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The Return of the King press round table was held at the Four Seasons Hotel. This was my first-ever press junket, and I had no idea that the whole point was to coddle us (the press) into submission. The Four Seasons is an amazing place for coddling – there are people hired simply to stand around and smile and ask you if you need anything.
Did I mention the swag? We were handed bags of promotional material to “help” us report on the movie. The bags had several movie-related books, Return of the King itself (with Viggo on the cover), little figurines, a puzzle, a PlayStation game, and more. So much swag that it instantly felt like stupid levels of bribery.
“Love us,” insisted the swag. “Write good reviews of the movie.”
So it’s a good thing that I have nothing bad to say about the junket – in fact, quite the opposite. The entire event was joyous and intense, and the actors and production people were lovelier than I could have imagined.
The format of the round table was simple: put a bunch of reporters in a room (around a literal round table). Stuff them with good food, provide more drink than they can swill, and trot the talent from room to room for a rapid-fire twenty minutes of questioning.
Howard Shore
Howard Shore was our first guest. He came in looking pale and drawn, and sat with hunched shoulders.
“How was the world premiere of your symphony?”
“It was very good. Viggo came and sang, and everything went well.”
I asked him whether he’d had any difficulty writing the score when the movie was coming to him somewhat piecemeal, and Shore shrugged.
“I knew the arc of the score. It didn’t matter which bit of the movie I received, I was able to apply the score to whichever part Peter handed me.”
I asked whether he’d known the actors were such talented singers.
He replied that all of the singing happened during principal shooting, and he was handed the songs to incorporate into the score. Shore took time to praise the vocal talent of Viggo and Billy. “Viggo’s an excellent singer,” Shore said.
Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd
Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd came into our room next, accompanied by an aide who held a tray full of food.
Dominic must not be a morning person. He looked positively huddled in his seat, and rarely looked up at us, even when answering questions. He mostly looked at his food.
One of the reporters in our room was a Japanese woman, and she stared at Dominic’s tray with amusement.
“You eat Japanese food?” she asked.
“Hai,” said Dominic. “Arigato.”
At a certain point during the interview, Dominic tried to separate two pieces of seaweed. The Japanese reporter offered to separate it for him, and he handed it to her.
She handed it back in several pieces, and Dominic bowed a little and said “Arigato!” again.
At another point during the interview, Billy Boyd lifted the cover of Dominic’s rice bowl and snitched several grains. This garnered the first fully awake reaction from Dominic.
Dominic glared at Billy.
Billy opened his eyes widely and innocently.
“That’s nice,” muttered Dominic.
I asked Dominic which of his many cut scenes he most wanted to see in the Extended DVD.
“Any of them, really,” said Dominic, chewing seaweed. “Twelve of my scenes were cut.”
I also asked about the inspiration behind the song Half-fling from the album Pandemoniumfromamerica.
“We’ve started to get questions about that? Amazing,” Dominic said to Billy. “The song is based on an invented language that Elijah and I have. We speak it when we’re tired.” Dominic gave an example, a falsetto squeek that sounded like Chipmunks gibberish.
Dominic denied that the song was an ironic send up of Hobbit life, despite the name. “Viggo named it,” Dominic said.
Dominic also wore a Carbon Neutral t-shirt, and asked that we all check it out.
Billy talked about the difference between Peter Jackson & Peter Weir, and said that with both of them, they were visionary and experimental, etc. etc. Basically, he took the opportunity to praise them both.
Billy also talked about the maturation of Pippin, and the changes he goes through in Return of the King – changes that are spoilers, really, so I won’t go into them here.
Dominic ended by grabbing Billy into a huge cuddle. “I get to spend Christmas and New Year with Billy!”
“Scotland?” I asked.
“The Lake District,” said Billy.
“Will you be hunting again?”
“Perhaps we’ll try fishing this time!”
Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom
Liv Tyler and Orlando Bloom walked in next.
They sat down. Or perhaps they didn’t sit down so much as fold themselves elegantly floor-ward, or any other phrase that might pertain to movements that fabulous people make.
Of course, they both had on expensive and silky looking casual clothes, the kind of rumpled up stuff you find at the bottom of your Givenchy-laden wardrobe and throw on for a long day of chatting with the press. Orlando also wore a tatty and meaningful looking bracelet of cloth, which I’m sure is emblematic of something or other.
Enough of that.
I asked Liv whether the constant rewrite process ever caused her to lose sight of the arc of her character’s development.
She said both yes and no – initially she wasn’t able to really feel or find her character, due to the constant training with weapons and horses, and the emphasis placed upon Arwen as a warrior woman. Liv said that after Philippa and Fran went through the process of removing Arwen from Helm’s Deep, she was much better able to find her character’s emotional center.
“Movie Legolas and book Legolas are different creatures,” I said to Orlando, “What do you think movie Legolas does after the action of Return of the King ends?”
“Leggy [Orlando’s nickname for his character] takes off in a big silver space ship, of course,” the man said promptly. Orlando then went on to explain his own vision of elven behavior, which involved a lot of graceful physicality. He mentioned the signature Legolas shots, and said that Return of the King has the best one yet.
Andy Serkis
Andy hacked, Andy coughed, and up came a hairball that sounded like
“gollum, gollum.”
To be honest, I don’t have much to say about Andy that hasn’t already
been said in countless books, DVD extras, and interviews. Everyone
asked the obligatory question about how Gollum was created. Andy
demonstrated motion capture, Andy discussed rotoscoping, Andy talked
about the infamous blue suit.
“My children got a bit confused about it,” he said. “They’re 3 and
5. They see Gollum on a bus, and say, ‘Look dad! It’s you!’ But they
don’t know quite how their dad in the blue suit became Gollum.”
DarkHorizons guy asked if his children had seen the movie.
“Not yet. I want to wait until they’re older so that they can
appreciate it more.”
Andy said that there were several scenes between himself and Sean Astin
that he wants to see in the extended DVD.
And Andy asked that we all buy his new book, all about being Gollum.
Bernard Hill
Bernard Hill sat and looked around the table, and instantly started in on telling us a story. He actually stopped us from asking questions once or twice, simply because he wanted to complete his thought.
Apparently the scriptwriting process for Theoden was quite collaborative. At the very beginning of the filming process, Bernard suggested to Philippa and Fran that he ride in front of the line of Rohirrim before the Battle of Pelennor Field and touch his sword to all of their spears.
“I was inspired by seeing the great weapons at Weta Workshop. But Phil and Fran said ‘Bernard! We aren’t filming that for nine months!’ And so I went away, but kept trying to come back to the idea.” Suddenly it was a few days before shooting, and Bernard finally got the writers’ attention for long enough to add the scene to the script. And the next day, they were shooting it with Peter.
“But did Peter say, ‘nice scene, Bernard, well written’? No! The bastard.” Bernard added that it was tough controlling a horse one-handed while wielding a sword, and that his horse (nicknamed “Snow-worries”) had to be swapped out for a different horse, simply because the horse wasn’t having any of his off-handed reigning.
And after filming the sequence, Peter mentioned casually that the shot would be mirror imaged. But Bernard pointed out an error.
“Theoden is left-handed, you see. And you’ll notice in that shot that Theoden is clearly holding his sword in his right hand, which un-reversed is my left.”
Apparently this didn’t really bother Peter much, because the shot made it to Return of the King.
Richard Taylor and Barrie Osborne
Richard Taylor and Barrie Osborne came in together, and sat smiling side by side at us like (okay, I’m sorry) Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They had the exact same expression on their faces: lines of worry smoothed into relief, and under it all a great sense of joy. They seemed better able than the younger actors to handle reporters; I’m guessing it’s because they routinely have meetings of just such intensity and length, and more.
We talked first about Christopher Lee’s excision from Return of the King. Nothing new was said, simply that Barrie and Richard both had long conversations with Christopher, and both felt the movie’s pacing was improved by Peter’s decision to remove the scene. [Small spoiler: There is no continuity problem in Return of the King. We see the beginning of the scene, including a certain chapter from The Two Towers that many have wanted to see for a while, and we go on to a conversation with Treebeard in which Saruman is dispatched of as being in Treebeard’s hands. And then Pippin finds… but I digress.]
They are both looking forward to seeing Saruman in the extended DVD.
