'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
LOTR: The Return of the King
By Baron Dave Romm
The credit at the end of the movie reads "Based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien". Not books, but book singular. All three movies were filmed as one unit, and they must be considered as a whole. The Return of the King isn't better than the other two... it's just as good. Tolkien wanted the book published in one volume. He wanted The Silmarillion published in the same tome. Wiser publishing heads prevailed. As a cinematic event, the three together are made for the 12 DVD set sure to follow the 4 DVD set of the third part. You should see the movie in a theater first, to catch the panoramas and sweep of battle and to appreciate the detail that went into the project.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings (all four, together) is my favorite book. I've read it five or six times going back to when I was eleven. The movie is not the same as the book. I generally forgive such emendations, since movies and books are different art forms. And indeed, the movie does a pretty decent job of explaining what's happening and why, and often does a better (though shorter and less enchanting) job of exposition. Movie magic takes the place of inadequate description.
My complaints are more than nitpicks, but overall Peter Jackson does a great job and I give the movie (all three combined) a 21 (on the Shockwave Radio scale of 9 to 23). I expect the DVDs to be better. Jackson wisely emphasises what cinema can do better than the book. The scenery is gorgeous and/or ugly. The Paths of the Dead come alive. Gollum is almost sympathetic. The battle scenes are appropriately gorey and destructive. The trebuchet and Nazgul battle is incredible. In the third installment, the best actors get meatier roles than in the book: Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Sean Astin (Sam) get more screen time than book time. The ending may be long for one movie, but is about right for three.
Still, what they leave out is occasionally annoying. I was looking for a better handling of Denathor's fate, for example. While I knew it was gone, I missed Sauruman and the Scouring of the Shire. Shelob isn't done well. The songs were in English, which I forgive a bit, and only once did a map help you understand the action. I bet some of this is in the DVD extras. I hope. Some things they just missed, like Merry and Pippin growing taller due to eating Ent food. And Sauron himself didn't really work for me. What's with the eye? Where is Sauron? If he wins... what does he get?
One thing missing from the books as well as the movie: Why is Sauron the bad guy? He's simply declared to be the enemy. The humans aren't always good. Is it because the orcs are ugly by our standard? (My favorite credit at the end: Featured Orcs.) Is it because Sauron wants power... like everyone else? One of the knocks on Tolkien is that he's basically a country Englishman. The bucolic Shire is held up as Eden and the workers and factories of Mordor get the same press as Nazi Germany. Why are stubborn and timid farmers more worthy than hard working industrialists? The movie is remarkably Teutonic: The orcs and trolls work together and earn their victories. Meanwhile, brave blue-eyed waarriors with no tactics rush into battle trusting to Gandalf/magic/divine right of kings for victory. Ah well. We've been arguing for decades, and the book still stands up.
If you loved the first two installments of The Lord of the Rings, you'll continue to love The Return of the King. Small warning: It's a long movie, almost 3 1/2 hours, and even longer with the commercials beforehand. Don't drink that soda during the previews. There are few moments to miss and you'll want to stay in your seat. I admit I didn't make it all the way through the credits.
The hot rumor is that McKellen talked Jackson into making The Hobbit. Hey, I want him to make the appendicis...
What the heck: Rush Limbaugh is a drug addict. Bartcop is great political commentary. Baron Dave Romm does great music reviews. Bullwinkle is a dope... here's something you'll really like:
Be sure to go to Bushin30seconds.org and see some of the commercials submitted. You'll need a fast connection for the movies. Registration is required, but free.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E , and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
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The Worried Shrimp
Reader Link
Re: JRR Tolkien
Marty
A while ago I stumbled on this Archive on Tolkien at the New York Times. There is a section of Christmas Illustrations that Tolkien did that I feel are lovely.
Tolkien wrote the letters in the voice of Father Christmas, who was over 1,900 years old. This illustration from 1920 was sent to his son, John, who was three years old.
I like very much what you have done with the links to TCM. Your site, as always, is excellent!
Marianne M
Wow! Thanks, Marianne!
(How's that PA winter?)
Reader Request
Re: Comedy Central
Hi Marty,
Just wondering if, along with your other listings, you could add more of
Comedy Central's stuff.
I don't know where you get your information - if you scour the TV Guide
or get it from some other site - if it's difficult, no worries. But if
you were avoiding Comedy Central's primetime lineups thinking no one
cared, well, count this as an "I care" vote. It's nice to know when
there are FRESH episodes of South Park, Dave Chappell, Insomniac, Reno
9-11 - these are all well worth watching...
peace,
mystic23
Progressive Spirit Blog
Hi Mystic -
Will try to remember to add Comedy Central ; )
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Rained overnight, damp & overcast all day.
