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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

The Two Towers

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The Natural Way

11:47 / 11.12.02

The billboard's towering over Leicester Sq and it's time the thread went up.

The ONLY blockbuster I HAVE to see on the big screen. Bring on Helm's Deep! And Ents! And...my.......PRECIOUS......

Bastards who get to see the premiere tonight! Bastards!

The Natural Way

11:47 / 11.12.02

Whoops! No abstract!

wembley can change in 28 days

12:07 / 11.12.02

Hold your middle earth horsies there. I'm going tomorrow night, and I intend to wear the ears again.

12:43 / 11.12.02

Apparently Gollum (Andy Serkis) is up for a possible Oscar nomination. I'd imagine it's for the pivotal scene when he faces the Fellowship and says:

"I'm a multi-talented ring bearer genius. You're all wankers. You won't see me again...."

13:44 / 11.12.02

Here's to Ents! I've heard the big battle lasts about an hour... woo!

14:02 / 11.12.02

Two (respected) friends have seen it. Both provided enthusiastic reports. The Battle of Helms Deeps is long, yes, but it's not just a solid hour of battle, thank god. Obviously, it's intercut with other things, but it is a big portion of the film.

Both people said, independently of one another, that Gollum is the best CGI character they've seen, and that Sirkis deserves a nomination, especially for the way he plays the contrast between Smeagol and Gollum.

And Brad Dourif got enthusiastic notes for his work as Wormtongue, but we knew that. I"m looking forward to this.

Old brown-eye is back

14:09 / 11.12.02

This, of course, is a reference to the bit in 24 Hour Party People where Andy Serkis playing Gillian Gilbert storms out of the session for the last New Order album.

14:20 / 11.12.02

There's a warning listed under the showing times for this here at the Odeon in Brighton, which says "Contains scenes of intense battle". I've subsequently learnt that said battle is rumoured to have about Forty-Five Minutes Screen Time. Drool....

Foust is SO authentic

14:30 / 11.12.02

How is the film structured? Are books 3 & 4 kept seperate, or are they cut together? For example, will we cut from a shot of the ents, to a shot of Frodo and Sam?

15:42 / 11.12.02

Saw it yesterday at some sort of press screening (there were cinema and franchise people there as well).

Helm's Deep might have been 45+ mins, but it's "only" three major assaults and a beautiful climax . Inbetween we get some character interaction plus the two parallel hobbit stories. As for intensity ... I think it was pretty powerful and quite inventive in places, but in a PG12 (or whatever) film, you're never going to get the kind of intensity that was offered by Gladiator. Still, it's one of the two main attractions of this movie.

Gollum being the other one. I still have a hard time believing that he wasn't real. I'd had heard the hype, but I was still completely overwhelmed by what I saw. Andy Serkis' voice and the lively animation of the character would have been enough to create an impressive character. But he [i]is[/i] in fact the best CGI character ever accomplished, and he really stole the picture for me.

Re.: The strutcture. There is intercutting, and in fact it stays as [i]three[/i] seperate storylines (meaning that Merry & Pippin are not reunited with the others in this film). The film closes (a lot) sooner than the book, but I guess it was necessary to add some weight to part three, since it was already the shortest part, and the Scouring is out.

21:47 / 11.12.02

maybe they'll put in back in when they release the second dvd..or is that the 3rd or fourth?

Foust is SO authentic

22:47 / 11.12.02

I've just read Mocca's review aloud to a few friends, and one in particular is incensed. He's worried that since the hobbits don't rejoin with Aragorn et al, it may mean that there is no storming of Isengard scene by the Ents.

Do the Ents storm Isendgard? Spoilers, yes.

The Natural Way

07:55 / 12.12.02

Yes they do. As far as I know. It's part of the finale.

The Natural Way

07:56 / 12.12.02

Wembley: and how the runting fuck are you getting in, boy?

wembley can change in 28 days

08:20 / 12.12.02

Er, I meant tomorrow week. Good thing I didn't put on the latex ears this morning...

08:47 / 12.12.02

ENDING SPOILER
*
We do get to see the ents destroying Isengard, and it's a great scene. The last shot of M&P are them sitting on the "shoulders" of Treebeard, with the waters of Isen pouring in. Where as Ar & co are still in Helm's Deep (a bit like Bakshi's version).
*
/END SPOILER

I wrote something a little more comprehensive on Council of Elrond.

The Natural Way

09:28 / 12.12.02

You didn't have to go that far w/ the spoilage! Control yrself, lad!

So, Wembley, I beat you! I'm going on Wednesday and, afterwards, I'm heading round your house to gloat.

Are you press, Foust? We filmed a gal yesterday who'd just been to the premiere - she said she wept. But she was also a right cock and we had to hear her refer to Angelina Jolie as "Ang", 'cause she'd been to her wedding and that made them somehow friends. Like I say, COCK!, but she did give me a deck of LOTR Top Trumphs she'd picked up at the screening. So that was nice.

The Natural Way

09:29 / 12.12.02

Sorry: the PRESS QUESTION was directed at Mocca!

09:50 / 12.12.02

Not press, really. More like a cheatin' bastard.

I work in a film company and I went with two colleagues who had an invitation (I didn't). So I just sort of elbowed my way in. The screening was not exclusively press - there were people from distribution, cinemas, merchandise and a few “name characters". The response was very positive but not exactly ecstatic - a lot of those people were too professional to show what they really felt.

And sorry about the spoilers - I can see I went a bit over board there - I'll moderate it to add a warning.

The Natural Way

12:45 / 12.12.02

I really, really like that poster of Saruman standing in front of a sea of orcs, the mounatins in the distance... Nice stuff. God....mmmmm....BIG.

The Natural Way

14:42 / 12.12.02

Seems Screen international really dig this movie. The Guardian, too.

Goodness Gracious Meme

17:35 / 12.12.02

ok. this is where I abandon any pretence at detachment....

the Ents! I love the Ents *so* much. and have just been introduced to the horrors of the Treebeard doll. So need to see lovely lovely Ents...

The Natural Way

07:29 / 13.12.02

Hoom!

The Natural Way

09:29 / 13.12.02

Techie query: I've been trying to download the new TTT TV spot from the onering site, but I can only get sound - no visual whatsoever. The computer mentioned something about a "compressor". Help?!?!

The Natural Way

10:10 / 13.12.02

Got it! Ents! Nazgul on their winged steeds! Leaping Gollums!

The Natural Way

11:56 / 17.12.02

Just one more boring-arse day to go....

I know it sounds bad wishing yr life away over a film, but, y'know, I'm not doing anything particularly important with it over the next 22 hrs. And I'd sooner skip tonight: lots of bungedupnosleep, no doubt.

Fucking cold.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

12:06 / 17.12.02

Do we need to organise a London TT-seeing meet for the weekend?
Vote Now!

Wrecks City-Zen

20:29 / 18.12.02

Saw it last night ( 12:05 am Wednesday December 18 )... in a word, breathtaking.

Q and A:

1) Is "Golum" the same actor who voiced the animated " Lilo and Stitch"?

2) Those who have seen it: Is it me or did it feel like " Attack of the Clones"? I found so many paralels, it was un-funny...

But see it.

3-4 times.

( It does seem to drag a wee bit though...)

20:51 / 18.12.02

I saw TTT today and I liked it, but it is problematic in places. I personally feel this is a reflection of the fact that the middle part of the book is problematic too.

Jackson & Co had a lot of work to do introducing all the various polticial elements (such as new "cultures" of Rohan and Gondor), and there was a lot of explaining and scene-setting. Many people were shifting in their seats during these parts I noticed. I do believe the film is rather patchy in places, especially the first half, and then it settles down to some serious ass-kicking. There are some wonderful SFX - and some really dreadful examples as well. However, Gollum/Smeagol is superb, quite amazing on all levels.

I was delighted to see the Ents - they were always my favourite characters from the books; I'd be far to hasty for them I'm afraid.

I thought Jackson was really underscoring some interesting themes in the film: unity in the face of overwhelming odds, the need for hope, and the final strength of Nature. I think Elijah Woods is doing a fantastic job with his role, and there was some very good acting from him - along with the rest of the cast. I was also glad to see Eowyn turn up as she was my heroine from the book when I was reading it as a teenager. Finally, a girlie with some oomph.

And who can be cooler than Legolas? He is THE DUDE. I wish there were fellahs like him in the world today.

Definitely a film to be watched again. There is just too much to be taken in on the first viewing. I'm already looking forward to owning it on DVD. Actually, I can't wait for the day when I have all three on DVD and I can organise a LotR weekend, and have elven food, dwarven beer, and some Hobbit songs in between viewings of the films.

23:06 / 18.12.02

and have elven food, dwarven beer, and some Hobbit songs in between viewings of the films.

What, no Hobbit pipe leaf?

06:24 / 19.12.02

This film was awesome... but even too much awesomeness can get extremely, horribly boring. After the first two hours I stopped giving a fuck. I didn't care who lived or died. I just wanted the damned thing to end. For most of the battle I just sat there wondering why Gandalf didn't use magic to vaporize the attacking army or you know, do something besides talk shit and glow! What kinda of a shitty wizard is he?

Gollum was fantastic tho'

I did get to see the X-Men 2 preview and that was well worth the slow death that came afterwards.

09:42 / 19.12.02

Saw it last night. Wonderful. Gollum was great, but I couldn't get it out of my mind that he *is* Paul Daniels.

09:44 / 19.12.02

cusm:
What, no Hobbit pipe leaf?

Heh, silly of me to forget that! Where's my pipe...

The Natural Way

10:05 / 19.12.02

Oh, shut up. It was great. The firstst film was Gandalf's, the second...well, Gollum's and Aragorn's - that's why he didn't do much. He DOESN'T do much in the original text as far as I can remember.

The opening sequence...mmmm....camera tracking around the mountain...and then a voice....and then you realise whose voice it is and what's going on and what mountain yr looking at....and then....in....and we're back on the bridge with Gandalf and the Balrog...but this time we follow him over the edge. Nggh! Yes!

I actually thought TTT was really well balanced. The intercutting between (and pairing down of) each little splinter of the Fellowship's story arcs was just....neat. Neat and tidy and good. This one hit more of an emotional cord with me, too. I could go into loads of detail, but there's so much and I really want to see it again before I say anything. I feel sorry for impulsivebloke, I really do, because it's much more fun to go WOAAAH! HELM'S DEEP!!!! than it is to yawn.

Thing is: the LOTR films are the best example of cinema as spectacle out there (and spectacle, of course, is something cinema SHOULD do really well, but, generally, DOESN'T); they're stylisticaly and narratively experimental, risky and exciting; they don't look like anything out there; there's no product placement; they're brilliantly acted; each shot is as perfectly framed as anything on the art cinema circuit and y'know, they're going to be remembered. They've got that Star Wars thing going for them. Only they piss on Star Wars.

And I love Jackson's endings.

Scrambled Password Bogus Email

12:25 / 19.12.02

Argh, hoom, harroum, barallaroom, my but I'm feeling fucking hasty today.

Quivers in anticipation, ouch lemme see it lemme see it

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