{"id":54026,"date":"2012-03-13T15:44:18","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T20:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/?p=54026"},"modified":"2012-03-13T15:44:24","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T20:44:24","slug":"all-the-scoop-on-viggo-mortensens-visit-to-boston-part-1-of-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theonering.net\/torwp\/2012\/03\/13\/54026-all-the-scoop-on-viggo-mortensens-visit-to-boston-part-1-of-3\/","title":{"rendered":"All the scoop on Viggo Mortensen’s visit to Boston – Part 1 of 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s been just over a week and I\u2019ve finally been able to gather my thoughts enough to bring you a full write-up of all the fun and games which happened at the Coolidge Theatre<\/a>\u00a0in Boston, when Viggo\u00a0Mortensen came to town!\u00a0 We\u00a0have three parts of\u00a0TORn’s write-up to bring you, plus links to some wonderful footage from other sources.\u00a0 If you’re a Viggo fan, you’re in for a treat!<\/p>\n

To begin with, on Sunday 4th March The Coolidge hosted a screening of the Lord of the Rings<\/em>\u00a0trilogy.\u00a0 As fans know, it is always special when you get to see these films on the big screen, surrounded by fellow geeks; and there are few better cinemas for atmosphere than The Coolidge.\u00a0 It is an independent movie house which is everything a cinema should be – wonderful, knowledgeable staff, beautiful decor, comfy seats and wide-ranging programming.\u00a0 Whenever they can, the folks at The Coolidge show movies on 35mm film – they still have actual projectionists working away to bring you what you see on the big screen!\u00a0 (This meant that, whilst we saw the extended editions of Fellowship of the Ring<\/em> and Two Towers<\/em>, Return of the King<\/em> was the theatrical edition.\u00a0 The 35mm prints of the extended editions for the first two movies were made for ‘Trilogy Tuesday’ in 2003, when Return of the King<\/em> was released; so there are no 35mm prints of the RotK<\/em> EE in existence.)<\/p>\n

Following the release of the blu-rays\u00a0last December, we have started to get used to seeing these movies in crystal clear, vibrant hi-def.\u00a0 For me, however, the original prints have a richness and softness which is lacking in the sharpness of high-definition.\u00a0 35mm offers a depth of vision, an almost golden or sepia warmth, which seems appropriate for Middle-earth.\u00a0 The Coolidge’s main theatre also has wonderful sound, so my seat vibrated as the balrog roared and I felt the need to cover my ears at the\u00a0Witch King’s piercing\u00a0shriek – perfect!\u00a0 The\u00a0sold-out house of fans – almost 450 of us! – all seemed to enjoy revisiting these old friends as much as I did.<\/p>\n

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In the breaks between movies, it\u00a0was a pleasure to meet fellow theatre goers, such as Duncan, the chap in the picture above – he had brought with him his pride and joy, a huge theatre banner from France, and was lucky enough to catch a moment with Aragorn himself and snag a signature!\u00a0\u00a0 It was also fun to spot things on the big screen – I see something new every time I revisit these movies.\u00a0 (Next time you see a screening of this print of the Two Towers<\/em>\u00a0EE, watch out for the credits – apparently Denethor\u00a0is played by ‘John Nogle’!!)<\/p>\n

This was a knowledgeable crowd of geeks!\u00a0 Applause, laughter and cheers rang throughout the theatre – and even Figwit’s one line in Return of the King<\/em>\u00a0got its own hurrah!\u00a0 But nothing could compete with the huge shout which went up when Viggo Mortensen decided to surprise us all by appearing\u00a0 to introduce the final film.\u00a0 Everyone leapt to their feet and applauded like mad.\u00a0 (Mortensen said the next day that it was rather overwhelming – more on what he had to say in the next report.)\u00a0\u00a0 As reported last week, the King himself told us he is also a fan of these movies, and then sang his coronation song for us; for anyone who\u00a0 missed it last week, you can see that footage here:<\/p>\n