Hobbity Thoughts

Tomorrow night (Thursday) at midnight, I'll be seated in the Regal Theatre in Germantown to watch the first showing of The Hobbit. I'm going with Rachel, after I pick her up from college tomorrow afternoon, and her friend, Tim. We're seeing the 2-D, 24fps version because I don't want the format to distract from the story, which many people says is the case with the 48fps version. I'm really looking forward to seeing that version too, but after I've seen the standard version tomorrow night.

I anticipate that the three Hobbit movies will be the last in my life I see at midnight. There will be other movies I look forward to -- Star Wars, Star Trek -- but I don't think I'll be going at midnight to anything I can foresee right now.

So, on this occasion, some thoughts.

 - If you would have told me at the end of The Return of the King that I'd have to wait 9 years to see The Hobbit, I would have been very, very unhappy. That they're doing it now and didn't have to recast anyone (save for a younger Bilbo) is amazing and awesome.

 - I'm a little worried that there will be too many cutesy shout-outs to The Lord of the Rings and that the frame will be oversaturated with extraneous imagery like most CGI-heavy films. The preview scenes I've seen of Goblin Town suggest this might be the case. One of the reasons The Lord of the Rings is so great is that there are lots of quiet, human moments that aren't overwhelmed by the surroundings. I'm hoping that's the case with The Hobbit.

 - I have absolutely no problem with them stretching this story to three movies. The idea that they'll be showing Dol Guldur, Radagast, the White Council, Beorn, etc. just thrills me. I'd much rather see more than less of this particular universe.

 - Although it's been a long time since Return of the King, it seems like yesterday that I was reading about the start of principal photography on The Hobbit. Man, time has flown.

 - Gandalf the Grey, baby.  Yeah!

That's it for me. See you on the other side of the Misty Mountains.