The Hobbit: An Expected Cash-In

[MrAngryFace]

HAIRY HOBBIT FEET WHEELS OF CHEESE DWARF SONGZ THE END

[Human Snorenado]

HAIRY HOBBIT FEET WHEELS OF CHEESE DWARF SONGZ THE END

forgot

FAT GOBLINS ANGRY ORCS N GOLLUMS

[Mupepe]

Loved the movie, I know I'm in the minority but I found with way better than any of the LOTR films, but I deffinetly agree with a lot of it's criticism.

My theater loved it! there was one chick in the row in front of me that was really into the movie, gasping and putting her hands on her head during some of the action scenes and clapping when the dwarf got out of harms way, I kind of envy how much she enjoyed it

I know what you mean.  My wife's cousins watch all sorts of shitty movies.  Anything that they watch is "awesome!" and I "have to see it!".  I really wish I could be entertained like that.  No snark.

the only hobbit film is the 70's one.

Chip the glasses and crack the plates! Blunt the knives and bend the forks! That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

That song is in this version

If you liked the LotR trilogy, you'll like this.  It has some lighter hearted moments but not as much as the book, and there's some added stuff (Radagast, etc) that wasn't in the book.  Seems like people are shitting on it because they want something to shit on or don't like the genre.

Full disclosure:  I'm a fantasy nerd, so this tickles my nerd prostate in all the right places.  YMMV.

Yeah I see people talking about the pacing and then drooling over the LOTR Extended Editions.  I love the EE's but you're on fucking crack if you don't think they moved at glacier speed. 

The criticisms seem to be mostly petty or nonsensical.  "the story is very childish"   Uhhh.  Yeah.  It's fantasy... and have you read this shit?

I can't wait to see it tonight.    Hyped as fuck

[Akala]

Holy fuck I want that too

Hollywood is creatively bankrupt, if these do enough bank I'm sure we'll see them soon enough. They will totally fuck it up though. #teamfflewdur

[ManaByte]

Wait, it's a trilogy now?

Two based on the book, one that's a bridge between The Hobbit and LOTR.

The first movie is just a few minutes shy of 3 hours.

All three are The Hobbit, the "bridge" movie isn't happening. Anything in that third movie is added into the main trilogy.

Basically it's:

An Unexpected Journey - Everything in The Hobbit up to the Eagles, plus White Council and Radagast/Dol Guldur stuff from the Appendices in ROTK (plus Thorin backstory from the Appendices).

Desolation of Smaug - All the Smaug stuff, plus more Appendices. Likely will have Gandalf, Radagast, and Saruman in Dol Guldur facing the Necromancer.

There And Back Again - The Battle of Five Armies and again more stuff from the Appendices. I know there was one point where Jackson said he wanted to film the stuff with Aragorn and Gandalf hunting Gollum, but who knows if that will actually happen.

[Stoney Mason]

Going to see the high frames 3d version in a couple of hours. I think I'm more interested to see the tech than the movie honestly.

[TakingBackSunday]

I really liked it 

Saw it in HFR 3D, and at first the frame rate was really strange, but once the movie gets rolling with more sweeping set pieces and not confined to just a hobbit hole, you forget about it.  I thought it was really beneficial to the act scenes.  Very cool shit.  Also probably the best 3D movie I've seen.

It was as per usual too long, and the Radagast shit is just stupid.  Too childish.  Other than that though, everything was great.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Saw the Hobbit in 2d, its not like the book but its ok. There is one thing that changes the dynamic of the book entirely.
spoiler (click to show/hide)

The movie is still cool with some nice additions
spoiler (click to show/hide)
but its not omgawd like lotr was.

I would have liked if peter jackson tried something fresh in the look, not the epic melodrama maybe but a bit more down to earth adventure/look/feel but while retaining thw humour. The movie has funny bits, but its nowhere near as lighthearted as the book I loved more the Lotr.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I really liked it 

Saw it in HFR 3D, and at first the frame rate was really strange, but once the movie gets rolling with more sweeping set pieces and not confined to just a hobbit hole, you forget about it.  I thought it was really beneficial to the act scenes.  Very cool shit.  Also probably the best 3D movie I've seen.

