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 . . .

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Jon Hodgson

¡Veliz viernes a todos ustedes! Get set for some excellent Tolkien artwork courtesy of your weekly Mathom-House. This week we're featuring the amazing Middle-Earth art of Jon Hodgson as seen in The One Ring fantasy RPG game. All of Hodgson's art is great, but I especially like his landscapes . . . he really manages to capture the feel of all the key locations in The Hobbit, from Rivendell to the Lonely Mountain. By far my favorite is this shot of Lake-town below:

Enjoy more of Hodgson's fantastic art after the break!

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.

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Wangyuxi

This Friday we're switching back to some current artwork featuring everybody's favorite wizards from Middle-Earth. These awesome images are brought to you courtesy of Wangyuxi. He's got a lot of other stuff over on http://wangyuxi.deviantart.com/, so you should go check it out. No really. Like right now.

I have to admit, my favorite part of these images aren't the wizards, but the dwarf in this first image . . . I assume it's Gimli (though I'm not positive). He just looks awesome. Anyways, enjoy this fine rendition of Gandalf and then jump past the break to see Sauruman, Radagast and a few other surprises.

Happy weekend everybody!

Gandalf the Gray and Gimli son of Gloin

A little Radagast for your morning

There's a report from the folks at theonering.net about Radagast the Brown and how much we can expect to see of him in the first installment of The Hobbit. Read the article in full right here!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, March 2012

As far as movie announcements went, March wasn't a lot more exciting than February, but we did get a few tid-bits here and there . . . take a look below the break for a complete and up-to-date list.

Fridays at the Mathom-House: Belomlinsky

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 

Yeah, I started this post like a week in advance to make sure I got it up on time. Cheating? Probably. Necessary? Definitely. 'Course, the good thing is, nobody cares if it's cheating, because today is Friday and that means two things: freedom, and great Hobbit art here at the Mathom-house!

This week we're expanding our horizons a little and looking at some great (and a little goofy) Hobbit art from the Soviet Union, as featured on the blog Real USSR (which is a fascinating blog to browse through, even if you don't consider the Tolkien-related stuff).

These illustrations were included in a Russian translation of the Hobbit (the 1971 edition, if I'm remembering correctly), and were the work of Belomlinsky, who did a bang-up job, IMO. Now, as you look through these images, you'll not that not all of them are strict interpretations of the events in the book; however, I think the artist does a good job of capturing the "feel" or "spirit" of the Hobbit . . . that fantastic element that has captivated so many of us.

So, jump past the break and enjoy a little bit of Middle-Earth, brought straight to you from Mother Russia!

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.

Friday at the Mathom-House: Julia Alekseeva

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 

Okay, okay . . . so I'm a little late on this one again. But any Friday is a cause for celebration, right? Even if that celebration has to be a bit, um . . . retroactive. Anyways, this week we'll be checking out the amazing art of Julia Alekseeva, better known as CG-Warrior over at deviantart.com. CG-Warrior has shared some amazing Middle-Earth art, both from The Hobbit and from LOTR. She's got other great stuff as well, but we'll try and keep our focus on the Tolkien-related pieces.

What makes Julia's stuff so good? My favorite thing about her art is that it looks like it could have come straight from an illustrated edition of Tolkien's work. I mean, check out Bilbo below . . . hand's down this is my favorite interpretation of the world's greatest hobbit.

So, jump past the break and enjoy the rest of Julia's art:

Bilbo Baggins