Any Legolas/Aragorn slash is mostly Bloom or the director's fault. He says things to him with such intimacy. And is answered back with such fondness. Boys don't do that, so much.

As for the Sam/Frodo -- hell, the text had more than the movies.

I wasn't feeling any Legolas/Gimli, or Merry/Pippin. Those came across as very het interactions, although I've been accused of wanting to slash anyone that share (un)kind words.

He says things to him with such intimacy. And is answered back with such fondness.

And there is a metric ton of "we are so about to make out" to their constant mutual shoulder grabbing.

I'm with you on the rest slashwise. The movie has never come close to the slash-fest of the books re: Sam/Frodo. Not even Frodo's sadness at Sam mentioning Rosie on the rock.

eta: going from the movie almost straight to work this morning has made my already really bad spelling much worse FTR.

there is a metric ton of "we are so about to make out" to their constant mutual shoulder grabbing

Oh, yeah.

I still maintain that if the "You're late. You look awful" necklace handover had been a guy/girl thing, people who don't see the L/A would have thought there was a spark, if it were played note for note.

He does an eye scrinchy thing and everything.

Question that spans TTT and RotK -- does Aragorn lead Eowyn on? I think he was a bit of a tease, until he found out Arwen hadn't sailed.

I feel like he was being a *bit* of a tease. Especially the look back he gives her as he goes to fight the wargs in TTT. But even that, I don't think, reached the level of actually leading her on. This is why I really missed the Eowyn/Faramir story - because she deserves a happy ending damnit (as does Faramir) - and Tolkien gave them one.

I would be very curious what a non-book reader thought of how Eowyn's story ended.

But what about him drinking from her cup when they said something in another language? Theoden seemed to think something was up from watching it.

First response lost due to board wonkiness. Another try:

Oh yeah - that (the drinking out of the cup). I saw that as heavy heavy flirting mixed with a real desire to show her respect. I think he liked her and didn't want to be a big jerk - at that point.

I also thought Theoden was reacting a lot to the look on her face after the drink - or at least that's what the shot sequence suggested to me. But again, I have to go with not leading her on because 1) she knows that he is still in love with another woman, whether she has sailed or not 2) she is just so tough and smart that I would think it would take more than heavy flirting to convince her that he was in love with her.

The "I cannot give you what you want" exchange was pretty brutal after all that though.

He does an eye scrinchy thing and everything.

And Aragorn clasps his fingers over Legolas' as Legolas slides them out of Aragorn's palm. And the reaction from Eowyn as she realizes "Oh! THAT elf!" In fact, not until yesterday did I see any other possible read on that scene.

The biggest crowd cheer was when Eowyn snatches up Merry to go fight.

My biggest crypoints: Theoden's death and everyone bowing to the hobbits

Most inappropriate laughs from my crowd: Frodo and Sam lying like spent cartridges on the battlefield of love after the intimate "I'm glad you're here with me" exchange. Also, Denethor running out of the crypts and throwing himself off the helipad.

One thing that really struck me seeing FOTR again was how much the addition of the Brothers Mir scene to TTT enhanced Boromir's scenes in FOTR. Every single scene was 10 times more poignant for me, and I cried when he died, which I haven't done since the first viewing.

I saw it this afternoon. I cried and cried. I have tickets to go again with another friend on Friday. My main reaction is that it is like the first movie except more so, in that they brought so many of my favourite, vital, moments from the book to life but in this case on the epic scale of the third book.

I skipped to the end of this new thread, now to go back and see more reactions.

I cried and cried.

Yay for crying and crying!!

One thing that really struck me seeing FOTR again was how much the addition of the Brothers Mir scene to TTT enhanced Boromir's scenes in FOTR.

It just struck me that I have not watched FotR since seeing TTT EE. Must correct this as soon as I am done obsessively watching Firefly DVDs.

Evidence of how not into it the girl I went to RotK with was: when I told her I had watched TTT just before coming to pick her up she gave me the polite "Oh..you're one of those types" kind of look. It also took everything in my power to not give her the "It's not a freaking allegory for WWII!!" speech when she started talking about how "the Shire was sooo Switzerland" on the ride home. Le sigh.

Oh, man.

Billy fucking Boyd, where have you been all our lives? I think I cried through the last half hour at least. What got me started was Gandalf and Pippin's talk about death. And then god, poor Faramir, and Pippin singing!

Cry points:

* The aforementioned Gandalf/Pippin scene. And the singing.

* Denethor's death.

* Pippin and Merry's reunion.

* Sam saying "I can't carry the ring, but I can carry you." And his whole lead-up description of the Shire.

* Sam and Frodo after the ring was destroyed, clinging to each other on that rock.

* And pretty much everything from that point on. The reunion, each member of the Fellowship walking into the room. Orlando Bloom is fucking unearthly.

* The return to the Shire, and the four of them sitting at a table, realizing that they're never quite going to fit in again.

* Pretty much all of Frodo's narration, about how people's stories end.

* The good-bye scene, and the way that Frodo turned around and looked back at them, and he finally looked beautiful and at peace.

Other cool stuff:

* The lighting of the beacons! What a fantastic sequence.

* Minas Tirith impressed me more than any of the other CG stuff. God, it was gorgeous.

* Flashback to poor Boromir's death. It hurts every time the arrows go in.

* All the little echoes from the other two movies, like "I know your face" and the shockwave from Sauron's destruction.

* Eowyn! Rock on, sister.

I had to go out to my car so I could cry in peace. I can't believe it's over.