That and this

[selenak]

An excellent Fringe pimping post, on why one should watch the show.

Lord of the Rings:

The World is Changing, a wonderful vid using all three film versions. Reminds me of when the films started during this time of the year, each was a just before Christmas premiere, and how despite minor nitpicks and some disagreements with the source material

Comments

[likeadeuce]

I've just been re-watching Lord of the Rings for the first time in years -- the first time I've sat down methodically with all the extended editions, actually -- and getting swept away all again. Though maybe it's because of watching them on television, I'm less struck by the epic scale than by the small moments between the actors. It would be so easy, with this script, for everybody to be stiff and pretentious, but these actors make it so easy to believe that all these people declaring "fellowship" really like each other. I think the favorite thing I picked up this time through is the way Gandalf smiles when Aragorn tells him that Sam went with Frodo. It comes across that he really wasn't expecting to hear that and is pleasantly surprised by it.

[selenak]

PJ got himself a fine ensemble, that's for sure. And the direction really showcases such moments, too, as Gandalf's expression when Frodo says he'll take the Ring to Mordor (in the audio commentary, Ian McKellen says the direction for that one was "imagine your son has just volunteered for World War I"). Or Aragorn's expression when he watches Boromir play and goof around with Pippin and Merry; you can see the growing fondness there...

[likeadeuce]

I wasn't all that interested in the extended editions when they came out, and I felt like most of the cuts were good ones for making a theatrical movie. But watching it now with leisure time, sort of like watching a TV series on DVD, I appreciate the extra scenes with Aragorn & Boromir (I'm pretty sure? I'm losing track of what was in the theatrical cut but I think at least a few of those were added), and seeing the consistency in all those strong moments. But yeah, just great casting choices across the board.

[skipthedemon]

Thanks for the rec!

[selenak]

Thank you for writing the post!

[zahrawithaz]

Hey, thanks for both the Fringe post (I'm taking it into consideration...sooner or later all you smart Fringe proponents are probably going to win me over, dammit) and the LOTR rec, which was amazing.

[selenak]

Wasn't it just? And I shall continue my evil seduction work.