Hobbits, notes Tolkien at the start of their eponymous story, are largely forgotten, easily missed and have little or no magic about them.
Or not. In the 75 years since he penned those words, The Hobbit has sold more than 100 million copies. In its opening weekend, Peter Jackson’s first instalment of the movie version broke records around the world. Clearly there is something a little magical about Hobbits after all.
The interesting question, however, is what that magic is. Why should an English boffin’s fairytale of elves, wizards and dragons continue to command such devotion? What craving does it satisfy?
To its literary critics, The Hobbit’s success is simply a sign of widespread immaturity. The story, with its faux mediaeval cadences and reactionary archetypes, is mere escapism – intellectual comfort-food for the politically disengaged.
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Movie spoilers get a bad rap.
Even the word itself, spoiler, comes with connotations of bad. Reminders of food that’s gone off. Anything that spoils entails less enjoyment, not the same amount. And certainly not more. Or so it’s traditionally held.
To which I say, to use a quaint British phrase, “pish and tosh”.
Not because I don’t think it’s impossible for there to be spoilers with an adaptation of a novel that was first published in 1937. There are. Continue reading “In defence of spoilers”
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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Greetings all and a very happy new 2013 to Hobbit and LOTR fans across the world! With a special day upon us signaling a fresh start on the calendar, we wipe our bleary eyes and turn on the camera to host our live TORn Tuesday webcast straight from the aftermath of our Producer’s knock-out all-nighter party at the W Hotel on Hollywood Blvd. We have news about THE HOBBIT: AUJ dominating the box office worldwide in its 3rd week in theatres, and soon Oscar season will be in full swing! We will talk about our upcoming special ONE EXPECTED PARTY Oscar shin-dig you can attend to celebrate a very special evening of Hobbity goodness! Our show begins *live* at 5:00PM Pacific Time, and features a live built-in chat room (Barliman’s) here on our Live Event Page. You can also watch via Stickam here.
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Why not cap off 2012 with a sweet giveaway? TheOneRing.net, with long-time supporter Badali Jewelry is offering five commemorative pins of Line Party celebrations FREE for those entering this nifty contest.
Cast in solid bronze, pins retail for $30 and are only available until midnight tonight in very limited quantities. The pin will stand a permanent reminder of participation in a world-wide celebration of Tolkien fandom.
You can order the pins directly from the source at http://www.badalijewelry.com/lineparty.htm before 2012 closes and we at TORn want to thank them for years of association, support and friendship. Remember, numbers are extremely limited. Badali also crafted the “good luck” pins from TheOneRing.net to Peter Jackson and his team wore to the Academy Awards and are visible in footage and in photos from that night. Badali holds the license to make jewelry from Tolkien Enterprises, as it has for many years.
The contest, open to users from the U.S. and Canada, is free. Simply click this handy, dandy contest link fill out the form and submit. We would also love to know what Line Party you attended in the note field.
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The following is a small editorial from co-owner and staffer Calisuri. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheOneRing.net:
CNN.com writer Tom Charity has posted his ‘The 10 worst movies of 2012‘ and decided to controversially include ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’ on the list. It should be noted, he specifically calls out the 48fps experience as being the ‘worst’ – not the actual film itself. Though he does take a dig at the length of the latest Middle-earth tome. The facts about ‘The Hobbit’ seem to paint a different picture: RottenTomatoes Critic index of 65%; RottenTomatoes audience rating of 81%; CinemaScore rating of ‘A;’ Ringer Review average of 4.5/5; Three week lead at the international box office; and breaking multiple December box office records. Looking at Mr. Charity’s other films on the list, most have a RottenTomatoes.com rating of < 30% and only one breaks the 50% mark.
So what made Mr. Charity put ‘The Hobbit’ on his list? The easiest explanation is he really didn’t like the 48fps experience as he states in the article. Hey, I didn’t either (my review) – but I wouldn’t put it on any kind of ‘worst list.’
His true intention is even more transparent. He simply wants more eyeballs and a bit of controversy. Afterall, he only continues to get paid if he remains interesting. (The quote from Zoolander comes to mind…’Dance Monkey, Dance!’) So including a popular film on his ‘worst of’ list on a major outlet like CNN.com is sure to do just that. It will definitely cause some discussion.
Would you put ‘The Hobbit’ on your own worst list of 2012? Is Mr. Charity totally off base? Tell us what you think!
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Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past year. We’ve collected together some of 2012′s most popular posts on 10 of our Message Boards. You’ll be surprised at what captured the attention and imagination of our members. Come and have a look back at what has kept us busy, as we impatiently awaited the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. We actually did manage to talk about many fascinating things, besides The Hobbit, so just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions for 2012. Continue to watch this space as every weekend we spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join the fun!
Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – Special New Years Edition!!”
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Hobbits, notes Tolkien at the start of their eponymous story, are largely forgotten, easily missed and have little or no magic about them.
