By Mark Mix
Home day care providers would be forced into unions
Serious theater fans have a reason to suddenly freak out: Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart will team up on Broadway this fall in two of the most iconic plays of the 20th century.
Serious theater fans have a reason to suddenly freak out: Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will team up on Broadway this fall in two of the most iconic plays of the 20th century.
A good one-man show leaves the audience wanting more, which is exactly what happens with James DeVita's satisfactory piece, "In Acting Shakespeare."
It's not really news that Arnold Schwarzenegger is back this year. Everybody else in Hollywood is, too, so why not the former California governor?
Repeated filming delays almost caused Ian McKellen to quit his reprise as Gandalf the Grey in "The Hobbit" trilogy, a prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" in which he first played the wily wizard.
Prince William is joining stars such as Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett on the green carpet in London for the U.K. premiere of "The Hobbit," the first part of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" prelude.
Prince William is joining stars such as Ian McKellen and Cate Blanchett on the red carpet in London for the U.K. premiere of "The Hobbit," the first part of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" prelude.
Judging part one of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" prelude "The Hobbit" is a bit like reviewing a film after seeing only the first act.
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" _ Stuffed with Hollywood's latest technology, Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" prelude is some eye candy that truly dazzles and some that utterly distracts, at least in its test-run of 48 frames a second, double the projection rate that has been standard since silent-film days. It's also overstuffed with prologues, flashbacks and long, boring councils among dwarves, wizards and elves as Jackson tries to mine enough story out of J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology to build another trilogy. Remember the interminable false endings of "The Return of the King," the Academy Award-winning finale of Jackson's "Lord of the Rings"? "An Unexpected Journey" has a similar bloat throughout its nearly three hours, in which Tolkien's brisk story of intrepid little hobbit Bilbo Baggins is drawn out and diluted by dispensable trimmings better left for DVD extras. Two more parts are coming, so we won't know how the whole story comes together until the finale arrives in summer 2014. Part one's embellishments may pay off nicely, but right now, "An Unexpected Journey" looks like the start of an unnecessary trilogy better told in one film. Martin Freeman stars as homebody Bilbo, the reluctant recruit of wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) on a quest to retake a dwarf kingdom from a dragon. The 48-frame version offers remarkably lifelike images, but the view is almost too real at times, the crystal pictures bleaching away the painterly quality of traditional film and exposing sets and props as movie fakery. PG-13 for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images. 169 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
Judging part one of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" prelude "The Hobbit" is a bit like reviewing a film after seeing only the first act.
The battle for Middle-earth comes to blocky life in an imaginative and highly interactive third-person adventure.
The Hollywood Reporter's list of its 10 best stories of the week:
The B-list rules Hollywood's fall and holiday movie season: Bond, Bella and Bilbo.
The B-list rules Hollywood's fall and holiday movie season: Bond, Bella and Bilbo.
If reaction to "The Hobbit" footage at Comic-Con is any indication, Peter Jackson has another couple of blockbusters on his hands.
"My main feeling is it's lovely to be back with friends and it will be lovely to be back in New York," said McKellen, who is doing a sit-com in England and next goes to Middle Earth to film scenes for "The Hobbit" franchise. "But I've got an awful lot to do in the meantime."
And he says any concerns he had about bringing Gandalf back to life vanished as soon as he slipped back into those wizardly robes _ along with the beard, mustache and fake nose.
