What a fun movie! Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc Brandybuck) came on board to be our wonderful narrator! Actually this film is a time capsule of many decades of pop culture history — giving us the full story on how the world has embraced Tolkien’s masterpiece THE LORD OF THE RINGS over 50 years and more!

Winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival, RINGERS was produced in association with TheOneRing.net — this remarkable little film was forged BY fans and FOR fans, just like our website, with the production/writing talent of Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway (who hosts TORn TUESDAY every week), Jeff Marchelletta, and supercool director Carlene Cordova. It was executive produced by X-Men/Transformers guru Tom DeSanto.

With a wonderful rock-driven score and detailing all the outpouring of love bestowed on Tolkien over many generations, this film is a must-have for your digital collection! Get it on iTunes now for only $9.99!

From the original Sony Press Release:

“RINGERS is comprehensive, entertaining and informative pop culture history.”
– The Toronto Star

“…Will always be a salient part of ‘LORD OF THE RINGS’ history…
See it, absorb it, love it.” – FilmThreat

Winner of “Outstanding Achievement” Award at the
Newport Beach Film Festival

RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS

FASCINATING DOCUMENTARY CAPTURES THE HISTORY, INFLUENCE AND PHENOMENON THAT IS LORD OF THE RINGS

CULVER CITY, Calif. (September 12, 2005) – Sony invites you to return to the Shire with the release of the feature-length documentary RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS, direct to DVD.  In association with the popular fan-site TheOneRing.net, Carlene Cordova produced, directed and wrote this award-winning film with executive producer Tom DeSanto(X-Men, X2: X-Men United and Transformers), which charts the incredible influence and ripple-effect that Lord of the Rings has had on worldwide pop culture over the past five decades.  Whether you are a fan or first timer, critics agree, RINGERS, stands as the most comprehensive film documenting the ongoing impact of J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary achievement.

Dominic Monaghan (star of ABC’s Lost and the Academy Award^® winning Lord of the Rings trilogy) narrates the documentary as it looks behind the curtain between Lord of the Rings and how it inspired so many artists of different mediums.  The film moves beyond “cult classic” and through different generations unearthing the way legendary rock musicians, filmmakers, professors, actors and authors all unite under the banner of ‘Ringer.’  Interviewees included in the film are Lord of the Rings trilogy filmmaker Peter Jackson as well as Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin and David Carradine.  Infused with a dynamic rock-driven score, irreverent cut-out animation (á la Terry Gilliam), and a centerpiece audience sing-a-long, RINGERS is a genre-busting documentary that shows how a single literary work continues to spark the minds and hearts of millions.

RINGERS continues the momentum of the motion picture trilogy Lord of the Rings, a winner of 17 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director for Peter Jackson, who made history as the first person to direct three major feature films simultaneously. 

From the official synopsis:

Ringers: Lord of the Fans is a feature-length documentary that reveals the ongoing cultural phenomenon created by The Lord of the Rings.  Very funny and often moving, Ringers shows the hidden power behind Tolkien’s books — and how after 50 years a single literary work continues to spark the minds and hearts of millions, across cultures and across time.

Shot with groundbreaking new digital technology in 24P, Ringers explores the real foundations of Middle-earth; a community of true fans who share a common bond.  Moving beyond “cult classic” and over several different generations, the film unearths academics, musicians, authors, filmmakers, and a plethora of pop junkies — the people gathered under the banner of ‘Ringer.’  From the hippie counter-culture to the electronic age; from the Bakshi animated film to Jackson’s epic trilogy; this documentary brings together extensive footage from across the globe.  With units in Los Angeles, San Diego, Atlanta, Salt Lake City, Bonn, Germany, Wellington, New Zealand, and Oxford, England, our cameras capture the most fascinating “Ringers” and Lord of the Rings events.

What began as the private amusement of a tweedy Oxford professor has now become a new mythology for the 21^st century. Ringers: Lord of the Fans shows how an adventure story published in 1954 has had dynamic ripple-effects through Western pop-culture.  Ringers carefully pulls away the veil between Tolkien’s book and the creations of art, music, and community that have been inspired by it.

Check out the official trailer here:

Cremorne Orpheum Theatre, Sydney Australia – Wednesday 1st May, 2013
Introduced by: Chris Murray (Creative Director Popcorn Taxi)
Hosted by: Oscar Hillerstrom from Popcorn Taxi
by: Deleece Cook on behalf of theOneRing.net

The cheering began as soon as Popcorn Taxi’s Chris Murray walked out on stage to open the event. There wasn’t a spare seat to be had at The Orpheum Theatre at Cremorne for the exclusive screening of The Hobbit and the live on Stage Q&A appearance with Richard Armitage.

700 smiling excited Thorin Fans were in the audience – and they had come from all over Australia for the event – this is what they had been waiting for hours to see. And it didn’t disappoint. It was a wonderful night of entertainment and surprises – Richard was a talkative guest; relaxed, smiling and laughing through the interview and he tried as best as he could to answer every question put to him from the fans, and from the host Oscar Hillerstrom.

Here’s how the night went – plenty of laughter and cheering and just a great vibe all round!…

Chris Murray: “Good Evening! Do I need to ask how you’re doing? Um, I’ve never been to an underwear sale at David Jones but I suppose this is the closest thing. Ladies and Gentlemen my name is Chris Murray and I am the Creative Director of Popcorn Taxi. It gives me no greater pleasure and enormous privilege to have you here tonight to see on the big screen The Hobbit. But not only that I know why you’re here… Richard Armitage on that seat ladies and Gentlemen”

Mad applause.

Chris Murray:  “Yes, you get the chance to ask him questions – I get the chance to curl into a small ball and rock backwards and forwards in the corner.”

More laughter… Then Chris laid down some house rules regarding soft toys and portraits not coming anywhere near the stage, but he mentioned nicely that questions were welcomed from the audience.
Then the first surprise of the night was announced…

Chris Murray: We are celebrating a fantastic film, and that film is out on Blu-ray and DVD today (mad applause)… “Yes! You should buy it! Warner Bros will love me! But, what’s not on that Blu-ray and what’s not on that DVD is what I’m about to play for you now. We have 12 minutes of a little behind the scenes that you will not see anywhere else. (lots of gasps) After that, you’ll get to meet Mr Richard Armitage.

Mad cheering!

Chris Murray: So enjoy the 12 minutes and relax – get the wetness out of the seats – whatever works for you – and I’ll be back! Please enjoy this event.

The sound of the cheering audience was amazing! Then silence. The lights lowered and the huge screen lit up… and then there was Peter…

Peter Jackson: “You want the Hobbit to be a visual experience that goes several steps beyond Lord of The Rings”

And that familiar drone of singing Dwarves speaking of “Pines and Mountains cold” echoed through the theatre – every eye was glued to the screen… it was more than 12 minutes of magic!

The film covered races and character that we see in the An Unexpected Journey – with snippets of comments from the actors and crew members. It shortly gave a brief explanation of the storyline and highlighted some of the production values and costuming as well.

In no particular order – Here are just some of the presenters on the clip, and what they had to say…
____
Peter Jackson: “When we made Lord of the Rings I was absolutely sure that was going to be a once in a lifetime experience. I never realized that ten years later I’d be doing it all over again – and we actually shot the 266 days on The Hobbit which was exactly the same number of days we shot on Lord of The Rings, so I’ve sort of done the once in a lifetime experience twice now (laughs) not a third time – there won’t be a third time”

Peter Jackson: “10 years ago it was Ian playing the character of Gandalf and no one had seen any of the movies, and now that’s an iconic figure. That’s Gandalf.”

Peter Jackson: “The same creative talent. 20 or 30 of the most senior people were Lord of The Rings veterans”

Peter Jackson: “The thing that’s so incredible about Martin is that he’s always exploring, he’s experimenting, he’s always trying to figure out where Bilbo’s truth is”

Peter Jackson: “One of the scary things about adapting The Hobbit is the fact that there’s 13 dwarves – and differentiating those characters was important.”

