15 January 2003
One year ago today, a little website with a Big name was uploaded for all the world to see. Of course, at the time, less than ten people came each day to visit the site. One year has passed. The site now averages 800+ hits a day. We've moved to a free ad-less server. The content and the design have changed several times. 71,800+ hits later, The Big One! is still online bringing you the latest (hopefully) news and information on Dominic Monaghan, as well as on Lord of the Rings and its actors in general. The first design was based on the Casa Loma picture of Dom I had in my HD, which explains why I used that photo for my greeting above. (Even the font for the title is the same.) Many thanks to Sharon (the former owner) and Malia (the current owner) of Dominic Monaghan: The Unofficial Site for providing the first and biggest Dom site online, and for advertising my site (helping it gain hits after we first went "live"). Thanks to posters at BoardDom!, The Dominic Monaghan Forum, and Fan Forum for all the discussions and information provided, as well as the many nonsensical discussions. Thanks to The Township of Bree for the lovely graphic celebrating my site's one year online. Much love to Cheryl and Full Bloom for some pictures, content, and even tips on how to run a site like this. A big shout out to TheOneRing.net, War of the Ring, and Orlando Bloom Multimedia (among others) for the great information and news they provide. Thanks to all the affiliates who've put up with me, hehehe. And of course, this site won't still be here without Dominic Monaghan, and of course his fans. (Dom, if you're reading this, send me a sign that you are!)
I resolve to keep providing the latest news, information, and pictures on Dominic Monaghan, but the updates won't be limited to that. I'll also post selected information on news and appearances of the rest of the LOTR cast as well as the film in general. I'll also try to get the media page going, so if you'd like to contribute, just email me, okay? Now, let's hope we survive this next year!
On to the updates. The Extended Edition 'Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring' DVD won some DVD Premiere Awards. "The extended DVD edition of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" was the big winner at the DVD Premiere Awards on Tuesday night, picking up honors in four categories, including best overall extra features and best audio commentary on a new release." Check this out for more details.
Remember those 'Return of the King' calendars released to a few select people? War of the Ring is raffling one off, but the Official Site is one-upping them: They're raffling off 25 of these calendars to lucky visitors of their site. (The offer is only available to USA residents, which sucks for me.) For more information, check out LordoftheRings.net.
Good news for fans of Gollum and/or the Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game. Starting next month, for every $10 worth of LOTR TCG products purchased at accredited stores, you'll get a free Smeagol alternate image promo card (like what they did with the Eowyn card). For a sneak peek at this card, as well as information on how to get it, check out Decipher.com.
Japanese fans! Viggo Mortensen will have a book signing on Wednesday next week, January 22 at 6pm. It will be held at the Book Depratment, 7th Floor, Tower Records Shibuya, Tokyo. For more (accurate) information, visit House of Telecontar.
Speaking of Viggo, Latino Review has posted pictures from Viggo's latest film, 'Hidalgo,' so check those out.
And now, for site news. I've added two new affiliates: Sam and Frodo Tribute and Dom Loves Dom. Check them out!
Discuss these and more over at BoardDom!
14 January 2003
Have you been waiting for some new Dom news? Well, wait no longer. (Because you'll probably have to wait for a few more months until the next Dom-related update. Er.) FilmForce has an article on Dom (and Billy's) possible next project. Yeah, we've been wondering the same thing; Dom joked that "I've been deemed unemployable by the Hollywood industry over the past year." So what could be his next project? Well, it could be that scuba comedy he and Billy have been working on for more than a year (it seems). "Billy and I have written a script about two young guys from Britain who end up getting involved with running a scuba diving school in Miami. Which is just fun." He says he doesn't "want to be involved in the next s**t horror film," but he's game for a Peter Jackson-directed zombie movie. And the last possible project will probably team him up with Billy again. "The producer of Lord of the Rings is in the process of rewriting a script he wants us to get involved with about two people who go to New Orleans to find the blues, and it sounds kind of good." Check out the article at FilmForce.
Final box office results and figures for last weekend are out. Check out Yahoo! News and Box Office Mojo for details. (To refresh your memories, 'Just Married' was at #1 while 'The Two Towers' was at #2.)
