Scoffo, good to see you are still alive, I thought Mrs Scoffo may have Banned you from life or something!
In response:
1 be difficult to have the Barrow Downs, without having Tom Bombadil, as he is the one who rescues the hobbits from the Barrow Wight;
2 I think Brian Blessed was built to be Tom Bombadil;
3 No elves at Helms Deep save Legolas. Just a couple of thousand Rohirrim (not 300!!) and a dwarf!
4 the extended DVD will have a lot to cover, not least Faramir and Eowyn's romance
5 Shirish?!! LOL ROFLMAO - brilliant, I like that
6 Given that the Dead save the day on the Pelennor, they may show them slaughtering the COrsairs in the extended DVD, but they wont change the ships from being loaded up with Gondorean soldiers, rather than the dead - bummer that
7 the delay on the extended DVD is a bit of a rip off, but if it helps then finance the Hobbit movie, I dont mind it
8 glad you agree with Elrond, as for Saruman, that is a tricksy one my precious - in the book, he started off as using the palantir to gain knowledge from sauron, and to try and fool sauron by saying he was his servant, when he wanted power for himself, but then he despaired and really did become sauron's servant - too much smoke and mirrors to try and show in the movie I think