My annual Christmas holiday Lord of the Rings Extended Edition rewatch inspired me to draw up some lists. They are related to the films, of course, because I sucked at reading the books. Before I get started, however, I'd like to present to you the one and only quote from the books that made such an impression on me that it has lingered in my mind. It's from The Two Towers, uttered by Treebeard.
"Those were the broad days. Time was when I could walk and sing all day and hear no more than the echo of my own voice in the hollow hills. The woods were like the woods of Lothlórien, only thicker, stronger, younger. And the smell of the air! I used to spend a week just breathing."
I love the idea of just breathing seven days straight! Haha, that's actually exactly what I felt like doing after returning back to Finland from China.
Now, from Tolkien's Middle-Earth to the one of Peter Jackson, and my favorite things about it.
You know it hasn't been long enough since your last viewing of a film, when you all the time feel like reciting the characters' lines with them as they speak, and you know to look forward to every single witty/cheesy one-liner and funny gesture. You also know that if that's the case, you've probably seen the film one (or two or three) too many times. In addition, since you still laugh at pretty much every single one of those witty/cheesy one-liners and funny gestures, you know there's a reason why you once again decided to spend numerous precious hours of your day following the same old story all over again. Finally, when you watch the said film for the hundredth time and find yourself noticing new things and understanding some gags you never did before, you know that either a) the movie is amazingly profound and multi-layered, or b) you're just a bit slow. (In this particular case, I'd put my money with option b.)
So, in other words... It was time to refresh some memories and dive into some sweet nostalgia, as yesterday me and a friend held another movie marathon. I know what you're probably thinking; The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy is a much too recent thing to feel nostalgic about. Oh well. I sometimes feel nostalgic about yesterday or for what happened at breakfast that day. So this is like ancient history for me, if you know what I mean. The third film came out 2007, and that's like WAY back. I mean, I was under-aged back then! ... Or was I? Hold on. Oh, I don't know, that's way too much mathematics for a humanist. (You can blame everything on that, you know? It's quite wonderful, really.)
EDIT // After much contemplating, I came to the conclusion that I was indeed NOT under-aged in 2007. Still, it was a pretty long time ago, so indulge me and grand be my nostalgia, if you please.
Seems like I still wasn't quite able to reach the point. PotC movies were a huge thing for me back in the dark Middle Ages (also knows as some four to eight years ago). I don't know if I've ever left a cinema so utterly delighted as I did after the first film. Later on, I've been expecting myself to outgrow the whole pirate thing, but all I have to do is pop on a DVD and it's clear that the charm is still there, and probably not going anywhere anytime soon.
The movies' charm lies in the adventure, in the fun and engaging characters, the humour and the lack of seriousness. Even if it gets a bit darker once in a while, the Disney behind it all ensures that the gloom won't last too long. I mean, no one really believed that Jack actually died in the end of DMC, because that would've been way too harsh, and basically the stupidest thing one could imagine to be doing to a character like that at that point. So we once again have to thank Disney for bringing us guaranteed happy endings, time after time, allowing us to enter and exit cinemas with gleeful smiles on our faces and a spring in our step! (Okay, I'm determinedly aborting the surge of Disney praise, before I get really going and it's too late to stop me.)
The general opinion basically is that the first film is good (it's on IMDb's Top 250, after all!), and the sequels are bad (though now that I checked, they aren't too poorly rated on IMDb, either). And yes, admittingly, CotBP definitely has the most coherent storyline, and it doesn't resort to ridiculous over-the-top absurdities as often as the sequels. (It's tough, you know? Having to try and top the grandness and inventiveness of the previous action scenes and storylines, because generally everyone believes it's better only if it's bigger. That's when the multiple Jacks and twenty-minute wheel-mill fights and overgrown roaring ladies step in... Anyway.)
As confusing as the sequels might occasionally be (like yesterday, during AWE, we were distracted for about ten minutes, talking about something else, and when returning our attention to the film, we felt completely lost, despite the numerous rewatches before. I mean... "How did she end up in there? Where is he at the moment? Whose side is he on right now? What's his hidden agenda this time, or does he have one?" It's quite puzzling, and not necessarily in a good way...), I still find myself enjoying them over and over again. At least the constant coat-turning and switching of sides keeps the characters somewhat interesting and unpredictable.
Captain Jack Sparrow is one of the greatest and most legendary characters created in the 00's, and that's pretty much all I need to say about that. I'm pretty sure old Johnny sealed his place in movie history the day he first pulled the costume and the eyeliner on and took his first staggering step as the wonderfully eccentric, ridiculously charming, geniously witty and thoroughly lovable pirate captain. Bless him.
In this particular rewatch my favourite character number two ended up being Tom Hollander's amazingly slimy and placidly douchebag-ish Lord Beckett, the vilain of the sequels (or one of them). The character is not one of those utterly horrible vilains, who you just love to hate. Though he can be pretty disgusting at times, in some twisted way I always end up feeling sorry for him. Maybe it's his death scene and that puzzled, beaten, totally dumnfounded look on his poor little face. Or maybe I feel for the actor for always having to play the slimy douchebag? Not that I'm complaining and nor should he; he does it ruddy well.
Other favourite is of course Geoffrey Rush and his varyingly evil Barbossa. I'm so much looking forward to seeing the character again soon, in slightly different circles... Also Jack Davenport's James 'Turncoat' Norrington always wins my sympathies in the end. Tia Dalma was cool before the third film watered down the whole character. Bill Nighy plays the infamous Davy Jones outstandingly behind all those (freaking impressively done) CGI tentacles.
And yeah yeah, of course I have to say something about the young and beutiful pair of super movie stars. Because yes, I like them, too. Orlando maybe looks confused more often than he should but he does action (and kissing!) very well. And Keira... What can I say, I like Keira. She does well in holding her head high among all those scruffy, grumpy men. And that speech of hers in AWE always guarantees some goosebumps, at least for me.
The marathon was a piece of cake really, or at least should've been. We were done in about seven and a half hours, and that should be nothing compared to the previous Star Wars and LotR Extended Edition marathons I've sat through. However, I was dangerously close to falling a sleep somewhere in the middle of Dead Man's Chest, and that's just not right. Am I getting old or what? (Well, clearly... It can be proved by the fact that Curse of the Black Pearl came out 2003, which is now eight years ago. Holy.......)
Anyway. The fourth instalment will reach the cinemas in just a few weeks, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I am more than excited about the comeback of Captain Jack and company (mostly just Jack, though). Bring it on, I'm so very ready.
Finally... Because the PotC films have some of the most hilarious blooper reels ever. Here we go, one more time. You know it never gets old.
This is what you can call a day well spent: On the Wednesday before New Year's Eve my friend and I watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended editions, of course) at pretty much one sitting, with only a couple of breaks of a few minutes. Took us almost precisely eleven hours and eleven minutes. Plus extra twenty minutes for the final end credits that have to be watched every time. Because of the drawings. And the music. Did you know that at the very end of the credits there're five minutes' worth of names of fanclubbers? We spotted some of the actors and quite a few Finnish names, too. Why didn't I get my name there, that would be a big enough life achievement for me...
I don't know what I'll do with this post. I will probably just keep repeating how fantastic the trilogy is and mindlessly list all the awesome things about it, but hey, what else can you do if you love something so much?
Ah, so what do I love about The Lord of the Rings? To mention a few things: the ridiculous attention to detail, the flawlessness of every armor, sword and floor tile, the Hobbit feet, that everyone has a long hair and that the men look so masculine despite, the use of the Middle Earth map, the intro of the first film with voice over by Cate Blanchett, Cate Blanchett's Galadriel who's the most beautiful thing ever, Shire, the Shire theme music, the accent of Billy Boyd, Boromir's line "They have a gave troll" in FotR (don't know why but I always got a kick out of it),
Gandalf's fireworks, Gandalf, Merry and Pippin's Green Dragon song, the overall colours of the film, how Andy Serkis and technology made Gollum a real living thing, Saruman's perfect nails, Tree Beard, how New Zealand IS Middle Earth, Legolas's moments to shine in each film (gave troll fight, shield surfing and the oliphaunt), the comic relief Gimli, how the Ring whispers to Frodo, the insane fact that Elijah Wood was only 18 when they shot the film (I just can't get over this! It's ridiculous!), the horrible moment in Helm's Deep when the young boys are being prepared for the battle, Peter Jackson's cameos,
Pippin's song in RotK, the Battle of Pelennor Fields ("Death! Death!" and the dead people kicking ass), "For Frodo" and how Merry and Pippin are the first ones to charge after Aragorn, "I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you", how every time I'm absolutely certain Frodo will let go at the Mount Doom (it's the look in his eyes. Thank you, 18-year-old Elijah Wood), "I'm glad you're with me, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things" and all the sixteen endings. And so on.
That list could've been so much longer. I had to tie my hands to stop there.
What else can I say? The Peter Jackson super trilogy is one of what I like to call my Ultimate Favourite Films. Though the pack is all the time sneakily growing larger, it's still quite an achievement to be accepted into that highly prestigious group. (Alright, people, I'm kidding a little here...) I hope they'll never remake these films, and I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to even think about that anytime soon. I'll be eternally grateful for Peter Jackson for being a real badass and not settling for anything less than perfection in creating Middle Earth and the peoples of it.
I could make another mindlessly long list of the things I love about the special features of the DVD's. They are awesomely awesome. (And I'm regretting a bit that this Christmas break I won't have time to listen to the cast commentaries... I did that last year, and it's amazing how they keep a hold of you almost as much as the films themselves.)
For me, it wasn't until I had watched all the Making Of's and other Behind the Scenes material, when I fully understood the magnitude of the whole project, the ENORMOUS amount of effort and hours that the ENORMOUS amount of people put in making the films happen. They all have my earnest respect, everyone from the set designers and stunt cordinators to the extras and catering staff. Also, I am openly and endlessly jealous at them, because they have experienced something larger that life, something I never will, and where ever they go in life, they can always say that they have been taken part in making something freaking spectacular.
