Bagginsis? What is… Bagginsis? Is it chewy? Is it crunchy? There’s a sense of familiarity throughout The Hobbit that never quite plays in its favor. Whether it is the musical cues we are so familiar with after his first three Lord of the Rings films, the insertion of characters that never appeared in the source material to help us remember the other films, or the painfully similar arc The Fellowship of the Ring has to The Hobbit, director Peter Jackson is giving us exactly what we expect. Which is precisely why I’m so disappointed with his latest journey into Middle Earth. While it never rings of phoning it in because of the production values and the…
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G-S-T Review…The Hobbit
Nine years, eleven Academy Awards, and two massive cinematic disappointments. Since wowing the world in 2001 with The Fellowship of the Ring, the first entry in his adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy series The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson has amassed an impressive tally of goodwill and squandered the lion’s share; as a consequence, his return to Middle Earth, a similar treatment of Rings precursor The Hobbit, has been speculated over with alternating degrees of trepidation, iconoclasm, anticipation, and blatant excitement. Given Jackson’s previous artistic and commercial success playing in this particular fantasy sandbox, as well as his subsequent failures (2005’s King Kong, 2009’s The Lovely Bones), it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where…
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3 Films & 48 FPS: In Defense of 'The Hobbit'
For roughly half of my life, I have been a died-in-the-wool J.R.R. Tolkien fan and a frequent visitor to the fantasy realm of Middle Earth. I’ve read each of Tolkien’s significant works which take place in that fantasy world– The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings novels, and The Silmarillion— several dozen times in total, and I’ve seen each of the films based on the Rings books numerous times in theaters. (True story: I watched The Two Towers thirteen times in its theatrical run. I am capable of being that guy.) When China Miéville described Tolkien as, “the wen on the arse of fantasy literature”, I felt a sudden need…
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Sweet 2nd Trailer…'The Hobbit'
We’re wading further and further into Tolkien week, and as each day goes by, that venerable rogue Peter Jackson continues releasing new media for the upcoming first entry in his latest Middle Earth venture, The Hobbit. A day ago, we were treated to a bevvy of hi-res images from the film; today, we have a new trailer on which to feast our eyes. While the clip released earlier this year played a bit broadly, this latest bit of footage focuses much more on establishing tone, and it should be to no one’s surprise that Jackson appears to have nailed it. The Hobbit represents the lighter side of Tolkien’s fantasy; humorous…
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Ohhh, Look…Peter Jackson's 'The Hobbit' Video Blog #7
If there’s one guy who can bring unfilmable stories to the big screen it’s Peter Jackson. To unparalleled success he brought J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy to life and the fans loved him for it (you might recall that he snagged an Oscar or two for his efforts). Now he’s hard at work on the long awaited prequel The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and that’s got fans everywhere clamoring for December. What makes his films so engaging is the insane about of detail he puts into them. Yet it’s not just what’s on the screen that’s fun to behold, it’s what goes on behind the scenes that can sometimes be…
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G-S-T Review…The Adventures of Tintin
Editor’s Note: Go,See,Talk presents this review of The Adventures of Tintin as the debut entry from our guest contributing writer Andrew Crump (of A Constant Visual Feast). He’s going to be making some more appearances on G-S-T in the next few weeks so have a look at what he had to say about Steven Spielberg’s latest blockbuster and offer your thoughts below. While watching The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, you can feel Spielberg grinning happily on the other side of the camera. It’s a welcome quality; adapting Hergé’s beloved comic books to screen in the first of a planned series of films with collaborator Peter Jackson seems to have brought out the…
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Sweet (UK) Trailer…'The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn'
While I wasn’t really sold on the last few trailers for The Adventures of Tintin this one does look really sweet! Partially I think I was just trying to avoid as much Tintin as possible but with a video this great how could you not watch, right? Below is the UK version that proves once again that some of the coolest adversting campaigns are used across the pond. Well, no matter, thanks to the Internets you can bask in the same glory as our UK friends. So batten you hatches and enjoy some Indiana Jones styled mo-cap fun in this new trailer for the CG Spielberg/Jackson epic… Video: MSN Exclusive: The Adventures…
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G-S-T Top 10 – Flicks for Halloween
While the “Horror genre” is not my cup of tea, there are some films that I really enjoy watching. They are well done and really scare the crap out of me which is just what you’d want from a Halloween flick right? It’s not that I like horror films but each of these on this list have a quality content which puts them (severed) “head and shoulders” above the predictable, stereotypical and disposable slasher flicks. This time of year, I enjoy watching these films to get me in the Halloween mood. So to get us in the spirit for All Hallow’s Eve, I thought share my suggestions (in no particular…
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G-S-T Top 10 – Favorite EPIC Films (Part II)
And so the saga continues…Go,See,Talk’s Top 10 Favorite Epic Films (Part II)