| 7-01-02 Latest News |
Blame Canada!
Xoanon @ 3:29 pm EST
On this wonderful Canada Day I decided to celebrate the Canadian contingent that helped make LOTR alongside their fellow Americans and Kiwis!
Fellow Montrealer Pierre Vinet was the official LOTR photographer. Pierre's small task was to photograph everything related to the mammoth production! Pierre's work has been seen by everyone interested in the LOTR, basically if you've seen a pic from the LOTR films, it's Pierre's. Pierre stayed down in New Zealand for many months working on the films. He also had his work displayed at Casa Loma in November last year.
Take a look at a collection of Pierre's images from Casa Loma
Another fellow Canadian I'd like to sing praises to is Oscar Award winning composer Howard Shore. Born in Toronto on October 18th, 1946 Howard was of course the composer of all three LOTR films. We've only heard his wonderful score to 'Fellowship' and eagerly await for the others. I had the pleasure of meeting Howard Shore mere hours after he won the Oscar for best composer. Howard was amazingly humble and was very appreciative of all his accolades, he spoke to the crowd of ringers at 'The One Party To Rule Them All' and said that his prime motivation was fear, fear that us fans would not like his work!
Check out this picture of me with Howard Shore's Oscar...taken by Mrs. Shore!
New Cast Projects
Xoanon @ 2:56 pm EST
Sean Bean (Boromir) has joined the cast of 'The Big Empty', the film also stars Rachael Leigh Cook, Jon Favreau and Kelsey Grammer. It is currently in post-production. 
Andy Serkis (Gollum) has joined the cast of 'The Escapist', Andy plays Ricky Barnes in the thriller. The film made it's premiere at the Cognac Film Festival in France.
Weekly Cast Watch
Xoanon @ 2:24 pm EST
To get more information, use the sites I use like the ones below. Simply find 28 Days (2000) UK Dr. T & the Women (2000) From Hell (2001) Essex Boys (2000) Ian Mune (Bounder) Piano, The (1993) Martyn Sanderson (Bree Gatekeeper Harry Goatleaf) David Weatherly (Barliman Butterbur) Thea Hartwell (Child Hobbit) Virtual Nightmare (2000) UK Noel Appleby (Everard Proudfoot) Alexandra Astin (Elanor Gamgee) Pater Mckenzie (Elendil) Price of Milk, The (2000) Strange Planet (1999) What Lies Beneath (2000) UK Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999) Cameron Rhodes (Farmer Maggot) Bumblebee Flies Anyway, The (2000) Bandits (2001) X-Men (2000) UK Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists (2000) Topsy-Turvy (1999) UK John Leigh (Hama) Timothy Bartlett (Hobbit) Price of Milk, The (2000) Robbie Magasiva (Mahur) Ray Henwood (Man at Rivendell) Heavenly Creatures (1994) Hostile Waters (1997) (TV) Robyn Malcolm (Morwen) Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron) Rikky and Pete (1988) Megan Edwards (Mrs. Proudfoot) Sky Is Falling, The (2000) Sleepy Hollow (1999) UK Sala Baker (Sauron) Brian Sergent (Ted Sandyman) Going Off Big Time (2000) UK Nathaniel Lees (Ugluk) Shadow Hours (2000) Jim Rygiel (SFX) 102 Dalmatians (2000) Howard Shore (Composer) Yards, The (2000) UK Peter Jackson (Director) Heavenly Creatures (1994)
a movie or actor you want to see, go to one of the sites below and see if the
film is playing in your area. mydigiguide.com,
tv-now.com and
IMDB.com 
Walk on the Moon, A (1999) UK
Albino Alligator (1996)
Crimson Tide (1995) 
Passion of Darkly Noon, The (1995) UK
Ruby Cairo (1993)
Carlito's Way (1993) UK
Indian Runner, The (1991) UK
Young Guns II (1990) 
Onegin (1999) UK
Cookie's Fortune (1999) UK
Armageddon (1998)
Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
Beautiful Joe (2000)
Bless the Child (2000) UK
Last of the Blonde Bombshells, The (2000) (TV)
eXistenZ (1999) UK
Simon Magus (1999/I) UK
Shergar (1999)
Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998) (TV)
Life Less Ordinary, A (1997)
Naked Lunch (1991) UK
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) UK
Chariots of Fire (1981) UK
Alien (1979) UK
Robin and Marian (1976)
Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) UK
Fixer, The (1968) UK 
Airborne (1998) UK
Black Beauty (1994)
Patriot Games (1992) UK
Field, The (1990)
Stormy Monday (1988)
Caravaggio (1986) UK 
Airtight (1999) (TV) UK 
Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, The (1994)
Reckless Kelly (1993)
Faculty, The (1998) UK
War, The (1994) UK
Radio Flyer (1992) UK
Forever Young (1992) UK
Avalon (1990) UK
Internal Affairs (1990)
Back to the Future Part II (1989) 
Pushing Tin (1999) UK
Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999) UK
Oscar and Lucinda (1997) UK
Paradise Road (1997)
Apt Pupil (1998) UK
Gods and Monsters (1998) UK
Bent (1997)
Cold Comfort Farm (1995) (TV) UK
Last Action Hero (1993)
Scandal (1989)
Alfred the Great (1969) UK 
Secret of the Andes (1998) UK
Great White Hype, The (1996)
Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) (V) UK
Stargate (1994)
Sunset Grill (1993)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987) (TV)
Firewalker (1986) UK
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1982) UK
Victor/Victoria (1982) UK
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 
Stella Does Tricks (1997)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Barnaby and Me (1977) (TV)
Icebreaker (1999) UK
Deterrence (1999) UK
Dish Dogs (1998)
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Harrison Bergeron (1995) (TV)
Encino Man (1992) UK
Toy Soldiers (1991)
War of the Roses, The (1989) UK
Like Father, Like Son (1987)
Jinnah (1998) UK
Feast at Midnight, A (1994)
Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994)
Death Train (1993) (TV) UK
Avaro, L' (1989)
Howling II (1985)
Safari 3000 (1982)
Man with the Golden Gun, The (1974) UK
Four Musketeers, The (1974)
Three Musketeers, The (1973) UK
Wicker Man, The (1973) UK
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) UK
Death Line (1972) UK
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) UK
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) UK
Hound of the Baskervilles, The (1959) UK
Scott of the Antarctic (1948)
Loss of Sexual Innocence, The (1999) UK
Bounty, The (1984)
Gandhi (1982)
Ghost, The (2000)
Storytellers, The (1999) UK
Nightwatch (1998) UK
Best Men (1997) UK
Death Machine (1995)
Murder in the First (1995)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Cerro Torre: Schrei aus Stein (1991)
Child's Play 3 (1991) UK
Child's Play 2 (1990) UK
Child's Play (1988) UK
Fatal Beauty (1987) UK
Dune (1984)
Anna and the King (1999) UK
Multiplicity (1996)
Cliffhanger (1993) UK
Last Action Hero (1993)
Batman Returns (1992) UK
Ghost (1990)
Last Starfighter, The (1984) UK
2010 (1984) 
Cell, The (2000) UK
High Fidelity (2000) UK
Dogma (1999) UK
eXistenZ (1999) UK
Before and After (1996) UK
Truth About Cats & Dogs, The (1996)
White Man's Burden (1995) UK
Client, The (1994)
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Prelude to a Kiss (1992) UK
Naked Lunch (1991) UK
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
Quick Change (1990)
Signs of Life (1989)
She-Devil (1989)
Innocent Man, An (1989)
Dead Ringers (1988) UK
Fly, The (1986) UK
After Hours (1985) UK
Places in the Heart (1984)
Scanners (1981) UK
Brood, The (1979) UK 
A Solo Dramatisation Of LOTR
Xoanon @ 1:24 pm EST
Rob Inglis presents a solo dramatisation of A compressed version of the trilogy Actor Rob Inglis will be performing "The Lord of The Rings" at The Shaw Theatre at 3pm on Sundays July 7,14, 21 and 28. In a compressed version of the trilogy, concentrating on the mission of Frodo and Sam to destroy the ring of power, he portrays seventeen characters. " ….a feat worthy of Heracles. I marvelled at the stamina…But there is a deeper courage in the adaptation. He refuses to over simplify, and shows a respect for Tolkien's work I find remarkable." JENNY SMITH in AMON HEN "A miracle" is how The Scotsman critic described the show when it was first launched at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Mel Gussow of the New York Times, called it "an epic adventure". Rayner Unwin, Tolkien's first publisher, described the performance as "A bravura achivement…he never looses the flavour of the original".e It took Inglis a year to compress the one thousand and eighty pages down to a two hours' show. Since then he has made a 54 hours' recording of the trilogy unabridged for Recorded Books, New York, recently released by Harper Collins. He has also recorded "The Hobbit" and for his stage version of it received the Edinburgh Festival Times 'Best Solo' Award. With The Royal Shakespeare, National and Cygnet Theatre Companies Rob Inglis has played Dr Faustus, Falstaff and doubled as the ghost and Claudius in the Theatre of Cruelty's "Hamlet". He recently played Dr Jahuda in a UK tour of "Hysteria". In the first London season of "Oliver!" he played Mr Bumble, and was The Miller in the musical version of "The Canterbury Tales". Screen work includes Professor Doom in the BBC TV's "Wizbit" series, and Zefirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth". Not suitable for younger children. The Shaw Theatre, The Bernard Shaw Park Plaza Hotel, 100-110 Euston Rd,
THE LORD OF THE RINGS
By JRR Tolkien
NW1 2AJ www.shawtheatre.com
3pm Sundays July 7,14,21,28.
