Fellowship

It is already known that I'm a nerd, so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about seeing the Fellowship of the Ring (for the first time on the big screen).

The back story---I thought LOTR was so stupid the first time I saw it.  My sister was watching it on DVD one holiday when I was home from college.  I didn't even understand what they were talking about.  I even tried to watch it and just didn't get it.  I tried watching it a couple other times and finally made it all the way through.  I admitted that I liked it.  Almost a year later, Two Towers came out around Christmas time and I went to see it with Rachel in the theater (most likely opening weekend).  I even was looking forward to it.  After that movie, I made it my goal to read the book before Return of the King was released the following year...definitely becoming a huge fan.  As always, the book is better than the movie, but I'm telling you, the movies are awesome, if you haven't seen them.  It took me a loooong time to get through the Fellowship of the Ring, book version.  There is an extremely long section in there that isn't mentioned in the movie and it was just really long.  I'm a slow reader, but I kept at it and finally got through.  The Two Towers and Return of the King went a little faster and by then, I couldn't wait to see the final installment of the movie version.  And oh it was so good.  So good.  It was such an exciting event and I had been looking forward to it, and then it was over.  So sad.  I mean, we are on this journey with this great group of characters for so long, so it's difficult when that journey comes to an end.  Anyway...that's how I got sucked into the LOTR and I'm so glad!

So, when Rachel told me that they were re-releasing the extended versions three Tuesdays in June, I was on the fence.  That's a lot of money to spend for someone who pretty much never goes to movies and is on a tight budget.  Then, I watched the trailer.  It was simply the music that got me.  I own the soundtrack to the trilogy and absolutely love it.  Ah!  I was still contemplating on whether or not I was going to go until the night before.  Then I finally just decided...how often is this opportunity going to come along?  Every ten years if we are lucky and I get my wish!  It's just the equivalent to a tank of gas, I bought my tickets and went with the splurge!  Let the excitement begin.  I got to the theater early, with the rest of the nerds and on my way in, saw a MY FRDO license plate.  Lol.  It wasn't sold out, but it was pretty full.

Then I realized, I'D NEVER SEEN FELLOWSHIP IN THE THEATER.  Omg!  The scenery is just spectacular and I was instantly so glad I'd decided to see it.  Why did it take me so long?!  Ah.  Loved every bit of it and the three-and-a-half hour movie went surprisingly quick, even though my butt was hurting a little.  I laughed, I cried, I got the chills and our audience clapped three times.  I just love when an audience claps in the movie theater.  It's just a great feeling to enjoy one of the most fantastic, truly amazingly well done, epic productions of our lifetime with a group of people who appreciates the movie and the original story as much as I do.  Oh. So. Good.  Looking forward to the next two Tuesdays, but will be sad once again when it's over.  These movies were meant to be seen in the theater, so definitely go if you can.  You don't know when you'll have another chance!

I caught so much more this time around watching, so I'm thinking that will be the same for the next two movies.  I remember Two Towers being my least favorite, so maybe I'll even like it more after seeing it again.  Three things I loved the most in the Fellowship (hard to only pick three):
1. Life in The Shire and how happy things seem for the hobbits
2. Sam's loyalty to his promise to Gandalf and unfaltering desire to not leave Frodo's side
3. Legolas's general bad assness and such keen senses

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.