It started when this year’s MTV Movie Awards announced their vote-in contest for the category “Best Hero” — allowing Instagram and Twitter users to employ hashtags like #VoteIronMan or #VoteHulk — and especially of interest to this phenomenon #VoteBilbo. A few days actually went by without us even noticing there was a contest. Over Easter weekend the staff of TheOneRing.net was working to deliver a great presentation before packed crowds (many hundreds in the standing-room-only hall) at WonderCon, happening right on the tail of a very successful April Fool’s Day prank — so no wonder we were looking elsewhere.

TheOneRing.net first brought attention to the contest on April 3rd with this tweet:

Bilbo needs your help! Losing to kristen stewart @mtv movie awards #votebilbo contest mtv.com/ontv/movieawar…

— TheOneRing.net (@theoneringnet) April 3, 2013

We saw that Kristen Stewart’s character Snow White (from that hunky HUNTSMAN movie) had a stunning 13,556 votes, far more than the other nominees… while poor Mr. Baggins was in very last place with only 226 votes.  A pathetic showing that would have me old Gaffer shaking his head in shame.

By using Twitter to muster our troops, within a mere 24 hours we saw a mighty surge of thousands of votes — yes THOUSANDS — and it kept going strong from there. We hit the Twitterverse so hard that #VoteBilbo started trending, everyone outside of our community actually picked up on it, K.Stew quickly lost her lead (causing her fanbase to respond), and thus “The Great Battle of the Fandoms” was in full swing.

We realized that TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN fans were supporting their chosen actress, *not* the character she portrayed, a bit of irony not lost on us.  The category “Best Hero” did not really mean “Best Actress You’re A Fan Of From Another Franchise Because You Didn’t Really Watch This Movie.” Their rigorous support for the actress rather than the character made the whole contest a bit of a sham, in that context. Rather unfair, in this Ent’s personal opinion, that a true statement of how we regard our heroes was being skewed so badly. Undoubtedly Twi-hards have been a huge segment of MTV’s target audience, and plenty of naysayers told us that we didn’t have a chance to tip the scales. We were glad to have a challenge: a task to show what genuine fan-love of a heroic character really looks like, with numbers not seen since the Muster of Rohan!

The meteoric trending of #VoteBilbo caught everyone’s attention. Warner Bros. Pictures officially supported the effort with this missive from their Twitter account ‘TheHobbitMovie’ on April 5th, which spurred tens of thousands of new votes:

Our burglar, Bilbo Baggins, is nominated for Best Hero atthe 2013 MTV Movie

Awards! Cast your vote now by using #votebilbo

—

The Hobbit (@TheHobbitMovie) April 5,

2013

The other nominees were floundering: Batman and Catwoman were left in the dust of a deserted Gotham City as Bilbo VS. Snow White became a runaway viral showdown. But the numbers were not quite right. Certain fake Twitter accounts (spam-style “bots”) were discovered processing blank-except-for-the-hashtag #VoteSnowWhite tweets, but they were reported and shut down.  Our support for Mr. Baggins was quite organic, and the funny thing was that votes were not coming from some hardcore group of Martin Freeman supporters, though they exist, but rather from Tolkien-lovers who really wanted to make a true statement about Bilbo Baggins.

April 6th proved to be a huge day! The media-watch group WHO TRENDED IT? posted this tweet on April 6th, giving TORn proper credit:

Guess what ! #votebilbo trending in the US ? @theoneringnet did it ! Now, that’s badass. Even as a cold hearted robot, I’m impressed.

— Who Trended it ? (@WhoTrendedIT) April 5, 2013

Then our friend Emil Johansson at the LOTRProject Blog gave us something masterful: he launched a special page to show statistics of the voting and how it changed in real-time. He tweeted this:

I have developed a page tracking the results for #votebilbo and MTV Best Hero Award. Please share. lotrproject.com/projects/voteb…

— Emil Johansson (@lotrproject) April 6, 2013

Within his wonderful vote-tracker page we could see exactly what was going on, relative to the timing of our announcements on TheOneRing.net (and our Facebook timeline and Twitter, of course). When there was doubt our votes were less than stellar, we rallied again!

Stars from the LOTR Film Trilogy and even newer actors from THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY jumped on board! Their timing was perfect — and because these actors are actually paying attention to what fans are saying on Twitter, it felt like a genuine grassroots effort was brewing. We had tweets from Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc Brandybuck) and Dean O’Gorman (the dwarf Fili) on the same day Evangeline Lilly (upcoming new character Tauriel) retweeted our comments — pleased as we were to ultimately learn that retweets counted as full votes!):

#votebilbo

— Dominic Monaghan (@DomsWildThings) April 6, 2013

#votebilbo !

— Dean o’gorman (@Deanogormano) April 6, 2013

Then Sean Astin (my favorite hobbit) joined the fray:

A vote 4 Bilbo #votebilbo Is a Vote for My old Gaffer!!!!{Who you remember worked for Bilbo}. Take 2 secs tic the box-I’ll cook u taters

— Sean Astin (@SeanAstin) April 7, 2013

More ambitious creative folks within our Ringer ranks started posting videos designed to bring a smile to your face as well as playfully jab at Bella Swan  — and MTV reported on it, realizing that the race was getting quite aggressive between the two camps. ‘If you liked it then you shoulda put a Ring on it’ had a whole new meaning with Speigel Ei’s Vimeo clip:

single-bilboooo from Spiegel Ei on Vimeo.

“HOBBIT fans went straight for the gut of Team #VoteSnowWhite,
who have to watch as several of the characters from Middle-earth court
Kristen Stewart to their side over Edward Cullen,” declared the MTV blog, and we realized this was indeed a chance to show our resplendent fandom in a unique way. The fact that we have been in love with Tolkien’s HOBBIT characters for 75 years since the book was first published supported the sky-high numbers of votes.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF VOTES POURED IN DAILY. When the final weekend of the Awards telecast began on April 13th, we broke 1 million votes. K.Stew voters were trying to keep up; sometimes we crossed above or below their high-end total. Fans started to create one-click Twitter vote buttons, and we supplied a host of #VOTEBILBO avatars and funny images to become viral memes. Fans started creating their own images (with familiar LOLcat fonts) and sharing them.

Our lovely lady friends Kili and Fili from our HAPPY HOBBIT video channel did a fun little P.S.A. style announcement asking Ringers to bring their votes to bear! We were really building momentum as a community. There was more spirited fun to be had with this contest than we first suspected!

Did we have crossover from other fantasy fans? You betcha! *wink* GAME OF THRONES featured our very own Sean Bean (Boromir) in the first season and of course it was appropriate for him to support his halfling friend.

We were not just sending empty or meaningless tweets with a hashtag in place — we wanted to make this relevant. In an effort to really bring our feelings and honest passion to the center stage, TORn decided to host a concentrated “Tweet Quest” on Sunday April 14th, the day of the MTV Movie Awards. During a tightly-concentrated 1-hour block, and then another encore 1-hour, we asked Ringers to declare why Bilbo should be named ‘Best Hero.’ So we put forward the call to arms.

Boy oh boy, did they respond with a flood of hobbity lovin’!

Fans declared things that mattered to us, that mattered to readers, and as lovers of Tolkien we could certainly relate:  “#VoteBilbo because he was the one person who willingly let the Ring go, when no one else could,” was my personal favorite sentiment. We have an audience that included older-generation folks who had never used Twitter, so we gave quick and easy instructions to help guide our friends toward their goal. We provided everything we could — and most importantly we gave this effort true SPIRIT.

It was a phenomenal success. In the end the final tally was:

#VoteBilbo: 1,637,179

#VoteSnowWhite: 1,532,571

See Emil’s final infographic here!

Giving our furry-footed reluctant adventurer a lead of well over 100,000 to claim the win! Although MTV broadcast the announcement of the winner as a throw-away commercial bumper for Axe body spray (indeed it was shown offstage, not really part of the “actual ceremony”), and although no cast member from THE HOBBIT film was present to receive the award, we here at TheOneRing.net were entirely thrilled to have succeeded with a kind of social networking wizardry that was fueled by you, dear readers.

Such a long way to go from only 226 votes! Such an outpouring of love!

