Back in November I wrote a memo to Salt Lake Tribune columnist Vince Horiuchi and flipped him the middle finger for crapping on J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek. Much like Tyler Riggs, Mr. Horiuchi thumbed his nose at Abrams’ re-imagining and essentially said the new film spit a juicy Romulanian loogie at the “intelligent” Trek films of yore. Horiuchi was wrong back in November and he’s wrong again in April with his Viagra moment over the recently released Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-ray. Yes, Horiuchi, who most likely got the Rings Blu-ray discs for free, gives the set an A and says the following:

His Oscar-winning trilogy has never looked more crisp or sounded as thunderous (provided you have the HD television and high-definition receiver to play it). Each movie comes with the same extra features from an earlier DVD release and doesn’t take advantage of Blu-ray’s interactive technologies. This version isn’t better than “extended editions” of the movies, yet fans definitely will call this set “precioussssss.”

$69 bucks for better picture and better sound? Something tells me the only folks who might not feel ripped off by Horiuchi’s push to buy are those with a Hobbit cloak and prosthetic hairy feet tucked away in their closets of nerd crap. Take my advice: Wait until 2011 for the director’s cut/extended editions. Don’t buy these half-assed versions and reward Peter Jackson and New Line for their double-dipping treachery. Shame on Horiuchi for propagating this travashamockery. Something tells me he’ll be signing the praises of the meager Avatar Blu-ray on April 22, too.