The first trailer for The Dark Tower movie has arrived. I’m not going to lie to you, this doesn’t appear to have all that much to do with Stephen King’s books. I’m a little nervous about that. I don’t want to just see the books on the screen, I want them to make the movie stand on it’s own, but I’m a little nervous to say the least.
Though I have to be honest… hearing the whole I do not aim with my hand mantra out loud was pretty freaking awesome.
Did that weekend even happen? How is it Monday already?
Saturday saw softball try outs, piano lessons, a trip to the mall, playing with the computer set up in the living room, two kids who are over 10 years old but still discovering a new (very silly) fascination with Disney Junior, the younger of the two kids finished reading the first Hunger Games book and later that night we watched the movie. Just before the bloodbath (if you know the story, you know what I’m talking about) he came over and sat on the chair with me (his big sister has already read all three books and had already seen the movie) and later he was a little freaked out by the mutts (again, if you know the story you know of what I speak).
On Sunday I was on call. As mentioned yesterday, I usually don’t get calls during update coverage, but the phone rang three times. Fortunately only one required me to log in, and that was just to go in and look at something quick. I didn’t actually have to do anything. I feel fortunate, although each time the phone rings I die a little inside. I’m not joking. I panic, just a little.
Somehow the day blew past without making a blip on my radar. There were baseball try outs, but dad had to take care of that as Jen was working and I couldn’t be away from a computer for that long. Honestly, I was crushed by that. I felt awful. It was our weekend, and I was unable to be the baseball guy who showed the support for the baseball player. I really feel terrible about that.
Now it is Monday. My foot is starting to bother me again, but only a little so far. I wonder if my sneakers are involved in the problem. I have two pairs of shoes; sneakers and work shoes. Because my feet are HUGE and oddly shaped, I have a difficult time finding shoes that fit well. My work shoes do not fit well. They are a touch too long, and slightly more than a touch too wide. I also can’t seem to tie them tight enough to make them snug enough. On the other hand, my sneakers fit perfectly. They may be the best fitting shoes I’ve had since puberty. Why then is it that when the foot pain starts it is always on a Monday morning, after two solid days worth of wearing the shoes that actually fit? Next weekend I am going to try staying barefoot whenever I’m indoors. Let’s see if that helps.
Musically I have beds down for three songs. One is a Prime Meridian song from 1997, another was played by Prime Meridian but originated when Mike and I played with a drummer named Dan back in oh… 1994 or 1995, and the third goes all the way back to 1992 and is probably the one song I’ve monkeyed with the arrangement for more than any other song I’ve ever written. It’s also the only song I’ve ever written about a Sports Illustrated swim suit calendar. All three are ready for guitars and vocals, and one will get some sax as well. Maybe I’ll have something to post to alonetone.com by next weekend.
If only this past weekend hadn’t come and gone in a blink, I might have gotten more done. Where does the time go?
I finished Derek Sanderson’s book “Crossing the Line” today. I had planned on reading Terry Francona’s book on the Red Sox next, but I thought I’d read something off of the sports biography topic first to sort of clear the pallet .
I figure I should read this carefully. You know… just in case.
I’m worried about The Hobbit. I’m afraid it’s going to end up as nothing more than a visual sleep aide. I’m afraid it is going to be to the Lord of the Rings trilogy what the Star Wars prequels were to the original Star Wars trilogy.
The Lord of the Rings is a seriously long story. Three books. A massive amount of information. Almost every character is developed in detail. Most of them are dealing with deeply personal issues on top of the whole end of the world crisis. There is just so much there. If they had shortened the films at all an enormous amount of important story would have been sacrificed. Even more than there already was. The story required three ridiculously long movies. There’s no way it would have worked otherwise.
The Hobbit is, what… 400 pages? For the most part it’s a light weight tale of short people wandering around a fantasy land. Compared to the intricacies of Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is kids stuff. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, no one except Bilbo does any growing or changing throughout the story, and Bilbo only does in that he acts in ways that are unexpected. He doesn’t so much grow as a person as roll with the punches.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the book. I just think it’s a little insulting to have this story ballooned into three, three hour films. It’s going to result in exactly two things. One, a shit load of money in the studio’s bank account. Two, lots of really bored movie goers.
There, I said it. It’s going to be boring. Really boring. Even if they add in mountains of content from the Lord of the Rings appendixes and what not, it’s still going to be hours on end of a bunch of Dwarves walking around with a Hobbit.
I still want to see it, but as the reality sinks in… we’re looking at nine hours of movie to interpret a 400 page book. Even if it’s decent, it’s still never going to live up to the Lord of the Rings. It’s never going to live up to its own hype. This whole thing is a disaster waiting to happen. I hope I’m wrong, but somehow… I don’t think I’m going to be.
Inside the Red Head's Head 