There's a great review of RotK at efilmcritic.com, from a local Chicagoan who is an excellent film critic. Some great quotes:

It’s astounding to take in how many characters and story threads there really are to this series. Just reacquainting yourself with each name, can you honestly say there isn’t one you don’t care about?

...Take note action-conscious filmmakers out there –- you want to hold an audience’s breath? Hold the shot. Don’t cut away.

...I want every voting member of the Academy to hear me as I steer you toward the nomination you must contribute to the cause. It is the one element who, in his own way, has managed to bring something extra to every single film and that’s Sean Astin. His Sam is the heart and soul of a trilogy already bathed in it. We love him for what he stands for and how admirably he follows through on it. Nearly every tear shed in Lord of the Rings is somehow connected to Sam’s actions. The first name read for Best Supporting Actor this year should be Sean Astin.

...Return of the King is epic filmmaking in the achievement scales of Ben-Hur, Gone with the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia. It’s Shakespearean in depth, David Lean in scope and told with the grace of Capra, Spielberg and Zemeckis. Cecil B. DeMille would have to look at The Lord of the Rings and go “now THAT is an epic.” Peter Jackson has shot into the echelon of the all-time great directors with Return of the King, which stands alone even with the backup of prologues preceding it. It’s certainly a culmination and one built-up in stature by Fellowship and Two Towers, but after watching the credits roll a final time on this trilogy, I think you’ll agree that this film bows to no one.

Wow, some review.

Catching up:

Re: Arwen and gender roles, it's not actually the "I want a child!" bit that bothers me. Like JohnSweden said, I see the child more as a reminder to her of the mortal life she's about to give up with Aragorn, and not so much "here's how I will find fulfillment in life." JSw said "the child is symbolic of how mortals achieve immortality" and that works very well for me in the story.

God, that was depressing.

ita, do you really think so? I love "Into the West" and don't find it depressing at all, though it does make me weep copiously. It's uplifting, to me, not depressing. (I'm listening to the soundtrack now, incidentally. I don't love it as a whole like I love FOTR and TTT, but damn that's some beautiful music. Billy Boyd gives me chills every time.)

And Kathy, your tag cracks me up! Which is good, because you made me cry with the quote from Gandalf from one of the History of Middle-Earth books (Endurance Beyond Hope and Hope Unquenchable) .

I have a ticket for Saturday night! I thought for sure they'd all be sold out, but I was happy to be proven wrong.

ita, do you really think so?

Absolutely. I always felt the transition to the Age of Men to be a terrible sadness, and Valinor's just so there and we're so here.

Hmm. I certainly feel the same way about the Age of Men. But "Into the West" makes me feel like I could go to Valinor someday. No, that's not quite right. I don't fit myself into the song at all. I picture it as Sam singing it to Frodo, and that makes me happy, in a strange and weepy way. Because they will meet again someday, dammit. And meanwhile, Frodo can finally be at peace.

And meanwhile, Frodo can finally be at peace.

Over there.

Where I can't see him.

Perhaps I'm a little possessive of the characters of the story.

Maybe in a couple weeks I'll listen to it again. The pain is too new (I wish I were completely joking there, me and my silly allergies, justastory, justastory).

Over there.

Where I can't see him.

Oh, now you've gone and done it. sniff.

But! I have tickets for tomorrow's 11:00AM matinee. It's DH's last chance to see it schoolchildren and jaded dating people theatre-filled-free until after the holidays, since he works second shift, and all. We'll see it and then he'll go into work all red-eyed and weepy and have to explain himself. Heh. But he doesn't want to wait, and I want to be able to talk about it with him.

And Kathy, your tag cracks me up!

I snagged it from one of the posters at C-O-E, who put it in the "Little Things I Liked from RotK" thread, since someone else already snagged my favorite one-liner (Kate, I'm looking at you!!). All my other favorite lines are spoilers, unfortunately (" I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you!" "I know your face--Eowyn..." and "That only counts as one!" ).

The separation of Sam and Frodo at the Grey Havens was so sad, but necessary for both of their sakes. Frodo was never going to truly heal in M-E, and Sam would have never been happy seeing his best friend suffer. I always like imagining their reunion in Valinor, though--both of them old men, but Sam finally seeing a content Frodo at last, and maybe Frodo would help Sam over the loss of Rosie before they both die .

Kathy, I'm about to cry.

I really want very badly to watch the first hour of FotR right now. But it's very late. And I know I couldn't stop the movie before it was over. And then I'd have to watch TTT. And then it would be time to go to the RotK matinee. And I'd be hypersensitive and sleepless again. Um, no.

Finally saw the movie, so now I can read the whitefont!

I only got teary at the end. And I made Pete leave the theatre before the song over the closing credits could get into full verse, because I knew it would make me cry more.

Oh! I managed to watch all of the Shelob scenes without closing my eyes. I scrunched down in my seat and shook a lot, but did indeed watch the giant spider. Pete thinks that the spiders from the 2nd Harry Potter movie were actually creepier than Shelob, because the design made her more monster-like, while the spiders from HP2 were just (just! ha!) wolf spiders the size of cars. I will have to take his word for it, as I still haven't watched those scenes.

I'm in the camp of "didn't mind Liv as Arwen". When I think about all the horrible things that COULD have happened, casting-wise, I can't really get too worked up about the pretty pretty elf princess.