The Fireside

  Aside from thinking about and speculating which Tolkien books are coming out next year (whether they be completely new or new editions of existing work), I also ponder what the calendar will be: who the artist is, what the 'theme' is, and which (if any) book it's related to. If not for the illustrated edition of Unfinished Tales that had come out this year, I was willing to bet that the calendar would be themed after John Howe's most recent (English! and Tolkien!) art book called A Middle-earth Traveller . I'm standing firm by that for the 2022 calendar. It's not exactly known when Prime's Middle-earth series is set to debut; though John Howe is the lead conceptual artist on the project. Making the calendar for that year be based off his book would generate (more) interest in Howe's artwork, as well as the Prime series because of it. Alan Lee has two art books out, for both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit , which also got calendars themed after ...

  At long last, The Lord of the Rings film trilogy arrives on 4K! The set that this blog post is about features theatrical and extended editions of the trilogy (though no special features, more on that later) and the gift set features nicer packaging, and a replica of The One Ring (unsure who by at this point). While the set is in 4K, and features Dolby Atmos, these films will likely - this is, as of now, unconfirmed - feature the same transfer that the blu-ray editions did. In 2021, there's going to be a new restoration/remaster, and that set will likely included special features discs. Expect that to be out for the 20th anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring at the very latest. The set I'm discussing in this post, though, is due to be out this December. It's targeted at those who want the films on 4K, and don't care for special features or bonus material. If you would like more info, I'd like to direct to TheOneRing.Net's announcement: https://www.theoner...

  It has recently been announced that for the 30th anniversary of The Godfather: Part III , Francis Ford Coppola is re-cutting the film in a new version, titled: The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone . This a lengthy post, divided into three parts. The first, is about The Death of Corleone and the second would be about different edits/versions of the films, and ending with what I can see the 4K release containing. Blog Post: Part I - The Godfather: Part III and The Death of Michael Corleone To read the official announcement, go here: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/godfather-part-iii-ending-new-version-theaters-1234758590/?fbclid=IwAR3Xa3jn2QhMggqL5BPTEY-21OrxAzsrAzIZhBXJSqHgNoTn75Na3JQSX6o . However for convenience of reading a blog post, I'll be putting relevant info in this post directly. " 'Mario Puzo's THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone' is an acknowledgement of Mario's and my preferred title and our original intentions...

  The Tolkien illustrated collection: variation 2 includes this year's hardback boxed set of The Hobbit + The Lord of the Rings , the three great tales books in hardback, and the recently published illustrated edition of Unfinished Tales . The illustrated collection: variation 1 includes The Hobbit in hardback from 1997, The Lord of the Rings hardback boxed set from 2002, and The Silmarillion hardback from 2004 (there have been a few different illustrated editions of those titles, though the size dimensions do not 'match' one another). However, there is one title currently missing from The Tolkien illustrated collection variation 2 - The Silmarillion . There are two illustrated editions by Ted Nasmith - one from 1998, the other from 2004. The 1998 one had about the usual number of illustrations as per usual for an illustrated edition of a Tolkien book (between 16 and 20). It also had a 'mixed' paper type: regular for text, photo style for the illustrations. The ...

  40 years ago today marks the publication of Unfinished Tales (sometimes titled as Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth ) . It's written by Tolkien, and edited by Christopher Tolkien. It is the last of my 'Middle-earth essentials' (the other being The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion ). The book expands upon aspects of The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion that go well with those stories. With the way that Unfinished Tales is presented, it can sort of seen as 'an extended appendix.' Note, that doesn't mean that this book REPLACES the Appendices in The Lord of the Rings . I've always wondered where each chapter of what is known as Unfinished Tales today WOULD have fit in, had they been included in The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion . The chapter The Quest For Erebor, for instance, would most likely have been in The Lord of the Rings , as part of one of the Appendices. The work was also the very beginning of the ...