TV Preview: Lost, Season Finale

Wednesday’s the big night—the finale for the second season of ABC’s Lost! The promos for the finale are promising to answer many questions, which will be a relief. But I think it’s safe to say that the network isn’t planning on taking this show off the air any time soon, so I’m expecting an excruciating cliff-hanger that introduces a whole new set of questions which will hopefully be more intriguing than the current mysteries.


On the surface Lost is a castaway show about a group of people who are stranded on a tropical island after their plane crashes. But this is no ordinary island, there are strange creatures and people in the jungle, a series of hatches scattered on the island by the scientific organization the Hanso Foundation for their Dharma Initiative.

This show also has great character development. We see how everyone is different as they interact on the island, but also through flashbacks we learn what has happened to these people to make them the way they are.

This is a very unique method of story telling that really provides something for people with all kinds of tastes. If you like episodic drama, you get it in the flashbacks—they usually have a story that wraps up at the end of the episode. If you like science fiction, there are all kinds of strange things happening on the island that very much fall into the science fiction category. If you like continuing stories with great mysterious cliffhangers, this show has more than it’s fair share.


In last week’s episode, they had just buried Ana-Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez) and Libby (Cynthia Watros) when a sailboat appeared off the shore and they appeared to have hopes that finally they might be rescued.

What happens now? There are still many questions that have yet to be answered. What happens if the button isn’t pushed when the timer runs out in the Swan Hatch? What are the others going to do if Michael (Harold Perrineau) is able to bring Jack (Matthew Fox), Locke (Terry O’Quinn), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Sawyer (Josh Holloway), and Hurley (Jorge Garcia) back with him? Does Sayid (Naveen Andrews) have a plan to protect the main five from the others?


And if all this isn’t enough, for everyone who loves gathering clues to unravel the mysteries of the island, there is the Lost Experience. This is an official effort by ABC and it is made up of a series of web sites and even a book that is all made to add depth to the experience and to provide clues about what is really going on.

The book is Bad Twin, by Gary Troup (who’s name is an anagram for purgatory). Some of the sites include www.thehansofoundation.org, www.oceanic-air.com, www.sublymonal.com and a few others. It’s really fun to see how much detail and back information is being put into this show.

I only hope that everyone remembers that it is just a show and we do have to get on with our own lives sometime.

One more thing. If you just can’t wait until the show airs tomorrow night, there appears to be a rather complete synopsis of the finale on Wikipedia. But be warned, if it is correct, there are significant spoilers for this episode. The link to the site is here. If you get spoiled, don't come crying to me... 'cause I'll be sitting here, weeping silently.

Book Review: Nurse Matilda (Nanny McPhee)

The Nanny You Need is . . . Nurse Matilda?

Some of you loyal readers may recall that Dennis and I both reviewed Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, and Angela Lansbury), a little while back ( Dennis’ review ) ( Bryan’s review ). If you have not seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it. This charming tale of a homely nanny with a magical walking stick is a masterful adaptation of the book it is based on and in my opinion actually improves upon the source material. I consider it a must-see; a real gem that only comes along once in a while. Run out and rent or buy the Nanny McPhee DVD. This is one that I have now added to my collection even though I rarely buy movies anymore.

If you are anything like me, you often find yourself saying, “The movie was good, but the book was so much better.” After seeing the movie in the theater (or should that be theatre in honor of the book’s British origin), my kids and I were so excited to read the book that was the inspiration for the movie, Nurse Matilda. That said, this is one of those rare instances when I will say that the movie was superior to the book.

The copy I read was Nurse Matilda : The Collected Tales, which has all three Nurse Matilda books in one. The first thing you notice in the book are the many “Briticisms.” The most obvious is the use of the word nurse, which is more akin to the American use of the word nanny. In other scenes, the children eat swedes and roly-poly pudding with treacle . . . doesn’t sound very appealing to me, but they seemed to like it. These terms do however tend to create a foreign-feeling, which enhances the atmosphere of the story.

There are other differences between the book and the movie as well. One of the most glaring differences is that in the book, Mrs. Brown is alive. While there is a lopsided trend in children’s movies for portraying single-parent families (Toy Story, Land Before Time, The Iron Giant, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, etc.), in Nanny McPhee, Mrs. Brown’s absence and Mr. Brown’s preoccupation with providing for his large family, explained the rotten behavior of the children. In the book however, both parents are present and seem to be scratching their heads as to why their children are so ill behaved. This made them into complete dunderheads to me (and yes, I do realize that for the era the book is set in, it was common among the wealthy for both parents to be at home and still have a live-in nanny who takes care of them).

