A decade ago with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy was making an impact in popular culture, few would have looked at the cast and extras and picked out New Zealand native Bret McKenize as the guy likely to win an Oscar.

But, at tonight’s Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles the fan favorite and one half of New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody duo (Flight of the Conchords) did just that for his song Man or Muppet which is really a question we all must answer for ourselves about ourselves.

McKenzie had a little fun at the microphone making a couple of jokes. He said he was excited to work with Muppets and was intimidated to meet Kermit The Frog.

“But he’s just a normal frog, and like many stars here, he’s a lot shorter in real life.” (Catch video after the break) Continue reading “Figwit (Bret McKenzie) wins an Oscar!”

Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!  Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – February 26, 2012”

It’s Tinseltown’s biggest celebration – the Oscars take place tonight!  And already here at TORn we’re busy planning and getting excited for our party next year!  In honour of today’s awards ceremony, and thinking back to the ‘Return of the One Party’ which TORn held in 2004, here’s a picture of the Oscar Annie Lennox won that night, for Best Original Song, ‘Into the West’.

The statuette was on display last year at London’s Victoria and Albert museum, in their wondeful ‘The House of Annie Lennox’ exhibit.   Let’s hope there’s another Middle-earth winner tonight; Bret McKenzie is up for Best Original Song for ‘Man or Muppet’.  Go Bret!

Enjoy the Oscars tonight!

Sean Astin (born February 25, 1971), and recently featured on TORn Tuesday with Quickbeam, is an American film actor, director, and Academy Award-nominated producer best known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and of course Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. From your friends here at TheOneRing.net, Happy Birthday Sean!!

Exciting things are happening for Lord of the Rings fans in Boston!  The Coolidge Corner Theatre‘s annual ‘Coolidge Award’ is being given to Viggo Mortensen.  This means that Aragorn himself will be in town on Monday 5th March to accept his award!  The Coolidge Corner Theatre will be showing several of Mortensen’s movies in the run up to March 5th, as well as hosting an all day LotR trilogy marathon screening on Sunday 4th March.  On Monday 5th there will be a lunchtime movie screening with a Q&A with Mortensen, followed later by an ‘Evening with Viggo Mortensen’ event.

TORn will of course be present and will bring you a report of all these exciting happenings.  One of the more elusive cast members, any chance to see Aragorn in the flesh, and to hear Viggo Mortensen answer the questions of his fans, is a treat indeed.  Full details can be found at Coolidge Corner’s website.  The movies and dates are as follows:

Tues 28 Feb, 7pm – A History of Violence
Wed 29 Feb, 7pm – A Walk on the Moon
Thurs 1 Mar, 7pm – The Road
Sun 4 Mar, starting at 11am – LotR trilogy screening
Mon 5 Mar, starting at 12noon – a day of events with Viggo Mortensen

Continue reading “Trilogy screening, Viggo Mortensen and a Giveaway in Boston!”

TheOneRing.net is delighted to host Sean Astin tonight for a LIVE event! He will be joining our own Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway on TORn Tuesday this week for a one-hour Q&A session!

Sean will be talking about his latest projects — including his special endurance/fitness project Run3rd to promote the sport of running as he gears up to run his third LA Marathon. (If you’re already curious, hit up his official Twitter account!)

Plus, he’ll be answering your questions! If you’re wondering how it all works, and how to submit a question for Sean, please read on below! Continue reading “Don’t forget – TORn Tuesday hosts Sean Astin LIVE Tonight!”