Image screen grabbed from official trailer at bottom of post

It’s a far cry from the tidal wave of critical acclaim that accompanied Jackson’s first three Tolkien movies. I can’t say I’m terribly surprised though. When I first heard that The Hobbit (one book which was shorter than each of the three LOTR books) was being split into three movies of epic scale, I started to worry it would feel slow and tedious. Then I realised that it was going to be a trilogy of prequels to one of the most successful movie franchises of all time, and the spectre of The Phantom Menace reared its ugly head in my brain. I nearly puked.

Anyway on to the reviews:

Robbie Collin – The Telegraph – 2 stars

It seems that as a big Tolkien fan, Robbie was not a happy chappy:

“This film is so stuffed with extraneous faff and flummery that it often barely feels like Tolkien at all – more a dire, fan-written internet tribute.”

He also was not impressed with the pacing of the movie:

“…half an hour per chapter, or one minute and 20 seconds per page. The work of the sombre Hungarian auteur Béla Tarr, whose grinding tale of apocalyptic poverty The Turin Horse ran to a mere 155 minutes, feels nippy by comparison.”

Geoffrey MacNab – The Independent – 3 stars

While not as aggrieved as Robbie Collin, Geoffrey MacNab didn’t seem entirely convinced. His main gripe seemed to be the story failing to move along quickly enough, and he’s certainly in the camp that feels that making 3 epic movies is taking things too far:

“There is a sense of sledgehammers being used to crack nuts in the first part of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy. J.R.R. Tolkein’s short 1937 novel, a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings, has been turned into an enormous Wagnerian epic by Jackson and his collaborators.”

On a more positive note he wrote:

“Thankfully, Jackson’s flair for action sequences and bold and complex production design hasn’t deserted him. Huge, snarling dogs and a chase sequence involving a wizard played by Sylvester McCoy being pulled by a sledge of super-nimble rabbits add some bite to the storytelling.”

Matthew Leyland – Total Film – 5 stars

Leyland was a hell of a lot more positive about the movie. He enjoyed the experience of seeing the movie in the new 48fps format. Leyland also disagreed with the others regarding the pacing:

“In terms of key incidents, AUJ doesn’t burrow too far into Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings-predating novel. Yet it rarely feels like Jackson has had the rolling pin out, overstretching the material.

Nudging three hours, it moves at an even clip – and that’s with the plot delayed by two prologues.”

He even ended up waxing lyrical in his summation:

“Charming, spectacular, technically audacious… in short, everything you expect from a Peter Jackson movie. A feeling of familiarity does take hold in places, but this is an epically entertaining first course.”

I for one will definitely be heading along to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in all its 48fps glory. I might not be happy about the book being split into three parts, but there’s no way I’ll be missing out on seeing such a cinematic spectacle.

Will you be going to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey? Let us know why/why not in the comments box below.

Star Trek Into Darkness will be released on May 17, 2013

More on that later, but first let’s start with:

Silver Linings Playbook

Bradley Cooper stars with Jennifer Lawrence in this quirky romantic comedy. Just released from a state institution, Pat (Cooper) is trying to get his life back on track. Along the way, he meets young widow Tiffany (Lawrence) and the pair drag each other back to some form of normality.

The film is really enjoyable, and brought to life by an excellent cast. Lawrence in particular gives a charming performance.

Gambit

I personally think this looks really good. I mean, it’s written by the Coen Brothers, and since when could they do any wrong?!

Well, apparently they can and they have. The cast for the most part lack chemistry, and the plot doesn’t even come close to the ever popular 60′s original.

It’s a shame really, because the trailer actually looks quite promising (if you choose to ignore Diaz’s painful Texan accent, of course).

Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 2

As someone who lost interest in the Twilight franchise about 20 minutes into New Moon, I must admit I am not exactly going nuts over this final installment.

But hey, I am just a lowly entertainment blogger and there are thousands, if not millions, of prepubescent teenage girls who would disagree with me. They are the ones with the money (or at least, their parents are) so the film studio is giving them what they want.

Worth going to see if you want to find out how it all ends.

What are you going to see this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

It’s the brand new trailer for Iron Man 3. Following the excess and wisecracks of The Avengers, it seems like Marvel and director Shane Black are taking a different approach with the third Iron Man movie and going for something altogether darker. If terrorists can break into Tony Stark’s pad then what hope is there for the rest of us?

Iron Man 3 will be released in April 2013.

Are you excited about the next instalment in The Avengers franchise? Tell us in a comment below.

The Lone Ranger will be available in cinemas June 2013.

Oh James, where have you been? After an added delay due to financing issues at MGM, Bond 23 arrives in screens around the world this Autumn and it looks like the stakes has been raised significantly since Quantum of Solace. Daniel Craig looks like he may just have the film to match his incarnation of 007.

Skyfall is released in the UK on October 26th 2012.

“Don’t mess with Liam Neeson” was the message of the first Taken but the bad guys just can’t take a hint and want revenge. Well that gives Neeson’s Bryan Mills a perfect excuse to break out his particular set of skills to save his wife and daughter played by Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen.

Why they need to take them and don’t just shoot them isn’t clear, but bad guys need a crazy plan to keep the action flowing for ninety minutes. Taken was a pretty important film for Neeson, transforming him from leading man to action star so it will be interesting to see if there’s enough story for another round.

Taken is released October 4th 2012 in the UK.

It’s the trailer for Cloud Atlas, a time and multi-life spanning adaptation of David Mitchell’s impossible adapt novel. Whether it works as a film remains to be seen but the trailer sure is pretty and the cast featuring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and Jim Broadbent is certainly impressive.

Directed by Tom Tykwer, and the Wachowskis, Cloud Atlas arrives in cinemas in October 2012.

Superman returns (again) in a new movie from Zack Snyder with the Man of Steel being played by British actor Henry Cavill.

This film takes the Kryptonian right back to the beginning with a new origin story which seems reasonable given the last cinematic origin was way back in 1978. I mean we all know the origin of Superman but then again, everyone knows the origins of Spider-Man and there will probably be another reboot of that in the next decade.

It’s a reasonably odd little teaser, evoking art house more than Zack Snyder’s usual music video on acid visual approach. It may be something to do with producer Christopher Nolan and an attempt to emulate a Batman Begins approach to the Superman mythos.

Anyway, the movie promises lots of action including boats, hitch hiking and looking at family photos. There are two versions of this trailer one with a voice over from Kevin Costner’s Jonathan Kent and the other from Russell Crow’s Jor El. It’s all about dual identity and fatherhood and destiny or something.

Does the Man of Steel have a place amongst 21st century heroes? Share your thoughts below. Or don’t. Either way the world will keep turning.

via flickr

The showcasing of the Emirati short film Sabeel at the opening of the Panorama Des Cinemas du Maghreb et du Moyen Orient (Panorama of Cinema from the Maghreb and Middle East) in Paris last week has been hailed as proof of Dubai’s growing reputation for quality filmmaking. The Paris festival’s showing of the film marked its latest collaboration with the Dubai International Film Festival.

Though a cornerstone of the Dubai film industry, the festival’s just the tip of the iceberg as the city offers much more for filmmakers and cinephiles alike. Here are a few examples of Dubai’s special celluloid appeal:

The Dubai Film Festival

via dubaifilmfest.com

First held in 2004, the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) is the leading film festival in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The festival aims to be the ‘premier showcase event for Arab cinema’ and to help the development and growth of the regional film industry.

Festival organisers have even worked beyond their home in Dubai, most recently bringing Arab cinema to French audiences. DIFF joined forces with the Panorama Festival to bring in films from the Arabian Gulf and other countries such as Algeria, Egypt and Morocco.

“This is one of many relationships begun during DIFF that bear fruit year-round and around the world, and we are honoured to once again be the centre of discovery of Arab film for global institutions,” the DIFF’s Artistic Director Masoud Amralla Al Ali said to the Arabian Gazette.

The ninth edition of the festival will be held this year from 9 to 16 December. The location for the festival will be the Madinat Jumeirah resort, which also sponsors of event along with Emirates Airlines.

Film Incentives

The Dubai government also plans to offer financial incentives to filmmakers in order to help the local industry continue to grow. An incentive programme will be run by the newly-instigated Dubai Film and TV Commission, according to The National. It is not yet known what subsidy rate will be available, but it will need to be competitive as nearby Abu Dhabi, which already offers a 30 per cent rate.

Mission Impossible

The Emirates film industry gained a big boost when Hollywood packed Tom Cruise and Co on Dubai flights to film Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The film, starring Cruise, featured several scenes filmed in Dubai. The burgeoning film industry now hopes to tempt more big productions for filming, as well as promoting more works from local and regional filmmakers.

Sabeel

Sabeel is a sweet and poignant short film currently being hailed as a superb example of the Dubai film industry. Set in the mountains of the UAE, the film tells the story of two small boys who live with their sick, elderly grandmother. In order to make enough money to buy medicine for her, they grow vegetables and sell them on the road. The film follows the two boys as they go about their lives.

Sabeel has been very successful already, debuting at the Locarno Film Festival, winning the Best Short Film prize at the New York Eurasian Festival and taking a script prize at the 2010 Gulf Film Festival.