Preparing for the Apocalypse

So ahead of X Men Apocalypse coming soon i have finally watched First Class and Days of Future Past.

First Class to start with! I really enjoyed it. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are a great fit for the younger McKellen and Stewart!

Erik is such a confusing character. I find it quite difficult to see him as a proper baddie because he’s not really. He’s just not the best ideas of how to deal with things, but does want to protect mutants. I had the same problem with Ian McKellen’s version. I can’t help but like him a bit. Also seeing his back story in this film just reinforced that further. I mean I’m not into murder being a good thing but the way he got back at Shaw in the end – cheering at my TV! Bloody brilliant.

Interesting to see Mystique (sp?) being Charles’ good friend knowing it flips to her siding with Erik in the later set versions. Seems through Days of Future Past she’s still a bit between the two of them. Let’s see how Apocalypse goes.

I wish i remembered more about the cold war and cuban missile crisis from my GCSE history days as i felt a bit muddled up at times but it made for an interesting setting and i like how it shows mutants being part of everyday life and history we know.

One of my favourite moments was meeting Hank. Realising he wasn’t scary furry blue man yet so when he was suggesting an experimental drug i though…well Hank…think we all know how this is going to go buddy.

Also A+ cameo from a never aging Hugh Jackman…but i suppose that ability of his is explained.

Speaking of! Days of Future Past.

Well this was a fun one! Fantastic way to bring both generations of Erik and Charles together! All very dramatic. That speedy kid who sits around playing games is that the same fella from Avengers: Age of Ultron? Friends with Scarlet Witch? Quicksilver is it? He’s been doubled up a bit there.

I spent most of this film thinking “ERIK..WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!” We just never know what is going on inside his head. You think he wants one thing then he changes his mind. Yes, we need to get rid of Raven so she doesn’t kill that guy that leads to the destruction of all mutants. General plan seems to be…don’t let people see mutants as dangerous. No..Erik has a better idea…make them see mutants as so dangerous that they’re a massive threat. HOW IS THAT HELPING ERIK?! The only side he’s on is his own.

Final thing, cleverly done X-Men folk. Zooming back into the past and treading on a few butterflies..what a way to pretty much wipe out the original X-Men trilogy. Or at least any fatalities. Excited to see where it all goes.

In chess, the pawns go first…

Quick post! Because i keep forgetting to write about them and i wanted to give them a separate post before i started watching “First Class” and “Days of Future Past” that i’ve not seen before.

I watched the first 3 X-Men films recently because i’ve not seen them in such a long time and (as i said just before) i wanted to give them a watch through before i get to the films i’ve not seen yet.

First point, what an absolutely amazing cast throughout!

I mean, Ian McKellen i ADORE (now i think Eric/Magneto is born in…Germany was it?..i was trying to decipher his interesting accent. In the end i decided since he’d moved to America and had probably been all over the place he was allowed a bit of a mish-mash in there). Patrick Stewart – obviously brilliant, Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Kelsey Grammer, Brian Cox (not the professor), James Marsden, the list goes on!

I enjoyed the first two films but i think i found X-Men: The Last Stand the most exciting. I liked that they didn’t really have a clear villain. Or not to my mind anyway. With Magneto it was strange because he was friends with Xavier though clearly a bit violence inclined…but i never saw him as a villain really. Just a guy who wanted to be accepted, but didn’t think it was going to happen without….well…obliterating all non-mutants. I was upset for him when he seemed to become “normal” again and i think the way they ended the 3rd film with the slight hint and then cut to the credits was just fabulous.

There was some good humour in the films but compared to the other Marvel films about it seemed quite dark and serious. I know it’s good to be a bit different but i do like the sort of crazy-fun times that comes with a superhero film..though i suppose these stories weren’t really framed as such.

I also liked that there were a lot of mutants with a big range of skills about without it getting too ridiculous. I mean sometimes i was a bit like “that’s an interesting combination of abilities you’ve got there but hey-ho!”. But the good thing is that a lot of the time they just…were. They didn’t try to endlessly go into each character and their abilities which can get confusing and tiresome. (Remember that TV show ‘Heroes’…yeah..i’m looking in their direction).

So yes, i definitely enjoyed them. I almost watched Wolverine Origins on TV last night but then i didn’t bother in the end. He did give me some of my favourite moments across the trilogy…including towards the climax of Last Stand where his struggling to get to Jean results in such power that he loses his shirt and even starts to lose his skin (luckily he’s a healer) but his trousers stay almost completely in tact apart from the odd bit of dramatic wear and tear.

Ha. Who needs realism in X-Men!

A Slight Trick of the Mind

After seeing “Mr Holmes” in cinemas (you can read my post about that HERE) i decided i definitely wanted to read the book it was based it. As noted in the other post the book is called “A Slight Trick of the Mind” and it’s written by Mitch Cullen (who if i ever meet him i will probably just ask “dude…are you okay?”). I bought the book once the film was already out so as you can see in my picture here the book has sort of been re-named “Mr Holmes”.

I’m actually really interested to find out what the author thinks of the adaptation/if he was part of it at all because…it’s interesting….i think i’d have felt better if it kept its original titles so the words “based on” could be printed in bold unlined capital letters (i’m going to go into comparisons later).

But firstly the book itself!

It is an extremely beautifully written book. Some lovely descriptions and imagery and it’s all set out in a very clever way. The story jumps between 3 different settings: Holmes at home in Sussex with his housekeeper and her son, Holmes on his recent trip to Japan and the story he is writing himself about one of his cases.

I liked that the chapters were quite short (i’m a fan of that…super long chapters put me off a bit) and that different formatting was used when it came to the story Holmes was writing. It was interesting as this part is written in first person but the rest is written in third person.

The structure was very clever too. Took a bit of concentration at times because every now and again a passage would be repeated word for word and you’d think “…haven’t i already read this?” but then something new would be added to it or it would be put into better context. Also the setting always seemed to switch just as the one you were in was getting interesting! I suppose that’s the way to keep your readers interested.

The reason i say if i ever met the author i would ask if he was okay it’s because……phew…as beautifully written as it is…it’s quite heavy going at times. Quite depressing in its themes and plot. His visit to Japan being in 1946 there is a lot about the impact of the atomic bomb and a man growing up without his father, the story he writes himself tells us of a woman who has suffered two miscarriages and Holmes in Sussex brings its own rather tragic moment with it too.

Speaking of which – i’m about to go into comparisons between the book and the film, i’ll try not to be too detailed but there is a possibility of MAJOR spoilers for both the book and film and the changes made between them so if you don’t want to know…read no further!

I wonder if this overall quite heavy tone was the reason for an extremely drastic change in the plot at one point when adapting into the film. I will say….it wasn’t so much the changes that bothered me (in fact…the very major change i was quite glad of) but it was how important some of these moments seemed, either within the book or the film…and then they were completely different.

• The major change..i won’t specifically say…but if you know both versions you’ll know. Having seen the film first i was reading thinking “wait…what?! have they really done this?!” it seems very much the kind of change you don’t make when adapting a book but to be honest, as i say, it was warmly welcomed from me. Especially as, thinking about it, i’m not sure it seemed holy necessary other than to just add to the misery and sort of “theme” of the book and leave us feeling rather sad.

The story of Holmes and Mr Umezaki in Japan, in my mind this was adapted quite normally as a book to film adaption would go.

• They cut down the amount of time we hear about in Japan and showed the more important moments and it still had the same impact to me so i think this worked well. There was a whole other character in this setting that was missed out but i can understand it wasn’t completely relevant to the story…although knowing the director and cast…but anyway.
• Though one part of this was quite different. The fact Holmes eventually made up a story to make Mr Umezaki feel better was still the case but in the book it happened quite casually while he was still in Japan. It was given quite a moment in the film as if he had decided to do it after a long time having been impacted by other events.

The case with Mrs Keller played out almost exactly the same and i SUPPOSE it had the same impact except for a couple of things pretty much summed up by one change. Part of it was important to me and my hopes for the character of Holmes and part seemed quite important in the book but was completely reversed.

• When Holmes meets Mrs Keller in the gardens (in the book) it is very clear he is adopting a persona. One he invents to such an extent that his story goes from first person to “he said this” “he did that”. He creates this personality of a man he hopes she would fine endearing and one of the characteristics he picks is “lonely”. There was a line in the film at this point where he says “i have been alone my whole life” which i was quite upset with because, although i can understand the sentiment of it, i like to think he felt he always had people around him.
• The other thing is that not at any point in the book does Mrs Keller know who Holmes truly is. In the film she plays his game for a while then immediately uncovers him saying her husband has told her about him and she knows he’s been following her. This wouldn’t bother me as much if the book hadn’t made the idea that she never knew him quite significant. Indeed the last line is, “…- a gap which formed the contour of a singular, curious woman who never once beheld my true self.”

