peter jackson

Director Peter Jackson brings us back to Middle-earth in the first part of his trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is a prequel to his Lord of the Rings movies. Though Jackson is meticulous in adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's classic novel, the movie feels overlong and overstuffed. Still, The Hobbit has new things to show us from Tolkien's world, and this time we go along on an adventure with a young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the titular hobbit who has been recruited by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to join a team of dwarves in their quest to take back their home from the dragon Smaug. Bilbo is hesitant to leave the comfort of his beloved Shire, but once he gets the adventure bug, he's off — as are we, on a journey that's unfortunately slow, but not without its highlights.

Lord of the Rings fans will no doubt come to see The Hobbit for more of Peter Jackson's able handling of Tolkien's world. However, that comparison ultimately hurts An Unexpected Journey, because it's simply not as captivating as the instalments in the original trilogy. There are unnecessary subplots, expository conversations drag on, and few of the action scenes achieve nail-biter status. To find out what else I thought, just keep reading.

Director Peter Jackson took to Facebook today to officially announce that The Hobbit will be three movies, rather than two, as originally planned. In his statement, he wrote that he and partner Fran Walsh had recently watched the footage and asked themselves, "Do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved 'yes.'" Jackson continued on to say, "So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of 'The Hobbit' films, I'd like to announce that two films will become three."

There is no word yet on whether this decision will affect the previously announced release dates for the two movies, An Unexpected Journey (Dec. 26, 2012) and There and Back Again (Dec. 26, 2013).

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Cate Blanchett has signed on to reprise her role of the ethereal Galadriel in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit! Cate played the role in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the casting comes as a bit of a surprise since the character of Galadriel doesn’t actually appear in Tolkien’s novel. Sources believe that filmmakers are looking to create female roles because there are virtually no female characters in the book. Cate is currently appearing in the Sydney Theatre Company’s production of Uncle Vanya, where visiting actress Anne Hathaway was spotted in the audience last night.

The stars of The Lovely Bones were out on the red carpet at George Street cinema last night for the debut of the much-anticipated film. Slimmed-down director Peter Jackson was there, as well as Susan Sarandon, who plays pill-popping, wine-guzzling Grandma Lynn in the film. Saoirse Ronan (who starred with Keira Knightley in Atonement and caused all the trouble) plays Susie Salmon, the young girl who is murdered. Also attending the screening were Sophie Faulkiner, Emma Lung, Gracie Otto, Kick Gurry, Laura Csortan, Ruby Rose, Yumi Stynes and Annalise Braakensiek.

The stars of The Lovely Bones hit the red carpet last night for their LA premiere. Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan and Rose McIver were decked out alongside director Peter Jackson, while the film's executive producer, Steven Spielberg, went casual in his baseball cap. Superman star Brandon Routh turned out with wife Courtney Ford- who you may recognise from her role on the latest season of Dexter. Mark Wahlberg was able to attend last week's screening in NYC, but he missed this one due to his commitments back on the east coast. One leading man who might have been in attendance was Robert Pattinson — Vampire Diaries star Katerina Graham twittered about seeing him but if he was there, he went undetected by photographers.

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Mark Wahlberg led the way at a screening of The Lovely Bones in NYC last night. He was joined by his costars including Saoirse Ronan- who has grown up so much since Atonement-, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Christian Ashdale and Rose McIver. The long-awaited film hits theatres on December 26th. 

For more photos from The Lovely Bones premiere, keep reading