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]
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As you know by now, we’ve just started our 2013 edition of Middle-earth March Madness. With a field of 64 combatants, chosen by our staff (aka selection committee) we’ve had some interesting match-ups that are very close and others that are surprise blow-outs.
With nearly 3000 votes in each match-up, here are some story lines with one more day of Round 1 voting…
The Shire Division
By far the closest match-up is between the great hound (8) Huan and the hasty (9) Quickbeam. There seem to be some strong opinions on this match-up, so we urge you to educate yourself on each character. [Huan Description] [Quickbeam Description]
All the other current leaders in this division are working out pretty close to their seeding. It will be very interested to see if (9) Quickbeam will face (5) Treebeard, or (8) Huan will face (6) Luthien!
The Erebor Division
As expected, the battle between dwarven brothers, (8) Kili and (9) Fili is a close one. Currently Fili has a slight lead, but this could change at any moment! Last year’s victor (16) Samwise Gamgee is having no problem with the infamous (5) Balrog of Moria, and the closest match-up remains (13) Boromir vs. (4) Beren.
The Mordor Division
In a bit of a surprise, (15) Faramir is giving (2) Beorn a run for his money. Faramir is currently holding 52.5% of the vote and this could be our first major upset of the tournament. The other close race has the historically polished (10) “Bullroarer” Took holding steady over her evil magnificence (7) Shelob! (1) Smaug is easily roasting (16) The Watcher in the Water, but there is another upset in the works as (11) Fingolfin seems to have a significant handle on (6) The Great Goblin.
The Angmar Division
Did (16) Denethor ever really have a chance against (1) The One Ring? Sure doesn’t look like it as The One Ring holds 90.03% of the vote! (9) Glorfindel may have been sent by Elrond to help (8) Frodo Baggins escape the Nazgûl, but he seems to be holding the slightest of leads over this Ringbearer with 50.06% of the vote. That is a match that is living up to the seeding – who will win?! In another surprise, brave (10) Merry seems to be reliving his Battle of the Pelennor Fields ‘assist’ against (7) The Witch-king of Angmar, holding 61.99% of the votes.
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We hope you are enjoying our second annual March Madness competition and encourage you to vote often! [Vote in Round 1] [Round 1 Bracket]
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Welcome friends to our innovative 
streaming video webcast TORn TUESDAY, starting in about an hour at 5pm Pacific Time right here on our Live Event page. We heard that Ian McKellen is officiating over Patrick Stewart’s wedding, and we have the scoop! Also today, as the wind reversed from the West, the ravens were seen flying back to The Mountain, and the Home Video Gods were pleased with our morning sacrifice, and lo! WE HAVE THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY out now on DVD and Blu-Ray Combo Pack (at least in North America)!!!! Your amiable host Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway, with producer Justin “I Love Jar-Jar” Sewell will review the home video versions and discuss all the new packaging & content. Let us guide you to making the right choice! Don’t be confused by all those many packages and review sites. The fun begins *live* at 5:00pm Pacific with our built-in Barliman’s Chat Room right here [Live Event Page], where you can chat and bring your questions.
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We’re not wishing to rub salt in the wounds of those who are not yet able to get their hands on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – but for many folks, Middle-earth is coming home today! If you’re a proud owner of a Hobbit DVD or Blu-ray, and a social media user, show us your pics of you and your preciousss by using the tag #TORNDVD
Meanwhile, to distract those who are still waiting, we’ve been sharing some interviews with various cast members. You can see our chats with Richard Armitage here and with Andy Serkis here, while a conversation with Bilbo himself, Martin Freeman, can be found here.
Our final interview is with the man who brought Bofur to life, James Nesbitt. This charming fellow chatted with staffer greendragon about the delights of being made into an action figure, what he hopes to see in the Extended Edition, and why three movies just aren’t enough. He even has a word to say about TORn’s own Oscar celebrations – and how he might party with us in future!
Continue reading “James Nesbitt talks to TheOneRing.net”
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Middle-earth Madness officially starts today! We’ve split our field of 64 characters and objects into four divisions: The Shire, Erebor, Angmar and Mordor.
As noted in previous comments and on FB, there are some very interesting match-ups in this first round. In a semi-rematch, can the brave Hobbit Merry take out The Witch-king in a division that includes his own name? Who will win in the battle of brothers as Kili and Fili face off in the Erebor division? And what about last year’s champion Samwise Gamgee?! Can he really take out the ever popular Balrog of Moria? Imagine what “Bullroarer” Took will do against Shelob in the Mordor division. Can the dragon Ancalagon the Black take out Legolas’s father Thranduil in The Shire division?