Box Office 0207 3876864
'Chemistry and The Lord of the Rings' Report!
Xoanon @ 1:00 pm EST
From: Smokering This morning I went with my two big sisters to a lecture at the Hamilton Museum (in New Zealand), on 'Chemistry and The Lord of the Rings'. Needless to say, we didn't come for the chemistry! We arrived nice and early, and the speaker got there about 30 minutes later. But we had good seats! The place was packed and I was happy to see that there are indeed geeks out there, large as life! The guy speaking was called Norman Cates (Kates? I didn't see his name written down), and he said he's been a LOTR fan for 20 years. Richard Taylor got him his first job in movies as a special effects guy and he's spent three years on LOTR, half each on prosthetics, makeup etc. and on digital effects. He was really nice and was wearing a Weta T-shirt with a picture on an orc on the back. Norman showed us a clip he'd made himself of short clips from all the sci-fi films that had influenced him, set to music. I caught glimpses of Star Wars (of course!), Alien, Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyessey, Thunderbirds, Men In Black (I think!), and several other clips I didn't recognise. There was a table up the front with a red cloth covering some bulky stuff (the announcer joked that there was a hobbit underneath!), but he talked a bit about the various glues and polymers and resins and so forth that were used in the film industry. And how lead-based makeup used to make people go insane, and many other interesting but non-geeky facts. He showed us how to make some green slime, which was fun, and he said that he'd used a similar kind of thing to make the lava needed for LOTR. He had to mix up one and a half tons of orange slime! Apparently he used some kind of a big machine normally involved with sucking sewage out of drains or some such foul notion, but I didn't quite pick up on all that. He did say it got very very slippery around all the slime! Seeing as there wasn't THAT much lava in FOTR, it seems we have some good goop to look forward to later on Mount Doom... Norman also mentioned a type of glue, Pros Ande, which is often used in films. It's so strong you can stick a false ear or whatever on someone and it will stay for six weeks! Medical people use it sometimes to give people temporary false ears if they've lost them in accidents. (The ears, I mean!) A pretty exciting thing happened at one point, when he said that his one claim to fame was that he'd made all the elven ears and wizard noses in LOTR! In fact we all burst into applause then and he looked really embarrassed! He also animated the orcs and so forth in the big shot of Orthanc, which was great because I mentioned I liked that shot and he was able to go, "Oh, I did that!" He was talking about latex and gelatine and stuff, and mentioned that once Legolas was out in the rain for half a day and his ears started dripping! Then he pulled out a box of actual eartips, some anonymous hobbity ones and an eartip of Arwen's! The hobbity ones were big and clunky compared to Arwens tiny delicate pointy eartip, it was weird. And then Norman showed us a three-toed foot glove which he'd made and you could put on your hand (for what reason, I know not!), and a plaster cast of someone's head and a nose-cast (but not of the wizard's noses, he said). And then the crowning glory were two hobbit feet! Which looked REALLY realistic, and it was quite obscene seeing him talking away flapping a foot idly on the end of his wrist! Anyway he asked for questions in the end, so I'll put down some of them. Someone asked, were the actors happy to have to have so much makeup on? Norman laughed and said that John Rhys-Davies, in particular, hadn't known how much makeup there would be beforehand. And he developed an allergic reaction which made Norman really worried that it was his gelatine causing it. But it turned out to be Rhys-Davies' skin so he was blameless!. He said people were mostly okay with all the makeup, though. Personally Norman liked Rhys'Davies' face and thought that in a way it was a shame to cover it all up with prosthetics, but that was PJ's decision. Which led someone else to ask, how do the actors protray emotion under layers of prosthetic makeup? Norman said that part of the art was finding the right thickness of makeup, so they could still get some kind of an expression out there, but that sometimes you just had to overact. Then someone wanted to know how many times you could use the prosthetic feet? This was interesting because I'd always heard only once, but Norman said you could get two or three uses out of them if you were careful--the first time for closeup shots, and then getting further and further away. After all, as he pointed out, at a certain distance they could be wearing blocks of wood on their feet and it wouldn't matter! Someone then asked how much the hobbit feet cost, and he wasn't quite sure but he said he went through about 155kg of gelatine. And brandishing a hobbit foot he said "One of these is worth about $200, and that's not counting the labour!" At which point I abandoned any sneaky plans for going up to him afterwards and saying gushily, "Oh, MAY I keep one of those quaint feet for a souvenir, Norman dear, you must have hundreds of them..." There were a couple of other questions--did the actors have individual ear molds (yes, they did), and how did you put the ears on ('very carefully', he said!). And he showed us some chain mail which was made of plastic. They'd got a plastic piece of tubing and sliced it into ring, and some poor guys had to sit and join them all together (not him, he said gleefully!), and then metal was electrodeposited on. It sounded really authentic when he shook it (at least, from my rather limited knowledge of chain mail!), and looked great. Anyway I was bursting to ask a question, but another lecture was about to begin so the table of ears and casts and goop and feet was deposited outside along with Norman and the more eager of us fans! I got to touch the feet! They were surprisingly thick at the bottom, more than a centimetre thick, and they felt rubbery and to tell the truth, rather gruesome. And inside one of them was written a number and 'Pippin's'. I got to touch one of Pippin's prosthetic feet!! I haven't had such a thrill since I held a genuine spinosaur tooth, and this was miles better of course! So we stood there for ages along with a few other diehards, talking to tis guy Norman. I hadn't had a chance to ask any questions during the lecture, but now I asked if I could ask him something about ROTK, if that was allowed? He said "yes, but I may not be able to answer it" at which I made the appropriate of-course noises. And I asked if Frodo's finger would be digitally removed or what? (Okay, not the most illuminating question but it's been bugging me!) He said he'd actually had to make a stump, a finger-stump. And that he imagined it would be mainly done just by the camera angle and Elijah's finger tucked back, but that they probably would have to digitally do a bit in places. Encouraged by this, I asked him a whole lot of other questions. Had he met PJ? No, he hadn't, he said regretfully. Had he met any of the stars? He said not really, but he'd spent a while with Orlando. They'd been trying to get his eartips right! He said most right-handed people tend to sleep on their right side, so their left ears stick out a little more, and vice versa for left-handed people. So when you try to put pointy ears on, everyone goes, "No, you've made one of my ears stick out may more than the other one!" And they had to sort that out. Did he go to the Oscars? No, he said, but they had a party while the Oscars were broadcast live on a big screen. Norman said he was involved with both the visual effects AND the makeup, so getting both Oscars was preety exciting! He joked he was still waiting for a portion of the Oscar, maybe a nose to commemrate his hard work on Gandalf's and Saruman's respective proboscises? I wanted to say something like 'I wish you'd got Best Picture!' but decided it would be just too, too tactless even for me! How did they get the hair in the feet? A weird process using yak hair and a barbed needle. He siad it took ages. How many times had he seen LOTR? Only three! He said it was weird watching it because it didn't look like a film, it looked like just a montage of shots--"Hey, I did that one!" and "Ooh, we could have done that shot a bit better" and so forth. So he found it hard to tell if it were actually a good movie. (I assured him it was!). Then this other geek who was hanging around starting saying he thought some bits were a bit choppy, like the Hobbiton scenes, at which I fumed silently while Norman said politely that in the extended edition, there would doubtless be more continuity. And someone asked if the moth Gandalf caught was computer-done or what, and he said yes, it was digital. I said without thinking that it was cute and he laughed. Honestly, we must have all looked like right idiots standing there starstruck and trying to ask questions at the speed of light! But he was incredibly ncie about it. He kept saying how it was such a once-in-a-lifetime chance to make LOTR, and how exciting it was for him. He said Weta has been making the figurines, and also Muppets figurines! They're all flat out, and working frantically to keep on schedule for TTT. I said jokingly that I knew a lot of people who were worried the release date would be pushed into the future, and he laughed and said ruefully that more time would be nice, but not like he had any serious thought it was happen. A comfort! Let's see, what other gems of wisdom? I wanted to know what they used for the fake blood, like in Aragorn's mouth during his duel with Lurtz. He dear guy actually gave me a recipe! One cup of golden syrup, two teaspoons of red food colouring, one teaspoon of yellow food colouring. Good to know! He did say that Lurtz's blood would have been a different recipe, though, black stuff of some kind. I asked if TTT would have a prologue and he said he didn't know. Oh, and it was hilarious! He said there was a rumour that a guy from New Line had come to see TTT and watched it with his sunglasses on, and then complained the film was 'too dark'! Anyway he eventually had to go, and we regretfully said goodbye--I said "Namarië" but I don't think he heard me, which is just as well! He was really nice and what showed the most was his respect for Richard Taylor, and his dedication to LOTR. It was amzingly refreshing. So we left grinning like idiots and made our way into town for a very late lunch!
And I touched and looked at Liv Tyler's pointy eartip. And a lot of anonymous hobbit ears. And there was a silicon mould labelled 'Smeagol's fingers' which did look like there had been finger holes in one side, but they were covered by plugs of silicon so I couldn't make head or tail of it.
And the chain mail turned out to feel great too, and close up I could see they painted it reddish like rust and even greenish in places to make it look really genuine. It was amazing. I even touched the goop for the heck of it, and it was definitely... squishy!
| 6-30-02 Latest News |
Ian McKellen At Gay Pride Parade
Xoanon @ 1:49 pm EST
Emma writes: I haven't had a second to write anything up yet, but if you just wanted to say that there was a large continent of LOTR fans in attendance at the official Pride brunch honoring the grand marshalls and benefitting the Positive Resource center. Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) was in fine form, he seemed to be having a great time, a full report (including tomorrow's parade) will follow tomorrow!
Dominic Monaghan Has 'Insomnia'
Xoanon @ 1:35 pm EST
From: Melissa I have these stills from a new movie Dominic Monaghan (Merry) recently did. The movie is called An Insomniac's Nightmare and is a 30 minute indie flick. Dom plays a guy named Jack who is suffering from chronic insomnia. The movie details the delusions he has related to this insomnia. The movie was shot in NYC and is currently in postproduction. Those are the only details I have about it at this time. In a week or so I will have a direct link to a webpage for the movie I can send to you. The movie was written/directed and produced by Tess Nanavati.
David Wenham Article
Xoanon @ 1:00 pm EST
Stevo sends along this article from Sydney's Sunday Telegraph about David Wenham (Faramir). I love these in-depth article where they ask such hard hitting questions as 'What won't you eat?' and 'Have you ever gone to a psychic?'...CNN here we come.
NY Times Talks Box Office Boffo
Xoanon @ 12:34 pm EST
Written by A. O. Scott, NY Times The two most lucrative movies so far this summer concern the perilous adventures of male teenagers, one in contemporary New York and the other long ago in a galaxy far away, struggling with the moral and physical burdens of their special powers. Over the winter, the box office was dominated by two rather similar young men, one at an English boarding school, the other in the meticulously mapped Anglo-Saxon dreamworld of Middle Earth. Together, these four movies, "Spider-Man," 'Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," have earned more than $1 billion in ticket sales in the United States.
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This is, needless to say, only a partial accounting. It leaves out overseas box office, DVD and video revenues, and the all-important merchandising of action figures, light sabers and round, black-framed eyeglasses. And, of course, none of these movies stands alone: "Attack of the Clones" is the fifth installment in a double trilogy that has been unfolding for 25 years; "Fellowship" is the first episode in a three-film sequence, the second part of which, "The Two Towers," is to appear in December, and the Harry Potter and Spider-Man pictures have inaugurated franchises that will probably carry their heroes at least to the brink of adulthood.
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Perhaps more than ever before, Hollywood is an empire of fantasy. But despite the popularity of these movies - and despite the unmatched power of the studios to blanket the real world with publicity, advertising and media hype - Hollywood is not the center of this empire. It is, rather, a colonial outpost whose conquest has been recent and remains incomplete.
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The rapid evolution of digital technology has made it possible for filmmakers to summon up ever more plausible and richly imagined counterfeit worlds, free of clunky mechanical props and stagy costumes. But the origins of these worlds are, for the most part, to be found not on the screen but on the page. Of the four films mentioned, only "Star Wars" belongs solely to the world of movies. The rest are adapted from comic books and novels.
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Twenty-five years ago, the first "Star Wars" helped to transform moviemaking and moviegoing. It gave birth to the current era of blockbuster serials, intensive special effects and wide-release, critic-resistant summer popcorn extravaganzas. But the true genius of that picture was the way it opened mainstream cinema to a vital strain in American popular culture that Hollywood had until then largely ignored or treated with condescension. "Star Wars" tapped into an impulse that had been flourishing at least since the end of World War II in the pages of comic books and pulp novels, on television and in the nascent subculture of role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. (Even today, the primary locus for fantasy scenarios in which lone heroes do battle with demons and bad guys in archaic or futuristic landscapes is not movies but video and computer games, which are open-ended and participatory in ways that even a boxed-set DVD version of a movie can never be.)
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The film versions of "Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" undoubtedly follow in the footsteps of Luke Skywalker. It's also evident that the pop explosion that "Star Wars" set off in 1977 would not have occurred without the equally explosive success, a decade earlier, of the one-volume American paperback edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," and that the Harry Potter publishing phenomenon seized the fancies of late-'90s American schoolchildren much as "The Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" had captivated their parents.
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The juggernaut grows with each generation. Unlike virtually everything else in the irony-saturated, ready-to-recycle cosmos of postmodern pop culture, stories of this kind don't seem to date.
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Fantasy literature, which in the broadest sense includes modes of storytelling from novels to movies to video games, depends on patterns, motifs and archetypes. So it is hardly surprising that the most visible modern variants of the ancient genres of saga, romance and quest narrative are so richly cross-pollinated and resemble one another. The central characters show an especially close kinship. They are, following a convention so deep it seems to be encoded in the human storytelling gene, orphans, called out of obscurity to undertake a journey into the heart of evil that will also be a voyage of self-discovery. Frodo Baggins lives quietly in an obscure corner of the Shire, oblivious to the metaphysical storm brewing in distant Mordor. Luke Skywalker dwells, like Dorothy in Kansas, in a dusty hinterland far removed from the imperial center of things. Harry Potter, in his suburban Muggle exile, bides his time shut up in a closet under the stairs, a prisoner of his beastly aunt and uncle. Peter Parker (Spidey) occupies a more benign and familiar modern environment in Woodhaven, Queens, and is cared for by much nicer relatives.
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All of these young men - and fantasy heroes are, overwhelmingly, men - discover themselves to be in possession of extraordinary gifts, and become, unexpectedly and sometimes reluctantly, the central figures in a struggle against absolute evil. Destiny has selected them for great things. Their episodic adventures lead them forward, toward a climactic confrontation with the enemy (foreshadowed in a series of battles with subsidiary forms of evil) and also backward into the mysteries of their own past and parentage.
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For all their ancient and futuristic trappings, fantasy stories speak directly to the condition of contemporary male adolescence, and they offer a Utopian solution to the anxiety and dislocation that are part of the pyschic landscape of youth. Freaks become heroes. The confusing issue of sex is kept at a safe distance; romantic considerations are ancillary to the fight against evil, and to the camaraderie of warriors. But ultimately, whatever fellowship he may have found along the way, the hero's quest is solitary, his triumph an allegory of the personal fulfillment that is, in the real world, both a birthright and a mirage. The structure of fantasy calls for episodes of increasingly perilous action connected by passages of exposition, in which the necessary facts of history, geography and genealogy are revealed to the hero and, over his shoulder, to the audience.
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These moments, which often feature secondary characters in outlandish costumes delivering earnest, learned speeches - the Jedi elders in "Attack of the Clones"; the war council over at Cate Blanchett's (Galadriel's) place in "Fellowship of the Rings" - are routinely mocked by critics (not excluding this one) for their tedium and portentousness. Such derision, however, is precisely what separates the casual fan from the true adept (the latter being one who uses his esoteric powers to vanquish the former by means of angry e-mail).
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Any Muggle can thrill to a sword fight or a computer-generated aerial battle, but true wizardry lies in the mastery of arcane detail. It is obvious that much of the appeal of these chronicles lies in the possibility of vicarious heroism, of identifying with the unprepossessing, marginal, nerdy guys who turn out to be indispensable to the survival of the universe. The way that identification is sealed is not through imitation of their feats of cunning or physical courage, but by mimicking their progress from innocence to mastery, by acquiring a body of esoteric knowledge for which the books and movies themselves provide the raw material.
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In the United States today there are hundred of thousands, perhaps millions of people whose grasp of the history, politics and mythological traditions of entirely imaginary places could surely qualify them for an advanced degree. This learning is fed by quasi-official concordances, encyclopedias and other reference works, but these exist mainly to exploit a spontaneous process that takes place in classrooms and chat rooms around the world. The drive and discipline that leads 9-year-olds to school themselves in the institutional history of Hogwarts and college sophomores to analyze the diplomatic crises of the intergalactic empire might, it could be argued, be more profitably spent in learning something about the real world, but this criticism misses the point.
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Like all knowledge, fantasy lore is acquired partly for its own sake and partly for the social privilege it confers, which in this case is membership in a select order, like the Wizards or the Jedi or the Fellowship of the Ring, of which the rest of the world is only dimly aware and whose codes and protocols it will never know.
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The history of postwar American popular culture is to some degree a history of subcultures - communities of enthusiasts walking the fine line between ardor and obsession. These have come in all varieties: hot rodders, Barbie collectors, followers of the Grateful Dead. But the fantasy genres have been especially fertile breeding grounds for such communities of enthusiasm, from Trekkies to D&D players to the intrepid souls who camp out in front of the cineplexes where the next "Star Wars" movie will be showing. These fans see themselves not only as consumers of popular culture, but as participants in its making, which may be why the exemplary form of fantasy culture is not reading or movie-going but gaming, in which each player can be the hero of his own saga.
| 6-28-02 Latest News |
Corruption... Terrible as the Dawn
Flinch @ 3:28 pm EST
Written by Ulaire Cantea Greetings, once again! Today, I will be going over the impacts of the Realms of the Elf Lords (RotEL) expansion will have on the Nine. I will go into both the cards that help and hurt the Nazgul. First, let’s look at the cards which can aid the Ringwraiths: 1. Gates Of The Dead City – This condition comes into play for the low cost of 1 twilight and forces your opponent to exert a companion whenever your Nazgul culture card adds a burden. This card can be a somewhat useful tool. With four copies of this card in play, you can cause the Free People’s player to exert up to four times. Bear in mind though, that this requires that the Nazgul card add the burden, so it will not work if the Witch-King, Lord of the Nazgul wounds the ring-bearer, and he puts on the ring to convert the wounds to burdens, since the WK, LotN is not adding a burden, the ring is. So, this really is only viable if you can hit them with It Wants To Be Found and have this in play. Not an ideal card in my opinion. 2. News of Mordor – Realms of the Elf Lords introduces a bunch of cards that give benefits for mixing Shadow cultures. This is the Ringwraith one, where a Nazgul becomes damage +1 if you can spot an Isengard minion. This, to me, is far too gimmicky; it requires you to have both an Isengard minion and one of the Nine in play in order for this skirmish event to work. Even if you get an Isengard minion into play, if he dies during the Archery phase, this card does you no good. This is a card that I would advise the would-be corrupter to take a pass on. 3. The Ring Draws Them – This condition adds 1 twilight for each burden you can spot when the fellowship moves. It does come with a price: each Shadow phase, one of the Black Riders must exert, or TRDT is discarded. With the Nazgul, most of them exert to do an action, and with TRDT, you are decreasing your ability for them to perform those actions. Remember: Exerting is not wounding, so His Terrible Servants will not prevent this exertion. As discussed in my previous article, Not Easily Destroyed will heal the Nine, but at 3 twilight per heal, you need at least to be gaining 3 twilight each turn in order to break even with TRDT. 4. They Will Never Stop Hunting You – This Maneuver event, which costs 2 twilight, lets you take a card at random from opponent’s hand and exert a companion with a ranged weapon a number of times equal to the twilight cost of the card you took, if you can spot one of the Nine. TWNSHY only works if you can spot someone with a ranged weapon. Being an archer does not automatically mean he has a ranged weapon, so unless you are going against a dedicated archery deck, this card will do you little good, except to perhaps exhaust Aragorn if he is armed with his bow, but you also must pull a high twilight cost card out of his hand to do this. If you pull out that Goblin Runner, you have pretty much used up 2 twilight that could have been used elsewhere. Bear in mind also that this exerts only; it does not wound! It is impossible to kill with this card by itself. Let’s compare this to Relentless Charge. Relentless Charge lets you deal wounds to all archers, whether or not they bear a weapon, plus has a twilight cost of zero; it only requires you to exert a Nazgul. Thus, I would advise Relentless Charge over TWNSHY. 5. Too Great and Terrible – We now come to THE card of the set that players of the Nine will truly relish! This maneuver event costs zero twilight and just requires you to spot a Nazgul to do 2 wounds to Gandalf! The Istari has been a thorn in our sides for far too long! With his staff, he has cancelled skirmishes, so we couldn’t wield our greatest powers that require the Nine to win skirmishes. With his Servant of the Secret Fires, he has weakened the Nazgul so that mere mortals could vanquish them. With his Sleep, Caradhras, he has discarded our conditions! Now, we can get back at him! The only way to prevent these wounds is by discarding two Gandalf culture cards. This is a win-win scenario for us! Gandalf takes 2 wounds or he gets rid of those SotSF (or Sleeps or some other cards that would harm our plans) that he was holding in his hand. Bear in mind, though, to kill him requires multiples of this card. Unaided, with opponent having no Gandalf culture cards in hand, would require 2 TGTs to kill the Istari. I would advise 3 or 4 copies of this card, because Gandalf can be more of a pain than Aragorn can at times, so make sure he falls into darkness! 6. Ulaire Otsea, Ringwraith in Twilight – Another of the Nine gets a Twilight version. This minion, when he wins a skirmish, can exert to transfer Blade Tip from the support area to the Ring-bearer. While you may feel this is useful, I would advise keeping with the Fellowship version of Otsea, since that version can exert to make a Ringwraith culture card fierce. Bear in mind that no Twilight Nazgul is naturally fierce, so the Fellowship version can be a strong boon to a corruption deck. 7. Eregion Hills – This site at location #4 adds 2 twilight and the Ring-bearer gains a burden. No ifs, ands, or butts about it. For myself, I will definitely being using this location over the Moria Lake I had been previously using. True, I lose the exerting of Frodo or 2 companions and 1 twilight, but I gain a definite certainty that the Ring-bearer gets another burden. (This site would have come in handy in my game against a certain 2100+ rated player when Frodo had 9 burdens on him at site 4. It would have been game over right then and there.) 8. The Gates of Argonath – I can hear the question now “Why this location?”. Here’s why: for 1 less twilight than the Shores of Nen-Hithoel, I lose the penalty if my opponent is playing orcs, but far more important, maneuver events can not be played. I have seen far too many A Ranger’s Versatility rain on my parade. With the fellowship is at this site, I can not have my Witch-King exhausted before he has even had a chance to wield his might. This game text works both ways though; so his fellowship is safe from my Maneuver events as well, but that is a price I will gladly pay for this boon. Now, let us move on to the cards that hamper our efforts to corrupt the Ring-bearer. 1. Narya – This Artifact costs zero twilight and plays on Gandalf. At the start of each turn, the Free Peoples player may add 3 twilight to remove a burden. As the goal of corrupting is to add burdens, anything that removes those burdens is a bane to our strategy. This is another reason to pack multiple copies of Too Great and Terrible. Bear in mind that this ring is an Artifact so it can not be discarded with Beauty Is Fading, plus this ring adds 1 to the Istari’s vitality. With this ring, Gandalf can undo all your hard work, so it is imperative that the Istari be put out of play as soon as possible! 2. Arwen, Elven Rider – This new version of Arwen loses her ability to fight better against the Nine, but gains the ability to prevent wounds to the Ring-bearer by discarding 3 cards. This version can be even more of a hindrance than her Fellowship version, since with the Witch-King, Lord of the Nazgul and Twilight Enquea, it is important to harm the Ring-bearer. Granted, the Free Peoples player will only be able to do this a maximum of 2 times in a turn, but can you afford to lose that time? Keep in mind, the Twilight Nazgul are not naturally fierce and the Free Peoples player will always hold on to 6 cards to keep the Ring-bearer healthy, so it is possible for the Free Peoples player to grind your strategy to a slow trickle rather than a vast flow of corruption. Her protection will delay your efforts and I hate it when my plans are interfered with, so run this Elf down! 3. Phial of Galadriel – This possession costs zero twilight and requires an Elf to exert, but it adds 2 to the Ring-bearer’s Resistance. This possession, by increasing the Resistance value, will delay the corruption process, nothing more, but it can give time for burden removal cards, such as Narya and Sam, to bring the number of burdens to a lower value. 4. Vilya – Elrond’s ring can be used to put conditions back in our hand, so this is merely a delaying tactic, but it can be used at a critical time to harm us. For example, if Vilya is used to return His Terrible Servants to our hand, so that the Nine can be gunned down in the Archery phase. Along with the new Elrond’s ability to heal companions, this is another reason to make sure that Elrond knows the power of Fear (exert a Nazgul to discard an ally) or that our Power Is In Terror (exert a Nazgul to wound every ally). 5. Unknown Perils – This condition plays to the support area and lets the Free Peoples player prevent wounds to companions by spotting 4 twilight and exerting Gandalf. This card is easily bypassed; just make sure that there is not 4 twilight in the pool. If they can’t spot 4 twilight, this condition is useless with them. Better yet, if they can’t spot Gandalf (because he has felt the power of Too Great and Terrible), they will never be able to use this card! 6. Horn of Boromir – This card should also not concern the would-be corrupter. The card will probably be used to bring in archers to support the fellowship. His Terrible Servants (or even Wreathed in Shadow) should prevent any extra wounds that may occur. If he does choose to bring in powerful allies (ex. Elrond, who becomes an 11), this may cause some concern, as these allies may be able to win skirmishes against some of the Nine. Use Fear or Their Power Is In Terror to take care of any allies, if you are concerned. 7. Melilot Brandybuck – This hobbit ally can exert to prevent burdens, but she has the same limitation as Gates of the Dead City does: that being the Shadow card itself must directly add the burdens. Still, anything that can delay our strategy should be squelched, so use Fear or Their Power Is In Terror to deal with her. 8. The Shire Countryside – This condition allows healing of a companion whenever a burden is removed via a non-hobbit method. Since I foresee Narya being very popular, this is yet another reason to see that Gandalf has a terrible accident. 