| 3-10-02 Latest News |
LOTR Wins C.A.S. Award
Xoanon @ 10:47 pm EST
The winners of the Cinema Audio Society Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing, announced last night, March 9th, in a sealed envelope ceremony at the annual C.A.S. Awards Banquet are as follows: The winners of the 2001 Cinema Audio Society Award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures were for: The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring Re-recording mixers - Production mixer -
Christopher Boyes
Michael Semanick
Gethin Creagh
Hammond Peek
Lord of the Rings "FoTR" TRIVIA
Xoanon @ 8:05 pm EST
Harper Collins Canada Ltd - in association with Dúnedain Multimedia, Toronto.com, Trivia Engine, and Virgin Music Canada - is launching a three-week "FoTR" trivia quest on March 11th, 12:01 am (EST). The game will be accessible via the Toronto.com web site until March 31st, 2002. "Fellowship of the Ring Trivia" is powered by Trivia Engine -- one of the four products Dúnedain Multimedia launched in the spring of 2001 -- and features challenging questions about the plot line, characters, places, and the author of this classic novel. Prizes - provided by Harper Collins and Virgin Music - will be awarded to players with the highest scores after the contest closes. Official contest rules are accessible from the game (for more details about prizes, restrictions and regulations). There are three different games to choose from - each based on a specific segment of the book - and you can play as many times as you like before the end of the month. Visit http://www.toronto.com to join The Fellowship on Monday, March 11th, 2002.
Media Watch: In Style Magazine (Australia)
Xoanon @ 7:56 pm EST
Julia writes: Here is a copy of some LOTR article and pics that were in this months Australian In Style. Please leave my name attached to them if you use them.
Fran Walsh, Christopher Lee on New York Observer
Tehanu @ 3:11 pm EST
Elvish: Live in N.Y.C. "No one knows this yet," said Lord of the Rings screenwriter Fran Walsh. "But we need to get it out, because the fans are going to be really upset by it." Ms. Walsh stood in the back room of Michael‚s restaurant on Feb. 22. Around her milled other members of the creative team that had produced Oscar‚s most nominated movie. The film's director and Ms. Walsh‚s companion, Peter Jackson, was padding about, as were the musical composer, Howard Shore; actor Christopher Lee, who plays Saruman the White; New Line co-chairman Bob Shaye; and LOTR‚s executive producer and the head of Fine Line Features, Mark Ordesky. Ms. Walsh, Mr. Jackson and Mr. Shore each glowed with Oscar‚s kiss, but seeing that Ms. Walsh was itching to spill her guts, The Transom stuck with her. So what exactly was burning a hole in the screenwriter‚s hard drive? "Shelob is not going to be in part two," she said. For Tolkien neophytes, this may sound like news from a different dimension. But for pale-skinned Lord of the Rings nuts who have spent an estimated $700 million on tickets to the first film, it‚s big news. "I checked [the fan site] One Ring, and there‚s a poll about what they‚re most looking forward to in the second film," Ms. Walsh said. "They all say Shelob!" Shelob is the evil spider-like creature that plays a pivotal role at the end of The Two Towers, the second part of Tolkien‚s trilogy. "Of course Shelob is a major villain, and once Sam and Frodo get past her it's basically one plot...we needed to add something, so we simply moved the Shelob bit to the third film," Ms. Walsh said. Mr. Jackson loped by with actor Matthew Modine in tow, and Ms. Walsh sighed. "I call him "shaggy chic‚" because he has no style," she said of her companion. "And he has the most unruly hair." Although Mr. Jackson is known for his propensity to go barefoot and wear the same shorts and T-shirt for days on end, he had dressed for the luncheon in a button-down shirt that strained against his prodigious gut. The diminutive director wore weathered sneakers and walked on the balls of his feet. His brown hair was long and scraggly. Ms. Walsh said that Donatella Versace has offered to make Mr. Jackson an Oscar suit, but that his initial response was "Aaaaaaah!" [I think she means "Aaaaaaarrggghhhh!" - Tehanu] "He was screaming in terror," she said. But Ms. Walsh added that her partner will "grudgingly acquiesce." "Oh, wait," the screenwriter said. "Better not say grudgingly.‚ Just acquiesce.‚ No, no, not acquiesce‚ embrace‚! He'll embrace it!" Mr. Jackson was going to be doing a lot of embracing in the next 12 hours. Later in the evening, the crowd was headed to a swanky dinner hosted by directors Barry Levinson and Martin Scorsese and writers William Styron and Norman Mailer. The dinner had been arranged by publicist Peggy Siegal to introduce the contingent of New Zealanders and Brits to an eclectic group of New York‚s cultural cognoscenti, albeit one that could also double as the cast for an It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World remake. Guests at the dinner included actress Kyra Sedgwick, comedian Billy Crystal, essayist Stanley Crouch, director John Sayles, actress Sigourney Weaver, journalist Lally Weymouth, germ-warfare expert and anthrax target Judith Miller, writer Gay Talese, publisher Nan Talese, author Salman Rushdie, and Early Show host Bryant Gumbel. But first there was lunch. "This is worse than the Carnegie Deli. How am I supposed to eat all this food?" said Mr. Lee when his salad was put in front of him at Michael‚s. Mr. Lee looked more like Sherlock Holmes than Saruman. He was dressed impeccably in a checked jacket, olive vest, bright green tie and mustard corduroys. A red silk handkerchief poked from his jacket pocket. In an earlier chapter of his life, Mr. Lee had been a military sleuth, searching for Nazi war criminals as part of Britain‚s Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects. "I have seen man‚s inhumanity to man," he said softly. The actor, who said he‚ll "be 80 in May "hopefully," seemed miles from Michael‚s as he described meeting Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien in an Oxford pub. "He was a devout man, no question about that," said Mr. Lee, who has reread The Lord of the Rings every year since its publication. Suddenly he erupted in what sounded like gibberish. "Ash nazg durbatulúk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulúk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!" he said, in an accent that was heavy on the rolled R‚s. Mr. Lee was merely recitingˆin ancient Elvishˆthe inscription found on the ring that's at the center of Tolkien's trilogy. "I'm not very good at these things," said Mr. Lee of the event. "People misunderstand what I'm saying."
This column ran on page 3 in the 3/4/2002 edition of The New York Observer.
| 3-07-02 Latest News |
Orlando Bloom Online
Xoanon @ 9:21 pm EST
Bourget writes: Enclosed are scans of article on Orlando-Legolas' rise to web fame from UK gossip tabloid "Now". Apart from that, nothing new, Bloom still has an "olive complexion" and is still called "Orli" by his teenage fans.
There and back again – a journey to middle earth Part IX
Xoanon @ 8:51 pm EST
There and back again – a journey to middle earth I thought I would share with theonering.net my experience on the Red Carpet Movie Tour’s LOTR ultimate fantasy 12-day tour (http://www.redcarpet-tours.com). I’m on a small VIP tour of travel agents. I’ll send in updates as time and connectivity permit. This is the ninth installment. Feb 26th Today was a jam-packed day. We started off early and took a detour to some amazing clay cliffs, before heading off to Tarras. We drove through Lindas Pass on our way to Tarras, and the drive is stunningly beautiful. At Tarras, we headed to the tree farm where Arwen and Frodo raced away from the Nazgul The farmer was away today, so we didn’t get to hear any great stories, but once again the land was very recognizable. They shot most of the chase scenes on the farm, both the open plain scenes and the thicker forest scenes. We walked down the road they had laid down for the cameras trucks to drive on – it was pretty cool.
We stayed in Arrowtown to have dinner at the internationally known restaurant, Saffron. The food was fantastic, and the waiter assured us that that was were the LOTR bunch ate when they were in town. Finally, we ended the day in Queenstown, a fabulous town in a breathtakingly beautiful area of NZ. We went down to the city center on the lake to watch the sun go down behind the mountains – outstanding! We also saw the Irish pub that we think is the one the hobbits liked to frequent when they were living in Queenstown. All in all, another incredible day.
Tomorrow – locations around Queenstown, Glenorchy and a jet boat safari.
Media Watch: Trading Card World Magazine
Xoanon @ 5:08 pm EST
lee writes: I bought this on an impulse, because LOTR is mentioned on the cover, and found it contained more than I expected. I thought you might like to see the scans but yahoo will only let me send 3 files at a time so I'll try to send articles together and pages in sequence. TCW has a heading 'NO. 1 FOR TRADING CARDS', but elsewhere describes itself as the only magazine devoted to TC in the UK so it would be hard for it to be NO. 2. These attachments are the front cover, the contents page and a news update mentioning CD rom cards.
Just WHO Are YOU?
Xoanon @ 10:53 am EST
Nona writes: This scan was done by "Winter" from the LOTR Info group. It's an enlargement of one of the pictures from the Variety booklet that's in the most recent variety. As you can see - Boromir is clearly not Sean Bean!
There's also some question as to whether some of the other actors are really who they're supposed to be - although Winter says it's her scanner, and they all are who they are - except Boromir.
So...who is Boromir? Is it Sean Bean's stand-in? Is it the "tall" Boromir (for when the Hobbits are played by their normal-sized actors). And why is Sean Bean missing from the picture? (as well as the two other Hobbits)?
Xoanon here, I think this may just be a stand in for Sean Bean, who knows, he may have been unavailable for this shot, or perhaps they were going to digitally place Sean's face over this stand-in, personally I think it's funny, but I'm curious to know who that fellow is, and if you're reading this drop me a line!
The Hobbit
DarthCaeser @ 2:08 am EST
Sierra Entertainment, Inc. Announces Development of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit Videogame for Nintendo GameCube Gamers to Assume Role of Bilbo Baggins in His Epic Adventure BELLEVUE, Wash., Feb. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Sierra Entertainment, Inc., a studio of Vivendi Universal Publishing, today announced development of ``The Hobbit,'' a videogame based on J.R.R. Tolkien's worldwide best-selling novel. The game is due to be released in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube. ``The Hobbit,'' developed by Austin, Texas-based Inevitable Entertainment, is a third-person action/adventure game set in the world of Middle-Earth. In the game, players take the persona of Bilbo Baggins, an unassuming hobbit who has been unwittingly thrust into an epic adventure. ``Bringing the epic worlds described in Tolkien's works to life through a video game has been an amazing experience,'' said Russell Byrd, managing director at Inevitable Entertainment. ``The Hobbit is one of the pre-eminent fantasy works of all time and is perfectly suited to be the inspiration for a great game,'' said Mike Ryder, president of Sierra Entertainment, Inc. ``The book provides a tremendous amount of rich material from which we expect to make a fantasy game that lives up to the extremely high expectations of Tolkien's fans worldwide.'' Under its multi-year deal with Tolkien Enterprises, Sierra has exclusive rights to create video games based on J.R.R. Tolkien's literary work The Hobbit. J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have set the standard for fantasy writers and creators of epic worlds. The novels are massive best sellers, having sold close to 100 million copies worldwide and been translated into 26 different languages. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is the subject of three movies being created by New Line Cinema, the first of which, The Fellowship of the Ring, was released on December 19, 2001 and is one of the hottest movies of 2001/2002. ABOUT INEVITABLE ENTERTAINMENT Inevitable Entertainment Inc., http://www.inevitable.com, is a cutting edge video game development studio based in Austin, Texas. Inevitable was founded in March, 2000 by top ex-management personnel from Iguana Entertainment and prides itself on creating AAA titles for the Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft XBox, and Nintendo GameCube. ABOUT SIERRA Sierra Entertainment, Inc. http://www.sierra.com, a studio of Vivendi Universal Publishing and part of its Games division, is one of the original developers and largest worldwide publishers of interactive entertainment and productivity software. Sierra is renowned for releasing critically acclaimed and award winning titles that represent a wide variety of computer entertainment on both next generation console and PC platforms. About Vivendi Universal Publishing Vivendi Universal Publishing (VU Publishing), the publishing division of the world's second largest communications group (Vivendi Universal), is an international leader in multi-platform publishing and content distribution. As one of the top three players in the global publishing market and the only publisher with an international reach, the Company's key content areas include literature, reference, education, games and consumer press. VU Publishing publishes content in four major languages, including English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and has strong local publishing brands, including Anaya, Atica, Houghton Mifflin, Knowledge Adventure, Larousse, Nathan and Scipione. In the games category, VU Publishing is a leading publisher of online, PC and console-based games. Its studios include Blizzard Entertainment, Sierra Entertainment, Inc. and Universal Interactive.
| 3-06-02 Latest News |
Media Watch: Russian Premiere Magazine
Xoanon @ 2:14 pm EST
Rynger Spy Albertine sends along these scans from Premiere's Russian magazine (didn't even know they made it in Russian). Take a look!
There and back again – a journey to middle earth Part VIII
Xoanon @ 12:45 pm EST
I thought I would share with theonering.net my experience on the Red Carpet Movie Tour’s LOTR ultimate fantasy 12-day tour (http://www.redcarpet-tours.com). I’m on a small VIP tour of travel agents. I’ll send in updates as time and connectivity permit. This is the eighth installment. Feb 25th Today we left Christchurch and headed towards the Southern Alps. I haven’t been mentioning how gorgeous the landscape is here on the south island. It is a wild and rugged land. Often, we are driving along on windy roads through another small mountain range, and we will come round a bend to see a beautiful lake or river with incredibly blue water. I have tons of those pictures too, I just haven’t been including them in the LOTR reports. Anyway, we drove towards Erewhon sheep station (which derived its name from the word nowhere, because it really is out in the middle of nowhere) and stopped at Mt. Potts, which is a lovely little ski resort and farm owned by Marie-Claire and her husband Mark. It was on their land where Edoras was filmed. As with the other locations, the set is gone, but the landscape is recognizable. We had a great time talking to Marie-Claire, who ended up feeding set builders, stagehands, and extras for almost a year as the set was built, used and destroyed. There were a lot of horses used in these scenes, and Mark got to play one of the riders – he is one of the ones carrying a flag.
After tea with Marie-Claire, we passed through some awesome landscape on our way to Twizel. We saw a couple of fabulous lakes, as well as Mt Cook. At Twizel, we headed to the farm where they filmed the Pelannor Fields. We got to meet Priscilla (who owns the farm with her husband Simon), and her daughters. We had a wonderful time talking to Priscilla (who played an orc in some of the scenes), and her lovely daughters who watched much of the filming and even got to meet Peter Jackson. They had many stories and tales of watching the 800 or so extras stage a battle, racing along the plains, or surging over the hills. It sounds like it is going to be absolutely awesome (not that I had any doubts about that)!
Tomorrow – Tarras, where Arwen and Frodo eluded the Nazgul, the Warbirds Museum and Kawerua River, where Arwen and Frodo forded the river.
Richard Taylor Talks At Innovate NZ
Xoanon @ 9:43 am EST
Will writes: They just showed a section of Richard Taylor's talk at Innovate NZ workshop today. They only showed some of it and most of it just touch on some behind the scenes things. They showed some footage of their work, but didn't show any Two Towers footage.
Here's just a brief summary of what he talked about.
He started off talking about how they had tried to keep all the effects/art departments (5 different depts altogether) as one so everything would work as one. He talked about the innovation that went into Massive and how it works (I didn't know that the 'soldiers' actually got bloodier and dirtier the longer they fought). He joked about the fact that most chain mail is actually knitted and how they actually employed an old ladies (65+) knitting club to come into the workshop. On location they actually dug up a section of the earth and used the colour pigment to dirty up the actors based on each location, to make it seem more real as opposed to clean looking Hollywood style medieval. Also when doing the effects they wanted to make the image expand past the frame, so you believed the world actually existed.
Some of the figures while making the film:
48,000 props (includes everything)
10,000 facial applications
1800 hobbit feet just for the 4 main hobbits
10,000 arrows
The rest was about innovation behind the company and the people involved. Overall an interesting little speech, just a shame he didn't offer any new information about LOTRs.
Linux Snatches Rings Prize
Xoanon @ 12:36 am EST
arien writes: Thought you might be interested in this recent article from the Australian Financial Review about the OS(s) used for handling the animation in LOTR. by Katrina Nicholas With Tony Boyd Tolkien's weird and wonderful cast of Middle-earth creatures will be vastly enhanced in parts two and three of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy using software that runs on a free operating system. But while the improvement in computer-generated fantasy figures may wow audiences, their production is hurting high-performance computing giant Silicon Graphics Inc. That's because Weta Digital, the New Zealand-based company contracted to handle the trilogy's animation, rendering and compositing requirements, is gradually moving away from using SGI's operating system, Irix, in favour of open-source operating system Linux. Weta Digital's chief technical officer, Mr Jon Labrie, said last week that the company, which will soon increase artist numbers to 200 to ensure the second film is ready by October, operated about 125 SGI and 70 Linux workstations. Those numbers would reverse within six months, he said. Mr Labrie said now that Maya and Shake the two primary applications Weta needs to do the 3D modelling and compositing required for the films were available on Linux, it made better dollar sense to use the platform. (Although Maya and Shake are also available on NT, Mr Labrie said Microsoft's system did not scale very well.) Linux was better because it was easier to administer and more robust, he said. Furthermore, as it costs three times as much to operate with SGI, Linux is a very compelling option. Infrastructure costs have been dropping rapidly. Demonstrating the price differential, Mr Labrie said that it cost more than $NZ40,000 ($32,670) to operate a SGI workstation and just $NZ15,000 for a Linux. Weta's shift away from SGI has sparked an outburst from that firm's chief executive, Mr Bob Bishop. He said, while attending last week's world congress on information technology, that "Linux is not ready to build professional-quality, broadcast-quality animation". "It's on the way, but at the moment, you cannot truly finish at a professional level, at the broadcast-quality level, animated product on Linux. "You can get 60 to 70 per cent of the way there, but that final gap will prevent you bringing the product to market. Our Irix operating system is so loaded with real-time, low-latency features which are not available on Linux." Mr Bishop also said the reason Weta Digital got its films out on time was because it used the Irix operating system. But even though operating using Linux was cheaper, Mr Labrie said budgets for the second and third Lord of the Rings films had not been reduced. The computer effects would always expand to fill the available budget, he said. The increase in available computing power would mean audiences could expect to see richer graphics, especially in scenes involving digitally generated water and fire, Mr Labrie said. He also said crowd simulation could be dramatically improved. The Fellowship of the Rings, the first Lord of the Rings film, for example, features battle sequences that involved about 50,000 computer-generated warriors in the background. Those background warrior figures would be increased to 300,000 by film number three, he said.
Elvish: Live in N.Y.C.
Xoanon @ 12:31 am EST
From: www.newyorkobserver.com "No one knows this yet," said Lord of the Rings screenwriter Fran Walsh. "But we need to get it out, because the fans are going to be really upset by it." Ms. Walsh stood in the back room of Michael’s restaurant on Feb. 22. Around her milled other members of the creative team that had produced Oscar’s most nominated movie. The film’s director and Ms. Walsh’s companion, Peter Jackson, was padding about, as were the musical composer, Howard Shore; actor Christopher Lee, who plays Saruman the White; New Line co-chairman Bob Shaye; and LOTR’s executive producer and the head of Fine Line Features, Mark Ordesky. Ms. Walsh, Mr. Jackson and Mr. Shore each glowed with Oscar’s kiss, but seeing that Ms. Walsh was itching to spill her guts, The Transom stuck with her. So what exactly was burning a hole in the screenwriter’s hard drive? "Shelob is not going to be in part two," she said. For Tolkien neophytes, this may sound like news from a different dimension. But for pale-skinned Lord of the Rings nuts who have spent an estimated $700 million on tickets to the first film, it’s big news. "I checked [the fan site] One Ring, and there’s a poll about what they’re most looking forward to in the second film," Ms. Walsh said. "They all say Shelob!" Shelob is the evil spider-like creature that plays a pivotal role at the end of The Two Towers, the second part of Tolkien’s trilogy. "Of course Shelob is a major villain, and once Sam and Frodo get past her it’s basically one plot … we needed to add something, so we simply moved the Shelob bit to the third film," Ms. Walsh said. Mr. Jackson loped by with actor Matthew Modine in tow, and Ms. Walsh sighed. "I call him ‘shaggy chic’ because he has no style," she said of her companion. "And he has the most unruly hair." Although Mr. Jackson is known for his propensity to go barefoot and wear the same shorts and T-shirt for days on end, he had dressed for the luncheon in a button-down shirt that strained against his prodigious gut. The diminutive director wore weathered sneakers and walked on the balls of his feet. His brown hair was long and scraggly. Ms. Walsh said that Donatella Versace has offered to make Mr. Jackson an Oscar suit, but that his initial response was "Aaaaaaah!" "He was screaming in terror," she said. But Ms. Walsh added that her partner will "grudgingly acquiesce." "Oh, wait," the screenwriter said. "Better not say ‘grudgingly.’ Just ‘acquiesce.’ No, no, not ‘acquiesce’–‘embrace’! He’ll embrace it!" Mr. Jackson was going to be doing a lot of embracing in the next 12 hours. Later in the evening, the crowd was headed to a swanky dinner hosted by directors Barry Levinson and Martin Scorsese and writers William Styron and Norman Mailer. The dinner had been arranged by publicist Peggy Siegal to introduce the contingent of New Zealanders and Brits to an eclectic group of New York’s cultural cognoscenti, albeit one that could also double as the cast for an It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World remake. Guests at the dinner included actress Kyra Sedgwick, comedian Billy Crystal, essayist Stanley Crouch, director John Sayles, actress Sigourney Weaver, journalist Lally Weymouth, germ-warfare expert and anthrax target Judith Miller, writer Gay Talese, publisher Nan Talese, author Salman Rushdie, and Early Show host Bryant Gumbel. But first there was lunch. "This is worse than the Carnegie Deli. How am I supposed to eat all this food?" said Mr. Lee when his salad was put in front of him at Michael’s. Mr. Lee looked more like Sherlock Holmes than Saruman. He was dressed impeccably in a checked jacket, olive vest, bright green tie and mustard corduroys. A red silk handkerchief poked from his jacket pocket. In an earlier chapter of his life, Mr. Lee had been a military sleuth, searching for Nazi war criminals as part of Britain’s Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects. "I have seen man’s inhumanity to man," he said softly. The actor, who said he’ll "be 80 in May–hopefully," seemed miles from Michael’s as he described meeting Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien in an Oxford pub. "He was a devout man, no question about that," said Mr. Lee, who has reread The Lord of the Rings every year since its publication. Suddenly he erupted in what sounded like gibberish. "Ash nazg durbatulúk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulúk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!" he said, in an accent that was heavy on the rolled R’s. Mr. Lee was merely reciting–in ancient Elvish–the inscription found on the ring that’s at the center of Tolkien’s trilogy. "I’m not very good at these things," said Mr. Lee of the event. "People misunderstand what I’m saying. " –Rebecca Traister
| 3-05-02 Latest News |
LOTR Box Office: Japan
Xoanon @ 5:54 pm EST
Edwin writes: While I'm sure the official figures will be out soon enough, by playing with various online translation tools, it *appears* that LOTR took in excess of 900,000,000 yen on opening day in Japan ($6.75+ million). The article I saw also said that advance ticket sales were very strong and that a performance similar to "Titanic" is not impossible. Please take the above with a pinch of salt until somebody with a better command of Japanese can confirm for certain. Also, I was passing a movie theater on Sunday and all the LOTR shows were sold out hours in advance - and that's in a relatively quiet town to the
west of Tokyo! I also found a separate site that shows that Lord of the Rings was the #1 movie in Japan this weekend. [More]
Media Watch: Varitey Booklett
Xoanon @ 2:19 pm EST
Valerie writes: I just got this weeks double issue of Variety and it comes with a great booklet on the making of LOTR that I just had to scan right away and send along.
Special Oscar show to run at Embassy
Xoanon @ 1:43 pm EST
From: Altariel Wellingtonians are being invited to share in some of the expected oscar night succes for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Embassy Theatre Trust chairman Bill Sheat said the trust had negotiated an arrangement with Sky TV to show the Academy Award presentations live to 800 viewers at the Embassy Theatre on March 25. "What we are experiencing and sharing in Wellington are cinematic achievements that are truly extraordinary," he said. "Even three or four years ago no one could have expected a New Zealand-produced movie with 13 Academy Award nominations." The event would be a follow-up to the succesful Australasian premiere at the Embassy in December. It would be an opportunity for the wider Wellington film industry to bask in international success already bestowed on Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Richard Tayler and others, Mr Sheat said. Guests would include individuals and sponsors who had given financial support to the Embassy Theatre refurbishment, he said, and a limited number of tickets would be on sale when bookings opened. The showing would begin about noon and end late in the afternoon. Food and drink would be available.
More financial backing was needed to continue the work , which included earthquake-proofing of the building now officially listed by the Historic Places Trust, Mr Sheat said.
| 3-04-02 Latest News |
There and back again – a journey to middle earth Part VII
Xoanon @ 9:10 pm EST
I thought I would share with theonering.net my experience on the Red Carpet Movie Tour’s LOTR ultimate fantasy 12-day tour (http://www.redcarpet-tours.com). I’m on a small VIP tour of travel agents. I’ll send in updates as time and connectivity permit. This is the seventh installment. Feb 24th Today’s installment will be a short one again, as we spent most of the day traveling. Before we headed off for Christchurch, we went back to Jens Hansen’s shop to meet Thorkild, Jens’ son (if you missed yesterdays installment, Jens, who passed on in 1999, and Thorkild made the one ring). Thorkild talked about how he and his father made about 15 different rings for Peter and his team to chose from and it was this prototype that won. Jens, Thorkild and their jewelers ended up making about 41 different versions of the one ring in various sizes depending on what the ring was needed for. Thorkild even let us hold the one ring. How cool is that? Thorkild said that folks who would like to buy a copy of the one ring can order one from him and get it in a couple of weeks.
After we left Thorkild, we hit the road for Christchurch. We stopped at Hope’s Saddle for a view of Mt Owen, which is where they filmed the exit from Moria. Unfortunately the cloud cover was so low that we couldn’t see the distinct white rock. A bit later, we stopped at a wonderful little hot springs resort, Maruia Springs, for lunch and a soak. A few more hours and we finally made it to Christchurch.
Tomorrow – Mt. Potts (Edoras) and Pelannor Fields.
(Aussie) PM likened to 'miserable' Rings character
Xoanon @ 9:47 am EST
AAP BRISBANE: A prominent Labor politician has compared John Howard's election tactics to a "miserable, enslaved and obsessed" character from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Opposition business manager Wayne Swan was commenting on the Howard Government's use of the children-overboard affair to gain popularity before the federal election. Addressing the Labor Party's regional conference at Nambour in Queensland at the weekend, Mr Swan spoke of the Government's "self-abasement in the pursuit of victory". He then referred to the character Gollum, from the Lord of the Rings movie. "It's made me think about what happens to those who will go to any length to gain one ring - those for whom anything goes," he said. "It is this kind of obsession that made Gollum into the creature he is - miserable and enslaved, but also extremely dangerous to those around him. Dangerous to anything standing between him and his prize - in this case, accepted standards of honesty and decency in public life. "It is always hard in politics to compete with people who are willing to say anything and do anything to achieve power." The Government has faced accusations of dishonesty for falsely claiming that boat people trying to illegally enter Australia threw their children overboard.
Weekend Round Up
Xoanon @ 12:12 am EST
Weekly Ebay Items Tuckerman: "We're Adding Something Special" No Oscar for her... But there's something about Cate 'Rings' presents challenge to subtitlers TV Watch: McKellen On E! News Daily French and Saunders Goof On LOTR There and back again – a journey to middle earth Part VI Legolas Lives?...in my heart?? More from Viggo's Poetry Reading Lord of the Rings is named 2001's best libertarian film Art Of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit Report Another Teaser Trailer For Csoka's xXx McKellen On Politically Incorrect Fellowship Approaches Release In Egypt Report On Mortensen Poetry Reading At Track 16 X-Men (2000) UK Secret of the Andes (1998) UK Among Giants (1998) UK Frighteners, The (1996) Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981) UK Deterrence (1999) UK Sleepy Hollow (1999) UK Carry Me Back (1982) UK Midsummer Night's Dream, A (1999) UK Shadow Hours (2000) Jim Rygiel (SFX) Anna and the King (1999) Score, The (2001) Peter Jackson (Director) Contact (1997)
Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999)
Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
Gods and Monsters (1998)
Bent (1997)
And the Band Played On (1993) (TV)
Touch of Love, A (1969) UK
Protector, The (1997/I)
Great White Hype, The (1996)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing (1992) (TV)
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1982)
Victor/Victoria (1982) UK
Career Girls (1997)
John Leigh (Hama)
Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron)
Icebreaker (1999)
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Harrison Bergeron (1995) (TV)
Encino Man (1992) UK
Toy Soldiers (1991)
Staying Together (1989)
War of the Roses, The (1989) UK
White Water Summer (1987)
Jinnah (1998) UK
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Safari 3000 (1982)
Arabian Adventure (1979)
Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
Airport '77 (1977)
Three Musketeers, The (1973) UK
Wicker Man, The (1973) UK
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) UK
Gorgon, The (1964) UK
City of the Dead, The (1960)
Amère victoire (1957) 
Brian Sergent (Ted Sandyman)
Gandhi (1982) UK
Prophecy 3: The Ascent, The (2000) (V) UK
Storytellers, The (1999) UK
Progeny (1999) UK
Silicon Towers (1999)
Murder in the First (1995) UK
Color of Night (1994)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein (1991)
Body Parts (1991) UK
Child's Play 3 (1991) UK
Child's Play 2 (1990) UK
Hidden Agenda (1990)
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Dune (1984)
Ragtime (1981)
Multiplicity (1996)
Cliffhanger (1993)
Batman Returns (1992)
Ghost (1990)
Solar Crisis (1990)
Last Starfighter, The (1984)
Howard Shore (Composer)
Cell, The (2000)
High Fidelity (2000)
Analyze This (1999)
eXistenZ (1999)
Dogma (1999)
Striptease (1996)
White Man's Burden (1995)
Client, The (1994)
M. Butterfly (1993)
Guilty as Sin (1993)
Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
Naked Lunch (1991)
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
Innocent Man, An (1989)
Signs of Life (1989)
Moving (1988)
Big (1988)
Nadine (1987)
After Hours (1985)
Places in the Heart (1984)
Videodrome (1983)
Brood, The (1979)
Frighteners, The (1996)
| 3-03-02 Latest News |
Elijah Wood - The Ring Bearer
Xoanon @ 8:42 pm EST
Popular teen actor, Elijah Wood has become a star with the first instalment of the highly anticipated Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Here he talks to Jordan Riefe about the biggest role of his career and how the experience changed him. How exciting was it for you to be cast as Frodo for the Lord Of The Rings trilogy? Oh man, I don't think I can actually put into words how exciting it was. It's just overwhelming, the opportunity not only to play Frodo, from that perspective, but the opportunity also to take the hourney with everyone and an adventure that in some ways would mirror that of the book. To live in New Zealand for a year and a half, to be part of a trilogy - which is the first in history ever to be filmed at one time - to work with Peter Jackson, there were so many elements to the entirety of it all that just freaked me out and made me so excitied. Especially now, looking back, it's such an honour to have been part of it and to be a part of it. I think the movie's so wonderful. We had high ecpectations. It freaked me out, overwhelmed me. I think Peter has outdone himself and it's only gonna get better - that's the great thing. Your commitment to this film has kept you out of all those teenage movies, hasn't it? That was good to escape from all that shit. It was a blessing. I was getting away from it - I didn't have to read scripts, I didn't have to do anything but focus on Lord Of The Rings. I got to escape and go away to another world and, in doing that, make incredible movies, so it was a blessing more than anything. It wasn't something I really considered either. It was an opportunity that really does not come around. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. There was no way I was going to pass that up. There wasn't anything that could stop me from doing it. I didn't really give it much thought and I didn't really care that that was the most important thing to be, being a part of it, y'know? Did you concern yourself with rumors on the inernet about the film? I did actually. I was announced on Harry Knowle's site an I'm a regular to Ain't It Cool News anyway. I went to the site and it says in big letter, Elijah Wood Is Cast As Frodo, First Casting Decision! so I'm like, 'All right!, so I read the talkbacks and it was people lambasting it. They were just like, 'Oh my God, kill me now! This is terrible! The first casting and it's going to be ruined!', so I was like, 'Wow, such passion! God, I didn't even realise!'. So there I got my first taste of how passonate the fans were, but people tend to be over-critical on Harry's site anyway. It didn't really bother me; it was kind of a mixed thing anyway. But it did add to the pressure. I think when I went to New Zealand it became very obvious to me that I had to really fulfill not only my own vision but other people's visions as to what Frodo should be. That tended to drift away once we started filming because I really felt like I'd foind the character and I was confortable playing that character. At this point I feel like I've done it and I've done the best job that I could possible do and if fans love it then I've done my job over and above. Did you ever go into a chat room and say, 'What's wrong with Elijah Wood?' No, no, it didn't interest me enough. I thought it was more funny than anything. I didn't try to dispute it, I just let them do their own thing and hopefully they'd come around. What was your relationship with the book before getting involved with the film? I have a terribly uninteresting story associated with the book, to be honest. I read The Hobbit when I was young and I owned Lord Of The Rings for years without reading them. They sat on my shelf and I guess I attribute that to laziness. I certainly know of the stories and was definitely familiar with it enough that I got really excited when I heard that they were making films. But I didn't actually pick them up until I got to New Zealand. What kind of resources were they? Some actors more than others would consult the book. I never really did consult the book. I felt, like we were constantly....surrounded.... by all things Tolkien and Middle Earth and Lord Of The Rings that I never felt like I was wont for more information or for a different sort of guidance. I felt like once we kind of found Frodo, I felt comfortable in his shoes and sort of moved on from there. Obviously there were particular points that are quite critical movements in Frodo's evolution that were paid more attention to than others. In those particular circumstances we'd have a conversation or a long sort of pow-wow about where we were going to take Frodo at that point, Peter being involved, obviously. But I never really used the book. A lot of them did, but I think everyone had their own perspective and their own kind of way about taking their character on their journey. What was it like working in those hobbit feet? Oh believe me I got tired of those damn things after awhile. They're great and wonderful and really define hobbits, I think. You put the feet on and you certainly feel like a hobbit then. It also meant that we'd lost about an hour and a half of sleep on those days, which felt like every day. Five o'clock in the morning you stand up for an hour while the person applies the feet. Then they fall off during the day and they're reapplying them later in the day. There's no freedom with the feet and they were constantly taking a beating. So, yeah, I got tired of the feet, but they look great. They look wicked. Was the film like being a kid again? Everybody has a bit of an evolution. No, in fact I felt like this, for me personally in terms of life experiences making the movies, I felt like I was really growing as an individual. It was the first time I lived on my own for that length of time. I left home and went to New Zealand to work with people I didn't know in a country I'd never been to. It was a pivotal time in my life so, for that, I felt like it was a real kind of growing experience. Then, the actualy experience of making the film and the character that I had to work with, I really had to take him to places in some ways I've never been before, so that was also a challenge and a real growth. So I think it was actually probably more of an evolution for me personally and filmically as I move into being an adult. Watching the final result of the film, can you sit back and get drawn in? Yeah, I think so. There's so much in the movie that is new for all of us, alot of CG that we haven't seen. Rivendell was exactly there. We had massive sets that were incredible, but then there'd be a blue screen set up for a background that wasn't there. So, seeing the movie, there were tons of scenes where there were these expansive beautiful vistas that were included laters. There was so much new information that I was probably more focused on all of that and the entirety of the story than my actualy character. I think I focused on my character more that I normally do because of the fact that people are saying constantly to me, 'Dude, you're the ring bearer, you bear this responsibility'. I probably watched a little bit closer than normal, moreso the film. I just think it's amazing. I think the film's beautiful. How was making three movies at once different that making one? In making the three movies at once as opposed to doing it over a longer period of time, seperating them was critical only because it's one story and it really does take place over this kind of length of time. We actually, in some ways, we're taking this journey in real time. As confused as the schedule was and as back and forth as we were, we were kind of acting it out in a time comparable to that of the book. And certainly the idea of doing three movies as opposed to one, there's really no argument there. You have to do a movie per book because there's no way to encapsulate the entirety of the story in one film. Obviously Bakshi and the cartoon tried to do it. They only got to Helm's Deep. You really can't do that. I know that that was one of the problems Peter had shopping it to various studios cos a lot of people didn't have the guts to take it on and to make that commitment. New Line was the only company that really made that leap. I believe it was Bob Shaye, actually, at New Line, who suggested the three, which is something Peter and everyone involved with the movie wanted in the first place, but they'd kind of been talked down to only two movies. So it was music to their ears when New Line said, "Well look, whay are you gonna do two - let's do three - it's three books!" Luckily it all worked out. It leant itself to something I think that was probably more genuine and accurate because of the fact that were were taking this journey ourselves, so I think a lot of the things that come through in the film, a lot of the themes, were actually played out in real life. I think that really infused the film and the performances as well. Can you give us an example of that infusion? The friendship of the fellowship. We became very, very close working on this film and we're still very close, like brothers. So, the friendship of the fellowship that you see in the movies was a reality and we very much are a real fellowship. That's