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Ang Lee, the two-time Academy Award-winning director, has noted that we should never underestimate the power of storytelling. Indeed, as a storyteller, Lee has shown through his films the potential of stories to connect people, to heal wounds, to drive change, and to reveal more about ourselves and the world. In particular, Lee has harnessed new technology for storytelling in movies such as Life of Pi (2012) and his upcoming feature film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (to be released on 11 November, 2016).

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In many ways, Beagle's story -- an artist, taken in by a con artist -- is as classic as his writing.

The post ‘The Last Unicorn’ Scribe Peter S. Beagle Sues His Manager for Elder Abuse And Fraud appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

A first edition of The Hobbit by J. R.R. Tolkien, which the author had given to a former student, was sold at auction for £137,000 breaking historical sales records for the copy. Sotheby’s expected the rare book to go for between £50,000 and £70,000.

The copy was one of a handful of copies that the author had signed. This copy contained a list of family members, colleagues, friends and students he planned to give copies of the book. Here is more from Sotheby’s:

The recipient of this copy was Miss Katherine (“Kitty”) Kilbride (1900-1966) who had been one of Tolkien’s first students at Leeds University in the 1920s. Kitty Kilbride was, recalled her nephew, “…an invalid all her life and was much cheered by his [Tolkien’s] chatty letters and cards. …books were given to her as they were published”. Her set of The Lord of the Rings(inscribed to “C.M. Kilbride”) was sold in these rooms 19 July 1982, lot 315 and, later, Sotheby’s New York, 10-11 December 1993, lot 581. An autograph postcard to her, dated 24 December 1926, was sold at Bonham’s, 12 June 2012, lot 150. Kilbride’s letter of acknowledgement for the present volume is preserved in the Tolkien papers in the Bodleian Library (MS.Tolkien 21, f.66). She notes “what fun you must have had drawing out the maps”.

The 20th anniversary edition of the conference will present some major industry players.

Fellow Boomerang Blogger, Romi Sharp recently congratulated me on hitting my first century. Gob smacked! I mean I don’t even own a cricket bat, let alone know how to hold one. She meant blogs of course. I hardly noticed. They rack up and slip by like birthdays these days. Nonetheless, even numbers deserve celebration (especially […]

Today’s Fantasy Books Festival post is all about special abilities. Everyone loves a good collision of fantasy universes

• Maleficent (from the Kingdom Keepers series) or Gandalf (from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series)
• Annabeth Chase (from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Who are your winners? Why? What are your suggestions for fantasy face-offs? Share in the Comments below! 

Till next time,

 — En-Szu, STACKS Staffer

First Book works tirelessly throughout the year to provide new, high quality books to students in need.  One of the true pleasures of this work is to know that volunteers, organizations, and communities across the country are working toward the same goal.

Recently, we received a wonderful letter that highlighted the incredible creativity of one such group.

MJR Marketplace Digital Cinema 20 in Sterling Heights, Michigan, does an annual movie promotion event to benefit an organization of their choice. This year, the movie theater used its promotion for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to help bring books to kids through First Book.

During the movie’s opening weekend, several of the theater’s managers and staff created a wonderful display of Bilbo Baggins’ iconic home, Bag End. One employee went above and beyond to dress up as Gandalf the Grey himself and posed in photographs with patrons for a small donation.

As a result of their hard work and imaginative fundraising, the night turned out to be a huge success. They combined the donations from the weekend with the funds from a year-long soda can recycling program to raise a total of $1,384.66 to help put books in the hands of low-income students.

The staff successfully combined the excitement of a fan base for a movie premiere with the compassion of their audience to help students across the country. It serves as a high bar for the rest of us and makes us think: what are some creative ways we could help the students in our own communities?

If the tale of The Hobbit has taught us anything, it’s that you can never underestimate the impact of a small band of friends.  In the wise words of Gandalf the Grey: “I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay.  Small acts of kindness and love.”  In this case, let’s pretend the ‘darkness’ he is referring to is illiteracy. First Book could not be happier to have such great friends, with innovative ideas, along to way to create a generation of successful readers!

Warning: This 36-second video contains the 'F' word.

By Arthur P. Shimamura

Is it the sense of experiencing reality that makes movies so compelling? Technological advances in film, such as sound, color, widescreen, 3-D, and now high frame rate (HFR), have offered ever increasing semblances of realism on the screen. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we are introduced to the world of 48 frames per second (fps), which presents much sharper moving images than what we’ve seen in movies produced at the standard 24 fps. Yet many viewers, including myself, have come away with a less-than-satisfying experience as the sharp rendering of the characters portrayed is reminiscent of either old videotaped TV programs (soap operas, BBC productions) or recent CGI video games. What features of HFR create this new sensory experience and why does it appear so unsettlingly similar to the experience of watching a low budget TV program?

