Film-related thoughts from a Lord of the Rings and Golden Age of Hollywood fan.
Happy Hobbit Day! During our visit to Singapore, Australia and New Zealand in 2017, my mum and I visited Matamata and Hobbiton Movie Set two days before we left New Zealand and started our long journey back to the UK. As we made the hour's drive from where we were staying in Rotorua we played... Continue Reading →
New Zealand's North Island visually has a different feel to the South Island. While the South Island has the sweeping vistas and looming mountains, North Island is decidedly more hilly. It is three times the population of South Island too. While on North Island we stayed in Rotorua, Auckland and, of course, Wellington, the home... Continue Reading →
Although we've only just started 2021 I'm already looking forward to A Very Special Anniversary that will be taking place at the end of the year. As long-time readers of my blog know, I have loved The Lord of the Rings trilogy since I saw the first film at the cinema aged 13. This year, in... Continue Reading →
Like any other devoted Ringer, when the extended editions of Fellowship, The Two Towers and The Return of the King were released I immediately watched them and then spent hours going through the bonus content. Director and producer Peter Jackson named this bonus content the ‘appendices’. He was following in JRR Tolkien’s footsteps; Tolkien placed... Continue Reading →
791 days since my post on 16th October 2010 revealing the excellent news that plans for The Hobbit had been greenlit, that principal photography would begin in February 2011 and that Peter Jackson would direct, write and produce, I finally returned to Middle-earth. As Ringers the world over can agree with, to say I was looking forward... Continue Reading →
Once a year, a magical event takes place at the San Diego Convention Center where thousands of comic book, film and TV fans from all over the world come together. I've never been myself but from what I've see and read, it has to be one of the best - if not the ultimate - conventions to... Continue Reading →
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is my absolute favourite franchise. It beats out Star Wars and Harry Potter - two of my other favourites - put together... As I said in my post about the Harry Potter franchise, Harry was forgotten as soon as Frodo entered the scene. 2001 - The Lord of the... Continue Reading →
Happy Friday, everyone. As I've been a bit slack with posts this week, this post is a bumper Friday special, featuring not only a Favourites Friday but a mini review and an update from the set of The Hobbit. Enjoy! ------------------------------------------------------------------- Quint over at Ain't It Cool News has posted his fourth report from the... Continue Reading →
Quint, that lucky chap from Ain't It Cool News who we are all very jealous of, has posted his final report from the Hobbiton set of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again. As usual, a spoiler warning does apply. The report is full of great insider information and I... Continue Reading →
If ever I'm in need of cheering up, several things usually work: music, a guilty pleasure like Labyrinth or some comedy clips on YouTube - anything by Michael McIntyre gets me in fits of giggles. For several reasons, the last couple of weeks have been quite difficult. I found a welcome distraction in the form... Continue Reading →
Quint over at Ain't It Cool News turned me a rather fetching shade of green yesterday... The lucky chap was invited to embed himself on the set of The Hobbit for the entirety of their location shoot. In his first report he wrote that he would be "...spending over two months in New Zealand rolled... Continue Reading →
Today – 22nd August – is the 40th birthday of the lovely Richard Armitage. Well-known on the small screen, Armitage has appeared in such TV series as Cold Feet, The Vicar of Dibley, Robin Hood, Spooks and Strike Back. His first major film role was in this year's Captain America: The First Avenger, where he... Continue Reading →
Cinematic Delights 