Thursday, July 1, 2010

The Last Airbender Review

Remember "The Sixth Sense"? Remember how good a movie that was? I honestly have no idea what M. Night Shyamalan has been doing these last 10 years, but improving his craft hasn't been one of them. With each of his successive movies being slightly more terrible than the last, culminating in the complete disaster of the unintentionally hilarious "The Happening", Shyamalan attempts to rebuild his credibility by taking a slightly unconventional project in "The Last Airbender." And while he doesn't quite redeem himself, the effort is far more entertaining than "The Happening."

Based on the Nickelodeon television show, "The Last Airbender" is about the reincarnation of the "Avatar", Aang (Noah Ringer), whose native power is airbending. He is not only the last remaining airbender, but the only person in the world who is able to tap into the other elements of waterbending, earthbending, and firebending. Other benders exist but are limited to their individual element. Of course, the Fire People want to control the Avatar to rule the world, but our heroes will have none of that.

There is no question that Shyamalan proves himself to be an interesting visual director. The way in which he composes many of his shots is visually arresting even if the meat of that individual scene is disposable. And despite this being his first foray into action, he handles himself rather competently with much of it. This part really isn't the problem.

The problem lies with too many characters plodding through too much plot while delivering far too much exposition. Every ten minutes or so all of the action stops so that the characters can stand around and tell us what they just did, their own personal history, what they're going to do next, and why they're going to do it. Other times we're treated to a visual of them traveling while Katara (Nicole Peltz), the girl who originally found Aang, gives us background info via voiceover. Clearly Shyamalan is trying to provide the audience with as much information as possible but much of it isn't necessary. While there certainly seems to be an interesting and wide ranging mythology of this universe, all of its richness is stripped out when the attempt is made to force feed the audience every missing piece, instead of just showing it.

Additionally, none of the characters are really all that interesting. Aang is not only a poor actor, but a bland character. He apparently attempted to run away from his duty as the Avatar because he wanted to have a normal life. But upon his reemergence, he almost immediately accepts his mistake and decides to take on that mantle. No real growth, no real life changing experience, he just somewhat arbitrarily changes his mind. His two companions, Katara and Sokka (Jackson Rathbone) are even more uninteresting, serving the purpose of essentially kick starting the whole journey but providing little more than ancillary support. We're downloaded with information at the beginning of the movie as to why we should care about them, but again, we're never shown. The only time Katara is really worth having around is when she uses her waterbending powers to assist in battle.

What was surprising was the way in which the most interesting characters in the movie was supposed to be one of the villains. Slumdog Millionaire's Dev Patel plays Prince Zuko, the disgraced son of the king of the Fire People. Forced to live in exile, he can only return if he brings back the Avatar and regain his place as king. None of his actions are evil. Just misguided in his attempts to join his family again and go home. His entire purpose is to go home and as a result, you can understand why he acts in the way that he does.

Attempting to stop Prince Zuko to take the glory for himself, however, is Commander Zhao, played by Aasif Mandvi of the Daily Show. Let me say that again. A guy from the Daily Show is supposed to be the primary antagonist. Occasionally he made me forget that he's primarily known for comedy bits on television, but for the most part I was just picturing his hilarious line delivery from the show. Maybe if they had Jon Stewart as his assistant or something we could have really had something awesome.

Shyamalan needs to stop writing. Period. Or get someone to rewrite his stuff. Because it's obvious that while he does have some skill as a director, his writing just seems to get worse and worse. He even attempts to shoehorn in a "twist" at the end of the movie. But it's not a twist. It's a plot development. Punctuating it as some kind of surprise does a disservice to the entire audience and just makes you more disliked than you already are.

As a side note, this 3D was probably the worst 3D I have ever seen. It completely lacked depth. In fact, I feel as if I paid an extra $2.50 to darken up the screen because that's really all the glasses did. Occasionally there would be some sort of depth perception but then it would immediately go back to two dimensions. Subtlety is one thing, but charging me extra for something that does not even come close to enhancing the experience is something else entirely. I really wish they would do away with these post converted 3D movies.

Clearly they're attempting to set up a franchise with "The Last Airbender" by ending with a "cliffhanger" and I can't say I'm all that interested to see what happens next. In fact, while I'm intrigued by the world but not by the film, I may seek out the television show which is most likely leaps and bounds above what was offered up here.

GRADE: C

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Review


I'm disappointed. Truly disappointed. In fact, Eclipse is probably the most disappointing movie I've seen all year. But not because I thought it was going to be good. I was expecting the same amount of unintentional hilarity that I received in the first two. Those movies were epic in their ability to play a staring game with the audience that ended with me losing every time in a fit of laughter.

But this one, Eclipse, dare I say it, wasn't terrible. Of course, about half the movie was terrible The entire love triangle is forced, cliched and without any merit whatsoever. Taylor Lautner is clearly spending more time in the gym than in acting classes since his performance is bizarrely getting worse. Unlike child actors such as Daniel Radcliffe, who has upped his game with each successive Harry Potter movie, Lautner seems content with the same smug delivery of every single line he has. Granted, it doesn't help that he has lines like "Once you imprint on someone, gravity is no longer holding you to the earth. All that matters is the other person." No, Jacob. It's still gravity. You're not orbiting around this other woman you fall in love with. And while I'm being nitpicky, he also mentions that he "could care less" about something that Edward does. It's couldn't. "Couldn't care less." It's good to see that in all the people that wrote, directed, and acted that line, nobody questioned it's accuracy.

The whole "I love you more than him." followed by the "No, I love you more!" is incredibly tired at this point that I just wanted to knock all of them out. Yet, despite the origins of this story as the brainchild of a Mormon housewife, I really felt like there was going to be some werewolf-vampire-human action going on at certain points. The fact remains that there is a heavy homoerotic undercurrent that runs through the whole movie. You absolutely cannot take a group of feral forest men who walk around shirtless and in jean shorts and not see gayness. You can't. It may have worked in the books, but it doesn't work on screen.

But what's better is that now we have female werewolves who have no problem staying completely clothed. What's with the double standard? Shouldn't the female werewolves be walking around without their tops on at least? Or not full shirts, even. How about some sort of bikini top? If you're going to make the case for werewolf outerwear, at least be consistent.

The thing that really made this whole operation completely bizarre, and this might be a mild spoiler for those of you who haven't read the book, but Edward's admission that he's a virgin. Over 100 years old and a virgin? Because you wanted to wait until you were married? I mean, come on dude. Even your SIBLINGS are doing it with each other. Granted, they're not blood related but the world kind of sees them as siblings. You have no problem with them creeping out the world, being technically dead, and you can't at least find yourself a steady relationship with another vampire or something? Then again, maybe if he wasn't squinting all the time people wouldn't think he has heartburn. It was only when he met another person with an equally heartburned look on her face that he felt truly at home.

What truly gets me about the whole love triangle is the way in which these two men literally let Bella do whatever the hell she wants and get away with it. It really doesn't matter what she does, she has both of these men so whipped that they wouldn't even think about looking at another woman. Unlike her, who has no problem jerking both of them around. (Albeit metaphorically, since there will be none of that in this movie.) At the same time, she reacts rather nonchalantly to their creepy, stalker like tendencies, all under the guise of "we're protecting you." Hey, gentlemen out there reading this. Try that out for yourself. See how it works out. I'm pretty sure it won't. And will end up with a restraining order.

But when the movie wasn't being bogged down by the incessant garbage of their personal lives, there were some rather entertaining moments to be had. Director David Slade seems to have understood that the tone of the first two movies was completely off and in turn has lightened things up significantly. No longer did I feel the fate of the world depended on the ridiculous feelings of these characters. There was instead a real, quantifiable threat and a villain whose motives were clear, if not slightly two dimensional. Effort was made to flesh out a few of the background characters, some of which came across as rather campy. (Because apparently in the 1920s, guys got drunk on street corners and sexually assaulted their girlfriends while spouting off completely ridiculous lines.)

The effects were also leaps and bounds over the first two movies. They were missing crazy monkey climbing, but they replaced it with some rather graceful fight scenes and a level of brutality that was completely unexpected despite the lack of blood. The action was surprisingly sufficient and was definitely more entertaining than I would have thought. Bella was also far less awkward and instead of just waiting around for things to happen to her, actually has glimmers of being proactive. She hasn't quite made it yet, but she really is in danger of becoming an honest to God character at some point. As it stands she's still essentially an empty shell with two guys who fawn over her every movie and an army of vampires wants to kill. Oh, such difficult lives most 17 year olds lead. But I was surprised that they even attempted to bring into question the choices she's made in her life in an attempt to reflect on what it means to make the right choice. Of course, most of that is abandoned in favor of "what makes me the most awesomest", but it was nice to see at least an attempt.

If all this seems like damning with faint praise, well, it is. The movie isn't very good. But it's not that bad either. The unintentionally hilarious moments were dialed down quite a bit (unfortunately) and a sense of fun was raised in its place. It's still not worth selling out twenty theaters of a midnight showing. Nevertheless, I found myself mildly entertained by several parts and that at least didn't make it a complete waste of my time.



GRADE: C+

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Jonah Hex Review

Jonah Hex is an absolute mystery to me. And not in a good way. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a movie that was so blatantly chopped to a bare minimum. Clearly there is much more to this movie that goes well beyond its 80 minute runtime.

The plot is actually relatively simple despite the lack of explanation. Former Confederate soldier Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin), after his family is murdered by Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), seeks vengeance against their murderer. But when Turnbull supposedly dies in a hotel fire, he decides to become a bounty hunter by trade. Hex also has the ability to speak with the dead as the apparent result of some sort of Native American witchcraft. When Turnbull reemerges after stealing some sort of super weapon, the government believes that Hex is the only one who can track him down and offers him a bounty to do so. Hex is also involved with the prostitute Lilah (Megan Fox) who so desperately wants to settle down with him. Despite the fact that her job requires her to be a whore. Which might make the whole settling down thing a little difficult, but I digress.

The movie then moves on rails towards its inevitable conclusion, following the loose threads of the plot to string together something watchable. If you’re wondering what exactly this weapon is, you won’t get that answer. It makes things explode is probably about the extent of it and is fueled by an orange glowing ball. Or if you want to know just what is so special about Jonah Hex, the answer is essentially “the Indians did it.” But apparently you’re just not supposed to care and just keep your mind focused on the fact things explode. At no point does “Jonah Hex” even attempt to pause for character development, save for a few plot based conversations that ever so briefly venture into character developing territory.

What strikes me as odd is the way that there is such a fantastic cast in this movie and yet the majority of them are given little more than cameos. Michael Shannon, nominated for an Oscar for his awesome performance in Revolutionary Road, is given “and” billing in the credits but literally introduces a fight that is completely irrelevant to anything that happens in the movie and then he disappears. Megan Fox, who is touted as one of the stars of the movie, probably has somewhere around ten minutes of screen time. And for most of those ten minutes she is bizarrely lit to make her appearance almost glowing for no real reason. Even the normally hilarious Will Arnett plays the straight man here and his few minutes of screen time seem to belie a larger role. So instead they give much larger roles to

By no stretch of the imagination is this a good movie. But it is passable. For the most part the plot is coherent if underexplained and individually the scenes are entertaining, save for an annoying tattooed Irishman whose sole purpose is apparently to be an obnoxious henchman. I’m most interested in seeing the inevitable extended cut of this, which I venture to guess is at least another half hour long. There just seems to be that much cut out of it. Personally, I’d recommend Toy Story 3 this weekend over this, but if cartoon toys aren’t your thing, you might not feel you wasted too much time if you went to see this instead.

GRADE: C

Friday, June 11, 2010

The Karate Kid Review

I have a confession to make. I've never actually seen the original Karate Kid. It's been in my instant Netflix queue for months now, if not years, but I just haven't gotten around to it. So I figured it wouldn't do me any harm to watch this remake with very limited knowledge of the original movie.

But what seems to be most interesting about this remake is how little in common it appears to have with the original. First of all, there isn't any karate in it. It's all kung fu. Sure, Dre (Jaden Smith) watches a karate video for about 45 seconds, but beyond that it has nothing to do with karate at all.

The movie begins as Dre and his mother (Taraji P. Henson) move from Detroit to Beijing as a result of his mom getting a new job. Immediately he hates it but does become taken with a cute Chinese girl Meiying (Wenwen Han). Of course, family friend Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) doesn't take kindly to this American guy chatting up his crush, so Cheng and his friends proceed to be the crap out of Dre. Personally, I think Dre's first mistake was wearing a Detroit Lions shirt in public. That had to have been a huge sign of weakness, as the Lions' lack of gridiron prowess is probably known throughout the world.

The kids continue to torment Dre until maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) steps in and essentially beats the crap out of a group of 12-year-olds. These kids can't have grown up in China, because everybody knows that Jackie Chan can destroy everyone. Haven't they ever seen "Rush Hour"? After Mr. Han helps Dre, they go to the kung fu studio where the tormentors are being taught how to torment. Through an unfortunate series of events, the tormentors back off while Dre trains for the kung fu tournament that Mr. Han just entered him in. Meaning Mr. Han now has to train Dre in the art of kung fu.

The biggest problem, especially at the beginning of the movie, is that Jaden Smith tries way too hard to be cool and essentially be Will Smith. The issue with that is he's not Will Smith. Being Will Smith's kid doesn't mean you have the same presence as your father has. Certain mannerisms are lifted right from his father, and while you can tell that he's his father's son, he certainly doesn't have the same amount of gravitas. Yet, when he tones that down and is just being a cute little kid trying to make his way in this new country, he's surprisingly charming and likable. And it's clear that he put a lot of effort into his training, as in sparring scenes he is rather serviceable against Jackie Chan.

