The Hobbit (the Jackson films)

[Carol the Dabbler]

One fringe benefit of the three-movie decision not being made till late in the game -- even though the ten video blogs show sets for only the "first" movie, that's the first of two -- which means they include interesting peeks at some things in the second movie (of three), such as Beorn's house, Mirkwood, and Dale.

 

I've just noticed another theme running through the book as well as the movies, namely the Dwarves being encased in things -- troll bags, spider webs, barrels -- and that's just the first half of the story!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I wonder what the psychology of all of that would be?

[Carol the Dabbler]

The psychology of the encasement theme, you mean? As with any of Tolkien's themes, I'm not certain whether it's 1) a conscious in-universe theme, 2) a reflection of Tolkien's inner psychological landscape, or 3) simply a means to an end. I tend to suspect the latter in many cases, such as the frequent last-minute rescues by the Eagles. But I'm nothing of a Tolkien scholar, merely a natural skeptic.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And sometimes a spider web is nothing more then a spider's web. Maybe they're just accident prone.

[Carol the Dabbler]

We've started watching the movie, and (if anyone out there still cares) I finally have the definitive report on what Jackson & Co. did to our beloved first paragraph. (Wish I could figure out a less ad-hoc way to make the columns, though.)

 

In the movie, the paragraph is prefaced by "... it began as you might expect," which I take to be a sly wink in our direction. (Well, yes, I was in fact expecting the movie to begin with those words -- or at least hoping that it would.)

 

The Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Movie

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. . . . In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole,

filled with the ends of worms . . . . . . . . . . . . . full of worms

and an oozy smell, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and oozy smells.

nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole

with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat;

it was a hobbit-hole, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . This was a hobbit-hole,

and that means comfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and that means good food, a warm hearth,

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and all the comforts of home.

[Carol the Dabbler]

We've finished watching the DVD (the first time, anyhow), and I've got a few random comments.

 

The elder Bilbo finishes introducing his backstory with the words, "...nothing unexpected ever happened." Can't help hearing an echo of, "Nothing happens to me."

 

Another dialog change that baffles me (since I think what's in the book is much stronger): An instant before the rising sun turns the trolls to stone, Gandalf (in the book) says, "Dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" In the movie, he says simply, "The dawn will take you all!"

 

What did the rest of you think of the movie's stone giants?

 

After we finished watching the movie, Hubby humored me by playing the Bag End scenes in Spanish with Spanish subtitles. Admittedly, I am far from fluent in Spanish, and what I'm most familiar with is Mexican Spanish. So at first I assumed that I was having difficulty matching up the dubbed dialog with the subtitles merely because I couldn't quite keep up with the pace. But it soon became obvious that the dialog and the subtitles were often two different translations. I'm used to the way that English-language subtitles will condense the actual dialog, but in some cases, the Spanish subtitles were actually longer than the dialog. Weird. I thought they did a good job of casting the voices, though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Just found a detailed piece written by an experienced amateur dog-sledder, regarding the practicality and design of a bunny sled.  It's interesting, informative, and well written.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've been fighting posting this, but the sheer incongruity of the headline has finally gotten the better of me.  From the MTV web site:
 

Bilbo Baggins Beats Snow While for Best Hero at MTV Movie Awards

Martin Freeman's hobbit got more than 1.6 million votes on social media to take home the coveted Golden Popcorn at Sunday's show.

The battle for Best Hero has raged on on Twitter and Instagram for over a week between the fans of one beloved Hobbit and a storybook princess-turned-warrior.
 
What began as a race among six nominees — Bilbo Baggins, Snow White, Iron Man, Batman, Catwoman and Hulk — became an all-out Internet war among fans of Martin Freeman and "Snow White and the Huntsman" leading lady Kristen Stewart. Fans of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" can take a victory lap around The Shire after rallying 1,637,179 votes for their hero.
 
Votes were streaming in right up until the live announcement at Sunday's MTV Movie Awards ceremony, hosted by Rebel Wilson. Photos submitted throughout the voting process have included pictures with Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart and personal Tolkien swag libraries.
 
