Simply Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2001)

The Tolkien "purists" are gnawing the bones of their outrage over the changes Peter Jackson made to their favorite book, but most have lost sight of the fact that movies and novels are fundamentally different media. I went expecting to see changes, but changes made to make the story a stronger cinematic experience. That was done, very well done. I gave it a vote of 10 here, and I see that most others agree with me. This movie surely deserves Academy Award and other nominations for:
* Best Picture (I can't even think of anything close)
* Best Actor: Elijah Wood
* Best Supporting Actor: Ian McKellen and Sean Bean (they might cancel each other out)
* Best Director (Peter Jackson)
* Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
* Best Cinematography (should win hands down!)
* Best Art Direction - Set Decoration (ditto)
* Best Costume Design
* Best Sound (wow)
* Best Editing (absolutely seamless)
* Best Effects, Sound
* Best Effects, Visual (amazing)
* Best Music, Original Score
That's a long list, but I think it's deserved. Unfortunately, the Academy has a history of overlooking this genre for nontechnical awards. Maybe that will change.