I really must have been asleep at the wheel when I reviewed “The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug” (2013).  It escaped me entirely that the titular dragon was voiced by none other than the immeasurably talented Benedict Cumberbatch, and that that Tauriel was played by “LOST” alumna Evangeline Lilly.  (I never could quite make out her name in this film, as characters seemed to keep saying it in different accents.  For a while, I thought she was named “Ariel,” then I settled on “Thoriel.”)

Cumberbatch was perfect.  (At this point, can we expect anything less?)  I am sure I am not the only nerd in fandom for whom Smaug’s scenes are now made funny, given the legendary friendship between “Holmes” and Martin Freeman’s “Watson.”

Lilly was damn good too.  She always was a good actress; LOST did something great in giving her her breakout role.