This was recieved today (Sept.15) by the Lot of Odd's mass mailer:

Dear Hoolifans –

We wanted to thank you for all your efforts this past opening weekend in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Our numbers were great on both coasts, thanks to all of you. But it's a critical time for us now - we need to build support for GSH in Chicago, and continue the great showing from last weekend in New York and LA. This is the only way we can bring GSH to Hoolifans all across the country.

We're asking you to tell your friends about GSH, and urge them to see it this weekend - especially those of you in Chicago. Forward this email to people in your address book, post your thoughts on our message board, tell your friends to visit the GSH website and keep talking about the film. Word of mouth is our best weapon, and now is the time to stand your ground.

Don't forget to watch the new "One " video by Terence Jay on www.greenstreethooligans.com, and visit www.hollywood.com for a chance to win a trip to London.

Here's to another great weekend.

The GSH Team

Entertainment Weekly gives EII a B+!

Elijah Wood's night-creature eyes, magnified by the thick lenses of old-man eyeglasses, convey a lot about the cracked intensity of the young man called Jonathan Safran Foer in Everything Is Illuminated. That such a comically somber investigator of his own family's old-country roots carries the same name as the author of the acclaimed novel on which this loving adaptation is based is just one of the book's meta flourishes enthusiastically embraced by first-time feature filmmaker Liev Schreiber.

Actors talk about wanting to stretch, but few would hazard a project with such a high degree of difficulty as Schreiber, who also wrote the screenplay. And under the circumstances, Schreiber's heartfelt project earns points for disciplined ambition. The gloomy tenderness Wood brings to Foer as he searches for his grandfather's vanished birthplace is offset by the maniacal Eastern European practicality of Eugene Hutz's Alex, a truly terrible interpreter. For one of those obstreperously original books that are themselves impossible to translate, Everything Is Illuminated is impressively well lit.

Just an quick interruption to post the US release schedule for EII:

September 16
New York
Los Angeles



September 23
Boston
Chicago
Miami
W. Palm Beach
San Diego
Seattle
San Francisco
Washington DC


September 30
Phoenix
Detroit
Minneapolis
Philadelphia


October 7
Albany
Atlanta
Baltimore
Buffalo
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Hartford
Houston
Kansas City
Milwaukee
Pittsburgh
Portland
Providence
Sacramento
St. Louis
Tampa Bay


October 14
Ann Arbor
Austin
Columbus
Des Moines
Honolulu
Indianapolis
Las Vegas
Louisville
New Orleans
Norfolk
Omaha
Salt Lake City
Syracuse
Tacoma
Tucson

Achila and Pelagia, have fun seeing Everything is Illuminated! I cannot wait to hear what you think of it! And Pelagia, where are you? I miss you!

Bunnie, thanks for the open dates for EII!

Well, I've suceeded in giving myself a headache listening to the Iggy Pop concert disc I borrowed from NetFlix. :rolleyes: This could be a very interesting turn for Elijah. There was a mysterious infamous icident on the Brittish tv program "So It Goes" that got that program knocked off the air for good! I can't find any narrative on the net as to what that was specifically. Can any of our Brit siblings enlighten us?

I say "could be interesting" because I never like straight up biopics much. You watch someone flame brightly, and then sputter out, and I find the experience generally quite depressing! I hope this one won't be the Iggy-version of Ray, but something a bit more imaginative.

honey!

ETA: There's a Fresh Air interview with Iggy Pop, and I'm listening to it right now. PM me if you are curious, and don't know where to locate it.

Hoolifans -- I like it! :D Keep up the good work; I have to hold out until Oct 24 before I can see it in Denver. *crosses fingers*

Bunnie, thanks for the EEI schedule! This one I feel confident I will see. Yes!

Whiteling, this is a very early morning post for me; my cat had plans for the night that did not include sleeping. But I'm toddling off soon, so you'd better put that foil in place. No one knows what lurks in the mind of Mariole. ;) :k

I took the plunge and went to see Green Street this week. It was an afternoon showing so there were only a handful in the audience. I was a bit late getting there and the lights were out( the trailers having begun), but I was glad of that when I realised that I was the only woman among half a dozen men. I crept in and sat down……

SPOILERS
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Not one of my favourite Elijah films I’m afraid. He looks his usual lovely self but the script and plot holes let him (and everyone else ) down. I would have liked to have seen more of Matt’s American life as a contrast to his time in London. I didn’t buy the award –winning journo part. It didn’t gel with the timidity of his character at the start imho. Don’t journalists have to have a hardbitten, pushy attitude to chase up stories?
I could see how he could get drawn into the world of hooliganism though. He was looking for something to give purpose to his life, for someone to value him.
The best scenes were when his dad visited. Elijah looked different by then. He looked “hard” and I found his dialogue with his father believable. He was finally standing up for himself.
I heard an echo of Frodo in one scene where Matt was talking to his sister, but other than that I didn’t find myself comparing this role to any other Elijah has done. It’s certainly a different role for him- which is what he looks for in his film opportunities as he’s said himself. I’m sure there were subtleties in his acting that will only become apparent from intensive screen cap analysis, so I look forward to a Faculty study when the DVD comes out :D
The characters were a bit stereotyped. Charlie Hunnam’s accent was dubious to say the least and cockney rhyming slang was used once or twice, explained and then promptly abandoned. I think the film is definitely aimed at the American Market. Or at least will probably do better in America.
The violence wasn’t too scary for me, which I was worrying about beforehand, but I don’t think Pete’s self sacrifice was necessary at the end to show Matt how futile firm life and violence is. His brother-in –laws injuries would surely have been enough?
Good performances from Leo Gregory and Marc Warren and I even saw one of the cast of "Eastenders". He could have given Charlie a few tips about the accent. :p
I laughed when the firm was on the train and one of them pulls the communications cord and miraculously stops the train at a station!?! :lol:
I liked the soundtrack very much. Plus Elijah singing. :cool: :D
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END SPOILERS.

Roll on December and EII. :)

GSH spoilers



Quicksilver:

Plus Elijah singing

Heh, that was almost my favourite bit too. He got that tuneless raucousness exactly right.



end spoilers


Regarding Iggy Pop – perhaps I am the only one, but I always thought that Iggy was really tall and thin, which made Elijah’s choice of role all the more incomprehensible. I’ve been told, however, that Iggy is only about an inch or so taller than Elijah!

He looks a bit short here, for example:

http://pub.tv2.no/multimedia/TV2/archive/00110/reuters_iggy_pop_110743a.jpg

But his head is a little bigger than Elijah’s – Elijah is much more in proportion I think. But anyway it’s definitely a possibility. Anyone fancy a photoshop?!

SPOILERS * SPOILERS * SPOILERS



Goldenberry and Quicksilver, I've never had a problem with believing that Matt could be a little bull-dog about journalism, but a complete wimp where his own life is concerned.

I can only speak from my own experience, so here goes. There are aspects of my life where I am highly confident. One of those is sewing. I'll wade in to a complicated sewing project, and never think twice about it. If I hit a technical challenge I work it out. My mom was a sewing whiz too. She and I were very different in a lot of ways, and she dissaproved of most of my choices. I may have become a sewing whiz from watching her example, but perhaps it was also a bid for some measure of approval from her, a way to meet her on her own ground.

Matt might have become a journalist as a bid for attention from a father who was too frequently absent in pursuit of his own career glory. Matt would have seen his father's tenacity in running a story to ground, and learned by that example, even if what he saw was mostly his father's diminishing back as he headed off for the Ivory Coast again.

Matt's mother, we learn, has died. Matt and Shannon were both relativally young when this happened. Perhaps Matt was in his late teens, or very early twenties. Often when a parent dies prematurely it leaves the children with a sense of fatalism where their own life is concerned. So where Matt might have been a "hard-nosed" journalist, he may have felt out of control of his own life outside of that arena.

It would have been nice if we'd seen the dichotomy in Matt's life a bit more clearly, but it's not a flaw that ruined the film for me.

[SIZE=3]/SPOILERS

Achila and Pelagia, I'm anxiously awaiting your remarks about EII!

honey!

Just popping in to post this :-

Run...don't walk, over to your newsagent and get yourself a copy of whichever newspaper it is, that brings you 'Life' magazine every Friday....look who is on the cover - accompanied by a VERY desirable little camera...
http://img.timeinc.net/Life/images/life_cover_091605.jpg

Alternatively, if you don't live in the US, rush over to the Elijah_Daily LJ to peruse the scans posted today by Avrilrocks 101...

Enjoy !!!

Run...don't walk, over to your newsagent and get yourself a copy of whichever newspaper it is, that brings you 'Life' magazine every Friday....look who is on the cover - accompanied by a VERY desirable little camera...

AUGH! I'm such a fool! I've spent half the morning running to various news stands looking for one of those, Lady Wendy. Alas, no luck. So I came home and found one on EBay, and paid way too much for it. :o I'm helpless where Lij is concerned! :o

honey!

http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=11220


Lexi Alexander Quits Life 'n' Lyrics
Source: Variety September 16, 2005

Variety says Lexi Alexander (Green Street Hooligans) has quit as director of the British rap movie Life 'n' Lyrics, just days before it was due to start shooting.

The $6 million project, which was scheduled to begin filming September 11, is now on hiatus while the producers and financiers seek a replacement. Ashley Walters is set to star in the film, written by Ken Williams.

Alexander reportedly felt more time was needed for pre-production. There were unresolved issues over locations, casting and rehearsals. In the end, everyone agreed the production wasn't ready to start.

Alexander has now returned to Los Angeles to work on the Disney project Labor Day, to which she is attached.

Honey...

Alas, no luck. So I came home and found one on EBay, and paid way too much for it.

Oh my...I hope you can cancel quickly, because what I didn't do, and I should be shot down in flames for forgetting this, was to post this :-

Where to get it (http://www.life.com/Life/newspapers/)

You lot, in America, are about eight hours behind us here in the UK, and so there should be still time for you all to go out and get yourselves your very own copy....

....and then there is THIS, that I found tonight too....

London Film Festival - EII dates (http://www.lff.org.uk/films_details.php?FilmID=674)

Guess who registered with this site pronto :D ...

Too late! And the web-site says I can 'get it' in my local rag (dubbed "The Murky" round here) but it's not so! Ah well.

Am finding lots of less than stellar reviews of EII, sad to say. My husband says that if Lij doesn't do well in EII, and GSH that his bid to be a leading man will fail. I don't so much know that Lij is really on a quest to be a leading man, though. And Johnny Depp, a leading man by anybody's reckoning has had plenty of bombs at the box office. (The Astronaut's Wife, Dead Man, From Hell, and Sleepy Hollow were all mostly panned) and yet he's considered highly bankable! And then too, there are those directors who understand the subtelty and magic that Elijah can bring to a character. I have to wait until next week to find out about Everything is Illuminated for myself. I look forward seeing what to a Faculty Lounge member has to say about it!

h!

I'm trying not to read too many reviews, myself. I've seen some really good ones, and now some not very good ones, and there are too many who don't have a lot to say about Elijah's performance, either good or bad, so I'm just avoiding them.

I did happen across a blurb in AP (Alternative Press) magazine, though, and it wasn't a review, but they said something to the effect of Liev having quite a challenge in taking on EII, but that "he couldn't have done better for a leading man in Wood." That made my heart happy. :)

Honeyelf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you cancel that purchase???? After coming home from work and reading Wendy's post with the link to which papers have the Life insert, MY OWN PAPER has it! I looked on the dinner table and there was the morning paper, untouched, with the insert. In fact, they inadvertently included more than one. If you want it, I would be only too too too happy to send you the other copy. Why deserves it more???????

~ Mechtild

Honeyelf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you cancel that purchase????

Nope! Legally binding agreement... all that. :rolleyes: Stupid of me. Should have known one of my dear Faculty sibs would come to my rescue! Live and learn they say. Trouble is I never seem to do the latter! ;)

honey!

There are a few good reviews that mention EW favorably. From Reel.com:

Jonathan is a role that Wood seems to have spent his entire life preparing for, ever since he was that child actor entrusted as the point-of-view in another American immigrant saga, Barry Levinson's Avalon. The character plays to his strengths, his obvious intelligence and sensitivity, those large blue eyes that seem capable of taking in the whole world at once (an effect magnified by Jonathan's large horn-rimmed glasses with their thick lenses), and a certain lack of vanity that gives him access to Jonathan's lesser qualities.

And from the LA Times:

Elijah Wood has eyes like klieg lights, and to look at them directly for too long is to fear for your corneas, and to wonder what exactly is going on in that sizable but delicately featured head of his. For orbs so distinctive, they are oddly blank and mesmerizing. You half expect his irises to start swirling if you fix on them for too long.

In Liev Schreiber's "Everything Is Illuminated," Wood's eyes seem to take in everything and reveal nothing. Which may have been the idea...

The contrast between Jonathan and Alex, while funny in the book, is starkly illuminated by the movie. Schreiber presents the two as poster children for Cold War notions of national character, only their roles have been reversed. Here, it's Jonathan who is static, fatalistic, sentimental, morbidly obsessed with the past and fixated on preservation, whereas Alex is naïve, optimistic, unburdened by the past, fixated on the newest new thing. Jonathan's life is a museum. Alex's life is an unknown frontier. Jonathan wears a suit. Alex wears a track suit. Jonathan leans toward tragedy. Alex insists on the importance of happy endings. Jonathan fictionalizes and sentimentalizes the past. Alex tells a true, living story.

Will the real American please stand up?

Sharpe's Girl, thanks for posting those excerpts. I thought the observations made by the LA Times critic contrasting Jonathan and Alex were very interesting.

He seemed to like EW in the role a lot, too, which was nice, of course. :)

Honeyelf, that's a shame! :(

ETA:

I always thought that Iggy was really tall and thin, which made Elijah’s choice of role all the more incomprehensible. I’ve been told, however, that Iggy is only about an inch or so taller than Elijah!
I thought that, too. But only from looking at Iggy pictures. He just seems to have the body type tall people have -- elongated.


~ Mechtild

Hey all, looks like Lij will be on Conan's show again tonight. He is in NYC again, so it could be a new show.

Sharpe's Girl, thanks for those two EII reviews. Especially like the LA Times one!

Mechtild said: Honeyelf, that's a shame! :(

Which part? The Legally binding agreement or the Live and learn they say. Trouble is I never seem to do the latter! :lol: And I'm doubly the fool now, because guess what was in my morning paper after all? :rolleyes: As Achila says: This is my brain. This is my brain on Elijah Wood.

hopelessly,
honey!

Thanks to Lady Wendy's link, the Fremont (NE) Tribune website, and Mapquest, I'm off on an adventure with a list of all the Casey'ses and Cubby'ses and other small-town convenience stores between Omaha and Fremont that carry the paper. And, yes, the paper's website does show the Life magazine with Elijah on the cover. (Very disappointingly, the buttons for "email story" and "print story" only email/print the blurb about the story. :rolleyes: )

Fremont (population c. 25,000) is about 50 miles from here, and theirs is the only paper in Nebraska shown as carrying Life magazine. There are none listed for Iowa. This could take a couple of hours. I'll try to get as many extras as I can without looking really weird :haha: .

--It's a lovely evening for a drive in the country. :p

tgshaw Have you already gone to that store????? If not, DON'T!!!!!!!!! I have extras (I asked the neighbours for theirs, too)! I will mail you a copy, no prob!

~ Mechtild

Mechtild :k -- I haven't left yet, but am going to make an attempt, as we'll certainly need some extras. If I have to go any farther than Valley or Yutan (small towns close by that I'm very familiar with), I'll come back and let you send me one. :) As long as the convenience stores haven't been overrun by rabid Elwood fans (in Yutan? ? :eek: ;) ), it shouldn't be too hard to snag a copy, or two, or three.

Just picked up a copy of Life at my local grocery store. It was a moment I could not :) resist. If anyone would like a copy who cannot get one, I would also be more than willing to get one and mail it for you. Just send a PM.

OT: I also bought a copy of Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve. I don't think my girls have ever seen it. It's a beautiful movie filmed on Mackinaw Island. We were just looking across the Straits at the Grand Hotel last week, too.

Ok, tg. Standing ready with the stack of Elwoods behind the camera....

I would love a copy of the Life supplement, and won't be able to get one here. It sounds like the resourceful Faculty has sprung into action - I will send out PM's and hope that one of you still has an extra copy available. :k

[QUOTE=Lady Wendy]Just popping in to post this :-

Run...don't walk, over to your newsagent and get yourself a copy of whichever newspaper it is, that brings you 'Life' magazine every Friday....look who is on the cover - accompanied by a VERY desirable little camera.../QUOTE]

Ooh, my mom called me at work today and she gets Life in her paper and was describing the cover and some of the article to me. She's going to mail it to me. She thinks I'm insane to be so obsessed, but she humors me. She lives out in the middle of nowhere in Tenn., and will mail it to me in CA. :cool:

Oh my...I'm just amazed at how the whole Faculty has got together to make sure that we all have a copy of this illustrious article...my thanks to Our Mech, who has generously offered to post me one over here in Good Old Blighty...:D :D :D
We don't get this mag here, but I could easily see it online, and even though the only scans are incomplete at the moment, I have no doubt that the whole article will be up to see somewhere soon...but it's just not quite the same as owning your own copy is it ?!

I wonder if that is his Hasselblad camera in the front-cover photo, because the small black, old-fashioned looking camera inside is undoubtedly his manual Leica M6 that he refers to...and both of these are very beautiful cameras...the Hasselblad being the truly covetable one...
Being a medium format camera, the negatives are probably 6X4 cms in size...somewhat bigger than your traditional 35mm film, and therefore the pics are going to be absolutely stunning quality...a true Professional's camera...this is the type used by photographers who take pics for National Geographic magazine and the like !

As I'm an enthusiastic photographer myself, especially when we go overseas to somewhere really interesting, like Poland or the Czech Republic, I am particularly gratified that Elijah shares my views on how to see the world through a camera...and this goes way beyond just taking quick snapshots of you and your friends getting drunk, or you and your family standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, and the like...boring pics that everyone has in their photo albums, that convey very little except that, yes, you've been there !! A camera conveys not only the things that I have seen, but also how I've seen them at the time...an essential tool, in my view...
Elijah seems to inherently understand this...


( Wish he'd dump the horrible dorky specs though !! :D )

Lady Wendy, thanks for the LIFE alert :) ! (I'm hoping for complete scans of this article).
I love his photographer attitude in that shot and I think it is intended as an hommage to the great photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson:

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

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/liberation-cartier-bresson.jpg

Beautiful!

Methinks the glasses emphasise a motto of his, something like "I'm looking at the world through lenses". I like his specs. :)


ETA: The scan of the complete article is now up at A&F :)!

I don't so much know that Lij is really on a quest to be a leading man, though.Don't you think he is actually too young to be a leading man? Johnny Depp only became a leading man in his 30's. And he did a lot of interesting and quirky parts in his youth. Takes time to build a real leading man status that lasts....well by Hollywood standards. And I suspect that to be a leading man is not a goal of TOL. He seems to be looking for good roles that he can be "passionate" about. And after watching this exhausting press "tour" I can see that one has to be passionate about a role and a movie in order to actually do a press tour, well .......without sounding disingenuous. To be a leading man at the age of 24 sounds like a major burden to me IMVHO. Reminds me of Viggo actually. Remember when a reporter was assessing each actor's (LOTR) potential for success in the future? IIRC he/she assessed Viggo as becoming the next Harrison Ford. This was when Hidalgo was approaching. I love no ego Viggo myself and I remember thinking that Viggo would rather cut his throat than become the next Harrison Ford (no offense to H.F. fans). Now he is of the age where he could become a leading man if he wanted to even with a "miss" Hidalgo (not a bad film, it grows on one). He is going the Independent route by choice isn't he?
......................I look forward seeing what a Faculty Lounge member has to say about it!I am waiting for a Faculty Lounge review myself. IIRC the book Everything Is Illuminated received both glowing reviews and derisive reviews. And I remember walking out of the theater after my first watching of FotR and thinking......I need to see that again. If I had not seen it again I would NOT have fallen in love (thanks PJ :k ) with these movies. Many a GOOD movie needs to be seen more than once to "get" them. Do critics bother with seeing a movie more than once? Talk about EGOS.
saile :D
p.s Many Thanks to Shelbyshire for my copy. :k

If I had not seen it again I would NOT have fallen in love (thanks PJ :k ) with these movies.
Me, too. I went to the midnight showing, and had already made plans to see it again that afternoon with Hellga (the only other Omaha Imladris/KDer), who couldn't make it to the midnight one. I wasn't that impressed after seeing it once; just too much unavoidable mental comparison with the book throughout, I think. But the second time I was able to at least start disassociating the two and start loving the movie on its own merits. I've said before that without those pre-made plans, I don't know that I would have seen it that second time (and all the others following :p ). But, honestly, I'm sure I would have gone back once I started reading all the online comments about things I hadn't picked up on. As an already Elijah fan and committed Frodophile, even the first viewing had its moments. The scream on Weathertop, The Turn...

Many a GOOD movie needs to be seen more than once to "get" them. Do critics bother with seeing a movie more than once? Talk about EGOS.
I don't normally fault them for that, because they have to see so many movies. That's why I was mightily impressed with Roger Ebert's comment about seeing EII again because he knew he wasn't understanding its "greatness" (a pretty strong word for a movie critic) the first time. Quite unusual, methinks.

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

I got the last two copies of the Friday Fremont Tribune left at the Casey's in Valley NE, so I have one extra. It's not promised to anyone, so I guess the first person who PM's me his or her mailing address will get it. For those not familiar with them, Casey's is a chain of "convenience stores" (gas stations that also sell some groceries and other stuff) that's ubiquitous in small towns in this part of the country. If a small town doesn't have a Casey's, it's a really small town. ;)

As someone who can't avoid wearing glasses (contacts or surgery can't correct what's wrong with my eyes), I'm grateful to anyone who can make specs look fashionable. And I loved the ones Elijah's wearing on the cover. I noticed in the credits that they're not his own, but were part of the "fashion shoot" aspect of the pic.

That was a very interesting post, saile. Thanks!

I think you are right that 24 is on the young side to be considered a leading man, except as a leading man for teenage girls. Case in point: Orlando Bloom. Orlando Bloom is four years older than Elijah Wood. That means Bloom was 22 when he began to film the role of Legolas, in which he would inspire the swoon of many. (Note: 22 is still very young, even if it is hugely older, developmentally, than 18. But EW at 18 was already a seasoned professional who developed in a unique way, not comparable to most of his adult acting peers. Yet, when I think about Bloom being only 22-24 while shooting the three films, it makes me all the more impressed with the poise, confidence and elegance he showed in the role.)

FotR was released when Bloom was 24. Then his Legolas stuff in TTT really sold moviemakers on his professional potential and after that he was offered truly hot contracts. Pirates of the Caribbean was released when he was 26. And he still is considered, at 28, to be a very young male star. 28 is old for a female star, sadly, but 28 is young for a male star. His meteroric rise was the result of his talent and looks, but moreover his spectacular appeal for young women. Not every good-looking, talented actor manages to inspire that level of swoondom. If he hadn't inspired that sort of mass fan appeal, he'd still be playing teen's boyfriends in lesser films.

Anyway, I agree, therefore, that it's early days to assess EW's leading man propects. Still, he does not have the same sort of massive appeal that Bloom does as a "romantic lead," so I don't see him being that sort of leading man. I still think that if he enters the ranks of sought-after leading actors, it will be doing unusual, more "character" stuff, like a Dustin Hoffman or an Al Pacino did in dramas, or a Jack Lemmon if he ends up doing primarily comedy (not that Jack didn't do both genres excellently). But whatever sort of future he has in leads, he simply is going to have to look older. If he continues to look so boyish, he'll end up playing either lots of [good and bad] supporting roles like Mickey Rooney did, who was very little and looked like a boy for decades. Although he became famous as a child star, Rooney was considered a very good actor, really, but his looks limited him. He played some good roles through his career, but they were almost invariably supporting roles. (But, heavens, wouldn't Elijah Wood be great as Mi Taylor in National Velvet -- but again, that's a supporting not a lead role.) I am also thinking of the career of Anthony Perkins. He was tall and gangly, but he had a beautiful face and looked like a sensitive-faced youth for an awfully long time. I loved Perkins in his few romantic leads, watching his films in rerun on TV as a girl, but I don't think any of them were big hits. In fact, I think only Psycho was a big hit. But he was always respected as a solid, sensitive, nuanced actor. He tended to play odd roles, usually introverts -- whether wicked (like Norman Bates in Psycho) or kindlier ones. He often played someone who said more through his eyes and body language than through his lines.

Your other point, that reviewers ought to see films more than once before they review is born out by that "second thoughts" Ebert wrote (posted on a previous page) about seeing EEI for the second time. It certainly has always helped me better understand and appreciate a film. However, considering their schedules and the push to get a review to the press the minute a film is released, I doubt that reviewers will ever make a practice out of re-watching a film.

Most films don't need more than one viewing to make their impression, anyway. They shouldn't have to, really, anymore than reviewers of books should have to read them more than once to write a fair review. Rereadings and reviewings enrich appreciation of books and films, making them "favourites," but whether a work is good or not, ought to be adequately perceivable from the initial reading or viewing. They are writing reviews of books and films for non-professional readers and viewers, few of whom will go to see a film or read a book more than once. I'm one of the worst people I know for repeat viewing and reading, so I can't go by my own practices, LOL. My sister, for example, is the exact opposite. She is massively better-read than I am and has seen uncountably more films. But she almost never reads a book or watches a film more than once, even if she loved it. I can't imagine not wanting to revisit the things I have loved. Over and over. And over. But I think there are more people like her than like me.

LotR fans, however, by the very nature of their fandom (that is, loving a classic), seem to be very much "repeat" viewers and readers. :rolleyes: :D

ETA:

tg, we simul-posted. Repeat viewing helped me love Rotk. I was terribly disappointed in it and actually disliked it intensely on first viewing (no, I had not disliked the other two on first viewing; I had loved them, faults and all). I only went again to take my daughter (whom I had promised). But I am sure I would have seen it again, eventually, simply because I had so much invested in the whole project, emotionally and imaginatively. But which professional reviewers are so invested in a film that they would make themselves go back and re-watch a film they didn't like the first time?

~ Mechtild

Eek -- suddenly I'm behind and not likely to catch up for awhile. However, I did notice some discussion of his glasses for the shoot on the cover of LIFE, and I wanted to mention that they are a prop; there are no lenses in them. Also, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to learn that that shot is actually an homage to this one:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/bunniebugs/misc/B0000009OU.jpg

...though in that case, the glasses are his own. ;-)

In view of the fact that Elijah is possibly even more music nut than photography nut, I tend to think you are right, Bunnie ;).