One factor that can be ruled out is the potential difference in flicker rate. Moving images are of course created by the rapid succession of still frames, and thus the flicker or on-and-off rate must be fast enough so that we do not perceive any change in illumination between frames. With early silent films, the flicker rate was less than 16 fps, and a noticeable flashing or flickering was apparent (hence the term “flicks” to refer to these early movies). Since the advent of sound, the standard has been 24 fps, though the flicker rate is increased with the use of a propeller-like shutter that spins rapidly in a movie projector so that a movie running at 24 fps actually presents each frame two or three times, thereby increasing the flicker rate to 48 or 72 fps. Thus, with respect to flicker rate we have always watched movies at HFR.

A still from The Hobbit film. (c) Warner Bros.

Two factors have motivated the current interest in HFR. The obvious one is that actions recorded at more rapid frame rates, such as a car chase shot at 48 fps vs 24 fps, would reduce by half the distance objects move across successive frames. With HFR we are presented shorter increments of movement, and our brains need not work as hard to extrapolate apparent motion across frames, which may result in a smoother sense of motion. I, however, do not think that it is this between-frame difference that is driving our sensory experience as we watch The Hobbit. A second, less known factor, is that the movie was shot at a faster shutter speed than movies shot at 24 fps. Filmmakers have a rule that states that the shutter speed at which each frame is shot should be half as long as the frame duration. Thus, most movies we’ve seen have been shot at 24 fps with a shutter speed of 1/48 sec for each frame. Those of you who have played with photography know that this shutter speed would produce rather blurry images when the camera is hand held. On a tripod, a movie filmed with this shutter speed would show fast moving objects (e.g., cars) with a noticeable blur. When movies filmed at 24 fps are shot with a faster shutter speed and less motion blur, actions appear jerky and unnatural.

The Hobbit was filmed with a shutter speed of 1/64 sec, which produced less motion blur and thus sharper images compared to movies shot at 24 fps. At the faster frame rate, the jerkiness associated with presenting sharp images at 24 fps is largely reduced, though I did notice that on some occasions large camera movements and fast movements of actors appeared stilted and unnatural. A psychological study by Kuroki and colleagues showed that in order to perceive naturalistic movements with sharp moving images (i.e., no motion blur) it is necessary to use frame rates of 250 fps or faster. Interestingly, the shutter speed used for The Hobbit closely matches that used for old videotaped TV programs, which were filmed at 30 fps with a shutter speed of 1/60 sec. I suspect that it is this close match in shutter speed (and thus similarity in image sharpness) that creates the impression of viewing a soap opera when we watch Bilbo Baggins and company.

In the future, after years of experiencing HFR movies, will we be able to appreciate the more realistic renderings garnered by this new technology? Will a younger generation without prior associations to videotaped TV programs be enamored by the sharper images? Time will tell, though I’m skeptical. HFR does offer a more realistic rendering than what we’ve previously encountered at the movies, and further advances may help to refine its use. Yet do we really want to have an entirely realistic portrayal? In most cases that would mean having the experience of sitting next to the director watching actors on a sound stage with artificial lighting, which is exactly the impression I had while watching Bilbo backlit by what was supposed to be moonlight. Instead, we may end up preferring a softer image which maintains the illusion of being engaged in an adventure with our favorite fictional characters and partaking in a wonderfully unexpected journey.

Arthur P. Shimamura is Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley and faculty member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. He studies the psychological and biological underpinnings of memory and movies. He was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 2008 to study links between art, mind, and brain. He is co-editor of Aesthetic Science: Connecting Minds, Brains, and Experience (Shimamura & Palmer, ed., OUP, 2012), editor of the forthcoming Psychocinematics: Exploring Cognition at the Movies (ed., OUP, March 2013), and author of the forthcoming book, Experiencing Art: In the Brain of the Beholder (May 2013). Further musings can be found on his blog, http://psychocinematics.blogspot.com.

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The post HFR and The Hobbit: There and Back Again appeared first on OUPblog.

Now this is really neat.  There’s a series called BOOKD through THINKR (apparently E’s are considered gauche these days) that will take a topic and really go into it with a panel of experts.  In this particular case the question is whether or not you should re-read Charlotte’s Web.  Author Bruce Coville and teacher/blogger/author Monica Edinger (amongst others) give their two cents.  Really nicely edited and shot, don’t you think?

