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!

A decade ago with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was making an impact in popular culture, few would have looked at the cast and extras and picked out New Zealand native Bret McKenize as the guy likely to win an Oscar.

But, at tonight’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles the fan favorite and one half of New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody duo (Flight of the Conchords) did just that for his song Man or Muppet which is really a question we all must answer for ourselves about ourselves.

McKenzie had a little fun at the microphone making a couple of jokes. He said he was excited to work with Muppets and was intimidated to meet Kermit The Frog.

“But he’s just a normal frog, and like many stars here, he’s a lot shorter in real life.” (Catch video after the break) Continue reading “Figwit (Bret McKenzie) wins an Oscar!”

It’s Tinseltown’s biggest celebration – the Oscars take place tonight!  And already here at TORn we’re busy planning and getting excited for our party next year!  In honour of today’s awards ceremony, and thinking back to the ‘Return of the One Party’ which TORn held in 2004, here’s a picture of the Oscar Annie Lennox won that night, for Best Original Song, ‘Into the West’.

The statuette was on display last year at London’s Victoria and Albert museum, in their wondeful ‘The House of Annie Lennox’ exhibit.   Let’s hope there’s another Middle-earth winner tonight; Bret McKenzie is up for Best Original Song for ‘Man or Muppet’.  Go Bret!

Enjoy the Oscars tonight!

Sean Astin (born February 25, 1971), and recently featured on TORn Tuesday with Quickbeam, is an American film actor, director, and Academy Award-nominated producer best known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and of course Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. From your friends here at TheOneRing.net, Happy Birthday Sean!!

If you have followed the history of TheOneRing.net, you know that Oscar season has a special meaning to us and our community. In the early 2000s, we were privileged enough to host three memorable events in Los Angeles: 2002’s ‘The One Party;’ 2003’s ‘Two Towers One Party;’ and 2004’s ‘The Return of the One Party.’ The last party, which corresponded with The Return of the King winning 11 Academy Awards, was such a success the LA Times called it ‘The hottest bash in town’ on Oscar Night. [LA Times] After the break, you can see a video of some highlights from that event. [Video] We are very excited to announce that we will be holding another party on Oscar night 2013 – ‘The One Expected Party.’ Like our previous events, we are making this a fan-centered celebration of all things Middle-earth, but also a celebration of the release of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.’ Even if no nominations are awarded to the first Hobbit film, the party will still take place! The planning and coordination to get the party going has been quite significant and is already in motion, however we would love to get your ideas and insight via the following form. If you have any interest in the party, please take a couple of minutes and submit the form below. Thank you for your participation and we will be updating you along the way as prepare for Oscar night 2013. In the meantime, enjoy this year’s Academy Awards on Sunday.
Continue reading “Do you have plans Oscar Night 2013? Join us for ‘The One Expected Party’”