Today (January 4th) is actor Graham McTavish’s birthday – Happy Birthday to him from everyone here at TORn! Back at the start of December, our favourite tattooed dwarf sat down with TORn staffer greendragon, to chat about The Hobbit, about his latest project (playing Dougal MacKenzie in the Outlander series), and to reveal what it’s like to spend months working with a bunch of sweaty men in fat suits – and even to risk inviting them over for parties! Continuing greendragon’s ‘Inside the Middle-earth Actor’s Studio’ series, McTavish also discussed at length his approach to acting, what he sees as the greatest challenge in creating a role, and how he began his career on the stage. McTavish is an excellent raconteur, and there were many laughs during the conversation – read on to find out all that he had to say.
Continue reading “Graham McTavish talks exclusively to TheOneRing.net”
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Film Producer Saul Zaentz has passed away at the age of 92. Many Tolkien fans will know him as the man who held the film rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings – but he was so much more: a true Hollywood legend, with countless film projects to his name. He won many Oscars, including Best Picture wins for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The English Patient, and my very favorite film of all time (perhaps with the exception of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) – Amadeus. Continue reading “Academy Award winning Producer Saul Zaentz dies at age 92”
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Due to be released
on April 1 (no, not an April fools joke), the new book Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon comes from the same wonderful team behind the three The Hobbit: Chronicles books. This release will be 96 pages, exploring the creation of the title character of the second Hobbit film from concept art to digital realization. Final cover art is not yet available, but you can order the book on Weta’s website as well as Amazon.com and other online book stores. Continue reading “‘Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon’ now available for pre-order on Amazon.com”
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To celebrate the conclusion of 2013 Middle-earth’s Year of the Dragon, here are the thirteen most viewed posts of the past year.
As with most of our stories, they are submitted by fans, like you! 2014 promises to be a significant year for Tolkien fandom, please don’t hesitate to send us your news suggestions directly to spymaster@theonering.net!
TOP 13 Posts of 2013:
13. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Sneak Peek – commentary
12. Analysis: just how big is Jackson’s Smaug?
11. All the spoilery details from the 20 minutes of previously unseen footage screened at The Desolation of Smaug Fan Event
10. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition Scene Guide
9. Concerning Christopher – An Essay on Tolkien’s Son’s Decision to Not Allow Further Cinematic Licensing of His Work
8. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug runtime is 156 minutes?
7. Viggo ‘Turned Down’ Role as Aragorn? Not so fast…
6. TORn’s official frame-by-frame analysis of trailer two for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!
5. Finally! See the human face of Beorn!
4. Analysing the role of The Necromancer in The Hobbit
3. ‘Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition’ release dates, content, pricing announced
2. Top 20 Quotes From “The Lord of the Rings”
1. Frame by Frame Analysis of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Trailer
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While this probably isn’t a distinction that anybody involved with the film would be particularly happy about, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has topped 2013’s list of most pirated movies. According to TorrentFreak, the film was illegally downloaded on BitTorrent networks an estimated 8.4 million times. Coming in at second & third place were Django Unchained and Fast and Furious 6, with 8.1 and 7.9 million downloads respectively. Continue reading “‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ is 2013’s most pirated film”
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Lauren Davis from SF webzine io9 explores why, “in a media landscape overstuffed with dragons, do we still care so much about Smaug?”.
This was first published last month, and I missed it at the time, but it’s a very worthwhile read that delves into (among other things) the literary origins of Tolkien’s dragons — the story of Fafnir, and, of course, Beowulf. Follow the link at the bottom to read the complete article.
Why Smaug still matters
“A dragon is no idle fancy,” J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in his lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” Whatever may be his origins, in fact or invention, the dragon in legend is a potent creation of men’s imagination, richer in significance than his barrow is in gold.”
Continue reading “Why Smaug still matters”
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
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