Bernard Hill | Lord of the Rings Rings of Power on Amazon Prime News, JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit and more

Welcome all, to the annual showdown in the realms of Eriador and beyond! Yes, it’s that time of year when hobbit must fight wizard, dwarf must battle elf, and man must face … erm … well, maybe himself.

Because this year we’ve thrown something new into the mix for March Madness. We thought it would be interesting to see if Sherlock could outwit the most cunning of dragons; or if Rudy has more heart than Samwise. What would fastidious Oscar Wilde make of the slovenly Master of Lake-town? Can Dwalin out-wrestle Dougal Mackenzie?

That’s right – our brackets contain actors in both their Tolkien roles, and a role they play in another film or TV show. So Luke Evans appears both as Bard and Gaston; and Billy Boyd is there both as Pippin and Barret Bonden (from ‘Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World’). This means that some battles will be between two characters from Middle-earth, some between two ‘outside’ characters, and some will be a mix; and yes, actors could find themselves facing an alter ego.

Are we crazy? Is there absolutely no way that the ape Caesar would stand a chance against Gollum? Is Magneto clearly no match for Gandalf? That’s for YOU to decide! Voting starts today – and the madness will run until April 5th. Here is the schedule for rounds:

Round 1 – March 19th – March 22nd 10:00pm ET
Round 2 – March 23rd – March 25th 10:00pm ET
Round 3 – March 26th – March 28th 10:00pm ET
Round 4 – March 31st 10:00pm ET
Final Four – April 1 – April 3rd 10:00pm ET
The Final – April 4 – April 5th 10:00pm ET

The brackets are divided as follows:

Division I – The Lord of the Rings Fellowship, and counterpart roles
Division II – The Lord of the Rings outside the Fellowship, and counterpart roles
Division III – The Hobbit Company (wizards, dwarves, and hobbit), and counterpart roles
Division IV – The Hobbit Lake-town and villains, and counterpart roles

Voting is simple – just click on your choice in each dual, below. You can only vote once – but feel free to share, and rally people to your cause! Speculate on the message boards, and head on over to Facebook to take part in some ‘exit polls’, and see who is predicted to win.

It’s all in fun – how you choose your choice of winners is entirely up to you. But if you’re keen to see someone in particular go all the way to final victory, start campaigning now!

Let the games begin!

Voting in Round 1 will remain open until March 22nd at 10pm ET. At that point, we’ll calculate the winners and post the next round on March 23rd. Follow after the break for a complete bracket image (download it), and to vote on all of our Round 1 match-ups! [Round 1 Bracket]

Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness 2018 is here!”

Posted in: Share:

Celebriel writes: Attention UK Ringers: Bernard Hill, a Suffolk area resident, is organizing fundraisers for February 26 and March 7. So far Andy Serkis has also committed to attend and may perform a musical number. More..

Posted in:

More news on Bernard Hill this week. Ringer Diedye gives us a heads up to the story originally posted on The Guardian: “ESPN has called in Bernard Hill, who played Yosser Hughes in the 1980s drama series Boys from the Blackstuff, to star in the advertising campaign to promote its Premier League season coverage. The Disney-owned US sports broadcaster launches the TV ad tonight to publicise the launch of its British sports channel, which will broadcast the 46 live Premier League matches for which it picked up the rights after the demise of Setanta’s UK business. Hill, who also played King Theoden in Lord of the Rings, voices an ode to the dedication of football fans to their teams.” [Full Story]

Posted in:

We don’t often get much news about fan favorite Bernard Hill, but Ringer Celebriel sends an item about Bernard abseiling down a lighthouse in the UK as a fund raiser for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. There are some great pictures – follow the link for more! [Read More]

Posted in:

Bernard Hill (born 17 December 1944) is a British actor of film, stage and television. Widely recognised in his home country through a career of more than thirty years, he has been seen worldwide in two roles: as the captain of the Titanic (1997), and as King Théoden in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. These are among the most popular and award-winning films of all time.

Hill was born in Manchester, England. He attended Xaverian College although at the time it was known as “Xaverian School”, and attended Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama at the same time as Richard Griffiths. He came to prominence in the role of the unemployed Yosser Hughes, a working-class man ultimately driven to the edge by an uncaring system, in Alan Bleasdale’s BBC Play for Today The Black Stuff (1979) and its more famous series sequel (also by Bleasdale), Boys from the Blackstuff (1982). His character’s much-repeated phrase “giz a job” became popular with protesters against Margaret Thatcher’s government, because of the high unemployment of the time.

Previously, he had taken smaller parts in a number of British television dramas, notably appearing as the no-nonsense Roman soldier Gratus in I, Claudius (1976). He also played the Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York in the BBC’s 1982 productions of Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays. Also on TV, he played the part of Tom Higdon in The Burston Rebellion (1985) and Mike in Edward Bond’s Olly’s Prison (1993). Hill was also a character in the movie The Scorpion King (2002), in which he was a scientist and inventor. He also appeared in the film The Ghost and the Darkness (1996), playing Dr. Daniel Hawthorne.

Posted in:

Bernard Hill

Sideshow collectibles has posted a Backstage Pass video of the latest LOTR diorama, ‘Dark Counsel,’ featuring Grima Wormtongue and Theoden. To view the video follow the link below. Other Sideshow Collectible LOTR headlines: The Aragorn Premium Format figure page has been updated with production imagery (Image of the final piece as it will ship to customers); The Moria Orc Premium Format Figure exclusive is sold out, but you can get the regular edition here; The Sam and Frodo 12-inch figure exclusives are still instock and available for shipping. [Dark Counsel Video] [Aragorn Pics] [Moria Orc] [Sam and Frodo Figures]

Posted in: