I saw The Hobbit on Sunday! To be honest, it kind of snuck up on me. I didn't know who was going to be Bilbo until November (but once I did, being a big Sherlock fan, I knew Freeman would be beyond perfect). I finally got it together and started re-reading LOTR and listening to Led Zeppelin (as one does), and at last I was in the proper frame of mind to receive it. I thought it was great.  I knew it wouldn't be as good ad LOTR because the book isn't as good, but I thought they made the best movie they could with the material they had. All the casting was great - I've randomly been a Richard Armitage fan since I watched North and South in an English class. If I didn't like Viggo Mortensen in the role so much, I'd say he'd make a pretty decent Aragorn, too. It did drag a little, but there's nothing I would've taken out. I like the added scenes with Galadriel, Saruman, and co. Makes it segue a little more smoothly into LOTR and gives The Hobbit a bit of extra gravitas.

The big problem, though, is a technical one, like everybody's been saying. You have a choice between seeing it in 2D or 3D. The 2D version is shown at 24 frames per second. However, the movie was shot at 48 frames per second, and seeing it in 3D is the only way to see it at 48 fps. What's the difference? Well, in 2D (24 fps), it's normal looking...except for the fast-moving action scenes, which judder across the screen and look blurry because they're impossible to focus on. This was most noticeable for me during the scenes in Erebor. I haven't seen the 3D (48 fps) version, but the problem is the same one HDTVs have - they make all movies look like cheap BBC productions from the '70s, or like video recordings of stage plays. Yes, there's a lot more detail, and the action shots are clear as a bell, but it almost looks TOO real, like you're watching real life in video game form. It's really not my favorite thing. I'll take my 24 fps and crappy-looking action shots over Bilbo looking like he's starring in a high school Rodgers & Hammerstein production, if it comes to that. I don't think it needs to, though; this is all fixing a problem that doesn't exist. Don't plague my movies with the same problem my TV has, please!