TV Shows I'm Watching - Lost (Episode 3.11)

It’s time to catch up on all those Lost reviews I’ve been putting off for the last month. Here's the first one with a few plot points you might not want to know about.

Episode 3.11 – Enter 77

Main Story – **1/2 out of 4 - As Kate, Sayid, Locke, and Rousseau begin their search for Jack, they stumble across a house in the middle of the jungle. After a brief struggle with the owner, it is revealed that the eye patch man from The Cost of Living is holed up here on his own. Following the utterly useless “Hurley finds a van” episode from the previous week, Enter 77 dives headfirst into the mythology of the island.

This is both the episode’s best point, but also its weakness. It’s nice to get a chunk of exposition and learn a thing or two about the Others, but as the episode continues it’s revealed that most of Eye Patch Man’s statements are lies. Normally I’m fine when the writers keep the mysteries going, but for once I felt like this episode had a bit too much winking and nodding at the audience. Whereas most episodes seem to have organic twists and turns, stemming naturally come characters’ actions, this one felt like I was being manipulated by the writers. In fact, by the end I felt like Enter 77 was primarily a big inside joke responding to the bitter fan reaction Lost has met this season.

Not only do the writer’s provide a lengthy false monologue, but they fill the basement of the hut with hundreds of books explaining the reason behind the Dharma Initiative. All Kate, Sayid, and Locke have to do is sit down for a few minutes and read. The Lost secrets will be revealed….but of course that can’t happen. Miss Klugh (remember her from last season) is hiding amidst the files which causes a whole bunch of problems. And then Locke enters 77 into a secret Dharma chess game and well….the files vanish just as quickly as they appeared.

Even the story back at the island seems a little too tongue in cheek. Sawyer mouths most Lost fans’ reactions to Nikki by asking “Who the Hell are you”, Paulo once again gets involved in washroom related antics, and everyone finally has enough of Sawyer’s nicknames. Sure it’s funny, but I prefer it when I am completely immersed in the story, and can only vaguely sense the writer’s diabolically laughing about their scripts.

At least this episode does move the story forward, and by the end, even though much more could have been explained, I was excited to see what would happen next.

Flashback - *** out of 4 – Sayid gets a simple, and emotional flashback about forgiveness. While working in France, Sayid is confronted by a restaurant owner who has a surprise for him. His wife was one of the people Sayid tortured when he was in Iraq, and it’s time for revenge.

Since Sayid has been on the sidelines for far too long in the world of Lost (I think the last time I was really invested in his character was when Henry Gale first came to camp), so it’s nice to see him back at the forefront of the story. The flashback doesn’t have a lot of fancy twists and turns, but it is emotional and Sayid’s final breakdown is pretty devastating.

What I Rented - Flags of Our Fathers

The Battle of Iwo Jima was the first Pacific battle of World War II fought on Japanese soil. By capturing the desolate island, the Americans would cut off an important way station for Japanese planes and ships, as well as procure an essential stepping stone toward the Japanese mainland. It was a brutal battle, resulting in thousands of deaths. Yet, one moment, the raising of an American flag atop a hill and the photograph that was taken of it, brought hope to millions. Flags of Our Fathers focuses on the events, and people, surrounding this famous photograph.

Clint Eastwood’s film is incredibly ambitious, but its unfocused narrative spends so much time shifting back and forth from multiple points of view and periods of time that the emotional throughway is hard to find.

The opening act of the film is brilliant though, as Eastwood shows the arrival on Iwo Jima and the moments leading up to the first attack. The narrative is straight forward, the characters easily identifiable and distinguishable from one another, and the tension mounts steadily. The first moments on Iwo Jima are among the very best in the entire film. The marines storm the beach and find it completely deserted. As they walk further inland, Eastwood slowly reveals that the Japanese soldiers are hiding in elaborate underground bunkers, armed, and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The battle scene that follows is harrowing.

The power of this first scene overshadows the rest of the movie, especially since Eastwood moves back to the American mainland to explore the power of propaganda. After the picture of the flag raising is taken, the men involved with raising it are brought back to the States and sent on a public relations tour in order to raise money for the war effort. As the film shows, the three surviving men (three others subsequently died in further combat) have difficulty accepting their roles as heroes. It’s an interesting deconstruction of heroism and finding reality behind “written history”, but too many scenes show the same thing. The men are praised for their heroic efforts, they put on smiling faces in front of the crowds, and then fall apart when the cameras are taken away.

The performers all try their best to make this duality interesting, but the script just moves from one similar situation to another, so even the performances become tedious. As the film moves into its third act, it goes even further into the future, trying to explore how the horrors of war affect aging. Eastwood finds some great moments in this section, including a tearful hospital scene between a father and son, but it’s another movie entirely, suddenly becoming a tale of a son sorting through history.

The further away from the battle scenes Eastwood takes the audience, the further away he gets from telling the emotional truth of that fateful photograph. An important aspect of the movie is that the American public never got to know the real men behind the flag raising, and after the movie, I was still unclear on who two of those men were. As the focus keeps shifting, Flags of Our Fathers moves away from character driven drama and takes on a more ideological stance, criticizing the government for exploitation, or commenting on how history is rarely truthful. By the end, with so many ideas dangling, Flags of Our Fathers resorts to a constant barrage of voiceovers in order to piece everything together into a cohesive whole. The ideas are compelling, but they are spoon fed to the audience, turning what began as an immersive drama into a didactic essay.

Star Rating - **1/2 outof 4

TV Shows I'm Watching - Heroes (Episode 18)

Episode 18 – Parasite - *** out of 4

Sorry I haven’t written this review until now, but since the next episode frustratingly won’t be airing until the end of April I didn’t feel the urgency.

So, after the season’s best episode, Company Man, Heroes leaves sweeps season with a good, albeit slightly disappointing episode. Part of my problem is that Heroes tends to work best when it focuses on one or two storylines. Parasite is all over the map, incorporating every hero into multiple storylines.

The best story this week is between Suresh and Sylar. After weeks of Sylar posing as a friend, Suresh finally reveals that he has known about his true identity for quite some time, and turns the tables. It’s a nice twist, and finally shows that Suresh is a fairly smart guy, although later on when he lets his guard down, the episode really gets interesting.

