The Hobbit 3 Release Date Moved Back

WB decided to move The Hobbit: There and Back Again back a few months from summer 2014 to Dec. 17 2014: source.

Personally, I couldn't be happier. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to see how it all ends - on-screen, I've read the book, thank you very much - but its summer release date clashed with X-Men: Days of Future Past and with The Hobbit being the deserved it is, the 3rd movie would have pulverized XMDOFP! And since I'm a big fan of both, I'm glad that they will now both have the chance to shine!

Book #18+19

"Angelic (Innocence #1)" by Gem Frost

Rating: ♣ ♣

Freebie. I really liked the author's language, the short story read very well, and that's not as common as one might think in gay romances. But the story itself, it read more like the fantasy of a teenage girl, swooning over the perfect boy in her class. Gabriel was so beautiful, so pure, so perfect... that I expected some sort of a twist, that he had been sent to Dom's company to ferret out his secrets, anything to shatter his breathtaking flawlessness. But that didn't happen, and so the story just felt too... purple.

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"Christmas With My Grinch" by Blmorticia

Rating: ♣

Freebie. And thank the gods above for that. From weird writing - "point about" or "cradled him closer" - to downright unlikable characters, this story made me actually angry. Why are these two, Nathan and Bryant, actually together? Nathan can't but whine about everything, even the things Bryant loves most. On the other hand, Bryant doesn't respect Nathan's wishes or his opinions. Do they actually listen to each other or do they just boink?

2001: A Space Odyssey

2001 is one weird-ass movie. I think Kubrick was way too much into 'shrooms while filming it. Visually, it's a stunning piece. But...

Gosh, if they had cut the movie down to 80 minutes (instead of 140!!!), it would've been so much better. I mean, they fly. And fly. And fly some more. And then there's even more flying. And they walk. And walk. And walk. And then Dave flies. And flies. And flies through some weird lights. And he flies some more. And some more. Eh.

You know, I couldn't have cared less about the alien artifact. The movie dragged so much that by the end of it, I really wasn't all that interested in the thing. I would've preferred if the movie was about Dave and HAL and their battle of wills. The whole thing with HAL was over way too fast, considering how worried Dave was about disconnecting the proper bits. I think... I think that's why I consider Prometheus to be more interesting in this regard. David vs. Elizabeth was much deeper and also broader than Dave vs. HAL. Which is too bad, really. I really would've preferred if that was the movie's main storyline, Dave vs. HAL, humanity vs. computer technology.

And the ending... I read the explanation someone posted in one of the IMDB forums, it was taken from the book by Arthur C. Clarke who wrote the novelization of this movie. But it was just his version, not Kubrick's. Kubrick refused to authorize the book. So... I really hate movies that leave the ending for people to interpret. If you have something to say, say it, don't make people guess.

To sum it up, worth seeing but... I guess I don't get why people consider this such a masterpiece. Visually? Awesome for 1968. The rest? Eh.