Last one i promise!

• Finally, in the other direction, the idea of Holmes growing old and getting signs of dementia. In my mind this was very much a focus in the film…we’re seeing Holmes in his very old age struggling with his mind and how it isn’t as brilliant as it used to be and yes in the book he is into his royal jelly and looking for the prickly ash but it doesn’t seem at all a focus as far as the story is concerned. He fairly often mentions not being able to remember things as well as he used to and being forgetful, but it certainly never seems like the big ‘struggle to remember that final case that brought him into retirement’. No doctors visiting to keep track of his memory. In fact i’m not even sure it mentions the case making him retire…but that could just be my memory failing me.

So anyway! Beautiful book an beautiful film…just a bit more separated than i would have expected. But it takes away from neither of them when considered separately! Would certainly recommend the book…maybe not if you’re looking to be cheered up, but the language and way it is written is certainly beautiful and sensitively heartbreaking.

“It’s not a bee, it’s a wasp. Different thing entirely”

I was lucky enough to recently win a twitter competition where the prize was a poster for “Mr Holmes” signed by Sir Ian McKellen. The sound i made when the postman brought it was probably rather worrying but. It is now in pride of place on my bedroom wall. Now, i’ve finally seen the film!

**If you’ve not seen the film there’ll be mild spoilers from here on out so if you want to wait until you’ve seen it to read this then go ahead!**

I really really enjoyed this film. It is based on the book “A Slight Trick of the Mind” by Mitch Cullin which i shall definitely try to read soon i think. It’s such a lovely story and a wonderful new take on a character we are so familiar with.

The quote i’ve used in the title is the first we hear from Holmes. You don’t realise how much it sets up the film at the time.

To summarise, in this film we see a 93 year old Sherlock Holmes, about 30 years into his retirement from his detective work. Upon the death of his brother (…someone correct me if i’m wrong but does he say “a few months ago” that his brother died? Because to my understanding Mycroft is definitely older than Sherlock. Living long lives all around i guess!) he is given a copy of all of the stories written by Dr Watson that he has never actually read. He reads the story of his final case that sent him into retirement but is convinced the ending has been changed.

Unfortunately in his old age the once brilliant mind we have all come to know and love is starting to struggle.

Whilst going to some strange lengths to help restore his mind and figure out the reason behind the sudden loss of some of his wonderful bees, Holmes is desperate to remember the truth behind his final case and write it for himself before he dies. Luckily, he has young Roger (played brilliantly by Milo Parker) the son of his house-keeper (played by Laura Linney) to help.

Let’s start with Ian McKellen. This guy really is just a stand out talent isn’t he?! He’s just legendary. He’s one of those actors where he almost makes those around him look like worse actors just because they’re playing opposite him. Seeing his transformation to 93 year old Holmes was somewhat eerie. I mean we’re often familiar with fairly young actors playing a variety of ages and they’re given the standard wrinkles and eye bags and grey hair to age them but you know they clearly aren’t that age.

With Ian McKellen it was seamless to the point of slightly unnerving. I don’t know whether it’s because he is, in the most respectful of ways, an older actor and therefore the transformation seems less far-fetched? I don’t know. I found myself watching the flashback scenes and suddenly thinking “oh yes of course, Ian isn’t ACTUALLY that old is he”. His physical transformation from an acting perspective was outstanding.

Milo Parker is wonderful as Roger! He’s definitely one to watch in the future!

Also Laura Linney. She was very good in this film and i’ve nothing against her at all she’s a fantastic actress. She and Bill Condon seem to work together quite a lot. She’s been in at least 3 other films he’s directed in the past – the latest being “The Fifth Estate” which i’ve written about in the past). Maybe it’s my issue maybe i was just distracted by that knowledge and she was by no means wrong for the role but i couldn’t help feeling it didn’t HAVE to be her. If you get my meaning. Also she has quite a strong regional accent in this film and with quite a unique tone to her voice the edges between that and her natural American accent seemed to blur at the edges at times.

But, as i say, that may well have been my issue. I spoke to my dad after and he didn’t even notice and didn’t know she was American.

