Lost - Season 4

Lost - Season 4
Starring Naveen Andrews, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, Terry O'Quinn, Elizabeth Mitchell, Henry Ian Cusick, Michael Emerson, Daniel Day Kim, Yunjin Kim, Emile de Ravin, Harold Perrineau
Developed by Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof
Transmission season: 2006-2007
ABC, 14 episodes, 43 mins.

Plot: The Oceanic 815 survivors are uber-giddy 'cuz it appears that rescue is on its way - but y'know the thing about appearances....they tend to be, well, deceiving.

"I used to have dreams" - Benjamin Linus, "Cabin Fever"

Thanks to the 100 day Writer's Strike, Lost - Season 4 had a truncated season. From the usual 23 episodes, we got 14 (a extra hour given at the 11th hour due to the magnitude of events that transpire in the two-part finale). On one hand, a smaller season, but on the other hand, it offered a tighter story structure which allowed more plot points to happen at a quicker pace, and less stand-alone episodes. Plus with the announcement that Lost would be concluding its run in three seasons by 2010, every episode would be precious.

What we got is a overall decent season, but not nearly as powerful as the third. I know I said this with the previous review, but I'd say it more qualifies here: season 4 acts as a epilogue to the original story - the story of 40+ survivors on a island full of mysteries, and then moves us into the final act - which introduces science fiction elements, furthers destiny vs. free will, and introduces a whole new set of problems that will eventually lead up to the series finale.

The Season
When we left the islanders, the survivors were in jubilee, super happy that rescue is imminent, but yet Locke and Charlie's warning that something is amiss quite dampers the mood, which literally separates the survivors into Team Locke and Team Jack. Through the course of the season, both members of the groups analyze their decisions, come to conclusions about themselves and about what matters to them, and occasionally switch sides here and there.

This season's main mystery is all about the freighter, the people on the freighter, and what exactly is their purpose on the island if it isn't rescuing the survivors? It's overall not as compelling as the Others storyline from the past season, but by the finale, the suspense and masterwork of storytelling is at a all-time high, so the decent season is quite forgiven. And Lost being Lost, this season brings new characters and expands old ones as their roles in the mythology become more important.

In the category of new recruits, we've got Daniel Faraday, Miles, and Charlotte, three dudes picked by Charles Widmore to come to the island and do...stuff. Daniel is the highlight character by far, all of his awesome eccentricities and mild mannered whisper-like voice easily making every one of his scenes something special. Faraday is also the personification of a exposition tool, something that will become more extreme in the following season. Basically, it's great fun to watch this guy act and say his scientific mumbo jumbo. As a casualty of the strike, Charlotte's character isn't allowed the opportunity to really be significant, but again, this gets addressed in the first batch of season 5 episodes. And then we got Miles, the witty to-the-point bloke who apparently can 'feel' and 'speak' to our dearly departed. As far as new characters introduced, Miles is my second fave.

Alan Dale's Charles Widmore, father of Penny Widmore, becomes far more integral to the plot than ever before (and from what I've seen of the next season, he's only gonna play a even bigger role). Widmore hires some army dudes and these scientists to go to the island, extract/kill Benjamin Linus, and then murder everyone on that island. Charles is one badass mofo that you just don't want to cross paths with. As to be expected by Alan's amazing ability to be a cold, heartless jackass, his performance is rock solid. No complaints. Gotta love that dude.

Additionally, making a return appearance after being totally absent in season 3, Harold Perrineau rejoins the cast as Michael, and this time with a redemptive storyline that I actually don't mind! Michael has been on his own little journey since leaving the island - basically a journey to kill himself. He's been so emotionally burdened by what he did to Ana and Libby in season 2 - plus the fact that after he blurted this info to Walt the kid doesn't want to speak to him - that he becomes reckless and fully embracing death. It's odd that characters like Michael and Charlie, two blokes who I had no love for, became interesting only after death gets involved: for one of 'em, a prophesied death, and for the other, a need for death that won't be fulfilled by the island's reckoning. His character, although credited for the entire 13-episode run, only appears in about seven of those episodes, which is a shame. This time around, his arc of redemption is quite engaging to watch, and it's a shame it's not further explored with the exception of Michael's flashback episode "Meet Kevin Johnson."

A nifty device that that makes this season unique compared to its predecessors is the introduction of the flash-forwards, events that take place three years after everything that's happening on the island. There's the "Oceanic Six", which we quickly learn the identities to, and we get information about their official story of what happened to them during the plane crash, as well as the not-as-happy-ending-as-we-would-figure scenarios that happen to basically everyone. Legal troubles, institutions, suspensions, assassinations - these guys come back messed up, perhaps moreso than they were on the island.

Oh! And before I forget, that's another beautiful element of season 4 that gets solidified more in the flash forwards - addressing the island as its only little alive creature, basically being something really powerful, really unique, and really special. I mean that the island isn't just some place where the Oceanic survivors walk around and face off enemies, it actually seems to be something alive, something that can make decisions (e.g., being not 'done' with people yet, like in the case of Michael), something God-like almost. Hopefully the answer of what the island is and its many mysteries will be revealed in the series finale airing in...three days. Sheesh. I've got 23 episodes to watch before Sunday!

As far as our heroes are concerned - Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Juliet, Sun, Jin, Hurley, Sayid, Locke, Claire - they have two goals: 1) surviving any way they can, and 2) getting off the island (for those in Team Jack). It's those goals that bring the momentum to the season, and regrettably, with everything going on with the freighter and the determination to get off the island, characters aren't allowed to evolve. The good news is that the Oceanic Six brings some gorgeous character development - or, in a sad way, regressions. You'll know what I mean when you see the episodes. It is quite interesting that in the midst of them not knowing what to do with their lives, some of them resort to who or what they were before.

In the midst of all this ongoing war stuff with the army dudes on the freighter, season 4 delivers one of the biggest emotional punches in the entire series (as of yet), and it happens to a character we all love to despise: Benjamin Linus. Two characters that are very close to him die, one of them right in front of his eyes. The pure shock, fury, and hatred that's etched on Michael Emerson's face was worthy of a Emmy alone. By the finale, Linus takes his revenge at a great cost of many other lives. Y'know in Braveheart when Mel Gibson rides in slowly on his horse after his wife is killed and you just know that shit. got. real? Yeah, well that's Ben Linus' face when he says, "They just changed the rules."

Concerning Ben, his character arc nicely evolves as well. No longer is he the man in charge, calling for action and making the tough decisions. Instead he spends a good portion of the season tied up and dragged around until the halfway point, where he really becomes a pitiful character to a extent. Yeah, he stays true to his old ways of using nothing but his words to coerce people into doing what he wants them to do, and is as sinister as he was in the season before, but this year Ben becomes quite the sympathetic figure. The finale really hit me in the gut emotionally as Ben makes a sacrifice, nearly as much as that line I quoted before the review. It's beautiful cases like these that show the beauty of the Lost writers.

When Lost is done and gone, and we remember the show, the time traveling element and the rich, beautifully written characters will be the top two things I will fondly recall of the show.

Once again, Michael Giacchino gives us outstanding work. I'd go so far as to say his compositions this season kicks the ass out of the previous three. He shows off some particularly jaw-dropping work in the two-part finale, and a Lost - Season 4 soundtrack is definitely high on my list of must-buy stuff. Next to pizza. See, that's how important it is to me.

One final thing worth mentioning - the DVD extras. The Complete Fourth Season box set comes with a buttload of extras - two discs worth! Behind the Scenes footage galore, nearly a hour of chronological order flash forwards, and perhaps the best part of the set: audio commentaries! For those who've read earlier DVD reviews, you know I'm a commentary whore, so their inclusion is a happy bonus. The best thing, though, is that the two-part finale "There's No Place Like Home" features commentary with Lindelof and Cuse, who are friggin' awesome - a nice balance of detail, info, and jokes. For those who own the set, I implore you to listen to them, you will not be disappointed.

Final Words
A strong season, no doubt, but not one of my favorites. There's some great episodes, such as the much-hailed "The Constant" and two-part finale, but it was overall just a decent, although necessary, season. The show is beginning to walk away from the stranded-on-a-weird-island storyline and is now entering new uncharted territory by introducing sci-fi elements into the program, but yet nicely keeping it in the realm of possibilities within the shows universe. Themes of fate/destiny vs. free will, individual purpose, life, death, and the human reaction to loss...it's all still there. I'm 11 episodes into Season 5, and it already is one hell of a jaw-dropping ride!

The Crazies, Last Song, Repo Men, Robin Hood

The Crazies
Starring Timothy Olyphan, Radha Mitchell, Danielle Panabaker, Joe Anderson
Written by Ray Wright, Scott Kosar
Based on "The Crazies" by George Romero
Directed by Brek Eisner
Release: 26 February 2010
Overture Films, 101 mins., Rated R

Plot: A sheriff, his wife, and a deputy face off against everyone else in town who have been infected by some strange virus in the water and have become quite crazy.

Luckily, I didn't endure the same experience others had while watching The Crazies, this remake (and here it actually does apply as a remake) of a old George Romero production (which I never saw), so my review is pretty straight-forward. All in all, a pretty strong and quite effective movie, which was quite nice considering I was expecting nothing less than a below average rehash of Grudge 2-esque crap.

The movie is pretty intense, I won't lie. Although it's not necessarily scary, it did make me literally cling to every shot, wondering where the new bad guy is gonna be and what new obstacle is gonna get in their way now. It's awesome. There's some truly cool moments, like the super-duper-best-ever-death involving Olyphant, a hand, and a knife. That was tight. There's also the awesome car wash sequence which I'm sure plenty have written about already - that was pure terror and intensity, same thing near the end with the deputy and his wife at the gas station/market area where they're confronted by two crazies.

The biggest and best surprise of The Crazies - and a large reason why I'm giving it additional props - is the 70 second scene with Glen Morshower, who you may recognize as being a military Head Honcho in both Transformers movies, and in TV Land, you recognize him as Agent Piece in 24. In Crazies, he has a short, sweet, and thankless role as a government agent who tells Olyphant & Co. what's going on before getting shot in the head.

Another element that I like - and yeah, I know it's not necessarily original - is that these are not zombies, and that the U.S. military comes in to clean up their mess mercilessly. That's just cool, and I like how it's handled here. It's truly a fight for survival, and it's dirty. But none of the drama or the heightened tension would mean a single thing if it wasn't for the great cast involved - Olyphant, Mitchell, Anderson. All three feel like they've known each other for years, and to their fight for survival where not everyone makes it is grueling yet cool. So The Crazies is recommended, 'cuz it's actually pretty damn cool.


The Last Song
Starring Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, Greg Kinnear, Kelly Preston, Bobby Coleman
Written by Jeff Van Wie, Nicholas Sparks
Based on the book "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks
Directed by Julie-Anne Robinson
Release: 31 March 2010
Offspring Entertainment, 107 mins., Rated PG-13

Plot: Ronnie (Cyrus) is forced to live with her dad on a really pretty beach after getting into some major legal trouble back home, and as luck would have it, she finds romance in a well-built, doofus looking hunka-bunka.

This Miley Cyrus romance vehicle surprisingly didn't suck. Sure, there were some rather funny moments of really bad acting thanks to Cyrus' real-life hubby and onscreen romantic elemento Hemsworth, but overall, not too bad. Based off a Nicholas Sparks novel - which incidentally, Sparks wrote the book with Cyrus' starpower in mind - it's expected that A) romance will blossom, and B) something bad will happen. Both do indeed transpire through the course of the movie. What's interesting is that I actually gave a damn, and I think that means that Cyrus and company actually did a pretty OK job.

Cyrus' Ronnie doesn't much like her father Steve all that much, probably blaming him for breaking up the family, so they spend the majority of the movie in a verbal jest - she yells, he calmly rebuttals and tells her to go to bed. Greg Kinnear is a awesome actor, and it's great to see him actually engage in a conversation with a angry daughter instead of the stereotypical back-to-back yellfest. On the opposite spectrum of good acting, we have Chris Hemsworth, who is just as bad as Hayden Christensen in Episode II [give the guy a break with Episode III - with the exception of the Courscant balcony scene, then make fun as much as you want].

The fact that I enjoyed the movie doesn't forgive the fact that it's your run-of-the-mill, predictable romantic entanglement. There will somehow, someway be some sort of fault with Ronnie's new leading man, and although he's hunky and 'deep', he has some emotional baggage and regret about something that will just make her fall in love more, etc. And as for the title, it takes only a couple seconds to guess the few scenarios that it suggests. Even through the script isn't entirely strong (e.g., the entire subplot involving this rebel girl Blaze was entirely unnecessary, and I wouldn't have been saddened if a legion of zombies wanted to massacre her in any way), it nonetheless boasts some pretty decent performances, and in all honesty folks, there's far, far worse romantic dramas/comedies floating around the world right now. This one just happens to be rather tolerable. How about that for an endorsement?

Repo Men
Starring Jude Law, Forest Whitaker, Liev Schriber
Written by Eric Garcia, Garrett Lerner
Directed by Miguel Sapochnik
Release: 12 March 2010
Universal Pics., 111 mins., Rated R

Plot: Jude Law slices people up to take their organs if their payments overdue, and when he gets one tossed in his body, he decides to run 'cuz he can't get the dough.

Yes, I've seen Repo! The Genetic Opera, and no, I'm not going to compare the two. Repo Men is all about Jude Law pulling a Minority Report, and kicking some Tom Cruise-esque ass. And Jude is rather good at doing just that.

2010 has been a powerhouse of awesome action scenes, and Repo Men is no different. The final 20 minutes gives us one hell of a awesome hallway fight sequence, where Jude uses his hands and any weapons he can get a hold of to beat up about 15 bad guys. It's sorta like Oldboy, but without the 'woah' factor of being filmed in one shot. With the raging music and Jude pulverizing everyone in that hallway, that was just sweet.

A real ruiner of the movie comes in the form of the ending. On one hand, it's a nice cop out, and completely unexpected, and I can't help but respect the decision. On the other hand, WTF? It's not remotely a understatement to say that I seriously, really like-a-lot hated that ending. I'll rent the DVD to (hopefully) watch 2 or 3 alternate endings, because they MUST have filmed at least a few more and just wrongly chose that one.

Overall, Repo Men was a pretty good run-for-your-life action film with plenty of awesome sequences and awesome actors - Forest Whitaker is 'da man! (don't believe me, watch season 5 of The Shield. Period.) - and is one of the better action films of the year thus far. Just perhaps leave right after the hallway sequence mentioned above, and you won't have to suffer the uber-dumb twist of an ending.


Robin Hood
Starring Russel Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac
Written by Brian Hegeland
Directed by Ridley Scott
Release: 12 May 2010
Imagine Entertainment, 140 mins., Rated PG-13

Plot: Robin Hood's, like, really good at shooting arrows and stuff.

Well, no, it wasn't Gladiator 2.0, though I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good thing, Gladiator was visually stunning, dramatic, character driven, action-awesomey, and just simply a great movie. Robin Hood is a underwhelming "it was good." Keep in mind though, folks, this film is a prequel/origin tale of the legendary Robin Hood - it's not actually about his crusades against King John and taxation. The last 10 minutes are dedicated to that mythology. As a origin story, though, I'd say Robin Hood doesn't quite succeed. Speaking of which, looking back at the movie, I would have much preferred if they kept the title Nottingham as the script was originally called.

Although he looks awesome in the Robin Hood outfit, Russel Crowe mumbles his way through the performance and doesn't seem all that interested in the role. He just looks tired. Cate Blanchett is overall OK in her performance as Lady Marion, but her character is severely undeveloped and in the end, her character makes no real impact that calls for her presence in the film. Oscar Isaac as King John is perhaps the most revealing performance, as it's obvious the actor is having immense fun being this pompous imbecile. I would have loved to see more of his character, although if there is a sequel commissioned, I can't wait to see what he will do with such juicy material.

The script is...alright. The first act suffers the most, being rather dodgy and all over the place, and there's a lack of flow that hinders the film rather largely. By the time Robin arrives in Nottingham to give the Locksley family a sword he vowed to return, things start picking up, but yet the scripts still feels a little choppy. The main problem facing Robin Hood is, simply, there needs to be more. And I say that knowing full well its lengthy running time. But there's plenty of material that can be condensed or omitted (William Hurt's material, for example, which doesn't necessarily need to be there) to make way for more character beats. The entire picture just seems to cobbled together, with all these random elements thrown in to make some big 'epic' production, and they lost sight on the characters.

From a directorial standpoint, Robin Hood was rather tame. When I think of Ridley Scott productions, that man has crafted visually beautiful films - this movie doesn't fall in that category. A particular problem that takes away the joy of the fight scenes is that the framing is too tight that we can't enjoy the full spectacle of the battle. The fight scene in Nottingham is guilty of this, as is the big climatic finale. Perhaps I'm too picky about framing, spoiled by Nolan, Spielberg and Favreau (yes, Favreau), but this was a little disappointing. However, one really super cool aspect of the film was the freakin' awesome score, which will definitely be a must-buy purchase.

All in all, Robin Hood falls into the 'eh, it's OK' category, which is quite unfortunate. It's a beautiful tale, and a origin story held boundless possibilities. On the plus side, it's not nearly as offending as last year's "origin" story. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

Lost - Season 3

Lost - Season 3
Starring Naveen Andrews, Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, Terry O'Quinn, Elizabeth Mitchell, Henry Ian Cusick, Michael Emerson, Daniel Day Kim, Yunjin Kim, Emile de Ravin, Dominic Monaghan, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Co-starring M.C. Gainey, Tania Raymonds, Mira Furlan
Developed by Jeffrey Lieber, J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof
Transmission season: 2006-2007
ABC, 23 episodes, 43 mins.

Plot: Oceanic 815 survivors have even more problems on their plate, this time in the form of "the Others", a group of baddies that live on the other side of the island and aren't too keen on having them take up space on 'their' land.

Now that was awesome. Through the course of the entire season, I feel like I've just went through a roller-coaster ride. Season 3 was filled with so much emotion, so many thrills episode to episode, filled with so many awesome and immensely interesting characters and storylines - I can safely say I dug it more than the second season and first season. Seriously, I was throwing in disc after disc - and it's finals week, mate! I need to study!!! However, it's top ranking may not last long - I just picked up the fourth season from the library, and I have yet to hear a negative word against that truncated season. So, we'll see, but the intensity of season 3 would be hard to top.

The Season
This year is all about the Others, expanding info on the Dharma Initiative, and continuing to build on the island mythology. The sad thing is, though, even with nearly the entire year dedicated to the Dharmas and the Others, I still don't get their motives or purpose on the island. Eh, I'll tackle that a little later. Month three of the Oceanic 815's residence on the island is truly chaotic - at least for our main leads. The group on shore are rather aimless, spending a majority of their time questioning what to do now, brainstorming new ideas of rescue, and a unexpected pregnancy is about the big news that happens to them.

