benedict_smaug New behind-the-scenes footage from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug reveals more about how Benedict Cumberbatch created the voice and personality of the dragon.

Dressed for motion-capture, Cumberbatch lies on a raised, carpeted platform and snarls at an unseen Biblo.

In the video, director Peter Jackson explains: “We wanted someone who would do something original, unexpected — something that was a surprise to us.”

Featurette – Conversations with Smaug for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on TrailerAddict.

The annual tradition of determining who won or lost at San Diego Comic-Con is in full swing across the blogosphere. The all-volunteer staff of TheOneRing.net (who always attend on their own accord and dime) experienced all the booths, panels and exclusive lines at SDCC 2014.

After taking it all in, here are just a few reasons we think 2014 SDCC belonged to The Hobbit. Continue reading “The Hobbit totally won San Diego Comic-Con. Here are just eight reasons why.”

SDCC Hobbit BOTFASeveral Cast interviews have started showing up on YouTube after The Hobbit Panel on Saturday.  Message board regular Arannir shared these ones on the boards and we thought we’d share them with you here.  Something else for us all to enjoy while we impatiently await the teaser trailer to appear online.

Many thanks to Ringer Piet for bringing this video of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Panel to our attention.  Before you get your hopes too high, the teaser trailer has been excised from the video, so it only shows the Panel, but it’s still worth watching for that.  Meanwhile we’ll all keep hoping they’ll release the trailer online soon.

tumblr_mvwwq3Iay01sml467o4_1280

headGodzilla is stomping closer to theaters while Smaug is between the two films featuring the performance of Benedict Cumberbatch, but Wall Street Journal writer Michael Calia asked our own news editor Demosthenes to help out with the showdown between the two pop-culture heavyweights. Its a pretty fun read and Demos certainly did us proud but if Godzilla is King of the Monsters (1956 film) then maybe he should face J.R.R. Tolkien’s greatest dragon Ancalagon The Black. Many readers at the WSJ blog probably haven’t heard of him though, so Smaug is much more fun for the masses. You can read the blow-by-blow right here.