Stephen Fry joins The Hobbit

[Cormac]

Delighted Stephen Fry is in.


Very worried that Jackson is going to wrap a cheesecloth across the front of his camera lenses, and "mills and boon" up the journey from The Shire to the Lonely Mountain, like he did with Sam and Frodo in Mordor. (Which was utterly utterly shite).

Indeed. Talking spiders, dragons and birds are all OK in a book, but on screen ... heaven knows how they'll pull all that off.

As for the three trolls ...

Not sure what you mean...

My issue is the fact that Sam and Frodo's relationship became more and more romantic as the LOTR movies progressed, until it became almost mills and boonish in the last movie. It was nothing like how I imagined it when reading the book. (I pictured filthy dirty sex, rather than cheesy romance!).

Seriously though, he went way beyond Bromance and into very odd territories.

It was also inaccurate, because all the way through the book Sam talks about how much he wants to get home to his "Rosie".

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I didn't see anything "gay" about Frodo and Sam, just some old-fashioned bon homme. (sp?)

[klr]

Delighted Stephen Fry is in.


Very worried that Jackson is going to wrap a cheesecloth across the front of his camera lenses, and "mills and boon" up the journey from The Shire to the Lonely Mountain, like he did with Sam and Frodo in Mordor. (Which was utterly utterly shite).

Indeed. Talking spiders, dragons and birds are all OK in a book, but on screen ... heaven knows how they'll pull all that off.

As for the three trolls ...

Not sure what you mean...

My issue is the fact that Sam and Frodo's relationship became more and more romantic as the LOTR movies progressed, until it became almost mills and boonish in the last movie. It was nothing like how I imagined it when reading the book. (I pictured filthy dirty sex, rather than cheesy romance!).

Seriously though, he went way beyond Bromance and into very odd territories.

Oh, I knew what you were getting at, but there's so much more to bitch about besides that - very important though it was. It threatened to ruin the film series all by itself. That and the fact that the other two hobbits (one of whom looked disturbingly like Tom Dunne) were cast as a one-dimensional comic relief double act, whereas they were really much more important and complex than that.

[klr]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit ... lm%29#Cast

"Barry Humphries as the Great Goblin"

Dame Edna:


The Great Goblin:


I think I can see a resemblance.

[klr]

"Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug"

... so both the Master of Laketown and Smaug himself are going to have strong (and posh) English accents.

[Animavore]

Barry Humphries narrates Mary and Max. It makes more sense when you hear his proper voice. I think he'd be good for that.

[Cormac]

I didn't see anything "gay" about Frodo and Sam, just some old-fashioned bon homme. (sp?)

Not that there is anything wrong with being gay. Clearly there isn't.

But it is not something that exists in the book, but my goodness did they push that line in the movie.

Type "Frodo and Sam" into Google, and then check what comes up as a suggested search string:

"Frodo and Sam Gay" is the second one. Just shows you how many people perceive it.

Run that search, and then click images. Hobbit love-fest.

[klr]

I didn't see anything "gay" about Frodo and Sam, just some old-fashioned bon homme. (sp?)

Not that there is anything wrong with being gay. Clearly there isn't.

But it is not something that exists in the book, but my goodness did they push that line in the movie.

Type "Frodo and Sam" into Google, and then check what comes up as a suggested search string:

"Frodo and Sam Gay" is the second one. Just shows you how many people perceive it.

Run that search, and then click images. Hobbit love-fest.

Just as well it wasn't released after Brokeback Mountain, or otherwise I suspect things would have been far worse.

Oh, and apparently Brian Blessed has been cast as Dáin. That will work.

[Coito ergo sum]

Delighted Stephen Fry is in.


Very worried that Jackson is going to wrap a cheesecloth across the front of his camera lenses, and "mills and boon" up the journey from The Shire to the Lonely Mountain, like he did with Sam and Frodo in Mordor. (Which was utterly utterly shite).

Indeed. Talking spiders, dragons and birds are all OK in a book, but on screen ... heaven knows how they'll pull all that off.

As for the three trolls ...

As long as he doesn't get too "comic relief" about it all.... I HATE stuff in movies like the little blurbs we had in LOTR like "Nobody tosses a dwarf!" Or, Legolas mimicking skateboarding during battles. That kind of thing ruins the fantasy of it all - you want to suspend disbelief, and any sort of making light of itself or infusing humor from our world into their world ruins it.

If he sticks with the story, and simply portrays what Tolkien wrote on the screen in the same quality as he did in LOTR, it will be awesome. The spiders in Mirkwood just have to be evil spiders - it's o.k. that they can talk because this is Middle Earth and that's the way the magic works. Heck, Beorn is a shapeshifter that turns into a bear - and Smaug the dragon talks too. The key is to make it for adults - not children. Don't make it all "funny" with spiders getting knocked around like basketballs or making witty little comments and such -- make them pure, in sense, evil, and have the dwarves and hobbit escape as if it was a truly frightening and risky event....

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"Frodo and Sam Gay" is the second one. Just shows you how many people perceive it.

Meh, just because Google thinks it's hot doesn't mean it actually is. There are people who WANT it to be true, and they have an agenda of their own. As noted elsewhere, Sam was hopelessly hetero, and Frodo was ascetic so far as I can tell.

[Cormac]

"Frodo and Sam Gay" is the second one. Just shows you how many people perceive it.

Meh, just because Google thinks it's hot doesn't mean it actually is. There are people who WANT it to be true, and they have an agenda of their own. As noted elsewhere, Sam was hopelessly hetero, and Frodo was ascetic so far as I can tell.

That is my point.

But in Jackson's Return of the King (NOT the book), and particularly Frodo and Sam's journey through Ithilien and on into Mordor, it became more and more of a gay love story presented in the style of a midday movie channel romance or a Mills and Boon novel.

It caused me to hate that movie. Nothing to do with the homosexuality. Neither Frodo nor Sam were gay in the LOTR. So Jackson wanted to be all "postmodern", which is a slap in the face for Tolkein, and for every fan of that book.

As you say, there are people with that kind of political agenda. This drives me nuts, because it is a misrepresentation, and because it ignored the real drama in that journey, which was the struggle and hardship they went through to get to the volcano. It was the crucible through which Sam and Frobo became tough leaders. (Insofar as a hobbit could be considered tough). Instead, all you got was the two lads staring longingly into each other's eyes - with Gollum playing the fawning but evil gooseberry.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

But in Jackson's Return of the King (NOT the book), and particularly Frodo and Sam's journey through Ithilien and on into Mordor, it became more and more of a gay love story presented in the style of a midday movie channel romance or a Mills and Boon novel.

Not seeing "gay" in the movie there. Specifics?

[Coito ergo sum]

"Frodo and Sam Gay" is the second one. Just shows you how many people perceive it.

Meh, just because Google thinks it's hot doesn't mean it actually is. There are people who WANT it to be true, and they have an agenda of their own. As noted elsewhere, Sam was hopelessly hetero, and Frodo was ascetic so far as I can tell.

That is my point.

But in Jackson's Return of the King (NOT the book), and particularly Frodo and Sam's journey through Ithilien and on into Mordor, it became more and more of a gay love story presented in the style of a midday movie channel romance or a Mills and Boon novel.

It caused me to hate that movie. Nothing to do with the homosexuality. Neither Frodo nor Sam were gay in the LOTR. So Jackson wanted to be all "postmodern", which is a slap in the face for Tolkein, and for every fan of that book.

As you say, there are people with that kind of political agenda. This drives me nuts, because it is a misrepresentation, and because it ignored the real drama in that journey, which was the struggle and hardship they went through to get to the volcano. It was the crucible through which Sam and Frobo became tough leaders. (Insofar as a hobbit could be considered tough). Instead, all you got was the two lads staring longingly into each other's eyes - with Gollum playing the fawning but evil gooseberry.

Gotta disagree.

Frodo and Sam love each other, like Master and Servant. Sam made a commitment to protect Frodo, and Sam's loyalty prevents him from breaking that commitment, and as they survive trials and tribulations they come to love each other. They don't love each other in a sexual way at all. Sam loves Rosie, and he is simply shy, but in the end he marries her and has children.

Frodo is corrupted by the Ring, and he is irreparably damaged. That's why he goes off "into the West" with the last of the elves as the "old ways" die and magic slowly leaves Middle Earth.

[Coito ergo sum]

But in Jackson's Return of the King (NOT the book), and particularly Frodo and Sam's journey through Ithilien and on into Mordor, it became more and more of a gay love story presented in the style of a midday movie channel romance or a Mills and Boon novel.

Not seeing "gay" in the movie there. Specifics?

I know where he's coming from. Some of the dialog between Frodo and Sam is a bit gay, like when Frodo smiles and gazes lovingly at Sam at certain points in the movie. It's not that it's "gay" - it's just loving emotions between two very close friends who care about each other. But, it's easy to mischaracterize it as gay in order to poke fun. I don't think it was Peter Jackson's "agenda" to make it gay and stick a finger in the eye of Tolkien or his fans.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It's not that it's "gay" -

I love a direct answer.