Orlando Bloom was on ‘The Ellen Degeneres Show’ late last month to promote ‘Pirates III’. You can catch the repeat airing today or click on this link to see the videos right now! [More]
Category: Events
Mark writes: Watch the AFI “100 Years, 100 Movies Tenth Anniversery Edition” tonight at 7:00 pm CST on CBS.They have been using tag lines such as “Will the greatest movie of all time be Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Godfather, Titanic or Lord Of The Rings?” [More]
Andrew writes: Please let the readers of TORN know that PBS is currently running a great documentary on the life of Vincent Van Gogh with Andy Serkis in the staring role. Please check the listings for your local PBS stations and do try to see this show. Serkis makes Van Gogh come back to life with equal measures of genius and sensitivity and deals with the artist’s illness that is real and sympathetic. It is the quality of performance that you rarely see these days in such pieces.
LONDON, June 19 (UPI) — The Theatre Royal in London’s West End launched the stage adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” The show, which cost $24.9 million and features 17 pneumatic lifts beneath the stage, began previews in May, the BBC reported Tuesday. The production debuted in Toronto last year but was cut by about 35 minutes for the West End opening after it wasn’t well-received by critics. [More]
From Michael Billington (at Guardian Unlimited): I suppose there are two ways to approach this mega-musical: either as a paid-up Tolkien aficionado or as a wide-eyed newcomer. Having dipped only briefly into the original trilogy and the Peter Jackson movies, I entered Drury Lane as innocent as any hairy-toed hobbit. But I emerged three-and-a-quarter hours later sceptical as to the main matter but hugely impressed by the manner of Matthew Warchus’s production. Obviously Shaun McKenna and Warchus, as co-authors, face a huge task in boiling down a 1000-page fantasy into a theatrical narrative. But, although bits of the backstory remain obscure, the main thrust is clear. Frodo Baggins, a junior hobbit, and his chums are deputed by the wizard, Gandalf, to undertake an epic journey to Mount Doom to dispose of the evil Ring. In the course of their quest they acquire the company of elves, dwarves and rangers. They encounter sinister black riders and orcs, pass through Rivendell and the Golden Wood and ultimately do battle with the forces of the Dark Lord, Sauron. Finally, however, they get rid of the damned Ring. [More]
It’s the most expensive West End musical ever and has been three years in the making, but now The Lord of the Rings is about to open. Paul Arendt enters a world of elves, ents and leather-clad orcs. Matthew Warchus is looking a little frazzled. It’s not surprising: after three years of development, a lengthy dry run in Toronto and an unprecedented six weeks of London previews, The Lord of the Rings musical is ready to face the critics. As director and co-writer, Warchus has given four years of his life to the project. “I don’t have to worry about this becoming habit forming,” he says during a break in rehearsals. “I certainly don’t intend to do something on this scale ever again.” [More]