Kevin's Watch

I just picked up the DVD of the old 70 cartoon version.

ACtually it wasn't that bad--they left stuff out, but never really changed anything--except the elves looked as scarry as hell, and you couldn't understand ANYthing that Gollum was saying.

Has anyone seen that Hobbit Movie Trailer that's been floating around the Internet? Some guys peiced some clips of LOTR with --some dragon movie I can't remember--it looked pretty well done.

I love the Rankin Bass Hobbit Movie. The Bilbo/Smaug dialog scene is worth the price of the whole move - well done! Other parts are, at best, wacky. To me, the Elf King sounds like Rickie Ricardo. "Looooossie, what happened to doze dwarves, eh??!?!" Still, you have to like it.

Or not, as the case may be. I thought it was ghastly, particularly the casting (replete with American voice actors I recognized from endless Hanna-Barbera tosh on Saturday mornings). On the other hand, it was nothing like as bad as the Rankin-Bass Return of the King, complete with Broadway chorus Orcs.

Pish and tosh, VF! Where There's a Whip, There's a Way now stands among the greatest movie songs of all time! video (for Windows Media Player)

I remember that!!

Great find Wayfriend!!

Variol Farseer has OBVIOUSLY never seen Leonard Nimoy sing the Bilbo Song! (Quicktime)

Two interesting items in Hobbit news today.

First, let's get your hopes up.

TheOneRing.net posted this (link):

THE HOBBIT in 2007?!

8/31/06, 10:26 pm EST - Xoanon

The BIG news has finally hit. A Ringer Spy who was recently in the New York offices of New Line Cinema has reported that they clearly saw 'The Hobbit' on the film schedule for 2007. Here's what the spy had to say:

"Please leave my email anonymous as I have some very exciting news to report. I was in New Line's NY offices to discuss upcoming projects when I clearly saw something very intriguing on a year planner. 'The Hobbit' was clearly marked on what looked like July 2007. I couldn't exactly take a moment to investigate the calendar with my audience in the room, but it definitely said 'The Hobbit'. Lets hope this is a PJ project!"

Now to get you down to earth.

Peter Jackson announced a new 2007 project (link)

Peter Jackson to film Dam Busters

The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is to remake classic British war film The Dam Busters, he has told film industry trade paper Screen Daily.

... The project is due to start filming next year, with a budget of $30-40m (£16-21m).

Remember when Lord of the Rings was a secret project? Remember the code name "Jamboree"? All communications for the project refered to PJ's move as if it was called "Jamboree" to keep the secret. When filming in New Zealand, signs would say "filming Jamboree, keep out" and stuff.

I think "The Hobbit" is just code for another project. Frankly, PJ's got too much other stuff on his hands.

On the other hand...

Using the title "Jamboree" as a code name was supposed to make the movie sound so BORING that no one would peer into things. So using a code name "The Hobbit" is not a step in that direction, is it? That would draw attention like flies.

Also, it may be that PJ has nothing to do with this Hobbit.

[Edit] or it could be a hoax.

Maybe The Dam Busters is code for The Hobbit.

Wayfriend wrote:Variol Farseer has OBVIOUSLY never seen Leonard Nimoy sing the Bilbo Song! (Quicktime)

AUUUUGGHHHH! Stop it with that thing! I had just forgotten about the sheer dispicability of it....and now you bring it back. There's another night's sleep gone out the window!

Vanity fair released this:

Over the next few years, MGM is planning to release half a dozen films, some in the $150 million to $200 million-plus range. Studio is ready to unveil such high-profile projects as "Terminator 4"; one or two installments of "The Hobbit," which Sloan hopes will be directed by Peter Jackson; and a sequel to "The Thomas Crown Affair" with Pierce Brosnan.

Aint It Cool News looked into this and responded with this:

As luck would have it, I interviewed Peter Jackson this afternoon. We talked about everything he's involved in and in the next week you'll see the interview go up in pieces, including one about THE HOBBIT. But he did say that he woke up this morning to see that MGM says he's making THE HOBBIT with them, which was strange. He said that as unbelievable as it may be, he's never once talked to any studio, be it New Line or MGM, about doing THE HOBBIT. So, as of today Jackson has not talked to anybody about doing the movie, but he did say he'd like to do it, even though his schedule gets more crowded every passing week. So, if MGM wants to do this thing it might be a good idea to see if Jackson is up for it, no?

So is AICN for real or is MGM?

Wayfriend wrote:Vanity fair released this:

Over the next few years, MGM is planning to release half a dozen films, some in the $150 million to $200 million-plus range. Studio is ready to unveil such high-profile projects as "Terminator 4"; one or two installments of "The Hobbit," which Sloan hopes will be directed by Peter Jackson; and a sequel to "The Thomas Crown Affair" with Pierce Brosnan.

Aint It Cool News looked into this and responded with this:

As luck would have it, I interviewed Peter Jackson this afternoon. We talked about everything he's involved in and in the next week you'll see the interview go up in pieces, including one about THE HOBBIT. But he did say that he woke up this morning to see that MGM says he's making THE HOBBIT with them, which was strange. He said that as unbelievable as it may be, he's never once talked to any studio, be it New Line or MGM, about doing THE HOBBIT. So, as of today Jackson has not talked to anybody about doing the movie, but he did say he'd like to do it, even though his schedule gets more crowded every passing week. So, if MGM wants to do this thing it might be a good idea to see if Jackson is up for it, no?

A Gunslinger wrote:So is AICN for real or is MGM?

Hopefully MGM is...can't wait for The Thomas Crowne Affair II!

There's not enough material in The Hobbit to be two movies. So the news from MGM is suspicious. I don't think it's deception, I just think it's misinterpreted. (Would it not be cool if The Hobbit was "code" for Lord Foul's Bane?)

Since I was really duped when to original (bogus) announcement of The Hobbit occured-I won't see it until I believe it.

drew wrote: Has anyone seen that Hobbit Movie Trailer that's been floating around the Internet? Some guys peiced some clips of LOTR with --some dragon movie I can't remember--it looked pretty well done.

This is what I was talking about:

Hobbit

The movie was Dragonslayer - it was pretty good.

And the clip wasn't bad!! LOL

I recently read a bit in Entertainment Weekly bout Peter Jackson and the Hobbit. He maintains he has yet ot be contacted by anyone, and that his other projects (Producing a fim version of the game Halo, and an adaption of the novel "The Lovely Bones"...a great book btw) will go on as planned.

He said he'd love to do a Hobbit, though and can't wait for the legal posturing to be over.

Wayfriend wrote:There's not enough material in The Hobbit to be two movies. So the news from MGM is suspicious. I don't think it's deception, I just think it's misinterpreted. (Would it not be cool if The Hobbit was "code" for Lord Foul's Bane?)

Speaking of which ...

EW.com wrote:He's especially intrigued by the idea of making two films and inventing new material to fill in gaps in the story, since the plot — about how Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm in the LOTR films) befriends Gandalf (Ian McKellen), falls afoul of the miserable creature Gollum, and comes into possession of that pesky ring—is fairly simplistic compared with LOTR. [link]

I'd love to see a Hobbit movie.

But what I'd really love to see is a quality mini-series of the Silmarillion.

I don't think either will happen, unfortunately.