I too am a fussy purist, but I understand the constraints since they were making 3 movies and trying to make money, not trying to make a lengthy accurate version of Tolkien's opus. I realize the Arwen enhancement was to sell tickets, but I also thought it was conveniently kowtowing to the PC crowd. Some of the plain dialogue they wrote could have been replaced with Tolkien's words without buggering the movie-length considerations, but I'm quibbling here.
But my one serious complaint (not that you care, nor should you) was that, despite the obviously great effort (and Bravo! New Zealand, by the way!), they took the best pure story I ever read and made it mostly tedious. And people who take that as a personal insult (as is the wont around here with remarks not directed insultingly at anyone at Free Republic) need their heads examined.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I would not worry about this song being in the actual movie. That would be a mistake, and I don't think that will happen. Notice, during FOTR, the only lyrics are for choral pieces sung in languages we do not understand (ie, the dwarvish chorus in the Moria sequences). The songs with English lyrics were tacked on to the ending credits, not played during the movie. I suspect "Gollum's Song" will be similarly placed. Or at least, I hope so. It would be distracting, if placed in the movie.
I actually hope that little of "Gollum's Song" makes it into the movie. At least the vocal part.
There is some hope for this eventuality given that much of the few vocalized songs on the FOTR soundtrack ended up being simply sampled. If they do the same with Gollum then I can live with that. To use any but a tithe of it would be laying sentiment on with a trowel.
For many years I was heartily opposed to the idea of a film adaptation of LOTR for the simple reason that I didn't think anyone could do it justice - or even begin to. Part of that was the sheer difficulty in getting much fo such a gargantuan work to the screen; part of it was the technology needed to convey so many supernatural elements; and part related to the likelihood of Hollywood's bowlderizing and crass commercialistic tendencies making a mush of things if the first two obstacles were surmounted.
Having said all that, I have to confess that while not perfect (in my eyes), Peter Jackson et al have probably done as a good a job in overcoming these obstacles to lens a film project reasonably faithful to the books as one could possibly hope for while retaining any hope of commercial success (or at least of recouping the massive costs). Far, far more than I ever hoped for. They have taken a great work of literature and made a great film out of it, which is a nearly impossible task and extremely rare achievement. The love of the work of so many involved int he project, from Jackson and Boyens and Walsh down to Howe and Lee to even actors like Christopher Lee (who reads it annually) is evident.
There are some missteps along the way (and I essentially agree with the ones you cite), but it seems niggardly of me to take especial notice of them in light of the un-hoped-for larger accomplishment.
Of course, it remains to be seen how TTT and ROTK fare.