Preview: Desolation of Smaug

While I didn’t have quite the same reaction as Fili and Kili from Happy Hobbit, I did have to pick my jaw up from the floor. Let’s not kid ourselves. New Zealand scenery is breathtaking. Any excuse to see more of it is a good excuse. The Hobbit cinematographers deserve every cent they get, especially…

Review: The Lord of the Rings Musical

Let me make perfectly clear as I begin that I have not had an opportunity to see The Lord of the Rings Musical, and it is unlikely that I ever will. I have, however, seen some YouTube clips from the musical, and I have downloaded the entire soundtrack. On those both I will base my…

Review: Music Inspired by Middle-Earth

It is difficult to rate music inspired by Middle-Earth post-Shore. Howard Shore, the composer for the Lord of the Rings films, created the perfect musical backdrop for the Middle-Earth setting. It is nearly impossible to compare anything to it. However, this collection of songs by David Arkenstone was released before the Lord of the Rings…

Editorial: Reluctant to Read about Reaping

I was not one of the first fans of the Harry Potter series. Actually, it wasn’t until I started to hear the hype surrounding the release of the first movie that I picked up Sorcerer’s Stone from my school’s library. I had read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series previously, so I was not unfamiliar…

Review: The Hobbit Trailer

I teach a class primarily focused on British Literature. One of the novels we read every year is The Hobbit, because J.R.R. Tolkien is a legendary British author. We started reading the novel in class on December 20, 2011. Little did I know that the announcement trailer for the new film would be released that…