The Japanese reporter asked if they’d see more of their wives now that the movies were getting done. Barrie and Richard both laughed.
“My wife works in the office with me,” Richard said. “Sits right behind me. And Barrie’s wife works for the production too.”
I asked whether the Tolkien estate had agreed yet to a permanent Lord of the Rings exhibit in Wellington.
Richard looked sad and said it was no go, but that the traveling exhibit was still in England.
I asked whether Richard and Barrie would be attending TORn’s Oscar Party, and: they said yes.
At the very end of their session, they handed out even more swag! This time, a pin in the shape of Sauron’s red eye, the symbol of WETA.
Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens
Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens entered then, both wearing black and looking positively lovely. Fran is a petite woman with an amazing grin, especially when she’s talking about work that she’s passionate about, namely, anything to do with Lord of the Rings. And currently, King Kong. Philippa also has an amazing smile, and was the more outgoing of the two women.
In my opinion, they were the most interesting people (aside from Peter) to talk to, simply because the entire structure of the movie was ultimately their creation, from characterizations to plot to motives to … well, everything.
The fellow from Aintitcoolnews is going to scream when he sees that I’ve included one of his questions in this report, but frankly it’s too good not to discuss. Plus, he owes me one for filling him in on all the Lord of the Rings news that he didn’t know.
[Spoilery discussion follows about the movie’s ending. Skip the next paragraph if you don’t want to read about it.]
The Aintitcoolnews guy asked why there was a series of five or six endings to Return of the King. He said that he felt the movie ended with the destruction of the ring, and felt that the extended whited-out screens leading to denouement after denouement didn’t work in a cinematic sense.
Philippa handled this question. She said that the movie wasn’t actually about the destruction of the ring, it was about Frodo. And that the denouement (returning to the Shire, the Grey Havens) wasn’t a denouement, it ended Frodo’s story.
“As fans of the book, we couldn’t consider leaving it out,” said Philippa.
[End spoiler.]
Fran and Philippa said that they were deep into work on King Kong, and that they’ve scrapped the script they’d developed years earlier and were working on a totally new one. “We’re going to try to tell it like we told Lord of the Rings,” said Fran. “Like a history.”
Philippa mentioned that her children are already clamoring to be extras.
At this point, everyone took a lunch break. Lunch Four Seasons style including even more free stuff, and the kind of food served at five-star hotels. I admit it, I was too excited to do more than stare at the notes I’d taken and cackle.
David Wenham and John Noble
We ended lunch with the abrupt appearance of a father-and-son act. David Wenham and John Noble came in together. John has the subtlety and poise of an old-fashioned stage actor, and he knew Denethor better than I did, to my lasting shame.
“You’ve mentioned in an interview that the death of Denethor’s wife – Fimbrethil? – is part of the motivation for his character’s actions,” I said. “Care to elaborate?”
“Yes,” he said softly, his accent impeccable, “His continued grief at his wife’s death – Finduilas, actually…” He shot me a look that might have held some mischief, “and the weight of the long years of struggle to maintain Minas Tirith in the absense of a king…” All of these things added to Denethor’s final dementia.
I asked David Wenham whether there were any parts that he’d particularly look forward to in the extended DVD.
“Why yes, finishing Faramir’s story, and the bits with Eowyn,” he said promptly.
The Aussie fellow from DarkHorizons asked if he minded that those bits didn’t make it to the theatrical release.
David shook his head. “No – no. The movie’s great, I’ve got no complaints at all. And the extra parts are in the DVD for posterity.”
David talked for a bit about how much he enjoyed working with Peter Jackson, and about how he’d long been a fan of Jackson’s movies.
“What’s your favorite of Peter Jackson’s movies, then?” I asked him, wondering which of the blood-and-gore bunch he’d pick.
“Oh, they’re all so good. There’s Braindead… Meet the Feebles…”
John Noble shot me another sideways glance. “Heavenly Creatures,” he said softly.
The Japanese reporter asked how it felt to shoot a certain very important scene with Denethor and Faramir.
“There was a wax double made of me,” said David. “Really quite eerie, actually.”
