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April 14, 2003 - April 20, 2003
News for Apr. 20, 2003
Weekly Cast Watch
4/20/03, 11:48 pm EST - Xoanon
Besides being able to catch
John Rhys-Davies (
Gimli) in
Troy or
Ian McKellen (
Gandalf) in the X2 behind the scenes feature on Fox. You can take a look at all the other LOTR cast members on the small screen this week! [
More]
FOTR Wins Nebula Award!
4/20/03, 11:19 pm EST - Xoanon
IceC writes: On Saturday, April 19, The Fellowship of the Ring won the Best Screenplay Nebula, awarded by the Science Fiction Writers of America at their annual conference in Philadelphia. Peter sent along a video-taped acceptance. [
More]
Jackson goes ape over air show
4/20/03, 11:17 pm EST - Xoanon
Film maker
Peter Jackson turned to directing of a different sort yesterday as he helped choreograph a World War I battle scene in the Marlborough skies. The vintage plane fanatic and Lord of the Rings director was on hand at the Classic Fighters Marlborough air show which featured Jackson's Sopwith Camel bi-plane engaged in the re-enactment of an aerial duel with the Red Baron. [
More]
GAMING: Who would you most like to Game With?
4/20/03, 11:14 pm EST - Xoanon
Gaming Havens has added a new poll asking who you'd most like to play Video Games with! Would you rather school
Elijah Wood in the latest combos of The Two Towers, or watch as
Craig Parker snags those last Rupees in Zelda: Wind Waker? Head on over to Gaming Havens and vote now! [
Gaming Havens]
Who Is The Sexiest In Middle-earth?
4/20/03, 1:12 pm EST - Xoanon
JovialNazgul writes: Teen People has a sexiest people poll, one of the categories is "Sexiest Resident of Middle Earth". [
More]
Inside The One Ring
4/20/03, 1:08 pm EST - Xoanon
no, not the website...but the actual One Ring!
Jens Hansen personally sent along this link with detailed information on The One Ring, including all the various versions of the ring you can find around the world! Take a look! [
More]
TTT DVD Release Dates Confirmed
4/20/03, 12:34 pm EST - Tookish
Sylvan has the scoop:
I work in a small independent rental video retailer, and was quite pleased upon arriving at work today to find we had received an official release date for The Two Towers! This came in the form of a CD-ROM "Digital Announce Kit" which contains everything from upcoming TV & radio promos, ad slicks and product images... Release date for the Theatrical Edition will be August 26th, and the Extended Edition will be November 18th. Here's a little [more].
Monaghan and Boyd are Punk'd
4/20/03, 12:23 pm EST - Tookish
Yesterday, on a show on MTV called Punk'd, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd were in a very short interview. They were asked by a little kid if they were hobbits and then were also asked if they worked for Santa. Dom replied "No, those are elves. They're taller." Thanks to Ringer
Boppinsmom for that one.
Haldir, Lorien Elves, and Helm's Deep
4/20/03, 12:06 pm EST - Tookish
Posted up in March, you may not have seen this article yet over at HollywoodJesus.com.
JK writes:
Here's a great new article on Haldir and the Elves at Peter Jackson's Helm's Deep. Very nice. I don't recall seeing it at TOR.n so I thought I'd send it in. [
More]
John Rhys Davies IS the King
4/20/03, 11:54 am EST - Tookish
... of Troy! One of our newest
Barliman's Chat Operators
PippinSkywalker wrote in to say that JRD will play King Priam of Troy at 8:00 pm EST/7:00 CT on the USA Network today & tomorrow (4/20 & 4/21). Have a look: [
More]
McKellen Heavily Featured in X2 Trailer
4/20/03, 11:39 am EST - Tookish
If you haven't heard yet,
Ford of Rivendell wanted you to know!
They just had a preview for X2 (X-Men 2) on the Fox Movie Channel. (I'm not sure if it is the same as the trailer that's online... but there is loads of Ian McKellan and it was well over a minute)
Ready for a Viggo Quiz?
4/20/03, 11:32 am EST - Tookish
From Ringer Bonnie: I thought everyone might like to know that Viggo Mortensen is in the Scoop Pop Quiz section of People Magazine this week (April 28, 2003 - Madonna is on the cover). It has a picture of him and asks questions about his poetry. Check it out!
TTT on Pay Per View
4/20/03, 6:55 am EST - leo
Just thought I'd let you know, a friend of mine was on a business trip in Roanoke, Virginia, and she saw The Two Towers on Pay Per View!
Thanks to Brenda for the heads up!
Lord of the Rings Bow Ties
4/20/03, 6:52 am EST - leo
Julie writes:
Don't know if you guys would be interested in this but I got a kick out of it. My husband wears bow ties and when we got his latest BeauTies Ltd. catalog, the company has developed a series of Tolkien inspired ties! There are six of them with LOTR themed names. I'm sure that any fan fashionable enough to wear a bow tie would want "Hills of Evendim," "Mount Gundabad," "Mountains of Shadow," "Mount Mindolluin," "Mountains of Mirkwood," or "Orodruin." [
More!]
Hmmm.. these would have done great at our
two Towers: One Party...
News for Apr. 19, 2003
BitofEarth's Project Elanor Report
4/19/03, 9:21 am EST - Demosthenes
The people across at
BitofEarth.net have been understandably quiet since Project Elanor began on April 5, but have finally declared the project complete. What's more, they have a report up which includes a picture gallery from the day when
Sean Astin helped out on the building site. [
More]
First Edition Hobbit Under The Hammer
4/19/03, 8:58 am EST - Demosthenes
In for a penny, in for a pound, goes the saying. But if you want to own this extremely rare first edition copy of the Hobbit, you'll probably need about 7,000 of them. [
More]
You can check out a scan of the dust jacket - and details of when the auction takes place - here. Thanks to Ringer Spy Arwenelf for digging up the link.
Gaming - The Hobbit Is Coming
4/19/03, 8:25 am EST - Demosthenes
Okay, we've known that Sierra will be turning the Hobbit into a computer game for Nintendo Gamecube, PS2 and XBox - as well as the GameBoy Advance - for a while. However, the people at
actiontrip.com got a nice peek what's planned and a quick chat with Troy Skinner, producer at Sierra Entertainment. [
More]
For more information, you can also read an earlier interview that Design Lead Chuck Lupher gave to our own Gaming Havens staff just a couple of weeks ago. [More]
Billy Boyd On IGN - Reprised
4/19/03, 6:18 am EST - Demosthenes
Early this week I posted about a career-comprehensive interview with
Billy Boyd on IGN Filmforce. Only a couple of parts were up at that point. However, all five parts of this two-hour long phone interview have been transcribed and posted ... and it's well worth the read. So if you missed it, head over and take a look! [
More]
Hall Of Fire Chats This Weekend
4/19/03, 2:59 am EST - Demosthenes
This weekend, Hall of Fire focuses on one of Tolkien's more mysterious creations - the Druedain. If you're somewhat mystified as to who these people are, the name Ghan Buri Ghan (from Return of the King) may ring a few bells. Just what was Tolkien's inspiration for the creation of this "unlovely" and secretive people? A forest people with no writing system and "guttural languange", they seem uniquely placed among the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. [
More]
Inside The Weaving
4/19/03, 2:51 am EST - Demosthenes
The Sydney Morning Herald scores a great interview with
Hugo Weaving. Journalist Garry Maddox writes:
Despite shunning Los Angeles and staying close to his Sydney home, Weaving's profile has soared in recent years thanks to roles in the hit movies The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix. [
More]
News for Apr. 18, 2003
LOTR:TTT Picks Up a Hugo Award Nomination!
4/18/03, 4:55 pm EST - leo
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has been nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation of 2002. The Hugo Awards are given out each year for the best in science fiction as determined by a vote of current Worldcon members. This year's Hugos will be given out at Torcon in Toronto on Saturday, August 30. You can check out the full list of nominees
here.
Last year
The Fellowship of the Ring picked up the Hugo Award in the same category. Thanks to
Laurie for the info!
Sev Space Movie Caption Contest
4/18/03, 4:39 pm EST - leo
Cartoonist John Cook is running a cartoon caption contest on his website sev.com.au. The cartoon has
Wormtongue surveying a vast army of orcs, wondering how
Saruman put together such a huge army so quickly. The reader gets to write
Saruman’s response. The entries are rated by readers with the funniest punchline voted on in a week’s time. The contest ends Wed 23 April. Check it out
here!
Thanks to
Jess for the heads up!
More BBC Polls
4/18/03, 4:31 pm EST - leo
I'm starting to think that the folks over at the CBBC website lack a certain amount of imagination: all of their polls seem to be somehow related to
Lord of the Rings. At the moment they are running one about you favorite 'thing'
here, and your favorite celebrity (vote for
Elijah Wood or
Orlando Bloom)
here. Vote if you dare...
Daniel Bedingfield Correction
4/18/03, 4:26 pm EST - leo
A lot of people have emailed me today saying that Daniel Bedingfield (the guy we reported about
yesterday) isn't really English at all. It turns out he's from New Zealand, which might explain his fondness of LOTR...
TORN's Two Towers: One Party Video Feature
4/18/03, 1:40 pm EST - Tookish
Sent to us from Ringer
Mo Jones:
As I'm sure you know, the Space Channel from up here [Canada] was at the big Oscar party and put together a really fun video... and thanks to the hard work of Demosthenes & Arathorn we’re now able to present this little gem for the rest of Planet Earth. Featuring site Co-Founder Xoanon, Green Books’ Quickbeam & Anwyn, Sandman/Orbiter illustrator Colleen Doran, actors John Rhys-Davies, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, and fans from around the globe, this is a great taste of what the party looked and felt like as we celebrated the nominations of Peter Jackson’s LotR: TTT during the 75th Academy Awards.
Windows Media 9 [Click to view video] (18.2MB)
Quicktime: [Click to view video] (20.4MB, but slightly worse quality)
If necessary you may need to download the Window Media 9 codecs or Quicktime.
Gandalf On AFI's '100 Heros and Villains'
4/18/03, 1:35 pm EST - Xoanon
Brian writes: I didn't know if this was noteworthy or not, but I noticed that the American Film Institute was going to do a list of 100 years of 100 heroes and villains:
There are 400 screen characters on the ballot. The screen characters range chronologically from "The Vampire," played by Theda Bara in 1915's A FOOL THERE WAS to multiple contributions in 2001 that include Gandalf the Grey (LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING), Detective Alonzo Harris (TRAINING DAY) and Shrek (SHREK). [
More]
Frodo Is A Harvard Man?
4/18/03, 1:30 pm EST - Xoanon
Deava writes: They are showing TTT in the huge science center at Harvard University this Friday and Saturday night at 7pm. Tickets are only $1 for students and $3 for those who aren't quite Harvard-esque. [
More]
Win a Mirkwood Elven Bow!
4/18/03, 11:33 am EST - Tookish
... and help a worthy cause raise needed funds. Idahoarchery hosts this raffle until April 19th and all proceeds will go to the Children's Miracle Network Hospital. [
More]
CastWatch: Orli Introduces new Pirates Trailer
4/18/03, 2:26 am EST - Calisuri
While surfing the latest trailers at
Apple.com, I stumbled across
Orlando Bloom (
Legolas) doing an introduction for a brand new "
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" trailer. Is it me, or is Orlando a little too laid back with his intro?[
More]
News for Apr. 17, 2003
The LOTR & Daniel Bedingfield Connection
4/17/03, 7:03 pm EST - leo
Jennifer writes:
Hello there! My name is Jennifer. I just thought you might be interested in this little thing I found in Daniel Bedingfield's thank yous [on his album I presume -leo]. I started laughing when I recognized his format and thought it might be a nice piece of info for the site. It's always nice to see LOTR used by other artists. [
More]
BBC polls
4/17/03, 4:02 pm EST - Calisuri
The BBC asks today "Who's the best virtual movie character?" I'm surprised they even need to ask! [
More]
Another poll currently running on the BBC website asks us which we are looking forward to the most: The Return of the King or the fifth Harry Potter-book. At the moment we are loosing badly, let's see if we can turn that around as well! [More]
Bidding war for 'Rings' home
4/17/03, 11:43 am EST - Xoanon
LONDON, England (AP) -- It has no kitchen and no central heating, but a house that "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien lived in 85 years ago has sold for £745,000 ($1.1 million) after a bidding war. The Georgian town house in central Oxford sold this week for £50,000 more than the asking price, a real estate company said. [
More]
Live Near Geneva, Switzerland? Wanna Meet John Howe?
4/17/03, 11:36 am EST - Xoanon
John Howe writes: To the best of my knowledge, the Salon International du Livre et de la Presse et du Multimédia, Palexpo, Geneva (April 30th to May 4th) is the first time that original sketches for the Lord of the Rings films have been exhibited in Europe. [
More]
LOTR Gummies?!
4/17/03, 11:12 am EST - Xoanon
Well..it had to happen eventually, LOTR has become the fruit flavored gummy candy kids love. Take a look at these scans, thanks to
Olivia. [
More]
Happy Birthday Sean Bean!
4/17/03, 9:22 am EST - Xoanon
Today, April 17th is Sean Bean's (Boromir) Birthday! Sean Bean was born on 17 April 1959 in Sheffield, England, UK . That makes him 44 today! Happy Birthday Sean!
[Click here to send your best wishes to Sean Bean!]
Jasmine Watson Jewellery Site Updated
4/17/03, 5:01 am EST - leo
Jasmine Watson, the woman who made pretty much all of the excellent jewellery seen in
The Lord of the Rings, has updated her website. You can now take a peek at her newly released 2003 collection. Also, by following the 'Lord of the Rings' link you can see the stuff she made for
The Two Towers. Be sure to check it out over at
JasmineWatson.com!
News for Apr. 16, 2003
TTT DVD Official Announcement Soon?
4/16/03, 4:16 pm EST - Xoanon
Plenty of people have been sending me the following link they received in their mailboxes today. It states that New Line will soon be officially announcing the release dates for TTT: The Theatrical DVD soon. [
More]
More Merry and Pippin in Two Towers DVD
4/16/03, 3:36 pm EST - Xoanon
The director of the Lords of the Rings films has revealed there'll be loads more of the two hobbits and Treebeard in the Two Towers DVD.
Peter Jackson says that there are an extra 43 minutes of stuff that wasn't on the film in the cinemas, and that most of it is really funny. [
More]
Tolkien Home Sells For £700,000 -UPDATE-
4/16/03, 1:42 pm EST - Xoanon
Luke writes: I have just been listening to BBC radio 3 and I thought you might like to know that Professor Tolkien's house in Oxford has just been sold for £700,000. This might not sound like a fortune for a house in central Oxford but apparently (according to the newscaster) there is no kitchen or heating! There was a bit of a bidding war going on but they didn't mention who bought it.
UPDATE: Jon writes: The actual figure was more than £745,000 for the 7-bedded Georgian townhouse in Oxford, where Tolkien & his wife Edith lived in 1918. The Tolkien Society expressed an interest in buying the property but it proved too expensive. The house was bought by an unnamed man, who now plans to renovate it.
Ian McKellen Voices 'The Simpsons'
4/16/03, 1:40 pm EST - Xoanon
We've posted about
Ian McKellen lending his voice on a new episode of the Simpsons over a month ago. But only now do we learn the unfortunate title (at least for me) of the episode, 'Regina Monologues'. Sigh...
Nazgul Thunder 2003!
4/16/03, 1:33 pm EST - Xoanon
Two of the most popular licenses of all time combine into one delicious sandwich of death-defying speed and action! [
More]
They have 9 horses. You have 700. Can you outrun them?