The other interesting storyline relates to Claire’s Dad who wasn’t entirely determined to wipe away all memories of Claire’s escape. His wife has some shocking news for him, and it’s fun to see him struggle once again with his company ties and his fatherly role.

Moderately interesting is the Nathan Petrelli storyline. Finally, after a season of hinting the audience finally meets Linderman (a cool casting choice that is unfortunately ruined by the opening credits). Linderman makes Nathan an interesting deal that will hopefully play out in later episodes.

I have to admit that I have grown quite tired of Hiro’s quest of late. Stripping him of his powers on a mission to find a magic sword has just been an awful storyline, and I hope that this episode finally sees an end to it. It’s just painful to see the most interesting character get sidetracked by busy work while everyone else gets to have something to do with the big picture.

As for Peter and Isaac I was less than thrilled with how the Simone shooting wrapped up. I mean, show some emotion for Pete’s sake. I really got the feeling that both men kind of got over her way too quickly. Shouldn’t this make Isaac and Peter sworn enemies? Isn’t that how these things usually work? I got the feeling that Isaac was more interested in slapping Peter on the wrist than wreaking some kind of maniacal revenge. I hope I’m wrong.

The episode wrapped up with some nice surprises, including a particularly nasty predicament for Peter, more family secrets from Claire, and a journey through time for Hiro and Ando.

What I Rented - Stranger Than Fiction

Some mild plot points about the ending are in the following review.

Stranger Than Fiction could have gone the easy route, making quick, cheap jokes at the expense of its characters, but it instead chooses the more difficult, and interesting path, taking its premise seriously and allowing the characters to react to the extraordinary events. When a voice starts narrating IRS agent Harold Crick’s (Will Ferrell) life, insinuating that he will die imminently, Crick begins to re-evaluate his life. At the same time, Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), while writing a novel about Crick (not knowing that he is a real person), tries to figure out how to conquer her writer’s block and kill off her protagonist.

While the film initially relies a bit too much on gimmicks (the Sims style pop-ups are more distracting than anything else), Stranger Than Fiction quickly finds its groove when Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a tax dodging baker, enters the movie and Crick, confused about his narrative situation, seeks advice from literary professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman). Since his life is being narrated, Hilbert and Crick try to discover what kind of story is being told, a comedy or a tragedy. Some of the films most charming moments occur when Crick realizes Pascal is the pendulum in his life that can swing him towards a happy ending or a tragic one (an idea hilariously visualized when Crick has a conversation with her while sitting in the middle of an accordion bus).

The love story with Pascal is charming, a definite throwback to old-style romantic comedies, complete with grand romantic gestures (he gives her flours), and heartfelt speeches (is there anything greater in a movie than watching a timid character finally tell someone how they truly feel?). It’s material that could easily be corny, but Gyllenhaal and Ferrell find the right chemistry, adding sparks to the potentially clichéd relationship.

In fact, the movie keeps finding ways to circumvent clichés. Harold realizing that he hasn’t actually been living his life and has just been going through the motions is a story point used in many, many previous films. Here, the plot point becomes more complicated when Karen Eiffel realizes that she has the power to keep Harold alive or kill him, which becomes further complicated by the fact that the ending in which he dies could result in one of the best, most influential books of the twenty-first century. Does Harold fight for life, or sacrifice himself in order to ensure the survival of an important work of fiction? It’s all darkly funny, but oddly touching, and the film finds the right ending to wrap everything up.

My only true concern has to do with a tiny, but frustrating plot point. Harold’s death, as conceived by Karen Eiffel, revolves around two other people, a small boy and a bus driver. They are shown at various times in the film only for a few brief seconds, but it’s implied in the narrative that their stories are just as important as Crick’s, that somehow his death ties up three narratives. Unfortunately, the audience never knows anything about them, so it’s hard to get a true sense of why Harold’s death is so important or why Eiffel’s book has the potential to be so earth shattering. It’s a minor quibble, but I felt like I needed to know a bit more about these characters in order to understand the full gravitas of Harold’s final decision.

As it stands, Stranger Than Fiction is a charming, funny, moving movie with great performances, and a script that wonderfully dissects the intricate balance between reality and those moments in life that seem more rooted in fiction.

Star Rating ***1/2 out of 4

300

300 oozes with testosterone, throwing ripped muscles, gory decapitations, writhing women, and machismo speeches on screen with unrelenting frequency. Unfortunately, 300 offers little else, especially in the oh-so-important detail of providing interesting characters (everyone blends together into one big bearded army-aton), so after the first half hour it starts to feel like an exercise in excess, rather than a rollicking journey into depravity.

The story is quite simple, 300 Spartan warriors under the leadership of King Leonidas try to take on a vast number of Persian soldiers. Fighting ensues.

Visually, 300 is stunning (easily one of the most darkly beautiful movies I’ve seen in a while), but the images can’t do anything to save an emotionally one note script. The Spartans live solely to fight honourably. Nothing they do throughout the entire course of the movie disputes that fact, and the characters rarely drop their warrior facades. The filmmakers love the textures, and the colours of this world, but they don’t love the people.

The battle scenes have moments of inspiration (watching the soldiers use real Spartan fighting techniques is cool), but ultimately they blend together into an emotionless block of time where horrible things happen to characters I couldn’t care less about.

An interesting subplot finally develops between Xerxes, the Persian Empire’s God complexing leader, and Leonidas, about what one would be willing to sacrifice in order to achieve amazing power. It brings up questions that I felt should have been explored, but weren’t, questions that at the very least would have provided Leonidas with an emotion other than anger. Why is Leonidas so intent on fighting the Persians without a full army, knowing full well that he is heading into a suicide mission? Why is Leonidas so loyal to his men when he hardly seems to know any of them? The movie chooses not to explore Leonidas’ obsessions or motivations at all, instead allowing every personality disorder to be explained with the line, “WE ARE SPARTANS!!!” Yes, yes, you are…….

Well… “I AM BORED!!!”

300, while breathtakingly rich in its imagery, feels as artificial as the computer generated backdrops.

Star Rating ** out of 4

Top Ten - Lost Episodes - Part Two

And to continue the previous list.....oh and don't read if you aren't up to date on your Lost watching - plot points are revealed.

5. Pilot – Season 1, Episode 1 and 2 – The opening of the Lost pilot is probably the closest television has ever gotten to recreating the epic, big budget special effects feeling of a movie. Jack wakes up in a forest on a mysterious island and before long finds himself saving lives as he walks right in the middle of a horrifying plane wreckage (that he somehow survived). If that weren’t enough, Lost quickly informs the audience that this isn’t Survivor – Fiction Edition, as loud animal noises, shaking trees, a rampaging polar bear, bizarre audio transmissions, and a pilot-eating creature quickly spook the survivors. Thankfully the writers introduce a group of interesting, and layered characters to ground the otherworldliness.

Favourite Moment – Sure the plane crash is spectacular, but for me, the show proved itself when Kate first meets Jack and has to stitch up one of his wounds. It’s easy to do chaos, but much more difficult to create real sparks between actors. The quiet moment between the two of them is very well written and economically introduces everything we need to know about both (for the time being).

4. The Cost of Living – Season 3, Episode 5 – Sure it was shocking in season two to kill off Ana Lucia and Libby, but they certainly weren’t fan favourites. Cut to season three, where Mr. Eko, the intriguing Drug Lord turned priest, spends an entire episode trying to deal with his past sins, only to be viciously killed by the smoke monster when he doesn’t apologize for his crimes (cause as we kind of learn, the smoke monster can take on corporeal form – it’s Lost, so sure). I didn’t see that one coming at all, not even a little bit. Of course the death would be meaningless without a good story to go behind it, and Eko’s flashback dealing with his religious struggle after the death of his brother is great (watching the vicious warlord emerge from his spiritual façade is one of the more shocking moments of this pretty shock-full episode).

Favourite Moment – I’m going with the obvious moment on this one. Seeing Eko pummeled around like a rag doll was just plain shocking.

3. Live Together, Die Alone – Season 2, Episode 22 – As season two comes to a close many plot threads that had been dangling since the pilot are capped off excellently. We learn why the plane crashed, how Desmond found his way into the Hatch, what happens when you don’t push the button, and what the deal is with Michael and Walt. It’s all much more satisfying than season one’s anticlimactic finale (All that and we don’t even go down the hatch!), and ends with a curious epilogue that has yet to be touched upon again. Desmond’s backstory is fascinating as we learn about the love of his life, Penelope, and his long stay in the Hatch. It’s as emotional as it is informative, and sets the stage wonderfully for the so far excellent third season.

Favourite Moment – Seeing the destruction of the hatch is great. I enjoyed the whole button pushing storyline, but after 22 episodes I was ready to see what happens when the button isn’t pushed. This episode doesn’t disappoint, as electromagnetic fields cause mass chaos across the island.

2. Man of Science, Man of Faith – Season 2, Episode 1 – Corey’s (that's me) Internal Dialogue for the first five minutes of this episode “That Hatch better have something good in it….oh crap…what’s this…some guy listening to Mama Cass, washing dishes, and cycling on an exercise bike. This is painful! Whose flashback are we watching now? Wait, that was a dynamite explosion! This isn’t a flashback at all, it’s the HATCH!!! We’re finally inside!!! Hurrah!!” The rest of the episode keeps that excitement level going as Jack ventures down into the subterranean world of the island. Personally though, the reason why this episode places so high on my list is that the flashback is equally strong telling the story of how Jack saved Sarah’s (his ex-wife) life. Jack’s scientific beliefs are put to the test when seemingly miraculous and connected events catch him offguard.

Favourite Moment – I’m going to cheat and choose two. For excitement value nothing beats Jack’s first steps into the Hatch. When Mama Cass blares again, and bright lights start flashing it’s easily Lost’s creepiest scene. For emotional value though, nothing tops Jack’s discovery that Sarah’s spinal surgery so that she can walk again, which Jack believes failed, was in fact a success. Matthew Fox has never been better than he is in this episode, and in this moment in particular.

1. Walkabout – Season 1, Episode – For me this isn’t just the best episode of Lost, but one of the best episodes of television I’ve ever seen. I liked the pilot a lot, but I wasn’t convinced that the show could convincingly blend deep emotionally rich stories with its fantastical premise until Walkabout. John Locke, a mysterious and quiet middle aged man, finally finds his calling when the survivors realize they need to hunt for food. As he takes out his arsenal of knives, he immediately lets everyone know that he is a true hunter. However, the flashbacks slowly start to paint another picture, tearing down the strong image of Locke by showing him as a weak, games obsessed employee at a box factory. His one goal in life is to go to Australia on a Walkabout in order to find his purpose in life. The ending is just amazing as the rug is pulled out from the audience and Locke’s true secret is finally revealed. It’s a twist that completely blindsided me, but adds so much to Locke’s character and his purpose on the island.

Favourite Moment – Locke’s revelation (“Don’t’ tell me what I can’t do”) mixed with Michael Giacchino’s music and that quick flashback blend together to create one heck of a final scene.

Zodiac

Zodiac is an exhausting movie, a nearly three hour crime film filled with volumes of information on one of the most bizarre serial killers of all time. It’s also continuously fascinating to watch, surviving a somewhat jarring second half leap forward in time by allowing the characters, along with the audience, to fully sink deeper and deeper into a never ending world of facts and statistics.

Zodiac tells the story of how police from many jurisdictions, several news reporters, a rogue cartoonist, handwriting experts, and many more trained professionals worked tirelessly (some more obsessively than others) to try and solve the psychological war of terror the Zodiac Killer declared on the San Francisco area in the late sixties and early seventies. Those expecting a suspense thriller will be very disappointed (although the scenes recreating Zodiac’s murders are disturbing). Instead this movie is more like one of Zodiac’s ciphers, a mystery hidden behind decades’ worth of clues and leads, that is slowly unlocked as the movie progresses.

Although the film is fascinated by procedure, it never feels clinical. Each actor manages to find subtle (or in Robert Downey Jr.’s case, not so subtle, but probably very relatable) ways of making their characters come to life. Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal anchor the movie with quiet, yet intense portrayals of the two men who can’t shake the Zodiac killer. The excitement that envelops them any time they make a connection or a realization is invigorating to watch.

My one big complaint in the film stems from the rather routine manner in which Chloe Sevigny’s character is handled. She plays Gyllenhaal’s long suffering wife who watches as he sinks further and further into the Zodiac mystery, but it’s tired material that is handled in an obvious and rather boring manner. Unfortunately, this storyline pops up in the second half of the movie, and drags the pacing down immensely.

For the majority of its running time though, Zodiac is enthralling, bringing to life a frustrating and unconventional investigation.

Star Rating ***1/2 out of 4

What I Rented - The Protector

It’s very difficult to review a movie like The Protector, where unbelievable and fantastic action sequences are undermined at every turn by a clichéd and overly plotted script focusing on the intimate relationship between man and elephant (no, you read that right). When Cam’s (Tony Jaa) sacred elephants are kidnapped by an evil crime syndicate, he must journey to Sydney, Australia in order to reclaim his beloved pachyderms. While there, he fights his way through numerous bad guys and uncovers a city wide criminal organization.

The character work and storyline are barely comprehensible (even in the uncut version I saw), but the action sequences are incredible (minus a sloppily filmed and edited boat chase). Tony Jaa’s fight choreography is easily the best I’ve seen in ages.

Take for instance a four minute long, one-take, fight extravaganza in which Jaa climbs up four floors and takes on at least thirty bad guys in a brothel/casino/restaurant complex.. It’s an unbelievable fusion of fighting and top quality camera work and should be included on lists of the best tracking shots of all time.

Or there’s the bone break orgy in which Jaa fights his way through fifty people by breaking close to a thousand bones. If that weren’t enough he then finds his way into a room with four hulking manbeasts (one guy hurtles a baby elephant through a glass pane!!) and a middle aged woman who suddenly becomes a whip mistress. To fight them off he chooses the only weapon available to him, elephant bones. It’s all wildly original, borderline insane, and thrilling.

Except, there’s no emotional weight behind any of it. The most fully developed relationship in the movie is between Tony Jaa and his elephant friend. Everyone else is just set dressing. So, if you just want to see some brilliant action scenes, The Protector will certainly serve that up in spades, but you want to see a great action film, you’ll have to wait until Jaa starts choosing better scripts.

Star Rating – Movie - ** out of 4
Action Scenes - **** out of 4

TV Shows I'm Watching - Lost (Episode 3.10)

Episode 3.10 – Tricia Tanaka is Dead

Main Story - ** out of 4 – The filler episode to end all filler episodes, Tricia Tanaka is Dead does little to move anything forward, and if it weren’t for a few moments between Sawyer and Kate, it would be a complete waste of airtime. Hurley finds an overturned Dharma van in the jungle and spends most of the episode trying to get it to work. Yep, we learn that the Dharma Initiative was building roads, and that’s about it. I suppose the thinking behind this episode was to provide a more lighthearted, comedic story after the very dark episodes that have preceded it.

Kate and Sawyer’s relationship at least continues to be interesting, as Sawyer’s stubbornness gets him in hot water once again. I like that Kate has completely disarmed him, and that Sawyer is having trouble dealing with the fact that he may actually care for someone other than himself.

The end of the episode seems to suggest that next week’s episode will be a return to form, as right now I can only hope that this one is a blip on the Lost radar.

Flashback - ** out of 4 – Hurley has father issues, as Cheech Marin makes a nice, but unspectacular guest appearance as Hugo’s old man. Alas, this story covers very similar territory to the story in season one’s Numbers. Hugo believes he is cursed, and nobody can tell him otherwise; the only difference being that this time it’s his long lost father who tries to set him straight. The only scene that seemed to really get it right is the very last scene where Hurley’s father tells him to get rid of all the money. For the most part though, it’s a been there, done that flashback that fills in a few unneeded blanks in the tale O'Hurley.

Top Ten - Lost Episodes - Part 1

I kind of got a late start reviewing Lost episodes, so I thought I would fill in the gaps by providing a list of my top ten favourite episodes from the series (up until I started reviewing, so as much as I love Flashes Before Your Eyes it won’t be on this list). Again, there are a lot of plot details mentioned, so if you haven’t seen Lost or are trying to catch up, I would recommend avoiding this article at all costs

10. S.O.S. – Season 2, Episode 19

I know it’s not a favourite amongst most Lost fans, but this touching look at Rose and Bernard’s back story always chokes me up. Believing that everyone has become complacent with island life, Bernard decides to build a huge S.O.S. sign in order to attract passing planes, a decision that makes Rose increasingly more and more agitated. Sure the main storyline isn’t really all that compelling (although a subplot involving Kate and Jack trying to make a deal with the Others is interesting), but the flashback is heartbreaking as the audience learns about Rose’s struggle with cancer and how Bernard took her halfway around the world to try and cure her.

Favourite Moment – While Bernard’s “If you can’t leave, neither can I” line provides the emotional heart of the episode, I’ve got to go with Bernard’s Niagara Falls proposal as my favourite moment. He asks Rose to marry him, she tells him that she is dying, and then after a brief tearful pause, Bernard replies with, “you didn’t answer my question.” Call me a sap, but it’s these heartfelt moments that put Lost above any other show on television right now.

9. Do No Harm – Season 1, Episode 20

This is the episode where Lost stated flat out that it was playing for keeps. After Boone’s airplane accident puts him in serious life-threatening trouble it’s up to Jack, sans medical equipment, to save him. The only problem is that Claire goes into labour at the exact same time. Oops. With so much pressure on him, Jack does everything he can to save Boone’s life, but as the episode reaches its brutal end, it slowly becomes clear that nothing can be done. The flashback follows Jack as he prepares to marry Sarah, and has many doubts. It’s not one of the better flashbacks, but the island drama more than makes up for it. Do No Harm is one of the most suspenseful, unrelenting hours of Lost.

Favourite Moment – Jack has a horrible realization that in order to save Boone’s life he is going to have to amputate his leg. With no surgical tools at his disposal he finds an old metal door left over from the crash debris. One quick swing and he believes it will cut right through Boone’s leg. Even though Lost is primetime television and it can’t be all that gory, there’s still enough sweat on your palms tension as Jack puts Boone’s leg in place and prepares for the precision cut.

