Howard Shore has won 'Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media' with his work on the FOTR score! Congrats! [More]

Each week, I scour Ebay looking for the hot Tolkien items up for sale. I post the most interesting here for you to bid on! [More]

TORN Staffer Thorongil gives us the details on why Elijah missed the event. [More]

When Simon Tolkien, the 44-year-old grandson of J. R. R. Tolkien, gave the manuscript of his own debut novel, The Stepmother, to his American publisher, he was met with incredulity. For the plot of this courtroom drama hinges on the decision of Sir Peter Robinson, a government minister, to side with his mistress, rather than his teenage son, when the mistress is accused of planning a murder that the son has witnessed. [More]

Serai writes: These scans are from Shukkan Shonen Magazine, a manga from Japan. The cover features some of the LOTR characters, and there are a few pages of photos inside. Nothing we haven't seen before, except for these scans of some charming Japanese style caricatures: Legolas doing the famous Mount, Gandalf and the Balrog, Aragorn caught between the horns of an awesome Dilemma, and my favorite, Gollum offering a dead rabbit to a sadly dejected Frodo. [More]

Ringer Spy Condorman sends along these scans from Film Score Monthly, featuring an in-depth look at Howard Shore. [More]

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers picked up the BAFTA for Best Costume Design! Accepting the award was none other then Richard Taylor! [Screencaps! Updated regularly!]

In the process the BBC didn't broadcast several categories live so we didn't see The Two Towers missing out on the BAFTA's for Production Design, Editing, Sound and Makeup but since we didn't win we didn't miss much..

As said before, a full listing of all the winners can be found over at The BAFTA's website!

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers missed out on the BAFTA for Best Film which went to The Pianist instead.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and specifically Peter Jackson missed out on the David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction at the BAFTA's. It went to Roman Polanski for The Pianist instead.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers just picked up the Orange Film of the Year-award! This was the award that we, the fans, could vote for so we could say we did quite well! Accepting the award were (amongst others) Barrie Osborne, John Rhys-Davies, Sir Ian McKellen, Jim Rygiel and Randy Cook! [Screencaps!]

Well, apparently the folks over at the BAFTA comitee can't handle stress or excitement too much because they already announced all the winners on their website! Why they did it is beyond me but if you want everything spoiled right away: click here or here! Beware, it's not as much as fun as following the latest developments on our frontpage!

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers missed out on the BAFTA for Best Cinematography which went to the late Conrad L. Hall for his work on Road To Perdition instead.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers just picked up the BAFTA for Best Visual Effects! Accepting the award were Jim Rygiel and Randy Cook! [Screencaps!]

cellogirl writes: During the questioning of Brad Douriff at RingCon, he said that in the extended edition TTT DVD, Theoden King will "see the Ring," and that the stair scene (Wormtongue being kicked down the stairs in front of the Golden Hall) will be extended.

Liv Tyler doesn't hide that the shooting of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was very tiring for her and sometimes painful. But the 25 year old actress would never refuse to play in those films.For us, Liv returned to her shooting experience. [More}

Thanks to Virgo for the text!

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2003-- During Saturday night's 7th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards, Production Designers and Art Directors for the films "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "Catch Me If You Can" won the 2002 Excellence in Production Design Awards from 1,000 members of the Art Directors Guild (ADG) during black-tie ceremonies conducted before 700 Production Designers, Art Directors, industry executives and media at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. "Lord of the Rings" won for Excellence of a Period/Fantasy Feature while "Catch Me If You Can" won for Excellence of a Contemporary Feature.

*Queen Evenstar* writes: I just thought people might like to know that the BAFTAS are on tonight on BBC1 at 9 o'clock and Ian McKellen will be one of the celebrity presenters.

