Ask him your movie, magazine or publishing questions! What does he have planed as far as LOTR coverage? Be at Barliman's on this Thursday, April 27th at 8 PM EST

BBc World Service had a feature on risktaking in one of their segments rebroadcast by Australia's ABC News
Radio. In the course of the programme they interviewed a stuntman, Kieron Shah, who is currently working on
LOTR. He was very coy about details but managed to imply that he wears a lot of body padding and that some of the things he is called upon to do are very dangerous.

Click to enlarge

Attached is a copy of an announcement for a stage version of "The Hobbit" for all the Ringers in the UK. The play will be at the Theatre Royal in Bath, England from 30 May to 3 June. Of course, being the obsessed fan that I am (with only a 2 minute trailer to help me through the next 20 months), this will be short term fix to bridge the gap to the next trailer hopefully coming out this summer.

You can see Sean Astin (Sam) in 'Toy Soldiers' on Cinemax [More]

You can look for Marton Csokas (Celeborn) in the ABC Monday night film 'From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons: The Three Stooges' (hmmm, someone needs to tone it down in the titles department there) tonight at 8 PM EST.

Look for a full day three and four ImagineCon report on Monday after we get back to our respective homes. Both days have been non-stop excitement, and we haven't had time to upload the 78 pictures we took on Saturday!

Are we lost?...no we aren't! yes we are!!! [More]

This week's topic: Frodo Baggins: Hobbit of the Shire

This humble hobbit goes the distance for the Shire and all of Middle-earth. What do you think about him? What characteristics or trademarks of Frodo's do you like? Do you have a favorite Frodo quote or deed? Some people say that this brave hobbit in fact failed his quest; what do you think? How does the journey impact this character's life? Does Frodo have any tragic flaws or an Achilles' heel?

Come share with us this Saturday, April 22, at 5:30 EST [-5 hours GMT] as we analyze the character of Frodo, son of Drogo, hero of Middle-earth. [More]

Meanwhile, you can check out the latest Foxtrot, my precious... [More]

Thoughts while taking this picture: 'I wonder what the weather is like in NZ today...'

The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly has a rather cool fold out cover with the goodies and the baddies from the new 'X-Men' film. Our very own Ian McKellen (Gandalf), who plays the chief heavy in the film, Magneto, is included as well.

Just to let you know, there will be a biography of Professor Tolkien on the cable station Ovation tomorrow (Sat. the 22nd) at 9:00 a.m. Central.

I'd love to see this! I do not get 'Ovation', but if anyone has the gumshoe to slip in a cassette and tape it for me, I'd love to hear from you!

click for a full version

Just letting you know our Lord of the Rings punchline contest has ended and we've chosen a winning punchline. We received a record number of entries for our Scifi Cartoon Contest (nearly double the usual amount), showing just how popular Lord of the Rings is online. Here is a small version of the cartoon but you can check out the full version here.

From: Frosty

I'm giving away a copy of "Errant Vine", a catalog from Viggo Mortensen's (Aragorn) latest show at the Robert Mann Gallery.

Details at the Corner of Viggo Mortensen.

Cheers,
Frosty

Thanks! Hope to see you there. :) Tookish

Dibs on a squishie ball!! - Xoanon

Here is the latest drool filled strip for Friday [More]

New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings" preview footage has had a record-breaking one-week total of over 6.6 million downloads since it became available on April 7. However, not all QuickTime fans are happy with the trailer/footage. [More]

What piece of jewelry did the literary character Frodo Baggins use to become invisible?

A. brooch
B. necklace
C. ring
D. crown

The person got it right by use of a 'Phone a friend'.

Thanks to Randy and all the rest who sent the news in!

You can see Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) in 'Psycho' on TMN [More]

Aussie Ringers can also catch Ian Holm (Bilbo) in 'Loch Ness' on Saturday.

Scene: Set of LOTR

Ringwraith: Mordorrr...

Jason and Marcus: Cool! A Ringwraith!

Orcs: Doom! Doom! Doom!

Jason and Marcus: Cool! An Army of Orcs!

Galadriel: Greetings, friends, I am the lady Galadriel.

Jason and Marcus: aaaaa! A girl called is 'Friends'!

cut to: PJ and an assistant behind the camera, PJ's head in his hands

Assistant: I'm pretty sure we can switch some of that around in editing

Jason and Marcus: Run, Sam, run! Look out for the Gaffer Mr. Frodo, sir!

Click here to view the comic! [More]

You can also catch Miranda Otto (Eowyn) in the wonderful 'The Thin Red Line' on Cinemax [More]

LORD OF THE RINGS MOVIE SHROUDED IN MYSTERY

Mike Shahin - Southam Newspapers

WELLINGTON, N.Z. -- Whether the legions of Ring fans around the world are ready or not, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is being turned into a series of three movies.

While New Zealand director Peter Jackson stages Orc battles and Hobbit miracles in the shadows of New Zealand's imposing mountains, the movie's L.A. production company finds itself jousting with the public's desire to know more about the project. [More]

Scene: Set of LOTR

Jason and Marcus are lying on the grass, from behind the camera you can hear PJ yell

PJ: Action!

Marcus: I had a funny dream about an hour or two before we stoped mr. Frodo.

Jason: Well, what is it? I haven't seen or heard anything to make me smile since we left Lothlorien.

PJ: Cut! What are you doing? These lines aren't in the script!

Marcus: They're in the book

Jason: We have it memorized

PJ: Somebody get me casting on the phone...

Boys: Couldn't you thank them later? This rope should be made of Elfin Hithlain by the way...

Click here to view! [More]

Here is our schedule for this wonderful convention:

Friday 4-6pm - How to design and maintain a fantasy based website (E2 Pavilion)

Saturday 1-3pm - Secrets Revealed About the Lord of the Rings Movie (Rehearsal Hall Pavilion)

If you are in the Virginia area please do stop by and say hello! Corvar, Blasm and myself would love to meet you!

Check out the complete ImagineCon schedule : http://www.imaginecon.com

Cinescape Magazine

Thursday, April 27 mark our latest 'TheOneRing.net Live Net Event' with Cinescape Magazine Editor in Chief Steve Hockensmith!

Ask him your movie, magazine or publishing questions! What does he have planed as far as LOTR coverage? Be at Barliman's on April 27th! More news to come!

Imagica Corp. ( http://www.imagica.com/ ) (Tokyo, Japan) announced the sale of its Imager XE digital film scanner to Weta Ltd. (Wellington, New Zealand) to assist in the production of director Peter Jackson's film adaptation of "The Lord of The Rings." Jon Labrie, chief technical officer at Weta, reviewed the performance of the XE, praising its speed, image steadiness and digital output quality necessary for production of an estimated 2 million frames of "Rings" VFX imagery. The XE is capable of handling up to 2,000 foot film rolls, with a proprietary film gate transport allowing 16mm, 35mm 4-perf and 8-perf (VistaVision) formats. VistaVision scans are possible up to 4096 x 6144 pixels, with 35mm scans available at 2K, 3K and 4K resolution.

Click here to enlarge

For more on this and other computer jiggery pokery, check out our SFX section! [More]