Critics review 'Desolation of Smaug' | POSSIBLE SPOILERS

Yeah, this is probably the only time we'll see one of our favorite books turned into a live action movie in our lifetime. So I might as well try to make the most of it.

I think I've lost my crabbit status.

I think I've lost my crabbit status.- Bungo

I'll say! Pathetic, both of you!  

Its like listening to old women who once enjoyed some fine big pork sausage and are trying to convince each other they are happier with a little chipolata.  

Oh Lord.  

"While Peter Jackson could most definitely be described as a Tolkien purist, he's not above taking a few liberties with the text..."

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-news/critics-desolation-smaug-vast-improvement-over-first-hobbit-212500723.html

halfwise wrote:Oh Lord.  

"While Peter Jackson could most definitely be described as a Tolkien purist, he's not above taking a few liberties with the text..."

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-news/critics-desolation-smaug-vast-improvement-over-first-hobbit-212500723.html

Don't you just love when people who don't know what they're talking about try to make it look like they know what they're talking about?

I think it would look a little something like this.

Jeez, that's vicious.

I actually find it quite amusing when supposedly serious critics showcase ther lack of understanding. Gives you some insight into how much understanding is present in what they usually write and why you should never really take critics all that seriously.

Yahoo always has atrocious articles. I am not surprised in the least.

halfwise wrote:Oh Lord.  

"While Peter Jackson could most definitely be described as a Tolkien purist, he's not above taking a few liberties with the text..."

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-news/critics-desolation-smaug-vast-improvement-over-first-hobbit-212500723.html

Sorry, had to use an outside emoticon—there're none here to fully reflect the hilarity of this statement.

We should get Eldo to add that emoticon to the list  

Transcript: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ world premiere press conference

Evangeline ....I picked up the phone very quickly. And then they said, your character is not in the book and I took great pause as a great fan of Tolkien. I kind of gulped and went: waaaaa..what? Everyone is going to hate me. And it didn’t take long for them to completely convince me that it was the right thing to do and it was a good idea and that… like we all knew we were going to come into some sort of…

Philippa: I remember that phone call and I remember that moment where I said, ‘And the love story.’ You know, there was this moment… it’s not a conventional love story and you were like – right, okay and um with a dwarf. And there was silence. And then I went ‘Really, but hang on I’m going to send you his photo, its Aidan Turner, so it’s okay!’.

Evangeline: She did!

Philippa: I did and then you went: okay. I can (handle) that.

Evangeline: She did. She goes: ‘He is soooo handsome.’

Philippa: Yeah, you’ll wait and see.

Evangeline: But also at that moment when she said there’s a love story, and you guys might not remember this, Phil might not remember this, but I agreed to the job under one condition, one condition – and they agreed to the condition and that condition was in place for two years. The condition was: I will not be involved in a love triangle. Right? Because any of you who were fans of Lost, I’ve had it up to here with love triangles and sure enough I come back for re-shoots in 2012 and they go, ‘We’ve made a few adjustments to the love story.’

Philippa: Yeah, that was a (missed words) that was genuine. It really wasn’t a triangle. It wasn’t. But what happened was when we saw it playing and just that look – that first look between Kili and Legolas, you know, that kind of exchange and looks, it was so perfect that we were like — and it was interesting with Legolas because one of the things that we were trying to do was he hates dwarves in The Fellowship of the Ring. There’s this animosity, there’s this whole kind of — that had to have come from somewhere. What was it about? And we wanted it to make it a little bit more emotional than just – I don’t like them.

Evangeline: And that played well. That played well.

Philippa: And then also I said to her when you did come back and you went oh no God, and then I said hang on – Orlando bloom, Aidan Turner. You’re caught between the two of them. I’m sorry. What’s the problem?

Press: I love this idea of you having to convince your actors that their plot lines are okay. You know? Is that something you have to do a lot?

Philippa: With Tauriel and because – Evangeline is not joking. She is a huge Tolkien fan. You were concerned and we understood that but we did explain where some of that came from – the relationship between Gimli and Galadriel, that was a kind of a very pure but sort of interesting love and also the idea that — that feminine energy that was lacking because professor Tolkien actually wrote fantastic female characters, he just didn’t write one for The Hobbit and you understood that immediately and you were brave.

Evangeline: And I think to his defense, Tolkien was writing in 1937. You know, the world is a different place today and I keep repeatedly telling people that in this day and age to put nine hours of cinema entertainment in the theaters for young girls to go and watch and not have one female character is subliminally telling them you don’t count, you’re not important and you’re not pivotal to story. 

what the hell is she wittering on about? political correct claptrap thats what  

And I just think that they were very brave and very right in saying we won’t do that to the young female audience who come and watch our film. oh fuck off!  

And not just the young female audience but even a woman of my own age, I think it’s time that we stop making stories that are only about men especially only about heroic men and I love that they made Tauriel a hero.
cant believe the idiot said that  

Press: Sort of a small expansion of that. One of the things that exists in any large fandom is fan fiction and it seems like in some ways Tauriel is the quote unquote fictional character. Is that in some ways a tribute to the fandom?

