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Return of the King, the final installment in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, opens in theaters Wednesday. The series, about a quest to rescue the world from evil, has held many filmgoers firmly in its grip from the start. Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic Kenneth Turan has a review.

A January ruling is anticipated as testimony concludes at a trial to determine whether the Barnes Foundation's $20 billion art collection should be moved from suburban Marion, Pa., to downtown Philadelphia. When Dr. Albert Barnes endowed the foundation in 1922, he ordered that it not be moved. Joel Rose of member station WHYY reports.

NPR's Scott Simon talks with entertainment critic Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times about the changing fortunes of NBC's The West Wing. President Bartlet and his White House staff are still soldiering through threats to national security and Washington scandals. But the cast is working this season without the writing of show creator Aaron Sorkin.

California Garlic farmer Chester Aaron talks to NPR's Steve Inskeep about his father's Russian soup and several holiday dips that use garlic.

The Way to Paradise, by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, devotes alternating chapters to the lives of political activist Flora Tristan and her grandson, the artist Paul Gauguin. The two were idealists bound to struggle against the status quo. Alan Cheuse has a review.

The Dolly Parton amusement park's parent company will fund all tuition and fees for select programs. "Their futures should be grown with love, not loans," Herschend Enterprises CEO Andrew Wexler says.

The last installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy opens in theaters next week, and the three films could eventually earn $3 billion in worldwide ticket sales. But the project almost never happened -- Kim Masters reports on New Line Cinema's $400-million gamble on director Peter Jackson's sweeping vision.

When an old master's painting fetches tens of millions on the auction block, it makes headlines around the world. But at any given time, a handful of artworks are unavailable at any price. NPR's Renee Montagne talks to Kelly Devine Thomas of ARTnews magazine about the "most wanted" works of art.

A new exhibit celebrates Joseph Cornell, one of the most influential and idiosyncratic American artists of the 20th century. The self-taught artist created small wooden boxes filled with knickknacks he collected in New York junk shops. As David D'Arcy reports, the results were beautiful, almost religious creations that inspired just about every visual artist who followed him.

Austin City Limits, the PBS music program, has presented the likes of Willie Nelson, Johnnie Cash, and Ray Charles since 1975. The show is now honored as a 2003 National Medal of Arts winner. NPR's Renee Montagne reports.