I also believe that twitter is no place for a debate, as we make post after post with little snippets, very difficult to say anything meaningful. I was trying to not turn this into an insult to you, so I didn't mention the twitter conversation. But oh well.
For the castle in the second book, PJ was riding around in a helicopter to find a background that matched, then they had to build the castle atop it. That seems to be dedication to bring Tolkiens writings to life. I think that's honering Tolkien enough.
Money is also an issue. To get THAT many shots and effects in can be challenging. PJ might not have mentioned that the UK would be more expensive out of politeness, but when New Zealand asked for more money to film the Hobbit and wouldn't relent, he threatened to take the production to Australia (until they caved). I believe money is the bigger issue here, which is the case for many movies. So I don't think it's an insult at all.