An Afternoon for Elliott Smith
Posted on December 18, 2003 at 10:16 pm | No Comments
 This weekend brings Boston’s tribute to the dearly departed, and so much missed, Elliott Smith. I still have a hard time believing he’s really not around, that he’s not holed up somewhere recording a bunch of new songs. He meant so much to so many people, proven on messageboards and by memorials around the country.
The Boston one, happening Sunday afternoon at TT the Bears, has been thrown together by his friend and sometime collaborator Mary Lou Lord. Details have been sketchy, but word is that over 20 artists (and fans) have asked to cover Elliott songs for those still in mourning. Mary Lou will be showing some personal tour footage along with the slightly surreal Elliott short-film Strange Parallel. Doors are at 1:30 pm, the video footage starts at 2, and the music kicks off at 3 o’clock. Any proceeds will go to the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund for abused children. For a brief article on the benefit, check out today’s Boston Globe online. There’s also this great interview with Mary Lou talking about Elliott and the show at the Weekly Dig website. Get your tickets early, because tons of people are travelling from near and far away. Don’t get left out from this sure-to-be-memorable memorial. |
Checking In: ROTK & the Exhibition
Posted on December 18, 2003 at 2:05 pm | No Comments
All’s been quiet on this northeastern blog … been alternately too busy or too unmotivated to write. Rather than force it, I’ve just been taking a little break. Better a quiet blog than a blah blah blog, right?
Saw Return of the King yesterday, and you can probably guess what I thought of it. Took the day off and drove down to Randolph to meet up with my old friend Randy, just as we did for parts one and two. Hard to believe how quickly the years seem to have passed since I first heard Peter Jackson was planning to make it happen. I remember the first one feeling so far away… and here I sit the day after the final chapter. Freaky.
I won’t go on and on about everything I loved about it… you can read gushing reviews all over the internet. No one could possibly have done a better job bringing those books to screen than Jackson & company did. I anxiously await the extended DVD (over an hour of cut footage!), which will probably arrive next fall.
Before it does, though, Boston gets a very, very special treat…
The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy Exhibition at the Boston Museum of Science. Unbelievable. I’ve been reading about this thing for months, and it ends up the U.S. Premiere is right here in town. From the M.O.S. website …
On August 1, 2004, the Museum of Science will open the much-anticipated The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy�The Exhibition. The Museum will be the U.S. premiere site for this international touring exhibition.
The exhibition features hundreds of pieces of memorabilia from the epic film trilogy including original costumes and jewelry, as well as the One Ring. Immersed in film props, visitors can explore the groundbreaking technology used in the films such as computer-generated special effects and animatronics, and hear from cast, crew, and director in exclusive �behind-the-scenes� interviews shown on videos throughout the exhibit.
The exhibit includes massive models, an �armor corridor�, and a display on prosthetics including Hobbit feet and Orc teeth. An interactive scaling activity reveals how filmmakers can make the actors appear to be tiny Hobbit-sized or large wizard-sized, using an ingenious mix of trick photography, forced perspectives, and props made at different scales. Visitors can also see themselves transformed as Hobbit or wizard-sized in their own photo.
The exhibit was developed by the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa in partnership with New Line Cinema, the producers of the film trilogy. Following its run at the Science Museum in London on January 11, 2004, the exhibit will show in Singapore before coming to the Museum of Science, Boston in July 2004. The next city on the tour after Boston is Sydney.
This exhibition was made possible through the support of the New Zealand Government. Check out The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy – The Exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa.
The bittersweetness of the end of the trilogy is replaced with another year of anticipation. I cannot freakin’ wait.