Star Wars hits cinemas today with one extra dimension than we saw back in 1999 when the movie was first released, back then there was so much hype and anticipation for the movie that everyone thought was going to be the greatest prequel of all time. Unfortunately, although the movie made an absolute fortune, it is inherently rubbish (feel free to disagree in the comments below) making you want to punch the screen in anger.

This video has found it’s way onto YouTube and is a special MTV screening from 1999 at Skywalker Ranch that George Lucas put on for as many celebs as possible before anyone had really seen it. Like I say, the movie had so much hype that literally everyone wanted to be there as this video shows.

In the video, we get to see interviews with a very young looking Elijah Wood, Justin Timberlake (as part of N-Sync at the time), Ozzy Osbourne, Tori Spelling, Katie Holmes (before she’d married her now-husband Tom Cruise) to name but a few all with The Backstreet Boys playing in the background. It’s all rather surreal but what get’s me is the anticipation for something so great!

If you want to know what we thought of the movie in 3D, have a read of Jon’s review here.

Anyone know who the heck ‘Maxwell’ is?!

We’re now less than eleven months away from Peter Jackson’s return to Middle-earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of his two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s original novel, followed by The Hobbit: There And Back Again next December.

We’ve seen and heard some fantastic things from the new film already, most recently including Evangeline Lilly updating us on her character, Tauriel, created especially for the film. She spoke to Yahoo Movies about her preparations for the role, with thanks to ComicBookMovie for the heads up, and in the same report, Yahoo have put out a great new picture of Martin Freeman as Bilbo, almost lost amongst the dwarves.

“The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.

Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.

Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.”

We recently saw a much darker image of Freeman this month with his faithful sword, Sting, and this new image looks similar to the first images we saw from the film, still in The Shire. Alongside Freeman, we can look forward to seeing many new and familiar faces, including Andy Serkis, Stephen Fry, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee.

The Hobbit will be released in 3D with An Unexpected Journey kicking things off on 14^th December this year, followed by There and Back Again on 13^th December next year. Until then, here’s the new image, which you can click to enlarge. And in case you missed it at the end of last year, you can watch the wonderful first trailer right here, as well as everything else The Hobbit-related here. If you’d like to read more about Lilly’s preparations for the role, click through over here. Enjoy.

*Advanced Plot Spoiler Warning: As you can probably guess from the title, things are going to get a little spoiler-y in a few lines, so if you’re wanting to fly fairly blind with The Hobbit, then look away now!*

We first got word way back in June last year that Evangeline Lilly had been cast in Peter Jackson’s return to Middle-earth in The Hobbit. When the announcement came, Jackson told us that Lilly would be playing a character created especially for the film, which is expected to develop the novel in its adaptation, spanning over two parts:

“Evangeline Lilly will be playing a new character—the Woodland Elf, Tauriel. Her name means ‘daughter of Mirkwood’ and, beyond that, we must leave you guessing! (No, there is no romantic connection to Legolas.)”

Whilst doing an interview with EW for the release of Real Steel on DVD/Blu-Ray this week in the States (we’ll be getting it on 20th February here), Lilly spoke more about her character, revealing some really interesting details:

“EW: Speaking of small and little, I’d be remiss not to bring up The Hobbit. You’re playing a new character named Tauriel, who’s a Mirkwood elf, and that would lead me to believe that she is a warrior of some kind. Did you have to learn archery and swordplay?

Lilly: Yes, she is a warrior. She’s actually the head of the Elven guard. She’s the big shot in the army. So she knows how to wield any weapon, but the primary weapons that she uses are a bow and arrow and two daggers. And she’s lethal and deadly. You definitely wouldn’t want to be caught in a dark alley next to Tauriel.

EW: So then Tauriel must be involved with the dwarves being captured…

Lilly: I think basically what you’re asking is if she’s in the film very much. She’s not in the first film very much. She comes into the first film near the end, and has a very small part to play. Her role in the second film is much more involved. Although, I have to say, when I first read the scripts and took the job, she had a lot less going on in the second film. I think the role is becoming a bit more demanding than I had expected it to be. There’s a lot more for me to do now, which is a lot of fun, but it’s a little more pressure.”

Definitely interesting, especially the fact that she’ll be really involved in the second film in particular. Best known for her work on TV’s Lost, Real Steel last year, and that little-known Oscar winner, The Hurt Locker, Lilly is a fantastic actress, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her in this role, not least because it’s been entirely created for the film.

Time for a bit of 100% good old-fashioned guess-work: It’s looking as though she’ll be playing the female lead in the second film, which makes me wonder if her role will also be a romantic interest. Jackson clearly stated that she’s not a romantic connection to Legolas, but I’d quietly place a small wager (which I would adamantly deny if proven wrong when the films are released) on her being involved somehow with Luke Evans’ character, Bard the Grim, also known as Bard the Bowman.

His character is being likened to that of Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, and when the announcement of his involvement came (at the same time as Lilly’s), it was said that he’d be playing a larger role in the second film. So, I could be adding two and two to make five, but it sounds as though there could be a similar relationship to Aragon and Arwen in Tauriel and Bard. Either way, we’ll have to wait until at least December this year, if not December next year with the second part, to find out if I’m right.

Along with Lilly and Evans, the fantastic cast includes both new and familiar faces in the forms of Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Stephen Fry, Hugo Weaving, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee.

The first part, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, will be with us on 14th December this year, followed by the second, The Hobbit: There And Back Again, on 13th December next year. If you’ve missed any of our coverage of the films so far, you can catch up on it all right here. I’d particularly recommend the rather brilliant first trailer that Jackson treated us to for Christmas last month.

The ever-talented Rashida Jones makes her writing debut with co-writer Will McCormack on Celeste and Jesse Forever, which has been rapturously received at Sundance in the past few days. Our man in the States, Ty Cooper, was lucky enough to catch the film at its world premiere, and you can read his five-star review of the film here.

I was really hoping (and quietly expecting) that the film would be picked up soon following its great reception, and Collider are reporting that my hopes have been fulfilled! Sony Pictures Classics have acquired the film for distribution, granting them all North American, Latin American, and Eastern European rights to the film.

Notably, this of course leaves its UK rights with a question mark for the time being, but fear not. In the past, the vast majority of the films they’ve released in recent years have been picked up for UK distribution too, so hopefully we’ll have news on that front soon too.

Sony Pictures Classics recent credits include Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter with Michael Sheen, Roman Polanski’s Carnage, Duncan Jones’ Moon, and many, many more films that have also received UK releases. So I’d say we can certainly (perhaps quietly, so as not to jinx anything) expect that the film will get a UK release too.

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger, and co-written by the Jones and McCormack, the film is led by Jones and Andy Samberg, with a great supporting cast that includes Elijah Wood, Emma Roberts, Ari Graynor, Chris Messina, and McCormack too. No word yet on when to expect a release, but with a bit of luck, we should be seeing this before the end of the year. I’m already excited, and am really hoping it will be coming to the London edition of Sundance in April – the first time the festival is coming to the UK. Here’s the full press release for your perusal, which includes the film’s synopsis:

“NEW YORK, NY (January 24, 2012) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all North American, Latin American and Eastern European rights to the film CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER.  The film, directed by  Lee Toland Krieger (THE VICIOUS KIND) and co-written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, is produced by Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd of Team Todd and Lee Nelson of Envision Media Arts, who also financed the film. The deal was negotiated by UTA’s Independent Film Group.

CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER was one of the most talked about films at the festival and debuted in the Premiere Section of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.  The film stars Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Chris Messina, Ari Graynor, Will McCormack, Emma Roberts, and Elijah Wood.

CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER is about two people who met in high school, married young and are growing apart.  Now thirty, they decide to get divorced and attempt to stay best friends while pursuing other relationships.   This plan is not as simple as they had imagined.

Celeste—imperious, successful and driven– is convinced that divorcing the boyish Jesse is the right thing to do.   Jesse passively accepts this transition into friendship, even though he still is in love with her. As the reality of their separation sets in, Celeste slowly and painfully realizes she has been cavalier about their relationship. But her timing with Jesse is less than fortuitous.   While navigating the turbulent changes in their lives and in their hearts, these two learn that in order to truly love someone, you may have to let them go. The film is a humorous and honest examination of a broken heart and the long, hard road it takes to heal it.

“No recent movie is more current, more perceptive, or more fun than CELESTE & JESSE FOREVER. Lee Toland Krieger has made a major film. The cast is superlative and it is an obvious labor of love for Rashida Jones and Will McCormack that delivers on all levels. We are excited to be in business with Jennifer Todd, Lee Nelson and our friends at UTA,” said Sony Pictures Classics.

Producers Jennifer Todd, Suzanne Todd and Lee Nelson add, “We are thrilled our film has found a home with Sony Pictures Classics and are incredibly excited to work with Michael, Tom and Dylan. Their track record is unparalleled and we feel very lucky to have our film with them.””

For a little over half a year, we’ve been treated to some brilliant things from Peter Jackson’s return to Middle-earth in bringing Tolkien’s The Hobbit to life, all of which you can catch up on right here. Just before Christmas, we were given an excellent new look at the film when the first trailer hit the web, and it was pretty brilliant. Fans of the original The Lord of the Rings will not be disappointed.

We’ve now got a great new image from the film to share with you, courtesy of Hero Complex via Collider, and it shows Martin Freeman as the young Bilbo Baggins looking pretty rough around the edges and somewhat world-weary, with one hand clasped around his sword, Sting.

As you’re no doubt already aware, The Hobbit will be released in two parts and in 3D, first with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and then The Hobbit: There And Back Again. The cast that Jackson has lined up is rather fantastic too, with many familiar faces as well as plenty of new ones joining the cast. Alongside Freeman, we can look forward to seeing Andy Serkis, Stephen Fry, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee.

“The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.

Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.

Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.”

(*Potential plot spoiler coming up; this is your warning!*) It’s been a long time since I read The Hobbit, so alas I can’t quite place the new image in the plot of the film myself. Freeman looks rather cobwebby though, so with a bit of help from Wikipedia…

“Great Spiders:

The Hobbit describes a colony of sapient and over-sized spiders in the northern parts of Mirkwood at the end of the Third Age. The Elves of Thranduil’s realm tried unsuccessfully to exterminate them. During the events of the book, Thorin’s company was captured by spiders and enmeshed in webs; however, Bilbo Baggins managed to free them with the aid of his sword Sting and his magic ring.”