One of our volunteer staffers, Magpie, had this to say: “It was like a flash mob. We did it for us (We defined as the greater Tolkien fan community with TORn functioning a major player in focusing that fan community). It was a community campaign that was an event in itself.”

Staffer Justin who produces our Live webcasts and our weekly show TORn TUESDAY had this to say: “Over 27,000 Bilbo pictures on
Instagram in one week! Take a look at all the comments and tweets we
got, there is something for everyone to run with. Thank you all for making #votebilbo happen. I received several messages at the beginning saying I was ‘crazy’ and it was ‘Folly against Twi-hards,’ ‘Who cares about MTV,’ and ‘What’s the point of a stupid teenage online popularity contest?’ But this is why fans love being fans. Achieving something together. To Prove Their Quality.”

And that, my friends, is indeed the feeling I have at the end of the day. That we have stood up with a flag of unity once again. That we have proven our quality of thinking creatively and acting with great energy! It feels like it was months in the making but it happened over such a very short length of time (making it the more surprising).

The love that brings us together is our love of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works are evergreen. No separation of older to younger generations or access to technology can slant that.  The truth will out!

Hulk sad.  Too bad.

Batman gave up the ghost. Because we are the most.

Iron Man clad in shame. Shoulda played his own game.

Catwoman felt an itchy pox. Put kitty back in her smelly box.

Snow White drifted. Twi-hards were sifted (out).

But #BilbotheHero wins the day! We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Much too hasty,

Quickbeam

————————–
Follow Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway on Twitter: @quickbeam2000

Follow TheOneRing.net on Twitter: @theoneringnet

You’ve voted. And voted. And voted! But you haven’t given up, because Hobbit fans are heroes!

We’re down to the final hours of MTV’s “Best Hero” contest and we’re pulling out all the stops to put our favorite hobbit on top! How? We’re launching a VoteQuest!

Short explanation: From 12 noon to 1pm Eastern, we’re going to hit Twitter with a volley of tweets answering the important question: “Why is Bilbo the Best Hero?”

Why a VoteQuest? Because not only is it a great time for Hobbit fans to pull together, but a concentrated hour of tweeting will hopefully land #VoteBilbo in the trending list, getting the important message out to all Hobbit fans everywhere. Which will hopefully mean even more votes!

And it’s so much fun to see what fellow fans tweet.

Follow @theoneringnet and its great staff for updates and announcements.

• Mr. Cere
• Garfeimao
• GreenDragon
• Quickbeam

How is Bilbo doing? Track the voting totals

Read on for all the information on this important event. Also what to do if you don’t have a Twitter account, how to schedule tweets, “Vote Bilbo” avatars & meme images to post to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and other social media places. AND MORE.

++++++++++

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
Beginning at 12 noon Eastern, start tweeting your reasons why Bilbo is the Best Hero, plus #VoteBilbo http://on.mtv.com/XhsEOV

Example: Can Snow White rescue 13 dwarves? I don’t think so! #VoteBilbo http://on.mtv.com/XhsEOV

Important tips

• Use no more than one hashtag per tweet. Only one #VoteBilbo per tweet will count; Using multiple hashtags affects Trending algorithms.
• Avoid aggressively disparaging Snow White or K-Stew fans. It reflects poorly on the Tolkien fandom.
• Respect your followers. We want to tweet a lot, but you also don’t want to turn people off. Use your best judgment. See below for information about dealing with complaints from followers.
• Avoid “Twitter Jail!” If you tweet too much too quickly, Twitter will lock you out for an hour. Also if you write the same things over and over. Pace yourself.
• Can’t think off-the-cuff? Pre-write your Tweets in a text editor & copy/paste during the event.
• Won’t be around during that hour? Write your tweets in advance and schedule them! That’s another friendly feature in Tweetdeck and Hootsuite. More info on scheduling tweets below.

++++++++++

NOT ON TWITTER? HERE’S WHAT TO DO

If you don’t currently use Twitter, it’s easy enough to sign up for an account.

• Visit http://www.twitter.com and fill out the “New to Twitter” box.
• You’ll be asked to validate your account by responding to the email they send you. Then, voila, you have a Twitter account.
• Simply start tweeting by writing your thoughts on “Why Bilbo is the best hero” and include these two things: #VoteBilbo http://on.mtv.com/XhsEOV
• Follow @theoneringnet https://twitter.com/theoneringnet
• Follow other fans: Visit this link and follow other Tolkien fans tweeting in the #VoteBilbo event. https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23votebilbo&src=hash

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AVATARS & MACROS

Also, we have great images to use as Twitter avatars! Get the Bilbo message out there right now! Click here to view & save.

Download the “Gandalf Wants You to #VoteBilbo macro

Many more images to view & download are found here

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FOLLOW THE HASHTAG TO SEE OTHER #VoteBilbo TWEETS

Would you like to see what other fans are posting? Simply click on the hashtag #VoteBilbo and check them out. Or, click here: https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23votebilbo&src=hash

If you use the Twitter web page, it will load the tweets in that window. Click “All” at the top to see everything, rather than “Top”
If you use a desktop Twitter client such as Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, you can create a new column following that hashtag.

++++++++++

SCHEDULED TWEET INFO:

How to schedule tweets in Tweetdeck

1) Download Tweetdeck for Windows or Mac, or use the web version: https://www.tweetdeck.com/

2) To compose a tweet, click on blue box icon in top right corner of Tweetdeck.

3) Write your text and then click on the Clock icon at the bottom of the text box. In the calendar/time drop down, select the time you want to the tweet to publish, then click TWEET. The Tweet is now scheduled.

How to schedule tweets in Hootsuite:

1) Click on compose tweet icon

2) Write your text and click on “Schedule.” Select the date and time for the tweet to publish.

Important tips:

• Use no more than one hashtag per tweet, or it will affect trending algorithms.
• Respect your followers and don’t schedule hundreds of tweets.
• Don’t write the same thing over and over again — get as creative as you can!

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MUTING TWEETS

As much as we want to reach the widest audience possible, we don’t want to turn people against the #VoteBilbo campaign or TheOneRing.net . if you get complaints from followers, please suggest they mute our hashtag. It is important to respect your followers.

CHROME EXTENSION (works with Twitter web page): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/proxlet-tweet-filter/kmelikmboobdcnfeaaapkfombnmmbcpc

TWEETDECK: Use the “Global Filter” feature found under “Settings” http://www.thinksplendid.com/2012/02/tip-for-muting-hashtags-on-twitter.html

ECHOFON: http://www.echofon.com/support/kb/ios/muting-hashtags

TWEETBOT: You can mute specific services or keywords by going to the mute tab and hitting Edit, then the plus button. you can mute hashtags by holding down on a hashtag and selecting the mute option

Right-Click and save to your own computer, then upload to your Twitter profile editor.

Hi there,

sorry for the delay!

i hope the photos are okay for you. There are Heike = Fili, Sascha = Kili, Rebecca = Nori and Dirk = Bofur. (Fili, Kili and Nori took part in the audience choice award.) We’re part of a LOTR/hobbit reenactment group and have been working on our costumes quite a long time. The Nori and Bofur costumes were finished just in time for HobbitCon.

Well, what can I tell you? We’re visiting Ring*Con for years, but HobbitCon (special from Ring*Con) was the best convention I’ve ever seen. There were 9 actors (Jed Brophy/Nori, Dean O’Gorman/Fili, Mark Hadlow/Dori, Adam Brown/Nori, John Callen/Oin, Stephen Hunter/Bombur, Graham McTavish/Dwalin, Peter Hambleton/Gloin, Sylvester McCoy/Radagast) + Daniel Falconer and Paul Tobin from Weta… and they were all so nice and funny as well. One of the funniest moments was the Q&A session of Sylvester McCoy, who ran through the audience all time while answering questions (followed by the people, who had those questions) and doing hilarous things. [editor's note: Sylvester did this at Gallifrey as well, he's always been very fan friendly]. Graham McTavish brought one of his Dwalin prosthetic arms to his Q&A sessions and two fans were allowed to come on stage and put it on. And there is Jed Brophy… running, dancing, jumping all the time… doing stunts, never standing still. One of the most touching moments was the dwarf-actors singing the song of the Misty Mountains at the end of the closing ceremonies. Entering the audience choice award was a totally new experience for us, because we never tried to before and we never expected such an amazing feedback.

For those of you who missed it, fear not! Our staff is busy compiling detailed commentary complete with screen caps!! So, stay tuned here for much, much more. It will be posted here on the Home Page soon. Our friends at Warner Bros. also remind us that If you missed the Peter Jackson hosted first look at “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,”  or just want to watch it over again, a modified version will be archived on the Trilogy’s official website  www.thehobbit.com/sneak.  To access the footage, use your UltraViolet code on your copy “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack or 2-Disc Special Edition DVD.

UPDATE: we’ve just been informed by Warner Bros. that we can post no screen caps of the sneak peek. We apologize for disappointing any of our loyal readers, especially those who weren’t able to see it. We *will*, however, be posting more details and commentary from our staff very soon!

Fictional Frontiers, a radio show specializing in genre entertainment and located on the east coast of the U.S., was part of the media assembled at The One Expected Party and checks in with an entertaining look at the weekend’s art show and Oscar night’s biggest geek celebration. It showcases each of the Oscar nominees, a few interviews, selections from the art show and a good representation of the musical showcase from the evening. Checking in under five minutes, it’s an excellent capture of the event.

First of all, the packaging is beautiful.  The cardboard slip case has the lenticular image of Gandalf which we saw on one of Empire magazine’s covers. Underneath this slip case, the box has the same image on the front, with the back showing a small picture of Bilbo running off from the Shire, contract in hand, above the details of the contents.

This ‘combo pack’ is the five disc version: it contains the movie (over two discs) on 3D Blu-ray; one disc of the movie on 2D Blu-ray; one disc of the 2D DVD version; and one disc of ‘Special Features’.  These features are, as MrCere mentioned, the ten Production Videos which Peter Jackson published on his facebook page during the making of the film.  I agree with MrCere’s thought that, whilst this may not be adding anything new, it is very nice to have all these videos gathered in one place, where you can easily find them to watch them again and again.  One word of caution, however: if you are purchasing a Blu-ray combo pack with the thought that you will get a Blu-ray player ‘one day’ and in the meantime will watch the film on the DVD which comes in the set, note that the Special Features disc is a Blu-ray, not a DVD.

As with all the different versions available for purchase, this pack also comes with details on how to access your ‘UltraViolet’ copy of the movie, so that you can download and stream the standard definition theatrical version of the film to your various devices.

Sitting at my laptop in London, I haven’t been able to try out the Blu-ray discs, but I did watch the DVD last night.  The main menu shows footage from the film, playing on a loop; it starts with a zoom in on the map of Middle-earth, a shot of Bag End, and then the dwarves singing part of the Misty Mountains song. Following scenes include Bilbo running to join them on their journey, the trolls gathered around their fire, Radagast and his rabbits fleeing the orcs, and shots in Rivendell, Goblin Town and Gollum’s cave.  The montage ends with Bilbo drawing Sting for the first time; and then the loop starts again.

The movie is divided into thirty-two scenes, and the scene selection menu has part of the map of Middle-earth in the background.  The other menu choice from the main menu is for languages; the DVD can be played in English, French or Spanish, and has subtitles also in those languages.  The background for this menu is a picture of a pensive-looking Gandalf, seated by a tree and smoking his pipe.

As for the film - well, of course I love the film. It thrills me to hear that opening melody and to know I can now watch this movie whenever I like!  After all these years of waiting for The Hobbit, it seems even a little surreal to have these discs in my hands. I must confess, though, I rather wish that the home entertainment release could have been a little later; I’d like to have seen An Unexpected Journey in the cinema a few more times before I moved to a smaller screen!

The Blu-ray and DVD of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be available for you to take home in the US from March 19th; but if you just can’t wait that long, digital download (from retailers such as iTunes, Amazon and Vudu) will be available from March 12th.  The hard copies (in whatever format you purchase) and digital downloads from ‘select digital retailers’ will come with a code which will enable viewers to watch the live stream of Peter Jackson’s sneak peek of the next movie, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  This will play live on March 24th at 3pm Eastern/noon Pacific time; so if you’re in the US and eager for a glimpse of the second part of the trilogy, (and let’s face it, if you’re reading TORn, you probably are eager for a glimpse!), be sure to get your copy of An Unexpected Journey before March 24th, so you’ll be ready to watch!  (MrCere’s article lists the April release dates for the Blu-ray and DVD in some other parts of the world; I’m told by Warner Bros. that codes for the sneak peek will be available outside the US – for example, possibly given to those who preorder a Blu-ray or DVD – but as yet there’s no confirmation on details for that.  We’ll let you know as soon as we hear!)

Finally  – as MrCere mentioned yesterday, the press release which came with this Blu-ray pack from Warner Bros. confirmed that this ‘home entertainment release will be followed by an Extended Edition available just in time for the holidays’.  Now THAT is something I can’t wait to see!

You can preorder this Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack here; or preorder the digital download here.

Bakshi describes it as an animated cop, mafia, horror movie set in the 1960s in Coney Island, with political overtones both realistic and outrageous. Actor Matthew Modine, himself a longtime Bakshi fan, has been cast in the film’s lead role.

In my films I have always discussed America: who we are, what we are, for better and worse, and the ridiculous. I’m here on Kickstarter asking for your support for my newest project, Last Days of Coney Island.

The stories take place on and around Coney’s garish, freaky midways and in it’s dark alleyways. They discuss America: Kennedy’s assassination, the mafia, Bobby Dylan, Vietnam, Dick Tracy, Miss America, and more.

[Donate via Kickstarter]

Eric Saindon

Its full of little gems from Saidon like this: A significant innovation was developed by the R&D team. “We came up with a new hair for example on this project,” remarks Eric Saindon. “We call it Barbershop. We always hated the way you have to move pixels around to layout a hair. Grab CDs and move them around on curves to design the way the hair is done; that’s not how you do it in a salon. You would cut the hair, brush, blow dry and gel it, however you would do it in a salon and that’s how we redesigned our hair system. We gave the artists tools such as a blow dryer, gel, comb, brush, scissors and they actually grow the hair on someone or a creature.” The interview digs deep into the world of visual effects. Saindon is one of the interview subjects TheOneRing.net spoke with on our set visit to The Hobbit. That content is expected to see publication in 2013.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Chronicles

As we’ve come to expect, Weta and Harper Collins have produced another sumptuous, richly-bound volume detailing the process of turning words and imagination into the films we see. It’s written by Daniel Falconer, who’s had a hands-on overview of the road to executing Jackson’s vision since the beginning of LOTR. Thus you see many sketches exploring the different concepts that inform the finished designs we see on screen, and a wealth of objects you only dream of studying at leisure and in detail. It’s full of insights into how the film’s creators saw the character and history of The Hobbit’s people, creatures and places. The actors get to speak about their characters too, so we learn for instance that Sylvester McCoy loves animals in real life – he whistles to birds and they whistle back! Definitely a book to treasure. It’s full of spoilers too promising scenes that we can hope to see in the extended edition DVDs if nowhere else – scenes with the Old Took and Belladonna Took, Gandalf’s first meeting with Bilbo when he was a young boy, and a closer look at more Shirefolk such as Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Old Gammidge and Old Hob. Check out some scans below. [Purchase Today!]

As you’ll read later, this reviewer suggests this may be the wisest course first-up.

As an adaptation and expansion on Tolkien’s 75-year-old children literature classic — emphasis on children — this film is more fantastic and at times more ‘cartoony’ than its trilogy predecessor. A quick example… while in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring we see the four Hobbits trying to escape Farmer Maggot and falling down a long slope with nothing but a broken carrot, in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey we see the Company of Thorin falling down a 1000-foot crevasse (multiple times) and simply dusting themselves off.

That theme permeates the film. The ‘bad guys’ are not quite horrible monstrosities that cause death and destruction but instead are similar to villains in an episode of the A-Team. You know, where no matter how many times they shoot at our heroes, they never actually hit their mark. It ultimately makes for exciting confrontations, but no real concern the heroes will meet their doom. Some who are not familiar with the childish nature of The Hobbit might find this a bit odd when they compare the drama to the LOTR films.

The acting by the core cast was astoundingly good. Martin Freeman IS Bilbo Baggins and as expected delivers an amazing performance with true emotion, humor and feeling. Ian McKellen is a less serious version of his LOTR-self and in many ways a lot more likable. His sense of humor comes across more in the performance and it is very endearing. Richard Armitage delivers a dead-on performance of Thorin. For those of us who know what the future holds for Thorin, I can clearly state the casting was perfect. Andy Serkis returns as Gollum and provides yet another amazing performance. ‘Riddles in the Dark’ will be one of your favorite scenes – guaranteed!

The dwarves were always a bit of a concern for me because I thought we’d be spending a lot of time getting to know each and dealing with lot of childish humor. This is not the case. They do all get introductions and each has their own distinct and unique contribution to the film. There is of course some ‘potty’ humor, but nothing that is overdone or inconsistent. Ken Stott as Balin delivers a stand-out performance — one that does not go unnoticed and puts him on par with the other key players.

The rest of the cast provide strong performances but some are a bit constrained by the visual performance that accompanies their acting. If you are looking for the awesomeness of The Goblin King from Rankin/Bass, I fear you will be a bit disappointed. And Radagast, while semi-interesting and fun in a childish sense (which is okay!), seems to be just thrown in to have another wizard.

Some of the folks I saw the film with had issues with the ‘slowness’ of the story, but I did not. I was surprised how fast the film felt – when it ended I was surprised at the time.

To avoid major spoilers, I’ll just say that there were definitely a few points where I felt the small things were ‘overdone.’ Take Elrond’s reading of the moon-letters on the map.

The book: …The moon was shining in a broad silver crescent. He held up the map and the white light shone through it. “What is this?” he said. “There are moon-letters here…

In the movie it’s not nearly so simple. You see, apparently the Elves in Rivendell have painstakingly built a ledge on a massive cliff-face complete with a special moon-table. To read moon-letters, you must gather around this table and place the suspected moon-letter document on the table. The table then glows with moon-light and reveals what is on it. I can’t imagine this ledge gets much use — typical of the wealthy elves to be so wasteful with space and function. Heh — yeah, I had a bit of a chuckle at that point.

There is one BIG negative from my viewing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It has nothing to do with the plot, acting, score or any other aspect of the actual content of the film. It has to do with wrapping this masterpiece in the inappropriate frame of HFR 3D. It was quite simply unnecessary to saddle this film with this presentational wizardry.

And it’s something I had hoped that was not going to be the case.

In fact, I was very excited to see this new technology and experience the ‘future of film.’ I was ready for it! Even with the uproar from those crusty cinema owners last year, I figured that was a bunch of old fogeys who simply didn’t want to update their equipment. I was fully expecting to be blown away and fall in love with this next evolution in film. I felt this way right up until the opening scenes of the movie. Then it happened…

I told myself: ‘Oh Chris, your eyes will get used to it… just a bit longer.‘

Nope — never got used to it. I couldn’t help but think, ‘Why does this look like some highly produced BBC TV drama?‘ In fact, about every 10 minutes or so (or maybe whenever something was particularly bright on screen) I found myself being literally drawn out of Middle-earth and back into the present — the theater. And therein lies the issue. I was constantly taken out of the story and performance because my brain was distracted by the ‘bells and whistles’ on screen. I was jolted out of the content of the film and noticed the tech behind it.  That is unfortunate.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a great movie that is saddled with this unnecessary mission to advance the future of film. So here’s my slightly controversial suggestion: Watch this film first in good ole fashioned 24fps. Then, for your second viewing, go and see it in HFR. This way your initial experience won’t be compromised by the tech and second-time-round you may actually be able to enjoy the high frame rate as well!

As an aside, I did consider that I’m simply too old for this type of presentation. I’m 38. I don’t play video games and don’t run out to see IMAX or 3D viewings of films on a regular basis. So maybe the thirteen-year-olds of the world will love it.

To summarize, rush out and see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and enjoy the ride! As long as you bring along your inner child you’ll have a wonderful time. If you have a choice, DO NOT see it in 48fps for your first viewing.

9/10 Rings

- Calisuri.