Mt Ruapehu Volcanic activity at Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The volcano, famed as a location in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting two metre boulders distances of up to two kilometres. Ruapehu’s elevated alert level has not been changed, but scientists said on Tuesday that activity within the mountain was greater, with high levels of gas spewing out, a warmer than average crater lake and ongoing volcanic tremors. “The volcano remains in a status of unrest and the possibility of further activity remains. If further eruptions occur, they may occur without warning,” Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) said in a statement.

ROTK PosterTheir movies are both part of a New Line retrospective put together by Rotten Tomatoes of their 25 favorite New Line offerings:

“New Line Cinema: Thanks for giving us a great horror icon, for helping subversive filmmakers bubble up to the mainstream, and for getting some beloved fantasy books the big-screen treatment they deserved. Today, Rotten Tomatoes celebrates four decades of independent existence (they’re now part of WB) by proffering our 25 studio favorites.”

So, in a contest between Aragorn and Freddie, guess who wins? Thanks to Anna for the link. Read More

LOTR: Conquest Screenshot 1

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Pandemic Studios, the geeks behind Star Wars: Battlefront I & II, Mercenaries, Destroy All Humans, and other titles contacted us a while back giddy with excitement over their new project ‘Lord of the Rings: Conquest’. This is setting up to be the battle game to end all battle games, I sat with game director Eric “Giz” Gewirtz to talk about it. Take a look! Continue reading “What is “THE LORD OF THE RINGS: CONQUEST”? Pandemic Studios’ Eric “Giz” Gewirtz Tells Us About It!”

Zack writes: The FOTR with a live symphony and choir on April 24th in Winnipeg, Canada was amazing. They performed everything in the movie from loud themes to background music in audio scenes. This is supposedly the first of the North American tour. If anyone else is able to see this tour don’t be disappointed that sound effects are turned down (this created a few awkward moments, mostly just at the Farwell party and battle scenes) and that there are sub titles because what you hear is mostly the symphony. The Conductor, Ludwig Wicki was the first conductor to perform the FOTR music along live with the full movie just earlier this year and has worked with Howard Shore in preparation. The soloists sang very well, including a 10 year old boy singing the male soprano solos. Overall it was very well done and I hope they come out with the Two Towers soon.

Doug Adams likes his life, he says so on his professional and personal blog and its obvious when you speak to him. Chances are if you appreciate the “Lord of the Rings” films’ soundtracks, you would like his life too. He will soon be the published author – instead of the hard working unpublished author he has been for several years – of the landmark “The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films,” which is an in-depth study of the Howard Shore magnum opus that accompanies Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. Continue reading “‘The Music of the LOTR films’ book nears completion”