Ripping Good Yarns: One Ring to Entertain Them All

I have a confession to make.

It took me years to read The Lord of the Rings books.  YEARS!  And it wasn't because I disliked them.  I'm not really sure why.  They were dense, and it was hard for me to read them fast.  I was savoring each page and situation.  The descriptions of Middle Earth blew me away and fired up my own imagination.  My own imaginative world of Pazoria owes a lot to Tolkien.

But I would read for awhile, and then other things would come up, and the series would get set aside.  Then I would come back to it months later, and absorb some more.  I did this over the course of several years, running from high school to the end of college.

Like many of the fans of the novels, I looked over their rich complexities, the demands that would be needed to present the characters and world properly, and dismissed the notion that Hollywood could ever do an adequate job of it.  There were some animated movies done that were, to be polite, were not my cup of tea. The idea seemed too big to work.

But Hollywood's technical skills improved, and through CGI and other techniques, would be able to show Middle Earth in all it's glory.  But this large story still had to be adapted into something that made sense.  Fortunately for everyone, the movies were put into the hands of the amazing Peter Jackson.

The movies swept me away.  They were every thing I hoped for and more.  We have re-viewing them in preparation for The Hobbit next week.  Benjamin is being introduced to them for the first time and is absolutely enthralled.  And I am grateful for the casting of Orlando Bloom as Legolas, as it further entices Alison into watching these great films.

We watched the first half of The Return of the King last week and will finish it this weekend.  The Return of the King is the movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the first and only time a science fiction film has done that.

My favorite character is Samwise, the earnest determined friend of Frodo Baggins.  His loyalty and seeing through to what's important touch me deeply.  The one award that the movies should have won but did not, was a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Sean Astin and his brilliant portrayal of Samwise.

So we are ready, Waycross!  This better not be like Lincoln.  This better come to the theatre in full force, both 2D and 3D showings.  Even though we will be in the middle of a big move, our Star Trek 3 dimensional chess of a move, we will make the time to see this movie, this glorious Unexpected Journey.