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March 20, 2002 - March 28, 2002

3-28-02 Latest News

'Ring' characters tell a tale of two scars
Xoanon @ 4:53 pm EST

arien writes: Here's an interesting article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the facial scars on Viggo Mortensen and Sean Bean:

For Hollywood, heroism is skin-deep.

Facial scars have long been a staple of the villain in literature and even more so in movies -- think Scar in "The Lion King" or any number of James Bond baddies.

But filmmakers also use scars, often an actor's real nicks and knock-abouts, to convey a troubled hero. Take "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," for example. Actors Viggo Mortensen and Sean Bean portray two members of the heroic fellowship. Both have prominent facial scars in real life, but only Bean's is visible in the movie.

"As the heroic Aragorn, Viggo has his scar almost completely hidden in his beard," said Vail Reese, a San Francisco dermatologist who analyzes skin conditions in the movies on his Web site, Skinema.com.

"In Bean's case, however, his character, Boromir, is on the edge, moving toward the dark side -- and his scar is not hidden," Reese added.

Reese pointed out that when Mortensen has played a villain, as in "A Perfect Murder," the actor's upper lip scar is obvious -- even highlighted.

Conversely, when Bean has played a romantic leading man, as in 1997's "Anna Karenina," the scar above his left eye is difficult to spot.

Hiding Mortensen's scar may have been just being faithful to J.R.R. Tolkien's literary description of Aragorn as a bearded man. There's no mention of a scar for Boromir in the original novels, however.

"How much they unconsciously noticed it, I can't say, but I do wonder if, when they were casting the actors, they didn't look at Sean and, on some level, think about that scar," said Reese.

Whether or not Bean's souvenir from an on-set accident during the filming of "Patriot Games" helped land him the role of Boromir, a scar symbolizing conflict in a hero is not a Hollywood invention.

"In some folktales, the hero becomes physically branded," said Shakespeare scholar Miranda Johnson-Haddad, who has studied the depiction of villains.

"In the case of Boromir, it works beautifully -- he is definitely a conflicted character," she said. "You see the scar and you assume he got it honorably in battle, but it also indicates there's something a little off with him."

Boromir isn't the only hero with issues and a scar.

Character actor Tommy Flanagan, severely scarred in a knife attack, has made a career of playing complicated but heroic sidekicks, including a vengeful warrior in "Braveheart."

Laurence Fishburne, who has facial scars, has also played a few not-so-good good guys, most notably Morpheus in "The Matrix."

"Laurence has got impressive scarring that's played up much like Sean Bean as Boromir in 'Lord of the Rings,' " said Reese. "And for most of the movie you're really not sure if he's a bad guy or a good guy."

TORN's TheOneParty To Rule Them All Rocks L.A.
Jincey @ 12:59 am EST

The lights have dimmed, the party is over, and I'm sitting here trying to remember every detail of this past weekend, a whirlwind of activity for the TORN staffers that organized and prepared for our "One Party to Rule Them All."

First off, I must express my sincere heartfelt gratitude and admiration for TheOneRing.net's founders, Tehanu (Erica Challis), Xoanon (Michael Regina), Corvar (William Thomas), and Calisuri (Chris Pirrotta). They started TORN out of a love for JRR Tolkien's work, identifying and filling a great chasm in the world of fandom. (and no, Corvar is *not* the balrog ; )

When I first heard of the movies, I immediately went online, searching for any information I could find. I remember coming up with three fan-oriented sites and I checked them out. TheOneRing.net 'ruled' from the very beginning... Why? Because Cali, Corvar, Xo, and Tehanu put their heart and soul into the site, and I didn't see that anywhere else. Ever. Before TheOneRing.net came into existence, I was like millions of other Tolkien fans. I wondered, "Is there anybody else out there?" Oh, yeah : ) Thanks to these four folks, who met for the very first time in 'real-life' on Oscar Sunday, we have all discovered that we are not alone; that we are part of an immense worldwide community. I am very honored and proud to serve as a volunteer staff member here at TheOneRing.net.

Okay, enough of the mushy stuff....

I arrived at LAX early Saturday afternoon. Calisuri and Miss Calisuri were there to whisk me off to Party Central, located at Asfaloth's home. There I met Asfaloth. Quickbeam, Xoanon and Lady Xoanon, the mysterious Lady T, Arathorn's better half, and the rest of the PartyStaff, wonderful folks all, who'd been stuffing the "Goody Baggins" with wonderful items donated by our sponsors. Houghton-Mifflin donated copies of The Lord of the Rings FOTR Visual Companion and The Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide. Decipher donated Mines of Moria starter decks and LoTR calendars. And Sideshow/Weta donated medallions from their medallion series. These great gift bags were to be handed out to the guests as they arrived.

We watched a bit of the New Zealand Embassy Interviews (soon to be up on TORn Digital!), then Thorongil and I went back to the airport to meet Gandalf and Gamgee, just in from Washington State. It was dark-thirty by this time, so we all headed to Toi's Rock-n-Roll Thai Restaurant for dinner. Okay, I have a confession to make: I had never eaten Thai food before, and I can't even remember the name of what I ate, But Quickbeam recommended it so I knew it would be good. (Quickbeam, famous for Green Books and green hair, was our guide for the weekend, pointing us to cool places that could handle a crowd.)

After we'd eaten dinner, some of the group felt the need for some exercise. Others felt the need to vocalize. In what may be a good thing, as I have not heard everyone sing, BOWLING(!!!) won out over karaoke! So off to the Hollywood Star Lanes we went. (I'm told The Big Lebowski was filmed here, by the way.) I remained part of the audience, while some of the more energetic folks bowled the night away. From there, everyone headed to their respective abodes. The Oscars were only hours away!

Sunday morning bloomed fine, fair and breezy. We rushed about getting our party threads and finery in order and carefully packed, then headed to the Hollywood Athletic Club to begin setting up and decorating. The club is a historic building erected on Sunset Blvd in 1924. Founded by Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. DeMille, Rudolph Valentino, and Johnny Weismuller (the best Tarzan there ever was), this unique structure is only used for private parties and film-making nowadays. As you enter the front door, you walk through the lobby (where we set up registration) and then head up the wonderful (and I must say dimly lit) staircase. As you reach the landing you face two enormous mirrors. Upon each mirror were two stands for statues of the founding members of the athletic club. As I glanced, I noticed Weismuller's statue was missing from his stand. Thinking it a shame that this had happened, I looked up toward the top of the mirror, where Johnny's statue, clad only in a loincloth, was scaling the side of the mirror, trailed by a chimp. I do have a picture of this. No, I cannot post it ; ) Hmmmm... maybe if we do some airbrushing I could ; )

As you reach the top of the stairs you enter a long hall. To your immediate left is the largest room, which we used as the Oscar ceremony viewing room. Upon the walls we placed signs for the categories Fellowship of the Ring was nominated in. Rows and rows of chairs, as well as tables and chairs in the rear of the room were set up here for the audience to watch the Oscars when they began.

The room next door was used for playing pool and for dancing. A deejay came in and did a great job for us : ) The next room, cordoned off for security, was the VIP room. This room also had a pool table, as well as a wonderful fireplace. Each room possessed great ambience: dark and glamorous. The final room was used to display all the items up for bid at the silent auction and all the raffle prizes. We had wonderful prizes donated by folks at Sideshow/Weta, The Tolkien Society, and Royal Selangor, to name a few.

As the Oscars began, folks settled in wherever they could to watch. Televisions were strategically set up in the rooms and the hall to give everyone a chance to view the show. During commercial breaks Quickbeam, emcee of TheOneParty to Rule Them All, chatted with the audience and called upon volunteer staffers to help with the raffle drawings.

Now, while y'all were enjoying yourselves, the staff was actually getting ready for the BIG show! Yes, we mean the show after the show!!! Word was out that we would be receiving some very special guests! Sure enough, about midnight, Sir Ian McKellan, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Richard Taylor, Jim Rygiel, Randy Cook, Howard Shore, and Mark Ordesky (President of New Line Cinema) dropped in to visit for a while. Our special guests were thrilled to see the outpouring of affection and admiration radiating from the 400+ fans. They took time to shake hands with as many as they could reach, and gathered together in the front of the viewing room for a photo op and a few words. Thanks y'all, from everyone!

Oh yes, they brought their Oscars...

It was so cool to see all the statues just casually standing on top of a pool table as PJ & Company partied in the VIP room. And yes, those Oscars are heavy! Just for the record, they've not been engraved yet. The winners have to send them back to be engraved.

In the wee hours of the morning, our surprise guests left to attend other functions and the wonderful fans who'd partied all night began leaving (I hope only because their feet hurt as bad as mine did and they wanted to take off their shoes). We undecorated the place and gathered up our stuff and loaded the cars. Thanks to the staff of the Hollywood Athletic Club, who worked hard, kept us fed and stayed late for us! A number of folks actually went on to Denny's for breakfast, but alas, some of us had planes to catch the next day and needed to head on back to our accommodations.

Snagging a few winks of sleep after an all nighter, we managed to resume an upright position on Monday morning. I believe high heels are instruments of Sauron! Hobbling to the airport terminal, I managed to arrive at the gate just as boarding began. The ride home was smooth and peaceful. Of course the first thing I did when I got home was log into the chatroom. So many folks were asking questions and I tried to answer all I could, but doggonit, I had to be at work 8am Tuesday!

Thinking back on the past weekend, the most memorable moment was when the four founders finally got together as a group. The funniest was Ian smooching on the Legolas standee, and turning the Saruman standee around to face the wall. And honestly, I can't even think of a bad moment. I can't wait until we do this again even better next year... Are you ready? Woohoo!!!!!

3-27-02 Latest News

Media Watch: PJ interviewed on BBC 'Front Row'
Tehanu @ 8:11 pm EST

Here's the gist of this evening's 30 minute BBC "Front Row" special on the impact that Lord of the Rings has had in New Zealand - it included an interview with Peter Jackson that was notable for its fluency and relaxed style.

The programme shifted between two interviews conducted by Francine Stock - one with Jackson and the other with Peter Calder of the New Zealand Herald.

Peter Calder started by revealing that the pendant that Ian McKellen could be seen wearing at the Oscars was a New Zealand "greenstone" - a form of jade that is sacred to Maoris. Calder said this was an honour for New Zealand and that it reflected the tremendous affection that members of the cast developed for the country during their time there.

He went on to describe Peter Jackson as utterly unpretentious and joked that they must have had to drug him to get him into a tuxedo for the Academy Awards - and that they then probably had to staple it to him. He said Jackson is "the apotheosis of the can-do" mentality that is prevalent among New Zealanders and that he epitomises what they call "a number eight fencing wire man" (fencing wire apparently being the Kiwi equivalent of Canadian duct tape).

There is sadness in New Zealand that Peter Jackson's personal efforts were not recognised with an Academy Award but the New Zealand film industry is extremely proud to have beaten off global competition in the highly specialised areas for which LOTR won Oscars. Unfortunately the New Zealand government recently stopped giving tax breaks to the movie industry (this reportedly angered Peter Jackson) and there are concerns that countries such as South Africa and Australia could now come up with more attractive deals for film-makers.

Peter Jackson began his interview by describing LOTR as the Holy Grail of movie-making. Filming it was a thrilling experience and he referred happily to a quote of Hitchcock's: that most people's movies are slices of life, but his are slices of cake. When asked how Hollywood might have tackled LOTR, he said he felt that Hollywood has a tendency to over-design in order to make fantasy films very obviously removed from reality; his own goal, on the other hand, was "to make it as real as possible". JRR Tolkien wrote in such a way that Middle Earth seems completely authentic and Jackson wanted that to come through in the movie.

When asked about the process of turning the books into a screenplay, he explained that it was necessary to simplify. He needed to identify the "A" plot and in this case it was the story of Frodo and the Ring. Most scenes had to be selected to advance that plot, although there were, of course, other sub-plots.

At this point in the programme we heard a short clip from the movie - Frodo saying that he could see "some form of Elvish" on the Ring, and Gandalf reciting the sinister "One Ring" verse. Although not intended for radio the dialogue created a superb effect, especially with Howard Shore's music hovering in the background.

This marked the beginning of a discussion on the archaic language of the books. Jackson was asked if this was hard to do "straight" and he laughingly admitted that if they hadn't had Ian McKellen, they'd have been in trouble. Wherever possible they had tried to preserve Tolkien's dialogue since they were unable to include any of his marvellous descriptive passages. This meant that they sometimes took dialogue from the book and moved it to a different scene, or gave it to another character in order to preserve it, even if it came from a scene that wasn't in the movie. This was duly illustrated by another clip - Frodo saying (in Moria) that he wished the Ring had never come to him, and Gandalf explaining that he was "meant" to have it (from chapter 2 of the book).

Jackson was asked in passing about the heavy metal scene that had appropriated LOTR during the 70s and 80s and he politely expressed the view that it had nothing to do with Tolkien and that it was not something he was interested in.

Would a Hollywood director have taken on a movie that deals so obviously with loss and looming disaster? Jackson wasn't sure, but joked that at $300 million LOTR must be the most expensive independent movie ever made. When asked how he dealt with the stress of handling such a large budget he said that three years would have been too long to have stressed over it so he developed a good protective mechanism. It was not his job to worry about the budget - instead, he concentrated on doing his bit to reduce the financial risk by making a good movie.

Was it difficult working so closely with his partner, Fran Walsh? Jackson replied that many relationships break down when one of the partners is involved in the long hours and sometimes weird lifestyle that go with movie-making; in the case of Fran and Peter, however, both partners fully understood and shared the same lifestyle and this proved to be an advantage.

Finally, Jackson was asked if he thought that the reaction to FOTR would influence his work on the second and third movies. "Almost certainly", he replied. The filming has already been completed but the material now needs squeezing and shaping for effect. He needs another month or two to decide on things that he might not otherwise have done with the next two movies.

Thanks to The Speaking Clock for that!

3-26-02 Latest News

The One Party
Tehanu @ 3:37 pm EST

It's two days after the TORN's Oscars party and it already seems like a dream. I know Sir Ian was there, I know that I hugged Richard Taylor and PJ and Fran at some point, but it's like a kaleidoscope mixed in with the moments I spent with the many, many people on TORN who I have spoken to for many years but never met, and the crazy, casual conversations with new friends. This was a big party spread over four or five large spaces, upstairs and down, and there was always something going on that you missed, no matter where you were.

When I got there around 2pm on Sunday the volunteers had been preparing the venue since the morning. Calisuri showed me around and introduced me to about 20 people - many of them from his enormous tribe of family and friends - who I spent the rest of the night trying to keep their names straight.

The Hollywood Athletic Club already looked good with the auction and raffle items set up in one room, big standees and banners placed around the entry foyer and so on. Most people had gone to the pub across the road for lunch so I joined them, finally meeting Tookish, Gamgee, Gandalf and many other longtime netfriends. I went to the bar and a total stranger bought me a beer just on the strength of my connection with TORN.

Then it was back inside to take part in the chaos of setup. Xoanon and Corvar showed up from wherever they'd gone to get into their tuxes - they both looked smashing! But we all had a moment of 'is that you?' when we first met, which is weird seeing as how on the screen we're so familiar.

By the time we opened the doors, the line of fans stretched around the block. And what a terrific-looking party of fans you were! People had gone to a lot of trouble to look good, and hey guys, you DO look good in a tux, all of you. The women had more choices between going for the Elvish look and going for all-out glamour and elegance.
People started filing inside around 5pm and we were busy handing out goody bags, selling raffle tickets etc. People in beautiful clothes started to file up the great stairwell, passing ornate mirrors flanked with statuettes to past film stars. Rudolph Valentino stood on his pedestal, Johnny Weissmuller had climbed off his and was hanging from the top of the mirror with a monkey swinging from his leg. Jincey and I noticed that he was all present and correct under his loincloth!
Slowly the rooms filled - some people sat quietly watching the Oscars proceedings in the screening room, but this got more rowdy as the night went on. Others partied away in the other rooms.

The press were there, and my memory of the night is one of being interrupted from countless conversations because I had to give an interview or I had to go find somebody else that a reporter wanted to talk to. I said the usual things (not that they become any less true through repetition): That although we fans didn't have a hands-on role in making the movies, we still felt a sense of involvemnt and ownership. Whatever happened tonight at the Oscars, we would be and already were immensely proud of the film and its makers, including the many, many film workers who would not be at the Oscars ceremony that night. I enjoyed being phoned up by Radio NZ to give them a report on the proceedings, since I knew there would be a lot of interest there.

Finally there was a moment that I'd been anticipating for a very long time - years, in fact: standing shoulder to shoulder with the other TORN founders to thank the fans and celebrate our achievements in setting up TORN at the same time as we had so much to celebrate for the film itself. For us, this party was a chance to celebrate actually meeting each other!

Around midnight, word came that the film people were making their way from their first party to ours, so the PTB and staff filtered down to the doors to welcome them. Or so I assume - by the time I heard about it, Sir Ian was already upstairs swimming happily through a sea of fans. Staff members were trying to keep the fan crush to a reasonable limit, but Sir Ian seemed to welcome the uproar and fuss, and he made himself available to his well-wishers. Then suddenly PJ and Richard Taylor and the others - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jim Rygiel, Howard Shore, Mark Ordesky [and others who I am remiss in forgetting] were there, shaking hands, waving the Oscars around, being hugged and hand-shaken.

I remember I asked PJ 'How do you feel?' which sounds incredibly gauche, since he could have taken to mean 'How do you feel, not having won an Oscar?' It would have been more accurate to ask 'How do you feel, surrounded by all this love and euphoria and excitement about what you've done?' He just smiled with a 'you win some, you lose some' look and I wandered off to see if I could get my foot out of my mouth somewhere quiet. I found one of the Oscars sitting by itself being ignored on a pool table, so I picked it up and examined it, thinking it was the little replica we'd had put up by the registration desk. No, it was the real one. There were probably security people going all tense around me when I did that, but I wasn't noticing.

Richard Taylor had no reservations, he was being the lion of the evening, as much as a New Zealander ever does, striding around having his photo taken with the Oscars and talking happily to anyone who wanted to talk to him. The club broke out free champagne and after that things get hazy. The film folk left around 2am, most of the TORN staff stayed so long that they only left to have breakfast at Denny's. I missed that but regrouped with the survivors for brunch around 11am and we wondered when we were going to do all this again.

Most of our pictures of the evening haven't been developed or uploaded, but Arathorn's leading the pack in that regard with his photos. Out of these, my favourite pics from the night:
PJ and Calisuri
The triumphant Richard Taylor with TORN staffer David Baxter. here
Lots of Oscars being waved around Richard Taylor, Howard Shore, and others
I hope somebody else got more shots of Sir Ian; here's one:Jill and Sir Ian
Here's Tookish and PJ
Not forgetting the other purpose of our party besides having fun: raising money for the TORN server! Here's the raffle in full swing, with Tookish, Quickbeam and Jincey.
And here's Jim Rygiel, Mark Ordesky, Xoanon, PJ, PipeSmoke
And the whole crowd together, Fran Walsh, PJ, Philippa Boyens, Randy Cook, Howard Shore, Richard Taylor, ? (from WETA), Xoanon, Calisuri
A nice one on Phillipa Boyens
Here's PJ wearing his 'good luck from TORN' lapel pin - did you spot that in the Oscars coverage? PJ and pin
Don't forget one of the New Line people that made it all possible through his commitment and passion to the project, Mark Ordesky
Jim Rygiel, PJ [background] Quickbeam, Elizabeth, Xoanon here
Ever wanted to see Jincey and Viggo together? [Yeah!}Herethey are, sort of!
Some magnificent dresses - TORN staff setting the standard. More
And last of all, I'll never forget the four of us PTB together finally, having the opportunity to thank the fans for supporting us. Here we are, Corvar, Calisuri, Xoanon, Tehanu

FOTR becomes the second-highest grossing film in Canadian history
Xoanon @ 1:07 pm EST

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring becomes the second-highest grossing film in Canadian history

ALLIANCE ATLANTIS' theatrical release of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING records $50.2 million dollars of box office sales in Canada to date

TORONTO, March 22 /CNW/ - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has grossed $50.2 million in theatres across Canada since its debut on December 19th, making it the second-highest grossing film of all time in Canada surpassed only by Titanic, confirmed Alliance Atlantis's Motion Picture Distribution Group.

"The Canadian box office results represent an astounding 17% of the cumulative North American box office to date. Not only is it the most successful film ever distributed by Alliance Atlantis, it's also a significant endorsement of the marketing and distribution strategy we deployed that was tailored to the Canadian market," noted Victor Loewy, CEO of the Company's Motion Picture Distribution Group.

The success of the theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings is especially gratifying because it bodes well for the anticipated results of the remaining two segments of the trilogy (The Two Towers and The Return of the King), set to be released December 2002 and 2003 respectively. This impressive box office performance also speaks to a strong release for video and DVD products beginning this fall, Loewy added. "Overall, we are well positioned to sustain this momentum well into 2004."

New footage in theatres

The filmmakers have also added three-minutes of footage from The Two Towers to the last reel of The Fellowship of the Ring. This never-before-seen footage will be released in theatres on March 29th and should whet fans' appetites for more while intensifying anticipation for The Two Towers, set for a December 18, 2002 release.

