DominicCobb said:
Yes and the third will probably be closer still. Also, Bingo, this edit might do it for you:
http://www.fanedit.org/ifdb/component/content/article/79-fanedit-listings/fanfix/962-the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-arkenstone-edition
I've downloaded that. I really need to see it.
I for one thoroughly enjoyed TH:AUJ for what it was. I didn't mind the winks and nods (which have their place, considering there are many folks who love the LOTR films and know nothing of the books), the broadening of the storyline with apocryphal portions, such as the council, the definitive attachment of the Necromancer to Sauron, and even the White Orc to give a more immediate menace. My biggest beef was the unrealistic action, which even in the books was hard to believe at times, since it seemed the whole team was invincible. It was worse on this front in the film, of course. But I even prefer the different tone. The Hobbit was written many years before LOTR, and the books are different in nature and tone themselves. I like to see that preserved.
Still haven't seen the new one, but I'm looking forward to it.
Saw Frozen last week. Disney's kids' movies are really getting good again, after a pretty lame decade or so. Must be because they are putting Lasseter at the helm. One thing I like about this and Tangled is the fact that they are emphasizing a truer form of love instead of the infatuation they've been famous for. Ariel sees some flutist on a boat and she's immediately in love. Aladdin sees a babe in the marketplace and he's smitten. It's true love folks! For the depth of the character and relationship development in Beauty and the Beast, it has always been one of my favorite Disney cartoons. Well, now people actually sacrifice and change for each other. And in the case of Frozen:
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT--PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK
Love at first sight is shown to be stupid, and the true love that develops is harder to win.
END SPOILER
Short story: Frozen was excellent, even if it had almost nothing to do with the Hans Christian Anderson story it was supposedly based on.