Ian Mckellan
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Dec11
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Invited to the star studded Leicester Squre Premiere? With my reputation? Read on...
Do you remember the last time you heard applause at the cinema? Seemed to happen all the time when I was a kid, whooping and cheering as the opening titles rolled up the screen. This was Hampshire, so possibly it was the wonder of electricity that people were applauding. Anyway, last night it happened all over again at the Lord of The Rings premiere...
Anyway, that applause - there was a big old fight, Boromir (Sean Bean) got it pretty bad from some big Orc goblin type beast so the full size hero of the film - Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) - steps in. He thrusts, he parries, he slices, he dices, he cuts this big mother's head right off, and the audience went wild... It's one of many GRATE fight scenes in the film; if you were worried the film was going to be a bit Belle and Sebastian, stop fretting now...
They (Director Peter Jackson and New Line entertainment) don't seem to have taken any liberties with the story line as far as I can see, but they've possibly cut out some of the flowery dialogue - basically they've "sub-edited" it, and made it more relevant to the cinema goer. This is not a an academic text, this is a modern film for a wide audience after all... Some of the best examples of this are the encounter with the troll in the mines - it's CGI-tastic, so much more dynamic than I could have envisaged. It's Jurassic Park's T Rex terrorizing the kids, times a hundred. It may seem to the purist that casual mentions in the book are given too much of the film (like the love interest), and important bits aren't played out in enough detail, but I think the balance is, well, balanced... Another scene with more OOOMPH than you might expect is Arwen (aforementioned "leading" lady, Liv Tyler) is being chased by the Black Riders - it looks like they should be on Land Speeders rather than horses. This is NOT an episode of Black Beauty...
The New Zealand scenery is spectacular. If I had a garden, I'd be digging me a hobbit-hole to live in as we speak. At times (please forgive me) the setting of the film seems to slip into cliche, but then you realise - Lord of the Rings, uh, um - how do I say "wrote the book" in a non wanky way? This film blows the froth off anything I've seen for a long while (Harry Who?)
The effects are amazing, but subtle; it's easy to forget that Elijiah Wood (Frodo) and Ian Holm (Bilbo) aren't really half the height of Ian McKellan (Gandalf) and Christopher Lee (Saruman). Well not so easy for me, as I was sat about 20 seats away from them, but that's not important. Filming must have been MIGHTILY COMPLEX, but it flows together seemlessly, to make an exhilarating and moving experience. This film is smashing, and I liked it very much. It just about makes up for me missing my nephew's nativity play today.
Elvish has left the building.
(If you were wondering, I got in as a last minute stand by (replacing a major Eighties pop star) for the hottest film of the year, and found myself lovin' it lovin' it lovin' it for the whole three hours. More premiere league name dropping in Stalking Heads... Thanks to Emma @ Impressive PR who made it possible.
2001 :: Comment / reply
Dec11
Odeon, Leicester Square, London
Got in to the Lord of the Rings Premiere by mistake, and everyone in the world of showbiz was there - all the cast of the film apart from Cate Blanchett I think (So Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Ian McKellan, Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler, Sean Bean, stacks more).
Lots of minor TV stars, and also quite major ones that I can't remember, but I gurned behind Richard and Judy on the way in (did you tape it Mum?), nearly made a smart remark about hidden cameras to Graham Norton in the toilets, and sat in the same row as Frank Skinner and Jane Goldman (Mrs Jonathan Ross). Also spotted Mick Hucknall, Bob Geldof, Paul Young, Ruby Wax and Amanda Holden.
And Destiny's Child were there too.
2001 :: Comment / reply
Oct26
Pictures
Charity show at the Theatre Royal Haymarket... decided not to go for the gala buffet tickets, even though Clare's fave Ian McKellan MIGHT be there... there couldn't offer any guarantees on the phone, so it could easily just have been a Sunday night in a room full of very old people. Ross Noble really stands out on that bill, he's the youngest performer there by about forty years.
That was written BEFORE the show, now the after... great night, Ross Noble was the best by far, mostly because the audience were so posh, that there's no way they could understand his accent, so he was rambling on about pushing pianos into the crowd and having a prize for who would die, and all the "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" fans, didn't have a clue...
It was a rare treat to have Bruce Forsyth added the bill, he joked, he played piano, he tap-danced, he said "nice to see you..." and he did a walkabout through the crowd, not on the shoulders of a roadie though.
Sir Ian McKellan's sketch (with Penelope Wilton) was a bit odd, it was all based around Brief Encounter, and Richard O'Brien's was even odder, he did a Maori song on his guitar. Dame Judy Dench had to cancel, but the rest were good. It was Sunday night at the London Palladium stuff, but slightly edgier, and a nice change for a night out.
2003 :: Comment / reply
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