That sounds about right to me. Essentially, expect this scene to be pretty awesome. (Small aside: I really like Richard Armitage for the role of Thorin. I think he’s going to be great in it.)

An Unexpected Journey will be with us in just under a year on 14th December, followed a year later by There And Back Again on 13th December, 2013. Without further ado, here’s the great new image of Freeman as Bilbo. As usual, click to enlarge and take in all the tiny details.

Envision Media Arts and Team Todd have provided a set of images giving us our first look at Celeste and Jesse Forever.

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger (The Vicious Kind), Celeste and Jesse Forever stars Rashida Jones (The Muppets), Andy Samberg (Hot Rod), Emma Roberts (Scream 4), Ari Graynor (What’s Your Number), Elijah Wood (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Chris Messina (Greenberg).

Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Samberg) met in high school, married young, and at 30, decide to get divorced but remain best friends while pursuing other relationships.

Celeste and Jesse Forever will premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in January. Check out the first look images below:

Source: The Playlist

George Miller’s 2006 film, Happy Feet, was a fun, original and wonderfully off-the-wall animation with a very powerful message alongside its infectious mixture of rhythm and wit. With DreamWorks producing a fantastic sequel in the form of Kung Fu Panda 2 earlier this year, hopes were high that Warner Bros. would deliver something different and exciting to contend with Fox in Happy Feet Two.

Following on from the first film, we are already acquainted with Mumble (Elijah Wood), Gloria (Pink) and their new and very cute bundle of fun, Erik (Ava Acres) and it appears Mumble’s lack of singing ability has been transferred into Erik’s lack of dancing talent. However when Erik’s true gift is unveiled it is as surprising as it is delightful and a great little moment within the film – dads, you may need some tissues at hand. Although returning as both Ramon and Lovelace, Robin Williams feels oddly lacking from this sequel, feeling more scripted than we’re used to and taking a backseat to the vast amount of other characters taking up screen time.

New addition Hank Azaria is once again on incredible form as The Mighty Sven, the ‘fake’ penguin who little Erik aspires to after watching him fly. Another accent perfected, Azaria brings a lot of light-hearted comedy to the sequel, but isn’t particularly key to the main story, serving much more of a moral purpose. Definitely involved in the main events are Seymour (Common) and his rapping son, Atticus (Benjamin Flores Jr.), who remain upbeat throughout and save the middle third from being entirely bereft of penguin humour, Atticus being a great deal of fun to watch as the self-assured, freestyling, fluffy ball of attitude.

Courtesy of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon – one of Hollywood’s less likely double acts – Will and Bill the Krill completely steal the show. Although they don’t have a great deal to do with the film’s main narrative, Pitt is in his absolute element as the delusional Will, a Krill going through an identity crisis, with Damon’s play-it-safe Bill his trusty and loyal companion. The duo take part in some of the film’s best set pieces, with the 3D at its most effective (and it is extremely impressive throughout) and sheer craziness at its peak. Whether watching the Krill being chased through the entire food chain, skua attacks or dance sequences, it’s impossible not to smile and be completely lost amongst the jellyfish and beautiful Northern Lights when the film is at its most comfortable and best.

Unlike the previous film, the environmental connotations are spread throughout rather than in one big helping, with the penguins taking matters into their own flippers much more this time around. This has resulted in a film that is far darker in tone, its final third doused in negativity and not quite knowing what to do with itself. Handy, then, that Pink is involved this time and appears to have been utilised for her singing talents far more than her acting, leaving Brittany Murphy desperately missed and Gloria sidelined. Although morally fitting, her full-length song in this middle third slows the pace even further and is at times slightly uncomfortable.

The songs themselves are not utilised as well as the first film where we followed each penguin trying to find their own ‘Heartsong’, but there are some great little surprises and the sheer power and sense of triumph and togetherness ‘Under Pressure’ brings towards the film’s close is as spine tingling as it is impressive. Ultimately a film about coming together, this is reflected in how Miller has tried to give everyone an equal say, leading to too much ‘alien’ interaction. Where the initial sighting of a human in Happy Feet was actually quite shocking, here they end up feeling gimmicky and borderline annoying, eradicating any initial sense of fascination and mystery.

When it’s good, Happy Feet Two is pure, delirious entertainment, but away from the near-perfect set pieces, the film seems confused as to quite which storyline to focus on. Whilst the animation is once again impossible to fault, and although it is just as wonderfully bonkers as the first, it just doesn’t feel as fresh. The original is ultimately so much cooler.

***~~ (3/5)

Earlier in the week, you’ll have seen interviews with both Robin Williams and Elijah Wood on their new movie. Happy Feet Two. With Elijah, we couldn’t help but talk about The Hobbit and if you missed it, you can catch up here and with Robin here. Likewise, in this interview with Director,George Miller, we couldn’t help but ask him about returning to Fury Road in the new Mad Max movie that will see Tom Hardy taking on the lead role.

Happy Feet Two is released in the UK this Friday, 2nd December and you can see our review here.

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HeyUGuys – Coming from Mad Max and Mad Max 2 which were very cynical and very dark movies about the future to Happy Feet 2 which is very optimistic, do you think you are more optimistic with age?

George – Probably, even though I’m now making another Mad Max film after all these years. People ask why did I get into these [Happy Feet] movies and I say two reasons: kids and technology. Once I had kids I only got to see kids movies and you do a lot of reading books to them and then I’m lucky enough to be in the era when this technology started. With the first Babe film we had a script written for ten years before, waiting for the ability to make real pigs talk and CG came along and I always loved animation, one of my top movies in Pinocchio and I always said that Chuck Jones and Buster Keaton taught me how to make Mad Max because they were pure filmmakers and they understood the pure syntax of filmmaking. So, it seemed natural to get into these stories.

Was it easy to find another story for the second Happy Feet film?

In this case it was easy because the films take a long time and in the last year of Happy Feet 1 the characters were so much in my head, they were like imaginary friends and I had the story for the sequel while I was finishing the first one. I had the story but I decided to do two other films in the meantime. One was Justice League which was closing to finishing but due to some complicated rebate system which was just starting in Australia it fell down. And then I was to do the next Mad Max movie, Fury Road, which I’ve tried to do twice and we had unprecedented rain in the centre of Australia and what was the red, flat plain is now a flower garden and the great salt lakes in the centre which you could drive through for miles is full of pelicans and fish so that film was pushed back. So then came Happy Feet [2] but we hope to shoot [Fury Road] in Namibia next year.

Will Fury Road be closer to Mad Max 2 than Mad Max 3?

It’s not a reinvention, but it’s going back into the world and this is many years later now. It’s not following any chronology at all. I love that world because it reduces human behaviour to a very elemental state. In that very spare landscape, a little bit like Happy Feet, you’ve got Antarctica and that has the same sort of quality. We’ve got Tom Hardy played Mad Max, who is a wonderful actor and Charlize Theron. I never wanted to make another film, but the story got me. And I kept pushing it away and the story just kept on playing in my head. It probably means I’m crazy.

Will Mel Gibson be returning for a cameo?

No, no. We’ve talked about the film and even doing it in 2001 and then it’s not like The Unforgiven, you know – about an older man going back to past.

So, when will shooting start on that?

Middle of next year. We’ve already got all our vehicles built and being shipped out to Namibia.

Do you think Happy Feet will become a franchise?

Honestly it depends entirely on if there’s another story. It was interesting that at the end of the first film I had the story for the sequel and then I got more into the world. Happy Feet 1 happens over the lifetime from birth to young adulthood of Mumble so we needed to get an epic scale by seeing the Penguin world from a microscopic vantage, from the very large creatures like Elephant Seals all the way down…

When casting the Krill did you find the most famous actors with children?

Not exactly! You came from wanting friends, actors who knew each other because they play friends who have known each other their whole lives and I knew Brad [Pitt] somewhat and I talked to him, but you’re right I know Matt [Damon] said ‘I didn’t even read the screenplay, my kids just said Do the film!’ But you know Babe started with my daughter, reading stories… and the first movies you go to are the kids movies when you have kids.

Did you ever think of becoming a doctor?

I did, I have a twin brother who is a doctor and I went to medical school and practised in hospitals for about four years and then when I started making films there was no opportunity to be a filmmaker but we started making, in the Seventies, little short films and I got very curious about the process and then somewhere in the mid-Seventies I was working as a doctor on the weekends and making short films during the week. We won a couple of awards and I said ‘Let’s make a feature’ so I learned how to write and Mad Max was the first film I made. And I then I always tended to go back, I was registered as a doctor and in Australia when you’re doing stunts on set you need to have a registered doctor on hand…

You mentioned you were interested in technology, would you be interested in doing a movie with motion capture performances?

Well, Happy Feet is partly done with motion capture. When Mumble was danced by Savion Glover, who is the greatest living tap-dancer and one of the big triggers on Happy Feet 1 was not only seeing documentaries about the lives of penguins which was very striking to me – the way they survive by community and that they were very anthropomorphic – and Andrew Lesnie who shot the first Babe movie and the first Lord of the Rings showed me the first motion capture for Gollum and I thought – Ah! we can make the penguins dance! So, that was a very big moment for Happy Feet 1. But though you have the motion capture you don’t have the facial capture right so all the faces are animated and the Krill, because they have five legs, and the seals are all animated. But the dancing bipedal characters are all motion capture.

When you were writing the second film was there anything you wrote that wasn’t possible at the time, but in the three years since was made possible?

Yes, I never thought we could get the crystals of ice, but it’s all ones and zeroes, and the cameras are real world cameras, though I like the virtual cameras and you can go up high, I like the camera low, and shooting on the Z-Axis and go in out out of the screen, which is great for 3D. Things like the transparency of the Krill and the bioluminescence we didn’t think we could do. So, a lot of it pushed the boundaries as we were going along.

Happy Feet Two is also a musical, how do find getting the rights to the songs ?

