy (I'm also into sugar-free popsicles - 15 calories apiece. Yummy!)

...(althought maybe Eskimo pies also come that way).
Yes, they do, hence my confusion and terrible mistake regarding the "no room for a stick" jingle in my previous post :o :eek: . I went back and edited in the correction later, so it may have been missed by some. I also plunked it in the middle of the sentence, so here's a clearer version:
Eskimo Pies = brand name for one kind of "ice cream bar" of vanilla ice cream coated with chocolate -- as Achila said, the one that's so big and thick there's "no room for a stick" (as their ads say ).[Very hurried, embarrassed correction :eek: ! While Eskimo Pies, indeed, do not have a stick, the ad jingle was running through my head in the shower and I realized the "no room for a stick" line is for Klondike Bars! Apologies to all brands involved! :o ]

I don't know how to act around them though so I've put a temporary moratorium on them until I can behave. Or until I get to the store. Whichever happens first.
:D :D -- just because it sounds exactly like me :D .

Maybe I could "behave myself" better if I developed a methodic eating plan such as the ones posted here--I'm basically a snarfer :p .

I would also like to thank Moondancer for her wonderful translation. I'm very much enjoying it!

Ainon, it's so good to see you delurking. Hello! :k

(back to the grindstone...)

I'm glad that you guys are enjoying the translation. Ignore the language mistakes, will you? French sentences have a different structure than English sentences so you have to throw around the words a bit sometimes.

:)

OK...so here is the final part.
That goes before the first bit I posted this morning.

CL: Did you already know about Michael Gondry before this movie?
EJW: Yes, because I’ve been a fan of his video clips for quite some time now. So, I almost lost it when I heard that he wanted to meet me to see if I was right for the part. It was in New York and I was in the middle of promotional work for Two Towers. Listening to him talk about the project made me even more enthusiastic. I was completely charmed by the intricate and poetic way of writing of Charlie Kaufman. I also like his unique way of touching an emotional chord. On a personal level, Charlie is really shy, brilliant and a bit intimidating. This movie also gave me the opportunity to get my name behind something that was far removed from the “Lord Of The Rings”.

CL: How was the atmosphere on the set?
EJW: Working together with Michel meant acquiring a viewpoint from every angle. He created a not foreseeable environment in which the actors never knew what was going to happen to them or what awaited them. This forces them to stay vigilant all the time. There’s nothing as exciting as that. You sometimes have the impression that you’re working without a net, because he has the tendency to let the camera’s roll without really giving a warning. He’s not opposed to improvisation and that’s very liberating.

CL: Your character, Patrick, has to look for an excuse in his conquest for the girl he loves. What does a potential girlfriend have to be like to have a chance of seducing you?
EJW: Vitality, self-confidence, independence,…According to me, the best relationships are in which both partners keep their individuality completely but with the ability to share common interests. That’s the main thing. Besides that, it would be ideal if she would be passionate about music like I am: Beatles, Stone Roses, Devo,… There’s no-one special in my life right now, partly because I’m difficult but also because my work requires me to have a crazy schedule with little free time. In my situation, it’s not as easy to meet somebody as you would think. And, like Patrick it happens that you’re attracted to and rejected by someone.

CJ: Do you have to adapt yourself in any particular way to work together with Jim Carrey?
EJW: Let’s just say that I didn’t behave in the same way in front of Jim as I did in front of Kate! I could get along with her really well because we have a similar approach. In general, I would say that I don’t really have any specific expectations from actors. I prefer to stay open so that I can absorb all that I can in many ways. My approach is rather natural.

CL: What were your first impressions of the movieworld?
EJW: As a child, I was mostly interested in anything that feeded my imagination. Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws, the Never-ending Story…those are my first memories. It’s only a bit later that I became more interested in more sophisticated material, mainly under the influence of my mother. With her, I saw “Le festin de Babette” (note: “Babettes gaestebud”… I don’t know the title in English…it’s a Danish movie), "Manon des sources" and "Jean de Florette" for example. Quite a few French movies actually, it didn’t bother me to have to read subtitles.

Moondancer I must come out of lurkdom to add my thanks. And compliments! Great job making Elijah sound gratifyingly like himself there.

Though I am shaking my head over this:

And, like Patrick it happens that you’re attracted to and rejected by someone

not because I have the slightest doubt about your translation, but because it's so funny to think (in the context of this thread ;) ) that he could actually say that. :rolleyes:

With her, I saw “Le festin de Babette” (note: “Babettes gaestebud”… I don’t know the title in English…it’s a Danish movie)

Babette's Feast -- one of my all-time favorite movies, it so happens!

Thanks so much for the translation, Moondancer -- much appreciated!

Babette's Feast -- one of my all-time favorite movies, it so happens!


Indeed - a really good day would be a triple bill of Babette's Feast and Big Night and Mostly Martha - and hopefully a large group of people who really like to cook and eat, cause we're staying up and piggin' out!

Ahem. Recolo decorum.

I was fortunate to get ESotSM in the mail yesterday, from buy.com, and I picked up Sean Astin's book on Saturday from my local media publications junkie at Cinema Books. Of course, I read the book on Sunday and watched the movie on Monday, to the detriment of household chores and the job that pays for my obsessions. :rolleyes:

Sean's book is a mystery to me - I'm quite unsure why he published it, unless in the end it was to explain to the world exactly why he made those snarky, cutting comments critisizing PJ's cut of RotK. Actually, if he hadn't written the book, I think those comments would have been forgotten (I'd forgotten them!). But now those remarks, and all the other bad feelings he had about the project, as well as all the other projects he's been involved with, are out there in print. I've read lots of actor autobios, and this is the only one that left me quite conflicted and puzzled, and not really liking the writer. Don't mistake me, I like his *work* as an actor and director, but really, TMI. Maybe there's just not enough EJW!

Definitely too little EJW in ESotSM - but still, I love this movie! It's a wonderful conundrum, it's a warm but tentative love story, many other intriguing things go on in the background to the main story that are also fascinating - and it's got the same kind of soundtrack as Bumblebee, I swear! (Not the same music people, I checked, but it's similar.) I'm a sucker for stories about memory loss, and this one is about people *choosing*to lose memories. EJW gets to talk a little about the filming, as one of the actors holding forth on the feature 'A Look Inside ESotSM'. As usual, he is articulate and intelligent, and very sweet. And so not Frodo or any other character he's played.

All the actors, and the director especially, mention the improvisations that took place in many scenes - apparently Kirsten Dunst was quite uncomfortable with it, but EJW really enjoyed it this time (quite a contrast to Black & White). Improv is something you usually hit in acting classes, not a major motion picture that expects distribution. But this particular group was very professional, really had a good time 'living on the edge', and the author wasn't too put out (altho I think in his commentary you can pick up that he's not altogether happy with the adlibs the director encouraged.)

And thank you, Moondancer, for those exquisite translations! :)

chattegrise

ETA - what am I doing wrong with the smilies???? I drag them into the post, and they don't work!
ETA 2 - thank you Narya! smilies fixed! :o :o

ETA - what am I doing wrong with the smilies???? I drag them into the post, and they don't work!

Chattegrise, no need to drag them. Just click on them once, and they will appear in your post . :)

Moondancer, thanks so much for that translation!! :k

Indeed - a really good day would be a triple bill of Babette's Feast and Big Night and Mostly Martha - and hopefully a large group of people who really like to cook and eat, cause we're staying up and piggin' out!

And Tampopo for afters -- I'll bake the cheesecake ;) And can't forget Eat, Drink, Man, Woman

Whatever happened to the movie called "Mort the Dead Teenager?" is Elijah still doing this comicbook character, or is this what kevin of "Sin City" is for? :confused:

It seems to have disappeared from the Radar. :eek:

According to an article I found (from July of this year), "Mort" is officially a dead project (pardon the pun) and no longer in production. It was only rumored that Elijah would star in it (another possible star was going to be Jessica Simpson -- gulp) -- I don't think that was ever confirmed.

Hope someone knows the answer to this as I've been trying to guess what the answer might be:

At the end of filming LOTR each member of the principle cast was given a remembrance tape set to a song...each tape and song was different...IIRC Fran and Peter gave them as gifts. Liv Tyler was discussing this on.. I believe The Tonight Show...she said hers was a tape set to Bonnie Tyler's...Total Eclipse of the Heart....does anyone know what Elijah's was set to?
I think it may have been part of the blooper reel everyone's been talking about....If I were Peter and Fran I think I would choose to set Elijah's to Olivia Newton John's "I Honestly Love You"...as I think it would be a fun choice....given the corny lyrics... set to bloopers.
I guess I really do have too much time on my hands to be speculating over this :D
Anyway....someone out there must know the answer :rolleyes:

BTW.....I am pulling my original statement posted an hour ago....because I truly am an old person with a poor memory...I incorrectly thought Deep Impact CE had a new cover...I thought the original video did not have our dear Lij on it's cover....but those with better recall have enlightened me. I bow to their(ok Achila's !!!) better memory!!! I am not worthy!!!!




Grumpy...Happy Belated Birthday
Moondancer....400 posts....congrats and thanks for the translations you've done....can never get enough of those interviews :k

Hallo ladies!!

Just pop in too eas my pain!! :(

I saw a show with Oprah Winfrey about child actors,
i can´t belive that it is mothers and fathers out there who push there own
kids like that!!! :confused:
And i was thinking about how lucky Elijah was and are that his
mother is the person she siems to be!! :rolleyes:
I don`t know if you know what show i am speaking about but they were
talking about something they called Bravo and a book a psyckdoktor
have been written Alvin something!!
I just thought it was horrible to see those kids crying and diden`t whant
to do this stuff!
And i was thinking about our lovley Mr.Wood!!! :)
He alwayes seams to be so happy and realy enjoy what his doing!!!
Anyway i bow infront of Debbie Wood!!!! :k

love/wood

Amazon.com works in mysterious ways. My copy of Sean's book is now in the mail to me, despite the fact that it's not officially due out until October 14th. But ESOTSM, which was out on Tuesday 9/28 has not been shipped yet, thus delaying my reciept of my copy of "The War" on DVD! We need a little smilie icon that drums its four fingers!

December 14 seems soooo far away. Let alone August 2005! *le sigh*

Gosh, I miss everyone! It's got so quiet around here! Makes me wish I could really write; I'd probably do an update of "Harvey" first, then maybe "Portrait of Dorian Grey." Add those to your pile of scripts, Elijah! :p

Ylla and Achila, won't you two come regale us with tales of your Lij Film Fest? Pretty, pretty please? :k :k

OK, I'll just tell you all about Eskimo Pies, while we're waiting. My husband and daughter both pick all the chocolate off, then eat the vanilla ice-cream. (They do the same thing with their chocolate croissants, and my daughter even goes so far as to disect her's and eat the chocolate out of the middle before finally eating the pastry! :eek: ) Which is totally non-sensical IMHO! The Whole Point is the contrast between the lucious dark chocolate, and the lovely sweet vanilla ice-cream!

And since I mourning the MIA status of things which delight me (ejw) (my faculty sisters) Why can't I find Haagen Das Dark Chocolate/Vanilla ice cream bars anymore? Was I the only one who appreciated the delectable way those two components set each other off perfectly? (Sorry, but a Dove Bar is no comparison!)

Honey!

I'm so waiting for an e-mail from Amazon.co.uk.
Sean's book and ESOTSM!
I'm a bit apprehensive about reading Sean's book because I've seen mixed reactions from readers. I'm just going to try and not let myself be influenced by all that and enjoy this book.

There are some ESOTSM screencaps on "The Site You Can't Link To".
By the way, that site is going to disappear and the site-owner is going to create two new sites. One is already up and is about Dominic Monaghan (but I haven't checked it out yet...The Dom fans are squeeing over Lost, I can't watch that show anyway so the whole thing passes me by a bit) and the other one is about Elijah.
I've added two screencaps in attachment.

Honey,
If I could write, I would write him an amazing new script.
Harvey would be fantastic but I'd like to see him do new things too.
I hope he's reading and discovering great scripts as we speak.

Ylla and Achila, won't you two come regale us with tales of your Lij Film Fest? Pretty, pretty please?
Yes please.
Ylla? Achila?



Wood,
I can't watch Oprah Winfrey but I can imagine how sad that program must have been. You see so many sad stories about child actors, don't you?
Most of these kids have been under too much pressure, living out somebody else's dream (dream of mother and/or father,...).
Elijah is one of the very few to come out without too many scars as far as we know. He must have had his bad experiences and maybe some things happened that we don't know about but in general, his mother can be proud of him (er...I'm sounding a bit too much like an aunt there :rolleyes: ;) ).


One more thing about the Ciné Live interview.
Apparently, Elijah gave that interview during the promotion for ESOTSM in the beginning of this year (february?).
Might be interesting for some of the things he seems to have said in that interview.

One more thing about the Ciné Live interview.
Apparently, Elijah gave that interview that during the promotion for ESOTSM in the beginning of this year (february?).
Might be interesting for some of the things he seems to have said in that interview.


I was under the impression it was a month or so ago, since Elijah supposedly went to Nice after the Prague shoot ended (and before going to Galway).

Ylla and I had a lovely time during our weekend together. We watched 3 videotapes worth of Lij interviews from the ROTK/ESOTSM junkets, Homicide, and All I Want (for research purposes, OF COURSE).

Hi Everyone, I am new here, and just trying to get to grips with how it all works.

I just finished reading Sean's book, and I found myself not liking him too much at the beginning, but I enjoyed the read, and found by the end I understood where he was coming from. I think that having been brought up to believe he can achieve anything he wants, he perhaps takes himself a little too seriously, and finds it difficult when others don't show him the respect he thinks is due to him. A book I am enjoying much more is the one I ordered at the same time, so I wouldn't have to pay postage to Amazon. It is by Andy Serkis, supposedly about how they created Gollum. There is so much more in it than I expected though, and since he spent so much time with Sean and Elijah, he often gives the other side to stories Sean is telling in his book.

With regard to the child actor thing on Oprah, I would love to be able to chat to Elijah about his experiences as a child actor from a psychological perspective. How aware was he of the adult themes running through the films? Did they ultimately have and effect on him? All those kind of questions.

I only 'found' EJW in January this year, and since then I have collected nearly everything he was in. The only film I couldn't get on with was Black and White, and my favourites have to be Bumblebee Flies Anyway and Radio Flyer

Hopefully I did this right, and will be able to contribute better as I get to know you all.

I was under the impression it was a month or so ago, since Elijah supposedly went to Nice after the Prague shoot ended (and before going to Galway).

The 'early this year' time of the interview, was something I found on some message board (can't remember which)

But, I think you're right, Achila.

I went back to the scan to see if I overlooked a date.
There's a tiny bit about Everything Is Illuminated I haven't translated and that gives a clue about the time of the interview.
"Elijah Wood, qui vient de terminer le tournage..."
So, this was done right after the end of the filming of EII.
(edit: this doesn't proof anything not that this is important...the interview could have been done in february but the bit about EII could be written more recently - it's not part of the interview)

By the way, that little EII snippit also mentions that a certain Boris Leskin is playing the grandfather of Alex. (I've seen Undone mention this on her LiveJournal but she wasn't sure about it)


Hey, Skatergir!!

Glad to see you posting here! :)
So, you 'found' EJW in January?
How so? What made you 'find' him? What was it exactly?
I don't want to be nosy but I love stuff like this.

Welcome skater girl!!!! :k :k

I`m like Moondancer, want too know what makes
Elijah so speciell to you?? :k

I hope will like it in here as much as i do
they are very very nice in here!
They have become my new family!!

love/wood

How did I 'find' Elijah? Quite by accident, like all the best things in my life. I wasn't a film lover or cinema goer and my husband had seen the first 2 parts of LOTR alone. He had the books along with other fantasy stuff, and I just stupidly dismissed it all as 'not my thing'. Then I was persuaded to go to the cinema to see Love Actually. A conversation with friends at work the next day went along the lines of:
Them 'Which part does Alan Rickman play?'
Me 'I don't know? - who is Alan Rickman?'
Them 'Oh come on, you must have seen him in Truly, Madly, Deeply, and Die Hard and ...and ...and...'

I was embarrased at my ignorance, got a list of his films off IMDB and proceeded to work my way through them. I found I enjoyed films I had never thought of watching, so when I was offered a video of FOTR to watch, I decided to give it a go. I was hooked almost immediately and rather blown away by the good looks of Legolas and the sheer presence of Strider, but it was Frodo who got to my heart. He looked and sounded so pure, and I found myself caring so much about his plight and fate (I loved his accentless English and got quite a shock when we rented the extended DVD of Two Towers and I first heard his normal American accent). Before I saw TT though I had wanted to see what this actor looked like out of costume. The picture on IMDB at that time wasn't terribly flattering (it was when he had really short hair) and my Elijah connection could have stopped there. However, I spotted that he was in a film on german TV that night - Forever Young, so I watched it. He was so, so cute, and I decided to repeat the Alan Rickman thing with him. I got the list off IMDB, and the more films and interviews I saw, the more I realised how special he is. Not only is he a good actor, not only does he have those beautiful expressive eyes, he seems to be such a natural, nice person as well.

Looks wise, Elijah is exactly the type of boy I chased after when I was 16, and character wise he seems to have many of the qualities that attracted me to both my husband and my ex-husband. I like him best when he is not trying to look 'hot' and 'sexy', and I feel disappointed when I see him looking drunk at parties with girls fawning over him. Maybe I have misread him, but it just seems to contradict what you hear about him from others, and the message he unconciously gives out. I think he will make someone a great partner, and I hope he finds her sooner rather than later.

I am really looking forward to seeing how his career moves forward. If EII is done well and takes the right bits of the book on, it could be really funny. I can totally see him as Jonathan, and hopefully it will give him the vehicle he needs to get more good lead roles.

Think I have said enough now, plus i am supposed to be studying!

...Before I saw TT though I had wanted to see what this actor looked like out of costume. ...
:::: not touching this one with a 10-foot pole :::: :D :D

I like him best when he is not trying to look 'hot' and 'sexy',
Just part of the whole versatility thing. Thinking back, I don't recall him looking "hot and sexy" except in photo shoot pictures, though I may be wrong.


and I feel disappointed when I see him looking drunk at parties with girls fawning over him. Maybe I have misread him, but it just seems to contradict what you hear about him from others, and the message he unconciously gives out. Have you considered that maybe he needs to get plastered to put up with girls fawning over him in that way? :eek: Seriously, I suspect that he likes to party, and in his circle of friends that apparently means liberal consumption of spirits. His antics when - um - libationally-challenged are legendary. From what he's said, he has a very realistic view of the meaning of and reason for the attention given to him by said fawning girls, takes it with good humor and a very large saltshaker, and then goes off and lives his life as much out of public view as he can. Good head on his shoulders, has The Lad. Frodo may have been pure as the driven snow, but The One Lad seems to be a normal, healthy, hormonally-charged post-adolescent American kid with a reputation for playing as hard as he works, and a vocabulary that would make a longshoreman blush.

I am really looking forward to seeing how his career moves forward. If EII is done well and takes the right bits of the book on, it could be really funny. I can totally see him as Jonathan, and hopefully it will give him the vehicle he needs to get more good lead roles. I agree. I have great hopes for EII.

Think I have said enough now, plus i am supposed to be studying! :eek: Like my mom always said: "If you're having fun, you're not studying!" ;)

~grumpy (Moo-lahs?)("Mext Missages?")(new-cu-lar?)(Oy, vey)

Hallo !!!

Wise words as alwayes grumpy!!
I must edmit that i am personaly more looking forward
too the yank and sin city but that is me!!!

And for the se this actor with out costume
Who wouldent do that??? :p :D :rolleyes:
Sorry ladies couldent help it!!!!! :z:

love/wood

I like him best when he is not trying to look 'hot' and 'sexy', and I feel disappointed when I see him looking drunk at parties with girls fawning over him. Maybe I have misread him, but it just seems to contradict what you hear about him from others, and the message he unconciously gives out.

Welcome to The Faculty, Skater girl!

As a fellow Aquarian, I can tell you that we keep ourselves pretty tightly laced in. And when we let our hair down...well, there can be interesting results. Keep in mind that Elijah never really partied much before and didn't go out a lot. And I'm sure the "girls fawning over him" is not exactly an unpleasant development.

As Grumpy said, he's being a pretty normal 23 year-old man, indulging (and perhaps overindulging) when he feels like it. I don't find this counter to anything I know about him tho. He enjoys people and experiences but seems to draw the line very firmly at the limits of his comfort.

Welcome Skater Girl....you have absolutely come to the right place...and much like the rest of us... :D your journey over her will be one of the best parts of life.

Achila and I had a great time....lots of laughter...and "research" as she told you :eek:
So nice to share a lovely guy....absolutely no swooning was done :o
So glad I don't have to go to "confession" any more....as a non practicing Catholic girl :z:

Honey sent us some wonderful items to make our film fest more complete
Warm funky socks to view Ice Storm...HobNobs.....incredible cookies....of course calories removed first...and geeky Lij keychains :D
Honey Thank You so much :k

Just got my copy of Eternal Sunshine....wish Patrick's character had been expanded...would have loved to see the background of that poor insecure young man....a great character.. I can totally see why EW wanted a role in that film....I hope Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet will be remembered Oscar time :k

Also loved Homicide...WOW is he ever good when he's bad...something about an attractive young man who is evil is so interesting....wait till Sin City....that is going to be chilling

I agree with the assessments and observations posted by Grumpy and Achila re: Elijah's off screen image
I think it is both balanced and appropriate...very normal behaviors in a 23 yr old...I like the fact he is not always perfect...makes him more mentally balanced and healthy...everyone needs to "cut loose" a little...I'm sure that it a stress buster for him.

I've been known to "cut loose" every once in awhile...and I'm a few years older than 23 .....only a few years mind you ;)

I haven't figured how to add in quotes yet, so in anwer to the last few replies.

I meant the photo shoots, and I don't think he does look hot and sexy in them, just exactly as I phrased it- he or someone else is trying to make him look that way, and somehow he just looks kind of mean and lacking in the very sparkle that draws many people in. Hot and sexy should be left to the Johnny Depps of this world.

I am sure he does enjoy partying and girls - all power to him. What disappoints me is that he gets pictured doing it, and I and the rest of the world therefore get to see it. From the shots I have seen, he isn't that attractive when drunk, and especially when there are girls fawning around him he just ends up looking a bit silly.

I haven't figured how to add in quotes yet

Hi Skater girl! Welcome. I'm relatively new myself and it took me forever to figure it out. In fact, quotes are still challenging. I have to switch from guided mode to enhanced mode for the quotes to work... And pictures!!! Haven't even attempted that yet.

From the shots I have seen, he isn't that attractive when drunk, and especially when there are girls fawning around him he just ends up looking a bit silly.

I'll agree with you on this one. Especially when the "girls" are actually women the same age as myself. I respect The One Lad and I think he is gorgeous but I'll leave the public swooning to girls more appropriate for his age. And there's the cigarette in the hand or mouth or being lit for him by the "girls". I just quickly pass by them pictures and take my time with the rest :D

TORn has posted the first chapter of Sean's book for everyone to read. Sean tends to go from one subject to another pretty quickly. I hope the rest of the book isn't all like that. I noticed he would say he knew he wanted to be a "movie star". I've always admired Elijah for saying that a "star" was in the sky and he was an "actor" who enjoyed his work and worked hard at it.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone... :)

(Haven’t been on here lately – limited time, and nothing to say; but had to respond to honeyelf’s comment)

And since I mourning the MIA status of things which delight me (ejw) (my faculty sisters) Why can't I find Haagen Das Dark Chocolate/Vanilla ice cream bars anymore? Was I the only one who appreciated the delectable way those two components set each other off perfectly? (Sorry, but a Dove Bar is no comparison!)
Haagen Das Dark Chocolate/Vanilla ice cream bars are definitely the top of the line, and far superior to Dove Bars. Last time I looked, they were still in my local grocery, here in Pennsylvania. (I try not to look too hard because I can just feel my arteries clogging whenever I eat one.)

On the EJW front, I got ESOTSM on Tuesday but haven’t had a chance to look at it yet. However, last weekend I DID finally get to see Avalon. (I know it seems to have been on cable almost permanently for the past month or so, but I don’t have cable.) Anyway, what a lovely film! I come from a very small, very WASP, very emotionally buttoned-up, geographically scattered family, so I always enjoy books and movies that feature big, close, outgoing families.

Of course, Elijah was bewitching as usual. He didn’t do much in the way of “flirting” (what TG calls working those eyes); maybe he picked that up somewhere between this one and Huck Finn. I liked his little tap dance in the school hall. And the portrayal of his relationship with his grandfather was beautiful. (I thought Armin Mueller-Stahl was especially good.)

Elijah and Aidan Quinn made a pretty good father/son team, physically, at least as far as eyes were concerned. And it was interesting to see what the film makers thought a grownup Michael would look like: still with a rather soft, rounded face, rather than the more angular features that Elijah has developed.

Welcome, Skater girl. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it here – lots of discussion and information and wonderful pictures to feed your EJW hunger.

.I'll agree with you on this one. Especially when the "girls" are actually women the same age as myself. I respect The One Lad and I think he is gorgeous but I'll leave the public swooning to girls more appropriate for his age.

Word. This' a guy who wanted to kiss Katarina Witt (who is 38). Nuff said! :lol: :p And heck, if 40 year old men can date 20 year old women and no one bats an eye, why not 20 year old men with 40 year old women?? Sounds about right to me! ;)

Agree with you Achila!!!!

Age has nothing to do with love,or!! :) :rolleyes:

love/wood

EDIT: Well for some of us maybe it isen`t love
in that mening but you all know by now what my feelings
are for this man!!!
And i am not afraid of edmit that!!
Not when i am here with friends!!

Welcome, Skater Girl! :k and I feel disappointed when I see him looking drunk at parties
I'll have to agree with you on this one. When I think of all the promising careers and lives cut short by alchohol, I can't help but cringe a little at the drinking-to-drunkeness.

Ylla and Achila, you're welcome for the goodies. It was fun coming up with stuff for your little Lij-fest.
So glad I don't have to go to "confession" any more....as a non practicing Catholic girl
Ah! Then you had fun! :D
So nice to share a lovely guy....absolutely no swooning was done
OH, I get it! You mean confession for ...erm...bending the truth! ;) :p

My copy of Sean's book seems to be doing a little tour of the country without me. When I checked tracking on it this morning it was a within a half hour of my house. When I checked again this afternoon, having come home and found it not here yet, it had got itself three hours away! :rolleyes: Sometimes I think modern technology is as much bane as boon! Before I would have just waited patiently. Now I can obsess remotely, by modem! ;)

Pelagia, so glad you got to see "Avalon!" I just love that little dance in the hall! As well as the scene that proceeds it! "But CAN I go to the bathroom!" tooo cute!

Honey! whohasneverevereverbeengoodatwaitingforanythingandwhoadmitsalongwithwoodtobeingjustateenytinybitinlovewithourdarlingfoolthatsheis

Will Kevin in "Sin City" be like watching "Empire of the Sun" and then "American Psycho" and saying, "What's my little brother (Christian Bale) doing!?" :eek: (Kevin is the grown up version of McPheeters in "Homocide.")

I heard that the reason Franka Potente got so much critism for dating Elijah is because the age difference wasn't Joan Collins and whoever she's with now, and didn't have her kind of money just yet. this called Ageism and Women are a victims of it. :mad: (Source: "Parade" magazine)

. Elijah is so cute! (But I must confess that I have major difficulty with Delta Burke. Her acting style is quite the opposite to the fluently multiple expressions we know from our Elwood... her sledgehammer acting isn't my cup of tea at all, I'm afraid.) !


We're really going through a dry spell here, aren't we.
It's very quiet here.


So, I saw Day-O, the version dubbed in German.
- Delta Burke: first of all, I hate all the tons of make-up she wears - even when she's in bed! I have no idea what sort of face is hiding behind all those layers but I bet that I prefer her natural face.
Whiteling, you're right...her acting style is far from subtle. :eek:
- Her husband is played by that guy from The Nanny. His character is really underdevelopped in the script so the actor doesn't have much to play with.

But...

Elijah Wood is so cute in this! :) I missed listening to his voice but the german dubbing isn't that bad.
Day-O is a very playful character but also a wise one so...it was a perfect little role for little Elijah.



About the pictures with the older woman and with the cigarettes and alcohol.
I hate cigarettes so I don't like those pictures.
The pictures where he is seen as 'drunk'. I don't know how you can tell he's drunk. Granted, he looks a bit 'goofy' in them and he's probably had some alcohol but drunk?
I don't mind him drinking. He's a young guy. I hate the feeling of getting drunk myself because it makes me feel depressed and very angry and nasty (some people see the lighter side of them when they're drunk and they start to giggle and stuff like that...I see the dark side of me when I'm drunk). Needless to say that I avoid it.
A good party now and then with maybe a couple of drinks too much is not big deal to me as long as you don't make a habit out of it.
I heard somebody say "if you can actually remember the party, then that's a sign that you didn't have a good time". That's odd to me. So, you need to get plastered to have a great time?
/rant


Just to finish this post on a positive note. Here's another good drawing from "Zindy Stine Desirée Nielsen". The site of the artist is on the picture.
Edit: the site does not allow hotlinking so if you want to see the drawing you're going to have to click on the link. (Just look for drawings and 'stars')
http://zindy.zone.dk/ (http://zindy.zone.dk)

Moondancer; i totally agree with you
it`s very queit in here!!! :(

I realy miss you girls!! :rolleyes:
and all your wise words and thoughts :(

Realy there must bee some news somewere
but were??? :confused:

love/wood

Want to see an interview with a very young Elijah?
It's from 1990 and he talks about acting and his plans for the future.

Be warned....it's cute!




Here's the link:
http://et.tv.yahoo.com/celebrities/firsttime/


Just to give credit to the person who found this: Kindling (LJ)

Want to see an interview with a very young Elijah?
It's from 1990 and he talks about acting and his plans for the future.
Be warned....it's cute!


Oh dear, what a cutie he was! Thanks so much for posting this little gem, Moondancer :) ! (And another thank you for the drawing link)


So, I saw Day-O, the version dubbed in German.
- Delta Burke: first of all, I hate all the tons of make-up she wears - even when she's in bed! I have no idea what sort of face is hiding behind all those layers but I bet that I prefer her natural face.

Yes, it's almost painful to watch, isn't it? :rolleyes: But I think this piled-on make-up actually serves her character.


Btw, my fellow countrymen/women showed tastefulness! 250,000 German readers had been asked for their favourite book and on Friday the result of this poll was revealed - and guess what??! It's "The Lord Of The Rings"! :cool: :) It ranks first before the Bible! For anyone who's interested, here's a link to the tv channel that aired the event:
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/11/0,1872,2130667,00.html


And last but not least - Hello and welcome, Skater girl :) !

whiteling wrote:

Btw, my fellow countrymen/women showed tastefulness! 250,000 German readers had been asked for their favourite book and on Friday the result of this poll was revealed - and guess what??! It's "The Lord Of The Rings"! It ranks first before the Bible!
That will no doubt have the some people in a tizzy – including the so-called “serious” literary critics, who always seem to get upset when LotR turns up high on any list of favorite or most re-read or whatever books. To me, results like these just show that the “serious” critics are obviously missing something.

Watched Eternal Sunshine yesterday – not carefully (no zooming or pausing on Patrick –yet!). I just wanted to get a refresher overview. When I saw it in the theater this past spring (??), I had gotten over my long-held view of Elijah as “the little creep who was in that Homicide episode,” but had not yet reached the “Mmmmm, Elijah” stage; so I didn’t pay too much attention to Patrick. He is certainly the nerdiest character I have ever seen EJW play. Casey at least had a life! Patrick is so gormless that when he gives Clementine the little present and she asks him what it is, he says, “I don’t know.”

Obviously, I intend to go back and scrutinize his scenes in more rigorous Faculty-Lounge style.

In the scene where he puts on the gag glasses with eyeballs on springs, do you think that’s meant to be a kind of in-joke, alluding to all the times that EJW has been described as “bug-eyed,” “pop-eyed,” etc.?

BTW, honeyelf: I did find Haagen Daz Dark Chocolate/Vanilla ice cream bars in the supermarket yesterday. So they’re still being made.

From Whiteling:
It's "The Lord Of The Rings"! It ranks first before the Bible!

From Pelagia:
That will no doubt have the some people in a tizzy – including the so-called “serious” literary critics,

I'm certainly not a literary critic (Heaven forfend :D) but I'm probably the only poster around here who doesn't like LotR all that much. Thus I feel obliged :) to report that I'm neither surprised nor annoyed by this poll.

To me, results like these just show that the “serious” critics are obviously missing something.

It may not be that simple. For instance, McDonald's and other fast food chains are more popular than usual restaurants. Can we conclude that people who don't like hamburgers are obviously missing something? :haha:

ohhh--it is quiet in here. Maybe I can get away with a very non-serious post.

Random posted in the Hugs Haven that Elijah came in #43 in the Empire Magazine's poll of the !00 sexiest movie stars.

Alright Elijah!! :)

http://bagendinn.com/elijah/images/posed/06806095.jpg

Oh, ALYON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You're KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is my absolute favourite of all Elijah-as-Elijah photos, but the only copy I have had is small and a bit blurry. Oh thank you thank you thank you! I know, someone is going to knock me silly for swooning on The Faculty thread, but I just can't RESTRAIN MYSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's ravishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very happy to oblige, Mechtild!! :D


And...I just took one of my periodic visits over to the Harem to see what's up, and oh my goodness!! A lot is. All that Frolijah examination of beauty and character and just oh why we are all so keen on that lad as Frodo. It's a very mixed Faculty/Harem type of discussion--with various regular Faculty posters chiming in. Mechtild, I love what you have to say. Which is a lot, and too much for me to encapsulate over here--but I encourage people to go take a look. We've done the statue comparisons over here, and have fallen into very like discussions...but you do bring very many original things to say.

Maybe that's why it's slow in here at the moment---a pretty Faculty-like discussion is going on over there...with some good swooning to add to the mix!! ;)
Very nice!! :cool:

Welcome Skater Girl!!!

That was such a great photoshoot, Alyon!


I saw a recent review about The Ice Storm, written on sept. 28, 2004.
Maybe this is going to sound overprotective over the movie I like so much but I think that this reviewer kind of missed the point of the movie a bit.
I don't think that it's a perfect movie, but I do love it.
Cinematography also works against the film - at times it is
very hard to set two characters - like Paul and Mikey - apart and the
audience might get confused
Paul = Tobey Maguire
Mikey = Elijah Wood
:rolleyes:
Another one who mixes the two up but if you pay attention, it can't be hard to distinguish Paul from Mikey. I mean, they're two very different characters.
Did any of you have trouble setting the two apart?

It is clear what Lee and Schamus want to tell with THE ICE STORM,
but their way of conveying this message leaves much to be desired.
Lee seems to be more interested in style than substance. For example,
bleakness of 1970s is matched with the grey tones of Frederick Elmes'
cinematography.
Well, if you're used to movies were everything is very clearly explained and you don't have to think for yourself...I understand that you would have problems with The Ice Storm

I'm sounding a bit too condescending there perhaps but this sort of comment annoys me a bit. Why do so many people need everything explained with words for them to enjoy the movie? What's wrong with symbolism? What's wrong with letting the images and the cinematography do the talking and leaving some freedom of interpretation for the viewer. Why explain every detail? So what if not everybody understands everything you wanted to say?

The ending, despite its seemingly melodramatic potential, is un-cathartic and many viewers are going to think of THE ICE STORM as pointless as its characters. Tobey Maguire in his role provides some humour, but this isn't enough to improve general impression of the film. Quarter of century ago
Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER dealt with the same issues more
successfully.

I can't even begin to explain why this annoys me.
Tobey Maguire provides humour but not enough? :rolleyes: This wasn't exactly a comedy. Go watch Dumn and Dumner if that's more your style.
The ending of the movie was not a typical Hollywood movie ending. No. They usually require a clear ending with some positivity in it. If there's a message in the movie, than the audience must be treated like toddlers and you need to explain it to them very clearly what they need to remember from the movie. :rolleyes:

I hate the fact that many, many commercial movies underestimate people's intelligence.
OK, I like an easy movie too. A movie that allows you to switch off your brain and lets you just enjoy the movie.
I also like movies that has more than one layer and requires me to use my own imagination a bit,...


EDIT: Mechtild added a similar comment in the Frodo's Harem thread, I see.
They're having a great conversation over there. :)
(from the Harem)
from Magpie, TORC:
My problem with the Osgiliath scene apart from the poor editing and lack of Faramir in the latter half, isn’t Frodo being too "whiny", or Sam being too "bossy", because they aren't. My problem is the fact that the wonder and beauty and magic are interrupted and diminished in order for the film to use the wonderful characters Frodo and Sam to step out of the story for one moment, to stop up and tell me what I have been seeing, to interpret my emotions for me. (...) It’s unnecessary. It breaks the magic. It undermines the film's belief in its own ability to convey its story and message.

I underscored your last sentence to add: it undermines the filmmakers' belief in our abililty to perceive and respond to their story and its message. We were on board, Pete, Phillipa and Fran, honestly, without that! I, too, thought it reeked of "Tomorrow IS another day!" But hats off to poor old Sean for managing to do with it what he did. It could have been worse, much worse. It's just a shame it was in there like that at all.

I haven't seen Taxi Driver (one of the few who hasn't, I think) so I can't comment on that.
Is that one reason why we get so many movies where the makers have the tendency to spell it all out? Because of critics like this?


THE ICE STORM (1997)

A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004

In 1990s most Hollywood films dealing with 1970s painted that
particular period of history with great deal of nostalgia. This is quite
understandable, because people - especially those that aren't young
any more - tend to see the past through rosy glasses. Very few
filmmakers dared to go against the current and remind the modern
audience why 1970s used to be called "Years of Lead". One of such
films was THE ICE STORM, 1973 drama directed by Ang Lee.

