Following the success of the Fellowship of the Rings complete recordings – on Blu-Ray, CD and vinyl, pre-orders…
Continue ReadingFollowing the success of the Fellowship of the Rings complete recordings – on Blu-Ray, CD and vinyl, pre-orders are open for The Two Towers. The limited edition vinyl comes in blue (FOTR was red) and is sure to be a sell-out.
According to the Amazon page, the price for the Fellowship vinyl has already doubled so be sure to place your order for The Two Towers: The Complete Recordings.
Order here on Amazon.
Orders are expected to ship in late July.
“One does not simply walk into Mordor.”
This is great. Writer-comedian Stephan Krosecz (who I’ve been a fan of since his very amusing Abridgement ofthe first season of the Attack on Titan anime) observed that Boromir’s walk into Mordor monologue from Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring could make a great premise for a heist film.
So he went away and did it. Check it out, it’s very clever — love the music. Continue reading “Walk into Mordor: ideal premise for a heist movie”
If you were lucky enough to be at Emerald City Comic Con, you got to see our friend Jerry Vanderstelt paint a large version of this at the Weta Workshop booth. Now fans can add a giclee version of this image to their collections. This fantastic piece gives you a great portrait look at The Balrog, one of the coolest creatures in all of Middle-earth.
Do not wait too long to order this, as it is limited to only 2000 pieces worldwide. As always, Jerry’s work is available in multiple options, such as a paper giclee at $80, canvas giclee for $225, and the canvas giclee with gallery wrapped for $325. No matter what option you go with, this is yet another outstanding work of art from Vanderstelt Studio.
Tolkien fandom finds itself with an embarrassment of riches in 2018. The Tolkien Biopic has wrapped principal photography and is currently in post-production. There will be a new book out featuring Gondolin, edited by Christopher Tolkien. The most recent update about the Amazon Studios’ TV series is now confirmed to be a 5 season commitment. And then word starts to filter through that there are current negotiations for an actual Middle-earth Theme Park. Continue reading “There is a cornucopia of Tolkien stories coming this year”
It’s been an interesting couple of weeks… Since March 19, characters from Middle-earth, and other roles played by the same actors, have been battling it out to claim the title Champion of Middle-earth March Madness 2018. We started with four brackets comprising roles from The Lord of the Rings movies, other roles by those same actors, roles from The Hobbit movies, and alter-egos for those cast members. The brackets were mixed, to give actors a chance of coming up against ‘themselves’ – and indeed in Round 3 we did see Christopher Lee’s Saruman go up against his Count Dooku, and Lee Pace’s Ronan face his majestically-eyebrowed Thranduil.
Boromir fell in the first round, defeated by Gimli, but Sean Bean’s Eddard Stark did make it all the way to Round 3, where he was conquered by eventual semi-finalist Samwise Gamgee. Sam made it the furthest of all the hobbits; Merry and Pippin both went out in Round 1, and Frodo fell to Aragorn in Round 2. Both Martin Freeman’s and Ian Holm’s Bilbos were knocked out back in Round 1; they had tough battles, being drawn against Gandalf and Faramir respectively.
The elves fared rather better, with Galadriel, Elrond and Thranduil all getting through to the Elite Eight (though Legolas, alas, could not get past Aragorn in Round 1). Wizards Saruman and Gandalf joined the elves in Round 4; but poor Radagast was beaten by Dwalin way back in the first round. In the world of men, only Aragorn managed to get as far as the Elite Eight; Dr John Watson, Sherlock Holmes, Dr ‘Bones’ McCoy, Rudy, and Carl from Van Helsing all joined Eddard Stark in being vanquished in the Sweet Sixteen round.
Finally it came down to a duel between Elrond Half-elven and Gollum. The votes have been counted, and we can now announce, this year’s winner is…
Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness – CHAMPION 2018”
Last two standing – here we are at the Middle-earth March Madness FINAL for 2018. Two – well, not men… – enter, one leaves; who will be Champion this year?
In the Final Four, we saw Samwise Gamgee take on Gollum, and Gandalf face Elrond Half-elven. Both Sam and Gandalf have been Middle-earth March Madness Champions before – twice, in the wizard’s case – but for the other two, the heady heights for the Final Four are new.
The contests were tight; Sam took an early lead in his duel, but by the second day, old Stinker had pulled ahead. Gollum finally went on to win that battle convincingly, claiming over 60% of the vote.
In the second pairing, it was neck and neck right down to the wire, with less than 1% in it at times. In the end, however, elvish power triumphed over Maiar magic, and Half-elven came home with 54.35% of the vote, to Gandalf’s 45.65%.
So this year will definitely see a NEW Champion crowned! Gollum faces Elrond in a fight to the finish. Can tricksssy deviousness overcome the power of a high elf? Will Smeagol help out, making it two against one? You decide!
The Final voting is open NOW. Polls close at 10pm EST on Thursday 5th April; only two days to vote for the Champion, so don’t delay! Last chance to play along with Middle-earth March Madness this year; and don’t forget to check out the ‘exit polls’ on Facebook. Whom do you want to see crowned…? VOTE NOW! [The Final] [Final Four] [Elite Eight] [Round 3 Bracket] [Round 2 Bracket] [Round 1 Bracket]
Continue reading “Middle-earth March Madness – FINAL! Vote now to decide this year’s Champion!”