Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Time for another movie trilogy post. Hopefully you've checked out the Indiana Jones and Star Wars editions. This one will follow the same format.




Best Films

1. Fellowship of the Ring
2. Two Towers (Ents put this one over #3)
3. Return of the King (I'm a fan of the build-up)



Most Attractive females of Middle Earth

This is a tough one. The quality is higher than Star Wars, but all the women on the list are attractive, but not super hot, or really something to fantasize about, unless you have a thing for elves.


1. Eowyn
2. Galadriel
3. Arwen
4. Rosie Cotton - hairy feet?



Best Supporting Characters


1. Treebeard -
2. Saruman
3. Faramir
4. Galadriel
5.Haldir - Came through with the Elves at Helm's Deep. This did not happen in the book.



Best Action Sequences


1. The Bridge of Khazad Dum - Fellowship - Obvious choice here, amazing sequence from all the orcs surrounding the Fellowship and leaving to Aragorn rousing them to continue after exiting the cave. Powerful stuff all around.


2. Ents at Isengard - Two Towers - Angry Ents, yes.
3. Witch King of Angmar vs Eowyn/Merry - Return of the King - Action in the third film came so fast and furious its tough to truly pinpoint what constitutes as a scene. In the Fellowship, there is usually proper build-up and aftermath of the big actions, and I think with the death of Theoden and the later finding of Eowyn and Merry on the battlefield, this scene best couples action with emotion.
4. Mines of Moria - Fellowship - This was the first big action scene and led to #1 on our list. Again, you have this great build up with some tender scenes between Frodo and Gandalf, then a hot battle
5. Breaking of the Fellowship - Fellowship - Huge build-up here, this was the climax of the first film. The battle was rather quick, but contained the end intense of Boromir "My Brother, my captain, my King!" and led to Sam's "promise" to Mr. Frodo. Cool battle between Aragorn and the Uruk leader too.
6. Battle of Pelennor Fields - Return of the King - This is one of the that is hard to distinguish with other action scenes around it. This one I consider to be the Riders of Rohan battle. Would move up to number 3 on the list if you include Theoden's Speech.
7. Helm's Deep - Two Towers - Awesome, but a bit long in repeated viewings
8. Oliphants and Ghosts - Return of the King - great visually
9. Final Battle - Return of the King
10. She-lob's Liar - Return of the King - Sam's moment to shine



Other Best Scenes


1. Opening Sequences - Fellowship - Sets the tone of grandeur, fantasy, battle. Great narration for Cate Blanchette.
2. Council of Elrond - Fellowship

3. Theoden's Transformation - Two Towers
4. Gandalf vs. Saruman - Fellowship - Starts out innocent enough. We get lots of necessary information and ends in a pretty tight wizard duel.
5. Osgiliath/Sam/Frodo - Two Towers - Definitely not from the books, but a good speech nevertheless, and a good tone setter for the final film
6. Singing/Sacrifice -Return of the King - Pippin singing to Denathor while he is rather grossly eating and his son is getting sacked, great juxtaposition.
7. Funeral Pyre - Return of the King - "He's not dead!"
8. River Anduin - Fellowship - Something real majestic about this trip down the river. You know this is the last peace for a while but you really take it in along with the Characters. Some great visuals.

9. Fellowship sets out - Fellowship - Some cool simple scenes here as the Fellowship begins its journey. Love Saruman's voice in the mountain pass, Gandalf's desire not to go to Moria forshadowing things, and Boromir's observations of of the ring.
10. Oliphants/Meeting Faramir - Two Towers - Lots of mystery here with the Southern Men and Faramir's men.

11. Gates of Mordor - Two Towers - I remember my heart pounding as Sam, Frodo, and Gollum first came to the gates of Mordor.
12. Elves come to Helms Deep - Two Towers
13. Palantir - Return of the King - Some cool stuff
14. Stairs of Cirith Ungol - Two Towers



There you go. Great Stuff

Oneonta, NY (Not Albany)

So, the bus broke down on the way to Albany. We were in a town called Otego and were towed to a place named Oneonta, NY. Upstate New York is much different than down state New York. Lots of farms, lots of hills, not too many people. Yes, so the bus was towed finally on Tuesday morning. We were at a truck repair shop on the edge of town. It was cold and rainy, but sometimes you gotta find your own excitement.
So that's what I did. I ventured out. The prospects were bleak. Lots of car repair places and dealerships and light industry. I saw a Lowe's in the distance and went inside just to look around. Yes, this was how desperate I was. I even forced myself to go to the bathroom just for something to do. I looked at paint and Christmas decorations. Fun. Then I trekked on, oh and I forgot to mention I'm on a state highway without a sidewalk and it's pretty cold, and see an Amish Barn Company, an ice cream shop which is closed for the season, a skating rink, and sing that says Fatman, but is not for a restaurant, then finally a gas station. And next to the gas station - a bowling alley! Yes, and for some reason it opens at 1:00 on Tuesdays. I check my watch and it's 12:45. Nice. I go to the gas station and get some food and as soon as I sit down Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby" starts playing. Wow, what a great turn of events!
So I get to the bowling alley. It's just me and a bunch of old people and a couple retarded people. I love it! I'm bowling average. It's fun. Before I know it I've played 5 games. Then I am about to pay and realize you can bowl two hours for only $16.00, so I get in two more games and top out at 170. I realize I am sweating at the end of it. Good stuff.
Then at night Jon and I go an another trek, more like a quest. Think Lord of the Rings, a long epic journey. And it was cold, very cold. But no hobbits or orcs or wizards and there were only two of us, and we were looking for a McDonald's. But it was long and tough, probably a three mile walk on dark back roads through upstate New York. And in the end, there was no McDonald's, but Burger King, even better. Rodeo Burgers!
And, the bus was not even in the garage yet. Man.

So yesterday the bus gets fixed in like two hours, just a leaky hose, but that is a big deal on a 22-ton bus. So we finally leave Oneonta. And then about 5 miles away we see a sign for the Baseball Hall of Fame, so we decide to head to Cooperstown. Pretty crazy. It was cool. Something pretty impromptu, so that made it even better. I was definitely the only one interested in the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers, haha, but I tried my best to see everything. It was cool, something I'm glad I went to but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

But the bus breaking down turned into so good fun. I'm glad I got out and explored.

Winner!

We finally have a winner in our Lord of the Rings/Star Wars Tournament.
Drum Roll Please:

GANDALF

It is true. Gandalf is the best fantasy character. He came out on top of 63 other Star Wars and Lord of the Rings Characters. A deserving champ. "You shall not Pass!"

Thanks for all the votes. Some rounds were pretty popular, but I probably made the tourney too long. I need more readership. Holla.

LOTR/STAR WARS FINAL

The time has finally come. We can see who is the greatest character in the Lord of the Rings/Star Wars Universe. It has been an epic battle. We started with 64- contestants and are now down to two. It will be "One Shining Moment" for Gandalf or Han Solo.
You know the drill. Vote!


Gandalf- Gandalf has defeated Uncle Owen, R2-D2, Leia, Chewie, and Amidala
White
Might be a god
Likes to smoke

Han- Defeated Mon Mothma, Lando, Anakin, Sam, and Vader.
Dashing
Owes people money
Harrison Ford


There you go. Choose the one who will go down in history.

STAR WARS/LOTR Final Four

Sorry it's been while. There was a large influx of votes from the state of California (really) that made things interesting. But our Final Four is set. This is big





Gandalf- faced a tough, tough battle against Chewie. I'd have to say he is the favorite in this match.

Padme Amidala- The 10 seed has made it to the Final Four. wow. Who would have thought? The upsets just kept coming - Boromir, Yoda, Wicket (well) and now Aragorn. Huge upset. Can she keep it going?



Han Solo - Han has faced tough competition, but has recored more than 70% of the vote each time, looking to take it all.

Darth Vader- It's Darth Vader. I don't need to say much more.

Elilte Eight

Time to figure out the final four. We got 5 Star Wars - 3 old, 2 new - and 3 Lord of the Rings.
Padme Amidala is the lowest seed left after ousting Wicket. All number one seeds remain.


