Meet the Maker of Middle-Earth: The Magic in Tolkien’s Story

Tolkien, a biopic by Finnish director Dome Karukoski, focuses on the early life of famed author J.R.R. Tolkien. Heavily intercut, chronologically it begins with his late childhood in the idyllic village of Sarehole, and ends with his undergraduate years at Oxford and his experiences as a newly commissioned officer in the horror and mud of the Battle of the Somme. A brief final scene jumps to show Tolkien, now married and the father of four, writing the famous opening line to The Hobbit. Hav...
Tags: Hollywood, France, Religion, Oxford, Catholic, Sam, Middle Earth, Tolkien, Corinthians, Edith, Daniel Taylor, Gandalf, Frodo, Dome Karukoski, Tea Club, Sarehole

Robert Pattinson Will Play the Caped Crusader in Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ [Updated]

Update: A new report suggests that Pattinson is on the short list for Batman alongside Nicholas Hoult. Read more below. Robert Pattinson is your new Batman. The High Life star has been tapped by Warner Bros. as The Batman star in Matt Reeves‘ upcoming superhero film set to hit theaters in June 2021. Pattinson will be taking over the cape and cowl from Ben Affleck, who last played the Caped Crusader in 2017’s Justice League. The heartthrob-turned-character actor will now be adding “superhero”...
Tags: Movies, Casting, Ben Affleck, Gotham, Robert-Pattinson, Christian Bale, Bruce Wayne, Batman, Warner Bros, Tolkien, Warner Brothers, Reeves, Nicholas Hoult, Affleck, Pattinson, Matt-Reeves

12 theater productions to see in Southern California, May 17-23

LOS ANGELES COUNTY ‘Be a Good Little Widow’ Bekah Brunstetter’s comedy about a young woman who, after her husband tragically dies, is mentored by her seasoned mother-in-law on how to be a perfect widow. When: May 18-June 9. Where: Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets: $35-$45. Information: 310-477-2055, Ext. 2, web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/1010034 ‘Coastal Disturbances’ The Off The Page staged play reading series continues with a comedy about the lives, loves and losses of...
Tags: Massachusetts, Los Angeles, Sport, Soccer, Tennessee, West Coast, Robert Louis Stevenson, Tolkien, Hans Christian Andersen, South Coast, Southern California, Lewis, Tony, David Henry Hwang, Redlands, Yasmina Reza

Why the south of Westeros is the north of Ireland

The fantasy world of Game of Thrones was inspired by real places and eventsBut the map of Westeros is a good example of the perplexing relation between fantasy and realityLike Britain, it has a Wall in the North, but the map only really clicks into place if you add Ireland A world of "goblin porn" Warning: if you haven't caught up, mild spoiler ahead."Hell is other people talking about Game of Thrones," writes Arwa Mahdawi in The Guardian this week. A few days more, and the eighth and final seas...
Tags: Europe, Video, London, Entertainment, Aberdeen, History, Britain, Ireland, Innovation, Manchester, Storytelling, Game Of Thrones, Map, Staten Island, Middle Earth, King

Looking at Game of Thrones, in Old Norse

The endtime is coming. The night is very long indeed; sun and moon have vanished. From the east march the frost-giants, bent on the destruction of all that is living. From the south come fiery powers, swords gleaming brightly. A dragon flies overhead. And, terrifyingly, the dead are walking too. Heroes are ready and waiting; representing the best of mankind, they have trained in anticipation of the greatest of battles. Now the two mighty forces lock together in apocalyptic combat. Who will emerg...
Tags: Europe, Books, Hbo, Featured, Neil Gaiman, History, Literature, Game Of Thrones, Iceland, Got, Tolkien, George R R Martin, Rhine, A Song Of Ice And Fire, Loki, Wagner

Talkin’ ‘Tolkien’ With Director Dome Karukoski [Interview]

During a recent trip to London, /Film sat down with Finnish director Dome Karukoski to discuss his newest film, Tolkien, a biopic of the author who created The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Karukoski had just finished making a different biopic when this project came his way, so he was resistant to it at first. But he quickly found a personal connection to the material through the parallels between Tolkien’s early life and his own. In this interview, we spoke about how the script’s message o...
Tags: Movies, Drama, Interviews, Features, Fox Searchlight, J.r.r. Tolkien, Tolkien, True Story, Dome Karukoski, Featured Stories Sidebar

‘Tolkien’ Review: An Intimate, Romantic Origin Story of a Literary Titan

Tolkien: it’s much better than it looks! That’s my one sentence review of Fox Searchlight’s new biopic about John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, the author of novels like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and the father of modern fantasy writing, but I’ll devote several more to explaining why it’s worth your time. If you’re anything like me – someone who loves Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, but has only read a small number of Tolkien’s books – you may have found yourself either shruggin...
Tags: Movies, Drama, Features, Movie Reviews, Fox Searchlight, J.r.r. Tolkien, Peter Jackson, Tolkien, Collins, True Story, Edith, Wagner, Nicholas Hoult, Thomas Newman, Hoult, Lily Collins