But a lot of directors have their trusty cast members don’t they? And i really like that to be honest! Bill Condon has also worked with Ian McKellen before and will be working with him again in the live action “Beauty and the Beast” (can’t WAIT for that, have you seen the cast list for that? It just gets better and better). Composers too! Shout-out to Carter Burwell who did the score for this film, which i enjoyed immensely! He’s done scores for Condon in the past such as “The Fifth Estate” and “The Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn” parts 1 and 2.

Even for the smaller roles in Mr Holmes there was some marvelous casting. Roger Allam, Philip Davis, Patrick Kennedy, Frances de la Tour (who i am very much a fan of but her, possibly thankfully, brief role in this film was rather cheesy). I confess my favourite choice though was definitely John Sessions as Mycroft. He only very appeared in the film for a minute or so but i was overly happy to see him.

I’ve probably spoken about this before but John Sessions is a BIG Sherlock Holmes fan. He won Celebrity Mastermind answering questions about it. In the commentary of “The Great Game” (the BBC Sherlock episode in which Sessions appears) Mark Gatiss says something about this and not knowing he was such a fan or he would have given him a bigger role. John also played Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in an episode of ITV series Mr Selfridge.

One wonderful slightly “sneaky” bit of casting was for the part of a fictional Sherlock Holmes in a film that our Mr Holmes goes to see. I had wondered briefly if what they showed was an actually adaptation from that period but alas no. The man playing Sherlock Holmes in this is Nicholas Rowe who ,if you are a fan of the many adaptations out there, you may recognise as the star of “Young Sherlock Holmes” from 1985. Genius.

I must finish with a slight grievance relating to this adaptation of the lovely Dr Watson. Because what is a Holmes without a Watson? Well, apparently the Holmes in this film. I didn’t even really have a problem with him not being in it, the film is not about Holmes and Watson it is about Holmes in retirement so i didn’t expect him. It was the implications of their relationship i was a bit sniffy about. Holmes stating he had felt alone all his life and that he and Watson were estranged in the years before John died so they never got to say goodbye and the general sort of..unimportance he was presented with. *Pouty face* no thank you.

But! This story is not canonical and is not about the two of them so apart from a slight niggle it didn’t bother me greatly and certainly didn’t do any disservice to the film.

I promised i would do this…and i think i must try…

Okay! So here we go! Desolation of Smaug time!! I saw it on Friday and gosh…yes i very much enjoyed it!!

I apologise for the length of this in advance but this film is a massive deal for me!

Happy to share any opinions on things i miss out! Would love to know what you all thought too!

**I VERY much recommend not reading this unless you have seen the film, it’s NOT spoiler free!!**

Right, i suppose the best way to go about this is to sort of..make my way through the film or i’ll lose track (as much as i can remember anyway..it turned into one big excited blur hahaha)

Very much enjoyed the sort of…prologue not prologue thing, it was a good way to start the film without diving into the action, just reminds everybody what’s happening and lets us know a bit more about how they got to be on the journey. Gandalf you bloody well don’t mind sending people off into trouble eh!

Peter Jackson cameo..very clever! Those who have seen him in the Fellowship will be extra pleased! Plus i think i spotted his daughter Katie as the bar maid! (Speaking of cameos i didn’t recognise Stephen Colbert but i remembered the character…eye-patch in Laketown!)

Beorn’s House – now i’ve been trying not to compare this film to the book too much..mostly because..i’ve never enjoyed a book more and whilst i knew it wouldn’t be the same there are some moments i think “aw..wish we’d seen a bit more of that” but…hey ho what can you do. Beorn’s house was one of them, i’m holding out hope for the extended edition here…the clever way Gandalf gets them into his house in the book is non-existent…but seeing his bear form was certainly exciting…as was the scene! 

Gandalf/Necromancer – Well i’ll pop this in here…well…oohoo! Gandalf is so COOL man. And i’m really happy we got to see where he went when he left them. I know a lot of this was setting up for the next film and indeed for Lord of the Rings…it got me super excited though! Especially the soundtrack as there was so much similar to the evil and Sauron themes from LOTR. Necromancer was super awesome! Scary!

Mirkwood – Now i’ve the same feelings here mostly…i will say though i understand that the idea of the film is that they’re very much in a rush to get to Erebor before Durin’s day, so i have no problem with the idea that they passed through places fairly quickly..these start scenes did feel rather short and rushed at times though, however..it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of what we saw!!!

I think the whole…hallucinations in Mirkwood thing was great! Nice amount of humour mixed with downright weirdness but considering it had the potential to be really cheesy it wasn’t at all!! Loved Bilbo going up into the trees!!

Speaking of Bilbo, i understand the comments that there wasn’t enough of him, i agree but i do understand…it’s hard to establish all the new characters and things if you’re always focusing on him.Though i wish we’d seen a little more of some of his big moments (i.e. spiders, freeing the dwarves) apart from his Smaug face-off of course…that was epic! His scenes..however many…were positively GOLDEN. He was brilliant.

Spiders – As much as i HATE spiders i was looking forward to this scene so much because i enjoyed it immensely in the book!! Little Bilbo being badass!! And we certainly got some of that!! And Sting! Yey! The spiders were suitably disgusting and again it was quite a short scene…..however….i think it got the ideas of the scene across well and gave Bilbo a very lovely moment with the ring. (I say lovely….lovely from a Martin-Freeman-you’re-so-brilliant point of view..not lovely for Bilbo) And i’m happy we got to see Bilbo having his hero moments before the elves showed up.

I’m sure i’ve said this before in a LOTR post but aw..ring-happy Bilbo really upsets me..he’s so innocent and lovely and i hate seeing it have an effect on him..but it’s very well done!

Elves – Hello! I confess…a highlight for me was seeing beautiful Legolas back in action…he was brilliant! Also, that moment where he’s talking to Gloin and take his little locket thing with pictures in it of his wife and son.. “that’s my wee lad Gimli” AHHH! such a moment. Thranduil and his eyebrows were awesome. I had a really scary dream about him last night he was so angry with me and i don’t know why….

As i say i sort of wish we’d seen more of Bilbo sort of making his way around Mirkwood/the elf halls and learning about how he could get the dwarves out..it just sort of happened and made it look easy. I shall hold out for the extended edition but as i say i understand the sense of urgency to the film so.

Tauriel and Kili – Now i have to admit before the film i was a little worried about this. Mostly because of the whole elf/dwarf thing, i didn’t want it to ruin the special relationship between Legolas and Gimli in LOTR. I was always totally fine with having Tauriel in the film, i’m all for more ladies and badass ones at that woo! And i know Evangeline is also a massive Tolkien fan so i trusted her with it!

I think Tauriel and Kili was actually handled brilliantly. For the most part it just seemed like they were a bit more empathetic towards one another regardless of race, which was nice. I feel maybe it stretched out throughout the film a little much and the whole healing thing was…maybe a tad odd personally but it was nothing i couldn’t cope with!

Barrels – Woohoo! I loved the addition to this, i mean yeah it’s obviously different to the book but in the end..dwarves in closed barrels with a hobbit on top for 2 days doesn’t translate too well into film…i mean it could but..it’s not very exciting visually!

Laketown– Laketown..what a gorgeous set! Super lovely..plus i LOVE the soundtrack for Laketown..some brilliant themes! Stephen Fry was very good and his little servant dude Alfrid…very suitable annoying and slimy. I saw the actor (Ryan…Gage i think?) asked to compare his character to Grima Wormtounge…said he wasn’t anywhere near as smart and wasn’t serving a super powerful wizard! True.

Bard – LOVED Bard. Yeah! Really giving the humans a good light in this film. Didn’t expect to like him as much as i did but i very much sympathised with him. I was even routing for him over the dwarves at points! Also those playing his children (including James Nesbitt’s 2 daughters..who are absolutely gorgeous) did very well!

Okay even i’m getting bored of my waffling now…let’s get to it!

Smaug – Well well bloody well. I always expected to be impressed by Smaug but i’d never really sat around and tried to imagine him. Boy was i impressed…SOO impressed. What a fantastic creation! He looked fantastic! Shoutout to Benedict Cumberbatch (did you know he did the voice..AND the motion capture…hahahah) well they certainly picked the right fellow for this! Fantastically terrifying voice. Though i must apologise to Benedict i honestly didn’t have time to consider the motion capture work he was doing most of the time…i was just staring in wonder and excitement throughout the scene! It will take more viewings to fully appreciate it for sure!

