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

i was wondering if tom bombadil and radagast weren't the same person... i guess not?

IIRC tom bombadil section of LOTR is achingly slow and serves little to the plot

Yeah, those bombadil scenes were a bit silly, but I always liked what he signified for the mythos.

The shape and history of that world is mapped out so exhaustively, from the creator god down to the smallest of small details. And just when you think it's all pretty much pinned down and you know where you stand, along comes bombadil to upset the apple cart. Tolkien basically pulls the rug out from underneath the whole hierarchy that he created. I mean, I wish TB didn't sing so much, but I like his status as more or les the only total mystery in his universe.

Fwiw thought this film was excellent in places but a bit of a drag over 3 hours, same as most everyone else it seems.

i really didn't think it dragged that much TBH. Maybe one or two scenes could have been a bit shorter, but it was so vivid and indulgent I didn't mind.

Yeah, I found it pretty zippy. I was a bit surprised when it ended.

still no interest but i am a lil smdh at those who dont expect a powerful wizard to be a deus ex machina tbh, in fact 90% of harry potter's shitness can be traced to dumbledore clearly not tkob in the manner that is to be expected of wizards

tkob should be tcob, not four fifths of a boyband from 1990

Sure, but as many have pointed out, if Gandalf can simply summon a flock of giant eagles to come and carry the party away from danger, why not go the whole hog and drop them off at the Lonely Mountain?

cause it's like 500 miles away, the eagles are doing a favour they're not a taxi service.

dwarves only fly short-haul

Sorry mate, don't go south of Rohan I'm afraid..

Gonna see this today. Normally I eschew 3D, but in this case am I really shooting myself in the foot if I see this in standard? I'm in NYC so there are ample options for both...

Wow this was my favourite fantasy movie since uh Willow, and I didn't care for LotR
I might've changed my mind about CGI-heavy fantasy, it did feel like a gaming-sitcom-animated film-musical-fantasy hybrid and I felt like I was actually watching something brand new
I was skeptical abt the trilogy aspect but then loved all the digressions in practice
I'd see it again tomorrow

:-)

Pale Orc looked like the p90x guy

paul ryan?

Tony Horton!

not nearly as bad as critics have painted it. I would have rather have seen the del torro version, I think, especially after reading up on how it would have had more of a fairy tale atmosphere and undoubtedly would have been shorter. But Freeman is exceptional in the role and I liked all the dwarves. some of the battles scenes seemed excessive but whatever. Nice Sylvester McCoy turn. Deviations from the book didn't bother me very much. Also, saw it in 2d, and no idea if it was 42fps or whatever, but it looked great, no extra fakeyness and none of that motion smoothing at all. Didn't feel like it missed a thing by being in 2d.

Went against all my previous promises and decided to see it. Was painfully aware of all the textual deviations, some inconsequential but pointless (in the book he invites Gandalf to tea so he is expecting a visitor, just not dwarves); some I can grudgingly accept for reasons of upping the pace (warg attack before Rivendell); some heavy world tinkering that kinda makes sense but I'm not overly thrilled about (extended grudge match between dwarves and elves). What really winds me up though is how every scene of mild peril becomes an extended tableaux of ridiculous and implausible calamity. They can't just see a fight between stone giants, they have to spend five minutes getting swung about on the leg of one. They can't just be surprised and captured through a gap in the cave, they have to fall into a giant rollercoaster mousetrap contraption. What had me rmde more than anything was the protracted nonsensical escape from the goblin city.

But it wasn't all bad, against my expectations Freeman acquitted himself well, riddle scene was pretty well done (minor deviations excepted), I liked the eagles but why didn't they stick around for a chat? Elves were the usual lol up themselves. Radagast was pure batshit but I liked him. It didn't really drag at all.

HFR was immediately apparent, if you didn't spot any difference then you can't have seen it. Keystone Kop thing very noticeable but I think it wore off. CGI and greenscreen v v obvious in parts - first warg attack in particular - but not in others. Most of all it looked incredibly real, like you honestly could step into the screen, and in a couple of scenes I thought characters were going to step out - and I think that was down to HFR, not 3d. It doesn't have the traditional 'magic' of film but it does have the magic of high quality Planet Earth style nature documentary and that's definitely worth something.

I meant tableau of course.

I think the biggest problem with the film really is that there is too much action, and not enough Hobbit. Freeman is so good, but he doesn't seem like he's at the center of the story most of the time. I wish the film was a bit more from his POV.

