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So yesterday I posted Every time I turn around, there's Martin Freeman because it really felt like it.

( Cut in case anyone really doesn't want casting spoilers for 'The Pirates', though yeah, my previous sentence kind of gave one of them away )

( A few thoughts on the movie I actually SAW; spoilers for 'The Muppets' )

Via joonscribble: five minutes of preview for Sherlock series . I believe this includes the whole of the 90 or 120 second preview I saw before, so I'm not giving a separate link for that.

Also, we have trailers for The Hobbit! Now we only have to wait a year for the first movie and two years for the second. Wait—what?

From mscontrarymary, I discovered that EW had posted photos of The Hobbit; you can find them here. Be sure to note that there are three photos, and don't miss the quotations under each.

Brilliant Husband and I think Bilbo's ear looks wrong. What do you think? Too big? I'm not sure exactly what's sparking this reaction in me. I don't remember particularly noticing Sam's and Frodo's ears. Ah, I see why: Google Image searches for Sam Gamgee and Frodo Baggins turn up reams of photos, but at least the top hits hardly show any ears. They're hidden in the characters' hair. I've no doubt Bilbo would look better with the hair more over his ears, and perhaps when he's in action, the ears won't be poking out like that.

Doesn't Martin Freeman look significantly younger in these than he did on Sherlock? That's a good thing; Bilbo's not very old for a hobbit, and we know he'll still be going strong decades later. (I think MF looks rather older in Sherlock than he is; it gave me a bit of a turn to look him up on IMDb and discover he's actually younger than I am!)

Did you hear that Martin Freeman won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for Sherlock? (I'm biting back my initial reaction, "What do you mean supporting?" I am somewhat aware that just because I was watching The John Watson Show with his Slightly Odd-Looking Sidekick doesn't mean everyone was.)

So I'd heard that a day or two ago, when it was already old news (see piece in The Guardian). I hadn't heard that Sherlock won Best Drama, which kind of leaves me scratching my head. I enjoyed the heck out of it and can't wait for the next one, but frankly, I thought the writing of the episodes was a very mixed bag (spoilers for all of series 1).

Now a couple of at least notionally-related items that I will put behind cuts for my friends who hate any kind of spoilers. (I avoid most plot spoilers for my favorite shows, but I like cast spoilers—when they aren't plot spoilers. Yes, I get burned this way not infrequently.)

( Casting spoiler for The Hobbit )

While I'm thinking about Sherlock, Mark Gatiss has a Twitpic from a table reading. ( casting spoiler? )

Ten minute video from Peter Jackson on the start of filming The Hobbit!

( embedded below the cut )

If I don't do it now, I will never get around to it, so as (not quite) promised:

( How John Watson is very nearly the same as Bilbo Baggins )

Recently read books

I'm not sure what's most embarrassing: that an English professor reads so few books outside of her job these days, that I've already forgotten the names of characters in two of the three novels I read, or that I already can't easily lay hands on the first of the three novels I'll mention. It's somewhere in the house. We have hundreds of books. Maybe thousands.

I'll try to keep spoilers to a minimum in my reviews, but I make no promises about comments.

( Neuromancer by William Gibson )

( Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke )

( The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien )