Is Radagast part of the White Council?
Yes. Also Galadriel, Elrond, Cirdan, Glorfindel and Saruman as the leader.
No Celeborn?
Nope, he’s just the trophy husband.
But it makes no sense since there is an elven/numenorean statue in the background. Dol Guldur was always Sauron’s and he’s more of a Black Watcher statue type of guy.
I wonder if it is suppose to be Gandalf’s imagining/dreaming of Rivendell after being attacked by Smaug.
That was my thought as well - I figured that the various sites pinning it as Dol Guldur were perhaps just guessing, instead of having actual film source backing for the label?
Dol Guldur is the Necromancer’s hidden tower of EEEVIL. I was expecting it to be more… you know… evil? (as opposed to creepy and demolished and ominous, which isn’t quite the same thing)
I really am expecting something more like the way Minas Morgul had that awful greenish cast to it. Not the architecture, mind, just that filmic treatment where it’s all really sickly and a little wavery like heat-shimmer, with that soul-sapping light and ghostly feeling of watching you all the time while it thinks about how it’s going to torture you best…
Those few shots didn’t lend that same *wrongness *to the area, and I would hope that the Necromancer’s stronghold that almost ate Gandalf would be just a little on the creepy side. I mean, really. Jackson’s *Isengard *was creepier than that ruin, and that even when Saruman was supposed to still be pretending to be the good guy!
Though, Sauron spent considerable time in Numenor. Maybe he’s longing for the old days with his decorating sense.
I suppose it could be Eregion - Gandalf looking for Thrian, could have passed through Hollin and into Moria before exiting and heading to Dol Guldur.
Well, the lotr.wikia says Dol Guldur was originally the location was the former capital of the Mirkwood elves.
In the four seconds of the trailer I mentioned, everything is grey and colorless. Then they cut to a shot of Rivendell, which is shown in rich golden tones. So, yeah, I still think it’s supposed to be Dol Guldur.
You mean statues of Palin or Obama, depending upon his political orientation? 
While Amon Lanc was a sylvan realm, Oropher was Sindarin. So he probably would have wanted nice statues around his halls. Those who looked on the face of Melian the Maia would definitely be counted on to acquire a taste for finer things in life, like statuary, jewels, lembas, and probably even raw oysters (what with the Telerin influence.)
And IIRC, Sauron used to have this thing for Melian, back in the day (well, before days, actually.) She was the only one who could get away with calling him Mairon.
So I’d not be surprised if Sauron kept some statuary around, especially if it reminded him of the fallen kingdom of his rival, Thingol.
(Just random speculating, but it feels right!)
I hope not. The sickly-green stuff Jackson used to represent ghosts and the necromantic was one of the biggest drawbacks to the trilogy, one I hope Jackson won’t inflict on us again.
Which isn’t to say that it’s bad by itself: it just doesn’t go well with the rest of the cinematography at all.
A few things seem wrong to me though. Dol Guldur is typically framed as being raised by Sauron, not occupied like Minas Tirith in the 1st age. Further, the silvan elves of southern Mirkwood were related to the elves of Lorien and there they typically lives in flets (tree borne platforms). Now I can see the Nolodrian refugees from Eregion coupled with Galadriel’s influence leading Lorien to a more settled and permanent lifestyle than they had known before.
That implies that while Amon Lanc may have the the central settlement for elves in southern Mirkwood, it would be unlikely that permanent structures existed.
Or I may be over thinking this - typically a good bet.
According to the lotr.wikia (I am not a scholar like others on this board, so my research skills are rudimentary), Oropher became king of the Mirkwood elves early in the second age.
The second age lasted roughly 3400 years.
Sauron’s claims on Amon Lanc were not established until 1000TA (Third Age).
Dunno when Oropher established his capital on Amon Lanc, but he may have been there as long as 4000 years. That’s a long freakin time. Oropher himself had come from Valinor, and that place had permanent structures.
I think that it would be unlikely that such a location (Amon Lanc) NOT have permanent structures.
Won’t they be saving Smaug for the second part anyway?
The trailer looks good and I can’t wait for the movie… although I suppose I must!
Good point. I would guess that the first movie will end before the Company even reaches Lake-town, much less encountering Smaug.
Based on the new trailer, would you say that Jackson appears to be trying for a “serious” action/adventure fantasy?
I ask, because I felt that The Hobbit, as written, to be more of a young’un fairy tale than the more serious Lord of the Rings or the Simarillion.
With the dwarves falling through the door? And the dwarves singing?
Yes. There was (limited) dwarf humor in the LOTR movies too. So?
I thought the singing was a somber dirge… Did I miss some other song?
Let me repeat: I felt that the BOOK, The Hobbit, to be more… aimed at kids… than LOTR. The style of writing, the language used. It’s been 5 or 6 years since I’ve read it, but I do remember having that opinion when I finished it.
The movie (based on the trailer) may not match the tone (I described) of the book.
You think it will be a mad cap comedy?