3-24-02 Latest News

Peter Jackson On PBS's Charlie Rose
Strider @ 11:40 am EST

From Nienna:

The Charlie Rose show (on PBS) interviwed the three directors nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director Friday, the 22nd. He talked to PJ first for about a half hour. PJ told about their struggle to get someone to fund their movie, and trying to find someone that would let them make three movies all at once, ultimatly leading them to New Line. He also
talked about casting, how important they knew this was going to be to the fans of Lotrs and how they decided on Ian Mckellan to play Gandalf. Charlie asked PJ what the hardest thing about making the movie was and he told about how hard it was to have actors that had to be different sizes. How they had to have two of each set, and two of each prop, to make the different actors appear different sizes. He also talked about how this wasn't so much of a fansaty movie, as a historical movie. He mentioned how Tolkien had written the books with the idea of creating a ancient mythology for England, and this is what set Lotrs apart from other fanasty movies. You could tell throughout the whole interview what an avid fan of the books PJ was...this came out in everything he said. I was surprised to see him on the show, which I never watch, and just heard a mention of Lotrs while channal surfing, because usually whenever anyone Lotrs related is on TV, I hear about it here first. So it may of just been a rerun.

Oscars 2002: Nominations Card
Strider @ 8:59 am EST

Actor In A Supporting Role
Jim Broadbent (Iris) (BAFTA)
Ethan Hawke (Training Day)
Ben Kingsley (Sexy Beast)
Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring) (GG) (SAG)
Jon Voight (Ali)

Art Direction
Amélie
Gosford Park
Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (AFI)
Moulin Rouge

Cinematography
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
The Man Who Wasn't There
Moulin Rouge

Costume Design
The Affair of The Necklace
Gosford Park
Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Directing
Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind)
Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down)
Robert Altman (Gosford Park) (GG)
Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring) (BAFTA)
David Lynch (Mulholland Drive)

Film Editing
A Beautiful Mind
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Memento
Moulin Rouge

Makeup
A Beautiful Mind
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge (BAFTA)

Music (Score)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
A Beautiful Mind
Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Monsters, Inc.

Music (Song)
Kate & Leopold (GG)
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Monsters, Inc.
Pearl Harbour
Vanilla Sky

Best Picture
A Beautiful Mind (GG)
Gosford Park (BAFTA)
In The Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (BAFTA) (AFI)
Moulin Rouge (GG)

Sound
Amélie
Black Hawk Down
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Moulin Rouge
Pearl Harbour

Visual Effects
A.I. Artifical Intelligence
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (BAFTA) (AFI)
Pearl Harbour

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
A Beautiful Mind (GG)
Ghost World
In The Bedroom
The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
Shrek

(AFI) = American Film Institute Award Winner
(BAFTA) = British Academy of Film and Television Arts Winner
(DGA) = Director's Guild Award Winner
(GG) = Golden Globe Winner
(SAG) = Screen Actors Guild Award Winner

For more information, visit the official website for the Academy Awards, www.Oscars.com

3-23-02 Latest News

Peter Jackson On PBS's Charlie Rose
Strider @ 7:07 pm EST

From Nienna:

The Charlie Rose show (on PBS) interviwed the three directors nominated for both Best Picture and Best Director last night, the 22nd. He talked to PJ first for about a half hour. PJ told about their struggle to get someone to fund their movie, and trying to find someone that would let them make three movies all at once, ultimatly leading them to New Line. He also
talked about casting, how important they knew this was going to be to the fans of Lotrs and how they decided on Ian Mckellan to play Gandalf. Charlie asked PJ what the hardest thing about making the movie was and he told about how hard it was to have actors that had to be different sizes. How they had to have two of each set, and two of each prop, to make the different actors appear different sizes. He also talked about how this wasn't so much of a fansaty movie, as a historical movie. He mentioned how Tolkien had written the books with the idea of creating a ancient mythology for England, and this is what set Lotrs apart from other fanasty movies. You could tell throughout the whole interview what an avid fan of the books PJ was...this came out in everything he said. I was surprised to see him on the show, which I never watch, and just heard a mention of Lotrs while channal surfing, because usually whenever anyone Lotrs related is on TV, I hear about it here first. So it may of just been a rerun.

Oscars 2002: Peter Jackson Interviewed By Sky News
Strider @ 10:31 am EST

Sky News for the last few weeks have conducted interviews with various Oscar nominees in the buildup to tomorrow's awards. Today, Director Peter Jackson was interviewed and revealed his thoughts on what the Oscars mean to him, the crew and to the movie itself.

