Catherine writes:
Despite the press that everything else “Tolkien-esque” is receiving, it almost passed unnoticed that “The Hobbit” was being performed at my local theatre, The Empire in Liverpool. Saturday was the final performance and it was Friday already. Sure enough, three tickets were promptly booked for the following evening. Myself, and my two companions settled down into the worst seats in the whole of the theatre, and with mixed reviews running through our minds, prepared ourselves for three hours of The Hobbit…
Overall, a very good performance and adaptation was presented. Michael Geary as Bilbo Baggins was everything I could have wanted and more. I don’t usually gush, but this guy was fantastic, he totally captured the essence of all things hobbity! His pose, his fumbling, and even his somewhat pompous expostulations were captured straight from Tolkien’s text. The 13 dwarves were shrunk to five, with Kili, Fili, Balin, Bombur, and of course Thorin, making the final cut. Despite this drastic reduction, it still worked and each dwarf showed their individuality on stage. Many of the dwarves songs were included, and a talented cast made sure that their interpretations were well sang.
The songs had a Celtic essence to them and on the whole were very refreshing. Gandalf held his own and had a authoritative presence on stage, but on the whole the show was stolen by Bilbo and the dwarves. The play was true to the text, Glyn Robbins did a very good job of adapting the story for the stage yet still retaining the needed detail and feeling present in the original text.
Things worth mentioning are the special effects (Smaug was indeed impressive, as was the Mirkwood spider dropping onto Bilbo from her web) the setting (simple yet very effective) and the dance!! The dancing and entertainment provide for the travellers at Beorn’s dwelling was the highlight of the show. The dance had a distinct Irish basis and yet again showed the versatility of the actors.
There are however, a few complaints. Apart from the amusing drunken wood elves “guarding” the prisoners in Mirkwood, I felt the elves were portrayed very poorly. Rivendell resembled an underwater kingdom, and Elrond had an uncanny likening to a lime green mermaid. Thranduil, Elven king of Mirkwood, did not impress me one bit. Also, parts of the play seemed to drag, especially the lengthy fight scenes.
However, all in all, a very good performance. It was wonderful to see how the passion of the actors brought Tolkien to life, in a very different way to the current films.
Since the book’s first publication in 1937, to this day The Hobbit – The Play captures the inner child in us all, and sends us back to Middle Earth as JRR Tolkiem first imagined it.
Catherine, Liverpool England
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Entertainment Weekly has a great pic of Viggo Mortensen at the recent booksigning held at Book Soup. Those who watched him on the Charlie Rose show a while back will probably realise how much the photo caption would annoy him. [More] Thanks to Kim for the link.
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Wisconsin State Journal has an article on David Salo, who provided the film trilogy with many of the translations for things that are written, spoken or sung in Tolkien’s invented languages. [More] Thanks to XC Badger for the link.
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With the incredible success of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, many members of The Lord of the Rings cast have sensibly used their appearances in Peter Jackson’s epic as a springboard for their movie careers. This year will see the actors and actresses we know and love so well as characters of Middle-earth appear in places such as Australia and Mexico as many of the LotR cast dabble in various genres, from action to drama to comedy. For movie buffs and casual fans alike, I’ve compiled a list of my ten personal highlights from all the movie projects involving the likes of Mortensen, McKellen and Wood, and over the space of today and tomorrow will list them off in alphabetical order – hopefully your appetites for the upcoming movie year will be suitably whetted as a result.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 
TBC 2003 – No Official Site – IMDb – Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood
The latest story from Charlie Kauffman, arguably the finest screenwriter in Hollywood at the moment after his most recent efforts Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Being John Malkovich, the film focuses on a man who after discovering his ex-girlfriend had all memory of him wiped from her mind, decides to undergo the same procedure. With a steller cast which includes Elijah Wood as the scientist who administers the memory-wiping, an accomplished director and an absoloutely fabulous script, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind could be THE sleeper hit of 2003.
Hidalgo 
October 3rd – No Official Site – IMDb – Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif, Frank Collison, Saïd Taghmaoui
From the director of Jumanji and Jurassic Park III, Viggo Mortensen once again finds himself on horseback in this true story detailing the life of Frank T. Hopkins, a courier who in 1890 travelled from the US to Saudi Arabia on his horse Hidalgo and competed in the internationally reknowned, 3000 mile-long “Ocean of Fire” race across the African desert. Disney executives believe that after The Lord of the Rings‘s success, the name ‘Viggo Mortensen’ alone should be enough to recoup the film’s $80m budget and secure a rare success for the lately shakey Mouse House: we think so too.
Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World 
June 6th – TheFarSideoftheWorld.com – IMDb – Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D’Arcy
Based on Patrick O’ Brian’s best-selling novels concerning the Napoleonic wars and directed by Peter Weir in his first project since The Truman Show, Master & Commander details the journey of the H.M.S Suprise under the guidance of Crowe’s Royal Navy Captain in a chase across the world after an armed and ruthless French privateer. Billy Boyd features as one of Crowe’s trusted ship-mates on the Suprise and should reap the benefits of starring alongside the Oscar winner in what should prove to be an exciting and profitable period piece.
The Matrix: Reloaded & Revolutions 
May 15th & November 7th – WhatIsTheMatrix.com – IMDb – Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
It’s typical…you wait four years for a sequel to The Matrix, and two come along at once. Eagerly-awaited ever since the first movie came out of nowhere and took the world by storm in 1999, ‘Reloaded and ‘Revolutions are undertaking one of the most ambitious story arcs ever; one giant story set over the space of 24 hours depicting Neo’s attempt to prevent Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith and his superiors destroying humankind once and for all, split across two films. Though for LotR fans 2003 belongs to The Return of the King, for the rest this year belongs to the Wachowski Brothers magnum opus.
Ned Kelly 
25th April – NedKellyTheMovie.com – IMDb – Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush
Before starring in The Lord of the Rings, Orlando Bloom featured often on British TV but hardly had a movie career, a fleeting role in Wilde his only credit; my how things have changed. Based on the novel Our Sunshine detailing the life of legendary Australian bushranger Ned Kelly played by Heath Ledger, Bloom takes second billing as one of the members in Kelly’s gang, Irishman Joe Byrne. With its release on the not so distant horizon, look for Bloom to impress in what could be the first great heist movie of the 21st Century.
Check back tomorrow (Wednesday) to see the second half of the must-see list, including Sean Astin and Christopher Lee’s sequel to The Wicker Man, Riding the Laddie, and Sir Ian McKellen’s X-Men 2.
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Ringer Spy Kerbear reports that the Critics Choice Awards were on tonight and that Gollum snared an award for Best Digital Acting Performance in The Two Towers. Our congratulations go out to Andy Serkis and the WETA team for their fine work. [More]
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Ringer Fan Aura Boy was was sitting in a coffee house reading the Fellowship of the Ring and across Bilbo’s famous quote; “I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; And I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” Wanting to clear up the confusion, threw together this fun little chart to help this famous line. (*giggles* – Dem.) [More]
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