Kevin's Watch

Did you know that Peter Jackson & Ian McKellen are both interested in making The Hobbit. Maybe they could even coerce Ian Holm (Bilbo) to reprise his role.

Do you know what's stopping them? Tolkien's grandson who has the rights. Do you know why? Because he hated the films. HATED THE FILMS!???!?!?!!!

Yes, it's true. But do you know why? Because he's a HUGE, TOWERING, INCREDIBLE, FAN.


Can you just imagine the outcry here if we saw the films with anything less a Peter Jackson's love at the helm or a Ridley Scott's eye for perfection? We would hate them!!

That's not what I imagined the celebration of spring to be. They looked like Peter Pan fairies. I feel ripped off.

Covenant didn't rape Lena???? That's the whole internal struggle that enables Covenant to do anything in the land. Not that I wanted to see it mind you, except to really feel how terrible a crime it was, but it's important and they cut it out entirely!

Caerroil Wildwood was supposed to be a towering, ancient man & they cast John Malkovich to play him! OMG! I'm embarrassed to even tell my friends to see the movie. (Hmmm...Actually, come to think of it... oh nevermind).

Or, Banner is Jean Claude Vandamme???? I'm gonna slit my wrists right now!



Did you see how fake that background was? I know videogames that look better than that! Can you believe it, a $20 million budget for a movie as important as this!!!????



Lord of Rings had everything going for it. People still find some things wrong with it, but on the whole it was entirely successful. Believable throughout with great actors, great backgrounds, exceptional creatures and CGI, the movie was a huge success and all 3 movies are in the top 20 moneymaking movies of all time. But imagine if we got WingCommander or something equally as horrible. Maybe it's just better we're left with our imaginations which beat even the $100 million LOTR films with ease.

My biggest fear would be an animated movie similar to the Hobbit/LOTR movies back in the late 70s ... they even had a cheesy song: "Frodo of the 9 fingers, and the Ring of Doom"

*shudder*

The trailer of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe looks pretty spectacular; I think the corner has genuinely been turned on fantasy films, and an El Cheapo production won't even be considered. So I don't think you need to worry about that.

As for the rights, everything I've read says that it's a conflict between New Line and MGM over who holds the distribution rights to a film of The Hobbit. Simon Tolkien, JRRT's grandson, liked the movies reasonably well; it's Christopher Tolkien, the surviving son, who has been the big obstacle. But the film rights, as far as I can tell, are no longer in the Tolkien family's hands.

One great advantage of filming the Covenant books is that SRD is still alive, and you don't have to sort out rights issues with battalions of lawyers. And if you got a filmmaker who had the kind of love for the Chronicles that Jackson has for LOTR, he would find it invaluable to be able to ask the author questions about the work.

I think there are a lot of things that could indeed go wrong with Covenant films, but I don't think it's quite as bleak as you suggest.

Well to be fair, neither do I. ANd you're right, it's the son and not the grandson.

I guess I just want people to realize that a huge amount of things really went right with the making of the LOTR films and just as many things could go wrong with a LFB film or a whole series should the industry entertain such a notion.

It's not that the aim to make a bad movie, but rather that they trust a certain amount of money on a few names and sometimes that doesn't matter at all. I think that the chances of this movie being better than the rendition of LOTR is 5% or less. That series was incredibly well done.

I wrote Peter Jackson & begged him to do this series, but of course there was no reply. He probably never even saw the letter.

My point of view is that a movie could only be better than no movie. If the movie is a little bit good, then I get a little bit out of enjoyment out of it. If it's a lot good, I'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. But I'd rather see something than nothing at all.

It can't possible be worse to make a movie than not make one. Because a movie cannot take anything away from me. Or anyone.

Any adaptation of material I already enjoy, whether it be LOTR or DOOM or whatever, is basically going to be some good visualizations strung together with whatever glues it together. I'd like to see those visualizations. The better they are, and the more of them, the better for me. I can accept the glue for what it is.

I agree with Wayfriend on this, even a bad movie will still increase awareness of the Chronicles so I'd rather see it happen than not. The point I think illustrates this very well is (and I think I've said this elsewhere) how many times have you been told not to write of L. Ron Hubbard or Battlefield Earth because the movie was so much worse than the book?

The fact that these people are fans of the series, and not just fortune-seeking studio execs looking to jump on the fantasy bandwagon, should be cause for at least some optimism. After the rejections so far though, I don't think they're actually going to find a studio.

"There's only one way to hurt a man, give him back something broken"

I, for one, hated Jackson's LotR.
It was an obscene travasty, imho.
To be honest I only got 1/2 way through The Two Towers and the last 20 minutes of The Return of the King.
I'll probably never bother to watch it if there's anything else on TV at the time.

Why?
Because I really LOVE the books.
I've read them all off and on since I was 10.
I've developed my own visions and my own emotions based on my interpretation of the written words.
When I see any variation of it in the films it sickens me.

Now about the CTC being filmed:
Yeah baby, lets do it!
Why do I say this?
Am I a sadist?
Well, yeah, partly.
But there's always a chance someone can pull it off.

But can Hollywood?
No [edit=Wayfriend]####ing[/edit] way!
There's NO WAY they're going to give the "go" to film a leper movie.
It's beyond my comprehension that they'd ever get it right.
There would be way too many changes, I predict.

A Japanese or a Hong Kong company I bet they could nail it down perfectly.
Or perhaps a British company free from Hollywood influence.

Of course if I never read the books first I bet I would have LOVED the Lord of the Rings movie.

I never read Jaws but I've seen the movie 3,400,099 times.
(It was on the other night too and my wife came in the room, saw what I was watching and asked "Didn't you just watch this 2 nights ago?" To which I replied "Shhhhh.....!")

Of course if I never read the books first I bet I would have LOVED the Lord of the Rings movie.

You should have loved them anyway!

The best solution would be for people to wait for a longer time and not yet make a TC movie. They should only release it when we have the technology to implant the plot directly into our brains and make the movie that's best for us individually. After all, book movies are only made for fans to criticize them

paradox wrote:The best solution would be for people to wait for a longer time and not yet make a TC movie. They should only release it when we have the technology to implant the plot directly into our brains and make the movie that's best for us individually. After all, book movies are only made for fans to criticize them

And what the for the fans that don't live that long? Does God play movies that haven't been made yet? Would that get Him introuble with Hollywood? I would have to say that if they're going to make the movies then great, If I don't like them then I won't watch them more than twice, but if they're not going to make them then they should put all the money into the completion of the final chronicles... get those books out faster!

I was thinking about sending some Methamphetamines to SRD maybe he would type faster and more often

Well maybe not anything illegal, but at the very least serious caffeine should mysteriously find its way to his door step

Buckarama wrote:I was thinking about sending some Methamphetamines to SRD maybe he would type faster and more often

Eh, I don't think I'd want that book.

No, they can't make a movie about a leper. Remember the outcry over the DaVinci code? There were characters in the movie over which much protestation occurred due to their portrayals. I can't even imagine how portrayal of a leper like TC would go over. There's way too much risk involved. If you can't be true to the book, there's no use to make the movie. The very essence of the story is the leprosy; you can't leave out even the most minute nuance of how it affects Covenant or you're lost already. Anyone ever notice how the riots and outcries are always over the movies, but never over the books? Is that odd to anyone besides me? I understand why, but it still seems somewhat contradictory. I'd faint from joy if I heard a movie was being made, but it's true that unless you get someone with a fanatical love of the TC books to direct it, you might as well not do it. I list the LOTR movies as my all-time favorites, and yes, I had read the books. It would have been really cool to see how JRRT wanted the movies made. I'm sure it would have been vastly different. Not necessarily better than PJ's, but different nonetheless.

paradox wrote: They should only release it when we have the technology to implant the plot directly into our brains and make the movie that's best for us individually.

Isn't that called books?

Anyone seen eragon? What a fantastic adapation of the book. Worth 10 academy awards any day. Ha ha.
Then again, the book isn't that great either...

Dirty Whirl wrote:Anyone seen eragon? What a fantastic adapation of the book. Worth 10 academy awards any day. Ha ha.
Then again, the book isn't that great either...

Haha i found this really funny.

Theres a thread in Flicks btw.