Lou writes: The film "Tom and Thomas" which stars Sean Bean (Boromir), is having its North American premiere this weekend at "Sprockets", a childrens film festival here in Toronto. Director Esme Lammers is in town, no word on Bean. [More]

Ringer Spy Kathy sends along these great scans from Japanese Magazine 'Roadshow'. [More]

Utah has its very own Shire. Just turn in at Rivendell, and you're there. The Salt Lake subdivision"s streets are all named after characters and places in the Tolkein trilogy, "Lord of the Rings."
[More]

Thanks to 'Press Clipping Deity' Lee for that.

You might have seen him at the Oscars, and some of us spotted the 'simply smashing young man' at the TORN Oscar party in LA. NZ's Sunday Star-Times found out a little more about Sir Ian's Kiwi companion. [More] Thanks to Tansy for the link.

And so will you if you highlight the section below. But I must warn you, doing so will completely destroy the very essence of Figwit...Figwit is an ideal, the mere whisper of his real name, and it could be destroyed... you have been warned. ?Spoilers? THE MAN WHO PLAYS FIGWIT IS NZ actor Brett MacKenzie

Good old Canadian boy Moby (I adore your music, dude drop me a line -Xo) talks about the utter coolness of having Sean Bean (Boromir) in a DeLorean for his video 'We Are All Made Of Stars'. [More]

Ringer Spy Chris sends along some interesting info from the WETA booth at the Armageddon Expo in New Zealand this weekend! [More]

... but I do have a lot of LotR Trading Card Game cards with some of the more fleeting characters. Some of the elves include: Silinde of Mirkwood; Rumil, Elven Protector; Orophin, Lorien Bowman; and Uruviel, Maid of Lorien.[More]

Wizardlex writes: Here's an article from yesterday's LA Times - Sean Astin was part of a group of actors who spoke to high school students about careers in the arts. [More]

Gamehelper.com has recently landed an in depth interview with producer Jeff Everett of Universal Interactive concerning the status and direction of Fellowship of the Ring for the XBox. [More] [Gaming Havens]

NZ's getting rave reviews from tour writes for it's role in LOTR as a diva landmass. [More] If that whets your appetite, check out the Red Carpet Movietours website. and you could actually go there.

Spare a moment in your thoughts for Jeffrey Hawkes, hospitalised after a train/car accident. [More] Thanks to Lee for the link.

The British paper The Sun scored some great pictures from The Two Towers, including an amazing shot of Eowyn on the steps of Meduseld. [More] Thanks to Lee for the link.

Emails are streaming in and we're getting closer to being able to reveal Figwit's identity. But what do you make of this? [More]
[I love the TORN messageboard. And when we get a new server and a faster messageboard, more of you will enjoy it too I think.]

As the human race enters the 21st Century, we constantly strive towards the goal of equality for all, despite such factors as race, skin colour, religion, wealth or geographical location. However, these factors throughout the last two millenium have helped us shape the structure of society to the extent that we now think of and classify people in terms of lower, middle and upper class. This weekend, the Hall of Fire crew are discussing if and to what extent racial stereotypes and class structure existed in Tolkien's Middle-earth. [More]

For a while now the TORN messageboards have been full of puzzling references to 'Figwit.' Who was this character? Evidently some Kiwi extra in the Council of Elrond scene who has no idea how many hearts he's breaking. See New Zealand's answer to Orlando Bloom at Figwit Lives! Thanks to ArwenElf, InDUHVidual and their tireless research minions.

It looks like everyone is jumping into the mix with DVD and VHS pre-orders of Fellowship of the Ring. Add to the list the Official New Line Cinema Shop. We will be updating this list as it grows. [ Complete List]

ps - All of these links will allow for a percentage of your purchase to be contributed to TheOneRing.net. So thanks ahead of time!

Ford sent us this link to the Full Bloom website which includes a multimedia section where you can download a Black Hawk Down video featuring Orlando Bloom. There's some TTT trailer download site links too. [More]

Why are people in some countries baffled by LOTR? Could it be anything to do with the fact that they're watching pirated videos with appalling translations on the subtitles? Natalya from Henneth Annun sends in some of the most baffling [More]
[Note: It may be unsafe to consume food or liquids while reading some of these. You will be wiping the spray off your monitor.]

UPDATE: I've been told the Malaysian translations are a hoax. I don't know....as somebody who reads the English-translation instructions on things like Good Dot Life Noodles packets ["churn the water is reboiling up"] nothing woud surprise me.

Chris writes: I just did a review of Human Nature, which Miranda Otto (Eoywn) is in. It comes out in theaters today. I talk a little about her character in this film, as well as her upcoming role in LOTR. [More]

The Fellowship of the Ring DVD is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com. As you may or may not know, we depend on your click-through on our affiliates links to keep the site running. So, if you are looking to purchase the DVD, and you would like to help TORn out at the same time, use the following link to Amazon. Thanks in advance! [More]

Tygger writes "You can also pre-order it at BestBuy starting tomorrow and they have a $10 digital coupon with their offer. Then you could use that coupon to pre-order the next version that comes out in November.

Or you can cimply click here to pre-order now.

Kendall alerted us to the fact that at IMDB you can search the movie database by language. It lists three films that use Elvish dialogue. [Guess!] That compares to seven that use Esperanto [including Gatacca - who knew that?] and 10 with Klingon. [More]

Christina sent news of this: "Viggo Mortensen will be signing copies of his book Signlanguage at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square, New York City on April 18, at 6pm. " [More]

News from Karan in Chandigarh, India, who said that audiences are having trouble 'getting' LOTR, which surprised him. He commented it might have done better if it had been dubbed in Hindi. [More]

The DVD release of Toy Soldiers we reported here is not the one for Sean Astin fans. JayJay said "looks like Laservisual.com have their details wrong - They list the cast (Sean Astin etc) of Toy Soldiers(1991) but the DVD release is the entirely different film Toy Soldiers(1984)." She complained to Laservisual who fixed the mistake.

Ringer Spy Albertine sends along a very rare Andy Serkis (Gollum) article, the main focus of the piece is Lorraine Ashbourne, Serkis' long time partner. But there are a few interesting LOTR remarks. [More]

Elfee Ears sends us some info on a very cool expo taking place in Auckland, New Zealand. [More]

The what? A contest silly! The Two Towers Teaser Tournament is your chance to design and submit your very own Two Towers Theatrical poster and win AMAZING prizes. First place winner will get a Sam & Bill the Pony Sideshow/Weta Figure AND a signed Ted Nasmith poster! [Enter]

Albertine sends us this article: This is her year : Cate Blanchett has three big films coming out. Marie-Claire reporter Nicole von Bredow met an enthusiastic young mother, who openly talks about her private life. [More]

Golf fans who tune into the Masters tournament starting Thursday will see Tiger Woods in his usual classic golf wear � snazzy slacks plus Nike polo shirt, shoes and cap with the ever-present swoosh. [More]

All right, all right. It's not technically a film until December 2002. I can, however, give you more good reasons to spend eight bucks to see Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring again, just to experience the beauty of the four-minute trailer tacked on the end for the second installment, The Two Towers, than I could for you to see the middle-of-the-road and often times mediocre Death to Smoochy. !Spoilers! [More]

DVDs mainly - you can pre-order FOTR from a few places and there's a new release of a Sean Astin movie Toy Soldiers. [More]

This page has a humorous look at some changes that Sean Bean might bring to Sheffield United now he's on their board. [More] Thanks to Knut for the link.

Orlando Bloom Multimedia has an irreverent review of LOTR from Premiere magazine here which is funny despite the only-geeks-read -LOTR bias; OBM also has Australian Dolly magazine writers getting the hots for Elijah and Orlando. [More] Thanks to Ree for the links.

A look at motion capture technology, which is used to create lifelike movement for everything from golf swings to Gollum. [More] Thanks to Brett for the link.

"It's like being in your own fairy tale!" raves Miranda Otto of her role as Eowyn in the next two Lord of the Rings movies, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. [More]

Eirien writes: For all the Ringers in Ontario, and perhaps more correctly, in the Greater Toronto Area, there are two stage productions of The Hobbit occuring this upcoming weekend! [More]

Aurinos writes: Premiere Magazine has just released its list of the 100 most powerful people in entertainment. Peter Jackson ranks #41 (he was unranked last year). [More]

Claire writes: I know a lot of people where very upset that Elijah Wood got no nomination for his outstanding preformance as Frodo Baggins. Well, it may not be an Oscar, or a Golden Globe Award, but our very dear Elijah Wood is up for an award at the Kids Choice Awards. The awards will be on April 20, at 8:00 (easter time) on Nickelodeon. You can go and vote for Elijah to win his award that he is up for, which is Favorite Male Butt Kicker, right here. [More]