Let it be noted, therefore, that if you want amazingly lifelike waxen (and rather sickly looking) models of the two brothers of Minas Tirith, there’s now a complete set! Just ask Richard Taylor for details… [Before you go calling him, this is a joke.]
John Rhys-Davies
John Rhys-Davies is not a tall man. Or not as tall as he appears in the DVD extras, when he’s standing next to such petite fellows as the hobbits or Peter Jackson. In fact, JRD is also a trim fellow, not much extra bulk on him at all.
He was wearing a bright green shirt and an even brighter green tie with pictures of fruit on it. You can guess which.
JRD was obviously an old hand at press functions, and sat and chatted and told stories with us like we were all the oldest of friends. Such was his charm!
He made us all pronounce the phrase “Ish ka kwee”.
We could, and he said, “you’re all smarter than I was, let me tell you.” He told the story of his last day in Wellington, upon which Peter Jackson presented him with an axe. “That damned phrase made it into the blooper reel. It was about ten utterly embarrassing minutes of nothing but me muttering ‘Ish Koo – o damn. Can I have that again?’”
JRD informed us that he’d actually broken his back in last year’s on-set mishap, and said that his insurance company refused to pay for an “act of God”.
“Such as an entire wall toppling over and falling on me!” he spluttered. “Act of God indeed.”
Peter Jackson
Peter Jackson came in clutching a cup of coffee. He leaned on the table and stared down at the array of recording devices in front of him. His eyes, trapped behind a wild flop of hair and thick pair of glasses, were rather like a bear’s. This, coupled with his rounded appearance, gave the deceptive impression of harmlessness.
“So,” said the DarkHorizons guy, “You’re wearing shoes.”
“Yes,” Peter said in a somewhat short tone, “I am wearing shoes.”
The number of interviews in Peter is questioned about his barefooted tendencies have to be countless, and I instantly warmed to the man for allowing his irritation to show. Good for him.
“I heard in an interview for the New Zealand press that your first complete viewing of Return of the King was at the Wellington premiere. So. Did you like it?” I asked.
Peter hedged a bit. “Well. I’d seen all of it, of course, just not with all the sound and CG effects and music… Did I like it. To be honest, I was too busy watching other people’s reactions to really watch the movie!”
“Did you feel that another few weeks could have been worthwhile in honing the final product?”
I admit that this question was rather idiotic.
“Of course,” said Peter. “If I had an extra day, week, month it would have been much better. It can always be better.”
Which is, my friends, why we’re all waiting for the Return of the King EE DVD.
Peter confirmed that Naomi Watts is playing the lead in Kong, and that it would be his major project for 2004 (other than the ROTK EE DVD).
Ian McKellen
“So there I was on the sleeper plane from New Zealand to Los Angeles, and I woke up and looked around me, and I was surrounded by Orlando, Liv, Viggo, Elijah… So much beauty. And I thought I must be the luckiest man on earth,” Ian McKellen said, grinning around at us.
“On your website, in one of your e-posts, you mention that you preferred playing Gandalf the Grey to Gandalf the White, because Gandalf the Grey was a more dynamic character… For the third movie, how did you get into your character, now that he’s more of a warlord, less conflicted?”
“Oh dear,” said Ian, dropping his cheek to his hand, “I said that?” Ian said that from his perspective, he wasn’t aware of three movies so much as one character. “And the break came for me between the Grey and the White, of course. But the White is sent back for a reason, of course. He returns, and is driven.”
Viggo Mortensen
Viggo Mortensen carried a cup in his hand. The cup was ornate, and had something resembling a metal pipe sticking out of it. The whole effect was rather intriguing, and some of the other reporters whispered questions across the table.
“Yerba mate,” I replied promptly. “He drinks it all the time.”
And I asked: “There are hours of documentaries about you riding horses and training to sword fight … did you find that the emphasis upon the physicality of your character got in the way of Aragorn’s psychological journey?”
“No,” replied Viggo. “Action is part of who Aragorn is – his journey as a character is fundamentally about action: fighting, riding.”
“Peter Jackson has mentioned that he considers Lord of the Rings more a history than a fantasy movie. What genre do you place the movie into?”
Viggo chuckled and said, “Well it’s obviously a fantasy movie.” And then Viggo went into a small rant about how Tolkien invented the genre, and about how Norse mythology informs Tolkien’s writing. Refreshing to hear from an actor.
