Posts belonging to Category Tolkien



Lord of the Rings in Under a Minute

The short version:

Gimli Destroys the Ring (Video length: 0:56)

That was easy.

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The Hunt for Gollum Movie

I posted about this when it first came out in 2009, but a lot of people had trouble accessing the live-stream video feed and eventually gave up. However, I just discovered it is now available on YouTube. So, if you missed it last time around, and have some time this weekend, grab some popcorn and check out the forty-minute-long fan-made production of The Hunt for Gollum. (Note: Click on the four-way arrow in the lower right hand corner of the media player to watch in full screen mode.)

  The Hunt for Gollum (Video length: 39:07)
  

Award winning unofficial prequel to The Lord of the Rings dramatizing Aragorn & Gandalf’s long search for Gollum. This 40-minute film, made by fans for fans is based on the appendices of LOTR and was painstakingly shot on a low budget as an homage to Peter Jackson’s trilogy and the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien. Costing less than $5,000 to make, with a team of volunteers, Independent Online Cinema is proud to have brought Middle-Earth to the screen once more. We hope you enjoy The Hunt For Gollum as much as we enjoyed making it.

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Gandalf, Gollum, and Elrond Return

Here is the latest news on the upcoming Hobbit movies:

  • Director Guillermo del Toro has confirmed that actors Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, and Hugo Weaving will be returning in their roles as Gandalf, Gollum, and Elrond (respectively).
  • Del Toro has narrowed down the choice of actor for young Bilbo Baggins and is “very close” to making an announcement.
  • Del Toro also confirmed once again that the two films would focus on the contents of the Hobbit book only and would not be split between the Hobbit and a second film bridging the gap to the Lord of the Rings books.

HT: BBC Radio

Hobbit Story Spread Out Over Two Movies

Earlier reports suggested that the two-part Hobbit movie (due out in December 2011 and 2012) would present the book in the first movie and a sequel in the second. Producer Peter Jackson and director Guillermo Del Toro have now confirmed that both movies will cover just the story of The Hobbit.

“We’ve decided to have The Hobbit span the two movies, including the White Council and the comings and goings of Gandalf to Dol Guldur,” says Del Toro.

“We decided it would be a mistake to try to cram everything into one movie,” adds Jackson. “The essential brief was to do The Hobbit, and it allows us to make The Hobbit in a little more style, if you like, of the [LOTR] trilogy.”

So there you go. The second film will not, as had previously been suggested, a film that will bridge the 60-year gap between The Hobbit and the start of Fellowship Of The Ring.

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Related posts:
    • Peter Jackson Will Produce The Hobbit Movie(s)
    • The Hunt for Gollum Movie Trailer

The Hunt for Gollum Movie Trailer

Can’t wait for the new Hobbit movie in 2012? The Hunt for Gollum releases May 3, 2009.

‘The Hunt For Gollum’ is a ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Fan Film made by fans for fans. Inspired by notes in the appendices from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ book, ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ follows Aragorn as he sets out to find the creature Gollum and discover the truth about the Ring … (TheOneRing.net)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of my favorite book and movie series. So I am looking forward to this fan-made film made for, well, fans like me! The production values look impressive for a home-made film. (I read somewhere they did this for only $3,000? That doesn’t seem possible.) Started over two years ago, the 40-minute film will be available for free download or live streaming at the official Hunt for Gollum website on May 3, 2009.

Update: Commenter Theresa corrects the $3,000 amount to £3,000 (approx. $4,500). Thanks Theresa!

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Quick Takes – 10/25/2008

Michael Rex spoofs Margaret Wise Brown’s classic children’s book Goodnight Moon with his new creation: Goodnight Goon.

goodnight_goon.jpgGoodnight tomb.
Goodnight Goon.
Goodnight bones
    and black lagoon.

Goodnight moans.
Goodnight groans.
Goodnight creature,
Goodnight goo.
And goodnight to the werewolf whispering “BOO!”

