The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: The Review: The endless sequence of colons: Here's another one:

So, following the head crushing success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and coming off the back of part 1 of the hobbit film, I mean, two-part film, I mean... trilogy, here we are with the Desolation of Smaug and... why are you looking at me like that?

Alright, so I haven't posted a blog in almost 9 months, I never got around to declaring the winners of the BWAP awards, and I'm sure all those who were nominated have just been wetting themselves desperate to know who took home the platinum galaxies orbiting my head in real time that I have decided the BWAP awards trophies look like, I've just been really... really lazy, and kind of busy, but if I'm being mostly honest, it's mostly lazy. But fret no longer internet, the prodigal son has come home, so let's do something nice and familiar before we dive, head first into the vat of awesomeness that is the future projects that I have in store right here on Ph.D.

So, The Desolation of Smaug. I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings films immensely, I think they rank among some of the highest achievements in the history of cinema, certainly in terms of raw scale and size, in addition to being very well put together, immaculately cast, visually stunning and boasting perhaps the greatest music in the history of film. They also made quite hilarious amounts of money, so I suppose it was really only a matter of time before New Line cast there all seeing eye (see what I did there [and indeed, there?]?) on Tolkiens other, though not quite as famous opus, The Hobbit. After part 1 avoided any real trip ups last year, despite not being all that memorable (as evidence by the fact that I can't remember much about it), part 2, The Desolation of Benedict Cumberbatch, was released today. So, was it any good? Yes. Yes it was. Thanks for joining me here on Ph.D and I will see you guys next time...

Alright, alright, a little more information might be necessary. The Hobbit: The Unblocking of Clog is most definitely worth a watch, it's well acted throughout, it's well paced, it's exciting... but it missteps in the most curious of places. Strangely enough, TH:TDoS suffers from... poor visuals. Now, to qualify that statement a little, I don't really mean poor of course. What I mean is relatively poor, it's not in the same league as Man of Steel for example in terms of pure visuals, and even the Lord of the Rings films, now more than 10 years old, have it beaten visually (in addition to all the other ways). The Orcs look strangely computerized, and there's a strange sense that it's missing a certain... Hollywood sheen. Now, to be totally fair, this may very well have been the fault of the 3D that was my only viewing option, so really the jury is still out on the visuals until I see it on DVD, but tonight at least, it was quite jarring, and it took a solid hour to really get used to it. Not that length was something The Hobbit: The Resurrection of the Blog was short on, it runs a formidable 2 hours 41 minutes, but it's to the film's credit that it never feels that long, it's well paced throughout, there was never a scene during which I felt bored, even if newcomers Tauriel and Bard are a little underdeveloped to really carry the few scenes that they're asked to.

The biggest exception to my gripe regarding the films visuals is without a doubt, the appearance of Smaug, voiced by sexiest man alive, Benedict Cumberbatch. Smaug is an incredible cinematic achievement, and more than deserves the near 5 hour build-up preceding his appearance. Cumberbatch is an inspired casting choice, blessed with a voice that can go from soothing and soft to the pants-crappingly evil growl possessed by Smaug. The final few scenes before Smaug appears are breathtakingly tense, and the dragon utterly dominates the last 30-40 minutes of the film, which can only be a good thing.

It's not without fault, but The Hobbit: Ground and Pound on the Lonely Mountain Fountain is an improvement over it's predecessor, and sets things up nicely for the third installment, The Hobbit: What Are We Going to do After the Dragon is Dead?

Overall: 74/100

The 2nd Annual BWAP Awards: The Nominees

Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the nominee announcement for the 2nd ever annual BWAP awards, the awards show dedicated to honouring the actual best films of the year, rather than whatever film best panders to the academy's tastes (looking at you, King's Speech and Artist). A few announcements first however...

1. To my deep regret, this year there will be no "Best Actress" category. I apologise profusely for this, but the fact is that I just didn't see that many films this year featuring women in a leading role. I know I'm gonna have feminists knocking my door down, but it is what it is, again, I apologise.

Alright so it was just the once announcement, so let's not waste anymore time, let's get right down to it, here are the nominations for the 2013 BWAP awards:

Best Supporting Actress

• Emily Blunt - Sara Rollins in Looper
• Anne Hathaway - Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises
• Maggie Smith - Muriel Donnolly in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Best Supporting Actor

• Michael Caine - Alfred in The Dark Knight Rises
• Tommy Lee Jones - Thaddeus Stevens in Lincoln
• Mark Ruffalo - The Avengers
• Alex Russel - Chronicle
• Tom Wilkinson - The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Best Visuals

• The Avengers
• Looper
• Dredd

Best Audio

• The Dark Knight Rises
• Looper
• Skyfall

Best Screenplay (Adapted or Original)

• Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon - The Cabin in the Woods
• Rian Johnson - Looper
• Tony Kushner - Lincoln
• Max Landis - Chronicle
• Joss Whedon - The Avengers

Best Ensemble

• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• The Cabin in the Woods
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Lincoln
• Looper

Best Actor

• Daniel Day-Lewis - Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln
• Dane DeHaan - Andrew Detmer in Chronicle
• Robert Downey Jr - Tony Stark/Iron Man in The Avengers
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Joe Simmons
• Karl Urban - Judge Dredd in Dredd

Best Director

• Drew Goddard - The Cabin in the Woods
• Rian Johnson - Looper
• Christopher Nolan - The Dark Knight Rises
• Josh Trank - Chronicle
• Joss Whedon - The Avengers

And now, last but not least, the big one, here are the nominees for 2012's... 

