| << July 2002 | September 2002 >> |
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As we are about the last people in the country to see it, you'll not be surprised to hear that it was really jolly good indeed. New Zealand passes muster as the Shire, and everywhere else too. No wonder people are leaping on planes to take their holidays there. The whole film does have an epic feel about it - the vast landscapes, huge buildings, and some enormous battle scenes. In spite of the three hour running time however, it did sometimes feel like things were moving a bit quickly. Obviously changes had to be made from the original text, but in an effort to include most of the major scenes it did seem leap from action set piece to action set piece a little. What I enjoyed most were the little touches; the dirt under Frodo's finger nails, Gandalf's grimy face, the blink-and-you-miss-it moment as the party plough through waist deep snow and we see Legolas walking on the snow's surface. It succeeds in carrying an emotional charge too - Boromir's death as he tries to protect the hobbits was paticularly affecting. Knowing it was going to happen didn't make it any easier. This film really is quite an achievement.
But what really inspires me to comment is the concept that the Shire is Warwickshire! The Forest of Arden? The forest that isn't really a forest but numerous clearings separated by trees that give the moniker "Leafy Warwickshire"? Fascinating observation! Are the towers Kenilworth? Where does Warwick Castle fit in? Do all hobbits come from Solihull? The list of unanswered questions could be endless! [added 7th Sep 2002]
I think it's safe to assume that Kenilworth, for all its faults, isn't Mordor. Hobbits may well come from Solihull though, it is rather genteel.
Moving onto the film, I did't find it unnecessarily violent at all. In fact, I found it rather moving. Lots more to say on this, but I should really get on with email out my cv.
Bakshi's rotoscoped cartoon - which only manages to fit in about two thirds of the story before ending rather abruptly - came out in 1978. I went to see it at the local fleapit with my brothers - we may well have been the only customers that day - and I rather enjoyed it. [added 8th Sep 2002]
IT IS NOTHING LIKE A DIVE.
THE DECOR IS LIGHT AND AIRY AND THE PEOPLE ARE FRIENDLY PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT IF YOU ARE GOING TO BAD MOUTH A PLACE.
TOP NIGHT OUT AT THE IVY BUSH PUB HAGLEY ROAD BIRMINGHAM. [added 25th May 2004]
"grim", "unfriendly", "jumped up gin-palace", "blonde-wood lager bar", "stinky crap hole", "one way trip to A&E" - that would be bad. [added 27th May 2004]
[added 20th Feb 2007]
But The Ivy Bush? Needs a lick of paint, but the beer's good. [added 28th Jan 2007]
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Jesus Christ on a bike.
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I need multi-channel ears.
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Until it's released, why not relive the good old days? Get yourself an emulator for your favourite 8-bit machine, grab a tape image and blast off into the 80s. Yay!
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If
f and g are UnaryFunctions, then Adapt.Compose(UnaryFunction f, UnaryFunction g) creates a new
function h, where h(x) is equal to f(g(x)).
If f is a BinaryFunction and g1 and g2 are UnaryFunctions, then Adapt.Compose(BinaryFunction f, UnaryFunction g1, UnaryFunction g2) returns a new BinaryFunction h such that h(x, y) is equal to f(g1(x), g2(y)).
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There's also a new Xerces release, which I should try and sync with soon.
So much to do ... I need to write up the build instructions properly, although it is getting easier thanks to some of Andrew's work. I want to put a release of the DOM together, get a version of the W3C DOM validation suite together, consider doing some DOM level 3 work, perhaps have a start on an XPath processor, go back to look at Spirit again so I can reset the "native" SAX parser stuff. As ever, any and all assistance will be received with grateful thanks.
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