Tag Archive | "The Lord of the Rings"

Winter Olympic Events For Fantasy Fans!

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Like you, we’ve gotten caught up in the Olympic hullabaloo over the last two weeks. There’s something about international cooperation and elite athletes and musical montages and Bob Costas’ voice that just fills us with unusual glee.

But as much as we like those things, we can’t help but think they might be improved upon with a little help from the fantasy world. Here are some sports we here at TheTorchOnline.com would really like to see in the 2014 Winter Games:

Panserbjørne Polo — Regular old horse and pony polo doesn’t have a place in the Olympics because, frankly, it’s too elitist and boring for the average citizen of the world. But what about polo carried out in the snowy mountains on the back of an armor-covered bear? Now, that’s exciting! Especially if the player’s dæmons are running interference! We know that, strictly speaking, panserbjørnes aren’t supposed to let humans ride them, but for a chance at international glory (and a shot at landing on the cover of a Wheaties box), we’re pretty sure plenty of bears would participate.

Tesseract Track Speed Skating — If you’ve seen one speed skating race, you’ve seen them all. Oh, sure, the sport tries to keep things fresh by mixing up the distances, but after about three races, we’re begging for a pile up. To add a little adventure to speed skating, we think it should take place in more than one physical plane. After a few laps around the ice, skaters would be forced to wrinkle to another dimension. And then another. And then back to their original track. Keep your balance and wits about you in that kind of race and you deserve to win a medal.

Flux Capacitor Bobsled — Quite similar to the Tesseract Track, but in this sport, teams would strap a flux capacitor to their sleds and be forced to hit 88 miles per hour before the track runs out. Teams will finish in the next Olympics. Not only does it add an element of surprise to the competition (teams won’t be able to study the second half of the track in the future!), it also keeps viewers on the edges of their seat for another four years. It also doubles the potential television coverage. Races are finishing up from the last Olympics, and races are taking off in the current Olympics.

Middle-earth Curling — Did you know that traditional curling stones are made from a specific kind of ailsite that can only be found on Ailsa Craig, off the coast of Scotland? Experts are pretty sure there’s only enough ailsite for about 20 more years of curling. It doesn’t matter much, though, because it’s not a very exciting game. What if, instead of securing ailsite from the Highlands, curling stones were forged in the fire of Mount Doom? With, say, one stone to rule them all, one stone to find them, one stone to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. We’d like that, wouldn’t we Precious? Tricksy little sweepsers, aren’t they? Yes, yes, Precious.

Turkish Delight Cook-off — The standard for Turkish Delight belongs to the White Witch of Narnia, of course. But this blasted cold weather makes us want more, more, more! Every four years, the best chefs in the country should come together and have a bake off to see who can create the most magical version of the dessert. It becomes infinitely more interesting if Tilda Swinton judges the competition on live TV. She would make Gordon Ramsey look like a puppy.

Wonkathon — Our favorite event of the Winter Olympics is the biathlon because it reminds us of Nickelodeon’s Double Dare obstacle course from when we were kids — only a little more dangerous on account of the guns. We think an actual obstacle course would be a good add to the Winter Games, especially if it was designed by Willy Wonka. Chocolate rivers, trippy boat rides, experimental TV equipment, magical animals, Oompa-Loompas: any athlete would be lucky to make it through alive! In addition to the medals, winners of the Wonkathon would receive a lifetime supply of everlasting gobstoppers. Though, if they really are everlasting, you’d probably only need the one.

Lightsaber Skating — Figure skating is a classic favorite. We love it, we really do. But we think we could amp the entertainment value (and athletic prowess) if we turned down the lights and required each skater to compete with lightsaber. The whizzing and twirling and jumping and tossing would be even more artistic (and awesomely dangerous) with the added equipment. Plus, the sport suddenly becomes marketable. What child would leave the arena without a lightsaber of his or her own from the souvenir stand? What adult, for that matter?

Quidditch Tournament — We’ve got nothing to add to J.K. Rowling’s magical competition. We’d just like to see it in the Olympics is all.

Now, be honest — would you rather watch the IOC’s version of the Olympics or our version of The Olympics?

From the Palantir! Gambling on LORD OF THE RINGS and LOST Storylines That Never Went Anywhere

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  • For those who love a little high fantasy with their gambling, Microgaming is unleashing video slot machines based on the Lord of the Rings movies. Makes sense — anyone who’s spent any time in a casino knows that the people hunched over the video slot machines bear more than a passing resemblance to Gollum.
  • Arrr! Deadwood’s Ian McShane is in talks to join the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment of the super popular series. It’s funny. I never realized how attached I was to Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann until I learned that the series was going on without them.
  • While we’re on the subject of POTC, here’s a cool little report about the Black Pearl — the actual ship used in filming — arriving in Hawaii while they prep for the new movie. Is anyone else surprised to discover it’s actually a sea-worthy vessel?
  • Early reactions to the new high-fantasy-spoof Your Highness are rolling in, and it’s looking good. But then, with a cast that includes James Franco and Zooey Deschanel, did we really have any doubts?
  • Speaking of early reports, a few lucky chaps got a sneak-preview of some footage from the latest Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and were mighty pleased with what they saw. (Let’s hope so. I thought Prince Caspian was way too dark and depressing.)
  • io9 has a list of 18 shows that they believe could save sci-fi and fantasy on the small screen. It’s a pretty exhaustive list, but oddly it includes the upcoming remake of La Femme Nikita. I was a huge fan of the series with Peta Wilson from the 9′0s, but I don’t remember it being science-fiction at all. Am I remembering it wrong?
  • One of the shows on the aforementioned list is a possible US version of the hit British show Torchwood, which is of course a spin-off of another hit British show, Doctor Who. After hearing about it for years, I finally watched all three seasons, and was delighted to discover it actually exceeded the hype. But half of its charm was the Welsh and British accents, so I’m not sure how smoothly the transition to the states would work. Plus, given how creator Russel T. Davies loves nothing more than brutally killing his beloved main characters, I’m wondering if there’s anyone left loyal enough to give it a chance.
  • For everyone out there who, like me, has been watching Lost since the very first season and who, like me, has a horrible memory, here’s a reminder of the great storylines that … uh … never actually went anywhere. Oh, yeah! Remember when Charlie was a horrible person? Forgot all about that.
  • So there’s a movie coming out called Centurion, which tells the story of seven Roman soldiers who are stranded behind enemy lines when their legion is attacked and slaughtered in Britain. So, the guys who invaded and attempted to conquer an entire race of people … are the good guys? And the ancient Britons who are fighting back, led by a rather Boudicca-esque leader, are the bad guys? Interestingly, the film doesn’t have distribution in the states as of yet.
  • Turns out both Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaal turned down the lead role in Avatar. Good move, guys. I mean, sure neither one of you is exactly hurting for cash right now, but still.
  • Finally, just so everyone can stay on the same page with all of the genre shows that are currently on the air, Trekmovie.com gives us a handy-dandy renewal report card.

Interview: Dominic Monaghan is Very Good at Playing Bad-Ass

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And you convinced yet that Dominic Monaghan is one terrific actor?

The Englishman, of course, became internationally famous as the lovable hobbit Merry Brandybuck in the Lord of the Rings movies.

A year after the last of those movies, he topped that with a break-out performance as the heroin-addicted musician Charlie Pace on Lost.

Then last year, he shook things up yet again with a turn as the mysterious and menacing Dr. Simon Campos on Flash Forward.

If you’re not convinced yet what a terrific, versatile actor he is, what in the world is it going to take?

Since Dominic is so often featured in genre-themed projects, we were eager to talk to him one-on-one. At a recent press event, along with several other reporters, we finally got a chance:

Question: Do you have theories about your character on Flash Forward? How much do you yourself know?

DM: I know some things. I know his motivation, I know where he’s going, where he’s headed. Then there’s other things that I don’t know.

I feel like if Simon doesn’t know, then I — Dom — doesn’t want to know. If Simon knows, then I want to know. So those are the questions that I’m asking [producers] David [Goyer] and Jessika [Goyer] in the writers’ room.

Q: Do you pay attention to what the fans say about you?

DM: Some stuff. I’ve been [to some sites] a couple of times and read a couple of things, what people think about the character and the show. I don’t tend to dive into too much, I don’t want to get too dangerous.

But I’m online, and I search around, and I go to forums.

Q: Do you ever see conspiracies on the online boards and think, “Oh, wow, you’re so wrong.”

DM: Or you’re so right! I saw a lot of stuff with Lost, and I saw a lot with Flash Forward where I think, “Wow, these guys are on it. These guys know what’s going on! These guys sound like they’re in the writers’ room, because they’re predicting things that are actually happening.”

Q: Between Lord of the Rings, Lost, and now Flash Forward, you seem to be doing a lot of fantasy and science fiction. Is that something you personally enjoy, or is that just a coincidence?

DM: I don’t necessarily know if it’s purely coincidental. I became an actor because of Star Wars. I watched Han Solo when I was seven or eight, and I thought, “That’s what I want to do.”

I have a large collection of fantasy in my film library, from Dark Star to Dark Crystal to Star Wars to Star Trek to 2001. Lots of sci-fi.

But I probably have more comedy, [more] America gangster movies than anything else.

It’s just good projects more than anything else. If you look at those three things, I don’t necessarily see the link being fan-based, ComicCon wet dreams. It’s more that they’re good projects. Lord of the Rings was a great script, Lost was a great project, Flash Forward was a great project.

I go where there’s good writing and a great chance to do something new.

Q: You mentioned Star Wars, which reminds me of Mark Hamill and the problems he had breaking away from the role that made him so famous. You made such an indelible impression in Lord of the Rings. Were you ever worried about being typecast?

DM: Yeah, and I had a year or so where I wasn’t working and felt as if I in danger of being locked into those movies and never get out of them again. I got very lucky with Lost. That was a very adorable character to play, and I think the audience very quickly leapfrogged with me from the character I played in Lord of the Rings to Charlie.

You’ve got work out your challenges in your job and set your mind on that goal. I know I can act, I know that I’m capable of acting, so really that as a challenge isn’t as complicated for me as navigating my way through the pigeonholes that people want to put me in.

I stopped worrying [too much] about learning my lines or being present on the set or giving a good performance, and I started concentrating my thoughts on how do I navigate my way through this business when I don’t look necessarily look like Paul Newman and I’m not built like Hugh Jackman. How do I do that?

Q: Was there anything you turned down?

A: Sure! I turned down a lot of pixie-like, elf-like [characters], guys who live under toadstools and bridges. And I turned down a lot of adorable best-friends-to-the-lead-guy, who’s just kind of a nice guy. I was like, “I don’t wanna do that.”

I still hold back. When I was younger, roles I played were much more comedic-based. I love comedy, and that’s something I ultimately I want to do. But I said to my agent going into my career in America, “I don’t want to do comedy until I’ve proven that I can do drama to a large audience.” Because then when I do comedy, they’ll say, “Oh, yeah, but he is a dramatic actor.” If you just do comedy, then you’re going to have a very hard time breaking into drama.

Q: Did you have to convince the producers of Flash Forward you could do “dark”?

DM: No, I don’t think so. They’re big fans of Lost. I think they saw something in Charlie that was dark enough. He had some dark moments. He can be a bad-ass when he feels like that.

I think David and Jessica wanted that. They were like, “We watch the show and we watched Charlie, and we liked it was he’s f***ing bad and not nice. And we want you to play that character all the time. So if you’ll let us, that’s what we want to write.”

I was like, yeah, that’s what I need now.

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The Top 10 Magic Duels and Spell Battles!

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We all know the drill — we’re watching a nice magical adventure unfold before our eyes on the big or small screen, and the characters get to a point where they no longer have the option to be friendly. It’s time to throw down.

Maybe the spells are flying fast and furious, or maybe it’s a more subtle use of magic to assist a mostly physical blow, but one thing is for certain: even more so than standard fight scenes, battles that involve magic raise the dramatic stakes in any story, because when you’re hurling thunderbolts, you’re playing for keeps. Even when the stories they feature in are not exactly memorable (cough The Covenant cough), a good magical fight can be a visual feast. Here we count down some of our favorites.

10. Caleb vs. Chase (The Covenant)

Though at times this fight seems more like a mystical game of dodgeball using amorphous jellyfish-like energy, one can’t deny that it at least looks pretty cool when these dudes are blasting away at each other in a rain-soaked barn. It’s fun to see the mayhem that male witches can wreak on each other, when witchcraft is so often allocated to female characters.

Unfortunately, the movie itself sucked.

9. Raziel vs. Bavmorda (Willow)

Willow will always hold a special place in the hearts of many fantasy enthusiasts who emerged from that nebulous decade known as the ’80s. Part Star Wars, part Lord of the Rings, it featured a very hobbitish hero, a very Gandalf-ian sorceress named Raziel, and a mean, mean old witch name Bavmorda.

Bavmorda and Raziel are mortal enemies, and in the climax of the movie, as a huge battle takes place outside, a very private war is fought between these two magicians. Utilizing the latest visual technology of the time (Willow was one of the first movies to showcase morphing), the filmmakers introduced a wide-eyed generation to the wonders of a magical smackdown.

Watch the fight

8. Gandalf vs. Saruman (The Fellowship of the Ring)

When you see two wizards fighting, you expect to see some crazy fireballs being thrown around, but when Gandalf and Saruman threw down in The Fellowship of the Ring, it was just the telekinetic version of an old-fashioned bar room brawl, with the two tossing each other around with the force of their minds. Bruising, bloody, and awesome.

Watch the fight

7. Harry vs. Draco (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets)

At this point in the Harry Potter series, we knew there was no love lost between the boy wizards Harry and Draco Malfoy, but they were just kids, and the last thing we expected to see was a full-on, wire-spinning melee, but that’s exactly what we got when they took each other on in Professor Lockhart’s dueling seminar.

6. Giles vs. Dark Willow (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Sweet Willow Rosenburg was the heart and soul of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, always a cheerful presence in a dark, demon-ridden world. But following the death of her true love Tara, she tapped into the vengeful part of her psyche and became a very bad witch. Who better to take her on than the mentor of the group, Giles, with a little borrowed magic from a coven of good witches?

5. Nancy vs. Sarah (The Craft)

An underrated gem from the angsty ’90s, The Craft showed what happened when the freaky girls in school have access to some seriously dark mojo. When good girl Sarah faces off with mean alpha-chick Nancy, all hell breaks loose in a spectacle of CGI mystical violence.

4. Pretty much every fight with Zedd (Legend of the Seeker)

Before Legend of the Seeker, the heir apparent to Xena: Warrior Princess, made its way to the airwaves, most people had never used the term “wizard’s fire” before (that is,  if they weren’t Terry Goodkind fans). But every time a fight breaks out on Seeker, you can bet that Zeddicus will be blasting away to his heart’s content, and it just looks awesome every time.

3. Buffy vs. Adam (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Though the show was as magical as they come, Buffy’s fighting style always stemmed from the very real world of martial arts. So when in the fourth season she learned that she’d need a little extra boost to face a Frankenstein-like foe, her friends Willow, Giles, and Xander all got together and gave her their energy in a little power-enhancing spell, causing Buffy to bust out some kick-ass matrix moves, as well as turn a bullet headed for her face into a pair of white doves, which are of course the symbol of peace. And who doesn’t love a little irony with their smackdowns?

2. Dumbledore vs. Voldemort (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Though the main event is reserved for the very end of the very last movie, we got a nice little treat when uber-baddie Boldemort took on the bastion of goodness, Dumbledore, in the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series. They fought with all four elements — fire, water, earth, and air — before Voldemort finally took his leave. But what an exit!

Watch the fight.

1. Gandalf vs. The Balrog (Fellowship of the Ring)

There are fights, and there are fights. When the Fellowship was fleeing the mines of Moria, they were accosted by a demon of the ancient world, a Balrog of Morgoth, a creature of shadow and flame, and a nasty attitude to boot. When Gandalf took him on to protect his friends, it was a true clash of the titans, instantly resetting the bar for what we expect to see on screen from anyone audacious enough to film a magic fight. For the gift you gave the world, Peter Jackson and company, we thank you.

Watch the fight.

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Ask the Oracle: Whose Voice is That in Fangorn Forest? What IS Fantasy? And What’s the Best Fantasy Series?

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Have a question about something fantasy-related? Ask the Oracle! (Be sure to include your first name and the city, state, and/or country you are writing from.)

Q: Settle an argument: in The Two Towers movie when Gandalf the White appears to Aragon, Gimli, and Legolas in Fangorn Forest, he is at first mistaken for Saruman — and, in fact, he looks and sounds a lot like Christopher Lee, the actor who portrays the other white wizard. But Ian McKellen has said that that’s entirely his voice and his face. Can that be true? — MAGPIE, Toronto, Canada

A: McKellen definitely maintains that it’s his voice and face — he still says that it’s “All my own work in Fangorn” on his website.

But he is misremembering. In the DVD commentary, Peter Jackson calls the scene a “visual trick,” pointing out that, “Very briefly, Christopher Lee’s eyes are actually glued onto Ian McKellen’s face…You also hear Christopher Lee’s voice — it’s blended in with Ian’s. We did want people, at least the uninitiated, to think that this possibly was Saruman.”

Co-screenwriter writer Philippa Boyers confirms this version of events: “They both tried to sound like each other” in the looping, she says, but “Christopher Lee could imitate Ian McKellen more than Ian could imitate Chris Lee.”

