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.

[Rose in RoseBear]

Sam, did you ever watch The Secret Adventures Of Jules Verne? I loved the Victorian-esque spin the designers gave all the props! If you get Sci-Fi Channel, and they replay that series, do check it out!

[2Jedismom]

Excellent! I will be on the lookout for it.

I got home just in time to see NYPD Blue with Steve. Bawled almost all the way through it. I hate it when kids are involved...I know it's worse even in the real world, but I can't hardly stand it when kids are involved on NYPD Blue.

[Sam Cree]

"Sam, did you ever watch The Secret Adventures Of Jules Verne?"

No, and I don't get cable, but maybe I can rent it from Blockbuster or something? Thanks, Rose.

[Rose in RoseBear]

I loved both movies. And I had no expectations, having never read the books. At the end of our first viewing of LoTR, I was sitting there openmouthed at the end, wanting the next movie to start! I loved it, almost every bit.

And I'm still open-mouthed at TTT. Smeagol/Gollum! Legolas! Merry and Pippin! And even Aragorn, who no longer sits in corners of inns, hiding under hoods, but commits himself to the struggle with his eyes wide open! Peeved Ents, too!

After my second viewing of the second movie, I'm still at the "Wow!" stage ...

[Sam Cree]

Hi, Rose, you are still up?

Yeah, I am still in the "wow" stage on both, specially FOTR, loved the books for so many years and never expected a movie, much less such dramatic and beautiful ones, it is heartrending, really.

[Sam Cree]

Gimli is great in TTT.

[Sam Cree]

Good night, All

[2Jedismom]

You going to bed? It's such a party pooper when everyone goes to bed (as my 4 year old would say!)

Hey, do you get the sense of mirth in Gandalf though? I mean, really...he's pretty intense a lot of the time, but sometimes I get the feeling he's trying to show joy too...like when he reveals himself to the Three Hunters. And during the battle of Helm's Deep...I am sure I saw him smiling with glee. And at the very end too, when talking about their fate being in the hands of two hobbits.

I recall to mind Pippin thinking to himself at Minas Tirith:

Pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. Yet in the wizard’s face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.[JRR Tolkien, ROTK Book V, Chapter I Minas Tirith]

[Rose in RoseBear]

I think I may have enjoyed TTT more than LoTR.

I loved the battle scenes. I like battle scenes in general, but Helm's Deep rocked ... I probably won't be able to appreciate it fully until I play it frame-by-frame. And the Warg battle was a beautiful little set piece, as battles in the two movies go ... nicely done!

I loved the emphasis on the theme of committment. Everyone was challenged in this movie, everyone had a conviction shaken: Aragorn, Legolas, Eomer, Sam, Smeagol and Gollum, Faromir, Elrond. Even Sauroman had his world rocked, not once but twice.

And, wonderfully, the theme Gandalf and Frodo introduced in LoTR is expanded upon: none of the Fellowship sat on their hands and dithered. Each responded wonderfully, each rode out to meet their enemy, one way or the other. You've got to admire that kind of courage, even "in one so small."

Gotta bat some more of these concepts around with the Bear after Friday night.

[2Jedismom]

I teared up (and I'm not a teary kind of person) when Sam was being threatened by Frodo and he was saying "It's your Sam...don't you know your Sam?"

ARGHH!! I can't stand it! ROTK is gonna be very hard.

[Penny1]

I love how Ian captures that with that twinkle in his eye. For example, when Aragorn answers Gandalf's challenge "the defenses HAVE to hold" with "they will hold" his raised eyebrows seem to say, "Oh really?" but with a bit of a twinkle.

I caught that gleeful smile at Helm's Deep as well. And even when he challenges Theoden, "And what has the king decided?" there is a hint of a smile there too, even though the circumstances are so very grave.

[Rose in RoseBear]

Shhh! Don't tell the Bear I was posting this late!!!

<grin>

I never thought I would like a movie about The Lord Of The Rings. I tried to read The Hobbit once, many years ago, but I was too old for it, and it turned me away from Tolkien. Now I'm waiting for the next movie to come out ... though I may have to break down and read the durn books, so that I, too, can write deep and thoughtful mini-essays about the meaning of elvish dithering and dwarven avariciousness ...!

(how's that for ambidextrous bashing?)

[Penny1]

I definitely liked FOTR better, but I love TTT too (even though I didn't on first viewing as many here will attest! ;) ) But like Hair, I enjoy the first and last parts of the story more than the middle. I liked having the depth of the character moments in FOTR, but in TTT there just wasn't much time for that.

I am guessing, from what I am hearing from PJ and Elijah, though, that RotK will just bowl us all away. It is my favorite part of the story, hands down, and I am quite sure it will be my favorite of the movies. I'm a tragedy junkie, what can I say? ;)

[2Jedismom]

And the wink when he gets to keep his staff...LOL! It's the most dangerous weapon they have between the three of them...and Aragorn knows it.

And the way he totters in, holding on to Legolas's arm like he might fall any minute. Ha!

[Penny1]

Oh yes, that is a wonderful moment, I had forgotten that! And the tottering was pretty funny....I can't remember if he walked in that unsteadily in the book or not.

Ack! Past my bedtime, and I barely even had time to poke my head in for a moment. 'night all!

Shall we have a night-light?

[2Jedismom]

Also, I didn't notice the fumes rising from Isengard the first time (like I say, I was exhausted and nearly hysterical the other time I saw it!)

'Isengard began to fill up with black creeping streams and pools. They glittered in the last light of the Moon, as they spread over the plain. Every now and then the waters found their way down into some shaft or spouthole. Great white steams hissed up. Smoke rose in billows.[JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers, Book III Chapter 9, Flotsam and Jetsam]

[2Jedismom]

Nice nightlight. Ok...I'll go to bed. It's 11:41pm here and I'm still excited about the movie. I just love hearing those familiar words...words that have been a part of my memory for as long as I can remember.

[Overtaxed]

do you get the sense of mirth in Gandalf though?

I think that's one of the things that Gandalf is reborn with. Good Morning, everyone!

[g'nad]

The dwarf stands alone....

[Lil'freeper]

Ooooh! Oooooh! I LOOOOVE Age of Empires!

Good heavens! I do too! Great game- I love sacking the neighbors.