81st Oscars.
I was teaching, off at a Catholic Retreat center (ugh) so I couldn't sit and watch the telecast - thank God for DVRs! I got to see a bit with rabbit ears, but finally finished it this morning.
One word. Hugh-hag. I was over the moon to see him used to his full ability. Unlike the Tony's, he didn't make the point that people expect Wolverine and he's all song and dance. I think his talents spoke for themselves and the industry was pleasantly surprised. I loved the look and feel, production was scaled back yet elegant and beautiful. Loved seeing the back stage wall, lots of flat screens hung - I thought the telecast montages were seamless, I just wonder how they played out for the actual audience.
And to think, I passed up the job of PM at the Kodak. Was I crazy or what? Actually, that was a really bad time, which is why I passed it up... All the Oscar nights I would have been a part of, wow.
Friday, February 27, 2009
gasp...choking here!
no. 29 Choke
While watching this, I kept saying to myself, "Man, I've got to go back and re-read this. What am I missing? Did I just blow through this read? What is my problem!" I'm a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan and have read almost everything he's written...
Overall, the movie's pretty good. It's not going to get my Grade A stamp, but I enjoyed it. The cast was phenomenal. Sam Rockell brings it every time. Angelica Houston? OMG she is still so gorgeous, can you believe how good she looked as the younger Ida? Check out her legs in those jeans! Kelly MacDonald is a favorite of mine, hook, line and sinker after she pulled off a west Texas accent in No Country, especially when you hear her native baroge (does that apply to only the Irish or Scottish, too?). Brad Henke pulls off the lovable and innocent Denny. The soundtrack was fab!
Who can forget the High Lord Charlie? Which brings me into patting Clark Gregg on the back. As usual, I love my Bonus Features and Choke delivered. The piece with Clark and Palahniuk was great. Immediately after watching this movie with Maggie, we talked about adaptation, how and when you come to the understanding that adaptation can never mean literal interpretation of the page (unless you're watching The DaVinci Code). That's exactly the conversation between the two, how Palahniuk wanted to be surprised by the expression of Clark, that there is no impact for the adapter unless they find a way into it on their own.
What I particularly liked about this discussion was why High Lord Charlie became more than just a super minor character - he was the foil to Victor, gave us the chance to see black and white. The center of the story being the fact that people are transformed not by being loved but by the act of loving.
While watching this, I kept saying to myself, "Man, I've got to go back and re-read this. What am I missing? Did I just blow through this read? What is my problem!" I'm a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan and have read almost everything he's written...
Overall, the movie's pretty good. It's not going to get my Grade A stamp, but I enjoyed it. The cast was phenomenal. Sam Rockell brings it every time. Angelica Houston? OMG she is still so gorgeous, can you believe how good she looked as the younger Ida? Check out her legs in those jeans! Kelly MacDonald is a favorite of mine, hook, line and sinker after she pulled off a west Texas accent in No Country, especially when you hear her native baroge (does that apply to only the Irish or Scottish, too?). Brad Henke pulls off the lovable and innocent Denny. The soundtrack was fab!
Who can forget the High Lord Charlie? Which brings me into patting Clark Gregg on the back. As usual, I love my Bonus Features and Choke delivered. The piece with Clark and Palahniuk was great. Immediately after watching this movie with Maggie, we talked about adaptation, how and when you come to the understanding that adaptation can never mean literal interpretation of the page (unless you're watching The DaVinci Code). That's exactly the conversation between the two, how Palahniuk wanted to be surprised by the expression of Clark, that there is no impact for the adapter unless they find a way into it on their own.
What I particularly liked about this discussion was why High Lord Charlie became more than just a super minor character - he was the foil to Victor, gave us the chance to see black and white. The center of the story being the fact that people are transformed not by being loved but by the act of loving.
big WHOA
Ep 6, Big Love
BIG WHOA. Not only does the family nearly unravel itself with secrets, poor Bill has lost his way. The show first caught me when I was visiting friends and there was a Season One marathon. I know that the show and the acting speaks for itself, but what got me was the amazing music chosen to play over the credits. Always fantastic, great songs.
This week, with the explosion of Sarah's miscarriage, there was no music to accompany the credits. The act, the reaction, the consequence, all were big enough on their own, giving us a closing note would be negating the overwhelming emotion we're feeling as the audience. Anything short of silence would rob, cheat us of the bomb that is dropped on the clan.
WHOA. Oh, I failed to mention that they are finally going back to the Margie/Ben storyline. That is not over, no matter how motherly and forceful she told Ben it was over. Can't wait to see how and when it is brought up again.
BIG WHOA. Not only does the family nearly unravel itself with secrets, poor Bill has lost his way. The show first caught me when I was visiting friends and there was a Season One marathon. I know that the show and the acting speaks for itself, but what got me was the amazing music chosen to play over the credits. Always fantastic, great songs.
This week, with the explosion of Sarah's miscarriage, there was no music to accompany the credits. The act, the reaction, the consequence, all were big enough on their own, giving us a closing note would be negating the overwhelming emotion we're feeling as the audience. Anything short of silence would rob, cheat us of the bomb that is dropped on the clan.
