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And In A Flash…. LOST Was Gone

admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 05:56:48 +0000

Speechless is a perfect way to describe me right now, courtesy of tonight’s LOST finale. After spending six maddening seasons with a slew of characters I had cared for its difficult to wrap up my feelings of having to say goodbye. As a fan of the show from the beginning, I have avoided blogging or recapping it, as it’s had a way to get away from me and I didn’t want to expressly over analyze it. Its a program, which I easily fell in love with, that I could never fully grasp. At times I just had to throw my hands up in the air and just have faith that it would all work itself out. This season, the final one, had me filled with worry that the “questions” would remain unanswered. And coming into tonight’s finale I wasn’t positive if I would ever get the answer I wanted from LOST.

And apparently I didn’t get it, not initially. I looked so deep into these characters, many that I shed more than a handful of tears over, and there story lines that I felt I deserve to have it all resolved. I almost felt that I would be happier if it was a morbid ending as long as there was some obvious closure. But the last fifteen minutes had me confused, as I really forgot about the big picture of this show all along. Yes, it was the mystery of the island and what it held for Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, Ben, Juliet, Michael, Claire, the Kwons, Hurley, Desmond, Charlie, Ana Lucia, Walt, Widmore and Christian. But at its heart, LOST was always about more than just the mysteries. It went above and beyond the why and it was more about the who. At its heart, it was about people and the relationships, bonds, one fosters in their life. And much like the survivor’s bonds, us the viewers had forged a bond over the years. In the final moments of the show, we watch as Jack, surrounded by those who meant the most to him during his time “living life”, has seemingly been “found.” The last bit of dialog is powerful if only for its simplicity. When Jack is confronted with an empty casket and a shot of his island life, he experienced what we had yet to see – an island WITHOUT the MIB, Smoke Monster and a protected light. While it seemed that the rest of the “survivors” of Oceanic Flight 815 had an easier time reconciling and reconnecting with their ‘former’ lives, Jack was brought up to speed easily when talking with his father, Christian. Jack, similar to me and concerned with specifics, attempts to understand what we have been trying to do as well for the past six seasons.

CHRISTIAN: Well there is no now, here.
JACK: Where are we, Dad?
CHRISTIAN: This is a place that you all made together, so that you all could find one another. The most important part of your life was the time you spent with these people. That’s why all of you are here. Nobody does it alone, Jack. You needed all of them, and they needed you.
JACK: For what?
CHRISTIAN: To remember, and let go.
JACK: Kate – she said we were leaving.
CHRISTIAN: Not leaving, no – moving on.
JACK: Where are we goin’?
CHRISTIAN: Let’s go find out.

When we watched Jack, most surely, breath his last breath, joined by the always trusty Vincent (who had a thing for “being there” for the newly dead) and view the plane overhead, we knew it was an end. It might not be the one I expected, it was well-crafted explanation that in the end – there is no definitive answers.

As an adult, LOST has been a vehicle for conversations with folks I never would have had a connection with. It allowed me to wonder about the effects of science and faith on our lives. And it made me empathize and hate characters all during one hour. Even after the last few moments of LOST, I was still attempting to fully grasp what was going on. And honestly, no ending would have been 100% perfect in my eyes – as I wasn’t really read for the adventure to end. But to spend the last few moments with a character, Mr. Jack Shepard, whom I watch evolve over the years, was a nice good bye. The writers of LOST are to be applauded for giving us folks with a bizarre craving for knowledge and mystery a reason to tune in each week. A show that was steeped in the popular culture was such a salute to the popular culture. Whether its clever tie ins to theories and plots from beloved books, tales and films or quip dialog while people are getting chased by mercenaries, polar bears and a motherfucking smoke monster, LOST never forgot its single function – to engage and entertain. If you walk away from tonight’s episode not completely enthralled in how enraptured we all are, than I feel bad for you. JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse and actually ABC – thank you for inviting us all along on the ride. Even though it just ended, I have no problem tuning into the pilot and started again from the very beginning. Because in true LOST fashion, who knows how it will turn out this time? So let’s all try and figure out where we are going next.

Tomorrow, I will have a wrap up of LOST coverage, including the hilarious goodbye show courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel, and we’ll get to discuss the island for just a little bit longer. 4 8 15 16 23 42 and Namaste.

Happy Birthday: Celebrating 20 Years of ‘Twin Peaks’

admin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:48:28 +0000

Today marks the 20th birthday of the perplexing, multi-layered and all around perfectly dark TV program “Twin Peaks“. Unless you haven’t been paying close attention, you will know the effect both David Lynch and his projects have had on me, but “Twin Peaks” could be the most important to me, and television as a whole. When the show premiered on this date in 1990, it was in a class all by itself. It couldn’t be considered a night-time soap, even though the plot was surrounding the sudden death of the town sweetheart Laura Palmer, as it was riddled with comedic moments and mythical intrigue. And while it delved within the sci-fi and horror realm, the Main Street USA feel of the show held it back from being an obvious horror program. It was, in essence, undefinable. And yet nowadays, its common place, especially on ABC, to delve into both multi-layered topics, without losing the sense of where the program is coming from. Without “Twin Peaks”, I wouldn’t, or couldn’t be obsessed with “Lost”, “The Sopranos” or “United States of Tara”, as it might not have existed. The effect David Lynch’s simple ode to the darkness that can be found in any small town in the US, that only ran for a mere two seasons, can be seen all over the landscape of Television. It showed us that life is not always what it seems, that answers can come from anywhere and that there is NOTHING SCARIER than a man called BOB. I have watched the show from beginning to end about eight times now, and I continuously find more interesting stories and simple effects. If Lynch is skilled at one thing (well he’s skilled at thousands, but this is for effect), it is playing homage to the American dream and the dirtiness that lives inside of it. From the moment I hear Jack Nance exclaiming, “wrapped in plastic”, I was hooked. Beyond the obvious murder mystery of who killed Laura Palmer, I was mesmerized by the characters, their development and honestly, my attachment to them. “Twin Peaks” opened up my eyes at a young age to darker plots, mystical ideas and created an earnest interest in discovering the country I live in. Lynch’s ability to create dark, troubled characters who were so fun to watch is inspiring and his strength to discuss subjects otherwise taboo, especially at the time, is commendable. It also proved that Television doesn’t have to be under produced, stale and in front of a studio audience. “Twin Peaks” was essentially a long film, broken up into 46 minute segments and played once a week at the same time. It was lush, both in story and location, and proved to both networks and producers that quality programming can be respected and watched by both the critics and viewers at home. So thank you David Lynch for allowing us to expect more from whats delivered to us through the boob tube. And while the show had its ups and downs, specifically when Lynch left for a period of time after Laura’s murderer identity was revealed, it will remain one of the most influential programs of all time. And while I can go on and on about my love for the show all day, I would prefer to show a few great moments from the show.

We can’t discuss great moments, without celebrating the eerily perfect, and very David Lynch, intro for the show.

The effect of just one action or event can take a major toll on an entire town. The moment that we discover Laura Palmer, a promising young girl beloved by the majority of the town, is dead is heart wrenching. But, when Leland (Ray Wise) and Sarah (Grace Zabriskie) Palmer find out their daughter is dead, at the same time, it is devastating.

Much like “LOST” and other programs, sometimes mistakes will bring in great rewards. As scripted dramas go, there is always room for change if it helps the story. So when I found out how they came about casting BOB, one of the scariest villains of all times, it blew my mind. Sometimes it pays to think outside the box, or in this case the script.

Agent Cooper, the FBI agent with the task to find Laura’s killer, was more submerged within the bizarre happenings in Twin Peaks than the majority of the locals. And thanks to his dreams, I wasnt able to sleep, but I did begin to figure out certain clues pertaining to the murder and darkness surrounding the town.

And while the show might have been based around an FBI investigation into the murder of a young local girl, there were tons of comedic moments allowing the light to come through. This “meeting of the minds” moment that Sheriff Truman, Agent Cooper and Andy have while investigating the case still makes me laugh out loud.

If you have watched even a moment of “Twin Peaks”, you will know how important coffee is, which is why I love this little montage of coffee moments.

I’ll spare the embedding of one of the scariest/saddest moments ever on TV, but if you want to catch the last few moments of the program, you can see them here. (Warning: SPOILER ALERT! SADNESS ALERT!)

