COUNTDOWN TO THE HOBBIT OFFICIALLY STARTS WITH THE FIRST 2 STILLS

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I peed my pants.

IT HAS BEGUN!!!

Seeing Gandalf brought me back so hard I got goosebumps and really bad acne. Glorious. Freeman looks absolutely perfect.

I can't believe it's happening!

Well chosen pics indeed.

I remember following the development of the trilogy both here and on aintitcool. Good times, looking forward to it again.

McKellen looks like he hasn't aged a day. Freeman looks great too.

For some reason i thought Freeman would be keeping his own hair, damn fine pics though. Everything looks perfect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomTastic 

McKellen looks like he hasn't aged a day.

But he has begun to feel thin; sort of stretched... like butter scraped over too much bread.

I looked at that photo of Bilbo reviewing the dwarves' contract and suddenly realized I had the biggest smile on my face.

I am going to be the negative nelly here, just because that's what I feel like doing. I have a feeling in my gut that this will be somewhat disappointing. Not bad per se, but a disappointment. Why do I feel this way? Here are my reasons:

1) Peter Jackson did not want to direct this film. A director being forced into a job he didn't really want is never a recipe for a strong film. I realize Jackson would have had a lot to do with it regardless, but I feel like his interests had largely moved on from Middle Earth and he got saddled with this because he basically had no choice.

2) Peter Jackson hasn't been a very good director lately IMO anyway, which leads to -

3) And one of his big problems as a director has been his tendency to indulge his every fanciful whim and make overlong, over sentimental movies. And that seems to be exactly what he is doing here, yet again. He's taken a small, simple story and blown it up into two mega-epics. Seems to me already his indulgence is showing.

So there you go, my admittedly killjoy opinion. I expect a thorough reprimand. That said, wow, Martin Freeman looks exactly like a young Ian Holmes. Good job!

Honestly, I thought Lovely Bones was the only crap film he's made since LOTR. King Kong is flawed, yes, but I still really like it. As far as inflating a simple story into two films, I honestly think it could go either way.

Either way, I'm still excited as hell. How could I not be, with that cast?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian OB 

I am going to be the negative nelly here, just because that's what I feel like doing. I have a feeling in my gut that this will be somewhat disappointing. Not bad per se, but a disappointment. Why do I feel this way? Here are my reasons:

 

1) Peter Jackson did not want to direct this film. A director being forced into a job he didn't really want is never a recipe for a strong film. I realize Jackson would have had a lot to do with it regardless, but I feel like his interests had largely moved on from Middle Earth and he got saddled with this because he basically had no choice.

 

2) Peter Jackson hasn't been a very good director lately IMO anyway, which leads to -

 

3) And one of his big problems as a director has been his tendency to indulge his every fanciful whim and make overlong, over sentimental movies. And that seems to be exactly what he is doing here, yet again. He's taken a small, simple story and blown it up into two mega-epics. Seems to me already his indulgence is showing.

 

So there you go, my admittedly killjoy opinion. I expect a thorough reprimand. That said, wow, Martin Freeman looks exactly like a young Ian Holmes. Good job!

Fair enough. Not sure what repeating these very well-established arguments has to do with two bitchin' loookin stills, though.

Regarding your first point, I disagree. If Jackson didn't want to direct these movies, he wouldn't have. If he really didn't care, he easily could've handed the reigns over to a protege or a studio guy.  To me it seems that he picked up the gig because he wants these films done right.

I just realized that McKellan will only be playing Gandalf the Grey in this one (right?  right!?). 

WARMTH!

I like to think del Torro stayed on the project long enough to give Peter the confidence to take them on himself.

People are saying PJ's getting fat again. I think it's just the way his sweater's hanging making him look plumper.

I didn't notice the first time, but he does look bigger.  The beard kinda makes him look more like his LOTR Trilogy days.  I like it! 

I just finished watching the British Office for the first time and I'm so happy that Martin Freeman is playing Bilbo. I think I like Bilbo better than the hobbits in Lord of the Rings simply because he really, really wants nothing to do with the shit going on around him, and I can see Martin Freeman bring a sense of exasperated reluctance to the role, while also being unwittingly heroic. Coincidentally I just finished re-watching the trilogy yesterday, so this was perfect timing for me. 

