On December 18, 2001, TheOneRing.net introduced a new feature on our site: Ringer Reviews – “A database of reviews from Tolkien fans all over the world, whether you loved, liked or hated the film this is where you can express your feelings in words and celebrate with your fellow fans the release of the first installment in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.” Twenty-four hours later, fans had posted 3,000 reviews. By Christmas the count was up to 6,700 and on January 19, 2002, a month after FOTR opened, over 10,000 reviews had been submitted.
Today the count stands at 15,084 reviews. Unfortunately, the individual reviews reside on our old site and have been archived. But, we thought it might be fun to revisit some of the overall results, more of which can be found at the Ringer Reviews link above.
John Howe. Photo: Fataneh Howe. Check out this interview with interview that Ethan Gilsdorf conducted with John Howe over two sessions in January and July last year. It’s a corker.
Howe is, of course, a long-time Tolkien illustrator and is currently working with Alan Lee as Conceptual Designer for The Hobbit movie trilogy.
TheOneRing.net with Galatia Films offer this exclusive interview with the Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones actor John Rhys-Davies. Learn about what inspires him to work as an actor. He talks about how it felt to be wearing all the wardrobe and battle axes for the fight scenes, his view on the Dwarves and his love for the films. The original interview was done for Galatia’s Live Reclaiming the Blade Day. Check out its Kickstarter page for more details and the full interview and of course you can also support its Kickstarter campaign for a new film that will feature The Hobbit swords and Narnia actors Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian) and William Moseley (Chronicles of Narnia).
John Rhys-Davies is Welsh and a screen actor and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for playing the dwarf Gimli and Treebeard in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the charismatic Arab excavator Sallah in the Indiana Jones films. He also played Agent Michael Malone in the 1993 remake of the 1950s television series The Untouchables, Pilot Vasco Rodrigues in the mini-series Shōgun, Professor Maximillian Arturo in Sliders, King Richard I in Robin of Sherwood, General Leonid Pushkin in the James Bond film The Living Daylights, and Macro in I, Claudius. Additionally, he provided the voices of Cassim in Disney’s Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
This week, Vanity fair is looking at Oscar nominated films in a recurring feature called “Sketch to Still.” The series focuses on the creative process of making movies. This week they are talking to Oscar nominee Peter Swords King about his work in makeup and hair design for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit movies.
The dwarves’ look is also influenced by their lifestyle. “They drink a lot—their manners are really bad at the table. Any person who’s drunk all their lives, their nose is going to get quite red. All they do is eat meat. It’s not a very good diet. They live outside, so they’re beaten, battered, and bruised,” says King.Once the sketches were perfected, the filmmakers began casting. At this point, the hair-and-makeup team fit the actors for wigs, as well as prosthetics.
Radio NZ National program The Arts on Sunday has interviewed Peter King who is the brains behind the make up design for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
King has previously won an Oscar and a BAFTA for his work on The Lord of the Rings, while his other film credits include Nine, the Nanny McPhee movies, King Kong, Thunderbirds and An Ideal Husband.
I don’t know how long the link will remain up so you should have a listen soon. Press play below to hear the interview.
If the above link doesn’t work for you listen [here]
Just back from a ‘top secret’ assignment with Wellington Weta Workshops, Fiona Thomson is happy to be back behind her work bench in her Glenview shop.
The In Hide Leatherworks owner is still excited at being part of the production of The Hobbit movie but everything she knows about the film and its wardrobe must be a secret till the official release in December.
All she will say about her four months stint in Wellywood is that she was involved in creating clothing and armour.
On December 18, 2001, TheOneRing.net introduced a new feature on our site: Ringer Reviews – “A database of reviews from Tolkien fans all over the world, whether you loved, liked or hated the film this is where you can express your feelings in words and celebrate with your fellow fans the release of the first installment in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.” Twenty-four hours later, fans had posted 3,000 reviews. By Christmas the count was up to 6,700 and on January 19, 2002, a month after FOTR opened, over 10,000 reviews had been submitted.
