The Hobbit (the Jackson films)

[Caya]

Saw this today:

 

[CumberCookieCrumble]

Who else wants to live in a Hobbit hole?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I have always wanted to!

[Carol the Dabbler]

When I designed our house, I would have been tempted to do something earth-bermed if it hadn't been for the extra expense.  Not sure about that round door, though -- a knob opposite the hinges gives much better mechanical advantage.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Breaking news:
 

EXCLUSIVE – The Hobbit: There and Back Again may become The Hobbit: Into the Fire?

... New Line have registered a new title: The Hobbit: Into the Fire. But for what?

 
 
You can read more about the possible name change at TheOneRing.net.

[Janie]

I finally saw DoS a few days ago (didn't get to the cinema so I waited for the DVD) and here is my personal review:

 

Overall I loved it but I have to admit that An Unexpected Journey was better. Desolation lacked something and I don't exactly know what. Some great scenes (Beorn, Mirkwood) seemed to me a bit rushed but the fighting scenes were endless (I'm not a big fan of fighting). I was a bit dissapointed that they left out the dwarf introduction to Beorn (loved it in the book) but I see that a very similar scene was used in the first film so it would have been repetitive. Beorn was great, by the way (I loved his voice).

 

The journey through Mirkwood seemed very short like they were there just for a few hours. Fighting the spiders was ok, I liked how Bilbo started to feel the influence of the ring. When I first heard about Tauriel I was afraid that she would be one of the pointless female characters made up just to have some women in the film, but she fitted in there very nicely. But I really didn't like her "romance" with one of the dwarves. I rolled my eyes every time the two of them were on the screen together. I quite liked Legolas and even didn't mind his acrobatic fighting skills (I think I got used to it in Lotr).

 

Riding the barrels would have been great, hadn't it been for the very bad CGI. I don't usually notice these things but here it was very visible even for my bad eyes. And then there was the fight with the Orcs which seemed quite boring because I don't like pointless fighting.

 

I liked the Lake town and Stephen Fry as the Master. He and his assistant were delightfully slimy. 

 

And now the dragon. Smaug was absolutely perfect. I think his conversation with Bilbo (up to the point when the dwarves ruined it with yet another pointles fight) was probably the best part of both films. I complained about bad CGI in the barrel scene but this time I was ready to believe the dragon was real. And I really liked the ending. Perfect.

 

I think I'm going to watch it again tonight. 

[SH/LotR/Zelda Fan]

Breaking news:

 

EXCLUSIVE – The Hobbit: There and Back Again may become The Hobbit: Into the Fire?

 

... New Line have registered a new title: The Hobbit: Into the Fire. But for what?

 

You can read more about the possible name change at TheOneRing.net.

*stares, not quite sure what to say*

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hey, Zelda -- glad to see you again!

 

Well, one of the commenters on TheOneRing suggested that New Line might want the name "Into the Fire" for a new video game or something of that sort.  So maybe not the third movie.  I hope.  As a long-time Bilbo fan, I'm quite emotionally attached to There and Back Again.

 

[Arcadia]

I finally saw DoS a few days ago (didn't get to the cinema so I waited for the DVD) and here is my personal review:

 

Overall I loved it but I have to admit that An Unexpected Journey was better. Desolation lacked something and I don't exactly know what. ....

Mostly I thought it lacked Bilbo! He's front and center in the book by this time, and I just felt he was somewhat overlooked amidst all the, as you so accurately put it, pointless fighting.

[Janie]

Well, I don't know... it seemed to me that Bilbo was there quite a lot but he didn't actually speak very often. Of course more of talking Bilbo would have been much better than endless (and pointless) fighting and stupid (and pointless and totally out of character) romance. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Right, Bilbo doesn't speak very often, plus a number of things that he does in the book (e.g., saving the dwarves from the spiders) are done by others in the movie.

 

We just got the DVD this week, and watched it today.  Both Alex and I noticed one thing (thanks to subtitles) that we'd never understood in the theater.  When Thorin's company has gotten lost in Mirkwood, and are aimlessly looking for the path, Bilbo is just sitting looking around, and idly plucks at a spider web -- whereupon somebody (presumably the spider) whispers, "Attercop!"

 

I guess if you want any tidbits from the book, you gotta hunt pretty hard for 'em!

 

(Note to those who haven't read the book:  Spiders consider "Attercop" to be a pretty bad insult.  Bilbo uses it to rile them.)

 

[Arcadia]

I must remember that the next time I find a house spider.

[Carol the Dabbler]

The reason Bilbo insults the spiders with "Attercop" is to get them to chase him, so he can lead them away from the dwarves, then double back (wearing The Ring) and cut the dwarves loose.

 

So unless you actually want a spider to chase you, I'd recommend avoiding that expression!

 

[Arcadia]

Oh, but once I've lured them out of their crevice my brave Elf cat can catch them and eat them! No ring required, she comes stealth-ready.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Can never have to many Elf-cats around!

[Arcadia]

Oh yes you can! Believe me, one is all I can handle!

[Arcadia]

And there she is with her Elf-ears now, she must have heard me typing about her.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

They are so smart and nothing escapes their attention.

 

 This isn't really Hobbit related but it may be Tolkien based and linked to the Lord of the Rings and his pseudo ancient English history. I have this picture as part of my screen saver and I noticed something that may have helped inspire Tolkien in his use of a certain royal symbol for the house of Aragorn.  Could be wrong but it did catch my attention.

 

[Arcadia]

You think that might be the White Tree? I can't really make it out.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I have a picture on like this on my slideshow...and it's bigger showing more detail...but I can't seem to get it blown up here....but yes, it does look very much like the "white tree". I have found a badge like it for the Welsh Guard but it's not exactly like this and not the pure white.

[Arcadia]

Nah, I can't find any close-ups either. Not much help to you I'm afraid.....

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Caya was good enough to enlarge the image in the original post. So you can see the tree like image on collar and shoulder patch.

[Arcadia]

Cool. You may be on to something!

So, let's see..... how do we fit that into the cosmology of Telperion and Laurelin?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Interesting concept anyway......will have to think about that. Maybe I'll have to take a closer look at Tolkien and some of his History of Middle Earth writings. He was quite patriotic.

[Carol the Dabbler]

My first impression is that it's a palm tree -- possibly a reference to the Crusades?  But yes, it's a white tree -- so Tolkien could have borrowed the symbol, perhaps modified it a bit.  (He wouldn't have borrowed the Crusades reference, though, since his Middle Earth is clearly pre-Christian.)