Another element that was introduced in the movie was the love interest between the widower Mr. Brown and Miss Evangeline. In the movie, this was a tender love interest that kindled warmth for the story. In the book, while Evangeline is sent off to live with wealthy Aunt Adelaide, she still comes off as just a pinhead and little more.

Also in the book, the Browns have so many kids that they can’t even keep track of them. They even mention in the second book, Nurse Matilda Goes to Town, that the Browns have adopted more children. While this might be funny (or perhaps just irresponsible) it made the children indistinguishable. There are so many kids that there are no distinguishable characters. One of the most heartwarming elements of the movie was to see the growth of the children in general and Simon (Thomas Sangster) in particular. That element was sadly missing from the book.

Along those same lines, in Nurse Matilda, the children never seem to learn any lessons at all. While there is some marginal progression in their lessons, you don’t really feel that they have learned to behave, but just to fear Matilda. In fact, in Nurse Matilda Goes to Town, the children are right back where they started and might even be worse. To me, this completely robbed Nurse Matilda of her power as a teacher and a mentor. All in all, the lessons they “learned” just seamed to become repetitious after a while.

I will say though that I enjoyed the illustrations. The pen and ink drawings added a charming feel to the book, placing it squarely in the time frame it was set.

Despite all of these issues, I didn’t hate the book. My children and I enjoyed reading it together and shared a few laughs as well. Emma Thompson just hit a home run with a screenplay that in my opinion far outshined the book. Overall, Nurse Matilda was enjoyable, and has been an endearing tale for generations of children. I will likely not finish the sequel though, as I was turned off after the first few chapters seeing the children right back where they started.

Music Review: Neil Young - Living With War

Neil Young's new album, Living With War, is certainly generating some interest both good and bad. I have no doubt that's exactly what he wanted it to do. Get people talking. Bring us together in both our common and opposing views and find some solidarity.

While this clearly is an album that is against the President, it's not against America. I hope that people on the other side of the opinions can find some truth and passion in what Neil is saying, and likewise I hope that those who agree with him don't forget that the other sides' opinions count as well. No more red and blue, only America.

I've only recently discovered Neil through my favorite band Pearl Jam. I regret not having listening to him sooner as I've found that I am truly a fan of his now. I've been tearing through his musical history as quickly as I can but I keep getting slowed down by how great his music is, I have to listen to it repeatedly. Be sure to check it out regardless of how you feel about it's message. It's Neil's wish to have people talking, sharing and coming together. Peace.

Available on iTunes: Firefly

Exciting news for all Browncoats out there in the ‘verse: the extremely well written, but doomed to an early cancellation TV show, Firefly, is now available for download on iTunes.


Why is this news so exciting? Because now it’s easier than ever to share this great show with those currently unfamiliar with it. After a brief run of 11 episodes in 2002, Fox television cancelled Firefly without really giving it much of a chance. Those who were familiar with it were excited when it became available on DVD and began sharing it with others. DVD sales were so good that Universal Studios gave creator Joss Whedon the “go ahead” to make the movie Serenity, which ran in theaters in the Fall of 2005 and is now on DVD.

There are many high hopes from the fan community that if the DVD sales continue at a strong pace, that there might be a studio willing to fund a sequel to Serenity, or even a network that might revive the television series. I would imagine that sales through iTunes will be another way the success of the show will be measured.

From the opening narration:

“Here's how it is: Earth got used up, so we terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths, some rich and flush with new technologies, some not so much. Central Planets, them was formed the Alliance, waged war to bring everyone under their rule; a few idiots tried to fight it, among them myself. I'm Malcolm Reynolds, captain of the Serenity. Got a good crew: fighters, pilot, mechanic. We even picked up a preacher, and a bona fide companion. There's a doctor, too, rescued his genius sister from some Alliance camp, so they're keeping a low profile. You got a job, we can do it, don't much care what it is.”

Firefly is a unique science fiction series because it combines many elements of the Wild West—not only in the visual design, but also in the dialogue. The stories and characters are cleverly written and are often very funny and quite quotable.

Wash: "Little River just gets more colorful by the moment. What'll she do next?"

Zoe: "Either blow us all up or rub soup in our hair. It's a toss-up."

Wash: "I hope she does the soup thing. It's always a hoot, and we don't all die from it."

One of my favorite aspects of the show is the documentary style of cinematography which has become rather common in shows like the new Battlestar Galactica, but at the time Firefly was made, it was something that I had never seen before on a Science Fiction show.


So, if you’ve never seen Firefly, download the pilot episode, also named Serenity—you won’t regret it. If you have seen it, gift an episode or two to a friend and let them experience it for themselves… you’ll then have a great show to quote when you’re hanging out (like, “I wanna go to the crappy planet where I’m a hero!” Wash, from Jaynestown) and another reason to gripe about how networks like Fox don’t know a good thing when it’s playing on their own airwaves.

Movie Commentary: Superman Returns

New Superman Returns trailer (View Here)

The new Superman Returns trailer was recently released and it has risen my anticipation for the film 10-fold. Yes I know there has been some guff about this film for some time, but I have a hard time not looking forward to it. Are the lead actors too young? Perhaps. Is Kevin Spacey merely “channeling” Gene Hackman? Possibly. Do I really care? Not at all. You see people, this is a re-imagining of the Superman films which intends to pay homage to and respect the first 2 Superman films but also restart the franchise. Or, you could just consider it a film being made by someone who loves the material and felt it was a movie he had to make. I’m speaking of course about Bryan Singer, a talented and capable director who has proven his ability to craft a great story (The Usual Suspects) and handle a sci-fi / comic book film (X-Men 1 & 2). When given the opportunity to direct the new Superman movie, Bryan walked away from the X-Men film franchise that he helped to establish and took on the story of The Last Son Of Krypton. This was a project very close to him and one that he could not turn down. Some people are not fans of Bryan’s work, especially the X films, and that’s to be expected. There’s nothing wrong with people not liking an artist's work, that’s why there are many different artists.

I have a lot of faith in this film being what it has to be. The original Superman film, and it’s less than perfect sequel, will always be favorites of mine. The first film took a very dramatic look at a story filled with fantasy and superpowers. But Superman has stood for very human things for as long as he’s been around. While his abilities are the things that set him apart from the rest of humanity, it’s his human qualities, and his conviction to adhere to the homespun qualities instilled in him by his adoptive parents, that make him special. But we can aspire to those same qualities as well. We cannot fly, but we can be truthful. We are not bulletproof, yet we can stand for the things we believe in. We do not have x-ray vision, yet we can see the injustices in the world and have compassion and understanding for those having awful things done to them. Our love and caring for our fellow man can be as powerful as Superman. Of course we all know this is a fictitious tale, yet the lessons we can glean from it are all too real. This is a film, and a story, that is filled with truth and justice, “The American Way”, and for a few hours this summer, that’s a story that’s worth hearing, and one that can’t be told enough. I look forward to having fun at this film, and feeling good about what it says to me. I hope you all find the same message in this film. Have fun!

News: Star Wars Trilogy Original Theatrical Release on DVD

"Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

Lucasfilm has announced that on September 12th, 2006, for a limited time, the Original Star Wars Trilogy will be available on DVD in its pre Special Edition state.

From the StarWars.com announcement: “In response to overwhelming demand, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release attractively priced individual two-disc releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Each release includes the 2004 digitally remastered version of the movie and, as bonus material, the theatrical edition of the film. That means you'll be able to enjoy Star Wars as it first appeared in 1977, Empire in 1980, and Jedi in 1983.”

It’s exciting to think of being able to view the version of Star Wars that I fell in love with when I was 7 years old and seeing it in the theater, before the “Episode IV” subtitle had been added to the opening crawl.


I’d like to be able to think that it was my recent article about Star Wars that prompted this event, but I know that many fans over the years have anguished over the desire to own a DVD where Han shoots Greedo first.

Other things that I’m excited to see are the original songs in Jabba’s palace and in the Ewok village in Return of the Jedi, as well as the excising of the CGI Jabba from A New Hope.

From what it sounds like, though, is that in these packages you get the 2004 versions that include the Extra Special Editions that I already own. Who knows, though, maybe I’ll be able to find someone who wants to buy my current copies, cheap.

TV Review: ABC's Invasion - Revisited

Well, I've stuck with ABC's Invasion all season and now I can say that it's starting to be worth it. I think you can tell from my previous review that I had mixed emotions about it. And while I think they could have done a better, more engaging job at unraveling the mystery, what they’ve built it up to is starting to pay off.