Repeat viewing helped me love Rotk. I was terribly disappointed in it and actually disliked it intensely on first viewing (no, I had not disliked the other two on first viewing; I had loved them, faults and all).

Mech, I took the day off work and planned to see ROTK twice because I knew the first viewing would have some disappointments in it. Because the first time I saw TTT, I was a little upset, then as I watched it again and lurked in many online discussions, I grew to love it. So with ROTK, I had my plan. And it worked great - on the 2nd viewing I was ready for the parts that bothered me. I ended up seeing both TTT and ROTK 12 times in the theater (after see FOTR only twice).

BunnieBugs and Whiteling: Ah, but perhaps you are both right.

The cover photo featuring EW in the glasses does more clearly recall the Elvis Costello shot you posted, Bunnie....

http://img.timeinc.net/Life/images/life_cover_091605.jpg


But the shot from the interior story (from the LIFE supplement) that you used to make your comparison, Whiteling, was quite different looking and evoked the Bresson you posted very well, I thought.

~ Mechtild


ETA:
Linwë, I did love TTT right away, although particular scenes made me roll my eyes or even apalled me. But I came away from RotK thinking it was a failure; a disaster, grossly overblown and incredifly sloppily put together, with scenery-chewing acting by almost everyone -- especially Sam and Frodo (can you believe I could have thought that about performances I so came to love????). But my reaction sprang mostly from the fact that it was so much not what I expected and hoped for (even though I had read all the spoilers!!). On the second viewing I warmed to it. After the third, I was in love. I saw it even more times than you. *blush*

:)

Note the Friday Sept. 16 LIFE Magazine newspaper supplement featuring Elijah Wood (cover posted above):

As of this moment, I have two extra copies of this (I gleaned some more extras from the neighbours).

If anyone would like one, I would be happy to send it. Please PM me. I would hate to see any of them "go to waste." :cool:

I do have a few more, but I have already offered them to other EW friends. However, they may already have it, or don't want one. Once I have heard back from them all, I will post here, if I have any others left.

~ Mechtild

I saw an A&E biography about Jodie Foster last night. She deliberately walked away from her career in her late teens to go to Yale; was pretty much resigned to her career being over. She had to work hard in her 20's to get established as an adult actor.

There are similarities: She's always been a "natural". I remember being impressed by her in appearances in TV shows (Daniel Boone, Gunsmoke, Ironside, etc.) because although she was a very pretty little girl, she didn't act like the other pretty little girls on TV. She still isn't movie star beautiful - not the classic movie star looks, like someone else we know. She's done unusual roles of different kins. She didn't become a "big star" until her mid-late 20's.

She was compared to Bette Davis, which I think is a good comparison. Davis could be everything from ugly to unbelievably sexy.

Elijah is picking unusual, somewhat controversial roles. I think he'll be fine.

~grumpy

Zkgrumpy...
It's nice to see you in here again..I know you did a drive-by posting a while ago, but we haven't really seen you in ages !!"
Have you been bogged down by RL, and are things easing up now ?
I do hope so...

For anyone this side of the Atlantic...here are the details for the BFI Film Festival, featuring "Everything is Illuminated", showing on November 1st and 3rd, for two special screenings in London...a whole month earlier than the general release date ( December 9th )

I have signed up for their newsletter and their website is here :-

BFI Film Festival (http://www.lff.org.uk/index.php)

TG - I know it's not the best of times for you at the moment, but as we're around 45 minutes into the 18th of September here in the UK, I'll wish you HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I thought I'd send you a little Elijah goodness in the form of CASEY (http://www.imag.us/x/blossom/TG.gif)

Hugs and :k to you!

The reviews for EII are coming in, and they're not all good, are they? Some are less than enthusiastic about EW's performance, whilst raving about Eugene Hutz. Yet there are those who have good things to say of TOL:

Sharpe'sGirl - Thanks for posting those two very positive quotes.

Here are a couple more:

This is the second film with Wood to be released recently and although they both take place in Europe, they could not be more different. Behind giant lenses in the glasses he wears the entire film; Wood's eyes are magnified a great deal. This works well as he is playing a character who observes more than anything else. Glasses aside, Wood still seems more comfortable in this role than as a tough American tourist in Green Street Hooligans. There is a peaceful believability to the way Wood moves throughout the scenes, as well as a deep sadness which cannot and should not fully be explained. It is a melancholic sadness which fills the film to the last frame, although it is also one that is easy understood even when it cannot be explained. This is where Illuminated truly is a success.

Ryan Izay - from: http://www.thezreview.co.uk/reviews/e/everythingisilluminated.htm

And this...

With brilliant cinematography by Matthew Libatique and sustained performances from the two leads—Elijah Wood, marvellously still as the nebbish Foer, and Gogol Bordello front man Eugene Hutz, gloriously itchy as Alexi—the film may be inconsistent and odd, but it, like the novel, slowly earns your trust.

by Logan Hill, New York Magazine
from: http://www.metronewyork.com/movies/listings/rv_44769.htm

Achila and Pelagia - I'm looking forward to reading your EII reports.

Shelbyshire 'Somewhere In Time' is one of my old favourites. As well as being a lovely film, it also introduced me to Rachmaninov's wonderful music! :)

TGShaw...

May I be the one of the first to wish you

A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v449/wendylady1/Elijah/Elijah1.jpg
Oh look who's here...someone to see you Tg..

May the coming year be a little happier than this last one, for you...

TG, after Blossom's and Wendy's wonderful contributions I thought you might like a little reference to Mumbles :) ---


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


Happy Birthday, TG!
I'm sending you many good thoughts :k

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TG

Hope it will be a good one for you,,,you need it !!!!

My thoughts are with you,,,BIG HUG !!!!!

WOOD

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TG! :D

http://foolish-desires.net/anton/elwood122.JPG

Hope the coming year will be better than the previous

Happy Birthday, TG! :k :k :k

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

Because you are so special to the Faculty I've decided to splurge, and enroll you in the Patrick Clubtm; a different Patricktm every other month will arrive at your driverside window to disrupt your ordinary life in hilarious ways. (Sorry, I couldn't get you Angsty Patricktm; he only came in the Deluxe Patricktm Assortment, and that was more than I could spring for this year!)

Huge HUGS,
honey!

Happy birthday, tg!!!!



Look whose coming over to receive his mathom...! :)



Make-up technician Fangirlia Brown helps Frodo look his best for the birthday festivities....


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v382/mechtild/Frodofilming.jpg


~ Mechtild

Elijah, Billy, and Sean arrive for the celebration.
Choosing seats with the best view, they patiently wait
for the guest of honor, tgshaw, to arrive.
Some time later, Elijah is getting anxious.

“Billy, are you sure you got the time right? I would
never want to miss wishing Trudy a Happy Birthday!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Shelbyshire/tg4.jpg


Happy Birthday, tgshaw!

And, yes, Frodo insisted on coming over to The Faculty
to wish you the best for the coming year!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Shelbyshire/tg1.jpg

ETA: Mechtild, we both had the squire in mind this
morning! :)
After the party today, can anyone give me a quick
photobucket 101 procedure on how to reduce the size of
pictures when posting them here? Thanks! Continue on
with the party. I love birthdays here!! :k

He knows you are there and wants to say Hello and Happy birthday! :k as I do.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/billiep/wave.jpg
all the best to you,
saile

Happy Birthday, tg!

Imagine my surprise on opening my newspaper on Friday morning! It compensated a little bit for being Faculty-deprived.

TTT is on the WB network in High-Def tonight. (Little, tiny swoon for Pippin's scarf, Elven cloaks, and Frodo's shirt.)

C4

Karen Durbin, film critic for Elle magazine interviewed Liev and here are few quotes:
Q. Elijah Wood is so dewy that I like him best when he's playing elves or a bad guy. But you use him so well. I loved the way those thick glasses he wears turn his starry blue eyes into a running joke.
A. Oh good - those glasses were my idea. Elijah looks like a fawn, and you want to pick him up and hold him and make sure that he's O.K. And I wanted some of that. But at the same time there's this very disconnected, intellectual person functioning behind that physiognomy, and the face doesn't always hook up with the thought. And then, of course, you're seeing the story through his eyes.
Taken out of context I should clarify that this is a good review and she liked the film and Elijah. She obviously is not an ardent Elijah fan since she thinks he's an ????elf????
But I thought it gave insight into Liev's direction and interpretation of Elijah/Jonathan. "USE HIM WELL". It will be interesting to SEE this film.

Regardless of this film, I think Elijah has many years ahead of him in the motion picture business. Not everyone appreciates him or his talent. But to expect a nation(U.S.) and some parts of the world that think McDonald's is good fare to be captivated by him or his work.....unrealistic I guess. Their loss IMVHO.

saile
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/18/movies/18durb.html?pagewanted=print

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TG!


Many happy returns of the day! :)

Saile, I was about to post the same quote from that interview with Liev. Elf indeed. Clearly she didn't see LoTR...

Am loving all the recent pix stemming from the various premieres. Can't wait to see EII.

Happy birthday, TG! Hope you're having a lovely day!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v32/bunniebugs/Elijah/doodle.jpg

Nenya pops her head round the door of the Lounge............looking to see if there's nice comfy sofa, and as there is, she settles down and puts her feet up! Kinda hoping for a little cheesecake to show up soon along with a nice cup of tea (oh.,wait, that's the other place, isn't it.....?).

So where is everybody? Perhaps you're in the closet hiding from the aliens! (I'm not, honest......even if the US government thinks I am!)

I guess it's a lovely day outside but I just wanted to join everyone in wishing tgshaw a really great birthday (don't know how to do pictures yet so will just have to settle for this :k ). I feel like I know so many of you as I have been lurking here forever but didn't have the courage to say hi or even wave. I've always loved TG's comments so I really wanted to say a big happy birthday on this day especially.

Like most of you, I'm a bit surprised by my Elijah fandom- but what the hey, he's awfully cute and smart with it. A good soul and a good heart in a good body with a good brain. Why, it's no wonder we like him!!

So this was just a hello, will be back later to post my thoughts on GSH and EII - it's been a good movie weekend! There are some advantages to living in the Big Apple!

Bye for now,
Nenya!
:cool:

PS Can I be a complete pest and ask if someone could tell me how to insert pictures - I clicked on the image "mountain" in the text box but then it seemed to want me to insert a hyperlink? :confused:
I'd like to post a birthday present for TG

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/Spinmagazine.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/Birthday-Fireworks.jpg

Woo hoo! Thanks to Saile for her PM: Photobucket's surprisingly easy to use :)

http://overthebrandywine.com/birthdays/tg05b.jpg

http://overthebrandywine.com/birthdays/tg05merge.jpg



P.S. Welcome Nenya! I'm not really a regular here, I'm just a fan of Elijah's Frodo and of tg. There's an awfully big bunch of really nice people who post here, nice of you to come out of lurkdom and join them. :)


.

The guests begin to arrive...

Happy

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/mariole/avaloncar.jpg

Birthday

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/mariole/TheWar-Stucar.jpg

Trudy

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/mariole/jones.jpg

EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED
Random Notes from Achila and Pelagia

Apologies for not posting this sooner! We were both so tired after the screening on Thursday night, and then we were away ("down the Shore") for the weekend. Here are some comments, not organized in any particular way. We're not saying too much, partly because of time limitations, but also because many of you will soon (we hope!) be able to see this for yourselves.

Elijah is very good, of course; but there is definitely a risk of "The One Expression" accusations. His character is so uptight and self-contained that his range of expression is necessarily limited - but there IS a range! (We were delighted to see that Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weeklyapparently "gets" Elijah's performance.)

Achila's favorite Jonathan moment: The scene with the potato, at that dreadful hotel where the travelers stay.

Pelagia's favorite Jonathan moment: Jonathan putting his glasses back on, after the old woman has taken them off.

Honorable mention (for both of us): "The Nod," at the airport when Jonathan returns home.

Even the magnifying spectacles (which really do make The Eyes rather alarming) can't hide The Profile (of which there are many satisfying shots) or The Chin, or The Throat.

Most of the film is very faithful to the book, with large chunks of dialogue taken directly from the original. However, there are several major changes regarding what actually happened at Trachimbrod.

Eugene is very good - hilarious (as was to be expected), but also moving.

Sammy Davis Junior Junior is delightful. We each want one!

One thing that occurred to us: This is not really Jonathan's story. It's Alex's, and his grandfather's. Jonathan is searching for answers, but his companions end up learning more about themselves and their past than he does. He is mainly an observer, and a catalyst.

Audience reaction was very favorable, on the whole. There was much aughter during the first half, some crying during the second, and applause at the end. One person (overheard while we were leaving the theater) said it was one of the best movies she had seen.

(We'll be happy to answer questions!)

TG!! Happy, happy birthday! I'll find a suitable picture for you tomorrow, when I have more energy. In the meantime, you have lots of lovely things from other people to help you celebrate.

Saile, thanks for posting that bit from the Liev Scrhreiber interview. This bit:
Elijah looks like a fawn, and you want to pick him up and hold him and make sure that he's O.K. sounds like Mr. Schreiber could be explaining the reams of Hurt/Comfort Frodo fan-fic thats been written! ;)

ETA: But it's this part that really intrigues me, and that I'd like to sit down to coffee with:
But at the same time there's this very disconnected, intellectual person functioning behind that physiognomy, and the face doesn't always hook up with the thought.

Nenya, welcome out of lurkdom! Would love to hear what you think of both GSH and EII, as one who has seen them each very recently.

Pelagia, yours and Achila's notes on EII are most appreciated. This part sounds very true to the book: One thing that occurred to us: This is not really Jonathan's story. It's Alex's, and his grandfather's. Jonathan is searching for answers, but his companions end up learning more about themselves and their past than he does. He is mainly an observer, and a catalyst. I'm glad for that!

honey!

Welcome Nenya! I've seen you lurking. :) You and I have something in common. ;)


And the happiest of birthdays to TG, Dean of the Faculty. :k :k Someone special has a present for you. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v389/carrolb/TGcopy.jpg

So this was just a hello, will be back later to post my thoughts on GSH and EII Bye for now,
Nenya!
Oh please a review! Oh and WELCOME!!!! And Pelagia and Achila ...more please. I won't have a chance to see it before October 12th. I know the date exactly because it does not open until Ocotober 7 and I will be out of town until the 12th. It will be First on my list for the 12th. From a Faculty perspective and one that knows Elijah's acting...well........anything else you want to share....Did you like the movie? Disappointed with the directing? So how Was Elijah???? Eager and inquiring minds :z: are dying to know.
saile

*No spoilers*

Dear Faculty Members,

Just a quick word to assure you that, despite any negative reviews that have been surfacing, EII seems to be doing quite well in the theater. I live about a block away from where it opened in New York (Lincoln Theater) this weekend - and nearly all the showings have been selling out. That has to count for something!

(And yes, I did go see it, and loved it, and am sure that it will get EVEN BETTER with repeat viewings.)

Best,
rrappelle

Happy Birthday, TG --- phew -- almost missed it so I dashed right in here....

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/aquila0212/cap267.jpg


As for EiI, yes, I did like it. I found the ending very moving and I kind of felt that as a Jew, it resonated for me in an especially personal way. That being said, I also thought that it would be affecting for anyone else as well.

I felt before and still do that Jonathan's look is a bit offputting. It keeps you at a distance and perhaps this' exactly what it's designed to do. You never know quite what's happening in those big eyes, but Jonathan carries his sadness like a mantle, and it's that quality that the look emphasizes. You can imagine him having the same conversation that little Willard had with Thora Birch's character in Paradise, that he didn't have many friends and you pick up that sense that he's basically a lonely kid. Here's a tiny little spoiler -- you get to see Jonathan as a child at one point, and he had this same look his whole life. His personality is buttoned-down, has always been so, and you long to know why. It definitely leaves you wanting to know about him and his life -- he's obviously more internal than external, more than just a collection of junk hanging on a wall and there's a bit of frustration with not being told the whole story.

This is a subtle, subtle performance, perhaps one of Elijah's most. It's a delicate balancing act between being so still that nothing's going on, and giving an intriguing hint of the interior life. Sometimes he nails it, other times, not so much (and in these instances, it's the script that fails him, I believe) but it's a fascinating role for him, and I bet he learned a great deal, both from Liev and from the experience.

Happy Birthday TG

I hope you had a wonderful day :)


http://www.theweddingguide-noco.com/images/ExquisiteSpring.jpg

Happy Birthday, TG! May there be many more, filled with TOL goodness and Faculty research!

chattegrise

------------------------------------------------------------
Three candles shine from a noble heart:
Justice with mercy, truth with compassion, excellence with humility.

I'll make this short and sweet...

:) :) :) :) :)

Happy Birthday, tg!

:) :) :) :) :)

SandCastles

I'm not sure if I should just have edited my previous post but it was taking up quite a bit of space and the subject's changed!!

Everything is Illuminated :)

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/photo_06_hiresEII.jpg http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/EIIElijah.jpg

Saw this in that Lincoln Center Loews that was previously mentioned - it was so full our group of 4 had to split up to get good seats. The film was very much appreciated by all of our group, and we heard lots of admiring comments from other theatergoers as we left - quite a few folks sat through the credits, which reminded me of LOTR! :) Two of our group were Jewish, and they said the search for family roots and the outcome of that personal search in this film were especially poignant for them. The film also really affected the two Gentiles deeply as well, though, I must say.

WARNING - some minor spoilers ahead for those who really don't want to risk it!
On to the movie:
I'm going to post generalities because I hope that all Faculty-ites will eventually get the chance to see this movie - if folks from foreign lands don't think they'll get to see this anytime soon and are champing at the bit, I will be willing to tell you as much as you want if you PM me!

LOVED the movie - it is true that Liev took a big risk trying to adapt this book, and in my opinion, he has handled it really well. Truthfully the book itself is unfilmable, but he has taken the bit I liked best, the present-day road trip, and made it flow both forwards in terms of the journey that all of the characters are on (even the dog!!), and then backwards into a very tender backstory in which all the characters find themselves. Just where that takes one character was truly shocking (I've only gotten partway through the book, and hadn't got to that bit yet). I gather it has been changed somewhat from the book, not to everyone's delight or approval. You will laugh at the beginning with Alex's murdering of the English language, Jonathan's awkwardness and the crazy antics of Sammy Davis Junior Junior! Then you will enjoy the road trip. I visited the Ukraine in the early 90's and the Czech Republic does a good stand-in job - I especially remember the green rolling fields, the crops waving in the breeze and the utter hopelessness of urban life - the apartment I stayed in was pretty reminiscent of the 5 star hotel (!)the EII protagonists stayed in, as was the delectable cuisine! And then the story deepens quite suddenly as the road trip nears its end. It gradually dawns on you that there is more going on here than you thought.

Here the cinematography is truly stunning - Lista's house in the middle of the field of sunflowers is so symbolically beautiful and the interior so symbolically fascinating that it will take your breath away. Then the walk/ride to Trachimbrod and the resolution that no-one expects - that what happened is really the story of the two guides as much as it is of Jonathan's family, linking Alex and Jonathan in an unexpected and deeply touching way. I really appreciated the acting at this point, both EW and Eugene do an incredible job.

When Jonathan returns, the scenes at the airport are really fascinating - you'll be puzzled at first, and then you'll realize what Liev is getting at - very impressive little touch at the end there.

My favourite bit - when Jonathan hands the grandfather the bag of soil taken by the riverbank - it kind of brings it all together for me.

I loved the acting in this, I felt all the actors including the canine one were excellent - although like Ebert & Roeper I didn't much like the glasses on Elijah - his eyes are so huge anyway that the magnification was actually rather distracting. At first I found him rather too still, awkward and stiff, and am beginning to wonder if Elijah didn't need to bring a little more of his own uniqueness to this role - I think I'm hearing a little bit too much of how he wanted to enact the director's vision, and while this is clearly how Liev wanted him (ugh, that awful haircut, suit, button-down shirt and knitted tie), I initially found the character to be a caricature. But when the story deepened that all changed. I ended up loving his performance and admired the restraint he showed, and it is to his credit that you end up by having such deep empathy for a rather unlovable character.

I think the movie will do well, better than the current crop of mixed critic's reviews would suggest. I intend to go see it again, because I think there are layers and subtleties that I missed. I don't know what it will do for Elijah's career but he certainly appears to be going for varied in his roles. I love his experimentation , but I also hope that he gets a challenging and meaty role in the hands of an experienced director that he admires in the near future :z:

I'll do GSH tomorrow when I'm a bit more awake ;)

PS Does anyone know how to resize pictures? These are definitely a bit too huge so I hope you'll forgive the newbie.

WELCOME rrappelle and thanks for the observation. And thank you Nenya, Achila and Pelagia for the Faculty reviews. :k . Just what I wanted to know. Now I will be able to wait until the 12th if not patiently atleast without going crazy! :lol:
saile :D

Nenya, thanks for the review of EII, and your able job of keeping it vague enough not to spoil. I'll look forward to your GSH review!

I don't know about anybody else, but those pics aren't so big that I have to scroll sideways, and so not TOO big at all! :D

honey!

http://www.magical-charms.net/elijah/images/happybirthday%20copy.jpg

BELATED BIRTHDAY WISHES TO TG! :k

Welcome to Nenya and rrappelle! :)

A belated Happy Birthday to TG

Welcome Nenya and rrapelle. Thank you and Achila and Pelagia for the reviews of EII and for keeping them free of spoilers.

Thanks also to all those who have posted links or references to photos and clips over the last couple of weeks or so which I have been saving assiduously in preparation for the lean times ahead. There is one clip which I don't think has been mentioned here (forgive me if it has and I have missed it), sixteen minutes long in which Elijah is answering questions from the press on GSH and EII. A real keeper IMHO. It's at http://www.celebritycloseups.com/interviews/actors/EIIH-ElijahWood.htm

Thanks, Lady Wendy for the dates for EII at the London Film Festival. The Times last week said that Times readers will be able to book at www.timesonline.co.uk from 1 October, four days earlier than the LFF site.

*WELCOME* to Nenya and Rrappelle - I'm sorry, no cheesecake in here ;), but I'm glad you found the comfy sofa. Thanks for the comments and reviews! :)
don't know about anybody else, but those pics aren't so big that I have to scroll sideways, and so not TOO big at all!
What she said. I don't like to use a magnifying glass when I'm doing picture squee-, erm, I mean research. :p

Pelagia and Achila, I enjoyed your comments on EII very much. I'm trying to stay spoiler-free, but unfortunately I have no clue till when I have to remain in that state. No release date for Germany in sight. :rolleyes:

Brummie, many thanks for that link to the clip. I didn't know it so far. (ETA: Very interesting. He said he has roots in Estern Europe and in Germany, presumably.... if he ever is going on Heritage Tour over here, I'll volunteer to be his Alex(a) :D!)

Wow! :eek: (in a good way :p )! Thanks to one and all for the birthday greetings, which I'm sure everyone enjoyed as much as I did -- That's the best thing about this kind of gift: sharing doesn't decrease them.

One problem with having my birthday fall on a Sunday this year was that I had to wait til I got to the office today to see some of the pictures. Even after refreshing a half-dozen times, my poor dial-up connection couldn't handle all the pics on page 32, so a lot of them remained red x's. Including Whiteling's offering :lol: -- I'm guessing that one will get cropped by some people, although... :confused: . And your lovely gif(t) Blossom - Would I sound like a total desktop-publishing geek if I mentioned that Monotype Corsiva is probably my favorite font? And, oh, yeah, there were some nice pictures of some guy in there, too. ;)

Thanks to Ezzie and Lyric for the cakes too beautiful to eat, to those who posted pictures of Elijah both in and out of [whichever] character, and to all who dropped in with greetings. Bohemian and chattegrise, wonderful to "see" you again, and so nice to have SandCastles and Ezzie come to visit. Thanks, as always, to [takes b-i-i-g breath] Lady Wendy, wood, honey, Mechtild, shelbyshire, saile, ceefour, peaceweaver, Bunnie, Narya, Achila, Quicksilver, Brummie, Mariole and Pelagia for their greetings. :k A special welcome to rrappelle (please don't stop at one post!) and Nenya. I hope I didn't miss anyone.

I purposely ended with Nenya, because I have to comment on that candid photo of Elijah in the car. The photographer (do you know who it was?) said in the caption that "Elijah was in costume but he wasn't in character." That just made me :) , as it's something that can be more true of Elijah than just about any other actor -- Being in costume and in character are two completely different things, as we learned so well with Frodo. And it's a lovely photo portrait, as well.

I still haven't had time to look at most of the things linked to in the thread, and don't know when I will (slow download at home and no audio at work make film clips especially difficult), but it's nice to know there's so much out there. BTW, I still have a copy of the Life magazine issue that hasn't been claimed--so if anyone wants it, let me know.


...His personality is buttoned-down, has always been so, and you long to know why. It definitely leaves you wanting to know about him and his life -- he's obviously more internal than external, more than just a collection of junk hanging on a wall and there's a bit of frustration with not being told the whole story.
Hmmm... Why do I get the feeling there's another wave of Elwood-related fanfic in the making? ;) Remember you heard it here first. :haha:

Maybe that's a good place to stop. Except to say I've been working on some screencaps of Stu. My, but he was a nice-looking young man (said as a proud honorary auntie :p ).

GOOD TO SEE YOU TG!!!! :k :k

the wishes was just fun to write !!!!!! ;)
you deserve them all!!! :k

by the way is anybody in here herd from Ylla ?????

havent heard a word from her in ages !!!!!
miss her!!! :(

WOOD

Noticed a funny thing when I went to see GSH, having arrived early enough to watch most of the audience on their way in.

There was a "bring your friends" contest, so a fair portion of the audience arrived in groups of 6-8.

Despite the hour (7:30 on a Friday), not many people arrived in obvious couples - I guess the previews made the film not look like a "date flick."

Close to half the audience arrived one at a time.

Many of the young women attending on their own were distinctly (and distinctively)... pierced and tattooed. Which I thought was curious.

Many of the young men attending on their own, in contrast, were wearing... messenger bags. Which I thought was charming!

Probably not an intentional homage to Casey, but still maybe something to amuse The Faculty.

OH NO ... NO, NO, NO!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/ShirelingUK/biglij2resize.jpg

I AM ... I'M LATE FOR ANOTHER BIRTHDAY!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/ShirelingUK/biglijresized.jpg

BUT TG ~ I HOPE IT WAS A LOVELY ONE :)


Thanks to one and all for the birthday greetings, which I'm sure everyone enjoyed as much as I did -- That's the best thing about this kind of gift: sharing doesn't decrease them.

