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!

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!

Another Awesome Desolation of Smaug Poster

Man, they're coming fast and furious now, aren't they? This new poster featuring Legolas and Tauriel might be my favorite, along with the poster of Bard (whom I'm beginning to like more and more). Can't wait for this movie!

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!

Empire Magazine Desolation of Smaug Cover

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: 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!

Strangers in a Strange Land: Thranduil and Legolas

So, before I start this post, two funny things: first off, if you're hoping to find a good picture of this father-son elf duo, just be aware that googling "Legolas and Thranduil"will lead to a pile of garbage you'll have to dig through to get anything remotely resembling a descent photo; second, I decided to do a post about Thranduil and Legolas last night, and then to my surprise I found that Stephen Colbert had scooped me! Jump past the brea and take a look at this funny April Fool's video from Mr. Jackson (Colbert jumps on at 1:27):

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:

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Magali Villeneuve

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 

Friday is here and superb Middle-Earth art has arrived! Today we'll be showcasing the Lord of the Rings artwork of Magali Villeneuve. All of the art on display today comes from the new Lord of the Rings Card Game by Fantasy Flight Games. And if you're interested in seeing more of Magali's work once you've looked through what we have here, head on over to her blog to see a bunch of other amazing artwork.

There's a ton of pictures here, so I'm not gonna comment on each and everyone. Instead, I'll just give a brief overview of why I like this artist so much. First and foremost, Magali has real talent . . . her art looks good enough to be included in a Tolkien book, which you don't see often these days. Second, Magali's artwork is filled with detail, which is what first caught my eye. Just look at Bifur, below. There's scrollwork on his hood, breath misting in the air, and his axe looks good enough to have come straight from the armories of the Lonely Mountain.

All in all, these images are good stuff. Enjoy!

Bifur of Erebor

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Otis Frampton

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 

Friday! Another week is over, the weekend is looming and its time to head on over to take a pit-stop here at the Mathom-House, where there's a whole lot of awesome-ness in a hole in the ground to celebrate! This week we'll be looking at the Hobbit/LOTR artwork of Otis Frampton. I stumbled on this guy's work a few months ago and couldn't get over just how good it is. His art has an amazing, stylized look, yet the details don't suffer for it. Frampton also does a great job of imbuing his images with atmosphere. Take a look for yourself:

Bilbo and the Dragon

The thing I like best about this first image is the sheer size of Smaug . . . the guy is HUGE, and Frampton did a great job of making the dragon's tail disappear into the haze of the chamber. Like I mentioned above, effects like that lend a sense of depth and atmosphere that make this picture really fun.

More great art after the break: