Wherein I ramble on a Thursday morning

I can't believe how crazed this week has been and it's only Thursday. It's not just hyperbole that I cannot wait for the end of my workday on Friday.

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Still flummoxed by the alterations that resulted in The Desolation of Smaug. I'm trying to parse out why Jackson opted for some of his more bizarre elements (vague spoilerish statements follow): Did Beorn really have to look like Wolverine's even-more-freakish taller brother? Did Bard really have to become a Han Solo-esque character? Was that painful-to-watch romantic subplot really have to happen? Did the Dol Guldur scene really have to be a rehash of something we've already seen in one of the LotR films?

I'm also wondering what happened to Jackson's sense of pacing and style. In the various Lord of the Rings movies, the fight scenes were complex and hectic without feeling frenzied and crowded. In the two Hobbit films thus far, all the fight scenes feel like badly-paced video game scenes.

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Xmas shopping. I hates it. I hates it a lot.