[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

It's been a long while, but I was looking at an article about The Hobbit movies, had a thought, and knew you vigilant posters would have a "Cast "The Hobbit"" thread!

So, here are my thoughts. Some of them are pretty obvious recasts from LOTR, but hey ... hopefully some are clever.

Bilbo Baggins - Dominic Monaghan! A few years have passed, so he'll be a tad less youthful, more apt to play a 50-something Hobbit. Basically, I looked at the shot of Ian Holm with his face all stretched back to clean up the wrinkles ... and I thought to myself ... "hey, actually he looks a fare bit like Dom Monaghan ... how 'bout that?". Not to mention, their voices aren't dissimilar.

Gandalf the Grey - Ian McKellan, the no-brainer.

Thorin Oakenshield - John Goodman, of "Roseanne" fame. He can be really fun and really cool ... but did you ever see those episodes of Roseanne where he flipped out in anger? (Quite a few of them, actually) Terrifying. And PERFECT for Thorin. You'd buy him as the toughest, most bitter dwarf of all.

Balin - Jonathan Pryce. He can do something of a Scots accent like JRD did, anyone who's seen Ronin can attest to it. (Where he played an IRA terrorist leader ... hey, Sean Bean was in that flick as well). Plus, he can play the kindly old man of the dwarves part, really well.

Dwalin - Billy Connolly. The guy is funny, and it'd be funny to see the moderately light-hearted Dwalin interact with his over-burdened, sorrowful older brother, Balin. Plus, Billy Connolly eats up scenery and only makes movies better. A highlight might be him playing the fiddle at Bilbo's home.

Gloin - Get John Rhys-Davies back to play his own father. Give he and Balin a ton of screen-time, just as the two dwarves Bilbo talks to the most. Balin, naturally as the oldest and wisest, Gloin as the most seasoned warrior of all 13 (save Thorin, perhaps).

Oin - Not sure here ... but we're talking about the brother of Gloin, and so he has to resemble John Rhys-Davies. Call it the least original idea, but I'd say Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter's "Hagrid") could fit. He's a little smaller than JRD, but they both have that kind of jovial, but fierce look.

Dori - The biggest, brawniest of the dwarves. And grumbling non-stop. Get Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut in X-Men 3, Sphinx in Gone in 60 Seconds). He'd make a good pessimist, and I don't think carrying Dom Monaghan through some caves would phase him much. He's worked with Ian McKellan before so he might be happy to work with him again.

Bombur - Clive Russell, "Helfdane the Fat" of The 13th Warrior, and a swords and fantasy movie mainstay! Comes with a Scottish accent built in! Big, cheerful looking guy. Grows a good beard naturally. He's 6' 5".

Elrond Half-Elven - Hey, how about that Hugo Weaving guy?

The Great Goblin - How about Jed Brophy?

Gollum - Hey, how about that Andrew Serkis guy?

Beorn - Ron Perlman. Hey, the Guillermo Del Toro connection is there, and with that "Grizzly" voice and look of his ... he'd make an amazing Were-Bear. Guy is perfect for this role. Ironic that some of the dwarf actors are bigger than him, but hey, they have to be shrunken down to scale anyway.

King Thranduil - He's an elf, so he has to be pretty. But you don't want him to be pretty like Orlando Bloom or Cate Blanchet ... Thranduil is the king of the rustics, and is a pretty petty and treacherous guy. I think Clive Owen could work. Good looking cat, but smiles and happy faces don't sit as naturally with him as a furrowed brow and a frown do. But he definitely passes off that "timeless elf" quality.

Master of Lake-town - Peter Jackson! Imagine ol' Pete in a boat loaded with stolen treasure, rowing away, where he'll run off into the wild and die! Quite a laugh, that!

Bard the Bowman - This requires someone grimmer, grimmer even than Aragorn. Totally, utterly pessimistic - that is until he hears that bird talk. I say Christian Bale is the man for the job. Although he practically already played that character in "3:10 to Yuma". (Self-despising, cynical, downtrodden, and hey - an expert shot!).

Smaug - CG does wonders these days ... but Smaug's voice needs to impress. I'm sure whoever does the movie will no doubt tweak the voice to make it booming and dragonish, but as a base ... and this could be way off ... howsabout Dani Filth? (Of the black metal band, Cradle of Filth, for those who don't know). The man has the most ridiculous vocal range on Earth, from highs to lows. Either that or in some bizarre twist of fate ... Leonard Nimoy.

Dain Ironfoot - For Dain I think I'll agree with somebody's decision that Brendan Gleeson is a good pick. Quite so!