The American Cinematheque will be screening the LOTR Trilogy at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica this coming Saturday. The original printed calendar for November showed the start time at 7:30pm, which would be accurate if they were just showing one film. But with this being three very long films, the updated start time is actually 1pm on Saturday afternoon (so you may miss the UCLA/USC game).

TORn will be there all day long, and we’ll be previewing some of the exciting activities we’ve got coming up for next year, as well as giving away a few prizes.

For tickets and directions to the Aero Theater, please visit: http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/lord-of-the-rings-trilogy .

 

Sir Peter Jackson says the sunshine, mountains and fresh air of Arcadia Station, near Queenstown, have raised both his spirits and those of his 450 cast and crew.

Sir Peter spoke in between scenes where Sir Ian McKellan (SIC) as Gandalf the Grey, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and dwarves arrive at the house of Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt).

Tuesday was their third and final day of shooting on a giant set, which took eight weeks to build and was based on more than eight months of design – all for one scene of about three minutes of screen time. More..

Marilynn writes: Tickets are now on sale for the Riverview Theater’s 6th Annual LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy Event on Sunday, December 18th. This year they will screen the Extended Version/Directors Cut of both the FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING and THE TWO TOWERS and the Theatrical Version of THE RETURN OF THE KING will be shown. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Most years, the event sells out so don’t delay in getting your tickets.

The Riverview Theater is a lovely vintage theater that looks much the same as it did in the 1950s with comfortable seats, state-of-the-art projection and sound systems, and popcorn topped with real butter. In addition to their regular concession menu featuring popcorn, nachos, soft drinks and coffee, they will also have pizza available during the two breaks. More..

It’s time for our weekly *live* streaming show TORn TUESDAYS with QUICKBEAM! There are tons of news items and spy reports coming in as HOBBIT production moves full steam-ahead! Today join long-time contributor Cliff Broadway hosting as we announce special plans for the Tolkien community to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of FOTR, discover the new Enhanced HOBBIT e-book, new Arkenstone jewelry from Badali (and a special offer), new Smaug/Cumberbatch news, and much more! We launch our program at about 5pm Pacific time — There’s a built-in Barliman’s chat room or come in via Skype. Check out the broadcast in our LIVE Event section right here every week: 5:00pm Pacific Standard Time!

[LIVE Event Area] (See All Times)

Nobody can be shocked or even surprised but some fans were still holding out hope that Viggo Moretensen‘s Aragorn character would return in some form or fashion for the two part presentation of Peter Jackson‘s The Hobbit.

In an interview with Movies.com, the actor addressed the question directly and says that while he was once asked if he was willing to be involved, nothing has moved forward at this point. That may not be official, but its about as confirmed as information gets.

“I’m not in it unless it there is some last-minute plan they have, but I thought I would have heard of it by now.”

During the Middle-earth portion of the interview he mentioned the “bridge film” that was once part of the two-movie plan for The Hobbit but was later abandoned when the writing team of Jackson, Fran Walsh, Phillipa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro wrote the episodic children’s book into a two part movie. The mysterious bridge film was dropped. Moretensen also spoke of his third film with director David Cronenberg, titled A Dangerous Method, where the actor portrays Sigmund Freud.

The full article is available right here.

Bret McKenzie is best known for being one part of “New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk-rock act”, Flight Of The Conchords. Keen-eyed Lord Of The Rings fans might also know him for his potrayal of the elf Figwit, complete with long sleek black hair – and most worryingly, no beard.

Speaking to Bret about his role as music-wrangler for The Muppets recently, we also talked to him about his return to Middle Earth for The Hobbit and putting on his pointy ears once more.

“It was in Wellington so I could pretty much walk to work. It’s still a small part — I did a couple of days earlier this year — but it was great to get my pointy ears back on. It’s in 3D, so the ears will be extra pointy. You’ll be able to touch the ears.” More..