Quotation of the day ~ J.R.R. Tolkien:
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it
would be a merrier world.
Just finished watching, for the third
time, the DVDs of Peter Jackson's “The Hobbit” trilogy, and i
have a major problem with it.
Don't get me wrong: i love it. The
action is exciting beyond belief -- i was sweating at times -- there are moments of great sadness that
had me (almost) on the edge of tears, the attention to detail is
impeccable, and the CGI is mind-blowing.
My problem is, “The Hobbit,”
Tolkien's book, is a fairly slender volume (just over 300 pages in my
edition) and a slender tale, yet Peter Jackson felt it necessary to
stretch it out over three films, each of which was close to three
hours long. To fill it out, he included many products of his own
imagination. To be sure, he's a visionary, but ... he's no Tolkien.
Some of his additions are fine, but some are simply stupid, for
example when Thorin Oakenshield imagines himself being engulfed in
a sea of golden quicksand. Yeah, yeah, we know: Thorin is obsessed with
Smaug's treasure, already. Sheesh. About as subtle as an ingot in the
ear-hole.
So, i think that possibly Mr Jackson
forgot what Prof. Tolkien said and i quoted above, and was thinking
of profit lines rather than artistic integrity: two films would have
been more than adequate.
End of rant.
I haven't written a playlist in a
while, here's a recent one:
The Beatles - Let It Be
Oysterband - Diamonds On The Water
Kim Mitchell - Aural Fixations
Peter Hammill - pH7
Peter Hammill - And Close As This
Various Artists - Morris On The Road
Trigger Hippy - Trigger Hippy
Jimi Hendrix - Band Of Gypsys, Live At
The Fillmore East
Wishbone Ash - On Air
Rory Gallagher - The Beat Club Sessions
Fish - A Feast Of Consequences
Billy Joel - Streetlife Serenade
Linda Ronstadt - Greatest Hits
Jethro Tull - Benefit
Jethro Tull - War Child
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