Ack, I forgot to look for Colbert! Where was he? I saw PJ right off the bat at the beginning.
Thank you, Lalaith!
Colbert is one of the Mayor’s spies in front of Bard’s house. In the film there is a scene where you get to see all the spies communicating through certain signs. It ends with Bard offering an apple to one of the spies. The first spy, the one with the eye-patch and the beard stubble, is Stephen Colbert. My brother looked it up on the internet and we looked out for his cameo on our second viewing. I did not recognize him on my first viewing either.
I would go further than that. Thranduil is probably the closest thing to Thingol that we shall ever see in a PJ film.
Quite true. Does he not mention “jewels out of pure starlight” during his conversation with Thorin? Not quite the same as a Silmaril, but pretty close if you ask me.
A nice review, Beutlin. You seem to have responded most strongly to the same scenes I responded to.
Though having not been overly fond of the LOTR trilogy (perhaps because I wasn't 11, and was set in my ways about films!), I have to say that DOS is my favorite of all five films.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Passdagas the Brown wrote:A nice review, Beutlin. You seem to have responded most strongly to the same scenes I responded to.
Though having not been overly fond of the LOTR trilogy (perhaps because I wasn't 11, and was set in my ways about films!), I have to say that DOS is my favorite of all five films.
In fact, I think I love it.
Thank you, Passdagas!
And if one could have placed a bet on whether you would hate, dislike, like or love this film and predicted the latter, one would be a richer man now.
And given our shared love for the world of Tolkien, I very much like the idea that you enjoyed “The Desolation of Smaug” so much.
While I'm kind of annoyed by it as I was counting on PtB to commiserate with me on all my complaints. (But he already like AUJ much more than me so maybe I shouldn't have been surprised?)
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists
Ack, I forgot to look for Colbert! Where was he? I saw PJ right off the bat at the beginning.
Thank you, Lalaith!
Colbert is one of the Mayor’s spies in front of Bard’s house. In the film there is a scene where you get to see all the spies communicating through certain signs. It ends with Bard offering an apple to one of the spies. The first spy, the one with the eye-patch and the beard stubble, is Stephen Colbert. My brother looked it up on the internet and we looked out for his cameo on our second viewing. I did not recognize him on my first viewing either.
Ahhh. Yes, I missed him completely then, though I remember the scene. I may just have to go see it again, which, if you think about it, I didn't do with AUJ. So perhaps I actually do like DoS better after all.
Voronwë the Faithful wrote:Lali, if you see it again, look for someone with one eye.
Stephen Colbert is......BOLG????
There is magic in long-distance friendships. They let you relate to other human beings in a way that goes beyond being physically together and is often more profound.
~Diana Cortes
Passdagas the Brown wrote:I have to say that DOS is my favorite of all five films.
In fact, I think I love it.
Is it possible the film was so bad it blew his mind?
Of all the predictions I made about this film, I didn't think guessing that your 5-word "'what the' with an f-word" review would be "What the... that was fantastic!" would be one that hit close to the mark!
Believe me, I had no idea that I would enjoy the film. I was fully prepared to like it less than AUJ...and instead I found it to be the only consistently enjoyable Middle Earth film by Peter Jackson. The main difference: I want to watch the whole film. With FOTR, I'll watch about 40%. TTT, 50%. ROTK, 42%. AUJ, 35%.
Yov,
Perhaps we can commiserate about...Beorn's eyebrows? Not a big fan...
Meh.
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Oh, you want me to be more specific?
Okay. It was way, way, WAY too long. The word "bloated" comes to mind.
Most, if not all of the orc scenes felt like filler. Very unnecessary filler.
I didn't mind Tauriel as much as I thought I would, but the "romance" between her and Kili was stupid.
It bothered me more than ever that Thorin didn't have a proper beard. It really seemed like PJ was going for an "Aragorn junior" character...especially with the scene in Bree.
I thought there should have been much more Beorn. That whole scene felt rushed and chopped.
Legolas killing orcs on the streets of Laketown...? For what seemed like an eternity...what for?
I liked the interaction between Radagast and Gandalf. I liked the scene with Bilbo and Smaug. Barrel riding scene was cool. Smaug, in general, was excellent.
I was disappointed to loose the scene with Bilbo singing and taunting the spiders.
I thought the entire film was way too dark and heavy. I really missed the whimsical feel of the original book.
In fact, I really missed the original book.
Too much flotsam and jetsam and not enough of "The Hobbit."
I doubt if I will see it a second time.
"Live! Live! Live! Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" - Auntie Mame
Is "meh" making a comeback? I used it a lot in the 90s, but I was under the impression that it was dead slang.
Jewel - sorry to hear it. Though I never had a "meh" reaction to a PJ Tolkien film thus far. It's either been raging disappointment (for the first four films) or enthusiastic appreciation (for DoS).
I don't know abut "meh" making a "comeback" since it has never been in my common vocabulary. I certainly never used it in the 90s. It was just my overall reaction to this movie.
I already knew that PJ had deviated considerably from the book and added/invented stuff. So "raging disappointment" was not on the table.
I guess a more apt description for me would be "Gee...too bad."
I would very much like to see a Hobbit film that was actually...you know, "The Hobbit."
"Live! Live! Live! Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" - Auntie Mame
I would also like to see something more faithful to the tone of the Hobbit (and LOTR, which I think is even worse) but PJ is the guy for now...And I think that despite his many flaws, he pulled off an interesting film with DOS.
Tonally, it is an odd cross of The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Which somehow works very well for me.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
(But he already like AUJ much more than me so maybe I shouldn't have been surprised?)
