Events | Lord of the Rings & Tolkien News - TheOneRing.net Fan Community, since 1999

By the time it was all over, the 55+ people who made it to the final seconds of “Return of the King” could hardly contain their giddiness. For 14.5 hours they had inhabited TORn’s chatroom where they laughed together, cheered together, and cried, together, while watching the entire “Lord of the Rings” Extended Editions trilogy from start to finish.

They began gathering at 10 a.m. EST, impatient and eager. Tar_Gathalion arrived first, a newcomer to the chat room, and was one of the last to leave. Coriaelleth was wide awake and chipper at the start of “Fellowship of the Ring,” despite it being 2 a.m. in Brisbane, Australia, where she was chatting from. She, too, was still going strong at the end, taking energy from the amazing fellowship that had sprung up amongst the chatters.

And what a fellowship it was. Amidst the appreciation and groaning over the films, these people — of all ages and nationalities — shared how they discovered Middle Earth and their love of Tolkien. In doing so, we learned about each other. Teenagers listened as us old-timers recalled seeing Bakshi’s film in the movie theaters. The older chatters smiled as teens spoke of discovering Tolkien through video games and these movies that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema gave to us.

So we made our way through the films, remembering anew how much we loved the opening sequence and the amazing Sauron, debating whether the Black Riders were scarier than the winged Nazgul, if the film suffered from lack of Tom Bombadil or Glorfindel, marveling at the horses in the flood at the Ford of Bruinen, discussing how the film’s depiction of Boromir rendered him so much more sympathetic than Tolkien’s. So many things to remark upon: The balrog, is he winged? Why is Lorien blue? Why does Celeborn ………. talk ………. like ………. this? The gifts! Just too much.

And that was only the first movie!

I honestly can’t even begin to recount all the people who contributed to the fun of this day from start to finish. There were Alatariel and justine’s witty comments, Lancelot (aka Sir_Capsalot) and CaptainOfGondor’s infectious enthusiasm. Beth and eRIC’s excitement was equally contagious. EcossElf and Ainulaire, omeron and stavros and nicktheoden. Susanita who hung on despite many computer problems. OBSERVER who was able to join us mid-way through. And Adrian, who thought she’d miss the whole thing, but managed to get home from work in time to see the end of “Return of the King.” I just know I’m leaving out so many more.

Movie Chat seems a simple concept — everyone puts a disc in, it plays, you chat — but in reality it takes a lot of orchestration. PAL and NTSC formats run at different speeds, so breaks are required throughout the evening in order to allow people to synch back up. Managing those pauses, wrangling everyone to press “play” at the same time, informing late-comers on how to catch up with everyone else, and generally making sure that everyone has a great time — these things take great moderators, and the night wouldn’t have happened without the many people who pitched in: starlady and caoil, who managed the countdowns and time-keeping for films 2 & 3; Wingfoot and FayWraith who shepherded the mid-film arrivals; Figgy and Elenya who played backstop by greeting people and pointing them in the right direction, plus making sure that everyone chatted nicely. Bravo and thank you!

By the time “Return of the King” launched, the enthusiasm level was at a fever pitch. Quiddler was shouting, Brandalf85 was ~~hooting~~ blowing up Saurons tower, Goblin was eating all the cookies, and Lancelot’s capslock key WAS PERMANENTLY STUCK!!!

And the conversation continued: Bingo_Bolger_Baggins finding Smeagol and Deagol disturbing; Elerwen and Eureka sniffling over Frodo and Sam’s heart wrenching journey; Elanor G, Will, and Spe debating the merits of Saruman’s expanded appearance; everyone complaining about Gimli the comedian; Figgy and all the ladies sighing over Faramir and the Houses of Healing; and myself — joined by Murazor — complaining all along about Denethor, Eowyn vs. the Witch King, “go home Sam,” and our utter disgust with the green Scrubbing Bubble Army of the Dead. (Hey, someone has to nitpick!)

But the best moment of all came with the Ride of the Rohirrim:

(Figgy) this is the BEST SCENE in this movie
(Figgy) ERE THE SUN RISES
(Eureka) DEATH!!!
(Elanor_G) Death!!
(Brandalf85) DEathhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) Shields shall be splintered
(CaptainofGondor) ere the sun rises!
(Beth) love this!
(Brandalf85) ~music~
(EcossElf) ruinnnn and the worlds ending
(Elanor_G) DEATH!!!
(CaptainofGondor) Stay with me
(maegwen) DEATH
(Figgy) RIDE NOW
(Stavros) ride now!
(Edendil) death!!!
(Quiddler1) Ride now!
(Brandalf85) Forth EorlingTORNS
(EcossElf) deathhhhhh
(Figgy) RIDE!
(Figgy) FOR RUIN!
(Quiddler1) Ridenow!
(Lancelot) Ride for ruin!
(Figgy) AND THE WORLD’S ENDING
(Spe) death!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Adrian) death!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(Spe) death!
(omeron) Death! Death! Death!
(ZeeWarthog) DDDEEEAAATTTHHH
(Lancelot) And the worlds ending!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(CaptainofGondor) ride for ruin!!!!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Brandalf85) ~gets on horse~
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
(Spe) death!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(Adrian) DEATH!!!
(Bingo_Bolger_Baggins) Death!!
(CaptainofGondor) DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Eureka) DEATH!!!
(Elanor_G) DEATH!!!
(ZeeWarthog) death
(Quiddler1) DEEEEEEEEEATH!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Spe) death!
(Figgy) DEATH!
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(EcossElf) daethhhhh
(Elanor_G) DEATH!!!
(Spe) death!
(Stavros) DEATH
(CaptainofGondor) Death!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!S
(Adrian) Death!!!
(Pk) death!
(Eureka) Theres that violin again
(Spe) death!
(Stavros) DEATH
(Figgy) DEAAAATH!!!!!!!!!
(Quiddler1) Death!
(omeron) Death!
(CaptainofGondor) Death!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(ZeeWarthog) dddddddeeeeath
(Lancelot) DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Adrian) death!!
(Guest) Death!!!!!
(CaptainofGondor) DEATH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
(Figgy) CHILLS
(Stavros) DFAETH
(Lancelot) DEAAAAAAAAAAAAAATH
(Beth) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
(Bingo_Bolger_Baggins) What’s happening
(Figgy) FORTH EORLINGAS!
(Gondhir) WOO, HORNS
(Beth) death!!!!!!!!!!
(CaptainofGondor) DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTHHHH!!!!!
(Brandalf85) DEATHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) FOR EORLIGAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Spe) yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh
(Beth) death!!
(CaptainofGondor) .Forth Eorlingas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(FayWraith) *horns*
(Adrian) Death!
(Stavros) DEAF!!!
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Beth) deaaaaaaaaaath!
(Brandalf85) lol
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHD
(CaptainofGondor) Rohan music!!!!!!!!!!!
(Lancelot) DEATHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(Figgy) YEAAAAAAAAH
(Gondhir) the Rohirrim are the best part of the movie

You just can’t do that in a movie theater 😉

As we reached the Grey Havens, we too sensed the enormity of the 14.5-hour road we’d travelled. And, like our beloved Hobbits, the chatters were reluctant to part. But, all good things must come to an end — for a time. I’m sure we’ll all meet again for another LoTR Movie Chat some time in the near future!

If you would like to know the next time we plan a LoTR chat, please e-mail me to be added to the mailing list.

* * *

I’d like to thank all of the chatters who made the Marathon such an enjoyable experience:

Adrian
AinuLaire
Alatariel
Alatriel
Arwen_Legolas
Aurelia
Beth
Bingo_Bolger_Baggins
Brandalf85
Brian_Blessed
Bruce_Wayne
caoil
CaptainofGondor
coinpurse
Coriaelleth
Dalener
Dekota
Demosthenes
Denise
Dillen
Dunedain
EcossElf
Edendil
eeviac
Elanor_G
Elendilking
Elenya
Elerwen
Elfriend
elleth
Elrohir
Elvish-Rose
Emily_M
eowyn
eRiC
Eureka
FayWraith
Fenway
Figgy
George_Clooney
Goblin
Gondhir
Graham
Gwahir_Saves_The_Day
Halduina
James_Bond_of_the_Round_Table
jincey
JK
JPB
justine
Karamia
Karl
King_Elendil
Lancelot
LeekANeet
Lucrecia
Maegnarval
maegwen
middleearthguy
MightyDiggler
MouthOfSauron
MrCere
MrNobody
Murazor
Namadriel
Naz
Nephellim
nicktheoden
OBSERVER
omeron
One_Day
ORDESKY
Pk
Prof_Hojo
Quiddler
Rimbecano
Rob
Rox
samsbestfriend
scott
Shar
Spartacus
Spe
Spide
starlady
stavros
surfy_hobbit
Susanita
Tar_Gathalion
Thas
that_guy
Theodwyn
thewraithling
TolkienRider
Tookish
tree_girl
usef
voodoo
Will
Wingfoot
Wraithlette
Xelloss
Zaakistan
ZeeWarthog

Posted in:

Steve writes: I just wanted to let you know that Sean Astin is listed as a confirmed guest for the “Mega Con Convention” which is being held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida, February 16th – 18th 2007. [More]

Posted in:

A repeat airing of Orlando Bloom’s recent appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ airs tonight on ABC. You can either stay up late to catch that interview or simply download it from us! Take a look! (35MB MOV)[More]

Posted in:

South Bend, IN September 2006 — It’s “One spoof to rule them all! according to Peter Lyon who designed and created the hero swords for Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy.

The ambitious parody movie “The Dork of the Rings”, which was produced in the Michiana area and is being heralded internationally, will be shown on the I.U.S.B. campus in Wiekamp Hall, Room 1001 on Saturday, September 23 – 4:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, September 24 – 2:00 p.m.; Friday, October 6 – 7:00 p.m.; Saturday, October 7 – 4:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, October 8 – 2:00 p.m. Admission is $5.00 at the door.

The 100-minute film was produced in Indiana and Michigan over the last two and a half years by director Tim Richardson and his company Richardson Productions LLC in conjunction with Somehow Cinema. Richardson grew up in Granger, Indiana, is a current resident of Edwardsburg, Michigan and an I.U.S.B. alumnus. The screenings are sponsored by the I.U.S.B. Alumni Association. More information about the film can be found at www.dorkoftherings.com.

The story revolves around a young Throbbit, Frudo Buggins, who must stop the insidious Dork-mart corporation from taking over Muddle-earth with its endless franchises. The only way to do this is to deliver the One Ring of Circular Credit to Bank Boom to close Lord Mauron’s account and stop the evil empire from spreading. Pursued by Nosedrools and Sporks, Frudo is joined by his plump companion Ham, Randolf the Wizard, Gimpi the Dweeb, Legoblocks the Elfis, Arogant the Rangler, Princess Femowen and the annoying creature Scrottum.

The film held its World Premiere and two other screenings this August at the enormous GenCon convention in Indianapolis to packed audiences and a few weeks later it graced the big screen at the IMAX in Indianapolis, which was organized by Woodworks films. “The film is huge in its scope,” says filmmaker Gary Wood. “It’s not your normal low-budget, independent movie. It’s the perfect example of what you can accomplish if you don’t limit your vision to what you think you can accomplish and, rather, just go about accomplishing your vision–and limitations be damned!”

Over half the film was shot against a giant green screen sound stage Richardson’s crew constructed themselves. The post-production art team consisted of around 30 artists including digital artists, matte painters, sculptors, graphic designers, illustrators, animators and costume designers.

Michael Kouroubetes who co-wrote, produced, and acted in the film says, “It was kinda’ like a bonsai tree: looks great, but it takes a lot of patience to grow. We owe so much to ever evolving consumer level technology. Without the advent of terrific software and faster PC’s, this movie would’ve cost hundred’s of thousands more to make.”

Art Coordinator Ian Strandberg created many of the digital backgrounds and offered input to the wide variety of artists working on the project. “The task of making FX for ‘The Dork of the Rings’ is not about fooling the audience. Most audiences are too sophisticated to be hornswoggled by the likes of us. Rather, I look at the dork FX first as a matter of entertainment and second as a matter of suggesting that no matter how crazy something seems, it can be sold as a stylistic choice and not an anomaly of artistic temperament.”