I so agree TG - and I'm sure we all especially enjoyed ACHILA's 'cheeky' pic :D

Since last posting here, I've had another audience with His Lijness at ELF and have seen GS(H) which I thoroughly enjoyed, far more than I really expected to. My enforced lurkery over the past few weeks has been caused by two things ~ being unable to do my own thing on the computer at work due to a change of office (though hopefully this situation might improve soon) and trying to cope with the deluge since my return from ELF - a deluge of the nicest kind, in the form of pics, videos, reports etc from Elijah's many doings - its been exhausting just trying to keep up with him :eek:

I've had a quick read through the posts - sorry for any birthdays I've missed and hello to the new members - I especially wanted to read Honey's account of her meeting with Lij in NY. It was a lovely pic you had taken with him Honey and your report was very interesting. I'm sorry to hear that in some ways the meeting was a bit disappointing. I'm quite sure tiredness had a lot to do with it, and I believe he finds the publicity events for his new films quite nerve-wracking. I read accounts of people who saw him at Edinburgh and they said he seemed extremely nervous and tense. It must be a very different situation for him compared to the LOTR publicity rounds where he was surrounded by the friends he had spent so long working with and felt so comfortable with. I thought this comment by BUNNIEBUGS was spot-on:

But I look at the photos and footage from the conventions, and he is like a whole different man, relaxed and outgoing and appearing to be having a great time himself... It seems to me that that was almost a mini "vacation" in the middle of the grueling press junket. How lovely that he feels at home enough in that sort of situation to just let go and enjoy himself!

I believe LOTR events are a comfort zone for him ~ he has nothing to prove, he knows everyone there loves the films and he is amongst friends. At ELF he was a delight, just as Bunnie says, relaxed, happy and thoroughly enjoying himself. I know some people don't like the idea of cons - but I believe that at LOTR cons you see Lij at his best :)

BLOSSOM ~ noticed a couple of your lovely gifs during my quick journey through the posts - I particularly liked the one where Lij is wearing a dark suit and tie and we get a quick glimpse of the furrowed brow. I do love that furrowed brow ...

More random thoughts on EII:

I liked the movie very much. I definitely need to see it again, in part because I was so distracted by the divergences from the book in the second half that I think I missed a lot. (My brain was frantically trying to remember the book, instead of focusing on what was happening on the screen.)

Achila wrote, of Jonathan: . . . you pick up that sense that he's basically a lonely kid And probably a very shy one. In the scene where the old woman takes off his glasses, he nearly flinches at her touch. [Achila thinks I need a spoiler warning here] The only character toward whom he is able to show affection is (at the end) the dog. (IIRC correctly, there wasn't that much of a rapprochement between them in the book.) [end of possible spoiler]

Achila also wrote: Sometimes he nails it, other times, not so much (and in these instances, it's the script that fails him, I believe) More likely the direction, I suspect. Although I make no claim to be any great judge of directors, I think Liev did a good job, especially for a first timer working with difficult material. But if Jonathan is sometimes still to the point of catatonia, I assume it’s because that’s what Liev asked Elijah for. (I wrote this before reading Nenya’s review, and I see that she says something similar.)

Moreover, Elijah’s physical expressiveness is limited by the fact that the @#$**!! glasses cover so much of his face! It does make Eyebrow Acting difficult to analyze.

I must confess that, as I said to Achila, EII is obviously a better movie than TMFKAH, but Elijah is more “fun” to watch in TMFKAH, since he has a wider range of things to do (not to mention the fact that he looks absolutely gorgeous most of the time).

Pelagia, you should add a little spoiler warning to your post, re: the dog :)

And no, this wasn't a gratuitous post just to get my 900th, although it is! :cool:

I did find one interesting Lij site today -- one similar to our dear TG's with performance critiques, tho not anywhere as comprehensive: http://www.dancaster.com/ejw/

Belatedly for TG:

"Galadriel may be able to read my mind, but sometimes I think you know more about me than I do!"

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/Lalage/lorienfarewell.jpg

Thanks for all of your thoughts and other offerings here at KD, and for your ever-evolving website

shireling, thanks for the birthday greeting, and the pictorial evidence that Elijah still "has it" for putting shirts and ties together to good effect. :p It's also very nice to hear that he seems comfortable and among friends at LotR events. I hope he's still attending and enjoying himself many years from now (hey, it's been 50 years -- we're not going anywhere :haha: ).

Pelagia -- :D Of course, I claim applicability when I'm dissecting any of Elijah's performances. He's said that he prefers to leave any interpretation to the viewers, so I'm happy to take him up on it. :p [Wasn't sure if dissect had one or two s's, so I checked the dictionary. Definition 2 was "to analyze and interpret minutely."] Which leads to the site Achila linked to, right? Somewhat different from what I do on mine, since it tends to give a detailed discussion of a movie all the way through with only a few pictures, instead of picking particular scenes and using lots of pictures. An interesting site -- I need to find some more complementary sites to link to, so I may use that one. The warning about some pages containing spoilers is true, though. I don't worry too much about spoilers, but the discussion of TMFKAH started getting so detailed that I stopped reading it.

Happy Birthday Trudy...sorry I'm late...RL has kept me quite busy lately!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/ylla/0dcb2982.jpg

The boys dropped by to tell you that you do indeed ROCK

And Wood...I'm so sorry if I've been an absent friend as of late...I've been co-parenting my eleven yr. old grandaughter and I'm afraid parenting a pre-teen is more tiring than I remember :rolleyes: or maybe parenting is just more tiring at my age ;)

I'm going to be taking a little vaca...or holiday for those of you in the UK ,starting this Friday...looking forward to seeing GSH with Achila,Pelagia and Ceefour(who I'm anxious to finally meet :D )on Sat. We were hoping to catch EiI this weekend also...but wouldn't you know it...it's in Boston this weekend and not in Philly until the following weekend :rolleyes: I've been trying to find out where it's playing in Boston ,as it opens on Friday here...but everywhere I search I can't get an exact location..as I don't like travelling into the city alone..I've found a friend willing to take the "T" in with me and see the film...and I can't get the info for where the heck it's gonna be playing :mad: So wish me luck in my search!

and last but not least:

"Dear Mr. Wood: Please start making movies that get larger distributions...I know you like indie films and so do I ...but please....You are making me crazy darlin' "(end of plea :D )

Back to Lurk mode... :k :k :k

Edit to Add: A Warm Welcome to Our New Members!!!

Wow! (in a good way )! Thanks to one and all for the birthday greetings, which I'm sure everyone enjoyed as much as I did (...).
Boy, is that the truth! tg, you have inspired a great turnout, and your "gifts" have been wonderful to view. I want to take the opportunity to stand on my party chair (which still hasn't been put away), waving a piece of lyric's cake around to thank you again for all you contribute -- here and at your site.

Greetings and welcome to rrappelle and Nenya! :) I mostly lurk here but have been more active lately while EW's latest two films have been getting ready for release.

EII seems to be doing quite well in the theater. I live about a block away from where it opened in New York (Lincoln Theater) this weekend - and nearly all the showings have been selling out. That has to count for something!
Saw this in that Lincoln Center Loews that was previously mentioned - it was so full our group of 4 had to split up to get good seats. The film was very much appreciated by all of our group, and we heard lots of admiring comments from other theatergoers as we left - quite a few folks sat through the credits, which reminded me of LOTR!
These were very encouraging accounts. Thanks so much for reporting the good attendance, but also for your appreciative reviews. It sounds as though both of you live on the Upper Westside of Manhattan. (That was my neighbourhood a couple of decades ago; I loved living there.) Do you two happen to know each other in real life? , if you live near the Lincoln Center Lowes.

Brummie, I didn't have audio for a while but do now. I just watched/listened to that interview you linked above. That was really, really worth watching. Thanks so much for linking it. I especially liked hearing him talk about about his acting, working with first-time directors and why he doesn't resent being asked about Lord of the Rings. He said nothing substantially different, but I felt as though he elaborated a little bit more. And his manner was thoroughly engaging. :D

And, shireling, I just had to say I thought those two pics you just posted especially endearing. Awwww.... Are you going to be posting your own report of your latest sighting of His Heaven and Earthiness (who said that? Already I can't remember, but it was great!)? That is, I take it to mean you saw him at ELF again and are not referring to having seen him at it earlier?

wood, I'm glad to see a post from ylla, too! :k

~ Mechtild

Did you guys know that Liev won the Laterna Magica Prize for EiI at the Venice Film Festival?!

That's great!

There's a wonderful interview with Liev on today's Salon.com homepage.

Not just filmed but "Illuminated"
Sept. 20, 2005 | Liev Schreiber, 37, is among the most respected actors of his generation, with major roles on stage (he recently finished a run as Richard Roma in the Broadway production of "Glengarry Glen Ross," for which he won a Tony) and screen, where he's had savvy supporting roles in big movies such as "The Manchurian Candidate" (2004) and the "Scream" series, and memorable parts in a body of highly regarded smaller films, including "A Walk on the Moon" (1999), "Walking and Talking" (1996), "The Daytrippers" (1996) and "Party Girl" (1995).

But it wasn't until he became a director, Schreiber says, that he started caring about the critics. When I met to talk with him recently in New York, he noticed a local paper as we sat down.

"Oh, it's a review," he said darkly, and tossed it out of the way. "I never took things personally as an actor," he said. "I never took things personally at all, not until I started doing this."

"This" is his directorial debut, the film version of Jonathan Safran Foer's bestselling novel "Everything Is Illuminated." Schreiber's adaptation, which opened Friday, involves an American kid named Jonathan Safran Foer (Elijah Wood) who travels to the Ukraine to find his grandfather's hometown and the mysterious woman who saved his life during the Holocaust. A local, Alex (Eugene Hutz), and his own grandfather (Boris Leskin) shuttle Jonathan around the country, acting, respectively, as translator and driver. For the record, their dog (or, in the movie's parlance, their "officious seeing-eye bitch") is named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. Part of the charm of both the novel and the film is Alex's bizarre English: "I am dubbed Alex," he says, and that his grandfather found Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. at "the home for forgetful dogs."

But beneath the story's giddy humor is a serious meditation on culture, identity and memory -- issues that, Schreiber says, he has personally been grappling with.

Q: How did you end up choosing to adapt "Everything Is Illuminated" for your directorial debut?

My grandfather is an Eastern European immigrant from the Ukraine, and I was very, very close to him, and when he died in 1993 I started to write a lot about him, and eventually I began to develop the idea for a screenplay that was a story about an American who goes back to the Ukraine to find out about his heritage. And the structure of it was a road movie about a guy who gets involved with the mob, falls in love with a prostitute, and they rip him off and he ends up penniless, and that ultimately is what he decides it is to be Ukrainian. So I'm working on this piece and everything is going fine, and ... [the New Yorker publishes] a short story submitted by a guy named Jonathan Safran Foer, and it was called "The Very Rigid Search." It was a story about a road trip of a young man who goes to the Ukraine to find out about his heritage, and particularly his grandfather. And I was kind of blown away by the similarities between our two stories, and I guess what I was most impressed with, which was not as present in my own work, was his definitively Eastern European Jewish survivor sort of humor.

I met [Foer] and we talked about our grandfathers and talked about short-term memory and Eastern European culture ... and by the end of the night he agreed to let me adapt his short story, on the condition that I read the novel. He gave me the galleys that night, because the novel was unpublished. And I read the novel and was completely blown away by the quality of his writing, for such a young man to write with such maturity and humor and pathos. And basically it had the structure in place of a road movie, so it was just really a question of mining the novel I had read for the material I felt would be evocative in my structure. I finished the script a month and a half later; a week after that the book was published, and I opened the New York Times and there it was on the cover of the New York Times Book Review. And I realized that I was in for a ride.

Q: So as the novel became clearly popular, did it make things easier for you in terms of getting the film off the ground?

It was a double-edged sword. On one side it made it very easy to set up a deal. Here I was the accidental owner of a very valuable property. And the novel just seemed to grow and grow and grow in popularity. And that made my job easier in terms of setting up the deal. Of course it increased exponentially the pressure and anxiety I felt about adapting a novel that was so beloved by the public.

Q: But also people do have very strong feelings about that book and about Foer himself -- they either love him or they hate him.

Yes. I think the biggest anxiety for me in making this film -- and it only got exponentially worse as the book became more and more popular and more people read it -- but probably the biggest anxiety was the sense of responsibility I felt not only to Jonathan as a writer, but to my own family, because it's a story that's personally evocative for them, and of course for Jonathan's family as well. And that was crippling sometimes, that sense of responsibility and anxiety.

That's the nature of film: On one side of the coin it's a pragmatic, brutal kind of physical endeavor -- make the day, finish on time, do it with the money you've been allotted. And that's the reality of your day -- shoot the scene, pray it doesn't rain, hope that everything works, try to create an environment in which the actors can do their thing and still deliver the visual text that you're trying to deliver. You want to be almost emotionless to fulfill that, because it really is like a triathlon. And the more emotion and the more anxiety you feel the harder it is to get through the day. And when something doesn't go right, or if you think you haven't got it, to get caught up in the emotionality of "Christ, what's this going to do to my family? What's this going to do to Jonathan's family? What's this going to do to Jonathan and me?" -- that slows you down, stops you, and you just need to keep moving forward, and that was the hardest part.

My emotional responses to things as an actor are very useful, but as a director sometimes not so much.

Q: Did you consult with Foer when writing the screenplay, or did he pretty much just leave you to it?

He read every draft of the script that I wrote. I wanted him to write it with me. I love his writing, he has a truly unique sense of humor, and I had some of that from my own grandfather and it was built into me somewhere, but I just knew there were riches in Jonathan's brain that I wanted. But he felt pretty adamant that he had done his part, which was the book. But we spent an awful lot of time, before I started, talking about what kind of movies we liked, what kind of things we liked, and we talked about that cultural sense of humor and what it meant in a deeper context. He had been in Europe working on his second novel, and I had been living in Europe as an actor, and we talked a lot about stereotypes and clichés of the American character that we felt were hurtful to us, and part of what we both liked about "Illuminated" so much is that it offered up a different kind of American character, a vulnerable American character, someone who has flaws, someone who was open, someone who was awkward, and more importantly than anything, someone who was looking for his own heritage beyond the borders of his own country.

Q: It seems like it's much harder to win respect for a movie that's based on a book, because everyone's going to compare it to the book, and usually unfavorably. But in this case, I felt like the actors really looked and sounded like my idea of them in the novel. I've always thought of Jonathan Safran Foer as somewhat Elijah Wood-ish.

Good, I hope you write that, because I'm very proud of Elijah, and Elijah took a great risk to play this part. It's a hard part because it's such a stoic character, and it's so emotionless, at least at the beginning of the film. And part of the idea was to have somebody who was in a sense an empty vessel that would be filled with information over the course of the journey and then begin to emote. The characters are so vivid, and that's Jonathan's talent.

... Part of what makes a good film to me is when I'm transported to some place, and it seems like we had a really unique opportunity here with the Ukraine to take our audience to a place that was unfamiliar to them, which is in a sense what we were doing through our central character, Jonathan. I felt that it was very important that the culture and the characters and the location be as authentic as possible. That and the use of the Russian language -- as difficult an idea as that is to deal with, because nobody seems to like subtitled movies these days -- it was very important that we were being immersed in a foreign environment and that it was just as strange for us as it was for Jonathan. And to that end, there was no way I was going to use American actors who had to learn Ukrainian or Ukrainian dialects to play these characters.

The movie has nothing if not a deep sense of culture; it's about a cultural clash between East and West. I was trying to make the film feel more like an Eastern European film than an American film so that we could come down on their side, perhaps -- start on our side, and come down on their side. It's that kind of compassion that I think is evocative of the novel; you get a sense of a really broad sense of humor but at the same time you identify with them as not being really that different from us. And I think that was a real gift from Jonathan as a writer.

Part two--this is a bit long!


Q: I wonder if your experience making remakes -- "Hamlet" (2000), "Glengarry Glen Ross," "The Manchurian Candidate" -- may have come in handy with adapting a written work to film. I mean, in both cases, you're dealing with work that has had a previous life -- with the films and plays, other actors who have played these roles, and with the book, there's the reader's idea of what the characters look like.

Ah, you jumped on the remake thing, didn't you?

Q: Yes, I did!

Nice one! You know, approaching a story that's been done before, you don't do anything differently. The reality is that I don't know a story that hasn't been told before. How famous they are, how much people identify with them, that's something else. But I think that's the point of good stories, they have a way of repeating themselves. And if you are sincere about it, if you are personal, in other words you include yourself in the process, chances are other people will feel included because other people identify with you a lot more than you think they do. It's only when you try to be them, when you try to second-guess how they feel, that you risk missing the mark more often.

Q: Sure, but you still have to make these things your own, and you do seem to have a large amount of experience with that. So how do you specifically do it?

Well, for instance, I have a pathological memory problem, I always have, and I've been to doctors about it because it got really serious. At one point I was upstate at my house with my brother, and the telephone rang, and I had no idea where I was. I didn't even recognize my brother. I walked in the house, and by the time I picked up the phone I knew where I was. So I started going to doctors, I had CAT scans and MRIs, they checked me from head to foot and said there's nothing wrong with you. And it had happened to me months before when I was in high school, when I was playing football, and I thought it was a concussion. After a play I was lying in the field and thinking, where the hell am I? And after about 30 seconds I was back. They said to me, maybe you should go to therapy. So I went and after talking to this therapist for a period of three months, basically I came away with the conclusion that I just have a terrible memory! I don't remember my childhood, I don't remember a lot of things, I have flashes of things, but talking to my friends I've found that this isn't so uncommon.

So for me -- now I'm trying to get back to your question -- for me, if you believe a human being is a collage or a collection of memory and history, if that's part of what makes up our personalities and who we are, then you start to freak out a little bit that if you don't have a memory then you get a bit of an identity crisis. Which is OK if you're an actor, because every month you get a new script. But when my grandfather died in 1993, I started to panic a little bit that I was losing things that were important to me. And I remember when I turned 34 I looked in the mirror and thought my hair was thinning, and you know how you get your hair from your mother's father?

Q: Yes.

So I was thinking, was my grandfather bald when he died? And it flipped me out that the person I was closest to in the world, I couldn't remember if he had a bald spot when he died. And that was the beginning of the process of me writing about him, and that was the beginning of me being very concerned about my memory, and I started to collect things that would remind me of places and people. When I started to work on the movie, I had my assistant take Polaroids of the entire crew, and I would write their names on them because literally in a day I would forget everyone's name. So that was an element I gave to Jonathan, collecting things and putting them in Ziplock bags and creating this collage of artificial memory. And I think what moved me so much about the novel was that Jonathan was proposing, I felt, or what I interpreted because my big issue is memory, that a past lovingly imagined is as valuable as a past accurately recalled. And that was how I, as a writer and as a director, put my thing in the film.

In terms of acting, an example for me would be Eugene [Hutz], who I think is a fantastic natural performer, incredibly charismatic -- but Eugene's the frontman to a gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello, and Eugene's used to playing to 800 to 1,000 people, and his favorite actor is Charles Bronson. So Eugene, having never acted before in front of a camera, had all these ideas of what acting was, and the whole journey for me with Eugene was getting him to accept that he was Alex, and he didn't need to play Alex, he didn't need to go to the Yale School of Drama, all he needed to do was to trust who he was and how he would react to things. And then it was just a question of scale -- you're not playing to 800 people, you're playing to a camera that is 6 inches in front of your face. And once we had that he started to blossom. It was the same thing for every character. Your personal story, which no one knows, is what people are going to identify with. That emotion comes through on camera.

Q: The humor in the book version of "Illuminated" is largely in the language -- the goings-on are intensely serious, but then you have this comic voice narrating them. That type of voice-driven story usually adapts terribly to screen, but I liked that you retained lot of the humor by not only having Alex's voice-over narration, but also by transferring much of the quirkiness into the visual language of the film. For example, in contrasting the old and new Ukraine, you have a scene in which we see two old people sitting on a bench, but then the camera pans up and in the park behind them are all these young skateboarders. I'm sure there must have been directors who influenced those scenes.

I'm glad you noticed that. That was a big deal to me. I drew a lot of [those scenes] from the book, but I also drew a lot of them from my own investigations about culture. I started thinking about making this movie in the fall of 2001, and one of the things I was thinking of was that right after September 11, there was this window of compassion that I felt in this country. Remember when all the people were out on the Westside Highway with the signs? For the first time I felt there was an American identity, a sense of national pride. And I thought, well s**t, what does it mean to be American? And because I was working on "Illuminated" I was thinking that, in a sense, this is a country of grandchildren. Then this flag waving started to happen that I thought interrupted this sense of national pride that I was feeling.

I was very happy that we were working on Jonathan's book because I felt like here was a way that we could embrace culture and in a way that would be bridging cultural gaps and reaching out internationally. So for me it was important to find ways to illustrate that culture effectively. And I guess the models I had in Eastern Europe, because I had never been there before were [Nikita] Mikhalkov, Milos Forman, [Emir] Kusturica, and there was a visual text that I had been learning since I was a kid -- what is culture visually to you? You can find examples and metaphors in the buildings, in the landscapes, in the color of people's teeth, in their fingernails, in their hair. What was so beautiful about Jonathan's book to me was here was a young person who was interested in old people, which is so rare nowadays. So for me that dialectic of old and new was really powerful, seeing old people and new people together, and old buildings and new buildings. The regrowth. I love that set we found in an old cement factory, where out of the rubble was growing grass and trees, straight out of the building. It's those kinds of things that articulate a sense of regrowth and rebirth.

Ylla is a sad girl at the moment :(

I just found out I won tickets to see an advance screening of EiI
I applied for the tickets not knowing when the screening would be.


The screening is tommorrow night...on a night I teach a class. In order to go to the screening I would have to find a replacement instructor(which is never easy, even with much advance notice) and then I would have to pay them part of my salary for the night.....so the tickets certainly would end up being way more expensive than one would pay to see a regular movie!!!!
How ironic is this ?:eek: I've never won a thing in my life. My only saving grace is that hopefully I will be able to see it Friday night...at least I have the name of the Cinema where I would have seen it tommorrow! My guess is it'll be there on Friday also...talk about a weird way of finding out where it's showing :haha:

Ylla, perhaps there's someone else out there who could use those tickets? A shame for them to go to waste :)

I've just put up a notice on my LJ...I would hate for these 2 tixs to go to waste...the site says I just need to show up..I do have a claim number and I'd be willing to give the lucky person the Number and my Name...nothing on the site that says anything about showing an ID.
PM me if someone here is close enough to go...it's 7pm..Cambridge,Mass Sept. 21st.
I'll give them to the first taker.

Aw, ylla, what a story! :( :confused: :rolleyes: (((((((ylla))))))))

~ Mechtild

Good and very interesting review full of spoilers by Time Magazine Richard Schickel....http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1106286,00.html
saile

Well, no Hooligans for us on 9/24. The theater where it's supposed to be showing does not have it on this weekend's schedule. This definitely does not bode well for this film. BTW, don't know if this was mentioned here, but the film will be coming out on DVD in January, according to what one of my friends was told by Odd Lot, so at the very least, we'll all get to see it then.

:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

Really like this review of EII. He understands the native language spoken in the film. Some spoilers. Interesting and Good review.http://www.filmblather.com/review.php?n=everythingisilluminated
a large portion of the film's humor stems from the use of the language
Guess I am not so patient after all. :o
saile

Ooooh, saile, that was really a pleasure to read. Thank you so much! I hadn't seen it before.

Achila, is it the Cherry Hill showing that's cancelled? I just checked the GSH website and it's still listed. Hmmmm! :confused: Perhaps the film site merely hasn't updated. :( Thank heaven you went to see it in Manhattan! (Didn't you...?)

ETA: Sharpe's Girl! I forgot to thank you for that interview with Liev. I hadn't read that, either. I feel so lucky to know about this place. :)

~ Mechtild

I discovered over the weekend that GSH hadn't opened in San Diego, even though the website said it should have. I posted a query on the official website and got the following response:

The movie is opening in San Diego next weekend, as well as in San Francisco. We have, however, had to slow down the process of going out to other theaters because we are not selling as many tickets as we had hoped for. We hope to eventually get to all the theaters posted but if we don't get enough people coming to see the film in the towns it is now playing that may not happen. It's really important to try and spread the word about how good this film is and get everyone out to support it.

All the time, energy and even money (I bought a bunch of tickets for showings in Chicago in an effort to boost the numbers) that I've put toward promoting this thing, and I'm wondering if I'll ever get to see it on the big screen...

Bunnie, I saw that you'd put that on your LJ and I had a sinking feeling that we weren't going to get the film in NJ either (yes, Mech, it IS still listed on the Hoolie's website, but as Bunnie said, the same thing happened in San Diego and no film). It turned out to be a very good thing for us that Pelagia and I went to Tribeca, but that doesn't help out my friends (including all of you guys) who haven't seen it yet, of course. Not to mention the fact that Ylla is coming to visit this weekend and that was to be our big excursion (along with her getting to finally meet ceefour). I'm sure we'll happily find other films to watch ( :D )...

If I get a little free time today, I might try to plug the other listings from the Hoolie site into Moviefone or Fandango and see if it's actually playing anywhere in the country (and btw, the NY Times ad is gone now).

If I get a little free time today, I might try to plug the other listings from the Hoolie site into Moviefone or Fandango and see if it's actually playing anywhere in the country (and btw, the NY Times ad is gone now).
Oh. dear ... :(

Reading the opening of your post I was thinking, "Why can't she just take ylla into NYC to see it?" But it's not playing in Manhattan, either? :confused:

~ Mechtild

Oh. dear ... :(

Reading the opening of your post I was thinking, "Why can't she just take ylla into NYC to see it?" But it's not playing in Manhattan, either? :confused: Actually, I checked and it still is -- it's only in one theater and I guess they decided it wasn't worth the advertising costs.

Actually, going into NY is a thought. That's only 2 hrs away...

Actually, going into NY is a thought. That's only 2 hrs away...
That's right. It beats 3 hrs. away (Minneapolis is three hrs. from here and I would certainly drive that distance, if it were playing there). Besides, Manhattan is a cool place. :cool: *sings "I Love NY" to herself*

~ Mechtild

Achila wrote: but the film will be coming out on DVD in January,
That does not sound very good at all. When a film goes to DVD that quick it means that it really didn't do that well at the box office.

