If you haven’t heard of it yet, you will want to check out the non-profit collaborative short film being produced by writer/director Chris Bouchard – The Hunt for Gollum. Like the name suggests, this short film is a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings, set in Middle Earth and depicts events leading up to the Fellowship of the Ring. The story follows the Heir of Isildur as he sets out to find the creature Gollum. Mr. Bouchard has just released the second trailer for the film which you can checkout at their official website or at YouTube. The film will be released as a FREE download in December 2008. [Official Website] [YouTube Trailer]
Category: Miscellaneous
Apparently, the current economic shadow affecting real estate may feel like the tentacles of Mordor reaching out across the country. A LOTR themed community in Bend, OR is currently feeling it as this article discusses.
The rise and fall of Bend’s real estate economy has resulted in foreclosure proceedings against The Shire, a village-themed concept in southeast Bend patterned after J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” series.
For more of the story, read The Bend Bulletin
With Academy Award buzz circulating around Health Ledger’s frightening portrayal of The Joker as well as for the movie itself, The Dark Knight is generating all sorts of Oscar talk. A recent USA Today article reviews those topics and happens to credit another genre film that gives The Dark Knight a reason to hope. A section noted:
But through the years, as studios focused on big-budget films, “the Hollywood establishment began turning its nose up to quality movies that happened to have action,” says Steve Mason, columnist for Hollywood.com. “The sentiment became that if it’s fun or funny or escapist entertainment, it can’t be that good. Recognizing Dark Knight would be a significant step to correct that.”
It’s not impossible. In 2004, the academy finally presented a best-picture Oscar to a fantasy film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
“I had a glimmer of hope when Return of the King won; it felt like a victory for our kinds of films,” says Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, which plans its own Oscar campaign for Iron Man and star Robert Downey Jr.
You can read the rest of the story in USA Today.
OK, this is either really sad … or Peter Jackson did one heck of a job giving “Lord Of The Rings” even more of a historical feel that he intended. An article in the Newcastle (UK) Journal talks about the complaints on how little British kids know about the world is a bit overblown, but then they said:
It may be slightly worrying that in one recent poll fewer than half those questioned knew that Sir Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada. And, okay, it’s frankly terrifying that 6% of those questioned thought that this great historical victory was down to the wizard Gandalf from Lord of the Rings.
So I suppose the Corsairs sailing up the Anduin had a Spanish feel to them. [Read More]
The article is here:
1900
June – Mabel Suffield Tolkien converts to Catholicism, which shocks both the Unitarian Suffields and the Baptist Tolkiens. Despite being familially estranged and financially cut off due to this decision, she remains undeterred and begins her sons’ instruction in the Catholic faith, one that becomes especially deep-rooted in Ronald for his entire life.
1915
June 29 – At his army physical, Tolkien declares that he has never suffered from any serious illness or injury. Continue reading “June 29th-July 1st Flashback!”
Another week, another wacky list from the folks at Entertainment Weekly. This week, EW is listing the ‘Never Say Die: 17 Beloved Pop-Culture Immortals‘ in film, and who do you think makes the list? That’s right! None other than our elf friend Legolas!
He has long blond hair and moves with balletic grace, but Bloom’s Legolas is a born fighter who has deadly aim with a bow even when sliding down the trunk of a raging Oliphaunt. And according to Tolkien, elves live forever…unless they die in battle or decide to take the Grey Havens cruise.
Read through the full list over at EW.com [Full List]