Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power: this is a TV series which is based off the JRR Tolkien books. Apparently the rights were acquired from the Tolkien estate by Amazon, with a commitment for five seasons for a cost of about $1 billion. Quite a commitment. Set thousands of years before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it is series based upon the later tales but not written by Tolkien himself. This first season is 8 episodes and filmed in New Zealand.

The primary focus for the story is the elf Galadriel, who was played by Cate Blanchett in the original series. The younger Galadriel is played by Welsh actress Morfydd Clark (pronounced phonetically) who was unknown to me, along with the BAFTA winning actor from I Swear Robert Aramayo, playing another elf Elrond. This is a very large cast, and I cannot address them all here, but you see the same types of characters with dwarves, hobbits, orcs and those from the wizarding world.

Galadriel is a fiery young elf with many talents who can ruffle feathers in those higher up in the elven order. She has a personal interest in seeing that there is punishment for those who have done her and her family ill. Elrond supports her and is busy on his own working to strengthen relationships with the dwarves. On the other side, we see the amassing of a vast army by the source of evil Sauron complete with plenty of nasty orcs. The forces of good and evil are bound to be in combat soon enough.

This was season one and my understanding was that it was well received. I can say that I am not the target audience as I don’t hold the original three-book series in as high regard as others. But Tolkien creates a vast world with plenty of characters and types of individuals. They interact and show traits that their kind are known for, like the dwarves with their expertise in mining. I like that, in the same way the original series did, that you can see differences of the kind being overcome to allow for deep meaningful friendships among those involved. Tolkien wrote his epic in the mid 50s with the past of WWII this fresh in his mind in his home in England. The orcs and Sauron represent the Nazis and darkness. The Fellowship was a coming together of various factions (hobbit, wizard, elf, dwarf, and human) to head out of a quest to defeat evil. This series shows that the evil has been around a very long time. I will continue on to Season 2 and see where this leads.

Brooklyn: This was a TIFF movie back in 2015. I was amazed when I did a quick search here in my blog to see what I had written about this that I couldn’t find it! I had seen this when it was released in the main theatres after the TIFF release. This movie stars Saoirse Ronan, who was 21yo at the time, along with excellent Julie Walters and Domhnall Gleeson and unknown to me Emory Cohen. It is a coming of age story set in the early 1950s in small town Ireland. Ronan plays Eilis Lacey, who lives with her older sister Rose and her mother Mary. Their father had passed away years before. They have modest means, Rose the sister is a bookkeeper in a store, while Eilis works at a local grocery store run by a wicked woman, Miss Kelly. Rose engages with a priest in the United States (played by Jim Broadbent) who graciously offers to bring Eilis over to America to offer her a better opportunity. Eilis accepts given the prompting from her sister. She boards a ship, where she is left on her own devices, feeling ever more alone.

The story proceeds showing the homesickness that Eilis undergoes in leaving everything she knows behind her, and taking up living in a boarding house with other young women, and run by Walters in Brooklyn. Eilis has a job at a department store and is taking college classes in bookkeeping which she excels at. Things happen over time, and Eilis meets some new people. Young men are involved in this story too, which adds to the charm. But charm is throughout this delightful film, which I have seen more than once now. Eilis’ story is well told, and Ronan’s performance is first rate. You see and feel her pain. You can empathize with her struggles in fitting in with no real safety net under her. But she finds her way. Her love for Ireland never disappears, but she grows new roots to establish herself. Ultimately Eilis has to make choices for herself, and what is right for her. She has to walk her path for happiness, which may or may not involve her turning back towards Ireland for guidance. Each player in the story adds to it in a positive way, all supporting Eilis on her journey. This is presently on Crave, and given that TIFF is presently on as of this writing, it is a good reminder of quality films that are part of the acclaimed Festival. Ronan is one of the most talented working actresses these days and you can see in an earlier performance for her how she is able to make the audience feel and come along for a ride with her. Well worth your time. Check it out if you haven’t already. I can feel now that I have righted a wrong because this certainly was a movie that I should have reviewed long before now!