The plot, based on the novel by Rick Moody, is set in small
Connecticut town during Thanksgiving 1973. While Richard Nixon's
administration is struggling with escalating Watergate scandal, two
families are faced with more prosaic but equally unpleasant
problems. Ben Hood (played by Kevin Kline) is father of family who,
despite marriage counselling, can't seem to connect with his wife
Elen (played by Joan Allen) any more. Elen tries to seek comfort in
self-help books, pill-popping and shoplifting. While Ben seeks solace
in the arms of his neighbour Janey Carver (played by Sigourney
Weaver), Ben's 16-year old son Paul (played by Tobey Maguire),
student of posh New York boarding school, tries to have sex with
rich girl Libbets (played by Katie Holmes) with the little help of
mother's pills. His two year old younger sister Wendy (played by
Cristina Ricci) is sexually experimenting with two of Carver's boys -
Mikey (played by Elijah Wood) and Sandy (played by Adam Hann-
Byrd). The lives of two families are going to be changed with the
arrival of ice storm.

Ang Lee and his screenwriter James Schamus see 1970s as very bleak,
but also fascinating period of history. Social, cultural and political
turmoil of 1960s was replaced with disillusionment, depression,
nihilism and mostly unsuccessful attempt to replace old values with
new ones. In the film middle and upper classes - the very
embodiment of American social establishment -are adopting or
trying to adopt ideas and values of 1960s anti-establishment rebels.
Hoods and Carvers engage in sex, drugs and other "hip" forms of
hedonism while trying to find some ideological justification for their
straying from the old "square" way of life. They also attempt to find
some common ground with their children and evade generational
conflict that plagued their own parents. But the children are actually
more perceptive - for them 1960s didn't bring any kind of brave new
world. Instead, collapse of old order left them without any moral
anchor; the only common thing that they have with their parents is
inability to adapt to new circumstances. Any attempt to bridge
generational gaps only leads to more misunderstanding and tragedy.

It is clear what Lee and Schamus want to tell with THE ICE STORM,
but their way of conveying this message leaves much to be desired.
Lee seems to be more interested in style than substance. For example,
bleakness of 1970s is matched with the grey tones of Frederick Elmes'
cinematography. Lee also tries to underline the sense of doom and
despair with the long shots of the locations that surround unhappy
protagonists of this film. Because of that, THE ICE STORM is
overlong. Cinematography also works against the film - at times it is
very hard to set two characters - like Paul and Mikey - apart and the
audience might get confused. The otherwise dependable actors like
Kline, Weaver and Allen often try too hard to make their characters
as dislikeable as possible and, in the process, make this film even less
pleasant for the audience. The ending, despite its seemingly
melodramatic potential, is un-cathartic and many viewers are going
to think of THE ICE STORM as pointless as its characters. Tobey
Maguire in his role provides some humour, but this isn't enough to
improve general impression of the film. Quarter of century ago
Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER dealt with the same issues more
successfully.

RATING: 4/10 (+)

Review written on September 28th 2004

Moondancer, it's good to see you on your soap box about The Ice Storm, one of my favourite "brown" films. (In mood, not so much in colour; Remains of the Day is my other favourite "brown film" and perhaps one of my top five films ever; but friends have watched it with me and sighed, "How can you like this? Nothing happens in it! And the ending stinks!")

But I wanted to point out, that the quote you quoted above:

My problem with the Osgiliath scene apart from the poor editing and lack of Faramir in the latter half, isn’t Frodo being too "whiny", or Sam being too "bossy", because they aren't. My problem is the fact that the wonder and beauty and magic are interrupted and diminished in order for the film to use the wonderful characters Frodo and Sam to step out of the story for one moment, to stop up and tell me what I have been seeing, to interpret my emotions for me. (...) It’s unnecessary. It breaks the magic. It undermines the film's belief in its own ability to convey its story and message.

...should not have been credited to Magpie, but to MAEGLIAN, whose conclusion this is from her 1-11-03 post in The Faculty, which she linked for us over in The Harem. It is an excellent post, if you want to read it. I myself never saw it before, since I didn't get here till this summer. (Magpie's quote was the one about Frodo upon the parapet in Osgiliath, standing before the Nazgul.) I will go back over there and fix that error at once!

Moondancer, i so agree with you!!!
What fun is it to watch a movie if you don`t need to think?
Sometimes ,yeas it can be fun,but i do like movies when you have to use the brain!!

And i have no problems to see the diffrent betwen Elijah and Toby!!!!!
I have no idear how people can mix this to up!!!!!

And i too realy like The Icestorm it is one of my favorites with Elijah!!!

Very nice photo Alyon!!!

Love you/wood

Ice Storm was only the 2nd role I saw elijah in after LOTR, the first being Forever Young when he was still quite young. And I have to say, I did actually spend the first few minutes wondering if Tobey Maguire's character was Elijah, and thinking how he didn't look quite as nice as I had imagined he would. Once Elijah did come on screen though, there was no way you could mistake them or their characters for each other. That reviewer doesn't deserve to be in his/her job.

I didn't really enjoy the film on the first run through, as I didn't really like the 70s, I didn't 'get' the film and it seemed to meander along without a real purpose. Having seen it now 4 times I really like and enjoy it and can relate to all the characters, and after seeing Elijah in so many other roles, I can also appreciate how well he acts against type in it.

Some films just need watching more than once, and I think ESOTSM is also one of those. It was a hard work film first time round, and I felt exhausted by the end, as if I had gone through Jim Carrey's experience with him. The only other people in the cinema at the time gave up and walked out half way through. Hopefully this time when I get the DVD, I can relax and enjoy and replay Elijah's performance with a critical eye..

Thanks for the link to that interview Moondancer. He was such a cutie, and so confident. I was really impressed by his self confidence in that interview a while back where he was promoting Paradise and doing karate moves, where the interviewer asks him to do a Promo, and he says 'What's that? and then OK! and just does it, with no qualms at all. A real little Pro.

Please will someone tell me how to add bits of others people's messages as quotes into my own. I looked at the FAQs and couldn't see anything.

Moondancer, excellent (and passionate) defense of The Ice Storm. And I agree with Skater girl, that any reviewer who can’t tell the difference between Paul and Mikey should probably find another line of work.

Alyon: LOVELY picture. He's got that vulnerable look that just kills me. (end of brief swoon)

In the meantime, I had the chance to do the full zoom/pause/slow bit on ESOTSM (on EJW’s parts, at any rate – for starters). Patrick is a very strange character: physically graceless, mostly charmless, and afflicted with an extremely unflattering haircut (not to mention the sideburns and silly little beard). The term “schlemiel” would be highly appropriate here!

Patrick seems to be trying to be “cool” (the beard, the reference to “a little situation with the old lady,” etc.), while sensing that he’s really a loser. He walks around looking permanently worried (some eyebrow acting here), and very uncomfortable in his own skin. The only moment when he shows some charm is in the scene where he gives Clementine the gift and does his sweet-geekboy thing (wide eyes, silly smile) as he watches her open it. Is this the “real” Patrick, under all the awkwardness and goofiness? (On the other hand, he did steal her panties, which is weird.)

Of course, the idea of them as a couple is ludicrous: Clementine would eat him alive!

The interaction between Patrick and Stan is very funny. (Patrick: “It’s sort of weird. My girlfriend situation.” Stan: “I’m sure it is.” ) And I like the way that, after admitting to Stan that he stole a pair of Clementine’s panties, Patrick winces, as even he realizes how creepy that is. EJW also makes good use of that manic cackly giggle of a laugh.

I think the whole cast is very good, and Kate Winslet is outstanding (certainly worthy of an Oscar nomination). I appreciated Jim Carrey’s performance more on a second viewing than I did initially.

I’d love to know what’s going on during one clip that appears in the “Inside Look” bonus feature. It’s on the bookstore set. Elijah is curled up in a swivel chair, looking sort of cute and beguiling (despite haircut etc.), while Carrey is leaning over him and Kate is just cracking up. Wonder what Carrey is saying??

...That reviewer doesn't deserve to be in his/her job.
It always seems unprofessional to me when a reviewer can't review a movie according to the kind of movie it is. If I'm reading a review of a comedy, I want to know if it's funny, but if I'm reading a review of a movie that's meant to be "bleak" (for want of a better word), I want to know how well it carried that off. That's why, even though I dislike (for want of a better word :rolleyes: ) Black and White, I can't bring myself to call it a "bad movie," because I think it does exactly what the moviemakers intended it to do.

Please will someone tell me how to add bits of others people's messages as quotes into my own. I looked at the FAQs and couldn't see anything.
The easiest way for me is to hit the "quote" button at the bottom of the other person's post, and then delete the parts of their post I don't want to quote, and add my comments where I want them. That means that if you quote more than one bit, you have to add some of your own quote tags.

When I want to quote more than one post, I use the "quote" button method on the one I want to use the most material from, then go to the other post(s), highlight what I want to quote, copy it, and paste it into the post I'm writing, then add the quote tags to it. You can back up to other posts to copy bits of them as long as you haven't submitted your own post--you can't do that if you've already submitted your post and go back in to edit. (I have been known to get around this by opening a second browser window :rolleyes: .)

If you hit "quote" at the bottom of this post, you can see the "quote" and "close quote" tags I used on the two separate bits of your post. Those tags are what make a quote--doesn't matter if you copy and paste, use the quote button, or memorize the quote and type it in yourself :p -- use those tags before and after and it'll be a quote. At the beginning of the first quote I used from your post, you'll see how the program adds the name of the person you're quoting--that's something you can add manually, too, if you're quoting more than one person.

Geesh--took longer to explain than it takes to do it, which is true of a lot of simple things. It's really not complicated. (There's also a way to do it with the little buttons at the top of the window you use to write your post, but I've never even tried to figure them out--if that would be easier for you, maybe someone else could explain it.)

----------

Afraid I just haven't had much to say lately--mostly stressed and depressed. There won't be any October site updates besides the one page of caps and the one essay I posted earlier--but I do hope to get Whiteling's "Crack of Doom" drawing up sometime this week.

I'll be at my mom's now for a couple of days, for her birthday--which means, BTW, that it has been two years since this thread started at KD :) .

Oh dear, tg. I am only lurking as usual, and also about to go away for a few days, but I am sorry you're not feeling your usual happy self. I'll be thinking of you and hoping the outlook will improve for you soon.

Sorry that was O/T but I just had to say it.

Me too, Tg. What Flourish said. I had been wondering where you had been. Whatever bothers you I hope will soon pass. Happy birthday to your mom. :k

Hey--do you know what they are talking about in the Harem?? Maybe something to do with why middle aged women like Frolijah so much (yes they've mentioned the E word, even in the Harem :D ). Perhaps (oh can I get away with this for a minute in the Faculty?) because we are old enough to want to be the ravisher and not just be ravished. And what better object (eh hem) of desire that than the strong/vulnerable/ suffering /beautiful/young/ body and soul of frodo as told by elijah. But--it's quite an academic discussion--featuring classical artwork and theories that do disguise the drool...VERY EDIFYING :cool: :D ;).

Skater Girl--I am so not computer saavy. I just use the little "quote" bubble at the top right of this reply box that I am typing in. I click it and copy and paste what I want into that. That is one way to go.

Pelagia--nice comments about Patrick. I tend to feel for him. Lots of times people say kind of inappropriate things thinking it will make them seem cool (in Patricks case talking about the panties). And it seems that they don't feel comfortable with it, but they can't really judge well because they really don't have a clue as to what is cool. I know I'm supposed to be repulsed by him, but he kind of breaks my heart. I think of what kind of lonely boy he was... :confused:

A long time ago I forgot to say Happy Birthday to Grumpy. Many Happy Returns !!!

Best wishes to you, too, Tg! I'm sending positive thoughts your way.

Welcome, Skater girl! It's good to see you here. Cheers!

TG!! Iam so sorry you not feeling well!!
i hope it will go over very quickly! I miss you in here! :(

My thoughts are with you :k
And (risking for swooning) some of Elijahs magic will
make you feel better ! When i feeling, down thinking of
him alwayes makes me feel better!!! :k

Send my happy birthday wishes to you mom!!

Love/wood

Oh i forgott!! grumpy were are you i miss you to!!
and everybody else who haven`t been here for a while!!!!

Afraid I just haven't had much to say lately--mostly stressed and depressed.
I'm very sorry to hear that.
I received Whiteling's German Day-O video and given it to my brother-in-law to make copies. He's making them not on a computer but on a regular DVD-recording machine so the copying is a slow process according to him (that's why I asked my brother to make the other copies...he's using the same method).
So....I hope to be sending you your "Dayo" very soon. Maybe an adorable little Lij can cheer you up a bit.
I know that you use dial-up. Can I do you a favor by sending you a CD with clips I downloaded from the internet? I'll see what I can come up with. That cute interview with a very young Elijah when he was shooting Child In The Night, the interview he did when he was doing promotion for Paradise (with the karate moves) and some other great things. I'll send you a PM when I get the DVD copy to get an address where I can send it to. OK?
:k
Take care!

