Trailer + Into the West

Honestly, I've been having some doubts about the practicality of posting screengrabs. I'm simply not ready to try yet, though I may later. But I'm going to talk about the trailer anyway.

I like this trailer because it shows that they are doing things as we hoped they would.

• Trolls, check, although there is no official proof of the hilarious argument from the book as yet.
• Dwarves arriving with the full "At your service". Check. But there is no indication whether they are arriving out of order.
• Dwarves presumably singing "Smash the plates". Check. At least they are dancing around carrying stacks of dishes.:D
• I like the line "I'm going on an adventure!" Not written, but easily assumed. The Took side won.
• Bilbo's doubts, which get long paragraphs in the book, are nicely summed up with silly lines like "I'm surrounded by dwarves. What are they all doing here?"
• There are some impressive shots of Bilbo admiring Rivendell. That will be stretched, it seems; they hardly stayed.
• The thunderstorm in the mountains is very impressive, the more so because it is lifted directly from the text.
• Impressive panoramic shots of New Zealand, check. This film is designed for 3D. It will be awesome.
• The introduction of Radagast is interesting, but not important.  He had one line and no direct appearance in the books because he is a misanthropic-leaning treehugger. However, using his abilities opens new variations on the text to Jackson and co.
• There are a few things that people perhaps wanted to see in the trailer that were not shown, including Beorn (awesome guy;) ), the five fir trees/ goblin town, and Legolas...;/. There's good reason why the first two were left out, which those who haven't read the story will discover in December. The word is that Legolas has been pushed back into the second film. Not that I wanted to see him, but I hope this means there is more backstory in the first film.

And as I am  wont to do, I leave you with the last song of the LOTR, Into The West, which is based on a verse sung by Legolas in the ROTK text.

Farewell! ( Click on this link to caption LOTR: http://thatroundwindow.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-annual-lotr-caption-contest.html

Those Songs They Sing

There are, as you may have noticed, two prominent songs in The Hobbit, which, fortunately, are included in the trailer. Just for kicks, I decided to set down all the lyrics from each one, which I refer to as "Smash the plates" and "Misty mountains cold", just in case anybody was wondering what they are saying.

This one is very funny. It is a great cap to the silliness of the unexpected party.

Chip the glasses and crack the plates!

Blunt the knives and bend the forks!

That's what bilbo baggins hates-

Smash the bottles and burn the corks!

Cut the cloth and tread on the fat!

Pour the milk on the pantry floor!

leave the bones on the bedroom mat!

Splash the wine on every door!

Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl;

pound them up with a thumping pole;

and when you've finished if any are whole, 

send them down the hall to roll!

That's what bilbo Baggins hates! 

So carefully! Carefully with the plates!

The other one is  much longer and darker. 

In fact, it serves to sum up the backstory, so it's worth a listen

Far over the misty mountains cold

to dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere break of day

to seek the pale enchanted gold

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells

while hammers fell like ringing bells

In places deep, where dark things sleep,

In hollow halls beneath the fells

For ancient king and elvish-lord

there many a  gleaming golden hoard 

they shaped and wrought, and light they caught

To hide in gems on hilt of sword

On silver necklaces they strung

The flowering stars, on crowns they hung

The dragon-fire, in twisted wire

they meshed the light of moon and sun

Far over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away , ere break of day,

To claim our long-forgotten gold

Goblets they carved there for themselves

And harps of gold, where no man delves

There lay they long, and many a song

Was sung unheard by men or elves

The pines were roaring on the height, 

the winds were soaring in the night

the fire was red, it flaming spread; 

the trees like torches blazed with light

The bells were ringing in the dale,

And men looked up with faces pale;

Then dragon's ire more fierce than fire

laid low their towers and houses frail

The mountain smoked beneath the moon;

the dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom

They fled their hall to dying fall

beneath his feet, beneath the moon

Far over the the misty mountains grim

To dungeons deep and caverns dim

We must away, ere break of day, 

To win our harps and gold from him!

The first one doesn't work right unless they sing the whole thing, but of the second, partly because of length, they will probably stop at the second verse at most. In addition, since the second song provides the backbone of the story, the central melody of Howard Shore's Hobbit score is sure to be the same as the melody he creates for the song. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. Jackson left out all the great songs in LOTR, except the one which he converted from a happy walking song to a dark one of doom and misery... Here's hoping for awesomeness!

p.s. I just reread The Hobbit, and yes, with a bit of backstory and done Jackson style, it is 3 films. Cheers!

Boromir Walks Again

The Captain of the White Tower is back with some off-cue wisdom...

This one is an inside joke. Readers and listeners of The Hobbit know there are at least five reasons why one says "Good Morning."

The Annual LOTR Caption Contest

Happy World Hobbit Day!

Of course, all screengrabs are really the property of the studio.

These are the 18 most easily captioned images that I found. (I pulled them off the Pimpernel's blog, actually.)

Make us laugh! To be declared the winner you have to do all of them.

Since some of you are not constantly checking blogs like I am, this doesn't close for two weeks.

Tolkien/Middle-Earth Week Approaching

It's that time again pretty soon, when bloggers have Tolkien characters (at least that's how I found out about it) hijack their blogs, and post exclusively Middle-Earth stuff for the week starting on the 22nd (World Hobbit Day!).
I will be trying to come up with something to put up every day. If I fail, well, Geekdom will never die, anyway. Who's with me? I'll be posting Boromir memes, analyzing the new trailer, and trying to listen to the films/read the books in one week even while keeping up with my homework, among other little things.
I am Faramir.