The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

Today, on the day of the Lost series finale, I’m brimming with anticipation and ready to give in to my feelings of nostalgia for the show.

Flashback
Aug 12, 2004
As you may or may not know, I am very into Felicity. And I enjoy Alias as well (but not as much as I love watching Felicity). So I am greatly anticipating JJ Abrams new show “Lost.”

I know I will have to wait a couple of months to see it. But I keep hearing about it and it just gets my tv senses all a-tingling.

AICN describes Lost as: “ABC’s new scifi castaway adventure from “Alias” mastermind J.J. Abrams. As with “Alias,” Abrams himself wrote and directed the pilot.”

Basically, a plane crashes on an island and 48 people survive. It’s like if Gilligan’s Island meets Alfred Hitchcock meets Twilight Zone (I think).

So this is what excites me (again my info is from AICN):
Some of the characters include:
1) “Charlie (former hobbit Dominic Monaghan) is as close as we get to a Ginger. He plays bass in a once-famous rock band called Driveshaft and, like many on the island, harbors a dark secret;
2) Claire (Emilie DeRaven, who was pregnant with Max Evans’ alien baby on Roswell) is a very pregnant girl concerned about the health of her unborn child;
and
3) Jin (the ubiquitous Daniel Dae Kim, a semi-regular since 2001 on everything from Angel to 24 to Enterprise to Miss Match to ER).” [He was good in Angel].

And aside from JJ Abrams, another key writer will be: “David Fury who has written more teleplays set in the Buffiverse than anyone else, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer mastermind Joss Whedon. Favorites include Fear, Itself and Life Serial.”

Please, I need something to fill the Buffy/Angel void!

Sep 22, 2004
I cannot believe this show is on at 8pm!!! It just seems like a 10pm show for sure. I would not let any kids watch it. It is not appropriate for many.

Really, I love the work of JJ Abrams – I just got Felicity Season 3 on dvd and can’t wait to watch it again and revel in the extras. So I think if you’re up for it, Lost is going to be a good show – but only for a mature audience.

I like how Dominic Monaghan and Emilie de Ravin are speaking in their natural voices (and accents – as they sound to us Americans). It reminded me of Steven Soderbergh’s reasoning about why he wanted Catherine Zeta-Jones to speak in her natural voice in Traffic. He said actors and actresses already have so much they are focusing on, he just didn’t want keeping an American accent to detract from any of it. I really would’ve liked Emilie de Ravin to have been allowed to speak in her natural voice on Roswell. It would’ve made it more interesting. Oh well.

So I was totally thinking about Jurassic Park while I was watching Lost. I wonder how it will unfold.

Oct 7, 2004
Here’s an excerpt of an interview with Damon Lindelof aka JJ Abrams writing partner on Lost at aintitcool.com.

http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=18582

AICN: How did you come to team with J.J.? Why do you guys need each other?

DL: Suffice to say, it was Lloyd Braun (then head of ABC) who came to J.J. with the series concept of “Plane Crashes on Island” in late January of this year. J.J. was INSANE at the time so he said the only way he could even think about getting involved would be to bring in another writer to spitball. I’d been an ALIAS addict for almost three years at this point and had been pushing my agents (and anyone who’d listen) just to get a meeting with J.J.. Ultimately, it was Heather Kadin (an incredibly bright woman who defies the term “network executive) who pitched ME as the person to sit down with J.J. on this concept.
It’s sort of a long story, but it’s a short one, too — We met the next day. Had an amazing three hour meeting. Saw the same show — a character-based MYSTERY/ADVENTURE concept. Working closely together, we banged out a detailed outline over the next few days, turned it over to ABC and crossed our fingers. As this was the VERY end of “development season,” there’d be no time to write a script before we started pre-production. That Saturday morning (four days after our first meeting), ABC greenlit “Lost.”
Eleven weeks later, we delivered the cut and mastered pilot.

You’ll have to ask J.J. why he needs me (hell — I’m still asking MYSELF that), but as to why I need him? Come on. …the guy’s a frigging genius.

AICN: What do you suppose inspired Heather Kadin to champion you? Perhaps some hot spec script with your name on the title page?

DL: I suspect Heather suggested me because I’d been hounding her to put me in a room with J.J. for two years and she wanted me to shut the hell up. Aside from whatever rep I gleaned from my five years on TV staffs prior to this, my “calling card” writing sample has always been a little one-act play I wrote entitled “Ollie Klublershturf vs. The Nazis” — a time-travel comedy that people seemed to dig.

There was also an early New York Times article. Let me find a good excerpt:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/10/arts/television/10lost.html

Nov 13, 2004
November 10, 2004
How ‘Lost’ Careered Into Being a Hit Show
By JOE RHODES
…
“We were writing audition scenes because we hadn’t had time to finish the actual script,” Mr. Abrams said.

But as actors came in to audition, something fascinating happened, he recalled. “They would inspire us to take characters in a direction that we wouldn’t have come up with on our own,” he said.

The result was a radical reimagining of some of the original characters. Charlie, the burned-out English rocker played by Dominic Monaghan, was originally envisioned as a middle-aged businessman with a drug problem. Sawyer, the troublesome American played by Josh Holloway, was going to be a New Zealander. And Jack, the heroic (so far) spinal surgeon played by Matthew Fox, was going to be much older. And since he was also meant to die in the first episode, a one-shot appearance, high-priced movie stars like Michael Keaton and Aaron Eckhardt were being considered for the part.

Some well-known actors not usually associated with prime-time television, Ms. Webster said, were attracted by Mr. Abrams’s reputation and intrigued by the nontraditional premise, which is how they managed to get Mr. Monaghan, a hot property after playing Merry Brandybuck in the “Lord of the Rings” films; Naveen Andrews, best known for his performance as Lt. Kip Singh in “The English Patient”; and Harold Perrineau, coming off his appearance as Link in “The Matrix” trilogy and critical raves for his stage performance in “Top Dog/Underdog.”

The cast also includes Terry O’Quinn, a frequent “Alias” guest star, as the philosopher-hunter Locke, and Jorge Garcia, whom Mr. Abrams and Ms. Webster happened to see on an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” the night before his audition, as the imperturbably mellow Hurley.

….

The Lost Generation is Born
I can’t remember who said it, but I think of it often: you have your whole life to write your first novel and then a year to write your follow-up. I think of David Chase coming up with the The Sopranos Season 1. He wrote it conceiving it as a feature length movie. So he had everything worked out exactly how he wanted: the arcs, the character development, the resolutions. So as a premiere season, it is a perfect season of television. Then it became a success and he had to come up with season 2. The entire series shines but I think David Chase definitely felt the pressure and certainly got criticism from fans and others who felt let down when Season 2 started off. So I think this idea can be applied to the premiere season of Lost. A lot of time was put in the development of the first season. Then, the executive producers (JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse) have all said that while they had a good idea of the endgame, they didn’t know how much time they had to develop their characters and storylines. So Season 2 started and the end of Lost was up in the air. How long were we going to be with these characters? How much time did they have to reveal the mysteries of the island? The pilot of Lost is one of the best pilots. It grabbed me instantly. I wanted to know more about everything I saw.

Flashforward
Yes, the moment of truth was in the Season 3 finale when we all suddenly realized it was Jack’s flash-FORWARD not flashback. Yowza! They made it off the island. And it wasn’t going too well in the future.

Nonetheless, while brilliance ensued. I have to say that I still got into the intrigue of Seasons 2 & 3 up until then. We really got to know the characters and what shaped their personalities and what life choices they made before the island. We also got to know the Others. So then there was the game-changing season 4 full of flashforwards.

Then the amazing decision to go back 30 years to have our Losties join the Dharma Initiative hit us. No flashing whatsoever last season. Sawyer was always a favorite, bad decisions and all. Then we got to see the leader and lover inside him. I’m sure Josh Holloway enjoyed playing a different side of the con man he had cultivated until then.

Sideways
That brings us to flash-sideways in the current and final season. Tonight, we will learn how the sideways world and the island world mesh together. There are characters who are alive in the sideways world who are no longer on the island. What does this mean? There are characters who haven’t crossed paths yet in the sideways world. We will finally see Juliet and Sawyer/James Ford make their dutch coffee date. I will definitely need tissues to wipe away the tears during that scene. We will learn the fate of the remaining candidates. We will find out Jack’s baby-mama. Many think it’s Juliet. I had been thinking it was Julie Bowen’s character but it just occurred to me that David’s piano concert at the museum is the perfect locale for a love connection to take place between Detective Sawyer and Dr. Juliet. Yes, that makes total sense.

So here are some of my thoughts of what I’d like to see happen:
I envision a Superfriends/Justice League existence for Jack and the remaining candidates. I think that Jack could induct them all into island guardianship like how Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended. Buffy inducted all of the potential slayers at the same time to increase their power and chance of survival. I was thinking of how they might couple up so they aren’t terribly lonely and also they may create some island babies. I was thinking maybe Sawyer and Kate can have a different kind of relationship while Hurley and Claire can also get together. Jack will have to be alone. Also, in the future, like how J.K. Rowlings ended Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we can flash to the future when all of the Lostie kids have connected and have some sort of off-island island guardianship society. This society would include grown up Ji Yeon Kwon, Aaron Austen-Littleton, Charlie Hume, a very tall big brother to all Walt, Alex Rousseau and David Shepherd.

Lost-phoria
So I was trying to think what I was feeling today. It’s lost-phoria, a feeling of anticipation to have my mind blown by a kick-ass finale mixed with knowledge that Lost will linger in my thoughts long after it’s over and that I will feel the gap in my pop culture existence after the martini shot.

Integrated Existence aka Life Post-Lost
I can’t really speak to this yet. So let’s put a pin in it for now.

MacGruber
I suspected that MacGruber would be juvenile and puerile. But I had hopes that it might be clever like the South Park movie. It had a few laughs but for the most part, it was really inane! I still get a chuckle out of the SNL MacGruber skit when he says, “Oh, I’m racist,” when he’s trying to decide whether to cut the yellow wire, the black wire or the red wire but he calls them by different ethnicities.

