Mere days remain in 2012, but before diving headlong into a whole new year, we had to close this one out with one last weekend of moviegoing.  Like the last two, this weekend saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey atop the doggy pile of wide releases, but both Django Unchained and Les Miserables performed strongly.  Even Parental Guidance got in on the action with unexpected relish.

No fewer than four new wide releases joined the competition for whatever cash moviegoers have laying around after Christmas shopping, but it was The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that held on to the top spot like Smeagol clutching his precious or Gandalf holding his pipe.

Opening in theaters on December 25th is the powerful new documentary West of Memphis, which tells the story of the recently set free West Memphis Three. The film was directed by Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil), and produced by Peter Jackson (The Hobbit) and Fran Walsh (The Lovely Bones), with original music by Nick Cave (Lawless). The movie also features interviews with musician/activists Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Henry Rollins (Black Flag) and Natalie Maines (The Dixie Chicks), as well as chronicling West Memphis Three member Damien Wayne Echols and wife Lorri Davis' quest for justice. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of sitting down with director Amy Berg, as well as producer/West Memphis Three member Damien Wayne Echols, and his with wife/producer Lorri Davis to talk about West of Memphis. The filmmakers discussed the origins of the project, producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh's involvement, other celebrity help they received along the way, new DNA evidence, Terry Hobbs' possible guilt, and whether justice will ever truly be served in this horribly tragic case. 

While a whole lot of people are doubtless lining up for tonight's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey midnight shows and the 48 fps presentation continues to get shellacked in print, another quick official clip from the first The Hobbit movie has ambled online.

It’s been nine years since the last Lord of the Rings installment hit theaters but this Friday, December 14th we can finally return to Middle Earth with the debut of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The film, directed by Peter Jackson, is the first part of trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The three films tell a continuous story set in Middle-earth sixty years before The Lord of the Rings which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard, Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen Dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the wild, through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer.

Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, X-Men) returns as Gandalf the Grey with Martin Freeman (Hot Fuzz, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) in the central role of Bilbo Baggins, and Richard Armitage (Captain America: The First Avenger, Robin Hood) as Thorin Oakenshield. Also returning to the cast are Elijah Wood as Frodo and Andy Serkis as Gollum.

At the New York City press day for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I was among the entertainment journalists lucky enough to speak with director Peter Jackson, producer Philippa Boyens, senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri, along with stars Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Freeman, Elijah Wood, and Andy Serkis.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be playing in front of many, many people very shortly, but if you're just too excited to wait until Friday, we have not one, but two new clips from the first-third of Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth.

How about taking a look at the middle chapter in Peter Jackson's expanded take on J.R.R. Tolkien's introductory Middle Earth novel?  Warner Bros. has released a first look at The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug with an official image showing Martin Freeman as Bilbo and a pile of gold that would do Scrooge McDuck proud.

Synopsis: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever… Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities… A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

The first official image from The Hobbit: There and Back Again is now online, adding to the general Hobbit fever with a look at the concluding chapter in the trilogy.

Just over a week until The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey kicks off a trilogy taking audiences back to Middle Earth during a simpler time before Frodo's journey to destroy the One Ring.  If you're bursting at the seams for any and all new Hobbity goodness, there's a new featurette on the film that runs a whopping thirteen minutes.