Shabbat/Sunday – Day 142/143
Posted on 21st December 2012
Shabbat I finally received some of the much needed rest I needed. With my family in New York, the day was spent sleeping, eating and reading magazines. After sundown it I arose from my deep slumber as there was not only work to be done but an unexpected journey to take. Of course, as my first act of freedom, I went with the family to see the Hobbit in 48FPS 3D IMAX at Loewe’s 34th.
Personally, I really enjoyed the movie despite a few minor gripes. In my opinion the VFX used on the dwarves or perhaps the makeup, was a little too visible in the format I saw, rendering them fake or almost cartoon like. In addition, it took some time to get used to the higher framerate and I’m still undecided on whether it has a place in cinema of the future.
However, despite these gripes, I felt the film stayed true to the character of ‘The Hobbit’ for better or for worse. Some critics have lambasted the film for its pacing and childlike character but the book itself is structured in such a way. It is a younger, lighter-hearted version of The Lord of The Rings, which, yes, does include lots of downtime between the action!
Overall my favorite elements were the portrayals of Radagast in Dol Goldur and the riddle scene between Bilbo and Gollum. One classic Hobbit and the other a good Peter Jackson addition. The scoring by Howard Shore was fantastic as always with a great theme in the song of the Misty Mountains. The movie was most enjoyable for me, particularly as a Tolkein fan, however I do see where the harsh reviews were coming from.
The late night was reserved for working on my final project for Ruby on Rails for which I had received an extension due to the time I lost trying to recover my visa forms on Friday. Till around 3AM I coded my heart out, and have actually made a decent webpage.
The next morning I needed a bit of a sleep in. It was also the day my brother Raph’s exam marks were due to come out. Thus much of the morning was spent lazily. However the afternoon was not to be my own as I was yanked out of the apartment to go shopping for a new winter wardrobe by my mum. In her eyes my previous clothes were completely unacceptable and so I returned two bags heavier from H&M with new things for the winter.
In the evening we went in search of some food and ended up at Raph’s choice, “Mr Broadway”, a Kosher meat restaurant where we shared a mixed grill as a family and I had some steak for the first time since leaving home.
On returning home I set to finishing my project and by the end I was rather proud. Still not perhaps happy enough to launch it publicly, but confident in my skills as a web developer.