Philippa Boyens: “I remember the day when I knew we were back in Middle-Earth. I walked over to the costume room and there was Gandalf. And I suddenly thought… We’re Back.”

Philippa Boyens: (about Dwarves): “In the end Pete fell in love with each and every one of those characters. And as much as there is a little bit of Dwarf in Peter I think there’s a little bit of Peter in all those Dwarves.”

John Howe: “I imagine that Peter will do for Dwarves what he did for Elves because he is going to give them much more density, much more history.”

Martin Freeman: (talking about his character Bilbo) “… We join Bilbo as the book of The Hobbit does, as a home faring solitary Hobbit. …certain things struck me about him suggested a certain timidity and a lot of life…”

Elijah Wood: “You’ll get taken on an amazing ride”

Elijah Wood: “To have a chance to return, pop a wig on and feet it kind of feels like I’ve stepped into a time machine. And I get to meet all of these other actors who are coming along for the real long journey and sort of seeing in them a little bit of what we felt like when we started”

Elijah Wood: “A seed is being planted for what eventually comes the time period that we meet in Lord of The Rings”.

Christopher Lee: “Middle Earth seems to be just beginning to rumble and tumble”

Christopher Lee: “The White Council – they represent enormous power. There’s suspicion amongst all of them that there’s this building power of evil – getting stronger and stronger!”

Cate Blanchett: (on Gandalf in the film): “What makes Gandalf the most wonderful hero is the courage against popular opinion. He gets to move on into the darkness that no one else is prepared to go into.”

Hugo Weaving: “Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman, they play a role in eliminating those [forces?] from the political landscape.”

Ian McKellen: (on his character Gandalf regarding the appendices) “ Gandalf in The Hobbit; he is off and away doing other business and quite what that is, is not revealed in the novel. In the films we get to see what Gandalf was up to.”

Ian McKellen: “It’s magic. It’s pure magic. And you’ll believe it.”

The sound of the Dwarves was heard and the film ended with the audience cheering and clapping once more.

Then it was time for Richard Armitage to grace the Stage…

Freeman soon had his own moment in the spotlight, as he beat nominees including Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln to win the award for Best Actor! In typically tongue-in-cheek style, Freeman commented, ‘I always wondered if it was possible to quantify the best actor, and now I realise that it is, and it’s me! What a load of old rubbish I was in with…’  He later went on to say, modest as ever, ’It’s possible that my performance was not the best of the year, but I’ll take it!’  What a charming chap he is; ever ready with a wink and a smile, as Empire’s picture of him shows!

Empire’s blog of the awards ceremony can be read here; check back to their homepage later for more pics and reports from the night, and to find out who the other winners were.  Many congratulations on their awards, to Martin Freeman and to all our friends involved with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey!

From EOnline.com:

The thesp behind Magneto’s alter ego in the big-screen version of X-Men reveals that he’s been tapped to officiate at the upcoming wedding of his pal Stewart—with whom he costarred in the hit superhero flicks—to singer Sunny Ozell.

McKellen shared the news during an appearance on U.K.’s Jonathan Ross Show, and it turns out the 73-year-old has got some bona fides when it comes to overseeing weddings.

X-Men: Days of Future Past adds Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen to Jennifer Lawrence and Michael Fassbender flick

“I’m going to marry Patrick,” he said. “I am going to officiate at his wedding.”

[Read More] (Thanks to Pearl Sandybanks for the heads-up!)

Complete list of nominees:

Best fantasy film:
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
LIFE OF PI
RUBY SPARKS
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
TED

Best actor:
CHRISTIAN BALE, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
DANIEL CRAIG, SKYFALL
MARTIN FREEMAN, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
HUGH JACKMAN, LES MISERABLES
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT, LOOPER
MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, KILLER JOE

Best supporting actor:
JAVIER BARDEM, SKYFALL
MICHAEL FASSBENDER, PROMETHEUS
CLARK GREGG, THE AVENGERS
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
SIR IAN MCKELLEN, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
CHRISTOPH WALTZ, DJANGO UNCHAINED

Best Director:
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN, KILLER JOE
PETER JACKSON, THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
RIAN JOHNSON, LOOPER
ANG LEE, LIFE OF PI
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES
JOSS WHEDON, THE AVENGERS

Best Production Design:
CLOUD ATLAS
ANNA KARENINA
LIFE OF PI
DARK SHADOWS
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
LES MISERABLES

Best Music:
LIFE OF PI
FRANKENWEENIE
ANNA KARENINA
SKYFALL
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

Best Costume Design:
ANNA KARENINA
CLOUD ATLAS
DJANGO UNCHAINED
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
LES MISERABLES
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

Best Makeup:
CLOUD ATLAS
HITCHCOCK
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
THE IMPOSSIBLE
SKYFALL
TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN, PART 2

Best Visual Effects:
THE AVENGERS
BATTLESHIP
THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
JOHN CARTER
LIFE OF PI
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN

The Saturn Awards, is compiled by officials from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, winners will be announced at a Hollywood ceremony in June (13).

A fake DVD cover for Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey?

A cover for the DVD and Blu-ray version of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” has been making the rounds on the internet. The design, as you can see, features Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins as the most prominent figure with Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield close behind. The other dwarves sneak into the image but not prominently.

It is possible this image was leaked from the studios involved but it seems unlikely and this image isn’t a powerful “buy me” image from the movie. No word from any official channels has surfaced to say this is or isn’t fake so we advise not accepting it as the gospel truth at this point.

If any excellent photoshopping readers out there want to produce some imagined blu-ray covers it would be fun to run a collection of them here, so if you have a submission send them over to Spymaster@TheOneRing.net.

Dates for the initial offering are reported as March 19 with an Extended Edition in October but nothing official has been announced. The film will still be available in some theaters at that point. Date posted by retailers like Amazon are not reliable and have included books that haven’t been written yet previously. When official dates are released, you will find them reported here.

Philippa Boyens. Photo: KENT BLECHYNDEN/Fairfax NZ

“Good storytelling-spotting!” Boyens said, when we asked why we didn’t see Thráin, father of Dwarf leader Thorin Oakenshield and one of the bearers of a Ring of Power, give Gandalf the map and key. (Gandalf had found Thráin near death at Dol Guldur.)

“We did try it at the front of this movie, and then we moved it,” she said. Does that mean we’ll see that moment in a flashback or prologue to The Desolation of Smaug? “Yes, it’s very important that we’re going to be doing that. We will be meeting Thráin, and it may be in unfortunate circumstances. It may involve torture. The discovery of who or what is in Dol Guldur” — i.e., Sauron, known only at this point as the Necromancer — “is a fantastic part of the storytelling, so yes, of course we went there.”

[Read More]

The danger will ramp up once the Company enters Mirkwood.

Another review from a staffer of TORN long ago, Wee Tanya brings her thoughts to you now.

Warning before you begin: Spoilers abound in this review.  Read it or not, it’s up to you.

Tonight I had the extreme pleasure of watching a press screening of The Hobbit on behalf of TheOneRing.net.  Not only was I ushered into the screening like an honored guest, but TheOneRing.net’s name is still renown, and I was even introduced by the night’s host to the whole crowd as “Wee from TORn”.  Then he grilled me on Tolkien trivia, but don’t worry, I did us proud.

Much like Arathorn I’ve been keeping a low, spoiler-free profile for the past ten years.  Life happened, and I managed to drift far enough away from the ride that when I caught up with Peter Jackson’s video diaries, I spent an entire evening watching every one.  Fine, maybe I’m not totally unspoiled. But there I sat as the theater darkened, not knowing what to expect at all except for two things:  first, that suddenly there were three movies instead of two; and second, that someone actually called the movie boring!

