Top 10 Movies for 2013

Since 2013 is about to end and as we welcome 2014, I decided to give you MY top 10 movies for 2013 (in no particular order mind you). This of course wouldn't be possible if not for our friends from 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks, Warner Bros. Pictures, Solar Entertainment and new additions like Captive Cinema, CrystalSky and Axinitte Digicinema. 

10. Gravity 

Nothing can be more compelling than humanity overcoming anything being thrown at them including space debris and burning space shuttles. Add to that some stellar acting from Sandra Bullock and George Clooney and Alfonso Cuaron just paved his way to an Oscar.

9. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 

The continued saga of Thorin Oakenshield together with the rest of his dwarf company and Bilbo Baggins continues and it's being shown in magnificent HFR IMAX 3D. Great adaptation and butchering of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic kids book and great way to give the ladies another fellow to swoon over in the form of Thranduil. 

8. Captain Phillips 

The only 'realistic' movie in my list. Captain Phillips is all about humanity in the face of adversity. It's a play on morals and decisions and compassion and it's got Tom Hanks in it playing the titular Captain Phillips. You'll also be amazed at the military tactics and precision that is the US Coast Guard and Navy Seals.

7. This is the End 

This one's on my list for all the sheer hilarity and dirtiness of the characters particular James Franco. I hated that they were pushing too much of the bromosexuality but that's all forgiven the moment you see the Backstreet Boys dancing in heaven to the tune of "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)".

6. Thor: The Dark World

Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Tom Hiddleston return for another serving of Asgardian goodness. There's so many things to love about this sequel. More humor and more Hiddleston however are the top reasons. And they got the ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston to play the bad guy Malekith the Accursed too.

5. Iron Man 3

Never have I ever thought that Tony Stark could actually be twice as good as the Iron Man armor. Shane Black delivers a really good and solid Iron Man movie focusing equally on the massive array of Iron Man armor as well as the man inside the shell. Robert Downey Jr. truly rocked this performance. Great cast too and despite the debacle of The Mandarin, it's still a good movie to watch.

4. Man of Steel

Director Zack Snyder shows us a radically different Superman in Man of Steel. This man really punches hard and even breaks necks (literally!). The world is different and the acting was OK. Henry Cavill also shows us why he was born to play the role of Clark Kent/ Kal El/ Superman. It sucks though that there's very little chemistry between him and Lois Lane Amy Adams. Still, a pretty great movie. It's like Dragonball Z only with DC's main hero in it.

3. Frozen

A DISNEY MOVIE THAT WILL MAKE YOU SING?!?! How long has it been since that were the case. usually it's just there to make us cry but it hasn't made us sing and hum. Frozen does that and delivers a wonderful story that's loosely based on the legend of "The Ice Queen". It's a love story but it's not played out entirely like that and while the main pull might be a love angle between Christoph and Anna, it's really the sisterly love between Elsa and Anna that gets the main spotlight. Massive props too for the addition of Olaf who's quickly become a favorite character of mine.

2. Mama / The Conjuring

Can't figure which of the two I liked best so I'm chucking them as a special two-in-one deal. Guillermo Del Toro has Jessica Chastain playing a reluctant surrogate mother/ aunt whose kids brought along the diabolical 'Mama'. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson on the other hand are real life paranormal experts Ed and Lorraine Warren. Both movies are scary and both have some sense of royalty among other horror movies that came out this year. 

1. Pacific Rim 

Giant fighting robots? Check! Giant monsters called Kaiju? Check! Two brooding and awesome pilots? Check! 3D monster-robot fights?! Check! Fuck the intricacies of the story and just watch this like 5 year old boy and you will surely enjoy this film. Nuff Said!

So there we go. Here's to more movies for 2014 and many more reviews! 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Review

So here we are, one year after attending the special press screening for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, we're now attending the second film, THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG with a bonus treat.

It's still the same creative and production team that's behind this. Still Peter Jackson directing with some help from Guillermo Del Torro, still Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Richard Armitage as Thorin and Ian McKellen as Gandalf.

We get some new additions to the cast too. LOTR alum Orlando Bloom returns here as Legolas, Luke Evans and Evangeline Lily are first timers here playing Bard and Tauriel respectively. The big character here is the dragon Smaug which is now voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock fans huzzah!). Still J.R.R. Tolkien's book as the source of inspiration and finally it's still Lee Pace here playing the role of Thranduil, that smug elf-king that rides a fricking reindeer to battle.

Evangeline Lily as Tauriel

Lee Pace as Thranduil

Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman

So what's different from this film from An Unexpected Journey. First the tone shifts to a darker, serious tone.  This new movie focuses on more darker stuff. That darker stuff? It also happens to be the meatier parts of the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. Things like the Necromancer and Smaugh himself serve to really give our heroes a tough challenge. If you need further proof of this tonal shift I'm talking about, check out the dialogue that Beorn the Skinwalker provides about the Defiler and his torture. It's grim as grim can be.

Don't fret because much like Galadriel's phial of light, there's still some great things to expect from the film. There's a new love story element here between Tauriel (Lily) and Kili; which also becomes a love triangle thanks to Legolas. Bard's role is fleshed out better here and even Thranduil.

The scenes with the barrels were both funny and awesome. Keep your eyes peeled for that one.

In a nutshell, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is everything that you'll need for your epic fantasy adventure fix. It's already a great novel and it being translated for the big screen with lots of new bells and whistles shows just how much love director Peter Jackson has for the project. Tons of adventure and action but with very little fantastical creatures which is considerable since they focused more on Smaug the dragon. There's also a lot of complexities for most of the characters in this one. Thorin Oakenshield is one of the primary example. 

The ending is definitely STAR WARS Empire Strikes Back with the execution.

If there's any problem that I might have encountered here in the film, it's too much Orlando Bloom. Yes I acknowledge we need Legolas but we don't need him that much. The Kili-Tauriel was also half-baked but that's understandable since we're paying to see some action and dragon slaying hi-jinks and not "how we sired a dwarf-elf hybrid". 

For a movie that follows a high pedigree, I'm also impressed that The Hobbit: TDOS isn't as long as what I was anticipating, rather short film if I can say so myself. Also I highly recommend you see the film in a specific format - HFR IMAX 3D. Why? so that you'll freak out at the sight of huge spiders and get creeped out by giant honeybees that's why! 

The movie is perfect for my taste. It's packed tight with everything and it follows the book closely (well to some extent anyway, I don't need it to follow everything). The acting is superb and as always, the visual effects and musical scoring is practically begging for an Oscar Award. 

I'd like to thank Warner Bros. Pictures and the SM Mall of Asia IMAX for this wonderful screening. Until next year. Oh and the film is NOW SHOWING.

Martin Freeman Back as Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit" Sequel

Like all Hobbits, Bilbo Baggins is fond of his comfortable existence; all he needs to be happy is a full pantry and a good book. When the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves unexpectedly appear on Bilbo’s doorstep and invite him to join them on a dangerous adventure, Bilbo’s life changes forever. Initially skeptical of the invitation, Bilbo’s spirit of adventure leads him to join the Company of Thorin Oakenshield and become the “burglar” required to complete their quest to outwit a ferocious dragon and reclaim the Dwarves’ stolen treasure. To everyone’s surprise, including his own, Bilbo’s wit and courage prove that there is indeed more to this Hobbit than meets the eye.

British actor Martin Freeman returns as Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

As the second film begins, Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Bilbo, Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the Company are shaken and exhausted ... but not broken.

Perhaps most changed of all is Bilbo Baggins himself. “I think, as the journey continues, Bilbo is able to look at the world a bit more square on,” says Freeman of the Hobbit at the center of the tale. “He is still the person he was; he is still frightened. He’s not a fighter or adventurer by nature, but to be among different species that want to kill him or eat him ... it doesn’t need to be said how huge a change that is. And Bilbo finds a bravery that he didn’t know he had, and, more importantly, that none of the others knew he had.”
From his encounter beneath the Goblin Tunnels in the cave of the emaciated and conniving creature known as Gollum, Bilbo has emerged with something more than his courage. He has managed to steal Gollum’s “precious” ring with the power to make its wearer invisible.

“Bilbo is beginning to have a strange relationship with this gold ring,” say screenwriter and producer Philippa Boyens. “He’s beginning to have a sense that there’s something off about it. It’s a tough choice for him to put it on and disappear, and he takes it off as soon as he can. Having such a great actor as Martin Freeman helps you find your way through this idea that this is not just a magic trinket that turns you invisible. Not every choice he had to make was a good choice down in those holes beneath the mountain.”

Bilbo chooses to conceal this new information from Gandalf, and, for McKellen, Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo in this moment illustrates the art the actor brings to his performance. “Martin has a palette of subtlety, and it’s often unpredictable,” McKellen observes. “He doesn’t like to do the same thing twice in front of the camera, so with a multitude of takes, in every one of those takes, Martin will give you a different nuance, a different color, a different aspect of the character he’s playing. You don’t know quite what’s going to happen next, which makes your reaction all the more real. With each take, I discovered something new about Bilbo.”
A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures on Dec. 11, 2013.

Armitage Returns as Thorin in "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

He made a huge impression as the Dwarf Prince, Thorin Oakenshield in last year's “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Now, Richard Armitage returns to play the same character in the highly anticipated sequel, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.”

As a young Dwarf Prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when a great fire-breathing dragon attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. When no one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, a once proud and noble race was forced into exile. Now, as the strong, fearless fighter and respected leader of The Company of Dwarves, Thorin is determined to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that brought such misery upon his people.

Question: What is Thorin like when we meet him in this movie, and how is he different from the Thorin in the first film?

Richard Armitage: I think one of the interesting things about Thorin on the Quest is that when Gandalf is present, he has to defer to Gandalf’s authority. Thorin has always understood that Gandalf’s in the driver’s seat, so there’s more time in the second film when Gandalf is absent from the Dwarves and Thorin’s really in control. But, unfortunately, they seem to stumble into greater difficulties.

Getting incarcerated in the Woodland Realm by the Elves is, I think, possibly the lowest point that they get to on the Quest. They’re stripped of all their belongings, of all their weapons and all hope is lost, really. That’s key to the center of the second film in terms of character development. I think that’s the moment when Thorin realizes that Bilbo is not just one of the men on a Quest. He’s actually going to be an asset in terms of retrieving the Arkenstone. So really that’s where we get with Thorin in this sweeping arc, which is actually a dent in his success rating, as it were.

Q: Along those same lines, in this film, Thorin does finally set eyes on the Lonely Mountain, his lost homeland. What kind of effect does it have on him?

Armitage: It’s so interesting because it’s a really complicated push and pull, which I knew from the beginning, and figuring how to play it was quite a challenge. The Quest is everything that’s driving him forward. The map and the key are catalysts that drive him forward, the promise of his Kingdom, of his throne, which is very personal, and also the promise of reclaiming all of that wealth for his people which, again, is very personal. But, at the same time, the terror and the demon that sits inside of the Mountain is so repulsive to him that he’s pushed away from it as much as he’s drawn towards it. It’s a very complicated, emotional moment for them.



Q: You have said that when you first began to play this role, director Peter Jackson’s belief in you helped you to find the leader in yourself to play Thorin. How has that been as you’ve continued this journey?

Armitage: Well, I think it’s partly finding my own love for the character because he wasn’t somebody initially that I was in love with. I was often at odds with him and disagreeing with him, and all the while I’m trying to defend him. But I think I found that place in him whereby the thing I loved about him was his loyalty to his men and the fact that he would fight to the death for them.

Q: Can you tell me about the Elves that capture Thorin and the Company in the Mirkwood Forest? How does Thorin feel about these Elves?

Armitage: It’s Thorin’s worst nightmare, really. I mean, the Dwarves and Elves in general have had a very antagonistic history. They’ve always been at war, but this is very personal. When they were annihilated and forced to leave the Mountain into exile, Thorin stood looking up at Thranduil, sort of begging for his help. And Thranduil turned his back on them and didn’t give them any sanctuary, and they had to wander Middle-earth as vagabonds, and find a new life in the Blue Mountains. I don’t think that’s something that he’s been able to forget.

So, being captured by them and forced in front of Thranduil and then locked away in his prison, that’s what I consider to be the lowest point in Thorin’s career, as it were. But before he’s locked away, he does voice his feelings to Thranduil. He says, ‘This is what you’ve done to my people. This is why there’s this antagonism between us and I’ll never forgive you for that.’ So, there’s a certain satisfaction in being able to say those things, but nevertheless, Thranduil is going to stop them from going on the Quest and he locks him in the dungeons—locks which, incidentally, had been built and designed by Dwarves, so they know that they cannot get out.



Q: Working with Peter Jackson again, was the experience the same as before or was it different?

Armitage: It was different. I think there was an increased sense of trust between both of us. It was always there, but I think it was much more evident when you go back to shoot with someone again. He would work with much more detail. We had a lot more shortcuts to get to things because I understood exactly what he meant, really, without saying things.

And sometimes it takes you by surprise. I’d go away the night before and imagine how the scene would be, and come back in and the first thing Peter would do would be to tell me exactly what I’d imagined. I was like, ‘Oh, we really are on the same page.’ So that was a brilliant thing. And certainly in the final two weeks of pickups, it was very much myself and Peter working together. We were both pushed to the limit and we really got through the last week together. All I can say is it was a relationship based on trust.

Q: Some characters are going to be showing up for the first time in the second movie, such as Legolas, Tauriel, Thranduil and Beorn. I was wondering if you could talk about working with Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace and Mikael Persbrandt?

Armitage: The only character I never really got to work with, sadly, was Evangeline, although we were in the same scene together and we share a look. But, yeah, I really enjoyed working with Mikael, and the same with Lee and Orlando.

I had a great scene with Lee, which was very, very satisfying to play because, as I’ve said before, it’s a chance to hear the voice of the Dwarves staking their claim and you don’t often get to hear that. With Orlando as well, there was a great scene where he takes Orcrist from Thorin and believes that Thorin has stolen it from the Elves because Orcrist is an Elvish blade.



Q: Since the release of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” has your life changed in any way? Do you have people come up to you and want to talk about him?

Armitage: People don’t really recognize you. But I had a really great one. We were doing the DVD release in Australia. I did a Q&A in a cinema, and I had such a great response. I really felt the enthusiasm for the movies, but also particularly for the character.

One of the great questions was, ‘Who was the love of Thorin’s life?,’ which is something that I had thought about. People really invest in not just the character or the story but the history of the character and the future of the character. It’s something that stimulates you to ask more questions when you’re developing a role.

A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures on Dec. 11, 2013.

A By-The-Numbers Look at "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Are you curious as to what it took to make “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” a reality? Here's a by-the-numbers look on the fun facts surrounding the production of the Peter Jackson film.

Number of crew member whose sole job on set was to look after prosthetic hands: 1

Years the textures department at Weta Digital worked on Smaug’s skin: 25

Average days shooting on a single set: 26

Inches that 15-year-old actor John Bell (Bain) grew over the length of production: 4

Tons of silicon used to generate the facial prosthetics: 4

Hours to complete hair, make-up, prosthetics and wardrobe for each of the 13 Dwarves: 5

Average number of doubles used for each main character, including scale, stunt and riding doubles: 5

Length of toupe tape used to attach beards to faces: 7 km

Weeks of location filming on the Trilogy: 9

Human hair for wigmaking: 10kg; Wigs created for the Dwarves: 91

Average days it took to renew a studio with a new set: 104

Tons of silicone used to mold all of the armor and weapons for all cultures: 14

Polystyrene trees, used in various configurations, to make the Mirkwood set: 32

People it took—including actors, doubles and stunt men—to portray 13 Dwarves: 65

Age of the oldest vintage microphone used to record the score: 80 years

Microphones used in the film’s scoring session: 88

Musicians in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra recording the film’s score: 95

Studio sets built for the Trilogy: 99

Hobbit feet for Bilbo: 100+

Drivers needed to transport the cast and crew to New Zealand locations: 115

Approximate population of the Trilogy’s art department: 250+

Beards made for the production: 263

Bottles of spirit gum used in the production: 300

Traveling weapons for the 13 Dwarves: 547

Crew traveling on location between two units: 800

Bottles of isopropyl alcohol used to remove prosthetics: 860

‘Extras’ that needed to be cast for the Trilogy: 1200

Hand-spun goblets created for Smaug’s Lair: 2000

Props recorded in the furniture catalogue for Lake-town: 3000

Approximate number of continuous hours the art department worked to build, decorate, and tear down sets. This involved different crews working 24/7: 8900 hours

Prosthetics made for the Trilogy: 11,862

Cups of coffee made by craft services throughout production: 140,000+

Punched aluminum gold plated coins trickled over Smaug’s Lair: 170,000

From Academy Award®-winning filmmakerm Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all—a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself—the Dragon Smaug.

A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures on Dec. 11, 2013.

Seven New Posters for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Seven brand new character posters for Peter Jackson's “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” have been launched by Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and MGM Pictures. The one-sheet artworks individually showcase the characters Bard (Luke Evans), Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), Thorin (Richard Armitage) and Thranduil (Lee Pace).

From Academy Award®-winning filmmakerm Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all—a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself—the Dragon Smaug.

Luke Evans as BARD

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins

Orlando Bloom as Legolas

Evangeline Lily as Tauriel

Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield

Lee Pace as Thranduil

A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures on Dec. 11, 2013.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" Gets Main Poster

The main one-sheet for Peter Jackson's “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” has just been released by Warner Bros., New Line Cinema and MGM Pictures.

From Academy Award®-winning filmmakerm Peter Jackson comes “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth 60 years before “The Lord of the Rings,” which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar®-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield, on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

Having survived the beginning of their unexpected journey, the Company continues East, encountering along the way the skin-changer Beorn and a swarm of giant Spiders in the treacherous forest of Mirkwood. After escaping capture by the dangerous Wood-elves, the Dwarves journey to Lake-town, and finally to the Lonely Mountain itself, where they must face the greatest danger of all—a creature more terrifying than any other; one which will test not only the depth of their courage but the limits of their friendship and the wisdom of the journey itself—the Dragon Smaug.

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, with Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield. The international ensemble cast is led by Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, and Orlando Bloom. The film also stars (in alphabetical order) John Bell, Manu Bennett, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Lawrence Makoare, Sylvester McCoy, Graham McTavish, Dean O’Gorman, Mikael Persbrandt, and Aidan Turner.

A production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released in 3D, 2D and IMAX theaters in the Philippines by Warner Bros. Pictures on Dec. 11, 2013.

Classy Fanart for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Really wicked cool. When I first saw this, I was totally floored.

I'm gonna update when I find out who the artist is. In the meantime, here are the other photos. Which could've made J.R.R. Tolkien a proud poppa.

Thranduil

Thorin Oakenshield

Oh and why does the humanized Smaug look so much like Benedict Cumberbatch. Oh yes, because Khan is going to be voicing that terrible dragon.

New Banners for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

Check out the three new banners for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug featuring our new favorite hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Thranduil and Bard.

Here's the full look at the Bilbo Baggins banner:



Then here's Lee Pace as Thranduil (Legolas' daddy)



I wonder if we get to see him riding that reindeer like a fucking bad ass again. That scene totally made the whole deer zord thing look like a welp.

Oh and by jove Luke Evans, the bad guy in Fast and Furious 7 and No One Lives is Bard.



Do watch out for the new trailer which will be released tomorrow or probably this afternoon. Oh and I also hear that Benedict Cumberbatch will be lending his voice as the dragon Smaug in this picture, teaming up once again with his Sherlock co-star Freeman. 

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG is directed by Peter Jackson and will be distributed locally by Warner Bros. Pictures in cooperation with New Line Cinema.