Jackie Chan meanwhile has some rather touching moments himself that add a gravity to the story that I wasn't really expecting. Despite being a film about a kid, the movie does play with some heavier themes, but never gets too bogged down with them. And Taraji P. Henson almost seems to be giving too much in her performance as Ms. Parker. At times it feels as if she's in a different movie than everyone else.

The movie takes its time to get a solid footing, which leads me to believe that much of the beginning could have been cut out of an already long running time of two hours and twenty minutes. But once it does start to grip you, there's almost this Rocky-like quality the movie takes on, especially during the inevitable training montage. A montage elevated by James Horner's score, even though at times it oddly did sound a little too much like Titanic.

The movie succeeds for essentially being a fish out of water coming of age tale by some solid direction by Harald Zwart, a charismatic cast, and the beautiful Chinese backdrop. Despite its status as a remake, The Karate Kid does a solid job as its own movie under circumstances rather removed from the original.

GRADE: B

The A-Team Review

"The A-Team" is awesome. And I'm not necessarily talking about the old television show, which I only have bits and pieces of memories about. I know that anytime it was on as a kid, I enjoyed it, but frankly beyond the theme song, I know little of the characters other than Mr. T. But the theme song itself elevated the show to a level of excitement that would not have been present otherwise. Yet, really all this movie needed was two hours of the theme song playing in the background while stuff blew up. Unfortunately it was only the latter half of that requirement that followed through. Because if there's one thing "The A-Team" movie was missing, it was excessive use of the theme song.

After we're quickly introduced to the essentially random formation of The A-Team at the beginning of the movie, we flash forward eight years and eighty missions later to the closing days of the Iraq occupation. Turns out, Saddam had some American currency plates hidden in Baghdad and it's up to The A-Team to retrieve them. Of course, Captain Sosa (Jessica Biel) is trying to get them back for the Army, so she wants The A-Team to stay as far away from Baghdad as possible while Agent Lynch (Patrick Wilson) covertly recruits the team in violation of Army orders to retrieve the plates. Of course, upon retrieval the plates go missing and The A-Team is blamed for it and sentenced to 10 years in prison. This not surprisingly leads to an elaborate breakout in an attempt for them to clear their names and restore their standing as Army Rangers.

The movie is just completely insane, mostly in a good way. Every few minutes Hannibal Smith (Liam Neeson) chews on his cigar, mentions something about having a plan, how everything is part of a plan, or that the plan is coming together. There's a lot of plan talk in this one. Yet, every plan is not only executed perfectly but is almost inferring that The A-Team is almost omniscient in their ability to perceive events. They seem to plan for contingencies that there would be no logical way of conceiving.

Fortunately the movie strikes this fantastic balance between insane and hilarious, never taking itself seriously and consistently ramping up the stakes. In fact, one of the biggest character plot points is whether or not BA Baracas (Quinton Jackson) is going to bring back his mohawk. And that's one of the more poignant dilemmas. He's no Mr. T, but he does bring his own charm and charisma to the role. We all just need to accept there will never be another Mr. T. The other two characters, Face (Bradley Cooper) and Murdock (Sharlto Copley) throw in a smooth bravado and batshit craziness respectively.

The plot at times becomes needlessly complicated but works well enough to provide a framework on which the rest of the movie can chug along presenting one crazy action set piece after another. The whole aura is one of "Yeah, we know this isn't humanly possible, but we're doing it anyway," which allows the movie to be enjoyed on a more visceral level than other action movies that attempt to take a more serious tone. Having such a solid, charismatic cast and solid direction makes this a much more superior movie than Joe Carnahan's last effort, the essentially pointless "Smokin' Aces".

To be frank, the only thing this movie was missing was more theme song. The full theme only kicks in at the very end, and as background music to a movie being watched within the film itself. Of course, this didn't stop me from playing the music on my own in my head which made it that much more enjoyable. Which isn't to say that Alan Silvestri's score wasn't solid in its own right. It was. I just happened to be slightly biased towards theme song overuse.

That entirely pointless gripe aside, The A-Team is an incredibly solid action movie for anyone who wants nothing more than to sit in their seat for two hours and have an awesome time.

GRADE: B+

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

My Final Lost Thoughts - 5/23 - The End

The End.

So it’s all over. And that means what will probably be the final edition of my Lost Thoughts, although it’s entirely possible that will change. I may have more to say later.

But let’s get down to business. I absolutely loved the finale and found it to be a satisfactory ending to one of the best shows I’ve ever watched on television. To me, there was an emotional connection that I had with the show that was incredibly unique that I haven’t experienced in any other show thus far in my life. In fact, very few movies have provided me with the immense emotional experience that this finale of Lost, and by extension the entire series, has.

Given that I’ve received several text messages, instant messages, and e-mails attempting to get my perspective on what EXACTLY went down in that finale, I’m going to try and do a quick summarization of it.

The flash-sideways were essentially existential flash forwards.


A crude but effective MS Paint job that hopefully helps to illustrate the sideways world.


Everything that happened to the characters in the show, with the exception of the flash sideways, happened to them in the same way situations would happen to you or me in the real world. They all lived their lives. Jack died saving the island and by extension the whole world. Kate, Sawyer, Lapidus, Claire, Miles, Richard, and later on Desmond, all escaped the island for the last time to probably never return. They lived their lives with the experience of the island in their past, forever changed by it. Hurley became the protector of the island and Ben was his new Richard. Richard was no longer immortal, probably as a result of Jacob’s death and that immortal connection was severed.

When all of the characters died in their own respective lives, years and years later, this alternate world was created. Essentially a purgatory of their own design. Their shared experience, which provided each one of these individual characters a redemption that they would have otherwise been unable to achieve without the aid of the island, allowed their souls to pool together to create this world that was similar enough to their old lives that it was relatively simple, once they were all ready, to enter into the afterlife together. Whether you want to call that heaven or nirvana or whatever I think is up to you and your own spiritual background. I don’t think the name for it is that important. As to why this “purgatory” was necessary in the first place, I think it was so they could re-experience their lives in similar, yet better, ways that would allow them to better appreciate their island experience, but that’s just speculation on my part.

Desmond kick started this process when he was blasted with the electromagnetic radiation by Widmore and his consciousness essentially “died” for a moment and traveled to this future plane of existence. When his future, purgatorified self became aware of his past life, he then became aware of his ultimate death and why he was there, bringing the most important people to the church to usher them into their eternal life. Had it not been for Desmond’s mission, they would have ultimately met the same result, it just would have taken a little longer.
Who knows how long this whole process took? That’s kind of a question that we as humans are unable to answer in any real detail. We have a very specific worldview when it comes to the concept of time, and find it very difficult to conceptualize the relativity of time and the experience of time. We measure time on Earth as one second per second. But that’s not necessarily how time travels in the rest of the universe, let alone alternate planes of existence.

I personally speculate that this plane came into existence possibly thousands of years after the final shot of Jack’s eye closing and his death. I say this because Hurley was now the island’s protector, and it’s entirely possible and plausible that his reign over the island lasted longer than even Jacob’s now there was no evil force trying to get off the island. So once they all died, and not before that moment, this place sprung up and they lived their lives through it until it was ready for them to leave.

Some still aren’t ready. Ben became cognizant of all of the terrible things he did in his life and wanted to work them out before joining everyone for eternity. Ms. Hawking/Mrs. Widmore didn’t want to leave and really wanted to stay with her son Daniel Faraday/Widmore in this plane, which is why she was concerned about Desmond becoming aware of the plane’s true nature. Charlotte’s still hanging around for some reason, even though she never really had issues to begin with.

Ultimately the point is that all the experiences they had, everything they did, happened to them. They all became reborn within this purgatory plane of existence and lived their lives there, too. Only when becoming aware of their living pasts did they feel completely at peace and became ready to move forward with their eternal lives.

My Personal Opinion



Personally, I didn’t really like this idea. I feel as if the show got a little too existential at the end and now season six needs to be completely reevaluated on the basis of the fact that the sideways world WAS in fact purgatory. Almost ironic given the fact that everyone thought the island itself was purgatory when the show started, a claim that was subsequently vehemently denied. Yet, what makes this situation different is that theirs was a purgatory of their own design. It sprung from their desire to want to enter into eternity together, changed by their vehicle of redemption: the island.

There were hints of this with the idea of ghosts and spirits that were communicable. But to bring the entire show into a completely separate plane of existence may have been a little much for me. Personally, I think it’s a little stupid to be honest.

Yet, ultimately that didn’t stop me from loving the episode which really hit me emotionally in ways that I hadn’t expected it to. Although the way in which it did was slightly cheap in that watching these characters reunite was essentially just a reminder of all the phenomenal experiences I had watching the show. Nothing new was really gained by it, but it worked by tapping into six years of memories with these characters and knowing all they went through, I was happy to see them all back together again.
Seeing all those loved ones become aware of their pasts and embrace what they now know was touching on so many different levels. And it was fantastic to watch.

I did feel the first half dragged in places, especially on the island. I kept wanting to see the sideways world move forward more than what was happening on the island. The plot itself wasn’t incredible. It boiled down to “have Desmond remove cork, kill Locke, take off on plane, replace cork.” Yet watching it all culminate was definitely a sight to behold.

The episode wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. This being Lost, I didn’t really expect it to be. I expected to feel differently when I finished the episode though. I expected it to be more “awesome”. It wasn’t the feeling of “awesome” I was expecting, but I loved it all the same, albeit in a completely different way than I had anticipated.

There are still plenty of unanswered questions, which to be honest, doesn’t really bother me. I feel that I can fill in the gaps with my imagination at this point and give perfectly satisfactory answers. Would I like to know more? Sure. Absolutely. If they want to open up and tell me the things I want to know, I’ll listen. But right now, I can’t even think of anything that I really want answered. I’ve even come up with my own personal theory about the island itself. In fact, here it is!

Sean’s Personal Island Theory

The island is a byproduct of the creation of life on earth. It has always been there and will always be there. I feel like it’s as old as time itself. It probably even killed the dinosaurs. The electromagnetic energy that radiates from the light keeps the destructive forces from beneath it from consuming the earth. Had Jack not replaced the cork, the island would have been destroyed and eventually all life as we know it would have been consumed by this energy underneath the island which manifests itself as volcanic activity. I don’t think that it’s deliberately malicious. I don’t think it’s an entity. Just something that will happen if not kept in check, hence the need for a protector of the light. One of the ways it’s protected is by binding whoever touches the light in the form of a Smoke Monster through the light’s electromagnetic energy.

Desmond’s ability to withstand electromagnetic forces made him literally the only person on earth (probably) who could have removed the cork. Without him, the cork stays in place since no one can get to it. The alternative, possibly cooler, way to do things would have been for Jack to become his own smoke monster and have a smoke monster throwdown. Of course, they would have just been ending up battling for all eternity, making things pretty difficult to end the show on.

After Death


If one completely neglects the flash sideways as a whole, and focuses only on things that happened to the characters during their regularly scheduled lives, I think the show ended fantastically. To end the show on the image of a dying Jack’s closing eye, as Vincent lie near him to comfort Jack in his final moments, as a complete contrast to the first image of the show being his opening eye after his brush with Vincent, truly brings the show full circle in a way that I never would have expected. The people on the plane go on to live full and happy lives. Kate helps Claire raise Aaron. Richard discovers the comforts of modern life. Miles does something. Lapidus probably keeps being a pilot. And Desmond travels back to Penny and his son, and they live their lives. While Hurley and Ben continue to do their thing on the island for however long it takes for Hurley and Ben to die.

The Legacy of Lost



I feel satisfied by the show. I’m happy with it. Do I agree with everything they did? No, not necessarily. There are clearly some continuity issues here and there, some questions that needed answering, but I feel as if those are forgivable. What’s not forgivable is where the hell was Walt? I was expecting some Walt in my finale, and I didn’t get it. That was kind of lame. And one final question, what the hell did detonating the hydrogen bomb even DO? It didn't create this alternate reality, and the incident was clearly something COMPLETELY different since it would be difficult to build the swan over a nuclear waste zone. I really wish I could have that answer.

I’m not accepting Lost as a perfect show. But I feel a sense of satisfaction now that it’s over. I think the ride was worth it. It wasn’t what I expected, but nothing ever is. The ability of Lost to inspire thought hasn’t ended, but I feel they’ve given us enough information that we can come to relatively solid conclusions at this point. I feel comfortable in believing the things in which I believe about the show until new evidence is presented to make me believe something otherwise.

This isn’t like after the season three finale when I couldn’t figure out what it all meant, because it could mean so many different things. Instead, I feel I have everything I need. While there is certainly still some ambiguity there, at the end of the day, I loved it. And really that’s all that matters.

The point of the show from day one was to watch characters who were all Lost in their own respective lives somehow find their redemption and become better people for the experience. Even the most despicable of characters eventually became bastions of righteousness at some point. And frankly, I can honestly think of no better protector of the island than Hurley. He has been the one character whose positivity and optimism in the lives of others is unquestioned. The island helped him conquer his curse of the numbers and in turn he will help others conquer their demons.

And Jack, father issues and all, learned how to believe in something bigger than himself and saved the world in the process. His empiricism and the way he constantly butted heads with Locke led to a new change in his personality. While this led to his ultimate demise, he was eventually rewarded by a shared afterlife with those who experienced island life with him. And because of that, maybe the flash sideways weren’t so pointless after all.

And with all that, we learn that it’s up to us all individually to face our burdens and have the courage to “Let go.” Because I believe that’s what Lost was all about.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Lost Thoughts - 5/18 - "What They Died For"

Nitpicks and Expectations

I hate being that guy. I do. But again, I sometimes I feel like I have to be. And I want this show to be about what happens to these characters. Unfortunately, I find myself to be rather frustrated knowing that there are two and a half hours left and there is so much that isn’t clear. The name of the episode is also "What they died for" yet Jacob really isn't completely clear on that either, even though he answers the question as if he gave a definitive answer.

As I stated earlier this season, the problem lies in expectations. Expectations over certain questions that need to be answered. But honestly there is a level of basic storytelling that I feel we haven’t quite met yet.

Rules, rules and more rules. Like being expected to answer a multiple choice test with an essay



So the Smoke Monster is a murderous dick at this point. I get that. What I don’t understand is why things are so dependent upon him not leaving. How is it that the light of the island affects the rest of the world? At this point I feel as if I can infer that Locke needs to exterminate the light in order to leave. His smokiness is tethered to the light, and only be exterminating it will he be able to leave. And the light is intrinsically tied to the protector. If the protector or any potential protectors are alive, then the light cannot be extinguished. Which explains Locke’s attempt to destroy all the candidates in one fell swoop.

The thing I’m still unclear about, and maybe I am just missing something, is why this light is just so damned important? If it goes out, what does that mean for the rest of the world? Mother (I really wish these people had actual names) said last week that the light was “life, death, rebirth. The source…the heart of the island”. Yet, on a macro level, are we to imply that this light has an effect on the world as a whole? Jacob mentions that everyone you ever cared about is in danger. But why? This to me is the crucial issue I have. I like to know, very specifically, what the stakes are. I find it difficult to get behind the motivations of the characters if I do not understand what the stakes are.

Plus with Desmond as this failsafe, wouldn’t the destruction of the island also result in the destruction of Locke? Locke doesn’t seem to think so, but if both sides think using Desmond is a viable option then which one is right?

Granted one could say that is irrelevant and focus on the fact that Locke killed their friends and a level of vengeance and justice is necessary as really that’s the only reason needed for him to be killed. But they continue to build up the importance of the island as a whole and a part of me just isn’t comprehending it.

Also, I really don’t understand the rules of ghosts on the island. Hurley can see ghosts. Fine. I can accept that. Miles can hear their thoughts after they died. That’s all right too. But when you have little baby Jacobs running around that everyone can see only to have some burning ashes turn Ghost Jacob corporeal, well, I can’t say I get that.

There can only be one.


This is unfortunate because I feel the episode was a very good episode and while it was ultimately a set-up episode, I put in motion things that will surely be more evident in the finale. Jack’s acceptance of his role as island’s protector was rather predictable, but I feel that either in the direction or the editing it was kind of an anti-climactic moment. Suddenly, Jack stands up and says “I’ll do it” without really any sort of build up. The entire season, if not the entire series, has been building up to that moment and it felt almost brushed aside. There should have been an epic sort of quality to the way he stood up and accepted his role.

The return of Ben was also welcome, as he was certainly missed the last couple episodes. There seems to be something up his sleeve. I can’t imagine that he is going to senselessly murder the remaining candidates after being manipulated by Locke so easily into killing Jacob. The murder of Widmore makes sense, given their history. But I cannot help but feel as if Widmore was dispatched far too easily. I still don’t fully understand his place on the show and what his intentions ever really were. I would have appreciated a little more clarity on that front.

Yet, clearly there was a sense of nostalgia that permeated much of the episode. Michael Giacchino’s season one theme that was present many times when the castaways were trying to just survive on the beach made its return tonight as Sawyer watched the wreckage of the sub wash up on the beach, echoing the way the characters watched the wreckage of 815 wash on shore so many years ago. There is no question that the intent was to elicit memories of those much simpler times in an attempt to put everything into perspective coming into the final hours of the show.

There is one Desmond…and he has a plan.



Surprisingly where the show was really fantastic was in the sideways world. The return of Rousseau was not something I had anticipated in this last year, and it was fun to see her as a single mother, possibly even with romantic undertones towards Ben. To have their lives mirror in a way what happened on the island (just with a whole lot less crazy) was certainly a fun thing to see. Not to mention Ana Lucia showing up again as apparently a rather easily corruptible cop.

And what can be said about Desmond? He is far and away my favorite character on the show. The way in which he carries himself in both timelines, his attitude, his undying love for Penelope, all of it is just extremely entertaining and I could watch a show just about him. The fact that he wasn’t even a full time player until season 3 is something that seems unfathomable at this point in the show. His nonchalance and deep purpose he has in reuniting all the characters who were supposed to be on the island is extraordinarily entertaining. He has a plan and he is executing it to a T.

Not only that, but these characters are apparently starting to get full recognition of their island lives, since Hurley was completely aware of Ana Lucia and who she is. And I cannot wait to see all of this culminate in the finale this upcoming Sunday.

Everything that has a beginning has an end.

There is no question I’m going to be partially let down when it’s all over. I feel at this point it’s inevitable. But if they do what they say they’re going to do and make it completely character centric, setting in motion much of the action and adventure Lost is known for, and pushing the mysteries off to the side, I feel as if they can really deliver something spectacular. What’s interesting is that I started writing this with deliberately negative thoughts. Yet, the more I think about the episode and how it sets things up, I find myself much more positive than I was when I began. There are certainly some nitpicks. I cannot argue that.

But when I look at the show as attempting to reach two specific goals, I feel much more positive about it. The first is Locke must be stopped on the island. He must be killed or destroyed or however you kill a monster made of smoke. The second goal is for the sideways characters to fully understand where they came from and connect that timeline with the timeline the audience has been following for the last six years. If those two things can be accomplished in an entertaining and emotional way, irrespective of any lingering questions, I feel that the finale will be a success.

Only 5 days until we find out for ourselves.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Robin Hood Review


Robin Hood is one of those movies that a people cannot help but ask themselves “Why?” There really does not seem to be any reason for this movie to have been made in the first place, but it was. Especially making what amounts to a prequel movie with such an aged cast. There certainly isn’t a lack of movies about Robin Hood so what does this one have that all the others don’t?

The answer to that question is nothing really. This movie is ultimately an exercise in pointless movie making, despite its ability to entertain for small segments. Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe team up again in what on the surface looks to be a medieval successor to “Gladiator”. Unfortunately the reality is far short of the greatness that was the 2000 Oscar winner.

Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) is an archer during King Richard the Lionhearted’s (Danny Houston) ten year crusade. When he objects to the way in which the crusaders carry out their heinous actions, Robin is punished and therefore intends to leave the army. On his way home, he encounters the dying Robert Locksley, who had just been ambushed in an attempt by Godfrey (Mark Strong) to help the French take over England. Robert tells Robin to take the sword he took from his father back home and Robin complies, meeting Robert’s widow Maid Marion (Cate Blanchett) in the process.

