Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
This is a continuation of the infamous thread New Zealander Builds Hobbit Hole originally posted on January 26, 2001 by John Farson, who at the time undoubtedly thought he had found a rather obscure article that would elicit a few replies and die out. Without knowing it, he became the founder of the Hobbit Hole. For reasons incomprehensible to some, the thread grew to over 4100 replies. It became the place for hobbits and friends of hobbits to chit chat and share LoTR news and views, hang out, and talk amongst ourselves in the comfort of familiar surroundings.
In keeping with the new posting guidelines, the thread idea is continuing here, as will the Green Dragon Inn, our more structured spin-off thread, as soon as we figure out how to move all the good discussion that has been had there. As for the Hobbit Hole, we will just start fresh, bringing only a few mathoms such as the picture above with us to make it feel like home, and perhaps a walk down memory lane:
Our discussion has been light:
It very well may be that a thread named "New Zealander builds Hobbit hole" will end up being the longest Tolkien thread of them all, with some of the best heartfelt content... Sorry John, but I would have rather it had been one with a more distinguished title!… post 252 - HairOfTheDog
However, I can still celebrate, with quiet dignity, the fact that what started as a laugh about some wacko in New Zealand has mutated and grown into a multifaceted discussion of the art, literature, and philosophy that is Tolkien. And now that I've managed to write the most pompous sentence of my entire life, I agree, Rosie… post 506 - JenB
Hah! I was number 1000!! (Elvish victory dance... wait, no; that would be too flitty) … post 1001 - BibChr
Real men don't have to be afraid of being flitty! Go for it. – post 1011 – HairOfTheDog
Seventeen years to research one mystical object seems a bit excessive… post 1007 - JenB
Okay...who's the wise guy who didn't renew Gandalf's research grant?… post 1024 – Overtaxed
To the very philosophical:
…Judas Iscariot obviously was a good man, or he wouldn't have been chosen to be one of the Apostles. He loved Jesus, like all of the Apostles, but he betrayed him. Yet without his betrayal, the Passion and Crucifixion would never have occurred, and mankind would not have been redeemed. So without his self-destruction infinite good would not have been accomplished. I certainly do not mean this to be irreverant but it seems to me that this describes the character of Gollum, in the scenes so movingly portrayed above… Lucius Cornelius Sulla
To fun but heartfelt debates about the integrity and worth of some of the characters…
…Anyone else notice how Boromir treats the hobbits? He's very fond of them but he seems to think of them as children - ruffling Frodo's hair, calls them all 'little ones'. He likes them, but I don't think he really respects them… post 1536 - JenB
Yes... Tolkien told us not to trust Boromir right off the bat when he began to laugh at Bilbo, until he realized that the Council obviously held this hobbit in high esteem. What a pompous dolt… post 1538 - HairOfTheDog
…I think almost every fault of his can be traced directly back to his blindness to anything spiritual or unseen. He considers the halflings as children, because that is what they look like. He considers the only hope of the ring to be in taking it and using it for a victory in the physical realm. He cannot see what the hobbits are truly made of, he cannot see the unseen hope of what the destruction of the ring might mean--the destruction of Sauron himself, and he cannot see the unseen danger that lies in the use of the ring itself… I just feel sorry for Boromir--he is like a blind but honorable man, trying to take the right path on the road but missing the right path entirely because he simply cannot see it… post 1548 - Penny1
Boromir isn't a jerk, he's a jock… post 2401 – Overtaxed
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Oh, I think by the time Frodo reaches the Cracks, he's not even himself anymore! I think he's not only on the brink of a dangerous place physically, he's on the brink of losing himself completely during the exchange with Gollum. But for some reason, the take-over isn't complete till he actually has to throw the Ring in. The person speaking to Gollum is not Frodo, but the "Wheel of Fire" that Sam sees. After the Ring is destroyed, Frodo not only comes back to himself, but comes back with the unbearable (to him) knowledge of what it's like to be completely without compassion. I think that's why it's so important to him to be compassionate in the Shire… post 2506 - 2Jedismom
…Regarding Frodo's compassion... it's a little too much at the end. Even Merry tells him that he's going to have to quit being so darn nice. But you're right. He's learned a lesson about evil that very few ever learn since it wasn't an external lesson but an internal one. (Those kinds of lessons have the greatest impact) Not only did he totally succumb to it, but he was rather ruthless to my little Smeagol… post 2516 - carton253
Well that Frodo was a big mean bully! (to Smeagol)… post 2519 – Overtaxed
So as you can see, everything JRR Tolkien (and Peter Jackson) is welcome here in our New Row, our soon-to-be familiar New Hobbit Hole…; philosophy, opinion, good talk and frequent silliness.
A VERY Happy Birthday to you, Sam! Why not try a 'Mudslide'? You can get the mix with the booze already in it at your liquor store, zip it in the blender with some ice, or just pour it over ice. Mmmm, like a chocolate shake with a REAL kick!
I am back!
I declare the weekend to have begun!
Wait a minute... if the weekend's begun, why am I still stuck in this cubicle...?
Yippee. Well, it's nearly 5pm. Better get out the fan and grapes.
Ian McKellan has udpated his "White Book" diary (formerly known as the "Grey Book") about the recent refilming trip to New Zealand... The White Book (flash)
The ancient Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, 'The Land of the Long White Cloud' and, flying low out of Auckland airport in the North Island last week, I could see why. An hour of murk south to Wellington and bumping through the depression, rain splattering the windows, we safely landed on the sodden runway. Northern hemisphere readers should remember it's winter here. Matt Cutfield, my driver, was there waiting, as he has been so often on this job - because I was back in Middle-earth, to complete work on 'The Two Towers' movie. Gandalf was home again for a couple of weeks.