Our main groupies - Jack, Sawyer, and Kate, have been caged by the Others, beaten up and 'experimented on.' The true essence of these first six episodes is the character of Ben Linus (aka the impostor Henry Gale from season 2), watching this rather short and freaky-looking dude manipulative people to do anything he pleases, which makes him a frighting individual. His cool, calculating voice, never wavering unless he's truly provoked - yeah, I get why Michael Emerson gets a lot of attention. Let's not forget his stunning backstory in "The Man Behind the Curtain."

We also get to meet a new cast member, Juliet, a woman he initially really comes off as quite a bitch. Even though I knew she would be around up to the end of season 5, I was really hoping the Smoke Monster or a giant polar bear would just kill her in a very ouch-filled manner. Of course, her flashbacks throughout the season help flesh out her character, and add a bit more sympathy, but truth be told, Juliet is a tough woman to get a fix on. Even as her character progression at the end is cloudy, and her loyalties are never fully determined - which of course heightens drama and continues the thrilling Lost model of ambiguity, but even when she helps Sun in a later episode, I never really got a sense of her humanity. It's like she's a Dharma Initiative robot, or has been around Ben too long and has become as cold and calculating as he has.

"A Tale of Two Cities", the opening episode, is terrific."Further Instructions" (S03E03) is not. Locke, currently suffering from momentary lack of voice ('until he has something to say'), enters a spiritual dimension to locate Eko, who has been missing since the hatch implosion. Alright, I can deal with that - sounds pretty cool, even. But the whole Eko-captured-by-polar-bear bit...yeah, not so cool. In fact, Mr. Eko is terribly wasted in the two episodes he's in. It would make better sense to have killed him off when the hatch imploded.

Alright, back to the Jack/Sawyer/Kate thing - it's tense, really, super duper tense. Kate and Sawyer are beginning to bond heavily, and I can't help but purr and ahhhhh when they make their little cuddly faces to each other. Jack can't tolerate being caged, 'losing' so to speak, and he devises a friggin' awesome plan in "I Do". So Jack succeeds in getting Kate and Sawyer out of the Others' hands, he does good on his promise to Ben, and then the focus shifts to the two escapees getting back to camp.

Well, now's a good of time as any: why were Kate, Sawyer, and Jack treated in the manner that they were? What is the primary goal of the Others? Juliet was recruited for her fertility research, Ben is just a head honcho, and Tom is the older Dwayne Johnson character. But what are they doing, and why the hell did they think it necessary to taunt, beat, and shoot at our beloved trio? In regards to Jack, I understand Ben was planning to manipulative him into doing something for him, and perhaps hurting Kate and Sawyer was the best avenue of coercion. I guess I'm frustrated because the treatment of Kate and Sawyer, and the whole purpose of them doing so, is too cloudy, and what the Others are even doing ('something special', they keep on saying over and over again) is never explored or explained.

The remainder of the season is pretty good, and then the two-hour finale comes upon us, and it's like, "Holy friggin' crap! COOL!" With Juliet tagging along Jack and Kate to their camp, she expectedly receives a lukewarm welcome, Jack being the only one who really trusts her. While this is going on, Locke is losing his bloody mind. I don't get his motivation, I don't get what continues to drive him other than his anointment of being 'special', but he stays with the Others, hangs around Ben, and overall seems directionless. However, I will say Locke/Sawyer get a MAGNIFICENT episode in "The Brig", where Locke gets Sawyer to do his dirty work for him. The episode is suspenseful and utterly dramatic - a series high point. By the end of the season, though, Locke seems lost. He kills someone - something I found rather uncharacteristic, but whatev - to stop something 'bad' from happening, and then just leaves. Um, yeah.

When "Through the Looking Glass" originally aired, it definitely stirred a lot of O!M!G! reactions, and understandably so. By the finale's conclusion, the game has changed, a end to the series appears to be in sight, and so many news questions are raised and offers a extremely intriguing path for the series to follow. All in all, a great season.

The Characters
Jack spends the most of the season frustrated by his captivity by the Others, rather adventurous and ballsy, and quite determined by the finale to get the frak off the island. As a character, I would say he grows stronger. Kate, too, I would add to that category. Sawyer probably gets the best pay-off, what with his blossoming romance with Kate and his fulfillment of revenge in "The Brig", his character definitely gets to shine this season.

A much undeveloped character gets his due this season, although it's sad he's given great material to work with just when he reaches a tragic end. The character I speak of, is of course, Charlie. Severely annoying and manipulatively written, Charlie was never a character to really like or take seriously, and sorta came across to me as Edward to Claire's Bella: always watching and stalking. So it's fantastic to see Dominic Monaghan work his wide range of skills as Charlie comes to terms with Desmond's visions of his death, and even face his destiny head-on in the finale.

The character of Desmond is given given a greater capacity to shine, and boy is this 'brotha' one hell of a awesome dude. His love story with Penny (the gal from The Librarian!), his duel of respect against her father (the dude from The O.C.!), his self-hatred about his cowardice, and his never-ending goal to help Charlie avert his fate. Desmond is probably one of the most unique and interesting characters on that island, and his ability to see snippets into the future and also survive a electromagnetic explosion is remarkably awesome and intriguing.

Misc.
I made a horrible error in my Lost - Season 2 review: I neglected to mention the work of composer Michael Giacchino. Doing such is, in my opinion, tantamount to a really bad sin. It's difficult to express how closely the success of Lost and the thrill and emotion it conveys is tied to Giacchino's terrific, magnificent score. If you've never watched a episode of Lost in your life, and maintain that you have no intention of doing so, I nevertheless implore you to do a blind buy of Giacchino's stuff. He's the John Williams of this age - a master at work, creating gorgeous works of music that deserves to be listened to over and over and over again. So, yeah, Giacchino rocks!

There's one thing I would like to mention that sorta irks me, and that's the time lapse between when a story element is introduced and when it's picked up again. Sometimes, a cliffhanger finale isn't resolved until two or three episodes down the line, which can be ridiculously maddening. I understand why they do that - I get it, I do; and I have no doubt it was more frustrating at a week-by-week basis, but a story follow-up with the next episode isn't necessarily a bad thing, guys.

