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:

Sneak Peak: The Desolation of Smaug

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

Incoming: The Desolation of Smaug

So . . . this has been floating around the interwebs for weeks now, but seeing as how I've been out o' the country for a while, I thought I'd better jump back into the whole blog thing ASAP. So . . . here goes.

BILBO IN THE FREAKING LONELY MOUNTAIN! SCRAMBLING THROUGH A PILE OF GOLD!

Awesome . . .

More posts coming soon . . . I promise.

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.

Trolls, Goblins, Gloin and More!

All right, I've been a little lax about posting up all the new pictures I've come across in various places on the internet . . . so here they are. This troll pic is one of my favs, but there are some awesome ones past the break:

New Warg Photos

Finally! Some up-close pictures of the Wargs. I have to admit that unlike some fans, I always kind of liked the Wargs in original LOTR movies. But even having admitted that, I must confess that these wargs look a whole lot better. Awesome is the appropriate word here. Jump past the break to see another great pic!

Bard the Bowman!

 The folks over at comicbookmovie.com have leaked the first images of Bard the Bowman! I have to admit, he looks pretty cool . . . though a little more action-hero than I had imagined him. But whatever. It's just cool to see him leaping over the rooftops of Laketown during Smaug's attack. (Oh . . . spoiler alert. Oops . . .) Jump past the break to see more images!

EW Hobbit Scroll

EW has just posted a new scrolling image of several scenes from the Hobbit! The scenes can be magnified to show more detail . . . and the great thing is, the image shows a ton of new material from the upcoming movie!

I've stitched the scenes together into a complete image, but it's not the highest resolution:

Enjoy!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, April and May 2012

So, I started writing this post at the end of April . . . but then silly little things like writing a thesis and providing for a family kind of took up the rest of the next two months. Apologies all around. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things though, so here comes a brief recap of all the Hobbit-ee related stuff that interested me (in other words, stuff about the story and the actual movie . . . not the lives of the actors).

Unlike February and March, April and May were full of surprises . . . some good, some kinda good, and some . . . well that's mostly up to your own fancies. Catch up on all the April/May Hobbit action after the break!

Note: since I'm playing catch-up on this post, due credit should go to M58's incredibly detailed timeline of Hobbit-related news.

A little bit of history: Orcrist, the Orc-Cleaver

Dark Jackal has done a fair bit of research leg-work and the results are an excellent and detailed history of Thorin's fabled sword Orcrist, the Orc-Cleaver. Not only that, but she's collected a lot of photos of both the sword and Thorin in action.

Jump over to Heirs of Durin to read the post in full.

Wanted: Information on a mysterious dwarf

Well folks, make no mistake. There is a mystery afoot. We were all treated to the 6th Hobbit production video a few weeks ago, and towards the end of the ~12 minute video, we catch a glimpse of an unknown dwarf. Before reading any further, take a look for yourself, then jump past the break for a discussion of just who this guy might be.

A bit of dwarf-ishness: Bilbo's Contract

So, I'm  a little late getting this posted (it's been up on theonering.net for a while now) but it's pretty cool, so I thought I'd better put it up anyways.

Using some high-res images of Bilbo holding the contract from Thorin & Co, DarkJackal managed to decipher some of the test of the contract. You can read more about the process over on his blog, Heirs of Durin. And even if you don't want to read the whole process, you should head over anyway 'cause there's some cool content over there.

To keep this post shorter, I'll just put down the finished "translation" that DarkJackal came up with. Note that he's divided the contract up into lettered sections that correspond to the pictures you can see to the right.

An Unexpected Party: Bilbo, Bifur, Dwalin, Bofur and Oin

Here's the newest picture from The Hobbit, featuring the Master of Bag End and several uninvited guests. This newest image comes to us from MOVIEtalk on Yahoo! Movies, and is a great look at Bilbo interacting with the dwarves.

Oin's hearing-horn cracks me up every time I see it. And I just can't get over the fact that Bifur has something lodged in his cranium. How the heck is this guy still walking around? Was it a mining accident? An orc attack? Or something else?

Bilbo Baggins, Burglar Extraordinaire

I probably owe the world an apology. So far, this blog has focused a whole lot on Thorin and his dwarves, and hasn't talked much about anything else (except Trolls, trailers and wizards who aren't falling in love), when in fact the hero of our story is most definitely not a dwarf (or a troll or wizard). Yes, it's about time we sit down and take a good look at the protagonist of this whole affair: a certain Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End, Hobbiton.

Bilbo Baggins, Esquire

Now, call me crazy, but I really like the animated version of Bilbo. My first exposure to this version of our esteemed Hobbit was from books-on-tape that my grandma had. I practically wore the tapes out listening to the story of Bilbo the Burglar over and over, and I was fascinated by the drawings of hobbits and dwarves, wizards and trolls, and especially the Dragon. And you know what? I still like the animated version. Not sure why . . . call it nostalgia, I guess.

Anyways, there's a new Bilbo on the block, take a gander after the break:

Galadriel and Gandalf: A Not So Romantic Story

Can I complain about something? Ever since the teaser trailer for The Hobbit came out last December, people have been freaking about the scene where Gandalf and Galadriel are standing on some balcony in Rivendell, and Galadriel reaches out and touches Gandalf's hair. The scene can't be more than three seconds long, but people are reading all kinds of innuendo into it.

Gandalf and Galadriel in the Trailer

*Gasp! Is Peter Jackson going to have Gandalf and Galadriel fall in love? That never happens in the book! WHAT CAN HE BE THINKING???

To find out if these two old folks are really about to "share a moment" read on:

To Talk or Not to Talk: Should Trolls Even Ask that Question?

Almost since it was announced that there would be a Hobbit movie, there's been a lot of speculation about whether or not the Trolls, Eagles and animals would talk like they do in the book, or whether they'd be like the Trolls and Eagles in the LOTR movies . . . non-speaking, in other words. People seem to be pretty divided in their opinions, with Tolkien purists asking "How on earth could they not speak if they do in the books?" and the movie-lovers complaining that making the Trolls and what not talk would make the new movies too different from the original trilogy . . . too juvenile, I guess.

So, the big question is, are the Trolls gonna be more like this:

Bert (or maybe Tom . . . or possibly Bill)

Or more like this:

The Cave Troll

Read on after the break, where there'll be more cool pics and some compelling evidence:

Fleshing Out the Company: Thorin Oakenshield

At last we come to the great dwarf himself, the mover and shaker of this whole affair, the heir of Durin the Deathless, leader of the Longbeards, renowned warrior and general ruckuss-maker, Thorin Oakenshield:

. . . and also a sky-blue one with a long silver tassel. This last belonged to Thorin, an enormously important dwarf, in fact no other than the great Thorin Oakenshield himself

–The Hobbit; Ch. 1: An Unexpected Party; p. 18 

From the get go, I'd better come clean and admit that I like the looks of the cartoon Thorin better. He's got the blue beard and his nose is, well . . . huge, just like a dwarf's nose should be. But, there are some cool things about the movie Thorin as well. Read on, after the break:

Fleshing Out the Company: Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur

Just four more dwarves to go, and we'll have a complete crew (not counting a certain Mr. Baggins, of course, who we have yet to review). Next up are three dwarves who seem to have come from a slightly . . . different background, then all the others we've reviewed so far. It looks like this difference is going to be played up in the movie, but for a starting reference, lets hear from Tolkien himself:

Bifur, Bofur and Bombur were descended from Dwarves of Moria but were not of Durin's line.

–The Return of the King, App. A: Durin's Folk,  p. 361 (see footnote)

These three are not, in other words, royalty, and they stand alone in Thorin's Company, since the rest of the dwarves are all of Durin's direct line and closely related to Thorin himself. So, what do normal dwarves do with their time? Find out, Brave Reader, after the break:

Fleshing Out the Company: Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin and Gloin

[His] bell rang again, as if some naughty little hobbit-boy was trying to pull the handle off. 'Someone at the door!' he said, blinking. 'Some four, I should say by the sound,' said

Fili. 'Be-sides, we saw them coming along behind us in the distance.'

 . . . Then the bell rang again louder than ever, and he had to run to the door. It was not four after all, it was FIVE.

–The Hobbit; Ch. 1: An Unexpected Party; p. 17 

You read right, Kind Reader! After the souped-up Fili and Kili trot into Bilbo's hobbit hole, not one, not two, but five dwarves show up all at once. And who might these five be, you ask? Well, assuming you've already forgot the title of this post, I'll give you a hint as to who one of them is:

Enough of a hint for you? Who might the other four uninvited dwarves be? Find out, after the break.