A note to those of you whom may not know some of the names in the bracket. A great way to educate yourself on the vote is by simply googling the name. We found that Wikipedia has a plethora of information on each character.
Voting in Round 1 will remain open until March 21st at 10pm ET. At that point, we’ll calculate the winners and post the next round on March 22nd. Follow after the break for a complete bracket image (download it), and to vote on all of our Round 1 match-ups! [Round 1 Bracket] (If you are interested in how we came up with this bracket and why some characters are left off (*cough Legolas*), check the note at the bottom of this post)
Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness 2013 – Round 1 – Voting Begins!”
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The wait is over and the day has finally arrived as the official release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is here! Special guest, Mr. Bilbo Baggins himself, Martin Freeman, answers several questions by Ringeer Peter Genovese, including whether or not he ever read “The Hobbit” before he was cast for the movie, his experience when he found out that he landed the role of Bilbo, mental preparations for playing a Hobbit, and his most memorable experiences on set.
Peter: Did you ever read the Hobbit before you auditioned for this movie?
Martin: No, I didn’t, no actually, especially to you, is the wrong answer! <laugh> I didn’t grow up a Tolkien fan. Obviously I knew of him. You certainly can’t be English and not know that name. No, it wasn’t part of my upbringing particularly but I obviously read it before I started the movie. <laugh> I came into it as an adult.
Peter: Do you recall the moment when you found out that you landed the role of Bilbo Baggins and what was your experience with that?
Martin: Well it was slightly staggered because I had found out that I had gotten the part early on. From the moment that I went on tape for Guillermo, when Guillermo was still director, all the way through for months and months there was no other traffic on the road, you know, it was me and I was being told by the artistic team “we want this to be you, there is nobody else we want it to be” but then it came to the point where I couldn’t do it due to my commitments to Sherlock which was a show I was doing in the UK and so I had to walk away, I had to turn it down, I had to not do The Hobbit anymore which was gutting and a very tedious statement of affairs. But, the real sort of changing call was that I was rehearsing a play in London at the time and my London agent Michael had called me and said that “Peter has rearranged the whole schedule around your availability on Sherlock and that you could do both” so I was delighted of course and very excited and very surprised, yeah.
Peter: With respect to mentally getting into character, did you do anything to make yourself feel smaller with respect to the size of a Hobbit, to get into a smaller frame of mind for the character?
Martin: No, because he (Bilbo) doesn’t think he’s small, of course. He is normal sized. You feel smaller when your house is inundated with Dwarves and bigger people and more imposing warrior figures so that makes you feel small but Bilbo is a very reactive character. Part of the pleasure of Bilbo and part of the comedy of it is in the reaction. I do what I do which probably doesn’t really bare a lot of talking about because it would be very boring but one does what you need to do to kind of feel that you’re something else. A lot of that is physical and a lot of that is just the doing of it. There wasn’t particularly a psychological thing, I just felt a way, I knew the way I wanted him to move and I knew that I wanted him to be slightly tentative and slightly cautious and if you walk around tentative and cautious, after a while, you mentally feel tentative and cautious so that was my way.
Peter: Many years from now when you think back on the experiences of making the The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the upcoming two movies, was there anything that really stuck out with the whole experience that you’ll cherish, whether it be the wonderful cast that you worked with or even just the locations/scenery that you got to experience working at?
Martin: All of the above, really. I saw some beautiful geography in New Zealand, met some delightful people who I hope will stay friends with and got to work with one of the main directors of my time on one of the main books of our time. I’m kind of spoiled, really. And then there’s the films that are coming out, you know, that whole experience of going around the world and opening the films and doing the premieres was on a scale that few people get to see with the sort of madness of that, enjoyable madness, but it is still a kind of madness. All of that is so memorable and I’ll never forget any of that. I’m a very lucky man.
Make sure to get your copy of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey “ available on Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and 2-disc DVD Special Edition on TODAY! [Official Site] [Full Listing of Available Versions]
Also, don’t forget to submit your questions to Peter Jackson by today. Here’s more info:
Q&A with Peter Jackson
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson will host a live first look at “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second film in “The Hobbit” Trilogy, on Sunday, March 24 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern/12pm Pacific at www.hobbit.com/sneak. Just added: The live event will now include a Q&A with Jackson and fans! Video questions can be submitted beginning March 12 through March 19 on “The Hobbit” Facebook page, or through the Vine mobile app using the hashtag #askPeterJackson. Fans can also Tweet links to video questions using the hashtag #askPeterJackson. The live event will be limited to holders of an UltraViolet™ code, available by purchasing “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” which arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and 2-disc DVD Special Edition on March 19. Visit thehobbit.com/sneak for more information.
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