Q: I’m curious what you and your readers think are the top fantasy book series. Motivation is selfish, too — I want to know what to read. I’m also interested it what people specifically don’t like, and why — e.g., the Narnia series is too religious, and the anthropomorphic animals don’t work for me.  Also not liking Stephen Donaldson. With that, I’ll list mine: The Lord of the Rings, A Wizard of Earthsea, and Harry Potter. — Robert

A: The Oracle would strongly agree with The Lord of the Rings and Earthsea, but would also enthusiastically add A Song of Fire and Ice by George R. R. Marin, the first Kushiel trilogy by Jaqueline Carey, and (yes) The Chronicles of Narnia and The First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (but not the third trilogy, which is almost unreadable).

Among kids’ books (of which I’m a fan), I’d also add almost anything by Roald Dahl, but especially Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (although not the terrible sequel, Charlie and Great Glass Elevator). The Oracle also loved Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story and Momo, The Chronicles of Pyrdain by Lloyd Alexander, Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy, the Bartimaeus trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, and Kenneth Oppel’s Airborn books.

Harry Potter? Truthfully, the Oracle enjoyed them, but found most of the books badly in need of editing, and many of plot-lines forced, especially the conclusion. The Oracle also always thought the following books or series were over-rated, in order from least to most over-praised: A Wrinkle in Time, Inkheart, The Sword of Truth, The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Shannara, and Twilight. (Full disclosure: The Oracle doesn’t read all the books in series he doesn’t like, so perhaps these books improved over time.)

But the Oracle is far more interested in hearing what readers think!

Q: Another question: what is fantasy? For me, it’s not just supernatural. Magic has to be part of that reality. For example, The Dragonriders of Pern series isn’t strictly “fantasy” to me — the planet has spaceflight. Though the dragons can traverse space and even time, my memory is that this ability is never framed as magical, and no other magic seems to exist. — Robert

A: With something as complicated as literature, descriptive genres are, of course, mostly arbitrary, and made that much more so by all the writers who are defiantly (and wonderfully) blurring the boundaries. Labels are just labels, after all.

Here at TheTorchOnline.com, we define “fantasy” broadly. In general, if it involves magic, we cover it, but we’d throw in the dragons of Pern too, even without magic, just because they’re mythical creatures. We also cover some paranormal and “otherworld”-themed projects, as well as some projects involving history-based adventure and/or palace intrigue. Most superheroes also fall under our rubric.

As I said, it’s all pretty arbitrary, and “speculative fiction” is rapidly becoming a catch-all term — although it also includes hard science fiction, outright horror and slasher, and other genres that we almost never focus on here.

Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously said about hard-core pornography that it was hard to define, but “I know it when I see it.”

I think the same is true of fantasy. But like hard-core pornography, what’s “fantasy” for me may not be that for someone else. Viva la difference!

Q: In 1976, I read a vast number of science fiction anthologies, and read a story about an outpost planet that only ever had one human inhabitant, but they kept going mad with the loneliness. The story was about the latest man, who was promised a solution from earth. Eventually the ship arrived, but it appeared to disappear.  The closing line of the story was the “sound of a seagull”. Any idea who wrote this, and where it could still be obtained? — Errol

A: Sadly, this is beyond even the All-Knowing, Fantasy-Question-Answering Oracle’s near-omniscience. But perhaps a reader can help us both out.

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From the Palantir! Jon Stewart Takes on George Lucas Over the Crappy STAR WARS Prequels. Plus, is AVATAR Racist?

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  • For the next four weeks, they’re offering tours of the set for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at something called Movie World, which is a theme park in the Gold Coast of Australia.
  • Earlier this week, I complained that I was reading critics’ list of the best movies of the 00s and they didn’t include The Lord of the Rings, but in fairness, here’s a list of all the critics who did. I especially appreciate the critics who included all three movies in three different spots, not just lumping them together in one slot. Interestingly, Metacritic says that The Return of the King was the best-reviewed of the all the decade’s Best Picture winners.
  • Is Avatar unconsciously racist (or at least racially insensitive)? The argument is that the story of minority-liberation is told, yet again, from the POV of a member of the “white” majority; racial minorities are allowed to be sort of “side-heroes” in their own story, but they really exist only to motivate the main character, who is the one who does all the changing. It’s a compelling argument, but I agree with this writer, that the “racist” argument misses the point of the movie, that Jake’s transformation has all the elements of good drama. More baldly, I’d also point out that the way the existing movie is framed, it’s far more likely to seen by a “white majority,” exposing them to the whole issue of the oppression of native and indigenous people; in short, the audience is “transformed” along with Jake. But since “the Great White Hope” is typically the only way this story is ever told, I totally get how some native people could be annoyed.
  • Speaking of politics, is Pixar socially conservative? Uh, frankly, I’m annoyed and offended by the whole idea that only conservatives care about “family” — I’d argue that, rhetoric aside, the exact opposite is often true. As for The Incredibles being somewhat Ayn Randian, I had no idea that Mr. Incredible was supposed to be any kind of role model. I interpreted the character to be an annoying, arrogant, entitled a**hole.
  • Thanks to Avatar and Harry Potter (and, in must be said, Twilight and Transformers), Hollywood set a record. And it’s not just because ticket prices are up (in part, due to 3-D); overall ticket sales were up 4% too.
  • EW does a survey which results in Harry Potter being named “entertainer” of the decade. I’m not exactly sure what this means, but I suppose it’s fair.
  • Ten (funny) reasons why 2010 will be crap. Here’s what they say about Voyage of the Dawn Treader (to be released this year): “Oh really? You’re really going to make all the Narnia movies, even though The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe is literally the only one that people like? The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader hasn’t got any witches OR wardrobes in it, plus all the adorable child actors from the first film are all about 35 years old by now. Plus it’s about a boat. Plus if they keep making Narnia films, we’ll eventually have to put up with The Horse And His Boy, a story about a horse. And a boy. Crap crap crappity crap.”
  • Peter Jackson and Patrick Stewart have both been knighted. I should hope so! But I hope it doesn’t make me a geek when I point out that Stewart was already a knight, having played King Leondegrance, Guinevere’s father, in the 1981 film Excalibur.
  • After Robert Downey Jr. has been on all the talk shows joking that Sherlock Holmes and Watson are secretly gay, the rights-holder to the character says she would withdraw her permission if this was pursued in future films (but, of course, she’s not anti-gay!). First, Downey is clearly joking. Second, there’s no way in hell a studio would invest this much in a movie without first making sure they have iron-clad sequel rights.
  • Jon Stewart discusses fan reaction (positive and very, very negative) to Star Wars with George Lucas. Truthfully, it’s pretty interesting, especially talking about the generational differences. (Stewart says, hilariously, “My son says his favorite movie is The Phantom Menace. And I’ve explained to him, ‘No, it isn’t!’”
  • Stephen King named 2012 as one of his favorite movies of 2009. Apparently, when he was knocked over by that van a few years back, he took a serious blow to the head!

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Is THE LORD OF THE RINGS the Movie “Event” of the Last Decade?

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The incredible resurgence of the fantasy genre, which began in the 1980s and gathered steam in the 1990s, exploded in the 00s.

Nowhere is this more obvious than in the amazing success of The Lord of the Rings movie franchise, the three movies of which were all released this decade:  The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003).

By any measure, the movies were an unparalleled success. Together, they make up the most financially successful movie trilogy of all time, grossing almost  $3 billion worldwide and beating out both Star Wars trilogies (although the original Star Wars trilogy out-grosses Rings when adjusted for inflation).

The films received rave reviews, and currently hold a cumulative 94% “fresh” on the RottenTomatoes.com compilation of film reviews — an extraordinary rating for a single film, much less three.

The films were nominated for 30 Academy Awards and won 17 — the most for any trilogy and another extraordinary achievement, especially given that all three films were nominated for Best Picture. The Return of the King ties the record (with Ben-Hur) for the most awards won by a single movie (11).

Even so, plenty of movie critics were somehow able to convince themselves to ignore the obvious in their own “best of the decade” lists — probably due to a combined suspicion of both massive box office success and genre projects in general.

But early in December, Entertainment Weekly acknowledged the truth, naming the movies the Best of the Decade.

Interestingly, in other end-of-the-decade news, Harry Potter dominated the bestselling book list for the decade, holding six of the top ten spots. Fantasy (in the form of the Twilight books) holds three of the other ten slots, with a fantasy-esque book, The Da Vinci Code, holding the last spot.

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They’re Adapting Your Favorite Fantasy Book or Comic for the Movies. How Much Change is Too Much?

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Many beloved fantasy films (and these days, television series as well) are adapted from novels and comic books, and it’s almost unheard of that a story will be reflected on the screen precisely as it’s described on the page.

