Stanko's Stance

“Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.”

Directors: Wayne Yup, J.A. Bayona, Charlotte Brändström
Writers: J.R.R Tolkien, Jason Cahill, Justin Doble, Gennifer Hutchinson, Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, Bryan Cogman, Stephany Folsom, Glenise Mullins, Helen Shang
Staring: Peter Mullan, Nazanin Boniadi, Benjamin Walker, Morfydd Clark, Robert Aramayo, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Maxim Baldry
Release Date: September 2, 2022

This is it. This is my breaking point. I am no longer seeking out any footage from The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.

Here are just some of my quick thoughts on this latest trailer.

• The trailer makes me thing the show is going to look gorgeous. Second straight trailer where the show runners are showing off their muscle in terms of visual spectacle.
• We do get a bit more about how Galadriel (Morfydd Clark) gets motivated to be the warrior she becomes. The death of her brother has galvanized her, and she carries his knife (which we see later on the snow mountain) as a reminder.
• We get a bit more view of the humans in this trailer than in the past. When we get the voiceover from Galadriel at the start of the trailer we get a glimpse of two humans and one elf. Is this going to be her version of the fellowship?
• Elrond (Robert Aramayo) looks creepy as hell in the all white garb looking over the children running.
• We get a lot of different landscapes and environments in this trailer
  • We have the grassy plains, on the ocean, in the docks, in an icy glacier, in a dying forest, in a cement throne room, the mines; we are running the whole gamut here
• Listen, the shot of the waterfalls and the panning down is just gorgeous
• Who the hell is this homeless or rag-tag guy running around? This well travelled man appears to have survived a ship-wreck, met with some hobbit folk and gets bestowed an apple (traditionally symbolic of knowledge so what is this man going to learn from this interaction) and then gets told by Galadriel to forget his past because what he is doing now is his true self. This man is going through a journey and it seems like a really rough one.
• Galadriel is referred to as a Commander, so she is on a mission and she is regarded highly in terms of rank. I wonder if part of her journey is going to be discovering herself outside of a hierarchy in a realm of violence; at the end of the trailer we have Elrond trying to tell her to put down the sword, but she doesn’t know how. Could that be interpreted that she must lay down her guard and let people in close to her to trust them as well as its tangible meaning of “stop chasing danger” within the story?
• The last bit of this trailer is a collage of action and violence. Ship explosions, slow-motion axe wielding, orcs being mowed down and classic sword spinning post kill.

Let’s all get excited for September 2nd when Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power premieres on Amazon Prime.

“Stanko’s Stance” Podcast Feed (Apple)
“Stanko’s Stance” Podcast Feed (Spotify)

Stanko Excel Lists | Movies, Books, Podcasts. TV Shows
Stanko Letterdbox Account

Reflection On “The Big Picture” 1990s Summer Blockbuster Draft

Loved this draft idea from The Big Picture crew. I am not going to be able to do my normal redrafting because there is just enough movies to pick from, but I will have fun going through all of the different categories and determining what my dream lineup would be from the movies i have…

by jstanko99 May 27, 2023May 26, 2023

Want To Know What Mid 2000s Oscar Bait Is Like? Watch “Cold Mountain”

“In the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.” Director: Anthony MinghellaWriters: Charles Frazier, Anthony MinghellaStaring: Jude Law, Nicole Kidman, Renée Zellweger, Brendan Gleeson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone,…

by jstanko99 May 26, 2023May 24, 2023

“Extraction 2” Trailer Reaction

“After barely surviving his grievous wounds from his mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tyler Rake is back, and his team is ready to take on their next mission.” Director: Sam HargraveWriter: Joe RussoStaring: Chris Hemsworth (Does it matter who else)Release Date: June 16, 2023IMDB Tyler Rake was clinically dead nine months ago. Can you get any…

by jstanko99 May 25, 2023May 23, 2023