The series started out last fall in the aftermath of a hurricane both on the show and in real-life, so it probably suffered a bit from people being cautious of a show about a fictional hurricane ravaged community.

The tone was very quickly changed, though, to a slow paced mystery about people who are getting pulled into the water by these yellow, glowing water creatures and get changed into what they're calling hybrids—people who believe they are the same people they used to be, but who are essentially clones who share their previous DNA with the creature that replaced them. The mystery is in finding out who has been changed and whether they are still the people they used to be.

The main character on Invasion is Russell Varon, played by Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch), who has to deal with the world once he learns that creatures from the waters are replacing people, and that his ex-wife, Mariel, played by Kari Matchett (Earth: Final Conflict), has become a hybrid as well. To complicate matters, they have kids from their previous marriage who's step father, Sheriff Tom Underlay, played by William Fichtner (Contact, Armageddon), has been a hybrid for a number of years and may have purposely exposed his wife to them and who might also be well aware of the intensions of these creatures and could be helping them along.

It’s becoming apparent that Sheriff Underlay has been confused about the nature of the transformation that he went under, and also the intensions of the creatures in the water. At first he was serene about the change was making efforts to keep in secret. But now that he sees how ruthless the hybrids are becoming, and sees that they are ultimately building up to a war with the humans, he’s teaming up with Russell in an effort to thwart their plan.


Even though newcomers have missed all of the build-up and mystery, now is definitely a good time to start watching this show. The previews for this week’s episode promises to give us a rather exciting and it’ll be interesting to see what they’re building up to in the season finale.

My one big concern is that the season finale is destined to be a cliffhanger. As of now it’s not known whether or not this show will be renewed for a second season. If Invasion is cancelled, we may never know how it ends! Bummer. Well, I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed.

Movie Review: Red Eye

I’m really not a big horror movie buff. Actually I think the last time I watched one was back in my high school days, but I have seen A Nightmare on Elm Street and I do know that Wes Craven has become as synonymous with horror films as Alfred Hitchcock was with mysteries and thrillers. So when I saw that Wes Craven had directed Red Eye, an airplane thriller that seemed like a departure from his regular style of slasher films, I was intrigued.

Red Eye is about a young woman named Lisa Reisert, played by Rachel McAdams (The Notebook, Wedding Crashers), who is a hotel manager flying home to attend her grandmother’s funeral. In the airport she meets the charming Jackson Rippner, played by Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins, Cold Mountain), who we quickly learn has orchestrated their meeting in order to leverage some assistance from her in carrying forward his dastardly plot by threatening to have someone kill her father, played by Brian Cox (X-Men 2, The Bourne Identity) if she doesn’t comply.


What I really liked about this movie was how well it portrayed the main character, Lisa, getting wrapped up in a terrible, at times heart-wrenching situation and we the viewers get to ride along to witness how or if she’ll get out of it unscathed. I really enjoyed how the bulk of the movie took place in their seating compartment on the plane. At times it was very claustrophobic which added to the trapped feeling that Lisa must have been experiencing, and I thought it amplified the tension.

I did have one problem with the movie, though, and this might be a result of Wes Craven’s movie making style, but at times it seemed that Rachel McAdams, Cilian Murphy, and Brian Cox were the only actors who took the movie seriously. Everyone else seemed to know they were in a Wes Craven movie and were giving the typical B horror movie campy performances that at times I thought were a little distracting. Sometimes the feel of the movie changed so drastically, that it seemed like I was watching two different movies at the same time. The performances of the three main actors were so strong that I wouldn't say the movie was ruined by the random campiness, I just thought that it could have been so much stronger if everyone was as strong.


Overall I'd say this is a good movie for adults. it has brief strong language and a little violence, but mostly it’s a tense thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. If you’re up for a fun ride, this just might be the ticket for you… just make sure that you’re not on a plane when you decide to give this movie a shot.

Movie Review: Aeon Flux

Expect nothing, and you'll never be dissapointed?

So, what happens when you hear overwhelmingly bad reviews about a movie, but you decide to watch it anyway? Can you really objectively watch a movie and decide for yourself if it was good or bad? Are your expectations so low that no matter how bad it actually is, anything good in it will be a treat?

