At first, there was this huge build up of excitement about the movie amongst many on FR and for some reason, the NZ Builds a Hobbit Hole thread seemed to be the gathering place. I think it was because it was a short article and there were few large graphics and it just was easy to post to it. A few people posted some pretty insightful thoughts and it got others who happened by to thinking and they started posting what they thought and the next thing you know, the huge build-up was released! People were talking and commenting like crazy! Then ultimately, everyone "felt better" and started not commenting as often. And being responsible Freepers, they moved the chat-like comments to a more informal setting, the FR Hobbit Hole egroup.
I am of the opinion that after this Friday, things may well pick up for a while again. The Two Towers preview is going to be quite a thrill.