LOTR - The Two Towers

I say bring it on! The premiere has been done, the reviews are great, the time is nigh, I can’t wait.

My brother, wife and I have tickets for midnight on the 18th. Can’t wait, but I guess I’ll have to.

I just wanna see the end where he’s consumed by the huge spider queen thingie

Got our tickets for the noon showing on Dec. 18. Oh, and we’re part of a “Line Party”. However, I refuse to wear Elf ears, Hobbits feet, and read aloud from the script or book while in the line. And Ko will NOT be baking Elven cakes (“lembas” for all you non-geeks). I thnk this may lower my status from “geek” to that of “nerd”.

But, so far, yeah, positive reviews. There was a showing in D.C. earlier this week for Academy members and a variety fo critics. The response was overwhelmingly in the area of positive. I believe the only two movies coming out that could give The Two Towers a run for some Oscars are: Chicago and Gangs of New York (opens FINALLY on December 20).

My girlfriend has read all the books (including the Hobbit) and loves the movie. She is quite excited about the Two Towers. I’m hoping it doesn’t end like the first one. I was a bit disappointed when it ended when the action was just about to begin! She said the second one will have plenty of action and fight scenes, so I’m down with that!

The best part by far will be the fight with the Ents. I got a glimpse of one of them in a trailer & they look super cool.

In terms of Oscars, one of the three movies better go home with best picture/director. Fellowship should have gotten it last year, Two Towers looks like it should get it this year, but as political as the Academy is and as many times as Scorcese has been given the shaft I wouldn’t be the bit surprised if he takes it home if Gangs is as good as I’ve heard it is.

Fragile: Boy, do I know what you mean about the “politics” of the Academy. Poor Scorsese. He deserved something - anything - for Raging Bull. I have heard mixed reviews for Gangs. The consensus is though, that Daniel Day-Lewis kicks major ass as the villain, Bill the Butcher. I’ll see this one, definitely. But only AFTER I’m thoroughly tired of The Two Towers.

Here is my history with LOTR:

When I was 4 or 5 years old, my father stopped reading me fairy tales and began reading me the Hobbit. We finished it in about 6 months (I used to fall asleep very easily). After that, he read the trilogy to me, which took about one year. I quite literally learned to read from these books.

Two weeks after we had finished, I began reading them back to him, every night, before bed. We finished just after my ninth birthday. I remember because one of his gifts to me was my very own copy of the trilogy, which I still have.

Needless to say, these books are, in good part, responsible for my love of fantasy, of literature in general, and of learning. The story is a part of who I am, in many ways, and I love it dearly. I will be the first to admit that I am a tremendous LOTR nerd, and I happen to love that fact.

As for the movies; the first one was excellent, and the second looks even better. I finish my finals on the 18th, and I will celebrate by seeing the Two Towers as soon as I wake up the following morning.

I am looking forward to the scene with shelob at the end, as well as the Ents, as Say mentioned. Oh man I'm excited. Damn I'm a nerd.

Must see my precious, master…hisss…hisss! Can’t wait to see Treebeard kick some ass, too!!!

After having to suffer through the animated destructions of the story, to have someone due such an awesome job is great. I can’t wait. I read the Hobbit/Trilogy when I was in the 6th grade (1966 or so) learned Elven or at least the writting thereof. So I am a totally biased individual here, but, hey…Frodo Lives…

I read that the actor playing Gollum is basing his character on a 60 year old heroin addict!

You mean Gollum is based on Keith Richards?

Gil: You very much simplified what Andy Serkis (the actor portraying Gollum) was attempting to do. Yes, he, and Peter Jackson, viewed Gollum as though he was a character driven by a singular addiction, much like a heroin addict. However, Gollum (formerly the Hobbit, Smeagol) had possession of the One Ring for nearly 500-years. So, Gollum’s obsession is a bit more complicated now. Serkis recognized this, too. From all that I have read, his performance is nothing short of brilliant. Take a read of this:

"Everything brilliant about Jackson's Fellowship returns here (minus Sean Bean of course), and more is added. Top of that list must be Andy Serkis as Gollum, the ring-junkie we got just a glimpse of in Fellowship. One of the best performances of the year, Serkis easily steals the spotlight from the excellent Elijah Wood and much-improved Sean Astin. And the fact that he is a CGI creation should not matter. Andy Serkis clocked more hours on Rings then any other actor, and his performance is mesmerising (especially a very disturbing scene where he talks to Smeagol, the hobbit he once was). "

The Two Towers will indeed be a treat. It's a faster paced picture highlighted by the battle at Helm's Deep and the Ents gathering against Isengard. It's certainly going to be a darker movie. Where Fellowship had a awestruck quality (seeing Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits and the Shire for the first time), I betcha The Two Towers will have a stronger "humanistic" quality to it. Afterall this will be "Aragorn's time". I can't wait.

There was a “making of” documentary shown here on Sunday and it said that the battle at Helms Deep took 4 months to shoot. Gollum is CGI but they actually filmed the scenes using an actor, edited him out and then put the CGI in
, that way the acting was more realistic than pretending someone was there. One of the things that impresses me is that all the crew seem genuinely happy with the process, Patricia will prob know more but the casting was very good as the cast got on so well.

OK, here is a weird experience I am having right now. I work at a NZ university, in the town where Peter Jackson lives and where most of the LOTR cast lived for a couple of years while they did all the filming. I’m also teaching a course this summer (it’s summer here) and while I’m reading the T-forum, I’m also checking the online discussion board I have for my course. There is a little discussion going on among the students about which of them have a part in one of the films! They’re exchanging their screen credits. I am so in the wrong job. (Guess we’ll have to cancel class Dec 18).

that’s cool that you live in NZ and have probably been exposed to Jackson for years. My friends and I fell in love with him when we first saw Dead Alive several years ago and so our obsession grew. Meet The feebles, Bad Taste, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners etc etc… When we found out he was doing lord of the rings we were so excited knowing that it would turn out to be incredibly awesome.