One Last "One Last Time" Time...? [Watch This Space!]

Exciting news! After some months of rumours, I can now confirm that Welly-moot is officially in talks to set up one last big Middle-earth event, here in Wellington! The event would take place in Miramar, at a well-known location, in the coming months.

I can't reveal much else right now, but can I suggest you all starts saving your pennies and patching your costumes one more time, since you won't want to miss this last-time-ever event.

Not only will this be a "last-time-ever" event, but if all goes well, Wellington will be the first in the world to host this.


Mysterious enough for you? :)



If you want to hear up-to-the-minute information on this as it comes to hand, get on our mailing list by sending an email to "mailinglist@welly-moot.com", with a subject of "Subscribe".

We're also on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+, so no need to miss out anywhere!


  - Jack

Dec 28 - Welly-moot 3.6, our annual Christmas-moot

The last Welly-moot of 2014 will be held on the last Sunday of 2013, December the 28th. It's fast becoming a tradition, but Alex & I (Jack) will once again be hosting the final moot of the year at our house. Since this is our private home, we will not be taking on new members for this meeting.

Just like the last few years, this will be a shared lunch, so please bring a plate (full of food, obviously). :)


So, if you're currently a member of Welly-moot, and want to come and join us for a friendly get-together, send me an email and I'll reply with the address. If you're not sure if you're a member, email me anyway. :)

My email address is "jack@welly-moot.com".

We're aiming for a "bring a plate" lunch, so please bring something yummy to share. Home-cooked will receive the best compliments (hint!)...


 Details of the lunch:

• Arrive here at around 11:00am
• Lunch will be served around 12:30pm
• Finish around 4:00pm

As for a theme - we're hoping that everyone has had a chance to see the last Hobbit movie, so that will be the topic of the day.

So be warned, there will be spoilers!


Please email me with your intentions!

Hobbit 3 Premiere Attendance

The Welly-moot was present at the Hobbit 3 Premiere event at The Roxy last week, and Dianne sent me a copy of a great group shot. Thought I'd share it here for the group!

(If you can't see the picture, click on the link to get out of facebook - the blog has the pics)

  - Jack

Welly-moot Event: Wellington Premiere of Hobbit 3 BOTFA at Roxy

On December the 2nd, early in the morning, the Roxy will be hosting a special event and advanced screening of Hobbit 3 BOTFA for a select audience. The exclusive event, is Invitation Only, and the Welly-moot has been given a number of invitations to distribute amongst its members.

Those regular attendees of our meetings who were able to attend the event, as well as a number of other deserving Tolkien fans, have now been contacted, and your tickets should now be making their way to your door. If you haven't heard anything from the movie's distributors (Roadshow Ltd) by now, please get in touch with me as soon as possible!

I've been sent a press-release from the good folks at Roadshow Ltd, so rather than me retyping their event, here's the complete text from their memo.

---

MIRAMAR CELEBRATES THE FINAL FILM IN THE HOBBIT TRILOGY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, 25 November 2014 – Auckland, New Zealand

Gearing up for the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Roxy Cinema in Miramar, Wellington will play host to a special celebration on December 2 (NZT), with an advanced screening of the film to an audience of fans, local cast and crew from film production with Sir Richard Taylor in attendance.

The Miramar event is part of a global celebration of the final journey to Middle-earth and will be linked via interactive satellite with the film’s London World Premiere, which will stream live before guests and VIPs prior to watching the highly anticipated finale of The Hobbit Trilogy.

Marking the end of an era, this special premiere event brings together the Wellington film community to celebrate all the hard work and inspiration that has gone into bringing the world of Middle-earth to life for The Hobbit Trilogy and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy more than a decade ago.

“It’s truly fitting that the Wellington celebrations for the film will be held here in Miramar where it all began; as a phenomenal journey and era comes to an end,” said co-founder and co-director of WETA Workshop Sir Richard Taylor.   “The day marks a significant milestone in our career, and I am both excited and eager for what is next to come.”

Counting down to the New Zealand release of the film, New Zealanders can also enjoy a special 10-day projection presentation at The Roxy starting December 1.

The Hobbit Trilogy will be brought to life on the front of The Roxy building where a state-of-the art 10-15 minute projection show will play multiple times each night just after sunset.

“Ann and I are thrilled that our iconic, award winning cinema is playing host to such a significant and world-class event,” said Roxy co-owner Jamie Selkirk.

Showcasing the breathtaking special effects created by WETA Workshop and WETA Digital using sound and projection, the presentation follows the film’s characters and creatures on their adventures through the first two films leading up to the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Sir Richard Taylor also endorsed the projections. “I hope visitors to The Roxy are inspired, and enjoy their time in the heart of the film making capital, Wellington,” he added.

The incentive is supported by Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, Wellington City Council, Wellington Airport, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, New Line Cinema and The Roxy.

The film, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro Goldwyn-Meyer Pictures (MGM), is the third and final film in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy and releases across New Zealand cinemas on December 11.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a Wingnut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.”  As with the first two films in the Trilogy, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the final film is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production.   Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM. 

Ends

---

 

Hobbit 3 BOTFA Release - Wellington Events

NB: This page will no longer be updated - check our new Calendar page instead.

---

Like last year, I've been collecting details about events planned around the opening of the final installment of The Hobbit movies.

Also: if you HAVE extra information on these, or other events, please let me know!

• Update 1 (26/11/2014) : December 2 Premier event at the Roxy added.
• Update 2 (26/11/2014) : March 7 official opening of Rivendell Archway updated.
• Update 3 (26/11/2014) : December 2 Ian Brodie Exhibition and Book Signing event at the Roxy added.

---

Hobbit 3 Release, Wellington Calendar
(last updated November 26, 2014)

November 14, 2014

• Embassy Theatre tickets go on sale for the Hobbit 3 midnight session. Full details on their facebook page.

 

November 30, 2014

• Last date for entries in the Stansborough Prizedraw for an authentic Gandalf Hat!

 

December 2, 2014

• Wellington Premiere for Hobbit 3 BOTFA at the Roxy Cinema, starting at 6:30am (early morning!), breakfast at 7:00am, and an early showing of Hobbit 3 BOTFA for a lucky audience. Event is Invite Only, and invites have been sent out already.

 

December 2, 2014

• In the evening of the same day as the Premiere, Best-selling New Zealand author ("LOTR location Guidebook", "Hobbit Location Guidebook") Ian Brodie will be opening his new exhibition of photography at the Roxy Cinema, starting at 07:00pm. He will give a talk, and will be available to sign books as well. Time to bring in your LOTR guidebook, and buy the new Hobbit guidebook (which mentions the Welly-moot!)... 

 

December 5-6, 2014

• Caburlesque Middle-earth Madness, R18-rated Cabaret Burlesque show at the Fringe Bar, tickets from $20. Their 2012 show Bare and Back again was a real treat - don't miss this event! It's a small venue, so get tickets ASAP!

 

December 10, 2014

• Red Carpet Hobbit Fan Party, at the Roxy Cinema, from 9:00pm to midnight. Tickets are $265. Special guests are California Dreamers William Kircher's (Bifur) band. No door sales, prebooked tickets only.

 

December 11, 2014 - 12:01am midnight

• First showing of The Hobbit 3 BOTFA at the Embassy Theatre

 

December 28, 2014

• Last Welly-moot meeting of 2014, venue to be decided. More details will be posted on this blog later.

 

7 March, 2015

• Official opening of the Rivendell Archway. More details will be released in the coming month.

Welly-moot #3.5 report (from October 26)

Another two months, and another meeting has been held, once again at the Roxy Cinema in Wellington's Miramar suburb. It was well attended, we ended up having to shift to another part of the building to accommodate everyone, and then bring in more seats as well, so that was good.

Jack and Alex opened the meeting, and there were introductions all round. Jack had some updates also on other business.

• The Rivendell Archway is now completed, at the Kaitoke Regional Park in the filming locations, exactly where the original stood. All the building work has been completed, and the paint has been applied. Only two things remain - we are waiting for the end of summer so we can apply a layer of weather-dependent artificial yogurt-mould, and in the next three months we're expecting an official opening ceremony from the Wellington Great Regional Council. Jack will update the group when this takes place.

• The Hobbit 3 - The Battle Of The Five Armies will open early in December for general release, the exact date will probably be December 11th or thereabouts. The World-Premiere red carpet event will be held in London, as expected. A few functions have already been announced; a (more) complete list will be posted later.

• Welly-mooter Emily (aka 'Sadie von Scrumtious') has announced that there will be another Middle-earth themed Burlesque Cabaret to celebrate the last Hobbit movie. The event will be held in Wellington at The Fringe Bar on December 5th and 6th (Friday and Saturday). Both nights will feature a costume competition for the audience, so prepare to get involved! The event has an R18 rating (for adult themed naughtiness!), and tickets will be around $25. I'll post more details on our facebook page at a later date.

• Welly-mooter Kumiko has won the Student Prize at the end of her three year Weltec course’s Graduation Exhibition, to loud applause from her peers and the rest of the audience. Well done Kumi!

• The Stansborough Prizedraw is in full swing, so if you want to win a full-sized Gandalf Hat, make sure you're in to win!

• Sir Peter Jackson's Hobbit Fan Competition has finished, and the winners selected - of the 150 biggest fans around the world, three of them are Welly-mooters! Ash and Cinnamon managed to snag a seat to New Zealand (ok, not far to fly!), and on the names list, I noticed that Nicolas Gonzalez, formerly of Milford Sound but recently returned to Spain, is also returning to Middle-earth. Well done, all of you, and also to all those who tried and weren't successful. On the Welly-moot facebook page we'll be following their adventures through screenshots taken from the New Zealand 100% Pure YouTube videos. Follow us there!

Theme: Hobbit 3 BOFTA - What's The Story?

Finally, we got around to the theme of the day - what will be in the final Hobbit installment. Peter Jackson's last Hobbit film will includes plenty of sword-clashing and arrow-flying action for your dollar, but there’s also a lot of story materials. We spent a large part of the afternoon covering these points (and more!)

