the hobbit

Life-size hobbit Bag End made of 2 million Legos

I've tried what I thought were some ambitious Lego builds in my childhood, but I never got close to making anything that could be considered life-size. That's why I'm tipping my hat to the insane quest of the Lego builders who made a life-size Bag End in honor of "The Hobbit" movie.

The Bag End creation is impressively detailed. There's a big round door and life-size characters running around, including Bilbo and Gandalf. If you look closely in one of the photos, you can even see smoke coming out of the chimney. I don't think that part is made out of little plastic bricks. … Read more

'Lord of the Rings' dwarven beard, helm forged from yarn

With "The Hobbit" going nuts at the box office, it's time to turn our eyes toward "Lord of the Rings" cosplay. The dwarf costumes are perhaps some of the most challenging. Not only are there a ton of dwarves to choose from, but you have both armor and excessive facial hair to deal with.

One clever crafter figured out how to handle the dwarf dilemma by harnessing the ancient and terrible power of crochet. Deviantartist SadDaysCrochet fashioned a dwarven helm and beard out of yarn.… Read more

Poll: Did you like the smoother, HFR 'Hobbit'?

If you're one of the many, many people who saw "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" over the weekend, chances are you didn't see the film exactly as the director, Peter Jackson, intended.

But if you were, please let us know whether you liked it by voting in the poll.

"The Hobbit" is the first major film to be released in a higher-frame-rate 3D version called HFR. Unlike traditional releases, which are shot and shown at 24 frames per second, the HFR Hobbit comes in at 48fps.

Jackson said he preferred viewers watch the HFR … Read more

'The Hobbit' 3D tech divides our CNET reviewers

Now that Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" has opened in theaters around the world, the most controversial thing about it isn't even that he somehow is making three 3-hour movies out of a 300-page children's story. No, it's the way the movie has been shot that has the most people talking.

The "Hobbit" trilogy has been captured using James Cameron's 48-frames-per-second 3D technology (HFR 3D), which Jackson says leads to less eyestrain and a sharper picture.

Only a limited number of cinemas will be showing the movie in HFR -- Jackson says it's only 1,000 out of 25,000 theaters.

"On the first day of shooting 'The Hobbit' in 48 frames, there was not a single cinema in the world that could project the movie in that format," Jackson said, according to CinemaBlend.

While we're not going to go into how the technology works here, CNET editors David Katzmaier and Ty Pendlebury have just come out of a showing in HFR 3D and wanted to share their thoughts.… Read more

How much would you cough up for a Hobbit home?

Tired of the city and need some more greenery in your life? Real estate blog Movoto calculated the cost of buying a home similar to Bag End featured in "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings" movie sagas.

Movoto considered Worcestershire County, England, as a reasonable locale for estimating the value of a Hobbiton home since "Hobbit" author J.R.R. Tolkien supposedly favored the lush countryside area.… Read more

'The Hobbit' cast poses with Lego mini-fig lookalikes

We're going to need a cleanup on aisle 3. There's been a geek collision between the cast of the "The Hobbit" and their Lego mini-fig counterparts. Fans are losing it all over the place.

The cast of "The Hobbit" got their hands on their Lego versions. Even better, the cast members were all in costume when they opened up the little boxes and met themselves. You can swoon over the whole gallery over at the Facebook page for the "The Hobbit."… Read more

Hobbiton tour a hot ticket before 'Hobbit' movie premiere

With the world premiere of "The Hobbit" movie just a few weeks off, I've been thinking a lot about travel and Middle-earth, from here at the actual middle of the actual earth.

Turns out I'm not alone. These days, the New Zealand Tourism Board actively promotes tours of the 12-acre family farm that was spotted amid obscurity and lots of sheep in 1998 and transformed into The Shire of Tolkien lore.

In fact, the tourist board says at least 6 percent of visitors to the country cite "The Lord of the Rings" and upcoming "Hobbit" trilogies as the reason they came to New Zealand.… Read more

The Hobbit's Bag End imagined with balloons

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

Thus begins J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classic "The Hobbit," first published 75 years ago and slated to be released as three movies despite the fact that it's only 300 pages long.

Indeed, the power of a franchise can be stronger than Smaug's fiery breath. That could have been what prompted Jeremy Telford to turn his room into a persuasively good rendition of Bilbo Baggins' home -- using balloons. … Read more

Top 5 features missing from iPhone 5

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The iPhone 5 has arrived, and it's pretty great. But I can't shake this nagging feeling that Apple could have done more.

A week ago, CNET's David Carnoy penned a great roundup of the most-wanted features that didn't make it into the iPhone 5. It seemed like easy pickings for a Top 5 video, so I imposed a ranking, stood in front of a camera, and created the video you see before you (click here if you don't see a video at the top of this … Read more

'The Hobbit': No longer stunted, the films grow into a trilogy

Middle-earth buffs now have something to rejoice about -- Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson announced today that his movie adaptation of "The Hobbit" will be a trilogy rather than the previously announced two-part sequel.

He made the announcement on Facebook, saying that while he was editing the first and second movies in the series, he realized how much of the story was being left out.

"We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life," he wrote. "All … Read more