<– 3.06: I Do

There we are. The season gets more interesting. Probably because I am able to write more than 1000 words, as I wasn’t during the first six episodes of the third season. And I can’t say there will be another review with less than 1000 words from now on…

Well, if this is not an important episode for the mythology…
Hello, Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell), nice to finally meet you, I heard nothing about you before this episode, and some even won’t recognize you again on the island, even though your eye-liner is pretty… unmissable, to say it nicely. And, boy, what an impression you made in this episode. Did you kill Juliet’s ex husband Edmund (Zeljko Ivanek), just to get her to the island?

“He was hit by a bus.” With the knowledge of later seasons this sentence even has more meaning and is more interpretable. Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) said to Richard in the interview that her ex husband should be hit by a bus, and finally then she could take the job offer. With Richard being an adviser for the leader of the island and him not aging and so on, he could have asked Jacob to let her wish become true, so her knowledge and talents can get on the island – who knows if it wasn’t Jacob’s choice to bring Juliet on the island, and not just Ben’s or Richard’s? With the little fate game, Jacob could have done that (if he really has the power to change fate, what I don’t believe, but Juliet’s ex hit by a bus… come on, this wasn’t just an accident, like Richard wants to let her believe, especially when you look at his face when he says that to her). But this would probably mean that Jacob is omniscient of the lives of everybody involved in the island – and therefor practically God. But I can’t believe that. When Jacob is really God, then where are we?
Well, the rest of Juliet’s flashback was mostly boring; her pregnancy study might be interesting (and connected with the past of the island that women can’t give birth to their babies), but it doesn’t interest me; her troubles with her ex husband don’t interest me (though the scene with him and his new girlfriend in the laboratory was really awkward for Juliet); Rachel (Robin Weigert) was a nice character, but she doesn’t interest me. So, the on-island story was more important and the most interesting part, and fortunately lots of stuff happened.

Back in the game is Alex (Tania Raymonde), who helps Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Kate (Evangeline Lilly) out to escape from the smaller island, but before that can happen, her boyfriend Karl (Blake Bashoff) has to be rescued. The brainwash scene was very interesting and probably had a few clues – “Everything changes”, “We are the causes of our own suffering”, “God loves you as He loved Jacob”, some of the pictures in the brainwash video. Especially the last one seems really interesting: God loved Jacob – is there a connection to the fifth season finale? Is Jacob tied with God? After all those symbolics (black & white mostly; the clues about angels and demons, with Ben probably being an angel and Keamy a demon sent by Lucifer Widmore to destroy God, more to that during my review to the season four episode “The Shape of Things to Come”), could it mean that Jacob was once an angel (that’s why he seems to live in the Black Rock ages and our present), God loved him, but now he doesn’t? And what has Richard to do with everything as an adviser? Is he specially tied with Jacob; probably being axed by God as well (that would explain his non-aging, too)? When I saw that during the rewatch (I never noticed it before), my eyes were wide open and my brain was active and thinking. Maybe the series really has a conclusion, which involves God and Lucifer, together with parallel realities and time travel, and the dead wandering around disguised as the living (e.g. Claire, when she was really dead in season four). So there is practically every genre in one series. Awesome. I will keep the brainwash scene in mind, when I am reviewing the sixth season, and hopefully there are some connections to it. And, hey, I already think Jacob IS God in this review, hehe.

Other than that, the rest of Kate’s and Sawyer’s escape was full of action and a bit thrill, but meaningless for the mythology. They didn’t discover anything, Hydra Island is as tree-rich as the main island, and Alex has hiding places everywhere. Jack’s (Matthew Fox) little problems in the operating room were interesting, too, because there was much character development. Not only because he helped Kate and Sawyer to escape and he told her to not come back for him. It would be a “Wow”, if I would see the episode for the first time, but I think, Jack just didn’t want them to come back, because he was on his way off the island on his own. And maybe he just didn’t want the survivors to know that he was gone. That Ben (Michael Emerson) did want to send Juliet back home was surprising though. But it is logical, when we see her development on-island during the situation with Ben short before his death, together with the “good-hearted” Juliet three years earlier in the flashback. More surprisingly was that she killed Danny (Michael Bowen). Whoho, finally he is dead and he can join Colleen. Interesting that pairs are dying all the time in short distances. There are not much days between Boone’s and Shannon’s death; almost all of the survivors of the tail section, who merged with the other survivors, were killed within a few days/weeks (except Rose and Bernard, of course), Charlie and Claire died within a few days, and so on… I don’t remember right now, but there are definitely more couples.
The bonding scene between Tom (M.C. Gainey) and Jack in the operating room was hilarious. At first Tom was the “hard” guy with the big beard, who says “This is not your island, this is our island” (“The Hunting Party”, season two), and now he is scared of blood, like Hurley, and tries to be buddy-like – awesome.

So, Kate and Sawyer are on their way back to the main island together with Karl, Alex is left behind, Juliet killed somebody, Ben still lives and Jack goes back to his cell. Basically the season arc can begin, because the Hydra Island story is about to end… Finally. Hallelujah.
A good episode and I liked almost everything of it.

8/10

Tomorrow: It could have been the episode for the Emmys, but it wasn’t. “Flashes Before Your Eyes” changes the fate of Desmond and Charlie.

Trailer for “Flashes Before Your Eyes”

<– 3.05: The Cost of Living

The season finale of season 2.5, but the first six episodes didn’t work as a link between season two and three, so this one is clearly season three, and not 2.5, like some fans want this six episodes to be. This episode for itself was good (kind of like “The Cost of Living”), but it was irrelevant in the series mythology and there is not much to write about, except the actual story of the episode. But it wasn’t really interesting as well.

“I Do” deals with the folks on Hydra Island and nothing more, so why did the producers show the funeral scene for Eko in here, which felt more incongruous. Did they just wanted to show that Eko was buried? Did they just wanted to show that Locke (Terry O’Quinn) looks on Eko’s Jesus stick, so he can find the engraving? They could have done this in the next episode or so, but in here it felt like a filler to bring more minutes into the episode.
To make the rest of the episode a Kate-centric episode, we had lots of moments between Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) in here, as well as Jack (Matthew Fox) trying to save those two after he saw the two fornicate in a bear cage (let this melt in your mouth!) on the monitor. But neither Kate’s flashback story was interesting, nor was the on-island story pretty good. At least it is about to end with Kate’s and Sawyer’s escape, proudly presented by Jack trying to kill Ben (Michael Emerson) – how obvious was that? When I saw “The Cost of Living” for the first time, in which Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) showed him the video, I was thinking: Why the hell doesn’t Jack say ‘Fuck it’, operates Ben and kills everybody in the room, and escapes then? Why the long detours? And why not just kill Ben? It is so easy now, but Jack must have a conscious here… argh. Not that I dislike the story, but it would have been the best chance for the survivors to end their capture and probably their stay on the island, but they don’t use it. Instead Kate kisses Sawyer after she got out of her cage (AGAIN!), and both of them are having a sweet moment together, when they have sex (that would be the second on-screen sex scene on the island in Lost, and in both scenes Sawyer was in it) – without knowing that the cameras are on the two and their actions for Jack clearly to see. Why are they not running, why are they not fighting? Sure, they are on the smaller island, but they could still fight…

There weren’t really much clues in this episode, practically nothing. The intercom is working again, the door to Jack’s aqua cell is mysteriously open (was it one of Ben’s plans to let Jack see that Sawyer and Kate did it?), Jack operates on Ben, Danny (Michael Bowen) wants to kill Sawyer. Yeah, not really a revealing episode, so I practically don’t know what to write anymore.
Nice to see Alex (Tania Raymonde) back in business again, and I love her impersonation of Bart Simpson. At least she talked something about “They killed my boyfriend”, which prepares the next episode, but it also looks like the writers wanted to have her in this episode, just so that she can say “They killed by boyfriend” and on Kate’s face magically appear lines full of doubt. But unfortunately the scene didn’t really work that way.
At least the writers managed to bring some development into Juliet’s character. It is interesting to see, how they included Juliet into the bigger story arc, but not the freaks Nikki and Paulo. With the knowledge that Juliet wants as badly as Jack to go home, even if it means killing one of her own, we have important information for her flashback episode in “Not in Portland”.

Kate’s flashback gives us the part of her life we didn’t see so far. In the season one episode “Outlaws”, Kate and Sawyer played the “I Never” game and Kate mentioned she was married – this flashback deals with her marriage. And I really would be bored to death, when the producers didn’t find Nathan Fillion for this guest spot role, who plays Kevin, her husband for a few days.
Kate stopped running in Miami, calls herself Monica, meets Kevin, who is a cop, loves him, lives with him and marries him. But she soon notices her dark and cold past on her shoulders and she knows she can’t hold up this new life forever, and that’s why she calls her flashback nemesis Edward Mars (Fredric Lehne, the Marshal) and later drugs Kevin so she can start running again…

Like I said, a good episode for itself, but unimportant for the series mythology. Like the rest of the beginning of this season.
But I am glad the Hydra Island story kinda sucked and the fans started to yell and scream at the writers, so that they actually saw what was going on and what they did wrong. And I am glad that ABC decided to give Lost three more seasons to give this show an end date. This was not only pleased by every fan out there, but it gave the writers the chance to plan everything ahead. Until this episode you never had the feeling the writers planned ahead for the single episodes, but after the decision of three more years, they really could plan every episode. My two cents to the fall/winter break.

7/10

After this episode, Lost went on hiatus for a while, so that’s why this wonderful trailer was made for tomorrow’s episode “Not in Portland”, which isn’t really the trailer for the episode, but of what’s to come.

Trailer for “Not in Portland”

<– 3.04: Every Man for Himself

It is the episode of another major character death. And it is the episode in which the writers got rid of a character, which resolved a few problems during the story, and not just because of his beliefs.
Yeah, Mr. Eko (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) dies and I won’t miss him. His character was always a bit boring, and the whole deal about his beliefs and his flashbacks went on my nerves after a while. At least he gets a pretty death: He gets killed by Smokey himself.

So, Smokey actually killing a major character for the first time in the series. After it only killed a few people (the pilot, Shannon in Boone’s vision) and let many stunned (to begin with the Black Rock visitor in the first season finale) it actually really kills for the first time an important character. And the big question is: why? After what we know after five seasons, Smokey can be summoned, so was somebody behind the death of Eko like, let’s say, Ben? But why would he kill Eko, he didn’t even know him.
But that isn’t all about Smokey: The biggest gasp is the judgment Eko had to face. Yemi (Adetokumboh M’Cormack) said to him, he has to be judged for what he did, he has to confess. If Yemi was in fact Smokey at that time, did it already know to kill Eko after his confession? Another thing: Eko’s judgment could be similar to Ben’s judgment in front of Smokey in season five (when he stood in front of Alex). Another question: If Smokey is really the man in the black shirt, we saw in the fifth season finale (Jacob’s nemesis), why is he killing one survivor after another? Which lets me ask another question: Why is Smokey killing at all? It killed the pilot in the pilot episode and it wanted to pull Locke into a hole in the first season finale (by the way: Could Locke have seen Jacob as white smoke/light/whatever he saw, when he mentioned that to Eko, and saw it in the season one episode “Walkabout”?). But it obviously had an obsession with Eko, because he regularly saw Yemi on the island. Another gasp was the moment, when Yemi said to Eko “You talk to me as if I were your brother” – if Yemi was in here really Smokey, then Smokey isn’t just something to describe it as “it”, behind Smokey is somebody, maybe a human being, maybe a soul of a dead human being, maybe a lost consciousness or whatever (the being summoned theory is still open for discussion). But Smokey seems to have something human in it. And I am asking, if Yemi was in real Smokey in here, because I doubt that, after what I saw in the fifth season. When Smokey is the savior of the death (connected to the Anubis legend), then why is it killing around? When Smokey is the protector of the dead, then why do I believe that Jacob’s nemesis is Smokey, a guy who wants to kill Jacob after all. Or maybe Smokey isn’t connected to the Anubis legend at all. Or maybe Jacob is Anubis (and went to Locke as bright light in “Walkabout”) and Smokey his nemesis. Especially after watching this episode, the mystery of Smokey is even more confusing than normal, when you consider the future of the series. Oh my god, my head explodes right now, I have to stop, before I go off-topic.

Well, the episode is clearly Eko-centric, his flashbacks are just pretty boring for his very last episode. He took Yemi’s position at the church, but didn’t keep it for long, after he killed the militia in the church (excellent scene, Eko could have been an action hero on the show). The story with the vaccine was boring and the conclusion to his cliffhanger as well; at least it had a connection to his confession in front of Yemi on the island.
The side plots were partly interesting. We finally see Nikki (Kiele Sanchez) and Paulo (Rodrigo Santoro) for more than just one scene (and they even have dialog more than just a half of a sentence – what a miracle), and I can understand why the fans hated them – when the writers need five episodes to bring a bit of importance to their roles, than this is just bad writing. They managed it to write Juliet in a proper way, so why not with these two freaks? And they aren’t even important in any way.

The Pearl station had another appearance in here, and with it the guy with the eye-patch we will formerly know as Mikhael (Andrew Divoff). When he appeared on the screen, I had goosebumps – finally a step back to the mythology of the series again, another mystery wanting to be solved, another Other somewhere on the island, and Locke (Terry O’Quinn) is happy about meeting him in the near future (look at him smiling). And when I wouldn’t know better I would have thought Sayid (Naveen Andrews) was very unimportant during the Pearl scenes (as well as Nikki and Paulo), but Sayid needed to be prepared for the upcoming story. And the other two freaks needed to be in front of the camera, because the viewers didn’t know the two until now. And we still don’t know them…
The story on Hydra Island was boring, though it prepared the last episode before the fall/winter break. Colleen was given a funeral, but she wasn’t buried, which is interesting – do the dead people have to be buried or is a simple funeral enough to prevent that the “security system” on the island will appear as them (considering that the Others know about Smokey, they were the hostiles after all and living in the jungle for years; at least they knew about burying the bodies) or something else. And Jack (Matthew Fox) learns the truth why Ben (Michael Emerson) captured him – not really a revealing scene, but, again, well acted by Michael Emerson, especially when he was thinking Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) told Jack.

The episode was average, but the death of a major character was just… blah. I didn’t care. Unlike Boone’s death I didn’t have feelings about Eko’s death. When the writers intended to let me impress feelings with Eko’s death, they failed, because it was just lame written.

6,5/10

Tomorrow: the Fall Season Finale, “I Do”, and who Kate did marry back in her flashbacks.

Trailer for “I Do”

<– 3.03: Further Instructions

“Every Man for Himself” was a good episode, but it is nerve-wracking that writers cannot use all of the characters in one episode once in a while. Like the three episodes before, the story concentrates more on one group than the other, and this time it is the triple on Hydra Island again. Sure, this isn’t changing during the run of the series (especially season five changed between the story of the survivors left behind on the island and the Oceanic 6 very often), but this is one of the points of the series I don’t really like.

I already wrote about it in “The Glass Ballerina”, but here once again: There are continuity problems with Hydra Island. Ben (Michael Emerson) said here to Sawyer (Josh Holloway), the island is roughly twice the size of Alcatraz, but the island looked really big, when Frank landed on it in the fifth season episode “Namaste”.
Another fact is the discussion Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), Ben and Colleen had in “The Glass Ballerina”, when Colleen told Ben that Sayid, Jin and Sun were circling with a sail boat. Juliet said that they can circle around the island, so they are busy – is it not possible to see the smaller island from the main island? Why would Juliet say that they can circle around the main island to keep them busy? When they are circling around the main island, they eventually see the smaller island. I am a little confused, when it comes to the smaller island.
The other question would be how “involved” the smaller island is with the main island regarding the time travels in season five. It is sad that the writers never included the smaller island in their mystery. In season three it is only Hydra Island and the place with the cages, in season five it is the crash site of Ajira 316 – but nothing more.

To the story of the episode: Ben conning Sawyer the whole time was partly hilarious, partly interesting. Great acting by Michael Emerson, when he supposedly is killing the bunny with the black 8 on it and confusing why Sawyer is falling for that con so easily. Just the again working intercom in Jack’s (Matthew Fox) aquarium is confusing. Why would Jack hear Sawyer screaming? And: It is definitely not a coincidence anymore the intercom is working with Jack in the aquarium (and everybody saying the intercom hasn’t worked for years), but the writers never came back to that little mystery and probably stays open after the series finale. By the way: Why would there be an intercom in an aquarium for dolphins? I could imagine this aquarium was filled with water once to keep the big fish inside for a while without killing them, so that probably means the intercom was built in after its use as an aquarium. Hm, confusing…
At least the writers finally managed to develop the Sawyer/Kate (Evangeline Lilly) relationship with both of them across each other in bear cages, though I don’t know how Ben could consider Jack to help him, when he would see Sawyer and Kate together (which is obviously the reason, why he brought Kate and Sawyer with Jack. He only needed Jack for his operation).
Much more important is the little side plot at the beach: Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) starts having flashes of the future and already saves Charlie’s (Dominic Monaghan) life for the first time. I just don’t understand why Desmond isn’t coming out with the truth, but I believe the writers wanted to save that for Desmond’s episode or didn’t want to overload the current story with Sawyer, Kate and Jack with the Others (that’s obviously why we barely see something on the beach – they didn’t even start looking for the captured friends). Or it was just the not-communicating syndrome.

Sawyer’s flashbacks look like the writers didn’t really know what story to tell. Like in Jack’s flashbacks, Sawyer’s life story is already told and the rest would just be uninteresting bonus. Short conclusion: His prison time was boring. Sawyer behind bars, that is not really interesting. It is a nice parallel to his prison time on the island right now, but the story brought nothing except another appearance of Cassidy (Kim Dickens) and the fact that Sawyer is a father now. Only it isn’t developing Sawyer’s character in any way and it is just a preparation for Kate meeting Cassidy in her flashbacks – and a reminder that Cassidy even existed (for the ones who forgot what happened in the last season) and that she will remain important in the background of the show’s mythology. It was only nice to see that Sawyer’s con story is still on-going, with him lying and conning his way out of prison, which was somehow hilarious.

The episode was good, but within the series mythology irrelevant. One big problem the first episodes of this season have, amongst the too bigger storyline with the three captured survivors.

7/10

Tomorrow: “The Cost of Living” – ABC said the next two episodes will change everything. Really? Find out!

Trailer for “The Cost of Living”

por Diego Taborda

Los Golden Globes tienen algo divertido y es que son capaces de calificar tanto cine como televisión en un sólo evento. Lo malo es que las categorías no son muy elocuentes, por así decirlo, y terminan estando musicales y comedias en un sólo lado de la balanza.

Muchas pelis no las he visto, la mayoría son pelis que no van a traer y dependiendo de los corrillos en las salas de cine, habrá que ver si se hace el esfuerzo de buscarlas por Amazon, pedirlas prestadas o inducir a los vecinos o a algún amigo descarriado a que la compre pirata (ooops).

Siguiendo con el juego, espero se hayan tomado un tiempo prudencial para meditar el listado de ayer. Hoy voy a subrayar en negrilla las pelis que considero ganadoras y en itálica las que no he visto.

• Best Motion Picture – Drama

Sólo me he visto una, por descarte selecciono mi ganadora

Avatar (2009)
The Hurt Locker (2008)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Up in the Air (2009/I)

• Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Igual pero no creo que ninguna supere a The Hangover, sobretodo porque son demasiado romanticonas para mi gusto. De Nancy Meyers me he visto lo último que ha hecho y no me convence, Rob Marshall definitivamente no es mi director favorito y Nora Ephron lo mismo de Meyers

(500) Days of Summer (2009)
The Hangover (2009)
It’s Complicated (2009)
Julie & Julia (2009)
Nine (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Desierto por ahora

Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart (2009)
George Clooney for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Colin Firth for A Single Man (2009)
Morgan Freeman for Invictus (2009)
Tobey Maguire for Brothers (2009/I)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Desierto por ahora pero me llama la atención a la Bullock con su nominación

Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria (2009)
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)
Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)
Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Qué linda competencia. Damon dirigido por Soderbergh debe ser muy bueno, Day-Lewis nunca defrauda aunque insisto ni los musicales ni Marshall son mi fuerte, Downey Jr. es de los que pintan mejor pero quién sabe si se arriesguen a darle premios debido a su consabida arrogancia y humor negro en los podios, Gordon-Levitt me cae muy bien desde Third Rock from The Sun pero quién sabe si logre premio, lo último que le vi fue The Juror y fue normalito, el otro nominado ni idea.

Matt Damon for The Informant! (2009)
Daniel Day-Lewis for Nine (2009)
Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt for (500) Days of Summer (2009)
Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Esta fijo se la gana Meryl Streep pero me gustó Roberts en Duplicity. Segunda nominación de Bullock?

Sandra Bullock for The Proposal (2009/I)
Marion Cotillard for Nine (2009)
Julia Roberts for Duplicity (2009)
Meryl Streep for It’s Complicated (2009)
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Nadie le gana a Waltz en esta categoría.

Matt Damon for Invictus (2009)
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger (2009/I)
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station (2009)
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones (2009)
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Desierto por ahora

Penélope Cruz for Nine (2009)
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Julianne Moore for A Single Man (2009)

• Best Director – Motion Picture

Yo creo que con tanta muerte de nazis Tarantino gana de lejos aunque Clint Eastwood siempre es un competidor fuerte y es uno de mis directores favoritos y Reitman después de Juno y Thank You for Smoking puede sorprender

Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2008)
James Cameron for Avatar (2009)
Clint Eastwood for Invictus (2009)
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air (2009/I)
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds (2009)

• Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Yo esperaría que ganara Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell por District 9 por sus logros con la reinvención de una buena historia de ciencia ficción pero fijo aquí también gana Tarantino

District 9 (2009): Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
The Hurt Locker (2008): Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds (2009): Quentin Tarantino
It’s Complicated (2009): Nancy Meyers
Up in the Air (2009/I): Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

• Best Original Song – Motion Picture

Desierto por ahora

Avatar (2009): James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell(“I Will See You”)
Brothers (2009/I): U2, Bono(“Winter”)
Crazy Heart (2009): T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham(“The Weary Kind”)
Everybody’s Fine (2009): Paul McCartney(“(I Want To) Come Home”)
Nine (2009): Maury Yeston(“Cinema Italiano”)

• Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Aún no he visto la peli pero gracias a un amigo ya escuché la banda sonora completa de Where the Wild Things Are y es ganadora

Avatar (2009): James Horner
The Informant! (2009): Marvin Hamlisch
A Single Man (2009): Abel Korzeniowski
Up (2009): Michael Giacchino
Where the Wild Things Are (2009): Carter Burwell, Karen Orzolek

• Best Animated Film

Obviamente, incluso sin verla, debería ser ganadora Fantastic Mr. Fox

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Coraline (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
The Princess and the Frog (2009)
Up (2009)

• Best Foreign Language Film

Desierto por ahora pero que no la se la gane Almodóvar, estoy cansado de la rutina

Los abrazos rotos (2009)
Baarìa (2009)
Das weisse Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (2009)
La nana (2009)
Un prophète (2009)

• Best Television Series – Drama

Hay buenas opciones, estuve viendo Mad Men en HBO y creo que es bastante ganador pero el resto es muy bueno igual, no se cuál pueda lograrlo

“Big Love” (2006)
“Dexter” (2006)
“House M.D.” (2004)
“Mad Men” (2007)
“True Blood” (2008)

• Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

“Entourage” (2004)
“Glee” (2009)
“The Office” (2005)
“Modern Family” (2009)
“30 Rock” (2006)

• Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Desierto por ahora

Georgia O’Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Little Dorrit (2008)
Taking Chance (2009) (TV)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Desierto por ahora

Kevin Bacon for Taking Chance (2009) (TV)
Kenneth Branagh for Wallander (2008)
Chiwetel Ejiofor for Endgame (2009)
Brendan Gleeson for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Jeremy Irons for Georgia O’Keeffe (2009) (TV)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Desierto por ahora

Joan Allen for Georgia O’Keeffe (2009) (TV)
Drew Barrymore for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Jessica Lange for Grey Gardens (2009) (TV)
Anna Paquin for The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009) (TV)
Sigourney Weaver for Prayers for Bobby (2009) (TV)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

En esta categoría también se pone buena la competencia, Baldwin por experiencia y excelencia, Carell porque no defrauda, Duchovny porque lo hace bien aunque no es que me mate la serie ni su actuación y Jane se está reivindicando después de todo ese pasado tenebroso en Hollywood

Alec Baldwin for 30 Rock (2006)
Steve Carell for The Office (2005)
David Duchovny for Californication (2007)
Thomas Jane for Hung (2009)
Matthew Morrison for Glee (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Creo que aunque Tina Fey puede ser clara ganadora, Toni Collette tiene un logro muy bueno y puede llegar a sorprender

Toni Collette for United States of Tara (2009)
Courteney Cox for Cougar Town (2009)
Edie Falco for Nurse Jackie (2009)
Tina Fey for 30 Rock (2006)
Lea Michele for Glee (2009)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Me voy por Ham entre Jon Hamm y Bill Paxton pero fijo gana Simon Baker

Simon Baker for The Mentalist (2008)
Michael C. Hall for Dexter (2006)
Jon Hamm for Mad Men (2007)
Hugh Laurie for House M.D. (2004)
Bill Paxton for Big Love (2006)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Menos mal me quitan el servicio de televisión forzosamente durante tres meses, creo que estoy viendo demasiada. Aquí la ganadora es Glenn Close y su papel de antagónica en Damages

Glenn Close for Damages (2007)
January Jones for Mad Men (2007)
Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife (2009)
Anna Paquin for True Blood (2008)
Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer (2005)

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Voy a repetirlo tal cual: Menos mal me quitan el servicio de televisión forzosamente durante tres meses, creo que estoy viendo demasiada. Soy súper fanático de Lost y no hay nadie tan malo como Emerson, ojalá se lleve el galardón

Michael Emerson for Lost (2004)
Neil Patrick Harris for How I Met Your Mother (2005)
William Hurt for Damages (2007)
John Lithgow for Dexter (2006)
Jeremy Piven for Entourage (2004)

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Tengo un cariño especial por Jane Adams desde Happiness ojalá sea ganadora este año se lo merece pero le va a tocar duro con Byrne

Jane Adams for Hung (2009)
Rose Byrne for Damages (2007)
Jane Lynch for Glee (2009)
Janet McTeer for Into the Storm (2009) (TV)
Chloë Sevigny for Big Love (2006)

Hay todavía muchas pelis por ver, ojalá tengamos suerte y la distribucion en Colombia sea más diligente que en tiempos pasados para poder mucho más material ineteresante.

The other day, I tore into the Golden Globes for being star fetishists, arguing that their choices reflect a clear lack of interest in actually honouring the best in television (when Entourage is your default, there is something very wrong). However, I think sometimes we pick on the Golden Globes so much that we forget that other award shows which actually have some shred of credibility are just as capable of proving disappointing.

And so I feel I need to provide equal treatment, and criticize the Screen Actors’ Guild for a bizarre set of nominations (click the link to read if you want to know all of the context for the below rant) which seem to indicate that they’re not actually watching television at the moment. While the rut SAG has fallen into is less egregious than that of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, its relative credibility makes its shame a definite disappointment during this end of year awards season.

I don’t want to repeat the same arguments I made in the Globes post (in other words, my annoyance with a lack of Sons of Anarchy and Friday Night Lights remains intact), but I do want to focus on two fundamental failures of the SAG awards nominating structure. While the Globes are weird enough with their amalgamation of supporting roles in series/movies/miniseries, SAG does away with lead and supporting altogether, throwing all candidates into “Actor/Actress in a Drama/Comedy” categories. And also, instead of an award for “Outstanding Series,” since these are acting awards after all, the nominations go to “Best Ensemble in a Drama/Comedy,” which brings in a new kind of objective criteria to consider.

However, this year the limitations of this format were revealed.

First and foremost, there is not a single supporting actor or actress in the series television categories. Not one: no Michael Emerson, no Neil Patrick Harris, no Jane Lynch, no Cherry Jones, not anyone. All four acting categories are entirely populated with lead actors, and while there are a huge number of lead actors who are doing amazing work right now, there are other lead actors who are not on the same level as some of the stunning supporting players currently working in the television industry. And so while no one is going to argue that Michael Emerson should bump Jon Hamm or Bryan Cranston from their sports in Actor in a Drama Series, would anyone really argue that Emerson gave an inferior performance to Simon Baker in The Mentalist? As someone who likes Baker and that show (even if I kind of gave it up this season), that just seems wrong to me, the same way that Charlie Sheen grabbing a nomination over Neil Patrick Harris just doesn’t seem right.

It creates a perception that being the “star” of your show effectively makes you a better actor, which to me seems to be way off base for what the categories are supposed to achieve. By equalizing the category, you’re saying that all work done by actors on television is equal and that someone filling a supporting role should be judged fairly with those in lead ones. However, because acting is inherently political, it seems as if only those who have their name appearing first in the credits are capable of breaking into these categories. There are a number of amazing actors working in ensembles today who are putting in far more interesting with than Patricia Arquette in Medium or Christina Applegate in Samantha Who? (seriously, SAG?), and who are taking far more risks than Tony Shalhoub on Monk.

But, SAG would argue, that is why the Ensemble awards exist – they honour every single cast member, which means that those who are unable to break into the crowded acting categories can still get their trophy. And to some degree, those nominees do take care of some of the snubs: Glee has an Ensemble nod for Comedy (which could award Jane Lynch for her great work on the show), while Mad Men (where the entire supporting cast is fantastic, and where both January Jones and Elisabeth Moss were not nominated in Lead Actress) grabs a nomination in Drama. And a show like Modern Family, with a number of great performances, gets a deserved spot on the list. And if we look at the comedy list, rounded off by 30 Rock (which one can’t argue with), Curb Your Enthusiasm (which is strange when you consider it includes no guest stars, but show is enjoyable)  and The Office (again, a great ensemble), you’d say that my criticism of SAG is unfounded.

However, when you look at the Drama category, everything falls apart. I like The Good Wife, but is there any scenario where its ensemble is superior to that of Breaking Bad, or Friday Night Lights, or Sons of Anarchy (okay, so I am going to complain about those shows, sue me)? And while Kyra Sedgwick’s performance is much lauded, is there any universe where The Closer has a stronger ensemble than Lost? And while John Lithgow, Jennifer Carpenter and Michael C. Hall put together some great performances this year, can we honestly say that Dexter has a strong ensemble with anything not involving those characters this season was a fundamental waste of time? When True Blood is the nomination I find least offensive (in that the show’s cast of supporting characters is perhaps its greatest charm), you know that something feels really wrong here.

The problem is that SAG’s reputation and standing create expectations that their nomination structure only expands on: by suggesting that they’re going to actively consider the ensembles of various shows, you hope that they’ll look to see what shows have the deepest bench and which shows are really clicking. And while in a category like comedy it seems like they “got that” with the Ensemble awards (I’d probably have found a way to get Community in there, but snubs are expected), the Drama nominees indicate that they didn’t get it at all. There are shows I am disinterested in (see: Damages) that unquestionably have better performances than The Good Wife (a well-executed but simple drama series), so it’s not as if I expect the show to match up with my tastes.

However, if they’re going to create expectations of equality or recognizing the work of an entire cast, their nominees need to offer a better reflection of that before I elevate them above the Globes based on past behaviour alone.

