Finally saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

I loved it; and since (as I’ve noted before) this movie is being made solely for people like me, the opinion of everybody else doesn’t really concern me overmuch.  It is, in fact, a bit tighter and more focused than the first movie was; on the other hand, I’m pretty sure that there’s at least one bit in the movie that flatly contradicts the canonical history of Arthedain*. But them’s the breaks. I made my peace with this series not being 100% canonical a long time ago.

Moe Lane

*I decline to say anything, because spoilers.