Philippa: Women are huge fans of these films. It’s wonderful. You know, right from the Lord of the Rings there was this immediate engagement of women. You know there’s this notion that it’s a genre for boys, you know, dungeons and dragons or something like that but you know I’m living proof that that’s not true. I’ve always loved these stories. I think they spoke to me. The characters of The Hobbit especially speak to me – Frodo and Bilbo of course – and when you meet these young women, you do the red carpet and everything, things like that, and they talk to you, you understand that that passion for the storytelling that they’ve received that is going to create a new generation of young writers –– young female writers – and I think we’re starting to see that now coming through

and another very good reason why PJ & Coven of inbred,lobotomised,sheep akin hangers on should have NEVER EVER been allowed a license to work in the film industy !
The more this goes on the more Tolkien is being ripped apart as tho caught by flesh eating zombies ! I love the whole Male flavour these films have ! I dont fooking want women all over the place, I dont want fainting, hair flicking,pouting, heart beating,bodice ripping,eye flirting,bimbo stylee fooking women in LOTRs OR The Hobbit !! Its not that kind of story !! Have fooking "Twilight" if thats what gets you tingly.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:We should get Eldo to add that emoticon to the list  

Yes. I was hoping someone would say that

Mrs Figg wrote:oh fuck off![/color]  

Yeah, I read a few lines of that and basically anyone involved with that film says pisses me off, so I'll just stop reading anymore...

 

azriel wrote: I love the whole Male flavour these films have ! I dont fooking want women all over the place, I dont want fainting, hair flicking,pouting, heart beating,bodice ripping,eye flirting,bimbo stylee fooking women in LOTRs OR The Hobbit !! Its not that kind of story !! Have fooking "Twilight" if thats what gets you tingly.

I'm trying to think of another movie that is full of Feminine Energy, one where guys would go to watch just to wallow in the babeness of it, and wouldn't want a guy in there spoiling it. Unfortunately Spice Girls keeps trying to intrude (and I keep swatting it down), but I know there has to be a girl movie that isn't all about getting guys. Is there? IS THERE?. There should be. Thelma and Louise I guess came close, since every guy in there was fiddled and dumped, so wasn't part of the image of women needing men.

And if you were gonna include a woman in the hobbit to make young girls feel good, why napalm your message by insisting she be a love interest? Isn't she good enough without being a love interest?

Oh, got it! Two of them: Whip It (roller derby) and Charlie's Angels. Both directed by Drew Barrymore. Coincidence? I think not. And both are movies men should have no problem going to see: babes being badass.

It's a shame that Lilly thinks Tolkien needs a defense for not writing any women characters into a 300-page children's book

Bunch of over-baked twaddle, the lot of it.

Review from the Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/10502508/The-Hobbit-The-Desolation-of-Smaug-review.html

Jackson and his co-writers, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, have decapitated bodies twitching on the ground, and a captured dwarf leering at a female elf: “Aren’t you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers.”

     

[[[[[[OT: Inside Llewyn Davis and Saving Mr. Banks are getting great reviews so far.]]]]]]]

I keep saying nothing would surprise me at this point, but

halfwise wrote:Oh Lord.  

"While Peter Jackson could most definitely be described as a Tolkien purist, he's not above taking a few liberties with the text..."

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-news/critics-desolation-smaug-vast-improvement-over-first-hobbit-212500723.html

That's a dumb comment, sure, but I hope that we can stay above the petty (sorry ) whining about critics.  For one, it's Yahoo, which as Forest points out should be a check on expectations to begin with.  And two, movie critics are expected to know what they're talking about when it comes to movies.  There's no reason to expect them to be familiar with any given source material, and just because they don't know much about it doesn't mean they are ignorant about their specialty.

Reading through the press conference transcript, my favorite part is that Evangeline Lilly openly admits that they gave DOS a love triangle and then Philippa Boyens immediately tries to backtrack. And then:

Philippa Boyens wrote:And then also I said to her when you did come back and you went oh no God, and then I said hang on – Orlando bloom, Aidan Turner. You’re caught between the two of them. I’m sorry. What’s the problem?

Because obviously that's what Evangeline Lilly was concerned about: whether the other members of the love triangle are hot enough. Although I guess this argument worked.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:We should get Eldo to add that emoticon to the list  

I foresee this emoticon getting lots of (over)use in the coming weeks.

bungobaggins wrote:

Jackson and his co-writers, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, have decapitated bodies twitching on the ground, and a captured dwarf leering at a female elf: “Aren’t you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers.”

  am I tripping, or is this stuff real??    

Eldorion wrote:Reading through the press conference transcript, my favorite part is that Evangeline Lilly openly admits that they gave DOS a love triangle and then Philippa Boyens immediately tries to backtrack. :lol:And then:

Philippa Boyens wrote:And then also I said to her when you did come back and you went oh no God, and then I said hang on – Orlando bloom, Aidan Turner. You’re caught between the two of them. I’m sorry. What’s the problem?

Because obviously that's what Evangeline Lilly was concerned about: whether the other members of the love triangle are hot enough. :roll:Although I guess this argument worked.

You know, I thought that adding Tauriel was some politically correct feminist move, but seeing the rationale here and trying to make it appealing to the actress by saying "Oh, but you're caught between two really hot guys!" is borderline misogynistic in my eyes.

Mrs Figg wrote:

bungobaggins wrote:

Jackson and his co-writers, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, have decapitated bodies twitching on the ground, and a captured dwarf leering at a female elf: “Aren’t you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers.”

  am I tripping, or is this stuff real??    

Must be all those Mirkwood spores.

  its insulting and dumb. (the hot guy thing)