OFF: prog names in Lord of the Rings

[Stephan Forstner]

>Finally saw "Lord of the Rings" last night.  Not bad.
>
>OK ...  How many prog bands/songs/sites were mentioned in the
>movie???

Not quite the same thing, but my own favorite Tolkien-linked musical work is
definitely Bo Hansson's 'Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings'. For me, this
record captures the spirit of the books in a way that the movie doesn't
quite manage. Not that I think it's a bad movie, far from it, I'd say it's a
very good movie - I'd give it 5 out of 5 stars except that I suspect that
someone who doesn't know the books might get confused or not fully
understand everything that was happening so maybe only 4.5. However, as I
said, it doesn't quite capture the spirit of the trilogy, so, as 'The Lord
of the Rings', in absolute terms, I'd only give it 3.5 stars. But then in
terms relative to what one could realistically expect from a mainstream
movie release (i.e. has to get approval/financing and has to end up making
money) it's back up to 4 or even 4.5 stars. I thought that none of the
omissions/alterations/additions were especially annoying or gratuitous,
occasionally there was something that closely coincided with my own
visualization, and maybe edged my mental picture a bit closer to what was on
screen (Rivendell), but for the most part what didn't mesh with my mind's
eye still seemed solid even if it did not in any way alter my own
imagination (most of the Moria sequence). I'm looking forward to see what
they do with the Ents and the Flying Nazgul.

Stephan