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 in the fun!

Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – June 11 2012”

‘…There are Orcs, very many of them,’ he (Gandalf) said. `And some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor. For the moment they are hanging back, but there is something else there. A great cave-troll, I think, or more than one. There is no hope of escape that way…’

I think back on my relatively young life and can fondly recall a few events that I would consider highlights: My marriage to my beautiful wife; the birth of our daughter; TheOneRing.net Oscar Parties from 2002-2004; Finding my dream job with Sideshow; and that time I got to see 26 minutes of The Fellowship of the Ring at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. As you can read in my original report, I was blown away by the revelation of Peter Jackson’s vision of The Lord of the Rings on the big screen, especially when it came to the infamous Mines of Moria. Sure it was different from the books, but visual execution seemed to transmit my own visions of Middle-earth and put them on the big screen. So many years later, it is now my privilege to relive some of that sequence through the ‘Mines of Moria’ LEGO® Set, now available at most retailers.

As a preface to my review, I need to remind you all that I am not a LEGO® Set expert. My first experience with LEGO® Sets in many years was building the ‘Shelob Attacks‘ set I reviewed last month. So if I get some terminology wrong, please don’t hold it against me :P.

There are a few obvious differences between the  ‘Shelob Attacks’ LEGO® Set and ‘The Mines of Moria.’ First, and most obvious, is that the set is much larger and more complex. Whether it is the ‘action’ elements in the gate and right side piece, or it is adding the detailing stickers just in the right place, you will find this set takes anywhere from 3-4 hours to piece together. Let me say…that is not a bad thing! I’m quickly finding myself addicted to the enjoyment and plain old fun of LEGO® Sets again! (After the break I’ve got 84 pictures of the set!)

Continue reading “Product Review: ‘Mines of Moria’ LEGO® Set”

Hobbit Romance.’ Yup! We knew it was going to show up somewhere.

Before we get to the spoiler fun, Total Film has named six ‘Hobbit‘ actors as part of their Summer 2012 Future 100: Aidan Turner (Kili), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Martin Freeman (Bilbo), Richard Armitage (Thorin), Luke Evans (Bard)  and Benedict Cumberbatch (Smaug/Necromancer).

We’ve attached a scan from the magazine for your viewing pleasure. (Courtesy of richardarmitagenet.com)

So now for the spoiler…highlight the text to read the details: (or if for some reason you can see text below, stop reading!)

“Kili’s part has been expanded from the novel; as well as chasing treasure, he’s also pursuing female elf Tauriel. But is he setting his sights too high? ‘I guess he knows nothing can ever happen,’ he explains. ‘She’s about 20ft tall and he’s only two!'”

So there you have it – at least one hint at how romance may play a part in The Hobbit! [TotalFilm]

The day is here! The winner of  an official The Hobbit “200 days to go” long sleeve black T-shirt is…

R. Greenleaf from CA

Congrats to you, Mr. Greenleaf! You will be receiving an email shortly. Usually we share only the first name and last initial of our winner, but when one has such a cool last name as ‘Greenleaf‘ we just had to share! (What are the odds that out of thousands of entrants, our random winner generator would choose a LOTR themed name!?)

Thanks to all those who entered. The accepted answer to the contest question was anything from horse, pony or plush toy.  Please support the sponsor of this contest, actor Conan Stevens (Bolg in The Hobbit) and the upcoming web series ‘The Clandestine.’ Conan updates his blog quite often, so its a great site to track on a regular basis. [Official Blog]  [The Clandestine]

Here’s another giveaway at TheOneRing.net ending this week…and this one is a biggy! We are 100% sure you won’t find another opportunity to win an official The Hobbit “200 days to go” long sleeve black T-shirt, supplied to the crew at the end of filming of block one. This giveaway is made possible by actor Conan Stevens (Bolg in The Hobbit) and the upcoming web series ‘The Clandestine.’ Conan has literally taken the shirt off his back to give to one lucky fan! It could not be more easy to participate –  Simply visit Bolg’s official blog (Get it? Conan plays Bolg…and its a Blog…), read the entry, and come back to TheOneRing.net to fill out the form below. To find out the answer to the contest question, you will need to watch the video on Conan’s site. (Since we have a lot of rated-G visitors, I will give you a small warning that the content of the video is playfully violent. Conan is, after all, a very large imposing actor who usually plays pretty violent roles!!) The giveaway ends at midnight on May 31st so enter asap! We’ve included a gallery of the shirt at the bottom of this post as well. Good luck!

And of course, lend your support and tune in for the new web series The Clandestine!

[Bolg’s Blog Entry Info] [The Clandestine]

Continue reading “Conan Stevens is giving away his official ‘The Hobbit’ Production Shirt!”

THERE AND BACK: today on our *Live* webcast TORn TUESDAY, our intrepid host Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway has just returned from New Zealand where many magical things were witnessed ON THE ACTUAL SET OF THE HOBBIT, but secrecy abounds! Be tantalized and teased with a unique 1st person account of travels to the real Middle-earth! We also pay tribute to our fallen friend and Memorial Day remembrance for our brave heroes abroad. Come join the show via Stickam (account “theoneringnet”) using your own Skype login or via our Live Event Page with our unique Barliman’s chat embedded in the show!

Tune into our show at 5:00pm PDT (that’s L.A. time folks — click here to see when it is in your city!), and just click to our Live Event page.

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.