There's a good movie *somewhere* in The Hobbit -- but it's clear that nothing hit the editing room floor. If there was a scene where Bilbo picked out socks in the book, it became a 20-minute montage-with-song in the movie.
But! That being said...I've already seen it six times. And will watch it umpteen more times. They've got my money...rest assured. And in a lot of ways, the Lord of the Rings was so note-perfect, that Jackson can kinda do whatever he'd like with The Hobbit. He's earned it, in my book.
For my fellow Tolkien fans, here's some of my favorite past "Rings" strips....
The Balrog
The "new" Tolkien books, part 1
The "new" Tolkien books, part 2
The "new" Tolkien books, part 3
The Silmarillion
What it takes to be a fantasy novelist
Fantasy Authors, cont'd
The Balrog's motivation
Throw It In, Mr. Frodo!
Tom Bombadil
The Battle of Minas Tirith (read forward from here)
See, I disagree. The thing
I *liked* was the homeliness. The whole point of the Hobbit is someone very homely and safe being thrust into this fantasy world, and if you remove that homeliness at the beginning, it just becomes a rather generic fantasy adventure. The leaping about killing wargs and orcs I accepted as a necessary evil to give Bilbo a character arc over this section of the plot.
Also, how awesome was the riddle scene?
So I have not yet found time to see The Hobbit *hides face in shame* but I did thouroughly enjoy the trip down Sheldon memory lane via Tolkien strips... and just have to say in defense of the Silmarillion. I did read it. Once. And enjoyed it.
The trick is you have to approach it with the right mindset. If you expect a charming tale or epic fantasy you'll never make it through. Think of it along the lines of a History Textbook/Encyclopedia/Dictionary of Middle Earth. Then it's pretty interesting.
Oh how did that poor, piteous gardener of Mina's Tirith miss getting into your list of favourite LOTR strips, Dave!
Can't wait for the Hobbit to be released here in Oz, feels strange to be anticipating the day AFTER Christmas, but there it is ;-)
It was a little trio of strips from June of this year:
http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/120611.html
http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/120612.html
http://www.sheldoncomics.com/archive/120613.html
Poor Head Gardener!
