No single character from Two Towers has caused more controversy than the writing of Faramir. Some people have been outraged enough to brand it “character assassination”. Keeping in mind that there’s much more of Faramir to come in RoTK, what do we think so far?
The Movie Characterisation of Faramir. Success or Failure?
Is Faramir off-base and miscast, as some have suggested, or have Jackson and Boyens brought onto the spotlight the darkness within and desperate desire for his father’s approval? What can we expect to see in Return of the King? And regardless, does Jackson’s interpretation enhance or detract from Two Towers? [More]
Though The Two Towers has been in the most part a greater success commercially for Peter Jackson et al. than The Fellowship of the Ring, there is no doubt that the second film in the trilogy has attracted greater criticism from Tolkien fans and purists, particularly on the Internet. This weekend, the Hall of Fire crew invite you to join your fellow purists in arms as we rant and rave about the changes made to The Two Towers in what we call The Second Annual Tolkien Purists Whine and Cheese Party™.
Though many fans accept that due to running time constraints and the nature of film as a media, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh and Stephen Sinclair have made some changes to The Two Towers that have been met with a mixed reception from ‘Rings fans across the world; drastic changes to the character of Faramir, drastic changes to the Elves participation in the War of the Ring, numerous changes to the story in general – all have been met with firm criticism in one form or another.
Is Peter Jackson’s The Two Towers a masterstroke or a massive blunder? Is the portrayal of Faramir in the movie an accurate portrayal or a shambolic misinterpretation? Can some fantastic CGI be enough to excuse the shortcomings of apoor screenplay? Whether you share or disagree with these views, visit us this weekend for one heck of a discussion!
Upcoming Discussions: To Be Announced
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
It’s movie release time, and the spoilers are definitely ramping up. So, to save the sanity of those who are avoiding movie spoilers, we’ve created a special movie talk channel – #moviechat .
If you want to discuss the Two Towers with likeminded people, head to #moviechat . (People who’ve never been there before, please note that our guidelines prohibit swearing.)
For our java users, it’s as simple as selecting moviechat from the dropdown list and connecting. For other clients, type /join #moviechat once you’ve connected to the server.
Reminder: Do not take your spoilers into #theonering.net as it will only annoy the moderators there! Some people have to wait till after Christmas to see the movie, and we don’t want their experience ruined.
The time for discussing chapters from The Two Towers is over. The time for analysing the latest trailer frame-by-frame and marvelling over our first glimpse of the CGI Gollum has come to an end. The many hours spent speculating over whether PJ’s changes to the storyline will work or not are now in vain. Next Wednesday, The Two Towers will be released worldwide and the lives of many Tolkien fans, for better or for worse, will change dramatically. This weekend, the Hall of Fire staff invite you to join us for the final pre-‘Two Towers discussion to be held by TheOneRing.net:
The Two Towers Movie Preview
When The Lord of the Rings went into pre-production in the latter part of the last century, the name ‘The Fellowship of the Ring‘ was on the lips and mind of every Tolkien fan for countless months…until December 18th 2001. Once The Fellowship of the Ring was released to the masses, their appetite for more was whet; a desire to see more of this beautiful Middle-earth that Peter Jackson had created from real locations and computer graphics; a desire to see more of Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Elijah Wood as Frodo, Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn; and the name on every pair of lips and every mind soon changed to The Two Towers.
Parallels were quickly drawn up between the second installment of Tolkien’s trilogy and George Lucas’ Star Wars trilogy: The Empire Strikes Back is a superior film to A New Hope because the situation that the characters find themselves ensnared in is incredibly bleak and hopeless, something which could also be argued of the subject matter in The Two Towers. Many people prophesized before the first trailer was even released that this would be the finest part in Jackson’s version of The Lord of the Rings – we shall see soon enough.
This weekend, join us as we take a detailed look at The Two Towers in a spoiler-filled discussion detailing what we know about the movie’s storyline based on the last year’s worth of news. From Oliphaunts to Fell Beasts, from Faramir to Wormtongue, we will discuss every aspect of The Two Towers in hope of maintaining our patience between now and December 18th 2002; the day The Two Towers is upon us, and the anticipation for The Return of the King begins.
Upcoming Discussions: Dec 21 & 22 – The Two Towers: The Movie Dec 28 & 29 – The Two Towers Mystery Discussion
Place: #thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
If you missed Saturday’s live chat with Brian Sibley, author of the definitive LoTR movie companion books as well as adapter of LoTR for the legendary BBC Radio series, the transcript of the chat can now be read in our features section. [More]
TheOneRing.net’s chatroom, Barlimans, has become home to many, many people from all over the world over the years. Our sense of community has for many folks become even more than just chatting. We are part of a vast online family now. We share in the hopes and dreams and triumphs of our fellow regulars. And on the other side of the coin, we come to Barli’s for support and aid when things are not looking so good; and we are given that support freely and with love by our friends here when we need it.
A week ago one of our friends, Moragen, told us she wouldn’t be in for a while, that her 13 year old daughter Mandy had had an accident the previous week, hitting her head. A week after the accident, Mandy suffered a stroke and was taken to the nearest children’s hospital. The doctors did everything they could, but Mandy died in her mother’s arms Friday, December 6th.
My heart swells to know that so many people care so much for Moragen and Mandy. I have seen an outpouring of care and concern from folks who might not even know Moragen. We asked for thoughts and prayers to be sent for Mandy and her mom. When the sad news came to us today, I shared with everyone in Barlimans… and people were asking what they could do now. Since we are Moragen’s online family, I suggested that people send their thoughts to Moragen. I have received several e-mails to pass on to Moragen and her family. I will send these on in a day or two.
Moragen, I know you’ll be reading this. There is no anguish such as you are feeling now and our hearts go out to you and your family. There are hearts filled with love and caring all over the world, and we send our love, prayers and yes, even good vibes to you in your sorrow. We grieve with you. We love you. : )
