Mrs. Maggott
Home is where the cat is
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- Oct 2, 2002
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Mrs. Maggott said:I don't know of anyone who is saying that they have reached some sort of cinematic perfection.
Mrs. Maggott said:Furthermore, purists have not been permitted by FADs in many instances to simply debate in terms of faithfulness to Tolkien and still less on the issue of personal likes and dislikes.
Mrs. Maggott said:We have been challenged to debate them as films and so began such topics as the insane hillslope, the Olympic orc, the king's "indoor charge" and Frodo's "peek-a-boo" with the Ringwraith in Osgiliath etc. in TTT.
You didn't mean that literally( did you?!), and I take your point, but I'd give it the literal meaning as well. Sometimes that music does out-Wagner Wagner. And still no-one has told me why the heavenly choir yells "doo-wah" at the fallen staircase scene.Mrs. Maggott said:It is as if the music is always so loud that it's painful!
What IS that "Jackson-purist" thing about? You've got me baffled!jallan said:<Originally Posted by Greenwood
What is a "Jackson-purist"?> Touché.
I think few are driven crazy by this.
jallan said:I cannot understand and others cannot understand some of the silly changes that were made.
I haven't seen one who says the entire films are bad, and that PJ is a totally bad director. The opinion on that subject is that the films have SOME cinematic faults, and that, therefore, PJ is not FULLY competent in his job. That really isn't such a dramatic claim; perfection, and even near-perfection, are quite rare commodities in most professions.Greenwood said:....many purists go further and say that the films are bad as films and that Jackson is a bad director. That kind of assertion is open to challenge by the fact that the films have been so widely praised by professional film critics and film makers. When Jackson becomes the first director to ever be nominated as "best director" three years running by the Directors Guild, it is fair to point that out in refutation to the charge that he is a bad director.
The stridency with which purists attack the films and make....references to Jackson's personal apperance and charges of dishonesty.
The changes don't DESTROY the films for anyone, and no-one HATES the Arwen scene- as others have agreed, the very idea of having an emotion as strong as hate about a film is ridiculous.Ol'gaffer said:I have no problems what so ever with the scenes, and most short, that did not destroy the movies at least to me.
Arwen worked well in that scene. But, if you hate that scene....
joxy said:After people being "driven crazy", we now have them attacking with "stridency". I await evidence, for both claims.
strident -- 1. harsh in sound; grating: strident voices.
2. having an obtrusive, insistent character: strident opinions.
joxy said:I haven't seen, and can't find that MGIWH thread,
Snaga said:Firstly the movies themselves are an offense, since they are not by Tolkien. This means they must be rejected a priori, as a falsehood. But then, each 'deviation' may be unpicked with the assumption that it is 'wrong' at best, at worst 'heretical'. Certain omissions may be tolerated (e.g. Tom Bombadil) but expansion is not acceptable, and neither is any revision. This causes extreme revulsion and hostility - it is a falsehood. The idea that this might be a reasonable translation to the screen is irrelevant, because "changes the facts". Again, the obsession with the minutae is more important than the whole. But more importantly, the authoritarian attachment to a single version of the truth: that the 'canon' may not be changed, or polluted.
I'm sorry that I wasn't being clear. I was alluding to the fact that if music (any music) is always at the same ear-splitting level, it loses the ability to convey any meaning. Hence, if a film is a continuing offering of action, action, action without any intervening period during which the audience may "recoup" and "regroup" for the next period of action, action, action - well, one becomes the victim of "sensibility overload" - a sort of cinematic "battle fatigue". When that happens, it may be that the viewer simply begins to lose interest or becomes numbed by the pace and "volume" of the film. I know that I need periods of introspection even in action films or the whole thing becomes simply "too much" to be enjoyable.joxy said:You didn't mean that literally( did you?!), and I take your point, but I'd give it the literal meaning as well. Sometimes that music does out-Wagner Wagner. And still no-one has told me why the heavenly choir yells "doo-wah" at the fallen staircase scene.
Arvedui said:I have read the book in question more than 20 times, I guess. To be honest, I have lost count, but I know that I have read it at least once every year since I bought it. ....... (Yes, I am in fact able to distinguish between the two.) I know the book to well. I have made my own 'mental film' of the Lord of the Rings a long time ago.
Arvedui said:And I claim my right as an individual to both be allowed to have an opinion, and be able to voice that and give examples as to why I have that opinion.
Avedui said:So perhaps I could be respected for having an opinion, in the same way as I respect that others disagree with me?
Arvedui said:Which brings me to another point: I am not a 'purist.' I am who I am, and there is none like me elsewhere in the world. Frankly, I am sick and tired of people hiding behind labels. What I post is my own view, not the views of any group.
I haven't seen much from Thorin, but if he really said that about blasphemy, I'd say the idea was "silly" rather than "strident".Greenwood said:Thorin calling Arwen in the movie blasphemy....I would say fits definition number 2 above.
....you went on about Jackson's competence as a director because Saruman was not in ROTK....have you yet seen RTOK? Not having seen it certainly does not seem to give you pause in commenting about it.
My God It Was Horrible (part III) thread. That statement is rather interesting since while looking up your posts I found that you had posted on that thread at least twice.
You post multiple times per day, almost always criticizing the movies, but you can't seem to remember the posts you make. I'll use that as an example of someone "driven crazy" by the movies.
I take it that means that you are far more interested in criticizing the movies for not being Tolkien than you are in sharing your knowledge of Tolkien with readers who may have questions about the books....
Finally, when I am challenged to give examples, I will try to give examples. When these examples are then ignored and statements are then made that I have failed to give examples (in my opinion implying that I cannot and that my statements are therefore suspect), I will respond. When I give an example and joxy says that he has never seen that thread and cannot find it on the forum, I think it perfectly fair to point out that he in fact posted on that thread.
You WERE clear; I agreed with you, and I was making a feeble attempt at exercising my soh in my replyMrs. Maggott said:I'm sorry that I wasn't being clear.
having an obtrusive, insistent character: strident opinions
emphasis added
Greenwood said:This sort of thing has happened many times in movie productions, and on a much bigger scale. Alfred Hitchcock, high on any list of great film directors did a movie called Suspicion in 1941 starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine (who won an Oscar for her role as Grant's wife). In it Fontaine suspects Grant, who is a bit of a rogue, is also a murderer plotting to kill her. When Hitchcock finished the film Grant was a killer. The studio, the production board and initial test audiences hated it. No one would accept Cary Grant as a murderer. Hitchcock reshot a new ending and the film was a great success.
Another famous movie was Lost Horizon (1937), directed by Frank Capra from the classic James Hilton novel. Capra is another one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema. The story goes that when the film was shown to preview audiences, they hated it, particularly the opening section. Capra's response was to throw away the first one to two reels of the film (I don't remember if it was one or two). The film has been considered a classic ever since.
Until probably the 1970's it was not at all unusual for films to be shown to preview audiences before their general release and for scenes to be cut or even whole plot lines changed as a result of the audiences' reaction. Nobody in the film industry (or any film buff) would think anything about PJ cutting something as minor as a seven minute scene from a 3 hr 20 min film a month before it opened. Using something like that to attack PJ's abilities as a fim maker on a film that goes on to make the "year's ten best lists" of the great majority of film critics is one of the reason's the purist's complaints are not taken seriously.
Theatrical productions routinely have "out-of-town" try-outs and long preview runs while the directors rework the production and even the script before their official openings.
(you may find it here )
joxy said:As Mrs M said, you don't have to go to Venus to be able to talk about it
Ah! I hear my name being called and slandered without my permission or presence! I must intervene.Greenwood said:
Arvedui said:I know a place on the Web that has some images from Bakshi. Do you want the link????
We're back to the battle of the dictionaries! The NewOED says that strident means <loud, harsh, grating, presenting a point of view - especially a controversial one - in an excessively and unpleasantly forceful way>Greenwood said:I specifically referred to the number 2 definition of strident: <having an obtrusive, insistent character>
....you have been pointing to the dropping of Saruman from ROTK for weeks now on threads all over the movie section and citing it to question Jackson's competence as a director. I would also categorize that as insistent.
As for why Jackson dropped Saruman from the beginning, he has said that spending that much time on it seemed too much like ending the last film, rather than getting into the story of the new film. You may think that his decision is wrong, but he is the director.
BTW, on one of those threads I pointed out the following: <This sort of thing has happened many times in movie productions>
If however, one states that they haven't read any of those reports and still insists on discussing Venus, that is silly.
When you haven't seen the film there is no way you can form an opinion except on the basis of preconceived ideas....
They have made it quite clear that they will be going to see the film in an effort to validate their previously stated negative view of the film.
joxy said:You tell us PJ's explanation; I don't understand it, I can't make sense of it. How is the new start more of the film than the other?
Yes, I was trying to cut down my verbiage, and obviously cut it too short.Greenwood said:And I must say that I don't understand the last sentence above.
As for whether the opening of ROTK works, you might be in a position to have an opinion if you had seen it. As it is, I suspect that when you finally do see it you will criticize it since you have already invested so much time and effort in criticizing it.
You might as well say "I don't like spinach," when you have never tasted it because you have heard other people's description of spinach.
As for the meaning of "stridency", you asked for examples and I gave them. You have now accepted my statement that some purists have been strident and even applied the term to your some of your own posts.
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