So we all know that the ROTK trailer is not out, nor will it be out for a little while…or will it? Check out this email from Ringer Spy Mr. Sieve. Mr. Sieve was at a convention in Chicago over the weekend and stumbled across a booth with the ROTK trailer. Take it as you will. We can neither confirm nor deny this is factual. (But thats the nature of spy reports eh?!)
I was at a Halloween costume & party convention over the weekend in Chicago, and in one of the booths, selling lotr costumes and accessories, the guy running the booth had a copy of the ROTK trailer. I don’t know where he got it — I didn’t ask and he didn’t say, but let me tell you … it was AWESOME!!! … Narsil was reforged, Eomer wept with Theoden in his arms on the pelennor fields, pippin lunged and pulled faramir off the funeral pyre, sam went after something (shelob assuredly, but they showed nothing of her) with the phial of galadriel, grima drew a dagger and leapt at someone …. those were just the highlights … i’ll attempt to go through it shot for shot as best i can remember …. it opened with armies charging across plains, then cut to gandalf in theoden’s hall at edoras telling aragorn, gimli, and legolas that they are running out of time … oh hell, i don’t remember the exact order now, but they do show the halls of the dead (a bunch of skulls lying on the floor in a dungeon looking set), they show aragorn riding at the head of an army with the white tree emblazened on his breast plate, they show eowyn and faramir in the garden in gondor embracing, sam crying out to frodo that “can’t you see? He’s betrayed us!”, but the coolest thing of all is SAURON COMES BACK IN PHYSICAL FORM … unless it was some weird flashback, which I doubt, in the final battle before the black gates, Sauron is back, decked out in the same armor he was wearing in the flashback sequence in FOTR, and he goes after Aragorn — so it would seem … Sauron is bashing his way through, they cut to Aragorn fighting off a bunch of orcs, they cut back to a shot of Sauron, and they cut to a shot of Legolas, shouting Aragorn’s name, as if to say, “Hey Aragorn, look out, there’s a huge %$^#$^&^ with a mace about to pound your skull in!” …. all in all, the trailer was about two minutes long and showed a lot — but my memory isn’t what it used to be … just thought I’d let you all know that there is complete ROTK in circulation … again, I have no idea where this guy got it, but I’m kicking myself now for not giving him like twenty bucks, and asking him to dub a copy and mail it to me …. if I can sort out anymore of it in my muddled mind, I will let you know …
Thanks Mr. Sieve for the heads up!
Want to discuss this report? Sauron in physical form?! Head to our chat room in Barlimans right now!
News from Frodine: “I’ve just returned from Masterton, my home town. I took my 82 year old dad (the oldest “onering” fan?) and friend out to see PJ’s country house. It is a fantastic looking mansion with turrets and towers and enormous brick walls and iron gates at the entrance. Oh the excitement of it all wondering if PJ himself might come along! Well there was no sign of the Great One but a guy did come to the gate to pick up the newspaper and he answered our many , excited questions. Yes he did work there as property manager but wasn’t at liberty to divulge his name (I did recognise him from school. However his secret is safe with me !!!) I said I was a “onering ” fan and intended to send back a spy report. He looked a little worried but must have decided we were all too old to be a serious threat . We exchanged pleasantries about the size of the house and the many builders working there; the lovely home that he had, (that had been shifted from Masterton) and the numerous fans that he had spoken to. My most burning question however was —“Has anything been changed in “Return Of The King?” “I doubt it'” he said, shaking his head. There you have it from an authoritative source!!!! We can now all sleep in peace! [I bet he’s well schooled how NOT to answer the curious fans – Tehanu] I have sent a link to the local newspaper that has printed a splendid aerial shot of the house.” [More]
Celebrimbor writes about a film project that Elijah Wood is part of: “Last Saturday (March 1st) I attended an open casting call for extras for a new movie starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslett. What I didn’t realize is that Elijah Wood has a part in it. I assume not a leading role, as he wasn’t listed as a star in the article i read about it in the newspaper. The movie is “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
Celebrimbor was told he’d got in as an extra, so hopefully we’ll hear more from on the set later on.
Meaghan transcribed this interview with Sean Astin in People Magazine:
The Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin, 32, visited the White House recently to join the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, a 25-member group that will encourage volunteerism in all 50 states and, perhaps, Middle Earth. Scoop inquired about the gig.
“How were you picked ?”
“I was at a memorial service for 9/11 at the Pentagon (last year), sitting next to a lady who worked in the White House Personnel Office. She said the President was about to announce a panel on service and asked if I’d be interested. I said “I’m a Democrat !” She said, “It’s bipartisan.” No problem; I’m proud to serve.”
“What happend next ?”
“In January I had a meeting in the White House. It was pretty cool sitting opposite former Sens. Bob Dole and John Glenn and (former Washington Redskin) Darrell Green.”
“Did you get any souvenirs from the White House ?”
