Esther Sassaman's Journal: LOTR sucked

becuz it is IMPOSSIBLE to make a good movie out of such a book, where the principals do not link up at all.
I would have made two films, with half of the middle book in each.
spoilers below.

Cool:

Helm's Deep
More Balrog is always good!
Gollum: best CGI character ever.
ENT ON FIRE!!!!

Not cool:

Discombobulated, slow, talky plot, unclear action in places (in the book, Merry and Pippin escape due to a conflict between Uruk-hai and the Orcs of Sauron; this is funny and interesting, and is not in the film, to the confusion of the fellow members of my movie-attendance party).