Dave Taylor from gamerzines.com writes: I thought you guys at The One Ring might be interested in the hands on preview we’ve got in the new issue of PCGZine. We’re a free PC games magazine written by professional games journalists in the UK. The magazine is made available in PDF format for free download. All you need is Adobe Reader (we recommend updating to version 8 to avoid issues if you have Internet Explorer 7 installed). The magazine includes video and multimedia on top of the editorial.

We were fortunate enough to be shown around Middle Earth by one of the developers so our preview is well informed and there’s lots of screens and even some amusing dancing videos in the magazine. And for those who know it all, there is even a mini interactive quiz where people can test their Tolkien knowledge. [More]

The Embassy Theatre in Wellington has sent out their latest newsletter. The big news is that they will be screening all three LOTR films this February as part of their summer series (North America’s winter). From the newsletter: Peter Jackson’s Academy Award winning films should only be seen in the luxury of our leather armchairs and on our giant screen.

LORD OF THE RINGS: The Fellowship of the Ring – Febuary 4th and 25th
LORD OF THE RINGS: The Two Towers – Febuary 11th
LORD OF THE RINGS: The Return of the King – Febuary 18th

TheOneRing.net, TORn Message Board Members, myself and many others actually have our names on a chair in the theatre. I had the pleasure of seeing ‘March of the Penguins’ there last April. Take a look at some of our photos from the trip.

New computerized casts of abnormally small Homo sapiens brains are reigniting the debate over the skeletal remains nicknamed “The Hobbit.” Ever since the 18,000-year-old remains of the three-foot-tall adult female hominid were unearthed in 2003 on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, scientists have argued whether the specimen was a human with an abnormally small head or represents a new species in the human family tree. The diminutive creature had a brain approximately one-third the size of modern adult humans. [More]

A ton of interesting new films are out on DVD this week. Take an early look on our ‘DVD Tuesday’ feature…every Monday! Check out some classic TV goodies like ‘Dallas – S6’, ‘I Dream of Jeannie – S3’ & ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit – S3’. The big release of the week is ‘Open Season’. Personally I’m interested in ‘Benny Hill Complete and Unadulterated’ & ‘Sayonara Jupiter’! Check out the whole list here! [More]


Today is Elijah Wood’s birthday! Elijah Jordan Wood was born on January 28, 1981, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. That makes him 26 years old today! Happy Birthday Elijah!

From the LA Times: In a move that would have ramifications for several major multi-nationals, and millions of fans, “Spider-Man” maestro Sam Raimi has been telling associates, as well as his corporate masters at Sony, that he is thinking of directing “The Hobbit,” the prequel to J.R.R. Tolkien’s masterwork, “The Lord of the Rings.” At least two top-level insiders – who declined to be named — have heard the words out of the director’s mouth. [More]