Tim Huckelbery from Games Workshop USA sends us all this great info on future GW USA releases and information on 'GAME DAY USA'! [More]

Ringer Spy Caerwen sends along these scans from 'She Magazine' featuring Cate Blanchett (Galadriel) take a look! [More]

Sheffield United have appointed Hollywood star Sean Bean as a director of the club. The lifelong Blades fan met with officials following the win at Watford at the weekend and agreed to join the board. [More]

Inevitable Entertainment's upcoming action RPG adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic fantasy tale - The Hobbit - is set to bring Bilbo, Gandalf and Smaug to the GameCube. We talk to the chaps behind the project and get the skinny on short guys with furry feet. [More]

In case you have seen it, TOR.n Digital is profiled in Apple's current QuickTime newsletter. �The response to our latest show with Ian McKellan has been incredible and with Apple featuring us on not only on their web site, but also in their QuickTime newsletter, I can definitely say that this is a great beginning for our amazing evolutionary journey with TORN Digital. Our thanks have to go out to the fans and the TORN staff, and to Apple for the continuing innovative creative solutions that have allowed us to come this far.� Peter Orphanos [TORN Digital] [Quicktime]

Septer writes: I just went to "Barnes and Nobles" and found the latest issue of Cinefex with LOTR: FOTR on the cover! Now, to all you out there that don't know what this magazine is, it's probley the BEST magazine to find out the answer to "how did they do that?" regarding the films special effects. [More]

Nancy Smith was every inch the Radcliffe graduate in her polite but pointed questions for J.R.R. Tolkien during the winter of 1958, when she prodded the teeming inhabitants of Middle-earth into alphabetical order for what was to be the first index to "The Lord of the Rings." [More]

Global blockbuster movie "The Lord of the Rings" opens at cinemas around China on Saturday, but some fear the world of hobbits, elves and orcs will prove a confusing one for the country's population. [More]

Sean Bean (Boromir) will appear in an independent film called 'The Big Empty', written and directed by Steve Anderson. Principal photography is complete and the film is now in post-production. Sean's co-stars include Kelsey Grammer, Jon Favreau, Daryl Hannah and Rachel Leigh Cook. Principal photography took place in Baker, California in Jan-Feb 2002. [More]

There is a nice interview with and about Miranda Otto [Eowyn] in NY Daily News where she talks about her career role as Eowyn. [More]

Thanks to Arien for the link.

It looks like everyone is jumping into the mix with DVD pre-orders. We will be updating this list as it grows. This is the list for the August release of the Fellowship of the Ring 2 disc theatrical DVD.

Here is where you can pick up the Region 1 DVD and VHS version of Fellowship of the Ring:
Amazon.com - FOTR DVD, FOTR VHS, SPANISH Subtitles VHS

LOTRshop.com - FOTR DVD, FOTR VHS

EntertainMe.com - FOTR DVD, FOTR VHS

Here is where you can pick up the Region 2 DVD and PAL version of Fellowship of the Ring:

Amazon.co.uk - FOTR PAL, FOTR DVD (region 2)

Blackstar.co.uk - FOTR PAL, FOTR DVD (region 2)

ps - All of these links will allow for a percentage of your purchase to be contributed to TheOneRing.net. So thanks ahead of time!

And so it begins! The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, 2 disc DVD set is available for pre-order through Blackstar.co.uk a UK company. We expect it to be pre-order very soon in the US. Stay Tuned! [More]

Missed all the news this weekend? Were you out and about catching some sun or perhaps 'Blade 2' like I did? (Good movie, go see it) Well fear not! We've got all the news that you may have missed! [More]

Here's your chance to see the LOTR cast on the small screen this week! Some great movies to watch! [More]

Phil writes: I Just saw the Cinefex LOTR issue on the newstands! It was priced $9.50. Get it before the issues run out! Lots of picures from the movie and hours of reading about the special effects!

If you thought there's been quite a lot of The Lord of the Rings about the place since the first film's release, just you wait. At the end of this year not only will be there be the second film, The Two Towers, and the special edition extra-footage DVD of the first, The Fellowship of the Ring, there will also be the first of what is planned to be three videogames, all sticking closely to Peter Jackson's Middle-earth. [More]