Getting the rights is difficult depending on who you are working with, the more people there are the harder it is…

There were quite a few Queen songs…

Yeah, the good thing about the Queen songs is that they are very operatic and they have a great structure, particularly Under Pressure, and I didn’t have that song initially but when we were recording the voices Hank Azaria asked me if I’d heard it and it was as i they’d written it for us. The hardest thing we had was when we tried to get a Phil Spector song just as he was charged with murder, so it was a little difficult to get access to him… I love the Puccini aria, I love its volcanic aspect and how emotions are expressed. Then we needed a song in the middle when the mother who couldn’t be with her son has to be soothed and Pink wrote that song.

Last week I got to sit down with Elijah Wood to chat about his new movie, Happy Feet Two. It so happened that the first question asked at the round table lead nicely into The Hobbit so this interview starts with a lot of Hobbit information on filming and what we can expect but mainly what Elijah felt when he returned to the set. He was such a nice bloke and I could have spoken with him for hours. I wanted to get more information from him about his memories from Back to the Future Part II but that will have to wait for another day!

Elijah plays Mumbles in Happy Feet Two which hits UK cinemas this Friday, 2nd December. If you missed the interview with Robin Williams, you can catch up here. Tomorrow we’ll have an interview with Director George Miller so keep your eyes peeled for that.

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HeyUGuys: Should you be in New Zealand at the moment?

Elijah Wood: I’ve just gotten back and I’m all finished. I was there for about a month throughout October.

How was it to be back?

Amazing, a mix of emotions I think. It was slightly surreal and felt oddly normal. I played the character for so long and I was in the costume, in Bag-end and a lot of the same crew were there from Rings so it was as if no time had past and suddenly we were doing another scene. It was great, felt like a family reunion, like stepping back in time.

When you wrapped on The Lord of the Rings, did you ever think you’d be going back?

At that time, if you;d have asked me if there would be a Hobbit film, I would have said no. Peter (Jackson) was pretty adamant about not doing it. There was always talk that someone else would do it but since Frodo isn’t in The Hobbit, i never thought I would play Frodo again.

If you were filming for a month, is it quite a big part?

It’s a flash-forward and there’s actually not a lot. It’s relatively small but it’s a nice piece and works really beautifully with what they’re doing. It’s going to be really cool I think.

What’s changed since you left?

Well, there are thirteen dwarves! Imagine that, thirteen principal actors, it’s insane – all with prosthetics and it’s incredible. In some ways, the scale feels larger surprisingly even though technically the scale of Lord of the Ring is more massive in terms of the storytelling. There’s more technology, it’s being shot in 3D, more people on the set and it feels as though the ‘machine’ is bigger. But, at the heart of it all, there is that same New Zealand ingenuity, that same vibe on set, Peter’s super relaxed, it’s still really fun – it’s great. It’s a mixture of old family and new family.

Was it strange for you going back to what was your set and now you’re a guest on it?

It was funny but it was cool. I was just excited to meet everybody, to meet Martin Freeman who’s playing Bilbo. And then also to catch up with McKellen and Andy Serkis who’s also directing second unit. It was fun to meet everybody and for me, what was fun was getting the chance to meet everybody and ask them a million questions asking them “how it’s been”, “how was the rehearsal period” and knowing what their experience must be like, it was fun for me to get a sense of what their perspective was on it.

Bringing it back to Happy Feet, what do you think are the main messages from the movie?

I think there are some beautiful themes. The movie ends on this note of everyone has to work together in communities across communities to solve a massive problem. And the idea that Eric, like Mumble in the first one is also searching for identity and looking for something that defines him. I love the idea of a kid believing in something that’s impossible, believing that he can fly. And that tough decision that a parent has to deal with where they dont want to crush their child’s dreams but they still want them to believe that things are possible. And the notion that it’s our differences that make us unique.

Eric has a rather embarrassing moment in the movie – have you had any embarrassing moments that you want to share?

I, like Eric in the movie, have weed on myself actually! Twice in my life. I was five years old at a family gathering at a holiday party and I was too embarrassed to ask to use the loo so I peed myself! And then again in first grade, I was again afraid to ask and by the time I did ask, I stood up and peed in class! And was wearing overalls!

Robin (Williams) mentioned in his interview the image of the polar bear clinging to the small bit of ice, are you pessimistic about the future?

I think that people are inherently good and will want to change the future for the better. In terms of the environment, I’m not a scientist so my knowledge is limited. I think the planet is going to change and we’re going to have to adapt. I feel that there is an awareness now that is at its peak. People are more aware of what part they have to play in it than ever before and that’s great. Everything else is out of our control.

But you’ve been to the future in Back to the Future 2 playing Wild Gunman so you can tell us what happens?…..

I have, that’s true! And weren’t they playing Jaws 32?!

Jaws 19!

Jaws 19, man, that was fun!

Do you have a favourite film from when you were younger?

As a film, I love Avalon. That’s one of my favourites. And I think Barry Levinson is an amazing filmmaker and it’s one of my favourite movies of his. It’s a beautiful movie.

Do you remember filming it?

