I'll try. :-)

:I'm sure there's not gonna be any street slang, as PJ makes clear.

Thank God. If I hear a Hobbit say, "Nah, the Old Forest isn't that bad. The trees are usually pretty sleepy, yadda yadda yadda..." I may have to start a riot.

: Also--why is everyone assuming that Tom Bombadil is gonna be cut? PJ said he'd have to trim some parts, but I think he was referring to the pages and pages Tolkien spent describing Frodo's weakening and the running from the Black Riders. That kind of thing could be established in a few quick shots in the movie.

Absolutely. It's easy to convey the passage of time, at least for a skilled director. But I think even with such economies, time will be tight. But I'll let you continue:

:It seems to me that if they arrive in Rivendell at the end of book 1, then that should be about halfway thorugh the movie, maybe a little less.

That's what I was thinking. I figure Rivendell will soak up 10-15 minutes, depending on what Jackson wants to emphasize. If the Council of Elrond is used to build a lot of backstory and history (most likely through voiced over flashbacks), it might be longer. There's also that Aragorn and Arwen encounter, which Peter will surely keep. I get the feeling Jackson would like a full hour for the Journey of the Fellowship, so perhaps they might reach Rivendell 45-50 minutes into the movie.

: Surely they should have time for Tom in the first hour. I don't know why everyone assumes that 6 hours isn't enough for the whole book--they'll have to make some cuts, true, but I bet you'll be surprised at how much of the book they'll be able to fit into the time allotted.

Perhaps you're right. But my thinking is that if you're looking for major cust in FOTR, Bombadil (and the wights) are strong candidates because it's essentially an unrelated subplot. I love Tom and Goldberry, but the whole Forest episode has no real bearing on the plot. And I'm also concerned that It might be difficult to convey Tom on film without becoming silly (and not just because he has a long blue coat and big yellow boots). Tom is an obvious trasnplat by Tolkien into the story, and comes across as an odd fit, to say the least. So Bombadil is the most obvious cut.

Then you have the wights. I'd REALLY love to see this in the film. Someone reminded me that you need the wights because they get their swords at the barrow, which become important in ROTK. I think you could get around that difficulty, personally. But once you keep the Barrow Downs, you need Tom to bail them out unless you alter the story. So there's another difficulty.

And here's another thought: The Hobbits have so many diverse adventures in FOTR that trying to include them all in a 2 hour movie might be a bit overwhelming for casual viewers, even in today's fast-paced movie world.

I've been toying with the notion of cutting the attempt at the Redhorn Pass, but I'm not comfortable with it. It's less necessary than most of the Fellowship's adventures, but casual viewers will better understand why they're risking their necks going through Moria instead of going over or around the Misty Mountains if they try and fail.