Waiting for 'The Battle of the Five Armies'...

They won't have much to talk about in 2015 and beyond.

bungobaggins wrote:They won't have much to talk about in 2015 and beyond.

That's my point, I don't see a 12000 strong community dissapearing overnight, for all their talk about being forged by Tolkien fans, the forum (not that this a is bad thing) has always seemed to me more geared towards the fandom and the films than the man and his writings, new books on or by Tolkien are sure to continue appearing, but without the exposure of the films I can't help but wonder whether the forum will relaign itself a little, as Eldo's investigations have shown alot of the forums and websites from the LOTR years are rather dead in comparison.


I almost sound like I care.

One thing I have noticed is that if I am debating with some folk over there, and I start to bring evidence an stuff into it, they all suddenly back out the debate and dont want to engage- now thats fine, I'm used to that, Figg does it all the time    and Norc too, but with more bluntness!    Petty

would you prefer I Bombyfy you?
I could you know.. 

Please no. The epitome of blind faith, I find that persons attitude of it doesn't matter what Pj does it will be wonderful because its PJ to border on religious zealotry.

I fear they may be the legendary and horrifying beast of anti-crabbit.   (Which is also vegetarian and t-total!   )

You can't attack Bomby!

{{{He'll just use the death of his wife as a trump card.   }}}

I dont understand a word he says anyway.  

((((theres only one person I would like to slap more than B, and thats M.J, now she really gets my geoduck in a twist))))).

malickfan wrote:But in all seriousness I hope the Tolkien Estate/Trust/Zanetz company or whoever actually clarify this situation soon with a formal statement, although it's kinda funny watching the PJ fanboys get enthusiastic about seeing the Silmarillion bastardized, I can't help but feel a little sick when it's mentioned, maybe they are waiting until C.Tolkien passes on to make their intentions clear, just as it's going to take a new director to continue the Middle Earth film series, it's going to be interesting to see how C.Tolkien's successors deal with the impact of the films.

I don't think it's ever really been an unclear situation.  People will find hope in the darkest of situations if that's what they want to find, though.  Just look at how many people are convinced that once Christopher Tolkien dies, the Estate will be rushing to Warner Bros to sell all of the remaining rights. Sometimes they point to the Tolkien family members who have spoken in favor of the films as evidence of this, ignoring the fact that none of them are likely to end up in a position of power within the Estate/Trust.

Man, I sure am glad that most of you guys didn't know me when I was 14-15.

malickfan wrote:That's my point, I don't see a 12000 strong community dissapearing overnight, for all their talk about being forged by Tolkien fans, the forum (not that this a is bad thing) has always seemed to me more geared towards the fandom and the films than the man and his writings, new books on or by Tolkien are sure to continue appearing, but without the exposure of the films I can't help but wonder whether the forum will relaign itself a little, as Eldo's investigations have shown alot of the forums and websites from the LOTR years are rather dead in comparison.

I almost sound like I care.

I haven't been active on TORn for a couple of years now (though I still post sporadically), but I care very much about the future of Tolkien fandom and TORn is a big part of that. I've actually been working on a big post about trends and activity and stuff since we just passed the mid-year point, and I hope to have it ready to post today or tomorrow. But for now, I'll just say that while TORn (and every other Tolkien forum in existence) is going to see a decline in activity and membership after 2015, TORn is likely to continue to have the greatest (relative) stream of new members due to how high-profile they are, thanks to the news reporting side of the site.

 

Eldorion wrote:Man, I sure am glad that most of you guys didn't know me when I was 14-15.

So have you lengthened or shortened?

Do we REALLY have to simplify everything down to Geoduck lengths??!?!

I hear that in the pacific northwest the children play "Duck, Duck, Geoduck!"

bungobaggins wrote:I hear that in the pacific northwest the children play "Duck, Duck, Geoduck!"

Yep. Full contact!  

Teaser trailer soon.

http://geektyrant.com/news/the-hobbit-the-battle-of-the-five-armies-teaser-trailer-coming-soon

I don't mean to be more rude than usual, but after reading through some threads on TOR.N I cannot help but feel just how dumb the average film-fan can be.
Even the comments belonging to users who are familiar with Tolkien's written work and the complexities therein become clouded and tainted in connection to the stupidity of the rest of the posts.
This view is harsh, and unfair, but I wanted to share my sense of frustration.

I suppose it all boils down to the fact that I think the films are a disappointing waste while some other people seem to think they are gratifying works of professional genius. The two views are incompatible and result in a distressing disinterest on my part when it comes to any film discussions on that website. Well whatever, who cares.
"I'll always have the book." << What is that even supposed to mean? For anyone who cares about movies and Tolkien it is meaningless. We couldn't give two flips about the fact that a book that has been around for 80 years will continue to be around. What else is new? Sure, the printed pages will stay the same as they always have. The POINT is that the films are brand new and really disappointing.

There are several key phrases that keep getting tossed around Hobbit talk, and this is certainly one of them. The rest are equally moronic in my opinion. "Movies and books are different," "The Appendices provide a basis for all the changes we've seen so far" are familiar to us all, but any statement can slip into this over-used category if repeated often enough. I'm sick and tired of hearing about how "Peter Jackson had to hold back on changes to the LotR books because he was a new director and had to prove himself. Now he has free reign and we see what happens."