Yeah, I do. I have vivid memories. In fact, to take it back to Happy Feet, I met Robin Williams on the set of Avalon. I was eight years old and Robin had worked with Barry on Good Morning Vietnam and he came to visit the set in Baltimore and it was really dark outside and I couldn’t see. There was this man standing there and he introduced himself to me and said ‘Hi, I’m Robin and this is my daughter Zelda’ and he had baby Zelda in his arms. Insane! And I was shaking his hand and in mid-shake I realised who he was and I said ‘Robin….. WILLIAMS! and he said ‘Ahh, light goes on!’ and it freaks me out. He was one of the first celebrities that I met. I reminded him of it the other day!

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Last week, I got to sit down with the legendary Robin Williams to talk about his new movie, Happy Feet 2. We got chatting about how he finds his voice for the characters , what he thinks about the future of the world and other deep stuff like that! I’ve transcribed the interview with the mega-talented man and I hope it comes across OK. Throughout the interview, he’s doing voices and keeping myself and the others that attended the interview thoroughly entertained.

Happy Feet 2 is released in cinemas this Friday, December 3rd and also stars Elijah Wood, Elizabeth Daily, Sofía Vergara, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Hank Azaria, Magda Szubanski, Pink and Hugo Weaving.

Keep your eyes peeled for the Elijah Wood interview which should hit tomorrow.

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HeyUGuys: George Miller (The Director) brings the actors in together to the same recording session but you play two voices! Can you do them at the same time?!

Robin Williams: At the same time, no! Simultaneous quantum recording, no! I usually do Ramon first just because he’s more active and then you do Lovelace later because he’s got that deeper Barry White thing going. Usually we’d do Ramon and the amigos because vocally it’s easier.

How did you find your own penguin within yourself?

My own Latino penguin? It’s a small fierce side of myself! Being a hopeless romantic of my own and in real life I’m lucky to have my own Carmen. With Lovelace, it was just Barry White. I grew up in Detroit so I heard a lot of Baptist preachers and I could find that voice very easily.

How was it coming back?

Really great because it’s the same people. All the amigos were these Latin comics and add to that Elijah who’s the sweetest man in show business and on top of that you have Sofía Vergara. She’s so sweet and so sexy and is just a gift! She makes the room 3d! It was like a reunion.

You said the voices are easy to find but how exactly do you find them?

Well with George (the Director) on the first day we met, an Adelie penguin lives on the top of Argentina in Patigonia so he said let’s try a Latino. With Lovelace I just saw that look because he’s big and heavy and he just looked to me like Barry White or Don King!

You’ve done a lot of animations recently, do you still like doing live action?

I still like to act. I did a film with Robert De Niro recently called The Big Wedding. But doing the voice is a gift. It’s literally like a paid vacation where you go to Australia and work with these guys for 2 weeks and then come back. The weird thing is how long it takes – three years. I think when we did the first sessions, it was a year ago since we did the last session.

Robert De Niro is the opposite of you, very shy, how is it working with him?

We’ve been friends for years It’s great, he’s my greatest friend in the world. He’s the best. He’s very sweet.

Does he make you laugh?

Big time!! I broke his nose when we were doing Awakenings. We were doing this scene where we were supposed to be having a struggle and I caught his nose with my elbow and he comes up and says: “I’m OK” and I went “Oh f*ck he’s alive!”. Actually his doctor says  I clicked it back in from when he broke it in Ranging Bull! He makes me laugh because everyone thinks of him being that way but he’s really articulate and really funny.

This film deals with many issues, global warming being one of them…..

Totally. The opening scene when we see the iceberg break off has been recorded from satellite imagery that George used as research. As it’s melting it’s making more oil available which continues the cycle. To ignore it would be insane. George is now saying that it’s melting so much that the penguin populations are forced into smaller areas and there’s an overlap. The saddest thing in this movie is that polar bear holding onto that small bit of ice and an orca’s coming along – you know that isn’t going to end well!

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Following on from the astounding success of 2006’s Happy Feet, the upcoming sequel, Happy Feet 2, is set to make a big impact (I could’ve said ‘splash’, but chose not to) when it comes out in a few weeks, and this fantastic new trailer, courtesy of Yahoo Movies, gives us a lot to look forward to in it.

Not only did the first film do really well at the box office, taking more than $300m. from a $100m. budget, it also took the Academy Award for Best Animated Film, so in some respects, Happy Feet 2 has a lot to live up to.

Cast in a different light though, sequels are typically expected not to live up to their originals, so hopefully Happy Feet 2 will buck the trend and be a pleasant surprise!

Co-director from the first film, George Miller, is back in the director’s chair this time around but is their all by himself, and it looks like he’s done a great job from what we’ve seen so far – all of which you can catch up on here.

The sequel will see the return of many of the great actors and actresses who lent their voices to the first film, including Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, and Hugo Weaving, along with some terrific additions that see the likes of Brad Pitt and Matt Damon joining the cast in the forms of Will and Bill the Krill, Sofía Vergara as Carmen, Anthony LaPaglia as Boss Skua, and Hank Azaria as The Mighty Sven.

Sadly, the late Brittany Murphy died from pneumonia before being able to reprise her role from the first film as Gloria, Mumble’s love interest, and so Alicia Moore (a.k.a. Pink/P!nk) will be lending her voice as Gloria for the second film.

