The excitement never stops – at any rate, not when Aragorn is in town!  Today Viggo Mortensen was back at the Coolidge Theatre in Boston, and at a Q&A session following a screening of Eastern Promises, he decided that rather than just sing Aragorn’s coronation song, he would teach it to the packed theatre.  So here’s your chance to sing along:

There is much more to tell and report – Mortensen is a fascinating speaker – and there’s another event this evening!  Read all about it here at TORn – as soon as I can get it written up!

It’s all happening here in Boston! Yesterday the Coolidge Theatre hosted a trilogy screening, in honour of Viggo Mortensen – to whom they are today giving the Coolidge Award. It’s always fabulous to see the Lord of the Rings films on the big screen, and to enjoy them with an army of fellow fans. The 442 seat theatre was sold out – and everyone who secured a ticket was in for a treat indeed!

Jesse Hassinger and Mark Anastasio, the Program Manager and Program Coordinator at the Coolidge, welcomed us all before we settled in to watch Fellowship of the Ring. Between that and Two Towers, TORn staffer greendragon (that’s me!) had a chance to say hi to the crowd and to remind them all (as if we could forget!) that The Hobbit is coming! Then, just as we were settling again for Return of the King, Denise Kasell, the Coolidge’s Director, told us all that they had a ‘little surprise’ for us – and in walked the king himself, Viggo Mortensen! (More text after the video)


Continue reading “Viggo Mortensen – One sing to rule them all! (video)”

Friend and discussion board member, Jason Fisher (a.k.a. ‘visualweasel’ on the boards), is hosting a workshop on J.R.R. Tolkien and source criticism at the Art Center of Corpus Christi this Saturday, March 3, at 1:00 p.m. His presentation will draw on essays from his recently published book “Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays.” The cost of the workshop is $20. He will also be offering his book at a 30% discount at the workshop. South Texas residents and travelers, be sure and check it out!

Calling all So Cal Ringers, TheOneRing.net will be presenting a panel at Wondercon in Anaheim later this month.  We are slated to kick off the weekend by taking to the podium on Friday, March 16 at 12:30pm in room #207. We’ll be talking all things Hobbit, as well as any other Tolkien related news that pops up this month. Barring any internet connectivity issues, the panel will be streamed live for those unable to attend, and there will be constant streaming from the convention floor all day after the panel as well. Come join us as we welcome this rare occurrence of Wondercon south of SFO. You can find all the details on their website at Wondercon, and they just posted the full schedule on Leap Day.

We reported last week that Gandalf was spotted in Manhattan; we also know that Smaug isn’t in Middle earth right now either!  Benedict Cumberbatch is busy in Los Angeles, where he has been filming his role in the forthcoming Star Trek movie.  Two of his previous movies were Oscar nominated this year (War Horse and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy), and as he was in town, Cumberbatch went along to watch the ceremony from Elton John’s party.  Later, as he headed into the Vanity Fair party, he told BBC’s Radio Five Live Breakfast show that he got ‘incredibly excited’ about his first time being in LA for the event, and that the ‘glamour… doesn’t stop.’  (You can listen to the interview with Cumberbatch on the BBC’s website until March 3rd; it starts around the 20 minute mark of this programme.)  He also told television reporters from the UK that he found the event ‘overwhelming’ and ‘extraordinarily… high-octane glamour’.  If you’re in the UK, you can watch the television clip here; or you can read a report on what Cumberbatch had to say, as reported by digital spy.

Cumberbatch also told the BBC that it was a ‘great honour to be invited to the party’.  We know of a good Oscar party at which he’d be very welcome next year!  If he thought things were overwhelming this year, just wait until all the excitement for The Hobbit at the 2013 Oscars!

Thanks to all who entered to win tickets to the Lord of the Rings trilogy screening taking place at Boston’s Coolidge Corner Theatre on Sunday 4th March.  The winners have been notified by email; so if you haven’t heard from us, sorry you weren’t one of the lucky ones!  At time of writing, there were still some tickets remaining for sale – so head over to the Coolidge’s website to snap them up!

Don’t forget the other movie showings leading up to Viggo Mortensen’s presence at the Coolidge on Monday 5th March; three of his movies are being shown this week, details of which can be found here.   Then the man himself will be there to accept the Coolidge Award on Monday 5th; the evening event is sold out, but you can still get tickets to the noon showing of Eastern Promises, which will be followed by a Q&A with Mortensen.

TORn looks forward to seeing you there!  Staffer greendragon will be at the Trilogy screening – so if you see someone wearing a shirt with TheOneRing.net’s logo on it in gold, feel free to come up and say hi!