Maybe the summer sequel season has got you down: Johnny Depp’s pirate swagger has grown creaky; nobody really cares about Thor or the Green Lantern; and more of those damn cute-animal pictures are coming from Jim Carrey (Mr. Popper’s Penguins) and Kevin James (Zookeeper). Why can’t it be 2012 already? That’s when Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit is expected; and he’s currently filming his add-on to the Lord of the Rings trilogy down in New Zealand. Two whet your appetite for that Tolkien adaptation, and pimp a new Blu-ray DVD set (coming June 28 on 15 discs!), longer cuts of the entire LOTR cycle are being screened the next three Tuesdays at several Seattle theaters. Tonight, the initial 2001 The Fellowship of the Ring extends Frodo and company’s quest by 49 minutes (!), meaning more ring wraiths, more orcs, more Gollum in shortwell, there is no shortmore, more more. (Our math says thee hours and 45 minutes long.) Additionally, from the set of The Hobbit, Jackson will provide a pretaped introduction, likely to include teasers from his new film. Honestly, would you rather see this or the X-Men going back to high school? (PG-13) BRIAN MILLER
Tue., June 14, 7 p.m., 2011
