Excellent!
And there was no dragon. Love it! Okay, there wasn’t enough dragon to really be a major spoiler.
And of course, our guy, and be sure to click to enlarge. :D
and some Lee Pace :D
See it on The Hobbit FB page here
Or you can see it here to easily screencap to your heart’s content:
That was too much fun and a real challenge to my need to stay away from spoilers.
edit: aspect ratio has been corrected on the video, i.e., letterbox markings (black bars) are gone.
I just read at TORn that Disney is acquiring Middle Earth Enterprises. Someone pinch me because I can’t knock this grin off my face. Do you know what this means?!! Yeah, lots of lovely films for Peter Jackson and the Tolkien stories. All of you people who have been pushing for such things as the Silmarillion to be filmed or included in Jackson’s offerings (waves hand vigorously as part of that crowd), I think we all just died and went to heaven. No more legal wrangling holding things up!! Parties successfully taking Disney to court? Not happening.
And now Return to Middle Earth will be released in 2016? Man, I am high. Seriously, and I have to say something to our man, Peter Jackson.
Sir Peter,
No need to wear those glasses. I dig you the way you are, baby, and the critics be damned. Just stay on good terms with Philippa at the new company.
I guess if she wants you to wear glasses, then do it! Phew! you should be able to do anything you want!!!
Signed,
One of Richard’s crazy fansA Ringer!
Read TORn’s post here.
Today, I had a long chat with myself. The issue at hand was my awareness of too much about the first movie in The Hobbit “trilogy.” It seems I was not as overwhelmed with awe as I had hoped when I first saw An Unexpected Journey. Yes, I’m admitting it did not completely live up to my expectations, but several people I know and respect have loved this movie — including my immediate family who before the movie came out, gave me good natured hell every chance they got about my extreme knowledge of all things Hobbit never mind my absurd knowledge of all things Richard Armitage. No, I don’t literally mean all things Richard Armitage. Chill on the Armitage Protection Mode, will ya? :D
What I discovered is that all of the people I know personally who have adored this movie didn’t know nearly as much about it as I did, and I would like to join them on that when the next installment comes out. During the weeks leading up to the premiere of An Unexpected Journey, my gut was literally screaming at me to take a step back and not be so informed, but I was grossly infected with FOMO, which made me less sensitive to my gut talking. And now I wish I had not been so obsessive about satisfying my curiosity that I did the one thing I’ve railed about on this blog — spoilers. Of course I know how the book plays out, but this isn’t the book, is it? This is Peter Jackson’s version of it, and he was so kind to give me quite a bird’s eye view.
Oh yeah, sure, it wasn’t too much for some of you, but I know now that it was for me. And all of this brings me to a couple of conclusions. First, I have new found respect for movie critics, who earlier in my life were thought of as frustrated directors just finding a way to release their sour grapes. I was wrong. Oh, so wrong. My gosh, it’s a miracle they like any movie once it comes out after knowing so much about them beforehand. Second, I have decided that I am not going to pore over every piece of information that comes out about the rest of The Hobbit movies, and I was not going to watch nor listen to anything today that was related to Desolation of Smaug. But after the email and messages I have received, I had to do something. ;-)
So here’s the clip from the movie:
And no worries, here’s our guy.
If WB wants me to take these down, then I certainly will, but I hope I can leave them up, since they help promote the movie. :D
Dear Sir Peter,
I know you may be thinking, “Sheesh, someone’s always bitching about something.” You’re great, and you’ve been great about sharing. I really do appreciate that, and I know that so many fans love it and aren’t affected negatively by it. I guess I’m just one of those fans who needs to be surprised more, and since you’re not holding a gun to my head to watch these things, I’m not so sure I want to know as much as the last time around. Oh, I want to be able to gush until I’m wrung dry, but I would rather do it after the movie comes out.
Sincerely,
One of Richard’s crazy fansP.S. love your footwear
So what happens now that The Hobbit has entered the Billion Dollar Club? I guess we’re going to find out over the next little while what that experience entails. But until we know the full effect of its membership on some of the parties involved — namely Richard Armitage — I think a little celebration is still in order. So a little cake for the occasion:
Yeah, how ’bout a close up:
Can you believe people can make things like this?! The thought of making this cake terrifies me. No lie. I can tell you as I sit here that my cake would not even be good enough for Cake Wrecks, so I commend TheQueen for all of her hard work. Now can we eat it? Or would that be a sacrilege?
Pass the forks. :D
You will find more of her cakes here.
And if you don’t care about the Billion Dollar Club, did you hear that Richard Armitage is going to be on Twitter? No? What hole are you in? I’m not pulling your leg. It’s true. Details here.
