Personally hated that. The dialogue felt super unnatural, really awkwardly forced, which is basically what I expected this thing to feel like.

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I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists

I thought it was cute, if a little corny, but I'm not sure how Tolkienish it felt. Will be curious to see it in context, though.

Tolkien Estate is pretty unequivocal in its opposition to the film.

Tolkien estate disavows forthcoming film starring Nicholas Hoult

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In gratitude forever … .

Here is a link to the Tolkien Estate original statement. https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-relea ... 93157.html

I saw someone else post that elsewhere and suggest that the Guardian had somehow over-emphasized the statement, when in fact they quote it exactly.

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In gratitude forever … .

I stopped giving a FF a long time ago about what TE approves. They have proven themselves to be completely clueless about anything that’s not books.

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

They do approve of the Amazon series though, at least to some degree. Christopher has stepped down, so it has to be more than just him denouncing. And even Christopher didn't publicly criticize Jackson's films until years later, while other family members were less hostile...so this is actually somewhat unusual.

They also approved of the LotrO game which saw me fighting giant turtles in Annuminas. Just sayin.

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

I think that LotrO is licensed by Middle-earth Enterprises not the Tolkien Estate.

Yes.

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In gratitude forever … .

They ran an ad on a cooking show, and it was the oddest intercut, from the charging horsemen to the contestants to Tolkien in uniform to the show host.

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“I am not so blind that I can't see darkness.”
Dangerous Beans
Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

First fan reviews

https://www.theonering.net/torwp/2019/0 ... ien-movie/

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

Thanks, Al. Encouraging, so far as it goes. I suspect that Shaun Gunner's reaction will be similar to my own, and that many in the so-called Tolkien scholarship community will hate it.

Currently at 67% at Rotten Tomatoes, but only 9 reviews so far. 33% among "top critics" with even the one positive one being lukewarm. But way too early to get a sense of the critical consensus (not that that matters all that much)

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In gratitude forever … .

Those reviews are quite promising. I think I might actually go see this - in the movie hall. After Hobbit #1.

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*title copyright: Teremia

'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude

It looks like it's shaping up as another of the solid and well-made but unexceptional biopics we get quite a few of every year. They rarely satisfy people who are intensely interested in their subjects because they almost always need to simplify them, and Tolkien might be no different. But I'll reserve judgement until I see it.

Good review from Ars Technica

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/05/ ... rly-years/

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The Vinyamars on Stage! This time at Bag End

And a good one from Jeremy Edmonds of the Tolkien Guide.

https://www.tolkienguide.com/modules/ne ... mpost22276

Sent from my LG G6 using Tapatalk

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In gratitude forever … .

I noticed that the limited release is in the Montclair film festival - which is Colbert’s hometown and the film festival was started by him. What a coincidence (not).

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*title copyright: Teremia

'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude

It all seems rather lukewarm?

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“I am not so blind that I can't see darkness.”
Dangerous Beans
Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

51% on RT is lukewarm at best.

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In gratitude forever … .