Is this Hobbit forming?

In theaters Friday: Jack Reacher, On the Road, This is 40
New on Blu-ray: Premium Rush, Sleepwalk with Me, Total Recall, Trouble with the Curve

To quote Lena Dunham on Girls, “Okay, wow.” The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey—the latest in a series of movies “about walking” according to Kevin Smith, just racked up the biggest December opening weekend of all time. Granted most films of the blockbuster persuasion debut in the summer months while the more dramatic, critic-baiting, heart-tugging fair arrive every Christmas season, but no matter how you look at it, $84.8 million in three days is remarkable.

My take is that this huge tab (ticket prices were at a premium) will be followed by a fairly steep decline and has much less to do with the fans’ excitement—though after a 9-year wait since the Oscar-winning The Return of the King, the nerd build-up was substantial—and more to do with the controversy and curiosity surrounding director Peter Jackson’s decision to shoot the film at 48 fps. My apologies in advance for getting a little technical with my blog this week, but 48 fps is a higher frame-rate that makes digital film look even less like traditional celluloid than ever before. Sure, the image is incredibly sharp and detailed, is that really what audiences want? Some early critics are lambasting the look of the picture, claiming it takes them nearly an hour to get used to the look of the images.

A unique look is not what bothers me (and I haven’t seen the film yet, so those who have, feel free to chime in), what bothers me is that, ultimately, the job of a filmmaker is to suspend the disbelief of an audience so they can be swept into a world and a story that challenges their heads, pulls at their hearts and electrifies their nerves when the heroes on screen are in danger. Is photo-realistic imagery the best way to suspend disbelief? I’m not so sure.

I could be wrong and in five years everything will be shot at 48 fps, and we’ll all look at 24 fps movies like kids today might look at an old black-and-white TV show, but right now I am doubtful. Like James Cameron’s obsession with 3D, I believe 48 fps will be something of a fad, and the digital technologies that win out in the long run will be those that best mimic the attributes of traditional, physical film with the added benefit of speedier editing.

Keanu Reeves of all people recently produced a documentary about cinema’s debate over digital filmmaking versus traditional film. Check out the trailer below: