News !!!

[Lhunithiliel]

Would you like to have a thread where ALL the TTF-members can post any and every Tolkien's writings and films- related news ... and other related stuff?
These could be links to some web-pages where some interesting bits of information are provided, like for example this one :

news (http://www.scriptsandscribes.com/projTV.htm)

Or it maybe someone has heard/read/seen something new somewhere on the web or/ in the "material" world ;) and would like to share it with the others on the forum - in text, pictures and /or scanned material... whatever form....

The idea of having such "News"-thread is that some people don't have the time to surf the web 24-hours a day ;) :D On the other hand, others who have this opportunity could provide the "hot" news.

Well, I hope this will work!
EVERYBODY IS MOST GLADLY WELCOME !

Lhun

[Húrin Thalion]

Great idea Lhun! I think I could start by announcing a joint Quenya course starting. You'll find more info in the guild of Tolkienology under the title common Quenya course. Make sure to read everything and then post there to join up. Welcome!

Elen

[Lhunithiliel]

Ha! I was counting on some "web-addicted" ;) TTF-fellows to bring fresh news...

Where are you?! :D

Here what I've found in the "Orlando Bloom Multimedia" - site:

The new Lord Of The Rings film has been given a 12A certificate in the UK. The first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship Of The Ring, was given a PG certificate with a warning for children under the age of 8. The Two Towers has been passed with no cuts by the British Board Of Film Classification.

According to the BBFC's website the film will be 179 minutes long, just 50 seconds short of three hours. As with The Fellowship Of The Ring, the BBFC has issued a warning that the new film "contains intense combat and fantasy horror scenes". The Two Towers is released in the UK on December 18.

[Eliot]

Hey, good idea Lhunithiliel!

[Lhunithiliel]

Gee! Thank, guys for approving the idea, ......
BUT!


WHERE ARE THE NEWS?
:D :D :D

[Lhunithiliel]

You might be interested to read this:
interview with Viggo M. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/11/21/viggo_mortensen_two_towers_interview.shtml)

Enjoy! :D

Oh! And here is a very nicely done done summary on the new characters in the movie.... if you're interested to know.....and IF you haven't by now understood ;) :D:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2002/03/07/whos_who_in_two_towers_article.shtml

[Wolfshead]

Not a bad idea for a thread, but do you think Stuff & Bother is the right place for it? I mean, it is obviously Tolkien-related discussion and http://www.thetolkienforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5816 clearly states there should be no Tolkien stuff in S & B. So, I think it may get moved elsewhere soon.

[Lhunithiliel]

I see what you mean, CraigSmith.
Honestly, I thought where to open the thread and what appears on the front page of the Forum:

If what you have to say just doesn't seem to fit anywhere else, this is the forum for you.

made me open it here.

Besides, it is NOT a discussion, but rather ........ some "news-bank" about Tolkien - writings-and-films- related things as well as other stuff...

Now, YOU tell me where to move it and I'll ask a Mod to do this.

BTW, does it bother YOU to see this thread here? :rolleyes:

[Wolfshead]

Well, to be honest, I don't know where it can go, other than here, it doesn't really fit in.

And I couldn't care less if it was here, or elsewhere :D

Perhaps a Mod will think of a more suitable location.

[Lhunithiliel]

Another interesting bits of LOTR-related news:

here (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2117961a2202,00.html)

and

here (http://nzfpm.marketeer.co.nz/category.pasp?emguid=405439D16A21485F9962DD8238A8B B58&categoryid=43)

*******

Funny......am I the only one to look for news?

Maybe you are right, CraigSmith! ;) :) :D Perhaps this thread should be moved? :rolleyes:

[Wolfshead]

Well, I was thinking last night, how about News & Announcement? You'd probably better ask permission first, but it'd fit better in there. :)

[Lhunithiliel]

From the Official LOTR-site of New Line Cinema:

The latest edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers newsletter has arrived, and here’s a sampling of the updates, behind-the-scenes features and exclusive downloads that await at lordoftherings.net.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in theaters everywhere on December 18.

How do the wizards at Weta put together the films’ spectacular battle scenes? Find out with this detailed, interactive look at The Fellowship of the Ring’s Prologue battle scene. Plus, run your own simulated battle—and build yourself an Orc.

Get your first look and download the final theatrical poster now!

The sheer beauty of the location wowed cast members. The remote setting challenged the crew. Now learn more about one of the trilogy’s most spectacular locations.

Where do you go to capture the roar of Helm’s Deep? How do you record the desolation of the Dead Marshes? This exclusive video goes behind the scenes with the Sound Editing team, including Supervising Sound Editor Ethan Van Der Ryn.

Aragorn and Saruman, Frodo and Gandalf—discover the newest Two Towers desktop downloads.

Get exclusive videos and photos from the brand new Special Extended Edition DVD of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Pre-order the Internet Limited Edition of the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers original motion picture soundtrack enhanced-CD. There are only a limited number of copies available, so pre-order this very special edition now!

Copyright 2002 New Line Productions, Inc.
"The Lord of the Rings," "The Two Towers," and the names of the characters, events, items, and places therein, are trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to New Line Productions, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

Check it out :D

[Valdarmyr]

The Hollywood Reporter (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031027/people_nm/film_rings_dc_2) has a story about some of Treebeard's friends--one close one, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) plus Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen and Orlando Bloom. They're getting a program going to let fans, and other people who like nature, adopt a tree in a forest, and Dominic hopes that forest will be in New Zealand, where the movies were made.

Monaghan says of the program, "It's a way for us to keep our bond together but at the same time do something useful for the planet." He says, "There are so many forests being cut down that this will ensure that at least one of them, which has thousands and thousands of trees, will be saved -- especially in New Zealand, which is such a mad, mad beautiful place. People who adopt a tree will also get a map to their tree, so if they ever want to go and find it, they can."

Merry--er, Dom--says he isn't doing this just to give RotK extra publicity. He says he's always been into nature and loves to do things like this.

Also, the Screen Actors Guild is getting film and TV stars together to help with a program to increase literacy around the world. Elijah Wood is one of the stars. He and others will read books on the internet, and the internet site will show the streaming video (and presumably you'll be able to hear it too). You can read more about it here. (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/031027/275874_1.html)

[Valdarmyr]

The woman who played everyone's favorite shield-maiden of Rohan may soon be getting another acting job. Miranda Otto (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031028/en_nm/film_otto_dc_2) is in talks to appear in a remake of the 1965 film "The Flight of the Phoenix." Dennis Quaid will also star. Miranda would play a geologist in the story about a plane crash and how the crew tries to build a plane from the wreckage. In addition to seeing Miranda in RotK, she'll also appear in the upcoming comedy "Danny Deckchair."

Meanwhile, Sean Astin (http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/456/456728p1.html?fromint=1) is going to star in a sci-fi movie called "Slipstream." Sean plays a scientist who invents a device with which he can travel 10 minutes into the past. He'll start filming it in a few days in South Africa.

If you like PJ, or you like making money, you'll love this article in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/28/movies/28JACK.html?ex=1068008400&en=1184a4315f8eef6f&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER). It talks about how PJ is raising the bar in Hollywood and beyond for directors who can demand humongous salaries and deals.

[Valdarmyr]

Orlando Bloom (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20031029/film_nm/film_bloom_dc_1) has another movie lined up. He's just gotten the lead role in a movie called "Kingdom of Heaven." Orlando will play a young peasant in 12th century Europe and the Far East. He becomes a knight, saves a kingdom and falls in love with a princess. Ridley Scott will direct, and filming will begin in January in Morocco.

We'll also see Orlando star with Brad Pitt in the movie "Troy," which will hit theaters next summer.

[Valdarmyr]

Awards season is upon us. The Australian Film Institute has announced its 2003 nominations. "The Two Towers" has been nominated for Best Foreign Film. (I guess the institute gives out its awards later in the year.) David Wenham (Faramir) is up for Best Actor in a Leading Role for another movie, "Gettin' Square." Orlando Bloom is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for "Ned Kelly."

The AFI awards show is happening in Melbourne on November 21st.

Go TTT! I think it should win because it's top-notch Ent-tertainment!

[Valdarmyr]

Elijah Wood's starting his own record label! He tells teenhollywood.com (http://www.teenhollywood.com/d.asp?r=52418&cat=1027) he wants to find new groups and put their music out.

Elijah also says he and Dominic Monaghan just recorded for a new CD of Viggo Mortensen's! I wonder if Viggo and the guys re-did Leonard Nimoy's hit "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins." :)

[Valdarmyr]

One of the casting directors of the movies, John Hubbard, talked to USA Today as part of a story they did. Hubbard says it was pretty tough to cast the films, partly because the casting people didn't have a lot of time to talk to Peter Jackson. "We tried to get a take on all the characters and assembled massive lists of actors. Andy Serkis was the first actor who came in for Gollum. I absolutely fell off my chair. He had done so much research. It was one of the finest auditions I've ever been in." After Jackson saw Andy's audition tape, "Peter just started talking to Andy like he had the part."

Hubbard says he and Jackson disagreed over who should play Aragorn. PJ wanted Stuart Townsend. Hubbard thought he was too young, and Hubbard wasn't surprised when PJ later replaced Townsend with Viggo Mortensen. More details here. (http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2003-11-06-dream-teams_x.htm)

By the way, if you go see the Will Ferrell movie "Elf," and it's getting some good reviews, you'll notice they use the "false perspective" photography tricks that are used in the LOTR movies to make someone look much smaller or much bigger. "Elf" was made by New Line, which has also put out the LOTR movies, so they took some of the technology they used in LOTR and used it in "Elf."