Viggo also answered the routine questions about injuries, friendships, etc., and was obviously a little exasperated that he had to go over the answers yet again.
“So how did it feel for you to play Aragorn during the coronation?” asked the Japanese journalist. “Everyone is giving you so much respect.”
Viggo said that it was indeed strange, but that Aragorn was always aware that it was the entire fellowship that brought about his coronation, not just one man.
Sean Astin
“I am afraid that tonight’s premiere is going to be a letdown,” said Sean Astin. “After the amazing reception we had in Wellington, where it wasn’t just another movie premiere, but it was a huge moment in the history of the country – even though Los Angeles is my home, I’m afraid that it just won’t be as intense.”
Sean came into our room just as the New Line representative apologized to us that Elijah Wood was not going to be able to chat with us.
“That’s okay,” said Sean, “I know everything he has to say about any question you might ask me.”
I jumped right in. “On the extended Two Towers DVD, you mentioned that you saw the relationship between Fran and Peter, and decided that you want to have a similar working relationship with your wife. Do you have any projects planned together?”
“My wife is very involved in my business, actually. And it seemed like my company had a whole lot going on at the middle of the year, but now it’s all kind of evaporated. So I think I’m going to take some time to rethink our direction.”
DarkHorizons guy brought up a possible Oscar.
“You know, it would be nice if I had one, of course. But I’m not looking for it.” Which is almost exactly what Peter said earlier to the same question.
The Japanese journalist asked him about how he felt in the very last scene in Return of the King.
Sean answered, and then tried to give a name to a place, a certain volcano. He asked if anyone could spell it.
I spelled it out for him, and the table full of reporters laughed at me. “She’s with Theonering.net,” the DarkHorizons guy said.
Sean turned to look at me and said, “You guys threw an amazing party in New Zealand. I loved it. Tehanu and Cliff were great.”
“Will you be at our Oscar party?” I shilled shamelessly.
“You know – people have been asking me about the award circuit, and I’m not even there yet. Not thinking about it yet.”
Coda
And that’s all. I packed up my bags, realized that in the excitement of the interviews my deodorant had completely worn off, and realized with great sorrow that my brush with fame was over.
“But wait, what about Elijah?” you might ask.
That darned actor had gone off to a gig with some man named Jay Leno, and didn’t have time to stay to chat with us.
And then I went to see Return of the King, but that’s another story…
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[Please direct all angry emails to jim.sherry@allianceatlantis.com]
Note: This letter was sent to the over 330 people who were signed up for the LOTR-Triple Screening planned by TheOneRing.net’s Michael Regina (Xoanon) and Sebastien Mineau of MONSFFA. A copy has also been sent to Susan Smythe susan.smythe@allianceatlantis.com (VP, Publicity and Promotion) & Julia Caslin julia.caslin@allianceatlantis.com (Director, Publicity and Promotion) as well as several media outlets in Montreal.
Ladies, Gents, Fans
We have sad news to announce you today, it seems we will not be able to host a Montreal Triple Screening of the Lord of the Rings movies.
This comes to an even blow to us since we feel like we let you all down. Please read this e-mail to its end. Thank you.
Now for the full story:
Jim Sherry, C.E.O. of Alliance Film Canada as finally answered our numerous attempts at contacting him. Here is what he had to say without even having heard all the options we had to propose to him :
Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with three prints of the Lord of the Rings extended versions to screen at a theater of your preference under conditions which you find ideal. We’ve offered the trilogy to the Montreal market in two locations and are happy to provide this benefit in consideration of the fans support of these films. In doing so, we’ve provided each fan with an equal opportunity to be the first to see it.
Therefore, no further dialogue between you or I at this point is necessary.
I would recommend you discontinue contacting myself or any representative of this organization on this matter.
As for respecting your organization, I’m not familiar with your organization and therefore couldn’t possibly be discourteous of it.
Lastly, Alliance Atlantis holds all rights to The Lord of the Rings films in Canada. Our position on protecting the rights to these fantastic films as well as the 6600 films which we hold rights to is very clear. We will protect them to the fullest extent of the law. I’ve copied our business affairs representative on your correspondence in the event you feel compelled to challenge our interest in these rights.
