Talkie Tuesday: The War of the Rohirrim

 

"Forth Eorlingas!"

 

Hello everyone!

 

Or should I say Westu hal?

 

Either way, welcome, welcome, to tonight's blog post of choice.

 

I was THRILLED to discover that, since it's release in December 2024, this particular movie has now been more widely distributed among streaming services, because although our country's Netflix is pretty good about releases, honestly, I was still kind of waiting on this particular one.

 

Not that I was going in SUPER excited, mind you. I've been hella cautious since Rings of Power came out and started botching things up so badly it's insane.

 

But I was cautiously optimistic that there MIGHT be something good to find in the anime that I chose to watch this weekend.

 

So buckle up, get those swords polished, and make sure you're ready to ride. Because we're about to see just what was good and what wasn't so good in The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim.

 

Tome Thursday: The Return of the King

 

Hello everyone!

 

Well, we made it.

 

Against all odds - mostly because I wasn't entirely sure I'd be able to make this possible, given I was so sick at one point I felt like I was coughing up vital organs along with my sanity - we've finally reached the end of the road.

 

At least, for the time being.

 

Like I mentioned in Tuesday's post, I'll still be having a look at The War of the Rohirrim, just to see whether or not it's worth the watch, and possibly it'll find its way onto the blog post at some point or other.

 

However, that's going to have to wait, because lo and behold, tonight's post is the very last "regular" of this calendar year.

 

Advent begins this weekend, and if you've been following my blog for some years, you know what that means.

 

For now, let's take the road less-travelled, as they say, and make sure we end things right, in The Return of the King.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Return of the King

 

"One Ring to rule them all ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome back to the conclusion of our journey to Middle-Earth.

 

Well, alright, I'm probably not saying goodbye forever, that's just not going to work out for me seeing as I spend a lot of my waking (and sleeping!) hours in that particular fantasy world.

 

But so far as the movies go, for the time being, this is going to be the end.

 

I do in fact plan on watching War of the Rohirrim, although I'll admit I'm going in very wary, mostly because it feels like they're trying to shove another girl-boss down our throats when they didn't actually need to do it, but I digress.

 

I'll be seeing that eventually, but for tonight, we need to see just what the Companions of the Ring are willing to sacrifice on this last leg of their journey.

 

How far are all of them willing to go?

 

There's only one way to find out: we have to dive deep into The Return of the King.

 

Tome Thursday: The Two Towers

 

Hello everyone!

 

Welcome back.

 

You've probably figured out by now, if you're a casual reader of this blog, that I'm covering The Lord of the Rings in both movie and book form on here for the remainder of this autumn season.

 

Of course, if you've been paying attention and are a long-time follower, you know I love ANYTHING Tolkien that I can get my hands on.

 

Lord of the Rings? My favourite of all time.

 

So really, this sequence of events was a no-brainer.

 

In fairness, I might eventually look at other book-to-movie things and review them side-by-side if I can, or if I feel like it, but for now let's stop dallying, shall we?

 

It's time to make further steps towards Mordor, and we won't be able to do them unless we actually get to it.

 

Here's to The Two Towers.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Two Towers

 

"One Ring to rule them all ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome back to our Lord of the Rings journey.

 

If you're looking at your calendars and wondering, yes, I planned this.

 

I figured out that if I review the entire Hobbit trilogy as well as the Lord of the Rings one, I just make it to December when I can easily segue into my annual Christmas watching and reading.

 

Nifty, huh?

 

That said, I also hope you're ready for the ride in tonight's blog, because boy oh boy, this movie ... let's just say it has the harshest critics. Mostly because, out of all the trilogy, it suffered the biggest amount of changes to the timeline and the plots.

 

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, though, and maybe "suffered" isn't the right word to use. Generally speaking I still love it, and I'm a die-hard Tolkien fan!

 

So let's jump right in and see what that says about The Two Towers.

 

Tome Thursday: The Fellowship of the Ring

 

Hello everyone!

 

Saw this coming, didn't you?

 

If you didn't, then you should have.

 

It makes the most logical sense to cover the movie trilogy and then ensure that the book will be standing right alongside it, just because.

 

And also for all the differences that came from adapting the text onto our screens!

 

Peter Jackson did a wonderful job, but we have to remember that it was Tolkien who first started all of this and wrote an epic saga that we continue to be drawn to years after its initial publication.

 

For me, personally, I read these books once a year, without fail, and have done so for over a decade now, but I STILL discover new things each time I read.

 

I also cry every time I read, that too.

 

So without further ado, let's hop right into The Fellowship of the Ring.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Fellowship of the Ring

 

"One Ring to rule them all ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

I can't believe I haven't written this before.

 

Genuinely, this is my all-time favourite movie, bar none, and this goes for the trilogy as a whole rather than one separate movie, because there's no way to pick among them. It'd be like trying to pick your favourite child, and that's definitely not happening!

 

Of course then I take a look at the blog and realize ... I've never reviewed these.

 

Ever.

 

Which is a shame and a colossal one at that, dishonour on me, my family, and my cow combined follows after this announcement.

 

So without further ado, let's jump right into the epic adventure that New Line Cinema took a huge risk on back in the day, which was literal years in the making, and burst onto the silver screens with almost literal fireworks: The Lord of the Rings, part one, The Fellowship of the Ring!

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Rings of Power

 

"Three Rings for the Elven-Kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-Lords in their halls of stone,

Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die ..."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Alright so.

 

Unlike the last time I touched this story, I decided not to metaphorically undo myself every week for two months and figured I'd just do a little end-of dissertation once it was all over and done with.

 

After all, this isn't what a lot of people were expecting, although it LOOKS like there might be a lot of the positive floating around online, which is a bit of a difference from the first season, after which everyone and their mother (for the most part) was all "meh".

Of course I'm talking about Amazon's big fantasy release of the year, and no, it's not Wheel of Time.

If we're lucky we're getting the next season of THAT soon, however.

But for tonight, let's put on our thinking caps to make this all fit together in the second season of The Rings of Power.

Talkie Tuesday: Born of Hope

 

"There is our Hope."

 

Hello everyone!

 

I'm finally back, now that the weather's changed a little and the heat has FINALLY dropped some.

 

Man it's like someone had to open a valve somewhere to let the pressure out and have it dissipate into the ether. Not that it's completely changed tunes of course, but it's definitely better than it was before in any event.

 

One can breathe, at least!

 

So I can sit and type on the computer without melting or having some of the components melt, which is basically all that I wanted.

 

Which means that without further ado, we're heading straight back to Middle-Earth with the fans, to another fan-made movie that's definitely made it into the top favourites since its release, because it tells the story right out of the Appendices, and tells it correctly, too, unlike some adaptations nowadays.

 

We head into the tale of Born of Hope.

 

Talkie Tuesday: The Hunt for Gollum

 

"If you can't find him ... no one can."

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome to a rather old movie.

 

And not just any movie, but a fan-made movie to boot, because of course the fans would have gone ahead and done something big studios would only just recently figure out could be done.

 

Listen, no shade on anyone but, sometimes the fans do things first.

 

Better, might I add, than the big wigs!

 

But seeing as there's now been an official announcement that says this will clearly be a full-length feature film, I went back to watch this after not having seen it in literal years.

 

And I have to say it still holds up really well!

 

So buckle up and get out your pipes: we're headed back into Middle-Earth with The Hunt for Gollum.

 

Tome Thursday: Shadows of the Dark Realm

 

Hello everyone!

 

And welcome to the last "regular" book review until 2024, because as of next week, we begin our Christmas-themed extravaganza which has seen us through many a-holiday season here on this blog, of course.

 

Hey, let a girl live. I LOVE me some Christmas!

 

But I also love picking up new and exciting stories, too.

 

Tonight's choice is one of them, although it still has some ways to go before it can be perfectly polished and on par with the greats like Tolkien and Jordan.

 

Nevertheless, it's good. It drew me in and made me want to figure out where the heck it was going, and how it was going to end, and definitely gave me some twists along the way as I read it.

 

I was also pleasantly surprised to be approached by the author who so graciously sent me an ARC of his book in the first place. Doesn't matter for how long I've been doing this, it still humbles me immensely when people reach out like that. I'm here for it!

 

And so without further ado: Shadows of the Dark Realm, by Tyler Edwards.

 

Saturday Snippet: New LOTR movies?

Not sure how I feel about this ...

LINK 

xx

*image not mine

Rings of Power: The Eye

 

"Every war is fought both without and within." 

Hello everyone!

Well, only one more episode to go, and, dare we say a lot of us are feeling relieved?

Yes, yes, I'm sure you're wondering, but why are you still reviewing this if it's obviously a bit of a slog?

I'm a perfectionist and dislike not finishing what I start. So there.

I'll be seeing this through right to the end, though you will definitely also be getting some House of the Dragon thoughts from me when the time comes and THAT series comes to a close.

Not to mention possibly a few others.

But I'm certainly getting ahead of myself, as I first need to finish this one.

If you're wondering what you need to survive a volcanic explosion, I have to disappoint you by saying: you probably won't.

A lot of characters in Rings of Power did, though, as The Eye shows us.

Rings of Power: Udûn

 

"New life, in defiance of death."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Two more episodes to go in this show and we are done with the first season.

Will we return for a second? Remains to be seen.

Obviously we already know Amazon is committed to this project with five whole seasons, though granted I'm not entirely sure how they'll continue to excuse it if it performs poorly.

Or, maybe it won't perform poorly, not that I'm convinced it's doing well either.

It feels more like, the amount of views it's getting is that macabre sort of showing that people are only watching because they want to see the next version of a train wreck!

But maybe I'm being too harsh. However, I will say that after six episodes of barely anything happening, it's difficult to really argue against the fact that the season has just not been as gripping thus far as it could have been, and arguments of 'it'll be spread out over 5 seasons you have to be patient' are moot point as we have to wait for a long time between seasons. That doesn't translate well into the waiting period, trust me.

However, we still do have a review to get through, so here it is. The Rings of Power: Udûn.

Rings of Power: Adar

 

"If Sauron has indeed returned, the Southlands are but the beginning."

 

Hello everyone!

 

Alright, alright.

 

So I said initially I wasn't going to do this.

 

I changed my mind. I'm allowed!

 

And also, a few of my friends have said they'd really love to keep on reading these weekly dissertations of mine which are no more and no less than me just spinning yarn about my thoughts, really.

 

Which means here we are, and here we will stay until the season ends.

 

Last week may have been an introduction that blew hot and cold, but this week brought us something a little more tight in terms of writing, and some answers to the mysteries we're being introduced to.

 

Hopefully Prime continues in this vein, because we're headed to the halfway point of the season, so some answers are welcome!

 

The Rings of Power episode, Adar, at the very least gives us some of them.

 

Saturday Snippet: Rings of Power Impressions

 

Thus far ... unconvinced. We proceed.

 

xx

*image not mine

Saturday Snippet: The Rings of Power TEASER TRAILER

 

YATATATAAAAAAAAA 😍

 

xx

*video not mine

Saturday Snippet: The Lord of the Rings POSTERS!

 

I can't wait for September!

(Pssst ... click on the image to be taken to the hi-res versions.)

 

xx

*image not mine

Saturday Snippet: The Lord of the Rings TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT!

 

Enter, RINGS OF POWER!

September 2, 2022.

 

I can't wait!

 

xx

*video not mine

Talkie Tuesday: Dune

 

"A great man doesn't seek to lead; he's called to it. And he answers." 

Hello everyone!

I am fully on board this express train right now.

Aka I've actually watched this movie relatively quickly after it's release AND gotten in on the hype that everyone and their mother seems to be feeling about it, especially given that a part 2 has already been green-lit (and why wouldn't it have been, based on the film's success, am I right?).

Suffice to say though, I was going into this blind.

See, I've never read the original novel by Frank Herbert. Oh I'd seen it, there was always one of those covers with either a big ass worm on the front of just sand dunes all over the place, but for some reason it never caught my attention enough to warrant me picking it up.

Suffice to say I will do so NOW, of course, for that and probably the rest depending on just how the story ends up unfolding.

But until such a time as that, the only thing left is to get on a ship and travel to the desert planet ourselves in this blog post. And, seriously, does EVERY epic saga ever begin on a desert planet in the middle of the universe? Dune is the new-age Tatooine!