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debo
Nargothrond
Feb 12 2011, 7:52pm
Post #101 of 120
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love it!! Your stocks are bound to go up
Frodo; "What I chiefly need now is courage . . ."
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Magpie
Elvenhome
Feb 12 2011, 8:05pm
Post #102 of 120
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I think that's part of the fun
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We would have been half expecting certain types of characters to be cast/portrayed such that they could be heartthrobs. But yeah... never saw it coming with the Dwarves.
And what I like about Richard is really his depiction of characters. I don't know a thing about him other than what I can guess by looking at him (I might be able to come within ten years of his age, for example). But I like the characters he portrays which I have to give him some credit for.
So now, we're getting this real, tangible sense that these Hobbit characters could be portrayed in ways we'll really enjoy. (Or at least I am) And conjuring up past throbbing heart moments with John Thornton doesn't hurt one bit in that growing sense. :-)
LOTR soundtrack website
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
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Feb 12 2011, 8:08pm
Post #103 of 120
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I'm a silent member of the club.
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So silent nobody knows it. I've never been a public drooler or squee-er.
The comment Dr. Death was referring to is here. I think he's just been so overwhelmed by the newly-formed A-brigade that it's coloring his interpretation of all Armitage-centered comments. He may only just have realized that this is a femine board. 
Actually, though, I was thinking just the other day that it had been a long while since we had a full-blown Estrogen Island around here. My amazing prophetic foresight tells me that it will likely return to its status as a regular tradition sometime in the coming months....
Silverlode
"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them.
Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories
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Magpie
Elvenhome
Feb 12 2011, 10:16pm
Post #104 of 120
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I had never detected any sense of a squee from you since I've known you and I wouldn't have in that post, either. :-)
It's hard to joke about stuff when people aren't well acquainted and have a good sense of someone's sense of humor. But I am always delightfully amused at another young male poster who kind of keeps asking us 'older' aunties (can't testify to the age of all of us) "just what is so special about this guy". Sometimes, girls just got to giggle. I do believe it raises endorphin levels or something.
I suppose a full blown Estrogen Island might actually scare some of newer members.
LOTR soundtrack website
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mulubinba
Ossiriand
Feb 12 2011, 10:55pm
Post #105 of 120
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When Smaug took posession of Erebor, Thorin was only "a youngster in the reckoning of the Dwarves". - 24 years, so if they are going to show the sacking of Erebor, they might choose a younger actor for that scene.
My thoughts are that they might recreate part of the Battle of Azanulbizar where Thorin gets his name of Oakenshield. The Thorin (RA) in the press conference would be just the right age without make up for that battle.
He will need to be aged a bit more for the Quest but that shouldn't be too hard to do, imo. 
(This post was edited by mulubinba on Feb 12 2011, 10:56pm)
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Kangi Ska
Gondolin
Feb 12 2011, 11:20pm
Post #106 of 120
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"When Smaug took possession of Erebor, Thorin was only "a youngster in the reckoning of the Dwarves". - 24 years, so if they are going to show the sacking of Erebor, they might choose a younger actor for that scene."
That is the point...they all ready have chosen a younger actor.
Kangi Ska Resident Trickster & Wicked White Crebain
Life is an adventure, not a contest.
At night you can not tell if crows are black or white.
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ShireHorse
Nargothrond
Feb 12 2011, 11:34pm
Post #107 of 120
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that rather than tell the coming of Smaug as a flashback, PJ might begin the film wih this, then carry on with the Battle of Azanulbizar, then have the meeting between Thorin and Gandalf all as a continuous process happening within a relatively short amount of time rather than over a period of years and that is why he's chosen an actor to play Thorin who is middle-aged rather than young, as at the beginning of his story, or oldish, towards the end? And can I ask what the purists would think of such a time compression? My thoughts are that, dramatically, it fits better into a film rather than having people imagine that years have gone by.
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mulubinba
Ossiriand
Feb 12 2011, 11:39pm
Post #108 of 120
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Great description of Thorin - thanks!
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On matters of Thorin's age- late middle-age is a good analogy. The thing about Thorin, is that much like Bilbo, he's reached an age where he must either fulfill his 'pipe dreams' or live out the rest of his days without achieving them. While Bilbo is on the cusp of going to seed and spending the rest of his days as an eccentric but respectable bachelor and country squire, Thorin is on the cusp of becoming too old to mete out any kind of vengeance on Smaug and reclaim the Lonely Mountain. There's a tragic futility to the character of Thorin. While we see Aragorn say to the kid at Helm's Deep 'There is always hope', Thorin is specifically identified as an heir without hope and so i'm hoping to see a rather melancholic and sympathetic vision of Thorin, resigned to at best a heroic and honourable death, but fearful (and suspicious) that Gandalf has just set him up for a humiliating and ignominious one- there's a great deal of pathos to be drawn from the character, and just as much as his dourness can make him defensive and aggressive, it should also show him as capable of sincere displays of wonderment and happiness- the moment where he recovers the Arkenstone should almost have the same effect on him as when Bilbo sees the ship at the grey havens at the end of LotR- the same wide-eyed wonderment and blissful happiness. It's a kind of scope that i fear someone as young, fit and virile as Richard Armitage won't be able to capture, where someone a bit more world-weary and 'past it' would (my first choice for Thorin was actually Anthony Hopkins) but if he can then he really will have proven himself. a flashback or prologue of Smaug's arrival at the Lonely Mountain, complete with a young Thorin....a Thorin who might look rather like RA does now..... Dr Death
Apologies for interrupting the flow of this thread, but thanks DrDeath for this description of Thorin.
