We’ve got a very special TORn Tuesday lined up for you today as our host Clifford Broadway (Quickbeam) will recount his experiences at CinemaCon Las Vegas! Yes, that’s right…Quickbeam journeyed to Las Vegas, NV and was granted access to the special screening of 10 minutes of  3D 48fps footage from ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.’ During tonight’s LIVE TORn Tuesday show, he will relay what he saw exclusively on TheOneRing.net. As always, you can participate and present your questions to Quickbeam starting at 5:00pm PDT — There’s a built-in Barliman’s chat room or come in via Skype in TheOneRing.net’s Stickam page. Check out our LIVE Event section right here every week! [LIVE Event Area] (See All Times)

Let’s hope that, for once, what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas. Up to ten minutes of The Hobbit will be shown this Tuesday, both in 3D and 48 fps. From The Hollywood Reporter: The Hobbit will be one of many films that will be previewed at the theater owners confab, where for the first time in at least a decade, all of the major studios will present preview clips of their upcoming slate.

Millions of fans around the world are eagerly anticipating the prequel to Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which grossed an estimated $2.9 billion worldwide. Read More

The Weta Cave, will be hosting a celebration of Obscura Day, an international celebration of unusual places, this Saturday, April 28. If you’re lucky enough to be in Wellington that day, this is a ‘must attend’ event! But, arrive early as space is first come, first served.

From our friends at the Weta Cave: The Weta Cave, an emporium of all things weird and wonderful, is proud to host Weta Artist Steven Saunders for a talk on the process behind Weta sculpture. Weta Workshop is the extraordinary visual design company best known for their work on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Avatar. The Weta Cave is Weta’s mini-museum, theaterette, and shop on a corner of the Workshop itself. Artist Steven Saunders will give a special Obscura Day talk taking you through the sculpting process behind Wetas new Gandalf sculpture. Not to be missed, this talk will provide unique insights into creative processes and into fantasy art from the sculptures perspective. Read More

Discussion board member Modtheow reminds us of this annual event where discussion board members N.E. Brigand, visualweasel and Indigo Istar will be among the presenters!

Every year about 3,000 medievalists descend on Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI for the International Congress on Medieval Studies, but tucked into the over 600 sessions on every medieval topic imaginable, you can find 6 or 7 sessions on Tolkien, often referred to as “Tolkien at Kalamazoo.” You don’t have to be a medieval scholar to attend this conference, though I should say that it is meant to be a scholarly event — still, there’s lots of fun to be had, especially in the Friday night “Tolkien Unbound” entertainment, or the Saturday night dance, or in some of the gaming sessions, or dinner at Bilbo’s Restaurant. You can find information about the full conference here.

Continue reading “Kalamazoo, and Tolkien Too”

It May not be Middle Earth – but Birmingham’s tourism bosses are hoping to cash in on Hobbit-mania with a new attraction devoted to author JRR Tolkien. Interest in the fantasy writer, who was raised in the city between 1895 and 1911, is expected to soar when the film version of his famous book hits cinema screens later this year. Scenery and architecture from Birmingham was reflected in his stories, most notably Perrott’s Folly and Edgbaston Waterworks, which are thought to be The Two Towers from Lord of the Rings.

But Birmingham has previously been accused of not making the most of its Tolkien links. Now a new gallery has opened at Sarehole Mill in Hall Green highlighting the author’s strong ties with the city with a series of displays and a short film. And a new tourism strategy hopes to build on the attraction with more publicity, a dedicated website, bids for heritage funding and conservation of Tolkien-related sites and buildings. Read More