FILM REVIEW: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Other Half and I kicked off our annual end-of-year moviegoing season with Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. This is the second film in the trilogy of movies which are a film adaptation of The Hobbit, the young-adult book that is a prequel to the Lord of the Rings. Last year we saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which generally was viewed by most as unnecessarily long. Many fans of the books and the movies are scandalized that Jackson is turning one (frankly, not very long) book into three relatively long movies.

We saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at the Arclight Cinemas in Pasadena, not in 3-D or HFR but just regular 2-D.

The interesting difference between The Hobbit movies and the Lord of the Rings movies is that the former is based around dwarves as the main characters. This is useful because hobbits and dwarves are supposed to be about the same (short) height and so there are much fewer odd height juxtapositions in these films. However, there are some characters from the first series of films that also appear in the second: Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and, Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), VERY briefly.

The key character in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is of course, Smaug, the dragon. Amusingly, Smaug is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch (of Sherlock and Star Trek Into Darkness fame) while Martin Freeman (who plays Watson to Cumberbatch's Sherlock) plays Bilbo Baggins, the sole hobbit member of the dwarf expedition to reclaim their treasure stolen by Smaug.

The second edition in the The Hobbit trilogy is significantly better than the first. The action is sharper and the story more focused. Another positive addition to the film is the character of Tauriel played by Evangeline Lilly, a fierce elf that we meet in Mirkwood, the dark, enchanted forest our heroes have to get through in order to reach the Lonely Mountain.

Once they do finally get to the Mountain and encounter Smaug the action does tend to drag on a little and then the film suddenly ends without the quest having been resolved. For that, we will have to wait until next year's The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

Title: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Director: Peter Jackson.
Running Time: 2 hours, 41 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images.
Release Date: December 13, 2013.
Viewing Date: December 20, 2013.

Writing: A.
Acting: A.
Visuals: A+.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: A (4.0/4.0).

WATCH: Trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The second film in the trilogy being written, directed and produced by Peter Jackson about a book written by J.R.R. Tolkien is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. It is in theaters on December 13, 2013 and a new 3-minute trailer is out now!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is coming soon!

The second movie (of three) adapting the story told in the book The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien is coming to movie theaters later this year. It's called The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The first movie was called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I saw the first movie in theaters last December and liked it very much. The Hobbit is a prequel of sorts of Tolkien's more famous Lord of the Rings books which were made into the blockbuster movie trilogy by Peter Jackson.

io9 is reporting that the first teaser trailer for The Desolation of Smaug will be released tomorrow, June 11th and the full trailer will be attached to this Friday's release of Man of Steel (The new Superman movie directed by Zack Snyder, produced by Christopher Nolan and starring Henry Cavill).

Hat/tip to Wonder Man

FILM REVIEW: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Since the movie adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings were my favorite movies of the decade it should not be surprising that I would want to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the adaptation of the prequel book, The Hobbit.

Although the identical creative team lead by writer-producer-director Peter Jackson that made the near-perfect, very faithful adaptations of the first three books are involved in the adaptation of The Hobbit to the screen, there have been some misgiving expressed by other fans by the decision to turn a much shorter, less ambitious book into a new trilogy of films. It seems doubtful that there's enough source material in what is essentially a children's book to make more than 8 hours of filmed entertainment for adults to enjoy.

However, Jackson has made clear that they are not just adapting the book The Hobbit but are really trying to create another series of films which attempts to more fully explore the incredibly rich world of Middle-Earth as originally envisioned and created by Tolkien. Tolkien was a English language and literature professor at Oxford for years who was basically the very first author in what is known known as the genre of speculative fiction to create a fully realized fictional world with a complete history and geography and back story connecting all the characters in the books.

When deciding to see An Unexpected Journey you have multiple options to choose from: IMAX, 3-D,  48 Frames per second (often referred to as HFR or "high frame rate"), or just regular 2-D. There are also various combinations of these formats (like 3-D HFR, or IMAX 3-D, etc).

The Other Half and I saw An Unexpected Journey in regular 2D at the Edwards Alhambra Renaissance-14, our  regular go-to theater, on Christmas Day. The movie theater we saw the film in was close to completely full even for a mid-afternoon screening. When we emerged about three hours later, the hallways were completely thronged with people lined up to see movies.

An Unexpected Journey is not getting as universally positive acclaim as the movies from the first trilogy (it has a 65% rating from critics at rottentomatoes.com, 81% from the audience) but like the other films it is a booming success at the box-office, having already brought in a half-billion dollars globally in the first two weeks.

Anyway, let's talk about the actual movie. Basically, I loved it! I am completely baffled by other critics who have said that the pace of the film was slow, and complained about the 10 minute prologue putting the story into perspective. I would agree that the scene where Bilbo Baggins meets the entire group of dwarves was a bit over-extended, but it is there to demonstrate how tentative and unassertive the hobbit is. Other critics had mentioned that the movie doesn't really get going until Bilbo shouts "I'm going on an adventure!" (as shown in the trailer) which happens about 35 minutes into the film, but to me that seemed to happen at the very beginning of the movie.

Someone else pointed out that the structure of An Unexpected Journey is almost identical to The Fellowship of the Ring, the first movie in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The fellowship is formed (after some reluctance by the hero), they run into some dangerous trouble early on and go see the elves. Then they go inside the mountain, where a lot of stuff happens and parts of the group gets separated from the others, then they leave the mountain and run into another even more serious danger, escape that and then the movie is done! This summary is pretty reductive, but it is roughly accurate, without giving away too many plot points.

Overall, if you liked any of the original Lord of the Rings movies and especially if you have read any of the books by J.R.R. Tolkien I am very confident that you will enjoy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Title: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Director: Peter Jackson.
Running Time: 2 hours, 49 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images.
Release Date: December 16, 2012.
Viewing Date: December 25, 2012.

Writing: A.
Acting: A-.
Visuals: A.
Impact: A-.

Overall Grade: A (3.83/4.0).

WATCH: Brand New Trailer for The Hobbit

There is a new trailer for the first (of three!) prequel movies to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and it is being released in theaters December 14, 2012!

WATCH: Trailer for 2012's The Hobbit

My Favorite Films of the Decade 2000-2009

Here is my Top 10 list of my favorite films seen in the last decade, from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2009.

1. The Lord of the Rings. The pure cinematic achievement of Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings is absolutely stunning. The films were box-office blockbusters and universally critically acclaimed, even by people who had never read the book(s). I first read the book(s) at the age of 9 and loved these perfect filmic realizations even more than the original(s). Director: Peter Jackson. Released: 2001, 2002, 2003.
   
2. Memento. I still remember the sense of wonder and amazement I felt during and after watching Christopher Nolan's debut feature film. My mind was blown but I knew that I wanted to see it again, and that I would make sure to see everything this director would ever release in the future (The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Batman Returns, Insomnia). Director: Christopher Nolan. Released: 2001.
   
3. Avatar. Yes, believe the hype! James Cameron confounded all the doubters who refused to believe that the director of Aliens and Titanic could (again!) reinvent the cinematic experience with an(other) original story. I saw the film twice in the first weekend of release and know that I will see it again several times. This is the current generation's Star Wars: a film which restores the sense of wonder to cinema. Director: James Cameron. Released: 2009.
4. The Incredibles. From the director of the instant classic The Iron Giant and the wizards at Pixar came this incredibly poignant and action-filled story of a family of superheroes. The Incredibles, like Finding Nemo, Up, WALL-E and Ratatouille demonstrate that animation can be as emotionally powerful as live-action. Whenever I see this film on TV I must stop what I'm doing and watch it all the way to the end. If I believed in God, I'd pray for a sequel! Director: Brad Bird. Released: 2004.
5. Tell No One (Ne Le Dis A Personne). An innocuous little French thriller that grabs your attention from the first scene and leaves you breathless at its satisfying conclusion. The story is adapted from Harlan Coben's thriller "Tell No One." It also does a very good job of illustrating contemporary life in Paris, subtly challenging preconceptions that ideal living standards must be American. Director: Guillaume Canet. Released: 2006 (France), 2008 (United States).
6. House of Flying Daggers. Although Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was more widely acclaimed (winning the 2000 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and being nominated for Best Picture) I think that this film is the more amazing cinematic achievement, although this is admittedly a very close and somewhat arbitrary call. Together with this director's Hero, this trio of films (all featuring the incredible Zhang Ziyi) are must watching for anyone who likes martial arts and gorgeous spectacle. Director: Zhang Yimou. Released: 2005.
7. Dreamgirls. Who said the musical was dead? Openly gay writer-director Bill Condon achieved the impossible by adapting the thinly veiled 80s-era musical about the 60s supergroup The Supremes and finding someone who could handle the tsunami posing as a song "(And I'm Telling You) I'm Not Going." Jennifer Hudson won a well-deserved Oscar in her debut movie role and Beyoncé showed that she was born to inhabit the role of Miss Diana Ross. Director: Bill Condon. Released: 2006.
8. Spirited Away. This is not a Disney cartoon! Any serious student of film in general and animation in particular knows the name of Miyazaki. The Japanese filmmaker makes emotionally resonant films with curious stories that contain heart-stoppingly strange and beautiful images that are hard tp forget. In Spirited Away Miyazaki is at the top of his game and we are all the richer for it. Director: Hayao Miyazaki. Released: 2004.
9. Far From Heaven. Written and directed by Todd Haynes but animated by Julianne Moore's heart-wrenching performance as a 1950s-era wife married to a man with a secret played by a surprisingly good Dennis Quaid, this film is like a nearly perfect confection: short and sweet and leaves you wanting more. Director: Todd Haynes. Released: 2002.
10. Brokeback Mountain. The first film to have millions of gay men leave the theater shattered at finally seeing an emotionally true depiction of homosexuality in a major motion film. The relationship between Heath Ledger's Ennis Delmar and Jake Gyllenhaal's Jack Twist is the core of the film but it is the story and beautiful direction that really twists the knife. And, yes, I'm still bitter it didn't win Best Picture! Director: Ang Lee. Released: 2005.

And since I couldn't just mention only 10, here are ten more (not in any order) that should not be forgotten.

Honorable Mentions: Pan's Labyrinth, Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, The Prestige, Finding Nemo, Juno, Slumdog Millionaire, Kill Bill, United 93, Milk and Moulin Rouge!

MOVIE REVIEW: District 9

District 9 is summer 2009's surprise late summer hit. Executive produced by Peter Jackson and directed by a surprisingly young wunderkind from South Africa named Neill Blomkamp on an incredibly small budget of $30 million, the film is surprisingly effective and entertaining.

MadProfessah and The Other Half saw the movie in its first week of release. He liked it more than I did; I felt that it got a little slow in the second act.

The basic story is about an alien ship which appeared suddenly above the city of Johannesburg a few decades. When humans explored the ship they found hundreds of thousands of malnourished and stinking aliens (who look like some kind of arthropod so that they get the nickname "prawns") who are then housed in horribly slum-like conditions. The movie has the form of a faux documentary covering the actions of a private corporation (Multi National United) who has received a contract to relocate the now 1.8 million prawns from their ghetto near the heart of a major South African city to a remote area hundreds of kilometers away which are a thinly disguised concentration camp.

The star of the documentary is a bureaucrat with clearly less-than-average intelligence named Wikus van der Merwe, played by the completely unknown actor Sharlto Copley.

The plot has a number of surprising twists and the visual effects are stunning.

District 9 is an excellent piece of film-making reminiscent of the original breakthrough hit 28 Days Later created by Danny Boyle (Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire) which is not perfect but is a significant innovation in the way action films are regarded. District 9 had a stunning marketing campaign (realistic signs on bus benches with "Restricted Area: For Humans Only") that raised the anticipation of the film to a fever pitch among fanboys and others, and then lived up to those expectations (89% on rottentomatoes.com).

Running Time: 1 hour, 52 minutes. MPAA Rating: Rated R [See Full Rating] for bloody violence and pervasive language.

OVERALL GRADE: A.

ACTING: A-.
IMAGERY: A+.
PLOT: A.
IMPACT: A.

Hollywood Gives Writers No Respect, Example #946

From the detailed press coverage of the writers strike we knew that Hollywood studios had no respect for the work that scribes do, but this is taking things a bit too far. Apparently, the powers that be assholes at New Line Cinema feel that a one-time payment of $62, 500 is just compensation for the creative source of the $6 billion movie franchise The Lord of the Rings. Yesterday, the trustees of the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien sued New Line Cinema for breach of contract. According to Box Office Mojo, the multiple Oscar-winning trilogy has grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide. According to their contract, Tolkien (or his heirs) were to receive 7.5% of "gross receipts" after expenses. Nikke Finke at the must-read Deadline Hollywood Daily has the press release:

The Lord of the Rings films produced by New Line are among the most financially successful films ever created by Hollywood and were released in 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively. The cumulative worldwide gross receipts to date total nearly $6 billion. Notwithstanding the overwhelming financial success of the films, and the fact that the plaintiffs have a gross participation in each of the films, New Line has failed to pay the plaintiffs any portion of the gross profit participation at all. [emphasis added]

The trustees’ UK lawyer, Steven Maier, of Manches LLP, said: “The Tolkien trustees do not file lawsuits lightly, and have tried unsuccessfully to resolve their claims out of court. But in this case, New Line has left them no option at all. New Line has not paid the plaintiffs even one penny of its contractual share of gross receipts despite the billions of dollars of gross revenue generated by these wildly successful motion pictures. To make matters worse, to date New Line has even prevented the plaintiffs from auditing the last two films of the series. The trustees are very aggrieved by New Line’s arrogance.”

The complaint seeks, among other things, in excess of $150 million in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages, and a declaration from the Court that the plaintiffs have a right to terminate any further rights New Line may have to the Tolkien works under the agreements, including The Hobbit, due to the serious and material nature of the breach of the agreements.

Bonnie Eskenazi, the trustees’ US counsel who filed the complaint, said, “New Line has brought new meaning to the phrase ‘creative accounting.’ I cannot imagine how on earth New Line will argue to a jury that these films could gross literally billions of dollars, and yet the creator’s heirs, who are entitled to a share of gross receipts, don’t get a penny.”

It should be noted that the Oscar-winning director-screenwriter-producer Peter Jackson had to sue New Line to receive just compensation, so maybe it's not just the writers the suits try to screw over but all creative talent.

However, by dissing the goose that lays the golden eggs, New Line is jeopardizing its previously announced participation in the movie version of The Hobbit, another book written by Tolkien which is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

If New Line (or Time Warner if the rumors are true) doesn't pay the Tolkien Trust some significant fraction of the $150 million that they owe them, this is one Tolkien fanboy who will be boycotting the two new Lord of the Rings films planned for December 2010 and 2011.