Well, the trip to Wellington was a roaring success. I enjoyed the LOTR:TTT movie. I had a good seat in the Premium seating at the Embassy. The sound was awesomely full and the action was deliciously frenetic. I liked the fact that everyone (except Legolas of course) gets tired and dirty during the film. Just as travellers on such a journey really would. Viggo Mortenson really is Aragorn.
The movie story itself had its ups and downs. I'm afraid that despite all the hype, the CGI animators have not yet conquered the gravity thing completely. The worst instance was where the riders charged out of Helms Deep down the causeway, knocking Uruks away left right and centre. To my eyes, those bad-boys just didn't fall "right". (That's right I am a picky bastard)
OTOH, Gollum was very good. (Qui-Gonn never really wrestled with Jar-Jar, it was more of a tackle). However gravity still wasn't right in some of his moves. Also, I think my ears must be packing up on me as I could not understand all of the G-thing's lines.
Overall a good effort. If you consider the trilogy to be the analog of the "Three-Act-Structure", then the second act is always the hardest to keep all juggling balls in the air at one time.
Also went to the LOTR exhibit at Te Papa. Awesome. Cost NZ$12 to get in (plus NZ$7 for the audio tour, which I highly recommend). Queued for tickets for 45mins. Queued for entry for 30mins. Enjoyed the exhibits for 2 hours. The amount of work that everyone involved put in was just unbelievable. No wonder they grabbed 4 technical Oscars.
Sadly my favourite bagel joint on Johnston St. was closed so I had to yomp all the way to the Willis St. branch. Well worth it, though.
Sunny day...
Sidewalk table...
Yummy bagel (Smoked salmon, cream cheese, lettuce and capers on Onion) ...
Good coffee...
What more could you ask for?