The latest issue of very cool UK movie magazine SFX features an interview with Sean Astin. 'Sam from the Lord Of The Rings films talks about hummingbirds, shepherd's pie, and homo-eroticism.' [More]

New Zealand director Andrew Adamson is following in Peter Jackson's ambitious footsteps by embarking on more than one major feature film at a time. While production for the $100 million-plus The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is well under way, work has also begun on Shrek 3, the third in Adamson's animated movie franchise that so far has taken $US1.3 billion at the box office. [More]

Rebecca wrotes: From The Washington Post; 9/19/2004; Entertainment. MIYELO -- Opens Saturday. Through Oct. 23. Large-scale color and black-and-white photography by Viggo Mortensen. Addison/Ripley Fine Art, 1670 Wisconsin Ave. NW. 202-338-5180.

James Dyer, Associate Online Editor for Empire Magazine writes: Emprie is conducting a Public Access interview with Sean Astin on Monday and we want Tolkienites the world over to send in their questions but Monday afternoon. [More]

Julianne writes: Australian viewers might like to know that Sean Astin is a guest on Rove Live next Tuesday night (28th). He'll be talking about his new book. Not sure whether or not he's live in the studio, but he is in Australia at the moment. [More]

Take a look at some great images and reports from Freya, Hurricane Kailin & Diane S, who were all lucky enough to attend the LOTR Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, and attend BOWLmoot! [More]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Tuesday marked the premiere of the complete "Lord of the Rings" Symphony, conducted at the Hollywood Bowl by John Mauceri and in its London premiere by the composer, Howard Shore. [More]

Four new styles of TheOneRing.net shirts are now for sale! Three of the shirts were introduced at Dragon Con this year and the fourth is a polo-style shirt with the TORn logo embroidered on the left chest, available in four colors. [More]

The folks from Houghton Mifflin write: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original U.S. publication of The Fellowship of the Ring on October 21, bookstores around the country will be hosting special LOTR events, including trivia games, costume contests, and other activities. See the complete list of participating stores below. [More]

Neil writes: Wanted to bring to your attention a LOTR/Tolkien seminar in the Denver/Boulder CO region that desperately needs attention. It's entitled: "Unlocking the Lord of the Rings: A Seminar by JRR Tolkien Expert Joseph Pearce". Dates: Saturday October 2nd and Sunday October 3rd, $20 for two days! [More]

Garfeimao writes: The categories were for both Official sites, and Fan Run sites, and then winners were picked by Popular vote among fans, and by the Editor's of Movies.com. That's why there are two winners in each category. Sometimes it's the same site, and sometimes two sites won an award. [More]

A BIG thank you to all those who voted for us!

Cati writes: Hi I just wanted to tell everyone about the lord of the rings concert in London at the albert hall that took place last night as there is nothing about it on your site already. It was really amazing I’d never been to the royal albert hall before it was really pretty. [More]

Ringer staffer Garfeimao just called from the Movies.com Awards (taking place right now in Hollywood CA) to inform us that TheOneRing.net team has won two awards: The Bastards Have Landed (TBHL.TheOneRing.net) took home the award for Best Director Fan Site, and TheOneRIng.net took home the 'Editor's Choice' Award! We'll be posting details and photos from the event tomorrow. We'd like to thank the Academy...err....Movies.com and all of our supporters out there!

If any of you are like me you were watching your brand new Star Wars Original Trilogy on DVD last night. While I have yet to check out any of the special items on the DVDs, Amy writes in to tell us of a familiar face that can be seen; 'Peter Jackson is interviewed in several different spots on the Bonus Features (disc 4) of the new DVDs'. [Order Star Wars at Amazon.com]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jim Rygiel, who won three visual effects Oscars for his work on the "Lord of the Rings" films, is set to make his directorial debut on the upcoming indie feature "Bunyan and Babe" for Venice, Calif.-based Exodus Film Group. Based on the legendary figure of Paul Bunyan, "Bunyan and Babe" is a live-action family adventure following Bunyan's attempts -- with the help of a couple of kids -- to rescue his ox from the evil clutches of a demented circus owner. [More]

Today, as most of us know, is Bilbo & Frodo's birthday! September 22nd is a red letter day for all LOTR fans. Every journey has a first step, and this is the day it all started. Cheers to Bilbo & Frodo!

