On the upcoming episode of DC Legends of Tomorrow, airing this Tuesday, March 21 at 9:00 p.m. EST on The CW channel, the team goes back to France during WWI and enlists the help of, yes, J.R.R. Tolkien. The episode is titled “Fellowship of the Spear.” From IMDB: “The Legends land in France during World War I and enlist the aid of J.R.R. Tolkien to retrieve the last pieces of the Spear of Destiny from the Legion of Doom.”
Tolkien is being played by actor Jack Turner known, among other things, for his role as Liam in the Stitchers series and the movie The 10-Year Plan. Here is the link to the trailer for the episode (although they don’t mention Tolkien in trailer). Definitely one to put on your watch list! If you’re unable to watch or DVR it, you can stream it online after it airs at the same link.
While Tolkien was a British writer, his readership and influence extend far beyond the English language. Middle-earth transcends both time and culture as we have seen again and again when having the pleasure to meet fellow fans from around the globe through both TheOneRing and Happy Hobbit. That said, sometimes it takes a little longer for Tolkien events and/or specials in other languages and countries to reach our ears. Fortunately for you, dear reader, famed Tolkien artist and scholar John Howe sent a message our way via thrush to let us know about a delightful Franco-English documentary he narrated in 2015 about the source material for Tolkien’s The Hobbit titled A la Recherche du Hobbit (Looking for the Hobbit).
You can watch the first episode of five in English below:
If you’re confident enough to navigate the French website (all you have to do is click on the shopping cart icon!) you can purchase a region-free English version here, and the series is available in French on DVD and streaming here (along with a preview). You can also peruse several delightful behind the scenes photos on their Facebook page.
John Howe at Hobbiton in Matamata, NZ.
What’s more, John Howe has taken the time to provide us with his thoughts on why, even after all this time, he was excited to contribute to yet another exploration of Tolkien.
With the sixth season of The HBO series Game of Thrones just around the corner, are comparisons between it and The Lord of the Rings inevitable? The Irish Times seems to think so. In this provocative article, author Ed Power explores the irresistible urge of some fans to rank them against each other.
“Central to the whispering campaign against Tolkien is the idea that he peddled a reductive world view. While George RR Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire sequence is regarded as mature, complex and reflective of real human life, Lord of The Rings is felt to be fusty, puritanical and cheesily moralistic. Nobody in Game of Thrones is truly good or bad”
The Lord of the Rings is cheesy and puritanical? Oh dear. Of course, devoted fans of J.R.R. Tolkien would never describe it that way, but devoted fans of George R.R. Martin (who haven’t read LOTR?) might – and some apparently do. Can Jaime Lannister hold a candle to Aragorn, or vice versa? Are Gollum, Eowyn or John Snow one-dimensional?
As a devoted fan of both (yes, it’s quite possible), I personally think that the difference between the two is a good thing. Both approaches can be enormously entertaining, cringe-worthy at times, yet pierce the heart with both beauty and tragedy. What about you? Do you have a preference or do you enjoy both? Read the full article, and let us know!
Staffer Justin spots the Hobbit connections in yesterday’s Golden Globes awards ceremony:
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was not nominated in any categories at the 2015 Golden Globes, but it was still very present at the ceremony. From the outset of the first award, Benedict Cumberbatch raised his hand to present on stage with Jennifer Aniston. Smaug the prankster was just getting warmed up.
A few minutes later during a photo-op gag featuring Meryl Streep and Margaret Cho, Benedict repeated his famous #Cumberbomb in what was probably one of the most DVR-rewind moments of the night. (Click the image for the animated GIF!)
Eddie Redmayne took home best dramatic actor for The Theory of Elvenking errr Every Ring errr Everything, but few knew about his Hobbit connection! Mr Redmayne originally auditioned for Bilbo way back when, and the audition did not go very well. Watch the video below to see him telling Graham Norton about it.
Fans on Twitter also spotted BOFUR himself James Nesbitt in the audience!
Several awards including Screenplay and Comedy Actor went to BIRDMAN. We are talking about the same bird man right?
Martin Freeman and the team in FARGO won for Best Miniseries. That makes Martin one of the most gilded TV actors between Sherlock and Fargo.
Even without any nods to The Hobbit, the fact that Middle-earth has touched the careers of so many wonderful actors makes for a fun awards watching experience. Awards season is just getting started – will you help us bring it to an eagle-soaring completion at #OneLastParty?
One Last Party fundraiser!
Our One Last Party fundraiser on Indiegogo is 80% funded and we’re pretty stoked!
If you’d like to join us as a Party of Special Magnificence in Hollywood in February — a toast to all SIX Middle-earth movies, then now is the time to throw in your support! Even if you can’t make it to Hollywood (or if you’ve already contributed), you can help out by retweeting or sharing our fundraiser across social media to get the word out.
In a rare move, Stephen Colbert was granted an interview (er…audience) with none other than Smaug himself on his American television show “The Colbert Report”. As many of you know, Stephen is a great Tolkien fan, and Smaug seemingly left his last press interview of the day just for him.
The two share some of their common political interests, and Smaug discusses some of the difficulties of working on the Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy – as well as his distaste for several “pretender” Hollywood dragons. Continue reading “Stephen Colbert interviews Smaug the Magnificent”
On an hour-long episode of Trip Flip, host Bert Kreischer surprises an adrenaline-loving couple with the trip of a lifetime to the adventure capital of the world, New Zealand.
On the upcoming episode of DC Legends of Tomorrow, airing this Tuesday, March 21 at 9:00 p.m. EST on The CW channel, the team goes back to France during WWI and enlists the help of, yes, J.R.R. Tolkien. The episode is titled “Fellowship of the Spear.” From IMDB: “The Legends land in France during World War I and enlist the aid of J.R.R. Tolkien to retrieve the last pieces of the Spear of Destiny from the Legion of Doom.”
Our One Last Party fundraiser on Indiegogo is 80% funded and we’re pretty stoked!