George R.R. Martin on ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Whether Tolkien Would Have Liked His Work, and One Big Regret [Interview]

Last night in Los Angeles, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin moderated a Q&A after a special screening of Tolkien, the biopic about the author behind The Lord of the Rings. You can watch that entire Q&A here if you’re interested, but before the film began, I had the opportunity to speak with Martin about reading Tolkien’s work, how Tolkien impacted his own writing, and one of Martin’s big regrets. /Film doesn’t typically participate in red carpet interviews, but we gladly made ...
Tags: Movies, Drama, Interviews, Los Angeles, World, Britain, Fox Searchlight, Sam, Tolkien, True Story, George R R Martin, William Morris, Martin, Boromir, Gandalf, Frodo

Video: /Film Visits ‘Tolkien’ Locations and Interviews Stars Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins

Last week, I joined a handful of other journalists to visit Oxford, England, the old stomping grounds of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit author J.R.R. Tolkien, who is the subject of a new biopic called Tolkien. In addition to interviewing the stars of the film, Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins, I cut together a video featuring several of the locations we visited, including filming locations used in the movie and some key places where the real Tolkien studied, worked, and drank. Check it out...
Tags: Movies, Drama, Interviews, New York City, Features, Oxford, Fox Searchlight, J R R Tolkien, Tolkien, True Story, Eagle, Video Blog, Hogwarts, Nicholas Hoult, Oxford England, Lily Collins

15 theater productions to see in Southern California this week, May 10-16

LOS ANGELES COUNTY ‘At The Table’ Six friends go on a weekend retreat leaving their phones, social media and all the internet behind. They drink and talk, declaring no topic is off limits, will it bring them closer together or drive them farther apart? When: May 11-July 7. Where: The Road Theatre, 5108 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood. Tickets: $15-$34. Information: 818-761-8838, www.roadtheatre.org. ‘A Bad Year for Tomatoes’ Theatre 40 presents a comedy about an actress who leaves the business...
Tags: England, Los Angeles, Sport, Things To Do, Soccer, Philadelphia, Theater, Fdny, Samuel Beckett, Tolkien, Malibu, Southern California, San Bernardino, Claude Debussy, Susan, Tony

George R.R. Martin on ‘Lord of the Rings’ vs. ‘Harry Potter’: ‘Gandalf Could Kick Dumbledore’s Ass’

“Game of Thrones” fans have a lot to thank J.R.R. Tolkien for. “Thrones” author George R.R. Martin, along with stars Nicholas Hoult and Lily Collins and director Dome Karukoski, discussed their personal connections to Tolkien and his “Lord of the Rings” series on the red carpet — or more accurately, the green carpet (a nod […]
Tags: News, Harry Potter, Tolkien, George R R Martin, Nicholas Hoult, J. R. R. Tolkien, Lily Collins, Dome Karukoski, Gandalf Could Kick Dumbledore

‘Tolkien’ review: Biopic of young J.R.R. focuses on fellowship

The movie is a capable and attractive enough biopic. Just don't expect action and adventure along the lines of the Battle of Helm's Deep. Rating: 2 stars out of 4.
Tags: Movies, News, Entertainment, Tolkien

Water Cooler: John Wick, Tolkien, Legally Blonde, Escape Room, Detective Pikachu, A Simple Favor, Penn & Teller’s Masterclass, Deadwood, Restaurant Impossible & More

On the May 7, 2019 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor in chief Peter Sciretta is joined by /Film managing editor Jacob Hall , weekend editor Brad Oman , senior writer Ben Pearson , and writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to discuss what they’ve been up to at the Water Cooler . You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes , Google Podcasts , Overcast , Spotify and all the popular podcast apps (here is the RSS URL if you need it). Opening Banter : Ch...
Tags: London, Movies, Orson Welles, Gotham City, Batman, Disneyland, Tolkien, Chris, Penn, Tribeca, Peter, Ama, Ben, Brad, Jacob, Petersen Automotive Museum

Updates From It: Chapter 2, Jessica Jones, and More

Disney+’s Lady and the Tramp will make some tweaks to one of the film’s most controversial songs. Jessica Jones’ final season gets an ominous tease. Get a new look at DC Universe’s Stargirl. Plus, what’s to come on The Twilight Zone and Krypton, and even more Swamp Thing teases. Spoilers, away!Read more...
Tags: Science, Agents Of Shield, Disney, Charmed, Twilight Zone, Krypton, Tolkien, Jessica Jones, Outlander, Fear The Walking Dead, Aladdin, Swamp Thing, It Chapter 2, StarGirl, Lady and the Tramp, The Dead Dont Die

New Tolkien Featurette Highlights the Life of the LOTR Author

BEGIN SLIDESHOW New Tolkien featurette highlights the life of the LOTR author Fox Searchlight has released a new featurette for their upcoming film Tolkien, the biopic of Lord of the Rings creator J.R.R. Tolkien, featuring stars Nicholas Hoult (Dark Phoenix) and Lily Collins. Check out the video below! PB = PB || {}; PB.gptStandAlone = PB.gptStandAlone || {}; PB.gptAutoRefresh = PB.gptAutoRefresh || {'gptAds':[], 'gptStandAlone':[]}; googletag...
Tags: Movies, Finland, Watson, Fox Searchlight, Middle Earth, Tolkien, Edith, Nicholas Hoult, J R R Tolkien, Lily Collins, Derek Jacobi, ComingSoon, Movie News, Kris Thykier, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson

‘Tolkien’ Featurette: How the Biopic Goes Early Into Tolkien’s Life and Back Again

So much is known about the rich world of Middle-earth that author J.R.R. Tolkien created, but little popular thought is given to his life before he wrote The Lord of the Rings. That will soon change with the upcoming Fox Searchlight biopic, Tolkien, which shows the early days of the legendary British author from his childhood through the publication of The Hobbit and his magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings. But what went into the choice of this time frame — of showing young, hot Tolkien other th...
Tags: Movies, Drama, War, Oxford, Fox Searchlight, J R R Tolkien, Tolkien, True Story, Edith, Video Clips, Nicholas Hoult, Hoult, Derek Jacobi, Beren, Luthien, Dome Karukoski

Hobbit Hole Blank Book

This was a really fun project, it combined one of my favorite thing to draw: Fantasy with an old interior decorating phase from my childhood. When I was little me and my family used to watch Extreme Makeover: Home edition. I was always blown away by how awesome they made every room, and being a little kid I was even more blown away by the kids rooms. So much I would draw rooms decorated based on a certain theme for a made up child, lol. That was an awesome phase. I loved designing the exterior ...
Tags: Crafts, Tolkien, Kinhime Dragon

Film Review: Nicholas Hoult in ‘Tolkien’

“The book is not about anything but itself. It has no allegorical intentions, topical, moral, religious or political. It is not about modern wars.” So said John Ronald Reuel Tolkien in a 1968 interview, pushing back at a growing fanbase that was all too eager to seek out topical, moral, religious, political and, most importantly, […]
Tags: Reviews, Tolkien, Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Film Review: ‘Tolkien’

“The book is not about anything but itself. It has no allegorical intentions, topical, moral, religious or political. It is not about modern wars.” So said John Ronald Reuel Tolkien in a 1968 interview, pushing back at a growing fanbase that was all too eager to seek out topical, moral, religious, political and, most importantly, […]
Tags: Reviews, Tolkien, Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

Spanish far-right party’s anti-LGBT tweet makes star of tiny gay ghost

Vox’s tweet shows Lord of the Rings’ Aragorn as party tackling LGBT symbolAragorn, son of Arathorn, pal of hobbits, scourge of orcs and wielder of a legendary sword, appears to have met his match in a tiny gay ghost.A few hours after the polls opened in Spain’s general election last Sunday, the far-right Vox party attempted to recruit author JRR Tolkien’s fighter to its cause, tweeting an image of the character Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s 2003 film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King wi...
Tags: Europe, Spain, World news, LGBT rights, The far right, Vox, Lord Of The Rings, Peter Jackson, Tolkien, Aragorn, Arathorn

Biopics trashed by families, friends and fans – ranked!

JRR Tolkien’s family have disowned the forthcoming biopic, starring Nicholas Hoult, but they are far from the only clan disenchanted with films about their loved onesJulian Assange wrote a letter to Benedict Cumberbatch urging the actor not to play him in this WikiLeaks origin story, arguing that the project was “a work of political opportunism, influence, revenge and, above all, cowardice”. If only it had been that interesting. Continue reading...
Tags: Benedict Cumberbatch, Film, Culture, Tolkien, Assange, Nicholas Hoult

7 Career Highlights Of Lily Collins

As Tolkien hits cinemas, we look back at the standout moments of Lily Collins' career. Read more >>> [Author: The Movie Waffler]
Tags: Movies, Articles, Tolkien, Lily Collins, New Releases, The Movie Waffler

