Did we glimpse baby Samwise?
January 28, 2015 at 4:06 pm -The first time I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition, I mistook a hobbit in the marketplace scene for Sean Astin. Upon pausing the film, however, I realized it wasn’t Sean at all but rather an actor who strongly resembled him… holding a baby. I’m certain the filmmakers also noticed this resemblance, which…
The One Last Party update – more ‘Entish Entertainment’ tickets available!
January 21, 2015 at 2:33 pm -We are hard at work planning for The One Last Party – and the good news is, having looked carefully at numbers, we can fit in FIFTY more people for the ‘Entish Entertainment’ ticket! That’s the ‘show only’ ticket – here are the details: For those on a budget: join us later in the evening!…
A check in with the financials of ‘The Hobbit: BOTFA’
January 20, 2015 at 4:48 am -Well, looks like nobody will go broke making Middle-earth movies. The third of Peter Jackson’s films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” squeaked past $800 million earned world-wide last weekend. Jackson can get on with his “Tin Tin” movie and maybe my wish that he will write and direct a World War I zombie film…
‘The Hobbit: BOTFA’ and its shocking VFX exclusion from the Oscar race
January 19, 2015 at 4:02 am -One thing that isn’t great about being a fansite: Other outlets and readers treat anything we write as if it were written from a fan perspective. Sometimes that is true, sometimes it is false. As a result of this, we didn’t complain about Oscar Nominations; It just sounds like whining anyway. For the record, while…
TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – January 18, 2015
January 18, 2015 at 12:05 pm -Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most active discussions. …
Test your Middle-earth knowledge with this quiz!
January 16, 2015 at 10:48 pm -I think it’s a given that 90% of all online quizzes are just rubbish. Which is why I was really surprised to stumble upon this great Buzzfeed Middle-earth quiz that will may actually stretch your Middle-earth knowledge. If you want to get 20/20 you’ll need to have a good knowledge of The Silmarillion and Unfinished…
Translations from Elvish: dialogue from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
January 16, 2015 at 9:06 pm -The folks at Gwaith-i-Phethain, The Fellowship of the Word-smiths on the Elendilion website, have just finished analysing and translating the Sindarin dialogue from The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies. They’ve set up a page with and with translations of the Sindarin dialogue of Tauriel, Galadriel, Legolas, etc. by Hungarian linguist Gábor Lőrinczi. As with…
An important campaign reminder from The One Last Party!
January 16, 2015 at 12:19 pm -As we posted on our Facebook page last night, today (Friday, January 16) will be the FINAL DAY to pledge for ‘full’ tickets for our One Last Party event. Tickets for the Perk Pledge levels Expected Party Goer and Rivendell Reveller will only be available until MIDNIGHT PST tonight! At the time of posting, that…
Annie Awards nominates ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ for 2 awards
January 15, 2015 at 5:05 pm -The 42nd annual Annie Awards nominees were recently announced, which has different dates for eligibility (so expect nominations next year for “The Battle of the Five Armies”.) “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” received 2 nominations from the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA). The Annie Awards honor the very best in the world of animation…
TORn’s One Last Party campaign soars past $180,000!
January 15, 2015 at 1:01 pm -As you’ve probably seen already, thanks to a vertitable flood of pledges from all of you we hit our funding goal overnight! We, now — officially and 100% — have a party happening at the American Legion Hall in Hollywood on Saturday February 21! We are looking forward to seeing you there! But this would…
Visual Effects Society nominates ‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ for 4 awards!
January 15, 2015 at 12:10 pm -While the Academy Awards did not recognize “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” in the Visual Effects category, the Visual Effects Society did. The 13th Annual VES Awards were announced with “The Hobbit” receiving 4 nominations. The VES Awards will be held on February 4th in Beverly Hills. Outstanding Visual Effects in a…
Check out this 120,000-piece replica Lego Rivendell!
January 15, 2015 at 11:50 am -Ben Pitchford builds Lego creations. In particular, over the last 11 months he’s been designing and constructing a 120,000-plus piece replica of Peter Jackson’s Rivendell from The Hobbit. It’s enormous. Sitting on a five feet by four feet baseplate, his replica Rivendell environment is more than 50 inches tall. It also includes several little scenes/dioramas…
‘The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies’ receives an Oscar nomination
January 15, 2015 at 10:22 am -The 87th Academy Award Nominations for the 2015 Oscars were announced this morning. Every year there are surprises and “snubs” and this year is no exception with chatter about films like “Selma” and “Gone Girl” lighting up Twitter and award blogs. “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” received only 1 nomination for its…
Weta Digital wins scientific and technical Academy Award
January 15, 2015 at 9:33 am -Three Weta Digital artists have won one of 21 scientific and technical achievements awards that the The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday for their work on innovative hair manipulation software known as Barbershop. Barbershop is hair-grooming software that enables digital artists to literally comb, brush and blow-dry CG hair. Its unique…
The Great Hall of Poets
January 15, 2015 at 6:23 am -Welcome to The Great Hall of Poets, our regular monthly feature showcasing the talent of Middle-earth fans. Each month we will feature a small selection of the poems submitted, but we hope you will read all of the poems that we have received here in our Great Hall of Poets. So come and join us by…
Today in Middle-earth, January 15
January 15, 2015 at 1:00 am -Today in Middle-earth, January 15 The Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and the fall of Gandalf (1419) The Company reaches Nimrodel late at night (1419) January 15, 3019 (S.R. 1419) 1. The Bridge of Khazad-dûm, and the fall of Gandalf. (from the appendices) “… there came a great noise: a rolling BOOM that seemed to come from…
Post-Hobbit: Jackson to help open WWI museum
January 14, 2015 at 12:38 pm -It looks like, in addition to his work on the Extended Edition for the Battle of the Five Armies, Peter Jackson will be investing a bit of his time this year to launch a WWI museum. Is it too much to think this might be a pointer toward that Dambusters project? Director Peter Jackson said…
Check out the top 14 TORn videos of 2014!
January 14, 2015 at 12:03 pm -2014. It heralded the final chapter of Thorin’s Company of 14. What better way to relive it than with a “Top 14″ list! TheOneRing on YouTube is full of videos from past and present — along with our weekly web series TORn Tuesday and Happy Hobbit. Check out some of our playlists and exclusive cast…
Five of the best Hobbit and Middle-earth posters from LOTRProject
January 14, 2015 at 9:46 am -You’ve almost certainly visited Emil Johannson’s LOTRProject website at some point or another, whether to pore over his Middle-earth genealogy page, view the historical timeline of Middle-earth or try out his classic Which Hobbit character are you? quiz. Over the last 18 months or so, he’s also posted a series of informative and, often, quite…
Peter Jackson: “no regrets”
January 14, 2015 at 1:36 am -This is a really interesting — and sometimes provocative — interview from just after the premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five armies. The Daily Beast chatted with Peter Jackson about his two decades exploring Middle-earth, his thoughts on Tolkien purists (controversial!), evading the MPAA’s initial R rating on the most recent Hobbit…