My Magical Place: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

'In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.'

Thus one of the greatest children's books introduced our little furry footed friends to the world and all were amazed and the world has never gotten over hobbits since.

Peter Jackson takes us back to his beautiful rendition of Middle-earth that we all fell in love with in The Lord of the Rings and from the opening scene it feels like we've never left. I'm thoroughly impressed by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro's story-telling ability; they manage to expertly navigate the line between being true to the source material (thus pleasing us rabid fans) and recreating the story where it is necessary. Jackson and his brilliant team set the bar quite high with The Lord of the Rings and I was afraid that The Hobbit would not live up to that standard - the book, after all, is a written for children and is much less epic in scale. The fact that Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) was involved didn't make me any more comfortable. I like Mr del Toro but his imagination is a bit too dark and twisted for Middle-earth.

I'm glad to report that my fears were unfounded and that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey lives up to Jackson's legacy and that the story is brilliantly told and the visuals are amazing. I'm not convinced by 3D technology yet and the 48 frames per second (over the standard 24) that the movie is filmed in didn't change much for me. Be warned that some people in the audience complained about headaches and dizziness. Bear that in mind when you go see the movie. Initially the movie was meant to be released in two parts but it's been decided on a trilogy now with The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again being released in 2013 and 2014 respectively. It's a cash-in scheme for all intents and purposes but if the quality's as good as the first offering fans won't mind forking out the cash for more Middle-earth goodness.

Sir Ian McKellan reprised his role as Gandalf and delivers yet another great performance as the wizard, if not better and more subtle. Also returning to their roles are Hugo Weaving as Elrond, the never ageing Cate Blanchett as Galdriel, Christopher Lee as Saruman and Elijah Wood and Ian Holm in cameo roles as Frodo and Bilbo respectively. Martin Freeman (Sherlock) plays the role of young Bilbo Baggins with nothing but charm; he brings the character to life. A very good looking Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his company of dwarves are very endearing and amusing. One can't help but love them. It's high time the dwarves get the spotlight. Andy Serkis deserves a special mention in delivering another haunting and, dare I say, heartbreaking performance as Gollum. I am especially glad about the inclusion and expansion of the character of the wizard, Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy). His absence in Lord of the Rings was understandable but it was still a loss. My inner fan boy is rejoicing.

If you're a fan of The Lord of the Rings or just want to see good fantasy movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey should be at the top of your list of December movies. Expect a hobbit, adventure, raucous dwarves, trolls, orcs, goblins, wolves, stone giants (uber cool, these), a hint at a dragon and just all-round magic. Some people felt the movie was too long but I felt it was too short. The wait till the next instalment is what is too long.

District 9

I was watching some show on TV a few nights ago and they were all hyped up about this movie when I remembered NAG saying something about it... and the fact that Peter Jackson was the Producer didn't hurt in persuading me to go and see it either.

All I can say is Wowzers! This movie is the "fokken" shiz hey! Seriously, who would have thought that aliens landing in Johannesburg could make such a cool story? Blomkamp and his team chucked everything into this movie: that Cloverfield-esque shaky cam/security surveillance cam thing that usually irritates the crap out of me in other movies, documentary style commentary and speculation, lots of violence and gore (always a good thing in movies), playing with the whole apartheid/xenophobia thing in South Africa, shady Nigerians (rather stereotypical but good fun all the same and an Afrikaans guy who says "fokken" a lot. I spent this first half of the movie laughing at how South African the movie was, which is really cool. The second half I spent ogling the cool special effects an just enjoying how the MNU soldiers and Nigerian gangsters explode when they're hit by the alien weapons.

I was asking Lady Leigh of the Meadows how it feels to live in a city that you see getting destroyed in movies when I saw the Millennium Bridge being taken out by Death Eaters in the new Potter movie and now I have some idea: it's kind of worrying. I'm being a chop but the Nigerian gangsters scared the crap out of me - they're so freakin' ruthless hey. People who live in New York must be brave because that place always gets trashed in movies.

All-in-all District 9 is hands-down the best South African movie in the history of the universe! Go see it, whether you like sci-fi or not you will love it. I pinky promise.

P.S. Check out Christopher's blog while you're here.