Achila #2: it's only in one theater and I guess they decided it wasn't worth the advertising costs.
That is one of the problems. If the people do not know that the film exists, what it is about, or is showing in their area, how can they go see it? You have to advertise the **** out of it to get people off of their HBO and Cinemax to go see it in a theater. Otherwise- hello early DVD releaase. :(


Ran across this in yesterdays newspaper:

LORD OF THE RINGS Scores its own CD

"Nothing about the Lord of the rings trilogy has been scaled small. A big story took three lengthy films to tell, with even longer DVD versions.
The same type of thinking has been applied to the films' music. The complete score for the first installment, The Fellowship of the Ring, will be released Nov.22 by Reprise/WMG Soundtracks in a four disc set.
Three of the discs will encompass the first complete releaase of Howard Shore's score, including two songs by Enya. The forth disc is a music DVD show-casing the score in 5.1 surround sound. - Ken Burnes"

That does not sound very good at all. When a film goes to DVD that quick it means that it really didn't do that well at the box office.
To tell the truth, box office for this film is practically irrelevant, considering how few screens it's playing on. I don't know what Odd Lot really expected, though. They were determined not to go the arthouse route, but that seems to me to be the most appropriate audiences for this film. The critics (except for Roger Ebert -- go, Roger!) aren't getting it, seemingly, and (speaking in complete generalities here) I think the average moviegoer will be sensitive to that, considering the scarcity of entertainment dollars these days. :(

Hey I'm grateful to the petioners (you know who you are :k ) and online fans and festival viewers for getting this released at all. I got to see it on the BIG SCREENvery grateful for that too and loved it but what's wrong with going the art house route?
I feared without an actual release in theaters that there may NOT be a DVD at all. And many successful films these days go to DVD within 6 months. So a DVD in January sounds good to this fan.
I do wonder what OddLot was thinking or perhaps more fairly this was their FIRST release wasn't it? :confused: It felt like trial and error all the way.
saile

Welcome, nenya and rrappelle!

txtac, it gets better:

www.soundtrack.net/news/article/?id=660

From this week's Newsweek:

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9377817/site/newsweek

Poor ylla, the highlight of her weekend has gone from seeing two EW movies (EII and Hooligans) to meeting me! :haha:

C4

Poor ylla, the highlight of her weekend has gone from seeing two EW movies (EII and Hooligans) to meeting me! Luv, she's still well ahead!

Just checked all the other cities and theaters where Hooligans was supposed to open this weekend: Seattle, Portland, Dallas, Houston and Austin. It's not listed on any of them so there's our answer. They couldn't go wider anywhere, apparently. :( But on a brighter note, EiI is playing in some of the theaters I checked :)

Likely the wrong thread but I can't resist saying Happy Birthday to Bilbo and Frodo.................
..like members of the family....http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/billiep/frodoandbilbo.jpg
Thanks Mithril for the montage.
saile

hello everybody, im new here but have been lurking for about a two weeks. txtac introduce me to this forum and i thank txtac very for doing so. i really enjoy reading what u guys have to say bout elijah. now to tell u how i am a fan of elijah.

my admiration for elijah goes all the way back to radioflyer. i think he is great actor and picks great roles that suite him. see i dont like actors that have roles made for them but actors that are made for the roles.

well thats all i have to say really and i hope to get to know u all better and help understand this forum meaning how to pm and how to check them.lol

Happy Birthday, dear Frodo and Bilbo!!
We wouldn't be here without you! :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/whiteling/bilbofrodo1.jpg

----------

Welcome, Elwoodster :)!

Welcome, Elwoodster!

Whiteling and saile, again, it's wonderful when there is an important birthday around here, since folks come up with such great gifts. Thanks so much for posting these in honour of dear Bilbo and Frodo!

(I left Frodo some cake in the Harem; well, Galadriel did -- she's a much better pastry chef.)

~ Mechtild

Welcome aboard Elwoodster! Glad to see that you found us. :lol:

Happy Birthday Frodo and Bilbo!
I would have included a picture, but my computer is still drawing with crayons...

Can't resist either in wishing our beloved Frodo (and Bilbo) a very Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Frodo Baggins!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v638/Shelbyshire/3.jpg

And, welcome, Elwoodster. :)

Welcome Elwoodster :)

Happy Birthday Bilbo and Frodo

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v480/ylla/fa3580a3.jpg


I'm suppose to be seeing EiI tommorrow night at that same cinema where I would have seen it with the passes I won....I was trying to purchase the tickets thru moviefone and that cinema has no info on tommorrow's showtimes. When I called them, I got some young man that was quite vague..."well yeh ,it looks like it's here but the showtimes might change" HELLO folks we are talking about just one day ahead....give me a break :confused:

and indeed ceefour....meeting you will certainly be reward enough for me.
I've been anxious to meet you and I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about! :D

Pelagia has already mentioned another viewing of Fellowship....and Achila and I can always replay our very delightful and most graceful exiting of the room during a viewing of AiW...it's an Elijah Wood thing...you wouldn't understand....ohhh that's right: this is the Faculty Lounge...you ALL understand!!!! :k

I was just on IMDB, looking at EiI's page (and the user comments there -- some very very good -- don't bother looking at the ones for GSH -- *shudders*). The complete cast list is on there now. I hadn't realized that the real Jonathan Safran Foer actually played a role in the film -- he's credited as "Leaf Blower". I don't remember that -- gonna have to watch for that next time. :cool:

Not being very creative here, as I pull this out every year to say Happy Birthday to the Baggins Boys! :) :

http://www.imag.us/x/tgshaw/cropcap334.jpg

Shelbyshire, thanks for that tantalizing look at the post-quest finery.

Welcome to ElWoodster (great name :cool: ).

And... that's about all I have to say, I guess. :rolleyes:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRODO & BILBO

What a great excuse for a party! (http://www.imag.us/x/blossom/Birthday1.gif)

Welcome ElWoodster.

(I left Frodo some cake in the Harem; well, Galadriel did -- she's a much better pastry chef.)

MECHTILD ~ I saw that when I popped into the Harem - it was wonderful - funny, beautiful and sad all at the same time - and with such a touching message :) I urge everyone to take a look!!

I am certainly enjoying all the lovely hobbity birthday offerings today - I left a birthday message at the Harem with this pic:

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

And, shireling, I just had to say I thought those two pics you just posted especially endearing. Awwww.... Are you going to be posting your own report of your latest sighting of His Heaven and Earthiness (who said that? Already I can't remember, but it was great!)? That is, I take it to mean you saw him at ELF again and are not referring to having seen him at it earlier?

Yes Mechtild - I did see Elijah at ELF!! I will post some more details asap - since my return I have just been so busy trying to keep up with the lad's doings - so many pics, reports, vids to download - I feel quite exhausted so I can't imagine how he must be feeling :eek:

ELWOODSTER ~ WELCOME :D

Happy Birthday, BILBO and FRODO!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v377/honeyelf/March20.jpg

Welcome, Eldwoodster, Nenya and Rrappelle

honey!

Such a internet junkie! I just got home form work, did all the bare essentials, poured a vodka and started opening the mail.

Yes Mechtild - I did see Elijah at ELF!! I will post some more details asap - since my return I have just been so busy trying to keep up with the lad's doings - so many pics, reports, vids to download - I feel quite exhausted so I can't imagine how he must be feeling :eek:
Hot dog! A report a report a report!

P.S. -- loooooooooved that Bilbo-Frodo screencap; *sniffle*.


Blossom, oh what a perfect GIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much. :k


~ Mechtild

Nope no Hooligans in Cherry Hill or Philly next week as far as I can tell. Many of the cities that are still listed on the webside are NOT going to get it.

To say I am mad and feeling very used by Odd Lot is an understatement. They used Elijah's fans and now they aren't living up to their promises. :mad:

I came home to an e-mail from Odd Lot. Let's see what happens if I try to copy it here.

Hey Hoolifans!

We still need you to tell all your friends about Green Street Hooligans - and stand your ground as we approach another weekend at the box office!

GSH is opening on Friday in San Francisco and San Diego, and then in Boston, Seattle and Dallas on the 30th! Make sure your friends in these cities don't miss the movie!

See Green Street Hooligans at a theater near you in these cities!

September 23, 2005

San Diego
Mission Valley, San Diego

San Francisco
Regal Galaxy, San Francisco





September 30, 2005

Boston
AMC Fenway 13, Boston
AMC Framingham 16, Framingham
Showcase Revere 20, Revere
Harvard Square, Cambridge

Dallas
Loews City Place 14, Dallas
Cinemark Legacy 24, Plano
Rave North East 18, Hurst
Fossil Creek Stadium, Hurst
AMC Mesquite 30, Mesquite
AMC Grapevine 30, Grapevine

Seattle
Meridian 16, Seattle
Alderwood 16, Lynwood
Auburn Stadium 17, Auburn
Bella Botaga, Redmond

Stand Your Ground!

The GSH Team

So it looks like we aren't out of luck just yet! I'm going to San Francisco on Saturday with my huband, my son and maybe my daughter! If you're anywhere near one of these theaters, and can spare the time I'd say GO! It maybe your only chance to catch it on the Big Screen!

honey!

Roger Ebert gives EII 3 1/2 stars (the same rating he gave GSH, btw). At one point in his review (at http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050922/REVIEWS/50919003 ), he compares the film to Fellini's Amarcord (pretty high praise from a movie critic!). The review is slightly spoilery if you've not read the book.

He says this about Jonathan and EW:

I described Jonathan as the hero of the film, but perhaps he is too passive to be a hero. He regards. He collects... Elijah Wood's performance is deliberately narrow and muted -- pitch-perfect, although there is a distraction caused by his oversized eyeglasses so thick they make his eyes huge. He visits, he witnesses, he puts things in Ziploc bags.

After reading the book, I have to agree with that assessment, at least for Book Jonathan. He is a blank slate that we learn very little about in the novel--at least the movie seems to reveal more about him and his past.

I'm going to try and see it on Saturday!!

Ooooohhh Sharpe's Girl, thanks for that review link. And for the reference to Amarcord, which made me look it up immediately.

The movie is based on a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer that reportedly includes many more scenes from the distant past, including some of magic realism in the 18th century Ukrainian Jewish community. "Everything is Illuminated" lives in the present, except for memories and enigmatic flashbacks to the Second World War. The gift that Schreiber brings to the material is his ability to move us from the broad satire of the early scenes to the solemnity of the final ones. The first third of the film could be inspired by Fellini's "Amarcord," the last third by Bergman's darkest hours.
Fellini and Bergman are two of my all-time favourite directors. Woo hoo! That makes me feel a lot better about the varied reviews, too. Lots of films by both of those directors were panned but also raved over. Especially Fellini's. Amarcord, if I recall, was considered an enchanting, visionary journey of the heart into memory by some (*raises hand*), but as a self-indulgent, rambling bore by others.

~ Mechtild

(Hmmm ... "a self-indulgent, rambling bore" ... sounds almost autobiographical!)

:cool:

To say I am mad and feeling very used by Odd Lot is an understatement. They used Elijah's fans and now they aren't living up to their promises. :mad:That's really not true in this case -- their ambition was to bring the film to the cities they had originally listed on the site. That they couldn't because of financial constraints is a definite disappointment, but surely not malicious. They have added a couple of theaters, as honeyelf's post showed, and will probably try to continue that as the weeks go on. Have patience.

Hmmmm....guess I will have to revise my opinion of Roger Ebert's opinions, now that he has given both EiI and GSH 3 1/2 star reviews. :p Today's Chicago Tribune review, by a woman who has recently been doing film reviews but as far as I know has no credentials as a real movie critic :haha: gives EiI only 2 1/2 stars, and criticizes Elijah's performance. :mad: I wish Michael Wilmington, the Trib's real film critic, had reviewed it. BTW, he gives 'Thumbsucker' 3 stars. Which isn't enough to make me want to see it, without Elwood in it. ;)

This is all that Allison Benedikt, "Tribune staff reporter", has to say about Elijah:

"Wood gets it less right, playing Jonathan as more of a nebbish than an old soul. But in his defense, this Jonathan (as opposed to the real author Jonathan or the real author's character Jonathan) is denied his background, simply walking onto the screen as the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, which isn't as illustrative as you might think".

It's obvious she has read the book, and finds the movie pale in comparison. Ah well, I'm still psyched about seeing it on Sunday with Peaceweaver. I got such a tingle/goosebump reaction from viewing the trailer that I just know in my heart this is going to be good! :)

Mechtild said: (Hmmm ... "a self-indulgent, rambling bore" ... sounds almost autobiographical!)

sounds like the dark side of Geekdom to me! ;)

sounds like the dark side of Geekdom to me! ;)

Just call me, "Mechtild Skywalker."

My favorite online movie critic, the Flick Filosopher, had this to say about EII:

Actor Liev Schreiber (The Manchurian Candidate) aims high for his directorial debut with an ambitious, potentially precarious story about the indelible pull of the past and the enveloping warmth of family... and he succeeds fantastically, gifting us with a visually witty, beautifully painterly film that is extraordinarily wise when it isn't quirky-funny. A sensitive, oddball young American (a wonderful Elijah Wood: Sin City) travels to the Ukraine and tours the countryside with two Odessa men and a "deranged" dog named Sammy Davis Junior Junior in search of the boyhood town of his immigrant grandfather, a journey that Schreiber spins into the eccentric but never the self-conscious, that sings with passionate emotion but never descends into mawkishness. Bravo.

A sensitive, oddball young American (a wonderful Elijah Wood: Sin City)
Isn't this the first time ever, that Elijah has been referred to, in a review, as some other character than Frodo, from "Lord of the Rings" ?
Am I right ?Things are looking up for him ...

Over here, there is going to be a London Film Festival, from October 19th to November 3rd, and they will be screening EII a whole month earlier than the general release date...
Here is the relevent page from their website :-

London Film Festival - EII (http://www.lff.org.uk/films_details.php?FilmID=674)

I have signed up with their mailing list, so I get to book one day earlier than the general public...so I am hoping to get a posse of London-Elijah fans together for this event ...

Just back from seeing Everything is Illuminated. Some impressions:

- Elijah was wonderfully still and reserved as Jonathan. I didn't think he was as quirky as all the advance publicity suggested though. My darling husband (bless him) thought Elijah acted circles around the more flamboyant Eugene Hutz.

- Loved the potatoe scene! It's not exactly like the book, but it seems more appropriate that Jonathan would fast, even if unintentionally, as he undertakes his quest.

- The projection seemed dim. I'd been hearing how wonderfully surreal the colors were of the landscape as the little Trabant makes its way through the Ukraine. And Jonathan's ears weren't red enough in the scene with Lista and the glasses. I guess I'll just have to go see it at a differnt theater! ;) :)

- My husband had thought, from the moment we saw the trailer together, that Elijah based his Jonathan on the real author of the book, and after the movie he still had that impression. I hadn't told him before the film that EJW didn't meet JSF until 5 weeks into the shoot, and that Elijah and Liev worked out the character completely independently of JSF's real life persona. Husband is baffled, and still thinks that movie Jonathan is a lot like the real Jonathan. :confused: (ETA by way of explanation: Husband-darling and I got to talk to JSF briefly at a lecture this spring, so husband got in a little "research" befor the film.)

- Eugene Hutz was a great Alex! He was funny when called for, but brought a great compassion to the role as well. My son's fiancee thought Eugene was the best actor of the bunch. Upon her pronoucement of this in the lobby of the theater, two young women I'd spotted as Elijah fans earlier rose to Elijah's defence at the same time as I did! :D

- I thought the book ended on a much more hopeful note than the film. This will be the last time I read the book before I see the film, at least where Elijah's films are concerned. I'm always a bit dissapointed. Favorite passages from the book always get left out, or twisted just a little. Guess I won't be reading A Novel With Cocaine for a while. :rolleyes:

- Jonathan Safran Foer has a brief appearance in the film! :cool:

- ETA: One more. Don't know about you all, but I always love when we get to see one of Elijah's characters sleeping on screen. I think that happens more in this film than in any of his other films! :)

Tomorrow my husband, son, daughter and I will take in Green Street Hooligans! I feel so blessed to see both on the big screen in one weekend!

honey!

I was so excited to see your impressions of Everything Is Illuminted. Thank you :k .
And The New York Times is again running ads for Green Street Hooligans. Wonderful to see advertisements for both films in ONE Day :cool:

Always eager to hear more from both coasts.......Honey on the west coast and Achila, ceefour, ylla and Pelagia somewhere :confused: on the east coast...(did you decide on Boston or New York? can't remember). And Goldenberry and peaceweaver hopefully will report in as well.
Reviews and/impressions are always welcome. :z:
saile

Thanks for the insights into EiI Honeyelf. We are looking forward to it if it ever gets down here...

Hoolifan is upset! :mad: TMFKAH was pulled from Austin! No pre-advertising, just disappeared from the schedule. :o Just saw that someone pasted a Green Street Hooligans poster on the wall of a closed antique shop here. Nice advertising, but where is the movie? I hope that they are not trying to tell us something in that the poster(s) movie memorabilia for TMFKAH are going straight to antiquedom. ???

OT question: I have noticed that I have built up some little green boxes. I have been assuming they stand for time on the message board, or the number of posts or something like that (at TORc people accumulate spears or something until there are 500, then they turn into some other symbols until 1,000, etc.)

I decided to find out but couldn't find a HELP thread to ask about them, not knowing what to call them except little green boxes. When I put my cursor on one it says some little jokey thing that does not seem to relate to anything in particular. I have wondered about them for ages but have never asked because I didn't want to look any more stupid than I already do.

But, what the heck? I'm ready to look stupid (more stupid).

So.

What are the little green boxes and why are they there? Does anyone have a link to an explanatory thread or site? I've been here almost a year and half, and I still don't understand them. :confused:

Thanks,

~ Mechtild

What are the little green boxes and why are they there? Does anyone have a link to an explanatory thread or site? I've been here almost a year and half, and I still don't understand them. :confused: Those are "reputation points", Mechtild. When someone approves of a post you make, they can click the scales in the right, upper-hand corner of you entry and click "I approve" and leave a comment, if they want to. Conversely, if they disapprove, they can use the same system to subract from the number of points that you accrue.

Does that help?

Oh -- and if you want to know which of your entries have gotten approval/disapproval, just go to your "user cp" page and it will show you a list of entries that have received approval points.

Well, thank you Bunnie, I'm glad I asked!

When someone approves of a post you make, they can click the scales in the right, upper-hand corner of you entry and click "I approve" and leave a comment, if they want to.
"Little scales"... even after you told me just now, I had to really peer to see what you were talking about. Did I notice the existence of that icon? Barely. Did I know what it meant? No. I thought it was supposed to be a White Tree of Gondor or something (I can see it is a scale, now that you tell me, OF COURSE! D'oh!).

No. Not only am I math challenged, I am icon challenged. :rolleyes: :cool:

I feel a little bad, now. :( There were so many great posts I've read in the last year and a half ... ones that I gushed to people over in the threads (or in PM's), but I never knew to click their little scale thingies. Dang!

Can a person click on their scales retroactively? Just wondering.

Thanks!

~ Mechtild

"Little scales"... even after you told me just now, I had to really peer to see what you were talking about. I have no clue what you are talking about.
Little scales :confused: :confused:
saile :confused:

I have no clue what you are talking about.
Little scales :confused: :confused:
saile :confused:
saile, I never knew what they were, either. The "scale" is little and difficult to notice unless you know what it is supposed to be, but look up in a text box in the upper right-hand corner on the dark blue band (any text box will do; just look at this one while you are reading).

Just to the right of the number of the post (printed in white on the dark blue), is a little white scale (the old fashioned sort, like a balance with two suspended dishes).

See it? That's the icon she's talking about. BunnieBugs says if you click it on someone's post, you can put in a vote for or against that person's work.

~ Mechtild

At least in Los Angeles, GSH is playing at a lot more theaters as of Sept 23. I was on movies.yahoo.com looking for show times for EII and found out both it and GSF are playing in Pasadena! I went over to the GSH web site and they have updated the list of theaters. I hope that means more of you get to see it in other places. :z:

GSH and EII are both playing at the Laemmle in Pasadena, now I can see them multiple times, I hope. That's only 10 miles away. But this weekend I am tied up with dog showing - one of my other hobbies besides Elijah! So I might try to squeeze in an evening theater outing, and I can definitely go to the movies next weekend.

See it? That's the icon she's talking about.Yes I SEE IT! :lol: Well now I know MY mission. :rolleyes: I'm off.
saile

It doesn't look like I'm going to get to see either of Elijah's new movies in the theatre here. It makes me very sad. :( All of you who can see them, enjoy them just a bit more on behalf of those of us who will not get the chance until they come out on DVD. (And it's not the same as seeing it on the big screen.)

In other news, I got the Kevin action figure today. He has detachable hands. :D

Can a person click on their scales retroactively? Just wondering.


When you click on the scales to give reputation points, that reputation will always be linked to that one particular post. So you could go back a year, and still give reputation on any of the old posts that you want. :) The rep point system is set up so that you have to spread the love around ;) - for instance, if I rep one of Mechtild's posts, I have to rep a number of other people before I can rep her again.

You need to add your name to the rep you leave if you want someone to know it came from you - otherwise they can see your comment, or just that they got reputation from you, but not who left it.

Here's (http://www.khazaddum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2672) a thread that talks about the reputation points, if you're interested in learning more.

Well, having been as involved as I was in nudging Odd Lot to distribute TMFKAH I wondered how it would play to the Elijah-Indifferent, and now I know! :rolleyes:

The whole family went, my husband, my 19 year old daughter, my 22 year old son, and myself. My husband was sitting right next to me, and I noticed that he didn't laugh or even smile at any of the humorous bits. He did react strongly to one particularly harrawing scene, but on the whole he was attentive but not engaged. He said that he was caught by the surprise revelation in the film though.

My kids both expressed surprise that I'd got so involved in promoting a film that they saw as extremely violent. My daughter didn't hate it. :rolleyes: And my son thought it merely OK.

My husband said he was impressed with Elijah's acting, having just seen EII last night. He liked the transformation that Matt underwent, saying that the subtitle ought to be "Matt Grows a Spine." He said that he "liked" Matt, but that he felt no empathy for him which doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

From what I could see of the audience reaction, there was laughter at the humorous bits, but it seemed to take people a few minutes into the film to realize that there were meant to be funny parts. At the 7:20pm showing in San Francisco the theater was about one third full. People were largely silent during the last third of the film.

My husband and I had spent several minutes this morning talking about Everything is Illuminated, and after seeing GSH he said he was still running memorable lines from EII through his head. "Which lines" I asked him, and he replied "Most of them!"

I guess I can settle for one out of two. :rolleyes:

Narya, I finally found a Kevin action figure the other day, but his glasses didn't look at all right to me - more John Lennon than Frank Miller - so I left him on the shelf. :(



honey!

honey, your response of your family's response was such fun to read. Thanks for writing it!

Narya, thank you for that info. I must definitely do some back-browsing and see if I can find the posts I had in mind. Oh, I know -- I can look up the individual posters! The search function here is so much better than it is at TORc (the worst ever search function).

You were great, too, to link that thread on "reputation points." But do you see what I mean? How could I ever have found that thread when I didn't know what they were called, other than "little green boxes"? I looked up "green boxes", "little green boxes," and "green squares," LOL

OT to Linwë, - what breed of dogs do you show? I'm a cat person myself, but one of my best friends is very doggy and used to show her Springer. I enjoyed going to shows when I did it then. I never had seen more breeds of dogs before, except in Central Park on a Saturday.

~ Mechtild

In other news, I got the Kevin action figure today. He has detachable hands. :D
This is so totally disgusting, I love it! :p Congrats!

Sorry about the movies not coming your way. I've got a fairly good shot for at least EII here. We'll see if GSH makes its way around.

Thank you everyone for the reports! I skip over them if they look at all spoilery; I'm just overly sensitive that way. But I did like the audience reaction report, Honey. Interesting!

Cheers, all!

Honey, thanks for the family and audience impressions. The 2 times I saw it the audience reacted differently to the film each time. And I don't think either were made up of Elijah fans. I can see the difficulty in marketing this film - :confused: . Only funny thing for me is that My husband and I NEVER like the same films (except LotR) and he actually liked this film and so did I! Go figure. :cool:

Everything Is Illuminated review from The Seattle Times can be found here.http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2002513754&zsection_id=2002119564&slug=illuminated23&date=20050923

Non spoiler quoteElijah Wood brings a deliberately opaque quality to his early interactions with the Ukrainians; when he thaws, Jonathan really seems to be making a life-altering change.
OT to Linwë, - what breed of dogs do you show? I'm a cat person myself, but one of my best friends is very doggy and used to show her Springer. I enjoyed going to shows when I did it then. I never had seen more breeds of dogs before, except in Central Park on a Saturday.I am a cat person but admit to being addicted to watching the dog shows on PBS. Very entertaining. :D
saile

An interview that's a bit out of the ordinary is available here (http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-0509250471sep25,0,1740343.story?coll=mmx-movies_heds). Especially nice if you're curious (like I am) about what music he's listening to at the moment.

ylla, pelagia, and achila and I had a grand time together yesterday. Since neither Hooligans nor EII were in local theaters :( , our plans changed to watching FOTR, having Thai food for dinner, and watching Huck Finn, since I had never seen it. Much frodshadowing in that one!

A Fellowship of Minimates greeted the ladies and Achila brought Kevin :eek: .

At dinner, over a glass of wine (NZ, of course), we toasted The Faculty and hoped that some day we can all meet. :D

C4

OT to Linwë, - what breed of dogs do you show? I'm a cat person myself, but one of my best friends is very doggy and used to show her Springer. I enjoyed going to shows when I did it then. I never had seen more breeds of dogs before, except in Central Park on a Saturday.

~ Mechtild

I have Australian Shepherds. I compete with them in AKC obedience trials and rally. One of them competed a little in conformation (what you see on TV - the "beauty contest") but did not become a champion. You will probably never see obedience on TV. It is all about training the dog to work with you precisely. We do heeling, recalls, retrieving a dumbbell, finding my scent, taking a mark. You go into the ring with 200 points and try not to lose too many points. It's quite addictive. I'm also in the process of becoming a judge.

More OT to Linwë:

Eeeeegad, Linwë, you do obedience? Do you know, I never have had any real desire to have a dog until I saw the obedience trials at one of the dog shows I went to. I was GLUED to the event. A little dog with a lot of hair won, I can't remember the type, almost tying with a standard poodle. I figured, "Oh, well, their dogs are just smart!" But when I saw a Scottie doing well I thought, "Hunh!! It really IS in the training!" (Two of my friends in my younger daysy each had Scotties; worse-behaved dogs I never saw. I blamed the dogs; I should have blamed the humans who supposedly trained them!)

After that event I thought that I really would like to have a dog one day, just for the challenge and fun of seeing if we could learn to work together as a team.

~ Mechtild

OT to Mechtild and Linwe and Saile--

Mr. ceefour and I had a beagle who competed in a local dog show, and she won Best of Breed. Of course, she was the only beagle in the whole show. :p

Narya, Achila struggled to get her Kevin to stand up. Does yours have the same problem?

C4

Mr. ceefour and I had a beagle who competed in a local dog show, and she won Best of Breed. Of course, she was the only beagle in the whole show.
Ah, ceefour, how you made me laugh! :lol: But this made me positively roll:

Narya, Achila struggled to get her Kevin to stand up. Does yours have the same problem?
They're calling it a "Kevin," now? ;)

~ Mechtild

More OT to Linwë:

Eeeeegad, Linwë, you do obedience? Do you know, I never have had any real desire to have a dog until I saw the obedience trials at one of the dog shows I went to. I was GLUED to the event. A little dog with a lot of hair won, I can't remember the type, almost tying with a standard poodle. I figured, "Oh, well, their dogs are just smart!" But when I saw a Scottie doing well I thought, "Hunh!! It really IS in the training!" (Two of my friends in my younger daysy each had Scotties; worse-behaved dogs I never saw. I blamed the dogs; I should have blamed the humans who supposedly trained them!)

After that event I thought that I really would like to have a dog one day, just for the challenge and fun of seeing if we could learn to work together as a team.

~ Mechtild

What a cool response, Mech! I will say, now that I have a top trainer, it's not that hard, it just takes a long time to build each formal exercise up from lots of simpler behaviors. I aspire to compete near the top, but don't always get there. And that taking a long time is not a bug, it's a feature. The gradual process of training the dog to a higher level is the addictive part!

:D Especially nice if you're curious (like I am) about what music he's listening to at the moment.Just a quick DROP BY...I am very into music myself and YES I do like to know what he is into. My kids send recommendations my way as well. Love it. :D :D
saile

HI All!! I've been out of town for almost two weeks and have not caught up with the posts. One lovely surprise is that while gone, my daughter and one of my friends got us free tickets to an advanced screening of GSH on Tuesday in Seattle. And just as I got home we zipped over to catch EiI!!! It was rather unsettling after seeing EiI that both my friend and my daughter were quite silent, not knowing what they thought of the movie.

Not Too spoilery plotwise....here are some opinions...

My daughter had read the book and I think was a little disappointed in the Jonathon character as the director had him played. In reading the book she totally picutred him more as the real life Elijah--funnier and more talkative. I think Elijah was terrific. I wasn't sure as the movie begins, because he is so silent. But though he is an ackward and nervous character, he doesn't come off as timid to me. I thought Elijah created a character and brought conviction to the portrayal. I liked him alot. I see why Eugene gets a lot of attention, because he is funny. But Elijah is as he should be and I don't think Eugene steals scenes from him. He had me mesmerized because his character draws you to his stillness--he makes you wonder. MOstly I certainly can say I loved the cinematagraphy. The movie tells much more than the book, and therefore is not as complex. The director interprets things for us...but in a very forgivable and understandable way, IMO.

end of the not too, but maybe a little, spoilery opinion part ;)


I haven't caught up with posts in the last two weeks...but noticed some worry about the mixed reviews. But honestly..if you pay attention to any movie's reviews..even those that are generally well thought of, hardly any of them don't also have their detractors. I remember following the reviews of several Sundance films in recent years, and even those that were generally thought of as critical hits, had plenty of naysayers. So it seems. Our two alternative Weekly papers tend to be very contrary and often give tepid reviews to movies generally well thought of. Same as for the performances. Keep that in mind for comfort!!! I try to, anyway!!!

Will be seeing GSH on Tuesday. HOpe my fellow viewers (same as today) have a more defined response. My daughter says she has to think more about EiI before voicing much more of an opinion....

Welcome to new Faculty members!!! Happy birthday to those I missed, including TgShaw and Frodo and Bilbo!!! :D

Narya, Achila struggled to get her Kevin to stand up. Does yours have the same problem?

Oh dear, I'd have to take him out of the package to find that out, now wouldn't I? ;) (I'm afraid he's still bound in plastic, the poor thing.)

And Mechtild? You be quiet now. :p :D

Joining the OT: I grew up with dogs, and we trained them all - there's no excuse for not doing so, IMO. I've got to say, though, that our Scottie was the most stubborn personality of any of them - anyone who can take a Scottie to competitive levels of obedience training gets my admiration.

ALYON, I loved hearing your impressions about Everything Is Illuminated. :k Thank You.
Oh dear, I'd have to take him out of the package to find that out, now wouldn't I? ;) (I'm afraid he's still bound in plastic, the poor thing.)I love the visual........I might have to check this (Kevin) out!

I Will be without computer for couple weeks (west coast trip). Catch up with you all when I return then. :k
saile

I'll be away for the next several days. Nothing glamorous, just trying to make Dad's house presentable for renters or buyers; my sis and I haven't decided what to do with it yet, but alot of repairs are needed and we're attempting the more minor ones ourselves. I'll miss you all!

honey!

ETA: I've been meaning to say that I don't get what Odd Lot is doing, promising TMFKAH in one place, and then pulling it to show somewhere else. Doesn't seem like a nice way to treat their loyal internet fans! :mad: I did notice that the theater I saw it at last night was a Regal, as was the one where the premier was held in New York. They must have worked some sort of deal with them. So if you live near a Regal theater keep your eyes peeled, and your fingers crossed.

And Bunnie, I hear you're going to get to see TMFKAH finally! Toooo :cool: !!!

I enjoyed the interview, Bunnie, including Elijah's comments about how being responsible for a house has cut down on his action-figure collecting. I clicked over to the not-very-positive EII review (which has already been linked to, IIRC) and noticed an important fact I hadn't seen before: that Sammy Davis Jr., Jr., is played by "Mikki & Mouse" - I'm assuming that's two dogs? But the reviewer, who also didn't like the book much, got one important fact wrong in calling SDJJ a "him" - He must have missed the "officious seeing-eye bitch" label.

saile - There's a "temporary technical difficulties" notice at the Seattle review link, but that's also true for several other movie reviews I tried to reach on that site, so it's probably something affecting the entire section at the moment. Should be cleared up before too long.
And have a good trip. :)

Best wishes on the house, (((honey))). I'm very glad my more laid-back brother is the executor of our mom's estate (good choice, Mom ;) ). He'll make sure everything gets done (unlike brother #3), but won't kill us all doing it (unlike gung-ho brother #2). As far as females in the family: I was second in line if brother #1 hadn't been able to take the job, so I'm very glad he was. And I wouldn't have trusted either of my sisters ;) ; well-intentioned, but they always know what's right for everyone else, if you know what I mean :rolleyes: .

ceefour -- So glad you finally got to see Huck Finn! I had no idea you'd been so deprived :eek: ! Hope you got to listen to the director's commentary, as he's very appreciative of Elijah's acting. That one's a keeper.

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

I just added a few things to the "What's New" page (http://www.frodolivesin.us/new/), including a note that if anyone doesn't know the secret handshake to get into the Photo Shop section of the site they need to check here, so I'd better post it. ;) The trick, of course, is to go to the guest book page (http://www.frodolivesin.us/Pics/index.htm) and click on the picture of the hands. The reason I mentioned it on the "What's New" page is that I've added some Paint-Shopped pics of Stu (http://www.frodolivesin.us/Pics/id33.htm). I'm a day or two away from having the two scenes I screencapped posted with commentary, but that takes more time than the "pretty pictures."

tg, it was late when we started watching Huck Finn, so we didn't listen to the commentary. Poor ylla was working on an hour's sleep from the night before and Achila was starting to doze.

Nobody could have slept while we watched FOTR. The Surround-Sound was on "11"!

C-I can hear again-4

Yesterday, Goldie and I stole away to see Everything is Illuminated in our favorite theater. :)

NO SPOILERS:

Despite the changes from the book, I *loved* the movie. And I loved Elwood's performance. His timing is wonderful. Like Alyon (waves I thought the cinematography was terrific. There are some lovely, lovely visuals. Liev Schreiber did a great job, both as screenwriter and director (I hope he gets an Oscar nom for the screenplay adaptation). Even the dogs were good! The theater we were in had a small crowd, but the discussions as they were leaving were uniformly positive.

I am only sorry that the reviewers have been so wishy-washy. This is a film that deserves a wider audience. Sooo much better than the dreck that's making money right now.

Yea! *dances around* Thank you, Peaceweaver! I think I'll be able to see this in 2 weeks. *dances some more*

Good Monday, Faculty! What Peaceweaver said about EiI.

This is one film where I don't understand those reviewers who didn't like EiI; unless they keep their emotions tightly locked up while watching films they are going to review. Certainly, it is a quiet film (when it isn't laugh-out-loud funny, which is frequently), and moves at a sedate pace--to me, that helped to engage with the characters. It stayed with me afterwards, and is still reverberating in my mind.

IMHO, Liev Schreiber made the right decision in sticking mainly to the present-day story, and I understand the little plot change he made.

I'll definitely see this one again in the theater. And I'm going to give GSH a second viewing tomorrow evening.

peaceweaver, your response is so encouraging. Thanks for writing it!

tg, it was late when we started watching Huck Finn, so we didn't listen to the commentary.
Ah, well, then, you still have something to look forward to. :)

Thanks, Goldie and peaceweaver, for the EII comments. It's not scheduled to be in Omaha until October 14, but that's not too far away!

(Proofreader's note: Because "is" is a verb, it gets capitalized in titles of "artistic works," even though it's only two letters long. Do with that what you will - I just don't want everyone to think that I'm getting it wrong :eek: ;) .)

OK, I just resurfaced - apologies for not getting back to y'all sooner, but a healthy dose of real life got in the way!

Thanks for the really warm welcome - it made me feel all soft and fuzzy inside. :k

Yes, Mech, I do live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan - it's a really great neighborhood - I just live close to Broadway, and love the fact that it's hopping all the time, love the shops, love people watching, love that it's close to Central Park and to all those galleries and museums - in short, it's great just hanging out. I feel pretty lucky to live here. :cool: You also get to see most of the movies that ever get released (if you want to!). I'm really crossing my fingers for all the Faculty ladies (and gentlemen!) to get to see both EII and GSH. I really will post that review of GSH soon, I promise.

I don't know rrapelle though we obviously do live close by...I'd be glad to meet up if she'd like too, especially if it's to view Faculty movies! :D

I was glad tgshaw enjoyed my pics of Elijah in costume but out of character,
and in honor of the picspam that was recently held elsewhere I offer you a few more pictures of Elijah in costume but out of character (OK I snuck in a few early ones where I'm not sure that's the case and I daren't post any more for fear of Moggy's bandwidth). They say quite a bit about the young actor - I really do think it is Elijah's personality and intelligence which allows him to inhabit such different roles - a recent interview with Liev Schrieber recently singled him out for having "innocence, depth and perversity" and I think I know what he means. I would add "fearless" to that list. ;)

If anybody thinks this really belongs over in the Hugs Haven I'll be happy to move it on over, but I really intended it as a pictorial tribute to Liev's comment and a view of the actor in development. No more pictures from me for a while :(

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/ElijahGSH3.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/everything-003.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/sunshine-behind-004.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/Andrew20Lesnie20Elijah20Wood20And20.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/lotr-behind-132.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/_thb_blackandwhite-behind-008.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/elijahwoodonthesetofTheWar.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/normal_Paradise02.jpg
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b234/Meribel/normal_Dayo12.jpg

Nenya, what great pictures! I am in love with your picspam, just in love. *savors*

I came here actually to drop off a quote from a cute article about EII and EW, focusing on his music obsession. Here's my favorite:

[EII is] a coming-of-age story about an obsessive collector played, in part, by an obsessive collector who is coming of age.

The article is here: http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-0509250471sep25,1,6254349.story?coll=mmx-home_bottom_hedsh2o

The reporter covers a lot of EW's filmography. Very interesting!

Thank you for posting the pics Nenya. We can use more of that spam here anyday... ;)

Has anyone read the book "Lords and Ladies" by Terry Pratchett?
The rear cover reads: "Ever wonder what those magic circles of stones in the English countryside are for? They're to keep the elves out.

Elves are nasty (besides being brutish and short). They're vicious. They love cruelty. Plus, to make things worse, elves have got It. Glamour. Style. humans find elves absolutely irresistible. They actually think elves are cute!

So when an infestation of Faerie Trash invades the Kingdom of Lancre, upsetting the Royal Wedding Plans (not to mention the Annual Morris Dance), the ordinary people of Lancre are helpless. It's up to the witches, led by Granny Weatherwax, to deal with the vicious little bastards.

Which is all right with Granny. She thinks elves are cute, too. And that makes them even more fun to kill."

Why do I keep thinking about Elijah when I read this? Why do I think that he would be a very good Elf in this (movie)? He still is kind've cute (don't tell him that to his face) Can easily pass for an elf and just loves to be vicious (see resume under Kevin, Sin City and Matt, Hooligans). Elijah would be perfect to play an elf in this movie. Discuss:

Oh dear, txtac -- would a role in another fantasy film actually help Elijah's cause, even if he'd be an elf (albeit a brutish elf) in this one, and not a hobbit?

Oh dear, txtac -- would a role in another fantasy film actually help Elijah's cause, even if he'd be an elf (albeit a brutish elf) in this one, and not a hobbit?
My usual line is that calling LotR a fantasy is like calling Wuthering Heights a romance novel. Now, calling anything written by Terry Pratchett a fantasy would be like... uhhh, hmmm... help me out here, txtac. ;) :D

I just don't want to get moviegoers all confused about Elves again, now that we've finally gotten it across that Tolkien's Elves aren't little. Differentiating between Elven and Elfin is just a bit too much to ask of the general population, IMVHO. :p

Anyway, not long after LotR filming ended, when answering a question about possible future projects, Elijah commented that no one had had the **** (direct quote ;) ) to send him any more fantasy scripts. He said he'd already acted in the greatest fantasy story there was, so why would he want to do any others? (Thus endearing himself to many Tolkienites who don't read much other fantasy for the same reason :) .)

Interesting, though, that all along he's done movies with what I'd call fantasy elements, beginning with Child in the Night, then Radio Flyer, Chain of Fools, ESOTSM, EII, and probably others I'm forgetting (no, I'm not forgetting TAMTSNBN, I'm just choosing to ignore it :haha: ).

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

Okay, first new screencaps I've done in a long time are up, from two scenes with Stu (http://www.frodolivesin.us/ejw/id73.htm). The second scene was a request (from so long ago I don't even remember who made it :o ); the first scene is just one I wanted to do (and it's my website :haha: ). I plan to make October an all-LotR month, in honor of the 50th anniversary of publication on October 20, so that'll be all the non-Frodo EJW stuff til November -- but I'll be posting a large version of one of Whiteling's drawings as part of the October celebration. :)

ETA: Because the pics on the first page of Stu screencaps are smaller than some others, the page had room to load the left-hand border that gives links to all the non-LotR scenes available thus far on the website. So if anyone wants to see what they may have missed, this is a good opportunity.

Just a reminder to anyone who may be living close to the only University worth going to ( :haha: )... SIN CITY is playing tonight at the U.T. Theater. Admission is FREE! In prequel to Robert Rodriguez lecture on the making of SIN CITY tommorrow night in the U.T.Ballroom.

Questions to ask submitted by Faculty members so far:
1. What happened to the original ending of the movie Faculty?
2. Why was the ending changed?
3. Will the original ending be on the "extras" disc on the new release of the Faculty?
*If anyone else has any questions that they would like to ask R.R., please let me know by tommorrow. Thanks.


Achilia posted:Oh dear, txtac -- would a role in another fantasy film actually help Elijah's cause, even if he'd be an elf (albeit a brutish elf) in this one, and not a hobbit?
YES! Everyone has thought that E-dog should have been an elf. I am still lobbying for him to do the role of Tanis Half-Elven in the movie version of Margaret Wies and Tracy Hickman's The Dragon Lance Chronicles. Elijah has never played an elf yet, so it fits in his perameters of what role he will take. He has been doing some "evil" roles lately to break his typecasting, so another evil, wicked, brutish and short (no not as an attorney) role that he can have some fun in, will be able to buckle his swash.
He took fencing for a while when he was younger (early teenage years). He started again for LOTR until he found out that Frodo didn't have to fence, so he quit again. I would like to see him in something similar to the 1950's Erroll Flynn, or Stewart Granger swashbuckler type films. Tell me that you wouldn't want to see Elijah in a pair of 15th, or 16th century pair of tights??? :z:

tgshaw wrote: calling anything written by Terry Pratchett a fantasy would be like... uhhh, hmmm... help me out here, txtac.
Universal Continuinuinum Theory.

tgshaw #2:Interesting, though, that all along he's done movies with what I'd call fantasy elements
All movies are fantasies. They take us out of the here and now and transport us to the there and then of someone else's (usually the scriptwriter's) universal continuem. Elijah will be anything that he wants to be in his universal continuem. In our fantasies, we want Elijah to be in our universal continuem. I am still hoping for "King Elijah and the Dragon." :lol:

Speaking of future projects, EW got the first tidbit in this week's "The Deal Report" in Entertainment Weekly magazine (along with a full-body pic of him in a Gogol Bordello T-shirt and red velvet jacket--getting the full-body pic is big thing for this weekly segment of the mag).

So that's why he's been sporting a faux hawk! Offering further proof that he's not just a cuddly Hobbit, Elijah Wood is in talks to play punk godfather Iggy Pop in a planned biopic for producer Ted Hope (American Splendor). "It'll probably happen some time in the next year," says Frodo--er, Wood. "It chronicles Iggy's life through the Iguanas, the Stooges, up until his first solo record. And being a huge fan of Iggy...it scares the s--- out of me."

Good job you're joking, txtac - just what Elijah needs now, lots of "poisoned dwarf" analogies in the Press!! Which is what bad elves will get him, as sure as eggs is eggs :eek:

I agree he makes a very cute fantasy creature (with a lot of depth, and a great character arc, of course! :) ), and you and I both know that he now wants to run as fast as possible in the opposite direction. In his own words: "been there, done that", "always looking to challenge myself" etc etc. It would be a bit like committing hara-kiri to take on another fantasy role and why would you, when you've already been Frodo Baggins! When you're 24 and people are still calling you cute, you can see where he's coming from in terms of being taken seriously by the great directors.

But he can get a good reference from the #1 on the Hollywood Power List (how cool is that, by the way! I love that cuddly, crazy PJ kicked major butt, simultaneously creating enormous enjoyment for millions of fans the world over, having a wonderful time himself but almost killing himself in the process -I hope he & his family, Fran especially, get to take a nice long peaceful vacation halfway up a mountain in the middle of nowhere before they get started on "The Lovely Bones" - it's kinda sad how success screws you, isn't it?). I'm hoping that PJ, Fran & Philippa get together to write something more intimate for him. I think that they owe him some megabucks, since he didn't seem to get much out of LOTR financially (and no nice shiny statues, either). A First World War story, maybe about an aviator, would be cool (hey, he flew a plane all by himself in "Forever Young", which I still think he stole, by the way), with a love interest (would like to see him opposite Scarlett Johansen (sp?). Or actually any of the ladies he mentions would be fine. Mel Gibson could lend a hand there - they know each other, he's done WW1 (Gallipoli - great movie by the way, from Oz), and it would be sealing his legacy by passing the torch on to the next generation! I have to confess that I saw Forever Young in the theatres because Mel was my heartthrob - which kind of dates me right into the "old enough to be his mother" group so I feel right at home here! (You are formally let off from membership in this group, txtac ;) )

Though I love the changes that he's rung on his characters, I'm kind of hoping that quirky isn't all that he does in the near future. Hopefully for that "Bobby" role, he may get to play opposite one of the leading ladies he admires. I kind of got the impression that Natalie Portman had looked down her nose at him during the filming of "Star Wars" for being too wrapped up in his role "I'm not like a real Princess or anything" (I thought she was a Queen in that one!). Meaty, interesting and mainstream would be cool, with a great director. Even meaty, interesting and a little off to the left would be OK (A History of Violence looks interesting, and I suspect a lot more mainstream that Cronenberg ususally is - I'm not even a real Viggo fan, but I can appreciate good acting when I see it).

I'm really hoping (and predicting) that EII is going to take off - not into megabucks land but respectable enough. I think the Leno appearance is well-timed for EII (it'll be interesting to see if he does any promo for GSH) and he's certainly been out there for a while now, hopefully a few influential people have noticed. I think he's quite well respected, but a little difficult to place currently. So it's not a bad thing to take a few smaller roles in good quality stuff, just to keep people thinking until the right role comes along.

Unfortunately I don't think GSH is going to do the same :( , but I hope I'm wrong. Dare I say it, while playing a yob, he does look awfully "cute"! Regrettably, I do think the verisimilitude is a bit lacking there (the whole movie, not Elijah's performance, which I think is rather good for what it's trying to do).

As a New Yorker, I hope he plucks up courage and heads out on the boards sometime soon. Not in a "Glengarry Glen Ross" type drama, but I think he should kick up his heels in a musical (hey, we know he can sing and dance). It would be a lot of fun, and would get the pipes tuned for Iggy Pop (does he really need to tune them,for that? Boy, will he impress me if he pulls that one off! The man looks like a starved chicken!). And it wouldn't be so much pressure, if he could do it in an ensemble sort of way. He should talk to Hugh Jackman who has that down pat (did they meet doing voiceovers for "Happy Feet" - kind of a practice run, although I gather his penguin can't sing :( ?).

Well, this was a really long, rambling post, so if you're snoring, this is your official wake-up call! GO GET DINNER ON! TAKE THE DOG FOR A WALK! SMOOCH YOUR NEAREST LOVED ONE!

Love & kisses
Nenya :k

tg, I just got home from work and had to click your "The War" caps link. Wow! Those are sensational! I feel like running out and renting that film again post haste. Gee, but I thought he was superb in that role.

~ Mechtild

Just wanted to add a quick and mercifully short note of appreciation also to tgshaw for those "The War" caps - they were fun, and reminded me of how much I'd enjoyed that movie and Elijah's "Stu".

We're pretty lucky that we have so much to discuss, and especially lucky that we have you to organize it all for us in such a beautiful way.
Thank you & keep it coming!

Mwah! :k

Nenya

Psst txtac How was your free showing of Sin City? I just love Kevin in that movie, though I know I shouldn't :eek: Hope you had a good time! Tell us what RR had to say, please??

My usual line is that calling LotR a fantasy is like calling Wuthering Heights a romance novel. Now, calling anything written by Terry Pratchett a fantasy would be like... uhhh, hmmm... help me out here, txtac. ;) :D Forgive me please, tg and txtac, for my fantasy ignorance, as I am not so premium with it :D

Hi. I'm back home from another errand and read a little bit more of what's been posted today.

Sharpe's Girl, your quote said the Iggy Pop thing would be produced by the American Splendor guy (cooool movie, that was). Have you or they said who is directing it? It was probably in the thread somewhere, but I don't remember... :confused:

Nenya, thanks for running your "wish list" for roles for EW by me. I don't think, judging from what he's chosen so far, he is going to play a role that I am panting to see him play. But I'd be happy to let him surprise me. ;) You said something in your post that I didn't quite understand:

Hopefully for that "Bobby" role, he may get to play opposite one of the leading ladies he admires. I kind of got the impression that Natalie Portman had looked down her nose at him during the filming of "Star Wars" for being too wrapped up in his role "I'm not like a real Princess or anything" (I thought she was a Queen in that one!).
Natalie Portman looked down her nose at him during the filming of Star Wars? Did he have a cameo in it or something, and I missed it? Boy, I really must have been sleeping during those films more than I thought! Was this in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, or the newest one?

~ Mechtild

Mechtild, some of the LOTR actors visited the SW set in Australia and the SW actors were amused that the LOTR actors referred to themselves as 'hobbits.' EW was not in any SW movie.

C4

Hi, Mechtild!
Didn't mean to do a flyby there, sorry!!

The hobbits (+an elf) and minus Sam (oops, Sean), being the geeky boys we know them to be, arranged for a vacation from the set of LOTR to visit the set of Star Wars Episode 2 (I think it was that one!) in Australia, which they described as being very sterile (the set, not Australia!), full of blue screens (no surprises there). The lads apparently were still somewhat inhabiting their roles and described themselves as "hobbits" to all and sundry on the set - and maybe there were still a few stray hairs glued to their feet :D They apparently still were thinking they were out in the wilds somewhere and were readjusting to civilization. This was why Natalie Portman apparently put them down! ;) The Star Wars crew evidently thought them a bit strange, referring to themselves as their characters! I guess they really didn't "get it" ! Perhaps getting a bit of grass between your toes does wonders for your characterization, or even crawling up a real volcano!

Now I wonder if that's the reason why the acting was so much better in one film compared to the other???? :rolleyes:

Incidentally, I have nothing against Natalie Portman as I think she is a fine young actress. But she did psychology at Harvard, I think, so probably thought Frodo and crew were a bit cracked (after all, most of Hobbiton thought so too!) Oops, maybe even I'm losing my reality testing now :confused:

Hope that's cleared it up for you. :)
Nenya!

PS As far as I know, there were no cameos, more's the pity

Oops, ceefour, didn't realize we had simulposted! Nighty night!

Thanks, ceefour and Nenya, those were helpful explanations. :)

I'm one for two :(
Loved EiI :cool:
Didn't much enjoy GSH :( *sorry*
Maybe it was my mood, but I thought it a bit cheesy at times. I personally did not feel charlie Hunnam overshadowed Elijah--I don't get all that hype, as he didn't, for me. They both did a good job, but I didn't always like their lines....(ducks and covers head)
Maybe it was just seeing all those boys fighting for nothing...boys..(And I"m one who liked Fight Club, but I thought it had more meaning)

Sorry!!! Sorry!!! Sorry :o

Maybe it was my mood. I'll see it again, since I am lucky to have the opportunity.

OT---If you didn't see it, I suggest you check out the PBS biography (parts 1 and 2) on Bob Dylan when it is re-shown. Oh, my, is that man is impressive. Most of the first part is taken up with some interesting history--but it's really in the last 20 minutes of part one that it becomes electric (and I"m not talking his guitars when I say electric--I mean a spine-tingling channeling of something vast and glittering and mythic). And then part 2 goes on from there. And I swear he looks like a hobbit in the mid-sixties footage--very much never before seen. Amazing. He looked like a hobbit!!!! (Our new kind that aren't too plump ;) )

Check it out if you have a chance. Authenticity and depth and complexity that is mind-blowing and meaningful. His songs remind me a little of how J.S. Foers writes in EiI (and jsf said he thinks of writing as if it is music). I'm not saying this well because I am being called to go to bed and turn off the computer

So goodnight!! For now...

ETA: Here I am in the middle of the night with a headache and not sleeping--wondering why I didn't enjoy GSH. I look back in my mind and I think Elijah was quite good in the role. Charlie did well. I think it was because I wasn't drawn into the excitement. I couldn't see why Matt liked those guys!! Pete didn't seem as charismatic to me as he does to all the reviewers so maybe I couldn't feel the draw enough. Maybe I didn't catch a lot of it because I was having trouble with accents and didn't catch all of the lines. Maybe I knew too much about the story (I didn't bother to remain spoiler-free). Maybe I wasn't feeling well. AGain, when I go over scenes with Elijah, I liked his acting. It was the story I just didn't get pulled into.
Maybe if I see it again...

Thanks for the report, Alyon. :) All the more I am sorry it won't be shown anywhere in my neck of the U.S. -- the variety of people's responses intrigues me. I can see how the whole premise of the film would be difficult to accept (men wanting to brutalize each other for the thrill of it) unless it were presented extremely well. I confess I want to see it just because I want to see EW. And I most want to see him in it because I'll have a chance to see him look fetching while suffering angst and fury: tacky, tacky, tacky, I know. But I was a sucker for that in RotK. Now I get to see him do it without curls. Will it still work for me, I wonder? ;)

EII got another great notice from you, though. Oh, how I wish it were going to play up here even more! Especially since the cinematogaphy sounds so good. Movies that display a lot of their virtues in visuals are so much more effective when seen on a full screen.

And I definitely want to see this Bob Dylan film. I emailed you about it for additional details.

~ Mechtild

Here are the pertinent exerpts (MAY have a couple of tiny spoilers):

Let me say this - Elijah Wood is a smart guy. Knowing full well that he will forever be known to several generations of people as Frodo Baggins, he’s set out in the last year and a half to personally deconstruct that image piece by ****ing piece. Starting with his role as the meek, pot smoking nerd in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, he followed it up with his turn as Kevin, the bloodthirsty, animalistic serial killer in Sin City. Now he completes his transformation by playing a wrongfully expelled Harvard journalism major who falls in with the wrong crowd and goes from meek geek to smug thug right before your eyes.

and

Elijah Wood is simply great in this film. The transformation of his character comes across as very real illustrating the natural progression of a man incapable of earning respect to someone who simply demands it through sheer aggression. Marc Warren and Charlie Hunnam star opposite him and do an excellent job playing a pair of brothers – one of whom has walked away from the life of the firm and the other trying to live up to potential of what his brother could have been had he not walked away.

I absolutely love this film and recommend it whole-heartedly. It’s a great changeup from a year full of softball, slow moving indies. One of those rare XY anthem films, Green Street Hooligans proves to be an intelligently conceived and executed indie that’s going to catch a lot of people off guard and find its way into many a DVD collection to be watched on those days you just need a pick me up. Check this one out at your earliest convenience.

From this morning's The Philadelphia Inquirer:

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/12757939.htm

C4

ETA-If any Faculty members can't access the article, I can e-mail it to you from the paper's website.

The article's author comments EW's Jonathan is "a fine, subtle performance." :cool:

If you didn't see it, I suggest you check out the PBS biography (parts 1 and 2) on Bob Dylan when it is re-shown.
Excellent documentary. I wish I had recorded it. Interesting how much better he looked in the older black and white images.
I noticed that someone described him as "weird, but in a good way", almost exactly the words Liev Schreiber used to describe Elijah. It got me thinking of "innocence, depth and perversity", and how, from the evidence in the documentary, that too fitted Dylan in the early 60s.

I am sorry that you weren't impressed by GSH. I enjoyed it more on my second viewing as I saw beyond the drinking and fighting to the themes of the importance of reputation and the need to belong and be supported and offer support in your turn, something that was sadly lacking in Matt's family life. That theme was brought home to me again in court yesterday; a 16 year old boy, who had moved away from the area some years ago as he was being bullied, had now returned with his mother, had fallen in with a gang of youths and been arrested following a fracas outside a pub. His estranged father came to court with them to say that he felt that he was to blame as he had not been there for his son when he needed him, and that he intended to do better in future.

The film was a bit shaky on the details, but as far as the broad picture is concerned, it was spot on.

Brummie:
I am sorry that you weren't impressed by GSH. I enjoyed it more on my second viewing

Yeah, I think I need to see it again. Many of the images that resurface in my head are good ones....I talked to my daughter about it this morning and she said I maybe was taking it too seriously, or was too wound up in wanting it to be good...I also think there are a few things I wasn't hearing, so maybe I missed some info...
But good point about when the family isn't there for a child, getting the support elsewhere is very enticing. We all need some kind of community...

Brummie, again, on Dylan:
I noticed that someone described him as "weird, but in a good way", almost exactly the words Liev Schreiber used to describe Elijah. It got me thinking of "innocence, depth and perversity", and how, from the evidence in the documentary, that too fitted Dylan in the early 60s.

Again, very apt description. I just loved him. And his blue eyes while performing, while spilling poetry that seems inspired by something bigger than one man's mind...ahhh....were so captivating and soulful. He said in performance he spent each moment in the song to connect in that moment...I have to say that his eyes are magnetic. The footage from the 1966 tour was heartbreaking..

I forgot to say before that this is the Martin Scorcese film presented by PBS in their American Masters Series. It was on here (and I assume all around America) this last Sunday and MOnday. Here it will be repeated over the coming weekend.

OT Post:-
Alyon
forgot to say before that this is the Martin Scorcese film presented by PBS in their American Masters Series. It was on here (and I assume all around America) this last Sunday and MOnday. Here it will be repeated over the coming weekend.

Ah-ha !! I thought it must be... ;)
This was shown on Monday and Tuesday nights this week, here in the UK, as part of the esteemed "Arena" strand, a very highly thought of popular Arts programme that pops up once in a while...been going for the last thirty years or so...( an extremely good David Bowie Documentary, in the 70's, which I still have on tape, was one of theirs )

I thought it was excellent, especially as it made me want to go out and buy all his albums...( none of which I have, for some, as yet unknown, reason !! )

Joan Baez said that he was like a sponge, soaking up ideas subliminally, and then letting them loose upon the World, in the form of poetry, and songs, and yet, most of the time he didn't know what he was writing about - often writing a set of lyrics, singing them to Joan and asking her what she thought that the critics would interpret them as meaning, as he didn't really know himself !!

This endeared him to me a LOT !!!

Sorry for the off-topic post !

Reporting in on my second viewing of GSH:

I enjoyed it much more the second time! :confused: :D

Someone here said there's a lot going on in most every scene, and I agree. I caught more of the dialogue, and was able to focus on the characters more because of that. Also, having some familiarity with the characters already made me feel more involved with them. And understanding Matt as someone who is basically adrift, without a mom and without much attention from, or connection with, his father made his initial timidity and wimpiness ;) feel believable.

The young man who sold me my ticket exclaimed "Excellent choice! I saw it last night. It's really good." :cool:

There were a dozen people in the theater, at 5:15 p.m. on a weekday. I had fully expected to have the theater to myself. Several couples, both young and old; and solo theatergoers, male and female.

I did have to close my eyes during the last fight scene.

Still have mixed feelings about the few, and brief, voiceovers. In general, I think voiceovers take me outside of the movie and have an annoying tendency to flash the obvious at you in big, bold letters--the worst example that comes to mind is The Age of Innocence, which would have been far, far better without the narrator. However, in the case of GSH, we get to hear more of Elijah's soft, mellifluous voice, and that can never be a bad thing. :p

I'm back just for today, as I have homework to catch up on before I go to class tonight.

I have one a little bit of advice for those of you with children. If you want to ease their grief at your passing, or at the time when you are not longer able to live independently...Never.Wallpaper.

Scraping off old wallpaper paste this week gave me time to think. And what my 'Lijah-addled old brain came up with was this: I'm so grateful for Liev Schreiber!

Peter Jackson is OK, but even in the hours and hours and hours of commentary on the LoTR ee dvds, I never heard him give Elijah the praise I thougth he really deserved. In fact there were moments when PJ would say something off-handed like "oh, and of course Elijah too" after praising some other actor. (Go watch the commentary on the 'remembering the Shire' scene, and you'll see a prime example of what I mean. OK, he did say that one thing about feeling he'd 'met' Frodo when he saw Lij's homemade audition tape. But other'n that I've never felt like he really understood what makes Elijah so magical. Well, in fairness PJ does have a lot of other actors to spread the praise around to.

But Mr. Schreiber! Now he's an actor who understands Elijah's magic! From saying that Elijah's got the "best eyes in the business", to reflecting that those same eyes are like "garage doors" to Elijah's soul. He describes Elijah's "fawn" like exterior, saying that it makes you want to hold him, and take care of him, and then says that that pretty little face is just the outside of a fascinating mixture of "innoncence, depth and perversity!" He really gets it! And he's not afraid to say it out loud!

Goldenberry, I'm glad you liked GSH more the second time around! I wrote a post back a few pages where I talk about Matt's psychological makeup, and how I don't find his personal wimpiness, by contrast to his journalistic bravado, at all unbelievable. I agree with you:
And understanding Matt as someone who is basically adrift, without a mom and without much attention from, or connection with, his father made his initial timidity and wimpiness feel believable.


OK, off to do homework. Will miss you all until Sunday!

hugs,
honey!

Sorry, I'm going to stray OT for a bit. Please just skip if you are not interested in folklore.

...Differentiating between Elven and Elfin is just a bit too much to ask of the general population, IMVHO. :p


:eek: Thank you tgshaw, for your post! As a non-native speaker of the English language I was under the impression "elfin" meant all of the qualities I associate with "elven": a) of elvish origin b) ethereal, beautiful, otherwordly.
Now that I've consulted a dictionary, I realise there is this great difference between Tolkien's Elves and the concept of "elf" in English and American culture. So yeah, now everything is illuminated. :D

Come to think of it I should have known because there is Dobby the house elf in Harry Potter, right? Dobby is more like (but still far from) a "tomte" in Swedish and Scandinavian lore, which is the word we also use for Father Christmas, but then Father Christmas is the tomte ("Tomten" with a capital T). In my culture there is also the notion of "fairies", which are small or human-sized, winged beings often described as semi-visible and "ethereal", shy, and dangerous if provoked by people. How do they compare to the "fairies" and "pixies" of English language and culture? We also have the belief in a breed of people living underground, and those are very dangerous creatures indeed that I dare not even describe here.

There's also the Lady of the Wood (whom my granddad who was a farmer always called "grandma" just like he'd call wolves "greylegs" and fire "the red rooster". I suppose for fear of attracting these dangers).She is a woman with hair down to her ankles and a hollow back who lures men into the forest and leads them off the trodden path until they are lost, or she simply drives them mad with desire. I wonder if Tolkien had her in mind when he envisioned Galadriel, even though Galadriel is decidedly a benevolent being. Incidentally, "wolf" in Swedish is "varg" so that must be the origin of the vargs of ME, right?

Ok, sorry to take up your time. Just curious how these things are thought of in the englishspeaking community.

*returns to Hugs haven to oogle the sunflower pics for the rest of the night* :D

OTThere's also the Lady of the Wood ..... I wonder if Tolkien had her in mind when he envisioned Galadriel, even though Galadriel is decidedly a benevolent being. Incidentally, "wolf" in Swedish is "varg" so that must be the origin of the vargs of ME, right?

That's fascinating. I am sure from what you say, as Tolkien was familiar with the northern legends and mythology, that the Lady of the Wood was the prototype for Galadriel. We know that Galadriel is good, but Eomer and the Rohirrim (and possibly the people of Gondor, I can't remember) only knew of her as evil in their tales. And wargs must be derived from vargs. Tom Shippey's view is that wargs are a linguistic cross between Old Norse vargr and Old English wearh, two words showing a shift of meaning from "wolf" to "human outlaw". (The Road to Middle-Earth)

I would say that the general English view of fairies is the same as yours, although they would perhaps generally be regarded as benevolent rather than dangerous.

Tom Shippey has also much to say on the subject of elves and fairies.
"Even more than "dwarfs" Tolkien disliked the word "elfin", since this was a personal and pseudo-medieval coinage by Edmund Spenser"
From Tolkien's remarks in "On Fairy Stories" and his translation of Sir Orfeo , "the gist of these observations for Tolkien must have been that "fairy" in its modern sense was a newer word than the Oxford English Dictionary realised; that it was furthermore a modern word derived from the French fee ; and had been throughout its history a source of delusion and error for English people, ending in the compund words "fairy-tale" and "fairy-story" which ....were badly defined, uninformed and associated with litereary works bereft of the slightest trace of sub-creation."

If you have not read "The Road to Middle Earth" I can thoroughly recommend it as a comprehensive and readable guide to the sources of Tolkien's inspiration.

Brummie and Eandme, I LOVED your exchange about Elves/elfs, fairies/Faerie, Lady of the Wood/Galadriel, and wargs and vargs. I feel very much (dare I say) illuminated. I love to read posts like that! Thank you! :)

Goldenberry, I must disagree with you about voice-over narrators.

In general, I think voiceovers take me outside of the movie and have an annoying tendency to flash the obvious at you in big, bold letters--the worst example that comes to mind is The Age of Innocence, which would have been far, far better without the narrator.
I love all the voice-over narrations in LotR, for example -- Bilbo's, Galadriel's, Elrond's and Frodo's (did I miss any?). And I thought the voice-over narration of Charles Ryder (Jeremy Irons) in the BBC series from the 80's of Brideshead Revisited, MADE that production what it is: excellent and memorable. It is Iron's narration, more than any other element, I think, that gives that series its depth and weight and quality of reflection.

A poor performance by the narrator, or a narration that is badly-written, however, is another thing. Is that what happened in GSH? In the trailers, I thought the Matt voice-over narration extremely weak.

~ Mechtild

Mechtild: The Lord of The Rings had voiceovers? :confused: ;)

See, LOTR was an example of great voiceover narration: done to draw people into the story and advance the story/establish the scene quickly, pairing information with images (or, in the case of the FANTASTIC Galadriel narrative that opens the film, a black screen). It still gives me goosebumps, these many many viewings later, to hear those whispered Elvish words that begin Fellowship.

Oh, yeah, Goldenberry -- those opening Elvish words of Cate Blanchet's on a black screen .... Me, too -- goosebumps all over!

But I can't think of a piece of voice-over narration in that film that I didn't think worked beautifully. Howard Shore was super, though. It's difficult to praise too highly his contribution (in my opinion) to the overall effect of the films and the effect of each individual scene. And how mammothly important his scoring was for making those narrated scenes work the way they did. Think of the music under the narrated sequences in TTT (by Elrond and Galadriel) -- whoah! -- almost my favourite sequences in that film! And we won't even talk about the music under Frodo's RotK narration (*sob *sniffle*), right from the pull-away shot of the map of Middle-earth on through Bag End and Bilbo's last journey.

But I'm a weeper. Heck, I even cry for the FotR "Concerning Hobbits" sequence with Bilbo narrating -- and it's supposed to be happy, for heaven's sake! But it's just so beautifully done and the Shore's theme under it so perfect, I weep from sheer appreciation.

~ Mechtild

Peter Jackson is OK, but even in the hours and hours and hours of commentary on the LoTR ee dvds, I never heard him give Elijah the praise I thougth he really deserved. In fact there were moments when PJ would say something off-handed like "oh, and of course Elijah too" after praising some other actor. (Go watch the commentary on the 'remembering the Shire' scene, and you'll see a prime example of what I mean. OK, he did say that one thing about feeling he'd 'met' Frodo when he saw Lij's homemade audition tape. But other'n that I've never felt like he really understood what makes Elijah so magical. Well, in fairness PJ does have a lot of other actors to spread the praise around to.Honey, my take, from "studying" Pete all these hours and years later, is that despite his (then) cuddly appearance, he is not really a "schmoop". How many "behind the scenes" shots of him directing have we seen where he says to the actors, "That's nice. That's good"? Not exactly high praise. Plus, he's a Kiwi, folk who are known for their tough, get-it-done-with-duct-tape-and string-if-you-must personas, and it would probably never occur to him to gush over anyone. That's not to say that he isn't moved -- we know that he cried when they filmed "I Can't Carry It For You, But I Can Carry You!", and he was also very emotional on Elijah's last day. But it's not what we Americans are used to. He was very complimentary to Elijah on several occasions and to me, it's almost as if it goes without saying that he loves his performance. I know what you mean tho -- that did disappoint me a bit, especially in light of how little professional acknowledgement Lij really got for that role.

Liev, on the other hand, is Jewish. We tend to be a somewhat schmaltzy tribe to begin with :D

ETA -- Just thought of one other item -- Liev is an actor himself, and knows the value of this sort of praise.

How many "behind the scenes" shots of him directing have we seen where he says to the actors, "That's nice. That's good"? Not exactly high praise. Plus, he's a Kiwi, folk who are known for their tough, get-it-done-with-duct-tape-and string-if-you-must personas, and it would probably never occur to him to gush over anyone. That's not to say that he isn't moved -- we know that he cried when they filmed "I Can't Carry It For You, But I Can Carry You!", and he was also very emotional on Elijah's last day. But it's not what we Americans are used to. He was very complimentary to Elijah on several occasions and to me, it's almost as if it goes without saying that he loves his performance.
I couldn't find a good spot to cut your quote so I left it whole. I agree with much of what you have said, Achila. Peter Jackson simply isn't a gusher. When I think of the more glowing comments made about performances on the commentaries, they mostly were made by the actors about each other, not by Peter Jackson (or other crew members). Even when people on the production side did compliment a cast member, it was usually about what a good person they were to work with, not the actual quality of their actual work.

I think you are right, too, in emphasing that the amount of verbalized affirmation has a lot to do with cultural expectation. It doesn't seem to be a British or a Kiwi thing to offer a lot of praise. Even when it is given, it is usually given back-handedly, as teasing or sarcasm. Remember when the British hobbits were talking about how taken aback the American hobbits were at first, by their "taking the p*ss" out of them? The American style of praising was to pile on lots of affirmation -- pats on the back -- both verbal and physical. But that wasn't the British style, Dom twinkled mischievously at the camera.

In Sean Astin's book, one of the things he repeatedly said he hungered for was adequate verbal praise and recognition for his work, especially from his director. And he didn't get it. If I remember what I read, he said he had been used to getting it when working in previous films, so now it was hard to do without. Maybe that was because he had worked for American directors (and assistant directors) who intentionally gave lots of strokes. Ours is a very therapeutic culture, overall, where making sure other people feel "affirmed" is drilled into us from pre-school. I think over in New Zealand people were expected to just do their jobs. Everyone was expected to do his or her best. Praise and thanks were given, but no one seemed singled out for special recognition, I thought.

In the documentary footage, the only big-time Kiwi gushing I can remember was done by the stunties, horse handlers and NZ actors -- all praising Viggo and sometimes Bernard -- but why? Not because of their performances, but because they were men whom they liked, respected and admired as persons.

That is the sort of praise I most picked up for EW, although not as widely since he filmed mostly small, intimate scenes. It was all the people who slogged through all those huge battle scene shoots that were most impressed by Viggo's spirit and work ethic. EW's work was watched by much smaller groups. Yet it seemed to me that he was respected and liked by the NZ crew who did work with him to a high degree. I think it was for the same reason they liked Viggo: he showed himself to be "a trouper." He was a good sport, up for anything; he worked very hard, he didn't complain, and he seemed not to need any special strokes. That is, like Viggo Mortensen, he did not behave like a star, especially not an American one.

Likewise, I never had the impression that Peter Jackson (and his production team) felt or thought anything but good about Elijah Wood, both as a person and as an actor. You are right, there was no big "rave" for his work from Peter, but about whose performance did he say such things? I can't think of anyone's, offhand. Again, when I was poring over all those DVD Extras I was not a fan of EW in particular. I was not "searching" for footage in which he was admired or not admired. Yet it struck me, even then, how much everyone seemed to respect, like and admire Elijah Wood, especially and including Jackson and Walsh, as a person and as an actor. I haven't changed my mind. In fact, when watching all those awards ceremonies -- still not an "EW fan" -- it struck me over and over how much the Jacksons seemed to really like Elijah Wood. I mean, EW in particular. At the Oscars ceremony, their attitude was so markedly affectionate and easy towards him, I remember thinking, "he could be Peter and Fran's son." When the EE came out months later and we all got to see the "last take" in Bag End and hear how moved PJ was over the "taste of strawberries" scene, it only seemed to confirm my impression.

Perhaps, how Peter behaved towards his actors at the Oscars shows best how he shows praise. No, he didn't gush after their takes while shooting; he was spare on "strokes" (if he gave any at all). But when it came time to receive the Oscar for "Best Picture," Jackson broke the ceremony rules and brought his actors up onstage with him. This was not meant to show that Peter Jackson enjoyed a party (the more the merrier) but to demonstrate how much he thought they deserved professional recognition for their contributions to the success of the film. I think that is a strong, visual statement of praise.

~ Mechtild

Quote from Honey:

Peter Jackson is OK, but even in the hours and hours and hours of commentary on the LoTR ee dvds, I never heard him give Elijah the praise I thought he really deserved.

I understand what you’re saying, Honey. I am one who listened to the DVD commentaries hoping - nay, yearning - to hear high praise for Elijah’s Frodo - a performance I believe has been sorely underestimated. But I think in the commentaries the participants often get side-tracked by discussing or commenting on technical details or on-set stories relating to filming particular scenes, that often a great Frodo moment passes with no reference whatsoever. That’s what really peeves me - a wonderful Frodo moment, and it seems as though no-one in the commentaries is even paying attention!

Having said that, I believe Peter Jackson really did recognize and appreciate what an absolute asset EW was to the trilogy and it’s success.

OK, he did say that one thing about feeling he'd 'met' Frodo when he saw Lij's homemade audition tape. But other'n that I've never felt like he really understood what makes Elijah so magical.

I think the magical ‘meeting Frodo’ effect continued far beyond the audition tape.

On the casting of Frodo:

Peter Jackson says Frodo was the hardest character for him to visualize. "Unlike Sam, who is very clearly defined, Frodo is slightly more of an enigma. In a sense, Frodo was -- and certainly is always going to be -- defined by the character who plays him. For that reason, I am absolutely delighted that Elijah came into our world at that time and became Frodo, because for me, he is perfect."

Achila said:
He was very complimentary to Elijah on several occasions and to me, it's almost as if it goes without saying that he loves his performance.

I agree with Achila, and I do believe that PJ valued Elijah highly as a person, and as a cast member who was always very professional, enthusiastic, supportive and very conscious of his role as part of an ensemble:

from a KRON-4 Morning News interview in San Francisco:

Q: Who was your guiding light? Who propped you up on those days you were like, 'Jesus Christ, this is a mountain I'm climbing'?

PJ: Well, my partner Fran Walsh, who's one of the producers on the film, and co-wrote the script, she was wonderful. And the actors actually were incredibly supportive -- like Elijah, who was filming virtually every day for eighteen months, he was on camera a lot, and Elijah's just so bubbly and he's so optimistic and he's such a great guy, I never heard one negative word from Elijah the whole time. And often on the days that I'd turn up being really tired, thinking, oh my god, am I going to be able to get through the day? the first person I'd see is Elijah, saying, 'Okay, Peter, great, let's go!' and he would immediately buoy you back up.

As Mech said in her insightful post above:

... he showed himself to be "a trouper." He was a good sport, up for anything; he worked very hard, he didn't complain, and he seemed not to need any special strokes. That is, like Viggo Mortensen, he did not behave like a star...

I think PJ did appreciate Elijah’s performance as an actor, and if he didn’t enthuse enough over EW on the commentaries, he has praised him highly elsewhere:

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

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

"You can look into Elijah's eyes and you can see right down to his heart." ~ Peter Jackson

As for praise of Elijah’s acting on the DVD commentaries:

The lovely Richard Taylor comments on Elijah's acting in the scene at the Prancing Pony when the Ringwraiths arrive in Bree and Strider is explaining about the Nazgul after Frodo asks, 'What are they?'.

Rick Porras is very appreciative of EW's talent on the commentary track for FOTR when Frodo is weeping on the banks of the Anduin, as he prepares to leave the Fellowship.

And editor Jamie Selkirk remarks on the ‘wonderful emotion in Frodo’s eyes,’ as he is hanging from the ledge in Sammath Naur in ROTK.

I’m certain I remember reading (but can’t locate it at the moment) a quote from Peter Jackson saying that he ‘can’t think of any other actor in the world, past or present, (or - from any era?) who could play Frodo Baggins better than Elijah.’ If I’m remembering the quote correctly (and I may not be, though this is certainly the gist of it), that IS praise!

Blossom, thanks for those quotes -- they're great! One other thing that I thought of as I was reading your post is that we should keep in mind that some of the commentaries are edited to fit together. So it's possible that there were things said we may've wanted to hear, that wound up on the proverbial cutting room floor.

You guys will tell me if you ever get tired of me pointing you toward Elijah articles, right? I've posted a few links in my LJ recently, and then wondered if maybe I should pass them on here, as well... I don't think these have been linked here, yet:

Ex-hobbit Tells All (http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2005/09/27/features/ink/64be6de8834821e686257088007e01ed.txt) - Some fun stuff about former cast mates in this one.

The Illuminating Elijah: From Hobbit to Hebrew, actor speaks the language of success (http://www.jewishexponent.com/ViewArticle.asp?ArtID=1101) - This one has some lovely things to say about Elijah, as well as his thoughts on playing a Jew. I'm not sure if this one is spoilery for EII or not, because I stopped reading it when I thought it might get that way. (Just gotta steer clear for about two more weeks!)

Wood Sees the Light (http://www.azcentral.com/ent/movies/articles/0929hollywood29.html) An interesting Q&A with slightly offbeat Q's and A's. ;)


I finally saw GSH a few nights ago at a special screening, and I think my viewing was somewhat like Alyon's. I didn't like it nearly as much as I had hoped to, but how could anything possibly live up to months and months of intense anticipation-disappointment-anticipation-disappointment, etc? :rolleyes: Also, I unexpectedly ended up taking my mother (I would have much preferred to see it alone on the first viewing), and I think I worried a bit too much about what she might be thinking of it.

