The Ubiquitous The Two Towers Review

Another midnight premiere, another year wait to come.

There is really nothing I can say at this point that won’t be echoed in a million blogs and quickly become another Accepted Commandment of Fan-Geek Orthodoxy…but it’s impossible to remain completely silent.

Saying that this film is as good as or better than the first installment doesn’t sound quite right. It’s somehow not right to use phrases like “the first installment”…With the release of THE TWO TOWERS, it becomes more evident that THE LORD OF THE RINGS, like Tolkien’s novel, is a uniform work–a single film broken by neccessity into three releases. This doesn’t feel like “the second film” or “part 2”. This feels like more of the same–and in the best way possible.

Everything you’ve heard is true. Helms Deep is incredible, the production design for the Rohirrim is breathtaking, the Ents are believable, and if the Academy doesn’t nominate Andy Serkis and the WETA digital team a combined nomination for Best Supporting Actor then something is seriously wrong with the world.

The editing is a bit awkward at times, leading to some uneven pacing…but given the structure of the original novel, Jackson & Co. have done an amazing job with what they’ve had to work with. The script falls down occasionally as well, most notably with an over-reliance on Gimli as comic relief and some speeches which are just a bit too self-aware (notably Sam’s “great stories” monologue)–but really, pointing out these faults leaves the bad taste of nit-picking in my mouth, because everything else in the film works so perfectly.

Only another 11 months and 29 days to go.

GMS

Thanks a Lott

During my shorted-AC-adapter-imposed downtime, the incoming Republican Senate Majority Leader proved beyond a reasonable doubt what I’ve known for a long time: The South is still Confederate.

So, to flip the phrase somewhat on Mr. Lott and his fellow sheet-wearing pals: I think that had we let the South secede back in the mid-19th century, the country would’ve been a lot better off. History since that point is just one event after another where the inability to craft national policy that suits our completely different cultures has caused strife. Civil Rights, the Abortion debate, etc.

Think about it. They’d be a lot happier with their own country. Hell, most of them still whistfully pine for the Confederacy. Speaking from experience–2 years living in “Hot-lanta”, the “City too busy to hate” (unless, of course, you’re in any way educated, liberal-to-moderate in your politics, and have no racial prejudices) convinced me that “Southern Hospitality” applies only to other Southerners. They can’t stand the rest of the country. Let them go, sez I. We’d be better off, and so would they.

One of the most popular bumper-stickers in Georgia at the time I lived there was one that read “WE DON’T CARE HOW Y’ALL DO IT UP NORTH!”

This was in response to attempts to make Georgia adhere to Federal *minimum* standards of Education.

“We don’t care if you actually educate your children. We likes our kinfolk ignorant!”

LET. THEM. GO.

GMS

Honestly, I was planning on posting an update before now.

However, the AC adapter on my iBook decided that this week would be a good time to fray and short out, sending sparks shooting across the floor. The risk of electrocution shouldn’t be a part of a writer’s life.

So, I ordered a repacement from Outpost.com, and pay for next-day delivery.

The next day, I get an email telling me that the model I ordered is no longer available, and that my order has been cancelled. So I order another model. So far, so good.

The next day, I check tracking with Airborne Express. Apparently, they “attempted delivery”, but because of the fact that the damn thing requires a damn signature, they didn’t deliver the damn package. So, I had to sign the little slip that they left at the door (once I got home), allowing them to drop the package without a signature the next day.

Today, I finally got the thing. The overnight delivery that I paid for took three days. Yee-friggin’-ha.

Christmas shopping this weekend. I fully suspect that not only will I not be posting an update, but will, in fact, probably end up serving jail time, or at least be forced to go on the run, due to my having flipped the hell out and slaughtered a mall full of New Jersey shoppers.

GMS