And it's quite cool that the writers are already introducing elements that tie in with the greater Lost mythology (as I understand it from seasons 5 & 6 spoilers), such as the character of Jacob and Richard Alpert. That's kinda uber-nifty.

Final Words
The third season of Lost is terrific, and one hell of a high-energy rollercoaster of a ride. Moreso than season 2, I was flipping from one episode to the next, anxious to find out what happens next. This season benefits from the addition of Ben Linus and the enigma that is the Others, proposing many new questions, bringing in plenty of new obstacles and characters, giving payoffs to standing subplots and character arcs, introducing a season-long fight with fate in the form of Charlie's dilemma, and the stunning finale which offers a new direction and fresh ideas. Damn this show is awesome.

EDITORIAL - 2010-2011 TV Season Scorecard

I know there's plenty of other sites that do this, but what the frak, I decided I'll do my own little diddy of a score-card:

ABC

RENEWED: V, Cougar Town, Modern Family, The Middle, Brothers & Sisters, Castle, The Forgotten

CANCELED: Hank, Ugly Betty, Scrubs, Happy Town, Better Off Ted, FlashForward, Romantically Challenged,

UP IN THE AIR: Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice

NEW PROGRAM PICK-UPS: Off the Map

CBS

RENEWED: How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, The Good Wife, NCIS: Los Angeles, Two and a Half Men

CANCELED: Three Rivers

UP IN THE AIR: Accidentally on Purpose, Cold Case, Criminal Minds, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Gary Unmarried, The Ghost Whisperer, Medium, The Mentalist, NCIS, New Adventures of Old Christine, Numb3rs, Rules of Engagement

NEW PROGRAM PICK-UPS:

CW

RENEWED: 90210, Gossip Girl, Smallville, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries

CANCELED: The Beautiful Life

UP IN THE AIR: Life Unexpected, Melrose Place, One Tree Hill

FOX

RENEWED: American Dad, Bones, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, Fringe, Glee, House, Human Target, Lie to Me, The Simpsons

CANCELED: 24, Brothers, Dollhouse, Past Life, 'Til Death, Sons of Tuscon

UP IN THE AIR:

NEW PROGRAM PICK-UPS:

NBC

RENEWED: Chuck, 30 Rock, The Biggest Loser, Celebrity Apprentice, Community, Friday Night Lights, Law & Order: SVU, The Office, Parenthood, Parks & Recreation

CANCELED: Mercy, Trauma, Law & Order, Heroes

UP IN THE AIR:

NEW PROGRAM PICK-UPS: The Cape, Outlaw, Harry's Law, Friends with Benefits

MISC.

RENEWED: Archer, Greek, Southland

CANCELED: The Legend of the Seeker

UP IN THE AIR: Caprica

Lost - Season 2

Lost: Season 2
Starring Matthew Fox, Evangelline Lilly, Daniel Day Kim, Jorge Garcia, Yunjin Kim, Naveen Andrews, Josh Holloway, Harold Perrineau
Co-starring Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Watros, Michael Emerson, Maggie Grace
Developed by J.J. Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse
Original transmission season: 2005-2006
ABC, 24 episodes, 43 mins.

Plot: A very large group of plane crash survivors are stuck on a island that holds a lot more mysteries than just 'so how many trees do you think are on the island?'.

They weren't lying - this program is friggin' addicting! The characters, the stories, the strong writing, the suspense, the mysteries, and the gorgeous scenery - Lost is a very interesting show. I'm already pulled in by the characters and their subsequent flashbacks, clinching to every word uttered by Henry Gale, rooting for Sayid in nearly any situation, smiling like a dumbie when the beautiful Evangeline Lilly is on screen, digging every one-liner Hurley gives, and being captivated by the newly introduced Mr. Eko.

You'll have to forgive me if this review isn't brilliant and in-depth on the philosophical implications Lost presents, my mind is still reeling from the events of the first two discs of season 3, which have thus far been spectacular. But first, a brief overview of the season...

Season 2 consists of 4 main plots: 1) 'the hatch', discovered by Locke and Boone midway through season 1, and a series of numbers that must be entered into a computer every 108 minutes or it will cause 'the end of the world' - as said by the newly introduced enigmatic character of Desmond (Cusick), 2) the four survivors of Flight 815 that landed on the other side of the island - Mr. Eko, Libby, Ana Lucia, and Bernard, 3) Micheal's obsession in finding Walt, and 4) the continuing threat of "the Others."

First up on the discussion board is the hatch. Metaphorically, it represents the power struggle
between Jack and Locke, two people of opposing ideologies that have been designated, so to speak, as leader of the Oceanic 815 survivors. The two who make the rough decisions and play the 'hero' role. For Locke, the hatch - and furthermore, the code that needs to be executed every 108 minutes: 4 8 15 16 23 42 - is a representation of destiny, a reward of his unyielding faith. What's interesting about the Locke character is that as the season progresses, he slowly goes from this charge to a doubting man, a questioning man, while Jack begins to consider the concepts of destiny and fate. A beautiful scene in "Orientation" juxtaposes the two men's ideologies when they first decide to enter the numbers: Locke urges Jack, and Jack's adamant that nothing is going to happen. Makes for some great drama. The very concept of fate/destiny/free will is front and center this season, especially with the introduction of Mr. Eko, a man who firmly believes everything that has transpired the last 48 days have been the act of God.

As far as Desmond's claim that not entering in the code would end the world, well, in the finale we did see the disastrous after effect of not doing the whole code-executing thing, but it wasn't globally devastating. Hopefully further explanations on the numbers, the electromagnetism of the hatch, and the overall importance of all these elements will shed more light on the subject. Just, in the grand scheme of things from what I've read about Jacob and the Man in Black, how does the Dharma Initiative and these hatches fit into the whole equation?

Apparently Lindelof and Cuse felt they needed more cast members added to their already lengthy billing, so we're introduced to the other survivors of Flight 815 who landed on the other side of the island, in the episode "The Other 48 Days." Ana Lucia was a cop until she shot and killed a man who shot her; the utterly awesome and equally awesomely-named Mr. Eko was a drug lord-ish dude in Nigeria until he renounced his wicked ways (although they're not entirely gone) and followed the path of God as directed by his deceased brother Yemi; Bernard is the husband of the old African American lady on the beach and really wants to get back to her - although whenever I see that bloke onscreen I see him as Holland Manners, head of the LA Wolfram & Heart branch; and Libby, a sweet gal who ends up having a awesome arc with Hurley later in the season.

The third over-arching storyline is Micheal's mad hunt for Walt, reducing his entire episode lines to him screaming "WALT!!!!!!!" and "They took my son!!!", as if we didn't get that part the first 1,505 times he actually said it. However, his irritating presence is lessened in the middle portion of the season, as he's absent searching the island for WALT!!!!!! However, with his return episode, we're given one hell of a cliffhanger ending that literally made me shout "Holy friggin' AWESOME!" Even though it was spectacular and completely unexpected, it was sad to see two characters depart. From that episode on, though, the season's momentum goes to high-gear and brings us a really jaw-dropping finale.

And finally, we have "the Others", a group of island folk that have been talked about since the first season. They present themselves as primitive individuals lacking in shoes and decent clothes, bu in actuality, they're highly intelligent, manipulative, cunning, and advanced. The whole "Others" storyline picks up speed with the introduction of Henry Gale, played to utter chilling perfection by Michael Emerson. His speech about what he would do if he was a Other - said against the backdrop of him eating breakfast - will continue to haunt me for years to come. The Others will be explored much more thoroughly in season 3, as in this season they are or more or less enigmatic enemies the Oceanic survivors need to brace themselves against.

Overall, it's amazing the show makes it feel like we've endured a miraculous, emotional and adrenaline-filled journey when, in retrospect, not a lot happened in 23 episodes. Jack and Company discovered the hatch and need to put in a particular code, a new small group of survivors are introduced and nearly quickly dispatched, relationships get complicated and convoluted, the Others finally strike and things turn to shit again. A decent enough summary, eh?

The Best Episodes of the Season: "The 23nd Psalm", the Mr. Eko-centric episode, is pure gold from a acting, scripting, scoring, and visual effects standpoint - it's just brilliant, and gives us a nice visual of the Monster (aka "Smokey"). The two-part finale "Live Together, Die Alone" is also splendid, what with the double-crossing, Henry Gale, the difficult choices that everyone is being forced to make, and most awesomely - Locke's faith put to the test down in the hatch. Speaking of betrayal, "Two for the Road" was pretty damn awesome, and delivered a definite OMG!!! ending. "Collision" was nice just to see Shannon finally bite the bullet. Oh, and "One of Them" was a awesome Sayid-centric episode; I always love those ones.

The Not Best Episodes of the Season: "Fire + Water" was dumb and pointless (yeah, yeah, even though it reintroduces the heroin subplot of Charlies, it was still worthless) and painful to watch due to utterly bad writing (although it was awesome to see Locke beat up Charlie); "Dave" was just OK, and I'm still pissed that little revelation about Libby hasn't been explored yet; and "Adrift" was sorta boring.

Characters who aren't Jack, Locke, Mr. Eko, or Hurley don't really seem to go through any character growth. Charlie remains his obnoxious, Claire-obsessed stalker-y-self successfully making him Obnoxious Character #1; Kate doesn't have anything to do, and shines best in her flashback episode "What Kate Did"; Sawyer remains Sawyer; lovebirds Sun and Jin are reunited, and after the bliss passes Jin's back to his commanding ways; Ana Lucia and Libby aren't given the opportunity to grow; Michael doesn't remotely grow - his IQ actually seems to drop; Claire's life is centered on her child Aaron; Bernard and his wife are also reunited and also go back to their bickering ways...Luckily, looks like season 3 features a bit more development with nearly all the characters.

Speaking of characters, let's take a gander at the actors. Matthew Fox is pretty darn tootin' good as Jack, able to bring the goods whenever necessary. Josh Holloway is a absolute joy to watch as Sawyer, a man who delights in being a prick. However, his flashback episode is a marvelous example of Holloway's abilities, as he's able to not only amp up the prick level but show a profound vulnerability not seen in the character on the island. Jorge Garcia shows us why he's a fan favorite, basically voicing the audiences' questions and reactions right on the show. I actually didn't mind Michelle Rodriguez as Ana, and I felt her character went away too quickly. Adewale was awesome as Mr. Eko, and it took a IMDB search to realize I've actually seen this dude before, and without the accent! Naveen Andrews and Terry O'Quinn are truly the masters of the show in my opinion, being perhaps the most versatile actors on the payroll.

Dominic Monaghan is alright, Emile de Ravin is alright, Evangeline Lilly is pretty good, Harold Perrineau did a nice job showing the emotional turmoil of Michael whenever the character wasn't highly annoying, Michael Emerson gives a tour de force performance as Henry Gale, Maggie Grace is mercifully discarded, and guest star John Terry as Jack's father is utter awesomeness.

Whenever a show tackles subjects like free will vs. fate/destiny, I'm immediately intrigued. It's one of the awesomest aspects of Supernatural, aside from the obvious Dean/Sam brotherly love. Season 2 seems to be all about that theme, with Mr. Eko and Locke being the prime advocates. Charlie seems to becoming drawn to the idea that a higher power has been guiding them and has a larger purpose for them - Claire and Aaron, specifically. The best use of the theme is in the finale, "Live Together, Die Alone", with Locke choosing not to put the code in and pushing the "Execute" button, believing that nothing will happen. The insane tension that comes out of the Locke/Desmond/Eko scenes in that episode is unrelentingly nail-biting and exquisitely interesting. I'm half tempted to go out and buy me some "Lost and Philosophy" book just to read about the show's proposed philosophy on the free will vs. fate debate.

Seasons 1 and 2 sort of act as "the island" seasons, where the emphasis what solely on the characters and their island-bound situation. As of right now, I'm 9 episodes into season 3, and already I can tell that season is very much the beginning of the real story - the meat. Since I'm a sucker for spoilers, I know about Jacob and the Man in Black from seasons 5 and 6, and there's already hints at the Jacob character twice in these last 9 episodes. Season 3 is Losts Empire Strikes Back, and the following seasons appear to be the major conflict/resolution, whereas the previous two were set-up, in a way.

Before I finish up this review, I do want to mention watching Lost week-by-week vs. the DVD format. I understand that season 3 debuted with six episodes, and then went on a lengthy hiatus until the later episodes had a uninterrupted run, and that it became excruciatingly frustrating for fans. I have concluded that watching Lost on DVD format is the way to go. The DVD route makes the bad episodes not quite as bad and irritating to watch. Lost not only likes to play with time in the show, but also likes to put a episode or two in-between giant cliffhangers and lingering questions, and I can absolutely understand fans discontent with a stellar episode being followed up with a pointless filler. Although the DVD format doesn't entirely make this problem a thing of the past, it nonetheless lessens the annoyance level of it.

Plus, it just makes everything flow much better. It nicely cements the full storyline idea, where everything flows full circle, and the longevity of some scenarios seem to take less time on DVD than waiting week for week. Take the New Caprica stuff from Battlestar Galactica season 3, for example. Four weeks of Cylon occupation constitutes a one-time sit down disc that takes no more than three hour and some change. Voila! Less time spent without the Galactica in action, and audiences are happy again.

Anyway, Lost is a pretty damn good show. I'm interested enough to continue pursuing the program, to hopefully find resolution to lingering questions and the characters. Is it at the level of greatness that many claim it to be? Might be, but season 2 isn't quite the best example of it. I'm nearly through season 3 as of press-time, and right now I'd call that season pretty great, so I have a feeling the best has yet to come.

My goal is to watch all of the seasons including the majority of season 6 before the 23 May 2010 finale, so that gives me about two weeks to watch 60 episodes...Wish me luck! A review of season 3 should be forthcoming by next Wednesday.

The Bride Collector

The Bride Collector
Written by Ted Dekker
Hachette Book Group, 2010

Plot: A serial killer murders 'perfect' women as offerings to God while FBI Special Agent Brad Rains hones in on the psychopath.

Ted Dekker has penned some phenomenal stories - chief among them the Circle Trilogy - as well as some fodders, like Skin. The Bride Collector falls in-between these two spectrum's. On one hand, it's a rather engaging hunt between Rains and the killer, Quentin Gauld, but on the other hand, it's a decent romance written far too Twilight-esqe for my taste.

I'm not sure how to tackle this review, so I'll head straight first to the topic of the serial killer. Quentin is under the impression that God wants seven of the beautifulest women/brides in the world to return to his heavenly kingdom, and that Quentin's function on earth is to help these women recognize their importance to the Lord and send them up to heaven for the big guy. A sort-of weak foundation for a killer that nicely weaves in Dekker's need for Christian elements into the fray. I wager my biggest disappointment with Quentin, then, is that despite entire chapters dedicated to getting into his mind, he just seems so darn flat, not unlike Agent Rains.

Brad Rains sucks at commitment after a really, really bad split with his last gal, Ruby. This particular storyline is quite intriguing - getting into Brad's mind and experiencing his reactions to the Ruby situation. But after that, he isn't given much to work with. The remainder of his storyline is deliberating between should I? or shouldn't I? He questions a blossoming romance and the consequences of that, he questions his abilities, whether or not he should consult intelligent members of a mental institution for help, etc. Perhaps Brad should have had a few more demons in his closet, or make him reckless. He just felt so...procedural?

A romance blossoms between Agent Rains and Paradise (one of the gals at the institution who isn't actually mentally wacky), which, y'know, I've got no problems about. In fact, it's a rather interesting relationship. Brad and Paradise are almost equals in regards to their intelligence, and they have a mutual attraction which always falls into the good category. Paradise herself is a captivating character, her thoughts and reactions to events and words always a particular interest to read. The only problem that I have with this romance is how it's handled - writing wise. What the reader endures for the next 300 pages is nothing short of the male version of Stephenie Meyers obnoxious multi-paragraph 'OMG, he/she is SO dreamy' essays that are repeated nearly every other page. After the first 10 times their attraction is hinted at and subsequently denied by both of them as vigorously as they can, I get the point. I understand Paradise fully - her mental and physical quirks and all, as I do Brad Rains, bland-ish figure that he is.

The main problem with The Bride Collector that I have concluded is that it doesn't offer enough original material, characters, situations, etc. to make it stand out.

Overall, The Bride Collector was a quick, brisk read that was interesting enough to make it a page-turner, but with further contemplation, it's not one of Dekker's finest works. And I respect the guy, so it's sucky for me to say that. Nevertheless, I'm still on the lookout for new Dekker books, and I highly recommend his work to any newcomer.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street
Starring Jackie Earle Harley, Rooney Mara, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kyle Gallner
Written by Wesley Strick, Eric Hesseiner
Directed by Samuel Bayer
Release: 30 April 2010
Platinum Dunes, 93 mins., Rated R

Plot: A group of 'teens' find that they are all suffering from the same nightmare of a red-green striped sweater-wearing burn-victim-looking scary dude who kills them off one by one.

A new year, a new horror remake! Good news: A Nightmare on Elm Street isn't BAD! The not good news: it's ain't great, either, and doesn't live up to the splendidly-edited trailer's potential. I mean, those trailers make the flick look friggin' awesome, like it's got some real potential to be a really damn good update to a tired franchise. Plus, the comments from director Bayer in the recent FANGORIA issue gave me some positive buzz for the project. Since my thoughts are scattered, I'm going to go the extremely lazy route and resort to bullet points! Gotta love 'em, if teachers notes on my papers are any indication...

Yep, That Was Pretty Good:

• Jackie Earle Haley gets major kudos for being a utterly badass, ruthless, threatening, and all-around amazing Freddy Krueger. He seriously made this movie. His growly voice that would make Christan Bale jealous, his ability to just stand there and look like the most frighting creature in all of creation, and his brilliant one-liners...Yep, if I ever pick-up the DVD, I'm just skipping to all the Freddy scenes, and/or listening to the commentary if Haley's involved. Oh, and awesome performance aside, I quite like Freddy's facial redesign. I understand some folks may be put off by it, either with feeling it's disgraceful to Robert's look or for some other reason, but I think it looks actually scarier than the original.
  
• The cinematography was pretty good. Regarding that FANGORIA interview I mentioned above, director Bayer remarked his visual style was heavily influenced by The Dark Knight, which gave me mucho hope. In response to whether or not he accomplished this, I give a underwhelming sorta. The majority of the time the framing and the visuals are pretty damn nice. However, downside - there is a lot of tight close-ups, almost like Bayer was filming a TV show moreso than a theatrical experience that wisely uses all inches of the frame. But, overall, cool.
  