Do you live in the West Hollywood area? If not, do you have plans of going there on Thursday, January 16? If you don't, you may want to make plans now. (Or not. Whatever.) According to TheOneRing.net, "Actor Viggo Mortensen and author Jude Fisher will sign copies of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS VISUAL COMPANION (for which Mortensen wrote the Introduction) at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, CA on Thursday, January 16, at 3:00 p.m. Presented by Houghton Mifflin, publishers of J.R.R. Tolkien since 1938." If you're going, don't hesitate to email me a fan's eye view of the event.
Discuss these and more over at BoardDom!
13 January 2003
Happy Birthday, Orlando Bloom! 26 years ago today, Orlando Bloom - who portrays the elf Legolas - was born in Canterbury, England. It's his birthday today, so celebrate by visitng one of the following Orli sites: Full Bloom, Orlando Bloom Multimedia, Bloomed.net, and 4 Hobbits and 1 Elf.
The People have spoken. At last night's People's Choice Awards, 'Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring' won Favorite Motion Picture and Favorite Dramatic Motion Picture. The movie actually tied with 'Spider-man' as Favorite Motion Picture; fellow nominee 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' won Favorite Comedy Motion Picture. Sean Astin and his family received the award via videotape (or was it satellite feed?) from Vancouver. (Eligibility for the awards, if I remember correctly, is December 2001 - November 2002, which is why 'Fellowship' was eligible and 'Two Towers' was not.) Yahoo! News has two reports on this event here and here.
Meanwhile, Billy Boyd hopes to get disadvantaged kids into acting. The Scottish actor, who grew up and lived in one of the UK's poorer communities, has been in talks with the Equity acting union for such an opportunity. We hope that Billy's project goes well. For more information, check out Yahoo! News.
'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' has been knocked out of the top spot at the North American box office by the Ashton Kutcher-Brittany Murphy romantic comedy 'Just Married.' Final figures have yet to be released, but it is estimated that 'Just Married' earned $18 million while TTT earned $14.95 million. 'Catch Me If You Can,' starring Leonardo diCaprio and directed by Steven Spielberg, was in third place with $14.8 million. Yahoo! News has a story on this, but do check out Box Office Mojo for more information and other cool B.O.-related information.
And now, for some website news. I've added another new affiliate, Simply Irresistible. Do check out this cool Elijah Wood website!
And do feel free to email me your fan signs and birthday greetings for The Big One!. They will be posted in two days.
Discuss these and more over at BoardDom!
11 January 2003
'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' just opened in theaters here in the Philippines today, so naturally I went and watched it a second time. Wow. Awesome. Absolutely breathtaking. Can't wait to see it again tomorrow!
Added two new affiliates: Bloomed.net and Rabiddoggies: Siggy Icons and More. Check those out!
I've also submitted my site for submission at the Ultimate Lord of the Rings Web Directory. It's currently closed, but when it's open, do check it out.
Discuss these and more over at BoardDom!
10 January 2003
Remember that 'Return of the King' calendar I mentioned yesterday? (Psst, that update's still here on this page.) Well, shortly after I uploaded the site, I found out that War of the Ring has posted larger, high resolution scans of every single image on that calendar, including the one for the month of July featuring Merry and Pippin! All these scans can be found here; click on the thumbnail above to go directly to Merry and Pippin's photo. (ROTK SPOILERS!)
In addition, War of the Ring is also raffling off their copy of the ROTK calendar to a lucky, random visitor of their site! Check the site out for details on how to win this calendar.
Speaking of 'Return of the King,' there appears to be a teaser poster for ROTK out. It features Aragorn (natch) and it's the exact same picture as the one used in the ROTK calendar. Check out Elbakin to take a look at it.
Speaking of posters of Aragorn, the latest Oscar "For Your Consideration" ad for 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' heralds Viggo Mortensen for the Best Supporting Actor category. You can find that ad here. Previous, recent ads include this one for Best Picture, and this one for Andy Serkis as Best Supporting Actor.
Speaking of Andy Serkis and the Oscars, TheOneRing.net has several articles arguing for or against a nomination at the Oscars for Andy Serkis. Personally, I think he deserves one. But don't take my word for it. If you haven't seen it yet, go watch 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' at a theater near you.
Speaking of the Oscars, OscarWatch, Yahoo! News, and TORn report that 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' has been shortlisted in the lists for the Best Sound Editing and Best Visual Effects categories at the Oscars. This means that TTT - along with six other films per category - are the only ones left eligible for nominations in these two categories. Let's hope TTT grabs those two nominations (and more!). For more Oscars-related news, check out OscarWatch.
Still speaking of the Oscars, word has come out that the new Entertainment Weekly Oscars issue has predicted 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' as one of the nominees for Best Picture! The magazine - which has 'Chicago' stars Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones on the cover - also predicts nominations for Peter Jackson as Best Director, as well as Best Adapted Screenplay. The magazine is also lobbying for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Andy Serkis. According to OscarWatch, Entertainment Weekly has a very good track record when it comes to predicting Oscar nominees, so let's hope they're right this time! We'll surely have a party come Oscar time if they're right. (The magazine will be released in newsstands all over starting Monday, 13 January 2003.)
Speaking of Oscar parties, TORn is once again hosting another Oscar party. Called Two Towers: One Party, this party for Tolkien fans will be held on Oscar night, 23 March 2003, at the Hollywood Athletic Club from 4:30pm until 1:00am the next day. Tickets are selling for $75 (and will get more expensive in February), and they're running out fast; as of last update, half of the 800 tickets available have already been sold. It should be a party of great magnificence, if last year's is any indication, with VIPs likely to show up. (There's a 'no autograph' policy, but I'm sure hob-nobbing with the stars and VIPs is cool enough, right? Besides, photography will be allowed anyway.) If you've got the cash and the time, then try not to miss this opportunity. (I myself cannot go, as I live in another country. Oh, and I'm relatively poor.) Anyway, go here for more information on the party as well as how to purchase tickets. (If you do end up going, please don't forget to send me a report of what went on at the party. I'll be waiting, LOL.)
Discuss these and more over at BoardDom!
09 January 2003
We start today's update with a scan of the Two Towers valentines currently available. The set includes, naturally, Merry and Pippin. Elf Lady has scans of these valentines on her site.
The entertainment industry has also gotten a hold of an exclusive ROTK calendar. These aren't available to the general public (though you can bet eBay will be selling these at sky-high prices), but TheOneRing.net and Bag End Inn (among others) have scans of said calendar. The scan I have above is the actual size of the scans TORn has, but I tried to make a bigger version... I hope it looks good. Anyway check out TORn as the have bigger scans of some of the images. (ROTK SPOILERS!)
Speaking of ROTK spoilers, Adangio.com have posted an article about 'Return of the King' which includes spoilers from Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Billy Boyd. It includes spoilers on Merry and Pippin's story arc in the last film of the trilogy. Check out that article here. (MORE ROTK SPOILERS!)
StefBrandybuck from the Dominic Monaghan Forum at Dominic Monaghan: The Unofficial Site has posted a review of Dom's short film An Insomniac's Nightmare. I quote, "...compliments to Dominic Monaghan for taking on this project and putting himself completely into the character so that we truly see who Jack is and understand his motivations and emotions throughout the film." You can read the whole review at her post on the Dominic Monaghan Forum or at her LiveJournal.
For fans of Elijah Wood: TORn reports that Lij will appear on NBC's 'Late Night with Conan O'Brien' Friday next week, 17 January 2003. Generally, the show is on at 12:35am, but check local listings to be sure.
For fans of Orlando Bloom: The Official 'Ned Kelly' Website has been updated with more pictures and even wallpaper. Orli, of course, is in some of them. Check it out.
Discuss these and more over at BoardDom!
08 January 2003
I've added a new wallpaper, thanks to Sara Egger. It's one of Dom and Orlando Bloom. Pretty cute.
I've also added three new pictures from the LA Two Towers premiere from Fansites.com.
Next week, The Big One! is celebrating one year online. I don't have any plans for anything special (yet), but I certainly won't say know to being sent some fan signs. What's a fan sign? Basically, it's your way of showing me that you like the site (or just Dom, really). Feel free to email me some graphics which express your love for The Big One! and/or Dominic Monaghan. These will be put up on the site on 15 January 2003. The graphic can be a piece of fan art, or a picture of you holding up a sign for The Big One!. Whatever it is, I'll put it up on this site next week to celebrate one year online.
Discuss these and more over at BoardDom!
