Here is a summary of all the big happenings of the past two weeks!

Life is as busy as ever, plus I am working on several great projects I am really excited to show to you when they are done. As always, I enjoy your feedback, and I hope you enjoy this post!

A recap of this past week's events

The big news this week concerns The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Home Video release on DVD and Blu-ray, so you can expect a lot on that. Also, both Asmus Toys and the Gentle Giant have new The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings figurines. Aside from these, there are still interviews, videos, and more!

A recap of this past week's events

Fan art, awesome stuff from Weta, movie awards, and art from the upcoming Lego The Hobbit video game have all been seen and discussed in the world of Tolkien fandom. If you have been wondering why I use the phrase 'world of Tolkien fandom' so much, it is because the works of J.R.R. Tolkien have on the largest fan bases in the world, with members spanning across continents. See what these thousands, and very possibly millions of people have been up to in the past week!

Another week has come and gone

without a single post from yours truly. Sorry about that. There has not really been much activity from my end at all for the past few weeks. I'll try to work up something interesting soon, but for now, you will have to content yourself with an overview of this past week's events. 

This week has been rather slow relating to all things Tolkien

But that does not mean exciting things did not happen! And not just here in the United States, but around the world, from The Netherlands to Australia, and, of course, New Zealand. 

Another exciting week has come and gone!

An earthquake in New Zealand that troubled creatures of both land and air, more interviews of actors and the equally important behind-the-scenes sound-mixers and editors, and even a new poster!

What has been happening in the world of Tolkien fandom

More award nominations have been announced for The Desolation of Smaug, fans have shown their love of Tolkien be creating epic works of art, and even a new edition of one of J.R.R. Tolkien's books has been scheduled for release later this year. Find out about all this and more beyond the break!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has been nominated in the 86th Annual Academy Awards!

Just this morning, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their nominations for the 2014 Annual Academy Awards! The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug received three of these nominations, matching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 
Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick, and Tony Johnson were nominated for Best Sound Mixing; 
Brent Burge was nominated for Best Sound Editing; 
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, and Eric Reynolds were nominated for Best Visual Effects. 
There are some pretty tough competitors for the visual effects award this year! The winners will be announced as the ceremony on March 2. For the full list of nominations, go here. 

The latest video from How It Should Have Ended!

This video does nothing but ridicule and make fun The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. However much it failed to live up to the standard of the book, I disagree with many of the complaints more than a few of you have. Part of me doesn't like that HISHE is making fun at the expense of one of my favorite stories, but that does not mean this video does not have a grain of truth in it, which is what makes this video and all the other How It Should Have Ended videos hilarious. 

Time for nominating and awarding the films of he past year!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, despite what people say, was a huge success - being one of the top 20 highest-grossing films of 2012 as of January 1, and now, a month since its release, has taken in a total of $769.2 million dollars, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Such a popular movie deserves a few awards, and a few nominations have already started coming in. 

Nine fantastic behind-the-scenes videos for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!

These short 1-2 minute videos original appeared on YouKu, though they have since been uploaded to YouTube. They feature all the different aspects of film-making: directing, screenplay, art direction, costume design, makeup hairstyling, cinematography, vfx, sound editing, and much more!

Happy New Year!

As always, lots of stuff has happened this past week, including the beginning of a new year! 2014 has tons of new prospects and things to wait for - such as The Hobbit: There and Back Again, scheduled to be released on December 17. There should be a trailer sometime in the next few months! Back to the present, there are interviews, essays, and much more Tolkien related stuff to post about!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has taken in over 600 million worldwide in less than a month!

It has also remained top of the box office, despite the release of several other blockbusters, such as Frozen, Anchorman 2, and several others. You can learn more at BoxOffice.com. Something else you might like to know is this: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the most pirated film of 2013, with 8.4 million illegal downloads. I'm not sure what to think of that. 

The highlights and things I didn't have time to post from this past week!

Following the tradition started at the end of November, here are the latest interviews, videos, news bits, and everything else from the world of Tolkien fandom!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Production Dairy #14

Behind the scene of the musical score of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!

December 15 - 21 Weekly Recap

What has been happening in the world of Tolkien fandom!

A new poster, interviews, videos, announcements, fan creations, and more!

A review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Here is my initial impression of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. You've had to wait a while, I know! But here it is, at last. If you have not seen the movie yet, beware of SPOILERS!

Jerry Vanderstelt's Tauriel

A new piece of artwork from Jerry Vanderstelt featuring Tauriel from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smuag

And The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, has made, as of December 18, 2013 at 2:05pm, $211,047,401, or thereabouts. Find out more at BoxOffice.com. But, before you head off there or somewhere else, take a look at the artwork beyond the break! Who knows? Maybe one of you is crazy enough to buy the original on ebay!

So... A lot of stuff has happened this week

Most importantly the world-wide opening of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! (A review is coming soon, so don't worry.) But that is certainly not all. Go beyond the break to check out the latest reviews, interviews, spoilers, and much, much more! 

OK. It's only six hours where I live (EST), which is the soonest anyone in USA can see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has already made a big hit in France, drawing in 2.8 million its opening night, according to BoxOffice.com. This will probably be my last post before I go to watch it, but check back tomorrow for some cool stuff about the debut of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! One last spoiler: Girion of Dale, the father of Bard the Bowman, is played by...