Winterpool sends us a breakdown on what the UK media has been saying about ROTK. [More]
Day: December 12, 2003
Winterpool sends us a breakdown on what the UK media has been saying about ROTK:
‘The Times (of London)’ remarks:
The film is not great art. It’s a Herculean assault course that runs the emotions ragged for an exhausting 3hrs 21mins. That said, it would be churlish not to gift the film the full five stars.
‘The Guardian’ also has their review posted online. Their reviewer had more ambiguous feelings about the conclusion, confessing both admiration and relief.
Because on the one hand, The Lord of the Rings is undeniably a landmark in cinema history, a creation of demented, kamikaze passion that all logic suggested should never work and yet somehow did. And on the other, I can’t say I’m sad to see the back of it. There are only so many elves a man can ogle in his lifetime, only so many bravura battle scenes one can sit through, and a finite amount of cod portentous dialogue one can endure without wanting to plug your ears with cement….
…In fact, for about four fifths of its run, I had The Return of the King confidently filed as a masterpiece – a big, stirring orchestral epic of a movie, full of blood and heroism and sacrifice and soul. The trouble is that it is also hellishly long, frequently preposterous and as humourless as a cat. By the end I couldn’t help feeling that it had overstayed its welcome by a whisker. Loitering for a half-baked epilogue, it bows out with a whimper, not a bang.
‘The Guardian’ also has a more general cultural piece on an issue that’s long interested me: how ‘nerds’ have come to dominate the imagination of pop culture.
Lissa (Line Leader, Cinemark IMAX of Tulsa) writes: We got word from our theater contact that the IMAX print is back and that it will be shown for our line party. A collective sigh of relief can be heard from all over Tulsa, OK. I’m guessing that means that the IMAX print is back everywhere.
Martin Zimmerman writes: Lord J.R.R.’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is set to steamroll through theaters across the land Wednesday. The third part of the trilogy is a nice enough movie, as far as ’60s hippie fantasy faves go. But just think what might have been…[more]
Chris writes: Christopher Lee (Saruman) is signing copies of his book in London on December 13th from 11am – 1pm at The Cinema Store. [More]
“The Lord of the Rings” head man Peter Jackson will receive this year’s Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Award, the most distinguished honor presented to filmmakers at the fest, is bestowed upon individuals who make significant contributions to American culture “through his or her accomplishments in the movie industry.” [More]