Rob Cain at ChinaFilmBiz just posted the weekend’s gross for The Hobbit in China. It falls short of projections and will probably not reach the billion dollar club until sometime in early March. Of course this will be considered a loss of which piracy is a contributor, but Cain has a point about the mood of the Chinese viewers. And now I’m also second guessing my scoffing at the insider assessment Peter Jackson was forced to make the film in 3D. Maybe he understood something Warners didn’t. Maybe he reads Rob’s blog? ;-)
And I had to snaffle that cool Chinese Hobbit poster. Thank you, Rob. :D
edit: I’ve had a few minutes to think and still believe Jackson was not strong armed into making The Hobbit in 3D. He is too curious about technology and is in such a glorious position to push the envelope on 3D HFR.
The Hobbit’s box office receipts are recorded at $960,001,896 as of today, but this time next week, it’s likely to officially join the small number of other films which have reached a billion dollars in revenue. The film’s release in China this weekend is cause for such confidence. What happy timing considering the broadcast of Oscar presentations and the dearth of nominations for The Hobbit — excepting the wonderful Tami Lane and Weta Digital bunch.
I wasn’t always this optimistic it could reach the benchmark this quickly. After reading about the piracy which can ensue when there’s a considerable lag time between a film’s release in other countries and China, it was hard not to think The Hobbit would go the way of Skyfall. But I forgot something, and it wasn’t the love affair the Chinese seem to have with fantasy. They also love 3D. This was so easy to forget since it’s never been very popular in America. In fact it has been talked about for years as being dead. I will admit 48fps might resurrect it some, but people have to be willing to give it a try first. I’m not confident that enough in the U.S. did that with Jackson’s movie. But in China, 3D is the rage and will go a long way toward pulling the Chinese to the cinema.
At Comic-Con last year someone in the film industry told me Peter Jackson was more or less forced by Warner Brothers to make it in that format. I’m not sure I agree that Jackson had to be forced especially when I consider his business savvy. But now that I understand the piracy issue a little more, it makes sense Warners would be adamant about it. It’s a kind of insurance policy against piracy. And when considering the box office receipts of the top grossing movies, e.g., Avatar, it’s abundantly clear the format will survive well beyond The Hobbit. But even if the receipts hadn’t been so bent toward 3D, the fastest growing area of the film market is in China, so it more than the U.S. is dictating what we will be seeing. And all of it makes me wonder if indie films will suffer, but that’s for another post.
If you didn’t click on the Skyfall link, I hope you will at some point. It leads to the China Film Biz blog written by Rob Cain who has been been doing business in the industry in China since 1987. He is a wealth of knowledge.
And now a poster featuring our guy since we can’t get enough of looking at him. :D
[click to enlarge]
The facial features are very finely done and the entire poster seems to have an Asian quality. Whatever that is. Someone more articulate than I am may explain.
When considering the Roger Ebert quote* about The Hobbit sequels:
you may ask, “How does Peter Jackson do that? How can he stretch these things out? What pray tell could the cast be doing for so long?!”
I was wondering myself, and then @nancyjohnson1 reminded me. Dumb me. I should have realized how they could chase the hat for two movies! It’s the answer to everything!
*Fake like this post.
edit: I promise I’ll get serious. My next post will be serious with a vengeance!
Has Richard Armitage arrived now that he’s been parodied on Saturday Night Live? Could be, but whatever the case, this skit is brilliant. Yeah, I said brilliant. I’m using it the way the Brits use it — referring to something cool or wonderful. You Brits, feel free to school me on its connotations.
But watch this first:
It doesn’t matter if you’ve already seen it. Watch it again. It gets funnier unless you’re a Peter Jackson fan who takes himself/herself too seriously. There are a few of those around, but thankfully, they’re in the minority.
And yes, I really do love Richard Armitage even though I am a conflicted fangirl. In case you don’t know that, I have a few posts lying around to prove it. Got one coming up soon that’s a doozy. :D
Some of you have been wondering about my absence. It’s a two-fold issue. There is a lot going on with my family and my business. It’s all good, but it’s time consuming. I also had to step away from The Hobbit full court press machine in order to preserve enjoyment of the movie. That’s not a knock on the PR. I understand they had to do it for the general public who hasn’t been following along. But with over two years of immersing myself in information about it and then going to New York and being bombarded by its presence, I knew the movie would be ruined for me if I didn’t step out of the fray.
Okay, enough of my excuses for not being here, I’m ready to review this puppy. Unfortunately, I suck at analysis of movies and books, so I will be deferring to SO for most of this.
We saw the 48fps 3D version. Honestly, I loved this version. It was very clear but not in a buffoonish way as was suggested about 48fps 2D. Most noticeable to me is I came away without the slight headache and nausea I usually get from 3D. With the negative space severely restricted in the higher frame rate, my eyes were not continually straining to focus, and it made for a very pleasant experience. So I think 48fps as the basis for 3D is a big win and here to stay for those who will take the time to try it.
Our 12 year old and one of her buddies went with us, and thankfully, they sat at the very back so we could perhaps escape being subjected to their muffled giggles and their incessant need to go to the restroom. Such is the life of middle school girls. Oy. Despite my sometimes distraction by the two girls, I enjoyed the movie. Mostly, I wanted to know what SO thought since he’s the writer, he’s the movie connoisseur,and he hadn’t been biased by an avalanche of information about The Hobbit!
We had not even reached the exit door after the movie was over when SO announced with a surprised grin, “I really liked that!”
I cut my eyes at him and wanted an explanation, “Really? What did you like about it?”
“It was fun!”
After all of the time talking on and off about The Hobbit, I was hoping for a bit more from him. He continued, “Yeah, it was fun. I was 12 again, and I loved the adventure.”
“So nothing beyond it being an adventure?” I asked still hoping for an examination from him. C’mon give me something I was thinking.
He said, “Well, it was too long, but then that’s Peter Jackson, and I’m sure he has an eye toward people watching this at one sitting when the series is out on DVD. Something to be savored over and over. Isn’t that what Ringers do?”
Yeah, it is. “But why do you think it was too long?” I persisted.
“The whole Frodo part was extraneous. The time in Bilbo’s house with the dwarves was also too long and too much singing. They should have kept it to one song and then sung the one about the mountains later. But then that may just be me.”
I had felt the song was out of place as well, but I was curious about his thinking. “Why do you think the singing was a problem?”
“It did little to develop the characters or the story. I knew it was supposed to move me, but it did not. When I read the book about a hundred years ago, I didn’t care for the singing then either. It seemed disjointed from the rest of the story. A bit lame. At least that’s how I remember it. As I think of the movie now, part of the problem was that your guy was not developed enough for me to really get the significance of the Misty Mountain song. I did notice the other dwarves were in awe of him when he came to Bilbo’s door, but that wasn’t really enough to show me why they were in awe. Yes, he was the leader, but all I knew of him was he was a deposed prince and angry at the Elves for not helping his people. What in all of that should generate awe? What made the audience really care to know about him? It wasn’t until Balin told more of Thorin’s past and the maiming of the Pale Orc that I understood he was a badass who deserved the reverence from the others. This should have been near the beginning.
The Badass Dwarf
“And of course none of this is Richard Armitage’s fault. I think he did a good job, but the writing failed there.”
I was stunned. Not by his breaking down the story but at the use of Richard Armitage’s real name. LOL!
He continued, “Then again, Peter Jackson was slow to develop Aragorn, and your guy [yeah, I noticed Richard no longer had a name. :D] is very much like that character in the sense that he is really the Man as it became evident that Aragorn was the Man.”
“But what about Bilbo?” I asked.
“Sure, he’s the physical conscience whereas Gandalf is the spiritual conscience, but the story is about Thorin. He is ultimately the center of this piece. And I did not realize how much Armitage was going to be the central character in this movie. This is Thorin’s story! I guess I kept thinking about the last thing I saw with him — a five minute bit in Captain America and didn’t realize he was essentially going to have the starring role in The Hobbit.”
“Oh, but he’s not the star!” I corrected.
SO laughed, “Yeah, right. Although he didn’t have many lines in this segment, he’s going to be Aragorn at the end. Hide and watch.”
“But the story isn’t the same as the Lord of the Rings,” I said still trying to set him straight.
“No, it’s not, but Thorin is an Aragorn in the sense of the pivotal character.”
I agreed with everything he said and was compelled to keep asking questions, “What did you like best about the movie?”
“Too much to narrow it down, but the ending was fantastic. I’m ready for the next installment.”
“Wow. You really did like it.”
“Yes, I did.”
I have more thoughts about it, but I’ve added it to another post. For now, just know that the movie was worth $12.50 a person, and more important the almost three hours investment of time.
And the biggest plus to me personally is SO now wants to watch other pieces with Richard Armitage. Thank you, Peter Jackson. :D
Ali at RichardArmitagenet.Com has put up a two part video covering The Hobbit Premiere in Japan:
Richard Armitage is having a blast, and I’m having a blast watching his joy.
I am embarrassed to admit I had not seen much of Elijah Wood speaking as himself until this recent spate of interviews. He is thoughtful and articulate. It’s been a pleasure to listen to him as well.
A few screencaps that should put a smile on your face:
Screencaps are mine. :D
RAFrenzy 