In other news, I had no idea that the Royal Shakespeare Company had created a staged adaptation of The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban.  Hoban died just last year in 2012.  I feel a bit miffed that he didn’t get to see this.  Maybe he got a sneaky peak in some way.  At any rate, it look fantastic (love the ending on the second video).  I just wonder how they pulled off The Caws of Art.  I’ve two videos here for the same production.  Love them both for very different reasons.

Thanks to Stefan for the links!

Sometimes I like to step into an alternate universe where I grew up in the USSR and watched television like this version of The Hobbit.  Instead I grew up on the old Rankin & Bass version.  Which was better?  Um . . .

Thanks to Educating Alice for the link!

And kudos to The New York Times for this lovely Christoph Neimann illustrated video of an interview Sendak conducted with NPR.

When I die, let’s do that.  That would be fun.  Make a note of it.

And finally, for the off-topic part, gold gold goldy gold.  I don’t even know if you could label it “Off-Topic” since it involves a child reading.  Or rather, a three-year-old child “reading”.  I know it’s three minutes but I seriously sat down and watched the whole thing because it’s a fascinating case study in what words kids pick up on when they hear stories.  The “but then” particularly amuses.

Many thanks to Stephany Aulenback for sharing that.

I’ve blogged about this fellow before, but it’s been a while.  There’s a young actor in L.A. by the name of Hunter Davis who has a penchant for doing a dead on Ian McKellen imitation.  He’ll post videos of his antics from time to time, and with the release of the new Hobbit movie you can see that he’s extended his repertoire a tad.  Apparently it isn’t just Ian McKellen.  He has a pretty good Andy Serkis as well.

Previous videos include things like the theme to Ducktales, the Magic Dance song in Labyrinth, that sort of thing.

Now I understand that Christmas has come and gone and that if you’re anything like me you’re just vegetating on your couch watching the snowflakes fall, contemplating the sheer caloric loads you’ve imbibed in the last week and a half.  But insofar as I can tell it is NEVER too late to watch British children’s authors singing The 12 Books of Christmas. Here you will find Sarah and Don Conroy, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, Michael Emberley, Jane Mitchell, Síne Quinn, Conor Hackett and on ukelele Grainne Clear and Deirdre Sullivan.  Their band name?

The Blurbs.

Worth it if only to discover how to pronounce Niamh Sharkey.  Thanks to David Maybury for the link.

Finally, for our off-topic video (busy week, not much fodder, somehow I missed this Spike Jonze book-loving bit of stop-animation.  In the interest of work friendliness there is some copulating skeleton action over the credits at the end.  If your place of business is anti-skeleton sex, forewarned is forearmed.

Thanks to mom for the link!

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Warner Bros dumped a bunch of stills from 2013 ovies the other day, including this first look at The Hobbit II: The Desolation of Smaug that shows Martin Freeman as Bilbo lounging about on Smaug’s gold hoard. That can’t end well.

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (Peter Jackson)

Because the other photos include Ryan Gosling, Henry Cavill and a very troubling looking Sylvester Stallone, here are the rest of the photos:

Gangster Squad (Ruben Fleischer)

Starring MICHAEL PEÑA as Officer Navidad Ramirez, RYAN GOSLING as Sgt. Jerry Wooters, ROBERT PATRICK as Officer Max Kennard, ANTHONY MACKIE as Officer Coleman Harris and JOSH BROLIN as Sgt. John O’Mara

EMMA STONE as Grace Faraday and RYAN GOSLING as Sgt. Jerry Wooters. That won’t inspire any tumblr posts, no sir.

BULLET TO THE HEAD

Walter Hill directs this graphic novel adaptation! It’s based on the French Du Plomb Dans La Têteby Matz and Colin Wilson. It stars Sylvester Stallone who has clearly taken an axe to his head which left his eyebrows in suspended animation. Seriously, Sly. WTF!!!! You are 66 years old and it’s been a hard life but…AIEEEE. Co stars include Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christian Slater, Jon Seda, Weronika Rosati and Jason Momoa

HSD-04802r: SYLVESTER STALLONE as Jimmy in Warner Bros. Pictures’, Dark Castle Entertainment’s and IM Global’s action thriller ”

That’s Sarah Shahi with Sly’s eyebrows. Also he has the felt hair of a G.I. Joe figure. Why do we suspect this will not be one of the more PRESTIGIOUS comic book movies?

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

Richard LeGravenese directs this story of star crossed southern lovers who meet up with supernatural shit. It stars ALDEN EHRENREICH as Ethan Wate and ALICE ENGLERT as Lena Duchannes and does not takes place at TWILIGHT.

Oscar winner VIOLA DAVIS explains that they are in terrible danger from some old artifact I bet.

Jeremy Irons explains that they are in terrible danger.

Emmy Rossum appears as the girl next door in a dress that has useful built in underwear.

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER

Bryan Singer slums from the X-men to direct this fairy tale. NICHOLAS HOULT plays Jack. The rest of the cast includes Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy, Ewan McGregor. McShane and McGregor in one picture. Good

42 (Brian Helgeland)

Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey in the story of the first African American major league baseball player.

THE GREAT GATSBY

Baz Luhrmann directs what is sure to be an understated version of F. SCott Fitzgerald’s classic tale of Jazz Age overindulgence, with Leo Di Caprio as Jay, Carey Mulligan as Daisy and Tobey Maguire as Nick. Beautiful shirts.

THE HANGOVER PART III

Director Todd Phillips is back as are Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms , Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha and Ken Jeong.

MAN OF STEEL

You’ve already seen this one. Dark broody Man of Steel played by Henry Cavill.

PACIFIC RIM

WOW this movie is going to be incredibly toyetic, isn’t it? Guillermo del Toro directs a big MECHA VS KAIJU movie, starring the guy from Sons of Anarchy, Rinko Kikushi (who has Knives Chau’s haircut for some reason), and Idris ELba because every action movie must include Idris Elba. Also, Rob Kazinsky who was roiginally to play Fili in THE HOBBIT until mysterious health issues forced him off the production. I lked Dean O’Gorman fine as Fili, but Kazinsky would have been more of a “twin” with Aidan Turner’s Kili.

THE CONJURING (James Wan)

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as supernatural investigators who must rescue Ron Livingston and Lili Taylor from a horrible demonic possession in a farmhouse.

WE’RE THE MILLERS (Rawson Marshall Thurber>

Also known as “We’re the co-stars of the latest attempt at a Jennifer Aniston vehicle.” The co-stars in this case are Ema Roberts and Jason Sudeikis.

GETAWAY (Courtney Solomon and Yaron Levy)

Teen star/Bieber object of desire Selena Gomez teams up with Ethan Hawke for a remake of the Professional a thriller. Hawke is a burnt out race car driver whose family has been kidnapped! Gomez is a young hacker who is the only person who can aid him! Jon Voight plays the Sinister Older White Man. HEY GIRL — a driver who chews on a toothpick? Very original!

SEVENTH SON (Sergei Bodrov)

The Dude is now a full on wizard in this mystical fantasy. Ben Barnes and Julianne Moore also star.

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Over the years, I’ve developed a stable of sick foods for those days—whether self-incurred or sent by nature—when you just can’t get out of bed. One of my favorites, frequently referenced here, is Kozy Shack Rice Pudding, a magical substance, each bite of which contains the exactly perfect ratio of creamy vanilla custard and chewy rice grains. Every bite. I’ve never gotten sick of Kozy Shack Rice Pudding. I’ve eaten an entire tub of it in one sitting, never tiring of its flavor and texture, savoring each and every spoonful. It’s good to the last drop.

The new HOBBIT I movie (An Unexpected Journey) is like Kozy Shack Rice Pudding. It’s jsutmore of the stuff I love and I can eat the whole tub on one sitting. To anyone left who wonders if they should see it I would ask “Did you like LORD OF HE RINGS? Didn’t you say at some point that you would watch a whole movie of Ia McKellan’s Gandalf and Christopher Lee’s Saruman reading aloud rice pudding recipes? Yes, you did and this is that movie.”

The Hobbit is another helping of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth. It is not an exact replica of Tolkien’s Middle Earth, but it is close enough in spirit and texture to be an enjoyable extension of the books. And if you are a hardcore Tolkien scholar, like me, you like ALL OF IT, every creamy, ricey bite of it, from the Cracks of Doom to Dol Guldur, from Aragorn to Feanor. And that’s what Jackson is giving us…little bits from the appendixes kitted up to full on battle scenes and character arcs. And I love it!

Now, did I think the opening with Elijah Wood as Frodo and Ian Holm as the older Bilbo was a little too custardy without enough rice? Yes I did. Was I surprised to find that all White Council meetings took placed while the participants were stoned out of their minds and could only talk in long, drawn out syllables? A bit. Was I previously unaware that Bilbo would be mostly a bystander in the film’s action as the story shifted over to Thorin Oakenshield and his quest for his homeland? That is surely so.

But was I also excited to find the canonical great orc Azog elevated to sub villain, and stone giants having majestic boulder battles in the mountains, and the scrofulous growths of disgusting goblin kings shaking with laughter and wargs and elves and Mount Gundabad?

You betcha!

To all the haters who say this movie has no story and is way too slow: I think you got the wrong idea. Peter Jackson’s three part Hobbit is not a movie. It is a nine-hour mini-series that is being presented in theaters at frame rates only a crankhead can enjoy. The first hour is all set up, the second hour is some journeying, the third hour has some fights, the fourth hour will definitely have more fights, and maybe spider, and perhaps a hearty lunch and so on.

Also, if you don’t mind spoilers, I defy you to read this and not want to se Peter Jackson make this movie! If you don’t want spoilers here’s a peek:

The third movie is apparently going to be nothing but action as a giant battle of men, elves, dwarves, orcs and eagles unfolds, while Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond go postal on the Necromancer at Dol Guldur. With swoopy camera angles and bigatures! And hot elves! And hot dwarves! And Martin Freeman! Come on now, who does not want to see that?

I was not a fan of Jackson’s KING KONG, which was total monkey fanfic and betrayed White Council-like meandering story sense. But here, Jackson’s viewpoint meshes perfectly with the source material. There are a lot of Jackson/Walsh/Boyens/del Toro made up things in the HOBBIT but they all improve the film’s cinematic flow. They’ve elevated Thorin, who in the book is mostly a greedy, petty pain in the ass. In Jackson’s HOBBIT he’s a noble, dispossessed prince trying to get his homeland back—but he’s also flawed. He’s an Aragorn who doesn’t make it. Richard Armitage is fine with the role, and as with the original trilogy, slash and fanfic will never be the same after meeting Thorin, Fili, Kili, Bofur and so on.

Now, I did not see this in the crack-head frame rate, and it seems that everyone who did—including all critics—was repelled and alarmed. I don’t generally like 3D but The Hobbit looked fine in that presentation, with Jackson’s trademark plunging tracking shots, and WETA’s attention to detail holding up well on the screen. (Apparently in 48fps it’s really hard to make things look good in cinematic terms.)

And to those who say The Hobbit is a cute kids book and does not need to be three three hour movies, I say, “No, it doesn’t so go watch the Rankin Bass version.” This movie is all about pigging out on rice pudding, and wallowing in every last detail of Middle Earth. And I’m fine with that.

I wasn’t totally fine with Radagast. I liked his bunny sled, which wasn’t canon but somehow, kinda fit in with the spirit of other agrarian Tolkien works like Farmer Giles of Ham and Leaf by Niggle. I wasn’t entirely in love with his bird shit. Radagast in the books was an oddball but not a hoarder. (And yes every Tolkien scholar in the audience laughed when Gandalf said that there were five wizards but “Hm, I can’t remember the name of the other two.” )

Other Tokienistas seem to have reacted favorably to An Unexpected Journey. Here’s Mariah Huehner’s take.

By changing a few things, Jackson gave Bilbo a bit more agency up front (choosing to go on the quest instead of Gandalf basically shoving him out the door, figuring out he should maybe try stalling the trolls until daylight, coming to Thorin’s defense). This makes his arc as a character more believable because he does have some of these positive traits already. They just need to be brought out by the circumstances. He starts out fussy, with glimmers of risk-taking and cleverness. Which come up again later in various circumstances (trolls, Gollum, spiders, barrel ride, Smaug, info via thrush to Dale, they all build toward each other). That’s how you work a character arc.

The tone is perfect, and they do a really good job of making this “Not Lord of the Rings,” complete with the implication that Bilbo likely embellished parts of the story. It’s lighthearted without being goofy or dumb, and captures that sense of innocence of a time much less dark and dreary.  I suspect this might throw off some who are less familiar with Tolkien’s work, who expect every one of his stories to feel like LoTR, but we know better, don’t we?  There are many different stories in Middle-Earth with many different purposes.

The Hobbit is a single male elf accompanied by male dwarves. How can we make movies where women do not exist?

In another tweet, Jodorowky united the streams:

Al final de “El Hobbit”, quien duerme en la montaña de monedas de oro, no es otro que el tìo del pato Donald disfrazado de dragòn.

— Alejandro Jodorowsky (@alejodorowsky) December 16, 2012

which translates (Google tells me) as:

At the end of “The Hobbit”, who sleeps in the mountain of gold coins, is none other than Donald Duck’s uncle disguised as a dragon.

So anyway, I really enjoyed the Hobbit, I plan to see it at least once more, and when it comes out on Blu-Ray I’ll watch it over and over again, especially when Fili and Kili are onscreen, and oh yeah, Andy Serkis’s Gollum was amazing.

Now bring on the Kozy Shack!

