The completion of a masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (17 December 2003)

Two years ago, after I saw Fellowship of the Ring I told some friends that if I died before Christmas 2003 I would be _very_ annoyed! Thankfully I'm still here, and I'm extremely happy to have seen the completion of Peter Jackson's masterpiece -- this is a work of genius, both in the direction and the production, and all praise to the executives of New Line Cinema for having the guts to bet the company on this project -- see, virtue is rewarded!
If Peter Jackson doesn't get the best director Oscar and Best Picture, then it will only prove that the members of AMPAS are a bunch of Philistines who don't recognise genius when they see it. While it's rather invidious to select one out of the cast, Sean Astin's performance as Sam was remarkable, and I have to confess that even this hard-hearted middle-aged viewer was surreptitiously dabbing tears out of his eyes at several points in the movie.