'Ring' It On! ("LOTR: The Return of the King" and "Cold Mountain" will be Oscar frontrunners)

NY Post ^ | December 4, 2003 | LOU LUMENICK

[dead]

YES, it's true: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" is the picture to beat at this year's Oscars.

Shown to the press this week in advance of its Dec. 17 opening, the 3 1/2-hour "Rings" exceeds its huge expectations with a more cleanly told, emotionally involving and better-acted story than its Oscar-nominated predecessors'; awesome, sweeping battle scenes; and sheer visual grandeur that could blow away the competition.

[B-Chan]

I love William Wyler's version of Wuthering Heights, even though it’s sort of the Reader’s Digest Condensed version of the original story. Director Wyler passed on Vivian Leigh for the Cathy role (she went on to film Gone With the Wind, so no harm done) and picked Fox contract player Merle Oberon, one of the most gorgeous women ever to grace the silver screen, for the part of the doomed heroine of Brönte's novel. Curiously, although star Laurence “Heathcliff” Olivier did not get on well with Oberon, the on-screen pairing of the two was magical, and the film is rightly considered one of the greats of Hollywood's “Golden Year”, and one of filmdom’s most memorable love stories. Despite several glaring flaws (such as the tacked-on happy ending, added at the insistence of Fox jefe Sam Goldwyn), Wuthering Heights is an all-around classic, and a movie I recommend to every Freeper.

And no, I am not a homosexual. I just like old movies, okay?

[Lee Heggy]

The ending will most likely be a 'happy' one instead of the one in the book. That in itself will turn it into a 'chick flick'.

[Dead Dog]

As long as you don't also like show tunes.

[Question_Assumptions]

I looked at the trailer for Troy and I'm happy that it looks like they at least made an attempt at outfitting their warriors with armor and weapons that look Late Bronze Age, even though some Classical elements and modern costuming seem to have slipped in here and there and, if I really wanted to be a pedant, I could question the use of Naue Type II swords, for example, it looks decent. Certainly looks much better than the mishmash that was Helen of Troy.

[Hildy]

I hated LOTR because to me it was just a bunch of dark and overly produced chase scenes. However, I was not a LOTR book enthusiast like so many here That's it. I liked Master and Commander because of the acting and the messages of honor.

[Paladin2b]

"I despised Minghella's previous film, "The English Patient" and I suspect in 20 years that will be one of those "what the hell was the academy THINKING?" films."
Isn't that par for the course for the Academy? I can not think of the last movie that the Academy thought was a winner, that I thought was ever worth seeing more than once, or maybe even worth seeing the first time.

You can laugh yourself hysterical at some of the choices they made, years later in retrospect. Most glaring of the past 15 years had to be 1990. Everyone today would agree that Scorcese's GOODFELLAS was the best film of that year, a classic that influenced and continues to influence other filmmakers, and has buried itself deep inside American pop culture and awareness--everyone can quote at least one or two lines from it. Yet the Academy saw fit to annoint DANCES WITH WOLVES, made by an actor/filmmaker that Hollywood has already forgotten, a film that today gets shown on basic cable as a time filler, essentially. Nobody regards it as an artistic achievement, to say nothing of its now silly-looking PC "white man bad" message.

[Dead Dog]

I can see that. However, LOTR was an attampt an undoing that damage Tolken thought Wagner had done to European society. (Fascism/Commies/Nazi)

This is a great read, and was posted her a couple years ago:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/EA11Aa02.html

[lepton]

I have never been a big fan of "E.T.".

It was a cute movie. Had some neat parts (and some really bad streches of acting too)...but I can't understand why it was so idolized.

[Rummyfan]

Thanks for that link. Interesting take on LOTR. I for one can't wait for ROTK. As for COLD MOUNTAIN, didn't make it through the book and anything directed by Anthony Minghella is far down my list.

[Lady Heron]

However, I was not a LOTR book enthusiast like so many here

I always liked the "Lord of the Rings" triligy better than the "Hobbit"(almost did not read them because of the "Hobbit", it was years after reading the Hobbit before I ever read the rest). One third of the book is spent on trying to get a whinny Hobbit out of his Hobbit hole and on his journey. I hate whinning! LOL!

[ecurbh]

Ring Ping!!

There and Back Again: The Journeys of Flat Frodo

Anyone wishing to be added to or removed from the Ring-Ping list, please don't hesitate to let me know.

[radiohead]

sort of like the cinematic equivalent of a Renaissance Festival or a Jethro Tull concert

LOL! been to both.

[Faraday]

I despised Minghella's previous film, "The English Patient"

Minghella must hold the world record for estrogen levels in a man. They should check for guns before allowing patrons to see the "English Patient"; any self-respecting man would have to bite down on the barrel two-thirds of the way through that POS. Of course, this is probably why "Cold Mountain" will also win Best Picture.

[ican'tbelieveit]

Thinking back to last year with "Chicago" which I have not been able to bring myself to watch (a friend loaned me a copy and raved about it... I made it about 5 minutes in and had to turn it off); I hope that LOTR pulls it off against the likes of these other movies.

[Mudboy Slim]

"...first two LOTR movies were pretty cool. Word is that the third one is the best."

I'm very much looking forward to the 17th...MUD

[ChadGore]

Carville = Gollum

[Mudboy Slim]

And Ms. Coulter looks a little like Galadriel...MUD

[Mudboy Slim]

"I hope that LOTR pulls it off against the likes of these other movies."

Me, too...although if the HollyWeirdos like it, it takes a little of the bloom off the rose fer...MUD

[ican'tbelieveit]

I was just watching O'Reilly discussing the Grammy's and how they overwhelmingly nominated anti-establishment performers. He suggested that they are going to try and send a message this year.

[Mudboy Slim]

"the Grammy's...overwhelmingly nominated anti-establishment performers"

That's what's got the HollyWeirdos confused...many of the actors in the LOTR are anti-establishment and Tolkien usedta be a guiding force for the 60's Leftists, but now they can't seem to abide by the clear delineation of Good versus Evil in LOTR, especially when the GoodGuys actually win out in the end.

FReegards...MUD