There are several reasons for these changes, but the broadest one is this: novels and movies are simply different animals. For example, while pacing in the written word can afford to take its time, a movie has a time limit, usually around 2 hours (or 3, for epic fantasy like Lord of the Rings.) The number of characters is as limitless in a novel as the author’s imagination, while in film and television, for each new character you face the very real issues of casting, salaries, agents, actors’ egos, etc.

Ultimately, for those charged with the thankless task of adapting a story for the large or small screen, the job becomes about remaining true to the spirit of the story, rather than making a literal translation.

And wouldn’t it be nice if it were always as cut-and-dry as that?

The problem adapters often face is the cruel and vicious reaction from the fanboy community. No matter what, no adaptation is ever good enough to appease everybody, and fantasy fans are a particularly fanatical bunch. (In fact, by sheer coincidence, someone wrote in this week to the Oracle to discuss this very topic.)

When Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens set out on the monumental task of adapting The Lord of the Rings for the screen, they knew there would be much that had to be changed in order to streamline the events into a cohesive trilogy of films. Large sections were cut or simplified. Whole characters, like the enigmatic Tom Bombadil, were excised completely. For Frodo, who was 50 years old in the book, they cast the teen-aged Elijah Wood. The love story of Arwen and Aragorn was significantly beefed up.

Did the writers go too far? The reaction is split, and while almost everyone can agree that the films were a success, there still remains a faction of rabid fanboys who have turned their back on the movies (often after watching them many times to find out just why they hate them.)

The first two Harry Potter films were very true to the books, and as a result, while enjoyable, they felt a little long and leisurely paced. The third film, Prisoner of Azkaban (the best of all the films thus far, in my opinion), departed both in style from its predecessors, and in the way it streamlined major plot points. Every film since then has begun to play like a reader’s digest version of the books, which grew to mammoth lengths.

When Watchmen came out earlier this year, the director Zach Snyder brought to the screen what many people considered an “unfilmable” story, and it worked splendidly. But because of some plot-tweaking in the end which included the omission of a giant squid, a whole slew of devotees of the graphic novel thought the film was ruined.

Is there an obvious answer, a litmus test to determine how much change made in adaptations is too much? Unfortunately, no. Adapting a story is an art, and like all art, whether the artist achieved their goal is entirely subjective. What one would hope is that those in the fan community maintain a level of civilized and polite discourse when bringing up their opinions via the internet.

What a world that would be, huh?

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New LORD OF THE RINGS Fan Film, BORN OF HOPE, Released Today

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Born of Hope, a “fan” film inspired by Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings movie adaptations, was released to today. Like The Search for Gollum, another fan film released earliest this year, the 60-minute production is an amateur production made in the U.K.

The entire movie follows:


For more information, visit the film’s website.

John “Gimli” Rhys-Davies Turns Down Dwarf Role in THE HOBBIT

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John Rhys-Davies, the actor who so memorably played Gimli the dwarf in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, has declined to play the role of Gloin, Gimli’s father, in the upcoming two-part movie version of The Hobbit, according to Empire Magazine.

“I’ve already been asked and to be honest with you, I wouldn’t,” he told the magazine. “I have already completely ruled it out. There’s a sentimental part of me that would love to be involved again. [But] really, I am not sure my face can take that sort of punishment any more.

“It was just a gentle ‘What would you feel about putting it on again?’” the actor said. “But no.”

Is the actor ruling out returning to Middle Earth in a non-dwarf role? “I’d really prefer to play something quite different,” he admitted. “Maybe an elf.”

A veteran and well-regarded character actor, Rhys-Davies played Sallah in the Indiana Jones movies, and also voiced the character of Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings.

On television, he co-starred in last spring’s comedy fantasy series Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire.

Second Fiddle No More! The (Changing) Role of the Sidekick

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For those of you living under a rock, Zombieland opened last weekend and went quickly to number one (and we, of course, reviewed it here.) One of the clever moves of the film is that it takes your traditional Hero — muscular, confident, aggressive — and your standard Sidekick — smart but cowardly, neurotic — and flips them, so that we see the film through the eyes of the sidekick, played with hilarious gusto by Jesse Eisenberg.

Although the characters in the film aren’t aware of this switch, and continue on in their respective paths, we in the audience are clued in to the fact that this won’t be your traditional action/horror film. In fact, Eisenberg’s character, Columbus, in a moment of meta-consciousness, even refers to himself as “sort of a Sancho Panza-type.”

