[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

Movie schmovie. I think it should be a television series. A half hour for every chapter of the Hobbit.

It can be done. Totally.

An Unexpected Party, Roast Mutton, A Short Rest, Over Hill and Under Hill, Riddles in the Dark, Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire, Queer Lodgings, Flies and Spiders, Barrels Out of Bond, A Warm Welcome, On The Doorstep, Inside Information, Not At Home, Fire and Water, The Gathering of the Clouds, A Thief in the Night, The Clouds Burst, The Return Journey ...

It'd be awesome to see an epic, quality miniseries comprised of all 18 Chapters.

But then, I can see where the condensed format of a three and a half hour movie would be better, for consistency, and being able to keep some parts shorter (like A Short Rest) and some parts more focused and central.

Anyway, I have a few ideas.

The first being, NO WAY should Robbie Coltrane be Beorn. That's severe typecasting, and plus, I never imagined Beorn as jolly, and that's something Mr. Coltrane is just full of, that stuff they call joll.

He's Hagrid. Beorn ... Beorn isn't twelve feet tall, he's six foot something, and jacked. There has to be some unknown muscle man with a deep booming voice and freckled skin who can play him to a tee. A big bushy black beard and long black shaggy hair aren't enough to make the character, he's got to be able to take an axe to an enemy.

I'm sure there's somebody out there.

Ian Holm as Bilbo, Ian McKellan as Gandalf, Hugo Weaving as Elrond and Andy Serkis as Gollum, naturally.

As for actors ... I'm not exactly a pro when it comes to knowing names, but I'd like to see Billy Connelly as Balin, the same actor they had for Gloin's cameo back, and several other burly Irish, Welsh or Scottish actors playing the dwarves (so they mesh seamlessly with John Rhys Davies' portrayal of Gimli, of course!).

Remember how Stuart Townsend practically had the role of Aragorn, but Viggo was just too good to pass up? I'd say, Townsend would make a pretty mean Bard the Bowman.

Not to totally discredit myself, but I threw the idea of Jack Black playing Bombur at my sister. Bombur is the fattest of the 13 dwarves, he's a good comic relief character a lot of the time, and with Jack Black cozy with PJ because of King Kong, I can see it. It's not anything I'm pulling for, but hey, it could work.

And lastly, I'd like to see Orly pop in as Legolas, even if he's just standing by Thranduil's chair in his great hall, looking pretty, while Thranduil has Thorin locked up. That would totally validate Gimli's "NEVER TRUST AN ELF" comments in The Fellowship, since Elrond established that Gimli is 'son of Gloin', and we'll be seeing exactly who Gloin is ...

That's my two cents.