(Before we get angry emails or asked to post about a petition banning this game, it IS only a joke -Xo)
*Crush*, *Crush*, *Stomp*
4/16/03, 1:23 pm EST - leo
Well.. so much for
'The Guardian's online poll I mentioned yesterday.
The Lord of the Rings is currently in a very comfortable first position with 65%,
Harry Potter dropped down to 30%. I guess it's safe so say that we won this one, sorry Harry.
Bring on the next poll!
News for Apr. 15, 2003
BarliBash '03: Mark Your Calendars Now!
4/15/03, 11:41 pm EST - Jincey
Alright, Bash hopefuls - here's the first of what will probably be many posts about Barliman's Bash, 2003. To sum up: The Bash is being held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada this year, from Wednesday the 23rd of July through Sunday the 27th. For those who don't know, it's a primarily social event, intended to give Ringers a chance to get together and hang out for a few days. Sure, there will be some Tolkien discussion - and we're working on organising a few actual Tolkien-related events. More than anything, though - it's a party.
If this sounds like your sort of event, there's more info [here].
Another Poll To Swamp!
4/15/03, 7:16 pm EST - leo
English newspaper 'The Guardian' is currently running a poll on their site asking which 'winter-franchise' is the best. At the moment
The Lord of the Rings ranks second after
Harry Potter and that of course will not stand. Cast your vote
here!
Ian McKellen on Parkinson Transcript
4/15/03, 12:37 pm EST - Xoanon
Natalie writes: I transcribed the
Ian McKellen tv appearance if you want to read it. [
More]
Maguire, Mortensen get MTV movie nods
4/15/03, 12:34 pm EST - Xoanon
NEW YORK (AP) — Tobey Maguire and
Viggo Mortensen were nominated for best male performance, and the movies they star in —Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers— each received a leading five nominations for this year's MTV Movie Awards. [
More]
PJ Talks TTT: EE DVD
4/15/03, 12:17 pm EST - Xoanon
Although I'm loathe to cut and paste items directly from the LOTR Fan CLub Magazine (we like to get our own content), we've gotten so many emails about it I may as well post it. Take a look! [
More]
PJ Goes Ape For NZ PM
4/15/03, 12:07 pm EST - Xoanon
Silmarien writes: I thought you might like this cartoon from this weeks Listener showing PJ sitting on top of the "Beehive", (NZ's Parliament Buildings), holding Helen Clark, (our PM). [
More]
MTV Awards: Your Vote Counts!
4/15/03, 12:02 pm EST - Xoanon
In my rant yesterday about the MTV Awards I forgot to mention that YOU can vote for the winners! Take a look at the MTV page and vote TTT! [
More]
Mystery Towers Video Clip!
4/15/03, 8:58 am EST - Demosthenes
An anonymous spy dropped this little gem into our mailbox just yesterday. What is it? Well, it's a short video sequence of
Gandalf chatting to
Aragorn about the Ring in far more depth than we've seen previously. It could be from a Two Towers EE scene, a clip from the Two Towers PS2 game, or even a snippet from RoTK - we're not quite sure yet. You will need the latest
div-x codec - which you can obtain from
here - to view this file, but it's a free download. [
More]
Spoilers!Update: About 50 people wrote to me to say that this clip does - as I suspected - originate from the the EA game of the Two Towers. [More]
Empire Online - Early RoTK Preview
4/15/03, 6:40 am EST - Demosthenes
Empire Online has this very early preview of Return of the King on their site. No really new information, but a few olds snapshots and a quote or three about
Mouth of Sauron and the Dark Lord himself from
Peter Jackson that you might have forgotten about. [
More]
IGN Filmforce Focus - Billy Boyd
4/15/03, 6:04 am EST - Demosthenes
Kenneth over at IGN Filmforce dropped us a line to say that the site is doing a week-long special on
Billy Boyd, focusing on his extensive film and stage career. So, while Billy might be most recognisable to you as
Pippin Took, delve into this special feature and discover much much more about this talented Scot. [
More]
NZ Stuff Caricatures
4/15/03, 3:26 am EST - Demosthenes
I found these fabulous caricatures of
Karl Urban,
Peter Jackson and
Elijah Wood while snooping around
stuff.co.nz. [
More]
Towers Extended Edition: Word From Jackson
4/15/03, 3:16 am EST - Demosthenes
In the most recent edition of the LoTR 'Fan Club Official Movie Magazine', an interview with PJ states that FotR EE had 32 extra minutes, and the Two Towers EE will have 43 additional minutes. That means the extended Towers will come in at 222 minutes in length - that's a whopping 24 per cent more movie! Thanks to all who reported this! [
More]
Duracell LOTR TV Ad
4/15/03, 12:56 am EST - Calisuri
I just happened to be watching 'Law & Order' on TNT (yes, I'm a L&0 addict) and overheard an interesting commercial. The premise of the ad was a young boy under his blanket reading late into the night about 'Wizards and Hobbits,' while using a flash-light powered by Duracell batteries. What can be next, a Gollum animatronic that keeps going...and going...and going.....(oh no wait, thats Energizer..nevermind!)