WHOA. Oh, I failed to mention that they are finally going back to the Margie/Ben storyline. That is not over, no matter how motherly and forceful she told Ben it was over. Can't wait to see how and when it is brought up again.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
LOST ep 7: Jeremy Bentham
I'm tired, this is what I got out, I'll come back in tomorrow night.
The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham is book ended in exposition – what about the rest of the plane?? Appears Frank managed to “land this bird” safely on Hydra Island. Caesar and Ilana have taken charge and falling in line, don’t trust one another. Hiding a sawed off from a marshall is never a good thing! Caesar goes through files, finding a DI map of the island, which I can’t make out along with what really looks like Faraday’s drawing of Space-Time, Real Time, Imaginary Time and Events…must look at old screen caps. If I take the EW pic into play, I’m going to say that there is a chance that maybe Sun didn’t make it in the big jump and she’s the woman that took off in the outrigger with Frank, taking the passenger manifest. There’s a third “redshirt” mentioned, Roxanne?
Wormholes – our friendly neighborhood physicist Michio Kaku states (in terms of LOST) that with enough exotic matter, one can travel back to any point in time, that the Orchid was the entrance to a wormhole, making Tunisia it’s exit point. Does that mean that there is exotic matter in that place as well, but not all variables exist in order to “open” a wormhole?
John – is he a man of destiny or always just the puppet? For the answers we are given, I really believe we may never know this until the very end.
Widmore – he claims to have been the leader of the others. First says Benjamin fooled him into leaving, then claims to have been exiled. His people protected the island for more than three decades. Apparently, he’s never seen John since that day when he was 17 – in 1954. He’s been stalking the “exit” in Tunisia.
Locke/Widmore Alliance? I’m not sure that Locke completely buys into the fact that Widmore is the good guy “a boat of killers and C4…doesn’t exactly scream trust.” But, I think he’s looking at the ends to a mean, much like his namesake, Jeremy Bentham (you’re parents had a sense of humor, so why can’t I?) Or is it the other way around? Widmore can supply him with everything he needs to get to the O6 +/-, the trust part can be figured out.
Abaddon: take you where ever you want to go, protect you from whomever intends to do you harm. His claim is that he helps “people get to where they need to go.” Calls Locke – you better “step up your game or we’re all in serious trouble.”
Everyone Loves Locke. There is something about Locke, what he knows, who he is, that both Ben and Widmore are willing to go to such lengths. Both Ben and Widmore gush with their moral support to Locke and attempt to keep him on their side. They parrot one another. “I needed Linus removed so it could be your turn. The Island needs you, John, it has for a long time.” “You ARE special.” “(I moved the island) so that he could never find it again, to keep him away so you could lead.” “He is extremely dangerous!” “John, you have no idea how important you are!” “Ben pulls no stops on this end…
I kinda called it last week. I really wanted to believe that John would do it on his own steam, but no, Ben did it. I truly believe that Ben did not show up with the intent to kill Locke, rather enlist. He needed to make sure that Locke was on his side. He killed Abaddon as a gesture, claiming that it was a matter of time until Widmore got what he needed and Abaddon would have killed him. “he waited for you to show up and get him back to the island.” He goes on and on, sounds like a love sick tween, gushing over John. It all goes back to John wanting to feel loved, protected, supported. Whoever can supply the most will win his allegiance. Unfortunately, in his desire to be wanted, Ben pulled the plug, ha!
Everyone Hates Locke. This is the overwhelming thing I’ve gotta share. Locke keeps stating that he or they need the others, he pleads. What kills me are the overwhelming themes were from his interaction with O6 +/-. Even Abaddon doesn’t hold back, asking after three years of the world thinking he’s dead, isn’t there “someone happy to see you?”
Sayid is really looking for redemption, repenting three fold for the blood on his hands for Ben, speaking of his manipulation.
“Who’s manipulating you, John?”
“Why do you really need to go back? Is it just because you have no place to go?”
Walt isn’t surprised to see Locke, he’s been the man of honor in his special dreams of late. The little oracle has gotten taller, but he tries to warn Locke that when he gets back on the island (suit), people all around are going to want to hurt him. He acts like he is expecting Locke to ask him something – like he knows he needs to go back. Locke does the right thing, just wanting to check in on him.
Hurley is watercoloring today, the Sphinx construction? Hints about earlier inhabitants of the island? Hurley’s moral compass is doing circles over Abaddon – “he’s evil! You should not be trusting that guy!” Locke says he needs him to come back.
“I’m not going any where with you. Get out of here!”
Kate really lays it on the line.
“What you ever been in love? I’ve been thinking about how desperate you were to stay on that island. I realized it was all because you didn’t love anybody.”
Locke tries to share, but it’s thrown in his face.
“I love someone once…it didn’t work out…I was angry…obsessed.”
“Look how far you’ve come.”
