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It was fun, in the olden days, where you literally didn't know a movie existed until it showed up. Oh, you MIGHT see a trailer, but only if you happened to go to the theater the week it was running.
Sadly I'm mostly too young to remember that time. It only existed for about 2 years for me, when I was just a kid, going to the movie rental section of the grocery store and just picking out movies that looked cool off the cover. I remember being SO excited when I saw there was a movie version of Wing Commander (sidenote: for a shitty movie, still an awesome main theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cohxgOVcK8E). Alas, the next year came the internet and I'd know every genre film coming out pretty much 2 years out.
This whole thing does make me think though. Considering how they managed to keep it completely secret for almost a year, how fucking awesome would it have been if they went and made the entire movie in secret, then suddenly just put out a trailer and an announcement: "By the way, Star Wars 7 comes out next weekend".
How much would the internet lose their shit, it'd be glorious. In the age of knowing everything years in advance, I'm still holding out hope for a studio to do something crazy like that one day.
Yes, it's completely the opposite now. The King Kong Production Diaries showed just about everything over a year out. Likewise with The Hobbit, Skyfall and Prometheus where, if you saw all the pre-release publicity videos, you've seen about 10-15 minutes of the movie well before it even screens. Then there's the problem of trailers giving away too much of the plot and reviewers dropping too many spoilers.
I was in an IMAX cinema last week to watch Skyfall and they were showing behind-the-scenes stills from the movie as the audience took their seats.
For Dark Knight Rises, I could only see it in the second or third week, so I had to have a virtual internet blackout to avoid any leakage. Even knowing a simple thing like 'it's a hit' or 'it's a dud' can subconsciously alter your expectations, and consequently your enjoyment of the movie.
But yes, I'd love to (not) see a studio shoot Blue Harvest VII in secret. A 30-second teaser compiled from scenes only from the first third of the movie is all I need.
To be fair though, before the Internet there were film magazines, which usually got the scoop on upcoming film projects. So it's not like big projects were genuinely surprising. I remember excitedly reading articles and seeing pictures (granted, only 3 or 4) for Independence Day about half a year before it came out.
The Matrix was the last film I distinctly remember appearing from literally out of nowhere, seeing trailers for it in a New York hotel a week before it came out.
To be fair though, before the Internet there were film magazines, which usually got the scoop on upcoming film projects. So it's not like big projects were genuinely surprising. I remember excitedly reading articles and seeing pictures (granted, only 3 or 4) for Independence Day about half a year before it came out.
The Matrix was the last film I distinctly remember appearing from literally out of nowhere, seeing trailers for it in a New York hotel a week before it came out.
Now there's countdowns to the teaser to the trailer, which then make the newsfeeds as half the studios are owned by other media outlets.
I liked how Gollum was a surprise. I didn't see any advance publicity photos of Gollum. They should have done that with King Kong as well.
I liked how Gollum was a surprise. I didn't see any advance publicity photos of Gollum. They should have done that with King Kong as well.
Gollum was all over the trailers, though.
The Matrix was the last film I distinctly remember appearing from literally out of nowhere, seeing trailers for it in a New York hotel a week before it came out.
I think you're right, I remember this as well. Literally a week before it came out I started seeing tv spots for it, and I distinctly remember going "Holy shit, what the hell is this thing?"
Gollum was all over the trailers, though.
Not for TWO TOWERS. All we saw was the shot of him crawling down the rocks toward the hobbits. We saw his back, heard his voice, but didn't see him full on until the film.
After that, of course, he was no longer a secret so they showed him normally in the ROTK trailers.
The last movie I remember coming out without much fanfare was CROUCHING TIGER.
This is why for the most part I don't watch trailers or read movie news sites anymore. I've been able to recapture at least a little of the pleasant surprise movie releases used to be.
Doctor Submarine wrote:Gollum was all over the trailers, though.
Not for TWO TOWERS. All we saw was the shot of him crawling down the rocks toward the hobbits. We saw his back, heard his voice, but didn't see him full on until the film.
