Heidi from Bloomberg Television sends this in: Friday on the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION® program “Night Talk,” host Mike Schneider talks to Actor Viggo Mortensen about his latest film “Good.”

He talks about the success of The Lord of the Rings. “I think that anybody that was involved in that project, or any fan even, that says ‘I knew it was going to be huge box office success,’ I don’t think they’re being honest. I think its revisionist thinking. Because when we were shooting that movie…it just wasn’t a known thing, and it wasn’t really noticed that we were down there shooting this all that time. It wasn’t in the papers here. It was only when they showed 20 minutes of it at the Cannes film festival in 2001 that the journalist started talking.” Continue reading “TV Watch: Viggo Mortensen on ‘Night Talk’”

Ian Collier, Tolkien Society Publicity Officer writes: At 9pm (local times) on January 3rd fans around the world are invited to raise a glass and toast J.R.R. Tolkien’s Birthday. The Tolkien Society has some webpages where fans across the globe can let other fans know where they’ll be celebrating if they’re hosting a party, or just what particular tipple they’ll be raising. Fans will be able to check the webpage and see who is celebrating where and if they wish to get in touch and join in. Continue reading “Tolkien Birthday Toast News”

Hot off the heels from her Star on the Walk of Fame announcement, Cate Blanchett has been nominated in the Best Actress category for the 2009 Critics Choice Awards, often seen as a preview of the Oscars (or so they say). Blanchett has been nominated for her work in ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’. She has tough competition from Kate Beckinsale (Nothing But the Truth), Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married), Angelina Jolie (Changeling), Melissa Leo (Frozen River) & Meryl Streep (Doubt). More…

SCOTTSDALE – Blanco is 20, but he’s well into his senior years. The Andalusian horse, best known for his role as Shadowfax, Gandalf’s legendary white horse in The Lord of the Rings, will perform at Equi-Dance on Friday and Saturday in Scottsdale. The show is part of the Arizona Festival of Horses 2008 at WestWorld, a weekend horse festival that includes seminars, shopping and entertainment. Cynthia Royal, who will be performing with Blanco, said Equi-Dance would be his last tour. “This will be his last performance on tour before we go to Las Vegas, where we will have a permanently based show,” Royal said. “It is not the performing that bothers him; it is really the long hours on the road.” In the two-hour show, Blanco will perform twice. His first appearance will be as Pegasus. Equi-Dance will showcase ‘Lord of Rings’ horse

Silvereel writes: I just want to make TORN aware of some current efforts going on to build a Tolkien inspired park in Spain. You can find more info on the official site of the project and a blog in which designer John Bently has posted his drawings for the park.