News from the set

Couldnt find a emoticon with a big head

The Hobbit trailer countdown.

http://www.movies.com/movie-news/39the-hobbit39-countdown-when-will-we-see-first-trailer-what-will-be-it/5481

Sounds like they have already finished the riddles in the dark.

More of the same
http://www.movies.com/movie-news/39the-hobbit39-countdown-what-tone-will-peter-jackson-strike-with-children39s-story-from-39the-hobbit39/5105

Elijah was interviewed on BBC Breakfast this morning, I missed most of it but caught the very end, I will watch the catch up later to see what I missed but right at the end he said there would be a trailer next month! Crabbit meter at the ready!

It's not news from the set, strictly, speaking, but Movies.com has an interesting interview with Viggo Mortensen up. I'd recommend reading the whole thing, but here's the relevant part about The Hobbit.

Movies.com: Has Peter Jackson asked you to return to Middle Earth in the Hobbit movie in any capacity?

Mortensen: At one point, the producers asked if I would do it and I said sure if Aragorn is supposed to be in the bridge story because he's not in The Hobbit. I would rather do it than see someone else do it, but I've never been asked and they're shooting the movie. I'm not in it unless it there is some last-minute plan they have, but I thought I would have heard of it by now. Orlando Bloom and Cate Blanchett shot something, but they're elves and don't change as rapidly. As you know, Aragorn is half elf and also lives a couple hundred years or more and he could be in a bridge, but I have to assume it isn't going to happen. That was an important period in my life and I will always be grateful that the trilogy was so successful and gave me a lot of new opportunities. I never would have gotten A History of Violence, no matter how much David wanted me, had it not been for my newfound notoriety.

I had pretty much taken it for granted that the idea of the bridge movie was dropped since both GDT and PJ disavowed any interest in directing it some time ago, but it's nice to see further evidence that the idea is gone. I never liked it, if you can't tell. Props to Viggo for not wanting Aragorn in The Hobbit, but anti-props to Viggo for saying that Aragorn is "half elf".

Pettytyrant101 wrote:right at the end he said there would be a trailer next month! Crabbit meter at the ready!

Andy Serkis had said something similar about a trailer in December, and I'm rather excited. As to when and how it will be released, an entertainment reporter on Twitter has dropped a clue that many people seem to find believable.

@TheInSneider

Expect to see THE DARK KNIGHT RISES trailer in front of SHERLOCK HOLMES 2... And MAYBE even a HOBBIT teaser.

I'm looking forward to Sherlock Holmes 2 even more now!

Having watched the first Sherlock Holmes film mugg, rob and stomp all over the original characters wild horses couldn't drag me to see another one.

Jeremy Brett was the best Sherlock. what Downey jr did to that beloved character was gobsmackingly awful and banal.

Couldn't agree more Mrs Figgs. You will find at least two uber Brett fans here- myself and Ringdrotten (whose avatar for a long time was Brett as Holmes). One of the small screens greatest ever performances.

Brett was born to play Sherlock, like Stephen Fry was born to play Oscar Wilde.

The Brett Holmes is excellent (Petty convinced me to give his series a try, though I only watched a bit of it), but the Robert Downey, Jr. movie was awesome. Sort of like how the LOTR movies were enjoyable to watch even though I was annoyed by many of the changes (except I'm not a Holmes reader so I'm not familiar with all the changes).

"like Stephen Fry was born to play Oscar Wilde"- Mrs Figg

And Jeeves. A born natural to that part he was (and Hugh Laurie is the perfect Wooster).

Eldo you should be dragged out and tied to a chair and forced to first read all the Holmes books and shorts, then watch Brett appear off the page and before your eyes as a living breathing Holmes, then be forced to watch the Downey abomination- at which point you will break down in tears, repent of your folly and appeal for clemency. And if you don't I'm setting fire to the chair. I'd be no less than you deserve.

Really though how can anyone like Downey as Sherlock, it was boooooring, and predictable, and all fur and no knickers. Now Brett was perfection, every twitch of the mouth, every flash from the eyes, every elegant movement of the hands was like watching poetry. The angst, the delicacy, the inner torment all balanced like a ballet. genius.

Not news from the set, but news

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2011/11/22/50516-the-hobbit-released-for-first-time-on-enhanced-ebook/

Smaug speaks

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/benedict-cumberbatch-talks-the-hobbit

Pettytyrant101 wrote:(whose avatar for a long time was Brett as Holmes).

Changed it back again a couple of days ago As to Downey's Holmes vs Brett's, I think I've made my views clear before: Downey (or, to be fair, the movie he starred in) is a mockery of the books. Enough said (Though I respect your right to feel differently, Eldo )

Pettytyrant101 wrote:"like Stephen Fry was born to play Oscar Wilde"- Mrs Figg

And Jeeves. A born natural to that part he was (and Hugh Laurie is the perfect Wooster).

Eldo you should be dragged out and tied to a chair and forced to first read all the Holmes books and shorts, then watch Brett appear off the page and before your eyes as a living breathing Holmes, then be forced to watch the Downey abomination- at which point you will break down in tears, repent of your folly and appeal for clemency. And if you don't I'm setting fire to the chair. I'd be no less than you deserve.

my hero. What he said Eldo. And hello Mrs.Figg, and Tin you look gorgeous. I am going to lie down now and not be upset, after all Eldo is only a wee boy, he doesn't have a clue what on earth he is doing. He's just a boy, he's just a boy, oh my head, he's just a boy............

“The old giant beech tree which prompted Sir Peter Jackson and 450 cast and crew members to film a scene for The Hobbit near Paradise, beyond Glenorchy and Queenstown, survived for a century until a storm blew it down six weeks ago.

This, however, was a Hobbit-sized problem in the grand scheme of issues for the Academy Award-winning screenwriter-producer-director in his bid to deliver Hobbit adventures to the world.”

Read the rest of the story, including the reporter’s on-set experience at Otago Daily Times It is pretty clear that Beorn is shooting now.

From The Otago Times.

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown-lakes/187907/exclusive-set-peter-jackson

Peter Jackson wrote:All I can do is make the best movie I can and hope people enjoy it. It's going to have a different tone to The Lord of the Rings because the characters are quite a lot different.

Peter Jackson wrote:The book was very much written for a much younger reader than Lord of the Rings was, but I didn't want to make a children's movie. I still wanted to have some of the main themes we had in the Rings.

NB Am I the only one annoyed by news-people constantly referring to PJ as "Sir Peter"? The pretentiousness is stifling. Do music fans have to suffer through hearing about "Sir Mick" every time some reporter writes an article about the Rolling Stones?

Not exactly news as this interview was from way back when Toro was still going to direct, but wise and telling words from Viggo.

I don’t know if it’ll be as big a circus [as the Trilogy] in terms of several people writing changes at the last minute.
“Maybe it’ll be more streamlined and efficient, but to some degree it’ll probably be as bewildering a set-up as the other three.”
Mortensen also claims the original trilogy became more led by effects as the series progressed.
“The Fellowship Of The Ring for me was the one most faithful to Tolkien. The one that had the most to do with any kind of subtlety in terms of performance and storytelling.
“Starting with the second one it became more of a blockbuster special effects thing. That’s not to say as that type of movie they weren’t the best.
"You can’t argue with the films’ success, but had it been me, I would have focused less on the effects and more on the characterisations.
“I’d have allowed the secondary characters to speak more and not be so focused on the heroes. There was more balance in the way that all the races of Middle-earth were presented in the first one. It was more about the relationships… That’s just my personal taste.”

And he is right of course. But alongside a few notable others, such as Chris Lee and John Rhys-Davies this is not the first actor interview from the films I've read where the unhapiness with the script is very thinly veiled in the commments. Actors don't generally tend to speak out in this fashion, probably becasue its such a tough job market you don't want to rock the boat so when they do I always feel that whatever they say is about a 10% as strong as they actually would say in private.

Interesting to hear one of the more common (and well-founded) criticisms of PJ echoed by one of the key actors. Do you have the original link to that interview, Petty? I'd be fascinated to read more and be able to reference it in the future.

I pretty much quoted the whole thing but here's the link anyway Eldo.

http://www.totalfilm.com/news/viggo-mortensen-talks-the-hobbit

Good old Viggo. always thought he was a sensible chap.



I think they use the word Sir a lot because its just lazy journalism.

Excellent stuff, thanks Petty!

More news

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52078