Strangers from distant lands. Friends of old. You’ve been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo.

-Elrond at the start of the Council of Elrond October 25th, 3018 TA

Rivendell was one of the most demanded places in Middle-Earth to be made into polystone and now the long wait for this to happen as finally come to an end. Now, that it has ended and collectors are starting to receive this item, we are finally seeing why this might be one of the most difficult items ever made representing The Lord of the Rings. The folks at Weta, specifically Daniel Falconer and David Tremont, did an amazing job of capturing all that is special about Rivendell allowing collectors to own a piece of that.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop’s Rivendell Review”

From sydneysymphony.com: By popular demand – the second film from Peter Jackson’s trilogy, with its stunning orchestral score performed live on stage. In 2011 we presented The Fellowship of the Ring, the first film in Peter Jackson’s epic trilogy The Lord of the Rings. With the movie on the big screen and the orchestra performing Howard Shore’s music, the result made for some awesome hours in the concert hall. Then we were deluged! Faster than hordes of orcs storming Helm’s Deep, the emails flooded in. And the phone calls, the tweets and the Facebook posts. Everyone wanted to know when we’d be presenting the rest of the trilogy. So we’re delighted to announce Part II of The Lord of the Rings with two evening concerts and one matinee performance. Tickets

From digitalspy.ca: The final movie in the Harry Potter series has become the most pre-ordered film or TV product of all time on the UK arm of Amazon, beating the long-standing record of Mamma Mia!. Amazon said today that pre-orders for the DVD and Blu-ray release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 are more than double those achieved by Part 1. Continue reading “Boy Wizard Beats LOTR For Amazon Pre-Order Record”

QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND — Queenstown is the kind of place where people come and never leave. In fact, talk to a few dozen folks in town and chances are good a few of them wandered into the place and never found their way out.

If it isn’t already, get it on your bucket list.

The mark of the Lord of the Rings films are still indelibly written here and to a degree that might surprise. Nestled on the shores of Lake Wakatipu with majestic mountains on either side, this busy adventure town looks a good bit like cinematic Middle-earth because many times this regions served as such in Peter Jackson’s films. In fact, the list is too long to include comprehensively here.

With a town big enough to have good food, amenities and lodging suitable for stars, it is also on the frontier and a gateway to much of the South Island. But, cultural and financial residue from the LOTR films is still readily apparent and especially to a writer who wears a “One Ring” jersey around town. Continue reading “LOTR still found in the fabric of Queenstown, Hobbit next”

Join us LIVE at 5pm PT tonight as we welcome Ian McKellen’s webmaster and collaborator Keith Stern!

Keith Stern has produced some of the most popular biographical websites on the Internet. Since 1997 he has been collaborating with Ian McKellen on that actor’s autobiographical website, McKellen.com. He also has also produced websites for Lynn Redgrave (Redgrave.com), Sean Astin (SeanAstin.com), Andy Serkis (Serkis.com), Spinal Tap (SpinalTap.com), Gods and Monsters (GodsAndMonsters.net) and others for movie stars and movies.

Host Clifford Broadway, aka Quickbeam, will be discussing the HOBBIT production and possibly a few secrets from the set! 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)

Frodo, the Argonath! Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old. My kin.
– Aragorn to Frodo while sailing down the Anduin February 25th, 3019 TA

As we approach the Christmas Holiday the truly awesome folks at Weta have given fans a chance to get items that they may have missed. One of the items was the Argonath environment, which came back as part of their first Christmas Special last week. This was great for someone like me who had missed it before and was  kicking myself for not ordering it.

The Argonath, which portray Isildur and Elendil, relatives of Aragorn,  marked and guarded the northern boundary of Gondor. This was inform strangers they could not come south of the Argonath without permission. As the power of Gondor declined these imposing figures could no longer be enforced. As the Fellowship came upon the Argonath, Frodo would notice that Strider no longer was sitting beside him, but instead it was Aragorn, son of Arathorn, a King who was returning from exile.

Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta Workshop ‘The Argonath’ Review”