Jack throws the book at him. We know that D&C flipped the last two eps, and there was a question of whether or not it was about the damn shoes. I think it was about Jack. About what Jack says to Locke, about Jack’s fear that he did push Locke over the edge. Jack spat at him as if he was his father, as if this was the last horrible, despicable chance he had to tell his dad off. Foxy totally pulled off the “I’m fucked off my ass on pain killers” dead look. I don’t think I could do it, I’d have to come to work fucked off my ass, literally. He fights destiny with probability.
“Have you ever stopped to think that these delusions that you’re special aren’t real? That maybe there is nothing important about you at all. Maybe you are just a lonely old man that crashed on an island. That’s it.”
This all boils down to his suicide – it’s not because Richard said he must die.
“There is no helping me. I’m a failure. I couldn’t get any of them. I couldn’t get a single one of them to come back with me. I can’t lead anyone.”
Does John get to Jack? Just as he gets up and says good bye, John throws the ball a little too close to Jack’s head, “Your father says hello.” “He didn’t look dead to me.” John isn’t good at asking for help, he tries and fails miserably…or does he? I think Jack has already been flying on his own at this point – so this visit probably wasn’t the catalyst for his weekend benders, just one tool in Ben’s box.
The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham is book ended in exposition – what about the rest of the plane?? Appears Frank managed to “land this bird” safely on Hydra Island. Caesar and Ilana have taken charge and falling in line, don’t trust one another. Hiding a sawed off from a marshall is never a good thing! Caesar goes through files, finding a DI map of the island, which I can’t make out along with what really looks like Faraday’s drawing of Space-Time, Real Time, Imaginary Time and Events…must look at old screen caps. If I take the EW pic into play, I’m going to say that there is a chance that maybe Sun didn’t make it in the big jump and she’s the woman that took off in the outrigger with Frank, taking the passenger manifest. There’s a third “redshirt” mentioned, Roxanne?
Wormholes – our friendly neighborhood physicist Michio Kaku states (in terms of LOST) that with enough exotic matter, one can travel back to any point in time, that the Orchid was the entrance to a wormhole, making Tunisia it’s exit point. Does that mean that there is exotic matter in that place as well, but not all variables exist in order to “open” a wormhole?
John – is he a man of destiny or always just the puppet? For the answers we are given, I really believe we may never know this until the very end.
Widmore – he claims to have been the leader of the others. First says Benjamin fooled him into leaving, then claims to have been exiled. His people protected the island for more than three decades. Apparently, he’s never seen John since that day when he was 17 – in 1954. He’s been stalking the “exit” in Tunisia.
Locke/Widmore Alliance? I’m not sure that Locke completely buys into the fact that Widmore is the good guy “a boat of killers and C4…doesn’t exactly scream trust.” But, I think he’s looking at the ends to a mean, much like his namesake, Jeremy Bentham (you’re parents had a sense of humor, so why can’t I?) Or is it the other way around? Widmore can supply him with everything he needs to get to the O6 +/-, the trust part can be figured out.
Abaddon: take you where ever you want to go, protect you from whomever intends to do you harm. His claim is that he helps “people get to where they need to go.” Calls Locke – you better “step up your game or we’re all in serious trouble.”
Everyone Loves Locke. There is something about Locke, what he knows, who he is, that both Ben and Widmore are willing to go to such lengths. Both Ben and Widmore gush with their moral support to Locke and attempt to keep him on their side. They parrot one another. “I needed Linus removed so it could be your turn. The Island needs you, John, it has for a long time.” “You ARE special.” “(I moved the island) so that he could never find it again, to keep him away so you could lead.” “He is extremely dangerous!” “John, you have no idea how important you are!” “Ben pulls no stops on this end…
I kinda called it last week. I really wanted to believe that John would do it on his own steam, but no, Ben did it. I truly believe that Ben did not show up with the intent to kill Locke, rather enlist. He needed to make sure that Locke was on his side. He killed Abaddon as a gesture, claiming that it was a matter of time until Widmore got what he needed and Abaddon would have killed him. “he waited for you to show up and get him back to the island.” He goes on and on, sounds like a love sick tween, gushing over John. It all goes back to John wanting to feel loved, protected, supported. Whoever can supply the most will win his allegiance. Unfortunately, in his desire to be wanted, Ben pulled the plug, ha!
Everyone Hates Locke. This is the overwhelming thing I’ve gotta share. Locke keeps stating that he or they need the others, he pleads. What kills me are the overwhelming themes were from his interaction with O6 +/-. Even Abaddon doesn’t hold back, asking after three years of the world thinking he’s dead, isn’t there “someone happy to see you?”
Sayid is really looking for redemption, repenting three fold for the blood on his hands for Ben, speaking of his manipulation.
“Who’s manipulating you, John?”
“Why do you really need to go back? Is it just because you have no place to go?”
Walt isn’t surprised to see Locke, he’s been the man of honor in his special dreams of late. The little oracle has gotten taller, but he tries to warn Locke that when he gets back on the island (suit), people all around are going to want to hurt him. He acts like he is expecting Locke to ask him something – like he knows he needs to go back. Locke does the right thing, just wanting to check in on him.
Hurley is watercoloring today, the Sphinx construction? Hints about earlier inhabitants of the island? Hurley’s moral compass is doing circles over Abaddon – “he’s evil! You should not be trusting that guy!” Locke says he needs him to come back.
“I’m not going any where with you. Get out of here!”
Kate really lays it on the line.
“What you ever been in love? I’ve been thinking about how desperate you were to stay on that island. I realized it was all because you didn’t love anybody.”
Locke tries to share, but it’s thrown in his face.
“I love someone once…it didn’t work out…I was angry…obsessed.”
“Look how far you’ve come.”
Jack throws the book at him. We know that D&C flipped the last two eps, and there was a question of whether or not it was about the damn shoes. I think it was about Jack. About what Jack says to Locke, about Jack’s fear that he did push Locke over the edge. Jack spat at him as if he was his father, as if this was the last horrible, despicable chance he had to tell his dad off. Foxy totally pulled off the “I’m fucked off my ass on pain killers” dead look. I don’t think I could do it, I’d have to come to work fucked off my ass, literally. He fights destiny with probability.
“Have you ever stopped to think that these delusions that you’re special aren’t real? That maybe there is nothing important about you at all. Maybe you are just a lonely old man that crashed on an island. That’s it.”
This all boils down to his suicide – it’s not because Richard said he must die.
“There is no helping me. I’m a failure. I couldn’t get any of them. I couldn’t get a single one of them to come back with me. I can’t lead anyone.”
Does John get to Jack? Just as he gets up and says good bye, John throws the ball a little too close to Jack’s head, “Your father says hello.” “He didn’t look dead to me.” John isn’t good at asking for help, he tries and fails miserably…or does he? I think Jack has already been flying on his own at this point – so this visit probably wasn’t the catalyst for his weekend benders, just one tool in Ben’s box.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
LOST ep 6: 316
Again, WHOA! This is the episode where the writers "left science behind."
1. two words, LAMP POST. Thanks to our science lesson from Ms. Hawking, we know all about different hot pockets of EMG, but the only one important to the DI had a frozen donkey wheel installed (convenient when you're just sick and need to go someplace/time new.) A brilliant scientist came up with the equations to find the highest probability of how to find the island - windows of time - and where it was going to be. If you find a window, find a path (Ajira 316), recreate the circumstances, whoosh, JUMP! Thank goodness they all went, all that predictability would have gone...out the window, ha!
2. Desmond, poor Desmond. He's done with the island...yeah right. What I'm really concerned about is whether or not Penny was the promise to an old friend or the loose end that needed tying up. Either way, Ben looked worse for the wear (which I think they played well in the exchange of glances when Ben sees Sayid. At least you think there could be a chance Sayid did it. Then again, why else would he be using a pay phone at the Long Beach Marina?
3. Sooner or later, we're all convinced. Ben was praying (or was it preying) and lit a candle - probably for mommy dearest. As I saw the painting of Thomas the Apostle, I was so glad Ben explained the story to Jack so I didn't have to blame my own poor bible study skills. When Jesus wanted to turn to Judea, even knowing he might be murdered, Thomas told the other apostles that they should return as well, so that they may suffer the same fate and die with him. Although, they lived and upon Jesus' resurrection, Thomas wouldn't believe it, needed to touch his wounds to be convinced, to believe. I guess that would almost make Thomas the first agnostic, eh? Which brings about signs of another...
4. Resurrection. John took his own life to complete the cycle. Jack didn't believe his story, although, after tying on Daddy's dress shoes, I think he's wrapped his head around it, at least enough to know he's got to get baaaaaack!
5. Oh, I can't do the shoes justice! I literally screamed at the tv when Jack pulled Grandad's red checked shirt off the newly polished wing tip. Poor Christian has had to suffer at the hands of the worst dressed list because Jack wouldn't, couldn't, didn't care enough to get him some off brand loafer.
6. Proxies. Proxys? I think we saw more than one. Jack is scanning the crowd looking for them. John = Christian. Frank = Greg Grunberg (Deja vu all the way, dude! We're not in Guam, Toto.) I'm not going to argue that the whole passenger list was a proxy - they found a way to hit the window - they went back, the plane was saved. I think the chic who was the whore on Rome is the Marshall, since she escorted Sayid through security and sitting with him on the plane. Is Kate preggers? Was getting Jack in the sack before they left her "window"? The cute middle-eastern kid, he's been in a bunch of things, but I can't figure out who he's supposed to be filling in for...maybe Ana Lucia. She met Jack in the bar, said I'm sorry about your dad, hence, my condolences. Hurley just looked so sad, afraid to get on the plane. Leave it to our moral compass to buy the 78 open seats to save lives...and carry a guitar on board to honor his best friend ;( Ben, well, Ben is just Ben, but what and who is he recreating? An alive Locke? Yeah, he's on board, but he's dead and accounted for.
