Lockdown

Poor Locke!  Although he was a dope to let himself get screwed by his dad again.  I can't believe we STILL didn't find out how he became paralyzed!  Peg Bundy was great.  He really blew that situation.  It was so horrible when he was trapped under the door – excruciating!  
 And how great is Henry Gale as a character?  Except he ain't no Henry Gale!  I wonder if the real Henry Gale actually had a wife, or if he was just out ballooning in the South Pacific by himself.   And what did Henry do when he crawled through the vent?  He stopped the countdown, but the noises that happened after that, and the blue light that came on were not normal occurrences when the countdown stops.  And how about that drawing on the door above Locke?  It looked like a diagram of where all the hatches are on the island – but what’s in the center and why did it have a big question mark on it???

I am also trying to figure out what the connection is between the dropped shipment of supplies and the doors slamming shut inside the hatch.  I think maybe the broadcast Locke could hear was coming from a plane or something - but why would the doors shut like that if someone was dropping off stuff?  Why would someone be trapped inside the living quarters if they needed to get out of the hatch to pick up the supplies?  Anyway, it explains how it is that there are still edible Dharma O’s inside the hatch – they’re not twenty years old, they’re from periodic supply drops!


 

The Whole Truth

“Are you there, God?  It’s me, Margaret.”  I think every young girl remembers reading that book over and over, worshiping Judy Blume and wishing that we, too, could finally “become a woman” like Margaret did.  Not the book one would expect SAWYER, of all people, to be reading!!  I could have died laughing.  And, I love the fact that that is yet another of my favorite childhood books he’s read, along with Watership Down.  Just brilliant.

Overall, a great episode.  Sun as always is a stellar actress.  Now the question is – is her pregnancy another of the island’s miracles, or did she sleep with the bald-headed English tutor guy back in Korea??  Discuss.

Love the whole Jack-Locke interaction – especially when Jack comes out of the shower and finds Locke in the bathroom.  Thought Ana Lucia was very civilized and good in her interactions with Sayid – and I’m glad that he realizes what she did was an accident.  Can’t imagine why they let Charlie go with them to find Henry’s balloon – he doesn’t have a lot of value to add on a trip into the jungle!  He’s still in the doghouse with me, and he’s not getting out of it by just making a few good quips.  

And Henry – what a freak!  Whether he’s an other or not, I don’t know, but when Jack let him come out to the kitchen table, his remarks gave me the chills.  Plus, I love the Dharma Initiative cereal box – Dharma O’s?  

So glad it’s back…

They're Back!

I felt really good to be watching the Sopranos again - right from the opening song, it felt like being with old friends.  But sooooooo much time has passed, it's almost like nostalgia to be watching it.  It doesn't feel real anymore.  Overall, I thought it was good, and had some moments of greatness. The opening was pretty wild – kind of a quick update on everyone, with both disturbing music and a disturbing narrator – I need to find out what that text was.  Eerie to see Adriana – obviously Carmela is going to continue to wonder what happened to her.  I didn't care very much about the guy who wanted to retire, I thought the idea was good, but since we didn't know this guy, it was hard to be too invested in him, and I knew he'd come to a bad end.  He was more of a reflection of an alternate life to Tony's, I think.  And, I had read there was a shocking end, so I was kind of braced, but I didn't figure on Uncle Ju shooting Tony.  That was a pretty good twist, I thought.  Dominic Chianese did an amazing job – when he huddled in the closet weeping after he shot Tony, I had chills. Tony’s desperate attempts to call 911 were riveting, too.   People had been talking throughout the show about Tony’s health, about weight, about what if something happens to Tony, and of course we see how heavy he has gotten when he keeps taking off various items of clothing to try to get the scale to give him a better number. So we wouldn’t have been surprised if he had had a heart attack, but being shot by his dementia-addled uncle was much better.

I wish they hadn’t waited so long to bring it back – I felt that way during the last season, too.  But it’s still an incredible show and I’m still going to enjoy it.  I feel sure that it will all come to a satisfying conclusion.

Oscar Predictions

In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t seen every single nominated movie yet.  There are some movies I missed in the theater and foolishly, they are not being released on DVD until after the Oscars!  Darn it.  So – A History of Violence, Howl’s Moving Castle, Memoirs of a Geisha…I will definitely catch up on these later in the month.

