Dr. Joe sends along these great images from the 1970's...yes a time before MANY of you youngins were even on this earth. Take a look at how things were done OLD-SCHOOL. [More]

The Glass Hammer Folks writes: The "Lex Rex" release date has been set for October 1st, and pre-orders are being accepted at the Glass Hammer website. All pre-orders will be autographed upon request. Advance reviews are hailing "Lex Rex" as Glass Hammer's "crowning achievement" - their best album to date! [More]

Lolly sends along this GREAT report from the seminar given by Paul Kirwan during the Science Week held in Canberra back in August. Take a look! [More]

Ruby_Sandybanks sends along these photos from New Zealand, a few pics of Paradise (AKA Rivendell) and some shots from the Wellington store Witcoulls. [More]

angel24 writes: Nancy Kapitanoff of Pulse Magazine gave FOTR a great review in the current September issue. Here's what they had to say. [More]

Kathe sends along this scan from 'Direct-TV Magazine', take a look. [More]

The website for the noted SFX Magazine 'Cinefex' mentions that WETA will be doing some of the Special Effects for 'The Far Side of the World', co-starring our very own Billy Boyd (Pippin). [More]

Galadriel-ca writes: I just thought I'd let you know that a group of Calgary Ringers are putting together a potluck picnic for the Baggins' Birthday on Sunday, Sept. 22nd at Edworthy Park. Tentative events include Tolkien/fantasy-themed improv games, Middle-earth trivia contests, and a demonstration by a local medieval recreation group. [More]

Ringer Spy Bonnie sends along this scan from The Hollywood Reporter with the story we posted a few days ago about Orlando Bloom set to star in Dinsey's 'Pirates of the Caribbean' with Johnny Depp. [More]

From Yahoo!: Patty Duke remains in an Idaho hospital this weekend after incurring serious head injuries earlier this week. The Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress was attending to one of her horses earlier this week when the animal apparently knocked her down, cracking her skull and causing a concussion. [More]

The TORN family wishes Sean and his family all the best at these times.

Ringer Spy Lolly sends in word about an upcoming event in Sydney which will be attended by WETA-gurus Jim Rygel and Rany Cook!

From 1 to 4 December there will be the Australian Effects & Animation Festival at the Sydney Convention Centre, Darling Harbour. The festival covers 3 days of seminars and master classes, as well as 4 evenings of screenings and networking opportunities. There will be an Opening Night Party where you can meet the speakers, which include Jim Rygel and Randy Cook from Weta Digital, woo hoo! They will be talking on day three about FOTR! [More]

'While other actors are famous for taking on certain types of roles or playing themselves, Cate Blanchett's career is marked by her ability to completely disappear inside a great variety of her characters. Blink, and she is gone. It is a very similar vanishing act she performs in our interview.' [More]

Region2-DVD.org have posted information about the release of the extended dvd, which unfortunately for people who can only view region 2 dvd's will not contain the National Geographic 'making of' special. [More]

Thanks to Matt for the link!

Yahoo! Movies has a blurb about LOTR:TTT in their Fall Movie guide, follow the link and scroll down a bit.

Australian (Australian? -leo) director Peter Jackson's ambitious live-action adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic trilogy continues with what may have previously been considered one of the most difficult books ever to adapt to a feature film... [More]

November 11th, 2000 - The New Zealand Herald publishes an image of a rather large creature that looks a lot like an elephant. Seasoned Tolkien fans know what to call this beast, but if you missed the story, check it out in our news flashback. !!!SPOILERS!!! [More]

Wanna see more? Check our a spy report from the very same day, exclusively on TheOneRing.net. !!!SPOILERS!!! [More]

At the end of The Fellowshp of the Ring, the Fellowship are broken up into two perilous quests; the Three Hunters attempt to rescue Merry and Pippin from their captors, and Frodo and Sam on their original mission to journey into Mordor to destroy the One Ring. This weekend, the Hall of Fire crew invite you to discuss the opening chapter in the latter half of The Two Towers, as we join Frodo and Sam on the road to Mordor in The Taming of Sméagol. [More]

