I have seen the future, and it plays at 48 frames per second. It may not currently be without notable flaws, but technological revolutions seldom begin as such.

This week I saw a Digital IMAX projection of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in HFR. HFR (High Frame Rate) is a marketing term for digital video projected at 48 fps (frames per second), exactly twice the current film frame rate standard of 24 fps.

As some have accurately criticized, to the unaccustomed eye this has the tendency of making the film look like a 70’s BBC TV drama or an old soap opera (that’s because rather than using film, pre-HDTV era soap operas were acquired using economically efficient video cameras which captured at a rate of 60 interlaced fields per second, or the equivalent of 30 frames per second).

During scenes populated mostly by CGI characters I often felt I was watching a cutscene from a fantasy videogame. The high frame rate also appears to reveal more potential imperfections, particularly in scenes involving actors. At times Ian Holm‘s (older Bilbo Baggins) face looked so waxy and dull I thought his makeup was applied by morticians. Makeup artists are going to have to be more stringent than ever in the HFR world. In fact, I’d say the majority of criticism attributed to the “eerie” look of this new process is an indication that all filmmaking disciplines will need to reinvent themselves to meet the challenge of the medium.

As we’ve been reporting for months now, Peter Jackson has been hard at work on his two planned Hobbit film adaptations, and back in March, rumors arose about what the official titles of the two films would be.

Now, the official titles as well as the final release dates have been confirmed for the two movies: Part I, which will be released on December 14, 2012, is called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; Part II, which will be released a year later on December 13, 2013, is called The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

Another cast member of Peter Jackson‘s Lord of the Rings trilogy is returning for the two-part movie adaptation of The Hobbit.

Jackson confirmed via his Facebook page that Sir Ian Holm will be coming back to do work as the older Bilbo Baggins seen in LOTR. It’s unclear just how big Holm’s role will be in the two films with the younger Bilbo taking center stage for the majority of the time. As we all should know by now, Martin Freeman will be playing the younger Bilbo.

Many of the stars of director Peter Jackson‘s epic trilogy adaptation of The Lord of the Rings have been expected to return for his adaptation of author J.R.R. Tolkien‘s first classic in the realms of Middle Earth, The Hobbit. And while not all of the actors have been confirmed yet — Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis, specifically — it’s still assumed that everyone is on board. How could they not want to anyway, right?

One name you might never have thought was returning, however, would be that of a one Mr. Elijah Wood, who famously played the lead character of Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Frodo is the “nephew” of Bilbo Baggins (played by Ian Holm first and to be played by Martin Freeman in the new films), who’s the main character of The Hobbit, which is set many years prior when he was but a young lad.

But despite what you may think, it’s being reported that Elijah Wood will indeed be joining the cast of The Hobbit. But in what aspect? Can this possibly work, or is the mythology messed up with Frodo’s inclusion? Keep in mind: in The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo began as a 33-year-old, and 17 whole years passed between the time Bilbo left Frodo the ring and the time that Gandalf returned to Bag End.

Click on over to the other side to find out exactly how Elijah Wood’s Frodo will play into Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit!