Alex and I went to see the midnight showing of "The Two Towers" last night at the Esquire theatre. We arrived at 10:30 to a huge crowd that was already seated. A great number of people in the audience wore costumes, including one very elaborate Gollum custome. There was a man all painted up and in tights, he was quite freaky looking. An excellent Gandalf was there as well as many elves and lots of hooded and cloaked individuals. There were almost 15 minutes of commercials and previews before the film itself actually started. Something I could have done without. The movie was very good, especially the Gollum character which was an absolutely delicious scene stealing performance. The Frodo and Sam story line was the most interesting from a narrative standpoint. The rest, like the book, just jumped all over the place very rapidly. I didn't like it as much as the first one, I believe, simply because the magic of it all being 'new' had worn off. There were sort of nods and winks at the first movie and, for some reason, this one seemed more self-conscious. I know it will all wrap up beautifully in "The Return of the King", which is an incredible epic conclusion to numerous heroe's quests. The payoff will be huge!

My favorite scene in the entire movie is the opening of the black gates. Two giant cave trolls strain to open the gate manually, and the images are awesome!

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