I can see that - especially compared to how much depth he gives to certain characters compared to their book counterparts. It's a shame Denethor (who is one of my favourite characters in the books) loses something in translation. As I say, Noble's performance saves it for me (the glimpses of non-crazy Denethor we see…

I completely agree. The act of doing good and what’s right despite the personal sacrifice it entails is a beautiful sentiment that the films nail it its core (Frodo’s decision to take the Ring), on huge levels (Ride of the Rohirrim) and intimate ones (Sam, just as you described - there’s no drama, there’s no mourning…

I wouldn’t call them obnoxious - knowing they’re to come I find them elegant (and they’re there for a reason, to denote the passage of time between the scenes). But you’re right, they’re also usually a cue that the film’s wrapping up so to use so many at that point and just keep going I think is key to the reputation…

It’s why I hate bad audiences. A good, shared cinema experience can be amazing. Sadly this wasn’t one of them (at least for a few parts spread out over 12 hours - so not all bad. I just wish I could have let the catharsis of the endings wash over me instead of having snarky commentary by a couple of twats). 

Jackson originally had her at Helm’s Deep - The The Towers would have seen her travel to Lothlorien with Elrond to visit Galadriel (who I believe is Elrond’s mother-in-law and Arwen’s grandmother) and decide to take the elven army to aid Aragorn and co at Helm’s Deep. It was leaked, online fans dubbed her Arwen:…

I'd put Bernard Hill up there too (and I know that there was a push for Sean Austin which would have been nice). I think McKellen absolutely deserved his nomination for Fellowship and, while I don't begrudge Jim Broadbent's win, I think he deserved to win it. 

The pirate  it definitely helps. Aragorn doesn't just recruit them and bring them to end the battle. They're used in a much more thorough way and feels less of an easy fix move. 

And yet they do it anyway, simply because it’s right.

Theoden’s my favourite character too, for all the reasons you mentioned. Boromir’s a close second, especially in the Extended Editions (with his conversation with Aragorn on the lake in FOTR and the flashback in TTT) for similar reasons - both have human frailties and doubts but they also have honor and strength,…

I can’t remember it in the other bits but I think the Grey Havens uses a similar slight slow-motion effect - though it might just be Frodo's slightly slowed speech. And I think Sam's walk to his door is slightly slowed. 

It helped that cinema is such an important part of my life and my natural retreat from anxiety - so having it taken away for months took away a release from the pandemic stress - but it felt so cathartic watching each of those films last summer. There's a cliche in describing being caught up in a fictional piece as…

Eh. I think their actions and pure joy in that scene feels natural - and I think Wood sells the joy and relief of seeing each of them (I also like Gandalf and Gimli’s reactions). But I get that not everyone's a fan, especially of the slight slow motion effect the scene uses. 

The film at least gave him a chance to stand with the rest of them at the Black Gate. As I say in my long post above, the sight of him and Pippin charging forwards before Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli or any of the soldiers is an incredible moment of how brave and loyal these guys are. At that point in the story Merry had…

Mine was a midnight screening too, but a staff screening at the cinema I worked at. Definitely one of my best filmgoing experiences too but I do now wonder how it would have been to see it with a full midnight audience.

Yeah, I get that fans who have maybe spent each year before films reading about them, rewatching each DVD release, all the features, watching the ROTK trailer in 5 second spurts as the QuickTime stream buffered in 2003 time (that last one may be specific to me) are more willing to go with it than a casual film goer…

But this is it - I don’t think the structural level had been sorted when they had to go into production. I’m not saying it would have brought the films up to LOTR level but I think that telling the story of The Hobbit but fleshing it out with Gandalf’s White Council stuff isn’t a bad idea. But going into it not fully…

“It’s made of pixels, make it bigger”

It’s interesting to read Ian Nathan’s book on Peter Jackson and the making of the films for the discussion on The Hobbit. The filmmakers are proud of the films but, from what I remember, there’s talk of how the starting date and the release date was set by Warners and they couldn’t get out of it but that, if they’d…

Speaking of Legolas and Gimli -

I can see that. I don’t know if I fully agree but it’s interesting to hear that side explained so well, so thanks.