http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/12/picturing-the-hobbit
Happy birthday to Bilbo and Frodo!
I’ll link in a few of my favorite art pieces from the above article later this evening.
Picturing The Hobbit | Tor.com
Tag: Tolkien
io9 March Madness Final Four: Harry Potter vs. Lord of the Rings!
http://io9.com/io9-march-madness-final-four-harry-potter-vs-lord-of-1551342961
Easy voting today but the next and final round will be a tough devision.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
Fantasy v SF Round One Pits Epic Fantasy Against Space Opera
io9’s version of March Madness begins today with ‘Epic Fantasy v. Space Opera‘ so vote now so Gandalf won’t have to smack down Vader. It won’t be pretty.
Of course, we’re holding the Mouse in reserve in case of foul play.
Book Review: The Smith of Wootton Major by Tolkien (4.5 Stars)
The Smith of Wootton Major
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Read in September 2009
Synopsis:
Every twenty-four years in the village of Wootton Major a special edition of the The Feast of Good Children was held. This was a very special occasion and to celebrate it a Great Cake was prepared, to feed the twenty-four children who were invited. The cake was very sweet and rich and entirely covered in sugar icing. But inside there were some very strange ingredients and whoever swallowed one of them would gain the gift of entry into the Land of Faery…
Continue reading “Book Review: The Smith of Wootton Major by Tolkien (4.5 Stars)”
Dresden Codak creator illustrates each chapter of The Silmarillion
http://io9.com/dresden-codak-creator-illustrates-each-chapter-of-the-s-1496454183
Interesting although not my preferred medium for mythic or epic art.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
Tolkien’s 122nd Birthday
J.R.R. Tolkien would have been 122 today.
His writings enriched and continue to enrich my life (see my Best Reads of 2013 wherein The Silmarillion received a rare five star rating from me).
While I haven’t re-read The Hobbit for the umpteenth time, I did venture out last week to see The Desolation of Smaug at my local favorite movie theatre (I gave that movie 3.5 stars via Flixster, and don’t think it’s as well done as the first one, An Unexpected Journey).
If you haven’t read any of Tolkien’s writings, I highly recommend all of them. I rarely re-read books, but I will always return, again and again, to the master of epic fantasy storytelling.
Some previous posts I’ve shared at this blog that reference Tolkien’s legacy:
Picturing The Hobbit | Tor.com
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/12/picturing-the-hobbit#more
Fantastic (pun intended) artwork celebrating Tolkien’s The Hobbit.
Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon
Book Review: The Hobbit by Tolkien (5 stars)
Read most recently in November 2009.
A delightful introduction to the world of Middle Earth. Follow the adventures (or misadventures) of a respectable hobbit turned burglar, a wizard and a baker’s dozen of dwarfs in their quest to slay the dragon, redeem the lost treasure and restore peace and prosperity among dwarfs, elves and men.
Along the way, the young audience will learn the pitfalls and consequences of greed, pride and arrogance, tempered with a hobbit’s good sense, good cheer, compassion and self-sacrifice.
Update April 2013: I decided not to re-read the novel before watching the recently released movie of a similar name (click here for my review of said movie). I did end up buying the ebook edition prior to viewing the movie so I would have it available to search and peruse before, during and after. I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to be able to search through an ebook. Compared to page turning and skimming, it’s better than sliced bread (well maybe not my sliced bread).
Movie Review: The Hobbit ~ An Unexpected Journey (2012)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
4 out of 5 stars
I waited until the last possible moment to decide to watch The Hobbit ~ An Unexpected Journey this past weekend. If I plan to spend the money to watch a movie in a theater, I do it opening weekend, because then most of the money goes back to the studio, which in turns means more movies that I like being produced. In other words, I vote with my money. And, Terry and I prefer to watch movies from the VIP seating on the balcony of Theater 7 at the Legends. Well worth the climb up the stairs to the third floor Saturday afternoon. We arrived with eight minutes to spare and sat through an amazing number of previews, but not any advertisements, which was a change for the better.
My most recent reading of The Hobbit occurred three years ago, when it was chosen as the book of the month for November 2009 for the Fantasy Book Club at GoodReads. While I like The Hobbit, I’m not really the target audience for the book, since Tolkien wrote it for children. But as with most well written children’s tales, there is much to be gleaned and learned by the adult reader. I’m excited to re-read The Silmarillion next month for the same book club. In fact, I may read it as an ebook and also listen to it as an audiobook.
I loved the increased frame rate speed used to film The Hobbit. I’ve been screaming for smoother sharper filming for years. Really, there’s no excuse not to. My eyes can drink in more than just 24 frames per second so please flood me with clean, crisp imaging.
I felt the focus of the story shifted away from Bilbo almost too much, and became Thorin’s story with Bilbo relegated to comedic sidekick. My foggy memory of reading The Hobbit three years ago recalls an older Thorin, still prideful to the point of arrogance, but not this brooding barely middle-aged dwarf, a veteran of many hard-fought battles. I came away thinking Peter Jackson tried to turn Thorin into a darker, shorter Aragorn.
And the whole albino orc and warg subplot is just a bit much. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t conceived in Tolkien’s mind.
Overall, I’m satisfied with the first installment of the drawn-out film trilogy adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’d encourage you to catch it on a big screen near you soon.