I didn't like how, in the end Denethor's death was not his choice. Shadowfax knocked him into the flames. I mean, obviously he had been intending to kill himself, but the run and plunge lacks the pathos and purpose of him deliberately climbing on the pyre.

I really must see it again. Connie, when do you think your husband will be okay to sit through it again?

WE're hoping to catch our traditional re-watch on Christmas, but I don't know if he'll be up to sitting that long. Depends on the seats we get.

Good evening. In the midst of discussion about critics was that teeny tiny link to Caryn James Of The Sour Grapes. My sister read it out loud to me, and it was sort of hilarious in how excitingly and death-defyingly it missed the point. It's one thing to not like something everyone else likes, and to feel left out and try to justify the dislike; it's another thing completely to accuse the movie of pulling the emergence of Sam as a character out of its butt, just because Sam is not particularly attractive.

Heaven knows, I have my problems with ROTK, and could stand to see a dissenting voice in the press say, "Here's why it wasn't quite perfect", but that article just made me laugh at the writer's wilfull ignorance.

It's good to hear that a non-reader also felt that there were plot problems and herky-jerkiness, so it's not just expectation-itis. I'm beginning to wonder whether the arrival of the Corsairs' ships should have been a complete surprise after all, the way it was in the books, because at the very least it kept up the tension as the battle wore on. I don't know, doing it book-wise would have presented a different set of problems, chiefly the complete screen-absence of the king during the movie named after him, for at least 20 minutes. But letting the story "keep" even one of its secrets until the plot demands its reveal would I think have helped with pacing and maybe even flow.

As for Ted's reading of the She's dying! I laughed over it, after, recalling that Anya line about having only 50 years left. I didn't have any idea that such an interpretation might be the "proper" one, because it's like the funny critters at the end of A.I. -- yeah, they could be robots, but nobody says they're robots, and they look like aliens, and, well, I thought they were aliens and nobody told me they weren't. When you've been given a WTF moment, you're sort of obligated to interpret to its furthest logical extreme, rather than any more-reasonable middle-ground. So the robots come across as aliens, and "she'll be forty! Someday!" comes across as "She needs a kidney transplant!"

Ideally, I'd like to watch FotR, TTT before seeing RotK, again.

Having sat through all eleven hours of Trilogy Tuesday, I think this is the perfect way to view ROTK. It definitely builds on the establishment of characters and setting in FOTR and TTT. Actually, when I saw TTT for the first time, I hadn't watched FOTR in months (due to being on semester abroad in South Africa), and I thought that it (TTT) suffered from the same problem: it really depends on FOTR for emotional investment. I recall being a little disappointed in it, initially. So I think FOTR is the best as a stand-alone movie, but really, it's hard for me to separate them in my mind now, because I think of it as one super-long movie.

I was thinking about FOTR at work today. I kept picturing Sam and Frodo walking across fields and mountains, and the gorgeous scenery shots, and Sam saying "Did you hear that? We're going to see the elves!" That sequence is pure magic.

RotK is paced entirely wrong for a movie, but well as the end of the story.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense to me. I also didn't notice pacing issues much when I saw it as part of Trilogy Tuesday, but I sure did when I saw it again last night.

Steph - loved hearing your take, as a non-reader: I'm so deep in the book-love I can't come at it from that perspective. Love your little Sunnydale parallels, too. Will have to ponder on that.

I'm with BHP et al on Denethor. It struck me as an image PJ just couldn't resist capturing; the Nazgul coming at Frodo on the bridge in Osgiliath in TTT strikes me the same way.

Viewing the 2nd will be Tuesday, I think.

Steph, I really don't think your responses are very far from many others here. Greater and lesser tolerances for certain things, sure, and a keen awareness that there are pacing problems.

Steph, I really don't think your responses are very far from many others here.

t relieved that the beating won't last very long....

I didn't have any pacing problems (but then I never viewed it as anything but the last third of one very long movie, which might explain that).

From E Online:

Since the PG-13 New Line release's record $34.1 million domestic debut Wednesday, the concluding adventure detailing the trials, tribulations and battles of Frodo, Sam, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gollum, et al., has earned $125 million. That's a five-day record for a movie opening on a Wednesday, beating the $105.6 million earned in May 1999 by Stars Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace.

Yep, Steph, I'm pretty much good with your points. Not actually going to shun or beat you (unless it's in the fun way...). You weren't so terribly blasphemous after all. Love your Sunnydale parallels, too.

*smooch*