Sincerely,
Jim Sherry
[Please direct all angry emails to jim.sherry@allianceatlantis.com]
I would like to point your attention to this particular phrase:
As for respecting your organization, I’m not familiar with your organization and therefore couldn’t possibly be discourteous of it.
He is clearly disrespectful of the fans who go to see his movies and give him our hard-earned money.
We still want to hold an event, and we will most definitely get back to you later in the week on the details, but we can tell you it will most likely be a simple buffet-line party as we did last year.
The cost would be 20$ and there will be tons of presence prizes and fun to go around. In the hopes that you will still attend our line-party.
Sebastien Mineau & Michael Regina
FAN REACTIONS:
I’ve compiled a list of fan reactions that may interest people to read.
I hope you will pass this along to Sebastien Mineau & Michael Regina. That letter was so rude and needlessly hostile. The response ought to be clear. Anyone with the means should endeavor to see Return of the King at a theater that does not use Alliance Film Canada as its distributor. Letters should be send to the theater managers letting them know that you plan to boycott Alliance Film Canada films at every opportunity.
That letter was threatening and terribly offensive. This man needs to be hit where he lives, which is clearly his wallet.
Jonathan
*****
Oh dear. Well truly sorry to hear about your predicament. I am a huge fan like you, but I was thinking that perhaps this fellow is either ill informed or totally unaware of TORn (which I find truly hard to believe), and was just following corporate policy as to film distribution and rights etc. Trying to keep the pirates at bay and all that. There are a lot of legal issues involved. But I don’t of course know all the details. I wish you the very best of luck with getting to at least see the trilogy somewhere. I know we’re all the way across the country but there may still be tickets at the Capital 6 in Vancouver. (Now there was one weird situation when it came to getting tickets in the beginning). Must go now as Elijah is on Leno tonight and I can see it twice – at 8:30 (cable from east) and at 11:30 on west coast stations. You truly do have my sympathy regarding the Trilogy. Peace.
Linda Sims
*****
in reposnse to the news concerning the Montreal Triple Screening (even though I had no plans of attending).
First, I want to say that ANYONE who’s been in and out of your site knows that ALL you do is for the fans. I don’t think that anyone would consider that ANY of you let them down in any way. We are, as ever, appreciative of all you do for us.
Secondly, that man was cutting off his nose to spite his face. Whether they could or could not do what you asked, there was NO reason for him to be rude and condescending about it. I think he has a big head, unfortunately it houses very little, if any, brain matter.
After all the smoke clears and you all have a chance to breath again, perhaps you might want to let Peter Jackson know about this. I’m certain, given the amount of respect he has for the fans, and especially your site, that he would want to know.
Again, please know that the Canadian fans know that you truly did your best.
Nora in Chicago
*****
I’m a big fan of TORn, but have never written an email to you guys before. So pls excuse how childish or uneloquent (if that’s even a word) I sound at my ripe age of 22. I read that letter from Jim Stupidhead, CEO of the anal retentive film whatever, and was SO RAGING. I just wanted to sympathize with you guys about his completely narrowminded and rude letter. Lines like not requiring any further correspondence, not knowing the organization, and threatening that he has “copies” of the emails as if he’s ready to defend himself against some huge legal battle. Which he deserves. But I think the best way to deal with spineless wimps who brandish empty, pathetic threats is to laugh at him. And I and my friends will, even from all the way here in CA. So just wanted to support you guys in your cause. If you need anything, don’t be shy to call on your neighbors.
Sincerely,
Jen Jen Chen
*****
I’m so sorry about idiocy you’ve encountered from Mr. Sherry. I wonder what New Line would think about “unknowns” from TheOneRing.Net trying to rent prints of their films? Who do you think you are, anyway??? 😉
I’m sure it’s no consolation, but Mr. Sherry has soulmates at National
Amusements down here in the U.S. who are just as “smart” as he and have even less PR acumen. National Amusements’ corporate lawyers won’t let us have a Line Party at Showcase Springdale because they’re afraid it might encourage people to line up outside in the cold and they don’t want to be liable for slip-and-fall accidents. (How do I break it to them that it’s the general admission seating that encourages people to line up in the cold–and they could solve that issue by letting people wait inside? Oh yeah–I told them that and they ignored me.) And they’re also afraid that spontaneous swordfights will break out in the lobby and people will be maimed. (As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.)
I worked for weeks to try to get our Line Party together, and I got sponsors lined up and even had preliminary plans for Cincinnati Clear Stage to participate. We were hoping to display costumes and props from their recent Return of the King stage play–and maybe even get some live performances in the lobby. Most of all, I was excited about our Second Breakfast food drive. We had a food pantry lined up and they were thrilled about getting donations from LOTR fans.
National Amusement’s promotions department gave me permission–then their corporate lawyers yanked it. I was so angry (I’m still so angry) that I’ve sold the 2 Trilogy Tuesday tickets I bought from Showcase Springdale. I’m trying to find tickets to the Columbus, Ohio showing…but who knows. I may miss out on Trilogy Tuesday entirely, after spending 2 frantic hours on the phone to buy the tickets.
Are people like Jim Sherry evil, or just plain stupid? Or both?
I’m so sorry about what you’ve gone through. I can soooo relate. But in the end, there are more of us (kind, intelligent, generous fans) than there are of them (evil, stupid, scum-sucking worm-tongues). And what goes around comes around.
Kathleen Hanover
Former Line Party Leader
Showcase Cinemas Springdale
*****
One cinema owns the exclusive rights to the Lord of the Rings in all of Canada? Newline needs to be made aware of this guy’s arrogance and how much he has offended so many fans. BTW, I think his E-mail address is jim.sherry@allianceatlantis.com Maybe we could all give him a piece of our minds. In doing so, we “couldn’t possibly be discourteous” because we are “not familiar with” him. His logic mirrors his hubris.
*****
What an #*! that guy is! Such a *diplomatic* way to handle it! Hope you can work something else out~~~
Laurelin
*****
I’m one of the long time fans of The Lord of the Rings and I was eagerly awaiting for the event of the Triple Screening in Montreal. I have never been to a party like that and I was really looking forward to it. It was really very saddening to hear that it was cancelled and I was quite angered at the sheer disrespect Jim Sherry, C.E.O. of Alliance Film Canada has shown The One Ring.net organization! It is completely unbelievable!
I just want to let you know that whatever your decision ends up to be, we, fans of Lord of the Rings and of The One Ring.net will always be there to support it. You guys have worked very hard to keep us updated on the smallest details concerning our all time favorite Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings books and movies, and frankly you deserve the best!!! Keep up the good work and don’t hesitate to call on us for help!!!!
Sincerely,
Isabelle.
*****
He is unbelievable!!! And he’s the only one on the planet that doesn’t know TORN. Has this situation happened in other cities this year?
Can we get this guy’s email address?
This is so sad, I will never understand how those people “think”. But yes, we will be there on the 17.
Thanks for everything
Luthien
*****
I hardly post anything on the message board, but I check this site extremely often. When I read the post on Mr. Sherry I was honestly appalled by how rude and disrespectful he was not only to you guys, but the entire community. I couldn’t find any messages on the different discussion boards about this topic, which I find ridiculous… I would have thought this would have caused an uproar… Anyways, I’ve also sent you here my message on the board at the end of this message if you haven’t read it already. My point is that I’ve never actually felt this angry or cheated by a large company. I don’t know how the legalities work around this kind of thing (I’m not sure what you guys were planning for Montreal), either way, Mr.Sherry’s response was unprofessional – sorry, no, it was disgusting.
Sorry to waste your time with this message, but I’ve never felt this angry about something along these lines. And who should I email at Alliance to express my opinion?
Thank you very much, the website is incredible, and Mr. Sherry has made a HUGE mistake that will only come straight back to him.
And on a lighter note, enjoy RotK and close your eyes when the Alliance symbol drenches the screen!
