Time for another Art Gallery update! :o)

Doron Shem-Tov has sent in a few more paintings and sketches of your favourite characters for your enjoyment!

Stop by see Doron's work along with all of the other talented artists on display in our Art Gallery!

Thanks again for your submission Doron! :o)

The craggy face, the gnarled arms, the wispy foliage - it's Treebeard all right, though he doesn't look menacing enough to take down Isengard. In fact, the small model of the towering ent would be dwarfed by a garden gnome.

But the maquette, one of hundreds of items culled from the prop and wardrobe departments and the special-effects wizards behind ``The Lord of the Rings'' trilogy, gives Singapore Science Centre visitors a taste of the technology used to stand up J.R.R. Tolkien's mythic realm.

Read an interesting article on the LotR Exhibit at the Boston Herald!

Turbine Entertainment Software, the producer of the game "The Lord of the Rings," has decided to cooperate with two Chinese companies, said its President and CEO Jeffrey Anderson Thursday, July 29, in Dalian.

Anderson said China is a huge potential market, and it should certainly play a leading role in the game industry. Many leading US game companies are looking forward to entering the Chinese market, and consider Dalian as a gateway, he said.......more

A caf owner has returned to his day job after filming with Elijah Wood in new Brit flick The Yank. The Hollywood star, who played Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, even came to Paul Row's wedding after the pair made friends on set.......more

For a sport that draws on the imagery of fantasy, few events match archery for its cut-throat intensity.

The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy is responsible for a boom in interest in the sport, but in competition there is no room for romantic delusions. Archery is about mental toughness and technical proficiency, an event where millimetres count......more

The concerts have even been a revelation for Shore himself. “Oh, yes," he says, speaking by telephone on a recent July evening. "I mean, it’s really what (music) is about for me, being on a concert stage and feeling the audience, and knowing that the audience is part of the performance. To create the symphony was a sheer joy and (it was done for) the love of playing music. Being in a recording studio for so many years has allowed me to kind of just express the piece in a different form......more

The Fellowship of the Ring, the first instalment of JRR Tolkien's fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings, was published 50 years ago. But what did critics of the day make of the book?

One of the most popular books in literary history it is also a regular winner of recent polls to find the nation's favourite novel - last year it topped the BBC's Big Read survey.......more

The third time is a charm with the holiday release of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on DVD and VHS on November 23 from Warner Home Video. The most recent installment of the "Harry Potter" series from director Alfonso Cuaron and screenwriter Steve Kloves, based on J.K. Rowling's award-winning novels, takes audiences on another adventure with more mystery and magic than ever before. See also what The two-disc edition DVD will include... Here

Access All Areas Events Ltd is pleased to announce that EA Games will be attending the upcoming Fellowship Festival event in August at Alexandra Palace in London, and exclusively unveiling its two latest interactive games based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. EA Games will be joined by New Line Cinema and The Tolkien Society, who are main event sponsors.

Showcasing the magnificent works of Professor J.R.R Tolkien and Peter Jackson, The Fellowship Festivalis expected to see 4,000-5,000 fans per day. Attendees will be treated to theatrical presentations hosted by two of the actors from the films, Craig Parker (Haldir) and Mark Ferguson (Gil-Galad). Presentations will include question and answer sessions with selected members of the cast and crew as well as panel discussions with Tolkien experts. The latest guest to sign up is Bernard Hill (King Theoden) who will be attending his very first fan event. For the latest comprehensive information on the Fellowship Festival, including a full 3-day programme listing, visit www.aaaevents.co.uk.

The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth is the first The Lord of the Rings game for PC that puts you in command of a real-time, open world. You can control massive armies and interactive battlefields across the vast world of Middle-earth, leading the forces of good or evil by controlling one of four unique groups, from the Riders of Rohan to the forces of Sauron. Each has its own playing style, resource management, and base-building techniques. Take command of strategic territories across a highly detailed, 3D map of Middle-earth and turn the tide in the battle to control The One Ring.

'The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age’ videogame allows players to adventure through Middle-earth, building a party of heroes as they journey. Players battle on the side of the Fellowship, but can unlock additional encounters where they fight on the side of Sauron as they progress. In the game, players will interact with the characters of the Fellowship in a unique structure, taking on individual quests while intersecting the major events of the film trilogy that drive the story forward. Parties will traverse through both familiar and seldom-glimpsed locations, using an innovative turn-based battle system as they fight, encountering the demonic Balrog in the Mines of Moria, defending the fallen city of Osgiliath, or trying to destroy Helm's Deep.

Louise Henry, CEO of Access All Areas Events Ltd, said: "We’re very excited about having EA Games present as part of our event. The Lord of the Rings games have attracted a lot of interest with fans of Tolkien’s work, and we believe that attendees will enjoy the opportunity to exclusively play the very latest games before anybody else alongside the other exciting activity that we have at the festival."

Rachael Reitman, UK Brand Manager for EA Games, added: "We are pleased to be attending the Fellowship Festival and see this event as a great opportunity for fans of the Lord of the Rings world to experience our latest interactive gaming titles and become truly immersed inside Middle-earth. "

And don't forget, if you have not entered yet...and you will be in the London area or can make the trip, there is still one week left to win a pair of Gold 3-Day passes to this event! Checkout the 'Headlines' area to enter. :o)

Eledhwen, our Fanfic Editor, writes in and has a special invitation for you folks in the Toronto, Canada area:

Sunday, August 8th, 2004, from Noon to 8 o'clock
92 Scollard Street, Toronto, Ontario
416-413-9739
Casual dress or Middle-earth couture.

For information contact info@yogaanddesign.com

Susan Egan, most recently on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie, will be part of the Hollywood Bowl's The Lord of the Rings Symphony concert Sept. 21.

Egan will be the mezzo-soprano soloist for the concert, which is based on Howard Shore's score for the award-winning film. John Mauceri will conduct the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra for the concert; show time is 8 PM.......more

Dan Hedaya, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ian Holm, Allison Janney and Kristen Johnston have signed on to star in the feature film version of the cult hit Comedy Central series.

The actors join original cast members and creators Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello and Stephen Colbert in the film, which is shooting in New Jersey with Dinello at the helm. Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick also have roles in the film......more

From the perm that ruined junior high to the beehive that haunted our wedding photos, everyone's experienced the horror of terrible, terrible haircuts. Fortunately, so have celebrities. Join VH1 as it once again turns those bad hair days into a hysterical hour-long special recounting the most infamous hairstyling moments of recent memory.

Unfortunatley Peter Jackson as managed to make his way onto this list. To see for yourself tune in to VH1 on August 12th. Check your local listings.......more

The Minister of Economic Development visited Waitakere recently for a look around the set of the movie he helped to secure for New Zealand.

Jim Anderton made a point of visiting the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe set at the Waitakere City-owned film studios in Henderson Valley Road and the Air Force hangars at Hobsonville Airbase.

He played a key role in making sure the film came to New Zealand, through the government’s tax incentive scheme........more

Symphony orchestras don't often face such strong demand that they have to add extra concert dates. But that's what's been happening when orchestras present the symphonic arrangement of Howard Shore's music for "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. The Seattle Symphony, for one, announced one performance but had to add three more after demand outstripped supply.

Tonight's Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concert was added after the original Friday and Saturday concerts sparked enormous interest in the chance to hear a live performance of the musical journeys through Middle Earth. The U.S. premiere of the pieces were held in March in Columbus, Ohio; it has been performed in Seattle, Atlanta and Philadelphia and will head to nine other cities after Pittsburgh through the end of the year.......more

Ian Brodie's immensely popular "Lord of the Rings Guidebook" has been expanded.

Due to be published on August 6th, this definitive full-colour The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook, by Ian Brodie, showcases the principal movie set locations around New Zealand as seen in all three films.

This new book contains all of the features of the popular first and second editions, but has been revised into a larger coffee table size to accommodate the many requests from readers of the first two books.

The popularity of the first two editions has turned Wanaka author Ian Brodie's brainchild into a publishing phenomenon, with more than 200,000 copies of the book sold since the first edition was published in November 2002.

For more information and to order yours today, check it out here!

The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney has put out a press release about the upcoming LOTR Exhibition that will be coming this December! 

Developed over two years by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in conjunction with New Line Cinema, the producers of the film trilogy, this extraordinary exhibition has attracted record crowds in London and Singapore, and now comes to Sydney - the only Australian venue.

The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy - The Exhibition explores both the thematic and thechnological aspects of the films' main characters including Frodo and his hobbit companions, the wizards and other magical creatures, the Black Riders, and the monstrous creations of evil, all dressed in the actual costumes used in the films.......more

You can visit their website for more info and sign up to recieve newsletters and updates here.

Thanks to Serenagreenleaf!

Some fans have sent in the news that they have created a special trailer just for the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King SEDVD.

