Smell this, I think it's expired...

[Ainaserkewen]

That's a good point. It was as if there was a single plotline dotted with various details and sub-stories but all contributing to this single, clean line that was urgently movie forward. This was all helped by the dialog (best of the three movies), the scene cutting and timing and the fresh faces of the actors in new realisations of specific things. Nobody knew at that point that there was "no hope" or the possibility of failure.

It looked an unnatural shade of cream and had a funky fermented smell to it.

Um, ew...we keep our honey in the cupboard...

Also, though it probably helped other people see the first movie with more of a light, the fact that it was the first movie and in great anticipation did not contribute to the feeling of superiority the Fellowship gives me. I didn't want to see LOTR in the first place. The only time I'd heard of it before that was geeky kids in my elementary school classes reading it. "It's about a magic ring" they'd say...I though, "Borrrinnngg". Heh, now I've surpassed them all in LOTR geekiness..."Fate is not without a sense of irony."