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Tolkien (2019)
10/10
A movie honoring Tolkien, done with gentleness
5 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
This are just a couple of my thoughts, not an actual review.

I can't believe how tender the portrayal of male characters was, including Tolkien himself. And more specifically his friend group in his youth. I mean these men loved each other, cared for each other, cried and laughed together. Tell me one major movie in recent years with so many male leads who are not afraid of being so vulnerable sentimentally with each other. I'm honestly listening, I want to watch. The first one that comes in my mind is of course LOTR but you know who wrote it.

The main theme that played whenever he started forming thoughts about Middle-earth was amazing. I could honestly tell each time a new idea was forming in his mind.

I can't actually believe they included the time when he stole a bus in Oxford.

And for the matter Oxford as a whole and the conversations he had with his linguistics professor.

I absolutely adore how interested everyone seemed in his ideas and that no one laughed whenever he started talking in whatever language he chose to. Be it latin or old english or the elven languages. I have never been able in my life to talk freely about this side of myself, or my interest in languages or fantasy without being mocked or laughed at. It was so nice a change of pace to see him appreciated for his interests.

I swear everyone in the theater cried towards the end of the movie when he meets with the mother of one of his deceased friends and they decide to publish his poetry.

I love how they portrayed the idea of the nazgul, sauron and the balrog forming in his mind during the war scenes. Absolute amazing.

And of course Edith. God I love how they show that she was a major influence in his writing. And that basically the entire Lord of the Rings is a love letter to her love for the Ring of the Nibelungs.
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Born of Hope (2009)
10/10
The movie the fans always needed
17 July 2016
After the mix of reviews the Hobbit movies received (which I enjoyed even if in some places they are terribly lore-breaking) I discovered the two movies made by the actorsatwork team: this one and the Hunt for Gollum. As a long time Tolkien fan (10+ years) and well versed in all of his works, I want to say that both movies were a joy for me to watch.

The care and dedication by which they were made is visible and I terribly love how the movies succeed in maintaining the atmosphere of Middle Earth the LOTR trilogy gave us in the first place.

Concerning Born of Hope: Was there place for improvements? There always is, no matter which franchise we're talking about, but director Kate Madison and her team made a wonderful job with the limited resources they had. The characters are well casted and well written and I enjoyed the original characters immensely, mainly Elgarain whom I consider canon and is now one of my favorite Tolkien characters alongside Beleg Cuthalion, Erendis, Luthien or Elendil let's say.

I would have liked more character development scenes, the little things that charm the audience towards liking a character... like Elgarain and Gilraen interacting more, or Evonyn having a bigger role and a few more lines, or a quiet family scene with little Aragorn, the sons of Elrond and Gilraen and Arathorn. But I am perfectly happy with the movie as it is.

I've seen complaints about the camera work or the decors that I would like to completely dismiss. Last time I checked, this is not a Hollywood funded movie, but one made by fans for fans. The small mistakes are easy to pass over and for someone who truly loves Tolkien's work and wants to see the two movies with an open mind, the way to do this is easy.

My opinion? Give it a chance, you won't regret it. Were they available to buy on solid DVD I would do it in a heartbeat. (Also what wouldn't I give for a Weta-statue of Arathorn or Elgarain in the likeliness of the LOTR ones) I have downloaded the soundtracks of both movies from the site of the team and I listen to them as often as I listen to the Howard Shore ones. The two movies as a whole are the perfect add-in to the original trilogy.

Why "the movie the fans always needed"? Because there is as much potential for fan-work as both PJ trilogies give us.
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