There was a lot more whingy selfish Baggins in the book, complaining about being cold and tired and hungry, thinking of his hearth and home "not for the last time". Was expecting Freeman to do that quite well, instead he was pretty upstanding all the way through, even his attempted exit from the cave in the mountains was painted v sympathetically. I know you don't want yer hero to be a complete arse but a little more ambiguity as per the book would have been good.

this ruled

What really winds me up though is how every scene of mild peril becomes an extended tableaux of ridiculous and implausible calamity. They can't just see a fight between stone giants, they have to spend five minutes getting swung about on the leg of one. They can't just be surprised and captured through a gap in the cave, they have to fall into a giant rollercoaster mousetrap contraption. What had me rmde more than anything was the protracted nonsensical escape from the goblin city.

you're kinda selling me on seeing this tbh

that all sounds pretty fun!

I finally saw this today and really enjoyed it! The goblin king's ball chin was very disturbing, especially in 3d.

saw it in HFR 3D, at first I thought I was watching one of those 10 minute movies they show at history museums, like George Washington Chops Down A Cherry Tree

then it was like, vintage PSX FMV

also did christopher lee and peter jackson make up?

I guess what was most unsettling was that they found the guy who could most approximate aragorn's screen presence while also being short to play thorin

I mostly liked this though during the stone giant scene I suddenly recovered a suppressed memory that Peter Jackson made King Kong and I saw it and it was shitty.

then it was like, vintage PSX FMV

OTM

Omg fuck Sylvester McCoy bottle feeding a fucking porcupine in "hfr" 80s BBC yakety sax quality, who thinks that looks good?

hate to be the one to tell you this but ... it was a hedgehog

I guess what was most unsettling was that they found the guy who could most approximate aragorn's screen presence while also being short to play thorin

Armitage is actually six foot two. Movie trickery, gotta love it...

Anyway to my honest surprise this thing seems to be actually gaining a little steam based on the box office returns, even after the expected drop off over the second weekend. My initial impression really was that it just was too out and out OTT to have a chance to come close to Fellowship, say, but it seems like it is, while plenty of people I know who don't know the story said they loved it.

also did christopher lee and peter jackson make up?

Based on the LOTR documentaries that happened during the publicity tour for ROTK in Copenhagen, so there ya go.

i had so much fun seeing this. Serkis and McKellen were better than ever and worth the price of admission by themselves and then there was a lot of other great stuff besides them.

I'm glad the consensus is positive, the only person I know who didn't enjoy it IRL is my brother, who has been getting all boring Tolkien purist about it. And I suspect he liked it more than he'll admit.

i respect the opinions of the people who are well versed in the books and have issues w/ these as adaptations (and someday i will reread The Hobbit/finish LOTR) but just as movie magic spectacles i love the LOTR trilogy and this feels right in step with those, if with different strengths/weaknesses in spots. so people who liked the previous movies but not this one confuse me.

The tone's a good deal more frivolous, if you like your fantasy all portentious and brow-furrowed I can see this might not hit the spot for you. Conversely my Dad, who was bored stiff by LOTR, thought this was a hoot.

yeah but that seems like a response to the difference in source material, although yeah i guess that would provide different opinions of the films nonetheless

If anything Jackson's found a way to make the stories even more consistent that Tolkien ever managed. Tolkien never did a full rewrite of the Hobbit -- he started once but it soon gave out -- but he retconned a chunk of it, mostly to do with Gollum, for an edition in the mid-sixties that's now the standard one.

the dwarves reminded me of travolta in battlefield earth

Tolkien never did a full rewrite of the Hobbit -- he started once but it soon gave out -- but he retconned a chunk of it, mostly to do with Gollum, for an edition in the mid-sixties that's now the standard one.

― Ned Raggett, Friday, December 28, 2012 7:59 PM (30 minutes ago)

Mostly to do with the ring iirc... originally the ring was just a magic trinket more or less, not THE ONE RING.

http://i.imgur.com/Xjtv3.gif

My new favorite gif.

some of the comic relief made me grit my teeth but man this movie was fun

also it helps to think, when you're watching this, that you're just marathoning a tv series, doesn't feel long at all

except for the year between episodes

My mates are seeing this today. Even though I've seen it already I'm jealous I can't go

also did christopher lee and peter jackson make up?

― 乒乓, Friday, December 28, 2012 5:10 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Well, he did have Gandalf and Galadriel talk telepathically or whatever during most of Lee's dialogue, which was pretty hilarious.