Cultural Observations

• It didn’t fit into the narrative of this particular rant, but if SAG voters are seriously watching enough CBS to nominated Baker, Margulies and Sheen, that they didn’t nominate Jim Parsons is downright confounding. I was hoping that at the very least the actors would take Parsons’ amazing performance more seriously than the Globes, but apparently even actors have no souls.
• Lead Actress Drama is probably the worst category overall: Arquette, Hargitay, Segwick and Hunter are all boring nominees who have been doing the same thing throughout their shows’ runs, so for them to grab nominations over people like Jones and Moss from Mad Men, or Katey Sagal from Sons of Anarchy, or even the Big Love wives (Tripplehorn, in particular, from what I hear of the third season), is getting to be more than a little bit frustrating. It’s not often I’d accept a Grey’s sweep, but give me Chandra Wilson/Sandra Oh here any day.
• I know Lithgow was great this season on Dexter, so I understand the ensemble nod to some degree, but I’d have easily placed Lithgow into the main acting category and been done with it, personally.

<– 3.01 A Tale of Two Cities

“The Glass Ballerina” was an average episode with nothing much happening. Not only were Jin’s (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun’s (Yunjin Kim) flashbacks really boring, the story on the island was boring as well. Basically this was one of the weakest episodes in Lost so far, and didn’t bring anything new or interesting into the series mythology. Other than that, it brings us Jin a bit closer as future action hero, when we find out he knows a lot more about his wife than we (and Sun herself) anticipated. And this episode marks the best example that Sun doesn’t want to live without Jin – which wasn’t the case before the plane crash.

While the last episode centered around the three prisoners on Hydra Island, this one dealt with the second group of people who are separated from the beach folks. Sayid (Naveen Andrews), Jin and Sun are still out to help Jack (Matthew Fox) with his plan to get back to the Others for what they did. But the Others came first, captured Jack, Kate (Evangeline Lilly) and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and the guys on Desmond’s sail boot don’t know about that and are still hoping the plan is at go. But Sayid wouldn’t be Sayid, when he isn’t noticing that exact fact. And soon starts to lie to Sun and Jin, because he has his own agenda.
The boat is docking at the dock, at which Michael got loaded on a boat, so he can travel home, while Jack, Kate and Sawyer got hoods over their heads. Sayid notices the dock isn’t abandoned like it should be and he is planning even a bigger ambush than he had in mind, when Jack was still in charge. So, Sayid lies to Sun, Sun has to lie to Jin, but Jin knows everybody is lying, because he can understand English way better than Sun would have thought – that just seems a bit illogical, why would he lie to Sun in this “matter”. This revelation looks like a plot device to give Jin and Sun a conflict during the episode, and a reason for Sayid to send Sun on the boat later and Jin on a gun to keep shooting when the Others arrive.
To stop with the boring recapping: Their story was really not interesting. Sayid wants to capture two of the Others, while Ben wants their boat. It is surprising that Ben (Michael Emerson) didn’t know anything about the sail boat. Kelvin had this boat for quite a while, after his death Desmond had the boat for quite a while, and nobody from the Others notice that there is a sail boat somewhere on the shore? I don’t think so… But why would Ben be surprised and lie here? And why was he so serious, when he said “I want that boat”, as if he really wanted the at boat? For what? After all he has a submarine…

At least the little action scene at the dock was nice (the season beginning didn’t have anything to offer regarding action scenes), though I can’t understand why Jin and Sayid didn’t notice all the men on the boat. They had to come from somewhere and Sayid as a super soldier didn’t notice that? Hm, another one of those cheap plot devices…
Surprising was the scene with Sun and Colleen (Paula Malcomson, definitely one of the characters I wanted to see more about). I had a little theory about it for a short time while rewatching this episode. When Sun said “I will shoot”, Colleen respond with “No, you won’t, Sun. I know you.” – it sounded like Colleen did really know that Sun won’t shoot, as if she knew the future. Did the writers throw the first stone here that fate can be beaten by free will (notice Juliet’s quote from last episode)? Is this the first scene of the series, which shows that the future can be changed? Or is it just Sun having balls and killing a person for the first time?
Well, after the scene the Others won the boat, while Sun was jumping off it and we never saw it again. Ben probably destroyed it or sunk it. And, who knows where the survivors land after the season five finale, maybe we will see that boat again. At least we have to see, what Ben did with it, after the Others stole it from Sayid, Jin and Sun – I want to see what he did with it.

Further more on the island: The Others build a runway on Hydra Island. But I am curious who the other people are, who help building it. Sawyer and Kate are prisoners, this is obvious, but are the others, too. Danny (Michael Bowen), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) and some of the guards have all weapons… So, how many prisoners are there?
Another thing is the size of Hydra Island. Ben will tell Sawyer in two episodes the island is not even two times larger than Alcatraz Island – how small can a runway be on such a small island? And together with the season five episode “Namaste” I don’t think that Hydra Island is really that small. So, there is inconsistency about the size of Hydra Island…
Jack is bonding more and more with Juliet; the first steps to their “relationship” are done.
And: ALEX (Tania Raymonde)! Hell yes, she is still in the story. When I am watching episodes before “The Shape of Things to Come” and I see her, I am always sad. Though I think her many appearances in this seasons were a bit too much. I have the feeling she was in every second episode; I have the feeling the audience wanted to see her more often and the writers did the fans a favor – nice and fine, but after a while it was really a bit too much. But I still like Tania Raymonde.

The flashbacks of Sun and Jin were partly interesting. Only the stories regarding Sun’s father Paik (Byron Chung) was interesting, because I think he is an important character. I always had the feeling he had something to do with the island. There were a few clues that his company was related to Dharma, Hanso or whatever, but somehow related to what was happening on the island. And Mr. Paik is almost appearing in every flashback of either Jin or Sun. He could be like Sarah, an important part of their lives, so he is always in the story, but there could be more behind this. Though after five seasons, I don’t think so anymore.

Well, like I said, the episode was mostly boring. The story didn’t develop very much (again we didn’t see anything from the beach folks) and most of the character development was useless. Sun showed us, she can be a real pain in the ass and Jin shows us he is not the ballsy control freak he was in the first episodes of the series.

5/10

Tomorrow: the review of “Further Instructions” – why Locke couldn’t speak and Desmond nude…

Trailer for “Further Instructions”

Normally, I would post a season overview. But while I was rewatching the seasons and noticed I am reviewing way too much and nobody would read a post with more than 20,000 words, I decided to give Lost some (well… a lot of) extra posts. Starting with this episode, every single episode will have its own little review by me. And because the sixth and final season is not far away, the complete third, fourth and fifth season will pe posted daily, until the start of the sixth season.
I will try to post a season overview for the first two season as soon as the sixth season starts – and when I have a chance to rewatch them (I started my rewatch with the third season).

If you want to, you can rewatch yourself parallel with these reviews (I stole that idea from Nikki Stafford, who does the same thing on her blog) and if you want to, you can comment. I try to comment your comments.
So, let’s get started, 47 days until the start of the sixth season, 54 episodes to be reviewed until then…

Do you remember? The Others captured Jack (Matthew Fox), Kate (Evangeline Lilly), Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Hurley, after appreciated help by Michael, who was promised to go home with his son Walt. Ben said “You’re coming with us”, while Hurley was sent back to the beach to tell the others what happened. Meanwhile Desmond used the failsafe key to save the world, as usual. Only the station blew up, exploded or whatever and the sky turned purple. Pretty much an awesome season cliffhanger for a series in its second season.
And now the third season opens with a scene, which could have been the first scene in the series ever, but wasn’t because the scene after this one was the series opener. We see the plane crash from another point of view, from the eyes of Ben (Michael Emerson), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell), Ethan (William Mapother), Goodwyn (Brett Cullen) and all the others in Dharmaville. The complete opening scene is awesome, though I think it came a bit too late in the series. It is perfect to introduce us to Dharmaville and Juliet, but witnessing the actual plane crash from the surface of the island came a bit too late (maybe because the writers chose to reveal the Others no later than with Ben/Henry Gale’s appearance in the season two episode “One of Them”).
One little dialog scene kept my interest though: When Juliet said “Here I am, thinking that free will still actually exists” I had to think about Daniel Faraday and his theories about the future and how it can’t be changed (his “Whatever happened, happened” theory), and the fact that the later seasons will show the viewers a view of fate versus free will. Especially the finale of the fifth season, in which Jack tries to prove that Daniel and Locke were right all the time: You can change the future, you have a path in life. Though Juliet’s quote didn’t even targeted the whole “change the fate” deal, it was pretty interesting to hear the “free will” topic this early in the series from another character than Locke.

Jack, Kate and Sawyer as prisoners of the Others could have been a suspenseful story, but the writers never picked up the better part of the story and instead started with getting out the mythology of the Others to the viewers. We had the little scene with the intercom in Jack’s aquarium: It was Christian’s (John Terry) “Let it go”, which I think it was Smokey. But why did it do that, and why at that time?
Jack’s flashbacks were alright, it showed the last stage of his marriage we didn’t see until now (after we saw Jack and Sarah first meeting each other, than marrying, then breaking up, then Jack having emotional trouble after the divorce). And it is a shame that it would have been the last episode we saw Sarah (Julie Bowen), because she is an interesting character. Though we see her in this season finale, it could have been her last episode… I just don’t know why she made a big mystery out of her new boyfriend. Jack’s troubles after that were good, because it shows his obsession to things. Here he had the obsession to find out, who is with his wife, just because he saw him one time (just like his obsession to fix things). In his flash forwards it is clear that he developed an obsession to go back to the island, which came by Locke telling him to go back (in the season five episode “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham”), and it explains his obsession to change fate in the season five finale by dropping the bomb. Practically, Jack is an obsessive man, but when he had the obsession, he always was on a low-point of his life – together with pills and alcohol.

Juliet’s introduction is really good. She got the first scene of the season and she got lots of character development during the episode. She barely likes Ben (for what reason soever, we will see in her flashbacks), she barely likes what she is doing (the last scene with Ben), which explains her actions later in this season. Interesting is that she has a copy of Christian’s autopsy – so he must be really dead. Still, his body was out of the coffin, before Jack hammered it together in the season one episode “White Rabbit”. Still, we see him appearing on the island. Before the fifth season finale I would have thought, Smokey is appearing in form of the people, who died on the island (Christian didn’t die on the island, but his body was/is on the island), and when he does, the bodies disappear. A theory of mine, which was destroyed in the fifth season finale with Locke’s body in the box. And the other thing: Smokey appears as Christian, though he didn’t die on the island – don’t they have to die on the island, when he wants to take the form of them?
The rest of the episode was barely interesting. Kate had a “nice” talk with Ben on the beach (hilarious how he told her that she isn’t getting any coffee, when she doesn’t put the cuffs on) and showered, while Sawyer danced to hilarious music, because he got a fish biscuit. The fact that Karl (Blake Bashoff) is in the cage across is confusing me. What did Karl to be in the cage at all? He must have manipulated the work of the Others for quite a while now. Or it is just Ben, who doesn’t want his daughter Alex to have a relationship with a boy, who manipulates the work of the Others? We have to wait until the season finale, why Ben chose to cage Karl in…

The season opener didn’t really have interesting highlights, which would make the episode really good. It was basically a normal episode with normal stories, except the stories were a chance for new beginnings. With Jack, Kate and Sawyer on Hydra Island a new story begins; the mystery involving the Others is going to be solved, new characters are and going to be introduced and there are some nice moments in here, wich foreshadow future events. And not only Juliet working against Ben.
It is interesting to see, how the mythology of the island and its inhabitants isn’t really built yet; the third season had lots of difficulties to bring the actual story we saw in season four and five, up to speed, and that is why the earlier seasons are a bit boring, compared to what we saw the second half of the series. But it is interesting as well, that we have some solved mysteries, like the polar bears.

All in all: It was a good episode, but for a season opener average and without any highlights. Kind of like the rest of the first part of the season. Now since the Others are revealed, the mystery around them is completely gone…

6,5/10

Coming up in a few minutes: the next episode of this season, “The Glass Ballerina”. So stick around (sounds like the last words before the commercial break)

Trailer for “The Glass Ballerina”

I’m a big Golden Globe fan, love that Hollywood Foreign press.  But no Lost as best drama!  No Terry O’Quinn?  No Josh Holloway?  Come on foreign press.  Michael Emerson did get a nomination, as he should.  But I’m a bit bitter that the rest of the cast didn’t get nods.

I am excited for George Clooney and Matt Damon, well deserved.  Plus Sandra Bullock  getting 2 nominations for The Proposal  and The Blindside, I love her.  But who I expect for to win and also take home oscar gold in February : QUENTIN TARANTINO (Picture/Director and CHRISTOPH WALTZ (Actor) - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.

So here is the list, haven’t examined it yet, but I’ll be commenting on them as we get close to the big night on january 17th, 2010 on NBC.

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS LIST FOR 2010 :

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
AVATAR
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
PRECIOUS
UP IN THE AIR

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
EMILY BLUNT – THE YOUNG VICTORIA
SANDRA BULLOCK – THE BLIND SIDE
HELEN MIRREN – THE LAST STATION
CAREY MULLIGAN – AN EDUCATION
GABOUREY SIDIBE – PRECIOUS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
JEFF BRIDGES – CRAZY HEART
GEORGE CLOONEY – UP IN THE AIR
COLIN FIRTH – A SINGLE MAN
MORGAN FREEMAN – INVICTUS
TOBEY MAGUIRE – BROTHERS

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
THE HANGOVER
IT’S COMPLICATED
JULIE & JULIA
NINE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR
MUSICAL
SANDRA BULLOCK – THE PROPOSAL
MARION COTILLARD – NINE
JULIA ROBERTS – DUPLICITY
MERYL STREEP – IT’S COMPLICATED
MERYL STREEP - JULIE & JULIA

For more, follow me after the jump!

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY
OR MUSICAL
MATT DAMON – THE INFORMANT!
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS – NINE
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. – SHERLOCK HOLMES
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT – (500) DAYS OF SUMMER
MICHAEL STUHLBARG – A SERIOUS MAN

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
CORALINE
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
UP

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
BAARIA (ITALY)
BROKEN EMBRACES (SPAIN)
THE MAID (CHILE)
A PROPHET (FRANCE)
THE WHITE RIBBON (GERMANY)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
MOTION PICTURE
PENÉLOPE CRUZ – NINE
VERA FARMIGA – UP IN THE AIR
ANNA KENDRICK – UP IN THE AIR
MO’NIQUE – PRECIOUS
JULIANNE MOORE – A SINGLE MAN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
MOTION PICTURE
MATT DAMON - INVICTUS
WOODY HARRELSON – THE MESSENGER
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – THE LAST STATION
STANLEY TUCCI – THE LOVELY BONES
CHRISTOPH WALTZ – INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
KATHRYN BIGELOW – THE HURT LOCKER
JAMES CAMERON – AVATAR
CLINT EASTWOOD - INVICTUS
JASON REITMAN – UP IN THE AIR
QUENTIN TARANTINO - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
NEILL BLOMKAMP – DISTRICT 9
MARK BOAL – THE HURT LOCKER
NANCY MEYERS – IT’S COMPLICATED
JASON REITMAN – UP IN THE AIR
QUENTIN TARANTINO - INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“CINEMA ITALIANO” — NINE
“I WANT TO COME HOME” — EVERYBODY’S FINE
“I WILL SEE YOU” — AVATAR
“THE WEARY KIND (THEME FROM CRAZY HEART)” — CRAZY
HEART
“WINTER” — BROTHERS

