[geeks] "Expanded Universe" of Star Wars, LOTR, etc.

[Mouse]

>> I did a re-rendering of the Ainulindalk in verse [...]

Er, that k should be an e-diaeresis (and was, when the mail left me); I
forgot the list strips high bits.

>> They refused.
> What a shame.  Sorry to hear it.

I don't mind passing it around privately, so if you'd be intersetd I'd
be happy to mail a copy.  (That's a generic "you", actually.)

> If you had issues with the LOTR movies then you're not missing much
> by skipping the Hobbit films.

They did one thing right (fixing Aragorn carrying the sword that was
broken); they did one thing I didn't like but can understand and don't
really mind (cutting Bombadil) and they did two big things I have
trouble either understanding or forgiving (ruining the Boromir/Faramir
contrast and turning Gimli into comic relief).  There is also one thing
they got wrong but it was completely inevitable given the medium, that
being representing the sort of perceptual distortions induced by
Galadriel or proximity to the Nazgul purely visually.

> It's possible Tolkien didn't want Middle Earth to be told by anyone
> else, and his family is respecting his wishes.

I can't believe that's it, not in view of the movies.  Much more
likely, I think, is that the estate is trying to milk it for all the
money it can, which in many jurisdictions means enforcing their
copyright fairly stringently to avoid losing it.  (I have little doubt
the movies involved paying a pretty penny for the right to retell the
story in another medium, though admittedly I have no specific evidence
for that theory.)

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