Bilbo

Thank God for that. I was worried for a second.

Befordor?

who wrote this shit? Why are they legally allowed to hold writing instruments or use text editors?

That looks like...Sir Lenny Henry in a bad Bach wig!
 
Their names are just as terrible, too, by the way: Elanor Brandyfoot, Poppy Proudfellow and Sadoc Burrow.

Dear God.
 

 

But just as annoying to me is the equal and opposite reaction from the other direction: that just kinda liking a thing makes you a corporate shill or mindless content drone.  Both mindsets treat these things as way more important than they deserve.

"Liking this movie — even just liking the idea of it — meant you were one of the good guys. Disliking it, on the other hand, marked you as not just a critic, but a Bad Person."
This is my exact problem with the discourse around Disney movies.

My problem is not that awful people exist in a fandom community (unavoidable) but, as the article I linked to above is all about, there's like an entire media subindustry that only exists to elevate the pathetic randos.  Sort of a pop culture media equivalent of the old "if it bleeds, it leads" adage.
 
The cycle:
 
- Randos post heinous crap 99% of people would never see or hear about
- "Journalists" that look for randos posting crap start writing breathless righteous articles about them that get lots of clicks/impressions
- People who are on social media too much can get the good feels by denouncing it and creating a self-image of being a bastion of upright moral thinking
- Celebrities can gain clout by issuing statements of denunciation/support
- The corporation that owns the IP just sees free marketing $$ (aka "earned media")
 
 

Surprise, I liked this one!  I think it was nice and tense, the Imperial defector character is a good addition to the team, and the Jedi tomb scene was really chilling and poignant.

I’m on record that continuity is a death cult and that much like the major comics companies were before it (and will be again), Star Wars was well served by a continuity reboot.  However, that ComingSoon article isn’t actually talking about continuity, but is talking about an assumption we all made based on Vader and Obi-wan’s dialogue in Star Wars about when they last met.  It’s a logical assumption, likely the MOST logical, but still just an assumption.

The Disney statement on racism was specifically directed towards people sending explicitly racist comments and messages to an actor.  Other people who didn’t like the series assumed (it had something to do with) (the world revolved around) them and got their knickers in a twist.
 
 

Given TORN have basically been banging the drum for this show from the off (on their social media accounts anyway), did we expect any other kind of response from them?
 
Call me cynical, but I expect any 'fan site', vlogger or 'influencer' who've been wined and dined (on Amazon's dime) to merely gush over what they saw.

Lots of talk about the LotR TroP event on Twitter today. I'm not gonna speak for those invited, but can we assume this is damge control after the disastrous response to their last influencer event?
 
https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2022/05/09/113105-the-vibes-of-power-amazon-shares-exciting-rings-of-power-insight/

From what we’ve seen so far from both I’m more excited for this than Rings of Power

From what we’ve seen so far from both I’m more excited for this than Rings of Power

Also. 2 tracks (Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore and The Room We Require) will be available on streaming platforms from April 1st. So they’re already available in any time zone where it’s that date already. 

I haven’t seen it but I know some people who have and no. It isn’t explained. It’s treated the same way as the change of Dumbledores in Harry Potter. 

Kennedy fired three composers to this day.

How odd that Mads Mikkelsen isn't in this movie!

Cry more. 

I have been re-reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth Saga, from The Silmarillion to The Lord of the Rings, as well as his Letters. I’ve also watched Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings on 4K Blu-Ray (Extended Edition only). I love the works of Tolkien; I greatly admire Tolkien. Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings was phenomenal. Now, having seen what Amazon is doing, I am appalled. All they care about is making “another Game of Thrones.” The works of Tolkien are beloved by millions of people all over the world (and for good reason), and the reaction to Amazon’s series is so bad that they actually hired “social media influencers” to pose as “Tolkien super-fans” just to try and get a decent word out. They even dismissed notable Tolkien scholar Dr. Tim Shippey from having any involvement with this. This is disgraceful. I have friends who are white, black and Latino, and they are disgusted by the fact that Amazon is trying to make Tolkien’s world reflect modern-day society, which greatly undercuts Tolkien’s stated intent of creating an immersive mythology within Earth’s ancient history. The problem is NOT diversity; the problem is turning an established and beloved work into something that is intent on deconstructing and subverting rather than honoring or building on Tolkien’s life work and legacy. Not to mention that the entertainment rights to Tolkien’s works are now quite literally divided, with Amazon having the rights to any adaptation of The Hobbit and Appendices and the Saul Zaentz Company owning the rights to The Lord of the Rings (which is licensed to WB). It is unbelievable.