By Philip Carter

Published in 1937 The Hobbit was Tolkien’s first published work of fiction, though he had been writing on legends since at least 1915. His creation — a mythological race of ‘hobbits’, in which Bilbo Baggins takes the lead — had originally been intended for children. But from the outset Tolkien’s saga also proved popular with adults, perhaps appreciative of the hobbits’ curiously English blend of resourcefulness and respectability. The book was published by Stanley Unwin, following the recommendation of his 10-year old son, Rayner, who received a one shilling reader’s fee. Its success prompted Unwin to press for a sequel, and Tolkien now began work on The Lord of the Rings — a story that ‘grew in the telling’ at readings for the famous Inklings circle in Oxford.

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Philip Carter is Publication Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Read more about J.R.R. Tolkien on the Oxford DNB website. The Oxford DNB online is freely available via public libraries across the UK. Libraries offer ‘remote access’ allowing members to log-on to the complete dictionary, for free, from home (or any other computer) twenty-four hours a day. In addition to 58,000 life stories, the ODNB offers a free, twice monthly biography podcast with over 130 life stories now available. You can also sign up for Life of the Day, a topical biography delivered to your inbox, or follow @ODNB on Twitter for people in the news.

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“Dillicious” blogger Heath Dill wants to share his recipes for second breakfast with his project, Medium Rare and Back Again: A Tolkien Cookbook. The recipes will be derived from several of J.R.R. Tolkien works, from The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Dill has raised more than $14,000 on Kickstarter to give him time to research, cook, photograph, and write 30 recipes for this book. He hopes to make the online version free and to have a print edition available as well. We’ve embedded a video about the project above–what do you think?

Here’s more about the project: “These recipes will cover different parts of Tolkien’s world – light and delicate Elvish recipes like lembas bread, stout roasted Dwarven fare, hearty Hobbit pies and stews, as well as a few oddball recipes like Balrog Wings. Those that I’ve already blogged about – I’ll be doing refined versions of those, as I’ve learned how to make them even better since then!”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

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Variant Entertainment Weekly cover celebrating next week’s release of The Hobbit

There’s hobbitses just around the corner, people. Peter Jackson’s Hobbit opus opens next Friday to so far mildly positive reviews (it’s currently clocking in at 71% Fresh over at Rotten Tomatoes). In celebration, EW has released four variant covers for this week’s issue, featuring different Hobbit principals. Peter Jackson is preparing for the release by defending his choice to show the film at 48 Frames per second while Warner Brothers is already teasing audiences with pics of the second Hobbit movie, in which Orlando Bloom, “returns” (or is it seen for the first time?) as Legolas (via Rotten Tomatoes, EW, and Comingsoon.net)

Get ready! There is a big plot twist coming up on the next episode of Arrow. It’s the mid-season finale though, so shouldn’t that be expected? In other Arrow related news, casting is underway for an actress to play the DCU character, Shado, an archer and assassin who becomes Oliver Queen’s lover. (via InsideTV and CBR)

Joss Whedon was named Entertainer of the Year by Entertainment Weekly. In this naming ceremony, newsy tidbit, EW reveals that Joss’ brother, Jed Whedon, and sister-in-law, Maurissa Tancharoen (who were the showrunners of Dollhouse and have co-production credits on Dr. Horrible) will be the showrunners for S.H.I.E.L.D., along with Jeffrey Bell (who has co-production credits on another Whedon show, Angel). The piece also says that Whedon already turned in an outline for Avengers 2 (EW)

Anne Hathaway would love to play Catwoman again. I could get into that. (via Access Hollywood)

And while we’re on the subject of Anne Hathaway’s turn as Catwoman, it is worth mentioning that Indiewire talked to Christopher Nolan who answered questions about Man of Steel (he’s producing) but skirted around any Justice League related inquiries (via Indiewire’s The Playlist)

Entertainment Weekly got a first look at the live action adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Enders Game.

Enders Game first look (Image via EW)

Here is a picture of Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff and Asa Butterfield as Ender. The film will be released November 1st, 2013. Enders Game Director, Gavin Hood told EW that they have upped the ages of the children from 6 to 12 because it’s just, well, easier all around for everyone. Plus, middle grades are where it’s at, just ask any YA author you might know about their latest editorial revisions (via EW)

 THR has an interesting read about X-Men: Days of Future Past which speculates as to how Fox might bring back all the now very busy and totally famous X-Men from the original films. It is unconfirmed but rumored, for example, that Halle Barry and James Marsden will be reprising their roles as Storm and Cyclops (via THR)

The USA Network has picked up a World War 2 alien space drama called Horizon, which will be produced by The Walking Dead’s Gale Anne Hurd (via Deadline)

And, even though this came out a few weeks ago, just in case you missed it – here is a trailer for Season 2 of Derek Kirk Kim’s web series, Mythomania (via Mythomaniashow YouTube Channel)

Have a nice weekend!

@shannonsplanet

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Hero Complex has a bunch of interviews about The Hobbit up, which is a reminder that OHMIGOD THE HOBBIT OPENS IN 12 DAYS!!! OH MY GOD! IT IS HAPPENING! DON’T LET ME ALMOST DIE AGAIN!

One interview, with famed costume designer Ann Maskrey reveals that her favorite “look” she designed is for Radagast, the obscure wizard that Tolkienistas have been begging for for decades and are finally getting!

AM: It was lovely doing things for Cate Blanchett, but she could make a plastic bag look good. There are favorite other ones that are coming up on the screen next year. [In the first film,] I’m very fond of Radagast. I’m very, very fond of that one. It’s just everything about it. The actor [Sylvester McCoy] I knew before, had worked on a movie with him before. He’s a very likable man, and the character’s lovely. The costume used every part of the workshop to the fullest. We had embroidery done, we had fabrics made, we had fabrics dyed, the break-down team worked on it, the milliner did a great hat, the boys that made all the footwear did really nice shoes for him. To me, that was one of the most successful ones. And he’s a new character.

“I’d be checking over what they were doing for the hobbit accessories or hobbit bodices, and how they were finishing them off, and I’d find that they were doing something that I didn’t particularly like, and I’d say, “Why are you doing it that way? I’d like it this way.” And they’d say, “That’s how we did it before.” And I’d say, “Well, ‘before’ is 10 years ago. And that’s not what we’re going to do now. We’re in 3-D, we want something better. … That was then, and this is now, and you’ve got to lift your game accordingly.”

Together, the brothers are the youngest dwarves in the company, and as many “Hobbit” enthusiasts have noted, the sexiest.

“I think that’s pretty relative,” O’Gorman said, laughing. “I mean, we’re a company of dwarves. The bar’s not set very high. … I think the idea was as you get older, your beard gets longer, and your nose gets bigger, but when you’re younger, you’ve got a smaller nose and less facial hair.”

While other dwarf actors wore enveloping whiskers and bulging prosthetic foreheads and noses, O’Gorman and Turner had fewer prosthetic pieces to deal with — nose extensions, fake hands and hairpieces with ears.

I’ll say no more.

From The Hobbit to Harry Potter, Hollywood loves dividing popular novels into two separate films.

With the second adaptation of Stephenie Meyer‘s Breaking Dawn coming to theaters this weekend, we caught up with screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg to find out what it was like to break the novel into two pieces.

She explained in an email interview: “There was a very natural place at which to break the two books.  The second movie needed a little filling out, but the book itself offered many possibilities for that.  Because the book is all told from Bella’s point of view, things sometimes happen off the page and are related by Bella after the fact — for instance, when Jacob tells her father she’s a werewolf.  In the book, Bella finds out about this conversation after it happened, but in adapting the movie, I got to write the conversation itself.”

continued…

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Audible has released the first unabridged audiobook version of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy, a staggering 54 hours and nine minutes of listening time.

The series is read by Rob Inglis, the actor who narrated audiobooks for Ursula K. Le Guin‘s The Earthsea Cycle. Inglis also narrated the unabridged audiobook for Tolkien’s The Hobbit, an 11-hour listening experience.

Here’s more from the release: “Each of these audiobooks is also Whispersync for Voice-ready, which means that if you buy or already own the Kindle version of The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers or The Return of the King, you can now effortlessly switch back and forth between reading and listening to the series that has captivated millions of readers and moviegoers—without losing your place.”

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This looks even better the more times you watch it :) 

Excuse me, but I need to nerd/geek/dork/whatever out here for a minute because: They are making not one, not two, but three movies for The Hobbit. They finally released the sub-titles this past week causing a flurry of speculation as to how exactly the story is going to enfold. It’s like Durin’s Day for Tolkien nerds, with secrets like Lee Pace as Thranduil being released, looking pretty and elf-y. The first trailer that debuted months ago still gives me goosebumps during the dwarf song.  There are the amazingly perfect gestures of Martin Freeman as Bilbo to consider. I’ve got some time to analyze Galadriel’s knowing smile and Gandalf’s concern before the first hits theaters and I’m pretty ecstatic to be able to write that.

Why is it all such an epic big deal? Well, for me, it’s because I thought LOTR was the end of it and I considered myself lucky and grateful to have gotten such wonderful adaptations of works I love so much in my lifetime. I was content with having not only theatrical releases but extended, everything and the Moria-sink, versions. I saw the Huorns eat the orcs after The Battle of Helms Deep. I saw the Gray Havens. Cate Blanchett was Galadriel and she was perfect. I have like 12 hours of awesome Middle Earthing to watch whenever I want. How could I ask for more?

