I already had a strong picture in my head of Frodo, Sam, and the other hobbits, as well as Gandalf, but most of the others have been supplanted with the film faces (especially Boromir, just because I prefer the movie version over the book one).

I'm flying out to Seattle to see my sister and mom for Christmas today, and was talking to Mom last night. I reminded her that probably on Friday I'll be taking both of them to RotK. After chatting a bit, I asked her if she had anything planned for the day today, before I arrive, and when she said no, I suggested that she pull out my sister's dvd of TTTEE, just so she could remind herself of what happened "Previously, on Lord of the Rings..." (she saw it with me in the theater last Christmas, but hasn't seen it since). I'm hoping she does, so she'll be even more involved in RotK. She liked FotR but not excessively (she kept getting Aragorn and Boromir confused, until one of them died), and would have fallen asleep in TTT if it were any later in the day.

Did we learn nothing from Castamir?

BWAH!

Oh, this made my day.

That said, am I the only person who returns to the books and doesn't imagine the movie actors? They just fall away. There I am, thinking Aragorn's kind of a jerk again and Frodo is much thinner and browner and not nearly as pretty as Elijah Wood.

Oh yes, except that I never thought Aragorn was a jerk. But Book!Frodo is much older than Elijah Wood.

Yes, like what--30 years older (plus the 9 years that were hopped right over in FotR).

The one thing I missed from the FotR book was the good conspiracy between the Hobbits, to help Frodo. Film!Mippin look like they're only along for the ride, because they were stealing vegetables.

I finally saw RotK last night. And I was awake for hours afterwards on a massive Tolkien buzz that sneered, sneered like a Nazgul, at my attempts to bludgeon it into submission with benedryl. Were there things I wasn't utterly and entirely sold on? Sure. But the movie as a whole was magnificient. I loved the entire Shelob section, the fight for Minas Tirth, Eowyn kicking ass, Legolas doing anything (and the look at his face before the last battle. It seemed so much like, "I could be on a boat right now. Am I insane?"). All of the Pippen and Merry stuff. The manipulation of Sam and Frodo by Gollum. The lighting of the signal fires. Faramir's scenes. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in the Paths of the Dead. And more. Much, much more. I put in my TT DVD at breakfast this morning because I didn't want to leave Middle Earth just yet. I can't wait to see this movie again.

That said, am I the only person who returns to the books and doesn't imagine the movie actors? They just fall away. There I am, thinking Aragorn's kind of a jerk again and Frodo is much thinner and browner and not nearly as pretty as Elijah Wood.

I suspect I'll take some with me and others not, and that won't necessarily have to do with whether I liked the portrayal or not. I don't think Sean Bean will be my book-Boromir, though I adored the work he did in the movies; Sean Astin, on the other hand, probably will be my book-Sam.

Oh, and I agree with you that Aragorn having to take a deep breath before turning around as King was wonderful. Loved that. I don't know that Viggo will come with me, but I think he will in spots - the dialogue with the head of the Houses of Healing, in RotK, where he's so snarky, for instance.

Speaking of looks on faces, the expression on Theoden's right before the Fell Beast took him was a perfect "Oh fuck, you've got to be shitting me! We just took down Oliphaunts, now this?"

"Taking it" to me implies taking it for himself, which he does not do. The closest he comes to taking it is deciding he will send the hobbit with the Ring in his possession to his father.

Sorry, Sean. I can't join you in that teeny tiny corner. Faramir is supposed to represent that the blood of Numenor yet runs true in Gondor. The ring works in mysterious ways. MovieHim fails to resist the ring's desire to subvert the mission of the ringbearer and plays on his daddy approval issues to get him to misuse his power and force the ringbearer a) from his path and b) to Gondor where it will cause the destruction of the last bulwark of men in the west. Can you imagine Denethor with the ring? Faramir knows in his gut the old man isn't right in the head.

Failing marks for having power in a situation and misusing it for personal gain -- the very hallmark of the influence of the ring.

Your Faramir [shouldn't] vary. {grin}

I never had faces when I first read LotR. The places had visuals for me, but not the people. So, for my single reread since FotR, despite the cheesy 70s haircuts on my covers, PJ's cast (save Liv) slotted into their places, and even some of their voices followed.

IMHO, some of PJ's casting choices -- at least visually -- were influenced by Alan Lee's pre-extant pictures, which were already the gold standard in how the books looked. Getting Lee involved in the art direction was a master coup for the production.