Writer and broadcaster Brian Sibley brings a unique perspective to his role as the author of The Official Lord of the Rings Movie Guide, and two further volumes on the production of the saga which will follow as the remaining films are released.

I understand why people will carp and complain, it’s inevitable, but what I felt very strongly on the set in New Zealand was that the one thing that Peter and his cast and crew have captured is the real spirit of the book. There’s absolutely no chance that they’ve lost or sacrificed the central theme of the quest, and not just the quest but the significance of the quest: the cost to Frodo, the cost to everybody who’s involved in it. To have captured and held that is one hell of an achievement to my mind. They could just have gone for the adventure, for sweeping vistas of marching armies, and those are going to be there in the film, but I believe Peter Jackson has really captured the core of the story, its heart and emotions.

God I hope that’s true!!!

And here’s an interview with Elijah Wood:

http://www.wow.ie/cinema/index.cfm?fuseaction=getInterview&id=1863

Our last best hope for good television

[[b5_lurk]]
Unlike most television series, Babylon 5 is a single story, completely planned out from day one with a beginning, middle, and end. Each episode is enjoyable on its own, but is also a piece of a larger whole, a chapter in a five-year-long novel for television.

The setting of the show is affected by events in each episode — the status quo isn’t neatly restored at the end of the hour. Characters die, are reassigned, or are forever changed by
their actions and those of the people around them. Because of that, it’s impossible to come up with a single introduction to the series and characters that applies to all the episodes.