. I was really impressed by his self confidence in that interview a while back where he was promoting Paradise and doing karate moves, where the interviewer asks him to do a Promo, and he says 'What's that? and then OK! and just does it, with no qualms at all. A real little Pro.
Talking about adorable. That whole interview was great!
First the little interview with some great answers with somebody who knows how to talk to children and than there's the bit where we get to see him do karate moves with his own sound effects + the silly jokes.
That just has to put a smile on your face.

I know what you mean about having to watch The Ice Storm more than once to fully enjoy it.
Like you, I'm not the biggest fan of the style of the 70's. The very first impressions of the movie were not that clear. I didn't really know what to think of it. It was after rewatching it that I began to marvel at it.
I'll keep it in mind with ESOTSM.

Pelagia,
I received the message from Amazon.co.uk that my copy of ESOTSM is under way. :) I'm looking forward to it!
You use the word 'schlemiel' also? That's Jiddish, isn't it?
I love to use that word in Dutch also. My very favorite term is 'Knurft'. It has a great sound (you have to pronounce every letter of it in Dutch). My male colleagues know it very well by now (I use it to tease them when they're being silly), although I had to use the dictionary to prove them that it's a real word and that I didn't invent it. My French speaking workmates have trouble pronouncing it and it's funny to hear them say it.


Edit: (don't want to start a new post for this)
Found this:
Celebrity sighting:
Elijah Wood
1-Oct-2004
Written by: Cassy Eicher

Gable House Bowl in Torrance Ca.

He was representing a Cancer foundation. The Sunshine kids hold this event every year and there is a new celebrity guest each year. He joined the kids in a few games of bowling so the kids could have some fun.
From: www.thecelebritycafe.com

Karate moves?

What karate moves? :confused:

I don't remember seeing that clip! :rolleyes:

So Our Boy knows how to fight huh? :haha: :rolleyes:

Whiteling, I was just browsing, and saw tg mention your "Mount Doom" drawing, so I flipped back a few pages to find it. I hope you don't mind if I post it in the Harem. They always adore your drawings, and it is *lovely* and very well done! I particularly love how you do his eyes! (And *hugs* re: your father)

Also, tg, I've no idea what you're dealing with, but it sounds like hugs are in order. ((((tg)))) Hope you don't mind.

I'll go back to lurking...

Hewene

TG, this guy walked in to say hello and hopes you're feeling better soon!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/lordpre12.jpg

and then he brought these guys with him:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/seansbook15.jpg

And then, of course, I couldn't help but throw a little mojo of my own your way:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/Angeleno_glow1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/hooboy.jpg

There - - now that we're all here, the party can begin.

We all love you! :k

Well Achila i brought trippel so the party
realy can begin :lol: :lol: !!!!!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v399/erendil/3133digiartby_ry_03.jpg

hope this will sheer you up Tg!!!

love/wood

Tg....big hugs your way
and here's a great guy to read you a good story
hope it makes you happy

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/ylla/cid_008b01c48bf27fd6da300D1529FBS0027016073.jpg


Love you
Ylla

Sorry you're feeling down, TG. Hope things come around for you, soon!

Our boy did a charity bowl-a-thon in California a couple of weeks ago, for Sunshine Kids, a pediatric cancer patient charity event.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/bunniebugs/Elijah/554c.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/bunniebugs/Elijah/480f.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/bunniebugs/Elijah/a8a6.jpg

:D :D :D

I love that he does events like this, and quietly, without making a big deal out of it. I'm pretty sure the press wasn't even there -- I got these from the Sunshine Kids website: SunshineKids.org (http://www.sunshinekids.org/kidsact/national.htm) (and there are a lot more, if anyone's interested. Just click on "all photos" and it's the first event).

I agree with you Bunnie!!

I dont know many celebs that woulde do things like
this without the press and tv and the hole thing!! :eek:

Thats just shows how human and down to earth Elijah is!! ;)
Thats makes him the person he is i guess and thats why we
all love him in our own speciell ways!! :k

love/wood

TG, Hope you feel better soon! You are missed!

Here's a little something to cheer you up:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/honeyelf/untitled.bmp :D

Makes me smile! Hope it does you too!

Honey!

Whiteling, I was just browsing, and saw tg mention your "Mount Doom" drawing, so I flipped back a few pages to find it. I hope you don't mind if I post it in the Harem. I particularly love how you do his eyes! (And *hugs* re: your father)


Thank you for your kind words, Hewene :) ! I love to draw his eyes and find them not too difficult to "get" - much more difficult is getting his mouth right!
*Hugs back*

Tg, I wish that you see the world brighter soon - and look, there's always someone on your side:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/lij_pj3.jpg

Take care :k !


PS: Bunnie, many thanks for the great pics! :)

:::: pulling head out from under huge pile of boxes to sort ::::

TG!! Iam so sorry you not feeling well!!
i hope it will go over very quickly! I miss you in here! :(
::: wondering what's going on with TG :::

Oh i forgott!! grumpy were are you i miss you to!!
and everybody else who haven`t been here for a while!!!!
Awwwwww...That's sweet. Thanks, wood!

:::: banging head on keyboard over reappearance of the Fauxhawk from Heck ::::

:::: trying to type on new teeny tiny iMac G5 keyboard ::::

~grumpy (Has anyone see my dad-burned keys?)(I'm not kidding!)(They are *SEVERELY* lost!)(overdosed on Clean Sweep this weekend, i did)(The carpenter is really, really cute)(I think every man should have a toolbelt)(:::: wondering if EW has one :::: )(doesn't strike me as the carpenter type)

:::: banging head on keyboard over reappearance of the Fauxhawk from Heck :::

OH, ZK I'm sorry! I kinda enjoyed the fauxhawk phase. He's young and beautiful, and it's only hair, and grows back!

but what do I know? My nose is pierced. So obviously I have NO taste :p :D

Just to make it up to you :) :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/honeyelf/4674_1024.jpg
There! Nice NORMAL hair! Like something from the [haldir voice]*dark days*[/haldir voice] of the 70's! :D

Honey!

Alyon wrote, about Patrick in ESOTSM:

I tend to feel for him. Lots of times people say kind of inappropriate things thinking it will make them seem cool (in Patricks case talking about the panties). And it seems that they don't feel comfortable with it, but they can't really judge well because they really don't have a clue as to what is cool. I know I'm supposed to be repulsed by him, but he kind of breaks my heart. I think of what kind of lonely boy he was

Yes, the poor guy really is clueless. The first time I saw the movie, I was repulsed by him. It wasn’t until I watched the DVD that I started thinking about what might lie behind all the nerdiness, and to feel sorry for him. I’m interested by the fact that EJW has played so many variants of this type of character (the lonely outsider): Mikey, Casey, Barney. Is he drawn to these roles, or do casting people think of him for them, for some reason? Whatever – he has the ability to make them more sympathetic than many other actors might have.

And Alyon, I agree with your comment about being “old enough to want to be the ravisher and not just be ravished.”

Moondancer: Yes, “schlemiel” is Yiddish. It means somebody who is awkward or clumsy or foolish or unlucky – all of which could describe Patrick! Is this a word in Dutch as well? And what does "Knurft" mean?

TG, so sorry that you’re “stressed and depressed.” We miss you; but I know how hard it is to do even the things that you enjoy when you’re feeling down.

Yes, “schlemiel” is Yiddish. It means somebody who is awkward or clumsy or foolish or unlucky – all of which could describe Patrick! Is this a word in Dutch as well? And what does "Knurft" mean?
Yes, that's a word in Dutch also. We have taken over a couple of Yiddish words in our language but they do it more in Holland than in Flanders (esp. Amsterdam, I think).

Knurft = idiot, fool.
Jij bent een knurft = You're an idiot.
Knurft is not as harsh as 'idiot' and it's a fun word to pronounce so I prefer it. I use it when my male friends and/or colleagues do or say daft things.
As I said, you pronounce every letter of the word. For French speakers, the combination of r+f+t is very difficult. They have a different "r" (Flemings have a 'rolling r', pronounced in the front of the mouth and the French "r" is a throat sound) and they usually can't manage the "t" in the end.

Can you tell that I love this sort of stuff.
An English sound that is very difficult for a lot of Flemings is the 'th' sound, like in North. So, a lot of us say 'nord'
Only yesterday, one of my colleagues was looking something up from an English site and he was using the word 'boat' in his explanation to me.
I had no clue what he was talking about until I had a look at his screen. He meant the word 'both'.

Another example: the German word "schnitzel'. A lot of Flemings have trouble with the "schn" sound combined with the "tz" so they often just say 'sn': "snitzel".
I wanted to buy some "schnitzels" some time ago and I asked for them, pronouncing it like my German brother-in-law does.
Me: "I'd like two schnitzels, please"
Shopkeeper: "What do you want?"
Me: *points at schnitzels* "Two schnitzels please".
Shopkeeper: "Oh, you mean snitzels?"

Bunnie,
http://smile.smilies.nl/909.gif
Thanks for the pictures and the link!
He's doing quite a bit for cancer projects these days, isn't he?
He visited those cancer patients (or rather, they were able to visit the set and talk to him) in Prague. There's the GiveGet campaign in the UK (besides the photo, he's donating a ring if I'm not mistaken) and now this.


Good news for me,
Amazon has delivered a package!
ESOTSM! :)

Another example: the German word "schnitzel'. A lot of Flemings have trouble with the "schn" sound combined with the "tz" so they often just say 'sn': "snitzel".
I wanted to buy some "schnitzels" some time ago and I asked for them, pronouncing it like my German brother-in-law does.
Me: "I'd like two schnitzels, please"
Shopkeeper: "What do you want?"
Me: *points at schnitzels* "Two schnitzels please".
Shopkeeper: "Oh, you mean snitzels?"

Moondancer, I can tell you from experience that not only the Flemish have problems with the "schn" combo. Schnitz is my last name, and I have spent my entire life listening to it being mangled. I can only begin to recite some of the funny variations I've heard. So when someone does pronounce it correctly right off the bat, I'm usually very impressed!

Please, everyone, if you have not yet looked at Moggy's sticky post about KD - How You Can Help, please do so now. It is important that all of us who have taken advantage of this site support him in making it viable, in whatever way we can. Thanks!

OK, Narya - will do. This site deserves all the support we can give it.

And dear Faculty, all I can do is apologise for having been away (well, lurking just a little) for so long. (And it's going to continue: have very very busy time coming up, probably for the rest of this year.) So here are just a few major catch-up items:

Grumpy, I’m so sorry to have missed your birthday … when was it … 2 weeks ago? Here’s someone with hair by way of apology (a bit antiquated and shamelessly filched from A&F, but still – it’s one of my very favourite portraits of The One Lad (love that epithet - is it yours, Skater Girl? WELCOME, btw!):

http://webplaza.pt.lu/barbara/early1.jpg

(Talking of hair: Honey, what’s the date on that mag? Is it recent? Has the fauxhawk really reappeared?)

Tg, if you’re reading this, I hope you like it too. And I do hope your current problems evaporate and life improves again. Your presence here is always sorely missed (even by lurkers like me).

Whiteling, your latest portrait was as stunning as ever. Thank you! (I have something for you, btw, which must send forthwith ....)
Thinking of you and your father.

Achila, ylla, hope your Lijfest was achingly delicious!

Moondancer, thanks so much for alerting us to the Ciné Live article – not to mention translating it so well. (Sod’s law, you might call it – the minute I forget to look for articles about EW in my local newsagent – it’s all been a bit quiet recently - he appears on the cover of the No 1 French film mag! So ran over to said shop and picked one up. Strange cover shot, I have to say: though not in film costume, the lad appears to be wearing quite thick makeup, even though he’s the last man on earth to need it. Very odd. Seems some photographers insist on it. I wish they didn’t – I’d far rather see his own beautiful skin than some horrible flesh-coloured panstick.)

Anyway (and forgive me if you've said this already, Moondancer), one of the nicest things about this issue of Ciné Live is that it’s about what has become of The Fellowship since the movies, and who is the cover boy and subject of Chapter 1? You guessed it ;). And the caption for Elijah on the Fellowship page is Le plus en vogue (which could be translated as “the hottest” in the sense of the most fashionable cult idol … that's my version anyway :)).. Chapter 2 and the caption Le plus prometteur (the most promising) refer to Orlando. Makes a nice change from some of the UK mags ;)

It’s interesting, though, that he talks in the interview about going to see French (and Danish) films with subtitles with his Mum. No wonder he has such good taste in movies in general (it’s nice to see that Hollywood does sometimes emulate French film-making - as in In the Bedroom, based on a French story and very French in style). Makes that woman’s question in Karlovy Vary – the Italian reporter who tried to trip Elijah up over European cinema – all the more misplaced.

