I took my two oldest children to see the Hobbit in 3D on New Year’s Day.

I don’t know what to say.

That’s a bad sign when you’re trying to contribute another blog entry.  A movie should inspire…create a passionate response…make me feel enough that writing about it is like breathing.

I don’t remember this movie making me feel like that.

Maybe it was the two layer glasses thing…my own (bifocals!  I’ve graduated to bifocals) and the scratched up, communal 3D glasses that the theater provided.  Maybe it was the plot, or the writing…maybe it was just me turning into a tired, grumpy old man as we rocket into the New Year?  And about that scratched up glasses thing.  When you pay 8.50 for a matinée, don’t you think they could provide you with a fresh pair of .50 glasses?  I’m the farthest thing you’d find from a germaphobe…but whose head were these glasses sitting on at the last show?

This was a beautiful movie.  The scenery was amazing.  The characters were believable.

I fell asleep.

My daughter nudged me, “It was almost 10 dollars” she whispered. That got my adrenaline pumping.  “I paid a bunch of money for this….got to stay awake”….but it was hard.

Have you ever seen a movie that was so well done that you couldn’t put your finger on why you didn’t really enjoy it as much as you should have?

If you haven’t …you really should go see the Hobbit.

My wife said that she didn’t think she’d enjoy it if Viggo wasn’t in it.

I don’t know why he wasn’t.  Surely he could have made an appearance as a ghost…or a visitor from another realm…or maybe he could have been some weird consort for an elf queen or something.  It seemed like a lot of folks made a cursory appearance…why not Viggo, too?

This is the first part of a multiple part movie.

They are going to make a butt-load of money off this movie.

I think that the guys in Hollywood made a lot of money off the third Transformers movie, too.

Back to the Viggo thing.  Viggo was in a movie called “A Walk on the Moon”.  I’ve heard it called a “chick flick”….but I liked it a lot.  I didn’t like it as much as my wife…it gave her a new affection for waterfalls…I don’t know why.  This movie didn’t feature Viggo’s character.  Not even a “Hey, Viggo’s character…howzit goin’ down there in that terraced rice paddy looking shire thing?”  “yo…hobbit guy…it’s alright….howzit w’you?”  Nothing like that….although I’m sure that Viggo likes a paycheck as much as the next Hobbit.

When they give Frodo his own spin-off TV show…I’ll know that it’s time to give up on the series.  Until then, I’ll anxiously await the next episode of The Hobbit.

Maybe I’ll take a good nap before I go to the theater this time.