Xoanon here,

I'm working on getting the text down, look for it early tomorrow.

I got up this morning and when I looked into the paper I saw a fantastic article that you HAVE to know about. The article was in The Sydney Morning Herald one of Australias biggest newspapers, it is a large two page spread on Tolkein. It dealt with why everyone is obsessed with him?

It included a brief history of his life as well as talking to people from the Hobbit stage play. It also included a guide for people who don't know anything about tolkein's world telling them what orcs, hobbits dragons etc were.

Thanks to Resevoir Dog for the tip!

Check out the Spy Reports for some pics from the Aussie Hobbit stage play!

FILMING RAISES CONSERVATION FEARS

An environmental group is worried that filming of the Lord of the Rings movie in several national parks could compromise their conservation values.

The Department of Conservation has agreed to let film maker Peter Jackson's company film on sites in the Mount Owen area near Murchison, the Wakatipu Basin near Queenstown, and Te Anau and Fiordland.

Conservation Minister Nick Smith says DOC has attached a series of strict environmental conditions to the consent, and compliance will be monitored by DOC staff on-site.

But Barry Lawrence of the Wakatipu Environmental Society says incessant helicopter noise from another company filming there is already proving disruptive.

Filming in the South Island will start next week and could continue for up to nine months.

Published Friday, November 12, 1999

ONE NEWS sources from TVNZ, RNZ, Reuters

The lovely Liv has made some news, check it out.

This might of interest to the Liv Tyler fans at the TheOneRing.net. In this issue of Jane magazine Liv has an article entitled "My Boyfriend's Band." Her

boyfriend is Royston Lanadon of the group "Space Hog". Space Hog opened for R.E.M. on several of the recent tour dates and Liv tagged along for a few dates. I haven't seen it but have been told there a quite a few pictures.

I saw Space Hog back in Septemember and I had second row seats. I was close enough to see a pretty dark haired woman standing in the wings but I didn't look all that closely because I assumed she was the wife of R.E.M.'s guitarist who is also a pretty dark haired woman. I wish I had known all this then...I would have paid more attention! I had a friend who got to go backstage...I would have had her spy around and ask some questions !! :)

Jane magazine is a ...I don't know how to describe it. It's a Woman's magazine but it's not a typical woman's magazine...

Check out the Jane Magazine site here.

Check out a Spage Hog website here.

Thanks to Binky for the tip!

Ian snapped this character mowing the lawn in Hobbition. You know what I think of whenever I see sheep? The coyote unzipping his 'sheep' suit, then he unzips his 'coyote' suit...and so on. Anyways, do you think this little guy knows he'll be in the biggest movie in history? Probably not, It'd make him feel a little sheepsih...

Live in the UK? Want your daily dose of Bean? Why not check out the 4 part mini-series starting tonight (Thursday the 11th) 'Extreemly Dangerous'. You can take a look at Sean Bean and send me your Boromir thoughts!

Harry over at AICN has scored himself a few pics of his own from a Russian Newspaper. Most of the images are not new, and were first seen here. There is 1 new image. Check out the Spy Reports for the new pic.

!!WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Some of this stuff (as well as the article below) is spoilerish, if you don't want to know what they're building there, don't highlight the blank space below!

From: 'A reliable source'

A friend of mine picks up and delivers gravel and chipseal for various road works, driveways etc., that his business builds and maintains.They get their gravel from 'THE' quarry mentioned on your site!

A CASTLE is currently being built there for use in a upcoming trilogy, ( wonder what that is? ). All the concrete blocks and rubble being used for the castle have been hired out for ( I think he said )3 years.

Don't think that it would be easy for one second to get on site though, because there are two security guards, checking trucks, drivers, license plates and other stuff to prevent anyone having a good look at the construction.

Oh, by the way, I think the quarry is called " dry Creek"

Check out some of the Quarry pics in The Spy Reports!

