If you haven’t heard of it yet, you will want to check out the non-profit collaborative short film being produced by writer/director Chris Bouchard – The Hunt for Gollum. Like the name suggests, this short film is a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings, set in Middle Earth and depicts events leading up to the Fellowship of the Ring. The story follows the Heir of Isildur as he sets out to find the creature Gollum. Mr. Bouchard has just released the second trailer for the film which you can checkout at their official website or at YouTube. The film will be released as a FREE download in December 2008. [Official Website] [YouTube Trailer]
Category: LotR Books
TheOneRing.net is saddened today by the loss of a talented artist in the fantasy realm: Pauline Baynes. Forum member N.E. Brigand alerted us to the following story:
Wayne Hammond reports the death of Baynes at her home in Surrey. Pauline Baynes was the original illustrator of C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, as well as of Tolkien’s Farmer Giles of Ham (1948), The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book (1962), and Smith of Wootton Major (1967).
Follow the link for the original message from Mr. Hammond. [Read More] [Wikipedia Entry]
With Academy Award buzz circulating around Health Ledger’s frightening portrayal of The Joker as well as for the movie itself, The Dark Knight is generating all sorts of Oscar talk. A recent USA Today article reviews those topics and happens to credit another genre film that gives The Dark Knight a reason to hope. A section noted:
But through the years, as studios focused on big-budget films, “the Hollywood establishment began turning its nose up to quality movies that happened to have action,” says Steve Mason, columnist for Hollywood.com. “The sentiment became that if it’s fun or funny or escapist entertainment, it can’t be that good. Recognizing Dark Knight would be a significant step to correct that.”
It’s not impossible. In 2004, the academy finally presented a best-picture Oscar to a fantasy film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
“I had a glimmer of hope when Return of the King won; it felt like a victory for our kinds of films,” says Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, which plans its own Oscar campaign for Iron Man and star Robert Downey Jr.
You can read the rest of the story in USA Today.
1900
June – Mabel Suffield Tolkien converts to Catholicism, which shocks both the Unitarian Suffields and the Baptist Tolkiens. Despite being familially estranged and financially cut off due to this decision, she remains undeterred and begins her sons’ instruction in the Catholic faith, one that becomes especially deep-rooted in Ronald for his entire life.
1915
June 29 – At his army physical, Tolkien declares that he has never suffered from any serious illness or injury. Continue reading “June 29th-July 1st Flashback!”
This week’s LOTR movie news is kinda sparse, so I thought I’d add in some Tolkien stuff. I tried to concentrate on mostly on things related to LOTR, with a smattering of some personal (but public) info on Tolkien & family. Continue reading “Tolkien Flashback – June 14th-June 20th”
Ringer Diedye points us to a Telegraph.co.uk story about Play.com’s top 50 Novels of all time. The top 5 are as follows:
1. To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee
2. Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S Lewis
4. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
5. The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
For the complete article, check out the Telegraph Online. [Full List]