So Margie and I were pissing and moaning about how everyone else had gone back to see Lord of the Rings, and come back shouting and cheering because of all the trailers they’d seen. So Doyce and Jackie, bless their hearts, offered to sit Katherine tonight while we went off and saw it ourselves (granted, their partially-selfish reason was for Doyce to get some toddler time, but that’s neither here nor there).
And so we went …
Teeny-tiniest of the AMC 24 theaters (No. 24, in fact), and a thin crowd — but what do you expect for a Monday late-afternoon?
The trailers start …
Star Wars: Episode II – Not the very action-oriented trailer I saw on the web a few weeks back. This one is more about the Annakin/Amadala love story, and we finally learn, once and for all … where Luke got his whininess. “But Obi-Wan, Amadala and I were going to go make out at Toshi Station!”
Minority Report – Mission: Impossible meets The Matrix. But it still looks like fun.
Spider-Man – I’m not sure about the sfx … but Toby rocks as Peter Parker.
… and then the movie starts ….
I would be livid over there not being the promised Two Towers trailer … but I couldn’t be livid while watching LotR.
Incredible, incredible movie. Three marginally sour notes, just to pick nits:
1. The Gandalf-in-Bag-End scenes are, the more you watch them, still not perfect in mixing Big Gandalf with Little Bilbo (or Little Frodo). A bit of digital waver. But, still, damn fine.
2. For Moria being a major Dwarvish kingdom, center once upon a time of major trade and the like … the Western Door is pretty dinky, and the Eastern Door lets out into a rock field.
3. The chain on the Ring. Now you see it. Now you don’t. Now you see it. Now you don’t. Plenty dramatic scenes all right. But the Continuity Editor should be poked in the eye.
On the other hand, I love all the Numenorian statuary and ruins all through the film. Hilltop forts. Statues in the woods. The portage spots about the falls. The decor of Minas Tirith — and Minas Morgul, for that matter. Wonderful stuff.
I love this film. Truly love it. Not enough to buy the “normal” DVD in August and the “spiffy” DVD in November (make mine spiffy!), but truly love it.
And then, as Sam and Frodo make their way down into the nasty rocky area, off on their hopeless quest … the Twin Towers trailer rolls …
I. Am. Counting. The. Days.
Everything looked great. Even the non-canonical stuff looked great.
Seeing the trailer was not quite as good as getting a million dollars, tax free. Not quite. But damn fine.
Mark your calendars, kids. Mark your calendars.
Okay, now I HAVE to go.
Hmm…maybe Thursday night. If it’s still playing somewhere locally.
I saw it the weekend BEFORE the trailer was added, thinking it was already there. So this’ll be number three for me.