9. House of Elrond – This site at location 3 removes a burden if the Free Peoples player can spot 2 Elves. As Elves are already popular and will become more so, this card can possibly hurt you. The likelihood of it affecting your strategy, though, is quite remote, as you should be using the Ford of Bruinen as your site #3, thus you will only see this location through means such as Pathfinder and Thror’s Map. Since my past lecture, I have received messengers bearing queries about dealing with A Ranger’s Versatility through means other than Not Easily Destroyed. With Realms of the Elf Lords encouraging interactions between the shadow cultures, I feel this is a perfect time to look at two cultures which can aid the Nine: Isengard and Sauron. (Bear in mind, with a corruption strategy, you want 95+% of your cards to be Ringwraith culture, so be careful what you add in. Be certain that a card will work most of the time for you and be enough benefit for inclusion before you add it in to your deck, if it be not a Nazgul culture card.) The two cards that cancel A Ranger’s Versatility from those two cultures are: 1. Orc Scout (Sauron) – This 6 strength minion costs 2 twilight with a home site of 6. 2. Uruk Scout (Isengard) – This 7 strength, damage +1 minion costs 3 twilight with a home site of 5. Both of these minions can exert to cancel A Ranger’s Versatility (or other Ranger-specific card) and both have 2 vitality. I prefer Uruk Scout myself, because he is stronger, damage +1, and loses roaming penalties sooner. Both cultures have cards that can be of benefit, so let’s take a look at some of them: 1. Get Off The Road – This Sauron culture event can discard a card from the Free Peoples deck for each burden that you can spot if you can spot a Nazgul and a Sauron minion. I feel that this card, like News From Mordor, is too gimmicky. While it doesn’t require the minion to survive to the skirmish phase, it does require all 3 components in hand, all at the same time (Nazgul, Sauron minion, and GOTR). 2. Terrible As The Dawn – This Sauron culture card can wound Galadriel 3 times unless the Free Peoples player discards 2 Elves. Galadriel’s new ability to heal Elves may be bothersome, but I don’t foresee her as being a pain enough (or wide-spread enough) to deserve inclusion of this card. 3. Why Shouldn’t I Keep It – This Sauron culture card discards Bilbo, and like Terrible As The Dawn, I can’t justify inclusion of this card; Bilbo just is not enough of a threat to my strategy. 4. The Palantir of Orthanc – This Artifact plays to your support area for zero twilight, but you must be able to spot an Isengard minion. Also, to use it, you must also spot an Isengard minion, so assuming you are using 4 Uruk Scouts (I would suggest using a max of 2 or 3), you could use this artifact a maximum of 4 times. It just does not seem worthwhile with a corruption strategy. I feel the card slot would be better used by something else. 5. The Tower of Orthanc – This condition requires you to spot an Isengard minion to play, but works after that whether or not you can spot any minion. Each time the fellowship moves and you can spot an exhausted companion, you can add 3 twilight. At last, we come across a card that I feel that I could justify using in my deck. True, I do need the Isengard minion in play to bring the Tower into play, but the benefit I feel is worth it. Often against the Nine, the Free Peoples player is moving with at least 1 exhausted companion. Note: The Tower of Orthanc will only add 3 twilight per copy, no matter how many exhausted companions you can spot. This is far better than The Ring Draws Them; you get a flat 3 twilight, but you don’t have to exert a Nazgul and you only lose out if the opponent has more than 3 burdens. 6. Can You Protect Me From Yourself? – This Maneuver event is a perfect card to be packing in a corruption deck. With Aragorn being so popular, you will be able to use this card with great frequency. It costs zero twilight and all you need to be able to do is spot an Isengard minion to exhaust Aragorn, but the Free Peoples player may add 2 burdens to prevent this. Like Too Great and Terrible, this is a win-win scenario for us. If they don’t want Aragon exhausted, they’ll have to add 2 burdens, pushing the ring-bearer closer to the Resistance limit. If they don’t add the burdens, Aragorn gets exhausted. If he has his bow, use Relentless Charge to finish him off after he is exhausted. I can see packing 1 of these for every 2 Isengard minions (rounding up). In selecting cards from the two cultures, I skipped past any cards that require exertion on the part of the non-Nazgul minion. As each only has two vitality, they lose their usefulness if they exert without canceling a Ranger-related card. Always bear in mind: Their sole purpose in the deck is strictly to cancel A Ranger’s Versatility, so that the Black Riders can do their work! Well, we have come to an end of another of my lectures on corruption. I hope that this lesson has taught you many things of which you will find of value. Until next time, fare well from the halls of Minas Morgul!
There are other cards that can adversely affect the corruption strategy indirectly; I have focused on the main cards, which directly can impact our efforts to corrupt the Ring-bearer.
| 6-27-02 Latest News |
Tolkien on the Radio
Tehanu @ 2:11 pm EST
Throughout the summer, there is a radio show on the Bishop's University radio station ( or 88.9 FM in the Sherbrooke area, Quebec, Canada) concerning Tolkien and everything related to the Lord of the Rings. It is called "Passport to Middle-earth" and it airs every Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. eastern time. We talk about different aspects of Tolkien mythology, exploring a specific topic on each show. So far we have looked into Tolkien's biography, we have shed some light on the various languages of Middle-earth, we have explored the matter of the different kinfolks of Elves, and much more. Next week we will uncover the mysteries of Nùmenor. The music on the show is always related in a way or another to the work of Tolkien; either we play music composed for his mythology or that was inspired by it. Also each week we try to give some news regarding Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien fans can listen to us via the web here
| 6-24-02 Latest News |
Weekly Cast Watch
Xoanon @ 4:18 pm EST
To get more information, use the sites I use like the ones below. Simply find 28 Days (2000) UK Plunkett & Macleane (1999) From Hell (2001) Don't Say a Word (2001) Ian Mune (Bounder) Piano, The (1993) Martyn Sanderson (Bree Gatekeeper Harry Goatleaf) Angel at My Table, An (1990) UK David Weatherly (Barliman Butterbur) Monkey's Mask, The (2000) Thea Hartwell (Child Hobbit) Frighteners, The (1996) Virtual Nightmare (2000) UK Noel Appleby (Everard Proudfoot) Alexandra Astin (Elanor Gamgee) Pater Mckenzie (Elendil) Price of Milk, The (2000) Strange Planet (1999) What Lies Beneath (2000) UK Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (1999) Cameron Rhodes (Farmer Maggot) Faculty, The (1998) UK Bandits (2001) X-Men (2000) UK Secret of the Andes (1998) UK Topsy-Turvy (1999) UK John Leigh (Hama) Frighteners, The (1996) Timothy Bartlett (Hobbit) Angel at My Table, An (1990) UK Price of Milk, The (2000) Robbie Magasiva (Mahur) Ray Henwood (Man at Rivendell) Heavenly Creatures (1994) Robyn Malcolm (Morwen) Bruce Spence (Mouth of Sauron) Sweet Talker (1991) Megan Edwards (Mrs. Proudfoot) Sky Is Falling, The (2000) Sleepy Hollow (1999) UK Sala Baker (Sauron) Brian Sergent (Ted Sandyman) Going Off Big Time (2000) UK Nathaniel Lees (Ugluk) Prophecy 3: The Ascent, The (2000) (V) UK Jim Rygiel (SFX) Anna and the King (1999) UK Howard Shore (Composer) High Fidelity (2000) UK Peter Jackson (Director) Contact (1997)
a movie or actor you want to see, go to one of the sites below and see if the
film is playing in your area. mydigiguide.com,
tv-now.com and
IMDB.com
Walk on the Moon, A (1999) UK
Prophecy, The (1995)
Ruby Cairo (1993)
Boiling Point (1993)
Carlito's Way (1993) UK
Young Americans, The (1993)
Onegin (1999) UK
Cookie's Fortune (1999) UK
Stealing Beauty (1996)
Last of the Blonde Bombshells, The (2000) (TV)
Joe Gould's Secret (2000)
Bless the Child (2000)
Simon Magus (1999/I) UK
Shergar (1999)
eXistenZ (1999) UK
Match, The (1999)
Loch Ness (1995)
Madness of King George, The (1994)
Kafka (1991) UK
Dreamchild (1985) UK
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) UK
Chariots of Fire (1981) UK
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Fixer, The (1968) UK
Black Beauty (1994)
