Regarding LOTR

The films are a praiseworthy and honest attempt at telling the story of the books and trying very hard to get it right. But they were done on the cheap and from time to time it shows, for example the Balrog and even Sauron were embarassingly cheap looking. And using children shot from behind as cheap stand-ins for the Hobbits.

Also I don't care what they said New Zealand is not Middle Earth. Apparently the place doesn't have a tree over 30 feet tall let alone a forest that can stand in for Lothlorien. And overall the scenery was okay but it just wasn't Middle Earthy.

But the biggest problem was the casting. Where to begin ? Elijah Wood's Frodo was a passive and effeminate pretty boy. Ian McKellen didn't have the physical presence or look of the greatest wizard of his age. Sixth greatest maybe. Poor old Christopher Lee as great an actor as he was was far too old to play Saruman. Hugo Weaving was awful as Elrond and even the great Cate Blanchett was all at sea with her Galadriel.

Maybe the truth is that the books are just unfilmable. I'd rather see it done as a television series myself but it would have to be an expensive production to do the job properly.

To praise the good Gollum was a triumph. Sean Bean's Boromir was spot on, so was Liv Tyler's Arwen and Sean Astin's Sam Gamgee.

First, this achievement was not the achievement of 1 person. This was a group labor of love from everyone involved in the production, including the screenwriters and probably down to the caterers. The Lord of the Rings is my favorite novel (NOT a “trilogy;” a novel cut into 3 pieces by its publisher). When I watched The Fellowship of the Ring, I kept thinking, “Greed cannot fuel an effort this great. This is a labor of love.” The highlights, for me: Bilbo’s birthday party. The Flight to the Ford! Shelob’s Lair. The Ride of the Rohirrim (roughshod, over those fucking Orcs. I stood up and cheered its righteous wrath). The Battle of the Pellinor Fields. The Eagles. The Grey Havens. What was missing? Tom Bombadil/Goldberry. Beorn. The Scouring of the Shire. On balance, not bad at all. Gollum was beautifully realized. Bravos all around.

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