Hobbits Finally Speak Out - But What About the Accent?
by Tom Cardy
The Evening Post - November 11, 1999

The hobbits will have hairy feet, big eyes, and sparkly faces--but just what accent they will use in The Lord of the Rings movies is still under wraps

Management of the Miramar-based $360 million project finally allowed two of its hobbits to be interviewed yesterday--although Frodo, played by star Elijah Wood, is still a no-no.

The post was allowed to talk to Billy Boyd, who plays Frodo's pal Pippin, and Dominic Monaghan, who plays Merry, during a break in filming. The two are the first actors to speak to the media since filming began under security in Wellington lastmonth

But no photographs were allowed, as they were still dressed as the hairy-footed hobbits described in JRR Tolkien's classic trilogy.

Boyd, 31, from Glasgow, and Monaghan, 22, from Manchester, are virtually unknown in New Zealand, although they have appeared in overseas feature films and TV series. As companions to the hobbits Frodo and Sam, in the movies they'll be chased by Black Riders, kidnapped by Orcs and meet giant tree creatures called Ents.

Monaghan said they had to wear prosthetics as well as makeup and costumes to look like hobbits. Both were 1.6m tall, but special effects would make them look smaller.

"We all have big eyes, are cheeky looking, and we have kind of sparkly faces," he said.

Being a hobbit was physically demanding. They all had to train, including sessions at the gym. "We are all eating well. Everyone is very concerned about our diet and vitamins because we are working 11 or 12 hour days, getting six hours of sleep and then up again at five in the morning," Monaghan said.

Boyd said he hadn't acted on a film with so many special effects. "Some of the stuff they can do is quite incredible. That's been great fun; wild stuff."

Pippin wouldn't speak with a Scottish accent, but Boyd was coy on what accent the hobbits would use--something Tolkien fans were keen to find out. They were being trained to pronounce the archaic words correctly. "A lot of work has gone into that. You'll have to wait and see," he said.

Monaghan said they spent a lot of time with Wood. "We're best friends now. We all have to work so closely and it's a long time in hair and makeup every day. We all hang around each other and keep each other sane."

Despite being unknown, after three months in Wellington people were asking for autographs and taking photographs. "That generally bounces off if you're hanging around with Elijah and they they look at and go, 'Who are you?' and I go 'I'm no on.' I lap all that up, it's good fun," Monaghan said. People notice the accent and say 'What are you doing over here?' I say 'I'm working in a job for a year or so'. If they keep asking, I say 'I'm on this Lord of the Rings film'. Then you get shrieks and hollers. I tend to just keep it quiet. The less people know, the more it will be when it comes out."

Monaghan read The Lord of the Rins when he was 13. Boyd said he still hadn't done so.

Meanwhile, Conservation Minister Nick Smith said today that consent had been given for filming on several areas of public conservation land in the South Island. Filming could occur over the next couple of months in the Fiordland, the Te Anau area, the Wakatipu basin near town adn the Mt Own area near Murchison.

Thanks to RohanExtra and Gamgee for the article!

Possibly the most famous Sean Astin film, 'Rudy' the story of the tiny Hobbit who wanted to play Orc football...well, something like that. Check it out on HBO for all you folks in the US. But get up early! It's on in the a.m.

Check out the HBO schedule grid on IMDB. Once again thanks to the ever faithful Gamgee for the TV tip!

The cool dudes over at Scoop (www.scoop.co.nz) sent me a line saying they recieved another cool pic from 'someone'. Check it out in The Spy Reports!

!!!WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS!!!

Hey folks, didn't want you to forget about the recipes available in the Moon Letters section of the website. Check out the new recipe for "Mrs. Maggot's Fried Taters Casserole" from Sulrohir Arcurufin!

Ian Mckellen had a bit part in the lackluster 'Arnold' mega pic 'Last Action Hero'. Check it out on Cinemax tonight. Ian plays 'Death' near the very end. Check it out! See Ian in robes!