“The service pin they gave us to wear. I got some White House M&Ms, but I can’t find them. I menu from the White House mess.”
“So how are you going to get people to volunteer ?”
“President Kennedy said, “Ask not what you country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” Just remind people of that.”
“What will you do ?”
“My daughter, wife, and I are trying to figure out something we can do together, maybe work at a soup kitchen.”
“Do you recall the first time that you volunteered ?”
“My mom and dad (Patty Duke and John Astin)would host a New York portion of the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon. I was about 7. My brothers and I would answer phones and take pledges, do pitches for people to send money.”
“Would you consider Lord of the Rings’s Samwise Gamgee as being a volunteer for Middle-Earth ?”
“Sure.”
Karon wrote to tell us that Billy Boyd will be appearing at a signing in the UK for something called CollectorMania in May. [More]
New Zealand: ArwenElf sends news of the preparations for the world premiere of ROTK in Wellington. [More] Remember if you are planning to be in NZ for this, TORNado Phil Capper is trying to coordinate a network of homestays among local LOTR fans in Wellington. Email phillip.capper@webresearch.co.nz if you are interested in helping or benefiting from this.
Also in NZ: First captioned screenings in Australasia for the hearing impaired. [More]
Japan: Bruce sends in this from the Japan Times: “AOL Time Warner Inc.’s second movie of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy generated more than 1.1 billion yen (about US$9.2 million) in ticket sales in Japan on the first weekend of its release. The figures for “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” exceeded those for the opening weekend of the first movie in the series, Toru Tanabe, a spokesman for Nippon Herald Films Inc., on of the film’s local distributors, said Monday, although her couldn’t immediately provide a percentage comparison.”
Sweden: Martin writes in on the new Swedish translations of Tolkiens work, long overdue it seems:
“I noticed you had some news on the new Swedish translation, the first volume of which will appear next year, so I thought I’d say something about the translation (by Professor Åke Ohlmarks) that we Swedes have had to live with for the past 43 years.
“There is a reason why the Swedish translation is the only one singled out for condemnation in Humphrey Carpenter’s Tolkien biography, and Tolkien’s own criticism (in “The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien”) is completely justified. I might even go so far as saying that it is the worst translation in the history of the Swedish language. Here are some random errors (there are thousands) that Professor Ohlmarks have perpetrated (All quotes from the English text are actually paraphrases, since I don’t have the text available at the moment):
— “Most of these bore the mark of DALE” becomes “Most of these were called bow-drones” (whatever that is) — “Shelob’s Lair” becomes “the She-Monster’s Thigh” (probably because the Swedish word for “thigh” bears an extremely superficial resemblance to “lair”) — “…when the Firstborn roamed the forest” becomes “…when the Firstborn One bellowed in the forest” (again because of an extremely superficial resemblance between “roam” and the Swedish word for “bellow”) — “He stopped dead” becomes “He had stopped death” — “gear” becomes “spear” — in Éowyn and Merry’s battle with the Witch-king, two pronouns have been changed, making it appear that it was Merry who cut off the Witch-king’s head (this error has been corrected, but as late as 1989) — “What has happened to your precious Nazgûl? Had another mount shot under him?” becomes “What has happened to your precious Nazgûl? Landed on another mountain?”
Also, names have been extremely inconsistently translated. Within the space of four pages, Isengard is “Isengard”, “Isendor”, and “Isendal”.
And Tolkien’s style has been severely changed as well. Ohlmarks has added thousands of words, ruining Tolkien’s prose.
So as you can understand, the readers in Sweden applaud the decision to create a new translation.”
This was sent in by Siobhán a week or so back, and I loved the description of skulduggery in the world of Tolkien publishing:
“Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reports today that a new translation of LOTR is on the way. The old one is heavily criticized. Personally my view on the old translation has been mellowed after reading how the translator, being declared persona non grata by the Tolkiens for his translation, broke into their house to get a sneak preview of the Silmarillion. Discovered by Christopher Tolkien, he was apparently kicked out.
“The new translation will be done by the the translator Erik Andersson (previous work: Zadie Smith, James Ellroy, Nick Hornby and Jeff Noon) and the poet Lotta Olsson Andersson (she´ll take care of songs and stuff). First part planned for autumn 2004.”
Cecilia writes from Australia: “Sydney radio station 2dayfm has a segment called Battle of the Sexes, in which guys answer girlie related questions and vice versa, scores are kept and there is a winner at the end of the year. The girls have won for the last 3 years, but this year, they are way behind. Because of this, at the beginning of the segment they always play the words spoken by Saruman “There is a new power arising!” relating to the boys and the girls reply is the words of Gandalf and Aragorn “The defences must hold”, “They will hold”. It always gives me thrill when they play it each morning and my kids rush in to hear it. Anyway, what girl wouldn’t want Aragorn on their side?”
Kirk writes from Wellington: “The School of Mathematical and Computing Sciences (at Victoria University of Wellington) will be hosting a seminar “Tales from Two Towers” on Wednesday 12 March 2003 presented by Weta’s Milton Ngan.” [More
Bruce wrote: “The Two Towers had its premier here in Japan last Saturday, the 15th. I went with my wife, sister-in-law and two friends to the third showing that day. The first two and the one that I attended were all sold out. I don’t know about the final showing, however. It did not start until 9:00 p.m., and with the movie being 3 hours long, there is the question of being able to catch a train home.” Bruce sent in a link to the review in an English-language Japanese paper here.
A group of mainly British TORNadoes met up today for the concert at the Royal Festival Hall featuring Howard Shore and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the UK premiere of the Fellowship of the Ring concert suite. It was a truly memorable afternoon.
Following pizza and laughs for lunch, we made our way to the Festival Hall and took our seats (dispersed around the auditorium) for the first part of the concert, ‘The Lost Music of the Gaels’. This was a selection of pieces for string quartet, piano, and traditional Celtic instruments such as concertina, bodhran drum, and uileann pipes. The music was accompanied by a silent video film showing images of wild mountains and moorlands – very atmospheric! We all enjoyed this part of the concert, although the many children around us took some time to settle down.
The second part was Stravinsky’s ‘A Soldier’s Tale’. Here a small chamber group performed Stravinsky’s music to an animated version of the text which goes with it. The piece tells the story of a soldier who makes a bargain with the Devil, to get rich in exchange for his violin. Of course everything goes horribly wrong. The animation was well done, and the idea interesting, but none of us were particularly entranced. Perhaps we just wanted to get to Tolkien.
Following the Stravinsky came the Tannoura Troupe, musicians and dancers originating from Egypt. This was simply astounding. The musicians entered first and launched into loud, entrancing Arabic music, and were followed by three dancers carrying drums. These men began to dance around whilst playing their drums. Thirdly the first of the two Whirling Dervishes appeared, and that was when things got really interesting. Wearing layered, brightly coloured skirts over bright undergarments, and carrying four bright discs, the Dervish spun round and round and round, and round and round, without seeming to get dizzy. His skirts made beautiful patterns and round about, the original three dancers weaved with their drums. And he kept going! Towards the end he detached the topmost skirt and used it almost as a spinning top, or maybe one of those hoops children play with; passed it deftly to one of the others and proceeded to do the same with his second skirt. It was amazing. After a brief interlude with the three dancers with drums, a second Dervish came on and performed another dance, with three skirts this time. The audience loved the whole show and gave the troupe a much deserved round of applause.
After the third and final interval, the hall filled up again and on the concert floor the orchestra set up – many percussion instruments, two harps, as well as the usual variety of symphonic instruments. The atmosphere built. The choruses came on – the London Voices and the boys from the London Oratory School. And finally the man himself, Howard Shore, given a rousing welcome. Then we were taken to Middle-earth.
Listening to the score on CD, or as the soundtrack to the film, does not really give a true impression of the layers and depth to the piece. Shore has rewritten bits of the film soundtrack and linked the separate parts together to create one seamless whole, and it works beautifully. In our minds we saw again Hobbiton, Rivendell, Moria, Lórien, and Amon Hen. Everyone found it interesting to see the odd percussion instruments used – one in particular, at the start of ‘A Journey in the Dark’, sent shivers down spines with its high-pitched squeak. The choirs add depth even in places you do not realise they are singing. There was true grief in the stunning voice of the female soloist who sang ‘Gandalf’s Lament’. Throughout, Shore managed to conduct his enormous orchestra and the three separate parts of the chorus with panache and passion. At the end, following the moving rendition of ‘In Dreams’, and the final swell of the Fellowship Theme, the audience rose to its feet. I was really proud to be a part of it, and to be there to see Shore and the musicians get the adulation and acclaim from their home crowd, and to clap as hard as I could.
The performance was without mishap – however some of us couldn’t help laughing a little at one point. They were showing some stills from the film as a backdrop to the orchestra, and the last one was one of Frodo holding out his hand to catch the Ring. With the relative silence at the beginning of ‘The Breaking of the Fellowship’, a little voice near us piped up, “That’s Frodo!” Lovely!
Afterwards some of our group went to get Howard Shore’s autograph, and came back later reporting that he signed something for every person, shook hands, and was generally a very nice man. We also had unconfirmed reports of a certain Christopher Lee hiding near the women’s chorus during the concert, but nobody saw him afterwards, so we cannot be sure!
It was a lovely afternoon, and a fantastic concert. We are all hoping there will be a repeat performance with the Two Towers music next year! Many thanks to my fellow TORNadoes for making it such fun, and of course to Howard Shore, the London Philharmonic, the London Voices, the London Oratory School, and the rest of the performers for entertaining us so well.