Sean Astin and his Lava Entertainment have optioned the rights to make a film about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. Rasputin the Evil Balrog gives us the skinny, take a look! [More]

Ananova reports that the Russel Crowe/Billy Boyd film 'Master and Commander' has been pushed back to November by Universal, it was slated for an early summer release. [More]

DeeDee writes: Hi, my roommate Shannon and I attended Sean Astin's tribute at Texas A&M, and I thought I'd submit our experience: [More]

This weekend Hall of Fire crew will be examining the quality of the acting in the Two Towers. We'll look at who delivered the outstanding performances of the film, and who - in an acting sense (as opposed to script!) - was less than effective in their part. [More]

Elizabeth writes: I'm a member of Britannia, which is a UK mail-order club for buying DVDs. I got the latest catalogue this morning and there is a page of "Pre-Order Titles", one of which is The Two Towers, with a release date of 22nd of August. I've checked the dates for the other items on the page and they all seem to be correct, where they are available. I checked their website and although there is no mention of the date, the DVD is there and can be ordered. [More]

Chris writes: With more than $326 million, The Two Towers surpassed The Lion King (at $325,081,575) and it continues to climb up the charts in the US.

Deb writes: Just thought that LotR fans who have access to bbcamerica might want to know they can tune in Sunday, February 23 at 4pm and watch the BAFTA's(Orange British Academy Film Awards). It is being presented live and commercial free. The Two Towers is up for 9 awards including Best Film. [More]

Elijah Wood (Frodo) will be skating in the name of charity tomorrow (Feb 23rd) at the Nassau Coliseum in New York. The 'Microsoft Hockey Challenge 2003' event will be held at 4pm tomorrow, get your tickets now! [More]

HobbitGrrl writes: Here is some propaganda for the Macintosh User's Group on the University of Chicago
campus. [More]

Xoanon here, I'm not too sure I agree with it, but I know Cali and a few others would!

The lovely Ms. Marea has gone Ent crazy today with these stunning ent pictures! All the ent 'races' are represented; Ash, Beech, Birch, Linden, Oak, Rowan and Willow! Take a look!!

[Ash Big] - [Ash Small]
[Beech Big] - [Beech Small]
[Birch Big] - [Birch Small]
[Linden Big] - [Linden Small]
[Oak Big] - [Oak Small]
[Rowan Big] - [Rowan Small]
[Willow Big] - [Willow Small]

Lord of the Rings actor Dominic Monaghan has bought his own Indian forest. Monaghan, who plays hobbit Merry Brandybuck, has bought a small forest in Bangalore. An avid tree lover, he wanted to play his part to reduce global warming. Monaghan is one of a growing band of film stars who have gone CarbonNeutral. [More]

Hey folks, it's Friday and you know what that means, time for this weeks painting guide! This week we have the model that SHOULD have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor [You Rock Andy! - Flinch] yes that's right the awe inspiring and quite well made Gollum Miniature from the Lord of the Rings Tabletop Battle Game. Don't forget to check back next Friday when we have an area devoted entirely to the Industry of Isengard, this will include Saruman, Uruk-hai, Siege Weapons, Wargs and the Wildmen of Dunland! Talk about miniature overload! See you in seven, but for now, paint up a Gollum and enjoy! [More] [Gaming Havens]

Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn), with 79.7% of votes won sexiest man of the year at Hollywood.com. [More]

Thain Brandybuck sends this article in to us from Horse Trader Magazine, take a look! [More]

Matt sends along this article from Woman's Day Magazine. The editors should have thier hands slapped for missing a glaring error by calling TTT 'The TWIN Towers', especially considering the amount of Aussie actors, and the location that the films were made. Plus they make the error more than once, sad really. [More]

"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" towered over the competition Wednesday night, winning eight of the nine Visual Effects Society awards for which it was nominated. Among TV entries, "Dinotopia" picked up four awards, the only other multiple winner. [More]

(New York City) -- Cinemarati: The Web Alliance for Film Commentary today chose *The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers* as the Best Film of 2002 in the third annual Cinemarati Awards. Winners in 26 additional categories, recognizing the best cinematic efforts of last year, were also named. *The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers* garnered four awards, including Best Film, Best Ensemble Cast, and Best Director for Peter Jackson. [More]

From: SeanAstin.com: An exciting new service has been made available by Sean to all of his fans and friends. With his current family and career demands, Mr. Astin regretfully doesn't have the time to respond individually to all of his fan mail; however, this hasn't stopped him from going an extra mile to satisfy all incoming requests for autographed pictures. [More]

From: robogeek.com: Actor-director SEAN ASTIN has been confirmed as Guest of Honor for this year's 10th Anniversary Texas Film Festival, which is currently taking place this week at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. [More]

HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) - "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" was honored by the Hollywood Makeup Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Monday (Feb. 17) night and received three awards for best makeup in a feature film. "Lord of the Rings" won awards for best character makeup, best special makeup effects and best character hairstyling, while "Chicago" was named best period makeup and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" took home an award for best contemporary makeup. [More]

50 people emailed me to point out that in this picture Viggo already has a pipe in the same hand as the lit taper, (the stem is against his chest) and that the flame is the wrong shape for anything but a lighter, etc etc.

Rookan writes: The First Annual Visual Effects Society awarded Two Towers with:

Best Special Effects in a Motion Picture
Best Visual Effects in an Effects-Driven Motion Picture
Best Art Direction
Best Visual Effects Photography
Best Models and Miniatures
Best Performance by an Actor (Serkis, Wood, Astin)
Best Character Animation
Best Compositing

Here's the link [More]

�ystein writes: NRK 1, the main national TV channel in Norway will be showing a "Making Of TTT" this coming saturday at 22:20 local time (program is called (in Norwegian): "Fakta p� l�rdag: "Ringenes herre - To t�rn" under innspilling" (translated it means "Facts on Saturday: "Lords of the Rings - Two Towers" under production", Facts on Saturday is a program series here). Tt's a 45 minute show. Nothing on their webpage about who it is by. A rerun of it will be shown on NRK2, their sister channel on the 28th of february.

DarkHorizons writes: Pirates of the Carribean : Its official - the project has undergone a name change to "Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl". Reasoning? To help distinguish between the ride and movie.

In November 1918, J.R.R. Tolkien was 27 and had just returned to Oxford from active service in the First World War. He had landed a job as an assistant lexicographer at the Oxford English Dictionary and needed rooms nearby to rent for himself, his wife and his baby son. Number 50 St John Street, a few minutes' walk from his old college, Exeter, fitted the bill. [More]

Cuivienor writes: Cine Live - a French magazine - has (already) The Return of the King on its cover (actually the picture of Aragorn on his warhorse we saw from the calender). To be truly honest, nothing knew, from what I read (didn't have any money so didn't buy), they just printed super-quality the calendar pics (Gollum, Frodo&Sam, Arwen, Frodo holding the Phial) and added a bit of text to add flavor to the whole. [More]

Two Towers is just about to open in Japan. And, apparently, the good news is that the Japanese subtitling is much improved on FoTR. The Daily Yomiuri ramps up the hype and discusses the main attractions. [More] [More]

LadyE writes: There will be a LOTR festival happening on February 21, 22, & 23 in Gig Harbor, WA. Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) will be there on Saturday and Sunday. The Rivendell Singers (Celtic music) will be performing, there will be acostume contest and ball, storytelling, fantasy art shows/auctions, elvish workshops, among TONS of other cool stuff. [More]

May sends in these scans from Max magazine, sadly we could NOT post the cover (you think Maxim covers in the US are racy, the picture was NOT of Viggo BTW...)...my goodness! But take a look at all the Viggo goodness. [More]

Skynet sends along these truly amazing pictures from Toy Fair 2003! Take a look at that elven archer...me wants me wants! [More]

People keep referring to this picture and saying Aragorn's using a Bic lighter. I thought so too, but look again: if that's a Bic, why's he lighting that twig? Random firebug impulse? More logical to assume that it's the bowl of his pipe he's holding concealed in one hand. It's just caught alight from the twig or taper in his other hand, which he used to transfer the flame from the candle in front of him.

The Tolkien Society in England is announcing a Tolkien Reading Day on March 25 [date of Sauron's downfall ; ) ] and also the opening of their new educational resources page for people wanting to learn about or teach others about Tolkien. [More]

We got word from the webmaster of some new material on the sites for Craig Parker [Haldir] and Bruce Hopkins [Gamling the Old] who is going to be performing MacBeth soon! [The Official Bruce Hopkins Website] This is a different Craig Parker website than the one we linked to a few days back: [Unofficial Craig Parker Website]

Nice interview with Sean Astin [Sam] at MTV.com, where he sums up his experience of working on LOTR and talks about some of the films he wants to make himself. [More] Thanks to CAHobbit for the news.

Nice article in the Athens Sun Herald about Emeraled Rose, the band that will play at TORN's Oscars Party, an event which seems to be attracting some notice around the place [besides amongst ourselves, I mean.] [More]

The official site's started selling a poster based on the scene in Osgiliath where Sam gives his big speech about finding the reason to go on. [More]

Chris over at Theforce.net dropped us a line telling us about a new humour competition they're running. It's a readers' list of the top reasons why Star Wars is better than Lord of the Rings, or - alternatively - why Lord of the Rings is Better than Star Wars. So pop over, take a moment to check out the rules, and drop in your entry. [More]

Benny writes: The current issue of Film Score Monthly has a big piece on Howard Shore and his Two Towers score.

Anyone with scans, send them along!

Ringer Fan Amy writes: at the Ledgewood Mall in Ledgewood NJ, there's a class at Barnes & Noble called Glimpses of Reality in Fantasy: How Reading Tolkien Can Make You a Better Person. It's on Friday the 21st (of February) at 7:30. The address of this particular B&N is 375 Route 10 East Ledgewood NJ 07852.

New X-Men 2 trailer - only a day or so old. Only a few glimpses of Ian McKellen as Magneto, but he looks most impressive! Thanks to Rimrunner for the heads up. [More]

When you've done braiding your hair, you might like to try out Liz's latest LOTR crossword

Today we go back to the Tehanu's first visit to the LOTR set. Tehanu was invited as the only fansite on the net to visit Peter Jackson and his crew make magic in New Zealand back in 1999. Read about her adventure on the Hobbiton Set. [More]

You can also check out some VERY early shots of the Hobbiton set, taken from the sky! [More]

Thanks to Kate, we have a link to a site that shows you how to do a Legolas braid. [More] On another Orlando-ish note, Ford sends word that the complete Ned Kelly trailer is up, plus an interview with Orlando, at NedKellyTheMovie

The FOTR Extended DVD set has won a pile of awards at The Digital Bits who are running their 2002 Bitsy Awards. The awards include a #1 finish in the top 10 picks of all three editors, Best Overall DVD, Best Special Edition DVD, Best DVD Video (Film to Digital Transfer), Best DVD "Making of" Documentary, and a "Digital In" award for Peter Jackson for his work in putting the DVDs together. [More] Thanks to Phil for the news.

We keep hearing this rumour, and people keep asking this question. Here is one answer, from Norway: "It says that a double disc theatrical version will come (to Norway anyway) on 4.august.
The special extended edition and collectors box will come out 3.november." Similar news has come in from people elsewhere working in the video rental/sales business, though one shop got 'June' as the DVD release date: "I am a Video store manager, and I just received a list of when the Oscar nominated films will hit video. Two Towers is listed for June. I called my supplier to verify this, since Fellowship hit in August, and she said that as far as they know, that is accurate."