8. The Other 48 Days – Season 2, Episode 7

The first all flashback episode shows what happened to the survivors of the tail section during their first 48 days on the island. It’s a great episode that addresses many lingering questions from season one (including who Boone talked to on the radio, what strategies the Others are using, and numerous other half answers and further questions). It’s also nice to take a break from our regular band of survivors in order to see things from an entirely different perspective as we follow Ana Lucia (who I didn’t find nearly as offputting as the majority of Lost fans), Mr. Eko, Bernard, Cindy, and more on their perilous journey to escape the Others.

Favourite Moment – I enjoy Ana Lucia’s confrontation with Goodwin (an undercover Other), but the opening, where the tail section of the plane hurtles toward the beach is pretty powerful stuff. People drowning, crying children, and mass chaos blend together into a great scene that is reminiscent (but doesn’t copy) the opening of the pilot.

7. Orientation – Season 2, Episode 3

The first episode that provides a considerable chunk of answers also tells a suspenseful self-contained story about taking a leap of faith. The computer, that is supposed to save the world, is damaged, and as time starts running out everyone, Locke and Jack in particular, contemplates whether or not something as silly as typing in a series of numbers on a remote island can be linked to the safety of humanity. Locke’s flashback, about an old girlfriend, shows that as independent as he tries to be, he is truly a lonely soul seeking human connection, a realization that forces him to ask Jack for help.

Favourite Moment – The Orientation filmstrip is the highlight of this episode. As Jack and Locke watch the filmstrip, the audience is treated to the first juicy plot points about the nature of the island, learning about the Dharma Corporation, who settled on the island to create a remote outpost for their scientific experiments. After this moment, for the first and only time in Lost’s history, I felt like I was handed some no-strings attached answers. Of course, soon after my mind started wandering, and four thousand new questions popped in, but for one moment at least, I felt like I had caught up to the Lost writers.

6. Numbers – Season 1, Episode 18

Lost’s funniest episode finally reveals the long-awaited Hurley backstory in which it is revealed that he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars after winning the lottery. Alas, while helping to translate a map of the island from Rousseau, Hurley sees the numbers he used to win the lottery printed on the surface. This wouldn’t be too bad, except for the fact that after he won the lottery Hurley suffered a horrible string of bad luck where his grandfather died, his new house caught fire, and…well… several other terrible, yet humourous tragedies. Thus begins Hurley’s obsessive quest to see why the Numbers keep following him. The episode also marks the long standing tradition of having 4.8.15.16.23.42 appear in one form or another throughout Lost.

Favourite Moment – The punchline to the episode is perfect. Charlie and Hurley sit on the beach where Charlie finally reveals his heroin addiction to someone other than Locke. When Hurley finally tells Charlie his own secret, how much money he is worth, Charlie pauses and replies with, “Fine, don't tell me. I bear my soul and all I get is bloody jokes.”

TV Shows I'm Watching - Heroes (Episode 17)

Episode 17 – Company Man - **** out of 4

Yep, for me, this is the first four star episode of Heroes, an extremely well written hour that provides numerous answers, nerve jangling suspense, some tantalizing new plot developments, as well as a very touching and shocking ending (not as shocking as last week’s still unresolved cliffhanger, but pretty close).

Matt Parkman and Radioactive Man break into Claire’s house and threaten to bust some heads if they don’t get answers from Claire’s father. Simultaneously the audience follows Claire’s pop through a series of flashbacks that provide some pretty juicy plot points about his career (Angry Invisible Man was dad’s partner, Hiro’s dad knows a whole lot more about superpowers than he lead on, and his boss is Eric Roberts who has graduated from music-video cameo guy to featured guest star on a top rated tv show). Claire’s dad has been one of the most interesting characters on the show since day one, and these further layers and insights only help to make him more fascinating.

But the episode really gets cooking when Radioactive Man starts to get angry. A tense standoff scene ends cleverly (thank goodness the writers are having the superpowered heroes use their superpowers again), and an unfortunate bullet wound causes a nuclearific finale. It’s been a while since Heroes gave us a cool special effects moment (damn you limited television budgets), but this episode has a stunner.

And even though the ending is a teensy bit too melodramatic (a few too many “dads” in tonight’s script), it’s a welcome change of pace from Heroes-Mopesville Edition. I would rather have a cheesy heartfelt line or two rather than cold, blank stares.

What I Rented - The Devil Wears Prada

Meryl Streep is so good in The Devil Wears Prada that her performance overshadows the rest of the movie, creating a horrible void whenever her character is offscreen or not being mentioned. The plot is something we’ve seen numerous times. In order to advance her career Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) gets a job with Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) a notoriously cruel boss. To prove she’s up for anything Andy sacrifices family and friends, but most importantly her own morals, as she enters into the cutthroat fashion magazine business.

Instead of turning Miranda into a caricature, Streep creates a fully realized character who hurls passively aggressive insults like they are 44 caliber bullets. She uses psychological mind games to tear down anyone who gets in her way, and it’s fascinating to watch Streep think through each new chess move. Yet, as manipulative as Miranda Priestly is, Streep never turns her into a cardboard villain by layering the performance with a twisted sense of morality and ethics. By the end of the film it’s not so easy to dislike Miranda Priestly.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about the cast of characters the audience is supposed to root for. Hathaway’s longtime boyfriend, played by Adrian Grenier, is a colossal, self-righteous bore. His sole purpose in the movie is to provide “ahhh-shucks, ain’t I cute” lines and glances so that the audience will feel terrible when Andy ditches him on his birthday. Instead of trying to craft a realistic relationship, one that evolves (or devolves) naturally, and has honest conversations about Andy’s transformations, the writers use Grenier’s character as a symbol to judge Andy’s behaviour without allowing her the courtesy of replying.

Fortunately, Streep is the main feature, and watching Andy’s struggle between hating Miranda and respecting her is fascinating. This isn’t a story about Andy disappointing the people around her, it’s a story about how Andy adapts her ethical beliefs in order to achieve success. When Miranda demonstrates to a judgmental Andy how she has cut the same ethical corners as herself, it makes the same point in one fantastic second that the boyfriend subplot tries to make over several agonizing and repetitive minutes.