Check out the Cinemax schedule on IMDB here.

Here is a recent article from a popular Brazilian newspaper, 'Zero Hora':

Senhor dos An�is

(Translated from Portugese)

Translation: 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy, based on the J.R.R. Tolkien's fantastic work of literature, a joined production of New Line and Miramax, is suffering the consequences of war. Director Peter Jackson was counting on the New Zealand Army to star in certain battle scenes that need millions of extras. The New Zealand army is currently available only to the United Nations, because of the conflicts in East Timor. The production is already desperately trying to reunite the number of local extras necessary for the filmings.

My Portuguese is a little rusty, but I think this is an adequate translation. Besides the 'Miramax' mistake (they are not partners with New Line) it's a fairly well written article.

Thanks to Vito for the article!

Why not check out Vito's LOTR site?

This comes to us from our content partners over at Scoop (www.scoop.co.nz), check it out:

Posting to Parliament Wire of Scoop
Press Release: New Zealand Government
Date: Thursday, 11 November 1999
Time: 9:32 am NZT

Lord Of The Rings To Film On Conservation Land

Conservation Minister Nick Smith today announced that Three Foot Six Ltd, the company behind Peter Jacksons Lord of the Rings production, has been granted consents to film on several areas of public conservation land in the South Island.

"The South Island is home to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world and will make a wonderful backdrop for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's easy to imagine walking into a forgotten corner in Fiordland and coming across characters from the book. I'm really pleased that conservation land will be able to contribute to the success of New Zealand's biggest filming project by providing an authentic setting."

Dr Smith said Three Foot Six Ltd had been granted consents for filming over the next couple of months in the Mt Owen area near Murchison, the Wakatipu basin near Queenstown, the Te Anau area and Fiordland.

Lord of the Rings producer Tim Sanders said the company was excited about moving south for filming. "The dramatic scenery of the these wonderful natural locations will be ideal for this film. It's one of the reasons we chose to film the trilogy in New Zealand, and we're really enthusiastic about the next stage of filming in the South Island."

Mr Sanders said it was a relief that the application had been approved. "Getting this far has been a lot of hard work, but it's definitely been worth it as some of New Zealand's most beautiful places will be showcased internationally through this film trilogy. It's been a long process and we've been talking with local iwi and various conservation groups to make sure everything is done in the correct way. We are taking our responsibilities while in these areas seriously and have been set a comprehensive series of environmental conditions as part of the filming permits, including lodging a substantial bond."

Representatives of the company and the Department of Conservation had been working closely together for several months to process the consent applications. Dr Smith said he was satisfied that the filming would have no detrimental effect on the conservation areas involved, and on-site monitoring would be conducted.

"We are excited about working in partnership with Three Foot Six on what is milestone project for the NZ film industry."

The first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy will be released by New Line Cinema at the end of 2000. In addition to Tim Sanders, Barrie M Osborne and Peter Jackson are also producers of the film. Screenplay was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Stephen Sinclair, along with Peter Jackson, who is also directing the trilogy.

Well, to say that I've gotten a 'few' emails would be a drastic understatement. I will be addressing all your questions and fears in an addition to the script review. We decided that if interest is high, and people would like a few more questions answered I'd write some more. So stay tuned, send in your questions if you haven't already, and check the script review section soon!

Want to see some MORE pics from the Hobbiton set? In an odd situation, the Dominion and TheOneRing.net get almost the same snapshot!

!!!MAJOR SPOLIERS AHEAD!!

Check it out in The Spy Reports

My god, I've just finished writing. And Calisuri the coding master popped this stuff online in record time!

Check out the script review now! And having read Moriarty's review I'll try and touch the points that he missed. I will mainly be focusing on storyline characters and the Arwen situation.

!!!WARNING MAJOR SPOLERS AHEAD!!!

Click here to read my script review!!

