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Sri Lankan fighter jets bombed a secret rebel communications center early yesterday, killing the Tamil Tigers' political chief and five others in a strike expected to deal a sharp blow to the guerrillas' morale. The killing of S.P. Tamilselvan, who acted as the public face of the rebels, was widely seen as a public relations coup for the government. But analysts feared it would further escalate the more than two-decade-old civil war and spark a cycle of political assassinations across this Indian Ocean island nation. "This is a message that we know their leaders' location," Defense Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said....

Tolkien teaches us to take courage Tom ShippeyThe Daily Telegraph Monday, January 06, 2003 J.R.R. Tolkien was not a professional author nor, for much of his life, even a much-published one. He had a certain success with The Hobbit in 1937, when he was 45 -- enough for his publisher, Stanley Unwin, to ask for a sequel. But though Tolkien dutifully began to write one almost immediately, it was 17 years before the first volume of The Lord of the Rings was published, by which time Tolkien had almost reached retirement. For much of his life he was haunted by...

The link above is to a comprehensive list of scenes deleted from TTT, or moved to ROTK. All those who wished for more "fleshing out" of key scenes, or who wished for more development of particular areas, should give this one a close look, right here. If they were ALL included in the theatrical release, we'd have a five-hour movie, seems to me. CHECK IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

News on the Extended DVD is out already! Among the highlights to be found at www.chud.com: There will again be 30-35 minutes of extra footage; The battle at Helm's Deep may get an "R" rating after the new footage is included; More footage of Gollum will be included. Hit the link for more info: CHUD Article on TTT DVD

TOP TEN REASONS WHY THE TWO TOWERS SUCKS!!! 1. The Man of SteelDidja notice? Gandalf "falls" off the bridge and flies through the air to grab his sword. Before he even hits the bottom, Gandalf has grabbed the firebeast and starts kicking his ass! Hey, Superman! Why didn't you do that while you had your sword and you were on the bridge? 2. How to Climb Mount EverestStep 1. Fall with a firebeast until you reach the lake at the bottom of the mountain. Step 2. Firebeasts hate water, so you can just bet he'll use his great wings of...

'Tower' of Power Second installment of 'Rings' trilogy is thrilling war epic By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE Atlanta Journal-Constitution Film Critic PIERRE VINET / New Line Productions Viggo Mortensen's character, the heroic Aragorn, is the central player in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers." * FORUM: Share your thoughts * 'Two Towers' preview * The theology of the 'Ring' * Photos from the UK premiere * First look at the film "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" Grade: A- Starring Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin and Orlando Bloom. Directed by Peter Jackson. Rated PG-13 for violence....

Worse and worse and much much better Xan BrooksWednesday December 11, 2002 Ian McKellen as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers  A year ago, Peter Jackson remarked that he regarded the first instalment of his Lord of the Rings trilogy as a kind of extended introduction, and the final chapter as "one long climax". The Two Towers, Jackson said, was "the complicated one", the one "where things go from worse to worse." Worse, presumably, is when Gandalf (Ian McKellen) nose-dives into the bowels of the earth during the movie's opening seconds (astride a balrog, no less). Worser...

HE'S sharp, smart, funny - and he's The Sun's new movie critic. Yes folks, a star is Vaughan as Johnny Vaughan, 36, joins Britain's brightest newspaper. And today he kicks off with a review of the biggest release of the year, the new Lord Of The Rings epic The Two Towers. Johnny will be bringing you his passionate views about films each week in his new column, starting tomorrow. Rings sequel is Tower of power Turning ugly ... an Orcsoldier bares his fangs RELATED STORIES • Good Lord, it's Nicola's 2 towers! LORD Of The Rings: The Two Towers...

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERSby Chuck Russel(//) 2002, Rated PG-13, 179 Minutes, New Line Cinema  In a nutshell, I’m practically speechless. This epic is so much larger than the first. Remember a year ago how much we all anticipated The Fellowship of the Ring? This film takes that same anticipation, with the audience’s familiarity with the subject matter due to repeated viewings of the first one, and boosts it to another level. As soon as the theater lights go down and the movie starts - the action begins. Just like in The Fellowship you get SO...

The Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersCast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Liv Tyler, John Rhys-Davies, Dominic Monaghan, Christopher Lee, Miranda Otto, Brad Dourif, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Karl Urban, Bernard Hill, David Wenham and Andy SerkisDirected by: Peter JacksonScreenplay by: Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Stephen Sinclair and Frances WalshDistributor: New Line CinemaRun time: 179 minRating: PG-13Year: 2002 Official Site See Trailer Buy Tickets Buy Poster Buy Novel Buy SoundtrackFirst the good news: The Two Towers isn't necessarily better than The Fellowship of the Ring but everything great about the first...

'The Two Towers': The Movie You're Not Gonna Miss, By Kurt Loder 12.06.2002 6:49 PM EST Orlando Bloom in "The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers"  Photo: Pierre Vinet/ New Line   NEW YORK — Some 1,200 dazed and excitedly chattering people emerged from the opulent Ziegfeld Theatre late Thursday night, looking as though they'd just wandered out of a world more wondrous by far than the urban snowscape that awaited them. Which they had. It was the world premiere of "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," the second installment of director Peter Jackson's monumental visualization...

<p>We finally got to see The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers last night and, as I predicted from the 16 minutes of footage shown in the fall, this will be a big hit.</p> <p>It's also quite likely to be an Oscar nominee for Best Picture, joining Gangs of New York and Chicago (each from Miramax, which will distribute a low-budget documentary I co-produced next year), Catch Me If You Can (from DreamWorks, whose annual Christmas party I attend), and one of the following films: Far From Heaven, Antwone Fisher, or The Hours.</p>

NEW LINE CINEMA CHIVALRY WILL NOT DIE: Karl Urban, center, as Eomer in The Two Towers, prepares his knights for battle Feeding on Fantasy Forward into the past! At a time of uncertainty, American culture looks backward for comfort By Lev Grossman Posted Sunday, November 24, 2002; 10:31 a.m. ESTTruly let it be said that Sir Tristan von Eising is everything a knight should be—honorable and chivalrous, 6 ft. 4 in. tall and an expert in armed combat. On weekends Sir Tristan von Eising is a proud nobleman of the Barony of Nordskogen, but during the week he is...

Be sure to check out Entertainment Tonight, tonight! They will have the very first showing of the new TTT trailer. Get the VCRs cranking, as my old gaffer used to say...

Welcome to The Green Dragon Inn This is a chapter discussion of The Two Towers, volume two of the Lord of the Rings. It is a continuation of our discussion of Lord of the Rings that started with Fellowship of the Ring and finished a few weeks back. FoTR discussion thread. We will cover one section of the book per week. Sometimes short, related chapters may be combined, and the process may evolve as we go to keep everybody happy! If you are joining late, jump right in, but please stick to the chapter currently being discussed. We should be...

Beyond this point there be spoilers! Like spoilers? – Keep reading! Don't want spoilers? – Click HERE and don't look back! Don't say we didn't warn you! Spoilers are what this thread is all about. So bring your rumors (substantiated or not!), spoilers, spy reports, and bones of contention about them here as the snippets of TTT news, photos and interviews come rolling in. I wouldn't even recommend pinging people to this thread unless you know they want to see them. There are a lot of purists out there that hate to have anything given away before the movie...