A Look Back: The Lord of the Rings
I grew up reading JRR Tolkien. I read The Hobbit (1937) in 1982 (and played the adventure game for the home computer). That summer break, I read The Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), and The Return of the King (1955). I fell in love with Middle-earth and high fantasy to the extent that I then read all the supporting material that came out, such as The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Book of Lost Tales, etc. Tolkien’s Middle-earth opened up a world of magic, heroic quests, and history that delved into the beginning of time. It also taught me the importance…
Polar Extremes – Highlander and Highlander II
One of my favourite guilty (movie) pleasures is Highlander (1986). In 1518, Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is born in the clan MacLeod in a small village in Scotland. During a battle with a rival clan, the Frasers, in 1536, the Black Knight, Kurgan (an amazing Clancy Brown), stabs Connor through the belly. Kurgan declares, ‘There can be only one!’ and is about to decapitate Connor when his clansmen save him. But it’s all for nothing. Connor’s wounds are fatal. He dies that night. The next day, he’s up and about and as healthy as ever. Fearing he is possessed, his clan drives him from the village. We rejoin him some…