As the lead up to this year’s One Last Party, we will be featuring images and stories from Oscar Parties past.
When “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” was first released, this staffer hosted a Line Party at the Irvine Spectrum 21 theaters, which is about an hour south of Hollywood. I had made friends with the manager the previous year during the Line Party events then, so for this second year we got even more ambitious and hosted trivia contests, a costume parade and even a blood drive. I was also able to secure the large movie banner that hung over their box office, which they had delivered to my home on mid-January. This banner measured some 50′ wide and 30′ tall and was quite bulky and heavy when folded up and presented to me. These types of banners are made by a company that custom fit them to the theater requirements and then installs them and later uninstalls them. Usually, they are professional disposed of, but in this case, I got it.
TheA month later while we are figuring out our decor for the Two Towers, One Party, we decided this banner would make for a great back drop on the stage, and that is exactly what we did with it. We had that party in the historic Hollywood Athletic Club, which had a wonderful oval room with a balcony level ideal for hanging a banner from.
The banner made a perfect backdrop, except for one problem. It was a solid canvas that did not allow for anyone to pass from backstage to onstage. So, we had to slice two 6′ slits on either side to allow for techies, guests and performers to get on and off the stage. During the party, we hosted a silent auction and one of the items was this banner. A very lucky person got to take it home the next day, after we figured out how to get it down without killing anyone. Like I said, this was not a light item to work with.
There are now 28 days left in our campaign to host a last big hurrah, The One Last Party: There and Back Again. In just the three days since the campaign started, we have already met 19% of our goal, and have received 3 pledges in the various VIP levels, leaving just 7 others for you to pick up. We’ve also taken 17 of the available 50 ‘Smaug’s Treasure’ which is actually one of the exclusive Goody Bag(gins) full of all the same sponsor items that will be handed out at the party to attendees. Please check out all of our Supporter perks, no level of support is too small. Please visit our Indiegogo campaign page for more details on how you can help make this party happen.
And so we come to it – the last Hobbit movie of our time…
Maybe not – but certainly this is the final film in what is now Peter Jackson’s sextuplet of Middle-earth movies. And I was lucky enough to see it today.
Here are some spoiler-free first impressions:
It is a beautiful film. So many lovely moments – great acting from our dwarf cast (who have very few lines amongst them, but who do wonderful, expressive things facially and with body language). Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Luke Evans and Richard Armitage are as fabulous as they have been throughout these films.
John Bell (Bain, son of Bard) is a stand out ‘supporting role’ in this film. There is a scene between him and his father Bard which is especially moving – it was the first scene in the film to make me cry! From the dwarves, Ken Stott (Balin) and Graham McTavish (Dwalin) both have well scripted, skilfully played scenes.
Christopher Lee is fantastic – Saruman is a force to be reckoned with in this film, even though he only appears briefly!
There are some typically over the top, ‘PJ’ moments – bits which made me roll my eyes, but which, on the whole, we’ve come to expect from this playful director. Legolas does more than shield-surfing in this movie… But when it comes to the quiet, downplayed moments, this stellar cast don’t let us down. I was moved to tears often; the scene when Bilbo takes his final leave from the company of dwarves is beautifully touching.
Howard Shore’s score is as effective as ever, and of course the production and costume design are wonderful. Is this the best of the three Hobbit movies? Maybe. I need to see it again to decide. Does it rise to the height of the Lord of the Rings movies? In places, yes. There are scenes of spectacular depth and emotion, as well as that incredible New Zealand scenery. There are CGI moments which, for me, are jarring – vast hordes of soldiers where it is all too obvious that the same CGI character is repeated multiple times – but on the whole, not so many in this film as there were in The Desolation of Smaug.
There are small things I might wish to change, but overall, this is a satisfying end to this trilogy – and a pleasing ‘lead in’ to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tonight on the red carpet, Peter Jackson asked me who would be the first person to watch all six films in order. I can’t wait to see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies again; and I can’t wait to watch this film ‘in situ’ with the other five movies. It’s a worthy, emotional part of our Middle-earth journey; a three tissue film for me! We went there; we’ve come back again; and the journey has been well worth it.
Join us in Los Angeles in February at The One Last Party
We’re hosting a Party of Special Magnificence next February — a final toast to all SIX movies, both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy.
We’re inviting you to join us and make it happen through our Indiegogo campaign — so we can all celebrate Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies together!
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has its world premiere in London today. The last of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films is nearly here. And so begins the end of the epic journey – mission – quest – thing – we have all been on together.
But fear not! We have no intention of letting these films sail into the West without a fanfare! So get ready to celebrate at The One Last Party – There and Back Again: a Party of Special Magnificence, a final toast to all SIX movies, both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy.
This will be on Saturday 21st Feb 2015 – the day BEFORE the Oscars — at a venue in Los Angeles, TBA. There will be music, food, drink, entertainment (from William Kircher’s band The California Dreamers, celtic musicians Emerald Rose, and more) and all kinds of fun! But here’s the thing… Continue reading “The One Last Party – tickets available NOW!”
In April next year, the Symphony Silicon Valley will be presenting the complete Lord of the Rings Trilogy with a Live orchestral performance.
Along with soloists to be named later, the Academy Award-winning films will be shown in High Definition on a giant 48’ by 20’ screen with 250 musicians performing on stage.
As part of this Howard Shore has recorded a little message where he speaks about his orchestral scores for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings. You can find out more about the SSV performance and tickets for it here.
The date is almost upon us, when we open up our Pre-Oscar Party support campaign, which includes tickets to attend ‘The One Last Party: There and Back Again” on Saturday, February 21, 2015. The Campaign will be going live tomorrow on Indiegogo and will include numerous levels of support, including cost saving levels for those who can’t attend but would still like to support TheOneRing.net as we say One Last Goodbye to all things Middle-earth on the big screen.
In the first of a series of Scrapbook articles, we will be looking at brief moments from previous parties, some from the planning phase, the production phase, or reviews from fellow fans who have attended. While digging through some of our old photos, I came across something a little different. This was a story written in a small town paper by a woman who had decided to try and attend our Return of the One Party in 2004 and conveys her excitement at the prospect. With the tickets and support page opening up tomorrow, this seemed a very appropriate Scrapbook reminder. You can read her story from this below.
