'The Hobbit' — A Sometimes Unexpected Cinematic Journey
Santa brings a mixed bag to blockbuster franchise.
This holiday, with the expected blockbuster release of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" — it has already broken records for midnight release of a movie more than two-and-a-half hours long — Santa brings a very mixed bag. First, let's talk about the coal-worthy aspects of the journey. Unless you are a slave to technology, spend most of your days playing video games or crave seeing the Next Big Thing, avoid the mercifully limited number of screens — 10 percent — showing it in 3-D, filmed at 48 frames per second instead of the usual 24. Director Peter Jackson argues the high frame rate technology gives the movie a sense of reality, like "looking into the real world." Unfortunately, while it brightens the often-muddled look of 3-D, it also …