What are your favorite moments from the show? What current TV shows do you think owe a bit of gratitude to “Twin Peaks”? And finally, How’s Annie? (Sorry, I had to)

For more of Twin Peaks celebrating, check out:

NY Post: ‘Twin Peaks’ at 20

InsideTV: ‘Twin Peaks’ 20 Years Later: How the Show Changed Television

National Post:Twin Peaks turns 20: Why the show matters

The OSCARS Bring It…….

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:45:42 +0000

Lets start at the beginning….

This weekend I managed to find myself on the island of no channel 7, aka ABC. Yes, you heard correctly. Thanks to an horrific who-has-the-bigger-balls and wants-to-make-more-money-while-laying-off-thousands battle between Cablevision (the local network here) and ABC/Disney kept me from watching the Oscars in the comfort of my in-laws home, so I ventured out to a sports bar (the only one in the neighborhood with satellite) with my mom-in-law to be. WE had to listen to BONGOS during the red carpet folks. BONGOS!!!! Cause as long as I have been alive and realized I love things, I have NEVER missed an OSCARS. NEVER. So, I found myself in a Long Island bar, that was actually chock full of lovely people who tried and tried to hook up the closed captioning so we could hear the witty banter between Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, but unfortunately, no dice. And then the Jack Johnson heavens opened up and ABC stopped sucking dick and we got to watch the Oscars on CABLE! With Chinese food and Pinot Grigio like respectable humans.

So let’s go from there. Christoph Waltz, as I had predicted in a lonely theater 8 months ago while my car got an oil change, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. And boy did he deserve it. I never fell in love with a Nazi as hard as I did with Christoph. We have a BINGO with that dude. And then there were a handful of awards that meant so much to many, but not me. And then we had to sit and watch the C team of the Alvin Alley company dance to nominated scores. And THEN FISHER STEVENS WON AN OSCAR. I repeat FISHER. STEVENS. WON. AN.OSCAR.

Ok, so you are paying attention now. Cause, I mean the rank dude from HACKERS won an Oscar folks. That can’t be undone. So then we raised hands with Mo’Nique, cause she won Best Supporting and doesn’t shave her legs and makes sexual and physical abuse look real. And then things got interesting…. well actually the Screenplay awards were given out before FISHER STEVENS WON and for Adapted Precious killed it and for Original The Hurt Locker confirmed its assault on Cameron’s career and genitals. Woohah (as blind Pacino would say). Ok so back to the awards we cared about. Best actor went to my first crush, Jeff Bridges, who repeated the same speech Ive heard since the Golden Globes, but still thanked his wife and kids and stand-in. LOVE IT. Also, he’s been doing various The Big Lebowski quotes and I will heart that forever.

Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for The Blind Side. I aint seen it, and I probably wont, but I am OK with her getting an award because she is pretty rad. She also looked beyond beautiful tonight, which cemented her win. Her mom was an opera singer in Germany and she had gum on her seat while Dennis Hopper was trying to blow her and the coach of Sparkle Motion up! Bullock deserved it as much, if more, as squinty eyed Zelleweger, frozen-face Kidman and hotties Berry & Theron – SO LETS MOVE ON.
And then the big one came. Since Barbra Streisand came out to deliver the Oscar for Best Director, I knew this was going to Kathryn Bigelow. ON A SERIOUS NOTE. I cried. I cried in a room with my mom and soon to be mom-in-law and felt what i feels like to wait for fucking evah for an award. Bigelow has been able to do what both men and women havent before her, deliver an action move with heart. And she has succeeded with it. She deserved it. And please don’t forget it.
Her acceptance speech thanked the powers that be that made the movie happen, as well as the troops that give up their lives and safety for us every day. So it was fitting that Tom Hanks ran up on stage and gave the award for Best Picture to The Hurt Locker. For its story, drama and feel, this move deserved to win. And I cant think of a better way to ringing in a monumental moment like this, with anyone else in the room.

More on the dresses, awards and whats to come tomorrow, but until then, thanks to Barbra, Bigelow, McDaniel and the rest of you amazing women, who have given me even a morsel of thinking this industry could welcome us with open arms. You made dreams official tonight. There are girls who will not question their motives, their love of cinema and will continue to provide America and the world with entertainment and dreams and comedy and fantasy and horror and anything that will make you forget your real life for 2 and a half hours.

