Spontaneous Musings

1. Well instead of walking on the beach and watching football, Mum and I opted to see The Hobbit. We both agreed that it was a) okay but not fantastic and b) long. Mum had troubles staying awake during the first part of it. I liked it, but I can't say it was either memorable or worth buying on DVD. We were also quite pleased we had not chosen to see it in Real D- 3D. Would have been headache inducing to say the least.

Felt too long too me and repetitive. Lots of battles and running from things. Not quite sure how they are going to make three movies out of this - two would have been fine. I could see two movies. Part I - the Journey to the Lonely Mountatin and the bulgary. Part II what happens after and the Journey Back. Instead we appear to be doing 1) Journey to the Mountain, 2) the Mountain/what happens after, and 3) the Journey back.

It's admittedly been 30 years since I read the book and saw the 1977 Rankin/Bass Animated Television Film. So my memory of it is a bit foggy, so I looked up the plot on Wiki:


Gandalf tricks Bilbo into hosting a party for Thorin and his band of dwarves, who sing of reclaiming the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasure from the dragon Smaug. When the music ends, Gandalf unveils a map showing a secret door into the Mountain and proposes that the dumbfounded Bilbo serve as the expedition's "burglar". The dwarves ridicule the idea, but Bilbo, indignant, joins despite himself.

The group travel into the wild, where Gandalf saves the company from trolls and leads them to Rivendell, where Elrond reveals more secrets from the map. Passing over the Misty Mountains, they are caught by goblins and driven deep underground. Although Gandalf rescues them, Bilbo gets separated from the others as they flee the goblins. Lost in the goblin tunnels, he stumbles across a mysterious ring and then encounters Gollum, who engages him in a game of riddles. As a reward for solving all riddles Gollum will show him the path out of the tunnels, but if Bilbo fails, his life will be forfeit. With the help of the ring, which confers invisibility, Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, improving his reputation with them. The goblins and Wargs give chase but the company are saved by eagles before resting in the house of Beorn.



As you can see - the following items do not appear:

*The giant rock fight
*The marauding Orcs who keep pursuing and chasing them
*The Brown Wizard
*Sauraman and Galaderial

Elrond does appear as does Riverdale. So too do the eagles - except they save them from the Goblins and Wargs.

I don't care all that much about Jackson adding stuff from the appendixes etc or his own head - and the Brown Wizard bit was admittedly entertaining, if difficult to follow at times, but the Orcs were unecessary, repetitive and silly - that should have been left out. In some respects I prefered the 1977 Rankin Bass television version, which I feel the oddest desire to rewatch - assuming I can find it anywhere (eh probably not as good as I remember it, they never ever are). It was more entertaining and came closer to what was in my head as a kid reading the books. This version felt a bit bloated with a lot of needless fight scenes and racing about.

That said? I did enjoy bits of it. Rather liked Martin Freeman as Bilbo, also Richard Armitage's Thorin worked for me. As did the two musical numbers...and the omnious portent of the Misty Mountains ditty to retrieve our gold. Didn't mind the bit in Riverdale, and liked the Brown Wizard...foreshadowing the black neuromancer, and explaining the creeping downwards of dark creatures into a land that had seen 400 years of peace. What drug was the beginning framing device, the scene with the dwarves eating Bilbo out of house and home was a tad overlong and should have been a lot shorter (it drug), the added material with the orcs drug out the movie as well, and the big rock Giant fight felt out of place and in the wrong film. What is this, the Avengers? So the film is a mixed bag - some good bits, some bad bits - required better editors. Jackson, methinks, got a wee bit carried away.

Overall rating? B-


2. Anything Goes - great song and dance numbers, weak and outdated (also a wee bit NOT politically correct) story - but hey what do you respect with four writters? The Cole Porter tunes are jazzy and fun though - "Night and Day", "Anything Goes", "Delovely", "You're the Top", and "Blow, Gaberial, Blow"...all came from this musical. The lead, Shannon Lee Jones, had a good voice but isn't a dancer - so she did the Ethel Merman version not the Sutton Foster one. Was fun, was delightful, was delovely...but hardly memorable.

3. Off-the-Beaten Path Xmas Film Favorites:

1. The Ice Harvest - stars John Cusack, a noir thriller about a shady lawyer on Christmas Eve
2. A Midnight Clear - based on the novel of the same name by William Wharton, this flick stars Gary Sinese, Peter Berg and Ethan Hawk and is directed by Keith Gordon (It's a WWII tale about a group of American soliders and German soliders in Adriennes Forest on Christmas Eve in 1944.
3. Bad Santa (2003)- A miserable conman and his partner pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. But they run into problems when the conman befriends a troubled kid, and the security boss discovers the plot.
4. Planes, Trains and Automobiles - two guys struggling to get home for Christmas - the buddy comedy from heck. Steve Martin stars.
5. Little Women - pick your version, my favorite is the Winona Ryder one
6. Meet Me In St. Louis - features the holiday classic "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" - written for it especially.
7. Little Drummer Boy (1968) - Rankin/Bass stop-motion puppet cartoon version of the song...very weird film
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas -dir. Tim Burton
9. The Year Without A Santa Clause (1974) - Rank/Bass stop motion puppet cartoon featuring the vocal talents of Shirely Booth and Mickey Rooney.
10 A Christmas Memory (1966) -Award-winning adaptation of Truman Capote's poignant, nostalgic reminiscence about his childhood best friend — a childlike elderly relative with whom he makes fruitcakes and other gifts, in Depression-era Alabama.

Also:
* Die Hard/Die Hard 2
* Love Actually
* A Christmas Story

And I can't find one that I have a vague memory of, but can't remember the title, which is told in the pov of a Christmas Tree...and everything that happens to it. It's live action and I saw it as a child in the 1970s/1980s. Might have dreamed it.