But, given that I’ve seen the films most likely to win the major prizes…here are my predictions:

Best Supporting Actor
Hardest category to pick.  It really is a horse race, with only William Hurt having no chance at all.  The other awards this season have really been spread out.  I thought that Paul Giamatti was perfectly good in Cinderella Man, but the part did not call for any great stretching, I didn’t think.  But everyone says he was gypped in the past, and often Oscars are given out as a way to make up for past errors (see Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Denzel Washington).   George Clooney probably won’t win for his other nominations, and he really was amazing in Syriana, and has had a great year, so could win this as a reward.  Matt Dillon is representing the Crash cast, and played a very harrowing part that did call for great stretching.   And Jake Gyllenhaal was wonderful in Brokeback Mountain, and I’m really glad he got the nomination here because I thought his work was as good as his castmates.  

My call: George Clooney wins.  

Best Supporting Actress
This one is between Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams.  Williams was great, but I think Weisz’s part was more substantive – she really could have been up for Best Actress – and she’s won all the major awards leading up to this.

My call: Rachel Weisz wins.

Best Actor
What a strong category!  All these performances were incredible.  In another year, I’d say Joaquin would have won, but not against this competition.  It’ll be a shock if Phillip Seymour Hoffman doesn’t win.  Coming in a strong second is Heath Ledger, who was a revelation in this role (although to my mind, he has revealed himself to be kind of a jerk off-camera, too).

My call: Phillip Seymour Hoffman wins.

Best Actress
This is a tough call, I think, although most people are saying it’s Reese Witherspoon.  She was definitely great, but I actually see Felicity Huffman winning in one of the few surprises of the night.  I could very well be wrong, and I probably will be – but I see it as Reese having more chances in the future, and Felicity finally being recognized for the talent that she is.  It feels like her year, more than Reese’s.  But again, I could be wrong!

My call: Felicity Huffman wins.

Best Director
Nobody else has a shot, although they all did an amazing, amazing job.

My call: Ang Lee wins.

Best Picture
Again, nobody else has a shot, although for once, I have no quarrel with any of the nominees and think that the caliber of these movies is incredibly high.

My call: Brokeback Mountain wins.

And, my favorite movie of the year (tied with Grizzly Man), Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit, will win Best Animated Feature!!  Wheeeeeeee!

Maternity Leave

So much freaky and disturbing new information!  A new hatch – that acts as a creepy medical facility!  A costume worn by Zeke – apparently to convince the castaways that he is an extra from the cast of Deliverance!  Vials of medicine – labeled with the Dharma Initiative logo – that were injected into Claire’s pregnant belly by none other than psycho Ethan dressed as a doctor!  Yikes!

Some quick thoughts – Mr. Eko is confusing but he rocks!  Why is he chopping down trees?  Why didn’t someone – Sayid maybe – go straight out to find Henry’s balloon and his dead wife’s body?  (looks like that will be covered in the next episode, but come on, what are they waiting for?)  Not that the Others wouldn’t be capable of staging that scene to cover for Henry – obviously, they are capable of just about anything, including decorating a nursery on a deserted island.  How creepy was the Oceanic Airlines mobile?  Why did Mr. Eko “confess” to Henry?  And why did Locke apparently let Henry’s obvious manipulation get to him?  (theory: Locke just did that to make Henry think it worked – he knew Henry could hear the dishes being smashed, and let’s face it, Locke is pretty good at a. seeing through people and b. keeping his cool.   Good that we found out what happened to Alex – and Danielle did too – obviously we’ll learn more about her.  I wonder if Zeke (he needs a better name now that we know what he really looks like) kicked her butt when he found out she helped Claire escape.  And, finally, I wonder who the heck the guy is that Zeke told Ethan would be mad.  Who is pulling all the strings here?  Can’t wait to find out more…

A Gripe

Following up on my Gilmore Girls posting yesterday, I have a general gripe about TV writing – yes, even on the finest shows!  Last night I watched this week’s episode of The Shield, and was sorely disappointed because a main character, Claudette, was so severely injured the previous week that it seemed she must be dead – and yet, this week there was  no more than one casual mention of her, revealing that she is “recovering.”  The writers had been building up her illness throughout the season, and then after a climactic showdown with a suspect, she became dizzy and fell down the stairs.  It was unbelieavably dramatic and shocking.  But this week – oh yeah, Claudette’s in the hospital.  Mentioned ONCE.

As I pointed out, Gilmore Girls is a big culprit when it comes to this kind of thing.  No follow-up on things like Lorelai’s wedding being announced in the paper (and I don’t think it was just the Stars Hollow Gazette, either) but Lorelai apparently not confronting her mother or informing her that, in fact, the wedding is not taking place in June.  And I realized, after reading some recaps on Television Without Pity, that we never saw Emily’s reaction to the news that Luke has a child he didn’t know about.  Lorelai casually mentioned it to Richard during their Friday night dinner fight, and that was it.  The next week, Richard and Emily discuss it with Luke and Lorelai like it was old news and not at all shocking.  I find this so completely out of character for Emily that I can hardly believe it.

And even on my beloved Lost, these things happen.  More and more, it seems.  For example, Jack’s famous proposal to Ana Lucia that they raise an army.  So exciting and provocative!  But - that was weeks ago for the viewers, and certainly seems to have been several days ago or more on the island.  Are they organizing?  Are they training?  Are they trying to pool their information about the Others?  No.

So – that’s my gripe.  These shows are amazingly well written, and I love them – but I feel that this is a problem.  Perhaps there are too many writers involved, or too much activity on the canvas to be able to follow the threads and include everything.  But – figure it out, people!

Brokeback for Laughs

The New York Times had an article today about parody trailers taking scenes from existing movies and using the music and mood of Brokeback Mountain – for example, Brokeback to the Future and Brokeback Mobsters (based on GoodFellas).  It’s absolutely hilarious – and shows what an effect music and editing have on interpretation.  Check out the site, and laugh yourself senseless.

So Many Questions

What the heck happened about the wedding announcement in the paper that ended the previous episode?  I hate the way there’s no follow-up on things.  Nor, apparently, any memory at all in many cases.  

Anyway – I have many questions.  Why did Lorelai remind Luke about Rory’s journalism panel, and warn him that Christopher would be there, only to have Luke not show up and Lorelai never seems to notice?   Why didn’t she tell Luke that she was baby-sitting Gigi, after the fight they had over Christopher calling her last fall?  Not that it mattered because she and Luke never interacted again for the rest of the episode and he never even found out that Gigi practically destroyed the house he’s worked so hard on.

Why did Rory so eagerly get back together with Logan?  What does he really have to offer her?  I couldn’t believe it when she happily reminded him not to forget his flask before setting out for his sister’s wedding rehearsal.  Does she enjoy having an alcoholic boyfriend?  Codependent no more, Rory!  And was she really all that shocked that he was a total scumbag while they were “spending time apart”?  She knows what a shallow jerk he is.  Oy.  I just couldn’t feel sorry for her – especially since I read that Logan is signed up for next season, so I know with a feeling of dread that this latest breakup is not going to last.

If Doyle still works at the Yale Daily News, why wasn’t he around during the Paris-crashes-and-burns episode, the one where they barely got the paper out?  Or the episode where the staff decides to fire Paris and hire Rory?   We need more Doyle, not less – he would have added so much to those episodes, considering that we know nothing and care little about the rest of the staffers.

And, to top it off, WHY did Lane say yes when Zach proposed??  Why, why, why??  She’s not a stupid woman.  She’s a bright, talented woman.  Why does she want to marry a stupid, immature man?   Ugh.  Just awful.  I can almost understand Gil and Brian forgiving Zach – they’re guys, and they just want to play music.  But Lane could have a bright future!  Why do they create these awesome female characters and then force them to accept unworthy men rather than be single?

My favorite part of the episode – and one of the only parts I truly loved – was when Zach finds Gil and Brian playing “Hollaback Girl” at a bat mitzvah.  I tell ya, I’ll take Sebastian Bach over Gwen Stefani any day.  And when Gil told Zach, “You’re at the very bottom of my bogus bag, and it’s Ziplocked tight!” I thought I would die laughing.