"The Hobbit" is the prequel to the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, set 60 years before.  It was only one short book, but they're turning it into three movies (using Tolkein's indexes and other work). 

It's all about how Bilbo Baggins joins a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim their homeland from a dragon (an AWESOME dragon!). I was going to post a blog about this flick last week but we had a ghost in the machine that prevented it, so here we go.

As you might have noticed, Ian McKellen is back as Gandalf, Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage is the leader of the dwarves, the warrior Thorin Oakenshield.  

The returning "Lord of the Rings" cast includes Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, and yes, even Christopher Lee as the wizard Saruman.  

Even though the One Ring is NOT the focus of this trilogy, this is the movie where Bilbo meets Gollum . . . and ends up in possession of the ring.  So Andy Serkis is back as Gollum.  

Elijah Wood also appears as Frodo in some flash-forward scenes with the older version of Bilbo, played by Ian Holm. (You'll eventually see Orlando Bloom as Legolas again too, but from what I hear he doesn't show up until the third movie.)  

You won't have to wait too long for your next Hobbit fix.  The other two movies will hit theaters each December over the next two years . . . starting with "The Desolation of Smaug" next December, and "There and Back Again" the summer after that.

The subtitle 'An Unexpected Journey" comes from the first chapter of the Hobbit, and "There and Back Again" is the subtitle of the book itself. As far as I know "The Desolation of Smaug" is wholly made up (correct me if I'm wrong, geeks!).  

Director Peter Jackson filmed it at the frame rate of 48 frames per second, which is twice the standard rate.  But it's only available at certain locations...and it also might make you sick.  

Britain's "Guardian" newspaper says some of the people w

ho saw the movie have reported feeling nauseous and dizzy after seeing it . . . and said it even gave them a bad headache.   One person who saw it said, quote, "You have to hold your stomach down and let your eyes pop at first to adjust.  This is not for wimps." 

And another said, quote, "My eyes cannot take everything in, it's dizzying. Now I have a migraine."  

Even fellow critics have said it takes a while for your eyes to adjust to the frame-rate . . . but they didn't complain about it making them sick, they complained about how the image looked TOO GOOD.   As in, it looks SO real that it looks like you're looking at a MOVIE SET, not a movie.  Someone even claimed they could see IAN MCKELLEN'S contact lenses.

Have you made the trip to Bag End? What did you think of The Hobbit?