Dark Horizons has a review of the latest Christopher Lee film 'Sleepy Hollow'. Lee has a small role and he is not mentioned in the review. Check it out here.

The Roman Polanski film 'The Ninth Gate' is getting some press over at Cinescape. I recommend you check it out, if only to hear Wojciech Kilar's latest work.

Kilar is highly tiped to be the composer for LOTR.

Okay, sorry folks! Yes, I'm late with this weeks poll. Thanks to Gandalf and Gamgee for this weeks question. Remember, if you want to submit a poll, please email me at calisuri@theonering.net.

Check out Anwyn's latest counterpoint in Green Books. She takes the oppurtunity with her latest article to investigate the role of women in LOTR. Check it out! You can also find a small update to the question and answer section.

And if you didn't notice, this weekend we posted up a new Tehanu's note and 2 chapters of Xoanon Rants.

There are also some fine new fan art submissions at Fan.TheOneRing.net.

And last, but not least, we here at TheOneRing.net want to use our unique site and its exposure to help out any REGISTERED non-profit organizations or charities out there with free advertising. For more information on this oppurtunity, contact advertising@theonering.net.

This is the first from a small set of pics we have just recieved from the Hobbiton set. Let Tehanu explain it to you:

What�s turned up on my desktop today astonishes me. Kotukunui has flown again, with Cameraman, and I�m lookng at the results. Other people have sent pictures of Hobbiton, and we�ve argued about whether they�re CGI or not. This is the record of a whole journey over places I recognise, and in the middle of it, Hobbiton.
I thought I was familiar with this Waikato landscape, but seeing aerial pictures makes me realise how much it is The Shire � a green landscape of comfortable farms with well-maintained fences and freshly-painted roofs. Nice hedgerows and tidy coppices.
The surprising thing about the landscape is the rivers, which make inky ribbons cutting deep into the rolling fields. Among all the well-tended farmland the rivers look secretive in their dark ravines. There are black waters under strange rock-formations and wild bush barely poking above the surface of the surrounding lands. You could hide a lot of things in a place like the Waikato.
I recognise the rotten little hill that I spent hours hiking over to try and reach Hobbiton from the back, only to see no more than the carpark from our vantage point.
And there finally is Hobbiton, with the Water and the bridge, and the little lanes and hobbit-holes. There are chimneys and vegetable patches and windows set into the Hill.
It�s wonderful, and they�re excellent photos, but I send these on with great reservations. They are major spoilers and I�m torn between wanting to know this much and wishing I didn�t. You have to make the same decision.

The rest of the photos will be online soon. For now check the first one out!

!!MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD!!

Check it out in The Spy Reports

Is TBS having a 'Lord of the Rings' cast marathon? No but it sure seems like it.

Elijah Woods film 'Internal Affairs' will be on TBS tonight. at 10:10 EST, I have not seen it, and might check it out to. :)

Ringer spy Sam B sent us a detailed report as well as a few pics from the roadside set where the Hobbits encounter one of the Nine for the first time!

Check out the Spy Reports to see the pics!

!!Medium Spoiler Warning!!

From: Greywolf

Sir Ian,

I realize that you are dreadfully busy right now with filming the "X-Men" movie, and preparing for what I believe will be your magnum opus "The Lord of the Rings", but I hope you can answer a quick question for me. I have been a die-hard Tolkien fan for years, and when I heard that you were to be cast as Gandalf, I went out and rented a number of your movies to gain a better "feel" for your acting abilities. I had seen you before in "Richard III" but had seen none of your other movies. After watching "Apt Pupil" and "Gods and Monsters", I wanted to know what sort of "accent" you will be using for Gandalf. Obviously, the accent you used in "Apt Pupil" was not your real one, but is the accent you used in "Gods and Monsters" your normal speaking voice?

Just trying to get an idea as to what you will sound like as Gandalf. Thanks for the consideration and good luck in all of your projects.

