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!

The Making of Smaug

Smaug is one of those monsters/characters that just keeps getting better every time you watch the latest Hobbit movie. And now Weta has released a short video about the making of Smaug, brought to us by the folks at the Hollywood Reporter. Jump past the break to enjoy the fascinating (and brief) film!

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!

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!

Learning to Love Azog

Now, I'll be the first to admit that Azog isn't exactly my favorite character in the first Hobbit movie. Not because I think he was poorly done or anything; I just don't understand why Bolg couldn't have been used in exactly the same way. But I really don't get why people are pouring so much hate on the Pale Orc. I mean, he wasn't that bad, was he?

Well, John Ruddy over at theonering.net seems to think so. He writes a good, well-reasoned argument and you should definitely take a look at it; but for me at least, his logic fails on a few points. So I've decided to play devil's (or is it "orc's"?) advocate and jot down my own thoughts on everyone's (least) favorite orc, in an unabashed effort to get you, faithful reader, to not hate the poor guy so much.

Jump past the break to read on!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition Sneak Peek!

AWESOMENESS! Here is our first glimpse of some of the bonus material that will be in the TH:AUJ Extended Edition. I love this little interaction between Elrond and Bilbo . . . and the scene manages to sneak in a couple of classic lines from Fellowship of the Ring to boot!

Enjoy!

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!

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

Enjoy. I'll be posting a review later.

Desolation of Smaug Poster!

Finally! Some updates! The trailer is coming this week, and here, for your viewing pleasure, is the first poster for the Desolation of Smaug:

I'm officially getting excited . . . only slightly more than 150 days to go!

In Defense of Radagast the Brown

What's up with all the hating on Radagast? I mean, I guess I can understand how he might not be some people's cup-o'-tea . . . but sheesh! Some people actually compared the poor dumpy wizard to Jar Jar Binks. That's right. Jar-freaking-Jar Binks. I don't get it. I went into the movie a little apprehensive about this new wizard on the block, but I was completely blown away. Jump past the break to read why:

The Hobbit Review Redux: High Frame Right and other Sundry Thoughts

So . . . lucky me, after nearly two months and a trip down to South America, I finally managed to make it to the theater to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey a second (and most likely last) time before its gone from the big screen. What's more, I found a theater in my area that was still showing the movie in the much-talked-about High Frame Rate (HFR), so I was able to experience the show the way Mr. Jackson intended. Waiting two whole months and then seeing the movie in a new format gave me the chance to see the show with "fresh eyes" as it were. So, what did I think of HFR? What was my opinion of the movie going back and seeing it again? Read on, brave reader, past the break and you'll find out.

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!

Video Blog #8: What did we learn?

Ok, so I'm a little late getting the production video up, but there's good reason for that: first, as you can see . . . the old blog has been undergoing some renovations; second, well . . . life is busy; and third, has to be my favorite production video so far, and there is a lot of info to glean from it.

So, if you haven't seen the video yet, go ahead and watch it, then jump past the break to take a look at some screen shots (courtesy of DarkJackal) and we'll talk a bit about the new hints/clues/revelations we get in this little reel!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, June 2012

All right, here's the June round-up . . . a little late, but you know what they say about that . . .

June was a pretty slow month with regards to things concerning the actual story-line of the movie. There were a lot of interviews with different actors (most notably Billy Connolly), but other than that not too much to get me excited. There was, however, a production video (the 7th, if you're counting) and that is always a welcome treat!

New Hobbit Poster!

Wow! Released by Mr. Jackson right before SDCC 2012, this poster is awesome!

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.

Radagast and Rabbits: Why we should all just calm down

Pretty much everybody that cares about the upcoming Hobbit films must have heard by now about the 10-minute preview of footage from the first movie that Peter Jackson revealed at CinemaCon 2012. And even more people have probably heard of the mixed (mostly-negative might be more honest) that the preview got from industry experts and Tolkien fans alike (read this article for a quick sample of movie experts' reactions and scroll to the bottom of this article for a sample of the divided opinions coming from Tolkien enthusiasts). In fact, the negative reactions were strong enough that Peter Jackson himself wrote up a response several days later (relayed to us by the ever-vigilant DarkJackal).

But the truth is, I don't understand what everyone is so worked up about. Read on past the break to see why I don't think anything we've learned from this preview is that big a deal.

A full 10 minutes of the Hobbit!!!

This just in from theonering.net: The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that a full 10 minutes of the Hobbit will be screened this Tuesday at CinemaCon 2012! Let's keep our fingers crossed that the rest of us lowly masses will get to see the 10 minutes preview shortly thereafter . . .

March comes in like a . . .

Production video straight from New Zealand!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, January 2012

This post marks the start of a new series: at the end of each month (I know, I'm three days late) I'll try and scour the internet and make an up-to-date list of the progress that has been made on the Hobbit movie during the previous month. Since this is the first of these posts, I'll make it a longer list and just include all the film-related events that have occurred so far. Just a note to everyone before they read . . . I'm a Tolkien geek, not a film geek, so the things I list will be mainly concerned with how fast is this movie getting made, not with where so-and-so was spotted last weekend. Sorry if thats disappointing.

*Due credit goes to Of Thorin Oakenshield and The Hobbit - a perspective from across the Tasman, which provided most of the info I needed to get this list started.

Find this awesome list after the break!