The Hall of Fire

You mean instead of one EE, we'll have to buy the "Gloin edition", "Bombur edition", "Ori edition", and so on? Gotta catch 'em all!

I think we will probably get more dwarf character development in the EE. It's too bad, though - one of the reasons I gave PJ the benefit of the doubt on the trilogy is because I thought he would take the time to develop the dwarves individually. Instead we get Thorin, Balin, Bofur, a little bit of F...

I thought Out of the Frying Pan was the best non-flashback action scene. I would have preferred the more tense and suspenseful version in the book and I'm not a fan of Bilbo becoming a warrior so soon, but the visuals were excellent and it was an enjoyable climax.

Here's the problem with Azog: the main motivation for the journey is supposed to be reclaiming Erebor. Peter Jackson has also decided to add the Necromancer as a secondary plotline. Azog has only indirect connections to both of these things, so he's almost a third storyline. And he's not an interest...

I'm not really a fan of the one in TTT (setting canon aside, the execution feels rather perfunctory compared to most other LotR action scenes), but from a film standpoint I feel like it works better to raise the stakes than the Hobbit warg battle does to force them into Rivendell. And it ties better...

The White Council and Radagast basically go nowhere (and I mostly liked Radagast besides a few jokes). I'm sure there will be a payoff later, but in the context of this single movie they just bloat it up.

Anthy and Inanna, if you find The Hobbit tiring, then surely the somewhat over-wrought RotK ought to give you both a headache. I don't think so. RotK is unwieldy at times, but the subplots all go somewhere and contribute to the story (even the Arwen plot at least has a payoff at the end). And the a...

The trolls actually say something like "when the sun comes up, we'll turn to stone."

Well, I liked it, but definitely less than LotR. If I were to give it a grade right now it would be a B-, but I'm still processing and that could go up or down later. Loved Riddles in the Dark, the Unexpected Party, and Freeman in general. Didn't like Azog or most of the non-Hobbit material besides ...

Two more negative reviews, both of which have similar points and are pretty well-written. Both are unhappy with overcaffeinated action and PJ's use of the appendices. They have some complaints about Bilbo too, though I'm not sure if their appraisal of book Bilbo is accurate: http://www.patheos.com/b...

I still think that you will love some of it, and hate some of it. The real question is what the percentage is, and which side outbalances the other. We'll see. Personally, I think spoiling is a good thing, because it lowers the shock value. We have a pretty good idea of what we are in for. I'm pret...

Nooooo! Al, tell me this isn't true! Lissuin on TORn reports: In Riddles in the Dark, for the egg riddle, in the book Gollum remembers teaching his grandmother to suck - "Eggses!", but in the film he says something like, " my granny taught me to suck - Eggses!" If it is true, it...

Here's what someone else says: Hello! So first time posting after years and years of lurking - just wanted to put my opinion here as I've just seen the movie. First of all I'd like to think I know the music really well, have listened to LOTR soundtracks for years, and have had the AUJ soundtrack sin...

This [the unexpected party] is not a solid start, so the film doesn’t really get going until a good forty-five minutes into the narrative. This opening gambit was likely meant to help lighten the eventual doldrums that “The Hobbit” falls into, but they would have been better off just getting on wit...

Is the Goblin King throne stuff as bad as we feared?

It's funny to see everyone's hype go back and forth like a pendulum with every new bit of footage (I've barely watched any of it since the second trailer).

I've been pretty good about avoiding spoilers - only seen/heard a small handful of TV spots and music tracks. I was almost entirely spoiler-free for LotR. I'll enjoy it more with some surprise, and it helps keep my expectations in check.

I really liked Revenge of the Sith the first time I saw it in theaters (I was in high school)...and then I've liked it less and less every time I've seen it since. The oft-repeated mythology that PJ, with LOTR, took a story that couldn't possibly appeal to a broad audience, and made it accessible, i...

Radio silence at TORN, eh? I would have thought there would be four or five blogs up by now, raving about the amazingness and fantasticness of everything. On the other hand, New York Daily is a tabloid. So I would take both with a grain of salt. ;) I'll worry about Radagast if serious reviewers sta...

Primula Baggins wrote:You and your tedious focus on the fantasy aspects. Nobody ever writes about plumbing.

Well, you'll get your wish with the Great Goblin's throne.