The Two Towers
Dec. 22nd, 2002 06:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirAd Mundo Exteriore,
I saw the movie! Finally! Okay, loved it, despite my annoyance at the changes in the plot. Someone please explain to me why Peter Jackson had Aragorn fall over that cliff other than to put in yet another a touching, fangirl-squeal-causing, Aragorn/Legolas moment in the movie. Oh my gosh, I was going to die laughing whenever Legolas even so much as looked at Aragorn. Either Orlando Bloom had a severe crush on Viggo Mortenson over the course of the filming or Peter Jackson is secretly a Aragorn/Legolas slasher at heart.
Annoyed at: (1) turning Saruman's attempt to conquer the world of Men into an attempt to commit complete genocide, (2) putting in an utterly useless Aragorn and Arwen dream sequence, (3) making Faramir into a stupid bad guy who in a fit of idiocy ruins any attempt at redemption for Smeagol/Gollum, (4) forcing the Ents to see the destruction by Saruman before they decide to go to war instead of keeping it as it was in the books, (5) turning Sauron's great Eye into a flat plane of static electricity. Faramir was taught by Gandalf; he knows about the corruptive power of the Ring! Sheesh. I hate movie Faramir, which really gets on my nerves, because I liked him in the books. Also, I pictured the Ents as much more massive beings, like huge wood-giants with real girth, not those spindly things that they made from CG. I know![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kaydeefalls liked the Ents, but I was sort of disappointed. Sauron's Eye was much better in the last movie when it left more to the imagination. Actually, the real quibble I had with the movie was that what I wanted left to the imagination was explicitly shown. Like Gandalf's fight with the Balrog.
Excited at: (1) Legolas' sheer coolness (when he leaps onto the horse, when he slides down the stairs on a shield, when he pulls up Aragorn and Gimli from the writhing mass of Orcs below), (2) the way that the Lothlorien army moves perfectly in unison (and Haldir's expression when Aragorn hugs him), (3) all those great speeches by the hobbits (oh gosh, the hobbits were all amazing in this movie, not that they weren't in the last), (4) all those great speeches by Theoden, (5) Gollum/Smeagol personality changes.
Cried at: (1) Theoden mourning the death of his son, (2) the boys and old men being pulled away to defend Helm's Deep, (3) Theoden's speeches about fighting to the death, (4) Haldir's death, (5) Sam's speech at the end.
It was a great movie, really, and despite my annoyance at certain plot changes, I have to admit that it really worked as a story. And Peter Jackson did make the message coherent, hope in the face of endless despair. I know the theme may sound clichéd to some ears, but I felt that it captured the essence of the Lord of the Rings, its enduring, endless quality. (A testament to the stupidity of the movie critics who all failed to pick up on that message, no matter how obvious it was.) Both my parents said that they thought this movie was not as good as the first because it felt less original, less startling, but I think it lived up to the FotR. (Yes, even in spite of the Arwen and Aragorn moments.) And the ending was terrific! ^_^ But now we have to wait another year for the Shelob scene. Argh.
Gosh, I love that movie. I need to see it again.
In other news, I watched more of .hack//SIGN, and boy, that anime confuses me to no end. The horrible translations don't help at all. And oniichan, some channels really, really need your editing skills. Case in point: "I feel shame from that feeling of shame." ::runs off screaming:: Anyway, I have no idea what's going on, but it's a cool anime, nevertheless. Also really scary. I was trembling in my seat during the fourteenth episode.
I also read up to volume 9 of Kodocha. It's much less depressing in visual form, when you can't really read any Japanese characters, except the kana for "ka."
Mother bought me Stephen Jay Gould's The Structure of Evolutionary Biology, which is making me swoon. Can one really swoon over evolutionary biology? It certainly makes me feel weak in the knees when I flip through the book with a reverential finger on the thick, high-quality paper, catching glimpses of "punctuated equilibrium" and "macroevolutionary theory." Is this love? Or is it simply academic infatuation? Either way, I am definitely studying this tome (it's as thick as Les Misérables) over the summer. I also saw Ernst Mayr's What is Evolution?, which I couldn't buy, but resolved to read as soon as possible.
My photo was put in the Korean-American newspaper. Am very embarassed by all the Koreans coming up to me and delivering their congratulations. Very awkward, trying to say thank-you in an unassuming tone of voice when you have a stuffed nose.
...Tari
I saw the movie! Finally! Okay, loved it, despite my annoyance at the changes in the plot. Someone please explain to me why Peter Jackson had Aragorn fall over that cliff other than to put in yet another a touching, fangirl-squeal-causing, Aragorn/Legolas moment in the movie. Oh my gosh, I was going to die laughing whenever Legolas even so much as looked at Aragorn. Either Orlando Bloom had a severe crush on Viggo Mortenson over the course of the filming or Peter Jackson is secretly a Aragorn/Legolas slasher at heart.
