Tolkien biopic reportedly in development

David H wrote:In the old days of small black-and-white TV's with weak signals, snowy pictures and bad sound, the laugh track was essentia, because you might be missing half of what was said.  Same with the vaudeville style deliveries.  It was all acted over-the-top so that it could be understood in the cheap seats.

I Love Lucy set the standard, and sitcoms followed the recipe for decades.  I guess I got desensitized to laugh tracks as a kid, but they do seem pretty obnoxious now, if I stop and listen to them.

That makes sense.  I don't mind the vaudeville type performances when it's in a vaudeville type setting.  I love the old Marx Brothers stuff I've seen, and there are plenty of wacky comedies that I don't think are really hurt by the laugh track, even if I don't personally care for them.  But a comedy that is trying to transcend its genre by adding elements of drama, especially drama based on a horrific real event like WWI ... it just feels so utterly at odds with the laugh track in their most fundamental approaches to storytelling. At the very least, use it more sparingly.

I know its old and normally it wouldnt matter- but as Halfy was possibly going to be watching them, and possibly that series in particular it seemed a current enough reason to be worth spoiler tagging for him.  

No problem; done.

 

Bumping this old thread as I din't want to start a new one.

How is everyone feeling about the new biopic film? It's out in around a week(?) I suppose I would say I'm cautiously intrigued, the trailers trod a fine line between hollywood cheese and intriguing character drama, the film isn't endorsed by Tolkien's family or publishers, and I'm expecting it to play rather fast and loose with the facts (I expect his religious beliefs and references to The Silmarillion will be glossed over in favour of LOTR references) but I'm still thinking about watching it (one of my local cinemas is only £5 a ticket, so may be worth checking out)...

As I said elsewhere, from what little I've seen I wasn't convinced the actor who plays Tolkien can portray hidden depths.  Dropped my interest quite a bit, but if I hear good reviews from people I trust I may be interested again.

Just noticed the spoiler discussion between Petty and Eldy.  It's old and I appreciate the well-intentions, but I'd like to head it off.  An old show will not be watched immediately, at which point any "spoilers" will be forgotten.  I wouldn't spoiler tag anything more than a year old.

um the trailer is very sweet and gloopy. yuck.

I just noticed this thread was norced from the 4th posting, and only recovered on this page.