I’ve always found it fascinating how J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth continues to captivate generations of artists around the world. TheOneRing.net has proudly produced 6 art shows over the years, shining a spotlight on both professional and fan artists alike. I was delighted to attend the opening reception of “Out of the Shire”, a new gallery exhibit in tribute to Tolkien and his inspiring work.
Nucleus is an art gallery and store located at 210 East Main Street in Alhambra, California. It’s a charming space that sells various art books, crafts, t-shirts and more. The gallery side is perfectly set up for exhibits with fantastic lighting. The artwork was laid out in such a way that it allows each piece to stand on its own to be admired. And there is some truly incredible artwork on display!
Over 30 artists are on exhibit, showing a wide variety of styles – from paintings to illustrations, paper craft to sculptures, and more. I especially loved pieces that were original interpretations of beloved characters, not inspired by images from the Peter Jackson movies. You could see how the artist interpreted a character based on the writing of Tolkien himself, just as you do in your mind’s eye when you read “The Hobbit” or “The Lord of the Rings”.
Stand outs include the whimsical watercolors of Justin Gerard, an incredible fossilized Balrog by Tohru Patrick Awa, the lovely paintings by Caroline Hadilaksono, and a charming acrylic of Bilbo meeting Gandalf by Erik Krenz to name just a few. A special treat is the gorgeous artwork on display by TORn favorites Donato Giancola and Ted Nasmith. Keith Noordzy, who took part in our “An Unexpected Art Show” last February, is also part of the exhibit.
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, I’d highly recommend you check out this special exhibit in person. It’s well worth a visit. “Out of the Shire” is free and runs until January 12, 2014.
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I know some people are not happy with The Desolation of Smaug. I’ll start my review by saying that I have read The Hobbit yearly since 1973. I’ve read The Lord of the Rings yearly since 1971. I love the books and the stories. I also love Peter Jackson’s telling of those tales. So when I went to see a double-feature of The Hobbit to include AUJ and a midnight, first-time viewing of DOS, I went without the book as my expectation and eager for the adventure into Middle-earth as only Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh can serve. I was not disappointed!
Continue reading “grammaboodawg’s Review of ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’”
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Warner Bros. reports that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is up to $131.2 million overseas, pushing its global total to $205M.
Key stats from WB:
Germany – Took 64% of the top 5 market share, ranking as the biggest opening of 2013 with €13.2m (US$18.1m) from 1,460 screens. HDOS already qualifies for a Bogey Award for achieving more than 1,000 admissions per site. Opening results surpassed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey by 14% (€11.5m), excluding previews.
The UK: With a 61% share of the top 5 films in the market and nearly quadrupling 2nd placed FROZEN, the opening results are excellent at £9.5m (US$15.6m) from 1,495 screens. This is on par with the. Fri-Sun opening results for HAUJ (£9.5m).
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Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join the fun!
Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – December 15, 2013”
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Warner Bros. reports that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug earned an estimated $31.15 million on Friday, putting it on pace for a likely $75 million weekend. Those figures include the film’s $8.8 million earned from midnight shows, representing just over 28 percent of opening day grosses–an improvement over the 35 percent midnight share of opening day for last year’s An Unexpected Journey. IMAX accounted for 13 percent ($3.979 million) of Friday’s haul. Overall, Smaug‘s opening day was 16 percent lower than its predecessor ($37.1 million).
Smaug‘s projected opening weekend will end up close to expectations following what looked to be lower grosses last night. Winter weather may be affecting things, although the lower share of midnights indicates that fans may have indeed been the audience sector where the most upfront demand was lost (as opposed to general audiences) in the wake of last year’s mixed reception for the first Hobbit entry. Early word of mouth appears solid for Smaug so far with an “A-” CinemaScore and 88 percent of Flixster users liking or still anticipating seeing the film. With a crowded holiday schedule ahead, this second Hobbit pic is aiming to maintain most of its core family audience through Christmas and New Year’s while also bringing in stronger overseas sales than Journey.
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Last Wednesday we told you that MSN UK was celebrating the opening of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug by requesting Skype messages from fans, asking questions of actor Martin Freeman. See which questions were chosen from fans all over the world, and find out what Freeman had to say, in the video below.
Continue reading “Martin Freeman answers fans’ questions on MSN UK”
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