Here’s the full list of the winners and we’ll check in with you tomorrow when the Pinot has wore off. I will get to the John Hughes/comedy respective tomorrow too. This needs my full non-snark attention.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:11:43 +0000

We are just a few days away (more on that later) from The Oscars. So to prepare yourself for the tears, off-the-cuff remarks and overall blandness that will come along with one of the most predictable ceremonies in recent memory, the internet (CopyRightHater) put together a lovely look back at some previous Thank Yous. Enjoy and don’t forget to thank your mom, God and that dang crew.

Party in the USA – LOST Style

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:04:59 +0000

We are in the thick of it people. Total LOST overload until the series finales blows our minds in just a short ten weeks (YEARGH HOW CAN WE WAIT?). But until then, turn the volume up, get out your chair and let loose with Hugo Reyes. Let’s forget we’ve been stuck on this island and party with Hurley.

Still Drama at the NBC…..

admin — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:19:06 +0000

Lord, its hard out there for a host. This drama going on over at NBC is really reaching a new level. Late yesterday, we heard that Jay Leno has negotiated a deal with NBC to take back “The Tonight Show” at 11:35PM. The deal is allegedly still in the works, as Conan O’Brien declared earlier this week that he would not remain host to the program if its time slot was moved, making room for another Leno late night show. The drama remains a constant in other late night hosts monologues, but Jimmy Kimmel upped the anti last night with a visit to Leno’s soon to be defunct show, skewering him repeatedly. Kimmel did the 10 @ 10 Q & A skit on Leno’s and went for the jugular, continuously referencing Leno taking back “The Tonight Show” from O’Brien.

And beyond other late night hosts, like Kimmel and Dave Letterman taking sides, now NBC executives are sticking their noses into the late night drama. Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports, has come out behind his fellow suits at NBC and went on record calling O’Brien gutless and a failure. He went on to say that Leno is unbeatable in the ratings and that this whole mess is really just because Conan failed to live up to the expectations of the host of this caliber of program. “I like Conan enormously personally,” Mr. Ebersol said. “He was just stubborn about not being willing to broaden the appeal of his show.” Essentially, NBC didn’t want Conan for Conan, they wanted him to be the host of “The Tonight Show” and apparently those are two totally different things. And apparently, O’Brien is not wasting any time looking for a new place, with the most recent rumor pointing out a possible move to FOX. While I hope O’Brien finds another TV home, and soon, I can’t help but worry that moving to just another major network will continue to limit the type of comedy Conan and his program became famous for. His original program was filled with irreverent jokes and witty humor, something that is rare on the late night circuit. And I am not the only person in the blogosphere worrying about another network toying around with the program we Conan fans came to love. Dan Frommer at The Business Insider believes a move to a cable network, like an HBO, would allow O’Brien to really put together a program that suits him and his staff’s talent, as opposed to relying on nightly guests to liven up the program. I believe this type of move, a more skilled and tactical move is a much smarter and safer move for the show. Just look at Bill Maher? When he was canceled from ABC, another network program would have continued to limit the type of program he wanted his show to evolve into, but his home at HBO as allowed both his show and him as a political commenter to flourish. If Conan is given the right placement, he would be able to really stretch his comedic muscles, as well as production budget.

Let’s All Gang Up on Leno

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:36:49 +0000

Well this seems to be the trend for late night hosts ever since the the NBC late night debacle became public knowledge. David Letterman, who had his own nasty battle with both NBC and Jay Leno during his bid for the hosting gig of “The Tonight Show” back in 1992, seemed gleeful when discussing the dramaz revolving around the much beloved program.

Now, Letterman probably knows better than anyone else what Conan is going through and this nonsense almost writes his nightly monologue, so I love hearing his take on it. And see, even he feels bad for Carson Daly.

But Letterman isn’t the only one poking the bear. Jimmy Kimmel started off his program last night with a monologue as Jay Leno, even mimicking Leno’s voice and handshakes. Kimmel is another character who loves ripping on the peacock network and it can’t hurt that his competition is getting manhandled by their own network like this.

Kimmel interview Chevy Chase last night, who knows all about late night show debacles, and the comedian played right along with last night’s theme. Check out Chase dressed up as Conan and discussing the particulars that makes a successful late night bid with Kimmel. Now while everyone is out there lighting up their torches to storm Leno’s castle, we really have to look at the truly guilt parties here – the suits at the network. While Leno has not been the classiest in this mess, he isn’t the person making the ultimate decision. Jeff Gaspin, and technically Jeff Zucker, are the real villains here. First, they messed around with the late night schedules due to contractual liabilities and forced Leno out, even though he wasn’t ready to leave. They did this all in an attempt to not lose Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien and his hilariously talented staff, and yet, they find themselves with two very pissed off and very powerful comedians who just want a vehicle to make people laugh. Leno somehow is made out to be the bad guy in all of this, but ultimately the network should have made the decision to live by the contracts they signed and find a better fit for Leno, other than just a washed up version of “The Tonight Show”. They should have also done a better job at keeping any of the necessary updates they wanted to make to their primetime and late night lineups under wraps until everything was ironed out. For Leno, he will be remembered as the man who “made” NBC kick Letterman to the curb AND embarrass America’s favorite redhead Conan O’Brien. It will be difficult for him to pick up the pieces, but he still has loads of fans, so NBC will probably stick with him. MTV goes through a few of Leno’s options and it doesn’t seem that any of them have a bright and shining ending for the parties involved. What I would like to see from this though is that if Leno does get back his desk at “The Tonight Show” and O’Brien makes the move to Fox or another network, I would love to see a solidarity pact from comedians and supporters of O’Brien to essentially boycott Leno. While it might not be fair, until NBC understands that they are programming for US the viewers, they will continue to remove quality programming before it has a chance to blossom and bow down to corporate demands. I’m with Team Coco in this mess, but personally I think we need to get mad at the big business practices here and the suits at the network as opposed to Leno fighting to keep his job. What do you think?

Image via Newsday

Won’t You Take Me to “Cougar Town”?

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:59:39 +0000

I have to admit that when I first heard about ABC’s latest comedy, “Cougar Town“, I almost barfed. Beyond vehemently hating the little nickname that was given to women over the age of 40 who still want to have sex, I also didn’t want some cheesy “Desperate Housewives” type show to ruin the careers of Courtney Cox and Busy Phillips. There was the typical anti-anti-feminist blog posts, weak reviews from critics and an overall fear of liking something with such a silly title holding me back from watching the show. But as luck, and a misstep with my DVR would have it, I ended up catching two episodes and honestly, fell in love. It was quirky, something like a “Scrubs” but without the ridiculous dream sequences and Zach Braff, and it felt authentic. I figured out that the name was just mocking what an attractive and newly single woman in her 40′s would be dealing with and Cox is perfect as Jules. The show is filled with delicious banter, innuendo and the sort of hijinx a woman coming to terms with being single again would have to deal with. Christa Miller is hilarious as Jules’ long time best friend and next door neighbor Ellie, who is attempting to live vicariously through our newly single star, but making sure she stays classy. And that brings us to Jules’ assistant and much younger ally in dating Laurie, played by one of my favorite Apatow alums Busy Phillips, who seems to butt heads with Ellie on just about everything. Travis (Dan Byrd), Jules’ son, her ex Bobby (Brian Van Holt), Ellie’s husband Andy (Ian Gomez) and her fellow single neighbor Grayson (Josh Hopkins) round out the major players in this comedy that is increasingly more about what makes your friends your friends than say sexy single ladies dating younger men.

As the season has progressed, the story lines have become more well rounded, developed and have picked up a much smarter tone, while remaining a goofy comedy. And last night’s episode brought us the much chatted about “Friends” reunion of Cox and Lisa Kudrow, who played a forceful, no nonsense dermatologist Dr. Evans in the little town of Gulf Haven. The two have such wonderful comedic chemistry together it was refreshing to see them sharing screen time once again, not to mention Kudrow back on TV where she belongs. Check out a clip from last night’s ‘Rhino Skin’.

The ratings and reviews of last night’s episode are definitely confirming that this show is finally getting the appreciation it deserves and hopefully it means that Kudrow could become more of a recurring character. And ABC must agree because its ordered another two episodes to round out the season to a full 24. Here’s to hoping that show, much like Cox and her fellow “cougars” continue to ripen with age.