• Smaug, having left his treasure-filled nest, will wreak havoc on Laketown
• Thorin has yet to actually retake the Lonely Mountain for his people
• Bard’s quest for redemption needs closure
• Four Dwarves have been left in Laketown (Kili, Fili, Bofur & Ori) – what will their roles be in Laketown?
• The relationship between Tauriel and Kili
• Amidala will get pregnant with twins, while Anakin will turn to the dark side
• The movie needs to carve out screen-time for Bilbo (Martin Freeman), so that his story may actually be brought to a proper concluding point; after all, he's the main link between Hobbit and LOTR
• Setting up other developments that transpire in the Lord of the Rings films

Other points:

• According to the predicted synopsis posted on TheOneRing.net, Thorin will get obsessed with the treasure in the mountain and will refuse to share it --- remember that Thorin's grandfather grew mad with his obsession with gold in the previous movies
• Smaug is not the only danger faced by the Dwarves. The Necromancer has sent legions of Orcs to attack the Lonely Mountain. In the second movie Gandalf was the amongst the first to discover the Necromancer's return in Dol Guldur. He also witnessed the march of his armies.
• A difficult question in Hobbit 3 is posed to all the races in Middle-earth. Elves, Dwarves and Men will have to decide whether they will stand together against the forces of Sauron or die fighting between themselves. So far, there appears to be no good relationships among them.

On a related note, two days before the meeting, a number of leaked photos were posted to TheOneRing.net, probably from the new Brian Sibley "Making of Hobbit 3" book due out in the next month or so. The photos were pulled from the site within 24 hours, but one of the mooters managed to take copies before they were removed. After checking with everyone if potential spoilers would be acceptable, they were shown briefly. If anything, they just made us want to watch the movie even more! And no, they won't be posted here.  
[I will give one detail though - ominously, a pre-battle Thorin appears to be wearing a RED SHIRT. Not good. Just sayin'.]

All too soon, it was time to pack up again. By the time of the next moot, we will (hopefully!) all have seen the movie, and we will no doubt have a lot of new information to digest!

As seems to have become a Welly-moot tradition, Jack & Alex are planning on having another post-christmas moot/party at their house, but full details will be announced in due time.

Report: Welly-moot #3.4 - All about Dain Ironfoot

Our meeting on August 31st was a very active one, and full of passion. In all, eight people turned up, and we all took active roles in the discussion; the history of Dain Ironfoot. In attendance were Alex and Jack, Cinnamon and Ash, Sinead and Luke, Miranda, and Wayne.

From left, clock-wise around the table: Cinnamon, Ash, Luke, Sinead, Jack, Wayne, Miranda. Missing (photographer): Alex.

As usual we started with Jack opening the meeting, and some general updates. First, some news about the Rivendell Archway in Kaitoke Park showing the recent photos. It looks quite beautiful and is nearing completion. The official opening is planned to be on October 11th, which is also the 15th anniversary of Day 1 of filming of LOTR. Hopefully Welly-moot will be invited.

The current hot topic is Peter Jackson's new Biggest Hobbit Fan Contest, and some of the Welly-mooters have applied already. Of course, of any of us win, we won't need to be flown to Wellington!


Cinnamon showed off a new keyring with the key of Erebor. It looked pretty cool. We talked about collections and different kinds of "collectors". Some display everything on shelves (like Jack), while others don’t open their items but keep them in the original boxes and just keep them for their own happiness (like Ash). Some do both.


The main activity was Dain Ironfoot aka Dain II. Most of us did some homework and we had active discussion about this mysterious Dwarf Warrior.  Cinnamon brought her reference book The Complete Guide To Middle-earth (by Robert Foster), and read the section on Dain II. This set up some general information about him, and we started bringing any additional background.

Jack brought a couple of Tolkien books as well - The Return of the King, The Hobbit, and The Unfinished Tales - and also added a family tree taken from the excellent LOTR Project site by Emil Johansson. If you haven't checked out this site, you're missing out. Our gratitude to Emil for creating this amazing reference site!

Dwarves, dwarves everywhere (click for larger version). Source: www.lotrproject.com

An unexpected controversy, and a highlight discussion of the afternoon was "What are the Five Armies?". Obviously, the first four are Human, Elves, Dwarves, and Goblins, but what of the fifth???? Wargs?  Sinead and Miranda suggested that it might be Eagles. It is possible. Cinnamon checked her book and it says the fifth one is Eagles. However some of us were not totally convinced. Maybe Orcs? Jack checked The Hobbit, and found that Goblins and Orcs are same kind of creature.

"[...] Orc is not an English word. It occurs in one or two places but is usually translated goblin (or hobgoblin for the larger kind) [...]" - The Hobbit (prologue), JRR Tolkien

Alex suggested that maybe it was Beorn. Did he came with some other bears? Wayne checked his beautiful two-part Hobbit book and found the Beorn’s entrance at the battle, “In that last hour Beorn himself had appeared – no one knew how or from where. He came alone.”

Jack & Alex. Alex is winning the argument.

The Hobbit book is quite clear about the fifth army - it's the Wargs. However, given the lack of importance given to the Wargs in the movie (other than beasts of burden), we must wait to find out Peter Jackson’s decision about the fifth army in the next movie.


The discussion moved on to the actor who will play Dain, Billy Connery. Ash used his iPad, and read out an interview with Connoly. Apparently Billy has never read the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings and he thinks people who read them are weird. :)

Here is a Yoube link to a similar interview from him. Be warned - it goes slightly NSFW after a while, but given that it's Billy Connoly, that's not too surprising.


After wrapping up the discussion, we moved on to some other business. Jack has been working in the background about a new feature for the Welly-moot, an email-list. We agreed that a mailing list will be useful and easy to receive timely notification of updates on the Welly-moot website. When the work is completed, Jack will send a single email to all past and present Welly-mooters - please REPLY to that if you want to be on the Welly-moot mailing list. New Zealand has very strict anti-spam laws (gladly!), so we have to have an opt-in list rather than an opt-out one.

The Hobbit 3 is coming in three months, so we are expecting more information about any events in Wellington, and we are trying to organise a Hobbit movie marathon at Roxy in December. We will keep everyone informed on this website if there is any update.

Next Welly-moot 3.5 meeting is October. We are thinking of having it at the Rivendell site in the Kaitoke forest. The area has been updated with some new poles, paved paths, new signs, and of course the new Archway. Let’s explore Rivendell!


Also Jack will take a Hobbit location tour of Trollshaw's Forest in Piopio (near Waitomo), as well as the new night tour at Matamata's Hobbiton including dinner at Green Dragon. He will report them with photos at next meeting in October!

Till then!

News: Hobbit 3 BOTFA Contest starts August 25

Halfway through the mad busy time of finishing the last Hobbit movie, Peter Jackson takes out to go to San Diego Comic-Con. Halfway through the insanely busy time at Comic-Con, he takes time out to announce a fan contest, to bring "the ultimate fan" to Wellington, to watch the third movie "[...] with me, at the first official screening of The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, right here in Wellington".

What are we to make of this? Is Wellington getting the Red Carpet World Premiere after all? Possibly; possibly not. It does mean, however, that SOMETHING will be happening here, as we had expected. Very exciting!

As for the contest - obviously, we're already IN Wellington, so I probably won't be entering it, hehe. If you're a past member of Welly-moot, and have left NZ's shores, this might be an awesome way to return!

The contest starts on August 15th, and we don't know what it will entail yet. Keep watching Facebook/YouTube, etc.

In the meantime, enjoy this fantastic poster, from The Hobbit blog:

Welly-moot 2.6 (Dec 29, 2013) - Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014!

On the last Sunday of 2013, we opened our house once again to the Tolkien group for our end-of-year get-together. The theme for the meeting, if there was one at all, was the second Hobbit movie; The Desolation Of Smaug. By now everyone'd had a chance to see it, so any and all spoilers were totally permissable.

People started arriving around 11:00am. Appropriately, Adam was the first man to arrive, but all in all it was quite a merry gathering, with fifteen of us physically present, plus another three virtually (via Skype); Jack & Alex (the hosts), Kris, Wayne & Hilary, with Terry, Ash & Cinnamon, Kumi, Adam, Emily & Richard, Kim & Warren, Annabel, and Jennifer & Ryan with young Hawk via Skype from the USA. We hadn't met Emily's friend Richard yet, and Wayne & Hilary brought the Tolkien loving Terry with them.

Overall, it was a great way to catch up with everyone, and say goodbye to 2013, which had brought us the second Hobbit movie, The Desolation of Smaug. Everybody had seen it, and it was discussed in great detail. I won't pretend we came to any sort of conclusion, but that's always been part of the enjoyment of Tolkien - it means different things to different people, including to Peter Jackson, apparently.


The lunch was brought out - a lot of effort had gone into the dishes from everyone - thanks to all who slavered over the hot stoves! We all appreciated it!

As always, click on the pics for higher resolution. If you don't see any pics, it's probably because you're reading this on facebook. You need to come to the blog welly-moot.com instead.

That's Kim's hands cutting into the gorgeous Smörgåstårta (Scandinavian Sandwich-Cake), a recipe from Weta's Magnus Hjerte. It tasted terrific, and didn't last long enough, I thought.

Nibbles galore, freshly baked breads, pasta salads, and in the bottom right in the picture, Kumi's Sushi.

Special mention : Warren & Kim brought these great tasting biscuits, shaped like a certain other Dragon, currently residing in the Wellington Zoo.

Ash starting the dessert, while Adam contemplates another Mead.

Terry and Wayne engrossed in Kim's views on Hobbit 2:DoS. She seems to be speaking in sign-language though. (Emily on the right).

Hilary and Kumi deep in conversation. Warren deep in chocolate brownie-heaven.

Me (Jack) enjoying Kris' Mead. Very nice it was, too! Adam looks like he already enjoyed a few there (actually, he just blinked at an inopportune time). Cinnamon destroys a cupcake.

At some point in the afternoon, the party split into two groups - almost all the boys went downstairs, to the mancave, while almost all the girls stayed upstairs. We hadn't intended to break away for more than a few minutes, but the girls kept bringing us food down there. Almost... like they were encouraging us to stay... longer...? Surely not!

"To the batcave, men!". Warren in the red shirt, then Richard, Adam, and Terry. I think that's me with the iPad on the left.

I should point out that Cinnamon was honorary man for the afternoon, and joined us for an in-depth geek-out in the Tolkien-themed room I keep hidden down there.


What a great way to end the year! And looking forward to the rest of 2014, which will bring the last movie set in Middle-earth.


The next Welly-moot will be on February the 23rd, where we will discuss all the things we were supposed to discuss this time around but were too busy stuffing our faces. Normal time and place (2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema, upstairs in the cafe).

  - Jack

Come meet the Welly-moot before the Midnight Session at the Embassy!

If you've got your Embassy Cinema tickets to the Midnight Screening of Hobbit 2: Desolation of Smaug, then we'll see all of you in the cafe at around 10:30pm or so, for a pre-screening buzz-out! Come and join us, before the movie kicks off, it'll be nice to see everyone beforehand.

Alex and I will be in costume, and should be easy to find. Depending on how tired we all afterwards, we should have a quick get-together afterwards as well.

This photo, taken at the Live Fan Event in Wellington on November 5 this year, was printed in the Indian newspaper The Hindu. From left to right, there's Viv, Alex, Jack, and Wayne, pictured in front of a readership of 100 million Indian newspaper readers (thanks to Marcel Aubron-Bülles from the UK Tolkien Society for the tip).

So, to recap, we're meeting in the upstairs cafe in the Embassy Cinema, from about 10:30pm onwards. If you're not yet a member, come meet us as well, we'll be easy to spot!

  - Jack


[NB - As always, if you're missing the picture and the links, you're probably reading this on Facebook. Come to the blog instead, at www.welly-moot.com, and subscribe to us there.]

Roundup of Wellington "Hobbit 2 Release" events

There are now so many events around the release of the second installment of The Hobbit trilogy that I get to use the word "plethora" in a sentence!

Middle-earth News has a good premiere roundup as well.


In order of date, the following things are planned:


December 2-3 : Official Release (Los Angeles, USA)

• Livestreamed to Wellington, starting at 3:30pm, December 3rd (NZ Time)
• URL for the livestream is on the official Hobbit Movie Facebook page.
• Check time in your own country here.

December 4-5 : Live Google Hangout with Peter Jackson (Online)

• Livestreamed to Wellington, starting at 7:15am, December 5th (NZ Time)
• URL for the livestream is on the Hobbit's Google+ page
• Check time in your own country here.

December 9th : Marine Education Centre Charity Gala (Embassy Cinema)

• URL for more details at the Embassy Cinema website
• Doors open at 6:00pm
• Doors close at 7:00pm
• Movie starts at 7:15pm
• As of right now (9:00pm, 28/Nov), there are still tickets available for this.

December 10 : Special (alleged) screening for the crew

• Heard this one on the grapevine. I don't know anything official about this, but I'm really pleased to see that the actual people who made the movie get to see it nice and early too.
• As far as I know it's invite only, and crew only as well.
• Don't bother asking, you won't get in. :)

December 11 : Special Preview (Reading, Courtenay Central)

•  Competition winners only, I believe
• Movie starts at 6:15pm

December 11 : (hopefully) Screening of Hobbit 1 ??? (Embassy Cinema)

• We're still in talks with the Embassy about this one. Hopefully we can watch part one from, say, 8:00pm, ahead of the midnight session at midnight

December 11 : Costume Party at the Roxy Cinema

• This one is organised by Red Carpet Tours
• Movie starts at midnight - I assume this is actually 12:01am, so technically the 12th of December
• Tickets are sold out, but the details are here.

December 12 : Midnight Session (first public screening)

• Movie starts at one minute past midnight - 12/12/13, at 12:01am
• This is the first "proper" public screening of The Hobbit, and will mark the start of the Box Office (I think). Due to the fortunate layout of the International Date Line, New Zealand STILL gets to see this before anyone else. 
• As far as I can tell there's satill tickets available for this one as well.
• Check the Embassy website for more details.

December 13th : LifeFlight Charity Event (Embassy Cinema)

• Event starts at 5:15pm
• Movie starts at 6:05pm
• Will be attended by William Kircher (Bifur) and Joe Letteri (Weta Digital head FX wizard)
• UPDATE - Tickets are now sold out
• More details (if you already have tickets) are available on the LifeFlight website

Apart from this plethora(*) of special screenings, I know there's also a large number of Laketown Extras attending one of the sessions on December the 14th, and will have a communal picnic somewhere the next day (15th). Don't know when, don't know where. I'm not invited (though Alex (my wife) is, but she's not telling me).

If anything changes I'll keep this page updated, so keep checking back for more info!

This page is published on the welly-moot blog, and if you're reading this on facebook, google+, RSS, or twitter, or even via email, you may be missing the links. Check www.welly-moot for more details. That's always the source.



(*) you thought I'd forgotten.

PRESS RELEASE - Hobbit 2 Gala Tickets on sale TODAY.

The second Hobbit movie premiere may be in L.A. this year, but that doesn't mean Wellington will be left behind. It looks like we're having a party after all!

We have just received a press release from Roadshow, the NZ distributors of the Hobbit movies, about a charity event with a preview of the second movie, the Desolation of Smaug.

In short, on the evening of December the 9th, there will be a Gala event hosted at the Embassy Cinema in Wellington. The movie itself will start at 7:15pm, but the doors will be open earlier, and it sounds like a grand event is planned, with six of the dwarves in attendance.

Tickets will be $100, with all proceeds going to the Island Bay Marine Education Centre. 

Book your tickets through the Embassy's website - they go on sale at 3:00pm TODAY.


See you all there!
--
Update: Better link here.
--

The full press-release follows:

PROCEEDS FROM THE NEW ZEALAND GALA PREMIERE OF THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG TO GO TO LOCAL CHARITY

Charity Gala Premiere Set For Monday, December 9, in Wellington

This year, the general public and avid Hobbit fans alike will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at the New Zealand Charity Gala Premiere on December 9 at The Embassy Theatre, Wellington.

The film, a production of New Line Cinema and Metro Goldwyn-Meyer Pictures (MGM), opens across New Zealand cinemas on December 12.

Tickets to the prestigious event will be available for purchase from Thursday, November 21 at 3pm on the Event Cinemas website (www.eventcinemas.co.nz), Roadshow Film Distributors announced today.

Cost per ticket will be $100 with all proceeds raised at the event to go to the Island Bay Marine Education Centre.

“We are proud to support The Marine Education Centre, they give so much to this city, we are very happy to be able to give something back," said filmmaker Peter Jackson.

"We are delighted to be involved with this event and the money raised will help us to reach more people of all ages to inspire them to want to learn about our oceans,” said Judy Hutt of The Island Bay Marine Education Centre.  “We think education is the key to caring for our environment and the younger you start learning the better. We also think that the best way to learn about marine life is to have close encounters with it.  That's what the Island Bay Marine Education Centre is all about."

Actors from the film, including Jed Brophy (Nori), Stephen Hunter (Bombur), Mark Hadlow (Dori), John Callen (Oin), Peter Hambleton (Gloin) and William Kircher (Bifur), will also be in attendance.

Along with being among the first in the world to see the next film in Peter Jackson's epic Trilogy, guests will also be treated to light refreshments and canapés prior to the 7.15pm film start time, have the opportunity to walk away with some exclusive merchandise from the film and a few other surprises.

New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.  The screenplay for the film is by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.  Jackson also produced the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh.  The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Philippa Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production.  Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM.

IMPORTANT !!! Special Announcement this afternoon around 2:00pm!

I've just had word from above that there will be a special announcement for the Wellington Hobbit fans this afternoon - I will be able to reveal more around 2:00pm today, Thursday 21st of November (NZ time).

Please check this blog today - time will be of the essence!



As an aside - I'd like to get people's opinion about whether we should set up an "urgent announcements" mailing list. Good idea?

Please send me some feedback, on "jack@welly-moot.com".


  - Jack

Roundup of Live Hobbit Event's news items

What a great day it was here in Wellington. Peter Jackson's Live Fan Event went off without a hitch, and as far as I could tell it all went according to everybody's plans.

We watched the latest Trailer, a brand new Hobbit Production Diary (number 12 already!), extended scenes from the first Hobbit movie, the new credits song for the second movie, and then, somewhat unexpectedly, a full 20 minutes of preview scenes from The Hobbit 2: Desolation Of Smaug.

On top of that, there was a lively back'n'forth live question and answer session between Wellington, London, New York, and Los Angeles, involving Evangeline Lilly, Orlando Bloom, Lee Pace, Andy Serkis, Luke Evans, Jed Brophy, and Sir Peter Jackson himself.

The press was involved as well - apart from the organisers' camera crew, I also saw New Zealand's TVOne and TV3 crews, as well as radio stations ZM-FM and NewsTalkZB.

Rather than collecting absolutely every last mention of the Event, I've decided to focus on just news items that feature Welly-moot members, so we can all enjoy our 15 minutes (seconds?) of fame. If I've missed anything, please let me know!


2013-11-04, 10:47 - Hobbit fans to get glimpse of new film - Alex, Jack, Annabel, Sophy, Lucy
2013-11-04, 18:35 - The Hobbit DOS - Live Stream Fans Gear Up - Alex, Jack, Annabel, Sophy, Lucy
2103-11-05, 06:41 - Intrigue surrounds 'Hobbit' Q&A session - Jack (article only)
2013-11-05, 08:08 - Thousands tune in to Hobbit fan event - (starts at 0:27) - Annabel, Sophie, Lucy
2013-11-05, 11:58 - Hobbit livestream event kicks off - Wayne, Annabel, Sophy, Lucy, Shirley, Hermes. Annabel, Sophy, & Lucy are also in the article
2013-11-05, 16:08 - PHOTOS: The Hobbit: worldwide fan event - Annabel, Sophie, Lucy, Wayne, Shirley, Hermes, Viv,
2013-11-05, 18:43 - Tens of thousands of Hobbit fans turn out for live webcast - Martyn, Alex (both briefly!), Jack, Annabel, Sophie, Lucy


And of course the Event itself, now available on Youtube if you missed it the first time around. I got to ask my question in front of rather too many people. :)

If I've missed any videos, let me know.

 - Jack

Welly-moot hosts the Livestream here - tune in tomorrow!

By now, all the lucky people on my list should have received their RSVP email from the organisers, and have their tickets. Check your email's spam folder if you haven't got it yet.

Make sure you print the ticket out, or have a copy on your smart-phone or tablet tomorrow - no ticket, no entry!


For those not in time or in town to get a ticket, Welly-moot is hosting the event right here. At 10:30am NZ time, click on the NowLive Hobbit poster below.


Enjoy the show, everybody, and I hope to meet as many people as possible tomorrow, so come and say hello! I should be easy to find, wearing my ridiculously heavy faux-chainmaille and full length cape.

---

---

(don't worry about that "November 4th" thing - it's November 5th in New Zealand already) 

Event Schedule - *timings are approximate for NZ
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
10.30 am – Online Pre-Show Begins
11 am – LIVE WORLDWIDE FAN EVENT
12:15 pm – Event Concludes (show may run longer depending on Q&A)


*Once the live show ends the show will replay in its entirety within the player until the highlights reel is available.

All Fan Event Tickets are now gone - sorry if you missed out!

Sorry if you missed out - but congratulations if you're in! We're looking at being present at the centre of The Hobbit universe on Tuesday the 5th of November!


If you are one of the lucky ones, I've taken your name, email address, and mobile phone number. The organiser's ticketing team will send each email address a link to click on for rsvp-ing, and then their system will spit out a personalised ticket with barcode to download and print, or have on their smartphones to have scanned in on entry..

Costumes

I'm hoping there will be plenty of cool costumes on the day - please feel free to leave the civvies behind and come in full Middle-earth attire! Alex & I will be costumed, and I understand quite a few others will be as well. Come join us, don't be shy. :)


Today (Saturday) we paid a visit to the Costume Cave on Wakefield Street; an excellent source of costumes. On Monday, the TV crew will go back with us, to film us selecting the costumes (I know, we cheated, and selected them today). If anybody wants to join us for that, please let me know; I've got a few others there as well, but if you wanted a shot at fame, now is your chance! The TV crew will likely look for us on Tuesday as well. I'm thinking of bringing my full-sized Narsil blade (unbroken). Not sure if I'll get it past security though.


Let's have a great fun day on Tuesday! This is a unique occasion! Don't waste the opportunity!

  - Jack

Welly-moot 2.5 report (somewhat belatedly)

NB - Due to all the excitement around the Live Fan Event earlier this month, it looks like I never hit the "Publish" button on this report. My apologies, so here it is. Some of the items are somewhat late but better late than never, right? ;)

The Welly-moot group met on 27th October. As usual, we started with catch-ups between members, and we exchanged some news and updates.

From left front, clockwise: Kris, Jack, Martyn, Wayne, Annabel, Francine (hands only), and Cinnamon. As usual, Alex, managed to avoid the camera by taking the pictures. Also present were Annabel's two hobbits.

Jack talked about the Hobbit Fan Event on 5th November at the Embassy Theatre. The Welly-moot group has been invited to attend by the organisers RoadShow Distributors. There will be further announcement on this website in the next few days..


The was a report about the Auckland Armageddon fantasy convention from Cinnamom. Also, we have a new member; Franziska, from Germany. She has always loved Tolkien's stories and has finally made it to New Zealand, which was a childhood dream of hers.

Cinnamon and Franziska

The main discussion today was about King Thranduil's history (Legolas’ father). We had interesting discussions about him. Who is he? How did he get to Mirkwood? Where is Legolas's mother?


Everyone brought their books and we took turn to read the parts related to Thranduil, or to his father Oropher. The skant information available about them makes this a fascinating part of the histories.

Martyn and Wayne

Jack had scoured the net for some more information about Legolas' mother, but nothing concrete was found. He did stumble on a Yahoo Q/A, where someone named "Celtic Druidess" had this to say (slightly paraphrased):

Who is Legolas’ mother / Thranduil’s wife?

Tolkien never really created a full family tree for Legolas. We can trace his lineage back on his father's side to his grandfather, but no further.

It is possible that Thranduil’s wife was one of the Silvan Elves (Thranduil being a Sindarin elf), which is made clear in in the History of Galadriel and Celeborn (in Unfinished Tales), where there's a brief account of the arrival of Thranduil's father Oropher among the Silvan Elves of Greenwood the Great.
It's made obvious there that Oropher and his small band of Sindar merged themselves completely with the Silvan people of the Wood, leaving behind their Sindarin inheritance. By this time, Thranduil had already been born, and in order to link themselves to the Silvan elves, it is likely that Thranduil had been married to one of them. But this is never dwelled upon, and so is just an educated guess.

The extended discussions were about the "real world" Kings in England, The Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. In the real life, the kings are not exactly blood line, however in Tolkien’s world the Kings are totally blood lines ("blue blood???"). Aragorn was an exile and eventually becomes the King, merely because of the blood in his veins.


After the Tolkien discussions, we returned to the Hobbit 2 movie release. We have agreed what we would like to do something in December when the Hobbit 2 (Desolation of Smaug) will be released. We will contact to the Embassy Theatre to watch Hobbit 1 on 12th December evening, then we will watch the Hobbit 2. We also have of a party on 12th at the Embassy if we can. We will announce the details on this Website. It can be a costume party as well.

We will update this blog about the Event on 5th November. Keep your eyes open!


  - Alex & Jack

IMPORTANT: All Welly-moot members - please read and respond ASAP!

It looks very much like the Welly-moot members will be given a limited number of tickets to Peter Jackson's Live Fan Event on Tuesday November the 5th.

I will be in charge of distributing them to our members, so, please check the following list AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and get back to me! This will definitely be a "First In, First Served" occasion.

• You are a fan of Peter Jackson's Middle-earth movies
• You are a member of the NZ Tolkien group Welly-moot
• You are in Wellington on November 5th
• You are able to attend this event starting at 11:00am

If ALL of these conditions are true, please email me ASAP.



Please let me know if you need any extra tickets - we may be able to accomodate those as well, but Welly-moot members who attend our meetings will be given priority.

My email address is still jack@welly-moot.com.

  - Jack

IMPORTANT! Fan Event Announcement at Welly-moot 2.5!!!

Hopefully everybody's heard about Peter Jackson's announcement about the Live Fan Event.

I guess everybody is trying to get some of the free tickets that TheOneRing.net is giving away. It looks like Welly-mooters won't need to worry about those...
 

