[Imladris]

With great hesitation I make this post. I've started making it two times already....

Why do you want to leave out the elve's cheerful singing? That would be a deliberate omission of the elvish character because they weren't always solemn and sad as the LotR movies correctly portray them.

Granted, I am not advocating a full blown musical number. That would indeed be in poor taste. Rather, wouldn't it make a nice background song as the dwarves are crawling over the beard and elf playfully insults them?

As for romance -- pfft -- the Hobbit doesn't need Romance. It's an adventure, and if they put in a romance it would be very cliche. All the action movies have romance and get the girl. In fact, a romance would probably undermine the theme of "the road goes ever on and on" and I cannot imagine Bard with a girl friend. That seems...so unlike him (yes I know he got married but in the Hobbit he sounds like an old bachelor).

And I totally agree that Coltrain would make a poor Beorn. Granted he's huge, but he is not bear like in the least.