Try not to get too excited, but we’ve got two brand new pictures of dwarves from Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit today (see also: Ori, Nori, and Dori from last week). That’s John Callen and Peter Hambleton as Oin and Gloin above, and Dean O’Gorman and Aidan Turner as Fili and Kili below. They all have rich, complex backstories, I’m sure, but the short version is “braided beards.” Trading dwarf pictures is fast becoming the hottest fad to hit New Zealand since tree counting.

And hey, how come they can’t get actual dwarves to play the dwarves? Of all the roles a dwarf could conceivably play, a mythical dwarf seems like a lay up. Are people put off by their bulging foreheads?  It’s the bulging foreheads, isn’t it. Don’t be scared, man, that’s just where they store their dwarf gold.

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Courtesy of MGM/New Line, here’s your first look at Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, and Mark Hadlow as Nori, Ori, and Dori, the dwarves from The Hobbit.  Ori is the Jewish one, while Nori and Dori were given girl names to make them tougher.  Okay, I made that up.

These three brothers, all sons of the same mother, could not be more different from each other. Dori, the oldest, spends much of his time watching out for Ori, the youngest; making sure he’s not caught a chill or got himself killed by Wargs or Goblins. Nobody quite knows what Nori gets up to most of the time, except that it’s guaranteed to be dodgy and quite probably, illegal. Dori, Nori and Ori are intensely loyal to each other – and whilst they are perfectly happy fighting amongst themselves, woe-betide any anyone who means harm to one of these brothers.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in 3D, 2D and IMAX 3D theaters on December 14, 2012. [ComingSoon]

My sources tell me braiding Nori’s beard was the most exciting to happen to New Zealand since Wellington got a pickling plant. Prime Minister Steve even declared it an official holiday!  Everyone got the day off from shearing.

Peter Jackson is getting fat again, and you know what that means: MORE HOBBIT MOVIES! The first (how many of these are there now, ten?) of the two-part The Hobbit is set to open December 14th, 2012, after a back-to-back, 254-day shoot.  Jackson provided these new set pictures to EW, featuring stars Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen.  BRITISH PEOPLE LOOKING PENSIVE! IT’S THE MOST EXCITING THING EVER TO HAPPEN IN NEW ZEALAND! I kid, I kid. Actually I hear things are really starting to heat up down there, Tom Rogers just bought a Walkman.

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Peter Jackson just posted a 10-minute video blog from the set of The Hobbit, and now half the people on my Facebook news feed are like, “OMG, I have chills!”, “EEEE! I can’t wait!”, and “ROFLMAO HobbItZ R Mai Lyfe smh TTfn RIPLiLsmoovie~~SKEETSKEET.”

I’ll admit that I don’t share everyone else’s sick fascination with these verbose, homoerotic midgets, but even I have to admit, the behind-the-scenes stuff is cool.  And The Hobbit was far and away the least boring book of the series, so who knows?  Maybe this one won’t be like watching two awkward gay guys not screw. At the very least, it’s neat to see the elaborate sets and costumes before WETA hate-f*cks them with glowy CGI and magical falling elf leaves.

There’s also about a thousand immature double entendres to giggle at.  Besides the obvious, where Bilbo Baggins lives in “Bag End”, my favorite was “This is where we’re going to be shooting.  It’s the Goblin Tunnel under the Misty Mountains.”  [3:47]  HEE HEE, and may I add HEEEEEE! MY ELVES DEMAND ENTRANCE TO YOUR GOBLIN TUNNEL, ENT WENCH! YOUR MISTY MOUNTAINS HAVE THEM MOST AGITATED! Me, sometimes I enter the goblin tunnel a few times, but still end up shooting on the mountains. It’s fun to switch it up.

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The tourism board of New Zealand has issued a formal apology to Yogi Bear and House Bunny star Anna Faris after she told talk show host George Lopez that while she was in the country filming Yogi Bear, two separate groups of older men yelled profanities at her. The precise phrases yelled at her were, “F*ck you, a**hole!” and “Show me your tits, you stupid bitch!” To be fair, I’d yell at her, too, because I’ve watched Yogi Bear.

The interview took place on Lopez’s terrible show on December 14, but the apology comes now because the tourism board had initially blown her off, adding insult to verbal injury. A spokesman for the tourism board denounced her credibility because Faris was also awarded a “Stony” by High Times magazine, but he backed off yesterday.

“The inference that Tourism NZ did not take Ms. Faris’ comments seriously is very much regretted and was certainly not intended,” Tourism New Zealand said.

“On a U.S. talk show Ms. Faris spoke about disrespectful behavior she experienced during her stay in New Zealand and as a consequence her impression of New Zealand men is, to say the least, poor.”

The agency said it would offer Faris some “great Kiwi hospitality” to make up for its comments and the vulgar behavior she experienced. (Via Associated Press)

Big whoop, some guys wanted to see her cans. Take a look at her film list on IMDB – I think we deserve a little skin at this point. Also, I’ve included the interview after the jump for any sado-masochists here, but I think we can finally sum Lopez up with one quote: “I saw Yogi Bear and I loved it.” Now I will await my formal apology from the tourism board of New Zealand for making me watch a George Lopez segment.

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