Ten Movies To Bring Them All And In The Darkness Rank Them: Ranking The Lord Of The Rings Films

First off, a very very very big thanks to Jim Dietz, Jen Gualdoni, Scott Mendelson, Aaron Neuwirth, Victoria Irwin, Maxwell Haddad and Philip Vandy Price for subbing in here and guesting to give this retrospective many different flavors.  Believe me, it gave me a nice little break to catch up on some other things as well ;)  I hope you enjoyed their voice on this journey back to the Middle-Earths of Peter Jackson, Rankin/Bass and Ralph Bakshi.  

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies (2014)

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies

2014

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom. Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee

Rated: PG-13

Will you follow me...one last time?

           ~Thorin Oakenshield

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Maxwell Haddad

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

2012

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Lee Pace, Sylvester McCoy

Rated: PG-13

I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure.

             ~Gandalf

Today we've got one of my favorite people to talk film shop with and...well Sleepy Hollow...one of my co-hosts on the IchaPod CraneCast, Maxwell Haddad!  You definitely need to check out www.cinemaxwell.com as well as his writing over at The Young Folks.  I'm so thankful he's taken on An Unexpected Journey for us here in the Fellowship!

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King (2003) - Victoria Irwin

The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

2003

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Miranda Otto, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lee, Sean Astin, Karl Urban, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, David Wenham, Hugo Weaving, John Noble

Rated: PG-13

Never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an elf.

        ~Gimli

Our next member to join the fellowship is Victoria Irwin who is the head honcho over at the super groovy and ultra cool FangirlNation.  If you'll remember, she joined us for the Sleepy Hollow Commentary back in September and I had a blast with that discussion so I knew I had to coax her into a guesting on Naptown Nerd someday.  And today is that day.  

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002) - Aaron Neuwirth

The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers

2002

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Miranda Otto, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lee, Sean Astin, Karl Urban, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, David Wenham, Hugo Weaving

Rated:  PG-13

I want to hear more about Sam.

           ~Frodo Baggins

Aaron Neuwirth is back...which is no surprise.  However, he's not the world's biggest LOTR fan either, which may surprise...it may not.  I think the retrospective benefits greatly from having someone of his perspective that isn't a hater, he's just not the rabid fan.  And this piece is pretty terrific.  Check it out...also check out OUT NOW WITH AARON & ABE every week on the HHWLOD Podcast Network and drop by THE CODE IS ZEEK for his reviews and bloggings as well as Why So Blu.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001) - Scott Mendelson

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring

2001

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring:  Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, John Rhys-Davies, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Sean Bean, Billy Boyd, Cate Blanchett

Rated: PG-13

A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins.  Nor is he early.  He arrives precisely when he means to.

                     ~Gandalf

Well, my next guest needs no introduction.  Forbes' Scott Mendelson returns to Naptown Nerd to discuss one of my favorite films in the LOTR series, The Fellowship Of The Ring.  You can of course find Scott's work on Forbes.com and check him out in featurette on the 25th Anniversary Edition of Tim Burton's BATMAN available now.

The Fellowship Of The Retrospective

The Hobbit; Battle Of The Five Armies is bringing Peter Jackson's 2-Trilogy 6-film epic of the JRR Tolkien lore to a close.  Although, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of this universe.  Personally, I'm not some super huge Lord Of The Rings junkie.  I never read the books, but I was quite a big fan of the original trilogy, as I think its cinematic excellence.  Every time there's a new one my but is firmly planted in a seat opening weekend.  However, I'm also someone who is perfectly fine with the theatrical cuts of these films.  I own no real collectibles on the series aside from Blu-rays and DVDs in my movie collection.

TCM At 40 Retrospective: Leatherface - The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III (1990)

Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III
1990

Director: Jeff Burr

Starring: Kate Hodge, Viggo Mortensen, Ken Foree, Joe Unger, Tom Everett

Rated: R, but nobody watches that version

Hey, if you need anything...just twitch.

                  ~Eddie "Tex" Sawyer

The Favorite Films Of My Lifetime: 2003

2003 was kind of a crummy year until summer hit. There's some big big movies and many people's all time faves within this year but overall it was pretty weak sauce.  I have some pretty notable omissions here, like Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl and the best movie in the Infernal Affairs Trilogy (part 2), but that's the way the cookie crumbled I suppose.  The Academy finally recognized a LOTR movie, but it felt as if the award was for the series as a whole, being that they waited til the final one for it to garner the Best Picture win.

The Favorite Films Of My Lifetime: 2002

It might just be me, but I feel like I'm finding a pattern here in this study.  Every decade seems to end on an incredibly good run only to have the next start off a little "rougher" or be less difficult to choose from.  This is the year Chicago won the Oscar for Best Picture over of course a LOTR movie we still talk about.  I don't know what it was with Chicago that 2 years ago the Oscars decided to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of it winning Best Picture, but...eh, okay.  My picks are all but one a franchise film for this particular year, but I enjoy all of them.