just one of the many parallels. What was the key to you in shooting three films out of sequences but maintaining Frodo's growth from film to film? Man, it's first defining what he is initianlly and defining what he is at the end of all things and the challenge then is to find the moments that define him in that evolution. The moments that, for the character, start to change him and there are very specific kinds of moments throughout the journey - taking on that responsibility of the ring and understanding what the ring does and its role, because the ring, in the film and in the books, is kind of a character in itself. Once you understand its role, you can then apply that pressure to yourself and carry that through. It's just about defining those moments where he's stripped away, slowly but surely. The producers say they still have CG work and tweaking on the other two films. Does that mean you are on-call for reshoots in the coming years? Yeah, it's really going to be dependent on the schedules and things like that. Obviously I'm loyal and I want to be there for everyting they need me for. That is a massive priority to me, but I also have to think about ooher things as well. I'm assuming that, in some way, if I am doing something else there will be negotiations and so on and so forth as to how I can do both. But yeah, I went back twice last year, I'll definitely be going back this year and I look forward to it. I don't want to let this journey go, I don't want it to end. It's been such an important part of my life and I've made some incredible friends and these reshoots and pickups and things are a way for us to hold onto it and eventually we're not going to need to go back. So it's a good thing for us, but yeah, it does pose a logistical problem in terms of doing other films. Is the tattoo that you each got [of the number 9 in Elvish - for the 9 members of the fellowship], another way of holding on to the experience of the film? Yeah, well the tattoo, man, the tattoo was an idea that we had early on. It was something that really came together during the last couple of weeks of filming just because we know at that point that it had been a truly profound moment in our lives and that the fellowship was indeed a real fellowship and we needed to mark that in some way that would be permanent. So we all went to a tattoo parlour and got it done and damn did it hurt! It was a thing that we agreed that we wouldn't show, although some have and that isn't cool. It was such a great experience but it was a year and a half long. There must have been your down times as well. Believe me, I could talk for hours about how great it was, but it was bloody difficult as well. Is there one moment that stands out where you were like, 'What am I doing'? I think the most difficult moment that I can think of is where my own psyhce kind of faltered right before Christmas break within the first couple of months of filming. It was particularly difficult at that time. We were doing six-day weeks and I was just starting to get burned out energy-wise and standing in front of me, beyond reach, was home. It was really the first time I'd gone home so I was kind of focusing on that and not work. I just wanted an escape from it all. I got home and I experienced that and it was great to go home and it was a relief to relax. Then I came back and I never felt that again - I never felt homesick because I loved my life there [in Wellington]. I think something happened in that it was an evolution for me as a person. I think I accepted a certain amount of newfound strength, a newfound focus. I started to focus, I think, towards the first break. when I came back, I somehow didn't allow myself to feel that way again. I grooved myself into the process and accepted that fact that in my mind it wasn't going to end. I was going to be there forever and that was fine. I think there was a difference of focus. I was a part of my evolution as a person. Were you able to move freely in New Zealand? Yeah, it was easy to move around and not be bothered. We were welcomed into society with open arms. How did you find driving on the opposite side of the road? I think there was only one time where I kind of fucked up and I dove on the left. They drive on the right-hand side, but I ended up on the wrong side of the road, actually twice. One towards the end when we were doing pickups. It was terrible. I turned right and I turned into their left-hand side and a car came right for me. I literally do not know how I avoided an accident. I think it was reflexes and the other driver must have had good reflexes and we just narrowly missed each other. It actually felt like the car went through us. I don't know how, it was divine intervention of something. It was scary. What did you love about your life in New Zealand? I loved my house, I loved my car, I loved the Matterhorn Bar - a great local bar we went to. They make some of the best eggs benedict by the way. I just loved everything about it. I loved Wellington, it was home. I loved going over to Peter's house and borrowing DVD's. There we so many things that were so normal to me that became part of my life living there. I loved going to Arrow Street Videos and picking up videos. It was its own life and I loved every minute of it, it was hard and I rarely got sleep and I was more exhausted than I've ever been in my life when I left, but everything about it - making the movie and my time away from it - was incredible and indescribable.
No Oscar for her... But there's something about Cate
Xoanon @ 8:24 pm EST
There's something about Cate Blanchett. And it's not just the Meryl-Streep ability to chew accents, nor the Madonna-like penchant for rotating hair color. It's in the roles she picks, which sometimes defies a regular movie-goer's common sensibilities. So she didn't win the Oscar for Elizabeth, which she was hotly tipped to in 1999. But she did have a Golden Globe, and there was no shortage of movie offers after the post-Academy Awards party. So why is it that your regular movie-goer would be hard pressed to name a film she's headlined since the critically-acclaimed Elizabeth? Well, that's because there were hardly any. Not in An Ideal Husband, Pushing Tin, The Talented Mr. Ripley, The Shipping News, nor even The Lord Of The Rings - all films she made post-Elizabeth, and all smallish characters. Those she did front, were hardly what you'd call box-office material. Think The Man Who Cried, The Gift and Charlotte Gray. Yet, the 32-yeard-old insists things wouldn't have been any different even if she'd taken home the coveted bald statuette that night. She said in a phone interview with The New Paper On Sunday. "It was great to be there, but I don't think that was the high point of my life. I've had a lot of high points since then." Ah. Spoken like a true actress, especially if you consider her earlier work in theatre. Theatre became her life line after she graduated from Sydney's National Institute of Dramatic Arts. Then director Bruce Beresford spotted her and cast her in Paradise Road, alongisde Glenn Close and Frances McDormand. Fast forward to the present and her new movie Bandits. Now showing in Singapore cinemas, Bandits is a comedy by Rain Man director, Barry Levinson. Blanchette plays Kate Wheeler, a bored, neglected housewife who gets caught between two very different friends, played by Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton. One is strong, the other sensitive, but together, they make a perfect team of bank robbers. Here, she goes for redhead, but the accent is undistinguishable. But Blanchett in a comedy? "I never see a role as purely comic or purely tragic. I think if you play tragedy or drama with an irony of levity, then it becomes terribly unwatchable," she explained. Thespian-speak again. Ask her who she had better chemistry with - Willis or Thornton - and the exceedingly polite actress maintains her non-commital stance. "The chemistry is very different and that's the cornerstone of the film..." It's hard to get anything out of Blanchett. But she did manage: "I love a guy who makes me laugh. And I'm married to him. I like the off-beat, I like things that are unpredictable. I don't think I'd choose either type." Her type, to be precise, takes the shape of Andrew Upton, a screenwriter she's been married to since 1997. The couple just had a son last December. But her marriage too, as most who've interviewed her would know, is also off-limits.