7. Ridiculous. Yeah, I know I said Jack kinda wrapped his head around it, but he can't. He has to make a leap of faith, which he really hasn't. I mean, he's making a gesture. I think Jack feels he's got to do something, he's been trying to do it for months. In fact, he got the right idea, flying over and over. He feels compelled to do something, he can't live with this anxiety, and now, the possible guilt over Locke's suicide. I don't think he got on the plane as a leap of faith, but with a good idea (and when I mean good idea, I'm winking at religion. I don't believe anyone will ever get "GOD" right, but alot of people have good ideas.)
8. RIP. Where ever you are, you're laughing your ass off that I'm actually doing this, something crazier than even you were. Jack thinks he's heard Locke's last words. His "suicide" note, it made my heart break, even though we all know he's coming back to life, which makes it all that more ironic, but it does put the blame back on Jack. Then again, there's the whole, "I feel like John needs me to read it," spin. Ben said it wasn't Jack's fault (semantics?)
9. Normalcy. Loved the gesture of the last morning - orange juice, two glasses, oh, do you still take milk and two sugars? No booze, no pills, no bullshit. Just Jack and Kate having their last normal morning...and Jack's lack of emotions saved by the bell. Man, that trick has got to get old on this show at some point.
10. Surprise? Somehow, Jack seems really surprised that Hurley and Sayid made it, since they weren't at the Lamp Post for the big reveal. "They bought tickets." :) It makes me wonder, that since he's not completely caught up, does he realise that Locke will be resurrected? I don't think he does simply by the fear prior to and the guilt upon reading, "I wish you had believed me."
11. Pawns...in a game. Des poses, Jack questions. Kate has one of the many good lines, "We're on the same plane, Jack. It doesn't make us together."
12. Who gets the good line when Sawyer isn't in the script?
"How can you read?!"
"My mother taught me."
13. Speaking of Ben, he doesn't get off the hook tonight. Interesting 36 hours for him. He genuinely looks hurt when he's called on whether or not he really knew about the Lamp Post...and a little school girl crushy/jealous about Jack's study group. I'm not sure we've really seen Ben scared, yeah, there was when he was Henry and Sayid was kicking his ass, then when Jacob freaked out, when he was turning the FDW...but he looked shitless at the marina. Ben has a great way of using semantics in his favor. "You said Locke didn't visit you." "He didn't, I went to see him." Now that we've seen next week's teaser, Ben fibs when he says that he didn't know Locke committed suicide. We see Ben kneeling down in front of a Locke with a noose in his hands, ready to buy it. Then again, maybe Locke didn't, maybe Ben pulled the chair out at the last minute.
14. As much as I'd like to give Ben the credit, Locke did it on his own, he accepted his duty, it's not his destiny, the guy isn't dead. His timeline just has a kink in it. There is much more for John Locke to do on the island.
15. Aaron? Ji Yeon? I'm not worried about the Korean, grammy's got her and Sun doesn't seem too worried herself. Maybe Kate got to Claire's mum before she left LA and gave her Aaron. Jack may have stuck his foot in his mouth, but I believe Kate opened the door. Does being raised by your grandmother count as not being raised by another? If another Grammy is the answer, why is Kate so insistent about Jack never asking her about Aaron? It's as if the answer is so horrible, she can't bear to repeat it. Not sure where I sit on this.
16. I can't wait to find out how Jin gets a job with the DI.
Of note:
Kate to Jack on the shoes: "Why hold on to something that makes you feel sad?"
Hurley's comic book: Y: The Last Man. The only man to survive the mysterious simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth. In the series, on July 17, 2002, something (referred to as a plague) simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome - including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm. The only exceptions appear to be Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey Ampersand. Yorick in particular is a source of one-liners. Gee, think this has something to do with the fertility problem on the island? Maybe Sawyer has the magic wand?
Hurley's wearing a sleep mask. How cute can you get? Also, it plays into him not wanting to hear or see, like when he tells Charlie to beat it?
9/23/54 US Army OP264 Top Secret...
Grandad liked the freckles. He might love me! Bunnies? Magic Shows? Misdirection, anyone?
1. two words, LAMP POST. Thanks to our science lesson from Ms. Hawking, we know all about different hot pockets of EMG, but the only one important to the DI had a frozen donkey wheel installed (convenient when you're just sick and need to go someplace/time new.) A brilliant scientist came up with the equations to find the highest probability of how to find the island - windows of time - and where it was going to be. If you find a window, find a path (Ajira 316), recreate the circumstances, whoosh, JUMP! Thank goodness they all went, all that predictability would have gone...out the window, ha!
2. Desmond, poor Desmond. He's done with the island...yeah right. What I'm really concerned about is whether or not Penny was the promise to an old friend or the loose end that needed tying up. Either way, Ben looked worse for the wear (which I think they played well in the exchange of glances when Ben sees Sayid. At least you think there could be a chance Sayid did it. Then again, why else would he be using a pay phone at the Long Beach Marina?
