Sunday, February 24, 2019

The Animated "Hobbit" - Wee Frustrations

It ends up that I may have to buy the DVD of 1977's "The Hobbit" by directors Rankin and Bash. You know those guys best as the director of all the seasonal TV specials that first and second grade teachers used to kill time and allow them to zone out until the holiday break.

Thank the gods for the Common Core puzzling all Americans. Teachers need the four hours the old VHS tapes would kill to make sure they can answer all the questions and complaint letters by parents who lost their jobs to imported employees from more educationally sound nations. I am actually surprised that teachers thought dealing with students screaming for them to fast forward through commercials or adjust the tracking on these dubs was better than coming up with lesson plans. At least the tapes kept kids from safety scissor and paste accidents.

Sorry for the little rant, but let me bring it full circle. I actually had a Civics teacher (first year) decide to kill a couple of classes showing "The Hobbit." He may have ran out of stories from his glory days as a Notre Dame (Peoria) wrestler and baseball player. Or, Rankin/Bash is something that all teachers are suppose to familiarize themselves with and show to justify the knowledge. In other words, I need to find out what the code name for this course is.

If I am going back to school next year, I may as well have enough hours from Illinois Central College to claim I have enough for a Bachelor's Degree. This would be like the Bachelor's Degree my dad was given so he would have to enter the draft.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077687/
This "Hobbit" blog is being written just so I can practice writing, so do not expect a true review. I was drinking vodka, experimenting with Malort and playing "WWE 2K16" until 7:00 am. When the "True Blood" inspired dreaming ended, I had an hour and a half to get ready for work. My plan is to pick up some groceries when I get out of work and maybe I'll check out some Black Friday deals at Walmart.

Fuck, it'll be Thursday at midnight. No deals for me. Well, groceries are needed, so I may not have the time to write in my journal to fulfill my strict practice of writing something each night. This blog will have to do.

The reason (I know, finally), that I need to buy this DVD is that I think I might be able to cut the Extended Peter Jackson "Hobbit" Trilogy into a more concise film. I'm aiming for 2:45.

In other words, I wasn't much frustrated in this animated title, just all the unnecessary stuff in the most recent incarnation of this Tolkien book. I mean, if you are going to have a Dwarf/Elf love tale, Peter Dinklage better have demanded it so that he could be cast in the film. No Tyrion, I cannot help but wonder how much time Jackson and Del Toro auteurism took up.

Del Toro may not have impressed me with "Hellboy 2's" Perlman/Blair chemistry, but there is no need for him to make up for it. Has Peter Jackson ever really told a love story? I will say "Heavenly Creatures" did have the intensity of one, but that's not what we got with the trilogy.

Now 80 minutes is not enough time to tell this story, so the action does not really happen in this film, so points to the new features. And I did like the Jackson films calling bullshit on a talking thrush saving Lake Town. But just because you ignored one bird doesn't allow you to get rid of the talking army of eagles.

"The Hobbit" trilogy ends up being too clever for its own good, but it is the superior version to be translated to the big screen. I figure if I can make the best version of his film, surely people will dedicate time to "Main Event of the Dead (treatments available by request at russthebus07@gmail.com).

I kind a wish this trilogy was on VHS. I'd feel like more of an editor. Until I get this feature done, please study my following MEOTD proposal.

The "Main Event of the Dead" Test Reel Needs:
  • Someone with some makeup or special effects experience.
  • The true antagonist of the feature is a woman, so an actress to set up the premise of "Main Event of the Dead."
  • Three or four wrestlers to take the finishing moves.
  • One or two wrestlers to deliver the moves.
  • A wrestling ring with a canvas that can afford to be left a little messy. If we can get extra from the crowd-funding campaign, we'll make replacing it a priority.
Since this is an effort to try and make this feature a reality, I can really only afford to compensate what ever is spent to make this video. I am willing to negotiate terms on what compensation will be for performances before the reel goes online. If whatever raised can cover the compensation agreed to, even if I do not reach the goal to produce the film, compensation will be had.

If you need a treatment of the script for "Main Event of the Dead" please e-mail me at russthebus07@gmail.com.


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