The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer

My Latest Obsessions- Dec. 2012

Writing another one of these again- don't know if this will be a regular monthly thing or not. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Literature

~Calvin & Hobbes~ 

I freaking love this comic book series... a lot. I recently got back into reading the books that I've had since elementary school. So good! Bill Watterson is a genius. While Hobbes is my favorite character (naturally), I do like Calvin a lot as well as his alter-egos (Spaceman Spiff, etc.). Maybe one of these days I'll get The Complete Calvin & Hobbes edition.

~Call of the Wild & White Fang~

Along with reading "Soul of the Fire" by Terry Goodkind, I have also been reading Jack London's "Call of the Wild & White Fang" combo, and I have really been enjoying it. I think that my initiative to read more of the classics was a very good idea for me- especially since I have quite a few of them on my bookshelf as it is. I like London's writing style and his use of descriptive language, and in a way reminds me a bit of Rudyard Kipling's writing style (he wrote The Jungle Books, by the way). Not sure which one I'll read next, though I am seriously considering either one of Dumas' books (like "The Count of Monte Cristo" or "The Man in the Iron Mask") or "The Lost World" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Games

~Chrono Trigger~

With some of the money I received for Christmas this year, I bought Chrono Trigger for my DSi, and so far I am loving it. It's such a good RPG, and there are elements in it that I wish developers would remember and implement. So far, my favorite things about it are the fact that you can re-name all of the party characters, and the fact that there's no random encounters! Monsters do respawn every time you come back to an area, but if you don't want to fight for some reason, you can choose to avoid most of the potential conflicts. The combat is a refreshing idea for me in the fact that it (unlike most of the J-RPG games I've played) is not turn-based. It is set up a lot like Square Enix made the combat in Final Fantasy XIII.

~D&D~

I am still writing, working on, and fleshing out my D&D campaign. Lately I've been getting a lot more ideas for the main plot as well as dungeon and side quest ideas (otherwise I wouldn't have mentioned it in this post. I would certainly still be working on it, but it wouldn't warrant mentioning.) partially from stories/novels that I've been slowly working on (the world and a lot of the characters are directly out of a fantasy novel I've been working on in one form or another since 2001) as well as YouTube videos of D&D content. Hopefully one day I'll be able to DM a group through this campaign.

~Halo 4~

I got Halo 4 as a Christmas present, and from what I've played so far (basically the first 4 missions), I like it. The multiplayer aspect on the other hand... not so much. I like the fact that 343 Studios has given the multiplayer aspect a story/reason for being instead of the "Hey, let's play a game together and blow each other up" as it has been in past games. That's cool. I do NOT appreciate, in fact I HATE the fact that they are requiring you to purchase an Xbox Live Gold membership just to use multiplayer! It makes them out to be money-mongering you-know-whats! I hate that, and they aren't even the only ones who have done that (I'm looking at you Mass Effect 3 and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood). If you have the option for multiplayer in your game, then you should bloody well make said option available for all players with the purchase of the game. If you want to require another purchase to use/run another feature, then sell it as a separate entity. If I buy a game, I expect to be able to fully enjoy all of it with the already outrageous purchase price of $60 (or around there). That, and they require you to level up unlock your emblem! That doesn't really make sense, especially since there's even less options than there was in Halo: Reach. They're making you get all the way up to SR-21 just to get the ability to unlock your emblem background for goodness sake! Anyway... *getting off soapbox now* At least the single player campaign is good so far. I'm really interested in seeing how it ends.

Music (and in this month's case, movies as well)

~Les Misérables~

Les Mis is by far my favorite musical of all time. Though, sadly, I have not seen a professional stage production of it (maybe I'll get to one day), I was involved in my high school's student production of it my freshman year (I was in the pit orchestra). This was actually the first time I had ever heard of it, and I quickly fell in love with the story, but more importantly the music. I bought the original London cast recording off of iTunes and I have many times blasted it in the car (when I was alone of course) belting along with the recording... and eventually getting hoarse because most of the male characters are tenors and it gets too high for me a lot. My favorite songs are "Master of the House" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". I bought the new movie soundtrack version, and as with what I did with The Hobbit soundtrack, I don't want to listen to the soundtrack til after I see the movie so I don't spoil anything. I have not been able to see the new movie version (with Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman) because I wanted to take my fiancee with me, but I will as soon as possible! I might even post a review! I'm so excited to see it!

~The Hobbit~

I have been waiting and excited for this movie since I first heard of its existence back in 2010. As you can probably guess from my other posts as of late, I liked it a lot, though I don't think it was perfect (it had some big shoes to fill and expectations to make from The Lord of the Rings films). I bought the soundtrack on iTunes the day after I saw it on the midnight release. Howard Shore did a fabulous job, and I'm excited (and to be honest a little nervous) to see what Peter Jackson and Howard Shore do with the other two films. I'm sure they will be good, even if they're as good as the first one. I will at least give them a chance and see them in theaters when they are released.

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

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

Misty Mountains Cold

In honor of the Hobbit movies coming out soon (yay!), here's a song from the book that was also partly featured in the animated Rankin/Bass version.

Far over the misty mountains cold,

To dungeons deep and caverns old

We must away ere the break of day,

To seek the pale enchanted gold.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,

While hammers fell like ringing bells

In places deep, where dark things sleep,

In hollow halls beneath the fells.

For ancient kings and elvish lord

There many a gleaming golden hoard

They shaped and wrought, and light they caught,

To hide in gems on hilt of sword.

On silver necklaces they strung

The flowering stars, on crowns they hung

The dragon-fire, in twisted wire

They meshed the light and moon and sun.

For over the misty mountains cold

To dungeons deep and caverns old,

We must away ere break of day,

To claim our long-forgotten gold.

Goblets they carved there for themselves

And harps of gold; where no man delves

There lay they lay long, and many a song

Was sung unheard by man or elves.

The pines were roaring on the height,

The winds were moaning in the night.

The fire was red, it flaming spread;

Laid low like torches blazed with light.

The bells were ringing in the dale,

And men looked up with faces pale,

Then dragon's ire more fierce than fire

Laid low their towers and houses frail.

The mountains smoked beneath the moon;

The dwarves, they heard the tramp of doom.

They fled their hall to dying fall

Beneath his feet, beneath the moon.

For over misty mountains grim

To dungeons deep and caverns dim

We must away ere break of day,

To win our harps and gold from him!