Martin actually looks really cute in the trailers as Bilbo. Are hobbits made from jam, kittens and rage too?

Everytime I see his hobbit character, I just want to reach for the hairdressing scissors.

I wonder how "Jam, kittens and rage" is 'translated' in the USA? They call Jam - Jelly.

Yes, it's always waiting, and waiting...
But I'm used to it by now. I waited for the three films of LOTR, for each of the series of Spooks and for the fifth season of Mad Men (about 18 months). So well, I know I can do it, though it will be hard.
The worst thing about The Hobbit is that we won't listen to Benedict's voice till the second film, in 2013. The good thing is we will have a lot of Martin in both films 

Oh, yes, I forgot about the Potter waiting... though I've read them all in my late twenties, so I only had to wait for the three last books. Anyway, it was a long time between books also.

About what you ask on The Hobbit films, I think Cumberbatch's casting happened about May 2011, so Sherlock's first series had already been aired and they were about to film the second one 

Yep and I remember reading something about The Hobbit having to stop filming whilst they returned to UK to film series two of Sherlock. Moffat, I think, commented on how backwards it was for a major budget film to accommodate Sherlock's shooting schedule lol.

Young Sherlock, me and my sons waited for years, too, lol! I'm a great LotR fan. Have you read 'The Hobbit' ? If not, you should, because it's very witty and well written. It starts like a book for smaller kids, but as the story develops, it gets more serious. The dialogs between Bilbo and Smaug are great. If you picture Martin Freeman and Ben Cumberbatch doing them, you really have something to look forward to. Unfortunately we will probably not see Smaug in the first movie, so we have to wait until 2013.

Hobbit clips stun industry with new format

SIR Peter Jackson has stunned a cinema convention in Las Vegas by showing 10 minutes of assorted clips previewing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in an innovative new format.

The footage was shown at CinemaCon at Caesar's Palace in 3D at 48 frames per second, rather than the Hollywood standard 24fps.

The director told the gathering of cinema owners and media in a videotaped message from Wellington that using the higher speed produces a smoother image.

He hoped "as many cinemas as possible" would play the movie at 48fps.

The Associated Press reported that in the previewed scenes, blades of grass, facial lines and soaring mountains all appeared luminous and pronounced.

But Variety reported exhibitors were not all enamoured with the look.

"The Hobbit reel looked distinctively sharper and more immediate than everything before it, giving the 3D smoother movement, while losing the cinematic detachment from the motion blur of the longtime industry-standard 24fps," Variety said.



But one exhibitor said "some of the close-up shots looked like an old soap opera on TV".

Deadline.com website reported that the crisp, high-definition look was wildly different and quite startling to those used to film and 24-frame digital 3D.

It quoted another media member saying though it looked "extraordinary" it would deeply divide moviegoers, especially those who like the grain of film.

Jackson said higher frame rates could make cinema more attractive, especially in 3D, as it is gentler on the eyes.

The Hollywood Reporter said the clarity Jackson described was visible in the presentation, but because the clips were described as "a work in progress", Warners did not screen footage that was fully colour-corrected or had completed visual effects.

Digital cinema equipment manufacturers are at CinemaCon discussing plans to support 48fps exhibition.

CinemaCon 2012: Peter Jackson Debuts 'The Hobbit' Footage, Touts 48 Frame-Per-Second Exhibition

Warner Bros. showed 10 minutes of 3D footage from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at 48 frames per second after director Peter Jackson said in a videotaped message that he hopes his movie can be played in 48fps in “as many cinemas as possible"  when it opens Dec. 14.

The Hobbit, the first major motion picture to be made at the higher frame rate, closed the Warner Bros. slate presentation Tuesday at CinemaCon.

Frame rate refers to the number of images displayed by a projector within one second. The cinema standard has been 24 fps for many decades. Jackson explained that in the early days of film, silent pictures were shown at an even lower frame rate -- reducing the amount of film used -- but it was bumped to 24 to support the requirements of sound.
Jackson asserted that with digital, there's “no reason"  to stay with 24, noting that higher frame rates can result in smoother, more lifelike pictures while producing fewer motion artifacts.
In his message, Jackson said higher frame rates could make cinema “more attractive,"  especially in 3D, as it is “more gentle on the eyes."  He added that 2D at 48fps also looks “fantastic."
The clips ranged from action sequences to quieter moments, including a dialogue sequence between Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and Gollum (Andy Serkis). The CinemaCon audience also saw the return of castmembers from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, including Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) and Orlando Bloom (Legolas).
The clarity Jackson described was visible in the presentation, but because the clips were described as "a work in progress," Warners did not screen footage that was fully color-corrected or had completed VFX work.
Digital cinema equipment manufacturers are at CinemaCon discussing plans to support 48fps exhibition.
Between Cinemark and Rave, there are nearly 4,000 screens in North America that have Barco Series 2 projectors with the required software update and a Doremi Integrated Media Block with beta software to make it capable of playing 48fps, Barco vp digital cinema entertainment Patrick Lee told The Hollywood Reporter.
On Tuesday, Sony announced that a software update for its digital cinema projection systems would support 48fps and be available in the fall. Sony expects the majority of its 13,000 installed 4K digital cinema projectors to support high frame rates by the time The Hobbit is released.
The Hobbit will also be available in 24 fps.
Peter Jackson’s Rings trilogy resulted in an estimated $2.9 billion at the global box office and a combined 17 Academy Awards.

Lol, or hanging out with short scruffy guys.

Nice find in a bookstore today: An eight pages free newspaper about Tolkien's Hobbit including two pictures of Martin.
(sorry for the bad picture quality!)