jrr tolkien | the m0vie blog

317. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (#13)

Posted on December 17, 2022 by Darren

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.

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New Escapist Column! On What Makes “The Two Towers” the Best “Lord of the Rings” Movie…

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Darren

I published a new column at The Escapist yesterday. This week, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, we’re taking a look back at the trilogy as a whole. We’ll be publishing three articles looking at the films, one each day. This is the second.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the most interesting film in the trilogy, in large part because it’s neither beginning nor ending of this epic saga. It is instead the story about what it feels like to exist in the middle of this epic struggle between good and evil, feeling small and powerless as the forces move around. It’s the most human of the films in the trilogy, the most nuanced, the most complicated. It is the only film that really lets shades of grey creep into the mix of its epic black-and-white morality.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: epic, evil, frodo, gollum, good, Human, J. R. R. Tolkien, jrr tolkien, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the two towers | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On How “The Green Knight” Deconstructs the Hero’s Journey…

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of David Lowery’s The Green Knight on streaming, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the director’s reimagining of classic Arthurian legend.

In particular, when is so fascinating about The Green Knight is the way that it takes a very classic and very conventional hero’s journey – the story of a character who embarks upon a quest that makes them better, stronger and wiser before returning home fundamentally changed by the experience – and gradually deconstructs it. Is a hero’s journey alone enough to make Gawain a great man? Can the adventure make him a different person? Is there a checklist of accomplishments that he must complete before he becomes a worthy knight? The Green Knight interrogates and explores these questions.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.