Ian Brodie’s latest book ‘A Journey through New Zealand Film’ landed on my doorstep earlier this week, thanks to author Kristen Thompson. The book is filled with stunning images from all over New Zealand, and gives the reader an insider look into some of the films shot there. From harpercollins.co.nz: ‘For a long time, New Zealand film was off the beaten track — unfamiliar, charting new territory and out there. Now our rich and varied landscape, and the skill of our filmmakers, is celebrated worldwide, in The Piano, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Whale Rider, The Last Samurai, River Queen and The World’s Fastest Indian. Ian Brodie, author of the internationally bestselling Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook and Cameras in Narnia, is the perfect guide to the locations and landscapes which have inspired filmmakers over the past twenty-five years. With stunning photographs, detailed location descriptions, and comments from directors, cast and crew, he has put together a fascinating tour of New Zealand for movie-lovers and visitors alike. Along with a chronology of feature films made in New Zealand and the awards they have won, he paints a superb portrait of location New Zealand.’ Just In: A Journey through New Zealand Film
Category: Merchandise
From Stephen Hubbard at bookreporter.com: Bilbo Baggins just wants to live his quiet, peaceful life in the Shire. And he’s doing a mighty fine job of it until the great wizard, Bladorthin, shows up at his door with a gaggle of dwarves. Their leader, Gandalf, tells of the vicious dragon, Pryftan, who overtook their home. Bilbo joins up with them for a grand adventure. Ultimately he saves the day and along the way happens to discover a magical ring. That is how the story originally took shape. With THE HISTORY OF THE HOBBIT, author John D. Rateliff pieces together fragments of history in order to present THE HOBBIT as it was originally drafted by J.R.R. Tolkien. With access to the documents at Marquette University, the project was originally undertaken by Taum Santoski, who passed away following a battle with cancer at an all-too-young age. The torch was then passed to Rateliff with the full blessing of Christopher Tolkien. ‘The History of The Hobbit’ Review
If you are a collector, then you know about Sideshow Collectibles. What you may not have known, is that about this time every year, Sideshow hosts ‘Spooktacular.’ This is no simple promotion. This 24 hour a day, 9-day event features all kinds of Spooky madness. There are contests/promotions nearly every other hour, and if you are on the site at the right time, you can even get stuff for FREE! They have a interactive ‘bob for discounts’ as well as a ‘fortune teller’ who hints a what will happen in the next 24 hours. Of critical importance to LOTR fans, you’ll see a LOT of LOTR related items featured in the random banner discounts. Just to name a few that have been seen already: Faramir 12-inch Figure Second Chance, Helm of Sauron Second Chance, Cave Troll Maquettes, Elrond and Weathertop for 35% off and much more. To particpate, just jump on over to the Spooktacular area of SideshowCollectibles.com. This lasts until Nov 2nd! [Spooktacular 2007]
Author Dirk Vander Ploeg has recently published ‘Quest for Middle-earth,’ a non-fiction look at earth before the time of Man, before the time of the flood, approximately 4000 BCE. The book ponders the question that Middle-earth may have really existed. Learn more about the book at Dirk’s website. [Click Here]
Kristin Thompson, author of ‘The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood’, writes: J. K. Rowling’s outing of Dumbledore is pretty OT for this site. Nevertheless, I’ve got a blog entry that tries to look past the controversy and examine her remarks on fanfiction and what they might mean for people in all fandoms, including Ringers, who write it and create fanart. Nothing definitive, but it seems like a little boost for the fair-use doctrine. The Outing of Dumbledore
Daisy writes: Check out the update on Howard Shore’s website about the upcoming release of the Extended edition of the ROTK soundtrack: “Howard Shore’s complete Oscar-winning score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, from the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, will be available in a deluxe five-disc edition from Reprise/WMG Soundtracks on November 13, 2007.
This historic release contains 3 hours and 50 minutes of music on four CDs, comprising the full score of the 2003 film. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King — The Complete Recordings marks the third and final edition of the three complete recording releases of the film trilogy whose score has been honored with three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. This deluxe set includes exclusive new artwork, packaging, liner notes written by Doug Adams, author of the forthcoming book The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films and features Annie Lennox performing the Oscar-winning song “Into the West.””