It was as per usual too long, and the Radagast shit is just stupid.  Too childish.  Other than that though, everything was great.

A nintendo fan calling the radegast bit childish. My browser is imploding.

[TakingBackSunday]

I honestly just didn't see the point of him.  It's been a while since I read The Hobbit but I don't remember him having that much of a role.  It was cheesy and his animal friends made the film feel more like a Disney movie.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Yeah the bitching in the press about the 48fps actually sort of makes me wanna see it. They're all like "it makes it look like a really expensive version of an old BBC show" and I'm all like "and the downside is ... ?"

[Cerveza mas fina]

I honestly just didn't see the point of him.  It's been a while since I read The Hobbit but I don't remember him having that much of a role.  It was cheesy and his animal friends made the film feel more like a Disney movie.

He's in the appendix of lotr. The booka was much more lighthearted than this movie, and I think he was a welcome addition even if trivial.

[Stoney Mason]

Yeah the bitching in the press about the 48fps actually sort of makes me wanna see it. They're all like "it makes it look like a really expensive version of an old BBC show" and I'm all like "and the downside is ... ?"

I'm the same way. The more they bitched, the more the contrarian part of me wants to see it to make up my own mind.

[G The Resurrected]

Going to see the high frames 3d version in a couple of hours. I think I'm more interested to see the tech than the movie honestly.

That's what got me to go see the movie day one. And it did not disappoint, when it comes to 3d movies having the extra information for the brain to process works a million times better than 24fps ever did. Motion that was once blurred by the post processing effects in 3d are now sharp and clean 3d elements that add a sense of much needed complexity and depth.

I was also surprised to note that my theater had just finished installing a Dolby Atmos installation, but unfortunately for me The Hobbit did not come with that soundtrack.

[Diunx]

I was quite surprise by the drug allusions regarding the brown wizard since this was supposed to be based on a children's book, both scenes got a big laugh out of the audience.

The movie was quite a looker.

[Cormacaroni]

And we watched an ep of Adventure Time last night that had both of us in tears You never know what you'll get with that show

Laughing tears or the sadsies? Which episode?

I'm not excited for this movie at all, not interested in anyway either.

Genuine tears of sadness - even my wife was teary and she only glances at the show while we are watching. The episode is 'I Remember You' but most of its power is from an unexpected reveal that plays on your whole history to date with 2 side characters. Never saw it coming. It uses some fairly standard tearjerker plot points I guess, but the way they exploit this (using a song written by one character about another, sung by the other character to the first, who has subsequently lost any memory of writing it or who they once were or what their relationship was...) is just masterful. Even thinking about it now has me welling up

[Cormacaroni]

The Hobbit was great btw, loved it. Long but light on its feet, and I had the impression that Jackson was feeling liberated from a heavy narrative - real sense of play throughout, like I had with Tintin (which I also loved). Totally down for more. And the 48fps 3D IMAX was the most amazing image quality i've ever seen, only marred by the horrible Japanese subtitles at fixed depth throughout.

[fistfulofmetal]

forgot we had a thread for this:

I really liked The Hobbit. I felt it did a far better job of invoking the feel of fantasy adventure story than the LOTR movies did. Specifically with giving character to the "enemies" that are faced:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

The trolls, then goblins.

[close]

I think the films problem is that barely anything happens and it's literally ALL setup for the events to come. Nothing of real substance happens. And in a weird sense, it's basically a remake of Fellowship. It follows a lot of the same beats and the events mirror Fellowship fairly closely.

