The Fireside

  Sometimes, it's amazing how an alternate version of a film can affect its quality: The Hobbit extended editions made them somewhat tolerable, Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut) is vastly superior to what was released in theatres in every aspect, Ridley Scott with Blade Runner (The Final Cut) has also released his definitive version of that film, and the Zack Snyder version of Justice League looks to right some of the wrongs of the Joss Whedon-finished version. And so we come to the third Godfather film. As mentioned, there are two versions of it: the original release, which was released cinematically, called The Godfather: Part III , and this new re-edit of it called The Godfather Coda . As evident from the introduction given by Francis Coppola (segments of this were used to promote the film on social media) you can tell that this is the version - and title - that he initially intended to come out. He seems to be very firm on his stance that this is his preferred, definit...

  Near the end of the year, I often like to think of, and look forward to, what Tolkien books may be coming out during the following year. Here are some upcoming titles that we know are coming in 2021, at this point in time: - The Annotated Hobbit [Third Edition] - The Nature of Middle-earth - The Silmarillion , illustrated by Ted Nasmith (part of The Tolkien Illustrated Hardback Collection: Ver. 2). This will also get a collector's edition (which will match the illustrated collector's edition of Unfinished Tales ) - 2022 Tolkien Calendar (based on the illustrated edition of The Silmarillion would be my guess as to its theme. My second guess would be tied-in to A Middle-earth Traveller ) - Tales From the Perilous Realm (hardback re-issue). Should be pretty much identical to the 2008 one, except it'll have a new ISBN. Also expecting other smaller details: ribbon-marker, etc. - Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (new paperback edition). This has a new ISBN, new cover art,...

  15 years ago today, the first Narnia film, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe , (which was also the first of the seven novels to be written and published) came out in cinemas. Some state that this first Narnia film is on-par, in terms of quality, to The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. It has been integrated into my winter/Christmas movie watching. The soundtrack is great too,  and I typically listen to it every Christmas and throughout winter. To celebrate, I will be streaming the film on Disney+, followed by episode 6 of Prop Culture (also on Disney+), and then cap it all off with listening to the soundtrack later on.

  There's been lots of Tolkien posts on my blog lately! A few different editions here and there, and some other news. Now that we are now December, I only have two posts left about Tolkien for 2020: this one, and my 'look ahead' post near the end of the month. Expect the next post or two to follow after that when the new illustrated edition of The Silmarillion is published. For this post, however, I want to call attention to Tolkien.co.uk's 20% off sale. They usually have one around this time of year, and sometimes for Easter. As far as I'm aware, they ship worldwide. Now this 20% off sale is site-wide (at checkout, don't be alarmed if the price is listed the same), though I'd like to showcase certain editions, by category ,where applicable. There are a few different sections in this blog post to hopefully help you find an item, as well as lay out the various titles that exist within a certain format. DEFINITIVE PAPERBACKS These editions feature the defini...