the pod bay door

:: Top Ten movie lists have begun to appear. What’s interesting is the choice for top film is different on the four lists provided here. Time Magazine critic Richard Corliss picked Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as the top film (and I agree.) His colleague, Richard Schickel, chose Mystic River. Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert gave the nod to Monster, and his Ebert & Roeper partner Richard Roeper chose In America as his top film of 2003.

I saw In America today, and it’s a wonderful, brilliant, moving film, highly recommended.

:: A revised model of the Freedom Tower, to be built at the WTC site in Lower Manhattan, was unveiled yesterday. The tower will be 70 stories tall, have an angular shape, and a 276-foot spire, bringing the height to 1,776 feet, the same number as the year of American independence. Add the broadcast tower to the the spire, and the total height will be above 2000 feet. It will be the tallest free-standing structure in the world, and have turbines at the top of the main structure, to harvest wind energy to provide 20% of the buildings energy. The building will be constructed with additional safety features absent from the WTC: “The tower is to have a concrete core and be encased in a steel cable netting that will brace the building.” The building is scheduled for completion in 2008. A 360-degree view is here (requires Real Player.) Details of the finalists for the design of the WTC Memorial Site can be seen here.

:: I saw Lord of the Rings The Return of the King yesterday, and it is indeed the movie event of the year. I hope the Academy recognizes Peter Jackson’s stunning achievement, and awards him the Best Director Oscar he so deserves, along with Best Picture of 2003.

:: I haven’t seen The Return of the King yet, but hope to tomorrow. Three friends have, and report that it’s quite the cinematic experience. James Berardinelli describes it as “…not only the best movie of 2003, but the crowning cinematic achievement of the past several years. In fact, labeling this as a “movie” is almost an injustice. This is an experience of epic scope and grandeur, amazing emotional power, and relentless momentum.” Rotten Tomatoes as of this evening was recording a 97% favorable rating, with 146 positive reviews of 150 listed. However, the review that left me howling was found at Derryl’s site, written by Neill Cumpston and posted on Ain’t It Cool News. Be forewarned that it is rude, politically incorrect, full of obscenities, and is hilariously funny.

:: The 2004 Golden Globe nominations were announced today. I don’t know what the big deal is with Seabiscuit. It was ok, but didn’t do much for me. Overall, I don’t think this is a spectacular year for top quality movies. I hope LOTR:TROTK sweeps the big awards. Peter Jackson is overdue for recognition of what he has accomplished with the three Rings films.

:: Sree Sreenivasan has gathered together the year’s best web tips, as reported in the Web Tips column on Poynteronline. Sreenivasan also has a site for “sharing tips on various topics“, such as photography, Google, hoax sites, and graphics and image sites.

All web tips since Sept 2001 are listed here.

:: The 10 worst ideas of the fall 2003 television season include the dumbing down of The West Wing, and the full-frontal assault of the three Law & Order franchises, both of with which I agree. While you’re at it, check Lost Remote, a television blog founded by Cory Bergman. And in case you missed Paris Hilton on SNL two weeks back, here’s the transcript of her brief sketch with Jimmy Fallon during Weekend Update. It’s totally brilliant and funny.

:: Geoff, on a blogging tear of late, wrote about Zempt, a multi-platform program that works with Moveable Type, and allows for blog posting without having to login to your MT site. I downloaded the app at work and at home, and it works brilliantly. Give it a try if you are an MT blogger. Another related app is w.bloggar, which works with MT and other blog software.