One of the things that really stands out is the way in which these actors are all so old given the fact that this takes place prior to Robin’s whole “rob from the rich and give to the poor” mantra. This wouldn’t be too much of a problem except early on in the movie, a character makes a reference that 40 years old is very old for the time, and clearly most of the main characters are approaching that age. Granted, everyone is in very good shape, but in the ten years since Gladiator, Russell Crowe’s face looks a little more like Baskin- Robin Hood than a younger version would.

The battle scenes are all surprisingly tame given Ridley Scott’s history of intense brutality, but they at least maintain a sense of excitement from time to time. The problem is that the battles don’t really seem to hold any meaning except to battle for battle’s sake. A subplot involving Robin’s long dead father attempts to give a little weight to his history but just feels rather tacked on. And the lack of chemistry between Crowe and Blanchett does nothing for the romance of the movie.

The story just plainly doesn’t hold up and creates this amalgamation of several different historical epics yet never really sticks to one. Which leads to a decided lack of understanding as to where everything is heading only to have events orchestrated in such a way that it all ends up at the start of the Robin Hood myth’s general beginning. If the story had been more cohesive and stronger arcs were given to characters, there could have been a pretty solid Robin Hood film somewhere in here. But what remains on screen is just your average medieval movie slightly heightened by a great cast and Ridley Scott’s direction.

GRADE: C+

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Lost Thoughts 5/11 - Across the Sea


The Deconstruction of the Man in Black

So, that's it people. He has no name. The Man in Black will forever be The Man in Black (or MIB for short), which is something that I'm not particularly happy about. Granted, the overwhelming possibility of names would have ultimately been a let down but I feel like the Man in Black is such a nebulous name that I feel silly even typing it. Which I have done four times already in this one post.

But now we know the history. It may be a history that we were not expecting, and a history some may not even like, but ultimately here it is. And I find myself asking even more questions at times. Who were those other people? Was it a random occurrence they found the island or had they been looking for it in an explorers looking for the Fountain of Youth sense? Precisely what IS the Smoke Monster? These are questions that I'm essentially positive we will not be seeing the answers to. It's absolutely too late in the game to address them at this point, especially because there's no question that we'll be moving at breakneck speeds towards the end of it all after next week.

Casting all those concerns aside for a moment, was this episode entertaining? Was it necessary? And did we learn anything from it? I'd argue yes for the first, maybe for the second, and absolutely for the third.







Lost in Expectations

What this episode presented was an interesting parable about two brothers who, despite being raised the same, end up with completely opposite points of view. Their adoptive mother, a woman tasked with protecting this island at all costs from the danger that lies in the heart of the island, has no trust in humanity. And she clearly sees much of herself in The Man in Black, thus grooming him to be her successor. In fact, in the season 5 finale, MIB uses the exact same phrasing "They come. They fight. They destroy. They corrupt. It always ends the same." They ultimately have the same philosophy. Yet, he had no desire for such a life. Despite his status as the chosen one, MIB is more interested in seeing the world, now knowing his true origins and that a larger world exists. Meanwhile Jacob, who is arguably the better son by acting precisely how his mother wanted, is not given the same respect as his more subversive brother. And Jacob does all of this full well and knowing that his true mother was murdered by this woman who raised him. Yet, despite it all, Jacob is much more optimistic about humanity and their chances. He believes in their inherent goodness as opposed to the pessimism of MIB and Mother.

There was certainly an entertaining quality to the whole episode, watching neither of these characters become true bastions of good or evil. Both of them had a bit of a moral ambiguity that I felt would be not be nearly as prominent after the revelation of last week's episode. There was no question. The Man in Black was a bad man. Here he is just a man who wants to leave a place he was never supposed to be to begin with. His plight is certainly something that can be identified with on a basic level. And Allison Janney did a wonderful job as their rather jaded yet loving mother who apparently just wanted to be set free, as evidenced by her final "Thank you" to MIB after her murder.

The Necessity of the Island's History

There are three and a half hours of the show left. Last week's episode ended on this upswing of momentum that was obviously designed to propel us into the finale. And yet, we take a break from all of that to learn about characters who have literally been behind the scenes for the majority of the series. The result was an episode of Lost that on many levels didn't play as an episode of Lost. Much of the information that was learned could have been gained in conversations between characters. I do applaud the writers for attempting to do something very unconventional here in the last few hours. And I would argue that with a few tweaks this could have been an even better episode than it was, although I think it should have played earlier in the season.

One of my biggest complaints about the earlier episodes of the season was that we just had no idea what the stakes were. We didn't know which side was which or why the game was even being played. The writers said they wanted the audience to be unsure as to whether or not we could trust Locke, but after last week's episode it was clear that he was evil and needed to be stopped. The problem was, we didn't get that pure evil feeling from this week's episode either. This episode could have been placed VERY early in the season and it would have set up quite nicely what was occurring without all the uncertainty. And still, we could have believed that Locke's only goal was to leave the island and experience the world.

Information Overload and Some Rare Speculation

So what was gained by this episode? Well, I will say that I found the revelation of Adam and Eve to be interesting and enjoyable. That was one "question" I didn't feel ever really needed an answer though. I was perfectly content assuming that it was a man and wife who were shipwrecked on the island and died in the cave. Why people gravitated to that question is something that is beyond me, but it goes to show the level of detail many Lost fans expect.

There is a mystical aspect to the show that will never be explained, and that's something I have always expected. The question of where Jacob comes from is answered, but where his adoptive mother comes from will never be, which she addressed in her almost meta-comment when she told the birth mother "Your questions will only lead to more questions." I feel that it's something the audience just has to accept.

The wheel's creation was addressed, but still not fully explained, since Mother went and destroyed the well prior to MIB completing it. There was also a bit of a jump in scientific knowledge regarding mixing water and light and getting off the island. Going from "metal does weird things!" to "turning this wheel by mixing the light and water will create the necessary conditions for leaving the island!" seems to be quite the leap in scientific capabilities. Either way, I'm still unsure to who ultimately ended up finishing the job MIB started.

Now normally I attempt to stay away from speculation, since it's not my strong point. I have been wrong far more often than I'm right, but I feel as if the pieces put in place here will allow me to draw relatively solid conclusions based on the evidence we have been presented with thus far.

Here is the history of the island as I see it. The island has alway been there. Someone has always been there to protect it. The mystical forces at work have always been there. And here's where it gets extremely speculative: The smoke monster, an essence of evil, a harbinger of destruction, has always been there. Trapped within the confines of the "heart" the island. This was information Jacob didn't have. All he knew was that he needed to protect the island from people and protect this light. When he tossed his brother into the light, knowing that it wouldn't kill him, that existing essence merged with the essence of the Man in Black and their mutual desire to leave the island became one. The man, who wanted to see the world, and the monster who wants to destroy it. And in that connection, the monster was released from his holding cell and free to roam the prison of the island using the MIB as a vessel.

