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Volume CXXXII, Number 11 |
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Lord of the silver screens
AUDREY AMIDON
STAFF WRITER
For the last weekend of the semester, the Bowdoin Film Society is bringing fantasy films to Smith Auditorium in honor of the release of the second installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you missed your chance to see Fellowship of the Ring on the big screen, or just want to refresh your memory before you see the second part, the Film Society is giving you the opportunity to do so this weekend.
Friday night at 7:00 p.m. Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring will grace the big screen in Smith Auditorium. This film is long enough that your ass might fall asleep, but it's well worth watching and the seats in Smith are pretty comfortable.
Starring Sean Astin as Sam and Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins, it answers the questions of "whatever happened to Rudy?" and "what about that cute kid from Radio Flyer?" It turns out they spent a year in New Zealand dressed as hobbits. Also featured are Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, and Ian McKellan as Gandalf the Grey.
Ian Holm is Bilbo Baggins, who provides the scariest moment in an otherwise tame film when the ring's evil becomes evident (people have been known to scream even when in public theaters, so be prepared).
It's the one touch that alerts the viewer that this is, in fact, a Peter Jackson film. Jackson, as many know, is the crazy guy whose dream was to create the goriest film ever, and did so with Dead Alive, arguably the bloodiest, most revolting movie ever made. There's a little gore in LOTR, but for the most part, it could have been made by any sane Hollywood director.
If you're not familiar with the story of Fellowship of the Ring, it begins when Bilbo passes on a powerful ring to his nephew, Frodo. The ring contains an evil force that threatens to overwhelm Frodo, but he must resist so that he can destroy it before the world is taken over by the Dark Lord. The film consists of all the adventures of Frodo's quest and the various magical creatures he meets along the way.
Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Excalibur (1981) will takes its place on the big screen to complement Lord of the Rings.
The two films actually have very little in common, but both fall into the fantasy/adventure category. The plot is based on the King Arthur legend, centering on the sword Excalibur.
In supporting roles are Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne and Patrick Stewart. Critic Leonard Maltin says that this film "will lose much on a small TV screen," so now's your chance to see it the right way.
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