The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer

Hobbit Critics Have It All Wrong!

Seth Abramson Article from Huffington Post

This is a link to an article written by Seth Abramson from The Huffington Post. I agree wholeheartedly with his opinions. I believe that people who dislike The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey have either A) Not read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings (or at least The Hobbit) or B) Do not have the right frame of mind about the movie's purpose. It is NOT specifically a direct movie adaptation of the book. It is partially that, but it is also a venue to give important back-story to the history of Middle Earth as well as a bridge to connect the gap between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, which I believe we will see more of in movies #2 and 3. I think it will help one's enjoyment immensely if they don't see this film as just a movie adaptation, but really as one complete story that they have made out of chronological order.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

*SPOILER ALERT- YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED*

While this movie was not what I was expecting, and certainly not what I would call "perfect", it was still an amazing movie, that I already want to see again. It is definitely worth your time whether you've read the book or not! Let me get the not-so-good out of the way and then I'll talk about the good stuff. I also want to preface this by saying that I have read The Hobbit more than once, but it has been a long time since I re-read it last, so please don't jump down my throat if I don't remember something exactly how it happened. Okay... here we go!

The one thing that was bugging me almost the entire movie, is that Gandalf tells Bilbo that since his blade was of Elvish make from Gondolin, it will glow when orcs are about. The problem with that is that it only started glowing when goblins were around. That, and why didn't Orcrist and Glamdring glow? They were made from the same Elves from the same city! It's not a big deal, but it was really bothering me.

Okay... I like the fact that they added Radagast the Brown to the movie, but did they have to make his wig have bird poop all over it? He's supposed to be weird- not freaking insane! And the rabbit/hare sled? I'm not sure that's Tolkien kosher, but I could be wrong...

To me, there was too much comedy in the film. Most of the time it was welcome, but it made the balance of epicness, suspense, drama, and funny bits off-kilter. I think it would have been better if they had made the jokes less frequent. That would make them more memorable and special. I think this was just another case of "Gimli-fying" the movie. By that I mean that they made characters that were pretty serious in the book the comedic relief. Don't get me wrong- it doesn't usually take away from the movie, but I feel like it was taken a bit too far in The Hobbit.

Alright Peter Jackson... if you're going to put pictures of Beorn in the posters, pictures, and ads for The Hobbit #1, then PUT HIM IN THE FREAKING MOVIE! I know that he's going to be in #2 (especially since the rock/outcrop/thing that the Dwaves, Bilbo, & Gandalf gets dropped off of at the end by the eagles strongly resembles a bear's head), but why put him in posters, and then not have him in the movie your advertising partially using him. I just don't get it.

I'm just gonna come out and say it... Nori's hair is freaking ridiculous and I hate it! His beard and moustache are cool, but his hair is stinking dumb. Ugh! Honestly, at first, when I first saw the character design for the Dwarves, I wasn't really all that impressed, but most of them kind of grew on me. Nori did not.

This one isn't really a bad thing or a complaint, but I found it very strange that Bombur said absolutely NOTHING the whole movie... it was kinda weird. Not bad, just weird. Also- he uses a huge spoon/ladle thing as a weapon... not sure how I feel about that yet.

...And now to the good stuff :)

OH MY GOSH, THE MUSIC!! I freaking love Howard Shore, and he did an amazing job with An Unexpected Journey. Also, the Misty Mountains Cold song/theme is my favorite part of the movie- don't ask why because it just is. I love it! Totally going to buy the soundtrack!

Without seeing the movie, I was really nervous about the characters themselves, specifically the Dwarves. After seeing the movie, I have no problems with any of the characters, personality-wise. My favorites are Balin and Bofur. I actually was surprised myself, but I actually like Kili and Fili as well (explanation of this in the next paragraph)! The characters I'm still nervous about- at least in personality and/or execution- are the ones entering in the later movies. Those characters being Tauriel, Bard, Thranduil, and Legolas.

