The Hobbit

Cate Blanchett marches into action as Galadriel in The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Gandalf has been taken prisoner, and Galadriel is part of a rescue team sent to get him.

She goes barefoot throughout this scene (which runs for a good portion of the film).

In fact, I believe Galadriel goes barefoot throughout the entire movie (she wears the same outfit throughout), but this is the only scene where her feet are seen.

This scene is the first hint that Middle Earth might be dealing with a far more powerful wizard than they thought. It's also a pretty nice BF scene that shows that the Hobbits aren't the only ones who go sans shoes.

It is October 24th

"You are in the house of Elrond. And it is ten o'clock in the morning, on October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know."

That is what Gandalf says to Frodo when the young Hobbit first wakes up after a long ordeal. Today's the 24th of October, and I always try to either re-watch The Fellowship of the Ring, or something else that has to do with my favorite fantasy saga. But I have already been visiting Middle-Earth a great deal recently, in the form of The Rings of Power, on Amazon Prime. And, sadly, it's been a disappointing trip.

The series is spectacular to look at, with gorgeous visuals, but it oddly lacked the epic, operatic feel of the Peter Jackson films. When the Orcs were set loose on Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, it was an awesome and even frightening scene. When Adar rallies his troops in the forest, it was a very 'meh' moment overall. And while I'm tempted to say that it is just a TV show, with nary the budget of the films--that's simply not true. Amazon spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this series, so it SHOULD have been as epic as the Jackson films. But there are too many moments where it feels just like a cheaply done TV series.

When I heard the series would be taking place in the fabled kingdom of Númenor, I couldn't wait to finally see this majestic island and its mighty people. But even Númenor was a major let down, being depicted as it was in the series as just another bland fantasy kingdom. And Morfydd Clark has considerable charm and is a fine actress, but her Galadriel ultimately comes off as looking very dopey (I mean, is THAT where Sauron has been hiding all along? Really?).

While the first season of The Rings of Power was not good as I was hoping it to be, I'm not giving up on the series, which has been renewed for a second season. Hope springs eternal, as they say. And perhaps hope can still bloom in the lands of Middle-Earth during the second season. We shall see. Happy October 24!

LOTR: Rings of Power

Well, I finally saw The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and I have to say that I quite enjoyed it. Keep in mind that, at this point, I have only seen the first two episodes, and while it's been 'so far, so good,' we still have eight more episodes to go in the first season. Amazon Prime gave us the first two episodes together right out of the gate, and one thing I really liked was each of the two episodes had a sixty minute-plus run time. I hope the other episodes coming down the pike are just as long.

Amazon spent about five hundred million on this season alone, and it shows. This is easily the most cinematic, most epic-looking series I've seen. The effects are also marvelous; they're extremely well done. We have a cast of disparate characters all off in far flung corners of the realm, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. As I mentioned, it's still too early to make an overall assessment of the entire season, but I'm more than happy to continue on this journey.

Daylight Savings Time

Hello, this is Miranda Otto as Éowyn from the Lord Of The Rings films. These shots of her sleeping peacefully are from the third film, The Return of the King, just after a celebratory party that was held at her palace.

I'm willing to bet this is what the majority of my fellow Americans look like today (half of them, anyway) after losing an hour's sleep last night, thanks to this silly Daylight Savings Time BS. Excuse me if I seem a little cranky, but I also didn't get much sleep last night. We'll resume our regular broadcasting schedule tomorrow, after some proper shut eye. :)

The Hobbit

I've re-watched The Hobbit films recently, and there's something that I noticed in the third one, the Battle of the Five Armies.

Galadriel, played by Cate Blanchett, goes barefoot during one of the battle scenes.

It's the fight scene to rescue a captured Gandalf from a mysterious evil wizard. And she's sans shoes throughout the entire scene.

Of course, we know exactly who this evil wizard really is, don't we? But they won't deal directly with him until The Lord of the Rings.

October the Twenty Fourth

In the Lord of the Rings (the Fellowship of the Ring), Frodo awakens after a particularly nasty encounter with the ring wraiths to find himself in bed with Gandalf sitting at his side.  "You are in the house of Elrond," Gandalf tells him. "And it is ten o'clock in the morning, on October the twenty-fourth, if you want to know."

Seeing how today is October the twenty-fourth, I wanted to acknowledge this day in LOTR history. And, also, while still addressing the basic theme of this blog. For example, later in the same film, Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) goes for a long walk barefoot.

She's headed for a magical reflecting pool that predicts the (possible) future.

It's a really long walk. Galadriel should consider bringing the reflecting pool closer to her living quarters. Or maybe all of this really *is* her living quarters. These Elves and their cribs, am I right?    

An Elven break

I love this shot of Liv Tyler, in costume (except for shoes) as her Lord Of The Rings character Arwen. I like the idea that Arwen went barefoot when she was home among her fellow elves.

Amazon Prime is forging ahead with its LOTR TV series, and at first I wasn't sure if this was a good idea. But Amazon has shown that they can make some great TV series (The Man In The High Castle, Hanna, The Boys), so I'm willing to give them a chance. Besides, it's not often that we get a multi-million dollar high fantasy series on TV.