generalfrevious said:

I just want to enjoy the LOTR movies again, that's all.

It sounds to me like you have never enjoyed them, and thus cannot enjoy them again.

In any case, I have read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and I enjoy them all, and I enjoy the movies in spite of their differences. No movie is faithful in every way to its source. To make it so would in fact be poor storytelling. Imagine an extra half hour devoted to Tom Bombadil. I'd hate to see any film adaptation that included that subplot.