I know! I keep meaning to check them out, but time is always limited.

I remember seeing an interview with Evangeline Lilly about her role as Tauriel. She thought it would be a good role. The only thing she didn't want was a love triangle - which is exactly what she got and what was the second most unnecessary addition to The Hobbit.

The first most unnecessary addition was Alfrid. No time for better character development when we can spend time developing a comic relief character that the story does not need.

While I'm up.... the insanely boring "Disney ride" dwarves running from the Dragon is arguably worse than Tauriel (albeit thankfully takes less screen time). I personally think the scenes with Thorin escaping Smaug in a wheelbarrow floating on molten gold was created so some theme park could make a water ride based the scene. Fortunately, enough people saw it as a vapid cartoon continuation of the Disney-fied dwarves.

Did no one in the production team notice that most all the dwarves would need a couple of hours and a ton of product each day just to do their hair and beards?

I know the Hobbit was written as a children's story, but not for 4-year-olds.