the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week joined by special guests Grace Duffy and Charlene Lydon, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every second Saturday at 6pm GMT, with the occasional bonus episode between them.

This time, to mark the 20th anniversary of its release, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

The Fellowship of the Ring has been shattered. Its membership has fragmented into three smaller groups. Each of these parties – and many more beside – will find themselves playing a major role in the War of the Ring. The battle for Middle Earth has truly begun, and flames threaten to consume the continent, and any innocent caught in their path.

At time of recording, it was ranked 13th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show Notes:

• Recorded 12th December 2022.
• Note: Due to the COVID-19 situation, this episode was recorded remotely. We suspect, going forward that a lot of our episodes will be until the crisis resolves.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at The Internet Movie Database.
• The IMDB 250 as it appeared at time of recording.
• Follow Grace on Twitter.
• Read Grace’s reviews at The Mary Sue.
• Listen to Grace at the Scannain podcast.
• Follow Charlene on Twitter.
• Visit the Lighthouse Cinema’s homepage.
• Follow the Lighthouse Cinema on Twitter.
• Gabriella Paiella at GQ argues that the Lord of the Rings trilogy are Christmas movies, December 2020.
• Megan McCluskey at Time argues that the Lord of the Rings movies are Christmas movies, December 2020.
• David Elkin at The Daily Edge reports on the Lighthouse Cinema’s Lord of the Rings marathon, August 2016.
• Nicholas Anthony at Collective Swish describes his experience attending a marathon of the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies, May 2018.
• Sandy Schaeffer at /Film reports on the battles that Peter Jackson was fighting with the studios during the filming of Helm’s Deep, July 2022.
• Mary McNamara at The Los Angeles Times reports on an explosion of fantasy cinema at the turn of the millennium, November 2001.
• Peter Jackson talks to IGN about the extended cuts of the Lord of the Rings movies, December 2003.
• Susana Polo at Polygon argues for the theatrical cuts of the Lord of the Rings movies over the extended editions, March 2021.
• Peter Jackson tells the BBC that The Two Towers was not altered in any significant way by the success of The Fellowship of the Ring, December 2002.
• Viggo Mortensen talks to Entertainment Weekly about the importance of the reshoots to shaping the Lord of the Rings sequels, June 2014.
• Peter Jackson talks to Entertainment Weekly about the challenges in making The Two Towers, March 2002.
• HPC Wire reports on the doubling of WETA’s processing power to support The Two Towers, January 2003.
• PJ Huffstutter at The Los Angeles Times reports on the twenty-four hour production cycle that was necessary to get The Two Towers into cinemas on time, December 2002.
• David Edelstein at Slate describes The Two Towers as “a glorious mess”, December 2002.
• Manohla Dargis at The Los Angeles Times describes The Two Towers as “a bit of a yawn”, December 2002.
• Soham Gadre at Polygon considers the reputation of The Two Towers as the least compelling of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, August 2021.
• Peter Jackson talks to IGN about the challenges in editting and structuring The Two Towers, December 2002.
• Peter Jackson talks to Entertainment Weekly about certain adaptational choices that he had to make in The Two Towers, December 2002.
• Laura Miller at Salon considers the behind the scenes material on the extended edition of The Two Towers, November 2003.
• Leon Miller at The Pop Culture Studio considers the adaptational changes that Jackson made to the character Faramir, January 2021.
• Shane O’Neill at ScreenRant argues in favour of the changes that the cinematic adaptation of The Two Towers makes to Faramir, April 2020.
• Peter Jackson talks to Entertainment Weekly about shifting story elements between The Two Towers and The Return of the King, March 2002.
• The production team on the Lord of the Rings trilogy talk to The Seattle Pacific University Response, Winter 2004.
• Paul Moore at Inverse compiles an oral history of the filming of Helm’s Deep, December 2022.
• The trailer for The Two Towers, 2002.
• Bettina Makalintal at Vice considers the strange afterlife of Clint Mansell’s score for Requiem for a Dream, October 2020.
• Alex Bruce Smith at Pedestrian argues for the power of Aragorn opening the doors at Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers, March 2021.
• Ian Nathan visits the set of the reshoots of The Two Towers for Empire, October 2002.
• Austin Gilkesen at Tor.com argues for The Two Towers as a war movie, July 2021.
• Darren Mooney at The Escapist argues for the importance of the groundedness of The Two Towers, December 2021.
• Tim Lommerse at Tolkien Society discusses how Tolkien’s work can be read through the lens of his experiences during the First World War, September 2017.
• Simon Tolkien writes at the BBC about how his grandfather’s experience of the First World War shaped The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, January 2017.
• Joseph Loconte at The New York Times argues that Mordor was based on the Western Front, July 2016.
• John Garth at The Daily Beast argues that the First World War lies at the heart of The Lord of the Rings, April 2017.
• Ian McKellen discusses reading The Lord of the Rings as an allegory for the Second World War as part of his E-Post correspondence, March 2001.
• Keith Aikers at Compassionate Spirit argues that The Lord of the Rings would have resonated greatly with a generation that lived through the Second World War, March 2004.
