[Estella Brandybuck]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>and I hope they include the statue at the crossroads, even though they probably won't<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.quintessentialwebsites.com/lordoftherings/movieshots_rotk/maxim_hobbitsatcrossroads_tn.jpg" TARGET=_blank>This picture should please you.</A> I'm pretty sure the statue has no head, but it's difficult to tell... ah well, we can hope. <P>I agree with HCIsland about Merry and Pippin - mainly because of their role in the last half hour or so of TTT movie. Especially Merry's little monologue about how "The fires of Isengard with spread..." And their faces during the flooding of Isengard - can't really describe it, but from the looks they wore, I saw two hobbits who were understanding the vastness and power of all that was going on.<P>Don't think that made any sense at all, but oh well... And I'll admit, it did seem to me like they were mostly there for comic relief the first time I saw FotR (this was before I'd read the books, so I didn't fully comprehend their roles in the story), but TTT gave them a bit more, for me anyway. But to each their own. We all interpret these things differently. <P>Now, for the topic at hand, the things I'm hoping will be done well, in no particular order:<P>1. Merry and Éowyn's battle with the Nazgûl King. I think I'm going to cry if Éowyn's wonderful line is taken out - "But no living man am I!" Then again, I'll probably cry if it is left in, but for different reasons. <P>2. Mount Doom. Duh. PJ probably knows his life is forfeit if anything important about that sequence changes.<P>3. Denethor. Maybe this is just my paranoia talking, but I've been a bit worried about he'll be portrayed. I always found him to be a fascinating character, and I really hope they don't change much about him.<P>4. Éomer and the Rohirrim charging towards what they thought were the Corsairs of Umbar, and the unveiling of Arwen's banner. That scene is so stirring and powerful, and I think it would look amazing on a big theater screen. I just hope it's done the way it should be done, the way it was originally written...<P>5. The relationship between Faramir and Éowyn. I really like how Wenham and Otto performed in TTT (I didn't like how Faramir was written in the movie, but I thought Wenham did a wonderful job with him despite that), and I trust both of them to do those scenes perfectly. I'm just worried about how their developing relationship will be written. Hopefully, PJ will put the proper emphasis on those scenes, and make their relationship as beautiful as it was in the books.<P>(I know what you're thinking - "Is she done <I>yet?</I>" Just bear with me.)<P>But the most important thing to me? Frodo and Sam. I'm reeeally hoping they keep as much of the original material as possible with them. From Shelob's Lair to the Grey Havens, I so very much want to see as much of the Frodo and Sam who were in the book as possible. Once again, I have faith in the actors, especially Sean Astin (it was him, after all, who made me originally fall in love with Sam). If Sean doesn't get an Oscar this time around... grrr.<P>Okay, just wondering, am I the only one who is really hoping that Sam will get to sing <I>something</I> in RotK? One of my all-time favorite parts of the books was when Sam sang that song in Cirith Ungol: <I>Above all shadows rides the Sun, and Stars forever dwell...</I> Alas, so few of the songs have been left in... I think Sean Astin will perform that scene in Cirith Ungol so wonderfully, but the only thing that would make it perfect for me was if the song was kept in. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening.