Jennie writes: “Bernard Hill was interviewed on Mix 107.3 FM in Washington, D.C. this morning, on the Jack Diamond Morning Show. Unfortunately, I was in the car and so unable to record the interview or I’d have transcribed it for you. He mentioned how wonderful all the fans had been, and remarked how even the die-hard Tolkien geeks (I think he means us) were with them every step of the way, and very much appreciated. He also said that they’d filmed the movie, “with one foot on the book,” contrasting the filmmaking to how other book-to-film projects are often made. He said that normally, they read the book, put it aside, go on holiday for the weekend, and then sit down to write the screenplay. Not so with this film. The book was always there and they were always trying to slip more of Tolkien into it throughout the process.
“He did mention something I’d never heard, and something Bernard claims he’s never told anyone before.
“When the warriors are returning to Helm’s Deep, he was supposed to be riding a white horse. But his horse had pulled up lame, and he’d wound up riding a brown one. (They had several horses trained for the set, but the only one available to him was the brown.) This horse wasn’t used to him, nor he to it. So the horse went up when he went down, and when you see him about to dismount at Helm’s Deep, you see a pained look on his face, as though he’s had a hard ride and a difficult time getting there, and is devastated by the loss of Aragorn and so many men, etc. etc. Really, he’s just thinking, “Ow! I think the pommel just cracked my sternum!” Which is what had happened. So look for the wince. It’s real.”
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I mentioned in my review of ROTK that some of the shots seemed inspired by great paintings of the past. Isabel writes, “…the images of the Grey Havens are inspired by two paintings hanging side by side in the National Gallery in London. One is by Claude (also known as Claude Lorraine), a French painter of the 17th century: Seaport with the embarkation of the Queen of Sheeba The other is by Turner: Dido building Carthage and was inspired by Claude’s painting. They hang together by request of Turner himself. They are two of my favourite paintings and I was amazed when I “saw” them in ROTK.”
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Good and bad news from Japan. The release date seems confirmed as Feb 24. The premiere is proving frustrating, with news that implies that fans will not have an opportunity to line the red carpet and cheer for their heros. [More]
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Ringer spy KT says, “Quoq Inc. in Japan has just released a Lord of the Rings credit card! There is a website, to apply for the card, but I am quite sure that only people residing in Japan will be elligable to get one, I am sure going to try my hardest to get one.” [More]
“I think this goes someway to making up for making me wait two months to see the movie.
“The release date in Japan has now been announced as February 14, on Valentines Day.”
Helena writes about the premiere in Japan, which is proving to be frustrating for the fans, because it seems like they’ll be excluded from the chance event to line up by the red carpet and cheer like they do in other countries:
“I’m writing about the Japanese premiere, that apparently is going to happen maybe on next 22nd. On the contrary of all the premieres all around the world for the whole trilogy, every time when it comes to Japan, the thing seems to be more of a super-secret-non-secret thing. Let me explain: It has been published on the official Japanese LOTR site that on this month is going to happen the very especial premiere with the presence of Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, PJ and many others (apparently 22 people are coming), but nothing about the place, the date, the time…The site is telling 777 fans will be lucky to ‘watch’ the premiere live on their PC and it also says about watching it on the cell-phone.’Become the witness of this historical event!’ it says…Now, when in all other places the fans wait excited to be next to the red carpet or do the craziest things to be able to get in, here in Japan all we can do is wait to see how it was on the news for a few seconds next day or buy magazines to read the interviews next month.
“The lack of information is absurd. One fan called the company that’s arranging the event and the person told her that the Japanese premiere will not be for ‘regular’ people, which means that only famous people who call themselves artists will be there, not even for the film, but to make the news papers next morning.There are hundreds of fans waiting for this moment, the stars are coming, PJ is finally coming, why not make an event worthy of all this dedication to this movie? Why so top-secret?
All the fans wish they could go and send the cast and crew their love and show how much they care, but go where? When?”
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Anonymous Ringer Spy wrote in: “Thought you’d like to know: I just got my preliminary Nebula ballot and Two Towers will be up for a script Nebula in this go round.” The Nebulas are among the top awards that one can achieve in the fields of science fiction or fantasy.
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The Dark Lord himself, aka Sala Baker, will be hosting the invite-only private event taking place at The Sundance Film Festival. TORn will have friends in attendence to send back a report next week.
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