Best Film

• The Avengers
• Chronicle
• The Dark Knight Rises
• Lincoln
• Looper

And there we have it, the nominees. The 2013 BWAP awards will be announced on March 31st. See you then.

85th Academy Awards: My Reaction

Alright, alright, so I didn't get around to doing predictions this year, so freakin' sue me.

So, another Academy awards ceremony has come and gone, and honestly, I thought this was a huge improvement over the last two. Considering the last two Best Picture winners have been a black-and-white silent film, and a formulaic pot-boiler about a bloke with a stutter who just happened to be the king, we knew going in that the winner this year would be a huge improvement, and while Argo seems like less of an accomplishment than it's rival going in to the show, Lincoln, it is worth noting that I haven't seen Argo yet, and it certainly looks a hell of a lot better than the previous two winners.

Which is why it absolutely baffles and astounds me that Ben Affleck was on the receiving end of quite possibly the worst snub in the history of awards, yes, worse than Christopher Nolan not even being nominated for Inception. How, tell me, how can a film that was apparantly the best film of the year not have it's director even nominated for Best Director. It's almost like a book winning "Best Book" at the... "Book Awards" and the author somehow not being nominated for best author. It's utterly ridiculous. 

I could also have done without Michelle Obama presenting the award for Best Picture (yes that did actually happen, for those who haven't heard, although the fact that I just typed that out does still seem a little surreal). It's the most prolific awards handed out for the medium of film, I want to see someone somehow connected to the world of film handing them out. 

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Anne Hathaway. Now don't get me wrong, I like Anne Hathaway, I wanted her to win, I felt like she should have won, and I was very happy for her when she did, but that girl just cannot give an awards speech. I thought the BAFTAs were bad, but this was worse. It just didn't seem real, at all. Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that she was incredibly overwhelmed by the emotion and that it was certainly the crowning moment of her acting career, and she truly did feel humble and overcome, but it just didn't come accross that way at all. Sorry Anne. 

But it's not all gloom and doom. Seth McFarlane did an ok to pretty good job, in my opinion, his jokes worked on a broad scale and he's naturally charismatic, although I do wonder if he has the kind of star power that an event like this needs, plus he only was one fairly mediocre film to his name. But I enjoyed his performance, I thought he hosted well, although I really think they should get someone more versed in out-and-out stand-up comedy to host next year. 

I felt that most of the awards went to the right films, at least out of the films that were nominated. It was a shame that The Dark Knight Rises went home empty handed though, it was more than good enough to merit an Oscar, with Best Cinematography being it's best shot although that went to the big winner of the night, Life of Pi, which claimed four awards, including a second Best Director prize for Ang Lee. I think Lee deserved it more than Spielberg, despite Lincoln being a tremendous film, Lincoln is memorable for a different reason...

Daniel Day-Lewis is as good an actor as there has ever been. You may disagree with his methods, although why people do so continues to baffle me because the results are unparalleled, but Day-Lewis deservedly made history as the first person to ever win Best Actor three times, and he did so with one of the finest performances one is ever likely to see. Day-Lewis is utterly spellbinding as the eponymous Lincoln, in what was easily the best performance of the last year and possibly the best performance of the last decade. Day-Lewis also gave probably the nights best acceptance speech (Take notes Miss Hathaway) It was a sweet, funny, charming and very humble speech when it would have been incredibly easy to have a little more bravado, given that he had just made history, and was probably the high point of the evening...

Or at least it would have been, had it not been for Adele's breathtaking performance of what is in my opinion the best Bond theme there has ever been, "Skyfall". Ironically, given the evening was supposed to be dedicated to films, it was probably the part of the show that I was most looking forward to, and I wasn't disappointed. I've heard it said that the backing orchestra was too loud and it drowned Adele out a little bit, but I personally didn't think so. Maybe the vocals could have been a little higher in the mix, but a singer as talented as Adele could make a pub band sound like a world class musical force.

On the whole, it was an enjoyable show, it flowed nicely, the awards were given to the right nominees for the most part. Although I think Lincoln should have won Best Picture, it didn't put too much of a damper on things, and it makes me a little more optimistic going into 2013, hopefully the Academy can continue the trend.

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But, awards season is not over yet, because the most prestigious awards of the year have yet to be announced, yes, that's right, it's time for the 2nd Annual BWAP awards, hosted by me, right here on Ph.D.

Here is the schedule:

The catagories and nominees for them shall be announced on the 15th of March, with the awards themselves being held on the 31st of March. Keep an eye peeled. Until then, good night, and good day.