THE team behind the cult movie The Wicker Man is returning to Scotland for a belated follow-up which is set to recapture the chilling atmosphere that led to the original being dubbed “the Citizen Kane of horror”. [More]
Day: March 13, 2002
Just a quick reminder that Ian McKellen (Gandalf) will be on ’60 Minutes II’ at 9 PM (EST) on CBS.
For years, the topic of Balrog wings has been hotly debated by Tolkien experts and geeks alike. Due to the ambiguity of his writing, the debate over whether a Balrog has physical, touch-with-your-hand wings or not depends, as with quite a lot of Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, on the mental image of every single individual. Even Peter Jackson made sure that Weta created a Balrog that appealed to all spectrums of the debate, in an attempt to give the fans the best adaptation of Tolkien’s work possible without restricting the individual’s ability to create their own Middle-Earth with their imagination, as generations before have.
We have the chance to discuss the Balrog now after seeing the big screen interpration of it in Fellowship of the Ring: why not use it? Now’s a good time as any to bring back that debate of ‘wings of shadow’ versus physical wings. Where do you stand? Do you believe that Tolkien had actual wings in mind when he wrote the ‘Bridge of Khazad-Dum’, or did he deliberately write it so that fans could debate the subject, like right now? Is it good to have a bit of mystery in Lord of the Rings? Or do you think its a topic not even worth talking about? This weekend, come join us as we discuss one of the oldest arguments in the history of Middle-Earth itself.
Upcoming Discussions
Mar 23 & 24: The Nature of the Ring of Power
Mar 30 & 31: FotR and the Oscars
Apr 06 & 07: TTT – The Riders of Rohan
Apr 13 & 14: LotR, Stereotypes & Racial Class
Apr 20 & 21: The Two Towers – The Motion Picture
Apr 20 & 21: Literary Merits of LotR
Place:
#thehalloffire on theonering.net server; come to theonering.net’s chat room Barliman’s and then type /join #thehalloffire .
Saturday Chat: 5:30 pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30 pm (23:30) CET and 7:30 am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00 pm (13:00) ET and 4:00 am (04:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
Questions? Topics? Send ‘em here.
The Filmtracks website shows that their LOTR filmscore review is still the most popular review and the LOTR soundtrack CD is also still the customer favourite. The review is worth reading. [More]
‘Videos of this year’s Oscar nominees for Best Film are being sent to US troops in Afghanistan. Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Hollywood showman Johnny Grant are sending them to boost morale. The tapes are of A Beautiful Mind, Gosford Park, In The Bedroom, Lord Of The Rings and Moulin Rouge.’ [More]
LOTR opens in India in 2 days’ time, and elsewhere it is doing well. [More]