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I had wanted to see Fela when it opened on Broadway. I heard such glowing reviews. Then I saw a bit of it on Jimmy Fallon and was totally underwhelmed. Given how out of hand Broadway tickets are, and given budgetary constraints, I decided to wait on Fela even though I had a good discount code. Let me find it…oh, it expired 2/28/10. It WAS FE4FANS and ?uestlove put it online for us because he was so blown away by it and wanted to make it easier for us peons to see it. You could try it. I would still see it but I don’t feel as pressed. I don’t deny the draw of Fela’s music. Anyway, then I saw the Wooster Group was putting on North Atlantic again. I think it was my first Wooster Group show. It is worth seeing but having seen it already, I thought I’d look into seeing American Idiot. I didn’t want to pay full price and did a search for a discount code. I found one. Let me find it for you… it is on Broadway Box. So I did enjoy the Green Day album American Idiot so I figured I would enjoy the music at the very least. It exceeded my expectations. At first, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to wrap my head around the Hot Topix inspired wardrobe both on stage and in the audience. It was distracting. But then the talent took over. The cast is amazing, such fantastic voices. The vocal arrangements for these familiar songs were injected with enthusiasm and had a fresh quality. Green Day has managed to stay relevant throughout the years. I noticed the choreography was done by the guy who worked on Black Watch. This was a highly-praised production at St. Ann’s Warehouse from Scotland about the special Scottish regiment that went to Iraq. For me, the choreography was the highlight of the show. The centerpiece where the history of the Black Watch is described through narration, costume changes and choreography stood out in particular. I remember finding it interesting but not as mind-blowing as reviews suggested it would be. Still, Steven Hoggett was perfect for American Idiot. The story is very easy to follow. It takes three friends who take different paths including joining the army and serving in Iraq. The songs lend themselves easily to the story of feeling lost, discontented and disillusioned. It also incorporates songs from 21st Century Breakdown. There were a lot of kids in the audience who seemed to enjoy the show. I think any Green Day fan will certainly appreciate the incredible talent and the creative arrangements. I think kids will like the punk-y quality of the show. I hope it has a nice run and that the tickets are affordable.

Tim Burton Exhibit at MOMA
I had tried to see this exhibit in the fall but it was sold out. It has been doing really well. While I am a fan of Tim Burton, I was pretty much on the fence about making too big of an effort to see it. But everything fell into place one day last week and suddenly, I had a ticket to see the exhibit. It had a lot of cool, personal elements such as the note to Johnny Depp about what Willy Wonka might say about also being edible, the letter Tim Burton wrote in high school accompanying a book he wrote and sent to Disney where he ended up working. I liked how the sketches were torn out of his notebook and still had the ruffles on the edge. I liked seeing his CalArts project. It’s always interesting to see a person’s creative roots. What I did not like was how hot and cramped the exhibition hall felt. I think it could’ve been spread out more to give more respect to the artist and the patrons. But I was glad to have seen it.

New Directors New Films 2010
I do like attending movies at festivals because I get to see movies I wouldn’t have access to otherwise, hear directors and actors talk about their experiences working on these movies and the energy is usually fun. I’m sitting in theaters with equally enthusiastic film buffs. But sometimes I’m let down or plain disgruntled. I think my tastes might run too mainstream for the New Directors New Films festival because I often feel underwhelmed or plain old disappointed by hyped up movies (Old Joy didn’t do it for me – I kept thinking there was a supernatural or thriller aspect to the story but no, it was just about two guys who weren’t really friends anymore going on a hike). Then again, sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised by what I see and want to recommend it to all of my fellow PCA’s (like My Country, My Country). Also, one year, I had tickets to Camp which I couldn’t attend and had to wait until it came out later and LOVED. So, for me, ND/NF is hit or miss. This year, I saw two movies. Both had merit.

Amer Directed by Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani
My favorite part of seeing this movie was hearing the filmmakers introduce the film and then do a Q&A afterwards. They were very interesting and so adorable in their enthusiasm for cinema. For an avant garde, experimental movie, it was fairly accessible. It had a retro-look that was very deliberate and precise. It is a highly-stylized look at three stages in a woman’s life. It is not quite a horror movie although it is inspired by Italian horror movies. It reminded me of Seijin Suzuki too and that Japanese movie I saw recently at IFC called House. The directors explained that they worked carefully on the soundscape of the movie and wanted the audience to feel like it was in the head of the main character. The sound was very interesting and effective. I jumped out of my seat at least once. Amer is not for everyone and it’s not easily watchable. I think I would have to be in the right mindframe to re-watch it and take in the artistic qualities of it fully. Experimental is a good descriptor. If you like experimental movies, I think you would find Amer worth watching.