Star Rating - *** out of 4 (it’s a close **1/2, but Streep is so good I’ve got to add half a star).

Tv Shows I'm Watching - Lost (Episodes 3.8 and 3.9)

Episode 3.8 – Flashes Before Your Eyes - **** out of 4

It figures – I decide I’m going to write my Lost reviews by writing about the main story and the flashbacks separately and the very next episode plays around with the entire Lost formula.

I’m not complaining, especially since Flashes Before Your Eyes is easily one of the most exciting and interesting episodes Lost has produced. Season 3 keeps getting more and more interesting.

I was glad to hear that Henry Ian Cusick’s Desmond was joining the cast of Lost after his brilliant guest appearances in season two. But, the writers gave him psychic powers and suddenly Desmond was the weird clairvoyant without a personality. Flashes Before Your Eyes changes all that and brings him back to his half-crazed wide-eyed self.

After Desmond intuitively rescues Claire from drowning, Hurley and Charlie try to question him about his psychic powers. Instead of answering them, he ends up having the most twisted and interesting flashback in Lost’s history.

The audience learns that after he imploded the hatch, Desmond was sent back in time to relive the moment in his life where he almost proposed to his girlfriend Penelope. The flashback deals with whether or not Desmond can alter the course of history. In true Lost fashion Desmond is confronted with this decision in a bizarre yet fascinating way when a character steps out of time and tells him he can’t buy a wedding ring because that decision means the time continuum would be altered and everyone in the world would die since he wouldn’t end up on the island and wouldn’t end up pushing the hatch button. So, as you can see, Desmond is faced with a pretty big conundrum.

I love a good time travel yarn, and this episode provides some truly headscratching moments, but it wouldn’t mean anything if the central relationship between Desmond, Penelope, and her father didn’t work. But it works wonderfully, especially during a scene where Desmond asks Penelope’s father if he can marry her and is flatly rejected with the help of a bottle of expensive whisky.

When everything comes back to the present, Lost once again shows how to do a proper twist ending (I thought I had it figured out and then…bam…it threw me for a loop without diluting the emotional impact). Overall, just a great episode.

Episode 3.9 – Stranger in a Strange Land

Main Story - *** out of 4

Stranger in a Strange Land picks up right after Not in Portland left off. Juliet has killed Pickett and is now standing trial for his murder under the investigation of Isabel, a new character who appears to represent the Law in Others World. Jack, believing Juliet is trying to help him, sorts through the Others hierarchy in order to prevent the worst case scenario – Juliet’s execution. It’s a solid episode, but has a feeling of déjà vu. We’ve seen Jack do all this before in previous episodes, including making deals with Ben involving surgery. Yet, despite this, the developing relationship between Jack and Juliet remains fascinating. Her motives are still unclear, and Elizabeth Mitchell has a great way of playing sweet with an ever so subtle hint of malice.

The most interesting plot developments are tantalizingly brief. We finally see what has become of the kidnapped children and Cindy, the stewardess. And Carl, the boy Kate and Sawyer rescued, talks about the Others village. Speaking of Kate and Sawyer, I’m really enjoying the direction this relationship is taking. After hooking up it’s not all happiness and love serenades for them as Sawyer starts to realize Kate’s feelings are not 100% genuine, even though he has fallen completely for her.

The end of the episode provides a lot more promise, with a plot development, that seems to ensure that the déjà vu experienced in this episode will not be happening in the next.

The Flashback - ** out of 4

It’s the story of Jack and the tattoo artist in Thailand, and frankly it’s a bit of a snoozer. I’ve been intrigued by the importance of Jack’s tattoo ever since it was clearly missing during an earlier flashback, but this tattoo origin story is lacking. Jack basically hooks up with a mysterious character played by Bai Ling and…after lots of shots of her cleavage, and then a bit more cleavage in case we missed it the first two times, she reveals a secret about her tattoo skills. A disappointing flashback that will hopefully lead to something more revealing in future episodes.

TV shows I'm watching - Heroes (Episode 16)

Episode 16 – Unexpected - ***1/2 out of 4

Proving that last week’s episode wasn’t just a fluke, Unexpected finally starts to tie some loose ends together and, dare I say it, move the plot forward.

This episode follows a lot of separate storylines. Suresh and Sylar (pretending to be all innocent) meet a new hero with super hearing, Radioactive Man starts to realize what all those weird scars and blackouts mean, Claire’s adopted mother has some serious health issues, Hiro tries to save Ando from the crazed Vegas showgirl, and Isaac and Peter finally unleash some repressed anger in New York.

What makes this episode work is that there is urgency to each of these storylines. What is Sylar planning on doing to Suresh? What happens when Radioactive Man gets angry again? Is Hiro really going to leave Ando and go off on his own? And….well….let’s just say the real question of the day is asked at the end with a very exciting cliffhanger.

The only storyline that didn’t thrill me was Matt Parkman’s diamond tale. This storyline is starting to frustrate me a lot. Matt’s all concerned about how to make money to support his family, so he steals a boatload of diamonds. Dude, you read minds!!! You can’t find any legal way to make money with that talent? Just thinking on the spot there’s poker playing, spying, interrogating, heck even chess in the park can make you a few bucks!

But all quibbles aside, Unexpected looks like the ignition that will propel Heroes toward a satisfying season finale.

What I Rented - Flyboys

Flyboys is a “gee willickers” war movie that feels like it was made by a group of 12 year old Boy Scouts stuck in a 1950’s time bubble. There’s a lot of heart, but not a lot of brains, and while the aerial combat scenes are thrilling, the melodrama in between is not.

Flyboys follows a group of American volunteers who join the French air force during World War 1. They are your typical group of stock war characters – the lone cowboy, the guy with the girl back home, the black guy, the religious guy, and the rich guy. Over the course of the war, and the movie, they will learn many life lessons (most of which you can predict from the first scene…such as…don’t be racist and everybody needs somebody). The main character Blaine Rawlings (James Franco) also gets a romantic subplot where he falls in love with a French girl living in the countryside. It feels like a subplot that could easily have been cut were the producers not trying to woo a female demographic.

