Middle Earth

I realized that I have created a trilogy of posts about last Thursday's show. I just felt compelled to split it into three sections instead of my normal "one show / one post" for my blog. So here is the third and final installment which is bittersweet. Thursday's show was the last one for Hobbit Week.

So -- last post, last show of Hobbit Week, last part of the show, therefore the guest interview. It was Peter Jackson, director of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." By all appearances, Peter Jackson is more than a friend of the show, he is a friend of the host of the show! As a matter of fact, he even invited Stephen and his family to New Zealand when the "The Hobbit" was being filmed. That is important, not so much then, not so much now, but it will be important a year from now.

Stephen and his guest got all technical discussing the film. "Why 3D?" asked Stephen.Well, it makes for a better movie, obviously. And it is shot at 48 frames per second. If you want, stop for one second and count to 48. That's fast, isn't it? (This is nothing new for me. I sometimes TiVo The Colbert Report and then watch it on faster speed. I can see the whole show in about two or three minutes. Maybe that is what it's like with 48 frames per second. But I digress.) They also talked about Gollum. He is way better in this film because he has more muscles in his face. More muscles in his face mean better facial expressions. I think that will make Gollum more lovable.

Peter Jackson admitted to Stephen that he, Peter, did have a cameo in "The Hobbit," in the first six or seven minutes. Even though Stephen has seen the movie, he did not spot the cameo by Peter Jackson. The only solution for that is for Stephen to go see the movie again. You just know that's a no brainer. Stephen is a huge** fan of all things and everything Hobbit so yes, of course he will go see the movie again.

And, perhaps you should go see "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" when it comes out on December 14 at a theater near you, or maybe far, it all depends I guess on where you live and if it is a big city with lots of movie theaters. But go see it somewhere and soon. Stephen will thank you for it and he might just be in the audience.

**(the word "huge" is a trademark of Donald Trump)