TheOneRing.net readers will remember actor Thomas Robins as Deagol, from that wonderful scene with Andy Serkis at the opening of The Return of the King; and some sharper-eyed viewers may also have spotted him (under heavy prosthetics!) as Young Thrain, in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. What you may not know is that New Zealander Robins also works as a producer and director, and TORn recently had a chance to chat to him about his latest project. It’s an intriguing one, for sure, and involves combining New Zealand film makers with the nascent movie industry in Laos! Staffer greendragon talked to Robins to find out more, and of course to ask him about time spent in Middle-earth! Read the full interview – and find out how you can get involved with Robins’ new movie project – after the break.
The Eiger. Photo by Wunderalpen.com One of the most glorious aspects of reading The Lord of the Rings, is his abiding love of nature — and particularly of mountains.
`Only once before have I seen them from afar in waking life, but I know them and their names, for under them lies Khazad-dûm, the Dwarrowdelf, that is now called the Black Pit, Moria in the Elvish tongue. Yonder stands Barazinbar, the Redhorn, cruel Caradhras; and beyond him are Silvertine and Cloudyhead: Celebdil the White, and Fanuidhol the Grey, that we call Zirak-zigil and Bundushathûr.
Gimli, The Lord of the Rings.
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
Looks like Australian ringers will have an opportunity to catch up with Dominic Monaghan in Novewmber when he makes appearances at both the Adelaide and Brisbane editions of the Supanova pop culture expo.
British actor Dominic Monaghan is the latest celebrity to join Supanova’s ensemble cast attending November’s expos in Brisbane and Adelaide. Best known to audiences as the Hobbit Meriadoc ‘Merry’ Brandybuck in Peter Jackson’s adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, Monahagn also starred in J.J. Abrams’ Lost as rock star Charlie Pace. He also featured alongside Hugh Jackman in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and in sci-fi series FlashForward. Continue reading “Dominic Monaghan to appear at Australia’s Supanova convention”
Welcome back to another in my occasional series about how I did the research for my book, The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood. (Click here to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.)
By the time I got to Wellington for my first research trip, in late September of 2003, principal photography was over. I didn’t expect that I would get to to on set and see Peter at work. In fact, Peter was in London supervising the editing and musical scoring for the first week and a half of my four-week visit. As I described in the second part of this series, I did get a delightful tour of the Stone Street Studios on my first day of active research. At that point, pickups of some orcs, destined to be inserted via CGI into battle scenes, were being shot against a big green-screen as they fired bows (the arrows to be added via computer). One of the cinematography crew members was directing this action. I was briefly in the studio again later and saw a little more filming of orc pickups. Those were my only on-set experiences.
Sir Peter Jackson has a new award to add to his trophy cabinet! The film director has just been honoured with New Zealand’s highest accolade, having been made an Additional Member of the Order of New Zealand, for services to the country. Sir Peter is the first member of the film industry to be made part of the Order; he joins a list which includes politicians, judges, sportsmen and even the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip!
Read the full story here. Everyone at TheOneRing.net sends many congratulations to Sir Peter on this significant honour!
(Photo, by Kevin Stent, shows Sir Peter with NZ Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, at the investiture ceremony.)
TheOneRing.net readers will remember actor Thomas Robins as Deagol, from that wonderful scene with Andy Serkis at the opening of The Return of the King; and some sharper-eyed viewers may also have spotted him (under heavy prosthetics!) as Young Thrain, in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. What you may not know is that New Zealander Robins also works as a producer and director, and TORn recently had a chance to chat to him about his latest project. It’s an intriguing one, for sure, and involves combining New Zealand film makers with the nascent movie industry in Laos! Staffer greendragon talked to Robins to find out more, and of course to ask him about time spent in Middle-earth! Read the full interview – and find out how you can get involved with Robins’ new movie project – after the break.
Looks like Australian ringers will have an opportunity to catch up with Dominic Monaghan in Novewmber when he makes appearances at both the Adelaide and Brisbane editions of the Supanova pop culture expo.
Billy Boyd will return to New Zealand for the first time since the Return of the King premiere to appear at the Armageddon comics expo in Auckland in October. 
