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 the fun!
Viggo Mortensen chats with The Age newspaper about his latest movie effort, The Two Faces of January.
The voice on the phone is husky, familiar, and just a little menacing. “I was told to call this number,” the speaker says. I give a little shudder before realising it’s Viggo Mortensen, calling as planned to talk about his new film, The Two Faces of January. Phew. Continue reading “The many faces of Viggo Mortensen”
John Howe. Photo: Fataneh Howe. Check out this interview with interview that Ethan Gilsdorf conducted with John Howe over two sessions in January and July last year. It’s a corker.
Howe is, of course, a long-time Tolkien illustrator and is currently working with Alan Lee as Conceptual Designer for The Hobbit movie trilogy.
SALT LAKE CITY — At a press conference to announce its inclusion of Simon Pegg as a guest, FantasyCon said it has the largest contingent of Tolkien guests at a fan convention ever, including parts of the staff of TheOneRing.net.
Coming from the Lord of the Rings films:
Sean Astin
Billy Boyd
John Rhys-Davies.
Scheduled for visits from The Hobbit films are:
Adam Brown
John Callen
Peter Hambleton
Jed Brophy
William Kircher
Ken Stott
Graham McTavish
Sylvester McCoy
Other Tolkien-related content:
TheOneRing.net
Doug Adams
Artist Donato Giancola
Artist Justin Gerard
You can read the full article, including the announcement of Simon Pegg, right here.
One of the best statues from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy statue line is The Balrog of Moria statue. This amazing piece came out in 2001/02 with a retail price of $300 and an edition size of a 1000 pieces worldwide. It is one of the most amazing statues to represent any character in Middle-earth and if you have the cash on the secondary market I would strongly recommend getting it. So I thought for the first video review I’d do this statue, since I have just succeeded in getting it back into my own collection. Let me know in the comments below what you think of the video review as I do these in conjunction with some of my written reviews.
Among some of the most profound pieces of Tolkien’s writings are those concerning the concepts of death and immortality, and the ultimate fates of Elves and Men. And a little more than a decade ago, as the tale of Aragorn and Arwen unfolded in The Two Towers, it was the evocative voice of Sheila Chandra that spoke to the hope and heartache of their destinies.
A vocalist of Indian descent hailing from the UK, Sheila Chandra performed “The Breath Of Life” (also titled “The Grace Of The Valar“) as Aragorn’s unconscious form floats downriver while Arwen holds him in thought and sends him a blessing from afar – “May the grace of the Valar protect you“.
The song’s lyrics (adapted from Tolkien’s writings) were written by Fran Walsh:
Shadow lies between us, as you came, so you shall leave from us.
Time and storm shall scatter all things. Sorrowing you must go, and yet you are not without hope, For you are not bound to the circles of this world, you are not bound to loss and to silence.
As our exclusive series of interviews with vocalists from The Lord of the Rings continues, join us today as we talk to Sheila Chandra about how the song, its mood, and her delivery of it were all carefully crafted with the aim of conveying the understanding and mature love that is shared between Arwen and Aragorn.