HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG IS VISIONARY
**** THE GLORIOUS CORNER By: G. H. Harding **** Orlando Bloom HOBBIT POPS --- Last night we were at a SRO-screening of the latest Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug; the second in the eventual trilogy of adapted films from the enduring popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I had never read this book, nor all that invested in the trilogy of Lord Of The Rings movie, but, that first LOR movie, directed by Peter Jackson, was nothing short of brilliant and established Jackson as a visionary director. Truth be told, that first LOR-movie was every bit as compelling as the very first Star Wars movie; the comic-con crowd embraced the movie and a true classic was born. The story, the actors, the effects … nothing short of astonishing. The first installment of the Hobbit movie was good, but to me, a little too slick and serviceable. Jackson showed all his tricks in the LOR epics, so at times it looked like I had seen it before. ...