It’s two days after the TORN’s Oscars party and it already seems like a dream. I know Sir Ian was there, I know that I hugged Richard Taylor and PJ and Fran at some point, but it’s like a kaleidoscope mixed in with the moments I spent with the many, many people on TORN who I have spoken to for many years but never met, and the crazy, casual conversations with new friends. This was a big party spread over four or five large spaces, upstairs and down, and there was always something going on that you missed, no matter where you were.
When I got there around 2pm on Sunday the volunteers had been preparing the venue since the morning. Calisuri showed me around and introduced me to about 20 people – many of them from his enormous tribe of family and friends – who I spent the rest of the night trying to keep their names straight.
The Hollywood Athletic Club already looked good with the auction and raffle items set up in one room, big standees and banners placed around the entry foyer and so on. Most people had gone to the pub across the road for lunch so I joined them, finally meeting Tookish, Gamgee, Gandalf and many other longtime netfriends. I went to the bar and a total stranger bought me a beer just on the strength of my connection with TORN.
Then it was back inside to take part in the chaos of setup. Xoanon and Corvar showed up from wherever they’d gone to get into their tuxes – they both looked smashing! But we all had a moment of ‘is that you?’ when we first met, which is weird seeing as how on the screen we’re so familiar.
By the time we opened the doors, the line of fans stretched around the block. And what a terrific-looking party of fans you were! People had gone to a lot of trouble to look good, and hey guys, you DO look good in a tux, all of you. The women had more choices between going for the Elvish look and going for all-out glamour and elegance.
People started filing inside around 5pm and we were busy handing out goody bags, selling raffle tickets etc. People in beautiful clothes started to file up the great stairwell, passing ornate mirrors flanked with statuettes to past film stars. Rudolph Valentino stood on his pedestal, Johnny Weissmuller had climbed off his and was hanging from the top of the mirror with a monkey swinging from his leg. Jincey and I noticed that he was all present and correct under his loincloth!
Slowly the rooms filled – some people sat quietly watching the Oscars proceedings in the screening room, but this got more rowdy as the night went on. Others partied away in the other rooms.
The press were there, and my memory of the night is one of being interrupted from countless conversations because I had to give an interview or I had to go find somebody else that a reporter wanted to talk to. I said the usual things (not that they become any less true through repetition): That although we fans didn’t have a hands-on role in making the movies, we still felt a sense of involvemnt and ownership. Whatever happened tonight at the Oscars, we would be and already were immensely proud of the film and its makers, including the many, many film workers who would not be at the Oscars ceremony that night. I enjoyed being phoned up by Radio NZ to give them a report on the proceedings, since I knew there would be a lot of interest there.
Finally there was a moment that I’d been anticipating for a very long time – years, in fact: standing shoulder to shoulder with the other TORN founders to thank the fans and celebrate our achievements in setting up TORN at the same time as we had so much to celebrate for the film itself. For us, this party was a chance to celebrate actually meeting each other!
Around midnight, word came that the film people were making their way from their first party to ours, so the PTB and staff filtered down to the doors to welcome them. Or so I assume – by the time I heard about it, Sir Ian was already upstairs swimming happily through a sea of fans. Staff members were trying to keep the fan crush to a reasonable limit, but Sir Ian seemed to welcome the uproar and fuss, and he made himself available to his well-wishers. Then suddenly PJ and Richard Taylor and the others – Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jim Rygiel, Howard Shore, Mark Ordesky [and others who I am remiss in forgetting] were there, shaking hands, waving the Oscars around, being hugged and hand-shaken.
I remember I asked PJ ‘How do you feel?’ which sounds incredibly gauche, since he could have taken to mean ‘How do you feel, not having won an Oscar?’ It would have been more accurate to ask ‘How do you feel, surrounded by all this love and euphoria and excitement about what you’ve done?’ He just smiled with a ‘you win some, you lose some’ look and I wandered off to see if I could get my foot out of my mouth somewhere quiet. I found one of the Oscars sitting by itself being ignored on a pool table, so I picked it up and examined it, thinking it was the little replica we’d had put up by the registration desk. No, it was the real one. There were probably security people going all tense around me when I did that, but I wasn’t noticing.
Richard Taylor had no reservations, he was being the lion of the evening, as much as a New Zealander ever does, striding around having his photo taken with the Oscars and talking happily to anyone who wanted to talk to him. The club broke out free champagne and after that things get hazy. The film folk left around 2am, most of the TORN staff stayed so long that they only left to have breakfast at Denny’s. I missed that but regrouped with the survivors for brunch around 11am and we wondered when we were going to do all this again.
Most of our pictures of the evening haven’t been developed or uploaded, but Arathorn’s leading the pack in that regard with his photos. Out of these, my favourite pics from the night:
PJ and Calisuri
The triumphant Richard Taylor with TORN staffer David Baxter. here
Lots of Oscars being waved around Richard Taylor, Howard Shore, and others
I hope somebody else got more shots of Sir Ian; here’s one:Jill and Sir Ian
Here’s Tookish and PJ
Not forgetting the other purpose of our party besides having fun: raising money for the TORN server! Here’s the raffle in full swing, with Tookish, Quickbeam and Jincey.
And here’s Jim Rygiel, Mark Ordesky, Xoanon, PJ, PipeSmoke
And the whole crowd together, Fran Walsh, PJ, Philippa Boyens, Randy Cook, Howard Shore, Richard Taylor, ? (from WETA), Xoanon, Calisuri
A nice one on Phillipa Boyens
Here’s PJ wearing his ‘good luck from TORN’ lapel pin – did you spot that in the Oscars coverage? PJ and pin
Don’t forget one of the New Line people that made it all possible through his commitment and passion to the project, Mark Ordesky
Jim Rygiel, PJ [background] Quickbeam, Elizabeth, Xoanon here
Ever wanted to see Jincey and Viggo together? [Yeah!}Herethey are, sort of!
Some magnificent dresses – TORN staff setting the standard. More
And last of all, I’ll never forget the four of us PTB together finally, having the opportunity to thank the fans for supporting us. Here we are, Corvar, Calisuri, Xoanon, Tehanu
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Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring becomes the second-highest grossing film in Canadian history
ALLIANCE ATLANTIS’ theatrical release of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING records $50.2 million dollars of box office sales in Canada to date
TORONTO, March 22 /CNW/ – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has grossed $50.2 million in theatres across Canada since its debut on December 19th, making it the second-highest grossing film of all time in Canada surpassed only by Titanic, confirmed Alliance Atlantis’s Motion Picture Distribution Group.
“The Canadian box office results represent an astounding 17% of the cumulative North American box office to date. Not only is it the most successful film ever distributed by Alliance Atlantis, it’s also a significant endorsement of the marketing and distribution strategy we deployed that was tailored to the Canadian market,” noted Victor Loewy, CEO of the Company’s Motion Picture Distribution Group.
The success of the theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings is especially gratifying because it bodes well for the anticipated results of the remaining two segments of the trilogy (The Two Towers and The Return of the King), set to be released December 2002 and 2003 respectively. This impressive box office performance also speaks to a strong release for video and DVD products beginning this fall, Loewy added. “Overall, we are well positioned to sustain this momentum well into 2004.”
New footage in theatres
The filmmakers have also added three-minutes of footage from The Two Towers to the last reel of The Fellowship of the Ring. This never-before-seen footage will be released in theatres on March 29th and should whet fans’ appetites for more while intensifying anticipation for The Two Towers, set for a December 18, 2002 release.
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From Nienna:
The Charlie Rose show (on PBS) interviwed the three directors nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director Friday, the 22nd. He talked to PJ first for about a half hour. PJ told about their struggle to get someone to fund their movie, and trying to find someone that would let them make three movies all at once, ultimatly leading them to New Line. He also
talked about casting, how important they knew this was going to be to the fans of Lotrs and how they decided on Ian Mckellan to play Gandalf. Charlie asked PJ what the hardest thing about making the movie was and he told about how hard it was to have actors that had to be different sizes. How they had to have two of each set, and two of each prop, to make the different actors appear different sizes. He also talked about how this wasn’t so much of a fansaty movie, as a historical movie. He mentioned how Tolkien had written the books with the idea of creating a ancient mythology for England, and this is what set Lotrs apart from other fanasty movies. You could tell throughout the whole interview what an avid fan of the books PJ was…this came out in everything he said. I was surprised to see him on the show, which I never watch, and just heard a mention of Lotrs while channal surfing, because usually whenever anyone Lotrs related is on TV, I hear about it here first. So it may of just been a rerun.
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Actor In A Supporting Role
Jim Broadbent (Iris) (BAFTA)
Ethan Hawke (Training Day)
Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast)
Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring) (GG) (SAG)
Jon Voight (Ali)
Art Direction
Amélie
Gosford Park
Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (AFI)
Moulin Rouge
Cinematography
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Moulin Rouge
Costume Design
The Affair of The Necklace
Gosford Park
Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Directing
Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind)
Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down)
Robert Altman (Gosford Park) (GG)
Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring) (BAFTA)
David Lynch (Mulholland Drive)
Film Editing
A Beautiful Mind
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Memento
Moulin Rouge
Makeup
A Beautiful Mind
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge (BAFTA)
Music (Score)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
A Beautiful Mind
Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Monsters, Inc.
Music (Song)
Kate & Leopold (GG)
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Monsters, Inc.
Pearl Harbour
Vanilla Sky
Best Picture
A Beautiful Mind (GG)
Gosford Park (BAFTA)
In The Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (BAFTA) (AFI)
Moulin Rouge (GG)
Sound
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Pearl Harbour
Visual Effects
A.I. Artifical Intelligence
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (BAFTA) (AFI)
Pearl Harbour
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
A Beautiful Mind (GG)
Ghost World
In The Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Shrek
(AFI) = American Film Institute Award Winner
(BAFTA) = British Academy of Film and Television Arts Winner
(DGA) = Director’s Guild Award Winner
(GG) = Golden Globe Winner
(SAG) = Screen Actors Guild Award Winner
For more information, visit the official website for the Academy Awards, www.Oscars.com
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From Nienna:
The Charlie Rose show (on PBS) interviwed the three directors nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director last night, the 22nd. He talked to PJ first for about a half hour. PJ told about their struggle to get someone to fund their movie, and trying to find someone that would let them make three movies all at once, ultimatly leading them to New Line. He also
talked about casting, how important they knew this was going to be to the fans of Lotrs and how they decided on Ian Mckellan to play Gandalf. Charlie asked PJ what the hardest thing about making the movie was and he told about how hard it was to have actors that had to be different sizes. How they had to have two of each set, and two of each prop, to make the different actors appear different sizes. He also talked about how this wasn’t so much of a fansaty movie, as a historical movie. He mentioned how Tolkien had written the books with the idea of creating a ancient mythology for England, and this is what set Lotrs apart from other fanasty movies. You could tell throughout the whole interview what an avid fan of the books PJ was…this came out in everything he said. I was surprised to see him on the show, which I never watch, and just heard a mention of Lotrs while channal surfing, because usually whenever anyone Lotrs related is on TV, I hear about it here first. So it may of just been a rerun.
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Sky News for the last few weeks have conducted interviews with various Oscar nominees in the buildup to tomorrow’s awards. Today, Director Peter Jackson was interviewed and revealed his thoughts on what the Oscars mean to him, the crew and to the movie itself.
Q: First reaction [to thirteen Oscar nominations]?
PJ: Absoloutely thrilled. The thirteen nominations have spanned the entire width of the film, from costumes to make-up to sound, Sir Ian McKellen’s performance, Special FX, it really spans the range of people who contributed to the film.
The studio [New Line] placed an incredible amount of trust on us, let us make the film we wanted to make, and we felt the weight of the responsibility over the last two or three years.
They took the gamble that our contribution would pay off for them and for us, that was our job, we felt very determined because of that trust put into us.
Q: What does thirteen nominations mean to the movie and to you?
PJ: On a personal level, it’s not that important to movie due to how well it did in the boxoffice and so on, it;s a wonderful acknowledgement that people who work as hard as you and now the difficulties acknowledge you’re the best in this particular year.
Q: How do you feel about the fact that there’s a certain type of movie more likely to win Oscars than others?
PJ: To be perfectly realistic, we’re probably the underdogs for major awards such as Best Picture, Best Screenplay but I feel we’ve got a really good chance in the craft awards.
Some of the above statements have been paraphrased.
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