• Speaking of cool, there's an awesome scene near the finale where Nancy is in a supermarket looking for Quentin, and due to how long she's been awake she's suffering from micosleeps, and we seamlessly inter-cut between reality and Freddy's dreamworld. It's friggin' AWESOME.
• I really liked the background information Freddy Krueger, as well as the possible idea introduced that Freddy could have been innocent in the whole affair, and that his motive is strictly revenge on the people for murdering him in cold blood. That was immensely interesting, and when the writers have Nancy and Quentin check out Freddy's old living place and the true answer is revealed, I like how they handled that particular storyline. I'm not one of those blokes who don't like a little history to a baddie 'cuz it 'ruins the mystery', so this was much appreciated.
  

Really, guys? You brought this out to theaters?

• For some reason, this bothered me a lot: with the exception of Gallner, none of these actors look like they could possibly in any realm or universe of the imagination pass as high schoolers. Maybe really long-time going college students, sure, but still in high school? Katie Cassidy, who I have plenty of respect for 'cuz of her awesome portrayal of Ruby in Supernatural, is the worst offender. I haven't been this bugged about casting since last year with I Love You, Beth Cooper, where a 40-looking man was playing a high school graduate.
• While on the topic of actors - they generally were quite not-good this time around, which is surprising considering who they got signed up. Thomas Dekker did a phenomenal job in the Sarah Connor Chronicles, same with Casiddy in Supernatural, but both drop the ball big time here. Relative unknown Rooney Mara is sorta blah faced the entire time, Kyle Gallner seems to be sleeping through his performance (hehe). I don't really want to be saying this, 'cuz I respect these actors, but this definitely wasn't their brightest hour. And this Kellen Lutz bloke in the first 5 minutes - his best work was his short face-off against Freddy that lasted a whole 15 seconds.
  
• Steve Jablonsky - did you just write a nearly nonexistent score or did you just get your name attached via some sort of contract with Platinum Dunes when working on Friday the 13th?
• Nancy and Quentin's 'solution' seemed pulled right out of Freddy vs. Jason. Poor writing or just lack of ways to get rid of a demon that exists only in the dreamworld? I enjoyed watching their plan unfold, I just couldn't help but feel cheated by a unoriginal 'beat Freddy' idea. And concerning those final seconds, that jumpy ending was really ridiculous. Just...bad.
  
• I just wish the dream sequences were a bit more imaginative.
  

Overall, A Nightmare on Elm Street was about average. Haley was, as I expected, phenomenal in his performance; I like the new Freddy design; the performances were lakcluster; and the jumps were no better than the When a Stranger Calls remake (and that's bad, BTW). But, with a $32 million weekend opening, Platinum Dunes has already announced a remake sequel to be produced in 3-D (!!! OMG!!!), so one way or another, we'll be getting either Nightmare 2 or Friday Part 2 relatively soon. Oh, and for anyone concerned with ranking: 1) Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 2) A Nightmare on Elm Street, 3) Friday the 13th, in regards to Platinum Dune remakes.

EDITORIAL - 7 Movie Questions Meme

(Side note: I've been meaning to post more, but my school schedule hasn't really allowed that. We're entering Finals week, and I need basically every second I can grab to 'study' this junk and possibly pass with a well-earned C - if I fall under the lucky category. Anyhow, by mid next week, I should be posting regularly. I got some TV reviews, a book review, and plenty of notes on recent releases - well, plus some old ones, like the uber-cool WaterWorld. Thanks for reading, folks!)

The super awesome Rachel tagged me in this new meme making the rounds, and since I'm too busy with school work to do much of anything else, here's my bloody fantastic results:

1. What was your first movie going experience?
As the popular answer seems to be, my first theatrical experience was Disney's Aladdin. I still don't own the DVD (although I think it's OOP), but if I ever find it for cheap I just might pick it up someday.

2. How many DVDs do you own?
I have 500 something, including box sets (not counting the individual discs inside the box sets). It's a compulsion, I can't seem to stop. And now with my local movie store's closing down and selling their discs for super discounted prices, I don't see my collection dwindling down in numbers. In fact, just picked up two new DVDs during the weekend. Granted, I haven't watched every single DVD in my collection. It's kinda like how I take out nearly 20 DVDs at the library - I have no expectation nor intention on actually watching all of 'em, it's just that I could...


3. What’s your guilty pleasure movie?
Guilty pleasure...hmmm...Good Burger, with Kenan and Kel. As a wee little lad, I truly thought that was the epitome of a perfect comedy. These days, I love the generally-hated Pink Panther/Steve Martin flick from '06 - I think it's brilliant.

4. You’ve compiled a list of your top 100 movies. Which movies didn’t make the cut?
This is just one of those near impossible questions that I can't give a adequate answer to unless I prance over to my DVD/VHS collection, make hard yes/no decisions, and finally but painstakingly make a conclusion. I can say that nearly nothing Oscar nominated, with the possible exception of Juno (even so, that would probably list near the 80's or 90's). Surprisingly - considering I think about the Neo vs. Agent Smith fight a lot - I probably wouldn't have The Matrix Revolutions on it, either.

5. Which movie(s) do you compulsively watch over and over again?
Hot Fuzz, Batman Begins, and American Wedding are probably at the highest top of the re-watch chart. Whenever I'm down, Fuzz and Wedding always makes me happy and never fails to entertain, and Batman Begins just continues to awe me every time I watch it. The writing, the performances, the gorgeous cinematography, and the brisk, amazing editing - yeah, I dig that flick a lot.

6. What are some classics you’re embarrassed to admit you haven’t seen?
I wouldn't necessarily put this under the embarrassing category, but I haven't seen Casablanca, and considering all the film clips and quotes used since it came out and played over and over again, I don't reckon I need to see it. I'm slightly embarrassed not to have watched Apocalypse Now, but I can't honestly picture myself remotely enjoying that movie after all the spoofs I've seen done on it.

7. What movie posters do you have hanging on your wall?
My room and hallway is nearly drowning in posters. I'm a huge Godzilla fan, so 60% of my movie posters pertain to the giant Japanese behemoth. I've got mostly all American produced posters of Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II, Godzilla vs. Destroyah, Godzilla & Mothra: The Battle for Earth (International title), The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, and the Classic Media poster for their 2005 DVD release of Gojira/Godzilla. I have theatrical, double-sided posters for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II - Revenge of the Sith, King Kong (2005), and The Dark Knight (the clown "Why So Serious?" one). Wal-Mart $7.99 posters I've got hanging up include The Dark Knight, V for Vendetta, The Boondock Saints, Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi, and Serenity. But my crown jewel is Silk Specter from Watchmen in her little get-up I have posted on my bedroom door.