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
BIG LOVE (HBO)
DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
HOUSE (FOX)
MAD MEN (AMC)
TRUE BLOOD (HBO)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES –
DRAMA
GLENN CLOSE – DAMAGES
JANUARY JONES – MAD MEN
JULIANNA MARGULIES – THE GOOD WIFE
ANNA PAQUIN – TRUE BLOOD
KYRA SEDGWICK – THE CLOSER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
SIMON BAKER – THE MENTALIST
MICHAEL C. HALL – DEXTER
JON HAMM – MAD MEN
HUGH LAURIE – HOUSE
BILL PAXTON – BIG LOVE

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
30 ROCK (NBC)
ENTOURAGE (HBO)
GLEE (FOX)
MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
THE OFFICE (NBC)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES –
COMEDY OR MUSICAL
TONI COLLETTE - UNITED STATES OF TARA
COURTENEY COX – COUGAR TOWN
EDIE FALCO - NURSE JACKIE
TINA FEY – 30 ROCK
LEA MICHELE – GLEE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES –
COMEDY OR MUSICAL
ALEC BALDWIN – 30 ROCK
STEVE CARELL – THE OFFICE
DAVID DUCHOVNY - CALIFORNICATION
THOMAS JANE – HUNG
MATTHEW MORRISON – GLEE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A
SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
JANE ADAMS – HUNG
ROSE BYRNE – DAMAGES
JANE LYNCH – GLEE
JANET McTEER – INTO THE STORM
CHLOË SEVIGNY – BIG LOVE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES,
MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
MICHAEL EMERSON – LOST
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS – HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
WILLIAM HURT – DAMAGES
JOHN LITHGOW – DEXTER
JEREMY PIVEN – ENTOURAGE

Ricky Gervais, save us!

The nominations for the 67th Golden Globes were announced this morning, and as usual it’s a mixed bag of deserving nods, payback to schmoozing favorites and a handful of glaring omissions. For now a quick look at the nominations for television: 

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. BIG LOVE (HBO)
b. DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
c. HOUSE (FOX)
d. MAD MEN (AMC)
e. TRUE BLOOD (HBO)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. GLENN CLOSE, DAMAGES
b. JANUARY JONES, MAD MEN
c. JULIANNA MARGULIES, THE GOOD WIFE
d. ANNA PAQUIN, TRUE BLOOD
e. KYRA SEDGWICK, THE CLOSER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. SIMON BAKER, THE MENTALIST
b. MICHAEL C. HALL, DEXTER
c. JON HAMM, MAD MEN
d. HUGH LAURIE, HOUSE
e. BILL PAXTON, BIG LOVE

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. 30 ROCK (NBC)
b. ENTOURAGE (HBO)
c. GLEE (FOX)
d. MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
e. THE OFFICE (NBC)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. TONI COLLETTE, UNITED STATES OF TARA
b. COURTENEY COX, COUGAR TOWN
c. EDIE FALCO, NURSE JACKIE
d. TINA FEY, 30 ROCK
e. LEA MICHELE, GLEE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ALEC BALDWIN, 30 ROCK
b. STEVE CARELL, THE OFFICE
c. DAVID DUCHOVNY, CALIFORNICATION
d. THOMAS JANE, HUNG
e. MATTHEW MORRISON, GLEE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. JANE ADAMS, HUNG
b. ROSE BYRNE, DAMAGES
c. JANE LYNCH, GLEE
d. JANET McTEER, INTO THE STORM
e. CHLOË SEVIGNY, BIG LOVE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. MICHAEL EMERSON, LOST
b. NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
c. WILLIAM HURT, DAMAGES
d. JOHN LITHGOW, DEXTER
e. JEREMY PIVEN, ENTOURAGE

I have to remind myself that these nominations and awards, however prestigious, are the work of ninety reporters in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it’s not an industry-wide tally. Some of these people don’t even review the work itself – they exist solely to hobnob with stars and create puff pieces for magazines and gossip columns. By comparison, the Online Film Critics Society has over one hundred forty reviewers. 

The awards hold merit despite the fact that most people realize it is a popularity contest; some favorites would almost have to commit a crime to not get a nomination. Remember that this is the same organization that accepted lavish gifts and bribes in return for naming Pia Zadora Best Actress. 

Whatever. 

As far as drama goes…I’m always glad to see Michael Emerson getting some love for Lost, but I thought the show made a major rebound this past season and deserved a nod. And how about FX’s Sons of Anarchy – not to mention Katey Sagal’s bold performance? Breaking Bad (not to mention its two male leads)? Tired of the Hugh Laurie and House nominations, people – great guy but he’s sleepwalking in that character after so many years. 

Looking at the comedy nominations, I’m floored that freshman shows Glee and Modern Family both got nods, but equally stunned that It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia – the funniest show on television this past season – got blanked. Entourage is a joke; I think it gets nominated because of its subject matter. Far funnier shows include Better off Ted, Parks and Recreation and even Community. 

Lots of shows seemingly fall in the middle – there’s plenty of humor on Castle, Rescue Me and The Closer although I suppose all would be considered under the drama category…if anyone bothered to nominate them, that is.  Ditto a wealth of performers on those ensembles that aren’t getting the publicity or the nominations while Jeremy Piven gets rubber-stamped in yet again (albeit in a very tough category).

Oh well. At least I don’t have to puke in my mouth a little anymore, now that they’ve finally put Boston Legal in its grave. And each category, despite the omissions, does have someone I can truly root for. But it’s far too much hoopla for such a small return…and the over hype is just getting started. 

My five word summary: Thank God for Ricky Gervais. 

Full nominations here.

from Eonline.com:

Up in the Air scored a leading six nominations for the 57th Annual Golden Globes. Nine was next with five, followed by Avatar and Inglourious Basterds with four.

On the TV side, newcomer Glee led all contenders with four nominations, followed by 30 Rock,Damages, Dexter and Big Love, with three apiece.

The awards will be handed out on Jan. 17. Here’s the complete list of contenders:

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA

• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• Up in the Air

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA

• Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
• Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren, The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan, An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA

• Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
• George Clooney, Up in the Air
• Colin Firth, A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman, Invictus
• Tobey Maguire, Brothers

BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• (500) Days of Summer
• The Hangover
• It’s Complicated
• Julie & Julia
• Nine

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
• Marion Cotillard, Nine
• Julia Roberts, Duplicity
• Meryl Streep, It’s Complicated
• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Matt Damon, The Informant!
• Daniel Day-Lewis, Nine
• Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer
• Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Princess and the Frog
• Up

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Baaria (Italy)
• Broken Embraces (Spain)
• The Maid (Chile)
• A Prophet (France)
• The White Ribbon (Germany)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

• Penélope Cruz, Nine
• Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
• Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
• Mo’Nique, Precious
• Julianne Moore, A Single Man

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

• Matt Damon, Invictus
• Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

BEST DIRECTOR

• Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron, Avatar
• Clint Eastwood, Invictus
• Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9
• Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
• Nancy Meyers, It’s Complicated
• Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Michael Giacchino, Up
• Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant!
• James Horner, Avatar
• Abel Korzeniowski, A Single Man
• Karen O and Carter Burwell, Where the Wild Things Are

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Cinema Italiano,” Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston (Nine)
• “I Want to Come Home,” Music & Lyrics by Paul McCartney (Everybody’s Fine)
• “I Will See You,” Music by James Horner, Simon Franglen; Lyrics by James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell (Avatar)
• “The Weary Kind,” Music & Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart)
• “Winter,” Music by U2; Lyrics by Bono (Brothers)

BEST TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA

• Big Love
• Dexter
• House
• Mad Men
• True Blood

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA

• Glenn Close, Damages
• January Jones, Mad Men
• Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
• Anna Paquin, True Blood
• Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA

• Simon Baker, The Mentalist
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Bill Paxton, Big Love

BEST TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• 30 Rock
• Entourage
• Glee
• Modern Family
• The Office

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Toni Collette, United States of Tara
• Courteney Cox, Cougar Town
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Lea Michele, Glee

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Steve Carell, The Office
• David Duchovny, Californication
• Thomas Jane, Hung
• Matthew Morrison, Glee

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Georgia O’Keefe
• Grey Gardens
• Into the Storm
• Little Dorrit
• Taking Chance

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Joan Allen, Georgia O’Keefe
• Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens
• Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens
• Anna Paquin, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
• Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance
• Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: One Step Behind
• Chiewetel Ejiofor, Endgame
• Brendan Gleeson, Into the Storm
• Jeremy Irons, Georgia O’Keefe

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Jane Adams, Hung
• Rose Byrne, Damages
• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Janet McTeer, Into the Storm
• Chloe Sevigny, Big Love

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

• Michael Emerson, Lost
• Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
• William Hurt, Damages
• John Lithgow, Dexter
• Jeremy Piven, Entourage

Data
Title: Lost: Season Five
Year: 2009
Network: ABC
Episodes: 17, at 43 minutes
Creators: J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber, Damon Lindelof
Directors: Stephen Williams, Jack Bender, Rod Holcomb, Paul A. Edwards, Mark Goldman, Greg Yaitanes, Bobby Roth
Writers: Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Paul Zbyszewski, Brian K. Vaughan, Melinda Hsu, Kyle Pennington, Greggory Nations
Starring: Naveen Andrews, Henry Ian Cusick, Jeremy Davies, Michael Emerson, Matthew Fox, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Ken Leung, Evangeline Lilly, Rebecca Mader, Elizabeth Mitchell, Terry O’Quinn
Music: Michael Giacchino
Distinctions: Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor (Emerson)

My reaction
Synopsis: time-traveling survivors
How I saw it: streaming online (from Netflix), over the past few days
Concept: Great.
Story: Great.
Characters: Great.
Dialog: Great.
Pacing: Great.
Cinematography: Good.
Special effects/design: Great.
Acting: Good.
Music: Great.
Subjective Rating: 9/10 (One of my favorites). This is what television should be. Granted, I could do without the whole 10% of the show spent waiting for a character’s name to be revealed thing, and I was pretty disappointed when A Certain Character didn’t end up dying after all at the end of the finale, but whatever. Easily the best season so far.
Objective Rating: 10/10 3.8/4 (Great).

…but somehow it slipped my mind.

When Kathy and I were in Hawaii last month, we had an opportunity to accompany my sister Bethany, Jorge and Evie to the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra.

During one segment of the performance, Michael Emerson read the popular children’s book “The Story of Babar” while the orchestra, led by principal conductor Andreas Delfs, played a soundtrack in between page reads.

Let me tell you, folks, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen one of television’s most notorious villains read a classic children’s book in a faux French accent. Pretty frickin’ awesome.

After the performance, we had a chance to hang out backstage for a little bit.

Even more frickin’ awesome.

Cooler than my Batmobile picture,

-Shady

A 6. évad hivatalos sajtóközleményéből kiderült, hogy a két órás (6×01-6×02 – LA X) premiernek vetítési dátuma 2009. február 2-a. Ezen a napon kezdődik a Lost utolsó évada. Az, hogy ilyen későn kezdődik, valószínűleg azt is jelenti, hogy nem lesz szünet februárban, a téli olimpia miatt sem. A sajtóközleményből hivatalosan az állandó szereplőket is meg tudtuk, bár számunkra nincs benne túl sok újdonság:

• Naveen Andrews -mint- Sayid
• Nestor Carbonell -mint- Richard Alpert
• Emilie de Ravin -mint- Claire
• Michael Emerson -mint- Ben
• Jeff Fahey -mint- Frank Lapidus
• Matthew Fox -mint- Jack
• Jorge Garcia -mint- Hurley
• Josh Holloway -mint- Sawyer
• Daniel Dae Kim -mint- Jin
• Yunjin Kim -mint Sun
• Ken Leung -mint- Miles
• Evangeline Lilly -mint- Kate
• Terry O’Quinn -mint- Locke
• Zuleikha Robinson -mint- Ilana

Here’s the story.  Around Christmas time my dad was working on some geneology and wikipedia-ed his small hometown of Toledo, IA.  To his surprise, a classmate came up as a “notable native.”  My dad was a year older than him but they were on debate team, student council and even in a few plays together.  He knew him as little Michael Emerson.  (unfortunately my scanner didn’t do very well with the weird textured yearbook pages of the 70’s, but you get the idea)

We know him better as the Emmy Awarding Winning super-villain Benjamin Linus from Lost.

Wonder why my parents didn’t realize it sooner?  They have never watched Lost.

Apparently, my dad was not his favorite person, which is kinda funny if you know my dad (nicest guy around, liked by all).  He once called him “squirrelly Michael Emerson” and it got back to him (small high school).  My dad claims it was meant endearingly, but he clearly didn’t take it that way.  I can see why he might have been a little sensitive on the subject, but who isn’t a little scrawny as a sophomore?

I asked my dad why Emerson was hiding his face.  Apparently, he didn’t like the debate team.  At all.  He was into acting, not debating.  His mom made him stay on the team.  Once, he bragged of eating a whole tube of toothpaste to get out a debate competition.  Now that’s dedication!

I think this picture looks the most like his adult self.  I can’t help but smile.  Benjamin Linus looks so sweet with a tennis racket and a 16 year old grin!

Here’s a few more…His acting debut!

The Madwoman of Chaillot

My dad is on the left.  Note the 70’s style, chunky side burns.  Awesome!

And there is Michael Emerson in rehearsal on the far left.  Well, obviously…considering he’s the only guy in the picture.

He played the Ragpicker.  My dad said he was brilliant.

Androcles and the Lion

There’s Emerson.  Showing more leg than anyone is comfortable with!  And my dad–the Emperor–being assaulted at the robe.  And “Tommy.”

My dad couldn’t remember the story behind this picture… But this was another scene from the one-act play.

The club he actually wanted to be apart of.  The thespian society.  Nice pants!

And last but certainly not least:  Prom.  It’s not a yearbook party if you don’t include those dorky prom pictures!

I promised my cousin MONTHS ago that I would upload these pictures, so here you are Rachel!  I hope you feel better soon!

And to top it all, here’s a short Michael Emerson video from the Jimmy Fallon show!  Pretty darn funny.  For some reason, it wouldn’t let me embed it directly in.

Late Night with Jimmy Fallen

• Hurley (Jorge Garcia), Dogen (Hiroyuki Sanada) és Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) együtt forgattak a templomnál. Hurley-nek elvileg tele volt írva a keze.
• Jin-t (Daniel Dae Kim) ezektől a kalóz-szerű többiektől Claire (Emilie de Ravin) menti meg. Az egyik többit túszul is ejti és elviszi őt Jin-nel együtt a kis bunkeréhez. Mindketten véreznek.
• Itt található egy csomó új kép néhány helyszínről pl. Claire bunkeréről, a parti táborról, Eko templomáról stb…
• Október utolsó napjaiban egy kahala-i templomban forgatott Naveen Andrews (Sayid), John Hawkes (Lennon) és két visszatérő halott szereplő: Anthony Azizi (Omar) és Kevin Durand (Keamy) – a velük forgatott jelenetekről nincsenek részleteink.
• Nemrég egy középiskolában forgattak Waipahu-ban Michael Emerson-nal (Ben). A forgatásról részletek megint nincsenek, viszont Emersonon kívül három másik színész is jelen volt: William Atherton (új karakter), Daniel Roebuck (Dr. Leslie Arzt) és Tania Raymonde (Alex).
• Matthew Fox (Jack) és Jorge Garcia (Hurley) a dzsungel mélyén forgattak a 6. részhez egy “vándorlós” jelenetet. Állítólag egy ideig azt vették fel, ahogy egy rövid útvonalat végigjártak, amíg nem értek el egy kis bunker-szerűséghez. Képek itt.
• Az előző jelenet folytatásában Emilie de Ravin (Claire) is szerepelt, így elég valószínű, hogy Claire bunkerét kereste Jack és Hurley. Valószínűleg ide hozta Claire Jin-t, amikor megmentette a többiektől. Még több kép itt.