News for Apr. 14, 2003
Vis Sit Tecum Musicorm Oscar Party Pics
4/14/03, 6:36 pm EST - Xoanon
GaladrielFinwe writes: I'm from the music group, Vis Sit Tecum Musicorm, that played at the beginning of the Two Towers - One Party! I know it's been three weeks now since the party but we've all been very busy... so here is a belated report of the party, as well as some of our pictures (more will be posted soon). [
More]
John Howe Journal.
4/14/03, 4:00 pm EST - Tehanu
Tolkien artist John Howe has some new entries in his journal, including news of his latest booksigning, and word that a small selection of a dozen pieces of Lord of the Rings film artwork will be on show at the Geneva Book Fair at the end of this month - a European premiere for these pieces. [
More] Thanks to WeeTanya for the link.
TTT Nabs 5 MTV Movie Award Noms!
4/14/03, 3:54 pm EST - Xoanon
MTV has just released their nominations for the 2003 Movie Awards. I think the Powers-That-Be at MTV are overlooking
Andy Serkis much like the Academy Awards, they're nominating '
Gollum' for best team and best virtual performance instead of ANDY SERKIS...what do we have to do to get Andy some respect?!?!!!!
"The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and "Spider-Man" lead the crop of nominees for the 2003 MTV Movie Awards with five nods apiece. The 12th annual awards ceremony will be taped May 31 at Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium for broadcast June 5 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, according to a network spokesperson.
Best Movie
Best Male Performance (Viggo Mortensen)
Best On-Screen Team (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin and Gollum)
Best Action Sequence (The Battle for Helms Deep)
Best Virtual Performance (Gollum)
Sir Ian McKellen's Tattoo
4/14/03, 3:46 pm EST - Tehanu
Here's an article on KillerMovies.com about the interview McKellen did on BBC's 'Parkinson' show, including pictures of the Elven '9' tattoo on his arm. [
More] Thanks to Vill for the link.
Makoare Talks ROTK/The Hobbit
4/14/03, 12:22 pm EST - Xoanon
Amy sends along word that our favorite baddie
Lawrence Makoare mentioned a few interesting tid-bits in regards to ROTK..and PJ one day making The Hobbit(?!). Take a look!
!!Spoilers!! [
More]
FOTR/TTT Double Feature In Oz
4/14/03, 12:13 pm EST - Xoanon
Ephor writes : I noticed when going to see TTT again last night that FOTR and TTT will be screening in double feature mode for a week May12-18, at the Garden City Megaplex in Mt Gravatt, Brisbane.
Otto Nominated For 'Helpmann' Award
4/14/03, 12:09 pm EST - Xoanon
Nadine writes:
Miranda Otto (
Eowyn) has been nominated for a Helpmann Award in the Best Female Actor in a Play category for her performance in the theatre production "A Doll's House". [
More]
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