From our own message boards comes this excellent report of Ian McKellen’s one-man show that is raising money for a theater damaged by the devastating earthquake in Christchurch. The actor is (of course) in New Zealand for filming of both parts of “The Hobbit,” a Peter Jackson adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book. Thanks to del girl for sharing her experience on our boards and sending it to our Spymaster@TheOneRing.net adress. She also provided links to another report of the show.

“I have just come back from seeing the first one-man show in Sir Ian’s tour of New Zealand, which is a fundraiser for repairing the earthquake-damaged Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch (were he last played Waiting for Godot).

How do I sum up more than two hours of Sir Ian on stage? Continue reading “Sir Ian McKellen performs live in Stratford”

DID WE SAY MASSIVE SPOILERS?! Yes, we did, so before reading further know that everything revealed to me will be revealed to you! Tuesday’s unspooling of 10 minutes of THE HOBBIT at CinemaCon took the place quite by surprise and should be considered a special moment in the history of cinema — where the first public audience witnessed a new future for movies, so brace yourself.  I will interpret everything I saw and how it matches up with Tolkien’s universe … there are SO MANY cool and revealing things we can now expect in the first film alone! Let’s explore the veracity of Peter Jackson’s adaptation with hasty vigor. There is also the matter of the 48 frames-per-second format and the blogosphere’s mixed reaction to the look of the new technology, so read on …

Continue reading “Hobbit Footage Review & MASSIVE SPOILERS: Full Coverage & Analysis!”

Ever ready to support a worthy cause, Sir Ian McKellen isn’t putting his feet up during his time off from Middle-earth.  As busy as he surely is on The Hobbit movie set, the actor will be taking time during the weekends in May and June to perform a one man show around New Zealand, to raise money for the Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch.  Following last year’s terrible earthquakes, the theatre has been closed because of ‘structural issues’.  Back in 2010 McKellen appeared in Waiting for Godot at the theatre, and he’s keen to see it restored and reopened.  Full details and dates for his touring one man show can be found here and here; in the included video newsreel in the first link, McKellen hints that the one man show may include singing!  Perhaps he’s been inspired by Viggo Mortensen’s recent recitals??

Thanks to the various TORn spies who contacted us about Sir Ian’s shows; if you are lucky enough to get to one of these performances, we’d love to hear about it!

2012 will be a watermark year for the movie business but this week looks a lot like the 1990s and presented some problems for TheOneRing.net’s Film Friday. I didn’t want to watch “Titanic,” or “American Reunion,” which are likely this week’s biggest new releases. In each case, I feel like I have been there before.

I have been much more interested this week in a discussion with some Facebook friends about which films will rule the 2012 box office numbers. “The Hunger Games,” is proving to be a powerful financial force. Some of these friends are fans of “The Hobbit,” but don’t think the film can win the finally tally for the year’s biggest moneymaker. I disagree. (Oh and while we are talking about the film, any media member who writes that it is a prequel is lazy, inaccurate and deserves a gentle kick in the shins. The story stands alone, came first and is so much more than just a lead-up to LOTR.)

While studios care deeply about the financial returns, fans are a lot more interested in art and a thrill at the movies. Still, there is some fun in watching the box office derby and it seems like a dozen websites have sprung up devoted to doing just that.

Lets take a look at one man’s predictions of the final top 10 box office films released in 2012. Continue reading “Film Friday: Can ‘The Hobbit’ rule them all in 2012?”