Lost in space

For those of you who were unsatisfied by the way Lost ended, maybe this video, a smash-up of Lost and Star Wars, will suit you better.

Lost Wars: Because Adding Jedis Can Fix Anything -- powered by Cracked.com

Wahoo Wrap-Up (Week 9)

Record: 21-34, Last in the AL Central

So things seem to have hit rock bottom this week. We were beat soundly in our recent series with the Yankees and the Tigers, showing just how far away we are from competing against the American League's top teams. Of course, one of those games was the "imperfect game" which was the epitome of pathetic offense. If that wasn't bad enough, news then came that Grady Sizemore's surgery will keep him out for the rest of the season. Thankfully when things looked bleakest, along came the Chicago White Sox which seems to the cure for what ails us. We took the first two of the series against them and should have won today had the bullpen not blown it. It's pretty sad though that more than a third of our wins have come against the White Sox. If only we could play them all season long. Instead, this week we have a four game against the nasty Boston Red Sox and then officially open up interleague play with the Washington Nationals. There's a possiblity we may even see last year's #1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg in that series and if he's as good as many people think, we may be on the wrong end of another perfect game. Still though, I gotta remain loyal to my team and I gotta say, Go Tribe!

Hallow victory

So here's a nice two for one...a pair of previews for the upcoming final Harry Potter film(s). The first is an unoffical trailer that I somehow missed when it hit the net late last year. The second debuted tonight on MTV's Movie Awards show. Both seem to adequately show the epic nature that the book had. Time will tell whether it's able to successfully finish off the series.

NMR: Daybreakers

Clearly anyone that knows me knows that I want nothing to do with the stupid vampire craze that has disturbingly swept the nation. However, when I had seen the previews for this film earlier this year, the concept of this blood-sucker film was so unique, that I couldn't help but be intrigued. The premise here is that the majority of the population has become vampires and they're quickly running out of human blood to keep themselves alive. Some are hunting down the remaining humans, while Ethan Hawke joins up with Willem Dafoe to try and find a cure. The film presents a lot of clever allegories for real-life issues; dependency on oil, immigration, scientific ethics, and military power just to name a few. I found all of them to be very thought provoking and made it seem that this film would be something special. Unfortunately the second half of the film devolves into a gore-fest instead of following through on its themes. It's a shame the film decided to take that route. It cheapens the film for those, like me, who wanted something provoking and the violence comes too late in the film to appease the people that wants to see an all-out blood fest throughout. Still I think it has enough to make it worthy of a rental. While it does not completely suck, I wish it would have had a little bit more bit. Grade: B

Second helping

Here's the second trailer for the new comedy, Dinner For Schmucks, starring Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd that opens next month.

Avenger? I barely know her!

Here's a couple of images of concept art for the two Marvel superhero movies coming out next summer. Both Thor and Captain America will be part of the Avenger initiative that was mentioned in the Iron Man films.

Pilgrim's pride

Here's the newest trailer for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I'm liking this more and more with each new footage I see. BTW, bonus points go for having Parks and Recreation's Aubrey Plaza in this film.

The clock strikes out for 24

Lost is not the only show I'm mourning this spring. I've also had to say goodbye to the CTU gang over at 24. Over the past eight seasons, the Fox drama has provided tremendous action and was unique for its real-time storytelling. Perhaps most of all it has given us one of the most iconic characters in television history - Jack Bauer. While the show had its eye-rolling moments and came under controversy for its views on torture, it was remain of the most intense shows ever on network television.

As the show came to a close, I wish it had been able to do under better terms. While not the worst season (that honor goes to a dreadful season 6), it was at best uneven. The central storyline just never had the sense of urgency which hampered the action. This season also features some of the recurring characters doing things that went against their character. Worst of all for me was seeing them kill off the Renee Walker character. I'm not an overly sentimental person that needed to see Jack finish the show with the love of his life. I simply wanted to see her live because she not only loved him, but because she was just as badass as he was when it came to taking down the bad guys. The lone bright spot for the season was seeing the return of Gregory Itzin as former President Logan. His manipulations of others is downright Shakespearean at times, so it was fun to see him play off of the other characters once again.

The final hours of the show were not as dramatic as they could be. But they also did leave a lot of doors open, which is good since there is still plans to make a feature film involving these characters at some point. Flawed as it was, I stuck with this show until the end and I'm glad for it. Oddly enough, I actually was late to the game in becoming a fan and have never seen the first season. Thankfully it's now available on Netflix's instant view, so I plan on watching that at some point over the summer. Just as I was thankful to the Lost producers, I am equally grateful of the people behind 24 for giving us such a thrilling show that will be remembered for the rest of time.

Happy Memorial Day!

In honor of today's holiday, here is the Muppets own, Sam the Eagle to sing us a nice patriotic song (or not).

Lost but never forgotten

I've now had a week to contemplate the finale of Lost, so I guess it's time I weigh in on the conclusion and what it meant to the show overall. Like so many people, I'm left with mixed feelings about the finale. On one hand, I was completely moved by the events that unfolded. Seeing familiar faces and so many wonderful reunions was truly touching. Oddly enough, I think I was most moved by the final scene between Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and Ben (Michael Emerson). These two performers gave us one final great scene together and it was great to see Locke forgive him after all the two of them had been through together. The final revelation that the sideways world had been some sort of purgatory was poignant and fitting given everything that has gone down the past 6 seasons. I liked how the final scene of them sitting in the church as Christian opened the doors to reveal a big light was eerily reminiscent of them sitting in the plane as a big light shone behind them as the back of the plane was ripped apart. The whole thing was very emotional and left me drained by the time it was over.

Having said that, the nerd in me screams with rage that more answers to the show's mythology were never given. Now I'm not one of these people that needed to have answers to every piece of the show's minutae (I really don't care how or why there was a Dharma food drop years after their experiments were over). However, there were some critical things that were abandoned that I felt needed better resolution. Tops on that list was Charles Widmore and everything surrounding him. We never got a suitable answer as to why he was kicked off the island. We didn't discover why he so desperately wanted to get back. And I'm still unclear as to what exactly he wanted to use Desmond for. For too long in the series, it appeared that things were building to a Ben/Widmore showdown and instead that showdown turned into Jacob/the Man in Black. While that showdown had potential, I never felt it lived up to it. The characters were properly introduced too late in the game and it required us to buy into more science fiction than reality. Given the way the show ended, I wonder why they felt the need to have that element of science fiction or the unexplained. If life on the island was reality, why not root it completely in reality and have every mysterious thing explained with a logical answer.

As I look at my critique though, I find myself having an internal war with my man of faith and my man of science. I believe this is truly what the show wanted to accomplish. It's been clear that the show has always favored the man of faith and wanted its viewers to embrace that side of themselves as well. Those that can, probably really enjoyed the finale and those that can't are left feeling very frustrated. Whatever my issues are with how things wrapped up, I look forward to at some point in the near future rewatching the series from the start to see how much of it I can enjoy and appreciate from a new perspective. I also anticipate the final season's DVD set coming out sometime in August, which promises to fill in some gaps that couldn't be accomplished during the show's run. Also, if you end up getting the entire series box set, I read that there will be a 12-14 minute video featuring Hurley and Ben's time on the island running the show. That sounds can't miss. Since I already own all of the sets, I may not be able to get it, so I hope it eventually pops up on YouTube somewhere.

I know I have plenty of Lost fans that read this site, so please share with me your thoughts and opinions on the show. I'm very curious to see what everyone else thought. And to the creators of the show, I'd like to thank them for six very entertaining years of TV. I know there will be a definite void in my TV schedule next year without it around. And so as we bid Aloha to Lost, I say to all of you, Namaste!

NMR: 48 Hours

I caught this last night on Netflix's Instant Viewing and I have to say I wasn't impressed. I know this is supposed to be a classic 80s movie and one of the ones that jump started Eddie Murphy's film career, but I found it to be too gritty and depressing. The racially charged dialogue heard throughout the film was no doubt meant to be provocative, but I just found it to be crass and unnecessary. It just seemed so unprofessional that these two characters would take the time to have a lengthy fistfight when their attention needed to be on catching the criminal. I think a big problem with the film for me is that I have once again been spoiled by seeing parodies and knock-offs before the original material. In this case, I've seen and enjoyed films like Lethal Weapon and National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 before, so nothing in this film seemed fresh, even if it did happen first. I won't begrudge anyone that does enjoy this movie, but I'm not likely to watch it again. Rating: **

Wahoo Wrap-Up (Week 8)

Record: 18-29, Last in the AL Central

Things seem to be going from bad to worse with this team. On top of losing games on a frequent basis, we're losing key players left and right. First it was a freak accident that caused Asdrubal Cabrera to break a bone in his arm and be out 6-8 week. Then we learned this weekend that Grady will need surgery on his leg and will also be out about 6 weeks. Oddly, the scariest looking moment for an Indian though was the line drive that pitcher David Huff took off of his head. Surprisingly, the CT scan was negative and he says he's feeling fine, although it's not clear when exactly he'll return to the mound.

We've been trying to stay afloat with an inferior team, but now it looks like it's starting to catch up to us. We've sunk to the basement of the division and things don't like they'll be getting any better anytime soon. After finishing up our four game series with the Yankees tomorrow, we stay out on the road against Detroit and Chicago. I don't hold much hope, however, if we can somehow play well against those two divisional opponents we could make some movement back up the standings. I know things look bleak, but my devotion will never waver. As always, Go Tribe!

Boys and the Hood

So this review is long overdue as I actually saw Robin Hood during it's opening week. Despite this being the umpteenth iteration of this classic story, I have quite a bit to say about this film, so let's hope I still remember it all in this review.

I think the one thing that needs to be stressed about this film is its central story. If you thought this would be another version of seeing Robin stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, you would be dead wrong. This film is actually a prequel of sorts, establishing how he became the outlaw that we all know him to be today. This backstory that director Ridley Scott gives us unfortunately isn't that interesting. It really doesn't even revolve around Robin. Instead, it's a story of England's war with the French and Robin just happens to be in the middle of it. It almost seemed as I watched this film that Scott just wanted to do another historical war film, but the studio didn't find that interesting enough so he decided to shoehorn Robin Hood into the story to make it more appealing.

This time around, the classic archer is played by Russell Crowe. Crowe has teamed up with Scott in the past with big success. This time around, Scott would have been better off not relying on his old friends. As great of an actor as Crowe is, he doesn't really add much to this storied character. He doesn't give him enough energy or charisma, which causes you to wonder why anyone would bother following this guy. There are a couple of moments in the film when Crowe is giving a speech to a crowd of people and I wondered why anyone was listing. Had I been there, I would have asked, "And you are again?"

Despite that void of character, Robin Hood does of course have his followers. Sadly, because this is a prequel, they are barely given more than token acknowledgments. We see who Little John and Friar Tuck are but that's about it. Throughout the film they're either dutifully following Robin or getting drunk when he's away. At least we can see why they were considered 'merry'. Perhaps more frustrating than their lack of development is seeing quality actors thrown into the film for meaningless roles. Actors like Max Von Sydow and William Hurt show up at various points, but again fail to add the expected prestige to the movie. Hurt's presence is particularly bizarre since his character doesn't have a major impact on the flow of the story. It sadly seemed like these guys simply came in for a paycheck and have the studio use their names in the credits to give the film some added prestige.

The only other actor besides Crowe who is given something of substance is Cate Blanchett as Maid Marian. Even though she has a larger role, the script wastes her talents as well. If she's not involved in some laughable romantic comedy scenes with Crowe, then she's trying to do the female empowerment thing by getting involved in the fight scenes with the men. Neither situation feels authentic. Instead, they've molded the character to fit into today's Hollywood archetypes. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear they were trying to spin the character off into her own action adventure franchise.

While nothing about this picture feels like a real Robin Hood movie, everything about it does feel like a Ridley Scott picture. You've got a lot of fighting sequences that are edited at a frenetic pace. Although I will say that I found them to be more enjoyable here than in a lot of his other sword and sandal movies. I'm not sure why that is, but maybe it's because there were so many problems with the non-fighting scenes here that the fights just looked better by comparison. The film also has another Scott standby; themes of power and the corruption of government. Here, we see King John in over his head as king of England and use bullying tactics as a way to mask his ineptitude. Watching this performance though, you can't help but feel that King John is nothing more than a watered down version of Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus from Gladiator. Really, the whole movie feels like a tepid sampling of many of Scott's previous better films.

While Robin Hood never matches up to expectations, it never bores you either. The film moves along with a mix of action and light comedy that will likely keep most entertained. However, you will also sit and wonder what could have been. It seems like a lot of key pieces are there, but nobody felt like putting the effort in to make it something special. While Robin never missed the target, this Robin Hood definitely misses its mark. Grade: C+

Pyramid power

I haven't mentioned it on here yet, but about a month ago I started inexplicably getting the Game Show Network again through my cable system. Since it's return, I've been enjoying a lot of the old show, but one in particular has been the $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramid. I don't know how long I'll keep getting GSN, so I was happy to hear news that CBS is considering bringing back a daytime version of the Pyramid. Even better news is that they are finalizing the deal to have Andy Richter host it. While it may seem like an odd choice initially, I think it's a pretty good one. Andy has always seemed like a genuinely nice fellow and I think he would be invested in seeing all of the contestant succeed on the show. On top of that, Andy is pretty intelligent and well versed in game shows. He's had success on numerous occassions on Celebrity Jeopardy. Don't believe me? Well take a look for yourself. Below are two videos, one of Andy doing a piece on the old Conan show preparing for his first appearance and the second video is of him doing well during his 2009 appearance.

NMR: The Private Eyes

When I was a kid, my family and I would spend every Sunday afternoon watching old Disney/family movies. Every week we would scour our local video stores to find one we had never seen before. I fully believed we had seen everything in existence, so it came as quite as a surprise to see on Netflix this 1980 comedy starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway as bumbling detectives. Surely had we ever seen this film on the shelves at the video store we would have rented it. While The Private Eyes is very similar to other Knotts/Conway pairings (like The Apple Dumpling Gang), some of their appeal is lost on me now as an adult. As a kid, they were a fun romp, now some of the comedy just seems dumb. I was surprised though that the film didn't feature more slapstick. Instead, most of the comedy comes from Knotts and Conway being real stupid, yet somehow still solving the case. The film plays like an extended episode of Inspector Gadget only without all the cool gadgets. If you have an appreciation for these type of films, you'll probably find enough amusement in this outing. Otherwise, there's no bother in checking this out. Rating: ***

Need some Recreation?

Who doesn't! Since NBC doesn't seem to be releasing any deleted scenes for The Office season finale, I figured I would take this time to once again plug Parks and Recreation. Below you can enjoy the special producer's cut version of their season finale.

Book review: The Lost Symbol

Believe it or not, I don't just sit in front of a TV or computer all day long. On occasion, I do still take a chance to read a good novel. I recently had the opportunity to read Dan Brown's latest, The Lost Symbol; another entry in the Robert Langdon series after Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code. Once again, Langdon is asked to solve ancient and intricate mysteries surrounding a mysterious organization, this time being the Masons.

Most of Brown's trademark writing style remains here, so if you enjoyed the previous novels you will probably enjoy this one. I can't rank this one as high as my favorite, Angels and Demons, however for a few reasons. I found the book a little slow to begin. There just a little too much standing around and talking without equal action going on. Once the plot does pick up and Langdon is on the run from the government, the action is great and it becomes a real page-turner. The book's climax is also somewhat of a letdown. After the bad guy is defeated, there's still another 50 pages of exposition that provides little pay off. Without saying too much, the big secret that's revealed is nothing as scandalous or interesting as what is proposed in The Da Vinci Code. Finally, while certainly steeped in history, I found the book's Washington DC setting lacking in the same appeal and intrique that the Vatican offered in A & D. So while this isn't Brown's best effort, it has enough to make it a decent pick-up during the summer if you're looking for somethingto read while laying out on the beach. Grade: B-

Fox on the run

From EW.com:

Sources close to the production of Transformers 3 confirm to EW that Megan Fox’s option for the film has not been renewed. Contrary to earlier reports, however, the decision is not a personal vendetta. The source tells EW that it was logical, considering the direction of the script, which sees leading man Shia LaBeouf developing a new love interest.

Well that solves half the problem. Now if they could just get rid of Shia and the rest of the humans, they might actually have a halfway decent film on their hands.

Fall schedule announcements (CW)

The CW just unveiled its brand new 2010-11 schedule, and here’s what you need to know now: 90210 is shifting to Monday (paired with Gossip Girl), One Tree Hill is moving to Tuesday (paired with Life Unexpected), Supernatural is relocating to Friday (reunited with former time-slot companion Smallville), and new action-drama-reboot Nikita has nabbed the plum post-Vampire Diaries slot on Thursday. The complete M-F schedule is below.

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM 90210 (New Night)
9:00-10:00 PM GOSSIP GIRL

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM ONE TREE HILL (New Night)
9:00-10:00 PM LIFE UNEXPECTED (New Night)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL
9:00-10:00 PM HELLCATS (New Series) Watch a clip!

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
9:00-10:00 PM NIKITA (New Series) Watch a clip!

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SMALLVILLE
9:00-10:00 PM SUPERNATURAL (New Night)

Lost answers found?!?

From TVGuide.com:

Turns out two and a half hours just wasn't enough screen time for Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse to tell the whole story they wanted to tell us. An ABC source confirms to me that after Sunday’s series finale, titled "The End," airs from 9 – 11:30 pm ET/PT, the season six DVD (as well as the complete series collection, out on DVD and Blu-ray August 24) will continue the saga with upwards of twenty minutes of additional storyline.

“It’s in production now,” confirms the source, who couldn’t yet confirm the actual running time of the new scenes. “Damon and Carlton wanted to offer fans answers to additional questions they couldn’t get to in the body of the final show.”

Lindelof and Cuse have also ordered up some spectacular packaging that should make the DVDs a must-purchase for show fans. And for those of you who have completely abandoned hope of any happily-ever-afters for these poor lost souls following the recent string of island casualties, Sonja Walger, whose lucky Penny turns up in the finale, offers us a ray of hope. When I asked her to tell me who gets the best ending, she said, “We all do and you’ll see why.”

Could there perhaps be light at the end of Jacob's tunnel of light?