The kid is sick, again. Think he's gonna get a Costco bundle of Kleenex for Christmas.
Looks like 'they' want us to have a heaping helping o'fear for the holidays. Bastards.
OTOH, it sure got the fearmongering about the flu off the talking heads' scripts.
Tonight, Monday, CBS starts the night with a RERUN 'Still Standing', followed by a RERUN 'Yes, Dear', then a RERUN
'Raymond', followed by a RERUN '2½ Men', then a RERUN 'CSI: Miami'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave is Steve Martin. (RERUNs all next week)
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Dick Clark, Brooke Burke, Mitch Albom. (RERUNs all next week)
NBC opens the night with a RERUN 'Fear Factor', followed by a RERUN 'Las Vegas', then another RERUN 'Las Vegas'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Jessica Alba, Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Brian Setzer Orchestra.
On a RERUN Conan are The Rock, Isaac Mizrahi, Robert Randolph and the Family Band.
On a RERUN Carson Daly are Moby, Steven R. Schirripa, Phantom Planet. (RERUNs all next week)
ABC has the usual 'MNF'. On the east coast, it's a RERUN 'Threat Matrix', followed by the game. On the left coast, game airs first, then the RERUN 'Threat Matrix'.
On a RERUN Jimmy Kimmel (from 9/5/03), are FOX-TV's James Brown, Terry Bradshaw, Jillian Barberie, Howie Long, Jimmy Johnson, and Frank Caliendo, with guest co-host Mr. T. (RERUNs all next week)
The WB offers a RERUN '7th Heaven', followed by a RERUN 'Everwood'.
Faux has a RERUN 'Simpsons', followed by a RERUN 'Stan Hooper', then a RERUN 'Malcolm', followed by a RERUN 'Arrested Development'.
UPN has a RERUN 'The Parkers', followed by a RERUN 'Eve', then a RERUN 'Girlfriends', followed by a RERUN 'Half & Half'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography' (Christina Onassis), 'Cold Case Files', and 'City Confidential'.
AMC offers the movie 'No Way Out', followed by the movie 'The Horse Whisperer', then the movie 'Hud'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Walters;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Newbold on Avon;
[7:30pm] 'The Making of Cold Mountain';
[8pm] 'Murder in Mind' - Suicide;
[9pm] 'Waking the Dead' - Final Cut;
[11pm] 'Murder in Mind' - Suicide;
[12am] 'Waking the Dead' - Final Cut;
[2am] 'Murder in Mind' - Suicide;
[3am] 'Waking the Dead' - Final Cut;
[4:40am] 'Parkinson' - Nicole Kidman;
[5am] 'Murder in Mind' - Suicide; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', 'Celebrity Poker', another 'Celebrity Poker', still another 'Celebrity Poker', and 'West Wing'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'The Original Kings Of Comedy', followed by the movie 'Dogma'.
Jon Stewart is Pre-empted all week. (RERUNs all next week)
History has 'Christmas Unwrapped', 'Mail Call', 'In Search Of Christmas', and 'Christmas Truce'.
MTV offers a marathon of 'Newlyweds' (the Jessica Simpson show).
SciFi is all 'Stargate SG-1' all night.
SHOWTIME has a mini-marathon of 'Penn & Teller's Bullshit!' - 5 episodes.
TCM:
[6am] 'That Man's Here Again' (1937);
[7am] 'Where Sinners Meet' (1934);
[8:15am] 'Bachelor Bait' (1934);
[9:30am] 'Make Way For A Lady' (1936);
[11am] 'A Ticklish Affair' (1963);
[12:30pm] 'The Courtship Of Eddie's Father' (1963);
[2:30pm] 'Made In Paris' (1966);
[4:15pm] 'The Ambassador's Daughter' (1956);
[6pm] 'Ninotchka' (1939);
[8pm] 'The Goodbye Girl' (1977);
[10pm] 'When Harry Met Sally...' (1989);
[12am] 'Moonstruck' (1987);
[2am] 'Annie Hall' (1977);
[4am] 'Sunday In New York' (1964). (ALL TIMES EST)
Jesse Combs, president of Toypresidents Inc., talks about the company's presidential dolls at their Houston headquarters Friday, Dec. 12, 2003. The presidents shown are, from left to right, George W. Bush, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Each presidential doll wears hand-stitched clothing reminiscent of their era, such as Lincoln's top hat and Bush's navy suit, red tie and black cowboy boots adorned with the presidential seal. The dolls also talk; an embedded computer chip plays 25 different phrases the presidents uttered during their administrations.
