It’s 4:30 in the afternoon, and I can’t find a place to park. After some trickery and interesting maneuvers I make my way towards the Vista Theater, hope of the Two Towers line hosted by TheOneRing.net and LiningUp.net. It takes a while before anyone shows up, but one by one fans from TheOneRing.net and members of LiningUp.net [Who did the Episode II Line this past summer see pics] settle in with their fold out chairs and sleeping bags to camp outside this beautiful theater to see Peter Jackson’s next step in The Lord of the Rings experience.
I take a detour from the line for a time to pick up Green Books staffer Quickbeam and swing home to kiss my wife before curling into a shivering huddled mass on the sidewalk in Hollywood. Members of the Episode II line take some time to catch up and we finally manage to get power setup, thus the TV and PS2 gets more attention than before. Electronic Arts has taken good care of us at our Vista line and we have a copy of the Two Towers for the PS2 and GameBoy Advance to hand out each night of the line, with last nights trivia hosted by that same Green Books Ent Quickbeam!
So overall the first night went off quite well, only a few visits from the displaced people of the city, nothing compared to our time spent on the busy street of Hollywood Blvd. right in the heart of Mann’s Chinese. So if you’re in the LA area, or near enough to get down to the LA area, swing on by, we’ll have trivia every night for more chances to win prizes provided by Electronic Arts and a TV and a PS2 setup to enjoy their Two Towers game. Hrm it’s 8:30 in the morning isn’t it… I really should head home, thats 12 hours logged! Here’s looking forward to Wednesday!
“Hey what are you guys in line for?”
“Maid in Manhattan 2!”
More info on the Vista line here, and if you want to find another Line Party in your area go here.
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Hobbitsteacosy was at the Paris Premiere of LOTR – The Two Towers last week, and wrote this report for us to share!
The European Premiere of The Lord Of The Rings – The Two Towers
Le Grande Rex Cinema, Paris 10th December 2002
by HobbitsTeaCosy
Warning…. contains SPOILERS!!!! (well, mild ones)
I was one of the lucky few who attended the Paris premiere of The Two Towers and I feel privileged to have the chance to share my experiences with you all.
My friends and I left the Intercontinental Hotel in Paris at 5:30 pm and taxi’d to Le Grande Rex cinema. Two of us had tickets, the others would be waiting outside to hopefully catch an autograph or three. We hung around outside for a little while to get a good look at the decor and soak up the atmosphere. The cinema looked a treat from the outside; there was a swish purple entryway with “Le Seigneur D’Anneux – Les Deux Tours” (Lord Of The Rings – The Two Towers,) emblazoned on it, huge, huge posters of all the characters and a canopied walkway for the stars and guests to walk down. The weather wasn’t so hot so that’s probably why the walkway was covered. Anyway, as I made my way along I spotted Sean Astin (Sam), signing autographs at the barrier, (he’s lost a LOT of weight,) but I held my cool and kept moving!
Once inside the reception area, which looked like your standard cinema lobby save for the influx of press and TV people lining one side, I was given directions to my seat, which was on the left hand side of the ground floor, a few rows back from the front. Excellent! The seats reserved for cast and crew were in the centre, about ten or fifteen rows back. The auditorium itself certainly lived up to expectations … baroque and beautiful, with thick carpets and serene lighting. The atmosphere was relaxed, yet exciting at the same time. I didn’t feel the least bit intimidated. There was a little red bag containing popcorn, a bottled drink and a chocolate bar in front of each seat, just in case anyone got the munchies during the film. (I hoped it would contain a party ticket too, to no avail.)
I went to the bathroom to freshen my face, and when I came out I saw Elijah Wood being interviewed by what I assumed was French TV. He was charming and chatty in a beige suit, and his brand new buzz cut made him look younger. I was surprised at how petite he was. Peter Jackson was there too, in regulation casual garb. By this time I was standing by the main staircase when I noticed Dom and Billy arrive. Dom seemed on top form, joking with the press, and he was wearing a get-up which …. well, I suppose the kindest description is LOUD! A gold and black striped jacket, jeans and trainers, and his hair was blond and spiked, not unlike David Beckham’s. Billy was wearing what I first assumed to be a kilt, but I didn’t see a tartan pattern … it was black. A kilt noir, I suppose. Liv Tyler’s dress was astonishing – a pale-pink bodice with a voluminous skirt. I had a cigarette in the lobby then returned to the auditorium. Some of the stars were being interviewed onscreen – Sean Astin, Andy Serkis in a white jacket and huge Elvis quiff, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, one or two French celebs.
