Far over, the misty mountains cold...

Do you know what is one of the best things that can happen? Your favorite book, the one you never get tired of reading, the one you base your blog theme on, is made into a movie, with Peter Jackson directing it, Martin Freeman in the lead role and with Howard Shore making the soundtrack. What more could I possibly want?

After reading the book twice and watching the trailer literally hundreds of times, I finally got to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; the first of the three-movie series adapted from J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit; the prequel to Lord of the Rings. It was magnificent, and I tried hard to hold back tears at some parts, but that's just me.

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), is just a little, non-adventurous hobbit living merrily in his hobbit hole in a monotone life; until Gandalf the wizard pays a visit to him. Gandalf invites him to "share in an adventure". At first, Bilbo refuses, but the next morning, at 11 o'clock, he goes with "Thorin and Company" to claim their "long forgotten gold". (Is it weird that I'm writing all these quotes from memory?)

The movie didn't stick entirely to the book, I won't tell anymore, but I could still say some parts of the movie with the actors, because it was entirely the same as the novel. The chapter names were cleverly weaved inside the dialogues, and Bilbo's hobbit hole was just as it was described by Tolkien. Usually when a novel is made into a motion picture, the people who have read the novel are disappointed because the way they pictured stuff in their heads doesn't match the movie. I don't know how Peter Jackson managed to do this, but I don't think any of the readers were disappointed after watching The Hobbit; everything was in place, everything was perfect.

Without any doubt, my favorite scene in the 169 minutes was the Riddles In The Dark part; where Bilbo and Gollum have a riddle contest in the goblin tunnels. It was beautiful, creepy, funny and it gave you goosebumps all at the same time. This part was also one of my favorite parts in the novel, but seeing it in IMAX and 3D with Gollum hissing "preciouss" and his huge, white, plate-like eyes staring down at you, took it to a whole new level.

So, my advice to you is to go and watch The Hobbit ASAP (but you MUST read the book first!)! Believe me, you never would've imagined that a humble tale of 13 dwarves, a hobbit and a wizard searching for their "long forgotten gold" could be brought into motion picture this beautifully. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will take you "Far over the misty mountains cold, Through dungeons deep, and caverns old."