In a Hobbit Hole.

When I think of the from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I am always reminded of the review of the Hobbit themed menu at Denny's titled "An Unexpected Journey to the Toilet." I don't have a particularly negative view on the Hobbit movies, but it is an amendment to the title I can't keep from tacking on.

Tim from The Office fights orcs while Jim from The Office fights reality in Benghazi.

The first time I saw this in theaters I felt a little off by seeing the singing awe-wielding and hairy Dwarves but there were a few scenes that kept my impression of the movie positive despite the disappointment of many other viewers.

I was little when I read book The Hobbit, and I pretty much only remembered the scene of the Trolls in the forest who Bilbo turns to the stone by distracting them until the sun came up. I get a little excited to see that scene in the movie, although in my head it feels like it should be a little longer and drawn out. If it was more drawn out, it would have to be a movie only about Bilbo and the Dwarves getting caught, telling the story to the Trolls and dragging things out until it gets light out. I might make a better bottle episode of the series length version of The Hobbit whose length would infuriate viewers even more for being longer than necessary for a short book than three movies over three hours long.

The other scene I love seeing in this movie is when the mountains come alive and battle each other as Bilbo and his band are trying to pass through. That was a moment where I said to a friend, "wow, that was good, I can't believe I don't remember that scene in the book!" and the response was "yeah, that's because it wasn't in the book."

I think it's okay for these movies to have added things from the book and to have a bit of creative flexibility. I think the Star Wars prequels were harmed by not straying from the source material but still straying from the cinematic tone of the original movies. It's encouraging that the new Star Wars movies seem to be true to the tone of the original series while running off in other directions. At least the trailer for Rogue One makes this look to be the case.