Middle-earth March Madness round 2 ends at 10pmET tonight, so get your votes in. [Vote] [Round 2 Bracket]
Here is how Round 2 is shaping up right now…
The Shire Division
(8) Huan is being handed his walking papers by (1) Galadriel, while the most powerful of the Ainur (4) Morgoth has a solid lead over the eldest ent (5) Treebeard. (6) Luthien seems poised to take down (3) Bilbo Baggins. But the closest story in this round appears to be the match between the Mirkwood Elvenking (7) Thranduil with a slim lead over the head of the White Council (2) Saruman.
The Erebor Division
The current Cinderella seed (16) Pippin is soundly beating ‘Hot Dwarf’ (9) Fili, can the Heir of Durin put in a late push? Last year’s champ (12) Samwise Gamgee is facing an uphill battle with (4) Beren. The owner of the Last Homely Home, (6) Elrond, is currently leading against (14) Eowyn, unless she can get some support from other Warrior Women. Can she make to the Sweet 16, possibly against Aragorn!? Speaking of (7) Aragorn, he is soundly trouncing the windlord (2) Gwaihir.
The Mordor Division
(9) Gil-galad, the high kind of Noldor, seems destined to lose to the number one seed (1) Smaug. The Dark Lord (4) Sauron is handily beating his dwarven opponent (5) Dain Ironfoot. (11) Fingolfin has a slim lead over (3) Thorin Oakenshield, where is his ARmy? (2) Beorn seems ready to send (7) Shelob packing. If things keep going this way, we could have Smaug and Sauron in the Sweet 16.
The Angmar Division
Not quite a fair battle, but (1) The One Ring seems ready to abandon (8) Frodo Baggins. The Eldar King (12) Manwe, has a very solid lead over a descendant of Girion in (4) Bard the Bowman. Some call him ‘creepy’ and ‘sneaky’ (3) Gollum, but he’s got a lead over the imposing dwarf (6) Dwalin. And last but not least, (10) Merry seems rather outranked and outclassed by (2) Gandalf the Grey.
Voting continues until tonight at 10pm ET. [Vote Now!]
Rather comic version of Smaug on a computer screen (psych)
the T-Rex with wings look a bit like Pete’s Dragon
Rivendell library is rather cool looking, even if never used
Jed loves Goldfinger
And then we enter the Editing room with Jabez Olssen
One Million years B.C was the poster over PJ’s bed as a kid
Now to see editing happening
Bard is taking the Dwarves and their barrels across the river, in a boat.
Bilbo – I should never come along, we have a saying in the Shire “never venture east”.
He seems rather miserable
“I should never have left Bagend. We have a saying in the Shire, we learn it from birth, Never Venture East.”
Peter and Jed agree that Aidan is one of the Hot Dwarves (Lisa)
Jed looks very waterlogged
We get the final cut – and it’s Bard saying “So Master Hobbit, why did you venture East?”
Yeah Luke, sends a little message to say hello to the fans. The One Ringer, that’s us!
Jed teases that Bard is out of the film but Peter says that Bard is one of the cool things about the next film
Here come the video questions.
Chris asks about problems with a middle film?
PJ answers – middle films are complicated, but with multiple story lines different character arcs and plot lines take over.
Thranduil on his throne, awesome.
elf troop, with Legolas and Tauriel, fighting orcs
Laketown and the Master looking smarmy, and his manservant looks a bit like Grima.
Stephen Fry says he’s taking over from Orlando as the most desirable man in the films
Stephen sends a video, and mentions that England is decimating NZ in Cricket
Chinese girls ask questions about Legolas and Orlando and why he was cast and whether or not he’s similar to his Elf
Orlando sends a video to ask PJ a question – he wants to know what image he is most excited to see onscreen.
PJ says fans are most excited to see Smaug and Bilbo together and so is he.
Stephen’s video has been running in the background because he’s so wordy, but he says he has no idea if he’s in the last film
Marina in Canada – asks about new characters
PJ answers – Thranduil, Bard (part of the family now), They’ve made Bard like Robin Hood, is he good or bad. And of course, Tauriel is new, a new creation. Yay for her costume, finally getting to really see it.
Tauriel wears a leather
Brazilian kids asking questions, call it LOTR and pronounce it as a word
The kids ask about PJ’s favorite weapons, theirs is Gimli’s and Gloin’s axe.
PJ loves Theoden’s sword, with the horse motifs.
And back to London and Stephen Fry’s video still running 😉
PJ was punishing Stephen about his comments about the NZ Cricket team
Twitter question about how difficult it is to stay on track or schedule
They mention the Flood in Nelson as one thing that messed up shooting
Surprise question with from Stephen Colbert – asks about the Sindar Elves and the Avari elves? PJ says yes about the Elves
So PJ rags on Stephen Colbert about two different sizes of mugs on his show, and how the quality of the printing on the mugs is poor quality
Twitter question – does he edit barefoot? Yes, he can be barefoot.
Lee Pace, woohoo, looking rather fab, as usual. Lee is looking forward to seeing the animosity of Dwarves and Elves in his own halls.
Twitter question – would Jed like to inflict any dwarf torture on PJ?
Jed says maybe, but has to say no because he wants to continue to work with him.
Great story about the Dwarves on the spit, and how Mark Hadlow got sick and asked to take a break and no one heard him. Poor thing
Billy Boyd sends a video question – In FOTR, they went as far as the Misty Mountains, but he knows in The Hobbit they go further East. Billy wants to know about any new Wildlands.
PJ answers about Mirkwood, and shows artwork the darkness and foreboding nature of Mirkwood. Misty and mirky and hard to walk through, to be sure.
Evangeline sends a question – What will Thranduil’s realm be like?
PJ mentions that Green Screens is why she does not know what the realm looks like. The artwork shows a bridge over a raging river to a structure like Rivendell, but inside the forest. The realm looks like Rivendell and Lorien mixed together, but underground.
Dom Monaghan asks a question, he is holding the camera himself.
What is the best PJ rumor you’ve heard that is not true?
What are you happiest about in transferring book to film?
PJ answers about the craziest rumor – people asked him if he was going to move his family to a ship off the coast to avoid paying Taxes. He gets too seasick to do that.
Twitter question – will the Necromancer play a bigger part, and PJ says yes and nothing else.
Here comes a look at the movie, but the Trailer is not ready yet.
PJ says that Gandalf goes to see the tombs of the Witch-king
Gandalf in a cavern, showing a dark doorway that appears to be blown open from within. He then goes inside, and sees a bird flies out of broken stonework, and then sees Radagast. The Nine tombs were broken open from the inside.
The vlogs will be starting up again, even though this is very much like one.
Sequence of action from throughout the film concluding with ‘We are the Dwarves of Erebor, we have come to reclaim our homeland’
Ran for about 55 minutes
Remember, if you missed the Peter Jackson hosted first look at “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” or just want to watch it over again, a modified version will be archived on the Trilogy’s official website www.thehobbit.com/sneak. To access the footage, use your UltraViolet code on your copy “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack or 2-Disc Special Edition DVD.
Also, be sure to stay tuned to TheOneRing.net for a detailed analysis. Coming soon!
(Updates in Red Below) Today is the day! At 3pm ET (worldwide), Peter Jackson will be sharing an exclusive peek at ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug‘ and answering previously submitted video questions from fans worldwide. The staff here at TheOneRing.net will be covering the event but we wanted to share a few tidbits of information before the big event…
1. Limited Access
The live event is limited to holders of an UltraViolet™ code, available by purchasing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is in most locations now on Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and 2-disc DVD Special. Users should go to www.thehobbit.com/sneak at 3pm ET and enter their code to participate. According to James Nesbitt, an ‘edited version will be archived for later viewing.’ If you are unlucky enough to live in an area where the film has not been released on Blu-ray/DVD yet, at least you know you’ll be able to see the event at a later date. If you read the fine print on the sheet included in your Blu-Ray/DVD however, it does say ‘Content may not be available after 5/24/13.’ This is what we call ‘covering our butts’ with fine print. Our expectation is the content will be available.
The broadcast will be in English only and last no longer than 1 hour.
Attention UK Ringers: Thanks to Ringer Morgulvortex for sending along this info…
If you pre-ordered The Hobbit (Blu-ray or 3D Blu-ray) from Amazon.co.uk before today a code will have been sent to your e-mail address. Even though it’s being released in April!!!
Users should have a PC with Windows 2000 or higher or Mac computer with OS X 10.3 or higher and a high-speed internet connection, and Adobe Flash Player 10.0.22+ plug-in. Browser should be Firefox 1.1 or above, Internet Explorer 7.0 or above, Safari 1.0 or above, Google Chrome or Opera.
Mobile users should have iOS 3.0 or above or Android OS Version 3.0 or above or devices with a Flash plugin.
3. Start Time
The event starts at 3pm ET – Click here for a full list of the start time in your region! [Start Time]
4. Fan Questions
Peter will be answering previously submitted fan questions. These questions were required to be in the form of a video and submitted by March 19th. There is unlikely going to be a ‘live’ component to interact with Peter, but we do know the official hashtag for the event is #Hobbit2SneakPeek. Update: You can also tweet questions LIVE to Peter Jackson using #askPeterlive. So tweet away!
Bottom line, we’ll probably see a condensed trailer of some sort. We can expect to see our first glimpses of Legolas, Tauriel, Beorn and maybe Bard. We did see quite a bit of Smaug in AUJ, but we don’t believe we’ll get a full reveal of Smaug at this point. (Although it would be amazing if we did!!)
Since WB is hoping folks continue to buy copies of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and log in with their UltraViolet code to view this sneak peek, we can deduce we won’t see this tease in the form of a trailer until May/June in front of a big WB summer release.
6. What about TheOneRing.net’s Coverage?
During the event, you can join our staff in Barlimans to chat during the entire event. We will also be tweeting along with #Hobbit2SneakPeek @theoneringnet.
Immediately following the event, our staff will be compiling our comments and posting a comprehensive analysis of everything revealed.
You’ll want to stay tuned to TheOneRing.net for the next day or so as we digest every single detail!
The first official Tolkien Reading Day was held on March 25, 2003. A New York journalist was wondering if there was such a thing as Tolkien Reading Day and asked the Tolkien Society about this in 2002. It was decided that there should be a Tolkien Reading day, and then the only debate was ‘when’ should it be held? Please go to the Tolkien Society’s official page for Tolkien Reading Day to find out just how and why March 25th was chosen.
You will also see some very helpful tips on what types of activities can be done to celebrate Tolkien Reading Day, from discussions about common themes or settings, to fun games to engage children with. Tolkien Reading Day can be held at a home, a school, a library or a bookstore or you can even take it outside, maybe at a picnic and add a meal to the event. And while the Middle-earth stories tend to be the more popular at a Tolkien Reading Day event, his other works, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Letters from Father Christmas or Roverandam can be just as enchanting.
The theme for this year is Landscapes, a subject that Tolkien was particularly adept at envisioning and describing in wonderful detail. Middle-earth must have had very successful travel agents, how many times have you wondered what it would be like to visit some of the realms described?
Tolkien Forever, the Tolkien Smial in Southern California, will be hosting an event this Saturday, March 23. True, it is not the correct day, but a Saturday works better for drawing more people to the event in the ever busy Megalopolis that is So Cal. For those in the Los Angeles area, stop by their Facebook event page for details.
If you have a Tolkien Reading Day event happening in your area, please let us know the details so we can post it and let others know where they can go in an area near them. You can drop a line to Spymaster@TheOneRing.net.
Middle-earth March Madness moves to the round of 32 with a bit of controversy and surprise. With some victories settled by a single vote (Beorn vs. Faramir) and others knocking out favorites, the competition is really heating up!
Here are some Round 2 Highlights…
The Shire Division
(8) Huan had a major push against his first round opponent, but can he keep up the momentum against fan favorite and number one seeded (1) Galadriel? Can the most powerful of the Ainur (4) Morgoth take out the eldest ent (5) Treebeard? The story of (6) Luthien, considered by many to be one of the greatest told in Middle-earth, is profound and impactful, but can she overcome the recent Billion dollar box-office success of (3) Bilbo Baggins? And finally, can the elvenking of Mirkwood (7) Thranduil take out the head of the White Council (2) Saruman?
The Erebor Division
There are some very interesting match-ups in Erebor this round. Cinderella seed (16) Pippin takes on recent dwarven heart-throb (9) Fili. Last year’s champ (12) Sam is up against (4) Beren in what will most likely come down to a battle of familiarity with the stories of Middle-earth. (6) Elrond faces off against (14) Eowyn, one who continues to long to win renown in battle. Can she make this her next big victory!? And finally in a battle man vs. beast, (7) Aragorn faces off against the windlord (2) Gwaihir.
The Mordor Division
The Mordor division has some very powerful characters with some very intriguing competitions. (9) Gil-galad, the high kind of Noldor, has his hands full with the number one seed (1) Smaug. The Dark Lord (4) Sauron faces off against a worthy dwarven opponent (5) Dain Ironfoot. (11) Fingolfin could take on the likes of Morgoth, but can he handle the stout and stubborn (3) Thorin Oakenshield? Hot of this shape-shifter’s victory by a single vote, can (2) Beorn continue past her magnificence (7) Shelob?
The Angmar Division
The Angmare division looks like it has the most interesting match-up of Round 2. In a rematch of sorts, (1) The One Ring goes up against (8) Frodo Baggins. It can be said that The One Ring won out last time, but will Frodo accomplish the task this time?? The Eldar King (12) Manwe, an Ainur, faces off against a simple man, (4) Bard. Can Bard overccome insurmountable odds to win this match? Will the quickness and general sneakiness of (3) Gollum lead him past imposing dwarf (6) Dwalin? And last but not least, will (10) Merry finally get back at (2) Gandalf for making him wash all those dishes!
Voting starts right now and will run until March 25th at 10pm ET.
Round 1 of Middle-earth March Madness lived up to the hype as some match-ups came down to a flurry of last minute voting, and one match-up being decided by a single vote! With nearly 12,000 votes cast, round 1 will go down as one for the record books!
In The Shire division, the battle between (8) Huan and (9) Quickbeam ended up not being as close as expected, with Huan sounding beating the hasty ent. The rest of the match-ups were pretty much across the board victories for the top seeded combatants.
In Mordor, two match-ups came down to the smallest margins. (7) Shelob squeaked by (10) “Bullroarer” Took by 32 votes, but the match-up between (2) Beorn and (15) Faramir was even more epic. That’s right, Beorn out-matched Faramir by a single vote in the closest shave of the tournament so far.
In the Erebor division, (16) Pippin may be putting on the ‘Cinderella’ moniker as he out wits the division number one seed (1) Balin. In the much hyped, and highly contested battle of dwarven brothers, (9) Fili skated by (8) Kili in easier fashion than one may have expected. And in a surprisingly close match-up, number four seed (4) Beren made a last minute push to beat out (13) Boromir.
The Angmar division did not feature any close match-ups in this round, but we did have an upset or two as (10) Merry got by the division namesake (7) The Witch-king of Angmar, and (12) Manwe got by (5) Glaurung.
Voting for Round 2 will begin tomorrow and run until 10pm on March 25th.
While you wait, download the latest bracket – [Round 2 Bracket]
Middle-earth March Madness round 2 ends at 10pmET tonight, so get your votes in. [Vote] [Round 2 Bracket]