Tid-bits from around the world, including a reminder of some skulduggery in the world of Tolkien publishing, Aragorn marshalling some girlpower in Australia, the maths behind WETA digital in NZ, and a comment and review on TTT which has just opened in Japan. [More]

Action-Figure.com once again comes through with these great pictures from Toy Fair 2003 in New York City. Take a look at these Warg-Riders and Aragorn from ROTK! [More]

Lisa sends along these scans from the latest issue of Cinescape Magazine. Take a look! [More]

James Bond or Aragorn? Who would you rather be? [More]

Janet writes: Ed Burns� film 'Ash Wednesday' with Elijah Wood (Frodo) co-starring was released on DVD/Home video yesterday (February 18). [Order Now] [Shop]

A leading German literature professor says that reading Tolkein's Lord of the Rings could help prevent war. Thomas Kullmann, a 42-year-old professor from the University of Osnabrueck, said: "If adults read children's literature more often then we would probably live in a much more peaceful world. [More]

Chino writes: This is regarding the article "Why No Eowyn Action Figure" from Snix. Well, I would like to tell her that she can now relax becuase toybiz is producing figures of both Galadriel and Eowyn! [More] [Shop]

David writes: As part of World Book Day, the prestigious BBC "Today" programme are running a poll to find out which book best sums up our view of what is to be English, Scottish, N. Irish or Welsh. For England, it just has to be the "Lord of the Rings" doesn't it? All those who agree nominate LOTR to ensure that those literary snobs who still reside at the BBC cannot exclude it from consideration? [More]

Wandering Mage Chichiri writes: Much to my sorrow one of the major thoroughfares in Arlington, Texas has been under heavy construction. In aan effort to avoid traffic delays and the snarled mess I've been taking interesting new routes. On one of these sidetrips in the downtown area I noticed that the local playhouse, Theatre Arlington, will soon be running a production of The Hobbit from February 27 through March 9. [More]

Next in our series "How to Construct a Sindarin Sentence", we'll focus on Pluralization. Our guest for this chat is Barliman's regular, and self-taught language expert Elostrion. He's prepared charts to help you in understanding this part. These will be posted in time for the lesson. The class will be held in #thehalloffire Wednesday, Feb 19, beginning at 7pm EST (6pm CST, Midnight GMT). See you there!

There is a new interest in finding out how you could really build your own hobbit holes. Check out the links at the end of this article from the Herald Sun - the pics of Roger Dean's architecture are really beautiful. [More]

Bookmark this one, Haldir fans! [More]

Another look at some of the tourism options centred on LOTR and the way the country got involved in making the film. [More] Disregard the errors. [Wellington hosted the world premiere of TTT? The Maori Hakka?] On a side-note, if repeat business is any measure of success, half the people who went on the Red Carpet TTT tour booked immediately to do the ROTK tour a year later. Meanwhile, there's still seats left on the May film locations tour.

For Ringers around Seattle - this weekend's RingCon at Gig Harbour boasts featured guest Brad Dourif [Grima] There will also be music from the Rivendell singers, costume contest and ball, storytelling, fantasy art shows/auctions and elvish workshops. [More] Thanks to Adutindomiel and Lady Elijiana for the news.

A call to action from Snix, who'd like Toy Biz to be a bit less sexist with their action figures. You, too, can write in and give them an attitude adjustment. [More]

Thingo Baggins writes: I just got an email that my Sideshow/Weta bookends "No admittance..." with Gandalf and Bilbo are to be delivered today! Just thought I'd let you know in case there are other Ringers out t here anxiously awaiting news about them." Thanks Thingo! [More]

Greg Wright over at Hollywood Jesus.com does another interesting analysis of some of the choices made in the movie. [More] Thanks to Sam for the link.

Sideshow/Weta continues its Toy Fair 2003 coverage by releasing some images of the SERIES 3 busts from The Two Towers. While these items are not yet available for pre-order, you can see pictures of the King Theoden, Eomer, Witchking and Uruk-Hai Swordsman busts. [More]

Larry writes: I read an interesting article at NYTIMES.COM which stated that scientists, who are conducting new research on the expansion of the universe, have named four supernovae after Lord Of The Rings characters. They used Denethor, Frodo, Bilbo, and Smeagol. Thought you might like to know that LOTR has gone universal.

