New 'Hobbit' Production Diary Takes You To Hobbiton

The first thing you notice during this new production diary for "The Hobbit"? The dwarves. The dwarves are kayaking through the river in a big raft. They're on location, riding horses and brandishing swords and running against green screens. There's a lot to see; twelve minutes of it, to be exact, taking you through the trailers and the production studios and the computer labs where all of the work gets done. Check out the "Hobbit" trailer! There's honestly too much to summarize, so you'll have to check it out for yourself. That said, the Shire shows up, as do Elijah Wood (reprising Frodo) and Ian McKellan (reprising Gandalf). Hobbiton's been recreated for the new film, and Wood gives his thoughts on returning to the Tolkien-verse after 11 years away. Andy Serkis (Gollum) also shows up -- as a 2nd Unit Director, if you didn't know about his expanded role. December 2012 is a long while away, but rather than withholding detail (ahem, Christopher Nolan), this is a pretty intimate look at the film's production. That isn't very surprising considering Peter Jackson's openness on his previous Tolkien-related films. "The Lord of the Rings" gifted us with hours of behind-the-scenes detail, and "The Hobbit" is no less thoughtfully rendered. New Zealand is so green! Hobbiton is so pleasant-looking! Who wouldn't want to live there, forever and ever? Rich filmgoers can visit New Zealand and tour the set, but for the rest of us, we'll have to wait until next Christmas. Tell us what you think of the new "Hobbit" production diary in the comments and on Twitter!

REVIEW: Angelina Jolie Makes a Bleak Bosnian War Romance with In the Land of Blood and Honey

In the Land of Blood and Honey isn’t actually Angelina Jolie’s first film as a director — that distinction goes to A Place in Time, a little-seen 2007 documentary showcasing life in different locations around the globe at the same moment, shot with the help of some of her famous friends, including Djimon Hounsou and Anne Hathaway. But like that film, Jolie’s narrative debut arrives surrounded by a halo of good intentions and the sense that celebrity is being used as the spoonful of sugar to make the didacticism go down. Per the activist and star’s own statement in the press notes, with this new feature she “wanted to make a film that would express, in an artistic way, [her] frustrations with the international community’s failure to intervene in conflicts in a timely and effective manner.” The conflict on-screen is the Bosnian War of the ’90s, which puts new lovers Ajla (Zana Marjanovi) and Danijel (Goran Kosti) on opposite sides of a clash that left 100,000 dead and led to accusations of genocide. Despite those austere intentions, In the Land of Blood and Honey is gratifyingly short on lectures and, interestingly, on history lessons. The drama, which was also written by Jolie, is set very specifically during the Bosnian War without delving deeply into the complications of the reasons for the bloodshed. Ajla is a Bosnian Muslim, an aspiring painter who lives with her sister; Danijel is a Bosnian Serb, a policeman whose family has a tradition of going into law enforcement. But neither is a fervent believer in the war, at least not in the beginning. They’re just shuffled off into the parts already assigned to them, Danijel taking a place as a commander in the Serbian army under his father, General Nebojsa Vukojevich (Rade erbedija, who often plays Eastern European baddies in Hollywood fare), Ajla forced into a detention center with other women who are made to wait on the Serb troops. Upon their arrival, one of the soldiers pulls a woman to the front of the group and rapes her, just to make a point, her fellow prisoners looking away as she weeps, her face shoved into the table. It’s here that Danijel and Ajla are reunited and the most compelling part of In the Land of Blood and Honey unfolds, a squirmy, dark romance in which Danijel is at once Ajla’s wooer, protector and persecutor. He tries to shield her from the abuses of the other soldiers without appearing as if he’s too attached to a Muslim woman in their eyes, and he attempts to convince her he’s not like the others when he goes out on campaigns to kill her fellow Bosniaks. “One of your Muslim friends was in my scope, and I’m thinking of you,” he tells her after choosing not to shoot a man and his child on a bridge earlier that day, and it’s unclear whether he wants gratitude or an apology. Marjanovi and Kosti have a potent on-screen chemistry together, when taken with the power dynamics at play, and they present an uncomfortable developing relationship that you can’t turn away from — when we first see it consummated, it’s immediately after another soldier has stepped on Ajla’s hand to punish her for dropping a dish, with Danijel unable to intervene on her behalf. In their desperate coupling it’s clear that Ajla has been reminded of how she needs him on her side as much as she might actually want him there. And yet, given an opportunity to escape, Alja stays. As a director, Jolie sometimes jumbles her visual construction (a firefight late in the film is difficult to follow). But she’s unfailingly generous with her leads, who are both charismatic and watchable — Kosti is handsome but sinister, while Marjanovi’s beauty is centered around her wise, steady gaze. Still, she leaves so much unsaid that we often have no idea what’s going on in the heads of the characters. As their The Night Porter-esque relationship takes new turns and encounters growing complications — Danijel is assigned elsewhere for a while, and things get worse for Alja at the compound until she runs away, though later Danijel has her brought back — it becomes less and less clear, in ways that don’t all seem intentional, what either is thinking and how sincere each is in the faux domesticity they’ve carved out for themselves in an ever-more devastated landscape. “Am I your prisoner?” she asks him once, and he responds, astoundingly, “You’re a prisoner only if you don’t want to be here.” Between engagements with Alja and Danijel the film provides images of the awfulness of the war — the murder of a baby, the use of women as human shields, a mass grave — as well as its surreal quality, as one man reflects that 40 minutes away in Italy tourists are sitting out in the sun. These are haunting scenes, but along with the growing muddiness of our understanding of our two leads they seem disconnected. If In the Land of Blood and Honey aims to be a film about the madness of war, it’s not clear whose madness it is, as war is depicted as descending out of the sky like a contagion. It fits with Jolie’s insistence that there should have been early outside intervention in the conflict, but also seems too facile an explanation for the atrocities committed. As the love between Danijel and Alja curdles in an impossible environment, we mourn for them but don’t feel we understand them. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

