Yeah, not getting into other movie discussion here, as much as I have things to say about some of those.

I will try and get that review thread going, though I'm somewhat busy lately.

I wouldn't have thought something like Transformers would quality as a popcorn movie, though I haven't seen number two.

Now I'm wondering if I should read The Hobbit before the film arrives. I've seen the cartoon a rediculous number of times -not enough to memorize the songs though- but have yet to actually read the book. Got as far as the trolls on an airplane and that was pretty much it. Didn't even read if for my children's fantasy lit class. I got by on what I knew from the cartoon. ;). (Which of course I do not condone in any way.)

This needs to be a movie.

Oh my. I may need to pay more attention to what I type in the future. That does beg a few questions though. How do said trolls get there?

I'm seriously considering writing a short story about trolls on an airplane. :|

Maybe the three trolls from the Hobbit. :p

That would be interesting.

One would hope the plane doesn't start falling when the sun comes in through the windows.

Heh, Gandalf should totally be on the plane, too, pretending he's not a demigod wizard. :p

And smoking pipeweed in the bathroom? (finding someway to get around the smoke detectors I imagine.)

So looked up The Hobbit on IMDb to check some stuff up. I heard that Jackson wasn't acting as director but was senior producer though IMDb has him listed as director.

I also noticed the screen writer, Fran Walsh, is the same woman he worked with for all three LOTR movies and King Kong. It's likely that The Hobbit will be along the same lines as the other movie.

Oh, and also because I feel like mentioning it, one can't really blame Jackson for everything that happens in the movie. Directors don't get free reign, producers like to stick their noses in too, and even the creditted screen writer doesn't have total control over what actually ends up in the movie.

He's been director for a while, now, after Del Torro backed out because of the delays.

Fran Walsh is his wife, actually. :p

And, watching the interviews with both of them (and the third member of their unholy trinity, Phillipa Boyens) I get the distinct impression that at least an overwhelming majority of the deviations were them trying to (and I quote Boyens here) "improve Tolkien".

Also, just saw this:

Anyone want to take a stab at how this could possibly fit into the story and work well? I'm at something of a loss, and honestly not very happy to hear this, even with the disclaimer.

Isn't Legolas a sylvan elf? He's Prince of Mirkwood, isn't he?

Oh well. I'm actually intrigued about it, but then I consider the movies to be inspired but seperate entities from the Tolkein stuff. I wonder who made that "Improve Tolkein" comment. That sounds like it's asking for trouble there from the purists at least. I imagine there are enough people that don't care that much about his work to care.

Thinking about it, are there any women in The Hobbit?

No, I don't think there are, which is undoubtedly why they're doing this. I just don't see how her character can fit into the story at all. The elves are mysterious bad guys who get a last-second change of heart in the book. Giving them sympathetic characters in the movie is going to make the whole scenario very different, though... maybe it'll work well, if Bilbo is spying on them and learning that they're not bad people, just scared.

Also, I think they should have made some of the dwarves female. I mean... only like 4 of them are important to the plot, anyway, in the book. Who really cares if Dori, Nori, Ori, Fili, Kili, Bifor, or Bofur get a sex change? Too much potential for hilarity given Gimli's comments about bearded dwarf women in the Two Towers?

Heh. When I see changes made like that I tend to think that they're there for politcal ass-covering. Not going to talk about that. Then there's generic plot stuff. Don't particularly want to go there either. Would feel like unneccessary filler that's probably already been thought about.

Has anyone scene the photos of the dwarves in costume? I'm pretty leery about this look for them. They seem very... videogame-ish.


Oin and Gloin


Dori, Nori, and Ori


Fili and Kili


Bifor, Bofur, and Bombur


Balin and Dwalin

Tis Gimli's da! And cousin apparently.

I'm sure they're caked in make-up but I think they look kinda neat, minus some of the outfits. At least they don't all look the same. I question Kili's drawfness though. Looks a little bottom heavy.

Dori's hair looks cool. :D

I'm really going to have to wait to see them on-screen to really judge. The way these photos were taken, everything looks really exaggerated to me. They barely even look real, some of them (Dori, Nori, and Ori, in particular).