[Estelyn Telcontar]

I'm greatly enjoying these discussions, reading every post and attempting to keep up and watch the sequences in order to contribute. Sometimes, as in this case, I may be a bit late; therefore my comments will be rather random, in hopes of not repeating too much which has already been said.

I like the beginning scene, with Bilbo in his study, beginning to write down the story. It's a nice link to Sam's later speech about living in a story. However, the title and the story he begins do not match! "There and Back Again" is The Hobbit; "Concerning Hobbits" is in LotR. I know, Jackson could hardly show him writing a story called "The Lord of the Rings", since he doesn't yet know what will happen. Still, it's a minor but interesting discrepancy for book readers to note.

Gandalf's remarks about a wizard arriving precisely when he means to are enjoyable - one of the instances where movie dialogue can hold up to book dialogue. I felt more than just the humor of the remark, though - it's a foreshadowing of his failure to arrive on time to meet the hobbits. Even a wizard cannot control all circumstances of his life.

We see an annoying number of "Ring in Frodo's hand" shots throughout the movie, so I found it refreshing that Jackson did not show the Ring in Bilbo's hand in the study, when he finds it. It is not openly shown until after the birthday party.