Suffering Honestly Makes Us Stronger

St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “If God sends you many sufferings; it is a sign that He has great plans for you and certainly wants to make you a saint.” As a Catholic, I admire the witness of the saints. From a theological and cerebral perspective, Ignatius makes sense. To a person undergoing trials, however, his words just bring frustration. I believe I am in a period of consolation at this point in my spiritual journey. As a result, my reflection on the Spanish saint’s words may take on a d...
Tags: Featured, Religion, Catholic Church, Sam, J.r.r. Tolkien, Tolkien, Sauron, Suffering, The Lord Of The Rings, Gandalf, Frodo, G K Chesterton, Ignatius, St Ignatius of Loyola, Books and Art, Sam He

Elvish spoken at premiere of Tolkien film

Actor Nicholas Hoult, who plays J.R.R.Tolkien in the film, displayed his grasp of the Elvish language.
Tags: UK, News, Tolkien, Nicholas Hoult, J R R Tolkien

"Why are adults going to so many superhero movies? How could they possibly hold your interest? I’m genuinely mystified by this aspect of our culture."

I wrote, in last night's café. I got some answers:1. "Do you read Homer? 'Cause, maybe it ain't Shakespeare, but it *is* Homer" (Unknown).2. "It's a mythos of sorts, if we wanted to get all sophisticated Joseph Campbell and the hero's journey, what makes a hero — are they born or just rise to the occasion?" (narciso, with typos corrected).3. "Ann, the reason is people are more [unintelligent] than they were in times past" (wild chicken, with rude term censored).4. "Dreams of our youth. The milit...
Tags: Movies, Robert Downey Jr, Law, France, America, Mythology, Jesus, Pbs, Thor, Les Miserables, Shakespeare, Robert Louis Stevenson, Tolkien, Unknown, Don, Jekyll

Podcast #502: Why You Should Talk to Strangers

Talking to new people can lead to making new connections and learning interesting things, and simply makes both you and the person you talk with happier. Yet many of us have a very difficult time striking up a conversation with strangers. Why is this? My guest today has done studies to find out. Her name is Gillian Sandstrom and she’s a professor of social psychology at the University of Essex. Gillian’s research has explored both why people have such a hard time talking to strangers, and why...
Tags: Podcast, Life, Tolkien, Social Skills, Gillian, Small Talk, Chase Hughes, Yousician, Gillian Sandstrom, University of Essex Gillian, Gillian GillianSandstrom

The Tolkien Estate Won’t Endorse the New ‘Tolkien’ Biopic

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien and his seminal work The Lord of the Rings might be soon lining up to see Nicholas Hoult play the young, hot version of him in Fox Searchlight’s upcoming biopic, Tolkien. But one group of people that won’t be in line are Tolkien’s family and the Tolkien estate, which have released a statement saying that they do not endorse the film. The Tolkien estate has released a statement clarifying that they “do not endorse [Tolkien] or its content in any way,” according to The H...
Tags: Movies, Drama, Fox Searchlight, J R R Tolkien, Tolkien, True Story, Nicholas Hoult, Oxford College, Hoult, Beren, Dome Karukoski, Business and Industry News, Tolkien estate, David Gleeson Tolkien, Tolkien Estate Won

New Tolkien Biopic Disowned By Tolkien Estate

“On Tuesday morning, the estate and family of Tolkien issued a terse statement in which they announced their ‘wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorise or participate in the making of this film'” — titled Tolkien and starring Nicholas Hoult and Lily collins as Prof. and Mrs. T. — “and that ‘they do not endorse it or its content in any way’.” – The Guardian
Tags: Art, Media, Tolkien, Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Tolkien estate, 04.23.19

Best cities for book lovers

Travelers who love reading can do better than carry a novel in their suitcase and pull it out at the beach or on the train to satisfy their literary cravings. Instead, they can plan trips according to their taste in literature and visit the sites of their favorite stories or drink in pubs where their go-to authors once conceived their fictional worlds. Whether it’s having a pint in Oxford, with the ghosts of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, or daydreaming about Dostoevsky’s masterpieces on the ...
Tags: Travel, Scotland, Boston, US, Iran, Oxford, Un, Edinburgh, Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, Melbourne, Lewis Carroll, Dublin, Alexander McCall Smith, Oscar Wilde, Tolkien

Hear J.R.R. Tolkien Read from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in Vintage Recordings from the Early 1950s

J.R.R. Tolkien was not a big fan of his fandom. He had serious doubts about whether any of the millions of readers who adored The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy understood anything about what he was trying to do. But none of them can be blamed, since he didn’t at first set out to write fiction at all—at least not when it came to The Lord of the Rings. The books, he said, were “an attempt to create a world in which a form of language agreeable to my personal aesthetic might seem...
Tags: Google, Books, College, Hobbit, Disney, Literature, Adolf Hitler, Middle Earth, Tolkien, Walt Disney, Facebook Twitter, J R R Tolkien, Josh Jones, Disney Studios, Durham NC Follow, Quenya