My biggest problem with Flyboys is that there isn’t a whole lot of drama. The pilots are all decent people, so we essentially watch as they correct that one flaw in their personality that the screenplay has given them (racism, fear, ego). Each storyline is told with such emotion-on-your-sleeve earnestness that there is little doubt how everything will turn out. The only real conflict comes from the faceless horde of German soldiers and pilots. Alas, Flyboys doesn’t attempt to contextualize the war or explain the German strategy, so it’s hard to root for our heroes when there’s no real understanding of what they are fighting for.

Regardless, the movie does have some viscerally exciting aerial combat scenes and those moments are fun to watch. Sure there’s some clunky editing and it can be tough to follow the action, but the scope of the battle scenes is impressive and the special effects provide some much needed thrills.

In the end, the emotional thrust of Flyboys is too weak to carry the film, especially for its very long running time. It has its moments, but its clichés and on-the-nose script prevent it from being anything more than a B-movie with good special effects.

Star Rating - ** out of 4

TV Shows I'm Watching - Heroes (Episode 15)

Episode 15 – Run - *** out of 4

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but….oh man, it pains me….one, two, three….alright, here it is. I enjoyed the Niki storyline in this episode. That’s right. For once I actually thought it was kind of the highlight of this back-on-track episode.

So finally, our heroes are back to doing heroic (as well as villainous) deeds. Ando and Hiro find their roles are reversed when Ando desperately wants to help an abused woman in Las Vegas. Matt Parkman becomes a bodyguard for hire and escorts a business man to a dangerous diamond exchange. In less heroic, but still interesting storylines, Claire encounters her birth father, and Suresh unknowingly makes a deal with the devil in the episode’s best subplot (involving our favourite serial killer supervillain Sylar).

But, it’s true, Niki (or should I say Jessica) steals the show. See, apparently in order to get out of jail she had to make a deal with Linderman to become a hired assassin. So, Jessica/Niki desperately tries to kill the business man Matt Parkman is protecting. Much of the episode involves a rather clever game of cat and mouse through an LA office building. It’s suspenseful, unpredictable, and finally allows Parkman to make a choice that isn’t clean cut.

I'm really not enjoying the whole Hiro-has-lost-his-superpowers storyline. Hiro was interesting to watch because he was so enthusiastic about his powers. Stripping him of this joy is far too frustrating and it's not fun watching him join the mopers (which for the record currently includes Isaac, Simone, the Petrelli Brothers, and Suresh).

Hopefully this episode is putting into play a few more plot devices that will finally get back to the whole New York blowing up storyline. I’m still not feeling the urgency there, but Run is a step in the right direction and hopefully means the midseason slump is over.

What I Rented - The Marine

The Marine is about a guy who miraculously survives a lot of explosions while trying to save his wife who has been kidnapped by diamond thieves. The man in question is wrestler John Cena, who seems to be hoping that the world is waiting with baited breath for an eighties action flick revival.

And, as terrible a movie as The Marine is, it’s actually better than most of those Van Damme, Steven Seagal pics, not a whole lot better, but better nonetheless. The Marine at least goes full speed ahead with its stupid plot, bizarre characters, hulking machismo, and ridiculous action scenes, creating a movie that barely makes sense, but is awfully entertaining.

Part of the movie’s charm is the villains, a rag tag group of thieves who are downright crazy, in a “I just escaped from the Asylum” kind of way. Lead by Robert Patrick (of Terminator 2 fame) they are just plain wacky, and in case we didn’t know, “WHA WHAAA” sound effects play during one of Robert Patrick’s wackier speeches. My favorite of the wacky villains is Morgan, the black guy who talks about being black all the time, and has a fear of rock candy. That’s right, in The Marine, they actually find a way to have Morgan reminded time and time again about his ridiculous fear of rock candy. This leads to the film’s greatest scene, a short monologue, out of nowhere, in which Morgan reveals that his male camp counselor lured him into his cabin with…you guessed it…rock candy only to…uh huh…molest him. BRAVO screenwriters!!! Oh, and then they play the music from Deliverance. CLASS ACT director!!!

Elsewhere, John Cena runs through the woods a lot and beats up people with his awesome arsenal of wrestling moves. Alas, by the last half hour, when all the interesting villains are killed off, it all becomes painfully boring as yet another gasoline canister sets off an explosive chain reaction.

The Marine is a great movie to rent if you want a lot of unintentional laughs (sadly it’s funnier than most of the comedies released lately), but don’t expect anything more.

Star Rating – I should give it *1/2 out of 4, but I’m feeling generous cause I laughed so much so ** out of 4.

Tv Shows I'm Watching - Lost (Episode 3.7)

Alright, it’s February 7th, which thankfully means that Lost is back on the air. For me, Lost is easily one of the best shows on tv, and I haven’t understood all the whining about how it’s dropped in quality since season one. Season One was good, yes, but man it dragged (it took half a season to open that damn hatch and we had to wait until season two to see what was inside!!!), and I thought season two, in between some lulls (once we get in the hatch that's all we seem to see), was much stronger overall.

Now, I know we’re only seven episodes into season three, but for me, this has been the most interesting season yet (and 100% hatchless). Sure, I wish that whole polar bear kidnapping Mr. Eko episode could be erased from memory, and the new characters back at the island are pretty terrible, but the exploration of The Others has been gripping from day one.

Who are they? Are they in charge? What do they want?

Well, Episode 7 – Not In Portland answers….well…..in typical Lost fashion about .00005% of those questions while raising fifty more, but it does so wonderfully.

Main Story ***1/2 out of 4

The episode picks up immediately after the end of last November’s cliffhanger. Jack has staged a coup by seriously injuring Ben during surgery. He says he’ll patch him up as long as Kate and Sawyer are allowed to escape.

This episode deals with The Others and their negotiations with Jack. Meanwhile Sawyer and Kate meet up with Alex who helps them escape from the island. Like most episodes of Lost the plot is mainly an excuse for some wonderful character moments, and in this episode there’s a fantastic scene between Kate and Jack. Jack asks Kate to tell him the story he told her back in the first episode. She tells him the story, not realizing that Jack is going through virtually the same experience she is describing. It’s pretty intense, and Jack’s final words are heartbreaking. As well, it’s nice to see infighting amongst The Others, and a few surprises shake up their chain of command.

