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sfcityduck

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Everything posted by sfcityduck

  1. sfcityduck
    See this its on ESPN2:
  2. sfcityduck
    Many many people also agree with my views. But that does not matter in a discussion like this. It is not a popularity contest. It's a discussion and you have to support your points with something other than "many people say" assertions. Jackson doesn't say he was ghosted that's just a sensational headline. What he states is far different and it is important to realize it was about four to five years ago before scripting even began: “They asked me if I wanted to be involved — [writer-producer Fran Walsh] and I — and I said, ‘That’s an impossible question to answer without seeing a --script,'” Jackson recalled to Scott Feinberg on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast. “So they said, ‘As soon as we get the first couple scripts, we’ll send them to you.’ And the scripts never showed up. That’s the last thing I heard, which is fine. No complaints at all.” Amazon responded: “In pursuing the rights for our show, we were obligated to keep the series distinct and separate from the films. We have the utmost respect for Peter Jackson and The Lord of The Rings films and are thrilled that he is looking forward to watching The Rings of Power.” Jackson's final comment: “I’ll be watching it,” he says. “I’m not the sort of guy who wishes ill will. Filmmaking is hard enough. If somebody makes a good film or TV show, it’s something to celebrate. The one thing I am looking forward to is actually seeing it as a perfectly neutral viewer.” Reading between the lines, this sounds like this was about the Tolkien Estate and ensuring there were no rights violations, not Amazon, and Jackson only was initially approached for limited involvement anyway. As for Tom Shippey (who?): Are you really linking a Youtube rumor monger and ignoring the Vanity Fair reporting ("Shippey was canned for giving an “unsanctioned interview to a German fan site” where he opined “on what the show could and could not explore”)? LOL! We can all choose our sources, but some are more credible than others.
  3. sfcityduck
    LOTR is a story told through the eyes of Hobbits. They are the main characters and heroes. Jackson stripped them of their solo adventure and heroic moments by (1) eliminating the Bombadil and Barrows scenes, (2) giving Frodo's heroic key heroic moment to Arwen, and (3) eliminating the Scouring of the Shire. There can be no dispute that those are major major changes. And not good ones as far as the theme of the book. Despite that, I loved the movies almost as much as the books (but not as much) because they are a visual and musical triumph (things you don't get with books). The changes to the Hobbit were more profound. The addition of new characters and interracial romances, new back history for Legolas, a rabbit driven sled for Radagast (what?), and a complete change in tone for the work to make it consistent with LOTR when it was always intended to be for a younger audience. Those changes were much more profound to the core of Tolkien's mythology than anything happening in RoP because RoP deals with a nearly blank canvas by comparison to the movies of fully completed works in Tolkien's own hand.
  4. sfcityduck
    Jackson was “ghosted”? First, WETA FX did the special effects. Second, it was not Jackson’s project. He has his own priorities. Third, Jackson butchered the LOTR and Hobbit, finished books cast in stone, far far more than anything RoP has done to the sketches and unfinished tales and notes which are its source material - so why would you want him involved if you are such a purist?
  5. sfcityduck
    I agree that they are compressing the timeline of the Second Age as spelled out in the Appendix to the LOTR (which is not definitive and Tolkien himself contradicted in later notes and sketches) and if that bothers you so be it. I do not know how a story that took hundreds of years to forge some rings could be filmed (and it seems like a ludicrously long timeline) so I cannot fault this choice. It is a story adaptation, like the LOTR movies, not a dissertation on real history. So artistic license is allowed. if it bothers you there is the option to stop watching. It causes me no problem because I do not view that compression as ruining the story in any material way. It is a choice which makes it possible to tell the story on film. Maybe someday someone will write a book fleshing out the Second Age which details the hundreds of years of ring forging. In the meantime you might enjoy the chapters of Moby Richard (short form) on the details of whale hunting.
  6. sfcityduck
    Which is exactly what Tolkien explicitly stated is what he wanted to happen with his mythology. That are being true to Tolkien’s vision. This has been going on since Christopher Tolkien and Guy Gabriel Kay wrote portions of the Silmarillion. However, it is different in kind from when Peter Jackson made major rewrites and edits of the LOTR and the massive reshaping of the Hobbit because those were not unfinished tales or sketches but Tolkien’s finished life's works.
  7. sfcityduck
    First, Tolkien did not ever assert that Hobbits were created in the third age. What is your evidence for that? The Shire was third age, but Hobbits existed and Tolkien treated their origin as being lost to the mists of time. Second, no one is arguing Galadriel had not met and married Celeborn in the Second Age - not even the writers of RoP. They instead are riffing on Tolkiens writings which show Galadriel and Celeborn separated at various points in time. They are embellishing ideas Tolkien sketched in his notes about Galadriel and Sauron. They are filling in gaps that Tolkien left - vast holes in his story. That is not contradiction - there is nothing definitive to contradict. You are creating strawmen. P.S. You have previously asserted Galadriel was a mother in the Second Age but that would contradict Tolkien writings which state Elrond first met Galadriel’s daughter in the Third Age. Admittedly that writing also is presented as subsequent history which could be inaccurate but I am unaware of any contradictory writing.
  8. sfcityduck
    You are wrong. The letters I am referencing are core to Tolkien scholarship - so much so that they are among just a handful featured on the official Tolkien Estate website. I am not guessing I am quoting. Who are these Tolkien experts and what do they say to support your position? You are making bald assertions. What is your evidence that Tolkien did not want others to pick up his mythology and run with it?
  9. sfcityduck
    You are guessing at what JRR would have thought. But there is no need to guess. He told us what he thought and wanted. He felt he was creating a non-Christian mythology, like Greek and Roman and Norse mythology, but with a uniquely English feel that others could pick up and embellish. That was his stated goal and ambition. He wanted his mythic structure to outlive himself and remain relevant through the further development of others. This is not in dispute. You can read his words on this point. He specifically differentiated between the fully developed stories in what he called his grand cycle and the many sketches and unfinished tales he referenced in the main works. JRR admitted that many loose ends he referenced that he thought others could develop were not at all developed by him. The classic example of such a completely undeveloped tale was the origin of Hobbits. Tolkien provided a sketch that referenced their long migration north and west but said nothing about their history beyond that their backstory was lost to the fog of history. That is exactly the sort of story that Tolkien thought others could explore. Similarly, Tolkien’s notes and unfinished tales reveal that the story of the Istari was far from the simple tale you discern from the Appendixes of LOTR which were portrayed by Tolkien not as infallible but instead as Bilbo’s scholarship - a conceit that left the door open to different versions of the facts. Indeed the unfinished tales and notes present various versions of the tale of Galadriel and Celeborn including versions in which he discusses Sauron’s admiration for Galadriel. The RoP staff has taken a much deeper dive into the many volumes of “apocrypha” written by Tolkien and are mining material that only the most hardcore fans have read. You may not think RoP as being in Tolkien’s vision but that is the point. His vision changed many times and he was to use his words willing to let LOTR venture out into the world without his protection or guidance.
  10. sfcityduck
    I can't disagree. For an author, seeing someone else taking over your baby must suck. Look at what's its done to the author of GoT - he can't even figure out how to finish his series.
  11. sfcityduck
    Those quotes are about his finished works. Not about the Second Age where he only wrote the barest of sketches. They have no application to this project. I'm sure he would have been disappointed in aspects of LOTR (especially) and the Hobbit as they took some significant liberties with a story that was fully cast in stone. Here, there is not much story at all to change. And Tolkien knew that.
  12. sfcityduck
    The more I think about it, I think this is the best science fiction or fantasy show on tv. Who knew Star Wars could be made tense and slow and yet still have incredibly thrilling and unexpected scenes. It's a different kind of cinema, not suited to all Star Wars fans, but in terms of quality of storytelling it is very hard to top.
  13. sfcityduck
    Loved seeing Wrexham AFC on ESPN 2 playing on Saturday in what could have been a small High School field here in the U.S. Pretty jarring contrast that really made the point about what the FA Cup is all about. Game ended in a draw, so they replay on Tuesday. I doubt that gets televised but I wish they would since it is being played at Wrexham's home field - a much bigger and more storied venue.
  14. sfcityduck
    Did he ever say that? Not that I know of. But on the eve of publishing LOTR he wrote to his publisher Milton Waldmanthat his goal was: "to make a body of more or less collected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic to the level of romantic fairy-story.... I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands wielding paint and music and drama." He succeeded. Also worth noting: Tolkien constantly changed and rethought his stories. Constantly. As Guy Gavriel Kay recalled from his work helping to compile and write the Silmarillion: Tolkien wrote four "official" novels about Middle Earth. There are maybe another 15 books of unfinished tales, most contradictory with the "official" books. Heck, just look at the origin of the orcs, that story was a constant evolution for 60 years going from Orcs being made of rock by Morgoth, to being corrupted elves, to part human, etc. Tolkien saw there were lots of ways to skin a cat and he enjoyed trying out different versions of his stories. As the quote above demonstrates, he surely foresaw that his characters would go in directions he hadn't envisioned ... yet. He knew he would take his characters in different directions than he envisioned.
  15. sfcityduck
    Has Amazon issued a release saying that? All I have seen was a three word incomplete quote in an article in the Hollywood Reporter with a contradictory statement preceding it, and nothing more. No verification or even context for the less than definitive quote. But the haters sure are handwringing.
  16. sfcityduck
    That is not an actual fact. Filming has started. There has been no official announcement of release date. Just an off the cuff, incomplete and ambiguous quote. Still, is not unusual to see more than one year gaps in season release dates (Stranger Things, GoT, etc.had at least 15 month gaps). Even if Season 2 does not come out until 2024 that might not be outside the norm since this was a Fall release series.
  17. sfcityduck
    You put in a lot of effort to that post, I will give you that. But my takeaway is that you have to try really hard to nitpick enough to dislike this show. For me, It takes little effort to like this show - just the realization that Tolkien wanted those who came after him to run with his characters. This show is providing backstory for plot holes in LOTR that have never been addressed. Other of your critiques are well within the realm of opinion on which we can all reasonably disagree.
  18. sfcityduck
    Adam is an excellent dealer who I have the pleasure of buying from. His dad’s collection is impossible to match, but as a dealer, given his stats on eBay, Adam has more than surpassed his dad.
  19. sfcityduck
    I just bought a comic page I think is worth slabbing. It was already torn out. And here’s the thing: it is not from a comic, but a magazine. If you slabbed it you would only see a cover that has zero appeal to comic collectors. So this seems the perfect candidate for slabbing. But, if you slab this page you get to see what matters. Here is my question: Do I have to call ahead to slab a page or can I just send it in?
  20. sfcityduck
    Star Wars for grown ups is here. Last episode was a triumph! Most fans of the franchise will be wondering what the heck happened to make Star Wars slow, thoughtful and intellectual, but this is probably the best serious work any Star Wars actor has appeared in since Alec Guinness did the Smiley’s People series for the BBC (highly recommended!).
  21. sfcityduck
    ^Haters gonna hate^ Not sure why some people enjoy having the "everything I collect is cool, everything you collect sucks" mentality. What's the point? I assume to just let off your own steam because it does not move the needle for anyone else. Here's the thing: RoP is a top five show. It will be fine. The concern trolling is pointless. And it's not like your concern is genuine (or grounded in supporting fact or experience). But blow hard if you want. Far be it for me to interfere with your therapy by interjecting pesky facts and common sense.
  22. sfcityduck
    So you concede they have momentum? For someone who loathes the show you sure do have a lot of concerns. No need to worry. Shooting on season two is in progress already and the quote causing the concern shouldn’t. Unlike several posters above, I know a fair amount of people watching the show who are enjoying it. The general view is that the effects are amazing, the acting good, and the stories compelling. Obviously, it is a top 5 show in the ratings. But Those of us who started watching tv prior to the 80s realize that no show today will ever have much cultural impact compared to the old days when there were only a few tv channels, no streaming, and audiences lined up for movie sequels that came out three or four years apart.
  23. sfcityduck
    For those who have not seen it yet it gets 90% on Rotton Tomatoes from the critics and 97% from the fans.
  24. sfcityduck
    First season was fantastic look at so many topics all tied together by the local sports team. Incredibly entertaining and moving and exciting and informative - sometimes all at once. The team certainly is benefitting as they just a milllion followers and ESPN 2and ESPN + are broadcasting the teams game Saturday at 8 am Eastern.
  25. sfcityduck
    Can't argue with that opinion - its purely a matter of perception. I appreciate your post because you reminded me that I was such a big Tolkien fan that I bought and devoured the Harvard Lampoon's "Bored of the Rings" pb back in the 70s when I was a kid. I'm sure it was low quality, but it made me smile a bit. Probably paved the way for me appreciating the truly talented Terry Pratchett.