An announcement for the people who use the Council of Elrond messageboards at Imladris:
"As you are no doubt aware the site has been down for some time now, at this moment it is not clear when or if the site will be up and running again. That being the case the powers that be have created a new Council of Elrond that can be found here" — Mormegil

A play and a picnic that might interest Ringers in those areas. [More] We should remind you that our Line Party Page can also help you to gather LOTR fans in your area for picnics and so on.

Its been a pretty big day at Sideshow/Weta Collectibles! Not only did we see the release of the Orthanc environment (and all its secrets), we now have the release of the Series 1 Collectible Busts from The Two Towers! Among the first series of busts are The Lady Galadriel, Saruman the White, Grima Wormtongue and, last but not least, Legolas! If you are looking to start early on your Two Towers collectibles, here is your chance. [More]

I was just on Entertainment Weekly's website and "The Two Towers" is their #1 Must See Fall Movie! [More] Thanks to Krystal for the heads up!

People who pay close attention can see Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz) on the 48 second mark in the new trailer for the upcoming James Bond movie 'Die Another Day'. You can see the trailer here!

Those of you who have spent some time checking out the very cool SideshowToy Orthanc environment and have been following the news for the past two years might have noticed something familiar... !!HUGE STORY SPOILER!! [More]

Check out Sideshow/Weta's Orthanc Two Towers environment that just went on sale a few minutes ago. Its not as tall as we previously reported, but it stands an impressive 12" H and a extremely detailed base. There are some close-ups of the tower and base showing the extreme detail. [More]

(NORFOLK, Va., September 6, 2002)One of the most popular trading card games in the world The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game (TCG) is about to go digital! Decipher announced today that it has teamed up with Worlds Apart Productions, widely recognized for its critically acclaimed online roleplaying game, 'The Eternal City,' to develop the online version of the game. [More]

Celebrated artist Alan Lee will discuss his contributions as illustator of the centenary edition of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the 60th anniversary edition of THE HOBBIT (Houghton Mifflin) and as Conceptual Artist for the film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson (New Line Cinema), illustrated with behind-the-scenes footage. [More]

Chris "Sampo" Cornell from Satellite News writes: I ran into Calisuri on the airport shuttle heading out from Dragon*Con. I mentioned to him that Michael J. Nelson and Kevin Murphy of TV's "Mystery Science Theater 3000," who were acting as Masters of Ceremonies at Dragon*Con, lavished praise on LOTR:FOTR during their panel on Monday. [More]

The New Surreal writes: I just heard on M2 (music video programme) that the adored (abhored? -Xo) extra, Brett McKenzie, has won the Jim Beam music video competition. So he should soon be releasing a video under the bandname "Videokids". Can't remember the name of the song, it was something obscure.

News from Annette: "Thought you might like a link to the review of Elijah's new movie, Try Seventeen, at the Toronto International Film Festival: [More]

Ringer Spy Padfoot sends along these scans from Germany's 'Cinema' magazine, and provided a translation for us, take a look! [More]

"B-movies no longer, the fantasy genre hits its high water mark with spectacular 'Rings' adaptation ," according to a review onSplicedWire [Watch out for a bombardment of really annoying pop-under ads, though.] Thanks to Lee for the link.

Just for a laugh, check out the LOTR spoofs on SomethingAwful.com's Photoshop Phriday page. Thanks to Jason for the link.

Warning: Apparently Something Awful protects its images. If you try and copy them onto a document, the site hoaxes you with a porn image you may NOT want instead of the one you think you're copying!

One of the two major cinema chains in Australia is planning on RERELEASING FOTR prior to the release of TTT, as a refresher, or for people who saw it on DVD and thought "I wish I had of seen that on the big screen" Thanks to Denis for the news.