I’d like you all to know that it was not boring, not a jot.  The pace is beautiful, lyrical even, and in the middle of Rivendell it slows to the stately walk of Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel.  But it might seem slow at first because there is a LOT of tale to tell.  Bilbo begins even before “Concerning Hobbits,” back in the dark days of the Silmarillion, and establishes the sacking of Erebor and Dale before we even know what a Hobbit is!  In my opinion this was necessary, because it opens up a wider world to stare at (in awe) before the camera pulls back to the familiarity of Bag End.  I wanted the camera to pause at every detail of Erebor, because it was stunning. It echoes the designs of Moria from the first movies, but amplified, because it is a Dwarven city at the height of its glory instead of one abandoned.

I admit that my eyes started leaking the second I saw Bilbo put pen to paper, and I have to applaud the larger-story continuity of the first scene.  It begins on the very same day as Fellowship of the Ring, and shows Bilbo writing in the Red Book, expanding upon his story (which we all know he finishes up in retirement in Rivendell, so it’s even more touching to see this flow).  Ian Holm is the first Bilbo that we see, and he’s perfect, of course. Elijah Wood’s Frodo wanders through, giving the scene even more continuity as we see Bilbo watch him leave — little does Bilbo know, Frodo is off to his own adventure.  And then Gandalf shows up, and after that come dwarves and more dwarves, and the story is up and running.

But whose story? I’d like to posit that this movie is actually Gandalf’s story.  Ian McKellen’s expressive eyes hold the heart of the plot, which for this movie boils down to, “Did Gandalf do well in choosing this particular burglar for the company?” McKellen must have some kind of meticulous timeline of Gandalf’s life in his head, because he can step back into the role of a younger, less secure, less shiny Gandalf with exquisite ease. Gandalf’s growth as a wizard is what’s tested here, and that stately-walking scene in Rivendel (which might be slow to some) is a fine moment in which we see Gandalf squirming in his seat, while his peers probe him: is this decision to help the dwarves really a good one?  Can he back Radagast’s claim that the Necromancer is back, against the (slightly less Palantir-addled) Saruman?  We’re not sure, and neither is he.

There are a few set pieces in this movie that all true fans expected, and all of them deliver.  I was pleased to hear many songs meandering through Bilbo’s larder (That’s what Bilbo Baggins hates!), and while the cut was more like a fan’s extended version than Hollywood might want, in short: F*** ‘em.  Peter Jackson gave me the story that I would’ve bought and watched in an extended version anyway, and I’m overjoyed that a third movie gave him the space to spread out and tell the tale as it was told in the books. Did the set piece with the trolls feel the way it did in the book?  Of course.  And I even squinted at them to make sure they were in the same position that Frodo finds them in, in Fellowship of the Ring. (SEE, Peter Jackson?  You knew we’d keep track.)

As for Smaug, we saw some beautifully filmed teasing, but the Big Bad (ok, Medium Bad; the Big Bad is the Necromancer) is being saved for the final film.  In a nice visual paeon to a certain Dark Lord, the movie ends with a thinly-slit reptilian eye.  Symbolism, I get it!  Other beautiful moments for Tolkien fans abound.  Watch for:  That Moment when Bilbo stays his hand instead of slaying Gollum. Watch for: The intricately designed beauty of each and every domain, including the goblin kingdom above Gollum’s layer. Watch for: FIGWIT.

I won’t discuss Riddles in the Dark, because it’s perfectly done.

What did I dislike?  Well.  Radagast was saved from being cute by his Peter Jackson-grossness (is that BIRD POO ON HIS FACE? Oh God of course it is), his plot explicated neatly from the Silmarillion. Radagast was necessary for getting information about Mirkwood over to the rest of the world.  It’s a fan’s retelling of how it happened, and I’ll pretend that Fran and Phillipa heard it from local lore, the kind of stories that might appear at the Prancing Pony.

In short, I loved this movie, and I want more.  Two more.  Fine, take my money, and show me as many movies as you want!