Pop Forecast goes for an Unexpected Journey
Fantasy is hip again thanks to The Hobbit
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” but these days, a guide through the seemingly endless flurry of pop culture offerings is just what we need. With that in mind, here is what’s on the radar screen in TV, music and film for the coming week. MOVIES Big release: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Dec. 14)
The big picture: A quest to find a lost dwarf kingdom does not sound like blockbuster material. It sounds like material for a group of four-eyed teenage misfits with 10-sided dice and imaginary elfin girlfriends (Confession: mine broke up with me when I was 16). But author J.R.R. Tolkien and the imagination of director Peter Jackson have done the unthinkable: made fantasy hip and appealing to a mass audience. The Hobbit is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings. Divided into another trilogy, the new series tells the story of how hobbit Bilbo Baggins first found the “precious” ring that will go on to change Middle Earth forever. Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and Gollum (Andy Serkis) are back in the saddle for this adventure, along with 13 battlehardened dwarfs who do a lot more than overuse the phrase “heigh-ho” and “whistle while we work.” Their sound is a battle cry — and they’ll need it when they (and Bilbo) go up against goblins, orcs, wargs, vile sorcerers and even a vicious dragon.
Forecast: Gollum may love to hate those “nasty hobbitses,” but Hollywood — and audiences — can’t get enough of them. It’s a good thing Kristen Stewart wasn’t cast in this fantasy film. With all that hanky-panky she got up to on the set of Snow White and the Huntsman, 13 dwarfs could have been a lot of temptation — and a lot of tabloid fodder. And if her sexually charged performance in the film On the Road is any indication, Stewart is a bit of a wild card on road trips. This could have been a very Unexpected Journey, indeed. MUSIC Big release on Dec. 11: Bruno Mars (Unorthodox Jukebox)
Big picture: A fitting title for an unorthodox musician who pulls from a jukebox-worth-ofinfluences on this, his second solo album. Bruno Mars mixes soul, R&B, and electronica, surrounding himself with a lot of talent in the studio. Collaborators include jazz wunderkind Esperanza Spalding, hit-making DJ and producer Diplo and the groovy rhythm section of the Dap-Kings (Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black).
Forecast: Unorthodox Jukebox may be more experimental than Bruno Mars’ debut, Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010), but it will do more for the longevity of his career. (For the record, I’ve always dreamt of owning my own little Unorthodox Jukebox that plays nothing but Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, ’80s sitcom theme songs and Morgan Freeman documentary voice-overs.)