Oh, that's awesome! I thought I had read that he was producing but not directing. IMO he has a better feel for this kind of material than Jackson's rather heavy-handed approach.

I've never read the Lord of the Rings books. So Jackon's flicks didn't really cut it for you NE?

I know I'm in the minority here, but, no, I didn't care for them. Actually, I really, really liked about the first half hour of the first film, when they were in the Shire. He really captured Tolkien's Shire, IMO, and brought it to life. As soon as they left the Shire, however, it lost the magic for me. Things and people didn't look and act like they were described in the books, IMO. They all had a very modern feeling to me, and were very much Jackson, and not so much Tolkien.

I thought Jackson did a pretty decent job with LOTR, but personally thought the animated film from Ralph Bakshi did a better job of capturing the feel of the books, it usually gets criticised heavily though. I think if you watch the Jackson LOTR before anything else you're probably going to appreciate it, but more people should check out the animated film 'cause its a really nice adaptation and has some real nice touches. Although, its worth pointing out it is only half the story and is lacking a sequel, its pretty much an unfinished project in that respect.

But you see- LOTR deserves more than a "pretty decent" adaptation. Those books mean a lot to a lot of people- particularly to those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s when they were at their most popular.

I grew up in the 60s & 70s......

never read the books....but loved the movies.

but I can see where NE is coming from

I like all of them, especially the animated Hobbit. Those goblins were trippy!

Nah I'm not the biggest fan of them either. I really do need to check out the books sometime I imagine I'd enjoy them more.

What fantasy flicks do you dig?

The Echo (2008). A decent enough ghost story. Pretty slow build up that is finally rewarded with some second half action. The lighting was used to effect. The acting was actually pretty decent. The story itself was OK, a remake of Sigsaw from the Philippines. Overall it was worth a watch, though nothing special. Merci beaucoup.
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Well, the aforementioned Pan's Labyrinth... Willow, anything Harryhausen did, Labyrinth, Wizard of Oz, Time Bandits... that's about all I can think of right now.... just woke up a bit ago.

Legend is good.