Flashback ***1/2 out of 4

Juliet gets her flashback and it’s very revealing – definitely one of the stronger Lost flashbacks of recent memory. We find out exactly what brought her to the island, and see a little bit of her life back in Miami. In this storyline we start to see the mechanics behind the Dharma Initiative and realize that Juliet is in just as precarious a situation as everyone else.

So, a strong main story and a strong flashback combine for one of the best episodes of the year. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

Side Note: So, was there some backstage dealings on the Smokin' Aces set. Interesting that Matthew Fox's character pops up in that movie for a really great scene with Nestor Carbonell, and now Nestor Carbonell shows up on Lost for what seems like a recurring role.

Rant - The Departed - Best Director???

Did I see the same movie everyone else saw? The Departed? The Martin Scorsese film that is supposed to be a return to form for the director, and is now the film that, after his win at the Directors Guild, 86% ensures that he will win the Oscar for it?

Huh?

Don’t get me wrong, I liked The Departed, but this is the man who gave the world Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas. Up against those flicks, The Departed is the younger brother who gets beat up constantly by his stronger older siblings. Hell, even Gangs of New York and especially The Aviator (while less revolutionary) could kick The Departed’s ass!!!

At his best Scorsese brings a level of emotional and visual intensity to American cinema that is remarkably kinetic. Sure he can be subtle, but I love the Scorsese films that still feel like the chaotic work of that wild, independent twenty year old. His greatest movies have scenes that are legendary. I can’t shake the experience of watching Taxi Driver for the first time, and don’t get me started on how amazing that first shot of Raging Bull is.

I saw The Departed during its first weekend, and I got a kick out it. It’s fun, and could have been great, but it starts taking all sorts of stupid twists and turns, and suddenly the last half hour is this emotionless, clinical epilogue. Again, like Little Miss Sunshine *** out of 4 stars. I just didn’t feel any passion in the movie. For the first time in a long, long time (not since The Color of Money) I felt like Scorsese was kind of phoning it in.

There are great moments to be sure: Dropkick Murphy’s I’m Shipping Up to Boston playing over the opening credits, a great cat and mouse chase between Leo and Matt, and Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb advancing the unspoken sexual tension between Leo and Vera Farmiga. And it’s positively criminal to me that Matt Damon’s performance has been virtually forgotten come awards season (especially with all the strange love given to co-star Mark Wahlberg).

But for all its wonderful setup, the ending is amazingly flat, and even the best scenes aren’t going to be remembered when people talk of great Scorsese moments.

I want Scorsese to win an Oscar as much as the next fan, but it shouldn’t be a pity award given because he lost (unfairly..sure) several times in the past. There were some astonishingly well directed movies this year that have been tossed aside thanks to the Scorsese juggernaut. Both Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth and Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men have the energy and passion sadly missing from The Departed.

I suppose it’s just representative of the cautious thinking of the Academy. Back when Scorsese should have won for Taxi Driver, he wasn’t even nominated (John G. Avildsen won that year for Rocky), and he lost the Raging Bull award to Robert Redford for Ordinary People.

I suppose that means that whoever deserves it this year will end up winning ten or twenty years from now taking the award away from someone who deserves it more than them. Oh, awards.

Rants - Little Miss Sunshine - Best Picture???

Little Miss Sunshine is a fun, harmless movie that provides some good laughs, and in the end is a perfectly satisfying comedy. It’s well acted (especially by Alan Arkin), and ends on a genuine high note making sure its funniest scene is the climax, so that the audience feels energized leaving the theatre.

I liked it, and if I was reviewing it I would probably give it *** out of 4 stars. I wasn’t onboard with all the wackiness (a few quirks are cool, but a mute son, suicidal Proust scholar uncle, and drug addicted grandpa felt odd for the sake of being odd), and we’ve seen this story numerous times before, but it’s sweet and I laughed aloud quite a few times. It’s the kind of first time feature that makes you excited for the directors’ next film.

But now suddenly it’s one of the frontrunners for Best Picture at the Oscars (despite the directors not being nominated) after winning the Producer’s Guild Award for best picture and Screen Actors Guild Award for best ensemble. And frankly, I’m baffled. Sure, the Oscars have always been a popularity contest, but they have a fascinating way of revealing the artistic trends of North American society….so what is the Little Miss Sunshine hype saying?

Personally, I think it says a lot about our society’s desire for honest character driven comedy; the kind of comedy where laughs and tears can exist in the same moment. Basically, the kind of comedy that represents the struggles we all go through on a daily basis. We laugh hardest, or at least more genuinely, when we can see our struggles on the screen. I would argue that human comedy is the most difficult genre to do well, and because of that, Hollywood seems to have given up, focusing on loud in-your-face slapstick or gross-out comedies instead.

Yet people desire those heartfelt laughs (these are the films that tend to be word-of-mouth phenomenon), and when a movie like Little Miss Sunshine comes along it fills a void that is desperately missing in Hollywood.

It’s the equivalent of feeding a starving person a McDonald’s hamburger. You’re starving, so as long as it doesn’t taste horrible, and I think McDonalds is tasty, you’re going to think that hamburger is filet mignon on a bun.

But who can blame anyone? Where have the artists of human comedy gone?

Is there a Billy Wilder, Charlie Chaplin, Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, Ernst Lubitsch, George Cukor, Howard Hawks, or even an Alfred Hitchcock (who was just as adept at comedy as he was at thrills) around?

Kind of….

Woody Allen’s in a slump, James L. Brooks makes one film every five years and they aren’t all As Good As it Gets, Cameron Crowe has been hit or miss lately after the wonderful Almost Famous, Rob Reiner got left behind by the eighties. Maybe… Alexander Payne?

So, coming full circle to the movie in question; Little Miss Sunshine, the Big Mac of human comedies. It’s good, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It's just fast food. It’s too bad that the Academy Awards get carried away by the huge hype machines that sweep Hollywood. Today, Little Miss Sunshine is touted as a “brilliant” examination of a family coming together, but once the hype dies down I bet you it’ll be one of those movies lost in time, loved by some, liked by many, forgotten by most.