Ray Pritchard encourages us to pray for ‘the other guy.’ “Who is the ‘other guy’? It’s the guy I’m not voting for on November 4. Doesn’t matter what his name is because I’m not voting for him. I’ve made up my mind, and I can’t be moved away from my decision. Let me say frankly that your ‘other guy’ may be the guy I’m going to vote for … I propose … starting today, say a prayer for ‘the other guy’ and his running mate every day between now and November 4. And don’t use prayer as a weapon against him. Pray for him, for his wife and children, pray for God’s blessing upon him. Pray for God to guide his steps. Pray that God will speak to him and that he will listen.”

Andrée Seu reflects on Narnia and Bible study. “‘Here on the mountain the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind.’ (The Silver Chair, C.S. Lewis). The mountain is my morning Bible study. The drop to Narnia is life as I find it the rest of the day, and the air gets thick indeed.”

Claudia Riiff Finseth reflects on reading Tolkien in the winter. “My own epiphany reading Tolkien in winter is this: that all is not right nor ever shall be right in the world, yet still there is much that is lovely and worth our efforts. Each person’s responsibility is to make their contribution in their own time–in their own part of the story. And just maybe, somehow, I’ll be able to find within me what is needed to do my part.” Quoting Gandalf:

Other evils there are that may come; for Sauron is himself but a servant or emissary. Yet it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule. (Gandalf, in The Last Debate, Part III)

Peter Jackson Will Produce The Hobbit Movie(s)

Fresh Hobbit news straight from New Zealand: For a while it looked like New Line Cinemas and Peter Jackson were unable to iron out their differences and that the filming of The Hobbit would be entrusted into someone else’s hands. But today Jackson and and Hollywood studios New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios announced that they had resolved their legal dispute. Jackson and partner Fran Walsh will serve as executive producers on not one but two (?) Hobbit movies.

Pre-production will begin as soon as possible and both will be shot simultaneously, tentatively in 2009. The Hobbit is likely to be released in 2010 and the sequel in 2011.

Jackson sued New Line in 2005 for unpaid profits, estimated to be about US$100 million, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which became a stumbling block to his being involved in The Hobbit.

Jackson and New Line said in the announcement that they had settled all legal action. “I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to put our differences behind us, so that we may begin a new chapter with our old friends at New Line,” Jackson said. “We are delighted to continue our journey through Middle-earth.”

A decision still has to be made on who will direct the films, who will be cast and where they will be filmed.

This is great news. Jackson did such a great job with the Lord of the Rings movies that I was really not happy with the idea of someone else taking over for The Hobbit. I am intrigued by the mention of two Hobbit films in the announcement. I assume that means they will film the book in two parts. So, Tolkien fans, what do you think?

Update: According to this press release at TheOneRing.net, it looks like the second movie will be a sequel to the Hobbit rather than just the second half of the book.

Quick facts:

  • The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien, was published in 1937, and tells the story of Bilbo Baggins before the events of The Lord of the Rings. It relates how Bilbo met the wizard Gandalf, fought Smaug the dragon, and found the One Ring.
  • The Lord of the Rings trilogy has made about US$3 billion at the box office and another US$1 billion in DVD sales. Between them, the films won 17 Oscars.

HT: Instapundit

New J.R.R. Tolkien Book – The Children of Hurin

The Children of Hurin, by J.R.R. Tolkien

The new J.R.R. Tolkien book, The Children of Hurin, was released yesterday.

From ABC news:

Six thousand years before the Fellowship of the Ring, long before anyone had even seen a Hobbit, the elves and men of Middle-earth quaked at the power of the dark lord Morgoth.

Hunted by easterlings and orcs, they fled to the fastness of Nargothrond and to the deep forests of Brethil and Doriath. Among them, a hero emerged. Strong and courageous he was, but foolhardy and impetuous. His name was Turin, son of Hurin.

The Lord of the Rings works rank up there as some of my favorite books and movies, so I am excited about this one. I am curious how many Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fans out there plan on getting this.

Here is the book description from Amazon and some comments from Adam Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s grandson:

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