Annoyed at: (1) turning Saruman's attempt to conquer the world of Men into an attempt to commit complete genocide, (2) putting in an utterly useless Aragorn and Arwen dream sequence, (3) making Faramir into a stupid bad guy who in a fit of idiocy ruins any attempt at redemption for Smeagol/Gollum, (4) forcing the Ents to see the destruction by Saruman before they decide to go to war instead of keeping it as it was in the books, (5) turning Sauron's great Eye into a flat plane of static electricity. Faramir was taught by Gandalf; he knows about the corruptive power of the Ring! Sheesh. I hate movie Faramir, which really gets on my nerves, because I liked him in the books. Also, I pictured the Ents as much more massive beings, like huge wood-giants with real girth, not those spindly things that they made from CG. I know
kaydeefalls liked the Ents, but I was sort of disappointed. Sauron's Eye was much better in the last movie when it left more to the imagination. Actually, the real quibble I had with the movie was that what I wanted left to the imagination was explicitly shown. Like Gandalf's fight with the Balrog.Excited at: (1) Legolas' sheer coolness (when he leaps onto the horse, when he slides down the stairs on a shield, when he pulls up Aragorn and Gimli from the writhing mass of Orcs below), (2) the way that the Lothlorien army moves perfectly in unison (and Haldir's expression when Aragorn hugs him), (3) all those great speeches by the hobbits (oh gosh, the hobbits were all amazing in this movie, not that they weren't in the last), (4) all those great speeches by Theoden, (5) Gollum/Smeagol personality changes.
Cried at: (1) Theoden mourning the death of his son, (2) the boys and old men being pulled away to defend Helm's Deep, (3) Theoden's speeches about fighting to the death, (4) Haldir's death, (5) Sam's speech at the end.
It was a great movie, really, and despite my annoyance at certain plot changes, I have to admit that it really worked as a story. And Peter Jackson did make the message coherent, hope in the face of endless despair. I know the theme may sound clichéd to some ears, but I felt that it captured the essence of the Lord of the Rings, its enduring, endless quality. (A testament to the stupidity of the movie critics who all failed to pick up on that message, no matter how obvious it was.) Both my parents said that they thought this movie was not as good as the first because it felt less original, less startling, but I think it lived up to the FotR. (Yes, even in spite of the Arwen and Aragorn moments.) And the ending was terrific! ^_^ But now we have to wait another year for the Shelob scene. Argh.
Gosh, I love that movie. I need to see it again.
In other news, I watched more of .hack//SIGN, and boy, that anime confuses me to no end. The horrible translations don't help at all. And oniichan, some channels really, really need your editing skills. Case in point: "I feel shame from that feeling of shame." ::runs off screaming:: Anyway, I have no idea what's going on, but it's a cool anime, nevertheless. Also really scary. I was trembling in my seat during the fourteenth episode.
I also read up to volume 9 of Kodocha. It's much less depressing in visual form, when you can't really read any Japanese characters, except the kana for "ka."
Mother bought me Stephen Jay Gould's The Structure of Evolutionary Biology, which is making me swoon. Can one really swoon over evolutionary biology? It certainly makes me feel weak in the knees when I flip through the book with a reverential finger on the thick, high-quality paper, catching glimpses of "punctuated equilibrium" and "macroevolutionary theory." Is this love? Or is it simply academic infatuation? Either way, I am definitely studying this tome (it's as thick as Les Misérables) over the summer. I also saw Ernst Mayr's What is Evolution?, which I couldn't buy, but resolved to read as soon as possible.
My photo was put in the Korean-American newspaper. Am very embarassed by all the Koreans coming up to me and delivering their congratulations. Very awkward, trying to say thank-you in an unassuming tone of voice when you have a stuffed nose.
...Tari
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(no subject)
Date: 2002-12-22 04:27 pm (UTC)And my opinion on Faramir is the complete opposite of yours. I found him boring as heck in the books. Actually, Boromir was also boring as heck in the books. The only member of that family with interesting qualities was Denethor, and he was just a royal asshole. So, yup, am supporting PJ on this one.
But, yes! Finally, someone else who liked the ending!
(no subject)
Date: 2002-12-22 06:40 pm (UTC)yes! exactly! that was my issue with the Ents. I liked their faces, particularly Treebeard's, but I didn't like the whole anorexic!Ent bit.
Cried at: (1) Theoden mourning the death of his son, (2) the boys and old men being pulled away to defend Helm's Deep, (3) Theoden's speeches about fighting to the death, (4) Haldir's death, (5) Sam's speech at the end.
yeah, me too. Or, well, I didn't cry at Haldir, because I was too busy laughing at his sparkly armor and being all, "Dude, that guy is a soldier like I'm a ballerina." Just couldn't manage to suspend disbelief.
oh, and I didn't cry at Sam's speech at the end. You liked that bit? I love Sam, and I thought Sean Astin brought a certain charming earnestness to the lines, but it was, um, a little overdone. Too many let's-all-hold-onto-each-other blah bits.
Re:
Date: 2002-12-23 07:28 am (UTC)And Haldir is a very fine warrior, thank you very much. Just not a particularly macho one. ^_^ I cried because he was looking around at all the fallen Elves around him, and he COULD have lived forever if he chose to abandon Middle-Earth and go to the West, but he DIDN'T and threw in his lot with those of mortal Men, and .... ::sob::
...Tari