Reply :

dear eric

look out for the grey book on www.mckellen.com once i start filming in january - i have a standard english accent with northern english undertones - probably that will be the basis for gandalf's voice.

best wishes and thanks for yr interest
ian mckellen

Sounds like Mckellen will not be using some fake accent, always a plus, he can pay more attention to his acting!

There's a little snippet in the Otago Daily Times about the film crew and cast arriving in Wanaka, the town near Queenstown. There are at least three film locations around this area. The Otago Daily Times will become the one to watch over the next few weeks as the action steps up down there. Click here to read the ODT article online.

Read about the adventures of a keen Rings fan as he tries to locate the film set on Mt. Victoria.
It's over at Spy Reports!

All you American Ringers can get a glimpse of Uma Thurman on TBS: The Superstation tonight. The easily forgetable 'Batman & Robin' will be on tonight (Sunday). Check it out if you've never seen Uma in action, though it is not her best role.

Exciting news here from Resevoir Dog:

Just an interesting tidbit: I buy DVD's online at Dvd Express (www.dvdexpress.com) I wrote Lord of The Rings in the search the other day and it came up with a page for the unreleased movie, You can then sign up to be alerted when it is available to buy and also you will be 'voting' for a quick release of this film on DVD.

Click here to go to the LOTR DVD page!

Go there and vote now!

Some of you folks have written to me saying this article is about the Bass/Bashki films, I knew this. However you were right in saying the article is misleading. We apologize for that.

Last week, DarkHorizon's as well as us reported that Cate Blanchett (galadriel) would most likely be at the Aussie Opening of FOX Studios. And as Resevoir Dog reports, where she is:

I got a pic of Cate Blanchett from Fox studios, sorry it's not very good I scanned it from a newspaper. More soon.

Ringer Spy Buzz sent me this:

There is a show here in New Zealand called What Now. It's basically a bit of an institution now as a weekend morning kids variety show. It has cartoons, magazine-style articles and so on. Years ago...must be about 1985 I would guess, they had a series of features about an old guy tramping in the South Island with his two kids. Every week they would be going to all these beautiful bush destinations, and the old guy would always compare places to scenes from LOTR. In fact, it was those articles that convinced me to read it, and certainly influenced how I envisioned Middle Earth. From what I can remember, it's a great showcase of South Island scenery looked at from a LOTR perspective. I imagine the chances of finding it anywhere are pretty slim. I'd love to know if any other Kiwis remember it.

Does anyone remember this? If so, contact me!

Check out the Spy Reports for the latest internet news bits and an image from Wanaka, on the South Island.

Ethan Hawke, Faramir, has a birthday today. Ethan was born on November 6 1970, which makes him 29 today. He was born in Austin, Texas Happy Birthday Ethan!

Check out Ethan's cast page here.

Check out our feature section to see these updates!

Well, the wait for the latest 2 rants is over. They are posted here. Send me some feedback if you want to!

And I've just this second finished reading the 2nd LOTR script. And I will be writing my report as soon as possible.

Look for it later this weekend!

Ringer Spy 'Reservoir Dog' sends along his pics as to where you may be able to see some of the LOTR cast. As well as some news on Cate Blanchett.

Sunday is the opening of the new Fox Studios complex in sydney. This place is huge and is like a theme park. There is a huge A-List party on Sunday it is being televised. Big name guests from all over the world are coming for it (George Lucas, Hugh Grant), they are also getting Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) from the set of X-Men in Canada to come and host it. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the LOTR cast came (esp. Cate Blanchett). I'll keep my eyes open.

Also on November 13 is the Australian Film Industry Awards (australian oscars) many stars are going to be there including Cate Blanchett who is going to present the award for best film. The awards are being webcast from 7:30pm AEST. The official site for the Australian Film Industry Awards is at (www.sbs.com.au/afi99) this is where you can watch the webcast. If you live in Australia it will be televised on SBS.