Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth, this time focusing on Frodo’s uncle Bilbo undertaking his own adventure as a young man, is good enough, but “good enough” feels like an indictment when the original LOTR trilogy ranged from “very good” to “extraordinary”. Full Story

At least, that’s the impression the world premiere in Wellington yesterday gives. The red carpet was over 500 yards, running the length of several city blocks, and the crowd was estimated at 100,000. The cast arrived earlier in the week in a plane plastered with the faces of hobbits and dwarves, there was a “hobbit artisanal market” in downtown Wellington in the days before the premiere and thousands of people actually went there; the airport now has a giant Gollum sculpture Full Story