but some things

After roughly twenty years, I finally got round to rewatching all the extended editions of the LOTR films, prompted by Edgar asking to watch them but then delayed by him refusing to finish the prerequisite The Hobbit. We started it when we were still reading to him at bedtime, but it dropped off his radar and was never followed up; I suggested the alternatives of listening to Andy Serkis reading it live on YouTube during lockdown or fishing out the BBC dramatisation, but neither were taken up. At least he eventually got round to it and now doesn't need to watch the abominatory Hobbit film trilogy, which is possibly the reason why all the comedy dwarf banter grates so much in the LOTR now. There are a few other bits which have aged badly, but the music and scenery and Gollum still works. The extended editions do get a bit long, but they could save at least five minutes apiece by having the elves speak at normal speed rather than draaaawling sloooowly and half a second could be cut from Fellowship by snipping out the tautological "from" before Hugo Weaving's "whence it came".