I love the explanations to things I read and understood in the book, but never really thought about how it might have come about, like when Gandalf brought the sunlight about to turn the trolls to stone. I also like the reasoning behind why Kili and Fili don't have beards (which really bothered me before- I thought that the reason why they did that was to create a man-candy character for girls to drool over like they did in Lord of the Rings *cough*Legolas*cough*), but I like the idea that they haven't grown their beards out yet due to the fact that they are at least 50 years younger than all of the other Dwarves in the party (and that's a fact from the book!). That and they played well off of each other in the movie. I also dug all of the Lord of the Rings, appendices, and Silmarillion references throughout the movie.

The 3D is great, and this is seriously how it should be done from now on. No more crappy, post-production afterthought, wallet fattener 3D, but good, intentional 3D. This is coming from a person that is not a fan of 3D at all, and has said that it's just a money-mongering gimmick. The only movies that I've seen that have had good 3D effects in so far have been Avatar and The Hobbit. That's it, and that's a crying shame. More movie makers should be following Peter Jackson and James Cameron's lead- at least in the realm of 3D movies.

I will be seeing this movie again, so I may come back to this review and explain things further, change my mind, etc. Also keep in mind that while I did gripe and nitpick about a few things, they certainly did not detract from the movie as a whole, I'm just a huge nerd who loves J.R.R. Tolkien's books!

Overall, it was a great movie, and a good film adaptation to the book. I give it 5 out of 5 stars! GO SEE IT ALREADY!!

The Hobbit Behind the Scenes #9- Post-Production

Lord of the Rings Music- Piano Guys Style!

Facts You May Not Have Known About "The Lord of the Rings"

1. Gandalf's original Maiar name was Olorin, but has also gone by Tharkun and Mithrandir.
2. There are three more wizards in LotR besides Gandalf and Saruman that weren't mentioned in the movies. They are: Radagast, Alatar, and Pallando.
3. Every single character in LotR wears a wig, except for Peter Jackson's son Billy, who was a hobbit extra in Fellowship of the Ring.
4. There were 144 guests at Bilbo's birthday party in the book, but there were only 100 at the party in the movie.
5. The portraits of Bilbo's parents in Bag End over the mantelpiece are modeled after Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.
6. In Peter Jackson's Fellowship of the Ring cameo, he's actually "smoking" a carrot because the pipe made him sick.
7. The goblin forges of Orthanc are real... they were built in a foundry and the goblins working it are actually foundry employees in costume.
8. The ringwraith's screams are based on Fran Walsh's scream with a throat infection.
9. The ring that is shown after Frodo drops it in the mountains is actually 6 inches across.
10. Bill the Pony is actually played by a pantomime horse in some scenes.
11. Glamdring (Gandalf's sword) is also supposed to glow in the presence of orcs like Sting, but because of budget cuts, never happened.
12. Orcs were originally elves that Morgoth (Sauron's master) corrupted.
13. The shot of the fellowship mourning Gandalf's death in Lothlorien was shot before Sir Ian McKellen had even arrived in New Zealand to work.
14. The Numenorean ruins at the breaking of the fellowship scene were actually re-purposed from Weathertop.
15. Aragorn wears Boromir's bracers throughout the second and third films as a tribute to him.
16. The warg attack in The Two Towers was originally supposed to be a night attack on Edoras, but since they couldn't light it properly they had to change it.
17. The young Rohirrim that Aragorn talks to at Helm's Deep in The Two Towers is Philippa Boyen's son.
18. When Gandalf returns to help at Helm's Deep, the Riders were supposed to be led by Erkenbrand, not Eomer.
19. The Fangorn Forest attacking Orthanc was Tolkien's response to his disappointment that the forest in MacBeth was fake.
20. The Black Gate is shown as two gates in the movie due to a typo in the script given to the art department.
21. 6 million feet of film was shot for the film... that's about 1,100 miles of film.
22. Howard Shore had to write 7 minutes of music a day to keep up the pace.
23. Christopher Lee is the only cast member to have actually met J.R.R. Tolkien.
24. Galadriel's gift to Frodo- the light of Earendil- is actually Elrond's father.
25. Elijah Wood had Alka-Seltzer tablets in his mouth so that it would foam when Shelob stabbed him.
26. Elrond's brother was the first king of Numenor, so that makes him very distant relatives of Aragorn's.
27. Arwen is Galadriel's granddaughter.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer #2

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer

This movie is going to be so epic! Super excited!!

Keep Calm

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Trailer