3. Sooner or later, we're all convinced. Ben was praying (or was it preying) and lit a candle - probably for mommy dearest. As I saw the painting of Thomas the Apostle, I was so glad Ben explained the story to Jack so I didn't have to blame my own poor bible study skills. When Jesus wanted to turn to Judea, even knowing he might be murdered, Thomas told the other apostles that they should return as well, so that they may suffer the same fate and die with him. Although, they lived and upon Jesus' resurrection, Thomas wouldn't believe it, needed to touch his wounds to be convinced, to believe. I guess that would almost make Thomas the first agnostic, eh? Which brings about signs of another...
4. Resurrection. John took his own life to complete the cycle. Jack didn't believe his story, although, after tying on Daddy's dress shoes, I think he's wrapped his head around it, at least enough to know he's got to get baaaaaack!
5. Oh, I can't do the shoes justice! I literally screamed at the tv when Jack pulled Grandad's red checked shirt off the newly polished wing tip. Poor Christian has had to suffer at the hands of the worst dressed list because Jack wouldn't, couldn't, didn't care enough to get him some off brand loafer.
6. Proxies. Proxys? I think we saw more than one. Jack is scanning the crowd looking for them. John = Christian. Frank = Greg Grunberg (Deja vu all the way, dude! We're not in Guam, Toto.) I'm not going to argue that the whole passenger list was a proxy - they found a way to hit the window - they went back, the plane was saved. I think the chic who was the whore on Rome is the Marshall, since she escorted Sayid through security and sitting with him on the plane. Is Kate preggers? Was getting Jack in the sack before they left her "window"? The cute middle-eastern kid, he's been in a bunch of things, but I can't figure out who he's supposed to be filling in for...maybe Ana Lucia. She met Jack in the bar, said I'm sorry about your dad, hence, my condolences. Hurley just looked so sad, afraid to get on the plane. Leave it to our moral compass to buy the 78 open seats to save lives...and carry a guitar on board to honor his best friend ;( Ben, well, Ben is just Ben, but what and who is he recreating? An alive Locke? Yeah, he's on board, but he's dead and accounted for.
7. Ridiculous. Yeah, I know I said Jack kinda wrapped his head around it, but he can't. He has to make a leap of faith, which he really hasn't. I mean, he's making a gesture. I think Jack feels he's got to do something, he's been trying to do it for months. In fact, he got the right idea, flying over and over. He feels compelled to do something, he can't live with this anxiety, and now, the possible guilt over Locke's suicide. I don't think he got on the plane as a leap of faith, but with a good idea (and when I mean good idea, I'm winking at religion. I don't believe anyone will ever get "GOD" right, but alot of people have good ideas.)
8. RIP. Where ever you are, you're laughing your ass off that I'm actually doing this, something crazier than even you were. Jack thinks he's heard Locke's last words. His "suicide" note, it made my heart break, even though we all know he's coming back to life, which makes it all that more ironic, but it does put the blame back on Jack. Then again, there's the whole, "I feel like John needs me to read it," spin. Ben said it wasn't Jack's fault (semantics?)
9. Normalcy. Loved the gesture of the last morning - orange juice, two glasses, oh, do you still take milk and two sugars? No booze, no pills, no bullshit. Just Jack and Kate having their last normal morning...and Jack's lack of emotions saved by the bell. Man, that trick has got to get old on this show at some point.
10. Surprise? Somehow, Jack seems really surprised that Hurley and Sayid made it, since they weren't at the Lamp Post for the big reveal. "They bought tickets." :) It makes me wonder, that since he's not completely caught up, does he realise that Locke will be resurrected? I don't think he does simply by the fear prior to and the guilt upon reading, "I wish you had believed me."
11. Pawns...in a game. Des poses, Jack questions. Kate has one of the many good lines, "We're on the same plane, Jack. It doesn't make us together."
12. Who gets the good line when Sawyer isn't in the script?
"How can you read?!"
"My mother taught me."
13. Speaking of Ben, he doesn't get off the hook tonight. Interesting 36 hours for him. He genuinely looks hurt when he's called on whether or not he really knew about the Lamp Post...and a little school girl crushy/jealous about Jack's study group. I'm not sure we've really seen Ben scared, yeah, there was when he was Henry and Sayid was kicking his ass, then when Jacob freaked out, when he was turning the FDW...but he looked shitless at the marina. Ben has a great way of using semantics in his favor. "You said Locke didn't visit you." "He didn't, I went to see him." Now that we've seen next week's teaser, Ben fibs when he says that he didn't know Locke committed suicide. We see Ben kneeling down in front of a Locke with a noose in his hands, ready to buy it. Then again, maybe Locke didn't, maybe Ben pulled the chair out at the last minute.
14. As much as I'd like to give Ben the credit, Locke did it on his own, he accepted his duty, it's not his destiny, the guy isn't dead. His timeline just has a kink in it. There is much more for John Locke to do on the island.
15. Aaron? Ji Yeon? I'm not worried about the Korean, grammy's got her and Sun doesn't seem too worried herself. Maybe Kate got to Claire's mum before she left LA and gave her Aaron. Jack may have stuck his foot in his mouth, but I believe Kate opened the door. Does being raised by your grandmother count as not being raised by another? If another Grammy is the answer, why is Kate so insistent about Jack never asking her about Aaron? It's as if the answer is so horrible, she can't bear to repeat it. Not sure where I sit on this.
16. I can't wait to find out how Jin gets a job with the DI.
Of note:
Kate to Jack on the shoes: "Why hold on to something that makes you feel sad?"
Hurley's comic book: Y: The Last Man. The only man to survive the mysterious simultaneous death of every male mammal on Earth. In the series, on July 17, 2002, something (referred to as a plague) simultaneously kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome - including embryos, fertilized eggs, and even sperm. The only exceptions appear to be Yorick Brown, a young amateur escape artist, and his Capuchin monkey Ampersand. Yorick in particular is a source of one-liners. Gee, think this has something to do with the fertility problem on the island? Maybe Sawyer has the magic wand?
Hurley's wearing a sleep mask. How cute can you get? Also, it plays into him not wanting to hear or see, like when he tells Charlie to beat it?
9/23/54 US Army OP264 Top Secret...
Grandad liked the freckles. He might love me! Bunnies? Magic Shows? Misdirection, anyone?
Monday, February 16, 2009
i drink your milkshake!
no. 28 There Will Be Blood
It's just as good the third time around, hell, almost better. I can't find what I wrote about it the first/second viewing, which totally bums me out. I'm not the most articulate lately and Paul Thomas Anderson deserves nothing but the best my pie hole can spout. My first viewing, wow, I was so overwhelmed with Daniel Day Lewis' performance - and mostly, the prominence of the score.
Jonny Greenwood makes his foray into big film not with ease and grace, but with the sheer power that only a rock god could. Mostly, there are only geeks out there who would grant him that title, but what he does with this score is nothing short of genius. All strings and percussion (the piano being their offspring). He got totally robbed by the Academy - I believe the story is that he used, and gave credit to, a small piece that wasn't original. Because of that, he didn't get a nod for original score. Anyone who's seen this film, even for those who pay no attention to the score, are completely beaten over the head with the mood it creates. Maybe it's better to say that it nearly paints a picture of Plainview's sanity. Unsettling, unnerved, unhinged. To say that the score pushes you to the edge of your seat, makes you sit upright, pulls your head back and pries your eyelids open; there is no way you can sleep through this film. Jonny makes sure of that. Thank god everyone else on the planet nominated or handed him an award.
Greed is an easy theme to pick out, but it's interestingly built up. In "plainspeak", Plainview is like a racehorse, he sees nothing but what's ahead, a finish line to dash toward at breakneck speed. Every move he makes is planted in order to see the black gush. With HW, his son, at his side like a watchdog, Plainview is controlled, reigned in. He may drink himself into a un-wakeable stupor, but he really does care about his son, and I believe he knows that his son is the only thing to ground him in a world he hates, a world he spits on, a world he can't stomach that he's a part of. I don't think his misanthropic nature is based on a hatred of what the world is or portrays, he plainly hates the world. He reminds me of the conversation between Alfred and Bruce Wayne in the Dark Knight. If I wasn't so tired, I'd pull down the dvd for the exact quote, but it has to do with the nature of hatred, "some men just want to see the world burn." When HW's accident literally pulls him off his watch, Plainview grits his teeth to the world, his hackles never relax, it's not that he won't, it's that he can't back down. His moral compass is gone, the floodgates have been opened and he can never go back. (HW literally IS a moral compass, pointing directly to a lie that Plainview so readily gobbles up, knowing he needs someone to guide him, this new side he reveals.) To me, his greed is camouflaged by his hatred, and I guess in reverse. Some may see him as a greedy bastard, but the overwhelming agenda is his hatred of man, his desire to have so much money that he never has to see or interact with anyone, ever, including at the end, his son.
The beatings that Plainview and Eli put to one another, literally, in plain view of the world, ouch. Bitch slaps so brutal, honest, soul baring. It's not just the physical, it's one calling the other out, taunting. It's one thing to give an ultimatum and have someone "say" something. It's another when its something completely true, the more the person says it, if it's possible, the more true it becomes. They are so ugly to one another. Too easy to say greed and faith, two sides of a coin. No way, faith can be greed, we've seen it all too often. Eli embodies the false prophet. What I find most interesting is how both surrender to their disgust in themselves. I can't seem to say that correctly. In repeating the ugliness of their truth, the more it is repeated, the more they give into it's truth, the more the truth envelopes them, the truth stands on it's own, beside the man, living, breathing, bleeding. They have no choice in acknowledging it's reality, the ugliness of the conscious decision they have made, the truth standing before them. It's really actually beautiful...
This post could be ten pages long and I really must go to bed. I'm not going to do the film justice, yet alone the amazing cast. Paul Dano is a really pussy: he's pathetic, weak as all hell, wears his "faith" like a dark cloak, then again, it's about as transparent as can be. Daniel Day Lewis inhabits a character like no other. From his split ends to untrimmed toe nails, it is in his walk, his painfully earned gait. He's almost like Pan (in stature), half man half goat, you expect to see cloven hooves poking through his boots - it gets visibly worse as HW pulls away. It's not a big part, but Ciaran Hinds also acts part moral compass to Plainview. I really wish he had more storytime, he's such a gifted actor.
It's just as good the third time around, hell, almost better. I can't find what I wrote about it the first/second viewing, which totally bums me out. I'm not the most articulate lately and Paul Thomas Anderson deserves nothing but the best my pie hole can spout. My first viewing, wow, I was so overwhelmed with Daniel Day Lewis' performance - and mostly, the prominence of the score.
Jonny Greenwood makes his foray into big film not with ease and grace, but with the sheer power that only a rock god could. Mostly, there are only geeks out there who would grant him that title, but what he does with this score is nothing short of genius. All strings and percussion (the piano being their offspring). He got totally robbed by the Academy - I believe the story is that he used, and gave credit to, a small piece that wasn't original. Because of that, he didn't get a nod for original score. Anyone who's seen this film, even for those who pay no attention to the score, are completely beaten over the head with the mood it creates. Maybe it's better to say that it nearly paints a picture of Plainview's sanity. Unsettling, unnerved, unhinged. To say that the score pushes you to the edge of your seat, makes you sit upright, pulls your head back and pries your eyelids open; there is no way you can sleep through this film. Jonny makes sure of that. Thank god everyone else on the planet nominated or handed him an award.
Greed is an easy theme to pick out, but it's interestingly built up. In "plainspeak", Plainview is like a racehorse, he sees nothing but what's ahead, a finish line to dash toward at breakneck speed. Every move he makes is planted in order to see the black gush. With HW, his son, at his side like a watchdog, Plainview is controlled, reigned in. He may drink himself into a un-wakeable stupor, but he really does care about his son, and I believe he knows that his son is the only thing to ground him in a world he hates, a world he spits on, a world he can't stomach that he's a part of. I don't think his misanthropic nature is based on a hatred of what the world is or portrays, he plainly hates the world. He reminds me of the conversation between Alfred and Bruce Wayne in the Dark Knight. If I wasn't so tired, I'd pull down the dvd for the exact quote, but it has to do with the nature of hatred, "some men just want to see the world burn." When HW's accident literally pulls him off his watch, Plainview grits his teeth to the world, his hackles never relax, it's not that he won't, it's that he can't back down. His moral compass is gone, the floodgates have been opened and he can never go back. (HW literally IS a moral compass, pointing directly to a lie that Plainview so readily gobbles up, knowing he needs someone to guide him, this new side he reveals.) To me, his greed is camouflaged by his hatred, and I guess in reverse. Some may see him as a greedy bastard, but the overwhelming agenda is his hatred of man, his desire to have so much money that he never has to see or interact with anyone, ever, including at the end, his son.
The beatings that Plainview and Eli put to one another, literally, in plain view of the world, ouch. Bitch slaps so brutal, honest, soul baring. It's not just the physical, it's one calling the other out, taunting. It's one thing to give an ultimatum and have someone "say" something. It's another when its something completely true, the more the person says it, if it's possible, the more true it becomes. They are so ugly to one another. Too easy to say greed and faith, two sides of a coin. No way, faith can be greed, we've seen it all too often. Eli embodies the false prophet. What I find most interesting is how both surrender to their disgust in themselves. I can't seem to say that correctly. In repeating the ugliness of their truth, the more it is repeated, the more they give into it's truth, the more the truth envelopes them, the truth stands on it's own, beside the man, living, breathing, bleeding. They have no choice in acknowledging it's reality, the ugliness of the conscious decision they have made, the truth standing before them. It's really actually beautiful...
This post could be ten pages long and I really must go to bed. I'm not going to do the film justice, yet alone the amazing cast. Paul Dano is a really pussy: he's pathetic, weak as all hell, wears his "faith" like a dark cloak, then again, it's about as transparent as can be. Daniel Day Lewis inhabits a character like no other. From his split ends to untrimmed toe nails, it is in his walk, his painfully earned gait. He's almost like Pan (in stature), half man half goat, you expect to see cloven hooves poking through his boots - it gets visibly worse as HW pulls away. It's not a big part, but Ciaran Hinds also acts part moral compass to Plainview. I really wish he had more storytime, he's such a gifted actor.
eastbound!!!!!
I've been waiting for Danny McBride's HBO show Eastbound & Down...and out! Dude, it is soooooo good. He knocks white trash out the park, well, he's a pitcher, so I can't say he strikes it out...oh the dilemma for a good analogy. Brother. And that - I really hope that John Hawkes character isn't a shell of a pussy. He's such a great character actor, I know he's got a relationship with HBO and all, but I will be terribly disappointed if he doesn't show up, ya know? He's all cleaned up, looking way too normal. That guy just reeks abnormal, so I don't know where they're going with him ;*(
All in all, the season opener scored for me, I've got season tickets, first base. woo woo!
All in all, the season opener scored for me, I've got season tickets, first base. woo woo!
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