December (Web-only) 2001

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Between Harry Potter and The Fellowship of the Ring, the busy moviegoer might overlook news of another imaginative production on the horizon. This one's quite unlikely to stir up any controversy: Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie is coming to a theatre near you in 2002. (I spotted this news blurb at CanadianChristianity.com.)

But first things first. The Fellowship of the Ring opens in theatres everywhere on Wednesday, December 19, bringing J.R.R. Tolkien's work to the big screen whether the Tolkien family likes it or not. Buzz is building after last week's screenings, and fans are gaining confidence that director Peter Jackson might have made the first decent Middle-earth movie.

David Ansen (Newsweek) believes the movie is "too violent for little ones," but he raves about it anyway: "Jackson's fierce, headlong movie takes high-flying risks: it wears its earnestness, and its heart, on its muddy, blood-streaked sleeve. It transcends cheap thrills; we root for the survival of our heroes with a depth of feeling that may come as a surprise. It leaves you with your wits intact, hungry for more." Ansen also becomes the first to see the film as timely. "[Frodo] must form a coalition among the races of Middle-earth … to battle the armies of the Dark Lord. Is there an echo here of our current world?" (It has been a recurring phenomenon since the successful series was first published that each generation interprets it as relevant for a different reason—The Lord of the Rings has been called a parable of the wages of addiction, racism, industrialism, and more.)

Tolkien's fans should count it the most encouraging sign of all to hear that Ansen left the theatre "thinking a trip to the bookstore to pick up The Two Towers might be in order."

Variety ...