Good guests know when to leave. Better hosts know when to make them.
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 8: Farewell to Lórien
Chapter synopsis: The Company is about to leave Lórien, and the Elves give them three light boats to ease their journey down the Anduin; they also give the Company grey elven-cloaks, several good ropes, and some lembas, a special kind of bread, very little of which can give one enough strength for an entire day. As they sail down the river for a while, they meet a ship whose shape resembles a swan. Aboard it there are Celeborn and Galadriel, and the Company is invited aboard for a farewell feast. Galadriel gives a gift to each member of the Company, most notably a crystal phial to Frodo, a box of soil from Lórien to Sam, and a silver brooch with a green gem to Aragorn. Then the Company finally leaves Lórien and continue their voyage; leaving that fair land is a great grief to all of them.
These episodes are from the sixth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, my favorite season for the show. I’m rating the episodes on a scale of 1 to 10 with the following meaning:
In addition, I’ll be rating (on a scale of 1 to 10) the historical importance (HI) of the episodes – looking at how much they tie into other Star Trek episodes or lay down important precedents.
Times Arrow Part 2: 8
Trapped in 19th century San Francisco, the crew of the Enterprise tries to stop aliens from killing more humans.
Unlike the concluding episodes for “The Best of Both Worlds” and “Redemption”, the resolution of “Times Arrow” had the basics of its storyline worked out while the first part being was written – making it easy for the writers to deliver a fulfilling conclusion to Part 2. Like the first part, this episode includes some interesting whimsy, although it’s delivered in a more comedic way. The episode also features one of the most noteworthy guest performances in Star Trek history: Jerry Hardin as Mark Twain. Hardin nails the part so well, he steals the show from Brent Spiner (Data) and Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan), although neither would likely complain. One thing’s for sure: this two parter is one of the more unique offerings from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek as a whole.
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 7: The Mirror of Galadriel
Chapter synopsis:
The Company spends several days in the capital city of Lothlórien; they meet Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel there, and talk with them about their Quest and about Gandalf. One evening Galadriel takes Frodo and Sam to a garden enclosed with a hedge; she fills a silver basin with water from a stream, which creates a magic Mirror. She permits them to look into the mirror, but warns them that it may show the past or the future, and it can be treacherous to shape one’s actions according to the visions in the mirror. Sam looks in the mirror first, and sees trees being cut down all over the Shire. Then Frodo looks in the mirror, and sees many things: Gandalf in a white robe; Bilbo, walking about his room; the Sea; the Eye of Sauron. Frodo sees upon Galadriel’s finger Nenya, one of the Three Rings, and offers her the One Ring, but she rejects it.
Here’s my latest book review for TheOneRing.net. This one has a trivia contest where the question is, “What year was TheOneRing.net founded?” I’ll give you a hint: it was the same year principal photography began for The Lord of the Rings movies.
J.W. Braun’s Mailbag:
Are there plans for extended editions of The Hobbit films? – Mattie
If I were to take your question literally, my guess is the answer is no. Some years back, Peter Jackson mentioned that he couldn’t have planned the extended editions for The Lord of the Rings because it would have been maddeningly difficult to manage two scripts (and shoot two different versions) for each film. What happened, however, was that the natural process of preparing the films for the theater (where pacing and running times are critical issues) led to the possibility of alternate versions for home viewing (where momentum and time matter less, because the viewer has the option of using the pause or stop button on their remote control.) So even if extended editions for The Hobbit aren’t in the works right now, it’s possible we could still see one sometime next year. – JW
Dear Mr. Braun: In response to your recent post about the continuity problems: if memory serves, Sam is wearing the Ring when he throws himself at the doors which separate him from his master Frodo at the close of Book IV of LotR. At the beginning of Book VI, the next mention of a change in the disposition of The Ring is when Sam puts it back on. No reference is made to Sam having taking the Ring off between the time he puts it on near the end of Book IV and the time he puts it on near the beginning of Book VI. – Bert
It ‘s true that Tolkien does not mention that either the Ring has slipped off Sam’s finger or has been taken off by Sam some time between the end of Book IV and when Sam puts it back on at the beginning of Book VI. While we can infer that this must have happened, it would have been better for Tolkien to have included in the story. Then again, Tolkien puts ten chapters between Books IV and VI, and so most people will never know the difference! (Actually, on a sidenote, I have actually read The Lord of the Rings a few times by skipping Book IV at first, going straight from Book III to Book V – before then reading Books IV and Book VI one after another. It’s not something I’d ever recommend to a first time reader, because there’s a reason Tolkien wrote the story in the order he did; but if you’ve already read The Lord of the Rings, and you want to reread the books with a new twist, I’d give it a try. It’s really interesting to read the story told in Books III and V without having the momentum broken in the middle, and the same is true of Books IV and VI. Also, by reading Frodo and Sam’s adventures without breaking away to read about other characters, I feel I’m able to understand even more how they feel about their isolated journey.) – JW
JW, do you think the creatures in The Hobbit films will talk, unlike the trolls, eagles, and Shelob in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings? – Doug
(Spoiler Alert!) It’s a pretty good bet that Smaug will talk, and probably some goblins too! As for the spiders and eagles, no voice actors have been announced, and it could be that Peter Jackson has decided it would be more consistent with his Lord of the Rings films for these creatures to remain silent in the hobbit movies. Of course, if we’re talking about consistency, then the trolls in The Hobbit should be speaking, right? In the first Lord of the Rings film, Bilbo says the trolls “were all arguing amongst themselves about how they were going to cook us.” And as my TORN colleague Quickbeam has recently reported, that’s exactly what will happen in the first hobbit film! – JW
Cliff Broadway of TheOneRing.net saw the ten minute Hobbit preview at CinemaCon on Tuesday and spoke about the content. Here’s a summary of what he had to say, thanks to Silverlode from TheOneRing.net message boards (spoilers!):
If Tolkien wrote the previous few chapters to make people want to make films out of his work, he did a good job. He then, to be a jerk, added the next few chapters to make the task more difficult.
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, Chapter 6: Lothlórien
Chapter synopsis:
The company continues on and enters the forest of Lórien, a strange, wonderful land, where many ancient and fair things still live on as they did in the Elder Days. They are stopped by three guards, Elves of Lothlórien, who allow them to sleep in their tree-platforms. This proves good as a host of Orcs passes beneath the trees that night, and Gollum is also seen spying around. The following day they reach Cerin Amroth, the Mound of Amroth, of which Aragorn seems to have very pleasant memories.
My colleague Cliff Broadway of TheOneRing.net saw the ten minute Hobbit preview yesterday at CinemaCon, a convention for theater owners in Las Vegas. He reports that he saw:
- The White Council featuring Saruman, Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond.
- Riddles in the Dark with Gollum and Bilbo
- The Trolls – Tom, Bert and Bill – all with dialogue!
- Gandalf in Dol Guldur with Thrain
- Legolas and Tauriel in an action sequence and a tense threat to Thorin!
- Radagast the Brown in a bit of comedic glory
Meanwhile, The Los Angles Times is reporting that the preview, shown in 3D at 48 frames per second, drew a mixed reaction. As the newspaper reports:
Indeed, the footage shown did seem hyper-realistic. An opening aerial shot of dramatic rocky mountains appeared clearer than the images in most nature documentaries. But the effect was different when applied to scenes with actors dressed in period costume, whose every move — and pore — was crystal clear. Such realism put off some trade show attendees, who complained the footage didn’t feel enough like a traditional film.
“It looked like a made-for-TV movie,” said one projectionist, who requested anonymity because of his affiliation with a competing studio. “It was too accurate — too clear. The contrast ratio isn’t there yet — everything looked either too bright or black.”
One Los Angeles-based film buyer was more enthusiastic, saying that, though he felt like the footage looked live, he still found the technology intriguing.
“The liberals that run the show just can’t accept that there might, in fact be a force out there that can’t be reasoned with. If we just send Madeline Albright and conduct enough diplomacy, even Borgs can join the Federation!” – Anonymous Online Reviewer
Yes, today we’re going to get political! I’m reviewing six Star Trek The Next Generation episodes, one of which opened a firestorm of political debate. Another one might be the greatest Star Trek episode of all 715 ever made and is a must see even if you’re not a Star Trek fan. (Like all the Star Trek episodes, it’s available instantly on Netflix.)
These six episodes are the last six from the fifth season of TNG, which means I’ll also be looking back at the season as a whole. I’m rating these episodes on a scale of 1 to 10 with the following meaning:
Today in Las Vegas at CinemaCon, ten minutes of The Hobbit will be shown in both 3D and 48 frames per second to theater owners as part of an event where all of the major studios will present preview clips of their upcoming slate of films.
This is reminsicent of the 25 minute preview of The Lord of the Rings was shown at the Cannes Film Festival seven months before The Fellowship of the Ring was released. (Specifically, viewers got to see the Moria sequence, which created a lot of buzz in the press.)