Today is Sala Baker's Birthday! Sala was born on September 22nd, 1976 in Wellington, New Zealand. That makes him 28 years old today! Happy Birthday Sala!

Tonight is the premiere of a few choice tv shows. Not least of which is the latest ABC drama 'Lost'. The show features Dominic Monaghan and an ensemble cast of plane crash survivors on a deserted island. Check local listings for this one!

When Dominic Monaghan came zooming back from Middle Earth, he hit with a resounding thud. "My first year in Los Angeles was pretty hellish," says the British actor who played Merry in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. "I came over here after the high point of 'Lord of the Rings,' and I saw all my friends jumping around to jobs, and I had nothing." [More]

Dawn Lux Sprague writes: The gown I designed, made and wore to the Return of the One Party in L.A. has won third place in the garment category of Sew News’ Magazine’s “Design with Doupioni” contest. With inspiration from Tolkien and LOTR, the gown’s design depicts a tree, complete with face and open eyes, wrapped around the body and arms of the dress over a simple forest scene. It is made from 109 individual pieces of doupioni silk in 13 different colors and is embellished with a seed bead moon and Swarovsky crystals as stars. It took approximately 250 hours and two months to design and make. It will be on display at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan on October 1-3, 2004.

Arwen writes: The third edition of TORN’s Baggins Birthday picnic, which took place this Sunday September 19th in Griffith Park, Los Angeles, turned out to be once again a party of special magnificence. The weather was a delightful mix of bright sunshine, blue skies, and thanks to a constant breeze which occasionally swelled up to a wicked wind, the temperature remained pleasant -when the previous two years had been scorchingly hot. [More]

pipnlvr writes: I happened to catch a new special on E! last night called The Next Wave. It took a closeup look at some of the up and coming young stars who could possibly be taking the places of the more established "older" ones, and their pick to be the successor of current Hollywood hunk Brad Pitt was none other than our favorite elven warrior, Orlando Bloom!

Those goofballs at somethingawful.com have created a 'Goldmine' featuring LOTR images in a Christmas theme. Take a look! (Adult content MAY appear). [More]

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith could see John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, play the part Gary Oldman turned down for its infringement of acting union rules. Rhys-Davies told a sci-fi convention that he was about to start work on a "Grievous new role" - a possible reference to the part of General Grievous a half-alien, half-robot villain. He has already worked for George Lucas in the Indiana Jones series. [More]

Korean university researchers said today (Tuesday) that they had developed a simplified technology making it possible to create computer-generated 3D characters like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films with a single camera at a fraction of present costs. [More]

"Blasphemy! Heresy! Not since Bored of the Rings has there been such a blatant desecration of the sacred works of J.R.R. Tolkien!" Now available from Cold Spring Press: The Sillymarillion by D.R. Lloyd, the first parody in print of The Silmarillion. The book is now available from online bookstores. [More]

West of the Moon Webmistress Shadow writes: My Dragon*con report and photo galleries can now be found at West of the Moon's Dragon*con website. In the next few weeks, I'll be posting my interviews with Bruce Hopkins, Craig Parker, and the Brobdingnagian Bards, as well as transcripts of the talks given by Bruce, Craig, and Sala Baker, so stay posted! [More]

Today is David Wenham's birthday! David was born on September 21st, 1965 in Sydney, NSW, Australia. That makes him 39 years old today! Happy Birthday David!

Melissa writes: I wanted to let you know about a new "Lost" commercial that's been airing, which specifically focuses on Dominic Monaghan. It starts off "He's gone from Middle-Earth... to the middle of nowhere." Then it goes on to say something along the lines of, "The Lord of the Rings' Dominic Monaghan stars in Lost, premiering Wednesday on ABC". "Lost" Premieres on ABC this Wednesday, September 22nd at 8PM. [Official site]

Greyseasunder writes: I just got back from spending the weekend with my in-laws, just so that I could see the Hartford Symphony’s rendition of the Lord of the Rings Symphony. I live in New Hampshire, while my in-laws live in southern Connecticut. I drove over 3 hours to get to their home, and then another hour and half to get to Hartford. While I had to suffer through Friday and Saturday with my in-laws, waiting until that magical time of 3pm on Sunday, I did it and made the trek to the Bushnell Theatre for the afternoon concert. [More]

Merry writes: Happy Birthday, Bilbo Baggins! Wednesday, September 22, 7:00-8:00 pm. We’ll celebrate fantasy’s favorite hobbit adventurer with book discussion, cake, and more. Don’t miss this chance to meet other like minded teen Tolkien fans. 285 East Walnut Street Pasadena, CA 91101. [More]

Wellington-born actor Karl Urban has landed his biggest role to date as the star of a Hollywood movie adaptation of popular science fiction video game Doom. Entertainment magazine The Hollywood Reporter said Urban, who recently had supporting roles in The Bourne Supremacy, The Chronicles of Riddick and The Lord of the Rings, would star as John Grimm – leader of a special team that fights aliens. [More]

Sidsehow/Weta Collectibles has released another weapon set collectible for pre-sale, but this time, instead of a few weapons on one base, they have created on large weapon: Sauron's Mace. The limited edition piece features a translucent lava rock translucent base and every detail possible from the Dark Lord's weapon of choice. We have also posted a hi-res picture gallery of the piece in our Scrapbook. Check it out! [Click Here] [Mace Scrapbook]

Well, somebody's spending up big money in West Auckland besides the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe people. LWW's publicist wrote to tell us that this set is nothing to do with the Narnia films. Since I last wrote, they've built on some crenellations along the top of the walls, so it still looks like a set for something set in a historical or fantasy world. Interesting, but not really relevant I guess.

New Line has confirmed that Costa Botes' documentaries, LOTR Behind the Scenes will not be shown anywhere unless or until they are attached to a special deluxe boxset of the LOTR DVDs due to come out in a year or two. A big disappointment for us, and a shame, because by showing how hard it really was to make these movies, they increase our respect for the people who made them and our appreciation of New Line's courage in backing them as they did.

Many of TORN's readers are interested in other fantasy film projects that are in the pipeline, including Phillip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy. BridgeToTheStars.net has a terrific interview with the director Chris Weitz where he answers the fans' questions about his treatment of the story. [More]

Ireth and Little Frodo writes: Grab your pointy ears, dust off those Middle Earth costumes and join us for a grand night at the Meyerson Center in Downtown Dallas, TX. The world renowned, award winning, Dallas Symphony Orchestra will be performing the Lord of the Rings Symphony on October 7th and 8th in Dallas, TX! Storyboards and artwork from the movies will be projected over the stage while 200 musicians play and chorus sing to the award winning music of the LOTR Trilogy. [More]

Shayna C writes: Hello everyone, I went to the Symphony last night down in Albuquerque. It was fantastic. The space was very nice and the acoustics were wonderful. I attended the Houston Symphony back in July, which was fabulous as well. [More]

Beowulf writes: Sean Astin is going on tour to promote his new book, “There and Back Again: An Actor’s Tale.” He’ll be appearing at the Book Revue bookstore in Huntington, NY on October 14th at 8:00 PM. Go to www.bookrevue.com or call 631-271-1442 for more details on the event.

Goddessofthering writes: I spent yesterday at Supernova, a convention in Brisbane Australia, where Sean Astin, John Rhys Davies and John Noble were guests. I have some digital photos (attached) that you are welcome to use. Also, a little of what happened on the day. [More]

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