The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

How It All Began

★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 buckets | Friday Night and DVD

---

Rated: PG-13 - Extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images.

Release Date: December 14, 2012

Runtime: 2 hours 49 minutes

---

Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien
Cast:  Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Aiden Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries

---

Watch Trailer

SYNOPSIS: Content Hobbit Bilbo Baggins is asked to join a company of dwarves at the request of wizard Gandalf the Grey on a quest to help the dwarves regain their kingdom from Smaug the Dragon.

REVIEW: Peter Jackson, director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Lovely Bones, returns to the reins of the story that made Jackson such a premiere and acclaimed director of our time. Writers Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Jackson reunite to delve back into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and the realms of Middle-Earth, with help from Guillermo del Toro who had spent two years on the project as writer and director before he relented the project back to Peter Jackson.

The unassuming and content Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman, What's Your Number?) is thrust into an unexpected journey when traveling wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan, Apt Pupil) chooses the diminutive hobbit to join a company of dwarves led by Prince Thorin Oakenhield (Richard Armitage, Captain America: The First Avenger) set out on a quest to regain their kingdom lost sixty years earlier to the fire-breathing dragon Smaug. Passing out of the familiarity of the Shire and of Bag End, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the dwarves find themselves battling orcs, goblins, and wargs on their way to the Lonely Mountain, forced to take help from the elfs Elrond (Hugo Weaving, Captain America: The First Avenger) and Galadriel (Cate Blanchett, Hanna), and finding themselves face-to-face with unexpected old enemies from years past. And Bilbo Baggins must muster enough courage to rise to the challenge that the rest of the company find themselves in, as well as deal with an unexpected rising evil in the form of a paranoid and possessive creature named Gollum (Andy Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes).

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes from the first J.R.R. Tolkien book that visits Middle-Earth, halflings, dwarves, elves, goblins, wizards, and quests to be taken. Sixty years before Frodo (Elijah Wood, Happy Feet Two) inherented the One Ring, a younger Bilbo Baggins is enlisted by Gandalf the Grey to aid a clan of dwarves to take back their rightful kingdom taken by force by a fire dragon named Smaug who hoards the dwarves gold and treasure. In this, the first of three films to tell the tale of Mr. Baggins and his newfound band of wandering miners, Bilbo and the collection of farmers, metalsmiths, toy makers, a couple aging warriors, and a displaced prince, set out with the wizard toward the Lonely Mountain with only their gear, a key, and a map that none of them can hope to decipher. With lurking darkness and evil creeping back into the world, and old foes hunting down the dwarves, it does not take long before their quest to reclaim their birthright home is threatened.

The writing and directing team that brought to life J.R.R. Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy in an acclaimed and award-winning fashion return from the Wilderness, like the Ranger Aragorn, to the small book that started a young hobbit in the bloodline of Took on an adventure that would change him forever. Instead of rangers, warrior men, a troupe of hobbits, elves and a single dwarf, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey focuses on Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin's loyal dwarves who heed the call to reclaim their kingdom of Erebor. Sure, a few characters returned in the form of Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman the White (Christopher Lee, Dark Shadows), but there are many new characters to get acquainted with. Personal council Balin (Ken Stott, One Day) and warrior brawler Dwalin (Graham McTavish, Colombiana), close relatives of Thorin, follow the prince with unwavering resolve in his quest. Fortune seeker dwarfs of the West Bofur (James Nesbitt, Coriolanus), his brother Bombur (Stephen Hunter, Spirited), and cousin Bifur (William Kircher, Hold-Up) comes along on Thorin's quest for gold and the promise of free beer. Fili (Dean O'Gorman, Kawa) and Kili (Aiden Turner, Being Human), the youngest of Thorin's company, have been raised under the leadership of Thorin himself and are both skilled fighters with a love for music. Brothers Oin (John Callen, Love Birds) and Gloin (Peter Hambleton, The Last Tattoo) are Northern Dwarves and distant kin to Thorin, with heavily investment to the success of Thorin's quest. Finally, brothers Ori (Adam Brown), Nori (Jed Brophy, The Warrior's Way), and Dori (Mark Hadlow, King Kong) seem unlikely additions to the company, but do their best to look out for each other and the rest of the company.

Jackson and company pump up the thin 'The Hobbit' book with additional threats not used in the original narrative. Using characters from Appendix A of 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, the richness and depth of myth that Lord of the Rings offered is also included in this first installment of The Hobbit. Azog the Defiler, an Albino Orc, is a long-standing nemesis of Thorin from the campaigns where Thorin and his kin attempted to reclaim the mines of Moria from the Orcs and Goblins. Although Azog is a major villainous character in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, another threat in the form of a shadowed man only known as the Necromancer may become even more of a threat as the trilogy progresses.

The return to Middle-Earth has been highly anticipated, and Peter Jackson and company do not disappoint. We are treated to familiar and brand new characters alike. Martin Freeman, taking over the role of Bilbo Baggins from Ian Holm, is a delight to watch. Armitage's Thorin is steely and his presence gravitating. Gandalf returns in all his gruff, pre-White, wizarding ways. And Gollum returns, in all his CGI splendor, even more detailed and bi-polar than ever. From LOTR, we may have witnesses the capture of the One Ring by a hobbit named Smeagol, but we were never given the opportunity to see the game of riddles between Gollum and a younger Bilbo. Aside from the attention to detail to the characters, Jackson continues to lay out exact inspired Middle-Earth landscapes. With dramatic ariel camera shots of rolling plains and mountain peaks, detailed miniatures coupled with live-action and CGI insets, and intimate settings throughout, the mythos of Tolkien's vision comes to life in grand fashion - yet again.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a beautiful film with a story that speeds by. Knowing that this film is indeed the first of a trilogy, we must prepare for an ending that is an abrupt cliffhanger - unsatisfying for those who want the entire trilogy's story presented in marathon fashion. It is difficult to not compare the prequel The Hobbit with the original LOTR. We know the ultimate ending of the story, so we know some of who will continue on the quest and eventually return home. LOTR's Aragorn and the company of the Fellowship of the Ring setting out from Rivendell was a diverse group of species working together for a common goal of good versus evil. The Hobbit does have a quest of good versus evil, as well, but may not live up to the grand epic that LOTR was. As a minor fantasy epic, I think most will rightfully enjoy Bilbo's adventures.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a glorious return to the creatures and adventures of Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Even if the quest is not as epic as the destruction of the One Ring, all great quests begin with the smallest furry-footed Hobbit step!

---

Cloud Altas

Say It Tru, Tru

★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 buckets | Matinee and DVD

---

Rated: R  Violence, language, some drug use and sexuality/nudity

Release Date: October 26, 2012

Runtime: 2 hours 52 minutes

---

Director: Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski
Writers: Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, based on the best-selling by David Mitchell
Cast: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Doona Bae, Ben Whishaw, Keith Davis, James D'Arcy, Xun Zhou, Susan Sarandon, Hugh Grant

---

Watch Trailer

SYNOPSIS: An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.

REVIEW: The Matrix Trilogy writing and directing siblings Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski return for a visionary tale that crosses time and space, the past, present, and far future. Joined by veteran writer/director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run) who has had experience with warping redundant and overlapping storylines, the Wachowskis may set another precedent of storytelling that changes how movies are created.

Cloud Atlas starts with a storyteller who begins regaling about how those around him came into being and the journey undertaken to get there. Then the clock turns forward - or back? - to the Pacific Islands where a young lawyer Adam Ewing (Jim Sturgess, One Day) finishes a contract for the purchase of slaves and property. Flash forward to 1936 where another young man Robert Frobisher (Ben Whishaw, The International) at Cambridge flees his responsibilities and the man he loves (James D'Arcy, W.E.) to write sheet music for an aging maestro Vyvyan Ayrs (Jim Broadbent, The Iron Lady) who he admires and wants to learn from. Four decades later, a young journalist Luisa Rey (Halle Berry, New Year's Eve) working for Spy Glass magazine finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy between Big Oil and Nuclear power. In the present (our present?) of 2012, a publisher Timothy Cavendish faces disgruntled friends of an incarcerated author Dermot Hoggins (Tom Hanks, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close) and flees too hotel at the behest of his brother Denholme (Hugh Grant, The Pirates! Band of Misfits). The hotel turns out to be a residence home for the aged, an incarceration rivaling that of his author in his publishing stable, and requiring an elaborate escape plan. In the 22nd Century, a caste system had been re-established and fabricants have been engineered to serve the upper classes. A rebellion is underway, requiring a rogue fabricant Sonmi-451 (Doona Bae, As One) to pave the way to a new enlightenment. And, finally, in an unknown time, a cowardous goat herder Zachry living in a forested valley must overcome his own fears to help a technologically advanced outsider Meronym to reach the top of a forbidden mountain where secrets may be the key to his own salvation.

Cloud Atlas is a difficult film to encapsulate into words. Spanning across centuries with six distinct but connected vignettes, the film is more than just the same actors with different make-ups and backdrops. From the Pacific Islands in the middle of the 1900s to the far-flung future where New Seoul is ruled by corpocrats and a caste system of pure bloods and fabricants, Cloud Atlas covers much ground in its pursuit of the one universal truth.

With each lead actor and actress in several roles, it's a wonder that the film can be followed at all. But the Wachowskis spin and edit this three hour tale into an intricate and tight tapestry that will leave you amazed, delighted, and enlightened. It is a story of found and forlorn love against mounting odds, enduring cosmic connections, and the realization that there can not be versions of the truth - only one truth, regardless of the perspective.

