The 41st annual Saturn Awards were held last night in Burbank, California. The awards are presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and honors genre film and television that typically are not recognized by other groups. “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” was nominated in 7 categories, including Best Make-up, Best Music, Best Visual Effects and Best Writing. The film won 2 awards for Best Fantasy Film and Best Supporting Actor! Richard Armitage attended the ceremony to pick up his much deserved award.

Best Fantasy Film Release:
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (winner)
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Paddington

Best Supporting Actor in a Film:
Richard Armitage, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (winner)
Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice
Samuel L. Jackson, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Anthony Mackie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Andy Serkis, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

A photo posted by With An Accent (@withanaccent) on

Full list of nominees and winners at SaturnAwards.org.

02_thb_334p5_129_212_BOur friends at Tolkien Italia have info that the release date of “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” Extended Edition, for the folks in the United Kingdom, is November 16. They don’t cite a source but the good people there don’t make these things up. There are no further details available but it gives us all a target date and it sounds about right. We do know the Extended Edition team is working hard to put the finished product together and like all the excellent home video extras, they will deliver top-notch quality, completing the six-part documentary of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films.

Incidentally, TheOneRing.net will be talking about this very thing at some event people call the San Diego Comic-Con, happening in San Diego. (Apparently a bunch of stars go there and it is like, the biggest popular culture celebration in the world or something.) Also, ice cream.

3-hobbit_sarumanAs many of you already know, there is sad news in our community of fans today: Sir Christopher Lee passed away Sunday morning at the age of 93 due to respiratory problems and heart failure. Of course, we all came to know and love him for his role as the evil wizard, Saruman, in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, a role that came at the end of a long, and very distinguished career as an actor in horror movies and other dramas. For many of us, it’s difficult to picture a better Count Dracula than Christopher Lee. But, for many more of us, it’s impossible to think of anyone else playing the role of Saruman. All of the professionalism, passion and dedication of his long career shone out in that role, making it perfection.

From the U.K. telegraph website, here is a nice obituary, and a short video of his career highlights. Námarië, Sir Christopher. You are dearly loved and will be dearly missed!

IMG_3123As we draw near this year’s San Diego Comic-Con let’s cover a piece that made an appearance at last year’s show. The really cool Smaug: King Under the Mountain, a.k.a. “Smauglet,” was one of the pieces that stole the hearts of everyone I know that was at the Weta Booth. It takes everything we loved about Smaug and shrunk him down to a size that fits in anyone’s collection. Weta did such a fantastic job of capturing so much detail and allowing collectors to snag this for a solid price of $125. If you order now or before June 15th you can get him for $99 and he is in-stock.

Christopher LeeJust a couple of days on the heels of another wizard’s birthday, Sir Christopher Lee turned 93 today. He was born in Belgravia, Westminster, London on May 27, 1922.

A true titan of cinema if there ever was one, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the shoes of the great wizard Saruman the White. We hope you had a wonderful birthday and we wish you many happy returns, Sir Christopher! Continue reading “Happy Birthday to Sir Christopher Lee!”

 

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

We here at TheOneRing.net would like to wish the wonderful Sir Ian McKellen a very Happy Birthday! Ian was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire. Today he turns 76.

Thank you Ian for all that you’ve done for the fans of Middle-earth. You’ve led us there and back again, and we couldn’t have had a better guide. We wish you many happy returns. Continue reading “Happy Birthday to Sir Ian McKellen!”