So I was all ready for The Hobbit to come out this Christmas season … not realizing how wonky the whole holiday weeks schedule is. Or that the Hobbit is coming out this weekend.
So my dilemma is this: do I and mine try to carve out three hours some time this weekend (probably mid-afternoonish somewhere) to go see it this weekend, even though our weekend is already action-packed with Things That Must Be Done …?
… or do I simply turn off my Twitter and Google Plus and Blog feeds, stick my fingers in my ears, and sing the "Fifteen Birds" song loudly for a week and change until we can get to see it while visiting back home (which, itself, will be a bit of a challenge)?
(One plus: its not like there can be fundamental spoilers in the story, except for all the Appendix stuff fleshed out. But aside from hearing, "Wow, that was awesome!" or "Gah! My eyes!", I'd really rather not hear much about the details.)
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Well, looks we solved that problem by buying tickets for tonight … 🙂
Enjoy 🙂
In an 18-hour period yesterday, Is aw both Skyfall and The Hobbit (bookending my work shift nicely). This is unusual for me, as I typically go to about one movie a year, and often none.
The only 12:01 showing of The Hobbit was in 3D, so I had my first modern experience with 3D (my last was with Comin’ at Ya in 1981). I recommend seeing it in 2D. The 3D effect too often reminded me of Viewmaster reels.
Sadly, “Funny Little Things” (as I have learned “Fifteen Birds” is called, at least on the CD I bought online) is not in the movie. “That’s What Bilbo Baggins Hates” and “Misty Mountain Gold” are, although I will continue to sing them as I learned them from the Rankin-Bass production.
My gripes are these (relatively spoiler-free):
1. The introduction of an antagonist for Thorin & Co.
2. Thorin does not seem dwarf-like, especially when compared to the other dwarves.
3. The portrayal of a particular wizard (whose inclusion is not as off-putting as I had feared).
4. The “humor” (no movie is improved, in my opinion, by large quantities of troll snot).
That said, I am glad I went to see it. It moves quickly, not feeling as bloated as one review had led me to believe it would. I did not even check the time until almost 2/3 of the way through the movie. If you can, go see it. If not, rest assured that you will have a pleasent experience when you get it on DVD/Blu-ray.
Now, as to Skyfall:
It didn’t feel like a James Bond film, in the sense that it did not adhere to the formula of the old Connery/Moore days. It was, however, a darn good film. Later on, their were nods to earlier films that make me think perhaps they are considered to be in-continuity after all. I laughed out loud (out of pure joy) when I saw… the license plate! That was for fans like me!
The use of the James Bond Theme is rather sparse. It is most notable after an event relating to the aforementioned license plate, and that was appreciated.
The credits mention a piece called “My Name Is Bond… James Bond” by Monty Norman as well as “The James Bond Theme.” I have no idea what this is. Google is no help here.
So… Both movies worth seeing. In this day of Big-screen HD TVs, though, you can justify waiting for almost anything.
So some SPOILERS here (Hobbit-wise, at least).
1. I think the antagonism works, esp. as it will bridge across the movies. It makes the journey less a chain of episodes, and more epic in nature. It’s even semi-canonical.
2. Agreed. Though Fili and Kili aren’t terribly dwarflike, either.
3. (At first I thought you meant a different wizard than you did.) Radagast is, yeah, a bit of comic relief, from what little we know of him. But the juxtaposition with the very serious elements (and demonstrations of power) was nice to make it clear he was not *just* comic relief.
Nice use of hinting at (but not showing) three major antagonists here for the following movies, btw.
4. Jacksonian humor is often a mixed bag. The Merry/Pippin byplay in LotR was great. The Gimli punching bag was awful. I think for the most part it worked here, and evoked some of the humor of the original book, a bit updated for modern sensibilities (for better or ill).
I think you should go tonight.
And so we did. And I was not at all disappointed.
What did you think of the trolls? Granted, trolls are stupid, but I sort of felt that Tom, Bert, and Bill had been replaced by Moe, Larry, and Shemp (yes, Shemp).
Part of the broader comic relief. And, honestly, though a bit less genteel, not out of keeping of my recollection of the trolls in the scene.