Moondancer, did you say a while back:

The Yank?
Premiere?
The Netherlands?
That little country next to my little country? ...
A premiere can't do without the presence of the lead actor, right?
We could even have a little European Faculty get-together.
Germany, Luxembourg, the United Kingdom is very close also ....
Oooohhhh...I hope this news turns out to be true.
SO DO I !!!!! :)

And now to Sean’s book. Oh dear oh dear. I’m in a quandary here: some of you (esp. Grumpy) have been far more eloquently generous than I feel like being despite all efforts not to judge. And yet it’s not so much Sean himself as the book, his decision to write such a book at all, that I find staggering. He seems to have written it in order to exorcise his residual unease, possibly guilt, about his behaviour in NZ, but what he’s actually done is set that behaviour in stone. I fear it might put an end to any career he might otherwise have expected: who on earth will want to work with him after reading this?

Above all, I think it's a tragic waste of a golden opportunity to have written something worthwhile and genuinely informative about the filming of LOTR. As it is, the publisher’s blurb and even the subtitle are deliberately misleading. This is NOT “A behind-the-scenes look at The Lord of The Rings”. It’s a book about Sean Astin. Sean Astin before, during and after the LOTR filming. Quite why someone with Sean’s moderate degree of celebrity has chosen to write an autobiography at the age of 33 is a bit of a mystery (unless he has messianic ambitions too ;)), but of course publishing it at this time, and calling it a book about the LOTR filming, will bring maximum sales. Sorry, Sean, but I happen to think it’s being sold on false pretences – whether the pretence is yours or, more likely, the publisher’s.

Tg very kindly points out that
Someone who was truly egocentric wouldn't know he was being egocentric.
That may be true. But knowing full well you are capable of being egocentric and yet not merely continuing to be so, but wallowing in it to the extent of immortalising it in print takes egocentricity to a whole new level. There’s more than a hint of masochism about it and it honestly makes me wonder about Sean’s sanity. And that’s where we should perhaps be most generous: Sean may well be battling for his mental health. But I fear this book is not going to improve matters. For start, I hate to think how the others (Dom or Sir Ian, for instance!) will receive it. Will they ever bother to speak to Sean again? Will Elijah continue to exercise his almost preternatural wisdom and understanding and tolerance? Or Peter, for that matter?

OK, Sean’s saving graces are (a) some nice pics of Elijah and co (will scan a couple more when I get the time) and (b) his open admiration of Elijah, Billy, PJ and (perhaps) one or two others, but he devotes precious little space to them nevertheless (and from what we know of those three individuals it’s hard to see how anyone could fail to be enthralled by them). His relationship with Elijah is extremely revealing and turns out to be parent-child in reverse, with the 18-year-old Elijah acting as model, mentor, adviser and supporter to his much older colleague, who says he would instantly turn into an angel on the rare occasions Elijah “went negative”. That speaks volumes about the respect Elijah evidently commanded from Sean and everyone else there. At least the book is likely to raise Elijah’s popularity ratings even higher as it destroys Sean’s. As someone at amazon put it:
I have soooo much more respect for Elijah Wood now, he had to put up with all this moping and whinging as well as everything else .. and Sean’s wife seems a sensible woman, I'm amazed she didn't read this pile of drivel and tell him to set fire to it.
Most of the comments at amazon.com are equally damning, but they are worth reading. And I note there are already 17 copies advertised there for resale!

So here’s an offer: if anyone here would like my copy, I’ll send it to you for free – just PM me your address and it will be first come, first served (who knows – it could become the Faculty Lounge copy and circulate the globe!).

(Incidentally, amazon’s irritating blurb mentions Sean's comments about “The other cast members including Sir Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler” as if they were the only ones of any interest to readers; Sean's one passing reference to Liv is about his envy of her celebrity, and he speaks of Orlando only to covet his looks and popularity with women!)

OK. To change the subject:
From Skater Girl, on “sexy” pics of Elijah:
somehow he just looks kind of mean and lacking in the very sparkle that draws many people in ….
Maybe I have misread him, but it just seems to contradict what you hear about him from others, and the message he unconciously gives out.
Nope, you haven’t misread him. When he dresses like that, the aim is presumably to convince potential directors he can play that kind of role. But that persona seems totally foreign to him. Not that I don’t find ejw intrinsically sexy – I most certainly do – but the emphasis is on intrinsically. He doesn’t need to try, or to dress that way, in order to be sexy. As you so rightly say, Skater Girl, it’s that sparkle that makes him sexy, and it’s missing from those glowering publicity pics with the self-consciously open shirt. I prefer the Frodo and Barney nipples - at least those are shown in the service of their respective movies ;).

Narya,
I'll see what I can do. I'll be clicking away on those ads. Feel free to remind us now and again to keep on clicking on them. I'll see what else I can do.

Serena,
How wonderful to see you coming out of your lurking position ;) even if it's only temporary. We do miss you here.
Can you believe that I have not bought Ciné Live? I translated it from the scan on A&F and I remember thinking that I should see if I can find the magazine (which shouldn't be a problem in Brussels) but I've forgotten it. I don't buy magazines that often. I have no idea if it's too late to go out and buy it but I'll have a look tomorrow.
Thanks for those extra bits of info. "Le plus en vogue"? :) Excellent description.


And the caption for Elijah on the Fellowship page is Le plus en vogue (which could be translated as “the hottest” in the sense of the most fashionable cult idol … that's my version anyway :)).. Chapter 2 and the caption Le plus prometteur (the most promising) refer to Orlando. Makes a nice change from some of the UK mags ;)
I have no idea what they say about Orlando. I tend to avoid the UK gossip press and the UK mags. Certainly the UK trash press can be very vicious.
The UK press is quite weird actually. I either love it or hate it. It's either of a high quality or trash. There's nothing much in between (at least, as far as I can tell of course).

SO DO I !!!!!
:)

And now to Sean’s book. Oh dear oh dear. I’m in a quandary here: some of you (esp. Grumpy) have been far more eloquently generous than I feel like being despite all efforts not to judge. And yet it’s not so much Sean himself as the book, his decision to write such a book at all, that I find staggering. He seems to have written it in order to exorcise his residual unease, possibly guilt, about his behaviour in NZ, but what he’s actually done is set that behaviour in stone. I fear it might put an end to any career he might otherwise have expected: who on earth will want to work with him after reading this?
:(
Is it that bad?
I just received the book from Amazon this evening. I'm going to read it as planned but I hope not to be too disappointed by it.
I do agree that the way the book was promoted was a bit misleading.
The cover of the book, the description, the marketing in general.
I mean, it wasn't advertised as a regular autobiography (at least, I didn't see it that way). LOTR was a bit feature in the marketing campaign.
I'll try to read it as a autobiogr. and not as a 'behind the scenes' book I was hoping for.

I do like good (auto)biographies. As far as showbiz biographies are concerned, I like the one about Billy Connolly a lot and I have enjoyed Michael J. Fox's book very much.
They both have been through quite a lot and M.J. Fox still has to live with this disease but you see a very strong spirit shining through both men. I like that!

Some brief thoughts in response to serena (Hey girl!) re: Sean's book, and then I'll leave it to you all to make up your own minds.

Re: Sir Ian, Pete, etc., being angry at Sean for what he wrote -- I'm sure that they know more than anyone who/what Sean is. At this point, after living and working with him for 4 years, I doubt that there are any surprises. So I can't imagine any of them being the least put out about what's in his book. Ultimately, the one who holds himself up to the harshest criticism is Sean himself and I truthfully applaud him for giving us a "warts and all" view into his psyche. He could've easily written something that for all intents and purposes would have been a lie, to make himself look better. But the people he spent those 15 months with (and the last 4 years with) would know the truth, and that might have had unhappy consequences should one of them happen to say something to the contrary.

Celebrity autobiographies are, for the most part, not literary works per se. That Sean had help writing his tells me that he most likely dictated it or wrote down pieces of it for his "scribe's" interpretation (I think the guy's name is Joe Leyden or something -- someone please correct me). That never leads to a completely truthful or coherent product. So that deserves being borne in mind.

Lastly, on the subject of Sean's sanity...this is a question that, I'm sure, plagues him constantly, not just for himself but for his young daughters. I see a man who is filled with self-doubt, plunked into an industry where looks and sex appeal often mean more than talent. Jealous of Orlando and Elijah? Of course. I don't find that hard to imagine. Ambitious? Sure. Why shouldn't he be? What's wrong with wanting to be a "movie star"?

And ultimately, we're comparing him to Elijah and that's not really fair.

Hello dear Colleagues,

Sorry to be so scarce, but work is piling up. Am stealing a few moments to read your comments and enjoy. Let me wish anyone whose birthday I may have missed these past few weeks many happy returns. I'm glad I won't have to run out and buy Sean's book: thanks for the reviews!

((((tg))))

What forced me out of lurkdom was the ad appearing atop p.371 of this thread. I want to support Moggy as much as I can, but can someone please tell me what this ad is for? And why is it HERE of all places???

Edited, because the ad just changed! The line on the "ad" is "Elijah Wood gay?" When you click on it, it is a poll, which I refused to touch. So I don't have any idea what is being advertised, except someone's weird idea of a joke.

Peaceweaver, if you have time to read Moggy's post at the top of the Cafe, all should be made clear. He's been forced to add some revenue-generating things to the site as the donations aren't enough to cover his costs. For instance, if everyone does their google search through the KD banner, he gets a tiny financial credit.

If some of the ads seem offensive to you, just PM me and let me know. Everyone agreed that those tiny ads were better than pop-ups, and they're probably designed by the ad company to be of interest to people on this site (though they may mis-fire sometimes.)

Edit after reading peaceweaver's post: That's the same poll that was being advertised at the "Celebrity Sightings" site when I was there copying the story I posted below--just a few minutes ago. So it's probably "in rotation" for some internet ad company. I don't know who comes up with those--I keep getting one about whether I'd vote for Kerry or Bush--I know the answer, but refuse to put it into the poll, because then I'm sure it would take me to some kind of advertisement. But I think just clicking on them gives the site some credit--at Cut and Paste Scripts, where I got my ad-free guestbook, they ask visitors to click on one of the ads on their site when possible, to keep them from having to put ads on our sites when we use their scripts.

I sympathize with Moggy in trying to run as ad-free a site as possible. Like him, I refuse to use anything that involves pop-up or pop-behind ads, and at this point just have my Amazon links (I stopped the AllPosters one because the company rotated the pictures of the posters as they chose and sometimes there were pictures that I really didn't care to have on my home page :rolleyes: ).

But I have really low site expenses, so it's not a big deal to just pay for them myself. I don't know how much it costs to run this site, but I know this kind of a message board with the amount of bandwidth it takes isn't free--to put it mildly.

----------

Back from my mom's (I'm at the office--haven't been home yet.) I started reading the posts where I'd left off, got to Narya's and thought, "Boy things have been kind of quiet over the last two days," -- And then realized there was another page :p ! (I'd read Moggy's announcement before I came to this thread and was going to mention it, but Narya covered it pretty well.)

Thanks to Moondancer for the story about Elijah's trip to the bowling alley (what I want to know is--can he really bowl? :) ), and to Bunnie for the pics. When I was last with my friend who's totally uninterested in anything involving Tolkien, whether on paper or on the screen (we all have our charity work, I guess :rolleyes: ), she brought up how she doesn't like it when celebrities back a whole bunch of causes just to get their face on TV--that, for one thing, it makes it harder for her to see them as the character the next time she sees them in a movie, because she's seen too much of them as themselves. Interesting point that I hadn't thought of before. I said that I thought it was a good thing when celebrities use their "celebrity status" to help a cause they really believe in, and she agreed with that--she just doesn't like it when it's obviously used as a publicity ploy, which I would say, too. (Our politics are almost opposite, and some of the stars she brought up were ones I think are truly interested in their "cause," but that's another story.) I did use the occasion to bring up some of the things we know Elijah's been doing without a lot of publicity surrounding them, and she was interested in that--as well as in EII when I mentioned it. So I guess there's hope that she might see an Elijah Wood movie, if it's one she wants to see.

I followed the link to the story Moondancer posted and also found this. Not a charity event, and nothing we wouldn't have expected, but still nice to read. :) [The name misspelling was in the story.]

Elijah Woods
16-Aug-2004
Written by: charlie

gave me a hug

I worked at a party, and attending the party were a few of the LOTR stars. I was on coat check. I saw a few of the celebrities arrive and much to my disappointment none of them checked their coats in. At the beginning of the night there were 11 of us on coat check, and by the end of the very long night, there were just 3 of us left standing. As Elijah was getting rushed off out the back door at the end of the night, he gave us a hug for doing such a great job.

Thanks for all the good wishes, and I'm betting all the pictures raised everyone's spirits :) . I think he looks very good in red, so I especially like the one with that red shirt.

Well, someone who has chronic depression doesn't need a "reason" to be depressed any more than an alcoholic needs a reason to drink, but having the attorney who's been helping me with the legal stuff "cut me loose" hasn't helped any. Basically, he made sure I got the right papers filed at court, and if I wanted him to do any more it would cost more money than it would be worth. So, I have to write some letters and hope I say the right thing. (It also really doesn't help that if it wasn't for this mess I could be listening to the Howard Shore symphony in Chicago this weekend--with two Faculty members. :mad: ) I just want to get this over with, but it's hard to speed things up.

About those ads.
I keep seeing this ad in Dutch (about Frodo Baggins and ebay). Weird to see a Dutch ad in here. Is this ad tailormade for me ;) or are there other Dutch speakers in here? I'll click on it when I see it.

The Australian Film Institute has announced its nominees for the 2004 AFI Awards.
The nominees in the category 'Best Foreign Film' are:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Return of the King
Lost in Transition
Mystic River
2 out of 4...Not bad!
http://www.afi.org.au/
I found this bit of good news on that site we can't link to


I just saw ESOTSM. My expectations of the movie were so high at this point as a result of looking forward to it so much. I was afraid to be disappointed by it.
I shouldn't have worried about that.
I really like this movie, although Elijah Wood's role is even smaller than I expected. Creepy indeed. Incredible...Elijah can actually make me dislike his character.
Jim Carrey does a good job at playing an introverted character! I really hate him in his comedies (Ace Ventura...yuck!) but I liked him in the Truman Show.
I'm never going to be a big fan of him but my appreciation of him as an actor has gone up.
I'm now listening to bits of the commentary. Gondry's accent is very heavy! I don't know if I'm going to listen to that for the entire duration of the movie.

Elijah Woods ...
gave me a hug
:)
Thanks for this tidbit.

Pelagia said:
I’m interested by the fact that EJW has played so many variants of this type of character (the lonely outsider): Mikey, Casey, Barney. Is he drawn to these roles, or do casting people think of him for them, for some reason? Whatever – he has the ability to make them more sympathetic than many other actors might have.

short on time as usual, but I've been contemplating what you said all day at work.

I think it's his ability to express himself so clearly, without saying a word, that makes him so right for these "lonely outsider" type of roles. I'd think he'd be a director's dream come true, since he can "show" rather than "tell," and so is excellent with these kinds of solo interior characters.

He even played a bit of a loner in Frodo, didn't he? Yes, Sam was there, but only Frodo knew what was going in inside.

Honey!

I think it's his ability to express himself so clearly, without saying a word, that makes him so right for these "lonely outsider" type of roles.
In addition to that, I think the fact that he comes to know and understand each character as a person helps a lot. I remember during one of his more serious ESOTSM interviews, Elijah defended Patrick when the interviewer talked about what a louse he was--telling the interviewer why Patrick is the way he is, and how he looks at things. IMHO, in order to really become a "lonely outsider" type of character, the actor has to know what makes the character tick or the character won't come across as real to the audience. It's a fiction-writing truism that even villains--even insane villains (and insane heroes)--have reasons for doing what they do that make perfect sense to them. A lot of actors would be able to connect with a character who's a lot like them, or a lot like other people they know--but I think it's Elijah's gift to be able to do it with characters that can be very hard for the audience to understand. The fact that he can make us believe in Mikey Carver (or even Mikey II) as a person, is quite an accomplishment.

Someone (?) posted a quote here recently where Elijah said that he "didn't like" the character he played in Flipper. I wonder if that means he never found what made Sandy tick--what made him the way he was. I'd say Sandy's one of his less "real" characters, which would make sense if he couldn't connect with where Sandy was coming from. But just from that one interview I talked about above, I'd say he seems to understand Patrick pretty well.

--Somewhat related: My mother's one of the few people who will sit and listen to me talk about some of this stuff (she was actually quite intrigued with "micro-expressions" :p ). She'd read an interview with the actor who played Christ in Mel Gibson's movie, and he sounds kind of like Viggo in approaching most of his roles--living as the character 24 hours a day (in the interview, he wasn't talking about playing Christ--I don't how he approached that). So, of course, I had to bring up how different Elijah is from that--how he can jump into and out of character in an instant, and how you can tell if he's in or out of character by looking at a still picture.

We got into talking about some of Elijah's childhood movies and how child actors in general have to often portray emotions they haven't actually experienced. My mother said that Shirley Temple was one who said if she had to cry on cue, she'd think about how she'd feel if her dog died. And it just struck me how that's what so many actors would do, including those that might be defined as "method actors"--that is, they find something they can relate to within themselves.

And it struck me even more how different Elijah does it, going all the way back to childhood. When he was asked a similar question about how he was able to show emotion during Radio Flyer, he said, "I want to help my brother and I can't." He related directly to the character in the situation the character was in--rather than something connected with himself. -- So similar to what Dean Stockwell said in that wonderful interview someone (?) posted awhile back, about how he'd just ignore the "method director" who told him to think about something that would be sad to him when he needed to cry on cue.

(I'm short on time, too, so just have to post this and run.)

tgshaw: I can’t download pictures to cheer you up. So instead, here is a different kind of “art.”


A WOOD-en ALPHABET

A is for Avalon, Michael’s loved home.
B is for Barney, so lost and alone.
C is for Casey – class wuss, but a cutie.
D is for dolphin, and Caribbean beauty.
E is for eyes, of course – blue and immense.
F for Frolijah, resolved and intense.
G is for Geekboy, or that goofy giggle.
H is for Huck Finn, always in a pickle.
I is for ice storm; Mike should have stayed in!
J, for Jones Dillon, unwilling virgin.
K is for Kevin (let’s hope we don’t vomit).
L is for Leo, who found his own comet.
M is for microexpressions – a real trick!
N is for nails bitten down to the quick.
O is for oh, as in “Oh! Oh! Oh! (swoon).”
P, for poor Patrick, panties thief and buffoon.
Q is for quit (as in “smoking,” we pray).
R’s for the Ring that must be thrown away.
S is for Sammy, EII’s smelly mutt.
T is for turkey – when should it be cut??
U is for Underhill (Frodo in Bree).
V, for the Lad’s good vocabulary.
W -- the war that Stu learned wasn’t worth it.
X (must mark something, but I can’t unearth it).
Y’s for The Yank (or Hooligans, is it?)
Z, for the zest he brings to each screen visit.

(Apologies for the sometimes tortuous rhymes and uneven metre. Hope things improve!)

Oh, Pelagia--I need some of the old Imladris smilies for that one: at least "applause" and "I'm not worthy"! :p

How about :k instead? :) That's absolutely great :cool: !

tg: Glad you enjoyed it. I always enjoy your comments on EJW, LOTR, and other topics. Besides, I've been feeling pretty miserable myself lately, and writing it cheered ME up, too.

(Now I really MUST run.)

Wow! I missed a whole bunch of posts earlier.

Serena, and ZK, the fauxhawk has not recurred. Perhaps we should all hope that he is now immune from doing something so foolish again. (Though I think the impish expression he's wearing on that magazine cover is just adorable!)

And I do have to agree that he doesn't need to try to be sexy. I don't like those photos where his shirt is open either. I've said it before, but he can look 'exposed' enough in his facial expressions that the partial nudity is just too much.

I've been reading Sean's book too, and I will have to agree with which ever of you it was who said he seems to be burning bridges!

At the same time, I really feel badly for him, and rather identify with some of his flaws. Reading the first few chapters my 45-year-old self was rather irriatated at him for all the times he said "I was too inexperienced to do it on my own, and too embarrassed to ask for help." How could he let such opportunities go by, I wondered?

But then, from the depths, my 19-year-old self spoke up and had her say.

Remember his 20/20 interview a few months back with his mom? He related a story about how his mother, in one of her illnesses, had walked into his newly cleaned room with a glass of water in her hand. "Well," she said surveying the tidyness all around, "I guess you think you're perfect!" Whereupon she threw the water in his face. :(

I know from my own experiences with a moody parent, that when you are trying to strike out on your own, you often make many of the same kind of mistakes that Sean did. You don't have the experience to fully take advantages of opportunities that are offered you. But you are afraid to ask, because previous experience has taught you that asking just may get you screamed at. I really would like to give the man a huge hug. Then suggest therapy. :rolleyes:

Pelagia, your poem is such fun! :)

Hugs to all my Faculty sisters!

Honey!

I just saw something very adorable on CandyGirl's LiveJournal but it's just too cute to not share it.

Everybody knows Paddington bear, no?
http://www.bachelorii.com/Dolls/R__John_Wright/paddington.jpg
Those Paddington bears usually come with a label "please, take care of this bear", right?


OK, so with that picture in mind...click on the attachment (I really owe Moggy for using attachments)
:)

thanks for this, CandyGirl...it certainly put a smile on my face



Furthermore,
ESOTSM is nominated for The Movie of The Year award (Hollywood Film Festival)
You can vote for it online (The Passion of the Christ is winning the poll at the moment)
Hollywood Film Festival 2004 (http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/promo/2004/movieawards/)

TG - that alphabet was wonderful. Thank you so much.

I am real short on time this week, and have only scanned the threads, but I am glad I am not the only one left slighty disappointed and confused by Sean's book. I found myself both irritated with him, wanting him to stop talking about himslef, yet applauding his honesty and quite liking him. His wife must have the patience of a saint, and I am sure he can't always be an easy person to work with. I read Andy Serkis's book straight after, and there was one episode, described by both, that really emphasized how Sean dwells too deeply on things. It was when Sir Edmund Hillary visits the set. According to Sean, Peter Jackson got just HIM a book for signing and this was some real sign of Peter letting Sean into his world. When you read Andy's version, it turns out books were obtained for Elijah, Andy and Sean, and Andy simply acknowledges it for generous gesture it was.
Let us hope enough people in the business know him well enough to not be put off working with him on the basis of what comes through in the book. He did a wonderful job with the character of Sam after all.

Someone was talking earlier about the fact that if actors do too much publicity work, they find it harder to see the actor as anything other than the real individual when they try to appear as a character in a film. Kevin Kline was on a chat show last week, saying that he deliberately doesn't give away too much about his private self, because he knows it will make his job harder when he tries to persuade people that he is the character he is trying to portray in a film. I suppose it is similar to getting typecast in a particular role and trying to throw that off.

I only really found out anything about Elijah as a person after I had watched all his films to date, so I will have to wait until Hooligans and EII to see what kind of impact my knowledge has on my perceptions of him in these roles. I know he does get to fight in Hooligans, but I find it very difficult to imagine him as a thug, especially after his Radio 1 interview with Jo Wiley. I do think he has done a good job of moving away from Frodo though, especially with Patrick, and it is a shame that role wasn't bigger. It is also a shame chain of Fools didn't reach a bigger audience. I loved his character in that.

Before going to bed last night, I skimmed through sections of the book (the UK edition comes with an index).
Sean's relationship with Sir Ian McKellen doesn't seem to be good!
In one section he talks about personal assistants and the 'rapport' you build up with them. Sir Ian's personal assistant got another job so on a certain day, Sean's assistant got reassigned to Sir Ian but it's more the way he describes that, suggesting that Sean had a very good assistant and he was reassigned to Sir Ian McK.

On one side, I admire his honesty. I don't like the "everything is allright, I don't have a care in the world, everybody adores me, I'm fantastic" kind of biographies.
But he seems to overstep the boundary from honesty to self-obsessed 'whining'.
However, I don't want to be too hard on Sean. It's just a book and we still don't know him. On the extra's on the LOTR DVD's, the other hobbits seem to know his tendency to control very well and they seem to get along with him very well despite that.
I don't know much about his background. I have heard about his mother's mental problems (that sounds a bit too harsh). I know a family like that and I can understand his worry of passing it to his children.
My goddaughter's family on her father's side is full of depressives and manic depressives. :( Her parents worry about her even if she's only nearly 3 years old. She already has the urge to control everything in her environment.
There's not only the fear for that little girl's future but also the guilt of passing it to that girl through her genes.


I'm still going to read the entire book and I'm just going to try and remember that Sean Astin was a great Samwise Gamgee and forget the 'me, me, me' bits of the book.


Someone was talking earlier about the fact that if actors do too much publicity work, they find it harder to see the actor as anything other than the real individual when they try to appear as a character in a film
I usually can seperate the actor from the private person very well but sometimes, too much publicity can indeed work against an actor.
Every actor needs some kind of publicity and needs to be seen, I guess. So, they do seek out certain events for that but once a certain section of the press is interested in you, it's almost impossible to control it.
J-Lo can forget any attempt of ever becoming a credible actress unless she manages to change her image completely. Ben Affleck was the target of many jokes when he was with her.
That's one reason why I practically stopped reading stuff about Russell Crowe. Too much trash about him just gets in the way of my enjoyment of him as an actor. I hardly ever visit his sites unless there's a movie coming out.