The Red Chapel Directed by Mads Brügger
North Korea and Cuba are the last bastions of Communism. North Korea has a high media profile because of the nuclear threats, the famine, the idiosyncrasies of dictator Kim Il Sung. I admit, I have seen a bunch of documentaries made in North Korea. It’s perversely fascinating though really sad to learn about this isolated, brainwashed country. The Red Chapel is described as being similar to Borat going to North Korea. I was turned off by the Borat reference. I actually found the Bruno movie funny but Borat was too mean-spirited and… broad maybe? I don’t have anything against broad comedy in general but I guess sometimes I just don’t find it funny. I like the Jackass movies because those guys make fun of themselves rather than others and do it in a creative and funny way. So I worried that The Red Chapel would be too mean-spirited for me. The director made a deal with the DPRK government to do a cultural exchange. He recruited two Korean-Danish comedians, Simon and Jacob, both adoptees from Korean. It was their first trip back to Korea since being adopted, one was 6 months old and the other a child, not sure how old. They put together the worst show ever. At first, I was turned off when the director introduced the movie and said that the performers stage names were Jul and Nosser or Christmas and Testicles. Broad comedy alert. Too stupid and mean for my tastes. So I started watching the movie with a bad taste in my mouth. As it continued, I found it so condescending, I didn’t think I could get over the tone. But then, the real reactions of the comedians, especially the younger one, 19 and not formally diagnosed in the movie but seeming to have cerebral palsy, came through on screen. Over the course of their two weeks, the PTB of this totalitarian state step in to make sure the entire show reflects the right message and right jokes. I have enough background knowledge about visiting the DPRK from the other documentaries I’ve seen and whatever I’ve learned from sources like Team America, etc. Watching the comedians and director encounter these weird scenarios was intriguing enough without the added “comedy” of the forced “irony” as the director narrated. Still, the movie ended up being fascinating and did not have too much forced crassness at the expense of others. I got chills when they were at the DMZ and walked around to the South Korea side and said, wow, this is the first time we’re visiting the land where we were born.

Popcorn Love
While I like to cast a wide net and look for as many different kinds of movie experiences as possible, I’m always drawn to the popcorn movies.

Hot Tub Time Machine
It looks goofy, it is goofy. But it was fun to see the Back to the Future references with Crispin Glover playing a pivotal and comedic role. John Cusack was relaxed and funny, Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson also throwing caution to the wind and letting the jokes wash over them. I enjoyed Clark Duke in the web series he did with Michael Cera and he’s fun to watch in Hot Tub Time Machine as the representative from the Millenium Generation. Altogether, it was a silly but enjoyable movie that had predictable but warm life lessons.

Greenberg
Greenberg isn’t exactly a popcorn movie but it’s very accessible. I saw it after hearing about how great Ben Stiller’s performance is in it. I had seen the trailer many times and found it borderline annoying, too self-aware, too wanting to be clever. But the movie is slower-paced and reasonably easy to identify with, ultra-neuroticism not-withstanding; but everyone’s a little bit neurotic, right? It’s not as alienating as it could’ve been. I liked the wit and story of The Squid and The Whale. I don’t remember the specifics of Margot At the Wedding but I remember not liking it as much as Squid & Whale. Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig are very interesting to watch and have good chemistry. I’m glad I saw it. I recommend it.

Clash of the Titans 3D
The original Clash of the Titans has a cult following. It has a certain charm especially in the low-budget special effects. The re-make started off slow although Sam Worthington has star quality. I was worried about his skirt/tunic as he ran around. Then he changed into a longer skirt and I was able to rest easier. I admit I kept thinking about Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief because I recently read it and the protagonist is also Perseus. The 3D effects were minimal in Clash of the Titans. I think seeing it without would be fine. The movie definitely picked up and I left feeling fairly satisfied in terms of seeing entertaining mythological action sequences.

On the train
M. E. Kerr gave me When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead to read. She said it was very well written and that she had taught the book in her writing class at Ashawagh Hall. I found it very interesting. It’s a YA book about time travel. But it doesn’t have bells and whistles. It doesn’t have linearity. It is inspired by Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. A fellow PCA said it was reminiscent of La Jetee which inspired 12 Monkeys.

Lowboy
I first heard of Lowboy in the hilarious Zach Galifianakis video where he role-plays as John Wray. It was strange to read it on the subway as it takes place on the NYC subway system. It’s well-written and very reminiscent of Catcher in the Rye. It’s funny but sad. Lowboy is a teenager who is searching for something intangible while others look for him, worried about what he’ll do next.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Poor Stieg Larsson passed away before he experienced the phenomenal success of his book. I was curious to read the book that sparked so much interest and enthusiasm. I read a fair amount of crime/mystery/thriller books. Having just seen the movie, it was a little strange to start off already having the mystery unraveled. But there was a lot of editing in the movie. It’s a good beach read although I was on the train most of the time. I did sit outside on a deck for part of my reading, with birds chirping and a cool breeze blowing over me. I am curious about the next books in the series and will also see the other Swedish movies when they are released. I can’t believe how perfectly cast the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is in the movie. It’s worth seeing the movie for Noomi Rapace alone.

