PARK CITY, Utah (Hollywood Reporter) – Focus Features made its first Sundance acquisition Wednesday, purchasing North American rights to “On a Clear Day,” a British film starring Peter Mullan and Brenda Blethyn. Sources valued the deal at close to $1 million. Mullan plays a middle-aged man who seeks to improve his confidence and fix his strained familial relations by swimming the English Channel. [More]
Month: January 2005
The folks from Emerald Rose write: We would like to say thanks to all the folks we saw at the ORC convention last week in Pasadena. We had a really great time and met some new friends. Hats off to TORn and Creation Enterprises – it was a well run convention, with interesting displays, workshops and entertainment. Highlights for us included seeing the incredible Sideshow/Weta display – it was stunning, recreating scenes from the movies with the collectible figures. [More]
Hello Ringers! Emerald Rose would like to say thanks to all the folks we saw at the ORC convention last week in Pasadena. We had a really great time and met some new friends. Hats off to TORn and Creation Enterprises – it was a well run convention, with interesting displays, workshops and entertainment. Highlights for us included seeing the incredible Sideshow/Weta display – it was stunning, recreating scenes from the movies with the collectible figures. We also really enjoyed trying and buying leather from the cool folks at Ravenswood Leather. They were kind to let Clyde and myself model some of their fantastic “Aragorn-style” coats during the con. I ended up falling under the spell of a kilt-length waistcoat, which should arrive any day now.
We enjoyed meeting many new friends, and finally having the chance to hang out with some of our old friends from TORn. Mr.Cere and the folks from Creation made it really easy and fun to perform onstage. Cliff (Quickbeam) is one of the best hosts we have ever worked with…even though he looks different every time I see him! Our special thanks to all those hobbits and elves who hung out to dance until the morning hours. We always enjoy playing for Shirefolk, but this audience was one of the best! If you were there that night, check out the pictures we took – you just might see yourself in the crowd!
We were especially honored to learn from Carlene Cordova that our band had shown up in “Ringers” (we’re telling everybody) and that they had used our song “Come to the Dance” in the backing score. I put a “Ringers” sticker on my guitar case right away!
Thanks to the Billy Boyd fans who gave us the wee scarvies. The scarvies will live in our guitar, bass and drum cases. Remember to tell Kunga “hello” for us! A personal highlight for me came at the end of the convention when author and fellow guitar enthusiast Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) played my green Ovation guitar, which I now call “Second Breakfast”, (since Billy
Boyd played it at the last two Oscar parties). We had been swapping guitar stories all weekend, and he had seen me play it at the Oscar parties, and again at Mythic Journeys. He entertained us with some great fingerstyle playing, sang a couple of songs and told stories with us for half an hour as the con was starting to drift toward the end.
It was a really cool weekend – great weather, California food (we live and eat in North Georgia), and the chance to meet some new friends. Special thanks to Corvair, Calisuri, Xoanon, Mr.Cere, Quickbeam, Carlene, Erica and Susi and all the TORn and Creation staff – working with you folks was a blast!
Photos from the weekend can be found below. Thanks to Donna Governor and Ashley Carter for use of their photos. Galler 1 and [Gallery 2]
Veteran British actor Sit Ian Holm is having his image immortalised in a series of portraits – being painted by his artist wife. Sophie De Stempel is aiming to monitor the LOTR star’s looks over the coming years and eventually hopes to exhibit her work. But, Holm finds sitting for this wife challenging. He says, “It isn’t easy. It involves a lot of concentration but I find it rather therapeutic.” [More]
Chip of Dale points us to this long interview with Dominic Monaghan covering his early life, experiences relating to Lord of the Rings, and his role on Lost. [More]
From TheStar.com: “J.R.R. Tolkien created the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he did not create the cult, and that crucial difference is what Carlene Cordova’s Ringers is about.” [More]
Edit: Thank you to Ringer spy Ascarwen, who rightly points out an error in The Star’s story: Tolkien did indeed refer to his legions of fans as his “deplorable cultus,” and not, as used in the story, “cultists.” Nice catch!