Q: First reaction [to thirteen Oscar nominations]?
PJ: Absoloutely thrilled. The thirteen nominations have spanned the entire width of the film, from costumes to make-up to sound, Sir Ian McKellen's performance, Special FX, it really spans the range of people who contributed to the film.

The studio [New Line] placed an incredible amount of trust on us, let us make the film we wanted to make, and we felt the weight of the responsibility over the last two or three years.

They took the gamble that our contribution would pay off for them and for us, that was our job, we felt very determined because of that trust put into us.

Q: What does thirteen nominations mean to the movie and to you?
PJ: On a personal level, it's not that important to movie due to how well it did in the boxoffice and so on, it;s a wonderful acknowledgement that people who work as hard as you and now the difficulties acknowledge you're the best in this particular year.

Q: How do you feel about the fact that there's a certain type of movie more likely to win Oscars than others?
PJ: To be perfectly realistic, we're probably the underdogs for major awards such as Best Picture, Best Screenplay but I feel we've got a really good chance in the craft awards.

Some of the above statements have been paraphrased.

3-21-02 Latest News

Mad Magazine Goofs On LOTR
Xoanon @ 9:59 pm EST

Take a look at these scans from the latest issue of Mad Magazine, goofing on LOTR.


The Calm Before the Storm.
Tehanu @ 6:58 pm EST

What's happened to all the news? There's been all this buildup, this fuss about the Oscars...and now what?

Well, what you see on the front page is not all of what is going on at TORN. We're knee deep in a flurry of party-planning, a chaos of emails, last-minute plans to meet up, frantic directions on how to connect with each other. People are packing, sorting out what they're wearing (and how to wear it, if it's something unfamiliar!) and generally gearing up to leave for the Oscars party.

You see, most of us have never met in real life. Our Oscars party in Hollywood is the first time most of us will see each other. Even the four founding members of the site - well, Calisuri holds a record there, since he's actually met both myself and Corvar. Xoanon has remained a complete mystery up until now. So we're excited. Stoked! Revved up! Ready to party!

TORN staff have a certain amount of preparation to do for the party, decorating the club and setting up the registration tables, hanging up balloons etc. We're still discussing whether the promised media presence makes it worth trying to do those things while wearing a tuxedo or worse, an Elven gown. I didn't think being a geek entailed risky behaviour but we'll see if anyone goes up a ladder wearing full costume.

By Sunday there will only be a skeleton staff manning TORN, keeping the news going and keeping the messageboards and chatrooms open. Given the concentrated geekpower at this party it's likely that there'll be enough laptops and people willing to use them at a party so we can keep contact in the chatroom at least. Live webcam doesn't look likely, though I wouldn't rule it out. TORN Digital is filming the event for later viewing.

3-20-02 Latest News

Baron's Haven Freehold
Tehanu @ 1:10 pm EST

We've just been notified about an exciting project being set up near Columbus, Ohio, called Baron's Haven Freehold This should appeal to anyone interested in seeing history and fantasy come to life in a big way. Here's their concept:

"We are preparing to build a full-sized representation of a 15th century Welsh concentric castle similar in style and grandeur to the enchanting castle Beaumaris in northern Wales. Adjacent to the castle will be a complete medieval town populated by artisans and townspeople reenacting aspects of medieval life in a Celtic border town. Authentic supporting economic and agricultural facilitieswill allow for fully sustainable and organic living.

"The facility will also feature aspects from great works of fantasy and folklore.


"There will be a high degree of accuracy in the depiction yet modern environmental, safety and health technologies will be disguised as part of the design. Surrounding the Town and Castle will be numerous smaller facilities such as monasteries, herb gardens, ruins, towers, battlefields, enchanted forests, campgrounds, wetlands, ponds and gardens. Several aspects of the operation are currently in development. These include some of the organic farming and the festival portion that would exist outside the walls of such a city in the middle ages, which is what a modern Renaissance Festival portrays.

"This is an Intentional Community based on the Eco-Village model, with a medieval theme. This is a comprehensive recreation of all aspects of life in the 15th century, while at the same time there is a separate area for fantasy and mythology for those that don't mind the less accurate but still fun elements found in literature and film which many people associate with the period. This site will function as a film and media production facility, themed community, organic farm, living history site, theme park, campground, and an educational institution."

Pretty interesting, huh? There's more details on their website Baron's Haven Freehold and you can also subscribe to a newsletter to get updates on how things are proceeding.


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