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NEWS AND VIEWS THAT IMPACT LIMITED CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with
power to endanger the public liberty." - - - - John Adams

Friday, July 1, 2011

The Lord of the Rings Director's Cut


"The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it."


By Gary;

I am damn sick of covering current events and politics.  So here I go.

I spent the last three Tuesday nights glued to a movie theater seat for a special, very limited screening of what might be the best movie ever made:  The Lord of the Rings.

The great Peter Jackson took an impossible book and turned it into the classic of movie classics.  Jackson has put together an expanded Director's Cut with even more footage that has never before been shown in public. . . . . and yes, in watching about 12 hours of the movie at times I was prepared to kill someone just to get to the bathroom.  MORE FOOTAGE on an already long film.  The act of a madman.  But it works, and the fans ate it up.

The Witch-King of Angmar

This special event brought out what might be called the functionally insane.  Otherwise normal people who on special occasions show up dressed as Elves, Wizards and Hobbits. 

Fond memories returned to me of those ancient days in the last millenium when I attended opening nights for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films or when I went to comic book - Sci Fi conventions.  There is no finer feeling in the world than to be in the company of fellow crazies dressing up as Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones or Gandalf the Grey. 

We have an unspoken understanding with each other though we have never met.  We know deep down inside what is really important in life.  The utter joy in the reading of a special and secret book or to suspend your disbelief for a few hours and enjoy the magic of Hollywood.


Face it.  Watching a movie on DVD is a poor experience at best.  Watching a movie on a channel like TNT or AMC is an act of horror and perhaps should be made illegal.  But watching a classic film on a super-wide screen with modern sound equipment is an act of magic.

In a long movie there are those times you want badly to hit the remote to skip a scene.  But you are trapped and must view the entire film.  But that is also the joy of going to the movies.  You must see the entire product.  Seeing all three Ring movies again showed the genius of Peter Jackson.

As a war movie buff the Rings films out shine all others.  The Lord of the Rings is perhaps the best war movie of all time.  The action both up close and real as well as CGI is off the charts on the big screen.

It was a wonderful three Tuesday nights to be able to re-live the Great Adventure on the wide-screen once again.

So I raise my tankard of ale in a toast to Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Strider, Gimli, Legolas and Boromir.  Thanks for decades of pleasure and for taking us to another and a better world.












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