The Hobbit: There and Back Again

[green_amberjade]

They've released a couple of set pictures from the new Hobbit movies. Words cannot describe my giddy reaction at seeing Bilbo Baggins, who has to be the most adorable Hobbit in existence. Not that I don't love Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry, but BILBO! My first literary love!

Comments

[lithiumlaughter]

IS IT NOT AMAZING AND WONDERFUL AND HOLY CRAP I CANNOT WAIT.

Good lord, Amber, I am so thrilled about this. The more I read and the more I hear, the more excited I get for this movie. I say we make plans to see this sucker together, because there is an epic nerd-out that's going to have no choice but to happen.

On a more serious note, those memories of your mom and of "The Hobbit" made me smile. I know that exact feeling. *hugs*

Right. So, I'm going to go make a cup of tea and pop on "The Fellowship of the Ring". Thank you for giving me the excuse.

[green_amberjade]

I am looking forward to this so much - I haven't been this excited since the Trilogy came out - and we most definitely have to see these two movies together as I refuse to not celebrate this epic in a deserving fashion.

She also read to me The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as well as Richard Adams Watership Down. Thanks mom for giving me high literary expectations from a young age.

Theatrical or Extended? ;) You are most welcome.

[lithiumlaughter]

It's going to be wonderful. I'm so psyched to go back to Middle Earth, and to have Peter Jackson take us there again. I will swear up and down until they scatter my ashes that Tolkien would have adored the movie adaptations of LOTR. I'm pretty sure since Jackson first touched it, he's the only filmmaker who can do Middle Earth properly. Tolkien may own those books and made that world we fell in love with, and without him there would be nothing at all, but Jackson is the master of the screen.

My mom read Jewels, Joe and me sci-fi. Suddenly, so much about my character is explained. Hee.

Pssht. There is no theatrical. There is only Extended. ;)

[green_amberjade]

I completely agree with you. While I do love the books, the movie was so well handled and I truly appreciated the changes that Jackson made. They felt natural and I enjoyed the little touches he added. I especially love him for expanding Arwen's role and also adding conflicting interests to Aragon's journey to kingship. I also love that he gave Boromir a fitting death -- one that still makes me wail.

LOL - of course, of course. Besides, the Extended editions have much prettier covers. ;)

[lithiumlaughter]

Whatever Jackson did, he did with the utmost respect for Tolkien's work. So much of the universe is hidden in Tolkien's notes and in the appendices of the main books. Jackson brought a lot of that to life because he freaking loves the world and all its stories

[green_amberjade]

Amen. There is an immense body of Tolkien's work, some of which hasn't even been published (if Christopher Tolkien's ability to continue to find work and publish it to this day is any indication) and a lot of it is fragmented. For Jackson to go through all of that work and string together everything he could to present LOTR in the best light possible, that speaks deeply of his love for the series.

And you know that I'm now going to try to work my way through the Unfinished Tales in order to try and figure out how the Necromancer is going to fit into the Hobbit films

[lithiumlaughter]

Oh, Christopher Tolkien. Secretly I wonder if he's not just writing the stuff at this point, but that's probably overly cynical. Tolkien was absolutely meticulous. If the man can develop numerous languages with their own idioms and nuances (see the hobbits), and numerous dialects of one specific language (see the elves), it wouldn't surprise me if he had scads and scads upon scads of notes, records and the like.

Heh. I have a copy of "Unfinished Tales" that I really ought to read one of these days. I adore the Silmarillion; the stories of Eru and the Valar in particular always awe me.

My friends group was pretty much unanimous in swooning over Legolas. It's only later that I now have a ridiculous thing for deep appreciation of the character of Aragorn. The fact that Viggo Mortensen is such a great and involved actor helps. Dude, the guy slept in costume with his sword in a camp he set up himself outside the shooting area. This is to say nothing of the preparation he did for his role as a Russian mobster in "Eastern Promises". The

[green_amberjade]

Secretly? LOL You're not the only one who wonders. But in all seriousness, I am grateful to Christopher for publishing his father's work posthumously. I absolutely adore Letters From Father Christmas and The Silmarillion is a beautiful edition to LOTR. Seeing as how CT published twelve volumes just filled with his father's notes as well as his own small essays, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. Although with two new works out recently, one does wonder.

Viggo Mortensen is amazing, no question. Just hearing about his dedication to the role helped me to understand the difference between real actors and pretty faces. Although, it must be said that Orlando Bloom did an excellent role with Legolas who is a much less conflicted character than Aragorn. The entire series was extremely well cast, and I have faith that the same will happen again for The Hobbit movies.

[lithiumlaughter]

I think we all owe Christopher for the way he's keeping his father's legacy alive. We're so privileged that he 'took up the mantle' and continues to share Middle Earth with us. I've actually considered investing in those twelve volumes. I owned one on Rohan and the language of the Horselords way back when (the only thing I remember is that in their language, it's Scadufax; Shadowfax is the name's rendering in the common tongue), but have no idea where it is now. Sigh