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

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…

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.

 

My Top 50 Movies of the Decade…

Alright here it is, my top fifty films of the decade. I’ve decided to stop complaining about Donal Clarke’s list in the Irish Times and just let rip myself. There’s more than a few crazy choices down there, but – after a week in the works – I’m happy with it. I doubt that a lot of other people will be.

Like the Oscars, but... you know, better...

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