1. Gandalf vs. 2. Chewbacca-
Gandalf has had little trouble so far. Chewie barely beat Legolas. Can the Wookie upset the wizard?

1. Aragorn vs. 10. Padme Amidala-
The queen keeps moving forward, beating Boromir, Yoda, and now the upstart Ewok. Will it be enough against the King?

1. Han Solo vs. 3. Sam-
The smuggler vs. the fat Hobbit. Will charm and bravery overcome honesty and loyalty?

1. Vader vs. 2. Obi-Wan Kenobi-
Lots of history between these two. This is kind of the rubber match with Obi-Wan winning in Episode III and Vader winning in A New Hope. Will Obi-Wan fight this time? Will he maintain his momentum after dominating Gollem? Or should he have switched to the Dark Side like Vader?

STAR WARS/LOTR Update

Things are heating up. The big guns moved on again in the second round, with the biggest upset being Padme Amidala beating out Yoda with a last second buzzer beater. Wicket again marched on improbably with a win over the Witch King. Wow. King Theoden couldn't quite sneak out a win over Gollum. Luke beat his old buddy Wedge after some early concern.
All my favorite upset possibilities- Wedge, Witch King, Merry, Grand Moff Tarkin, King Theoden- are gone, but that is the way of the tournament.

We got some great 3rd round matches, really what the tournament was created for.
Gollum/Obi-Wan
Sam/Luke
Aragorn/Treebeard
Chewie/Legolas
Han/Anakin
Wow, these are what Sci-Fi nerds dreams are made of.

Some stats on the tourney so far, you know to make me look even more dorky.

Participants remaining- LOTR 6
Star Wars (original) 6
Star Wars (new) 4
Humans-9
Others- 7 (Ishtari, elf, Wookie, hobbit, ewok, ent,, gollum)

Records- LOTR 21-21
Star Wars (original) 18-20
Star Wars (new) 9-7

There you go kids. Have fun. Vote.

Star Wars/Lord of the Rings Sweet Sixteen

1. Gandalf- An easy road so far for Gandalf Greyhame, Olórin, Mithrandir, Stormcrow, Greybeard, Tharkûn or whatever you want to call him, facing little challenge from R2-D2 or Uncle Owen
Resume: beat balrog, demi-god I think, magic, animals like him, kick-ass in battle (see picture), killer weed, fireworks
Key Losses: believed dead for a while, didn't know Bilbo had the ring, greyness
Quotes: "Pity? It was pity that stayed Bilbo's hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play yet, for good or ill before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many. "
" Keep it secret. Keep it safe."
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."
"Farewell... my brave Hobbits. My work is now finished. Here at last, on the shores of the sea... comes the end of our Fellowship. I will not say, Do not weep... not all tears are an evil."

4.Princess Leia- No challenges for Leia yet, either. I expect that to change this round. Hopefully the metal bikini will give her an edge.
Resume: daughter of Vader, princess of a planet that no longer exists, full of spunk
Key losses: dignity for kissing brother, dignity for wearing that bikini and being chained to Jabba,
entire homeworld
Quotes:"Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder."
" Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope. "
"Someone has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, fly boy."





3. Legolas- Had a pretty good second round battle with Merry, but pulled away in the second half. Hopefully that will ready him for this battle.
Resume: dreamy, blond locks, great with the bow and arrow, great with the sword, agile, old, great vision
Key Losses: pointy ears, susceptible to bad sunburn, friends with Gimli
Quotes: "The stars are veiled. Something stirs in the East. A sleepless malice. The eye of the enemy is moving. He is HERE."

2. Chewbacca- Dispatched Biggs and Faramir with ease. How will the Wookie do against the elf?
Resume: Tall, strong, loyal, good flyer, long wingspan
Key Losses: can't talk, furballs, dandruff
Quotes: [annoyed growl]
[concerned growl]
[excited growl]






1. Han Solo- No troubles yet for Mr. Solo. He's got it all - ladies, cash, alien friends
Resume: baller, hustler, hot girl, ship, friends, cocky attitude, smile
Key Losses: propensity to be frozen in carbonate, bounty on his head, ship is not the most reliable
Quotes: "I've got a bad feeling about this"
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid. "
"YAHOOOOO! You're all clear, kid, now let's blow this thing and go home! "



4. Anakin Skywalker- Won a tough all evil battle against Sauron. Will need all that the dark side can bring in this matchup
Resume: Strong in the force this one, dark side powers, hot wife
Key Losses: concept of good and evil, Jedi twins, wife, hand - later arms and legs, bad temper
Quotes: "I killed them. I killed them all. They're dead, every single one of them. And not just the men, but the women and the children, too. They're like animals, and I slaughtered them like animals. I HATE THEM! "
"One day, I will become the greatest Jedi EVER. I will even learn how to stop people from dying."
" [shouts] I hate you. "

3. Sam Gamgee- Sam won a tough battle against fellow Hobbit Biblo, and with Pippen, Merry, Bilbo, and Frodo falling, is the last of his kind.
Resume: LOYAL, carried Frodo up Mount Doom, beat the Orcs and Shelob to get Frodo back
Key losses: Frodo for a bit, fat, can't swim
Quotes: "hen let us be rid of it... once and for all! Come on, Mr. Frodo. I can't carry it for you... but I can carry you! "
"there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."
"*Po-tay-toes!* Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew... Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish."
"I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee." And I don't mean to. I don't mean to. "

2. Luke Skywalker- Used the force and beat his good friend Wedge. No he's up against a hobbit.
Resume: restored Jedi Order, blew up first Death Star, bested Vader, pretty much destroyed the Empire
Key Losses: Obi-Wan, Yoda, father, hand
Quotes: "But I was going to go to the Toshi Station and pick up some power converters"
"I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you."
"No. No. That's not true. That's impossible! "

Star Wars/Lord of the Rings Sweet Sixteen

1. Aragorn- Rebounded nicely after first-round scare with Niem Numb.
Resume: My Captain, My King
Key Losses: Bachelorhood, living in the woods life
Quotes: Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!*

5. Treebeard - Came out hot out of the gates and held off a lot comeback from the Emperor
Resume: real old, leader of the Ent-moot, surprisingly agile in battle, good mood of transport for hobbits
Key losses: Ent Women, forests





14. Wicket- The 14 seed keeps rolling, two huge upsets already. Can the little guy keep it rolling?
Resume: Cute, furry
Key Losses: Can't speak, ticks
Quotes: Yub, Yub (muthafucker)

10. Padme Amidala: Survived two nail biters, upsetting Boromir and Yoda and my misspelling of her name.
Resume: married Jedi, mothered Jedi twins, fought robots and aliens, lots of nice outfits and hair styles
Key Losses: life, husband to Dark Side, hair (oh, that was a different movie)
Quotes: Tony is great. I want to marry him. Caleb sucks.
Anakin, you're breaking my heart! And you're going down a path I cannot follow!





1. Darth Vader- No trouble yet for this top seed.
Resume: Evil, killer, Death Star
Key Losses: arms, legs, ability to breathe, wardrobe versatility
Quotes: I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now *I* am the master.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
No. *I* am your father.

5. Qui-Gonn Jinn Killed Frodo, getting 80% of the Vote.
Resume: Jedi, nice hair, found Anakin, gallant, noble, saved a lot of Jews
Key Losses: Life, Anakin to the Dark Side
Quotes: Remember: Your focus determines your reality.
Finding him was the will of the force, I have no doubt of that




3. Gollum-Gollum edged out King Theoden by a single vote. Close match-up. Can he keep it going?
Resume: Ring Bearer for many years, led Frodo to Mordor, escaped Mordor, killed Deagol to get the ring, bit off Frodo's finger, framed Sam for eating the bread
Key Loses: humanity, hair, weight, his "precious", ability to speak in first person
Quotes: We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!
Stupid, fat hobbit.

