Halloween has come and gone. The Wife posted a great little summary with many pictures of the amazing costumes she put together.
This year we were surprised to discover that our new ward wasn't having a Halloween anything, but we found some fun activities to enjoy regardless. We started a week before by checking out the Pumpkin Parade at the Riverwoods. It was great to debut our complete costumes and The Wife's workmanship of them. They turned out just great! That shirt design she came up with was just perfect, and I felt like I was a kid again when I put on that finished cloak and swished it all around the house.
Princess Leia was kind enough to put down her little Stormtrooper or whatever and take this picture for us at Blickenstaff's.
Right on, Cap. Right on.
I just love how he's looking at me, I was just trying to get him to look at the camera, ha. He's probably still wondering where The Beard went.
(We skipped the furry feet idea, trusting that our performance/bare (or
bare-ish) feet would sell the look. We definitely drew a lot of amused
glances, especially as they figured out Julie's costume.)
(Also, a word about this event, and the holiday this year in general -- I was pleasantly surprised at the unexpected balance in ratio of Annas to Elsas. That is all.)
Then we tried out a couple different hayride/carnival/pumpkin patches. Hee Haw Farms was fun (not free), though the hayride was... so-so. The animals were a big hit and we were glad to be treated to a free pony ride by a departing family who wasn't going to use their ticket, but the biggest hit of all was the Corn Box (like a sandbox, but with corn instead). Yes, best thing ever. I mean, it still gets everywhere, and you might find remnants hours later in pockets and diapers, but it's still tidier than sand, and I think more fun.
So many kids! Lawlawlawl.
Yes corn yes.
Then we went to another pumpkin patch called... the Pumpkin Patch, which was also fun (and was free) (at least when we went). Mostly they just sell pumpkins and have picture-taking things, but they also have a hayride, which is a little longer and more fun than the other one. The Boy wore the same generally concerned expression he did last year on the hayride, but he did enjoy tossing the hay about anyway. Next year, man, he's going to think Halloween's the best.
There's that generally concerned expression!
Oh mah peeps.
Then we carved pumpkins, and I'm telling you, I think we're going to do this thing on Halloween Eve from now on. They have hardly any time to go bad and they look just perfect on the big day. Of course, in future Halloweens with older kid(s), there will be interest in doing them before then, but while we may we shall make traditions how we like them!
I did the dirty work.
The Boy did the dirtier work (which he took quite seriously).
Well, I tried. It's just as well you can't really see him, he was so done and ready for bed at this point.
Something old, something new.
And then came the day itself! As I said, we didn't have much of a big activity to go to, so it's a good thing we took advantage of opportunities to show off our costumes beforehand. We tried to find this informal thing some people in the neighborhood were doing, but in the end we visited Mom and Dad, took some fun pictures, walked around my old trick-or-treating stomping grounds to a few select houses, and then headed home to test out our new location. Little Mister was quickly able to get the hang of things, and happily knocked at each door. Everyone loved his little Ringbearer costume, and though he loved to gnaw on his wrapped candies, I think one of his favorite treats was a glowstick bracelet (such a rad idea). I learned that it's hard to find a balance between taking kids trick-or-treating and being home to give out the treats, but it will probably be easier in future years when we don't both so want to take him around. Luckily we ended up with not TOO much leftover candy, and we still definitely had more trick-or-treaters than we have in any of our previous neighborhoods in the six Halloweens we've had since we've been married.
Oh man, the gesture. Great usage of the raked-but-not-yet-bagged leaves.
What's over there?? Isengard? Are they taking the Hobbits there?
The Wife's costumes were fashionable AND functional. I don't suppose you see anything in this picture but a blank stretch of lawn and a front porch.
The Wife is Barad-Dur and The Poppy is evidently The Eye. Scary costume, baby!
Now and then the old phone takes a pretty good picture actually.
Happy Halloween, one and all. Great job this year, Wife! You worked hard on these costumes and it
totally paid off. I'm so glad they worked out just how you hoped. (And thanks to ebay for providing those oh so authentic Leaves of Lorien brooches -- they may fall more idly than they ought, but they were just the right touch.) Now it's November and hurraaaaaaayyyy I can't wait for winter and Christmastime and our travel plans for Thanksgiving too.
On today's topic I am of two minds, and it might be a bit rambly. Let me backtrack a little.
Like I said in a blogpost last summer, I am really excited that J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit is finally being given the cinematic treatment, especially at the hands of Peter Jackson, who is probably the only person I would trust (since, you know, my trust is so important for him to maintain) to continue in the greatness and scope and scale and faithfulness of adaptation that was The Lord of the Rings. There were rumors for years that it was being made, then lots of studio and other setbacks, then finally official announcements. Then there was an official announcement that it was being split into two movies, part 1 being The Unexpected Journey and part 2 being There and Back Again. Okay, fine, that idea took some getting used to, but it worked out well enough for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (though I'm still against it in some ways), but now it's being used and abused by other franchises and movies as extremely obvious money-grabbing attempts at extending the cashflow for as long as possible, which is especially noticeable when the books being adapted have barely enough "story" to fill one movie, let alone two, but they know the fans will flood to the theaters anyway (I'm looking at you, Breaking Dawn... and even you, Mockingjay). It seemed odd to me that a book shorter and less dense than any of the LotR books should have enough material to take up two full movies, but having said that, I figured that PJ knew what he was doing, and from what I had seen and read there would be lots of background and cameos from familiar LotR characters, so I had faith that he would be able to pull it off, and heck, it gave us TWO Christmases of exciting Tolkien movies to look forward to! More photos and teasers were gradually put out, and then when this little thing was released, the excitement only increased:
So we still pretty much go into paroxysms of glee every time we see this trailer (I still say it was the best part of The Dark Knight Rises, ha), and by this point I'm pretty much fully on board, two movies and all. It's not the worst thing in the world for a studio to try to extend a successful series and make more money, especially if the result is two excellent films, and especially if it means twice the gloriousness of these stories for the fans. The music, the look, the effects, the returning and new cast all look so great and consistent and perfect and I couldn't wait to go back to Middle-earth!
Then, just this week, this little bomb dropped. So. The Hobbit. In three movies.
...
I'm all for lots of Tolkien on the big screen, like I said, but this whole idea has made me really realize that it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Even with random information from the appendices and relevant backstory stuff, I just don't see how this could work. Some have brought up possible inclusion of stories from The Simarillion, which also doesn't seem to fit. The Silmarillion is a prologue to both The Hobbit
AND The Lord of the Rings, and no word has been uttered regarding
inclusion of those great stories, which could probably fill another trilogy entirely
(and which would seem really shoehorned in and maybe irrelevant if
included in or at the end of The Hobbit). I will say that if anyone could make The Silmarillion into a movie, or series of movies, it's certainly Peter Jackson, notwithstanding some cinematic adaptation and storytelling issues, but if they were to tack that on as a third movie here, it would be odd indeed to include
prologue information at the END of The Hobbit. Besides, if you read the article above it's pretty clear that
the first two movies are based on The Hobbit (though surely with some
additional bits from other writings, I mean, there would HAVE to be to
fill two movies in the first place), and the third is seemingly going to based on
appendices and extraneous details (maybe bridging between The
Hobbit movies and The Lord of the Rings trilogy?), which seems like a
really fancy and really long epilogue.
I feel like two movies would be
stretching the out as it is, but three? It doesn't even make much mathematical sense: Three (technically six) books = three movies, and now
one book (admittedly including appendices...) = three movies? What kind of math is this? There are obscure merits to having two
Tolkien trilogies, and I DO trust him with the material, but this seems
like a cash-grab even from him. Not to mention the artistic and literary issues. While they artfully picked
and chose the most important and exquisite details and story elements for LotR, they might
now end up of necessity shoving any and every little thing into this, making for a
kind of plodding, heavy story (when really, this book is a lot lighter
and happier than the subsequent trilogy). And years from now, as I'm the type who doesn't like to watch just half or part of something, when I want to sit down on a Saturday and watch The Hobbit, it will take like 8 hours!!! I could read the book in less time. I'm just saying there's such a thing as excess, even of something so great as Jackson's Middle-earth. Some have called this the best movie news of the year, but I call it
questionable at best (not to mention that it's been a pretty slow year for movie news). I still have high hopes, but I do so
reluctantly. Others have said that more Tolkien is always a good thing, especially if it's from PJ. See, now, one might expect
that's the reaction I would have to all of this, since my complete and unqualified and
even often vehement adoration of The Lord of the Rings is more than amply
documented, but I really do think, like I said, that there really is such thing as too much of a
good thing. How would it have been if they stretched Deathly Hallows
out into THREE films?? Yikes. Movies can't and shouldn't try to water things down or include everything in books just to squeeze two stories out of one, but be adaptations. It seems like people these
days just have this obsession with More. Everything has to have like
three sequels and two reboots and five spin-off series. What if someone rebooted LotR right now
and it was just horrible? More Tolkien isn't always necessarily great Tolkien. It seriously just makes it seem like a pretty obvious money/marketing decision, as opposed to an artistic or cinematic
decision, which would result in more movie, but could and probably would result in less awesomeness.
Just say no, PJ!
That was a lot of venting, but I think it brings up some pretty good points. Apparently even Tolkien's son and literary executor/editor doesn't approve (though I guess he didn't really care for the original film trilogy in the first place, alas). It's also worth noting that he says this third film will come out in the summer, which just isn't nearly as exciting as their traditional Christmas release. It's just kind of a bummer that something I was SO looking forward to (and I still most certainly am) has this slight cloud of hesitation and skepticism hanging over it now.
There's also that little detail about it being filmed and shown at 48 fps, but that's another story entirely...
Now, after all of this: Will I see all of them? Of course. And they all three might even be
brilliant. But to use a relevant phrase (and I'm evidently not the only one who feels this way, in fact it seems I'm one of many), I'm just afraid of it being
like butter scraped over too much bread.
*sigh*
Lest this blogpost about the continuation that I can't deny I'm looking forward to of a movie franchise that I adore end on a sour note, let's have a look at this exciting banner that was released a while ago:
Click on the link above to make it big and scroll along and take in all its wondrous details. You know you want to.
As promised, I have some exciting news to share concerning our very favorite upcoming Tolkien movies. But first, an appropriate and relevant introduction.
A couple of months ago The Wife and I were quite excited to learn that certain theaters would be showing the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings on the big screen, one each week for three weeks, ostensibly to promote their release on Blu-ray, but also perhaps to generate even more interest in Jackon's upcoming Middle-earth work (it couldn't hurt anyway, right?)... At first we thought they wouldn't be showing them here, which was such a bummer, but THEN we realized they would be showing them right here in our favorite Provo Towne Centre Cinemark!
So, for the last three weeks, and ending last night, The Wife and I have been quite glad to experience all three of them again, "the way they were meant to be seen," as Peter Jackson said in each of his brief introductions. They are all still (and always) so amazing, and it was fun to see them all big and big-like again. Can you believe the first one came out ten years ago this fall??
So then, this leads me to my exciting follow-through. A lot of people have already seen these, but recently a few photos have been released giving us out first look at The Hobbit! :D And here they are (courtesy of this article):
Could this not possibly look any more like Bilbo ought to look??
It's Gandalf! Just as he always looked!
Just a couple of Hobbits out on the town.
Um, do this not look absolutely perfect?? I admit that I had my doubts as to whether or not this movie would ever even be made, I mean the rumors were circulating for years, and Peter Jackson had a lot of issues with the script and the studio and even getting the directing gig again, but now here it is! I'm finally just about ready to give up my final shreds of doubt and start believing that this epic movie(s) event is actually happening! I don't even mind that they're splitting it into two movies (the titles and release dates of which have also recently been announced) and adding characters that weren't in the book, but who appeared in the subsequent trilogy. It will be epic and historical, and it will be interesting because this book sort of has a different tone than The Lord of the Rings, but it looks like it's all going to be very consistent, which is so great.