In a TORN Exclusive we bring you one of the first pieces from SideShow/WETA's series I for 'The Two Towers'! Check out Saruman's tower of Orthanc, this environment model is about 15" high and will soon be on sale at SideShow/WETA.com! [More] [SideShow]

Feast your eyes on 4 of the new TTT action figure toys from Toy Biz! We can certainly see a trend in the red and cold coloring for any merchandise related to TTT, so my guess is that Green was for FOTR, Red for TTT! Take a look at Faramir, an Easterling Warrior, Legolas and a Gondorian Ranger! [More]

Press Release from Houghton Mifflin: Mark your calendars! Douglas Anderson is about to kick off his national tour for THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT. At most locations, he will be presenting a slide show entitled "Annotating and Illustrating The Hobbit" which shows how The Hobbit has been professionally illustrated over the years, covering the background of Tolkien and his writings. [More]

Nessimë sends this in from The Dominion: A night carnival is planned in Wellington in mid-December for the New Zealand and Australian premiere of the second The Lord of the Rings movie, The Two Towers. [More]

Noted Illustrator/Cartoonist Colleen Doran drops us a line and shows her LOTR geeky side! I have posted a number of photos from San Diego Comic Con and other shows featuring LOTR actors and other cool stuff. [More]

For you European Ringers, there's a fantastic Tolkien event happening in Copenhagen on the 30th November and 1st December. [More] Their special guest is Richard Taylor from Weta Workshop. There's also a life-size Weathertop ruin, new trailers from New Line on a big screen, a huge landscape with hundreds of Games Workshop LOTR miniatures, and Role-play Swordfighting guided by experts.

The latest on the combined TORN/TORC/Imladris/Official Fan Club event on the Marin Headlands on Sept. 22 [More]

Some of you are aware that TheOneRing.net sponsors the World-Wide Fund for Nature's work to protect an endangered New Zealand dolphin species. Here's the latest on how the dolphin project is going. [More]

Miguel writes: This morning people were distributing handouts on the subway promoting TTT and the just released DVD for FOTR. Here are the scans, thought you might enjoy it. [More]

Mary sends in this title of a fanciful proposed spin-off of "Malcolm in the Middle" (whic of course...is only a JOKE -Xo) from the Sept.7-13 TV Guide:

"Malcolm lives out every geek's fantasy when a magical portal transports him to the mythical land of Middle-Earth. Rampaging orcs kidnap Dewey, and only Malcolm can save him--but his mother wants him back to clean his room. Can the mighty Gandalf defeat the dreaded Lois?"

Starjammer sends along news that New Line has yet again pushed back the release date for the LOTR chess set...read on [More]

MithrandirCQ writes: This month New York is having a Book festival entitled New York is Book Country. In honor of this event, Houghton Mifflin is sponsoring “The Lord of the Rings - behind the scenes with Alan Lee”. [More]

I recently got to pay a visit to Electronic Arts to check out their Lord of the Rings games, and as part of that visit I got the chance to play The Two Towers for the Game Boy Advance and chat with the Producer, Josh Hendren. With the movie quality FMV and the sheer size of the game; 35 missions per each of the five characters, multiple skills, hundreds of weapons and items plus unlockable secrets, this game is pushing the GBA to the limits in what it can do. [More]

Chuck sent in a report from Viggo Mortensen's poetry reading in Santa Monica on Monday: 'On one of the most intolerably humid and sweltering days of the summer, close to two hundred people were crammed into a poorly ventilated, frightfully un-air conditioned room. Willingly. They came in groups. They came alone. They came to see Viggo Mortensen.' [More]

"Dear Friends at TORN:
At this time I would like to inform you that the current details of our picnic are posted on the news page Heren Istarion. It's on September 22 at the Cloisters. We will be having a raffle for great books from Houghton Mifflin, and a Middle Earth Trivia Game for prizes. There are plenty of details on our site, so let us know and thanks for the support!"