-Ryan McDonald
*****
Although I am from San Antonio, Texas, US, rest assured that I will strive to avoid doing any business with you company if ever I return to Canada (and yes, I have been there twice before…to Vancouver and Toronto). I am a professional who holds a Master of Arts degree in English, and I am also a loyal Lord of the Rings fan. Let me say that I am sincerely disappointed with the curt, unprofessional, and extremely discourteous tone of the letter below (sent to Michael Regina and Sebastien Mineau. Although Mr. Sherry does not use excessive language in his reply, something any English student can tell you is that the tone of one’s writing is often more telling than the plain black-and-white diction itself. Let me tell you Mr. Sherry’s tone is egregiously ill-tempered. Also Mr. Sherry is quite mistaken in the following statement, “I’m not familiar with your organization and therefore couldn’t possibly be discourteous of it.” It is completely possible to disrespect an organization with which you are unfamiliar…..all one needs to do to be disrespectful is not to respond to another individual’s correspondence.
I would urge your organization to research TheOneRing.net at www.theonering.net, and then provide all of its staff, creators, contributors, and readers with a formal apology, sent to Sebastien Mineau & Michael Regina, whose e-mail addresses you should already have in your possession. As all three of you will hopefully note, Mr. Sherry’s reply, which I have cut-and-pasted below, fails even to contain a simple apology for not being able to help the fans of the movies in Montreal, Canada. A simple statement such as “We apologize / We are sorry for not being able to be of service to you or your fan-base” may sound trite, but it actually goes a long way to providing one’s clients with a courteous response. You may find in your research of the aforementioned website that the number of individuals who check this site regularly is astronomical, and that Mr. Sherry’s rude and discourteous tone has now been felt by many, many fans and probable clientele. I am not affiliated with TheOneRing.net, except as a fan and a devoted reader, but I promise you that I will defend the interests of like-minded fans as thoroughly as possible. All Lord of the Rings fans eagerly await your response to Mr. Regina and Mr. Mineau.
Thank you for your consideration and your time.
Regards,
Richard Farias
rfarias@satx.rr.com
*****
we probably haven’t “talked” before, but I just wanted to let you know that I’m shaking my head in disbelief here in Germany after reading that letter from the Canadian distributor’s CEO regarding the triple screening. Not only does the fact that that he hasn’t heared of TORn not speak for him, the general tone of his letter is also … well, rude. I hope someone at TORn has contacts at Warner in the US, and that you’re forwarding this letter to them as well. I can’t imagine that they’d be pleased.
Hope you’ll still find a way to realize this. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I’m outraged, and that you have my sympathies.
Barbara
www.bschnell.de
*****
I just read your article on TORN about this… and I wanted to tell you I think that you have been treated very shabbily by Alliance and Jim Sherry.
The tone of “just go away and don’t bother me” was just terribly
disrespectful. Also Unbecoming. Unwarranted. Unprofessional (how may other UN- adjectives can I use?)
Although we only met the one time, and briefly at that, we have been
e-mailing back and forth for close to three years… I cannot imagine that you would ever have said or done anything to warrant such a response.
You have my support and my sympathies. I hope your line party event is a huge success.
Sincerely,
Marea
(Maria Litynsky Foss)
*****
Thanks for the update, much appreciated. Of course this sucks and one would have thought that a movie trilogy that was so dependant on internet traffic and support for the initial hype would be more courteous to a site that had a major hand in that.
We could set up a form letter and a link on TORN that would all anyone to send a note to Jim outlining our thoughts on the matter (or we could just set it up for the 300+ people who were in our line party). Unless you are just fed up and don’t want to pursue the matter further.
Regards,
Chuck (Ronin)
*****
It was with great sadness that I read your last email. For a moment I
identified with Nienel, who, distraught with horror and anguish, ran to the brink of Cabed-en-Aras and cast herself into the wild water of the Teiglin. Not to worry,though. The moment passed, and I quickly opted for plan B. To my wonder, the Cineplex Odeon at the World Exchange Centre in Ottawa (111 Albert St.) (phone 613-233-0209) still had tickets available for Trilogy Tuesday as of noon today. Hopefully, now, my two children will not be forever traumatised by the cancellation. We would still like to join you in Montreal, though, so keep in touch with details for the line party. Thanks, again, for all of your hard work. I am so sorry that things did not work out as planned.
Hoping to see you soon,
littlo
*****
[Please direct all angry emails to jim.sherry@allianceatlantis.com]
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