EDIT: So upon further reflection, I feel as if that theory is completely wrong. That the light at the heart of the island turned MIB INTO the smoke monster. They are not actually separate entities but one in the same. The power that exists at the heart is shared to an extent with the Man in Black. And therefore if he leaves the island, he takes the heart with him. Which apparently will destroy life as we know it. A bad thing.

Some might argue that the monster is not in fact, The Man in Black, but just going along in that body the same way that he is with John Locke. But to those people I ask why would a monster who is using the body of John Locke invoke the imagery, memory, and emotions of the Man in Black? He talked to Kate sharing the memories of his "crazy person" mother. He said he was once a human. He became incredibly distressed when he saw young Jacob in the jungle. Clearly this thing was once a man, and not just simply using a man as a vessel.

Yet, questions still remain. Questions that will never be answered. How was Jacob able to so easily travel to and from the island in the present? What was MIB's dead mother? Was she a manifestation of the island or a ghost in the Hurley sense of the word? Who finished the Donkey Wheel? And what exactly IS the smoke monster? I posited my own personal belief of what the monster is, but indeed that could turn out to be false.

What They Died for and The End
This was easily my longest Lost post to date, and with good reason. It opened and closed many doors on so many different subjects and elicited a number of different thoughts about the ultimate ending of the show. In 11 short days, it will all be over after the final three and a half hours and I am highly looking forward to it. There were elements of this episode that were mildly disappointing, but as a whole I think it stands up pretty well. The thing is that our collective imaginations are far more capable than those of a few writers in California and when a mystery is presented that takes so long to be resolved but is compelling during the act of the mystery itself, any revelation is probably going to be a let down. Especially when we find ourselves believing even a small element of truth in one moment but when the real truth is revealed, it ends up being completely unrelated. I'm happy with how this episode turned out and in a way it made me more comfortable with accepting things as they are. Mostly I'm happy that we finally understand who these characters are that have been so integral to not only this season, but to the entire series as a whole.

Friday, May 7, 2010

Iron Man 2 Review

The first Iron Man was a movie that essentially came from nowhere. The movie had few expectations and while people were optimistic, most just didn't know what to expect from it. Yet, it was subsequently released with almost universal critical praise and had the box office receipts to back up that assertion. So it was no surprise when a second movie was fast tracked for this upcoming weekend.

Except now there are expectations that weren't present before. A sequel to a successful movie usually has quite lofty expectations at that. But while Iron Man 2 didn't quite live up to those expectations, that didn't stop it from being an incredibly fun action movie that actually improves on the first in certain aspects.

Obviously everyone knows that Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man, who is relishing the fact that he is this worldwide superhero with none of the anguish of most characters who are forced into a double life. The fact that he accepts his dual role in the public eye makes him a different, and often times more entertaining, hero. Yet, he unfortunately is dealing with his power source that keeps him alive as the element that powers it is slowly poisoning his body. A battle he is content to deal with on his own.

Meanwhile, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of a disgraced former colleague of Tony's father, takes the arc reactor technology and builds himself a similar armor and lives with the sole purpose of destroying Tony Stark in retaliation for what happened to his father. After he becomes bankrolled by Tony's business rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), the two work together to not only eclipse Tony Stark but also the Iron Man armor itself.

There is no question that the action is ramped up tremendously in this sequel. Several armored battles take place in a number of different locales that ratchet up the intensity from the first movie in which it was essentially Iron Man and Iron Monger bashing each other over and over again. The addition of War Machine into the mix, played by Don Cheadle who replaces Terrence Howard (which in my opinion is absolutely an upgrade), adds a level of teamwork that certainly works to make things more exciting. Because what's better than one Iron Man than two of them?

In addition, the humor quotient also seems to be much higher. For better or worse, this is a funnier movie than the first one. Almost all the characters seem to have funny lines, many of which appear to be rambling ad-libs that just happened to work for the scene. There's certainly a sense of fun that permeates the tone of the whole movie, but also emanates from the entire cast. The actors are all fantastic, including Scarlett Johansson, whose ability to fight and have screen presence against all these other acting heavyweights was quite a surprise. Every scene on its own was incredibly entertaining in its own right.

The problem lies is when you put it all together, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The interesting thing about Tony Stark in the first movie was the fact that here was this war profiteer who couldn't seem to care about anyone but himself until he was placed in a situation that made him change his ways. His realization that weapons manufacturing was only causing problems within the world was the driving force behind who Iron Man was. Once that solution was created, he became the man he is in this movie. In addition to the fact that Obidiah Stane was Tony's mentor and friend. The fact that he ultimately betrays Tony creates a sense of connection in their final battle. And there's no such connection in this movie.

Yes, Hammer and Vanko are people who want to see Tony Stark destroyed, but he doesn't really care. They could be anyone. They are formidable foes to be sure, but there's not really any sense of connection between them. Vanko clearly has it out for Tony which certainly makes the audience understand where he is coming from, but this really poses no personal struggle for Stark. The only personal struggle in this movie is a slightly shoehorned-in subplot about Tony trying to connect with his long deceased father that ultimately rings flat. His only struggle is really to either accept his death at the hands of this thing that is keeping him alive or find a way to fix it. But at the end of the day, he's still essentially the same person.

This isn't the fault of any of the actors, who were all fantastic, or even Jon Favreau, whose direction is once again spot on. This is really the fault of screenwriter Justin Theroux, who fails to provide a narrative track upon which to follow and puts in too many characters without clearly defined narrative arcs. There is just this lack of cohesive focus that the first film had in spades. That's not to say there wasn't any at all, and by no means was the screenplay bad, it just lacked a connective tissue to give it more thematic weight.

Fortunately though, the film delivers a fantastic start to the summer movie-going season and is definitely another well-received entry into the Marvel universe. The way this Marvel Movie Universe is coming together, spearheaded by Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury, holds a lot of promise if done right. The movie was solid entertainment, even if it was a baby step back from the first film. Hopefully Favreau finds the time to tighten up the screenplay for the inevitable third installment of Iron Man to truly eclipse the first two.

GRADE: B

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Lost Thoughts 5/5 - The Candidate

This, by far, is my favorite episode of the year.

The majority of this season there has been a lack of that "Lost" feeling. The feeling that I got in so many episodes that were thrilling, dramatic, and all around entertaining. But for much of this season, watching it was like putting together a puzzle when you couldn't see what the pieces were making. There were elements of entertainment, sure. Yet much of it was not all that thrilling. Fortunately, starting last week, that changed.

What changed is that the characters who we have been rooting for over these last six seasons finally started taking control instead of aimlessly wandering around. They were no longer waiting for things to happen but instead made the decision to formulate plans. Plans to get off the island. Plans to stop Locke from leaving. Not quite the same as hoping that someone tells them what to do and far more dramatic for that matter. And in that drama, the long Lost feeling returned.

First, the island story. Locke's plan to eliminate all of the Candidates made total sense but was absolutely a surprise. His long con firmly cemented his place as completely evil. The entire season, where he has been convincing the candidates they had to leave together, was a sham from the start. As Jack said, he couldn't kill them, so it would be up to them to kill each other. Placing the bomb in the backpack would have done nothing, but allowing them to detonate the bomb themselves is a different situation altogether. And unfortunately, Sawyer didn't trust Jack on this point.

Despite the fact that I knew a bomb wasn't going to take out the majority of the season regulars four episodes before the finale, there was a very palpable sense of tension throughout the entire scene and the entire episode for that matter. I knew they were going somewhere but I didn't know where it would be. And there was no way of knowing what sort of danger was lurking around the corner. Was Widmore planning on killing them all or did Locke have something up his sleeve? The answer seems to be both, but Widmore's motivations still aren't totally clear.

What it did do though was allow for Sayid to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Granted, if he wouldn't have taken the bomb and ran, he would have died anyway but still. The point was made that at this juncture he wanted his friends to live. He didn't kill Desmond last week and clearly was recognizing that he didn't have to be evil. Of course, after he was "claimed" what "unclaimed" him? I'm not really clear as to what "claiming" means, but I find it possible that it had something to do with his chat with Desmond unlocking the goodness within him. To see this redemption from Sayid was both emotional and exciting.

Yet, the true emotion was shared in a Titanic-like moment between Jin and Sun. These two characters who have been through so much and separated for so long become eternally entwined in this incredible moment of unity. There was no way Jin was going to give up and when Giacchino's awesome "Life and Death" theme kicked in, I knew they weren't bound to survive. Although I do feel like Sun should have said something like, "Maybe you should try and go home to take care of our daughter so she's not an orphan", the moment was real and extremely touching.

Ultimately this leads to the moment on the beach where Jack, Hurley, Kate, and unconscious Sawyer are dealing with the ramifications of what just happened and they all just lose it. The crippling loss and destruction of this most recent experience coupled with everything else they have been gone through over the years puts a poignant cap on an already stellar episode. Hopefully this sets that team into a more proactive mode because nothing is more thrilling than seeing characters at their lowest point rise up and confront that which put them there. That anger, hurt, and betrayal will all be funneled into an attitude of "We end this now." And that is something that I cannot wait to see. The look on Locke's face when he realized that they weren't all dead, that he could just feel the fact that he was still trapped, was a tiny victory that the characters have yet to understand or even know of.

The sideways world on the other hand was one that mirrored the island story rather nicely. Jack is finally understanding that there is something going on here that isn't normal. His connection to all these people from the same flight means something, although he doesn't quite know what it is yet. But he's starting to put the pieces together. His leadership role in both worlds is something that continues to grow as we move toward the finale. And his motivation to help Locke is the result of something, but again, it's something he doesn't quite understand. Locke's mind seems to be opening up as well, with his mentions of the button and how he wished people believed him while sleeping. In addition to Jack saying that similar line about being believed and Locke paused for a moment of recognition.

Here's my biggest gripe. I feel like the sideways world is the endgame. That the character's lives in the sideways world all happen after the island, which follows because characters from the sideways world are remembering their island lives. If this is in fact the case, having this knowledge almost lessens the sacrifices of characters in these remaining episodes. Granted this is all pure speculation, but based on what I have seen thus far, when Sayid, Sun, and Jin died, in the back of my mind I was telling myself "It's no big deal, they're going to end up alive in the sideways world anyway." This lessened the dramatic tension a bit, but not completely. There is still much to be revealed about the way these two timelines connect. I just wish that I didn't have this gut reaction to it because then I would have treated it the same way I treated Charlie's death. Or Juliet's for that matter when there were fewer clues as to how these worlds connected.

Also, some of the submarine stuff seems slightly convoluted. I feel like the C4 would have done more damage or the submarine would have had more emergency safeguards in the event that the sub needed to reach the surface quickly. Especially it seemed that they hadn't been submerging for that long. Of course, these are just minor nitpicks that were probably dramatic license to provide more compelling drama.

Overall, this episode didn't provide us with many answers. But I'm realizing more and more that answers aren't necessarily what I'm looking for first and foremost. I want to be entertained. I want to care about what happens to these people. And I want it to make thematic and dramatic sense. I am incredibly excited to see where this goes next, and I certainly feel as if next week's episode in which apparently no series regulars appear, will not only entertain but provide a history of the island along with many of the answers about what exactly this island is.

And the fact that they just extended the finale from two to two and a half hours on Sunday, May 23 at 9:00-11:30 makes me even more excited than ever. I can't wait.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

People should read more...including me.

Thinking about fiction the other day, I came to the conclusion (one that has most assuredly already been come to) that writing, and novels in particular, are the purest form of storytelling. The fact that an author is essentially in control of everything allows for a story to be told in its truest form. The author creates the world in which the reader loses himself.

This fact is not present anywhere else in fiction. Whether the story is played out on stage, on television, or in the movies, so many hands are working to create this final product that it becomes impossible for there to be a singular vision. Of course in most of these cases the director is the one who brings all those hands together to make a cohesive product, but along the way things are bound to get lost in translation. An actor makes a choice that completely changes the tone of the movie. A director's blocking alters the intent of a scene. A new writer is brought in to tighten up dialog.

None of these things are inherently bad, of course. Movies are by far my favorite form of storytelling and one in which the whole is often greater than the sum of its parts. But by no means is it a direct link to an individual artist in the way that books are.

I look at worlds like J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Here you have one woman whose head contains the rules and history of an entire universe. And upon retrospect, you see how clearly these books provide a tightly plotted and rich fantasy world where every choice is deliberate and each book informs the next. Anything and everything can work in a book. The movies on the other hand do not have that luxury. They must fit into cinematic guidelines that do not necessarily suit Rowling's originally explicit guidelines. This does not mean the movies are poor. On the contrary, they are excellent movies in their own right. But again, they're the result of the collaboration of hundreds, if not thousands, of people.

Certainly novelists have to deal with editors who will assist the author in creating their story and providing ideas. And sometimes it is not the author's choice to remove or change or add something. Yet, when all is said and done, the words an author chooses to use are ultimately their own. The language comes directly from them and onto the page to ultimately end up in the mind of the reader. And I find that it is in this direct link that makes books such a fascinating way of telling a story.

The Beginning of the Storyverse

So I had another blog. A blog that I wasn't really updating that much. I felt as if it was slightly difficult to really get behind because even though it was story based in the same way this one is, it was named after me. And this really should be less about me and more about stories. Which is why I've created The Storyverse. I like the name. So hopefully I'll be able to update this with much more frequency than my older blog.

We'll see!

Hope to see you around.