Of course the scene was a massive extension on the book..leading to later include the dwarves etc. But i honestly thought it was a brilliant idea…in the book of course it’s an excellent moment but yes if you’re bringing the film to it’s end (without actually getting Smaug to reach HIS end) you need more..and boy did we get it! Smaug being covered in gold was so beautiful.

Smaug vs Bilbo was a fantastic moment from both sides. Smaug had some brilliant lines. The fact he got to refer to Bilbo as carrying “something precioussssss” was just..SUPER!

Can’t wait for There and Back Again!

Well….thief….where are you? Come now..don’t be shy….step into the light!

Truly, the tales and songs fall utterly short of your enormity oh Smaug the stupendous…

Well HELLO new trailer for the Desolation of Smaug!

Warnings! There will be spoilery discussion of the trailer below (though also..the trailer so…watch that first! 😉 ), i shall try and stay fairly clear of the details of the story line but in all fairness it is a book (which i massively recommend) and also some comments on the book/film differences of Lord of the Rings if you’ve any desire to keep those a surprise to yourself :)!

HERE is the trailer!

Also there was some lovely short introductions to the trailer! From Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Stephen Fry

(I hope clicking on these pics will make them bigger!)

I. LOVED. THIS. TRAILER!

I’m glad we got a bit more Bilbo than last time!! Still quite a lot of elf love (who am i to complain..my gorgeous Legolas was part of it) but they’re clearly a bigger part of the movie than the book! Which is a good thing!! In the book they’re hardly a big deal, yes they go through Mirkwood but oh no the Dwarves have been captured Bilbo helps them out. Sorted! So i’m chuffed to pieces that there’s more of them!

Bard certainly got a good cut in this trailer! To be fair, he deserves a mention…the film is called the Desolation of Smaug after all….*twirls mustache*

Looks like Thorin might be getting a bit of a strop on again (to use the technical term) but hey, he’s a stubborn guy, plus Bilbo has Balin there to defend him it seems. I love Balin. Seeing him in The Hobbit has only made The Fellowship of the Ring that much sadder.

What else was there? OH YES!! Spider scene!!

Apart from maybe the Smaug and Bilbo scenes, this is the one i am looking forward to the most! Reading this chapter was amazing! I hate spiders, but man am i looking forward to this! Bilbo really comes into his own and you really start to think “yes, you darn well belong on this adventure Bilbo and they need you!”

Look at Bilbo’s face in the second one there! Martin Freeman is just brilliant. I can’t decide if that facial expression is “ohh yeah the ring, do i put it on?” or “oh thank god i thought i’d lost it”. I’m a bit more persuaded by the second one but i’d be happy to hear thoughts? If it is that then i always say that “ring-happy” Bilbo makes me sad because he’s so innocent and lovely and i don’t want him corrupted! Haha! But we all know in the end he’s okay anyway! But it’s like the extended edition of FOTR has him thinking he’s lost the ring and freaking out big time, and when he lashes out at Frodo, they make me sad.

Then again he might just be worried he lost it because it’s been getting him out of a hell of a lot of trouble!!

One face i feel we have lacked in our trailers is Gandalf. I love Gandalf. I just want to be friends with him.

In fairness, in the book he pretty much gallops off exclaiming “i have more important things to attend to!” then reappears later..i expect we’ll see some scenes of where he actually goes off to which is more than the book provides..so i guess for this middle film, we can’t expect hours of him!

And i can’t not mention…our first snippet of the voice of Smaug!!! Smaug we know is voiced and motion-captured by Benedict Cumberbatch (as is the necromancer). If you heard him as The Angel Islington in the radio play of ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaimon (also has Christopher Lee, James McAvoy..lots of others..it’s good i recommend it) you’ll know he can certainly roar and have a ridiculously deep voice when he wants to (no effects added during the radio play it’s staggering) but i think this time his voice is slightly twiddled with for sure! I think it’s likely 90% him and that’s cool with me! His last few words at the end of the trailer sort of hint that to me, they sound a bit more digital in my opinion.

Holy moly he has one beautiful voice though! He’s going to do such an amazing job of this (as he does everything) and i can’t wait to see him in full! We’ve seen and heard bits here and there of Smaug now and i’ve not minded that he wasn’t 100% a secret, i think we’ve had small teases enough to make us excited but we still don’t REALLY know what he’s going to be like in the film, especially thinking about the motion capture side of things! That’ll be awesome to see!

Don’t get me wrong, i adore Benedict (as you probably know) and am chuffed to pieces he is in this film and that people are excited to see him..I’M excited to see him, but i find myself feeling a bit defensive of the rest of the film or trailer when it seems to go completely unnoticed in comparison. I guess i have been a LOTR fan since i was 10 and i will always be a Tolkien fan above all else. I’d never tell people not to be excited and i know this is film in particular is quite Smaug-centric (Bilbo and Smaug chat is my FAVOURITE sequence in the book so hot dayum am i looking forward to it) but…it’s not just his film.

Sorry this is getting long isn’t it! I’m almost done!

I’ve seen one or two (rarely but) little concerns about what the films will be like in relation to the new things that have been added and things that might have been changed a bit. But personally, i trust Peter Jackson completely with these films. Especially after seeing the changes that were made from the Lord of the Rings books to film. The book version of things was amazing obviously, but i think PJ certainly kept the right things in mind when trying to make the film just a bit more interesting.

You can’t just have fairly plain sailing for the majority of a 3-4 hour film, you need bits of trouble on the way without just the big piece of trouble at the end. Return of the King especially, Sam was never seen home by Frodo before entering Shelob’s cave, he hardly had any noticeable trouble with the ring until he was in Mordor, Faramir wasn’t bothered about having the ring, Denethor wasn’t that bad a guy, Merry didn’t go to the battle at the Black Gate! To name a few!

But anyway, i’ve waffled on enough i do apologise…The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings does bring this out of me!

“I will not risk this quest for the life of one burglar”

“His name, is Bilbo!”

“Farewell, my brave hobbits…”

Here at last, on the shores of the sea, comes the end of our fellowship…

No i’m not actually going anywhere! However! Reports are coming in of actors finishing up their time on filming The Hobbit! I know a lot of them are still going, and are possibly there until about mid July but, as of yesterday and today, Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom are finished up! (I think Evangeline Lily is finished too, but Ian and Orlando were both part of Lord of the Rings, so i figure this is something special!)

I could be being really thick but i can’t think of many who will be in ‘The Desolation of Smaug’ and’ There and Back Again’ that were part of Lord of the Rings. Of course in An Unexpected Journey we had Ian Holm, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis (Bilbo older, Frodo and Gollum). I’ve no idea how it will all end so whether we’ll go back to older Bilbo and Frodo i don’t know, but i’ve heard Elijah Wood isn’t in the next two films so we’ll see!

But we’ve certainly got some treats! This is from Peter Jackson’s facebook page, on saying goodbye to Gandalf! (Yesterday)

“Seconds ago we finished our last shot with Gandalf. The end of an incredible adventure that began in 1999. I’m feeling very sad right now.”

Wow, i mean, i know Orlando has been there the whole time, but he wasn’t in An Unexpected Journey, Ian is i think the only one who will be in all 6 films, it’s insane! And terribly sad to say goodbye to Gandalf!! But it’s not the end yet! We’ve 2 films to see!!

Now..

Orlando’s farewell..this is something special indeed. Orlando going is a big deal for me as Lord of the Rings probably was my first fandom experience ever! And i was a bit lost and i just loved it, i became an Orlando fan in the process (imagine little 10 year old me deciding that blonde elf dude is quite gorgeous) But anyway, here is a video Peter Jackson posted on his facebook…

“A day after saying goodbye to Gandalf and Tauriel, it was time to farewell Legolas. What a great day it was, with Orlando battling a serious Orc for all 12 hours of shooting – part of the Battle of the 5 Armies for the third Hobbit movie.

When we finally got the day done, we said goodbye to Orlando, had a couple of beers … and couldn’t resist doing this!”

Goodbye Orlando

Now i don’t know a Lord of the Rings fan (not even necessarily…) in the world who doesn’t know that video exists, but just in case you don’t, here’s the original!

They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard

Now we’re all eagerly awaiting Peter Jackson’s next video blog! Which i think we’ve been told is coming within the next 2 days or so, but until then i will occupy myself with the latest issue of Empire Magazine which i treated myself too on Thursday…

“I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil…”

Smoke rises from the mountain of Doom. The hour grows late, and Gandalf the Grey rides to Isengard seeking my council…

For that is why you have come, is it not?

Christopher Lee is 91 today.

Let me just repeat that for you…

CHRISTOPHER LEE, is 91 TODAY….I just worship this man. Alright, i can’t say i’ve been around to experience his Dracula days, Sherlock Holmes, various other mysterious creatures and villains most of all i’m sure! But i hold him in extremely high regard! He is, in every sense of the word, legendary.

When i was 10 we had a to do a project on a celebrity at school and i did Christopher Lee because i’d fairly recently discovered LOTR and my dad said he’d be interesting, oh boy was he right!

The man has been in over 250 films! I’ve seen a couple of his old ones including a good chunk of The Wicker Man (with Edward Woodward…isn’t that the best name you’ve ever heard?). I have a hard time describing him to people of my generation if they haven’t seen Lord of the Rings, but thank goodness for Tim Burton films! I usually go to “Willy Wonker’s dentist dad” or “Count Dooku if you’ve seen Star Wars episode 2 and 3”

But yes he’s always popping up in Tim Burton films one way or another! I think maybe after Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter he’s one of the slight regulars! I can always pick up his voice in the animated ones, because honestly a voice like his certainly sticks in your brain! Speaking of his voice he was most recently in the radio play “Neverwhere” by Neil Gaiman which i listened to and it was brilliant! Get your hands on it if you can!

“I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, BUT YOU HAVE ELECTED THE WAY OF PAIN”

And Lord of the Rings..

• He’s actually met J.R.R. Tolkien, he wrote to him once saying how if they ever made a film he’d love to play Gandalf or something and Tolkien was actually fine with that.
• He reads Lord of the Rings every year and has done for decades!
• I’d love to sit and talk to him about Lord of the Rings his knowledge is probably close second to Tolkien himself! Have you heard him say the writing on the ring in the language of Mordor? Perfection.
• I don’t exactly what regiment and things it escapes me, but the guy’s won medals in wars! On filming his last scenes in Return of the King (if you’ve not seen the extended edition, spoilers!…if you’ve not seen the extended edition…do it immediately!) he said to Peter Jackson “have you any idea what it sounds like when someone gets stabbed in the back…because i do”

I could go on forever but i wont! What an amazing life and career he’s had and he’s still going!

Is he Sir Christopher Lee yet? He must be surely! *Googles* YES! SIR Christopher Lee, my apologies! Here’s a video of him being his awesome self after being knighted

CLICK ME

“The love of the halfling’s leaf, has clearly slowed your mind” 

P.S Happy Birthday to Sir Ian McKellen for the 25th too!

 

 

Viewings in the early stages…

Well! It seems the early viewings of Star Trek, press people etc, have gone down a storm! I’ve not read any lengthy reviews really, but as an active member of the twitterverse (heh xD), and what i like to call the universal Cumbernetwork (i’m not kidding..i’m pretty sure we’re everywhere! Even living in caves in the most remote parts of the universe!) i’ve come across some things!

 

Praise all around for Benedict it seems! And i’m sure well deserved! I have no idea when i’m going to see this film (stupid anxiety and agoraphobia doesn’t really enjoy the cinema as much as i consider it my second home and i adore the place!) but i am! And i shall surely let you know what i think!

The RADIO TIMES sum up some of the reviews nicely 🙂

Taking a quote from the tweets shown above! “A young Ian McKellen” leads me nicely onto “Vicious”, a new comedy on ITV1 starring Ian McKellen ( Who i’m sure you’re familiar with, Lord of the Rings, X-Men, many other things! I am a huge fan!) and Derek Jacobi ( i admit the only thing i have seen him in properly is the episode of Doctor Who entitled “Utopia” back in the David Tennant and Freema Agyman series, playing Professor Yana before regenerating into John Simm’s Master!) among others!

 

This is by no means a review :’) I must admit unless the situation calls for it i’m terrible at reviews, especially when i feel a bit biased..

I will say, it’s only been the one episode so i’m happily willing to give it a chance! Having seen an interview or two i know the cast are very excited about it! The pair are themselves really good! Fun comic timing! I think it was pleasant but not necessarily all out hilarious and amazing. A couple of jokes were maybe explained unnecessarily, you know when you think “i already know why that’s funny before you add the extra bit on”? Haha  I will say though there were a couple where i full on laughed out loud!

Maybe it takes a bit of getting used to! But i’m happily willing to give it a shot!

You Are Not Alone