• Molly Haskell at The Guardian discusses how Gone With the Wind resonated with European audiences following its release after the Second World War, May 2009.
• Robert Vaux at Comic Book Resources considers the presentation of the “dead marshes” in The Two Towers, August 2022.
• Keith A. Spencer at Salon considers the metaphor of post-traumatic stress disorder that runs through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, August 2019.
• Adam Gopnik at The New Yorker considers Peter Jackson’s First World War documentary, They Shall Not Grow Old, January 2019.
• Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz at The Cut argues that there are Aragorn Girls and Legolas Girls, May 2020.
• Callie Beusman at The Cut makes a case for “the Boromir Women“, May 2020.
• Roger Ebert at The Chicago Sun Times recognises that Aragorn is the star of The Two Towers, December 2002.
• Joshua Rivera at Polygon argues that The Lord of the Rings mada Aragorn one of the great sex symbols, July 2021.
• Liv Tyler talks to MovieHole about initial plans to have Arwen be more present during The Lord of the Rings, December 2002.
• Ben Hardwick at Comic Book Resources reports on behind-the-scenes footage of Liv Tyler at Helm’s Deep, November 2022.
• Robert W. Butler, John Mark Eberhart and Knight Ridder at The Chicago Tribune consider the role of women in The Lord of the Rings, January 2001.
• Xan Brooks at The Guardian considers how Peter Jackson bulked up Arwen’s role in The Fellowship of the Ring, December 2001.
• Ty Burr at Entertainment Weekly considers some of the fan discomfort with the changes made to Arwen’s character in The Fellowship of the Ring, December 2001.
• Marcel Aubron-Bülles at The Tolkienist considers the tension between book and film fans over The Lord of the Rings, September 2012.
• Kate Nepveu at Tor.com complains about the changes that Peter Jackson made to the characters in The Two Towers, January 2010.
• Eric Saindon talks to Vulture about rendering Gollum, December 2018.
• The Los Angeles Times compares Gollum to Jar Jar Binks, December 2002.
• Brooks Barnes at The New York Times interviews Fran Walsh, December 2012.
• Louis Chilton at The Independent reports on Peter Jackson’s fondness of the Gollum scene directed by Fran Walsh in The Two Towers, December 2020.
• Brad Dourif talks to The One Ring about working with Fran Walsh on his performance in The Two Towers, 2002.
• Isaac Butler at Polygon considers the complications of giving credit for realising Gollum, December 2021.
• Andy Serkis talks to The Guardian about playing Gollum, November 2002.
• Gollum wins an MTV Movie Award, May 2003.
• Stuart Jeffries at The Guardian considers how industrialisation informed Tolkien’s portrayal of Middle Earth, September 2014.
• Jane Ciabattari at BBC considers the embrace of Tolkien’s work by the counterculture, November 2014.
• Doyle Irvin at American Forests considers Tolkien as an environmentalist, May 2017.
• Susana Polo at Polygon considers the eponymous buildings in The Two Towers, September 2021.
• Jeff Vice at The Deseret News considers the petitions to change the name of The Two Towers in the aftermath of 9/11, June 2002.
• Darren Mooney at The Escapist considers the mournful nostalgia of the larger Lord of the Rings saga, December 2021.
• Anthony Lane at The New Yorker reflects on J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagined and nostalgic journeys in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, December 2001.
• Karen Durbin at The New York Times reports on the debates over the political readings of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings in the midst of the War on Terror, December 2002.
• Christopher Borrelli at The Chicago Tribune reports of viewing the success of The Fellowship of the Rings through the lens of 9/11 and the War on Terror, September 2011.
• Roger Rosenblatt at Time argues that the “age of irony” has come “to an end” after the 9/11 attacks, September 2001.
• Camille Dodero argues in The Boston Phoenix that it is time to “get serious” after the 9/11 attacks, September 2001.
• Darren Mooney at The Escapist considers Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy as something that resonated with America in the aftermath of 9/11, November 2021.
• Chris Mooney at The Washington Post considers the various political baggage that the Lord of the Rings picked up in the wake of 9/11, December 2002.
• Steven Hart at Salon considers how The Lord of the Rings got drawn into the American culture war, February 2004.
• The Times considers the various political and social contexts of The Lord of the Rings, August 2003.
• Reverand Tom Emmanuel at Polygon considers why the religious right rejected Harry Potter but embraced The Lord of the Rings, September 2021.
• Brad Dourif talks to Den of Geek about making the Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, August 2008.
• Mary Colbert at The Los Angeles Times considers the relationship between New Zealand and the Lord of the Rings movies, December 2002.
• The New Zealand Herald reports on the controversy around the tax breaks afford to Hollywood productions like The Lord of the Rings, January 2003.
• Jamie Smyth, Sebastian Payne, Alistair Gray at The Financial Times report on the decision to move the production of The Rings of Power from New Zealand, August 2022.
• James Hibberd at The Hollywood Reporter discusses how Peter Jackson almost directed some of The Rings of Power, August 2022.
• Thomas Bacon at ScreenRant considers how profoundly the Tolkien estate disliked Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, August 2022.
• Max Covill at Polygon considers the shot of Legolis swinging around to jump on a horse, April 2021.
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