'Rings' presents challenge to subtitlers
Xoanon @ 8:20 pm EST
Tom Westin Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring will be the first glimpse many in this country have had into J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle Earth, populated by elves, wizards and furry-footed hobbits. The task of conveying the rich, old-style English of Tolkien's novels to a Japanese audience fell to Natsuko Toda, a translator who for more than 20 years has been Japan's language link to Hollywood, churning out subtitles for such blockbusters as Apocalypse Now, E.T., Back to the Future and more than 1,000 others, including the recently released Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. And now hobbits. "I had never read the book and was not familiar with the material," admitted Toda, a freelancer who does 40 to 50 films a year. "Suddenly the film arrived and I had to have it done in a week." She received help, however, from Teiji Seta, who translated Tolkien's Lord of the Rings book trilogy into Japanese, as well as from Japanese Tolkien fans, for whom altering the Master's words was no trifling matter. Thankfully, however, she was spared translating the elvish language used in the movie, a task handled instead by a Tolkien expert at Kyorin University. Toda found similarities in translating both Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings for the big screen, though not for the reasons one might expect. Although they are both fantasies, "the background and the language used is totally different," she said. "Both films are based on very widely read books (that had already been translated into Japanese), so it was not like ordinary films where I could translate freely. The Japanese translator of the Harry Potter books (Yuko Matsuoka) had very definite ideas about how the characters, such as the English schoolmasters, should speak, and I tried to do as much as I could within the limitations of subtitles." Although Peter Jackson went to great pains to preserve Tolkien's original language, Toda felt that the archaic Japanese used in the original translation would be difficult for today's young people to understand, and that a lighter style would be more appropriate. Through meetings organized by Herald, the movie's Japanese distributor, compromises between all parties were reached in January on the language that would end up on screen. Though Teiji's book had included literal translations for many of Tolkien's names and places, Toda favored rendering them into katakana for the movie version. Gollum, the cave-dwelling creature drawn by the ring's call, goes by a katakana rendering of his name in the movie, but was known as "gokuri" (the sound made when swallowing) in the book. Likewise, Aragorn's nickname of Strider was rendered in katakana, whereas the original translation referred to him as the more poetic "haseyo" (a person who runs fast). Toda worried that while die-hard fans of the book would feel more comfortable with haseyo, the general public would not understand its meaning, let alone be able to read the characters. "There were many people who wanted to stick to the original Japanese translation," said Toda, "but some things look really strange on screen. Subtitling isn't a literal translation and you cannot translate word-for-word." The basic rule, she said, is that due to the speed at which most people read, there can be only three to four Japanese characters per second of dialogue, making it a challenge to squeeze vital information into a short space. "When translated, Japanese tends to be longer than English," Toda explained, "but subtitling is the reverse; we are trying to make it shorter."
Media Watch: Style Magazine
Xoanon @ 7:40 pm EST
Ringer Spy Kim sends along these scans from the Australian Magazine 'Style Magazine' featuring Mirada Otto (Eowyn). Take a look!
There and back again – a journey to middle earth Part VI
Xoanon @ 6:59 pm EST
I thought I would share with theonering.net my experience on the Red Carpet Movie Tour’s LOTR ultimate fantasy 12-day tour (http://www.redcarpet-tours.com). I’m on a small VIP tour of travel agents. I’ll send in updates as time and connectivity permit. This is the sixth installment. Feb 23rd Today’s installment will be fairly short, as we spent much of the day in travel. We got up bright and early, and headed to the inter-island ferry. The trip across Cook’s Straight takes about 3 hours. It was a pleasant trip, especially for someone like me who loves to be on the water. When we landed, we piled into our minivan and headed off to Nelson. On the way there we stopped in Havlock at The Muscle Boys for some of the fabulous local green muscles. They were so good we ended up ordering more. We continued along the coastline into Nelson and headed for WOW, the wearable art museum (http://www.worldofwearableart.com). We had the fortune of being given a guided tour – really nice. Several of the artists who worked on LOTR have pieces at the museum, and our guide pointed them all out to us. As a costume designer, I found the place, very, very cool. There are some really amazing works in the place and I’d love to meet the designers. Finally, we topped the day off by going to the shop of Jens Hansen, the jeweler who designed the one ring. Unfortunately, the Jens himself has passed on, but his son, Thorkild now runs the shop. There is a small display in the window that talks about Jens’ and Thorkild’s work on LOTR (Thorkild worked on the one ring as well as doing a ring for Elrond). The original prototype for the one ring is in the window.
How cool is that?
Tomorrow – more travel – this time down to Christchurch.
| 3-02-02 Latest News |
Strider-Girl Attends Viggo's Poetry Reading
Calisuri @ 6:07 pm EST
Strider-Girl from TheOneRing.net message boards had a chance to attend the Viggo Mortenson poetry reading yesterday and sends in this report: Friday March 1st, 2002. It was a beautiful night in Santa Monica; the moon was high and bright, stars were sparkling in the dark sky. A long line of people stretched at the doors of Track 16 Gallery. Any winged creature, good or evil, flying by at that time may have wondered what this was all about. A Council of Elves, Men and Dwarves? An Entmoot? No. The return of a King? Close. The crowd had come together for "Just Words", a sold-out special night of poetry hosted by Track 16 Gallery as a benefit for the organization "Youth Speaks". Founded in San Francisco in 1996 (with branches in New York and Seattle) Youth Speaks, in the words of their own website (www.youthspeaks.org) is the "premier youth poetry, spoken word, and creative writing program in the country." Of course, many of the people in line were also there for a chance to see, hear, and possibly meet their Brother, their Captain, their King, him of many names, the Ranger, the Dunedain, Strider, the King of Gondor. In this part of the universe he goes by the name of Viggo Mortensen. In Middle Earth, Aragorn has a gift for poetry and song. And fittingly enough, among his many talents as actor, painter, photo-artist, Viggo is also a remarkable poet. As a vast audience of more than 300 people settled in rather uncomfortable chairs in front of the stage, many spotted Viggo, quietly making his way to the front left and sitting down among his peers. The show immediately opened with a group of four kids from Youth Speaks, exchanging words of poetry, rap style, from each corner of the crowded room. A brief and exciting glimpse of the kids’ fresh yet mature talent. After a few words of welcome from the organizers, Viggo was the first performer to take the stage. He had elected not to act out his poems but simply read them. And so he did, humbly, without artifice, in his trademark soft-spoken way. At first he struggled a bit, charmingly nervous, perusing the pages of his book in search of the right piece to start with. "I’m going to read a few old ones, and then maybe some new ones… if I have the guts", he said, punctuating his speech with soft giggles. One of his papers slipped from his book and fell to the floor, and as the audience laughed, he commented "That’s my invitation". His first poem was a beautiful and intense piece entitled "Home". Two other older pieces followed. From the generous applause, it was clear the audience truly enjoyed his work. Then he grabbed a yellow notepad darkened with scribblings, and said: "This is called "Communion". I will probably take most of it out eventually as I always do, but here it is". "Communion" is a wonderful, deep, haunting love poem, which among the five pieces he read was my favorite. He treated us to one last piece, then he thanked us and quietly, almost bashfully, left the stage under a big round of applause. Besides Viggo, the other two highlights of the evening were an appearance by Dave Eggers, the best-selling author of "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius", who brilliantly read an hilarious excerpt from his book. The second was Mark Smith, the founder of the Slam Poetry movement, who using the audience as an active participant, delivered a rousing performance. But the true stars of the evening were undoubtedly the kids from Youth Speaks, who came on stage last, and literally dazzled us with their bright talent. None of these kids is older than 16, and they’re already accomplished, brilliant writers and poets. As the show ended one of Youth Speaks’ spokespeople reminded us that this was a benefit, and urged us to open our wallets and be generous. And he added: "Now, Viggo Mortensen, he’s a very handsome man, right?" "Yes!" replied the audience, half laughing. "Well", he continued, "someone in the back of the room told me that if anyone writes a check for $30,000, they get to take him home for the weekend!" He paused in the middle of the laughter and applause that followed, and added: "It may be a joke, but who knows? After all, it’s Hollywood!". (Oh, didn’t we all wish then to be wealthy?!!!). Poetry reading had ended, but the evening was far from over, as a large group of people started moving towards Viggo’s corner. I ran back to my car and grabbed my two LOTR books which I had brought just in case. Back inside, as I joined the line I recognized a few faces from the Brentano’s book signing. For over an hour, Viggo mingled with his fans, tirelessly shaking hands, accepting presents, giving autographs, occasionally giving hugs, and having his picture taken. Always patient and gentle, always giving his full attention to the person speaking to him, never distracted or anxious to leave. When my turn came to have my books signed, he thanked me for waiting (how gracious is that?!). As he grabbed my Official Movie Guide, he remarked "This is a great book", and asked for my name. I said "Catherine, with a C". He asked: "Are you French?". "Yes", I replied, amused and somewhat astonished. People usually have a hard time identifying my accent (accent, what accent anyway?!) but Aragorn cannot be fooled. He knew! To my delight, Viggo wrote a special autograph on my book IN FRENCH! Yes, among his many talents, the man can also speak some French! Like many other Eowyns before me, I had fallen under the charm of Aragorn, son of Arathorn. A poet, a true artist, a being of light, a prince. He wrote something that said "Catherine, thank you for your visit. See you next time. Viggo" (by the way his signature is quite extraordinary, like some form of ancient Elvish…). Then I asked if he could also sign my brother’s LOTR Visual Companion, and he replied (in French!) "Sure, what’s his name?". "Francois" I said, and as I watched him writing, I noticed he’s one of the few people I’ve ever met in this country who didn’t struggle with the spelling of that name…! I thanked him for a great evening, and he said "Yes, aren’t these kids fantastic? How do they do it?!". One last "thank you", and I quickly stepped out of the crowd. I lingered on for a while, taking this opportunity to admire Viggo’s paintings and photos in the gallery. A great way to end a perfect evening. My only regret is that I didn’t get my picture taken with him. Everybody was doing it, and Viggo always accepted gracefully. I guess I was as bashful as a hobbit caught eavesdropping! But there will be other chances. As Viggo wrote in my book, "See you next time". Indeed, Strider.