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The Thorn in the Heart (L’Épine dans le coeur)

I went to see Thorn in the Heart at Walter Reade last week. Michel Gondry was there for an intro and then a “conversation” which was a decent amount more than a regular Q&A though I got the impression that Scott Foundas had prepared more video clips for us than he got to show.

In the world of visual arts, Michel Gondry is a god. He has certainly made his mark on pop culture. The Fell in Love With a Girl video is iconic. In fact, all of his White Stripe and Bjork videos are classic now. No one thinks like him. He seems like a great collaborator and is inspired by other creative minds and come up with amazing concepts like Walkie Talkie Man. I’ve already reviewed his Work of the Director dvd with great enthusiasm. I appreciate his feature-length directorial efforts. They always have something unique and unforgettable. I don’t always think they are mind-blowing but that’s okay. I think I admire him so much I have extremely high expectations for everything he touches. That’s hard to live up to. But Thorn in the Heart is really interesting. It is his first documentary. He said his son told him he had to make a movie about his Aunt Suzette or his “Auntie” as he said in his intro at Walter Reade. She has played a big role in both of their lives. She is a retired school teacher, widowed, with a grown son living back home. It’s a mix of old family footage, more current interviews and footage shot specifically for the movie and a few Michel Gondry specials but not as many as you find in his other movies. I thought it would just be straight footage but it was a nice surprise to have a couple of inserts shot music video style.

I had a thought as I was listening to Hey There Delilah by Plain White Ts. It is a totally intimate song between the singer and Delilah. But people love this song. They don’t feel alienated by how personal it is. Even if it’s not your story, it can appeal to you or remind you of something or someone in your life or just make you think of world in different and interesting way. That is the appeal of a personal family documentary like Thorn in the Heart.

I tweeted some stories and then jotted down more interesting comments and explanations from Michel Gondry’s talk after the movie.

How did the Human Behavior video come about? Bjork saw a Oui Oui video Michel Gondry had directed where the band members were insects (I think I’m remembering this right). She liked the concept. In her video, she wanted to have people being chased by people dressed as animals. Bjork wanted white bear chasing her. He wanted brown wolf chasing her because culturally it made more sense to him. They compromised and had a brown bear.

He didn’t grow up with the arts. It’s not a natural draw though Bjork took him to museums to show him art she thought he’d like. He appreciates it but prefers to not be exposed to already created art. He doesn’t want to be inspired by something that already exists. He’d rather have a kernel of idea and expand on it.

He resisted studio’s input on Science of Sleep to make smoother transitions but regrets it. They were right. He said on Green Hornet he is listening to them but they have left him alone. They are just excited about it.

Cool story about under covers scene with Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. After it was shot, in editing, he thought it rang false so asked Kaufman to rewrite scene using 20% of same words. Then he cut it using Kate’s face for those words and her looping and cut to Jim’s face and the doll for rest. He said this is an example of how you can continue to build story in editing.

What drew him to Jim Carrey and how did work draw out the performance he got from him on the movie? He remembers watching him on In Living Color and seeing something in him. He said he enjoyed Truman Show and when he visited him on set of Bruce Almighty, there was a moment when he felt like he saw a vulnerability that would work for the Eternal Sunshine character. Also, Michel Gondry noticed that Jim would light up and be freer whenever he was talking about someone other than himself. So, when Jim asked him for prep work before the shooting, Michel Gondry gave him a 48 hour assignment to not talk about himself. He said they both seemed to find this assignment helpful. During the shoot, he had two cameras set up to capture both sides of a conversation, the action and reaction, and he didn’t tell Jim when he was on camera.

What was his writing contribution to the story? An artist friend wanted to send people cards that said your boyfriend/girlfriend has erased you from their memory. Please don’t ever contact them again. This friend wanted to do it as performance art experiment. Gondry thought it was great idea for story and started to flesh it out. They took their proposal around and many people wanted to make it into a thriller with a murder or mystery requiring Jim to get memory back to solve it. Then Charlie Kaufman just saw it as relationship story.

I have to admit it was fun to see Michel Gondry with his entourage, including his son Paul, who is the kid at the beginning of the Fell in Love with a Girl video and I think he makes an appearance in the Walkie Talkie Man video, sitting in the row in front of us. In fact, Michel Gondry was stretching his legs right in front of me (there was a gap between the sections) when the usher came by and tore my ticket for the conversation part and he watched him tear it. It was kind of funny. I was like, yes, I’m here to stare at you on stage in a little while. I did not have any questions or fangirl comments for him. I figured my sentiments were implied by the fact I had made the effort to be there. However, one of my fellow Pop Culture Addicts is a huge fanboy and had met Michel Gondry before and been gobsmacked. He was thrilled to see him in person again. He asked a thoughtful question about the Kylie Minogue video and then actually went up to him afterwards. I had fun being a supportive bystander.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
People can’t put this book down. I’d been hearing about it and seeing it around but for whatever reason not read it. Then I got a hand-me-down copy from a fellow PCA the day before the movie opened. So I went to see the movie first. I can see the appeal of the story. I mean, it is very grim. I read in EW the other title for this movie is Men Who Hate Women. I looked it up. Swedish title: Män som hatar kvinnor or Men Who Hate Women. Yes, it is about men who hate women. But the eponymous girl is fascinating and well-acted by Noomi Rapace. She’s smart, she’s intriguing, she’s some sort of criminal, she’s attractive in her alternative way. The journalist character played by Michael Nyqvist is also interesting. He’s a good guy. He doesn’t hate women. Then there are the layers of mystery that drive and are uncovered within this complicated story. I think it was cool to see a Swedish version of this Swedish book before the US remake comes out. It’s strange to say I liked the movie because there are many disturbing scenes and twists and turns to the story. But I think it stands alone as a movie. I saw it with a couple of PCAs who had read the book and they seemed to think it was necessary to cut the fat from the book. They liked reading it but didn’t feel a need to see it all on-screen. The movie ran 2.5 hours as it was. That’s pretty long. I could’ve used a few minutes less. The brutality of some scenes were unexpected but were not gratuitous. It really showed the worst of some men who hate women. I didn’t enjoy watching these scenes but they seemed included for a reason.

I always find it sad when an artist isn’t around to enjoy the fruits of his or her labor. It seems Stieg Larsson passed away after turning in the manuscript and never saw how popular it was. But he had two other manuscripts in the series already written and there’s talk that he even had two more on his computer. I wonder if the publisher is just going through his files piecing together enough material for another book. Anyway, the Swedish actors have already filmed the two sequels so we will see them soon. They had good chemistry and screen presence.

Temple Grandin
I had an interest in watching HBO’s Temple Grandin but also resisted it a bit because I wasn’t sure what to expect from Claire Danes. I finally watched it and was blown away. Claire Danes is phenomenal. She does a remarkable job of portraying a woman who overcame incredible odds and continues to share her talent and story with the public. The movie is respectful and very accessible. I am very impressed.

I just watched this TED Talk by the real Temple Grandin. Fascinating:

Justified
This was a good week for television for me. I was also very impressed with how Justified came out. Timothy Olyphant is perfect in this role. I went through an Elmore Leonard reading rampage awhile back. I relaxed when I realized he was very prolific and that I would always find something of his to read whenever I felt so inclined. I’m excited about this series and look forward to see how it unfolds.

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From Paris With Love
Got a chance to go to the NY premiere of From Paris With Love for free so I took it. It was fun to see the stars walking around. Jonathan Rhys Meyers looked good all young Hollywood. He was friendly to his fans. In fact, everyone was pretty laid back. John Travolta was smiling and waving. The director was the only one who spoke and welcomed us. He, Pierre Morel, is the main reason I was curious about the movie. He made the surprise hit Taken where Liam Neeson shows off his Harrison Ford qualities of being a one man Special Forces team. The movie was incredibly violent. John Travolta comes out guns ablazing and never puts them down. The audience reaction was huge, I would even say disturbing at times. I’ll try not to give plot spoilers but I want to give the example of when he blows up a car with four people in it, the audience roared. Yes, they were the bad guys but they had little time on screen to be more than symbolic bad guys. There is a group of Asian bad guys who are nameless and gun-toting. Somehow, they are no match for our two protagonists. Then there’s an Asian gang. One of them flourishes a knife and John Travolta decimates them in the blink of an eye. I get that they were menacing but he didn’t even give them a chance to back down. He and Jonathan Rhys Meyers are both American agents working to protect the innocent but their mandate is protect America and Americans. Then the American diplomat at the end was so moronic, it seemed like the movie was a statement about that. It might have been commenting on how Americans act first, full force, no questions asked to protect the moronic people in power. However, the movie has so much crowd-pleasing action, it would be hypocritical if the movie were taking that stance. Every action sequence evoked cheers from the audience. Jonathan Rhys Meyers character questions John Travolta’s character’s brute force ways and gives the audience pause when we see collateral damage on screen. I see the potential in the story and direction as well as in the casting. It just didn’t live up to what it could’ve been. I can appreciate a crowd-pleasing action movie. I liked parts of the story and action sequences. But I had a hard time not noticing that all the bad guys were non-white and blown to pieces without much explanation or character development. I think my reaction was amplified by the audience response. I remember feeling that way in one of those dumb Vin Diesel movies. I like Vin Diesel but what was that movie…maybe it was XXX. Also, I like those Die Hard movies. The most recent one, Live Free or Die Hard was a fun techy action movie with Justin Long as the nerdy, likable hacker sidekick to Bruce Willis’ old-fashioned cop. But at the end, John McClane says really stupid things about Maggie Q’s character to make his enemy, played by Timothy Olyphant, mad. I explained it to myself as it not being Bruce Willis saying these things but his character but we are suppposed to like his character too, not think he’s a racist. Also, an argument could be made that all’s fair in love and war. John McClane might have been utilizing common warfare techniques trying to get into his enemy’s head by saying horribly offensive things about his girlfriend and partner. But I feel like it mars an otherwise enjoyable movie. It could’ve gone differently and been a good movie without the ethnic remarks. I get that sometimes racism is overt and sometimes it’s subtle. I laughed during Avenue Q when they sang Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist. Anyway, I would watch From Paris With Love again to see if I overreacted. I liked that espionage part of it but found the xenophobia off-putting. Oh, I also enjoyed spotting Hugh Jackman sitting among us briefly before getting whisked away to the VIP lounge. He was also friendly and let everyone take as many pictures as they wanted. Then as I left, I saw Kathleen Turner and John Waters walking in front of me. They did Serial Mom together and must’ve continued their friendship. They both looked great. She looked glamorous and healthy. It was nice to see her looking so good.