The scriptwriting process began in January 2004 and the 18 days of principle photography followed that summer and fall. During the long post-production process, which included not only the digital effects but also re-dubbing all the actors’ voices and creating foley and sound effects, the cast and crew were also busy marketing the film.

The Dorks first traveled to TolCon in Seattle in 2005 where they previewed the film and also met Elijah Wood’s scale and stunt double from the trilogy, Kiran Shah, who they were able to recruit to do a comical introduction for the movie where he claims he auditioned for “Dork” but was rejected as the lead actor’s stunt double because he was “too tall.” Shah has been in many films and was seen most recently as the White Queen’s sleigh driver in “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

Since Tolcon, they’ve previewed behind the scenes footage and clips from the film at GenCon, Ring*Con in Germany, Dragon*Con in Atlanta, The Fellowship Festival in Toronto, ELF I & II in Orlando and New York and The One Ring Celebration in Pasadena just to name a few. At these conventions they’ve met with sword maker Peter Lyon and actors Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies and Elijah Wood and talked up their dorky movie. Lyon gladly agreed to send copies of the movie directly to Weta Workshop head honcho Richard Taylor and hopefully director Peter Jackson himself.

Speaking of directors, in order to assist with the promoting of “Dork” the film’s “co-director” Jack Peterson (with his large girth, fuzzy beard and huge round glasses) has been making the rounds at these events interviewing stars such as Justin Long (“Accepted”), David Prowse (“Star Wars”) and Doc Hammer (“Venture Bros.”) for his online video reports. By shear brute force, he has pushed his way into semi-celebritydom, even appearing as a special guest on a Tolkien panel with Shah. ” You simply can’t miss me, ” say Peterson. “Elijah Wood told me I was awesome, and at over 300 pounds, he’s quite right.”

“The Dork of the Rings” was recently one of only three feature films to be selected for Dragon*Con in Atlanta, the country’s largest Sci-fi/fantasy/horror/pop culture convention held over Labor Day weekend. The film’s own Randolf the Wizard was a huge attraction at the event, garnering the actor numerous television and print interviews during his visit.

Now that he’s famous, actor David Kiefer who plays the doddering wizard Randolf says: “I can’t even eat a ham sandwich without someone coming up to me.” He’s been a big hit at all the conventions and his costume won him and his Indianapolis-based designer Janice Bennett the Staff Choice Award at GenCon 2005 in the costume competition.

Over 150 actors and crew came from all over to help on the film: Chicago, Peoria, Indianapolis, Louisville and all around South Bend. “Everyone was very excited about this project and I think they all had an awesome time on the set. It was cool to not have to worry about whether anyone was going to show up or not, as can be the cast in making indie movies where folks work for free, but everyone was very dedicated so I feel very blessed,” says Richardson.

Their original soundtrack was created by veteran film composer Mark D’Errico from Colorado whose score definitely captures the “Rings” flavor. They also recruited The Great Luke Ski to do a theme song for the movie. Ski is a Wisconsin-based comedy song performer who has been Dr. Demento’s most requested artist since 2000 and is best known for his hit song “Stealing Like a Hobbit,” a parody of Eminem’s “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.”

Pre-orders for the DVD have been pouring in at studio-style pace. The Dorks plan to enter the film in festivals and screen it at as many conventions as possible worldwide and their first scheduled international engagement is in Germany this November.

Just what Europe needs: More American Dorks.

Posted in:

And finally ‘Entertainment Tonight’, who promised to have Orlando Bloom on the show the day earlier, ran a clip with Orlando saying a whole 12 words or so about ‘Haven’. They focused mainly on his recent split with Kate Bosworth instead. (1MB MOV)[More]

Posted in:

Hot off his ‘Jimmy Kimmel’ interview Orlando Bloom stopped by ‘The Ellen Degeneres Show’ to discuss his new film ‘Haven’. Ellen ran down the long list of bones Orlando has broken, and surprised him with a gift he’s been eager to get, bongo drums!. Take a look! (51.5MB MOV)[More]

Posted in:

104 chatters make LOTR-EE Marathon a huge success!

Category: Events