This right here is the most important reason why Jackson made brilliant films. He put his (considerable) directing talent and imagination in the service of what was important to Tolkien. There are no silly, shoehorned in contemporary political subtexts in his films. Instead, the themes Tolkien explored - friendship, loyalty, courage, temptation, sacrifice, environmental concerns over industrialisation, his Christian faith, the melancholy at the end of an era, growing up, and so forth - are given the prominence they deserve. Jackson's trilogy will stand the test of time long after this mess has been and gone.

Regarding The Rings of Power, this article does a good job of explaining what is wrong with the series. I'm still watching out of sheer curiosity (I know all the main events they hope to cover from the appendixes, including the Fall of Numenor and so on), but mostly it is a big disappointment. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are great, because they each revolve around a simple premise - steal-treasure-from-dragon and evil-ring-must-be-destroyed respectively. These simple plots are explored excitingly, with other cultures and their concerns visited along the way, instead of the plodding leaping between tepid half-baked plotlines we get in the TV series.

All that said, I like the relationship between Durin and Elrond. In those moments, I think we get a brief glimmer of Tolkien once more.