The Best Hero category was introduced during 2012's MTV Movie Awards as the first-ever social voting category. That honor ultimately went to The Boy Who Lived for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2." And apparently, fans were clamoring to have their voices heard; more than 3 million total votes were tallied among the six nominees throughout the process.
 
Fans can catch Bilbo later this year when the second installment of director Peter Jackson's Middle Earth trilogy "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" hits theaters on December 13. Given his upcoming encounter with the ferocious dragon Smaug, perhaps his turn in the sequel is fodder for next year's Best Hero win?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Haven't been able to find this on regular DVD, yet. But well played Bilbo Baggins, well played indeed.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've seen it in regular stores around here.  There was even a big display in the grocery store a couple of weeks ago.  But if all else fails, there's always Amazon.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

One store had the blu-ray version but I will be hitting Amazon by the end of the month for sure.

[Caya]

Here's a delightful interview with Martin Freeman:

 

 

He's really, to quote tvtropes, the master of the Precision F-Strike .

[Carol the Dabbler]

Will definitely have to watch that (assuming I can get it to download over dial-up).

 

Hey, it's barely more than six months till the second movie opens!  Thanks to Sherlockology, here's the first poster:

 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Now that is one awesome poster.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Isn't it!  It really shows how small Bilbo is, compared to what he's up against.  Seems hopeless. 

 

*****************

 

I started the interview video downloading, then we went for a walk, and it was ready by the time we got back.  You're right, Caya, it's delightful (and hilarious!).  Of course, I can't recall ever hearing a boring interview with Martin Freeman.

 

One little bonus tidbit:  They show Peter Jackson reviewing scenes being filmed elsewhere, including one monitor screen with Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo against what appears to be a green screen.  I had read that both Holm and Christopher Lee did their scenes at Pinewood rather than traveling all the way to New Zealand, and had wondered whether they had actually built pieces of sets for them.  Apparently no, it was just green screen -- amazing what they can do with that!

 

I'm curious: Does the video's title line mean that it's one of the extra features from the Blu-Ray release of the movie?  Can someone actually say *bleep* on the commercial video of a PG-13 movie?

 

[bborchar]

Now that is one awesome poster.

 

I've already told my sister (a gm at a movie theater) that I want that poster when she gets it

[Carol the Dabbler]

You'd better remind her frequently -- Hobbit posters may have a nasty habit of disappearing!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

You'd better remind her frequently -- Hobbit posters may have a nasty habit of disappearing!

Very true.

 

[bborchar]

 

You'd better remind her frequently -- Hobbit posters may have a nasty habit of disappearing!

Very true.

 

 

The nice thing about her being the GM is that she gets first dibs on all of the posters they get, lol.  We have all of the LotR posters she got in, and she gave us the poster from the last Hobbit movie.  I'm hoping she has a STID poster with Benedict Cumberbatch still, but I may have missed it.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... she gave us the poster from the last Hobbit movie.

Which one?

[bborchar]

 

... she gave us the poster from the last Hobbit movie.

Which one?

 

 

The one of Gandalf in the distance.  She had the bus poster (of all of the dwarves), but that's waaay too big .

[Carol the Dabbler]

Sherlockology has posted the first trailer for Desolation of Smaug.  It appears that I need to update my Adobe Flash, but meanwhile the rest of you should be able to view the video by clicking on that link.  They say, "Prepare to allow your jaw to drop for the final shot, with Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch coming face to face..."

 

Think I'll go deal with that Adobe Flash!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

OK, new Adobe Flash installed.  Let's see if this works:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fnaojlfdUbs

 

Yay!

 

[bborchar]

Oh man, the trailer is awesome  I can't believe we get a good look at Smaug's head (even in shadow).  I can't WAIT to hear him  This winter just can't come soon enough!

[Alex the Dabbler]

Empire Magazine's August edition has a Desolation of Smaug cover http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=37895 and article

http://thorinoakenshield.net/2013/06/26/the-desolation-of-smaug-article-in-empire/.