Field, The (1990)
Stormy Monday (1988)
Caravaggio (1986) UK
Monkey's Mask, The (2000)
Airtight (1999) (TV) UK
Interview, The (1998)
Bedrooms and Hallways (1998)
Babe (1995)
Dead Letter Office (1998)
Love Serenade (1996)
War, The (1994) UK
Radio Flyer (1992) UK
Forever Young (1992) UK
Internal Affairs (1990)
Avalon (1990) UK
Gift, The (2000)
Talented Mr. Ripley, The (1999) UK
Pushing Tin (1999) UK
Paradise Road (1997)
Oscar and Lucinda (1997) UK
Apt Pupil (1998) UK
Gods and Monsters (1998) UK
Bent (1997)
Rasputin (1996) (TV)
Restoration (1995)
Richard III (1995)
Touch of Love, A (1969)
Cats Don't Dance (1997)
Great White Hype, The (1996)
Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) (V) UK
Canvas (1992)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing (1992) (TV)
Waxwork (1988)
Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam (1987) (TV)
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1982) UK
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Rikky and Pete (1988)
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
Kimberly (1999)
Deterrence (1999) UK
Icebreaker (1999) UK
Dish Dogs (1998)
Safe Passage (1994)
Encino Man (1992) UK
Toy Soldiers (1991)
Memphis Belle (1990)
War of the Roses, The (1989) UK
Staying Together (1989)
Jinnah (1998) UK
Feast at Midnight, A (1994)
Death Train (1993) (TV) UK
Safari 3000 (1982)
Arabian Adventure (1979)
Four Musketeers, The (1974)
Man with the Golden Gun, The (1974) UK
Three Musketeers, The (1973) UK
Wicker Man, The (1973) UK
Death Line (1972)
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) UK
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) UK
Gorgon, The (1964)
Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948) UK
Loss of Sexual Innocence, The (1999) UK
Double X: The Name of the Game (1992) UK
Shadow Hours (2000)
Storytellers, The (1999) UK
Silicon Towers (1999)
Urban Legend (1998) UK
Sworn to Justice (1996)
Escape from Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story (1994) (TV)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
Child's Play 2 (1990)
Child's Play (1988) UK
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Fatal Beauty (1987) UK
Desperate Measures (1998)
Multiplicity (1996)
Cliffhanger (1993) UK
Last of the Mohicans, The (1992)
Batman Returns (1992)
Alien³ (1992)
2010 (1984)
Cell, The (2000) UK
Yards, The (2000) UK
eXistenZ (1999) UK
Truth About Cats & Dogs, The (1996)
White Man's Burden (1995) UK
Se7en (1995)
Client, The (1994)
Prelude to a Kiss (1992) UK
Silence of the Lambs, The (1991)
Quick Change (1990)
Innocent Man, An (1989)
Signs of Life (1989)
She-Devil (1989)
Dead Ringers (1988) UK
Big (1988)
Fly, The (1986)
After Hours (1985) UK
Scanners (1981) UK
Brood, The (1979) UK
Frighteners, The (1996)
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
| 6-23-02 Latest News |
Sean Astin at Pro-Am Golf Tourney in Ft. Wayne, IN
Xoanon @ 2:16 pm EST
Sean Astin (Sam) attended the 'Mad Anthony's Celebrity Pro-Am' this past weekend in Indiana. Tim was kind enough to send along some pics.
Swedish Paper Aftonbladet at the set of the Two Towers
Demosthenes @ 1:48 pm EST
Aftonbladet at the set of the Two Towers WELLINGTON We are in Edoras, which are a big part of the Two Towers. King Theodén is talking to Aragorn about the evil that is threathening Rohan. The actors Bernard Hill and Viggo Mortensen are struggling to get the shoot right so it will fit in with the footage that was shot more than 18 months ago. "Sometimes it's like doing a puzzle," says the director Peter Jackson to Aftonbladet. Aftonbladet is the only Scandinavian newspaper at the set of the box-office success movie The Two Towers. From midsummer in Sweden I travelled to the other side of the world and midwinter in New Zealand. To Middle-Earth Peter Jackson and his crew have recreated the landscape and the enviroment that Tolkien created to do pic-up shoots for The Two Towers. The Two Towers is going to be released on the 18th December, and during the seven weeks of pic-up shooting, Jackson is getting the shots he wants to get everything right. The wind is blowing hard and cold as though it's coming straight from Mordor. On the backyard of the studio a man is standing and smearing mud on the extras before they can go on stage. No re-shooting The outstanding Christopher Lee has Saruman's hair tied up as braids between takes. He is telling me how much he loves Stockholm and how disappointed he was on the jury at the Oscars this year. "It's a shame that The Fellowship of the Ring didn't win the best movie and director." Peter Jackson walks around in shorts all the time, even when we were up in the mountains and it's pouring cold rain and he was filming a scene where it was loads of dead orcs lying on the ground, Rohan-soldiers and horses are lying in a ford. After Christmas and the premiere of the first movie, Peter Jackson sat down to cut and edit the second movie, while Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens continued writing new scenes for it. "When I had done the first rough cut of the movie, The Two Towers, I felt what had to be more clear and what I had to brushed up in the story," says Peter Jackson. "It's no re-shoots of stuff we had already filmed 18 months ago that we are shooting here today, only new shoots. We did the same thing with The Fellowship of the Ring and we will be doing this for the third movie as well." How much time in the new movie is it that your filming now? "I would guess about 25 minutes, but nothing is finished yet. I haven't even edited the movie yet, and I dont know for sure how long the movie will be. It will probably end up at 3 hours -- as long as the first one." More than one team is filming I am walking around in stonestreet studios that Jackson built in a former paint factory. Right now they have multiple units filming everyday for pic-up shoots for the Two Towers. A normal film usually has an A-team and B-team that are filming, but here it's A,B,C,D and E. Seven inside and four outside is filming at the same time. The palace in Edoras have many important shoots in the movie. The filmmakers built the whole city on a remote mountain on the south island, one and a half hours walk from the nearest road, on the other side of the three rivers. Everything was demolished after they shot it the first time more than 18 monts ago. Now they are building the Golden Hall in the king's palace again. Viggo Mortensen is checking the clip they have in the computer so that the movments match the edited scene. "It is hard work and very complicated but it is good," says Mortensen. "It's good that Peter doesn't get satisfied easily and that he is always raising the bar a bit and making it always a bit harder." How hard was it to transform into Aragorn after 18 months of break? "When I got my Aragorn gear on me I felt I was in the role straight away again." The movie will be better that the first one There are a lot more new characters in The Two Towers. Two of them are extra-hard challenges. The talking Treebeard and the hissing Gollum are both computer generated, but it is actors behind the voices and their movments. King Theodén and his niece Eowyn and his nephew Eomer are playing a big part in the story. "I am sure that the Two Towers will be better than the first movie," says Bernard Hill who's playing Theodén. "This movie is more human feelings and more deep." When the day's filming is over Viggo Mortensen walks over with a red and white t-shirt just to show that he supports Denmark in the world cup of football. Viggo compares the work of the three movies with a garden. "The first movie blossomed into a beautiful movie last year, then it withered away and disappeared. Now we are planting seeds again. We aren't just throwing seeds all around the place and hoping that it will be like last time, this time we are digging deep and working hard to make a new and even more beautiful garden."
| 6-21-02 Latest News |
DVD info on the official site.
Tehanu @ 7:00 pm EST
News from Ford of Rivendell: We may have reported this before but it doesn't hurt to mention it again....
Lordoftherings.net has some new things to check out. On the main page there's a picture of Frodo (Elijah Wood) and the ring, it says "November DVD release; Preview the new Special Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring!" Then when you move your mouse over it: "Get your first look at the Special Extended Edition DVD release of The Fellowship of the Ring! Preview the extensive DVD menus, listed bonus materials and the Collectors DVD Gift Set!"
