[B5JMS] two quickies from jms

[b5jms at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: "Ben Frazer" <bfrazer at jhu.edu>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 12:29:07 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 62

So, just wondering what your opinion is on the trilogy taken as a whole? If
seen as the one picture it sorta is, do the first and third parts make up
for the middle, or does Two Towers drag the whole package down?

Just curious.


"Jms at B5" <jmsatb5 at aol.com> wrote in message
news:20031211041450.26181.00000493 at mb-m15.aol.com...
> Nothing major, more under the headings of FYI....
>
> 1) For those who follow my prose stuff...I've written a new short story,
"The
> Salvation of Lyman Terrell," which will be made available for reading for
free
> on amazon.com in the next few weeks (I'll try to remember to let folks
know
> when it goes up) as part of a series of such bonuses they're offering to
> customers.
>
> 2) Thanks to a series of industry screenings, I've had the opportunity to
see
> the final Lord of the Rings movie...and for those wondering, it's
spectacular.
> I loved the first one and considered it a masterpiece; wasn't quite as
happy
> with the second one, which I felt (and despite some corrections made via
the
> extended cut, still feel) that it suffered where it diverged from the
book, and
> where it replaced story logic with movie logic.
>
> But "The Return of the King" is magnificent on every level.  There are
times
> you feel you're looking at some forgotten history come to life, the
imagery is
> almost painfully beautiful at times, breathtaking and awe-inspiring other
> times.  I remember sitting there, thinking there are some things one feels
> priviliged to have lived long enough to have seen.  This is one of them.
It's
> brave, heroic, tragic, moving, funny, inspiring and wistful all at the
same
> time.
>
> So for those who were hoping for the best...your hopes will be realized.
It's
> just freaking magnificent.
>
>  jms
>
> (jmsatb5 at aol.com)
> (all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd.,
> permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
> and don't send me story ideas)
>
>
>
>
>




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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 20:41:50 +0000 (UTC)
Lines: 46

>So, just wondering what your opinion is on the trilogy taken as a whole? If
>seen as the one picture it sorta is, do the first and third parts make up
>for the middle, or does Two Towers drag the whole package down?

There's a story about an old woman who's walking her five year old grandson
along the beach one day, and a huge wave comes up out of nowhere and just
sweeps the kid out to sea, disappearing.

The grandmother is frantic, pleads with god to give her back her grandson, just
bring him back and she'll never ask for anything again.

Suddenly there's another huge wave, and bang, the kid is deposited at her feet,
safe and sound.  

She embraces the boy, hugs and kisses him, then looks up at the sky and says,
"He had a hat."

To overly criticize the second part is pretty much along the lines of, "He had
a hat."

That the LoTR adaptation has been done this well, or even half this well, is a
boon to everyone who's ever been a fan of the books.  Is the middle perfect? 
No, there are some bits I'll always kind of fast forward through...but where
was it written that it had to be perfect?  Perfect, to be honet, is the enemy
of good.

Part two is quite good.  Parts one and three are wildly sensational.  And, to
be honest again, if you're watching 10 hours of a story, you or the story are
inevitably going to fade a bit toward the middle.  

No, on balance, I think that the LoTR films will stand the test of time as a
true classic, whose importance will only grow as years pass.  It really
represents, more than the Star Wars films -- which have sadly fallen by the
wayside creatively -- the Everest of films in this genre, and it's certainly to
be considered one of the major edifices outside the genre as well.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2003 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)