Despite the fact that I didn't really enjoy the films first time around, Saturday evenings have offered little else so I've watched them again on Ch4.

My feeling remains that the films, like the books, should have been a third of the length. The Hobbit is simply magnificent but by the trilogy Tolkein gets delusions of intellectual grandeur and I remember quite enjoying Book One, going off Book Two half way through and being really irritated by Book Three, with all the made up language and constant "the worst evil ever"... battles and victories and losses...

Apart from the currently infuriating Ch4 habit of Volume change during films (commercials blast out twice as loud) and that fucking letterbox effect, I did enjoy the films more this time, especially the third one last night.

Too many endings but...

Did anyone else notice the similarity between Tolkein's story and the state of the world today?

Unless mankind links with animals, nature, trees and so on - we are doomed.
And the current credit collapse coupled with the absurd and cruel mass murders states are sanctioning - God, we need a Gandalf and a Frodo (and, of course, a Sam, all of our favourite character).

The Lord Of The Rings books helped me through my first few days in Grisley Risley. Then I also found The Hobbit and enjoyed that too. In fact, it was the library that kept me going.

The movies miss out some of my favourite parts. They are well made, but I prefer the novels. I didn't find the novels too long or irritating, but at the time they were a much needed escape from reality.