Edge of Darkness
The trailer makes Edge of Darkness look like non-stop action and espionage. It’s actually a really slow-paced thriller about a cop uncovering the mystery of his daughter’s secret life. I saw it the day after I saw the super extreme From Paris With Love jam-packed with video game violence and appreciated that in Edge of Darkness, everytime someone, mostly Mel Gibson’s character, erupts into violence, there is a clearcut reason and pathway to the particular situation. The story was first made into a mini-series in the 1980s also directed by Martin Campbell. I haven’t seen it but I guess it takes the same deliberate approach. I liked Ray Winstone a lot. Apparently, the role was offered to Robert DeNiro. It would’ve had a different weight then. Ray Winstone being English again makes it possible to interpret the story from a non-American’s POV. But it could just be a coincidence and the story is just about corruption and immorality as found in any town, in any country.

The Lightning Thief
I took a break from my Anne Perry readathon to read Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief. I loved it. A couple of kids and then adults told me it was worth checking out. So I did. I enjoy how Rick Riordan weaves in Greek mythology with contemporary adolescent life. It made me recall The Iliad and The Odyssey in a way that made me think about re-reading them. It also made me think about the upcoming re-make of Clash of the Titans. I’m now interested in seeing that movie as well as the upcoming movie version of The Lightning Thief. I haven’t read much about the series but I’m sure it has been compared to the Harry Potter books which I loved. I would say they have potential to keep the interest of kids and grownups alike. I guess I should try reading the next book, The Sea of Monsters, before I make a full judgment.

The In-Betweeners
The In-Betweeners is like Skins lite. Skins is another teen show from England that is frank in its language and activities. Teens are always thinking life is better and more meaningful, more exciting after dark away from grownups while engaging in so-called grownup activities. The In-Betweeners is more innocent. The high school boys in this group of friends think they could be as cool as the cool kids but are fairly clueless. It’s charming. I’ll keep watching. It’s like a British Superbad.

Caprica
I missed out on Battlestar Galactica. It wasn’t that it didn’t interest me. It just didn’t fit into my viewing schedule at the time. I observed the BSG phenomenon develop around me and put it on my list of things I should try to catch up on at some point. So I figured my chance to start at the ground floor appeared with the start of Caprica. I let a few weeks go by before I had time to watch the pilot. I only know the BSG universe peripherally but I know what a cylon is and recognize the characters of Eric Stoltz and his daughter are the inventors of the cylon. I like the fact that it is set somewhat close to the present day. I like that the science fiction is still developed and cool but it’s not inconceivable. I like the holodecks, the computer paper, the fact that certain technology is still considered out of reach. People are still the same. I guess this the universal appeal of all good science fiction. Anyway, I’m hooked on the technology and I like Lacey. She was on Kyle XY. I also like seeing Polly Walker again. I was a fan of Rome and have grown to love Enchanted April, an early movie of Polly Walker’s. I’m not sure about this religious conflict. It actually made me think of The Lightning Thief and how it brings back the gods and goddesses of Olympus to the modern world. In Caprica, it seems this has happened. Yet, there is a contingency of monotheists who are considered outliers. It seems like the movement would go the other way. Again, I don’t know what happens on BSG. It’s easy enough to find out. I suppose a point it being made about the power of religion and how it will always lead to conflict. I am a big fan of the Roswell pilot and also enjoyed the series, created by Roger D. Moore of BSG and Caprica origins. I will stick with Caprica.

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I’ve been holding on to this post for so long that now should add my Avatar and Nine impressions to it. Plus, I was anticipating True Blood Season 1 at the time and now I’ve watched 6 eps of it (I remember now I stopped after 3.5 eps because I did NOT see Eric or I probably would’ve kept watching.) So let me add Avatar and Nine below:

Avatar IMAX 3D
Another event movie that entailed a lot of planning and waiting but I knew I’d be amazed. James Cameron is no joke. If he can’t wow himself, he’s not going to put it out there. The glasses took a little acclimating but it was certainly worth the effort to get used to them. The effects were incredible and seamless. I felt for the Na’vi and felt like I was leaping around and flying with the characters. The story was interesting enough. It made me think of Hayao Miyazaki’s environmental themes and all the details in the fantasy worlds he creates. I did not catch all of the details in Pandora but I certainly appreciated the richness they provided the setting and story.