2. Obi-Wan Kenobi- Young Obi-Wan has torn through his first two opponents, fairing much better than his old self.
Resume: Jedi, part of Jedi council. nice beard, survived Jedi purge, killed Darth Maul, dominated Anakin
Key Losses: Anakin becoming Darth Vader, hair color, Qui-Gon Jinn
Quotes: [after finding the young dead Jedi's in the temple] Who? Who could have done this?
-Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy.
You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.

Star Wars/LOTR Roud II

Shire Bracket- Hot times in the Shire. Wizard vs. droid, Elf vs. princess, elf vs. hobbit, human vs. Wookie. Very nice.




1. Gandalf: White or Grey, dead or alive, Gandalf is pretty amazing. He is a warrior, a general, a wizard, a mentor. Yes. And he beat the Balrog.

8. R2-D2: Just a little robot who can't talk or walk really, but saved the day for Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie multiple times.




5. Elrond: Pretty much the main man, or main elf. He was there when Isildur struck down Sauron. He is wise and smart and just has everything on lockdown.

4. Princess Leia: Quite the feminist at times- taking control on the Death Star and on Endor. But she did make out with her brother. Hmm?

3. Legolas: Pretty baller with that bow and arrow. And he's an elf, so he's good at pretty much everything. Probably the coolest action scenes in the movies.

6. Merry: Another hobbit. This one was a bit more hardcore, not afraid to fight and even take on the Witch King.

10. Faramir: Kind of weak in the movies, but better in the books, smarter too. Kind of sucks to have to be compared to his bro and the whole thing about his father wishing he had died instead was kind of rough. The suicide mission of Minis Morgol was pretty cool and he ended up with Eowyn in the end.

2. Chewbacca: Yeah, the Wookie. Everyone's Favorite Star Wars alien.







Endor Bracket- Han vs. his buddy Lando, Luke vs. Wedge - take your pick Jedi Knight or everyman flyer. I got my horse. Pick yours. Ooh, and two hobbits go head-to-head as well. Nice.






1. Han Solo: Bad-ass smuggler turned Rebel Alliance hero. Slick beyond measure. I really don't need to say much more about him.

9. Lando: Another badass turned hero. Lando turned Han, Leia, and Chewie over to Darth Vader, but then helped them escape and was the leader of the assault on the 2nd Death Star.

Best Smile in the Galaxy

5. Sauron: The evil of all evils in Lord of the Rings. This is a tough one because he was so evil and caused so much destruction and war multiple times, but he didn't really have a physical form in the movie. I mean the Eye is scary, but how scary.? To give you a better idea, here are some of his alliases: Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron the Deceiver, the Lord of the Earth, the Enemy, the Master, the Dark Power, the Dark Lord, the Lord of Mordor, the Dark Lord of Mordor, the Power of the Black Land, the Black Master, the Black One, the Lord of Barad-dur, the Lord of the Dark Tower, the Shadow, the Great Eye, the Red Eye, the Eye of Barad-dur, the Lidless Eye, the Evil Eye, the Unnamed, the Nameless. Yeah.

4. Anakin Skywalker: As you can see, I'm not going with the pod-racing-little-boy-Anakin or the crazy-red-eyes-wanting-to-kill-Obi-wan-Anakin. I'm going more for the just-slaughtered-the Sandpeople-not-just-the-men-but-the-women-and-the-children-too-Anakin.





3. Sam: Sam pretty much did all the work getting the ring to Mount Doom. He literally carried Frodo. Samwise the Brave. Followed him into the river eventhough he couldn't swim and came back to Frodo after he sided with Gollum. "A promise Mr. Frodo, a promise"

6. Bilbo Baggins: The Hobbit who started it all.


10. Wedge Antilles: Here is one for the hardcore fan. For those of you that don't know, Wedge is a Rebel Pilot that was in all three movies! He survived the first Death Star, Hoth, and the Second Death Star. The only man to survive both Death Star runs. While Luke was off playing with Daddy, Wedge hit the shot that allowed Lando to take down the Second Death Star. Wedge is my darkhorse here, kind of like Davidson. He just has that everyman quality. He is also responsible for one of the most famous lines in the movie, when first approaching the Death Star: "Look at the size of that thing." (That's what she said)




2. Luke: Wait who was he? Oh yeah, the one who always saved the day.