[Lhunithiliel]

It is! It has been included into the top-10 list of the best movie-trilogies even if the third film has not yet come to the big screen.

What to learn more?

Read THIS (http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=138846)

[Valdarmyr]

That is cool, Lhunithiliel. I agree it's one of the best trilogies of all time, even though we haven't seen ROTK yet. But I think it should rate higher than #10--same with the Star Wars trilogy. I also think they should've included the "Indiana Jones" trilogy in the top 10, even though the filmmakers are working on movie #4. And the writer says, "The latest offering is the "Indiana Jones" series, snuggled neatly into a package that helps us forget the first and second films were sub-par." The first Indiana Jones movie--subpar? What?! It's a classic!

[Valdarmyr]

We told you earlier that Elijah Wood is starting his own record label, and Elijah said he and Dominic Monaghan just played on a new CD of Viggo Mortensen's.

Now, the Glasgow Sunday Mail says Billy Boyd also sat in on the sessions. Guns 'N' Roses are also on it. The album's called "Pandemoniumfromamerica," and it should go on sale in two weeks. It's apparently an album of experimental rock that features instrumental pieces, songs, and spoken word. Elijah played some piano, percussion and sang. Some people also told this Elijah Wood website (http://dead-of-night.org/elijah/brown.html) they heard Elijah talking about Viggo and the recording session, and Elijah said, "The guy is a genius, and I was like, 'Oh my God, this is my chance.' I got to jam for about four hours! It was really fantastic to be able to contribute, and I'm actually going to be on the album!"

Billy Boyd used to play in a band in Scotland called "Foreign Company." We'll also see him in the Russell Crowe movie "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," which opens this coming Friday. You probably heard Crowe likes to rock and roll. He's been with the group "30 Odd Foot of Grunts" since 1992, and he's been playing music since he was a teenager. Anyway, Billy sat in on the music recording sessions for "Master and Commander," and he says, "Russell and I are both musicians and got on very well together. He is a very cool guy and we had lots of laughs. He never once punched me!''

Billy was also one of the presenters at the MTV Europe Awards show in Edinburgh last week and presented the award for Best Hip-hop Artist to Eminem.

[Valdarmyr]

The BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3254821.stm) has more on Elijah Wood's plans to start a music label, along with his desire to distribute the music of his King, Viggo Mortensen. Elijah talks a bit in that story about jamming with Viggo and other guys from the movies. If you ask me, they shoulda asked Sean Bean to join in and play horn!

I think I found the webpage for TDRS Music, Viggo's current music label, here, (http://tdrsmusic.com) and while they say his new album is coming out soon, the others are apparently sold out!

[Valdarmyr]

Sometimes it's tough to be a star--or an Evenstar. Liv Tyler says studio executives have advised her that if she doesn't lose some weight, she could lose movie roles. I hadn't heard she'd gained, and I don't know how she could ever be less than beautiful. (We'll leave the "Arwen versus Eowyn" debate for another time! Liv tells Ireland On-Line (http://breakingnews.iol.ie/entertainment/story.asp?j=85682984&p=8568369x) that to play Arwen, she lost two stone (28 pounds), and even though she gained it back after filming, she's happy with her weight and doesn't want to diet. Liv says, "I refuse to submit myself to Hollywood standards. To the rest of the world I am slim and I like the way I am." Good for you, Liv.

And are you ready for "Goonies 2?!" And is Sean Astin ready for the sequel?! MTV News (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1480346/20031111/index.jhtml) says Richard Donner and Steven Spielberg, who made "The Goonies" in 1985, have bought a script for a sequel, and they want to get it made. They're still waiting for the word from Warner Brothers Studios. Donner says they want the original cast to return, including Sean, with Corey Feldman and Josh Brolin. And if it goes ahead, Sean would have a big role in it.

[lightingstrike]

that is a great idea but I can't find it either. can any one tell me where I go to access it. Oh, by the way, I just saw the trailer for the Rotk movie. It looks awesome.

[Valdarmyr]

"The Two Towers" soundtrack has just been nominated for a Grammy award. The reason it's the soundtrack from TT and not RotK, is because the nominated albums had to be released between October of last year and September this year, and the TT soundtrack, and not the RotK soundtrack, came out during that time frame.

So, the category is "Best Score Soundtrack Album For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media," and the one, the only Howard Shore is nominated as composer! It's up against the soundtracks from "Catch Me If You Can" (John Williams), "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" (John Williams again), "The Hours" (Philip Glass) and "Seabiscuit" (Randy Newman).

And no individual song from the TT soundtrack--not even "Gollum's Song"--was preciousss enough to be nominated for "Best Song Written For A Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media."

And you'd think an LotR soundtrack might be nominated for "Best Historical Album," BUT NOOOOOO! :D