Finally! Some Updates!

Well, it's been a million years since I've posted . . . but we're finally starting to get some droplets of pictures and information. Here, for your enjoyment, are three images from the final installment of the Hobbit!

Jump past the break to see two more images!

Review: The Desolation of Smaug

You know, I expected this post to be a long spew of me shouting/raving about how insanely cool the Desolation of Smaug was––instead . . . I've got decidedly mixed feelings about the latest installment of the Hobbit trilogy. It's not that I didn't like the movie. Far from it. Like all of Peter Jackson's Middle-earth movies so far, Desolation definitely ranks as one of my favorite movies of all time. What I can't decide, is how it stacks up against it's predecessor, An Unexpected Journey, and how well it did at retelling Tolkien's story. Jump past the break, and I'll do my best to explain.

Oh, and I'm too tired to even care about watching what I'm saying, so BEWARE SPOILERS!

Coming Soon: A Review of the Movie

See, I was there. I promise.

Hey folks . . . just in case you were wondering, I DID go to the movie on opening night, and I DO have a review in the works. It's just that the last few days have involved a lot of travel and only a little down time––but in case you were wondering, my goal is to have it up by tomorrow.

Later!

Desolation of Smaug Pictures: A Long-Awaited Update

Ok, so I've gotten really far behind on the posts. Over the next few days you'll witness my miserable attempt to catch up. First up is a batch of (relatively) new Desolation of Smaug photos . . . some of which I may have posted before, but I decided to post again to have them all on a single page. There is a lot of good stuff here, so enjoy!

New The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug Trailer!

It's here! Check out the newest trailer for the Desolation of Smaug. It's . . . pretty much amazing. More screenshots and comments to come later today!

Fridays at the Mathom House: Quimtuk

It's another fantastic friday, and that means we have another fantastic Middle-earth artist to acquaint you with. Today's art is by Quimtuk (and you should definitely check out the rest of his stuff), and is decidedly lighter in tone and style than a lot of the art I've shown so far . . . I think that's why I picked it. Anyways, he doesn't have a tone of Hobbit-related art, but what he does have is fantastic. Jump past the break to take a look:

Fridays at the Mathom-House:

Happy Friday! I meant to get this posted up last week . . . but didn't. This week's Mathom-House will be featuring the amazing illustrations of Sceithailm, who has a gallery full of amazing stuff over at deviantart.com. All of her work is great, but to me, her depictions of Middle-earth are the cream of the crop. The texturing she works into the fabrics and skin of her characters is amazing.

Jump past the break to enjoy a feast for the eyes!

Desolation of Smaug Photos and Plot Spoilers

So after a long drought of Desolation of Smaug info, the internet seems like its been raining and pouring Hobbit-related pictures, mostly from the Hobbit Annual. Additionally, the Annual has provided some (limited) insight into the plot of the Desolation of Smaug. If you're into spoilers, click here. If you just wanna see the pics, jump past the break!

Desolation of Smaug vLog!

An update from Mr. Jackson himself! Here is the first official video blog for the Desolation of Smaug (the eleventh vlog in total, if you keep track of that kind of thin). What things was I excited to see? Jump past the break to find out!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer Recap

So, call me crazy, but the picture above was my favorite shot from the trailer. It's just . . . just . . . awesome. Ruined Dale, Lonely Mountain, dwarves . . . it has everything. And the rest of the trailer? Yeah, it was pretty sweet as well. If you haven't seen it yet, here it is:

Now just jump past the break to see a whole mess of screen shots and my reactions to (some of) them:

First Desolation of Smaug Trailer . . . and its AWESOME!

Enjoy. I'll be posting a review later.

Friday at the Mathom-House: Abe Papakhian

Friday is here again folks, and this time we're enjoying the amazing illustrations of Abe Papkhian. You can check out all of Abe's work over on Deviantart.com. Continuing last week's theme of hand-drawn art, Abe's illustrations are all pencil or watercolor. Now, I'm not sure if you'll agree, but I feel like there is definitely something Brother's Hildebrandt about Abe's style. I'm a fan. Jump past the break to see even more awesome Hobbit and LOTR art.

Friday at the Mathom-House: Ulla Thynell

Friday has come, and with it some fantastic Hobbit and LOTR art by Ulla Thynell. This artist caught my eye while I was perusing the interwebs . . . I hope you like the work as much as I do. Really there are two things I appreciate about these pieces: first, they're not the normal digital art we see so much of nowadays––not that there is anything wrong with digital work, it's just refreshing to see some good-old hand drawn stuff now and again; second, Ulla's style reminds me of Tolkien's own work . . . that that is really fun to see. Jump past the break and enjoy!

Sneak Peak: The Desolation of Smaug

Not sure how long this will be up, but enjoy it while you can!

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Liz O'Connor

The Mathom-house it was called; for anything that Hobbits had no immediate use for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a ‘mathom’.

–The Fellowship of the Ring; Prologue 

Yes . . . it's true. It has been AGES since I've visited the Mathom-House. But I stumbled across some sketches of our favorite characters from the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and I could not resist posting them. The art is by Lisa O'Connor . . . and it is fantastic. Jump past the break to see more.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug––What Do We Know So Far?

Well, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has come and gone. It was awesome, and now we'll all have to wait a few more months until it comes out on Blu-Ray (or longer if you're like me, since I definitely fall under the 'strapped for cash' category and will by saving my pennies for the Extended Edition coming out towards the end of the year) before we'll be able to see it again. Luckily, there's another whole movie coming out in just ten short months! So there is plenty of speculating, theorizing and geeking out ahead of us.

So, I thought I'd round up all the hints of The Desolation of Smaug we've already been given, and remind myself of all of the awesomeness that the next installment of The Hobbit has in store for us. Jump past the break for a quick refresher of all that awaits our hero, Mr. Baggins:

13 minute Hobbit Preview + Screenshots

If you're not too squeemish about spoilers, take a gander at this awesome preview of the upcoming movie (which is less than 1 WEEK AWAY!!!!). Then jump past the post to look at some of the best new images from the preview.

3D Hobbit Posters!

Thanks to DarkJackal and Narflet from theonering.net for posting the link to some of the amazing 3D posters that were seen at ComicCon. The posters were created by Nels Israelson and they are fantastic. You can see the 3D posters in higher resolution at his site. Jump past the break to see more of them!

New Hobbit Character Posters!

comicbookmovie.com posted 14 character posters . . . featuring quite a few that we hadn't seen before. Gotta admit, much to my surprise, the posters of Bombur and Bifur are my favorite. The guy with the axe in his head is definitely growing on me. Jump past the break to see the rest!

Friday at the Mathom-House: Magali Villavenue Redux

That's right. It's Friday and the time has come to celebrate your freedom from the workday by looking at some awesome Hobbit and Lord of the Rings art by Magali Villavenue. This is the second time we've post some of Magali's work here, but we couldn't resist showing off more of her stuff because a lot of her recent work has been Hobbit-themed and, well . . . her art is just really, really good. Jump past the break to see more Hobbit-y goodness.