Charles writes some anticipatory thoughts on the upcoming "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." Early on, he offers his caveat lector: "...if you have no experience with the wrath of a Tolkien nerd and/or are of squeamish disposition, you may want to come back next time. You have been warned." In the spirit of Tolkien nerd-wrath and squeamish dispositions, I offer this video response, a now-classic clip of the Star Wars-versus-LOTR throwdown from Kevin Smith's "Clerks 2."
Go and read Charles's entry, which highlights some legitimate concerns about Peter Jackson's alterations in tone and content to Tolkien's original story, but which also ends on an optimistic note, and the promise of a review following Charles's Saturday screening of the film.
Personally, I'm in no hurry to see the new movie, perhaps because some of the extra-canonical material that appeared in the preview trailer (Galadriel stroking Gandalf's hair, for example-- she wasn't in The Hobbit!) turned me off. But like Charles, I'm curious to see what Jackson hath wrought, so I may make a pilgrimage to the local cineplex sometime this month.
UPDATE: If you haven't seen it before, here's The LOTR Orgy. It basically confirms Randall's insights into LOTR.
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Took me five friggin' days to write that thing. Wrote it Friday and Saturday evenings, then spent three days rewriting and making minor revisions.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen either of the Clerks films, but I have seen that clip. Classic indeed.
And quite a magnum opus it is! You covered just about every conceivable concern in your essay. That's about as comprehensive a meditation on any subject that I have ever read. And it's a great setup for your promised review, which I'm sure I'll read-- any spoilers notwithstanding-- with relish once you've written it. (I expect the review to take another five days to write: I'm sure you'll have plenty to talk about, post-viewing.)
ReplyDeleteThanks, man. It's nice to know that all that effort was appreciated.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I hadn't even thought about spoilers, as the basic plot points of the story are public knowledge, but I suppose I will have to take that into consideration.
And yeah, I imagine it will take me a while to write the review, especially with my busy schedule over the weekend. I'll probably do a quick brainstorm Saturday afternoon and then take my time fleshing that out.