Good news for fans of Peter Jackson’s visual tour guide through Middle-earth: the dividing line that split critics over last year’s first entry in the lord of the ring’s adaptation of The Hobbit (subtitled An Unexpected Journey) has shrunk in the second episode, The Desolation of Smaug. That’s to say that a year after the starting point for the new franchise met with mixed reception, Jackson seems to have gotten back on his feet somewhat, proving that all of the groundwork laid in An Unexpected Journey was indeed worth his audience’s while; the new film plays like a roller coaster, punctuated by dips, twists, loop-the-loops, and every other sort of…
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Sweet 2nd Trailer…'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'
If you’re among those campaigning for studios to cut shorter trailers for their tentpole releases, then the newest trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug may cut harshly across your grain. At the same time, three minutes feels almost appropriate; Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth opuses never last less than two and a half hours, so perhaps there’s a sense of obligation to make promo footage for the picture feel proportionately epic in scope. Look at it this way, though – it only takes them less than a third of that time to work the title of the film into the mix! That’s probably small consolation. At any rate, The Hobbit: Hobbit…
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Sweet Trailer…'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'
It feels like we were reviewing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey only yesterday, and yet here we are, staring down the first full trailer for the next installment of Peter Jackson’s intentionally, gloriously obtuse adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Audiences and critics drew some pretty significant dividing lines in their reactions to An Unexpected Journey (opinion was split even on this very site), but I have a feeling that The Desolation of Smaug will be more universally pleasing; with the set-up out of the way, the film should just be nothing but pure adventure, and if nothing else, the trailer seems to confirm that suspicion. Check it out below: Dwarves in barrels, spider attacks, orcs and…
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“What’s New on Blu?” – Week of 03/18/13
Whether you rent or buy movies, Blu-ray offers the ultimate in sight and sound. Streaming is convenient, but if you plan on watching the movie more than once, you need Blu. So, What’s New On Blu? you ask. Well, good, bad or indifferent, Go,See,Talk offers up a trio of titles that are being released each week. Check out what’s hitting the shelves this Tuesday… ——————————————————————————————————————————— A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy SEAL Team 6 in May, 2011. Zero Dark Thirty is an incredible film and is a must own on…
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Peter Jackson to Film Tintin First, Finish The Hobbit Second
…well, this is a few days old, and the headline is exactly what it sounds like, but it’s worth mentioning if you ask me. We’re at the height of Hobbit furor over here (at least I am; Bill had a different take on it than I did), so what better way to maintain continuity than by reporting on Jackson-specific news? Of course, I don’t have that much to say about the matter. I liked The Hobbit; I liked The Adventures of Tintin; I like Jackson, even though he let me down with his ’05 and ’09 efforts. There’s something incongruous about the idea of Jackson halting post on The Hobbit…
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On Second Thought, Bill's Take: G-S-T Review…The Hobbit
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…