That said. I got a lot of enjoyment watching it. The riddles scene was quite good as were the action set pieces.

and my follow up question:

So did anyone see the HFR version? I don't really think my theatre has that capability. Or maybe i'm just completely ignorant to the concept. For most of the film it looked like any other film (except 3d) but there was a few specific moments (Rivendell especially) where I could swear it was in a higher frame rate. it was jarring because it was just a few moments.

[ManaByte]

The Hobbit was great btw, loved it. Long but light on its feet, and I had the impression that Jackson was feeling liberated from a heavy narrative - real sense of play throughout, like I had with Tintin (which I also loved). Totally down for more. And the 48fps 3D IMAX was the most amazing image quality i've ever seen, only marred by the horrible Japanese subtitles at fixed depth throughout.

At the same time, he's still able to nail some genuine emotion at points; despite idiot reviewers saying the movie lacked any of the same emotion LOTR had.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Bilbo telling the Dwarves that he'll help them find their home because they don't have one.

[close]

and

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Thorin's reaction to Bilbo after being dropped off by the Eagles.

[close]

[Mupepe]

I'm in the theater right now waiting for himu to show up

[ManaByte]

I'm in the theater right now waiting for himu to show up

You have a hole cut in the popcorn bucket?

[Diunx]

I'm in the theater right now waiting for himu to show up

Use protection, god knows what himu has been doing at the park.

[headwalk]

I'm in the theater right now waiting for himu to show up

Use protection, god knows what himu has been doing at the park.

sometimes even god closes his eyes.

[Joe Molotov]

I'm off all next week, so I'm gonna go see it on a weekday afternoon to miss some of the crowds. Going all-in, 48fps and everything. The haters ain't gonna get me down.

[Human Snorenado]

Totally forgot to add- the 48 fps WAS really cool in 3d.  I think if it wasn't 3d, it would probably annoy me, but 3d is still "new" enough that adding something else new to it adds to the experience I think.  Definitely the best 3d I've seen yet.

[Stoney Mason]

Saw it a few hours ago.

I guess you could analysis the 48 frames thing on a few different levels.

First off it was jarring for me at first. Even going in with my contrarion attitude and having read the previews it doesn't quite prepare you. It really does at first kinda strike you like the stereotypes. My initial impresion was sort of a bbc teleplay. It has that feel and emotion to it which I can definitely attribute to the 48 fps because the Lord of the Rings movies didn't feel that way.

Then for me after about 30 minutes you just kinda notice yourself getting use to it and by the end I was fine with it. In fact in special effects heavy movies like this I think it works quite well. Now I wouldn't want to see Casablanca or Fincher's seven in 48 frame because for me it would give works like those a different tonal feel but for stuff that is fantasy or lots of fantastical cg stuff like a superhero movie it would be fine.

It also really helps the 3-D. I didn't have any of the eye fatigue that tends to accompany 3-D films.

As far as the actual movie, I liked it, but I probably didn't like it as much as any of the three LOTR movies. A bit too slow although Martin Freeman nails it. And I didn't have a problem with the other dwarves. For me they helped tone down the overly serious tone that Peter Jackson brings to these movies which grates on me at times.

[Himu]

Saw the movie with Mups and his lovely wife.

Eh...I mixed on it, but I'm mostly disappointed.

One thing, I couldn't stand the 48 frames per second. I thought it made the movie feel cheap, just like an animated gif with too many frames does (as in, the action moves too fast). It felt like a day time soap opera in terms of editing because of it.

As I think about the movie, I lean on 'not liking it' because I'm starting to forget what happened besides the pivotal moments. I felt the film was overly wrought, had very inconsistent pacing, was mostly dull in its approach, and many scenes (goblins and warg sections) felt like fan fiction. It really reminded me of The Phantom Menace in its excessive use of cg in the stead of tight narrative and storytelling. Not that it's as bad as TPM, but it certainly reminded me of it.

I thought that many key scenes (Gollum, the Dwarves first arriving at Bag End) were ruined by Peter Jacksonism. They bored to me tears.

On the other hand, the film has a lot of great scenes on its plate as well.

I can't say it's a bad movie, because it isn't, but I can't say it's a great movie either. It felt very middling, and was a far cry from the LOTR trilogy.

[Phoenix Dark]

one of my brothers just got out of a later showing, said he really didn't like it. He's read the book but said it felt beyond "childish" into Jar Jar territory, and featured cringe worthy lines. He had no problem with the fps outside of during effects scenes, which he said looked horrible.

bah, I doubt I'll see it anytime soon

[Human Snorenado]

Further confirmation:  fantasy just isn't for minorities

Hooray, white people get to keep NASCAR and orcs!

[Himu]

one of my brothers just got out of a later showing, said he really didn't like it. He's read the book but said it felt beyond "childish" into Jar Jar territory, and featured cringe worthy lines. He had no problem with the fps outside of during effects scenes, which he said looked horrible.

bah, I doubt I'll see it anytime soon

Some scenes have really amateurish camera work and lighting. The part where they find the cave with the Elven weapons in particular. In my mind, I was saying,"holy shit, did a community college student do this shot?" in my head.

[ToxicAdam]

[Mupepe]

I loved it. 48 fps looked great. It made it look stunning to me. I have never seen such clean pan shots. 

as far as the actual movie, I still loved it. But it really felt like PJ's version of a LOTR prequel based on a mishmash of fanfic and other Tolkien stories. I really don't get how you could say there are jar jar moments or that it is childish if you're familiar with the book. The book IS childish. If anything I felt the constant forced tension and inconsistent tones were more problematic. Again though, I loved it. It was on my mind the whole night and even when I woke up. Needless to say, I was happy as hell to go back to middle earth.

[fistfulofmetal]

I enjoyed how the tone of the movie was more "childish". It worked better for the story they were telling.


The scene near the end that's in the trailers, where Bilbo tells the dwarves he will help get their home back, was really well done.

[Mupepe]

I enjoyed how the tone of the movie was more "childish". It worked better for the story they were telling.


The scene near the end that's in the trailers, where Bilbo tells the dwarves he will help get their home back, was really well done.

yeah. I loved that part.

they even went to certain lengths to make it less childish I think. Radagast seemed toned down and I have a feeling the eagles didn't talk for that same reason.Though perhaps they will in the sequel considering that's when they do in the book.

[TakingBackSunday]

loved martin freeman, too

[Himu]

It felt like they didn't know what movie they wanted to make: The Hobbit, or an epic sweeping LOTR film. The Hobbit is not Lord of the Rings; Mups and I were talking about that very thing before the film started. But in terms of execution, this is a film that has a war speech and goblin beheadings on top of a character being covered in troll snot. Felt inconsistent. One is not the other.

[recursivelyenumerable]

Was Bombur the fat dwarf? I remember in the book there was a fat dwarf who kinda got picked on.

[Himu]

yes bombur is the fat dwarf

[Howard Alan Treesong]

yes bombur is the fat dwarf

was he in the movie? I can't remember any scenes with a fat dwarf being fat

[Himu]

bombur is in the movie, but not all of the dwarves in this movie are fat. Many are in shape and skinny. But yeah, bombur's character in the film is essentially HAHA HE'S FAT

[naff]

Enjoyed this a lot. Worst thing was the brown wizard (Radagas?). Don't remember him being in the book, seemed like a poor addition of some stoner humour.

Ah, right he was mentioned in the book but briefly. Been a long time since I read the Hobbit...

In regards to the third film I figure it's going to be based on Appendices and other Tolkien material bridging the time between The Hobbit and FOTR. It would be the height of arrogance if PJ decides he can come up with an original story. Dude is a major tosser though so I guess it wouldn't be out of character

[Mupepe]

I loved it. 48 fps looked great. It made it look stunning to me. I have never seen such clean pan shots. 

as far as the actual movie, I still loved it. But it really felt like PJ's version of a LOTR prequel based on a mishmash of fanfic and other Tolkien stories. I really don't get how you could say there are jar jar moments or that it is childish if you're familiar with the book. The book IS childish. If anything I felt the constant forced tension and inconsistent tones were more problematic. Again though, I loved it. It was on my mind the whole night and even when I woke up. Needless to say, I was happy as hell to go back to middle earth.

Thank you. I totally agree 100%.

The only thing I don't like is how much they changed the character of Thorin from the books. I understand why though

yeah. That bugged me but it was a personal "that's not the book" gripe

[recursivelyenumerable]

bombur is in the movie, but not all of the dwarves in this movie are fat. Many are in shape and skinny. But yeah, bombur's character in the film is essentially HAHA HE'S FAT

IIRC that was more or less his character in the book too

[TakingBackSunday]

I haven't read the hobbit in a long time, what was so different about thorin in the movie?

[TakingBackSunday]

also the misty mountain's cold as the main theme to the score was wonderful

[naff]

also the misty mountain's cold as the main theme to the score was wonderful

So good

I assume everyone liked the HFR 3D? First time I felt comfortable watching 3D at the movies, it would be amazing if all action blockbusters start using this

[Cormacaroni]

I see a bunch of people on twitter complaining about headaches from it. I loved it but then I play most games in 3D at a higher framerate than that so it was no biggie.

I felt the perspective was weirdly off in the first few minutes and blamed it on me being slow to acclimate to the HFR, but thinking about it now, that bit was all in Bag End and they were doing all sorts of camera trickery to pull off the different heights anyway. The BR commentary tracks/special features on it should be interesting.

[TakingBackSunday]

  totally forgot about the prospects for BR.  jackson loooooooves some extra features.  gonna be sexy

[Cormacaroni]

it's the first time i saw a movie and thought, the Blu-Ray is going to be so disappointing, visually. :'(

Bring on those 4K 120mhz 3D TVs i guess

[TakingBackSunday]

for real

[ManaByte]

Movie sets new December box office record, BoxOfficeMojo calls it a failure:
http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3587&p=.htm

[Robo]

I saw this this morning and really liked it, surprisingly, considering the LOTR trilogy is terrible.

[TakingBackSunday]

robo  :'(

[Great Rumbler]

Movie sets new December box office record, BoxOfficeMojo calls it a failure:
http://boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3587&p=.htm

Yeah, there reasoning is just...stupid. It made $11 million more in its opening weekend than Return of the King and I'm pretty sure nobody considers that to be a box office failure. It'll make big money over the next couple of weeks.

[Cormacaroni]

I guess everyone should have seen it coming, but the interview with Christopher Tolkien where he talks for the first time about the movies is depressing. New Line is using the old studio accounting trickery to claim the LOTR trilogy movies made a loss and not giving the estate a penny. Same will happen with The Hobbit. Sickening.

[Cormacaroni]

http://www.worldcrunch.com/culture-society/my-father-039-s-quot-eviscerated-quot-work-son-of-hobbit-scribe-j.r.r.-tolkien-finally-speaks-out/hobbit-silmarillion-lord-of-rings/c3s10299/#.UMCVFpPjnfY

[Madrun Badrun]

Christopher Tolkien is an ass.

[Boogie]

New Line is using the old studio accounting trickery to claim the LOTR trilogy movies made a loss and not giving the estate a penny.

lol, the fuck?

Just shy of 3 billion worldwide gross revenue for 3 movies, and trying to claim a loss?  Suuuuure, New Line, suuuure....

[Boogie]

Christopher Tolkien is an ass.

Well ya, that too.

[Human Snorenado]

I haven't read the hobbit in a long time, what was so different about thorin in the movie?

Thorin isn't really a noble king in exile who is doing it all because he wants his homeland back; in the book he's kind of a dick that wants the gold.  Also, he didn't wound the pale orc in the book; that was his cousin Dain, and the orc didn't come back later for revenge- he actually died.