ROTK:EE

[sistermagpie]

• I'm watching the actor's commentary and the new scenes. One cute little thing is when Elijah is talking about "food acting" and the day Fran asked him for "better acting, less food," he has this moment where he channels Frodo and talks in an English accent. He says something like, "actually, it was in the culvert."



• Saruman's death: I like the way Saruman sets up Theoden's death scene by calling him a lesser son of greater men (or something like that). I also love Theoden's reminding Grima he was once a man of Rohan-men of Rohan RULE!!!



• I definitely see fictualities's point about Saruman saying something about Frodo and that destroying the whole point of the movie. In my mind, though, I think Saruman guessing in a general way about Frodo having been in danger since Gandalf sent him out of the Shire, rather than referring to the secret plan to literally destroy the ring. In canon Saruman is seeking a Halfling that's carrying something of great value, so I think he can refer to Gandalf sending Frodo into danger without knowing his plan.



• Wow. After all these years talking about the Spikey Wheel of Death, here it actually is. I think it works having Grima kill Saruman and get shot when he makes the move. It has echoes of canon, obviously, and the shot of Saruman falling from the tower is kind of beautiful and well, you can't beat it for symbolism, even if the landing is pretty damned unhappy. Also, Gandalf being set on fire was kind of cool.



• The drinking contest is like a Saturday Night Live sketch tucked into the movie. They might have gotten some lighter humor if they stuck with Legolas getting just a little drunk for the first time, but Gimli hardly needs more scenes like this. I do like Eomer looking so hopeful at Legolas, hoping he'll get drunk, but I don't like the scene at all.



• I love Pippin's being distracted from the song he sings with Merry and sharing that look with Gandalf, though I have no idea what it means, exactly. Is it about the Palantir? Billy Boyd is lovely there. Oh, and now that I've listened to the commentary, thank you Billy for explaining it is, indeed, about the Palantir.



• I like Eowyn's dream monologue. It did come across to me like Aragorn was comforting her like a child and she was coming at it from a, uh, different angle, without making a play for him. Plus it's Faramir's.



• Well, now we've finally reached the ultimate Jacksonized Tolkien moment with John Rhys-Davies telling us that dwarves, unlike elves, do not snore and fart in their sleep.


• Elijah sleeps with his eyes open? I guess they're so big his eyelids just can't cover them.



• Billy suggested the Indiana Jones Palantir switch? Ha!



• The word "morbid" sounds ridiculous coming out of Sam's mouth. It makes his stealing of Frodo's line kind of better for me, because at least "the king has got a crown again" is a phrase Sam could use. Telling Frodo he's indulging in morbid thinking is not.



• Also I do at least appreciate Frodo getting to show some knowledge of the world in telling Sam where they are, and making it clear that his line later to Sam about the journey back is Frodo humoring Sam, not Frodo needing to be told by Sam they're not coming back.



• VSD shout-out! Sam gets a scene to tell Gollum he'll kill him if he tries anything.



• I always wondered if the reason Gandalf has Pippin with him when he protects Faramir's men from the Nazgul...is that also why Faramir says it's only been 2 days since he saw Frodo and Sam when it should be more?



• Go Faramir! Wizard's pupil! Would not use the ring if Minas Tirith was in ruins! Knows what would have happened to Boromir! Woo-hoo! I like the addition of Sean Bean too, for making Denethor's madness clear, and just for looking like a perfume ad.



• "I remember Elijah saying he'd come back after a day's work and everything would just be sore: his elbows, his forearms, his fingers and his chest and stuff cause it's all jagged rocks and I thought, I'd love to hold you tight and just make you feel all better." When you hear Dom say things like that you have to wonder what the tinhats think is being censored by the studio.



• Faramir/Pippin scene I love, especially since Faramir talking about slaying dragons reminds me of Frodo telling Bilbo he spent his childhood imagining he was off with Bilbo on one of his adventures. Now I want stories about Faramir as a boy. Basically, I like the way the extra scenes use Boromir as the family member who sort of kept everything together, probably working as a bridge between his father and his brother.



• I like the ghostly hands in the Paths of the Dead. They're pretty.



• Peter Jackson gives himself a death scene. *cheers*



• I have to admit I did think that was a dummy of Elijah in the "Don't go where I can't follow," scene. His staring ability impressed me that much.



• I didn't feel like Eowyn had to be saved by Aragorn when Aragorn killed Gothmog. I mean, she's already fought Gothmog so we know she could usually take it and he has something against her. When he's coming at her she's not just waiting for him but crawling to grab a weapon. Then when Aragorn and Gimli take him down it's just part of their progress across the field; he doesn't see Eowyn, he's just chopping up a guy who's not paying attention. I felt like he just got killed by the battle in general, so Eowyn wasn't saved like a damsel in distress.



• DUDE!! Eomer finding Eowyn on the battlefield was surprisingly intense!!! Karl rocks!!! And good for him telling them he wanted to be by Eowyn's side.



• Houses of Healing. Err...alright. Okay. I mean, all we do really need is the two of them actually meeting each other. The newbie I saw ROTK with wanted to know if they got together just from seeing them stand next to each other. Plus, it's nice to know they'd already had sex in a bathtub and this was "Daisy's" first day.



• I like that Pippin has to really search for Merry for hours.



• Sean must be learning. He apologized for interrupting. And Elijah, of course, speaks up only to claim he constantly interrupts too, although I don't think he does. "If I'm having a thought I figure everybody else wants to know about it too." (((Seanwise)))



• "Super sexy lighting for naked Frodo." Hee.



• Yay for Sean and Frodo both agreeing that my interpretation of the "Sam returning the ring" scene is really better.:D



• Elijah chose that helmet??



• "Hit me, Sam!" Frodo gets to be clever and Sam gets to follow the order very well.


• Sorry Elijah, but JRRT actually did write archetypes and his characters (besides Gollum) were anything but ambiguous. I think he was kind of proud of it, actually.



• Luckily, Elijah redeems himself by getting that the scene where Frodo says the ring is "such a weight to carry. It's such a weight." is "a comment on how heavy the ring is becoming." {{{Elijah}}} I kid Elijah, because he and the gang did play Tolkien's characters as very human, which is what's great in the movie, and it does come from canon, even if there's nothing really ambiguous about the orc overseer.



• Oh, and the Mouth of Sauron is the freakiest thing ever. *applauds that*



• I really wonder why they didn't keep in some version of Frodo's promise to Smeagol that if he tried to take the ring he would wind up in the pit of fire. I mean, "Smeagol lied," is spooky the way it's delivered, but kind of silly since this is not the first time he has attacked Frodo. I can see Frodo desperately reminding him of his promise just to see if it works, but it wouldn't be much of a shock when it didn't. Also, it's not a case of Smeagol lying, I don't think, because in this world an oath is an oath. You can break an oath, but that's not lying, I don't think. Frodo himself says that the ring will hold him to his promise.



• Elijah explains that Frodo gets his last burst of strength from the threat to the ring, but I admit that just makes me wish they'd have Frodo fight Gollum off initially like he does in the book. That, I think, would clear up the confusion.



• I love Sean and Elijah's thoughts on their End of All Things speech. Heh. They both get to be selfish again.



• DUDE!!! Elijah mentioned our Q&A!! About the nod at the end! I now officially feel kinda sorta part of the movies.



• I so love all the actors saying how much they'd love a copy of their pictures.


• Also, I love that it's actually PJ's hand that appears in the frame to signal Sam's return to save Frodo from Shelob.




• I'm glad we've got the Viggo/Billy kiss onscreen.

I don't know how I feel about it vs. the TE. I'll have to watch it straight through to see how I feel about the flow etc. Right now my main feeling is there were some things I liked and some I didn't--kinda like the other EEs and TEs.