Sancho Panza was, of course, the prototypical sidekick, who traveled around at the side of Don Quixote in Miguel de Cervantes’ historic novel of the same name. Unlike the slender, intelligent Columbus, however, Sancho was overweight and dim, riding atop a donkey, yet lovable for his unshakable loyalty to his master, Quixote.

It is this loyalty that allows for Quixote to continue on in his quests, whether he’s aware of it or not, and like a truly great sidekick, Sancho never asks for affirmation. He simply is there for the hero, even though in this case, the hero is a delusional old man (which, perhaps, proves Sancho’s worth all the more.)

But while the sidekick has his or her place in a story, longer tales often develop the sidekick to the point where they’re on the same level as the hero, which is always satisfying for a reader or viewer. After all, haven’t we all, at some points in out lives, felt a lot more like Robin than Batman? So it’s small wonder we take comfort in the fact that Robin, the epitome of a sidekick, grew up and became Nightwing, a hero in his own right, on par with Batman.

In fantasy literature, perhaps one of the greatest examples of a sidekick rising up to the level of hero is Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. Like Sancho, Sam is neither slim nor very smart, and for most of the story, Sam exists to cook food for Frodo and keep up his spirits, all the while contentedly walking behind his master on their epic quest.

But when Frodo is attacked and Sam believes he is dead, a change occurs in him, something visceral, something which can never be undone. He realizes that the fate of the Ring and indeed, the world, now rests solely on his humble shoulders, and so he stands up, picks up his master’s sword, and carries on.

Frodo didn’t die, of course, and the two hobbits are reunited, but things will never go back to the way they were before. By the end of their journey, Frodo has come to respect Sam as an equal, and when death again seems imminent, utters to Sam the famous words, “I’m glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things.”

In the wake of Sam, it seems that the sidekick-turned-hero angle is all the rage. The most obvious example that springs to mind from contemporary is, of course, Gabrielle, the Battling Bard, whose popularity threatens to outshine that of the hero, Xena. Throughout the six seasons of Xena: Warrior Princess, we see as Gabrielle grows and changes from a feisty but physically weak farm girl into an accomplished warrior, inheriting Xena’s place after her death.

On Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Willow Rosenburg, who was naught but a vastly intelligent nerd, became aware of the existence of the supernatural when Buffy Summers came to town, and that indirectly resulted in her learning witchcraft to the point where she became the “most powerful witch in the western hemisphere.”

But as for my favorite sidekick? That would have to go to Ron Weasley, the bumbling poor kid who was just another Weasley sibling until he met up with Harry Potter in their first year at Hogwarts.

Come on, just look at that picture! If you didn’t say “Awww…” you’re made of stone.

Ron comes into Hogwarts the way many of us do any other school, frightened and overwhelmed, feeling very small and very alone. But by befriending Harry Potter, he assured his name would go down in the history books. Had it not been for Harry and all of the danger that followed him like a dark storm cloud, Ron might never have been tested as thoroughly as he was, thus never knowing his true potential.

While real life is never as cut-and-dry as fiction, sidekicks and heroes do exist, just as villains and henchmen do. But as fiction is  realizing, those roles are never binding, and we can easily go from being a lowly servant one moment to the savior of the world the next.

It’s Official: THE HOBBIT Movie is Back on the Forest Path

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Peter Jackson’s production of The Hobbit is back “safe” on the forest path.

The project, which was fast developing a reputation for being as troubled as Bilbo’s misadventures in Mirkwood, received more bad news two weeks ago when MGM, the studio that is financing the movie in a 50/50 split with Warner Brothers (which owns New Line, the direct producing entity),was facing major financial difficulties.

But late last week, the company confirmed that its lender was allowing it to miss three interest payments on a $3.7 billion outstanding debt. The three-month reprieve is a major boost for the studio.

There was little chance that MGM’s financial problems would have resulted in the film’s not being made, but it was possible that the studio might have had to sell its interest in the film to meet its immediate obligations, possibly delaying the production.

For the time being, the project will stay at MGM with co-producer Warner Brothers covering any immediate costs. MGM’s success in keeping the rights, along with the rights to other franchises such as James Bond, is seen as a major factor in the studio’s future viability, since The Hobbit is widely regarded to be big moneymaker.

The project, which will be released in two parts starting in 2011, will be directed by Guillermo Del Toro, with screenplays by Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens (who wrote The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy) and del Toro.

Contrary to earlier reports, the first draft of the screenplay is still not finished.