This 1989 movie by a young Peter Jackson is very bizarre. It’s like a parody of The Muppets. It has music, heartbreak, betrayal, bdsm, threesomes, fur ball murder, a fly that eats shit out of the toilet like one would eat chili, stds, binge eating, and racist flashbacks.
It’s truly bizarre. Would I watch it again just to scrunch my nose at it?
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage
Synopsis:
“The Hobbit” follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.
Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
Stars: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage
Synopsis:
“The Hobbit” follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.
Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.
A word or two about the selfie stick since it seems to have created a bit of a ripple in RA universe the last few weeks.
Hello! I love the selfie stick. I mean it allows the user to show his/her surroundings which means that it’s really about getting something in the photo besides yourself. Wish I’d had one when Armitage Besotted and I were trying to get the Brooklyn Bridge in our selfie. But…
Whether it’s fair or not, numbers (and especially somewhat sure numbers) matter to those who are investing in movies. Some of them may only be doing it for the money (gasp) and not for artistic reasons. In China a limited…
I forget how tall Lee Pace, Christopher Lee, Richard Armitage and Hugo Weaving are, it’s always a mild shock seeing them in contrast to the boss dwarf, Peter Jackson.
‘Over the course of four days we filmed everything we needed. Elijah Wood and Ian had become friends back on Lord of the Rings, and Elijah was on set in London every day, giving Ian additional support.In the finished movie, I hope that audiences just see Ian Holm reprising Bilbo. But what I experienced on set was a wonderful actor delivering his last performance. It was incredibly brave of him to do that, and very emotional for those who witnessed it.’
I’m feeling very sad at the passing of Sir Ian Holm.
Ian was such a delightful, generous man. Quiet, but cheeky, with a lovely twinkle in his eye.
Back in early 2000, before we started shooting our Bilbo scenes for The Fellowship of the Ring, I was nervous about working with such an esteemed actor, but he immediately put me at ease. Standing in Bag End on the first day, before cameras started rolling, he took me to one side and said that he would be trying different things in every take, but I shouldn’t be alarmed. If, after five or six takes, he hadn’t given me what I needed, then by all means I should give him specific direction.
And that’s exactly what we did. But incredibly his varied line reads and performances were all quite wonderful. He rarely needed direction. He gave us an amazing range of choices to select from in the cutting room.
We settled into a very enjoyable four weeks, as we shot the first 30 minutes of Fellowship.
One day we had Bilbo delivering an account of his early adventures to an audience of spellbound three and four year olds, who are sitting cross legged at his feet in the party field. We started by filming Ian’s performance telling the story - but we also needed angles on the children reacting to various dramatic moments. But young kids get bored very quickly, and Ian and I quickly realised that they couldn’t hear the same story over and over again, as we captured the various angles we needed.
I suggested that to keep the kids’ attention, he should make the story a little different in each take … adding extras bits, making stuff up … so long as he gave us the essence of what was in the script. I told him not to worry and that I’d figure it out in the cutting room.
However, we also needed the kids to stay in place while we quickly moved the cameras around, from one angle to another. On a film set, “quickly” means 15 - 20 minutes. So, while this was happening, and no cameras were rolling, I whispered to Ian that he was going to have to keep them entertained. I helpfully suggested that he could, “tell them other stories between shots”. And that’s exactly what he did. After a couple of hours, we shot everything we needed.
As the kids were ushered off set, and the crew moved onto the next sequence, Ian said that he’d never worked so hard in his life!
Over a decade later, we hoped that Ian would play Bilbo again for the opening scenes of The Hobbit. Fran and I had dinner with Ian and his wife Sophie in London, and he told us that he was very sorry, but he couldn’t do it. Adding to our shock, he confided that he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and could no longer remember lines. He had difficulty walking, and certainly couldn’t travel to New Zealand. Always a private man, he told us that he’d basically retired, but wasn’t announcing it.
This was a blow because we had worked out a nice way to hand the role over from Ian as Old Bilbo, to Martin Freeman as Young Bilbo. I described this to him, and he liked it. I also told him how my mother and an uncle had both endured Parkinson’s for years, and I was very familiar with the effects of the disease.
At this point, our dinner - which we thought would be about us describing the new scenes we’d like him to do, and Ian thought would be about him explaining why he couldn’t do it - suddenly turned into a think tank, with Ian, Sophie, Fran and I trying to figure out a process that would allow Ian to play Bilbo one last time.
We’re shooting the movies in New Zealand - but what say we came to London and shoot his scenes close to home? By the end of the dinner he nodded slowly, and said, “Yes, I think I could do that”. But I knew he was only doing it as a favour to me, and I held his hands and thanked him with tears in my eyes.We started shooting in New Zealand with Martin Freeman, as our Young Bilbo. Martin hugely admired Ian Holm but had never met him. However, Martin very generously agreed to wear prosthetic make-up to play Sir Ian Holm playing Old Bilbo, for some NZ based wide shots that we needed, and he captured his mannerisms very well.
A couple of months later we returned to London, taking our Bag End set with us, and filmed Ian’s shots with a tiny crew as we promised. Ian’s lovely wife Sophie was at his side every day, helping both him and us.
Over the course of four days we filmed everything we needed. Elijah Wood and Ian had become friends back on Lord of the Rings, and Elijah was on set in London every day, giving Ian additional support.In the finished movie, I hope that audiences just see Ian Holm reprising Bilbo. But what I experienced on set was a wonderful actor delivering his last performance. It was incredibly brave of him to do that, and very emotional for those who witnessed it.
We will always be enormously grateful to Ian for doing that. During our time together, Fran and I became so fond of him, and we enjoyed his company very much.
To celebrate the completion of filming, Ian and Sophie invited Fran and I to dinner at their house. That was a lovely night, full of humour and fun. Ian and I realised we both had a strong mutual interest in Napoleon and chatted about him for hours.
A year later, when the first Hobbit movie premiered in London, a slightly star-struck Martin Freeman finally got to meet Ian Holm.
Watching Ian Holm perform taught me so much - as Ian was being his usual quiet self, that just somehow happened. It was a privilege to work with him, and a blessing to know him.
I’ve always loved Ian’s performance in the final scenes of Return of the King.
Dead Alive (aka Braindead) is directed by the fabled Peter Jackson. This film is an exhibition of gore with a context of hilarity. Although corny, the film exercises great discipline as Jackson was able to combine comedy, violence, romance, all of which get summed up in a satisfying denouement.
In a small town in Australia or New Zealand (I think it’s AU or NZ because people were flipping the bird with the “V” sign) a Sumatran Rat-Monkey has been flown in to show it off at the zoo. A histrionic mother spies on her son as he’s on a date at the zoo, unaware of her surroundings she is bitten by the Rat Monkey and is quickly turned into a psychotic zombie. Unbeknownst to her son who is named Lionel; he struggles to keep her “alive” as he takes on a hilarious sense of denial and treats her with the same attention as if she was alive, but with the same precautions one would take with a wild animal. Her condition worsens and soon she is biting others and as they turn, Lionel realizes there is too much to handle between his new found lover, his scheming uncle and his uncontrollable collection of zombies…
The environment created by Jackson in this film adds to this film’s core values, as it doesn’t take itself seriously. The design of the town in which Lionel lives in mirrors that of an ideal “small town” during the 50’s, occupied by set pieces that rival the model set in which “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood” takes place. Overall, the theme here is “happy go-lucky.” All these elements eventually get shit on by the irony imposed by Jackson in this “squarish” town when the blood and gore begin to splatter, which only adds to the film’s aesthetic appeal.
Peter Jackson, has crafted a wonderful cultist gem in this movie. I loved all of its “campy” elements as it takes on a light-hearted approach to gore a la Sam Raimi. There are absurd close-ups and the content is a joke, at one point there is a kung-fu priest who fights the zombies in the name of the lord as he begins to dismember their body parts with his brute strength, then two zombies even copulate and create a mischievous cannibalistic zombie baby that comically wreaks havoc throughout the duration of the film. By the film’s climax the protagonist plows his way through rows of zombies with his lawnmower strapped to his person and is left in a puddle of blood, so much blood that he’s barely able to stand without slipping.
Dead Alive even finds time through all of its gore infused calamity to even bring closure to the film’s protagonist as he finds out that his domineering mother isn’t the saint he thought she was. Jackson even hints towards an extreme bout of symbolism as he shows Lionel being “born anew” for Lionel gets absorbed into his mother’s womb and has to tear himself out to be free of her, and gain his freedom.
This film is by far one of the most entertaining films I have ever seen. I love these corny forays into gore, it really let’s the imagination run free without having it be sadistic. I know however, that this film’s content isn’t for everyone since not many can take its subject matter seriously enough to enjoy, if that makes sense to you…
Finally got around to having a photoshoot of my Frodo Baggins cosplay! I’m very excited to be releasing these to the public, so I hope you all enjoy them! (:
Costume and Model - Amouranth
Photographer - Chris Stewart
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On this day in T.A. 3019, Gandalf the Grey is separated from the Fellowship of the Ring and confronts the Balrog Durin’s Bane alone on the Bridge of Khazad-dûm.
On this day 20 years ago, Ian McKellen arrived in New Zealand and joined the cast on January 10, 2000 to begin filming Peter Jackson’s epic the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Thank you for all the magical and wonderful memories.
I post lots of Tolkien content on Twitter. If you have an account on there and want more Tolkien in your life, I seriously suggest checking my page out!
“Now the thought of Morgoth dwelt ever upon Turgon; for Turgon had escaped him, of all his foes that one whom he most desired to take or to destroy. And that thought troubled him, and marred his victory, for Turgon of the mighty house of Fingolfin was now by right King of all the Noldor; and Morgoth feared and hated the house of Fingolfin, because they had the friendship of Ulmo his foe, and because of the wounds that Fingolfin gave him with his sword. And most of all his kin Morgoth feared Turgon; for of old in Valinor his eye had lighted upon him, and whenever he drew near a shadow had fallen on his spirit, foreboding that in some time that yet lay hidden, from Turgon ruin should come to him.”
