Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: A few (more) words on The Hobbit

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  • Jeremy Eade,

    It's a long story and bakshi was cramming.I watched it a month ago with my kid, admittedly i lost attention first but it doesn't swing and you don't feel that book feeling.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Petra,

    Simon! Thanks for stopping by and giving reassurance. Very pleased that you and yours are okay - and I hope that you will continue to be. Best wishes to the good lady wife - may she stay safe and well.

    :)

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming,

    coff Haddock (but you knew that...)

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    The cartoon was ambitious, but it sucked if you were totally enchanted by the books.

    I saw the movie first, being only 7. It helped when I came to read it at about 9 or so, in some ways it even made it better because I didn't know how it ended.

    I was surprised by the number of set-ups that Jackson obviously lifted from his LOTR.

    He's very open about the fact. He homaged everywhere he could. Fanbois love that.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Petra,

    I'd like to Jackson to tackle the real classics, like Hunter S Thompson's books. Not Fear and Loathing in LA, of course - it's been done, and very well. But The Great White Shark Hunt, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail, and Hell's Angels would be good Jackson fodder, allowing him to get back to his wackier roots.

    Who's with me?

    *crickets*

    No one? Awww :(

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    I read the book first. They were never in at the Pakuranga Library.
    ..or anywhere in Manukau. You had to sign a registry and they would mail you months later to say they were in, and you had a small two week window to read them.

    Years later I realised who must have been hogging them.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Bakshi used rotoscope, tracing off live-action film, as a shortcut, especially in the battle scenes. It's an old trick, and a horrible form of drudgery from an animator's POV, but the studio hyped it as some kind of technical breakthrough. Some scenes appear to be literal trace-offs from old WW2 Eastern Front footage, with recognisable German helmets badly disguised with hand-drawn horns. It's hard not to laugh when the horns wobble.

    OTOH, the first encounter with the black riders in the shire is beautifully storyboarded, and was pretty much cribbed by Jackson, shot for shot.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • st ephen,

    Islander - there's a wikipedia page on the Tintin movies. The first one is a combination of The Crab With the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham's Treasure.

    It's stop motion animation, so the actors will be "Gollumised". Snowy will be normal CGI, so no need for dogs running around with blue dots on their joints.

    dunedin • Since Jul 2008 • 254 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    What does Tintin sound like? Is high pitched , low pitched, is he a quick blinker? Does he have a body?

    Is its original old fashioned belgian (?) wit transferrable to middle america or is it new jokes.

    Charles de Gaulle once said "My only international rival is Tintin."

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Islander,

    Sorry st ephen - 'Halibut' is an old family joke (they can be huge fish whereas haddock-) and thanks for the wikipedia link - off to read for after-tea sustenance-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson,

    Some scenes appear to be literal trace-offs from old WW2 Eastern Front footage, with recognisable German helmets badly disguised with hand-drawn horns. It's hard not to laugh when the horns wobble.

    Yes, and the red eyes, too. But as a kid I found that extremely scary. They were some fucked up bad-arse orcs. I'm sure I saw some of them wearing gas-masks.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    The EU is changing the post-doc setup so that anyone who has been in the same place 5 years becomes an employee not a contractor. This is to counter the increasing casualisation of academic work.

    Yup and the US is having issues with their whole academic system because of the "cheap labour" of post-docs messing up with academic career progression.

    However, neither the EU nor the US are actually prepared to pay for the research so labs try and get it done cheaper with post-docs ... a little cyclic methinks.

    And who says this kind of contrscting doesn't exist in NZ employment law at the moment? There are loads of post-docs happily (or unhappily, as the case may be) working around the country.

    Well yes there are loads of post-docs around the country. But whether the law actually allows them to be employed the way they are is another question. Post-docs aren't litigious by nature but it is an open question still as to whether the rotation of post-docs is illegal.

    The simple fact is most post-docs who come here for 3 years actually want to leave at the end of their contract and head back home or on to a new lab. Which makes the law an ass. However even in NZ I know of labs that openly abuse the post-doc system to get cheap labour knowing full well they should be hiring permanent employees.

    Like I said this isn't simple stuff.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Like I said this isn't simple stuff.

    Absolutely, and when workplace conditions are involved people get very emotional because they spend so much bloody time there.

    and the movie industry wont collapse but it may shrink as a commercial venture and that means job losses.But someone will make movies well. Hopefully us.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Warner Brothers- "What the fuck are we going to do when we run out of hobbit books."

    Well, J.K. Rowling is pretty "not planning to, but never say never" about a return to Hogwarts. There is whole new generation of Potters after all...

    But it's OK because a National government would never abuse their powers like Auntie Helen did! Or something.

    Oh, Andre -- cosy self-interest is now, always has been, and alway will be entirely non-partisan. Hey, at least we have a Speaker will who force Ministers to answer questions -- one radical innovation at a time.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    Hell's Angels would be good Jackson fodder

    'Wild Hogs' had at least one legal run-in with the modern-day Hells Angels around trademark infringment, so I'd be very surprised if that one ever got off the gorund.

    The Jack Nicholson 'Hells Angels on wheels' is supposed to be fairly OK. It's been on my 'to watch' list when I get around to it.

    I've also seen a live action b/w tintin a good few years back. Can't remember when or what the title was, though...

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    Yes, and the red eyes, too. But as a kid I found that extremely scary.

    Frank Frazetta's Death Dealer. While I don't think Frazetta received any kind of credit or remuneration from Bakshi's LOTR, from the number of times that image was knocked off in the film he certainly should have been entitled to a hefty cut.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    There is whole new generation of Potters after all...

    What happened to the Wombles. Why didn't they go on.Picking up rubbish, getting into shit,getting drunk, fighting...That should be a Movie.

    The Death Dealer. So metal.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Eade,

    Contractors are everywhere now.Under the new employment laws all new workers are effectively working under a 3 month contract.

    auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 1112 posts Report Reply

  • Joe Wylie,

    What happened to the Wombles. Why didn't they go on.Picking up rubbish, getting into shit,getting drunk, fighting..

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Clarke,

    Hey, at least we have a Speaker will who force Ministers to answer questions -- one radical innovation at a time.

    Yes, unless they're questions about their foreign trips.

    Two steps forward, one step back.

    -36.76, 174.61 or thereab… • Since Nov 2006 • 164 posts Report Reply

  • Petra,

    Re The Wombles: that was fantastic! Thanks!

    Rotorua • Since Mar 2007 • 317 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming,

    If just a bit surreal...

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Bennett,

    Russell - Robyn Malcolm would be an interesting voice to add to the panel. Or if controversy is to be avoided, how about Tim Balme - an actor for many years (including Braindead), a successful screenwriter, and also Head of Development at SPP.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 174 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Jumping forward many pages but..

    "your treachery will not be forgotten"

    Tee-shirt. Dare you.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Oooh, double dare - wear it on screen :)

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

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