Krug
Newshound
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/21/movies/21JAME.html
I CLOCKED my first yawn at 50 minutes, lulled by too many pale-blue mountains, computerized tricks and a plot so intricate all I knew for sure was that Gandalf had called for help. And did I care if help arrived? I did not. The final entry in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy reveals once more that what the chick flick is to men, this trilogy is to women — or at least to a large secret society of us for whom the series is no more than a geek-fest, a technologically impressive but soulless endurance contest.
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Like the two earlier installments, it also arrived with unmistakable social pressure to gush over its sheer size and spectacle. In a cultural version of political incorrectness, expressing anything less than ecstatic praise seems unenlightened if not downright boorish.
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But both demographic and empirical evidence suggests that the trilogy is still primarily a boys' toy. The well-calculated hype and exaggerated praise (the New York Film Critics Circle last week voted "Return" best picture) has obscured what the series really is: an FX extravaganza tailored to an adolescent male's fear of sentiment and love of high-tech wizardry.
This is not a backlash opinion. The male geek factor was present from the first installment, "The Fellowship of the Ring," which New Line Cinema promoted heavily online to reach that audience. Online promotion is still a big part of the marketing strategy, as countless "Rings" Web sites help sustain the true fanatics. The company's own surveys reveal intriguing information. Before "The Fellowship" opened in 2001, New Line polled potential viewers on their awareness of the J. R. R. Tolkien novels on which the films are based. Those most likely to have read the books were "older" (in Hollywood-speak, over 25); 51 percent of them were older men, while only 33 percent were older women. When the first two films opened, exit polls showed women to be less enthusiastic than men; and a more recent survey taken in anticipation of "The Return of the King" said that interest levels "still skew male."