Reflections on All 200 Films
Xoanon @ 4:48 pm EST
By DAVE KEHR NY Times Don't try to stump Christopher Lee. The towering, "In England, they brought out a book called `Christopher Lee: The Authorized Screen History' by a man named Jonathan Rigby," Mr. Lee said in his room at the Carlyle Hotel. "And I think the poor man - I really sympathize with him - had to look at nearly every film I've been in, which is a ghastly thought." O.K., how about "Babes in Bagdad," a film he made in Spain in 1952? "Oh, God," Mr. Lee sighed, "heavens above! Paulette Goddard, Richard Ney, Gypsy Rose Lee and John Boles, who in fact played the doctor's younger brother in the 1931 `Frankenstein.' I played some sort of awful slave trader in a black silk dress, or that's what it looked like. The director was Edgar G. Ulmer, and we had a shared passion for opera. We went to see `Tristan' in Barcelona, and he kept making comments about how little he thought of it all the way through. I said, `Shhh!' " Resplendent in a light brown tweed jacket and a canary yellow vest, Mr. Lee was visiting New York to help with the Oscar push for "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," in which he plays the wizard Saruman the White. Mr. Lee appears in the next two episodes of the "Rings," as well as in "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," to be released on May 16, a week before Mr. Lee's 80th birthday. He seems destined to be linked to horror and fantasy films, despite appearances in films like Billy Wilder's "Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" and Steven Spielberg's "1941." It's an identification he protests. "It's the media that keep on saying `horror veteran,' " he said, "but by my own estimation I don't think I appeared in more than 15 films that could be called horror movies. But everyone gets labeled." Mr. Lee made his screen debut as an uncredited spear carrier in Laurence Olivier's 1948 "Hamlet." After 54 years in the movies, is the work still fun? "Not always," he said. "Sometimes I ask myself, why am I doing this? Why do I bother? There's so much fear in this business now. They won't go for anything new. If it's different, they're frightened of it."
aristocratic British actor, best known for his epicurean interpretation of Count Dracula in the Hammer horror films of the 1960's, has appeared in well over 200 feature films. Mr. Lee is unsure of the exact figure, though he says he remembers something about each of them.
Art Of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit Report
Strider @ 4:40 pm EST
From Lotho Sackville-Baggins: The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles still has its 10th anniversary show "The Art of Motion Picture Costume Design Exhibit" up and running.
They have a single costume from the past 10 years worth of nominees in the entryway. Then the galleries opened to this year's nominees (and a few others).
Totally dominating the room was none other than Sauron! He was flanked by Gandalf, Strider, Frodo (from Bilbo's party), a Gondorian warrior, Saruman, and Galadriel. These costumes blew the competition out of the water! Sauron points his finger menacingly across the room at Satin (Nicole Kidman) from Moulin Rouge... you expect him to bash the cast of Gossford park out of his way with his mighty mace to seize the French courtesan for his own. Or perhaps he is only after her necklace - having a thing for jewelry himself.
But seriously, nothing else comes close to the utter detail - the care - the realism - of the Lord of the Rings costumes. Harry Potter looks sadly plain. Planet of the Apes looks flea bitten. Only Moulin Rouge could possibly hold a candle with its flash and detail come March 24th when the Oscars are announced.
Let's keep our fingers crossed for a definite win on this nomination!
I snapped some shots before being stopped by security. I would have gotten some closer shots had it been allowed. Hopefully these shots will encourage folks in the LA area to go see the exhibit - it is well worth it.
Bloom On So! Graham Norton
Strider @ 2:04 pm EST
Orlando Bloom was a guest on So! Graham Norton last night in the UK. Norton introduced him dressed as Gandalf with fake beard, staff and cheap wind effect. Norton didn't know how to pronounce 'Legolas' and deliberately called him variants like Leggylooloo instead. Orlando humbly denied Graham's suggestion that he is 'the next Leonard DiCaprio'. Bloom talked about his acting career, from doing theatre work to British soaps like Casualty and joked about an awfully over-acted death sequence in drama series A Midsummer's Night Murder. This brought Orlando nicely into talking about his next role as an Irishman in the remake of 'Ned Kelly' with Heath Ledger of 'A Knight's Tale'. Norton, an Irishman himself joked that he can train Orlando with the accent if he needs it. Norton then produced a Legolas figure still in its packaging and with some difficulty (they're tricky buggers to get out) he handed Orlando the figure, who subsequently showed his moving action pose and attempted to fire a plastic arrow from the bow. Cybill Shepard, who was another guest, promptly took the Legolas figure and placed it between the cleavage of her dress, to the embarassment of Orlando. Later on in the show, Orlando participated in a contest where himself, Cybil and other guest Cilla Black were appointed by Graham Norton a member of the crowd who had a strange reminder of their youth. Orlando got a person who kept their umbilical cord from birth in a box, which met with disdain from the crowd but interest from Bloom who eagerly look at it. Bloom's crowd member lost the contest for a trip to Mexico, then the show ended in a cloud of Confetti and Brazilian dancers.
Paltrow Hits Out Against "Fat" Tag For Her And Tyler
Strider @ 12:19 pm EST
World Entertainment News Network Actress GWYNETH PALTROW has hit out at the pressure put on female stars to stay thin in Hollywood. The blonde SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE star was outraged at recent articles saying that she and sexy LORD OF THE RINGS babe LIV TYLER were fat. The beauty says, "In the NEW YORK POST there was this article that said that I was getting fat from my macrobiotic diet. It said I was retaining water and that my body was no longer as good as it was. "I read an article on Liv Tyler where they were suggesting that she was not thin enough. That disgusts me. She is a beautiful, talented, young, working actress. "Imagine how women who might be just 10 pounds overweight must feel. I'm sick of studios and corporations trying to make us feel bad about ourselves."