P.S. The urge to travel to New Zealand is once again getting a bit unbearable. Please give me time and especially money, please, pretty please with a cherry on top?
P.P.S. Did you ever think where you would like to live if Middle Earth actually existed? Of course you did, who woudn't! I would definitely live in the Shire, no doubt about it, because I can't think of anything more awesome than being a hobbit. Also, I could have a nice retirement home in Rivendell and maybe a summer cottage in Lórien... Anyway, I wouldn't mind just travelling to New Zealand instead. Hmm? Extra time or money on your hands, anyone?
P.P.P.S. Oh oh oh, two more things I simply HAVE to say, in honour of the way the walls of my room looked like when I was about 14: 1) I'm still a big fan of Elijah Wood, even though he doesn't really do anything anymore. Those big blue eyes will have me forever! 2) A lot can be said about Orlando Bloom and his actual acting talents, but the man sure looks good doing action scenes in a blond wig, with that elf-like agility. Who cares if he just hangs around looking dumb and confused for the rest of the time...
I found this link in a comment in Mikaela's blog (just making sure you don't think I've spend my evening youtubing Orlando Bloom. I don't do that... anymore), and want to post it here, too, because I don't want anyone to miss a chance to feel an inch saner.
I think my favourite part is "Sex on the beach, whatever, and then you WOKE UP!" Hahaha, gotta love the fangirls...
Sharing the second place with Glee is a little British TV show called Extras. I first got familiar with Extras through a friend, who showed me some YouTube clips. I was immidiately convinced that I would like this show, so I bought both seasons and the Christmas special from London. And I'm glad I did!
Extras is about, as it says in the poster's wonderfully ambiguous tag line, the story of a man with small parts. In other words, it's about Andy Millman, who works as a movie extra and desperately tries to gain bigger roles and fame. Ricky Gervais plays the leading role in a very hilarious way, and he's also pretty much behind the whole show.
This is British humour at its best! The main characters get themselves into awkward and embarrassing situations, and it gets even worse when they try to talk themselves out of them. The word I'd like to use here is "myötähäpeä", but I don't know if there's a word for it in English. Anyway, at times, "myötähäpeä" is almost unbearable!
You have to give some respect to these world-class actors, who agree to star in a small tv show, only to make fools out of themselves. And they've got some HUGE stars! Ian McKellen, Samuel L. Jackson, freaking Robert DeNiro! What's funny is that they always play "themselves", or rather the parodies of themselves. It's great to see that some superstars are still willing to laugh at themselves. Here are a few examples of my favourite guest star appareances in Extras.
Kate Winslet talks dirty. In a nun costume. "Oh fuck my fucking knees!" And this one's almost a legend: "If you do a Holocaust movie, you're guaranteed an Oscar." Indeed you are. Ricky Gervais knows best. And I just love Kate Winslet! Seriously, who doesn't!
Orlando Bloom is over-confident about his charm. Plus bitterly mocks Johnny Depp. Who knew the pretty-faced, constantly confused-looking Legolas can do comedy? And I thinks it's so amusing how Maggie isn't even slightly interested in Orlando, although she tries to hit on basically every other man.
Daniel Radcliffe tries to loose his good-boy-imago. I just genuinely like Daniel! Not his acting in particular (though in addition to Extras, I've only seen him as that boy who does magic and stuff and has like a weird scar on his forehead, can't remember the name...), nor his looks, but I just like how he seems so abnormally... normal! I base this assumption on all the interviews I've seen and read. I really wish him only success for his post-Potter life. (Gosh, remembered the name, after all.) Right, and Daniel in Extras. He's SO FUNNY. SERIOUSLY! (Sorry for exploiting the caps lock, but he's HILARIOUS.) "I've done it! With a girl. Intercourse-wise." Ooooooh dear god...
I also have to mention this wonderful line delivered by Chris Martin of Coldplay (he's doing one of these "hey, many people die because of the lack of clean water, please help!" ads): "Can we get on with this? I've got to do AIDS and Alzheimer's and landmines this afternoon and I wanna get back for Deal Or No Deal. Plus Gwyneth's making drumsticks."
However, it's not only the celebrity guest stars that make extras funny. The main cast is awesome, too. Some of the funniest scenes are the ones between Andy and his, frankly, idiotic agent Darren. Just a flash of that stupid grin and I'll start loosing it... And of course there's Shaun Williamson playing Shaun Williamson, or, as he's often refered to as, Barry off Eastenders.
And here's my favourite: Maggie Jacobs, Andy's best friend. She's just, um... kind of slow? She also has that wonderful accent. She and Andy work just perfectly together. I could give you a dozen examples, but here's one:
Maggie: "I think I need to go for a wee. That's the third one already..." Andy: "Good. Well, keep me posted throughout the week. Maybe keep a journal."
Number one will have to wait until the end of the month, when the best show ever ends and possibly my life as I know it, too.
Iron Man 2 tomorrow! I can't believe I'm going to pay for it, I didn't even like the first one that much! Well, anything for RDJ... And sure, Sam Rockwell comes with the bargain, too. I'll report back to you!