Home with friends from the cast - only Orlando Bloom, filming 'Ned Kelly' in Australia, was too busy to return, but the rest of us have made it back. Elijah Wood and Liv Tyler look ever so slightly older than 18 months ago and John Rhys-Davies has been losing weight, but make-up and padding will disguise these developments. Little else has changed as the local crews return to work, but there is a new shared confidence that with one success out in the world, another one can't be far behind. Peter Jackson may be exhausted but is still smiling, even relaxed. He tells me 'It feels like we are making a home movie rather than a blockbuster,' a point I made when we were filming 18 months ago.
The Oscar winners are back - Peter Owen overseeing make-up and Richard Taylor still busy at WETA workshops overseeing those collectible mementoes (www.sideshowweta.com). Howard Shore has also been here, scoring the extra footage which has been added to 'The Fellowship of the Ring' for the extended DVD version, which I shall see before I leave. Andrew Lesnie is back too, still mourning his gaffer Brian Bamsgrove. We all have a commemorative t-shirt for Brian holding a scaly catch: 'Woman want me. Fish fear me'. Ngila Dickson has escaped from pre-production on 'The Last Samurai' which Tom Cruise will soon film in New Zealand, Japan and California - and her wardrobe team are the same as ever.
So why exactly am I here? Well, no one should think there is a problem with the second movie but there is so much yet to be done. All those blue and green screens have to be replaced by scenery and background action. The special effects - don't ask me how! - are being created. The music will be recorded in London in August.
Andy Serkis has been here for weeks helping to perfect the digitialised Gollum for whom he provides the action, facial expressions and of course the voice. Over lunch he explained how this is done - I encouraged him to write a book as it seems that transferring his performance into a computer and then out again onto film is pioneering stuff and his participation should confound anyone who thinks that actors will soon be unnecessary in digitalised film-making. Gollum will astonish, delight and move you - Cave Troll fans ain't seen nothing yet!
Once a rough assembly had been made, it was decided to adjust the story-telling of 'The Two Towers' marginally as far as Gandalf the White is concerned. So I have re-shot 3 brief scenes with Theoden, Aragorn and Shadowfax in the Golden Hall of Edoras and its stables, as well as (with Legolas and Gimli doubles in the Forest of Fangorn, which grew overnight in the airless studio in Wellington that once housed Bag End. It gives me a childish thrill to clamber over real rotting roots and moss and earth surrounded by polystyrene Ent-ish trunks and overhanging branches knowing that 12 hours previously the space was nothing but an old paint factory floor. Easy to sense that Treebeard is nigh.
Although no-one can see a full version, to get me in the mood and crucially remind me of what Gandalf the White looks and sounds like, Peter showed me all his scenes in 'The Two Towers'. (Incidentally the notion that that title should be changed in respect for New York City's sensibilities has rightly been resisted. Further, the North American premiere will be in Manhattan, with the European opening in Paris.)
So I have seen the Balrog again onscreen - wowee fans! - marvelled at the first heart-stopping entrance of the super-equine Shadowfax (Blanco the trusty white stallion) and some of the Helm's Deep battling as Gandalf commits himself samurai-like to the fray. When Bernard Hill and Brad Dourif introduce the central saga of Theoden and Wormtongue with total confidence they match the magnificence of the Edoras sets below the snowy alps of the South Island. It is all looking up to, even beyond, the standards of the first movie.
The rain has continued but who cares? Last Friday in a corner of the dining tent for 400, the string quartet who dropped by a few times during principal photography, was back with selections from the score to cheer us up during lunch. And there have been other supportive distractions. Two Sundays ago, the crew re-grouped for free under Sean Astin's direction to shoot a short film 'A Tall Story' playing on the Tolkien theme of disparate heights. Another home movie from the Jackson family.
Hmmm.... 
"Gollum will astonish, delight and move you - Cave Troll fans ain't seen nothing yet!"
"It is all looking up to, even beyond, the standards of the first movie."
Maybe so.
But, if he takes an active role in the battle of Helm's Deep (swordfighting, for instance) that would be a major departure from the book. Remember, Gandalf's role as a representative of the West was to encourage and organize, not take a direct hand in matters. He only stepped to the front when the Fellowship was faced with something that completely overmatched them, such as the Balrog and the chief Ringwraith.
I'll withhold further judgement until seeing the movie.
BTW to all that have not seen it yet... you can download the new TTT teaser trailer HERE
Expect the official High Res version to hit the LOTR official site July 6....
I am not a sour puss! Nyeeahh! So there!
I haven't seen the trailer yet (darn 28.8k connection). And I'm just pointing out that Gandalf didn't lead any troops into battle at Helm's Deep.
By the way, Shadowfax looks great. Do you know if his color (or rather, lack of color) is natural, or was he "enhanced" (either chemically or digitally)?
In other news, I'm a happy dwarf. Went to Blockbuster and took them up on the 10 rentals/LOTR DVD deal. It was about $25, we get one rental a week for the next 10 weeks and we get the DVD when it is released! Not a bad deal.
Yeah, they didn't shower during the Renaissance either...
Maybe the weekend is finally getting here... wife is on her way to pick me up from work! We're seriously thinking of either eating out, or picking something up to take home...
Had forgotten about MIB2 next weekend! Maybe we'll go on the 4th, not sure yet (missus may have to work). We may see Minority Report finally, this weekend.
The Blockbuster deal sounds pretty sweet, going to have to check into that...
He does glow in those shots.... I think they retouched him.
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