Exactly. It was a genuine surprise. And they better do that for Smaug as well.
So, englishy question.
My father read "Smaug" as [sm-aww-g] like "Aww, such a cute little fellah!"
However, I just heard a radio interview where it was pronounced [sm-ow-g] like "Ow! The little fucker bit me."
It may take time to re-train the voice in my head, so which is correct?
I have only ever heard it pronounced as homophone to "smog." According to Wikipedia, Tolkien derived the name from the German word smugan, which would imply to me that he heard it as "aw." So "ow" is technically incorrect -- but, if PJ was the one pronouncing it that way, more than likely that's the way it'll be in the film.
I have only ever heard it pronounced as homophone to "smog." According to Wikipedia, Tolkien derived the name from the German word smugan, which would imply to me that he heard it as "aw." So "ow" is technically incorrect -- but, if PJ was the one pronouncing it that way, more than likely that's the way it'll be in the film.
PJ employed some heavy-duty Tolkien scholars, linguists, calligraphists, artists, dialect coaches, to get the details right. Listen to how Elrond pronounces "Mordor" at the Council. It's George "Laser Sword" Lucas that's loose with his own 'canon'. 
Last edited by avatar (2012-11-04 01:29:02)
PJ could've simply asked Christopher Lee about that.
Last edited by MartyJ (2012-11-03 21:12:50)
Short "o" smog, right, that's pretty much what I tried to mean. A quick google brings me to the transcript of the radio bit I heard.
Sherlock is voicing Smaug.
edit:
That's not the right interview after all, found the audio of it, on the plus side they pronounce Smaug like smog.
Last edited by drewjmore (2012-11-03 21:42:46)
Ive been hearing this isn't just for the movie its for ilm sky walker sound etc is this true?
I always assumed "Smaug" was a pun on "smog" (The Hobbit was for children, remember), given that his breath is pollution and the whole LOTR universe is a bit anti-modernist and anti-technology.
The only English words where AU makes the /ow/ sound are:
gaucho
sauerkraut
umlaut
flautist, sometimes, but the preferred pronunciation is /aw/
There are hundreds where AU makes the /aw/ sound.
*sauerkraut
*umlaut
Arn't those German? 
Last edited by Snail (2012-11-04 20:22:56)
In this clip, one of the dwarves definitely pronounces it the "wrong" way. It's at about 25 seconds in.
Last edited by Doctor Submarine (2012-11-04 21:57:31)
Everything in English comes from somewhere, and we don't respell them the way most languages do, and that is why English spelling is so terrible. 
English spellings tend to change down the centuries as well, causing further confusion.
And I believe that dwarf in the clip above pronounces Smaug correctly. It's definitely more of an ow sound than aw, and not at all smog, so sayeth the BBC adaptation and various Tolkien lecturer's I've heard.
Worth reading: http://marketsaw.blogspot.com/2012/11/e … ealed.html
Obviously just rumour at this point, and the guy is a known huuuge shill for 3d, but almost all of his major scoops from the last 2-3 years have turned out true (he called the non-lucas directed star wars 2 years ago, as well as many specific things that ended up happening with The Hobbit and Avatar). I'm inclined to believe his sources are legit, so I figured I'd share since this isn't stuff that gets mentioned on any of the big news sites.
I would lose my shit if Cuaron got to make a Star Wars movie.
Cuarón is my favorite director and if he is announced for Episode 7 I may seriously burst into tears, I'll be so overwhelmed with excitement.
You can expect lovingly restored prints of the original trilogy to surface in the near future.
All those people demanding a proper release of the OOT are basically a niche market (it's a pretty large niche, but still...).
I'd be really happy to see the OOT on Blu-Ray, but how many people are ready to buy "Star Wars" again (many of us have more than one copy already)? I kinda worry that the market may not be big enough to warrant a thorough (= expensive) restoration job.
Last edited by MartyJ (2012-11-05 01:00:15)
I agree but I don't own any of the Star Wars films but I'd happily buy the OOT on Blu Ray. 
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