As I wrote somewhere in the threads above, I think Armitage is too old to play young Thorin in a scene about the sacking of Erebor. Battle of Azanulbizar, a definite possibility. They can age him quite easily for the Quest.
I've watched Armitage's work and he is good at playing characters who have deep rooted emotional conflicts as a consequence of events in their pasts. I sense he enjoys being cast in roles where the characters are complex, often stern, even haughty on the one hand, but have another underlying, more compassionate, benevolent side to them. (Multi dimensional characters). He is the sort of actor that does a lot of research into the backstory of his characters so I have high hopes that he is going to do justice to Thorin. He's also been raised on Tolkien's writing which is re-assuring.
I guess, how he portrays Thorin will also depend on the script writers and Peter Jackson's interpretation of the character. Peter Jackson stated at one time that he felt Thorin was in "good hands" with Armitage. I'm inclined to agree with him the more I read about Thorin's past in the ROTK appendices and the description of his meeting with Gandalf in Unfinished Tales
(This post was edited by mulubinba on Feb 12 2011, 11:45pm)
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duats
Hithlum
Feb 12 2011, 11:47pm
Post #109 of 120
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The Hobbit is about Bilbo Baggins, so the movie should open with him.
(This post was edited by duats on Feb 12 2011, 11:48pm)
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ShireHorse
Nargothrond
Feb 12 2011, 11:56pm
Post #110 of 120
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just as FotR opened with a spectacle, I wondered if PJ would start TH with something similar. He's got two films and can afford a leisurely pace to tell the whole story properly. Going from dragon attacks and epic battles to the sleepy Shire will just make you more aware of what it is that Bilbo is being asked to undertake.
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duats
Hithlum
Feb 13 2011, 12:03am
Post #111 of 120
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Because the Prologue (especially the Last Alliance) was absolutely necessary. Such is not the case with The Hobbit. Flashbacks and/or dialogue from Thorin will suffice, just as it is in the book.
If we see Thorin and Gandalf meet, and then see the two of them planning the expedition, it ruins the surprise of thirteen dwarves showing up on Bilbo's doorstep.
(This post was edited by duats on Feb 13 2011, 12:05am)
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ShireHorse
Nargothrond
Feb 13 2011, 12:12am
Post #112 of 120
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a bit corny and would rather have a chronological story. I always thought the flashback in TH spoiled the pace. But that's just me and I've got no strong feelings either way. The main thrust of my question was to ask if any purists would object to a time compression as regards the Thorin story.
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Maiarmike
Hithlum
Feb 13 2011, 12:16am
Post #113 of 120
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...we may end up getting one or two flashbacks, especially in the opening scenes with Bilbo and the Dwarves when Gandalf talks of Thrain II giving him the key and map.
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bookgirl13
Menegroth
Feb 13 2011, 7:05am
Post #114 of 120
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I've watched Armitage's work and he is good at playing characters who have deep rooted emotional conflicts as a consequence of events in their pasts. I sense he enjoys being cast in roles where the characters are complex, often stern, even haughty on the one hand, but have another underlying, more compassionate, benevolent side to them. (Multi dimensional characters). He is the sort of actor that does a lot of research into the backstory of his characters so I have high hopes that he is going to do justice to Thorin. He's also been raised on Tolkien's writing which is re-assuring.
From what I've read and seen of Richard Armitage, I think you are right in your appreciation of the roles that he's played - or most of them. Playing Dawn French's boyfriend in The Vicar of Dibley was less multi-dimensional .
As for his being raised on Tolkien, in a early interview given after the heady North and South days, he said that his favourite book was Lord of the Rings. Perhaps he will walk around the set with a battered copy of The Hobbit, making sure that all the right nuances will be there.
The Quest for Erebor, putting the tale of The Hobbit into the context of the wider politics of Middle-earth, shows quite clearly the arrogance and bombastic bluster of Thorin. It will be interesting to see if this side of him is played down in favour of more troubled, complex, brooding (which is easier to transform into 'heart throb' potentiality).
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Feb 13 2011, 1:49pm
Post #116 of 120
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My dear Kel, I do believe you are indeed feeling much better!
*awaits the show*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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Magpie
Elvenhome
Feb 13 2011, 4:19pm
Post #117 of 120
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as much as I enjoy both VoD and RA... I don't think it's the best showcase of RA's work. :-)
However, my favorite parts of VoD were always the 'joke' after the credits. And I think that last 'joke' of the series with RA's character added to the mix of the Vicar and Verger is absolutely perfect. (I could say absolutely fabulous but I haven't actually seen that show with French and Saunders)
LOTR soundtrack website
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Vellamo
Ossiriand
Feb 13 2011, 4:21pm
Post #118 of 120
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Yes they is! Vellamo's preciousesss… //
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Vellamo
Ossiriand
Feb 13 2011, 5:00pm
Post #119 of 120
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as much as I enjoy both VoD and RA... I don't think it's the best showcase of RA's work. :-) I agree. It does still serve as a nice reminder of his comical competence for those of us who haven't got the chance to see him do stage roles.
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