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Tell me if time three is better than time two. I just got back from the second showing.

We had a marvelous, marvelous crowd. Theater was full, and no one had a cell phone, or an annoying cough, or anything. There were gasps and claps and murmured sighs at all the right places. That really adds to the enjoyment.

I enjoyed everything more this time. I tended to notice some of the nice, small details.

Denethor still bothers me. He just isn't right. Also the Eowyn plotline seemed to just be left hanging. It bothered me more this time. And I think I hate the lembas scene. It just feels wrong. I'm mad about the bit they rewrote to put that in....

But the moving scenes were more moving. Just... beautiful, Theoden's and Aragorn's pre-battle speeches. Makes me want to do something heroic.

What happened to all the horses, just before the start of the final battle? They were mounted, and then the horses vanished!

Denethor still bothers me. He just isn't right. Also the Eowyn plotline seemed to just be left hanging. It bothered me more this time. And I think I hate the lembas scene. It just feels wrong. I'm mad about the bit they rewrote to put that in....

I'm still dwelling on Denny- I think ultimately the decision to play him like that may have been good (see conversation this morning in the HH). Second viewing will be tomorrow. I think the Eowyn and Merry scene could have been better. They killed the Witch-King for goodness' sake... and no one noticed. This was huge! A little recognition would be nice. Perhaps Gandalf could pause and look out in the distance with a wry little smile that said the battle had turned. I'd like a little disorganization seen in the enemy, too.

Three times in five days is still cool, the movie still totally rocks.

Oh, I think once I got over the shock of the changes, I just pretty much enjoy the movie. At the risk of the wrath of HOTdog, who only ever argues with me < g >, I say again: my overall judgment of the movies is that they are astonishing accomplishments, and my hat is unreservedly off to Jackson for both conception and execution. And the principle actors couldn't be better. And now to the inevitable...

...BUT all that wonderful judgment just makes its failures harder to explain. Faramir at the top of the list. Denethor. "I'm going to save you"/"You already did." "Go home, Sam"/"Okey doke [ sniff ] Mr Frodo." "Oh, look! It's Arwen! I forgot all about you! Let's get married so I can die and you can mourn me for centuries!" Etc.

So you shrug it off and relish the >90% that is not just good, but PINCH-me good. Or I do, anyway.

Still, after 3 vieweings, I'm thinking my favorites order will be FOTR - ROTK - TTT. That may change, but the first has a magic that so far isn't in the third... but that is to praise the first, not in any way denigrate the third.

And it should have won Best Picture, no doubt about it.

Oh, one more thing, Jen. The third viewing had me thinking even more, "You can't tell me Gollum isn't real. They had to have found some pathetic little creature and taught it to talk."

In TTT, Gollum was a marvel, absolutely. But... well, his mouth doesn't always seem quite to match the voice, and there are times he doesn't affect the environment, and... I mean, for me, he is a hands-down astonishing special effect accomplishment.

But in ROTK, he's just there, period. The tight closeup as he is talking to himself in his sleep: perfect. 3D and THERE. The other closeup of him and Frodo, as he whispers to him — the veins in his eyes, the texture, the lighting, everything. The little touches -- licking his lips, the slight shadings of expression. I mean, TTT is an A+; this would have to be a new letter of the alphabet, or an A+++.

Dan