You click on it and it takes you to a different page and also opens a new window. The different page has information about the theatrical release, with a new link to the extended version. The other window has the information about the Special Extended Edition. You can click on either Platinum Series Special Extended DVD Edition, Special Extended VHS Edition, or Collectors DVD Gift Set. When you click on each one it gives you information about what each comes with.
There is also a new picture link to the page about the MTV Movie Awards."
Games Workshop Releases Sauron Model
Flinch @ 5:09 pm EST
This month sees the much anticipated release of Sauron, the Lord of the Ring! This huge model towers over all others, and stands ready to lead the forces of Evil against the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. Included in this box set are the dying Elendil and his son Isildur, who defiantly holds the broken sword Narsil, ready to strike the Dark Lord and sever The Ring from his grasp. A must for all Lord of the Rings fans! These models are ideal for The Last Alliance, the big summer Lord of the Rings gaming event kicking off at Games Day Baltimore and running for 6 weeks. Full rules for using Sauron in your Lord of the Rings games can be found in White Dwarf 270, along with a new scenario for him and painting guides as well. This model retails for $24.00 ($32.00 Can)
Harper-Collins Book Event Report!
Xoanon @ 8:56 am EST
Atheryn writes: I notice there haven't been any reports posted so far of last-nights' book event in Wellington NZ. I was lucky enough to get a ticket - so I thought I'd share my experience. The event started about half an hour later than planned, but there was a good turn-out - there must've been at least 100 people or so. It was held in the upstairs foyer of the Embassy Theatre - Dymocks booksellers had set up a stall with various books and collectibles, and a very small stage had been set up by the front wall. After about half an hour of mingling with the other guests, the event started - a spokeswoman from Harper-Collins welcomed everyone, and introduced Jane Johnson as a guest speaker. Jane spoke for several minutes about her involvement in Lord of the Rings, inparticular the release of "The Art of the Fellowship of the Ring". She then then called on another guest - Richard Taylor! Richard spoke for a few moments about Weta and the production of the films, and then everyone mingled again. Among the crowd were a handful of designers from Weta, Richard Taylor, Alan Lee, Karl Urban (Eomer), and Jane Johnson. Unfortunately, none of the main cast of Lord of the Rings made an appearance - EXCEPT for Sir Ian McKellan, who made a very very discreet appearance during the opening speech - as soon as the speech was over, he autographed a couple of books and made a dash for the exit - unfortunately I missed out, but seeing him in person was privilege enough. Only about 5 or 6 of us actually realised he was even there! Anyway. Throughout the course of the evening, I was lucky enough to get my copy of LOTR signed by Alan Lee, Karl Urban, Richard Taylor, Jane Johnson, and various Weta designers. I also had my photo taken with Karl Urban, which was really neat. As time went on, people started to leave, and the atmosphere became more relaxed - I was even able to have a one-on-one chat with Richard Taylor for a while - we talked about the movie, about some of the effects, and he even gave me the run-down on how to make fake blood! Shortly after that, he left with his partner, Tania Rogers. By that point in time, all of the other special guests had gone, and there were only a handful of us left behind. There was still that last shred of hope that some of the actors would show up - but alas, they didn't. According to a Dymocks staff-member, Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortenson had hoped to make an apperance, but it seems that filming for the day had lasted longer than expected. When the Embassy staff began to clean up, I left. It was sad that none of the main actors came to the event, afterall, although this kind of booksigning event happens a lot in other parts of the world, this event was possibly the first of it's kind in New Zealand. But all of the autographs I was lucky enough to get, my photograph with Karl Urban, and especially my friendly chat with Richard Taylor all made up for it! I took a few other photographs of the event also - I hope to get them developed soon - as soon as they are, I'll have them posted here on the site.
Part 2 - Elves from Helve
Flinch @ 1:47 am EST
written by mc9457 For hand discarding, the Elves have all other fellowship cultures beat – hands down (no pun intended). They also provide some of the best cards for knowing your opponents hand as soon as he does – through revealing. Here is a list of the cards that cause the discarding of the hand. We will start with the two most powerful cards. Mirror of Galadriel Possession Relevant Text: Fellowship: If your opponent has more then 6 cards in hand, exert Galadriel to look at 2 cards at random from an opponent’s hand. Discard one and replace the other. As you can tell, through two exerts of Galadriel, you can look at half your opponent’s hand and cause two of the nastiest cards to go to the discard pile. While this may only be 2 cards, that is two cards the shadow player can not easily get back. And that is two less cards you have to worry about in the shadow players hand. Far Seeing Eyes Condition Relevant text: Each time you play an elf, chose an opponent to discard a card from hand. Why is this good? Again, every time you play an elf, you cause an opponent to discard a card from hand. If you are playing an all elf deck, this card can pay off big time combined with the Mirror. The downside to Far Seeing Eyes is that it is unique – so no putting out 4 copies of Far Seeing Eyes and playing Galadriel to cause 4 cards to go away. You have to work at that discard. The White Arrows of Lorien Condition Relevant text: Archery: If bearer is an archer, exert bearer to make an opponent discard 2 cards at random from hand. This card is great for getting rid of pump cards or some of the nastier combo cards, such as Final Cry. Plus 2 cards at random from hand is great for further decking your opponent and preventing a combo from getting set up later on in the game. The only downside is that the bearer has to be an Elven companion. Exerting Legolas, Greenleaf for White Arrows seems like a waste of his really potent directed archery. Curse Their Foul Feet! Event Relevant text: Fellowship: Exert an Elf to reveal an opponent’s hand. That player discards a card from hand for each Orc revelead. This card can be good as well, especially in an area that has a lot of Orc decks played. And lets face it – currently there is only one culture that has no Orcs in it – Ringwraith. Have an area that plays Moria Swarm a lot? This card can be incredibly potent there as you avoid the potential swarm from hand. Foul Creation Event Relevant text: Fellowship: Exert an Elf to reveal an opponent’s hand. You may discard a [isengard] minion revealed to draw 2 cards. This card could be good as well – if your area is high in Isengard decks. If your area seems populated with anything else, this card is only good for a look at your opponent’s hand. Not the card of choice (well, at least until may Realms of the Elf Lords becomes tournament legal). Ancient Enmity Event Relevant text: Skirmish: Make an Elf strength +1. If a minion loses this skirmish to that Elf, that minion’s owner discards 2 cards at random from hand. Again, this card could be good – if your opponent has a hand left at this point. Between Far Seeing Eyes, Curse Their Foul Feet, Mirror of Galadriel, Far Seeing Eyes, and The White Arrows of Lorien, as well as playing a minion from his hand for you to battle, if your opponent has any cards left in his hand it will be a miracle. Even if he does play a minion, then you have to beat that minion with an Elf. Elves, while great with discard and great with archery, are not the best at winning battles. Their power and their vitality prevent them from winning and even living through most skirmishes. The current major downside to playing the Elven hand discard strategy is two fold. First, most of the cards cause you to exert a character to discard cards from your opponent’s hand. This is a hard drink to swallow as it opens the Elves up to beatings from any damage +1 minion – and really an instant death. Any deck that packs cards that force you to exert for any reason – whether it be Moria Lake (exert Frodo or two companions when the fellowship moves here) or Under the Watching Eye (exert a companion each time the fellowship moves) – will slow down the discard strategy as well. Second is the amount of twilight a good discard deck adds to the pool. Most of the Elven cards that cause the discarding to occur cost 2 or more twilight to play. This gives your opponent a lot of twilight to play with. An Elven discard strategy is usually best mixed up a bit with another strategy to protect your Elves as they take apart your opponents hand. However, properly applied, your opponent will begin playing with his hand face up the entire game – simply because you are going to be seeing it as much as him!