Tonight the wife and I are hosting an inaugural Halloween gathering for three primary reasons: 1) it’s an excuse to hang out with friends, 2) it’s an opportunity to watch horror classics with said friends and 3) our street name is Elm and we can’t pass on the chance to christen the get together with the least original Halloween party name of all time (I’ll let you do the math). All of this in mind, I was finding it difficult to strike a healthy balance of scary movie goodness that was equal parts frightening (for fans of the horror genre like myself) and fun/of the “Halloween spirit” (for those who don’t necessarily enjoy the genre but can appreciate the season). That was until I remembered that we owned Ernest Scared Stupid on Blu-ray. Now the biggest concern I have is making sure no one walks out of the house at the end of the night with that little gem in hand.

All Hallows Eve 2012 party plans aside, in this week’s Top 5 we’ve got a lineup that includes a visit to the New Zealand set of The Hobbit, the first trailer amongst other new assets from Iron Man 3, Cloud Atlas interviews with Tom Hanks, Halle Berry and more, the first red band trailer for director Fede Alvarez‘s Evil Dead remake, and a heartfelt plea for a Hollywood adaptation of The Legend of Zelda. A brief recap and link to each lives on after the jump.

Bilbo (Martin Freeman) gets into a bit of hot water in this new TV spot for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  It gives us a good look at the trolls that our pint-sized hero runs afoul of, though we’re sure Bilbo’s allies Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Thorin (Richard Armitage) are near at hand.  Who knew trolls were so articulate?

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey also stars Hugo Weaving, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood and Cate Blanchett and opens December 14th.  Hit the jump to see the new TV spot.

Earlier this year, I fulfilled a dream: I visited Middle Earth (also known as New Zealand).  As a huge fan of Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was everything I’d hoped it would be and more.   While on set with a few other online reporters, we got to watch a few scenes get filmed, interview almost the entire cast and most of the crew, and we saw firsthand how much love is being put into making The Hobbit trilogy as amazing as the LOTR trilogy.  It was an experience I’ll never forget.

With the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, opening December 14, WB has lifted part of the embargo and after the jump you can check out my list of 65 things to know about the film plus links to a number of on set interviews.

As Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the company of dwarves that accompany Bilbo on his journey, Richard Armitage has a huge part in Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit.  Thankfully, if you’ve seen the trailers, you know that he not only looks the part, but he can lead a group of dwarves in song.  While I don’t know about the rest of you, right after I heard the group singing in the first trailer, I was completely sold on all the casting.

Cut to a few days after the trailer premiered.

In the middle of May, earlier this year, I got to visit the set of The Hobbit with a few other online reporters when the production was filming in New Zealand.  Shortly after he wrapped filming that day, Richard Armitage saw down with us for a group interview.  He talked about how he got cast, his character, his reaction to the first trailer and filming in Bag End, Thorin’s relationship with Gandalf, filming in 3D and in 48fps, the humor, and so much more.  Hit the jump for what he had to say.

The first TV spot has gone online for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.   It’s a quick thirty-second bit that shows some of the scenes and scenery that have previously been released, but we get two bits of dialogue: one with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and one with Thorin (Richard Armitage) who both happen to be picking on poor Bilbo (Martin Freeman).

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey also stars Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Andy Serkis.  It opens in 3D on December 14th.  Hit the jump to watch the first TV spot.

It seems as if pseudo-Conservative talk show pundit and comedian Stephen Colbert may be joining the cast of J.R.R.Tolkien’s beloved characters in Peter Jackson’s upcoming The Hobbit trilogy.  This is completely unconfirmed and more for fun speculation at this point, but Colbert talked about his visit to The Hobbit set in a recent interview and neither confirmed nor denied a possible cameo.  He did confess to being a Tolkien fan, however, and if that enthusiasm proved enough to sway Jackson, there’s already a precedent set for a Colbert cameo. Hit the jump to see what Colbert had to say.

[Update: THR confirms that Colbert will indeed be making a cameo in The Hobbit, but he won't appear in this fall's An Unexpected Journey so keep an eye out for Colbert in The Desolation of Smaug and/or There and Back Again.]

Yesterday we brought you the glad tidings that Warner Bros had announced a fourth-quarter 2013 release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition Blu-ray.  Today, we print a retraction (of sorts) since Warner Bros. has now released a revised version of their calendar with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition being mysteriously absent.  The studio doesn’t say the Extended Edition Blu-ray and DVD are off the table (clearly they’ll be available), but say the “product has not been confirmed yet.”  Hit the jump for more clarity on the issue.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from director Peter Jackson stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom and Elijah Wood, and opens December 14th.

With Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey releasing in just a couple of months (squee!), you can expect the marketing machine to begin steamrolling audiences starting…now!  Just yesterday we brought you this fantastic Dwarf-centric poster for the film.  Today, we stick with the Dwarves but instead of stacking them together unceremoniously, this new banner poster gives each of them their fair share of elbow room.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, William Kircher, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown and Stephen Hunter and opens December 14th, 2012.  Hit the jump to check out the banner poster.

A new dwarf-centric poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been released.  We recently saw a new poster for the film that featured Martin Freeman’s Bilbo in a familiar pose, and this one-sheet gives us a look at all of Bilbo’s dwarven companions that accompany him on the titular trek.  It’s a fun look at all the characters, and I think it gives onlookers a sense of the varied characteristics of the dwarves.

Hit the jump to take a closer look.  Directed by Peter Jackson, the film also stars Ian McKellen, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Graham McTavish, Dean Ogorman, Peter Hambleton, Aidan Turner, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Adam Brown, Ken Stott, William Kircher, Andy Serkis, and Richard Armitage.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th.

A new trailer for director Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has been released.  This trailer shines an interesting light on the conundrum of the The Hobbit.  It has to look even bigger than what came before, but what came before what a quest to save the entire world.  The new trailer breaks down the plot, which is about the dwarfs reclaiming their homeland.  So the stakes are smaller, but the adventure is somehow bigger.  Putting that conflict aside, the trailer still makes the movie look like a fun time, and perhaps the best thing about The Hobbit is that we’ll get to return to Middle-Earth.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Graham McTavish, Dean Ogorman, Peter Hambleton, Aidan Turner, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Adam Brown, Ken Stott, William Kircher, Andy Serkis, and Richard Armitage.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th. [Update: We've embedded all four alternate endings to the trailer after the jump.]

Director Peter Jackson kicked off Tolkein Week with an introductory video on Sunday and a batch of new images from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yesterday, and today the fun continues with a new image that teases tomorrow’s premiere of the film’s new trailer.  Martin Freeman looks quite small as young Bilbo Baggins, but he’s too enamored by something in the sky to be bothered by his tiny size.  An Unexpected Journey will be the first installment in what is now Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, and I’m beyond thrilled to return to Middle Earth in just a couple of short months.

Hit the jump to see the image, and be sure to check back here tomorrow morning to view the new trailer for the film.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D on December 14th. [Update: Warner Bros. has released 10 more high-resolution images, including two stunning looks at Gollum, which are now included after the jump.]

As we previously reported, a new trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is set to debut on Wednesday as part of a “Tolkien Week” celebration.  But that won’t be the only part of the celebration.  Today, Warner Bros. has released new images from the film along with character portraits.  A few of the images were previously released, but most are new, and you can check them out after the jump.

The film stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow, Graham McTavish, Dean Ogorman, Peter Hambleton, Aidan Turner, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Adam Brown, Ken Stott, William Kircher, and Richard Armitage.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens December 14th.

You know a movie is getting close to opening when the studio releases an app.  Welcome to Warner Bros.’ “Hobbit Movies,” the official app for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, starting with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  The program is chock full of behind-the-scenes media, story information, a ton of character images and production stills and even the famous map of Middle Earth.  We’ve wrangled up an image gallery, which features a lot of great looks at the dwarves in the party and the first look at Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) as the Elvish king, Thranduil (and Legolas’ father).  Hit the jump to check out the images and to find out where you can download the app.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, starring Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis, opens December 14th.

We can now confirm that the third installment in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy will open on July 18th, 2014.  The film will now be called The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  Before you get too confused, the second film has been re-titled, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  No title or release date changes have touched the first film, so, in summation:

• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will open on December 14th, 2012.
• The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will open December 13th, 2013.
• The Hobbit: There and Back Again will open July 18th, 2014.

Still with me? Hit the jump for more on The Hobbit shuffle.

We’ve got an odd assortment of images for you to check out today, starting with Matt Damon and Michael Douglas in costume for Behind the Candelabra, the Liberace biopic from director Steven Soderbergh.  Douglas stars as the late pianist and vocalist while Damon plays his lover, Scott Thorson.  The picture, produced by Jerry Weintraub, will debut on HBO before moving to a theatrical release.  The picture also stars Rob Lowe, Dan Aykroyd, Debbie Reynolds, and Scott Bakula.

We’ve also got a new shot of Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger) in costume as Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the dwarves in the upcoming The Hobbit trilogy from director Peter Jackson.  Hit the jump to check out all the images.