They're taking the hobbits... oh, you know.

Watched the extended Two Towers and Return of the King straight through last night, staying up a bit late to do so.

We were talking a lot about book vs. movie while we watched, and the comment was made that there are a lot more elves in the Towers and King movies than in the books. While that may be annoying to purists, I have to admit that it's an improvement for me. In the books, the Third Age ends not with the destruction of Sauron, but when the Fellowship leaves Lothlorien; after that point you don't see a single elf or dwarf othen than Legolas, Gimli, and Arwen's walk-on. The next two books deal exclusively with the affairs of Men (except for some Ents, Orcs, and Saruman - in other words, trees, cardboard cannon-fodder, and a Man wanna-be).

At least the movies give Weaving and Blanchett something to do after the Fellowship's breaking. It would be a shame to get these good actors for your trilogy and not have them do anything for two-thirds of it. And is it just me, or do they change Elrond's eyebrows after the Ring is destroyed? Does Vilya, the sapphire elven-ring, cause swoopy eyebrows while it retains power?

Middle-Earth is almost more fun in The Hobbit, when it's chock-full of elves, dwarves, giant spiders, goblins, and a dragon.