Hobbit Movie Poster GandalfSo today I’m talking posters! And by posters I mean not people who post comments or write posts on websites and blogs. I’m talking sheets of paper that fans of pop stars, bands, TV shows and yes, even movies, do collect and treasure.

Beginning with Comic-Con 2012, fans were treated to one of the first posters for An Unexpected Journey. It was a Comic-Con exclusive that showed Gandalf approaching Bag End on a misty morning in the quiet of the world when there was less noise and more green. And as an allusion, perhaps, to the darker tone of the films compared to the lighthearted children’s tale that is the book, the early morning sun seemed to peek through a wrack of ominous dark clouds.

As an introductory poster to new audiences and also old ones returning to the world of Middle-earth, there couldn’t have been a better piece of imagery set to paper. Continue reading “Where have all the Hobbit posters gone?”

Gandalf Thanks to our friends at Hobbitfilm.it, we have another seven new art images from The Desolation of Smaug.

Nothing dramatically revealing here, but we do like the moody shot of a swampy Mirkwood forest (is that the Company crossing a vast fallen tree?), and the RA army will undoubtedly appreciate what seems to be a new still of Thorin Oakenshield. Continue reading “Seven new images from the 2014 Desolation of Smaug Desk Diary!”

beorn With the human face of Beorn finally revealed (Warning: visual spoilers on that link!), I thought readers might be interested in a little bit of book character history and background.

The most common questions that people ask concern his ability to change shape. Is it magical? Is he cursed? Does he have control over it? Did Tolkien mean Beorn to be some kind of beserker?

Here, Tolkien scholar Michael Martinez has a quick look at the evidence available. Continue reading “Was the Beorn of The Hobbit a were-bear?”

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