Maybe he's trying to get into the mind of Bilbo, so he has breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, luncheon, afternoon tea, etc along with the rest of the cast. The man's working for 254 days and guess what, catering isn't allllllways the healthiest and it's free and no one says you should stop eating it, because it never, ever ends. You think it's diets that keep the stars slim? No, it's all the cocaine they do, cuz they can pig the fuck out on set and it's awesome.

Freeman's so right for this role, it makes me giddy. These stills cement it like a mofo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian OB 

3) And one of his big problems as a director has been his tendency to indulge his every fanciful whim and make overlong, over sentimental movies. And that seems to be exactly what he is doing here, yet again. He's taken a small, simple story and blown it up into two mega-epics. Seems to me already his indulgence is showing.

 

You're not alone in this. Stretching the flick into two, two+ hour movies only makes me worried that this will be more KONG than FELLOWSHIP. I know KONG has its defenders and fans, but it really is a hot bloated mess that shares a lot more common with the 1976 version than PJ would likely want to admit. And the less said about LOVELY BONES the better.

I have very little doubt the production design will be flawless, Smaug will be jizz-inducingly cool, and the action will be expertly choreographed and photographed. But I worry about pacing and actual characterization.

And please, in the name that is all that is good and holy, no more herky-jerky slo-mo. That shit is old and takes me right out of the film.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian OB 

I am going to be the negative nelly here, just because that's what I feel like doing. I have a feeling in my gut that this will be somewhat disappointing. Not bad per se, but a disappointment. Why do I feel this way? Here are my reasons:

 

1) Peter Jackson did not want to direct this film. A director being forced into a job he didn't really want is never a recipe for a strong film. I realize Jackson would have had a lot to do with it regardless, but I feel like his interests had largely moved on from Middle Earth and he got saddled with this because he basically had no choice.

 

2) Peter Jackson hasn't been a very good director lately IMO anyway, which leads to -

 

3) And one of his big problems as a director has been his tendency to indulge his every fanciful whim and make overlong, over sentimental movies. And that seems to be exactly what he is doing here, yet again. He's taken a small, simple story and blown it up into two mega-epics. Seems to me already his indulgence is showing.

 

So there you go, my admittedly killjoy opinion. I expect a thorough reprimand. That said, wow, Martin Freeman looks exactly like a young Ian Holmes. Good job!

Glad I'm not the only one to feel this way. Especially to your first point. I remember Jackson flat out stating out loud when they first announced The Hobbit  and the "bridge" film (around...2006-ish) that if he wanted to direct it, then he'd have signed the papers to do so from the start instead of producing. And now to see him crawling back to it and to see fandom jumping for the joy over it.

I'm sorry. I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy. But Jackson isn't the same filmmaker he was when he made those films over a decade ago. I see nothing to get excited about over a director being forced to return back to the well after a few misfires.

In Jackson's defense, it seems like he was initially wary of directing the films because they take such a toll (del Toro could've been his Kershner!!!).  And wasn't he busy doing The Lovely Bones at the time? 

I'm actually glad Jackson is tackling these. Like I said in previous post, I just finished re-watching the trilogy and I don't think that Del Toro would have been able to deliver the scope needed for these films, plus I've recently realized that I kind of really only like Del Toro's Spanish language films, and I'm actually rather unimpressed with his English language output. 

As for spreading this out over two films? I'm totally for it, because I really like the idea of taking all the ancillary information Tolkien had written and directly infusing it into the narrative. Maybe if The Hobbit was done first this would seem more unnecessary, but the thing is these movies are being produced as prequels to the trilogy, not the first installment in the film world of middle earth. I'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with. 

The idea that a megamillionaire like Jackson could be "forced" into doing any film seems odd to me. It's not like he needs this film to be made for anything other than artistic reasons.

After GDT had to pull out Jackson could have just as easily chosen to hand it off to any number of other directors he's fan of but he chose to take it on instead.

Dare i say it the Hobbit was a safe choice for Jackson. That does not make me any less exicted by those still mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian OB 

I am going to be the negative nelly here, just because that's what I feel like doing. I have a feeling in my gut that this will be somewhat disappointing. Not bad per se, but a disappointment. Why do I feel this way? Here are my reasons:

 

1) Peter Jackson did not want to direct this film. A director being forced into a job he didn't really want is never a recipe for a strong film. I realize Jackson would have had a lot to do with it regardless, but I feel like his interests had largely moved on from Middle Earth and he got saddled with this because he basically had no choice.