Nine
Nine was so disappointing. I loved how stunning the sets and costumes were. The actors were all beautiful too. But these elements could not combine to make a product worthy of them. I think the weakness is in the source material. The choreography was fun. Rob Marshall is a choreographer by training and that shows. But the songs were so uninspiring. I wanted to like this movie. In fact, I enjoyed the talent emitted by everyone. Judy Dench was funny and surprised me with her singing voice. Kate Hudson was adorable, chic also surprised me by being a good singer. Fergie rocked her song and character. Penelope Cruz played her hot-under-the-collar mistress role to a tee. Marion Cotillard is astoundingly talented as I learned after watching her Edith Piaf bio-pic. Nicole Kidman looked and sounded perfect. But Daniel Day-Lewis had a dull role and while his clothes looked fantastic, his storyline and songs were not. When I saw Chicago the movie, I found it entertaining if not a bit detached. Nine is very warm and engulfing. So good job on that aspect, Rob Marshall and company. But Chicago the musical has a lot going for it, great songs, great choreography, an intriguing story. Nine does not. So, in summary, I didn’t hate Nine as much as it sounds like from my review but I was let down. I liked bits and pieces but it wasn’t enough for me to feel fulfilled by this movie-going experience.

It’s Complicated
If you saw and liked Something’s Gotta Give with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, you’ll like It’s Complicated also written and directed by Nancy Meyers. I do find Meryl Streep good in everything she does and Steve Martin is a wild and crazy guy who can make me laugh. Alec Baldwin has completely won me over as Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock. All three deliver. They carry the story which is pretty much explained in the trailer. The thing I found a bit distracting was how wealthy they all were especially Meryl Streep as much of the action takes place at her unbelievably gorgeous estate.

The Blind Side
Sandra Bullock is another actor I always find appealing except in maybe All About Steve, a movie I skipped. She has been receiving much acclaim for her role in The Blind Side so I was curious to see for myself. She does a very nice job. It did remind me of Precious although The Blind Side is based on a true story.

Up in the Air
A fellow Pop Culture Addict told me she doesn’t like the way George Clooney tilts his head when he talks among other traits. So Up in the Air is not high on her list of movies to see. I, on the other hand, am still exhilarated by his role in the magnificent Fantastic Mr. Fox. I thought he did a fine job in Up in the Air. The leads are all strong – Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga. The story itself is painfully topical especially with the inclusion of real life stories of being laid off. This was an interesting touch. It brought a level of humanity to it. I guess Anna Kendrick’s young executive wannabe thinks she can bear it but shows she doesn’t have to go the way of George Clooney’s glib, detached character. There is a slightly empty feeling to the story because of the superficial nature of the characters played by George Clooney and Vera Farmiga. But I find them both charming and they are talented actors. Anna Kendrick is also appealing. They combine with the other elements, direction, humor, other actors, etc. to make an interesting couple of hours.

The Lovely Bones
After hearing about it, I read The Lovely Bones and found it well-written but very stark and sad. I am a Peter Jackson fan so I was intrigued to see what he did with the story. Early reviews said it was unwatchable. I went in thinking I would probably find enough to like about it. I was right. I think the movie lingered too much in the in-between ghost world. But I enjoyed some of the visuals. Also, the characters are more fully developed in the book. I suppose this is a common observation in book to screen adaptations. But the praise for Saoirse Ronan is not unwarranted. She conveys this sad creature well. In the end, there is a somewhat superficial feeling to the story even though it is a deep topic.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 7
I finally got around to slamming through Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO On Demand. Larry was true to his character, questioning everything, quibbling with his closest of friends, agreeing to do a Seinfeld reunion solely to get his wife back. It was, as they say in the show, a non-lame reunion. It was the cleverest one ever because of the nature of Larry David’s show with its mix of realism and room for improve. Everyone is playing a character but there’s so much leeway for real interaction. On Curb it’s enjoyable to see that the actors are cracking each other up. Next, I am looking forward to giving True Blood Season 1 a second chance now that I am a converted fan. I drank up Season 2 like it was going out of style. I think S1 will be On Demand starting this week or next week. EDIT: As I mentioned, I’m gleefully watching True Blood from the beginning. I am a bigger fan of Bill now. From watching primarily Season 2, I had become a fan of both Eric and Sam.

Ella Fitzgerald: Twelve Nights in Hollywood
I am so in love with this newly released Ella Fitzgerald material Twelve Nights in Hollywood. If you’re already a fan, you will appreciate what it adds to your collection. If you’re uninitiated, this is a good way to start.

Lost Season 5
I almost forgot to hail the release of Lost Season 5 on dvd this month. It is so delicious to watch. I wait with bated breath to see what happens in the final season beginning February 2, 2010!!! Also, I must say I’m looking forward to Friday Night Lights as I do not have regularly access to DirecTV and rely on the network showing. Let me check the Eonline Winter TV Premiere schedule… d’oh. FNL doesn’t air on NBC until the summer. Okay, I have plenty to watch until then…ooh, Chuck (1/10 on NBC at 9pm EST) and Leverage (1/13 on TNT at 10pm EST). And I will just say “yippee” for the return of LOST!!!

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