it's been out for a bit (shows as May 3rd, '09 release) but i was only recently informed (and i ran a search here for gollum and nothing came up so figured i'd pass it on. sorry if it's been mentioned before).
The Hunt For Gollum is "a 40 minute independent film inspired by The Lord of the Rings", as expected. and, it's pretty decent in all aspects (acting, effects (Gollum was rendered quite well), sound/music, etc.) the storyline is pretty simple and straight-forward but, all-in-all, it kept my interest as a fan of the original movies.
my only complaint is it seemed (unnecessarily) rushed, which i think boils down to the "final cut" editing (maybe a "director's cut" to follow?). i appreciate long movies and, even tho this doesn't have the content/intention of a 3 hr long epic adventure, i think it could have been about an hour long, allowing the audience to digest what they're viewing at a more leisurely pace. ie, some panoramic views of the landscape (which is reminiscent of the original movies) could have been allowed to play here and there, a la the originals, etc.
links to trailers and the online movie itself
HERE.
(no registration required or anything along those lines... completely free).
enjoy
