Amazon sent me the entire first season of Babylon 5. It arrived today. I'm watching the first episode, "Midnight on the firing line", as I type. The dialog is a tad strained (JMS has his weaknesses as a screenwriter) but I can see the promise, the threads of his four-year plot already present. (Yeah, yeah, I know, it was a five-year series, but the last year was a bust. I prefer to pretend the last year didn't exist.) Londo's vision of his own death is there. The impending conflict between the Centauri and the Narn is there. Peter Jurasik rocks. Andreas Katsulas rocks. Michael O'Hare is intriguing. Garibaldi has not worn well, I think, because his "I'm a crusty character" role is more annoying than entertaining.
David and I have been watching, slowly, the extra materials on the extended DVD of The fellowship of the ring. There are two extra disks of documentaries on the making of the movie, not to mention the four audio commentaries on the movie. It's taking a long time to get through it all! It's all excellent material, though, fascinating. My respect for Peter Jackson as a director has increased. I'm intimidated by the sheer size of the logistical problem in planning and executing these three films, just getting them finished, never mind making fine art out of them.
I liked most of the additions to the film, with one major exception. I completely understood why Jackson did not use the "Concerning hobbits" voice-over from Bilbo as transition from the historical prologue to the present time. It's too much voice-over. Expository overload. The cut to Frodo reading with Gandalf drives his cart toward Hobbiton is a much punchier way to get into the movie. The rest of it I loved. The gift-giving scene as they leave Lorien was wonderful! I don't know how Jackson could have borne cutting it out from the theatrical release. I also liked how we got a bit more of Boromir and what drove him. (The Boromir of the movie is more real than the Boromir of the book. I have no trouble with this.)
The entire package was wonderful. Two thumbs up.