THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING! COMING SOON!

[Sharktopus]

Randal: "Those f*cking Hobbit movies were boring as hell. All it was was a bunch of people walking - three movies of people walking to a f*cking volcano."

That pissed me off and made me laugh at the same time. I shouldn't mind, because Randal's pretty much an idiot most of the time, but it still wounded my fanboy pride. I hope that's not what Kevin thinks - I usually respect his opinion on movie stuff. Maybe he'll talk it about it in that new Another Evening DVD.

Kevin Smith said the exact same thing during "The Tonight Show," so, yeah, I think it's safe to assume that he doesn't like the Lord of the Rings films.

I wouldn't say he doesn't like them he just thinks, like I do, that they are insanely, ridiculously overrated. For a while there all 3 films were in the IMDB top ten! Even if you thought they were good movies that's absolutely insane. They are technically very well crafted but are also very very long, plodding, lacking in the charm of Tolkiens original work and in no way critic proof.

Most movies can't get away with having 5 endings but somehow ROTK did and won an Oscar for it. Randal was right!

No movie is critic proof, but I put more stock into the IMDb rankings than, say, the AFI's or any other list. The IMDb rankings rate movies, when it comes down to it, simply on how many people like them. There's no way Pulp Fiction is the 8th greatest film ever made, but it's ranked that high because so many people love the movie. It's a popularity contest, and since we're talking about movies and not presidential elections, that's fine. If 165,762 people give Return Of The King an 8.8 rating, then that's probably what it deserves. I'll trust the IMDb over Roger Ebert's thumb any day.

[Msampo]

Personally, I can attribute any of that to bad filmmaking, and the fact that many people who like the films never bother to read the book ("You actually want me to READ? WORDS? NO! Please! God! Anything but that!") - when I read the book, I never interpreted Sam, Frodo, or Legolas as being gay, or believed that the characters were smoking pot. Which is why I don't like the films, because they misrepresent Tolkien's writing to a great degree. I think the reason that the films would make good RiffTrax material is because they're so far removed from the original source material that it's easier to riff on them, because, this, way, it's not like you're riffing on Tolkien, you're riffing on some film.

I don't think you can really blame the films for the homosexual misinterpretations so much as the adolescence of the viewers. (And a lot on Sean Astin's performance.) As for the pipeweed, who's to say Old Toby doesn't have a little THC in it?

What people in today's gay-saturated culture forget is that Tolkien grew up in a world where that sort of thing would (mostly) have never occured to him. I'm not saying ol' Tollers never encountered the occasional nancy-boy on the playing fields or in the barracks, but in his day it wasn't the first thing you thought of when you saw two men hug, if you see what I mean. Tolkien wrote what he knew--he knew about manly friendships and the kind of unselfconscious male bonding you just don't find any more--except maybe "Brain's Song." As for Astin's performance, well, I think it's a function of the culture. Sean doesn't fully understand what that kind of bonding even means--most guys don't anymore. And I think Peter didn't know how to direct him to bring it out.

As for the pipeweed, that line of Saruman's--"the hobbit's pipeweed has dulled your senses," or something like that--infuriated me. Again, Tolkien wrote about what he knew, and he knew tobacco. He explicitly stated that pipeweed was tobacco. That Jackson suggests it might be something else was one of the most appalling little moments in a movie I, like Mike, generally like.

Sampo

[SecretAgentSuperDragon]

Tolkien wrote what he knew--he knew about manly friendships and the kind of unselfconscious male bonding you just don't find any more--except maybe "Brain's Song."

I personally enjoyed "Heart's War" better than "Brain's Song."

[Hank]

As for the pipeweed, that line of Saruman's--"the hobbit's pipeweed has dulled your senses," or something like that--infuriated me. Again, Tolkien wrote about what he knew, and he knew tobacco. He explicitly stated that pipeweed was tobacco. That Jackson suggests it might be something else was one of the most appalling little moments in a movie I, like Mike, generally like.

I took that line as a little closer to "you've been eating too many donuts, lardass!", or even better "That tobaccy'll kill ya!"

[J-Proof]

Hehe - I liked the pipeweed line =)

Anyway - those of you who smoke cigars like myself, might note that cigar-smoking /does/ put you in a bit of a pleasent and carefree daze =)

[Petey Wheatstraw]

I wouldn't say he doesn't like them he just thinks, like I do, that they are insanely, ridiculously overrated.

Oh, yes, absolutely.

[Msampo]

Anyway - those of you who smoke cigars like myself, might note that cigar-smoking /does/ put you in a bit of a pleasent and carefree daze =)

Most assuredly. 

Sampo

[Sharktopus]

Anyway - those of you who smoke cigars like myself, might note that cigar-smoking /does/ put you in a bit of a pleasent and carefree daze =)

Most assuredly. 

Sampo

You realize that pleasant, carefree daze is actually caused my mild asphyxiation, right? It's lack of oxygen to your brain that makes you light-headed and giddy. It's one reason people are found dead on mountaintops for no apparent reason. This episode's random science fact was brought to you by the letter E. E is for euphoria.

And the pipeweed line, though misleading, is very funny.

[kodiakthejuggler]

Hehe - I liked the pipeweed line =)

Anyway - those of you who smoke cigars like myself, might note that cigar-smoking /does/ put you in a bit of a pleasent and carefree daze =)

Give me a rich, smooth Partagas, a glass of water, and a sunset, and I'm goooooooooooood!

[BotsInLove]

What people in today's gay-saturated culture forget is that Tolkien grew up in a world where that sort of thing would (mostly) have never occured to him. I'm not saying ol' Tollers never encountered the occasional nancy-boy on the playing fields or in the barracks, but in his day it wasn't the first thing you thought of when you saw two men hug, if you see what I mean. Tolkien wrote what he knew--he knew about manly friendships and the kind of unselfconscious male bonding you just don't find any more--except maybe "Brain's Song." As for Astin's performance, well, I think it's a function of the culture. Sean doesn't fully understand what that kind of bonding even means--most guys don't anymore. And I think Peter didn't know how to direct him to bring it out.

I gotta disagree here. I thought Astin's performance was great, and true to the book. The book said in Rivendell that Sam grabbed Frodo's hand when Frodo awakened- And thus Astin did.

It's really open to interpretation. Even back then, some people believed there was more to the Hobbit relationships then meets the eye, and I like to see it to. It really depends on who you are and what you believe. Now, do I believe their screwing like rabbits on a daily basis? No, but there definatly is a deeper love then just a platonic one. Sort of like an Oscar Wilde/Lord Alfred Douglas thing- The elder, Frodo, teaches the younger, Sam, and they have a love no one else can share.

*takes a breath* Done.

[gazoo93]

Hehe - I liked the pipeweed line =)

Anyway - those of you who smoke cigars like myself, might note that cigar-smoking /does/ put you in a bit of a pleasent and carefree daze =)

They don't call it "Sotweed" fur nuthin. 

[Natureboy]

I am really looking forward to this rifftrax.....the LOTR fanboys have gotten on my last nerve.

[BotsInLove]

Anyone else notice that the FotR riff is $4 instead of $3? I'll totally pay the extra buck, though.

[Petey Wheatstraw]

I just wish that I could download it sooner...

Edit:
Nevermind.

[Sharktopus]

What people in today's gay-saturated culture forget is that Tolkien grew up in a world where that sort of thing would (mostly) have never occured to him. I'm not saying ol' Tollers never encountered the occasional nancy-boy on the playing fields or in the barracks, but in his day it wasn't the first thing you thought of when you saw two men hug, if you see what I mean. Tolkien wrote what he knew--he knew about manly friendships and the kind of unselfconscious male bonding you just don't find any more--except maybe "Brain's Song." As for Astin's performance, well, I think it's a function of the culture. Sean doesn't fully understand what that kind of bonding even means--most guys don't anymore. And I think Peter didn't know how to direct him to bring it out.

I gotta disagree here. I thought Astin's performance was great, and true to the book. The book said in Rivendell that Sam grabbed Frodo's hand when Frodo awakened- And thus Astin did.

It's really open to interpretation. Even back then, some people believed there was more to the Hobbit relationships then meets the eye, and I like to see it to. It really depends on who you are and what you believe. Now, do I believe their screwing like rabbits on a daily basis? No, but there definatly is a deeper love then just a platonic one. Sort of like an Oscar Wilde/Lord Alfred Douglas thing- The elder, Frodo, teaches the younger, Sam, and they have a love no one else can share.

*takes a breath* Done.

So Sam and Frodo share the love that dare not speak its name? The whole gay vibe comes from Tolkien's early 20th century English boy's boarding school days leading pretty much directly into the Great War. When two young men spend that much time together in close quarters, be it a dormitory at Hogwart's or a trench on the Seinne, they develop a bond that we modern Americans will never quite understand. Those experiences greatly influenced Frodo and Samwise's relationship.