The Wachowski siblings and Tom Tykwer create an elaborate thread of overlapping narratives, recurring themes, and recurring characters (or actors as different characters). Each of the lead actors or actresses play no less than four completely different parts in the film. Some play both men and women, heroes and villains. Whether a small role like Jim Broadbent's New Seoul Korean musician or a pivotal one in the guise of Tom Hank's Zachry who lives on Big Isle at a time of one hundred and six years after "The Fall', each plays their parts as if the characters themselves are defined for different films. The costume and visual effects are stunning. From the nineteenth century sailing ships to the consumer-driven society of the twenty-second century, the landscapes and backdrops are spectacular. But they are merely backdrops, practically, that set the stages for individualized stories of solidarity, brotherhood, faith, romance, love, determination, and truth.

The only down sides to this novel adaptation are that the speech of of New Seoul and of Big Isle requires a learning curve, and that some of the emotional content is dampened with all of the edits and breaks between the six stories. Even Tom Hanks' Dermot Hoggins in the good ole here and now, with his cockney accent, is near indecipherable at times. But you pick up the language as quick as you can, and middle through the rest. And just when you become invested in a scene or development, the creators may edit the scene away in order to compound the emotional payoff. Some times it works, sometimes it doesn't.

Cloud Atlas is a cinematic wonder, succeeding in weaving a cohesive narrator thread throughout the ages. With a superior cast and the Wachowski siblings and Tykwer's imagination and vision, this film will leave its mark on you, for good, bad, or indifferent, far longer than after the theater lights come up.

---

Happy Feet Two

Fluffy Song and Dance

Director: George Miller

Writers: George Miller, Warren Coleman, Gary Eck, Paul Livingston
Cast: Elijah Wood, Pink, Ava Acres, Benjamin Flores Jr., Sofia Vergara, Robin Williams, Common, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Hugo Weaving, Hank Azaria, Richard Carter, Anthony LaPaglia

SYNOPSIS: Mumble and Gloria's offspring Erik finds that he can't find his voice or his happy feet. When Erik and his cousins Atticus and Carmen run off to follow Ramon back to his clan, Mumble searches after them.

REVIEW: Who would have predicted that Mad Max and The Road Warrior writer and director George Miller would find himself gathering recent success with dancing and singing animated penguins! Was the 1998 animated pig adventure Babe: Pig in the City a turning point for a career birthed from the motorcycle patrolled sandy wastelands of a post-apocalyptic Australia? Maybe Miller is getting soft (and fluffy) in his old age. Whatever the reason, the winner is the audience. Re-teaming with Happy Feet writer Warren Coleman, and joined by  new writers Gary Eck (The 50 Foot Show) and Paul Livingston (Good News World), Happy Feet Two shuffles, scats and sings its way back into our hearts.

In Happy Feet Two, two-stepping Mumble (Elijah Wood, LOTR trilogy) and Gloria (now voiced by Pink) are raising their new hatchling Erik (Ava Acres, Weeds) who is struggling to find either his singer's voice or his happy feet. Unsure of how he should find the song that is in his heart or how to express it, a depressed Erik chases after a fed-up Ramon (Robin Williams) who journeys to return to his own colony, Followed by Seymour's (now voiced by Common) son Atticus (Benjamin Flores Jr.) and Miss Viola's (Magda Szubanski, The Golden Compass) daughter Bo (Meobh Campbell), the trio and Ramon leave their own colony behind. When Mumble realizes that Erik and the other fluffy hatchlings are gone, he waddles off to corral and return them home. But the task is not as simple as one thinks.

Socially relevant, Miller uses the the vanishing ice caps to make Mumble's and Erik's journey much more difficult. Ice quakes, warming temperatures and a mammoth break away glacier make the journey arduous, as well as returning to the colony impossible. All the while, Mumble finds himself insecure as a father figure as Erik is taken by a strange penguin, Sven (Hank Azaria, The Smurfs), who has the unique ability to fly and to bolster the spirits of those around him. Adding more struggles, always boisterous Ramon struggles to find a mate in standoffish Carmen (Sofia Vergara, Modern Family), butting heads with the beloved large beaked Sven.

Almost as a aside, we also get to follow the story of rebellious Will the Krill (Brad Pitt, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and his friend Bill the Krill (Matt Damon, Contagion). Tired to being a nameless part of the Krill swarm, Will swims to the edge of his universe to find that there is more to life. Bill follows in an attempt to bring Will back into the fold. As Will decides to become an evolved predatory species, we are treated to beautifully detailed, expertly choreographed and hilarious sequences. When Will the Krill tries to take on a seal, every detail of ice crystal and strand of fur are beautifully rendered.

My only complaint is Robin Williams. His Latino-tinged Ramon and tent preaching colony leader Lovelace sound more distracting than endearing, but his characters are colorful enough to get the job done.

Touching, funny and heart-felt, Happy Feet Two is a fine follow-up to the Oscar winning Happy Feet. Choreographed by tap maestro Savion Glover, you will be tapping your feet in the dark. The songs sung by Pink's Gloria are uplifting and heart wrenching. And when Erik finally finds a way to express himself, you should come away with goosebumps, I mean, penguin bumps.

WORTH: Matinee and DVD

Captain America: The First Avenger (3D)

Greatest American Hero

Director: Joe Johnston
Writers: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby
Cast: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson, Stanley Tucci

SYNOPSIS: After being rejected from the armed forces, 90 lb. weakling Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret government project to create an army of super soldiers against the Nazi aggressors during World War II.

REVIEW: Joe Johnston, the director of The Rocketeer and, most recently, The Wolfman (2010) takes a script from Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the screenplay writing team of The Chronicles of Narnia film series, and brings to life the origin tale of Captain America, the heart and honor of the Marvel Universe. Captain America: The First Avenger looks to shake off horrible television movies of the late 1970s with Reb Brown in the title role or an all-but-forgotten 1990 foreign made, direct-to-USA-video version that only the most die-hard fans would remember.

Chris Evans, the big-screen Johnny Storm of the Marvel Universe in the two most recent Fantastic Four films, faced questions as to whether he could wield the Star-Spangled shield. Would the movie-going public believe that Evans would be accepted for both the "Flame On!" hothead of Marvel's first family, and as the United States Government's first successful Super Soldier (some comics may debate the title of Steve Rogers being actually the first, but I digress)?

Comic book fans will have to make a decision. They will have to decide if they are willing to accept the revised origins of the Star Spangled Avenger. Sure, puny 90 lb Steve Rogers is still rejected from serving his country in World War II, but given an opportunity to volunteer for the top secret Super Soldier program. But the modern day return of the hero is marked by a Marvel Ultimates treatment. Is it sacrilege or smarter writing?

Joe Johnston, director knows his way around the graphically created Summer superhero fare, high stakes action flicks, and period pieces. With The Rocketeer, he handled all three. Now with Captain America: The First Avenger, he returns to the genre from where he received so much acclaim so many years ago.

Driven by the character as much as the action, Chris Evans’ Captain America, in my opinion, does the industry, the fans, and Summer movie-going proud. The women will love the fact that he shows more muscle and more skin than Ryan Reynolds did in this year’s earlier release, Green Lantern. With the bulk, blue eyes, and the Red, White and Blue, Evans brings a solemn responsibility and dedication to fighting for his country’s ideals, as well as his ideals. The effect of Steve Rogers as the pre-Super Soldier and his post-serum physiques really make the film!

And with any great superhero film, or any hero film for that matter, the villain is just as important as the hero. Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt, the ambitious scientist heading up Hitler’s Deep Science Division with his own aspirations for ultimate power and world domination, is picture perfect in tone and look. The make-up effects for this specific evil-doer is probably the best I have ever seen.

Also in the cast is the beautiful tough-as-nails British agent and sparking love interest Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Childhood friend James ‘Bucky’ Barnes (Sebastian Stan), gritty Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), United States weapons contractor Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Hydra weapons designer Dr. Arnim Zola (Toby Jones), and the Howling Commandos with derby wearing ‘Dum Dum’ Dugan (Neal McDonough), Gabe Jones (Derek Luke), Jim Morita (Kenneth Choi), James Montgomery Falsworth (JJ Field) and Jacques Dernier (Bruno Ricci).

Johnston and writers Markus and McFeely weave an excellent origin tale, spanning Steve Rogers humble beginnings to his rebirth in the 21st Century. Comic fans will enjoy the Easter Eggs at the 1942 Worlds Fair and Exhibition – Toro!, Toro!, the use of Captain Rogers as a propaganda patriot in the period equivalent of the classic Captain America costume to drum up the buying of war bonds, and Rogers unwavering attitude to protect his friends, soldiers and country from the outstretched clutches of the Axis. The action is slick, hard and fast. The look is as classic as any ‘Rosey the Riveter’ or ‘Uncle Sam - I Want You’ poster.

Fans and newcomers should find Captain America: The First Avenger as good as Favreau’s original Iron Man, and better than Thor (sorry, Thunder God). Funny, fresh and faithful to several comic treatments, Steve Rogers fights for truth, justice and the American way of life, throwing his mighty shield, and proving that a hero can have a heart and honor.

Even though Jon Favreau added the Easter Egg scene after Iron Man's credits as a lark, the end credit closing scene has become a part of the Marvel Universe on film. Stay in your seats to see a closing scene with Steve Rogers, as well as a trailer for next Summer’s The Avengers.

WORTH: Friday Night Opening and BluRay