• Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Contact

Fleur Blüm

~ writer, performer, musician

Fleur Blüm

Tag Archives: Brisbane

Watching Movies: Smaug!

29 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by toearlyretirement in Watching Movies

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Adventure, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brisbane, Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Movie review, Peter Jackson, Richard Armitage, Smaug, The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien

I should admit right at the start that I did actually see this with someone, so the name is slightly false advertising, however, I will press on!

Today’s film was ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’, the second instalment in Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit Trilogy’. What can I say about this film? I guess the first thing is at nearly three hours long it was true to Jackson’s form of long films. It’s probably pertinent point out as well that I saw this movie in 2D because the 3D effects often make me feel a bit seasick, and the super high def 3D sounds even worse! There were some shots which were clearly designed with 3D in mind, specifically some of the Orc heads flying towards the camera, which were fine in 2D but which would be startling in 3D.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster

The use of epic sweeping crane shots of CGI landscapes was abundant as were shots of walking over the beautiful mountainscapes of New Zealand/Middle Earth. The attention to detail at times was mind boggling, in particular the hand prosthetics of all of the dwarves (well almost all, I think Kili got away with having his real hands for a few shots). I assume this was the same as it was in the first Hobbit film, but I haven’t rewatched it recently to be able to tell you. As with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, there were some CGI sequences which were lovingly and painstakingly real, specifically the scene when Smaug wakes up and the black swirly business around The Necromancer. Then there were other scenes where the CGI seemed a bit cutout; the one that sticks in my mind is the scene of the group approaching Mirkwood on ponies where they seems to have been stuck onto the landscape without much attention. By all accounts Peter Jackson is meticulous with demands of his animators, however I suspect that the fact that ‘The Hobbit’ was originally going to be two films and was later split into three has meant that there are some sequences in the CGI room that have had less time for fine tuning. That being said the animation and motion capture work for Smaug and The Necromancer, both of whom were played by Benedict Cumberbath (who is one of my favourite ever people in the whole world), was very well done. In an interview Cumberbatch explained that to make The Necromancer’s voice he learned his lines phonetically backwards and they are played in reverse. The result is truly one of the creepiest sounds in cinema, making the unworldiness of The Necromancer palpable.

The acting throughout the film was uniformly of a very high standard. The two standouts for me, perhaps unsurprisingly given they were the two largest parts, were Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage. The relationship between Bilbo and the ring was developed well, and has been commented upon by various other reviewers. For Bilbo the subtle changes in his behaviour, his increasing secretiveness, and intense attachment to the ring were neither too small to be noticed nor too pronounced, so as to be comic. Thorin’s character seems to have developed a more three-dimensional aspect since the last instalment too. He now has more backstory, and therefore more believeable depth to his desire to be King under the Mountain; his sense of desperation, and his sense of greed, which while he might deny it is his birthright as much as his claim to the throne. Stephen Fry’s Master of Laketown is also highly entertaining; a thoroughly distasteful picture of greed and corruption.

Still: Bilbo, Thorin and Nori

Still: Bilbo, Thorin and Nori

Peter Jackson has made no secret of the fact that he’s added characters and stories to these films, otherwise, surely even he could not have made nine hours of film out of such a short book. As a fan of Tolkien’s writing it was difficult for me to take off my nerd hat and not sit in the cinema thinking ‘This was never in the book!’ Indeed the character of Tauriel is completely a creation for the films, something which I think is a smart move since Tolkien’s treatment of female characters in his books has long been criticised, and rightly so, as being quite sexist. In the books, both ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ as well as his other works such as ‘The Silmarilion’, Tolkien’s women are all either absent or unrealistic, ethereal, untouchable, unattainable goddess-like creatures like Galadriel. Overall, while I don’t necessarily believe that the extra stories in the film were necessary to make it work, I don’t think they detracted from the effectiveness and while sitting through it, I tried my best not to let the little nerd voice in my head become too insistent.

There were a few moments in which the audience reacted in a way that was probably not intended. During one of the many intricate, CGI filled, fight scenes involving Legolas and Tauriel there were moments when Legolas uses the bodies of the Orcs to slide across the screen, as he did with his shield in ‘The Two Towers’, and this elicited a collective titter from the audience. Similarly at the end of the film, having sat through three hours of what turned out to be build up, the audience groaned as one when the film faded to black and the credits came up. We really should not have expected a satisfactory resolution at the end of the film knowing as we do that there is a whole third film yet to come.

The final thought that I’ll leave you with is in one of the first scenes of the film, Jackson gives himself a tiny cameo in a scene in Bree, near the Shire. I laughed quite loudly and I may have been one of the only people in the cinema to realise that the man eating a carrot to the left of the screen was Peter Jackson. Either that or no-one else found it amusing, I’ll probably never know.

Overall this film is highly entertaining and well worth a watch if you’re into Tolkien or Jackson’s work or you like dragons. I’m going to give this 3.5 stars out of 5. 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

USA – Arty

18 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by toearlyretirement in Photo Essay, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Adventure, Arizona, Brisbane, California, Canon 1100D, Maryland, Monument Valley, New Mexico, New Orleans, New York, Photo Essay, Photography, San Diego, Santa Fe, St Louis Cemetery #1, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington

The third in my series of photo essays from my travels in the USA. I like to think of these as the ‘arty’ shots; here I put less emphasis on what the photo is of, and more emphasis on the aesthetically pleasing elements captured in the image.
Given this, I’m not going to tell you a story about these photos, I’ll just tell you where they were taken, and you can make up the story that goes with them.

IMG_5711 Southbank, Brisbane.

IMG_6218 Battery Maritime Building, Manhattan.

IMG_6213 Battery Maritime Building, Manhattan.

IMG_6357 Washington D.C.

IMG_6532 Wytheville, Virginia.

IMG_6553 Nashville, Tennessee.

IMG_7073 St Louis Cemetery #1, New Orleans.

IMG_7247 Somewhere along the road in Texas.

IMG_7484 Santa Fe, New Mexico.

IMG_7616 Monument Valley, it’s either Utah or Arizona, the state line runs through the whole area.

IMG_8063 San Diego, California.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

USA – Ordinary People

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by toearlyretirement in Photo Essay, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Adventure, Austin, Brisbane, Canon 1100D, Inspiration, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, New York, People, Photo Essay, Photography, Street Photography, Washington D.C.

While I was on my travels I took an enormous number of photos. I have been back for a couple of weeks, but life got in the way a bit and I am only just getting on to organising my photos into themed photo essays for this blog.

I am starting with a theme I’m calling ordinary people. This is a selection of (largely) unposed photos I took of people I encountered in the US on my four week adventure.

IMG_5743
This couple is actually in Brisbane, I took this while on Southbank during the 12 hour delay on the way into New York.

IMG_5817
This is in Manhattan, in a park I don’t remember the name of, just about sunset. To the right of the shot there are basketball courts and other community sporting grounds, to the left of the shot is a cycling/walking track and a stretch of park. I like to think this guy was doing homework, or writing something, and that he was out in the beautiful summer evening because his apartment was too tiny, or too noisy, or too full.

IMG_5922
These people were watching the LGBTIQ Pride Parade as it wound it’s way through Manhattan. The parade was awesome but I liked that you could be standing next to almost anyone on the crowd. We were all there for the same reason, all baking in the sun, watching the spectacle go past.

IMG_6228
This woman was getting out of her taxi as we drove into Washington D.C. Something about the poverty of the area and the normality of the action inspired me to grab this shot from the car.

IMG_6257
This man and his son were inside the Smithsonian Natural history museum in Washington D.C. He was so good with this kid, so patient and enthusiastic, and the child was having such an awesome time. They made me smile.

IMG_6362
<This guy. What can I say about him? He brought his massive iguanato watch the 4th of July fireworks display in the Mall in Washington D.C. I was not the only person to get a photo of these two.

IMG_6763
This little girl is gorgeous. She was sitting in Beale St, Memphis, with her family watching some street performers doing an acrobatics display. I suspect some of the boys performing were her brothers or cousins, but she may have just been hanging out.

IMG_7171
The Latin Quarter of New Orleans: I would love to go back there and spend some more time. We were standing in the street after having a meal when a woman and her dog (this little guy) came past. She seemed so poor and desperate, and her dog seemed so afraid and hungry. She stopped to chat with us for a bit, bummed a cigarette from one of us, and then went on her way.

IMG_7202
In Austin, there seemed to be a lot of cool people on bicycles, but the helmet laws are different.

IMG_8054
We arrived in San Diego on the final day of Comic Con, just in time to catch a few cosplayers heading back from the convention centre and to see these guys filming some sort of review or wrap up.

IMG_8056
Another Comic Conner, this is the only posed one of the group, he had such an excellent moustache I asked him for a photo. Clearly he was all too happy to oblige.

IMG_8189
People working out at Muscle Beach in Los Angeles. In the bottom right of the shot you can see a guy stretching. He looked like he’d been coming there for years, he would have been about 60, he had skin like leather from too much sun, and just before I could get the camera out he’d been doing handstands on those bars. It was very impressive.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Blogaversary and update

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by toearlyretirement in My Journey, Photo Essay, Travel

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Adventure, Brisbane, Canon 1100D, Gold Coast, Inspiration, NaNoWriMo, Photo Essay, Photography, Writing

I have been super busy lately, and as warned, have not been posting much but yesterday, 7 November 2012 was exactly one year since I started this blog. It is also my 82nd post. Amazing.

I think it is incredible to look at what I’ve done over the last year, to take stock of all of the things I’ve changed and improved in my life, to realise that even with all of the ups and downs it’s been an amazing journey that I wouldn’t swap for the world.

I’ve started on my NaNoWriMo journey, and I’m at 13,262 words. It’s a really eye opening experience as a writer, something I didn’t think I could do, but something that I’m finding really liberating. I’m also finding my confidence is increasing, even just in terms of having something to say that would take up 50,000 words is something I couldn’t even comprehend last week, let alone a year ago! But here I am, a quarter of the way through the challenge and it feels like it’s going well.

Last week was a long weekend in Melbourne for most people, with Melbourne Cup Day (on Tuesday, a public holiday). My housemates and I went to the Gold Coast, in Queensland, to visit the theme parks and to generally relax. I thought I would end this very short update post with some photos from my trip.

Brisbane, from Mt Coot Tha

Spectacular flying dolphin show at Seaworld

Melting snowman toy at the Brisbane Planetarium.

See you after NaNoWriMo is finished and I can be a human again!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Recent Posts

  • Dawn Chorus
  • Maintenance
  • Houndstooth: a book launch
  • Poetry and travel
  • I sing a song
  • Endings and Beginnings
  • Smells Like Teen Angst
  • Why would you do that?
  • Barrett Women Series: Pre-order your ebook Now
  • Barrett Women Series: Cover Reveal

Categories

Archives

Contact me

Melbourne, Australia
fleurblum@hotmail.com

  • Follow Following
    • Fleur Blüm
    • Join 459 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Fleur Blüm
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: