I saw "The Hobbit", and was very surprised, in a good way. It's a better movie than any of the other LOTR films, partly because it has a lot of humor, partly because Bilbo is a much more interesting character than Frodo, but mostly because the story line doesn't disappear for 20 minutes at a time in battle scenes.

Just so you know, I am slightly OC checking this stuff, and went back and watched all three LOTRs just to make sure...

One thing to remember is that Peter Jackson is the "auteur" of the films, not JRRT, and he isn't as good a story teller.

As to the orcs, you gotta love them...aren't they really zombies? They are just lumbering corpses who are going to going to be cut to pieces, and they are so enthusiastic...they haven't got a clue....

Little Hawk, if you liked "Looking for a Friend..." you will probably like "Safety Not Guaranteed"--it's about some low-end reporters who find a personal ad from someone seeking companion for time travel, and decide to find the person who placed the ad and do a feature story about him.