If you're a member of Wellington's Tolkien group, please make sure you come to the meeting this Sunday the 27th, since I have a special announcement to make there, which will affect all Welly-moot members in the Wellington region during the event.


If you're not already a member, this would be an EXCELLENT meeting to attend and become a member. Membership is STILL free, but you do have to attend a meeting.


I'm not able to make any promises at this stage, but things are looking very good right now. Come to the meeting to find out more.

Sunday 27th of October, 2013, at 2:00pm.

Embassy Cinema, Upstairs at the Cafe.

Come one, come all!

And please feel free to email/retweet/facebook-post this link to anyone else who needs to see this in the next 17 hours.


  - Jack

Welly-moot 1.6 (Dec 29, 2012) - International Lunch

For Welly-moot 1.6, the last meeting of 2021, we enjoyed a shared international lunch at Jack & Alex’s place. We had asked for members to bring food from their own countries, and so, the yummy meals and desserts came from seven different nationalities. A big thank you to everyone who brought nice meals, especially thanks to Noei who brought three different Thai meals and thanks to Alex for preparing and organising this occasion.

A selection of the food. All of it was great!

We enjoyed the meal as much as the discussion on “Hobbit: Unexpected Journey”. Noei has seen the movie the most times, five times both in 2D and 3D formats. She gave us her views, and we talked about the difference between 2D and 3D, and 24fps and 48fps.

Comparing the story of The Hobbit movie with the original book, we were impressed and enjoyed Sir Peter Jackson’s Hobbit. The original story is of course only a single book, and aimed at children. Peter Jackson has expanded the story by inserted some characters into the mix, like Radagast the Brown, who is not in the original Hobbit book (but is in LOTR). We were also surprised at how rabbits were so useful for escaping from Wargs...


We went around the room for everyone’s favourite characters. Thorin, Gollum, Gandalf, Balin, Nori, Kili, or even “all of them” were mentioned. Unlike in the book, all of Jackson’s thirteen Dwarves have distinct characters and their hair styles and faces are well-designed, and easy to distinguish from one another. One comment came back - the ladies like Thorin (Richard Armitage) because he is good looking, of course :)

(Most of) the group - Counter-clockwise starting at Bilbo (yes, we listened to the soundtrack) - Hanne, Warren, Kris, Noei, Ryan, Jennifer, Hawk, Mrs & Mr Rasmussen, Heike, and Jack. Missing: Alex (photographer), Erika (getting more food, probably)

Both Heike and Alex mentioned the scene where Bilbo encounters Gollum for the first time in the cave, where Gollum is talking to himself and tells himself to “Shut up”. The group really liked Andy Serkis’ performance of Gollum. Gollum looks younger, and is both more evil but also more childlike at the same time. Andy Serkis (and the digital team behind him!) did a great job of the physical and virtual performance of Gollum.

Lastly, we discussed our expectations for the second Hobbit movie - The Desolation of Smaug. Some of the Welly-moot’s members are Extras in the Hobbit movies, and they are expecting they will be in next movie. One of the most anticipated creatures is Smaug. We can’t wait to see more of him, and expect that we will finally see the whole Smaug in action!

Plans for the group in 2013

We will gather as usual every two months. The first meeting will be on 24 February 2013. We will keep informed in this website (and via the usual Facebook and Twitter etc).

The big project this year will be “Riventroll”. We will set up a separate website for this project and start fundraising in 2013. We will keep everyone informed.

The other project we’re going to try and get involved in is the “Mount Tolkien” project that was begun by Aaron Nicholson from Manapouri in Southland. The group is right behind him in his efforts to honour Tolkien with his own New Zealand mountain. The mountain is currently (officially) unnamed, so this is not before its time!

Two minor but significant events this year - the DVD/Blu-ray release of “Hobbit 1” will be along shortly, and hopefully there will be Extended Releases, like LOTR’s.

And of course December 2013 will be another Hobbit Release month, so there will be lots of excitement again for that. Stay updated by following the blog, our the Facebook, or the Twitter feed. Subscribe so the information comes to you and you don’t have to go searching for it every time.

2012 - the year in (brief) review

The year 2012 has been extremely successful year for Welly-moot. It was our first official year. It was the year we became officially affiliated with the UK’s Tolkien Society. We now have official T-shirts, a Welly-moot banner, the committee members have business cards, and there's even a rubber stamp!


We had 6 great meetings, hosted some fantastic guests, and discussed Tolkienish background information. We lined up for Premiere Tickets, almost missed out, got saved by Sir Peter Jackson himself, then attended the Hobbit Premiere, had the World’s Best Ever Second Breakfast on a Red Carpet, and finally watched the world’s first showing of The Hobbit movie.

We have been visited by other Tolkien Society members from overseas groups, as well as individuals who were previously not part of any other Tolkien groups.

So a great big “Thank You” to all the great members of Welly-moot who made it all happen this past year, with all your good conversation, your amazing knowledge, and all your unbridled enthusiasm!

Also a big “Thank You” also to all our friends, our wonderful visitors, and to all the organisations who helped when we needed a hand, with a special thank you going out to Sarah Meikle and Helen Player from Absolutely Wellington Tourism, for all their help in getting us into the first screening of the movie, and for providing all those goodies, both on the red carpet, as well as at the Cinema later.

And of course to Sir Peter, Matt Dravitzki, and the entire team for taking us to Middle-earth one more time!

Now let 2013 begin!