Photo by David J. Phillip
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Lighting Huge Chocolate Menorah
Joey Bishop
Former "Rat Pack" entertainer Joey Bishop will "light" what is being billed as the world's biggest chocolate menorah Sunday at Orange County's massive Fashion Island mall.
Before the ceremony, children will receive shavings from the 6-foot, 250-pound creation by chocolatier Doug Weinstein.
The 85-year-old actor, who often played the straight man in the Rat Pack, was one of the group's two Jews, along with the late Sammy Davis Jr.
Joey Bishop
A woman cleans Peking Opera masks decorating the exterior of a bar in the southern city of Guangzhou December 19, 2003. China told the United States it would never allow an independent Taiwan, its diplomatic and ideological rival for more than half a century, but would work for peaceful reunification.
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Screening Room Named
Linwood Dunn
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has named a new Hollywood screening room in honor of optical effects pioneer Linwood Dunn, who worked on such classics as "Citizen Kane" and "King Kong."
The 286-seat screening room at the Pickford Center was first used Dec. 7 to showcase films in contention for Academy Awards. A formal dedication will be held after the Feb. 29 award ceremony.
Dunn, who died in 1998, received an Oscar in 1980, along with Cecil D. Love and the Acme Tool and Manufacturing Co., for the concept, engineering and development of the Acme-Dunn Optical Printer for motion picture special effects.
The device was used for visual effects until the 1990s, when digital compositing became available.
Linwood Dunn
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Aids Winnipeg Charities
Nia Vardalos
Nia Vardalos is back in her hometown for the holidays, spending time with her big Greek family and spreading Christmas cheer through a charity fundraiser.
The writer and star of the biggest-grossing independent movie ever, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, got a warm welcome home Saturday.
Vardalos hosted a fundraiser for the city's Greek community and a children's health centre. In recognition of her community service, she was presented with the Queen's Jubilee Medal by Manitoba Premier Gary Doer and a civic award from Mayor Glen Murray.
For more, Nia Vardalos
A visitor to Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art looks at a human skull headpiece December 22, 2003 that is part of an exhibition by so-called 'nightclub' artist Leigh Bowery. The exhibition showcases the artist's unusual designs that were originally displayed and worn only in performances at London nightclubs in the late 1980's, which have resulted in the current Broadway musical titled 'Taboo!' in which well-known British musician 'Boy George' plays the flamboyant artist.
Photo by David Gray
Renewed Popularity
Cider
Cider sales are enjoying a boom in Britain this holiday season after Prince William gave the once unfashionable beverage a royal thumbs-up, a major supermarket chain says.
With the pre-Christmas rush well underway, Waitrose says demand for cider has grown 22.8 percent in the past four weeks -- and sales of traditional English ciders from small producers are up by as much as 35 percent.
Cider, or fermented apple juice, was historically a drink for farmworkers and rural inhabitants in southern England, northern France and other parts of Europe where apples are common.
Cider
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
'Bachelor' Sued by Show's Producers
Bob Guiney
Bob Guiney, one of the stars of the popular ABC-TV reality series "The Bachelor," has been sued for breach of contract by the show's producers.
In a lawsuit filed Friday, Guiney and his record company, Wind-up Records, were sued for promoting his new CD, "3 Sides," and music video.
And Syndicated Productions Inc. — a division of Telepictures Productions — wants to stop Guiney from making any more public appearances in connection with the CD.
Stars of "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" series sign contracts with exclusivity clauses prohibiting them from promoting any other products without permission, according to the lawsuit.
Bob Guiney
Wodabe men examine their appearance in hand mirrors at a festival in InGall, near Agadez in Niger, Sept. 26, 2003. The Wodabe, a nomadic West African tribe, value male beauty and are taught from an early age to look into mirrors to consider their appearance. The Wodabe men perform a dance, showing off the whiteness of their teeth and eyes, to compete for honor and selection as the most beautiful man by women of the tribe at a festival celebrated at the end of the rainy season.
Photo by Christine Nesbitt
Beatification For Last Austrian Emperor
Charles I
The last Hapsburg ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire, Charles I, is to be beatified by Pope John Paul II after the pope signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the emperor, the Vatican said.
No date has been set for the beatification, which will take the one-time emperor of one of Europe's most powerful ruling dynasties to the threshold of sainthood, but Vatican sources said the ceremony could take place within the coming year.
The Vatican gave no details of the miracle which it formally recognized on Saturday.
Pope John Paul II has canonized more saints than any of his predecessors in the 2,000 year history of the Roman Catholic Church, 476 at last count. He has beatified 1,320.
Charles I
Found Guilty in Mock Trial
Thomas Jefferson
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia nodded, agreeing with his fellow jurists that Thomas Jefferson was indeed guilty of prolonging slavery, deporting American Indians and discriminating against the French in Louisiana.
Scalia joined federal and state judges to hear the testimony of Jefferson and French ruler Napoleon Bonaparte in a mock trial to review lingering legal and historic questions about the Louisiana Purchase.
Friday evening, the verdict ran like lightning through the hushed audience in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Scalia didn't utter a word during the trial, and agreed with a nod — after consultation with the bench — to the verdict: Jefferson guilty, Napoleon innocent.
For the whole story, Thomas Jefferson
Layoffs Hit at Arctic SantaPark
Elves
Santa's workshop may not be the joyous place it was in years past for the tens of thousands of tourists expected to visit northern Finland this winter. Facing a blizzard of debt, Saint Nick laid off many of the elves who work at the SantaPark attraction near the Arctic Circle.
Business is booming in Lapland, a vast area known as the last wilderness in Europe where traditionally nomadic Samis — or Lapps — herd reindeer. But SantaPark, which has accumulated $550,000 in debt in its five years of operation, has only seen visits decline.
The park is a vast cave which doubles as an air raid shelter, contains a carousel, elves' booths that sell trinkets and souvenirs, and a restaurant. It has yet to post a profit.
Elves
SantaPark
Colourful Funeral
John Mulheren Jr
Bruce Springsteen led the mourners in Christmas carols, Nils Lofgren sang Wind Beneath My Wings, and Santa Claus rode on a vintage fire truck at the funeral for eccentric Wall Street millionaire John Mulheren Jr.
He was buried Friday after a sendoff reminiscent of the elaborate parties he threw.
Family members, including Mulheren's widow, Nancy, and some of her seven children, wore colourful holiday sweaters, and Mulheren lay in the casket in a bright red suit. Laughter and cheers filled Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in Rumson, near Mulheren's waterfront mansion, during eulogies by Springsteen and others that sounded more like standup comedy routines.
Along with Santa, the funeral procession included Irish bagpipers and drummers, an open carriage drawn by two Clydesdale horses, a male friend dressed as Carmen Miranda, and a woman farm worker dressed as a Christmas tree leading Mulheren's favourite horse.
Besides Springsteen and Lofgren, mourners included musicians Jon Bon Jovi and Bobby Bandiera, who performed Frank Sinatra's Young at Heart.
Springsteen, who spoke of spending many weekends with Mulheren talking and jet skiing on the Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers, then led the other musicians and the overflow crowd of 1,500 mourners in one of Mulheren's favourites: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.
John Mulheren Jr
In Memory
Hope Lange
Hope Lange, who starred opposite Hollywood's top actors over a decades-long career and earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in the 1957 film "Peyton Place," (http://imdb.com/title/tt0050839/) has died, her husband said Sunday. She was 70.
Lange died Friday at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica after suffering an infection caused by an intestinal inflammation known as ischemic colitis, said her husband, Charles Hollerith.
Lange split her time between homes in Los Angeles' Westwood section and New York City, said Hollerith, a former theatrical producer and vice president of the Actors' Fund of America.
Lange starred in dozens of films and television shows and captured two Emmy awards for her role in the series "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" in the late 1960s, her husband said.
Her big-screen credits included "The Best of Everything" in 1959 with Joan Crawford,
"The Young Lions" in 1958 with Marlon Brando and
"Peyton Place" with Lana Turner. More recently, she was in 1986's
"Blue Velvet" and 1994's "Clear and Present Danger."
Actor Don Murray, who was married to Lange for several years in the 1950s, said Lange combined good looks and acting prowess.
Murray said her looks even intimidated Marilyn Monroe, who wanted Lange's naturally blonde hair dyed light brown in their 1956 film
"Bus Stop."
Lange is survived by her husband, a son, actor Christopher Murray, a daughter, Patricia Murray, and two grandchildren.
Hope Lange
California condor #278 hesitates and looks back into the two-door trap towards the flight pen after the door opened, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2003, during the first release of the endangered bird at Pinnacles National Monument, in Paicines, Calif. The juvenile bird was one of two released. Four other condors remain in the flight pen and are scheduled to be released within days.
Photo by Anna Marie Dos Remedios
'The Osbournes'
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