July 21st, 2008 by DiveTwin
| Source: USAToday.com
With Academy Award buzz circulating around Health Ledger’s frightening portrayal of The Joker as well as for the movie itself, The Dark Knight is generating all sorts of Oscar talk. A recent USA Today article reviews those topics and happens to credit another genre film that gives The Dark Knight a reason to hope. A section noted:
But through the years, as studios focused on big-budget films, “the Hollywood establishment began turning its nose up to quality movies that happened to have action,” says Steve Mason, columnist for Hollywood.com. “The sentiment became that if it’s fun or funny or escapist entertainment, it can’t be that good. Recognizing Dark Knight would be a significant step to correct that.”
It’s not impossible. In 2004, the academy finally presented a best-picture Oscar to a fantasy film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
“I had a glimmer of hope when Return of the King won; it felt like a victory for our kinds of films,” says Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, which plans its own Oscar campaign for Iron Man and star Robert Downey Jr.
1900 June - Mabel Suffield Tolkien converts to Catholicism, which shocks both the Unitarian Suffields and the Baptist Tolkiens. Despite being familially estranged and financially cut off due to this decision, she remains undeterred and begins her sons’ instruction in the Catholic faith, one that becomes especially deep-rooted in Ronald for his entire life.
1915 June 29 - At his army physical, Tolkien declares that he has never suffered from any serious illness or injury. Read the rest of this entry »
This week’s LOTR movie news is kinda sparse, so I thought I’d add in some Tolkien stuff. I tried to concentrate on mostly on things related to LOTR, with a smattering of some personal (but public) info on Tolkien & family. Read the rest of this entry »
Ringer Diedye points us to a Telegraph.co.uk story about Play.com’s top 50 Novels of all time. The top 5 are as follows:
1. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
2. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S Lewis
4. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
5. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
For the complete article, check out the Telegraph Online. [Full List]
Associate Professor of English, LeiLani Hinds, has been teaching Tolkien for a while now but for the first time there will be a chance for those outside of Honolulu to participate, having a chance to earn 3 credits of transfer-level college credit, writing intensive, for taking “English 257L J. R. R. Tolkien. Just as when Hinds first started her course, she is asking TheOneRing.net to spread the word. Read the full text of her letter after the link. Read the rest of this entry »
Reuters Life! reports: When it comes to literary pursuits in the United States most people agree on at least one thing — the most popular book is the Bible, according to a new survey. It came in first in a Harris Poll of nearly 2,513 adults but the second choice in the survey was not as clear cut. “While the Bible is number one among each of the different demographic groups, there is a large difference in the number two favorite book,” Harris said in a statement announcing the results. Men chose J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” and women selected Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind” as their second-favorite book, according to the online poll. Thanks to message board member Ainu Laire for the tip! Read More
April 6th, 2008 by Calisuri
| Source: SKY Magazine
In the March 2008 edition of Delta Airlines ‘SKY’ Magazine, the ‘Star Books’ area featured an excerpt from ‘The Two Towers.’ The entire edition of the magazine featured a ‘green’ theme and The Two Towers we chosen because of Professor Tolkien’s love for the environment. Ringer Michelf send along some great scans, but you can also visit the official Sky Magazine website to see the article for yourself. [Scans] [Delta Sky Magazine]
Ringer Forum Member Diedye points us to this intriguing news today from the UK:
A rare collection of books and artefacts will be open to the public for the first time after a £5million donation was made to the famous Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
Original manuscripts from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein will be among a number of national treasures put on display in a new exhibition hall.
The donation by Julian Blackwell, president of the Blackwell’s academic bookshop chain, is the largest yet made to a university library in the UK.
Ringer board member and artist, Ainu Laire, was kind enough to point out that today is Aragorn’s official birthday:
“Aragorn is one of the few Tolkien characters to be actually granted a date of birth and not just a year. He was born on March 1st, 2931 of the Third Age to Arathorn and Gilraen. At two years old, his father was slain by an orc-arrow that pierced his eye and he died at the age of sixty. Gilraen took her child to Rivendell, and Elrond took the place of his father and loved him as if he were his own. In this house his lineage was kept secret from him, and he was called Estel, which means ‘hope’ in the Elven tongue. “
Ainu Laire has posted a complete history on our boards, as well as some links to their wonderful artwork (featured in this post). Please check out the full post! [Read More]
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With Academy Award buzz circulating around Health Ledger’s frightening portrayal of The Joker as well as for the movie itself, The Dark Knight is generating all sorts of Oscar talk. A recent USA Today article reviews those topics and happens to credit another genre film that gives The Dark Knight a reason to hope. A section noted:
Shawn writes: There is a humorous new LOTR-themed Yahoo! Mail/messaging demo that Yahoo has put out on their site, 