Thanks to Anthony for that!

AICN has done some good work in getting to the bottom of the rumours we've heard that TTT has been leaked and posted online. [More Language warning. The gist of it is, "Right now - as we speak - this is the state of what is going on with THE TWO TOWERS. In the United States there are currently two video tapes (in two different formats) containing the first 5 reels of THE TWO TOWERS. These copies have intense burn ins - and they are being used to work up and get a head start on Subtitles.

The MPAA saw a check print of THE TWO TOWERS recently, but it was sent back to New Zealand on Labor Day. Now that Print is Handcuffed to a human being that entire journey and the cannister is marked with a title (NOT TWO TOWERS) that I won't mention here, because that'd be laying down the cards for all the players to see." Thanks to Brian for the link.

Press Release from Decipher: (Norfolk, VA, September 3, 2002)—During the summer convention season, Decipher introduced hundreds of people to its The Lord of the Rings™ Trading Card Game by challenging gamers and non-gamers alike to come to the Decipher booth and learn to play with one of Decipher’s product champions. Over 1,900 people took the “TCG Challenge” at Wizard World, Origins, Comic-Con International, Gen Con, and Gen Con UK—and with amazing results. [More]

DirecTv Magazine has a feature on FOTR, and Ford of Rvendell sent us the scans! Take a look! [More]

Kate writes: Amamzon.com has put Universal's LotR games (for PC and Gameboy Advance) up for pre-order. They've given release dates as well and nice images of the front covers! [More]

Arwen writes: As of all his fans know, any public appearance by Viggo Mortensen is a special treat. His latest poetry reading and booksigning on Sept 1st at the Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica was no exception. [More]

Croaker24 writes: In the September issue of Conde Nast Traveler there's an article on New Zealand,with LOTR prominent. Most interesting is a picture of some cliffs with a caption stating that this is where they filmed Highlight to Read! SPOILERS the Paths of the Dead scenes.

Anyone with scans of the magazine send them along ASAP!

Sylvia writes: I was lovingly perusing my Topps collector cards when off the back of #57 leapt the image of our contemplative Figwit. Does the world of Figwit Fandom realize that he has his own card? I have an extra single of #57, and eleven extra complete sets of retail and European......they take on new value when one finds such a jewel! Image attached. [More]

Gil_Aglar writes: I wondered if you could post the below information concerning a Tolkien Lecture so that a broader base of fans in the Las Vegas area can be reached? Our library district sponsors a number of really cool events, but it seems that if folks don't tend to use the library, they don't hear about them. I think this lecture will be really great. [More]

Barnes & Noble is offering another online Lord of the Rings course starting september 11. Everyone can enter (given that they already have read or have a desire to read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) and it doesn't cost a thing! Look for more details here!

British actor Orlando Bloom has come aboard the Walt Disney Co.'s "Pirates of the Caribbean," in which he will star opposite Johnny Depp. [More]
Thanks to Lessa for the link!

There it is posted on their website - the outline for the LOTR fan tour of New Zealand which will coincide with the premiere and release of TTT in Wellington. [More] There's been a lot of interest in this one, not surprisingly.

Woo! Finally a, small, update on the official website (lordoftherings.net). Head over there and check out the new fact-file on Wizards which contains at least one new picture of Gandalf the White! [More]

Science fiction mag Locus has a report on the Hugo awards including a pic of Sala Baker (Sauron) and Sean Astin (Sam) holding FOTR's Hugo award. [More] We mistakenly reported that Lawrence Makaore was there rather than Sala. Thanks to Kim for the link and the correction.

The middle chapter in the saga that was robbed of last year's Oscar -- can you believe A Beautiful Mind won?

Peter Jackson, the New Zealand director of all three Rings films, worries that the middle chapters of movie trilogies don't impact audiences as much, what with the lack of a beginning and an ending. Hey, Pete, check out the first Star Wars trilogy: The Empire Strikes Back has it all over its bookends. And The Godfather, Part II is a classic. [More]

(Who calls him 'Pete' anyway? -Xo)

frodo’s girl writes: I was wandering around Lambton Quay the other day, and was surprised to find a bunch of actual movie goods in the window of Whitcoulls. [More]

Frodo's Girl13 writes: Since LOTR is about to appear on PPV, we're all gonna have to deal with some weird movie descriptions... Tolkien help us, but here's what this month's Cable Guide says. [More]

There's nothing more infuriating than buying a DVD of a movie you like and then discovering weeks later that a special edition will be coming out, forcing you to buy a second version of the same film. That's just bad business, but it happens a lot, and it really ticks off consumers. [More]

Each week, I scour Ebay looking for the hot Tolkien items up for sale. I post the most interesting here for you to bid on. [More]

The weekly cast watch section has be renovated with a whole new look and feel! The new section is much easier to navigate and view the results of your favorite actor or actress, take a look! [More]

Missed all the DCON news from this weekend? Calisuri, Corvar, Tehanu, Jincey and all TORN staffers have been posting daily reports on all the goodies a day before the con opened to late after it closed..take a look! [More]

Expect some DVD commercial breaks this holiday season. Make that a lot of DVD commercial breaks. With DVD penetration expected to top, by conservative estimates, 30 million households by the end of the year--and paired with a summer theatrical slate full of blockbusters--some studios are ratcheting up fourth-quarter marketing plans to record spending levels. [More]

The most anticipated film of the 2002 fall movie season won't arrive until Christmas -- which, if you want to get all Farmer's Almanac about it, technically belongs to winter. No matter. Yes, there will be more than 60 movies before then, all clamoring for Oscar gold, 10-best lists and most importantly, box-office glory. [More]

Last month's video/DVD release of "The Fellowship of the Ring" has refueled the passions of fans who eagerly await the Dec. 18 opening of "The Two Towers," the second film based on J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved "Lord of the Rings" fantasy. [More]

Fresh off the presses with their latest issue after the Gandalf cover, the folks at EMPIRE include feedback from fans in regards to their TTT coverage. And beleive me, we can sympathize with our print cousins from over the pond...we get the same type of emails every day! [More]

Press Release: The Topanga Canyon performance of The Hobbit won't be the only production in California this September. The Chico Cabaret, located in the northern California "City of Trees" Chico will begin our version of Tolkien's timeless tale on September 12th! [More]

On this day 29 years ago, JRR Tolkien departed this world. Thank you for everything you gave us, Professor.

FoTR took out one of the Hugo Awards at this year's Worldcon in San Jose (also known as ConJose), with Sam Astin and Sale Baker there to accept the award for Best Dramatic Presentation. Ringer Spy Samwise Gamgee was there to get the scoop. [More]

Update: Apparently Samwise was mistaken, and it was Sala Baker - not Lawrence Makaore - who was with Sean Astin.

No, not the film! However, Ovation Theatre Company is producting a stage version of The Two Towers just weeks before the international movie screens for the first time. This live stage production opens October 25th in Cincinnati and runs for 8 public performances to November 2nd. [More]

Fans, Friends and Fun

Day three of the Con was the biggest yet. I pity any unsuspecting hotel guest who chose this weekend to stay at either of these hotels, unless they happened to be broad-minded and loved science fiction and fantasy. For us, we loved the endless parade of mind-boggling costumes that passed our table. Most of us haven't had time to visit any exhibits or talks outside of the Tolkien track events, but just watching the other attendees walk past was all the entertainment we needed. Besides, spending all day chatting to Tolkien fans is not a bad way to pass time. [More]

The Drudge Report has reported a rumour that The Two Towers is already available on the internet. WinMX and Kazaa carry several files purporting to be some version of the film, however they all appear to be fakes. Thanks to Sir Mordred, Moses and several other Barliman's chatters for helping me check these files out.