The Hobbit films, previously to be directed by Guillermo del Toro and now to be directed by Peter Jackson again.

it's my single favorite mcsweeney's thing (not a v rich field)

"Think about the strangeness of today's situation. Thirty, forty years ago, we were still debating about what the future will be: Valar, Melkor, whatever. Today, nobody even debates these issues. We all silently accept global capitalism is here to stay. On the other hand, we are obsessed with cosmic catastrophes: Sauron securing the ring of power; the departure of the elves to Valinor. So the paradox is, that it's much easier to imagine the end of all life on middle-earth than a much more modest radical change in capitalism."

everything you always wanted to know about the balrog but were afraid to ask gandalf

the problem with saruman was that he was "not violent enough"

'it is an uncontroversial fact, a truism, if you will, that gandalf has killed more people than sauron. it isn't even worth discussing.'

ah, comedy writers working out Third Way guilt.

if Sauron had really been hot shit, he would have fired the Nazgul and aimed drone rockets at the Shire.

"scoured" it, if you will

it was saruman chickened out of that one tbh

4/5 in Empire.

Empire will never give a bad rating to a film they've had a massive feature on.

very true. their positive 90s reviews for the later Batman films spring to mind.

I always imagine they send several critics to watch the film, and pick the one who had the most positive reaction to write it up.

i always imagine they big up anything that teenage boys of all ages get a boner for

That One Substitute English Teacher: 25 Things You'll Totally Believe

Don't really GAF what ain't it cool, Empire or any nerd service sites think tbf. This thing could be a botch or a fumble but who knows, the people involved are pretty fuckin smart and they surprised me before.

the Aint It Cool review of Dark Knight Rises was ridiculously over-the-top in its geekery and seemed to be out of step with everyone else on the planet's opinion give or take. is it always like that these days?

Haven't they always been like that? I find AICN's house style utterly insufferable.

totally

the AICN review seemed reasonable. They're not all Harry Knowles

"Mr Beaks", who works at AICN, is excellent.
The others - not.

yeah, this is a bit of an ordeal. You really feel the stretching of the source material.
It seems like he sort of wanted it have a lighter feel than LOTR (Radagast and his ridiculous bunnies, Barry Humphries as comedy goblin king) but couldn't resist laying on the moody flashbacks, overwrought score and endless hordes of cgi goblins. I feel like the only reason for these movies to exist was to see Smaug realised on screen and of course you don't even get that with this one.

maybe when this is eventually released on DVD, instead of doing extended editions like they did with LOTR, they will make reduced editions. I would probably watch those.

so... what are the second and third films going to be called? idgi

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: There and Back Again

The Hobbit IV: Creature of Hobbit

I didn't notice the 48fps business at all btw. I think there might be something wrong with me

it only works on special projectors/screens iirc?

Yeah, only select theaters. Folks say it is akin to the atrocious "soap opera" setting of hi-def TVs.

They also say the image is so sharp the flaws are massively apparent. One review mentioned seeing Sir Ian's contact lens edge, another the fact that the staffs and stuff now look like cheap resin replicas.

no, my screening was in 48fps

oh right, it's probly shit then

It was basically the only reason i went so i was a tad miffed. Maybe i am visually impaired in some way though

bought a ticket to see this in glorious 48FPS 3D at Cinerama on Friday evening. Pretty much planning on more or less hating this, but maybe it'll get the better of me.

my mom is totally psyched for this

just not excited about this in the slightest. not sure why; maybe the negative advance talk, but also, it just seems anticlimactic after LotR.

^^^ this. I cared when the film was announced but it just seems like a chore now.

if you want to know what the future of the Hobbit movies will be like, imagine a big hairy foot stamping on a human face, forever

Eh, it will be by Jackson, it will have Hobbits and such, I will merrily watch it while my butt goes numb.

numb yr ass and yr mind will follow

Not sure what I want to sit through less, this or Del Toro's upcoming joint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vKz7WnU83E

Ouch:

http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2012/12/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey.html

Seeing this in 48fps tomorrow morning, whee

It looks pretty bad imo but I want to see a 48fps movie on a nice screen.

http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/.a/6a0168ea36d6b2970c017d3ec21f9b970c-800wi

otm

I think 48fps is the only way i'd want to see this in a theater.

old hobbits die hard

That review is pretty terrible, but yeah hard to take anyone serious if they are going to compare something to the Star Wars Holiday Special right out the gate. All the bitching about Jackson "manufacturing" villains and plot points and stuff.... the reviewer realizes this is fiction, right?

It's fiction, but it's also based on a beloved text.

tbh one of the things i am most anticipating is seeing what kind of invented business Jackson/Walsh et al have imported into the book's story. It's totally fine with me as long as it's awesome.

Via a friend on FB:

According to a post on thehalloffire.net from someone who's gotten a copy of Brian Sibley's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Official Movie Guide", this is the quality dramaturgy we have to look forward to in Jackson's HOBBIT movies:

"According to Barry Humphries [who plays the Great Goblin], the Great Goblin's throne doubles as a toilet, with a hole in the seat... 'The Goblin King is, among other things, grossly incontinent so if he hears the call of nature it doesn't need to interrupt his conversation and, from time to time, a beautifully crafted urn beneath the throne receives a compliment of matter from the Goblin King, generally speaking of ill-digested Dwarf.'"

Very Meet the Feeblesy.

A follow-up comment indicates this isn't actually IN the film, but perhaps...implied.

That sounds kind of great?

It was also implied in the Fellowship film that Saruman fucked mud to generate uruk-hai iirc