That was the situation that I found myself in when sitting down to watch Aeon Flux, starring Charlize Theron (North Country, The Italian Job) as the title character. This movie had received such bad reviews from so many of the movie critics that I listen to, that I was expecting it to be a disjointed and laughable movie that was big on effects and action, but shallow on plot. But what I found was a movie with an intriguing premise and a storyline that occasionally had me guessing and always held my interest.

Aeon Flux is set in a future time when the last city on Earth is ruled by the family of the person who developed the cure for the plague that wiped out the rest of the world’s population. Aeon is a member of a group of rebels called the Monicans who are trying to overthrow the government. Aeon is sent on a mission to assassinate the “chairman” of their ruling council, Trevor Goodchild, played by Martin Csokas (Kingdom of Heaven, The Bourne Supremacy), when she experiences some things that cause her to abandon her mission and seek out answers to the bigger mysteries of their community.


From what I’ve heard, this movie is based on an MTV animated series that I had never heard of before this came out. But while watching it, I could tell that it was following a very defined method of visual story telling, with many of the camera angles and scene compositions being very artistic and interesting to look at. I also noticed many instances of limited dialogue in this movie, which added to the visual artistry.

It seems to me that Director Karyn Kusama (Girlfight) really seemed to understand what this story was about, and seemed to be able to give it a cohesive feel to it throughout. I would imagine though, that this type of movie isn’t for everyone. As I said, it’s very stylized and could be seen as “artsy” or “weird” by many.

If I may digress, this is why movie reviewers sometimes frustrate me; to think that one person can give opinions on every movie out there and dictate which ones are good and which ones are bad. Really, movies are subjective. I’ve grown up watching movies like Logan’s Run, Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, Star Trek, and so on. A movie like Aeon Flux easily fit into those genres and I really enjoyed it. But I know many people who don’t like those movies that I just listed. And so I can tell you now that if you are one of them, you won’t like it.

All in all, I enjoyed this movie. Sure it had its flaws, but what movie doesn’t? I certainly don’t think that it deserved all of the negative press that it got and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys futuristic movies about dystopian societies.

Movie Review: Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride
Rated: PG
Voices by: Johnny Depp (Victor), Helena Bonham Carter (Corpse Bride), Emily Watson (Victoria), Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, Danny Elfman
Directed by: Tim Burton and Mike Johnson

I remember seeing the preview for the Corpse Bride in the theater and finding myself surprised at wanting to see it, not being a big Tim Burton fan (sorry my favorite colors aren't black and gray). I then completely forgot about it, and it came and went while pulling in a decent $50M+ at the box office. I chipped in my own $3.99 for pay-per-view this weekend and was very pleased.

The story is taken from a 16th century Jewish fairy tale where a young groom enroute to his wedding sees a stick coming out of the ground that looks like fingers and jokingly puts the ring on the finger and says his wedding vows only to find himself...


In this version Victor (Johnny Depp) is the shy son of a nouveau riche fish merchant who has been promised to Victoria (Emily Watson), the beautiful daughter of an aristocratic, but dead broke, family. Neither have met, until the day before the wedding at the rehearsal. They fall in love, but Victor just can't get his part of the ceremony right in the rehearsal and the priest threatens to call it off. Victor walks out of town into the woods to practice, and like the fairy tale, finds himself married to a corpse. Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) is a very lovely looking corpse with a maggot living behind her right eye. She is thrilled to be married after all this time (after being killed by her own fiancé just before marriage) and they find themselves in the land of the dead. The Land of the Dead is colorful, bright, and vibrant compared to the dark and cold world above. It's one happy place with musical numbers and a big wedding party. Naturally Victor tries to call this off and escape back to the land of the living. No one down below sees any reason why he can't be married to a corpse even if he is still a bit squishy.

Now I won't tell the whole story, but I will say that it's an enjoyable ride. The music is downright catchy and the story moves right along. The movie is a technical masterpiece of stop-motion animation. Much more rewarding visually and in every other way than the hyper-realistic animals in the recent "The Wild" for instance. The characters have real depth and I found myself genuinely engaged in their story. There are many memorable bits of dialog and imagery, like when Emily gives him a wedding present, that is the bones of his dead dog, that suddenly comes to "life".

Recommended for Adults: Sure, I think you'll like it.
Recommended for Kids: Sure, there are a few scary moments, but nothing too serious, my 2-year old daughter enjoyed it.
Overall: Very nice movie.