It’s a bit of a blur until the time came to introduce the actors and crew onstage. I got up to go to the loo again and passed Brad Dourif talking to one of the attendants. Then back into the auditorium, just in time for the introductions. Peter Jackson, Howard Shore, Phillippa Boyens, Rick Porras, Elijah, Dom, Billy, Christopher Lee, John Rhys-Davies, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Liv Tyler, Andy Serkis, Bernard Hill etc. No Ian McKellen (he’s still working on the second X-Men movie) or Orlando (he’s filming Pirates of the Carribean – I think.) Ditto Miranda Otto, David Wenham and Cate Blanchett. Peter gave a nice speech about the honour of holding the European premiere in France and said some nice things about French cinema. He said that Fran had decided to stay at home with their children this time.
Then it was TIME. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag for those who haven’t seen it so I’ll talk about the standouts. One or two spoilers follow, so go to the last paragraph if you don’t want to know. Suffice to say the opening dream-sequence – a tumbling Gandalf and Balrog locked in battle – is incredible. It’s not long before we get our first look at Gollum, and let me tell you, it is difficult to separate the CGI from the character himself. It is SEAMLESS. Andy’s Gollum has all the requisite whining, hissing sliminess crossed with a strangely appealing wretchedness – cute in a way, but not nauseatingly so. I actually felt more sympathy for the movie Gollum than the character in the book. And the schizophrenic Slinker/Stinker conversation later on is a treat.
Frodo’s gradual disintegration is subtle, with clever use of facial expressions and nuances. In one scene Frodo’s face is half-lit, the other half in shadow, with a discernible darkness under his eye, a hollowness of the cheek. There’s a certain facial feature of Gollum’s that echoes that of Frodo, and so serves as a kind of tragic presentiment, a signifier of what Frodo is in danger of becoming. I won’t say what it is here. Sam, as always, is stalwart, despite the fracturing friendship between him and his master as the latter begins to succumb to the potency of the ring.
We also follow Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli in pursuit of Merry and Pippin. Running into Eomer and a crew of renegade Rohirrim,, banished from Edoras by the Saruman/Grima-brainwashed King Theoden, they make a grisly discovery. Eomer informs them that he and his men have just routed a brigade of Uruks and that there were no survivors. All the bodies were cremated. Disconsolate, man, elf and dwarf conclude that Merry and Pippin must also have perished in the battle. All hope seems lost, until they make a cheering discovery … the switch from utter despair to elation in this scene is marvellous.
As Theoden, Bernard Hill handles the transition from broken puppet-king to rejuvenated leader with deft assurance. Miranda Otto is a sensitive, quietly serious Eowyn, appalled by her father’s gradual erosion at the hands of Grima, saddened by his lack of belief in her swordswomanship, and torn by her attraction to Aragorn, which she downplays wonderfully, evoking her feelings by looks and gestures. Brad Dourif is in top Richard III form as Wormtongue, hunched, greasy and weaselly.
But for the real treat, two words – Helm’s Deep. The build-up is incredible. The scene where Saruman stands atop Orthanc before thousands of marauding, battle-ready Uruks is powerfully unsettling, with eerie shades of Leni Riefensthal. The battle itself far exceeds anything seen in Fellowship, a triumph of both effects and the human touch. The powder-keg sense of doom inside the fortress are tense and profoundly moving. A child is seen preparing for battle. Rohan women hug their children close and weep, in realisation that they could be saying goodbye to their menfolk for the last time.
Gandalf’s return is suitably dramatic, Treebeard is fabulous, and there’s some good exchanges between Merry and Pippin. One little gripe – the march of the Ents on Orthanc just seemed to be over too quickly for my taste.
While I’m on this critical interlude, I found one or two elements a little contemporary – most notably a scene where Legolas appears to SKATEBOARD down the fortress stairs. Not so good.
There’s also the overuse of flashbacks – handy for those who haven’t seen Fellowship and need a pick-up, but smacks of unnecessary padding nonetheless. The Black Gate didn’t give me the shivers the way it did in the book either. Maybe I’m splitting hairs, but the sky above the gate was BLUE – and this, after all, is Mordor, where the sun never shines and the black cloud has already begun to spread. It simply didn’t ring right. There are more deviations from the book than in Fellowship – whether this is judicious or not is an entirely subjective matter, and it often works – but on occasion it doesn’t.
However, the positives far outweigh the negatives and the film will be a well-deserved smash. It might not be The Two Towers in the minds of some, but it is an astounding cinematic achievement nonetheless.
So I can say I left the cinema enthralled, happy – and relieved. I met my friends outside near the stars’ exit. I’m not one for name-dropping, but here’s a taster … I was standing in front of a guy who wanted to get into the car in front of me, I turned round and it was Karl Urban! I said, “Oooh, sorry!” or something like that, feeling like a real ninny, and he smiled and said, “It’s okay!”
One of my friends had a ticket to the party, (lucky so-and-so!) and we dropped her off there then made our way back to the hotel, where we finished off the champagne we’d bought earlier! I wish I could have gone to the party too, but the sheer excitement of being one of the first people in Europe to see the film, outside those directly involved with the production, more than made up for the disappointment. Paris, quite simply, was the realisation of a dream … I’m confident you’ll all be over the moon come December 18th!
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Worried about missing the latest LoTR TV programming? To help everyone out, here’s a list of some upcoming programs/specials. Thanks go to Skybeing, Bricklayer, Susan, Maija, Lee and George for sending in this stuff
Please, note, I can’t warrant any or all of these programs, I’ve taken it on trust. Also, I do occasionally make typographical errors. So, please check times and dates against your local guides.
USA:
There’s a special “New Zealand: The Royal Tour” airing at 9:00 PM EST tonight (December 15) in the USA on the Travel Channel. It is hosted by Karl Urban (Éomer.) The commercial seems to focus on Lord of the Rings somewhat, although I’m not sure whether the show itself refers to LOTR. The special apparently concerns New Zealand’s extreme landscape and adventure opportunities, and the commercial shows truly jaw-dropping scenery including a flyby of Milford Sound.
Mon 12-16-02 – NA – Jay Leno – Elijah Wood
Mon 12-16-02 – NA – Today Show – Liv Tyler
Mon 12-16-02 – NA – The Early Show – Elijah Wood
Tue 12-17-02 – NA – Caroline Rhea – Elijah Wood (Syndication so check your local listings)
Tue 12-17-02 – 3:00 PM – BRAVO – Page to Screen (from FoTR)
Tue 12-17-02 – 7:00 PM – BRAVO – Page to Screen (from FoTR)
Wed 12-18-02 – 9:00 PM – South Park: The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers COMEDY CENTRAL
Thu 12-18-02 – 8:00 PM – J.R.R. Tolkien OVATION
Thu 12-19-02 – 10:35 PM – Sean Astin Tonight Show with Jay Leno NBC
Thu 12-19-02 – NA – The Early Show – Peter Jackson
Fri 12-20-02 – 12:00 AM – J.R.R. Tolkien OVATION
Fri 12-20-02 – 11:00 PM – South Park: The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers COMEDY CENTRAL
Fri 12-20-02 – NA – David Letterman – Liv Tyler
Sun 12-22-02 – 7:00 PM – National Geographic Explorer LOTR MSNBC
Sun 12-22-02 – 10:00 PM – National Geographic Explorer LOTR MSNBC
Sun 12-22-02 – NA – Ebert & Roper LOTR:TTT (Syndication so this may be shown any day around the 22nd)
Sat 12-21-02 – 9:00 PM – South Park: The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers COMEDY CENTRAL
Sun 12-22-02 – 1:00 AM – South Park: The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers COMEDY CENTRAL
Mon 12-23-02 – 4:00 PM – J.R.R. Tolkien OVATION
Mon 12-23-02 – 5:00 PM – Face to Face: Sir Ian McKellen OVATION
Thu 12-26-02 – 5:00 PM – Behind the Scenes: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers E!
NB: Check your local guides for times! After all, I might make a mistake. It *always* pays to check ahead.
Also, on December 17, TNT will be screening the special behind the scenes program at Return to Middle Earth at 11pm (EST).
You can also check out our extensive (if now slightly dated) USA TTT programmiung guide here.
Canada:
I was just checking my TV Listings via Zap2it and I happened to notice that at 7pm EST The History Channel in Canada is airing “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Return to Middle Earth” followed by “National Geographic Explorer: Lord of the Rings” at 8pm EST. “Return to Middle Earth” is airing again on Showcase on December 14 at 1AM EST and again on December 22 at 1AM EST. Folks should check their local listings, of course.
UK:
12-16-02 – 11.15pm GMT – “Film 2002” with Jonathan Ross will be shown on BBC1 UK, reviewing “The Two Towers”
Film 2002 with Jonathan Ross (Entertainment)
The latest film news, reviews, video and DVD releases. Jonathan ventures into Middle Earth as The Lord of the Rings trilogy continues with The Two Towers, and looks at the latest hit comedy from Reese Witherspoon, Sweet Home Alabama.
Australia:
Return to Middle earth airs tonight at 11pm on channel 9 tonight in Oz. Just wanted to let you know that it’s actually on at 10.45 on Channel 9 and at 11pm on Win (Regional victorian station). I know I’d hate to miss the first 15 minutes so I thought I’d let you know!
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SCRYE MAGAZINE: SPECIAL ISSUE – ON SALE NOW!
LORD OF THE RINGS: Your Guide to Gaming in Middle-Earth
The latest special issue of SCRYE Magazine is so far, the most complete and comprehensive resource material you will find on The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game, as well as spotlighting many of the most recent (and not-so-recent) LOTR Gaming franchises.
This special issue entitled “YOUR GUIDE TO GAMING IN MIDDLE EARTH” definitely lives up to its title. By and large, I’m not a very big fan of these “special issues”, mainly because they’re usually a total re-packaging of articles recovered from previously released issues. In this case however, I’m glad I made the exception.
This edition is in fact quite current in terms of information and offers a new variety of articles and reviews for both the LOTR TCG, and for “what was, what is and some things that have not yet come to pass.” There is extensive coverage spanning several gaming decades from the 1977 SPI classic The War of The Ring (Old Schoolers – you guys remember that one?) to the current TWO TOWERS by EA (Electronic Arts). Basically, there’s almost something for every generation of LOTR gamer inside this special issue. Comparing and contrasting the evolution of these games is like trying to compare the evolution of Atari’s PONG to PS2’s METAL GEAR 2: Sons of Liberty. Watching the maturation process of The Lord of the Rings gaming throughout the last 20 years…it’s just mind blowing! However, before I digress any further down memory lane…let’s return to the main focus of the magazine: The LOTR TCG.
The researchers at SCRYE have left no Hobbit-hole unturned as they have provided for us a catalogued and compartmentalized issue of The Lord of the Rings TCG. From the very first article, this magazine offers fans of the LOTR TCG and in-depth and personal understanding of what it takes to create a TCG of this magnitude and how one can take part in this epic gaming phenomenon. After reading this issue, you will be able to understand, if not incorporate, most of the basic–and some of the more advanced–strategies and tactics incorporated in the game.
Yet aside from all of the great strategy articles, interviews, previews and reviews, absolutely the BEST PART of this magazine is the almost 40 page FULL COLOR SPREAD of every single card from the original three sets: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Mines of Moria and The Realms of the Elf-Lords. Not only are there images of every card, including the PROMO cards and certain International cards, but there are colored borders around each card signifying their respective rarities. Believe me when I say that this spread alone is worth the price of the issue!
But wait…there’s more. There are also complete Collector’s Checklists of each and every set that has been released – including The Two Towers. These lists are in alphabetical, and not numerical, order according to their respective expansions. There is also a TWO TOWERS spoiler list. Aside from being a checklist itself–it offers players the opportunity to see which card belongs to which culture and how the card texts apply to the game. It’s basically a mini-strategy guide packaged in a very easy-to-read and convenient format.
There are also very informative and in-depth articles covering Decipher’s upcoming ONLINE format of the LOTR TCG, Decipher’s Role-Playing Game (RPG), The Lord of the Rings Tabletop Battle Game by Games Workshop and The Lord of the Rings Board Game from Fantasy Flight/Reiner Knizia–which is one of the very best Lord of the Rings games out there…hands down (thanks Quickbeam!).
Bottom line…buy this magazine. This is an issue made by the fans for the fans. And, as I mentioned earlier, if you are looking for the most complete resource for the Lord of the Rings TCG–this is it!
By the way, did I mention the fact that is also comes poly-bagged with a TWO TOWERS booster pack and a FIERCE tatoo?
All this LOTR goodness for only $5.99 (US MSRP)!!!!
Later,
Lao of Gondor
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Grey Area writes:
Here in the UK, Channel 4 have a morning / breakfast show called RI:SE. This morning they had a brief bit on TTT, humourous in nature concerning the antics of Gollum.
There were a number of snippets of the cast and Peter Jackson talking about things Gollum alledgedly got up to.
PJ said that between takes it got close to gwetting out of hand, Gollum pinching bottoms and running amok.
Elijah Wood said that it was sad to see that Smeagol disappeared completely between takes and that Gollum took over.
Sean Austin said that “ We kept an eye on him” and that he smokes like a chimney.
Liv Tyler said that it got embarressing, Gollum hitting on all the female cast and crew.
It was also mooted that there might be a thing going on between Gollum and Jennifer Lopez. I *think* it was Peter Jackson who gave a little comment on how Gollum and Ben Affleck had it out in a carpark and Gollum put Affleck on his [bum]
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If you have a copy of The Lord of the Rings, you’ve more than likely read a bit of Douglas Anderson’s work. He has the singular honor of being the writer of the ‘Note on the Text’ that is printed in each book. This was first published in 1993 and has been included in each edition thereafter.
Last year Doug revised and published his delighful and informative “The Annotated Hobbit”. This book is actually Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” but the text has been researched and notes are provided upon each page about what Tolkien wrote. Many illustrations have been added as well, showing the various illustrations in worldwide publications. Doug states in the preface, “In general, I have tried to keep Tolkien’s own views about his writings in a position of central importance. My annotations start from there and move outward in a biographical and historical context. The goal of annotation itself is usually considered to be illuminating a text, but i have also attempted to give more information about Tolkien’s life, his friends and associates, his literary interests, and his other writings so that a better cumulative portrait is achieved.”
For the official press release of The Annotated Hobbit, please check out publisher Houghton Mifflin’s [site]. and for more information about the chat please click [here].
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