#343: Talkin' Tolkien, Pt. 2: The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The Next Picture Show

Filmspotting

Tv & Film, Film History, Film Reviews

4.6 • 858 Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2022

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Adapting the appendices of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth saga for a streaming series slated to run for 40 episodes is a much different exercise than paring down the writer’s most celebrated work to feature-length, which is one reason, among many, that Prime Video’s new THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RINGS OF POWER feels like a different beast than director Peter Jackson’s celebrated film trilogy that kicked off with 2001’s THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. But the two projects are naturally in conversation with each other by virtue of their source material and the expectations that come with it, which we attempt to parse as we share our early reactions to RINGS OF POWER’s first three episodes with help from our returning special guest, Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi. Then we bring FELLOWSHIP back into the equation to consider how the two tales converge and diverge around Tolkien’s mythology, how each handles this saga’s big themes of good vs. evil, friendship, and cooperation, and how well their respective large-scale fantasy worlds function on both a narrative and visual level. Plus, Keith and Roxana dig briefly into the extended cuts of Jackson’s films for Your Next Picture Show. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, RINGS OF POWER, or anything else in the world of Tolkien, film, or Tolkien on film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, leaving a short voicemail at 773-234-9730, or commenting on our Patreon (patreon.com/NextPictureShow), where you can also find bonus episodes and more. Works cited: • “The Rings of Power Looks on the Bright Side” by Roxana Hadadi (vulture.com) • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episodic recaps by Keith Phipps (vulture.com) Outro music: My Chemical Romance, “Kiss the Ring” Next Pairing: Robert Altman’s THE LONG GOODBYE and Greg Mottola’s CONFESS, FLETCH Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present.
0:04.5	Do you believe that someone out of the past can enter and take possession of a living being?
0:11.3	We may be true with the past, but the past is not through with us.
0:18.4	Welcome back to The Next Picture Show, a movie that we've podcast,
0:21.8	a bit to a classic film and the way it shaped our thoughts on a recent release.
0:25.6	I'm Keith Phipps here again with Scott Tobias and Genevieve Koski.
0:29.4	But not Tasha Robinson, who's on some kind of quest or something.
0:33.6	But joining our fellowship this week is, once again, Roxanna Hadati.
0:37.3	Hello, again, Roxanna. Helloadi. Hello again, Roxanna.
0:38.8	Hello.
0:39.5	Hello.
0:40.3	So on last week's episode, we discussed the Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring,
0:44.3	the first of three Peter Jackson directed movies adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's, the Lord of the Rings.
0:50.2	Jackson followed that trilogy with a second trilogy adapting The Hobbit.
0:54.0	But if you thought that left no Tolkien left to adapt,
0:56.6	we'll think again, Tolkien's novel ends with a series of appendices covering the long, long history of Middle Earth leading up to the events of the Lord of the Rings.
1:04.6	From those appendices has sprung the Lord of the Rings, the Rings of Power, a new prime video series set during the second age of
1:11.1	Middle Earth, as a conflict with Sauron and the forces of darkness looms on the horizon.
1:16.7	Created by the writing team of J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, the series features an extensive cast
1:21.4	played an assortment of elves, dwarves, humans, and other creatures making their way through
1:25.4	Middle Earth and points beyond, like the
1:27.6	island kingdom of Numenor.
	...

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