 

2) Peter Jackson hasn't been a very good director lately IMO anyway, which leads to -

 

3) And one of his big problems as a director has been his tendency to indulge his every fanciful whim and make overlong, over sentimental movies. And that seems to be exactly what he is doing here, yet again. He's taken a small, simple story and blown it up into two mega-epics. Seems to me already his indulgence is showing.

 

So there you go, my admittedly killjoy opinion. I expect a thorough reprimand. That said, wow, Martin Freeman looks exactly like a young Ian Holmes. Good job!

All of these are legit concerns and I feel pretty similarly. By their very nature these movies are all but destined to disappoint a lot of people and piss a lot of people off. But, the lead up to these films are always full of treats, and personally I'd rather give them the benefit of the doubt and enjoy the build up than concern myself too much with flaws and problems that are mostly hypothetical at this point. We can cross those bridges when we come to them.

Jackson being "forced" to do it is perhaps too strong a word. But he knew that outside of Del Toro or possibly Sam Raimi, he couldn't have just handed this off to anyone. The franchise was in his hands, and he felt an overriding responsibility to make the films, rather than the passion he felt about LOTR. Feeling responsible for something and feeling passionate for it, especially with something this big, is a huge difference.

That said, there's no reason to be negative about it; I fully admit there's nothing positive or constructive about my misgivings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sebastian OB 

Jackson being "forced" to do it is perhaps too strong a word. But he knew that outside of Del Toro or possibly Sam Raimi, he couldn't have just handed this off to anyone. The franchise was in his hands, and he felt an overriding responsibility to make the films, rather than the passion he felt about LOTR. Feeling responsible for something and feeling passionate for it, especially with something this big, is a huge difference.

 

That said, there's no reason to be negative about it; I fully admit there's nothing positive or constructive about my misgivings.

Nothing wrong with keeping expectations in check. There is definitely something a bit Godfather III about a director getting his arm twisted into going back to a series he felt he was finished with, and deep down I feel like this should've been made by a director who was hungry for it, not doing it out of a sense of duty. There are a few reasons to be hopeful about how things have ended up though:

One is that after Bones Jackson has something to prove again. He's coming off the back of his first unambiguous failure since he hit the A-list and this is his chance to blow people away and remind everyone why he was a big deal in the first place.

Another one is that with all the months of delays you'd hope they had plenty of time to hone the script to perfection. That's actually an advantage it has over the originals, which I seem to remember them implying were being put together on the fly at times.

And the other thing is, considering how ridiculously long winded and troubled the pre-production was, it's pretty amazing that the pieces have fallen into place so this thing can be made pretty much uncompromised - all the key players on board while they're still able to play the roles. Again, it would be nice to think the fact it's already been an epic struggle to get the thing off the ground will motivate everyone into bringing their a-game once again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoMoreMrNiceGaius 

I'm actually glad Jackson is tackling these. Like I said in previous post, I just finished re-watching the trilogy and I don't think that Del Toro would have been able to deliver the scope needed for these films, plus I've recently realized that I kind of really only like Del Toro's Spanish language films, and I'm actually rather unimpressed with his English language output.

This is exactly how I felt about del Toro's involvement. As far as "foreign directors who never quite found their footing in Hollywood" go, his career doesn't quite mirror John Woo's, but for me it's close.

As for stretching the Hobbit into two movies, I'm sure that's due to pressure from the studio as much as it is any self indulgence on Jackson's part.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul C 

Nothing wrong with keeping expectations in check.

Fair call Paul.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bucho 

The idea that a megamillionaire like Jackson could be "forced" into doing any film seems odd to me. It's not like he needs this film to be made for anything other than artistic reasons.

 

After GDT had to pull out Jackson could have just as easily chosen to hand it off to any number of other directors he's fan of but he chose to take it on instead.

Seriously. The man has millions upon millions with more coming regardless of ever working again. He probably has a wall covered with all the awards LOTR won. He and Taylor have turned WETA into a Lucasfilms defying behemoth. He's one of the very few directors working today that can literally write their own tickets.

This is more him stepping up to the plate and making sure this gets done. 

It's more about feeling obligation. Steven Spielberg, possibly the richest director in Hollywood, was "pushed" into doing Indiana Jones 4, and we all saw how that turned out...

Very good comparison Evi and something i hadn't thought of.

But this was already slated to be directed by someone else. If Jackson had wanted to he absolutely could've handed the reigns over to a handpicked successor. He already did with GdT. I think him stepping in to direct is more a positive sign than anything, really. He wants it done right.