Posted on 11/28/2013 11:24:48 AM PST by Rex1971
Edited on 11/28/2013 11:27:18 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Anyone who opposes the Affordable Care Act is a subhuman. It is a great law but lying republicans are trying to destroy it. I signed up with no problem on the website. Republicans want to repeal my new insurance. Obama is a hero!
Back from “The Hobbit.” The theater was maybe half full at 11:15 a.m. No loud talkers or way-too-young children. The sound, as DC mentioned, vibrated my sternum, but wasn’t uncomfortably loud through the cotton balls in my ears.
As to the movie itself: The amount of hiking, climbing, meandering, hoofing, trekking, and hot pursuit was kept to a minimum, mainly by compressing the time line from several months to not much over a week. (I’m not kidding.) I wonder if there are separate charges from the New Zealand government for using different views in your movie.
But back to the point. The sequence with Beorn was not like the book, but was interesting and effective, though brief (see above, time compression).
The part in the astoundingly nearby Forest of Mirkwood was not well done. Admittedly, walking in the total dark for weeks is boring, but what should have been Bilbo’s big scene with the spiders was changed from a challenge of character and cleverness to a plain old swordfight (only with spiders, of course) and everything in broad daylight.
Why do they call it Mirkwood if it’s as bright as a stroll through Reedy Creek Park in August, when it was supposed to be November anyway? In a classic Not Your Brightest Bulb moment, James observed, “At least they managed to find some talking spiders.”
The part in the Elvenking’s hall was visually interesting. King Thranduil is wearing Lucius Malfoy’s silver wig. Things were very rushed here, and an unfortunate romantic interest was introduced. Legolas is totally inappropriately a main character, but on the other hand, Orlando Bloom is quite a bit better looking than he was ten years ago, with more than a hint of irony about the eyes. According to the “Daily Mail,” his wife recently left him because she’s obsessed with Justin Bieber, which might explain the irony.
A non-boring and non-textual fight scene takes place in what is probably a popular whitewater rafting destination, when they aren’t filming movies there. I laughed several times, such as when the orc said, “Oh, what the bloody hell!” and I said, “That was cool!” once.
The sudden appearance of ice blocks, and a boat, brings us to Lake Town, also not much like the book, but effectively done. Stephen Fry is fabulous as the Master of the Town. I saw him on “Top Gear” recently. Some guy is grim and brooding as Bard the Bowman. There are cute kids, some livestock, and an interesting junk shop that I would have liked to see more of, but there had to be much more swordfighting. Elves’ hair never gets untidy, no matter how much gymnastics they do in the rain, while Dwarves get to be a real mess. Perhaps this is why Thorin and Legolas dislike one another so much.
Then on we go to the astoundingly nearby Lonely Mountain.
I should mention that at the same time there’s a whole other plot going on involving Gandalf and Sauron. This includes a very suspenseful scene in which I was sure there would be falling, but there wasn’t. Bolg, son of Azog, is introduced, but you wouldn’t know he’s the son-of if you hadn’t read the book with a sharp eye for detail.
But meanwhile, at the Lonely Mountain, just that very day they get in through the secret door, and why they had to change that scene so much, I don’t know. It was perfectly good as it was in the text. Anyhow, there’s a whole bunch of Lonely Mountain footage, in which everything is broad daylight, of course, in spite of their being in the sub-sub-basement of a danged mountain at night in the winter.
The dragon looks great. It’s unclear why Bilbo stands around being visible, in the aforementioned broad nighttime-daylight, and doesn’t just get toasted, but you have to suspend disbelief. There is some fine roaring, great balls of fire, limited Falling, some chemistry, and a charming disregard for the laws of physics. Also strangely preserved dead people.
Meanwhile, Gandalf has gone to the astoundingly nearby fortress of Dol Goldur, where everything is extremely well lit, for being in the dark woods in winter with the Dark Lord and all. Gandalf does an excellent imitation of Dumbledore, but neither Azog nor Sauron bothers to observe that he’s got style.
And there, we pause until the next movie.
Hmmmm...I need to watch the first one again, I guess...
I haven’t been to a theater to watch a movie since “The Return of the King,” because I don’t like going alone, though I DID for all three of the LOTR movies. And for the final two movies, I was given the tickets, so it was a good deal.
For some reason, I’m not doing well today. I just had a second short nap, and I am very cold. Yesterday was so beautiful, I had the front door open for a couple of hours.
It’s nice having the gate on. It looks good, too!
I’m waiting for maintenance to come and trouble shoot the lights in the bathroom. Twice this morning, I turned the lights on and they flickered, but came back on. The third time, they stayed off, so I had to call in a work request. I have no clue when they will be here, but I still want to go to bed...
ArGee's OK!!! His new job is keeping him busy! *hugh sigh of relief* What a Christmas blessing! Yahoo!
“You woke me up!” cried Jeremy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_J0AMPPD34
Excellent!
Thank you for the extensive report. I think I’ve piped down enough to read it now.
Excellent news. Thanks for letting us know! I had wondered ...
That lady is one slammin’ bunny whisperer. We bunny-sat for one of offspring’s friends. Prior spousal unit didn’t hit it off with bunny, who bit him on the toe, scratched, and made a general fuss while dashing hysterically (more histrionically) all over the house.
Not ridiculous at all!
I like being attached to people, but sometimes, if they are too clingy it’s a little hard to move around...
Many people have discovered that, in regard to Frank.
Lol!
Attack rabbit?
I liked how the rabbit was snoozing in his “hot tub”.
Frank is walking Velcro.
” Prior spousal unit didn’t hit it off with bunny, who bit him on the toe, scratched, and made a general fuss while dashing hysterically (more histrionically) all over the house.”
Just re-read that and had the mental image of prior spousal unit biting the bunny on the foot before running around as the rabbit looked on in confusion.
Yeah, my sense of humor is out to get me.
He gets hold of your ankle and won’t let go, like a pit bulldog.
He will take care of my in my old age when I have Alzheimer’s. Everything goes according to the Author’s plan.
We’ll see the movie tomorrow evening.
I got that the bunny bit the spouse, but then I thought the spouse was racing about histrionically. Was this a homosexual couple, by any chance?
It was fun. For all the length and proliferation of fight scenes, I only thought, “Gosh, this is dragging on!” a couple of times.
Try not to get too far ahead in the story. Spoilers abound.
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