I’m not quite sure why I keep doing this to myself. Maybe it’s because I really, really want to love The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Maybe I just want to further understand why — oh, why — the beloved source material needs to extend to three movies instead of one. Whatever the reason, I’ve once again put myself through a viewing of the film, though this time it’s extended to, well, the extended version.

First let me note that I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy, both the books and the movies. Admittedly, I know the movies took some liberties and strayed some from the books, but it’s safe to say the majority of Tolkien fans were pretty OK with that. For me, I was really OK with it, and in fact I was all over watching extended footage when it came out. Three books, covering three enormous books — of course there’s going to be extra stuff that may not have made it into the films. Totally understandable.

When the news came out that writer/director Peter Jackson was splitting The Hobbit into three films, I know I wasn’t alone in wondering “W in T ever-loving F is he doing?!” How can ONE book need three films to cover (and let’s not get into the appendices and The Silmarillion material — this movie series is called “The Hobbit,” so why is it anything more?). Yet Jackson is doing this in three movies, and on top of that he wasn’t given enough time to add all he wanted in the first film. I wouldn’t call myself a purist to the source material at all, but there’s a point where the liberties taken are just too freakin’ much.

All of that complaining aside, the extended footage here is worthwhile material to watch, though there is not much of it. Within the disc menus it’s clear which scenes are completely new ones and which were modified or appended to with new material. Three of the new scenes in particular stood out from anything else:

• More details into the Fall of Erabor, which isn’t part of the original book at all really but was fun to watch.
• A scene in Rivendell that is actually rather important to framing Thorin’s fall into an almost madness for gold, and a deep discussion with  Saruman regarding the one ring and the Necromancer.
• A heck of a lot more Goblin King, including a lengthy song.

The extra features are aplenty, including the commentary tracks you’d expect from the filmmakers. Then there are quite a few making-of featurettes that will keep you busy for hours, from the early days of drawing up the ideas for the film(s) through the final days of shooting. I found the one regarding Radagast the Brown to be most interesting, since this is one character so outside of The Hobbit story that I had to know why he was thrown in. Peter Jackson telling the crew of his idea of Radagast being pulled with giant rabbits was somewhat comical, as the looks on their faces seemed to say, “I better keep my mouth shut or be out of a job.” Also, seeing the various ideas for the other not-in-The-Hobbit character Azog was worth a watch for sure.

Overall I’d say the extended version of The Hobbit is only worthwhile to those who found the movie incredible enough that you simply have to see what more they cut from the already-long film. Even then, I’d wait for the trilogy to come out in a few years and get the extent of all that footage in one fell swoop.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition is now available in stores.

[The above review was made possible by a distributor-provided review copy of the media.]

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00GGEVKYO” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51L9Y2MZtaL._SL160_.jpg” width=”110″][easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00E8S2JZ4″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5110IK4qnbL._SL160_.jpg” width=”127″]

Warner Brothers has been celebrating its 90th year in the business of making motion pictures, and have been releasing some of their key titles in new Blu-ray editions (Driving Miss Daisy, Grand Hotel, Mrs. Miniver, Singin’ in the Rain), a Blu-ray collection containing 50 films, and individual DVD sets with 20 Best Picture Oscar winners, a Romance collection, and a Musicals collection. MGM really cornered the market on movie musicals in the 1950s, but Warner Brothers really got the whole thing started with the classic The Jazz Singer, billed as the first all-talking, all-singing motion picture (a bit of a misnomer, but it was the first movie projected with synchronized sound). So in honor of 90 years of Warner Brothers movie musicals, they have recently released a new 20-disk DVD collection featuring their best (and some of MGM’s best) movie musicals. The set includes movies with stars like Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Elvis Presley, Gene Kelly, Al Jolson, James Cagney, Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Julie Andrews and … Divine!

Of all the movies in the set, the inclusion of John Waters’ classic 1988 comedy Hairspray is a rather curious one. More of a dance movie than a musical — no one actually breaks out in song — it would seem the 2007 version with John Travolta would have been the better choice. But, one the other hand, the DVD includes an audio commentary with Waters and Ricki Lake, and Waters always gives good commentary on his films. The 20 musicals in the collection are:

• The Jazz Singer — with audio commentary, a short silent film starring Jolson, the Merrie Melody I Want to Singa, a short film celebrating Warner Brothers’ silver jubilee, and even more. The print looks remarkable for its age.
• The Broadway Melody – extras include The Dogway Melody, one of those bizarre shorts with dogs playing the roles of human actors
• 42nd Street — includes three featurettes, a trailer and more
• The Great Ziegfeld — includes a feature on Ziegfeld films and a newsreel covering the opening of the movie in New York
• The Wizard of Oz — taken from the 70th anniversary DVD release, this single disk includes a wealth of extras and an audio commentary with many key cast members and others associated with the film
• Yankee Doodle Dandy — features audio commentary from Rudy Behlmer, and the Warner Night at the Movies option which includes a trailer, a newsreel, a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and the feature film
• An American in Paris — includes audio commentary, a newsreel from the Paris Exposition and a Tex Avery cartoon
• Show Boat — theatrical trailer
• Singin’ in the Rain — includes commentary, a feature that allows you to access information while watching the movie, and more special features
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – includes commentary by Stanley Donen
• A Star is Born — movie only on two disks
• The Music Man — includes a making of featurette hosted by Shirley Jones
• Viva Las Vegas — includes audio commentary and a featurette on Elvis in Las Vegas
• Camelot — includes “The Story of Camelot” and “The World Premiere of Camelot“
• Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory — a single disk from the 40th anniversary edition includes commentary, the documentary “Pure Imagination,” a sing-along and more
• Cabaret — includes many behind-the-scenes features, a trailer, and more
• That’s Entertainment — with an introduction by Robert Osborne
• Victor Victoria — includes commentary with Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards
• Little Shop of Horrors — includes audio commentary from Frank Oz, outtakes and deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and more. Unfortunately, this version does not include the newly restored original ending that can be found on the new Blu-ray edition
• Hairspray — includes commentary by John Waters and Ricki Lake

While a great collection of musicals, I can think of two off the top of my head that are missing for one reason or another: West Side Story, My Fair Lady* and the 1976 Barbra Streisand version of A Star is Born**. And with Warner Brothers owning the MGM classics catalog, there are certainly more than enough musicals in the vault for another collection or two. Keep in mind that many of these disks come from multi-disk sets, so a die-hard fan will want to hold on to those releases for all the extras. A casual fan who is just interested in the movies as the main attraction certainly cannot go wrong with this set. Warner Brothers is at the top of the film restoration and preservation game, so all of the movies in this set look and sound fantastic, and for the price, you just can’t beat owning this collection of movie musical history. You can order this, and the other anniversary sets, directly from the Warner Brothers shop online or through our Amazon links below.

*My Fair Lady is now distributed by Paramount Home Video

**A Star is Born is included in the Romance collection.

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B009Z59782″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XnVAQdUXL._SL160_.jpg” width=”139″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B009L0I8JK” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bdNuImE2L._SL160_.jpg” width=”115″] [easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B00AIQKG2S” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51S7wdCKa0L._SL160_.jpg” width=”139″]

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B009L0LEDW” locale=”us” height=”103″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qrQaTrIWL._SL160_.jpg” width=”160″]

Even huge fans of award-winning films don’t have every one of them on their DVD shelf. Sure, you may have one or two of the BIG ones, but there could be a few you’ve always been meaning to get but never got around to. Then there are those like me, who don’t own ANY of them but always had it on their list to get around to someday.

Enter Warner Bros.’ latest box set of films: Best of Warner Bros. 20 Film Collection: Best Pictures. At first it might not be clear what you’re getting here: are these what WB thinks are its best pictures, or are they actually award winners themselves? You’ll be happy to know it’s the latter, and it’s rather complete. The only omissions I could find with some quick research were My Fair Lady and Slumdog Millionaire. Probably Warner Bros. wanted to stick with a nice even 20 films for the set and not squeeze in two more.

At first you’d think a box set like this might only include the films themselves, with perhaps little else in the form of extras. Not so. In fact, there are some excellent accompanying extras for most of the included films, including theatrical trailers, featurettes and commentaries. The films included:

• The Broadway Melody (1929)
• Grand Hotel (1932)
• Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
• The Life of Emile Zola (1937)
• Gone with The Wind (1939)
• Casablanca (1942)
• Mrs. Miniver (1942)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• An American in Paris (1951)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
• Gigi (1958)
• Ben-Hur (1959)
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
• Chariots of Fire (1981)
• Amadeus: Director’s Cut (1984)
• Driving Miss Daisy (1989)
• Unforgiven (1992)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• Million Dollar Baby (2004)
• The Departed (2006)

This is one of those sets that’s perfect for someone who wants to own most of these films but wants to consolidate a bit, as it’s about four standard DVD cases wide for 20 films. It’s also one of those great sets you could own and leave at a rental property for renters to enjoy, having the pick from amongst some of the best release films in the past 50 years. Pick it up today from Warner Bros. official store, or from the links below — it’s out today!

[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B009L0I8JK” locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bdNuImE2L._SL160_.jpg” width=”115″][easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B009Z59782″ locale=”us” height=”160″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51XnVAQdUXL._SL160_.jpg” width=”139″][easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B009L0LEDW” locale=”us” height=”103″ src=”https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qrQaTrIWL._SL160_.jpg” width=”160″]