Territorial Hobbitses

[bloodyrosemccoy]

I really loved the Lord of the Rings movies--I even think some of the character arcs were better in them--but I can totally understand Christopher Tolkien's issues with them. If I'd spent my entire life in my dad's world and all sorts of other people started barging into it and crashing around, I'd be a bit territorial, too.

This also made me realize that I am far more worried about The Hobbit than I was about LotR, because I am far more invested in Bilbo as a character. He's a brilliant character, possibly the most relatable hero I've ever come across. And he's very hard to get right--I adored the hell out of There and Back Again, Pat Murphy's awesomely insane space opera remix of The Hobbit, but Bailey Beldon is no Bilbo. And I don't know if Martin Freeman could be, either--though if there were somebody I'd want to play him, Freeman's at the top of the list. Right under a magically age-reduced Sir Ian Holm, really. But even with Freeman playing him, it's a question of whether it'll work. We'll just have to see.

Comments

[acrossthelake.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll admit that I've been kind of hard on Christopher Tolkien's stance to date. The words "hypocritical old purist snob" may have been used. However, I admit I was acting under the assumption at the time that the Tolkien estate got at least a good chunk of the money, so I do feel bad now seeing that they only got 7.5% of anything at all. Suddenly the "publish everything that Tolkien ever wrote" phase that's been happening since The Sil seems a lot less cynical. I still reserve the right to like the movies changes and all, though. And also to not especially mind the huge pop cultural presence they've become.

[sofish-sasha.livejournal.com]

I'm seeing the The Hobbit tomorrow night, starting one minute after midnight. I'm a bit psyched; the last time I went to a midnight premiere was for The Return of the King, and I wasn't dressed up then. Tomorrow night I'll be a hobbit, and I'll see what my hair looks like in curls for the first time. :D (I'm not going barefoot though, hobbit or not, -20 degrees Celsius and snow is no good for anybody's toes.)

I was losing my enthusiasm about the films, and I almost lost it completely when I found out it was going to be three films instead of two - but then I saw this image, and I was all "Hell YES there's that BAMF!Bilbo I've been waiting for!" :D

[stormteller.livejournal.com]

I started worrying about the adaptation as soon as I heard it was two films. There's not enough content in the book for two films. I'm more worried since I heard there are now three films. It looks like they're taking a lot of stuff out of the appendices and other sources to fill it out, but there are limits. Worse, I don't agree with the tone they showed with the early production materials. It looks like an action-comedy, and that's not quite what The Hobbit is.

I bet Freeman took notes on Holmes' performance, though. I'm not really worried about his portrayal, provided Peter and Fran wrote it correctly.

[kt-n-dd.livejournal.com]

That article is kinda sad. That poor man seeing the commercialization and simplification of his father's complex world. But, I also really enjoyed the movies. I liked them; they moved me. And I am optimistic about The Hobbit. Martin Freeman seems to be able to play the quintessential British Man, which I feel Bilbo Baggins mostly encapsulates. And hopefully he'll convey Bilbo's depth as well. But yes, we'll just have to see.

[daiq.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who was at the premiere, and he said it was SPECTACULAR! Now i don't know if he is a Hobbit fanatic, and i know i am not (after years and years and years of stating it was the best book EVER, i reread it at about 27 for the first time since i was about 12 and was reminded of all my issues with Tolkien and had to keep reminding myself that this was the starting point for modern fantasy), but i am looking forward to it in a big way (even if it is dragged out into three movies).

[westrider.livejournal.com]

What I'm really worried about with regard to the Hobbit movie is the handling of the Dwarves*. I did not appreciate the use of Gimli for comic relief in TLotR, and it looks from the pics I've seen like that trend's been kicked up several notches. Especially because it's probably going to be stupid humour, instead of clever.

I'm still going to see it, of course, but I'm nervous.

*Fuck you, spellchecker. When we're talking Tolkien, that's how it's spelled.