EDIT: Found this about the Yank and the wrap party (a comment from Cass Pennant, who has a cameo in The Yank, written on may 20th, 2004)
I predict over the next 12 months we will see a Lock Stock style dominance of hoolie culture films and dramas. Football Factory leads the way and I was hoping the film based on my own Congratulations You Have Just Met The ICF would follow as an option deal for the book was signed some time ago. I also know the Soul Crew authors are in a similar situation. So we are all poised, but The Yank which has gone back to its original title Hooligans will most likely be the next controversy to hit our cinemas in early next year. And believe me, what I have seen while finding a short involvement with a cameo role in this film, and what I’ve heard from ICF and 657 lads used as the main extras, this movie goes that extra mile.

Authors John King and Dougie Brimson should congratulate themselves for keeping the spirit alive of the one British culture that has not been exploited when we all knew from the time we first went and watched Quadraphinia that the subject football hooligan would be a wanted film. That’s if ever the movie industry could find the bottle to ride certain controversy and outcry from the establishment. 20 years on we have our cult movie, which therein lies the key. Once you have a period of time elapse, you are really documenting a social history that can detach itself from what is going on with today’s football hooligan. When critics say the books and films glorify violence, it cannot be justified.

Yank film rap party

As the hard core hoolie extras boogied with a Hollywood cast and crew we discovered the talent of Elijah Wood, Lord of the Thugs, knows no bounds. The music was heavy, funky and summer rolled into one, as the strains of hiphop, R&B and classic soul were spun on the decks by none other, and he played the whole night to suggest he is one serious DJ who happens to put his acting career first. I knew the night’s DJ knew his stuff the moment I heard the funk of Ohio Players – now there’s one for the original soul boys. But looking up to see it was Elijah doing the mixing of some badd ass funk and soul classics – just quality little fellow, quality.
:)
from: here (http://casspennant.bravejournal.com/)
You can read a bit about his background on his website (http://www.casspennant.com). His autobiography should be a fascinating read!
http://www.casspennant.com/GIFs/WestHamGatesSmall.jpg

From the photogaller on that site:
http://www.casspennant.com/pictures/yank4.jpg

Thank you for that information about Hooligans, Moondancer. I found a couple more images on that website (small and not really worth posting here), and shared this with my LiveJournal crowd. I love all that stuff about his DJ stint at the wrap party -- he surely does love his music, and it seems he is always impressing people with his knowledge. :cool:

And I surely hope that Mr Pennant is right about the film -- I've been having a sinking feeling for awhile that this one will go straight to video, but maybe... there's still hope. :)

Hi all!

Hope you are all feeling not too EW-less! At least it is autumn properly now (where I live at least) and cold and crisp and full of lovely niceness coming up. I was a bit LOTR-satiated over the summer but watched FOTR recently and feel in love with it all over again so can’t wait now until extra ROTK goodness.

<Hijack>
UK-ites – has anyone been watching that Alan Titchmarsh history of the British Isles thing? Have you noticed how much its been inspired by LOTR – cameras swooping over hills and so on? Very disappointing to see a brave figure stomping around from afar only to realise it’s not lovely Arrers looking determined, just that puddinface Alan. Anyway, I digress.
</Hijack>


just quality little fellow, quality

I dunno why, this tickles me like anything. Says it all, doesn’t it! New sig methinks!

Anyway, saw ESOTSM last week and loved it. It’s so great to see a flick that gets better and better – or rather, reveals more and more depth – the more you see it. As usual I was merely dazzled by EW up on the big screen on my first viewing, and only how really had the opportunity to see him ACT. My he’s good, and seemed to pick up on the quirky bittersweet feel of the film better than either Ruffolo and Dunst.

honeyelf wrote:

He even played a bit of a loner in Frodo, didn't he? Yes, Sam was there, but only Frodo knew what was going in inside.
When I saw the FotR Extended Edition, the “new” scene that I thought added most to the film was the one on the flet, when the Fellowship arrive in Lothlorien, and Haldir won’t let them in. Frodo is sitting off by himself, and he sees (or imagines) his companions turning and casting suspicious or accusing looks at him (these are the same images he later sees in Galadriel’s Mirror). I’m pretty sure that scene isn’t in the book, but I thought it vividly showed him realizing, for the first time, how alone he would be.

tgshaw wrote:

I remember during one of his more serious ESOTSM interviews, Elijah defended Patrick when the interviewer talked about what a louse he was--telling the interviewer why Patrick is the way he is, and how he looks at things.
That’s fascinating, that he put so much thought into what was, as Moondancer pointed out, quite a small role. Somehow, it reminds me of a quote from him that someone posted here weeks ago, about how when he has to act sad (I think it was sad), he feels sad with his “whole body.” That would be very natural for him if he’s able to develop such an intimate understanding of a character. In fact, it sounds as if he almost created a character for Patrick.

honeyelf again:

And I do have to agree that he doesn't need to try to be sexy. I don't like those photos where his shirt is open either. I've said it before, but he can look 'exposed' enough in his facial expressions that the partial nudity is just too much.
I agree completely. The conventionally “sexy” poses just look too artificial on him, because he’s not conventionally “sexy,” by Hollywood standards. As Serena said:

it’s that sparkle that makes him sexy

Moondancer, thank you for explaining “knurft.” Is the “ur” sound similar to German “wurst”? Can’t wait to use it (“You knurft!” I’ll scream at stupid drivers. It’s more benign than some of the epithets I currently hurl at them.) And I agree with you that “Le plus en vogue” is a great description for EJW – sounds very elegant! And Elijah as Paddington Bear! :lol: Very cute, but it looks as if he skinned the poor bear to get that sweater/coat/whatever!

Moondancer, thanks for the Cass Pennant stuff on "Hooligans." just quality little fellow, quality
I almost wanna purrr when I read people saying stuff like that about Elijah! :D

I had the privilege of talking with Ylla on the phone the other night! :D :k And we were both looking forward to/hoping for "Hooligans." It has since occured to me that in the spring there are always low-price tickets to London available! Maybe we could hope for a moot in London? Just a nice dream I suppose...

I've been thinking more about Sean's book today, and about Sean. All of us who are reading it seem to be wondering what possessed him to write it. OK, I haven't finished the book, and so I'm climbing out on my favorite limb yet again, but here goes:

Sean is a bit of an Egomaniac,even by his own account. He's painfully honest about many of his own flaws. Despite his over-inflated sense of self though, he managed to effectively play one of the most humble characters in fiction. I think maybe he's trying to communicate some of the lessons he thinks he's learned in humility via that role.

Having said that, I think he's still got a long road to go before he really understands the power in simple humility. If he means to be a politician (public servant) one day, I hope he can make some headway in that direction, because it is a great gift for any statesman to be able to lay self aside, and really put his constituents first.

Shoot, it's a great gift for any human to be able to love other people enough to lay "self" aside in service to others. Humility is a highly under-rated quality.

...quality...purrrrrrrr

Moondancer, you said:
My goddaughter's family on her father's side is full of depressives and manic depressives. Her parents worry about her even if she's only nearly 3 years old. She already has the urge to control everything in her environment.
Well, some of that's just being Two years old. ("Terrible Twos!":D) But I suppose when the adults all around you plainly are not in control you might well react by trying to exert some yourself.

Honey! tryingdesperatleytomakesense

A nasty little article regarding the unaccurate account of history portrayed in EII. The last paragraph mentions EW and the movie. Nothing negative about The One Lad. The article is at The Praque Post...

http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2004/Art/1007/opin1.php

It was MY pleasure to speak with you Honey

And I still like that idea of a London moot
Wouldn't be too bad to see this young man at the premiere of Hooligan's either: :D


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/ylla/bhyank23.jpg






Maybe wishful :z: thinking
And I'll even iron his shirt for him ;) And I hate ironing!!! :rolleyes:

“knurft.” Is the “ur” sound similar to German “wurst”?
No. The Dutch "u" is like the German "ü"
(like in "Würstchen")
And the "r" has to roll from your tongue (a bit like the Scottish "r") - the Germans don't pronounce the r like we do.

Can’t wait to use it (“You knurft!” I’ll scream at stupid drivers. It’s more benign than some of the epithets I currently hurl at them.)
It's a great word for that!
The plural of "knurft" is "knurften" in case you'd like to insult more than one stupid driver.

I found this tip about learning Flemish:
A strange language spoken in Flanders and consisting largely of the consonants v,s,c,h,r and k. Dutch is surprisingly easy to learn. Simply fill your mouth with crisps and then speak English and German simultaneously without breathing.
:lol:

I also read this on that site:
But what about Flemish? How do you speak Flemish? The dirty little secret is that Flemish and Dutch are really the same language. Yes, I know that all the Vlamings on the Lobelia will kill me for saying this, but the differences between Flemish and Algemeen Nederlands are only as big as that between American and British English. (However, this is not true of Flemish regional dialects, such as West Vlaams which was popular on my boat...apparently someone from Holland wouldn't understand very much of these dialects.) Indeed, the Flemings and Dutch have agreed on the same linguistic standard, which one can't say of the Yanks and Brits
I won't argue with that. It is the same language. Flemish sounds a bit softer than Dutch spoken in The Netherlands. You can hear the influence from French in our way of speaking, I guess.
Also, the Dutch use a lot of foreign words...they love to use French, German, English and American lingo (even if they don't understand it properly...like with a lot of the French words they use). That's one reason why I buy a lot of books in English. The Dutch translation, done in Holland, is often infested with English words anyway.
If you're writing in Dutch...why use the foreign word when there's a Dutch word?
In Flanders, we try to avoid the use of many foreign words because we're much more aware of our own language, I would say. The Flemings have fought hard for their right to get recognized and it still is a problem in my country. Try and speak Flemish in Brussels even if it's officially a bilingual city and people working there should be able to speak both French and Flemish.
Some of the French speakers don't bother learning Dutch and they react angrily when a customer speaks Dutch and I have the tendency to use that arrogance against them. :D (not every French speaker is like and the situation is improving but there's still a long way to go)
Only yesterday, I was buying that Ciné Live magazine with Elijah Wood on the cover. The lady behind the cash register was helping customers in French and her face went :mad: from the moment she heard me talk in Dutch (I insist on using my own language in my own capital city...I'm weird that way ;) . If they are friendly, I switch to French but if they make it clear that it's beneath them to learn Dutch, I use that arrogance against them). She was clearly aggrevated with me and that tends to get in the way of her ability to calculate properly. :D The magazine costs €3,50 but she said € 3,20 to me in Dutch. I was about to say to her that she was wrong until I saw her :mad: face again. (And that was not the first time that happened in that shop...I have to deal with her attitude but I can buy stuff more cheapily :) )

Another thing from that quote: You guys don't use the same linguistic standard? I didn't know that. Flanders and The Netherlands have a practical agreement about that.


By the way, Serena mentionned this before but that cover from Ciné Live?
It's nice to see Elijah Wood's face on that cover and his name in bigger letters than Orlando's (the rising star of Hollywood) but did they have to use that picture? That fake tan is so wrong on him. Why mess with his own fantastic complexion?

OK, I've just read the 10th chapter of Sean's book, wherein he reveals that he nearly cried when PJ gentely told him that Sam's part would not be very large in the beginning, but would grow as the films went on. Sean says that PJ was "sadly" not referring to Sam's girth. This after Sean had read the books.

I'm tempted to take back every empathetic thing I've ever said about Sean. I like the way Dom smacked him down;"You need to get some f****** perspective, man!" Earlier tonight I'd read that Sean is doing a book signing near here in November. I actually comtemplated going, to deliver that hug I've been saying he needs. At this point I'd rather use my copy of the book to deliver some "perspective" right up the side of Sean's head!

I suppose the true indicator of PJ's directing talent is that he got this immense walking ego to be Sam, albeit a somewhat more heroic Sam.

Anyway, I've concluded that, faced with the Ring's temptation, Sean would have kept the darned thing! :rolleyes:

Longing for some news on The One Lad, that "quality little fellow!"

Honey!

That Paddington Bear picture of Elijah was cute and spooky.

Does that mean that Mikey in "Chain of Fools" especially the set picture of him just standing there in the dark makes him look like English Dennis the Menance? It looks like he is outside, as there seem to be trees around the background. Anyway, it is one spooky headshot. Jus tlike the one in the hospital and he has a gun pointed to a man's head. How'd You like to wake up to that? :eek:

Puts new meaning in Azrael, the Angel of Death (Evil St. Michael). :D