Happy Feet 2 is coming out in the States this weekend (and so will be up against Twilight! Which must be a bit daunting, even if the target demographics are different), and this is the final American trailer we’ll be getting. Since we here in the UK have to wait until the 2nd December to see it, there’s a chance we’ll have more Happy Feet 2 goodness to bring you between now and then.

The film is one of the eighteen animated features that have been submitted as potential Oscar candidates for the 2012 Academy Awards next February, and we’ll know in just over two months’ time whether it’s made the final nominees list as its predecessor did a few years back. Without further ado though, here’s the brilliant new trailer to feast your eyes on. As you can imagine, it’s super green band, so if you’re at work, feel free to inject a little bit of a song and dance into the airwaves with the weekend being so close. Enjoy.

We got the third video diary for Peter Jackson’s return to Middle-earth back in July, and now he’s given us the fourth instalment through his Facebook page, because he’s pretty awesome like that.

In case you’ve missed them, you can catch up on all the earlier video diaries from The Hobbit and everything else surrounding the project right here.

This latest production video predominantly looks at the 3D filming aspect of the project, and it’s really interesting, with Jackson and the filming crew giving us a very insightful view of how they’re making this film.

According to the video, they’ve got 48 Red Epic cameras, each with its own individual name, which is pretty ridiculously awesome. Each of those cameras has a price tag of no less than $10,000, so if they were all retail price (naturally, they’re not going to be), that’s half a million dollars just on those cameras right there! And they visually show us how much their cameras just utterly out-do our 1080 TV screens and monitors, just to make us feel good about ourselves.

Ain’t It Cool News have also been visiting the set of the film, and have got some great photos of Bilbo and Jackson in Bag End, and if you want to read their report of the set visit, then you can go ahead and click over here.

As I’m sure you’re already aware, the two-parter has a pretty fantastic cast, including Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Stephen Fry, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee.

At the end of the video, Jackson tells us that they’re about to move on to shooting on location, and that the next video he brings us will be from wherever they’re shooting in a few months’ time – so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that, because it will undoubtedly be filled with amazing landscapes.

The Hobbit will be coming to us in two parts. The first, An Unexpected Journey, will be hitting cinemas at the end of next year on 14th December; and the second, There And Back Again, will be back a year later on 13th December, 2013. As you can imagine, it’s going to be awesome. Without further ado, here’s the brilliant new production video diary, followed by a few photos from the set, which you can click to enlarge. And if you want to see the video in glorious HD, then you can head over to Jackson’s Facebook page here.

]]> http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/11/04/must-watch-elijah-wood-martin-freeman-fighting-dwarves-and-3d-in-the-hobbit-production-video-diary-%e2%80%93-part-4/feed/ 0 http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/10/09/happy-feet-two-trailer/ http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/10/09/happy-feet-two-trailer/#comments Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:00:28 +0000 Jon Lyus http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/?p=110520

If cute penguins are your bag then you’ll be in furry bird heaven with the latest Happy Feet film and there’s a new trailer out to further entice and tease.

It’s solid family friendly fare from the looks of it and where else, other than in the world of CG anthropomorphic animation, could you find a cast which includes Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Pink and Elijah Wood?

Yahoo had this new trailer and this handy synopsis which proved of great interest to me, and may well do to you.

Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven — a penguin who can fly! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures — from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals — to put things right.

Okay, so here’s a question, if Cheaper By The Dozen 2 was a missed opportunity to go with Cheaper By The Two Dozen, can the same be said for the Happy Feet Two sequel? Is Happy Two Feet a decent idea? Maybe not.

Regardless, it’s coming, whatever we call it and to prove it (were proof needed), we have an avalanche of stills, showing everyone being very happy. I confess I found the first film pretty pointless and nigh-on unwatchable, so I’m not going to pretend to be wildly exuberant about another outing for the dancing penguin-types.

Quite how Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Pink and Common have been roped in to join the more predictable presence of Hank Azaria, Robin Williams and Elijah Wood is anyone’s guess (that guess presumably revolving around the presence of piles of crisp bank notes).

Click through the link below to enjoy the stills gallery and if it’s your thing, get ready for more happy feet before the year is out.

Source: Yahoo Movies.

Every year at Fantastic Fest, festival organizers pit country vs country in an nerdtastic intellectual showdown they like to refer to as ‘Fantastic Debates’. The event usually just consists of a podium style battle of wits, but this year, Fantastic Fest has a little something extra up it’s sleeve.

In celebration of the regional premiere of the Irish bare-knuckle brawling documentary ‘Knuckle’, a second round of competition has now been added to the notorious Debates ceremony. Now, after finishing an intense battle of the brains, Debates contestants will then be thrown into the boxing ring to once and for all settle age old nerd disputes.

The event is set to take place on Saturday here in Austin, TX where everyone from Astrophysicist Andy Howell  to Fantastic Fest co-founder Tim League will be squaring off face to face. However, the highlight of the night will undoubtedly come when friend must turn against friend in an all out Hobbit on Hobbit battle to end all battles! That’s right! I could only be talking about Elijah Wood vs. Dominic Monaghan. These two may have faced the fires of Mordor together, but on Saturday, the Fellowship will be broken and only one pint sized king will be crowned. Their topic of debate: World of Warcraft.

Earlier this week, the Wood camp released a challenge video in an attempt to take the feud public.  The video shows a blood thirsty Wood who already seems intent on not pulling any punches. Monaghan’s party was then quick to respond with a more half-hearted reply that has many people guessing that Elijah will be the uncontested winner on Saturday.  More to come as events unfold!

You can watch both videos below and decide for yourself who you think the winner will be:

Elijah’s Video

Dominic’s Video

Warner Bros. have released this second poster for their new movie, Happy Feet Two and unfortunately it’s more turkey than it is penguin! I guess it is a kids movie! If you missed the trailer for the film, you can catch it here.

Directed by George Miller, Happy Feet Two stars Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Alecia Moore, Elizabeth Daily, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Hugo Weaving, Hank Azaria, Richard Carter and Magda Szubanski.

Synopsis: Mumble the penguin has a problem: his son Erik, who is reluctant to dance, encounters The Mighty Sven, a penguin who can fly! Things get worse for Mumble when the world is shaken by powerful forces, causing him to brings together the penguin nations and their allies to set things right.

Happy Feet Two is scheduled for release in the UK 3rd December and unlike it’s predecessor, will be in 3D.

Following on from the poster that Jamie put up earlier, Warner Bros. have released the first full trailer from their new movie, Happy Feet Two which is the sequel to the 2006 movie.

Directed by George Miller, Happy Feet Two stars Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Alecia Moore, Elizabeth Daily, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Hugo Weaving, Hank Azaria, Richard Carter and Magda Szubanski.

Synopsis: Mumble the penguin has a problem: his son Erik, who is reluctant to dance, encounters The Mighty Sven, a penguin who can fly! Things get worse for Mumble when the world is shaken by powerful forces, causing him to brings together the penguin nations and their allies to set things right.

After watching the trailer, I’m a little worried as it looks rather penguin poo! Maybe that’s because I’m not five years old though. Would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

Happy Feet Two is scheduled for release in the UK 3rd December and unlike it’s predecessor, will be in 3D.

Warner Bros. Pictures have released the first official poster for Happy Feet Two, the sequel to the worldwide smash-hit Happy Feet.

Directed by George Miller, Happy Feet Two stars Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Alecia Moore, Elizabeth Daily, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara, Hugo Weaving, Hank Azaria, Richard Carter and Magda Szubanski.

Synopsis: Mumble the penguin has a problem: his son Erik, who is reluctant to dance, encounters The Mighty Sven, a penguin who can fly! Things get worse for Mumble when the world is shaken by powerful forces, causing him to brings together the penguin nations and their allies to set things right.

Happy Feet Two is scheduled to hit UK cinemas on December 2.

Check out the poster below:

Source: Moviefone

Richard Armitage’s Thorin Oakenshield is the latest of the cast from The Hobbit to be revealed straight from the set of Peter Jackson’s film.

I appreciate this way of introducing the ‘first look’ to each of the characters in this way as opposed to a blurry telephoto lens shot from a few miles away. This way Jackson controls the fan reaction to a certain extent and the fans can feel part of the production in some way. Also, it is great to see The One Ring.net getting the exclusive on this one. Their reporting of the production of the Lord of the Rings trilogy set the standard and it’s great to see them still going strong.

The leader of the mostly merry band of dwarves who arrive in Bag End and begin Bilbo’s unexpected journey, Thorin will play a crucial part in the proceedings. Here’s some terribly exciting prose written to whip you into a Hobbit sized fury,

As a young Dwarf prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when a great fire-breathing Dragon attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor. After slaughtering many of Thorin’s kin, the great serpent, Smaug, entered The Lonely Mountain and took possession of its vast store of gold and jewels. No-one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, and thus, a once proud and noble race was forced into exile. Through long years of hardship, Thorin grew to be a strong and fearless fighter and revered leader. In his heart a fierce desire grew; a desire to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that had brought such misery upon his people. So when fate offers him an unusual ally, he seizes the chance for revenge.

What they don’t menion is if he’ll spend much time sitting down and singing about gold. Here’s the pic to click,

We’ve been absolutely loving all the dwarf images released from The Hobbit and now this Friday afternoon, we get to meet a couple more! Time have given us the first look at Balin and Dwalin played by Ken Stott and Graham McTavish.

Dwarf Lords in their own right, Balin and Dwalin are close relatives of Thorin. Beyond this, these brothers are two of his most loyal and trusted friends. An old warrior, Balin has lived through hard times and fought many battles, yet he harbors doubts about the wisdom of the Quest to retake the Lonely Mountain. Dwalin has no such forebodings – his belief in Thorin’s leadership is unshakeable. A powerful and bruising fighter, with a natural tendency to distrust anyone who is not a Dwarf, particularly anyone who might be an Elf, Dwalin is not someone to cross lightly.

If you’ve missed the previous images that have been released, you can keep track of all our Hobbit news here.

The Hobbit is currently shooting in New Zealand and will be released in two parts in 3D. The first The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released on December 14th 2012 with the second part, The Hobbit: There and Back Again coming the following year.

Synopsis: The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins , who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey , Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.

Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.