GLENORCHY, NEW ZEALAND — Without question, Queenstown is a wonder. It is so beautiful that it is on the verge of being absurd. It is grand with lakes, mountains and forests and deserves every accolade it receives.
But it isn’t Paradise — or Glenorchy for that matter.
If Lake Wakatipu is shaped like a Harry Potter scar, Queenstown sits at the horizontal point just before the final descending line. If you climb in your car and drive across that horizontal bar and up to the top point of the lighting bolt, you will arrive at Glenorchy. (After a stunning drive on some roads that demand real courage.) Continue reading “A Tolkien reader’s Paradise”
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Stephen Colbert is an unabashed popular-culture geek and frequently drops his Middle-earth knowledge and displays various swords, rings and LOTR stuff on his show The Colbert Report. So when he had Elijah Wood on to chat about Happy Feet 2 he “unexpectedly” dropped into a conversation about the currently filming Hobbit movies and made it clear that he has visited the set and been privy to secrets and then “duels” with Wood. Is he steeped enough in Tolkien pop-culture to someday drop a TORn reference? We wish he would but in the meantime, enjoy the clip! Thanks to spy Esme, the first of many to drop that little gem to us at Spymaster@theonering.net.
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We’re about to kick-off our weekly Hall of Fire chat on our irc server. Today’s topic is chapter 15 of The Hobbit: The Gathering of the Clouds. So come join us as we discuss how Thorin & Co deal with their sudden good fortune!
“Under the Mountain dark and tall, The King has come unto his hall! His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread, And ever so his foes shall fall.”
We’re done. Thanks to everyone who joined in!
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Ringer Calafalas gives us the heads-up that AICN’s Quint has just posted his latest travelogue from New Zealand. This time round, he writes about his experience as a Hobbit extra, from the make-up session to the on-set shoot and how he got his new Hobbit name “Fredegar Chubb”.
Because there are two films, we always knew there were going to be additional scenes that are not in Tolkien’s book. This report provides some insights into one that might happening in Hobbiton involving Gandalf, Bilbo and the Sackville-Bagginses! Needless to say, it involves some SPOILERS!
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And don’t forget to come and tell us your reaction on our message forums or on our live chat! Continue reading “New AICN report from Quint”
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Ringer Spy Glow sends us this fantastic close-up of what we believe to be Beorn’s Hall. Is this the first close-up we’ve seen? Could it be Radagast’s home in Rhosgobel which was said to be built “under the eaves of Mirkwood”?
It’s obviously still under construction, but the one-level nature and sharply pitched roof is very reminiscent of Tolkien’s own sketch of Beorn’s Hall that was published in the book…
SPOILER COUNTRY beyond the cut! Continue reading “First close-up of Beorn’s Hall?”
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Moviefone has just published a short Q&A with Luke Evans, who plays the role of Bard the Bowman in Jackson’s adaptation of the Hobbit. Talking about his role in what he describes “as the longest job of my life”, he says he’s back in NZ in three weeks (to film on location down near Queenstown, we guess) and drops an interesting little fact about the nature of his all-important bow.
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