Yet, we’re getting a lot more. Not one, not two, but three installments of dwarf-y, hobbit-y, dragon-y, goodness. Some people have wondered if there’s enough story to do a satisfying trilogy. I would argue an emphatic, YES. Even though The Hobbit is a more straightforward, “simple” heroes quest, with far less world detail and historical density, it’s not really a “lite” read. Especially when you consider it within the greater story of LOTR, which it foreshadows, and further consider some of the events that take place off-page, that are helpfully included in appendices in LOTR. The fact that they’re actively putting it within that context, in my opinion, roots the story in the world more solidly, grounding it within a framework of larger and more profound consequences.

Depending on when you read The Hobbit and how you interpreted it, I can understand the belief that it’s a “kids” story and doesn’t need a darker adaptation. As grownups it’s easy to view the less sophisticated writing style, especially when compared to the sweeping and layered complexity that is LOTR, and see something “for children.” If you’re looking at it through the nostalgic lens of childhood, or the assumption that it is child-ish, we can sometimes overlook the fantasy/horror elements that The Hobbit does in fact contain.

Spoilers!

First of all, a group of trolls nearly eats all the dwarves in the first third. The goblins (or basically smaller orcs) in the mountains capture and chain up the dwarves, hurt them, threaten them and definitely want to kill them. Gollum, it is implied, has eaten goblins before, and he absolutely tries to brain Bilbo when he figures out he found his ring and tricked him with a non-riddle. After they get out, those same creatures set fire to the trees our heroes hide up, nearly becoming kebabs for goblins if not for the eagles. Then there’s Mirkwood with the giant spiders who poison the dwarves so they can, let’s face it, drain their blood. Then the elves lock them all up in dungeons. And that’s all BEFORE the giant dragon who decimates Esgaroth, The Battle of Five Armies, and the sad yet noble death of a redeemed main character. I’m just not sure you can call that sort of story “lite” toned, exactly.

Granted, there’s plenty of humor. I remember laughing every single time I read the exchange between Bilbo and Gandalf about who/what Beorn is, because Bilbo’s response is just so completely ludicrous, involving the word “coneys” and his bizarre belief that skin-changers are somehow like furriers. And Bilbo running around invisible with a cold during the barrel ride to Laketown and freaking people out with his “spirit” sneezes and bread stealing? Comedy gold. He has quite a bit in common with Pippin in the pratfall department, really. So, like any good drama, there’s levity to break it all up.

However, that just brings us back to the darker themes and story points, like Thorin Oakenshield’s entire history and his character arc which gets pretty obsessive and dangerous because of the Arkenstone. They only narrowly avoid dwarves vs. elves because the goblins come sweeping down from the mountains and that’s an enemy everyone can agree on because they’re pretty gross. There’s also some interesting specieism going on with Thranduil,king of Mirkwood, which hints at the larger problems in Middle Earth with the “good” guys being way too divided. And! If you’re an attentive reader, at least, you start to gather that Gandalf may have been kind of manipulating events here, especially in the hindsight you gain from information in LOTR that tells you how important it was to deal with Smaug. Plus I, for one, have always wanted to know what happened with the Necromancer while Gandalf was away, so I’m not sorry to have it added in. Basically, there’s plenty of story to go around.

Beyond all that, there’s also the issue that adapting the The Hobbit today, after LOTR has been made, means you can’t dial the story back to a time when this connection didn’t exist so concretely in pop culture consciousness. That’s just how it is. If you want to view The Hobbit as entirely separate, okay. You can do that. Don’t go see the films, read the book as a one-off, and it won’t be a problem for you. The films can’t actually undermine anything about your personal story interpretation. But there is no way Jackson could be expected to ignore the over-arching context after LOTR and it would be kind of absurd to try. Personally, I’m all for bringing these things together and getting our collective epic on.

At this point my obsessive love of all things Middle Earth should be pretty obvious. I could talk/write/post about it forever. I’ve loved this world since I was little and it’s informed my overall adoration of stories and storytelling a great deal. I appreciate detailed world building because of Tolkien, and one of the things Jackson has done best is realize that world with respect and consideration in a visual medium. That alone would make me a fan, but he also actively went beyond the superficial and made sure it all “feels” authentic and real.

The fact that we’ll have The Hobbit in another three films to add to this world, another journey to follow, another group of characters to root for and care about? I just can’t ask for more, because I’m already getting so much.