In addition to those things, it turned out that, in spite of my best efforts to remain unspoiled, I essentially knew the entire plot going in. I didn't realize it until I saw it, but it's true... there is very little that happened that I didn't already know, suspect, or easily predict. *sigh* That's what I get for being so deeply into fandom, I guess. :( I really want to see it again, though, and pick up some of the things that I missed the first time around, but I think I have to wait another month or something before it finally opens here (if it does at all).

The audience appeared to know nothing at all about it, for the most part, and were there simply because it was a free film. They seemed to enjoy it, though I didn't pay a lot of attention. I noticed laughter in appropriate places, and wincing during the fight sequences, and as far as I know, no one walked out. I didn't get to hear any exit conversation, really, because I stayed through the credits and almost no one else did. I hope the film gets some good word of mouth from these people so that it will get decent audiences when (or if) it finally opens.

I think I'll have better luck with EII... I'm anticipating it in a much more pleasant way, and so far, I've managed to steer clear of any real spoilers. *knocks wood* ;)

You guys will tell me if you ever get tired of me pointing you toward Elijah articles, right?

Sure, BunnieBugs, we'll let you know if we get tired of the wonderful Elijah articles you point out for us, but I can't see that happening...EVER. :D

(Of course, I'm just speaking for myself. but I can't imagine anyone's going to gainsay me.) :)


SandCastles

Hullo All! I'm back. I've done battle with wallpaper paste, and a collection of plastic bags - mostly empty - and I'm every so glad to be back in my own cluttered house again! Starting on Monday, I'm gonna throw out every third thing I see, just on general principle! There's something to be said for minimal posessions!

Thank you, Mechtild , Achila and especially all of those lovely quotes Blossom! And for reminding me that PJ did indeed appreciate that blue-eyed magic man, Elijah!

Bunnie, thanks for the wonderful articles!

I've just watched The Faculty for the umpteenth time, but this time it was with my future daughter-in-law who also loves the film. She's a good kid, and I think we'll keep her, even if she is one of those people who talks throughout a movie! :rolleyes:

Glad to be back in the Lounge!

[SIZE=1]Alyon and Toadfoot, I'll write you both soon! [/SIZE=1] :k

honey!

Hi guys, :) Great to see you are all in fine form as per usual.

re Jackson: don't forget it is totally not the way for a good kiwi bloke to gush. ;) The more strongly something is felt over here the more likely it will be understated. I always got the impression from the local interviews with Jackson and Walsh that EW was extremely highly thought of and was a major factor in not only interpreting Frodo but in keeping the other actors motivated and cooperative in a gruelling shedule.

If he gets less "rave" time its probably at least partly because, unlike a few of the others, he was definitely NOT high maintenance.

I know what you mean tho Honey. I still grind my teeth over the incredibly brief references to EW in Astins book. :mad: And yet we all know from repeated interviews how much young Mr Wood did to keep the anxious and fragile Astin cheerful and on track.... Oh well. At least we know. I hope I haven't offended Astin fans but I found this a serious lack in his account of the filming.

Bunnie
You guys will tell me if you ever get tired of me pointing you toward Elijah articles, right?

Yeah actually...I'm getting right fed up with all this boring Elijah-stuff....let's talk about something more interesting instead... :haha: :D !!

Actually, you never cease to amaze me with the sheer quantity of goodies that you come up with...you must be signed up with every newsgroup and picture agency going, all e-mailing you with any Elijah Wood tit-bits and pics as soon as they get posted...
Long may it continue...you are our Primary Source !!
:k

Honey
Starting on Monday, I'm gonna throw out every third thing I see, just on general principle! There's something to be said for minimal posessions!

:eek: :eek: :eek:
STOP !!!

Before you go mad like that, just make sure that any EJW/Frodo stuff comes in first or second, will you !!!
We wouldn't want our Honeyelf chucking stuff that she will regret losing later...
( Elijah doesn't really like being in the bin...it gets a tad smelly in there !! )

Lady Wendy, :D Yes, I'll make sure and save the Lij stuff. Actually hubby and I had a right little tiff the other night, because he told me in an assured manner that, on the (God willing, greatly distant) ocassion of my demise, he'd be sure and throw out my Elijah collection so the kids wouldn't be embarrassed! I told him I didn't think my little hobbit hobby was anything to be ashamed of, and that I was rather hurt that he'd say such a thing.

So last night I told the kids he'd said that. My son assures me that my collection does not embarrass him. My future daughter-in-law says that the collection will be quite interesting to look back on after Elijah has won a bunch of Oscars! :D (I like that girl more every day!) And my daughter too, seems willing to risk an avanlanche of Elijah stuff upon my (God Willing) far distant passing.

Since watching Faculty again last night I've been thinking about Casey Connor this morning. My daughter, who'd never seen the film before, described him as "skinny pale little thing." But he wasn't pale and skinny on the inside. That bright little nugget of anger that the jocks of his world stoked daily bloomed into a fierce intellect that saved them all in the end. I just love that little guy!

honey!

Quote:
Peter Jackson says Frodo was the hardest character for him to visualize. "Unlike Sam, who is very clearly defined, Frodo is slightly more of an enigma. In a sense, Frodo was -- and certainly is always going to be -- defined by the character who plays him. For that reason, I am absolutely delighted that Elijah came into our world at that time and became Frodo, because for me, he is perfect."


That reminded me very much of something Liev Schreiber said in an interview recently:

"It's like playing Hamlet -- you can't, because the audience is Hamlet, and nobody will ever buy you as Hamlet because they know they're Hamlet. That's the thing with a good book -- if a writer does their job, the reader takes ownership of it in a very private, intimate way. Even if they like the film, there's a certain level of outrage about someone exploiting their private
world. What they forget is: it's [someone else's] private world, too."

What Leiv said might perhaps shed some light on the complexity of the task at hand for Elijah when he signed on as Frodo. I am sure most people don't realize how extraordinary is Elijah's performance.

I hope you wont all find this too weird, but I want to tell you what I think would be really interesting: a movie about Jesus and Judas, with Orlando as Jesus and Elijah as Judas.

From today's The Philadelphia Inquirer, an article about the difficulties the writer/director of Thumbsucker had getting the film made.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/12782747.htm

Originally, Mills had an even bigger name in his lineup: Elijah Wood, star of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, had agreed to play the part of Justin.

"He was 19 when we started looking for money," recalls Mills, "and he was 21 by the time I got financed. We both mutually decided he was just too old to play a 17-year old."

C4

ETA-Courtesy of TORN:

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/sfl-elijahwood-ladnoct01,0,1512378.story?coll=sfla-features-headlines

"He was 19 when we started looking for money," recalls Mills, "and he was 21 by the time I got financed. We both mutually decided he was just too old to play a 17-year old."

CeeFour, interesting remark from Mr. Mills. I recently ran across an article listing various characters' ages and the age of the actor portraying them. For example, I think Tobey Maguire was 29 when he played Peter Parker, a nineteen year old.

I suspect that Elijah felt a need to move on to more mature roles, and was glad to hear Mr. Mills say he was too old. I think I disagree with Mr. Mills, that at 21 Elijah looked "too old" for Justin, but that's OK. Think of the roles he mayn't have inhabitted had he been Justin!

Possible GSH SPOILERS AHEAD

Goin' back a few posts. Bunnie, I'm sorry to hear you didn't like GSH much, especially after you put all that work into spamming the internet with the petitions.

Our local paper (fondly known to its readers as "The Murk") gave GHS ONE star! :eek: (They also gave EII one-and-one-half stars! :mad: ) I think maybe 2.5 wouldn't be too charitable for the TMFKAH, as it did tell a good story, and the acting was very good.

My husband had a hard time empathizing with the characters at all. He says he thinks that empathy for Pete, and for Matt in joining the "firm", would have been better established without the very first scene in the film which shows the Green Street Elite engaging in a brawl with a rival firm. Matt is not privy to this, and so my husband may be right in calling this scene a mis-step, as we have information that Matt does not about Pete. It makes it harder for the audience to see Pete as a sympathetic character, and a man capable of compassion, or protective impulses. I think my husband may be right; a bit more judicious editting may have rendered a stronger story.

OTOH, it would have made Matt's first brawl seem all that much more brutal, and the audience would not have seen the excitement it may have held for Matt, (who at that point was as also as horrified as the audience at the violence.)

I'm curious what you all think, those of you who have seen it?

honey!

Just to make myself clear (and I realized after I had posted that entry and then logged off that I didn't actually say this), I did like GSH. Just not as much as I wanted to. I think that once I get the chance to see it again (alone, this time), I will like it much better.

I thought Elijah did a great job with it -- I had no trouble believing that he was throwing those punches and holding his own in the fights. And his facial expressions once again do not disappoint! I find myself thinking that people who believe that his performances are "wooden" (yes, I've heard more than one person say so :rolleyes: ) must be so uncomfortable with his looks that they simply don't look at him, and they miss all the subtle (and not so subtle) expressions sweeping across his face. How they could call those mobile features wooden is beyond me.

I also liked Charlie's Pete very much. And I was right: his accent did not bother me very much. I don't have that much of an ear for cockney, so, although it seemed to me that he slipped in and out of it a bit, the accent itself did not grate on me.

I thought that Marc Warren did a fabulous job, as well, as did Leo Gregory. And I know that a lot of people don't care for Claire Forlani, but really... she wasn't given much to do but cry! I thought she was fine, given the role.

I found the ending (or epilogue, if you will) a bit contrived and... pat? I guess? But I loved -- LOVED -- the shift in Matt's facial expression as he stood over his foe (tried to word that so it wasn't spoilery). Elijah had many brilliant moments in the film, but that one really sticks in my mind. Nicely done, Elwood. :cool:

I made a serendipitous discovery this evening while looking for something else. Posting about it in case it's news to you guys, too.

Elijah Wood is scheduled to be on the late-night PBS talkshow Tavis Smiley ( http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/ ) on Friday, October 7th. Check your local TV listings. :)

Of course, my local PBS station carries the show, but they're not airing it that particular night. :rolleyes:

SandCastles

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051003/to233.html?.v=14

Fooey, SandCastles. I just checked and our public television station doesn't carry that show. It also didn't show the Bob Dylan special -- and Bob Dylan's home town is 90 miles from here! "A prophet is not without honour except in his own land," or words to that effect, ey? Maybe they don't show EW's old movies in Cedar Rapids, either. :rolleyes:

I suspect that Elijah felt a need to move on to more mature roles, and was glad to hear Mr. Mills say he was too old. I think I disagree with Mr. Mills, that at 21 Elijah looked "too old" for Justin, but that's OK. Think of the roles he mayn't have inhabitted had he been Justin!
I think you are probably right, honey. Or, perhaps they very reasonably worried that EW would look too old by the time they finished, the way things were going (or weren't going) getting the film produced. From the reviews linked of Thumbsucker, though, it sounds like the actor they got was the one they needed for the role.

re Jackson: don't forget it is totally not the way for a good kiwi bloke to gush. The more strongly something is felt over here the more likely it will be understated. I always got the impression from the local interviews with Jackson and Walsh that EW was extremely highly thought of and was a major factor in not only interpreting Frodo but in keeping the other actors motivated and cooperative in a gruelling shedule.
Well, Prim, you just know I'm going to agree with that -- right, Blossom? :) That's exactly the impression I got.

BunnieBugs, please don't say you are going to stop bringing in all your goodies! I agree with Wendy. You do us a tremendous service. Please, please, keep up the good work. :z:

I hope you wont all find this too weird, but I want to tell you what I think would be really interesting: a movie about Jesus and Judas, with Orlando as Jesus and Elijah as Judas.
Eandme, I think Orlando Bloom as Jesus is imaginable after seeing him in Kingdom of Heaven, in which he played an inwardly-reflective, morally serious sort of character. But I think it might look entirely too much like a swoon fest to have him star in such a role, making his box office appeal possibly backfire. Would audiences (other than teenaged girls and young women) take a film with such a casting choice seriously? They might roll their eyes, especially if Hilary Duff played Mary Magdalene (who tries to stage a rescue with the Zealots, kick-boxing their way to the temple, etc.). ;)

I don't know if Bloom [yet?] has it in him, anyway, to play such a complex role. As for EW, I could more easily see him playing John than Judas. Though that could just be my desire to see EW photographed in some really good art director's very painterly scenes, such as the Last Supper for the, "Is it I?" scene, or for the scene of John standing at the foot of the cross with Mary. I'm always a sucker for bible movies in that way -- the way they conjure up images from great paintings. I loved that very thing about the LotR films, too. Its design team was not at all afraid to borrow heavily from classics of great art. I think it paid off beautifully.

~ Mechtild

Hey, Mechtild, thanks for your reply! I was thinking that I'd like to see Elijah play Judas because of the ambiguity of that character. Initially he is a close friend of Jesus', and then their relationship goes gradually downhill. Everybody knows Elijah and Orli are friends, so that would seem to be a good starting point...
Oh and as for the Orlando swoon fest, I agree, it could easily get out of hand. In my fantasy about this production, Judas as played by Elijah is of course the main character! :D
Also, Elijah once said that if he were to play another part in LotR he'd like to play Gollum. I think that's what got me thinking.

*(scratches chin*) Yes, Eandme, Judas and Gollum do have a good deal in common. Well, perhaps, Smeagol and Judas.

I confess to having a very sympathetic view of Judas, personally, perhaps because of Ian McShane portrayal in the old Zefferelli Jesus movie (in which I thought Robert Powell was sensationally good (I thought) as Jesus of Nazareth -- it probably ruined his career, however, since he never did much after that).

Well, I'm off to work! :rolleyes: :)

~ Mechtild

SandCastles, my PBS station carries Tavis Smiley every night, but Friday. :rolleyes: (Transcripts and videos are available for viewing from the website after broadcast.)

However, EW is scheduled to be on The Tonight Show this Wednesday, October 4! :)

C-DM is scheduled for Friday with Leno-4

YIKES! There's a typo on the official Tonight Show web-site, C4! Wednesday is actually the fifth, not a second go at October 4th! :rolleyes:

YIKES! There's a typo on the official Tonight Show web-site, C4! Wednesday is actually the fifth, not a second go at October 4th! :rolleyes:Heehee. Well, a quick schedule check confirms that Lij *is* on this Wednesday, whatever date it might be. Interestingly, he's the only guest listed, with musical guest Nickelback. Do we dare hope that means he's actually going to have more than a 5 minute interview???? :p

As for EW, I could more easily see him playing John than Judas. Though that could just be my desire to see EW photographed in some really good art director's very painterly scenes, such as the Last Supper for the, "Is it I?" scene, or for the scene of John standing at the foot of the cross with Mary. I'm always a sucker for bible movies in that way -- the way they conjure up images from great paintings. I loved that very thing about the LotR films, too. Its design team was not at all afraid to borrow heavily from classics of great art. I think it paid off beautifully.
Oh yes! Just yesterday I made a series of screencaps of ROTK Frodo moments, and again I noticed how much the images have this certain painterly impression. Plus, I noticed how very much the camera was in love with Frolijah :). PJ may have given Elijah too less accolade in public - his film images however reveal his affection to and admiration for Frodo in the most beautiful way. (But nevertheless, many thanks, Blossom, for those lovely quotes!)


Honey, you wrote
My husband had a hard time empathizing with the characters at all. He says he thinks that empathy for Pete, and for Matt in joining the "firm", would have been better established without the very first scene in the film which shows the Green Street Elite engaging in a brawl with a rival firm. Matt is not privy to this, and so my husband may be right in calling this scene a mis-step, as we have information that Matt does not about Pete. It makes it harder for the audience to see Pete as a sympathetic character, and a man capable of compassion, or protective impulses. I think my husband may be right; a bit more judicious editting may have rendered a stronger story.

OTOH, it would have made Matt's first brawl seem all that much more brutal, and the audience would not have seen the excitement it may have held for Matt, (who at that point was as also as horrified as the audience at the violence.)

I'm curious what you all think, those of you who have seen it?

Your question had recognise me that I don't recall many scenes of TMFKAH very well... oh-oh, that's always a bad sign (in my case). I have sort of photographic memory for pictures - some movie pictures stay in my mind forever, like they were burnt in, even if I watch them only once. The more a film impresses me the more its images stay with me. Not so with TMFKAH. Well, it certainly has to do with the fact, that I couldn't understand a good deal of the Cockney dialogue (:rolleyes: ), but then... Matt's story isn't told in a way that invites the viewer to the utmost level of identification he is capable (it's well possible that your hubby is absolutely right about the first fight scene, Honey) - throughout the film a part of me remained quite uninvolved. That was one thing I had in mind when I compared the film to a Greek tragedy - the viewer sees things happen on stage, following the displayed events which are shown in a kind of exemplary way, so to speak, so that the audience can feel involved and reflective at the same time. Regarding GSH I really don't know what caused that effect. Don't get me wrong, I *did* like it - but the only scene that really stayed with me vividly was the one in the end with his foe. (I just watched a 1971 Claude Chabrol film "Ten Days Wonder", with Michel Piccoli and Anthony Perkins, and I couldn't relate to any of the characters at all :eek:, so I think, GSH did a good job despite its flaws. I reckon, I have to watch it a second time.)

Ah - and a big thank-you to Bunnie for all the wonderful links! I'm far from being tired of those. :) - And a thanks to all you busy link providers!! :k

I just found a really cool article:

Anti-violence "Hooligans" resonates with Hub youths (http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=105441)

GSH is apparently being used as a tool in an anti-violence campaign. I think that's pretty great. :cool:

Thank you, SandCastles, for the heads-up on the Tavis Smiley show. It turns out our local station does carry it. I've never seen his television show, but always enjoyed Tavis on NPR, so I'm quite interested to see how he talks with Elijah. In the program bio it says he is an actor with tremendous depth...or words to that effect. :cool:

And Bunnie--I join all the others in saying that I definitely count on you to bring us new articles. Without your guidance I'd have missed so many lovely things!! :k

Oh, the two Seattle weekly papers split on GSH. The Seattle Weekly thought the writing was awful and "about as subtle as a brick to the face" and how do they expect us "to accept that Frodo could become a blood-covered hard man. (Please refrain from shouting 'use the cloak of invisiblity! Use Sting, your magic sword!' whenever he gets into trouble)." But mostly complained about the writing and the story.

The Stranger also focused on Elijah's size and how it affected credibilty, but praised him in the end, high-lighting his acting. "With his Frisbee-sized eyes and Hummel figurine complexion, Elijah Wood often seems too delicate to survive outside of the suburbs of Middle Earth..." But then goes on to say his casting "cannily uses this disconnect to satsifying ends." And later..."On the acting front, there's a lot to like about Green Street Hooligans, from Wood's gamely physical performance to lead goon Charlie Hunnam's amazing duplication of Brad Pitt in Fight club.."
And the article finishes by saying "Frodo may not have left the building entirely, but his survival in the real world appears fairly sure."

I haven't checked the daily papers, but I know the Seattle PI had an interview about two weeks ago.

Alyon, I love the Seattle paper quotes! This one had me laughing:

"With his Frisbee-sized eyes and Hummel figurine complexion, Elijah Wood often seems too delicate to survive outside of the suburbs of Middle Earth..."

This is the first time I've seen his eyes blown up to Frisbee size! However, the "Hummel figurine complexion" comment is very nice. But this is my favorite part: "Wood often seems too delicate to survive outside of the suburbs of Middle Earth..." Which suburbs would those be, pray tell? The pathless rocks of the Emyn Muil, or the poison-fumed wastes of Gorgoroth? :p

I'm also glad the reviewer noticed "Wood's gamely physical performance." The common viewer concensus about Frodo was often that he was some kind of clutz, always falling down. It takes a great deal of physical coordination and endurance to fall down, scene after scene. Elijah fell down hillsides and mountains, bashed onto river ferries, etc. In the extras, PJ mentioned how banged up he got during his cameo when all he had to do was fall onto a mat after being hit by a CG arrow. Imagine how banged-up Elijah got falling headfirst down a hillside with orcs after him--for 17 takes.

Elijah does a lot of physical work, and does it well (which is why I think PJ was seduced into showing Frodo falling so much, because he had an actor who could handle it). Trudy's Casey Action Hero shots are just the tip of the iceberg! Yet people fail to process it somehow, I suppose because EW is so delicate looking. So is an Arabian horse, and they can cross the desert for days without water. So, a loving nyeh! to the silly billies who miss it.

Now, move aside, Alyon. I'm going to kiss Bunnie, too! :p :k

Bunnie, thanks for the linking that report on the Youth Ministry using GSH to get an anti-violent message across to gang-involved kids. I'm glad something good has come of it!

Alyon, I enjoyed that snip from the Seattle paper, too. "With his Frisbee-sized eyes and Hummel figurine complexion, Elijah Wood often seems too delicate to survive outside of the suburbs of Middle Earth..." reminds me of this quotable quote from Janis Cortese: And yes. He's so beautiful that it almost breaks your heart. Who would have thought that Hobbits were turned out by the Meissen factory? In fact, the rest of that paragraph is soo good that I'm gonna quote the whole thing!

And yes. He's so beautiful that it almost breaks your heart. Who would have thought that Hobbits were turned out by the Meissen factory? I can only hope that this movie doesn't cast a very long shadow over his career à la "Star Wars" and Mark Hamill, although given that Wood can clearly act rings around Hamill (I adore the guy, but John Barrymore he's not) hopefully This Will Not Come To Pass. He does have to start making some very adroit decisions about what projects he'll want to be a part of, though. He's not a Tom Hanks or Jimmy Stewart type of Everyman actor, as he has a very unique look to him. He's a leading actor who will likely go the character route. (He should look toward some indie stuff, or a milder "Trainspotting" sort of thing that will allow him to play a bleak, nihilistic chain-smoker in a supporting role.) It's going to be especially tricky for him in a few years when he is beyond college age and wildly popular movies are still being released that show him just past puberty. Negotiating that's going to take a level head and a good portion of luck. I hope he's got both in abundance, because I really would like this to be a career-builder and not a career summit for the beautiful and talented Elijah Wood.
Maybe Green Street Hooligans could be said to be 'Lijah's "milder 'Trainspotting' sort of thing," but it's sad that so few people will get to see it. Ah! Yes! But we have the Iggy Pop movie to anticipate! That should be an interesting turn for the beautiful and talented Elijah Wood.

Where's all our usual crew? Is everyone hiding themselves away, avoiding spoilers? Come back! We miss you! :k :k TG, Pelagia, TxTac, ZKGrumpy... :k :k

honey!

That was great, honey -- where was that Janis Cortese quote from (obviously a few years old)?

Achila, I just sent you a PM. There's other stuff on the site that's not KD friendly.

Hello again! I'm back after an arduous (sp?) and laborious move. (grrrh) I hope to be posting regularly again, believe me I've been doing my best to catch up reading and stuff and there are so many goodies I've been missing!

I'm finally about to watch Sin City, and I watched the Bumble Bee Flies Anyway for the 2nd and 3rd (heehee) time last weekend. I love that movie!

I can't wait to watch a clip from Leno with Lij on it! Leno and Lij are great together. I loved it especially when he did that dance on the show a while back.

Well all, I have missed you, and have a great day everyone!

Now, move aside, Alyon. I'm going to kiss Bunnie, too! :p :k

*blushes furiously*

I just found out that GSH is opening here this weekend. Whoo hoo! I'll be taking in every possible matinee that I can sneak away to. Our local papers have not written anything up about it as far as I know (and I'm not aware that there was any sort of review after last week's special screening), and the only thing in the "Opening this week" section is this snarky comment: "Green Street Hooligans" Expelled from Harvard, a journalism student moves to London and falls in with soccer hooligans -- strictly for the kicks, you understand. Elijah Wood plays the transformed hard man. Seriously.

Turkeys.

Next week, we get EII! Maybe they'll both be in the same theatre at the same time, though I'm not sure that both will play the same sort of theatre. We'll see. My inner geek wants to see a marquee with both films on it at once, because when is such a thing ever going to happen again?

Quick drive by posting. Been busy lately.

The Daily Texan (newspaper) has a half-page article about the movie Hooligans:

SPOILERISH

Elijah Wood Stands Tall in Hooligans

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/media/paper410/news/2005/10/03/Entertainment/Elijah.Wood.Stands.Tall.In.hooligans-1006497.shtml

GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS
Director: Lexi Alexander
Starring: Elijah Wood, Claire Forlani, Charlie Hunnam

Far from the role of Frodo Baggins, Elijah Wood plays Matthew Buckner, a Harvard student who gets kicked out for possession of cocaine that wasn't his. He took the rap for his high-profile roommate, a Van Holden. So, instead of fighting his way to remain at Harvard, he goes to England to live with his sister, Shannon, played by Claire Forlani.

While living with his sister, he meets the rest of the family, including her husband's brother, Pete Dunham, played by Charlie Hunnam. We come to learn that Pete is the leader of the Green Street Elite, or GSE. The GSE is a "firm," better described as a gang, which represents West Ham. Their lives revolve around defending the area and watching or playing football, or as Americans refer to it as, soccer. Having been forced to babysit Mattew, Pete introduces him to his friends who bond over beer and the frequent beating of other "firms" that invade their territory.

Bovver, played by Leo Gregory, one of Pete's friends, has a deep hatred for Matt because he is a "Yank," and avoids him at all costs.

These guys don't just hate "Yanks," they hate journalists. The GSE are constantly put on the front page of newspapers to try and sabotage their motives and keep them from constantly fighting. Then, as things come into focus, it is learned that Matt's father is a journalist. Things do not go over well when this bit of news gets out. It actually tips off Bovver to bring in his brother, who happens to be the leader of the Millwall "firm" and thus leading to the burning down of the West Ham pub and near killing of Shannon's husband, Steve.

The big event that these "blokes" look forward to every year is the United Way game. As all of them sit on the edge of their seats, the news reporters reveal that this year the game is West Ham versus Millwall. Millwall is their biggest rival, not just in football, but for the gangs. So, paralleling the big game which involves massive competition is the big fight between the two "firms."

As what comes with the fighting, there was a lot of blood. For those who have weak stomachs, beware.

Throughout the film, I felt as though I had seen it before, but I can't put my finger on it. I can safely say that I enjoyed it though, but as much as seeing a movie for the second time. It was full of the general cliches of standing by your friends in the heat of battle, but modernized for contemporary audiences. This was the first film by German producer, writer and director Lexi Alexander.


YAHOOOO!!!! Just checked the Green Street Hooligans website and TMFKAH will be coming to Dallas AND AUSTIN October 7th!!! :lol:
A little late as a present for my birthday, but I think that I can manage to still accept it with grace... :haha:

Mariole:
But this is my favorite part: "Wood often seems too delicate to survive outside of the suburbs of Middle Earth..." Which suburbs would those be, pray tell? The pathless rocks of the Emyn Muil, or the poison-fumed wastes of Gorgoroth?

Yeah, yeah, me too, Mariole!!!!! Frodo was anything but delicate!!! Frodo was the strongest of the strong. Delicate, my eye!! Think again, you dumb ;) critic guys!! Uncommon beauty and smallness does not equal delicate. :D :p Think you could do what Frodo did? Or what Elijah did in being Frodo? I'll bet Elijah gets tired of being called delicate, what with all the arduous physical acting he done:rolleyes:

Okay, now Alyon drinks her coffee and goes back to calmer pursuits.

Welcome back, Fast Toadfoot and Txtac :)!
Txtac, I think you should mark the article you posted as *spoiler*. (It gives almost the entire plot away! :eek: )


With his Frisbee-sized eyes and Hummel figurine complexion, Elijah Wood often seems too delicate to survive outside of the suburbs of Middle Earth...
That Seattle comment made me literally ROFL - I had NO IDEA that the Hummel figurines are well known in the U.S.! But did you know, Berta Hummel was a colleague of our dear Tg, a Franciscan? Berta Hummel and her famous figurines (www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Aug1997/feature2.asp)

This link is completely and utterly ON topic :D, because Hummel means “bumblebee” in German, and that indeed was Berta, buzzing around with a zest for life. Hmm, all roads lead to Elijah. :cool:


Now - this will make a collector's heart swell - the enchanting lil' Frodo figurine

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

(that gives the species of Frodo action figures a whole new meaning... :haha: )

Simulposted with Wood :) Blows kisses to you :k

HI MY DEAR FRIENDS !!!! :k :k

AND A VERY WARM WELCOME TO ALL NEW "FACES" :k :k

I have something to admitt!! :(
A movie have landed in my computer don`t ask how ,,have no ider !!! :cool:

Its name is GS!!! but i have to say by the culaty of the movie i shoulde have waited for a llegal way to see it!!!

But of what i saw I think it was a very good movie!!! hade some truoble understand the english but Elijahs voice i coulde hear and understand !!!
God i love that voice !!! (swooning me ??? naaa)

And i think Elijah was good in this movie to!!!
Look whos talking i who think elijah is good in evry movie he has done!!!!! :lol:
He looked gourges when he walked long the street after his fight in the blue jacket !! hmmm alwayes looks gourges!!! :D

And i also thinks that Charlie played his roll good! for the accent ,have no ider!!!!

Well i think thats enough words ,i guéss you all know wht im trying to say
i really liked this movie!!!

And hoping for a reales on the big screen in sweden soooonnnnnn!!! :z:

well,, so long post is not very usally from me this days !!!!! :(
i bet i choked you all!!!

but i been around and i miss you all very much !!!

hope to be back soon again!!!

LOVE YOU ALL/WOOD

Whiteling said: I had NO IDEA that the Hummel figurines are well known in the U.S.!

OT reply: Hummels were quite popular with a certain set several decades ago, and they are still to be found in almost any gift shop in any large mall. They are regarded as rather kitschy (silly, and tacky), and are the butt of many a joke. There is an hilarious sequence involving Hummel figurines in the Jack Nicholson film About Schmidt. When I saw that scene in the theater I was laughing so uncontrobally that the other audience members were hushing me.

Wood! Good to see you! And you've seen TMFKAH at a very exclusive showing, held at a private theater I hear! ;) And you liked it!?! :cool:

Hullo Toadfoot! I'm dyin' to hear what you thought of Sin City! I know you and I have similar world views, and I'd really love to hear your thoughts.

off to do the crossword; keeps my brain from fallin' out of my head, ya know! ;)

Hullo dears -

Alyon mentioned a few posts back that the Seattle Post-Intelligencer had an interview with Elijah a couple of weeks ago. I rounded up a few copies of the paper version - I'm saving one for Alyon when we get together to see EiI :) :), and if anyone else wants one, let me know.

Did you guys already post the online version of that interview? It's the same as the print version. Cute interview, very cute humongo-glasses pic.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/241636_elijahwood22.html

If you haven't seen it yet, enjoy. I you've already diseccted it word for word, well, what the hey, do it again. :haha:

:) - Vinnie

Vinnie!!!! :k I love it when you drop in here :k

Good to see you again, Wood. I was wondering how things have been going with you. Glad you enjoyed GSH :cool:

Whiteling!! That's an action figure I swear on saw in a consignment shop. Scared me right out of there!!! ;)

Welcome back, Fast Toadfoot! :)

Everyone within viewing distance, remember to watch Leno tonight.

Also--TORN had a couple of nice Elijah articles posted the other day--if you want to hop over there. My computer is going slowing so I'm not trying it.

Note the text in bold....

Bobby Gets Bigger
Posted Oct 5, 2005, 10:29 AM ET by Martha Fischer
Filed under: Casting, Drama, Newsstand

Less than a month away from the start of principle photography, Emilio Estevez has added a few members to the cast of Bobby, his star-studded examination of Bobby Kennedy's assassination. Set to joint a cast that already includes Anthony Hopkins, Demi Moore, and Estevez himself are Sharon Stone and current Hollywood darling Elijah Wood. The film will mostly be set in the Ambassador Hotel where Kennedy was killed, and will tell its story by exploring the lives of 22 people who were present at the shooting.

Estevez has been working on this project for almost five years, and has acquired independent financing to the tune of $10 million. With about two weeks to go before shooting begins, however, 10 major roles still haven't been cast. Since the relatively tight budget can't really handle delays, so hopefully we'll hear more names soon. Like, say, who he's going to pick to play Bobby.

He's a "Hollywood darling"? *snort* Could have fooled me (though it does seem to be true as far as his peers are concerned, which is wonderful). I'm glad someone thinks so, though, especially as I just spotted a review for EII that mentions being "creeped out by Elijah's dead blue eyes" and his "caricature of a performance" being the least appealing aspect of the film. Argh. :mad: Why do I put myself through that torture? And, no, I didn't read the rest of the review.

It only took a total of 30 seconds of film (preview clips and whatnot) to convince me that Elijah's performance as Jonathan was going to be brilliant and everything that I hoped it would be, even though I haven't seen it yet. It's a pity that not everyone can see what we see, but it seems to me that we've mentioned that here before... :rolleyes: ;)

In good news, I just found out that we're getting EII this weekend, and not next, even though the website still says the 14th. How lovely to get one of Elijah's films earlier than expected! :)


Edited to add: There is an article here (http://tabletmag.com/103/dispatches/103_elijah_wood.shtml) that I don't think anyone has linked. His answers are ones that we've heard before (in fact, they're from the same interview he did with the Seattle reporters), but it's always nice to hear the complimentary things that someone different has to say about him. :)

Whiteling, I just wanted to pop in and say I loved your Frolijah-as-a-Hummel boy manip. It was hilarious and charming. Thanks! :D

Actually, I had not thought EW's Frodo looked at all like a Hummel, but I did think that Sean Astin's Sam looked like a Hummel boy, from the very first viewing. Not the other hobbits, just Sean Astin. He's got a great Hummel face. Thanks for posting the article link, too. I had no idea to whom "Hummel" referred.

The Janis Cortese article compared his looks to, "Meissen," rather than Hummel. (Pretty shepherds and sheperdesses are the referents this time, I am guessing; not parrots or Turkish commanders.) Perhaps they both are just trying to find other words to describe his sort of beauty without having to use the word, "porcelain." But "porcelain" is what they mean to say, implying, 'rare, delicate and beautiful'.

Thinking of what Mariole said about how the fragile-looking hobbit yet managed to make it through Mordor, "porcelain" isn't that far off. Perhaps comparing him to top-quality bone is actually quite accurate. Bone china looks the most delicate of all, but actually it has more tensile strength and resiliance than the stoutest-looking earthen crockery. My own handed-down bits have stood up to more abuse than any of my thick, heavy, tougher-looking stuff. All of that soon is chipped or cracked, eventually breaking and getting tossed. The fancy china really takes a beating and still looks great. So it is with Frodo. He might be "fairer than most," and "transluscent" so that he seems "illuminated from within," but he's amazingly strong and durable.

~ Mechtild

Thinking of what Mariole said about how the fragile-looking hobbit yet managed to make it through Mordor, "porcelain" isn't that far off. Perhaps comparing him to top-quality bone is actually quite accurate. Bone china looks the most delicate of all, but actually it has more tensile strength and resiliance than the stoutest-looking earthen crockery. My own handed-down bits have stood up to more abuse than any of my thick, heavy, tougher-looking stuff. All of that soon is chipped or cracked, eventually breaking and getting tossed. The fancy china really takes a beating and still looks great. So it is with Frodo. He might be "fairer than most," and "transluscent" so that he seems "illuminated from within," but he's amazingly strong and durable.

~ Mechtild
I don't really have anything to say, but I had to quote that because it deserves to be quoted. What a wonderful comparison.

BTW, a few pages back, someone brought up the quote about no actor of any time being more able to portray Frodo, and wondered where it was from. It was an online review. I had the quote in my sig for months until I took it out in September to change to the one related to the 50th anniversary (I have to change to an October one soon). I had a twinge of a feeling when I changed it that I should save the quote and its attribution but, alas, I don't think I did... I do remember that it was from a strictly online review site, not originally from a print newspaper or magazine.

Whiteling, I just wanted to pop in and say I loved your Frolijah-as-a-Hummel boy manip. It was hilarious and charming. Thanks! :D
You're welcome, Mechtild. :D

Actually, I had not thought EW's Frodo looked at all like a Hummel, but I did think that Sean Astin's Sam looked like a Hummel boy, from the very first viewing. Not the other hobbits, just Sean Astin. He's got a great Hummel face.
LOL! You are right - PJ's Sam is definitely a Hummel boy. :cool:

The Janis Cortese article compared his looks to, "Meissen," rather than Hummel. (Pretty shepherds and sheperdesses are the referents this time, I am guessing; not parrots or Turkish commanders.)

I'm sorry, Honey, here comes another kitschy picture (;) :k) - a Meissen couple. As much I'd prefer to see Elijah in historic costume, I think this would look quite horrible even on him :p :

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

Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing a similarity of mood to the "Flirty" pic of Elijah behind the scenes with Roisin (or what was her name :o?)

And I agree with Tg about your wonderful comparison. Thank you! :)

OT story about Hummels:

My mother received a Hummel statue when my sister, my brother, and I were born. Brother, years later, while playing football in the living room :rolleyes: , knocks all Hummels from shelf. My sister's statue lost it's nose, mine was decapitated, and, you guessed it, brother's was undamaged. :lol:

I saw Flipper last night! Lost was over and while channel-surfing came upon it beginning on HBO Family. Who wouldn't want to spend a few months in the Bahamas and swim with dolphins? :cool: The Sandy/dolphin swimming scene just made me feel happy. :D

C4

ETA-There's a shot of Sandy's profile backlit by a sunset that definitely requires more study. ;)

ETA-There's a shot of Sandy's profile backlit by a sunset that definitely requires more study. ;)

*sneaks in and drops*

Offending photo removed

*scampers off*

SNEAK PREVIEW of Robert Rodriguez's Sin City RECUT and EXTENDED !

Sin City Recut and Extended Unbelievable Badassness! What could possibly be better than Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's ground breaking adaption of the Sin City graphic novels. Quite simply, more of it. The three main storylines have been fleshed out to one hour each with extended and additional scenes.

Alamo Drafthouse, 1120 South Lamar, Austin, Texas

Friday October 7th, Sin City Recut Vol. 1., 9:30pm
Saterday Oct. 8th, Sin City Recut Vol. 2., 9:25pm
Sunday Oct. 9th, Sin City Recut Vol. 3., 9:40pm

Get Ticket Passes at http://www.fantasticfest.com

Thanks, BunnieBugs!

C4

txtac -- Since most of us won't be able to make it to Austin, are those the versions of the stories that'll be on the extended DVD?

---------

Gee, I thought by now I'd find a lot of discussion of last night's Tonight Show appearance here :confused: .

Lij definitely got the star treatment: two-part interview (a relatively long chat before the commercial break and talking about his new movie after the break), and a second guest who was a human interest story rather than someone "important." I was waiting for the obvious comment from Jay about the fact that one of the people sitting on the couch had started acting at age 8 and the other at age 91, but it didn't come.

I was kind of disappointed in the clip chosen from EII, but it did end at a good point -- with the audience laughing and, I'm sure, wanting to know what would happen next. My reception's not good enough to let me read the subtitles when Alex and his grandfather were talking to each other, but there was some laughter for those, too (and the English dialogue, at least, was straight from the book).

--BTW, for those who didn't see it, no movies other than EII were mentioned. Nothing on TMFKAH or any future projects.

It might have been my TV's bad reception, but I do believe the CTJ was resurrected for the occasion. Just adding to my suspicion that there's a closet-full of them somewhere ;) .

Elijah was sick :( and looked thin :( . [Medically speaking, he's right that you shouldn't take antibiotics for a virus, but I bet they saved his life when his appendix burst.]

---------

ETA: We're just slightly ahead of our usual 2.5 months per thread this time around. But we still have 16 posts to go. :haha:

Good afternoon. Excuse me for interrupting the flow of conversation. This is just an FYI going back to the topic of Iggy Pop. For no known reason :) I've been watching the appendices for the LOTR extended cuts. Anyways, on TTT Disc 3 in "Gollum", just a little way in is a mention and photo of Iggy Pop comparing his skin and muscle tone to what they envisioned for Gollum. From that picture, I could see the Lad playing the part. I have no screencapping capabilities or I would post it. Sorry. :(

The interaction between the older actor and EW was LOL funny. I wish we could have seen EW's face during that entire segment, just to see his expressions in response to the actor's comments. At the end, after the band had sung, I couldn't help but think of Frodo and Bilbo , as EW guided the gentleman with his hand on his back.

(Could have done without Gary Busey. :eek: )

C4

'I am wounded,' he answered, 'wounded; it will never really heal.'

But then he got up, and the turn seemed to pass, and he was quite himself the next day. It was not until afterwards that Sam recalled that the date was October the sixth. Two years before on that day it was dark in the dell under Weathertop.

Oh my...don't tell me that "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno interviewing Elijah Wood, was screened here, in the UK, at 10pm on CNBC Europe, ( with Adam working late until 11.30pm )...

...and I missed it ??? :eek: :( :( ...

( How many other Brits knew about this ? ) It has to be said that not very many people watch CNBC, as it is a Very Dry business news channel from America, lurking down in the nether regions of Sky ( channel 510 ) and containing practically zilch interest for those of us of an artistic bent...however, it does show the "Tonight Show", and I believe it shows it the same night it is screened in the US...if I am wrong about this, can anyone tell me when his interview is being shown here... :z:

On a much better note...I have managed to procure SIX tickets to go and see "Everything is Illuminated" at the Screen on the Square, a whole month earlier than its general release date here.. :D :D :D
So Pearl, Opaline, Ghyste, Sam, and Hobbitonlass and I are going for a fun night out...we will be joined after the film for a bit of Tapas fun, by Brummie ( and perhaps her daughter, if she would like to come ) who are seeing the film too, but seperately...
Here is a link :-

BFI London Film Festival EII details (http://www.lff.org.uk/films_details.php?FilmID=674)

This is being shown as part of the British Film Institute's "London Film Festival" ...You can only book online of you are registered with the site, but however, tickets can be booked and bought by phone on this number :-

020 7960 2111
Run, don't walk to your nearest telephone....

...At the end, after the band had sung, I couldn't help but think of Frodo and Bilbo , as EW guided the gentleman with his hand on his back.
Awww, and I turned off the TV when the band came on :( .

Tg, I'm concerned about Elijah being sick. I thought he was deliberately losing weight to do this Iggy role. Was he coughing, like on one of the LOTR press junkets? Poor guy!

Is it just me, or is anyone else seeing a similarity of mood to the "Flirty" pic of Elijah behind the scenes with Roisin (or what was her name :o ?)
Oh, this had me LOL! So perfect. Yes, I see it! Thanks for the manip!

LW, have a GREAT time at your EII sneak preview. I'd love a report!
Cheers, all!

tgshaw asked: Since most of us won't be able to make it to Austin, are those the versions of the stories that'll be on the extended DVD?
I do not know, but probably. All of the other films being shown at this "fest" are "sneak peaks." This fest is where film makers show their new movies to get audiance reactions. Depending on how the audience reacts to the movie, the film maker may decide to change, or tweak the movie before it is released to the general public. I think this is just going to be an audience test for R.R.'s new changes to the movie. If the audience loves it, the changes stay in. If they do not like something, R.R. has a chance to change it before the release date of mid December.

Tg, I'm concerned about Elijah being sick. I thought he was deliberately losing weight to do this Iggy role. Was he coughing, like on one of the LOTR press junkets? Poor guy!
No, he wasn't coughing, so probably something other than respiratory. Jay's the one who brought up the fact that Elijah'd come to do the show even though he was sick. Elijah touted the wonders of grape seed extract (buy your stock now :D ), saying that when he uses it, he gets well in a couple of days. He did think his sickness was connected to all his recent promotion work--that his body was demanding a rest.

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

Thanks, txtac, that makes sense.

No, he wasn't coughing, so probably something other than respiratory. Jay's the one who brought up the fact that Elijah'd come to do the show even though he was sick.

I had a friend at the show, and she said he did quite a bit of coughing during the breaks, and they were giving him tissues so he could blow his nose. Sounds like your basic, garden-variety cold to me!

About Sin City: I understand that the special edition DVD will have additional footage and that you can easily watch each storyline individually (though the film was already that way, for the most part), so it would make sense that Rodriguez is basically giving a sneak peek at what the DVD will be like.

CeeFour said: The interaction between the older actor and EW was LOL funny. I wish we could have seen EW's face during that entire segment, just to see his expressions in response to the actor's comments. At the end, after the band had sung, I couldn't help but think of Frodo and Bilbo , as EW guided the gentleman with his hand on his back.

Wasn't that adorable? What's not to love about a guy who's kind to children, animals and super-anuated people?

And I so adore manic Elijah's enjoyment of quietness. I love the idea of him folding his laundry, walking through a snow storm, or sitting out on the stoop listening to music.

And I loved his use of the word "mobilize", and him saying "I like words." As a fellow word-lover (there's gotta be a word for that :rolleyes: ) I could tell that about him.

Yes, TG, that was the One Jacket he was wearing. And the subtitled dialogue in the vegatarian scene from EII was very close to, if not directly from, the book.

As for Elijah being thinner, there's been a definite thinning trend over the past month or so. It could be down to all the recent travel. But it could also be that he's losing that soft little tummy in preparation for the Iggy Pop role. Compare pics of him in January, and now; his face is decidely thinner.

Shelbyshire said: Anyways, on TTT Disc 3 in "Gollum", just a little way in is a mention and photo of Iggy Pop comparing his skin and muscle tone to what they envisioned for Gollum. From that picture, I could see the Lad playing the part.

:eek: :lol: That's too weirdly funny!

TxTac, thanks for the news about the Sin City ee dvd. I suppose I'll have to at least watch the Kevin - erm - parts again. :eek:

honey!

I did see EII on Sunday. I haven't "reviewed" it because I am really not good at that. Also, I did not think I liked it that day but I couldn't stop thinking about it (in a good way). And now I think I liked it a lot. Must be what they mean by "quirky"! I hope to see it again, but am kind of busy the next few weekends. FWIW.

The audience reaction to the EII clip on Leno was really pretty strong - laughing during the hotel meal right up to the end of the clip. Also Lij got a standing ovation when he first walked out, and he said at some point, "That's new!"

ETA: We're just slightly ahead of our usual 2.5 months per thread this time around. But we still have 16 posts to go. :haha:

LOL - I've been watching the numbers for the last week, and was just going to post and ask who wanted to do the honors and start the next Faculty Lounge thread - #10!


So who's it going to be? :) :)

Wow -- someone actually gave me negative reputation points for posting that Flipper screencap. :( Sorry for offending -- I'll take it down.

honeyelf: him saying "I like words." As a fellow word-lover (there's gotta be a word for that
Linguist.

honeyelf #2: I suppose I'll have to at least watch the Kevin - erm - parts again.
There's always room for Kevin... :eek:

Bunnybugs: Wow -- someone actually gave me negative reputation points for posting that Flipper screencap. Sorry for offending -- I'll take it down.
Don't you dare take that picture down! Just because one person does not like Flipper, does not mean that you have to placate one person at the rest of our expense. The rest of us like the picture. This is a democracy after all. The majority wins. We like it, keep the picture up!


It's Here, it's Here !!!
Green Street Hooligans is now playing in Austin, Texas !!!
Arbor Cinema (an art house place) 12:00, 2:30, 5:00, 7:30, 10:00.


WOOD'S 24-HOUR WORLD TOUR
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/woods%2024-hour%20world%20tour

THE LORD OF THE RINGS star ELIJAH WOOD set himself an exhausting challenge last month (SEP05) - to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in three different international cities in just one day.

The actor set himself the 24-hour challenge - covering Venice, Paris and New York - so he could enjoy a day of feeling like a jetsetter, and he achieved mild success.

Wood says, "I had to go to the Venice Film Festival and then after Venice I had to go back to New York for some more press. To get to Venice from New York you have to fly through Paris. So I thought I could extend my layover in Paris and actually go into Paris for lunch.

"I could essentially wake up, have breakfast in Venice, have lunch in Paris and have dinner in New York. Kind of incredible.

"I kind of screwed it up slightly. I woke up in Venice too late. I normally allow myself an hour to be able to have breakfast, only was able to have coffee. So I had coffee in Venice, made it to Paris, got a cab to the Marais... I had a croque monsieur, which is essentially like a grilled cheese ham sandwich.

"I did a bit of shopping, made it back to the airport within an hour of the flight, flew back to New York and didn't go out for dinner - I ended up having tacos at a friend's house. But essentially I did it - three cities in a day."


WOOD EMBRACES LAUNDRY DUTIES
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/wood%20embraces%20laundry%20duties

THE LORD OF THE RINGS star ELIJAH WOOD has picked up a new weekend pastime - doing his own laundry.

The 24-year-old actor admits that since taking residence in a property of his own recently, he's become quite fond of washing his clothes on weekends.

He says, "I'm doing my own laundry. I actually really enjoy it, funnily enough. I love it, and the funny thing is the great motivator - dirty clothes.

"I initially started doing that, where it was completely filthy and I had nothing to wear. That's sort of slightly foolish. So now I'm doing it in spurts.

"I make a habit of doing it every weekend. There's something kind of relaxing about it. You put the load in, listen to some music, watch a DVD, you hear the load's done. It's great.

"And the folding is easy. I love that."

Wood has even become particular about the detergent he uses, shunning traditional soaps for an orange extract product favoured by his mother.

Wow -- someone actually gave me negative reputation points for posting that Flipper screencap. Sorry for offending -- I'll take it down.
Shees! I can't believe it. Maybe someone thought it too swoonily gorgeous for The Faculty or something??? :confused:

Would you re-post it in Hugs Haven, Bunnie? Or PM me it? I hadn't even had a chance to save it yet! I'd love it if you would post any others from that section of the film, if you have them. I thought I had at least two of those "sillhouetted against the dark sea" screencaps; I love their mood, simply as photographs, whether I knew who their subject was or not. But I just looked in my photo files -- and I don't! :rolleyes: Furthermore, I just checked the screencap sites where I might get them again and they are not there. :(

Whiteling, thanks for posting the Meissen shepherd and sheperdess. The clothes really are a bit much for Frodo or any hobbits, yes. ;) Perhaps what the writer was thinking of in comparing the look of EW's Frodo to Meissen was the actual quality of the china itself, Meissen being so famous as tableware, rather than their figurines? Or, if she meant to compare Frodo's beauty to Meissen figures, maybe she just meant to imply the fineness of the modelling or simply their typically pale, delicate complexions, with that tinge of pink in the cheeks and lips?

And yes, the Meissen duo did capture something of "Flirty", LOL.

Wood has even become particular about the detergent he uses, shunning traditional soaps for an orange extract product favoured by his mother.
Maybe the orange extract goes well with cloves and tobacco? :D

~ Mechtild

Shees! I can't believe it. Maybe someone thought it too swoonily gorgeous for The Faculty or something??? :confused: I don't know if it's someone with something against the cap, the film, or ME, of it it's just someone spreading random negative energy, but it is not the first time that I've gotten negative points for something that seemed (to me) completely benign. :confused: And, of course, there is no comment left to let me know exactly what it is that they're objecting to...

I probably shouldn't let it get to me, but it's only recently that I've gotten negative points at all, so I've gotten kind of paranoid. Kinda sad, considering how long I've been here. :( I should re-post the cap just to spite them (at least they can't give me negative points again for awhile)!

Would you re-post it in Hugs Haven, Bunnie? Or PM me it? I hadn't even had a chance to save it yet! I'd love it if you would post any others from that section of the film, if you have them. I thought I had at least two of those "sillhouetted against the dark sea" screencaps; I love their mood, simply as photographs, whether I knew who their subject was or not. But I just looked in my photo files -- and I don't! :rolleyes: Furthermore, I just checked the screencap sites where I might get them again and they are not there. :( I don't have the time at the moment (I'm off to spend the day with my hubby. :) We're going to see Serenity, among other things), but I will do a proper Flipper spam over in the Hugs Haven just as soon as I get a few minutes to string together. ;)

Ah, ContactMusic -- once again quoting Elijah's visit to the Tonight Show almost word for word. :D I love the influence that Elwood's mom has had on him. He's a good boy.

Wow -- someone actually gave me negative reputation points for posting that Flipper screencap. Sorry for offending -- I'll take it down.

Wha-? :eek: Yer kidding! :mad: Please put it back up??? Please??? 'Cause that's a pic that I don't have in my collection either.

TxTac said: Quote:
honeyelf: him saying "I like words." As a fellow word-lover (there's gotta be a word for that

Linguist.

Mmmm, Naaaah. That's a person who studies languages, or knows language. I'm looking for a word for people who love words. "Graphologist" isn't quite it; that describes someone who loves hand-writing (I'm one of those too). It's probably some sesquipidalian, ungainly word that I'm looking for...

TxTac again: There's always room for Kevin... :eek:

:eek: :eek: :eek: j-e-l-l-OH! :eek: :eek: :eek:

:lol:

Whiteling, I meant to thank you for the Meissen figurines too! They're over the top in ornament, but charming in their flirtatiousness.

And Mech, I'm thinking Ms. Cortese was using the word "Meissen" to describe both Frolijah's delicate figures, and porcelain complexion. :)