David Yates learns Forrest's 'Voice'

Yates"Harry Potter" director David Yates originates onboard to direct an adaptation of Emma Forrest's memoir "Your Voice throughout my thoughtsInch for London-based Ruby Films. Ruby, which acquired feature rights to "Voice" taken, made the announcement Wednesday. Forrest, an British novelist, film author and journo situated in La, is writing the script, which explores the non-public crisis she faced when a thrilling-consuming romance fell apart and her mental health expert died. "Voice" remains developed with funding within the British Film Institute's Film Fund. Forrest has written the script, occur NY, London and Istanbul, which Alison Owen will produce. Lensing is predicted to start next summer season. A representative for Ruby mentioned the banner is seeking financing for "Voice" from Warner Bros., where Yates directed four in the eight "Potter" films. Warners did not have immediate comment. Explaining "Voice," Yates mentioned, "It's a small film, hard striking with facets of miracle realism. Compared to 'Potter' it could cost tuppency ha'penny, as well as for your reason it may be incredibly liberating to produce.In . The helmer told Variety lately he was developing a "Physician Who" movie with Jane Tranter, mind of L.A.-based BBC Worldwide Prods. (Daily Variety, November. 15). Forrest showed up on Variety's Ten Screenwriters to check out list this past year and contains written several scripts, including "Liars" and Rob Buckley biopic "Becoming Music," optioned by Kaira Pitt's Plan B. Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com

The Closer Creator James Duff Previews "Road Block"

The Closer For most of our last season, the questions we've been asking about love deal with its passionate side. In the five winter episodes, we have veered slowly towards the costs of that passion. As I have noted before, the only real promise you ever get with love is that it must end; that we go on loving, in the face of certain loss, is one of the nobler traits of humanity; in fact, it may be our saving grace as a species.Devotion and adoration are not restricted to things that are good for us. Some people, in fact, love things that are so obviously bad for them, we cannot but marvel at their choices. Such is the case in tonight's episode, "Road Block," which represents the very best of what The Closer has to offer. There are several interesting firsts in this emotionally charged story, not the least of which would be the premiere appearances of Elizabeth Perkins and Mark Moses as LAPD Police Commissioner and his alcoholic wife. The script, penned by a writer who joined our rotation this season, the great Jim Leonard, and directed by Nelson McCormick, who provides a giant boost of adrenalin for every television show to which he applies his enormous energy, "Road Block" takes Major Crimes on a wild detour that dramatizes just how hard the police have to work to get the goods on someone they know is guilty. As Peter Goldman keeps reminding Brenda, "What one knows and what one can prove are two entirely different things." And dealing with drunks is tricky, even in the best of circumstances.A car crash, a hit-and-run that transforms into murder and two families, torn apart by one addiction, pulse through an interesting chase for Deputy Chief Johnson and her division, and while "Road Block" is not...very Christmassy, it does carry with it a warning or two about the double-edged sword we call Holiday Cheer.I must leave off writing for the day and return to Griffith Park where, this morning, we shoot The Closer's last crime scene. By the time I finish the winter blogs, we will have finished filming our series finale. There's much to consider between now and the hour it airs, but it's never inappropriate to pause and say thanks for sticking with us all the way to the bittersweet end.Until next week...- James Duff

Very Noisy & Incredibly Close Star Thomas Horn Dishes On Dealing With Sandra Bullock

First Released: December 16, 2011 12:34 PM EST Credit: Getty Images La, Calif. -- Caption Tom Hanks, Thomas Thorn, and Sandra Bullock are noticed in the Very Noisy & Incredibly Close NY premiere at in NY City on December 15, 2011 Thomas Horn 13-year-old breakout star from the approaching 9/11 drama, Very Noisy & Incredibly Close shared the screen with Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, even though dealing with the veteran stars might have been intimidating, the youthful star states Sandra went of her method to make filming an optimistic experience. On camera our figures really had an antagonistic little factor going because we didnt really understand one another, but as stars we actually reached know one another because we spent a great couple of days together, Thomas described to gain access to Hollywood at Very Noisy & Incredibly Close premiere in NY City on Thursday, of dealing with Sandra (who plays his mother within the tearjerker). Off camera, you realize, we'd talk and she or he really was worried about making me feel at ease on set. She'd always produce encouragement and she or he did everything she could, he added. Sandra chuckled off Thomas praise, telling Access her youthful co-star had been very generous together with his compliments toward her, but stated dealing with Thomas throughout the flicks stomach-wrenching moments would be a pleasure. It had been like dealing with a small emotional war together. I couldnt have requested a much better partner, she told Access. You do not frequently get great partners and that i was fortunate with him so fortunate. Very Noisy & Incredibly Close, that also stars Viola Davis and John Goodman, hits theaters on The month of january 20. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Tom Cruise Talks Filming Mission: Impossibles Dying-Repel Stunts

First Released: December 7, 2011 12:13 PM EST Credit: Access Hollywood Caption Tom Cruise chats with Access Hollywood in the Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol junket in Dubai, U . s . Arab Emirates on December 7, 2011DUBAI, U . s . Arab Emirates -- For Tom Cruise ships latest movie, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the actor carried out a number of harrowing stunts around the Burj Khalifa in Dubai the mobile phone industry's highest building and stated he'd one pursuit to accomplish! Not falling! Tom stated having a laugh throughout a job interview with Access Hollywood guest correspondent Tim Vincent in Dubai on Wednesday. I wish to entertain a crowd, and i believe people and have the difference, he stated when requested why he and director Kaira Bird didnt go for effects or eco-friendly screen moviemaking methods the loop movie. But does wife Katie Holmes be worried about her husband hanging along the side of the mobile phone industry's highest building? No, she recognizes that I train and prepare. I couldnt get it done without her, without my familys support, Tom told Tim. Shes very encouraging. While on the top from the Burj Khalifa, which towers at 2,723 ft up, Tom left Katie and the family a note. I indexed within the side and signed some messages to Katie and also the kids, you gotta sign it! Youre there, the actor described. I authored their names which I really like them. Based on 49-year-old star, Katie accounts for his newly found fancy work, which audiences first saw him showcase as L'ensemble des Grossman in Tropic Thunder and in the approaching movie musical Rock of Age range. Kate is really a dancer and she or he type of inspired L'ensemble des Grossman and also the dancing for the reason that. Shes type of stated, Seriously I really want you arrive at this dance class. And shes become everyone in individuals classes, he told Tim. Shes the very best dancer and Suri, obviously. Beside me, Ive reached work on it. Tom and Katie celebrated 5 years of marriage recently and also the actor required a while out while shooting his current project, One Shot, to celebrate their big day. We'd a lot of fun, he stated of the anniversary. I had been shooting in Pittsburgh also it was special. I managed to get very, special. With audiences buzzing concerning the latest Mission: Impossible can there be the potential of a fifth movie? Among the finest to cope with that one, Tom stated. After which well all sit lower and discuss it. I really like this franchise. Its so fun to operate on. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jennifer Aniston Searching for Luc Besson's Next Movie

A great deal for Jennifer Aniston sticking to pointing. According to Deadline, Jolie is at predicts star in the movie written and directed by Luc Besson. The film might be Angelina's first live-action role since 2010's 'The Tourist' (she voiced Master Tigress in this particular year's 'Kung Fu Panda 2'). Besson, who's no stranger to creating strong female roles ('Nikita,' 'Leon,' 'Angel-A'), is presently marketing his latest movie, 'The Lady,' starring potential Oscar nominee Michelle Yeoh. Jolie has some Oscar bait of her as her directorial debut, 'In the Land of Blood stream and Honey.' In the recent interview by having an hour, Jolie recognized they preferred pointing to acting. "I like obtaining the spotlight on another person, which i much prefer it," she mentioned. 'In the Land of Blood stream and Honey' opens 12 ,. 23. [via Deadline] [Photo: Getty] Jennifer Aniston Red-colored-colored Carpet Photos See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook