Comments for blog.limedaley.com/post/notes-haircut

Comment #2826

2011-02-07T20:21:36Z

In the movie "Predators" the predator is an alien race that visits the earth every fifty years to hunt humans for sport. (Apparently they only come alone, and this one predator makes the mistake of picking Arnie as his prey.) Later there was a "Predators 2" and then a "PREDATORS VS. ALIENS," and although I never saw the latter and it stunk by all accounts, the title stuck and came to mind at this occasion due to the ugly otherworldly intruders from the first two movies.

Comment #2825

2011-02-07T17:33:51Z

There was definitely a scene in which Smeagol (not yet ugly) murders another hobbit (or similar creature) to steal the ring. I can't remember which movie it was in, though; probably the last one, which has the most character development for Smeagol/Gollum.

Comment #2824

2011-02-07T00:32:02Z

yeah - i was second guessing myself after I said that. I don't remember seeing it this time - i was out of the room for 30 minutes or so, probably. but i remember seeing a scene with a hobbit hand grabbing it off of the river floor, and the story continued, and didn't have anything about there being two hobbits.

But I have pretty vivid image of thescene with two hobbits. I do create pretty vivid "movie" images when reading, so sometimes i can't remember if it was a book or movie, but I'm confused...

Comment #2823

2011-02-06T22:55:22Z

My reaction was based almost solely on the first movie, and not the extended version. I've seen the other two, but too long ago to say much with certainty about details. The version I saw definitely implies that Gollum was always the creature he became.

I don't know for sure if Stephan understood me or not, since I have no idea what PREDATORS VS MIDDLE EARTH refers to. :) But I do mean that they were alien to Middle Earth in the sense that they appear not to be part of the "created order." I miss the sense of fallenness, of good creation gone bad, the realization that Evil has no power to create, only to warp and maim and twist.

I probably should see the other movies again before making an overall judgement. But that's a lot of time to spend being bored just to be able to make a point. :(

Comment #2822

2011-02-06T21:41:45Z

Smeagol does murder his friend in the movie, that I remember.

I understood Sursumcorda to mean that the orcs and Uruk-hai felt alien to the world of Middle Earth the way they were portrayed in the movie, like the movie had a PREDATORS VS MIDDLE EARTH look and feel.

Comment #2821

2011-02-06T11:20:48Z

Gollum's is told completely in one the movies (maybe only in the extended version). Actually, it might leave off the part of him murdering his friend, but the rest is complete.

I'd say evil is portrayed pretty evil-y in the movies. The orcs do have various conversations in English though the battle field chants are in orc language or something. I specifically recall one orc suggesting that they eat Pippin and Merry, but the boss says they must be returned unharmed. They then discuss whether just eating their legs would count, since the master will clearly only want to talk to them, "they won't be needing their legs". That conversation ends with a fight and the orcs eating the losers, so I'd say there is a pretty distinction between good and evil, and unless one thinks that Peter Jackson is recommending cannibalism, he is probably saying the evil power is bad, not just like good powers, but different.

i guess I'm not sure what you mean by "alien", the story is full of creatures that I've never seen in this world.

Comment #2820

2011-02-03T18:44:43Z

I wonder if Jon noticed what I did, but didn't write about in my review. Based on the first movie alone, since the others aren't fresh in my mind, I would say that evil is hard and pointed, or slimy and gross, but not particularly evil. You get no indication that (quoting off the top of my head here), "the dark power that made them [orcs and other evil creatures] cannot create; it can only debase and deform." No idea that they are fallen creatures of that world, rather than something totally alien. No idea that Gollum was once a hobbit, or at least a hobbit-like creature.

In the books, the orcs are indeed physically ugly, but not alien, and they show their evil nature in speech and action. Real speech, not grunts and screams. They are crude and cruel, with the same vices one can encounter among humans today. That didn't come across to me in the movie at all.

It also felt rather dualist to me -- a feeling that good and evil were powers of the same order, with no clear idea why good should be considered "better."

Comment #2819

2011-02-03T17:49:38Z

Jon just went to a LOTR party in which they watched all three extended version movies. He came back convinced that our family is not going to watch them as a whole for many more years. There are too many graphic scenes that are inappropriate for young eyes and minds. (There are even scenes in the Swamp of the Dead that I closed my eyes for.)

But listening to it has been quite enjoyable. And you (and your kids) are limited by your own imagination and not those of Hollywood designers.

Comment #2818

2011-02-03T17:40:52Z

Oh, I'm SO glad the kids are hearing the (unabridged) book instead of watching the movie! As I wrote, watching the movie again recently, instead of changing my negative opinion as I had hoped, only confirmed it. But having watched it recently made me certain Tom Bombadil was one of the (many) important parts left out.

Huge is absolutely normal for you, but it still catches me off guard. :)

Comment #2817

2011-02-03T17:31:02Z

Jon got out the unabridged audio book of The Fellowship of the Ring for our car trip. Unfortunately we had to return it before finishing all 16 CDs, but it's requested from the library again so we can finish.

HUGE == normal for me. (:

Comment #2816

2011-02-03T15:57:22Z

Oh, and by the way...you are HUGE. :)

Comment #2815

2011-02-03T15:54:21Z

It's very cute, and I don't agree with Jonathan: you look just as much "like you."

What does he know about Tom Bombadil?