The Trailer has a running time from about 5 minutes and 53 seconds, there are wunderful film-musics from Howard Shore. The Trailer shows all known SEE-scenes from all making-of-Videos, Previews, Trailers, Bonus Features... But the Trailer does not show Comic-Con-Footage!

You can download it and check it out here!

Note: This file is in RealPlayer format.

Thanks to Indrid Cold, Webmaster of www.RotK-SEE.de.vu for the trailer and the news!

The Lord of the Rings Returns!

AGAIN!!

22 September 2004 Royal Albert Hall selling out (very limited number of seats still available; Gallery standing now on sale @ £12)

DUE TO OVERWHELMING DEMAND

Columbia Artists Management ANNOUNCES A SECOND DATE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL 23 SEPTEMBER at 7.30pm in six movements for soloists, chorus and orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra & London Voices Sissel, vocals. Howard Shore, composer & conductor

BOOKING OPEN MONDAY 2 AUGUST at 9am!

Tickets: £15; £25; £35; £40; £45 (plus booking fee)
Box Office: 020 7589 8212 Website: www.royalalberthall.com

Howard Shore’s evocative music for Peter Jackson’s multi-award winning film, already greeted with a unanimous standing ovation by a sell-out Royal Festival Hall audience in May, returns to London, not once - but now twice - to meet public demand. Columbia Artists Management announces today a second Royal Albert Hall concert to join 22 September (Bilbo and Frodo’s joint birthdays). The party is now set to continue the very next day, Thursday 23 September.... More

Naomi Watts is dreading her upcoming King Kong role, because she fears she'll be spending days staring at something on a green screen.

Lord Of The Rings star Andy Serkis will play the personification of the big ape in the Peter Jackson remake, and Watts hopes she'll be performing with him and not to a tennis ball on a string when filming on the epic begins.

She says, "I don't know what they're gonna do about King Kong himself, but I do know that there's a pair of eyes to look at - from Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Lord of the Rings, and that's the vital key.

"They'll probably put him on a ladder, but it would horrible to think I would be looking at an 'X' or a kind of thorn on a stick because there's a lot of emoting to do." Source

The Saterday Night Live episode in which Elijah appeared will soon be showing in Australia! You can catch it on the 14th of August, on  Arena TV, at 6:30pm EST.....source

It’s welcome back to the Roger Moore-style of acting with the news that teeny squeal fodder Orlando Bloom is to play James Bond in a film about 007’s early years.......more

Sean Astin, Leelee Sobieski and Timothy Dalton are set and Angie Harmon is in negotiations to star in NBC's four-hour miniseries "Hercules," from Hallmark Entertainment.

Astin will play Linus, Hercules' music teacher. Sobieski will play Hercules' second wife, Deianeira. Harmon will play Hercules' mother, Alcmene, and Dalton will play the hero's stepfather, Amphitryon........more

From the wonderful folks that are puttung on the Fellowship Festival have just sent me the announcement that at Alexandra Palace in London next month:

"We are proud to announce that Mr Bernard Hill (King Theoden) will be attending The Fellowship Festival (28th-30th August, London). This is the first time that Bernard has ever attended an event and we are honoured that he chose The Fellowship Festival as the event to meet the fans of The Lord of The Rings. Bernard will be attending all three days and will be:

• Participating in a one hour question and answer session each day in The Hall of Fire
• Meeting fans, signing autographs and having photos taken in our one to one sessions (only 300 sessions sold a day)
• Attending The Exclusive Fellowship Feast with the rest of the Cast & Crew attending and only 90 fans

If you want to meet Bernard or indeed spend the evening with him, click here now to book tickets. Hurry, as tickets are going fast!

The Fellowship Feast is an exclusive evening for the cast and crew and only 90 fans. The evening starts with a drinks reception followed by sitting down to a four-course meal with wine. A member of the cast & crew will be sitting at the table with you. After dinner, Craig Parker and Mark Ferguson will kick off the entertainment with some comedy and we have a special cast band that will entertain you. Don’t miss the event of the year; get your ticket now before they are all sold out!**

For more information about this event go here!

Thanks Louise!

One of our Forum Community members has taken the time to knock up a transcription for the Return of the King SEVDVD preview that was shown at ComicCon this past weekend.

This was obviously a wee bit of work to put together not only the transcription, but also compile the still images to go along with it.

You can check it out for yourself here!

We'd like to thank Aegis of Pyros for proving this for us and you!

Enjoy!

Hi Folks,

Well, it has been a long time in the making. But today we are proud to present our new site, Monsters and Critics.com.

It is an entertainment news and review site. Aiming at linking up all the diverse areas most people are interested in. So you will find movie and dvd news, as well as book and arts coverage.

We are a little short staffed, so gaming and some other areas are a little slow. But overall we think it working pretty well.

Not only that, this is just phase one. The second phse will see the full user system rolled out. Letting you track movies, authors, have a homepage, email, etc. These features and the way M&C works will also rollout on wotr later on in the year.

Anyway, we cordially invite you to take a peek. Feel free to let us know (via the contact form) what you think. You can also join up if you want to get into some discussion or post user reviews.

There are also a number of vacancies, so if you are keen to get involved then feel free.

Remember this is not a replacement for WOTR, but part of our expansion into new areas.

Thanks for your support and we hope you like it!

Regards

James aka Fatty

Billy,
What's happening with this film that you and Dom are trying to make? I've heard lots of rumours, what's the real deal?

Quite a few people have been asking what is happening with the script Dom and I are working on? Well here is the story so far…….from the beginning!......more

Attendees at EA's special GoldenEye: Rogue Agent Community Day – held in EA's brand new Los Angeles studios this past weekend – learned some exciting news that has not yet been reported to the outside press. The Man With the Golden Gun star Christopher Lee has just signed to voice the character of Francisco Scaramanga in Rogue Agent, reprising his famous role from the 1974 James Bond film.......more

Written in 1890, the dark play, which opens in Sydney tonight, is a psychological study of a tragic, manipulative woman who feels trapped by both marriage and society, and will do whatever it takes to get out.

"For me, Cate Blanchett is Hedda Gabler," Nevin said. "She's an extraordinarily intuitive, imaginative and inventive actress so she has many Hedda qualities. She also has a great ability to be very playful in the rehearsal room."......more

William Moseley, 17, was plucked from thousands of hopefuls to play the role of Peter in a new film version of CS Lewis classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The young star - a student at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse - is now in New Zealand filming the famous tale, his first big screen role.

His father, cinematographer Peter Moseley, said the whole family were delighted that William was playing his father's Narnian namesake......more

Wave3, a news station out of Louisville KY, showed up in Elizibethtown as part of the nightly news. The two and a half minute piece can be found at it's website under 'Top News Stories' in the 'Featured Videos' section.

It's hard to describe an enigma. That's the challenge facing "Alias" creator J.J. Abrams as he prepares to launch the new series "Lost" on ABC this fall.

The writer-director spent a day at Comic-Con International to mingle with sci-fi fans and talk about "Lost," which is about 48 people who survive a plane crash and become stranded on a remote island inhabited by strange creatures.

"Lost" stars Matthew Fox, best know for TV's "Party of Five," as a resourceful doctor, and Dominic Monaghan, one of the Hobbits from "The Lord of the Rings," as a drug-addicted rock star. Part of the pilot, which airs Sept. 22, was screened for an audience of thousands at Comic-Con.......more

Hallo Folks,

This week we are pleased to bring you The Shards of Narsil as our weekly featured item from the great folks over at Arms of Valour.

After Narsil was shattered, the Shards were kept in Rivendell, the house of Elrond, for safe keeping. Legend tells that the sword would one day be reforged and the king would return. The miniature Shards of Narsil are presented with a hand painted cold cast statue. The removable shards lay upon a shield.

Display size: 7-14"x7-7/8"x5-7/8" cold cast porcelain with hand painted finish.

Get yours today at a great price right here!

Leandro send us a clip from The Return of the King Extended Edition. Taken at Comic-Con by the looks of it. Thanks!

You can check it out on their site here or from War of the Ring here.

The Extended DVD can now be pre-ordered from Amazon.

Heavy Spoilers!

A 'tabloid' newspaper in the US called Weekly World News makes it a habit to write fake articles and print them in the newspaper. They've written about Elvis being alive, Saddam and Osama being lovers, Aliens found on Mars, and a Bat-Boy, half bat, half boy, living among us. It's no surprise then that the latest issue features this article.

Hobbit Skeleton Found in New Zealand... More

Well Sideshow were unveiling all sorts at Comic Con this week. From Starwars to James Bond. However, they also showed off their brand new Lord of the Rings items.

Not just the cool Minas Tirith model (it opens up) that will come with the special edition extended DVD...but also The Mouth of Sauron and a set of four troll busts.

Check them out on this page we have put up. Do not look if you do not want to see the 'Mouth'!

Better still next week we see gothmog on a Warg.

The scenes from the extended edition were also gone over in detail at another event. Full details on the way.