After countless delays, The Hobbit is finally in production.
And with a large amount of worldwide excitement building towards the two films releases, it’s only fair that we start to get our first look at the world, starting with the first official image (exclusive to Entertainment Weekly) of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. And damn, does he just feel right for the part.
Additionally, we have our first look at Ian McKellan as Gandalf the Grey (above), who hasn’t seemed to have aged a moment since Lord of the Rings ten (yes, ten) years ago.
Between these images and the blu-ray release of the Lord of the Rings extended editions on Tuesday, I’m feeling in a proper hobbit mode, and I cannot wait for our return to Middle Earth.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due to hit theaters on December 14th, 2012. The Hobbit: There and Back Again is set for December 13th, 2013.
The final battle between the Boy Who Lived and He Who Shall Not Be Named will hit theaters this summer, and to remind us of the July 15th, 2011 release date of Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows: Part II, Warner Bros has released the absolutely stupendous poster above.
You’ve got Harry, you’ve got Voldemort…what more could you ask for?
After many starts and stops, production on the Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit has finally begun.
We’ve known for some time that the movie would be split into two halves, but what we didn’t know is if they would be called just The Hobbit: Part 1 and The Hobbit: Part 2.
Well, Lord of the Rings super-site TheOneRing.net seems to have found some fancier titles for the movies.
New Line Cinema has registered two movie titles, and they certainly would fit the bill of Part 1 and 2. They are…
The Hobbit: There and Back Again
and
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Personally, these are perfect. It ties perfectly into the Rings trilogy (after all, Bilbo’s novel was called There and Back Again), and given that the sequel mixes Tolken’s post Hobbit work and ties into Lord of the Rings proper, I suppose unexpected would be a great title.
As always though, these titles may not actually be used, so take this with a grain of salt. For me? These titles are just too right to be fake.
Sure, they throw around terms like “worldwide phenomenon” and “greatest motion picture event of the generation”, but if this, the latest trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is ANY indication, Warner Bros has pulled out all the stops to make these final two films live up to those phrases.
Honestly, I haven’t read the 7th and final book of the Harry Potter series since it’s release a few years back, so my recollection of the sequences displayed are spotty at best, but having revisited the 6 prior films recently, I could not be more excited for these final two films to hit the screen.
As usual, however, as this is a post-production 3D film, I’m gonna plan on seeing this in 2D.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 hits theaters on November 19th, 2010, with Part 2 following on July 15th, 2011 – ending nearly 10 years of movie magic.
This is sort of a surprise. In a day and age where more and more movies either are sequels to existing franchises or are remakes of long lost favorites, Warner Brothers has gone ahead and dropped a lot of money on a new property – $3 Million, to be exact.
What’s worth $3 mil? The adaptation of a Japanese Sci-Fi novel titled All You Need Is Kill.
While I have little doubt that the title will be changed for the US audience before it hits theaters, the plot sounds REALLY cool.
As stated by the scoopers at Deadline.com:
The storyline puts a Groundhog Day plot device into a futuristic alien invasion storyline. A raw recruit, pressed into battle against an alien species, gets killed in action. But he is reborn each day to suffer the same fate. Eventually, he notices that he is becoming a better warrior and that other circumstances are changing, which might be the key to altering the outcome.
Apparently the deal involves an “aggressive production schedule”, so we could see this movie on screens in just about a year! Either way, I might just have to .
Next stop: movie studios putting out this sort of cash for new and ORIGINAL ideas by untested writers!
You know, I really sort of expected to write that I hated this book.
Let me give a bit of history here. While the talented decorating crew and baking staff at Charm City Cakes has been building a name for themselves nationally, here in Baltimore, there’s been a slowly boiling backlash towards them.
First, it was cute, that a local bakery was getting the spotlight. Then, the show grew into a part of the Food Network lineup, mixing the face of Duff with such near comical human beings as the bleach haired Guy Fieri and butter devote Paula Dean. Add the fact that a simple bakery in the middle of Baltimore’s Remmington neighborhood has become somewhat of a tourist magnet, it didn’t take long before Charm City’s citizen’s got a little sick of the so-called Ace of Cakes.
So it was with massive trepidation I cracked the cover of Ace of Cakes: Inside the World of Charm City Cakes. What on Earth had they done to earn a BOOK? What interesting stories would be found within it’s pages? Would this feel like another ghostwritten fluff piece like the biographies of other so called “celebrities” that stuff the shelves (and ultimately bargain bins) of your local Barnes & Nobles?
I’m very shocked, and surprised to say that…it’s actually a hell of a great book.
As someone who quickly grew tired of the Ace of Cakes show proper, I realize that I wasn’t quite the target audience, but the book actually won me over.
Presented more as a catch-all scrapbook, the book contains Duff’s life story up through building the Charm City Cakes empire, written in a very relaxed, informal style. Never once does he seem to have an air of self importance, if anything, he seems as confused as I was that they had a book about them. This can be said for the rest of the staff as well, as each member of a bakery has a 3-4 page bio section, where they describe in depth their journey to the bakery and their favorite projects, giving you a closer glimpse of the team behind the cakes. For avid fans of the show, the book has a roundtable discussion with the Food Network executives who greenlit the show, discussing the process from concept to execution of what could be the network’s least-expected hit. Furthermore, the back of the book has a complete episode guide for the show so far.
What really grabbed me, however, was the stellar design of the book. With full color interiors, including hundreds of personal photos, both impressive and embarrassing, you walk away from the book with an amazing grasp on the really laid back and talented people behind the world-renown Charm City Cakes. One of the highlights of the book has to be the fold-out section with photos of seven years worth of finished cake designs.
At a cover price of $35, the book is more than a little pricey; but online booksellers such as Amazon.com . I’d say it would make a great holiday gift for a fan of the show or of their amazing cake designs.
Despite my reservations, I have to say I ended up completely impressed. Provided you can get it at a decent discount, gets a whole hearted recommendation.
In a fandom inherited from my mother, I really really enjoy the novels of Stephen King.
Whether it’s his classics like Christine and It, his risktaking moves like the Dark Tower series, or more recent novels like the terribly underrated Cell, it’s pretty much a given that if it’s by King, I’ll give it a spin.
So it goes without saying that I’m kinda excited for his new book Under the Dome, which releases next Tuesday, November 10th.
The hype machine is in full effect, with even(!) being created for the novel, but once I read the plot, I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard of this before…
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as ‘the dome’ comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. Dale Barbara, Iraq vet, teams up with a few intrepid citizens against the town’s corrupt politician. But time, under the dome, is running out….
So, citizens in a city, trapped under a dome.
Wasn’t that the plot of The Simpsons Movie? Oh well, I guess if you gotta steal, steal from the best.
If you, like me, are excited for the book, I highly recommend . Typically retailing for $35, the 1088 page book is just $9! Thanks, Internet!
