The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[Corin Stormhands]

Good Morning Hobbit Hole!

[Lil'freeper]

Morning! Morning! Approx 36 hours left till we roll....

[Corin Stormhands]

What wine do you serve for an invasion? I get so confused.

(Later, I gotta get to the mines)

Hi Ho! Hi Ho.....

[Lil'freeper]

What wine do you serve for an invasion?

Hmm, dunno. Might ask the French...

[Sam Cree]

Morning All.

[Lil'freeper]

Ok, Children of Dune, part II.

Nowhere near as potent as the first episode. It seemed to lack focus in the storytelling leaving me wondering who the story was about. The twins? There was no real development of them. Alia? Irulan? Jessica? Was it a female relationship story? The legend of Muadib? It was all very muddled and not satisfying.

I read an interesting little book some years ago by Orsen Scott Card called How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, not that I have any aspirations to be a writer but for his insight into what makes a good story. He makes a strong argument that the main character should not be the all-powerful one, it should be the one with the most room for development. Paul Muadib was so compelling because he was an unsettled young man who develops into a 'god'. Alia is so tragic because she is born 'god'-like and descends into madness.

Now, as far as the story telling in this movie goes, the twins have very little room for development. We learned too much about them, they were too confident, too all-powerful. Even though we know what will happen to them in the books, the adaptation for the screen has laid a poor foundation for the upcoming events.

Certain key relationships were not explored at all. When did Irulan decide to betray the sisterhood and keep the children alive? Why? Why does she care for them at all? Why is she so protective? Regarding Alia and Idaho, why does he love her? What reason did she ever give him? Her betrayal of him and his subterfuge are meaningless without understanding his feelings for her.

Also, the costuming lacks cohesion. Perhaps this is reflecting the change of fashion with the passing of time or the disarray of the empire, but the first production made sure that each great house had it's own distinct motifs and styles. The only thing that came close to the 'high drama attire' was Alia on the throne. Jessica's fuzzy outfit was just plain bizarre and not keeping with either the Atreides or the Bene Gessserit or the Fremen themes.

Episode I ended with a heartwrenching cinematic climax- a time of many endings and new beginnings, probably the best I've seen. Episode II ended with a pre-fab and oh so predictable cliffhanger. There was no drama or art to it and the CGI was anything but seamless.

Anyhoo, that's my take on it. Hope tonight's will be better.

[Overtaxed]

What wine do you serve for an invasion?

If you're french you serve white wine.

[ksen]

Ping to #20926 for Paul.

Thanks for the reviews LF, keep 'em coming.

[Lil'freeper]

Oh, there was another gratuitous sex scene last nite- this is definately not a film I'd allow youngins' to see. But it seems that TV is absolutely and inescapably saturated with sexuality and innuendo these days. Must be why I rarely watch anything besides the news an diy stuff.

[ksen]

Have you guys been following the new Pneumonia threads? Better keep a heads up since your areas are where a lot of Asian flights land.

LATEST SARS UPDATE - DETAILED MEDICAL INFORMATION

[RMDupree]

Morning one and all!

Wasn't Dubya fabulous last night!? I really wanted to hear "the liberation of Iraq has begun", but realistically, I knew that wouldn't be the case. Oh well! At least the clock is now ticking!

Breakfast is on!

Bacon, egg and cheese biscuits are ready, along with extra platters of bacon and sausage. Coffee and juices are good to go. ENJOY!

2J - awesome job with the boxes! I'll be sending something out to you this week for our troops and shipping costs.

[2Jedismom]

Good morning all! We're having a nice gentle thunderstorm...nothing too dramatic so far.

Did you see this?

http://home.mindspring.com/~wsgilcrest/clock.html

[Corin Stormhands]

Awesome clock!

Paypal tells me the money from my bank should hit my account on 3/19. Don't know why it's taking so long.

[Scott from the Left Coast]

I have seen some of them.

Scarey.

Captain Trips.

[RMDupree]

Oh BTW, isn't today Brad Dourif's birthday?

I believe it is. Number 53, as a matter of fact!

Happy Birthday Brad!

[2Jedismom]

Thank you for the encouraging words, Ruthy!! I was just wondering where you were!!

I'm having a wonderful time doing this. And I'm thrilled at how enthusiastic Steve is! Even he is excited about it and he rarely gets excited about anything other than finding the remote in a convenient location!! (LOL I'm just joking of course...)

[2Jedismom]

I got that clock from another thread...pretty neat, huh?

Yep, it's taken others a few days too...did you just open a new account?

[ksen]

Might be time to buy one of those bubbles like in the Bubble Boy anti-smoking commercials.

[Corin Stormhands]

No, I've had the account for a while. But I've never put money into it, I've just had people pay me that way and I've taken money out. I coulda mailed you a check by now.

[2Jedismom]

That's ok. It's probably going to be the middle of next week at the ealiest before I even make any moves to go buy the books. I ran out of time yesterday to price them. Also, I'm expecting some items to be mailed in, and that will take a few days.