I think that you are spot-on regarding how The Hobbit comes off more as a play than a movie.
Another important issue is the unwitting association we have built up that inversely correlates frame rate and production quality. The movie tradition started as soon as video technology became just barely capable of supporting the medium. The enormous cost of moving beyond that ancient standard has kept movies at 24Hz for more than a human lifetime. Later, cheaper, consumer-orientated ed tech targeted getting the best quality out of 59.97Hz television displays, so of course they used all 59.97Hz available to them.
Because of this quirk of history, we've had a frame rate & quality dichotomy with movies on one side (very high quality & 24hz) and soap operas/TV sport/live action reporting/home movies (low to abysmal production quality and 60Hz) on the other for the entire life of everyone.
When MotionFlow frame rate upscaling TVs first came to market, I randomly polled people I found looking at them at BestBuy about what they thought. Even when watching super-expensive Hollywood productions, the most common response was that it "looked like a high school play." It was ludicrous to look at the enormous scenes, world-shaking special effects and top-bill actors on the screens and say "Yep. High school production." But, people did. And, they couldn't explain why. I think the lifetime spent unconsciously building up a mental model that high frame rate leads to low quality is probably a major factor in people's reaction to 48&60Hz movies.
All you need as a proof HFR looks weird is to watch first Capitan America (from the new series of Marvel films)
I personally think most of the issues come from clear motions - you can see they are using props just because they are too light and don't move like a real object would. There isn't enough blur to fool your brain.
Another important issue is the unwitting association we have built up that inversely correlates frame rate and production quality. The movie tradition started as soon as video technology became just barely capable of supporting the medium. The enormous cost of moving beyond that ancient standard has kept movies at 24Hz for more than a human lifetime. Later, cheaper, consumer-orientated ed tech targeted getting the best quality out of 59.97Hz television displays, so of course they used all 59.97Hz available to them.
Because of this quirk of history, we've had a frame rate & quality dichotomy with movies on one side (very high quality & 24hz) and soap operas/TV sport/live action reporting/home movies (low to abysmal production quality and 60Hz) on the other for the entire life of everyone.
When MotionFlow frame rate upscaling TVs first came to market, I randomly polled people I found looking at them at BestBuy about what they thought. Even when watching super-expensive Hollywood productions, the most common response was that it "looked like a high school play." It was ludicrous to look at the enormous scenes, world-shaking special effects and top-bill actors on the screens and say "Yep. High school production." But, people did. And, they couldn't explain why. I think the lifetime spent unconsciously building up a mental model that high frame rate leads to low quality is probably a major factor in people's reaction to 48&60Hz movies.