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If you can't FIND LOTR news, make it up (FoxNews,Cinescape).... - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

July 09, 2000 at 13:25:06

In today's review of what's "hot" on the Web we find that many LOTR movie news sites are citing the warmed over fare being served up by Cinescape and Foxnews....

The mid-winter hiatus has disrupted the fast pace of LOTR movie news reporting. Dragoncon has generated more commentary than any other hiatal event and virtually nothing certain was revealed at the convention (even the rumor about the November release of the trailer is just a rumor -- Xenite.Org chose not to report it because the source is about as far removed from the film production as one can get and still claim some legitimate involvement in Tolkien-related projects).

Cinescape has nicely summed up some of the comments from Brad Dourif and Karl Urban at Dragoncon. Any fan who has read a full convention report from one of the dedicated Tolkien sites, however, has already found out what they said. Cinescape's article provides the best value to people who don't frequent the Tolkien movie news sites and want even more encapsulated news than you'll find on Xenite.Org.

FoxNews.Com apparently felt it was time to say something about J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings", so they trotted out the usual outdated facts, quoted a well-known Webmaster, and even pulled poor Ralph Bakshi out of the closet so he could claim he had done something wonderful 22 years ago. The Bakshi comments seem to have spurred a round of Bakshi-supporting comments on one major Tolkien news site. Bakshi fans have cleverly ignored the blatant contradictions between Bakshi's comments on faithfulness to Tolkien's story and the travesty which he was associated with in the late 1970s. Faceless/nameless "Bakshi bashers" have taken it on the chin for apparently misrepresenting the fact that Bakshi combined Legolas and Glorfindel as a real fact (one must wonder what movie these Bakshi supporters have in mind, and if they have actually read Tolkien).

So, the war of addressing unnamed "opponents" in the Bakshi-Debate (or is it a Bakshi Debacle) continues even here at Xenite.Org.

In other news desperately manufactured to fill the gap while we wait for the "Lord of the Rings" production to resume work at the end of the month, no deaths were reported as the actors ate their breakfasts during the past week. A few of the actors actually dared breathe in the stunning silence which filled their lives as the world focused its attention on Dragoncon. Peter Jackson is rumored to have said, "Good morning" to his partner, Fran Walsh, in a tone of voice much like he always uses.

A New Zealand radio show did recently broadcast a half-hour report on the impact Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings" has had on the economy and film industry of New Zealand. It's a fascinating listen for people who simply must know everything. Nothing significant is revealed about the production itself (except another American producer has been named). One of the major Tolkien news sites has a recording of the show which they've made available to a few of the other Webmasters, but they are checking into the perils of posting it before making the recording public. Another major Tolkien news site has openly asked for a recording that they may post. Xenite.Org is just reporting (or manufacturing) the news. Ever since Karl Urbangate, we've been lying low (or just travelling around the good old US of A and losing our shirts at Mississippi casinos).

Arwengate may turn out to be the media's darling of LOTR-related news stories. Arwen has generated fewer comments and complaints than the dropping of Bombadil (so far, no Arwen petitions have been brought to our attention) but she still gets all the attention. Michael Martinez was recently interviewed by a New Zealand newspaper concerning the attention devoted to Arwen. Of the 370-page report he wrote for the very polite reporter, 2 sentences made it into the article.

The actual second quote (perhaps edited to save space) should have read: "They have a very fixed image of Arwen which reflects his own disappointment in not being to work her into the story better than he did (he actually removed a lot of material). But most fans are not aware of just how active Tolkien felt his Elven women could or should be."

Fortunately, the reporter was kind and did not quote Michael's mis-spelling of Cate Blanchett's name.

Message to Peter: Rock musicians are swamping us with requests for your email address (no joke). Please announce a classical composer SOON! (No offense to the rock musicians, but we have our opinions on what the soundtrack should be like, and we don't have Peter's address.)

We hear that James Horner, Danny Elfman, and John Williams are all available. Mozart is still engaged on the Other Side.