Sure, that statement is probably true. A subtler version of that progression can be seen in the LotR trilogy itself. However, there are only so many times that people can repeat it before it becomes meaningless mush utterly devoid of any worth and about as thought-provoking as oatmeal.
It's just propaganda, ultimately. We latch on to these ideas and spread them around as if they actually had lasting value when, really, they are a single aspect of a single argument concerning Tolkien's legacy and DO NOT need to be repeated.

Well, there's my crabbit for the night I guess.

And OH MY GOODNESS can we get over trying to read crap into the Hobbit trilogy?
Now someone is trying to argue over the subtle differences in power of command between Bolg and Azog.
Azog, a skilled commander? HA.
HA. ha! HA!
OK, sure, yeah, 'cause that makes sense. He is the most pathetic leader in the history of life itself.
1. He doesn't manage to actually do anything. Ever.
2. He sucks.
3. He sucks.

The totality of his "prowess" in the ways of leadership amount to the fact that he threw an orc to some wargs once.
That's about it. That and he's taller than the other orcs. That would sum it up for me.

If you want to see a villain that is believably capable of leadership, go watch the recent Noah and check out Ray Winstone's Tubal-cain. There's a recent example that comes to mind. (At least, during the first half of the film. His abilities, and the film itself, go downhill somewhat after the mid-way point.)

I really need to stop reading these TORN threads.

P.S.
Why do so many people on that site have pictures of Thorin as their avatars? He's an ugly, insufferable, annoying dickhead...

P.P.S.
I wish Gollum did not exist in any of the movies. If he did not exist the story would fall apart and be bad. But if he did not exist in the movies, than people might stop pretending to sound like Andy Serkis.

You know the sad thing is, I don't even have to go to torn to know who made that post about Blob and Ass-hog.

Nice crabbit, Forest.

Forest Shepherd wrote:I'm sick and tired of hearing about how "Peter Jackson had to hold back on changes to the LotR books because he was a new director and had to prove himself. Now he has free reign and we see what happens."

I don't know how often this statement is made on TORn, but I know Petty and I have both brought it up on here multiple times before. It's not exactly a pro-PJ sentiment, so I'd be surprised if it's more commonly posted on TORn than here. There is certainly an amount of reputation that arises when discussing a single movie (or even a trilogy of movies) over and over again for years -- which I think is part of the reason why our Hobbit forum gets so slow at times like this -- but I still think there are certain valid points to be made.

Forest Shepherd wrote:And OH MY GOODNESS can we get over trying to read crap into the Hobbit trilogy?
Now someone is trying to argue over the subtle differences in power of command between Bolg and Azog.

While I agree in that I don't think there is very much of substance to analyze in The Hobbit movies, I am reluctant to dismiss the enterprise out of hand because so many people have told me that it was stupid of me to try to analyze or find deeper meaning in LOTR, or any number of other works of fantasy. I'm reluctant to be dismissive in the same way, even though I don't think The Hobbit even begins to compare to the classics of the genre. This is getting dangerously close to the "criticism is bad because we geeks need to stick together!" sort of groupthink that unfortunately crops up in this genre, but I know what it's like to be really invested in something that everyone else you know thinks is silly or worse.

Why do so many people on that site have pictures of Thorin as their avatars? He's an ugly, insufferable, annoying dickhead...

PJ wanted him to be a heartthrob and he seems to have succeeded. If Edward Cullen could become a global sex symbol...

https://youtu.be/haTw-xM6Vx0?t=35s

I don't mean to be more rude than usual. Forest


surely not   

Eldorion wrote:
While I agree in that I don't think there is very much of substance to analyze in The Hobbit movies, I am reluctant to dismiss the enterprise out of hand because so many people have told me that it was stupid of me to try to analyze or find deeper meaning in LOTR, or any number of other works of fantasy.  I'm reluctant to be dismissive in the same way, even though I don't think The Hobbit even begins to compare to the classics of the genre.  This is getting dangerously close to the "criticism is bad because we geeks need to stick together!" sort of groupthink that unfortunately crops up in this genre, but I know what it's like to be really invested in something that everyone else you know thinks is silly or worse.

There can be much merit in the process of studying over our favourite fantasy films. This particular case struck me as reaching far beyond the limits of human imagination, that's all.

I agree with you about the Bolg-Azog thing, I'm just a little uncomfortable when threads on here turn into "let's talk shit about TORn" pile-ons.  I'm not trying to blame anyone; I think it happens organically and I certainly get annoyed at TORn's posting culture at times myself, but I know I'd feel uncomfortable if I went to TORn and found a thread that was full of nothing but "lololol Forumshire sucks ass" posts.

we do suck ass, thats part of our charm   

I thought oatmeal was thought provoking... it being a Superfood I do believe... and more meaningful than a PJ adaptation surely... if adaptation is the right word when we talk about PJ's work...   

porridge does seem an apt word in relation to PJ's Tolkien films for some reason.

It's more like gruel to me.