The BBC Website has a few pics from the Hamilton LOTR exhibit we reported about yesterday. [More]

Lostfiniel sends in this article from 'The Union Jack' about Billy Boyd and his mission to help young actors. [More]

Salon.com has an interesting article on CG actors and the Oscars. Interestingly they quote heavily on another New Line film 'Simone', whose main star is a computer generated image (played by a real person, go figure). [More]

Sean Bean (Boromir) has been linked to the big budget 'Troy' film which also stars Orlando Bloom (Legolas). While nothing is confirmed, we will be following this development. [More]

A mysterious ringer spy left us these 200 images on our desk recently. After perusing them all we've finally managed to get them into a scrapbook for you to enjoy! Take a look at these images from cards, advertising and other items from Europe. Plenty of new images to oogle over! [More]

Update: Our Discussion Board posters noticed something very internesting - and entish - about one of the cards. Maybe a very minor spoiler for the EE release in November. [More]

Sideshow/Weta very recently released its second series of statues and busts from The Two Towers. The busts feature Gandalf the White, a Galadhrim Soldier, Grishnakh and an Uruk-Hai Berserker. The figures consist of Ugluk, Grima Wormtongue and Galadhrim Archer. All of these are incredibly detailed. [More]

The magical world of the Lord of the Rings has come alive in the Scottish town of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. The town itself might not look much like Middle Earth, but it's host to a free exhibition which has just opened called A Land of Shadows. [More]

lilcritter writes: There is a 4-page article/interview of Christopher Lee (Saruman) in the March edition of Cinescape magazine. There is also a 1-page write-up about ROTK.

Anyone with scans, send them along!

Bryan writes: I took my kids to the theater this weekend to see Disney's animated Jungle Book 2. In the story, Ranjan's father had an uncannily familiar voice; I was pleased when the credits rolled by that the voice belonged to none other than John Rhys-Davies!

Adanedhel writes: John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) is shooting a film in Bulgaria for the American company UFO. The film also stars Angel Boris (Miss Playboy 1996), Maxuel Colefield, John Hanson and the Bulgarian actors Ivailo Gerasimov, Iskra Angelova and Maxim Genchev. The film is called "Dragon Storms" by director Stephen Foerstein. Filming will take place in the medieval fortress Baba Vida and the dungeons of the "Venetian depot" in Vidin for 18 days. John Rhys-Davies plays the role of the evil king.

Barry writes: Preview screenings of TTT were held on Saturday, 15th February in Japan, a week before the official release on 22 Feb. The cinema I attended (Otsu7, Kyoto) was packed, with screenings every hour or so from 2pm to 3:30am! The TV campaign has started in earnest too. Importantly, friends I spoke to after the screening seemed generally happy with the final translation (happier than FOTR anyway). Looks like it is going to be big here.

Winter storms and being snowed in got you down? Brighten up with some brand new goodies from Green Books. This week we�re featuring Turgon�s two new terrific Bookshelf columns. Turgon takes a look at recent Tolkien titles in new Bookshelf #1 and a guide for reading Tolkien beyond The Lord of the Rings in new Bookshelf #2! Turgon�s insight into the book world is always worth a read--check him out! Don�t forget to browse around the rest of Green Books. The perennially popular Q&A has enough material to satisfy hours of Tolkien curiosity. Whether you brave the weather to be outdoors or curl up by the fire, we hope you enjoy the latest edition of Green Books! [More]

Ian McKellen tells us why he's a happier man and a better actor than before. [More]

Ringer Fan Thorbj�rn writes that according to a Danish newspaper, sales for The Two Towers passed the one million mark last week. While that doesn't necessarily mean that 20% of the population have seen Towers - the population of Denmark is just a bit over five million - it's still a remarkable number for a market so small!

Ever wondered what is the ultimate fate of the thousands of prints of Two Towers currently being screened around the world? Here's your chance to find out where Hollywood's equivalent of the elephant's graveyard is. [More]