Not quite in time for St Patrick’s Day, but shortly thereafter, fans will at last be able to read an Irish language version of The Hobbit. The book has been translated into Gaelic by Nicholas Williams, and will be published by Evertype on March 25th. More details here. Thanks to ringerspy Riccardo for the news. Middle Earth go Bragh!
Category: Books
The folks at IFC.com have sent us along a link to their great interview with David Hughes, author of the new book Tales from Development Hell. The book is about the trials of endeavouring to get a film beyond the development stage, and includes discussion of failed projects such as a film of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and a Batman movie to have starred Clint Eastwood! Of most interest to Tolkien fans, the book also contains some insight into the once proposed Lord of the Rings movie which was to have starred The Beatles. If you haven’t heard of this before, it sounds like some crazy April Fool’s joke – but yes, there really was a plan for such a film, and it’s a great part of Tolkien fandom ‘lore’. IFC.com’s article includes an exclusive excerpt from Tales from Development Hell, which reveals more about what we might have seen had McCartney’s Frodo, Lennon’s Gollum, Starr’s Sam and Harrison’s Gandalf ever seen the light of day. We can only wonder…
The rest of the world is perfectly free to walk (or run) to the cinema and watch The Adventures of Tintin directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg. But for once, the tables are turned on movie lovers in the U.S. and we must wait until December to see the motion capture film of the beloved comic strip character produced by Peter Jackson.
However, those who are anticipating Belgian writer and cartoonist Hergé’s collection of grand adventure stories put on screen can content themselves with The Art of The Adventures of Tintin book from special effects studio Weta and HarperCollins. Continue reading “Review: The Art of the Adventures of Tintin”
Parting is such sweet sorrow (there will be spoilers for the last few Harry Potter films)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a wonderfully creative film with a more unique look due to a new director. But the film franchise always had the same set of Producers, and thank goodness for that. They were the real shepherds to make sure Rowling’s story stayed the course. After all, this series of stories was turning into an epic tale of good versus evil, and there were character arcs to maintain, bits that had to be dropped in to earlier films so that they could pay off in later films. When Dobby first showed up, didn’t you wonder if he was just going to be another Jar Jar Binks? Who knew that he’d be so important to the story later on, or that you’d cry at the end of Deathly Hallows part 1 when he dies? But we also had to have knowledge of the basis of the Horcruxes and the qualities of the Sword of Gryffindor and learn about Polyjuice potion and dueling and the Room of Requirement too. So Prisoner of Azkaban was followed by the Goblet of Fire, and we get our first death and our first indication of the seriousness of this epic battle in the making. We were now getting the type of high drama we’d gotten in the Lord of the Rings. This was followed by Order of the Phoenix, and another high profile death, coupled with a really spectacular duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort.
Continue reading “When Harry Met Frodo, a Final Farewell (part 3 – the finale)”
Symbiosis
This symbiosis actually began before either film debuted. Kids were reading the existing Harry Potter books in droves, and had created quite a buzz about the books, which is what lead to it being optioned for a film in the first place. But since the series was still being written, when the kids were done with the existing books, they began looking at other books in the same section at the bookstore, and they found there were shelves and shelves of stories to explore. They could read other books on magic, or meet dragons and unicorns, discover time travel and go on as many adventures as they wanted. But there was always the series of books that started it all, the series that was also being turned into a film. So thank you to J.K. Rowling for enticing more and more children to read, because it helped so many other authors, including Tolkien, to increase their readership as well.
Continue reading “When Harry Met Frodo, a Final Farewell (part 2)”
Book to Film
Once Upon a Time, in a Galaxy Far Far Away, there were two book-to-film adaptations based on two massively popular Fantasy literature series. The year was 2001, and at the time, only Fantasy fans were excited by the proposition of either film coming out and doing well, no one else really took them very seriously. A decade later, both of these film franchises have changed the face of the Fantasy film genre and its place in Hollywood. This is a little bit history, but mostly a very fond farewell to our constant companion at Hogwarts.
Continue reading “When Harry Met Frodo, a Final Farewell (part 1)”