The third person involved with the LOTR film and props thefts appeared in court today. I went along for a look again. As usual my own home neighbourhood fielded a strong team of assault drink and drug offenders. I sat down next to the one person who looked habitually desk-bound, a man with small white hands. Soon enough his lawyer sat next to him, carrying a folder with his name on it so I could see I’d picked the right man. No sign that he knew who I was, though I suppose he’d have loathed me on principle if he had. The webmasters of the Tolkien fan sites represent the Net fans who ended up biting the hand that hoped to feed them, or hoped to milk them of $180,000, depending on your point of view.
Meanwhile the courtroom warmed up with a lot of backslapping and laughter and ‘how’s your father?’ between the lawyers, police and court functionaries. Not a very encouraging environment for the defendents. My special interest had been sitting around looking as comfortable as a cat in a rainstorm until his lawyer showed up; then there was a fair bit of grinning and joking from them too. Bravado, perhaps. On the other hand, a defence lawyer who didn’t instill confidence in his clients wouldn’t get a lot of work. ‘Ooh, don’t fancy your chances now, mate’ wouldn’t be too good for business.
The judge arrived and an air of pen-chewing tension settled over the room. Eventually the accused was stood up, another lawyer said that the prosecution was still needing more time to complete disclosure. Which translates as ‘They haven’t got to the bottom of all the evidence yet,’ I suppose. So, it’s a very complex case, perhaps? More news next week, and we hope it’ll start to get interesting then too.
Month: August 2000
Harry and the gang over at AICN have confirmed the story that soundtrack.net and TheOneRing.net brought to you on July 23rd. Howard Shore is in final negotiations to compose all three LOTR films!
Here’s the scoop: YES Howard Shore IS in FINAL negotiations to score the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. But like in anything else – it isn’t a done deal till his music is synched with the film. [More]
You can catch Sean Bean (Boromir) in ‘Airborne’ on Cinemax.
A new play opens next week called ‘The White Devil’ in Sydney, Australia starring Hugo Weaving (Elrond).
Thanks to Resevoir Dog for the tip!
Hello again Tolkienites! Gamgee here, with yet another rousing edition of the Tolkien Fun Section! Our last winner was LadyWolf! Good job fair Lady! The answers were:
1) Brego
2) Eotheod
3) Daddy Twofoot
Here are the questions for today:
1) “What place name translates to ‘mound of the slain’?”
2) “hitarigwnr” (scrambled Tolkien person, place or thing)
3) “If Elves indeed still dwell here in the darkening world.” (Who said this?)
As always, Mail me with your answers, the 1st person to send all 3 correct answers in one mailing will be posted here next time! Good luck………Gamgee
Several of The Lord Of The Rings stars attended the opening of the play “Blowing It” at Bats Theatre yesterday. The stars, including Wood, British actors Sir Ian McKellen and Bernard Hill, were invited by the play’s director and co-writer Stephen Sinclair (this appears as the tailend of an Evening Post story on ‘stuff’ which basically rehashes yesterday’s e!online report).
Sinclair is a scriptwriter on The Lord Of The Rings. He was involved in the beginning stages of the project, sketching out the bigger shapes of the story, according to people I’ve talked to. Since then he’s written and produced a number of stage comedies that have toured NZ, and he’s noted for his keen whit and sense of satire. Having somebody like him on the writing team almost guarantees that LOTR won’t suffer from the kind of overblown, over-serious self-regard that has spoiled other fantasy movies in the past.
Greetings from the the presses down here at TheOneRing.net,
I think you’re going to really appreciate this topic. In the rush of today, it seems like so many things are chaepened, devalued, and lost. Will this happen when Peter Jackson translates The Lord of the Rings to the big screen? Thus our topic:
Preserving the Legacy of Tolkien’s Work on Film
We all know and expect that PJ will make changes in the Professor’s great tale. If, in the upcoming movie, you could have 5 minutes -give or take- of the film that was completely unaltered and just as you imagine it, what would it be and why? What one scene would
you like to see in the movie verbatum? Do you think after the movies are out and finished that Tolkien’s vision of Middle-earth will be properly shown, and what impact will the films have on future readers of The Lord of the Rings?
Join your moderators this Saturday, August 4, at 5:30 EST [-5 hours GMT] or Sunday, August 5, at 6:00 p.m. GMT [7:00 p.m. Central Europe Time and 1:00 p.m. EDT]. Please send in your feedback and topic suggestions to us.