If you’re keen to attend one of the LIVE FAN EVENTS being held next week on November 4 in various (or November 5 in Sydney and Wellington), then best hurry as many of the competitions to win tickets close today.
Below are links to all the contests we know about right now (and if you know of one that’s not listed, please e-mail us at spymaster@theonering.net). Note: tickets to these events cannot be purchased.
Between now and the morning of January 16, 2014, Cate Blanchett is set to be one very busy lady.
January 16 is the date when the 2014 Oscar nominations are revealed and Blanchett has already been widely tipped to take out the best actress Oscar for her role in Woody Allen’s critically acclaimed riches-to-rags film Blue Jasmine.
But first she has to be nominated, not to mention survive the other warm-up awards, from the Screen Actors Guild to the Golden Globes, though it is undoubtedly the Oscars which remain the big daddy when it comes to Hollywood gongs. Continue reading “Cate Blanchett’s long wait”
You’ve seen the dwarven cast members of The Hobbit without make-up. And you’ve seen them all kitted out as well. But have you seen each side-by-side: actor versus character, before versus after?
I hadn’t, not all at once, which was why I thought I’d share these images that I stumbled on, out there in the wild reaches of the internet (okay, Imgur, to be precise). Looking at them as a group, it struck me quite forcefully how they crew had chosen to work with the facial structure of each actor, rather than create something entirely new. Jed Brophy and Mark Hadlow are probably the most striking examples. Anyway, enjoy! Continue reading “The Hobbit’s dwarves: before make-up, and after”
Fairfax entertainment reporter Giles Hardie visited the set of The Hobbit on the same two-day press junket that Dark Horizons, IGN and other media outlets went on.
His article is a bit of a fluff piece, and probably doesn’t divulge much that’s new to regular TORn readers, but the bit about McKellen preferring to not reprise his roles is certainly interesting.
Benedict Cumberbatch has had a bad week as The Fifth Estate bombed at the US and UK box offices, but his next film is as close to a guaranteed box office winner as they come. In fact, it might be said he will set the box office ablaze, as Cumberbatch voices the dragon Smaug in the forthcoming second Hobbit movie. Continue reading “Five Hobbit films that did not get made”
You’ve undoubtedly heard that that Peter Jackson will be hosting a simultaneous world-wide LIVE Fan Event in a eleven different cities to celebrate the forthcoming release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Everyone around the world will be able to watch the LIVE stream of the Q&A on the web at The Hobbit on Youtube. So don’t panic!
However, if you live close enough, you may be able to attend an event at your local theater!
(The outdoor Lake-Town wet set with extras and crew assembled for a night shoot on “The Hobbit.”)
WELLINGTON — The great cities of history have risen up around rivers, lakes and on coasts. Water holds vast and replenishing stores of food, improves transportation of people and goods, encourages trade, and of course keeps a population hydrated. Paris. London. Hong Kong. New York. Tokyo. Moscow. Boston. On and on.
Lake-town benefitted from excellent transportation and presumably a wealth of fish and food and clean, fresh water but it was built on water for a different reason.
Dragons.
One dragon in particular: Smaug The Terrible.
Tolkien’s Lake-town, like real-world Venice, was built on wooden pillars sunk into water. The lake men — with the destruction of Dale seared forever into their memory — built on water for safety. We watched it in the prolog of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” while they had to live with the fear of dragon every day. Water-based living provided at least a chance against the great and terrible worm if he ever attacked again.
Continue reading “Today is your last chance to enter many Desolation of Smaug LIVE event contests!”
Between now and the morning of January 16, 2014, Cate Blanchett is set to be one very busy lady.
Fairfax entertainment reporter Giles Hardie visited the set of The Hobbit on the same two-day press junket that Dark Horizons, IGN and other media outlets went on.
You’ve undoubtedly heard that that Peter Jackson will be hosting a simultaneous world-wide 
