From: Patrick
I had heard of the Mythopoeic Society but hadn’t read their publications or attended their conference before. I was drawn to the conference because of its scholarly nature and a chance to see Philipa Boyens interviewed. I arrived early Saturday and found that the members of the Society were very nice people. The conference had a friendly and intimate atmosphere, with papers being presented in college classrooms, and attendees mingling around the halls and lawns of the campus.
The first paper I saw presented was “Battling the Woman Warrior: Gender and Combat in Tolkien and Lewis”, by Sam McBride. It was very interesting, with examinations of the roles of Eowyn, Shelob, etc. in Tolkien’s work, and Queen Orual among others others in Lewis’. I met up with Sam at lunch, and we ended up talking about Tolkien for so long afterwards that we both missed the next paper. He was interested in the citations on women in combat that Kyriel and Idril contributed to the notebook on Lasselanta. A book which he co-wrote will be published soon.
The second paper I heard was “The Fey and the Fantastic: Rationalizing Fantastic Occurrences in Contemporary Life”, by Janice Bogstad. She discussed literature that portrayed different consensual realities interfacing with the mundane. Her anlysis was provocative, and I only wished I was more familiar with the works she used as examples, including those of Peter Beagle. Still, I was able to apply her ideas to the books of Gene Wolfe, my favorite author after Tolkien, especially his “Free Live Free” and “There Are Doors”.
I attended a panel discussion titled “Charles Williams, King Arthur, and Us”, with panelists David Dodds, Eric Rauscher and Alexei Kondratiev, and moderator Eleanor Farrel. I was especially interested in this topic because I think the Lord of the Rings deserves to become absorbed by our culture the way the stories of Arthur, Frankenstein and Star Wars have, and I hope the movies will help that process. I was impressed by the breadth of the panelists’ knowledge of the history of the Arthurian sagas. There was some especially interesting discussion of American appropriation of Arthuriana, referencing George Washington, JFK, and the Confederacy.
Of course, I also attended the Q&A session with Philipa Boyens. She was charming and enthusiastic and obviously a Tolkien fan. First she was interviewed by Paula DiSante, and then audience members asked her questions. I’ll have a transcript of this soon. A highlight of the Q&A was when she was asked what her favorite theme in the books was, and she replied with a verse in Sindarin that expressed the fading of the world.
I was also pleased when she referred to a certain change seen in the teaser (Arwen at the fords, presumably), and said that she “stood behind it completely”. After her interview, some scenes from Peter Jackson’s “Heavenly Creatures” were shown, and then came the panel discussion “Reading the Tea Leaves: What Will Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings Films Be Like?”. Bill Weldon, Paula DiSante, Quickbeam, Tehanu and David Bratman were the panelists. Interestingly, Philipa Boyens sat in the audience, so she was there to hear both optimistic and pessimistic comments on the movies. The whole thing was also filmed for Peter Jackson, who wanted to see it, according to the camera operator.
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Ringer Spy PT sends in word that the 26 ‘Cannes’ footage will be shown in Australia soon. He also sends along word that the LOTR Trilogy release dates may be pushed back in Japan due to the huge piracy industry… [More]
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From: PT
The Queensland (State of Australia) Movie convention on the Gold Coast (where all the movie dudes who own cinemas blah blah go and meet) will show a 30 minute preview of LOTR. No one knows if it is the same as Cannes but let me tell you they are being as strict as hell with who is allowed to go. It is not confirmed but the lengths being taken for security make it obvious.
As for the Japanese release of the film… some interesting news… This is only “speculation” but it is good “speculation” at that.
The Asian pirate film industry is the biggest in the world and produces copies of movies filmed by a camcorder in the cinema before the film officially opens. New Line cinema hope that a six month delay in the opening of each film will prevent the loss in income to pirate copies of the film at first release. About 90% of these pirate films are made in Asia, I guess New Line are trying something daring!
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From: Ataahua
Spotted this on the website of the Dunedin Methodist Mission, New Zealand. One of the mission’s priests – a self-confessed LOTR fan – is giving an evening talk about the Lord of the Rings this August 29 as part of the church’s Open Education Programme. [More]
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Heya TORN. Spotted this on the website of the Dunedin Methodist Mission, New Zealand. One of the mission’s priests – a self-confessed LOTR fan – is giving an evening talk about the Lord of the Rings this August 29 as part of the church’s Open Education Programme (ignore the date of 2000 on the web page – it’s a typo). The talk will focus on the good vs evil and religious themes of LOTR.
Can’t think of a better way to spend a cold winter night in the southern South Island, myself…..
Cheers,
Ataahua
New Zealand.
http://www.dunedinmethodist.org.nz/prsh/zprsh.htm
Our Open Education Programme for 2001 Our parish is again offering an Open Education Programme, with, we hope, something of interest for everybody. It is an “open” programme, because we welcome the participation of people from other churches and from the wider community. There is a small charge for each session – generally $5.
If any of these grabs your attention, and you have not otherwise registered your interest, please ring the Methodist Mission Office, 477 2000, to check that the arrangements listed here still hold, and to indicate your intention to join in.
The Lord of the Rings
Speaker: Rev Donald Phillipps
The Rev Donald Phillipps is a former President of the Methodist Church, to which he has given and still is giving distinguished service. In his spare time he is a lover of cricket and choral music — and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.
Later this year the first of three films directed by New Zealander Pater Jackson and based on the famous trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, by English writer J.R.R. Tolkien, will be released to a world-wide audience. If you haven’t already entered Tolkien’s hugely imaginative and magical world of hobbits, elves, orcs, ents, ring-wraiths and Dark Riders, or followed Frodo, Sam and Pippin, or met Sauron, the Dark Lord, Gandalf the wizard, the noble Aragorn, Gollum and all the rest, read the books now and get ready for the film by hearing about the world of the Lord of the Rings from an expert and enthusiast.
The Lord of the Rings is more than an epic romance which has a cult following numbered in millions. It is also a serious account of the struggle between good and evil; a masterpiece of fiction with profoundly religious themes. Let Donald Phillipps be your guide. Wednesday August 29, 7.30 – 9 p.m. followed by a light supper. Mornington Methodist Church, Galloway Street, Dundedin.
Cost: $5
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Empire Online seemed to have followed FilmFour.com, and are conducting a “Best Ever” film poll, in which you name your favourites in the film industry. Though it’s one year too early to start nominating the Fellowship of the Ring, we still have a lot of other fields to work our magic like Director, Actor, Actress and Soundtrack. [More]
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